Humanities Grab handouts Get ready for notes HW: Finish “In A Grove” and written response Unit 9 test Wednesday Essay due Friday

By Ryūnosuke Akutagawa “In A Grove” By Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) “Father of the Japanese Short Story” Mother went insane after his birth; raised by uncle Interested in Chinese Literature Schooled with future authors Killed himself Name means “son of the dragon” because he was born in the year of the dragon, the month of the dragon, and the day of the dragon. Mother went insane when he was born, raised by his uncle. Interested in Classical Chinese literature Wrote nearly 150 short stories, no novels. Attacked a contemporary author by saying lyricism was more important than structure in a story. “In The Grove” was his masterpiece, and turned into the film “Rashomon”

“In A Grove” (1922) Modernist short story modernism reveals a breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions, fresh ways of looking at man's position and function in the universe and many (in some cases remarkable) experiments in form and style. It is particularly concerned with language and how to use it A samurai is murdered in a grove. Characteristics of a samurai? Seven “witnesses” give their account Each has inconsistencies Read as if reader is asking the question Questions human’s ability to give and receive objective truth Basis for Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon A Modernist piece in which seven “witnesses” of a murder give their description of the crime to the police. It reads as if the audience is the policeman asking questions. However, each witness tells a tale that doesn’t jive with the other tales. By the end of the story, there are just too many inconsistencies in the stories to know the truth. Seven varying accounts of a murder of a samurai. Review samurai. Honor, samurai code, warrior. Brings into question human’s ability to give and receive objective truth. Each also looks out for him or herself.

Tips to reading a short story Use writing to think Journal, Cornell Notes, or annotate Explicate the title Keep track of characters Pay attention to first paragraph Take notice of style How does this aid the author Use language we’ve used this year Take notice of the structure For example, “In a Grove” is very different. How does this affect the story? When done, spend time with the work in writing Summarize main idea Synthesize important points/ideas Question what the author wants us to think Be honest with yourself – what don’t you understand? When you finish reading, spend time with the work in writing. Summarize the main idea Synthesize important points/ideas Question what the author wants us to think Be honest with yourself about what you don’t understand. Write questions in the style of QAR. By texts, I mean any piece of art or work – Literature, painting, television, movies, Time magazine, etc.

“In A Grove” Read the story Who did it? Quiz tomorrow Who did it? Why does each lie? OR what is a lie and what is truth? What purpose do these lies serve? What institutions does the story attack? How would you turn this into a film?

Who did it? What does each person gain by taking responsibility? Motives of the three who confess to the killing? Tajomaru The woman The samurai

All seven testimonies are filled with inconsistencies Woodcutter: “daily quota of cedars” in an “out of the way grove” Japan had severe cutting restrictions at this time Buddhist Priest: For a guy that “took little notice about [the woman’s] details,” he was sure able to give us a lot of details Policeman: This guy is just inept. Succeeds only because Tajomaru falls off horse Because the arrows “look like the ones owned by the dead man” he concludes he must be the murderer. “Providence” is on his side so this is part of a divine plan. AFTER Reading

All seven testimonies are filled with inconsistencies Old Woman: Why is it important that her daughter “has never known any man except Takehiko” Tajomaru: How does he tie a “sword-bearing warrior” to a tree merely by surprise? Trusts the wife to stand idle while he crosses swords with her husband Woman: She fails to remove the bamboo leaves from her husband’s mouth before she stabs him. Why would she go to the trouble of removing the ropes? Samurai: Elevates a rapist to a position of nobility and denigrate his newly raped wife. His wife is able to outrun Tajomaure in the dense forest, even though the criminal “instantly snatched at her? How does an agile robber fail to defeat a lady with flowing robes and hair? An outside party removes the sword

Why is the narrative a collection of testimonies? Let’s see how this compares to the movie later this week.

Relate the setting of the forest to other works you have read / seen. Dante’s Inferno Adam and Eve

What is the role of women?