JAPANESE CULTURE – Film
Reviews, Essay assignments, and Term Projects.
I. FILM REVIEWS:
Before coming to class on film review days,
purchase a blue-book at the University Book Store (these cost 30 cents). When you arrive in class you will be asked to
put your empty bluebook in the class “supply.” At the time for the in-class
writing, everyone will be given a bluebook and the film-review assignment
prompt. You will then write your
response in class, using no more than one bluebook for your answer. Although grading on grammar, spelling, and
punctuation are less strict than with the on-line submissions, you should
attempt to write legible, concise sentences that develop key points in
well-formed paragraphs. That is, the
exercises are not intended to be entirely “informal” writing. In general, you
will be at liberty to apply any of the films we have seen in class to the
questions, although there may be question options that relate to specific
films, or specific scenes within films and the in-class discussions. There will not be questions that require
information only found in the on-line discussions, though the on-line material
may often be helpful for responses to particular questions.
II. ON-LINE RESPONSE ESSAYS
Response essays should be completed in MS Word if possible, and saved in an RTF
format. I will also accept Word Perfect RTF files or Notepad files.
The dropboxes remain open for the full course.
However, there are posted due dates for each assignment, and your submissions
are logged by time and dates. Materials submitted late may be penalized
points. Each of the essays is worth 9 percentage points toward the
final grade.
I will add possible essay topics as the course progresses, gearing them to the
ongoing lectures, discussions, and readings. The general format for
submission is as follows:
(a) Include the essay prompt at the top of the page.
(b) Do not use cover pages, running heads, or titles/subtitles--treat the
essay as you would a blue-book examination question.
(c) Write between 300 and 500 words, but no more than 500 words.
(d) Include references and bibliography as appropriate (see the writing
guide), but DO NOT USE EXTENSIVE QUOTATIONS. These exercises are not
designed to see if you can find other people's arguments and string block
quotations together--you should be trying to integrate the lectures and
multiple reading sources IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
The term project may be linked to any of the materials presented during class. This is a very “open” assignment, and there are four general avenues for completion:
1. The first possibility is an open
assignment. You may present any personal work you want as a reflection on
the cultural themes manifest in the course. Work creatively, but be sure
that the work is original and that it may be justified as an exploration of the
premises of Japanese culture. It is a
good idea to discuss ideas for this approach to the assignment with me. I will generally approve any reasonable
approach, regardless of form, as long as I’m sure the substantive content is
there and the work represents a responsible amount of time commitment.
2. TOPIC ESSAY. Write an essay of
500-800 words (2-3 double-spaced, typed pages) that identifies the central
theme of any topic area relating to
3.
FAMILY
RESPONSIBILITY ESSAY. Write an essay of 500-800 words that explores the issues
of family/group responsibility and individual expression as a comparison or
contrast between modern Japanese culture and the culture of the
4. BOOK REVIEW ESSAY.
a. Identify one or more books of interest to you, that focus on some aspect of Japanese life.
b. Read the material (if your initial book proves less interesting than expected, shift to another work on your list).
c. Write, in 300-800 words, a formal prose review of the work to:
1. identify its main themes,
2. relate those themes and the cultural premises identified in the course handout,
3. explain why this book is effective in relating cross-cultural differences
4. identify any questions that remain, or arise, as a result of reading the book.
In general, keep your writing focused on analysis. If you quote or paraphrase material from the book, provide page numbers in the reference. Do not consult other critiques, reviews, or materials as part of the review; this review should be your analysis and discussion based upon your personal reading.