Comparative Analysis Dragons Flying to Heaven
Please study following instructions carefully!!! The second major writing assignment in THEA 101 is a comparative analysis of multicultural, intercultural and/or postcolonial aspects of David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly and Young Jean Lee’s Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, taking into account the dramatic texts as well as their realizations on stage (Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven) and on film (M. Butterfly). Include a separate title page with a) your name and b) the title of your paper. Type your essay one-and-a-half-spaced, with 1-inch margins, using Times New Roman as font (font-size: 12). Make sure that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct by using spell-check on your computer before uploading your paper to Laulima as a single file. (YOUR INSTRUCTOR WILL RETURN THE ESSAY TO YOU WITHOUT COMMENT IF IT HAS MORE THAN THREE MISTAKES THAT COULD HAVE EASILY BEEN PREVENTED BY USING THE “SPELLING AND GRAMMAR” CHECK IN WORD!) Don’t forget to paginate each page, and make sure to use complete sentences only! Present your arguments in well-developed paragraphs, making sure to signal transitions between thoughts. The required length of your essay is 4-5 typed pages (not including the title page nor the bibliography). Imagine that you are writing the essay for someone who is not familiar with the plays. Remember that this is an academic assignment—so please avoid casual or trite language. Keep in mind that the main focus of your essay should be on the plays themselves (their plots, characters, etc.), not on your personal or emotional response to them! (You are probably off-track if almost every other sentence begins with “I”…) If you are not sure when to use past or present tense, it would be advisable to consistently use present tense in this particular assignment. Your organization of the essay should include the following: An interesting, original, and evocative title that gives the reader some idea of what is to come. An introduction that begins with a “grabber,” i.e. a vivid introduction in which you tell the reader something about your perception and/or interpretation of the multicultural, intercultural and/or postcolonial aspects of David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly and Young Jean Lee’s Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, both key examples of Asian American theatre. The introduction should also include a one-sentence thesis statement that summarizes your major argument with regard to these two plays (and their respective stage/film versions) and how they compare and relate to each other. Make sure to underline the thesis statement! A one-paragraph short plot synopsis for each of the two plays. A comparative analysis in which you explain how the notions of multiculturalism (Fellner), postcolonialism (Fellner, Gilbert/Tompkins) and interculturalism (Fellner, Pavis) apply—or not apply—to either play individually before comparing both with regard to these notions. Make sure to quote your sources following MLA guidelines (see the course syllabus for more information). Also, please compare how the two dramatic scripts relate to their respective stage or film versions. Are there major differences between page and stage/film? Use specific examples from the two scripts as well as their stage/film realizations to support your arguments. Relate the thesis that you stated in the introduction to your comparative analysis. NOTE: The videos of M. Butterfly and Songs of the Dragons Going to Heaven are available in your Classroom under “Second Essay.” A conclusion in which you sum up the major points that you have made throughout the essay. Even though it is important that you cover all abovementioned elements, it is equally IMPORTANT THAT YOUR PAPER READS LIKE A FULLY INTEGRATED ESSAY—not a mere bullet-point list where you just check off each criterion one by one!!! Remember, this is a writing intensive class. “A” papers will be those that find a through-line connecting all of the sections. Use the thesis statement of your introduction as a thematic leitmotif that connects all sections of your essay smoothly and organically. The grading-breakdown for this assignment is as follows (with the numbers indicating maximum points): title: 3 pts. introduction: 4 pts. thesis statement: 3 pts. synopses (2 x 3 pts.): 6 pts. comparative analysis: M. Butterfly “multicultural”: 5 pts. M. Butterfly “intercultural”: 5 pts. M. Butterfly “postcolonial”: 5 pts. Songs of the Dragons “multicultural”: 5 pts. Songs of the Dragons “intercultural”: 5 pts. Songs of the Dragons “postcolonial”: 5 pts. comp. both plays “multicultural”: 5 pts. comp. both plays “intercultural”: 5 pts. comp. both plays “postcolonial”: 5 pts. M. Butterfly page-film comparison: 5 pts. Songs of the Dragons page-stage comparison: 5 pts. use of specific examples: 3 pts. conclusion: 4 pts. throughline/integration of essay: 10 pts. overall quality of writing, grammar and spelling: 10 pts. formatting: 2 pts. TOTAL: 100 pts. The following links are the performances: https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=O70Zt_X3YR4&feature=youtu.be https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=78fyu5ti7Lk&noredirect=1 Once again... PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY!!PLEASE DO NOT JUST DO YOUR OWN THING. IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT WRITER DOES NOT UNDERSTAND PLEASE EMAIL ME BEFORE SIMPLY GOING ALONG. Thanks
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Comparative Analysis of various issues covered by M. Butterfly and the Dragons Flying to Heaven
Works of literature continue to be used by the authors to draw various inferences from the societies in, which they are set with a view of revealing various scenarios and situations that show how the societies are approaching various issues and events. It is with such mentality that David Hwang and Young Lee have taken time to compose two plays that address various issues and events as they unfold in their respective societies. A comparative analysis of the works of these two great play writers shows various aspects portraying multiculturalism, interculturalism, and post-colonialism as they appear in the Asian continent. It is evident that the Chinese and Korean cultures, which forms the basis upon, which these tow works are based appear to be extremely diverse and complicated to that effect. The analysis helps to facilitate proper and informed understanding of these cultures with a view of issues concerning race, sex, gender roles, and western perceptions of the Easterners among others.
Hwang's M. Butterfly concentrates on a story concerning two main characters who happens to be Galliard and Song, who meet in China where the former is a diplomat while the later is a musician who entertains people in various gigs. According to Treptow (67), the play is based on the perceptions that the West Europeans have on their Asian counterparts where they consider the Asian and Easterners in general to be much inferior to them in several aspects. Hwang (42) observes that the West is a region composing of people whose mentality shows increased masculine tendencies as opposed to their East counterparts. Gillamard is portrayed as a man who has the West mentality. It enables him to think that it is much easier to enter and maintain a romantic relationship with women from East as opposed to those from West since the Easterners are much submissive and less demanding than those from West. The plays cast Song, who fools Gillamard for twenty years before he realizes that he is actually dating a Chinese man and not a woman as he had thought. Song manages to assemble critical diplomatic information from Gillamard, who ends up committing suicide after being unable to deal with Song the Western way.
Songs of the dragons is a play that revolves around the relationships involving the Koreans and Americans where many issues are uncovered to reveal the actual flow of events on the ground. The author uses three women in to reveal how they carry out various activities as depicted in the Korean culture where submissiveness and hard work are the order of the day. The Koreans treats each other with much dignity and regard, and so are the Americans and westerners. The play depicts the inferiority complex embedded in the mentality of people from East, who looks at the white people as being more superior to them. It depicts that there is much to do with race and racial discrimination in this play where the East people are ready to play the second fiddle in recognition of their West counterparts. There are incidences where East women are depicted of being of low quality where they end up having romantic ties with white men whom the white women cannot even imagine dating them for a single day. Such reasoning depicts that there is a social gap that exists between people of these two geographical divide where one portrays itself as being on top of the other.
The Multicultural dimensions are portrayed in Hwang's play in the manner in, which the Chinese society is organized. There are various ethnic groupings in China that manages to live in harmony with one another (Treptow 72). The prospect of people having a common mentality that allows them to tolerate each other is critical in this context where Chinese and other people from East have a belief that they are one people who have to tolerate and integrate with each other. Such aspects allow people from West to generalize that their East counterparts are inferior to them in several aspects.
Intercultural aspects are well depicted in M. Butterfly where the plot of the story is based on the love affair between individuals from distinct cultural settings. Gillamard is a French diplomat while the ‘girlfriend' is a Chinese musician implying that the former is brought from the West while the latter is from East where cultural differences are quite evident. Despite the cultural differences that exist between these two individuals, they still find a balance that allows them to blend thus allowing them to date for nearly twenty years (Treptow 75). The culture of people from East is demonstrated as being quite accommodating in the sense that people from West view them as being comparatively inferior to the extent where they have to bend their cultural demands to accommodate the views and...