Death penalty by Rintaro M

I support the idea of using the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment. First of all, the death penalty can function as a deterrent. If we all know that using the death penalty is allowed as a criminal punishment, the number of crimes will decrease. All people think their own lives are quite precious and avoid committing crimes because they have the possibility that they will punished by the death penalty. Secondly, criminals must atone for their serious crime. A dead person never revives. To commit murder absolutely can’t be forgiven. In fact, some criminals have the serious reasons and I think there is sometimes room for compassion. For example, a man was terribly bullied for a long time and he murdered the bully as he couldn’t stand the bullying anymore. However others commit murder with no reason or with only malice. For example, a man committed murder only because he wanted to kill anyone or only because he felt impatience with someone impulsively. I think the latter should be punished by the death penalty, and otherwise they can’t atone for their serious crime. Most importantly, considering the feelings of the family of the victim, the law should punish the criminal by the death penalty. If I were the family of the victim, I would want to kill the criminal with my hands. However it is also murder. The family of the victim can’t do anything to the criminal. All they can do is to lament the death of one of their family and to have a grudge against the criminal. So instead of the family of the victim, the law should punish the criminal by the death penalty. As I have said, I think that the law should use the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment.

My worst expeerience in Tsukuba by Rintaro M

The worst experience in my life at Tsukuba happened last summer. It was in the middle of July and I practiced basketball at the Tsukuba Basketball Society. Because it was a cool day and was suitable for playing basketball, our five on five games got heated. First I marked Mr. Okinaka, who had been chosen as a player in the All-Kumamoto Prefecture team on the National Sports Festival and who played basketball much better than me. When he tried to penetrate to my goal, I could barely follow him. Next he jumped toward my goal to score so I also jumped to block his shot. Then we crashed hard in the air, of course it was my foul, but regardless of my foul, his shot passed through my goal, or he made basket count one throw! To make matters worse, when I landed, I seriously twisted my left ankle. I felt great pain, and I fell down. Due to the great pain, I couldn’t walk, not even stand up by myself. I was really ashamed that I was made basket count one throw by Mr.Okinaka,  despite my rough foul. Finally it took two month to recover from my sprain. Because of that, I couldn’t play basketball all summer vacation, and couldn’t participate in the training camp of the basketball society. Moreover I couldn’t swim in the sea, couldn’t climb mountains and couldn’t make a long trip in Japan. In brief I couldn’t carry out most of what I wanted to do during my summer vacation. My summer vacation became ruined owing to my stupid act. As I have said, last summer I had the worst experience in my life at Tsukuba.

The reasons why I chose to study at the University of Tsukuba by Rintaro M

              There are three important reasons why I chose to study at the University of Tsukuba. First, I considered the cost of attending the school. I am the youngest child in my family, which has four children. Our school expenses, living expenses and our house rent cost much money. Considering our household expenses, we don’t have enough money to let me go to a private university so I had to go to a national university. Secondly, I considered the location of the university. I can commute one hour and a half from my home to this university by the Tsukuba Express. So I can see my family every day. Finally, I considered the surroundings of the university. I live in Tokyo and my high school is located in Nagata-chou. Nagata-chou is Japan's political center and there are many high buildings and not only the buildings themselves but also their night view are really beautiful. Nevertheless, when I was a high school student, I usually couldn’t help feeling that the sky in Nagata-chou is very small and often became in a gloomy mood. When I visited Tsukuba for the first time, I was greatly moved. There were no high buildings. There were lots of trees. What was more, there was the big sky! Then I felt a sense of freedom and immediately I came to love Tsukuba very much. For these reasons, I chose to study at the University of Tsukuba.

The meaning of learning history by Rintaro M

     I heard someone say, “There is no benefit from learning history.” Another one said, “Learning history is useless and valueless.” I’m majoring in Japanese history, so I was unhappy and felt a little angry when I heard these opinions. However, it is certain that a lot of people think in such a way, though not all people. Then, why should we learn history? In my opinion, learning history can give us much benefit and all people should learn history. There are two reasons for this. First, we can create our own identity by learning history. Second, learning history will help us develop essential thinking skills.

     First, as we learn our own history, we learn how the community, nation and world we live in came to be. According to Dr. Peter Sterns, “Each person’s world view is shaped by individual experiences, as well as the experiences of the group to which he or she belongs”(1998). In other words, if we don’t learn our own history and don’t know about it, our world views, sense of values and identity will not be created. Dr. Peter Sterns also says, “If we are ignorant of the contemporary and historical experiences of a variety of cultures, then we cannot hope to understand why people, communities or nations behave the way they do or make the decisions they make.”(1998) With the knowledge about our own history, we can understand our own society precisely. Through learning history, we can learn our own world views, sense of values and society, and it leads us to create our own identity.

     Second, as we learn history, our essential thinking skills will develop. Jacques Barzun, a historian, said, “The student who learns history will unconsciously develop what is the highest value of history: judgment in worldly affairs. We gather historical knowledge, not to make us cleverer the next time, but wiser for all time.”  In other words, through learning history, we can learn how to assess the validity of evidence, evaluate conflicting points of view and apply facts to making decisions, which are the skills of the real world. According to Karen Tankersley, We must develop these skills because:

“The reading process does not end with comprehension. In the adult world, people do not ask friends or colleagues to recall specific information from a book or article they have read. Instead, they ask for an opinion on a lead story, or for analysis of the latest Wall Street trend, or for an interpretation of a controversial article” (2005).

Therefore we must learn history and should develop the skills of the world because these skills, essential skills, are greatly needed in the adult world.

     To conclude, learning history has much benefit and we all should learn history. By learning history, we can get the chance of creating our own identity, developing the skills of the real world and developing the critical thinking skills, which ways of thinking are what only human beings have. Thus, learning history means learning the way of life as human beings. 

512 Words

References

1. Stearns, Peter. Why Study History, American Historical Association <www.historians.org/pubs/Free/WhyStudyHistory.htm> 1998

2. Tankersley, Karen. The Threads of Reading: Strategies for Literacy Development, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA, 2005