Starting in March, untll the end of April, my class was apart of a 1001 flat world collabrative writting project, with 2 other schools in Colorado and South Korea, where we would write a story about our family, "a family story", which tells a bit about our culture, and where we come from, and then post it so that we could get feedback about our writing from student's around the world. Each week, we would have a different element of writing to give feedback on, like idea development, voice, organization, word choice, etc. And a few weeks ago we posted our final draft, finishing the project, and here's a few things I thought about the writing project.
1. What did you like best about the project and why?
The thing that I liked best about the project, was being able to get feedback about my writing from people around the world, but not always from the same person, so I was able to see different points of view on my story.
2. What did you like least and why?
The thing that I liked least about the project was having to edit truly boring, poorly written, or stories that just didn't make sense, which I had no interest in. With these stories, I had a really hard time in giving feedback other than, for them just to re-write the story with a different idea. Another thing that I got frustrated with, was when weeks would pass by, but no one would ever give me any feedback, for the first 3-4 weeks, I had never received any feedback.
3. What was something surprising that you learned about the other students (from other schools)?
Throughout the project, as I read different peoples stories, and give them feedback on it, I always learned a little more about the culture, history, and family of the person who had wrote it. I was also able to see how different my life was with the people in Colorado and South Korea.
4. How do you think the project affected your writing?
From the project, I think that my voice and word choice has become much better. I also learned how to vary the way my sentences and paragraph's started.
5. Describe the most challenging aspect of the project.
I think that the most challenging aspect of the project is dealing with deadlines, with three different time zones, with one a whole day ahead of the other two. Because of the three different time zones, it got very hard in giving and receiving feedback.
6. Offer some advice to future participants.
Keep up with deadlines, and just don't give feedback one week, or not update your draft another, just because you know it's online, and your teacher can't tell whether you did your homework or not.
7. Other comments.
I think that the 1001 Flatworld project was a new, fun way of writing a paper, that really didn't feel like a paper, while at the same time allowing us to learn about people around the world, their lives, culture, and family history.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Character Analysis of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The first time we see Puck's character (or Roben Goodfellow) in A Midsummer Night's Dream, was in Act II scene 1, where he runs into one of the fairies in Titania - Queen of the Fairies - service. In this scene, the two squabble about the disagreement that the King and Queen are having, each with their own opinion, since they are under the service of the opposite. And the scene ends with Puck boasting about all the different tricks he has played on people, saying...
"I am the merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Obernon and make him smile
When I a fat and a bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal.
And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her withered dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aut telling the saddest tale,
Sometimes for three-foot stool mistakenth me;
The slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And "Tailor!" cries, and falls into a cough,
And then the whole choir hold their hips and loffe
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there."
From this we see how Puck is a very mischievous character, and as a result, he is the one who causes most of the trouble in this play. First he mixes up Lysander, who is truly deeply in love with Hermia, with Demetrius, who also loves Hermia, but that love really is only lust, when Helena, one of Hermia's greatest friends is deeply in love with him. And instead of making Demetrius fall in love with Helena, using a magical flower, which was hit with one of Cupid's arrow's, he make Lysander fall in love with Helena. So the second act ends with Lysander in love with Helena, and Hermia waking up from a nightmare, about about a snake, only to have the real nightmeare of her love gone, and in love with her best friend.
"I am the merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Obernon and make him smile
When I a fat and a bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal.
And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her withered dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aut telling the saddest tale,
Sometimes for three-foot stool mistakenth me;
The slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And "Tailor!" cries, and falls into a cough,
And then the whole choir hold their hips and loffe
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there."
From this we see how Puck is a very mischievous character, and as a result, he is the one who causes most of the trouble in this play. First he mixes up Lysander, who is truly deeply in love with Hermia, with Demetrius, who also loves Hermia, but that love really is only lust, when Helena, one of Hermia's greatest friends is deeply in love with him. And instead of making Demetrius fall in love with Helena, using a magical flower, which was hit with one of Cupid's arrow's, he make Lysander fall in love with Helena. So the second act ends with Lysander in love with Helena, and Hermia waking up from a nightmare, about about a snake, only to have the real nightmeare of her love gone, and in love with her best friend.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Sustainability Fair
Last Friday, my school held a sustainability fair between 12:30 and 4:30, where we learned about the effects that we have on our environment, such as global warming and growing landfills, as well as teaching us ways to become more environmentally friendly. Also, we learned about how our state and school is aiding in this effort in going "green".
My school has an extremely large campus, and student body of more than 4,000 students K-12 grade, and with that, we use up a large amount of resources, such as energy, for all the lights and AC in all the several classrooms and buildings, paper's, and plastics, to only name a few. And because of this, my school, has decided to pledge to stop using so much of these valuable resources, by setting up several goals dealing with energy, garbage, water, traffic and food, to be accomplished by 2016, sparking the idea of the sustainability fair.
Another thing I learned about my school on Friday, was how the new middle school, that was first opened las year, was entirely made up of recycled goods, and produces it's own energy to fuel the school.
Something else that my school is playing an active role in helping our environment, was getting a 5th grade class involved in recycling bottles, and can's to raise money to adopt a tiger at the zoo, taking care of it's food, shelter and any other necessities it might need.
Then at another table, I learned about how recycled water, which has been fillitered and disinfected to achieve bacterial concentrations consistent with DOH Guidelines for R-1 Water, in Hawaii, is being used for industries and irrigation. Though this water is not healthy enough for human consumption, because of all the bacterias and viruses in the water, it is completely healthy for the environment, since it is a much cheaper, and environmentally healthy way of reducing the amount of water being used.
Lastly, I learned about a House Bill that is being debated over in my state's legislature, which would reduce Hawaii's contribution to global climate change, by limiting the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from Hawaii into the atmospher, which is also the cause of global warming. And all we would need to do as an resident in Hawaii, is call one of the people in government who are supporting this bill, and voice our support for this bill with them.
All in all, through Friday's sustainability fair, I was able to learn a lot about the environment, and how greatly than ever before do we impact the way it works, as well as the things that people in my school, and state are doing to help stop the destructions that we are causing on the place we call home, earth.
My school has an extremely large campus, and student body of more than 4,000 students K-12 grade, and with that, we use up a large amount of resources, such as energy, for all the lights and AC in all the several classrooms and buildings, paper's, and plastics, to only name a few. And because of this, my school, has decided to pledge to stop using so much of these valuable resources, by setting up several goals dealing with energy, garbage, water, traffic and food, to be accomplished by 2016, sparking the idea of the sustainability fair.
Another thing I learned about my school on Friday, was how the new middle school, that was first opened las year, was entirely made up of recycled goods, and produces it's own energy to fuel the school.
Something else that my school is playing an active role in helping our environment, was getting a 5th grade class involved in recycling bottles, and can's to raise money to adopt a tiger at the zoo, taking care of it's food, shelter and any other necessities it might need.
Then at another table, I learned about how recycled water, which has been fillitered and disinfected to achieve bacterial concentrations consistent with DOH Guidelines for R-1 Water, in Hawaii, is being used for industries and irrigation. Though this water is not healthy enough for human consumption, because of all the bacterias and viruses in the water, it is completely healthy for the environment, since it is a much cheaper, and environmentally healthy way of reducing the amount of water being used.
Lastly, I learned about a House Bill that is being debated over in my state's legislature, which would reduce Hawaii's contribution to global climate change, by limiting the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from Hawaii into the atmospher, which is also the cause of global warming. And all we would need to do as an resident in Hawaii, is call one of the people in government who are supporting this bill, and voice our support for this bill with them.
All in all, through Friday's sustainability fair, I was able to learn a lot about the environment, and how greatly than ever before do we impact the way it works, as well as the things that people in my school, and state are doing to help stop the destructions that we are causing on the place we call home, earth.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Ghost Stories
Hawaii may be one of the most beautiful places on earth, but we also have some amazing ghost stories, here are a few i found interesting. (I found all these stories at http://theshadowlands.net/places/hawaii.htm)
Nu'uanu - The Pali Lookout - People have reported seeing the white silhouette of someone among the trees at the Pali Lookout, at night. There have also been reports of the silhouettes of ancient Hawaiian soldiers being thrown off the cliff to your right when one is standing at the actual lookout, looking down at Kaneohe. The Pali Lookout is where King Kamehameha defeated the opposing armies by throwing them off this cliff. He then united all of the Hawaiian islands. What is interesting is that there is no light source up on the cliff to the right of the lookout to see the silhouettes of these soldiers being cast down. But, when they are seen, the cliff is somehow illuminated. The lights that illuminate the winding road leading into Kaneohe and the lights of Kaneohe itself are too far down to cast any shadows up that high. There are no lights in the parking lot or throughout the lookout area, either. The Pali Lookout is off-limits at night.
The Pali Highway - There is an old belief that if you are traveling on the Pali Highway, in the day or night, that you must not have pork in your car. It is believed that your car will stall and will not start again until the pork is taken out of your car. Some locals believe that is the menehune (meh-neh-hoo-neh), mischievous, elflike creatures, that stops you. Others believe it is because Kamapua'a(kah-mah-po-ah-ah), the giant, nine-eyed boar god who lives in the forests of Kaneohe, won't allow you to pass until the pork is taken out of your car. And this means going in either direction- from Honolulu to Kaneohe or Kaneohe to Honolulu. Many locals, to this day, practice this custom whether they believe or not.
Kahala Mall - In the newspaper several years ago there was a story about a security guard working the late shift at Kahala Mall. After theaters closed, he and another security guard had to lock all the doors to the mall. One security guard went up to the parking level to check the parking lot and lock the doors that lead to this level. He saw another security guard up there, his friend, and not the one he'd just left. The guy was far away, so he called to his friend, but the guy didn't answer. He called again, this next time his friend turned and looked and him then walked away, disappearing around a corner. The security guard went to follow him and found the man gone. This was about one or two a.m. He later asked the other security guard if he had seen their co-worker, the other man said no. The next day, the security guard found out that the man he saw had died at about the same time he'd seen him.
Hilton Hawaii Village - Believed to be haunted by the volcano goddess. Visitors, house cleaners, and other staff members say that they see a woman in a red dress walk in the hallways, on the beach, and everywhere in between! Some people say that the volcano goddess shows up in other forms such as a young woman, and old woman, a hitch-hiker, and a stranger that comes to your door, among other things and never travels alone. When on the beach, she'll be accompanied by dancers.
Nu'uanu - The Pali Lookout - People have reported seeing the white silhouette of someone among the trees at the Pali Lookout, at night. There have also been reports of the silhouettes of ancient Hawaiian soldiers being thrown off the cliff to your right when one is standing at the actual lookout, looking down at Kaneohe. The Pali Lookout is where King Kamehameha defeated the opposing armies by throwing them off this cliff. He then united all of the Hawaiian islands. What is interesting is that there is no light source up on the cliff to the right of the lookout to see the silhouettes of these soldiers being cast down. But, when they are seen, the cliff is somehow illuminated. The lights that illuminate the winding road leading into Kaneohe and the lights of Kaneohe itself are too far down to cast any shadows up that high. There are no lights in the parking lot or throughout the lookout area, either. The Pali Lookout is off-limits at night.
The Pali Highway - There is an old belief that if you are traveling on the Pali Highway, in the day or night, that you must not have pork in your car. It is believed that your car will stall and will not start again until the pork is taken out of your car. Some locals believe that is the menehune (meh-neh-hoo-neh), mischievous, elflike creatures, that stops you. Others believe it is because Kamapua'a(kah-mah-po-ah-ah), the giant, nine-eyed boar god who lives in the forests of Kaneohe, won't allow you to pass until the pork is taken out of your car. And this means going in either direction- from Honolulu to Kaneohe or Kaneohe to Honolulu. Many locals, to this day, practice this custom whether they believe or not.
Kahala Mall - In the newspaper several years ago there was a story about a security guard working the late shift at Kahala Mall. After theaters closed, he and another security guard had to lock all the doors to the mall. One security guard went up to the parking level to check the parking lot and lock the doors that lead to this level. He saw another security guard up there, his friend, and not the one he'd just left. The guy was far away, so he called to his friend, but the guy didn't answer. He called again, this next time his friend turned and looked and him then walked away, disappearing around a corner. The security guard went to follow him and found the man gone. This was about one or two a.m. He later asked the other security guard if he had seen their co-worker, the other man said no. The next day, the security guard found out that the man he saw had died at about the same time he'd seen him.
Hilton Hawaii Village - Believed to be haunted by the volcano goddess. Visitors, house cleaners, and other staff members say that they see a woman in a red dress walk in the hallways, on the beach, and everywhere in between! Some people say that the volcano goddess shows up in other forms such as a young woman, and old woman, a hitch-hiker, and a stranger that comes to your door, among other things and never travels alone. When on the beach, she'll be accompanied by dancers.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Shaman Lit. Circle
In English we were assigned to read the third chapter of The Woman Warrior, "Shaman", and my role this time was the Biographical Critic, who analyzes what we know and learn about the author from the chapter.
In "Shaman", we learn a lot about Maxine's mother, Brave Orchid, and her family's life back in China. The chapter starts out when Maxine brings out her mother's diploma and graduation photo's from a medical school in the city of Canton, and uses her imagination and her mother's talk-story to make-up her mother's experiences, and then goes on to describe how her life had been like in China, in comparison with the life that she had to live when she came to America. From "Shaman", we learn that in China, Brave Orchid had two other children who both died, and after the second died, she decided to go to the Keung School of Midwifery, to become a doctor with the money that her husband was sending her from America. And while there she encountered her first ghost whom she drove out and showed her bravery to all the other students, as well as teaching them how not to fear the ghosts, and how to rid ghosts from any place.
So, when Brave Orchid returns to her village, she is treated with the utmost esteem and respect, because she could not only cure the sick , deliver babies, but also banish the ghosts. We also learn about how smart Brave Orchid had been when caring for the sick, as we learn about her secret of success, which was that she would never treat a patience who was going to die, so all her patience would be get better and live.
But when Brave Orchid's husband asked her to leave China to live in America, she repeats several times in her talk-story of who far she fell when she came to America. Fore in China, she was regarded as a magician or Shaman for all she could do, then in America, she works in a laundry mat, or the tomato fields, something that she is constantly complaining about, saying that there lives would have been much better if they had stayed in China. However in the ending of the chapter, we learn how the family could never go back to China, because the Communist had taken all their property, after their last uncle was murdered.
In "Shaman", we learn a lot about Maxine's mother, Brave Orchid, and her family's life back in China. The chapter starts out when Maxine brings out her mother's diploma and graduation photo's from a medical school in the city of Canton, and uses her imagination and her mother's talk-story to make-up her mother's experiences, and then goes on to describe how her life had been like in China, in comparison with the life that she had to live when she came to America. From "Shaman", we learn that in China, Brave Orchid had two other children who both died, and after the second died, she decided to go to the Keung School of Midwifery, to become a doctor with the money that her husband was sending her from America. And while there she encountered her first ghost whom she drove out and showed her bravery to all the other students, as well as teaching them how not to fear the ghosts, and how to rid ghosts from any place.
So, when Brave Orchid returns to her village, she is treated with the utmost esteem and respect, because she could not only cure the sick , deliver babies, but also banish the ghosts. We also learn about how smart Brave Orchid had been when caring for the sick, as we learn about her secret of success, which was that she would never treat a patience who was going to die, so all her patience would be get better and live.
But when Brave Orchid's husband asked her to leave China to live in America, she repeats several times in her talk-story of who far she fell when she came to America. Fore in China, she was regarded as a magician or Shaman for all she could do, then in America, she works in a laundry mat, or the tomato fields, something that she is constantly complaining about, saying that there lives would have been much better if they had stayed in China. However in the ending of the chapter, we learn how the family could never go back to China, because the Communist had taken all their property, after their last uncle was murdered.
Monday, March 5, 2007
White Tigers: Lit. Circle Part 2
Part 2 for my group was from page 34 – 53…
Forebodingly: (p.34) a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment
Tooled: (p.35) To form, work, or decorate with a tool; To ornament (a book cover) with a bookbinder's tool; (Slang) To drive (a vehicle)
Dethrone: (p.36) to remove from a throne; depose; to remove from any position of power or authority
Fiefdom: (p.37) the estate or domain of a feudal lord; anything, as an organization or real estate, owned or controlled by one dominant person or group
Encampment: (p.37) an act or instance of encamping; lodgment in a camp; the place or quarters occupied in camping; camp
Palanquins: (p. 38) A covered litter carried on poles on the shoulders of four or more bearers, formerly used in eastern Asia
Jounce: (p.39) to move joltingly or roughly up and down; bounce
Gestation: (p.39) The period of development in the uterus from conception until birth; pregnancy; the conception and development of a plan or an idea in the mind
Fontanel: (p.40) tne of the spaces, covered by membrane, between the bones of the fetal or young skull
Palpable: (p.41) readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident
Mercenary: (p.44) working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal; hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc
Amazons: (p.45) (Greek Mythology) A member of a nation of women warriors reputed to have lived in Scythia; a tall, aggressive, strong-willed woman.
Vouch: (p.45) to support as being true, certain, reliable, etc.); to attest; guarantee; certify
Emigrant: (p.46) a person who emigrates, as from his or her native country or region
Immigrant: (p.46) a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence; an organism found in a new habitat
Deign: (p.48) do something that one considers to be beneath one's dignity
Forged: (p.49) make or shape (a metal object) by heating it in a fire or furnace and beating or hammering it
Communist: (p.50) political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs
Flotage: (p.52) the act or state of floating.
Anthropology: (p.52) the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind; the study of human beings' similarity to and divergence from other animals; the science of humans and their works.
Concession: (p.53) the act of conceding or yielding, as a right, a privilege, or a point or fact in an argument;the thing or point yielded; something conceded by a government or a controlling authority, as a grant of land, a privilege, or a franchise.
Idiom: (p. 53) an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements or from the general grammatical rules of a languag, and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics; a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people
Forebodingly: (p.34) a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment
Tooled: (p.35) To form, work, or decorate with a tool; To ornament (a book cover) with a bookbinder's tool; (Slang) To drive (a vehicle)
Dethrone: (p.36) to remove from a throne; depose; to remove from any position of power or authority
Fiefdom: (p.37) the estate or domain of a feudal lord; anything, as an organization or real estate, owned or controlled by one dominant person or group
Encampment: (p.37) an act or instance of encamping; lodgment in a camp; the place or quarters occupied in camping; camp
Palanquins: (p. 38) A covered litter carried on poles on the shoulders of four or more bearers, formerly used in eastern Asia
Jounce: (p.39) to move joltingly or roughly up and down; bounce
Gestation: (p.39) The period of development in the uterus from conception until birth; pregnancy; the conception and development of a plan or an idea in the mind
Fontanel: (p.40) tne of the spaces, covered by membrane, between the bones of the fetal or young skull
Palpable: (p.41) readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident
Mercenary: (p.44) working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal; hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc
Amazons: (p.45) (Greek Mythology) A member of a nation of women warriors reputed to have lived in Scythia; a tall, aggressive, strong-willed woman.
Vouch: (p.45) to support as being true, certain, reliable, etc.); to attest; guarantee; certify
Emigrant: (p.46) a person who emigrates, as from his or her native country or region
Immigrant: (p.46) a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence; an organism found in a new habitat
Deign: (p.48) do something that one considers to be beneath one's dignity
Forged: (p.49) make or shape (a metal object) by heating it in a fire or furnace and beating or hammering it
Communist: (p.50) political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs
Flotage: (p.52) the act or state of floating.
Anthropology: (p.52) the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind; the study of human beings' similarity to and divergence from other animals; the science of humans and their works.
Concession: (p.53) the act of conceding or yielding, as a right, a privilege, or a point or fact in an argument;the thing or point yielded; something conceded by a government or a controlling authority, as a grant of land, a privilege, or a franchise.
Idiom: (p. 53) an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements or from the general grammatical rules of a languag, and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics; a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people
Sunday, March 4, 2007
White Tigers: Lit. Circle Part 1
In class, we recently started doing these literature circles with a twist, where we dicuss and share a our ideas about a certian chapter of the book we are reading with a few other people in our class, so we can undersand what it going on in the chapter. Also with these lit. circles, each member has a role to learn more about the story, and it's background. So I chose to be the Lexicographer, which basically means I will read the chapter assigned to us, and define the words that were hard to understand.
This week, we were to read the chapter "White Tigers", in The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. In this chapter, the main character - the girl/ Maxine Hong Kingston - tells the Ledgen of Fa Mu Lan (which is the story that the disney movie "Mulan", was based off of), as if she were Fa Mu Lan. The first part of the reading for my group was from page 19-33, and I am finding my definitions from http://answers.com/ and http://www.google.com/ ...
Page 19
Confucius Church: this site can explain to you what Confucianism is
http://www.religion-cults.com/Eastern/Confucianism/confuci.htm
White Crane Boxing: I found this site that has a brief description of what white crane boxing is http://www.usadojo.com/styles/about-white-crane-boxing.htm
Page 20
Brambles: A prickly shrub of the genus Rubus, including the blackberry and the raspberry.
Fa Mu Lan: This site tells the ballad/ ledged of Fa Mu Lan http://www2.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/mulan.htm
Page 21
Thatch: a material, as straw, rushes, leaves, or the like, used to cover roofs, grain stacks, etc.; the leaves of various palms that are used for thatching.
Page 22
Encircled: to form a circle around; surround; encompass
Page 23
Ideograph: a written symbol that represents an idea or object directly rather than a particular word or speech sound, as a Chinese character
Dilations: an abnormal enlargement of an aperture or a canal of the body.
Homonyms: One of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning, such as bank (embankment) and bank (place where money is kept).
Page 24
Peony: any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Paeonia, having large, showy flowers, as the widely cultivated species P. lactiflora: the state flower of Indiana.
Page 26
Acutely: sharp or severe in effect; intense; extremely great or serious; crucial; (of disease) brief and severe (opposed to chronic); sharp or penetrating in intellect, insight, or perception.
Page 27
Javanese: of or pertaining to the island of Java, its people, or their language; a member of the native Malayan people of Java, esp. of that branch of it in the central part of the island; the Austronesian language of central Java
Page 28
Self-immolation: voluntary sacrifice or denial of oneself, as for an ideal or another person.
Transmigration: the passage of a soul after death into another body; metempsychosis; To migrate
Juniper: Any of various evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Juniperus, having needlelike or scalelike, often pointed leaves and aromatic, bluish-gray, berrylike, seed-bearing cones
Page 29
Strata: a layer of material, naturally or artificially formed, often one of a number of parallel layers, one upon another; one of a number of portions or divisions likened to layers or levels
Quarries: an excavation or pit, usually open to the air, from which building stone, slate, or the like, is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc.
Mallard: a common, almost cosmopolitan, wild duck, Anas platyrhynchos, from which the domestic ducks are descended
Resin: any of a class of nonvolatile, solid or semisolid organic substances, as copal or mastic, that consist of amorphous mixtures of carboxylic acids and are obtained directly from certain plants as exudations or prepared by polymerization of simple molecules: used in medicine and in the making of varnishes and plastics
Paradoxes: A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true
Page 30
Scythes: An implement consisting of a long, curved single-edged blade with a long bent handle, used for mowing or reaping
Page 32
Conscription: compulsory enrollment of persons for military or naval service; draft; a compulsory contribution of money to a government during a time of war.
This week, we were to read the chapter "White Tigers", in The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. In this chapter, the main character - the girl/ Maxine Hong Kingston - tells the Ledgen of Fa Mu Lan (which is the story that the disney movie "Mulan", was based off of), as if she were Fa Mu Lan. The first part of the reading for my group was from page 19-33, and I am finding my definitions from http://answers.com/ and http://www.google.com/ ...
Page 19
Confucius Church: this site can explain to you what Confucianism is
http://www.religion-cults.com/Eastern/Confucianism/confuci.htm
White Crane Boxing: I found this site that has a brief description of what white crane boxing is http://www.usadojo.com/styles/about-white-crane-boxing.htm
Page 20
Brambles: A prickly shrub of the genus Rubus, including the blackberry and the raspberry.
Fa Mu Lan: This site tells the ballad/ ledged of Fa Mu Lan http://www2.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/mulan.htm
Page 21
Thatch: a material, as straw, rushes, leaves, or the like, used to cover roofs, grain stacks, etc.; the leaves of various palms that are used for thatching.
Page 22
Encircled: to form a circle around; surround; encompass
Page 23
Ideograph: a written symbol that represents an idea or object directly rather than a particular word or speech sound, as a Chinese character
Dilations: an abnormal enlargement of an aperture or a canal of the body.
Homonyms: One of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning, such as bank (embankment) and bank (place where money is kept).
Page 24
Peony: any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Paeonia, having large, showy flowers, as the widely cultivated species P. lactiflora: the state flower of Indiana.
Page 26
Acutely: sharp or severe in effect; intense; extremely great or serious; crucial; (of disease) brief and severe (opposed to chronic); sharp or penetrating in intellect, insight, or perception.
Page 27
Javanese: of or pertaining to the island of Java, its people, or their language; a member of the native Malayan people of Java, esp. of that branch of it in the central part of the island; the Austronesian language of central Java
Page 28
Self-immolation: voluntary sacrifice or denial of oneself, as for an ideal or another person.
Transmigration: the passage of a soul after death into another body; metempsychosis; To migrate
Juniper: Any of various evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Juniperus, having needlelike or scalelike, often pointed leaves and aromatic, bluish-gray, berrylike, seed-bearing cones
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Strata: a layer of material, naturally or artificially formed, often one of a number of parallel layers, one upon another; one of a number of portions or divisions likened to layers or levels
Quarries: an excavation or pit, usually open to the air, from which building stone, slate, or the like, is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc.
Mallard: a common, almost cosmopolitan, wild duck, Anas platyrhynchos, from which the domestic ducks are descended
Resin: any of a class of nonvolatile, solid or semisolid organic substances, as copal or mastic, that consist of amorphous mixtures of carboxylic acids and are obtained directly from certain plants as exudations or prepared by polymerization of simple molecules: used in medicine and in the making of varnishes and plastics
Paradoxes: A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true
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Scythes: An implement consisting of a long, curved single-edged blade with a long bent handle, used for mowing or reaping
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Conscription: compulsory enrollment of persons for military or naval service; draft; a compulsory contribution of money to a government during a time of war.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Hero's
Usually when some one hears the word hero, they think of names like Superman, Batman, or Spiderman, but personally, I think those heroes are completely overrated, and plain out stupid. Sure I enjoy watching Smallville whenever I get to, and have seen most of the movies about superheroes like Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and others like them, even liking some, but these heroes are fictional, with nothing truly awe inspiring about them. They may have done all these great things saving countless amounts of lives, with all these amazing special abilities, like flying, having x-ray vision, and so on, in these stories we see and hear about, but and have never really done anything to help our lives. However, one person, in particular, has all of the amazing powers of all those superheroes, and then some, who died for our sins, even before we were born, when he committed none. And that truly awe-inspiring person is God.
(I know that probably most people stopped reading after my last sentence, thinking something along the lines of, "Great, this is going to be one of those stories, about how great God is, I don't want to read that, and all those Christians are mad to believe in such things." So for those who are still reading, it may be exactly what you expect, and it may not, but you won't know that unless you just give me a chance.)
There are so many qualities of God that I admire, in him, like his forgiveness, his love, his self-control, his mercy, his grace, his patience, his kindness, his many powers and so much more I cannot even list. Nevertheless I think the qualities that I admire most in God, is his patience, forgiveness, and self-control, since I really have a hard time with both. I could only wish to be able to forgive people as easily as He does, taking less than a second to decide, giving up everything, and only dream of actually having any patience. I know I am a very impatient person, since so many people have told me that, but I only really understood what they really meant, when I look at how I refuse to wait in lines with more than 3 people, and would rather not get something I really need, if I have to wait too long. Or how I am so angry with my father when he picks me up from school if I had to wait for him for any more than a minute without anyone else, even if it was because of something for me, like getting me a snack or something like that. Then, especially, when I am shopping, I have absolutely no self-control. I am amazed at how many things that are in my closet, or room, that I don't even use, but cost me quite a lot of money, which I now regret buying, because I see how impractical they were, but at the time were blinded by how nice it looked on me in the store. So if I could chose, what I would really want, is to be like Him in every aspect of my life.
(I know that probably most people stopped reading after my last sentence, thinking something along the lines of, "Great, this is going to be one of those stories, about how great God is, I don't want to read that, and all those Christians are mad to believe in such things." So for those who are still reading, it may be exactly what you expect, and it may not, but you won't know that unless you just give me a chance.)
There are so many qualities of God that I admire, in him, like his forgiveness, his love, his self-control, his mercy, his grace, his patience, his kindness, his many powers and so much more I cannot even list. Nevertheless I think the qualities that I admire most in God, is his patience, forgiveness, and self-control, since I really have a hard time with both. I could only wish to be able to forgive people as easily as He does, taking less than a second to decide, giving up everything, and only dream of actually having any patience. I know I am a very impatient person, since so many people have told me that, but I only really understood what they really meant, when I look at how I refuse to wait in lines with more than 3 people, and would rather not get something I really need, if I have to wait too long. Or how I am so angry with my father when he picks me up from school if I had to wait for him for any more than a minute without anyone else, even if it was because of something for me, like getting me a snack or something like that. Then, especially, when I am shopping, I have absolutely no self-control. I am amazed at how many things that are in my closet, or room, that I don't even use, but cost me quite a lot of money, which I now regret buying, because I see how impractical they were, but at the time were blinded by how nice it looked on me in the store. So if I could chose, what I would really want, is to be like Him in every aspect of my life.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Family Story Characterization
In class,we learned that we were going to use our family story, to post on this wiki, on wikipedia, called "A Thousand and One Flat World Project". And to make our stories better, with more detail, we were asked to take one of the characters in our story, and, using the methods of characterization, I would describe them more. So the character chose the general who sent my grandfather to D.C. to train, and work for the O.S.S. to go undercover in China to spy on the Japanese for the U.S. And since I don't really know much about this man
Methods of Characterization ...
Appearance:
Inner Thoughts and Feelings:
Environment:
What they Say:
What Other's Say About Them:
Actions:
Methods of Characterization ...
Appearance:
- middle aged: 40-60
- medium height, 5.5 or 6 feet
- quite strong
- Caucasian male
- greying
- sad, regretful eyes on a face worn with age, unhappiness, and sorrow
- almost always in uniform, except for when he goes home
Inner Thoughts and Feelings:
- misses his wife and children, who left him
- hatting the Japanese for bombing the U.S., causing them to get involve with WWII
- unhappy with his life now that is was all broken, missing his old life, the great military life he had, with so much power, and control that he lost when his life and family fell apart
- keeps on thinking about the day his life fell apart, when his wife ran away from him, taking their kids with her
Environment:
- gloomy, freezing, arctic cold of Alaska
What they Say:
- tells my grandfather he is wasting his time in Alaska painting, when he could be a spy for the OSS in China, because he can speak the language, and is Chinese
What Other's Say About Them:
- use to be a strict general, who keeps people in their place, once was a Sargent at a strict Military school, but now he has faded and is very bitter
- takes out his unhappiness on the people around him, making enemies of everyone
- has some great secret about why his wife ran way from him, taking their kids with her, no one knows
Actions:
- sent my grandfather to Washington D.C., because of the potential he saw in him
What Was Learned About Maxine From the First chapter
In the first chapter of "Woman Warrior", as I said before, it started with Maxine's mother telling her about her aunt that no one talks about, because she had got pregnant, but not by her husband, because he had been away in America for a few years, then killed herself the day after she had the baby. The mother used this story to tell her daughter, Maxine, what the consequences of following in her aunt's footsteps, and getting pregnant out of wedlock, being forgotten, as if she was never born, because of the shame she would bring to the family. And after Maxine's mother left her in her room, she starts thinking about her mother, and being a Chinese emigrant, and the story she was told, itself, but the person she thinks about most is the aunt, she never met. Most of the first chapter was filled with stories Maxine had made up, about her aunt, some about how she could have looked like, acted like, how she had met the man who had gotten her pregnant, what she had done after and before she had the baby, the minutes before she had killed herself and her baby, and many others like that. From these stories that Maxine tells, we learn a lot about her, and her character.
What we first learn from the stories Maxine tells us is that she is a very imaginative person, especially with all the different scenarios she goes over about who and how her aunt met the man who got her pregnant. She first comes up with a very unlikely story about this secret man, whom no one in the village knows, who gave her orders which she had to follow, which is seen, when Maxine says, "Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil," (Hong Kingston, 6). But then as she thinks of more scenarios, and more about the village, Maxine realizes that this is quite improbable, and keeps on coming up with more and more stories that become more and more realistic as she thinks of them.
Also, we learn that Maxine in some ways cares a lot about looks/ appearances, and fashion, concentrating on how her aunt might have looked, such as when she explains why she would never be able to find out any more about her aunt, she would be mentioned once and never again, "If I wanted to know what clothes my aunt wore, whether flashy or ordinary," (Hong Kingston, 6). Then later, when she starts imagining what her aunt looked like, she thinks about what her aunt might have done to herself to make her look pretty, "At the mirror, my aunt combed individually into her bob … she brushed her hair back from her forehead, tucking the flaps behind her hears. She looked a piece of thread, and ran the double strand across her forehead. When she closed her fingers … the string twisted together catching the little hairs. Then she pulled the thread away from her skin, ripping the heirs out neatly … she cleaned the thread, then rolled it along her hairline, and the tops of her eyebrow," (Hong, Kingston, 9).
Then near the end of the chapter, Maxine says, "In the twenty years since I have heard this story I have not asked for details nor said my aunt's name; I do not know it," (Hong Kingston, 16). From this quote, we see how trustworthy, and somewhat fearing of her mother, Maxine is in keeping her family's secret. We know that she understands the importance of not telling anyone about her aunt and what happened to her, or even mentioning her name. Which also shows a certain amount of maturity, to not want to upset her parents.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Family Story
Since my grandparents live in Bremerton, Washington, and I live in Hawaii (which is about 2,000 miles away), I hardy ever get to see them, maybe once or twice a year. But whenever I do see them, my grandfather has some story to tell me, either about his family, his childhood back in China, his work for the OSS (which later became the CIA) during World War II, or some other important thing that happened in his life. I was never really interested in any of his stories, but he was my grandpa, and I knew how much he enjoyed telling his stories, especially to me, since I am his only grandchild (which also means I'm a little spoiled by him), so I would sit there, with something to occupy my hands, like homework, or the jewelry I was making at the time. One story that stood out to me in particular, because I thought it was so interesting, was when he was able to work for the OSS during World War II, because of his background.
My grandpa is one of 8 children in his family, they all were born in America, but because taking care of 8 children was too much for his mother (my great-grandmother), she sent the first 6 back to China, to be raised by her mother (my great-great-grandmother). As a result of growing up on China, he became bi-lingual, in both Chinese, and English (thought his English isn't very good).
When the Second World War, started, my Grandfather decided to enlist in the navy, as a sailor. He was first sent to Alaska, as a painter (I don't know exactly how that is serving the navy, but I know that was what he did), then when one of the generals there found out he was fluent in Chinese; he said that he was wasting his talents, as a painter. And gave him orders to go to (Washington, DC), to get trained to become an undercover agent, in China, to spy on the Japanese, who had control over the Chinese government at the time. Since he was Chinese, and spoke the language, he would look like just another Chinese, and be able to pass on important information about the Japanese to America.
My mother said that I was pretty lucky to get to hear this story, since he usually keeps all his stories about his work with the OSS to himself. But I was never able to get him to tell me any of the information he found out while he was undercover in China, even though the information would have no real importance anymore.
This is one of my favorite stories that my grandfather tells me, because I have always thought the life of a spy was so fascinating, especially after I started watching "Alias", which I know is probably not a real account of a spy's life, just Hollywood's interpretation of one, but they do get to use all those high-tech tools (we don't even know exist), travel all over the world, learn to speak many different languages, and go under many different aliases, which would be so exciting. So I think it is so interesting to know that someone in my family worked for, what would be later known as the CIA.
My grandpa is one of 8 children in his family, they all were born in America, but because taking care of 8 children was too much for his mother (my great-grandmother), she sent the first 6 back to China, to be raised by her mother (my great-great-grandmother). As a result of growing up on China, he became bi-lingual, in both Chinese, and English (thought his English isn't very good).
When the Second World War, started, my Grandfather decided to enlist in the navy, as a sailor. He was first sent to Alaska, as a painter (I don't know exactly how that is serving the navy, but I know that was what he did), then when one of the generals there found out he was fluent in Chinese; he said that he was wasting his talents, as a painter. And gave him orders to go to (Washington, DC), to get trained to become an undercover agent, in China, to spy on the Japanese, who had control over the Chinese government at the time. Since he was Chinese, and spoke the language, he would look like just another Chinese, and be able to pass on important information about the Japanese to America.
My mother said that I was pretty lucky to get to hear this story, since he usually keeps all his stories about his work with the OSS to himself. But I was never able to get him to tell me any of the information he found out while he was undercover in China, even though the information would have no real importance anymore.
This is one of my favorite stories that my grandfather tells me, because I have always thought the life of a spy was so fascinating, especially after I started watching "Alias", which I know is probably not a real account of a spy's life, just Hollywood's interpretation of one, but they do get to use all those high-tech tools (we don't even know exist), travel all over the world, learn to speak many different languages, and go under many different aliases, which would be so exciting. So I think it is so interesting to know that someone in my family worked for, what would be later known as the CIA.
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Woman Warrior
My English class has started reading the book The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, which is a memoir of a first generation Chinese girl in America. So far, from what we have read in the first chapter, "No Name Woman", the main character Maxine's, mother has told her a story about her disowned Aunt, she never knew about, because the Aunt had committed suicide, after she got pregnant, when her husband had been gone for years. So the mother presented the story as a lesson for Maxine to learn from, so that she doesn't follow in her Aunt's footsteps, and bring that kind of shame to her family. And after her mother leaves, the girl
After our reading today in class, we were asked to discuss two quotes from our reading in the first chapter.
After her mother tells there the story, about her aunt, Maxine starts thinking about her life as an emigrant of China, "Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America," (Hong Kingston, 5). From this quote, we learn about the unspoken lessons and hardships in the lives of Chinese America immigrants. This quote explains the great differences between the Chinese and American traditions, as well as how as a child you are brought up on the old, Chinese traditions, then as you get older, and mature, you realize that in America, the traditions and values are vastly different. So, the only way you are going to be able to succeed in America, is to change your ideas, morphing both you Chinese and the American traditions/ values/ ideas, together.
Later, Maxine starts describing her mother, "She plants vegetable gardens rather than lawns; she carries the odd-shaped tomatoes home from the fields and eats food left for the gods," (Hong Kingston, 6). This quote tells us more about who her mother is, her character, and her values. From the first part of the quote, about Maxine's mother, planting a vegetable garden, and the odd shaped tomatoes, we see that her mother is a hard worker, who thinks more about practical needs, like food and nutrients, than aesthetics, like the beauty of her home, or the kind of food they eat. Then, when this quote talks about Maxine's mother eating the food for the gods, this shows that she does not believe in the superstitions, that most Chinese believe in, she believes in reality. The reality is that there is food and she is hungry, so she eats it. So this quote may also be giving light to the poverty and lack of food in Maxine's family, and Chinese American immigrants in general.
After our reading today in class, we were asked to discuss two quotes from our reading in the first chapter.
After her mother tells there the story, about her aunt, Maxine starts thinking about her life as an emigrant of China, "Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America," (Hong Kingston, 5). From this quote, we learn about the unspoken lessons and hardships in the lives of Chinese America immigrants. This quote explains the great differences between the Chinese and American traditions, as well as how as a child you are brought up on the old, Chinese traditions, then as you get older, and mature, you realize that in America, the traditions and values are vastly different. So, the only way you are going to be able to succeed in America, is to change your ideas, morphing both you Chinese and the American traditions/ values/ ideas, together.
Later, Maxine starts describing her mother, "She plants vegetable gardens rather than lawns; she carries the odd-shaped tomatoes home from the fields and eats food left for the gods," (Hong Kingston, 6). This quote tells us more about who her mother is, her character, and her values. From the first part of the quote, about Maxine's mother, planting a vegetable garden, and the odd shaped tomatoes, we see that her mother is a hard worker, who thinks more about practical needs, like food and nutrients, than aesthetics, like the beauty of her home, or the kind of food they eat. Then, when this quote talks about Maxine's mother eating the food for the gods, this shows that she does not believe in the superstitions, that most Chinese believe in, she believes in reality. The reality is that there is food and she is hungry, so she eats it. So this quote may also be giving light to the poverty and lack of food in Maxine's family, and Chinese American immigrants in general.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Blog Introduction
My name is Lauren, I am a freshman at my school, and for English class we each had to make a blog, as a place to post our ideas, and the work we do in class. Technology and I usually don't get along very well, and some how I am always breaking things, so my blog isn't really that interesting at the moment, but hopefully as the year progresses, I'll get better at it.
Moodle
In English class, a few days ago we started using moodle, which is an online sight, which allows our class to talk with each other over the web using wikis, and discussion boards, as well as turn in our work over the web. After we worked with it we got into small groups and discussed how we liked and didn't like when using moodle, what we could use it for, and what we wish we could do.
My group really liked how we could talk and discuss with our classmates, about what we were doing in English, when we weren't in class, and how moodle was a secure place that our class could share our thoughts, and collaborate on work together. Also we liked how we could save paper, by turning in our work on moodle. However, while using moodle we discovered a lot of technical difficulties with the site. A few of these technical difficulties were how one person at a time could post on the wiki's, or you'll lose all your work, and when turning in your work, you could only post one document. We also discussed how the site's style was very plain looking, making you not that interested in it. So when we thought of what we wished we could do on moodle, we wanted to rectify the technical difficulties on it, make the site look more interesting, and more personalized for us and our class. And some ways my group thought we could use moodle were posting discussion topics about what we were doing in English, or edit each other's paper, to help one another on their work. Also we thought of using the wiki's to collaborate together to make stories, poems, etc, turning in our work, and finding out what we did in class that day if we miss the day of school.
My group really liked how we could talk and discuss with our classmates, about what we were doing in English, when we weren't in class, and how moodle was a secure place that our class could share our thoughts, and collaborate on work together. Also we liked how we could save paper, by turning in our work on moodle. However, while using moodle we discovered a lot of technical difficulties with the site. A few of these technical difficulties were how one person at a time could post on the wiki's, or you'll lose all your work, and when turning in your work, you could only post one document. We also discussed how the site's style was very plain looking, making you not that interested in it. So when we thought of what we wished we could do on moodle, we wanted to rectify the technical difficulties on it, make the site look more interesting, and more personalized for us and our class. And some ways my group thought we could use moodle were posting discussion topics about what we were doing in English, or edit each other's paper, to help one another on their work. Also we thought of using the wiki's to collaborate together to make stories, poems, etc, turning in our work, and finding out what we did in class that day if we miss the day of school.
Friday, February 9, 2007
"Lost Sister" Poem
A few days ago, in class we read this poem called "Lost Sister", which was about a girl, who ran away from her life of inequality in China for all the freedoms for a woman in America. The poet tells this story by first explaining the lives of girls in China, and how they were treated as property, followed by the type of life one could have in America, using references to things of China, then adding a few regrets of her rebellion. Later that day we started a discussion page on our class moodle, and today we were asked to look deeper in to the meanings of the poem, and give a personal response about it, and this was mine.
At the start of the second part of the poem, the poet starts describing a girl/ sister who escaped from her life in China, for (what she thinks is a) better one in America, then explains how, "In America,/ there are many roads/ and women can stride among men". I think that this is an extremely significant quote, because it gives the essential meaning of the poem to the readers, plainly telling the reason the girl ran away, in a subtle, yet obvious way. The poet describes the many freedoms American women enjoy, that the Chinese women could never even think about. In America, a woman can chose what they'll do with their life, what career they'll take up, the type of education they'll receive, where and how they'll live, where they'll go, who they'll marry, etc. instead of having all of this all chosen for them by their parents/ family. So the many different roads an American can take, is really all the different kinds of lives they can have. And the line about how women can walk next to a man, just reinforces the idea of the lack of freedoms Chinese women have, which we American women take for granted.
Another strong idea the poet has tried to voice, is that what makes a person who they are reallies heavily on their background, where they come from, their home/ where they live, a person's name, and why they got it and what they do with their life. I can see this, because in the first part of the poem, the poet gives this girl a name, jade, which is a very popular name in China, because of rarity and worth. Then goes on to describe the life of a daughter in China, how they may never go anywhere alone, or where they want to, be subjected to intolerable shoes, learn to run a household, and the family farm, always having to follow what they are told, without any questions. And in the second part (as I have already explained) the girl's escape to America, in an attempt for a better life, and the new identity, completely different from the on in China, the girl now has in America. The many freedoms she can now enjoy as an American, who is equal to a man in all aspects of her life, and the way the girl sees America, as this new "wilderness" filled with all kinds of new possibilities, adventures, and freedoms, she could only have dreamed of in China
At the start of the second part of the poem, the poet starts describing a girl/ sister who escaped from her life in China, for (what she thinks is a) better one in America, then explains how, "In America,/ there are many roads/ and women can stride among men". I think that this is an extremely significant quote, because it gives the essential meaning of the poem to the readers, plainly telling the reason the girl ran away, in a subtle, yet obvious way. The poet describes the many freedoms American women enjoy, that the Chinese women could never even think about. In America, a woman can chose what they'll do with their life, what career they'll take up, the type of education they'll receive, where and how they'll live, where they'll go, who they'll marry, etc. instead of having all of this all chosen for them by their parents/ family. So the many different roads an American can take, is really all the different kinds of lives they can have. And the line about how women can walk next to a man, just reinforces the idea of the lack of freedoms Chinese women have, which we American women take for granted.
Another strong idea the poet has tried to voice, is that what makes a person who they are reallies heavily on their background, where they come from, their home/ where they live, a person's name, and why they got it and what they do with their life. I can see this, because in the first part of the poem, the poet gives this girl a name, jade, which is a very popular name in China, because of rarity and worth. Then goes on to describe the life of a daughter in China, how they may never go anywhere alone, or where they want to, be subjected to intolerable shoes, learn to run a household, and the family farm, always having to follow what they are told, without any questions. And in the second part (as I have already explained) the girl's escape to America, in an attempt for a better life, and the new identity, completely different from the on in China, the girl now has in America. The many freedoms she can now enjoy as an American, who is equal to a man in all aspects of her life, and the way the girl sees America, as this new "wilderness" filled with all kinds of new possibilities, adventures, and freedoms, she could only have dreamed of in China
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