Link to an Essay Written about The Pillow Book

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2087358/The-Pillow-Book

Evidence of Sei Shanogan's:

Ego/Conceit:

[81]
[82]
[178]
[281]
129]

Concern for her reputation:

[94]
[101]
[94]

Desire to challenge/be challenged:

[82]
[77]

Interest in Music:

[204]
[88]

Poetic Ego:

[94]
[101]

Disdain:

[116]
[42]
[186]
[185]
[148]

Perceptiveness of Gritty Details:

[104]
[25]

We still need examples for:
1. Distate for hypocrisy or double standards
2. Compassion
3. Romantic or affectionate side
4. Loyalty

Please add whatever you guys found! I'll keep adding :)

Writing Style

Anything about the writing style. How is it important? (this question might replace the literary conventions question) 

Music, calligraphy, clothing, etc.

Evidence of their significance to Sei and Japanese culture.

Poetry

Importance of poetry with regards to Japanese society and her specifically.
Evidence of her poetic ego

Detail oriented/obsession with aesthetics/picky

IB Profile

Evidence concerning IB profile traits:
Knowledgeable
Risk-Taker
Balanced
Reflective
Thinker
Communicator
Principled
Open-Minded
 

Man-Woman Relationships

What do we know about them?

Importance of Nature

Witty

Competitive

Principled

Critical

Obsequious

Conceited

Cares about her reputation and how she's viewed by others

THE PILLOW BOOK

1) Author Character Sketch

-Cares about her reputation and how she is viewed by others [248]

-Conceited

-Obsequious

-Critical

-Principled > obsessed with propriety

-Competitive > wants her poems to always be on people's lips

-witty > comes up with poems on the spot

2) IB Profiles

-Inquirer > Not an inquirer, since she is only curious about other people

-Knowledgeable > Links between Japanese and Chinese Culture/lists authors, poems.../etiquette/love

-Thinker > To author, keeping her reputation was of chiefly importance which she faced all throughout the book.

-Communicator > Knows Chinese/through her poems, sliding doors and her book

-Principled > critical tone when describing lower classes/superficial/On the other hand feels that women are not always treated fairly---> women who are cheated on/Also takes responsibility for her actions ---> tells man they cannot be intimate because then it wouldn't feel right to praise him in front of Empress.

-Open-Minded > N/A

-Caring > Towards women who are cheated on/towards the Empress/Towards the man she loves

-Risk-Taker > Firmly holds on to her belief that the snow mound would melt even when she experienced doubts

-Balanced > Sedentary Civilization focused only on Literature

-Reflective > Can be seen through her lists of beautiful/delightful/disturbing/etc.. things and through her essays

3) Writing Style

-Anecdotes [6][131]

-Lists [10][25]

-Character Sketches [30][46][77][129]

-Diary Entries [5]

-Essays

-Description of Nature/Clothes/etc... [1][2]

-Visual Imagery [1]

-Disapproving/Critical Tone [103][25]

-Repetitive Diction

Key Feature of Writing Style:

No Chronological Order - Randomness

4) Japanese Culture [243][261][257]

-Nature-Clothes are closely related to Nature as each season's passing means different colored Chinese kimono

-Love-Practiced a kind of open relationship where a man could leave his 'wife' at anytime for another woman/Love letters were mostly written in poem form (i.e. if a person likes another, he/she writes a poem to their lover and if the feeling is reciprocal, the poem is completed by the recipient) (25)

-Language-Japanese is the official language although most men knew Chinese. Author, although being a woman, also knew Chinese

-Literature-Closely related to handwriting and poems/plays a Big part in everyday life as poems are always cited to teach/answer a loved one/relay messages/describe and appreciate the beauty of nature (25) [94]

Sections 81-130 In Class Notes

Dana:

 

PART 1:

Conventions of a Biography (Non-fiction)

• Usually in chronological order
• Based on true events
• Can be written in the form of a diary
• Has characters, a setting, like a novel
• Narratives, little stories

Literary conventions of the Pillow Book

1. Narrative elements (mini narratives)
2. Series of anecdotes
3. Personal reflections

Questions:

1. What things seem to matter to the writer?

Propriety matters to her, appearance of others, nature, animals, compassion, poetry.

Culture, literature, poetry, clothes -> appropriateness.

Categorizes things - catalogues her opinions- extensive details.

People's behaviors, etiquette, pompous ness

Sei shonagon : competitive, critical, straightforward, judgemental, confident, accepting*

2. What does the reader learn about attitudes and lifestyles of the times?

Common folk are illiterate, class distinction, literature played an important role in their lives, differences between men and women. Infidelity isn't frowned upon/shunned. Extremely detailed culture. Communication is segregated between men and women (main ay of them communicating is poem).

3. Can you make any generalizations about Japanese culture in terms of a) nature, b) love, c) literature or poetry, d) language, e) other

A) nature is glorified in the Japanese culture (know the names of all the mountains, rivers etc). Associate nature and symbols that are included in everyday life

B) love is mainly expressed through poems. They don't believe in monogamy. Love is a very private matter between lovers.

C) literature is the biggest distinction between classes (depending on how educated they are in poetry). Intelligence is measured by how familiar they are with works of poetry.

D) formal language, good dictions, very structured.

E) tradition, convention, not very innovative

Nature is representative of abstract concepts -> symbolism.

Language -> influences ones intelligence or status

Calligraphy = valued

Cultural values and conventions *

PART 3-4

• Summarize the anecdote

• What are the indications of the importance of language, voices, handwriting and hearing to be important?

• What comment does she make on men/women relationships?

• What are the indications that she feels empathy and appreciates kindness?

P206 [246]: "to be comforted when you're feeling low, by someone you truly love"

P211 [257]: "someone you love is praised by others, and some high ranking person comments that his talents are not inconsiderable"

• The importance of being accepted?

P225 section s29: she fears that some of her foolish remarks could strike others as excessive and objectionable.

P226: she feels that people may criticize her book for not living up to their expectations and only going to prove the limits of her own sensibility.

"Judged on a par with them [the other books]"

P207 [248]: "being disliked by others is really a most distressing thing". Reveals her need of acceptance and it's importance and relevance to her.

IB LEARNER PROFILE

• Knowledgeable:

Links between Chinese and Japanese culture

She is knowledgable of poetry

balanced range of disciplines, etiquette etc.

• Thinkers

For her, saving face was a complex problem.

When people were criticizing her, she wrote a poem about her reputation

Problems: how to save face, reputation, wants acceptance.

• Communicate

She knew Chinese

Communicates through poetry

Orally

Her writing the diary is an indication of her ability to communicate

• Principled

Don't have dignity for all classes, only high class. Rejects low class.

Very conscious of the divisions of class.

Sympathetic to the empress or women who are always cheated on

Feels women aren't always treated fairly by the men ( get a sense of her fairness or justice )

Problem with tadanobu, goes beyond what normally appears to be superficial.

Follow through with her snow theory

• Open minded

Not open minded,

We don't know how she treats other communities. The book doesn't portray enough other communities for someone to judge. However, towards other individuals etc..

• Caring

Towards women who are cheated on, and towards the empress and tadanobu.

Not towards others, selective caring.

• Risk takers

Snow mountain, went on a limb

Man comes to the door, could not handle the situation

• Balanced

Balanced according to her society

Not part of society's expectations

Entire society wasn't balanced because its based on sedentary activist

• Reflective

Indubitably

She has some traits that apply to it, but not all, so she doesn't fit into the ib profile.