Creative writing assignment #2: Dialogue

           Elisa had never shared her room with anybody as long as she remembered. But as she attended university far from her house, it became inevitable for her to stay in a dorm with a roommate. Her first roommate in her life was Samantha, who always held a nice smile on her face. (This can be the reason so many guys feel affection towards her, and also the reason Elisa felt more betrayed by her friend Sam.) But with her adorable appearance, Sam started to bring her boyfriends into her room very frequently. It was the first semester of Elisa’s university life, and she decided lump Sam and wait one semester for a new roommate. However, it soon turned out that freshmen were to stay in the same room for a year unless under special occasions. So Elisa went up to the Dean describing her situation, but the Dean simply insisted that a roommate’s love life was not a very unique problem and that Elisa had to handle it herself. Elisa came to stay with Sam for one more semester. But when Sam brought a new guy named Samuel only a day after the semester had started, Elisa found it hard to tolerate any longer. She went out the room, contemplating hard the best resolution.

Elisa waited Samuel to come out of her room. When he came out, Elisa greeted Samuel naturally. After a few talk, Samuel tried to say goodbye by saying “Again, Sorry for interrupting you. You must have been uncomfortable to leave the room.” However, Elisa intentionally elongated the conversation by saying “That’s okay. It’s not the first time for me to do it.” Then, in a continued conversation, Elisa implicitly revealed how her roommate Samantha is a flirt. And in accordance with Elisa’s derogatory comments about Samantha, Samuel got upset and disappointed at Samantha. However, soon, Samuel found out that there were some contradictions in Elisa’s comments. (we didn’t decide what the contradictions are) Because of that, Samuel and Elisa fought with each other. The dialogue part would start from the part where Samuel apologized Elisa to the part where Samuel and Elisa argued with each other.

Reflection on "The conversion of the Jews"

           One of the most basic works that should be done in understanding something is to understand the surroundings. In the case of understanding literature, one should consider the context of the individual texts. And in the case of understanding individual, one should consider the individual’s interaction with other individuals or the society that the individual is in. The relationship between an individual and a society is mutual; the society is formed by the individuals and the individuals are formed by the society. And the story “The conversion of the Jews” shows an interesting interaction between an individual and a society. The story is set in the exclusive Jewish society in New York. The society revolves around the words of Rabbi Binder. However, Oscar (also called as Ozzie) challenges the orthodox that exists in the Jewish society. Oscar eventually succeeds to make others (especially Rabbi Binder) acknowledge his radical ideas, but he soon commits a suicide instead of complying to the order of Rabbi and his mother.

           While reading the story, I got to think about my identity in Korean society. Although it sounds snobby, I am in a high position for the high school students to have. I am a student in KMLA, a school whose students are praised as “genius” for the past school life. I am planning to study abroad, having a freedom to explore what I want to study. And most of all, I have a gifted environment to actualize my goals: my parents’ cheer and economical room for assisting in the process. These conditions cannot be achieved easily for majority of students. Obviously, I am in a top position in my age and I am happy with my place in the community.

           However, I still think that my current status can always change, and try to think about the basic problem that the society has. While watching news, I sometimes get frustrated about the prejudice exists on the foreign laborer and often feel satisfied about the fair decision of the judges to the legal case. Although I should admit that I am not that active in expressing my opinion, I am a progressive rather than a conservative.

           Some might think that my attitude is not that appropriate in terms of changing the society. They might say that the radical personality of Ozzie would be more helpful in influencing the society. However, personally, I think that the aggressive, conspicuously rebellious act like that of Ozzie can be very ephemeral but the soft but incessant act, like the act of changing the people’s perspective gradually with the critical and unprejudiced media, is more helpful in changing the world.

The one who has had many titles-The house mother

The one who has had many titles-Interview with the house mother

11b5

Soho Shim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             Curly hair set with a hair band. Looking tenacious, but sometimes looking cheerful and tender. Those expressions refer to the house mother (dorm parent), Joo young Park in KMLA. She is the one who makes us students nervous in cleaning inspection time. She is the one who makes us manage our lives autonomously. She is the one who makes us smile, be cheered up from mother-like advices.

             Although the house mother Park is very near to us, nobody exactly knows about her: her past life, her personality, and everything about her. Thus, I felt the necessity to know about a person who lives close to us and acts like our mothers. After doing a brief, informal interview with her, I was able to know some aspects about her. 

            Although she is now a house mother in KMLA, Park was called as various titles. All of those titles are deeply related to her personality, orderliness. When she was student, she was defined by the word “modest”. She didn’t like to violate the rules or regulations given to her (although she still knew how to express her own opinions). Her fondness of orderliness surely affected her future career. After seeing the TV drama “A war brother”, she was attracted to the dignified and temperate manner of the commander. As the normal military academies at that time didn’t educate the women soldiers, it seemed like there is no way for her to be a woman soldier. However, an opportunity to achieve her dream came when a poster about the recruitment of women soldiers was attached on the university bulletin board. She applied to the army, and after a harsh test, she became the woman soldier. Tough trainings and the man-focused facilities were hard for her to adjust to the life of woman soldier, but still, she learned a lot and gained a lot.

             “I think that the army has somewhat magical power,” she said, “No matter how a person was in the past, after 2 years in an army, the one becomes polite, self-regulating, and dignified. This is the reason why I wanted to join the army and the fact that I felt in the life of soldier.”

             After spending 9 years in the army, in 2002, Park was suggested to be the house mother in KMLA. Although she was in a high position in the army, she decided to get a title “the house mother”.

             “I have never regretted my choice to be the house mother”, said Park. “Although some people might think that managing all the problems students make would be laborious, I actually think that this job fits to me. I like to stay in one place, I like to stay up all night, and most of all, I like to talk with students.” With smile, she said, “Students are my energizer.”

             Now, as we students all know, Park is another mother of the students. She often gives admonition but sometimes gives advice. She feels content about her current job, saying that she feels like she is playing with her students, not working as a house mother. When asked about her future, with her neat smile, she said that she would do some volunteer work for others. As a proper student, as a vigorous soldier, and as a warm-hearted house mother, Park has done a lot of things in her life, contenting in any situation she has faced. Personally, I think she would be able to achieve whatever she wants, with her exactness, vitality, and humaneness.

Reflection on "The Lottery" and various stuffs

           Throughout history, no matter how it was substantiated, the concept of human sacrifice has been present. In the past, it appeared as forms like human in an altar or witch-hunt. When it comes to modern, the form of human sacrifice has become more “diluted” and less conspicuous, but more severe. The “gossiping” about the celebrities can be a human sacrifice done nowadays.

           The justification for this savage tendency has been issued throughout the time. Like people in the story “The lottery”, some try to justify this act as “a tradition”. Without any apparent reason for doing that certain act, people just follow the ill-conceited path given to them.

           While some simply follow the path, others try to justify the act as “public good”. People who support this act (maybe some politicians who want to maintain their system) think that by “giving” up the victim’s freedom or rights, public can “take” what they want, common happiness or entertainment. This justification appears in the movie “Hunger Game”, which is about a despotic state which makes twelve youths participate in a deadly (literally) game in order to provide the public an entertainment, and to maintain its dictatorship successfully.

           Both of the reasons might seem plausible, but whatever the justification is, it is evident that the cruel “human sacrifice” has been committed for centuries, and it still exists nowadays. Even if the tendency of sacrificing an individual is innate to human, people should definitely restrain that tendency, in order to achieve a real “progress”.
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Yeji Park: The last sentence of your introductory paragraph informed about "gossips", so I thought that you'd write someting about the video about Britney Spears we say today but it was not :( "The lottery" or "Hunger Game" as far as I know, is not relted to gossiping, if you want to write about gossip. I think you can delete that last sentence from intro and make a whole new paragraph about gossip after you finish explaining "The lottery" and "Hunger Game". Anyway, good job :)

Inhee Ho: I totally agree with you of the sacrifice being less conspicuous but more severe! I really thought your analysis was impressive :) I see your effort to put numerous sources into your essay (ex) the Britney video we watched) but all htese sources seem to just appear and disappear soon. I think it would be great if you elaborate more on each sources you use and make your point more solid. Anyway, I enjoyed yours :)

Hyejoon Lee: I also thought about justification! And I also believe that the existence of a justification or a reason should not be the excuse for killing or hurting one another so harshly. Because then, it is no longer a justification but merely an excuse.

Yoonju Chung: I agree with a point that "gossiping" is an another way of stoning one person to death. There had been so many celebrities in Korea who were stifled by so many rumors :( Also, your analysis of "justification" was very impressive. We habitually attempted to justify our "gossiping" by calling it as "a trend". In the modern society, "gossiping" is embedded in our daily lives so deeply that it is possible to call it as a tradition: a tradition that must be abolished. Overall, I really liked your idea but it could be better if you create more firm relationships between examples (such as video we watched during the class and Hunger Game) and your main idea!

Jane Park: I agree with you on the point that people are basically making justifications for this wrong tendency. Also I agree with the fact that some are supressing others to maintain their dictatorship. However, I hope you think of more profound motivations for people to follow the illegal traditions.

Chonghyun Ahn: I think that in order for there to be a concrete support on the concept of human sacrifice, there has to be a higher entity that needs sacrifice. Maybe you could explain what it is.

Goofy is not that goofy!

Name: Goofy

Appearance: Dark mustaches

Personality: funny

Age: 17

Unique Trait: has a dragon tattoo on his back

Environment: small high school

Problem: bad eyesight

<-My Characters :)

    
       People say love is blind. My friends would agree to this statement when thinking about my love. Yes, I’m in love.

LOVE

           He has a dark mustache, which highlights him and reveals his ethnical identity as an Italian. He lives next door, he goes to same high school with me, and he plays cello in “Welton High school Orchestra”. He also participates in a varsity swimming team, astonishing people with his dragon tattoo on his back. (He said that he simply got a dragon tattoo because he didn’t have good eyesight to distinguish dragon with tiger. But it seemed like he was satisfied with his dragon tattoo covering up his back.)
           He is as funny as his name, Goofy. (You would be laughing at this phase, I know that. Well obviously, “Goofy” is not a word that sounds smart.) Goofy and his friends are famous for leading a flash mob in a cafeteria or volunteering for the advertisement model for the famous Chinese restaurant (The humorous thing is that none of them were Chinese. Only Goofy had a dragon tattoo which would be the most “chinish” trait.) He is quite different from me: He is “the famous” one while I am “a normal” one and he participates a lot of club activities while I just have a small chat with my friends a bit in a school.
           But still, he is the one who I can have a casual talk with and who always try to boost me up when I have a long face. We first knew each other when we were assigned to do science project together. And for the whole semester, until the due date for the project, we have become good friends, rather than becoming typical acquiantances. After discovering that we lived next door, we became closer and closer.
           And today, I went out with Goofy: watching a movie. Although it's kind of sad that Goofy might just think it as a friend-to-friend meeting, but...who cares? Still, I went out with him!
           The 'date' itself was just normal. After school, we went to the cinema, watching a comedy movie. We had a pizza after that, and got back to each home. We talked about the everyday life, a science experiment we are working on, television celebrities, sports, and a bunch of things. Goofy was humorous enough to make our 'date' jovial and lively. Touching his dark, Italian-like mustache, he brought up a lot of subjects amazingly smooth and fluent.
           Before scattering, Goofy said that he really enjoyed the movie and all the other things. He tried to say something more, but he didn't. What would this hesitation mean? Does that mean that he also likes me, more than just friends? Well...I hope so. :)
           Anyway, I gotta sleep. I have a world history class tomorrow.

To. Diary

Reflection on "A way you'll never be" and "Big Two-hearted River"

           After experiencing hardships or a shock, it is natural for people to seek for their own therapy. Some of them seek for drugs for their temporal pleasure and escape from reality while others try to overcome their hardships in a more “pure” way (like doing an intellectual work like painting or writing or going back to the nature). However, no matter what choices people make for a solution, they want their scar to be fully recovered, without any traces.

           Two stories of Hemingway, “A way you’ll never be” and “Big Two-hearted River”, which are connected in the context, express the scar the main character gained and the process of curing it. In the story “A way you’ll never be”, the gruesome atmosphere in the town where the war had occurred was depicted well. After that, in the story “Big Two-hearted River”, Hemingway insists that the “full recovery” cannot happen sometimes. Nick, who experienced the horrible war, walked away from the burnt town and went to the riverside in order to cure his scar obtained from the shock in the war. His situation and his desire to cure his pain are well-depicted in the part where Nick observes the black grasshoppers, wondering how long they would stay that way.

           In the nature, Nick works hard to overcome his pain “fully”. Although experiencing a series of failure, he kept trying to catch a “big trout”, which can be interpreted as a tool for full-recovery. However, after all, Nick satisfied on a medium sized trout. 

           Actually, I was surprised about the conclusion of this story because I thought Hemingway would have ended the story in a manly way. But still, I really like this ending. This ending is more realistic, still being hopeful to those who want to cure their scar.

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Yeji: Understand the time limit. So, next time when I see your revised version, hope that you added detailed explanation why “grasshoppers” is symbolizing curing treatment, etc. And it would be more interesting if you try to define what “full-recovery” is and what “medium-recovery” is. For instance, the latter can be defined as ‘remembering’ the war memories, but try to remember less..? I’m not sure. But well, you will be able to make better definition than mine lol Good job!

Sol Kim: Nice view about “total recovery” because it seems to make sense throughout the whole story. I partly agree with your example, and I don’t think the story was surprising or something unlike Hemingway because the failure Nick kept experiencing was also part of the world that worked against him. But Nick did not surrender; he caught grasshoppers and he caught two fish. Anyway, to say about your writing… I could see you were running out of time because there was a big lack of explanation. What is the “full recovery”? Why did you like the ending still? What does it mean to be “manly”? Nice work, still, because I liked your point. You just need to focus on that point more and elaborate, I think.

Reflection to "The garden lodge"

            It is always interesting to read works of modernist authors’ literature. As they were created in the 20^th century, which is usually called as the Age of Anxiety, modernist literatures are about how people react when they fall into materialistic lives. Many modernist literatures depict the self-destruction of those who became materialistic: all the guiltiness and regrets from what they have done.

           However, what is interesting about “The garden lodge” is that the main character, Caroline is not “destroyed” by her materialistic life, the affair with Raymond d'Esquerre. In the story, when Harold suggested her to tear down the lodge (where she had an affair with Raymond d'Esquerre), she accepted his suggestion. (As it can be seen in the story, tearing down the lodge is not just destroying the garden but also it means that her past is destroyed. It’s quite important for her.)

           Caroline accepted Harold’s suggestion, but when looking into the story, it is easy to figure out that though Caroline decided to let her past go, she had a hard time deciding to do it. She seemed quite daunted by the “magnificent” Raymond d'Esquerre.

…..And d'Esquerre was a man to reckon with. Caroline did not deceive herself now upon that score. She admitted it humbly enough, and since she had said good-by to him she had not been free for a moment from the sense of his formidable power. It formed the undercurrent of her consciousness; whatever she might be doing or thinking, it went on, involuntarily, like her breathing, sometimes welling up until suddenly she found herself suffocating. -quote

             I think her reaction is quite reasonable because being materialistic was not her innate personality. (She grew up in Brooklyn. That explains a lot.) As having an affair is kind of a deviation from what she experienced in the past, she definitely had difficulties dealing with it. After all, Caroline somewhat overcomes her dilemma by letting her affair go. This can be interpreted as Caroline accepting the materialistic life, which was common at that time, as a natural thing.
         Actually, while reading the story, Caroline reminded me the character "Jenny" in the drama "Gossip Girl". In the drama, Jenny at first was an innocent teenage girl from Brooklyn. When she first entered the materialistic elite world in Manhattan, like Caroline, she had a "culture shock", bewildered at the others' materialistic lives. However, soon Jenny accepted that lifestyle, and became the so-called "insider" in Manhattan. This process of adjustment is very similar to that appeared in "The garden lodge". 

           To sum up, from my point of view, “The garden lodge” depicts the relatively smooth process of a character accepting the different ideology.

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Hyejoon: I liked your idea that this story is about how a person accepts the change in ideology. However, other modernist novels are also about the changes; the difference between the others and this (I think at least) is the illustration of ‘how well’ the characters accept the change. Unlike many other typical modernist stories which seem to indicate that the change happens violently and inevitably brings destruction, this story suggests that it happens rather peacefully and fosters a more mature stage.

Haeuk Ko: Is tearing down the lodge same as destroying her past? I rather thought it was an act of putting a seal over her memories. Rather than ripping the memory into pieces and burning them so that no trace of them would be left in her mind, I viewed the action as a line she drew herself for the purpose of moving on to other things. Also I thought the opera was not a product of disturbed mind but a final act of cherishing her memories-to put an end to it.