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Three posts from this page will be included in my final assignments as informal assignments.
Donald Trump became the new president of the United States. This election was probably one of the most heated-up elections in these few decades. A lot of people are concerned about the election and voted. And I have hated to talk about this election because everyone heats up too much and I feel uncomfortable. Because I am not a citizen, I didn't have to choose and I didn't support both of them, but I didn’t expect that Trump would win the election because more people around me supported Clinton. However, the result is, even though it was very competitive, Donald Trump won and became a president. Yes, I was surprised when I learned that he had won the election. I was even a little confused since he has said something discriminatory about non-American people including Japanese, and as an international student in America, I thought I might be kicked out or something disadvantageous might happen. However, I calmed down as I saw people protesting against him. My response to this result is “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls, and others build windmills,” and I would rather build windmills.
As I write above, I don’t like him, and I don’t think he is trustable. Thus, I won’t say they shouldn’t protest. However, I think some of the people who is protesting against him are very rude and that is as bad as being “racists.” That made me think this protesting generates nothing. I know sometimes protesting is important to change the world, but I think it isn’t the time. We don’t know if Trump is really a bad president or a good. We haven’t see him as a president yet. Thus I think we have to see at first. The good thing is he is not going to get money of working as a president. What this mean is that he became a president because he wanted to change this country, the world. This is to be praised. Also, it was good that the result was very close. Trump has said a lot of extreme things such as kicking out Muslims, but he can’t easily do them because if he did, he would be against the half of the citizens. Even him cannot ignore them. America, and the world, is going to change a lot. It might be in a good way or a bad way. However, it’s up to the people. How people “use” Donald Trump. This is democracy, so you can’t change the result. Let’s stop sticking with the results and think about the ways that make Trump a good president.
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For this three months, I have used my second language, English. I have studied it for long, but when it comes to using it in real situations, it is much more difficult to understand other people and to tell what I want to say. Thus, to improve my English skill, I have tried to think in English while I use it. For example, when I write in English, I use English to think about the topic, and when I read in English, I try to understand it without translating it into Japanese. While struggling with it, I noticed the relationship between language and culture.
The first thing I realized is that I feel or think in a little different way when I use English. For example, I am more confident when I use English than when I use Japanese. That might be because English is more direct when you tell something. The way you tell something in Japanese is more euphemistic. It might be able to be said that language have effect on your identity or characteristic. Also, I noticed another thing. People cannot understand a concept because there is no way to explain it in their language. On Hiraeth Assignment, I wrote about kendo, which is affected a lot by Japanese traditional cultures. When I wrote the drafts, I struggled with explaining the concepts that cannot be translated in English. There was no word that can explain it, so I tried to explain it in some sentences, but no one could understand it. Thinking it was because of my English skill, I asked my friend, who has an American mother and a Japanese father and can speak both English and Japanese well, for his help. However, he couldn’t explain it as well. Thus, I might be able to say people think differently because their language limits their perception. I used to think it was a one-way process that only culture affects language, and I still think culture forms language. Words emerge based on the users’ way of thinking or categorizing things. However, because of these realizations, I came to think it is like an interactive process, and language forms people’s way as well. I have written some drafts of the Hiraeth Assignment, but I am still working on it. I struggle with “showing” the story and how to put “longing” in the story. The Tuesday’s class about how we organize the essay, for example, using some symbols or conflict was a big help for me. And the Thursday’s presentation of the Hiraeth Assignment also worked for me. I could get feedbacks from the people who don’t know the scene and the topic at all. The thing I asked them was if I was showing enough or not yet.
I was not sure if people can imagine the scenes since it was about the thing which is not familiar with for most people, so I asked the group about it. The group members told that it was easy to imagine the scene. Thus, I decided to keep using some descriptions that I have used in the draft. Also they told me that I needed to express more “longing” and why I long the “home”. The draft I presented was the one I wrote before Tuesday’s class, so I knew that I didn’t have enough description about it. Then Mr. Mangini came and asked if we could tell what was our home, what was the longing, and why we could not return. Which helped me with think about how to express the longing. I tried to express my longing by using symbols and conflict. I miss my teammates in Japan and I cannot return because I am too far away now and also I am not their teammate anymore. And I am in the United States, where is this far from my home, because I chose to chase my dream, to learn about other cultures and perspectives. Thus I tried to symbolize Japan, my home, by dojo, the place we do kendo, and the world, my dream, by the broad sky. Also I tried to express the comfort and the pressure or the tension by taking off and putting on the shoes. I don’t if it works, so I look forward to get the feedback and revise it. Also, I am going to try multimodal project too by using some photos or the videos. * I revised this post on a new blog post, so please visit the post if you want!
For this three months, I have used my second language, English. I have been studied it for long, but when it comes to using it in the real life, it is much more difficult to understand other people and to tell what I want to say. To develop my English skill, I have tried to think in English while I am using it. For example, when I write in English, I use English to think about the topic, and when I read in English, I try to understand without translating it into Japanese. While struggling with it, I have noticed one thing. Language change how you think or feel. For example, I am more confident when I use English than when I use Japanese. That might be because English is more direct when you telling something. The way of telling something in Japanese is more euphemistic. I have noticed the difference, but I thought the difference between language is because of the difference of the characteristics or cultures of the people who use it. However, since I feel a little differently when I use different language, now I think because of the difference of the language, people’s characteristics or cultures differ. When I wrote the drafts of Hiraeth Assignment, I struggle with writing the concepts that any English words cannot explain. I thought I could explain it by making it into some sentences, but no one could understand. I thought it was because of my English skill, so I asked my friend who has American mother and Japanese father, and can speak both English and Japanese well, but he couldn’t explain it well. He told me that there was no way to explain it except letting them experience the concepts. Since I have spent all my childhood in Japan with Japanese language, the basis of my perspective is always based on Japanese culture. However, the friend of mine, who have experienced the both culture, American and Japanese, uses the perception that is based on the culture of the language he is using at the moment. Therefore, it might be able to be said that language have impact on your understanding of things, especially during the early days. 11/9/2016. Donald Trump was elected as the new president of the United States.
As a non-American, I enjoyed this election. I have heard many people’s opinion, and I did some research by myself as well. The election in this country is not only about America, but also about the world. Thus, the result of this election will have a big impact on the world. First of all, I don’t like the way people who don’t like Mr. Trump are protesting. Of course I won’t say they cannot protest, but they shouldn’t burn the flag or do something rude. They should be calm and make more smart action. This is democracy. They have to accept the result and look forward. I can understand why people are upset about the result. He is not responsible and reliable as a person before as a politician. (I think neither is Mrs. Clinton though.) However, now Mr. Trump was elected, so I want to think how America and the world would be better with “President Trump”. A good thing about this election is the vote was so close. Even though Mr. Trump won, since he cannot ignore the half of the citizen, he cannot really do the extreme things that he had said during the election, otherwise America would lose many of its citizen. One of the biggest fault of President Obama is the problem of Syria and ISIS. “If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.” He tried to solve the both problem and he couldn’t solve either of them. However, Mr. Trump is going to accept President Assad at first to collaborate with Russia and destroy ISIS. I think this could be effective because he is going to focus on one thing first. And it is his strengths that he has been a business man not a politician who is just glossing over. When it comes to the problem about immigrants, he says he is going to kick out those who have committed a crime first. I think it means he is going to give citizenship for those immigrants who is doing good. It is true that you shouldn’t accept illegal immigrants easily since there has been some terrible terrorism by them. Honestly I am worried about the future as well. However, I don’t think it would be better if Mrs. Clinton had been elected and this is the result of democracy. We, both Americans and people around the world, have to think how we can make it better with him. You cannot change anything if you keep looking back. You have to make new strategy. Having spent half of the semester, I am more confident about my writing than the beginning of the semester even though I still can’t write exactly what I want to write.
I posted all the blogs and almost all the bonus blog. Because of that, I am less nervous about writing. At the beginning of the class, I didn’t like writing and didn’t want to write because I thought I was not good at writing at all, and I spent quite long time to write one post. However, as I wrote 13 blog posts and some bonus blogs, I came to be able to write without stopping, and ceased to feel like I don’t want to write. Writing is not a hard work that it used to be anymore. In addition, thinking about main idea has made it easier for me to wrote. At first, I just wrote about the topic, but I didn’t know what I really wanted to write. However, as I presented my writing in front of the classmates and got some feedback, I learned that I have to be sure what I want to tell the reader through my writing. Thus, now I try to think about the main topic before I start writing, which makes it easier for me to stay focus on it. Also, by reflecting after each assignment, I could find the better writing process for me. I found that I can do better when I work in the school library than in my bed room, that working alone first is good for me to think about my own opinion, and that writing ideas on paper before start writing is a good way to organize my thoughts. For the next half of the semester, I am going to keep posting all the blogs including bonus blogs, focusing on the main topic, and following the process that I found is good for me. In addition to that, I hope to learn details of writing, keep improving my writing process, and be a better writer. (340 words) Same as the academic mindsets assignment, I worked alone on the film-based assignment at first. I think it worked this time too. I could think about the problem and the solution with my own view.
This assignment was similar to the last one for both of them were about education and I had to write opinions toward problems and solutions. Thus, the hardest part with this assignment for me was having my own opinion, too. I worked on it following the writing process that I made when I wrote academic mindsets assignment reflection. I worked in the library, I used paper to think about my view, I tried to stay focus on what I wanted to write; the problem is that they are allowed to live without working, I read three times to make sure it was easy to understand, I rewrite the parts that I thought was weird, and I had it checked by my native friend (I couldn’t have it checked by my tutor this time, but I am going to do so in this week). Most of the part I used the same process as the last one, but I used another way of thinking. First I chose the bad things the son does in the film, such as hitting others with weapons and being rude at the job interviews. Then, I tried to trace the roots of them. For example, I thought they hit each other because they can’t think well about how others feel, that is because they lack the interaction with other people, and to have the interaction, they need to get jobs. The good thing was I could use the reflection of the last assignment. I think the style that I used last time worked for me at most of the part, so I worked on this assignment in the same process. Also that I found another way of thinking was good, too. The bad this was I couldn’t have it checked by the tutor, so that I couldn’t discuss this opinion. Thus, I am going to see her this week and write draft #2 after the discussion. I won’t revise the processes this time. I am going to keep following the process that I made last time. (375 words) Prompt: - Certain age that you stop relying on parents at the level of the step brothers - Does ending of marriage affect the children? Can a divorce be positive occurrence for children? - How can a child's actions impact a marriage? - Should a child's wrong-doing be served with consequences? - Is it okey to keep your inner child? Does adulthood make it impossible to maintain a youthful joy for life? - When is it appropriate for an adult to show your inner child? Do they exhibit an "indulgent" - Why do the brothers feel entitled for so long? - What did the parents do to make the brother feel entitled? Do they exhibit an "indulgent" parent style? - Different types of parenting : What type of parenting is needed for these brother to become functional adults? - How can parents help their children to leave the nest - Should the brothers follow their dreams or comfort to society's expectations for what constitutes being adult? - If a parent favors a child, can that affect his/her siblings? - Did the parents enable the brothers to act like children? Purpose: - Persuade Audience: - Our teacher of the class - The other class members - Parents (Robert and Nancy) - Children who feel entitled (Dale and Brennan) Focus: - Identify a problem and provide a solution Style: - Informal - Nontraditional - No need for APA/MLA for draft #1 Step Brothers is a movie about two middle-aged men, Dale Doback and Brennan Huff, who become step brothers because Dale’s father, Dr. Robert Doback, and Brennan’s mother, Nancy Huff, get married. The two guys are both about 40 years old but don’t work and live with their parents. Then, their parents get married and start living together. At first, the sons hate each other, and one day they fight against each other. Dr. Doback gets mad with them and tells them they have to find jobs in a month. Then, Dale punches Brennan’s brother, Derek, who Brennan hates, and they become best friends. They go to the job interviews together but they fail all of them. They try to start their own music business. However, they break Dr. Doback’s ship while they were shooting the music video, and Dr. Doback gets angry with them. Since he couldn’t agree with Nancy, who screens the sons, they decide to divorce. The sons are left in the house and start fighting again. They decide to live apart and find jobs. After a while, Brannan works for Derek’s company and manages the party. Dale serves the food at the party, too, so the parents are invited. The sons talk and shake hands as if they are “normal”. Then, the singer at the party abuses one of the audience, and because of it, Brannan gets fired. In such bad mood, Dr. Doback encourage the sons to go to the stage and perform. Dale goes to the stage first, and seeing Dale abused by people, Brannan decides to go, too. Their music reminds the parents of the moment they met for the first time, and Derek of the days he loved his brother. Six months later, Dale and Brannan run a karaoke company and Dr. Doback gives them a tree house made from the broken his boat.
One of the features of this movie is the words that the characters use. They use a lot of “swear words” during the whole scene. I think this is effective in this film. That makes the story funnier and more energetic. Also, even though this is a stupid comedy movie, it surely has the main message. The message is; don’t forget your childish aspects. I think this movie is good when you want to laugh, but also you can learn from the film. There are three quotes that I think are important. The first one is “You are adults. It’s time you start acting like adults.” It is said by Dr. Doback. When is the appropriate time for people to start acting like adults? What is the “act” of adults? The second one is “I don’t care how old they are. They are still our children.” This is a Nancy’s quote. Does this attitude have something to do with the sons’ behavior? The last quote is “The point is, don’t lose your dinosaur.” This is also said by Dr. Doback. Is it okay to keep your childish aspect? What is the problem of being “adults”? (506 words) The movie I would choose is a Danish movie called “After the Wedding”. This is a story about Jacob, a Danish man who runs an orphanage in India.
Although he works hard, the orphanage faces bankruptcy. Then he gets an offer of donation from a rich man in Denmark. To talk with the CEO, Jørgen, Jacob comes back to Denmark. When Jacob meets Jørgen, Jacob is told that Jørgen is still considering about the fund and that he would make a decision in a few days, which surprise Jacob because he had thought the decision was already made. While he is waiting for Jørgen’s decision, Jacob is invited to Jørgen’s daughter’s wedding. At the wedding, Jacob meets his ex-girlfriend, Helene, who is now Jørgen’s wife. Moreover, from her speech, he learns Anna, Jørgen’s daughter, is not a biological daughter of Jørgen but of Helene’s ex-boyfriend. With a suspect that Anna might be his daughter, Jacob asks Henne the truth. Learning that Anna is actually his daughter, he hugs her with a big love. Jørgen’s decision is to create a foundation of three million dollars with the name of Jacob and Anna, with requirements; to use for helping Indian orphans, and for Jacob to live in Denmark. Jacob rejects this offer because he has a boy in India who he loves like his son, Pramod, and he leaves the room with anger. Jørgen chases after Jacob, tells that he is ill and has not long to live, and asks to take care of his family including his twin sons. Jacob can’t accept it soon, and gets back to the hotel, where he finds Anna crying because his husband cheats on her. The next morning, Helene comes too, and they spend some time together. Then, Jacob decides to accept Jørgen’s requirement. On his last birthday, Jørgen cries, complaining that he doesn’t want to die and he wants to live longer. After a few months, despite his wish, Jørgen passes away. At his funeral, there are Helene, Anna, his twin sons, and Jacob. At last of the movie, Jacob goes back to India, and asks Pramod whether he wants to come to Denmark with Jacob. But he says no, and Jacob starts live in Denmark. The possible writing topic is: What is the role of Pramod in this movie? He tells Jacob that he will stay in India without hesitation when he is asked if he wants to come to Denmark with Jacob. Why this scene is included at the end of the movie? (421 words) |
Katsuki Iio
Born in Osaka, Japan in 1997. Archives
December 2016
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