To all the students of Research in English ID / IID and Interactive Writing I/II, farewell. I enjoyed teaching you, and I learned a lot. Best wishes in all things.

Today is the last class before the final exam (next Friday, Jan. 22nd).

1. Hand in your re-written report comparing “Little Plum” with a representative, Japanese children’s story.
2. Complete the “Little Plum” quiz.
3. Hand in any other outstanding assignments.

1. Important announcement: the makeup class on January 19th has been canceled. Instead there will be class as usual on Friday, January 15th.
2. Returned reports (“Comparison between ‘Little Plum‘ and (your chosen Japanese story)“
3. What does “compare” mean?  Compare - requires an answer that sets items side by side and shows their similarities and differences. A balanced (fair, objective) answer is expected.
4. A fair comparison. Is comparing a novel with a picture book a fair comparison? Is comparing a novel with a movie a fair comparison? Is comparing a novel with a cartoon or manga a fair comparison?
   1. If you make an unfair comparison, you will draw false conclusions (as some of you did).
5. Review of the criteria I use to evaluate your writing
   1. conventions of writing: sentence and paragraph structurepunctuation, etc.
   2. Vocabulary: rich, precise, correctly used.
   3. Grammar: basic and advanced structures, word order
   4. Organization: logically organized, correct use of paragraphs
   5. Originality: have you used your own words? Do you have interesting ideas or approaches?
   6. Academic writing:
      1. formal register:
         1. avoid “I”; your writing should be impersonal and objective;
         2. avoid contractions like “don’t”;
         3. instead of “And”, use “Moreover” or “In addition”.
         4. instead of “But”, use “However,”
         5. instead of “So”, use “Therefore,”
         6. be precise in your use of words
      2. citations (“according to ….”, (Krashen, 2003), etc.
      3. references / bibliography, including websites (give the name of the website as well as the URL, e.g. “Research, Reading & Writing http://sheffnersweb.net/blogs/classblogs/dwc/ and the date visited
      4. opposing arguments (both sides of an issue)
      5. logical thinking
6. Quiz on Little Plum (we will finish this next class).
   1. Why did Belinda climb the ilex tree?
   2. Who saw “Little Plum” first?
   3. Who does Little Plum belong to?
   4. Who named Little Plum?
   5. What was the first “present” that Belinda asked Nona to make for Little Plum?
   6. What did Belinda use to get across to Gem’s window?
   7. What was written in the first letter Belinda wrote to Gem (not the one where she said sorry for crashing into Gem while roller-skating, but the one she wrote when she gave Gem her first “present”)?
   8. What did Gem write in reply?
   9. What did Gem do with Belinda’s first “present”?
   10. What was Belinda’s second “present”?
   11. What was Belinda’s message with her second present?
   12. What did Gem do with the second present, and what message did she write?
   13. What was Belinda’s third present to Gem, and what message did she send with it?
   14. What was Gem’s response? (What was her message and what did she do?)
   15. What was Belinda’s fourth present, and what message did she send with it?
   16. What was Gem’s response? (What did she do and what was her message?)
   17. What was Belinda’s fifth present and message?
   18. What was Gem’s response?
   19. What did Belinda do next?
   20. Who won the fight?
   21. Who helped Belinda safely off the ladder and how?
   22. Was Belinda punished? How? Why?
   23. Do you think Belinda should have been punished? How would you punish Belinda?
   24. Why did Belinda ask Mr. Twilfit for advice?
   25. What was Mr. Twilfit’s advice?
   26. When is the Japanese Festival of Dolls?
   27. Who was the surprise guest at the Doll’s Festival?
   28. What did Gem think of Belinda’s messages?
   29. What will Belinda teach Gem
   30. What will Gem let Belinda do?
7. Details of the final exam:
   1. There will be 2 questions:
      1. a choice of 1 of 3 topics for a paper
      2. some questions about the story of “Little Plum”.
      3. You can bring anything into the exam room.
      4. You will need to prepare your paper before the day of the exam, and bring suitable materials.
8. Homework:
   • Re-write your essay comparing Rumer Godden‘s novel for children Little Plum with a Japanese children’s story. You must
     1. write the full references for the two books you use (using the MLA style)
     2. make a fair comparison (i.e. compare a novel with a novel, not with a movie or a cartoon)
     3. use a formal, academic register (do not use slang, do not use contractions like “don’t”, etc)

Last class, I told you that I was canceling the January 15th class to attend a workshop.However, that workshop has been canceled, therefore there WILL be class on Friday January 15th. The makeup classes will be canceled.

Report #1: comparing Little Plum with a Japanese children’s story (500 words).

Please introduce your report to the rest of the class, in English and Japanese.

If you did not give me your report today, please email it to me as soon as possible.

Afterwards we listened to a well-known winter song called Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

Make-up day #2: Tuesday, Jan. 19th, 2010, 5th period (same room).

FINAL EXAM: Friday, Jan. 22nd. More details next class, Friday, Jan. 8th, 2010 (also watch this blog). I will give you a choice of topics to write about, and ask you to choose 2. You will need to have finished reading the complete story of Little Plum by then.

Homework: Your report comparing Little Plum with a Japanese children’s story. For December 18th.

We talked about the book “Little Plum”, for example:

• What is this story called?
• Who are the main characters?
• When does it take place?
• Where does it take place?
• What are the dolls called?
• Whose dolls are they?
• Who knows much about Japan and why?
• Does Gem have a pony?

Then we watched the beginning of a 1987 movie called Empire of the Sun, 太陽の帝国 , directed by Steven Spielberg and starring a very young Christian Bale. We watched the beginning up to where Jamie (Christian Bale) goes back to his empty home and finds his “ama” stealing furniture.  His parents are not there.

Empire of the Sun is based on a novel by a British writer, J.G. Ballard. The story is fiction, but is based on the author’s personal childhood experiences.

After watching the beginning of the movie, we discussed similarities and differences between Empire of the Sun and Little Plum.

Similarities:

1. Gem is rich, and so is Jamie.
2. Gem has no brothers or sisters; nor does Jamie.
3. Gem has a chauffeur and a governess to take care of her; so does Jamie.
4. Both stories have some connection between Britain and Japan.

Differences:

1. Jamie is a British boy living in a foreign country (Shanghai in China)
2. Empire of the Sun takes place before the Second World War (1939-1945). Little Plum takes place after the War, in 1960′s Britain.
3. Empire of the Sun is based on the author’s own personal experiences. Little Plum is not based so much on personal experiences.