Close examination of Dubliners

Paragraph 1: "Araby" 

At first glance, James Joyce’s “Araby “might appear like a failed love story of a boy who had been infatuated by a particular girl in his town of North Dublin Street. After all, when “the boy” is distracted by thinking about the girl all day and fails to accomplish his mission to bring something back to the girl from the bazaar, Araby, we could infer that the boy miserably failed to capture attention from the girl. The boy refuses the offer to buy some “teacups” on the lady’s stand and notices that his presence in the bazaar is now useless as he “allowed the two pennies to fall against the six pence” in his pocket. However, on the other hand, the boy’s failure in his love affair does not simply imply an abject ending; the reasons behind his ultimate failure – routine cycle of his duties like “prolonged meal” or “enduring tea time” – reveal that familiar things and events are indeed crucial to determining the fate of our lives. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that “Araby” is an enlightening story that provides people with essential revelation about not forgetting the familiar things that surround us. In this sense, the boy is the border between excitements toward encountering new moments and dullness of facing familiarity.

Paragraph 2: "The Boarding House" 

James Joyce’s “The Boarding House” is a discomforting story that illustrates one woman’s selfish and manipulative behavior upon marriage of her daughter. In fact, Mrs. Mooney’s conviction about the “only one reparation” and her behavior of “counting all her cards” obviously unveils an avaricious desire to acquire greater material wealth and higher social status. When Mr. Doran laments his situation as “long years of service gone for nothing”, we invoke sympathy for the man and outrage towards the woman who acts immorally in favor of her own advantage. However, such attempts of negotiation do not simply reflect people’s desire to “fly away to another country” but shows a larger part of our society where diverse people join to create a whole under particular convention. Thus, on a broader perspective, “The Boarding House” criticizes people’s narrow aspect in a rule-governed society where people feel pressured to improve themselves from a certain class hierarchy. In this regard, the boarding house represents the hierarchical society where people experience the clash between morality and surreptitious desire to surpass others. 

World Lit Reading Journal: "The Student" by Anton Chekhov

“The Student” by Anton Chekhov portrays a clerical student who experiences remarkable change after sharing a story of Apostle Peter with two widows. In the beginning of the story, Ivan, a clerical student is walking back home on a bleak winter day, feeling hopeless and gloomy about the world surrounding him. However, after his encounter with the two widows, Ivan experiences a shift in attitude due to the changes that his story had brought to the despondent and uneasy widows.

The story was written during the late 19^th century in Russia, when numerous peasants and proletariats suffered from abject poverty. During the era, the overall atmosphere across the country was oppressive and gloomy and many people depended on religion to maintain their inner peace. Thus, Christianity, which was the dominant religion, was instrumental to purifying and enlightening people’s mindset; it usually united people under the name of God and made people heretical to theological beliefs. The characters in this story also represent the stereotypical aspect of people faithful to certain religion. They are easily affected by a short story that appears in the bible, the story of Apostle Peter who denied knowing Jesus three times. The story itself may seem irrelevant to religious beliefs, but the fact that it reveals human beings as powerless and passive creatures under superior authority (Gospel or God) gives the same message as those beliefs: people should subjugate themselves under religion to absolve their sins and become “better” beings. How could it be possible for an individual to change his attitude toward the world in such a short instant by telling a short religious story? And how could a person feel more optimistic after telling, not a story of a successful person or a respected man, but a story of betrayal and remorse?

The content of the story vicariously spoke for the miserable situation of the widows who had been denied by the villagers. Thus, it could be possible that the widows felt more encouraged after listening to the story of man of great sin because they could feel less guilty for themselves. It is true that the effect of religion (or story) on the characters in this story was hopeful enough to evoke compassion and supportive mind towards the effect of religion. Although the story did not bring tangible outcomes, its effect on spiritual aspect on Ivan and the widows, especially Vasilisa, was big enough to be considered striking. Nonetheless, the sudden change in Ivan’s attitude implies a need for change, revolution in religion and in people’s attitude toward accepting theological beliefs. The fundamental logic of having faith in religion have not changed until today, but nowadays people who are faithful to religion simply practice their convictions through practicing moral deeds and does not put much emotional attachment to theological stories or practices which is very different from the characters in “The Student”. 

METAFICTION _ Run Away: In the voice of Alex Cho

Gentle evening breeze tickled my ears as I slowly opened the window to watch the night sky. Absolute darkness prevailed on earth. But the sky was filled with bright moonlight and twinkling stars that seemed to smile upon me. Yet, I was somewhere between the two borders where I was neither happy nor depressed.  

                  Every winter has been a great pain for me. My mother, who is too anxious about my health, had been restricting my outing during winter since long ago. All those beautiful scenery covered with snow and making snowman under Christmas trees were just things that I can see but cannot approach. All the images of other kids were constantly invoked in my brain and kept poking my conscious desire for going out. Nonetheless, I did not complain to my mom. Until now, my mom provided me with numerous moments to enjoy myself; at home, I was always surrounded by enjoyable books, toys, games, and sometimes magicians and clowns who entertained me with their little tricks. I was quite satisfied with the fact that I was born under affluent parents who could support me with everything but one – “freedom”. Some might wonder why I would be so desperate for such value and I would say that my photographic memories of “freedom”, which are saved when I see other people who have control over their lives, inflict inexplicable pain upon me.
                  True, life is "a bit" comfortable in some ways to me as I can remember anything. But that comfort stole from me the most element of the human mind: creativity. Everything I am asked t odo, I could recall possible extractions from the various materials I have in store at my mental library. I have been intelligent enough to paraphrase and change the wording to sufficiently mark any task mine, but I have never felt that anything was truly my creation. They say that it was the development of education that evolved men to where they are now, but it has made me overly dependent. I am lost in this sea of information to find something truly original. 
                  I felt enervated, with my zeal for true creativity sapped by my mother's extremely vigilant eye on me. Even now, my privileged trait is stealing from me the luxury of rest. At this very moment, memories of spotlights I received five years ago in an interview, questions that required my "creation" are stabbing my brain. Being tortured by the sweetest rest was the difficulty, indeed. Maybe this situation had made difficult for me to be accepted normal in my community. Everyone simply envied my extraordinary talent and I was unfortunately shaped by those unnecessary attentions. Well, these difficulties might sound haughty and extravagant to most people, but sometimes I wish to overcome these matters by simply turning "normal". 
                  "Alex, come downstairs for your supper!"
                  Not again. My mother's yelling voice suddenly intruded my thinking. I was livid but my mouth was automatically saying approval to her orders.
                  "Okay mom, I'm on my way!"
                  Ridiculous. Stupid. I could not think of anything but that I was too compliant to my mother. I didn't know whether I was habitually obedient to my mother or my mouth made unfortunate mistake but as soon as I realized the reality, I became terribly miserable. To others, I was no one but a machine with no emotion or morality.
                  I needed a change. A change that could make others view me in a totally different perspective. I've never done this before so I didn't know how to make the progress, but I just wanted to show my different side of personality that was original. At that moment, flickering lights from our garden's water fountain was reflected on the window as if it was signaling me to come out. Excitement and irrationality instantly controlled me. Instead of going down the stairs for supper, I was jumping out from the two-story building! 
                  "Alex, where are you? Come down before the supper cools!" 
                  The voice of my mother was dimly fainting behind my back. I ran as fast as I can to disappear from the sight of the house. Freezing cold paralyzed my body and a fierce gale greeted me in unwelcoming tone. Without a jacket, my physical body could not stand any more encountering this cold but my soul felt warm and powerful as it was liberated from the former environment.
                  I strolled through the wood that was near my hose. There, I was neither an abnormal boy nor a machine-like man with no human emotions. There, I was a truly unique entity. No living speices there didn't care about me but I liked the way they treated me. Again I looked up at the sky to watch the stars. The appearance did not change from what I've seen from the window sill of my room. But  this time it was different. I could smile back at the twinkling stars with easiness

My Personality pH

Essay Option 4.

Were pH an expression of personality, what would be your pH and why? (Feel free to respond acidly! Do not be neutral, for that is base!)
— Inspired by Joshua Harris, Class of 2016

Were pH an expression of personality, what would be your pH and why?

        By scientific definition, acid refers to corrosive chemical molecules that act as acceptors of non-bonding electron pairs during chemical reaction. By absorbing numerous electron pairs from their environment, acids attempt to become neutral and alleviate their radical state. In everyday lives, acid melts everything that it touches and congregates a solution that possesses the characteristics of its constituents. Just like how acid absorbs its environmental factors to form and change itself, I have thoroughly adapted myself to my environment by participating in various activities. While my “acidic” personality has definitely hindered me from assimilating into most of these activities smoothly, I have appeased my acidity from pH two to pH five by participating in various and atypical sports activities.

             Since I was an infant, I enjoyed learning sports like other boys of my age. Starting with swimming when I was five, I learned to play basketball, tennis, golf, soccer, football, baseball, skating, and other universally-learned physical exercises. At the initial stage, I was intransigent and strongly preferred my own way of playing them. Simply ignoring the lessons from other players, I often failed to harmonize in team and caused conflicts with other team members. Sometimes, I was so acquisitive during the game that I ignored the signals from other players and eventually I was kicked out of the team. Nonetheless, I repeated this process by challenging to learn numerous sports activities. Although the process of acquiring knowledge of different sports subjects was confusing and exacting, I persevered until I could master the basic skills and tactics and attempted to join the team in concord. As I encountered various players and joined in many teams, my bipartisan view toward playing sports mollified. Undoubtedly, despite dispersed concentration on various subjects of sports activities and difficulties in discarding greedy and extreme views, I had apparently gained the ability to match with other players to certain extent. 

             Over the years, my attitude toward playing in the team has apparently changed from radical to harmonious. However, while my radical way of playing soothed, I was still obsessed with being somewhat different in playing sports. During my freshmen year at high school, I coveted to join “frontier” sports activities that could satisfy my desire for special experience. The cheerleading team seemed like a utopia that could perfectly fulfill such need. My friends regarded cheerleading as a girlish and unmanly sport and jeered at my decision. Even one of my best friends criticized me as an attention seeker. Nevertheless, I became a cheerleader and as cheerleading requires cohesive teamwork than any other sports, I learned to suppress acerbic expressions on other team members and strived to adhere to the team without any complains.

             Acid is frequently recognized as detrimental substance that poses serious threat to other materials. Similarly, I had been a harmful existence to other members in my community.  As reflected from my numerous experiences in sports teams, my radical attitude was a monumental hindrance to the process of embracing various subjects. Now, my accumulated experience not only helps me to bond myself to the group but also helps me become the leading and helpful member of the team. Now my pH is five. 

Minjok: The Great Han?

Where is Minjok? 

Our minjok is in danger. The globalization and active exchange between nations are now breaching the walls of minjok that long stood deep inside our mind. The modernized society is not allowing our minjok to remain intact but challenge what we believed to be true and sacred. Yet, it is known as an abstract concept that covers vast range of race, ethnicity, and bloodline. 




The origin of the concept 'minjok' dates back to the Japanese colonial period. Surprisingly, it was emerged to resist from the Japanese who tried to spread the western concept of 'nation' and efface the existent bond originated from the blood ties. Nationalist historiographer such as Shin Chae-ho and Park Eun-sik conceptualized minjok as he interpreted the history as 'our' history saying that we share the common ancestry, 'Dangun'. This new ideology was emphasized many times by nationalists to enlighten people around them and urge them to participate in the independence movement. As one big organic entity, Koreans successfully adopted the history-based concept of minjok and reclaimed national sovereignty after  survival through the harsh colonial period.

Now the Koreans are divided into two completely different nation, North Korea, the secretive totalitarian state and South Korea, the democratic, post-industrial society. Minjok can no longer serve the role of national unification. However,whenever our national (South Korea) team claims top place in global sports event, we say that 'Ouri Minjok e jjang eda (Our Minjok is the best)', a rather contradicting expression. At these moment, and especially at the moment when our national anthem rings the globe, we feel by instinct, the ebullient pride that touches our heart. Minjok, although it started from mere instrumental purpose (instrumental nationalism), seemed to develop national identity for Koreans.

          Video of G20 Seoul Summit 

Then what kind of function did minjok serve in modernization and will serve in the near future? I believe that minjok in recent days is just a social structure, imaginary society built for construction of strong and peaceful nation in which its theoretical foundation was formed by the government sixty years ago. In other words, minjok was created by radical politician and government who wanted economically-strong nation to make it function as a tight rope that binds our spiritual ego as one. In this case, people were expected to work more efficiently with solidarity and the government was able to avoid the responsibility for sacrificing citizens to achieve economic development of the nation. With no fundamental industrial basis, the Park Jung-hee government lead Korea to stand up like phoenix from the ashes. Even confronted with the national financial crisis, IMF, we were not reluctant to donate our precious property(gold) to the nation. The driving force was the minjok spirit, spread by the broadcasting media and press and reinforced by education system. The above G20 summit video shows the government's current effort to bring our nation into one - the video has some contents, historical facts that are somehow exaggerated and other factors such as animation and background music puts emphasis on it. 

Until now, the extent of minjok had been left for individuals to define by their instinct. The foreigners, despite their possession of Korean citizenship, were frequently denied and neglected by our society. Even the second generation of Korean immigrants do not consider themselves as part of Korean society. These phenomenons show that the meaning of minjok had been reformulated over time and we in the transition period, must clarify what minjok means to us at this moment. 

The main role of minjok will suffer constant changes as both domestic and foreign stimuli start to tackle and impugn its established meaning. Thus, the process trying to define minjok itself would be meaningless but the process trying to adapt to the changed definition and also trying to change ourselves is meaningful. Clinging to the 'historic' meaning of minjok will only foster chaotic atmosphere among different communities. With the world becoming a melting pot of numerous cultures and civilizations, we must be aware of newly arranged 'minjok' that could give us the piece of guideline to stand on stronghold without being swept away by the powerful wave of orientalism. 

Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!

THE CHEERLEADER 

Four months. It's been more than four months since we came into KMLA. Back then, every moment was full of excitement and I was always ready to challenge new things that I've never experienced. I tried to take as many auditions for club activities as possible (Baseball, Soccer, Minjok Orchestra.. etc). And that's how I got to join this very special club, KANDLES! 

KANDLES is an official cheerleading club that was established in 2012. Its purpose is not clearly known but according to rumors, it was made by our principal's great wish to have a formal cheerleading club at our school. During our practice time, we usually practice powerful dance moves and sometimes, quite difficult stunt moves (such as handspring). Although we only have four hours of practice time per week, there is no doubt that every single hour that I invest on practicing is more than just valuable- we go through many harsh time but we learn how to become strong as a group and without any conflicts between members. 

ONCE in a semester, we prepare for a national cheerleading contest. We compete with many other high school or middle school teams in Korea. This time, we're competing with thirteen different teams from all around Korea. ( Thirteen is relatively  a small number considering that its a national contest but people have quite pejorative view towards cheerleading in Korea...) Last year, our team took the second place and enjoyed the honor of the silver medal but this time, it will be more difficult as the number of teams have doubled. But still, it won't change our ardor towards cheerleading. We will strive to claim the honor of the 'shiny' medal and show others that KMLA is the best of the best!!

As a proud member of KANDLES, I will burn myself like candles until I graduate this school and contribute to the eternal happiness of KMLAeans!

KMLA LET'S GO!!! 

Homosexual Marriage: ODD?????

Homosexual Marriage in Korea

Abnormal !!! Peculiar !!! Eccentric !!! Pity !!! These are some of the words that will come to your mind when you hear a news about homosexual marriage. Recently, in Korea and France, the first official homosexual marriage was held. Internet and media showed great attention to this 'historic' moment. Also, during the last month (May, 2013) thirteen countries including Canada, France, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal enacted the law that enables homosexual marriage. Anyways the media focused on how gay couples felt after the marriage ceremony ended and considered them 'special'. 

True. It is true that gay or homosexual marriage is a special event; at least in the society we're currently living in. Throughout the history of mankind, conventional marriage was held for the purpose of reproduction of human species and thus, was held between different gender. No matter how diverse their sexuality is, people were just forced by this ridiculous custom that they were enforced to adhere. Even we ourselves believe that being a homosexual couple is being an inferior and is the most extreme road that mankind can choose to take. Often, in our society, we use the concept of 'gay' as a source of gag and consider it as a non-existential thing that is only worth when building close relationship with same gender. These type of phenomenon  is especially harsh in Korea where conventional values are taking big part in our everyday thinking and families pose great influence on each member. Unlike other developed nations, our nation hasn't yet established the cornerstone for accepting diversity in sexual identity. Why is that and what should we do?

          For few thousand years, Koreans have defined family as a state of perfect normality. That is to say, that the concept of Korean traditional families has been closely associated with the social norms prevalent in the society. To be specific, family members consisted of a female mom and sister, a male dad and brother, which was considered normal. There weren't any practices other types of marriages, including homosexual marriages, because no Korean could ever come up with such an awe-striking idea. Then the question arises, is the idea of traditional family only acceptable model for modern Korea? I do believe so.  

          Koreans consider family as one of the most crucial value in life due to the enormous amount of influence and function it has in its members. The elders of each family teach the younger about the moral criterion and standards they should consider in the society. In other words, families provide a guideline of how individuals should behave in that society. Specifically, fathers and mothers teach their children about the customs, like the obedience and reverence for the elderly which has been passed down since early generations. These purposes of families cannot be overlooked, for a family is a group of people who we meet since the moment we are out in this world. We are exposed to the firsthand influence of the family members and their influence lives on with us and to the next generation as well, since we teach our children about the ideas we have learned from our ancestors. 

          Gradual, new ideas are important to keep the progress in a society, yet extreme ideas provide harms. Family has been one of the milestones that provided a general consensus and social norms in the Korean society. Because Koreans had a similar mindset fundamentally, we were able to share similar perspectives about certain social phenomenon, and this, in this end, is what kept the social order and stability. When drastic changes collide with the prevalent social norms, chaos arises. This hinders the society from progressing forward. 

Homosexual marriages are, to be frank, extreme. Koreans have not yet encountered with such a belief. We may panic. We may also face psychological division within the citizens. It also can be inferred that these families are not willing to teach their adopted children about the values that former Koreans have strived for. They would, on the other hand, provide their descendants with somewhat radical ideas, asserting the justification of homosexual marriages. Korean society is already facing so many problems including generation gaps, huge income differences, and the North Koreans. If the function and definition of family were to be challenged, our society would have to deal with another rupture, which with no doubt would be a barrier for establishing compromise and harmony between each member within a society.

The definition of traditional family as the state of perfect normality would have to stand in modern Korea. Tradition is something passed down from the ancestors. The concept of traditional family, therefore, may change in the future if we gradually accept other customs. But for now, it would be wise for the Koreans to preserve what had been with us until we are able to accept the unfamiliar concept of homosexual family.