Week 9 Response

Please read the following prompts carefully and chose one. Write a short reflection of 300-350 words, due Sundays 11:59 pm. 

1) Professor Marylin Migiel notes that the Decameron ‘provide examples of women who successfully bend gender rules; they also reassert the limits beyond which women ought not to proceed.’ But she also argues  that the text resists a final interpretation.  Drawing from what you know about medieval Italy and early modern China or East Asia, to what extent do you think the female figures in the texts challenge or reinforce societal norms?

2) In Day II of the Decameron, the narrative explores ‘those who, after suffering a series of misfortunes, are brought to a state of unexpected happiness.’ The role of fortune is also prominent in the Chinese novella. What are the dynamic interactions between fortune and human agency in each story? How do these interactions relate to the ideas of resilience and transformation?