Pukman @ WinK: the community that time didn't forget

For the country that you are writing about for your final essay, please answer the following questions. Please link to this post in your answer.

5. ¿ǝɯıʇ ǝǝɹɟ ɹıǝɥʇ uı op ǝldoǝd op ʇɐɥʍ
4. ¿sʇɹodxǝ snoɯɐɟ ǝɯos ǝɹɐ ʇɐɥʍ
3. ¿(uɐdɐɾ oʇ uoıʇɐlǝɹ uı ؛sɹǝʇǝɯolıʞ ǝɹɐnbs ˙ƃ˙ǝ) ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝɥʇ sı ƃıq ʍoɥ
2. ¿ʎʇıɔ ʇɐɥʇ ɟo uoıʇɐlndod ǝɥʇ sı ʇɐɥʍ puɐ 'ʎʇıɔ lɐʇıdɐɔ ǝɥʇ sı ʇɐɥʍ
1. ¿spooɟ ǝʌıʇɐʇuǝsǝɹdǝɹ ɹo snoɯɐɟ ǝǝɹɥʇ ǝɹɐ ʇɐɥʍ

The next essay topic is "My favorite...". This could be anything, such as book, movie, place, recipe, etc. It can be singular (book, place, and so on) or plural (books, places, and so on). I recommend 3 paragraphs; each paragraph should have at least 4 sentences.

Please use the Essay Map to help you build the essay. And please hand in the essay by email as a Microsoft Word document. (You can put it on your blog later, after I have had a chance to check it.)

If time allows, you should start work today. The deadline is November 21st.

Today, let's work to improve our essays. We will work on your essay drafts in order to create a better final essay. (The deadline for the essay is next Thursday.) That essay is the equivalent of a 提出物, so you should take care with grammar and vocabulary.

First, find a partner to work with (groups of three are OK, too). Then do rock-scissors-paper or similar to decide whose essay draft to look at first (A). First, work separately. You should both (A & B) write blog comments on A's essay. Here is a checklist of points to look for:

1. Singular nouns without an article (a/an/the)
2. Singular nouns with plural-form verbs
3. Plural nouns with singular-form verbs
4. Incorrect spacing. Remember you need a space after a period or comma, but not before.
5. Spelling
6. Mixed present/past.
   

As with Essay 1-02 (about Kumamoto), we'll spend two weeks on Essay 1-03, which is a movie review. In today's class, you'll need to write a post that gives the basic information of the movie, such as title, actors, and director. This post should have the tags essay prep and movies. You don't have to write in sentences; probably a list is easiest. You should also include any useful keywords.

By May 22nd, you should post a version of your review, complete if possible, for correction. This should be labeled movies and essay drafts.

The actual essay is due by May 29th. You should label this one movies and essays.

Remember to use the Essay Map if you find it helpful!

On today's menu:

1. Juppun ha juubun
2. [1st period: Add LibraryThing widget to blog] [2nd period: Join LibraryThing]
3. Essay 2 continued: Kumamoto (to be finished by May 15th)

Notes on the essay:

1. Remember that your work for the Kumamoto essay should include at least 2 posts: one labeled "essay prep" and "Kumamoto", and one labeled "essays" and "Kumamoto". If possible you should also have one labeled "essay drafts" and "Kumamoto".
2. Don't forget that this is the 2nd essay. You should already have finished one introducing yourself. Don't forget to label it "essays", too.
3. Please don't use the "essay" label for diary-type posts.
   

Other notes:

1. The essay that we will start next week is a movie review. Please decide what movie you are going to write about before next week's class. If you wish you can choose a partner to work with on the same movie.
2. You should have written at least 20 posts before today's class (since March 1st this year). Those should include at least 4 book reviews and 1 essay. Remember that you can write more book reviews as part of your five-posts-a-week requirement.
3. We will do a weblog assessment soon. Make sure you are ready!
   

Some bad examples of topics for essays on Kumamoto:

• An Overview of Kumamoto
  
• Sightseeing in Kumamoto

Some good examples:

• Traditional foods in Kumamoto
• Kami-tori Arcade
• Transport in Kumamoto
• Kumamoto Castle
• Amakusa
• The History of Kumamoto
• Day Trips from Kumamoto
• Kikuchi
  

Remember to add the "essays" and "kumamoto" tags (labels) to your essay post.

You can find this in the WinK in Magnolia linklist, but this is so good that I wanted to highlight it here. The Essay Map helps you to plan and structure your essays. Please try it!

After juppun ha juubun, let's start work on one of our major assignments for this semester, Presentations about Kumamoto. In a group of 2-4 people, I'd like you to make a PowerPoint presentation of at least 10 slides about Kumamoto, and post the presentation to each group member's blog, using slideshare.

It is a good idea to choose a narrow topic: if every group does a general presentation about Kumamoto, with Kumamoto Castle, Suizenji Park, and karashi-renkon (or Aso, Kikuchi, and Kumamoto City), that won't be very interesting!

It's also very interesting if you can include some of your own photos, as well as things you can find on the Internet.

Remember that requirements for regular book reviews and other blog posts are the same as usual!

If necessary, I'll show you how to use Slideshare next week. But you might want to try it out this week, by joining (=Sign Up), making a very short presentation, and uploading it to Slideshare. You can delete this presentation later, when you have uploaded a newer one.

Today, you need to decide your groups and then decide your topic together. You should each write a short post announcing your partners and title of the presentation. Please use the short names of your group members, linked to their blog. (For example, if Hidetoshi Nakata was one of my group members, I would write Hidetoshi N.) Later, if necessary, you can change your title, and update your post. If possible, you should also decide today how to work together: for example, if you need original photos, will you go and take them together, and when?

If possible, I'd like you to upload your finished presentations on November 30th. Remember that these presentations will be very public, so you should try to help each other correct the sentences in the presentation.