Week 9 Progress

I'm surprisingly satisfied with my progress so far. I looked at the course grading chart and checked how many points I should have at the end of week 9. I've got more points than the total possible points. I missed only 1 reading assignment throughout the semester so far in this class but I've made up for it with several extra credit assignments. Specifically, I've done the weekly review extra credit assignment once and I've done 3 extra credit reading assignments. The class assignments I enjoy the most are the literary analyses. I enjoy putting extra thought into a small selection of reading as opposed to reading through a story and taking notes. It's also more entertaining because I get to share my thoughts and interpretations on the readings in a meaningful way when it comes to the analyses whereas with the reading notes I'm simply recording important events or details of the stories in a post.

Moving forward, there are some significant changes I really hope I can make. I want the way I approach assignments in this class to return to the way they were in the first 4 weeks of class. I was on top of all my assignments and didn't have to take advantage of the grace periods at all. It was a lot less stressful that way. I keep trying to budget my time in a way that prevents me from having to do assignments at the last minute, but things keep coincidentally coming up on the days that I plan to do work in this class. And when it isn't someone or something stealing my time away from me, it's my insomnia. There'll be nights where I can't sleep well and then I'm tired and unable to sleep but not well-rested enough to think straight or concentrate on working. Regarding my participation in the course, I really should be doing a lot more extra commenting for extra credit. It doesn't take long to do and the points are definitely worth it.

Reading Notes W9: The Travels of Lao Can by Liu E, Part X

• When a baby is born, he or she cries. When an old person is dying, their family cries. (605)
• Crying is the beginning and end of life (605)
• Quality of man is measured by how much he cries; it's an expression of spiritual nature (605)
• Spiritual nature is proportionate to the amount of crying done (605)
• Crying is "not dependent on the external conditions of life being favorable or unfavorable" (605)
• Spiritual nature is lacking to animals such as horses and oxen; they can suffer but are unable to weep (605)
• Apes and monkeys life a life of ease but are capable of screaming which is their way of weeping. They're nearest to man because they've got a spiritual nature (605)
• The old poem says: "Of the three gorges of Eastern Ba, the Sorcerer's Gorge is the longest; / Three sounds of monkeys screaming there cut through a man's bowels" (605)
• Spiritual natures gives birth to feelings and feelings give birth to weeping (605)
• One kind of weeping is strong and the other is weak (605)
• When a small child loses something, this is weak weeping (605)
• When a wife loses her husband, this is strong weeping (605)
• If weeping takes the form of tears then that means the strength is small (605)
• If weeping doesn't causes tears, its strength is great and it has reached farther (605)
• "The deeper the emotions, the more bitter the weeping." (605)
• Lao Dong is the owner of the inn that Lao Can is staying it (606)
• Lao Can went to buy two packets of tobacco (606)
• He sat down and looked at the man behind the counter then asked him what his name was (606)
• The man's name is Wang (606)
• Tie is Lao Can's real name (606)
• Wang refers to the place he lives in as being a hell (606)
• Wang says it's difficult to explain in a word how (606)
• Lao Can asks about bandits and Wang quickly answers that there is no injustice. He seems to be hiding something. (606)
• Lao Can says he's heard bad thing about what happens to those who "doesn't please" some person (606)
• Wang denies it (606)
• Tears filled Lao Can's eyes when Wang said "if somebody talks unwisely" (606)
• Lao Can could tell the man was struck with grief and chose to not continue the conversation (606)
• Lao Can went to go speak to Lao Dong about what just happened (607)
• Dong tells Can that Wang and his wife had a son who was taken by Prefect spies and choked to death, so when Can mentioned Prefect Yu it easily brought back bad memories for the couple (607)
• Lao Can had nothing to do the next day. His feelings took control and he wrote a poem (607)
• He writes a poem that insults the prefect (608)
• He felt bad for the cold and hungry birds outside (608)
• He was angry that he isn't in a position to immediately kill Yu Xian (608)
• He wanted to write a letter to the governor but he was wasting so much time trying to melt the ink (609)
• It was dark and Lao Can asked a servant to bring him a lamp. When the lamp lit up, the servant noticed what Lao Can had written on the wall and said he will be in danger if he doesn't watch what he says. Lao Can proudly says that his name is written at the bottom (609)
• A man came in and requested that Lao Can join Shen Dongzao for dinner (609)
• Dongzao questioned how Lao Can could be wearing a cotton gown when it's so cold (610)
• Dongzao calls Lao Can out for his ringing of bells. They argue about the matter (610)
• Lao Can criticizes the Prefect for how many people he is able to kill in his position as Prefect whereas if he weren't Prefect. (611)

E, Liu. "The Travels of Lao Can." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. E, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 602-611

Week 9 Project Action Plan: What to do and how to do it?

I've decided to use the following prompt for my project: "compare and contrast elements of two different texts. For example, explore the similarities and differences between two characters in the texts, or examine how one theme is handled in similar and dissimilar ways in two different texts." I'll be analyzing Poem 1129 by Emily Dickinson and "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be" by John Keats and comparing how the two poems approach the theme of death. I'll share my thoughts on how I interpreted various lines from both poems and how they reveal their respective poet's views about death. I believe that John Keats fears death because of how it's an indefinite deadline to accomplish life goals. Emily Dickinson on the other hand doesn't fear death and instead points out the ways other people cope with or deny the idea of death.

My work-in-progress thesis statement is: When analyzing the theme of death present in the poems written by John Keats and Emily Dickinson, we can see that John Keats feared death whereas Emily Dickinson simply viewed death as an inevitable part of human life.

Notes:

• Consonance in the first line of Poem 1129. "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--" (489). This line introduces Dickinson's belief that the subject of death must be approached delicately because of how easily it can terrify people. It also touches on how the truth about death is told in different ways that hide the true nature of death.
• "Too bright for our infirm delight" is about how death is too powerful a subject and human content is easily disrupted (489)
• "The Truth's superb surprise" addresses how reality is going to hit people in the face at one point or another whether they like it or not (489)
• The second stanza of the poem expands on the ideas introduced in the first stanza. I'll also be analyzing the lines more thoroughly for the proving my point in the project.
• When speaking about Keats, I will be analyzing each line thoroughly as well, but I will list here in my notes the main subject matter that will be brought up
• Keats fears death
• He worries that he'll die before he can write down every meaningful thought he's wanted to share with his readers
• He has many things he wants to accomplish in life and fears he'll die before he has the time.
• He wonders about his love life and if he will be satisfied with how much of it he can experience before he dies.
• He realizes that his desires in the world are nothing in the grand scheme of things given how large the world is.

Here are my sources I will be using:

Dickinson, Emily. "1129." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. D, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 489

Keats, John. "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. D, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 407

Week 9 Analysis: Close reading of "The Tale of Kieu"

For my close reading this week I decided to write about a stanza at the end of page 563 of "The Tale of Kieu" beginning with "pity the child." The full sentence is "pity the child, so young and so naive-- / misfortune, like a storm, swooped down on her" (562). This sentence repeats the idea that Dam Tien had already told Kieu earlier. Dam Tien told her how she's doomed by fate to grief. All throughout the poem we see Kieu go through a miserable life. She had lost her virginity by being forced into prostitution and was lied to back to back as she had been sold to different people. Some people claimed they would help her, but it was always a lie and she would be sold to someone else to work as a prostitute in their brothel or have to do other labor. She's "young and naive" because of how she still has some of her innocence. She doesn't fully understand love from personal experience when Kim decides that they should be together and it's her first major learning experience relating to love and relationships. All of that was ruined with the prostitute lifestyle that was forced upon her. She was ripped away from her lover and family and considered suicide multiple times. She kept a knife with her in case she ever decided to go through with it. The following sentence in the stanza reinforces the things I've just said: "To part from Kim meant sorrow, death in life-- / would she still care for life, much less for love?" (563). She did struggle with having a desire to live, and she was full of sorrow, but she did give love another chance. She fell in love with Tu Hai and had a fulfilling relationship with him that allowed her to get revenge on those who have wronged her. She indirectly got him killed when she encouraged him to seek war less and caused him to drop his guard and be ambushed. His death was the breaking point for her since it caused her to finally attempt suicide. She tried to drown herself. The stanza ends with "A raindrop does not brood on its poor fate: / a leaf of grass repays three months of spring" (563). In this metaphor, the raindrop is Kieu. While she might have a poor fate, her life and all of the pain that comes along with the depressing portion of her story did repay her her with a superfluous amount of "spring." Her suffering ends at the end of the story and she is reunited with her family and gets to marry Kim after all. They build a shrine and the rest of her life is no longer one full of harm and lies.


Du, Ngyuen. "The Tale of Kieu." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. D, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 546-586

Reading Notes W9: Poetry by Ghalib, Part B

Now go and live in a place

In this poem the speaker tells someone to live in a place where no on lives. In this place where no one is, there will be no one to understand their words. They can freely build a home without a wall guarding it since there would be no neighbors around to potentially vandalize their property. If they become sick, no one would be around to take care of them. If they die, no one would be there to mourn their death. To me, this poem sounds like someone giving someone else an ultimatum. It sounds like they've reached their breaking point and are threatening to separate from this person. It's as though the speaker felt unappreciated by the person they're speaking to and admitted that there are perks to being alone, but at the end of the day that person would just die alone. To relate this to Ghalib's life, this poem might be an expression of his doubts and regrets. After the death of his wife, he might have thought life would have been easier if he had just never fallen in love. His wife would have been a stranger and her death would have meant nothing to him, saving him from all of his grief.

Be merciful and send for me

Ghalib wants to be the one to marry the woman he fell in love with. He says that she can see him at any time. He's aware that there's competition to be with her. According to the note at the bottom of the page, she might be a courtesan, which would explain the idea that she might have other suitors. He questions why he bothers complaining about the thought of someone else being with her instead of himself. He refuses to act so weak and doesn't believe that all hope is lost. He tells himself that he can't just give up on her because he's made a vow that the two of them will be together again.

Where's the foothold

This poem took me two reads to come up with something. The speaker asks their God where their other desires are. This individual is aware of the endless possibilities that the world contains, yet they haven't found anything as desirable as the thing they wanted first. Everything else that they want stems from the first thing that they wanted. I believe that this speaker is in love with someone and can't get over them. They know there are countless other people they can fall in love with, but every time they look at someone else they end up thinking about their first love. They wish their God would just grant them the ability to move on and find someone else. To place this poem into the context of Ghalib's life, he can't move on after the death of his wife. He cries to God about the fact that no other woman can replace his late wife.

I've made my home next door to you (Secular and Sacred versions)

I approached this poem in a way that made me laugh. I was frantically going back and forth between the secular version of the poem and the sacred version trying to notice the differences in each and every line of the poem. I read both poems simultaneously as opposed to one after the other. The difference in both poems is who Ghalib is addressing. He speaks the exact same words in both poems and they work equally effective when referring to his wife and God. "I've work to do with her" as opposed to "I've work to do with Him" are examples of the slight differences in both versions (593). In this poem, Ghalib seems to be reflecting on the earlier days of his life when he first met the love of his life. He builts his home next to her/Him in hopes that they'd be able to start making conversation that way and get to know each other but she never seemed to notice him. His lover and God both ask him how he can tell what's in someone else's heart. He know he has work to do with her lover and with God, but he is determined. He says that both his lover and God are both labelled as tormentors by the world. He won't lose his love for the woman he loves nor for God despite all of this. He tells himself that he shouldn't press the subject since his feeling have become apparent both in the eyes of his lover and God.

Couplets

Ghalib is told that forcing his love upon someone doesn't accomplish anything since it won't simply spread like fire and it won't easily die out either. He can't make someone fall in love with, and his love won't simply go away either should he decide he wants to love someone else. He expresses his hopes that the courtesan he loves can be faithful to him even though, as a courtesan, she might not understand what faithfulness really is. He questions God as to why punishments are given for sins committed, yet people are not rewarded for the sins that they've craved but successfully resisted. He admits to God that his situation isn't necessarily love, but madness. He tells God that God is the one who drove him mad. He tells God about how communities have already converged upon a common faith, making his efforts to share his monotheistic message useless. He says it's hard to make everything look easy and it's not easy for humans to be human. He acknowledges other poets' talent, but claims that he's seen as a talented poet as well. He has doubts about his lover, he feels like she's sleeping with someone else and it's haunting his dreams. He says he's gotten over love countless times, but his heart is an enemy of this idea and it ultimately keeps bringing him back in. Remembering images of what she looks like is painful to him. He asks God about how he can feel so strongly about another human if God is supposed to be the only thing that truly exists. Ghalib says everyone felt he would self-destruct, but he never did.


Ghalib. The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. E, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 587-601

Reading Notes W9: The Tale of Kieu by Ngyuen Du, Part A

• The first stanza of the poem talks about balance. "Talent and Destiny are apt to feud," "You must go through a play of ebb and flow," "Losses balance gains" (550)
• Beijing was the capital of the north during the Ming dynasty and Nanjing was the capital of the south. (550)
• Vuong Quan is the last born son of a burgher in the Vuong clan (550)
• Thuy Kieu is the oldest daughter and her younger sister is Thuy Van (550)
• Both sisters are described as being perfect in their own way (550)
• Kieu possessed a keener, deeper charm, surpassing Van in talents and in looks. (550)
• The Feast of Light is a chinese spring festival when people tend the graves of the dead and make offerings to them (551)
• Kieu asks why no one is burning incense for the grave of a famous singer named Dam Tien (551)
• "Harsh is the fate that has kept us apart! Since in this life we are not meant to meet" (551)
• The stranger who came oversees to meet her purchased a coffin and hearse for her when he found her dead. (551)
• Kieu cried out of pity for Dam Tien (552)
• Van says Kieu should be laughed at for crying about someone long gone (552)
• "Harsh fate has cursed all women, sparing none." Definitely feels like it from everything we read in this class (552)
• Quan says Kieu made a fine speech (552)
• "Transcending life and death, soul sisters meet." "Dam Tien had cared to manifest herself." Tien made an appearance because of Kieu (553)
• Kim Trong is a scion of nobility and is both wealthy and talented. (553)
• Dam Tien told Kieu how she's doomed to grief by fate (555)
• Kieu's mother asks her to reconsider whether she should really be freaking out over a dream (555)
• Young Kim came across a golden hairpin and took it home since he felt it must belong to a woman and that fate has bound them together (556)
• Kieu thanked him for not keeping the golden hairpin which was referred to as a jewel (556)
• Kieu says she's too young for love. Kim says ignoring his desperate love will hurt him and not profit her (556)
• Kim seems entitled for feeling that he is owed something as thanks for returning the jewel. It's also manipulative to guilt trip her into showing affection towards him.
• "How can my heart resist your heart's behest?" "I'm bound to you for life" Seriously? (557)
• They traded. Golden hairpin for sunflower-figured fan. "An oath to seal their pact (558)
• Kim gets his feelings hurt because Kieu took longer than 3 seconds to meet with him again. I don't like Kim. (558)
• Kieu wants to make amends because he feels hurt (558)
• They keep making pledges to each other (560)
• "Why do you choose to play those plaintative strains which grieve your heart" Thank God, Kieu is finally using her head. (561)
• "Who'll bear the guilt? / Why force your wish on your shy flower so soon? / While I'm alive, you'll sometime get your due." (561)
• The above excerpt makes me think Kieu is growing tiresome of Kim's needless whining.
• Kim's uncle died (562)
• A mob of bailiffs interrupted the birthday feast. The were armed and placed collars on the old man and son to show they are punished criminals (563)
• Kieu decided a child should pay the debts of their parents birth and care. She put aside her vows of love. She sold herself to redeem her father. (563)
• An elderly scrivener named Chung witnessed this and decided to take pity. She has to collect 300 liang within 3 days to free her kinsmen. (563)
• It's like Du Tenth all over again
• "She's worth her weight in gold" (564)
• The father asks Heaven why it would inflict such woes on them. Why must his daughter be put in a position where she can't wed a worthy mate as he had wishes for her. Why must she be in this position where she has to give up great parts of her life to save him? He'd rather die than deal with this pain. (564)
• Kieu asks what a daugher is worth "who's not repaid one whit a daughter's debt" (564)
• "Old Chung did all he could and gave help: / gifts once presented, charges were dismissed" (565)
• Kieu says "If only I had known I'd sink so low / I should have let my true love pluck my bud" (565)
• Kieu wonders "If I indeed was born to float and drift, / how can a woman live with such a fate?" (566)
• She takes a knife because she thinks it might help decide her life later (566)
• Kieu woke from a nightmare and questioned her worth. She contemplates killing herself (567)
• Once Kieu paid homage to her household god, her aunt Dame Tu appeared and told Kieu to kneel before her and her uncle (569)
• Dame Tu became enraged from Kieu's story and was about to whip her (569)
• Kieu pulled out her knife and asks what is left of her life. (569)
• Kieu was carried out and nursed. A doctor was there too. A girl whispered "Your Karma"s still undone: / how could you shirk your debt of grief to life?" "You're still to bear the fortune of a rose: / you wish to quit, but Heaven won't allow." (570)
• Dame Tu seems to be the voice Kieu heard. "Why lose your life and hurt me? What's the good?" This sounds a lot like Kim's question (570)
• Kieu is recaptured and forced to work as a prostitute in a brothel. Then she is kidnapped and works as a slave. She's then put in the care of a neighbor who sells her into prostitution. Her life sucks. (570)
• Between Heaven and Earth is Tu Hai. He speaks with Kieu (571)
• "He paid some hundred liang for Kieu's release" (571)
• "The hero chose a phoenix as his mate: / the beauty found a dragon for her mount" (572)
• "She pined and mourned for her old love" (572) Kim? Why Kim?
• "The phoenix-coach held ready for a queen / her glittering diadem, her sparkling robe." (573)
• Lord Tu mustered men and captains after Kieu spoke about Wuxu and Linzi (where she had been mistreated) to track down the people who harmed and mistreated Kieu. They would be dragged to stand due trial. (573)
• The captives were brought in and Kieu said "I'll borrow your almighty power / to pay such dues as gratitude deems fit. / I'll render good, then make return for ill." (574)
• Kieu judges each captive and then says "High Heaven towers over all! / It's not my law that ill be paid with ill." (575)
• The executioner recieved his orders and blood flowed around the room as they were struck. (575)
• Kieu convinced Lord Tu to not leave an ill reputation. He dropped his schemes of war and sought peace. Imperial spies saw what was going on and attacked. Lord Tu gave a secret cue and gunfire ensued. A battle was fought and Lord Tu was killed. Kieu felt guilty since this was kind of her fault by convincing Lord Tu to let down his guard. She sits by his remains and grieves. (579)
• Lord Ho makes Kieu marry a tribal chief. She throws herself into a river and is found by Giac Duyen. Kim finds her family. (579)
• Kim asks where Kieu's husband is and they tell him about Tu Hai. Kim knows about Tu Hai, probably since Tu Hai is so powerful. Kim is still heartbroken about Kieu but still keeps incense. (579)
• Kim requested that Vuong help him look for Kieu after news broke out about the battle. They were told that Lord Tu was ambushed and fell in battle and that Kieu drowned herself. (580)
• They set her tablet up and installed an altar on the riverbank. (580)
• Giac Duyen coincidentally came by and read the name on the alter. She was surprised, asked if they were friends or family of Kieu's, and told them that Kieu is alive. (580)
• Giac Duyen tells about how she found Kieu in the river and brought her. The family follows Giac Duyen to meet Kieu. Kieu cries, uncertain of whether or not she's dreaming. (581)
• Kieu says she sought to end it in the river and didn't imagine seeing them all again. (581)
• Kieu explains that she doesn't deserve any of this. She claims that she'll stay with Giac Duyen for saving her since she owes her and can't just cut her bonds and leave. (582)
• Old Vuong says the gods and Buddhas will discharge her duties and let her keep lover's vows. They'll build a shrine and have their Reverend live near them. Kieu agreed and took her leave of Giac Duyen (582)
• "It's Heaven's own design that lovers meet, / so Kim and Kieu did meet and swear their troth" (582)
• Kieu still loves Kim but feels shameful about what's happened. Kim says "stars may shift their course, / sworn pledges must be kept in life or death" (583)
• Kim suddenly seems less annoying and somewhat likable to me now.
• Kieu tells Kim "You bear a constant love for me, I know-- / but where to hide my shame by bridal light?" (583)
• Kieu continues, "I'll live a nun. / If you still care for what we both once felt, / let's turn it into friendship--let's be friends." (583)
• Kim says "How skilled you are in spinning words!" (583)
• "Heaven grants us this hour: now from our gate / all mists have cleared; on high, clouds roll away." said Kim (583)
• "Outtalked, she could no longer disagree: / she hung her head and yielded, stifling sighs" (584)
• They got married but Kieu still has feelings of shame and guilt and says Kim can always have her sister instead. (584)
• Kim reminds her that "We loved each other, risked our lives, braved death-- / now we two meet again, still deep in love" (585)
• The poem ends with a stanza that points out how Heaven and Karma will correct all wrongdoings and "the heart outweighs all talents on this earth" (586)

Du, Ngyuen. "The Tale of Kieu." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. E, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 546-586