please write a paper of four pages on the following topic. The assignment is designed so that the materials and ideas required can be found within the assignments and lectures of the course. It is not necessary that you do outside reading or research. As with prior papers, you will be evaluated on the quality of your thinking and writing and on your ability to draw upon a wide range of course materials. Avoid a simple recitation of my lectures or of a particular reading assignment. I am more interested in how you have come to reflect upon the ideas presented in the readings and lectures.

Assignment: Pretend that you are a high school student of either sex, and that your are writing a letter to an old friend. Take a careful look at Rohlen’s article, which describes five different high schools in great detail, and then decide which of these five high schools you attend. Condon’s excerpt, entitled “Students’, contains several highly informative vignettes of contemporary Japan through interviews of two university/college students. After selecting the high school that you will attend, examine the character profiles in Condon’s article to get ideas for themes for your letter. Describe your worries and concerns, educational experience, college entrance exam preparation (or lack thereof), aspirations for college or university, future plans, family background, dating experience, club or sport activities, and any other significant dimensions of your identity. The point of this assignment is to use the device of letter-writing to develop a realistic and revealing (although not necessarily representative) perspective on the schools and students of contemporary Japan.
In a nutshell:
1) Write a letter to a friend.
2) Pretend you are a student at one of the five high schools described by Rohlen.
3) Using Condon’s article for inspiration, describe the details of your life as a high school student.