“Intrusions in Asia; Opera and Society” Please respond to the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:

Describe the key motives involved in the increased presence of Westerners in India, China, and Japan in the 1700s and 1800s. Identify the key factors that led to Britain’s successful imposition of its presence and trade policies on China, despite communications like those from Emperor Ch’ien-lung (i.e., Qianlong) and Commissioner Lin Zexu (i.e., Lin Tse-hsu). Describe your favorite Japanese wood print that captured the imagination of leading Western artists.

Read, listen to, and watch the sources for the opera composers. Describe the major influences that Verdi, Wagner, or Puccini exerted upon opera in terms of making it more innovative, realistic, and even controversial. Speculate on how audiences may have reacted to the work of this composer.

Intrusions in Asia

Chapter 29 (pp. 974-979), intrusions into Asia; Chapter 29 (pp. 980-984), Japanese woodblock prints

Opium Wars and the Opening of China at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/0/20428167

Opium Wars with visuals at http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/opium_wars_01/ow1_essay01.html

Key documents from China at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1793qianlong.asp and http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/com-lin.html

Opera and Society

Chapter 30 (pp. 1003-1010), Wagner and Verdi; (pp. 1133-1134), Puccini

Huizenga article and audio selections at http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/04/11/150420827/talk-like-an-opera-geek-how-verdi-wagner-and-puccini-got-their-grooves

Wagner video of a stage production (Tristan und Isolde) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEkTK6aKUM

Verdi video clip of stage production (Rigoletto) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5NEOh-XhyA

Puccini video clip of stage production (Tosca) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sSoKbv46zc