One Hundred!!!

What a milestone I have reached! One hundred journal blogs! This is by far my longest journal blog I have ever made in my entire life. Every blog post means an English class we have been in. This may seem insignificant to others, but this is a really profound blog for me to write my journals. In our journals, we would write about the things we were going to discuss in class later on or in the week. For every journal post, I would not only answer the questions on the journal prompt page, but also put in few sentences with my own thoughts and ideas towards the topic of the journal. When I take a look at my old journals, I found some of my journals pretty funny. Sometimes, we would write about a story that we would be reading in the next two weeks and write about the impressions that we have on those stories by just reading the title. Now that we have read all the stories, when we take a look back at those journals, I would see the big difference between what I predicted what the story might be and what really happened in the story.

Final Exam

I felt glad about this upcoming exam. This is finally my last test for our English test. Just imagine not having an exam in the next two months. How good is that! For this final exam, I think the most unfamiliar part of the test for me is the 102 minutes because we haven’t really taken a test on this story before in the past. It is really hot and stuffy in the room right now and I really hope that we could move to another room when we take a test later, which is five minutes away. I think I am most confident on the part about the typhoid fever because it is one of the few stories that I have really read with great details ever since the start of the year. When Mr. McCool says that this would be an easy test, I would clearly see the evil laugh coming out of his mouth, even there isn’t really one of it. I would never believe what a teacher says when he or she says how easy something is going to be, especially right before an exam, because nine chance out of ten is that the teacher is lying.

Group Work

I think group working can be a great learning experience for us as students. I like group projects, but not all the time. Sometimes, you will get assigned to bad partners where they would just slack off and expect you to do the work. I just hate those kinds of people and I don’t think anyone would like them as well. Working by yourself can be really convenient where I don’t have to meet my partner in order to do the project together. The letter grade that each person gets in a group project is the same, but the dilemma is that not everyone did the same amount of work, so I don’t think that everyone should deserve the same grade. The good thing about group project is that you could work with various kinds of people in your class: friends that you know very well, or classmates you have never talked to before. For teachers, it is pretty easy for them to mark these kinds of group projects. Instead of marking like thirty projects, they could mark five instead. I’m looking forward and expecting a lot to see these kind of group projects in college since classes in college are huge.

Stranger Together

Kindness aren’t really truly kindness sometimes. One may be helping another just for his or her own advantage. Well, if you are a stranger to that person, then I guess that it is fairly unlikely for that person to take advantage of it if you want to help out. When a stranger is helping another person, nine out of ten times the stranger did it due to his or her heart. It is really that his or her kindness that made it possible for he or she to save that stranger. If I was in the situation, I don’t think I would really have that kindness to save someone’s life and even worse yet, risk my own life. If there is an award for doing thing like that, it is another story, but if not, then I guess I won’t even bother to think about it, even if the person is about to die. I will use the same example as the one I used last time: the swimming incident when I was in second grade. The teacher did eventually save us and I think that really came out of his kindness. Maybe it is probably his responsibility for our safety, but I still think that he was kind enough to save a stranger like me.

Project Reflection

We have learned key elements, such as plot, setting and irony, but we haven’t really apply it to the novels we were reading this year before and this is definitely a great chance for us to really experience and learn about these elements. They contain in every short stories and long novels, so we wouldn’t worry about not finding some of the elements. Some of them just might not be as obvious while others may be trying to foreshadow or symbolize another thing. This novel is probably one of the few novels I have read the entire novel carefully. I would say that my project is definitely not the best one in class, but I did use all of my efforts to draw this. Making a poster and putting drawings is one of the things that I am really not good at. I even kind of hate it just because I have draw on these posters, but I would put in one hundred percent effort into the project. At last, I think that exercises like these kinds of book reports is somewhat worthwhile doing, especially as an end of year project. It really gives you a great learning experience for reading the novel and getting the ideas of the elements.

911

Security and fear of terrorism is what the Americans learned from 911. Right after the event, there are angers building up from the Americans. People hated the terrorist groups. Now that Osama Bin Ladin is killed, a lot of Americans relieved and no longer feared terrorism as much as they had before Bin Ladin’s death. Ever since the disaster of 911, the United States had been taking careful inspections in airports, fearing that there might be terrorist groups trying to take over the planes again and bomb important places in the United States. People who were from eastern Asia were also being suspected of having any relationships with you since it is considered pretty dangerous that he or she might be in the terrorist group. Their leader, Osama Bin Ladin has ruled over decades and decades, but has managed to fail the country and countries beside it as a whole. Americans feared that there would be a chain of these events coming up and 911 was only a start to a series of terrorist attacks. Citizens now are being more objective and listening to what everyone is saying, which is what we really need, after the deaths of Osama Bin Ladin.

Burned Alive

I think when someone is burned alive or in a threatening situation, he or she would probably think about just everything inside the brain. You might think about your home, family relatives, and about your past memories. I would probably want to send the message to my parents and really close friends that I am about to die. I would have want to study harder if I have restart my life and done it differently. I have my worst experience when I was in second grade. I went to a summer camp and that was the worst and most unpleasant thing that I have in my entire life. If I die that day, it might be the worst news of the century for my parents. I was drowning and another kid was just pushing me downwards in order to push himself up and out of the water. Both of us were struggling for oxygen. It was definitely a very bad experience. If I was pushed down for just one more second, I would’ve been gone from this world. In this case, I don’t think I would be helping that person and trying to save each other. I would do everything I can to save myself, even if pushing him down was necessary for helping me, I would still do it.

Jargon

In the story “Into thin air”, there are a few Jargons. Triage, assigning for priorities of medical care based on chances for survival, is an example of a Jargon. Shibs, a term used by Sherpas to refer to paying members of the expedition, is also anther example of jargon. When we play basketball, we often say “men men” or “twenty three” while we are on the court. Men men is a Jargon for man to man defense. Twenty three is our Jargon for our offensive play. As for students, we also have our own Jargons. For instance, there are also a lot of Jargons we use when we are in the Model United Nations (MUN). Those are the rules that we have to follow we attend the conference. For example, a rule for using third person may be a jargon. Or, we refer ourselves as a delegate is also another example. As for chairs, we have to ask “are there anyone speaking for or against the clause, please your raise your placards high”. The speaker and the delegate would exchange the question once, nd then if the delegate wants to ask another question, then he or she must says” follow up” before asking the question. The chair has to say “granted “ to allow the delegate to ask another question or “denied”.

Risk for a Reason

I don’t think people risk their lives to save a stranger. Only a small percentage of people would do that because of their kind hearted generosity. Others may just wanted to be famous by saving a stranger’s life with their own precious life. I don’t think I would be risking my live for some weird stranger that I have never met before in my whole entire life. Of course, on the other hand, I wanted to be saved if I was the one who is in danger and I would wish some stranger would save me with his or her own life. This may sound really selfish, but this the way I felt and I am not going to hide it from you. I just think it is not worth it to save a stranger’s life in exchange for your own one. I would help people if they need help, such as picking things off the ground, but if someone is about to die at the side of the cliff, it might be a totally different story. It is always smart to risk for a reason, either your friends are in danger, or you wanted to help out. You always have a reason to risk for something that you want or achieve and that’s the way life is.

Why Take Risks

It is really all about the challenge when we talk about risks. Most of the time, mountain climbers have to face some physical risks, such as climbing up a steep hill, or crossing a deep hole between two gigantic rocks. The risks that Krakauer had mentioned basically applied to other risk takers. I have taken risks before when I was climbing those rocks on the wall. I am so scared of that kind of climbing. Those are just made out of artificial rocks that are screwed onto the wall. Some of them are even loose and it is done on purpose so that it feels “challenging” I really hate those mountain climbing trainings because it can be really dangerous if your partner loses the string or if the lock on your body falls out. Climbing up that creepy wall with all your energy was not enough. You also have to face the risk of climbing that mountain. Some climbers climb because they want to overcome their fears while some other climbers wanted to be the special person that could success. Others just like to be in the kind of situation where you are standing between the line of life and death.

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships can often lead one event to another. In the short story “Into Thin Air”, there are a lot of causes that leads down to several different effects. For instance, when his friend has lack of oxygen, he started to loose focus, which led down to opening Jon’s oxygen tank and turned the voltage to the highest. If Jon has a full oxygen tank, he probably wouldn’t be having a hard time coming down from the summit and he would have stayed on the “top of the world” for longer rather than just staying there for five minutes. I think another cause for the climbers to have a hard time climbing Mount Everest is that there are too many people climbing the mountain, so it would be quite hard for them to get across each other when they intersect at a small passage way. These causes may also lead down to multiple effects, for example, death is one of the effects where many people die due to lack of experience and oxygen. Cause and effect is often one of the most important key elements that help understand the plot of the story so the readers doesn’t need to have a hard time comprehending.

Compare Disasters

Both the Krakauer story and the story of the titanic faced some sort of disaster. The setting is quite different though. In the Krakauer’s story, it is on Mount Everest while the story of the Titanic took place in the ocean. If you read carefully, you would see that the ways they are told are quite similar. Time is an important key element inside both stories. There is always exact time being shown at the top of each paragraph, emphasizing that time was passing really slowly compared to the reading speed. Despite the similarities in time, the places where the events are occurring are quite different. If I am not wrong, I think both stories are told from the third person point of view (omniscient). We could really see how both stories turned out to be a terrible disaster including casualties at the end. The tones of the stories also sound similar, since both of them are kind of gloomy. Even before finish reading the story, readers could easily infer or guess what will happen at the very end of the story, since it is quite obvious to guess from the foreshadowing the author has given inside the story, making readers easier to comprehend.

Participants

I think the job of a journalist should be giving out facts or what is actually happening in the situation. At the same time, I also believe that journalist can give some of their own opinions on the event. It is impossible for a human being not to be biased, so why bother trying to be neutral and give out all the facts without any opinion. A journalist may be facing dangerous situations while reporting. For instance, a journalist may be taking down his notes on what was happening while he is in the terrible disaster, such as hurricane, himself. I believe that in order to be a participant of an event, one has to really experience the situation like people who were in it. If a journalist can only give descriptions from the participants, I wouldn’t really consider himself or herself as a participant. On the other hand, if the journalist can use descriptive details on what had really happened, especially to him or her personally, then I would consider that as being a participant. The journalist not only has to have his or her own thoughts about the event, he or she also has to give some sort of experience to prove that he or she took part in the situation.

Risk

Risk is actually a big challenge and that is probably the main reason why people take these risks. I like to take chances, but only those that won’t be very risky. Taking chances actually gives you a life experience and it also contains a lot of fun. I have been on a nine feet tall diving board before where everyone was just telling me to make a dive. It was really hard for me since I am scared of heights. But at last, I still took my chance and risked my own life by jumping off the diving board and falling into the water that is nine feet below. If I could make that decision again, I think I wouldn’t make the same choice as the one I made. I would just turn around and walk down the stairs. If you really think of the consequences and risk you are taking, you would find it unworthy. By jumping off the diving board, you might be hurt really badly, have a heart attack, or even more severely, death! I really recommend everyone to really think about his or her consequences and effect before risking his or her chance because the consequences may be really severe.

Free Write

Wow! I think this is like the first time where we can free write on our journal blog this year. I remember we used to free write every single class when we were in eighth grade. I used to write about my fantasy baseball team every single day. Good old days! I no longer play those anymore, so I am not going to write about it today. There is only two more days left before my SAT Subject Math II test is coming up. I am really nervous right now. My target for this test is to get eight hundred, which is full score. It is really not that hard for me to get it, but I really have to be careful and not make any stupid careless mistakes while taking the test. This is the my second time taking SAT Subject Test. I tested my first one in November, the Chinese one. It was fairly easy even though I still had some pressure. We went to Tim’s house in Taipei right after the test and played. This time, I am going to be taking the test in Hsinchu, so I don’t have to wake up that early, but I still have to arrive at 7:45 in the morning that day. Can’t wait to finish my test and relax!

A Challenge

I do enjoy some challenges, but not all of them. I like challenges in activities that I am interest in. I am more into physical challenges even though I would also do very hard math questions from time to time. I have once faced solving a six degree polynomial. Trust me, it is really not as easy as you think it is. I am still having a hard time believing in myself that I had solved the question on my own. Basketball training is always a big challenge for me. Running stairs, doing pull ups, sit ups, push ups and practicing low post moves are all challenging. I could imagine myself doing these things without feeling tired. What a dream! My stamina is pretty low, so after running a few time up and down the court, I could really feel challenging because it would be hard for me to run down the floor while still catching my breath. Academically, SAT is probably the most challenging test for me right now. I just think that lives of high school students are all surrounded by this challenging test. You just have to study hard every single day, little by little. It’s the kind of test that you cannot just get a high score by reading everything in a night.

Highwayman

Why does Seamus say there are similarities between what happened to Frankie and what happened to the Highwayman in the story “The Typhoid Fever”? The similarity is that both Frankie and the Highwayman are in similar situations. The relationship between the Highwayman and Bess is like the connection between Frankie and Patricia. I would agree with what Seamus said because it seems to be true. I would say that mainly because that both of them fell in love with a girl. I wouldn’t really call the relationship between Frankie and Patricia as a romantic one since both of them have serious illness. Neither of them is healthy, which is a pretty sad thing. Another thing that doesn’t make this romantic is what happened to Frankie later on. He was being sent to another room, not even close to Patricia, and had to stay there alone by himself. Like the relationship between Highwayman and Bess, Frankie and Patricia had to be separated and couldn’t be together. When Frankie was segregated, he had the same feeling and thought that the Highwayman when he was forced to be apart from Bess. Despite their different backgrounds, they still ended up having the same ending.

Humor's Role

Sometimes, the sad story always makes some kind of “humor”. Humor can make people take a rest from the sad or serious events. Craterous means to bring consciousness and that is really what humor is trying to do. Humor does not only create laughter, but it can also change the topic. It kind of lets readers forget what the sad thing in the story really is and focus their attentions on the humor. Humor occurs is when readers laugh after they read it. But how do you make a reader laugh? You actually do that by writing something that the reader doesn’t expect. People would either find it humorous or speechless. Still, most humors inside the sad stories are humorous. Readers just never think about that thing, which makes it humorous. I don’t know why, but I just naturally laugh at those humorous events inside the sad story because it just doesn’t match with the plot of the original story. After you laugh about it, you would kind of forget about what really happened and only the humor. It makes readers stay out of track. Maybe the sad story isn’t even interesting at all, but the humor can change the whole opinion on that story, making it funny and creative.

Sick

I remember I was once very sick when I was in fourth grade. I had chicken pox and I felt very sick, and I mean REALLY! I stayed at home for two days. I was visited by my friends after they finish school. During those two days, I was just not feeling well where my eyes were always sore and tired, my nose couldn’t breathe properly, and my taste was weird. I could still hear fine and my touching sense were normal, but I jus couldn’t stand up and walk and not feel dizzy. It feels great to lie on your bed for the first few hours, but after you got enough sleep, you started to feel bored, which also makes you feel gloomy. It’s kind of feeling that you would rather die than keep on being sick. It does not feel good, especially when you see other people fine. I remembered very clearly that the only thing I ate was chicken soup. That was what I have for three straight days. No rice, no meat, no pork, nothing! I don’t know how I ever lived through those days because it is really hard for me without meat for even one meal. I just don’t like being vegetarian.

Perspective

Different perspectives can change the meaning of the story significantly. When the point of view of the story is different, the authors may be emphasizing on different things. Where the writer lives or the events that had happened to him or her may greatly influence her writing. Some writers may write about his or her own experience into the writing. When we talk about biographies and historical text, it is written form an objective point of view while memoir can be written from the writer’s perspective. When there are different perspectives on two stories with the same topic, it can really show the writers’ point of view and how they feel toward this event. Perspectives can usually show a person’s viewpoint of the event. Writers may be trying to persuade different points when they have different perspectives due to the writer’s living environment and relationship to people. For instance, a writer from the United States may have different perspective from an English writer from the United Kingdom. The languages they used in their text may also vary since writers are from different parts of the world. When talking about nationality, most writers would stand on his or her own nation’s viewpoint and this may also change the meaning of the story due to different perspectives.

Writing in a Style

Dear all PAS students,

THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! This school is just like a garbage place! Do you ever want to be clean huh? Everywhere in the school has trash. Recycle bottles, papers, and plastic bags are all over the building! Don’t try to expect everyone to clean up after you like you are at home! Be responsible and do the recycling! Another thing is speaking CHINESE!!! There should be no speaking Chinese at ALL~~. If I catch you for speaking Chinese, you will be cleaning up this school for a month! Learn from mistakes! That’s it…

****** ***

Dear all PAS students,

It is Friday tonight! Go have a nice party. But there is one bad news that I have to tell you. Our school contains too many trashes. We have to do some cleaning. I suggest all students to clean up all the trashes during homeroom next week. I know you always think about “it’s another day” everyday in the morning except for Friday, but we still have to make the school clean, so please help pick up trashes that you see. Thank you.

Mr. **********

Dear all PAS students,

We should all help the school clean up the garbage. LIMITS!! I mean there should be at least a limit on how dirty the school can be and I think we’re over the limit. Please….help the school.

****

Two Styles?

The major component of Lahiri’s growing identity as an American was to make a fusion between her original cultures with the Western culture. She doesn’t just want to be a true American, neither a person with her own cultures only. She wants to keep her initial culture and try to adapt the American culture to be with her friends and teachers in school. Lahiri had mentioned that she was the first generation raised in America while most of the other families have been living in America for a few generations. Other children already had parents that are well adapted to the United States while her parents are still not used to the American culture. The way how Lahiri’s parents think may be different from how her friend’s parents think when they deal with situations. Even though she has a different background from other children, she still felt equal with others where she and her culture were not being discriminated. Everyone was treated equally no matter which country or culture you came from. That was the good thing that Lahiri felt when she first went into America: everyone was equal. The figurative speech isn’t used effectively in this story although there are a few pretty good personifications.

Two Lives

I would still call myself a Chinese despite living in Canada when I was a child and going to an American school. Chinese is my mother’s tongue and it has always been the language that I used when I talk to my parents. Even though I have never been to a local school before, I could still listen, speak, and read with a little writing ability. Educationally, I learn my academics from the Western society. With me living in Canada for four years, all of my educations are from American and Canadian teachers. Living in Canada didn’t change my cultural background, but it did give me an opportunity to experience and live in a totally different culture place. After all these years of American and Canadian education, my style hasn’t really changed. In fact, the only thing that probably changed would be my writing style. It’s kind of weird to write English, but really think about stuff in my brain in Chinese. I know this may sound kind of weird, but this is the way how my brain works. Sometimes, I just get words confused since there are still two different languages. I think I just have to get used more to the Western society when I live in the States in the future.

Taking a Leap

Taking risk is like gambling, where you might be safe at all or you might sacrifice some of your things. I don’t know what kind of sacrifices I would make if someone really needs my help. I would say that I am a very petty guy and I would not sacrifice for helping someone unless he or she is a good friend of mine. I have sacrificed my time and money before to try to help my friends, but I have never risked my life for my friends before and I think I never ever will. I know there are a lot of my friends who have put a big effort and sacrifice their time for me. I think I will be having a hard time deciding what to do if one of my friends has really faced a life and death situation. Everyone always say that they are willing to risk their lives for their best friends, but there are really only a few people that would do what they say. Taking risk always has a good side and a bad side to it. I often look more at the bad side than at the good side despite the equal chance that the situation would happen.

Nature's Role

I remembered the summer camp I went to when I was in second grade. It was the camp that was the closest time of my life with nature. We had to live in the woods for four days without shower. The only thing that surprised me was how stinky I smelled and how annoying the mosquitoes were when I was sleeping at night. Nature is something that is always around, but we never get a chance to pay attention to it until you live very close to it. Writers often try to describe how nature is “natural” and how it is already born the way it is. Different styles for writers may also reveal different parts of nature. One style of writers may show the physical features of nature while the other style of nature may show how nature is related to humans. Nature is not always neutral. It can also be nice or even be evil. Different styles of writers may reveal different aspects. For instance, a writer may describe the beauty of nature and hot it is peaceful. On the other side, the writer can also describe how nature is a disaster where tsunamis and hurricanes occur every single year.

How Do Artists Convey Style?

The subject of this painting is mainly describing the objects on the table, or in the room. I would say that the subject of the painting looks quite realistic. Shadow is one of the major keys that make the painting realistic and real. The artist uses the light and shadow creates a quiet and gloomy mood. The biggest difference of this painting apart form other ones with similar subject is that the painting as a whole just looks dark and gloomy. The artist uses a lot of grayish white kind of colors, making the painting plain and ordinary. The word “peace” would describe the painting perfectly. Everything in the painting looks like it is not moving, so that is the reason why I chose the word “peace” to describe this painting. The setting is like in a very quite room where everything is silent. The shadow describes the lightness of this picture and we could easily see that this is neither a really dark room nor a really bright one. The lightness seemed to be coming from the right side of the room since most of the shadows are at the left side of the object, and I think that finding out the direction of the light is important when people look at a painting.

Making History

The big result that affects people later on makes the history significantly important. Cutting my hand, graduating from middle school, moving to Vancouver for three years, winning my first basketball game, and getting my first iTouch are all the significant events in the past that makes it memorable. I learned some of these events from my coaches and parents, but most of them came from my own self. We can relate making history with our style. When we write down the significance of our history, we can use our own style to convey the importance of our events. Different people experience the same story can convey the history in a totally different way. This may also be due to different perspectives apart from their own styles. These histories may eventually affect the future when we make decisions and our styles in the future. I think style can greatly change how the history is being written since everyone has different styles. Different styles may eventually lead down to different decisions and perspective and later on different results and outcomes. I strongly believe that history is something that is not just about the past, but also in the present, or maybe even in the future.

Style

I think about a person’s fashion and personality when I hear the word “style” or “stylish”. It is the thing that makes him or her unique. I believe that everyone has his or her own style and most of them are different form others. Like what I just say a person’s fashion, appearance, and personality is how he or she reveals his or her style. Everyone has different opinions and I believe that there is really no correct answer for evaluating between “good” style and “band” style. Depending on the person’s own style we can determine what are “good” style for that person what is bad. Another thing that I believe is that style is permanent. I do not agree that style is something that can be changed over periods of time. I would say that everyone has their own style and people with similar styles would probably be likely to hand out together. I am not really sure what my style is, but people say that I am funny sometimes. I think one shouldn’t really evaluate himself or herself. Instead, he or she should listen to what people say about him or her in order to find out the style of that person.

A Daring Adventure

This quote from Helen Keller is very touching. It has made me see the how life is not just boring, but exciting with full of adventures. I would consider our lives as always challenging, but this is part of life. We have to believe that we are undefeatable in order to win. We can’t win if we don’t think we could win. I would say that fate is the guts that you have doing something and the consideration. If you are determined to do a thing, which means that you have the fate to do it. The inner side of your brain and spirit controls your fate. When some event is meaningful in your life, the event is most likely exciting and full of adventures. Challenge must be one of the factors and contribute to this meaningful event. If we talk about something broader, actually it is the fate that really gives the meanings to our lives. When we believe in ourselves or have fate in our body, we tend to have the guts to take the challenge, even if the tasks might be impossible or little possibility. From the quote form Helen Keller, I can feel how she was feeling when she wrote down this quote.

Memories

One of the most important memories that I have from my childhood was the cut that I got when I went to Bali when I was three years old. It was probably not the funniest, but definitely the most significant experience that I will never forget. I would considered this as a sad event and I do strongly believe that people remember sad events better than happier ones since it teaches us a lesson in life. I remembered the second my parents opened the door of the hotel, I started jumping up and down on the bed and started playing with the closet. Suddenly while my parents weren’t watching, I just cut myself with the closet door and my right hand pinking was just bleeding and bleeding without stopping. My parents quickly sent me to the hospital and I got stitches. I really learned from that lesson that I should never ever play with the closet door ever again. The cut from the closet was still on my right hand pinky, so it reminds me every single time when I wanted to play with something foolish. This was the most important and significant memory that I have in my childhood and I’ll never forget about this.

Your Role

In the class project of Mice and Men, my role is to act and I would be acting out the character of Lennie. I have been trying to think in the way that Lennie thinks inside the novel, where there is a lack of common sense and not really that cleaver. It is definitely a good experience even though I am kind of struggling on how to act like him the way he was described in the novel. I have seen the movie of the book, so I kind of know how to act Lennie out. One of the most important keys that are left for me to do is to memorize the lines of the stories and to act it out as if I were really Lennie, where I have some disorders in my brain. I am hoping and wishing to see a very good movie out of this project. I am looking forward to see the movie as something similar to the movie that I have seen of the novel. To be honest, I haven’t been putting a lot of effort into this project yet, but I do think that I would be working more on this project shortly after I have been handed out the script of the act.

Cruel or Kind?

In the novel Of Mice and Men, we could see that the characters were not always cruel to each other. For instance, George may sometimes say that Lennie is always stupid, making a cruel comment about him. But on the other hand, he wasn’t really trying to be cruel. Instead, he was trying to say that he needs help and he can take care of Lennie. We could see the kindness coming out of George’s cruel words when he took really good care of Lennie. He was always trying to protect him and tell him what he should do for his own benefit. There aren’t really any motivations for George to take good care of Lennie except that Lennie’s aunt had told him before to take care of him well. Besides that, George was just trying to be a good person and help him due to his lack of ability instead of trying to bully and make fun of him all the time. I don’t see a mixture of both cruelty and kindness inside the heart of George despite the cruel comments he had make on Lennie. Sometimes, those cruel comments might even be for Lennie’s own benefit and try to protect him by telling other people he is dumb.

Analyzing Visuals

This picture is just a fatal image that shows passengers drowning the Titanic were a terrible disaster. We could see that the propeller is up in the air while the head of the ship is already under water. We would see there are a few people on the boats while thousands of people are stuck in the ship. This picture definitely contributes to my understanding of the event by giving a more detailed image in my brain of how the event might have happened. The background of this picture shows a really nice quiet evening. This kind of contradicts with the event that was happening: a big disaster under a peace quiet night. I think I have seen that picture before I read this story and whenever I see that picture, it just automatically makes me think of Titanic. When I see the picture, I just find how stupid those people were when they knew they were going to hit the iceberg but didn’t do anything about it. I just don’t see why they do not think that the passengers on the ship were important. They just looked at this as a game instead of treating it seriously and taking actions through careful observations.

Will To Survive

When I think about a character choosing between saving himself or herself and saving others, the number one thing that pops up into my head is Spiderman. He valued other people’s life more important than his. Some people, like Spiderman, wanted to be heroic by saving other people while some of them just think it is worth sacrificing his or her own live for saving other people’s lives. Others just think their own lives are more important. I believe that people who make these choices are based on instincts in an emergency situation. Some people saved others and then they think bout the dangers of themselves later. I would say that this is more or less stupid. If I were in the situation, I would trust my instinct and most likely saved my own life instead of being the hero and saved all the other people in exchange for my precious life. I know this may sound selfish, but I do believe that this is what I will do if it really happens to me and I wouldn’t blame myself for doing this. I actually do put myself in a higher rank compare to other people and I guess that is why I don’t save other people by sacrificing my life. I just think it’s not worth it.

The Band Played On

During Titanic’s first journey, everyone “knew” that the ship was unsinkable. They did not listen to any warnings when the “Californians” were saying that there would be an iceberg. Nobody was aware that the ship would actually sink if it hit the iceberg. Most of them thought it was not really a big deal. They were even still singing when they were facing the mostly deadly and fatal moment of their lives. Some say that they just wanted to enjoy the last moment of their lives; some say that they wanted to use entertainment to cover up their fear on the ship, and others say that they just didn’t know how dangerous they were at that situation. I definitely do not agree with the people who believed they were enjoying the last moment of their lives. Why can’t they think more positively, like they are going to survive and nothing is going to happen? They were just too calm and I would never be like that if some disaster happens to me like this. I would probably think of a plan to escape instead of just waiting death to come. I want to live, and I would do everything I can to do that.

Bad Choices

I don’t really know that much of Titanic although I did hear about the disaster. All I knew was that the Titanic was a really famous ship that hit the iceberg and sank on the first time it was sailed. Many people had died because there were not enough small boats for escape. They decided just to put a few of those ships when they knew that it was not enough for the passengers to escape. That was the first bad choice they made. Another bad choice was their decision on what to do when the Titanic hit the iceberg. Instead of escaping right away, they thought it was going to be fine and didn’t take the actions right away. Because not a lot of people had survived from the sink of Titanic, there weren’t a lot of primary sources from the victims that were rescued. Most of the stories of Titanic were either retold by somebody else from primary sources or make inferences by themselves after making inspections of the ship later on. Since many of us can not witness the Titanic sinking, we can only listen either to the primary or secondary sources and make the inferences and imaginations by ourselves.

Sources

I think primary source is something that is written “live”. If somebody took notes during a meeting, then the notes may be a primary source when people were talking about the meeting in the future. A secondary source would be something written from a primary source or something that has been written after the event had happened. A history textbook with description of the meeting may be something that is a secondary source. For example, if there is a book about the 911 earthquake in Taiwan, then it would probably be a secondary source. I would probably describe the primary source as someone witnessing an event and writing it down at that moment. On the other hand, a secondary source is where someone makes an inference about something. Since you didn’t witness the events yourself, you can only read from other people’s primary source and make inference from it. I think this is the major difference between primary source and secondary source. I would say that almost all secondary sources came from what they read from primary sources, and secondary sources may even be biased or slightly different from the primary source since it may be edited through inferences, and errors may occur.

Bossom Buddies

George and Lennie have the kind of relationship where George is always taking good care of Lennie all the time. I think George can be an evil person and benefit from his friend, but he didn’t. So neither of them has really benefited from the other one. I do think that George is giving more compared to Lennie. I think I am more like a George kind of person since I give more rather than a taker. I really always give whatever I can to my friends, but I am also really looking forward to see them help me when I really need their help. I always think that’s what friends are for. We should always try to help our friends when they need help and provide everything possible. On the other hand, I also expect help form my friends when I need to since I have given them what they needed. Sometimes, I just get really upset when my friends can’t help me and it is really not their fault. They are like my best helpers that will always be beside me when I need them. Buddies can not only bring you fun and pleasure, but also help when it is necessary.

Your Lennie

I don’t know if the friendship would end or not. I think there is a very high chance of ending the friendship even though I would feel really guilty. I think my friend and I will start to be isolated from other people if we are still together. I wouldn’t want to have the social pressure where everyone is telling me not to hang out with him. I feel sorrow for him, but I don’t think the friendship between us will continue. People would start humiliating both me and my friends if that really happens. I cannot bear with the humiliation and the friendship would just probably end. I know that my choice may be wrong, but I just couldn’t face the reality if something like this happens to me some day suddenly. I am not evil! I am kind hearted, but it is just that I don’t want to get embarrassment from the things I do. I believe that there is always of responsibility between friends. Once it is beyond that point, I don’t think friends should interfere anymore and family is what the person should be looking for instead of friends. Not a lot of friends would take care a person for their whole life.

Emotional Setting

The physical setting of the novel describes the time, place, and the physical features. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, it takes place around the mid 1900s in a farmland where George and Lennie get worked and paid at. There are also emotional settings that give readers the characters’ feeling someone or a situation. We could see the antagonist or emotional feeling between George and Curly. They didn’t like each other at all and it is obvious that a fight can easily occur between the two of them. George also has a collaborative emotional setting with Lennie. They try to work together as a group and help each other out when they need to, although Lennie is the one who needs help most of the time. When we take a look at George and the boss of the farm, it is more like a dog eat dog emotional setting situation. Both of them wanted to benefit from each other while they are not really collaborating and working together. George wanted to earn money from the boss and the boss just wanted workers to help me profit from his lands. It all has to do with money and that is why it is more like a dog eat dog emotional setting.

Base Theme

When you don’t know about someone, the first sight is very important for you to judge that person. The feeling from the first sight can be different from the feeling that you feel after you understand ore about the person. In fact, almost half of the time the first sight is different from the judgment after you know that person. George probably hated Lennie when he first saw Lennie, but as he understand more about him ,he no longer hates him anymore and probably loved him like his little brother, I think the first sight that George had on Curly was also unpleasant. George might no longer hate him anymore later on in the book. When you understand more about someone, I would say that you are getting used to the things you hate about that person instead of really feeling kind about that person. Another explanation would be a person mistaking about someone when you don’t understand about him or her. When people hate that person because of some kind of mistaking between the two of them, the hatred can be removed when the misunderstanding is removed. Personally, I do believe that you feel better about that person after you understand him or her better.

Magic Pictures

I would like to talk about the picture on page 356. There are a bunch of children who are looking at the “stranger”, which is the goose. The children were gathering around, looking at the stranger as if they never saw anything like this before. To them, the stranger was something unfamiliar and odd. This is similar to the picture in my mind when I read the story “a very old man with enormous wings.” I have an imagination in my mind where everyone is just crowding around Elisenda’s house trying to take a look at the angel. I would say that this is very similar to what might be happening at her house. I am guessing that Elisenda hated when people were hanging around her house like that and that was the reason why she was charging all those people when they came into her house. She can both reduce the number of people coming into her house and earn some money off the angel. If the owner in the picture said to the children that they need to pay in order to look at the “stranger”, then most likely that is going to happen is that the children would go away.

Magic Realism

I think creativity is one of the major problems that many young readers had with magic realism. They have a hard time trying to imagine the picture in their brain. The more a person reads, the more that person will have imaginations and thoughts through their experiences from the pas. I think I lack the imaginations myself and I would consider myself as a “young reader”. There are a lot of times where I understand every single word in the book, but I just couldn’t get what the story is trying to say or imagine something that’s unrealistic in my brain. I find out most people who don’t have creativity have the same problem as I do. They are just too stubborn and they kept defending themselves by saying that it isn’t true or it is not logical. They don’t believe in any inventions except for the ones that were already invented. Readers have to really go into the story in order to have the creativity in their minds. I still think that the more a person read, it will definitely help that person greatly on imagining things since it helps build up the experiences and the memory would be full of these kind of creations.

The Unexpected

I will always remember the day I was closest to dying during the summer of 2002. I attended the St. George summer camp on the first year I moved to Vancouver, Canada. Lily and I went together to the camp and we were camping in the forest for three days. I just couldn’t believe we were camping the wild without showering for three straight days! On the third day, we swam at the near pond before going back home. I didn’t really know how to swim except for breast stroke, but still decided to challenge myself and have fun with the other kids. I would never forget what had happened to that third grade boy and me. He was trying to play some kind of dangerous game with me by pushing me down the water. I wasn’t good at swimming and I didn’t expect that, so I kept struggling and find my way to breath. But the more I struggled, the deeper I was falling. I didn’t know what to do, so I just pulled that kid with me and we both were about to drown. Everyone was watching us and I bet it was definitely very embarrassing. Finally the teacher came and saved us and that’s how I was back alive again. If the teacher was three seconds late, I would’ve been gone from this world, but luckily, that didn’t happen!

Ode

I might be writing an ode to my parents for everything they did. They gave me everything I needed. Education was something that they put both time and money into. I would probably even be sorry if I didn’t get into a good college. What I love my parents the most was also providing pleasure instead of just plain education. Whenever I buy iPods or PS3, I would be thankful because some parents don’t eve allow these kinds of entertainments. Those are not the only things I get. T shirts, pants, shoes…are all the things I get for free. I get to choose almost whatever I wanted.

The heart touching part about my parents is that they take care of me with real “care” they took care of me when I was sick, or protect me for safety, such as crossing the streets. Just like what most children would say: my parents are the best parents in the world! And I mean it when I say it. I am just a “flower being taken care in the greenhouse” is what a Chinese idiom would describe me. Whenever my things were broken, my father would always fix it for me. This is how nice my parents were.

Another POV

For the writing assignment on “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”, I wanted to write the scene from the father’s point of view. The scene I am going to choose is probably when his father was trying to confess to Christopher about killing the dog. My character looks more like a serious person, but feels guilty when he tries to hide some sort of facts from his son. His attitude toward the situation is way different from Christopher’s attitude. When we write the scene from the father’s perspective, we would know all the flashback stories already before he told it to Christopher. We would also read the mind of his father when he is trying to think hard on how to say what really happened to the dog and his mom. I think if we rewrite the scene from the father’s point of view, we can have a better clear idea of what his father’s motivation and thoughts were comparing to what Christopher’s description of his father. He was always suspicious what his father after he knew the “truth” about what happened to the dog. He has different logical thoughts from others, so it’s kind of hard for readers to really know what other characters might be thinking.

Holiday Reality

I didn’t do anything quite interesting during the holidays, just the same as what I expected. I went to Chuang Hua for a day during the holidays and stayed in Hsinchu for the rest of the days. I went to Richard’s house during the weekend and went to UMC the day before yesterday. I did bought a new pair of basketball shoes and I wore it for the first time when we went to UMC. It is pretty good looking and comfortable. I bought it with my red envelope money and that was the only money I spent during the break. After spending almost three thousand dollars on the shoe, I still have like forty thousand dollars left in my red envelope. I also gambled on the New Year’s Eve with my parents. I only lost 10 NT, so it was pretty good since I always lose large amount of money when I gamble. So everything I did was according to my plan except that I had Hyperdunk 2010 instead of Hyperfuse Low for my new basketball shoes. I did planned to go to Taipei with my cousin for three days, but I later decided to stay at Hsinchu because I just wanted to rest at home for the week.

Holiday Plans

I don’t think I have any holiday plans YET! I am probably going to stay in Hsinchu for the week. My only goal is to buy a new pair of basketball shoes. I am looking forward to buying the Hyperfuse Low that is going to be out on the first of February. I saw it online the other day and it only cost ninety bucks! The only problem is that it might be too “low” for me. I don’t really like basketball shoes that are really low because I easily roll my ankles when I wear those kinds of shoes. Actually, there is also another problem: Hyperfuse Low might not be out before the holidays in Taiwan. Even though I really own a pair of Hyperfuse, I really wanted to buy another pair with different color. I would say that this is the best pair of basketball shoes I have ever worn. The lightness, texture, and softness of the shoes are just perfect. This is the only event that I have planned so far and I think I would be using my red envelope money to buy it. I just can’t wait for my unplanned holiday to come, where I don’t even know what kind of exciting things I am going to do.

Omniscient POV

The story may be kind of different if it is told from Jerry’s mother’s point of view. Jerry’s mother is always worried about what her son is doing, but on the other hand, she also doesn’t want him to fell limited with his freedom. We can’t really see the curiosity that is in Jerry’s mind if the story was told from her point of view. I would say that it wouldn’t be as interesting as the one we have now because we wouldn’t know what Jerry is doing when he was with the big boys away from his mother. The story would only show what Jerry’s mother was doing and thinking instead of all the dangerous adventures Jerry had faced when he was diving and swimming under the sea. The omniscient point of view was one of the great factors that make this story fascinating. It would just be a bored and plain story if it was told from the mother’s point of view. If the story has a third person limited narrator, then we wouldn’t be bale to understand the feelings each characters has. Feeling is something that we cannot see or feel if it is a limited narrator story. The original story was mainly focusing on Jerry’s perspective and some of his mother’s point of view.

Film vs Print

Movies are really different from books. The imaginations inside our brains when we read the books are projected out by movies. A movie can show you how the settings and characters really look like. a book can use all words to describe one thing, but every person who reads it have different mental pictures in their head. We all have different imaginations, so what you “think” something looked like might not really be what the author is trying to express. As for movies, it is filmed with what the author wanted it to be and everyone would find the books they read a little different from the movie. On the other hand, it can also be hard for a movie to show that the book can really described. Some of the things the author described may not be filmed because it might be unrealistic in the modern world. The movies actually help us get those mental pictures in readers out of their minds and put it into something where everyone can look at it. Movie is where the expressions are being expressed from movements and the quotes they say. Books have a lot of descriptions that supported the author’s idea, making the book interesting.

Shaped by Time and Place

I moved back to Taiwan after three years in Canada. I remember I was crying on the day we were at the airport. My parents promised me that we would be moving back after living Taiwan for two years. Right now, it has been almost five years since I came back and I guess I am used to living in Taiwan. I don’t really think there is any possibility of going back to Vancouver, the place with full of my memories, anymore un less I am going to UBC, University of British Columbia, when I graduate from high school. Sometimes when my memories pops up in my brain, I would wonder how I would be like right now if my parents had made their promise and bring me back to Vancouver three years ago. I would probably still be playing tether ball with my friends in high school at recess time. I really miss out the days where school starts at nine and ends at three. Those are the most memorable part of my life that I would never forget. I think I would be really different than who I am right now if I am living in Vancouver for high school.

How to Present Yourself

The choices we present to ourselves to the world reveal our personality. I have met someone before who looked like a nerd, with a black pair of glasses that looks so nerdy. He always tucks his shirt in like wearing a suit. On one ever believed he could play basketball, or even dribble the ball down the court without losing it. We were all surprised to see him in our game on the first day of practice. He was going to join the basketball team! We had a scrimmage game on that day to let the coach take a look at the new people, especially that nerd. Except that he was a beast on the court and no one could stop him from dominating the floor! We can’t really judge a person based on the outward appearance even though we make judgments and biased perspective on people or things every single day. It is just something we can’t control. I would say that the physical appearance is a really important key to judge a person on. When someone wears a tie and suit the first time he or she is at a interview, it can really give a good impression to the boss compared to the same person wearing t-shirts and jeans.

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage include puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. I would say the biggest rite of passage for me is my sweet 15 years old birthday. I felt different form the past. I think it is the age of turning into a high school student, which means I am going to start be responsible for some of my things. When I become a high school student, which means I get a lot of freedom, such as staying up late and chat online with my friends, joining the basketball team and represent our school to play the tournament, and a lot of other freedoms. On the other hand, this means that I have to take care my own homework assignments, quizzes and tests, and be responsible for the things I do or say. I have to think about almost everything before I say it out or the statement may be offensive or inappropriate. Other rites of passage like marriage and death are things that I haven’t faced myself. I always imagined myself in a wedding while I am attending a wedding ceremony. It is always a great pleasure watching two couples getting married and I think that is going to be one of the rites of passage that I would be passing through.

Symbol of the House

In Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over,” the house was a symbol of a place where the Irene and the narrator have everything they wanted and the house was the only place that can make them satisfied and happy. When the narrator said that half of the house was occupied, it symbolizes how freedom can be limited gradually, just like how the house was being occupied slowly. They started out with full control of the house, then it become half, then one room left, and then at last they have to leave the house and go somewhere else. The story itself is really weird and I think there must be some kind of symbol inside the story. I am curious and suspicious that the house might not even be Irene’s or the narrator’s. They probably stole the house and lived in there temporary until the owner of the house comes back. What I am guessing is that it is not their house and after they left the house, they had to go to another empty house to stay in temporary until the owner of “that” house comes back. I don’t really think it is the ghosts that are occupying the house.

Being Tested

In the movie “Coach Carter”, the players in Richmond High School faced academic challenges. They were failing their classes, which made Coach Ken Carter mad and locked the gym. Instead of going to the gym for practices in the school, the Richmond Oilers players have to go to the library for study hall and tutoring. The students faced mental tests. At the end of the story, the players overcame their challenges and were back into their dreams: being a basketball player. I think I did not face too big of a challenge on the academic part, but more on the physical part. The first year of my basketball career was both a pain and something fun. The pain I felt was the lack of stamina to play at least thirty minutes on the court. Because I am a starter, I got a lot of playing minutes. I would say it was kind of a big challenge for me because I get tired really quickly. I would start breathing really hard after the end of first quarter. Physical challenge was more challenging to me than the mental thinking part. I could think really well and read what my opponent is thinking during the game, but a lot of times I don’t have the stamina to compete.

Proving One's Self

Young people feel, at one time or another, the need to prove their strength, endurance and maturity because they have been viewed as children since they were born and they wanted to prove that it is no longer true. I still have this kind of feeling now because my parents still doubt that I am able to manage my own things by myself. Sometimes, when I forget to bring something to school, or when I was unprepared for some events, my parents would say I am still not mature enough to take care of my own things. That is when I wanted to prove them wrong. I have witnessed this at school when I saw a middle school student kept on saying “I can do this! You have to trust me! I have the capability to do it myself” to his teacher. The student wanted to be the teacher’s assistant, but the teacher was till thinking hard whether or not he should accept it. A lot of young people tried to prove themselves simply just because they wanted to challenge their bravery and prove to other how strong they are. They take risky chance in order to overcome their fear, which most of the time has to do with stupidity.

Symbols

Symbol is some kind of representation that represents a certain object or person. One of the symbols for people in Dallas is cowboys because Texas contains a lot of desert lands. Another example is the Rockies Mountain. It is one of the symbols for Colorado because it is where the Rockies are located. I think these symbols have acquired a culturally agreed upon meaning because it contains stories that has been passed down through generations that tells the significance of these symbols. Personally, I think symbols can either be created at will or occur naturally. In the previous examples, we can see that the symbols have been created naturally due to its geographical regions. There are other symbols that are created at will in order to make it special. For instance, a person can go died his hair blue and green and make that the symbol of him. He didn’t do it naturally, but instead, did it on his own will. Some of the symbols were created by will and were passed down through generations. The Nazi symbol, for example, is being established by personal will. It wasn’t just created naturally. Language could also be a symbol that is created naturally.

Choices

Our choice may reveal about what we believe in. others would learn how I think if they knew how I would choose. I think I agree to the quotation because our believes, our self, and what we truly are, can only be revealed from the choices we make. However, we don’t get to choose what we truly believe every single time. There just may be obstacles between you and the choice you feel is right. There are times when we have to make choices that don’t reflect how we truly feel or think about things. Sometimes, it may be culturally influenced while other times it may due to other factors. Outward appearance and dressing may be something Muslims could not choose what they wanted. Wearing shorts may be their choice, but that may be too short for the Muslim religion. Instead, Muslims would probably have to wear something religious, which may be against their own will and choices. There are other times where people are being forced to do something. For instance, when you believe in something but your boss disagrees with you, you are forced to do what your boss says even though it may be against your own will.

Welcome Back!

My holiday was pretty good. I went to Tokyo, Japan during the holiday for seven days. It was a break for me to relax and escape from all those school work. After I came back from Japan, I started getting back on work, finishing my take home quiz and reviewing my test for history class. I also began to read the SAT Math 2 book because I am going to take the test on the seventh of May. I gave myself a short break and went to the countdown in Hsinchu with some of my friends that day after spending the whole morning to math. It was great hanging out with friends and we spent the last second of 2010 in McDonalds. To be more specific, I spent my last second walking on the stairs after coming back from the washroom. During the two days between the countdown night and before school starts, I started getting back on track and finished the rest of my homework that I didn’t finish previously. I also read one of my newest novels during the holiday. I read it whenever I was bored and didn’t know what to do, especially when I was in Japan.