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Novel 4. "The Lord of the Flies"

2007-06-14T05:23:00.001-07:00

Novel 4. "The Lord of the Flies."
Topic : Who is Simon and how is he related to the truth which the author tries to present?

In the novel The Lord of the Flies, Simon plays a crucial role in that he throws an allusion, philosophical message conveying what the fundamental truth of human being is. Simon is presented as a very natural being who has deep human insight. Here, a mystery arises because this insight leads Simon to be deeply connected with both barbaric instinct as well as the natural morality at the same time. This complication prevents him from being completely tamed by typical and artificial morality of civilization, although he is on the side of order and civilization. In addition, this sophistication also appears as a representative of differncies between Simon and the JeJus and thus prevent readers from identifying him directly as a symbol of Christ figure. Even though Simon shows up as a sole figure of an natural good, his mysterious relationship with the natural evil, the lord of the flies, imports a message of what "truth" is.
(This passage is not for 최현덕 선생님's class)

Novel 3. "The Old Man and the Sea"

2007-06-14T05:14:00.000-07:00

Novel 3. "The Old Man and the Sea"

In the novel The Old Man and the Sea, the author, Ernest Hemingway, presents an indomitable spirit as a solution to overcome ephemeral reality. In the novel, an old fisherman representing humankind starts a desperate fight with marlin which symbolizes the purpose of life. After this battle of self-examination, the old man named Santiago finally attains his purpose, the marlin. However, on his way back home, he loses everything to the overwhelming threat of sharks. As he gets to the shore, he holds a strong sense of futility which is directly shown through the mere but dazzlingly white bones of the marlin. However, the old man, Santiago, overcomes this reality with his will of iron. According to a fisherman's monologue, "A man can be destroyed but not be defeated."
(This passage is what I have done for 최현덕 선생님's class)

Novel 2. "Frankenstein"

2007-06-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

Novel 2. "Frankenstein"

In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Godwin Shelley represents the disastrous results caused by rejection. However, there exists a common misunderstanding in the novel's theme: the paradoxical relationship between rejection and Dr. Frankenstein's creature. Specifically, the creature was not rejected for being a monster, but rather it became a monster as a consequence of its rejection.
Although the creature has same emotions as humans, the entire village thwarts the creature's efforts to befriend them and even show animosity toward the creature. The only reason for their cruelty is the fact that creature's gruesome physical appearance is displeasing and strange. Naturally, the creature becomes isolated. However, since it has the same mental capability as other humans, the creature desperately seeks friendship which ultimately can never be achieved. These feelings of loneliness and despair by the creature gradually turn into hatred for all people and finally, lead the creature to commit murder. Through this act, the author is suggesting how extreme solitude and alienation can transform an individual to commit acts of animosity and lead to tragic results. Shelley ultimately questions who is responsible for making such “monsters" and portrays the sadness by individuals who are excluded and segregated from society. The author is illustrating an allusion, by showing the harsh result of segregation and how it is occurring in our society.

(This passage is what I have done for 최현덕 선생님's class)

Novel 1. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

2007-06-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Novel 1. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

In the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, describes a ruin of a man who tried to separate his evil from good. In the novel, Dr. Jekyll represents the tamed virtue of civilization and is always morally right. However, this morality totally collapses after the invention of Dr. Jekyll's medicine, as this medicine works and a catalyst to conjure up evil from his subconscience. With this evil, he starts to enjoy a dualistic life. In the feature of Mr. Hyde, he is able to perpetrate heinous crimes, following his barbaric instincts which were originally suppressed. However, as this pursuit takes more and more part in his life, Dr. Jekyll himself finally becomes unable to detach his original feature from the evil. At the end, Dr. Jekyll chooses the very last way to abstain his evil: he commits suicide.

(This passage is what I have done for 최현덕 선생님's class)

Essay on Topic 3.

2007-06-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

The first time I heard about Oprah Winfrey was when I was in elementary school. Specifically, when I was twelve. All I have heard at that time was that there is a black women who has succeeded in the U.S., after overcoming some hardships through her life. At that time, I had no doubt that it was only one of many typical, boring success stories. However, when I encountered with an article about Oprah Winfrey on the internet, I could not help being shocked and could never help begin to admire her. After reading the article, I tried to find more and more informations about her on the internet, and the printed stories and phrases of her still takes the first place of my paper files. Oprah Winfrey gave two important lessons to my life : purpose and books.

The first thing that shocked me was Oprah Winfrey's hardships in her young ages. She lived in an extreme poverty with all the maltreatments from her relatives. Furthermore, she was sexually abused by her cousin at the age of 9, and even once became an unwed mother, even though her baby died only 2 weeks after the childbirth. I could not even imagine the extent to which she had to suffer from her mental pain. She overcame all this hardships and audaciously became one of the most popular, most respected, and most succeed people in the U.S., where prejudices of black people still exist. Her life helped me with going through my own hardships. Looking back on her life, it was a great help itself to think about how her attitudes and minds would be like if she was in my situation. She obviously had a will of iron. I also try to persue this robust spirit and with this, I do not easily give up on anything. Oprah Winfrey motivated me to try harder on every aspects on my life and herself became a role model for me to look up. She had a significant influence on me .

Oprah Winfrey says what made her be in her today's place, is the ceaseless intellectual pursuit. She had always enjoyed reading books ever since she was very young, and now she recommends many books in the Oprah Winfrey's Book Club. Through this mere recommendations, she audaciously begot a lot of best sellers, and induced the whole world including myself to read books. Actually, the books usually become best sellers only a nanosecond after her recommendation of the book takes place, and her single phrase "The book changed my whole life" is influencing other people's whole lives. I myself tried hard to make a habit of reading after I have known her, and now I actually read a lot. Through books, I was enabled to speculate holistically about my life, and also was greatly influenced in establishing my perspective toward not only to my life, but also to the whole world. I do not have any suspicion that these will be great assets through my whole life. Oprah Winfrey gave me a present named book, which now I always make a present of.

In the final analysis, Oprah Winfrey had a significant impact on my whole life. Her indomitable spirit and audacious passion have definitely reached to my heart, and she also introduced me a revolution named book. Furthermore, her approaches and perspectives of life which are embodied through her words made me contemplate. In these ways, I believe Oprah Winfrey had largely influenced me. I admire her and try to resemble her great aspects. The reason why she is ahead of all the great figures in history and takes a great part in my mind, may be that her true heart, touched mine.

Essay on topic 4.

2007-06-10T03:21:00.000-07:00

4. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.

On the day of my thirteenth birthday, my parents gave me a book named "The old man and the sea." As a young child, it seemed to me that there only exists a frustrating life of an old man. However, what I couldn't recognize in my young age was that The old man and the sea is a novel full of symbolic meanings. After my father explained me about the symbols, I tried once more to scrutinize the novel with much deeper thoughts and approaches. Then, I　finally was shocked by the truth which is embodied through the old man: an indomitable spirit of humankind.

The old fisherman in the novel symbolizes all humankind. This fisherman sails to ocean which can be construed as a place of introspection rather than a physical world. After 84 days of failure to catch a single fish, he suffers in a great sense of frustration. However, as he sails further away into the deep ocean, there he finds a huge marlin and to catch it, starts a desperate fight not with the marlin itself but rather with himself. In this fight which can be referred as a self-examination and speculation, he finally wins and attains his purpose, the marlin. However, on his way back home, he loses everything at the overwhelming threat of sharks symbolizing death. He tries to resist but as he get to the shore, he finds out that there is nothing left but the mere bones of the marlin. He does not have much of a frustrated feeling this time but more of a sense of futility. He just falls into a deep sleep, dreaming of a lion, feeling better.

Although the old man fails to win the second fight with sharks, he seems to be satisfied with his failure, since he found his own purpose of life. This is why he is not so much frustrated but rather has a sense of futility instead. This futility, directly shown through the dazzling white bones of the marlin, has a close connection to the truth which the author is trying to present. Although the lion in the old man's dream has the perfect youth and enormous power, in the reality filled with futilities, he does not. To overcome this painful reality, the old man seems to find a solution, a will of iron. The old man in the novel presents that life is nothing but a frail and ephemeral reality, and pain of this reality always reiterates. However, he also presents that "A man can be destroyed but not be defeated.

Ever since I was young, this phrase remained deep in my heart and still takes a great part in my life. I have learned mainly two things from the old man. Firstly robustness and secondly, how to construe the world from my perspective. The will of iron I saw through the old man helped me overcome the hardships I encountered through my life. I do not try to hide from the reality but look squarely to it. I found out that if I believe myself and the indomitable spirit, if I always persue the right way to live my life, then there will not be anything impossible. Whenever I am having a hard time, I remind of the old man, trying to be the old man.