Editorial Writing Portfolio

Thalia Harris tharris@oberlin.edu (862)-571-9767

August 19, 2011 Thalia Harris (862)-571-9767 tharris@oberlin.edu RE: Editorial Writing Portfolio To The Editor: My name is Thalia Harris and I would like to write a column for your publication. This editorial writing portfolio is a collection of my best non-fiction work. The pieces featured in this portfolio are academic papers written during my time at Oberlin College and they exhibit my ability to support my thesis statement by utilizing extensive research, using a pensive analytic approach on the subject. In addition, I employ my creative writing skills by making use of distinctive and interesting language, therefore making the text lively for the reader. I believe that when one writes about a nonfictional subject, that the work should still paint a vivid image for the writer and take them on a proverbial journey. Some of the featured pieces are related to East Asian Studies, which is my major at Oberlin College. They feature written responses and critiques to novels and films. These pieces demonstrate my working expertise of East Asian culture and my ability to objectively critique a work. However, one of my favorite pieces in the portfolio is titled To Understand One Another In Different Ways. It was my final essay written for my freshman seminar and it touched on the subject of how social networking makes communication for convenience, but at the same time it is used to distance ourselves from one another as an emotional buffer. Another favorite piece of mine is my analysis of the painting The Dream of the Fishermans Wife by Japanese artist Hokusai. Though the painting is under the genre of fantastical erotica, it is an interesting look at how some Japanese artists felt about sexuality before their interaction with the West. Though I have some special column ideas in mind (such as a study abroad series), I am interested in writing editorials on visual artwork, music, film and books. I look forward to the possibility of working with you. Thank you for your time,

Thalia Harris

Table of Contents

Title
In Your Face or In The Back Of Your Mind Visual Cultural Assignment #2 Gender-Plus Paper Personal Statement for Admission to Kansai Gaidai Universitys Asian Studies Program Catastrophisizing Economy Issues and Its Relation to Faith To Understand One Another In Different Ways

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In Your Face or In The Back of Your Mind A Comparison Between the Film and Novel Versions of Raise The Red Lantern (Originally written on March 13, 2011) Before I compare the film and novel Raise The Red Lantern, I would like to begin with a definition of the word adapt. It means to make it for, or change to suit a new purpose. In order for this argument to work, we must view Zhang Yimous piece as an adaptation, not as a transference or reenactment of a novel. The latter view is used as instinct when approaching the topic of comparing a film with its fiction counterpart. In the film version of RTRL, Zhang focused on images in order to depict the rigid structure of patriarchy. It has a definite structure full of foreshadowing images, while the novels presentation is much more elusive and carries a little more complexity of how Lotus falls out of favoritism, among other examples. Considering Zhang Yimous instrumental use of visual concepts in order to exceptionally represent the power structure of the Chen household, it did a good job of adapting the story to film. As mentioned previously, Zhang Yimou focused on the visual austerity of the Chen household, especially with his invisibility of Chen Zuoqian throughout the entire movie. His face is never clearly shown in the shot, or he is seen from far away. This suggests that even within his absence, his position and gender gives him an almost God-like omnipresence, as he rules over his subjects (concubines, servants, etc) The omnipresence is also visible in the dining room as its walls are covered in by the paintings of the Chen male ancestors, watching the moves of everyone in the house, but mostly the women, since theyre the only ones seen eating in that room. This is an example of how the film medium can trump the written medium. The film has the advantage of exhibiting visual symbolisms as those stated above. It can use images to voice the implications that otherwise verbally stated, would slow down the movie. A representation of this example is the scene where Lotus lanterns get covered by heavy black silk slips after her pregnancy is exposed as a fallacy. The punishment wasnt given an exposition, because you could simply see by Lotus house being surrounded by black cocoons that it meant she was being excluded within the household. I believe that to show how she originally fell from favor with Chen Zuoqian would have

relied on a lot of dialogue, which is sometimes needed, but considering how Zhang wanted to highlight the patriarchal oppression of the household, such expositions would have been superfluous. The falling out between Lotus and Chen Zuoqian is a little more complex, and makes Chen Zuoqian more three-dimensional of a character with emotion. The beginning of Lotuss status downfall begins with Chen Zuoqians birthday banquet. (54-57). Amongst the lush setting of the banquet, with the luxurious gifts given to Chen Zuoqian, we see Chen Zuoqians indifference towards Lotus ingenuity and his reluctance to get over the fact that that she was feeling sick. After the banquet, some servants ponder over who will Chen be sleeping with that night, and the other one thought for a while, but could not guess. Something like that depended only on his momentary preference, didnt it? Who could ever guess correctly? (57) This suggests that Chen mostly goes by his emotions rather than simply rules, giving him more depth as a character. There was no lantern ceremony necessary for people to know who he would sleep with that night. It was already implied. Either medium has its own advantages of expressing the patriarchal system of the movie in a subtle or blatant format, depending on the concept they are trying to express. The film offered visual metaphors of patriarchy when it wasnt explicitly stated, while the novel gave a lot of explanation in the prose, if it wasnt told in the dialogue. Therefore, if we adhere to the definition of what it means to adapt, then we will find that Zhang has adequately changed the novel to suit a new purpose.

Visual Culture Assignment #2 (Originally written on November 22, 2010) The picture I decided to examine was The Dream of the Fishermans Wife, painted by Hokusai1 in 1820 (during the Edo period). I chose to look at this painting because Ive seen it on frequent occasions and have wanted to look at it from a historical perspective. For the first and subsequent times when I saw the painting, it would usually elicit laughter from me and my friends. The reason why we laughed at this picture2 is because it shows a woman engaging in sexual intercourse with two octopi. The tentacles act as symbolism for the male phallus, and now I believe that the humor lies in the fact that the fishermans wife obsession with the sea has gone too far. The Dream of the Fishermans Wife was just one of many paintings under the category of shunga3, which is Japanese erotic art. It is easy to assume the shunga movement as nothing more than a medieval version of pornography, but due to the fact that the subjects of the paintings were depicted in a surrealist scene, with background objects serving as symbolism, (for example, bonsai trees, or in this case, the octopus tentacles serving as phallic imagery; a females robes opening in the same manner as their genitalia4) and the presence of Shintoist animism (the two octopi), the definite classification of this art form5 becomes complicated. Due to the complications that surrounded the classification, the production of shunga began to decrease as the presence of more Christian missionaries and other Western populations began to increase. It is important to know that many of the shunga painters also completed mainstream, nonexplicit ukiyo-e works, so these paintings were not viewed as a sign of sexual or moral deviancy.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Prolific ukiyo-e painter. Also known for his most famous print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. 2 Besides the astonishment at the fact that Japanese society (especially in those times) was open about depicting such images.
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The etymology of the word consists of the old Japanese word for spring (shun) and the word for picture (ga). Spring was a common euphemism for sex. 4 http://www.gregkucera.com/shunga.htm 5 Between *sensual+ erotica and *instantly gratifying+ pornography

Many of these paintings were commissioned by courtesans for large sums of money, which may be a reason why they appear the most frequently in the paintings. Overall, this painting is a reflection of the former comforts with sexuality that existed in Japan before the Meiji era (after 1868). Because Japan wanted to appeal to the incoming Western population, shunga pictures began to disappear, and more borders were drawn between the sexes (no more all-gender communal baths). Perhaps if the Westerners never came to Japan, the Japanese artists would not hesitate to express their comforts with sexuality in a more candid manner.

Gender-Plus Paper (Originally written on October 18, 2010) The narrator of Amy Yamadas Kneel Down and Lick My Feet presents a connection between male sexuality and the performance of sex. Though the observations and opinions are expressed within the context of sado-masochism, the narrator Shinobu makes some statements which comment on male sexuality in general. First, she articulates how her masochistic customers are sensitive when engaging in verbal play: I talk him through the whole thing [masturbation]. Its a form of hypnosis. At times like these, I think men are quite delicate. (195) Even without a whip in tow, Shinobu is able to coax a man into climax, inadvertently causing him to assume the passive position in the relationship. She continues to brag that if there were a man who could talk to a woman the way I talk, women would come just listening to him. (195) Though this is a haughty manner in which she describes her verbal play skills, it conflicts with the subservient position she holds when performing her sadism for the customer. From this particular passage, we are unsure as to whether the sexual pleasure is mutual6. Then Shinobu notes a communication difference between Japanese and non-Japanese men in terms of sexuality: Relatively speaking, foreigners are better at [verbal play during sex]. Men who speak in a way that is both obscene and refined, crude and sincere. Most Japanese men dont have it in them. If you find one who can talk, its usually just a string of words you cant say on television. (195) According to her, Japanese male sexuality teeters on the edge of silence, or vulgarity. There is a disconnect between human compassion and sensuality with animalistic sexuality during
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Earlier in the story, Shinobu doesnt express sexual pleasure from her job, but she does express pleasure in terms of self fulfillment: We dont get many misguided souls who want to tie women up or anything silly like that. So I feel safe. Even someone like me who doesnt really get off on S&M can have a good timeShow me another job where you can abuse men and have them thank you for it. (189)

intercourse. However, she notes that non-Japanese men are much better at expressing themselves sexually. A person in particular she cites is that FrenchmanSerge Gainsbourg. (195) However, arent her observations in this sentiment biased? How can she criticize Japanese men for their limited sexual vocabulary and prowess, considering that Japan and France are on two completely different hemispheres, both culturally and physically? (The East and the West, respectively.) Regardless, the lack of communication frustrates Shinobu, because she states earlier, Language is one of the most critical things in this kind of play. (194) Since she exerts herself in this endeavor, she believes it to be selfish for men to not to the same. For all the perfection that is demanded of her by the customers, in Shinobus opinion, they neglect to do the same when they go home to their female partners. Nevertheless, this could be a jaded perspective as a result of failed romantic relationships with men, so we cannot say she is an expert on the male psyche. I suppose the annoyance comes from this question: How can the men who frequent the S&M club be so eloquent with their desires, craft their masochistic fantasies around the pillars of suspense, provocation, and demonstration7, be possibly the same men who remain expressionless in the bedroom? What I have found in this passage is how the rigid borders of masculinity can limit the means of expression during sexual practice. It seems that only in a sado-masochistic situation men feel free to articulate their desires to achieve a higher goal than the obligatory orgasm. In masochistic ideology, the progression to the climax, rather than the climax itself is the main priority. Yet, this mentality does not translate in the bedroom (as opposed to the dungeon) because the lack of communication with their female partner implies their primary goal is the orgasm, and verbal play is not of importance, if even relevant to them.

The three pillars of the masochistic fantasy presented by Treador Ruik, as we discussed in class. (10/4/2010)

Personal Statement for Admission to Kansai Gaidai Universitys Asian Studies Program (Originally written on March 7, 2011) I feel I will benefit from my studies in Japan via Kansai Gaidai because I will get to experience the culture firsthand, rather than what I see in the media and read in books. I would like to not only go beyond what is available to me in those respects, but even outside what I have learned during my career as an East Asian Studies major at Oberlin College. In addition, there are some facets of Japanese culture I believe will be useful to me upon my return to America. For example, through my studies, I have noticed that the virtue of respect is omnipresent in areas of Japanese life. This is not only represented in the use of 8but respect and even reverence is dedicated to inanimate objects. (910etc.) Furthermore, I am attracted the idea of 11, or harmony, especially in the workplace. This is a virtue that I find is lacking in our individualistic Western culture. Even though I believe uniqueness is important to define ones character in society, I recognize that think for ones self turns into thinking about ones self, which causes a lack of solidarity among the ranks. A personal example of comes from my junior year of high school (2006-2007). During that time, I was named "12" in the senior Japanese 2 class. I was still graded like everyone else, but because of my previous Japanese language background, I acted as the teacher's assistant, and distributed handouts with exercises to my classmates. Though I was more than willing to help, during actual class sessions, I had to know when to give answers to further the lesson along, or take a step back and allow my classmates to answer, giving them a chance to learn. By briefly stepping down from my position, I was contributing to the harmony of the classroom, so we all could enjoy learning the language. The value of promotes the idea of camaraderie, which is something that

8 9

Pronounced keigo, honorific grammar used in the Japanese language Pronounced o-hashi, chopsticks 10 Pronounced o-cha, tea 11 Pronounced wa, harmony 12 Pronounced senpai, senior

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will be of use to me during my career as a student and future collaborations as a writer-translatorinterpreter. Because I find the virtue of harmony within the classroom (or workplace important), I feel I can greatly contribute to a team effort because I am always willing to give insight on a topic, whether it calls for critical thinking or otherwise. This will be beneficial especially if I am able to take a lecture course such as Sexuality and Culture in Japan: Desire, Power and Social Order, not only because I have taken a few courses cross listed between the East Asian Studies and Gender Studies Department (and therefore am familiar in the discourse)--but also because I am willing to participate in class and contribute ideas such as the one stated above. My participation in the classroom, will help me adjust well to the new environment of Kansai Gaidai and Osaka in general, because my ambition during my studies in Japan, and will better my skills at managing linguistic and cultural discourse upon my return to Oberlin.

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Catastrophizing Economy Issues and Its Relation to Faith (Originally written and posted on my blog titled Lady Scribes Domain on August 10, 2011) Earlier today, one of my friends on Facebook posted a link to a video titled: Collapse of the U.S. Economy is Drawing Near. Along with the statement: If God was needed more than ever, this time is now. We really need to look to Christ for all of our financial well-being. Please, get right before it's too late. Please click on the link above and watch the video first, the whole way through, before reading my response to it posted below. Thank you kindly. ******************************** Though there is no doubt that the world is experiencing an economic crisis that is affecting middleclass, working class families and upcoming young professionals such as ourselves, I find a few problems with the sentiments in this video.

1) I'm skeptical of the main media sources used in the montage, particularly of FOX News. In the instances of time I have spent watching FOX News, I find them to be a strong purveyor of rightwing propaganda, whose main goal is to strike fear in the hearts of the American public, and to smear President Obama's name. During the Bush Administration, I did not see any right-wing media attention drawn to the excessive amounts of money being funneled into a useless war (that we are still in, for some reason), the No Child Left Behind Act, which closed down defunct schools instead of restructuring them, and the Federal Refusal Rule that gave pharmaceutical vendors the right to deny women birth control, which Obama fortunately rescinded shortly after his inauguration. But I digress. The main idea of this first bullet point is that FOX News embellishes, and the Tea Party points fingers, but there are no solutions suggested. The only sensible idea raised in this video was by the Dem. Representative from Ohio, who acknowledged the Federal Reserve Bank as a private entity with the power to run amok, and the only way to end their power is to sanction them, for lack of a

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better word. But I have a feeling that the Federal Reserve Bank's illegitimacy as "federal" entity has been known for a decent amount of time, so why hasn't Congress cracked down on them yet? It makes me wonder. 2) The idea that we should look to Christ is a virtuous one, and employing faith in a higher being has the potential to give us peace of mind. In addition, we should look at Christ's example of love, understanding and similar virtues, and use them to get right with our brothers and sisters. It is not fate, or economic "survival of the fittest" that caused the Great Recession, but humans. Flawed individuals who lack a spiritual connection with their respective higher power and therefore with their peers, hence why Alan Greenspan (former Chairman of the Federal Reserve) thought it was a beneficial to advise the American middle-class that to borrow money against their homes. In my opinion, it was a cold method that crippled the middle-class and one of the catalysts that brought on the financial crisis we are in today. The same idea of sympathy applies to the Wall Street vs Main Street idea. If even a fraction of the money that was used to bailout the banks, was put towards college tuition or financial aid, our Millennial generation would come out with less debt, and have more funding for school. It's a known fact that education has been one of the least funded pillars of American society, and if there is any funding or encouragement, it usually goes to math and science. [It] never [goes] to the arts and humanities. I don't think the establishment wants us to be innovative, well-rounded individuals who question the world around them. Perhaps the establishment wants us to simply be number crunchers to engineer the economy as seen fit, and formulate enough pharmaceutical substances so we can be in a monotonous, catatonic state, and then we can swallow the fear-mongering propaganda as seen in the posted video. Therefore, filling our minds with anxiety, and not leaving enough room for the formulation of new ideas. 3) One solution I have in mind is to write to the Obama Administration, suggesting that we pass FDR's Second Bill of Rights, originally proposed in 1944. (Google it) This Second Bill of Rights promised:

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"Employment, with a living wage, Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies, Housing, Medical care, Education, and, Social security" Those rights stated correlate with the needs we so desperately need today as Americans and as humans. The beautiful thing about America was the fact that a middle class existed, that even the "poor could own cars" (quote from the movie "El Norte"). That you didn't have to be a government official or part of the elite to get even the most basic of needs. If we do the proper independent research, put our liberal arts education to good use, take this video with HUGE bags of salt, and see our fellow humans as fellow humans and not as obstacles in the way of our financial gain, (regardless of our original economic status) we might have a chance.

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To Understand One Another In Different Ways I think in this day and age, we are in more need of intersubjectivity than ever. Besides the fact that American culture and customs are very individual oriented, the waves of technology that have happened in the past 10 years have increased our productivity and have made life a lot more convenientbut at the same time, it has caused us to lose touch with other people. A good example of how technology has hindered us from allowing outside objects and beings to become a part of us is the Internet, specifically chat rooms. I am an avid user of Facebook, a website for keeping in contact with your friends. I like it because I can keep in contact with my friends from New Jersey and we keep each other posted on what goes on in our crazy college lives. It also helps me as a writer because in addition to the account I have on fictionpress.com; I use Facebook to post my poems and stories as well. It works because I get feedback from my peers who I actually know rather than random people from around the world. I am also kept up to date on events at my college and back home. However, as much as the Facebook chat helps, I notice there is still a distance between me and the other person. Technically I have 137 friends on Facebook, but I can only call a handful of them as my actual friends. Then again we use the term friends loosely in real life as well, so whats the difference? I also find it interesting how whenever I talk to a friend online, we are more intimate and open in our conversations behind our computers than we are in real life. I could be talking to someone who was a simple acquaintance in high school, but now I tell them some private thoughts that I would have only told my best friends in real life. Is it because we are out of our small home base, and therefore dont have to worry about rumors circulating? It is probably because my generation is more in tune with their computer keyboard than with their actual emotions. The keyboard to us is tangible. Our fingers know exactly which buttons to press to say exactly what we intended. If what we say does not sound or look right the first time, we

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can always hit Backspace or Delete or Undo and then start all over again. There is usually always a solution to a problem. But when it comes to a phone conversation or a face-to-face conversation, some things that are said cannot be taken back. We can try to clear up the situation with the words, What I meant to say was, but our vocal inflections and hesitancies will telegraph our true feelings. The smiley faces, sad faces, hearts and laugh-out-loud s are endearing and they give us an idea of what the other person is feeling or doing, but being in their presence and sensing their different emotional auras is an entirely different experience. I would like to return to the theory of my generation being more in touch with their keyboard than their actual emotions. Their fingers are more aware of their verbal and literal aims than they are themselves. In addition, the use of the keyboard and its editing functions also serves as a filter for emotions, which in certain situations can either enhance the conversation or hinder its progress. Now, the editing filter of the keyboard is definitely useful when writing papers and for other literary purposes. During chat conversations, it gives the speakers a chance to think over what the intentions of their dialogues are and for them to fully comprehend what the other person said before making a cohesive response. But sometimes I find that when chatting with my friends, both of us ignore a certain icon on the screen that lets us know if the other person is typing or finishing a complete thought. So what ends up happening is a sequence of phrases that make no logical sense until we acknowledge the thoughts or clear them up later on in the conversation. That situation reminds me of a part in The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, in which he recounts a conversation he had with one of his friends. During the conversation, they were sharing a tangerine and his friend was so engrossed in the topic that he forgot he had not chewed his first piece of the fruit before popping the second one in his mouth13.

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The Miracle of Mindfulness, pgs 5-6

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This is similar to the online chat in the sense that I can be so focused on finishing my own thought and whatever thoughts that pop in my head after that I forget Im in a two-way conversation, and we are discussing a similar topic. So even though chat conversations can be clearer than verbal conversations in the sense that they appear as black characters/symbols on a white screen, the physical connection and awareness of the other persons emotions is nonexistent. Therefore, the subtleties within the conversation are lost and all we have to rely on are the plain words in front of us. In one situation, I used the online chat as a barrier to protect myself and another from making what we thought would be a dire mistake. We both liked each other, but he had a girlfriend, so we could pursue each other no further. Not only because it was wrong, but also because he is in love with and happy with her. But it was confusing at first because he would flirt with me during our chats and therefore it gave me the idea that he wasnt really satisfied with his girlfriend. I mean, if he was truly happy, then why was he talking to me in that manner? But one day, he realized to me that he was wrong for coming onto me and he didnt mean to lead me on in that way. He realized that even though he found me physically appealing to him in some ways, he really was just intrigued with how I was honest with my emotions and my sensuality. He basically just wanted to be my friend and have some sort of relation to me. He wanted to know me. Now that he was aware exactly what he liked about me, he could clearly make a cohesive decision about what he wanted from me, rather than just basing it on his first reaction when he first met me and saw what I looked like. This situation can be summed up with a thought from one of the Being Bodies essays: They understand how desire can be transformed through awareness and that by paying attention to the results of their actions they can avoid producing more suffering for themselves and others. We keep learning together, over and over again, noticing our mistakes, returning to our intentions.14

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Being Bodies, Piecing Together A Life by Fran Tribe (p. 92-93)

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If he and I had not come to terms with what kind of relationship we wanted from each other, then we wouldve had mixed messages and our intentions would have been skewed. We probably would have been tempted to carry on an affair and even if no one knew what was going on, him and I would have suffered out of guilt and his girlfriend would have suffered because she would have been lied to. Communication such as what I have stated above is tied in to intersubjectivity in the sense that we allow outside information to become a part of our own thoughts. From there, we comprehend them and then it becomes part of our own logic. Even though I have stated before that emotion can bring color and excitement in a conversation, it can also bring too much color and therefore can blind the speakers from the objective of their verbal exchange. Then our hearts get in the way of our minds and nothing is accomplished. Merleau-Ponty once said, God creates things by naming them and magic operates upon them by speaking of them.15 This is also relatable to the previous situation because before we established our friendship, we were just intrigued by each others existence and our creative, artistic talents. We werent exactly sure how to handle the situation. But once we put a definite label on what we were to each other, the mysterious haze around us faded and we could finally be our normal selves. When it comes to intersubjectivity, my goal is to involve all five/six senses when taking in outside information. I feel that my senses were taken into consideration when my classmates and I did the fishbowl exercise, in which we had to verbally and physically express our thoughts and our feelings. Whatever ideas we felt could not be said with words, we exhibited with our bodies. Sometimes there would be multiple people in the circle at once, and we had to be aware of what the other person was saying before we could jump in with our own two cents. The use of intersubjectivity in this situation was crucial to our mutual conveyance of ideas. We had to be patient with and attentive to each other.

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The Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty (p. 206)

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With all these different methods of communication, there is no definite correct way of conveying ideas. We can only follow the methods that suit us for our timely situations and personal needs. For convenience, we turn to the computer or the phone. For a sense of closeness and understanding, we use the phone or we meet up in person. But sometimes, even when we do meet with another in person, there can be unanswered questions in existence. The main objective of communication is to absorb information from and connect with another. This involves an awareness of me, the other person and the environment we are placed in. With these factors, we can decide which method of communication to use and then the idea of intersubjectivity can be appropriately applied.

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