Compare and contrast the poetic approach of Tang poets Li Bo and Du Fu.

Reading: Read these to write the paper
1-Tang Poetry, Intro, pgs. 1304-1307, Li Bo pgs. 1311-1315, Du Fu pgs. 1316-1321
2-Somadeva, Intro pgs. 1272-1274, “The Red Lotus of Chastity,” pgs. 1274-1279
3-Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, Intro pgs. 1378-1382, pgs. 1485-1488
4-Bhartrhari, Intro pgs. 1259, Poems, 1260-1262
5-Tao Qian, Intro pgs. 1291-1292, “Substance, Shadow and Spirit,” pgs. 1297-1298

Answer each question below. Your response for each question should be no more than 2 paragraphs long, and feature quotes from the text(s) in question.
1. Compare and contrast the poetic approach of Tang poets Li Bo and Du Fu. Who do you feel like is more fantastical in his approach, and who is more realisitc? How important is emotion to each poet?

2. Both the stories from Somadeva and Murasaki Shikubu have strong female characters. How do the women in the excerpts that we read from these two authors differentiate themselves from the men in how they think and act? What does this difference tell us about their station in the social worlds of medieval India and Japan?

NOTE:
PLEASE include direct quotations from the texts.