Director, Environmental Studies
Professor of English

SUMMARY OF YUGEN

Like the paper on Buddhism, this assignment is designed primarily as a way for you to try to summarize the reading as a preparation for class discussion.

In this paper you should summarize your understanding of the most important aspects of yugen. In your analysis, focus on the significance of yugen for the Japanese view of nature.

Assume your reader is someone who knows nothing about Buddhism or Japanese aesthetics and is curious about them and their significance concerning nature..

In order to illustrate and support your interpretations, you need to quote from the reading and cite your sources. Proper citation style (MLA) is not difficult to learn, and it is expected.

The paper is also an opportunity for me to give you feedback on your writing skills, which we will work on the entire semester. So the paper should have all the qualities of good expository prose: unity of the paper as a whole and of each paragraph, good style, clear thinking, correct grammar and spelling, proper citation, etc. Use my Manual of writing and specifics on grammar to refine your skills.

Because this is such a short paper, it needs to be very efficient. Don't spend any time talking in general terms about yugen. Get right to the main points.

The paper should be right around one page (a little more is OK), typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12 point.

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