Mulan Socratic Seminar Reading

Part I

Mulanis a feature length animation released by Walt Disney Pictures.Mulan is filled with the required bursts of song, classic heroines, vile villains, adorable sidekicks (such as Mushu), plenty of comic situations, strong morals, and a conventional conclusion. However, Mulan resists being seen as simply another piece of Disney fluff.

Based upon Chinese folklore, the film follows the escapades of a young girl called Fa Mulan. Problems arise when her aged father is summoned to join the war against invading Huns. In an act of filial devotion (and obligation) Mulan secretly takes his place in the army by disguising herself as a man; knowing full well that such an act is punishable by death under military law.

Read at a surface level, Mulan is just another visually stunning Disney production. However when you scratch the surface, Mulan provides a window in which we can examine how the society defines people by gender. Mulan's character is a blow to the cultural standards that refuse to accept the woman as powerful and feminine at the same time. Mulanmay at first glance appear to be quite revolutionary in comparison to the traditional formula for romantic tales which Disney has been known to employ. After all, it is the heroine of this film who ends up saving the lives of all the major male characters, including not only her love interest but also her father and the emperor, not to mention the whole of China.

Thus the film offers an opportunity to see the unobvious made more obvious; of the problems with gender identity and sexuality, and that such definitionsare open to change. Mulan is adifficultcharacter to define since she occupies a place that is neitherexclusivelyfeminine nor masculine. Mulan's male / female state goes against thenormal social order.It blurs the lines of gender identity separating men from women. The story is dramatic and funny, seeing Mulan and facing her challenges made you cheer for her success, and when she reached her goals, you felt her joy as well.

Mulan's Theme: Girls, Too, Can Accomplish Anything

Family values are very important in Chinese culture. Bringing honor to one's family is imperative, and Mulan wants to do that above all. She loves her family and tries hard to bring honor to them.

When she is not accepted by the matchmaker, she feels that she is not worthy of her family. Leaving them to save her father from certain death shows her love and dedication to him and her mother.

Mulan follows her heart to leave her family, even though she knows the result could be death, either from the attacking Huns or as punishment for disregarding the Chinese law against female participation in war. Along with her courage, Mulan had her family to help push her through troubled times.

If one is female, she is expected to bring honor simply by marrying a man.In order to do so she must be a graceful, submissive, quiet, and generally refined young lady. Mulan, however, is quite arguably none of these things, as in the matchmaker scene at the beginning of the movie.

While she is pretty, she is hardly polished, and though she is certainly creative, her ideas always seem to get her in trouble. She is constantly being rebuked for speaking “out of place.”

And her impersonation of a man (military recruit, no less) is considered to be so offensive to the social norm that she faces the threat of execution when she is eventually found out.

Mulan also shows dedication to her country, herself and her goals. The training for the war takes so much hard, strenuous work that she often cannot keep up with her male companions. When Mulan is ordered off the training team because of her weaknesses, she knows she cannot leave. She stays up all night climbing a tree to reach an arrow that no one else could. When she reaches the arrow, Mulan gains acceptance back into the team and a new-found confidence.

As Mulan looks up at the stubborn arrow, she knows she is not going to give up. She owes it to her family, her country and herself to get through these hardships no matter what. Courage, family values and determination are all prominent themes touched upon in this film, themes that any girl would find appealing. Mulan is certainly the most progressive female character yet to appear in a Disney movie, and yet she can hardly be described as a threat to oursomewhat more modern ideas of the gender roles en-scripted in romance. Her take on femininity is close to what would be acceptable if not ideal to the popular social establishment: that is, a woman possessing beauty, strength, wit, bravery, independence…

Even non-Chinese girls can relate to Mulan and her troubles. In many cultures, women are regarded as less important than men. But Mulan encourages women to follow their dreams and let nothing hinder them. She pulls through in the end as a true "she-hero" for the army, her family and her culture. The film has a lesson for those who want to follow in Mulan's footsteps: that nothing is impossible for a girl if she sets her mind to it. Mulan struggles to win respect, not only for her but for women of all times.

Mulan manages to avoid many of the stereotypical pitfalls that normally plague Western takes on aspects of Asian culture; the buck-toothed, slit-eyed characters. Mulan also defies the image of the passive oriental female. She is a woman warrior; but more like a classic male character type in Chinese culture. One who is seen as an independent outsider, resolute and aggressive in her efforts to correct the world order.

Although Mulan looks the part of the male with her newly cropped hair and bulky armor, she must train in the art of performing things masculine - in order to be seen to possess it. Mulan undergoes grueling drills to reconstruct her body as 'hard' and to change her psychical appearance intothat of the frame of male fearlessness.

However it is important to realize that Mulan is refused recognition as a 'warrior' and therefore entry into the world of male power, until she remakes her feminine self into a masculine form. She must go beyond simply performingas a male, such as her comically gruff voice and swagger; she must embody it. Mulan's identity as Pingcan only be attained when she is defined as being male, not being like a male. It is the thing in itself, not the likeness that is required. It is no coincidence that we cheer for Li Shang who is beefed up and characteristically macho; he is the epitome of the masculine.

This is society’s typical view on positions of male power andfemale powerlessness. To this extent the story confirms the conventional perception of women's incapacity to exert any power other than the power of having babies. But the very success of Mulan to disguise herself as a male in the social eye verifies the natureand power of gender identity. Despite physical differences, Mulan shows that it is the belief in you that is the real claim to the definition of the social self.

Socratic Seminar Questioning Strategies

Exploring Feelings

/ Interpersonal Problem Solving / Analyzing Values

What Happened?

How do you think …felt?

How did … (other persons in the situation) feel? Why do you think this?

Have you ever had something like this happen to you? How did you feel? Why do you think you felt this way?

What happened? …Or what did … do?

What do you think… (the character) should do? Why?

How do you think …(others would react if she/he did that? Why?

Has something like that ever happened to you? What did you do?

As you think back now, do you think that was a good or a bad thing to do? Why do you think so?

Is there anything you could have don differently?

What did they do?

What do you think their reasons for doing this?

What do these reasons tell you about what is important to them?

If you were in the same situation, what would you do?

What does this show about what you think is important?

What differences do you see in what all these people think is important?

Socratic Seminar

The Seminar will be structured in three sections: 1) Unstructured student discussion where students self-monitor and hold a discussion, 2) Semi-structured discussion time when students pass off the right to speak by calling on a student who has a hand raised 3) Round Table, when all students have the opportunity to make a final statement taking turns in clockwise order.

Student Name / Offers solid analysis without prompting / Demonstrates deep knowledge of text through questions and comments / Prepared for seminar with notes, annotations and page numbers / Shows active listening through comments made / Offers clarification and follow-up that extends the conversation / Offers remarks that often refer to specific parts of the text / Makes personal connections to the situations, feelings and motives of characters / Connects literary issues to current or historical issues / Demonstrates consideration for others in discussion, respecting others' time to speak as well as their opinions
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