~ folio volume 11 call for papers: deadline for submissions 1 June 2012 ~
Plate 1
volume 9, 2010
folio is an annual collection of student essays written for modules offered in the University Scholars Programme's Writing and Critical Thinking Programme.
- Class, Taste and Social Mobility in The Great Gatsby
“Those who occupy the bottom rungs of the social ladder are destined to remain exactly where they are, for the dream of social mobility is a fundamentally futile one.” Peh Li Qi on luxurious lifestyles, the roaring twenties, and the interaction of class and taste.
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- “The Mirror Repeats Your Absence”: Queer Normalization in “Short Time”
“Despite the demarcation imposed by the physical 'gap' in the middle of the poem, neither the heteronormative space nor the queer space gives the queer persona a total relief from the fear of the heteronormative gaze operating in the poem.” Ivan John Mercado Clement on the public and the private, what becomes normal, and how it relates to the disposition of space.
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- Time, Authenticity, and Commoditization in “The Eternal Moment”
“If one can only know that an experience was authentic in retrospect, then consciously setting out to find authenticity, it follows, will always be futile.” Han Yongming on once gloriously pristine places, fears about the loss of authenticity, and the fundamental problem of time.
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- What is the Robot? Resolving Contradictions in a Superglue Advertisement
“The desire for family togetherness necessarily contains within itself a fear of losing this same togetherness, and the ad effectively utilizes this dual psychological manipulation.” Tse Hao Guang on intimacy, families, and automata that lurk in the dark, dark night.
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- Appearances in Advertising
“Whereas a more conventional gym would choose to place photos of beautiful and well-toned people, or of people in the middle of working out, in their ads, this ad eschews any reference to working out or to attractive bodies in favour of a plain advert dominated by a tagline.” Chua Er Jian on toned bodies, risque advertisements, and reducing women to sexual objects.
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- Prisoners vs. the Institution: Resistance in The Shawshank Redemption
“Institutionalization is seemingly impossible to resist in Shawshank. Yet the power relationship between those in charge of Shawshank and its prisoners is much more dynamic and nuanced than it initially appears: the prisoners are not entirely and passively at the mercy of the institution.” Danielle Koh Weizhi on what The Shawshank Redemption suggests about corruption in prisons, violence against prisoners, and the possibity of resisting apparently overwhelming power.
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- The True Value of Ostentatious Wealth
“For [the] act of sexual signalling to be successful, [the consumer] merely has to purchase the socially desirable product and flaunt it in public as an indication of his ability to buy.” Tan Shengli on conspicuous consumption, potlatch, and returning to full humanity.
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- Contributors/Process Notes
“The deadline for Paper 3 was looming, and everyone in class was still either panicking or living in denial.” Writers and instructors reflect on the demands--and benefits--of planning and writing carefully structured essays.
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Editor: Johan Geertsema
Editorial board (2010): Don Favareau, Johan Geertsema, Philip Holden, John Richardson, Peter Vail
Last updated: 16 September 2011