Today is the last day of this term. Through the freshman ELA classes and this RW class, I think I became able to do many things, not only writing an English paper, but also expressing my opinion in a discussion, doing a group work with others, finding massive information on the Internet, and analyzing a writing, in English.

But I think those things should not be the goal of the ELA classes, but I'd like to regard them as the basis for further learning and other classes from now on. I have much things to do and sometimes can't afford to concentrate on studying, but I want to make efforts to utilize and expand the potential of learning. 

In the last RW class, we had presentation and discussion about the contents of each essay.

And I'd like to give some good points and bad points in presentations of my group.

Kosuke

Good points : Visual images are used effectively, and whole flow was well-structured, and easy to understand.  

Points to be improved : This is my comment, but I think CD will remain on music industry in the future though the streaming system will be powerful, because fans of certain music artists would want to buy and keep something which will remain as forms.

Haruka

: Your topic was really unique, and experiments were interesting and supportive.

: I think your claim can be more strong if you can explain the reason why these facts are caused.

Kohei

: It was good that you dealt with the topic from many aspect.

: I think you should organize the perspective in the structure, because the international aspects and internal ones are mixed up.

Shion

: The images were so impressive, and your topic is really important in today's society.

: Your contents can be more objective if you can include social or public perspectives.

I think you should make your suggestion clear. 

From the last week, we have concentrated on writing each essay and preparing its presentation.

Today I'm going to have the presentation and discussion about my essay, museums in Japan and UK, and I'm looking forward to getting comments about the content.

As I research the museums in Japan and UK, I discovered many interesting differences and similarities, and its background, which I didn't expected when I decided my topic.

For example, I focus on the entrance fee of national museums in each country, but I realized that the structure and main focus of exhibitions are quite different between two country. In the UK, most of the national museums have own massive collections for permanent exhibitions, and many visitors go to the museums for appreciating them, so the entrance fee is free, and get extra charge for special exhibitions, focusing on more narrowed visitors. However in Japan, many museums mainly focus on special exhibitions, and they attract many visitors by those short-term exhibitions. The entrance fee for those exhibitions is not cheap, but not too expensive like some special exhibitions in UK national museums, and visitors can enter the permanent exhibitions for free with the same tickets, like the free bonus. So the structure is quite different, and I think this has historical background in the difference of the national collection, especially of royal families' or aristocrats' collection in UK and Japan.

Like these facts, I found and learned many interesting thing from my research, and it was really great opportunity.

And as I search the home pages of museums, I found museums' digital databases are pretty great and useful. You can see the massive collections of national museums like the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, or the Tokyo National Museum, and also download and use the contents with following each terms of use. 

In the last class, we learned a few concept in writing essay, and proceeded each research and writing.
And we got an idea of creativeness as we create/write own works, by watching some YouTube videos.
As I acknowledged the importance of creativity, I remembered a building, or an artwork, which I visited recently.

Have you ever heard Reversible Destiny Lofts Mitaka (三鷹天命反転住宅) ?
It is an apartment house, which was built by architects/artists Shusaku Arakawa, and Madeline Gins, with the concept of "the house to not to die."
This is actually used for apartment, but the outlook and interior is really unique and innovative.
The whole room is painted in so many colors and composed by many shapes, the floor is not flat, and there are many hooks on the ceiling and you can hang baggage or what ever you like from them.
This building was really stimulating for me, and I felt as if it asks me "Who decided a room have to be square and angular, or a floor must be flat?"
I think the concept is really unique and creative, and I felt like visiting the different dimension, though this site is very close to the ICU campus.

In the last RW class, we searched sources for method of presentation and academic writing with a whole class. We found many multi-media resources, and shared with google document.
I'm interested in the academic book, How to Write a Thesis, written by Umberto Eco. I've not yet read this book, but I'll definitely read this book, because the author, Umberto Eco is one of the most celebrated Italian writer, such as the novel, The Name of the Rose. I read the novel, and I really appropriate his profound knowledge and education, and writing skill.
So I'd like to read his How to Write a Thesis in vacation, and learn writing methods.

I felt the crowd sourcing, like we did in the class using the computers, was really efficient and can be used in many tasks.

But I also think that analogue research like doing research at a library has certain merit of not intended meeting. 
Though you can get so much information from the Internet search, the result is limited in related topics.
If you go to a library to find sources, you will pass and take side glances at many shelfs and books which seem not be related to your topic. And sometimes, new ideas or connected topic must be developed through those unrelated fields.
So I think each searching method can be, and should be utilized for different field.

In the last class, we learned what is called research cycle, a method of research and writing which enable writers to improve their writing, through the process of research, establishment of argument, writing, presentation, getting feedback from others, and back to research.

We did first presentation about each topic and exchanged feedbacks in the class, and what I feel is the importance of objectivity in writing.

Academic writing should have clear thesis statement and argument, but I think lack of objectivity might be connected to the lack of meaningfulness of essay.

In order to highlight the justice of claims and for persuade and inspire readers, it is important to consider possible questions or opposite view.

And for it, I think writers have to sometimes read over their article critically, or get feedback from others for further confirmation. 

In the last RW class, we dealt several possible sources for essay, such as Free Range Studios.

As I searched for such visual sources which can be used in my essay about museum, I found the short video,The history of museums in Ted-Ed. 
I'm thinkng about comparing Japanese museums and another country's, possibly Western country's, especially from the aspects of  entrance fee and museums managed by corporations. 
So I'd like to correct sources of general background from such visual information, and more detailed information from documents or books.