Part 2: Summarizing an Author's Viewpoint in an Informational Text

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave" by Neil MacGregor. The Japanologist Donald Keene, from Columbia University, sees the wave as a metaphor for the changes in Japanese society: The Japanese have a word for insular which is literally the mental state of the people living on islands: shimaguni konjo. Shimaguni is 'island nations' konjo is 'character'. The idea is they are surrounded by water and, unlike the British Isles, which were in sight of the continent, are far away. The uniqueness of Japan is often brought up as a great virtue. A new change of interest in the world, breaking down the classical barriers, begins to emerge. I think the interest in waves suggests the allure of going elsewhere, the possibility of finding new treasures outside Japan, and some Japanese at this time secretly wrote accounts of why Japan should have colonies in different parts of the world in order to augment their own riches. The Great Wave, like the other images in the series, was printed in at least 5,000 impressions, possibly as many as 8,000, and we know that in 1842 the price of a single sheet was officially fixed at 16 mon, the equivalent of a double helping of noodles. This was cheap, popular art; but when printed in such quantities, to exquisite technical standards, it could be highly profitable. Which line is a direct quotation from an external source?

"The Japanese have a word for insular which is literally the mental state of the people living on islands: shimaguni konjo."

What factors affect an author's viewpoint? Check all that apply

-the author's knowledge -the author's opinion -the author's worldview -the author's experience

Read the excerpt from "Early Victorian Tea Set." But a loving, tranquil cup of tea has a violent hinterland. When all tea came into Europe from China, the British East India Company traded opium for silver and used that silver to buy tea. The trade was so important that it brought the two countries to war. The first of the conflicts, which we still refer to as the Opium Wars - they were in fact just as much about tea - broke out more or less as our teapot was leaving the Wedgwood factory. Partly because of these difficulties with China, in the 1830s the British set up plantations in the area around Calcutta and Indian tea was exempted from import duty to encourage demand. What is the author's viewpoint in this excerpt?

England's demand for tea caused conflict around the world.

Which statement expresses a viewpoint?

Every child should visit an art history museum.

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave." Hokusai has taken more than colour from the West - he has also borrowed the conventions of European perspective to push Mount Fuji far into the distance. It is clear that Hokusai must have studied European prints, which the Dutch had imported into Japan and which circulated among artists and collectors. So The Great Wave, far from being the quintessence of Japan, is a hybrid work, a fusion of European materials and conventions with a Japanese sensibility. No wonder this image has been so loved in Europe: it is an exotic relative, not a complete stranger. What is the author's viewpoint in this excerpt?

The Great Wave is popular because it includes both Japanese and European elements.

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave." So The Great Wave, far from being the quintessence of Japan, is a hybrid work, a fusion of European materials and conventions with a Japanese sensibility. No wonder this image has been so loved in Europe: it is an exotic relative, not a complete stranger. It also, I think, shows a peculiarly Japanese ambivalence. As a viewer, you have no place to stand, no footing. You too must be in a boat, under the Great Wave, and in danger. The dangerous sea over which European things and ideas travelled has, however, been drawn with a profound ambiguity. What is the author's viewpoint in this excerpt?

The Great Wave represents feelings of ambivalence in Japanese culture.

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave." But there are other ways of reading Hokusai's Great Wave. Look a little closer and you see that the beautiful wave is about to engulf three boats with frightened fishermen, and Mount Fuji is so small that you, the spectator, share the feeling that the sailors in the boats must have as they look to shore - it's unreachable, and you are lost. This is, I think, an image of instability and uncertainty. The Great Wave tells us about Japan's state of mind as it stood on the threshold of the modern world, which the US was soon going to force it to join. Which is the best summary of this excerpt?

The author suggests that The Great Wave is a symbol of Japan as it entered into international trade.

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave" by Neil MacGregor. Here's a snatch of the letter from the president of the United States that Perry delivered to the Japanese emperor: Many of the large ships-of-war destined to visit Japan have not yet arrived in these seas, and the undersigned, as an evidence of his friendly intentions, has brought but four of the smaller ones, designing, should it become necessary, to return to Edo in the ensuing spring with a much larger force. But it is expected that the government of your imperial majesty will render such return unnecessary, by acceding at once to the very reasonable and pacific overtures contained in the president's letter . . . This was textbook gunboat diplomacy, and it worked. Japanese resistance melted, and very quickly the Japanese embraced the new economic model, becoming energetic players in the international markets they had been forced to join. They began to think differently about the sea that surrounded them, and their awareness of the possible opportunities in the world beyond grew fast. What type of outside source does MacGregor use in this excerpt?

a historical letter

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave" by Neil MacGregor. In the early nineteenth century Japan had been effectively closed off from the world for 200 years. It had simply opted out of the community of nations. Kings are burning somewhere, Wheels are turning somewhere, Trains are being run, Wars are being won, Things are being done Somewhere out there, not here. Here we paint screens. Yes . . . the arrangement of the screens. This is Stephen Sondheim's musical tableau of the secluded and calmly self-contained country in 1853, just before American gunships forced its harbours to open to the world. It is a witty caricature of the dreamy and aesthetic Japanese, serenely painting screens while across the seas Europe and America industrialize and political turmoil rages. What type of outside source does MacGregor use in this excerpt?

musical lyrics

A source is a(n) an author can use to research and develop ideas in an informational text.

outside publication