Should we LIVE for TODAY?

For me, I would choose to live for today. Time passes really quickly for me. When I first turned into a senior, I actually felt that I was just a small kid and just transferred into PAS. However, the reality is that I'm going to college within one year! When Mrs. Pamela asked us to write the resume for the college application, I found myself not recalling any extracurricular activities or academic rewards that I won. I felt shameful and regret about not using my time wisely, but to stay at home all the time. Before I go to high school, I actually though that I should save my time for studying, but I now changed my position. I think that people should use their time wisely when they are still young, so that they won't regret about not enjoying enough. My parents always tell me that "although I now think that life as a student is full of pressure, the pressure actually significantly increases after we go out to work, or when we can't get a job." Of course we need to think about our future and make some plans, but I think that we still should live for today and enjoy our life.

What is the role of death in life?

To many people, especially for children who are still young, death is far away from them. However, I had a deep understanding to death when I was in middle school.

I still remember, at the February of my 8th grade, my grandmother passed away. That day is a Saturday, and I still remember in that morning, when I was cleaning my room and when my mother is preparing lunch, I heard my father's voice coming from downstairs. My grandmother was lying on the ground, her face was pale, and her body was stark. The ambulance can only carry two family members, so I stayed at home all by myself the whole noon. My mother said that my grandmother passed away naturally without any pain, and this is something fortunate.

My other grandmother passed away also just a year after. She was sick and having huge pain. Although the hospital can continue her life, my uncle thinks that it is too painful for her.

Both of my grandmothers passed away when I was in middle school, and I had a close look to death. I know that death is not far away from me, but happening every day around me. Death may be painful, but it can also be peaceful or even an emancipation from pain. Death is not only the period of our lives, but also something that will happen around us.

What Should We Expect From Our Leaders?

Intelligence, morality, courage, eloquence, and charisma are 5 most important qualities that build up a good leader. Nevertheless, I think that the most important quality is charisma. Charisma is something that attracts people to gather around the leader. Even if a person has intelligence, courage, and eloquence, if that person has no charisma, nobody will support him. If a person has charisma, even if his intelligence is not so good, is not brave enough, and gives poor speeches, other people can help him. His followers can help him analyze situations, push him to do right decisions, and do speeches for him. At my point of view, as long as a leader has charisma, he can own good followers, and his followers may help him build up the qualities that he lacks. Since I’m not familiar with those great leaders in the real life, I’ll give an example from fictions I’ve read. In Infinite Terror, the protagonist, Zheng Za, is a man with poor intelligence and eloquence, but has charisma. He is very stupid and made many mistakes at first, but people were attracted by his charisma and gathered around him, and help the whole team to survive.

Sonnet Reflection

Difference between memorizing Beowulf and the sonnet is actually not small.
For Beowulf, because it's a story, when I am memorizing, I can think about the plot of the story and recall the lines. I can memorize the epic by memorizing the actions. In Beowulf, there are more actions than descriptions. Moreover, I think that Beowulf is easier to understand.
For sonnet 130, although it's shorter, because it focuses on describing the mistress, I found difficulty memorizing. In the sonnet, there are some hard words it's hard to memorize every word that's used to describe the mistress. Another thing is that I feel that the meanings of the lines used to describe the mistress is harder to remember. I searched for the definitions and meanings of every word and every line, but it's just hard to memorize with the original words.
One critical reason that I think most people didn't do well on the sonnet is that we preformed in Beowulf at the beginning of the class, but did the sonnet at the end of the class. I used to use the study hall just before British Literature class to memorize the sonnet, but it's obvious that I've forgot most of them after the class.

Can you ever be too ambitious?

Being ambitious is a good thing. For my opinion, I think that people can be successful only if they are ambitious. However, people sometimes fail because they are TOO ambitious. Many people get too ambitious because they are too proud or too confident. They don't know themselves well, don't know their real ability, and don't know what they are going to face, so they get too ambitious and fail. However, I don't think that I will ever be too ambitious. To be ambitious, I need to have a goal, to have something that we really want to do. However, although I have dreams that I want to achieve, I never set my goal so high that I can never achieve. I know my ability, I know how well or bad I can do, so I really don't think I will ever get too ambitious. Moreover, I am not a person that is ambitious. Although being successful is a good thing and a good dream, it is not what I most want. What I most want is a peace and normal life.

Beowulf vs The 13th Warrior

In the epic, there is only a monster and a hero. The monster, Grendel, kept coming to attack human, and Beowulf only needs to wait for it to come and kill it. Even when the other monsters, like Grendel's mother and the dragon, came, they appears one by one. But in the movie, there are 13 warriors, and the main character goes with them only to bring them "luck". And there are a lot of monsters that appeared. The monsters, unlike Grendel, threw fires and rode horses. And in the movie, the warriors even went to search for the cave and went into the cave to kill the monsters.
In Beowulf, although Beowulf also brought some men with him, the story is mostly 1 vs 1. However, in The 13th Warrior, the battle is a group of people fighting against a bunch of monsters.
One part that I think is most different is the fight between one of the warriors and one of the villagers. When they're digging, the warrior threw mud onto the villager's back, which I don't know if he did it in purpose (looks like he is). And they had a battle. The warrior at first can't fight back, but when the villager is giving the last hit, the villager is too imprudent and was killed by the warrior. In Beowulf, there is nothing like this.

Is love blind?

For me to say, it depends. To say love is blind means that two people fall in love without knowing each other's character clearly. From books and stories I've read, I saw some couples blind but some actually know each other clearly. For example, there are some pairs of lovers in the series of book, Harry Potter. In Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, Harry Potter was with Chou Zhang, but they don't know each other's characteristic. Harry likes Chou only because she is pretty and Chou likes Harry only because she is lonely. For this, I will say love is blind. However, the other pair of lovers, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are together. They had been friends for seven years and do know each other very well. They became lovers because of true love. In this case, I will say love is not blind, Ron and Hermione do know what they are doing.

Why Tell Stories in Song?

I remember a song which I first heard when I was still in 3rd grade., which is called "Lemon Tree" by Fools Garden.
The lyrics:
"I'm sitting here in the boring room
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon
I'm wasting my time
I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I'm driving around in my car
I'm driving too fast
I'm driving too far
I'd like to change my point of view
I feel so lonely
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I wonder how

I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree"

I remember all these in my head and never forget it is because I kept listening to the song. I really like the song and sometimes will sing along, and then I naturally remembered the lyrics. I think the reason why songs and lyrics are so memorable, is that we can sing along with it. And after singing a lot of time, people just naturally memorized the lyrics. When we forgot some parts, we sing it again in mind, and we'll naturally recall our memories.
Moreover, unlike stories and like poems, songs have lyrics and music that keep repeating, which make the song even more memorable.

Is Honor Worth Dying For?

I think it really depends on one's personality and settings. For knights in the medieval period, all of them would say that honor is of course worth dying for. If they think that their honor is trampled by other people, they'll fight till death only for that invisible thing. In modern society, people think and act differently. Some people think that honor isn't important at all. They will think that honor cannot bring them food, bring them money, bring them warmth or anything they need to survive. However, there are still some people who think that honor is very important. These people like officers and politicians think that honor is their dignity, and nobody should flout their dignity. People who have strong self-esteem think that honor is worth dying for, but others think that to live is more important than any other things. To me, maybe because I never meet any conditions that I need to die for my honor, I think that honor is important, but is not worth dying for.

Revealing Your Own Character in Writing

The Canterbury Tales was told in the first person of view, and the narrator, is Chaucer, who is also one of the pilgrims. Although Chaucer didn't introduce himself to the readers and he only appeared in the beginning of the prologue, it is told by first person of view, and the readers can actually find Chaucer's personal qualities from his descriptions of the other characters.

I think he is a honest person. He put his true feelings into the story and his descriptions. If he like someone, he'll praise that character by using beautiful descriptions and showing their good qualities.
For example, he described the Knight "He was a true, perfect gentle-knight. (l. 74)" which shows that he likes this character.
For an opposite example, he described that Oxford Cleric "But had a hollow look, a sober stare; (l. 299)", which shows that he doesn't like this character at all.
At the end of the paragraph about the Merchant, he wrote "To tell the truth I do not know his name. (l. 294)" which is very honest.
He also promised to use the same words as the person who told the tales so that the tales turn out as same as they were first told. (l. 750~758) He said this is to emphasize that he will tell the truth, which means that he doesn't want to be seen as a lair, and that he is truly honest.

Do men understand women?

There is a huge difference between men and women. Men are usually more active, careless, and stronger; women are usually more quiet, careful, and sentimental. I know that there are always exceptions in every case, but this is what most men and women are. I don't believe that the careless men can understand what women are thinking about. The ways men and women think are always different, which is uncontrollable.

Usually, women will care about little details that most men ignore. Small reminders like asking men to wear a jacket or to sleep early turns into annoying chatters when they enter men's ears. Men often think that women are too neurotic and bothersome and seldom figure women's care and feelings.

Because men are careless and women are too sensitive, men sometimes think that women are too annoying when they are asking where they went or what they did. Men often think that the details that women care about are unnecessary. Therefore, I don't believe that men can ever fully understand women.

What makes a good character?

Zoe Zeng is a 15 years old girl. She has black short hair, blue eyes, and is 173cm tall. She was born in China and she grew up in England. Hew mother is an English and her father is a Chinese. Her mother is a pianist and her father is a photographer. Their jobs are very busy and they only stay with Zoe during the holidays so Zoe lives with her grandmother and her sister, Caroline. Her sister Caroline is 2 years elder than her. However, they look very different. Caroline has blonde hair, black eyes, and is 186cm tall. She went to France for high school and become a model. Zoe is a very open and optimistic student, her grades are at the average level, and she is extremely good at tennis. She started to learn tennis since she was 7 years old, and she won some games. In contrast, she is very bad at anything related to music, like singing or playing piano.

When are people most alone?

Since I am a single child, I felt lonely at home during the summer, when both of my parents went to work and when all my friends in the community have other activities and cannot play with me. I also feel alone when I sit in the cafeteria, when all of my friends did not come, and other tables around me are full of people. These are situations when I feel lonely.

I also enjoy being all alone.
I like to be all alone when I am studying. I don't want my parents or my nephews walking all around when I am writing my homework or preparing for tests.
I also like to be all alone when I am reading. I like to sit in my room, open the air conditioner (if it is summer), turn on the music, and relax myself.

However, I feel most alone when I entered a new school. I still remember my first day to Pacific American School, I still remember my first day to my middle school, I still remember my first day to my cram school, and I still remember my first day when I go to my summer camps.
I really believe that people are most alone when they entered a new condition. They don't know any people, not familiar with the environment, and not sure what to do.

How Do Dreams Inspire You?

I have a really really bad memory and I can’t remember what I’ve dreamed about when I was asleep. Sometimes, when I luckily remembered that I did have a dream, I cannot remember what actually happened. What I usually remember are nightmares, which are scary, dangerous, and are bad memories. I really don’t think these dreams did inspire me in any way.

Sometimes I actually remembered some dreams which are relatively realistic and did helped me. However, I can’t remember what the dreams are, now. I remember that I once dreamed about something that did helped me, but I just can’t remember what the dreams are.

Maybe because this hugely problems me, I dreamed about this journal question when I was asleep last night! Because I can’t remember any specific dreams that did helped me, so I dreamed one. The journal question turns from “Hoe do dreams inspire you?” into “How did good and bad dreams inspire you?” and I have ideas for how to write this journal.

Sometimes when I have questions that really problems me, I will have dreams about it, and figure out some ways to solve the questions. This, is how my dreams inspire me.

How does Evil/ Heroism maintain themselves in Beowulf?

Q: How did evil and heroism maintain themselves in Beowulf?

A:

"Evil" in Beowulf is presented as the devils. First, although the author only used little lines to describe, it mentioned that the devils split into a thousand forms of evil, which includes spirits, fiends, goblins, monsters, and giants. The antagonists in the epic are monsters, which are Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. First, Grendel went into the hall again and again to eat people. He enjoys killing the people and cannot satisfy. Grendel bought death, tragedy, sadness, and fear to the Danes. After Grendel was finally killed by Beowulf, his mother came for revenge. Although Grendel’s mother killed people for revenge, she did take away many lives. In the epic, the dragon is also considered evil. “Evil” in the epic is anything that is against human and took away people’s lives. Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon are defeated by Beowulf because they attacked human and killed people. Devils are described in the epic as “A brood forever opposing the Lord’s/ Will” and will be “again and again defeated”.

Beowulf is the hero in the epic. He represented the heroism and he has all the properties that usual heroes have. He is young, have power, have responsibility, and is really brave. He defeated the monsters again and again (Grendel and Grendel’s mother). He protected the people living in the hall, saved a lot of lives, and brings peace back again and again. Even when Beowulf turns old, when he knows that another monster (the dragon) had appeared, he went to defeat the monster. This shows his courage and his responsibility of protecting his people. To me, having the responsibility of saving other people’s life is also a very important property for a hero. Beowulf appeared in the epic as a hero, and fought the evil till his death. Heroism maintained itself into the epic by showing the properties of a hero by Beowulf.

Evil: My definition

Q: What does evil mean to you?

A: To me, a quality of evil is lust.

Of course, everybody have wishes and things that they want, but kind people will use their own effort to get to their goal. However, evil people controlled by lust will use any way to get what they want. People that want money will steal, rob, play telephone fraud, or even kill their relatives.

For example, recently, there is a girl who wants to get money from her parents but can’t. She killed her mother who she lives upon only to get money.

It is the same idea for people who love to gamble. They gamble to fulfill their lust of earning money and getting excitement.

There are also lust of love and winning.

Lust of love may motivate people to do evil things to their rival in love.

Lust of winning might motivate people to cheat by doing evil things to their competitor.

Lust motivates people to fulfill their wishes through wrong or illegal ways.

Lust is a quality of being evil.

Late Policy

Q: What do you think is an effective late policy? Why?

A: Consider students late if they come into classroom 30seconds after the bell rings. If students come in late, ask them to leave classroom 5 minutes later than other classmates. If the student is late for five times, ask him/ her to write an 500 words essay about the reason why he/ she is late, and how he/ she will improve it.

First, I think the teachers may start to consider students late 30seconds after the bell rings. The previous class may dismiss late, the students might went to the restroom, the students might be talking to other teachers, and the students might be called to the office so they might not be aware to the time that's left.

Second, to me, leaving the classroom 5 minutes later than other classmates is a really heavy punishment, and I think this might be effective.

Third, if people continues to arrive the classroom late, there might be reasons. I think writing a 500 words essay is also a very heavy punishment, and it can let people think about how they can improve.

#1 Rule

Q: What is the #1 rule that to you makes a classroom work? Why?

A: Be on time.

I think that being on time is the most important thing. Being not time is not only for entering the class on time, but also for turning in all assignments in on time. Students should respect their teacher and should not waste anybody's time, so they should enter their classroom on time. If students didn't do their homework on time, they may have nothing to show or to discuss during the class. This will affect both the student's homework grade and the participation points.

Why oh Why?

Q: What is a question that you often find yourself asking?

A: When should I sleep?

Should I sleep early this night and wake up early tomorrow? Should I sleep late this night and wake up late tomorrow? Should I take a nap right now so that I can stay up awake during this night?
Every time I have homework to do, every time I want to play computer games, and every time I want to read novels I will think about these problems. I am greedy, I want to play and to have enough sleep at the same time. Therefore, this becomes the most common question that I find myself asking.