How might Odell, given what you know about her ideas from reading the first part of How to Do Nothing, respond to Keltner’s ideas as he explains them in Awe? What about Neff’s thoughts on self-compassion?

(For your second formal writing assignment for this class, you will be synthesizing ideas using excerpts from the book How to Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell, the book Awe, by Dacher Keltner and and the podcast Hidden Brain: “Be Kind To Yourself,” Links to an external site. featuring Dr. Kristin Neff in conversation with host Shankar Vedantam. Your task is to engage two of the texts in dialogue with one another to support a single idea.

Use How to Do Nothing and the book Awe (it’s easier) Consider their ideas about happiness: are they similar? How and where do they diverge? How might Odell, given what you know about her ideas from reading the first part of How to Do Nothing, respond to Keltner’s ideas as he explains them in Awe? What about Neff’s thoughts on self-compassion? To keep you essay focused and specific, choose one idea from one of the texts, and use it to make connections to an idea from one of the other two texts.

For example, you could start with How to Do Nothing and use it to frame a discussion of one idea from Awe. How might Odell’s thoughts about the time she spent in the Oakland Rose Garden—and away from technology—line up with Keltner’s ideas about finding awe in nature?

How might Keltner’s ideas about self-perception connect to Neff’s thoughts on taking care of oneself?

Since each of them cite other writers and thinkers in their books, you can extend their discussion by imagining how they might cite one another in each of their works. You need only focus on two texts; however, if you think you can build a focused discussion around all three, you may do so.

But keep in mind that a three-way dialogue is more complex than a two-way dialogue. Resist the temptation to include three texts because that will result in a longer essay. As you develop your specific thesis, make sure that you are pursuing a single point applicable to multiple texts.

And as you look for specific passages to support your central point, be sure that you are able to give those passages a close reading. With your final draft, please submit a Works Cited page. Do not compare and contrast but rather find general a idea between the two and use both text to frame one another using the idea you find.

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