Week 4 - Present a Japan blog; also Movie Reviews

Good afternoon, everybody! How was your Golden Week?

Today's activities are ...
1) Introduce a Japan blog in English
2) Next writing assignment: Movie/Book/Manga Review; due May 24

Today I'm assigning a book, movie or manga review. This is a major writing assignment that you must do. It will be graded and it will be posted online with your name. It's due in two weeks; May 24. Send it to me using Google Drive. Please be sure to do all the things I asked you to do in class: include a title, name, make paragraphs, capitalize correctly, don't indent, etc. Use the Google share function correctly.

Whichever you choose, you must review something that you have read or seen yourself. It can be Japanese, but of course, you must write in English.

Do not use translation software to make your sentences!

Below are some examples of review sites for each of these types. I'm posting the links here so you have an idea what a blog for these topics might look like. You will be writing in English, so the English blogs should be your best model. However, I posted links to Japanese blogs too in order to help you get some ideas.

Book review blogs (English sites)
Becky's Book Reviews  http://blbooks.blogspot.jp/
The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews  http://drchazan.blogspot.jp/
Daisy Chain Book Reviews  http://daisychainbookreviews.blogspot.jp/

Book review blogs (Japanese sites)
本ナビ：本のソムリエの一日一冊書評  http://1book.biz/
書評　精神世界の本ベスト100  http://ameblo.jp/tokyo1947/

Movie review blogs (English sites)
RogerEbert.com  http://www.rogerebert.com/
The Movie Blog  http://themovieblog.com/category/reviews/
FilmJabber  http://www.filmjabber.com/movie-blog/

Movie review blogs (Japanese sites)
素人目線の映画感想ブログ  http://eigamove.blog.fc2.com/
セントの最新映画100本  http://blog.goo.ne.jp/signnoot
伝説のhiropoo映画日記  http://ameblo.jp/hirop-1001/

Manga review blogs (English sites)
MangaBlog  http://mangablog.mangabookshelf.com/
Comics Worth Reading  http://comicsworthreading.com/

Manga review blogs (Japanese sites)
すーぱーそふぁーたいむ  http://supersofatime.blog.fc2.com/

漫画の虎　https://manga-blog.net/osusume-tanpen-50/

Also, one of my students reviewed Japanese comics for his seminar classes. You can check his blog, My Favorite Japanese Comics, here.

Some important points about this assignment:

• Choose 1 (only 1!) book, movie or manga to write about.
• It must be a book or manga that you have read, or a movie that you have seen.
• Write at least 200 words (but more is OK).
• For movie reviews, tell the movie genre, and tell the names of the director and major characters. Also tell the date the movie came out.
• For book and manga reviews, tell the genre, and tell the names of the writer, illustrator and major characters. Also tell the date it came out and the publisher.
• A summary of the story should be short. Writing a long, detailed summary is not good in a review. If you tell us the whole story, we have no reason to experience it ourselves!
• Check your sentences for good grammar, spelling and capitalization.
• Your writing should be in paragraphs.(Don't use the Enter key after each sentence!)
• Your review should be interesting and useful!
• Check out the blogs above for ideas on how to write a review.
• After reading your review, I should know if I want to read the book or manga or see the movie.
• Your review should not contain spoilers! However, you can write spoilers if you warn the reader with a subtitle, like Spoiler Alert!)
• Send your review to Kevin (kjmiller address) by Google Drive.

Tips for Movie Reviews
1) Choose a movie that you have an opinion about. If you have no opinion, your review won't be good. Your opinion can be positive or negative, but if you have an opinion, and you defend it, your review will be worth reading.

2) Give examples from the movie to support your opinions.

3) Talk about the plot (the story) only a little, not a lot. If you tell the whole story, there's no reason for the reader to watch the movie. Readers want some information, but only enough to help them decide if they want to see the movie.

4) There are other things to talk about besides the plot.

• The director - Who is he/she? What are some other movies by him/her? What is characteristic about his/her directing? What is his/her reputation in the film world?
• The actors - Are they perfect for this role? Why or why not? Do they perform well? Believably? Do you think they will win some awards? (Or did they win some?) Why? Did you notice any flaws in their acting?
• The photography (cinematography) - How do the photography, camera angles, lighting, etc. influence your opinion of the movie?
• Music and sound - How do they influence your feelings about the movie? Are they distracting? Perfect for the mood?
• Audience reaction and box office sales - This information is sometimes interesting and tells us how other people are reacting to the movie.
• Similar movies - How is it similar and different from other similar movies?
• Explain why a person should or shouldn't see it.

Movie/Book/Manga Reviews are due May 24 (in two weeks), but you can send them to me sooner.