ENTERING THE CONVERSATION

1. In “The Storytellers of Empire,” Kamila Shamsie disagrees with the idea that “as an American male you can’t understand a Pakistani woman. ” Nevertheless, she recognizes that there is a tendency for Americans to “Leave [the Pakistani woman] and her nation to its Otherness.” (par. 25). Identify two texts in this Conversation (or the excerpt from the Central Text, When the Emperor Was Divine) in which characters or speakers face someone who is “enigmatic, inscrutable, unknowable.” Compare the reasons for and the effects of this Otherness.

2. Wilfred Owen, in “Dulce et Decorum Est,” calls dying for your country “the old Lie.” How would Shakespeare’s Henry V or Schultz’s Steph from “Deuce Out” respond to Owen?

3. A number of the texts in this Conversation present the lingering effects of war or other cultural conflicts. Select two texts and compare the ways that these events have affected the characters, speakers, or real-life people.

4. Compare how Kevin Sites in the excerpt from In the Hot Zone and the narrator of Vu Bao’s story “The Man Who Stained His Soul” feel about the role of propaganda and the manipulation of truth during war.

5. In “The Storytellers of Empire,” Shamsie wonders if American writers ever ask themselves the following questions about people from other cultures: “Who are these people and what do they have to do with us?” (par. 16). Based upon your reading of “2000 lbs.,” how do you think Brian Turner might answer those questions? Why?

1. In the introduction to this Conversation, you may have read the excerpt from Tim O’Brien’s short story “How to Tell a True War Story” (p. 558). Explain why at least two texts from the Conversation would or would not meet O’Brien’s definition.

2. Are conflicts based on culture inevitable, or can they be avoided? Is a lack of understanding between cultures part of what causes conflict? Is racism or prejudice part of the problem? Write an argumentative essay in which you take a position on the factors that lead to cultural conflicts, referring to at least two texts from this Conversation (or one text from the Conversation and the excerpt from When the Emperor Was Divine).

3. Is it possible to know the truth in the midst of the fog of war? What factors, such as time, distance, or multiple sources, might help to know the truth in war? Refer to at least two texts from the Conversation (or one text from the Conversation and the excerpt from When the Emperor Was Divine) to support your position.

4. In an interview with the Paris Review, author Chinua Achebe remarked: “There is that great proverb—that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” In other words, history is written by the victors. Is this really how history works? Write an argumentative piece taking a position on this subject, pointing to specific examples from at least two sources in this Conversation (or one text from the Conversation and the excerpt from When the Emperor Was Divine), as well as at least one example from history or current events.

5. Many of the texts in this Conversation, as well as the excerpt from When the Emperor Was Divine, either directly or indirectly point to propaganda as a significant tool to convince people to fight in wars. Why are humans susceptible to the powers of propaganda? Why is propaganda effective? Write a response using at least two texts from this Conversation (or one text from the Conversation and the excerpt from When the Emperor Was Divine) as well as your own research into other uses of propaganda during wartime.