今回はレポート企画第3回目として、SFC生が英語の授業のプレゼンテーションで用いた原稿を掲載します。

SFCではTOEFLの点数にあわせてとれる授業が決まりますが、英語入試で突破した一般入試合格者でさえ、一番下のクラスになることもあります。以下の原稿は、高校時代3年間アメリカで過ごしていた人のものです。

How I started my presentation.

I presented about Obama. I did this presentation and I learned a lot from it. First this was my first time I made a presentation in a university and also it was my first time I made a presentation using a power point. First I had a really hard time to research. I did not know where to start. First I borrowed a book from the SFC media center. However that book only partly had what I needed for my presentation and mostly included information that was not relevant to what I was researching on. So the book was almost useless to me. Next I tried to use the Internet to research. But the same thing happened to me on Internet as well. There were too many pages to read and even though only some of the information was what I needed for my research. However after reading all the material that I had gathered， all the various information that first seemed to be irrelevant and impossible to understand， all began to come together. I soon became more interested in the topic and wanted to research more about Obama. Because I have never done a proper presentation before， first I had done my presentation sitting down when everyone was doing his or her presentation standing up. Also， because I was too concerned about not exceeding the appointed time， even though I wanted to say more about my topic I shortened my presentation and ended up finishing early.

 

Chicago and Internet strategy.

Before having my presentation Mr. Williams told me that I should research about Chicago and Internet and how it had affected Obama. First I did not understand the connection between Chicago， the Internet and Obama， however this really helped me where I should start my research and what I should base my presentation on.First I researched about Chicago. After some research， I had discovered that Obama had spent some time in Chicago soon after graduating from Colombia University， and the time he spent there had made a huge impact on his life. After graduating from Colombia University， he first worked in the corporate sector in NY campaigning for upgrades on the subway system， and then a public interest group. After spending some time in NY he then went to Chicago. At that time the black mayor Harold Washington was elected in Chicago. This was partly the reason Obama was drawn there. In Chicago he joined the Developing Communities Project， which is a faith-based community.In Chicago he met Reverend Jeremiah Wright who was an exuberant local preacher. The first time Obama listened to Harold Washington’s speech， the “Audacity of Hope”， Obama broke down and wept. The “Audacity of Hope”， as we know today， became the title of Barack Obama’s breakthrough speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004. During his initial three years in Chicago after a lot of thinking， he decided to pursue his career in law. His new goal was to gain a place at the prestigious Harvard Law School. For these reasons Chicago had become an extremely important place to Obama. It had become the place where he decided how he wanted to pursue his future. If he had not gone to Chicago like he had， Obama may not have gone the path he pursed and not have been our current President of the United States. Secondly， I want to research about how the Internet had affected Obama’s campaign.The Internet helped Obama to quickly mobilize supporters and money online.When Senator Obama announced his campaign， his Internet site was already fully developed. His site was available to collect money for the campaign and included a set of tools， which allowed supporters to meet and organize as well as contribute money. Also， Obama used”facebook” and “my space” to do his campaign. These social networking sites have helped Mr. Obama to mobilize young people， a group that has traditionally been uninterested in politics. The use of the Internet had become a big factor for winning. You can tell that he had an Internet strategy so he could win this election and become the president of the United States. His Internet strategy was truly successful and had captured the interest of a wide range of people.Another factor that I think helped Obama win the presidential election is because he is black. It is said that many Caucasian people put their votes in Obama because of his skin color to prove that they do not discriminate against black people.

 

What I wanted to emphasize in my presentation.

Including these big contexts， in my presentation I explained about Obama’s back ground and try to figure out if whether Obama is truly black or not. Many people think that Obama is the first president in United State who is black. But during my presentation I want everyone to know that Obama is not pure black.On my first slide I explained that Obama is only half black. His father is from Kenya， but his mother is from Hawaii. However in America there is a “one drop rule” saying that if a person has one drop of black blood in their veins， the person is classifies as a black. For this reason Obama is classified as a black. In this slide I wanted to explain that even though Obama is classified to black， his blood is half white.Next I explained about Obama’s Islamic father but after Obama’s birth， his parents divorced and his mother married with Indonesian person. In this slide I wanted to explain that Obama didn’t have any resistance against Islam. In the 3rd slide I explained about his life. Because of the re-marriage of his mother， they moved to Indonesia where Obama spent his childhood. In this slide I wanted to explain that Obama has lived in other countries while most Americans don’t travel much. In the 4th slide， I explained about how big Islamic is in Indonesia. I explained that Indonesia is one of biggest Islamic countries. This slide is related to slide 2. Because Obama has lived in an Islamic country for long duration， Obama must not have resistance against Islamic people.In 5th slide， I explained that he has lived in Hawaii for a long time. When he was 10years old he moved to Hawaii. His grandparents from his mother side took him in and he began living in Hawaii. He spent his life in Hawaii until he went to Occidental University. On this slide I wanted to explain that he has moved to many different countries and must have had a hard time adjusting to different environments during his childhood. In 6th slide I explained that Hawaii is a place of many religions. Obama spend a lot of time in Hawaii and probably did not realize that he was a black person. On this slide I wanted to explain that Obama wasn’t discriminated by other people while he was in Hawaii and does not know about the blacks who have been discriminated in American history.In 8th slide I concluded about Obama’s life. Obama has a black father， lived in an Islamic country for 7 years， and had spend many years in Hawaii where many different races live. In these slides I was trying to explain how Obama is a black president with a lot more experience than a regular black person may have. He also had more money than regular black. In America not many people go to other countries but Obama had spent many years in Indonesia. In this presentation I said that he is not a real black because he has lived in Indonesia and Hawaii for many years. This means two things. First Obama has lived in many countries and has a big background. Because of his experience Obama probably has a flexible way of thinking and will create a good policy to US. But on the other hand， because Obama has never lived in an environment where black people are discriminated， he might not understand how the blacks， who have been discriminated， feel. So I think， in some situations， he will be able to understand and stand for both the black people and the white people who live in the United States. However there also may be points where he will not be able to understand both positions. But I think that because of Obama’s big background and all his experience， he will be able to handle and overcome obstacles that may come in his way. Also he has won a hard and important election. In conclusion， after all my research， I think he will be a good president.

 

The question I had received

During my presentation I had mentioned that Obama used the Internet to help his campaign. After receiving a question if the same Internet strategy could be used for the election of the Prime minister (in Japan’s case， using SNS such as mixi)， I thought that it was highly possible that even though currently the prime minister is not using the internet for their campaign， in the near future they might start using the internet. The reason I think this is， is because more people are gaining their information from computers and the internet. The second reason is to interest and affect younger groups of people like it had done in Obama’s campaign.

 

How Obama will affect Japan

Now that Obama has become the new United States president， in the future I would like to focus my interest on how Obama will affect Japan. Obama， same as Clinton， is from the Democratic Party. For this reason， there may be a possibility that Obama will select the same director who worked under Clinton. When Clinton was the President of the United States， there was a case where he came to visit Asia. However because on his way back he decided not to visit Japan， it had become quite an issue in Japan. Because Obama is from the same party， my concern is how Obama would act if he were in the same situation and if he would do the same thing. Currently where terrorism is a huge issue all around the world， I believe it is extremely important to stabilize the relationship between Japan and the United States. For this reason， in the future I would like to focus on the relationship between Japan and the United States and other relations all around the world.

少し驚かせてしまうような今回の企画でしたが、AO入試において必ずしも英語が得意である必要はありません。また、全てのSFC生がこのレベルの英作文を行えるわけではないので安心してください。