Biography of a Chinese Writer.
Learning Goal: I’m working on a literature case study and need a sample draft to help me learn.
- Based on our class discussion and your own reading, please briefly talk about your viewpoints or thoughts about Tao Ch’ien. You can talk about his philosophy for life, philosophy for a society, his poetry, his prose, and his literary writing strategy. (10 credits)
- In class we closely studied the content, style, and characteristics of Tao’s “Biography of Master Five Willows” which is in fact Tao’s autobiography. We also briefly introduced the important features of Chinese traditional autobiography as the background for our discussion of Tao’s autobiography. In fact, Tao started an alternative style of autobiographical writing in Chinese literary history. Please choose one autobiography which you have read (if you have not read one, then read one. Please choose an autobiography written by a non-Chinese writer/author) and compare it with Tao Ch’ien’s autobiography. (20 credits)
You can focus on the differences or the similarities between the two autobiographies in terms of content, form, and other features. It will be great if you can explore a little about the cultural background of these differences or similarities.
Please use footnote to indicate the sources of your research, like the title of a book, page number, and publication information.
Requirements:
Style: Chicago
Length: 4 Pages
References: 4