I notice that I am the last one to write a blog post for this class, and I don’t really feel like ending this with Trump. Instead, I would like to talk about democracy in our classroom. Since the theme of this course is “voicing democracy,” our professor tends to get things done “democratically” such as letting us choose the second book that we were going to read. However, none of us participated in that event. One of the reasons might be that some us are quite by nature and the other reason might be that we are not used to a democratic classroom. We are more used to syllabuses, deadlines, exam dates set by authorities. Although we don’t necessary like how things work in the class, but few people try to challenge them. Why?

The very first classroom in the world might simply be composed of the following: someone who wants to learn and someone who wants to teach. However, as people realize the importance of education, a classroom becomes a requirement that is forced on the youths. Some of them might want to learn, but I believe that most of them do not due to the laziness in human nature. If the classroom is truly democratic, most students would vote for the “no-more-class” party on the ballot. Therefore, there need to be some kinds of regulation in a classroom, and the teacher then becomes an authoritative figure who doesn’t necessary need the supports from his/her students. The students then slowly accept the teacher as an authority and follow what they are told.

However, I am thankful that this classroom made it comfortable for us to raise our opinions and to express our thoughts. I remember that we were able to push the due date of the second essay for a few days, and I was proud of that participation of democracy. Thank you all for being in this class. ❤️

I noticed that most of the blog posts over the last few weeks are about democracy in the United States, however, we need to keep in mind that democracy also exists in other countries, and South Korea being one of them, its democracy is being threatened by the scandal that its President Park Geun-hye is involved in and possibly controlled by a Shamanistic cult.

The story starts with the discovery of some of Ms. Park’s speeches that are edited by her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who doesn’t hold any official position in the government. According to the New York times article “A Presidential Friendship Has Many South Koreans Crying Foul” by Choe Sang-hun, “she even had power over the president’s wardrobe, overseeing the design of her dresses and telling her what colors to wear on certain days.” As the investigation goes on, people find out that Ms. Choi’s father Choi Tae-min, is the founder of a mysterious cult called the Church of Eternal Life, and also the mentor of Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, the President of South Korea from 1963 to 1979. There have been rumors surrounding Ms. Park and Mr. Choi’s relationship even before she is elected. As the article states, “In a 2007 diplomatic cable made public through WikiLeaks, the American Embassy in Seoul reported rumors that Mr. Choi ‘had complete control over Park’s body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result.’ One such tale held that Ms. Park, who has never married, had his child. ” It is possible that his religious influence is passed on to his daughter, and if Ms. Park is a member of the cult, Ms. Choi is able to affect the President’s decisions or even her policy making.

Ms. Park has apologized for receiving help from Ms.Choi in her speeches, but she never acknowledged any involvement with her father’s cult. If the scandal is proven to be true, it means that there is no such thing as democracy in the Korean government since the President is following the orders from some secret organization instead of the will of the citizens, but the fact that someone outside of the government has such influence over the President without its people knowing already crumbles the democratic images of South Korea in our minds.

“Do you want a ‘you’re hired’ president in Hillary Clinton or a ‘you’re fired’ president in Donald Trump?” This line was said by the Democratic candidate Tim Kaine during the vice presidential debate. I choose this line because the difference between the two campaigns’ economic policies is clearly delivered. This line has all three modes of persuasion, which are logos, ethos, and pathos. Regarding logos, it is logical for one to choose the “you’re hired” president because job opportunity is important for anyone. It is also ethical, or ethos, to elect a president that will benefit the country by increasing employment rate. In the case of pathos, almost everyone can empathize with the joy of being hired and the grief of being fired. This rhetoric’s intended audience is all the employed and unemployed workers in the United States, especially those in middle and lower class. Kaine is trying to tell them that Hillary Clinton’s plan will create more jobs for them while Donald Trump’s plan will only benefit the upper class. The significance of the language used in this line is the two phrases, “you’re hired” and “you’re fired.” They rhyme with each other and only differ by one letter, yet their meanings are the exact opposite. Kaine’s usage of these two phrases creates a strong impression on the audience and makes a clear distinction between the two candidates’ economic plans that are being described. He also uses these two phrases in the form of a rhetorical question that does not require an answer, it looks like he is offering two options but he is actually suggesting that the only reasonable choice is the first one. I think this piece of rhetoric is very effective since it includes logos, ethos, and pathos. I was amazed by Kaine’s use of language in this line.

Out of all the fifty videos, Fire In Dreamland by Rinne Groff caught my attention because the title was surprisingly connected to the theme of my narrative essay. In this video, a man portrayed by Jefferson Mays introduces his movie script based on a tragic event happened in 1911 — the destruction of the Dreamland, an amusement park located in Coney Island.

The movie begins with the fire breaking out in the Dreamland. A circus man, however, still takes his animals to perform on the stage where no one is watching, in hope that God would put down the fire. The star of the movie, a lion named Black Prince disobeys the circus man and rushes out the tent. His fur then catches the flame and he is later captured and killed. After the description of his movie, the man then states that “this is America” and asks for one hundred thousand dollars to help him to make this movie.

My favorite part of this video is the irony of the last line. The making of the movie is basically this man’s American Dream, but the last line reveals that no dreams can be achieved without the support from reality, in this case, money. I believe that most people would agree to it like I do, but what makes this video especially interesting is that the message is deliver in such a subtle yet ironic way. I hope you enjoyed it!