Some ECU Resources for Critical Paper #2

Here are a few sources in our library that might be of interest to you for Critical Paper #2. Most are on Naipaul, but some are about the kind of literature we're reading in the second half of class:

DVD* V.S. Naipaul, The Enigma of Writing

BOOKS (in our library) * French, Patrick. The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul. New York : Vintage 2009  1st Vintage Books ed 

* Boehmer, Elleke. Colonial and Postcolonial Literature. 

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005 * Lazarus, Neil. The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Studies.

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004 OTHER GRAPHIC NOVELS BY NON-WESTERN AUTHORS (all in library) * Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, Pantheon Books, 2007. * Yang, Gene. American Born Chinese. New York: Square Fish, 2009. * Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. New York: Arthur Levine Books, 2007. A FEW ARTICLES (you can find more on the EBSCO search on the Library website) * Drawing Strife: Global Conflicts in Graphic Novels. Library Journal Vol. 141 * Gene Luen Yang on Boxers & Saints. Horn Book Magazine. Jan/Feb 2015. Vol, 89 * O'Neill, Joseph. Man Without a Country. Atlantic, Sept. 2011. Vol. 308. * Sood, Divya. Empire, Power, and Language: The Creation of an Identity in V.S. Naipaul's The Mystic Masseur. Atenea. June 2007. Vol. 27 * Bawer, Bruce. Civilization and V.S. Naipaul. Hudson Review, Autumn 2002.

* Mustafa, Fawiza, V.S. Naipaul. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995  

For Friday: Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur, Chs.9-11

Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: How does Naipaul satirize democratic elections in a postcolonial nation?  How does the system not work—and how is the very idea of democracy often misunderstood by Ganesh and others? 

Q2: Once the American soldiers arrive in Trinidad, America begins to have a much more profound influence on Trinidadian life than Britain.  Where do we see the “American” influence in its day to day life?  How does Ganesh try to institute “American” popular culture? 

Q3: Once Ganesh enters politics he emulates the reforms and ideals of Gandhi, who liberated India from British control.  But is his ‘mimicking’ sincere or somewhat hypocritical?  What kind of political leader does he make?

Q4: How do you understand the end of the book, when the narrator, now a grown man, encounters Ganesh in London?  Why does he change his name to “G.Ramsay Muir”?  

Critical Paper #2 Assignment: due May 6th by 5pm

Critical Paper #2: To Form and Inform

“Education, sahib, is one hell of a thing.” (Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur)

For your second Critical Paper, and basically your final exam, I want you to explore the idea we wrote about in class: Does the West have the right to “educate” the East? Can a “new” culture teach an “old” culture how to act? All the writers in the second half of class (including Akutagawa) are using Western “education” to write about their Non-Western worlds. Through the novel, short story, or the English language, they are teaching the West about their cultures and teaching their own culture to ‘see’ their respective problems. Every book has a didactic element, which means its ability to teach, instruct, and spread the author’s personal view of the world. How didactic are these works? How much do they want to save, criticize, explain, or explore their native traditions within the context of Western forms and voices?

As you explore this theme, consider some of the following ideas:

• How do the writers try to justify certain Eastern ways of thought and life?
• Do they criticize the West or ultimately come out in favor of it?
• Do they look at the West as a savior, or a necessary evil?
• Is writing in English (or Western forms) a concession of ‘defeat’? Is it a rejection of more traditional forms and modes of storytelling?
• Are they telling old stories in new ways, or new stories in old ways?
• Is being an author itself a Western occupation? Is a novel? Does it translate the “East” out of the book?
• Do the authors ever make apologies for their culture? Or outright ridicule it?
• Do the heroes recognizably Western? Or do they follow Eastern morals and values?
• How do they present Eastern spiritual beliefs and religion? Are these translated “truthfully” or through a Western lens (remember Naipaul’s crack about Hindus?).
• Are there certain ideas/characters that the authors refuse to translate? In what way are these works untranslatable?

REQUIREMENTS

• Use at least 2 works from class in your discussion, and quote from each one significantly. Find passages that really speak to your conversation and ideas.
• Find 2-3 secondary sources that help you discuss the works and their context: these could be articles on the authors, their cultures, religions, literature, etc. I’ll share a few articles with you in class and on the blog.
• Cite all quotations according to MLA or another format, but be consistent.
• Due on our Final Exam day, Friday, May 6^th at 5pm 

For Monday: Naipaul. The Mystic Masseur, Chs. 7 & 8

No Questions this time around, but read the next two chapters for class: we'll have an in-class writing response when you get back. 

Also, if you missed class on Friday, your Paper #3 is waiting for you. I'll assign the Critical Paper #2 this week, though it won't be due until our Final Exam day. See you on Monday!

For Friday: V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur, Chs.4-6

Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: As the hero of our tale, Ganesh undertakes the most heroic task of all: to become a writer of books. What obstacles does Ganesh face on his path? Are these typical to all writers—or would-be writers—or are they uniquely Trinidadian complications? 

Q2: In Chapter Four, Naipaul writes, “It was their first beating, a formal affair done without anger on Ganesh’s part or resentment on Leela’s; and although it formed part of the marriage ceremony itself, it meant much to both of them. It meant that they had grown up and become independent.” What do you make of this scene and others like it? Is this simply part of the “Non-Western” fabric of Trinidad...or does this result from the conflict of East and West on the island?

Q3: Defending his book to Beharry, Ganesh exclaims, “Is a damn good book, you hear.”  Why does Ganesh so overestimate the quality and importance of his book?  What do we see (thanks to the narrator) that he is blind to?  How might this reflect the colonial limitations of this world as Naipaul sees them? 

Q4: In Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place (a non-fiction work about the island of Antigua), she writes that “people in a small place cannot give an exact account, a complete account of events…The people in a small place can have no interest in the exact, or in completeness, for that would demand a careful weighing, careful consideration, careful judging, careful questioning.” Why are the people of Trinidad so unwilling to judge and question their world? Is Ganesh the exception to this—or is he just as “small” as the rest of them? 

For Monday: V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur, Chs.1-3 (pp.1-45)

NOTE: A “masseur” is a term denoting something between a sage, a mystic, a spiritual healer, and a prophet.  Part of the comedy of this work is how Ganesh enters into this profession, and whether or not V.S. Naipaul feels there is anything heroic in his career: can a man with the wrong intentions come out right?

Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: What role do books and knowledge (esp. English/European knowledge) play in Trinidadian society?  How might this play into the conflict between East and West that we’ve seen in previous works?  Consider Ramlogan’s comment, “This reading, sahib, is a great great thing” (34). 

Q2: In Chapter One, Naipaul writes that “I myself believe that the history of Ganesh is, in a way, the history of our times” (18). In what way might Ganesh’s early career mirror the struggle of many citizens in the postcolonial world? Why is it difficult for Ganesh to find himself and establish a career and a life for himself?

Q3: When this novel was written, Trinidad had only recently gained its independence from Britain (in 1962). Yet how is Trinidad still very “British” in its ways and ideas, and how it this often comically portrayed by Naipaul? You might also consider why the society clings to these colonial ideas instead of replacing them with more ‘Non-Western’ laws and ideas.

Q4: Naipaul writes much of this work in dialect, capturing the natural speech of the island and the Indian communities of Trinidad. Why might this be important for a book with such a Non-Western point of view? Recall an earlier class where we discussed the great literary debate of postcolonial societies: which language to write in? How does Naipaul have his cake and eat it, too, in this case? 

For Monday: Yang, Saints

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why (and when) does Joan of Arc abandon Vibiana toward the end of the novel? Why is it significant that she returns just moments before Vibiana’s death?

Q2: Discuss the similarities between Page 158, with Jesus and the eye-hands, and the similar image in Boxers with Guan-Yin, the Goddess of Compassion. Why does Yang make these images almost mirror images of one another?

Q3: On page 136, Vibiana writes, “Maria was right. The world was about to end. And Dr. Won was all I had left.” Why does she view Dr. Won in this way, and why does she feel betrayed by him in the end?

Q4: How does the end of Saints change how we read Boxers? Why do you think Yang added this scene at the end of Saints instead of the previous volume? Is it more part of Vibiana’s story? 

Short Paper #3 Assignment

Short Paper #3: East and West

“Both your religion and my opium come from the hairy ones! It’s ridiculous that you use one to judge another!”

“Please, Mr. Yu! We must take from the foreigners what is good and leave behind what is evil.” (Yang, Saints)

In several of Akutagawa’s stories and both of Yang’s, we see the Non-Western view of the West, a translation that cuts across language and culture. Akutagawa typically employs an unreliable narrator who doesn’t understand the West, and gives us false or biased information to help us ‘see’ the truth. Yang is a little more complex, in that we have to read between the story (or between words and images) to see his portrait of Western culture as it clashes with traditional Chinese society. The question remains, can the East survive its encounter with the West?

Response: for your Third Short Paper, I want you to respond to the question: according to the authors, can Western culture merge harmoniously with the Eastern (like the Yin/Yang dichotomy) or must one destroy the other? In these stories, how does each author weigh in on the inevitable struggle between East and West? Can traditional Eastern beliefs exist in a Christian world? Is there room in Eastern philosophy to accommodate imperialism, capitalism, and even Western racism? Or should the East ultimately reject the basic tenets of the Western world (including Christianity)?

Also, do Akutagawa and Yang (writers who are working almost 100 years apart) share the same beliefs on this issue? Is one more pro-East or pro-West than the other? Does Akutagawa’s identity as a Japanese writer writing in Japanese give him a fundamentally different perspective than Yang who is American writing in English? Consider, too, that both are writing about the past: does that give them the appropriate distance to ‘see’ the Western/Eastern confrontation with greater clarity? Or is one—or both—blinded by their cultural baggage?

Requirements

• 3-4 pages double spaced
• Discuss at least 1 Akutagawa story and at least 1 of Yang’s books, though you can do more.
• QUOTE and discuss passages in your paper—don’t just summarize. Cite quotes according to MLA format or another one you feel comfortable with.
• No outside sources needed unless you feel you need more information. If you use outside sources, you must quote and cite them in your paper and include a Works Cited page.
• DUE Friday, April 8^th by 5pm (hard copy preferred)

For Friday: Scissortail Creative Writing Festival

REMEMBER, no class on Friday: instead, you could go to the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival which starts at 9:30 and continues at 11:00, 2:00, 3:00 and 7:00. Here is the entire schedule for Thursday-Saturday, so you can find a time that suits you: http://ecuscissortail.blogspot.com/2016/01/2016-scissortail-schedule-of-readings.html

If you attend a session, answer ALL FOUR of the questions below for an extra credit bonus. This can take the form of missed responses, missed classes, or simply extra points on your final grade. The amount of responses or absences I forgive is based on how detailed/engaged your answers are. For example, if you respond to each question with a 1-2 sentence response and I can't really tell if you even attended a session, I might not be able to give you any credit. But if I can see that you put some thought into it and really responded to what you observed at the reading, I can excuse up to 3 absences or 3 missed responses. So take notes as you watch so you can answer these questions with thought and detail. You can bring these responses to class on Tuesday. 

THE QUESTIONS (answer all 4):

Q1: Which of the authors interested you the most and why? Why did you respond their poems and/or story and why might you read more from this author?

Q2: Which piece (if any) did you find difficult to follow or understand and why? Is is simply not your kind of material, or was it too vulgar, or depressing, or confusing? If you liked all the pieces you heard by each writer, answer this instead: how did each author's reading work together as a whole? Why did these 3 (or 4) writers work well together? Was there any common themes or ideas that seemed to link them together?

Q3: Discuss briefly how the authors presented their material: their reading style, introductions, gestures, and other details that helped you appreciate the stories/poems. In other words, how did the authors help you understand their work through their performance?

Q4: How did the audience react to these authors/works? Did certain works get more response than others--and if so, why? Did people laugh? Were they completely silent. Did people seem to 'get' these writers, or did some leave them scratching their heads? How could you tell?

For Wednesday: Yang, Saints (pp.1-103)

[Sorry for the delay--I posted these questions but they got saved as a 'Draft' instead. Just realized now it didn't post!]

Q1: How does the figure of Joan of Arc parallel, in some ways, the relationship Bao had with the First Emperor of China? Is this a purely 'good,' and positive influence on Four-Girl's life? Is becoming a 'saint' her way of becoming a 'god/hero'? 

Q2:What is Four-Girl's relationship to Christianity throughout these pages? What compels her to become a "secondary devil"? Why wouldn't someone like Bao and his followers understand this? 

Q3: Besides the obvious juxtaposition of Joan of Arc/The First Emperor (Q1), what other echoes do we see from Boxers to Saints? Where do we see other themes repeated, or slightly embellished, in Four-Girl/Vibiana's story? Why do  you think Yang is at pains to do this?

Q4: Since Yang dedicated this volume to the "San Jose Chinese Catholic Community," what kind of portrait of the saints and martyrs of the faith does he offer? Is this a pious, even dogmatic work compared to Boxers? Or is he just as critical of them as he is of the Boxer Rebellion? Where might we see one view or the other? 

For Friday: Yang, Boxers, pp.125-250

Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: Bao is attempting to save China and be a hero like the characters in a Chinese opera, but the First Emperor of China takes exception to his methods. How does the Emperor seem to define heroism and how does this change Bao’s path? Does he become more or less ‘heroic?’

Q2: What lesson is Bao forced to learn about the “secondary devils” during his crusade? Why does this make it much more difficult to save China and fulfill his destiny? Also, how might this tie in with some of Akutagawa's stories, notably "O-Gin"? 

Q3: The novel introduces the very Chinese concept (discussed in ancient works such as the Tao te Ching) of the Yin and Yang, the male and female principles of the universe. What do various characters say about this force, and how does it affect Bao’s relationship with Mei-Wei?

Q4: What do you make of the name the rebellion takes, “The Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist”? Can an armed revolution be both “righteous” and “harmonious?” Can you follow romantic ideals with the edge of a sword? Can terrorists enforce a rigid morality without doing evil themselves? Where do we see this tested in the book? 

For Wednesday: Yang, Boxers, pp.1-120

Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: As a visual medium, comics are uniquely qualified to help readers imagine far-off places or unfamiliar moments in history. How does Boxers help us ‘see’ through the eyes of another culture, and particularly, a Non-Western one? What ideas or concepts make more sense through the comic than they would in a traditional novel?

Q2: Despite the historical aspect of Boxers, the work is also a classic (fictional) hero narrative. Where do we see the story of heroes such as Gilgamesh and Rama informing Bao? In other words, how does Yang incorporate an ancient story within more modern historry?

Q3: Like the last Akutagawa stories, Boxers discusses the presence of Christianity in the Non-Western world. How is this portrayed by Yang in the opening chapters? Is his approach similar to Akutagawa’s? How much of the Western criticism comes from the narrator rather than the author?

Q4: Discuss a passage where the images alone couldn’t tell the story the same way without the words. Remember how we added words to the wordless comic in class...how might Yang have done the same thing, and used words to help us see a very different story, or perhaps a much more effective one? 

For Wednesday: Akutagawa, “Under the Sword” Stories

Be sure to read the following 3 stories: “Dr. Ogata Ryosai,” “O-Gin,” and “Loyalty” and answer TWO of the following…

Q1: Two of these stories are unique for their mixing of East and West, Buddhism and Christianity. What side does Akutagawa seem to be on in each one (or in different ones)? Are these anti-Western stories, or does he use the West to criticize Eastern values and ideas? How can we tell?

Q2: “Loyalty” is a very Japanese story, as it concerns the elaborate ceremonial rites of etiquette that bind the various classes of society. Even death, in these stories, has to follow the proper procedure! Based on this, why might a madman be particularly troubling to members of this society? Do you feel Shuri is doing this on purpose; does he know what he’s doing?

Q3: Akutagawa’s narrators are one of his trademarks, particularly someone like Dr. Ogata Ryosai, who doesn’t really “get” the big picture. How do the narrators in one or more works inadvertently see ideas we might otherwise miss, or place a satirical spin on the characters or events?  

Q4: A very ‘non-Western’ attribute of each of these stories is the ending. Nothing necessarily dramatic or surprising happens at the end, and some of the stories lack what we would consider a compelling plot. Why do you think these stories are so minimalistic, more anecdotes than true stories? And why might the endings, which frustrate Western readers, actually be important to the story as a whole? 

Short Paper #2: A Hero of Our Time

The influence of a vital person vitalizes, there’s no doubt about it. The world without spirit is a wasteland. People have the notion of saving the world by shifting things around, changing the rules, who’s on top, and so forth. No, no! Any world is a valid world if it’s alive. The thing to do is to bring life to it, and the only way to do that is to find in your own case where the life is and become alive yourself” (Campbell, The Power of Myth)

For your Short Paper #2, I want you to step out of the ‘non-Western’ bubble and examine a hero or heroine you think is relevant to 21st century American culture. This figure should be fictional so we can read how his or her character, action, and origin represents values and ideas central to our culture. Remember, even the most universal hero comes from a specific time and place, and the more we peer into his or her origins, the more we can understand what this culture believed in. For example, Rama is literally a god, so his actions must represent the basic principles of Hinduism in a way that the average reader of the book could understand (and learn from). And don’t forget the “anti-hero/heroine”! Most of Akutagawa’s ‘heroes’ are of the anti-hero variety, especially someone like the painter Yoshihide, who represents specific cultural values through the ‘heroic’ creation of the Hell Screen.

PRESENTATION: Instead of writing a typical paper, I want you to prepare a handout for the entire class that addresses some or all of the following ideas:

• The hero/heroine’s origin
• The hero/heroine’s virtues or powers
• The hero/heroine’s symbolism (what he/she represents)
• The hero/heroine’s actions (what they do that can inspire us—or we can learn from)
• The hero/heroine’s universality: can anyone understand them, or is it more limited to a specific culture/time?
• The hero/heroine’s connection to our class: how does he/she relate to some of the characters we’ve met in this class?

You will then present this hero/heroine to the class using the ideas in your handout and at least some visual aid. This could be another handout, a powerpoint or Prezi slide or two, a video clip, You Tube, etc. Just make sure we can see some aspect of this hero to complement your discussion. Your presentation only has to take 5-10 minutes, though you can go a bit longer. The goal of this paper is simply to share your ideas with the class and generate a discussion about modern-day ‘heroes’ and their importance to our society.

DUE THE WEEK OF MARCH 7^th: We’ll sign up next week to see who presents on which day, but we will present on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

For Wednesday: Akutagawa, "Hell Screen" (pp.42-73)

Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: How does “Hell Screen” share with stories like “Rashomon” and “In a Bamboo Grove” a very cynical view of human nature? According to these stories, why is there no fundamental difference between a thief, a painter, and a lord? Why might the moral of “Rashomon,” that “All I can do is become a thief” be the moral for all of these stories?

Q2: The painter, Yoshihide, claims that he can only paint what he has personally observed with his own eyes—and nothing else. This often leads him to observe rather gruesome spectacles, such as rotting corpses and chained prisoners (and at the end of the story, something even worse). Responding to criticisms of this practice, he responds, “Other painters are such mediocrities, they cannot appreciate the beauty of ugliness” (48). Despite his depraved character, why might this be a very “non-Western” sentiment, and a valid philosophy of art itself?

Q3: “Hell Screen” contains a curious doubling: both the painter and the monkey are named Yoshihide. Even though the monkey is named after him as a joke, in the story itself, it serves a larger purpose. What role does the monkey serve in the story, and how might it help us ‘see’ the true character of the painter?

Q4: The narrator of this story has a character all his own, as he tells the story in fits and starts, and makes commentary throughout. Why do you think he is so captivated by this story, and how might his manner of telling the story color how we read and understand it?

For Monday: Akutagawa's Stories

For Monday, there are no questions, but I will spring an in-class response on you when you arrive based on the following stories (pp.3-41 in your book):

* Rashomon
* In a Bamboo Grove
* The Nose
* Dragon: The Old Potter's Tale
* The Spider Thread 

As you read, think of connections between these stories and Kwaidan, as well as to the previous stories we've encountered. See you then! 

For Friday: Questions for Kwaidan (1965)

NOTE: These questions are for the two stories from Kwaidan we watched on Monday-Wednesday, "The Woman of the Snows" and "Hoichi the Earless." Even though we have about 10 minutes left on the last story, you've seen enough to answer these questions for our discussion on Friday. 

Answer TWO of the following for Friday…

Q1: According to these stories, what relationship do common people have with the spirit world? What do spirits want with men/women? Is it similar to what we find in The Ramayana, which is also populated by many demons/spirits?

Q2: Both stories concern the importance of an oath or of keeping one’s word. Though neither example is ‘fair’ in modern terms, why do you think this was so important for the culture? Why would the spirits demand such an impractical oath?

Q3: Though ‘non-Western,’ and specifically, Japanese, do these stories resemble any Western stories you might be aware of? Are these stories somewhat universal in their lessons and beliefs? Can we relate…or do they require enough translation to make them ‘exotic’?

Q4: In the second story, we also get a glimpse at the afterlife—the spirits of the Emperor and his soldiers who call on Hoichi, the musician, to play for them. What kind of ‘hell’ or ‘heaven’ does it envision? Is this anything like what we glimpsed in The Epic of Gilgamesh? What might it say about the values and beliefs of this culture? 

Critical Paper #1: due Feb 29th by 5pm

Critical Paper #1: The Finger Pointing at the Moon

“All of this effort has been not to attain personal satisfaction for you or me. It was to vindicate the honour of the Ikshavhu race and to honour our ancestors’ codes and values.” (Narayan 148).

THE RESPONSE: Are heroes in these cultures supposed to celebrate our human virtues and failings…or are they supposed to function as metaphors for divine ideals and concepts? In other words, do we read the heroes literally, as people who literally did this and did that and inspire us by their example (even if they fail in doing so), or do we read them as a symbol that leads to an idea?

Remember the Buddhist idea of the finger pointing at the moon: the finger is not the moon, it’s just a way to direct our attention to the moon. In the same way, is a hero a HAND or a MOON? What are we supposed to be looking at? This question is complicated by history and culture (removed in time and place) and by the different authors themselves, who might not completely agree with one another. It is your task to decide how we can best appreciate these heroes and understand the importance of this ancient literature.

THE SOURCES: Use both The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Ramayana to help you answer this question. You must quote from each book and use examples to illustrate your ideas about the role of heroes in ancient Non-Western culture. You can also use our next two works, the film and Rashomon, but try not to focus on these, since we’ll have time to write about them later.

ALSO, I want you to use at least 2-3 outside sources that can help broaden your perspective and understanding on heroes, Non-Western literature, or the cultures/religions in question. Some sources you might consider are:

• Other works related to Gilgamesh and Sumerian literature (such as the ones printed in the back of our book of Gilgamesh)
• Works related to Hindu spirituality, such as The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, or The Dhammapada (in our library, and the other Honors class is using them—ask them to help you!)
• Articles or books about Gilgamesh or The Ramayana which you can find through EBSCO or in our library
• Articles or books on heroes, myths, and legends (Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, etc. are great resources—in our library)
• Films that focus on Non-Western culture and heroes/myths: there are many films of The Ramayana, for example, which you can find on-line
• REQUIREMENTS: 5-6 pages, double spaced; cite sources consistently in one style (MLA, APA, etc.); Due Monday, February 29^th by 5pm 

For Wednesday: Last Questions for The Ramayana

Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: In The Ramayana, most things are not what they seem, particularly if they look too good to be true. Rama is warned that Ravana’s turncoat brother, Vibishana, is clearly an “asura,” an evil spirit who will bring him harm; therefore he must kill him and fulfill his duty as a hero (who came to earth, after all, to stop Ravana and all asuras). Why does Rama instead decide to spare him even at the risk of being betrayed later on? Does this go against his dharma as a warrior or his mission as a god?

Q2: Toward the end of his life, Ravana is warned “Sooner or later retribution comes. Do not be contemptuous of men or monkeys” (126). Why does he continue to fly in the face of dharma and pursue his “impure work”? If we read this entire story on a more allegorical/metaphorical level, what human impulse might Ravana represent for the book’s readers?

Q3: What do you make of the passage that describes Ravana’s death? How might this reflect Rama’s earlier encounter with Vali? How might this passage also help explain the concept of maya in Hindu thought?

Q4: Clearly the most controversial part of the book is Rama’s rejection of Sita after his long struggle to regain her. How do you read this passage in terms of Rama being not only a great hero, but the god Vishnu himself? Why demand this of a wronged woman? Does this passage relate to anything else we’ve read in the book concerning women? (related to this, how does Narayan seem to read it)? 

For Monday: Narayan, The Ramayana, Chs.5-7

Q1: On Friday, we discussed a passage from The Bhagavad Gita which read, “work which is done with a confused mind, without considering what may follow, or one’s own powers, or the harm done to others, or one’s own loss, is a work of darkness.” How might this passage illustrate a specific passage in Chs.5-7? Be specific and briefly discuss its significance.

Q2: When Rama attacks Vali from behind a bush, delivering a fatal blow, Vali asks, “When strong men commit crimes, they become heroic deeds?” (101). How does Rama defend himself against claims of injustice against Vali and a betrayal of his own code? Has he committed a selfish act, one based on “impure knowledge”? Or is Vali’s way of understanding this act limited?

Q3: In Chapter 5, Narayan writes, “The fates were at work and this was to be a crucial moment in their lives. Normally, Rama would have questioned Sita’s fancy, but today he blindly accepted her demand” (82). How should we read this passage? Did the gods intervene and make Rama “weak,” or is this Rama’s humanity showing through? Can everything in the book be explained away by karma?

Q4: How does the character of Hanuman—though a monkey—embody many key Hindu beliefs about individual identity and duty? Why might he also be a cultural metaphor for the role of a hero himself? (indeed, in Hindu thought, Hanuman is almost as important as Rama).

For Wednesday: Narayan, The Ramayana, Chs.3-4

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: As we discussed on Monday, Narayan is not an academic, so he views his work more as a retelling than an actual translation. This allows him more latitude to interpret the story and add his own interpolations and glosses. Where does he do this in Chs. 3 and 4, and how does it add to the story—esp. for a modern audience?

Q2: In Chapter 3, Rama claims that “A word given is like an arrow, it goes forward. You cannot recall it midway” (54). What situation is he responding to  here, and how does this underline the fundamental concept of dharma (which translates to “the essential order of things, an integrity and harmony in the universe and in the affairs of life that cannot be disturbed without courting chaos”)? 

Q3: What role do women seem to play in The Ramayana? From Sita, to Kayeki, to the demon Soorpanaka, they all share certain characteristics and emerge as very distinct characters (maybe more so than the men). As Western readers, do we read these portrayals as somewhat misogynist (anti-women)? Or are they merely playing the roles required of them in this culture? Do they relate at all to the women in The Epic of Gilgamesh?

Q4: In Chapter 1, Rama has to kill a female demon, and in Chapter 4, his brother, Viswamithra has to mutilate Soorpanaka. Both deeds can be seen as quite horrific and certainly beneath the hero of a great epic. How does the work justify these acts? How could men, traditionally the protectors of women in this culture, inflict such savagery upon them?

For Monday: Narayan, The Ramayana, Prologue-Chapter 2

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What makes Rama a unique hero, even more so than Gilgamesh? Both are somewhat divine, but how does Rama’s origin make him unique among Western heroes—and difficult to translate into our world/stories? Is it even fair to call him a hero given his unusual pedigree?

Q2: On page 16, Ganga explains to Rama that “Even after the participants have vanished, every inch of earth still retains the impress of all that has gone before. We attain a full understanding only when we are aware of the divine and other associations of every piece of ground we tread on.” Why is this quote significant in this work—and for what you might know of Indian/Hindu culture in general?

Q3: The Ramayana places a strong emphasis on duty or dharma, which can be translated as “the essential order of things, an integrity and harmony in the universe and in the affairs of life that cannot be disturbed without courting chaos. Thus it means rightness, justice, goodness, purpose” (Easwaran). Part of dharma is doing one’s duty and keeping’s one word at all costs. How does the story (so far) dramatize the struggle of doing one’s duty and obeying one’s station in life, even when to do so might otherwise seem ‘wrong’? Why is this notion of duty particularly tricky for Western readers?

Q4: Another often-translated Hindu concept is that of karma, which “can be translated as deed or action. The law of karma states that every event it both a cause and an effect. Every act has consequences…and every act, every karma, is also the consequence of some previous karma” (Easwaran). Related to question 3, how does the work dramatize the concept of karma in action? What characters are punished or rewarded according to their karma? Why might this, too, be a difficult concept for Western readers to grasp or appreciate? 

For Monday: Tables X-XI of The Epic of Gilgamesh

For Friday. finish The Epic of Gilgamesh (the last 2 tablets) for our final discussion of the book. I'll give you an in-class writing response over a significant passage/idea from these chapters (so there are no blog questions this time). Also remember that the Short Paper #1 is due on Wednesday, and I've posted it below in case you misplaced it. We'll briefly discuss integrating literature into your paper on Monday as well. See you then...

Short Paper #1: The Mysteries of Gilgamesh

The short papers in this class are a way to explore a single, focused idea while the reading is still fresh in your mind. It’s designed as a kind of warm-up for the longer, critical papers, and should be approached as a first draft rather than something to endlessly stress over. That said, think about each option carefully before starting and remember to get right to the point; don’t waste time with a lengthy introduction that dances around the subject. Hit the ground running by directly responding to the ‘conversation’ of the questions below...

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Option 1:            As you’ve noticed reading Andrew George’s edition of Gilgamesh (or another version), the text is full of omissions and other lacunae that only hint at what might have been. If we could find one or more of these missing pieces, the story might change dramatically—or at least become more clear and understandable. To that end, I want you to choose one significant blank passage (of a few lines or no more than a page) and complete the passage in a way that is artistically satisfying or illuminating. Imagine not only what might have been there, but what should be there to satisfy a modern audience. Explain what lines/ideas are missing and explain why this is a significant and meaningful completion. Don’t make it too simple, either: consider how a hidden character motivation or a cosmic plot point might have been buried away in a crumbled tablet. In other words, help us (21^st century English speakers) read the ‘hidden’ Gilgamesh lost to the ages.

Option 2:           When Enkidu recounts his dream about the Underworld, he notes, “I looked around me, saw the “crowns” in a throng,/there were the crowned [heads] who’d ruled the land since days/of yore” (VII.61). This seems to state that the fate of every man—king or commoner—is to sink into the darkness of death for all eternity. However, this is a dream, and might not represent the true destiny of mankind. From what we have of Gilgamesh, is the poem optimistic or pessimistic about the nature of death? Does Gilgamesh find an answer to its mysteries, or a new way of looking at it? Is this poem supposed to make its listeners more comfortable or satisfied about the life to come? Or is it a grim admission that life is all we have, so enjoy it? Use a passage or two to support your response to this question.

REQUIREMENTS

* 3-4 pages, double spaced

* Quote passages from the text (don’t just summarize)

* Follow MLA Format when doing so (we’ll discuss this in class)

* DUE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27th BY 5pm [in my box, HM 348]

For Friday: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablets VII-IX (pp.54-75)

Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: According to Enkidu, what is the true nature of the Underworld? How does this complicate the idea of kings/servants, as well as the quest for immortal deeds and victories in life?

Q2: Enkidu’s speech in Tablet VII against death is one of the first ‘existential’ speeches in literature. What is the nature of his anger, and why is it particularly poignant and ironic? Related to this, why does Gilgamesh call it “profanity” (not meaning curses, necessarily, but maybe more like blasphemy)? 

Q3: If you were a member of Sumerian/Babylonian society, and this was actually your culture and your gods, would you feel comforted by the will of the gods? Do their actions in these tablets seem just? Does the poem explain why Enkidu deserves to die and Gilgamesh to suffer? Do the gods seem to be embodiments of eternal truths…or heroes and tyrants in a larger form?

Q4: If Gilgamesh is the hero of our tale, and this tale is about the triumph of civilization/humanity over beasts and barbarians, why does Gilgamesh begin his wanderings clad in lion skins, foraging for water, and chasing the winds? In a sense, why does Gilgamesh reject society and humanity after Enkidu’s death? Is this, too, ‘heroic,’ or is it part of his journey toward heroism and reason? 

For Wednesday: The Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablets IV-VI, pp.30-54

Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: There’s so much about the customs and values of Sumerian/Babylonian culture we simply don’t know, so it’s hard to figure out what is right/wrong in this poem. However, do you think raiding Humbaba and stealing the cedar trees is a heroic act—one befitting a king/hero—or is it a sacrilege against the gods? We know the cedar trees are sacred, and both Enkidu and Gilgamesh lose courage at different stages of the journey. Is this a transgression of the natural order? Or a triumph over it?

Q2: Related somewhat to the above, when Humbaba is defeated he bargains with Gilgamesh, saying “Spare my life, O Gilgamesh…let me dwell here for you in [the forest of Cedar!] Trees as many as you command…” (V.42). Is it shameful/unheroic that Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay him at this moment, beheading him and ripping out his lungs? Or does the poem depict him as an evil and duplicitous creature? How does the poet want us to read this pivotal episode?

Q3: Based on Gilgamesh’s speech to Ishtar, what kind of goddess is she? What relationship does she (an immortal) have with the mortals on earth? Does this have parallels with other gods from the more familiar Greek or Norse traditions? What might this say about the Sumerian/Babylonian view of gods and their place in the world?

Q4: The poem seems to place enormous importance on dreams and the manner in which they are interpreted. Enkidu’s coming is foretold in a dream, and Gilgamesh has many, many dreams before facing Humbaba. Do these dreams have a significant purpose in the poem, however? Are they merely placeholders, a repetition that makes it easier for the poet to recite the poem (since it was originally oral)? Or does it set up or establish themes or ideas that are developed later in the work? 

For Friday: Translations of the Epic (video link below for those interested)

Remember for tomorrow's class, there is no extra reading: catch up to Tablet/Chapter III if you haven't already, or feel free to read ahead.  I'll post new questions for tomorrow. We'll discuss translations of the Epic of Gilgamesh tomorrow and what is gained--and lost--in the jump from an ancient non-Western language to English. As something else to consider, remember, too, that poetry is song--and was meant to be sung/recited. So here's a possible reconstruction of part of the Epic set to music in the original language. Sounds cool even if you don't follow the words...

For Wednesday: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablets I-III

NOTE: Answer two of these questions in a short paragraph, at least a few sentences and be specific. Don’t give one word or one sentence responses and avoid the easy answer. There are multiple ways of looking at each question, and answering them carefully will not only help our class discussions, but will serve as pre-writing for your short and critical paper assignments.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Does the poet consider Gilgamesh a good king? Though he is clearly a “great” king (powerful, almost a god, etc.) is he wise, noble, virtuous? Where do we see this, or where might we question this?

Q2: This poem is very concerned with the difference between humans and animals; in essence, the question of what makes one “human.” In the first three tablets, what does separate a man from a beast? How does Enkidu become a creature of “reason” rather than a beast of the wild? Why might this be such an important distinction for ancient man/writers?

Q3: The Epic of Gilgamesh is full of holes and omissions, requiring a translator to fill in the gaps with what he/she knows of the culture and from other related documents. Where did you feel the story was the most incomplete and why is this important? Where could the story change significantly based on what we don’t see and what we don’t know?

Q4: Why does Gilgamesh decide to slay the great giant Humbaba who lives in the treacherous forest? What might this say about him as a hero and/or a king? Is his decision universally celebrated? Why or why not?

Welcome to the Course

Welcome to our class blog for EQ2, which I have given the subtitle "Gods, Heroes, and Devils." Here's a blurb about the course via your syllabus:

The 19^th century poet Rudyard Kipling once wrote that “East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.” So what makes the “non-Western” world so different than the West? Is it geographic location, a system of belief, a language, or something else? In this class, we’ll approach this question by examining the most universal stories of all: tales of gods and heroes, myths and legends, saints and devils. Every culture tells stories of heroes who have to take on supernatural battles to save the world, and the Eastern world is no different. But how do those stories compare to “ours”? What values and ideals do they express? Do they offer an ideal bridge between cultures…or are they the great wall which separates Eastern and Western thought? Stay tuned! 

Make sure to get the books for class as soon as possible--we start reading next week!

Required Texts:

• The Epic of Gilgamesh, trnsl. Andrew George (Penguin Classics)
• Narayan, The Ramayana (Penguin Classics)
• Akutagawa, Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories. trsn. Jay Rubin (Penguin Classics)
• Yang, Boxers and Saints (two books in one series)
• Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur

See you in class!