Eiseley Class

Activity 1: Quote Readings

Hand out to each student a quote written by Loren Eiseley or about Loren Eiseley. Have each student read the quote out loud and interpret what the quote means or how it could pertain to Loren Eiseley.

Activity 2: Journal Preface

Preface:
How many of you keep some form of journal, diary, or personal record of your life?
Why do you choose to log your lifeÕs events?

Read:
"Our Own True Notebook"

Suggested Discussion:
What does he mean by the lines "Éwe would assume that what is was we meant would have been listed in some book set down beyond the skyÕs far reaches, if at all there was a purpose here."

What error is he referring to when he tells us to keep our own true notebook?

Does he feel we have a purpose in life?

He states "It is not the same for all, or what they would dissemble or narrate." What does he imply by this?

Assignment:
Each student must create a journal that they will use throughout the course as a record of these events, feelings, and questions. It should be a reflection of your personality. The studentÕs favorite phrase, quote, or poem should be inscribed somewhere on the journal. It should contain at least 10 full pages of paper. There are no other stipulations on this creation, except to make it something that describes the student.

Focus Activities

Activity 3: Special Possessions

Read:
"The Little Treasures" from Another Kind of Autumn on pages 56-57

Suggested Discussion:
What all does he find on this "great strewn gravel bed of the world"?

Does anyone know what the Olmec heads, Mayan stelae, or Machu Picchu are?

If one line can encapsulates this whole poem, which one would it be?

What is the significance of the stones?

Assignment:
Write a paragraph on your little treasure in your life. It should be something that if it were left behind for the future to see after you were gone, no one else would understand, but in your time it meant something to you. If possible, bring this item or a picture of this item to the next class. Next class go around the room (if class size permits) and have the students stand up and show their little treasures and describe what it is and its significance to them.

Alternative 1: Instead of having them write about this item, tell them the class before to bring this item or a picture of this item to class to share with the rest of the class. Everyone should stand up, show their little treasure, describe what it is and its significance to them.

Alternative 2: If the class is really small, have all of the items secretly placed in the middle of the room. No one should see what each student has brought. As a discussion, hold up each item and have the students discuss what personality traits they think are associated with each item. Then have them guess which item belongs to which person. If they guess correctly, have the person who the item belongs to describe what the item is and its significance to them.

Activity 4: Hats Preface

LOREN COREY EISELEY. Evolutionary biologist, anthropologist, bone hunter, poet, teacher, hobo, historian, naturalist, philosopher, "the heir apparent to Henry David Thoreau" (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Assignment:
Loren Eiseley wore many different hats, different personality characteristics. Have each student choose a hat to write a paper on stating in fact that he did wear that hat with proof from his writings, what that hat means, and why he wore that hat.

Hats: Technologist, Scientist, Anthropologist, Writer, Religious man, Naturalist, Philosopher, Poet, Teacher, Biologist

Activity 5: Poems

Read:
Several of EiseleyÕs poems out loud to the class and have a discussion

Assignment:
Have each student find his/her favorite poem and write a paragraph about why they like it. Have each student read his/her poem out loud at the next class and summarize his/her explanation.

Activity 7: Comparison

Reading:
Have each student read "The Chresmologue" from The Night Country Discussion Discuss the essay. Then read aloud or have the students take home to read the summarization of MacBeth. A good MacBeth summary is by Roger Moore, titled "MacBeth Summary". It is Allstudyguides.com document copyrighted 2000 - 2001. Then, continue the discussion by comparing the two pieces.

Assignment:
Write a paper of comparison of "The Chresmologue" and MacBeth.

Activity 8: Animals

Read:
Several poems pertaining to animals
(A good poem to read now is "The Changelings")

Suggested Discussion:
Discuss why the animals are important visuals for the poems and why they were used.

Assignment:
Have each student write his/her own poem that focuses on an animal. The poem does not need to be too long, but long enough to get a good message into the poem. The animal can be a symbol for the student, for life in general, or for anything they see fit. They should then write a brief paragraph explaining why they used that animal and what the message of the poem is meant to be.

Activity 9: Contemplation

Assignment:
Have each student go on a contemplation time where they are away from worldly distractions. They can go on a walk, hide in their room with the phone off and television off, or any place where they feel they can communicate with their inner self. During their contemplation time they should write down their thoughts in their journal. If anything is too private they do not need to put it, but should note that they were thinking about personal issues that they do not wish to discuss. When they are done with this 30 minute to 1 hour contemplation time, they should answer the following questions in their journal: Does your mind think differently when you tune worldly distractions out? What do you tend to think about? What do you think of the topics you were thinking about? Why do you think you thought about those topics? This journal should not be shared with other students but only for the eyes of the teacher to make sure they completed the assignment and look over the questions they were asked to answer.

Activity 10: Favorite Eiseley

Assignment:
Have each student find their favorite essay, poem, or quote by Eiseley. The take this piece and represent it visually for the display in the class. This can be through a poster, model, or anything that they see fit to justify their interests in the piece or to make others understand this piece.

Activity 11: Star Thrower

Read:
"The Star Thrower"

Suggested Discussion:
Have a class discussion about this piece. See if anyone has ever read or heard this piece before. Read to them the comments some people had about this piece. Use the study guide by Tony Guetersloh for leading the discussion.

Assignment:
Assign each student a symbol from the essay to interpret. They must write a paragraph describing its significance, importance to the essay, and its meaning.

Symbols

Section I: Costabel Beach, Skull and the Eye, The Star Thrower, Shellfish, and Starfish

Section II: Twisters, The Trickster, The Shadow

Section III: Photographs of EiseleyÕs Mother, The Shadows, Shipwrecks

Activity 12: Book Readings

Read:
Any of the books by Eiseley

Suggested Discussion:
Have the students get into groups of two or three and assign each group a chapter from the book to discuss. They should answer the following:

Symbols
Topics
Message
1-2 Favorite quotes

Conclusion Activity

Preface:
Show the students a copy of the Friends of Loren Eiseley Newsletter

Assignment:
Have each student write a piece for submission to the newsletter. It can be anything they see fit to be put in the newsletter. It could be some research they did, their feelings on his works in general, an interpretation of a piece of his work, etc.

Field Trips

**Look at map enclosed in the brochure for locations for possible tours.

EiseleyÕs Lincoln for High School Students (small classes)

Take a field trip around Lincoln to the various points on the map, specifically the family gravesites, his homes, Uncle BuckÕs home, the Gold Wheel Mansion, the country club, the tunnels, the Bennett Martin Library, and Morrill Hall. (If possible go in the order listed.)

At each location, do an activity. Some activities are listed below for certain location. For each location, a good activity to do at least is read some of his writings or biographical information about the location.

Family Home from 1918 to 1928
2116 S. 22nd Street

EiseleyÕs Lincoln for College Students (small classes)

Take a field trip around Lincoln to the various points on the map, specifically the his homes, Uncle BuckÕs home, the Gold Wheel Mansion, the country club, and the tunnels. (If possible go in the order listed.)

Field Trip to Wyuka

Inform them about the people that are buried there. Give them a little background information about each person.

Give them the following information: Loren Eiseley died on July 9, 1977 Mabel Eiseley died on July 27, 1986 Mabel Eiseley was buried beside her husband in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala-Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Their rough-hewn headstone, overarched by the branches of a great horse chestnut tree, bears a single line from his poem The Little Treasures: We Loved The Earth But Could Not Stay

Have them find something in the cemetary that interests them and write a brief description of it or sketch a picture of it. They should also write a brief paragraph about why it interested them.

Field Trip to the Gold Wheel Mansion

Read "The Gold Wheel" from The Night Country prior to this trip .

Have a discussion about it in the park next to the house

The Gold Wheel Mansion located at 20th and Euclid Avenue.

Field Trip to the Tunnels

Tunnels at 14th and Harrison

Read some pieces from the stories with the Rat and Eiseley

Bennett Martin Library

Watch a video from when Eiseley narrated for scientific television shows to let them know the type of person Eiseley was.

Look at the photo album of Eiseley

Read and discuss the poem "The Dollhouse". Use the dollhouse there as a visual aid.

This could also be the time to have them do some research of there own on Loren Eiseley or find their favorite poem by Eiseley.

Morrill Hall Museum

Go into the big main room on the first floor and discuss EiseleyÕs thoughts on evolution.

Show them the piece that Eiseley found, the leg bone and skull.

Go into various parts of the museum and discuss what EiseleyÕs thoughts on the items would be.

Go to the Charles Darwin exhibit. This could be a segue into watching the Evolution Series first segment about Charles Darwin in the next class, leading to a discussion on how Eiseley used DarwinÕs thoughts and concepts in a lot of his works. A possible assignment could be a comparison of what Eiseley thought versus what Darwin thought

There are all kinds of options on how to handle the field trips. The main key is to do what the students will get the most out of.