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Responses to Texts and Events
 These activities are intended to encourage you to interpret the ways people express themselves, and to develop your personal expression skills.
1 Portrait of Murasaki Shikibu
In this activity you will write a pen portrait of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of the world's first novel The Tale of Genji, based upon biographical details and her writing.
What To Do
- Read the biographies of Murasaki Shikibu at the following websites.
- Make notes about her family background, education, work at court
and writing. Use your notes to create a pen portrait of Lady Murasaki.
- Read extracts from Murasaki Shikibu's writing at the following
website.
Excerpts from the writings of Lady Murasaki
http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/excerpts9.html
- How does she perceive that others see her?
- What sort of person does she see herself as being?
- What do men at the court seem to think of her (and any female
writers of fiction)? Why might they think so?
- In the light of all of the sources about Lady Murasaki, discuss
with your group what kind of person you think she was.
2 Report on Interview with Han Suyin
In this activity you will write a report or article for a newspaper based
on an Asiaweek interview with Han Suyin, a seasoned commentator
on current issues affecting China.
What To Do
-
Read the detailed biography of Han Suyin. This will give you some useful
background information for your article or report. Take notes as you go.
'Han Suyin'
http://english.cla.umn.edu/courseweb/1591/Students/HanSuyin/HanSuyin.html
For a guide to her works, read 'Gregory Melle's Han Suyin' (scroll
down the page to see a partial bibliography). You may wish to
mention some of these in your article.
http://www.notsorry.com/hansuyin.html
-
Read and take notes about the Asiaweek interview with Dr Han Suyin
about her attitude to present day China, called 'China and the Power Game'.
http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/96/1108/feat1.html
-
Collate your notes into an appropriate order for your article and discuss
your findings and possible approaches to your article or report with a
partner and with your teacher.
-
Write your article about Han Suyin and her current views on China. Submit
a draft to your teacher and edit or rewrite it according to their suggestions.
Add a catchy headline and write up an attractive copy as your final draft,
or lay it out on a computer using a desktop publishing or word processing
application.
3 Poem
In this activity you will write a poem expressing your feelings about a personal situation that is difficult to come to terms with or which seems puzzling and unfair.
What To Do
- Read the poem 'Authorship' from The Crescent Moon by Rabindranath Tagore.
http://www.indolink.com/Poetry/tagore10.html
- After reading the poem, discuss the following questions with a partner. Make notes of your conclusions about the poem.
- How old is the child in the poem?
- What things about the situation does the child find frustrating?
- How might you feel in the same situation?
- Can you think of a similarly frustrating and seemingly unfair situation that you faced when very young, or which you face now?
- Discuss with your partner some ideas for a poem on this theme. Develop a draft, and discuss it with your teacher. Review your poem and write a final copy for presentation.
Impressions | Reflections | Dimensions
Access Asia | Anthologies of Asia | Resources © Commonwealth of Australia 2000
http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/anthol/reflect/refstud1.htm |
