laughing

Laughing prompts

Choose one:

Here is a good topic sentence:  

“Some people say that laughter is the best medicine.”   

Think of a similar kind of topic sentence.

Remember the most important sentence of your assignment is the topic sentence.

Here are a few questions to get you focus on the topic. 

1.  How often do you laugh?

2. What makes you laugh?

3.  When did you last have a good laugh? What happened?  Who were you with?  Where were you?

4.  How do you laugh?  Quietly?  Loudly?

5. Is it always appropriate to laugh?  When is it inappropriate?  (How do you think other people feel when they are laughed at?)

6.  Have you ever laughed at the wrong time?

7.  Some people are good at telling jokes?  Are you?

8.  In conclusion, do you feel laughter is good for our health?

Other ideas:

Do you think animals laugh?

Can we laugh and not feel happy?  Fun?

Have you ever laughed at a scandal?

Do you think people in your culture laugh a lot? 

Do you laugh more with family or friends?

Have you ever laughed so much you hurt?
Can laughter help us forget the bad stuff?
Is crying more important than laughing?
Would you rather cry in a movie or sporting event or laugh?

The House

Ask and answer

1.     What are the streets like where Sonny and Nan live?

2.     How does Sonny meet Nan, the fruit seller?

3.     What kind woman is Nan?

4.     What was Sonny like before meeting Nan?

5.     How did she help him?

6.     What did he learn from the church?

7.     How did the church help him?

8.     Why did Sonny want to give his ex-wife the house?

9.     What does Sonny ask Nan to do?

10. What does Nan want?

The problem with Isabella Bird

An early 19^th century Ainu-e painting by Murakami Shimanojo published in Curious Sights of Ezo (Ezoshima Kikan) depicts the legend that dogs were the ancestors of the Ainu.

It has been remarked by some travellers that the Ainu consider themselves to have had a dog as their ancestor. But this is pure fiction, for I am well assured by the people themselves that they think nothing of the kind. Nor do dogs in any way figure among them as totem animals, as they certainly would do, did they consider themselves to be their descendants. (first published 1901) Bachelor, The Ainu and Their Folklore

At least four Europeans wrote about the late 19 th or early 20 th century Ainu in different light. The studied writings of Bachelor and Munro stand in contrast to the deprecating remarks of Henry Savage and Izabella Bird. While Landor Savage made significant contributions in art, Bird’s visit to Biratori was the briefest, only a few days, but her comments about the Ainu remain well known today because of her renown as a young female traveler/explorer. The travel notes and letters she sent home to her sister, though only superficial in observation, were read as fact. Astonishingly, it was enough that she was young and adventurous to credit her with insightful comments about a group she knew next to nothing about. If she had bothered to read John Bachelor, who had been working among the Ainu already 20 years, she may have been more measured in her comments.

It strikes the visitor to Biratori Yoshitsune shrine that a memorial signboard commemorates Bird, though only a casual visitor to the area in 1911. The shrine is only a few kilometers from Nibutani Kotan where she recorded her musings. She wrote about the Ainu in stupefying terms using here-say as fact. she writes the Ainu themselves claim descent from dogs. This misunderstanding we can surmise came from her Japanese guide companion and originated in the idea that Ainu from the Japanese point of view, were barbarians. Also, the word Ainu sounds so similar to inu, or dog in Japanese and it was common to speak derogatorily in this way. The fact that the Ainu revered wolves and were known to love domesticated dogs may have been a contributing factor. One thing is for certain though, Bird failed to make careful enquiries (or read up on the Ainu) and simplistically perpetuated a southern myth that these sophisticated hunter groups were basically animals. 

The sad upshot of this is that Biratori township seems to hold her in some esteem.

silent brothers questions

Choose one question and answer it.  Write about 5 - 7 sentences (60 - 70 words).  Time allowed 15 minutes.  Next, be prepared to stand up and read your answer to the class.

Answer one question only. 

1. Was Annie right to make fun of them?  Explain how she did this and why?

2. Was Maggie right to leave them?  Explain Maggie’s feelings and decision.

3. Was their sister right to say in her will, “One of you should marry Annie to get the money?”