Sunday 2/25/18: Greetings, Folks! Here is what I propose as the Midterm Essay-exam format. And you will see that I am NOT requiring you to reread all the pages on the RevPp-handout that I gave you - which is as below - just the pages for your exam-essays whose topic we'll go over in class tomorrow.
PART I: STC - 2 in-class, handwritten OBJECTIVE, reading-knowledge-based Essays @ 20 points [= 40 pts.] - no book, no notes, paper provided - topics to ponder in your rereading and to write about in class:
A) REQUIRED Essay: Based on your reading in STC of pp. 29-30 ("[We] were soon ... me still."), what does James Lenfestey tells us/describe for us about his visit-experience at the Shisendo in Kyoto. You must offer narrative specifics/descriptive details to support your statements.(What's the "take-away" for him? ...)
B) Your choice of 1 of 2 topics for your second Essay:
- EITHER #1 - Based on your reading in STC of pp. 46-50 ("Our 'pleasure dome' ... Paradise."), HIGHLIGHT how East meets West in James Lenfestey's encounter with Prof. Jiang Feng. You must offer narrative specifics/descriptive details to support your statements.
- OR #2 - Based on your reading in STC of pp. 61-65 ("After breakfast ... cell phone."), HIGHLIGHT how East meets West in James Lenfestey's encounter with Abbot Minghai at the Bailin Buddhist temple/monastery. You must offer narrative specifics/descriptive details to support your statements.
PART II: BWB -
2/22/18: Selected RevPp to be REread for the Midterm - exam-format to be determined - announced in class on MON 2/26 when we do our Retrospective:
FROM SEEKING THE CAVE:
Preface: xiii-xiv: "In the fall ... Yuasa.": James Lenfestey's motivation for seeking the cave of Han-shan = his pilgrimage in search of his "own true name" as POET + Prologue: xix-xx: "My hungry ... And so I stepped out. ... song for me."
- TOKYO: top20-bottm21: Burton Watson's poem: "Do you have ... [Basho's haiku] ... to die.": with BW at the Pure Land Buddhist temple, the Zojo-ji - the gate-plaque's Buddhist moral reMINDer
- KYOTO: top29-mid30: "[We] were soon on ... lingers with me still.": visiting the Zen Buddhist temple-shrine with its raked-gravel garden - Shisen-do
- CHINA: East meets West twice-over: 1) JL meets Jiang Feng: love of poetry in common; 2) JL loves Chinese poets, and JF loves British&American poets
- at Bailin Temple: top61-bottom64: "After breakfast, ... cell phone.": meeting Abbot Minghai in the Ch'an/Zen Buddhist monastery
- East meets West at Qufu: top65-bottom67: "Breakfast With Confucius ... it or not.": Confucius's poetry anthology The Book of Songs, translated by Arthur Waley, whose translations of Chinese poetry inspired American poets
- bottom81-mid84: on visiting the cave of Bodhidharma: "Our final stop ...will follow."
FROM BREAKFAST WITH BUDDHA:
- Ch. 1: pp.1-5: "A Backdrop of Wondering"
- from Ch. 3: 15-17: Jeannie & Otto: " ... pondering the meaning of life."
- from Ch. 6: "An Unwelcome Surprise" - upper35-39: "Her [Cecelia's] face was ... 'Bowling!'"
- from Ch. 9: top60-mid63: "I found Route 501 ... SUNDAY 10:15.": "Why so angry?"
- from Ch. 11: bottom77-bottom79: "I ate a ... welcome.'": the water-glass lesson = purifying the mind
- Ch. 14: lower107-top112: "When I thought ... 'Sure, okay,' I said.": the education of the spirit is in/through/by living life (But you must stay AWAKE for it, as Caribou proclaims!)
- from Ch. 17: upper128-upper133: "'I want to do ... I can show you.'": not everything in life is temporary/fleeting/impermanent - a certain experience persists, outlasting its own originating moment = "heaven here"
- from Ch. 19: top paragraph: "Without much confidence ... DEPARTS.": another moral reMINDer for purifying the mind's water-glass
- from Ch. 20: upper49-mid151: "Mere chance? Or ... Pleasure.": the deepest happiness/joy/bliss/contentment = what HH the Dalai Lama calls "self-harmony" = profound inner peace = SERENITY = the fruit of mindfulness in living = since life is short, if you stay awake for it, you will experience dimensions of awareness/awakefulness which will enrich you as a self-reflective/disciplined/harmonious person
Monday 2/27/17 - For this Wednesday's "Exam-Class" you are to bring to class 2 typed 1-page Essays - one related to Jim L's STC Chs. 11 & 12 and the other related to our Basho pbk pp.91-95 "A Visit to Sarashina Village." ... Look at our Syllabus for this WED 3/1: a change = NO in-class written assignments. So, what will you do for this WED and what will happen in class on WED?
PART I - CHINA: typed 1-page Essay @ 50 points: STC - Chs. 11 & 12: On p. 66 of Ch. 11 JL quotes Confucius/Master Kong (= K'ung Fu Tzu - d. 479 BCE) about several beneficial uses of knowing POETRY (= the Songs/Odes of an ancient Chinese anthology admired by Confucius). In today's class we'll highlight these fruits of knowing such poems, AND then we will connect/relate them to 2 famous T'ang dynasty poems that JL quotes on p.76 of Ch. 12 by examining how 2 poets named Li Bai (d. 762 CE) and Du Fu (d. 770 CE) express in their poems some of what Confucius touched on in his lesson on the nature - the functions - of poetry to his students/disciples. So, you will CHOOSE ONLY ONE of these 2 poems and present, within 1 page, how either Li Bai or Du Fu ILLUSTRATE whichever of Master Kong/K'ung's ideas are pertinent. Got it? Good. Today in class we'll talk about all this.
PART II - JAPAN: typed 1-page Essay @ 50 points: our Basho pbk. pp. 91-95: In the prose section of his travel-account to Sarashina village, we find 3 "themes" (= my word) that Basho expresses/illustrates in his haiku-poems following the paragraphs in prose. These 3 "themes" are:
1- ageing/ill grandmothers (= unwell, unproductive old women) were expected to go off to Mount Obasute to die without food or shelter, and thus no longer be a burden to the village-community = a not unknown fact of life in some barely-surviving "primitive" societies noted by anthropologists (among Eskimo villagers, the aged person would be left alone on the ice)
2 - life as a journey that we take being often oblivious to the dangers/risks/misfortunes that we encounter along the way - he ponders this as he observes his servant riding the overloaded horse
3 - the traditional moon-viewing experience - beholding Nature's beauty
So, you will QUOTE your chosen haiku, and then explain its meaning by connecting it to one of the 3 "themes" that I have derived from Basho's prose-narrative of his journey to, and visit at, Sarashina village.
AND SO, IN CLASS THIS WED, you will bring to class your 2 pieces of paper (or more if you wish), and we'll go around the room asking each of you to speak about (= your choice) EITHER your essay regarding Confucius's ideas of the practical benefits of poetry related to either Li Bai's poem or Du Fu's poem OR your essay regarding how one of Basho's haikus (NOT by his pal Etsujin) reflects/echoes/expresses ONE of the 3 "themes" mentioned above. Got it? Good!
And if there's time, we'll go around a second time to hear from as many of you as possible about your second choice, okay? Thanks!
MON 5/5/14 - Your EXAM @ 100 points will be, as scheduled, NEXT Tuesday at 2 p.m.. Here's the format:
PART I = your last TEQ @ 25 points on Marco Polo's brief narrative about EITHER St. Thomas in India OR the life of the Buddha.
PART II = will be a typed Essay-Response of 1 page (or more if you wish) @ 25 points to be brought to class on exam-day. You will choose 1 Option out of 2 regarding the Rev. Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto:
Option #1 - Based on your reading of these specified passages for 1949-1950, OBJECTIVELY highlight Rev. Tanimoto's "East-meets-West" life-experiences: "In correspondence ... free of charge to Japan." + "In mid-summer of 1950, ... or rats.)"
Option #2 - Based on your reading of these specified passages for 1954-'55-'56, OBJECTIVELY highlight Rev. Tanimoto's "East-meets-West" life-experiences: "Norman Cousins had gone ... fund-raising tour." + "The whole Tanimoto ... subsequent anniversaries."
PART III = 2 in-class handwritten essay-style Responses to your choice of 2 questions (@ 25 = 50 pts.): 1 out of 2 from A. = regarding Fr. Wilhelm Kleinsorge, and 1 out of 2 from B. = regarding Ms. Toshiko Sasaki. In both cases, needless to say, the questions will require logical composition and narrative details to support your OBJECTIVE (no opinions/reflections) Responses - NO notes, NO book.
And the questions (not yet formulated by me) will THEMATICALLY focus on "East-meets-West" life-experiences of both persons. So, just as with the Rev. Mr. Tanimoto, Fr. Kleinsorge and Ms. Sasaki also have very personal experiences which, in a real sense, create bridges for them to cross into another cultural realm in different ways: geographically, in their relationships, emotionally/psychologically, and spiritually. For ex., the Westerner (Fr. W. K.) lives with AND for the Japanese and "becomes" an Easterner - why? ... The Easterner (Ms. T. S.) has a friendship with a foreigner and "becomes" a Westerner - why? ... What life-experiences led them to that deeper place of transformation in their selfhood, thus becoming more like "world" citizens? ... Think about such things as you attentively read these not very many pages.) So, I will formulate thematically-focused questions corresponding to these selected passages:
A) Fr. W. K. - 1) "Back in the ... year's stay."
2) "All through this ... that grave."
B) Ms. T. S. - 1) "The only person ... Cieslik officiated." + "About once a year ... and toilets."
2) "About once a year ... and toilets." + "In 1970, ... moving forward.'"
*** No page-numbers are given because we do have different editions, but you can VERY EASILY locate the continuous ... passages in your own book.
RevPp for our Midterm - Wednesday, March 12th - I will design the Exam-Format as such, which will include in-class essay-style responses - more on this next Monday when we do our Retrospective, with the Exam-Format done - the RevPp in PARTS I & II are from Ch. 7 "The Universal Emperor" and Ch. 8 "In the Service of the Khan":
PART I - Choice (to be determined) of Essay-Question topic/s to be formulated:
- 123-mid127: "Winning Kublai Khan's approval ... forty-five years old." MP's "partnership" with KK and Marco's praising portraiture of KK, whom he exalts in superlatives - KK's Nestorian Christian mother, S. Beki, and her influence on his rulership style - his wife Chabi's influence as well, and for more on her see mid130-top131: "Throughout his reign, ...by imitation."
PART II - Choice (to be determined) of E-Q topic/s to be formulated:
- upper131-upper133: "Kublai's manner of ... vexation [= annoyance] at it.": Marco's role as "emissary" appreciated by KK - also full of praise for himself (= the future "Il Milione" = tall-tale-teller & "braggart")
- mid133-mid135: "As heir to the ... the Great Khan.": KK's dream of being acknowledged as the "universal emperor" - his recognition of religious pluralism - gift-symbols of his authority to maintain loyalty
- upper154-mid156: "Marco esteemed [= valued] the same ... a long time.'" + mid157: "With touches ... told or written.'": Marco on how KK's communication network, which was the "post system," revealed to Europeans (= those who came to be aware of/read Marco&Luigi's narrative) a well-connected "vital state" united across vast distances inhabited by a variety of ethnically/culturally different peoples
PART III - Required Essay-Question based on your reading of & reflection upon LOST HORIZON - I am quoting from p. 13 of the P.S. in our Harper-Perennial paperback edition:
"In many ways, Lost Horizon dramatizes the question of how one should live one's life - in quiet contemplation or purposeful activity? Based on the novel and on your own experience, how would you answer that question?"
Folks, in answering this question I would expect you to INCLUDE story-aspects from the novel (such as how a character acts and/or words spoken and/or an event, ... - your choice of what is pertinent) in support of your own ideas. Keep this thought in mind as you ponder what you'll write: Unworldly "contemplation" through reading, for example, ""deep books"" of sacred scripture (Buddhist, Christian, ...) for personal enlightenment could have, of course, real-world implications for the betterment of all, just as self-propelled "activity" for the sake of others could have, of course, inner-self consequences for the better also. ... In any case, there is no single right or wrong response. Simply articulate your thoughts in a coherent, grammatically correct, spelling-perfect manner! For these exam-essays when you write them in class on exam-day - NO notes, NO books. So, prepare well in advance, which will be easy since you will have chosen your topics. And to reiterate, I will expect a logically structure presentation, with clarity of expression and textual specifics as evidence in support of your ideas. Lined paper to be provided.
SATURDAY 3/8/14 - The exam-format will resemble what follows, and you'll see that I've reduced by a little the passages to REread, depending on your choice of topic:
PART I - You will choose 1 out of 3 essay-style Question-Responses. So, based on your diligent REreading of the pages specified as given below (from the RevPp), compose an Essay in which you highlight the significant, historical theme as given through offering pertinent details, with brief quotations and/or valid paraphrases, in support of your statements/ideas:
- #1 - 123-mid124: "Winning Kublai Khan's ... of birth." Highlight how Marco Polo, the "observant young traveler" from the West (Venice), presented to Europeans a verbal portrait- image of Kublai Khan that was "iconoclastic" - that is, which destroyed and corrected the negative stereotype of the supposedly typical "demonic" Mongol ruler of the East (Asia).
- #2 - mid124-bottom125: "Kublai Khan was ... Mongol rule.": Highlight how Kublai Khan's mother, Sorghaghtani Beki (Beki for short!), influenced her son's benevolent rulership style.
- #3 - lower126-upper127: "As a rising ... Cambulac." + mid130-upper131: "Throughout his reign ... by imitation.": Highlight how Kubali Khan's second wife, Chabi, influenced his husband's enlightened rulership style.
PART II - (same instructions as above) You will choose 1 out of 3 ...
- #1 - lower131-upper133: "Such was the thriving ... and experienced.'": Highlight how Marco performed his role as "emissary" for Kublai Khan such that his after-journey reporting dialogues/conversations with the Great Khan at court impressed KK - and Marco was impressed with himself as well!
- #2 - mid133-lower134: "As heir ... to save him.": Highlight how Kublai Khan's self-image as the "universal emperor" is reflected in his quite tolerant attitude towards the several religions of the realm by BOTH regarding them all equally (= "by leveling them") AND "acknowledging differences." (A delicate balancing act!)
- #3 - upper154-mid156: "Marco esteemed ... a long time." + mid157: "With touches ... or written.'": Highlight how the Mongols' "post system" illustrated their governance-strategy of uniting/amalgamating the many ethnically diverse peoples of their empire through an innovative state-of-the-art communication-network.
PART III - Your LOST HORIZON Reader's Reflection-Essay: topic as given in the RevPp
PART IV - Your TYPED 2-page essay on Genghis Khan: topic as given in the RevPp - preferred due-date on exam-day, but no later than 12noon on Friday 3/14
May 1, 2013 - REVIEW PAGES for Final Exam & on Format:
PART I - RISHI REDDI - Choice of 1 out of 2 Essay-Questions @ 25 points:
1 - "Bangles" - REread top-lower102: "She remembered ... after all." + top108-bottom110: "They rode ...she said finally.": these pages present, in situational and psychological details, Arundhati as a devout Hindu, faithful widow and obliging grandmother, who finds herself in totally new circumstances - in terms of family & social status & religion - in America, AND who faces challenges to her traditional sense of self - her cultural identity.
2 - "Karma" - top137-top138: "It was at ... for life." + upper146-bottom149: "At 53 State Street ... kissed her." + lower154-upper156end: "Early the ... the subway.": these pages present, in vivid narrative details, Neha and Shankar finding, together AND as individuals, a modest livelihood in their new circumstances in Boston, AND how, in facing certain challenges, the essence of each one's selfhood/personality is revealed.
PART II - RISHI REDDI - Choice of 1 out of 2 Essay-Questions @ 25 points:
1 - "Devadasi": low-mid173-lower176: "The next time she [Uma] ... a thing before.": in these pages we glimpse Uma (age 16) coming somewhat of age 1) as she learns from Hafeez (young Indian who is Muslim - of the Islamic religion) about the Hundu dance-teacher's marriage to U.M.A. Khan, a Muslim "tabla master" (= classical hand-drummer), AND 2) as she learns from Guru-ji a history-lesson and a life-lesson - all of which opens her young mind to possibilities in society that she had never before considered.
2 - "Lord Krishna" - top209-213end: "'That's right ... of liberation.": in these pages we see Krishna (age 14) coming somewhat of age 1) as he observes & listens to his father Ramesh, Dean Mitchell, and Mr. Hoffman engage in moderately heated yet still polite conversation, AND 2) as he, inwardly yet in a real way, attains a measure of wisdom letting him rise above it all so that he and his initially perceived antagonist "understood each other."
PART III - SADIA SHEPARD - GFF: 1 Essay-Question @ 20 points: REread the "Prologue: Arrival" in Bombay, September 2001: pp. 1-3 + then REread Ch. 25 "Departures: Bombay, May 2003": pp. mid348-bottom350: as you REread ONLY these pages, think about composing an essay in which you describe/comment on, by including significant narrative details, how Sadia's arrival in AND departure from India, with Bombay as the focus, complement/balance each other, yielding a good measure of fulfillment.
PART IV - SADIA SHEPARD - GFF: 1 typed Essay-Question @ 30 points - preferably due by Friday, May 10th, but no later than Monday, May 13th -Thanks!:
REread from Ch. 23 "Leah and Daniel - Bombay, January-March 2003" pp. 316-327 (SKIP OVER bottom320-lower322 where Rekhev appears) + then REread from Ch. 25 "Departures: Bombay, May 2003" pp. 345-top346: "I change ... I hang on.": so, REread these pages and TYPE 1.1/2 to 2 pages (more if you wish) in response to: Describe, by presenting significant narrative details, how American-born Sadia becomes, in a very real way, a participant-observer of Indian-Jewish social/cultural/religious life through her relationships with Leah and Daniel and their families as well as with members of the Bombay Bene Israel community.
Your essay MUST have a separate title-page with a "creative" title. And please do not submit a paper with LARGE font or WIDE spacing. I will subtract serious points. I expect standard-size font (12) and double-spacing.
FEB. 27, 2013: ReviewPages for MIDTERM - Wed. March 6 from GFF & KOS
PART I - GFF: In-class handwritten Essay-response: Choice of 1 out of 2 topics:
#1 - Richard & Samina: REread lower116-top121: "By the time ... born in Denver.": East meets West in the persons of Sadia's parents, R & S: as you reread these few pages think about WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT 1) the challenges (serious) facing a Westerner (Richard, American & Christian) and an Easterner (Samina, Pakistani & Muslim), who fall in love with each other and seek to get married, and 2) how Richard's "adaptation" with Samina's help and his relationship with Nana developed and made all the difference - culminating, of course, in Sadia's birth in 1975.
#2 - Sadia & Mr. Shukla: REread 149-153: "I am ... his lesson.": East meets West in the persons of S and Mr. S: as you reread these few pages think about WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT 1) the challenges (not serious) facing Sadia as a recently-arrived American in India needing language-instruction, and 2) how her language-instruction presents her with a cultural lesson in student-teacher relations within a Hindu framework.
*** In your essay you will be expected to included narrative-details supporting your ideas. No books; no notes. I'll provide lined-paper. The Questions will be formulated in similar terms to the above.
PART II - KOS: In-class handwritten Essay-responses: Choice of 2 out of 3 topics. You must include story-details to support your ideas:
#1 - "JSRM" - East meets West in the persons of Justice SRM and the lawyer, Ms. Kelly Golden: REread bottom3-top6: "You must know ... Indian food." + top19-mid24: "Mr. Murthy ... seventy year-old mind.": as you reread these few pages think about WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT the challenges (serious) of being a recently-arrived Indian in America through the eyes of JSRM when he "speaks" to us (his reader-listeners) AND when he dialogues with Ms.KG.
#2 - "L and the L" - East meets West in the persons of Elias M. F. and Ms. Lakshmi C.: REread top34-bottom36: "The first time ... polite way.": as you reread these few pages think about WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT the challenges (not so serious) of being a recently-arrived Indian in America through the narrator's description of the conversational encounter when Elias the librarian and Lakshmi with her two young sons initially meet.
#3 - "The V of L" - East meets West in the persons of Lata and Luke O'Malley: REread top75-bottom79: "M experience ... books, food.": as you reread these few pages think about WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT the challenges (serious) of being a young Indian-American adult through Lata's eyes as she "speaks" to us (her reader-listeners) regarding the different cultural attitudes/expectations/values of her parents, of Luke as well as of his family, and of herself.
*** The 3 Essay-questions will be formulated in similar terms to the above.
PART III - GFF: your 1 1/2-2-page typed Essay-draft due on exam-day: 1 topic: REread lower156-lower162: "When I call ... drive away.": In these pages Sadia and her brother Cassim (= both Westerners of 3 religious traditions) travel by car driven by Bimal and his friend Vinod (= both Easterners, of course, of the Hindu religion) to begin their personal discovery of Nana's Jewish-Indian roots in villages along the south-east Konkan Coast where they encounter and observe several Jewish Indians - the old gentleman, the 2 ladies, and especially Mr. Ellis. As you reread THESE pages, think about composing your Essay in response to this question: WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT being Jewish in India through Sadia's narrative account? Take note of the responses of Bimal and Vinod which reflect India's religiously pluralist society. You will be expected to include pertinent narrative details - quotations or paraphrases - as textual evidence to support your ideas.
*** This Essay within 2 pages is supposed to be considered a "draft" - meaning that I examine it for what may need correction and then hand it back to you for revisions. Happy to do so, of course. But I nonetheless ask that you do your best such that any "corrections" or suggested revisions be minimal, if any at all. Why? Because you ARE all capable of attaining perfection on a first try! In any case, your "grade" will be given for this Part after resubmission if required. Thank you for your diligence in advance!
PART I - 1 out of 2 @ 20 points. PART II - 2 out of 3 @ 20 pts. = 40 PART III - 1 @ 40 points
Tuesday 2/21/2012: Selected pages for reviewing with an eye to our MIDTERM:
*** From Michael Wood's INDIA: PART I - choice of 1 out of 2 topics: Ch. 1: 15-mid17: "Continuing around the ocean shore, ... land of miracles.": M W presents his conversation with Prof. P about India's unity-in-diversity = Humanity (... "More a human being" than a particular ethnicity ...), and he evokes the "dizzying vista" of India's centuries-old story of "ceaseless movement and intermixing" witnessed by Westerners like Hippalos, the Greek mariner, and Asians like Hsuan Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist monk, both of whom were transmitters of knowledge about India
--- top32-mid33: "The Indus civilization So a picture ... of humanity.": on the Indus river-valley civilization - archeological sites are mainly in today's Pakistan - take note that there has been "no [archeological] evidence of war and conflict" = and so, "the idea of non-violence [= ahimsa] runs very deep in Indian thought": the Buddha, the Jain tradition, ... Gandhi to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
PART II - Ch. 2: required essay-question will be based on this: lower56-mid58: "The story of India brings ... power of ideas.": Axial/Axis Age of urban social-change as well as questioning "the old, ritualistic ideas of religion" pursued by 2 "protestors" = Mahavira, a Jain holy figure/tirthankara, and S G, the Buddha + mid-lower64: on the Buddha's teaching/dharma: "We are used ... and truthfulness."
Choice of 1 out of 2 topics:
--- mid79 + 82: "The legend of Chandragupta ... found moksha.'": The Maurya dynasty king (reigned c. 330-320 BCE) who renounced war and rulership to become a Jain monk, practicing asceticism in accord with ahimsa, in the end attaining moksha/liberation from the samsara cycle, following in the footsteps of Mahavira, and guided by a Jain guru
--- top83-97: on King Ashoka who, like his grandfather, renounced violence as a Buddhist; as you REread these pages, focus only on Ashoka's moral character = his "conversion" to abide by "the law of life" expressed in his edicts across his realm - he reigned c. 270-232 BCE - MW admires Ashoka's political promulgation of Buddhism-inspired ideals
PART III - Essay based on Sadia Shepard's memoir GIRL FROM FOREIGN: REread Ch. 10 Richard and Samina so as to highlight how East meets - and joins - West in the story of Sadia's parents' love and marriage by presenting significant details drawn from their different cultural backgrounds, which are, in the end, interwoven through a committed relationship. In your own words, as well as through brief pertinent quotations, explain how this chapter in particular illustrates our course-theme which is - contrary to the verse by Rudyard Kipling, "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain [= two] shall meet." - that the twain can indeed meet in an encounter with lasting and fulfilling consequences, as Sadia so vividly tells us. This Essay will be your well-pondered draft to be given to me no later than WED 3/7.
PART I: based on Ch. 1 - choice of 1 out of 2 @ 16 points
PART II: based on Ch. 2: 2 out of 3 @ 16 = 32 points
PART III: based on Sadia's memoir: 1 Essay @ 52 points
*** Here is your 2nd TEQ = typed 1 page @ 20 points: choice of 1 out of 2 topics - due no later than Monday after Spring Break 3/19 or anytime before:
1 - REread 104-mid107: " An ancient guide ... India's tropical south.": on East meets West via Hippalos's account of ports-of-call along India's western coast - ancient Rome's interests - "cosmopolitan"/multiethnic/pluricultural influences & activities, esp. from the West + mid116-upper117: "We have reached ... world history.": the sea-rote summed-up via H's Periplus
ESSAY-QUESTION: Compose an essay in which you highlight the East-meets-West SEA TRADE of 2000 years ago between the Greco-Roman world and India, esp. India's southern coastal regions. Be sure to include, if briefly, what Hippalos tells us, through M W's presentation, about the sea-route, including such a port-city as Muziris.
2 - REread lower117-mid120: "The story [of the Yueh-chi/Tocharians] begins ... of the world." + top133-mid134: "The Kushan Empire reached ... pillar of Buddhism." + mid138-mid139: "The beginning of a ... civilization of Asia." + bottom141: "The legacy of ... Indian civilization.": on the achievements of the Kushan empire, esp. from the 1st century CE into the 3rd c. CE
ESSAY-QUESTION: Compose an essay in which you highlight the East-meets-West overland SILK ROAD also of around 2000 years ago between the Greco-Roman world AND Han China and Kushan-ruled India, including today's Afghanistan/Pakistan/Turkmenistan, with the Kushans as prosperous, Buddhist mercantile middle-men
TUESDAY 7/19/11: Selected pp. from our ARTS book : p.3 - OVERTURE: opening par.: "This is a ... civilization." - mention of W.H.J. & K. T-Sh. & A.A. + top5: "A work of art ... stands for.": painting, sculpture, architecture, music, ... = creative expressions = art-forms that inspire & encourage our minds & imaginations to wander & ponder + 7: World Journeys in Time: "The arts ... Open the door." = Geraldine Nagle's exhortation to us all.
-- CHAPTER 2 on Painting, Printmaking, & Sculpture: p. 11: Fig. 2.2 - "One of the most ... after the hunt.": 2 theories about Neolithic cave-art's location & creation + top13: "Perhaps time's erasure ... and darkness.": on "great art"
- 18 & 20-21: on ancient Chinese tomb-sculpture: "Unlike [the] Egyptians, the Chinese ... murdered heirs.": tomb-figures for the August First Emp. of Ch'in c. 210 BCE - Figs. 2.9-12
- mid22-mid23: on Indian Buddhist architecture = the Great Stupa in Sanchi, India - Fig. 2.13 - c. 100 BCE: its religious function - "Buddha means ... life and teachings." - remember Shana's photos of the Buddhist stupas & other artwork from Nepal & Thailand
- upper-mid27: Indian Buddhist sculpture at Mathura c. 150 CE: "Nearly 300 years ... family name." + 28: Fig. 2.17: Seated Buddha
- upper-mid30: on Fig. 2.20: European sculpture - Notre-Dame cathedral c. 1225 CE: "The sculptured and ... in his glory.'": Enthroned Christ in Judgment
- bottom50-bottom53: Portraits of professional persons at work: J.S. Copley's "Paul Revere" - Fig. 2.32 (c. 1770) AND Shibakuni's "Kabuki Actor" (named Arashi Kitsusaburo I - c.1820): "John Singleton ... top of the print.": pictorial details indicating their respective talents & careers
- mid67-top71: Two Pictures of Nature - East & West: Chinese & English = Kuan Tao-Sheng & John Constable: Fig. 2.43 & 2.44: "Chinese artists ... on tree trunks.": How are the landscapes pictorially DIFFERENT? What naturalistic details differentiate them?
- 78-81: Abstract Sculptures - East & West: European & Japanese = C. Brancusi & Isamu Noguchi: Figs. 2.50 -2.52d: We are challenged by such elusive lean&spare creations: CB's derive from Nature, while IN's suggests varying Perspectives on (= Portals toward) Justice
-- CHAPTER 3 - Camera Arts: pp.102-top104: on J.M. Cameron's artistic photo-portraiture - Fig. 3.9 = her niece J.J.
- lower116-120: on the film-genre called "The Western" - John Ford's Stagecoach + in-class presentation on East-meets-West = Clint EASTwood's lone gunman inspired by Akira Kurosawa's lordless samurai (= ronin) - AND on Wm. H. Jackson as a Nature photographer anticipating Ansel Adams - Figs. 3.19/20/21 + p.147 & top149: Fig. 3.42a
- 121 + 128-top130: photography & the Civil War 1861-65: M. B. & A. G. & T O'S - Figs. 3.22 & 3.30 - AND on Ken Burns' highly celebrated 11-hour documentary utilizing their on-the-battle-scene photos + other primary sources such as diaries & letters = for ex., Lt. S. Ballou's lyrically poignant letter to Sarah, his wife
- 122-125: photography in service to social justice causes: J. Riis & L. Hine & Dorothea Lange - Figs. 3.23/24/26/27
- 144: on Kurosawa's 8 fantasy short films composing his last work DREAMS, esp. "Crows" in which "he" searches for & meets "VvG" (= the director Martin Scorsese) - Fig. 3.40
- 151: on S. Eisenstein's famous "Odessa Steps" = innovative montage sequence of rapid-fire action-shots dizzying the viewer of a silent-film - Fig. 3.45
-- CHAPTER 4 - Architecture: pp.mid160-top162: on the Viet Nam Veterans' Memorial - "The Wall" - designed by 21-year old Maya Ying Lin commemorating the Honored Dead - Figs. 4.2/3
- upper164-167: on the Taj Mahal (1643) commissioned by the Mogul emperor of north India, Shah Jahan, in memory of Mumtaz Mahal - Figs. 4.6/7/8
- 188-190: on the Thorncrown Chapel designed by Fay Jones, student of Frank Lloyd Wright - Figs. 4.29/30/31
- 213-top215: on the Coonley House designed by F.L.W. inspired by ancient Taoist - Lao Tzu's - "concept of space" AND the Chinese Nature-aesthetic: dwellings within landscape
-- CHAPTER 5: Music: bottom245 + Fig. 5.2: on Doc Tate N., Comanche flute-player - IN CLASS we watched&listened to several Native American players of wooden flutes
- upper272-top273: on the Javanese Gamelan - Fig. 5.7
-- CHAPTER 6: Drama & Dance: bottom282-top284: Javanese dance-drama with Gamelan-ensemble musical accompaniment: "'Arjuna's Wedding' is a ... gamelon [= gamelan], an ensemble ... speech and song." - Fig. 6.1
- mid-bottom307: on 14th-century Chinese drama that developed into "Peking Opera": combination of theatrical arts similar to Japanese Kabuki & Broadway Musicals and grand European opera in which, beyond voice & orchestra, ballet & folk-dances are performed + upper314: on "Operatic Theater": IN CLASS on Tan Dun's East-meets-West opera on the August First Emperor of Ch'in, inspired by his earlier movie Hero about the Ch'in ruler of 2200 years ago
- mid310-top312: on Japanese song-dance-drama called Kabuki - Figs. 6.10/11/12 - focus on the striking, outward performance-elements of this theatrical genre = that is, READ the section on Chikamatsu's 18th-c. play, but not for the story/plot, just for the Kabuki-acting style, including the onnagata role, intoned dialogue, lavish make-up & costume + see again pp.52-53 - Fig. 2.33
- 316: photo of stage-design by Isamu Noguchi (see again pp.79 & 81 & upper89 on IN's "assembled sculpture" - Portal) for Martha Graham's choreography of "Appalachian Spring" with music composed by Aaron Copland (teacher of young Leonard Bernstein)
- IN CLASS: Puccini's East-meets-West Italian-language, romantic-tragic operas: Japan: Madama Butterfly (1904) and China: Turandot (1924): women in the title-roles --- Disney's Mulan is based on an authentic Chinese legend
****** EXAM FORMAT - Exam @ 95 points-potential - PARTS I-V derive exclusively from our ARTS book AWTh --- PART VI is from Rishi Reddi's collection
-- PART I - Matching Columns: 10 NAMES on the left to be matched by number with a descriptive/defining phrase on the right - 10 "pairs" @ 2 pts. = 20
-- PART II - Matching Columns: 6 NAMES etc. - 6 "pairs" @ 1.50 pts. = 9
-- PART III - True/False Statements: 6 sentences @ 2 pts. = 12 - you write T or F on a line next to the sentence
-- PART IV - Fill-in-the-Blanks: 6 sentences with 10 blanks @ 2 pts. = 20 - names and other formal terms/designations
-- PART V - In-Class Informal Handwritten 1-page EAST-WEST ESSAY @ 14 pts. You will choose 1 out of 3 topics. Be prepared to draw from your memory - NOT open-book - significant pictorial or architectural details/features that you describe. Your 3 topic-options correlate to the pertinent Review Pages above:
1. TWO VIEWS OF NATURE: You will descriptively CONTRAST the 2 "landscape" paintings by Kuan Tao-Sheng and John Constable by presenting pictorial details. = You DIFFERENTIATE them as your eyes examine what they see.
2. TWO MEMORIALS: You will descriptively CONTRAST 2 "architectural" masterpieces: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - "The Wall" - and the Taj Mahal by presenting outward differences in their designs AND by explaining the different purposes for which they were created.
3. TWO PORTRAITS: You will describe in significant detail how the portrait-painting by John Singleton Copley and the portrait-print by Shibakuni of 2 professionals - a craftsman and an actor - clearly SHOW pictorial evidence of what the craftsman used for his craft and what the actor used for his performance. You must include their individual poses, of course.
-- PART VI - Typed Formal 1-page EAST-WEST ESSAY @ 20 points due at the latest by 3 p.m. Friday 7/29. Earlier, of course, if you wish. If I receive your essay AFTER 3 p.m., points WILL be subtracted. You will choose 1 out of 2 topic-options: either on "Bangles" or on "Karma."
1. Bangles: East meets West: Arundhati's heart and home are not, in the end, in the West = the Boston area. WHY? Present, with significant textual evidence (= key story-details) WHY she decides not to stay in America, but chooses, rather, to return to India.
2. Karma: East meets West: Neha and Shankar do adapt to their new way of life in the Boston area. HOW SO? Present, with significant textual evidence (= key story details) WHAT SPECIFICALLY both Neha and Shankar INDIVIDUALLY do to make their social transition in America successful in the end.
SAT 4/28/2012 -The EXAM-FORMAT - total points-potential 150:
PART I : Michael Wood, INDIA: INFORMAL WRITING - open-book with your notes - you'll choose a total of 2 out of 4 Essay-Question topics to which you'll handwrite responses of at least half-a-page on lined-paper provided by me. Each of the 2 chapters will have 2 options - you will choose 1 from each chapter, therefore = 2 out of 4. The focus in each case is a PERSON whose name is boldified in the RevPp. 2 @ 20 points = 40 pts. So, be prepared to compose your responses to these Essay-Question topics:
- Chapter 5: Why does MW consider EITHER Akbar the Great OR Dara Shikoh to be an important historical figure in the history of India?
- Chapter 6: EITHER: Why does MW consider both A.O. Hume and Mahatma Gandhi to be important historical figures in the history of India?
OR What are MW's journalist-friend Ravi's ideas about modern India that let him affirm Nehru's vision of India as "a grand fusion of East and West"?
PART II: Sadia Shepard, THE GIRL FROM FOREIGN:
A - In-class, written responses - NO NOTES, NO BOOK - to Essay-Questions as given below: choice of 3 out of 5 @ 25 pts. = 75
B - Typed, 1-2 page Essay @ 35 pts. on Ch. 21 in GFF "Travel Advisory" pp.286-91: Highlight, with quoted and/or paraphrased textual evidence, the SEVERAL East-meets-West thematic threads in THIS particular chapter's narrative. DUE in class on exam-day = Monday MAY 7 @ 3-5 p.m.
REVIEW PAGES for our Final Exam:
- Michael Wood, INDIA:
---Chapter 5: on Akbar the Great (d. 1605 = contemporary of Shakespeare): 194: illustration + quotation + mid196-lower197: "We cannot, of ... entirely lost." + bottom198-bottom199: "In the 1570s ... leader today.": on Akbar's policy of religious tolerance and his vision of the underlying essential "unity" of all religions - his "Thursday seminars"/conferences + mid200-top201: his "humanity" recognized (perhaps even admired) by Queen Elizabeth I in 1585: read on "English overtures to Akbar"
- mid-bottom207 + top210-mid212: on Dara Shikoh, Akbar's great-grandson (d. 1659): his endeavor to create a bridge of understanding between the two "oceans" of Islam and Hinduism, explaining their meeting/confluence in his treatise
---Chapter 6: mid232-lower235: on "The freedom movement" in the 19th & 20th centuries, esp. the roles of A. O. Hume and Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi
- lower243-top246: on 21st-century India: "Unity and Diversity" = Michael Wood's conversation with his journalist-friend, Ravi, who speaks about India's future as envisioned by Jawaharlal Nehru, who was post-colonial/-British Raj India's first Prime Minister 1947-64 - that future being India's contemporary modernity foreseen by Nehru as "a grand fusion of West and East"
- Sadia Shepard, GFF: For PART II. A, I will formulate Essay-Questions derived from selected pages from the 5 following chapters. What I have chosen (in each case about 4 pages) all read like 5 self-contained Short Stories. I really enjoyed REreading this modest number of pages - and I'd like to think that you will, too! For your in-class, handwritten essay-responses, you will choose 3 out of the 5 options. So, REread all 5, then make up your mind about which 3 you will RE-REread with an eye to our course's East-meets-West theme. These "Short Stories" all offer variations on that theme. Sadia is the main character in 4; her brother, Cassim, along with Akhtar, is the focus in one. Here they are:
#1 - Ch.13: 149-top153 up to "... come tomorrow?": Sadia's intercultural self-reflections and her tutorial encounter: Indian life, Hindi language, Hindu ritual
#2 - Ch.14: mid174-178 (end): "'Take pictures ... goodbye.": Indian Muslim meets Western Muslim = Cassim & Akhtar - their "brotherhood" experience: Akhtar's life (his Bihari roots, ...), the ORT Jewish bakery, the mosque, the Western-style hotel-club-restaurant, the invitation, the farewell
#3 - Ch.17: 203-lower206: Sadia meets Flora and Muhammad: "Magen David Synagogue of Byculla [in Bombay] ... Jews in India ... good relations with the Muslims ... good to us.": Indian Jews & Indian Muslims in Bombay/Mumbai - sharing, and protecting, "a house of God"
#4 - Ch.18: bottom226-230: Sadia meets Mynavathi - life-stories shared: "Sometimes, after I ... 'You, too.'": how the British "ruled" Indian lives (from Assam, in her case) - on families "lost" and grandmothers who dwell on/yearn for/dream of "home"
#5 - Ch.19: bottom267-271 (end): "'I was sorry not ... maddeningly slow.": Sadia's farewell to her relatives in Karachi, Pakistan (she went for a family wedding) - her conversation about her grandmother with Sartaj (a cousin living in Georgia) and, then, with his wife, Fatima - Nana is a living absent-presence - dreams are real(ized) and come true - a symbolic and actual key
- Rishi Reddi, KARMA and Other Stories
1) - "Lakshmi ..." - East meet West in the persons of Mr. Elias M. Filian and Mrs. Lakshmi Chundi: top34-bottom36: " The first time ... polite way.": details of their encounter - an American man meets an Indian woman and her two young sons - reflecting two different cultures, but bridged
2) - "The Validity ...": East meets West in terms of family and romance/love: mid78-lower79: "We [= Lata, and her friend, Supriya] had agreed ... seeing Luke." + lower91-upper92: "The bharata ...of truth.": Lata's realizationS about 1) cultural differences in parental expectations and cultural attitudes and 2) her emotions regarding Luke "mirrored" in Uma's dance-performance
3) - "Bangles": East meets West: home for Arundhati is not in the West, but in the East where her heart is = her Indian village, a place of childhood memories and a caring sibling: bottom121-125end: "In the car, Rukmini ... her purse.": Arundhati's self-empowering decision = outward loss, inward gain (= independence - but with a sacrifice) - role and character of Rukmini, who is involved with the Saheli association (top113 - and in class)
4) - "Karma": East meets West: seeking independence and self-reliance: mid136-top138: "When the sunshine ... mate for life." + mid145-mid146: "When she returned ... once again.": Neha's initiative in finding a simple, but friendly, job that 1) actualizes (before her husband, Shankar, could), at the individualist level, Mahatama Gandhi's nationalist ideal for India = swa-raj = self-help/reliance = autonomy/independence, which 2) propels (even "inspires") Shankar to actualize, also at the personal level, his endeavor "to make their life better" and, thereby, be fulfilled = combining dharma & artha & kama in their Western-style life
5) - "Devadasi": East meets West in the very personhood of Uma: lower163-upper164: "Her parents ... meaningful way?" + upper169-upper172: "The dancer [= teacher] living ... felt free." + upper175-lower176: "Guru-ji [= Teacher-honorable], bharata ... a thing before.": Uma discovers 1) that bharata natyam id her cultural individuality as an Indian-American and 2) that her dancer-self is part of a tradition of independence and fulfillment for Indian women that even her mother has misunderstood
6) - "Lord Krishna": East meets West in the encounter between the student Krishna and his teacher, Mr. Gabriel Hoffman: top209-213end: from painful misunderstanding to mutual understanding and then to self-respect in Krishna's self-affirming reappropriation of his ancient name, dignified as the name of the divine guru, Lord Krishna
WEDNESDAY 3/2/11 - Exam-Format:
PART I: 2 handwritten in-class INFORMAL Essays @ 25 pts. = 50
A) Choose only 1 of these 2 topics:
1. Compose an Essay in which you explain HOW the Jain tradition's values inspired King Chandragupta to make a life-changing decision: What did he do? WHY? = What prompted him? And to what purpose? = What happened to him after his decision? Offer significant factual details.
2. Compose an Essay in which you explain HOW the Buddhist tradition's values inspired King Ashoka to change his ways as a ruler: What did he do - and cease to do - and to what purpose? How did he (= what did he promulgate so as to) carry out his new role? Offer significant factual details.
B) Choose only 1 of these 2 options:
1. Compose an Essay in which you highlight the East-meets-West SEA TRADE of around 2000 years ago between the Greco-Roman world and India, esp. India's southern coastal regions. Be sure to include what Hippalos tells us, through Michael Wood's presentation, about the coast ports-of-call such as the southwest port-town of Muziris.
2. Compose an Essay in which you highlight the East-meets-West overland SILK ROUTE also of around 2000 years ago between the Greco-Roman world AND Han China and Kushan-ruled north India (extending northwest into today's Pakistan/Afghanistan/Turkmenistan), with the non-indigenous Kushans as the prosperous mercantile "middle-men."
PART II: 1 typed 2-page Essay related to the Bhagavad-Gita @ 25 points. Choose either #1 or #2:
#1 - You are free to define your own WORTHY topic inspired by your reading of the Bhagavad-Gita, such as examining EITHER a single Teaching-Chapter OR Thoreau's interest in the Bhagvat Geeta (archaic spelling) as Barbara Miller presents it in the "Afterword" OR a topic uniquely yours. If you consult secondary sources - quoting or paraphrasing - acknowledge them with appropriate citations and give full bibliographical source-info in a NOTE at the end of your Essay.
#2 - Compose an Essay in which you examine "Arjuna's Dejection" in the First Teaching-Chapter: What is his dilemma - emotionally, socially, morally? And briefly indicate how Arjuna's inner conflict reflects a cultural theme that Michael Wood finds in Indian civilizational history going back to the Indus Valley civilization, which ended around 1500 BCE and yielded, in north India, to the Aryan people with their Vedic gods and rituals.
PART III: 1 typed 2-3 page Essay-Draft on our first Rishi Reddi short story as I explained in my 3/1/11 email to you all - due no later to me by Sunday 3/13. Yes, it is called a "draft" - meaning you submit it to me and I will examine it for possible revisions/improvements and return it to you for those changes on the Monday right after Spring Break. BUT PLEASE do not submit (no offense intended) "hastily-done, sloppy work" - if so, and I begin to struggle with corrections of even minor matters (and I'll stop if that is the case), then your paper-grade, even after resubmission, will be weak and unsatisfactory. Be your BEST editor! I'm here to be helpful and a guide - but I'm not your (no offense intended) "I'll-drop-it-off-and-he'll-improve-it-for-my-better-grade" editor.
Thanks for your cooperation in this matter! Shoot for the stars - always!