英語表現演習3 (金): Mid-term writing assignment・ 中間作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our mid-term writing assignment – writing about a device or invention that you believe has made a major impact on society or around the world.

Take a look at the picture above. It's a person using a laptop computer. The personal computer, either in desktop or laptop form, is one of the great inventions of recent times. But the computer is only one example of many inventions and devices that have had a major impact on our lives. 

While I have already given all of you the handout about this assignment, I am posting it here as well as another way to help remind all of you about it, and what you can do for it. 

Guidelines

In this topic, you can choose any device or invention from the past or present. It can be something invented and used in Japan, or around the world, or invented elsewhere and brought into Japan. When you write, you can think of these points:

• What it is
• Who invented or first made it
• When it was first made (and sold or marketed)
• Who uses it (- or - who used it)
• What it is (or was) used for
• Very important - what it is (or was) made of (in terms of materials and parts)
• What impact you believe it has has on society or worldwide (including what personal impact it has had on you)
• Any other details you believe are worth noting

Special note: If the device or invention is no longer made – what impact did it have in its time? Did it lead to a device that improved on it and made it outdated? Or – what made it go out of style or usefulness (for example, was it made outdated by some new technology)?

How much to write

There is no set length, but I would like you to write as much as you can, perhaps around 2-4 paragraphs' worth of writing, more if possible. But if you believe you can write more than that, go for it! I will recognize and reward writing that has had effort put into it for length.

You have a choice of writing this in pen, or typing it up on Word. Either way – please follow the format I have shown you in class about your name, class, assignment, and date, plus title.

Deadline (締め切り)

It will be June 1st (6/1), so you have two (2) weeks to do this.

I want you to bring in a first draft (下書き) next week (5/25) in your notebooks in pencil. I will give some more details, and where I can, review your work. Then you can change things about the draft as you need to, then write to the finish and turn in your work on 6/1.

Good luck with this! I hope you can have fun with this, and enjoy writing about devices or inventions with detail that are also interesting and perhaps special to you. 

I look forward to reading your great writing on this topic!

Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock.