WGS Classes

Book Review: A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: A Historical Novel

Title: A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: A Historical Novel

Author: Donald Southerton
eBook: 80 pages
Publisher: iUniverse (November 16, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0595420974
ISBN-13: 978-0595420971

A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm is the first in a trilogy of short historical fiction set in late nineteenth century Korea. The source material is based on and extrapolated from relevant historical evidence involving early American entrepreneurs in Korea. The fictional protagonist, Josh Gillet, hails from a sleepy New England town where he apprentices under his family-owned tinware company. When offered the opportunity to work the ledger at a local trading firm's Yokohama office, the young man signs up in hopes of experiencing adventure in the Far East. After arriving in Japan, further lucrative ventures await him in neighboring Korea. The budding entrepreneur soon discovers more about this mysteriously secluded country only recently opened to Western trade.

The story itself is believable enough and doesn't flirt with being overtly fictitious. It's a safe narrative that doesn't stray too far from expected adventure tale norms. However, the number of formatting and omission errors in the kindle edition is borderline unforgivable. There shouldn't be a reason why this ebook was so poorly edited but, in its current state, it's embarrassing. Based on this ebook, the author, while a longtime respected Koreanist and international business consultant, demonstrates that writing isn't his strong suit. In addition to careless editing and poor formatting, the term "Yankee" is grossly overused almost to the point of being derogatory. There's only so many times the protagonist can be referred to as "a young Yankee" or "the Yankee trader" until it becomes gratuitously offensive, or even worse, lazy writing. Less noticeable but still worth mentioning are the tacked on "sketches" and "wood prints" depicting scenes in the story. These illustrations undeniably are photographs that have been manipulated to look authentic to the period. Although the effort is acknowledged, the end result is transparently artificial and comes across as phony instead of complementing.

This seemingly rushed short story regrettably highlights the importance of hiring a good editor before publishing. It's actually not a bad story, but the faux-authentic illustrations and sloppy editing detracts from an otherwise passably entertaining, if not esoterically, historical novel. Unfortunately, the writing isn't exactly riveting and doesn't have any discernible charm. However, if you're especially interested in this recess of Korean history, then you might enjoy it. Otherwise, it's a short waste of your time.

Who is my advisor and what do they do?

Each of our specializations within the American Studies and English degrees has an advisor:

Folklore: Steve Siporin (steve.siporin@usu.edu)

American Studies/Standard: Melody Graulich (melody.graulich@usu.edu)

English/Literature & Writing: Michael Sowder (michael.sowder@usu.edu)

English/Technical Writing (online): Evelyn Funda (evelyn.funda@usu.edu)

These advisors will help you with any questions that concern the content (as opposed to the administration) of your studies.

Book Review: Escape from Camp 14

Title: Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Author: Blaine Harden
eBook: 224 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (March 29, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0670023329
ISBN-13: 978-0670023325

Escape from Camp 14 tells the incredible story of a young North Korean man who boldly and narrowly escaped from the total control labor camp where he was born and raised. Shin Dong-hyuk's startlingly account presents the world with an almost unbelievable yet remarkably honest story starting with his heart-wrenching upbringing to his immigration to the States. Former Washington Post correspondent Blaine Harden captures a truly unique testimony hammered out from Shin's own 2007 Korean-language memoir and numerous personal interviews with Shin and other refugees. The spark that motivated Shin's desire to leave his torturous, yet only, home might surprise you.

The story begins with Shin's subjection to torture and subsequent witness of the deaths of his mother and older brother. Gruesome, it aptly sets the mood for the unspeakable life he lived behind the walls and electrified fence that lined the camp. It's precisely his blood relation to known defectors during the Korean War that borne him from an arranged reward marriage from a sort of "original sin" stained couple serving in the camp. This coupling, though, precluded Shin from ever being capable of any real redemption. Having born and reared within the confines of the camp and minimally educated at the guard-run school, the ideological brain-washing that the rest of the North Korean population experienced in primary school was curiously absent and instead replaced with sometimes fatal capital punishment and unquestionable subordinated obedience. Because Shin had no outside comparison to his desolate reality, he lived life largely without ever wanting to leave. More sickening, though, was the daily routine of physical beatings, fear-inducing rule enforcement, and constant murder and rape that he witnessed and accepted as commonplace.

When one combines a sheltered mockery of education, a total lack of media (both state-run and international) and an brutally oppressive guard force fostering competition amongst prisoners, this almost powder-keg environment was a proving ground for mindless physical labor and unwavering fear. Shin's revelation of knowledge of a life outside the labor came not from a distant relative, nor a smuggler, radio broadcast or even a religious leader. He heard a rumor of a land were meat was grilled, varied and plentiful. Though he didn't know where this fabled country was, constant hunger drove him to try his luck elsewhere. He is one of the few successful refugees who did not procure escape through a broker. What happened when he gained access outside of the camp is even more extraordinary.

Shin's story is amazing, simply put. The book is incredibly moving and unsentimentally objective. A possible weakness in the narrative is that the book is limited to Shin's own experience whereas Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy charts several diverse stories at once; Shin's experience was not typical of most North Korean refugees. This is hardly a knock at Harden's book as it proudly stands as a brilliant account of the world's most despicable regime's nightmare of a labor camp. Graphic at times but always moving, pay heed to these atrocities by at least hearing him out. Shin's is an original story that deserves your attention. You won't soon forget it.

Writing by Degrees 2012

Call for Papers and Panels  

Writing by Degrees 2012

October 19-20^th, 2012

Binghamton, New York

The Bundy Museum 

Keynote Speakers

Marie Howe

Christine Sneed   

Writing by Degrees, the nation’s oldest graduate-run creative writing conference, is now accepting paper and panel proposals for its 2012 event—a two-day celebration of writing, pedagogy, and community building at Binghamton’s historic Bundy Museum. 

We invite exciting and high quality submissions by graduate students for creative readings and academic panels.  Poets, prose writers, essayists, and critics from all theoretic and aesthetic backgrounds are welcome.  Possible academic topics include creative writing pedagogy, craft across the genres, critical theory and creative work, the role of writing in the political world, and the creative writing job market.

All panels will be 90 minutes in length, with individual presentations and readings not to exceed 20 minutes.

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2012

(Notification of Acceptance by September 15, 2012) 

Submission Guidelines: Please send the following as an attachment in .doc or .docx format to writingbydegrees2012@gmail.com 

I) A cover letter containing the following information: author’s name, institutional affiliation, contact information (email, phone number, mailing address), and the genre of the proposal, e.g. academic or creative.  Creative proposals should also include a short bio. 

II) An abstract for academic proposals or a creative excerpt for readings.  Academic abstracts should not exceed 350 words; creative nonfiction and fiction submissions should include a 2-4 page excerpt; poetry submissions should include 3-5 poems, not to exceed 5 pages.  Please include first and last name and page numbers on all material.  

If Submitting a Panel Topic, please provide the three linked abstracts/excerpts with a short paragraph explaining the overarching theme.  Panel submissions may cross genres. 

All questions concerning the conference should be sent to writingbydegrees2012@gmail.com  

For more information: visit http://writingbydegrees.binghamton.edu

TPPC PhD Program (Info and Requirements)

Theory & Practice of Professional Communication

About the Program

Grounded in rhetorical inquiry, the TPPC program provides students with advanced study in the communicative and cultural dimensions of artifacts, processes, and technologies. Researchers in professional communication are particularly interested in how communicative practices shape and are shaped by culture, technology, history, and theories of communication

Our understanding of what professional communication encompasses is broad, embracing a diversity of rhetorical contexts and situations, including business, academic, scientific, technical, and non-profit settings. Example areas of study are:

• Everyday writing in the workplace
• Writing pedagogy of the nineteenth century
• Implications of new media on communicative practices
• Theory and design of online learning
• Oral presentations
• Production of CD-ROMs and websites

Find out what our current students are researching on our Faculty & Current Students page.

 
About Utah State University
Located in the city of Logan in northern Utah's Cache Valley, Utah State is 80 miles northeast of Salt Lake City and is within a day's driving distance of six national parks. The surrounding area, including ski resorts, lakes, rivers and mountains, makes Utah State one of the finest recreational environments in the nation. Find out more about Logan’s community at http://www.usu.edu/community/.