Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Calauan, Laguna Campus

Written Task 2
Japanese Literature
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for World Literature for the Degree of
Bachelor of Business Technology and Livelihood Education
Major in Home Economics

GEED 10223

SUBMITTED BY:
Relleta, Princess L.
BBTLEd H.E. 4-1

SUBMITTED TO:
Professor Charlyne Flores

Barangay Kanluran, Calauan, Laguna Phone: (049) 566-0623

website: www.pup.edu.ph

“THE COUNTRY’S 1st POLYTECHNICU”

Learning Tasks and Activities
A. Read the summary of the Tale of Genji by Shikibu Murasaki
and answer the questions below. Explain your answers in not
more than three sentences. Underline the keywords and ideas.

1. Who is the main character? What are his struggles?

● The main character was Prince Genji. His struggles are all about
choosing between a life with principles and morality as his values or
engaging in immoral behavior.

2. Why are the concubines jealous of one another?

● The concubines are jealous with each other as they see each other as
a rival for the love and attention of the Emperor. They are all willing to
commit a crime by causing harm to other concubines inside the palace
just to be at the top. A concubine had a better chance of surviving if
she was favored by the Emperor, thus leading to the murder of the
concubines to the Emperor's favorite girl inside the palace.

3. What does the Tale of Genji tell about Women, Sex, and Power?
● The tale of Genji shows how unfair the society is before to women, it
was clearly shown from this tale that in order for the women inside of
the palace to survive they need to win the attention of the Emperor,
emphasizing the image that a woman is nothing and is not capable of
anything if they do not have a man who will support them. Sex can be a
visual representation of a power for women in this tale, according to the
tale a women as a concubine can ranked up if they got favored by the
Emperor, and for them to be able to achieve it they needed to use their
body to control the man who are giving them what they need.

4. Why could the Emperor not make Genji his successor?

● Aside from the fact that Genji’s mother is a lowly ranking concubine,
the wife of the Emperor, Kokiden, complains so much to the Emperor,
that it made the Emperor not naming Genji as one the crown Prince.

5. Why was there a clash between the Left Faction and Right?
● I think that political instability is the root of the rivalry between the Left
Faction and the Right. In addition, Genji betrayed his faction by having
sex with one of Kokiden's sisters, Oborozukiyo, which is why the
Minister of the Right and Lady Kokiden are so enraged (Right Faction).

6. What role does social class play in this society? Explain.

● The nobles had values that were different from those of the lower
classes during the Heian era. When looking for a spouse or a marriage,
aristocratic men looked for women of their own social class who had
 had a good education in the arts, such as poetry and calligraphy. High
jobs in the government are valued by aristocratic males as well. Genji's
colleagues were referred to in The Tale of Genji by their respective
government ranks, and Genji was referred to as the Middle Captain of
the Palace Guard. Aristocrats valued unions where the husband and
wife remained emotionally close in both good and difficult times. It was
okay even if a man's affections wandered as long as he still cared for
and had a strong emotional connection to his wife. However, the
woman (wife) should only be faithful to their husband.

7. Create a Character Map of the Girls related to Genji?

Prince Hikaru Genji

Son of the Emperor and a low-ranking court lady; hero of the novel he
is described as a superbly handsome man. Genji is the second son of
an emperor, but he is delegated to civilian life for political reasons and
lives as an imperial officer.
Emperor
Father of Genji, and his favorite concubine is Lady Kiritsubo, the
mother of Genji. Later he married Princess Fujitsubo who resembles
his former Lady Kiritsubo.
Princess Fujitsubo
Emperor's Wife, Reizei's mother, resembles the deceased concubine
of the Emperor, and later she becomes one of his wives. Genji loves
her first as a stepmother, but later as a woman, and they fall in love
with each other.
Princess Aoi No Ue
She is Genji's first wife, the Left Minister's daughter and mother of
Yugiri (Son of Genji) she’s married to Genji by political arrangement,
and without mutual feelings they didn’t have a good relationship with
each other.
Lady Murasaki Murasaki
Becomes the love of Genji’s life but was not originally his principal
consort. Genji’s deepest and most enduring love is for Murasaki, who
enters his life a waif in need of protection but whose first claim in
Genji’s affections derives from her resemblance to her cousin
Lady Rokujo
Another Genji’s mistress, it was said that she became anxious over
Genji’s wife, Lady Aoi because of the carriage accident, that she turns
into an evil spirit and attacks the lady night by night until she finally kills
her.
 Lady Kiritsubo
She is the favorite concubine of the emperor and mother of Genji. The
concubines were jealous. With their continuous jealousy and hostility, it
led to her health failing and later on death.
Lady Oburuzukiyo
She is a concubine of the Emperor Suzaku and another Genji's secret
love affair. Their relationship was exposed when they were discovered
meeting in a secret place that caused Genji’s exile.
Lady of Akashi
Wealthy merchant’s daughter of Akashi. Genji had an affair with her
during his exile in Akashi and she gave birth to Third Princess Akashi
who soon became Empress Akashi.
Princess Ona Sanno Miya
Genji’s third wife and cousin of Fujitsubo had an illicit affair with
another man because of jealousy over the attention of Genji to
Murasaki.

B. Read the poem Unfolding Bud by Naoshi Koriyama and answer

the questions below in not more than three sentences.
Underline the keywords and ideas.

1. What is the author’s purpose in writing?

The author’s purpose for writing is to make the people appreciate the
poem and read more of it. Read it again and again to reveal its true
beauty.

2. What are the major parts of the story or poem?

1- Verse
The verse refers to the unit in which a poem can be divided. This is
represented by a single metric line (of having any metrics). Unlike
prose, which is divided by grammatical signs, and is formed by
sentences or paragraphs, the verse depends on the metric, rhythm,
rhyme or even the end of the author.
Thus, the verse can be classified according to the structure of the
poem. With the presence of rhyme, there is the rhymed verse, the
loose verse and the white verse. In addition, there are verses
according to the amount of syllables of these (minor art and major art).
As also according to their accentual disposition, that is to say, the
rhythm that these present.
2- Stanza
The stanza is another unit in which a poem is divided, which refers to a
Structural division which contains a certain number of verses,
depending on the structure of the poem or the intention of the author,
and which is usually separated by a point. It may be comparable to a
paragraph in prose.
According to the number of verses of which a stanza is composed, it is
given different names. For example, the joy of two verses or the
limerick of five verses. In addition, the verses that contain a poem and
verses that contain these, can define the structure of this, as is the
case of the sonnets, consisting of four stanzas, two of 4 verses and two
of 3.

3- Rhythm
Rhythm is a feature and an element present in most arts, and can be
visual or auditory. In general, rhythm can be defined as a flow of
movement, controlled or measured, sound or visual, produced by the
arrangement of different elements of the medium in question. That is, it
is the feeling of continuity or flow.
In poetry, rhythm represents a basic trait for determining the structure
of a poem, and is one of the characteristics of contemporary poetry.
This can be given by several factors, the distribution of accents in each
verse being it’s most usual.

4- Metric
The metric represents the main rhythmic structure of a verse in poetry.
Thus, many forms of versified poetry, especially some traditional ones,
have a pre-established metric structure. The metric refers to the
number of syllables that a verse has, and in freer forms of poetry, there
may still be a kind of metric, which could be determined by rhythm.

5- Title
Of course, every poem has a title chosen by the author.

6- Author
At the end of the poems the authors usually leave their signature.
3. How do the elements of poetry contribute to the meaning
and tone of the piece?
These literary methods may represent the attitude or emotion the poet
is expressing in the poem by altering how the poetry sounds. For
instance, the writer's word choice and phraseology may convey a calm
or an angry tone. The poet's attempt to convey a calm tone in the poem
may be evidenced by the use of words like peace, love, friendship,
collaboration, togetherness, and unity. Words like "war," "riot," "chaos,"
"fight," "catastrophe," "disunity," and "tension" may suggest the poet is
expressing anger in the poem.

4. How does the author compare the bud to a poem?

One is not amazed, At first glance,
By a poem, which is tight-closed
As a tiny bud.

In the second stanza Naoshi compared the bud to a poem. Just like a
tiny bud when you first saw it, you will not be impressed as it just looks
ordinary and its beauty was still concealed for it to just be about to
bloom.

Yet one is surprised to see the poem gradually unfolding,

Revealing its rich inner self as one reads it
Again and over again

However, in the last stanza, the author shows that as time passes by,
that tiny bud will soon unfold, revealing a beauty that will surely
captivate whoever sees it. Just like the poem, the deeper you delve
into it and the more attached you get into it, the beauty of the meaning
of the poem will get into you, showing a beautiful masterpiece.

5. What is the tone of the poem?

Tone: Content

Words or phrases: Water-lily bud, tiny, amazed, first glance, gradually

unfolding, rich inner self.

6. What other things can be compared to a poem?

A poem can be compared to an ocean, each has its own
characteristics, and it can be calm or emotional just like the waves
when there is a storm. Just like an ocean, a poem can also appear
shallow on the outside, but there is so much inside and deeper than it
may appear.
 7. If you will compare yourself to something, what would it
be?
If I were to compare myself to something, that would be a stone. Just
like a stone that will never waiver from the cruelty of the heat of the sun
or even to the heaviest flow of the rain, I will not also be fazed by the
things that will come my way. Just like the stone, I will stand and stay
stronger, no matter how hard the rain falls and no matter how
scorching the sun is.

C. Create a two (2) stanza poem comparing two unlike things.

Rarissime

True friends are like diamonds

Rare and beautiful
A luxurious gem that is hard to find
Irreplaceable like a soul

It shines through the dark

Giving our life a spark
Friends are like diamond, its unbreakable
Just like how our friendship is unshakeable
CHARACTER MAP OF ALL THE GIRLS RELATED TO GENJI
(REFER TO NO.7 QUESTION)