Voices from the University of Iowa Writing Center
Contents:
"Remembering the first time I met a Geisha" by Gilsun Lim, Hometown: Busan, South Korea
"An Old Woman" by Ye Liu, Hometown: WeHan, China
"Placing a Photo in Context" by Katie Cronbaugh, Hometown: Marengo, Iowa
"Book Reaction Paper: No One's Perfect" by Nai-Jiin Yang, Home Country: Taiwan
"Sticking To His Guns" by Grace Pang, Home Country: Hong Kong
"First Year Film Studies" by Katherine Phillips, Hometown: Golden, Illinois
"Stilled Moments"by Hanna Lee, Hometown: West Des Moines, IA
"What I Learned and Why" by Lauren Block, Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA
"Chinese Culture in the Era of Globalization: Imbalance of Chinese and English" by Yun Zhou, Hometown: Shenzhen, China
"Saturday Football Rituals" by Christopher Rowell, Hometown: Cleveland, OH
"Maybe a Fire" by Bee San Tan, Home Country: Malaysia
Remembering the first time I met a Geisha
By Gilsun Lim
Hometown: Busan, South Korea
It was one night during winter of 1996. Our 17th foreign teacher trainee team was invited on a ski trip by the University of Tsukuba in Japan for three days. Early in the morning, after four hours of driving, we arrived at the Mito mountain. The first thing we did was to stretch and learn some basic skills to ski; after that we started to ski. But one hour of practice was not enough to ski on the top of the mountain. So, actually, what we did was learn how to fall down on the snow.
For some of us, Otto and Khan, it was the first time to see snow. All of us were tired of falling down. At one moment, I had an injury to my knee. It was not serious, but I was somewhat upset that I didn't know how to ski. Our group of 21 members went to Ryokan which was a Japanese style hotel.
After a shower, I went later to Enkaizyo, a big restaurant for dinner, because I felt pain on my knee. When I entered Enkaizyo, I was surprised to see a Geisha. It was the first time I met a Geisha. I just had seen a Geisha through photos and films. This real meeting of a Geisha made me excited. She looked like she was about 40 years old. Her pale face and her long white neck were in good harmony with the bright green and red Kimono.
If I expressed it in just one sentence, I would say that "she was not beautiful but had a strange attractiveness within her face." Her eyes were black and looked like long slits on her white face. Before a dance, she taught something to a young Geisha. She looked about 20 years old; she was a little fat and was wearing a long blue and red kimono.
In the middle of our dinner, at last the elder Geisha started to play music, and then the young Geisha started to dance with the music. Frankly to speak, I was not interested in the great meal and the young geisha's splendor dance. At that time, my whole mind was caught with the elder geisha's playing sound of the instrument called a Shamisen. The instrument she was playing had a dark brown round body with a long neck. It looked like a very small guitar with long a neck.
The music was not loud but filled the whole room. I can not remember the title of song, but I can still remember the sorrow of the song. She sang the sadness of an old ruined castle. "There were so many famous Shogun [Japan General] who lived there, but now it remained just lonely winds and a broken body. The full moon in the sky gave more sorrow to meÉ" I remember dimly. After dancing, they bowed to us and walked along our seat line. Kanti and Jane (who came from Philippines) took a picture with her and shook their hands. At last, in my turn, the rhythm of my heart beat rapidly because of encountering her in front of me. She had a mysterious attractiveness that deserved my whole interests, even though I didn't know the heights of her life or the sorrows or hard times of her life. At that moment, she looked the happiest person in this world.
I still don't know how, but at that time I asked her "Could I wear your beautiful gown?" She thought for a moment and smiled and took off her gown and dressed me. I was surprised at her sudden act. Because I didn't expect at all, looking at her white innermost slip, I thought to myself "How stupid I am!" I really regretted my awkward request. Furthermore, she took off her big false hair which was decorated with some red, green, and blue beads and silver leaves and feathers. Suddenly I turned into a Geisha, and she turned into just an ordinary person. At that time, every one of my friends envied me thinking to themselves "Why didn't I ask Gilsun did."
When I looked at the photo which was taken by my favorite friend, Otto, I remember how nice and smooth the gown was against my skin. It was made of silk. In the picture, I saw myself a small and slim woman seated in front of the stage with Kimono and her bright smile. My head was not straight but leaning to the right a little bit. But if I looked carefully, I could find a middle aged Geisha was standing behind me with simple underwear and a brown net on her head. She stood calm with a small smile. Her eyes told me she was thinking of something deeply. It looked like she was in another world. She was standing behind me, a little separated from me.
I impressed with her generosity in giving me her Kimono and hair to wear. The next day, our team started for Mito for ski, but I couldn't. My injured leg couldn't let me go. It was not interesting to remain alone in the hotel, after everyone went to Mito mountain to enjoy skiing.
I woke up late and ate an Udon and went to a hot spring in the back side of the hotel. The back side of hotel was a mountain. Around the hot spring was a small valley with beautiful big trees. There was no roof, and it just had small walls. It was so strange to experience walking naked outside at noon because it was my first time. They were all women, but I still felt uncomfortable.
I sank my body in the middle of the hot water and looked at the naked big brown winter trees. The sky was so blue and clear and my body was warm, but the winter air was so cold. Looking for white evaporations from my nose and mouth, at that moment I dreamed a strange dream.
It was a big garden. I stood on Ginkakuzi in the Kyoto. I was wearing a gorgeous yellow Kimono with a small red umbrella in my right hand. I turned into a real Geisha.
On the pond, there were several swans swimming very slowly. And the gold waves of water twinkled brightly, reflecting sunlight. Suddenly, the sky turned to blue and black with some lightening and thunder. My body was lifted into the air and I started to dance very rapidly with that thunder sounds and severe Daiko (big drum) rhythm. The dance was far away from the graceful and the beautiful, but I still remember the enthusiasm for something.
Grandma's chattering broke my dream; I woke with surprise. The sky was still blue, and the air was cold. But I was changed. The sky was not a usual blue sky; the air was not just fresh cold air. I was not a Geisha any more in this real world. But my memories of the moment of Geisha were so impressive and gave strong feelings to me.
Everyone has a kind of Geisha in one's mind: It will be a Geisha who is looking for beauty in music and dance; it will be a Geisha who is looking for the success; or it will be a Geisha who is looking for the passion for something. Then, now I want to ask to myself what kind of a Geisha that I want to be, and what kinds of things that I am looking for in this world. Is it for the beauty of art? Is it for the success in this world? Is this the honor in my times? I don't know what is my real goal in this life. What is the happiest thing to me? Why did I leave my country for Iowa?
What I know is I don't know anything. But I just believe that tomorrow is better than today. Tomorrow is happier than now. It is my dream and my belief.
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An Old Woman
By Ye Liu
Hometown: WeHan, China
My wife and I met an old woman, Joecy, in a church activity. She brought a soup there that was very delicious. She said the soup was German style because she was of German descent. She was sixty-six years old, overweight and she couldn't walk smoothly because her feet were damaged. She said Iowa City was her hometown. When she was married, she lived in another city, and after she retired, she returned. She was active and optimistic. Since we were there for the first time and didn't know others very much, she tried to talk with us and made sure we didn't feel lonely. I thought she was very nice.
To my surprise, she has to work hard and has two jobs that total forty hours per week. One job is to take care of an eighty-four year old lady. The lady lives alone and can't care for herself. Joecy buys groceries, cooks food and maybe cleans the house for her. Joecy does a lot and made only eight dollars per hour for a long time. Since Americans that we had met before live happily and didn't seem to worry about money, we were surprised about her situation and asked her why she worked so hard. She said the social security or her saved money was not enough, so she had to work. She also said because she worked well, her salary was just increased to twelve dollars per hour. She was elated about the good news.
About a week later, some one told us that Joecy had injured her foot. That week, the old lady's children had come to visit, so Joecy cooked a lot of food, standing the whole day in the kitchen. Maybe because of this, her foot was injured that night and she was sent to the Emergency Room. When we heard this, we felt very sad. Then we came to know more about Joecy. She just has a high school degree. After she graduated, she got married and became a housewife. Maybe several years ago, her husband left her. Her children, one son and one daughter, seldom visit her house (maybe an apartment). I guess her ex-husband doesn't give her money to support her life, so she has to work hard. Since she doesn't have any college degree or work experience, she just gets low-paying jobs.
I think Joecy's life is extremely hard. Considering her hard life, I feel sad. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, from TV and newspapers I came to know there were some very poor people in the U.S. However, I couldn't imagine that there would be some one so poor near my own life. Now the U.S. is really different from what I thought before.
After I came here in 2002, I saw an old lady collecting empty cans from trash cans in the downtown area several times. The woman dressed neatly and one leg was lame. Since in China only very poor people, dressing in rags, collect things from trash cans, I was confused when I saw the old woman. I wondered why she did this and then asked an American friend. He said maybe the old woman was concerned about the environment. When I heard this reason, I still wondered. Now I think she did it maybe just because she had to.
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Placing a Photo in Context
By Katie Cronbaugh
Hometown: Marengo, Iowa
Did you know that in Iraq civilians are being killed instead of military personnel? Over 9,934 have been killed in the year 2005 alone. My argument is that this photograph helps construct an interpretation of the articles surrounding it that the war in Iraq is heading to the streets and taking the lives of civilians. I will first discuss the context in which this photo appears. Second, I will give a description of the photo on the denotative and connotative levels. Finally, I will make an argument for how the photograph shapes the context.
I will now discuss the context in which this photo appears. This edition of Newsweek is a "Special Report" entitled "How Bloody?" When you open to the first page of the magazine you come to the table of contents which has a caption that says, "It was supposed to be easier than this" (Thomas and Barry 3). What does this caption lead people to think about the stories that are about to be presented in this magazine? Were we really not ready for this?
The article that surrounds the photo I have chosen is entitled, "A Plan under Attack." This article first explains what military weapons that the U.S. military is using in the War on Terror. In the middle of this article there is a diagram of an animated war scene entitled, "Taking It to the Streets," which shows hypothetically where the military forces and the civilians would be and what kind of gear and weapons they are using. It reads, "Civilians: Coalition forces will try to limit collateral damage. But it's hard to know who to trust with Iraqi militia dressing like civilians" (Thomas and Barry 29). This diagram and this caption go along with the photograph that I have chosen, which is a young wounded girl who is a civilian.
Now that I have talked about the context in which the photo appears, I will give a description of the photo on a denotative and connotative level. There is a young girl pictured in the lower left corner of the photo, surrounded by four U.S. soldiers. A soldier's face is shown in the upper right corner of the photograph. The soldiers appear to be kneeling down next to the young girl on the ground and they appear to be giving her medical attention. They are in full combat uniform, which could indicate that this girl was caught in the middle of a combat zone and these soldiers have rescued her from it. The lighting in the image is only shown on the face of the young girl, while the soldiers' faces are in the shadows, making the girl and her pain the main focus of the photograph.
Another interpretation that a reader of this Newsweek might get is that the editors that used this picture are using the little girl to appeal to our emotions just like in Control Room, when the director used emotional scenes of women and children to the audience's emotions. Both the Newsweek photograph and the scenes in Control Room are images of people's pain, which are attempts to evoke sympathy from the audience or viewer.
Now that I have given a description of the photograph on the denotative and connotative levels, I will state whether the caption of the photograph is an anchor or relay. The caption of the photograph is pictured in the right upper corner of the image and states, "As the fighting spread to the cities of Iraq, soldiers loyal to Saddam Hussein were forcing locals to fight by shooting at their backs. Here Marines treat a 4-year-old girl hit by the cross-fire." The first part of this caption is a relay, telling us what isn't being shown in the photograph. The second half, which talks about the soldiers helping the young girl, is an anchor, stating what is happening in the photograph.
Now that I have stated whether the caption of the photograph was an anchor or a relay, I will finally make an argument about how this photo shapes the context. The reason that this was a good photograph to put in this section of this particular magazine - a "Special Report" - is because it follows the cover heading of the magazine, "How Bloody?" How bloody is it over in Iraqi? A reader of Newsweek might think that the photographs would show bleeding and injured U.S. soldiers, but flipping through this magazine the reader would see a little girl covered in blood instead.
This photograph builds opinions. When I was looking through this magazine issue, this photograph was the one that hit me the strongest. All of the other photographs, such as military photos with just soldiers posing for the camera, did not stand out as much because we can see those everyday on the news or in newspapers. The reason that this image was taken and put into this article was because the editor wanted to catch your attention and make you want to read on in the article to learn more about what happened to this little girl and why: what is actually going on in the war in Iraq.
In general, we think about war with soldiers from two opposing sides fighting each other. The photo in my article emphasizes that citizens are getting caught in the cross-fire. First, I talked about the story in which this photograph appears. Then, I gave a description of the photo on the denotative and connotative levels. Finally, I explained how this photograph shapes the context.
* * * * * *
Book Reaction Paper: No One's Perfect
By Nai-Jiin Yang
Home Country: Taiwan
No One's Perfect (2000) is the story of a young man full of passion for his life and how he embraces his life in a manner of unstoppable buoyant enthusiasm. This encouraging book inspires us with the thought that one does not have to be born perfect in order to be happy. The enjoyment of life comes from how we define ourselves. Our spirit can transcend our bodies.
Hirotada Ototake, the author, was born with no arms and no legs. In this book, he uses a lighthearted tone to illustrate how he confronts difficulties in his daily life and how he overcomes them with his inner strength. He describes how he overcame his difficulties, including: making friends and playing with them; contributing to his class when teamwork was required; daring to accomplish things viewed by others as too hard for him, such as participating in a team race for his elementary school's sports day; signing up for a basketball club in junior high school; and being a member of his senior high school's football team. Aside from these physical activities, he also applies to a prestigious senior high school and university and runs for the position of chairman of the Culture Steering Committee in his junior high school.
Ototake conveys well to readers that these challenges that he has faced have shaped his optimistic life philosophy, filled him with unstoppable buoyant enthusiasm toward life, and led him to be appreciative of what life offers him. He attributes his success in finding his identity to the nourishing environment that he grew in up, which includes caring and loving parents, teachers, and friends. Raised by parents and teachers who clearly know what Ototake can accomplish and who offer their help to Ototake only when it is necessary, Ototake learned that he is a capable person like any other. He learned how to write, walk, eat, read, and exercise. Moreover, by receiving thoughtful arrangements from his teachers, he learned that he could actively share in the responsibilities of the class. In addition, his parents' confidence in him and support for him in every moment that challenges him also plays an indispensable role in his life. The active and encouraging attitudes of his parents and teachers ensure that Ototake, even after experiencing various challenges in his life, comes to the conclusion that everyone exists in his or her unique way and has his or her unique value for society. It is his inner belief that there are some things that only people with disabilities can do that motivates him to keep moving forward.
Ototake achieves several things in this book. First of all, he uses his own story to break down prejudices that healthy people tend to have toward people with disabilities. The most representative one is "people with disabilities, especially severe ones, are still viewed as a group of 'takers' who don't put much back into the system, into the family, the community, or the larger society" (Vash & Crewe, 2004, p. xvi). Such a statement implies that the people with disabilities are not capable of giving because of their disability. Such a shaky premise leads us to have a profound concern toward how people with disabilities could have a function in society, which is the author's second achievement.
Ototake reminds us that it is important to distinguish the differences among impairments, disabilities, and handicaps if you want to understand how capable people with disabilities can be. Take Ototake as an example. By being aware of the differences among these concepts, we would never jump to the conclusion that Ototake has only limited functionality because of his lack of arms and legs. Instead, after reading his story, we would discern that congenital disability is only a characteristic of Ototake's body; he is not special, but a person like everybody else who may experience a time if disability when it is impossible to perform some specific activities due to a shortage of strength. People can have their own shortages because no one's perfect. Besides these activities, Ototake can function like other person as long as society offers him a handicap-free environment.
Besides the great emphasis on the importance of the environment for people with disabilities, the author also points out the making disability meaningful in some way can help people develop their abilities, especially their spirits. Just like Vash and Crewe say, "one's spiritual belief system and philosophy of life shape the meaning of disablement for each affected person; this, in turn, influences the ways in which one reacts" (2004, p. 21). Since he was a child, Ototake has transcended his disability by defining his lack of legs and arms as his strong point. So we can observe that in his life experiences, he has taken advantage of having no legs and no arms and used this to benefit himself by making friends, playing basketball, creating his own value, and so on. He not only gives a high appraisal of his disability, but also identifies positively with it. After becoming aware of the unique contribution he can make toward society, he devotes himself to improving the immediate environment and to changing attitudes towards and the values placed on people with disabilities. His ambition to create a society where one person can respect and even embrace another person's differences is indeed significant and admirable.
* * * * * *
Sticking To His Guns
By Grace Pang
Home Country: Hong Kong
"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger." ("President Bush Addresses") In a televised address from the White House, U.S. President, George W. Bush announced to the nation the start of military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003. The United States claimed that Iraq illegally possessed weapons of mass destruction and needed to be forcibly disarmed. The Bush administration heralded the mission as keeping the world safe; however, the military action did not run as smoothly as predicted. In the April 7, 2003 issue of TIME, a ten-page article describes the progress and details of the first week of war, and how the Bush administration was reacting to a situation and enemy very different from what they had anticipated. In this essay, I will discuss one photograph that appears in this article, and suggest that the photograph functions to strengthen the message of the article, which is to emphasize the resolve of the Bush Administration. In order to demonstrate my point, I will discuss the story of the article, the content of the photograph and the ways in which the photograph works alongside the context of the article.
First, I will summarize the story of this article. In the beginning of the article, Ratnesar discusses a press conference with the U.S. president George W. Bush, who answered questions regarding the on-going Iraq War. After one week into the war, the U.S found that the Iraqi forces were tougher than many had anticipated. Reports of Iraqi irregular forces harassing U.S. troops up and down the road to Baghdad were coming out, forcing the U.S. military to modify its tactics. Doubts about the war's progress were growing. However, the Bush Administration was showing even more determination to destroy Saddam Hussein. The main message the Bush administration sent out in the press conference was "resolve." When Bush was asked at the press conference whether the war would last "last months, not weeks," Bush answered, "However long it takes to win. However. Long. It takes." After talking about the press conference, Ratnesar describes the events and progression of the first week of war in Iraq. Ratnesar states that U.S. troops were facing great resistance from the Iraqis, which complicated their mission and imperiled their lives. The U.S. troops were threatened by the violent fighters who were loyal to Saddam Hussein. Four G.I.s were killed at a checkpoint north of the central Iraqi city of Najaf by an Iraqi suicide bomber. The U.S. forces were also under threat from a militant Iranian group and a fierce and unexpected enemy, Fedayeen Saddam, a military group headed by Saddam's son Uday, which stunned the U.S. troops by their will to fight. Moreover, U.S. troops were facing great challenges from the deceptive tactics of the Iraqis. For instance, some U.S. soldiers died in ambushes from Iraqis pretending to surrender. In general, the article conveys the message that the war was tough on the U.S. military. According to the article, after ten days of combat, 38 Americans and 23 Britons were dead. At the end of the article, Ratnesar concludes that more deaths and difficulties would be faced by the U.S. military, but the Bush administration would not stop until victory.
According to Barthes, an image can be divided into denotative and connotative level. I will now describe the content of the photograph and mix the two levels together. The photograph is composed of three U.S Marines on a sandy plain. According to the little caption printed at the left bottom corner of the photograph, the photograph was taken when the U.S. Marines were in Nasiriyah on their way to Baghdad encountering an enemy attack. In the bottom right of the photograph, a soldier is ducking enemy fire. His body is lying horizontally on the ground with his head facing downward into the sand. His left arm is extended sideways, bending towards his face. The soldier is sticking his forehead into his left hand. The photograph shows his left profile shadowed by his big blackish goggles, which are wrapped around his head. We cannot see his face clearly as it is in the shadow, but we can tell the soldier is fearful. In the center of the photograph, we see another soldier lying on the sand. He is visibly hurt. His eyes are tightly closed and he looks very tired and in pain. His head is lying on his clothes, and his upper body is naked. From the photograph, we see the waist of this soldier is covered by something that looks like bandage. We also see what looks like the remains of medical supplies scattered next to the wounded soldier. His legs are bent and one of his knees is sticking straight up. His pants look very dirty and brownish, with much sand and mud sticking on them. The third soldier is sitting beside the wounded soldier, giving an expression of sorrow. A distinct boundary between the land and the sky is extended horizontally across the photograph from one edge to the other edge. From the slightly concave shape of the boundary, we can tell the soldiers are located on an incline, with the slope of the landscape rising slowly towards the top of the photograph. Moreover, some kind of destruction or explosion seems to be happening a certain distance away from the soldiers. We see a crowd of black smoke densely rising up from the boundary of the land and the sky, slowly spreading towards the right. We cannot tell what the cause of the smoke is; perhaps it is fire from the enemy. What is clear is that the soldiers are in a dangerous place.
I will now discuss the functions of the photograph. The first and most basic function of this photograph is to help anchor the text. The photograph is illustrating the story of the U.S. soldiers fighting in Nasiriyah. In the article, we are told that the U.S. forces were forced to defend their positions every step of the way when they charged forward through the arid plains of central Iraq, a story that is shown in the photograph. The photograph also illustrates the toughness and danger of the war.
Apart from illustrating the story of the article, the photograph also functions rhetorically alongside the layout and setting of the page. The photograph is equally distributed across two pages. It is located at the middle top of the page. Its upper edge is lying along the edge of the page while the other three sides are surrounded with text. On the left top corner of the page, there is a small headline bar, bordered in black, which says, "Iraq The War." The word "Iraq" is printed in white and highlighted in red, while the word "The War" is printed in pale grey and highlighted in a deeper grey. A quote from the commander of the 3rd Brigade, 7th Marines printed in large, capital letters right underneath the photograph, which says, "The enemy has gone asymmetric on us. There's treachery. There are ambushes. It's not conventional." These words are also printed in red, grey and black. Here I think the editor is using these colors, along with the text, in order to shape the message. Red gives the audience a feeling of danger and blood. Grey represents sadness, mess and dirt, while black represents seriousness. The photograph helps bring out this message by showing the mess and dirt of the war. We see the soldiers fighting in a desert, with mud and sand sticking on their clothes and arms. The smoke and the soldier who is protecting himself from the enemy fire show the hardship of war. Moreover, the vulnerable wounded body represents the hurt and death of U.S. soldiers. When paying attention to the magazine layout around the photograph, we see the photograph is working in along with the headline and surrounding text to shape the style and message of the article.
In my opinion, however, apart from the points discussed above, the photograph has a further function alongside the context of the first week of the Iraq War. I suggest that the photograph strengthens President Bush's message of "resolve." On the cover page of the article, which is spread over two pages, a big close shot of Bush's head is used as background, covering the whole page on the right. Bush is frowning and his lips are sticking tightly together. It looks like he is thinking of something that is very serious. On the left of the page, a big title, "Sticking To His Guns" is distinctly printed with all words in capital letters. According to the article "Visual Arguments," the size and font of character help develop the style of an article. Here the big size of the words, along with the weight of the language itself, make the message of resolve powerful. With the aid of images, language, and the font of text, President Bush's message of resolve on the war in Iraq is powerfully portrayed. When we finish reading the cover page and turn to the next page, we see the photograph of the three soldiers displayed in the middle of the page, illustrating the U.S. soldiers facing big hardships in war. This image of vulnerability and sorrow contrasts greatly with the strong and powerful message of resolve on the cover page. I suggest that the insertion of this photograph after the cover page is used to strengthen the message of resolve. When we look at the photograph with Bush's resolve in mind, we might question why the president is so determined to win the war even though he knows that the war is tough and his soldiers are dying. At the same time, the photograph strengthens his message of resolve. As the conclusion of the article says, there's no turning back the war until the U.S. wins.
When we look at the photograph, emotion and sympathy will easily be evoked. However, apart from the sense of sorrow and hardship, I think the photograph here is also conveying a message of perseverance. Although the situation is tough, the U.S. military is fighting bravely. This also strengthens Bush's message of resolve. In the article "A Plan Under Attack" published in the April 7,2003 issue of Newsweek, the same story of the unpredictable hardship of war is discussed. However, its main theme is questioning whether the U.S. started the war with enough force. In the article, a picture of a wounded soldier with his face obscured is shown. The soldier is being transported out of a plane. Alongside the context of the article, the photograph sends out a negative message of the loss of lives in war. However, this photograph is not used in the article in TIME, which seems to be emphasizing more the resolve of the Bush Administration. If this photograph has been used in the TIME article, I believe the whole article would have been interpreted in a totally different way.
In this essay, I have demonstrated how the photograph functions in the article and how it strengthens the message of Bush's resolve. Although the photograph is admitting the vulnerability of and losses suffered by U.S. troops, it would for many Americans strengthen their support for the U.S. military intervention. The emotions evoked by the photograph would lead most Americans at that point in time to feel patriotic towards the military action, rather than critical of the war. What is interesting is how a similar photograph would be read by many Americans much differently today.
First Year Film Studies
By Katherine Phillips
Hometown: Golden, Illinois
When I came to Iowa to study film, I expected to find students who were truly interested in film, and I assumed that people would share my love for classic movies. I was born and raised on TCM. Every day I would watch the Gable's, the Garbo's, the Marx's, and even occasionally, the Chaplin's. Coming to study film is a shock, because most of the film students are Pulp Fiction, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars junkies. Nothing is wrong with those films, although I have not actually seen Lord of the Rings, but I assumed that more people who are spending the money it takes to go to film school are actually interested in all of film.
My first film class was Contemporary U.S. Cinema, with Louis Schwartz. Wow, I was in for a shock. Louis on the first day of class wore leather pants, a
tight black shirt with a huge flannel jacket over the top and a pink hat. But the most alarming accessory was his bright red Hello Kitty bag. I knew from that moment on I was entering another dimension. I loved his class. He's sarcastic, witty, and most of all interesting, but still people find a way to skip his class.
One day I counted and out of the 44 potential students, only 16 were there, seven of whom were my friends. This class was U.S. cinema, not foreign films. We watched Jaws and Jurassic Park, but still no one came. I could not figure it out, until Pulp Fiction week arrived. Everyone--all 44 students--came and awaited Louis' facts about their much beloved movie. One student came wearing the banana slug tee shirt that John Travolta sports after Mr. Wolf gives him a shower.
Quentin Tarantino seems to be the new George Lucas to this generation of film students. Really I have no problem with my fellow students, but I find it amusing, because it is the opposite of what I was expecting. I assumed that we would lose the Star Wars junkies and really talk about film. But, I find my classmates' opinions on other movies amusing, so I think I will stick around.
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Stilled Moments
By Hanna Lee
Hometown: West Des Moines, IA
We live in stilled moments
The silence is fragile
when words cannot say
what is buried too deeply
Immovable behind
closed eyes
Crushed beneath
an invisible weight
A head bows
Sometimes
There are simply
no words
We live in stilled moments
With nothing to explain
the depths
of our downcast eyes
Where the words
fade off
Faltering lips
A drop of the shoulders
to leave us
suspended
between a pounding heartbeat
and the breathlessness
of a dream
We live in stilled moments
When words seem
useless
And encircling embraces
stop the legs
from crumbling
We live in stilled moments
These silent moments
Emptiness filled
to overflowing
with a yearning to find
a voice
To say
all that longs
to be known
We are stilled in these moments
A motionless share of thought
Sitting and hugging the knees
Rising and staring
into the distance
We are stilled in these moments
Which pass
in a blink
a stray hair
a breath
An eternity
We are stilled in these moments
Utterly captured
in moments
which can only be cupped
briefly
then
set free
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What I Learned and Why
By Lauren Block
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA
To be honest with you, the first few days of class I did not enjoy. I felt very uncomfortable and I felt that I did not know anything about the war compared to other people. However, throughout the semester, I learned that I was not the only person with little knowledge about the war. Taking this class definitely opened my eyes to the War in Iraq. I went into this class with very few opinions on the current war, but after many discussions I feel more comfortable debating and exchanging my own viewpoint about that topic. By discussing many different topics related to the War in Iraq, I have formed many solid opinions. Before taking this class, I knew little about the war. Now, however, I agree with what Cindy Sheehan is doing. I would tell a person in a conversation that I believe Iraq is on its way to a civil war and that Bush has made some bad decisions when dealing with this war.
I had very little previous knowledge about Cindy Sheehan, an antiwar activist. I knew that her son, Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq about two years ago. I also knew that Cindy Sheehan was well known for her peace camp during summer 2005 outside of President Bush's Texas ranch. I based my opinion of Cindy Sheehan on very little information, like what little I had seen in the news. I thought that she went a little overboard because many Americans have been killed in Iraq and Casey, unfortunately, was another one. After doing research about Cindy and Casey's situation, I completely changed my opinion on Cindy Sheehan's actions.
There are a several main reasons that led me to change my opinion on how Cindy Sheehan handled her son's death. The first reason is because President Bush treated her poorly in her meetings with him. Sheehan stated that her meetings were the most "disgusting" experiences she had ever had. She said that President Bush showed no emotion towards her and her husband. Bush did not know their names and when the Sheehans walked into the room with President Bush, he said, "who we'all honorin' here today?" Bush also kept calling her "mom" and Sheehan felt like President Bush was not being respectful by addressing her that way (Henry "Top Democrats Showing Splits Over Iraq"). Casey Sheehan was also not at all supportive of the war in the first place because he did not believe that the President was using all of the soldiers going to war wisely. Casey also felt that he was being lied to in many ways by President Bush.
Another reason that I agree with Cindy Sheehan's actions is because of civil rights. Sheehan's rights were violated when she was arrested during Bush's State of the Union address for wearing a t-shirt that said, "2245 Dead. How many more?" (Locke "'Peace Mom' still campaigning against war"). People wear shirts like these all the time and they do not get arrested. I think that arresting her was going a little overboard. The police could have simply asked her to leave if that is what they wanted. In general, I agree with Cindy Sheehan's opinion on the war. Cindy believes that it is time for the United States to get the military out of Iraq. She wants to send in an army of diplomats to help the Iraqis solve their problems and to help them rebuild their country but she believes that a military is not necessary to do that (Henry "Top Democrats Showing Splits Over Iraq").
The thought of a civil war in Iraq never occurred to me before I did a lot of research on the topic. I did not know much about the situation between the Sunni, Shiites and Kurds in Iraq. I knew they were fighting but I did not realize how extreme the fighting was. I thought the War in Iraq would be a "normal" war, just like World War I and II and that once it was finished everything would be fine. Unfortunately, I have learned that Iraq will not be like World War I or II. After researching a possible civil war in Iraq, I think that Iraq is headed to an eventual civil war.
I feel that Iraq may not be in a civil war now but it is definitely moving very fast towards one. This became very clear to me when I learned more about the relationship between the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Phebe Marr, a historian of Iraq, says that a chaotic mix of anti-United States resistance, Sunni-Shiite communal bloodshed, and Islamic-extremist terrorism lends itself to the interpretation that Iraq is in a civil war (Hanley "What Would Iraq Civil War Look Like?"). I learned a lot about why various Muslim sects have been fighting each other historically and how that relates to their fighting now. The Sunnis and Shiites both abide by the Qur'an but the two groups interpret it differently. The split between Islamic groups began when Muhammad, God's final prophet died. The Sunnis and Shiites immediately began fighting over who should be the next prophet.
This relates to the war today because if they did not have previous issues, the issues today would not be such a big deal. I would also argue that Iraq is headed towards a civil war based on the evidence that there are so many deaths between Islamic groups. With 2,414 Americans killed, 17,381 Americans injured, and about 35,000 Iraqi civilians killed, I would say these numbers prove Iraq to be heading towards a civil war ("US Casualties in Iraq"). The three groups have been bombing each other's mosques and there have been many roadside bombings and crowd bombings. According to Hanley, "things are getting worse, Baghdadis will tell you," (Hanley "What Would Iraq Civil War Look Like?"). Hanley reports that many businesses bar their doors at night because of the threat of Sunni or Shiite sectarian gangs. These groups are also dividing into smaller and smaller groups because they cannot agree on anything.
In addition, Iraq's government is very feeble. The United States is trying to form a democracy in a country that has been a dictatorship for a long time, which is hard to work. Trying to form a democracy is causing confusion all throughout Iraq, with the Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and Americans all trying to form a different type of government. Because of this disagreement, the Iraqi government is very weak. Since no one can agree on a form of government, the government is becoming powerless. Since the Sunnis and Shiites have never been able to get along, one cannot expect them suddenly to get along and form a new government together.
Another important topic that I learned more about is my opinion on President George W. Bush. Previously, I did not know very much about him and was unsure about what I thought of him. When it came to the last elections, I thought that it was good that he was elected because he was the previous president; therefore, he had experience. He was also the one that got the United States into this war so he should finish it. As for him going into Iraq, previously I thought that the United States should mind its own business and leave Iraq to figure its government problem on its own.
My view of President Bush pretty much stayed the same but got stronger. Furthermore, I got more support to back up my opinion. Overall, I think that Bush is a good president, although I disagree with some of his decisions. I still disagree with him getting into the war in the first place, but I do think that now that we are in Iraq the United States needs to help Iraq rebuild. I do not know, though, if it is possible to solve the problem in Iraq between the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. I think there are so many problems in Iraq that they will never be able to agree on anything, especially a new president.
I also formed an opinion on the idea of preventive war. Preventive war is United States' way of "self defense." It says that the United States can protect itself if we feel that we are threatened. Preventive war is described a lot in the Bush Doctrine. I disagree with Bush's idea of preventive war in Iraq's situation. Bush argued that Iraqi missiles threatened the United States, with biological and chemical weapons, and it turns out that the weapons of mass destruction turned out to be incorrect. I think the United States did not have a good enough reason to go into Iraq. It also seems that every time something is proven wrong in Iraq, the United States (Bush) changes its reason for being in this war. Even though I disagree with some of Bush's decisions I cannot imagine having the job of the President. No matter what decisions the president makes, at least half of the country is going to disagree with him. He has a very hard job trying to please everyone. I feel that the President has been made fun of much more than he deserves. The movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" was very unfair to Bush. I feel that movie blew everything out of proportion. For example, I do not think that Bush goes on vacation that much. Michael Moore twisted all of his pictures, videos, and interviews to help him make his point ("Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11: How One Film Divided a Nation"). I do not think President Bush is as dumb as Moore made him look.
After becoming more informed on the War in Iraq I feel that I should do something with my new knowledge. Although I found a lot of these topics interesting, I do not plan on joining any antiwar/pro-war groups. I will pay more attention to the news about Iraq because I know more about what is going on. I also believe that because I have very little say in what goes on with the United States, the most important thing I can do is research and make the most educated vote possible for the next elections. I think that having this new knowledge will help me be a better educated voter. I also feel like I will have a better stance in war discussions. This class has been a learning experience for me and has helped me to feel confident in having a viewpoint.
So should Cindy Sheehan be as upset as she is about her son dying in the war? Or should she realize that he died for a good cause? Is Iraq headed towards a civil war? Or will the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds solve all of their problems? Is President Bush a good president? Or is he lying to the country? These are all questions that have been debated over the course of the War in Iraq. After taking this class I have become much better informed about what is going on in Iraq. I gained a lot of knowledge about Cindy Sheehan, a possible civil war in Iraq, and I feel I have made an informed decision on whether or not Bush is doing a good job with Iraq.
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Chinese Culture in the Era of Globalization: The Imbalance of Chinese and English
By Yun Zhou
Hometown: Shenzhen, China
As China is performing a more and more important role in the global world, more and more people in other countries are learning Chinese right now. But on the other hand, in China, Chinese is facing a predicament it never has before because of the inroad of English.
Since the early 1990s, there has been an upsurge of learning English in China. English has been gradually substituting the role of Chinese in education. Students are required to learn English from grade one until the end of their education, no matter whether they are candidates for a bachelors, masters, or a PhD or whether they are majoring in Chinese, business or even calligraphy. Even some governors need to pass an English test to get promoted. But the Chinese people's native language doesn't receive this welcome. After high school, students are no longer required to take a Chinese Rhetoric course and most employers don't care about their employees' Chinese level, unless their employees are teachers. All of these things divert Chinese attention to English from Chinese or from other subjects that they are actually working on. In real life, English is not commonly used at all. Because of an overemphasis on the importance of English, society loses a lot of professional people and only employs "Chinese English-speakers" who may not have any professional knowledge.
Regardless of the minimal requirement for English that the society in general has, most parents place a higher value on English than Chinese. Pregnant women have their fetus listen to English songs as a kind of education from the very beginning of their kids' lives. More and more kindergartens have begun providing bilingual education. Parents are spending hundreds of dollars on their children's study of English. My aunt started to talk to her son in English when he was born, but all other relatives talk to him in Chinese. As a result, he started speaking much later than normal kids do, probably because too many languages confused him. My little cousin is seven-years-old now and he doesn't speak any English except for "yes" or "no." In 2004, profits gained from English teaching made up to 1% of the United Kingdom' GDP and 4 % of its output revenue.
Now let's look at the situation Chinese faces. A lot of teachers claim there is a growing number of students making mistakes in Chinese writing. At the 2005 college entrance exam in Canton, 10,000 students didn't get any points for the question on explaining ancient prose. In the Chinese competition hosted by Shanghai Fudan University in 2005, a group of students abroad that was usually ranked as the last or second to the last, which includes students from Korea, Russia and Singapore, won the championship this time.
While 30,000,000 students outside China are learning Chinese and 2500 universities in 100 countries all over the world offer Chinese classes, the level of proficiency in Chinese of Chinese students is worrisome.
Some people argue that it's because of a stereotype that people don't value what they already have. Chinese students don't try to comprehend the beauty of Chinese, since they use it every day and they think they know it well; foreign students are more willing to step back and study the cultural background of Chinese characters.
Another argument for the decline in knowledge of the Chinese language among Chinese students is that it's the result of institutional priorities. A good grade in English is more beneficial than a good grade in Chinese in college and when applying for jobs. Another pitfall of Chinese education also contributes to this result. That is "teaching to the test." Teachers only teach what will be tested instead of what students actually need. Students have nowhere to learn what they should value other than what tests ask them to value. Chinese is pushed out of college education. And even major courses do not weigh as much as English. So students have to put most of their energy into English and only English.
A language serves as the soul of a nation's culture. It's what has been there for hundreds and thousands of years and has been passed down by hundreds and thousands of generations. It records how the society formed and includes the intelligence of every generation it has. As a citizen of a country, one must master the native language and then study another language. And think about why do people need to learn a second language? It's to synchronize different cultures together. A second language works for the native language. If the Chinese lose their own language, what is the point of learning another language?
In the global world, no language should swallow another language and there isn't one language that is superior to the others. On the other hand, since the world is becoming global because of new technologies, each country should take advantage of these high-tech developments and promote its own culture more widely nationwide and worldwide. With portable electronic dictionaries and simultaneous interpretation, the communication of people with different native languages doesn't depend on one person knowing the language of the other. Losing its native language while having foreigners master the language is the sorrow of a country.
English should only serve as a tool for the Chinese instead of as a necessity. And Chinese should be the necessity for Chinese people--it should be what fetuses first hear when they are formed. Everyone should only be required to learn some basic daily English to deal with minor daily issues like giving directions when encountering foreign travelers. It should not take more than 2 years to gain this basic knowledge. Otherwise, English should be an optional subject and only be required for certain majors, occupations or a certain level of position. There should be a clear limit to promoting English. In addition, educators in China should strengthen their students' level of proficiency in Chinese and continue Chinese education in college.
As a country with 1.3 billion people, China should not let the world influence and erode it. It can embrace other cultures but at the same time preserve its own cultural identity. Chinese and English are not competitors all the time and there is a balance point that we can find between them.
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Saturday Football Rituals
By Christopher Rowell
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
The Saturday ritual before the game is one of the best feelings that you will have during the week. When I woke up at 7:30 am for the Illinois game, I was very pumped and ready. I saw that the TV was on ESPN and saw that College Game Day was on and they were talking about all the games that were going to be played that day. And the analyst Lee Corso was stating that Illinois Coach Ron Zook did not forget the last game that he coached against Iowa. His team had taken a bad beating and he's coming back for revenge. But Corso said that the Hawkeyes were well prepared for him.
I was on the scout team which consists of freshmen that redshirted their first year on campus in order to be well prepared to compete on a higher level in their second year in school. On scout team your job is to help prepare the players who will play on Saturdays. That week our job was to mimic Illinois' defense. I knew that we had prepared very well for our opponents that week and given it our all during practice, getting the upperclassmen ready to play Saturday's game.
I started to wash up and get dressed so I could go and get something to eat so I wouldn't be hungry during the game. After that, I waited on a couple of my teammates so we could walk to the stadium together and talk about the day's game and also about the funny things that went on in practice. As we got closer to the stadium we saw a lot of fans going crazy and also drunk at times. They were the people who woke up at 6 am to get wasted before the game. I don't understand why they would do that and then cheer during the game and pass straight out in the stands. At the same time, I told my teammates that these are some great fans because they are getting up this early to come and cheer their favorite team on as we arrive to the locker room. Some fans came to us and asked us for our signatures or to take a picture with them.
As we walked into the gate of the stadium, I would stop and just look at the field and think about all the past players who played on the field before us. They were some great players and some heroes out on that field to kids. I thought to myself, "Man one of these days I would like to become one of those players that kids love to look up to and become one of their role models that do the right things in life." My teammates would say to me, "Chris, come on man. Quit dreaming, dog. Just relax. We will have our chance." As I caught up to them, I would tell them, "You never know when it's our chance to get on that field and also you never know if you will ever see the field again." That was something my high school coach told me I feel applies to everybody in life. Walking down the stairs to the locker room we would tell the last of our jokes we told each other. As we arrived at the locker room, I would get my clothing that we would wear for the game like socks, shirts, shorts. This is the clothing that we wear under our equipment during the game and make sure it's ours before we would settle down and relax before the game. After I have all my clothes on I would go around and ask all my teammates in the locker room are they ready to play in the game. They would have a very good feeling about it I would get all kinds of responses like, "Yeah, you know it man." "Sit down you talking too much." And also, "Just bring the game because I am tired of waiting. This game needs to start." After all that walking around I would take some of my teammate's advice by sitting down.
I am relaxed and got all of my joking around and talking to everybody out the way, the first and second team had arrived from the hotels. Their facial expressions looked like they were ready to fight in a war in a good way and bad because everybody had different types of serious looks on their faces. Some would be happy; some would be straight up mean faces. But that was a good thing because it meant that they were ready to play in the game mentally. About forty minutes before the game, everybody was dressed and ready to go out to the field. Here comes coach Ferentz to let us know to be prepared to go on to the field. As he talked to us, he said, "Let's go out here and give it all that we have and play Iowa football and win this game in every Phase of this game." Then he would say, "Let's go. We are ready to go out to the field and play some football." To myself I said, "Let's roll." After that we started to walk out of the locker room, and I started to get a very great feeling. The second I started to hear the fans, my head started to bobbin like I am feeling the game come as the noise of the fans got louder and as we got closer to the field. As we walked down I looked at my teammates, and they were pumped and ready to hit the field some jumping around, rocking, and some just making a lot of noise. As the fans see the first couple of members of the team they went even crazier banging the pads on the stadium. It was very loud; you couldn't really hear anything. As we all got close to the end of the hallway, we all started to get real tight and hold hands and leave out the hallway to the field. When we all had left the hall way we formed a swarm toward our side of the field. Man, that was a great feeling because you only got to do this a couple times a year and that is our team ritual before every game.
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Maybe a fire
By Bee San Tan
Home Country: Malaysia
Gina was beautiful, but not in the commercial sense. In fact, she had a crooked nose and freckled skin. But men would think she was beautiful.
Her hair stood out among all her features. Gina had shiny dark brown hair, with perfect thickness and slight curls. In fact, it was her hair that attracted Philip when he first met her. It wasn't long then, about shoulder length. Gina could still remember the exact wording Philip used to praise it: "Your hair is wonderfully beautiful." Then Gina became obsessed with it and insisted on letting it grow without quite understanding why. Months later, her hair was very long, about waist length. Philip had not a clue about Gina's obsession before they were married.
After marriage, Philip started to notice the myriad of obsessive reflections in Gina. First, it was about the time Gina spent on her hair. The thought of spending three hours a day on one's hair had never occurred to Philip. Before every wash, Gina would massage oil well into her scalp and keep it in for exactly thirty minutes. Then she would wash and condition her hair gently before towel-drying it. Next, she would use her wide toothcomb to detangle it. Once or twice a day, she never failed to perform the scalp massage ritual. What troubled Philip was that he had to do it for her at times when she felt tired. Apparently, fatigue was not a valid excuse to stop the ritual. "Take both hands and place your fingertips firmly on my scalpÉ don't bend your fingersÉ that's rightÉ ouch, don't pull my hairÉ keep your fingers firmly on one spot and massage it in circular motionÉ circular motion, PhilÉ." The problem was not merely that it took twenty minutes of Philip's time, but also the ache of tired and rigid fingers he had to suffer.
Then, it was about all the peculiar precautionary measures taken by Gina to protect her hair from environmental harms. For example, she never allowed Philip to touch her wet hair, because wet hair is three times weaker than dry hair. And she insisted on not pressing her wet hair against any surfaces, so as to prevent her hair from breaking off mid-strand, again because wet hair is three times weaker.
But Philip is such a nice husband with great patience. Until now, he has tolerated Gina's obsession just fine. However, he appreciates it if any of you can provide him with practical advice on how to handle a wife with very long hair and an incurable obsession with it. He also welcomes suggestions on how to cut Gina's hair off without her suspecting anything. He has been thinking of how to create an accidental scene in which he is given a valid excuse to cut Gina's hair without driving her mad. Maybe a fire? Anyhow, please feel free to contact Philip at phil@email.com if you have the kindness to help him.