Writing English B: Fall semester final writing assignment・後期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our fall semester final writing assignment.

Tasks
For our final assignment, you can write on anything you like - an opinion paper; comparison and contrast (比較対照) short paper of a topic of your choice - something factual like an issue in the news, or a comparison of some artwork or music; an analysis (分析) of a poem of your choice; or a creative writing effort such as a short story or poem. 

Guidelines
While you have maximum freedom on this assignment, there will be one rule for whatever kind of theme or topic you choose - that is, you cannot simply do the same thing you did before.

For example, if you would like to write an analysis comparing and contrasting two works of art - they cannot be the same works of art you wrote on before. They would have to be two completely different choices of art. Same with music, or an opinion piece - the subjects, or topic, have to be different from what you did before.

Notes on task examples - comparison and contrast

I do not want to give a list of topic suggestions as I have done before, as I would really like you to explore and have the freedom to write on what you really would like. But as an example of a comparison and contrast task, here is a suggestion for a topic: Comparing and contrasting your life in high school to your life in university. 

While many of you might have had similar experiences in your high school life, I would like you to go into details. First, where did you go to high school? What were your favorite classes there? What were the classes you didn’t like? What do you feel were your best subjects? How about your worst subjects? What about the school facilities (施設) – for example, the classrooms, places for sports, or things like the school lunches? What were they like? 

How do any of these things compare (比べる) with your life here at Daito Bunka so far? What do you find about the classes in university that are different (or similar) to your high school education? Once again – go into details about these things. What has been the most difficult thing you have found so far about your university life and education – and what has been the best thing?

Notes about poetry

If you choose to try to write a poem from the notes in the first semester, this may be quite challenging - but one that may also be new, unique, and even fun for you. In this choice, write an original poem in English on any topic of your choice. It could be about yourself, about people around you, about nature, animals, or a place. 

We have seen with the poetry we have read in the first semester how words can be used in ways that are unexpected in everyday writing –  about how they can create images, and how words can be used to show meanings that may be outside the regular way we use them.

This can be very freeform - words do not have to rhyme (韻を踏まない), and you can use words to bring out different feelings - for example, to show how something is like something else, or is as something that is unexpected.  

How much to write

I would like to see you write as much as you can - go for more than what you may have done before if your assignments have been shorter. For the comparison and contrast and opinion choices, I would like you to write around 4-5 paragraphs. But do not limit yourselves - write as much as you can!

I am gathering your writing into the various books I have mentioned before in class. For poetry writing, I would like you to try to write at least three (3) verses in the poem. I am gathering these into a new collection called Ways with Words - a collection of student creative writing. 

So whichever is your choice of writing, try to write to the best you can, because your work may be published (出版した) on both the blog and in these books!

Deadline (締め切り) 

It will be in the new year, on our last day of class, on January 15th, 2020 (1/15/20), and it will be a final version (完成版). This means you should begin writing now – do not wait until the day or night before! 

Good luck! I hope you can enjoy writing on your choices. 

Image: Personal photograph of public artwork along wall, Nakano-ku, Tokyo. All rights on artwork reserved to the artist.