Warm up
What are you looking forward to for the holidays?
Topic of Discussion
Japanese folk tale “Mr. Lucky Straw”
https://www.umds.ac.jp/wp-content/themes/umds/files/speech-contest/mr-lucky-straw.pdf
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever heard this folk before? If so, when did you first hear it?
- Do you believe in luck? Why or why not? Do you believe luck is random, or do you believe there a higher power at work behind “lucky” circumstances? Please explain.
- Have you ever experienced circumstances that you felt were lucky or providential? If so, what happened?
- What role does the concept of “luck” play in Japanese culture?
- What’s your favorite folk tale and why?
- Do you know any folk tales from other countries or cultures? What are they?
- What makes a folk tale a folk tale? (In other words, what criteria does a story need to meet to be considered a folk tale?)
