Online Reflections

Throughout the semester I would like you to post five times to a password-protected class blog, located at http://courtesanculture2010.wordpress.com. What you will be writing about are your reflections on the original Chinese and Japanese materials that we will be studying. These can include examples of poetry and other literature, painting, calligraphy, drama, and potentially music.  Usually you should be identifying examples of literature or art from your reading that make you consider some aspect of courtesan culture in a new light; on occasion, I may post something for everyone to respond to. You should be prepared to write five substantive posts over the course of the semester. These posts will count 3% each of your final grade (15% total); substantive comments will count toward your participation grade.

How to begin:

1. Visit http://www.wordpress.com/ and register for a username. Then write to me with the e-mail address that you used to set up your username, and I will add you as an author.
   
   
2. Start posting! After you log in to wordpress, click on “My Dashboard” at the top left of the screen. After you get there, you can post quickly using “Quick Press”" at the top right, or you can choose “Posts” from the menu on the left side of the screen. Click on “Add New” and start typing.
   
   When you’re done, you can publish immediately by clicking on the “Publish” button, or you can click on “Save Draft” and come back to work on it later. If you want to preview your work before you post it, use the “Save Draft” button. To get back into a post, come back to “My Dashboard,” click on “Posts” in the left menu, then “Edit.”When you are finished with your post, choose a category (or categories) for it, or create a new category. When you are working on your post, you can find the list of categories at the bottom right of the screen. Click the ones you want to use or choose “Add New Category.”

What I am looking for in these reflections is, first and foremost, analysis of and response to works of literature or art that are somehow relevant to the topics discussed in class. This should take one of the following forms:

• your analysis of and response to a particular literary text
• your analysis of and response to a particular work of art, one seen in class or one that you discover on your own

In addition, I ask you to follow these parameters:

• Each post should be at least 300 words long but not more than 600.
• You should include a passage from the text or a reproduction of the artwork in your entry for reference purposes (note that my expectations for word count above apply only to your analysis and response, not the passage from the text).
• Ideally, you would take up one or more of the ideas discussed in class, for example: how society perceives courtesans, how men represented courtesans, how courtesans represent themselves, and questions of performance and authenticity.
• It is fine to use a more informal (and less academic) tone in your writing, but you should not allow it to devolve into ungrammatical and sloppily organized prose.

There is no due date per se for any of your reflections. However, I ask that you try to space your five entries out over the course of the semester.

If you are commenting on someone else’s reflection, I ask that you treat the author with respect.