World Literature
Asia
Unit Plan
K-U-D
Key Learning and Unit Essential Question(s) (4 Weeks)
Key Learning(s):
Students consider the role of ancient philosophies, universal themes, Western influence, and
historical change in diverse selections of Asian literature.
Unit Essential Question(s):
How does Asian literature both honor and challenge cultural traditions?
Standards/GLEs
ELACC9-10RL2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by
specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
ELACC9-10RL5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order
events within it (e.g. parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g. pacing, flashbacks) create such
effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
ELACC9-10RI1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
ELACC9-10RI4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differes
from that of a newspaper).
ELACC9-10W7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.
ELACC9-10W10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and
revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes
and audiences.
ELACC9-10SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
ELACC9-10L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
KNOW
UNDERSTAND
DO
- history of China (oldest
The roles that ancient
- Explore ancient and
continuing civilization
philosophies, universal
modern works of
- development of writing
themes, Western influence,
literature from Asian
- Chinese dynasties
and historical change play in
countries, particularly
- arts, culture, people and
Asian literature.
China, India, and Japan.
society of Asia
- Consider how Asian
- different kinds of didactic
literature both draws on
literature: maxim,
and questions cultural
anecdote, parable
traditions.
World Literature
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Asia
elements of lyric poetry
foundations of modern
Japanese culture:
simplicity, discipline,
nature
main religions of Japan:
Shinto and Buddhism
China’s influence on
Japan
Japan’s island culture
relationship between
setting and characters
elements of various
forms of poetry (tanka,
haiku)
grammar, usage and
mechanics conventions
appropriate to grade level
vocabulary terms and
literary devices
standards of writing (e.g.,
MLA format, research)
Unit Plan
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Launch:
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Consider how certain
Asian authors integrate
Western literary
influences into their
cultural contexts.
Compare two or more
translations of a single
poem.
Write a close literary
analysis of a work of
poetry, fiction, or drama,
considering language
use and literary
elements.
Offer insightful
inferences regarding the
themes of the text.
Create a clear, original,
specific thesis statement.
Organize concrete
evidence and supporting
textual details to support
a thesis statement.
Use precise language,
avoiding casual
language and cliches.
Write appropriate
transitions to organize
paragraphs.
Analyze how philosophy
influences literature.
Understand how literary
devices convey theme.
World Literature
Asia
Unit Plan
Vocabulary Terms:
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absurd
allegory
Confucianism
figurative language
filial poetry
first-person perspective
poetic translation
simile
stream of consciousness
symbol
Taoism
- foreshadowing
- internal monologue
- irony
- metaphor
- paradox
- perfect rhyme
- perspective
- theme
- third-person omniscience
- tone (Chinese)
- Separatist
Formative Assessments:
Summative Assessments:
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Appropriate vocabulary, comprehension, or review quizzes
Multiple Choice Exam with short answer/essay options
Resources: The Language of Literature: World Literature (McDougal Littell brown text)
Modern World Literature (Nextext Anthology)
EPIC
SCRIPTURE
TALES
NONFICTION
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SPEECH
POETRY
from the Mahabharata
from the Ramayana
from Sundiata
- “Childhood”
- “The Lion’s Awakening”
from the Rig Veda
from the Panchatantra
- “Slow, the Weaver”
- “The Brahman’s Dream”
from the Analects
from the Tao Te Ching
from The Pillow Book
“Zen Teachings”
“Zen Parables”
The I Ching
“A Myth and An Idea”
from Japan, the Ambiguous, and Myself
from The Book of Odes
- “Mulberry on the Lowland”
- “We Pick Ferns, We Pick Ferns”
“The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”
“Still Night Thoughts”
“Gazing at the Lu Mountain Waterfall”
(Ancient India)
Valmiki (Ancient India)
Mandinka (Ancient India)
(Ancient India)
(Ancient India)
Confucius (Ancient China)
Lao-tzu (Ancient China)
Sei Shonagon (Japan)
Muso Soseki (Japan)
Anonymous (Japan)
(transmitted by Fei Zhi)
Shashi Tharoor (India)
Kenzaburo Oe (Japan)
Anonymous
Li Po (China)
World Literature
TANKA POETRY
DRAMA
FICTION
Asia
Unit Plan
“Dreaming of Li Po”
TuFu (China)
“Jade Flower Palace”
“Song of P’eng-ya”
“Two Springs”
Li Ch’ing-chao (China)
“On Plum Blossoms”
“One Step”
Bei Dao (China)
“Language”
“A Perpetual Stranger”
“The Pan, the Pot, the Burning Fire…”
Ishigaki Rin (Japan)
“When My Beauty Was at Its Best”
Ibaragi Noriko (Japan)
“Missing You”
Shu Ting (China)
“Bits of Reminiscence”
“Gifts”
“Fairy Tales”
“Flower-Patterned Snake”
So Chong-Ju (Korea)
“Beside a Chrysanthemum”
“Untitled”
“30th January 1982: A Story”
Jayanta Mahapatra (India)
“Taste for Tomorrow”
“Sanskrit”
The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology,
Kiang Hang-Hu and Witter
Being Three Hundred Poems of the T’ang
Bynner, trans. (China)
Dynasty 618-906 (selections)
“A Song of Ch’ang-kan”
Li Bai/Li Po (China)
“Substance, Shadow, and Spirit” (excerpts)
T’ao Ch’ien (China)
“On a Gate-tower at Yuzhou” (excerpts)
Chen Zi’ang (China)
“Song VII”
Rabindranath Tagore (India)
“The Golden Craft” (Boat)
Rabindranath Tagore (India)
“I’ve gone to him”
Ono Kamachi (Japan)
“Spring rains weaving”
Lady Ise (Japan)
“In this world”
Ki Tsurayuki (Japan)
“As I look at the moon”
Saigyo (Japan)
The Deserted Crone
Zeami Motokiyo (Japan)
Thunderstorm
Tsao Yu (China)
The Post Office
Rabindranath Tagore (India)
“The Artist”
Rabrindranath Tagore (India)
“The Jay”
Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)
“Taoist Tale: The Fish Rejoice”
Chuang Tzu (Ancient China)
“The Pearl”
Yukio Mushima (Japan)
“The Mao Button”
Feng Jicai (China)
“The Explosion in the Parlor”
Bai Xiao-Yi (China)
“The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket”
Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)
“Scent of Apples”
Bienvenido Santos (Phil.)
“Reflections of Spring”
Duong Thu Huong (Vietnam)
“The Birth”
Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Indonesia)
“Ah Bah’s Money”
Catherine Lim (Malaysia)
“Fellow-Feeling”
R. K. Narayan (India)
“A Devoted Son”
Anita Desai (India)
“Facing the Light”
Talat Abbasi (Pakistan)
“Good Advice is Rarer Than Rubies”
Salman Rushdie (India)
“The Third and Final Continent”
Jhumpa Lahiri (India)
World Literature
NOVELS
Asia
Unit Plan
Rashomon and Other Stories
Dream of the Red Chamber
Family
Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Japan)
Cao Xueqin (China)
Ba Jin (China)
Midnight’s Children
In Custody
Nectar in a Sieve
The God of Small Things
The Sound of Waves
After Dark
Norwegian Wood
Salman Rushdie (India)
Anita Desai (India)
Kamala Markandaya (India)
Arundhati Roy (India)
Yukio Mishima (Japan)
Haruki Murakami (Japan)
Haruki Murakami (Japan)
Additional Resources:
SHORT STORIES
 Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
Pu Songling, ed. (China)
 Under The Red Flag (selections)
Ha Jin (China)
 The General Retires and Other Stories
Nguyen Huy Thiep (Vietnam)
POETRY
 “Lost in Translation”
James Merrill
INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
 The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature (Joshua Mostow, ed.)
 Historical Dictionary of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater (J. Scott Miller)
 Trading Places: The East India Company and Asia, 1600-1834 (Anthony Farrington)
 The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain (Nicholas B. Dirks)
 Literary Nonfiction: The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet (Benjamin Hoff) (selections)
 “Li Bai, A Hero among Poets, in the Visual, Dramatic, and Literary Arts of China” (Kathlyn
Maurean Liscomb)
 Autobiography: Six Records of a Floating Life (Shen Fu) (China)
ART, MUSIC, AND MEDIA
Art
Japan
 Ando Hiroshige, One Hundred Views of Edo (1856)
 Arita, Porcelain plate with design of dragon (1690s-1730s)
 Kimono with carp, water lilies, and morning glories (1876)
China
 Ma Lin, wall scroll (1246)
 Moon-shaped flask with birds (1723-1725)
 Han Clothing (pre-seventeenth century)
South Asian and Himalayan
 Box with lid (Indian, late sixteenth century)
 Four Mandala Vajravali Thangka (Tibetan, ca. 1430)
 Scenes from the Life of Buddha (Pakistan or Afghanistan, ca. late 2nd – early 3rd century)
Media
 Chinese Poems of the Tang and Sung Dynasties: Read by Lo Kung-Yuan in Northern Chinese,
Peking Dialect (Folkways Records, 1963)
Film
 Akira Kurosawa, dir., Rashomon (1950)
 Zhang Yimou, dir., Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
World Literature
WEB
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Asia
History of China
Japanese History
Haven’t I Seen You Somewhere Before? Samsara and karma in the Jakata Tales
Conversations with History
PBS Resources – VIDEOS!
PBS Resources: Arts – VIDEOS!
PBs Activity Packs
Robert Hass: Selected Haiku by Issa
Unit Plan