Who Make Shadows

    Have you counted the cost of spending time on looking up other people’s tweet or post?

Perhaps many people are spending a lot of times on Internet. When we wake up, we check new

posts on Facebook. When we before eat delicious food, we take a picture in order to upload it as

a new post to Tweeter or Facebook. Recently, I read the essay, “Allegory of the Cave”, written

by Plato. It was written around 600BC ago, but the allegory that Plato used can apply to our

lives. In his allegory of the cave, Plato describes the prisoners who are chained into the cave so

that they can’t move. However, they can only see the shadows that are made by the other people.

When I read this description, the Social Network Service(SNS) environment occurs to me.

    Of course SNS has positive functions. Sometimes SNS provides useful information, such as

sale information, world trending news. Now look at our Facebook timeline. The news feeds are

plastered with pictures of our friends. They upload the pictures with happy faces, beautiful places

and delicious meals. However, we can also easily find meaningless posts, and hardly find sad

faces on the SNS, because nobody wants to share that emotion. These useless post and happy

face are like the shadows that Plato describes. We can’t find the real emotions of our friends.

Their real emotions are hidden in the online posts, pictures, and videos. We are only seeing the

shadows that are made by our friends.

    Sometimes the posts can affect our mood. Many people start their day check new posts from

SNS. Again, the posts are plastered with positive words and images. If the person has

psychological problems such as, depression, they might compare another person’s artificial

life(the shadows) to the own life. By comparing others lives can’t help to improve the mood.

    I have talked mostly about the bad impacts of SNS, but it has also positive sides. I usually

check the group events that I join so that I can’t forget the date. However, I am trying to avoid

the upload the posts, because I know those can affect other people’s life, and I don’t want to

spend my time to upload meaningless postings. I want to say instead of remaining in the cave

and looking at shadows, we should get out of the cave. We should enjoy the real trees, fresh air

and sunshine.

Thoughts about Gamergate

    I was secretly trying to connect to the internet through a phone cable to play StarCraft 1. I didn’t care how much the phone bill would be.  This was the very first moment that I played the game with the other players by using an Internet service. I remember the moment. I could express my own feeling to other people who lived in the virtual world even though we hadn’t met each other face to face. I was getting used living in web. When I played games, sometimes I met people who were rude by speaking bad words. However, I wasn't concern too much about these problems because those were only limited in games.
 

    I recently heard the news about Gamergate. The story and timeline about Gamergate is so complicated. Still now, I am not sure which information is true. Basically, the woman who made the game, “Depression Quest”, was attacked by the netizens, because the her ex-boyfriend exposed the uncertain fact that she had a disorderly life with others. Then the media published many articles about her and gamers, such as “The end of the gamer” and “facing misogyny in the video game world”.

    I thought many activities that happened inside the web can't affect to real life, but I was wrong. The meaningless of one sentence of tweet, and one like button can affect other people’s life. The issue of Gamergate started with one minor wrong information that came from the woman’s ex-boyfriend, and then the problems were getting bigger and bigger. The netizens who live in the web helped to spread out the information. The tweeters blamed her by using the hashtag, "#gamergate" While the wrong information floated on the web, and the woman was attacked by netizens, Other issues also came up to the surface of the web, such as feminism in games, and white man supremacy. 

    I want to mention the danger of misinformation and revelation of personal information. As we heard the news of Gamergate, we tend to easily believe uncertain information on the internet. I think we need to have the eye that can distinguish the information whether it is true or not, and we have to be aware that our minor action on the web can ruin one person’s life. Even if the people have secret crime or have wrong life, he or she shouldn’t be punished on the web. It is too dangerous to handle with netizens, who wear the mask that we can’t see the face. 

Uncharted World

Uncharted World 

    When I was 10 years old, I went sailing the sea with my boat. Sometimes, this tiny boat needed to be anchored at the harbor to supply food and water for my crews. Many people would like to travel the world in order to gain new experiences and have fun, but traveling is not easy to do because it requires us to have time and money. However, I could have those experiences through the games, “Uncharted World 2”

    I was a lucky kid who had a computer. When my mother went to work, I put the floppy disc into the computer instead of downloading the games from the internet. Then I played the game, “The Lion King” Perhaps younger generation wouldn’t know what a floppy disc is. This is like a CD-ROM but it can only store 1.44 megabytes, which is almost 1,388,888 times less than my external hard drive. Only one game can be installed in this disc. I played the games when I had finished homework from school, but after my family had a problem, I became more focused on playing the games than before. At that time I discoverer a new game, “Uncharted World 2” 

    In this game, you will be playing one of the important characters who should sail the seven seas. Each character has their own purpose of why they should go to sea, such as to make money, to find new worlds, and to become a famous person. This game changed my thought about games. I learned many things through this game. For example, I memorized tons of cities' locations. In this game, I should trade a lot of special goods to the other cities, because of that I could automatically be able to memorized location of cities.. Sometimes I became a pirates who had fierce ships. Sometimes I became a trader who had enough money that can buy anythings in the world. Sometimes I became a very first explorer who just completed the world map. I was really enjoying this game, and I was learning the world. 

    A few month ago, I tried to play this game again. I just wanted another taste of those experiences, but after a few minutes, I deleted the games because I didn't feel anything. I think playing the games are similar to traveling somewhere. The first time, you will be amazed by new environments, but this memory will fade after time. Even you try to visit that place again, you will not experience like first impression. I believe that a special moment doesn’t matter whether it comes from real life or virtual life, it will still be cherished in our mind.

Don’t Judge Others

Don’t Judge Others

    There are 196 countries in the world today, and those countries have their own identities that are distinguished from the other countries. It means that we are living in the world that contains many languages, behaviors, customs, and religions. While some people might urge that their own cultures are more variable than the other countries, I think we can’t judge other cultures based on our knowledge. Otherwise, it can bring several problems. 

    Comparing two cultures is a trigger to make conflict between two people and seriously two countries. Here is my personal example, One day, I had an opportunity to have dinner with my friend who is from Saudi Arabia, and he served his country’s traditional food, called “Kabsa”. I was looking for a spoon and chopsticks as a usual, but it was useless acting, because that food should be eaten by hands, so I tried to eat without any tools. I felt weird, but I tried it. If at that moment, I complained about using hands, it would make them feel unpleasant. In the history, we can find many examples that the wars were begun with neglecting other cultures or underrating other ethnic groups. The most terrible example of this is nazi Germany. During that time, Adolf Hitler deceived germans that their country was better than other countries in order to erase the experiences, World War 1.

    Ethnocentrism is not only meaning of judging another culture solely by the values and standards of our own culture, but also it could mean judging other groups, such as job positions and races. We are already encountering many groups that have ethnocentrism in our society. For example, some community groups who want to be the best group of the their society can blame other groups without any reason, because they believe they are superior to other groups, and it will become ethnocentrism. Sometimes, it is difficult to figure out what ethnocentrism is, and it can have an ambiguous barrier between having self-conceited, but certainly our society has ethnocentrism in some form.

    I agree that ethnocentrism has certain power that ethnic groups have strong relationships. They will be tied by an unbroken rope so that they can be together forever. However, this rope can kill those people. They will be isolated from the other groups. Hence, we need people who have different backgrounds, cultures, religions, and customs so that we can grow together.

Writing Techniques from "the letter"

Writing Techniques From "The Letter"

    A few days ago, I read “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written by Martin Luther King JR. I had already known his achievements that inspired me somehow, but it was the first time to read his writing. His writing skills have such an elegance and have enough power that can attract my attention. I know his “Letter” includes so many writing techniques, but this time, I would like to write about his three writing skills, which is a personal connection with readers, repetition of key words, and having acknowledged opposing viewpoints.

    First, the author of “Letter From Birmingham Jail” tries to make a connection with readers throughout his letter. He appeals to the readers’ sympathy. If we are able to connect with his feelings and emotions, we will be easily persuaded with his main claims, because we can understand his difficult situations. For example, he assumes that if we have a six-year-old daughter, and we have to explain why she can’t go to a public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and tears wells up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, what will we have to say to her? Perhaps, the readers shouldn’t answer these questions, but will understand his feelings and emotions. I could read many questions throughout his writing. Many of questions are not easy to answer, and it makes us think again.

    Another his writing technique is using repetitions of key words. When I read his letter, I circled the repeated words every single paragraph, then I realized that the circled words are almost key words in the each paragraph. For instance, brutality(brutal), postpone(wait, until), nonviolent, wait(waited, delayed), hope, “Now is the time”, extremist, “I have watched”, commend, and “If you were”. As you can see, we can guess with just repeated words what kind of letter it would be. I think this is very effective means of communication because it will remind the readers what the author wants to say.

    Also, I felt King had acknowledged the other viewpoints and opinions in a formal way. If we don’t know about other side’s ideas, we will not be able to acknowledge the other side. So, I think knowing the opposite side of viewpoints is an important part of writing a persuade essay. 

    Sometimes, I separate the books, whether those are having values that I need to read again and again, because some books give me advice when read again. Sooner or later, I should read this letter again. Perhaps I might find other valuable lessons. 

Who Is “A foreigner”

Who Is “A foreigner”

  I do like to travel to other countries where I can meet new cultures and environments. Mostly when I visit other countries, I will probably look around famous places, such as Egyptian pyramids, Angkor Wat, Petra, and the Sydney Opera House. I remember that when I visited Petra, which is in Jordan, I couldn’t say any words, and I just shook my head, because I couldn’t believe what I saw. Perhaps, many people have had similar experiences. However, they are not always exciting. Sometimes we can feel uncomfortable in other cultures that are very different from our own.

  In early 19^th century, America suffered with racism. The skin color of Americans, particularly those who were black, were discriminated against the dominate group. White didn’t accept others, who were different from them. They didn’t try to understand others, and just tried to keep their authority. Gradually, they were forgetting where they had come from. The black people would feel that they are foreigners who couldn’t fit into white society. I had a chance to watch, the film, “Number 42.” It is about the baseball player, Jackie Robinson. He was the first black baseball player. While I was watching the movie, I could understand about racism. Everything is separated including education, restrooms, and job positions. 

  Now I want to talk about nowadays. Many people say that we are living in a Global Age. I agree with this main idea. We can easily find other countries goods, food, and people around us. Also we should consider outside markets when we try to sell products. For example, when I was working at a game company, after finishing the developing level, we had to convert Korean to other countries languages. This meant covering to more than 10 countries. Global markets are already open. However, sometimes we are discriminated against based on races, money, religion, and culture. A few days ago, I watched the video about how people deal with rich people and homeless people. When a homeless person wore a suit that was given by staffs, but still crammed that he was poor, people gave him money easily, and listened his voice. However, when he reverted to his normal homeless dress, and tried to beg the money, most people just ignored him.

  I think that we are all “foreigners” who have different backgrounds, religion, and many other things, and we already know how it feels  when we become foreigners, and we already know how to deal with foreigners. We can not avoid or ignore them, because we are living in the Global Age. 

America is in the heart (chapter V)

AMERICA IS IN THE HEART - CHAPTER V

I don’t tend to spend my time to read books. Instead of reading I do watch movie and play games, because it stimulates my imagination. However, some books are different. When I have read those books I feel I am in that place. The little story, which is this weeks’ hand out, is kind of that book. 

The name of the book is “AMERICA IS IN THE HEART”, and I read Chapter V, which mostly describe the protagonist’s situation. In order to help the readers’ imagination, the author uses several elements of plot such as setting the protagonist’s background, which describes in very first paragraph, rising the problems, which encounter high class woman, and of course it has a climax part. I think the speaking of the woman is the climax part. She says “What are you looking at, poor woman?” If I were him, I would be very angry. Lastly In the paragraph9, the protagonist is changed. He discovers what is the middle classes in the Philippines and he decides to hate their arrogance and their contempt for the peasantry. 

When I read this short chapter, I like detail description of a young girl who seems to be a high class. The author portrays the woman who hold tiny silk umbrella, walk like a queen, and he call the woman “the beautiful creature.” Moreover, the author contrast the woman and his mother. I could vividly imagine how he feels difficult when I read this part. 

Perhaps, the climax part is important role in this chapter, because before the this part the protagonist was just struggle with the situation, however after the part the protagonist has been changed. He says “It is all right.” It makes the reader have to think, and the protagonist starts against the high classes. 

I don’t know yet how he will be changed in the future, but I hope he could change the gap between the classes. I guess firstly, he will overcome his conflict through various routes, and then he will change the society. In the essay “Superman and Me”, it also follow the same route. The author had suffered from classmates, but he had overcame this conflict, and then he became the teacher who can change the others’ lives. 

I realized that even short stories follow the rules such as having climax and describe the background information. Hopefully I can use those rules in my next essay.