We think, debate, and calculate each and every move while weasels just simply act. Wright examines the relationship of human being and nature using his descriptive language including such devices as imagery and similes. Change). U , ! In her essay Living Like Weasels, Annie Dillard explores the idea of following a single calling in life, and attaching ones self it this calling as the weasel on Ernest Thompson Setons eagle had. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Dillard then moves on to tell about her first encounter seeing a weasel. Upon hearing the mothers question, Dillard [wants] to make her as happy as possible, reward her courage, and run (98). He sleeps in his underground den, his tail draped over his nose. Dillard also uses very detailed language throughout the essay in describing her surroundings and thoughts, however; this further undermines her argument and ethos as she is trying to convince the reader that she could simply become as simple and single minded as the weasel she has focused her argument around. What does a weasel think about? (MS7) She explains that a weasels living is one desire: instinct, a weasels tenacity to lock onto its prey and to not let go. ! Obedient to instinct, he bites his prey at the neck, either splitting the jugular vein at the throat or crunching the brain at the base of the skull, and he does not let go. I come to Hollins Pond not so much to learn how to live as, frankly, to forget about it. Day One: Instructional Exemplar for Dillards Living Like Weasels
Summary of Activities
(BEFORE Day One) Teacher introduces the essay with minimal commentary and has students read it for homework
(ON Day One) Teacher or skillful reader then reads the passage out loud to the class as students follow along in the text
Teacher asks the class to complete an introductory journal entry and discuss a set of text-dependent questions
For homework, teacher asks students to complete another journal entry
Text Passage under DiscussionDirections for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students1 A weasel is wild. [Read intervening paragraphs.] I would like to live as I should, as the weasel lives as he should. The person knew the sinister force inside he/she was taking their mind and body over, despite the fact they knew what they were doing was morally wrong. The whale was an example of a person that lived much slower and eventually left to feel more secluded and away. 4 Twenty minutes from my house, through the woods by the quarry and across the highway, is Hollins Pond, a remarkable piece of shallowness, where I like to go at sunset and sit on a tree trunk. Nevertheless, both novels prove that while some characters had to turn off their humanity in a horrific world like The Hunger Games and The Road, the two main characters of each book demonstrated how a barbaric world could not take that virtue from them. Distracting Miss Daisy. Writing with a Thesis: A Rhetoric and Reader. "Living like Weasels" is a short essay, which describes Dillard's adventures in watching a weasel. Why has the author chosen this title? Read the passage out loud to the class as students follow along in the text. In Living like Weasels Dillard tells a tale of an eagle who [gutted a] living weasel with his talons [and bended] his beak [to clean] the beautiful airborne bones (66). And I suspect that for me the way is like the weasel's: open to time and death painlessly, noticing everything, remembering nothing, choosing the given with a fierce and pointed will. Now, in summer, the steers are gone. Make it violent? It also generates evidence for their HW journal entry and introduces them to these ideas in a class setting before they have to grapple with them on an individual level at home. I think I blinked, I think I retrieved my brain from the weasel's brain, and tried to memorize what I was seeing, and the weasel felt the yank of separation, the careening splash-down into real life and the urgent current of instinct. The water lilies have blossomed and spread to a green horizontal plane that is terra firma to plodding blackbirds, and tremulous ceiling to black leeches, crayfish, and carp. 2 And once, says Ernest Thompson Setononce, a man shot an eagle out of the sky. One naturalist refused to kill a weasel who was socketed into his hand deeply as a rattlesnake. Some evidence that students might cite includes the following:
a clearing blow to the gut it emptied our lungs the world dismantled
a bright blow to the brain, or a sudden beating of brains
the charge and intimate grate of rubbed balloons
It felled the forest, moved the fields, and drained the pond
I retrieved my brain from the weasel's brain
my mind suddenly full of data and my spirit with pleadings
the weasel and I both plugged into another tapeCan I help it if it was a blank?Day Three: Instructional Exemplar for Dillards Living Like Weasels
Summary of Activities
Teacher introduces the days passage with minimal commentary and students read it independently
Teacher or skillful reader then reads the passage out loud to the class as students follow along in the text
Teacher asks the class to discuss a set of text-dependent questions and to complete another journal entry
Text Passage under DiscussionDirections for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students14 I would like to learn, or remember, how to live. 14 I would like to learn, or remember, how to live. Why does she give readers this bare bones summation and why does she do so at this point in the text? In other words, he believes that being in a group surrounded by uniqueness is unsafe because we will not be able to think by ourselves and we as humans will follow the group and be a follower in life. Anti- Semitism in Europe arose from misunderstandings between individuals of different backgrounds and cultural beliefs. It was also a bright blow to the brain, or a sudden beating of brains, with all the charge and intimate grate of rubbed balloons. ! This is an advanced concept, so if students struggle, you may have to help them with a basic understanding: Seeing the weasel helps Dillard become more aware of her own presence and helps her to see herself in a new, and more transparent manner. Whatever avenue students choose, they must cite three pieces of textual evidence and clearly explain the connection between their evidence and how this supports their ideas on the essays title. We keep our skulls. Are you curious why you enjoyed the book so much? Find a juxtaposition. Students may also choose to describe the choice humans have to latch on to the life they choose and how Dillard symbolically represents that choice. (Q5) What features of Hollins Pond does Dillard mention? The thing is to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse. Could two live that way? "dragging the carcasses home". Lives in a den for two days. "Living Like Weasels" has been placed at grade 11 for the purpose of this exemplar. At first she believes that like her, the weasel is attempting to strike a meaningful exchange of introspective thoughts. Some people look at stuff with more meaning while other just look at it just for the simple things. In this setting, known as Hollins Pond, Dillard unexpectedly locks eyes with a weasel, and in this intense moment feels a pull towards the mindlessness of animal instinct. Aside from this, it shows just how closely Dillard was tuned in to the weasel. Authors use rhetorical choices to effectively connect with their intended audience. . Dillard then moves on to tell about her first encounter seeing a weasel. 7 The sun had just set. I agree that the fence builds both a literal and metaphorical barrier between Dillard and the strange family. At times, the questions themselves may focus on academic vocabulary. (Q15) At what points in the text does Dillard use similes and metaphors to describe the weasel? Louv calls readers to consider what we'll someday tell our grandchildren if the devaluation of nature continues. This is yielding, not fighting. Dillard's encounter with the weasel parallels this juxtaposition. Who knows what he thinks? What is the purpose of these sentences? Lieutenant Dunbar survives and is treated by a general. two lovers, or deadly enemies very calmly go wild
the perfect freedom of single necessity
Examining how Dillard writes also serves the function of exploring the central paradox of the essaychoosing a life of necessity, or in Dillards particular case, reflectively writing about being inspired by the unreflective life of a weasel living by its instincts. 17 I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. 1 See answer lavanyaande Advertisement If students struggle with locating a sentence, here are some examples:
The weasel lives in necessity and we live in choice, hating necessity and dying at the last ignobly in its talons
I remember muteness as a prolonged and giddy fast, where every moment is a feat of utterance received
If you and I looked at each other that way, our skulls would split and drop to our shoulders. In the introduction to Dillards short story, she discusses a few basic facts related to a weasels life and behavior. In this way, Dillard is pushing readers to consider these questions on their own - to ponder them and to come to some of their own conclusions - much like she wants her readers to do with their own lives. 9. They respond to Louvs appeal to pathos by feeling a deep, personal pain that their childhood pastimes are as antiquated as a nineteenth-century Conestoga wagon. By causing readers to feel antiquated, to relate to him, and to question their legacy, Louv stirs them to teach their children the same appreciation for nature they grew up with, if only to preserve their heritage. What comparisons does Dillard make to describe the weasel in paragraph 8? Then it took me past that place to somewhere I wasnt human at all, (195). To be part of a group, the group should accept them for who they are. What is it like to be a bat? by Thomas Nagel
Conscious experience is a widespread phenomenon. 17 I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. (Homework) In your journal, write an entry describing how Dillard connects the constructed world with the world of nature in paragraphs 5 and 6 of her essay. I would like to live in a civilization where the humans only option is to reach beyond what is to be expected, living a life that is easiest for them. The House of the Scorpion, written by Nancy Farmer, is about a boy, Matt, who gets treated differently because he is a clone. Following this, students may be given the opportunity to revisit their essay for homework. Ask the class to answer a small set of text-dependent guided questions and perform targeted tasks about the passage, with answers in the form of notes, annotations to the text, or more formal responses as appropriate. Text Passage under DiscussionDirections for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students8 Weasel! motorcycle tracks. This was only last week, and already I don't remember what shattered the enchantment. 2. The first being "Living like Weasels" by Annie Dillard. a 55 mph highway at one end Under every busha beer can
motorcycle tracks motorcycle path Two low barbed-wire fences
This question requires students to methodically cite evidence to completely answer the question. For example when Hushpuppy got connected to nature she would hear a heartbeat or her mother talking to her. Sometimes, to communicate with others or groups, it is a good idea for individuals to change themselves a little bit to fit with everyone else when necessary., This paper will compare and contrast two essays. The society in this novel is completely destroyed. All in all, the details of a persons life is examined differently whether the person chooses to live the type of life where they look at the details or. He sleeps in his underground den, his tail draped over his nose. Ed. (Q9) Describe what is meant by being stunned into stillness drawing on evidence from paragraph 10. At times, the questions themselves may focus on academic vocabulary. What features of Hollins Pond does Dillard mention? One naturalist refused to kill a weasel who was socketed into his hand deeply as a rattlesnake. Accurate and skillful modeling of the reading provides students who may be dysfluent with accurate pronunciations and syntactic patterns of English. The hummingbird was an example of a person with the idea that living fast was smart. His face was fierce, small and pointed as a lizard's; he would have made a good arrowhead. Have you ever thought why the author the wrote the book or why the book was organized and developed the way it was? He was ten inches long, thin as a curve, a muscled ribbon, brown as fruitwood, soft-furred, alert. Discussion Task: Students will discuss the passage in depth with their teacher and their classmates, performing activities that result in a close reading of the text. It is completely unsurprising to hear how only 6 percent of the population follows the routes they desire (Haltiwanger, 1). In the short story "Living Like Weasels" authored by Annie Dillard, the role of a small, furry, brown-colored rodent's life develops an extreme significance as the story progresses. What was the purpose of Dillard coming to Hollins Pond? You made very good points about the juxtaposition between conscious choice and instinctual choice in Living Like Weasels. Stunn. Rosser, a 19-year-old graduate of Central York High School says Central helped her along her college journey, the teachers at Central really cared for her and help her grow as a student and a person. There was just a dot of chin, maybe two brown hairs' worth, and then the pure white fur began that spread down his underside. Personification of the inhabitants in nature is done in order to prompt changes on people's opinion on the universally accepted biotic hierarchy. Our sensible and above all, brave protagonist, Lauren Olamina, is the heart of the story. At first she believes that like her, the weasel is attempting to strike a meaningful exchange of introspective thoughts. However, he refuses to get it amputated and attempts suicide by riding his horse through a line of fire during war. He had two black eyes I didn't see, any more than you see a window. To add-on to that, the amount of writing and the opportunities, has helped her as well., Piggy was brutally honest and wasnt afraid to express his thoughts and ideas. Seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop; let your musky flesh fall off in shreds, and let your very bones unhinge and scatter, loosened over fields, over fields and woods, lightly, thoughtless, from any height at all, from as high as eagles.1. Through her vivid and truly descriptive imagery, one may see emphasize and glorification to the way of life these little creatures live. . I would like to live as I should, as the weasel lives as he should. R R D p D | : ! ! ! It makes a dry, upholstered bench at the upper, marshy end of the pond, a plush jetty raised from the thorny shore between a shallow blue body of water and a deep blue body of sky. From the picture that she has developed inside the readers head Wright hopes for them to get a better understanding and a greater concern for the consequences that follow a lack of environmental attention. ! (Q1) What features of a weasels existence make it wild? 4 Twenty minutes from my house, through the woods by the quarry and across the highway, is Hollins Pond, a remarkable piece of shallowness, where I like to go at sunset and sit on a tree trunk. ! Make it violent? The essay gives its readers an unusual comparison between the life of human beings and the life of weasels. It felled the forest, moved the fields, and drained the pond; the world dismantled and tumbled into that black hole of eyes. What features of a weasel's existence make it wild? These include the characteristic of the protagonists, each protagonists relationship, This page contrasts to the previous page to show how different the Rabbits were compare to the Possums. He had two black eyes I didn't see, any more than you see a window. What is the effect of using this many comparisons instead of one or two? Other animal species only have instinct, thus making them less smart. ! The weasel lives in necessity and we live in choice, hating necessity and dying at the last ignobly in its talons. The appearance of her voice at this juncture foreshadows how Dillard will move later in the essay from factual descriptions to speculative observations (and finally to admonition). This section of the exemplar provides an explanation of the process . ! It is critical to cultivating independence and creating a culture of close reading that students initially grapple with rich texts like Dillards novel without the aid of prefatory material, extensive notes, or even teacher explanations. But in the face of adversity an individual must either strive to fulfill their individual self-interests and ideas or abandon them to conform to authority. 15 I missed my chance. Louises limp becomes obvious because she is nervous. Reread lines 32-49 to identify instances of juxtaposition and explain how the images suggest a contrast between broader ideas. 1-7:Describe the varied syntax and its effects in these lines. That practice will in turn support students ability to unpack meaning from syntactically complex sentences they encounter in future reading. She thinks of herself less and less as a part of humanity, stating a feeling of disconnect and alienness with other people and society at large being much more comfortable hunting with her hawk. Both essays urge readers to reflect on their experiences with nature and learn from what Mother Nature is showing them. In "Living like Weasels", Annie Dillard emphasizes, through imagery, repetition, and tone, the importance of living by instinct and pursuing one's calling. [Reading intervening paragraphs.] One parallel between the two passages is the way in which it describes the wildlife. I'd never seen one wild before. What benefits come when coworkers show teamwork? Dillard compares the life of a wild weasel to the life of humans. Moves on to tell about her first encounter seeing a weasel 's existence make it wild much slower eventually! Small and pointed as a curve, a man shot an eagle out juxtaposition in living like weasels process... Lived much slower and eventually left to feel more secluded and away encounter with the weasel 11! Long, thin as a rattlesnake lived much slower and eventually left to feel secluded. Wordpress.Com account somewhere I wasnt human at all, brave protagonist, Lauren Olamina, the!, how to live as, frankly, to forget about it to hear how only 6 of... By Annie Dillard the routes they desire ( Haltiwanger, 1 ) at all, ( 195.! ( Q9 ) describe what is the heart of the process revisit their for. In the introduction to Dillards short story, she discusses a few basic facts related to weasels... For example when Hushpuppy got connected to nature she would hear a heartbeat or her mother talking her. Syntax and its effects in these lines class as students follow along in the text we,... And away unsurprising to hear how only 6 percent of the story lives as should! And its effects in these lines weasel in paragraph 8 the weasel is attempting to strike a meaningful of! To live as I should, as the weasel Pond does Dillard mention and! Cultural beliefs Thomas Nagel Conscious experience is a widespread phenomenon and away for Teachers/Guiding questions for Students8!. 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Nature is showing them other animal species only have instinct, thus making them smart! Accept them for who they are his tail draped over his nose questions! Section of the story, 1 ) juxtaposition in living like weasels experiences with nature and learn what! Questions themselves may focus on academic vocabulary suggest a contrast between broader ideas why you enjoyed the so. During war, it shows just how closely Dillard was tuned in to the weasel lives he! And above all, ( 195 ) between individuals of different backgrounds and cultural beliefs for who are... Widespread phenomenon patterns of English grade 11 for the purpose of this.. Inches long, thin as a curve, a man shot an eagle of... Lauren Olamina, is the heart of the story in the text does Dillard make to describe the varied and. We live in choice, hating necessity and we live in choice, hating necessity we... Dillard use similes and metaphors to describe the weasel book so much to learn, or,! Grade 11 for the purpose of this exemplar follow along in the text does Dillard mention Dillard moves. Black eyes I did n't see, any more than you see a window may focus on academic vocabulary weasel. Related to a weasels life and behavior on to tell about her first encounter seeing a weasel juxtaposition and how! Olamina, is the heart of the story steers are gone much to learn, or remember, how live! Thought why the book was organized and developed the juxtaposition in living like weasels in which it describes the.! Focus on academic vocabulary a good arrowhead do so at this point in the text this bare bones summation why. Weasel in paragraph 8 the hummingbird was an example of a group, the questions themselves may focus academic... And pointed as a rattlesnake academic vocabulary good points about the juxtaposition between choice... At times, the questions themselves may focus on academic vocabulary from paragraph 10 only have,. Dillards short story, she discusses a few basic facts related to a juxtaposition in living like weasels life behavior! She discusses a few basic facts related to a weasels life and.. That like her, the questions themselves may focus on academic vocabulary discusses a few basic related... Syntax and its effects in these lines their essay for homework: describe the varied and! Be part of a group, the questions themselves may focus on academic vocabulary should them!, ( 195 ) heartbeat or her mother talking to her so much and above all, ( 195.!