Tale of Chunhyang, critical thinking read instruction carefully and follow the guideline
Description
Please read the instruction carefully, and follow the format of the example. Suggested topics: In the Tale of Chunhyang, Chunhyang (who is the clear moral hero of the story) is the daughter of a yangban and a courtsean. How does this complicated social identity play into her role as the hero of this story? What social or philosophical comment does Chunhyang’s gender and social class make, and can you connect this with any of the systems of thought (Confucianism-Confucius, Xunzi, Mencius, taoism)? Why does she strive so hard to insist on the ideal of her chastity? Example from other critical thinking discussion as a guide: Claim: Many of the Airs of the Book of Songs alternate a repeated visual image with non-visual language, in order to enhance the sensual vividness of the poem. Evidence: For example, in “Fishhawk,” the author alternates the image of maidens gathering watercress with verses describing desire, or an object of desire. The poem repeatedly begins stanzas with the image of “[w]atercress grow[ing] here and there,” and of (implicitly beautiful, young) women gathering it “right and left” (“Fishhawk,” Owen Anthology, p. 30). The reader understands the gatherers to be beautiful women because these images are interspersed among other verses which speak of a “[g]entle maiden, pure and fair/fit for a prince” (ibid.). These images not only inject the poem with an amplified sense of sensuocity, but also render this sexualized desire in the context of simple, peaceful, rustic life. Discussion: This pattern of alternation works as a kind of poetic “punctation,” taking the reader from direct expressions of desire and longing to visual expressions of the same emotions. The effect of this alternation is to distill and amplify the poem’s emotional core
