4/30/10

writing an essay is sooo tiring!
i wonder how much essay i'm going to write
until i graduate icu..

there's no word in English for otukaresama
but anyways otukaresama to everyone:)

yesterday we did a peer review on our essays.
it was a bit embarassing to have my essay checked but it helped me a lot.
then we had a discussion about demos and Nibett's words.
i think that it is hard for Japanese to compare and decide which prime minister is the best because there has not been a really good prime minister in Japan's history for a very long time. they are all bimyou. but even if there were and the Japanese wanted to do a demo, I don't think it would succeed because some people would think that it is mittomonai.
i'm using so much Japanese because it's hard to describe these words in English..

4/28/10

Today we wrote on paper during class-that's rare for Rab:)
We worked on some problems on topic sentence, the order of sentences in a paragraph, and the concluding sentence.
I have a lot of I's and me's in my essay so I'll have to fix them.
I was writing about my cousin but can't I use the phrase "my cousin" as well?
Otherwise it would be "the cousin"..

Then we had tutorials and learned about google tool bars, zotero and portable firefox.
I'm definately going to make one in my USB!

4/27/10

I really don't think it is a good idea to have ELP right after PE!;;
I was really sleepy in class because I swam like crazy in the period before that.
We got in groups and worked on the problems about Meiland and Morgan.
It made me nervous because I would have to remember pretty much details about the book.

After that we went to have dinner.
I was sleepy but it was fun:)
Next time I hope more people could come.

4/26/10

Today we discussed about our essay in our usual essay groups.
Then we split up and made groups with someone that had a totally different topic.
We did this to have a third opinion from a completely different view.

Then Rab explained to us about the ways of writing an essay draft.
There were several ways, but I thought the free writing style fits me the most.
That was the way I usually wrote essays in high school.
Cluster is also useful when you are need to get ideas sorted out inside your head.
We also talked about the ways of teaching and how students should treat teachers.

Rab was really good at magic. His poker face made him look more professional:)
I still can't solve the second one though...

The Geography of Thought-Ch.2

This chapter also took me time because there were many parts where I had to re-read to understand what it meant. What this chapter said in total was simular to what was written in the previous chapter.

There were lots of words that were hard to understand even by using the dictionary. For example, the phrase "homeostatic socio-cognitive systems" on page 32 seemed like a really difficult topic, and I didn't know what it meant even in Japanese. I wondered if this was a good headline. There should have been a way to make it more interesting, more catchy and more detailed.

In this chapter, Nisbett shows the difference between Greece and China in terms of cognition. He uses two schematic model in his writing which shows that there is difference even in the way of understanding a chart. Now when I read this, I felt weird because the person who said that the right chart makes more sence was merely one of the author's student. That does not prove that all Asians prefer the right chart.


I think I'm becoming more critical than usual because I am soo sleepy..
Anyway, I finally finishied reading chapter 2:)

The Geography of Thought-Ch.1

I finally finished reading chapter 1!

This chapter was really long. But in spite of that I felt that Nisebett's own opinions were scarce and that there were too much explanations. It is a good thing to be precise, but being too detailed might make it hard for the reader to find the most important parts, and it also might seem boring for them.

In this chapter, Nisebett explains about the difference between Eastern and Western thought by looking back and comparing ancient Greece and China. He talks about the difference between their philosophies, religion and science/mathematics.
I agree with Rab and I also think it is weird for Nisebett to compare Asia and the West without considering the other continents.

It was interesting to read the part about Taoism. It reminded me of the NP class last week when Rab explained about how you have to do the oppisit of what you want to do in order to accomplish something. The part of "Tao Te Ching, Chapter 36" reminded me of the example that Rab talked to us about the fire on the island. Maybe Taoism is somewhat connected to lateral thinking..

4/23/10

Today we learned about how to use zotero.

this is the introduction of zotero
http://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials/zotero_tour

In a Zoom you can save books, news and reports in your own zotero.
It is obviOusly the best kind of system we should all use.
There's many Things you can use in zotero
that will makE your life in college more efficient.
For example theRe is a system that
makes your bibliOgraphies easier to cite.



I kind of copied someone. wara

4/22/10

today we learned about how to write an attractive, persuasive and academic essay.
first we learned the parts of an essay; the title, introduction, B1~3 and conclusion. the title is really important becuase you need to catch the reader's eye and also explain what you are going to talk about. in the introduction, you need to grab the reader's attention to pull into the essay.
then there were several techniques to place your supporting sentences through B1~3. the conclusion was the part where you can emphasize you thesis one more time.

Rab's examples of titles were so funnyXD
today's lecture made me want to make a really good essay.

4/20/10

Today we worked a bit more on Meiland and talked about our essay topics. First we discussed weather our topic had assumptions. Then we considered if the topic had any dogmatic essence. I thought the best way to find your weak points of your topic was to talk over about it with some other people and get their opinions. Finding assumptions was hard because you have to have a kind of border about how much you are going to question your topic. I need to think harder on my topic.

4/19/10

Today we went over 1-10 to 1-26 on Meiland. First we got in groups and discussed about why college is subversive.

Then Rab talked about the huge demonstration on the 14th of February. He told us that although many people in Europe had joined the demo, only a small group of people in Japan cooperated. Then we talked over why this happened. I thought that this matter is related to nurture, because there is a tendency in Japan to think it is weird to speak up and express your feelings.

After that Rab explained to us about ways to write an essay, and I learned that it was easier to decide your research question before your thesis. This was new to me and it seemed like a very good way to write an essay. I will have to start thinking for the next essay about education.

movie

today i posted my movie on my blog for the first time. it was very interesting and i didn't think it would be this easy. everyone was speaking at the same time so it was hard to hear my voice. next time i might need to speak up a little more.

videos

By watching the two movies, I learned that when I am searching for information to use in my essay, I should choose by quality than quantity.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjY3UvQ2n98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprMEs-zfQA

test blog

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