Tehanu | Essay & Project Ideas

Tehanu Ideas for Reports and Papers

1. Alfred Kroeber, Ursula K. Le Guin's father, wrote a pioneering study early in his career entitled Handbook of the Indians of California. Several tribes he studied had naming practices, use names and true names, resembling the practices in Le Guin's Earthsea. After reading Kroeber's text, try to determine the similarities in naming practice between the two, native Americans and natives of Earthsea, and what the significance of naming is in Le Guin's fantasy.

2. Several essays in Le Guin's The Language of the Night deal with fantasy, such as "The Child and the Shadow."

After reading some of the essays, try to define Le Guin's idea of fantasy and apply your definition to an analysis of Tehanu.

3. Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex was one of the first major studies of sexism in culture. After reading the book, describe the sexist practices...
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