For Wednesday: Gibran, The Prophet, pages 7-34 (or, read through the section "Speak to us of Work")

Gibran's The Prophet is a strange work at first, as it seems to tell a story, but is really like the Tao te Ching, a series of meditations, or sermons, on various roles and relationships in life. Read through them slowly and don't worry about getting the overall story or even catching every metaphor. Just underline the ideas and sayings that grab you--and keep your ear open for phrases or ideas you might have heard before, some of which Gibran himself made popular. 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: The Prophet is in part an allegory, which "is a narrative fiction in which the agents and actions, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived to make coherent sense on the “literal” or primary, level of signification, and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of agents, concepts, and events” (Abrams). In other words, it's an extended metaphor that works on two levels--the surface level, and the deeper level. What do you think the metaphor of the man leaving the city he's spent 12 years in for the ship from the land of his birth represents? What was he doing in the city? And why don't they want him to leave?

Q2: In speaking of love, the Prophet says that you should follow love, though "the sword hidden among its pinions may wound you," and "his voice may shatter your dreams." Why do you think he makes love sound so forbidding and desperate? And how might this relate to his thoughts on Marriage: "Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup...eat not from the same loaf"?

Q3: His advice on Children and Giving seems to echo many sentiments that we read in the Tao te Ching: what specifically here reminds you of the earlier work? Why might Children not truly belong to us, and giving not done in the spirit of giving be worthless?

Q4: One of Gibran's most famous sayings is, "Work is love made visible." What do you think this means? How is all work sacred, and why is it important to do work as if to benefit "your beloved"?  

EQ2 Group Presentation: The Art of the Sages

EQ2: Group Presentation: “The Art of the Sages”

For your first EQ2 assignment, I want you imagine that your group has been commissioned to create an art exhibit called “The Art of the Sages.” To do this, you have to pair several interconnected poems from both the Tao te Ching and The Prophet with works of art that seem to illustrate their principles and ideas. This short art exhibit will be demonstrated before the class by each group on the week of February 14^th so we can discuss and compare approaches (and best of all, see a lot of great new art!).

Each group will have 2-3 members and each member of the group should be assigned to ONE of the following roles:

• Arranger: this person will adapt 6-7 poems into a thematic narrative and write a short script explaining how each one develops and expands the narrative for the viewer. You don’t have to go into great detail, but it should be clear what the theme is, how each poem contributes to it, and potentially, which poem is your ‘thesis’—the one that definitively states the theme. You should use both books, but you can use more from one book than another (just don’t use less than 2 from one book). Since The Prophet has long poem-chapters, feel free to adapt small sections for gallery use.
• Curator: this person will find works of art to complement each poem, so we can see them side by side and contemplate the artistic ‘translation.’ The Curator should also write out a brief script explaining how each work of art plays into the poems chosen by the Arranger (so the Arrangers’s script has to be completed first). Works of art can be ANYTHING related to the visual arts: paintings, photographs, drawings, even your own art! Just try to use something that legitimately connects to the ideas and concepts of the poems.
• Lecturer: this person will compile a series of slides for each poem/artwork in a way that will be visually comprehensible for the audience. The slides should synthesize—and if necessary, summarize—the information from the Arranger and Curator for easy consumption. The Lecturer then has to present the slides for the audience and sound generally knowledgeable about them.

GROUPS: I have randomly arranged you into 5 groups of 3, with one group of 2 because of the 17 people in our class. However, the group of 2 has the option of making me take the Lecturer role, since I’m giving them a disadvantage.

GRADING: I will grade each group individually by role. This way, even though it’s a group effort, and collaboration is necessary, the success of the group rides on everyone doing their one task, rather than one person shouldering the collective weight. Ideally, this shouldn’t be too demanding for anyone, and a relatively enjoyable—if thoughtful—assignment. However, if you hit a brick wall I’m here to help and can offer many suggestions.

DUE the week of February 14^th: We’ll spend that week watching and discussing the presentations.

THE GROUPS:

Group 1: Luke, Elias, Deb

Group 2: Maverick, Luken, Andrew

Group 3: Saul, Cas, Ky

Group 4: Morgan, Abigail, Twan

Group 5: Lauren, Mady, Emily

Group 6: Hunter, Emma, (me?) * remember, this group has the option of making me the "Lecturer," or one of you can elect to do that role, too, and I'll give you both a 'bonus' advantage later in the class (your choice) 

 

For Friday: Writing Exam#1 (Tao te Ching)

 Remember to finish reading the Tao te Ching if you haven't yet, since we'll have our first Writing Exam in class. All that means is that I'll give you an in-class writing prompt and expect you to use the book to answer it. It's not an exam proper, but more a way to extend your ideas beyond the questions in class. 

Wondering what we'll write about? Here's a hint...

For Wednesday: Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Last Questions: Verses 63-81

 A few last questions for the book before we move on to another work in another land. Answer TWO of the following, and be specific as often as possible: it will help you more on future papers/assignments if you can focus on short passages that illustrate your ideas. 

Q1: Bruce Lee was a staunch advocate of the Tao te Ching, and claimed that it worked very harmoniously with the martial arts. Where do we see this in one or more of the poems? How can the Tao help someone defeat an opponent mentally as well as physically? 

Q2: Though the Tao te Ching often advises against attachment and emotions such as anger and desire, Verse 67 claims that "I have three treasures that I cherish and hold dear/the first is love...With love one is fearless." How can love be one of the most important qualities in cultivating the Tao when selfish attachment/desire to the world brings confusion?

Q3: I always thought that every college should make incoming first-year students study the Tao te Ching, since it offers invaluable advice for the myriad activites and responsibilities of a college student. What poem do you think would function as the best College 101 advice for an incoming student (and why)?

Q4: One final paradox: the Tao te Ching often says that knowledge must begin with the self, and yet in Verse 72, it states, "The Sage knows himself, but not as himself/he loves himself, but not as himself/he honors himself, but not as himself." If you're not your self, who are you? What do you love/focus on? What else are you? Does this poem, or a related one, explain? 

For Monday: Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Verses 42-62

Just two more sets of questions to go as we read our way through the ancient wisdom of the Tao te Ching! But the next questions will be different a little easier...so enjoy these while you can!

Answer TWO of the following for class:

Q1: In class, I mentioned that fortune cookies often mine the wisdom of the Tao te Ching in an abbreviated form (and often mangle it, too). Find a line or phrase in one of the poems that you think would make great 'fortune cookie wisdom.' Why is this? And why might the line mean something quite different alone, without the context of the entire poem?

Q2: In Buddhism and Hinduism (which we'll look at soon), one of the greatest dangers in life is maya--the lustful attachment to life and the illusions of the flesh. Where do we see the same concern in some of these poems? Why might attachment be the greatest danger for one seeking "the Way"? 

Q3: In Verse 47, the poet writes, "Without going outside/one can know the whole world/Without looking out the window/one can see the ways of Heaven/The father one goes/the less one knows." Why does the Tao te Ching seem to frown upon the very things you're supposed to be doing in college--learning and traveling and seeking knowledge? What's wrong with "going further" rather than "staying put"? 

Q4: The Tao te Ching is constantly trying to redefine (or challenge) our notions of such key concepts as strength, weakness, good, bad, knowledge, and power. Which poem seems to most successfully challenge our common sense notions of one or more of these terms? 

For Friday: Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Verses 22-41

 

As before, answer TWO of the following in a short response--a very sentences at least, just enough to get yourself thinking (and so I can see you're thinking, too!).

Q1: Many of these poems are very repetitive, playing with the same ideas, images, and even metaphors. Discuss a poem from this section that seems like the mirror image of one of the earlier ones. What does the new poem add to the old one; or, which poem seems to express the idea most clearly? 

Q2: One of the images the Tao te Ching likes to play with is that of the "Uncarved Block." Why is this a useful metaphor for understanding concepts such as Tao, the Way, Wu, etc.? And how does it relate to the idea of "Tao is empty/yet it fills every vessel with endless supply" (Verse 4)?

Q3: Many versions of the Tao te Ching say that "Book Two: The Book of Virtue" opens with Verse 38, and that the first 37 poems comprise "Book One: The Book of the Way." Do you see any difference in poems 38-41 that we didn't see in the previous ones? Anything to do with the concept of "virtue"?

Q4: Some critics have suggested that these poems, for all their poetic relevance, are actually quite practical: they were meant to be a guide to teach kings and governors how to rule their provinces. Are there any poems that seem to be geared for this purpose? Is this really a book like Sun Tzu's famous Art of War, but this one is more an Art of Governing? Or are those merely metaphors from the 'real world' to help us see abstract ideas?                                                    

For Wednesday: Read Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Verses 1-21

For Wednedsay, read poems 1-21 in the Tao te Ching, and try to read at least some of them more than once. Then answer TWO of the questions below, but also use them as a general outline to think about the poems and consider what ideas they might be trying to convey to us (and what makes such strange poems simply fun to read!).

(Answer TWO): 

Q1: Jonathan Starr, the translator, leaves a few words untranslated, such as "Tao" and "Wu," among others. Why do you think he does this? Do the poems help us understand what these terms might mean? Or is there a reason he wants them to remain mysterious?

Q2: As we discussed on Friday, a poem often attempts to use new metaphors (rather than the ones we use every day) to help us see the world from a new perspective. Discuss a metaphor in one of the poems that did exactly that: helped you appreciate something in a new way, or made you think about something normal abnormally. 

Q3: Many of the poems, notably Verse 14, writes that "Eyes look but cannot see it/Ears listen but cannot hear it/Hands grasp but cannot touch it/Beyond the senses lies the great Unity--/invisible, inaudible, intangible" (16). If "it" cannot be seen or touched or heard, then how can we find it? Or know it? Where are we supposed to find truth or enlightenment if we can't use our senses to grasp it? Do other poems shed more light on this dilemma?

Q4: Which poem did you find the hardest to understand? Why do you think this is? Discuss a line or an idea in the poem that seems to create a wall to your understanding. 

Welcome to the Course!

This is the class site for EQ2: Global Perspectives with Dr. Joshua Grasso. Consider this more of a virtual bulletin board, where I'll post our daily reading assignments, reading responses, assignments, and other links of importance. You don't have to post on this site, log-in, or submit papers. But it will be a valuable resource as we 

go through the semester, so be sure to bookmark it. 

Also, be sure to buy the five books for class as soon as possible, all of which are available at the ECU bookstore (and all are pretty cheap):

Required Books:

• Tao te Ching, transl. Jonathan Star (Tarcher)
• Gibran, The Prophet (any edition)
• Narayan, The Ramayana (Penguin edition)
• Hearn, Japanese Ghost Stories (Penguin edition)
• Okorafor, Binti: The Complete Trilogy (only edition)

 If you have any questions or have to miss class, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at jgrasso@ecok.edu. Otherwise, look forward to seeing you in class!