Linguistic Proficiency
Below are examples of assignments completed during Japanese language and culture classes taken at Clemson University between 2012 and 2016.
Japanese 4060 covers various Japanese literary works that address a number of different themes. For each story, a one page reflection paper was written. This reflection paper was written about 「ホームレス中学生」(The Homeless Middle Schooler), a story about a boy named Hiroshi, who comes home one day to find that his family's apartment has been emptied. His father leaves him and his two siblings to fend for themselves. Hiroshi runs off on his own and ends up living at a playground while his brother works at a convenience store to provide for his sister and himself. Eventually, his friend's family takes him in, though his brother and sister continue to struggle.
In Japanese 4910, Senior Seminar in Japanese Literature, our final paper was written based on one of the themes covered through the semester. I chose to discuss 派遣社員(haken shain), contract workers, in Japan. I discussed the difficulties contract workers face in the Japanese professional world and how their increasing numbers are changing Japanese business culture.
This is another reflection paper, written about 「手紙」(The Letter, a story about a pair of brothers. The oldest, feeling terrible for not being able to provide for his younger brother, Naoki, in even simple ways. He turns to theft, but accidentally kills an elderly woman. Now, Naoki is plagued by his brother's reputation and it has made his life increasingly difficult in terms of finding a job and his love life. He tries to break ties with his brother, but ends up seeing him again when he and a friend are performing a comedy show at his brother's prison.