: Japanese Cinema Take-home Final (Spring 2018)
(NOTE: final grades for the course will not be officially registered until the take-home final is submitted to Turnitin).
ASSIGNMENT: Using three films, Grave of the Fireflies(1988), Black Rain/Kuroi ame(1989 Japanese film), Tokyo story(1953), we studied this semester, write an interpretive essay comparing and contrasting how Japanese directors have treated a common, central theme or themes. Clearly identify the common theme(s) you will examine in the title of your essay. Assume full reader knowledge of the cinematic works you write about. Support your main points with references to and examples from the films, including commentary on the directors’ form/style/technique. Incorporate discussion of the relevance of the Japanese directors’ treatments of the common theme(s) you identify to your own life and times. Double-space your essay and use Times New Roman, 12 point font. Do not use any unassigned secondary sources without formally requesting and receiving prior approval from me. If you refer to assigned secondary sources, use parenthetical citation, i.e. (Tyson 1982: 14). There is no set length limit, but essays tend to average about 8-10 double-spaced pages in length.
RECOMMENDED APPROACH: Choose the common theme(s) you are most interested in writing about and select 3 films that deal with it/them. It is okay to revisit a theme or themes you wrote about in your first and/or second essay, but if you do, you must build on and develop your earlier ideas and insights (it is not acceptable to simply cut and paste from previous essays). Review the films you have chosen, your class notes and assigned secondary sources with your chosen thematic concern(s) in mind and identify the key textual references/examples you will refer to in your essay. Decide on the basic structure of your essay; will you examine each film separately or compare and contrast works simultaneously? Come up with a general outline/framework for your essay. Decide whether you will discuss the contemporary relevance of your theme at the beginning, at the end or somewhere in the body of your essay. Once these preparations are complete, set aside a three hour block of time and compose your essay as if you were taking an in-class exam. Allow your thoughts to flow as freely and naturally as possible. It is fine to use self-references and your essay need not be reworked or rewritten. If it occurs to you while writing that you should have made a particular point earlier, simply state this fact, make the point where you are and move on. When discussing the relevance of your chosen theme(s) to our own contemporary lives and times, feel free to make meaningful connections with other courses you have taken, other films you have watched, books you have read, song lyrics, people you know, past or current events, etc.
