CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
ESSAY ASSIGNMENT TWO
From
the LIST OF POSSIBILITIES, select a role (or devise
one of your own definition) to assume in an exploration of Contemporary
Japan in a pair of role playing exercises which will conclude the course
of study. (Your choice most profitably might be related to the topic selected
for your Research Essay). After making your
role choice, write a fictional autobiography of your assumed character of
between five and seven pages in length (seven to nine pages for those in
HIS 573) following the instructions below:
Note your educational background
and employment history, including your occupation, current situation
and job title (if appropriate) together with a description of your work
duties and responsibilities.
Tell something about your
life, your family and other social ties; discuss your responsibilities
within the community, your current social standing, political views
and economic position.
Include a consideration
of your religious or philosophical orientation and the degree to which
you adhere to its beliefs. Identify a characteristic that sets you apart
as unique -- hobbies, interests, passions; unusual personal attributes;
uncommon background experiences. The role you have assumed
should be constructed as well so as to provide you with an appropriate
and cohesive background from which to respond to questions asked of
you in a MOCK PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY concerning major issues of the day.
Your assumed personality also should be developed enough to allow you
to formulate an appropriate rationale for whatever position(s) you adopt
in your responses to the survey questionnaire. Be sure to include
enough "background information" in your written autobiography to permit
these given reasons to sound "realistic". Discuss ways in which the
traditional history of your own family has influenced your life and
the ways in which more general values from Japanese tradition still
exert an attraction for you today and continue to influence your life.
The ROLE-PLAY EXERCISE CHOICE
is due no later than Wednesday, February 20,
2002. A series of questions appropriate
for inclusion in the MOCK PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY mentioned above is part
of the assignment; these survey questions
are due Wednesday, April 24, 2002.
The MOCK PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY
itself should be completed and readied for discussion as part of the role-playing
exercise scheduled for Monday, April 29, 2002.
Your autobiography will be judged
on how well you have developed a unique, believable and rational contemporary
Japanese personality and how reasonable it would be to assume the particular
expertise with which that character is imbued. During the in-class discussion
of the results of the MOCK PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY, you will also be assessed
on how closely your responses and justifications accord with the expected
responses from someone in your situation in "real life". The second
exercise will require you to construct a reasonable and rational family
connection between the past and the present based on your assumed identity
and your family's (fictional) historical roots.
Discuss your place of residence,
including a characterization of your living situation (rural, small town,
city; apartment block, detached dwelling; traditional-style or modern).
Describe the layout of your residence and the neighborhood in which you
reside.
Discuss in the closing pages
of your essay, therefore, not only your family's ancestry but also ways
in which life for you and your ancestors is the same and ways in which
it has changed dramatically.
The resulting AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
ESSAY should be in the hands of the instructor no later than Friday,
April 26, 2002.