Zen Parables (for the Zen Buddhism Lesson)

Zen Parables

Muddy Road
Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
“Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until hat night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”
“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”


A Parable
Buddha told a parable in a sutra.
A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.
Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine in one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted.

Publishing the Sutras
Tetsugen, a devotee of Zen Japan , decided to publish the sutras, which at the time were available only in Chinese. The books were to be printed with wood blocks in an edition of seven thousand copies, a tremendous undertaking.
Tetsugen began by traveling and collecting donations for this purpose. A few sympathizers would give him a hundred pieces of gold. but most of the time he received only small coins. He thanked each donor with equal gratitude. After ten years Tetsugen had enough money to begin his task.
It happened that at that time the Uji River overflowed. Famine followed. Tetsugen took the funds he had collected for the books and spent them to save the others from starvation. Then he began again his work of collecting.
Several years afterwards an epidemic spread over the country. Tetsugen again gave away what he had collected, to help his people.
For a third time he started his work, and after twenty years his wish was fulfilled. The printing blocks which produced the first edition of the sutras can be seen today in the Obaku monastery in Kyoto .
The Japanese tell their children that tetsugen made three sets of sutras, and that the first two invisible sets surpass even the last.



The Thief Who Became a Disciple
One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras a thief with a sharp sword entered, demanding either his money or his life.
Shichri told him: “Do not disturb me. You can find money in that drawer.” Then he resumed his recitation.
A little while afterwards he stopped and called: “Don’t take it all. I need some to pay taxes tomorrow.”
The intruder gathered up most of the money and started to leave. “Thank a person when you receive a gift” Shichiri added. The man thanked him and made off.
A few days afterwards the fellow was caught and confessed, among others, the offense against Shichiri. When shichiri was called as a witness he said: “this man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned, I gave him the money and he thanked me for it.”
After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became his disciple.

Samurai book groups (South PM)

1
Ellen
Bryan
Ahaviah
Riley

2
ALexandra
Rati
Gavin
Paxton

3
Dan
Eli
Mollie
Stuart

4
Maddy K
Isaac
Taylor
Keegan

5
Chris
Geoffrey
Laure
Jeff L

6
Sally
Eugene
Alexander
Bronwyn

7
Efrain
Rey
Andy
Grace

8
Bayunt
Madeline P
Julian
Daanan

samurai book groups (South AM)

1
Michael
Xiaolou
Graham
Kaaren

2
Bobby Kenneth
Catherine
DOnovan
Emily

3
Imandra
Keegan
Haegen
Peter

4
Patrick
Colin
Samara
Nina

5
Natalie
Anna
ELie
Evan

6
Kai
Brandon
Alex
ELeni

7
Ryan
Ally
Kurt
Connor

8
Shelby
Juhyun
Ellen
Angel
Thomas

Sheldon Book Groups (PM)

1
Steven
Justin
Cory
Dana

2
Nick
Joseph
Jessica
Kyle

3
Britt
Bronte
Lisa
Sarah S

4
Hannah
Blair
Taylor O
Stephanie

5
Linda
Josh
Garrett
Lauren

6
Paige
Stefan
Becca
Breanna
Erik

7
Sylvie
Jon
Jacob B
Alex
Sophie

8
Cam
Rayven
Hranush
Nathan H

Sheldon Book Groups (AM)

SOUTH AM

1
Kara
Peyton
Jacob C
Matt
Nathan

2
Breanna
Christine
Stephanie R
Kayla M

3
Coral
Kaitlyn
Erin B
Garret G

4
Kayla O
Madeline
Hannah M
Randall

5
Jakob S
Kelsey
Taylor T
Keaton

6
Kaisha
Mia
Jason
Taylor D.

7
Bin
Lauren
Natasha
Garrett H

8
Blake
Abbie
Erin H
Holly C

9
Stephanie H
Leah
Jonathan
Dominic

Samurai's Garden Book Group Assignments

Global Literature Name: _________________________
The Samurai’s Garden


IMPORTANT: Make sure that you write the assignment number and letter on all of your assignments, and please do not forget to write your name on every paper you turn in.
All work should be neat and typed.
Assignments will be stamped on the day they are due. Late work will receive reduced credit.
Every assignment is worth 20 points. Students will receive individual grades.
If all work is in and on time, each group member will receive an additional 5 points.
Group members have the right to take on the work of non-participating members from their group and may complete that student’s assignments for extra credit. The non-participating student will need to complete his/her own work and turn it in independently, with a penalty of 5 points.

Assignment One: Samurai’s Garden pp. 1 – 53

____ A. Asian Poetry:
1. Find an Asian poem that expresses the theme of nature. Present the poem in an aesthetically pleasing way (typed, calligraphy, pictures, background or bordered paper etc.). Make sure that you include the date the poem was written, the author, and the country it is from.
2. Then, interpret the poem and discuss how it relates to The Samurai’s Garden . (one page typed minimum).
____ B. Garden Drawing /Japanese Gardens:
1. Research the elements of Japanese gardens including rock gardens.
2. Create a drawing of a Japanese garden (include green AND dry garden elements).
Pay close attention to the description of the garden in the novel. The drawing should be neat, on unlined paper, and we would appreciate it if it were colored.
3. Write a description of your garden as if you were strolling through it, explaining the different elements. Try to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.
____ C. Leprosy:
1. Research leprosy. What is it? How is it contracted? Is it treatable? How were lepers treated in Japan, and specifically in Yamaguchi/Tarumi? How are they treated today? Where in the world is leprosy still endemic? Write an expository paper answering the above questions. Make sure to use your own words and cite your sources (one page typed minimum)
_____ D. Illustrated settings:
1. Create a scrapbook page for Tarumi and Yamaguchi. Find pictures, or create your own illustrations of the two villages.
2. Add descriptions and at least four quotations from the text to give an accurate portrayal of the setting and the role these two settings play in the lives of the characters. Remember, a setting can be multi-layered. Think of physical and emotional landscape (the emotional response to a place) when you design your pages.



Assignment Two: Samurai’s Garden pp. 54 – 95

______ A. Japanese festivals:
1. Research and write about these four festivals, one for each season. (Shobun No Hi, Ganjitsu, Setsuban, Obon) What are some of the typical customs related to this festival? When is it held? What is the reason for this festival?
2. Write a half page explaining how the festivals are part of the novel (for pg. 1 – 95 only).
_____ B. Loneliness, solitude, and longing:
.1. “It’s harder than I imagined to be alone. I suppose I might get used to it, like an empty canvas you slowly begin to fill” (The Samurai’s Garden 13). How do feelings of loneliness and longing affect the characters in this novel? Give specific examples from the text. How do you relate to these feelings of loneliness?
_____ C. Setting:
1. Describe two different places in the novel (in detail) that are significant to Stephen. Use at least three quotations per setting to support your descriptions. How are the settings significant to the story? How does the physical landscape relate to the emotional landscape? (feel free to illustrate)
_____ D. Letter to Man-mee:
1. Reread the description of Stephen writing the letter to his mother (bottom of page 87). Write the letter as Stephen describes it. Pay close attention to stylistics information so that you can write the letter with Stephen’s voice. Make sure to add to and not simply mirror the description in the novel

Assignment Three: Samurai’s Garden pp. 96 – 159.

______ A. Relationships:
1. Write an analysis of the development of one relationship in The Samurai’s Garden. Use quotations and examples from the text to support your understanding of the relationship.
______ B. Illustrated plot:
1. Create an illustrated time line for this section of The Samurai’s Garden. You will need to decide what is significant. You can create your own drawings or use pictures from magazines. Add quotations (at least five) to supplement your time line.
______ C. Honor:
1. Discuss the theme of honor in this novel. What questions does the author pose about honor? How does she answer them? How do the different characters show honor?
2. How is honor defined in our society? Is it different/similar to honor in this novel? How does it apply to your life?
______ D. A different point of view:
1. Reread Sachi’s account of her relationship with Kenzo and Matsu. (128 – 152). Now rewrite the story from Matsu’s point of view. Try to use Matsu’s voice in your story. Go beyond a retelling and focus on the inner conflicts Matsu faces (2-3 pages typed)



Assignment Four: Samurai’s Garden pp. 160 – 211
______ A. Poetry:
1. Write a poem that illustrates the complexity of Yamaguchi in the novel. What does the village mean to the people in the The Samurai’s Garden? How is it perceived in Tarumi? Think of the sounds, sights, scents, tastes, textures, emotions, and of Yamaguchi to create a poem rich in imagery. Include three poetic devices or more (similes, metaphors, allusions, onomatopoeia etc.)
2. Label your poetic devices (rhyme, alliteration, allusion, onomatopoeia, metaphors).
3. Length: 15 lines minimum. Rhyme is optional.
______B. Letter to Pie:
1. Reread Pie’s letter to Stephen (172-3). Note how Pie has been affected by her work for the Red Cross. Write a letter to Pie in which Stephen explains how he has been transformed by his visits to Yamaguchi. Relate his transformation to changes in Pie’s character. Handwrite this letter on (homemade) stationary.
______C. Kimono for Sachi:
1. Draw a kimono & fill it with images that show the complexity of Sachi’s character. Use Japanese characters, symbols, colors, and objects etc. Find information on the symbolic nature of objects in Japanese culture. For example, the crane is a symbol for good luck. Include a brief explanation of your kimono (1/2 page minimum).
______D. Comparing characters and themes:
Create a symbolic representation of the relationships between characters in The Samurai’s Garden. You will create a visual that shows the dynamic between the characters. For example, the relationship between Matsu and Sachi can be represented by a sword: It has gone through some of the hottest fires and some of the fiercest battles but has stood the test of time. It was forged by many layers, which give it its strength. The sword now hangs on the wall, stronger than before (example thanks to Emily Ventura).

Bonus Assignments:

Symbolic objects:

A. Find four significant objects in the novel that are symbolic of themes in the novel. Write a description of how each object is part of the story. Then explain how these objects are symbolic of the theme.

In Class:

1. Create a chart of themes and characters in The Samurai’s Garden that bear resemblance to the themes and characters you have encountered in literature you have read this year. These works can include novels, poems, stories, movies, essays etc. Explain how they are similar. Go beyond the big similarities. What about the way you reacted to the works? Were personal connections you made similar? Lessons? Ideas? Think about the many ways literature bridges cultural differences and helps us understand the complexity of human existence. For example: You can discuss how resistance was part of three different works (at least four themes).

Outline for Night Essay

Name: _______________________________________ School: _________ Section: _________
I. H. S. Writing Guide: Expository Writing Outline: _________
Persuasive Writing Outline: ___________

TOPIC:_________________________________________________________________________
I. Introduction
A. Attention getter and short background: ______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

B. Thesis & Blueprint____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

II. Transition and TOPIC SENTENCE A: First supporting argument, illustration or piece of evidence in support of your thesis

Supporting details: Provide specifics about the paragraph A topic. (include a cited passage)
1.

2.

3.

4.


III. Transition and TOPIC SENTENCE B: Second supporting argument, illustration or piece of evidence in support of your thesis


Supporting details: Provide specifics about the paragraph B topic. (include a cited passage)
1.

2.

3.

4.



IV. Transition and TOPIC SENTENCE C: Third supporting argument, illustration or piece of evidence in support of your thesis


Supporting details: Provide specifics about the paragraph C topic. (include a cited passage)
1.

2.

3.

4.


V. Conclusion: Write a thoughtful, original, creative summary, rewording, or review of your thesis. Be careful to avoid introducing any new ideas as this is a restatement of what you have already proven!

A. Transition and echo of thesis___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

B. Remind reader of three main points_______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

C. End interestingly with an application for your reader____________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

VI. TITLE: The last thing you need to do is create a title. An example of a title for an expository essay:
Love and Loyalty on the Homefront: A Comparison of Penelope in The Odyssey
and Penny in O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?
Or, if you are writing a persuasive essay:
The Romans: Why Military Expansion Led to Their Downfall
Your Title:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The focus of this paper may be on one or more of the following writing conventions,

_____ Introduction (writing "hooks" as part of the introduction)
_____ Writing conclusions (do new ideas ever fit here?)
_____ Thesis development (the key to any writing)
_____ Citations (the when, where, and how of citing in MLA style)
_____ Integrating quotes (provide clear signal phrases that include author’s name)
_____ How to paraphrase (retelling information in roughly the same number of words)
_____ Voice: writing for the proper audience (writing “voice” changes based on your audience)
_____ Writing effective titles (sets the tone. Your reader’s first impression is formed)
_____ Rewriting and editing (the importance of proof-reading and fixing mistakes)
_____ Conventions: Grammar and syntax (the key to your paper making sense)

Holocaust Museum

Global Literature
Unit: The Holocaust

Holocaust Remembrance Gallery

On May 21st and 22nd our classroom will be transformed into an art gallery. The exhibition titled, In Memoriam, will feature works created by every student in your Global Literature class.

Expectations:

You will create a sculpture that shows your response to the Holocaust. We would like you to take one idea, question, theme, moment from Night and create a sculpture to represent this. The best works of art show complexity of thought and make a personal statement about the Holocaust. For example, if you build a cattle car it would be inappropriate. If you build a cattle car, add poetry images, quotes, etc. then it becomes a personal statement. Art is a language that allows you to express ideas you might not be able to put into words. It comments, challenges, connects, questions, debates, synthesizes, and heals.

Your sculpture must:

1. Be 3-D
2. Be respectful of those who suffered during and because of the Holocaust.
3. Be connected to Night. (A moment, a passage, an idea, a character, etc)
4. Be accompanied by a museum card (about 1/2 a page) which states:
a. your name
b. the title of your work
c. an explanation of your work which includes the specific reference to Night

Evaluation:

1. You followed our instructions: 3D, Museum card (10 pts)
2. Connection to Night is specific, explained, and thoughtful (25pts)
3. Your work shows effort (20pts)
4. Your work is creative and goes beyond the obvious (you took some time to create something that shows YOUR ideas) (25pts)

Total: 80 points

Holocaust poems

Riddle

From Belsen a crate of gold teeth
from Dachau a mountain of shoes,
from Auschwitz a skin lampshade,
Who killed the Jews?

Not I, cries the typist,
Not I, cries the engineer,
Not I, cries Adolf Eichmann
Not I, cries Albert Speer.

My friend Fritz Nova lost his father-
a petty official had to choose.
My friend Lou Abrahms lost his brother.
Who killed the Jews?

David Nova swallowed gas,
Hyman Abrahms was beaten and starved.
Some men signed their papers,
and some stood guard,

and some herded them in,
and some dropped the pellets,
and some spread the ashes,
and some hosed the walls.

and some planted the wheat.
and some poured the steel,
and some cleared the rails,
and some raised the cattle.

Some smelled the smoke,
some just heard the news.
Were they Germans? Were they Nazis?
Were they human? Who killed the Jews?

The stars will remember the gold,
the sun will remember the shoes,
the moon will remember the skin.
But who killed the Jews?

William Heyen



I Keep Forgetting

I keep forgetting
the facts and statistics
and each time
I need to know them

I look up books
these books line
twelve shelves
in my room

I know where to go
to confirm the fact
that in the Warsaw Ghetto
there were 7.2 people per room

and in Lodz
they allocated
5.8 people
to each room

I forget
over and over again
that one third of Warsaw
was Jewish

and in the ghetto
they crammed 500.000 Jews
into 2.4 per cent
of the area of the city

and how many
bodies they were burning
in Auschwitz
at the peak of their production


twelve thousand a day
I have to check
and re-check

and did I dream
that at 4pm on the 19th of January
58,000 emaciated inmates
were marched out of Auschwitz

was I right
to remember that in Bergen Belsen
from the 4th-13th of April 1945
28,000 Jews arrived from other camps

I can remember
hundreds and hundreds
of phone numbers

phone numbers
I haven’t phoned
for twenty years
are readily accessible

and I can remember
people’s conversations
and what someone’s wife
said to someone else’s husband

what a good memory
you have
people tell me




La Pathetique

on La Pathetique
the sound invades my skin
enlarges my heart

the notes drop
into channels
of sadness

piercing
puncturing
pain

Beethoven
must have been
broken hearted
when he wrote this sonata

I hum
I nod my head
I conduct the performance
from my car

this listening
to music
is new to me

for years
I required silence

I was listening
for murderers

I was expecting
menace

I was prepared
for peril

I was waiting
for disaster

and
couldn’t be disturbed.

Lily Brett











Pigtail

When all the women in the transport
had their heads shaved
four workmen with brooms made of birch twigs
swept up
and gathered up the hair

Behind clean glass
the stiff hair lies
of those suffocated in gas chambers
there are pins and side combs
in this hair

The hair is not shot through with light
is not parted by the breeze
is not touched by any hand
or rain or lips

In huge chests
clouds of dry hair
of those suffocated
and a faded plait
a pigtail with a ribbon
pulled at school
by naughty boys.

The Museum, Auschwitz, 1948
Tadeusz Rozewicz
(Translated by Adam Czerniawki)





First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for trade unionist
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Niemoller




Auschwitz, August 1988
Linda Ashear

I
My travel agent said,
Why do you want to go there?

II
Silence cracks the world wide open.
A crow shrieks.

III
No one screams in the cement room.
I fix my eye on the door,
remind myself that Zyklon B
is something that happened to somebody else

IV
I follow tracks to the horizon.
Black sandals leave their mark
in fine gray dust.
Gravel crunches, walking sleeping ghosts.
Three white moths circle my head.

V
In the women’s section, Israeli tourists
enter Barracks 26. One old woman
wanders through rows of wooden bunks,
stops, stares, points…
This was my bed.

VI
At the ruined crematorium our guide
bends to pick up something from the earth.
Open you hand, she says.
What is it?
Bone, she says.
A stone grows in my throat.
After Auschwitz, words, like lungs, collapse





Goethe’s Tree
Annie Dawi

Red triangle covers
left breast pocket.
NO for Norwegian,
no tattoo on the wrist
-numbers for Jews only

“German intellectual material”
was Reidar, with his blue eyes
and white-blond hair. Reidar
himself says he looked like
an SS recruitment poster.

Corpse carrier at Buchenwald,
Reidar was, at 19, a veteran
of the underground resistance,
arrested for singing anti-German
songs, and later for sinking
a just-christened German ship.

In the middle of Buchenwald,
Reidar remembers an old oak
around which filed
10,000 Hungarian Jews
who arrived one day in 1945

Rediar says, “smoke poured
forth so voluminously
that daylight didn’t break through.”

In the final months,
Reidar and the others
carried their own skeletons
around this oak,
whose brass plaque reads:

“Under this tree
Goethe sat
and wrote some of his most
beautiful poetry.”

Holocaust Poetry Assignment

Holocaust Poetry Analysis Name:__________________
Global Literature

Poetry can express, in language, feelings and ideas that are often the most difficult to express. Today we will be looking at a number of poems written during and following the Holocaust where the authors tried to give words to an almost indescribable ordeal. You will be exploring these poems and analyzing them for form, sound, and meaning. Below is a refresher regarding how to analyze a poem. Each analysis should be about a half page (I’d prefer typed if possible).
• Read the poem once, then re-read it making notes on: sound, form, and meaning. Since this poem is hanging up, you may want to copy it down or just write notes on what you are seeing.
• Finally, make a conclusion about what the poem’s message seems to be. (Relax: there is not one “correct” meaning as long as you can give support from the poem that would be convincing and intriguing to reasonable people.)
• Analyze this poem using the methods we talked about in class. Begin with your conclusion about the main message. Support this argument with examples you found in the form (syntax), sound, word choice (diction), imagery, and figurative language.

You must analyze at least four poems today in class using the method above. However, you are not “done” once you have analyzed four. Extra strong work will receive extra credit. Extra strong work includes more than four strong analysis write-ups or four strong write ups in a poetry book like the example in class.

Night Study Guide

Global Literature Name:________________________
Unit: Holocaust

Chapter 1:

1. What do the following lines tell us about the people of Sighet? What might explain this mood?

A. “Yes, we even doubted that he wanted to exterminate us. Was he going to wipe out a whole people? Could he exterminate a population scattered throughout so many countries? So many millions? What methods could he use? And in the middle of the twentieth century!”




B. “Little by little life returned to normal. The barbed wire which fenced us in did not cause us any real fear. We thought ourselves rather well off.




C. “At dawn there was nothing left of this melancholy. We felt as if we were on holiday. Maybe we were being deported for our own good.”





2. Explain the importance (symbolic meaning) of the following passage.
Be sure to refer to the underlined words. What do they represent? What is ironic about them?

Night. No one prayed, so that the night would pass quickly. The stars were only sparks of the fire which devours us. Should that fire die out one day, the would be nothing left in the sky but dead stars, dead eyes (Wiesel 18)










Chapter 2:

1. Write down one line from Night that you think best describes the experience of the transport. Why did you select this line?





2. Give one example of how Elie Wiesel creates a sense of foreboding in this chapter (foreshadowing)?




Chapter 3:

1. Why were Elie and his father persuaded to lie about their ages? What difference would it have made?


2. One of the prisoners in charge gave Elie some advice for surviving in the concentration camps. What did he advise?


Chapter 4:

1. Possessions take on a very significant role in this chapter. Give an example of what the prisoners did to obtain or keep their possessions.



2. Who was the “sad-eyed angel”? Why was he killed?



3. Juxtapose these two remarks about soup.
“I remember that I found the soup excellent that evening” (Wiesel 60)
“That night the soup tasted of corpses” (Wiesel 62)
What do these lines show us about Elie Wiesel’s changed character?






Chapter 5:

1. What do Elie Wiesel’s prayers tell us about his internal conflict regarding his faith?



2. How important was luck in surviving the concentration camp? Explain.




Chapter 6:

1. Why are the prisoners marching?

2. Describe the hardships of this journey.




3. Where are they going?

4. What happens at this new camp that forces Elie Wiesel into a struggle to survive?



5. What does Juliek, the violinist, represent?



Chapter 7:

1. There are several moments where Elie Wiesel focuses our attention to family relationships, usually in regard to fathers and sons. Why does he do that? What do the different examples show us about the relationship between Elie and his father?










2. How old is Elie Wiesel at this point in the book?

Chapter 8:

1. Show Elie Wiesel’s reaction to his father’s deteriorating health.



2.What was Elie Wiesel’s father’s last word before he died?

3. Explain the significance of the last words in this chapter: “free at last” (Wiesel 106)




Chapter 9:

1. What does Elie Wiesel see in the mirror after liberation? Explain.







Response:

1. What moment in the memoir was the most

A. Shocking


B. Terrifying


C. Sad


D. Hopeful


2. Read the foreword to Night. Write a short foreword to introduce the memoir. Why should it be read? What did you get out of it?