Song of the Day: We Are Young by Fun.

Lyrics:

Perlawanan terhadap konsep Panopticon: Saat Mahasiswa Biologi UI terlampau Kesal pada Dosennya

Hari kamis tanggal 3 Oktober kemarin, yang mengisi mata kuliah Filsafat Ilmu Pengetahuan adalah Pak Harmoko. Subjek kuliah saat itu adalah tentang konsep Panopticon. Awalnya Panpticon ini hanyalah suatu bangunan penjara berbentuk memutar, dengan sebuah tiang pengawasan berada tepat di tengah-tengah nya. Penjara ini dibuat sedemikian rupa hingga seluruh ruang dalam penjara dapat terlihat dari menara pengawas, yang kemudian mengakibatkan para narapidana untuk selalu menaati peraturan karena mereka selalu merasa diawasi setiap waktu, meskipun tidak jelas apakah menara pengawas itu memang selalu ada yang mengawasi.

Bentuk penjara Panopticon, dgn menara pengawas di tengahnya:

Salah satu ilustrasi sel penjara dalam Panopticon:

Pendeknya, Panopticon itu adalah konsep pengawasan yang tidak terlihat.

Nah, konsep tentang "perasaan selalu diawasi" ini banyak contohnya dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Contohnya: Inspeksi mendadak, atau juga ujian mendadak, maksudnya agar dipaksa untuk belajar terus.

Tapi harus di ingat juga, dimana ada penindasan, pasti ada resistansi atau perlawanan. Seperti contohnya, saat seorang dosen berkata, "Saya kalau ujian tidak akan memberitahu." Tapi karena sudah berulangkali belajar tapi tak kunjung ujian juga, mahasiswa nya pun menyatakan, "Terserah! Mau ujian atau tidak, malas!"

Itu adalah salah satu bentuk reaksi dari residivis XD

Kemudian ada juga cerita tentang seorang Dosen biologi killer. Karena Dosen ini begitu tegasnya, begitu galak dan killer-nya, maka para mahasiswa nya pun tidak main-main saat mata kuliah dosen ini. Pada saat ujian, karena begitu takutnya pada si Dosen ini, seorang mahasiswa memaksakan diri belajar hingga pukul 3-4 pagi.

Waktu jam 8 pagi, sudah harus ujian. Saat ujian, dosennya hanya membawa kurungan burung, jumlahnya 5, ditutupi dengan kain, hanya kelihatan kakinya, lalu soal ujiannya cuma 1 :'Dengan melihat kaki, burung apa ini?'

Ya jelas yang belajar sampai jam 3 pagi marah sekali. Langsung demonstrasi dengan merobek-robek kertas ujian dia.

Dosennya marah. Bilang, "Kok berani-beraninya kamu. Siapa kamu?"

Mahasiswa nya pergi.

Dosennya marahin lagi. "Siapa kamu?!"

Mahasiswa nya tetap pergi.

Dosennya bilang, "Berhenti! BERHENTI!"

Mahasiswa itupun bernenti.

"Siapa kamu?!!"

Lalu mahasiswa itu langsung mengangkat celana panjangnya, menunjukkan kakinya. "Lihat kaki saya. Tebak nama saya."


XDDD

Dewa banget dah ni mahasiswa biologi XD

Song of the Day: I Will Wake (Avicii Ft Aloe Blacc X Mumford & Sons)

Lyrics:

Everyday Culture: On Local and Popular Culture

Hearing those two words, ‘Everyday’ and ‘Culture’, mentioned together, at first I felt it was rather redundant, as initially I thought the everyday, by which I meant the things we do in our everyday life, was already an inseparable part of culture, one of the elements that made up a culture, and therefore by just mentioning the word ‘culture’ alone, I felt it was already sufficient. Then I realized my initial thought was, while not necessarily wrong, only true to certain extent. And as I delved further into the subject of Everyday Culture, I found many of my preconception ideas about my daily life being reconstructed, as I learned that the things that I used to take for granted was actually products of carefully constructed systems. So Far, I am most fascinated by the concept of ideology as explained in Martin’s book.

In his book, Martin states that ideology is the network of ideas and beliefs through which culture and its members order, represent and make sense of reality (Martin, 2003:17). In short, ideology is our way of making sense of our reality. I have to say, this definition is quite enlightening to me, as I used to understand ideology as something abstract, an idea that felt so far beyond my reach it might as well be untouchable. That was mainly because the most I heard the word ‘ideology’ was usually from the television, and the ones who uttered it were politically-inclined-people, such as members of the government body, or legislative representatives. While it was also true that ideology as an idea was included in High School textbook material, the fact that the concept itself was only mentioned, and not explained, certainly did not help my understanding. From the time I was just an Elementary School student, all the way through High School and even in certain subjects in University, I’ve been told over and over that as an Indonesian, my ideology is—or, more correctly, has to be—Pancasila. Honestly, as I understood it at the time, ideology was the underlying reason we did what we did, the invisible force that made us do anything. By that logic, as an Indonesian, it meant that Pancasila should have been the reason for everything I did. But I felt rather disconnected, since I did not think the things I did actually had much to do with Pancasila at all. That also made me feel that maybe, I did not have an ideology after all, since I thought that Pancasila was a set of rules, a set of perfect ideals that I could not live up to. I also started to think that since Pancasila was quite hard to live up to, that maybe Pancasila was just there only as a concept, and was actually quite useless in practice—which, in effect, made me think that ideology was also just that: a set of ideas, and nothing more.

One of the reason I find Martin’s concept, where ideology acts as something that grounds everything we think, do and say (2003:22) fascinating is precisely because he offers how ideology is invisible, how the subjects of ideology themselves may not realize it, and how, basically, it would be quite improbable to be without an ideology. I think, the way Martin explains it, ideology is something that we unconsciously absorb through continuous exposure through various mediums. I say unconsciously here, because we may not always be aware of the underlying ideology in the things we are exposed to in our everyday life. Take for example, the advertisements for women’s beauty product such as Pond’s ™. While the advertisement forms and plots may differ from time to time, all those advertisements have the same underlying concept: that unless you have white, clear skin, you would not be able to attract men. Those advertisements also seem to suggest that women would only try to fix or beautify themselves in order to get men to notice them. On the surface, these advertisements are only trying to convince you to buy their products; but on the other side, the choice of models, fashion styles as well as storylines may contribute to the overall ideology presented in the final products, which sometimes, could be wholly different from the product’s concept altogether. I also belief that even the products’ promoter themselves may not be fully aware of the ideology behind their advertisements. Of course, this is only one of the examples of how an ideology could not always be found on the surface, that you may have to look closer in order to see it at all. It should also be noted that our background, be it social or educational, would affect the ideology that we think we perceive.

Ideology is, according to Martin (2003), a way for us to make sense of our reality. In my opinion, when you are trying to promote an ideology, it is better to promote it in the subtle way, just like Pond’s ™ advertisements I briefly illustrated above, rather than by forcefully feeding it, like the way the ideology of Pancasila has been shoved down our throats since we were little. At least in my experience, despite the fact that I’ve been exposed to Pancasila for most of my life, I only feel detachment and disconnection when I hear or read the word Pancasila, when it actually should have made me feel nationalistic, like it (perhaps) originally intended.



Reference:
Martin, F. (2003). Interpreting Everyday Culture. London: Edward Arnold Ltd.

Song of the Day: Just One Yesterday by Fall Out Boy

Lyrics:

A Brief Introduction to Gothic

When the word ‘gothic’ is mentioned, a number of things immediately come to mind, such as fashion or music style. Even to those who barely know anything about the term itself, the word ‘gothic’ tends to remind some people of the color black, of something unordinary and different from the norm. According to Stevens (2000), the word ‘gothic’ originally came from the word ‘goths’, a term used to be associated with some Germanic tribes involved in the disintegration of the Roman Empire, before it was adopted by Anglo-Saxon in British isles in reference to the rebellion against tyranny at the time. By the 18th century, the term gothic had become a tradition that may refer to the idea of a convergence between religious belief, aesthetic taste, and political inclination—as the term often associated with an upheaval against those currently in powers.

As a tradition, gothic has embedded itself in various means, such as literature, art, architecture, music, film, or fashion. While the development of gothic from its beginning until 19th century may be traced through literature, art, and architecture, by the 20th century, it has expanded to other medium, such as fashion, music and film. This expansion means a shift in the definition of the term itself, and nowadays, rather than the rebellion against those in powers, the term gothic refers more to the mysterious, unexplainable, or scary things, including, for example, supernatural elements. As the Merriam-Webster online dictionary stated, one of the definitions of the word gothic is a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents.

As has been mentioned, one of the medium for gothic tradition, most notably in 20th century, is movies. Even in the beginning, movies based on gothic elements were so popular it created its own genre called gothic movie genre. One of the first gothic movies ever made was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, made in 1919. Although it was provided to horror audience, considering the gothic elements and the way the movie relied more on the dark atmosphere and emotional impact, this movie could also be considered a gothic movie. It should also be noted that nearly all movies that centered a vampire could be included on the gothic movie category. As for the recent gothic movies, both incarnation of Batman Series, be it by the hand of director Tim Burton or Christopher Nolan, could be considered gothic movies (Burton even more than Nolan), as both series have the dark, gloomy atmosphere, creepy castle, tragic death, emotional impact and sometimes the blurry line between good and evil, as is the characteristic of gothic genre in general.

Considering their similarities, such as affixation with death, it could be hard to differentiate gothic movies from horror movies. According to Derek M. Kwait, gothic movies have certain characteristics that differentiate them from other movie genres:
• atmosphere
• introspective characters
• death
• grotesque

In a way, it may be said that the easiest way to distinguish gothic from horror is by measuring the amount of emotional impact and/or the gore that could be felt/seen in a movie. If the amount of gore is felt to be greater than the emotional impact, then the movie could be considered a horror movie and not a gothic movie.

Reference

Stevens, David. 2000. The Gothic Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kwait, Derek M. http://entertainmentguide.local.com/gothic-movie-5678.html Demand Media. (Accessed in 22 February 2012)
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gothic (Accessed in 22 February 2012)
Nayha, Antti . 1996. http://www.student.oulu.fi/~sairwas/frameX/horror/ (Accessed in 22 February 2012)

Song of the Day: Don't Write Me Off - Daniel Bedingfield

URGH I LOVE THIS SONG SO, SO MUCH.

 Lyrics:

Explication on the Poem "Racist Rot" by John Bryant

In my opinion, this poem is talking about Racism, obviously, as you may already guess from the title: Racist Rot. Even from the title alone, we could already conclude that this poem would be talking about the clashes that happen in society because of Racism.

A Brief Comparison Between Faulkner's Rose for Emily and Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums

Even from a glance, the short story titled Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner and The Chrysanthemums written by John Steinbeck have many things in common. The most noticeable one is perhaps the fact that the main character of both short stories are women, and the stories revolve around how these two women live the life they have.

Song of The Day: All that You Are by Goo Goo Dolls

Lyrics:

Study Tour to Jakarta Post & Femina Magazine Workplace in 2009

On third July 2009, half of the students from the literature class were given a chance to go to Jakarta in order to visit Femina magazine and The Jakarta Post's offices in the name of study tour. This study tour was also meant as an introduction to a field job we as literature students might end up as one day.

A Review on the Textplay "Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’Neill

The text “Before Breakfast” is a one act play written by Eugene O’Neill. What makes this short drama special is the fact that the drama consists mainly of the female lead, Mrs. Rowland, talking to and berating her husband for over twenty minutes. And throughout it all, not once does her husband ever appears on the stage (other than a avery brief glimpse the audience get of his hand). We might as well call this drama “a one character play”. And yet despite it is mainly played by one character only, the drama manages to convey all the necessary element of the usual drama, such as the setting, the plot, and the conflicts—even if we only see it from the way Mrs. Rowland sees.

Review on the Movie "Laskar Pelangi/The Rainbow Troops (2008)"

This movie is the first movie adaptation of the bookseller the trilogy – now tetralogy – Laskar Pelangi by Andrea Hirata. Directed by Riri Riza, this movie tells us about the story of Lintang and his friends, Belitung children, in order to be able to get proper education which at the time was still difficult to get – especially in such a remote area like Belitung.

Review on the Short Story "Yu Mah Yang Tidak Naik Sepeda"

The story titled Yu Mah yang Tidak Naik Sepeda (Yu Mah Who Didn't Ride a Bicycle) is about a jamu (traditional potion/medicine) seller named Yu Mah, and is told from the point of view of one of her customer. The point of view that is used is the first person point of view, and from the second before the last paragraph, it is safe to assume the speaker is a female.

A Review on the Novel Kenanga written by Oka Rusmini

Kenanga is the nama of the main character of the novel ‘Kenanga’. She is a clever, ambitious, and stubborn Balinese girl who dares to sacrifice everything for the sake of those whom she loves. To her, life is a career—which often makes people misunderstand her, including her own family. Her close-relationship with senior lecturer in the university where she teaches, for example, makes people suspicious that she would use any way in order to get her career further.

Review on the Poem "Becoming a Poet Again" by Acep Zamzam Noor

First time reading this particular poem, I was initially amused by the line ’Sedang bau aneh dari tengkuk, leher, dan ketiakmu itu/ Telah menjelmakan kata-kata juga.' The second time I read this, I was surprised because this poem seems rather erotic in my opinion – what with some sexual connotation or implications that I found.

Song of the day: One of the Brightest Stars by James Blunt

Nobody loves you 'cause you've taken a chance, 
Out on a dance to the moon, too soon. 
And they'll say told you so.

A Feminist Approach Analysis on the Short Story "Egg-Face" by Mary Yukari Waters

The story could also be read on Zoetrope site.




Feminism plays a large part in Waters' Egg-Face. This story shows that even in modern times where women emancipation is in full-swing, a woman still have an obligation to fulfill certain roles that are set up by the society. The story seems to challenge the assumption that the feminist movement to free women from their socially constructed boundary is a good thing for women. To make this point, certain literary devices are used, such as the use of vivid imagery and subtle symbolisms, and especially the subtle development of the plot. These devices show the reader just what kind of roles the society expects a woman to fulfill and the consequence that comes when the roles are failed to be fulfilled, which is a clever way to address the issue of the socially constructed role for women that women today must face everywhere. To make the point even more prominent, the reader is also showed the difference in the value of the beauty of a woman in modern and pre-modern times, and what it means to be a woman in a modern time.

Review on the Manga "Juliet's Egg"

Title : Juliet’s Egg / ジュリエットの卵
Author : Yoshino Sakumi  
Type : Manga (1-3 complete)  

Explication on the Poem "Hello, Hello Henry" by Maxine Kumine

Hello, Hello Henry
(Maxine Kumin, 1982)

My neighbor in the country, Henry Manley,
with a washpot warming on his woodstove,
with a heifer and two goats and yearly chickens,
has outlasted Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
but something’s stirring in him in his dotage

Last fall he dug a hole and moved his privy
and a year ago in April reamed his well out.
when the country sent a truck and poles and cable,
his daddy ran the linemen off with a gunshot
and swore he’d die by oil lamp, and did.

Now you tell me that all yesterday in Boston
you set your city phone at mine, and had it ringing
inside a dead apartment for three hours
room after empty room, to keep your busy.
I hear it in my head, that ranting summons.

That must be about the time that Henry
walked up two miles, shy as a girl come calling,
to tell me he has a phone now, 264, ring two.
It rang one time last week – wrong number.
He’d be pleased if one day I would think to call him

Hello, hello, Henry? Is that you?

The Apple's Cart's King Magnus

King Magnus is the main character of a drama play titled The Apple Cart by Darryl Shawn. He was the king of the United Kingdom, or the Great Britain as people called it at the time. He wasn’t the kind of king that would only sit and enjoy the wealth of his position while merely watching his citizens idly without doing anything. He was the kind of king that always observed and cared about his people, and would always try to help them as much as he could.

He was someone who appreciated the idea of democratize and liberalism, although he didn’t partially liked the idea of England being a republic because of some reasons. One of his new elected ministers was a democrat that actually supported the idea of Britain as a republic, but they respected each other greatly and acknowledged the other’s ideals and beliefs after their first meeting.

King Magnus was very clever. When the cabinet that led by the prime minister gave him an ultimatum to stop actively voicing out his opinions to public and stop ruling the kingdom because that only made the cabinet looked bad as if they were actually not working, and asked him to be only an icon, a symbol to the kingdom, King Magnus calmly and cleverly tricked them by saying that he would retire from the king position so he could participate in the election and make his way to the parliament, thus he could freely voicing his opinion. Knowing what would happen if a former king participated in such election, the cabinet not-so-willingly cancelled their ultimatum, and once again everything went back to normal.

I would say that King Magnus was really an admirable person. He always faced every situation calmly and answered every challenge logically, and sometimes he joked as to lighten up the situation. He was also someone who could easily break the ice and he always thought every move and every step thoroughly and carefully before doing it, and he certainly wasn’t someone you want to mess with. But he still was a man that could be tempted with women, and although he did have an affair with a woman inside his palace, he still got his priorities straight, and would never sacrifice his kingdom or his dear queen for anything.

All in all, King Magnus was definitely not someone you should underestimate.

Explication on the Poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Richard Cory
by  Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We People on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich –yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.


Paraphrase:
1. Every time Richard Cory went to town, People always looked at him because he was a rich man and always looked clean and slender, different from other people in town.
2. He was never show himself off and he also always polite when he talked. But he still made our heart jump every time he greeted us and he looked attractive when he walked.
3. He was a rich and an educated person, and we always wish to be him.
4. We worked, but it was never enough to buy meat and the bread that we could afford wasn’t that great either. On the other hand, Richard Cory, who had everything, just went off and killed himself.

Review on the Poem "Seperti Puisi" by Acep Zamzam Noor

Seperti Puisi
By Acep Zamzam Noor

1
Seperti puisi dulu aku mengenalmu
Dekat danau tenang, dekat rumput ilalang
Matahari menyalakan kita
Dalam kobaran rindu. Seperti puisi aku menyentuhmu
Dengan jemari embun
Seperti puisi
Aku memandikanmu dalam pagi yang menggenang

Betapa panjang jika harus kucatat dalam kalimat
Atau kunyanyikan lewat balada
Seperti puisi gairah ini kupadatkan, rindu ini
Kukentalkan. Tahun-tahun kuringkas, abda-abad kusingkat
Negeri-negeri kulebur, kekuasaan-kekuasaan kusulap
Menjadi sekadar kesunyian
Seperti dulu aku mengenalmu lewat danau tenang
Dekat rumput ilalang
Seperti puisi yang datang dan menghilang

2
Jika kukenangkan sebuah pulau, laut dan langit
Alangkah jauhnya kita:
Aku telah menemukanmu dari dunia lain
Tapi kau tak kunjung menjumpaikau di lagu-lagu
Di ayat-ayat suci, di baris-baris puisi
Padahal aku dekat sekali denganmu
Bicara pada hatimu dan menjadi pakaian tidurmu

Padahal aku sering menuntunmu ke sebuah pulau
Bercerita tentang laut dan langit biru



If we are merely talking about meaning at the first glance, then I dare say that this poem is talking about ‘Aku’ (I), ‘Kau’ (you), and how ‘Aku’ is hoping to be close to ‘Kau’, hoping for ‘Kau’ to look his way, and how his hope doesn’t seem to be realized because for the second part of the poem, he talks about how it was all in the past and that now he can no longer reach ‘Kau’.

Report on Acep Zamzam Noor’s Visit to UPI

On February 20, 2009, our University was lucky enough to be able to invite Mr. Acep Zamzam Noor, an Indonesian Poet whose poems already got international recognition, over to some kind of seminar which was held by English Department of UPI.

An Analysis of the Poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

Harlem

By Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up,

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over—

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Harlem is the title of a poem written by Langston Hughes, a black American, that tells the readers about what could happen if one’s dream is delayed or denied. Because Hughes is a black American, and also because this poem was written around 1951, a time where racism and discrimination towards black people still existed in America, I dare say through his poem, Hughes was trying to describe to the readers about those who were denied of their dreams just because they were black people and a minority in the society full of white people, where their protests or complains were mostly unheard, and even if they were heard, they were simply ignored or dismissed.

Review on the short story "The Lesson" written by Toni Cade Bambara

The Lesson is a short story written by Toni Cade Bambara. It tries to tell us about a little girl named Sylvia, when someone tries to show her and her friend another lifestyle other than the one they have, to change their way of thinking. In this story, the author tries to critic the society by bringing up the inequality issue towards minority she found reflected in the society around her through the eyes of a black little girl.

Review on the Novel "Siti Rayati" by Moh. Sanoesi

The novel Siti Rayati by Moh. Sanoesi was originally written in Sundanese, which then translated into English by Wendy Mukherjee. According to her, this short novel is still one of the masterpieces in Sundanese literature, as stated in her introduction part of this book.