Expository Composition (Period 5) Assignments

1.     Describe and discuss Hajime’s comments about talent.

2. 2.     Shimamoto asks: “Hajime…do you know any good rivers?  A pretty river in a valley, not too big, one that flows fairly swiftly right into the sea?” 

    

   3. Discuss the possible symbolic value of the river, the significance of her request.

    

   4     On page 113 we read that “[Shimamoto] looked just like a high school girl,” and the suggestion is repeated on page 115, when Hajime says, “Dressed like that, you look just like a high school girl.”  Whereupon Shimamoto answers “Thanks…I wish I were.”  Why does Murakami include this exchange?

    

       Discuss the possible symbolic value of the ashes.

3.  

4.    In chapter 10 Shimamoto appears to be dying.  Hajime says, “There was no way I was going to let that happen,” and he saves her life by melting snow in his own mouth and passing it to hers.  In addition to the drama that this scene injects into the PLOT, how does Murakami shape the relationship between Shimamoto and Hajime in this near-death and rescue scene?

South of the Border, West of the

Chapter 1

1. On page 8 we read “…she constructed a much taller defensive wall around herself than I ever built. What remained behind that wall, though, was pretty much what lay behind mine.”
   1. What does this suggest or reveal about Shimamoto?
   2. What does this suggest or reveal about Hajime?
   3. Why does Murakami have the character say this?
      

1. Discuss the following statement in terms of the theme(s) that it may foreshadow: “One whirlpool would form…quality to them.”

1. In chapter 1 Hajime makes some statements about the inadequacy of language to convey complex thoughts.

1. Identify and discuss at least one of these statements
2. Why would a novelist (presumably someone who depends on words to convey ideas) write such a statement?
3. Can ideas exist outside of language?
   

1. Describe and discuss the dream imagery that coincides with the handholding episode. Why and how does Murakami connect such an image with the simple act of holding hands?
   

1. Does Hajime’s imaginary place (p. 18) portend happiness? Sorrow? Something else?  

T.S. Eliot Essay

Write a formal essay in which you identify the threats to happiness the Eliot writes about in the works read in class. Consider especially the need to have “meaning” in one's life and the effects that regret and fear have on our potential for happiness.

500-800 words