JuLia' || .

Journeys can take on a variety of forms.

The short story packet, the movie Rabbit Proof Fence, and the journey packet that we did all represent this enduring understanding. There were a broad variety of forms of the journeys, such as but not limited to, emotional, physical, spiritual, mental… Some journeys itself even take on more than one form of journey. For example, the Man on the Moon journey. People didn’t only take on a physical journey to the moon, but also a mental and emotional journey for the people world wide because they got to know what humans can do and how high technology effect our world and can bring us to a higher level of knowledge.

Journeys can be made by force or choice.

This enduring understanding is represented in the movie Rabbit Proof Fence. The Journey that the 3 girls made from home to the camp was made by force due to the act that they were half-cast children. The journey they made from camp to home, though, was a journey made by choice because they could’ve stayed at the camp but they’ve chose to leave. The journey that the policeman made was made by choice because he could lie about where the girls went but instead he took the other path and went after the girls.

I’ve realized that I’ve improved upon writing in 3rd person in papers. In the beginning of the year, when I wrote the Blood on the River, I’d always use words such as but not limited to “I”, “you”, “we”…But now I’ve learnt to write in 3rd person, and go in another ways to express the sentence. For example, in the Mending Wall essay, I’d say “There’s always somethings that people choose to wall in or wall out. The things that they wall in are the things that they like, that they want to keep” instead of using the word “you”. I’ve also improved on going in depth throughout my essays and extend the length, and organizing the essay better.

What if we were able to zoom away from Earth to look at nearby stars? What would we see?

If we were able to zoom away from Earth to look at nearby stars, we would see the neighbor stars and planets are rotating and revolving. We could only see a tiny proportion of the galaxy that surrounds the sun.

How are the stars arranged?  Is there a pattern?  What causes the pattern?

The stars are arranged in a loose spiral shape. This pattern is caused by the fact that everything started out from the middle of the shape, and slowly as more stars are born and the galaxy begins to expand, there becomes branches where the stars grow on. It’s also created by the gravitational effects which arranges the stars in an orderly manner.

What were the best parts of China Alive?

The best parts of China Alive were abseiling and sitting around the campfire at night. I really liked how there were stars all over the sky and it was the first time for me to actually see fireflies.

What would you like to have seen done differently?

I think we should’ve had more free time instead of going from place to place every single day.

What did you learn on this trip about yourself or your world?

On this trip, I’ve learnt that I can actually climb up the hardest section of the mountain climbing activity and that the food that I cooked were pretty good. I’ve also learnt that there are actually parts of the world that don’t have high technology and still farm, and work in the fields every single day.

What will you do as a result of something you learned on this trip?

As a result of this trip, I will cherish our environment even more because the more we pollute the environment, the less fresh air we get and the worse the world will be. If every single part of the world lived like Yangshuo, and kept the place in its natural form, there wouldn’t be anything like green house effect, Global Warming. That’s why we should reduce our pollution to the least, and even though it’s impossible to let all the tree and creatures we removed to comeback, we should still do our best and reduce what’s even more harmful to the environment.

Title of book : Fairest

Pages read: 201 – 289

Question of the week:

3. Choose one of the unit’s Enduring Understandings and explain how it is exemplified through the text.

Journeys can take on a variety of forms.

In the text that I’ve read, the journey the protagonist Aza made takes on 2 forms, emotional and physical. Aza emotional changed her thoughts about herself from accepting what she is, to choosing to be someone she isn’t. As in the previous chapters I’ve read, Aza has always accepted her appearances to be slightly different than other people’s . But now, Aza has changed herself. “I returned to the dressing table and emptied the draft down my throat. It was mildly salty, nothing worse. I watched myself in the ordinary mirror.” (pg. 205) This is when Aza took the beauty potion out of Ivi’s dressing table drawer, and drank it down to make herself pretty. She no longer accepts the appearance that her parents gave her. She chose to change herself in an unnatural way, by drinking potion. She went from having self esteem, to absolutely no self-esteem and changing herself into someone she’s not.

“The stone stairs were slippery. I might have fallen if not for the guards’ grip on my elbows. How was I to live down there?” (pg. 209) “I took a lamp from its sconce. My hand trembled so, the light wavered. I pulled the door open.” (pg.215) Aza made a physical journey from the queen’s lady-in-waiting’s room to the cellar and later on out of the castle. This was all due to the fact that Aza lied to everyone in the kingdom and herself about her appearance. She showed people the face that wasn’t hers. She lied. The people determined that she’s not trustworthy anymore. That’s why Aza went on this physical journey.

How do cultural misconceptions impact human thought and behavior?

The impact that the September 11th attacks had on muslims is definitely an example of how cultural misconceptions impact human thought and behavior. Due to the fact that the incident was caused by 19 muslim high-jackers, the cultural misconceptions that they’ve brought for their race is obviously seen. People all around the world think that most muslims are terrorists. Even if people don’t look like terrorists, if they have a muslim like last name, they would be treated differently. They would be stopped for checks at airports, people would keep distance from them, parents would teach kids to not play with muslim children… People think of muslims as kidnappers, terrorists, thieves andeverything else that has to deal with crime. This is definitely a cultural misconception. Just because of the fact that 19 muslim high-jackers took over the American planes and crashed into America’s property, shouldn’t mean that all muslims or muslim like people should be treated in a different manner.

Why is it important to study culture in the past?

It is important to study culture from the past because we can gain more knowledge about our cultural history and why people do certain things that might fall into the culture that they belong in. When I was researching about cultural conflicts, I found an article about China’s Lost Sons. People who didn’t study the culture of China might not understand why people in China like to steal little boy and boys only. But once you get to know the culture from the past more, you’d understand that they kidnap boys because since ancient China, boys are to be seen as the more superior gender. If a family has a daughter, it would be seen as shame, and the family would have to try to get a son. This is a part of the Chinese culture. By studying it, we would know the motives of why people do certain things that might seem odd to others that don’t belong in that culture.

Titale of Novel: Fairest

Pages read: Pgs. 150 – 201

Question of the week:

2. Select 1-2 passages/quotes from the text that hold meaning for you. Explain why you chose the specific passages/quotes, including any significance to the plot, themes, or messages of the book.

Answer:

“That night I couldn’t sleep. Mother and Father thought I belonged in the castle, but – except for Ijori – I would a thousand times rather have been at the Featherbed.” (pg.153)

The reason I chose this passage was because this reminds of the story Princess Oreo Speaks Out, the short story that we did yesterday. In Princess Oreo Speaks Out, Dwan, the black girl kept on wanting to fit in with her race, and cared too much about what other people people said. Dwan’s a black girl with a white heart. She doesn’t listen to hip-hop, R&B, and reggae. She doesn’t know how to dance. She doesn’t eat Caribbean foods and Southern-style cooking. But just to fit in with everyone else, she did so and eventually, made a fool out of herself. Dwan should’ve already realized that she belonged to herself instead of a stereo typical group. In this quote, the protagonist Aza points out that her parents assumed that she belonged in the castle. And so the only reason she’s still in the castle is because of what her parents think about her. She wants to fit in with what her parents think, even though she truly know that that isn’t the real Aza. The real her would rather be at the Featherbed than a fancy castle. Aza didn’t accept her own thoughts and Dwan didn’t either. Because of that, they don’t live a happy life. They’re not comfortable with who they are and where they’re going to be. They choose to not have their own ways by not accepting themselves. So if they don’t even accept themselves, how could other people accept them?

The main idea about this book is acceptance. Not acceptance towards other people’s mistakes, but to our selves. Aza might not have a pretty appearance, but she has to accept the way she looks and be proud of herself. But since she always tries to fit in and be someone that she really isn’t, she’ll never be truly proud of herself. She’ll just live in other people’s shadows rather than her own ways.

Title of Novel: Fairest

Pages read: Pg. 1 – 149

Question of the week:

1. Write a character analysis, including a description of the character’s traits (at least 3) and supporting evidence for each.

Answer:

The protagonist of this story is a girl named Aza. She’s an orphan that got picked up by to kind people who are her mother and father now that she grew up with them her whole life. Aza’s not a pretty girl, and she’s fully aware of that. “I was an unsightly child. My skin was the weak blue-white of skimmed milk, which wouldn’t have been so bad if my hair had been blond and my lips pale pink. But my lips were red as a dragon’s tongue and my hair as black as an old frying pan.” (pg. 3) But Aza is a girl who’s hopeful and naive. “I remember asking her a dozen times a day if I was prettier yet.” (pg. 3) This quote proves how innocent and hopeful Aza was. The “her” in the sentence refers to Aza’s mother. Because Aza was not pretty, Aza’s mother would always assure her that she’d grow prettier as Aza grows older. Aza would be full of hope and dream that someday, she’d become the prettiest girl ever. Well at least prettier than she is right now.

Aza is also very shy and timid. “I was terrified. There would be hundreds of strangers at the castle, hundreds of staring strangers who’d never encountered anyone as ugly as I was.” (pg. 29) These 2 quotes occurred in the scene when Aza was invited to the kingdom for King Oscaro and the new Queen Ivi’s wedding. We can see that when Aza was told this news, she was horrified. Her main concern was that she would scare the hundreds of strangers and the King and Queen because of her looks. She’s timid. She had low self esteem and barely and confidence.

Finally, Aza is very talented at improving her strengths. “I was born singing. most babies cry. I sang an aria.” (pg. 1) “I illused a tiny mouse voice, coming from the floor near the bed. ‘I love you, too.’ ” (pg. 23) Even though Aza isn’t born pretty, she was born with a wonderful voice. Aza knew that she was good at singing, so of course, she was very proud of herself. But Aza didn’t jsut stop there. She kept on wanted to improve her singing skills. She tries to learn new methods of singing. She tries to illuse her singing voice from where she’s not. For example, she’d illuse her voice coming from the attic when she’s actually in her bedroom. She also tries to sing without moving her mouth and see if she can sing better that ways. Her unique talents and her desire of improvement have covered the weakness of her appearances and makes her more beautiful on the inside.

Title of novel: The Host

Pages read: the rest of the book

Question of the week:

5. Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Answer:

After reading this book, my conclusion is that I would never recommend this book to my friends.I read this book because my friend recommended it to me, but I don’t like it as much as they do. First of all, in my opinion, the beginning of the book is too complicated and the image that the author is trying to send to the readers is too blurry. I had to read to the 7th chapter to actually start to know that the main character is the soul, which was called the wanderer, and she is forced to enter a human body, which was called a host. Second of all, I think that this book is way too science fiction, and that nothing in it is realistic. The book talks about how aliens posses humans and take over human culture. I don’t really like books like that. And at last, when reading The Host, the author made me feel like she was skipping through paragraphs and ideas, which was what made this book so confusing. You read up to a part when the soul is chasing the memories, and then the next thing you know, the soul’s somewhere else. But on the other hand, to people who love science fiction books and have a clear brain, this would be a great book to read.