Reflections
This book is out of print.
Thoughtful, critical reading of the challenging texts in this collection, designed for Years 9 and 10, will give students a richer understanding of the Asian region. Reflections offers some political comment and stories of political standpoints, alongside folktales and oral histories. It incorporates satirical cartoons, extracts from renowned Indian and Indonesian novels, personal memoirs and visual texts from China, and mythical tales from Laos.
Reflections challenges the way students see the world by showing them the varied experiences of people across Asia. It is backed up by extensive teaching notes.
- Index
- Reflections: Texts as a Reflection of Past Realities
Reflections: Texts as a Reflection of Past Realities
1 Creation Tale
In this activity you will write using the genre of the creation tale to explain the origins of a natural phenomenon or an important aspect of life.
What To Do
- Read the Shinto story about The Creation of Heaven and Earth from the World Civilisations section of the Washington State University website.
- Discuss the story with a small group (and if necessary your teacher), so that you understand the story.
- Read the story about the origins of rice in Chapter 1 of Reflections and discuss with your group what features the two stories have in common. Who are these stories for? Why is it considered necessary for the community to have such stories? How are the stories told? What kinds of characters are responsible for the events which occur? Are we told why they carry out the acts that they do? Why might this be?
- When you have arrived at some conclusions about these questions, either individually, or as a group, write a creation story of your own. It should be about the same length as the examples, and should explain a natural occurrence.
- Discuss your draft with others in the group or with your teacher, rewrite it as necessary and prepare a final draft of your story. The story should be in an appropriate form for a community reading, or a retelling from memory, as would have been the case in ancient times. Arrange a story-telling session for the class to share their creation stories.
2 The Nihongi
The Nihongi or Nihon Shoki is one of the earliest and most important sources of Japanese mythology. Sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, it is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. The Nihongi begins with a series of myths, but continues its account through to historical events of the 8th century. In this activity, you will read and analyse some Japanese creation stories, and make comparisons with the official court records of Japan.
What To Do
- Explore at least two creation stories from ancient Japan through Ancient Japan: Shinto Creation Stories from the World Civilisations section of the Washington State University website. Read the story Sosa no wo and Ama-terasu carefully using the numbered footnotes to help you understand the story. The story explains the origin of day and night.
- Read one of the other creation stories appearing after this one and make brief notes about the purpose and content of each and the structure - the way the information is told.
- Discuss the stories with your group members (and if necessary your teacher), so that you understand these features.
Read the extract from the Nihongi in Chapter 5 of Reflections. This is a record of day-to-day activities of the court of the ruling family. How does this differ from the stories? Why do you think that the stories were also included in the Nihongi (records of the court)?
Note: These records are seen as important information for the following generations, to preserve information about how things were done and why. They also to show that the rulers of the past have done good deeds and have therefore left a legacy of good, or 'merit', for the following generations. You may also see other purposes in the document.
3 Monomyths
Joseph Campbell used the term monomyth, or’ hero's journey’, to describe a basic pattern found in many narratives from around the world. He believed that numerous myths from disparate times and regions share fundamental structures and stages, which he summarized in the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces: "A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man." In this activity, you will consider how one Japanese story fits within the 'hero's jouney' construct and identify other examples of this genre.
What To Do
Prince Yamatotakeru was a Japanese legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty whose story is told in the Japanese chronicles Kojiki and the Nihongi. Read about Prince Yamato on the ORIAS section of the University of California website.
- Discuss the story with your group members. It is a story which fits within the 'hero's journey' construct. Look at the diagram on Monomyth home page and use the roll-overs as prompts for discussion. What other stories do you know of which follow this pattern? Many film narratives are examples of this genre. Make a list of the films and books that explore the 'hero's journey'. For extra ideas, look at The Hero's Journey in Film.
