An Interview With Mark (Click Link)
by Uka O'Hara
Author's note: Uka has been having some technical difficulty with logging and posting on the site, so I am uploading this interview piece on her behalf. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by her for about an hour. It is very interesting to talk about yourself and then see the content written up as an interview article. Uka gave me a chance to review the content of what she wrote based on the audio recording, and we worked together to revise and edit it. I hope many students can try a similar genre in the future!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Arisa's second piece "A new world"
Author's Note: It is a poem in which I tried to express my feeling towards becoming an author from a reader.
Reading has always been my greatest hobby and I sincerely love books.I also admired those of who actually write books, the authors, because I think literature and any kinds of writing pieces have power to give people powerful influence, and here I mean good influences. But I have never imagined of becoming an author, because I thought I am not good enough and I didn't own skills and talents. However, in this course, I had great joy for creating my writing pieces and getting comments from others. It felt great when some people commented on my blogs and academic writing pieces, especially when the comments are positive ones. So I tried to express my joy of becoming an author. At the first part I tried to introduce the books that have influenced me in my childhood. Then I expressed what I think it is like to be an author.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oqNR2I7JTMSHJvYA78r1d4ur5PHdGon200-DCljySiU/edit
Reading has always been my greatest hobby and I sincerely love books.I also admired those of who actually write books, the authors, because I think literature and any kinds of writing pieces have power to give people powerful influence, and here I mean good influences. But I have never imagined of becoming an author, because I thought I am not good enough and I didn't own skills and talents. However, in this course, I had great joy for creating my writing pieces and getting comments from others. It felt great when some people commented on my blogs and academic writing pieces, especially when the comments are positive ones. So I tried to express my joy of becoming an author. At the first part I tried to introduce the books that have influenced me in my childhood. Then I expressed what I think it is like to be an author.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oqNR2I7JTMSHJvYA78r1d4ur5PHdGon200-DCljySiU/edit
Arisa's first piece "A letter to the future me"
Author's Note:
When I started this piece, I actually did not know the exact reason why I decided to write a letter to the future me. But now I think it was because I had anxiety for myself and also for my future, and that made me want to send myself some sort of message to cheer myself up. There are things that make me worried, such as my studies, future career, my relationship with my family and friends. I also think a lot of my future, especially the ways to live independently and also things concerning with my marriage or other important events to come in the future. Voices from TVs, books and news papers talking about how bad the future for the current young will be, often make me feel scared and confused. I honestly do not have any idea how to be prepared for the coming future. The only thing I can always do is to believe in myself and be strong by making the best out of what I have. So I wanted to tell myself in the future to be strong enough to stand by herself and also to be happy with people around her. That is the reason why I wrote the letter and I think I have managed to write it with my sincere concern for the future me.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_92fUt7Sbe_ZGRkZDVlMjctZGM2Yy00MDI1LWFmODgtMWU0MDkxYjc4YzM1
When I started this piece, I actually did not know the exact reason why I decided to write a letter to the future me. But now I think it was because I had anxiety for myself and also for my future, and that made me want to send myself some sort of message to cheer myself up. There are things that make me worried, such as my studies, future career, my relationship with my family and friends. I also think a lot of my future, especially the ways to live independently and also things concerning with my marriage or other important events to come in the future. Voices from TVs, books and news papers talking about how bad the future for the current young will be, often make me feel scared and confused. I honestly do not have any idea how to be prepared for the coming future. The only thing I can always do is to believe in myself and be strong by making the best out of what I have. So I wanted to tell myself in the future to be strong enough to stand by herself and also to be happy with people around her. That is the reason why I wrote the letter and I think I have managed to write it with my sincere concern for the future me.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_92fUt7Sbe_ZGRkZDVlMjctZGM2Yy00MDI1LWFmODgtMWU0MDkxYjc4YzM1
Mitsuru's 3rd piece: The Letter to Freddie Mercury
TITLE: The letter to Freddie Mercury
https://docs.google.com/
Author's note
My favorite rock band is QUEEN. Freddie is the vocalist of it. I am always given confidences from their songs. Before I decide the topic of 3rd piece, I thought to write the letter to my partner. However, I remember there is person I love more deeply than him.
Freddie is the one. Please read it while listening to the songs that I wrote in this letter on YouTube.
Mitsuru's 2nd Piece: The Pillow Book by Seisyonagon
TITLE: The pillow book by seisyonagon
https://docs.google.com/
Author's note
I learned about the pillow book on Classical Japanese Literature2
course in this term, therefore I want to write it.
The sense of feeling beauty is important in our life. This text show it for us.
Special thanks for my hometown because I can imagine all location and
creatures in this text.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
"6 Prefectures in 6 Days" by Kazuki
6 Prefectures in 6 Days
Author’s note:
This is a travel journal about my travel in last summer. Through writing this journal, I remembered a lot of things in the travel and I wrote them.
"Haiku on My Travel" by Kazuki
Haiku on My Travel
Author’s note: These are haiku on my trip. I went to some places and felt many things, so I made haikus from these feelings. Yu advised me about the layout of this piece, thank you.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ehShZAROkF5m1EiIJW60xlums0WYCMXogIDhvQ_pmo/edit
Friday, November 11, 2011
"For My Dearest Friend" by Tetsuro
"For My Dearest Friend"
Author's Note:
I do not know this will be categorized as a writing in which genre.
It seems like a letter, but it is also a kind of a poem.
I just write everything I think about my dearest friend.
>I am sorry for late posting. My PC somehow lost access to the Internet last night, and I could not post this.
Author's Note:
I do not know this will be categorized as a writing in which genre.
It seems like a letter, but it is also a kind of a poem.
I just write everything I think about my dearest friend.
>I am sorry for late posting. My PC somehow lost access to the Internet last night, and I could not post this.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
A Guide of Minzoku buyo class by Mio
"A Guide of Minzoku buyo class"
Authors note: I tried to write a guide of a PE class, Minzoku buyo class because this class was so fascinating for me, so I wanted to introduce how this class was good. If you did not finish PE classes, , I recommend this to you! This class gave me the different view of the traditional Japanese dance.
Authors note: I tried to write a guide of a PE class, Minzoku buyo class because this class was so fascinating for me, so I wanted to introduce how this class was good. If you did not finish PE classes, , I recommend this to you! This class gave me the different view of the traditional Japanese dance.
Epitaph for Myself
Epitaph for Myself
Author's Note:
An epitaph is a very short sentence on a gravestone. It is a message for whom visit one's grave after one died. Some thank them, some are humorous, and some are profound, but all of them are results of the reflection of the dead. Epitaphs reflect values and characters of the dead.
Author's Note:
An epitaph is a very short sentence on a gravestone. It is a message for whom visit one's grave after one died. Some thank them, some are humorous, and some are profound, but all of them are results of the reflection of the dead. Epitaphs reflect values and characters of the dead.
"Winter has come" by Buchi
Author's note : This is a poem about winter.
First, I began to write a set of haiku; however, it became a poem in spite of my will. I wrote it because I like winter even though it is too cold. I wanted to tell readers that winter is not only a cold season but also warm season in my sense.
I want to say thank you for Mitsuru, who gave me advise about rhymes and Mark, who suggested me to include progressive forms.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mZPf_FUuegHJIkjBPplaot3pX_m54z2im2SiRKzFVfs/edit?disco=AAAAAEIQQL8
First, I began to write a set of haiku; however, it became a poem in spite of my will. I wrote it because I like winter even though it is too cold. I wanted to tell readers that winter is not only a cold season but also warm season in my sense.
I want to say thank you for Mitsuru, who gave me advise about rhymes and Mark, who suggested me to include progressive forms.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mZPf_FUuegHJIkjBPplaot3pX_m54z2im2SiRKzFVfs/edit?disco=AAAAAEIQQL8
"Stand up 2 Your ways" by Genta
"Stand up 2 Your ways"
Author's note:
My 3rd piece is a short poetic story. It is based on my memory in 2007, but I failed to describe it as the reality because of the lack of my ability.
I found it difficult to describe the things in detail through writing this.
In this story, I quoted the verse of the songs as follows
"After dark" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENARATION
"A knife in the water" by ART-SCHOOL
"Rose flower" by Quruli
I wanted to inweave the lyrics in the dialogue at heart.
Actually I didn't try to do because I thought that making them independent would express the feeling more.
Author's note:
My 3rd piece is a short poetic story. It is based on my memory in 2007, but I failed to describe it as the reality because of the lack of my ability.
I found it difficult to describe the things in detail through writing this.
In this story, I quoted the verse of the songs as follows
"After dark" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENARATION
"A knife in the water" by ART-SCHOOL
"Rose flower" by Quruli
I wanted to inweave the lyrics in the dialogue at heart.
Actually I didn't try to do because I thought that making them independent would express the feeling more.
"Recommendation of Bjork's works" by Kaori
"Recommendation of Bjork's works" (Link here)
Author's note:
I am sorry to publish this a little late.
Here I will introduce you some of Bjork's works. I am sure it is not a fair review as I love her works, but I hope you to enjoy to touch a part of her world.
I put caution mark (!!) on some of them. Be careful to watch the videos please.
Author's note:
I am sorry to publish this a little late.
Here I will introduce you some of Bjork's works. I am sure it is not a fair review as I love her works, but I hope you to enjoy to touch a part of her world.
I put caution mark (!!) on some of them. Be careful to watch the videos please.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
"Usual Days" by Riki Nozawa
"Usual Days" by Riki Nozawa (Link)
Author's Note:
This is a poem about usual days. I'm always amazed by the passing speed of usual days. I think one of the reason that swiftness of usual days is lack of special events or experiences. I expressed my astonishment by this poem.
Author's Note:
This is a poem about usual days. I'm always amazed by the passing speed of usual days. I think one of the reason that swiftness of usual days is lack of special events or experiences. I expressed my astonishment by this poem.
A letter to Roku by Meiko
A letter to Roku by Meiko (Link)
Author's note:
I wrote a letter to my dog, Roku. He is mixed, a boy, and 5 years old. I love him very much.
Usually, I talk face to face with him (of course he cannot speak, but he can show his feeling only by expression,) but I tried to write down because the contents was important and I wanted to leave it. When I go home in Christmas vacation, I will read it for him.
I couldn't get comments because I didn't have time to share this in class.
I will continue blogging, so please feel free to leave comments! Thank you.
Author's note:
I wrote a letter to my dog, Roku. He is mixed, a boy, and 5 years old. I love him very much.
Usually, I talk face to face with him (of course he cannot speak, but he can show his feeling only by expression,) but I tried to write down because the contents was important and I wanted to leave it. When I go home in Christmas vacation, I will read it for him.
I couldn't get comments because I didn't have time to share this in class.
I will continue blogging, so please feel free to leave comments! Thank you.
"Engrish" by Hisashi Tsuchiya
"Engrish" by Hisashi Tsuchiya (Link)
The final piece is a short story about "Engrish" which is English Japanese or Asian(?) people speak. The reason English they speak is called Engrish is they don't understand the differences between L and R, S and SH, or S and TH pronounciations. The story is about such an irony. If you come up with your own one, please share!
Thanks.
The final piece is a short story about "Engrish" which is English Japanese or Asian(?) people speak. The reason English they speak is called Engrish is they don't understand the differences between L and R, S and SH, or S and TH pronounciations. The story is about such an irony. If you come up with your own one, please share!
Thanks.
"Invisible" by Hisashi Tsuchiya
"Invisible" by Hisashi Tsuchiya (Link)
Author's note:
I wrote a poem about personalities or individualities. Some people try to hide themselves or be someone else, afraid of being different from others. But that's not good because being who we are is special and interesting. I described how miserable it is not to be live the way you are.
Thanks, Arisa, for cheking my grammar error.
Thanks, Genta and my theme wrting course's teacher Ms.Ueno, for commenting.
Author's note:
I wrote a poem about personalities or individualities. Some people try to hide themselves or be someone else, afraid of being different from others. But that's not good because being who we are is special and interesting. I described how miserable it is not to be live the way you are.
Thanks, Arisa, for cheking my grammar error.
Thanks, Genta and my theme wrting course's teacher Ms.Ueno, for commenting.
"Reasons to be happy" by Riki Nozawa
"Reasons to be happy" by Riki Nozawa (Link)
Author's Note:
This is an essay(?) about happiness. This essay pays homage to Greg Egan, science fiction writer. His novel "Reasons to be cheerful" is very imaginative and stimulating. He gave me completely new view of happiness, and I want to express this strong inspiration.
Author's Note:
This is an essay(?) about happiness. This essay pays homage to Greg Egan, science fiction writer. His novel "Reasons to be cheerful" is very imaginative and stimulating. He gave me completely new view of happiness, and I want to express this strong inspiration.
"40 Weeks" by Hisashi Tsuchiya
"40 Weeks" by Hisashi Tsuchiya (Link)
Author's note:
This is about Mother, and I wrote about it through my experience in my high school days that I was tricked by spam e-mail and paid some money. Our mother knows everything about her kids!
Thank you.
Author's note:
This is about Mother, and I wrote about it through my experience in my high school days that I was tricked by spam e-mail and paid some money. Our mother knows everything about her kids!
Thank you.
"Tragic change of a girl's feeling" by Yosuke Azetaka
"Tragic change of a girl's feeling" by Yosuke Azetaka (Link)
Author's note;
I want to introduce the bad side of the aids from all over the countries to Tohoku. The baddest aid is cash compensation (“Gienkin” in Japanese) because, according to Jonathan Wolff who is a professor of philosophy/political philosophy at the London University, Governments cannot give cash compensation for ever and cash compensation injure their character and self esteem. Cash compensation has 2 problems. First, there is a problem about mismatch. In this world, it is true that victims need more money to live, but only money cannot compensate for them because what they want is very diverse and sometimes everybody cannot buy what they want such as rights and domination. In this world, there are many problems people cannot solve using money. Second, there is a problem about “humiliating”. To get the cash compensation, it is needed for victims to reveal their shame to their government (Shameful revelation=”恥辱の告白”). After revealing their shame to get the cash compensation, their self esteems are injured and feel humiliated. It leads to stigmatization. The relation between victims and governments, and between victims and supporters, will include the relationship of “higher and lower” in subconsciousness of all people. It makes it impossible for people to maintain their social equality. Also, cash compensation makes it more difficult for victims to live without cash compensation itself. Due to cash compensation, victims’ sense of autonomy decrease. Someday, the amount of cash compensation decrease or vanish. Then, how will the victims live without cash compensation? Therefore, governments should not do cash compensation for victims themselves.
Author's note;
I want to introduce the bad side of the aids from all over the countries to Tohoku. The baddest aid is cash compensation (“Gienkin” in Japanese) because, according to Jonathan Wolff who is a professor of philosophy/political philosophy at the London University, Governments cannot give cash compensation for ever and cash compensation injure their character and self esteem. Cash compensation has 2 problems. First, there is a problem about mismatch. In this world, it is true that victims need more money to live, but only money cannot compensate for them because what they want is very diverse and sometimes everybody cannot buy what they want such as rights and domination. In this world, there are many problems people cannot solve using money. Second, there is a problem about “humiliating”. To get the cash compensation, it is needed for victims to reveal their shame to their government (Shameful revelation=”恥辱の告白”). After revealing their shame to get the cash compensation, their self esteems are injured and feel humiliated. It leads to stigmatization. The relation between victims and governments, and between victims and supporters, will include the relationship of “higher and lower” in subconsciousness of all people. It makes it impossible for people to maintain their social equality. Also, cash compensation makes it more difficult for victims to live without cash compensation itself. Due to cash compensation, victims’ sense of autonomy decrease. Someday, the amount of cash compensation decrease or vanish. Then, how will the victims live without cash compensation? Therefore, governments should not do cash compensation for victims themselves.
-------------------------------------------------
cf) What should governments do?
The money, which now government pays for cash compensation, should be used for making more works, affiliations and education, making people more autonomy and eliminating poverty.
↑
creating new social systems→change the current social systems
&
targeted resource enhancement; ex) PC→give PC to victims only to use. ×to resell the PC to get money
-------------------------------------------------
I thank Hisashi for his comment to my piece. He gave me an advice that my piece was vague and it was difficult to undersrand what I mean. Therefore, I revised my piece and add some information related to the contents to the author's note. Thanks, Hisashi!
''On the Morning'' by Natsuki Shimizu
''On the Morning'' by Natsuki Shimizu (Link)
Author’s Note:
I made this haiku according to my real life in the morning. It is getting cold outside these days and it is really hard for me to get up in the morning because I have a poor circulation. I found that we need to create haiku with candid and straightforward words to express what we want specifically with a limited number of words.
Thank you:)
Author’s Note:
I made this haiku according to my real life in the morning. It is getting cold outside these days and it is really hard for me to get up in the morning because I have a poor circulation. I found that we need to create haiku with candid and straightforward words to express what we want specifically with a limited number of words.
Thank you:)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
"Recommendation to Join Debating Society" by Kumiko Dojo
Recommendation to Join Debating Society
Author's note: This is an explanation about debating. Actually, this was supposed to be my 1st publishing, but became the last one since I wanted include so many things that I couldn't organize it easily. I would like you to read this and to be interested in debating even a little bit!! Big thanks to Kumon who is my old "sekume" for commenting and my debating friends for giving me some ideas about this essay
Short Story by Kumiko Dojo
Author's Note: This is a short story about what we can think about unseen existence. It is based on what I felt when I listened to Buddhist priest.
I thank my grand father for giving me an idea which I hadn't had. Thank you Tomo who is not in this class, but giving me comments about this.
11/7 - Final Class! + Self-Eval Email Assignment
Wednesday 11/9 - Final Class:
In this class, everyone, including me, will make a short presentation of 1~2 min. to the whole class. The purpose of the presentation is twofold:
a) To share what you published or plan to publish. Explain the theme, genre, main characteristics and highlights of your pieces.
b) Share what you learned about yourself and yourself as a writer (which is the final blogging topic). What have you discovered about what you like to write, what you have found is difficult, how you've developed your skill for the process etc. How's your skill of choosing a theme/genre, getting a mentor text, using a writer's notebook, finding a time/place to write, drafting, sharing/getting feedback, revising, editing, publishing.
Friday 11/11 is the deadline for your Self-Evaluation and Reflection: In an email to me, please answer the following 5 questions:
1) How was your blogging of 20 topics, 100 words or more? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Were you able to thinking carefully about the topic and write your ideas thoughtfully even if roughly?
2) How was your publishing of 3 different genres? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Were you able to experience the process of writing and develop yourself as a writer?
3) How was your participation in the You class? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Did you actively attend and support other classmates through feedback and commenting on blogs or published pieces?
4) Based on the above, if you were me (the instructor Mark), what final course grade (A Excellent, B Good, C Satisfactory, D Unsatisfactory ~E) would you give yourself and why?
5) Finally, what was your impression of the YOU class? What was good for you? Also, how can it be better next year? I would appreciate your suggestions!
In this class, everyone, including me, will make a short presentation of 1~2 min. to the whole class. The purpose of the presentation is twofold:
a) To share what you published or plan to publish. Explain the theme, genre, main characteristics and highlights of your pieces.
b) Share what you learned about yourself and yourself as a writer (which is the final blogging topic). What have you discovered about what you like to write, what you have found is difficult, how you've developed your skill for the process etc. How's your skill of choosing a theme/genre, getting a mentor text, using a writer's notebook, finding a time/place to write, drafting, sharing/getting feedback, revising, editing, publishing.
Friday 11/11 is the deadline for your Self-Evaluation and Reflection: In an email to me, please answer the following 5 questions:
1) How was your blogging of 20 topics, 100 words or more? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Were you able to thinking carefully about the topic and write your ideas thoughtfully even if roughly?
2) How was your publishing of 3 different genres? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Were you able to experience the process of writing and develop yourself as a writer?
3) How was your participation in the You class? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Did you actively attend and support other classmates through feedback and commenting on blogs or published pieces?
4) Based on the above, if you were me (the instructor Mark), what final course grade (A Excellent, B Good, C Satisfactory, D Unsatisfactory ~E) would you give yourself and why?
5) Finally, what was your impression of the YOU class? What was good for you? Also, how can it be better next year? I would appreciate your suggestions!
A poem by Kumiko Dojo
Author’s note: I want to share my old poem made in a class when I was 17. I made revised some but not much. This poem is reflected my idea of existence of life. I do not remember what feelings I had when I made this poem, but I remember I really liked it. Please do not try to understand but feel and imagine. Also, please check the shape of the poem.
Thank you,Natsuki and Mark for commenting!!
Short Letters to My Precious Families by Chihiro
by Chihiro
Author's Note:
This is my 3rd piece, Short Letter to My Precious Families.
It has 3 letters to each 3 member of my family.
For me, it is difficult to speak my honest mind in a voice.
Moreover I felt I had lacked in communication with my family.
So, I decided to communicate my real intention through writing.
(First I wanted to write a will and testament as a letter, but it was gloomy in writing....)
Poem for "The house shone by the Sun" by Kaori
"Poem for "The house shone by the Sun"" Link here
Author's Note:
This is a poem for my favorite music. WIll you please read and see this with the music as BGM; I put a link on Youtube on the first page of this article.
The house shone by the Sun, in Japanese 陽のあたる家, was produced by Taro HAKASE, who is a famous violinist. Unfortunately I have not watched, but this music was once a theme of a TV program.
In this poem, I tasked me two rules. However, I will not write here to ask you as a quiz...the answer will be shown when you click comment. Enjoy reading!
Special Thanks: Yu K (, Yohei O. who is not in this class)
Yu again helped me to publish this article. Without his cooperation, I would not be able to include the original music in this! Thank you so much!!
Yohei is who made me and this music met. Thank you to introduce this music to me.
Author's Note:
This is a poem for my favorite music. WIll you please read and see this with the music as BGM; I put a link on Youtube on the first page of this article.
The house shone by the Sun, in Japanese 陽のあたる家, was produced by Taro HAKASE, who is a famous violinist. Unfortunately I have not watched, but this music was once a theme of a TV program.
In this poem, I tasked me two rules. However, I will not write here to ask you as a quiz...the answer will be shown when you click comment. Enjoy reading!
Special Thanks: Yu K (, Yohei O. who is not in this class)
Yu again helped me to publish this article. Without his cooperation, I would not be able to include the original music in this! Thank you so much!!
Yohei is who made me and this music met. Thank you to introduce this music to me.
Translation of "Kon and Aki" by Chihiro
Kon and Aki (English) Kon to Aki (Japanese)
by Chihiro
by Chihiro
Author's Note:
My 2nd piece is a translation of a Japanese picture book, Kon and Aki. I guess some of you have seen this picture book when you were a child. In my childhood, I also loved it and asked mother to read again and again.
For a picture book, of course, pictures are the most important contents. But I’m really sorry I couldn’t show the beautiful pictures with my translation. I could just upload the videos of telling Kon and Aki from Youtube, but they are grainy. If you have time, go to ICU library and borrow the picture book.So please watch it.
In translating, it is difficult to translate Japanese onomatopoeic words into English natural expressions. After I finished it, I was really made to realize I should have read more English sources and learned how to tell stories in English. It'll be the biggest reflective experience I gained through the 2nd publishing. If you find an unnatural expression, please feel free to tell me as a comment.
Hayashi, Akiko. Kon and Aki [Kon to Aki]. Fukuinkan Shoten. 1989. Print.
For a picture book, of course, pictures are the most important contents. But I’m really sorry I couldn’t show the beautiful pictures with my translation. I could just upload the videos of telling Kon and Aki from Youtube, but they are grainy. If you have time, go to ICU library and borrow the picture book.So please watch it.
In translating, it is difficult to translate Japanese onomatopoeic words into English natural expressions. After I finished it, I was really made to realize I should have read more English sources and learned how to tell stories in English. It'll be the biggest reflective experience I gained through the 2nd publishing. If you find an unnatural expression, please feel free to tell me as a comment.
"A story of Tumbl(e)r" by Genta
"A story of Tumbl(e)r"
Author's note:
My 2nd piece is a short story inspired from the web application, Tumblr.
The word "Share" and "Reblog" are the actual function of Tumblr.
And the proverb is my cherished words. I didn't write the meaning in the story and I won't here.
Why don't you research the meaning if you're interested in it.
I also get happy if you start Tumblr. Please tell me if you tumbling!!
As usual, I can't tell anything about the story.
But I want to live so as to review my life with pleasure in the end like Genta in the story.
Author's note:
My 2nd piece is a short story inspired from the web application, Tumblr.
The word "Share" and "Reblog" are the actual function of Tumblr.
And the proverb is my cherished words. I didn't write the meaning in the story and I won't here.
Why don't you research the meaning if you're interested in it.
I also get happy if you start Tumblr. Please tell me if you tumbling!!
As usual, I can't tell anything about the story.
But I want to live so as to review my life with pleasure in the end like Genta in the story.
The Battle on Tatami by Soichiro
"The Battle on Tatami" by Soichiro (Link)
Author's Note:
This is report of my experience. As a member of Chiba, I took part in the kyogi karuta tournament of Kokumin-bunka-sai 2011 in Kyoto. That was held on 11/4~11/5. We Chiba team battled with other prefectures team. I really enjoyed fighting with Chiba team members. I would write about my experience on the tournament and feedback in this article. If you have something unknown about karuta, please read my 2nd publish. It will help you!
Author's Note:
This is report of my experience. As a member of Chiba, I took part in the kyogi karuta tournament of Kokumin-bunka-sai 2011 in Kyoto. That was held on 11/4~11/5. We Chiba team battled with other prefectures team. I really enjoyed fighting with Chiba team members. I would write about my experience on the tournament and feedback in this article. If you have something unknown about karuta, please read my 2nd publish. It will help you!
Kyogi Karuta by Soichiro
"Kyogi Karuta" by Soichiro (Link)
Author's Note:
This is a hand book published for people who do not know about kyogi karuta. kyogi karuta has two aspects. One is Japanese traditional culture, the other is very exciting sports. I have played kyogi karuta since I was junior high school student. I started it because my friend played. I practiced kyogi karuta hard at high school, and took part in nation-wide karuta tournament three times. Thanks for kyogi karuta, I made many friends and get precious experience. However, kyogi karuta is miner sports. So, there are few people who know about kyogi karuta. I want many people to know what ikogi karuta is and how interesting it is. This hand book offers basic information on what is Kyogi karuta.
Author's Note:
This is a hand book published for people who do not know about kyogi karuta. kyogi karuta has two aspects. One is Japanese traditional culture, the other is very exciting sports. I have played kyogi karuta since I was junior high school student. I started it because my friend played. I practiced kyogi karuta hard at high school, and took part in nation-wide karuta tournament three times. Thanks for kyogi karuta, I made many friends and get precious experience. However, kyogi karuta is miner sports. So, there are few people who know about kyogi karuta. I want many people to know what ikogi karuta is and how interesting it is. This hand book offers basic information on what is Kyogi karuta.
Favorite Ramen Shop by Soichiro
"Favorite Ramen Shop" by Soichiro (Link)
Author's Note:
This is an article about my favorite ramen shops. It offers my review and basic informaiton of the shops. Going ramen shop is one of my hobby. I have gone to about 50 ramen shop so far. I picked out 3 ramen shops of my best. These 3 are very popular and introduced in magazines many times. I would be very happy if you can go the shops and enjoy it.
Author's Note:
This is an article about my favorite ramen shops. It offers my review and basic informaiton of the shops. Going ramen shop is one of my hobby. I have gone to about 50 ramen shop so far. I picked out 3 ramen shops of my best. These 3 are very popular and introduced in magazines many times. I would be very happy if you can go the shops and enjoy it.
What I learned in Iwate by Mio
"What I learned in Iwate" by Mio Uemura (link)
Authors note : I decided to write about this topic because I want more people to know about my volunteer experience in Iwate. Also, I wrote the report, not to forget the feeling through my experience. If you are hesitate to go Tohoku for volunteer, I recommend you to try it! For me, this experience gave me different view toward volunteer.
Authors note : I decided to write about this topic because I want more people to know about my volunteer experience in Iwate. Also, I wrote the report, not to forget the feeling through my experience. If you are hesitate to go Tohoku for volunteer, I recommend you to try it! For me, this experience gave me different view toward volunteer.
Times of a day
"Times of a day" by Meiko (link)
Author's note
I wrote poems by image of my favorite pictures, Times of a day. These pictures were painted by Alfons Maria Mucha, a Czech lithographic painter. I tried to express changing minds depending on times of a day as the pictures show.
Mio advised me to add an explanation of the pictures and Mucha.
I think it made it easier readers to enjoy pictures and my poems.
Thanks, Mio.
Author's note
I wrote poems by image of my favorite pictures, Times of a day. These pictures were painted by Alfons Maria Mucha, a Czech lithographic painter. I tried to express changing minds depending on times of a day as the pictures show.
Mio advised me to add an explanation of the pictures and Mucha.
I think it made it easier readers to enjoy pictures and my poems.
Thanks, Mio.
''My Family'' by Natsuki Shimizu
''My Family'' by Natsuki Shimizu (Link)
Author’s Note:
This is a poem which expresses my family. Before writing this poem, I discussed what we were with my family. We are really united, often go for a trip and chat together all the time!! I cannot believe my life without my father, mother and sister. I wrote words one by one as I feel intuitively.Thank you:)
Author’s Note:
This is a poem which expresses my family. Before writing this poem, I discussed what we were with my family. We are really united, often go for a trip and chat together all the time!! I cannot believe my life without my father, mother and sister. I wrote words one by one as I feel intuitively.Thank you:)
Monday, November 7, 2011
"One Day of My Life in Fall" by Yosuke Azetaka
"One Day of My Life in Fall" by Yosuke Azetaka (Link)
Autor's note;
Autor's note;
I wrote about a series of haikus related to my one day in fall. Through these haikus, I want to express the joy of writing English haikus. I want to emphasize the daily life's splendor which we lose consciousness of at all times.
Thank Soichiro and Buchi for their advices. Soichiro gave me an advice that I should attach more pictures, so I attached more pictures. Also, Buchi gave me an advice that I should not use same words in different haikus, so I changed some words. Thank you!
"Haiku of the four seasons" by Yu Kominami
"Haiku of the four seasons" (link) by Yu Kominami
Author's note: This is my third, last publishing. I started working on the four haiku since the class on English haiku, and finally feel it is ready.
The images I used are all from google images, as I didn't have any available personally.
The publishing is about what I would feel in each of the four seasons in Japan.
I thanks Kaori for advising me on the arrangement of the phrases, and they look pretty neat overall now. Thank you!
Author's note: This is my third, last publishing. I started working on the four haiku since the class on English haiku, and finally feel it is ready.
The images I used are all from google images, as I didn't have any available personally.
The publishing is about what I would feel in each of the four seasons in Japan.
I thanks Kaori for advising me on the arrangement of the phrases, and they look pretty neat overall now. Thank you!
"A little tale in the night" by Kaori Yamamoto
"A little tale in the night" Link here
Author's Note:
This is a little long story to call "a little tale". It takes 11 pages and I suppose it is long to read, although it is not enough to discuss WHO I AM...which is the theme of this tale.
(If you cannot see all of the pages, wait for a while or select all. It will gradually appear.)
There's no answer about this question, as students of this class gave comments to my blog. I am interested in what you think after you read this tale.
I do not write too much here about the contents of this article, so I will write only one more thing. Name, that is important to us I think. As an author, I tried to give my characters best names as I could. I hope you like your names, which you were given from the other person and which you gave you.
Special thanks: Yu K, Mark
They helped me a lot in opinion and grammer. Thank you very much!!
Author's Note:
This is a little long story to call "a little tale". It takes 11 pages and I suppose it is long to read, although it is not enough to discuss WHO I AM...which is the theme of this tale.
(If you cannot see all of the pages, wait for a while or select all. It will gradually appear.)
There's no answer about this question, as students of this class gave comments to my blog. I am interested in what you think after you read this tale.
I do not write too much here about the contents of this article, so I will write only one more thing. Name, that is important to us I think. As an author, I tried to give my characters best names as I could. I hope you like your names, which you were given from the other person and which you gave you.
Special thanks: Yu K, Mark
They helped me a lot in opinion and grammer. Thank you very much!!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
"Dialogue with Myself" by Yu Inoue
"Dialogue with Myself"(Link to the third piece)
by Yu Inoue
Thank you Yu.K. He suggested that my third piece should need an image in order to express what dialogue is more effectively. As a result of his advice, my piece became more conspicuous. Thank you!
"Guide to Jimbo-cho" by Tetsuro
Guide to Jimbo-cho
Author's Note:
Jimbo-cho is the greatest town of books in the world. Since I was in elementary school, I have loved reading, and also loved bookstores, where I can see a lot of books. I visited there for the first time when I was 10 years old with my father, and jimbo-cho is my favorite town since then. I want you to know about this interesting town through my guide.
Author's Note:
Jimbo-cho is the greatest town of books in the world. Since I was in elementary school, I have loved reading, and also loved bookstores, where I can see a lot of books. I visited there for the first time when I was 10 years old with my father, and jimbo-cho is my favorite town since then. I want you to know about this interesting town through my guide.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
"Tranquil Garden" by Genta
"Tranquil Garden"
Author's note:
My 1st piece is the set of 3 poems. These are written with my unconscious, so I don't know the meaning of them. Simply I wrote as I wanted to.
But I like these poems because I think I succeeded a play on words and make the atmosphere of the words unique.
Hisashi gave me comments that point out the influence of the songs I love. I didn't notice it and was surprised that I was unconsciously influenced by my favorite things. The fact helps me to know who I am.
Thanks, Hisashi!
Author's note:
My 1st piece is the set of 3 poems. These are written with my unconscious, so I don't know the meaning of them. Simply I wrote as I wanted to.
But I like these poems because I think I succeeded a play on words and make the atmosphere of the words unique.
Hisashi gave me comments that point out the influence of the songs I love. I didn't notice it and was surprised that I was unconsciously influenced by my favorite things. The fact helps me to know who I am.
Thanks, Hisashi!
"A Conversation" by Yu K.
"A Conversation" (Link)
Author's note: This is my second published piece. I was thinking of publishing some haiku, but thought I could work on it a bit more. Instead I have this short story of 50words. I entered this short story in the Extremely Short Story Contest that Mark showed us in class. I came up with it when I was brushing my teeth.
I thank Kaori for giving me advice on the choice of background images, which helped a lot. Thank you!
Author's note: This is my second published piece. I was thinking of publishing some haiku, but thought I could work on it a bit more. Instead I have this short story of 50words. I entered this short story in the Extremely Short Story Contest that Mark showed us in class. I came up with it when I was brushing my teeth.
I thank Kaori for giving me advice on the choice of background images, which helped a lot. Thank you!
New Anthem for Japan
New national anthem (link)
Author's Note:
Japan urgently needs a new national anthem. I mean, whoever's heard of anyone singing it out of joy? Either they're being forced to sing it, or they cannot sing it from their hearts because of the general mood of disapproval for openly singing it. Japan's 'Kimigayo' is too loaded with meaning that it no longer functions as an anthem.
This is my satirical take on a new anthem of Japan. And yes, Yu K., it does read more like a pledge. The verses are all random because the melody should also be random.
But wouldn't it be great if we had such a non-serious national anthem? This anthem can be sung by everyone: for rightists and nationalists, the literal meaning can be sung. For leftists and basically most (?) people, the critical, satirical meaning can be sung.
Thanks Yu K. for your feedback!
I hope it isn't too crude!
Author's Note:
Japan urgently needs a new national anthem. I mean, whoever's heard of anyone singing it out of joy? Either they're being forced to sing it, or they cannot sing it from their hearts because of the general mood of disapproval for openly singing it. Japan's 'Kimigayo' is too loaded with meaning that it no longer functions as an anthem.
This is my satirical take on a new anthem of Japan. And yes, Yu K., it does read more like a pledge. The verses are all random because the melody should also be random.
But wouldn't it be great if we had such a non-serious national anthem? This anthem can be sung by everyone: for rightists and nationalists, the literal meaning can be sung. For leftists and basically most (?) people, the critical, satirical meaning can be sung.
Thanks Yu K. for your feedback!
I hope it isn't too crude!
Nov. 2 Wed: Class Content and Homework
Welcome back after the festival, everyone!
Class Content / Homework
1. Warm-Up: How's your writing going? What did you blog about religion? What's your goal for today?
2. Directions for finishing up the term. November 10th is the final day for assignments to be considered for evaluation of Excellent, Good, Satisfactory etc. in each category.
Class Content / Homework
1. Warm-Up: How's your writing going? What did you blog about religion? What's your goal for today?
2. Directions for finishing up the term. November 10th is the final day for assignments to be considered for evaluation of Excellent, Good, Satisfactory etc. in each category.
- Blogging and commenting: We'll keep the same groups for one more week. We'll discuss your Obituary on Monday. Try your best to finish all 20 blog postings by November 10th
.In addition to posting them on my blog, let's all share our Obituaries as a comment on the Obituary posting below. Be creative with these! - Publishing 3 different genres: Toward the end, you might have to make a choice to either 1) write very short pieces, 2) focus on only two longer pieces, or 3) submit one more pieces as "incomplete" pieces. In the end, you will self-evaluate your engagement in the publishing process as Excellent, Good, or Satisfactory. Good luck with finishing as much as you can up to Nov. 10th!
- Final classes next week and Self-Evaluation/Reflection submission:
s
Monday 11/7: Final peer review time: We will discuss your obituaries content and then use the remaining time for you to get feedback from classmates on your final publishing pieces. We will make groups of 3 or 4 writers, and you will show your drafts to each other to discuss how to improve and finish the pieces. Make sure you have a draft of your second or third piece!
Wednesday 11/9 - Final Class: In this class, everyone, including me, will make a short presentation of 1~2 min. to the whole class. The purpose of the presentation is twofold:
a) To share what you published or plan to publish. Explain the theme, genre, main characteristics and highlights of your pieces.
b) Share what you learned about yourself as a writer (which is the final blogging topic). What have you discovered about what you like to write, what you have found is difficult, how you've developed your skill for the process etc. How's your skill of choosing a theme/genre, getting a mentor text, using a writer's notebook, finding a time/place to write, drafting, sharing/getting feedback, revising, editing, publishing.
Friday 11/11 is the deadline for your Self-Evaluation and Reflection: In an email to me, please answer the following 5 questions:
1) How was your blogging of 20 topics, 100 words or more? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Were you able to thinking carefully about the topic and write your ideas thoughtfully even if roughly?
2) How was your publishing of 3 different genres? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Were you able to experience the process of writing and develop yourself as a writer?
3) How was your participation in the You class? Excellent, good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Did you actively attend and support other classmates through feedback and commenting on blogs or published pieces?
4) Based on the above, if you were me (the instructor Mark), what grade (A~E) would you give yourself and why?
5) Finally, what was your impression of the YOU class? What was good for you? Also, how can it be better next year? I would appreciate your suggestions!
(Week 8 Fixed Topic Sample) Religion: Do I Believe God Exists?
Whether God exists or not is a difficult question and, as far as I know, there is no easy answer and...frankly I don't know what I believe. That's the honest truth.
I often characterize my religion as "honest, confused truth-seeker humanist" and stay open to all possibilities.
When people tell me they believe or, more suspiciously, claim to know for sure that God exists, I often wonder whether they should ask themselves whether they mean "want to believe".
Some believe that God should be defined the "creator" of our world, but I am not sure whether it is ever possible to prove or disprove that a creator exists, so that line of discussion seems meaningless to me. However, I do believe that something called God exists in our minds, and each of us has a different perception of what that is.
So, in that sense, yes, I do want to believe in God and feel that this belief is a beneficial belief.
Before I explain that, I need to tell you my definition of "God." My personal definition or interpretation of God is "the ideal good of our existence, personified." In other words, God is and SHOULD BE the most perfect "personality" we can imagine as our idol or leader, with the most power and most attractive personality we can idealize. We should worship that and learn from it. Children should be taught to revere it and believe it and become like it.
God is our ideal of the person we want to serve and live under. Since different individuals and different societies have different ideals, they have different images of "God" or gods. In some societies, they have not yet agreed upon what a perfect leader's traits will be, so they do not have a "God" or they prefer to have many gods with various personalities including those who "demons" or "devils" who cause trouble and are in conflict with other gods. In any society, I think the pursuit for some type of "God" will always continue, and different groups and societies will always continue to argue what God should be like, or what God wants from humans.
The Christian God/Jesus/Holy Spirit has many desirable characteristics. He loves humans, values modesty and forgiveness, and rewards those who do good in their afterlife. I think that is pretty close to my own ideal.
Extra: Last, for those interested, here is a clever satirical essay called "American Jesus" by Roger Pulvers, columnist of the Japan Times. This is a very sharp jab at politics and religion in America.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20111106rp.html
I often characterize my religion as "honest, confused truth-seeker humanist" and stay open to all possibilities.
When people tell me they believe or, more suspiciously, claim to know for sure that God exists, I often wonder whether they should ask themselves whether they mean "want to believe".
Some believe that God should be defined the "creator" of our world, but I am not sure whether it is ever possible to prove or disprove that a creator exists, so that line of discussion seems meaningless to me. However, I do believe that something called God exists in our minds, and each of us has a different perception of what that is.
So, in that sense, yes, I do want to believe in God and feel that this belief is a beneficial belief.
Before I explain that, I need to tell you my definition of "God." My personal definition or interpretation of God is "the ideal good of our existence, personified." In other words, God is and SHOULD BE the most perfect "personality" we can imagine as our idol or leader, with the most power and most attractive personality we can idealize. We should worship that and learn from it. Children should be taught to revere it and believe it and become like it.
God is our ideal of the person we want to serve and live under. Since different individuals and different societies have different ideals, they have different images of "God" or gods. In some societies, they have not yet agreed upon what a perfect leader's traits will be, so they do not have a "God" or they prefer to have many gods with various personalities including those who "demons" or "devils" who cause trouble and are in conflict with other gods. In any society, I think the pursuit for some type of "God" will always continue, and different groups and societies will always continue to argue what God should be like, or what God wants from humans.
The Christian God/Jesus/Holy Spirit has many desirable characteristics. He loves humans, values modesty and forgiveness, and rewards those who do good in their afterlife. I think that is pretty close to my own ideal.
Extra: Last, for those interested, here is a clever satirical essay called "American Jesus" by Roger Pulvers, columnist of the Japan Times. This is a very sharp jab at politics and religion in America.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20111106rp.html
Monday, October 31, 2011
"A To-do list" by Yu K.
"To-do list" (Link)
By Yu Kominami
Author's note: My first Posting is a list of things I think the human race should do in the near future. I feel we have a lot of problems on our hands, and thought we should have a list to deal with them one by one. Some are serious, others are amusing, all are difficult to achieve. I think.
I thank Kazuki for giving me advice to incorporate the topics from our class discussions into the list. Thanks!!
By Yu Kominami
Author's note: My first Posting is a list of things I think the human race should do in the near future. I feel we have a lot of problems on our hands, and thought we should have a list to deal with them one by one. Some are serious, others are amusing, all are difficult to achieve. I think.
I thank Kazuki for giving me advice to incorporate the topics from our class discussions into the list. Thanks!!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
"Watch Me All the Time" by Mark
Watch Me All the Time
By Mark Christianson
Bouncing endlessly up and down
She's four, my daughter named Mei
Bubbling with life
And an insatiable need for undivided attention
Daddy! Daddy! DADDY!
Look at me
Look at me
Mitete mitete!
Spinning around
Running into my arms
The center of her world
Daddy...Daddy?...DADDY!
Are you looking at me?
Are you looking at me?
Chanto miteru? Chanto miteru?
I'm looking! I'm really looking!
Well...at least once, twice, thrice.
But she demands more
Are you REALLY looking?
Are you REALLY looking?
Watch me ALL the time, Daddy
ALL THE TIME!
Author's Note: My four year old daughter says "look at me" "watch me" a million times a day! The "Are you really looking?" is one of her favorite lines along with "Watch me all the time". This is just Mei as she is.
By Mark Christianson
Bouncing endlessly up and down
She's four, my daughter named Mei
Bubbling with life
And an insatiable need for undivided attention
Daddy! Daddy! DADDY!
Look at me
Look at me
Mitete mitete!
Spinning around
Running into my arms
The center of her world
Daddy...Daddy?...DADDY!
Are you looking at me?
Are you looking at me?
Chanto miteru? Chanto miteru?
I'm looking! I'm really looking!
Well...at least once, twice, thrice.
But she demands more
Are you REALLY looking?
Are you REALLY looking?
Watch me ALL the time, Daddy
ALL THE TIME!
Author's Note: My four year old daughter says "look at me" "watch me" a million times a day! The "Are you really looking?" is one of her favorite lines along with "Watch me all the time". This is just Mei as she is.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
"Autumn" by Mio
"Autumn"(Link to a Poem)
by Mio
Authors note: I wrote a poem about the season, Autumn. I tried to describe nature, and my feelings about Autumn. My feelings about Autumn is loneliness and busyness, so I wrote about them with a simple words. I want to thank my class mate, Meiko, that she gave me comments that she feels loneliness when she is on her way to home in Autumn. From her advice, I added the content about the moon.
by Mio
Authors note: I wrote a poem about the season, Autumn. I tried to describe nature, and my feelings about Autumn. My feelings about Autumn is loneliness and busyness, so I wrote about them with a simple words. I want to thank my class mate, Meiko, that she gave me comments that she feels loneliness when she is on her way to home in Autumn. From her advice, I added the content about the moon.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
"Perfection" by Yu Inoue
"Perfection"(Link to a Poem)
by Yu Inoue
Author's Note: My second piece is like a poem about perfection. It seems that we have thought about the issue of perfection once and this is fundamental question for humans. I answered this question by my own way in this piece. Please give me a comment about my thought and I am happy to receive your idea.
Thank you Kan. Kan pointed out the ambiguous expression of second line of my piece in order to enhance its quality. As a result of his advise, my second piece became clear and good. Thank you!
by Yu Inoue
Author's Note: My second piece is like a poem about perfection. It seems that we have thought about the issue of perfection once and this is fundamental question for humans. I answered this question by my own way in this piece. Please give me a comment about my thought and I am happy to receive your idea.
Thank you Kan. Kan pointed out the ambiguous expression of second line of my piece in order to enhance its quality. As a result of his advise, my second piece became clear and good. Thank you!
ICU
ICU (short story: LINK)
Author's Note: Most of us in our generation never experienced the bi-polarity of the Cold War. The only world we have now is capitalist society that won over socialism. Communist culture is very foreign to us, and it is surrounded in a veil of mystery. Thinking about a civilisation that no longer exists is both horrifying and fascinating, and it certainly sparks our imagination. What was this communist civilisation that governed half of the world in the not-so-distant past?
This is a story set in ICU in a parallel universe where Japan was historically aligned with the Eastern block after defeat in 1945. The USSR is still existent; perhaps the Cold War is still going on, or perhaps the 'Free World' has been defeated. In this parallel chronology, ICU was founded right after the war on the ideals of the Soviet Occupation as a 'University of Tomorrow'. The system, of course, is not communism in its true sense, but a strong distopian authoritarianism camouflaged in revolutionary propaganda.
Thank you Yu I. for your advise. It is rather long, and I was able to restructure the paragraphs to make the flow of the story clear. Cheers!
Kan
Author's Note: Most of us in our generation never experienced the bi-polarity of the Cold War. The only world we have now is capitalist society that won over socialism. Communist culture is very foreign to us, and it is surrounded in a veil of mystery. Thinking about a civilisation that no longer exists is both horrifying and fascinating, and it certainly sparks our imagination. What was this communist civilisation that governed half of the world in the not-so-distant past?
This is a story set in ICU in a parallel universe where Japan was historically aligned with the Eastern block after defeat in 1945. The USSR is still existent; perhaps the Cold War is still going on, or perhaps the 'Free World' has been defeated. In this parallel chronology, ICU was founded right after the war on the ideals of the Soviet Occupation as a 'University of Tomorrow'. The system, of course, is not communism in its true sense, but a strong distopian authoritarianism camouflaged in revolutionary propaganda.
Thank you Yu I. for your advise. It is rather long, and I was able to restructure the paragraphs to make the flow of the story clear. Cheers!
Kan
Some ideas for short story writing...just start with a character and place!
Once upon a time, there was a teacher getting close to his forties in age. He was married to a charming wife and had two kids, a son and a daughter.
One day, he decided that he was going to write a short story...but he was not sure where to begin, so he sat on a rock under a birch tree, pondering...and pondering...until the sun went down. And then thunder struck.
Have you ever written a short story?
I remember writing just one short story in high school--about a depressed and indecisive salary man who goes unconscious in a train crash and dreams that he is a fish circling a worm unsure whether it is on a hook or not--my theme was indecisiveness and lack of self-confidence, which reflected a feeling I was personally struggling with at the time. I think that was the only one I had ever written, and since then I have never written one. I never thought that I would ever need to or want to write a short story...but I think I am going to try.
Frankly, I will admit that I have no idea how to start or what I would write, or what I would be careful of as I would do it. I am not going to pretend to know anything about this because I don't.
So...the students who have already written short stories in this class are already ahead of me. I think I will start by asking about your experience with doing short story writing.
But the fact of the matter is that I read a lot of fiction and love it. And I think it would be cool to start a story and see where it goes, even if it doesn't turn out to be a Nobel Prize winner. I don't really read "short stories"--I just read novels. So if someone asks me what my favorite short story is, I can't really say. Short stories usually don't leave a lasting impression--or are there some that do? OK, well, I do read a lot of children's books to my own kids. We love Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, King Arthur, Disney Princess Stories...other fairy tales...maybe those can be a base for I will write.
So...I'll start by teaching myself a few things about short story writing. These may be useful for you as well. I looked briefly in the ICU library for some advice on this, but couldn't find anything simple and clear.
The Internet helped me more.
1) What makes a good short story - quotes from famous writers (link)
Key words: tension, relentless motion, not abstract meaning, but experience of meaning, opening doors and leaving them open, first...learn to listen FOR stories (in our lives), start by choosing an EFFECT you want to have on the reader (Poe).
2) Short Stories - Developing Ideas (link)
Short Stories - 10 Tips (link-very user friendly advice!)
Hmm...there are many on this site. Of these, I am a Hans Christian Anderson fan. My daughter's favorite is Little Mermaid, which is not on this site. Of the one's on this site, I think I like The Emperor's New Clothes.
This site has 201 Stories by Anton Chekhov, considered an influential short story writer. Try reading "The Student" and "The Bet".
Also, try Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. I remember being shocked by this in high school. Definitely leaves an impression. This site Classic Short Stories has a very good selection of other shorts as well such as "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams.
4) Example of a young writer's short story
The Doll and many others on this site.
5) Extremely Short Story Contest (deadline 11/20 - win 10,000yen! 50 words or less)
http://www.jafae.org/essc/entries/2011_6th/en/index.html#
One day, he decided that he was going to write a short story...but he was not sure where to begin, so he sat on a rock under a birch tree, pondering...and pondering...until the sun went down. And then thunder struck.
Have you ever written a short story?
I remember writing just one short story in high school--about a depressed and indecisive salary man who goes unconscious in a train crash and dreams that he is a fish circling a worm unsure whether it is on a hook or not--my theme was indecisiveness and lack of self-confidence, which reflected a feeling I was personally struggling with at the time. I think that was the only one I had ever written, and since then I have never written one. I never thought that I would ever need to or want to write a short story...but I think I am going to try.
Frankly, I will admit that I have no idea how to start or what I would write, or what I would be careful of as I would do it. I am not going to pretend to know anything about this because I don't.
So...the students who have already written short stories in this class are already ahead of me. I think I will start by asking about your experience with doing short story writing.
But the fact of the matter is that I read a lot of fiction and love it. And I think it would be cool to start a story and see where it goes, even if it doesn't turn out to be a Nobel Prize winner. I don't really read "short stories"--I just read novels. So if someone asks me what my favorite short story is, I can't really say. Short stories usually don't leave a lasting impression--or are there some that do? OK, well, I do read a lot of children's books to my own kids. We love Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, King Arthur, Disney Princess Stories...other fairy tales...maybe those can be a base for I will write.
So...I'll start by teaching myself a few things about short story writing. These may be useful for you as well. I looked briefly in the ICU library for some advice on this, but couldn't find anything simple and clear.
The Internet helped me more.
1) What makes a good short story - quotes from famous writers (link)
Key words: tension, relentless motion, not abstract meaning, but experience of meaning, opening doors and leaving them open, first...learn to listen FOR stories (in our lives), start by choosing an EFFECT you want to have on the reader (Poe).
2) Short Stories - Developing Ideas (link)
Short Stories - 10 Tips (link-very user friendly advice!)
- Get Started: Emergency Tips
- Write a Catchy First Paragraph
- Develop Your Characters
- Choose a Point of View
- Write Meaningful Dialogue
- Use Setting and Context
- Set up the Plot
- Create Conflict and Tension
- Build to a Crisis or a Climax
- Deliver a Resolution
Hmm...there are many on this site. Of these, I am a Hans Christian Anderson fan. My daughter's favorite is Little Mermaid, which is not on this site. Of the one's on this site, I think I like The Emperor's New Clothes.
This site has 201 Stories by Anton Chekhov, considered an influential short story writer. Try reading "The Student" and "The Bet".
Also, try Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. I remember being shocked by this in high school. Definitely leaves an impression. This site Classic Short Stories has a very good selection of other shorts as well such as "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams.
4) Example of a young writer's short story
The Doll and many others on this site.
5) Extremely Short Story Contest (deadline 11/20 - win 10,000yen! 50 words or less)
http://www.jafae.org/essc/entries/2011_6th/en/index.html#
"My Summer Adventure" by Mitsuru
My Summer Adventure (link to short story)
by Mitsuru
Author's Note:
Deciding name of pets is my work in my family. I named Ree to former
hamster. This name was from Reepicheep who is mouse in The Chronicles
of Narnia, and he is very brave. I always wanted Ree to be so. However
he died without having adventures. I wanted to write his chronicles
like Narnia. However my NOW lovely pet, Fred escaped in this summer. I
think it is my chance to write story about mouse. Please live longer,
Fred and George, and make me fun. Special thanks to Kan, Mark, and
YOU!
by Mitsuru
Author's Note:
Deciding name of pets is my work in my family. I named Ree to former
hamster. This name was from Reepicheep who is mouse in The Chronicles
of Narnia, and he is very brave. I always wanted Ree to be so. However
he died without having adventures. I wanted to write his chronicles
like Narnia. However my NOW lovely pet, Fred escaped in this summer. I
think it is my chance to write story about mouse. Please live longer,
Fred and George, and make me fun. Special thanks to Kan, Mark, and
YOU!
(Free No.7) Inside Job: A "must see" documentary for all students
I'm not an expert on financial regulation, but I felt "Inside Job" was a very skillfully produced documentary on an immensely important issue. I had some general knowledge about the Subprime Loan crisis and how it happened, but this documentary seems to explain the weaknesses in our current regulatory system more clearly than anything I have seen so far.
The issue here is how financial greed (and, I would argue, a disregard of their responsibility toward society) among a wealthy elite is allowed to be protected by a web of arrangements between financial institutions, the government that is supposed to regulate them, and academic institutions that are supposed to analyze and point out the dangers for society.
The documentary implicates the investment bankers such as Goldman Sachs, the government regulators such as the Federal Reserve's Greenspan/Bernanke, and academics such as the economics professors at Harvard and Columbia who advise the government. It seems clear that those involved knew what was happening, and did not take steps to stop the greedy risk taking which the documentary calls the Heist, an inside bank robbery job.
After watching this, you just wonder, how could a group of immensely wealthy people (owning millions of dollars in assets) who knew that these careless risks could end up affecting the lives of millions of people who will have trouble eating, living, and getting basic medical care and education from day to day, just gamble with the high risks, lose billions of dollars of people's money, crash their companies and cause economic difficulties around the world, and yet get billions of dollars of taxes (from us) to save their money, and walk away still being millionaires.
The documentary producer Charles Ferguson in his interview at the end of the film states that he believes many of these con men running a gigantic legal Ponzi scheme should spend several decades in prison. Maybe so.
I would say that they should at least have to start over from zero. They should forfeit their personal assets to pay back their debts, become one of the jobless persons (like the millions they affected), and be banned from ever having a job in financial services again.
Of course, there is a very small chance of that type of regulation or penalization ever happening because the government bodies that are supposed to create such penalties are run by advisers and academics who they used to work with (or who they will hire and work with in the future). In principle, I am sure that Obama is for punishing the greedy industry more, but he has been unable to pass legislation with teeth. Obviously, it is very difficult to penalize rich powerful cliques of people. They protect each other. Money talks in democratic politics. People will shut their mouths of if given a bonus of a million dollars to keep working in the greedy system.
So, what can break the system and cycle? Politicians who are not afraid to oppose money, academics who are not afraid to criticize the system even if their universities (like Harvard, for example) are run by people who created and maintain the system, and do I dare dream...members of the financial industry who believe that they should only earn a honest wage for their work, and see a million dollars as money that is completely unnecessary to have a personal income...I mean how much do you really need?
I hope the education that I provide to my students helps them realize the social responsibility that talented, privileged people like them have toward creating a fair, caring world where members of powerful institutions avoid pursuing wealth beyond need.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
"The Lemon Lament" (Translation) by Buchi
The Lemon Lament (Link to translated song lyrics)
Original by Kotaro Takamura (Link to original Japanese lyrics)
Translated by Buchi
Translator’s note; This is the poem about the moment of the death of the wife of Kotaro Takamura. She had a mental disease and cannot recognize Kotaro. We can imagine how hard it is for Kotaro. Last, thanks to Yu.I, Genta, Hisashi and Mark for giving me some ideas to change words, and Thanks to Aze who gave me advice about pronouns.
Original by Kotaro Takamura (Link to original Japanese lyrics)
Translated by Buchi
Translator’s note; This is the poem about the moment of the death of the wife of Kotaro Takamura. She had a mental disease and cannot recognize Kotaro. We can imagine how hard it is for Kotaro. Last, thanks to Yu.I, Genta, Hisashi and Mark for giving me some ideas to change words, and Thanks to Aze who gave me advice about pronouns.
(Week 7) On Love...
I am really curious what we are going to talk about tomorrow when we talk about the meaning of love to us. What do Japanese college students think about LOVE? I will find out in class tomorrow.
How about me? I was thinking about this all last week...and here are some thoughts.
To me, "love" is a willingness to sacrifice oneself on behalf of something. Love means putting others before yourself, to help or support others, even when there isn't any benefit to yourself. The ultimate love is the sacrifice of your own life even for strangers, or even more difficult loving your enemies--which feels too difficult for me--but I can try to do it on a small scale. This way of looking at it shows my religious upbringing; I've been taught that the death of Jesus to save mankind was real love, and I guess that has left a strong impression on me. When I think of love, I think of agape (unconditional love) and 1st Corinthians 13. I think that makes sense. I would sacrifice my own life for people who I love...my wife, kids, parents, siblings, friends...at least I would want to, even though I can't say for sure whether I would have the courage when the need arises, in my heart I want to do that because I love them.
Yes, so "love" means putting others first, and supposedly enjoying it or at least doing it willingly, not in a forced way. Hmm...but I can say for sure that it is not always enjoyable because it is not always easy. For example, on a day to day basis, I think love means making time for people and showing you care by really listening to them. That's a sacrifice of what you want to do, or what you want talk about.
I've been married for almost 12 years now, and I have a few thoughts on love and marriage. I've been blessed with a wonderful partner in marriage. Megumi and I get along really well, and I love her very much. We have two kids, and I love them very much as well. "I love my wife and kids" is a cliche that all married people and parents will use, so it can mean little in some cases, but what does it mean to me? It means a lot. In a sense, it means everything. If I lost them, I'm not sure what I would become. It is painful to even imagine. I've been very lucky because Megumi and my kids are very easy to love. They love me, so it is easy to love them.
But the day to day of "loving" is not always an easy thing. When you're married to somebody, it is easy to just live together like friends, rather than really loving and putting them first. And it is easy to expect the other person to love you and forget to love them in a real way--making time, listening, knowing their needs. It takes resolve. Day to day, I have to remember to be a good lover.
I think love is something that doesn't come naturally like instinct to eat, sleep, or have sex. It is something that we have to work at. And with training we get better at it. We work to get better at it because we know it is a beautiful thing.
These are very unorganized thoughts on love that I typed out just as I thought of them. Hope they are not too confusing.
So, what are your thoughts on love?
And here's a link to quotations on love.
The one I like is:
How about me? I was thinking about this all last week...and here are some thoughts.
To me, "love" is a willingness to sacrifice oneself on behalf of something. Love means putting others before yourself, to help or support others, even when there isn't any benefit to yourself. The ultimate love is the sacrifice of your own life even for strangers, or even more difficult loving your enemies--which feels too difficult for me--but I can try to do it on a small scale. This way of looking at it shows my religious upbringing; I've been taught that the death of Jesus to save mankind was real love, and I guess that has left a strong impression on me. When I think of love, I think of agape (unconditional love) and 1st Corinthians 13. I think that makes sense. I would sacrifice my own life for people who I love...my wife, kids, parents, siblings, friends...at least I would want to, even though I can't say for sure whether I would have the courage when the need arises, in my heart I want to do that because I love them.
Yes, so "love" means putting others first, and supposedly enjoying it or at least doing it willingly, not in a forced way. Hmm...but I can say for sure that it is not always enjoyable because it is not always easy. For example, on a day to day basis, I think love means making time for people and showing you care by really listening to them. That's a sacrifice of what you want to do, or what you want talk about.
I've been married for almost 12 years now, and I have a few thoughts on love and marriage. I've been blessed with a wonderful partner in marriage. Megumi and I get along really well, and I love her very much. We have two kids, and I love them very much as well. "I love my wife and kids" is a cliche that all married people and parents will use, so it can mean little in some cases, but what does it mean to me? It means a lot. In a sense, it means everything. If I lost them, I'm not sure what I would become. It is painful to even imagine. I've been very lucky because Megumi and my kids are very easy to love. They love me, so it is easy to love them.
But the day to day of "loving" is not always an easy thing. When you're married to somebody, it is easy to just live together like friends, rather than really loving and putting them first. And it is easy to expect the other person to love you and forget to love them in a real way--making time, listening, knowing their needs. It takes resolve. Day to day, I have to remember to be a good lover.
I think love is something that doesn't come naturally like instinct to eat, sleep, or have sex. It is something that we have to work at. And with training we get better at it. We work to get better at it because we know it is a beautiful thing.
These are very unorganized thoughts on love that I typed out just as I thought of them. Hope they are not too confusing.
So, what are your thoughts on love?
And here's a link to quotations on love.
The one I like is:
- The first duty of love is to listen.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
"Food of Yamagata" by Chihiro
Food of Yamagata (link to article)
by Chihiro
Author's Note:I was born and raised in Yamagata. Yamagata is a typical rural
countryside; there are few high buildings and the transportation system is
undeveloped, but there is beautiful scenery, kind people, and
delicious food. I love my hometown.
However when I came to Tokyo, I noticed most people knew the presence
of Yamagata prefecture, but they knew almost nothing about Yamagata
except cherries. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to let
people know more about my hometown and I decided to write about it.
This is just one part of Yamagata. I want you to visit, see, and eat
actually, to experience Yamagata by yourself. I hope this guide can
make you more interested in my hometown.
by Chihiro
Author's Note:I was born and raised in Yamagata. Yamagata is a typical rural
countryside; there are few high buildings and the transportation system is
undeveloped, but there is beautiful scenery, kind people, and
delicious food. I love my hometown.
However when I came to Tokyo, I noticed most people knew the presence
of Yamagata prefecture, but they knew almost nothing about Yamagata
except cherries. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to let
people know more about my hometown and I decided to write about it.
This is just one part of Yamagata. I want you to visit, see, and eat
actually, to experience Yamagata by yourself. I hope this guide can
make you more interested in my hometown.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Author's Notes - Please include a reference to a classmate's feedback that you got!
Hi everyone,
I'm very happy to see many interesting writing pieces being published one after another, and your author's notes are also very meaningful because they show what the piece means to you and what you felt as you wrote about it.
For the second and third pieces, please ALSO include in the Author's Note a reference to a classmate's reaction or comment or suggestion/advice that you used as you revised the piece.
I think this will have two positive effects on the writing process. First, I hope all of you will more actively seek advice from more classmates during the process, from the brainstorming stage, to the drafting stage, to preparing it for publishing using images, fonts etc. Second, it is nice for a classmate who gives advice to see their name receiving credit and thanks for helping in the writing process. If you get a comment from somebody outside of class, you can include that too! As for comments from me, the instructor, whether you refer to them or not is really up to you.
At least include one classmate's name! More is even better...actively get comments by sharing your draft in class or by email/online!
Examples of reference to feedback in Author's Notes:
I want to thank my classmate Taro for giving me the suggestion to add more content to the part about..."
While I was writing this piece, I received many positive comments and suggestions from Taro and Hanako. The idea to use the spider image was Taro's. Also, Hanako gave me invaluable advice about expressions that are more detailed and specific in the description of the character such as "a cynical smile like that of a Japanese baboon who has just succeeded in unlocking his own cage.
I would like to express my gratitude to my friend Jiro who told me the first part was interesting, but frankly the ending was not very satisfactory. He suggested many ways to change it, and ultimately I chose the current ending. What do you think about it, Jiro? I don't know if it is really exciting or not in the final version, but it made me think about many different ways to end the story. Thanks Jiro!
I'm very happy to see many interesting writing pieces being published one after another, and your author's notes are also very meaningful because they show what the piece means to you and what you felt as you wrote about it.
For the second and third pieces, please ALSO include in the Author's Note a reference to a classmate's reaction or comment or suggestion/advice that you used as you revised the piece.
I think this will have two positive effects on the writing process. First, I hope all of you will more actively seek advice from more classmates during the process, from the brainstorming stage, to the drafting stage, to preparing it for publishing using images, fonts etc. Second, it is nice for a classmate who gives advice to see their name receiving credit and thanks for helping in the writing process. If you get a comment from somebody outside of class, you can include that too! As for comments from me, the instructor, whether you refer to them or not is really up to you.
At least include one classmate's name! More is even better...actively get comments by sharing your draft in class or by email/online!
Examples of reference to feedback in Author's Notes:
I want to thank my classmate Taro for giving me the suggestion to add more content to the part about..."
While I was writing this piece, I received many positive comments and suggestions from Taro and Hanako. The idea to use the spider image was Taro's. Also, Hanako gave me invaluable advice about expressions that are more detailed and specific in the description of the character such as "a cynical smile like that of a Japanese baboon who has just succeeded in unlocking his own cage.
I would like to express my gratitude to my friend Jiro who told me the first part was interesting, but frankly the ending was not very satisfactory. He suggested many ways to change it, and ultimately I chose the current ending. What do you think about it, Jiro? I don't know if it is really exciting or not in the final version, but it made me think about many different ways to end the story. Thanks Jiro!
"Losing Youth" by Meiko
Losing Youth (link to poem)
by Meiko
Author's note: I took the challenge to write a poem, and my theme is youth. I emphasized the fear of becoming an adult. I referred to "What is a youth," a song of the movie of Romeo and Juliet in 1968. Though my poem is not about love, I tried to express the evanescence of the song. I want to improve the rhythm and rhyme of my poem. I hope you enjoy it!
by Meiko
Author's note: I took the challenge to write a poem, and my theme is youth. I emphasized the fear of becoming an adult. I referred to "What is a youth," a song of the movie of Romeo and Juliet in 1968. Though my poem is not about love, I tried to express the evanescence of the song. I want to improve the rhythm and rhyme of my poem. I hope you enjoy it!
Monday, October 17, 2011
"Dear Grandma" by Natsuki
Dear Grandma
by Natsuki (link to letter)
Author's Note:
by Natsuki (link to letter)
Author's Note:
I really love my grandmother and often send
a letter to her. This time, I sent a letter with a souvenir from Taiwan. I
hope she gets better both mentally and physically by reading this letter and drinking
oolong tea I gave. I found it really difficult for me to
express what I feel or think in English by letter. Therefore, I wrote it in
Japanese first and then translated into English. Through this writing, I
came to think that I want to try to show my real feelings clearly in English more
even if it is quite hard for me. Thank you ;)
"Per Bacco" by Yu Inoue
Per Bacco
A Restaurant like a hermitage (Link to article)
by Yu Inoue
Author's None:
This is one of my favorite restaurants, Per Bacco. I want you to enjoy yourself with its fantastic food by looking at this published guided. Besides, I would like to introduce it by using a format of a guideline or manual in order to know it more effectively. I would be very happy if you can enjoy it through my guide.
A Restaurant like a hermitage (Link to article)
by Yu Inoue
Author's None:
This is one of my favorite restaurants, Per Bacco. I want you to enjoy yourself with its fantastic food by looking at this published guided. Besides, I would like to introduce it by using a format of a guideline or manual in order to know it more effectively. I would be very happy if you can enjoy it through my guide.
"Who is Machida Ko?" by Riki
Who is Machida Ko?
by Riki (Link)
Author's Note:
In this piece, I introduce Machida Ko and translate two songs into English.
I have three reasons why I translate Machida's songs.
First, he has a unique sense of language. Mitsuyo Kakuta, a Japanese novelist, said, "Every time I read his novels, I really think that I wish I were him ... when I read his novel for the first time, I was very surprised, because his novel was free. His novel wasn’t restricted with the traditional style of novels, that is, his novel wasn't restricted with words." Thus, he is admitted to be a unique person, and I like those who have unusual, unique and curious personality. Machida satisfies with my taste.
Second, his songs are filled with his energy and spirit. I learned that the most important thing in writing is including author's spirit in this class. As I mentioned above, he has a unique sense of words. At the same time, he also has unique and various way of singing. For example, he shouts, sings with an odd voice, and reads words. I think these methods make listeners understand his feelings and spirit more strongly.
Third reason is the most important.
I like his songs!!
I like his songs!!
by Riki (Link)
Author's Note:
In this piece, I introduce Machida Ko and translate two songs into English.
I have three reasons why I translate Machida's songs.
First, he has a unique sense of language. Mitsuyo Kakuta, a Japanese novelist, said, "Every time I read his novels, I really think that I wish I were him ... when I read his novel for the first time, I was very surprised, because his novel was free. His novel wasn’t restricted with the traditional style of novels, that is, his novel wasn't restricted with words." Thus, he is admitted to be a unique person, and I like those who have unusual, unique and curious personality. Machida satisfies with my taste.
Second, his songs are filled with his energy and spirit. I learned that the most important thing in writing is including author's spirit in this class. As I mentioned above, he has a unique sense of words. At the same time, he also has unique and various way of singing. For example, he shouts, sings with an odd voice, and reads words. I think these methods make listeners understand his feelings and spirit more strongly.
Third reason is the most important.
I like his songs!!
I like his songs!!
"ICU" by Kan
ICU
by Kan (Link)
Author’s note: Language is only understood when its vocabulary is
shared and the meaning of words consistent. This is a poem written in
the language of ICU. The distinct vocabulary from ICU culture, such as
‘gakki’ and ‘bakayama’, is used to celebrate the flexibility of
language.
"The Strongest Earthquake..." by Aze
By Aze (Link)
Author’s note;
Through
my experience, I communicated with many people and met some immoral
people. In case of emergency, people may often tend to be
self-centered. However, I want to be kind and in cooperation with
other people in any case of emergency. Through my piece, I want you to
“re-experience” my experience on 3.11. To read, and to feel, please.
What can we do to the people? Are there no possibilities for us to
become immoral people like them??
"Dear Mum" by Uka
Dear Mum (link)
Author's Note: Being a daughter of a single mother, these days I have many thoughts about her. I look at my mother as not only as my mother, however, as a brave woman who made a challenging choice to raise a child without a husband. Through this letter, I write to her positioning myself in her shoes, recalling the memories of how I was raised and realizing, that my childhood was a rare gift.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Publishing - Just send me a Google Doc or other link!
Advice for Publishing:
1. Make sure you've had at least one other classmate give you feedback for revision and editing.
2. Send me a Google Doc link, and add me as an Editor. Other types of links are fine too. For example, if you want to add your voice or BGM, you can create a YouTube video.
3. Think about colors and how it will look as a published piece (font colors, size, background colors, images)
4. Send me an Author's Note that explains your theme and genre and your feelings about this piece. You can include things about what you tried to emphasize and what points you want to still improve in the piece, too. Inviting comments and reaction is a good thing to do too.
5. Feel free to keep updating or modifying your piece on Google Docs any time you like!
1. Make sure you've had at least one other classmate give you feedback for revision and editing.
2. Send me a Google Doc link, and add me as an Editor. Other types of links are fine too. For example, if you want to add your voice or BGM, you can create a YouTube video.
3. Think about colors and how it will look as a published piece (font colors, size, background colors, images)
4. Send me an Author's Note that explains your theme and genre and your feelings about this piece. You can include things about what you tried to emphasize and what points you want to still improve in the piece, too. Inviting comments and reaction is a good thing to do too.
5. Feel free to keep updating or modifying your piece on Google Docs any time you like!
Class Summary and Haiku Homework 10/17 Monday
1. Sit together with comment groups.
How's the blogging and publishing coming?
2. What is happiness to you? What ideas do you have in common? Discuss and share ideas with the whole class.
3. If you are worried about finishing three pieces, I encourage you to create a "haiku" as one of your published pieces.
Homework: Everyone, write ONE or more haiku by Wednesday and post it as a comment on this article. Check out the examples on Asahi.com for inspiration. Simple is OK!
4. Other genres? Let's look at our genre list again together.
5. Writing time - Keep sending me links to your publish-able articles!
See you on Wednesday
How's the blogging and publishing coming?
2. What is happiness to you? What ideas do you have in common? Discuss and share ideas with the whole class.
3. If you are worried about finishing three pieces, I encourage you to create a "haiku" as one of your published pieces.
Homework: Everyone, write ONE or more haiku by Wednesday and post it as a comment on this article. Check out the examples on Asahi.com for inspiration. Simple is OK!
4. Other genres? Let's look at our genre list again together.
5. Writing time - Keep sending me links to your publish-able articles!
See you on Wednesday
(Free No.6) An Exploration of Digital Storytelling
Some "Digital Stories" on Intercultural Communication
I think Digital Storytelling has a lot of potential for use in language
learning, and actually for any kind of learning. It is a way to help
learners connect the subject to their own lives and make it part of
themselves.
One example is how students might make digital stories in a cross-cultural communication class like the following.
PowerPoint from the International Digital Storytelling Conference, which I'm hoping to attend next year possibly...
And shouldn't we be making interesting stories like this to summarize and highlight the research we do for essays in ARW or for research papers published in academic journals? Few people want to listen to "research" but everyone loves a "story".
While "research papers" might be efficient for communicating information to people who are interested in that topic already and want to read about it in detail, "digital stories" with high impact images, audio, video, and highlights of the importance or impact of that research can be effective for engaging the interest of people who do not know so much about that field of research and making them potentially interested in learning more about it in the future.
So...I would argue that our students should be trained to learn BOTH essay writing AND digital storytelling!
Digital Storytelling at University of Houston: Survey Results of Education Use, Social Studies Examples (Very powerful holocaust/Hiroshima images with music and data, no narration)
Digital Stories in e-Portfolios (link)
One example is how students might make digital stories in a cross-cultural communication class like the following.
PowerPoint from the International Digital Storytelling Conference, which I'm hoping to attend next year possibly...
And shouldn't we be making interesting stories like this to summarize and highlight the research we do for essays in ARW or for research papers published in academic journals? Few people want to listen to "research" but everyone loves a "story".
While "research papers" might be efficient for communicating information to people who are interested in that topic already and want to read about it in detail, "digital stories" with high impact images, audio, video, and highlights of the importance or impact of that research can be effective for engaging the interest of people who do not know so much about that field of research and making them potentially interested in learning more about it in the future.
So...I would argue that our students should be trained to learn BOTH essay writing AND digital storytelling!
Digital Storytelling at University of Houston: Survey Results of Education Use, Social Studies Examples (Very powerful holocaust/Hiroshima images with music and data, no narration)
Digital Stories in e-Portfolios (link)
(Week 5 Topic) What is happiness to me?
I was thinking about this all weekend.
One thing I kept remembering was something I read in a magazine in an interview with a Buddhist monk:
人間には究極の幸せが４つあります。
ひとつめは、愛されること。
ふたつめは、ほめられること。
みっつめは、人の役に立つこと。
よっつめは、人に必要とされること
I think there are big happinesses and little happinesses. As the monk wrote, the big happinesses in life come from 1) being loved by others, 2) being praised by others, 3) being useful to others, and 4) being needed by others. Those may not be the only ones, but I agree they are the main ones. In addition, I think "loving someone" is also a big happiness in itself and achieving some goal you set is also a big happiness.
For me, my big happinesses are:
Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
One thing I kept remembering was something I read in a magazine in an interview with a Buddhist monk:
人間には究極の幸せが４つあります。
ひとつめは、愛されること。
ふたつめは、ほめられること。
みっつめは、人の役に立つこと。
よっつめは、人に必要とされること
I think there are big happinesses and little happinesses. As the monk wrote, the big happinesses in life come from 1) being loved by others, 2) being praised by others, 3) being useful to others, and 4) being needed by others. Those may not be the only ones, but I agree they are the main ones. In addition, I think "loving someone" is also a big happiness in itself and achieving some goal you set is also a big happiness.
For me, my big happinesses are:
- Getting a jumping hug from my kids when I open the front door of my house.
- Watching my children sleep like angels after I come home late from working.
- Going out to a quiet lunch with my wife Megumi, with no kids.
- Getting birthday cards or Good Job! cards from my kids.
- Seeing my two kids learning something new like being able to ride a bicycle or being able to read a more difficult level of book.
- Seeing my students grow intellectually and as a person through the discussions, writing or presentations that they do. Getting emails from past students makes me very happy, too.
- Getting positive feedback on a research paper or project I did, especially from colleagues and professors of other universities.
- Being able to run a marathon to the end, even if slowly.
- A cold beer at the end of a hard day.
- A jog on a cool night with the moon and crickets singing everywhere.
- A swim on a hot, sweaty day in a cold pool.
- Climbing a mountain.
- A class where everything goes better than I expected.
- Creamy, sweat uni and other fresh seafood.
- Going out with friends on a weekend evening in Kichijoji.
- Making plans to travel to a new country, and then making them come true.
- The list will continue!
Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Class Summary and Homework 10/12 Wed
First, for Monday next week, 10/17, please:
1) Make sure you have finished blogging on "What is happiness to you?" We will have a short discussion time at the beginning of class for you to share ideas with a few group members.
2) Start commenting on the blogs of your new partners. You can leave comments on any blog articles that interest you, but especially focus on any new ones that have been posted.
Genta, Meiko, Tetsuro, Natsuki
Mitsuru, Yu Inoue, Kazuki, Buchi,
Aze, Soichiro, Riki, Hisashi
Kumiko, Kan, Uka, Mio
Chihiro, Yu K, Arisa, Kaori
3) Continue to write your blog articles and published pieces! Keep asking for feedback on drafts for revision and editing from your classmates. As much as possible, please get classmate feedback before showing it to me!
1) Make sure you have finished blogging on "What is happiness to you?" We will have a short discussion time at the beginning of class for you to share ideas with a few group members.
2) Start commenting on the blogs of your new partners. You can leave comments on any blog articles that interest you, but especially focus on any new ones that have been posted.
Genta, Meiko, Tetsuro, Natsuki
Mitsuru, Yu Inoue, Kazuki, Buchi,
Aze, Soichiro, Riki, Hisashi
Kumiko, Kan, Uka, Mio
Chihiro, Yu K, Arisa, Kaori
3) Continue to write your blog articles and published pieces! Keep asking for feedback on drafts for revision and editing from your classmates. As much as possible, please get classmate feedback before showing it to me!
New Commenting Groups!
Please continue to access partner blogs and leave comments! Also, I hope everyone will comment on all published pieces, even if it is just a simple, short comment such as "Congratulations!" or "Nicely written!"
Genta, Meiko, Tetsuro, Natsuki
Mitsuru, Yu Inoue, Kazuki, Buchi,
Aze, Soichiro, Riki, Hisashi
Kumiko, Kan, Uka, Mio
Chihiro, Yu K, Arisa, Kaori
Short comments are fine! It is a nice feeling to receive a comment from readers!
Genta, Meiko, Tetsuro, Natsuki
Mitsuru, Yu Inoue, Kazuki, Buchi,
Aze, Soichiro, Riki, Hisashi
Kumiko, Kan, Uka, Mio
Chihiro, Yu K, Arisa, Kaori
Short comments are fine! It is a nice feeling to receive a comment from readers!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Share One Good Poem (any kind!)
Hi everyone,
By Wednesday, please leave a Comment that includes one good poem in English that you know or have found.
Include:
Title (link)
Author, Year (if available)
Poem
Why you like it.
By Wednesday, please leave a Comment that includes one good poem in English that you know or have found.
Include:
Title (link)
Author, Year (if available)
Poem
Why you like it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)