Blog

Straight from the syllabus: 
Each essay must include a minimum of three citations from a text or
texts assigned for this class. Text citations must include page numbers,
or, if an electronic version is used that does not include pagination, a
valid location number or a screen shot. Students must include such
citations in an essay in order to receive credit for it.
Length: First essay: 5-page minimum, second essay, 5-page minimum (but in each
case more is all right, especially if you need more space to finish what you want to say).
Please format your essays in US Letter (not A4) size at 12 points in the Times New
Roman font, double-spaced.
Topic: Examine one or more of the literary texts we have read. You should cite
passages from the scholarly readings for this course where they are relevant.
Essays without such citations will be subjected to extra scrutiny to determine if they
contain signs that AI was used to write part or all of them. No additional reading or
research is necessary, but it is not forbidden, either.
Just about any comparative, analytical or critical approach is fine; it is up to you. One
effective method is to choose one theme or issue and use it as a point of comparison
between texts, or between different chapters or sections of a longer text. In any case,
your paper needs to be built around an argument that is worth making. This
argument should not be so obvious that there is no need to go about supporting it.
Avoid saying something is “interesting”; it does not constitute a sufficiently weighty
argument, and it is in fact very boring to write in a paper that something is “interesting.”
Avoid contractions in academic writing; for example, write “do not” instead of “don’t.” Only make assertions you can back up; you can often resolve this issue by slightly
weakening or qualifying an assertion.
Reduce summaries to the bare minimum needed to support your arguments, especially
when dealing with materials with which your audience (i.e., me) is certainly familiar.
Consult the citation guidelines, etc., given either in the MLA Handbook or The
Chicago Manual of Style. (Both are available online.) Please make sure to mark titles as
titles, and to do so consistently. For example, some writers put the titles of films in
quotation marks, others italicize them; both approaches are acceptable, but it is not
acceptable to switch back and forth between the two approaches.
Generally I recommend the following structure, with which most of you are probably
already familiar:
Introduction, which should include a thesis statement (i.e., a concise statement of your
main argument, preferably in your first paragraph).
Evidence for your thesis (the bulk of the paper).
Conclusion (to some extent a restatement of the points introduced in the introduction) 
What I would like in it:
– my writing isn’t the best, I am stem leaning. So don’t make the paper so scholarly or humanities major sounding please. 
– Add a few errors. but no grammical errors. 
– Nothing too fancy
– Focus on love and sexuality. 
NOTE: Cherry pick from this list, not everything here has to be in the essay. Just make it make sense. Compare and Contrast 2 or 3 articles
Readings we covered for this essay:
1. William R. LaFleur, The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan 
– chp.3 Inns and Hermitages: The Structure of Impermanence
– pp. 60-79
– pdf below
2. Royall Tyler, Japanese N? Dramas [excerpt] 
– pp. 68-81
– pdf below
3. Margaret H. Childs, “Chigo Monogatari: Love Stories or Buddhist Sermons?”
– pdf below
4. Sachi Schmidt-Hori, “The New Lady-in-Waiting is a Chigo: Sexual Fluidity and Dual Transvestism in a Medieval Buddhist Acolyte Tale”
– pdf below
5. David J. Gundry, Parody, Irony and Ideology in the Fiction of Ihara Saikaku
-pp. 1-8 (introduction)
-pp. 14-62 (chp1)
-pp. 63-116 (chp1)
-pdfs below
6. Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature
– “Life of a sensuous man” 
pp. 45-57
– pdf below
7. Ihara Saikaku, The Life of an Amorous Woman and Other Writings, translated by Ivan Morris — also called “Five women who loved love” 
– “The Tale of Seijuro from Himéji, the Town of the Lovely Damsel”
– “The Almanac Maker’s Tale in the Middle Part”
–  “The Tale of Gengobei, The Mountain of Love”
– ” The Evil Wrought by a Geourgous Lady”
– ” The life of an Amorous Woman”
— I was given a hard copy from my school. So I don’t have the online version
— https://archive.org/details/lifeofamorouswo00ihar/page/100/mode/1up?view=theater
8. Ihara Saikaku, Five Women Who Loved Love, translated by Wm. Theodore de Bary
– “The Greenhrocer’s Daughter with a Bundle of Love”
– pp. 157-94
-pdf below
9. Fabian Drixler, Mabiki: Infanticide and Population Growth in Eastern Japan, 1660– 1950
– pdf below
10. hara Saikaku, Twenty Cases of Filial Impiety in Japan
– “I am a Traveling Monk, Wandering Through The Gathering Dusk”
– “An Untoward Pride in His Own Strength”
– pdf below
11. Gary P. Leupp, Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan
– pp. 58-93
– https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft8q2nb65q&chunk.id=d0e2537&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e2537&brand=ucpress
12. Gregory M. Pflugfelder, Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600–1950
– pp. 1-63 (up to “the boundaries of shudo”)
– pdf below
13. Ihara Saikaku, Exemplary Tales of the Way of the Warrior, translated by David J. Gundry
– “Heartstrings Plucked on Lake Biwa”
– “Hunting Early Mushrooms Sows the Seeds of Love”
– “A Man’s Handwriting from a Woman’s Hand”
– “Tis Pity His Forelocks Have Scattered Before the Wind off Mt. Hakone”
– pdf below
14. David Gundry, “Samurai Lovers, ‘Samurai Beasts’: Warriors and Commoners in Ihara Saikaku’s Way of the Warrior Tales,”
– pdf below
15. Ihara Saikaku, Tales of Samurai Honor, translated by Caryl Ann Callahan
– “At least he wears his youth’s kimono”
– pdf below
16. David J. Gundry, “The Two Paths of Love in the Fiction of Ihara Saikaku,”
– pdf below
17. Ihara Saikaku, Great Mirror of Male Love
– “Two Old Cherry Trees Still in Bloom” 
– “Fireflies Also Work Their Asses at Night”
– pdf below
18. Essay1Comments
– This is my first essay in the class. Please look over it for a sense of my sound and tone. 
– Also look at my professor’s comments. Please listen to them. 
– Keep everything in the present tense pleaseeeee !!!!!