For Monday: Satrapi, Persepolis (Part I)

On Friday, we discussed why comic books are a truly Non-Western form of literature, and examined how they tell stories in a unique way that combines the visual language of art with language itself. We'll recap some of this in class on Monday. I also passsed out the Paper #3/Final Exam assignment, which you can find in the post below this one. MAKE SURE to read it, since it is a major part of your final grade. 

For Monday, read the first part of Persepolis, from the beginning to around the part where her parents send her to live in Vienna. There are no questions for class, but we will have an in-class response when you arrive. So be sure to read carefully even if it is a comic book! 

Paper #3 and Final Exam (Read Carefully!)

I’m assigning these two works at the same time because I want you to choose which one is which. That is, one of the assignments has to be at least 4 pages and use 2-3 of the books from class, whereas the other one only has to be 2-3 pages and use only 1 book from class. You decide which one is which, based on which one you want to spend more time on and feel you can do the best work on. Naturally, the longer paper is worth more (25 pts) and the shorter work is worth less (15 pts).

THE TWO ASSIGNMENTS (You choose which one is Paper #3 and which is the Final)

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#1: Write a “New Student’s Introduction” to ONE of the books in our class. This Introduction should give a new student a sense of what to expect in the work: what it’s about, what themes and ideas it deals with, and a discussion of a few passages that you find extremely important (be sure to quote and cite them properly). In other words, help give them a sense of what to expect and how to read it to get the most out of the work.

NOTE: If you choose to make this your Final Exam, you must quote from 2-3 other books in class to show how this book shares themes and ideas with these works. This means you’ll also need a Works Cited page if you choose this option, and be sure to follow MLA (or another format that you prefer) throughout. Must be at least 4 pages.

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#2: Suggest a new title for this class other than “Non-Western Literature,” which as we discussed a week ago isn’t the best description for a class full of thousands of years of languages, cultures, and ideas. Explain why your title is more representative of the class and use a specific work to justify this, quoting from the work in question to support your ideas.

NOTE: If you choose to make this your Final Exam, you must use THREE works from class to support your new title. Be sure to quote from each work at least once and discuss each passage, using it to explain why your new course title captures some of the themes and ideas found in these works. This means you’ll also need a Works Cited page if you choose this option, and be sure to follow MLA (or another format that you prefer) throughout. This must be at least 4 pages.

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DUE DATES:

Paper #3 is worth 15 points and will be due on our last day of class, Friday, Dec.1^st

The Final Exam is worth 25 points and will be due on our Final Exam Day, Dec. 8^th.

For Monday: Kokoro, Chs. 69-89

NOTE: Starting where you left off (around page 117 for you, I think), end with the part where Okusan and Ojōsan leave to visit relatives.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why do both Sensei and K distrust (or frankly dislike) women? What seems to repel them about the opposite sex, and what basis do they have for these views? Do you think this is a cultural bias, or something based in their historical moment (the early 20th century)? In other words, does it reflect the way men looked at women in general at this time, or is it a uniquely Japanese/Eastern point of view?

Q2: Why does Sensei fall in love with Ojōsan? What about her contradicts his general dislike of women (as discussed above)? Also, what do you make of his comment that “I felt not the slightest physical urge toward her daughter”? Is that love?

Q3: How are K and the Narrator somewhat alike? What qualities and/or actions make them seem curiously similar, and why might this explain Sensei’s unusual tolerance for the younger student? Might this also explain Sensei’s attempt to ‘save’ the Narrator at the very end of his life?

Q4: When Sensei proposes inviting K to live with him in the boarding house, Okusan “opposed my plan...Bringing in someone like K, she said, would be bad for me.” Sensei seems totally oblivious of her point, and even once K and Ojōsan strike up a friendship, he claims not to notice. Is he truly this oblivious? Or do you think he wanted the two to fall in love to ‘rescue’ him from his own inability to marry her? Did he want to create a love triangle in order to “infuse in him my own living heat”?

For Friday: Korkoro, Chapters 50-69

NOTE: For your edition of the book, start around the passage where the narrator’s father is dying and he starts talking to his brother about the property; finish roughly around the part where Sensei moves into the house with the widow and starts falling in love with her daughter.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Sensei writes that “although I despised women, I could not find it in me to despise Ojōsan...I felt for her a love that was close to pious faith.” Why doe she seem to fall in love with her—and is it truly love? Can a man who claims to despise women suddenly make an exception? And how did she convince him to reform his views?

Q2: Besides the fact that Sensei intends to die, why does he finally decide to tell the narrator his secrets? What does he have to gain from recounting the story of his secret shame? Do you think the narrator understand it himself?

Q3: How are the narrator’s and Sensei’s stories of coming to adulthood similar? Are both of them “egotists,” as the narrator’s brother calls Sensei (and people like him)? Do we begin to understand the hidden attraction of the narrator for his ‘teacher’ as we read his letter?

Q4: At the end of Chapter 62 (in my edition), Sensei writes, “But I believe a commonplace idea stated with passionate conviction carries more living truth than some novel observation expressed with cool indifference.” Why might this be an idea we’ve previously encountered in other works in the class? What idea is Sensei actually trying to get across here?

For Wednesday: Kokoro, Chs.26-49 (see below)

* I realize your book doesn't have chapter breaks, and I'll get my hands on your copy as soon as I can. So start with the chapter that begins, roughly, "In the first days of summer, when the cherry boughs..." and end somewhere around the chapter/part that begins "My father's conditon deteriorated to the point where the fatal blow seemed imminent." 

No questions for next time--we'll do an in-class writing response. As you read, keep thinking about Sensei and the Narrator's relationship, and what the attachment primarily consists of. Is it love? Infatuation? Idolization? Something else? What about Sensei's relationship with his wife? Is it based on pity or convenience? Does he despise her as he does the rest of humanity--or is she the exception? And when the Narrator returns home, how does he change among his family members? Does he begin to live a new life? What prevents him from forming the attachments Sensei expects him to find/make?

See you then! 

For Monday: Sōseki, Kokoro, Chs.1-25

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In some ways, Kokoro is a novel about the traditional Japanese way of life giving way to the modern, Western world. How does the narrator and some of the other characters represent this change? Where else does the novelist show us these changes?

Q2: Several times, the narrator proclaims Sensei as a remarkable man and a philosopher. On one occasion he even exclaims, “I genuinely regretted the way the world ignored this admirable man” (Ch.11). How does the narrator communicate his greatness or uniqueness to the reader? Why is he a “sensei,” which is a term of respect which literally means “one who comes before,” but often connotes a teacher or wise man?

Q3: Sensei tells the narrator in Chapter 7 that “No time is as lonely as youth.” Why might youth (the age many of you are now) be lonelier than adulthood or old age? What do we lack in youth that we gain (or see) when we get older?

Q4: At one point, Sensei tells the narrator that “You had the impulse to find someone of the same sex as the first step toward embracing someone of the opposite sex...But I’m a man, so I can’t really fill your need” (Ch.13). Does the narrator want him to fulfill this need? Is he in love with the older man? Or is it, as Sensei suggests, a way to ‘test’ his attachment to another human being?