Creation+Story

**Summary:**

 * ==Title== || ==Book== || ==Summary== ||
 * //Creation: Heaven and Earth// || Genesis || Story of creation of the universe in seven days. Begins with God creating light and darkness, then heaven and earth, then earth, then plants, then day and night, the animals and birds, and, finally, man. On the seventh day he rests. ||
 * //Creation: In the Garden// || Genesis || Description of the creation of a human being and the Garden of Eden. There are two important trees in Eden - the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God tells the human being that he is not supposed to eat from the second tree or he will be doomed to die. The man then names all the animals and birds and plants but realizes he does not have a partner. God puts him to sleep and creates a woman from the man's rib. ||
 * //"The Creation"// || James Weldon Johnson || Poetic version of the creation of the universe based on the book of Genesis. Makes God seem more personal and less removed. ||

=**Discussion Questions:**=


 * Is there any logic to the order in which everything is created? Why are human beings created last?
 * Why use days to divide the creation of the various elements of the universe? Why seven of them?
 * Who is God referring to when he says, "Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness..." (p 4)
 * Why create a tree of the knowledge of good and evil if the people living in the garden are not supposed to eat from it?
 * Why do you think the woman is created specifically from the man's rib?
 * How does the story portray the roles of men and women?

=**Supplementary Material:**=
 * Pay attention to how the interpretations of the story of creation are different in Johnson's poem. Are the visual images different? If so, in what way?
 * Is the more personal interpretation of the story more or less effective than the original? The same? How do you respond to the poem?

=**Outside Material:**=


 * Information about the creation myth from Wikipedia.


 * Look at the images below. How have these artists interpreted the creation story? Do you agree or disagree with their interpretations?


 * [[image:semenglish1-2nd/Creation_of_Adam.png caption="Creation of Adam - Michelangelo"]] ||
 * Creation of Adam - Michelangelo ||


 * [[image:semenglish1-2nd/Creation_of_Days.png caption="Creation of Days - William Blake"]] ||
 * Creation of Days - William Blake ||


 * [[image:semenglish1-2nd/Creation_of_Eve.png caption="Creation of Eve - Paolo Caliari"]] ||
 * Creation of Eve - Paolo Caliari ||

=**Study Guide/Quiz Questions:**=


 * What is God's initial reason for creating a human being?
 * What do the Hebrew words for "man" and "woman" tell us about the English words for them?
 * What happens if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
 * According to the story, why does a man leave his father and mother and attach himself to his wife?
 * In the poem, why does God decide to create the universe?