EA 170 Paper Topic #1 (Due in class Thursday May 1st)

Write a 3-5 page (double-spaced) paper on ONE of the two topics given below. Provide a cover page with your name, date, EA 170 Paper Topic 1 and question number (1 or 2); do not put your name on the paper itself.

Make sure that you give me plenty of concrete examples from the readings to support your points, and that you cite your sources with page numbers for both quotations and ideas (see under GENERAL POINTS for examples of citation form). If you're not sure what "citing your sources" means, click here.

NOTE: Some of these points have been covered in class or discussion; you will do better in the grading if you look for new supporting examples.

1. Using McCullough's article on "Marriage Institutions" and class lecture notes as a basis for your discussion, discuss marriage politics in Heian Japan with regard to at least two of Genji’s relationships: Aoi, Murasaki, the Akashi Lady. Some questions to consider: Why did men and women marry (why did Genji marry her)? Why did women inherit property (was there an economic factor in the marriage)? What political purposes could daughters serve (was there a political factor in the marriage)? What were some of the positive effects of Heian marriage institutions on this woman? What were some of the negative effects? Feel free to bring in the marriage described in The Kager? Diary as a "real world" comparison.

2. How does education in Chinese affect the perceived "femininity" of a Heian woman? Texts you should consider: the Rainy Night Discussion in "The Broom Tree" chapter, especially of the scholar's daughter who eats garlic; Murasaki Shikibu's account of her own education and comments on other women in her diary; as well as how people view the young lady in the story, "The Lady who Admired Vermin." To what extent is an education in Japanese poetry and music valued for women? Chinese education? How might an interest in Chinese or in understanding "real" nature (as opposed to nature seen through the lens of poetry) be seen as negative for a woman? Could it ever be viewed as positive? And for fun, how do you think the negative correlation of knowing Chinese and ideal feminity in the Heian period might be similiar to how women and math are correlated today?