Assignment task:
Step One: Read the first six paragraphs of the essay, "Seeing" by Annie Dillard, then use the following questions to start a response.
1. Dillard uses several anecdotes (or short stories) to make her arguments. Write your own anecdote, of a time when you perhaps "saw" something others did not... or a time when you saw something that made you stop and ponder... or a moment from your youth or yesterday, where you simply felt the need to slow down and search for the pennies in your life.
2. Consider connecting Dillard's arguments to current events.... paying attention does not just refer to the small things in life... what issues do you think we should be paying closer attention to?
Step Two: Choose a location to sit and write about for four days. Observe this space for four days straight... writing about it each day. Organize it like a journal entry... day one... day two etc. For each day describe in detail what you see/observe. Use the following questions to help guide you... what is around you... what can you hear... what can you see... what can you smell... how you are you occupying that space... what questions does the space pose... what is the special significance of the space to you or to those in it... who else inhabits this space with you... what connections does the space make to other parts of your life...what purpose does the space serve...
Step Three: Reflect on the experience of writing and observing a single object for four days straight. How does giving yourself the space and time to really pay attention help you see things differently? Connect your writing to Dillards' writing. Describe her writing style and the way he sees the world, people, and the places around him. How does she inject humor into the writing? Could you go back into what you wrote about the space for four days and add such color to your writing? Try it. Include the four-day journal and this reflection in no less than a one-page single-spaced response.