The Tale Of Genji

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Waka from Genji”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of Genji as a dynamic character within the context of Heian-Period Japan by composing a series of waka.

Throughout The Tale of Genji, characters enjoy a form of poetry called “waka.” In this activity, you will use waka to demonstrate your understanding of the culture of Heian-Period Japan and how Genji changes over time. You will write both sides of a waka correspondence between Genji and a lover: two waka from early in Genji’s life and another two from later in his life.

Prepare to Write

• Learn more about waka here, and read some examples from this site.
• Choose two points in Genji’s life that reflect differing attitudes toward his affairs with women.
• Make note of the textual material—characterization, language, imagery, and/or plot details—that supports your interpretation of how Genji’s attitude changes over time.

Write Four Waka

• For each of the two periods in Genji’s life, write a waka from Genji to an imagined lover, and then write a reply waka from the lover to Genji.
• For the waka from Genji’s perspective, make sure to convey sentiments that demonstrate Genji’s attitudes.
• For the waka from the lover’s perspective, make sure to convey sentiments appropriate to a Heian-Period aristocratic woman.
• Make sure that your poems obey the conventions of Heian-Period waka.

Reflect on Your Work

• When you have finished, write a reflection paragraph explaining what you were hoping to convey. Connect your goals to the textual evidence you noted when you were preparing to write.

Teaching Suggestion: Some students struggle counting syllables, and you may receive questions about how faithfully you expect student-created waka to adhere to Heian-Period conventions. You might base your expectations in this regard on both your overall classroom objectives and the time you can allow for this activity. Students may also ask whether they should give Genji’s lover a name, whether it should be the same or different lover in both time periods, and so on; these aspects do not matter to the purpose of this activity, but you might consider your own preferences in advance.

Differentiation Suggestion: Literal thinkers and those who struggle with written expression may find it difficult to convey the required information through the oblique language typical of waka. These students can be supported through a scaffolding process: Consider first modeling how to complete a waka from Genji early in his life, and then divide students into small groups and ask them to compose a prose reply from the imagined lover. You might then ask these groups to work together to “translate” their prose work into waka form as practice. Sharing and discussing the process in a class discussion may help consolidate their understanding before conducting independent work.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The narrator of The Tale of Genji is an aristocratic woman sharing both insider knowledge of incidents at court and commentary on the act of storytelling.

• How do the characteristics of this narrative persona contribute to reader engagement? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples that support your interpretation and explain your ideas carefully.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how the narrative persona is related to the text’s larger concern with The Truths Within Fiction and Poetry.

2. Although this book is ostensibly about Genji, much of its plot is structured around Genji’s impact on a group of women.

• In what sense does the plot of this text center around the experiences of women? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples from different points in the narrative that support your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how the impact of Genji’s actions relates to the text’s larger concern with Love, Lust, and Sexual Power Dynamics.

3. In The Tale of Genji, Lady Rokujo’s ikiryō attacks others several times.

• How does this supernatural element of the story comment on the relative powerlessness of women in Heian-Period Japan? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples centered around the spiritual aspects of the novel that support your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how the attacks by Lady Rokujo’s ikiryō help develop the text’s larger concern with Love, Lust, and Sexual Power Dynamics.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Some scholars consider The Tale of Genji to be among the world’s first novels. One characteristic they commonly point to is the text’s interest in the psychology of its characters. How does the text develop a psychological portrait of its main character? How complex and realistic is this depiction? Write an essay in which you use Genji’s character to evaluate the merits of the claim that The Tale of Genji can be classed as a novel because of its emphasis on psychological character development. Show how this interest in psychology relates to the text’s thematic concern with The Truths Within Fiction and Poetry. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite all quoted material.

2. Many of the “sexual encounters” described in The Tale of Genji would today be classified as rape. Do the characters inside the narrative consider these encounters to be forced or coerced? Do they consider them to be morally wrong and/or to cause trauma to the unwilling participant? Write an essay analyzing the narrative’s stance on sexual consent. Show how this stance supports the text’s larger thematic concern with Love, Lust, and Sexual Power Dynamics. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite all quoted material.

3. The narrator of The Tale of Genji is quick to excuse Genji’s faults. She also depicts most of the people around Genji as either willing to excuse his faults or completely unaware of them. How do you see the aesthetic values of Heian-Period Japan reflected in the narrator’s and the other characters’ responses to Genji? Write an essay in which you analyze how the text’s treatment of Genji relates to the Heian-Period emphasis on beauty. Show how this treatment supports the text’s larger thematic concern with Physical Beauty and Substance of Character. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite all quoted material.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which is the most accurate description of Genji as an adult?

A) Intelligent, curious, and creative, but somewhat vain and shallow

B) Charismatic, confident, and good-natured, but not completely trustworthy

C) Ambitious, daring, and persuasive, but somewhat shrewd and calculating

D) Loyal, honest, and brave, but sometimes dangerously impulsive

2. How does the juxtaposition of the Prologue with Chapter 1 create narrative suspense?

A) It makes the reader wonder why people’s perceptions of Genji have changed.

B) It makes the reader wonder how Genji knows Tamakazura and Yugao.

C) It makes the reader wonder whether Genji gets over his crush on Fujitsubo.

D) It makes the reader wonder why Genji has not succeeded his father as the Emperor of Japan.

3. Which is the most accurate description of the narrator’s tone toward Genji?

A) Amused, satirical, and gently tolerant of his flaws

B) Piercing, scornful, and eager to point out his flaws

C) Disappointed, skeptical, and keenly aware of his flaws

D) Admiring, sympathetic, and willing to minimize his flaws

4. Who does the book’s narrator seem to be?

A) A high-ranking member of the royal family

B) An aristocrat serving in the Imperial court

C) A member of the Emperor’s personal staff

D) A civil servant familiar with the workings of the court

5. Whose deaths are caused by the Rokujo Haven’s spirit?

A) Aoi and Yugao

B) Yugao and Asagao

C) Asagao and Utsusemi

D) Utsusemi and Aoi

6. What changes in Genji’s understanding of his affairs as he moves into his early twenties?

A) He begins to view his affairs as a way to preserve his youth.

B) He begins to shift blame from himself to the women he seduces.

C) He begins to understand that his choices have consequences.

D) He begins to use affairs as a way to escape his failing relationship with Aoi.

7. What human emotion creates most of the obstacles Genji has to overcome?

A) Sorrow

B) Fear

C) Pride

D) Jealousy

8. Which of the text’s thematic concerns are supported by other characters’ reactions to Genji, Genji’s father’s attraction to Fujitsubo, and Genji’s attraction to Murasaki?

A) The primacy of male desire and the attempt to recreate an absent parent

B) The attempt to recreate an absent parent and the importance of artistry

C) The importance of artistry and the importance of physical appearance

D) The importance of physical appearance and the primacy of male desire

9. Which character is most able to preserve the fantasy of Genji’s spotless character?

A) Murasaki

B) Emperor Kiritsubo

C) Emperor Suzaku

D) Fujitsubo

10. Which of Genji’s children are publicly acknowledged as his?

A) Reizei and Tamakazura

B) Tamakazura and Yugiri

C) Yugiri and Young Lady Akashi

D) Young Lady Akashi and Reizei

11. Which is the best description of the relationship between Genji and To no Chujo?

A) They are good friends but also romantic and political rivals.

B) To no Chujo is one of Genji’s most loyal followers.

C) Their friendship is a political pretense that serves them both.

D) Genji admires To no Chujo and strives to be like him.

12. Which two romances does the Kokiden Consort have the most success using against Genji’s reputation?

A) The Akashi Lady and Princess Asagao

B) Princess Asagao and Oborozukiyo

C) Oborozukiyo and Utsusemi

D) Utsusemi and the Akashi Lady

13. What do Aoi’s marriage to Genji and the Akashi Lady’s relationship with Genji demonstrate about aristocratic women in Heian-Period Japan?

A) Their public reputations were often at odds with their private behavior.

B) They often sought liaisons with higher-ranking aristocrats as a political advantage.

C) Their fathers often treated their bodies and sexuality as a political commodity.

D) They had more choice over sexual partners than was publicly acknowledged.

14. Which motif both creates foreshadowing and confirms the spiritual worldview of Heian-Period Japan?

A) The concealment of faces behind screens and fans

B) The elision of personal names

C) The actions of Lady Rokujo’s ikiryō

D) The mentions of prophecies and dreams

15. Which statement does the text most clearly support?

A) Fiction and poetry are forms of entertainment, not sources of ideas.

B) Fiction and poetry are capable of revealing important truths.

C) Authors should not base their plots on actual people or events.

D) Authors have a responsibility to critique the status quo.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What narrative details reveal that Suzaku does not bear the same ill-will toward Genji as his mother, the Kokiden Consort?

2. In what ways does The Tale of Genji blur the lines between family and romantic relationships?