Review for Japanese Literature

Intro to Japanese Lit.

What did Japan borrow from China?

What is Shintoism?

What is Feudalism and how does it relate to Japan?


Buddhism

What is the Eightfold Path?

Name several characteristics of Buddhism.

What is the Middle Way?

What is Karma?

What is Zen?


Tanka Poetry

Was haiku inspired by tanka?

Name several common themes in tanka poetry.

What is assonance? Give an example.


Haiku

What is the structure of haiku?

Does haiku have to follow that structure? What’s more important?

What is imagery and how does it relate to haiku?


Zen Parables

Give a quick overview of at least one parable.

What is a parable?

Give the morals of each parable.




“Nose”

What is the theme of “Nose”?

What makes others laugh at Zenchi?

What is the moral of the story?

Draft, Re-draft, Re-draft, and Re-draft

In high schoool, re-drafting (or revising, if you prefer) felt like extra to work to me. Typically, re-drafting simply meant, as Harper says, an opportunity to recopy my work and change a couple of words. It seemed like mindless busywork. I do not know if no teacher explained what redrafting meant or if I simply could not understand, but I do know that my writing involved exponentially when I learned this skill in college.

Spandel seems to offer some decent advice when it comes to what she calls "writing badly." I'm still not entirely sure what that means, but it must have something to do with how chaotic one's first draft can be. Sometimes that first bad draft is part of good writing. I do not even know how many first drafts I've simply tossed away. That appears to be what Spandel is saying about writing. That a poorly written draft can be as helpful (if not more so) than a decently written one.
On a slightly different note, I have noticed that many of these readings are focused on a particular type of writing, seemingly more creative than expository. I myself have that redrafting is much more rewarding (and entertaining) when working with some sort of creative or narrative structure. But when I recall the types of writing I did in high school, I mainly remember writing reports, research papers, and other less-creative essays. I wonder if these readings are not too focused on a specific type of writing. I sometimes feel Spandel is too--what's the word I'm looking for--artsy in her view of writing. Perhaps what an English teacher defines as good writing (publishable and entertaining) is not what others would define as good writing. This is somewhat of a tangent but when English teachers are expected to teach more fundamental skills in writing, can we then focus so specifically on one mode? Perhaps there should be writing teachers in every field from English to science describing and teaching their respective modes of writing.

Here is my link for this week. It's from Princeton's writing resources. Basically it describes methods of revision and other hints at the revision process.
http://webware.princeton.edu/sites/writing/Writing_Center/handouts/html/Revision.htm

Five Paragraph Essay

Wesley's view of the five paragraph essay is becoming more and more common. I agree that to some extant the FPE does inhibit an element of learning by placing too much emphasis on structure. FPE's, as Wesley puts it, do "stunt students' critical thinking abilities" to some degree. Confinement of any sort in writing does obviously decrease other freer modes of writing. That said, however, the FPE does serve a purpose when used effectively.
Wesley points out that we must maintain coherence and unity in an essay. Although creating the FPE originally perhaps served the purpose of being easily graded, the FPE also is clear and concise when responding to a topic. The FPE is a useful tool that can be used in numerous academic writings. The FPE teaches students to look at how one organizes paragraphs and thoughts, how to expand ideas, and how to concisely convey a point. Of course the FPE is not suited to 7-9 page papers; it was never meant to be used as such. Wesley sets up that argument even though it is unnecessary. No one, at least I hope no one, believes that FPE's serve all types of writing and topics.
I also disagree with Wesley's premise that the FPE denies students the ability to think for themselves. Borrowing a well-defined, histortically effective form is a great way to remove one obstacle from writing. For example, borrowing a poetical form, such as a sonet, can remove the necessary structure, rhythm, and rhyme search from the equation and allow a student to simply convey his or her thoughts, free of that obstacle. The FPE is similar. Use a form that is time-tested to convey one's thoughts and opinions with clarity and conciseness. Though perhaps not romantic or effective in every setting, it does not necessarily inhibit thinking.

Here is a link discussing the merits of FPE's.

http://www.msu.edu/~phl/phlskills/writing.htm

1st Resource Link

All right, so I forgot to do the resource. We can't all be perfect.

Here is the link I wanted to post. This is a link to the Internet Public Library. Specifically, this site covers various methods and strategies for revision, including some helpful guidelines for peer-editing.

http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/linksrevising.htm

Writing Workshops

After reading Williams' chapter on classroom workshops, I felt compelled to write an entry on this strategy. First, I believe workshops are one of the greatest ways to help students improve their writing. Not only do they allow students to receive valuable feedback but provide students the opportunity to assess what works within a draft. Also, as Williams puts it, "Writing is a social action" (140). Persuading students to begin to discuss their own writing is a great way to make writing more a matter of habit rather than chore. That said, there are several problems I have seen with the implementation of writing workshops in the classroom.
First, while balancing the levels of student ability per group is a great idea, ensuring that each group actually provides insightful, and at times correct, feedback is difficult at best. Even working with college students in workshops of these sorts, I have found that many students will either provide pointless feedback (e.g. "It's good") or incorrect suggestions, usually gramatically corrections. Even with revision guides such as the one Williams offers, students will sometimes prefer to simple answer the quetions and finish the task as opposed to actually offer constructive criticism. I have seen this situation on more than one occasion in more than one setting.
Second, the other problem is that although the social benefits of these groups are important (especially to Williams, apparently), social interaction can only do so much. Just being a part of a group and discussing one's writing does not necessarily improve writing.
The most important element of these groups is providing a beneficial example of a writing workshop. Perhaps the teacher should take time to train several students in the art of facilitating these groups and place on in each workshop team. Or perhaps have a fake group set up in a fishbowl like discussion where the other students can observe how these groups should work. Too often I have looked over papers or participated in these groups that simply lack constructive feedback. Providing the right model is paramount when using this potentially beneficial strategy.

Integrating Media: Film, Literature, and Theatre

There are many reasons to integrate media into the classroom: student interest and engagement, diverse learning environment, and more. Of most concern for me, however, is that students begin to examine the ways in which the media sphere shapes information, presentation, and to some extent reality. By successfully integrating various media into the classroom, I hope to teach students to more effectively and critically navigate their mediasphere.
First, nearly all media presented in class should go through some sort of deconstruction process. The best way to accomplish this task is to provide the students with many variations of the same story. For example, although some schools have difficulty with 'R' rated movies, Troy is a movie version of The Iliad that definitely sets for a different agenda than Homer's classic. Viewing these two together would allow the students to analyze the movie's agenda and consider typical movie conventions. The activity could lead to a decent discussion as to what Hollywood thinks America needs for its movies. This deconstruction will allow students to more effectively resist media images and persuasions.
To understand the differences in experiences between text, film, and theatre, students should attempt to decipher the intended goals and audience of each medium. This activity would involve viewing several versions of the same story. For example, The Wizard of Oz is a good example of how book, film, and play (Wicked) attempt very different goals. The activity would have to begin by reading the book version, which is a sort of analysis of capitalism, American society, and the gold standard. After deciphering what key ideas the book set forth, the students would then compare the book with the original film version. They would see the slight differences, examining how those changes create a different meaning. Finally, the play Wicked would allow the students to view the story from a postmodern view, which in turn would all the students to see both the book and the film in a slightly different light.
In addition, televison and other media would have to be a critical part of the classroom. Creating an environment in which the students could learn to think critically about all the images and advertisements presented to them each day is extremely important for students in today's world. Students must begin to analyze the way in which advertising shapes their world and their lives. One example may be to simply list all the fast food restaurant slogans on the board and have the students identify which slogan goes with which restaurant. The students will likely accomplish this quite quickly. Then the students should compare that experience to matching important scientific finds to their discoverors. For example, Marie Curie's discovery of radiation. Examining the way in which important scientific finds are less likely to be recalled than some food joint's slogan could lead to an important discussion on American reality.
Creating an enviroment in which students can increase their skill at navigating the great media sphere is an important task for any teacher. By integrating media and technology, teachers can hopefully allow students to critically anayze their world and begin to resist or accept that reality more consciously.

Who Owns Me?

Television
My Name is Earl - NBC (GE)
The Office - NBC (GE)
Lost - ABC (Walt Disney)
The Dail Show - Comedy Central (Viacom)

Radio
NPR - NPR (NPR)
Drive 105 - 105.1 (Walt Disney)
Cities97 - 97.1 (Clear Channel)

Internet
Mediacom

I'm sure there's more to it than that, but those are the ones I really pay attention to. Ownership is a strange thing. I find it really odd that a corporation that sells ovens would own a TV station. I guess if it makes money then a corporation will buy it. This ownership is a large problem. First, censorship is an obvious problem. If a station is owned by GE, for example, then it's likely not going to air something that is negative to its owers, even if ovens are exploding all over the place. Worse, corporations, by their very nature, are more concerned with profit margin than anything else. That means that if something is bad for business, the customer won't have access to it. In fact, anti-trust suits are coming up all the time now with the fewer owners in today's political climate. My internet and cable provider is actually suing Sinclair for breach of anti-trust laws. The worst thing, however, is that this kind of influence is all very covert. You may think that you are getting a piece of information from a variety of sources but in fact it may all come from one source, a single corporation. For example, one may read in a magazine about how electrician unions are creating problems that are making the price of toasters go up. Now that may seem odd and at first you may simply pass it off. Then you see a similar story on NBC news. Then you hear it on the radio. Eventually you start believing that opinion because you think that it is coming from so many sources it must be true. In reality, the corporation may simply be telling its companies to run a certain story that will be good for the corporation's dealings with the electrician unions. I think the secrecy of it all is the worst part of all it.