Absolut Self-Control.
Epica Awards Finalist: Cat 4-Alcoholic Drinks (A). Reproduced with permission.
volume 4, 2005
folio is an annual collection of student essays written for modules offered in the University Scholars Programme's Writing and Critical Thinking Programme.
In this volume:
- Foreword
"What unites all these papers is their meticulous attention to detail, their panache in formulating questions to be explored, their pleasure in offering possible resolutions...."
- The Language of Consumption: Communal yet Competitive
"Lurking in the shadows of this seemingly classless system of consumption are traces of inequality and competition--shadows that create a certain tension in the view of consumption presented by Douglas." Gilbert Lok on status, collective consumption, and social hierarchies.
- Can We Have Thought without Metaphor?
"It is ... immensely difficult, if not impossible, to grasp subjective understanding within the subjective domain alone. However, by resorting to metaphor, subjective concepts are tremendously simplified." Zhou Bowen on data storage, the brain, and the need for metaphor.
- The Proles as an Application of Power
"In light of the fact that the exercise of power often engenders resistance, the Party has shown itself to be remarkably astute in its policy of preventing even the thought of resistance from emerging in the proles...." Nga Shang'en Hosea on surveillance, totalitarianism, and resistance in George Orwell's 1984.
- Women in the Nude: A Study of Susanna and the Elders
"The fecund garden landscape is evocative of her fertility and may be said to be a feminized representation of her." Han Xinzhen Pema on the display of feminine charms, sexual objectification, and true female empowerment.
- Advertising: Towards a more Balanced Portrayal of Society
"It is interesting ... to consider why the advertiser chose to utilise negative space to represent the shape of the bottle, rather than to outline its shape with, say, liquor chocolates wrapped in blue or white foil." Ng Jinyin Timothy on vodka, branding, and choice gifts.
- Re-examining the "Gaze"
"Immobility causes the prisoner to be 'unable'; but to cause a person to be voluntarily 'unwilling' is the final stage of interiorization. " Chen Huihui Joyce on watchful guards, the Panopticon, and the ultimate end of interiorization.
- Rationalising the SDU: Singapore's Struggle with the Fruits of Progress
"Ironically, Singapore's economic development and educational programs in the 1980s have unleashed social changes which the leadership feared might reduce the birth-rate and hence the pool of human resources upon which Singapore's progress depends." Ho Weizan on speed dating, elite groups, and "positive eugenics."
- Contributors/Process Notes
"I am now intentionally applying the skills I have learnt to create a proper structure in all my academic essays. Taking the effort to identify complications and craft an explicit motive is now a constant part of all my writing." Writers and instructors reflect on the demands--and benefits--of writing carefully structured essays.
Editor: Johan Geertsema
Editorial board (2005): Don Favareau, Johan Geertsema, Andrew Leng, Michael Maiwald, Barbara Ryan
Last updated: 2 November 2009