Show and Tell 3

Woohoo! Time to dig in and led your curiosity lead! If you’re unsure what topic to pick, I have a few suggestions for you below. Check out all the details.

Table of Contents

Details: what, when, where, how

WHEN: due by Fri, March 24, 11.59pm

WHAT: showcase something you learned about Japanese history from the late Heian (rise of the warriors), the Kamakura period, down to the end of the Mongol invasions, i.e. course content of weeks 7, 8, and 9.

WHY: This gives you a chance to look back and consolidate what you learned so far. Perhaps you now see connections you did not spot initially (maybe as the result of browsing through your classmates’ posts?), or you have changed your opinions, or discovered a new source, or followed up on a question and want to share?

HOW:

  • Create a blog post, and share a link to the project. (If it’s a text-based Show and Tell, you can of course submit it as the blog post.)
  • Use the words “Show and Tell 3:” in the title of the post; you can further customize the title by adding a title that will draw the reader in.
  • Add the post to the category hst267.
  • Submit your link in the Canvas assignment
  • Most importantly: add a brief self-assessment in the submission comments:
    • What did you do well? What do you want to improve on in a rewrite, or in the next assignment?
      • The Rubric (found below) is a soulless check list, so in the submission comments you get a chance to wax lyrical about what you put into the project, and what you hope the reader gets out of it. If need be, I can help you get that out even more in a “rewrite & resubmit” (–> that is a real thing professional academics do, join the club!)
    • Suggest a grade out of 20 points.

Topics

Here’s a suggested list of topics, but please ping me a message on Discord or talk with me if you have a cool idea and are not sure if it will fit. I’ll do my best to help you make it work!

  • The rise of the warriors
  • The Genpei wars (between Taira and Minamoto)
  • The Tale of Heike
  • Taiheiki (another tale of warriors and their exploits, this time in the fourteenth century)
  • Emaki (picture scrolls) and stories from the Kamakura period – about warriors, daily life, Buddhist priests, strange creatures (yōkai) and all the things Japanese artists thought fit to draw on paper
  • Legal codes and other documents on ruling the samurai
  • The Mongol invasions (if you must, but they’ve been done to death)
  • …

Suggestions for formats

  • An analytical blog post: you analyze a set of materials drawn from the course materials, looking for connections, changes, continuities within the section covered and (once we are beyond the first Show and Tell) across more than one section.
    • 800 words (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography)
    • It’s not a summary.
    • I encourage you to bring in additional scholarly materials. Otherwise you have to do a very deep analysis of what we covered in class/readings.
    • You bring a new insight through a focused look at a particular aspect of the course materials covered so far: this post is more than the sum of its parts.
    • OPTION: You can also do this as a voiced-over power point slide deck, voice-thread, or other video/spoken assignment.
  • An encyclopedia entry (as blog post): you explain in detail an aspect of Japanese history that you found fascinating, but we did not explore in great detail in class.
    • You add at least two sources that were not in the class readings yet. (Note: you can use the Optional Extras/background)
    • You introduce new information and new details on something connected to the history of early Japan.
    • Suggested length: ±800 words of quality
  • A small digital humanities project, for instance:
    • A detailed timeline (TimelineJS)
    • A Storymap
    • A Twine-story
    • A Twitter-thread (series of tweets on a single topic)
    • An short audio podcast episode (± 5min, scripted)
    • A brief video documentary (± 2-3 min)
  • Current event in historical context: Japan occasionally pops up in our news cycle, and many of the topics have a much longer and complex historical background than journalists explain in their pieces. Use a current news topic as a jumping off point, and dive deeper into the historical connection.
    • 800 words (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography)
  • Primary source comparison
    • Use two or more primary sources and put them in dialogue, and show how a historian can use these to deepen our understanding of Japanese history. You can trace a genre or topic in time, or you can put two sources from the same time period in dialogue.
    • 800 words (± 10%;  excl. footnotes and bibliography)
    • You can use primary sources we covered in class, or explore the sources listed below –although this time they are longer format.
  • Examples of creative projects from previous courses/Show and Tell 1:
    • a talkshow with impersonations of historical figures
    • Google slide presentations with voice over or presenter notes
    • Prezi presentation
    • screenplay
    • art work, with guided notes explaining the connection to history.
  • Other ideas? Let me know! We can discuss what would work.

Rubric and self-assessment

How to assess your own work? Let’s agree on the following basics. Your work scores high when it displays characteristics that are the result of a resounding yes to the following statements:

  • I leaned into my curiosity to get to the bottom of a question I had, or a topic I wanted to learn more about – within the timeframe specified for this particular Show and Tell.
  • I made sure my contribution helps my fellow students understand a particular aspect of Japanese history better, and is more than a summary of content we covered in class.
  • I hit the word count (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography) if I follow a model suggested by Dr. D
    • OR
  • I consulted with Dr. D on the suitability and feasibility of a creative or digital project as an equivalent amount of work
  • I added footnotes in Chicago Notes and Bibliography style for all information I used, not only for paraphrases and quotations. [See the FAQ on this webpage, scroll down a bit]
  • I added a list of works consulted (aka a “bibliography) in Chicago Notes and Bibliography style
  • I checked the public-facing presentation of my work (blog post or other) looks professional, and is to the best of my ability free from factual errors, grammar and spelling mistakes.
  • I made sure to add hyperlinks and Alt Text where applicable.

Additional primary sources for deeper exploration:

  • Yoshida Kenkō. “Essays in Idleness.” In Anthology of Japanese Literature: Earliest Era to Mid-nineteenth Century, compiled and edited by Donald Keene, 231-241. Unesco Collection of Representative Works. New York: Grove Press, 1955. (PDF) 
    • What is it? “Essays in Idleness” is a collection of shorter and longer pieces written by a Buddhist monk and former court official, in 1330-1332. The collection has been named a “bible of traditional aesthetics” (Varley, Japanese Culture, fourth ed. p. 111). You can think about connections with that idea of aesthetics, and in particular what we have already learned so far about what the Japanese people considered to be beautiful, or aesthetically pleasing in other texts we encountered, or how does this text compare with “An Account of My Hut”?
  • Heike monogatari 30 vols., 1650-1699. Digital copy of the Princeton manuscript. https://dpul.princeton.edu/eastasian/catalog/z603r1955
    • What is it? In this digital version you can page through the handwritten and richly illustrated copy of the Tale of Heike that was “probably produced as part of a dowry for a daimyō’s daughter” (catalog description). The artwork is second to none.
  • A deeper dive into any of the texts we saw in class.