Critical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning Assignment I (Exercise 2) 1. Sappho- The type or style of writing that Sappho used in â€Å"To Absent Lovers’† was poetry. This literary work was very familiar to me and was fairly easy to comprehend. The basic subject matter of this story was about two people that seemed to be in love with one another that eventually had to separate in the end. Ban Zhao- In the passage â€Å"Admonitions For Women,† it basically tells us about the way of the woman in ancient medieval China. This was a very informative outlook on the way the women were viewed and treated in China. It is a very recognizable literary work, but it is different from anything I have read. The way the modern woman is viewed today in the U. S. is very different than the way they were viewed in China. They were pretty much expected to do their part and do whatever the men needed done. If a woman was to mess up, they were expected to confess and admit it. If they did something good, they were expected not to mention it. Lady Murasaki- The type or style of â€Å"The Tale of Genji† was mainly romance. I have never seen a literary work that was quite like this. To me, it was hard to understand and comprehend. It did, however, give a good deal of information about the outlook on romance in Japanese cultures. Anna Comnena- The style of writing in the passage â€Å"The Alexiad† was basically just describing different people. It went in to great detail of describing every little thing about each person. Marie de France- I honestly did not understand this passage very well. For some reason it was harder to understand than the others. It obviously was a romantic story but I didn’t get it. 2. After reading the five passages, I found some similarities and some differences in the writers and their work. I found that three of the five passages were about romance. This tells me that these passages were obviously written in a romantic time in history. I think Ban Zhao tended to be more different from any of the other writers. In the passage she wrote, â€Å"Admonitions For Women,† she basically described the role of the woman in the ancient medieval China rather than romance. 3. In my opinion, I think there certainly is a uniquely feminine perspective. The reason for this is most of the time women have a different point of view or mind-set than men. Women tend to view things differently than men and that is just a natural trait. For example, something that means nothing to a man could mean the world to a woman. After reading â€Å"A Night’s Tale,† I think the tone is slightly different. I don’t think anyone could draw a conclusion to this simply because there are so many opinions and you couldn’t base your opinions on one passage. . The passage I enjoyed the most was â€Å"Admonitions For Women† by Ban Zhao. Something that really appealed to me in this passage was the way she elaborated on how the women of China used to be treated. It gave me a great sense of visualization and allowed me to really see what women had to go through. It also showed me how much different the role of the woman in China was rather than in the U. S. The reason I preferred reading this passage rather than the others was it was easier for me to read and it was very interesting in every aspect.