Movie Journal 1 : Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption

             Since it was the second time I watched this film, frankly I did not concentrated much on the film itself. Rather, I got lost in my daydream about social hierarchy. Watching the film of “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, I thought that the prison looks like a small miniature of society. There is a clear social hierarchy from the prison wardens to the prisoners. There are even classification within the prisoners – Red, the leader, the Sisters, the gang, Brooks, the deliver and Andy, the novice.

             These characters reminded me of a cliché, “Position makes people.” Indeed, every character, except Andy, acts just as what he is expected to be. Norton is a typical greedy prison warden, Hardley is a typical harsh prison guard and prisoners are typical prisoners whom people generally imagine. These characters also reminded me of a documentary film I watched a few years ago.

             To briefly summarize this video, people are dominated by the situation they belong. For instance, people do not get out of subway, full of exhaust, solely because the driver broadcasted that the train is safe. In another example, people do not hesitate to make a wrong choice even though the right answer is obvious, because others around them argue that the wrong choice is right. I thought the characters in Shawshank is not much different from people in the above video film. They behave as they are expected.

             However, Andy is the only one who could go against the power of situation. He tries to mount the social hierarchy of Shawshank despite his lowest initial position. He succeeds in protect himself from the Sisters, by making a negotiation with prison guards. Ultimately, he gets out of Shawshank, where he should have spent his life although he is not a criminal. I believe this bravery of Andy, brave enough to conflict with situation, plays a vital role in Andy’s infectious hope.

             Obviously, the main theme of this story is “hope”. What makes “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” special is that hope is contagious even in the gloomiest place. As Andy shows his own hope to others in Shawshank, Red first becomes hopeful just like Andy. In that way, the story changes into “the story of Red”, not confined to the story of Andy. Also, other prisoners are profoundly influenced by Andy, too. That every prisoner praises Andy as his hero is largely attributed to the significant impacts Andy manifested in his prison life. The concept of infectious hope successfully drew my attention.

             On the other hand, however, I was incessantly disturbed by the severe dichotomy in < Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption > at the same time. Indeed, all characters in the plot can be divided into two extremes: the good and the evil. I believe there is no one purely good, nor one purely evil. Nevertheless, it happens in the story. Since Red is an unreliable narrator, prisoners are generally depicted as good people, while prison wardens and prison guards are described to be evil.

             Unlike what Red narrated, I think prison wardens and prison guards are victims of institutionalization, just like prisoners. In the story, Brooks, who lived in Shawshank more than several decades, commits suicide, because he fails to adjust himself to the society. There is no difference between Bryon Hardley, the harsh prison guard, and Brooks. His harsh and cold personality may be greatly ascribed to his job, prison guard. To be a good prison guard, he had no choice but to be so severe and pitiless that he can efficiently deal with aggressive and rebellious prisoners. He is not a purely evil person, but a poor father who must do whatever it is for his own family.

             Additionally, I cast a heavy doubt upon the image of Andy described in the story. He seems to be a pure good, who spread his hope to others. However, I cannot agree with this point. Rather, I would agree with the point that Andy is a good agitator, like Hitler in WWII. In fact, Hitler gave “hope” to Germans, as Andy spread “hope” to prisoners. The only difference between these two people is that Hitler is described by the winners of the war while Andy is narrated by Red. Also, I wonder that is it right to give hope to prisoners. I do not mean that they should live a hopeless life, but I believe that the one value to which prisoners must give priority is self-reflection, not hope. 

Second Draft for Synthesis Essay

Kyuhong Lee

             In the TED video about current education system, Sir Ken Robinson, a visionary cultural leader and well-known creativity expert, underlines the importance of creativity in modern society. In terms of creativity, the Finnish education is far more advantageous than Korean education. As a man in my attached video argued, “Korean education system lacks creativity. That also stems from the system, where no creativity is required. All the standardized tests, national and in school, are based on memorization.” In Korea,  most students merely follows the exact path provided by hak-wons, memorizing every word in textbooks. Despite their high fees, almost all Korean students go to hak-wons to get more advanced education that is not provided in public schools. Students as well as their parents firmly believe that they will fall behind without the help of hak-wons. In short, hak-wons are the ultimate tools to win the competition with other students in Korea. However, although the U.K., the U.S. and Korea have believed that “competition” is a “practical” solution for education system, “cooperation” stands out to be more “practical”.

             As this video shows, the blind belief that competition will resolve every problem in education is nothing but a wild dream. Although it is undeniable that Korean parents are very devotional in their children’s education, such intensive passion has inevitably led to severe competition among Korea students. It is not too exaggerated to say that Korean students are studying-machines. A case in point is Jihyun, a girl appears in the above video clip. She wakes up in 7 a.m. and then goes to school. After spending 10 hours in her school, she goes to a self-study room and studies until her hak-won starts at 8 p.m. She studies in the hak-won till late night. What matters more in this inhumane life pattern of most Korean students is that they are literally “forced” to study by their parents, not by their will. They study not for achieving their dreams, but for going to famous universities. In addition, as a man in video mentions, “they (Korean schools) don’t compete in sports, debate, and mathematic tournament as they do in the United States. All they compete is high CSAT score, which is necessary for getting accepted by prestigious universities.” All the hak-wons as well as public schools virtually uphold the university-oriented education. This is the major side-effect of excessive competition in Korea education.

             In stark contrast, Finland education is the very opposite of Korean education. According to the reporter’s comment in above clip, “In countries like the UK and the US, education is built around the ideal of competition. Some schools will succeed, and some won’t. Incredibly though, the results of this school in Helsinki are virtually the same as any other school in Finland. That means there is no such thing as failure.” Rather than competition, Finland’s motto in its education is “cooperation”. In fact, Finland abolished the superior-inferior system, in which high-grade students are separated from low-grade students, in 1985. Furthermore, there is no rank in Finland’s school report. Rather, it offers more valuable information – how much does a student accomplish his or her personal goals, which were set according to his or her individual academic performance. In such system, the Finnish teacher proudly says, “In Finland, success is not a measure of winners and losers. Learning is more like a team game.” Even if Finnish children spend the fewest number of hours in the classroom in the developed world, their achievements are incredible.

             According to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) proposed by OECD, Finland's pupils consecutively scored the highest average results in science and reading among developed countries in 2006 and 2009. Also in the mathematics field, Finland got second highest score only next to Korea. In addition to high accomplishments, Finland has the least gap between the high-grade students and low-grade students in the world. Erkki Aho, the former Minister of Education and Science in Finland, once stated that “I persuaded the Finnish that competition brought about another competition, and ultimately, it makes even a kindergartener participate in the maelstrom of competition. School is a place where students learn how to be good civilians. Competition is for those good civilians, not for students.” Under this resolute belief, Finland has cherished the value of cooperation since 1971.

             Barack Obama, the current president of the Unites States, once made a thought-provoking speech on Korean Education on September 25^th, 2009. He confidently said, “the biggest challenge that Myungbak Lee, the current president of Korea Republic, has is that his parents are too demanding. Even if somebody is dirt poor, they are insisting their kids are getting the best education.” Obama also positively described the high – even crazy – demand for English education in Korea by saying “Myungbak Lee had to import thousands of foreign teachers because they are all insisting that Korean children had to learn English in elementary school.” Surprisingly, that was not the first time Obama blindly praised the education in Korea. On March of that year, he “called for the United States to look to South Korea in adopting longer school days and after-school programs for American children to help them survive in an era of keen global competition.”, according to the linked article of Korean Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_61138.html). However, as the article clearly indicates, the idealistic viewpoint of Barack Obama is not the case of Korean education. Rather than the optimistic and unrealistic view of Obama, above video clips explicitly manifest the reality of education in Korea: studying machines do their work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This inhumane aftermath is largely attributed to the intense "competition" among Korean students, who are forced to study. Thus, the only solution for the competition-based education is "cooperation", as the Finnish education shows the radiant advantages of it.

satire

             This article from The Onion advertises MagnaSoles, a new and high-quality insoles used in making shoes. However, this article goes further than just advertising. It is clearly “mocking” all sorts of advertisements, by using the identical methods used by other ads. It deliberately overstates the effects and mechanisms of MagnaSoles, considerably appeals to authority, and uses citation to satirize the unreasonable inference from consumers.

             The first strategic tool used in this article is hyperbole. It overestimated the positive influence of MagnaSoles, by mentioning that it “restores the foot’s natural bio-flow”. According to the ads, “only” MagnaSoles “enables your soles to heal your entire body as you walk”. Walking with MagnaSoles is a panacea since it has a “special resonator” which helps wearers have “energy to match the Earth’s natural vibrational rate”, and ultimately, “harmonic energy field”. The ads highlights not only effects of technology, but also the mechanisms of MagnaSoles. It employs the “healing power of crystals” and “biomagnetic field around around you foot” to actualize the “total foot-rejuvenation system”. Even without closely scrutinizing in the contents, it is explicitly manifested that the claims of this ads are nothing but “crappy”. Such use of hyperbole makes people alerted to the use – or abuse, to some extent – of hyperbole in other ads.

             In addition to hyperbole, the author of this article frequently uses the appeal to authority to satirize the current advertisements. ™, which is the symbol of trademark, makes people hastily assume the decent quality of MagnaSoles. Also, the names of academic fields -like pseudoscience, reflexology and Terranometry – give plausible credits to the unreasonable arguments of ads. Moreover, the author uses names of authoritative people to intensify his or her claims. “Dr. Arthur Bluni, a pseudoscientist” and “Dr. Wayne Frankel, the California State University biotrician” are seemingly reliable characters. Likewise, this article depends heavily on the authority of symbol, academic fields and people, just like the other ads in the real world.

             Furthermore, this passage uses citation to make people believe its argument and ultimately to criticize the consumers who blindly accept the overestimated claims in ads. Helene Kuhn of Edison, NJ states that he “could barely walk a single step”, but the MagnaSoles soothed his ankle pain. It is logically contradictory that he could not walk, but somehow walked with the MagnaSoles. Also, the only reason that Geoff DeAngelis blindly believes the effects of MagnaSoles is the “intelligent-looking man in a white lab coat”. These two stories of consumers clearly indicate how unreasonable and easily-persuaded the common consumers are.

             In summation, the article from the Onion satirizes both marketers, who irresponsibly dare to exaggerate the effects of their products, and consumers, who are easily convinced at what ads shows. To achieve this goal, the author uses hyperbole, appeal to authority, and citation. 

Synthesis Essay

             Barack Obama, the current president of the Unites States, once made a thought-provoking speech on Korean Education on September 25^th, 2009. He confidently said, “the biggest challenge that I (Myungbak Lee, the current president of South Korea) have is that my parents are too demanding. Even if somebody is dirt poor, they are insisting their kids are getting the best education.” Obama also positively described the high – even crazy – demand for English education in Korea by saying “I (Myungbak Lee, again) had to import thousands of foreign teachers because they are all insisting that Korean children had to learn English in elementary school.” Surprisingly, that was not the first time Obama blindly praised the education in Korea. On March of that year, he “called for the United States to look to South Korea in adopting longer school days and after-school programs for American children to help them survive in an era of keen global competition.”, according to the linked article of Korean Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_61138.html). However, as the article clearly indicates, the idealistic viewpoint of Barack Obama is not the case of Korean education. Rather than the optimistic and unrealistic view of Obama, following video clip explicitly manifests the reality of education in Korea.

             As this video shows, the belief of Barack Obama is nothing but a wild dream. Although it is undeniable that Korean parents are very devotional in their children’s education, such intensive passion has inevitably led to severe competition among Korea students. It is not too exaggerated to say that Korean students are studying-machines. A case in point is Jihyun, a girl appears in the above video clip. She wakes up in 7 a.m. and then goes to school. After spending 10 hours in her school, she goes to a self-study room and studies until her hak-won starts at 8 p.m. She studies in hak-won till late night. What matters more in this inhumane life pattern of most Korean students is that they are literally “forced” to study by their parents, not by their will. They study not for achieving their dreams, but for going to famous universities. In addition, as a man in video mentions, “they (Korean schools) don’t compete in sports, debate, and mathematic tournament as they do in the United States. All they compete is high CSAT score.” All the hak-wons as well as public schools are virtually upholds the university-oriented education. This is the major side-effect of excessive competition in Korea education.

             In stark contrast, Finland education is the direct counterpart of Korean education. According to the reporter’s comment in above clip, “In countries like the UK and the US, education is built around the ideal of competition. Some schools will succeed, and some won’t. Incredibly though, the results of this school in Helsinki are virtually the same as any other school in Finland. That means there is no such thing as failure.” Rather than competition, Finland’s motto in its education is “cooperation”. In fact, Finland abolished the superior-inferior system, in which high-grade students are separated from low-grade students, in 1985. Furthermore, there is no rank in Finland’s school report. Rather, it offers more valuable information – how much does a student accomplish his or her personal goals, which were set according to his or her individual academic performance. In such system, the Finnish teacher proudly says, “In Finland, success is not a measure of winners and losers. Learning is more like a team game.” Even if Finnish children spend the fewest number of hours in the classroom in the developed world, their achievements are incredible.

             According to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) proposed by OECD, Finland's pupils consecutively scored the highest average results in science and reading in the whole of the developed world in 2006 and 2009. Also in the mathematics field, Finland got second highest score only next to Korea. In addition to high accomplishments, Finland has the least gap between the high-grade students and low-grade students in the world. Erkki Aho, the former Minister of Education and Science in Finland, once stated that “I persuaded the Finnish that competition brought about another competition, and ultimately, it makes even a kindergartener participate in the maelstrom of competition. School is a place where students learn how to be good civilians. Competition is for those good civilians, not for students. ” Under this firm belief, Finland has cherished the value of cooperation since 1971.

             In the TED video, Sir Ken Robinson underlines the importance of creativity in modern society. In terms of creativity, Finnish education is far more advantageous than Korean education. As a man in my attached video argued, “Korean education system lacks creativity. That also stems from a system, where no creativity is required. All the standardized test, national and in school are based on memorization.” In Korea, only things most students do is following the exact path provided by hak-wons and memorizing every word in textbooks. Although the U.K., the U.S. and Korea have believed that “competition” is a “practical” solution for education system, “cooperation” stands out to be more “practical”.

ads

             21st century is referred as the era of information. These days, people are literally swamped with tremendous bunch of information and the ability of distinguishing valuable information from false or trivial information is highly valued. In this perspective, advertisement does more harm than good in modern society in that it prevents people from judging which information is real or not. Although ads provide the public with a quantity of information, ads cannot guarantee its quality of information.

             First and foremost, the ultimate purpose of ads is to create profits for commercial companies. To achieve their initial goal of selling products, ads do not hesitate to deceive or mislead consumers. Sesana firmly supports this argument. According to it, ads “create unfulfilled desires” and “push us to buy the products that we do not need”. For instance, there are no ads for flour and breast-feeding, since they are inevitable for our lives. However, there are ads for soft drinks and powdered milk, which are not necessary in core. In short, ads deceive consumers to regard unnecessary products as basic needs for their lives. Consequently, consumers become unable to make an independent and wise decision by themselves.

             One of the sophisticated and technical ways to mislead consumers is to fabricate a desirable image of using a specific product, thereby promoting the sales of it. A case in point is cigarette advertisement, mentioned in Shaw. Without any government regulation, cigarette advertisements do not inform people of the detrimental influence of smoking. Rather, they show the “cool” images of smokers, and thus persuade countless teenagers to be the “cool” guys in commercial films and movies. Even if smoking in adolescence is illegal in Korea, teenagers do smoke if they want to. Day clearly explicates the profound impact of advertisements in high teenagers. It even states that “reach(ing) for a girl in her Seventeen years” plays a pivotal role in making the ads successful. Taking into consideration that teenagers are easily misled by the cool image of smokers, cigarette ads are unjustifiable and morally wrong.

             In addition to fabricate a false image, to suggest a one-sided viewpoint as if it is a fair and reasonable perspective is another strong strategy of marketers. Red Cross is an apotheosis for this claim. When people first come into contact with the advertisement of Red Cross, they will be convinced that “Together, they can save a life”. However, they will not notice that “they can create a profit” for a company. In Korea, the Red Cross gets blood from selfless volunteers who really want to help others. By abusing such devotional mind, Korea Red Cross makes profits, by selling the collected blood to hospitals. Although there is a common misconception that the Korea Red Cross provides free blood for the poor, it is not true at all. That it makes profits by blood donation is never mentioned in the ads. In summation, the seemingly beneficial work for the whole society also can be a fabricated image for profits.

             In conclusion, advertisements in modern society make people more confused than informed. As it is aforementioned, the ability of differentiating real information from false information is appreciated. In other words, it means that there are tremendous sum of false information in modern society, mostly provided by ads. Ads fabricate a false image and provide a prejudiced notion to consumers solely for profits. 

Korean Education

 This video criticizes the current situation of Korean education. Obviously, it is hard to deny that Korean students study not because they want to study, but because they are forced to study. In short, they are simply "testing machines", not human beings, full of enthusiasm and passion.




No Such Thing - John Mayer

"Welcome to the real world", she said to me 
Condescendingly 
Take a seat 
Take your life 
Plot it out in black and white 
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings 
And the drama queens 
I'd like to think the best of me 
Is still hiding 
Up my sleeve 

They love to tell you 
Stay inside the lines 
But something's better 
On the other side 

I wanna run through the halls of my high school 
I wanna scream at the 
Top of my lungs 
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world 
Just a lie you've got to rise above 

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track 
Faded white hats 
Grabbing credits 
Maybe transfers 
They read all the books but they can't find the answers 
And all of our parents 
They're getting older 
I wonder if they've wished for anything better 
While in their memories 
Tiny tragedies 

They love to tell you 
Stay inside the lines 
But something's better 
On the other side 

I wanna run through the halls of my high school 
I wanna scream at the 
Top of my lungs 
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world 
Just a lie you got to rise above 

I am invincible 
As long as I'm alive 

I wanna run through the halls of my high school 
I wanna scream at the 
Top of my lungs 
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world 
Just a lie you've got to rise above 

I just can't wait til my 10 year reunion 
I'm gonna bust down the double doors 
And when I stand on these tables before you 
You will know what all this time was for 











These two video clips are about the education system in Finland. Traditionally, Finland focused on collaboration, not competition as their motto in education. As a result, Finland has been the most successful country in the world in the field of education.