ENGLISH

Chinese literature

  • It has very ancient beginnings (first recorded about 5,000 yrs ago).

  • The Chinese language is monosyllabic- has only one syllable.

  • Chinese do not have any polysyllabic words- more than one syllable

  • Chinese is a tonal language- same word changes in meaning when it is said in a high or low pitch

  • Chinese writing has no alphabet; it consists of about 50,000 characters. Each character represents an idea.

  • Chinese writing is made up of ideographs

  • A child learning Chinese has to learn to write 214 signs

  • Early Chinese literature dates back to 1000 B.C. It recognizes five books, called the Five Classics:

    • The Book of Changes

    • The Book of History

    • The Book of Rites

    • The Book of Odes

    • The Spring and Autumn Annals.

  • These Five classics form the foundation of their cultural, political, and traditional life.

  • In poetry, the 4 greatest poets lived in the Tang dynasty. They were Wang Wei, Li Po, To Fu, and Po-Chu-I

  • Drama and fiction developed as important forms of Chinese literature during the 1200s

  • Modern Chinese literature developed after the 1800s

  • Cultural revolution( 1966-1976 ) - All intellectuals were persecuted in China.

  • Cultural fever - The major literary and intellectual fashions of today’s China grown out “ Cultural fever” of the 1980s

Identifying and developing the topic sentence

  • Paragraph- Foundation of a composition

  • Sentence- Foundation of a paragraph

  • Topic sentence- The main thought of a paragraph/the sentence that expresses the kernel idea

  • A topic sentence may be developed using these ways:

    • Development by giving details

    • Development by giving examples

    • development by cause and effect

    • development by comparison or contrast

  • All the other sentences are supporting sentences

The Great Chinese Philosophers

  • Lao Tzu and Confucius- Greatly influenced the Chinese way of life

  • Lao Tzu ( 6th century B.C. )

    • The name given to the father of taoism

    • The author of the book called “Tao Te Ching" or The Way and its Power. It contains his words of wisdom

  • Taoism

    • A religion developed from Taoist philosophy

    • Taoism is derived from Tao, which means “path” or “way”

    • For early chinese, tao reffered to the force that controlled the universe

  • Confucius

    • The word Confucius is the Westernized form of his name, which is Kung Fu-tze

    • Kung- proper name, Fu- signifying revered, tze- teacher

    • Analects- collected sayings of Confucius

    • Confucius emphasized the importance of moral conduct.

  • Confucianism

    • A system of beliefs observed by most Chinese and concerned particularly with moral behavior.

    • The greatest contributions of Confucius to the world are his analects and Confucianism.

  • Scanning- The kind of reading where people look for specific words or phrases in order to answer given questions.

  • Writing a Composition

    • Writing is based upon two things:

      • What you want to say

      • How you say it

    • Title of a composition

      • like a promise that the writer gives to the reader

      • not a subject or a topic; is something more specific

Figures of speech

  • A literary device used to create a special effector feeling by making some type of interesting or creative comparison

  • Simile

    • A comparison of two unlike things using like or as

  • Metaphor

    • A direct comparison of two unlike things

  • Personification

    • A literary device in which an animal, an object, or an idea is spoken or is described as if it were a person

  • Hyperbole

    • an exaggeration of overstatement

  • Litotes

    • Takes place when double negatives are used for emphasis; is similar to hyperbole which uses exaggeration

Enjoying Chinese Legend And a Poem

  • Lafcadio Hearn

    • An American journalist of Irish and Greek parentage who spent the latter part of his life in Japan.

    • He was so invested in Oriental culture, especially Chinese and Japanese

    • His name as a naturalized Japanese was Yakumo Koizumi

    • He retold “The Soul of the Great Bell”— Chinese legend, in English

  • The Soul of the Great Bell

    • Yung-Lo of the “illustrious” or Ming dynasty - Son of Heaven

    • Kouan-Yu - The worthy official that Yung-Lo commanded to create a bell

    • Yung-Lo ordered that the bell must be made of such size that the sound might be heard for one hundred li

    • City of Peking

      • Now called Beijing

      • Imperial capital

    • Ko-Ngai

      • Daughter of Kouan-Yu

      • Loved her father very much that she had refused a hundred worthy suitors

      • When she saw the awful yellow missive sealed with the dragon seal, she fainted away

      • She paid an astrologer to advise her

      • She leaped/jumped into the lava of metal for her father

      • Her shoe embroidered with pearls and flowers was the only remembrance they had from her

    • Silver stream - milky way

    • Hwang-tao - yellow road

    • Five Hin - principles of the universe

Types of Irony

  • Irony - A figure of speech in which words are used to express something that is different from the actual meaning or, at times, the total opposite.

  • Verbal Irony

    • When a character or person says one thing but means the complete opposite.

    • Ironic statements are used to convey a meaning that is exactly the opposite of the literal meaning.

    • Ex. When someone says "My, what lovely weather we're having" on an awful, rainy day

  • Situational Irony

    • When the complete opposite of what is expected by the audience (readers, listeners, or viewers) occurs.

    • Ex.

      • A lifeguard drowns.

      • A butcher turns out to be a vegan.

  • Dramatic irony

    • When a character believes something and the opposite is true— the audience knows that the character is working under false beliefs.

    • Ex. Suspense is created when a character enters a house and the audience knows that the killer is in it.

Symbolism in Literature

  • Symbolism

    • The art or practice of using conventional or traditional objects and signs as a method of revealing or suggesting ideas, ideals, truths, or otherwise intangible states

    • Chinese poetry is rich in symbolism

    • Ex. A dove to represent peace or innocence.

  • Literal language

    • Used in ordinary conversations and science because it is concerned with hard facts

    • The words mean exactly what they say and no more than that.

Extensive

Extensive or Recreational Reading

  • Extensive/Recreational Reading

    • Reading for enjoyment

    • We can do this by reading novels, stories, comic books, magazines, and even articles on the internet for pleasure.

    • Recreational reading must be done regularly

  • Intensive Reading

    • The opposite of recreational or extensive reading

    • Meant for learning

    • One good way of intensive reading is by defining the words, as well as uncovering the text type (e.g., narrative, poetry, cause-and-effect, explanation, process or persuasion, among others).

    CHINESE POET

  • Tao Chien (365-427)

    • Tao Chien is still considered one of the finest Chinese poets.

    • He is one of the first masters or Shih - a rigid poetic form consisting of beautiful verses that appeal to the emotions.

Exploring Japanese Literature

Japan: Land of the Rising Sun

  • Japanese Literature

    • One of the major bodies of Oriental literature

    • It covers the period from the fifth century A.D. to the present

    • Poems and odes to the gods were composed in the early Japanese language before the art of writing was known in Japan.

    • The addition of Japanese words into the Japanese language increased rapidly and the written language, therefore, consists mainly of characters borrowed from the Chinese.

    • Each character represents an idea

    • Katakana - The alphabet Japan developed that consists of only forty-seven characters.

    • 1400 to 1500 - The military came into power, and education was denied to everyone except the priests.

    • 1600 - The modern period of general culture began.

    • Reading - Popular pastime

    • A large proportion of the literary works in Japan were written by women

    • Kojiki

      • Records of Ancient Matters

      • Earliest Japanese literary work

      • Relates the creation of the world, describes the mythological period, and contains facts about the earliest history of Japan.

    • Nihongi

      • Chronicles of Japan

      • Tells the early history of Japan in poetry and shows the profound influence of the Chinese.

    • Every town and village has its historical records

    • Memorial stones - Among the striking sights along the highways in every town, village, and temple yard.

  • Japanese Drama

    • The drama is a favorite entertainment.

    • Popular plays are generally about history and tradition or the lives and adventures of gods and heroes.

    • The setting is always Japan and the performance lasts all-day

    • Three types of drama have been developed in Japan:

      • The Noh Play

        • The National Theater of Japan

        • Legend says that the Noh play has its origin in dance and that this dance was invented by the gods

        • the other gods invented a dance that one of them performed on top of an inverted tub

        • The sound produced by the dancer stamping on the wooden floor is still an important part of the play

      • Puppet play

        • Also known as the doll theater

        • The puppets are beautifully made and lifelike in size

      • Kabuki play

        • Play for masses

        • Less intellectual and more realistic, even sensational

  • Japanese poetry

    • Poetry is a favorite among the Japanese

    • Man’yoshĹ« (800 A.D.)

      • Collection of Myriad leaves

      • The oldest collection of poetry

    • The compilation titled One Hundred Persons was compiled much later

    • Writing of poetry was a required ability among the aristocratic classes

    • Haiku

      • The shortest form of Japanese poetry, yet the most popular

      • A seventeen-syllable poetry (5-7-5)

      • The Japanese set aside one day each year as the Haiku day

Conjunctions

  • From the Latin word conjuctus - “to join”

  • There are two general classes of conjunction:

    • Coordinating conjunctions

      • Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses of equal rank

      • The principal coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, and so

      • The And type

        • And is used to add something ( only when the second idea is along the same line of thought as the first idea) to what has already been said.

        • Ex. He went away and never came back. — (And joins the two verbs correctly because never came back is in addition to went away.)

      • The But type

        • But adds something contrary to or different from what has been said.

        • Ex. He is stupid but hardworking.

      • The Or type

        • Or implies a choice

        • Ex. You can come today or tomorrow.

        • We can use either … or, neither … nor, and otherwise as a substitute for Or.

      • The So type

        • So is used when the second part is a consequence of the first part

        • Ex. He shouted, so I had to listen to him.

    • Subordinating conjunctions

      • Subordinating conjunctions are used to introduce subordinating clauses.

      • The principal subordinate conjunctions are what, that/so that, because, how, although/though, if, as if, unless, where and whether

      • What is answered by that

      • Purpose is expressed by that/ so that

      • Cause and effect is expressed by because and that

      • Manner is expressed by how

      • Concession is expressed by although

      • Condition is expressed by if and unless

      • Place is expressed by where

      • Uncertainty is introduced by whether (not if)

      • An adjectival subordinate clause may be introduced by who, which, or that