In class, we discussed the importance of notetaking and how it helps with understanding. Personally, I feel like, in a discussion-based class where we have to be aware and comment on what people say, it is harder to write notes in that setting than in a lecture class where the teacher is talking at you. Nonetheless, I definitely agree that notes help you remember what was talked about; if I looked back on a lecture without notes I would have a very hard time remembering what the professor said. Dr. Albert annunciated how we should always try to understand a different perspective even if we don’t understand it. Writing down interesting and important/questionable views helps you gain that understanding for a different perspective and think about why the author wrote that. After we talked about note-taking, we transitioned to talking about The Dark Side of the Nights” and articles in general. The main point we talked about was how the stories of the Nights derive most of their power from cruelty, prejudice, violence, deceit & hatred. The Thousand and One Nights fascinate, not in spite of their sinister blemishes, but because of them. Once Shahrazad started, she can’t stop telling the story or they will all die and women after her will continue to die, so she traps herself. This development is so interesting to watch because the readers never know if she is going to stop or if the king stops playing into the stories. Surprisingly, everyone in the book is racist, of course the white people are, but even black people in the book will sometimes compare the white people’s complexion to leprosy: but the mention of racism makes it more exciting and appealing. Interestingly, the french/german translations made the book even more racist and sexually explicit than the original; we came to the conclusion that it was definitely to boost popularity and money. People relied on the stories from the past and they can’t really fact-check or travel to see them. The stories were passed down for generations, using Arabian culture and setting but it was used as a form of entertainment, not history. Points made in the “Dark Side of the Nights” article weren’t made elsewhere, so it makes you think about the questions and the past culture and racism
Overall, the book uses its outrageousness and different culture to get people more interested and entertained.
