What are the 02 sample essays analyzing the image of the poor intellectual in the short story "Đời thừa"? What are the requirements for selecting text corpus for the Literature curriculum in Vietnam?
What are the 02 sample essays analyzing the image of the poor intellectual in the short story "Đời thừa"?
Below are sample essays analyzing the image of the poor intellectual in the short story "Đời thừa":
Sample 1
| Nam Cao is an exceptional realist writer of Vietnamese literature from the 1930-1945 period, known for works on two main themes: the poor farmer and the petty-bourgeois intellectual in the old society. The short story "Đời thừa" is one of his notable works, deeply reflecting the tragedy of the poor intellectual, exemplified by the character Ho. Ho emerges with internal struggles between a noble artistic ideal and the harsh reality of basic needs. Through this, Nam Cao expresses sorrow and concern over the impasse of the poor intellectual class in contemporary society. First of all, Ho is an intellectual with grand ideals and a desire to create genuine art. He does not want to become a mediocre writer, writing easy things just to make money, but aspires to create valuable works, “to write something truly great, extraordinary, beautiful.” He dreams of leaving immortal works that truthfully and movingly reflect human life. This ideal reveals a soul full of ambition, a true artistic spirit. Ho writes not only out of passion but also to use his pen to reform society, helping people understand the value of life. The image of Ho reflects a class of intellectuals with progressive thoughts, harboring great aspirations, yet also full of misfortune because they cannot realize their ideals. However, harsh reality forces Ho into a tragedy torn between ideals and survival. Ho is a poor intellectual, struggling with basic needs to support his family. To provide for his wife and children, he is forced to write cheap articles, stories pandering to mundane tastes that he himself despises. He despairingly realizes he is selling his talent, losing his original ideals. The dream of creating noble art becomes increasingly distant as life’s hardships close in, dragging him down into a quagmire of impotence and despair. Ho's tragedy is not just his own but a shared pain of many poor intellectuals in the old society, talented and idealistic people crushed by harsh life. Not only is he stuck in his art, but Ho also falls into a painful family tragedy. Due to economic pressures, he gradually becomes irritable and coarse with his wife and children—those he once loved and cherished. Previously, Ho married Tu—a woman of misfortune—with love and tolerance. But then, the harsh life changes him. He despises poverty, resents his wife's sacrifices as he considers these to be what hold back his career. When drunk, he utters bitter, cold words that cause Tu pain. After such incidents, Ho torments himself because he realizes he has become the kind of person he once despised. Ho's greatest tragedy is that of an intellectual with noble character but helpless against fate, losing himself in the harsh spins of life. Ho in "Đời thừa" is not only an individual portrait but also a representative symbol of the poor intellectual class in the colonial feudal society. They bear ambitions and noble character but are driven to degradation, losing themselves due to circumstances. With sharp realism combined with deep psychological analysis, Nam Cao vividly depicts the tragedy of intellectuals, also expressing deep empathy for talented yet unfortunate people. The short story "Đời thừa" not only reflects personal pain but also criticizes the old society that stifled talent and buried noble aspirations. |
Sample 2
| Nam Cao is one of the most outstanding realist writers of Vietnamese literature from 1930-1945. He constantly pondered human fate, particularly the poor intellectuals torn between ideals and reality. The short story "Đời thừa" presents a realistic picture of the tragedy of the petty-bourgeois intellectuals in the old society, with Ho as a typical character. Through the image of the poor intellectual in this work, Nam Cao deeply reflects the suffering of people living against their dreams and ideals. Ho is a talented writer with grand artistic ambitions. He does not want to write mediocre works but aspires to create works of true value, “to write something different, meaningful, making readers think, be moved, feel pain, and change something in their souls.” These aspirations reflect the soul of a true artist, wishing to use his pen to change society. However, in a society full of injustices and poverty, such noble ideals become a luxury for the poor intellectual. Real-life pushes Ho into a terrible tragedy when he is forced to abandon his ideals for survival. To make ends meet, he must write cheap articles, meaningless stories just to earn money to support his wife and children. Even he despises what he writes, but he has no choice. The greatest suffering of a poor intellectual is not hunger, but having to betray his own dreams. This tragedy is not only Ho's but also shares with many poor intellectuals in the old society: talented, idealistic people crushed by harsh circumstances. Not only failing in his career, but Ho also falls into a painful family tragedy. He once loved and cherished Tu—a gentle, unfortunate woman—but the poor, hard life gradually changed him. He becomes irritable and cold with his wife and children, sometimes even taking out harsh words on them. He understands his family is not to blame, but the deadlock makes him a different person. After drunken episodes, he torments himself, suffering for hurting his loved ones. Ho's tragedy is not only that of an artist unable to fulfill ideals but also of a person helpless against life, gradually losing his noble character. Ho in "Đời thừa" is a representative symbol of the poor intellectual class in colonial feudal society. They have aspirations, talent but are tormented to the point of degradation, living against their dreams. Nam Cao uses sharp realism combined with delicate psychological portrayal to depict the poor intellectual's image in a realistic and haunting way. Through this, he not only criticizes the old society that stifled human talent but also expresses sympathy and empathy for intellectuals with aspirations but driven to helplessness and despair by their circumstances. |
Note: The 02 sample essays are for reference only!
What are the 02 sample essays analyzing the image of the poor intellectual in the short story "Đời thừa"? What are the requirements for selecting text corpus for the Literature curriculum in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)
What are the requirements for selecting text corpus for the Literature curriculum in Vietnam?
According to the General Education Program in Literature issued with Circular 32/2018/TT-BGDDT, the requirements for selecting text corpus for the Literature curriculum in Vietnam are as follows:
In addition to ensuring the criteria stated in section V, text corpus in the Literature curriculum must meet the following requirements:
- Ensure a reasonable ratio between literary texts, argumentative texts, and informational texts. In literary texts, pay attention to ensuring a relative balance among basic genres (narrative, poetry, prose, drama), between classical and modern literature, between folk and written literature, between Kinh literature and minority literature, between Vietnamese and foreign literature, between East and West.
“Balance” is understood as an appropriate proportion, not an equal ratio. text corpus for all grades must include narrative and poetry texts. Besides narrative and poetry, each educational level must have prose or drama texts. Grades at the primary level and early lower secondary level prioritize modern and contemporary Vietnamese literature. The phenomenon of using the same text repeatedly in different grades or educational levels must be limited.
- Ensure appropriateness of the text with the requirements of development and learning time of the curriculum. Text difficulty increases gradually through each school year. The time to teach a text must be compatible with its length and complexity to ensure the teacher can help students fully and deeply access the text, allowing students the opportunity to read directly and thoroughly the selected works. The teaching of excerpts, except for large literary works such as novels, memoirs, epics, for example: Nguyen Du's "Truyện Kiều" must be limited.
- Ensure the inheritance and development of existing Literature curricula. The curriculum is based on 9 authors and literary works studied in the existing program and textbooks, selecting and supplementing some authors, and works of importance, representing national literature achievements across periods to teach in schools at three levels: mandatory works (textbook authors and teachers are required to implement according to program regulations); mandatory selected works (textbook authors are required to select the work of an author named in the curriculum list); suggested selection works (textbook authors freely select works according to the curriculum's suggested list).
Specifically, for three authors Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Du, and Ho Chi Minh in high school, there is an additional overview introduction about the literary author. Based on the required achievement for each class and the prescribed list of mandatory works, mandatory selection works, textbook authors choose additional suitable text corpus recommended inside or outside the curriculum’s suggestion list at the curriculum’s end.
Teachers and students choose to read some extended texts suitable for the curriculum's requirements and age to discuss in groups or in class.
What are the required outcomes regarding extensive reading in the 12th-grade Literature curriculum in Vietnam?
According to the General Education Program in Literature issued with Circular 32/2018/TT-BGDDT, the required outcomes regarding extensive reading in the 12th-grade Literature curriculum in Vietnam are as follows:
- During one school year, read at least 35 literary texts (including texts guided for reading on the Internet) that are equivalent in genre and length to the learned texts.
- Memorize some favorite poetry lines or poems in the curriculum.
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