Question

choose two and decide which of the four \keys\ applies, then briefly explain why, using the key words.
a. beautiful writing makes you think about humanity and the world around us
b. beautiful writing makes you feel something, stirs your emotions
c. beautiful writing paints a picture that appeals to the senses
d. beautiful writing inspires you (to do something, to make a change...)
1.
this passage is beautiful writing because...
\you think because he doesnt love you that you are worthless. you think that because he doesnt want you anymore that he is right - that his judgment and opinion of you are correct. if he throws you out, then you are garbage. you think he belongs to you because you want to belong to him. dont. its a bad word, belong. especially when you put it with somebody you love. love shouldnt be like that. did you ever see the way the clouds love a mountain? they circle all around it; sometimes you cant even see the mountain for the clouds. but you know what? you go up top and what do you see? his head. the clouds never cover the head. his head pokes through, because the clouds let him; they dont wrap him up. they let him keep his head up high, free, with nothing to hide him or bind him. you cant own a human being. you cant lose what you dont own. suppose you did own him. could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? you really want somebody like that? somebody who falls
2.
this passage is beautiful writing because
\it doesnt interest me what you do for a living. i want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your hearts longing.
it doesnt interest me how old you are. i want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
it doesnt interest me what planets are squaring your moon. i want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by lifes betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
i want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
it doesnt interest me if the story you are telling me is true. i want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
i want to know if you can see beauty even when its not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
i want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, yes!
3.
this passage is beautiful writing because...
\sometimes i can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives im not living.\ - jonathan safran foer, extremely loud and
incredibly close
4.
this passage is beautiful writing because...
from barbara willards the sping of broom:
\it was mid - october, the harvest was well - stored. the sun was as hot as if it shone in the first week of september, but a tumbling sky threw great clouds before the wind, and when the sun was obscured then all the promise of winter was in the air. but it was magic weather, a gift to sweeten the sadness of the ending year. there were still blackberries, thick and dripping with juice, but these would remain on the bushes, for by now, as it
5.
this passage is beautiful writing because...
\oh! but he was a tight - fisted hand at the grindstone, scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! hard and sharp as a flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret and self - contained, and solitary as an oyster.\ - charles dickens, \a christmas carol\
6.
this passage is beautiful writing because...
\in the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. in the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. the trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.\ - ernest hemingway, a farewell to arms
excerpts of beautiful writing
was said, the devil had spat on them and they should not be eaten. so birds gorged themselves, and the ground and the leaves of the brambles were strewn with purple droppings. the water, half shadow and half glitter, threw back the colors of beech and bracken tossing them over the boulders like gold and copper coins.\

Explanation:

1. Passage 1:

• The text makes the reader think about love, self - worth, and the nature of human relationships (A). It also stirs emotions as it questions common beliefs about love and belonging (B).
• For example, the lines “You think because he doesn’t love you that you are worthless... Love shouldn’t be like that” make the reader reflect on human values (A). The emotional tone of questioning one's self - worth based on another's love (or lack thereof) stirs emotions (B).

1. Passage 2:

• It makes the reader think about what truly matters in life (humanity aspects like dreams, love, and facing life's challenges) (A). It also stirs emotions as it touches on themes of hope, vulnerability, and the courage to live (B).
• Phrases like “I want to know what you ache for... if you will risk looking like a fool for love” make the reader ponder human longings (A). The overall tone of seeking meaning and the emotional risks described stir emotions (B).

1. Passage 3:

• The line “Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living” makes the reader think about unfulfilled potential and the human condition (A). It can also stir a sense of melancholy or reflection (emotions) (B).

1. Passage 4:

• The description “It was mid - October... the promise of winter was in the air. But it was magic weather” paints a vivid picture (C). The use of sensory details like the sun being “hot as if it shone in the first week of September” and the description of blackberries “thick and dripping with juice” appeals to the senses (sight, maybe even the imagined taste).
• Also, the passage might inspire a sense of appreciation for nature (D) as it describes a beautiful autumn scene.

1. Passage 5:

• The description of Scrooge as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as a flint...” paints a vivid picture (C) using strong adjectives and metaphors. It also might inspire a negative view of greed (D) as it is a harsh portrayal of a greedy character.

1. Passage 6:

• The description “In the late summer... the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees” paints a vivid picture (C) with details about the setting (village, river, road, soldiers). It might also inspire a sense of nostalgia or a view of a by - gone era (D) depending on the reader's perspective.

Answer:

1. A and B
2. A and B
3. A and B
4. C and D
5. C and D
6. C and D