Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Baghdad. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three short sentences–one of which succinctly states that “Baghdad has long been one of the great cities of the Muslim world”–and three comprehension questions.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi or Mawlana: (1207?-1273) Anatolian-Persian mystic and poet. He was a theologian and teacher in Anatolia when he met Shams ad-Din, a holy man who revealed to him the mysteries of divine majesty and beauty; their intimate relationship scandalized Rumi’s followers, who had Shams murdered. The Collected Poetry of Shams contains Rumi’s verses on his love for Shams. His main work, the didactic epic Masnavi-ye Manavi (“Spiritual Couplets”), widely influenced Muslim mystical thought and literature. He is believed to have composed poetry while in a state of ecstasy and often accompanied his verses by a whirling dance. After his death, his disciples were organized as the Mawlawiyah order, called in the West the whirling dervishes. Rumi is regarded as the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language. In English translation, his work has become widely popular in recent years.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
This week’s Text, in observance of the fourth Friday of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025, is this reading on Yasir Arafat along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
I’m hard pressed to imagine there is much, if any, demand for these documents; moreover, I understand that Yasir Arafat is a controversial figure. But I also understand that however one perceives Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), he is an important figure in the the history of part of the world we, after the ancient Greeks and Romans, call Asia.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Bhartrhari: (570?-650) Indian Hindu philosopher, poet, and grammarian. He was of noble birth; according to legend, he made seven attempts to renounce the world for monastic life before eventually becoming a yogi and moving into a cave near Ujjain. His Vakyapadiya is his major work on the philosophy of language. Also ascribed to him are three collections of poetry, each containing 100 verses: Shrngara-shataka (on love), Niti-shataka (on ethics and polity), and Vairagya-shataka (on dispassion). His Bhatti kavya (‘Poem of Bhatti’) demonstrates the subtleties of Sanskrit.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Strictly speaking, this Cultural Literacy worksheet on The Mikado has little or nothing to do with Asian Pacific History, either locally or globally. I should have known this, because as a middle school student, I served as an usher for a production of the play by my city’s Gilbert and Sullivan repertory company.
But if we think of this play as an attempt at representation, then there is something juicy to talk about here. I doubt Gilbert and Sullivan are exactly au courant in classrooms these days, so I also doubt that this document has much use or currency. Rather than throw it away, however…. Well, enough said.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
Haiku: A form of Japanese poetry, composed of seventeen syllables in a 5/7/5 pattern. The haiku evokes a complete impression or mood through the juxtaposition of a natural physical element such as a sound or sight, with a phrase to suggest a season or emotion. It developed from the nonstandard linked verse (haikai no renga) popular in the 16th and 17th centuries—the “opening verse” (hokku) of which eventually was treated as in independent form, known today as haiku. Its greatest practitioner was Matsuo Basho, followed by the painter Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa, and Masaoka Shiki. Haiku’s emphasis on the immediate and concrete influenced early 20th century Imagism in Europe and America, especially through the influence of Ezra Pound.
Two well-known examples by Basho are the ‘summer grasses’ verse composed on a visit to the site where Yoshitsune was vanquished, and the following:
Furuike ya An ancient pond—
Kawazu tobikomu Then the sound of water
Mizu no oto Where a frog plops in”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Taj Mahal. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences and two comprehension questions. Somehow, it is at once a spare and thorough introduction to this important piece of global cultural heritage.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Sanskrit language: Old Indo-Aryan language, the classic literary language of Hinduism. The most ancient form is Vedic, attested in its earliest forms in parts of the Rig Veda, dating from the late 2nd millennium BC. Late Vedic Sanskrit was described and codified in a grammar by Panini, dating from about the 5th century BC. Literary activity in so-called Classical Sanskrit, in many respects close to the language described by Panini, flourished c.500 BC-c.AD 1000. Today, Sanskrit (now usually written in the Devanagari script) serves as a learned language for Brahman scholars. It is an archaic Indo-European language with an elaborate system of nominal and verbal inflection.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
This week’s Text, for week three of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025, is this reading on Mohandas Gandhi with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
I think it’s safe to assume that I needn’t belabor the world historical importance of the man the world knows by his honorific, Mahatma.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Showa period: (1926-1989) Period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Hirohito, the Showa emperor. The Showa period saw the militarism of the 1930s and Japan’s disastrous participation in World War II, resulting in the nations complete collapse and ultimate surrender. The postwar era was one of rehabilitation, marked by such successes as its joining the U.N. in 1956, hosting the 1964 Olympics, and holding the Osaka World Exposition in 1970. Japan experienced a so-called ‘economic miracle,’ with growth averaging 10% in 1955-60 and higher in the years following. In the 1980s, the Japanese economy became one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated, with per capita income surpassing that of the U.S. Japanese society became increasingly urban, with one-tenth of the population living in Tokyo by the mid-1980s. U.S. influence on popular culture was very strong, and young Japanese emulated their U.S. counterparts in every way possible. The Showa period also saw more people living in nuclear families than in extended families, love marriage rather than arranged marriages, fewer children, and more opportunities for women. See also Hesei period, Occupation (of Japan).”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Posted in Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged asian-pacific history, professional development, readings/research
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