This is the page for:
(Course-related content will appear here in reverse chronological order: the newest things at the top of the page, and older posts toward the bottom.)
Goeun’s article
Here’s Goeun’s article, for critique on October 1st:
And I would like to highlight one more thing:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE use one of the following formats: .rtf, .doc
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT use one of the following formats: .hwp, .docx
I don’t understand why, after discussing this not only in our class but in many other classes, for years on end, people are still sending me files in the latter formats.
Why .HWP format should not be used for this class:
Nobody outside of Korea uses .hwp format files, nor can they read them. Most non-Koreans in Korea also prefer not to use .hwp format files, since the software is inferior for writing in English.
Why .DOCX format should not be used for this class:
The .doc format is standard, and the .docx format is the new version of .doc. Eventually, .docx will probably become the standard. However, that has not yet happened for a number of reasons:
- People in many places are less likely to upgrade to the new Microsoft Office software right away, probably for two reasons: (a) intellectual property rights are more strictly enforced and piracy of software is slower than in Korea; and (b) most institutions are happy to keep using the software they already have licensed, instead of upgrading and facing new problems and issues.
- While Microsoft Windows is the default OS (operating system) in Korea — so much so that most of the Korean Internet cannot be accessed properly except in Internet Explorer — the rest of the world uses a much wider variety of OSes. Outside of Korea, the general expectation is that websites, files, and content will work on Mac, Linux, and Windows alike. Therefore, proprietary formats like .hwp and .docx are more difficult to use in other OSes, and usually are not accessible for some time after the new format is created. For example, on my Linux computer I can open .docx files since a few months ago. I cannot open .hwp files without buying (or stealing) expensive software or piracy.
By the way, in the bigger picture this is why so much of the Korean Internet is useless to non-Koreans. Requiring users to have Windows XP (sometimes only a Korean-language version), Internet Explorer (because of the overuse of ActiveX controls that even Microsoft doesn’t support anymore), and a 주민등ë¡?번호 are all ways of ensuring that people outside Korea will use a different website to order their products or get their information, instead of ordering it from Korea. By contrast, as long as you can read English, you can use Amazon.com’s website: any OS, any browser, and any nationality can order from Amazon. Amazon wants everyone’s business — including people in Bangladesh and Morocco. And they are, more and more, getting it!
So using open formats also makes good sense in terms of popularizing your culture, in terms of the economy, in terms of trade and export, and more. If globalization and IT are at all connected — and of course they are — then at the core is the importance of accessibility!
Use Accessible Formats
This is the real reason the rest of the planet is using .rtf or .doc: it makes files easy to open and read.
If you send a file to your University instructor, he or she will probably ask you to send it again. In the business world, however, they might decide you’re incompetent and it could cost your company a contract. You might miss a deadline since an unopenable file is as useful as no file at all. If you’re submitting files to foreign institutions like universities or schools and they cannot open the file, they may not contact you to re-submit, especially if there are many applicants: your application or submission might never be considered. In other words, using inaccessible formats is just a way of making sure your work isn’t read, and is a very bad way of interfacing with the world.
On the other hand, using universally accessible formats will allow others to access your files. It doesn’t guarantee that people will read your work, but at least it removes all the barriers that come with inacessible formats. It means people can read your work if they want to… and maybe more people want to than you think!
As well, it minimizes the chances of problems like Eunsuk’s article title being lost in file conversion.
Open formats are also good netiquette: it is more considerate to think about whether your recipient can actually open the file you are sending or posting for download. This is why all the files I provide on this site are in .PDF format, for example.
So when you are mailing files to Koreans who haven’t specified a file format, feel free to use .hwp. After all, .hwp is the standard format inside Korea.
If you prefer to use .docx, ask the person you’re sending a file to whether it’s an acceptable format.
But otherwise, or when in doubt, always send the file in a universally accessible format.If you don’t know how to save a file from your word processor in an alternate format, learn how. Look in the FILE menu, there’s usually a SAVE AS or EXPORT option available. Use the HELP menu if you can’t figure it out.
Like good formatting, accessibility is simply basic for a writer.
See you tomorrow.
Go Eun’s Article
… apparently is coming tomorrow morning, as her computer has died. This is what an email she sent me form her cell phone said.
Anyway, check back tomorrow for her article.
Such a Long Journey
Hi folks.
It turns out the main office is closed in the evening. I thought this was a temporary change, but it looks permanent. Jaewon was nice enough to provide some file storage at Clubbox, so you can download your version of the film we watched today, to watch again before next class.
Here is the film. You don’t need to be a Clubbox member — though the download will be faster if you are one! — but you do need to use Internet Explorer in Windows. (Clubbox uses an old-fashioned ActiveX control so it won’t work in Firefox or other browsers!)
Remember, this is for educational purposes and delete the film (or buy it) after we’ve finished the semester. (But hang onto it for a while, as we will come back to the movie later in semester and talk more about it.)
About the list of things I asked you to think about, here are the ones I mentioned in class, plus a few more:
- the history and background of this story in Bombay (now Mumbai) during 1971, during the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War. The history of the bloody and painful Partition of India is probably also somewhat relevant though it is not directly discussed. By the way, this is the Prime Minister who is mentioned and whose voice is heard on the train, declaring this war.
- the conversation that Dinshawji and Gustad have about whether names are important, and the changing of names in India at the time (from European to Indian names, generally… Bombay changing to Mumbai is an example that came later…)
- the interaction between Lohri (the secretary) and Dinshawji (the old friend): what is going on in their interaction? Does her fashion suggest anything interesting about her character and differences related to other characters in the story?
- the relationship between Sohrab (the oldest son) and his father Gustad
- the significance of Tehmul among the other Parsis in the building where they live
- the meaning of all the black magic being used by the woman upstairs
- the significance of the wall, from the beginning to the end of the story, with special attention to the image of the wall that is painted on the wall itself and what happens to it at the end
- the sense you get of how Gustad and the other Parsi people live in a multicultural India — if we can agree that India is multicultural(and if not, why not?)
- the fact that this film is a Canadian-Indian co-production directed by an Icelandic-Canadian using a script written by an Indian writer who attended Harvard and NYU and is now living in Mumbai, and the film is based on a novel by an Indian-born novelist who emigrated to Canada in 1975 and is now considered on of Canada’s most important novelists
You don’t need to think about all these things, but be ready to talk about a few that you find most interesting. The question of the wall is the one I find most interesting, by the way. But we’ll try to get to most of the points, with extra time next week if we need it.
Finally, of course please prepare a preparation paper as usual, just like you would for the discussion of a text you have read. (We can call a film a “text” since we must “read” it… that’s what literature professors who study films call them, anyway!)
Eunsuk’s article!
Here it is!
Please see the earlier posting (just below this one) for a review of the points you must cover in your critique!
Eunsuk’s article is coming!
Eunsuk emailed me yesterday. She apologizes, but she had to do some fancy footwork to get her interviews done for her article. She said she’d email it to me by Sunday evening, so I’ll check my email. Her article should be here for download by Sunday night, or at the latest early Monday morning (depending on when she emails it tonight).
Please check back. Remember, this article is the one you will critique on Tuesday, so think about the four points of critique:
- What is this article doing? (What effect does the author seem to want to have on the reader?)
- What’s working here? (What are the things the author is doing effectively or successfully?)
- What isn’t working here? (What are things the author needs to improve for the article to be successful?)
- Make one suggestion for improvement. (If you could make only one change to improve this piece of writing generally, what would it be?)
First Homework!
Hi there!
I’m running a little bit behind, so I’ll post the syllabus and other first-week stuff for this course tomorrow. But for now, your promised homework:
- for Monday, Sept. 14th: read this PDF of my story “Pahwakhe.” (Or listen to the MP3 of a reading performed for a podcast, though be warned, there is a very long introduction to the story.) And while you’re at it, review this wikipedia article on the notion of The Death of the Author. (It’s an essay by Roland Barthes, and if you really want, you can read the essay here, but the idea itself is the important part so the Wikipedia article should be good enough!)
You should have received a message from our department’s office assistant regarding the reading materials for next week. I think they are available available at the campus print shop now, and probably were earlier today as well; you have to pay for the cost of the copies since the Pico Iyer is quite long. The readings included in this first batch are:
- two poems –”City Lights” and “The Merchant’s Song,” both by Roo Borson — for September 16th.
- one long essay by Pico Iyer titled “The Multiculture” (from his book The Global Soul) for September 21st/23rd.
Remember the standard procedure for all readings: you must write up your reaction to what you have read, including questions, thoughts, your reaction, and a sense of the main themes, issues, and ideas of the text we are discussing. The text should be at least 250 words (approximately one page of double-spaced text), but if you want a good grade, 500 words (approximately 2 pages of double spaced text) is a better length to aim for to allow you to explore more deeply and prepare more effectively.
You will submit one such writing for every text we read and discuss in class.
For more information on proper formatting for written work in my classes, please see here.