Both “No Name Woman” and “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe” center around silence. “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe” discusses the struggle for Chinese-American girls to find a way to blend both cultures and speak, while, ironically, Kingston begins the memoir “No Name Woman” with the quote, “You must not tell anyone…what I am about to tell you.” How does this demand for and ultimate rejection of silence fit in with both stories? In what way does the secrecy and ambiguity behind her mother’s story give Kingston a voice?
Maxine Hong Kingston discusses many different cultural aspects of Chinese life through her narration in “No Name Woman.” Through the imagined narrative of the life of her “Father’s drowned-in-the-well sister,” Kingston contrasts life in China to the Chinese-American experience. In what ways does Kingston use her heritage to bridge the gap between her readers? Looking specifically at examples of beautifying oneself in the text, discuss why you believe Kingston decided to add a detailed explanation of a hairstyle? How can we understand the story better through this small description? How does the outside world, both in China and in America, form the way culture is viewed, and how does the outside public influence this culture at the same time?
In "A Song for A Barbarian Reed Pipe", near the end of the chapter, Maxine Hong Kingston begins to talk about a Chinese poet, Ts'ai Yen. She goes into depth about the poet's life and the struggles she endured. This may seem like an arbitrary thing to include in the text, as it is not about Kingston's life specifically. What is the importance of Kingston including this particular passage in the chapter and giving us a detailed description of Yen's life? Is she using the poet to parallel her own life and struggles, and why is it significant that Kingston named this particular chapter of her book after one of Yen's songs?
In "No Name Woman," Kingston spends much of the story talking about the differences between men and women, mainly the blame that is places on the aunt simply because she is a woman. For example, Kingston's aunt told the man who had been raping her that she believed she was pregnant and he then organized and led the raid on her family's home. Later on in the story, Kingston says, "Carrying the baby to the well shows loving. Otherwise abandon it. Turn it's face into the mud. Mothers who love their children take them along. Its was probably a girl; there is some hope of forgiveness for boys" (Kingston 18). Other than the obvious crime of rape, what other crimes are committed against Kingston's unnamed aunt? How are these crimes in a way acquitted by the villagers, the aunt's family, and Kingston herself?
In "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe", the narrator spends a good eight pages explaining a scenario that took place between her and a quiet girl in her class. The narrator seems to grow increasingly hostile in her treatment of the girl, demanding her to speak, and then breaking down and crying at the close. Why do you think Kingston spent so much time describing this scene? What made the narrator, a quiet girl herself, hate her classmate to such an extent? The narrator admits this was "the worst thing I had yet done to another person" (210). Is there any way this have actually been more helpful than hurtful for the narrator?
Th Jan. 15 Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (Norton)
Tu Jan. 20 Abraham Lincoln, “A House Divided” and “Second Inaugural Address” (Norton) Assignment: watch Obama’s inaugural address (today at noon, or watch it online later) and compare to Lincoln’s inaugural addresses
Th Jan. 22 William Apess, An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man (Norton) Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Hope Leslie, Vol. I, Chapter 4 (Norton)
Tu Jan. 27 Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature” (Norton)
Th Jan. 29 Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birth-Mark” (Norton)
Tu Feb. 3 Hawthorne, “Rappaccini’s Daughter” Edgar Allan Poe, “Ligeia” (Norton)
Th Feb. 5 Poe, “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “William Wilson” (Norton)
Tu Feb. 10 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Norton)
Th Feb 12 Douglass, Narrative First paper due Friday, Feb. 13, 4 p.m.
Tu Feb 17 Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids” (Norton)
Th Feb 19 Rebecca Harding Davis, “Life in the Iron-Mills” (Norton)
Tu Feb 24 Walt Whitman, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” and “Song of Myself” parts 1-7 (Norton)
Amanda Palmisciano:
ReplyDeleteBoth “No Name Woman” and “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe” center around silence. “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe” discusses the struggle for Chinese-American girls to find a way to blend both cultures and speak, while, ironically, Kingston begins the memoir “No Name Woman” with the quote, “You must not tell anyone…what I am about to tell you.” How does this demand for and ultimate rejection of silence fit in with both stories? In what way does the secrecy and ambiguity behind her mother’s story give Kingston a voice?
Melanie MacKenzie:
ReplyDeleteMaxine Hong Kingston discusses many different cultural aspects of Chinese life through her narration in “No Name Woman.” Through the imagined narrative of the life of her “Father’s drowned-in-the-well sister,” Kingston contrasts life in China to the Chinese-American experience. In what ways does Kingston use her heritage to bridge the gap between her readers? Looking specifically at examples of beautifying oneself in the text, discuss why you believe Kingston decided to add a detailed explanation of a hairstyle? How can we understand the story better through this small description? How does the outside world, both in China and in America, form the way culture is viewed, and how does the outside public influence this culture at the same time?
Mari Andracchio
ReplyDeleteIn "A Song for A Barbarian Reed Pipe", near the end of the chapter, Maxine Hong Kingston begins to talk about a Chinese poet, Ts'ai Yen. She goes into depth about the poet's life and the struggles she endured. This may seem like an arbitrary thing to include in the text, as it is not about Kingston's life specifically. What is the importance of Kingston including this particular passage in the chapter and giving us a detailed description of Yen's life? Is she using the poet to parallel her own life and struggles, and why is it significant that Kingston named this particular chapter of her book after one of Yen's songs?
Katie Bilodeau
ReplyDeleteIn "No Name Woman," Kingston spends much of the story talking about the differences between men and women, mainly the blame that is places on the aunt simply because she is a woman. For example, Kingston's aunt told the man who had been raping her that she believed she was pregnant and he then organized and led the raid on her family's home. Later on in the story, Kingston says, "Carrying the baby to the well shows loving. Otherwise abandon it. Turn it's face into the mud. Mothers who love their children take them along. Its was probably a girl; there is some hope of forgiveness for boys" (Kingston 18). Other than the obvious crime of rape, what other crimes are committed against Kingston's unnamed aunt? How are these crimes in a way acquitted by the villagers, the aunt's family, and Kingston herself?
Lexi Martindale:
ReplyDeleteIn "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe", the narrator spends a good eight pages explaining a scenario that took place between her and a quiet girl in her class. The narrator seems to grow increasingly hostile in her treatment of the girl, demanding her to speak, and then breaking down and crying at the close. Why do you think Kingston spent so much time describing this scene? What made the narrator, a quiet girl herself, hate her classmate to such an extent? The narrator admits this was "the worst thing I had yet done to another person" (210). Is there any way this have actually been more helpful than hurtful for the narrator?