Zen Parables

Zen Parables Explained

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Style in Rhetoric, The Five Canons, Style Analysis Examples

STYLE IN RHETORIC Remember to consider some of the overall frameworks of rhetoric, which Aristotle called the art of finding all the "available means of persuasion".  The largest framework is that of the rhetorical triangle, meaning audience, subject, and speaker.  In other words, you must know who you are trying to persuade, what you are trying to persuade them to do, and who is doing the persuading. Under this, consider the rhetorical appeals: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. The rhetorician, or the persuader, can use their credibility or trustworthiness, also known Ethos, to get their audience to listen to his or her every word.  In order to listen to a person, you first have to trust them.  Next, you have Logos, or reason.  Logos comes from an old Greek word that means "word" , "reason", "computation" and "account."  This is where you can use scientific knowledge, numbers, or logic to get your point across.  You are appealing to the th
Read more

Henry David Thoreau: "Where I Lived and What I LIved For"

Image
Journal Entry: What is complicated in your life?  What causes you undue noise and stress?  What do you feel that you could do to simplify your life in some way? What does the simple life look like and feel like for you? Objectives: --Students will read a text from 1800's, becoming used to a more difficult writing style. --After we read, students will showcase their ability to write a style analysis paragraph on their own. In the last text we read, "The Chase", Annie Dillard argues that you need to throw yourself into life one hundred percent.  Life should be thrilling and full of passion. However, if we go back by about one hundred years in American History, we have another author, Henry David Thoreau who was trying to figure out that big philosophical question: "What is the good life?"  He had a slightly different take on this question. Basically, Thoreau was upset with the way his daily life was going.  In the late 1700's, the age of t
Read more

Journal Entry on the Themes in The Chase/ Motto for Life

As a warm up today, write a journal reflection on the following theme:  In "The Chase", Annie Dillard's motto for life is something like "you have to fling yourself at what you're doing, you have to point yourself, forget yourself, aim, dive" (74).  In other words, throw yourself into your tasks, your work, your life.  Be engaged and embrace your fears.  What is your personal motto for life, as your life stands right now? In other words, what would you consider to be your personal philosophy?  Sample Journal Response. (Caveat: these are simply Mr. Ogden's thoughts and are not authoritative in any real way.  I encourage students to make their own philosophy.)   If I had to come up with a motto for life, I would say something like "The purpose of life is to study it, and by studying it change it for the better."  Our first task is to be a fair, unbiased observer of what is happening around us.  We must practice mindfulness. 
Read more