J155 Spring 2012 Assignments & Tests

"Post-reading Analysis" (new name)

When does this happen?

Once, for each author. It is due within three days after we have finished that author but cannot be submitted on the day we finish that author. (In other words, I don't want you to work early on this. I want us to finish the author, have a little time to think, then do this work.) "Within three days" means that if we finished the author on a Tuesday, it is due by 11:59PM on Friday and if we finished an author on a Thursday, it is due by 11:59PM on Sunday. No late submissions.

How is it submitted?

This assignment is a word document or text file that you keep adding to and keep resubmitting. It will gradually grow longer as you cover more authors.

The file name for this document should be:

J155_LASTNAME_classname Analysis

The document is emailed to me using the subject line:

J155_LASNAME_classname [author]overall

So, for example, in the case of Doppo, you would send an email with attachment with a subject line like:

J155_CHIKAMATSU_Monzy doppooverall

*I need the one word phrase, not two words, so my computer can ignore the kajillion emails I have with just "overall" in them.

What do I write about?

These things, with your emphasis on #3. Label your paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4. For #3, to the extent possible, stick to one item (a technique, a passage, a moment of dialogue, an event, etc.) rather then general statements.

1. What does the text look like on paper, compared to the other authors we are reading? (For Doppo you can leave this question blank.) Does it use simple kanji? difficult kanji? a lot of or few hiragana? katakana? foreign languages? emphasis marks? dashes or other pauses? is it dense or is there a lot of white space? — but ignore margins and "classical orthography" (kyuukanadukai 旧仮名遣い）— those are book designer/editor choices.
2. Identify the basic large units of the narrative (the main stages of story development). Please describe the narrated content of the units rather rely only on quoting specific points in the texts where the breaks occur (that is hard for me to follow).
   So, for example, something like this:
   "In 「有難う」, the first large unit of the story is the mother, daughter, and the driver preparing to leave (line 1 until「売りにいくのである」(p 95)). The next section (「山道に」until「いい運転手である」(p 95-96)) is the party traveling along the road, while the section immediately after that is a short conversation about the daughter (which mirrors the beginning section when the mother talks about her daughter as they prepare to leave). After this section, the party prepares to leave again, with the story finishing as they are traveling. (The structure follows a 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 pattern.)"
   Not like this:
   "There are two large breaks, creating three parts in Shinju. This first is after the third letter is sent, ending at その音が俺の心臓を破るのだ。The second break is ends at 彼女はさう呟きながらぽろぽろと涙を落した。Although, these stories are so short, I'm not sure if I really should have two."

1. Identify one passage where sound contributes to the story as either message or meaningful context (creates a context or ambience that is important to story tone or story interpretation). Sound can be at the level of the language itself (pitch, use of repetition, rhyme, certain vowels), or some way the characters speak, or narrated sound events explicit or implicit (screaming, bells ringing, etc.)
2. A metaphor to describe the tone or mood of this story in some way.

How is it graded?

On time submission. All components of the assignment are thoughtfully completed especially the part on sound. Try to keep under 100 words but you can go to 300.