4/16: started cover letter draft - 30 min.
4/17: finished cover letter draft - 60 min.
Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
4/15: 20 min., 4/16: 30 min., 4/17: 15 min.
Total: 155 min.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
My Desires
If I were to have obtain only one thing, I 'd choose happiness. My own happiness. Content with myself and my surroundings. I haven't really learned how to control my emotions and opinions about myself. Like everybody else, I do have flaws and things about myself that I would change if I were able to without hesitation. However, I've realized that no matter how diligently I try to please my family, their criticism must always find a way to bite me from behind. I must learn how to accept all of my flaws.. instead of consistently comparing myself to my family's standards of beauty and perfection. I will never be smart enough, have beautiful complexion, be skinny enough, or respectful enough. And you know what? I understand that. It's ok. That is what my family might think, but I will rise above it. I will be the best version of myself. And if they are blind to see that, then at least I will have happiness within me.
Well, Tambu from Nervous Conditions is definitely an obvious character whom we studied this year who desperately craved for an education. She yearned for a chance to prove her family wrong, which she was able to do. Tambu really did not care about the obstacles which obstructed her path to success. She prioritized education so greatly that she neglected her mother's sickness as well as her family back in the homestead. Being so strong-willed, she starts growing her own crops originally which was against her father's wishes. Another character we've met is Nyasha, also from Nervous Conditions. She hopelessly wishes to fit in with the society as well as satisfy both of her parents. She risks her health and her life in order to be skeletal and underweight. She believes that this will allow her to fit in and fill the void that keeps her from fitting in with her peers. Nyasha's bulimia and anorexia in the far end result in her being in a critical state - not just physically, but also mentally.
Because I went to the reading discussion lunch, I am skipping the first blog post of this week. I went to the "Crank" book discussion. I also went to the Writing Center this week. Kiddie helped me acknowledge some errors in my research paper. This took about 20 minutes.
Reading details:
Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
4/8: 10 min., 4/9: 15 min., 4/10: 30 min., 4/11: 30 min., 4/12: 30 min. 4/13: 60 min.
Total: 175 min.
Well, Tambu from Nervous Conditions is definitely an obvious character whom we studied this year who desperately craved for an education. She yearned for a chance to prove her family wrong, which she was able to do. Tambu really did not care about the obstacles which obstructed her path to success. She prioritized education so greatly that she neglected her mother's sickness as well as her family back in the homestead. Being so strong-willed, she starts growing her own crops originally which was against her father's wishes. Another character we've met is Nyasha, also from Nervous Conditions. She hopelessly wishes to fit in with the society as well as satisfy both of her parents. She risks her health and her life in order to be skeletal and underweight. She believes that this will allow her to fit in and fill the void that keeps her from fitting in with her peers. Nyasha's bulimia and anorexia in the far end result in her being in a critical state - not just physically, but also mentally.
Because I went to the reading discussion lunch, I am skipping the first blog post of this week. I went to the "Crank" book discussion. I also went to the Writing Center this week. Kiddie helped me acknowledge some errors in my research paper. This took about 20 minutes.
Reading details:
Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
4/8: 10 min., 4/9: 15 min., 4/10: 30 min., 4/11: 30 min., 4/12: 30 min. 4/13: 60 min.
Total: 175 min.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Common ft. John Legend – The Believer
Personification is expressed using Common’s verse, “I walk
where money talks and love stutters,” Money and love are
inanimate objects and therefore cannot talk or stutter. The usage of
personification, in my opinion, changes the tone of the poem, going from
statements to unrealistic situations to represent how wealth and status replace
love and affection in the world. I also came across a simile: “Real talking, in
they ear like a Walkman,” This is
used to refer back to a previous line, “Is it what we talking, we really ain’t walking.” He cleverly uses imagery, as
well, to describe the faults of the people of society, how we are all able to
claim what we are and what we will do, but showing that we really are not as
acclaimed as we argue ourselves to be. This leads to a deep thinking of the
real side of our country.
Common’s second verse includes a metaphor (I think?): “We go
from being oppressors to Oprah” saying that the murderers and hustlers are now
praised and honored as Oprah is today. Allusions towards Martin Luther King Jr.
and Barack Obama are evident, too. “From one King’s dream he was able to Barack
us” refers to the “I Have a Dream” speech, declares that without Martin Luther
King Jr.’s dream, Barack Obama would not have been able to be our president. I
think this is a very straightforward statement and is used to shock us
listeners, as truth usually shocks our society having been so blinded by the
media. And throughout the whole song, rhyming and repetition of words are evident, but I don’t
think I will include those since there are quite a good bit of them.
After reading the blog prompt for this week, I knew without
hesitation that I had to turn to Common and his brilliant faculty of poetry.
(See what I did there?) I must admit, the process of finding a school
appropriate song was a bit difficult. But after having found the perfect one,
analyzing it wasn’t as challenging as I imagined it to be. The process was not too horrific. However, I probably am off on almost everything, and I apologize for
my mistakes. I love this song, and I hope it inspires you all.
Reading Response
Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
3/1: 30 min., 3/6: 132 min.
Total: 162 min.
3/1: 30 min., 3/6: 132 min.
Total: 162 min.
For my historical fiction novel, I chose Snow Flower and the
Secret Fan for World History. I actually wanted to read Memoirs of a Geisha
instead, as I’ve seen the movie, but it’s way more 350 pages, and I probably
would not have been able to finish in time. Surprisingly, I’ve grown to be
really fond of this book. It centers on footbinding in ancient China and takes
place during the Daoguang dynasty. I’ve always been fascinated with the
footbinding process after briefly studying it in World History. The narrator of
the story is Lily, an obedient and disciplined daughter who is willing to do
anything for her mother’s love and attention. Her distinctive feet are
considered to be so rare and pristine that it allows her to have the smallest
feet (only 7 cm – the size of a thumb) which has been her ultimate goal in
order to obtain her mother’s acceptance.
It is astounding how having the smallest feet can improve
social standing. It must have been so depressing to have bound feet at the age of
five, not being able to run around and play. These girls were so young,
yet they had all already been matched husbands by matchmakers and knew SO much about their duties and their purpose. They were not
permitted to leave the women’s chamber or ever see the world changing in the outside realms. They were physically unable to anyway,
as it was awfully painful to walk on one toe. I also can’t imagine being so
powerless as a woman. Men ruled their lives and everything in it. “When a girl,
obey your father. When a wife, obey your husband. When a widow, obey your son,”
(24). As I was reading, I pictured myself as a woman of this era. Having
unbound feet, I would have been a slave or a maid, bringing dishonor to my
family. I guess no matter which era I live in, I’ll have a long way to go if I
want to make my family proud.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Lengthy Revisions
Here I am, at two in the morning, eating a mango, and unable to sleep. I am debating which of my papers I will revise for my portfolio. For the past hour, I have been examining each one of my papers as well as the comments attached to every one of them. Honestly, I was considering to revise them all, but of course, I'm not entitled to do that. I barely have enough time to sleep, let alone time to revise three papers! Also, it is unquestionable that Dr. deGravelles would be unwilling to grade two extra papers along with the fifty (or so?) papers she must already grade.
And so, I narrowed it down to my research paper. I must say, this paper, by far, has been the most pleasurable to write. However, during the time when I was writing it, feelings of anxiety and stress overwhelmed me. I felt as if the annotated bibliography was absolutely dragged out, but as we got to the actual paper itself, the day the paper was assigned and the due date was incredibly too close to each other! So many assignments and other hodgepodges had been due that week. Thus, my completed product did not come out the way I expected it to.
I will focus on organization and a further development of ideas for my revision. Although my paper is pretty lengthy, the specific word to describe the organization of my paper would be... jambalaya. It's all intermixed and jumbled all over the place. I'd correct the places where paragraph breaks are needed. And as far as my development, there are certainly many places where I need to provide additional information. I know for certain that I do not have enough information on the discrimination that exists in my paper. And for that, I'd have to further analyze and research my information - whether it comes from the internet or from my interview. I do want to include more of the adaptations which stemmed from the migration. I included some in my presentation, which I had not in my paper. Also, if I have enough time, I might interview another person as well. I had initially been looking forward to interviewing Mr. Hoang, as he had accepted my request in interviewing him prior to writing my paper. However, I did not have the time allotted to squeeze in an interview.
And so, I narrowed it down to my research paper. I must say, this paper, by far, has been the most pleasurable to write. However, during the time when I was writing it, feelings of anxiety and stress overwhelmed me. I felt as if the annotated bibliography was absolutely dragged out, but as we got to the actual paper itself, the day the paper was assigned and the due date was incredibly too close to each other! So many assignments and other hodgepodges had been due that week. Thus, my completed product did not come out the way I expected it to.
I will focus on organization and a further development of ideas for my revision. Although my paper is pretty lengthy, the specific word to describe the organization of my paper would be... jambalaya. It's all intermixed and jumbled all over the place. I'd correct the places where paragraph breaks are needed. And as far as my development, there are certainly many places where I need to provide additional information. I know for certain that I do not have enough information on the discrimination that exists in my paper. And for that, I'd have to further analyze and research my information - whether it comes from the internet or from my interview. I do want to include more of the adaptations which stemmed from the migration. I included some in my presentation, which I had not in my paper. Also, if I have enough time, I might interview another person as well. I had initially been looking forward to interviewing Mr. Hoang, as he had accepted my request in interviewing him prior to writing my paper. However, I did not have the time allotted to squeeze in an interview.
Plagiarism in 'Seeds of Hope' + reading times
As I finished reading this piece on Jane Goodall's plagiarism in her new book, I seriously thought, "Is it really too demanding to cite and paraphrase?" It opened my eyes. Of course, I knew that authors collect information from different sources. However, unlike Jane Goodall, they blend and integrate everything together by paraphrasing, directly quoting, and citing all of their borrowed material. I was not aware prior to reading this article that even highly-acclaimed authors commit plagiarism today. Today! Where every school across the country educates their students about plagiarism and infringe them from doing so. In a present-day society where plagiarism is so disapproved, how are you going to do the complete opposite of what is outlined to be honorable and valid? Really.
Something else that irks me is Jane Goodall's manipulation of the borrowed text. Not only did she not paraphrase, but she made up inaccurate quotes. Because of this, it caused one person to lose his job. I'm confused if the person was her editor or co-writer, but if not, I feel remorseful for the innocent man. Plagiarism is extremely severe, especially in our world today. Why would Jane Goodall, before publishing her book, not look over her book? Paraphrasing and citing works taught in school is really advantageous for situations such as this. I guess Jane Goodall and her team did not acknowledge the circumstances for their behavior. What they should have done was paraphrase, quote correctly, and add a bibliography and works cited list before printing the book.
Reading times:
Davy Rothbart, My Heart is an Idiot
3/19: 10 min., 3/21: 15 min., 3/23: 180 min.
"Jane Goodall's 'Seeds of hope' book contains borrowed..." 3/24: 5 min.
Total: 210 min.
Something else that irks me is Jane Goodall's manipulation of the borrowed text. Not only did she not paraphrase, but she made up inaccurate quotes. Because of this, it caused one person to lose his job. I'm confused if the person was her editor or co-writer, but if not, I feel remorseful for the innocent man. Plagiarism is extremely severe, especially in our world today. Why would Jane Goodall, before publishing her book, not look over her book? Paraphrasing and citing works taught in school is really advantageous for situations such as this. I guess Jane Goodall and her team did not acknowledge the circumstances for their behavior. What they should have done was paraphrase, quote correctly, and add a bibliography and works cited list before printing the book.
Reading times:
Davy Rothbart, My Heart is an Idiot
3/19: 10 min., 3/21: 15 min., 3/23: 180 min.
"Jane Goodall's 'Seeds of hope' book contains borrowed..." 3/24: 5 min.
Total: 210 min.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Incorporating Nervous Conditions: Yes or No
Should Nervous Conditions be
incorporated in the ninth grade syllabus? Although the majority of the grade
dislikes it because it is a tough book to comprehend, I personally think it is
valuable to the class to read. The book definitely supports the question that
our class has focused on all year. It answers how community and culture shape
who we are and how our society is influenced by the surroundings and conditions
of other societies. Tambu and Babamukuru’s family are prime examples of how
culture and community affect the way people think and behave.
Besides the main reason why it
should be in the syllabus, I have a few other reasons why it should be read. It
educates us on a totally different culture/society than we are accustomed to
here. I know many Americans have not been exposed to an entirely different
culture before. It is helpful as we grow and mature to remember that not
everyone will act/think/look the same because of their heritage and background.
We might not understand why certain people will do certain things, but we
should all be considerate to what they do since we all come from different
ethnic groups consisting of different traditions and customs.
I admit, even though the book is
difficult to read, it is advantageous for us. It trains us to become better
readers. The book made me reread over and over again certain passages that I
could not understand, which were a great deal of passages. I never had to do
that often with other books. And I know that as we progress in school, the
material that we read will just be more challenging. We might as well use this
opportunity to realize that everything will be harder and use that reason to
push us into a diligent, hard-working mind frame.
So yes, I believe Nervous
Conditions should be included in the ninth grade syllabus. It is a very good
book that demonstrates how much impact and pressure culture and community
places on not just one person, but an entire society. Another book that I have
read that ties into how community and culture changes us is called Secondhand
World by Katherine Min. The book is about Isa: an American-born Korean with two
abusive and non-tolerant parents to anything American. Her parents are so
completely rigid about the protection of their culture. Isa starts to realize
all of their faults, and in turn despises her parents. She becomes extremely corrupted
by her American peers and also develops a cultural identity crisis. In the end,
she acknowledges her own faults and understands why her parents were so strict
on her. She realizes that she should have followed their advice, because now
she has to face so many unfortunate difficulties from almost being burned to
death by her father’s depression.
Reading Details:
Tsitsi Dangaremba, Nervous Conditions
3/11: Started on Letters from Nyasha – 30 min. (at home)
3/12: Completed Letters from Nyasha – 30 min. (at home)
3/14: Started writing Film Study – 120 min. (at home)
3/14: Read: Matthew Polly, American Shaolin – 30 min.
Total: 210 min.
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