Assignment: As Confucius said “True wisdom is knowing what you don’t know” and Socrates said “Wisdom is knowing what you don’t know.” This assignment is asking for the story of your personal search for information, as well as what you are learning about the topic in terms of what you know vs what you don’t know.
- What do you know?
- Explain what you already know about your essential question. Explain why the topic is important to you, and what is motivating your inquiry.
- What understandings and experiences are you bringing with you as you start this research process?
- How have any outside sources informed your understanding of your essential question?
- What don’t you know?
- Why is it important for you to find out more about this question. Tell what you want to know about your essential question?
- What are the areas of inquiry that you think need to be explored?
- What are the other questions that are lurking just beneath the surface of your guiding essential question?
My Essential question asks if it is possible to find peace in the urban jungle, and what role does nature play in our lives. I ask, “Living in the bustling urban atmosphere of NYC, is it possible to reconnect to the inner transcendentalist in the long walks through nature described in Thoreau’s essay “Walking” and what can nature teach us about self reflection, artmaking, and spirituality?” Some sub questions are:
- Can one find peace and quiet in the urban jungle?
- How does nature show up as a theme in literature, photography, spirituality and art?
- What is ecofeminism and how can I take a feminist approach to Thoreau’s writing?
What do I know?
So far, what I know about this topic is mostly from my experience, anecdotal evidence and art. I read the essay “Walking” by Henry David Thoreau after my dad gave me it as a book and felt immediately intrigued and connected to the work. I felt like some part of me had been unlocked, and there were things that I had not been able to put into words before, that were suddenly there, in this book. “Walking” speaks about the natural, primitive being within us which is really just a wanderer, not so much of an explorer. He writes that in order to truly go out on a walk, you must leave all otherworldly engagements behind. One must leave behind the problems of their daily life in order to truly experience the magic of a long walk, almost as if one could merge within nature. This topic matters to me because I love the outside but I also love the city. I grew up in a very forestal part of DC and I noticed how much less greenery exists in the city, so I wondered: is it possible to connect with nature in NYC?
What I don’t know, but am curious to learn about is many of the topics. Transcendentalism is the school of thought to which Thoreau’s ideas are attributed. I don’t understand it completely, however, I know that it prescribes to the connection of man and nature in an equal relationship instead of a dominant one. Another thing I want to explore is how i can bring my experience as a girl into this because I find that there has been a lot of interesting ecofeminist theorists and writers that I want to focus on as well. I also have much to learn, however, I understand that the concept is similar to that of transcendentalism, however, it takes a feminist lens in relating the oppression of women to the human exploitation of nature. Besides that, I also have a lot to learn artistically, in regards to photography and video, which I do want to incorporate towards the end of my project.