daily schedule

course description//required materials//Reserve library//basic reference books//course requirements//contacting me//e-mail//attendance, etc.//academic dishonesty//etiquette//evaluation

concerning your papers

internet resources

We will read, discuss, and write about two representative 20th-century Japanese novels:   Chijin no ai, by Tanizaki Jun'ichirô, and Senbazuru, by Kawabata Yasunari.

Before each class meeting, each student will send an email message to the rest of the class and to the instructor.  These messages will include:  (1)  language questions (vocabulary, comprehension, etc.); (2)  commentary on developments in plot, imagery, themes, characterization, etc.;  (3)  topics for discussion in class.

These email messages must reach the class members by NOON ON THE DAY OF CLASS.  Each student should check his or her mail after noon on Wednesdays, PRINT OUT each message, and bring the printouts to class.

For other requirements, see "Course requirements," below.

    Books  (available at the ASU Bookstore):

• TANIZAKI Jun'ichirô, Chijin no ai (Shinchô bunko edition)
• KAWABATA Yasunari, Senbazuru (Shinchô bunko edition)

    You will also want to have the English translations of these novels.  They are readily available from Amazon.com and other dealers, often at discount prices.

• Tanizaki Jun'ichirô, Naomi, translated by Anthony Chambers
• Kawabata Yasunari, Thousand Cranes, translated by Edward Seidensticker

Donald Keene, Dawn to the West:  Japanese Literature in the Modern Era  (on reserve under FLA421)
Ken K. Ito, Visions of Desire:  Tanizaki's Fictional Worlds
Van C. Gessel, Three Modern Novelists:  Sôseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata
Roy Starr,

Basic Reference Books

Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan  DS805 .K633 1983 (Hayden Library Reference Collection)

• regular attendance
• careful preparation for each class meeting
• regular email correspondence, as described above
• participation in class discussions and activities
• 2 papers for JPN 435 students, 3 papers for 535 students:  See "Concerning Your Papers," below, for details
• Additional secondary reading will be required of 535 students.
• final exam:  Wednesday, May 14, 4:40-6:30.

If you must miss class in order to participate in University-sanctioned activities (such as band, debate, or athletics), you may be excused and allowed to make up examinations and other graded in-class work if:
1.  you identify yourself to me before the day you expect to miss class and make advance arrangements to make up missed work (missed work must be made up as soon as possible, and in any case within one week); and
2.  you provide me with a copy of your travel schedules and a note from your coach, band leader, or whatever; and
3. such activities don’t become so frequent that they interfere with your progress in Japanese.

More on attendance:
1. Participation in a University-sanctioned activity does not entitle a student to receive an extension on the deadline for submitting a written assignment.
2. Each unexcused absence may result in the deduction of 5% from the student's final grade in the course.
3. Three late arrivals at, or early departures from, class will count as one absence.
4. If you miss class because of an illness, you must present a medical excuse from a physician.
5. Please call in advance to let me know when you will miss class.
6. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to get copies of anything that was handed out in class and to complete required work by the deadline.
7. There will be no make-up work, no late work, no extensions, and no supplemental work to raise your grade, except as described above.

For withdrawals, I adhere to university policies and deadlines.  There will be no incompletes unless you’re doing well in the course otherwise, have nearly completed it, have some colossal, unforeseeable, and documented event that prevents you from finishing, and see me before the final exam if at all possible.

• Preparation and participation:  1/4
• email correspondence:  1/4
• Papers:  1/4
• Final examination:  1/4  You must take the final examination in order to pass this course.  Wednesday, May 14, 4:40-6:30.

    JPN435 students will write two papers, one about each novel we read.  JPN535 students will write one paper on each novel and a third paper comparing the two novels.

    Written assignments may be in either Japanese or English.  All papers must be free of errors in grammar and orthography.

    Please photocopy anything that you quote in your paper, hilite the words or sentences you quote, and turn in with your final draft.

If you know other good sites, please tell me about them!

Map of Japan

Chronology of Japanese History

Schauwecker's Guide to Japanese History

Japanese Literature Homepage

History of Japanese Literature
 

There will be a QUIZ, in which you'll be asked to apply your understanding of Van Gessel, Three Modern Novelists, the chapter on Tanizaki; and Ken Ito, Visions of Desire:  Tanizaki's Fictional Worlds, Chapter 3, "The West Remade"  (on reserve), as they apply to Chijin no ai.

FIRST PAPER DUE NO LATER THAN TODAY.

535 (graduate) students:  Turn in and answer questions about your papers comparing Chijin no ai and Senbazuru.
435 (undergraduate) students:  Prepare, IN WRITING, five questions to ask the graduate students about comparing Chijin no ai and Senbazuru.