Love?

Christopher defines love as to care for someone and to look after them, however no touching is to be involved. I do agree that love is to care for others and to look after them in their best interest. However I also believe that physical contact with the ones you love is also a very important thing. You would hug the person, hold their hands, and maybe even kiss them. Christopher seems to take these things as evil, and not doable things. No one is to ever touch him in any way. People experience love through actions they and others take together, or apart. The action usually shows appreciation and care for one another. Things such as carrying heavy things for another person, helping them hold an umbrella, the most simple one saying thank you. Even with the condition that Christopher has, I still believe that he is able of understanding love, but just not feeling it like others would. He still feels the care that his father gave him and also remembers when his mother was nice to him. I believe that he is able of experiencing love without the having to be normal. However Christopher can change his mind about the love of a person very quick. He use to know his father loves him and also feel it, but after knowing that his father killed the dog he became afraid of him and no longer loved him.

A World With No People

Being the only person to live on the world must have showed up in everyone's head before. The image of you being all alone, all by your self, just hanging out at the beach drinking your favorite drink. When I thought about being the only person in the world, I was watching TV and playing my favorite games 24-7. However when I thought about it some more i realized that it was impossible for me to survive and to have electricity to power my house. Who was going to run the power plants? Who was going to provide me with food and water? I am not a worker at a power plant. I don't know how to cook. I am just a teenager, thats the only thing I know how to be. I go to school and learn about how the system works and yet i don't know how to do the specific things that make it work. In a world alone, I be useless. Everything would be shutdown. There will be no more electricity, running water, and most importantly people to talk to. Without people who I can talk to I would rather die. So if I was to be left alone in the world, I would live the first few days when electricity is still available, and then soon after I would find away end the suffering.

Each Other’s Business

The the article We Are Each Other's Business, Eboo uses Norman Rockwell's painting to state a fact. He says the even though you can clearly see people standing next to each other praying, regardless of their religion. However they can not mix, they are not looking at the same thing but just in the same direction. The people in the painting are standing next to each other, but they are not talking to one an other, or sharing with others. When he uses Gwendolyn  Brook's poem he uses it well. The poem is exactly what Ebbo's article is about. It is about unification, no matter race, or religion. However not just to unify, but also to mix and understand each other. People should be each other's support, each other's harvest, and each others bond. The poem shows that Eboo is trying to tell others. All people should depend on each other and that everyone should be friend.

self definition

If there were words to describe me they would probably be around happy or joker. However the one word that I believe would describe me is humorous. When ever I am around others I seems to be able to make them laugh or cheer them up, if I wanted to. I also sometimes can't control my humor, I can't hold it in ,and then all the jokes come out. When I talk about joke they are not like jokes clowns give, but more sarcastic comments, or I would poke fun at a certain event/events. It seems to me that it is easy for me to make friends with others, and that it is easy for them to make friends with me. However i do hold grudges and I do have people I dislike. I think that with the grudges it balances me out, otherwise I would be 100% Mr.Nice guy. I am also easily annoyed.  Just the smallest things can send me off. I use to have anger problems too, but i seemed to have controlled it by making others laugh and me laughing with them. In conclusion of this I still see my self as the comedian around my friends, even though I do have a dark side. Who doesn't?

Author’s Attitude

In the article Islam in America the author assumes that the reader hardly knows anything about Islam. It is noticeable because in the story she include a lot of basic details, however these details are usually ignored. To me it seems that the author is very passionate towards the topic, and is against cultural discrimination. She defends the Islamic people in her article and makes sure that who ever reads her article will understand that not Islamic people are terrorists. Therefore they shouldn't be categorized in a group just because of one person's actions. However that is not the only message she is trying to deliver. She is saying that we shouldn't judge because of one person's action, not just for the Muslims but also for everyone else. Her attitude towards the reader is straight forward and it sounds like it comes out of a teacher's mouth. She wrote the article to teach the readers so she treats them like students. As for who would be interested in this topic? There could be many groups, but the largest would probably be the Muslims or religious people.

Living Together

In my society the cultural is very diverse, even though everyone looks like they are from the same background. Even though we do had foreign looking people who live in Taiwan, but the majority is still made up of Asian looking people. The foreigners does have a lot of cultural influence, they influenced our beliefs, way of dressing, and also the way we interact with others. Also people who have lived in other countries and moved back here in Taiwan also bring bits of cultural with them. In Taiwan there are many cultural influences, which may vary from small to large.  Not all influences benefit the society but many do. Such Diverse cultures make Taiwan a special place where you can find all kinds of products from all over the world. 

In my own school, we may not have people from different races but we do have a huge diversity of family backgrounds. We have people who were born in america, people who learned English as their first language, and people who learned Chinese first and then switched.  However all of us are the way we are because of our parents. With is amount of diversity we form different groups in school. The main groups being English speakers and non-English speakers. However both group are friendly with each other and we build a good school of students. Also with the different cultures everyone learns a bit from others, having it be bad or good, we don't know. Such as the words we use are also influenced by the others around us. At first you may not know when to use the word so you use it at improper times, but soon you learn. In other cases English speakers and help the non-English speakers with their classes, and this is a good thing. Therefore cultural influences can both benefit and yet harmful in small areas.

Another Point of View

Scene: When Mrs. Hayashi visits Joe Lundy's store, told in the point of view of Joe Lundy

As she walked into my shop, I could help but feel sorry for her.  Considering what is going to happen to Mrs. Hayashi, I wanted to be nicer to her, even more than I usually do. "Do have anything larger than this?" she said after picking up the largest hammer I had in stock, I shook my head and said no. I really wonder what she'll be doing with a hammer at such a time. She then disappeared into a column which sold tape and many other home products. As she was inside I thought of what to say to her, how can I make her day a bit easier? Then she suddenly appeared in front of me, waking me from my deep thoughts. She handed to me a few rolls of tape and other things that I didn't look at. Then she handed me some money for the items she has taken. I rejected it. I didn't want money from her, and this was my way of helping her. " Pay me some other day" and as I said this i was hoping to see her again after all this was over. Nodded and left, just as her hands touched the door knob, she turned around and said " Thank you, Joe". With that I smiled and nodded, noticing later that it was the first time she actually called my name, after all these years. I was puzzled at how a person can know someone for years and not call their name, not even once. 

Write a Letter

Dear the Hayashis

I hope thing are going well over there, not much has changed here at home, other than the fact a big amount of the population has disappeared. We truly miss you here, your whole family, and I believe many others feel the same. My children have asked after what happened to your children, however I do not tell them the truth. From the bottom of my heart, I believe that you have done nothing wrong to deserve such a cruel treatment. It is the government of Japan and not the people of Japan who are doing the wrong things, there should be no reason to punish the people of didn't make the final decision. During this period of time I'll take up the responsibility of keeping an eye on your house. Many others have already been taken away by the government without reason. After all you are all American citizens. I will make sure that your house is safe from the government, or at least I will try my best. I wish you all well and I look forward to seeing you again.

Your friend,

Patrick Chen

Narrator’s Persona

Narrators can change the way a story sounds drastically, because of their point of view towards the main character or main event. If a narrator was to hate the main character, the narrator wouldn't tell good things about the character, but only mention bad things. On the other hand if the narrator was the main character's best friend, the narrator would then make the character honorable.

In the story Evacuation Order No. 19.  the narrator seems to be a more neutral narrator, one who doesn't have much attachment to either side of the situation, or has any relation to the main character. However no narrator is ever completely neutral, even in historical documents. So to speak "the victors write the history". So if the narrator was told he had to choose a side to stand on, I believe that he would have choose to stand on Ms. Hayashi's side. The reason behind my guess is because in the story the narrator give me a feeling that he/she feels sympathy towards Ms. Hayashi and the tone gives the narrator away. The tone makes the event seem very hard to go through, maybe even more than it really is, but we will never know. For example in the story the narrator uses specific words choices to bring out the mood even more. The narrator chooses words that we can all relate to, words we have all experienced. From this story it was really hard to tell from the details of which side of the story the narrator was standing on, but the tone gave him/her away. The tone is a very important tool for a writer to express how the narrator feels towards the story.

School and Community Characteristics

In my school the students are separated into two large groups, the Esl kids and the "System" kids. Even though we do not discriminate one another it is one of the easiest ways to divide the children. However in both of the larger groups there are smaller groups. The most common two would be the sporty ones(jocks) and the academical ones(nerds). Then there are the ones in between the jocks and nerds, ones who tend to be more playful. Then for the popularity chart, there isn't one specific characteristic that makes a student popular, everyone is popular for a different reason. So there are many ways to separate the society in my school, it is even possible to name the different types of nerds and jocks. With family each student differs, usually would have a sibling and sometimes two, or they may be cousins of one another. It seems to me that people in Taiwan, and not my school, tend to stick to family more than friends. Then the teacher and student interaction is very open. Students can talk to their teachers as if they were their friends, or at least to most of them.  I my self find it easy to talk to my teachers and joke around with them. However when i first came to this school i wasn't use to that, because my old school had a stricter system and also teachers who were less fun to be around, even though there were exceptions.

Who has the most power? In my school the power is separated and a bit messy sometimes.  In a class room the teacher has the most power, however if all the students dislike the teacher's decision it is usually over thrown. Then with in the student body it self, the more popular kids seem to have more power. However it is not because the popular kids want it that way, its just because other classmates look up to them in a way, which would make them the leaders of the student body. That is also how our student council works, who ever is more popular in the election wins. Even though the student council is suppose to make decisions the student can take part of the discussion process, however they can not vote on it. Then the student council will have to ask the administration if they actions are allowed, therefore the administration is the most powerful.

As for economical and cultural characteristics are all very similar. One for culture everyone student is an Asian, however some are ABC and some are pure Taiwanese.  Then the economical status of each family should be at least middle class or else it would be hard to maintain an education for the child. There are richer families than others, and it does show on the children's clothing.

Life-Changing Events

In history wars were always life-changing events for the citizens of which the war was between. The most life-changing war would probably be the WWII this war was between multiple countries and during the war many people's lives were taken , and the others were forced to move out of their homes. With people missing family member, a roof, and their old life, nothing can be more life-changing.

In my life I have experienced many life changing events but most were when i was still very young.  The only one that I can remember clearly had only happed just about a year ago, the start of 2010. My parents decided to move my sister and I back to Taiwan for the rest of our high school years. Due to the fact that I didn't want to lose my friends I didn't want to move at first. I didn't agree with the decision only until the second semester at the new school! However it turned out that the new school had a much better education system than my old school. Also having the new school have a small population I got to know everyone every fast. The life-changing event however had nothing to do with making new friends, but it was about my future. Before I moved to Taiwan I always dreamed of being an inventor with my best friend. We use to always watch the Myth Busters. We also even tried a few experiments, which never worked, but we always had fun.  When I moved to Taiwan and introduced to my new school I found it plain and small, frankly I didn't like it. However throughout the first two quarters of the first semester, I found the people to be very nice and friendly, and that i had a new instead.  I noticed that I had a huge interest for the Arts and I plan on becoming an Art major. This made a huge change in my life. I got to experience more types of art and also create my own personal style. It also changed the way I live, I made friends with new people, and found new hobbies. I began to draw when ever I wanted, however i became less athletic, and I even joined the Musical during the last two quarters. This moved changed a lot of things in my life, my social circle, my interests, and also my attitude towards others.

Satire in “The Storyteller”

Saki in the story  The Storyteller  makes fun of the way of teaching back when he was still young. He makes exaggerations on how boring it can get and how it produces an negative effect, not calming the children down. He makes the aunt tell a boring and normal story which actually wouldn't result with a landslide of questions from the children, however he makes the children ask too many questions. On the other hand he makes the bachelor tell a rather weird story, one without an happy ending, one that is not proper teaching for the children. The improper story catches the children's attention and actually make them quiet! IN real life those types of stories, ones you have never heard of before would causes more questions to be made, but this is not the case. The children sit back and listen, they don't make as much noise. The satire of the story is the way of teaching they had wasn't always right and it was too strict that was what Saki was making fun of. When he was younger he himself experienced this strict way of teaching, and that is why he makes a satire about it. He wants to show how the strict teaching was not the perfect way of teaching and it is one that irritate the children.

In the story Saki makes the aunt seem extra boring by adding reactions from the children, without it you wouldn't know what the children thought about it, maybe you would think that they liked it.  In the book Saki provides different reactions from each child. For example the smallest of the small girls will always wonder off into her own wonder land and continuously repeating a line of a rime she liked, because it was the only one she remembered. Then Cyril the witty one that always asks smart questions to entertainer himself, its the only he can have fun! Cyril will ask one question such as : " why is the grass over there better?" that aunt can't answer and more questions keep coming. Then he produces the effect that the bachelor's story being the best ever. He does that by having the children ask questions still but having the bachelor give answers the children agree with. For example Cyril asked the bachelor : " why doesn't the prince have sheep in his garden?" the bachelor replies instantly with : " The prince's mother dreamed that the prince would be killed by a sheep or a clock. So he doesn't have clocks or sheep anywhere in the castle.". The children where impressed and so was the aunt, even though she tried not to show it. The satire is then produced because the aunt's "proper teachings" made things worse and the bachelor's "improper teachings" made things better. As the bachelor said at the end the aunt was an unhappy woman.

Motivation for Telling a Story

In the story The Storyteller  the aunt and bachelor have similar but also different reasons for telling the children stories. The aunt tells the children as a way, and maybe her only to make the children be quiet. However the aunt's story backfires on herself and she ends up with even more questions to answer, and even larger of a mess to clean up. The aunt tells a simple and normal story, it was just too boring. Therefore the children were unsatisfied with the details and wanted more from the aunt, so they started asking questions, and making comments about the story.

The bachelor tells the story for two different reasons, and both for his own benefit. The bachelor's main motivation was also to make the children quiet. He was sick of the noise and even thought about calling the workers on the train to let him switch cabins. However because of his second goal he stayed and told the story. The second goal was to show the aunt how it should be done and that she was incapable of taking care of the children. His story at first seemed to be the same as the aunt's but the ending was extraordinarily different. His story ended with the good little girl getting eaten by a wolf as to the happy ending where the girl is saved by people who loved her. The bachelor wanted to prove that the things that the aunt's teachings were wrong, and that good is not always rewarded.

Since the beginning of time story telling could be heard house to house every night. In early times, when writing was not invented yet, people told stories with their mouths. They told the stories to their children so that they can pass it on to their children. It seemed as if the stories were a great part of their culture and that it must be passed on. Today everyone has a favorite book, each author that wrote had a purpose of writing it. It may have been a way to remember an event, to express a certain feeling, pass down important information, or even to simply entertain the readers. A lot of people would think that successful authors only write to make a living, but that is not true. If they wanted to make a living why not a normal job? A normal job is a lot more stable. What if the society didn't like their books wouldn't they make no money at all? Of course! Therefore the authors must had had a purpose to write to. Everyone has to have a purpose to do something, anything, or else they will not even try to accomplish it.

Omniscient Point of View

Through the omniscient point of view given to us in the story  Storyteller  we can see how everyone character feels and mainly the aunt and the bachelor. With the omniscient the author is able to create a satire because it shows how both main characters are feeling and how they react to what the other person does. An example form the book would be when the kids asked the bachelor why the prince's garden had pigs in them. At first the aunt thought that the bachelor like her, couldn't answer the question with a pleasing answer. However the bachelor answers the children with a miracle of an answer which shocked the aunt and knocked the grin off of her face. The kids were pleased by his answer and also loved his story in the end, this made the aunt very anger and made the story funny. 

If the story was told by only one point of view, the aunt's. The story would be very different and also more bias toward the bachelor being a bad man. The aunt would probably twist the story's details, she would leave out the part where the children get interested in the bachelor's story. Instead of the bachelor winning the children's heart she would probably state that the children quietly listened to her story and occasionally asked questions about it to gain knowledge. It makes the aunt seem to be more useful and a better teacher for the children. She would also say that the bachelor's story surprised the children in an unpleasant way and that the bachelor corrupted their minds with murder and evil things. This would result in a totally different story and no longer be a satire. 

On the other hand if the bachelor was to tell the story he would probably not notice the facial expressions on the aunts face which wouldn't make it funny to the readers. The whole action and reaction between the aunt and the bachelor makes the story funny and a satire. With the bachelor being the narrator he would probably exaggerate the truth and make it seem as if the aunt was the evil "stepmother" and that the bachelor was the savior of the day, pulling the children out of a boring world. He would still tell the story the same but he would make it so that the children loved him even more for his horribly good story about a horribly good girl. He would also make the aunt seem more powerless than she already is and describe her as a weak woman torturing the kids with boring stories.  This would then also ruin the satire meant to be shown by the author.

Satire

• Continuous repeats of the same action/sound
• Constant noise
• Trying to talk when knowing the other person doesn't want to talk to you
• Nicknames I disprove
• Stalking
• Facebook spam
• Cockiness
• Self obsession 

Mark, what can be said about mark, a lot! He arrives at school ready to make a scene, talking to everyone even though they aren't interested. In class teachers and students get extremely annoyed by his offensive jokes and awfully strange noises he makes. It start with tapping his pen on the table, to some humming, then some feet kick in with the noise, kicking the table and sooner or later he stands up and sings out loud expecting others to follow the lead. He then realizes that he had just done something horrible, terrible! He then turns to the victim. He slowly sits down and turns he head to the left, then to the right, he spots his target and beings to engage. "Hey Wesley! wasn't my song just AWEEESSOOMEEEE!?" he continues "I am i right or am I right Wesley?" "No" says Wesley "But why? I thought it was better than Lady BlahBlah,right?" again Wesley replies with a simple " No" trying not to start a conversation with Mark. Mark finally got the message Wesley was trying to send and he finally shut his trap, but it wasn't permanent. Soon school ended and Mark was out the door and on his way home. Once he got back home he immediately turned on his computer and went on Facebook. As soon as he got on he typed in Wesley's name and began to spam his wall with useless comments. "How was school today? Hahaha never mind stupid question, you know why? Cause I was there with you the whole time so it must have been GREAT!" "Hey, Hey, so my song was great right? The one I sang in class today, I beat you loved it, I am going to record it and send it to you right now!" "Why aren't you replying any of my wall posts? Why? :(". Mark never gave up on getting a reply from Wesley, and frankly Wesley couldn't take it anymore and decided to block Mark. By the time Mark noticed it was already late at night, and it make him furious, and it gave him more energy to spam other people's walls. The whole thing got about of control and in the next two hours more than half of his friends got spam from him and blocked him for life. He was so depressed he passed out and while he was dreaming you could hear him say "I am the best, my song is so good, Yeah..."

Goodness

In the story Storyteller  the aunt tells a typical story with a happy ending for the good girl. However the bachelor tells a different story, he tells one that is more realistic. In his story he tells how a good hearted girl gets eaten by a wolf in the end. This reflects the truth about being good. Being good doesn't always result in rewards and flower, usually people wouldn't even notice if you did do something good. In the aunt's story the little girl is rewarded with medals and prises, and in the end saved by people who noticed her goodness. In real life if the people had to risk their own life to save the little girl, they probably wouldn't have done it. It is a man eat man world out there, no one cares if you helped a old women cross the street. If they saw you getting robbed they would run away in stead of saving you, unless their were your friend, but even then. The bachelor tells the truth about life goodness doesn't protect you from danger, now a days it actually makes you a target because it makes you seem weak in a way. People would only notice you in the world if you did a really huge good to benefit everyone, the other way is to do bad. Just by the tiniest bit of bad people will notice you and poke at your flaws until you can't take it any more.

When I was in elementary school I learned that being nice and good to everyone doesn't always benefit yourself. One day I was during brake I went out to the soccer field to find a friend of mine. On the way there I passed by the concrete outdoors basketball court. While I was there I saw a basketball fly over the fence and drop next to me, I thought to myself why not be a good boy, pick it up and return it? So I did as i walked into the court the kid in side yelled at me and said that i was stealing the ball! I didn't get it at first but then they insulted me , and i said i was only trying to help give their ball back. They called me lier and many other names, then I got scared and ran like there was no tomorrow. From that experience I learned how being nice to others do not always make you feel good, sometimes you just have to do whats right even if you know the feed back would be negative.

Saki’s Purpose

In Saki's story The Storyteller the aunt tells the children an rather boring and meaningless story to try to calm them down. By the end of the story the children only got more feisty and started to ask more questions regarding the story. In the story their aunt told them a good kind girl was saved from mad bulls by a number of rescuers because of her good heart. The children began to ask if she would have been saved even if she wasn't good. This caused a larger discussion on the matter and the carriage became more chaotic. Then when the Bachelor told the children his story, the children actually liked it and this made the aunt angry. The aunt was angry at how the Bachelor told a unusual and improper story, which had a better effect than the one that the aunt told. The aunt's story was all happy ending and normal nothing different form any other stories the kids have already heard. However because the Bachelor's story was different and surprising ending the children admired it and called it the best story, and it also kept them quiet for 10 minutes. In the both stories the kids ask questions to the events that happen or details they just heard. The aunt would just use the "because because" why to answer which kept the children annoyed by the detail and on the other hand the Bachelor answered the children with reasonable answers that the children agreed to. Therefore the children didn't complain and loved his story.

Saki being a child during the time similar to which the story was set in his guardians were strict about what he does and also about what he hears or sees. This relates to his story The Storyteller because it shows how the teachings were like back then and also how he would have liked it to be or how it has changed.

My Favorite Stories

When I was young I didn't read as many books as I do now but I was crazy for a particular series of books. I am pretty sure everyone has read them or watched the movie, the series was called Harry Potter. I was never interested in the series until i saw the movie which got really excited about what would happen next. I would always see them on the selves on someone else's house and think about how long it would take me to finish the series, they just seemed to be so long and heavy! The books always had thick covers and each one, to me, looked as if they were one thousand pages long. I was only convince after the watching the movie with a friend of mine t read the books so that i can know what happen's next before the second movie comes out. At first it was only a one time thing, read it, figure out whats going to happen, and move on. The only problem with that plan was that I never thought that it would suck me in so fast and so strong! Once i finished the second book i went back to read the first, then the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and finally the seventh. However i didn't not read all seven books in one year it took me around two year to finish or maybe three. I was just so fascinated with the mythical creatures and wizard powers. It gave me so much material to imagine about, what each thing looked like and how the characters walked, or how they talked, their accent, and even how they looked. Then when the new movie finally came out I was very disappointed. The movie was nothing like what i imagined, and not in a good way. It wasn't as fun to watch then take time and read through it creating images in my own head. Harry Potter was probably the first book/ book series that I was stuck in, but it wasn't my last. I started to read more books/series, and I enjoyed it.

What I Like About This Class

In this High School Honors English class the students always have fun. What I personally like about it is that the class is small, with a small class the teacher pays more attention to every individual, and therefore we learn more. In the class we have a well planned lesson each day, we always get enough discussion on aspects of stories we don't get. We also always have enough time to helps each other in class and therefore learning from each other. This class creates a great learning environment for the students, which is a critical aspect of learning, a good environment. Finally the most important one of them all, the freedom we get to have in the class and the jokes we make ever class. We have probably the most free class in PAS we can express our feelings towards an issue freely without someone stopping us in the middle. Also the jokes just crack me up every time!

What I don't like about this class

Throughout this quarter I have found the class to be very fun and interesting. Even though I find the class very interesting there are a few things I would like to change. It would be nice if there was a reminder about the Latin/Greek roots quiz. It doesn't have to be verbal but if you write it on the board where the homework section is, it would help a lot. More projects about the stories or literary elements could be added, the only poster project we had was a bonus project. It would be great if we could have some team work for projects being posters, video, homemade game, or live performance. Other than that I think the class is really well managed and  it give us the students a space for thinking about, how the lessons we learn from the stories can be put into real life. Also the every once in while joke that makes the whole class laugh, your a funny man Mr. McCool.

I would also like to suggest types of books we can read, that is if we can squeeze them into your yearlong class schedule. From the two novels we have read/ are still reading I think we can add in some myths, some Greek myths since they are the most famous. Greek myths aren't just famous but they are also very interesting to read, they show how many of the things we experience or see today were created or how it works. Also a mystery or thriller would be nice to, makes our hearts speed up as we read.

Buddhist Doctrine

            The Buddhist Doctrine in my opinion shows the correct principles that we live by, even though I do not live by it. However the Buddhist Doctrine also contains believes that aren't so practicable in life today. Believes such as getting rid ignorance and attachment is getting rid of suffering is not true. Suffrage doesn't just come from ignorance and attachment, not a days suffrage is usually caused by a outside force which conflicts with what you want. It does not mean that i don't agree that ignorance and attachment could cause suffrage. As for "life is suffering" I believe is a really good point, because without suffrage life will be boring. You would also not learn anything. If your teacher were to just give you the answers to your homework and test, you wouldn't have questions about the homework or test, all you will do is copy the answers and think that you understand the teachings. On the other hand when the teacher just hands down the test and homework, you will ask questions, you will search for answers, you will learn new information. You can never completely understand something unless you have experienced it yourself and you were the one who was telling others about it.

           I have heard and seen other Religious Doctrines. For example the Christian Doctrines which is one of the most popular religions from where I live/ lived. Even though both Doctrines have right believes and principles, I choose to not stick with any religion for a  long term because i can just pick points of different doctrines and use them instead of having ti strictly believe in one specific religion.

Why be a prodigy

            The daughter was trying to make her mother happy, to for fill her mothers dreams for her. Her mother wanted her to find some kind of talent that would be special or that she'll be good at, so that she can show off her daughter's skills. Jing-mei being a young girl wanted to obey the rules and do what ever her mother says so she tries almost every talent possible.  When i was younger my parent also tried to let me learn some talents such as playing the violin. They wanted me to be like other kid who were friends of my parents. At first  I really enjoyed it, that was when i was really young though. Once I got an older age I started to dislike sitting there listening to the teacher and practicing everyday. Once i even mashed my violin with a hammer, but that was after i quit my lessons. I guess if I could go back I would continue to play and maybe some day get a award. Now a days my parents don't push me to learn new skills but just to focus on my academics, but i still try new things from time to time on my own command. 

The Influence of Others

            In life people receive influence from everyone around them, but not all influences may change people in a major way. Specific people can have major influences in your life, they may be able to change the way you react or look at things.
          
            In my life my mother gives me a position influence which  helps me find my goal and pursuit them. She encourages me to do what ever it takes to achieve my goal, as long as i don't hurt anyone else in the process. She tells me stories where the main character seems to be in the same situation as I am in, in the stories the character resolves their conflicts and become happy. She also influences me because of her own actions. She has been the one who took care of both me and my sister ever since we were born. My dad wasn't always around so my mom had to become a full duty housewife. Through out the year of growing she has showed me how make a parent will sacrifice for their child. She makes me love my family more and learn to value my family and friends.

          On the other hand influence are not always positive, as a matter of fact they are usually negative. For me many time my friends are negative influences for me. They encourages me to do things i am not suppose to such as playing games on the weekdays, prank others, or not do work.  Even though they give me negative influence I may not always do what they say, even if i did i can not blame them for my actions. I can't blame someone who encourages me to do something when i know its not right but i still do it. It just like if i was successful i wouldn't blame my parents for it.

Character Traits and Conflict

Mama is a big boned and hard working woman. She takes on a job of a man, the though jobs. She is tough and skilled at farm work. Dee is more delicate and Mama looks at it like a difference. Dee doesn't do though work and it is because of her education in the city. Dee is a city woman and Mama a country woman. Therefore Mama wants Dee to experience farm life again so that they will have similarities.

Mama faces two main conflicts in the story. One being internal and the other external.  Mama experiences external conflict when she argues with Dee, trying to convince Dee that the quilt should be Maggie's. Then the argument leads to the internal conflict of whom to give the quilt to, Maggie or Dee. The quilt is a important item in Mama's heritage which Maggie has inherited. To Dee its a important sign that shows how hard she worked. Therefore it was a very hard choice for Mama to make, also having the fact that both of them are her daughters.

Literary analysis

         Dee having taken an education and moved on to a better life only wants the quilt as a decoration. She doesn't want to sue it, she wants it to show others the process she went through to get to where she is now. So i would say that Dee is a selfish person. Maggie actually needs the quilt to sleep in and not for a decoration. Maggie is more kind and sharing. This gives a good comparison between having a city education and living on the farm. Your attitude can change a lot.

        When Dee first left Mama asked if she wanted the quilt, but Dee said no. Dee aid no because she didn't want other to know her history of being brought up on a farm. She was scared that she would be laughed at and discriminated. Then when she comes back after she is successful, she suddenly wants the quilt. This time she is not ashamed of having lived on the farm but she wants to let everyone else know about it. She wants others to see her success and that she herself made it happen.

Reading With A Purpose

When Dee comes back to visit Mama she asks for a quilt that Mama plans on giving to Maggie and only Maggie. The reason being that Mama didn't think that Dee remembers her heritage, and doesn't completely deserve the quilt which serves a purpose  Dee doesn't need it for. Dee doesn't want the quilt because she wants to sleep in it at night, she doesn't need it to keep her warm, she lives a better life. Dee only wants it to represent her work, her hard work. She wants it not to remind herself what she had to go through to be in the position she is in now, but she wants it so that others can see what she has been through. Therefore Dee accused Mama of not understanding her heritage, but Mama on the other hand doesn't want the quilt to be a decoration. She want Maggie to have it because Maggie needs it. Mama looks at Dee as if she was a different person, a person without the same heritage. She thinks that Dee has lost all her heritage from being educated in urban areas, and she is not wrong Dee has lost her heritage.

Reading Focus - Quick Check

Dee is different from Mom and Maggie mainly because of her unique personality and way of thinking. She acts with a different attitude towards White people compared to other African Americans like herself. She is not afraid to strike a conversation while staring into the eyes of the White people, unlike her sister and mother who would probably lower their heads to talk or not speak at all. Another difference that Dee has been educated in the urban areas. She has an advantage compared to the people living in the suburbs, this changes her perspective too. The urban education does give advantages to her but it also makes her lose something every important, heritage. Quilting.

If Dee and Maggie both had a quilt they would use it for different purposes. Dee wouldn't use it for it original purpose; to give warmth at night. She would use it as a decoration in her house representing where she came from, even though she has already lost it. Maggie on the other hand still remembers the real purpose of a quilt and uses in the way it is suppose to be used in. She understands her heritage.

From the information summarized above, I concluded that the story's title was Everyday Use because of how the sisters uses the same thing in a different way because of the environment they grew up in. Maggie would use the quilt it was originally intended for and Dee would use it as a decoration, a symbol.

Character Traits and Making Inferences

Making an inference is taking information you have acquired and use it to make a educational guess about a certain question. Inferences are not always the same through out one event it can be changed as information is handed to you. In the story Everyday Use the relationship between the characters are unclear at the beginning, all we know is that they are blood related.

In the story there are three main characters Maggie, Dee, and the Narrator herself. On the first page of the book it clearly shows that they lived together and where pretty close to each other. Therefore I believe that they are a family.  Then there are details that show their relationship even better. the first two paragraphs it mentions that Maggie and the Narrator cleaned the yard together while waiting for Maggie's sister, this point of information allows me to make an inference that the sister is not the Narrator. Then it goes on saying how Maggie is jealous of her sister's body, because Maggie has scars on her arm and leg. Then Dee being another family member seems to have a good life and is very happy. The Narrator describes a dream she has about her and Dee going on TV and was being complimented by the host of the TV show.

With all the information given in the first four paragraphs I made an inference about the relation ship between Dee, Maggie, and the Narrator. I guessed that Dee and Maggie where sisters and that the Narrator was probably the mother. Then having to guess the whether Dee or Maggie was older i looked back to the first paragraph to find more details that would help. From reading the first line I got my guess. I guessed that Maggie was the older sister waiting for the younger sister to come home. Also from the personalities of Dee and Maggie. Dee seemed to be very open and jolly all the time and Maggie was a bit more depressed, this made me think that Maggie was a bit more mature than Dee. Even though have being jealous of Dee's normal body Maggie to me still seemed like the older sister. Jealously happened to all ages and in many different forms, who doesn't get jealous from time to time?

In the end i found the true answers to the question which i made an inference to. Dee was actually the older sister and this didn't surprise me because through out the story Dee acted more like an older sister. On the other hand Maggie was acting a bit more childish which made me change my mind later on. I believe that this is a good example of making an inference and how accepting new information can change your mind, like I changed mine because of the extra information I got while I read on.

How Does Heritage Contribute to Character?

List of things that can be inherited:

• Race(skin tone)
• Language( both dialect and the way you talk)
• Culture(food, religion, actions, important events, etc)
• Perspective

Heritage can contribute to a person's character in many ways. First of all character maybe be viewed in many aspects. The physical appearance for one contributes a lot to one's character. When people look different people tend to act different, and each race passes down a certain different appearance from other races. Race can also cause someone to be more unselfconscious than others, because one looks better than the other or one has something the other doesn't. Therefore the level of unselfconsciousness  defers between everyone, and because of that people act differently. Language inherited from generations before can also contribute to character. Different languages have different ways of expressing yourself some are more direct than others which would seem more offensive. Even though it may seem more offensive to us it may be perfectly polite to the ones who speak the language. Culture inherited from your family is also another important contributer. Culture can change the way you look at things, the way you act ,and what you value. One culture may value money over anything else(family, friends, etc) but the other culture may value family and friends over everything else. So culture can change your character a lot. The last point is your perspective, the way you see things. This can also be inherited or taught by the older ones in your family. With the change of perspective the importance of things change. What makes you laugh or cry is also changed. For example a Americans may think jokes about Asians are funny, but when Asians hear it it is offensive to them instead of being funny. These are only somethings that contribute to a person's character, other things such as significant event can also contribute to a person's character. 

Analyze a Folk Tale

  Folk Tales tell stories about journeys and gives lessons to be learned at the end. That is not all its does though, in many Folk Tales they explain why something is the way it is. In the story Coyote Kills A Giant it give the reason why Wood Ticks are so flat. Coyote saves everyone from the inside of the Giant's mouth. During the process of saving the Wood Tick the Giant closes his mouth. Therefore when the Wood Tick was pulled out it was flat only the head was the original shape. Everything else about the Wood Tick was flattened, its body after getting pulled out by Coyote was flat like a thin sheet of paper, At first the Wood Tick complained about it, but he later on realizes that he was lucky enough to have made it out in time.
 

Compare and Contrast

In both stories of By the Waters of Babylon and Coyote Kills a Giant the main character, John and Coyote pushes themselves to embark on a dangerous journey. The purpose of both characters is to find what is "beyond the mountain". They are trying to find the truth of what others tell them. For example in By The Waters of Babylon, John is determined to go to the East where the Gods are. He has heard tales about the Gods and what will happen if you go over; you will never comeback. So John goes to the East in search of the Gods and if he makes it back he will become a hero. As for Coyote it is very similar, he travel to find the giant and become a hero too. 


To compare the two settings of the stories, there are obvious differences. The two stories are located on different places. By the Waters of Babylon is located in New York and Coyote Kills a Giant is located in the South West of America.  Then the characters are also different, one having "Gods" to find, and the other a Giant to kill. The similarities are that both societies are enclosed and not exposed to the outside world. So in both societies no one knows the truth about the world outside of their boundaries, and that is what the main characters , John and Coyote are looking for in separate stories. 

Conflicts- Internal and External

 In the story John faces many conflicts, one being a great internal conflict. The conflict was to choose to either travel to the Forbidden East or not. He has heard many stories through out his life about how dangerous the East is. The East being the "Land of The Gods" meant that there was a chance that he wouldn't make it back and become a slave for the Gods. Even though there is also a thought that if he was to make it back from the East he would be famous and known as a hero. So he chooses to take the journey to the East and on the way there he faces his external conflicts. The climate around him, wild animals such as dogs chasing him, and also having to sleep some where he was a stranger to. He faces many other external conflicts that are making his trip hard to make, but without the external conflict i think the story would be dual, boring. It would just be like a trip through candy land, smiling all the way through. Nothing gain or lost just a walk through candy land, thats no fun.

Unfamiliar Place

     As i stepped into the dark halls of this unfamiliar place i felt as if the painting hanging on the pale white walls, such walls you would see in a hospital. Even though it was dark the walls still seemed to shine with its original color instead of turning to a grayish white. As i walked down the hall i went faster, faster, faster, and faster. It was as if something was chasing me and i had to make a run for it. I saw a bright light shining from the right side of the hall and i ran into it. it was a connection from the dark hall way i was in to another which had the lights lite up. At first because my eyes were adjusted to the darkness it seems as if someone shined a flash light in your eye, it burned. I soon adjusted to the bright light shining form the florescent light bulbs up ahead. i saw that this hall ways was empty just the white walls which looked as if it was covered in snow. Then i notice doors on both the left and right side, wooden door with reflected the light from above as if it was just waxed. I was pretty sure there were doors in the other wall way but it was only too dark for me to notice. As i walked down the white hallway i saw a door, a door that was open and in side i saw people sitting on chairs and leaning on their tables. In the group i spotted my sister. I waved but she didn't seem to notice so i left and kept walking down the hall in search of my parents. I heard voices i started to walk faster and faster i passed through the end of the hall way which seemed to be connected to a lobby of some sort. There i found my parents chatting with parents of other students school. That was the first time I went to my new school.
     The second time i went to school was when school really start and there were more people filling up hall ways unlike the summer time where only my sister's summer class was in school. The place which once freaked me out was no longer what it was. I was no longer scared of it, it was like my playground i would look at every painting and hope that they would some how come to life. I would slowly walk the dark hall, sometimes even humming my way through it. I came to like the school i was in and know it better, but not just the place i got to know my classmates better. I was no longer unfamiliar with the place and neither was it unfamiliar with me

Quick write- By the Waters of Babylon

     Most books have theme to it a lesson to be learned. The book  "The Summoning" the main character experiences an event that changes her life. She has the power to talk to the dead and also raise them to life. She was put in a institution for crazy people because others thought she was hallucinating. She soon finds that she was not crazy and that the whole institution was for experimenting on children like her who had uncontrollable powers or powers they didn't know about before. She and her friends make an escape form the institution. On their way to safety she ran back to her aunts house seeking shelter and protection. It turns out that her aunt was working for the institution and she learned that she couldn't trust anyone but her friends who are in the same situation as she is in.  This lesson may not be put into every day life but in other words the lesson is trying to say that you can't always trust the people that are around you but can trust the people who are dealing with the same problems you are.

Make Time Move Slowly

I think that the author used small details to make it seem as if the experience was longer than it actually was. He described each movement with the finest details making the action seem as if it was done slowly and carefully, when all the actions could have just taken place quickly. He also uses flashbacks which makes the reader think that during the time the character did the two things separately, but in reality people could think about something while doing something else. So the readers are seeing that the character has stopped and thought about what happened before, but when really the character was moving forward while thinking about the event at the same time. Also the author uses comas and ----s to stretch sentences and create a pause in time was if the character was waiting for what to do next.

Values

What do people value in life? For me i personally value family over everything else, without my family i would probably be some homeless guy sitting on the streets. Family isn't  just people i live with they are the people who care about me and help me get through hardships. They comfort me when i am down and they rise me up higher than i have been.

Friends, friends are the people who come second to family for me. Friends also help to through hardships and we usually are in them together but we always seem to pull through no matter what. We protect each other from both physical and emotional pain. We make each other laugh until we are gasping for air, no one less makes me feel that way. When ever i am with my friends i am happy. therefore friends are every important to me and i would dare say that it is the same to everyone else. 

Then comes love, sometimes people are so deeply in love they forget their friends but sooner or later they try to balance it out. Love is very important in life not just to me but for everyone i believe. If there was no love in this world what would it be like? I can answer that question for you, wars, wars, wars ,and more wars. The wars may be big and the war may be small, it can even be just between two people but it's still a war. War are never good no one ever wins completely they only win because the other side had enough and doesn't want anymore not because you are fighting for the right cause or reason. I have not get gotten to experience loving someone who i would marry or even be in a boy girl relationship with, but i do love my family and friends and i guess it would be enough if I never get married.

The rest are just like the frosting on the cake things such as fame and fortune. These things make me happy but not as much as my friends or family do. Fame and fortune only make me happier but without my friends and family fame and fortune wouldn't mean anything to me. i'll just be a lonely guy. Sure people would want to know me but that wouldn't be for who i am but for what i have instead.

Picture description

The picture has a theme color green and not just one shade but many different shades. the smoke that can be seen behind all the characters make it seem as if they are in an enclose space where no one from the outside could see, hear, or walk into their fight. the bamboos make it look the same no matter where you turn your head which gives a feeling of being lost and not being able to find your way back. the men hanging from the bamboo upside down seems to have been waiting for the girl at the center of the picture. the girl has a stable stance which shows that she is ready for the men to attack and that she is fairly confident. the light having been shown from above make a good contrast from the smoke and the bamboos. the light makes it seem as if up is the only way out the only way to see what is ahead of you. most of the object are vertical in the picture other than the girl which make her seem like the main character in the picture. 

Collection 1: Human Stories

1. Birth

2.Death

3.Heartbreak

4.First love

5.Process of learning

Willa Carther's:

i believe that the three events in life everyone experiences are, birth, death, and heart break. all three things happens to everyone no matter what. For birth everyone is here living on this earth because of birth. Coming out the mother the child experiences birth no one can remember their own birth but only remember their birthday only they because someone less told them. Then comes death after all the life experiences people come to and end. People to me are like unblown balloons they start with no air them but then someone blows and the balloon in flats with life. The person ties a not and lets the balloon sit. After a period of time it maybe short it maybe long the balloon will slowly deflate thus returning to its original form without air without life. During the the period of time between birth and death people experience different things but everyone experiences heartbreak. Heartbreak may not always come from a loved one it may come from friends, from events, and from oneself. heartbreaks are never easy. Each time someone experiences heartbreak their heart becomes strong and thus heartbreaks get worse.