Instructions

Read the 4 excerpts from the Kojiki provided, then participate in our discussion of the texts.

You have been randomly assigned to small discussion groups, and should plan on posting your initial response to our discussion outlined below by Tuesday before midnight.  Plan to return to the discussion later and respond at least 2 more times (more is better) to your peers at any point before midnight on Thursday.  

Discussion Guidelines

Please follow these guidelines when participating in the online discussions:

• Share your thoughts and experiences as your own. Try not to generalize or speak for others.
• Listen to the content of what others say. If you don't understand someone's view, ask them to explain, don't judge.
• Disagreement shows the complexity of these issues and helps us learn. Feel free to disagree, but do so in a respectful manner. This is an open forum for all participants to brainstorm and explore new ideas.
• Keep personal information confidential (within this course).

 Remember that it is easy to misinterpret written communication. Sometimes written comments may inadvertently seem impolite or could otherwise be taken the wrong way – strive to really explain yourself and avoid making assumptions about other people’s intentions.

See Course Syllabus for Online Discussion Rubric.

Discussion Focus:

Discussion Questions

(ADDRESS ALL QUESTIONS, even if you find yourself writing more about some than others)

1) What are the characteristics of the creation myths, fertility, and the early gods?

           Feel free to compare other myth histories you might be familiar with, but also cite specific details from our Kojiki texts, and cite page numbers, when you make those comparisons.

2) What are the fetish objects we read about in the Philippe translation?   What does the geneology detail do for the audience? What does it seek to indicate? 

3) What is heroic in the Yamato Hero episode? What should a hero do, or not do?

4) What meaning do you understand through the actions of the 2 brothers in “Luck of the Sea and Luck of the Mountain”?  What are recurrent elements, already, for Kojiki? Is this episode entertaining? Didactic? What role does it serve? 

5) Question of translation – what are the pros and cons to the translation choices made by Ury & Borgen, Philippe, and Chamberlain/Keene? Do you have a favorite? Why?