Quick Literary Lesson from The Mansion

A few years ago, during the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional, President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk titled, "Because He Came." In this talk, he shared the three things he traditionally reads each and every Christmas season and what they mean to him. One of the three was the story "The Mansion" written long ago by Henry Van Dyke. Though President Monson shared a brief summary of the story in his talk, I figured that if this is a story the prophet reads every year, I should at least read it once in my life.

As per usual, Deseret Book jumped on that and published a new edition of the story in its own book. This being the 100th Anniversary Edition, it contains both the original story as written by Van Dyke, and an abridged picture book version for younger children. This book is very well done, and it lends itself perfectly to a one-day lesson on what unabridged  and abridged mean. Further, it exposes children to the rich language of the original, while also bringing the meaning of the story to younger minds not yet full able to understand that language.

When I shared this with my children, I read aloud the original unabridged version first. I wanted to see if they would be able to understand and follow it before I gave them the simplified version. Every so often I paused reading and asked questions. If we came to a word we/they were unfamiliar with, we searched its meaning. Happily, they were able to follow it. Then we talked about what abridged books are and I read the picture book story. Both versions are short enough to make this an easy-to-grasp lesson in one afternoon, as opposed to reading two whole novels over the course of days or weeks to see the difference.

I will say that everyone should read Henry Van Dyke's original unabridged story. If you think that knowing the summary of this story is enough because you "get" the meaning, think again. I learned a lot from the son in this story and the dialogue between him and his father, which isn't well represented in the abridged version, or a summary. While it's important to know the moral of this story, a summary is just half a serving of the meal this story is.

EYH: Comparison Essays

EYH stands for Eat Your Homework. I am a big proponent of tying as many senses as possible into the educational experience, and raising a house full of boys has really shown me the power of food. I use food in units/lessons as often as I can. It makes an impression.

Food lends itself so well to being a great introduction to writing comparison essays. I mean, if you were to tell your kids, "Today we'll be learning how to write comparison essays," how many would get excited about that? But if you pull out tantalizing goodies to use as tools, they perk up. Don't worry, this doesn't reduce literary analysis to cheap sugar. It does give you a motivating and understandable way to introduce steps and formats from which to launch into deeper thoughts later, though.

Our first comparison exercise was with Cheese Nips and Original Cheez-Its. In addition to the obvious taste testing and the fact that they look almost the same (there are subtle differences), we studied ingredients and nutritional information, package sizes, cost, and brands. We used Venn diagrams to chart the similarities and differences. This was a case of comparing two very similar items.

Next we took to comparing three things that all have an obvious commonality--candy bars with chocolate and crisped rice--but that also differ in many ways, such as additional ingredients, shape, and texture.

After completing the Venn diagram for the candy bars, I taught them the two basic formats of comparison essays:  alternating and block.

Using our diagrams from the crackers, I walked them through a simple essay outline, point for point to show them an example. Then we tried turning it into an actual essay together. That got animated in a hurry because they didn't agree with all of my descriptions or conclusions, so we had to discuss and compromise on the actual wording. I actually loved that. It was a good use of language skills on everyone's part.

The next step was the assignment I gave them to take this lesson and write their own comparison essays on two pieces of literature they'd just read.  For my younger kids, it was to compare two Lois Lenski books of their choice, reading they've been doing with their U.S. geography studies. For my older son, I asked him to write a comparison essay on two books that have been part of his literature course--Lord of the Flies and Call of the Wild.

I actually did a similar exercise to this with my Journalism crew, and in addition to crackers had them compare Harry Potter with The Lord of the Rings and/or Disney's Tangled with Sleeping Beauty. They could either focus on comparing main characters, or villains, or plot lines, or compare all of it together. 

When we (my family) was done with this activity, one of my boys said, "We should do this experiment every week and see if we can find more differences." I don't think there are any more differences to be found, but it would be yummy to give it a try! Bottom line, though, is that thinking critically about food can teach you to think critically about literature (and anything else you may need to compare in real life decision making).

Homeward Bound

I've spent some time this past week seeking additions to my November playlist and I found a "new" song (new to me) that has my heart stirring. "Homeward Bound," written by Marta Keen Thompson, is a very powerful, very emotional, very meaningful song. I've thought so much about it, both when I'm listening to it, and when I'm not. I've listened to several different arrangements and performances, but my favorite so far is by BYU's Vocal Point combined with the All-American Boys Choir.

I think there are many messages and possible interpretations in these lyrics, all of them profound. My first thoughts were of my children and how they need to find their own missions in life and not be chained to whatever my issues or plans are. I have always been an independent person myself and I understand that urge to forge and seek and find my own way on the open road. As insanely hard as it is, it is absolutely right for my children to grow up and be who they want and need to be. This doesn't mean a severing of ties or a dissolving of the family; the road that leads away from home is not one way. 

Of course, my thoughts always turn to education, and specifically homeschooling, and how it should facilitate these higher ideals. With a son currently serving a mission and another preparing to go, the growth I see in both of them as the mature and become their own men is amazing. It is ever so hard to say goodbye, but how it would hurt them if I bound them to my pasture and didn't let them go where they needed and were supposed to go. It's both my pleasure and my pain to prepare them as best I can for whatever journeys lay ahead.

Second, I thought of the Plan of Salvation and how each of us leaves our Heavenly Home to find and fulfill our earthly missions and callings. I wonder if I leaped from my Celestial moorings with too much anticipation to look back longingly, or if I turned to wave and sigh and take a mental picture, hoping I'd get back someday.

Bryce Haymond has many other musings on the meaning of "Homeward Bound" that are worth reading and thinking about. Other meaningful musings come from those who had a hand in putting Vocal Point's arrangement and video together (see video below). In the end, I hope we are all homeward bound, metaphorically, spiritually, and in reality. This song makes me thankful for agency, for growth, for music, and for the ability to see and understand truth.

My November Playlist

We listen to a lot of music at our house. During December (and often November or even October!) Christmas music is almost constant on the stereo. We love the sounds of the season and everyone keeps rotating in their favorite CDs in the CD changer and singing along as we go about our day. The past couple of years, however, I’ve sought to create a November playlist to specifically reflect and enhance the kind of thoughts and feelings I want to have in my heart this time of year. As much as I love Christmas, I don’t want Thanksgiving overlooked.

I’d like to share some of my favorite songs for November with you. In many cases you will likely already know the song, but I’ll tell you my favorite arrangements and performers as well.

Traditional

“All Creatures of Our God and King”— Paul Cardall has a lovely, peaceful piano arrangement. I love Stephen Sharp Nelson’s percussive cello performance.  The upbeat a capella harmonies of the Eclipse 6 version are nice. And for an absolutely joyful rendition that makes one glad, electric guitar and all, check out West Coast Revival’s recording.

“For the Beauty of the Earth”—John Rutter, a brilliant British composer and conductor, has a beautiful arrangement performed by the City of London Sinfonia and the Cambridge Singers. Cantus does a stirring a capella version that is reminiscent of monastic music. John Schmidt’s piano arrangement is classically beautiful. And David Tolk combines this hymn with “Beautiful Savior” to make a happy, hopeful medley.

“All Things Bright and Beautiful” —Michael O’Brien’s recording featuring Joseph O’Brien is full of praise. John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers delight with another arrangement.

“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”—For an instrumental version, you cannot beat the reverent but fervent longing in Paul Cardall’s arrangement.  Two good but very different a capella performances are from BYU Vocal Point and Insideout A Capella (the latter having a lot more bass).

“Simple Gifts”—This Shaker hymn is the epitome of gratitude to me. I love the Piano Guys’ reggae medley combining this and “Over the Rainbow” for a happy, thankful, feel-good song. Aaron Copland’s rousing orchestration of it as a part of his Appalachian Spring is, to be sure, more spring-y than fall-y, but it’s great music. The 5 Browns give a nice classical piano performance.  Cantus sings a fantastic a capella version.

“Shenandoah”—Not really a song of thankgiving, but I love, love this stirring traditional folk song so much, and for some reason I like it even more in November. Peter Hollens sings it so fantastically that he’s my number one pick to listen to. If you like jazz, the Julian Waterfall Pollack Trio plays a truly delightful, carefree arrangement.

Seasonal

“Thankful”—Sung by Josh Groban

“Thanksgiving”—George Winston

“Colors/Dance”—George Winston

“Before the Last Leaf Falls”—David Lanz

“Leaves on the Seine”—David Lanz

“Gratitude” by Paul Cardall is the instrumental version of his vocal “Grateful.”  “Grateful” is peppier and full of praise, while “Gratitude” is quietly reflective. I like them both.

Because

“Homeward Bound”—Written by Marta Keen Thompson and performed by BYU Vocal Point, this moving piece sounds like a traditional folk song but isn’t very old. Full of meaning and emotion, this is an amazing song.

“More Than the World”—Sung by Mindy Gledhill, this is not a Thanksgiving song per se, but it is about where happiness really comes from. The lyrics are incredibly poetic, the music perfectly compliments it, and I love it.

“Pictures at an Exhibition”—While original composer Mussorgsky is responsible for the main melody, The Piano Guys’ adapted arrangement finished what Mussorgsky started. This song is on my November playlist because it is so beautiful it makes me unspeakably thankful to be alive and able to hear.

I'm too tired to link everything.  Sorry.  But I'll add some videos of a few of these songs below. The video portions aren't much, but turn up your volume.

P.S.  I wrote most of this earlier today but didn't have time to finish and post. I had to leave for a few hours and when I got home my kids had the stereo cranked with Christmas music.  What'd I tell ya?