We will read Klara and the Sun (2021) written by a British novelist and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro (1954-) who was born in Japan. Ishiguro visited Keio University in 2001 and 2015 and thus has a close tie with this university. This is his first full-length novel since winning the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature and features a humanoid robot (Artificial Friend). It is written in relatively easy English and deals with issues we face in the 21st-century world, such as A.I., loneliness, faith, inequality, and environmental pollution. Reading a literary work accurately and closely, students will deeply consider these issues and try to express their views in appropriate English.
Working with a small team, students will read a reasonable number of pages each class. In so doing, students will steadily improve their reading comprehension skills as well as vocabulary and discussion skills. This class will also use audiovisual materials, such as Ishiguro’s interviews in order to give students opportunities to hear the 'voices' of this internationally renowned author who has his roots in Japan.