EA 116/RS 120 Japanese Ghosts Winter 2023
Group Final Project
DEADLINES (Note: you can form groups and propose topics anytime during the quarter up to the deadlines):
FEBRUARY 21: FORMING GROUPS: There will be a google doc signup sheet, where you can propose topics and try to form groups. You can find the google doc under Collaborations on Canvas. FAIR WARNING: If you have not formed or joined a group by February 21, we will randomly place you in a group.
FEBRUARY 28 5pm: GROUP PROJECT PROPOSAL: Send us your chosen topic by 5 p.m. on Tuesday February 28 so we can organize class presentations for the following week (you need to be prepared to go Thursday 3/9 or Tuesday 3/14).
In your proposal submitted on Canvas under Assignments ("Group Project Proposal"), please provide:
1. Names of the people in your group
2. The topic of your presentation. Give the name of your anime/manga/film/novel/short story (etc.) and a sentence or two about what you will focus on in that story. This is so we can make sure that groups are not doing exactly the same topic.
3. How you will be presenting in class. Let us know what presentation software you will be using.
IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS WEEK 9a-10a:
Click here for Presentation Schedule
You will have six minutes for each presentation (and you will be timed!). Please make sure that any video segment you show is short and smoothly integrated into your presentation, since we don't have a lot of slack time between groups.
Upload your powerpoint (or other) presentation on the day of your presentation to the appropriate "Group Project Powerpoint" submission on Canvas under Assignments (only ONE person needs to upload per group)
MARCH 17th 5 pm: GROUP PROJECT WRITE-UP PAPER
3-5 page paper (it can be longer, but at least 3 full pages) uploaded to the "Group Project Paper" Assignment by Friday March 17 at 5:00 p.m. (only ONE person needs to upload per group).
At the top of the first page of your write-up please include:
1. Names of members of your group
2. Name of the topic you are analyzing (i.e. name of the anime/manga/film/short story etc.)
EVALUATION: 35% of your grade. 17.5% class presentation, 17.5% paper, averaged.
Evaluation Criteria:
Presentation: good organization, clear presentation of material, technology used well, well-focused (doesn't simply summarize the plot or talk about visuals without analysis), finishes in 6 minutes, and EMPLOYS CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS to support points.
Paper: good organization, clear presentation of material, well-focused (doesn't simply summarize the plot or talk about visuals without analysis), EMPLOYS CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS, provides additional concrete details to support your argument, includes citations/bibliography.
METHODOLOGY
1. Find 1-2 other people to form your group (3 people is ideal). If you still haven't found group members by the end of the 6th week, let us know and we will generate random groups.
2. Choose a story dealing with the supernatural, preferably the supernatural in Japan or Asia. It should have been written in the modern or contemporary period (late 19th c. to the present), but the story can be set in any period (Heian, Medieval, Edo, Modern). It can be in any media: literature (short story, novel), drama, anime/animation, live-action movie or television, video game, manga/graphic novel.
3. Ideally you will write the paper first, and then create your presentation from that! The following methodology assumes you will do this....
4. It is probably best to choose one character or one aspect of the story to analyze since you only have 6 MINUTES to present. Both your class presentation and your written paper should focus on the critical analysis questions we use in class (author, audience, goals, genre, historical context, etc.).
The main question you should be considering:
In the piece you are presenting to the class, how are earlier forms of the supernatural (ghost, demon, fox, etc), genres (oracles, illustrated scrolls, tales, plays), and narratives(basic plots) changed (or not changed) to meet the demands of the contemporary context? Why do you think those changes are made?
We have done several examples of this in class, including how the Rokujo and Michizane stories from the Heian period are changed in response to new political contexts, religions, genres, etc.
DO NOT SIMPLY DO A COMPARE AND CONTRAST OF VISUAL SIMILARITIES.
Here are some possible questions you might consider:
Can you identify a cultural anxiety or contemporary issue that the story is addressing or reflecting?
Why does the ghost/yokai appear -- what is its motive? And how does this compare to earlier motives? How is the ghost/yokai pacified (or not)? Again, how does this compare to earlier ghosts? Why the change?
If it is a completely new form of the supernatural (eg. Godzilla), how do you think it relates to earlier forms studied in class?
How might a new medium (anime, manga, video game, novel, live-action film) be affecting the visual representation?
What narrative constraints or possibilities are provided by this new genre (eg. What has to happen in a modern horror movie? How is a video game plotted? What can you do with animation or CGI special effects that you couldn't do in older genres?).
5. Answer the above questions in your 3-5 page paper (type-written, double spaced). Here you should be able to provide more concrete details to support your critical and historical analysis.
Please remember that if you use outside sources, YOU NEED TO CITE YOUR SOURCES (click here and scroll down for examples of how to cite sources). It's okay to use/cite Wikipedia and other internet sources, but please remember that the internet tends to be completely ahistorical and this class is all about historicity!
6. Create a 6 minute presentation for the class (including some visuals). Provide a short clip, images, etc. to illustrate your story. Present to the class the main (or most interesting) points of your analysis.