English

• Narrative point of view


  The voice through which the story is told
• Types of point of view

  • First person
  • Second person
  • Third person
• First person


  One of the characters is telling the story
• First-person pronouns


  • I, me, mine, our, we
• Second person


  The writer is speaking to you
• Second person


  • Mostly been in speeches, instructional writing, or persuasive articles
• Second person pronouns


  • You
• Third person


  The narrator is telling the story about the characters as a spectator
• Third person


  • Refers to the characters by their name
• Limited third person


  • The narrator only narrates the thoughts and feelings of one character
• Omniscient third person


  • The narrator narrates the thoughts and feelings of more than one character
• JAPAN-ALSO KNOWN AS "THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN"
• KOJIKO


  The Records of Ancient Matters (A.D. 112)
• NIHONGI


  The Chronicles of Japan (A.D. 720)
• JAPANESE LITERATURE is one of the major oriental literature
• KATAKANA


  Basic alphabet in Japan (47 characters)
• NOH PLAY


  National theatre of Japan
• JORURI/PUPPET PLAY


  Puppets lifesize
• KABUKI PLAY


  Play of the masses, less intellectual, more realistic and sensational
• MANYO SHU


  Oldest collection of poetry, compiled in 800 A.D.
• HAIKU


  Shortest form of Japanese poetry, 17 syllables in 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables
• TANKA


  Five-line poem
• In May of 1997, two years after the massive earthquake in Kobe, the author hit upon the idea of taking a leisurely, solitary walk from Nishinomiya to Sannomiya in downtown Kobe
• The author


  • Was born in Kyoto but soon moved to Shukugawa, a neighbourhood in Nishinomiya
  • Spent most of his teenage years in Ashiya, near Kobe
  • Became a typical 'Hanshin-kan' boy, referring to the area between Osaka and Kobe
  • Moved to Tokyo for college, got married and started working, and seldom travelled back to this strip of land between Osaka and Kobe
• When the Hanshin Earthquake hit in January 1995, the author's parents' house in Ashiya was too damaged to stay in and they soon moved to Kyoto
• The author feels a deep sense of loss at the fact that the Hanshin-kan area is no longer his home town


  As if the axis of his memories is faintly, but audibly, creaking within him
• The author wanted to take a walk there, alert and attentive to what he might discover, to see how this 'home town' he'd lost all obvious connections with would appear to him now
• The author also wanted to see what effect the Hanshin Earthquake had had on the town he grew up in
• The author's walk from Nishinomiya to Sannomiya in Kobe

  1. Got off the train at Nishinomiya station

  2. Walked through the shopping area near the south exit of the station, which had changed almost beyond recognition

  3. Crossed the main street to Ebisu Shrine, which also showed visible scars from the earthquake

  4. Walked on from Nishinomiya to Shukugawa, where the author's old house was gone, replaced by a row of town houses, and the nearby high school grounds were filled with temporary housing for earthquake survivors

  5. Stopped by a local sushi shop in the direction of the sea
• As a child, the author used to love the ocean, swimming, fishing, and gathering driftwood with friends to light bonfires, but now the sea is no longer there as the mountains have been cut down and the area filled in with residential communities