The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

"nothing new under the sun"

A phrase adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes; the author complains frequently in the book about the monotony of life. The entire passage reads, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Use a page in your learning log or open Inspiration™ to map out a constellation of words related to Synthesis and Originality.

As the day proceeds you will keep adding to your constellation, extending, deepening and enriching your understanding of these key terms. The idea is to welcome and entertain a full and complex understanding.

Use the following resources to add to your constellation:

• The Visual Thesaurus at http://visualthesaurus.com will only let you search for 1-2 words before asking you to subscribe. You will have your best results looking for words like original, invent and new.
• Thesaurus.com provides results from as many as 10 thesauri, depending upon the word.
• VisuWords - an online visual dictionary at http://www.visuwords.com

Here's what one group came up with for Curiosity, Wonderment, Puzzles, Mystery and Delight .

Please do not move to next module until instructed to do so by the facilitator.

© Jamie McKenzie, 2008, all rights reserved. No copies can be made or distributed in any format without the express written permission of the author.