High School

# The Importance of Imagination
**Esha Chhabra**

## Extended-Response Activity: Author's Influences

### Directions:
Complete the following activity as either a written response or a group discussion.

**RI.6.6**: Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

1. Explain the author's point of view in the text.

Determine the author's point of view, or position, in the reflective essay "The Importance of Imagination." What does she think about the importance of imagination in adults? Then, explain how the author develops her point of view in the text. In your response, include the influences she discusses as evidence to support your position.

Use these guidelines in your writing or discussion:

- Consider the role of creativity and imagination in the author's own life.
- What, overall, does the author believe about the importance of imagination in adults?
- Identify the influences the author mentions as being important in forming her ideas about imagination.
- Describe how the author develops, or builds, her ideas in the text.

**Tip for Written Response:** Check your writing for run-on sentences and fragments.

**Tip for Discussion:** Think about the ideas the discussion is about beforehand. Reread the selection in advance if necessary.

Answer :

Hello I am placing my comment so I can take my time to answer. Is it okay if I write it all down here on my next comment? It will take me about 10 minutes if that is okay with you.

Author Esha Chhabra argues that imagination is essential for adults in creativity, critical thinking, and understanding societal structures. She illustrates this with references to translocality, C. Wright Mills, and Antonio Gramsci, and by showing how imagination is integral in writing and reflecting on experiences.

The author's point of view in "The Importance of Imagination" is that imagination plays a critical role in adult life, influencing creativity, one's sense of possibility, and as a tool for understanding mobility and sociocultural phenomena. The author, Esha Chhabra, believes in the enduring value of imagination not only for children but for adults too, highlighting its part in creativity, reflection, understanding societal structures, and interpreting personal experiences.

Chhabra develops her ideas by referencing a range of influences, such as the significance of translocality and the writings of C. Wright Mills and Antonio Gramsci, underscoring how imagination aids in the synthesis of complex ideas and supports the mobility within various localities worldwide. By citing different scholars and examples, she illustrates how imagination is woven into critical thinking and reflects the diverse applications and implications of imaginative thinking in adult life.

Moreover, she encourages reflection and critical thinking around literary works, suggesting that good writers consider the rhetorical context—genre, audience, and purpose—when inventing text, which involves an imaginative process. This demonstrates the practical application of imagination in the text creation and understanding process, affirming her belief in the importance of imagination across different realms of adult activity.