Week 15 — Analyzing American values in videos on Olympic athletes

Analyze video on this gymnast

This is our last regular class, and it should be busy.  We are going to review for next week’s Exam No. 2, and I will give you some detailed instructions on an assignment to do over this coming week.

The assignment has two purposes:  The first is to follow up on last week’s discussion about the upcoming London Olympics and to give you a chance to do some thinking and writing on the subject.

The second purpose is to help guide you back through the topics we’ve studied this semester, to help with the review for the exam.

Here is the Writing Assignment. You can read this now.  I will hand out copies  in class on Wednesday.

You will want to download this and then make an electronic copy.  That way, you can write your responses in the document and then print it out to submit at the start of class on July 25, the same day as our second exam.

Or this marathoner

We’re going to look at a couple of interesting videos in class.  Here is one.  It’s on the USA women’s soccer team.  Notice the players or coach do not mention Japan’s team specifically — even though Japan must be seen as the chief rival for the gold medal.  What do you think?  Let’s talk about that.

By the way, I have spent the past week looking for videos in English about the Nadeshiko’s prospects in London.  Almost none!  That’s interesting, too.  There are lots in Nihongo, though!

Forget your denshi jisho? I have one!

Someone in our class left an electronic dictionary on a desk Wednesday.

I have it.  Come to my office at 3-117 to pick it up.

I am going to be here Thursday from 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. and then from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday evening (tonight).

On Friday morning, I am flying to Fukuoka, and I will not return until Monday late.  So I will be back here on Tuesday.

If you read this, please come this afternoon!

Americana quiz: Proud winners

Here are victory photos of the teams from Washington and California who emerged as winners in last week’s Fourth of July Americana quiz.  Good work!

Washington winners, from left: Arata, Yuka and Shun.

California winners, from left: Tsubasa, Saya, Yasayuki and Maiko

This week, we’ll switch to a more global topic (with some attention to American and Japanese involvement) of the soon-to-arrive Olympic Games in London.  Tokyo is a finalist to host the 2020 summer games.

See the following blog item to review our agenda for Week 14 this week.

Week 14 — Get ready for London Olympics

Come to class this week for a session about the upcoming London Olympic Games. Click here to see the London 2012 website, which includes a simple daily schedule.

This is a switch from the schedule, but we’ve already studied folk music.  I think we’ll enjoy a discussion about the Olympic Games.  Since this course covers American culture, I’ll note some of the American influence on the games — primarily through the media — and share a story or two of my own Olympic experiences covering the games.  I was the press information manager for the sport of volleyball at the 1996 Atlanta games.

We’ll watch and discuss a few videos.  Bring your best listening skills because we’ll have our last quiz at the end of the class session.  We’ll definitely review some points, such as the media’s role in making the Olympics such a huge event.  We’ll consider also how the International Olympic Committee raises money.

Sources of income for Olympic Games

Can you guess where the largest portion comes from?  See the graph.

We’ll also go to the news section of the website of the Olympic Movement to see a video that reminds us the games should be for more than winning medals.

One topic we’ll discuss is why the games evoke such strong feelings of nationalism.  If the games are meant to build friendship and sportsmanship, why do we find so much emphasis in the media on winning medals?

We’ll also mention Tokyo’s chances of winning the bid to become host city of the 2020 Olympic Games.  Here is the Tokyo 2020 website. The city is one of three finalists, along with Madrid, Spain, and Istanbul, Turkey.  What priorities (or criteria) do you think the IOC will apply in choosing the host city?

We’ll talk about that.  We might even write about it!  We need to complete one writing assignment, and this should give us one option.  I will hand out a gold-medal assignment on Wednesday.

Week 13 — Happy American Independence Day!

Fireworks at the Statue of Liberty

Our class meets on the Fourth of July.

This is a big holiday in the United States, so we’ll consider what happens and what it means.

To start, let’s look at this brief photo gallery and this video giving a fast history of Independence Day.

This was the day that the unhappy colonial residents gathered to read the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson.  It said that the colonists no longer were willing to live under the King of England, George III.  Of course, this was a big decision.  It led to the American Revolutionary War.

Here is a short video about the war.  It notes that the colonists were fighting for freedom.  The leaders of the independence movement were business people — those involved in commerce.  They didn’t like British taxation, which was high, and British interference.  So this was a practical need for freedom, not just an idea.  The people in the video — who are all American — argue that freedom is a stronger reason to fight and die than defending the king. The colonists had more to lose and more to gain.

Everything is red, white & blue

Now let’s move to modern times.  What happens during the Fourth of July in America?  Mostly, people hold outdoor picnics and parties.  They eat a lot of summertime food, like hot dogs and barbecued meat.

For a look at one kind of barbecued meat, click here.

And let’s watch and hear Beyonce singing a patriotic song on the Fourth of July last year, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. These are the lyrics to Proud To Be An American

During class, I’ll tell you a little about the Fourth of July traditions of my grandparents and more about how people celebrate today.

Week 12 — Powerpoints for quiz

We’ll begin with a quiz today.  You can study by reviewing these powerpoint files and your class notes:

  • This past Wednesday, we reviewed Hollywood Movies.  This version is in black and white so you can print it easily.  Be sure to set your print format to print six (or three) slides per page.
  • Back in Week 10, we studied folk music.  Click here for Folk Music.  It isn’t in black and white, so be sure you select ‘black & white’ from your menu in the print window.
  • A week before that, we examined issues of immigration on American culture and society.  Here is the powerpoint on Immigration in America.

OK, we’re going to jump ahead now and enjoy a discussion this week on Japanese influence on American pop culture.  We used to worry that U.S. culture was drowning other cultures in the world.  But now we’re smarter.  Check this website for Anime Expo in LA. We realize that the cultural products from various nations and places really mix.  We call this hybridity — like the term for a car, a hybrid.

The notion of hybridity has become an important idea in a world where digitization is bringing us closer.

You can begin by looking at this post from Wired, a popular magazine aimed at the highly educated, IT-focused, younger generation.  In other words, people like you.  The post is from 2008, but even four years ago the interest in Japanese cultural products was profound.

Here’s a slightly different question, this involving sports:  What effect has Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka and now Yu Darvish had on American culture?  And how about the Nadeshiko’s World Cup win in 2010 against the USA team?   How did Americans respond?  (I’ll tell you Wednesday.)  Here is a video made by Japan’s  Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is meant for a world audience. Take a look.

Also, just for fun, we might watch this video from comedian Russell Peters on American culture if we have time.  He talks fast. The end is good when he acts as a spokesman for people from Asia.

Week 11 — American movies

This week we’ll study how the Hollywood movie industry creates and presents U.S. culture.

In this case, we’ll consider movies as products of popular culture.

Please watch these two video trailers:

  • Click here to see the 4-minute prelude to Lawrence of Arabia, a film often considered the greatest example of a Hollywood epic film.  What is an epic?  Please find out!
  • Next, watch this trailer from the 1990 film Dances with Wolves. This is a good film to review because it tells the story of a period of American history — when the white settlers were moving west, just as we discussed in class this past week.  It also is a modern Hollywood story that offers a more humanitarian view of how the early white visitors to the Great Plains country (in the middle of the continent) might have treated Indians and nature.  The movie’s hero (Kevin Costner) says he wants to go to the plains to see the area before it is lost to rush of settlers and railroad builders. He becomes a friend to the Indian tribe, the Lakota.

We will watch a longer portion of the movies in class.

Afterward, we’ll take a quiz.  So come prepared, and be sure to take notes during the class lecture.

 

Week 10 — Moving forward with folk music

We had some music last week with ‘America’ from West Side Story.

Let’s try some more music this week.  I think music helps us to understand the varied American experience.  This time, we’ll focus on some folk music that caught the feelings of people at different times during the early to middle years of the 1900s.

In this post, I’m giving you lots of links.  Please click and follow.  You don’t need to memorize everything, but the links will give you some background that you’ll want to understand our class discussion. 

I’m going to share two songs.  One was by Woody Guthrie, one of the most famous folk singers.  Click here for the lyrics to a song called ‘Stepstone.’  It is not too tricky, and the melody is good.  A stepstone was probably a step made of a large stone placed in front of the door to a house. It would have been like a small porch — a place to step up or to sit and rest.

What is the song about?  The singer is leaving home.  He (or she) is going off to ramble, to look for work or a better life. The fields are whitening. That could mean snow is starting to fall.  More likely, it means the fields are getting covered by dust.

One clue is when the singer says the fields are whitening.  This was from dust.  In the mid-1930s in America, little rain fell in the prairie land of the Great Plains (see map).  Then strong winds blew all of the top soil away and created terrible clouds of dust that settled over the fields and farms of several states.  This area became known as the Dust Bowl (see images), and the poor farmers who lived there lost everything.  Most were forced to move away to start over.  Guthrie’s family was caught in the Dust Bowl, and many of his songs were about the struggles to survive.

The second song is better known today.  It’s called ‘City of New Orleans.’  Click for the lyrics. We’re going to hear a version sung by the famous country-and-western singer named Willie Nelson.  Click here to see and hear him singing the song with the popular singer Cheryl Crow in a live performance accessible on You Tube. Willie was a legend by then with less of a voice than when he was younger.

Just for fun, here is another video of the same song. This is sung by Steve Goodman, the guy who wrote the song in 1970.  He was young, and he died a few years later of leukemia, a bone cancer.

Remember that one of the American values is individuality.  Notice how differently Goodman sings this. In fact, I’m not sure Willie Nelson ever sang it the same way twice.

Week 9 — Immigration and its influences

We’ll go over a Powerpoint presentation today on immigration to America.  I will pass out copies after the talk.  If you want to see a copy now, click on  Immigration in America, but don’t read the ‘quiz’ at the end.  (Not graded.)

We also will look at a part of a famous American film (first a Broadway play) called West Side Story (see this fansite).  It has a cool song called ‘America’ that I think you will enjoy.  The song captures the tension — the rewards and the pain — when people move from their original homes to America in search of better lives.

You can see the clip now on You Tube by clicking here.  It’s really a great work of art by some of the top American composers, lyricists and actors of the era. The lyrics (words of the song) catch the hope and the fears so well, with the women arguing for the benefits of life in America.  The guys find only the problems; they want to return to Puerto Rico.  Click here to read them.

West Side Story is roughly based on another dramatic work:  Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.  Both stories feature fighting between two gangs, with a love affair arising in the middle of the hatred. How will the story end?

You can read more about West Side Story by clicking here. This musical has many famous songs such as “Tonight” and “Maria.”  You might know them; I’ve heard bother performed in Japan by famous singers.

*  *  *

Since we’re discussing immigration, here is a link to information on student visas for studying in the United States. There is a lot to learn.  I hope some of you will think about your possibilities.  If I can teach here, maybe you can study there!

Week 8 — Exam in class

Don’t forget that we will have a 30-point exam this week in class. 

Please study the topics we’ve been discussing.  Some big areas to study:  Thomas Jefferson, the Zenger trial and its meaning, the First Amendment, Hawaii (including Okinawan immigrants),  American Indians, and American Cultural values.  Know your IF I TAPED terms and meanings.

Good idea to review your quizzes. Some questions from them may be reshaped on the exam.  Read your handouts.  Take another look at other materials that were linked to on the blog.

We’ll use the full class time for the exam and to fill out some other non-graded questionnaires.

The exam will be mostly multiple choice questions.  I might ask you to write a list or two.  Can you guess what lists?

Do well.

Week 7 — Thomas Jefferson and his surprises

We’re moving slightly ahead in history this week to examine a few sides of Thomas Jefferson, one of the best-known U.S. presidents.  He was the third president, and he was considered one of the most important thinkers who helped write up ideas about personal freedom.  He also helped to shape the direction of the nation and its values.

Jefferson was more than a political figure.  First, please go to this site at Voice of America. Review this material.  It includes a short video about Jefferson’s interest in agriculture and gardening. He was an original thinker and highly educated — partly thanks to his own interest in reading and learning.  Please watch the video, see the photos, and follow along on the written text.  This multimedia presentation has lots of information.

Another good website to learn about Jefferson describes life at his home, called Monticello. Please enjoy a look around the site, starting here, so you get an overview of the information.  This is a really good multimedia site, with tons of cool stuff.  Go next to Plantation & Slavery.

Even though Jefferson wrote that “All men are created equal,” he also owned slaves.  Please click here for one page that helps us to understand a very American story about how people were enslaved and how some could gain freedom.  We will talk about this in class.  Then Go to this page to meet some of the people on Jefferson’s Monticello plantation.   I do not expect you to memorize all this, but do look at these pages before coming to class so you can be part of the exercises.

This course is much more interesting if you come to class prepared.

Week 6 — A look at colonial influences

This week we will explore the early events that helped to shape some American values and practices. We will study the story of John Peter Zenger and the contents of the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which is part of the  U.S. Constitution.

We’ll also have our second quiz at the start of class on material about Hawaii, Zenger and the First Amendment.  Questions about Zenger will be basic (simple) if you try to do the readings below.

The First Amendment to the Bill of Rights guarantees that Americans (and others inside the United States) have five freedoms.  I highlighted each in color below. Be sure you know these five freedoms for quizzes and exams.

These are the words of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

We’re studying the case of John Peter Zenger because its result became one of the foundations for the American legal belief in free speech.

Zenger was a colonial printer — a person who published a small newspaper, the New-York Weekly Journal, that sometimes carried political arguments.  He lived and worked decades before the American Revolution.  He was arrested after his printed words insulted the governor of the colony of New York.  Lawyer Andrew Hamilton successfully defended Zenger in the trial in 1735.

Remember, Americans declared their independence from England on July 4, 1776.  Zenger had died 30 years earlier.  (And the Pilgrims had landed in Massachusetts long before Zenger was born in Germany.)

Here in Wikipedia is the brief explanation of the Zenger case that you should read.  And here is another article from a U.S. history website that offers more details.

Even though Zenger won his case — and has been remembered for almost three centuries since then — he also was forced to spend eight months in prison before the trial.

People who fight for their freedom to speak and act often must sacrifice and suffer.  This is another lesson in American cultural and political history.  I’m not sure we always remember it.

By the way, there is no assigned reading on Gutenberg for this week (even though it is mentioned in our weekly schedule).  If time in class, I’ll show you a video.

Week 5 — Hawaiian people and culture

This week, we will study some cultural activities in Hawai’i to better understand the diversity — the great mix — of American cultural stories.

I have added links below.  Here are the Powerpoint slides on history & culture of Hawai’i that we will study in class.

To begin, you might like these links to a famous song sung by a Hawaiian artist who sadly later died.  His name is Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.  You might remember the song from The Wizard of Oz.  Here is one version from Iz with the lyrics on the screen. Here is another with a lot of shots of him and of the islands.

He was huge and had lots of health problems, but he was a sensitive singer.  He recorded the song one day in a studio without a camera, so these videos put other images together.

Too many native Hawaiian people have health problems, especially diabetes.  This is a real problem in Hawai’i.

More links for this week:

President Obama’s description of Hawaii: Click on Obama script for his words in writing.  Click here for the video.  He was born and raised in Honolulu.  This material gives us a chance to hear his description in a welcoming speech — kampai! — at last fall’s APEC meeting.  APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.  It is a regional organization of nations that lie around the Pacific Ocean. Here is a link to its website.

The Hokule’a voyaging canoe: Why was this sailing canoe so important to people in Hawai’i?  Because it showed their history. It demonstrated that Polynesian navigators had been skillful and brave to cross the waters to reach Hawai’i and other islands. 

Click here for a 360-degree computer graphic of the sailing vessel.   Click here to see the stars used by Polynesian navigators.  Below is a helpful video featuring Nainoa Thompson, an important leader, as he explains the purpose of the Hokule’a voyages.  We will watch the first 3 minutes in class.

See below the video from the original voyage in 1976.  This is raw footage.  No talking, but nice music.  Just for our enjoyment.  The video shows the Holule’a leaving Hawai’i, then reaching Tahiti, where a big crowd of people came to see the sailing canoe and its crew.  At the end, the Holule’a recieved a big welcome back in Honolulu.

Finally, please see the map below.  It shows the route of the Holule’a on a trip five years ago that stopped in Okinawa (Itoman).

Week 4: American Indians & European Settlers

The story we will review this week is happy and tragic.  It tells the story of strong Indian civilizations that came to an end when European explorers and traders arrived on ships.  The reason for the tragedy might surprise you. Please read!

Here is a powerpoint file on American Indians and the Arrival of Europeans that we will discuss in class. You may open it and read it in advance.

Also, we will look in class on Wednesday at this one-page handout about Mann’s book, 1491.  You can read it now.  Open it as a Word 2011 document.

Yes, we will meet as usual on Wednesday.  Don’t forget we will have a quiz next week on material we are covering.

American cultural values — a list

Let’s begin this course with a list.

Here is a two-page reading that offers a list of eight cultural values. To download this reading, please click on Studying American Culture.

This is a handout that uses information from a few different sources.  One main source is the office for international students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  So some of this was written for students like you.  It can help to understand Americans’ thinking.

We will talk about these values in class in Week 3.  We also will ask (and try to answer) the question:  What is a cultural value?

Try to become familiar with these eight values for later quizzes and exams.

Welcome to our blog!

This blog will serve a big role in our course.  We will use it as our meeting place.

We will post announcements and assignments here.  This a nice, clean way to organize our course and to introduce you to more material in English.  You can click on the links in these posts to find the readings, video, and photos that we’ll study in this course.

Sometimes I will post information about events that involve American and Japanese culture. We can learn from this.  We also can realize how much information we can find in English on the web.

Please make a habit to check this blog two or three times a week.