The Tao Of Pooh

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Retelling with Winnie-the-Pooh”

In this activity, students will create their own Winnie-the-Pooh short stories utilizing the characters described in The Tao of Pooh in ways that demonstrate the main ideas of Taoism.

Utilizing the concepts and characters you read in The Tao of Pooh, create your own short story featuring A. A. Milne’s beloved characters. Your story should demonstrate thoughtful understanding of the main characters’ traits as indicators of their allegorical significance and show your comprehension of Taoism and the importance of Inner Nature and Simplicity.

• Your story should be 2-4 pages (typed, double-spaced).
• Include Owl, Rabbit, and Pooh; add other characters if desired.
• Demonstrate in-depth understanding of the main concepts of Taoism, Inner Nature, and Simplicity.
• A half-page analysis that explains how your plot and characters represent Taoism should accompany your story.
• Sketch a representative cover and /or several illustrations for your short story.

Share your story (or a meaningful excerpt) aloud with a small group. Discuss with your peers the meaning of each story and the extent to which each depict Taoist beliefs.

Teaching Suggestion: Prior to completing this assignment, it may help to read 2-3 Winnie-the-Pooh stories by A. A. Milne with students. Experiencing the primary source will help students to emulate Milne’s voice and will provide specific examples of each character’s actions and speaking voices.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who benefit from organizational strategies, it may be helpful to use a storyboard organizer for planning the story prior to writing. Visual learners or those who would benefit from an artistic approach might create a detailed comic book-style version of their story instead of prose.

Paired Text Extension: “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams

Read and analyze the short poem by William Carlos Williams “The Red Wheelbarrow.” As you read, notice how the Taoist idea of Simplicity is demonstrated throughout the poem.

Modeling the same format and idea of Simplicity, choose an observable, common aspect or item in your life. Write a poem that encourages readers to find meaning in the ordinary and appreciate the simplicity of your subject. Include in your poem:

• Approximately 10 brief lines
• Descriptive language
• Demonstration of the theme of Simplicity

Following your poem, write 1 paragraph explaining how your poem evokes ideas of Taoism, and connect your work to The Tao of Pooh.

Teaching Suggestion: As students choose their topics, they may be inclined to incorporate abundant details into the poem.  To simplify meaningfully, students might brainstorm a list of details and traits, then narrow down to the most crucial 3-5 details to utilize in their poem.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Hoff utilizes several Winnie-the-Pooh stories in order to explain the idea of Taoism to Western readers.

• How effectively do Hoff’s connections convey Taoist beliefs, generally? (topic sentence)
• Identify and summarize the 3 strongest Winnie-the-Pooh examples from The Tao of Pooh. Then, justify the comparison to Taoism and argue with evidence the connectiveness of Hoff’s argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate the efficacy of Hoff’s parallels in educating the Western world specifically about Taoism.

2. The idea of Inner Nature refers to one’s true, authentic self, personality, and role(s) in society.

• How does the Taoist belief of Inner Nature promote contentment in individuals’ lives? (topic sentence)
• Identify and analyze 2 examples from the text that best support your topic sentence along with 1 example from outside the text. Explain how your chosen examples demonstrate happiness in individuals’ lives due to following and accepting their Inner Nature. Include at least 1 piece of quoted and cited evidence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, clarify with rationale whether modern Western society supports or opposes individuals in accessing and living in accordance with their Inner Nature.

3. Consider this quote from Tao Te Ching: “Tao does not do, but nothing is not done.”

• What does this quote mean and how do the main Taoist principles align with this thought process? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 of the allegorical ideas from The Tao of Pooh, such as the uncarved block or Bisy Backson. Explain and analyze the meaning of each idea and discuss how they support your interpretation of Tao Te Ching’s quote.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, briefly summarize how this quote relates to the character of Pooh in A. A. Milne’s stories.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Hoff primarily utilizes Owl, Rabbit, and Pooh to demonstrate the main ideas—or counter ideas—of Taoism. In a well-constructed 5-paragraph essay, analyze each of these 3 characters. Discuss character traits along with text examples that demonstrate their thought processes. Then, connect each character to Taoist beliefs, making clear whether they support or oppose this ideology. As you compose your essay, incorporate at least 3 quoted and cited phrases to support your analysis.

2. Throughout The Tao of Pooh, Hoff uses various narrative strategies to discuss and educate readers about Taoism: dialogues with Pooh, Taoists parables, and examples from Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Compose an essay of 3 or 5 paragraphs that discusses the efficacy of using these narrative strategies to teach Taoism to readers who have had no prior introduction to the ideology. Include at least 3 quoted and cited examples to support your analysis, justifying or contradicting Hoff’s literary choices.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Imagine running into a personal obstacle in your life. In accordance with Taoist ideology, how would you most likely react?

A) Using prior knowledge, you would use logic to find a solution.

B) You would choose many different solutions until one works.

C) You would choose the simplest solution.

D) You would use grit and determination to push through.

2. What is “The Great Secret”?

A) Be accepting of your Inner Nature.

B) Embrace emptiness.

C) Accept life as a Bisy Backson.

D) Choose positivity.

3. Which of the following analogies best demonstrates the ideology of Wu Wei?

A) K’ung-fu tse and the waterfall

B) The Vinegar Tasters

C) The Uncarved Block

D) Chueng-Tse and the mud

4. “A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly” (Chapter 4). How does this line best demonstrate the Cottleston Pie Principle?

A) It reveals truths about nature’s creatures.

B) It evokes ideas of The Way.

C) It demonstrates the idea of Simplicity in nature.

D) It represents the idea of how people have Inner Natures they must accept.

5. “. . . [A] summer insect cannot conceive of ice” (Chapter 3). In what way does this best reveal the nature of scholars, according to Hoff?

A) Scholars cannot teach what they do not experience.

B) Scholars rely on the wisdom of their past lives.

C) Scholars may accurately depict Taoist beliefs such as Wu Wei.

D) Scholars provoke levels of inquiry regarding human’s understanding of the world.

6. Which statement best demonstrates the meaning of the uncarved block?

A) Everything has potential to be sculpted into something meaningful.

B) To be a block is to lack goals.

C) Being uncarved in your original simplicity equals the most power.

D) To be simplistic is to be waiting for experience yet never gaining any.

7. Which of the following is the best comparison between Rabbit and Pooh?

A) Rabbit is highly knowledgeable while Pooh is more simplistic.

B) Rabbit is a Bisy Backson while Pooh enjoys contentment.

C) Rabbit constantly chases experiences while Pooh relies on Owl’s wisdom.

D) Rabbit lives a simplistic life while Pooh strives for the same.

8. Which of the following concepts of Taoism does “The Vinegar Tasters” best represent?

A) Simplicity

B) The Way

C) Inner Nature

D) Love

9. Which of the following examples best represents a Bisy Backson?

A) When the animals search desperately for a way out of the forest

B) When Owl demonstrates his extensive knowledge

C) When Rabbit attempts to remove Kanga and Roo from the woods

D) When Pooh helps Eeyore find his tail

10. Which of the following quotes best demonstrates the theme of Simplicity?

A) “A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean . . .” (Chapter 3)

B) “. . . it causes itself, either directly or indirectly, through its own limitations.” (Chapter 3)

C) “One man's food is often another man's poison.” (Chapter 4)

D) “‘He tried too hard,’ said Pooh.” (Chapter 5)

11. “. . . [T]he more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance” (Chapter 1). Which of the following Taoist ideas does this quote best signify?

A) Simplicity

B) Inner Nature

C) Wu Wei

D) Positivity

12. Which of the following does Hoff state is an issue with scholars?

A) They utilize simplistic language which affects the main truths of Taoism.

B) They focus solely on what they experience.

C) They utilize parables versus practical solutions.

D) They focus on unimportant details, missing the big picture.

13. In what way does the parable of “The Stonecutter” demonstrate an opposition viewpoint?

A) The individual is constantly striving to be something else.

B) The individual refuses to go with the flow.

C) The individual struggles to understand his goal in life.

D) The individual follows purely intellectual pursuits.

14. Why is operating with “the Empty Mind” productive?

A) It allows you to be more open to new knowledge.

B) It allows you to avoid stress.

C) It allows you to function without preconceptions.

D) It allows you to focus on the facts.

15. How does courage equate to caring?

A) It takes bravery to care about someone other than yourself.

B) When you care about someone, you become brave to help them.

C) When you are courageous, more opportunities open up.

D) When you are caring, people are more likely to come to you.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does the book use the contrasting characters of Pooh and Eeyore to convey Taoist philosophy?

2. Explain the concept of Wu Wei in relation to Pooh.