Monthly Archives: March 2016

Deconstruction of Thousand and One Nights’ Premise

Student blog post

I recently found this comic, which deconstructs the premise of Thousand and One Nights in a humorous, yet also dark, manner.

While I found it funny, it got me thinking. The idea of the actual story is that the King is convinced to delay the execution each night to hear more of the stories. But seeing as he authorized his authority from the get-go to claim a woman to execute every night, what is stopping him from overriding the rule to delay the execution, and hear the rest of the story then and there? Can we infer more about the King’s emotions/motivations from this?

Perhaps we can percieve he has a tinge of guilt from executing all those women, combined with his desire to hear the rest of the stories, allows himself to continue delaying the execution? Something to think about.

The Thousand and One Nights

Student blog post

While reading the story of the Merchant and the Demon, I find it very interesting because there’s a lots of transformations. In my opinion, I think the whole story is all about the justice and forgiveness, which is very different compare to Medea and the king Shahrayar. For example, Medea and Shahrayar both take revenges and acting out their angers through killing innocent people. But in this sub story, people punish others by changing them into something else. For the first old man, his wife transforms the mistress into a cow and the son into a bull because she is so angry and jealous. This seems very unfair to the mistress and the son. However, she was transforms into a deer by the shepherd’s daughter because the daughter wants her to be responsible for what she done. As the daughter says, “No, but I will let her taste what she has inflicted on others” (Page 572, paragraph2). People are turned into deer and dogs, instead of getting killed. Also, the innocent merchant is set to free because of the help from the three old men, which shows justice with tolerance and forgiveness. However, my question is Do you guys think that the punishment of transformation is merciful/better compared to the punishment of death? Is there similarity between the king and the demon?

From Google – Scheherazade and Shahryār

 

The Thousand and One Nights Prologue

Student blog post

I was surprised when I found out that The Thousand and One Nights is the one that I read and watched when I was a little kid in Korea. I knew this work as Arabian Nights instead of The Thousand and One Nights, but, I barely remember it now. I thought The Thousand and One Nights is the literature for the children; however, I can tell this is definitely not for the little kids because this literature contains a lot of sexual contents.

From the movie, Aladdin

 

When I read the story of King Shahrayar and Shahrazad, I did not understand why Shahrazad finds consolation by his brother’s misfortune. I can understand the fact that he feels better because he realizes that he is not only one who suffers in the world. However, if I was him, I would feel sad and mad about my brother’s misfortune.

From Google – King Shahrayar, his wife, and the black slave

The betrayal of Shahrayar’s wife led the king to become a murderer. He might excuse himself that he needs to kill the women in order to avoid the betrayals because he does not trust them. I think he should live without wife; why does he have to get a wife if he is going to kill her the next day? Do you guys think that the reason for the king’s murder is acceptable?

The Thousand and One Nights

Student blog post

The reason why I chose to write my blog about this text is because I am Egyptian and I speak Arabic and there is a very popular Arabic version of this text. I thought it would be interesting to make a connection between the use of language in the English version and the Arabic one. Something i found that really caught my attention was that in Egypt, a group of people wanted to censor the text because it wasn’t appropriate in the Egyptian society: “We understand that this kind of literature is acceptable in the West, but here we have a different culture and different religion”said lawyer Ayman Abdel-Hakim. I lived in Egypt for a few years and a fun fact was that in some schools it  used to be mandatory for students to learn about this text.

I was completely surprised with what this text actually turned to be about . After reading Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection, i thought most of the plays we were going to read were going to be less dramatic and peculiar unlike the ones we read before. However, I thought this reading was even more appalling and weird then the ones we read before. I believe this text can be best compared to our previous reading, Medea, which was extremely intense and violent.

Like Medea, this text seems to revolve around the idea of revenge. In a way, the characters Shahrayar and Shahzaman can be similar to Medea. Medea seeks revenge from Jason because he broke her heart and she makes him suffer by doing the extreme and killing her own children. Likewise, the two brothers want to get revenge, but not just from their wives, but also from all the women because they are believed to be deceivers “There is not a single chaste woman anywhere on the entire face of earth” (p562). As the story progresses, we see that more women start to appear as betrayers. First was King Shahzaman’s wife, then King Shahrayar’s wife and his slave-girls, and then the young woman with the demon. Thus, King Shahrayar decides to kill his slave-girls and swears to marry a new woman every night “in order to save himself from the wickedness and cunning of women” (p562).

The king seems to redeem himself from the dishonesty of these women by using them to satisfy himself and then by murdering them the next morning. Now my questions to the class are, Do you guys think that King Shahrayar is insane for doing this act in order to get his revenge? If so, what other way can he and his brother get their vengeance?

Website – http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/11/world/la-fg-egypt-book-ban-20100711

Work cited

Hassan, Amro. “Egyptian Group Wants to Censor Arabic Classic.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2010. Web.

 

 

 

Argument template from class/ Explicit, Implicit, Extended analysis of quotes

Writing guidelines and resources

Below is attached the templates for arguments that we looked at in class, including a revised argument based on the template. Basically, here are the steps you would take:

  1. Try to fill out the template (I want to write about ______ in _______ because…)
  2. Likely, you will end up with a rather long and unwieldy sentence after filling in that template. Refine/revise it by taking out unnecessary words, splitting it into two sentences using a transition word like “Consequently”).
  3. Look at the templates under “Other Templates for Argument,” to see if you can refine your argument further using one of the templates listed there.
    1. Example: Through X (part of the text), the play/epic reveals Y (your claim about what that part of the text reveals).

Argument template JMWD

I’ve also made a Prezi on what we talked about in class on explicit, implict, extended meanings of quotes (make sure to do all three whenever you bring up a quotation in your paper!)

Prezi on writing about quotes/close reading: saying the explicit, implicit, and extended meaning of quotations

Sakuntala and the ring of Recollection

Student blog post

Hey class

While reading Sakuntala and the ring of recollection, I have noticed a lot of foreshadowings. I believe these lines could be the  foreshadowing for Sakuntalas and kings separation later on the play. “The moon sets over the western mountain as the sun rises in dawn’s red trail rising and setting, these two bright powers portend the rise and fall of men. When the moon disappears, night lotuses are but dull souvenirs of its beauty when her lover disappears, the sorrow is too painful for a frail girl to bear.”(ACT IV, lines 65-73). In class, we also discussed how play itself began with foreshadowing when actress sang a song and stunned the director, which was a foreshadowing of king falling in love with Sakuntala.

Also, I found very interesting how each act shows a specific emotion. In the overview, author talks about how Kalidasa takes us through the entire range of most basic emotions such as love, joy, pity, anger, peace and etc. Play starts off with emotions of love and excitement when Sakuntala and king first met and acts 2 and 3  emphasize love and joy. Act 4 mostly focuses on love under separation. That’s when Sakuntala couldn’t stop thinking about her husband. Act 5 focuses on pity, anger. When Sakuntala came over to the city for her husband but he rejects her. Act 6 is mostly about sadness and tears. That’s when king tried to paint Sakuntalas image but his tears would mess up the painting. “Smudges from my sweating fingers stain the edges of the picture and a tear fallen from my cheek has raised a wrinkle in the paint.” (ACT VI, lines 286-289). In Act 7 they both find each other and emotions return back to love and peace.

After reading this play, I noticed how the whole story returned back its original start which was very different from what we read in the past. I think this play is more for like entertainment purposes rather than educational. What do you guys think about this, is there something you learned by reading this play?

SAKUNTALA AND THE RING OF RECOLLECTION. ACT VI

Student blog post

I find this play very interesting, because it is very different from all of the passages or plays that we’ve read in class (for an example Medea). In my opinion, it is less dramatic than the others, very mellow, , and also focuses, much more on the emotional aspect of love and beauty, as well as sexuality. When I read the poem, I envision a garden scenery or a royal palace in the background. I feel like, I can definitely paint a picture just by reading this play.

Also I found that the characters would compare their emotions or feelings to nouns or verbs such as seasons, flowers and scents. For an example, when the King sees Sakuntala on pg 913 of line 114 – 117, he says “ Who is she? Carefully veiled to barely reveal her body’s beauty, surrounded by the ascetics like a bud among withered leaves”. The King compares her beauty to a bud among withered leaves. I’m assuming he referring to how natural and pure she looks, which makes her beautiful to him.

Image of “a bud from withered leaves”

http://www.teaclass.com/images2/0101_1.jpghttp://www.gardeningknowhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/fuchsia-buds.jpg

Later on in the play, the King has seems to have lost his ring (The ring of recollection), which was later found by a fisherman, that was in the belly of a fish. The chief, Magistrate reports the missing ring to the King, which he rewarded the fisherman a “sum equal to the ring” (pg. 920, line 46). The Magistrate stated that he didn’t believe the King really valued the stone, but perhaps when he had seen the stone; it must have brought a memory of someone he loved (Hmm, could that be Sakuntala?).  Although, the stone itself wasn’t of much value in his eyes, it was the memory that came along with stone that added value to it. What I found quite funny, was once the fisherman received his reward for finding this ring, he suddenly became the Chief “greatest and dearest friend” and offered him to celebrate with him. ( Pg. 920, Line 52-54)

After the King regained his memory from the ring ( it was stated that he was put under the Durvasas curse, which could only be broken if he had seen the ring)(Pg.941, line 340-342) he went to return the ring to Sakuntala. Sakuntala learns that she wasn’t intentionally rejected by her husband, however because of the curse that was caste on him,

My question to the class, do you truly think love at first sight is real? and if you believe so, do you think what made the person fall in love in beginning can eventually disappear? because physical beauty usually depreciates over time as we age, don’t it?

 

Here’s some paintings of a few characters.

Raja Ravi Varma (In the red dress)

Shakuntala (In the white dress)

and Sakhism ( In the yellow gown)

Website of Image:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raja_Ravi_Varma,_Shakuntala_and_Sakhis_(Oleographic_print).jpg

“Dushyanta and Shakuntala – Love at First Sight”

Analytical paper building on oral midterm (due 3/26, 11:59pm)

analytical midterm paper, Writing assignments

Assignment:

For your midterm essay, write a paper of at least 1500 words (up to 1700) that focuses on ONE of  the texts we have read in the course so far, makes an argument about the text, and supports that argument. Your argument should be your answer to a larger thematic question (see possible questions from oral midterm exam, these potential paper topics, which are based on the questions from the oral midterm, or these prompts on Sakuntala/Medea).  In other words, you are a tour guide through the text, making your argument about the text, telling us how to read it and why we should read it that way by giving evidence and interpreting it (telling us why the word, images, structures make us read it in a specific way). This means you should avoid just summarizing the plot: I have read these texts already–I want YOU to tell me HOW I should read them!

While this paper should focus on one text, you should also compare different VOICES in the text (if you are making an argument about Medea, you should compare her perspective to that of Creon’s, the nurse’s, Jason’s, etc, in order to make your point). Additionally, in your second to last paragraph, you should briefly bring in one of the other texts from the class and discuss how this 2nd text’s take on your topic illuminates something about the values of the culture in the text you have focused on for your paper (for example, when discussing duty in the BG, you might bring in Medea’s ideas of what is owed to the family and to oaths to highlight a different perspective on duty as well as what the BG’s conception of duty says about the culture/society it comes out of. Or, you might compare the BG’s conception of duty to Sakuntala’s–for both, duty is defined as dharma, but the two texts present dharma in different ways).

You may want to focus on expanding an argument or exploring a question that you addressed in one of your short papers.

Short paper no. 4 is your draft of this paper. See specific prompt for it at the bottom of this post.

Breakdown of what to include:

Your paper must have a clearly stated thesis in the first paragraph and you must develop your argument in a logical, persuasive manner throughout the rest of the essay, support your points with textual evidence, and conclude with a paragraph that summarizes your findings. Thus, your paper should contain the following elements: argument, evidence, interpretation of evidence. It should have the follow elements: introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion. I have attached a further explanation of what I mean by these things, and I have attached a template you can use to fill in the blanks and create an argument.

  • Introduction (last sentence or two: your argument)
  • Body paragraphs (topic sentence + evidence + interpretation of evidence)
  • Conclusion (restate points + so what)

Structure:

Here are two possible structures for your paper. Both are valid; it depends on your style:

1)Argument-driven: In your introduction paragraph, introduce a research question you seek to answer and give your answer (thesis statement) at the end of the paragraph. Use your body paragraphs to prove that thesis statement.

2) Inquiry-driven:  In your introduction, introduce a research question you seek to answer; use your body paragraphs to explore this question; come to a conclusion/answer (thesis statement) in your conclusion paragraph.

Format:

  • At least 1500 words (no less: you will lose points if your paper is any shorter). Provide a word count: Do not hand in handwritten assignments to me; stapled/paper clipped
  • Title and Page numbers
  • Bibliography and citations in MLA format
  • Times 12 point font
  • 1-inch margins
  • Double spaced; No extra spaces after paragraphs
  • Fully edited: free of typographical, spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors
  • Formal language: avoid “you,” “well,” and other slang words.

Resources:

Fill in the blanks to make an argument

More argument templates with examples

Notes on argument, evidence, interpretation

***

Draft for analytical paper, focusing on structure (short paper number 4):

In our short papers so far, we’ve asked questions, tried to pose answers to these questions (as arguments), and tried to use textual evidence to support/build on those arguments (evidence and interpretation). The last thing I want you to focus on before your oral midterm and analytical paper is structure, which is one of the most useful interpretive tools, but also often difficult to see if you are not used to reading for it. This can mean simple repetition, but it can also mean direct parallels being drawn (through repeated images, colors, comparisons, speech, and linguistic echoes). If a parallel is drawn we need to pay attention.

Parallels are not always positive; they may be highlighting differences (or, the difference may be calling our attention to a change in character, or a change in the intensity of the situation). For example, Sakuntala features the king spying on another character in a garden in Act I and Act VII, but the scene in Act VII has a much different tone and resonance. To do more than point out parallels, you need to think about where the passages occur. As parallels build up, they play a part in making sense of the narrative and how we are supposed to interpret it. For example, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are both described at different points as being shaggy and wild, but it means something different, and has different weight, when we see Gilgamesh described this way after Enkidu’s death. You can consider: has the meaning of an image (or whatever the parallel is) changed based on context?

Please write a response paper of 1-2 pages on the text you want to work with/write about in your analytical paper, in which you make an argument about how the text is structured (in other words, what looking at the structure allows you to see about the text’s meaning), how it deploys parallels, and to what end. Alternately, make the argument you want to make in your analytical paper, and use what you’re saying about structure to help you build/support it. Be sure to make an argument and use textual evidence  (this means quote the text) to support it, again showing me your annotations

Oral midterm (3/16)

oral midterm exam, Writing assignments

Oral midterm examination:

For your midterm, you are going to pick one of the following questions (or a question of your choice, as long as you vet it with me) and one character from one of the texts we have read so far. Then, you will answer the question you have chosen from that character’s perspective–what would be that character’s point of view on the question? How do they enact that point of view–and are they successful in enacting it (do their actions match their perspective)? Consider what investments the character has in the issue, how the character might define concepts in the question (for example, what is “love” for Enkidu and Gilgamesh vs for Medea?), and what biases and concerns they might have.

For the midterm itself, you will present to me, one on one, the perspective of this character using passages from the text (you should bring a one-page sheet with passages from the text you plan to use). You will have 3-4 minutes to make your claims about the point of view of your character in relation to this question, so you should be prepared to be direct, to point to  and quote specific passages to find evidence and to prove that your passages support your claim by using the words/imagery/tone in the passage.

Questions (if there are other questions you want to address, suggest them to me): 

  1. Right action: How does your character define what is right in complicated situations–how does your character determine what is the right thing to do? How do we learn what is right based on the character’s actions/beliefs and on the text?
  2. The city/the city vs. the natural world: To your character, is the city something worthy of celebration, and why? If your character has some doubts on this issue, what are some critiques of the city, especially in light of what it does to nature and human relationship to it? What is the text trying to show about the city, and/or about the natural world, through your character?
  3. Quest: For your character, what is worth seeking out, and why? How does what the character seeks define him/her? What is the text trying to illuminate, through your character and his/her quest?
  4. Duty: If duty is what is “due,” then what defines what is due for your character–society, responsibility to another individual, honor? How should the character show, demonstrate, or fulfill his/her duty, and what are some complications that get in the way of fulfilling duty? How does the character respond to, fulfill, or fail to fulfill their duty/duties? What is the text trying to illuminate through your character’s relationship to (and response to) her/her duties?
  5. Love: How does the text/character present love, and what is it? According to your character, does love occur between people, or does the character define love in another way (i.e., love of duty): what is worth loving, and why, according to your character, or the text through your character? According to your character, or the text through your character, what does he/she owe to what/who he/she loves, and why–what are the obligations of love?
  6. Heroism: How does your character define heroism and being a hero, and why? (Alternately, how does your character define being a good leader and why?). What do you think the text is showing about being a leader/hero through your character?
  7. Role of women:  What is the role of women as seen through your character’s eyes: what power/agency do the women have, and/or how do they see themselves potentially as disempowered or disadvantaged? What is the text trying to illuminate about women and their roles in society through your character? (Note: the answer to this question shouldn’t just be “women are treated as lesser”–dig deeper than that. Women have agency and authority in interesting ways in some of the works we’ve read).
  8. Lesson: As we’ve seen, texts often seek to educate their readers in some way (emotionally, as future citizens of a city-state, through the education of an irresponsible king, etc). What lesson or lessons do you think are imparted through your character (through his/her actions, behavior, and general presence in the text)?

Practice beforehand: 

  1. In-class practice/modeling through class debate (with Antigone and Medea)
  2. Group-work (3/14), where you will bring in some passages you want to refer to and, in groups of three, give each other feedback on the claims and ideas you have.
  3. During midterm itself (3/16), you will sit with your group and use the time you’re waiting in to practice with each other. I’ll give 5 minutes at the top of class for the first person on the list to practice.

Due for midterm: 

  • Wednesday, 3/14: Come prepared with your character, question/theme, and some passages chosen for group feedback.
  • Midterm date itself, 3/16: Bring your passages on one sheet of paper with annotations (underlining, highlighting, notes in the margins, even an outline on the side of your passages), and, of course, yourself and your voice.

Grading: Since this is not a public speaking course per se, I will not be judging you on things like how often you say “um,” and if you’re a little nervous, that’s okay.  Here is what I will judge you on:

A= While you demonstrate that you understand concepts we covered in class, you also have made your own independent claim and brought in new textual evidence, or taken textual evidence we have discussed and looked at it from a different angle; you competently close read the textual evidence you quoted/mentioned to prove your claim(s).

B= You restate concepts we covered in class, but you have shown some effort to bring in a new idea and passages. You make an attempt to close read the textual evidence you quoted/mentioned to prove your claim(s).

C= You restate concepts, ideas and passages that we have covered in class, and you do it competently. You do not, however, bring in anything new, in terms of claims or passages

D= You briefly restate some ideas we have covered in class, but some claims may be inaccurate. You rarely refer to the text itself.

F= You do not state ideas we have covered in class, or are very vague about these ideas, and you make claims that may be inaccurate or too general, without referring to the text itself.

Notes:

  • Note that in the case of a text like The Hymn to Aten, the “character” you choose might be the narrator.
  • We may be able to make more time if some people would be around to do this in my office hours after class OR in the period the room is open before class starts (about 30 minutes before)

Medea’s State of Mind

Student blog post

Medea seems be a smart woman. Well, she appears to take the stand of a smart woman by her cleverness. Her intelligence has caused her to suffer. Reason being, she had let herself over think and at the end she lost it all. However, she was able to out smart the Corinth Chorus by letting them agree with Nurse. The Nurse did not speak highly of Jason. Medea also led Jason to believe that her actions and her words were harmless, but Jason being blinded by her apologies did not realized it was all apart of Medea’s sick plan to kill Creon’s daughter and her two children. Let’s not forget! How Medea cleverly charmed her escape with Aegeus. Medea loves to use her drugs and her spills to manipulate for her own selfish desires. Medea may not appear to “best” wife or woman, but she does play cards correctly when it comes to getting her way or revenge. I strongly believe Medea’s state of mind is not up to par. Her actions in killing her brother to escape from her family, killing her two children and Creon’s daughter to being sorrow to Jason’s heart, Medea has officially lost her mind. Meaning, her intelligence made her over think and over react. I do not stand by Medea and her actions and I do not stand by Jason for leaving Medea. I just believe that Medea was not truly thinking about her actions. She was just using her intelligence and her gods to get her way. However, on another hand, Medea’s actions towards Jason does’t remind you of how women unpredictable thinking can cause them to act irrational? Or maybe Jason was intimidated by Medea’s smartest? Or maybe Jason was amazed by Medea’s cleverness?

Picture of Medea killing her children (from google)

This image is a relief sculptured. Remembered from Art History. This image shows the children giving Creon’s daughter the gifts from Medea.

 

This is video with Medea and Aegeus interaction. I loved this video cause of the ASL about 10mins.