This is a blog for my English IIIB students at Hirosaki University in the Fall of 2005. I started it in the Spring of 2005 for another class, and now I use it for whichever class I have. Right now it's English IIIB again. I hope you enjoy it.
This is one day's dinner, salmon meuniere with white sauce. In fact, the picture was taken in March. I cooked it for my family. My grandmother taught me several things about cooking, and praised the dish. It is very delightful for me that someone eats what I make. However, now I live alone... When my friend came to my room and had dinner together in GW, I was very happy! It is a little lonely to make a dish only for myself, but for economy and my health, and to be a good wife in the future:), I'll continue to try it!
Hello,I'm Shinya Suto. I'll tell about my golden week .
Many classmates seem to to have gone back to their hometown .But,I didn't need to go back because Hirosaki is myu hometown.And,most of my friends who go to other colleges didn't come back to HIrosaki altough I wanted to play with them.So,I was free.I want to meet them summer vacation. I spent most of the days taking a nap and watching TV , reading books in used bookstore. But,the last day of Golden Week was very exciting .I enjoyed the party under the cherry trees of Hirosaki Park with my classmates very much.
I’ll introduce my favorite food.I love foods which taste powdered green tea.For example,cakes,cookies,ice creams,sweet rolls,chocolates and so on.Of course,I like making and drinking powdered tea,too.I wonder why such a wonderful taste is existed in Japan.I'm fortunate to have been a Japanese.Anyone give me such foods as seemed likely to please me is welcome♪♪
↑at the students'dining hall. ￥200.You can't use your meal card.
I'm glad everyone liked the film. I hope you check out the CD, too.
Thanks especially for noting the parallelism between the Baptism ceremony by the river in the daytime and the Ku Klux Klan ceremony at night. Both appear as religious ceremonies conducted by large groups of people in white robes. The first ceremony, Baptism, is a sign of entering the Christian religion. This instance showed Baptism as practiced in the Baptist denomination, one of the largest religions in the United States, although relatively unknown in Europe. There are many "conventions" as they are called, of Baptists in the United States, for example the Southern Baptists which are the largest Baptist convention, and the largest Protestant church in the United States. Others include the American Baptists, the National Baptists and many, many others. Through Roger Williams' founding of Providence Plantation (now the state of Rhode Island) Baptists have a claim on contributing the idea of religious freedom to the tradition of the United States. They are one of the most important religious groups in the United States, both in history and today.
The Ku Klux Klan, on the other hand, is a notorious racist secret society, that also opposed Catholics and Jews as well as blacks. It took its name from a similar secret society formed after the American Civil War, but which did not oppose Catholics or Jews. The Klan was founded in 1915, grew until the middle of the 1920s, split into several groups, and declined after that. They organized violence against not only Blacks, Catholics and Jews but against anyone who opposed them, and engaged in much violence against the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Small groups still exist around the United States. I think that the parallelism of daylight Baptism and nighttime Klan meeting was intended by the Coen Brothers to signify good and evil.
The confrontation of good and evil, and the problem of defining good and evil, is a constant theme throughout this film. The law is chasing the three escapees, but is the law good? Who is good and who is evil in this film? It's a question to think about.
The Blues musician Tommy Johnson sold his soul to the Devil for his skill. This is a reference to the story of the real life Blues musician, Robert Johnson, who is alleged to have sold his soul to the Devil for his skill. Like Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson forgot to negotiate a time period the way Doctor Faustus did in the Faust story. Robert Johnson is today known as "The King of the Delta Blues Singers" and is one of the most influential, possibly the greatest, Blues musician who ever lived. However, he didn't live to enjoy his success or see his fame.
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician, among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend, including a Faust myth. Johnson's songs, vocal phrasing and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians; Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived". Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "Early Influence" in their first induction ceremony in 1986. He was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Notice how the way Tommy Johnson describes the Devil fits the description of the policeman who is following the three escaped convicts around throughout the film. Was that the same Devil to whom Tommy sold his soul? I don't know. I do know that the Faust story is very influential not only in world literature but in African American folklore. Christopher Marlowe's"The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" was the most popular stage play among African Americans in the late 19th century, and certainly influenced Robert Johnson, whether or not he actually sold his soul to the Devil. The Faust legend is certainly a major influence on the story of this film.
More influential than the Faust legend, though, is Homer's Odyssey. This is the story of the Trojan War hero, Odysseus, or Ulysses, who wandered all over the Mediterranean Sea searching for his home where his wife, Penelope, was waiting for him. This is the story of the movie, with the action moved from the ancient Mediterranean to 1930s Mississippi. I immediately recognized the characters of the Cyclops (John Goodman), the Sirens, and others, even though I hadn't read the book since I was a child. It's one of the greatest adventure stories of world literature. I hope you get the chance to read it some day.
I'll write about 2 days of GW. First day, I went to Hirosaki castle to see cherry blossoms with members of badminton club. But, I could see cherry blossoms only 2 hours because I drunk too much and felt sick. Then, I went to a house of a senior, and I vomited successively for ten hours... I was stupid! Next day, My family came Hirosaki, and we went to Hirosaki castle. In fact, you know, I didn't want to go there. It was a terrible talk. Do not you think so? Oh, I did not intend to talk about the complaint. I'm sorry. So, be careful about liquor! Ha ha.
Today,I,ll write my expression about the movie "O Brother". In fact, I can,t understand the story of the movie. So,I have a lot of questions about it. What is the purpose of the characters? Why one of the hero changed to a frog? What does the movie,s end mean? What is the .......
But, the comedy scenes were interesting even I can,t understand what they said.
I want to see the movie again with Japanese subtitles . Then,I,ll more enjoy the movie.
I think Golden Week is too short to stay my home town with feeling at ease. Actually,I was very busy.
I wanted to go back to Sapporo to see my parents and our dogs which are poodle. After I arrived at Sapporo,I went to a driving range to play golf with my father. He was really enthusiastic,because he loves golf and wanted to teach me. Next day,my parents took me to MITUI outlet store, which had opened recently. I didn't have enough clothes so I was happy.
I spent the others days of Golden Week happily.and now I am looking forward to the days when I can meet my family.
Hi, brother, I'm Takashi Miyamoto.
Now, I try to write about O brother. First of all, this movie was so difficult to understand what actors say that I couldn't understand the story fully. But music in this movie is very good and characters are very funny. Crazy people also make this movie fun. As I've mentioned above, music is very good and beautiful!! Music is an important factor to make the movie good.Bad music makes movies bad.
Finally, I have a question.I couldn't understand the story so I want to know what main characters wanted to do?
In my Golden Week days, I visited Yokohama to meet my friends.
Although I wanted to come back to my hometown, Kobe, Golden Week is too short to come back to Kobe and travel expenses also prevent me from coming back to Kobe. But doing nothing in Golden Week is an enormous loss, so I decided to visit Yokohama.
The way I took to go to Yokohama was a bus. I got a night-bus at 10:00 P.M on April 30th and arrived in Yokohama at 8:00 A.M on March 1st.My friends and I talked very much. It was very fun. I'm going to meet them again this summer.
Hello, I'm Shunsuke Kubota. I enjoyed my GW very much.
I went to Koiwai farm in Morioka with my club members. First, I was disappointed that it was rainny. But our trip was very fun. I want to travel with my friends again.
GW has already finished,so I wish I could have another GW. Thanks for reading!
We watched a movie, "O brother". I'm going to write feeling toward the movie.
Truthfully, I wasn't able to understand content in the movie well because I couldn't understand what actors say. So I tried to understood it by their movement and expression and atmosphere.
This movie is story about three prisoners. They broke jail and looked for treasure. On the way, they met many persons. I was especially impressed by music in the movie. Additionally, the funny side of the movie amused me. However, I had some questions about this movie. Who is the black man that wore a hat? Did he a prisoner? And what is the flood in the last scene? I couldn't understand it.
Though I wasn't able to understood the content of the movie perfectly , watching movie in English was good experience for me. I'd like to watch movie in English again if I have a chance.
Good morning, I'm Yoshihiro Asai. I'll tell you the impression of "O brother."
I couldn't understand almost all the story.Few things I could understand were that three prisoners somewhat could escape from police and that they somewhat could be praised by many people and come to be happy. I thought they were always very very lucky.No matter when they were in bad situation,someone or something certainly helped them. Well,I have many questions about the story. What was the group whose members were singing in a river? Who was the man who recorded the song singed by three prisoners? What was the man in glasses and always with his dog? Why,in last scene,the flood took place?
Hello,I am Sho Maruyama. Last week,we saw “o brother!!”. The story is set in the 1930s , south of United States. Though I could not understand whole story of this movie, I could enjoy seeing it. I think other students enjoyed ,too. The characters in it and music of it is very good. Each characters are comical. We can understand the story by their movements and expressions. The songs of this movie are popular and sound good. I didn`t know about “o brother !!” but I had heard its songs.Now I can’t understand whole story of movie in English,but If I`m accustomed to seeing movies in English, I’ll be able to enjoy them more.Thank you.
The first thing, I like music and songs in this movie. I have heard almost all songs, so I enjoyed listen to it.
All characters were so funny, but they each imagined their future and dream earnestly. I think this was the very treasure for them whatever it was and three heroes could grasp their own happy life.
Now I have a question about this movie. At this age, was lynching (killing) black people natural? Was it allowed by people? When one of candidates said about it at the last scene, he said it ordinarily. So I thought it was strange.
Hello, I'm Sho Maruyama.I didn't do anything in the Golden week,but I had a very nice time.From May 1st to May 5th,I had been in my home town. I was lazy. I spent time in playing video games or sleeping.I know it was bad... In Hirosaki,I have a busy life. I study many things,join parties,practice table tennis, do houseworkand so on. So in the Goden Week,I was relaxed and releaved. However, I know that the reason why I felt relaxed and releaved is not only freedom. My family releave me every time I get back my house. All of them were grad to meet me then. I like my hose because of their giving me a welcome. I did nothing in the Golden Week but these days are so precious.
Hello, everyone. I am going to tell my impression of "O BROTHER".
I thought that I was a very formal movie when I heard the introduction of this movie. However, it was not so. The scene which three men tried to take train was very fun. Afterwards, there were a lot of comical scenes. The scene about the frog is one of them.
The music used for the movie was very wonderful as the teacher had said.
However, I did not understand a lot of words in the movie. I understood the content of the movie from hearing a short serif, and seeing the image. I want to see the movie again to understand the content of the movie more.
I did not especially understand the conversations between the boy who help when the hut burns and the three men . My question is about the conversation of the scene. I do not understand why the boy would leave.
Hello, I'm Yuta Oba. I really enjoyed this movie though there were some words which I did't know and scenes I couldn't understand.
I like the conversations among the three men in particular. It's so funny! I think they are very good actors. I couldn't understand some their conversations because it was so fast that I couldn't catch their words. However, their expressions showed the characters' feelings very well, so I could guessed the story.
I also like the music. The good music creates pleasant atomospheres in this movie. I'd like to buy the sound track of O Brother.
I have a question about O Brother. I found two people in this movie who couldn't see anything. What did these blind people imply? I think there may be some implications, but I don't have any ideas about it.
I watched ''O brother'' last Friday. It was a very cheerful and funny movie. In this movie, three men break out of prison. Their purpose is to get the treasure. For me, It was very interesting that characters were very funny and fool. For example, a bank robber that hold a machine gun and a large sum of money and a sellman that is very fat and violent are very comical.
I thought that music in this movie is very good. The music blends with this movie and attracts me. For example, I like the song that women in white robes sang.
My question is who people in white robes are and the conclusion.
I enjoyed this movie very much!! I intend to watch it again sometime in the near future.
Before Golden Week, I had many plans for Golden Week. I wanted to do things which I can't do on every day life. I would travel in Aomori, go back to my hometown, go shopping, clean my room and, of course, study hard.
However, I couldn't do most of the things which I would do during Golden Week. I got up late and didn't feel to go out, so I stayed home all day long and wasted most of the precious holidays.
I never thought I spent my Golden Week in that way! I wish I had another Golden Week. I hope I will make good use of the next vacation and do a lot of useful things.
We saw "O Brother" last week. I can't the movie very much,but I looked over about "O Brother" on the Internet after seeing the movie. Then I came to undersatnd it.
There were many people singing a song in white robe, and they were going to river.At first I thought it mysterious, and I can't understand their behabior.Later, I hit on an idea that it was baptism.
My favorite scene is the scene that Pete cahnged a frog. Then, Deimar was worried about him and carried the frog always with him. And the frog was killed by a man. But! Pete was alive! Actually Pete didn't change a frog. And he was alive.
We watched a movie, "O brother" last Friday. It was funny and interesting. Three prison breakers have own personality. What especially impressed me was George Clooney always mind his hairstyle, and apply pomade. The handsome man is so nervous! The supporting actor was interesting, too. I laughed at the scene, a car they hitchhiked was a bank robbery's! My question is why one of them changed into a "frog". What a frog meant? Will the reason be merely because there was a river there? umm...
Hi,I'm Hemian Zhang.Now,I'm going to tell you what I feel when I saw a movie "O Brother!".
The movie was very interesting.I like that three men.Men and women in the movie was so fun and a lot of music was so beautiful that I wasn't bored while it was showing!
My favorite character is Peat.He believed that the flog was Delmar!How fun he is!I could not help laughing at all his actions!I don't like Everett's wife (Penny?) very much,because she was egoistic woman.I think Everett must get a divorce.
I want to know what Peat and Delmar is doing after the movie!
Last Friday, I watched "O Brother". I hadn't watched it, so I was looking forward to watching it. In this movie, 3men escaped from prison and met many people. Thier conversation or behavior was so fun. I chuckled many times. However, there were cruel scene, too. For example, a man(he is a robber?) shot a herd of cattle, or another man crushed a frog in his hand. I know it is made-up story and a joke, I felt poor. The characters sang a lot of songs. They were all beautiful and fun, I also became happy.There wewre some scenes I coudn't understand, but as a whole I felt the movie was very interesting.
I saw `O BROTHER' for the first time. It was a story of 3 men who escaped from prison. I was excited because many scenes were very powerful and interesting. It was the most interesting scene that one of the 3 men was transformed into a toad. I was very surprised to see it, but actually it was a joke. I thought this movie was like a musical. I took to the songs in this movie, especially the song sung by the 3 men. It was really good. I have two questions about this movie. First, there were some religious ceremonies, but what kind of religion? I thought one of them was like Christianity. Second, where did George Nelson go after he gave money to the 3 men?
It was interesting to see a movie in English. I would like to see another one in English.
Hello♪ ''O BROTHER!'' was so fun,because the conversation between EVERETT , PETE and DELMAR was amusing.What was particularly amusing was DELMAR.He was gentle and obedient by nature.He thought that PETE became a frog,so he took care of it.He was only daptized,and what was more,he break into the line!, he thought he was acquitted of the charge.He was simple-minded.Ha-ha-ha!
EVERETT's six darling daughters had a lovely face,but their talk with his real father was frank!I was sure that EVERETT was too sad.In addition,his wife was egotistical.She found EVERETT was a member of the popular group whose members sing an old hit song just as she decided to get married to him again!!!!!!!Ooh~.I didn't care what a ring was,but she very very fussed with it.I don't to be like her!
I have no question,but it was so dificult to hear and understand English.
Hi! I'm Satoko. During golden week, I stayed my house at Hirosaki. I didn't go back Sendai. I cooked and clean up my room because I couldn't do it on ordinary days. I went to see cherry blossoms in Hirosaki park with my classmate of high school. We haven't met since we graduated from high school. We talked about ourselves and old times. I enjoyed golden week!!
During golden week, I went to Hakodate with my mother and sister. It was very wonderful. When we got into the train, no seat was vacant. However, one English man sat alone in the seat. We asked him to sit with him. Then, we made friends with him. His name is Edward Knight. He was gentle and handsome man. He was twenty-five years old. He came from London and graduated from Oxford. Now, he lives in Hirosaki. In the train, we talked about various things. I enjoyed it very much!! Then, we promised him that we would meet him again in Hirosaki. I'm looking forward to seeing him.
Last Friday,we saw a movie,"O Brother."It was a really interesting movie.I couldn't understand the whole content of the movie,but I could enjoy it very much because the story was not too difficult and songs used in it was very beautiful.
In the movie,there was a scene which I couldn't understand.Many people with a white robe went into river one after another.What did they do?I could't understand the meaning of their behavior.I think it may be religious one,but I can't be sure.
In order to solve this question,I want to see this movie once again.Thank you for reading:)
Hi,everyone. It's Fumiko Abe. Last Friday,I watched 『O Brother』 featuring George Cruney. To my regret,I couldn't understand whole story perfectly because that was shown in English without Japanese subtitles.But actors' expression were very funny and all music which was used in the movie was great!! So I enjoyed it and got to want to watch more American movie.
I love English and had been convinced that I was good at English including listening and speaking until enter the university. Yet, I realized that my English ability was very very poor and lack experience. (Oh no~~!!!) Therefore I study steadily,want to understand foreign movies without subtitles. I think this blog is one of the effective way to improve writng skill. So I keep it up! Thank you for reading my unskillful English blog.
Last Friday, I watched "O brother". The movie impressed me the pleasure of music, and told me the importance of love. I had listen country music. So I knew some songs sung in the movie. My favorite song in the movie is "You are my sunshine". In addition, I was touch by the reason why Everett broke out of prison. I like this movie. So I want to watch again.
Last week,I saw a movie named a"O Brother". This describes about three prison breakers. Whating this movie,I think that music used in tehe movie makes contents look more splendid. There are a lot of scenes to sing a song in the movie. All singing voices were beautiful... The songs made me be absorbed in the movie. The contents were also interesting! All people whom protagomists met were so unique!^^* There were thrilling sneces,but I was a happy feeling after watching the film.
Last Friday, we saw O Brother. To tell the truth, I had not known the story and the actors at all. Moreover, my listening skills are not so good, so I couldn't understand the film perfectly. But I think I did my best. Now I'll write what impressed me.
Well... the surprising scene for me was the part that one of the men disappears and a frog come out! When the frog was killed, the other man looked really sad. What did the man who disappeared do without his clothes from the occasion to when he appeared again?
They sing some songs in the story. I knew one of them and could enjoy it. They sings really well!
I want to see the film in English again and understand all the story.
I had heard that "O Brother" was a comedy movie,until I watched the film. After I watched the film, Ithought it was a musical movie. So, the film didn't make me feel like laughing but I enjoyed many country musics in the film.
I have never read Odysseia yet. So I don't know the difference between the story in the film and Odysseia. If I read Odysseia, I would understand and enjoy this film.
Hi,everyone. I'm kenjiro. In GW my family came to see me and we went sightseeing around Hirosaki city. We went to see cherry blossoms in Hirosaki park and enjoyed drinking Japanese sake under the cherry blossoms on May 3rd. Next day we took a hotspring at "Dake onsen" and ate Matagi cuisine there. After that we went to Ajigasawa town and ate squids at ashop on the seafront. we have our fill around Hirosaki.
Hi,everyone.I'm Tetsushi Oyama. In the last English class,we watched the movie "O Brother"in English with no subtitles.
In the movie,the starring actor George Clooney sang very nice songs.I was surprised that he was a nice singer.I want to hear the song again.The other two guys were good too.
I think I understood the story,but there were some scenes I didn't. There was a scene that many people in white gathered and did something weird.I remember that they had fire,shouting somehow and trying to kill a person.What was that?Kind of a ceremony?If you know about that please tell me.
Hi,I'm Tetsushi Oyama.This time,I'd like to tell you about my holidays.I had a lot of things,so I'll tell you the most impressive one.
In my soccer club,we had some games in Akita.It took about 3hours to drive to Akita.I got tired before the games.But the soccer court was grass.That really cheered me up.In our soccer club,we usually use clay courts.As a goal keeper,playing on the ground really hurts.It was fun doing at a nice place.
Of course,we also defeated the opponent and won the games.I really enjoyed playing soccer.
I enjoyed GW very much.I went to the Hirosaki Park and see cherry blossom three times! First I went there with my friend at night, second with my family at night, third with medical students all day! I have never seen cherry blossom like this time,so I'm very happy♪
Also, I practiced tennis! I'm to be in tennis club you know, some students who are older than I saied " Let's practice tennis with us!", so I joined them. We practice from 9:30 to 11:30 for 2 days. I think I can play tennis better!
Hi, everyone! The other day, I watched the film "O Brother" in class and watched it all in English even though my abily to listening to English is not perfect actually. However I listend very carefully in order to understand them and did my best, I think.
First of all, I have never seen such a funny and cute George Cruney. He almost plays very handsome or cool guy, right? Besides I didn't know that he sings really good!! I love the song which is sung by him and his two friends in the film. :)
Second, songs in the film were really wonderful! I already know that soundtruck got a prize at the year. When I did listen to them, I realized how cool they are and they are quite fit to the scene respectively.
Last, I was able to understand there were a variety of social themes such as racial discrimination, religions, and belief. I probably understood them superficially, though.
As you can see, I felt as if I had traveled to the South though this film. Though I didn't understand what they said and the details in this film very much, I enjoyed the songs and funny people.
The beginning was blossom viewing of medical badminton club. It was... how should I say? All I felt was that university students were very,very powerful!
At May 2, my dear friend who lives in my hometown came to Hirosaki. We went to Hirosaki Park to see cherry blossoms. It was second time for me, but I couldn't have afforded to enjoy them the previous day. We had very good time with the sight of cherry blossoms and the castle by night. We went back to our hometown together.
The next day I went out with my family, and I spent what remained of my vacation going to the driving school.
I have a sence of fulfillment in this GW. I enjoyed this vacation very much, so I'll study harder from now!
This is one day's dinner, salmon meuniere with white sauce. In fact, the picture was taken in March. I cooked it for my family. My grandmother taught me several things about cooking, and praised the dish. It is very delightful for me that someone eats what I make.
