The Creation

James Weldon Johnson

And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I'm lonely
I'll make me a world.
And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp.
Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said: That's good!
Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,
And God rolled the light around in his hands
Until he made the sun;
And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said: That's good!
Then God himself stepped down
And the sun was on his right hand,
And the moon was on his left;
The stars were clustered about his head,
And the earth was under his feet.
And God walked, and where he trod
His footsteps hollowed the valleys out
And bulged the mountains up.

Then he stopped and looked and saw

That the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world
And he spat out the seven seas
He batted his eyes, and the lightnings flashed
He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled
And the waters above the earth came down,
The cooling waters came down.
Then the green grass sprouted,
And the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
And the oak spread out his arms,
The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
And the rivers ran down to the sea;
And God smiled again,
And the rainbow appeared,
And curled itself around his shoulder.
Then God raised his arm and he waved his hand
Over the sea and over the land,
And he said: Bring forth! Bring forth!
And quicker than God could drop his hand,
Fishes and fowls
And beasts and birds
Swam the rivers and the seas,
Roamed the forests and the woods,
And split the air with their wings.
And God said: That's good!
Then God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that he had made.
He looked at his sun,
And he looked at his moon,
And he looked at his little stars;
He looked on his world
With all its living things,
And God said: I'm lonely still.

Then God sat down

On the side of a hill where he could think;

By a deep, wide river he sat down;
With his head in his hands,
God thought and thought,
Till he thought: I'll make me a man!
Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand;
This great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in is his own image;
Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen.

Literal Questions:
Who became a living soul after God blew the breath of life?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Fishes
Fowls
Man
Skies

What was set a-blazing in the heavens?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Moon
Sun
Stars
Skies

Who wrote the poem, The Creation?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Henry David Thoreau

Emily Dickenson
Matthew Angelman
James Weldon Johnson

And far as the eye of God could see, what covered everything?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Heavens
Skies
Darkness
Intentions

Which creature roams the forests?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Beasts
Fowls
Fishes
Birds

Interpretation questions
Do you think Johnsons characterization of God accurately portrays the one
presented in the Book of Genesis? Why or why not?
Do you think if God was not lonely at the time He decided to make himself a
world and considering that He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent,
will He ever created one? Why or why not?
Compare and contrast the God portrayed in the Book of Genesis and the way
He was portrayed in the poem.
What do you think is the implication of the creation of man viewed as male
as compared to a female? Why do you think this is the case?
Compare and contrast the Presentation of creation in the poem and the
Seven days of creation in the Bible.

Evaluation questions

In what ways does the embodied and poetic portrayal of the Creation story
invite you to expand your image of God?
The original poem of James Weldon Johnson referred to God in the masculine.
What is your response to imagining both the feminine and masculine aspects
of God? Do you have a preference?
In the poem, Gods loneliness and longing for relationship brings forth the
whole universe. What are you longing for? How does God speak to you in
your longing?
When God smiles, light pours through. Where do you find joy in your life?
How does Gods light pour through you in your joy?
The poem of James Weldon Johnson draws upon the cadence and language
of African American preachers of the early 1900s. How does your ethnic and
religious heritage influence your experience of God? Are you open to new
ways to describe God?

Passage
Ice sheets are huge masses of ice that form in some places where
snow falls faster than it can melt. The worlds second largest ice sheet is the
1.8 million square- km sheet of ice that covers most of Greenland. Gravity
causes the ice to flow from higher elevations at the center of the ice sheet to
lower elevations at the edges. In some places, the ice reaches the sea where
it breaks off and forms icebergs.
Recently it has become possible to directly measure whether parts of
the ice sheet are thickening or thinning. Researchers from NASA and other
places used a laser mounted on an airplane to measure the height of the
southern part of the ice sheet surface in 1993 and 1994, and again in 1998.
Their results showed that while much of the ice sheet was thickening slowly,
near the southeastern coast the ice sheet was thinning by as much as
several meters per year.
The size of the measured thinning was surprising. One possible
explanation is that the ice is thinning in response to a warming climate. Since
the last part of the nineteenth century, Earths mean temperature has
increased by about 1C.
Measurements show that the 1990s were the warmest decade of the
past 100 years, while 1998 was the warmest year since 1860. This increase

in Earths average temperature often is called global warming. Global

warming may be causing part of the ice sheet to thin.
Some scientists suspect that global warming may be caused by an
increase in greenhouse gases in Earths atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels
produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Measurements show that the
amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing since the
middle of the eighteenth century. Global warming has been occurring over
the time that carbon dioxide levels have been rising.
If global warming caused the Greenland ice sheet to completely melt,
the result could be catastrophic. The ice sheet contains enough ice to raise
the level of the ocean by about 6 m if it were completely melted. If this were
to happen, coastal cities throughout the world, such as New York City, would
experience massive flooding.

Literal questions
1. According to the passage, what might be causing part of the Greenland ice sheet
to thin?
a. too little snow
b. global warming
c. carbon dioxide
d. rising sea levels
2. What is the definition of the word mean in the third paragraph?
a. average
b. lowest
c. highest
d. Fahrenheit
3. This passage suggests that what is happening in Greenland
a. will cause the Greenland ice sheet to disappear.
b. should not be a concern for scientists.
c. might be due to global warming.
d. will increase Earths temperature.
4. Global warming is an increase in
a. average heat index
b. average forest fires
c. average ice sheet meltdown
d. average temperatures
5. How did researchers measure the thickening and thinning of the ice sheet?

Interpretation questions
1. If carbon dioxide levels correlate with the increase of average temperatures,
what do you think will happen if the world will continue to use fossil fuels
(source of carbon dioxide) instead of adapting renewable energy?
2. From the passage, it can be deduced that the warming occurred roughly 200
years ago which dates back the beginning of the industrial revolution that
started the burning of fossil fuels for powering large industries. What do you
think is the implication of this to development path we are taking as stewards
of the environment?
3. Shifting to a no carbon economy will take a hit on developing countries but in
the first place, developed countries caused the problem. Should developing
countries compromise development to be part of the global solution or should
they press on the matter to developed countries?
4. Suppose a sudden change in situations occur, for example, instead of
lowering our emissions of greenhouse gases, we indefinitely increase our
emissions but on the other hand, the climate improves. Will efforts to stop
pollution should also stop? Why or why not?
5. The passage is communicating an alarming call to the world. Will it allow you
to have change of hearts as well as change of behaviors even if you dont
experience it yourself? Why or why not?
Evaluation questions
1. Do you think global warming is caused by human activities or it is just a
product of natural phenomenon? Why or why not?
2. Do you think the author became fair in presenting the information particularly
on the matter of mere suspicions made by some scientists? Why or why not?
3. What do you think is the primary purpose of the author why he indicated the
last paragraph in the passage? If the last paragraph of the passage was
deleted would your response be the same? Explain.
4. Does the passage allowed you to think of ways to act on the problem or to
just be frightened of the situation the world is facing? Why or why not?
5. Ultimately, our actions define what will be happening in the future. should we
continue to be in the state of mind which in fact started the problem?
Elaborate your answer.

Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked
at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would

not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet,
which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else; so she was
always called 'Little Red Riding Hood.'
One day her mother said to her: 'Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of
cake and a bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and
they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk
nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle,
and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you go into her room, don't
forget to say, "Good morning", and don't peep into every corner before you do it.'
'I will take great care,' said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, and gave her
hand on it.
The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just
as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her. Red Riding Hood did not
know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
'Good day, Little Red Riding Hood,' said he.
'Thank you kindly, wolf.'
'Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'To my grandmother's.'
'What have you got in your apron?'
'Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have
something good, to make her stronger.'
'Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the
three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,' replied
Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolf thought to himself: 'What a tender young creature! what a nice plump
mouthful - she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to
catch both.'
So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he
said: 'See, Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here - why do
you not look round? I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds
are singing; you walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything
else out here in the wood is merry.'
Little Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing
here and there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she
thought: 'Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay; that would please her too. It
is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time.'

So she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers. And whenever she
had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after
it, and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.
Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the
door.
'Who is there?'
'Little Red Riding Hood,' replied the wolf. 'She is bringing cake and wine; open
the door.'
'Lift the latch,' called out the grandmother, 'I am too weak, and cannot get up.'
The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he
went straight to the grandmother's bed, and devoured her. Then he put on her
clothes, dressed himself in her cap, laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.
Little Red Riding Hood, however, had been running about picking flowers, and
when she had gathered so many that she could carry no more, she remembered her
grandmother, and set out on the way to her.
She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into
the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself: 'Oh dear! how
uneasy I feel today, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much.' She
called out: 'Good morning,' but received no answer; so she went to the bed and
drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her
face, and looking very strange.
'Oh! grandmother,' she said, 'what big ears you have!'
'All the better to hear you with, my child,' was the reply.
'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.
'All the better to see you with, my dear.'
'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'
'All the better to hug you with.'
'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'
'All the better to eat you with!'
And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and
swallowed up Red Riding Hood.
When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell
asleep and began to snore very loud.

The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself: 'How the old
woman is snoring! I must just see if she wants anything.' So he went into the room,
and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it.
'Do I find you here, you old sinner!' said he. 'I have long sought you!' But just as
he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured
the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a
pair of scissors, and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf.
When he had made two snips, he saw the little red riding hood shining, and then he
made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying: 'Ah, how frightened I
have been! How dark it was inside the wolf.'
After that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to
breathe. Red Riding Hood, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they
filled the wolf's belly, and when he awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones
were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell dead.
Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went
home with it; the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Red Riding
Hood had brought, and revived. But Red Riding Hood thought to herself: 'As long as I
live, I will never leave the path by myself to run into the wood, when my mother has
forbidden me to do so.'
It is also related that once, when Red Riding Hood was again taking cakes to the old
grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Red
Riding Hood, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and
told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said 'good
morning' to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been
on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up.
'Well,' said the grandmother, 'we will shut the door, so that he can not come in.'
Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: 'Open the door, grandmother, I am
Little Red Riding Hood, and am bringing you some cakes.'
But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice
round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Red Riding
Hood went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the
darkness. But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts.
In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child: 'Take the
pail, Red Riding Hood; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which
I boiled them to the trough.'
Red Riding Hood carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of
the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last
stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to
slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was

drowned. But Red Riding Hood went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to
harm her again.
Literal questions
1. Why was the girl called Little Red Riding Hood?
2. What happened while Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the forest?
3. How does she feel when she saw the wolf?
4. What was the plan of the grandmother with the trough?
5. What happened to the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood at the end of the
story?
Interpretation questions
1. Do you think Little Red Riding Hood will make it to her grandmothers house
safely even if she is a little girl? Why or why not?
2. Do you think the wolf is really a bad person as portrayed in the story? What
do you think are the underlying motives why he ended up being like that?
3. Why do you think Little Red Riding Hood ask so many questions when she
saw her grandmother (supposedly) in bed?
4. Why did the wolf dress in Grandmas nightgown? What do you think will
happen if the wolf has not thought of this as a strategy?
5. Which parts of the story could have really happened in real life?
Evaluation questions
1. Do you think the wolf is mean? Why or why not?
2. What did Little Red Riding Hood do that she should not have done?
3. What is your opinion regarding the intelligence of the wolf? Justify your
answer with details.
4. Do you think it was right for Little Red Riding Hoods mother to send her off
into the woods alone? Why or why not?
5. How would you feel if you were sent alone into the woods?

Bicol University

College of Education

Developmental Reading
Levels of Comprehension
A compilation of a poem, passage and a short story with questions
Submitted by:
JASON O. SALVADORA
BSED 4P
Submitted to:
MERIAM P. MALDO
Professor