Summarizing: Irwin or Staninger

Summary of approximately 250 words:

In the article, “The Dark Side of The Arabian Nights” by Robert Irwin it details the problematic messages and ideals behind the Nights. He discusses the innocence of the stories but hences in on the prejudice representations hidden behind the words. There are specific stories recounted that demonstrate themes seen in the book of racism, anti-semitism, and cruelty towards women. Then Irwin goes in depth with an explanation on how black men are perceived in the book, they are seen as a sexual threat and mocked for their looks and intelligence. 

Irwin brings up a point that this is not the only place where these “ugly passions” can be found. We can see these problematic ideals in medieval Arabic popular literature and even popular literature from many different countries/cultures. When it comes to the translation of the stories there are passages where racist abuse is heightened in the English translation. Irwin describes how multiple translators let their own personal beliefs impact the translation of stories. One example of this is in the French translation, in which Mardus uses a derogatory term for black people to serve as slaves in the stories. Irwin is continuously proving his point of racism in the stories and how it has worsened since the original text was released. Overall, in the article Irwin tells the plain truth that the stories express cruelty, prejudice, violence, and hatred but, it is because of this the Nights is fascinating for others to read.

150 Characters Summary:

The Nights is a story book that may seem innocent but, it is deeply problematic while deconstructing some of the deeper meanings inside the passages.

Reflection:

The difference between paraphrasing and summarizing is that summarizing focuses on the main idea of passage rather than the small ideals that support it (paraphrasing). A summary is something that is written in your own words as the reader and considers you point of view on the theme of the passage. Paraphrasing is something much shorter than a summary but it does detail the smaller key points that the author is making.