EAJ 391 (Call No. 8583)

WORLD WAR II: THE JAPANESE VIEW

Fall 2007

TTH 11:45 AM -1:05 PM

Humanities 116

Instructor: Susanna Fessler Office: Humanities 243

Office Hours: TTH 1:15-2:15 and by appt. Phone: 518-442-4119

e-mail: fessler@albany.edu

Course Description:

This course will examine several works of Japanese prose literature written during and after World War II. The works include essays, novels, short stories, and one poem. Attention will be given to the question of how the Japanese perceived their role in the war, and if that attitude changed with the passing of time. Class format will include lectures and discussion; preparation for class and class participation are an important part of student evaluation. All readings are in English. Course Prerequisites: EAJ212 or permission of the instructor.

Required Texts:

The Harp of Burma by Takeyama Michio

Black Rain by Ibuse Masuji

Fires on the Plain by Ōoka Shōhei

Electronic Reserves (ERES) Readings

Testing and Grading:

Students will be required to write one 10-page paper during the course of the semester. Students have the option of submitting a first draft for feedback before submitting a final draft. There will be a mid-term examination, and a final examination. Attendance will be taken regularly; students are expected to attend class unless extenuating circumstances prevent it. There will be intermittent, unannounced quizzes on the content of the reading. These quizzes are EASY if you have done the reading, but IMPOSSIBLE if you have not. Missed quizzes on days when a student DOES NOT have an excused absence CANNOT be made up.

Course grades will be based on the following criteria:

Mid-Term Examination	20%
10-page paper	30%
Final Examination	20%
Quizzes	15%
Class Attendance & Participation	15%

There will be no extra-credit assignments and no curving of grades. The grading scale is as follows: 93-100%=A; 90-92%=A-; 87-89%=B+; 83-86%=B; 80-82%=B-; 77-79%=C+; 73-76%=C; 70-72%=C-; 67-69%=D+; 63-66%=D; 60-62%=D-; 0-59%=E. The instructors consider a grade of "Incomplete" to be for emergencies (death in the family, extreme illness, etc.), not for students who fail to plan ahead.

This course is A-E graded. Undergraduate regulations prohibit taking an upper-level course as an S/U graded course.

Academic Integrity: The discovery of any cheating (including plagiarism, dual submission, or shared work of any kind) on an assignment will result in (1) an immediate failing grade for the assignment; and (2) a report to appropriate SUNY officials. Appeals may be made through appropriate channels.

Date			Topic	Reading
August	28	T	Course Introduction	None
	30	Th	A Brief History of the War	Japan at War Selections
Sept.	4	T	The Propaganda	Earth and Soldiers
	6	Th	The Propaganda, con’t	Wheat and Soldiers
	11	T	Closer to the Truth	Soldiers Alive, chapters 1-6
	13	Th	No Class	None
	18	T	Closer to the Truth	Soldiers Alive, chapters 7-12
	20	Th	Oguma Hideo’s Poetry	Tumbleweed Company; Long, Long Autumn Nights
	25	T	Revising History	“The Past in the Present”
	27	Th	Revising the War in China	Citadel in Spring, chapters 1-5
Oct.	2	T	Revising the War in China	Citadel in Spring, chapters 6-11
	4	Th	A Rosy View	Harp of Burma, pp. 11-31
	9	T	A Rosy View	Harp of Burma, pp. 32-132
	11	Th	Life of a POW	Fires on the Plain, pp. 3-111
	16	T	Life of a POW	Fires on the Plain, pp. 112-246
	18	Th	Midterm Examination	None
	23	T	Hayashi Fumiko	“Bones”
	25	Th	Ibuse Masuji	“Lieutenant Lookeast”
	30	T	Kojima Nobuo	“Stars”
Nov.	1	Th	Mori Hana	“Jirohattan”; First Draft Due
	6	T	Ibuse Masuji, con’t.	“Tajinko Village”
	8	Th	Sakaguchi Ango	“The Idiot”
	13	T	Umezaki Haruo	“Sakurajima”
	15	Th	Hara Tamiki	“Summer Flower”
	20	T	Ōe Kenzaburō	“Prize Stock”; Final Draft Due
	22	Th	No Class—Thanksgiving	None
	27	T	The Atomic Bomb	Black Rain
	29	Th	The Atomic Bomb	Black Rain
Dec.	4	T	War Crimes Tribunal	Between God and Man
	6	Th	War Crimes Tribunal	Between God and Man

FINAL EXAM IS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18^TH, 1:00 p.m.-3:00p.m.

FALL 2007 FINAL EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

FALL 2007 Final Examinations begin on Tuesday, December 11^th and end on Tuesday, December 18^th . Eight Week Two (8W2) and semester course examination day and time assignments may be found in the charts below. Examinations are scheduled in the same room the class meets in except for departmental examinations and special assignments requested by the instructor of the class, (assignments to be announced in class). Classes meeting four or five days a week must use examination schedule for MWF class meetings. Classes meeting Monday and Wednesday only or Wednesday and Friday only use the examination schedule for MWF meetings, unless otherwise designated. Final Examinations for courses meeting "off campus" should be held during the last class meeting.
DEPARTMENTAL EXAMINATIONS (Examination days, times and rooms to be announced in November)
	Tues, Dec 11	8:00am-10:00am	Wed, Dec 12	1:00pm-3:00pm	Fri, Dec 14	8:00am-10:00am
	Tues, Dec 11	1:00pm-3:00pm	Thur, Dec 13	8:00am-10:00am	Fri, Dec 14	1:00pm-3:00pm
	Wed, Dec 12	8:00am-10:00am	Thur, Dec 13	1:00pm-3:00pm

Morning Classes			Afternoon Classes
If your	Beginning at	Your Exam	If your	Beginning at	Your exam
class	one of these	Time and	class	one of these	Time and
meets	hours	Date is	meets	hours	Date is
MWF	8:15am	Friday, Dec 14 3:30pm-5:30pm	MWF	12:35pm	Tuesday, Dec 11 3:30pm-5:30pm
TTH	8:45am	Wednesday, Dec 12 3:30pm-5:30pm	TTH	1:15pm	Monday, Dec 17 8:00am-10:00am
MWF	9:20am	Tuesday, Dec 18 8:00am-10:00am	MWF	1:40pm	Thursday, Dec 13 10:30am-12:30pm
TTH	10:15am	Tuesday, Dec 11 10:30am-12:30pm	TTH	2:45pm