Romeo and Juliet Play Reflection

The ninth grade english class took on a challenge this monday morning. They had to memorize a section of the monologue said by either Romeo or Juliet during the Capulet Orchard scene and perform it in front of the whole class. I was Romeo, and being him has been a lot of fun. Somehow, it amuses me to see a guy with so much to say. Either way as fortune has it, my partner and I were selected to go first and the rest didn't went as well as I hoped. First of all, I couldn't stop giggling a bit as I recited my lines. My partner is a boy and it seemed kind of funny to me at that time that our roles should have been reversed. That was problem number 1. Problem number 2 was the fact that I wasn't very into my acting. Apparently, I still hadn't got the lines down to an art and the words could not just flow through me. I made hand gestures, but they were relatively small. Something else I felt that I could have improved on is to cooperate with my partner better before the performance. My partner and I didn't act like a couple, but like two strangers who had never seen each other ( and still hasn't) throughout the play. This part I would like to correct. In general, I felt this performance was a pretty rewarding experience. Performing, to me now, seemed less of a mental dread. Perhaps one day I could finally get out of my shell and act in a real play.

pg. 789 Odyssey Part 2 Quick write.

Every bird's got to leave its nest. One day, all of us will leave home to soar in the skies. As the wind rippled across our face as we glided through the free, open air with gracious vigor, we couldn't help but miss home. After years of wondering and accomplishing, one day, you decided to return to your old home. At that time, people will have different reactions. Some will feel incredibly nostalgic. Those are the sentimental types. One can observe their eyes widen at the sight of their homeland. They would step in gently, nimbly, and almost soundlessly. Their fingers will strike the bark of the old oak tree they spent so much time as a child under, and they lie stare up the mountains the way they used to when they were little. Tears would then swell in their eyes as a feeling of happy joy reached them. Another type would be so set on seeing their homeland that they would dash directly for their house and family. This is the energetic and impatient type. Another type would be hesitant at the doorsteps of their home, afraid. So much could have changed since their last arrival and they are afraid to find out what those changes are. There is also another type that contained all the qualities combined. He or she can be nostalgic, joyous and afraid at the same time. Personally, I would probably be a combination of all. I'm sure many would agree.

Difference between epic poem and the movie of Cyclops from the Odyssey

There are much difference between the movie and the epic poem laid out by master Homer. In the epic poem, Odysseus and his men waited in the cave for one full night before striking. In other words, they stayed in the cave for one night and one morning until Cyclops returned the next day. In the movie, however, the entire event of the eye-stabbing and escaping happened within the same night. Only two men were devoured in the movie when in the poem, six were. The first two were sacrificed in the first evening, two more for breakfast, and two more for the following evening when Odysseus planned his escape. Cyclops in the movie also didn't let any of his sheep into his cave, and therefore, Odysseus and his men did not escape the way they did in the book- by riding on the belly of one sheep chained to two other ships.He in the movie, escaped by putting sheep fur on top of his body.  Cyclops, of course, did not touch any of the sheep's head the way he touched it in the poem. In the epic poem, Odysseus also presented to Cyclops several bowls of wine( three?) before Cyclops passed out, and in the movie, only one bowl was presented. In the epic poem, Odysseus encouraged his four other men and they lunged the stick into Cyclops's eye together,  in the movie, only four men finished the task. When Cyclops screamed for help in the movie, his dialogue was shortened. Instead of saying " Nohbdy's Nohbdy's tricked me. Nohbdy's ruined me." in the movie, his dialogue was shorten into simply: " Nobhbdy's blinded me!" Quite interesting. Also, at the end of this story in the epic poem, Odysseus ordered his men to drive Cyclops's sheep onto his ship and row away quickly, the movie, nothing like that happened. After Odysseus and his men escaped and Cyclops launched his rock( in the story it was a hilltop)  at their ship, Odysseus's men complained to him for not being discreet but Odysseus did not listen. This part of the dialogue was cut out from the movie. Finally, in the end of the poem, Cyclops once begged Odysseus to return, that part was cut from the movie as well. Cyclops in the epic poem cursed Odysseus directly only after Odysseus provoked him further by saying if he could take Cyclops's life he would throw him into hell where Posiden cannot save it. In the movie, this part was eluded. I could go on and on about the major differences but the rest are mainly the elude of dialogue to make the movie a bit less tiring and ransom. Just another note, in the poem, Odysseus drove a steaming pike into the Cyclops eye while in the movie that wasn't exactly the case. There was also a guy in the movie that plays an instrument and was not mentioned in the poem.

From the Odyssey, Part One.

When thinking of a hero, the image of superman and spiderman would immediately come to mind. Yet what is it about these characters that made them heroes? What is it about all heroes that made them " heroic?" An important part of being a hero is the willingness to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others. That,  is one of the most obviously important forte every hero contains. Of course, it would be a big bonus if the hero happened to have some sort of talent that stand them out from everybody. There is also something within every hero that people tend not to see. Every hero has to be human, in other words, mortal. To better rephrase this statement, every hero had to have a weak point. No hero is absolutely invincible. What is the good of a person who is already naturally great at everything? What is the admirable quality in that? Some characters I found heroic are 1) Eric from the Phantom of the Opera, 2) D'Artagnan Romances from the Man Behind the Iron mask, and 3) the little mermaid from the famous children tales. Eric from the Phantom of the Opera was an ingenious soul trapped beneath an ugly face. In the end, he was to sacrifice his happiness for the sake of Christine's. Eric was smart, but he was also mortal. He was human, and he had a flaw. The fact that he is not invincible simply makes his sacrifice even more heroic. In the story " The Man behind the Iron mask" D'artagnan Romances is the main protagonist who stood loyal to the king of France. In the end of the novel, he was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his friends. He was also vincible as he had also been imprudent. He was also capable of getting hurt. Just like Eric, his vinciblility places his courage in a more amiable light. The last hero I have on the list was a rather uncommon one. The little mermaid was a mermaid who sacrificed herself for the sake of love and her prince. That was sacrifice. THe Littler Mermaid also had a fatal flaw- she could not walk without burning sensations up her legs and she could not speak. These two forces made her fatal, and her decision to sacrifice became even more heroic then ever. I think being mortal and willing to sacrifice is a universal content for all heroes throughout the world. There are, however, some parts of the world who considered heroes to be invincible at all costs. Some cultures thought of gods as heroes, and they are invincible. But the majority such as the United STates, would still consider heroes to be brave, but human. So these heroic qualities I described doesn't only reflect my culture.

Example of Deception: The Inside is different from the outside

Deception is one of those factors humans ingot that leads to a delicious drama, partially due to the extremely negative feelings the victim experience after realizing him or her has been deceived. There are a few cases when a huge part of the public was deceived by those who claimed they were committing a good cause. This type of deception places made the deceptions most despicable and place them in the least amiable light. An excellent example of this sort of deception is the ones done by some charity organization. The organization persuaded the public to donate money to help out the less fortunate somewhere else around the globe, but in truth, the donated money did little to help anyone but the organizer's bank accounts. An example is the Civic Development Group that was based off on New Jersey. The money the organization claimed to have been " donated" actually went into its two founder's bank accounts. The inside of this charity organization sure is different from what it seems on the outside. Another example is the Police Survivor Fund that claimed to be funding for the police officer's families who died during the September 11 attack. The charity organization collected an estimation of half a million dollars, but paid only 24500 to the families in need. The United Homeless Organization also served a similar disappointment. Most of the money collected were served for personal uses instead of public usage. These organizations deceived the public by claiming and seeming to be one thing, but was deep inside the other. It certainly does not feel pleasant to be deceived, and many these days glanced at all charity organizations with weary eyes. The charity culture seemed to have been polluted by the few who practiced the concept of deception. What a shame.
I now discovered that a classmate is doing a similar topic as I am doing so I decided to provide a second example. A few years ago a taiwanese baseball player had faked losses against another team after being bribed. People at that time used to have high respects for the team and were willing to spend the valuable time they had on devoting to watch the game. Even the president's wife showed up and was sitting in one of the best seats cheering the team on. Yet who would have known it was all a planned fake and that there was not actually any real " game" going on? The baseball player was bribed with females and money in order to loose on purpose on the field. I found this act quite despicable. Very despicable actually.
Another resample just incase some one else did this example are those men who committed domestic violence in the urban society. MOst of these men seemed like the perfect gentlemen on the outside, but when they returned home and had a couple of drinks, they turned into something unthinkable by their dear wives. They never thought her husband's outside could conceal the fact that her husband was such a monster on the inside. BUt they were wrong, and that would become a mistake that they were regret deeply over the remaining years of that marriage. The wives were deceived by the husband's appearance by first few meetings that this would have never happened to them, but it did. In this case, the husband's appearance deceived the wives intentionally or unintentionally.

Beware of the Dog pg. 686

Sight is one of the dominant sense an organism could ever possess. As we wade and mellow our way slowly through the obstacles life throws in our face, we often times come across things and people whose appearance deceived and mislead us. I will admit that I have, several time. There had been times when I was prejudice against a classmate who does not appear all that intelligent at one particular time period. There had also been times when I was stupid and narrow-minded and looked down at people of a particular profession and race. I had been wrong most of the time. People are often much more then they appear. People may be mislead when they see an aggressive looking person with a dark scar across his or her face. They will automatically label these people criminals and distance their noble selves away from these so -called " criminals" . In truth, these " criminals" may be a person with a genuine, and kind nature, you never know. The people might be mislead due to stereotypical images that exhausted throughout movies and books that ported the antagonists as someone like that image. People may discover their initial reaction was wrong when they really got to know these people, and look at them, for the first time, beneath their skin and appearance. People also may be deceived by a person's ethnicity. An example being aborigneese. People might be mislead by their ethnicity and some may think of them as people who sang and dance all day long( which is a stereotype that is not necessarily true). They were mislead because of again, the media.  They, again, might discover they were wrong after getting to know these people. The rest of the example I had in mind have a similar content so I will simply list them: Race, Religion, and personality.

Animal Farm

Mr. Frederick is the leader of Germany as he represents Hitler and his actions throughout the book. Germany is smaller than England, and is better governed. Hitler is obviously tough and shrewd.  

Mr. Pilkington- the owner of Foxwood is the leader of England and the United States.England and the United States are the head of the ally force and are enemies with Germany. The United States and England to Russia could be large, neglected, and old fashioned as they clung to their capitalist ideals and not much was going on. They were probably overpopulated and developed. Leaders of England and the United States obviously would appear more friendly and easy-going, marking a sharp contrast between Germany and them. 

= Both Germany and the United States and England were looking for ways to turn Russia’s uprising into their advantages. Yet the countries were on opposing sides of the war, and that prevented them from collaborating forces. 

= It turned out that Russia seemed to first betray Russia and then turned to it for help when Germany attacked in the biggest militarist operation - Operation Barbarossa against Russia. It was the same in the novel when Germany at first traded with Foxwood, claiming they are the good guys. They also claimed the Pilkington was evil, but later came to trade with them instead. 

American History Quickwrite

There are a couple of events with historical significance that are also quite important to myself as well. The first event happened on September 21 when the most famous Earthquake ever sounded Taiwan first stroke. I was nothing but a little infant at that time, and could vaguely recall mother nature going left and right. My parents had to scurry out of our apartment and stream down the stairs. In the middest of the chaos, we left our beloved pet- Jelly behind. It wasn't until we got to the car when my youthful self suddenly discovered that Jelly was not with us. I screamed for my family to go back but my parents refused, seeing how grave the situation can be. We returned to the apartment three days later to find Jelly alive, which was a bliss. I learned the value of life and friends throughout this experience . Another memorable event of mine that had historical significance was the Great Recession around 2008~2009 : an economical depression that struck many jobless. Our family wad affected as my mother's income was reduced due to the fact that too many went bankrupted during that period. Our aunt got into a huge debt and the family had to buy her out of it. Our family then experienced a short recession afterwards, and my brother was unable to attend a special competition in Finland since our family couldn't exactly afford an extra plane ticket. Up until present day, I could still hear the sound of my brother's soft weeping in my ears whenever our family was to board an airplane.  I swear to myself that I will never be trivial with money. The last event that has personal as well as historical importance to me was when the people gathered to protest against Chen-Shua-Bein's presidency. My father's family was spilt down into two when discussing about this event:  my grandparents supported the president while their sons does not. This resulted in many fights that nearly tore the family apart. There was once when my grandfather got so angry he slammed his bowl onto the ground and stormed out the door. It took us four hours to find him  the wandering by the train station and take him back home. Those four hours were probably the most painful hours of my life. I couldn't stop myself from worrying. I hated waiting, and that was exactly what I had to do at that time. I learned from this dilemma that family is the upmost important force above all others, including political affairs.

Report Card

Alyssa’s performance in English class is mediocre. Her test scores are unexceptional, always ranging in the lower nineties. Although she pays careful attention to the details in each story, she doesn't pay enough attention to the big ideas behind each story. She did horribly at the beginning of year in terms of vocabulary testing. Fortunately, her scores have begun to rise. She should find a time to go over key grammar areas with her teacher and try to limit her grammatical errors by herself. Alyssa sometimes slacks off and doesn’t accomplish the things she hoped to. She could also participate more actively and try to ask her questions in class. Alyssa also has a tendency to make grammatical and spelling errors in her assignments, and she should make improvements. One good thing about Alyssa’s performance in English is her improved vocabulary. She still needs to work on grammar and spelling.

Favorite Food Quickwrite( How to eat a Guava Quickwrite)

My absolute favorite food is the wonderful strawberry whose production is most abundant during the bitter coldness of winter and early spring. The red strawberry always provides my palates a sensational drive. The sweetness of the berry will fill my mouth with elastic joy as my tongue gently traced the softness of the meat . I deeply inhale in the scent of the strawberry, which to me, smelled a little like nature and grass. I also fumble a strawberry or two in my fingers, grazing their soft texture with extreme delicacy. I often associate strawberries with one Christmas my family and I had in the United States. The snow has turned the world into a winter wonderland, and frost has collected among the tree branches and glistened under the sun. It was an early Christmas morning and I was beyond exited to head down to the dinning room t collect the christmas presents my relatives promised to give me. I found out soon after that I had been a bit early and none of the presents were really prepared for yet. The meals were, however, ready on the table. I remembered getting a normal berry and propped it into my mouth, only to be driven into a joy of ectacy. Sweet sensations exploded on the tip of my tongue and expended downwards and eventually pervaded and took over my mouth. My parents later pronounced to me tenderly that the fruit I just had was called a " Straw-Bear- eeie" and that we can only eat the fruit during the bitterest cold of winter and early spring. The fact that it was so scare increased my love for the fruit even more. My memories with associations to strawberries also extends throughout my fifteen years of life. The places that I remember what I connect with my favorite food are the following: The cool air of the strawberry farm as we go for the annual picking. The sharpness of the strawberry branches, and the vivid crimson color of the fruit, 2) the dinning room in my house where the yellow light shined down gayly. Each and every year I would sit in the exact same spot and inhale the  natural sense of the fruit before I swallow it whole, and 3) the mountain where we went for a picnic every year during the early springs. We always brings strawberries, and I like to eat them lying on the soft, green grass of mother earth as the scent of the strawberry and the scent of nature became whole. 

Billy Collins TED Talk

I thought Collins's idea of setting poems into motion was a great idea and really enjoyed reading the animations. From the five poems that I have read, my favorite is the poem, " Somedays" since it has the deepest message in it. I thought the poem conveyed a special tone of loneliness as it described the life of a person, how he could be the controller one day, and the controlled in other days. Some days, he was the one who put people in their places at the table, bending their legs at the knees, and other days, he was picked by the ribs and into the dining room of a dollhouse. In some ways, I think collins was conveying a message of the vanity of life. Throughout the poem he used the sentences such as " I put the people in their places at the table," or " lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse" that gave readers an image of a little girl playing with her toys. Life is nothing but a game, and destiny is the little girl. Destiny often times can be trivial by their means and favor only certain types of characters, the heroic ones, the beautiful ones. You can never predict what will come later in life, you may be a vivid God with your shoulders in the clouds, or you can be another figure with a little plastic face with absolute no control of our destiny.  I think the way Collins expressed his thoughts on life through this poem was extremely interesting. I'm not sure that I have such a pessimistic view point on life, but I do think this is a good poem.

Ballad Self-reflection

After writing a ballad for English class, I felt that I have learned a lot. Here are some things I learned that I can improve for next time. My editors had been fairly nice and didn't write down any harsh negative comments, but I think that I should improve on my usage of poetic elements. I focused only on the story throughout the entire poem, spending little for rhyme or rhythm. I simply didn't pay attention to any of that, thinking that that stuff is not important. Yet in real life, it is. My poem could probably be a lot better if I were to insert in more poetic elements and a steady rhyme scheme. I was surprised to find symbolism in my own poem. My editor Jenny wrote on her comments that she appreciated the symbolism I inserted of a kite symbolizing freedom. After reading my own poem again after some time, I realized that she may be right. I think the symbolism made the poem a lot more powerful than it could have been which is a good thing. I also though the plot for my poem this time wasn't good enough and that I should have put in my effort into the actual planning of the story. Jenny thought that parts of it  was unclear and after some self-reflection, I realized that she was right. I should probably work on that next time.

Narrative POem Research

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed. 





This is a beautiful and touching poem by Billy Collins, one of the most famous poets in history. This poem examines the feeling of a little ten year old looking back with bitter remorse at his life before his age turned into a double digit. Before he turned ten, the world to him, is a bizarre and interesting place. He could one day be a wizard, another day be the prince...Yet as age did not have mercy on him and he grew up. Now,he is neither the wizard nor the prince, he, is only himself. The world is neither a battleground nor a palace, the world is just the few roads in front of his house. It seemed as if as the narrator grew up, the amusement and imagination of the world faded at his age of TEN. The last part of the poem was especially powerful as the narrator spoke " It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light. If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed." These few lines especially signifies how hard it is for a child to grow up and become practical. The lines don't just represent a physical occurrence, but also a mental occurrence. As a child you believe you can accomplish anything. IT seemed like just having a dream is enough. Yet now, as a child grows up, reality hits him square and flat. He fell to the ground, and bled the crimson blood of red despair. 
This poem is a relatively short narrative compared to the historical ones such as the " canterbury tales" and " The Devine Comedy". The story wasn't very long, neither is it a fiction like story, yet it is a narrative alright. This poem is a free-verse narrative so there isn't much of a rhyme scheme to look into. Again, since it is a free-verse narrative, there isn't much meter either. The oversell style of the writer is informal, childlike, remorse. I don't think there is a lot of imagery in this poem either, because it is mainly a description of the poet's feelings. The last stanza, however, may be an example. I could picture the boy when he fell upon the sidewalk and bled instead of shedding light. I think that can be a pretty powerful image. The metaphors are abundant in this poem. There is one when the narrator mentioned himself to be an Arabian wizard at four, a soldier at seven, and a prince at nine. The next stanza, the narrator mentioned that light " fell solemnly" against his tree house and his bike " leaned" against the garage. I think the poem is great the way it is with sufficient use of all the poetic elements. It represented the view of a remorseful ten year old boy saying goodbye to his imagination and hello to reality where you bleed when you fall. Too much of any poetic elements will not contribute to the mood the poet has created. I thought this was an excellent poem. 

Seven Ages of Man Extended Metaphor

Life is a candle,
starting out with a a tiny flare of,
orange
That turned red,
then blue
And near the end,
sprinkle the last spark of bursting crimson before
fading into
Nothing.
Ashes.

In my interpretation of an extended metaphor for life, The whole poem is basically an extended metaphor of the first sentence " Life is a candle" as it develops a comparison oversell several lines of writing. IN this poem, I opened with the line, " Life is a candle" then extended the metaphor to compare the stages of lives to the color of the candles as it progressed. You start out as an infant with only a tiny flare of orange light. This is the stage when life was new and faint in one's body. Then the light of the candle turned red as we mature and the spark of life shined brighter and brighter until we eventually reached blue, the maximum capacity of brightness. In the end before our death, our dwindling light may suddenly relit before fading into nothing but ashes. I compared life to candles in general because we all started out as nothing but a faint glow in the darkness, and as we mature, the light became brighter and brighter. Finally near death, our faded light may lit up again with the last strength in its body before momentally dying.
Just in case my candle metaphor was not entirely correct, I'll supply another example. Life is like a book. You start out with the first chapter then gradually progress your way until you finally finish the book. There are times when you can predict what you'll see and others when you simply will have to be surprised.

The Seven Ages of Man Quickwrite

I personally thought life has no stage. Life, is not to be scripted. Life by itself is, almost, a living, and breathing soul with its own sorts of mind. However, the point of this assignment is for us to second-guess Shakespeare's 7 stages of life predicament, and so that is what I will have to do. I predict the first stage to be of the babyhood. The stage when a child cries and have no sort of pride of any kind. The stage when a child's mother is their world and their only. The second stage, I predict, is childhood. The time when a child learned to stand on his or her feet and make friends. The third stage, I predict, is adolescence. This is the stage when the body and mind of a child develops into one of an adult. Many fell in love at this stage. This is also a time of great imprudence as the hormones within each teenager rules his or her action. The forth stage should be early adulthood when people stepped into society as a fresh, new human being in charge of his or her own life. Some fell in love in this stage, in college, and get married and start a family with a huge dream and a life ahead of them. The fifth stage is middle-aged man stage. This is when family and work became the center of each man's life. This is the life when the parents themselves have to take care of new characters that come into their plays as fresh human beings. The sixth stage is when a man or woman reaches his or her 60s. This is a stage of great peace as he or her rest from years of weary and fatigue. This is also the time when most gets to take a rest and do the things they weren't able to do in their previous stages of life. The seventh stage, lastly, is also the last and men reaches this stage in different years. Some for the rest of their life, and some for a very brief moment. This stage is when men finally loose all senses and almost all possessions save their breath and becomes as needy as an infant. Only this time, instead of learning to stand up, they are learning to lie down.
This, is the play of men I believe Shakespeare had in mind.

Make the Connection pg. 511( Disrespect??)

If I were to write down a mood such as grief, I might use the following metaphors:
Ambition is a hungry lion, swallowing everything in its path.
Loneliness is the white moon alone in the night sky.
Selfishness is the shadow that engulfs the light.
Anger is a destructive wind that trampled everything in its path.

Branded / Disrespect? pg. 512

I oftentimes felt disrespected and treated less than the person I knew I was. I still do today sometimes. Once I attended a cram school and one boy was always praised for his works and grades. While he is a good student, my grades rivaled his yet nobody seemed to acknowledge that. They thought he was the model student and that I, was simply another wannabe. They thought that he was the best at everything, and when our group gets a good grade in presentations, people thought it was all due to his benefits when I, in fact, contributed more by writing the speeches, creating new ideas, and pointing out the general directions. That was a time when I felt disrespected and overlooked. People thought I relied on him for good grades, and that was huge disrespect to me. There was also another time when I joined a newspaper club and there was a girl who thought I was stupid and clumsy. She was not a very good writer and her teammates often tease her about that. Seeing that I am a new comer and seemed to have mistook some general instructions that was given to me, she found herself more superior than I am. From then on, whenever somebody gave me an instruction, she would translate mindlessly in that superficial language of hers. To me , that was bold effrontery. The insults were a declaration of war. Nobody gets to treat me any lesser than I am, and she, is not about to become the first. I vowed silently to myself to seek revenge one day, to throw everything back into her dark freckled face. Within a few weeks, my writing improved and received praise from the leader. She no longer offered those " translations" . Now, I realized she may have just been trying to be nice, or perhaps, she felt sympathetic to myself. Yet for me at that time, her bold gestures were offensive and discriminating. I thought and spoke lowly of her, and made my friends think the same. In general, I hate to be treated lesser than what I am. When that situation happens, I will fight back with all my will. Nobody can trample on my pride. Nobody can.

Imagery you see in " A Blessing"

The power of " A Blessing" comes from Mr. James Wright's master in imagery. I will go ahead and describe to you all there is to it throughout the poem. First of all, the author used imagery to inform us that they are off the  highway in Rochester, Minnesota. I don't personally really consider this imagery since it's more of feeding off information than using language that appeals to our senses, but just to be not he safe side, I decided to include that as well. We also knew it was night time because of the next imagery" Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass" . In our mental eye, we can see how little faint bits of lights ran or leaped in strides . The next imagery describes the eyes of the indian ponies: " And the eyes of the Indian ponies darken with kindness." From here we can see that the eyes of the ponies are dark black, another imagery. We also see the author and his friend stepped over the barbed wire and see the excited ponies on the grassland they had been grazing all day along. That, I think, is another piece of imagery. The part about the excited ponies especially. I could also see the ponies chew on the young turfs of spring and the female pony that is black and white and had her manes fall wild on her forehead. That is the strongest point of imagery throughout the entire poem. I can literally see the beautiful pony. I can also feel the  light breeze the author used imagery to decide and feel the delicate skin of the pony like a girl's wrist. This is also a great piece of imagery. I think this whole poem is composed of imagery starting practically from the very beginning. I saw how it was night, how the beautiful ponies reacted to them, where they lived, and how they felt like. This, is a wonderful example of imagery. I believe we can learn a lot from Mr. James Wright. Another imagery I forgot to mention was how they bow shyly like wet swans. In my mindful eye, I can really see the way they bowed to each other lovingly. 

Now, I will give a brief summary of this poem. Just off the highway of Rochester, Minnesota as the night twilight leaped in strides among the grass, the eyes of the two indian ponies seemed to lighten with kindness. The author and his friend went over the wire to where the ponies had been all day along as the ponies rippled excitedly as their arrival. They bowed to each other in a manful way and the author could really see that they loved each other and their loneliness wasn't actually too bad since they have each other. Once they were at home again, they began grazing on the grass again. The author had an urge to hold the slender pony in his arms because she had walked over to him and nuzzled his hand. The author saw she was a black and white pony with her mane falling wild on her forehead . The light breeze gave the author a sudden urge to touch its ears and found them to be as delicate as a girl's wrist. It was then when the author realized that if he were to step out of his body, he would brea into blossoms.

In the last paragraph I feel there is a need for me to explain my imageries. I wasn't sure about which parts of the poem qualified as imagery because it seemed like all parts of it contributed to paint a picture in my head and appealed to my senses. Here I will give a few main imageries just to be safe: 1) Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass- creating an image of night time 2) The eyes of two indian ponies their eyes darken with kindness- creating an image of dark eyed kind ponies. 3) They bow shyly like swans- conveyed the image of the way they bowed lovingly to each other, 4) She is black and white, her mane falls wild on her forehead and ....wrist- Conveys how the slender pony looks and feels like. 

Turning Point

As we humans straddled innocently through the roads of a yellow green forest called Life, a fork would often times skid our giddy footsteps to a halt. We and Robert Frost seemed to agree that we can not travel two paths and still be one traveler, there has bound to be a point where we had to make choices. These choices, big or small, mark different turning points of one's life. I too, had strayed among the roads of the yellow green forest and too, stopped in front of a fork, and pondered harder than I ever did, of my options. These decisions often mark turning points in my life, and in this post, I will present to you a choice I made that marked a turning point in my life. When I was in forth grade, I entered an impromptu writing competition. Despite the fact that I was remembered  as the girl who loved to read and write, I wasn't exactly the ideal choice for the competition. My writing has immense spelling issues and that, is a true disadvantage to my writing. I almost got cold feet and bailed out at that time but my mom encouraged me to just give it a shot anyway. I ended up winning the competition , and even till the present day,  was still much of a shock . If this turning point had never happened, if I had never attended the competition, my insecurity in writing will always hinder me from ever expressing my thoughts in paper. I would perhaps turn to other areas to peruse an interest and express myself. Perhaps I would develop an outspoken voice to say the things on my mind instead of writing them as I do today. Perhaps I will turn out to be a speaker after all.

Self-Sacrifice

 Though it never ended in blood and tears, I decided I had enough of these kind of decisions alright. When I was a little private school girl in elementary school, fate bestowed an unkindly finger upon me. That day, I was given a choice of great ambivalence. For those whose elementary school experience has been nothing but a distant memory, you may find it very hard to relate. The little girls were divided up into tiny subunits and mini-societies where each group was very much well-aware of the other's enmity and existence. I, sadly, belonged to no group. Being the new girl sure does have its cons, I had to transfer into a school where I knew no one, and no one had an interest of knowing me. Fortunately, I was not alone. There was another girl who faced similar situations one month ago, and hadn't since then, found a best friend. Immediately she took me under her wing so I never had to stray from group to group bagging for a lab partner. There was one day when lightening stroke upon a girl from one group and she asked me to join them for lunch. You'd have to realize that in elementary school there is no " casual conversation". Each word was chosen with well meaning and each action was done with discretion. What she had asked me, in elementary schoolgirl language was, " Hey, you seemed lonely. Want to ditch your friend and join our group?" I remembered standing there very much bewildered. Despite the fact that I had a best friend to stick with, a large part of me still wanted to be in the main crowd and now that part of me seemed to be exploding. Joining the group would be extremely to my benefit, but what of my friend? I remembered thinking quietly to myself. In the end, I remembered my timid self remaining silence for so long that the girl simply walked away. That was my way of saying no, and as I see her prideful gate, I was more and more certain of my decision. I was glad that I chose a friend over popularity. I was proud of myself for making such a choice as well. I think, no matter how hard it is, one should always choose a person over his or her own benefits. Of course, this is much more easily said than done.

Universal Education

Universal education is a law which issues all children to receive a minimum  primary education before being released to society. How did this law came to be? Why do we need it? Well, those are some questions I will answer right away. The establishment of universal education started out as a pretty long process in England. Back in the 1800s, church schools started to appear that accepts both boys and girls. On 1870, the government addressed the Elementary Education Act 1870 which required board schools to be set up in areas where existing provisions were inadequate. On the 19th century, the Elementary Education Act 1870 was passed and the children were enforced to attend school from between age 5 to ten. Later acts than raise the age level to be 13. The Education Act 1818  enforced compulsory eduction from age 5-14 and the system was official undergo. Schools were set up to educate the children of at least some basic skills, that way, they can improve their lives. It gives poor people a chance to become rich and grants equality to the public. The reason we have universal education was for the same reason. Education, is what changes people from one thing to another. How to end war and animosity? Education. How to stop human trafficking? Education. How to improve society? Education. How to overcome poverty? Education. So therefore, as one can clearly see, universal education is a very important concept indeed.

Cherished Item

  A 10 feet fire rose from the house chimney one quiet night when the crickets forgot to sing. The flame licked its greedy lips as it leaned down to engulf its prey. No harm could come its way. The water sprouting from the firefighter's hoses were merely sprinkles of dust and the sound of terrified screams was music to its ear. Nothing could ever come in its way...nothing....
  If I were to ever be victims of disasters such as this and could take one thing, my most beloved and cherished thing with me, I would take my brown leathered notebook which I treasured oh so well. It is not an ordinary notebook, and one could tell by first glance that this thing is special. It held many of my memories in the form of language, and those are the things I will ever get back. Ever.

The Victorian Workhouse

Workhouses were first build in 1834, 3 years after Queen Victoria took the throne. The Poor Law Amendent Act was passed resulting many workhouses to be built to hold poor people that will be subjected to situations so horrible that only the true poor will seek refuge there. At that time, the concept of " poverty" was not well understood by the english majority. People thought others were poor because they were lazy and they called them " underserving people" The situation started to change after 1901 when people reapplied how bad the condition is in the workhouses and many workhouses became hospitals later on. AFter the creation of the Poor Law Unions in 1834, each union was obliged to build a workhouse. The conditions, as stated, was terrible. It was almost like a prison with bare walls, hard bed, s and little foods. Family members were spilt up and in many ways, it is like a concentration camp. Many died of sickness and overload of work in the workhouses and never made it out, it was a place as hellish as hell itself. People who were sick and poor from the start would be treated better as the " deserving poor" while the rest were subject to terrible conditions. IN a Christmas Carol when Scrooge stated things about the workhouses , he obviously does not understand the conditions there. If he did, he would know it is improper to suggest such a thing. He would realize that people are poor not because they are lazy.

Which Ghost affected Scrooge the most?

Death has always been a powerful symbol and " A christmas Carol" was no exception. The ghost that affect Scrooge the most was the ghost of christmas present which showed Scrooge the public's candid opinion of him as a person. This is what feared Scrooge the most, and that was when he vowed to honor the christmas spirit as long as he lived. If it weren't for  this phantom, Scrooge might have just forgotten about the first two spirits. After all, they are not, are at least no longer am, connected to him. His past is the past, it's history, he couldn't change that nor does he ever want to venture upon that sore subject ever again. Bob's family and Tiny Tim was non of his business, and helping them certainly does not help him make money. To truly wear away the years of money-making selfishness, one must be reminded or shocked of something personal to he or she, something he or she cannot escape and that is death. Death is one of the most feared subjects ever , and Scrooge saw himself on the gravestone. He also saw how other people mocked his death without even a trace of sympathy. He knew now better than ever that if he doesn't change, his life will not only end in terrible consequences but he will receive no respect or sympathy or whatsoever even after his death. There will not even be a single petal on his graveyard and his will be standing there alone.

Two movies comparison

I am not exactly sure if this is due tomorrow or if it should be due here, but I figured I'll just do it on my blog post.
I must state first that it takes a prudent mind to see the differences between the two films because they were practically based off the same movie. Am I a prudent mind, you may ask. Well I can tell you first hand that I am not. So please excuse me if I forgot to include some details or misinterpreted some information.
One of the most obvious difference between the two films is that the Disney version was obviously more exaggerated while the film with Patrick Stewert was more real. Disney portrayed Scrooge as an obviously stingy person. In fact, to me, it seemed as if Scrooge was proud of his stinginess and wanted to spread it to the world of that. The patrick Stewert film portrayed Scrooge as a money pincher, but not as fake and animated as the cartoon Scrooge in Disney. Scrooge in the Stewert film still respected certain manners. Another obvious difference is with Bob cashier. In the cartoon he was portrayed as small and tiny while in the movie he was portrayed as tall but weak and feared Scrooge very much. Aside from all this detail that I prefer to not go into, I think another big difference is how Disney added more adventure for Scrooge when the three phantoms visited him than the movie. I think another difference is the setting. The disney film was a bit brighter than the real film, which depicts the industrial revolution in London.
An obvious similarity will of course be the near identical plot line and story theme. Another similarity is the warm-heartness one receives after finishing the movie. It makes one feel philanthropic and suddenly thankful to all the things he or she possesses. At least, that how I felt.
In my opinion, the versions of the movie really doesn't matter to me. What matters most, is the christmas spirit presented in them that modern people seemed to lack. I think we should learn from the movies and become better persons. THat is what the movie and the story is all about. That is what a christmas carol is all about.

Theme for Liberty and Exile

The story " Liberty" and the narration poem " Exile" both present a very similar theme: One must give up something in order to change physically or mentally. In the story " Liberty", the main character's family were giving up their country which they loved, appreciated and knew so well to go to a foreign country where they accomplish freedom. The change here is obvious- the settlement differences. For the main character, in order for her to change her settlement along with her family, she must leave her beloved dog Liberty behind. In the story " Exile", the family also had to leave their home country which they love( you can tell by the way her parents's eyes were red)  to go to America. The main character, like her family, also had to give up the home she knew so well in order to change and leave for America. In conclusion, the theme for the story " Liberty" and the poem " Exile" both have a common theme: One must give up something in order to change.
Both stories of course have some separate themes:
" Liberty"  : change can be a difficult process
" Exile": Leaving everything you know behind can be hard.