Past Senior Projects

I read, or at least skimmed, three senior projects that were related to my concentration which is Asian Studies. The titles of the three that I read were as follows "The Transition of Japanese Adolescence into Adulthood Using Education as a Background" by Cassandra Christen, "Bushido" by Ryan O'Connor, and "The Interactions of Language: The Phenomenon of Japanese English" by Lauryn Curtis. The first was a good account of the Japanese daily life and society as an individual would experience it from adolescence into adulthood. "Bushido" by O'Connor details the inner wokings and mindset behind the samurai's form of chivalry which is Bushido. Lastly, and the one I would like to focus the most attention on, is "Japanese English" which presents the argument that Japan has taken English and made it something uniquely Japanese, as Japan has done historical with numerous other things. The premise behind the idea is an excellent one but having read the argument and have a knowledge base in the Japanese language I just felt it to be too bold in some of its claims. The topic is excellently research and the ideas are presented in a straightforward and logical manner. The real trouble comes when Curtis believes she has presented enough evidence to back an idea and then makes a sort of sweeping generalization. Also some of her argument towards the end seems to contradict her prior statements. She builds the case that Japan has turned English into something that is uniquely its own but at the end she includes a section detailing accounts of Japanese people who fail to comprehend this language that is supposedly their's. Overall it was good, it just seemed to be hit and miss when it came to the finer points.