Seminar
- In this class third-year students study Lewis Carroll's books
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
- There are usually about 15 students in the class. Unless they are sick, students must attend every week.
- In the summer term we concentrate on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and in the winter term Through the Looking-Glass
- To read Lewis Carroll's two Alice books
- To understand the cultural, historical and linguistic references in the books
- To read the books and look beyond the surface meaning
- To look at the author and his life
- To understand the world in which the original Alice grew up
- To ask why the books are so popular in so many countries
- Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
- Martin Gardner: The Annotated Alice (available in Japanese translation)
The class will be more of a discussion than a lecture, so students will be expected to contribute their opinions. The level of students' participation in class discussions will greatly influence their grade. Students who are too shy (or too lazy) to participate in class discussions will be
able to improve their grade by doing a project on a topic related to the Alice books.
- The seminar class is the best (the only?) opportunity students have to express their own opinions and discuss them with their classmates and their teacher. Carpe diem! Take your chance, don't waste it!
- The best (and cheapest) edition of the Alice book is the Kodansha English Library paperback which costs 500 yen (if my memory serves me correctly).