Scott, Piers and Mason have done a stellar job of elaborating on the first draft of their questions, which were a bit too straighforward.
The revised questions really inspire a person to think deeply! Here's a sampling of what they came up with:
** When a Shinto torii is built for a lake, how do people decide where to put the torii? Maybe they put it in the part of the lake that gets the most sunlight? Or is that not possible, because the amount of sunlight changes depending on the time of day?
** What did the Japanese emperor do to be labeled or known as a kami or god? Maybe it's because he won a war or solved a big problem that was thought to be impossible?
** How did the original torii gate design start? Did a natural object inspire an artist to come up with the design? How did they spread the design to other parts of Japan?
In addition to asking deep questions, Mason built a stunning model of a torii. I can't believe how massive the red gate is!! Plus, he incorporated figures from his favorite anime show (Dragonball Z), which helps the viewer to envision people actually visiting the torii.
Outstanding work, Mason!
In Core 3, Jay came up with an incredibly creative approach to the assignment: he baked a cake, and then he taught himself the art of icing it, while painting the scene of a torii.
Jay explained to me the way that he made different shades of blue icing, to represent the different shades of the water and the sky. He also described using a thick black icing to show a mountain in the distance, in order to represent the Shinto focus on nature.
The result of Jay's effort is (1) informative, (2) beautiful and (3) scrumptious! He shared a slice of the cake with each member of Core 3 during lunch. The entire group was impressed with his work -- and appreciative for the tasty treat!
