I just taught Emerson’s “Nature” (1836), his famous essay of 8 chapters. For homework, I asked my students to select one sentence that seemed to represent the “main point” of each of the chapters and then to compile them into an 8-sentence paragraph. We began the post-lecture discussion by sharing aloud.

The results were amazing. Each paragraph told us something about the readers who compiled them. In some paragraphs the message was philosophical. In others, the message was about beauty. Some of them were like “found poems.” Each was a representation of what the students felt was most important about the essay.

I’m so grateful for how these readers show up each week with their own expertise, insight, and creativity!