Tag Archives: asian-pacific history

The Weekly Text, 17 May 2024, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

For the third Friday of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2024, here is a reading on the Four Noble Truths and the Eighfold Path along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

I guess that is enough said.

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.

Ibn-Khaldun on Geometry

“Geometry enlightens the intellect and sets one’s mind right.”

Ibn-Khaldun, Muqaddimah vol. 3 (ca. 1380)

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Cultural Literacy: Yellow Peril

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the racist concept of the Yellow Peril. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences and two comprehension questions. There is a parenthetical element at the end of the reading the advises interested parties to See internment of Japanese Americans. If you want to take this further, you’ll find a Cultural Literacy worksheet on that topic under this link.

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.

Etel Adnan

“Etel Adnan: (1925-2021) Lebanese poet. Adnan’s works record the devastation of Beirut by civil war. Adnan is a Lebanese Christian who writes in both Arabic and French, and much of her work has been translated into English. Her seven volumes of poetry include Arab Apocalypse (1980) and From A to Z (1982). She renders the effects of the war in fragmentary poems that are formed from shards of language, often punctuated by abstract drawings, barring the reader from assembling a coherent narrative. Her one novel, Sitt Marie Rose (1982), also resists a linear reading: it is told not only from the perspective of its female protagonist, a Christian supporter of the Palestinian resistance, but also from that of the Phalangist Christians who hold her hostage. Adnan’s manipulation of the point deftly illustrates the complexities of the Lebanese political crisis.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

Cultural Literacy: Vishnu

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Vishnu, the Hindu deity known as The Preserver. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two simple sentences and two comprehension questions. Once again, just the basics.

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.

Satnami Sect

“Satnami sect: Religious community in India that challenges political and religious authority by worshiping the supreme god Satnam. Combining practices from Islam and Hinduism, Satnamis typically reject both the worship of images and the caste system, while retaining an underlying orthodox Vedanta philosophy. Modern Satnamis are confined almost entirely to the low-status Camar caste, and they advocate social equality as well as ethical and dietary self-restraint.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

The Weekly Text, 10 May 2024, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Week II: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Nebuchadrezzar II

For the second Friday of Asian American Pacific Islander Month 2024, your Weekly Text is this reading on Nebuchadrezzar II along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. There seems to be a couple of different ways of spelling the name of this Babylonian tyrant’s name; if you click on that preceding hyperlink, you will see his name spelled as Nebuchadnezzar. This reading, from the Intellectual Devotional series, notes that Nebuchadnezzar is an alternate spelling of his name.

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.

Ho Chi Minh’s Anti-Colonial Imperative

“Men and women, young and old, regardless of creeds, political parties, or nationalities, all the Vietnamese must stand up to fight the French colonialists and save the fatherland. Those

Ho Chi Minh, Proclamation, 19 Dec. 1946 (translation by Peter Wiles)

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Cultural Literacy: Russo-Japanese War

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Russo-Japanese War. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences and three comprehension questions. Once again, for its brevity, this is a surprisingly thorough summary of this conflict from the editors of The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

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.

Bharhut Sculpture

Bharhut sculpture: (mid-2nd century BC) Indian sculpture that decorated the great stupa, or relic mound, of Bharhut, in Madhya Pradesh. It is now mostly destroyed; the railings and gateways that remain are in Calcutta’s Indian Museum. The ornamental medallions depicting legends of the of the Buddha’s previous births and event in his life are labeled, and so are indispensable for an understanding of Buddhist iconography. The Bharhut style marked the beginning of Buddhist narrative relief and decoration of sacred buildings that continued for several centuries.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.