In Class Reader S Workshop You Must Read 3 out of the 4 by September 29Th!

In Class Reader’s Workshop…you must read 3 out of the 4 by September 29th!

“The Fisherman and the Jinnee”

“The Ebony Horse”

“Ali Baba”

“Wily Delilah”

Address AT LEAST 2 questions below for each story.

1. How are women characterized in Nights? Look closely at the character and role of Shaharazade in the main story frame. She is a hero, because she saves her own life and the life of many of her people, yet she lives in a culture where men buy and sell women and cut off their heads when they are displeased. Compare/contrast her to other female characters in the stories and other female characters you have read in other texts. Be sure to use plenty of specific detailed examples from the texts to support your ideas.

2. Look at the way kings behave in Nights. They are able to make a poor man rich or a rich man dead on an instant whim. What kind of government do you see operating in Nights? Describe it in as much detail as you can find in the stories you have read. Are there any good points to this kind of government? Any serious problems? Would you want to live there?

3. Select one or two interesting demons (or jinnis) or other monsters in Nights and compare them to monsters you've met in other stories. Can you think of any ways in which they are similar? How are they different? Can you think of any reasons why? Be sure to use plenty of specific examples from the texts to support your ideas.

4. In the world of Nights, there are good, pious demons, and bad, impious demons, but all demons seem to obey certain rules or laws. Explain exactly what kinds of laws/rules demons do seem to obey. Do you have any idea why this is so? Support your position with examples from the stories.

5. Discuss the attitudes that the characters have toward that which is foreign, strange and amazing in Nights. Compare and contrast using examples from the stories.

6. Several stories in Nightsgive examples of why it is better to be just than to be unjust. Find two or three and explain what is the nature of justice in Nights as you understand it. Give examples.

7. Destiny, or fate, or predestination is an important thread running through the stories of Nights. This expresses, at least in part, the ideal of a good Muslim, which is to submit to God's will. Select two or three stories that express this idea, compare/ contrast them to one another, and see what conclusions you can draw about the role of destiny in Nights. Use specific examples from the stories to support your response.

8. Nights is a collection of tales that are organized by means of the frame story of Shahrazade, who is telling stories to save the lives of the other maidens in her country.The Odyssey also uses a frame when Odysseus tells the stories of his wanderings to Nausicaa's folks to persuade them to send him home at last. The Odyssey, like Nights, was told orally for many centuries in one form or another before being finally written down. Compare/contrast the frames in The OdysseyandNightsand/or Nights and other frame stories that you know. How does each function? Use specific examples from both texts to support your ideas.

9. Look at your paper that you wrote for world history on women in the Koran and discuss any connections, similarities or differences you see between it and the roles of women as depicted in Nights.

10. Many of the stories in Nights are meant to morally instruct people as are many fairy tales. Choose a fairy tale to compare and contrast the fairy tale’s messages to women using examples from the stories.