For this assignment I read The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon translated and edited by Ivan Morris. Sei Shonagon’s story takes place over one thousand years ago around the end of the 10th century and very beginning of the 11th century. Her entries are located mostly in the Imperial Palace during her time as a lady in waiting to Empress Teishi and then Empress Sadako in Heian, Japan. The first version of the book was completed in 1002 and has been rewritten or translated several times since then. Her pillow book consists of 185 sections that include cultural references, various lists and poems and diary entries about things that have happened to or around her.
The cultural arts are mentioned several times throughout Shonagon’s entries.
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Music and dance are most prominent during the festivals held throughout the year and as entertainment. Near the end of section 48, The Women’s Apartments Along the Gallery, Shonagon talks about the rehearsal before the Special Festival.
The musicians and dancers play well into the night and taunt the “sober-sides” that hurry past them, apparently in too bad of a mood to enjoy the music. Then soon after in section 50, On the Day after Naming of the Buddhas, Emperor Ichijo declared he was bored and summoned some of the senior courtiers to the Empress’s apartments for an impromptu concert. The visual arts and literature play a much larger role in the pillow book. Visual arts are often mentioned when she or the editor talk about the meaning or beauty of the clothes people are wearing or when referencing architecture. Literature is mentioned the most. One of the sections that stuck out to me was section 11, The Sliding Screen in the Back of the Hall. In this section, the Emperor told each of the ladies in waiting to write the first ancient poem that popped into their heads. Shonagon wrote a poem referring to growing old. Afterward, the Empress told a story about Emperor Murakami testing a woman known as the Imperial Lady of Senyo Palace over her knowledge of the Kokin Shu, an early anthology of Japanese poetry from the Heian period. Apparently her father told her to “memorize all the poems in the twenty volumes of the Kokin Shu.” When Emperor Murakami heard this he came to the Imperial Lady on a day of
abstinence with a notebook from the Kokin Shu and began questioning her about the book. She always replied and she always answered correctly. The Emperor listening to this story was impressed by it and noted that “such a story would hardly be possible nowadays” because people were not as passionate about poetry as they use to be. I, personally, found that to be a bit ironic because we say the same thing today about family values or types of entertainment. Even though Sei Shonagon’s pillow book takes place on the opposite side of the world and over one thousand years ago, there were still parts of her life or thoughts that she had that I was surprised to find relatable. Shonagon’s pillow included many lists of various topics. Some were lists about her geographical location like insects, birds, trees, herbs and bushes, and even shrines. Others were lists of things that she had opinions on like hateful things, awkward things, adorable things and even things that she thought should be large or short. These lists were probably one of my favorite parts about the book. I felt that they told us more about her personality and I found them amusing. I audibly laughed when she wrote, “I cannot stand when people leave without closing the panel behind them,” because that is something that almost everyone can relate to. Or in her short list about clouds where she comments on how much she likes rain clouds and wispy clouds in front of the moon, I liked that even though she lived this life of aristocracy she was, for the most part, still a normal woman. Even if she could be a bit haughty sometimes, as shown in her list about unsuitable things when she mentions “snow falling on the houses of commoners” as unsuitable. Overall, this story about her life was very revealing about what is was like to be a lady in waiting during these times. While reading the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, it was evident how well known she was for her intellectuality, wit and acute observations. In every story she told gave great detail about her surroundings and the thoughts she had about what was happening around her. It was sometimes difficult to understand because the entries were not necessarily in chronological order but that is somewhat the nature of a pillow book. At the very end she talks about never wanting the book to be discovered because it showed them what she was really like and it was purely for her own amusement. Even when people told her they liked the writings she said that she, “still regret that it ever came to light.” The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon translated and edited by Ivan Morris was a interesting and educational read. Morris’s notes and explanations made the story easier to understand while Shonagon’s writing style was entertaining and eloquent, making it fun to read. I’m glad I chose this one thousand year old book about ancient Japan. I felt that I learned a lot and know more about ancient Japan than I thought I ever would.
Obasan, written by Joy Kogawa, is a narrative account of a Japanese-Canadian family’s during World War II. The young protagonist, Naomi Nakane, witnesses her family break apart as it undergoes relocation that occurred in U.S. and Canada at the time. Although the theme of Obasan is primarily one of heroism, Kogawa’s employs subtle techniques to allude to the Works of Mercy and to affirm its universal values. The former was achieved by the literary elements and the latter by the novel’s form.
the surface structure of these poems appears simplistic, but subtle changes in tone or gesture move the reader from the mundane to the sublime. In an attempt to sleep, the speaker in "Insomnia" moves from counting sheep to envisioning Noah's arc to picturing "all the fish in creation/ leaping a fence in a field of water,/ one colorful species after another." Collins will tackle any topic: his subject matter varies from snow days to Aristotle to forgetfulness. Collins relies heavily on imagery, which becomes the cornerstone of the entire volume, and his range of diction brings such a polish to these poems
Komnene, Anna. The Alexiad .Ed. Peter Frankopan. Trans. E.R.A. Sewter. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009. Print.
The novel Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle is a novel that brought worldwide recognition of what terrible events that occurred on March 25th 1911. Von Drehle is a well-known American author and a journalist. With a bachelor degree from the University of Denver, and earning his masters in literature from Oxford University. He worked in many newspapers such as the Denver post, the Washington post, and the Times. Therefore, publishing many pieces which he received an award for such as Among the lowest of the dead: inside death row, Deadlock: the indie story of Americas closest election, and Rise to greatness: Abraham Lincoln and Americas most perilous year. The novel Triangle is about a shirtwaist factory fire that occurred on March 25th, 1911. It was a deadly fire that happened in the New York triangle factory that killed approximately 146 workers. This tragedy is well remembered in American industrial history, because the deaths could have been prevented. Most of the victims were burned alive or jumped to their death, because the factory did not have the proper safety equipment and the doors being locked within the building. This tragedy brought attention to the dangerous working conditions that the victims endured in the sweatshop factories. Which therefore led to new laws
The three sources Behind the Bedroom Wall, by Laura Williams, “Survivors of the Holocaust,” and “Last Letters of the Holocaust: 1941,” all have characters and people who realize that through catastrophic events, that family is very valuable in order to surpass discrimination. In “Behind the Bedroom Wall” the characters Korinna and her mom learn that they have to understand each other and cope with each other believes in order to get through this tough time. Korinna had to open her eyes to what is really happening in order to realize the true situation. For everyone this is a very emotional time for everyone because that nobody really knew what was happening or how to fix it, they were all just trying to fit into what they were supposed to
Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source students may use to enable them to understand institutions like conflicting views Whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the population’s analysis of the Emperor.
Much about Kogawa's novel makes it difficult not only to read but also to classify or categorize. First, Obasan blurs the line between nonfiction and fiction. Kogawa draws from actual letters and newspaper accounts, autobiographical details, and historical facts throughout the novel, but she artistically incorporates this material into a clearly fictional work. In addition, Kogawa's narrative operates on multiple levels, from the individual and familial to the communal, national, political, and spiritual. Stylistically, the novel moves easily between the language of documentary reportage and a richly metaphorical language, and between straightforward narrative and stream-ofconsciousness exposition. This astonishing variety in Kogawa's novel can, at times, become bewildering and unsettling to the reader. But as many readers and critics have noted, Kogawa's style and method in Obasan also constitute the novel's unique strength. Kogawa writes in such a way that ambiguity, uncertainty, irony, and paradox do not weaken her story but instead paradoxically become the keys to understanding it.
American Literature. 6th Edition. Vol. A. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2003. 783-791
Gioia, Dana, and X.J. Kennedy. "My Last Duchess." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition, Interactive Edition. 5th ed. New York: Pearson; Longman Publishing, 2007. 432-433. Print.
“The Sleep” by Caitlin Horrocks is a short story, written in the first person. In this short story the Rasmussen family lives in a small town called Bounty, which seems to be someplace that is very dark and cold in the winter season, most likely someplace north. The Rasmussen family are going through hard times with the sudden death and the tragic loss of Al’s wife and their children’s mother. The family decides to take the winter season off from work and school in order to sleep, Al seem to believe that this will help heal the family. The people of Bounty see how well the sleep worked for the Rasmussen family, so some of them decide to do the same thing the next winter season. People usually sleep when they are depressed, the
Puchner, Martin, , et al. The Norton Anthology of World Literature . Third. a. New York: W.W, Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 230-331. Print.
The Grim Sleeper is one of the most gruesome serial killers cases known in United States. The case dumbfounded LAPD for years. The Grim Sleeper left fear in the women of Los Angeles especially African American women who were the target of this merciless serial killer and rapist. The Grim Sleeper case was infamous due to his string of murders spanning through almost three decades.The coalition launched a media campaign and set a monetary reward aiming to capture the killer. Motivations involved in serial killings are fears of rejection, power, and perfection. Serial killers tend to be insecure, and irrationally scared of rejection. Serial killers tend to avoid developing painful relationships. They are terrified of being abandoned, humiliated,
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
Shirane Haruo. et al. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900. New York: Colombia University Press, 2002. Print.