Choose ONE of the questions below. Your essay must be five to seven typewritten pages, double-spaced, with one inch margins and a ten or twelve point font. Anything less than five full pages will not be accepted. The essay must have a clear, well-defined thesis and be cohesive, coherent, and insightful. No secondary sources are necessary, but if you choose to use secondary sources, be sure to document them properly. Use at three stories of the author in your essay.
Do not merely summarize plot. Be insightful; use the text to support your argument. The essay is due on Monday, December 14. Absolutely no essays will be accepted after the end of class on that day; no exceptions. You are encouraged to bring drafts of the essay in before the due date.
Use a dictionary. Proofread carefully. Read the questions carefully.
1) Mishima's stories are certainly thought-provoking, particularly for a Western audience inexperienced with the ways of the East. Two continuing themes in Mishima's stories are sex and suicide. Compare the language and amount of detail devoted to sex with that devoted to suicide. By doing this, can you make some blanket statement about Mishima's style and content?
2) Many of Mishima's stories leave the reader with a disturbing image. Nevertheless, almost every story in this collection does have a definite ending; there is rarely any doubt about the characters' situations by the ends of the stories. What about those disturbing images? Compare and contrast two of Mishima's stories with one story by a Western writer we have read. How do they differ not only in content but in style?
1) Using at least three stories in the collection, explain the collection's title, Winter's Tales.
2) The quest appears to be an ongoing concern in Dinesen's stories: the quest for truth, the quest for love, the quest for solitude, the quest for serenity. Discuss the quest theme in Dinesen's stories.