Lesson on Observation
For Nonfiction
Learning to See
Mark Twain, “Two Ways of Seeing a River,” from Life on the Mississippi, Chapter IX · Henry David Thoreau, “Brute Neighbors, from Walden”
Lessons in Nonfiction
Much good nonfiction begins with looking longer than other people do. Twain shows how knowledge changes what we see; Thoreau watches an ordinary thing so closely that it becomes a way of thinking about war.
Questions on the Classic Readings
Mark Twain, “Two Ways of Seeing a River”
- Twain describes the same river twice: once as a young passenger and once as a trained pilot. What changes?
- How does Twain widen the subject at the end?
Henry David Thoreau, “Brute Neighbors”
- Thoreau watches a battle between red and black ants. Which words turn the ants into soldiers?
- “I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men.” What does close observation do to his view?
Activities
These draw on the classic readings on this page.
- Two ways of seeing. Describe one place twice: once as a newcomer and once as someone who knows it well.
- Ten minutes of looking. Watch something small for ten minutes (birds, traffic, a kitchen) and write a page that moves from what you saw to what it made you think.
—Silver Current Press