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Your paper assignment is pretty simple. Pick some detail or
incident or expression from one of the works we’ve studied, and write
two paragraphs on it. In the first paragraph, you will explain how the
item you’ve chosen is strange or unfamiliar to a person who only knows
the modern world of 2017 (for U.S. students, that modern world can be
the U.S. version; for Saudi or Kuwaiti students, it can be the modern
Arab version). In the second paragraph, you will flip it around and
explain how we can understand the item more sympathetically. There is
a sample in the next section.
Your paragraphs should be roughly 225 to 285 words (the sample’s
are 256 and 279).
The thing you choose should be significant. Don’t, for instance,
choose to write about some name from a foreign culture and say, “no
one in the United States (or the Arab world) has a name like that.” At
the same time, it should genuinely confront modern readers in 2017 with
a cultural difference that can be hard for them. Don’t pick, say, a cruel
act in your text, say “how strange,” and then argue that, after all, people
can be cruel in our culture as well. Everyone knows that. You must
genuinely be able to articulate the strangeness of the thing you
choose. And of course you must be able to do the flip in the second
paragraph, and show it in a more understanding light.
Your paper should be grammatical. There is no excuse for multiple
errors in every sentence, especially when you only have to write two
paragraphs. Spelling should be correct. Look up the words you use, and
make sure you are using them correctly. Your paper should be clear,
well organized, and logically ordered. Your first paragraph should
genuinely articulate the ways in which your chosen item is different
from what can be found in the modern world of 2017. The second
paragraph should genuinely articulate the logic of the item “from the
other side.” See the sample for a clearer picture of this. Following the
sample, the poem which the sample is based on appears in the next
section. In the section after that, the sample appears again, only with a
considerable amount of commentary about the standards you should
adhere to (you might need to go to “View” from the top menu and select
“Read Mode” in order to see this section). Study these. A part of your
grade will be based on how well you have followed instructions. The
final sections are student papers from previous semesters. The student
papers (except for the last one) are examples of poorly done papers. I
want you to see that this assignment is not a knock off, and that it is
entirely possible to drop the ball on it.
You will email me your paper as an attachment (no hard copies) on
the day it is due (see the syllabus) by midnight. If you work in
Microsoft Word, send it like that. If you use any other word processing
program, you must save your finished work as a richtext file (File, Save
As, choose richtext from the dropdown menu), and send me that
version. Getting that right is part of following instructions. I cannot
read a Google Docs file, so if you write your paper in Google Docs,
you’ll need to copy it to another program as a richtext file and send me
that. The file you send me should be titled as your last-name.first-name
(so mine would be “Henzy.Karl”). Getting that right is part of following
instructions.
One more, very important thing: do not choose as your topic
something that I have discussed in this way in class. I do not wish to see
my own analysis typed up and offered to me as your paper. I want you
to demonstrate to me that you can do this kind of thinking. There are
plenty of texts, or parts of texts, that we have not discussed in detail.
Finally, you can see that in my sample, I work with one specific detail in
one poem. Likewise, if you choose to work with a longer text
(Gilgamesh, The Iliad, Ozidi) you should not try and take on the entire
plot, but just one detail within it (the scorpion gatekeepers in Gilgamesh,
let’s say, or the exchange with the tavern keep Shiduri, or in The Iliad
the scene in which Athena convinces Achilles not to kill Agamemnon,
and so on).
Note on Plagiarism: This assignment is so tailored to our class that it is
virtually impossible to copy and paste from another source.
Nevertheless, students have tried to do so (and been spotted right away).
Let me spell this out: every professor has a pet peeve; cheating is mine,
so I’m quite serious about this. If you use someone else’s writing in your
paper and offer it as your own, you will be found out, and the result will
be an F, not simply for the assignment, but for the course. Knowing that
some faculty at Morgan are more lenient, and only fail the assignment,
some students try to challenge me on that. My response is simple—I file
a charge of academic dishonesty with Morgan’s Office of Student
Affairs. The case would be ruled on there, and if they find that the
student is guilty of academic dishonesty (which they would), the student
would be either suspended or expelled. The charge would be on the
student’s permanent record. Most students prefer quietly and simply to
take the F in the class.
OK, now that that’s out of the way, your samples are below …
Chinese Paper Cutting as Trauma Therapy
In Chinese poet Du Fu’s “P’eng-ya Song,” he tells the story of his
family fleeing north on foot from the chaos of a political rebellion,
exposed to rain and cold, and nearly starving until they are sheltered by
family friend Sun Tsai. Sun Tsai welcomes them, feeds them, and,
before putting them to bed, “soothe[s] [their] feet with warm water / and
cut[s] paper charms to summon [their] souls” (East Asia 12). To readers
unfamiliar with 8th century Chinese culture, Sun Tsai’s paper cutting
might seem superstitious, childish, and disproportionate to the trauma
Du Fu and his family had suffered. It can seem superstitious specifically
to Christians, who don’t believe that people’s souls leave their bodies
until death, even under traumatic conditions. Nor do Christians (or
scientifically-minded secularists, for that matter) think that paper cutouts have any magic power, and certainly no capacity to summon souls
or spirits. If there were something with that kind of sway (such as
prayer), it wouldn’t be anything as apparently childish as little designs
cut in paper with scissors. Many children in the United States cut paper
shapes in kindergarten and early elementary school, but we hardly
expect the results to impact the spiritual realm, nor would we expect to
comfort the victims of Hurricane Katrina or 9-11 with children’s cutout
snowflakes. The paper cuttings are flimsy and temporary products of
the moment; they are entirely out of proportion to the momentous
trauma of natural disasters or enemy attacks. Such traumas call for
sober, somber support, not childish art projects.
Let us try, however, to look at Sun Tsai’s aid more
sympathetically. Though we may not believe that catastrophe separates
people’s souls from their bodies, we do grasp that massive shock can
radically disorient people, make them “not themselves.” We can easily
translate Sun Tsai’s effort to summon Du Fu’s family’s souls as an
attempt to help them recover their sense of themselves, their focus and
their center. Sometimes that recovery needs to start with the deepest
layers of the shock victim, which date all the way back to childhood in
some cases. So if paper cutting is childlike, that might help because it
appeals to a part of the victims that predates the shock that they have
recently suffered. If Du Fu’s family could be led to follow those folds
and cuts closely, it would draw their attention away from their
misfortune, while the unfolding of the beautiful finished shape might
suggest, at least on an unconscious level, the “unfolding” into health and
recovery of the family from the “cuts and folds” of their
disaster. Finally, the very mismatch of childish art project to family
catastrophe could be what Du Fu’s family might need at that time. It’s
not always the best policy to sit with a friend and talk endlessly about
her assault or her father’s death by cancer. Sometimes it’s better to take
her to the mall and show her the attractive new blouse, or to the
ballgame and let her get worked up about the game winning play. Thus
seen sympathetically, what looks superstitious, childish, and
disproportionate in Sun Tsai’s paper cutting can be seen as
psychologically astute, therapeutically effective, and tactfully
sensitive.Du Fu, “P’eng-ya Song”
I remember long ago slipping away
in precarious depths of night. The moon
bright on Po-shui Mountain, I eluded
rebel armies and fled with my family
far north, by foot on P’eng-ya Road.
By then, most people we met had lost all
shame. Scattered bird cries haunted
valleys. No one returned the way we came.
My silly, starved girl bit me and screamed.
Afraid tigers and wolves might hear,
I cradled her close, holding her mouth,
but she squirmed loose, crying louder still.
Looking after us gallantly, my little boy
searched out sour-plum feasts. Of ten days,
half were all thunder and rain—mud
and more mud to drag ourselves through.
We didn’t plan for rain. Clothes ever
colder, the road slippery, an insufferable
day’s travel often took us but a few short
miles by nightfall. Wild fruit replaced
what little food we had carried with us.
Low branches became our home. We left dewsplashed rocks each morning, and passed
nights at the smoke-scored edge of heaven.
We had stopped at T’ung-chia Marsh,
planning to cross Lu-tzu Pass, when you
took us in, Sun Tsai, old friend, your
kindness towering like billowing clouds.
Dusk already become night, you hung lanterns
out and swung door after door wide open.
You soothed our feet with warm water
and cut paper charms to summon our souls,
then called your wife and children in, their
eyes filling with tears for us. My chicks
soon drifted away in sleep, but you brought
them back, offering choice dishes of food.
You and I, you promised, will be forever
bound together like two dear brothers.
And before long, you emptied our rooms,
leaving us to joy and peace and rest.
In these times overrun with such calamity,
how many hearts are so open and generous?
A year of months since we parted, and still
those Mongols spin their grand catastrophes.
How long before I’ve grown feathers and wings
and settled beside you at the end of flight?
Chinese Paper Cutting as Trauma Therapy
In Chinese poet Du Fu’s “P’eng-ya Song,” he tells the story of his
family fleeing north on foot from the chaos of a political rebellion,
exposed to rain and cold, and nearly starving until they are sheltered by
family friend Sun Tsai. Sun Tsai welcomes them, feeds them, and,
before putting them to bed, “soothe[s] [their] feet with warm water / and
cut[s] paper charms to summon [their] souls” (East Asia 12). To readers
unfamiliar with 8th century Chinese culture, Sun Tsai’s paper cutting
might seem superstitious, childish, and disproportionate to the trauma
Du Fu and his family had suffered. It can seem superstitious specifically
to Christians, who don’t believe that people’s souls leave their bodies
until death, even under traumatic conditions. Nor do Christians (or
scientifically-minded secularists, for that matter) think that paper cutouts have any magic power, and certainly no capacity to summon souls
or spirits. If there were something with that kind of sway (such as
prayer), it wouldn’t be anything as apparently childish as little designs
cut in paper with scissors. Many children in the United States cut paper
shapes in kindergarten and early elementary school, but we hardly
expect the results to impact the spiritual realm, nor would we expect to
comfort the victims of Hurricane Katrina or 9-11 with children’s cutout
snowflakes. The paper cuttings are flimsy and temporary products of
the moment; they are entirely out of proportion to the momentous
trauma of natural disasters or enemy attacks. Such traumas call for
sober, somber support, not childish art projects.
Let us try, however, to look at Sun Tsai’s aid more
sympathetically. Though we may not believe that catastrophe separates
people’s souls from their bodies, we do grasp that massive shock can
radically disorient people, make them “not themselves.” We can easily
translate Sun Tsai’s effort to summon Du Fu’s family’s souls as an
attempt to help them recover their sense of themselves, their focus and
their center. Sometimes that recovery needs to start with the deepest
layers of the shock victim, which date all the way back to childhood in
some cases. So if paper cutting is childlike, that might help because it
appeals to a part of the victims that predates the shock that they have
recently suffered. If Du Fu’s family could be led to follow those folds
and cuts closely, it would draw their attention away from their
misfortune, while the unfolding of the beautiful finished shape might
suggest, at least on an unconscious level, the “unfolding” into health and
recovery of the family from the “cuts and folds” of their
disaster. Finally, the very mismatch of childish art project to family
catastrophe could be what Du Fu’s family might need at that time. It’s
not always the best policy to sit with a friend and talk endlessly about
her assault or her father’s death by cancer. Sometimes it’s better to take
her to the mall and show her the attractive new blouse (or take him to the
ballgame and let him get worked up about the game winning
play). Thus seen sympathetically, what looks superstitious, childish, and
disproportionate in Sun Tsai’s paper cutting can be seen as
psychologically astute, therapeutically effective, and tactfully sensitive.
The Mahabharata: Polygamy on the Rise
In the Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata, two families, the Pandavas and Kauravas brothers,
are in an ongoing battle to attain the throne of Hastinapur. The Pandava brothers, following an
escape from their cousin’s assassination attempt, enter into a challenge to win Draupadi who
ultimately becomes “the wife of all five brothers” (South Asia 24). Draupadi is considered a
polygamist because she is involved withhas more than one spouse. To readers unfamiliar with
ancient Indian practices, polygamy will come across as unlawful, immoral, and sinful. In the
United States of America, it is against the law to have multiple marriages. A marriage license is
only permitted to a couple, two individuals who are granted approval by some authority to get
married. In Draupadi’s situation, it will be almost impossible to attain five licenses and
authorizations for each of these marriages. Draupadi, as a woman, will be viewed as immoral
because it is unladylike and improper conduct for a woman to be with more than one man. A
woman with multiple partners is frowned upon more than a male who has more than one partner.
Although that may seem prejudice, promiscuous females generally are classified as unclean and
whorish. Lastly, from a religious standpoint Draupadi is unfaithful, and her practice does not
coincide with the Ten cCommandment, “thou shalt not commit adultery.” America, having a
culture and society that is predominantly Christian, will consider her a sinner because each
marital affair with the individual spouses will be extremely complicated.
Let us try, however, to look at Draupadi’s polygamist ideals more
sympathetically. Although the United States is predominantly Christian, many people are
becoming more open and accepting to traditions we once viewed as indecorous, iniquitous, and
just out right wrong. Let us compare Draupadi marrying the five Pandava brothers to same sex
marriages. Just recently, citizens of the United States voted to change the laws preventing the
approval of same sex marriages. In past years, this too was illegal and immoral. Contemporary
Americans, however, are adopting an inquisitive mindset, and are forming a culture that attempts
to assimilate new ideas and approaches. We have come to understand and accept that
homosexuals, like polygamist, have rights. In the case of Draupadi, each brother accepting and
vowing to marry the same woman should be morally permissible, just as others in traditional
marriages. Possibly in the near future we will be voting to make polygamist practices legal in
the United States. We can also assume that currently the practice is being observed with a
moregreater sensitivitye approach. American culture is building awareness of polygamy in many
ways such as the television series Sister Wives and Polygamy USA, to name a few. By
introducing the practice to others, Americans have developed an interest in the
tradition. Perspectives and judgments about certain practices, like polygamy, are changing. The
laws of the country and moral beliefs of the individual who learn to understand the culture will
change accordingly. Additionally, new cultures and religions are being practiced more openly
and freely in America. In some cultures polygamy is accepted and encouraged. Therefore, we
must realize that everyone has the right to practice their personal beliefs.
You have some grammatical errors, but not too many. I’m not crazy about the approach you’ve
taken. It doesn’t really go deep enough. What does the Pandava brothers’ marriage represent in
the epic? The assignment is really asking you to get at the underlying issue, rather than just focus
on the rather superficial fact that some societies practice monogamy and some practice
polygamy. For instance, men in our society may take different wives, but many men aspire to
one single, rather narrow ideal of female perfection, so what’s the difference if John’s version of
that ideal is named Susan, while Robert’s version is named Jessica, but both Susan and Jessica
conform to the single ideal?
The Oddness of a Ninja God
In The Popol Vuh, a Mayan epic, is the story of two god-like characters. Simply named the
Creator and the Maker (Hunahpu and Xbalanque), they take down a person or god-like entity
names Seven Macaw who is arrogant about his accomplishments. This can be seen as cowardly,
presumptuous and childish. He becomes so proud of himself that he begins to think he is the sun
and the moon. This angers the two gods and they decide to punish him for what they perceive as
arrogance. Now, most gods are up front with their actions, causing floods, starvation and even
making everyone so sick they eventually die. But these gods act like small children terrorizing a
suburban community as opposed to the mighty unforgiving gods of Greek mythology. They
never come face to face with Seven Macaw; instead the Creator and the Maker fire their blow
dart gun filled with a large stone at Seven Macaw. This injures him and even loosens some of his
teeth and hurts his jaw (chapter 5), this action causes him to lose everything he has gained
(precious rock and silver). Just because Seven Macaw is proud of what he has accomplished.
Furthermore, real gods are either older looking or really sexy. But these guys are young and look
like small children, so much so that next to an old person you would think they were someone’s
grandkids. As read in the epic, their idea of justice is not obvious, but what would be the
equivalent is kids egging or toilet paperering a house and that little thing they did earlier
snowballs to take down enemies that bring on bad events. Real gods punish people for “sins” or
wrong-doing until they beg for forgiveness or return to the previous good behavior.
On the other hand, the two young gods can be seen as strategic, humble, and examplary.
Theirs is a Christian saying, “God works in mysterious ways”; for example, you’re a
hardworking man who earns a decent living to provide for his family. One day you come to work
and you find out you are laid off, the job market is rough and it takes a long time to find a job.
During this period you spend more time with your family and you may feel closer to your family
than ever, as opposed to just making sure there is enough money in the bank account to feed and
clothe everyone. If you are thinking about it this way, then being sneaky instead of up front
about punishing someone because often the good things from life, come from a past tragedy.
When trying to understand a civilization’s characteristic, it is helpful to look at the god they
worship, because usually the characteristic of that god is connected to the values of the people.
Fighting a person who is bigger than you directly can end unfavorably, so causing your enemy a
tooth ache so he is so desperate to take the help of strangers (Chapter 5) can be seen as a strategic
move. Another value that can be taken from this epic is the idea of the old and wise leading the
young and mighty is amazing. When you are young and feeling invincible, it doesn’t hurt to have
a little guidance from the older and more experienced crowd. Like being trained by someone at
work who has more experience then you. Another value that could to install is humbling
yourself. Seven Macaw has accomplished so much that he thinks he is the sun and moon. We
must always try to remain humble because we may have to work hard to gain things in life, but
they can easily be taken from us. The Mayan epic of The Popol Vuh may show use that not all
things are a direct consequence of actions, but the cause and effect of plenty of small things
happening around us. This is a real mess. It’s a mess grammatically, with many sentences just
breaking down entirely in terms of their structure and sense. It also seems like you took a scattershot approach to The Popol Vuh. The sample invites you to take on one aspect of the text and
consider it deeply. You might, for instance, have taken on just the fact of the twin gods’ use of
deception to overcome Seven Macaw. Then you could have connected it to the notion, in
Chrisitan cultures, that “God moves in mysterious ways.” That would have been a more
substantive approach.
Eternal Life
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, which takes place in the Middle East, he searches for eternal
life. Gilgamesh is upset because of the death of his best friend and feels as though he should find
eternal life. He goes and does all sorts of thing trying to live forever such as traveling though the
Waters of Death to speak to Utnapishtim about god’s plan for him and he evenr takes home a
plant that is supposed to bring youth but is stolen by a serpent . Utnapishtim begins to tell
Gilgamesh the story of how he wais given his enteral life by the gods. Utnapishtim explains,
about the flood--how the gods met with the council and decided to destroy humankind (Middle
East 2). Utnapishtim is granted his eternal immortality because he managed to save his family
and others from the flood. For that reason, the gods let humankind live, but men would diebe
mortal. Now Gilgamesh himself is two-thirds god and one- third man. This might leave some
confusion in a reader’s mind as to which part of Gilgamesh would did live? That’s why it was so
important for Gilgamesh to save himself, because he knows that the two-thirds gods divinity he
has could not save the one-third man, with in himself,s self and therefore he would end up like
his best friend.
Now in today’s society, eternal life does not exist. Different religions, may promise
different things but I have never witnessed someone dying and coming back telling me about the
eternal life that he or she was granted. There must be an end of the road, or the great resting
place. Even if people could live forever, their bodies physically would not be able to handle it.
Take for instance Michael Jackson, who slept in an oxygen bed to keep him living and to keep
his youth intact. Mr. Jackson still dieds, even though he tried to preserve his life. The world
cosmetics industry makes up so many products, to try to stop keep human beingskind from
looking like they are aging. Giving false hope because that no matter what you take or do, when
it’s time to die there is no more you.
What happened to the ¶ in which you look at the topic sympathetically? It might have been a
good idea to run with the idea of anti-aging products, comparing them to G’s search for
everlasting youth, but you did very little with it, and your essay is marred by far too many
grammatical errors.
Gilgamesh’s Abuse of Power
In “The Epic of Gilgamesh,”, the almighty Gilgamesh is a two-thirds a god and one-third
human, and was the king of Uruk. Gilgamesh has power to a point where he is admitted
toallowed anything he pleases. A very interesting subject is that he likes to sleep with every
man’s wife, no matter what, and does it on their wedding night. To Americans in 2013, this
would seem very strange and unordinary because today, the act of cheating on your spouse, even
willingly, is illegal. I’m Nnot saying that it has not been done before, but it is not culturally
acceptable to have sex with another man’s wife in America. In fact, doing so can be followed by
legal action being taken and getting sued by your spouse. Some men will even take it into their
own means and take care of the situation themselves. This reason alone makes it very difficult
for us to understand Gilgamesh’s actions, and to comprehend why he does such a thing. In
America, it would not be uncommon to have, or know someone who has, multiple sex partners.
Though this is true, someone who only knows the culture of the US in 2013 would find
Gilgamesh’s case astounding because he was doing it at such a high rate, and for the fact
thatbecause he was able to do it at will with no one else having a say in the matter.
To think that Gilgamesh’s actions are kind of abnormal would be an understatement to an
American in 2013. On the other hand, through the eyes of the people of Gilgamesh’s time and
day, his ways can be somewhat justified. In the world of Gilgamesh, he is king, sole leader of a
dictatorship, and anything he says goes. For tThe simple fact that people of this era are born and
accustomed to a dictatorship and to rulers who can do as they please is enough reason to
sympathetically to justify why they thought it was okay to even accept what Gilgamesh was
doing to them. Americans today have never been exposed to any type of dictatorship where in
which they have no power or control over what their leader says. Also, since Gilgamesh is so
powerful, he wants to prove it. He wants to show how intimidating his power is and that he is not
to be messed with. In order to show his place in power, and to make an aggressive, threatening
statement to anybody who even thinks of crossing him in any way, he does nothing more
aggravating and disrespectful other than to have sex with a man’s wife on the night of their
wedding. He does this because he knows that you have to be fierce in order to stay in power and
to be a good king.
Did you forget that I asked the class to pick topics that I had not specifically addressed in class,
so that you could show me your original thinking? You do have a bit of an original slant on the
topic, in speaking up for the people of Uruk, but you abandon that topic half way through your
second ¶, and you don’t go far enough with it. You might have compared it, for instance, to
American slave history. Scholars have tried to understand why there weren’t more slave
rebellions. You even have the element of the master breeding with his female slaves. That might
have been interesting to address. But as I say, you don’t really do much with your topic. Finally,
you have far too many grammatical errors.
2013 America vs. Nyangathe Ancient Eastern Congo
In the African story of Tthe Nyanga people of the eEastern Congo in Africa’s “The
Mwindo Epic” they tell a story of a boy named Mwindo who was born walking and talking from
his mother’s navel. His father had 7 seven wives and told all of his wivesthem that he didn’t
want any son’s. He told said that iIf they had a son, they he were was to be killed. He tried too
many different times to kill Mwindo. He tried to spear him, bury him alive, and tried to cast him
down the river in a drum. But one day Iyangura, the chief’s sister, found Mwindo and cared for
him. To many Americans in today’s society this these actions would sound seem kind of strange.
This is because the situation is disgusting, unethical, and harsh. When Mwindo was born from
his mother’s navel instead of through natural birth from a woman, which many Americans’ can
would look at this with disgust and confusion because it is unnatural. Should men be able to have
many wives? In America you are only aloud allowed to have one wife; this is the norm. In the
Mwindo Epic, Mwindo’s father (the Chief) had seven wives. So Americans look at this as
unethical because many Americans believe in one true love, whereas the Nyanga’s culture is
different. Killing newborn babies ? [where’s the end of the sentence?]
This story may sound immoral to Americans but there are some similarities in American
and Nyanga culture, but though its similar in its own ways. When they it says thatid Mwindo was
born from his mother’s navel, it sounds like his mother had a C-section instead of a natural birth.
Also when they said the baby was born walking and talking, it is like saying the baby was born
destined for greatness in America. Killing a baby is never right, but in the Nyanga culture it
seems alright. In America they kill babies too but the use a method called abortion, so there’s a
little similarity. Although there are many differences between these two cultures, and we might
find things strange and different, they both have similarities that they both could understand.
Obviously, there are a great many grammatical errors in your paper. In addition, you took a
scatter-shot approach to the oddities in the story, which prevents you from going at all deep. Any
two cultures have superficial differences and similarities, but obviously the assignment was
asking you to go past these into something that really matters. Take for instance, Mwindo’s birth.
Yes, we have C-sections, but the deeper issue is people’s need to erase the sexual origins of their
heroes. Thus Jesus has to have a virgin birth. It would seem then that in both cultures there’s this
deeper connection. That’s why LeBron’s detractors want to make such a fuss about the messy
sexual life of Gloria James: it’s a way of denying his “hero” status. So I don’t think you did a
great job with this paper, either grammatically or in content.
The Bacchanalian Revelry Of Just Me
In Chinese poet Li Bei’s, “Drinking Alone By Moonlight,” he tells a story of what he
embarks on when night falls. Among flowers, he has a jug of wine, and no friends by his side; he
pours his cup and makes a toast to the moon. He faces his shadow and offers the moon a drink;
unfortunately the moon seems to always to decline. In the technological world we live in today,
there is an order of for how things are done, especially when it comes to drinking. Most people,
old and young, tend to go to bars, taverns, and clubs in order to partake in the consumption of
alcohol. It is rare that someone in this day and age would drink by himself or herself. It’s rather
strange that Li Bei gets drunk outside with the moon, and his shadow as his companions.
Someone who may be unfamiliar with the metaphors of poets might think that Li Bei is insane,
simply because he believes his shadow and the moon are entities. It seems difficult to grasp on
howwhy he dances with the moon as well as his shadow, and in such a drunken state of mind. He
see’s these “ other beings (2)” not only as his companions, but also as his conscious. It can be
deduced that Li Bei just might be a drunk, who simply wants nothing to do with the world.
If we attempt to look at things in more of a metaphorical way, we might grasp that Li Bei
is doing what many of us do habitually. When Li Bei describes that he asks the moon and his
shadow to join him as he drinks, he allows the reader to somewhat to become confused. But if
you could remember a time where you wanted to be secluded from the world, then this act begins
to seem less strange. Now-a-days people are infused with the technological gadgets that make
their day-to-day life run smoothly. On a lonely night, when everyone else might be out and
about, you might find yourself at home with one or two of your electronic gadgets. You might
pick up a glass of wine, or maybe eve just cook dinner and have “a night alone.” This is basically
what Li Bei was talking about, simply being by yourself. Young African Americans use a term
,entitled “Solo Dolo,” meaning all by myself. The idea that new friends, or more people in your
life, may add drama could just be the reason why Li Bei wants to be alone. There is an African
American rapper who professes this idea in one of his most recent songs. He sings “No new
friends, no new friends, no new friends, no, no, no, no,” which signifies that adding new friends
or more entities might cause you a person more harm than good. In a nutshell, Li Bei’s idea of
dancing with his shadow and the moon is significantly similar to some people who just want to
be on their own. We cling to our Instagrams, twitters, and Facebook’s; those are our shadows.
The moon simply is our consciousness; it comes out whenever its dark or we are feeling
questionable about something. At times when all else fails, dancing with the moon and your
shadow just might be a solution to your problems; we all dance with our own type of moon or
shadow, be it a cell phone, television, or even ipad. Our drunken dance is our way of releasing
our problems; we use these objects in order to find this release. Li Bei dances with the moon and
his shadow far away from where he can be bothered; now a days we use our technology as our
stress reliever. Just like Li Bei, we dance with our moon and shadow with a cup of relaxation.
You really do have a creative interpretation. I might quibble about some of the details, or point
out some things in the poem you don’t pick up on (how they go their separate ways after he’s
drunk) but the basic gist of your interpretation—that Li Bei has a way of being alone without
feeling like he’s alone, that that can be pleasurable, and that people today do the same thing—is
basically correct. Though grammatical errors remain, you’ve cleaned up the draft you showed
me quite a bit, and I commend you on that.
Grade: 3.50 (low A-)