Review Pages
10/8/14 - Selected pages to be pondered when REreading for our Midterm eEam on WED 10/15, after the Fall Breather. I will email you all by MON 10/13 specifics about the exam-format, esp. PART I. For now, I foresee a CHOICE of a couple of short/mini in-class, handwritten Informal Essays (= totalling 50 pts.) based on selected pages from CBCW given below.
AND PART II: a 2-page typed, Formal Essay @ 50 pts. based on selected pages from JRAD given below. You will compose, with quotations as textual evidence in support of your ideas, an essay in which you examine the theme of "The Kindness of Friends and Strangers: How John Ransom survived Andersonville."
PART I - from CBCW:
- mid98-bottom101: "On October 26, ... there now.": Clara appreciated - Clara fulfilled - Clara resilient despite physical distress
- upper109-upper110: "The battle for ... December 12 [1862] ... in the corner.": Clara in action - keeping a diary-record - Wiley Faulkner
- mid111-bottom114: "Soon Union artillery ... you saved my life ... the cheering ... Sergeant Thomas Plunkett ... Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain ... or the dead.'": Clara in action - heroic Sgt. Th. P - Cornelius Welles on Clara's dedicated service + upper-lower115: "During the night, ... His Glory.'": Clara's acts of aid
- upper117-mid118: "In the Lacy House, ... special domain.": Clara & her team - haunting memories of her "dear boys" - other women serving
- upper119-mid120: "On December 16, ... On Christmas day, Clara's forty-first birthday, ... and my God.'": Clara and the unnamed soldier & W. F. and Sgt. P
- mid121-mid123: "In her campaign diary ... Clara jotted ... the men of Ward 17 ... Wiley Faulkner ... her 'hero of the four words,' ... Sergeant Plunkett ... to feed him.": Clara appreciated - Sen. H. Wilson - Clara on behalf of Sgt. P.
- lower131-134end: "As for her war work, 'I believe my services ... the needy.' ... Secretary of War Stanton himself ... Major Edward Preston ... glowing endorsement ... Sergeant Plunkett ... On Saturday April 4 [1863], ... the world.": a new beginning and a new assignment for Clara's tour of duty as she and her brother, David, now head for a Union army stronghold on the coast of South Carolina
PART II - from JRAD:
- 62-63: April 8 [1864] - Battese
- upper77: May 10 - B
- bottom78: May 13 - B
- upper82-mid85: May 20-May29: George Hendryx & B
- top93: June 16 - friends & B
- mid-lower95: June 22 - B
- upper-mid97: June 24 - B
- mid98: June 26 - B
- lower98-top99: June 27 - B
- lower-bottom102: July 2: "Almost the ... Minnesota." - B
- 123: July 17 - B
- lower125: July 21 - B
- 126: July 24 & 25 - B
- 127: July 28 - B
- 129: Aug. 14 - B
- mid130: Aug. 26 - B
- bottom130-top131: Aug. 31 - B
- lower131 - Sept. 6 - B
- top132: Sept. 7 - B
- 132 + image in between on 133 + 135-136: Sept. 15: "A great change ... seen him." - B & kind strangers
- lower137: Sept. 22 - kind folks
- top141-lower143: Sept. 25-30 - B & kind-hearted others
Monday 12/5/2011 - Greetings, ALL! I've made my REVISED selection of Review Pages - which means I'm asking you to REread a modest # of pages from specific chapters in the DhP and BWB, each with a thematic focus. See BELOW. I'll formulate essay-style questions derived therefrom, and you'll have a CHOICE of a # out of a #. More of an explanation in class on Tuesday. In the meantime, here's what came to me as inspiration: an essay-style exam in several PARTS - possibly 3, but for now here are 2. Total points-potential not yet decided:
PART I - from the DHAMMAPADA: your TYPED 2-page Essay synthesizing DhP and BWB: choice of 1 of 2 topics - due date is exam-day Monday 12/12:
-- #1 = REread Chs. 6 "The Wise" and 7 "The Saint" keeping Cecelia in mind: which verses make you think of her character now that we've met her again at the end of Otto's journey? So, compose a 2-page Essay in which you present Cecelia as someone who embodies the attributes of a wise and saintly Buddhist person.
-- #2 = REread Ch. 26 "The Brahmin" keeping Otto in mind: which verses make you think of Otto now that he has reached the end of his outward journey and the real beginning of his inward journey? (*** for the "Buddhist" meaning of the Hindu-caste term "brahmin" reread 239-top240: "These concluding ... a body again.") So, compose a 2-page Essay in which you present Otto as someone who embodies the attributes of a Buddhist "brahmin."
PART II - from BWB: in-class Essay-responses - A & B - NO NOTES - NO BOOK:
-- A = Choice of only 1 out of 2:
#1 = Ch. ONE: pp. 1-5: As you REread these 5 pages, formulate your own TITLE and be prepared to justify it with supporting details from THIS chapter. Be sure to focus on Otto's first-person narrative as self-revelatory. And to what extent does his perspective on Life reflect Buddhism in terms of the Four Noble Truths? ...
#2 = Ch. SIX: 28-39: As you REread these 11 pages, formulate your own TITLE and be prepared to justify it with supporting details from the chapter. Pay attention to Otto's conversation with Cecelia - her sense of selfhood, her perspective on Life, all of which contrasts with Otto at this point in his journeying. And to what extent does she come across as "Buddhist" to you, now that we've become more far more familiar with Buddhism than when we first read that chapter. And don't neglect to bring in what she says about Rinpoche in this regard. ...
-- B = Choice of ONLY 1 out of 4:
-- Ch. 24: mid169-top172: "In my experience, ... I thought he was.": in South Bend - a "song" soothes the soul: Exam-Question #1 will focus on the situation in the Chippewa Lanes = what Rinpoche does & says and Otto's response
-- Ch. 27: lower-mid193-bottom194: while in the car in IND - R to Otto: "Do not worry ... in circles?": our thoughts & actions = choices - R's "Ortyk" prayer = quotation from Ch. 1 of the DhP - and regarding Cecelia: Exam-Question #2 will focus on R's teaching-"prayer" derived from the DhP
-- Ch. 39: upper-mid268: just one sentence (in Duluth): "I'd joined Rinpoche ... late start." + top269-upper272end: Otto's encounter with Jane A. the massage-therapist: "Due to back ... a new man.": their conversation about R and Buddhism - note mid269: "As she worked ... meditation ... armor away.": Exam-Question #3 will focus on the contents of Otto's conversation-encounter with Jane Aleski
-- Ch. 40: in the car from Duluth to Grand Rapids: mid274-mid278: "We took ... trip home.": a deep chapter whose title could be "Not a world for easy" (276): the theme of this chapter echoes the "Ortyk" prayer/Dhammapada quotation on life-choices: "They go this way and not that way" (278) when listening to "a very nice music always playing" (278) = the ""celestial"" music: Exam-Question #4 will focus on R's explanatory comments on "This is not a world for easy."
PART III will include ONLY 2 extended QUOTATIONS derived from BWB = from Chs. 32 & 36. #1) Ch. 32: bottom217-top219: "[Rinpoche] added, 'All sickness ... 'Now soon.'" #2) Ch. 36: top248-249end: "Drying off ... easy trip." You will choose 1 of these 2, and IN CLASS compose, with MENTAL (no written) notes, an Essay in Objective AND Subjective parts. In both Quotations we discern what I'll call "life-lessons." In the Ch. 32 Quotation-passage, we find such as expressed through a DIALOGUE between Rinpoche and Otto. In the Ch. 36 Quotation-passage, we find such as expressed through Otto's RETROSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS. Having made your choice, and pondered the passage, be prepared OBJECTIVELY to explain, in your in-class "writing endeavor," the meaning/significance of what you, AS A READER, found/perceived to be the "life-lesson" (or possibly "life-lessonS" in the case of the Ch. 36 Quotation), and then, in the SUBJECTIVE second-half of your Essay, present how you, AS A PERSON (student, woman, sport-enthusiast, thinker, ... ...), meaningfully relate the "lesson/s" to your OWN LIFE. Thank you for your patience.