A work of literature that has inspired me

     On e day,after 8 hours of tiring school time, I picked up the thickest book on my book shelf to go to sleep - it said "The Brave New World"on its cover. After 5 minutes, I confronted with a fantasy world in which babies were "hatched". Immediately, I knew that this was the wrong book - I would not be able to fall a sleep reading this book.
     Though I was very tired, too tired even to open my eyes, I decided to explore the new world a little more because I wanted to visualize the possibly future society in my head (I should admit that one of the other reasons why I continued with the reading was that the author described the female protagonist in a very sensual manner).
     The Brave New World portrays a sharp contrast between the world that is highly structured and mechanized - the expected-to-be a future society - and the world in which humans live their lives without much technology - the contemporary society. The latter community is called the "barbarian society" for in the eyes of the brave new world inhabitants, they - people living outside the scope of technological influence - were just savages.
     Aldous Huxley, the author of the book, makes the readers question, however, whether the brave new world is really an advanced society. He throws a cynical question about whether the joy and the happiness that people from the brave new world enjoy are REAL pleasures. Huxley himself insinuates his answer later in the scene where the female protagonist from the brave new world gets puzzled when she was asked whether she was happy. All the joy and contentment felt through artificial medicines were fake. Nobody in the brave new world was truly happy.
     The book introduces one of the key memes that should be conveyed onto the next generation. Understanding of the very virtue of "humanity" - what it means to be a human - is what makes people happy. With the advent of more advanced technologies, humankind might forget how lucky they are to be humans. I sincerely hope my grandsons and daughters to actually "feel" and understand the authentic values of humankind

What I am Self-studying about~!!

I am studying for the AP Statistics Quiz scheduled in the 4th period (very next period)

Sorry.... for sacrificing this precious English writing class for my self-study time....

Yet, I finished my poem assignment!!

I include some images that describe either AP Statistics class itself or my feelings toward the class

Poem Assignment

A Girl

                                                                                                                -Ezra Pound


The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast -
Downward,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.

Tree you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child - so high - you are,
And all this is folly to the world.

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Ezra Weston Loomis Pound is an American poet who set standards for early modernist poems in the early 20th century. He pioneered imagism; he used vivid and tight language to describe an unadorned image of things he saw.
As Pound tried to convey a vivid and lucid picture through his poem, his works include many musical and verbal qualities both in the verses of his poem and in the mood. The rhythmicity is the very reason why I like Pound's poem and the poet himself.
Among all his poems, "A Girl" has special meaning for me in that this poem was the first encounter with Pound. The thrill I felt when I read through the poem, especially the line "And all this is folly to the world", I would not forget throughout my life.
The image I included is the first scenery I thought of after reading this poem.

                               

                               Painting by e.e. cummings | Mt. Chocorua, Oil on canvas, ca. 1938

THBT people having common value system is an invitation to tyranny !!

     Imagine a world where people have same value system, a "robot" world in which people think the same, act the same, and move the same. True, it would be HORRIBLE. That is what is happening in the reality, however. With a distorted fancy name of "globalization" or "cultural/industrial development", humankind is losing variety. Distinct customs and traditions are dying and all the same value system is taking place.
     It is especially the less developed countries that are losing their identities. For example, as investors from the U.S. and other advanced countries came into the Brazilian market, the formerly-existed 450 tribes lost their tradition and were unilaterally assimilated to the Western culture. They no longer speak their own language, nor do they go hunting or fishing to eat; they speak English and go to McDonalds. This situation is prevalent in other parts of the globe too. Millions of minorities - natives and Indian tribes - have lost their culture and are being culturally "colonized" by Western countries - especially the U.S.
     All people learning English, wearing New-Yorker style suits, and eating in McDonalds is not a far future. Some experts say that within this millenium, we will find U.S. everywhere on Earth. The unification or standardization of all cultures is an imminent threat.
     Why is it a threat? If you asked the question, pity you... you are a victim of westernization as well. Let me explain to you then why world with sameness is an invitation to TYRANNY.
    

K-POP: candid assessment of its status quo and personal thoughts on its presence

     It is explicit that K-pop is one of the most prevalent and famous music genres in the Korean music industry. Every day, every week, and every month, tons of new K-pop albums are released, and some of them make their way to the honor of "best selling album of the week". Broadcasting companies air music concert programs in which so called "idol" K-pop groups can perform their songs and have the opportunity to publicize their music to the public. People - especially the younger generation - hum the repetitive yet addictive melodies of K-pop musics and try to dance as the idols do. They even pay money to learn how to sing and dance, a phenomenon that helps the entertainment industry to flourish. So far, K-pop appears to be a great culture that provides opportunities for young singers/dancers, profits to broadcasting companies, joy to the audience, and money to the singing/dancing teachers.
     However, there are some major problems that K-pop imposes on the Korean society which outweigh the benefits the genre gives. If the current trend - frantic excitement (in other words, psychopathic obssession) toward K-pop and the idols - continues, it is explicit that not only the Korean music industry but also the whole Korean society will be endangered.

     The virtue K-pop music instills in the minds of teenagers is not desirable. The genre of music gives a false illusion to the impressionable young children that how so called "idols" - those who perform K-pop - look and behave is what defines style and beauty. Individuality and uniqueness are no longer valued; if you look similar to one of the idols, if you dress similar to one of the singers, and if you dance similar to one of the dancers, YOU ARE THE COOL GUY.
     Recently, it has been reported that 57% of Korean teenagers want to take the plastic surgery to become more handsome/pretty and resemble the appearances of celebrities (K-pop stars). The K-pop culture puts appearance at the center of the judgment of a person - neither his/her true potential nor his/her ideology is assessed.
     However, appearance is NOT what should be considered when you evaluate a person; rather, as I previously mentioned, his/her potential capacity, personal beliefs, and attitude towards life should be considered. K-pop music veers the society towards a wrong direction and therefore, does great harm to the society.
     Yet, emphasis on outlook is not the only negative influence that K-pop imposes on the values of teeenagers. The sensational - sometimes very lewd or violent - lyrics that K-pop music adopts exercise an extremely negative influence on Korean teenagers. Some songs vividly allude to the sexual harassment, rape, or even murder. Imagine what teenagers will think as they are keep exposed to such harmful words. The future of Korean teenagers had been darkened, is being darkened, and will be darkened if we keep let K-pop music thrive in the Korean music industry.

     The values of other genres of music are shaded because of the fanatical fame K-pop receives. Whenever Girl's Generation or BigBang - they are very famous K-pop groups in Korea - release an album, it sweeps the top ranks of Korean Billboard chart for weeks. Therefore, when we look at the music chart, we can barely find songs other than K-pop within the top 30 songs list.
     Maybe, K-pop music is so well-made and thus deserves such huge fame. Yet, it seems that there is  another more important reason for the K-pop's fame. K-pop fandom thoughtlessly supports the songs released by the celebrity it is supporting. Most fans are never critical of the songs nor do they ever try to find any problem in the songs. They just buy the album, give 5stars for all songs, and things are done. Songs made by other singers - especially rival singers? They are just trashes.
     The blind support for the songs that one loves hampers the establishment of healthy music culture in Korea. People rarely admit songs made by other singers than their stars, and thus good songs - especially those that are not K-pop - never get the proper attention they deserve. This might ultimately lead many singers to bankruptcy because their albums are not purchased or to abandon their original field of expertise and sing K-pop songs - which will ultimately stifle "variety" in the genres of the Korean music industry.

     The negative influence of K-pop music goes beyond the music industry - it "pollutes" the internet culture among internet users as well. Because of the extreme admiration of their favorite singers, fans frequently defame other singers and their qualties as singers in the cyberspace. Then, it would cause conflict between fandoms of different singers, which ultimately brings about cyber violence. Internet etiquette is not obeyed, users do not respect each other, and sometimes, in a very extreme instance, they kill each other. There are numerous instances in which people commit suicide because of the verbal abuses other internet users did to him/her or in which a gangster kills another because the user insulted him in the internet.

     It has been reported that K-pop has expanded its market to Europe and America and is raising huge fame in the places. K-pop certainly has many values as a type of music and should be respected accordingly.
     However, in the status quo, the status of K-pop and the true spirit of it are being misinterpreted and misrepresented. It falsely plants the impression that K-pop idols are the role models of the society - especially in the context of beauty and fashion, it takes away the opportunities of other types of songs to be valued, and it creates a polluted internet culture.
     In the status quo, K-pop clearly does more harm than good, However, I definitely believe that if the aforementioned drawbacks - especially the culture of crazy obsession by fans - are settled, K-pop will positively bolster the development of Korean music industry.



    

An assignment that tickles my "SOUL"

I just took a debate class - we did a debate on the motion THS no saturday school policy.
I was the Opposition Whip speaker and thus went to the podium as the very last speaker of the debate.
BUT the problem was that I was kind of upset because of the GW's speech - she distorted our contentions and made it extreme.
On the podium, I tried my best to throw humor at every moment possible, and because of the excitement and laugh by the audience, my speech went over 8minutes - the recommended time.
My speech was cut in the half, and it SO TICKLES my soul right now......

Super Rookie Adele Adkins Sweeps 6 Major Grammy Awards

     Adele Adkins is a British singer song-writer who has dominated the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and has thereby outstripped the legendary album sale records set by Whitney Houston - AT THE AGE OF 23. With her "masculine" heavy voice and searing yet candid lyrics, Adele was crowned the new diva of popular music at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, where she received six awards for her work on “21”.
     What adds to her fame is the fact that she made a successful comeback after a big surgery - she had an operation on a throat hemorrhage.
 "I cried a lot. Yet, crying is really bad for your vocal cords too. So I had to be happy ...... It was so fast-paced I could hardly ever remember the bulk of my day. I think I just needed to be silenced. And when you are silent, everyone around you is silent. So the noise in my life just stopped. It was like floating in the sea for the weeks. It was brilliant", the young Grammy-winner says.
     It is explicit that Adele has brilliant musical talent and one-in-the-century unique vocal. Also, she is very respectable for her overcoming of the throat surgery. However, There seems to be a disequilibrium.
     One disequilibrium FOR THE SINGER is that she loses her "own" time because of the fame. Flooded with concert plans, interview requests, and public expectations, Adele would have no privacy to be safeguarded. Like any other singers, her every life will be photographed and publicized. This loss of private life, as it is one of the major problems aggrieving celebrities, can be a serious pain for Adele.
     A possible resolution for this problem is her taking a rest. She can take a break for a couple of years and enjoy her normal, ordinary life! Public's interest on her will wane as time flows, and Adele would be able to find herself then. Yet, if she so adores her fame, she should continue with her performance and song writing task, giving up some part of her privacy.
     The other disequilibrium FOR THE AUDIENCE is that many people might become discontented for Adele's being so popular. They should have other singers who they so much like and admire. For them, their favorite singers being unable to receive awards because of her somehow "incomprehensible", "unfair", and "unagreeable" fame might be annoying. Also, other singers, who have tried so hard and succeeded in giving successful performances, might get upset as well.
     In considering a possible solution for this dilemma, one may ask "Why is Adele so popular? Is it so weird for her to get awarded?" Adele is undoubtedly a very gifted singer. The very core value that should be respected by the music-lovers and singers is how enjoyable the music is. Awards are just meaningless titles. Though people might feel hurt and wistful for their (or their favorite singers') not receiving anything at such honorable awards ceremony for a short moment, they must understand that it is NOT THE IMPORTANT THING. If people learn and acknowledge the fact, they would be able to purely congratulate Adele's success.