Writing this part of my portfolio has helped me understand that even anime can sometimes be a valuable cultural resource. If I could do this assignment again I would work a little bit harder in finding an actual piece from another class that I can connect to Japanese, perhaps writing it again after I had taken a Japanese lit class.

私の日本語のクラスで日本のぶんかをならいます。そのけっか、私の日本語のクラスとしゃかいがくのクラスがかんけいずけいます。

In learning elements of culture through Japanese language I can apply this knowledge in sociology class and vise versa. I can infer the reasons for certain linguistic structures through sociological reasoning, and can use Japanese culture as another resource in sociological musings.

アキラのアニメのけんちはどくとくの日本。

The anime Akira is based in a post-apocalyptic Japan. In general people are just getting by and there is much social unrest. In the end of the anime there is another disaster involving the physic powers of a teenager, and the city is once again destroyed. Parallels can be drawn between this world and the world of post-WW2 Japan. Also the psychic powers of the teenager and the disaster and unrest that they cause can be seen as a xenophobic look on western influence on Japan.