電気通信大学 AWE II: Fall semester final writing assignment supporting post (Part 3)・後期末作文の付記 (Part 3)

Hello!

How are you? I'm very sorry to get this post up later than what I planned. I have already gotten busy with grading and writing syllabuses for other classes, but I wanted to get this posted sooner! My apologies for keeping any of you waiting. 

In this post, here are a few more ideas for you about ideal working schedules (理想的な職の生活). What kind of working life do you see yourself having in the future, after you graduate from university? 

Look at the image at the top. It shows a woman working, but sitting on the floor of what could be her room, with a cup of coffee. Maybe she is working from home. Would this be an ideal option for you - to work from home? 

Activity
Look at these pictures below. Which ones show the kind of working life you would like the best? 

Working alone

Working with people

Working in a teaching or training situation

Working at night in an office or at home

I hope these give you some more ideas on how to write about future working lives. 

Have fun with these! See you next time! 

Images: Top - courtesy of Shutterstock/People shaking hands - "Working Team Shaking Hands" & woman with laptop -"Woman in Kitchen With Laptop" (both courtesy of Ambro)/Classroom - By Laboratorio de Escritura - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18242352/Woman working at night - courtesy of Shutterstock/Ambro's images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

電気通信大学 AWE II: Fall semester final writing assignment supporting post (Part 2)・後期末作文の付記 (Part 2)

Hello! 

How are you? Here is one more supporting post for your final writing assignment about Japan and the future. 

Science and technology are not all there are about the future, because there is also society and culture too. You do not have to focus on science and technology in your thinking about the future - there are also things such as fashion and music, and the looks of cars and buildings, and the way people live in their day-to-day lives.  

Look at the picture above. It's a Bon Curry ad from 50 years ago, when it first was sold, in 1968. At the time, this was revolutionary - a healthy meal in a pack that could be boiled in a pot of water. This was similar to what the Apollo astronauts ate in space!    

Activity
What kinds of social or cultural changes can you see happening in Japan in the future? Japanese society and culture has already been through many changes since World War II. 

Take a look at these next group of pictures. They show some changes that have happened in around the last 50 years, up to now. What do you notice about the buildings, or the cars, or the way people dress? How do you feel that things have changed? 

I choose the 1960s a lot because so much of that time was rich in imagination about the future for many Japanese. So take a look at these pictures:

Japanese young people, 1964

Japanese young people, 2017

Some street fashions in Tokyo, late 1960s

Some street fashions in Tokyo, 2017

So when we think about the future from our viewpoint now, what kinds of changes can you imagine happening in society or culture in the future? 

What kinds of fashions might people wear? For example, would long hair come back into fashion among men? Would women all wear mini-skirts again? Or - would men wear skirts and women wear suits? 

How about music? What would the music of the future be like? What designs in cars could you see in the future? How about architecture? What will buildings in the future look like? These and many other questions are the kinds of things you can think of! 

Good luck with this! I hope this can give you more ideas on how you can write on Japan and the future. 

See you next week!

Images: Top - by Unknown - Japanese magazine "Photograph Gazette, May 1954 issue" published by Government of Japan., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17850644/Ginza in 1967 - By Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A. - Tokyo - Chuo-Dori, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60804070/Ginza in 2017 - By Gary - DSC08269 - Chuo-dori Ginza, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40961932/Japanese young people in 1964 - screenshot taken from Japanese+youth,+Tokyo,+1964+(11).jpg/Japanese young people in 2017 - screenshot taken from https://www.google.co.jp/search?biw=1199&bih=746&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=w2dXWpWxAcr08QXcjLHAAg&q=japanese+young+people&oq=japanese+young+people&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0.0.37755.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.ZsHKi1iiTEI#imgrc=VXhxXXgo1PeJ-M:/Fashions in the 1960s - screenshot taken from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uz4R-wZIivs/UO6nZB9w72I/AAAAAAACO5E/Ge5n6MmxZxM/s1600/Street fashion in 2017 – screenshot taken from https://medium.com/@TokyoFashion/japanese-street-fashion-2017-15-things-you-need-to-know-ab06eabfca39

電気通信大学 AWE II: Fall semester final writing assignment supporting post (Part 1)・後期末作文の付記 (Part 1)

Hello! 

How are you? Here is one supporting blogpost for all of you about Japanese technology for the future, and the role it might play in shaping our lives and society here. 

As you can see above, this is a picture of ASIMO - the robot that can walk on two legs that Honda developed. Do you feel that this is a great achievement - or do you see any problems or difficulties with the role that robots might play in our lives, or even society, in the future?  

Activity
This is a short video that was made in 2015, but it is still timely. Watch it as many times as you want or need - there's no dialog on it, so it is easy to follow. 

Here's one basic question: How would you compare and contrast (比較対照して) the things you see about technology and the future in this video with what you saw in the blogpost about American ideas of the future after World War II? 

One common idea is that technology will be important in our societies and lives in the future, and play a positive role. Would you agree with this - or do you see any problems with technology and its possible impact on Japanese society in the future? 

Good luck with this! I hope this can give you more ideas to think about in this theme of writing about Japan and the future. 

Have fun with this! See you next week! 

Image: By Morio - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29969316
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content of the video or the products depicted. All rights reserved to the copyright owner(s) of content and products. Uploaded for classroom use only.

電気通信大学 AWE II: Fall semester final writing assignment ・後期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Today I will introduce here the final writing assignment for the year. 

While I have given all of you the handout about the assignment, I will post it here as another way to help remind you about it, and what you can write on.  

Review of topics

For our final writing assignment, you have a choice of themes! This semester, we wrote about these themes:

• Comparison and contrast (比較対照) similarities and differences in educational systems

• Comparison and contrast of works or art or music

We did not have enough time for another writing assignment as what was listed on the syllabus. So I will adjust the grading scheme so all of you will still get the full credit with the two writing assignments.

Task

For the final assignment, you can choose one (1) of the following topics, both of which are about the future:

1. Our current theme - Japan and the future

2. A variation on this theme - your goals, plans, and ideas for your future working life and lifestyle after you graduate from UEC

Activity/approach
As a way of thinking about the first theme of Japan and the future, look at the picture at the top. It is the Ginza, taken just last year. 

Now contrast it with the picture below, of the Ginza taken 50 years earlier, in 1967:

How has it changed over time? The Ginza of 2017 might have been the future that people in 1967 imagined. How will Japan change in the future? What might things be like 50 years or so from now, in 2067 or 2068? 

This is just one example of how you might be able to get started on this theme, if you choose to write about it!

How much to write

I’d like you to write as much as you can, at least 4-5 paragraphs' worth of writing – though if you can write more, go for it! 

I already have some supporting blogposts on the Daily Sekaijin blog to help you with ideas and information that can help you in shaping your writing. 

Deadline (締め切り)

For our final assignment, we will have a flexible deadline. You can turn this in next week if you can finish it, on February 2nd (2/2). However, if you need an extra week to complete it, you can finish it and turn it in on February 9th (2/9). You will not be late if you turn it in on February 9th. 

Special note: But even if you turn it in one week early on February 2nd, you still have to come on February 9th  as we will do the student survey on that date.

One way or another, I would like you to begin work on your first draft (下書き) in class today in your notebooks in pencil, then work on this outside of class.

The final version should be typed up on a Word document, with the correct formatting as I have shown you before about name, class, period, and that it is the final writing assignment, with a title and the correct spacing, when you hand it in.

Good luck with this! I look forward to reading your great writing on either of these themes. 

See you next week!

Images: Top - by Gary - DSC08269 - Chuo-dori Ginza, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40961932/Ginza in 1967 - By Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A. - Tokyo - Chuo-Dori, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60804070