Meiji Japan: Grappling with the Modern (History 203)

Fall, 2001, 9:40 a.m., T-Th, Hollenbeck 313

Jim Huffman, Instructor

Writers perform a...daring act. They must develop an idea with logic and clarity, knowing that a reader can study their words again and again and discover whether the words add up to a plausible argument, given the evidence available.

--Richard Marius

Welcome to The Historian=s Craft. The course is a systematic introduction to the research methods of the historian. We will attempt first to understand the dynamics of Japan=s Meiji era (1868-1912): the social, political, cultural and intellectual transformations that made it such an important time. Then, drawing on the history of that period, we will learn to craft a historical research paper, using a variety of sources.

The course is designed as a laboratory for history majors, for whom it is required, and for others who want to understand the historical approach more fully. It is taught in seminar style; so there will be few lectures after the first three or four weeks. Class sessions will be devoted to mutual grappling with the issues presented in each day=s readings. For that reason, a heavy responsibility is placed on each student to be present and prepared at each session.

Class Goals. The purpose of this course is to help students to:

1. Understand, broadly, the nature of Japan=s Meiji era.

2. Understand how and why historians work the way they do.

3. Find and evaluate historical evidence.

4. Plan and produce a well-written, documented, finished research essay.

5. Experience the joy of historical discovery.

Resources. You will have access to many resources as you do your work: Wittenberg history (and other) faculty members, the holdings of Thomas Library, the assistance of Librarian Suzanne Smailes, the ideas and aid of fellow students, and the wide world of historical documents and sources. In addition, the following are required readings for this course.

Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers. Sixth ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Marius, Richard. A Short Guide to Writing About History. Third ed. New York: Longman, 1999.

Duus, Peter. The Japanese Discovery of America. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997.

Irokawa Daikichi. The Culture of the Meiji Period. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985.

Natsume Soseki. Kokoro. Chicago: Gateway Editions, 1957.

Handouts, including selections from E. H. House.

Instructor. The course is led by Jim Huffman, whose office is 310 Hollenbeck. You are welcome to contact him at any time (prior to 9 p.m.!), about issues of any kind, by e-mail (jhuffman@wittenberg.edu), or by phone (o: 327-7845; h: 399-9684). His office hours are:

M-W-F 9:30 to 11:00

T-Th 1:00 to 2:30

Other By appointment

Requirements and Evaluation. The central feature of the class will be the research/writing project. In addition, a number of assignments will be required as a means of helping students understand the Meiji era and hone their understanding of how historians think and work. Specific requirements and due dates are in the right hand column of the class schedule below. Detailed explanations will be provided in class or in the last part of the syllabus.

Points will be awarded on the following scale.

Writing Project (230+)

Paper proposal (9-18) cr

Preliminary bibliography (10-2) 5

Final topic (10-9) cr

Search strategies (10-9, 10-16) 10 (5 each)

Web assignment (10-11) 10

Short quiz 10

Search record (10-18) 15

Working bibliography (10-18) 25

Outline 1 (11-1) 10

Outline 2 (11-13) 15

Final paper (11-29) 100

Oral report (11-29 to 12-11) 30

Revision of paper (12-18) up to 10 bonus points

Thinking Historically (150)

Test 50

Museum notes (10-25) 10

Article review (11-8) 20

Irokawa paper (11-20) 10

Natsume paper (12-13) 10

Participation 50

Notes: 1. Attendance is particularly important in this class; each unexcused absence, over two misses of any kind, will be assessed a one percent deduction in the final average.

2. All papers are to be typed (12 point), double spaced, paginated, and prepared according to proper style, using Turabian.

3. You should submit two copies of each written assignment, and three copies of the final paper!

4. Deadlines are absolute, unless an extension is granted ahead of time by the professor. Late work will be assessed a ten percent penalty for the first day and an additional two percent each subsequent day. No work will be accepted after December 18.

5. Students should be aware of the Wittenberg policy on academic honesty; violations (including cheating and plagiarism) will result in severe penalties.

Class Schedule. Changes in session topics may occur from time to time, but assignment dates are absolute, unless changed by the professor. T = Turabian; M = Marius; D = Duus; H = from House.

An Amazing Era

8-28 Introduction

8-30 Fall of the Old Order D:1-17; H: I

9-4 Creating a Regime H: II, III

9-6 Creating a Nation H: IV, V

9-11 The Imperialist Turn H: VI

9-13 Film and History, at Huffman=s (9:00)

9-18 A World Power H: VII, paper proposal

9-20 Test partners assigned

The Nature of History

9-25 History as a Way of Thinking M: intro

9-26 8:00, May-lee, Winberg Chai, Weaver

9-27 The Historical Essay M: I, 72-78

Research: Finding Sources

10-2 Library work (Research Help Center) preliminary bibliography

8 p.m., Tonda puppeteers

10-4 Library work (RHC)

10-9 Library work (RHC) final topic, search strategy 1

10-11 Library work (RHC) web assignment

10-16 Library work (RHC) search strategy 2, short quiz

Writing the Historical Paper

10-18 The Historical Questions M: II; working bibliography/search record

10-23 Fall break

10-25 Different kinds of history Museum notes

10-30 Modes of Historical Writing M: III

11-1 Evaluating Sources M: 86-100, Outline 1

11-6 Evaluating Sources (continued) D: 145-204

11-8 The Act of Writing M: 101-08, article review

11-13 Reviews Outline 2

11-15 Documenting Your Work M: VIII; T (all)

Meiji Through Different EyesBI

11-20 The Revisionist Monograph Irokawa paper

11-27 Revisionism (continued)

Critiquing the Papers

11-29 Presentations final paper

12-4 Presentations

12-6 Presentations

12-11 Presentations Natsume paper

Meiji Through Different EyesBII

12-13 History through Literature, at Huffman=s

12-18 Paper revisions

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

Attached here are a number of supplementary materials that should help you carry out the various tasks more effectively. You should go over them generally now, then study each one carefully at the appropriate time during the semester.

Table of Contents

Checklist 4

Course Concepts 4

Peer Reviewing 5

Web Assignment 6

Article Review 6

Irokawa/Natsume Papers 6

The Writing Project 6

Paper Proposal 7

Note taking 7

Preliminary Bibliography 8

Search Record and Working Bibliography 8

Outlines 9

Final Paper 9

Revised Paper and Oral Report 9

Rules for Good writing 9

Styles and Editing Symbols 10

Checklist

_____Paper proposal (9-18) cr

_____Test (9-20) 50

_____Preliminary bibliography (10-2) 5

_____Final topic (10-9) cr

_____Search strategy 1(10-9) 5

_____Web assignment (10-11) 10

_____Search strategy 2 (10-16) 5

_____Short quiz (10-16) 10

_____Search record (10-18) 15

_____Working bibliography (10-18) 25

_____Museum notes (10-25) 10

_____Outline 1 (11-1) 10

_____Article review (11-8) 20

_____Outline 2 (11-13) 15

_____Irokawa paper (11-20) 10

_____Final paper (11-29) 100

_____Oral report (11-29 to 12-11) 30

_____Natsume paper (12-13) 10

_____Revision of paper (12-18) up to 10 bonus points

Course Concepts

This course is intended to help you learn to think as an historian. You should become comfortable with the technical concepts, skills, and vocabulary of the craft of history this semester--to the point that you will use these ideas and this rhetoric in all of your history courses. The key ideas and concepts of the course include the following material; it is important that you think about them as you produce your research essay.

Historical Thinking

History as: past, account, reconstruction, interpretation

History as otherness, continuity, change

Frame of reference, context

Role of questions in defining historical approach or context

Topic v. thesis approach

Inference v. proof

Interpretation, generalization, revisionism

Research Skills and Concepts

Annotation v. abstract

Primary and secondary sources

Intentional v. unwitting evidence

Summary, paraphrase, quotation

Plagiarism

ALegitimate inference@ and historical method

Interpretation

Cause: immediate, direct, efficient; long-range, indirect, sufficient

Hypothesis, synthesis

Writing Style

Audience

Structure: principle of selection; paragraph unit of writing

Expository writing

Narrative writing

Analytical writing

Citation: note form (footnote/endnote), parenthetical form; bibliographic form

Technical style elements

Turabian Concepts to Know

Abbreviations and numbers (ch. 2, especially 2.26)

Punctuation (ch. 3, 4.14-4.15)

Quotation (ch. 5)

Notes and bibliography (chapters 8, 11; also skim chapters 10, 14)

Citing Electronic Sources

Note:

1. Jane Foe, ANew History Strategies,@ Wittenberg History Journal, January 1, 2000 [journal online]; available from http://www.wittenberg.edu/history/journal; Internet; accessed January 15, 2000.

Foe, Jane. ANew History Strategies.@ Wittenberg History Journal, January 1, 2000 [journal online].

Available from http://www.wittenberg.edu/history/journal; Internet; accessed January 15, 2000.

Note: For more information on citing electronic sources, see: The Chicago Manual of Style (14^th edition).

Peer Reviewing

For the purposes of this course, you will have a partner as a peer reviewer. This partner will read and assess each of the assignments that you complete as part of your writing project. The partner also will read your completed paper and will present it to the class during the last part of the semester. Until September 20, you may choose partners; after that, partners will be assigned.

Web Assignment

Your assignment is to explore the web as a beginning brainstorming exercise for your papers. Look at some of the sites that include Meiji Japan.

Particulars of the assignment: You must print out the following (if it is a long piece, just the first page):

Two primary written sources (fiction or non-fiction written by Japanese between 1868 and 1912)

Two primary artistic sources (art from Japan between 1868 and 1912)

One site that explores a social issue from that period (prostitution, labor, women=s issues, etc.)

One site that explores a political issue from that period

One museum or library exhibit related to Meiji Japan

Suzanne Smailes will help with this assignment during the library section of the course. Use it to generate ideas for your research.

Article Review. The review should follow the guidelines below; it is due at the beginning of class on November 8. In general, a good way to think of the review is to see it as an expanded annotation. The reviewer is showing an ability to abstract and summarize, while also explaining and evaluating the article.

Format for the review. Your review essay should be cohesive; you may want to develop four main elements in it.

A. Summary of argument/thesis. Begin by reading the article carefully, making notes of the main points, evidence, and argument. What are the essential features of the work (its topic, subject matter, coverage: the story it tells) and, very briefly, who is the author? Examine the footnotes in order to assess the evidence used to support the major points in the piece.

B. Statement of your own thesis or interpretation. Compose a short critique of the article. What points struck you as most important or illuminating? What does the article attempt to do; how does it treat the subject?

C. Evaluation of the article=s thesis. Continue your critique of the article by testing the validity of the author=s claims. How was evidence used? Assess the style and persuasiveness of the argument. How well did the article succeed in its aims?

D. Conclusion. If the reviewer is familiar with the literature of the field, it is also expected that the essay will put the work reviewed into that context. If the field is unfamiliar, the reviewer might speculate about how the thesis might affect current political debates or the larger historical context for the article.

E. Your review must include a bibliographic citation and, if relevant, footnotes.

Irokawa/Natsume Papers. After reading each of these books, write a 250-word paper explaining: 1) what kind of literature it is, and 2) that genre=s strengths and weaknesses as a means of knowing the past. Use concrete materials from the book to illustrate your points. (Include a bibliographic citation.)

The Writing Project. The centerpiece of this class is a short piece (8-10 pages, plus notes and bibliography) of historical research, done in either analytical or narrative style. It must use some primary sources, including Meiji era newspapers. Thomas Library has the following Japanese newspapers on microfilm or microfiche: Tokio Times (1877-80), Japan Weekly Mail (1871, 1873-77, 1882-85, 1890-94, 1897), and Japan Times (1897-present).

The final draft is due on November 27; it may be polished and revised after that on the basis of classmates= and instructor=s comments. Your paper should be coherent and smoothly writtenBaimed at an intelligent but uninformed audience. It should have an introduction that includes the paper=s thesis or purpose, and it should be well organized, rich in concrete data, and fully documented. Do not misquote your sources or overuse direct quotations.

The topic of your essay is a key to your success. During the library unit, you will explore the resources for the topic, and, at the same time, you will narrow and sharpen the topic by reading. If necessary, you should switch to another subject. By the end of the library unit, you should have established the feasibility of your topic in two respects: whether you have access to sufficient materials (including primary sources), and whether you can frame the paper as a response to a hypothesis or interpretive question.

Form is important. Be sure that your footnote or endnote style is correct, based on Turabian (chapters 8, 11). Remember that this is a formal paper, meaning it must be typed and that you should avoid slang or colloquialisms. It also should include a bibliography of all of your sources , styled according to Chapter 9 of Turabian. Give one copy to your peer reviewers, and submit two copies, along with your research notes, to Huffman. The notes and one copy will be returned to you. You also must submit the corrected first draft when you hand in the revised draft.

NOTE. All sources must be given to Huffman with the final paper. No grades will be given until this is done. (If you use sources from other libraries, either turn them in to the professor with your paper, flagging your references to those sources, or turn in xeroxed copies of those pages.)

Paper Proposal

Your paper proposal should be one page in length and should include the information listed below. Remember that you are showing what you plan to do, not what you will do. You are working with hypotheses at this point. Include such elements as:

Bmajor research questions and secondary questions

Bspecific ideas about sources, databases, catalogues, places to look for information

Bmethodology: how you will approach your topic

BContext: time frame, geographical limitations, etc.

Some useful questions for formulating your research questions are:

BWhat is the research about?

BWhat do I want to understand about it?

BWhy do I want to understand it?

BWhy is understanding this important to me?

BWhat do I want the reader to understand, to believe, about this subject?

BWho is the audience?

Chapters 1-3 of Marius will be helpful in preparing the proposal.

Note taking

Use half-sheets of paper or note cards, as demonstrated in class. At the top left of each, put an abbreviated title of your source (do not identify sources by numbers; they are easily confused), plus a volume and page reference, as needed. Include just one idea, key fact, or quote, per page. This will facilitate organization of the notes. Keep a separate set of bibliography cards. Be sure to distinguish between direct quotations, your paraphrases, and your own summaries of ideas. This system may be helpful:

Bdouble (not single) quote marks for direct quotations; be precise, even about punctuation.

Bcircled P at left for paraphrases of author=s words

Bcircled S at left for summaries of article or book

Bsquare brackets, and personal initials, for your own ideas. Be sure to mark these

clearly.

When a quote runs across more than one page in the original, use brackets in your notes to indicate the new page (e.g., ANatsume began his career in 1905, in [174] a climate charged with nationalistic sentiments@). This way, you will know what page number to use if you only include part of it in your paper.

Treat every newspaper or magazine article as a separate source, with a separate bibliography card. Make it clear on your card if there is no author.

With your revised paper, you must hand in (in a note-file box):

Bbibliography cards, arranged alphabetically by author, and stacked together.

Bnote sheets; those not used in the paper should be arranged by source, in the same order as the bibliography; those used in the paper may be in the order in which they appear in the paper.

Preliminary Bibliography

Start a bibliography as you start your brainstorming and exploration of topics. Keep 3x5 cards with titles showing sources you searched (bibliographies, encyclopedias, etc.) and titles you hope to use for y our study. Include a full citation (Turabian, chapter 9). Each card should include the following:

BAt the top: subject heading under which you found the title

BA note if the book has a bibliography

BIn lower right corner: where you found this title

BIn the middle: a full citation

BIn upper left: call number if it is a Wittenberg book

BOn the back: you may want to write a note for yourself about the usefulness or content of the source

For this assignment, you must turn in an annotated bibliography of the five best primary and five best secondary sources you have found on the topic. The project must be typed in correct bibliographic form. Each of the sources must include a short annotation, or a sentence or two assessing the source. An example follows:

Irokawa Daikichi. The Culture of the Meiji Period. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985.

A look at the political interests of commoners, especially farmers, in Meiji Japan. Author is a controversial but influential Japanese historian. Lots of rich data and human interest material. No bibliography. Index just lists names.

Search Record and Working Bibliography

This assignment has two parts, both to be submitted as the AWorking Bibliography@ assignment listed in the syllabus.

Search Record. A comprehensive card file of 3x5 cards, required for this course, which indicates the dimensions and thoroughness of your search for sources related to your project. It includes sources that were inaccessible, or that did not prove useful, as well as those you plan to use. This record should include at least 40 sources! The search record should be organized as follows:

a. Shuffle them into 2 types: primary and secondary

b. Arrange them by category under each type, working from the general to the specific (i.e., general reference comes before books, books before monographs, monographs before articles, etc.)

c. Within each category, arrange by author=s last name, alphabetically. If there is no author, treat the first significant word in the title as if it were the author.

d. Separate your categories with index tabs, so that they are easy to understand. Also include a title card for your project (with your name on it) and a carding listing places where you looked but found nothing.

e. Put all the cards together in a card box marked with your name.

Working Bibliography. A typed bibliography of sources that are likely to be useful in your research and that are accessible to you.

Outlines

As part of this project, you will be expected to turn in two outlines of your paper. You may choose to revise either of these outlines a number of times and submit them to your peer reviewer or to the instructor, but you are only required to complete two outlines.

Outline 1. This will be a typed outline of roughly three major points and six subpoints. It should demonstrate the feasibility of the topic and the basic organization of the paper, as well as the paper=s general scope. It should be headed by a thesis statement.

Outline 2. This will develop your paper much more fully. It should include the major points of the paper, with each of those divided into two to four subpoints. Some of the subpoints should in turn be divided. It too must be headed by a thesis statement. An eight-page paper probably would have fifteen or twenty total points.

Final Paper

Your final paper should be eight to ten pages long, including footnotes and bibliography, which should be done in appropriate Turabian style. You also must turn in the following: your notes, your bibliography card box, and all of your sources. Do not forget to turn in two copies of the instructor and one to your peer reviewer.

Revised Paper and Oral Report

The revised paper should incorporate the suggestions of the instructor and your peer reviewer (see Marius, Pp. 106-107 for helpful information). It will be worth up to 10 bonus points. To gain points, it must be a genuine revision; mere correction of grammar, syntax, etc., as suggested by the professor, does not constitute Arevision.@

Each student will make an oral report on another student=s paper, following these guidelines.

1. Each report should be carefully prepared and practiced, and should take no more than 10 minutes.

2. The presenter should explain the following:

--the basic questions asked/answered in the paper

--the thesis of the study

--the sources and evidence used to develop the thesis

3. The presenter also should evaluate the paper, both graciously and frankly:

--the quality of the research, writing and analysis

--its strengths and weaknesses

--suggestions for improvement (structure, writing, additional topics to pursue, etc.)

4. Students in the class are expected to respond actively to each presentation.

5. Evaluation. The reports will be judged on both content and delivery.

A. Content: information presented, analysis, helpfulness of suggestions

B. Delivery: clarity of expression, manner of delivery, speech mechanics (speaking

up, eye contact, attractive attire, posture, avoidance of slang: umm, y=know, like, etc.)

Rules for Good Writing. The Wittenberg report for unsatisfactory writing, modified to fit history and to put the statements in positive form, provides a good outline of the basic characteristics of good writing. Keep these in mind as you write.

Content

The essay has a clear controlling idea, or thesis, that is neither trivial nor self-evident.

The controlling idea is adequately supported by authoritative information.

Primary sources, if appropriate, are responsibly used.

Secondary sources, if appropriate, are responsibly used.

The essay reflects the accepted historical perspectives on cause, frames of reference, context, chronology, evidence, etc.

Audience

Form and language are appropriate to the audience and historical conventions.

Organization

Ideas are developed in a logical, coherent, and interesting way.

Paragraphs are focused and unified but also are developed in sufficient detail to be convincing.

Paragraphs flow from one to another, while major sections are distinguished from each other.

Exposition or narrative is employed effectively; if both are used, they are well integrated.

Introductions and/or conclusions are clear and relevant.

Style (See Turabian)

Sentences are economical, clearly focused, grammatically correct, and varied.

Word choice is precise, appropriate, and interesting.

The use of punctuation and other technical elements is correct.

Documentation

Quotations are accurate transcriptions of the original.

Quotations and information or ideas specific to a given source are cited.

Citations are adequate and in correct form (Turabian), generally note form.

Bibliography (or a reference list) is adequate and in correct form (Turabian).

Sytle and Editing Symbols. All work must follow accepted style, which includes the following:

1. Pages must be numbered.

2. A bibliographic citation must be included whenever appropriate.

3. Papers must be typed in a standard, 12-point font.

4. If your word processor cannot elevate note numbers, put them in parentheses.

5. Essays must be stapled.

6. Essays should not include title pages.

Following are the editing symbols I most often use. Go over them now, to see the kinds of errors you should strive to avoid.

awk awkward

biblio cit bibliographic citation needed

blky bulky phrase

cf compare to...

cit source citation (including page number) needed

c.s. comma splice

d.m. dangling modifier

fn footnote

fl nm use full name (always needed on first reference)

ident identify (always needed on first reference)

i.s. incomplete sentence; sentence fragment

p/a pronoun/antecedent agreement problem; e.g., Japan...their

pgn page numbers missing

redun redundant

r.o. run-on sentence (no period or semicolon dividing independent clauses)

sop statement of purpose (missing or weak)

ss single space and indent (quotes of 6 lines or more)

sp misspelling

stet OK as you originally had it

s/v subject/verb agreement problem (e.g., she...are; they...is)

T Turabian; review Turabian for this type of error

trans weak transition to a new topic

uncl meaning unclear to me

vb tns improper shift in verb tense (past to present, or vice versa)

= something is not parallel

# space needed between words

close up space (e.g., clo se spa ce)

begin new paragraph

delete

? ambiguous; needs clarification

transpose; most often: put period or comma inside quotation marks

insert