X for X-rated

X for X-rated

             Every time I see an X in a math problem, I think of my volunteering experience. I went into a slum where the old needy lived and saw numerous big red X painted on the window glasses of the town houses. The X on the glass meant that the houses were illegally built and thus would be removed. I wandered then, what would happen to the people inside the house if they were to be evicted.

             The clearance of slums is an endemic problem in Korea. In Korea, if the government believes that a slum gives negative effects to its neighboring residents, it could tear down slum structures. This policy would be acceptable if the government builds new houses for the slum residents, but it neither gives adequate amount of money for the residents nor constructs new houses. The original townsmen are literally “kicked out” by the government becoming a homeless.

             That was the situation that I confronted while participating charity activity. Numberless X was painted on the window glasses of every house about to be torn down, either by the government or by the owner. I was unaware that such incidents were happening around in this country. What was more surprising, the townspeople with the average age of 68(not about 70s but 68, the authority said) were unwilling to protest against the unfair, brutal policy for they were too old, and tired of fighting off eager authorities. After the “clearance”, these poor people would have to go to charity facilities, forced to stay in the rooms without freedom to move about.

             I was enraged at the status quo, so I asked the social worker how this could even happen. She commented that this policy was lot better than the past. In the past, people kicked out had to choose between the privileges of being able to make a contract before others after the apartment is newly built, or just hard cash as remuneration. She said that these townspeople in current status had both. It was nonsense. Even though they might have the right to make contract than any other people, they were needy. What good is this right to a contract when they can’t even eat three meals a day? This change in compensation must be for the investors who plan to earn unjust capital by speculating. For two decades this law had done nothing except allowing the rich get even richer, and leaving huge red X on the poor’s windows.

             I once read from a history book that Jews had to wear a yellow star on their chest to be differentiated with other German citizens. People with that mark were rationed less than others, and were discriminated against in various ways. The only difference from the red X in Korea is that it was yellow instead of red and that it was on people’s chest instead of window glasses. In terms of being discriminated, living in poverty, and being isolated from others,two symbols are indifferent. The huge, red X on the slum people’s windows, or yellow stars on the Jew’s chest are like the branded A for adultery in The Scarlet Letter. Maybe the governors thought the life of slum people were too miserable for their children to watch. Maybe that is the reason why they put a large, red X on the window glasses: X for X-rated. They have succeeded in driving out the poor people out of their houses.

             The experience of aiding the slum dwellers, and witnessing their abject poverty was shocking. The uncomfortable expression on the fellow volunteer was a negative impression to me. Social discrimination was still progressive, like in the 1800s. All of this perception was visualized into a large red X in my mind. Every time I see a newspaper article about slums or the extremely poor, I see the big, red X, reminding me about the slum people.

Me as a Writer

Topic: In this reflective essay, I'd like you to describe and introduce yourself as a writer.  Some questions you may want to consider addressing in a paragraph by paragraph structure that flows: What's your style?  What's your strength?  What do you think you need to improve? What is your goal?

             What sledgehammered me first when I first saw this topic was the question: “Who am I as a writer?” There have been some essays that I tried to tell the readers of what kind of person I am in general. But as a writer? What is writing to me in the first place?

             To me, writing essays is like having a personal conversation with my neighbor. Although I did not write many essays, when written, they were usually about my childhood memories. If not, they were about my personal thoughts and daydreams on issues that many people are interested. Because I couldn’t write professional essays, I wrote mine just as how I talk with my friends, families and teachers.

             That, of course, is the style I think as my strength. Instead of blurting out overly-sophisticated vocabularies that are like Latin to most people, I happen to write in everyday language. Although it may not be always intended, I am proud that I use easy words that many and most of my readers would understand my essays. Sometimes I feel pressured by assigned essay topics; but using casual language helps me out a lot. When I imagine myself talking with my friends about the topic, it comforts me and makes me start typing.

             Picturing myself chatting with my buddies enables me to think back on some incidents of my life related to the topic. When we chat, we talk about what happened prior in our life related to the ongoing subject. While laughing, sometimes sobbing, on what happened to others, we feel relieved and entertained. Well, that’s something that I think important when writing. Personal experiences that are credible makes the readers think in my shoes, if my attempt is successful. However, it is a hard fact that people feel more for childhood memories more than expert analysis on the same subject. That is another strength that I believe to have.
             I have an experience in making me believe this as a strength. Once, I had a chance to write about what X meant to me. Most people wrote about the variable used in math, but I had a different memory about it. Actually, not only it was different but it was shocking. I was having dreams about endless red X painted on the faltering shacks with old people staring blankly at it........So I got to work. I wrote my participation in charity activities, and the uncomfortable truth I had to face. While I was chatting fiercely with microsoft word about this childhood experience, the essay was finished. I was proud of it. Not because it was a essay with perfect grammar (oh when will I have one), not because it had concise yet soul-vibrating figurative language, but I really felt for the people I met. I meant that essay to be like  a piece of comfort from a neighbor. At least for a short period of time, I thought my talkative style of writing was a useful tool to discuss those matters.

             But is this casual way of writing always beneficial? Obviously not. I consider myself pretty amateur and unskilled at writing, although I try to put some effort when practicing it. I’m not a native speaker whose mother tongue is English. When I write the way that I talk in English, it is sometimes quite problematic. The expressions that I use are sometimes only comprehensible by Koreans. Or, grammar mistakes pop out much more frequently than they should. When my readers become aware of these, the communication that I want becomes weakened.

             There might be more weaknesses of strength that I possess in writing. Maybe I don’t acknowledge some critical flaws when putting essays down. However, I try to solve these weaknesses, put more momentum on my strength to reach my goal. What is my goal? My goal is to convince and touch people who read my essays even when they never met me before. It would be great to have the ability to make strangers comfortable to each other, and talk sincerely about personal, yet interesting topics together. That is my sole goal for practicing writing.