DevelopingideasBacktoNature

HenryDavidThoreau(1817-1862)wasanAmericanessayist,poet,andphilosopher.Hebeganwritingnaturepoetryinhisearlytwenties,withpoetRalphWaldoEmersonasamentorandfriend.In1845,hebeganhisfamoustwo-yearstayatWaldenPond,whichhewroteaboutinhismasterwork,Walden.

BornintoapooraristocraticfamilyintheEasternJinDynasty,TaoYuanming(365-427)wasoneofChina`sgreatestpoetsandanotedrecluse.Amasterofthefive-wordline,Taohasbeendescribedasthefirstgreat“poetoffieldsandgardens.”

ReadtheshortintroductionstoTaoYuanmingandHenryDavidThoreauandsharewhatelseyouknowaboutthemwiththeclass.

ReadthepassageandfindoutwhatTaoandThoreaulearntfromnature.

Bothofthemgotinspirationfromnaturefortheirliteraryworks.Bothofthemlivedsimplyinnaturewithfewmaterialdesires,whichhelpedthemtoattaintheirpersonalfulfillment.

LearningtolearnAcomparativeessaycompares,contrastsandevaluatestwoormoretopics.Theremustbeenoughsimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthetopicssothattheycanbediscussedinameaningfulway.Anumberofpointsshouldbediscussedwithinacomparativeessay.

What’sthegenreofthetext?IntroductionMainbodyConclusion

DrawamindmapIntroductionMainbodyConclusionAlthoughTaoandThoreaulivedindifferentcountries,andtheirliveswereseparatedintimebynearly1500years,yettheywerebothpoets,whosharedanintenserespectfornature,whichmadethemeachaninfluentialfigureoftheirtime.Bothmenmadedramatictransformationstotheirlivesinordertoreconnectwithnature...HowareP1andP2connected?transitionalwordsrepetitionofkeywordsP2-P3Whytheygobacktonature

Taowentbacktonaturebecausehefeltconflictedoverlifeatcourt.Hisreturntonaturewasareactiontoalifestylehewasopposedto.

Thoreau’sreturntonaturewasapersonaldecisiontotransformthewayhelived.P2-P3Howdotheyreturntonaturedifferently?

Hewouldnot“bowlikeaservantinreturnforfivedouofgrain”.Hespentthenext22yearssince405untilhisdeath,workingthelandinapoor,ruralarea.Fromhispoetry,wecanlearnthatalthoughhislifewasarduous,hesucceededinfindingcontentmentinitssimplicityandindrawingpleasurefromnature.Thoreauhadadecentqualityoflife,buthewantedtoliveinasimplerway.Fortwoyears,twomonthsandtwodays,helivedinacottageintheforestontheedgeofWaldenPond,focusingonhimselfandhiswriting.HeexplainedhisreasonfordoingsoinWalden:“IwenttothewoodsbecauseIwishedtolivedeliberately,tofrontonlytheessentialfactsoflife.”Bothmenwerehappytowithdrawfromcontemporarylife,seekingaharmoniousrelationshipwithnatureinthequietnessoftheirlives.AlthoughTaoandThoreaudonottreatnatureinquitethesameway,theirworksshowitsbeautyandvalue...HowareP3andP4connected?transitionalwordsrepetitionofkeywordsP4WhatareTao’sdescriptionsofnatureinhisworksandwhatistheaim?

Tao`snatureisaplaceoffieldsandvillages,inotherwords,rural,andhisanimalsaredomesticones,suchaschickensanddogs.Thecalmandpeacefullifehewroteaboutisincontrasttoandcriticalofthedepressivecourtlife:Beyondthedarkanddistantliesavillage,Thesmokeabovereluctanttodepart.Adogisbarkingsomewheredownthelane,Andchickenssitatopthemulberrytree.歸園田居（其一）少無適俗韻，性本愛丘山。誤落塵網(wǎng)中，一去十三年。羈鳥戀舊林，池魚思故淵。開荒南野際，守拙歸園田。方宅十余畝，草屋八九間。榆柳蔭后檐，桃李羅堂前。曖曖遠人村，依依墟里煙。狗吠深巷中，雞鳴桑樹顛。戶庭無塵雜，虛室有余閑。久在樊籠里，復得返自然。

Thoreau`sdescriptionsofnatureemphasisedthebeautyandpurityofthewildareasaroundhim.Devotinghimselftoobservationsofthenaturalphenomena,herecordedhisdetailedfindingsinhisjournals.Hiswritingaimedtoconvincepeoplethatanimalsandplantshadarighttoliveandprosper,aswedo.Weshouldlivewiththeminharmonyandenjoynature`sgifts,ashedescribesinhisjournals:P5WhatareThoreau’sdescriptionsofnatureinhisworksandwhatistheaim?好好度過每一個季節(jié)，呼吸新鮮的空氣， 暢飲美酒，品嘗水果，盡情享受這一切。讓生活中只有飲食和草藥。Thoreau梭羅Liveineachseasonasitpasses;breathetheair,drinkthedrink,tastethefruit,andresignyourselftotheinfluencesofeach.Letthembeyouronlydiet,drinkandbotanicalmedicines.TheirsimilaritiesTheywentbacktonature.Bothmadedramaticaltransformationstotheirlivesinordertoreconnectwithnature.Bothwerehappytowithdrawfromcontemporarylife,seekingaharmoniousrelationshipwithnatureinthequietnessoftheirnewlives.Bothtookconsiderablecouragetorejecttheeasyandfamiliarandinsteadtrytoliveclosertonature.Theirchoicesledthemtoquietandreflectiveliveswithfewermaterialdesires.

Theirideasaboutlivingsimplyandbeingateasewithnaturemaytakeusastepclosertoattainingpersonalwell-beingandfulfilment.

Think&Share1WhydidittakeTaoandThoreaugreatcouragetowalkawayfromtheirpreviouslives?2Whyaretheirideasimportanttoourlivestoday?3WhatdoyouthinkaboutlivinginnaturelikeTaoandThoreau?Giveyourreasons.Becauseitwasdifficulttorejecttheeasyandfamiliarlifetheyusedtolive.Becauseintoday’smodernworld,westillneedtoliveharmoniouslywithnature,andliveasimplelife.Fewermaterialdesiresleadtobetterpersonalwell-beingandfulfilment.WritingaboutalessonfromnatureReadthestoryandanswerthequestions.1Whatdoesabutterflydotogetoutofitspupa?2Whydidthemanthinkheneededtohelpthebutterfly?Thebutterflystrugglestoforceitsbodythroughthelittlehole.Becausethebutterflycouldn’tgetout.Thestruggleseemedtoohardforitsweakbody.Weneedstruggletogrowstrongandsurvive.

3Whathappenedtothebutterflyafterthemanenlargedtheholeinthepupa?4Whatisthelessonbehindthisstory?Whatelsecanyoulearnfromit?Thebutterflydraggeditselfaroundweakly,andthendied.LearningtolearnAnextendedmetaphorreferstoacomparisonbetweentwothingsthatisdevelopedatlengthovermanylinesoftext,orthroughoutanentireworkofliterature.Forexample,inthebutterflystory,thestruggleofthebutterflyillustrateslife`sstruggles.Whilethestoryappearstobeaboutabutterfly,itisreallyaboutus.掙扎著將身體擠出小洞幾分鐘過去了擴大洞口拖來拖去經(jīng)歷展翅高飛struggletoforceitsbodythroughthelittleholeminutespassedenlargetheholedragaroundgothroughspreadwingsandflyLookatthepicturesandthinkwhatyoucanlearnfromnature.

Workinpairs.Planyourwriting.Considerthefollowing:thetopicyouwishtowriteaboutwhetheryouwilluseanextendedmetaphor?whatlessonitteachesus,andhowwecanapplythislessontodailylife?asuitabletitleforyourstoryNowwriteyourstory.ALessonfromAntsOneday,I