ninasilverlee

 Rating: 8.8/10           For my entire life, I have dreamed of a life out of a small province in Ulsan. Because my mom let me experience bigger worlds like Washington D.C. and San Jose in such a young age, I coveted to go back to the US one day. Since my parents aren’t the richest people, I had be the recipient of scholarships to enroll a university in the US. KMLA was the only way of having a better possibility of receiving a huge amount of scholarship since the school certifies my value as a student with potential to some extent. 16 years of my life, I looked towards only one place. KMLA.           I have no enjoyable memories with my primary or middle school friends. KMLA to a student in Ulsan was a goal so tall, that I constantly doubted whether it was a plausible goal (one or no student gets accepted to KMLA each year). But few moments after I got accepted to KMLA, the sense of futility one feels when one overcame trials and reached the pinnacle overwhelmed me. Wouldn’t this be t

 Rating: 8.6/10     Recent focus on short stories featuring  on feminism and gender equality has made me cultivate ability of viewing the world in a specific aspect. Short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ too had lots of details the author implemented regarding herself experiencing ‘rest cure’ to cure postpartum depression. Gilman put detailed depiction on isolation and forced feeding during the narrator’s time in a room with yellow wallpaper. The depiction of a wallpaper as a desperate woman looking for an escape from the bars of cage perhaps represents herself yearning to escape from her husband/doctor’s repression of her freedom.       I liked how the story ended with John fainting because it perhaps represents the author’s hope towards gender equality. Despite all the suppression the narrator experienced, she never faints nor shows her weakness to John. Meanwhile, John easily collapses when he encounters his wife behind the door. This ending was freshening as it casted hope for women’

 Rating: 7/10     'Give and take' relationships have been so pervasive that most people hesitate to interact with others unless they promise your elevation to a higher rank. Most people show respect or ask for their wellness for a reason: elevation of their place within the social structure. This kind of relationship is well depicted by O’Connor. For example, the mutual respect between Mrs. Turpin and her African-American workers is solely due to the benefits they gain out of that relationship. Mrs. Turpin even trusts her biggest virtue is possessing a good disposition even to dark-skinned workers, while the truth is that she pretends to have a good disposition because she can’t possibly do all household without her workers.       At this point, connection held by mutual needs is inevitable in this society. The world has been so much focused on profit that individuals don’t truly sympathize no matter what. The world is gradually becoming void of emotions, but full of calculatio

 Rating: 8.5/10     Nowadays,  relationships between people has become so complex that individuals ought to seek for a way of being useful in order to develop stable friendship. Even family members who are not blood related hesitate to fully trust each other when it comes to financial issues. Ohgi, in this short story, is an orphan who loses physical and financial ability due to the car accident. The moment Ohgi opens his eyes after the accident, he was without all the reputation he has established his entire life, but his helpless chunk of body. Everything Oghi had believed was his no longer was, and all he had left was his useless, tattered body and the mattress it lay on. In other words, his life went non-existent after he lost the ‘useful’ abilities.       This way, I felt shivers rushing down my spine, thinking of the potentially superfluous friendships I may have. It was also depressing acknowledging that the majority of my friens will turn away from me if I went through such an

 Ra ting: 6/10      Multiple industrial revolutions won't change how people of distinct echelons are treated differently. The juxtaposition of Maggie's life and the glimpses into the lives of rich people magnified the problematic distribution of advantage even during the third Industrial Revolution. While Maggie was trying to deal with the harsh realities of her fractured life (economically, mentally, etc.), she had to lower her self-respect and pride to blend in the capitalistic society. In Ms. Dr. Blum's house, Maggie's sullen attitude quickly turns into an understanding and respectful  attitude the second she gets reminded of the fact that she's merely a cleaning lady.      Personally, narrating style of this story was not favorable since I could find no solid development nor an incidental event. The story of a cleaning woman gazing out the bus window is prone to be monotonous if the reader finds it hard to realize her representation of overlooked working women.