Week 5 Project Submission

Victor Haynes Jr.

2/25/18

Eng 145

Professor Hiltbrand

LOVE AND FREEDOM

Love and freedom are defined in the Webster dictionary as “unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another” and “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action. Or some one could read “The Royal Slave” by Aphra Behn and understand the importance of freedom. Prince Oroonoko who was tricked of his freedom by an English slave trader understand the importance of freedom. The Prince also lead a rebellion in fight of his freedom knowing that if he was discovered the punishment was death. Although if you wanted to understand the true meaning of love you could read “The Story of Ch’Uh-Hyang” an eighteenth century work of traditional Korea. Ch’Uh-Hyang gives the best example of love and loyalty to her husband. Even after being harshly whipped twenty-five times she still didn't give in to doing anything that would be considered inappropriate for a married women. What do the both of these story have in common? They both have stories that grasp the meaning of love and, freedom accompanied by both main characters gives readers clear insight into both subjects.

Oroonoko was a Prince who was hoodwinked into slavery by a man he thought he befriended. He was also a warrior who was intelligent and well spoken. The Prince spoke English and French allowing him to communicate with the author who was narrating his story. Although this was a fictional book the author was a character telling the story for the enslaved Prince. Freedom is prevalent from the beginning in this story from the time period it was written and the rationalization of enslavement of African people necessary. The Prince who was in love with a women named Imoinda who was forced to be one of the Kings wives. This did not stop the Prince because he continued to see Imoinda since he was married to her before the King had taken her. While ironically they both lose their freedom the Prince is tricked into slavery and Imoinda being given that punishment for her unloyalty to the King. “Imoinda is no more; and after that, you may spare me the rest”(Behn,216). Imoinda loses her freedom and this send the Prince into profound sadness and arranges his revenge. Not knowing he would be trapped into slavery, “ they clapping great Irons suddenly on the Prince, when he was leap’d down, in the Hold to view that part of the Vessel; and locking him fast down, secured him”(Behn,220). This part of the story expresses the freedom being lost in both quotes from the imagery they impose on readers. When the section of the Prince being abducted the author Behn refers the Prince being “betrayed to slavery” or in other word the Prince was cheated of his power, he was Prince that was stripped rein over his own people. In ordered to capture the Prince the English captain had to get him drunk which was a real cowardly move and this was just the reality at the time. The setting was based in the sixteenth century just gives off the automatic alarm that freedom was had to come by and even if you were a Royal Prince that didn't matter. Oroonoko embodied freedom by not letting anything stop him from getting what he deserved and fought for his liberty’s till the end.  

Ch’Uh-Hyang  symbolised love for her husband in “The Song of Ch’Un-hyang” by just being loyal and not letting someone else lead her into temptation. Ch’Uh-hyang was in love with Master Yi but when Yi’s father the magistrate resigns and moves he vows to come back. And she vowed to wait for him not knowing her allegiance would be soon tested by the new magistrate makes it to town he orders Ch’Un-hyang to be his mistress. She refuses so the magistrate throws her in jail and orders her to be beaten. In this particular sections Ch’Un-hyang shows her love for her husband to the extreme not only turning the new magistrate down but undergoing such mistreat in her alliance with Master Yi. “Two spouses are faithful, Two husbands can not be, Though my body is beaten, Though I die forever, I’ll never forget master Yi (“The Song of Ch’Un-hyang”,84). This section was amazing because she rymed the cries she yelled for her husband as she took the injustice abuse. She was publicly beaten as she publicly proclaimed her love for Master Yi and in the way they arranged this in the book was quite beautiful. All Ch’Un-Hyang needed was love and the pain from the whips were non existent showing the ultimate love and anyone could understand she would do anything for her lover.  

Each of these stories symbolize both love and freedom even if I look at the Royal Prince he expresses in his story a strong theme of love also with Imoinda. The Prince didn't mind the dangers of slavery when it came to his love and in the end he fought a rebellion for both love and freedom. So as did Ch’Uh-Hyang when she fought for her freedom over the new magistrate by not allowing him to pressure her into unfaithfulness. Both characters are main characters who give off a great message if truly read and understand the fight both characters went through. Together with the imagery and grit both of these stories withhold a true essence of masterpieces especially in storytelling from introduction till climax.

Lastly, I wonder the importance of both stories right now and just to see the way they shape entertainment or even fictional book we read their structure is all over today’s format. Pioneers like Aphra Behn being the first professional writer to the new beginnings of plays mocking the classic “The Song of Ch’Un-Hyang”. This fictional writing was so popular in it’s time that it shot Behn into success allowing her to be recognized as the first. And characters like  Ch’Un-Hyang to play as a classic for its people and backing it up with a true message.  

Week 5 Analysis: Close Reading

Close Reading 

Week 5

Matsuo Basho 

  The part of the poems I want to focus my close reading the beginning paragraph of pg.617 "From the Narrow Road to the Deep North", this first poem in my opinion mark the genius of Basho's travel to the Northwest. This was a section where he pondered deeply on his journey and in words making sense of this five month journey by sea. I am intrigued by the use of the word "wanderlust" in the reading just putting the exclamation on the future voyage. Also Basho uses the vocabulary that of wanderlust to explain what he meant in the sentence before where he stated ,"Many, too, are the ancients who perished on the road", explains why he choose to cruise the sea instead of continuing  to depart on road. Then Basho began to paint a picture for us in the poem by explaining the length of the journey. "Floating away their lives on boats", or in other words a metaphor to mark the beginnings of a long journey. Although all of this evidence might make me think that this section was written at the beginning of the journey in the informational section of the text it say's these writings were an idealized version of the travel and not a diary. So this start of the story might not have been from the beginning but a start of writing at any point of the joinery describing when they first sailed off on this travel. Anyway, I might be thinking to hard so the reality that this is from the begging of this challenge ahead of Basho and he began this writing when it actually started to be finish by the end. Basho used this section to begin his story telling through poems to mark the start of a journey that him and his companion Sora was about to embark on and used imagery to grab his readers early. In other words, the author used the introduction to show of his skillful poetry skills which gave readers the interest of continuing the story. 

Reading Notes W5: Part B Cao Xueqin ,

Reading Notes 

Week 5

Part B 

• Can created one of the most best and worst of traditional China into one story. "The Story of Stone" 
• Powerful story and began to move people's hearts and minds. Through a story that took a deep dive into sex, lust, and differences between both sex. 
• Can was raised by a Han Chinese family which ruled the ethic group numbers in China. And his family helped in a prominent and lucrative jobs working as Imperial  Textile Commission 
• With the fame of the Cao family there are not many details on the life of Cao Xueqin but it is know that his family's mansions and property's were swiped by a new emperor over optical reasons. 
• From 1740 to 1750 Cao was working on "The Story of Stone" living in the suburbs of Beijing where he was forced to move after losing everything. Also he was living just above the means of survival selling painting to make ends meet while working on his story. on pg.518
• It was claimed that Cao story was of real life so since there was even less information on his life the story he wrote gave clear inside, especially of what happened to his family's wealth.
• It is tradition for Chinese novels to be very long. And since Cao's followed that tradition made it hard to summarize or even pull out the important parts. 
• On pg. 519 it points out a similarities of the settings in the story and to where Cao lived in real life
• On pg. 521 it gives good insight on to the themes the story uses to become great and allows readers to stay intrigued. 
• It is very interesting that the story had a genealogy to give information further into the beginnings of the characters and makes it even feel more of a true story with the added genealogy. 
• At the bottom go pg. 527 it says "The accumulation of good and bad deeds that determines a soul's future lives". showing the relationship between Buddhism and the way the characters lived in the story. 
• Beautiful poems on pg. 617 and through out the reading 

Reading Notes W5: Part A Feng Menglong+Ihara Saikaku

Reading Notes

Week5

Part A

• Feng Menglong was know as one of the most versatile writers in the early modern age of China .He was an ardent scholar but also enjoyed small dramas of everyday life. He was a reason that vernacular stories turned into true stories through his higher educated thinking and knowledge of common people. 
• Feng Menglong was born to a wealthy family in 1547 that lived in Suzhou which was the center of culture during the Ming Dynasty.
• Feng was a collector jokes and folksong because he was always passionately reading popular literature that common people had in their culture. Giving him material to be able to include both scholarly and common aspects into his work. 
• New urban culture during the Ming Dynasty started to produce genres with the topics like sex, money, crimes, and court cases. 
• Feng did much reading and editing others writings and then adding his own creations of his own that read like popular stories. Out of 120 stories in his collection 37 he wrote completely by himself. on pg. 498
• Vernacular writing attracted Feng from its freedom of speech and expression in ways he could not do when writing in classical language. He created a hallmark in new vernacular writing also with his love of being an oral storytelling. 
• On pg. 498 in the last paragraph also gives a summary of the story we will be reading for the majority of the reading telling us the two main characters and how the plot line of Feng's story telling will play out. 
• In starting to read the story I can see immediately the story telling Feng is building up to by giving the lay out of the setting and background of characters to have readers further understand the story he was telling. 
• Also I see the versatility showing that he structured the preface of the story easy to read and having readers understand what is going on. Then switching to a more scholarly vocabulary but still everyday talk when his story began with his characters Lui Yuchun and Mei.