Looking Back

Ideas and Content

During our grade 8 year in humanities, we crafted two essays discussing the characteristics of certain characters. These essays were based on a novel ‘The Alchemist’ written by Paolo Coelho and the play ‘Julius Caesar’ written by William Shakespeare. We wrote the Alchemist essay at the first half of the year and wrote the Julius Caesar essay later on at the second half the year. In my Alchemist essay, I managed to write an essay with a focused topic with relevant details and explanations on how my quotations relate to the main idea of the paragraph. I think it was possible for me to do this since I addressed back to the thesis statement for each trait that I established. For example, “During the journey, Santiago is able to achieve his destiny because he stays determined at all times”(Alchemist essay;para2). In this quote, I stated that Santiago was a determined character by readdressing to the topic about Santiago’s characteristic that helped him achieve his destiny. However, later on my Julius Caesar essay, I did not successfully addressed back to the given topic and the thesis statement as I went along my path. Although my writing makes sense, staying off track was a fault of my low grade. I did clearly express my ideas and how my quotations relate to the main idea of the paragraph but I did not completely stay on task. So, in future, my goal is to fully respond to the given topic


Organization

In both of my essays, I think that I model appropriate organization in writing. Both papers have a neatly crafted writing that begins with a clear thesis statement and smoothly flows down it’s path as the writing goes on. In the Julius Caesar essay and the Alchemist essay, the pieces of evidence are introduced in the order according to the actual story. For example, the first piece of evidence written in the Julius Caesar essay is “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (Act3 scene2 lines 20~21) and the second piece of evidence written is “Who here is so rude, that would not be a Roman?...Who here is so vile, that will not love his country?” (Act 3; scene 2; lines 28~30). I could have explained these quotes on the opposite order, but I did it this way because the first quote came before the second quote in the story and I did this so that it will support my writing to flow in a continuous thread, just like how it did in the story. Although I reflect myself that I did a fairly good job on constructing the essay, I think I need to give more hook to my essay to demonstrate superior organization. Because beginning with an interesting hook to grab the reader’s attention is also an important part in an essay since attains the reader’s attention and keeping the audience engaged with the text is also very critical.


Personal Growth

From my Alchemist essay to my Julius Caesar essay, you can note my growth in writing that I have made throughout the grade 8 year. In my Julius Caesar essay, you can note something that is not very strong in the Alchemist essay, and I think that it is organization. In my Alchemist essay, I was still lacking neatness, order and a good explanation even though we had spent a lot of time on crafting this piece of writing. However, in my Julius Caesar essay, I have strongly support my ideas with relevant details and vocabulary, better than my Alchemist essay without a teacher’s support and under a time limit of 80mins. Although, gradewise, The Alchemist result was more successful you can still see that the Julius Caesar is more of a well supported essay compared to the Alchemist essay. This is because as the writing goes on and introduces new ideas, the piece flows like one piece of thread smoothly moving into another idea with detail. Also, it establishes context prior to introducting a quotation, fully explaining the significance of each supporting evidence and it’s relation with the character. In these aspects, the Julius Caesar essay is a model that demonstrates these skills well, where in my Alchemist essay, the text is very choppy and requires more details to support it’s evidence.

SLR Reflection

When crafting and essay, I think that effective communication is a required skill. As you write an essay, our first goal is to create a hook to grab the reader’s attention and this step makes a bridge that interrelates the communication between the author and the audience so that the author is made sure that the reader is engaged with the text. Also, as the writing goes on, you have to create text with the well supported evidence so that we authors can communicate our ideas with the audience. From hooking the reader into the writing and all the way to keeping the audience engaged with the paper requires a lot of communication that is a bridge for the author to represent and display his/her ideas.

Does the End justify the means?

“If it aught toward the general good, Set honor in one eye and death i’ th’ other, And I will look on both indifferently” (Julius Caesar; Act1 scene2 lines84~86). In the play Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, is a story of tragedy where most of the characters meet a tragic end of death because of his ambition to become king. Julius Caesar, the first one to encounter a necessary end of death, is brutally killed by the conspirators that were being led by Brutus. Brutus easily swayed by Cassius that Caesar is a power consuming tyrant; he soon makes up his mind that the conspiracy is supporting Rome to develop further, and eagerly takes part on planning Caesar’s murder. However, the reason why Brutus chose to stand against Caesar was mainly due to his love for Rome and his trust for his honor. In this play, Brutus, is a true Roman patriot and is very honorable but these main motivators of Brutus leads him into his tragic flaw as it clouded his judgments and turned him into a narrow minded decision maker.

During the play, Brutus begins to show and express his love for Rome as he takes up the lead among the conspirators. Believing the fact that Rome needs Caesar gone, Brutus feels more and more patriotism towards Rome. Due to his motivator of patriotism, he feels more importance that Rome has to be kept as a republic since it is a fair way to live in a community. Also whenever he does something he always finds a good reason to make sure of himself that whatever he is doing, it is for the sake of Rome. However, this leads into Brutus tragic death as he realizes that the civil war will only end if he dies and soon he takes away his life. In the play, when Brutus had to face the Roman citizens to explain his cause on why he killed Caesar, he states that Caesar was ambitious and that this act was needed to elevate Rome from its ashes. “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”(Julius Caesar; Act3 scene2 lines 20~21). This quote shows Brutus’s love towards Rome and his support that he had no personal cause to spurn at him but he was a threat to the Roman Republic and that the act of stabbing Caesar was from Brutus’s patriotism. This quotation shows Brutus’s loyalty for Rome and furthermore, reflects that Brutus was a direct person who did not act for personal reasons and that he has done a deed to help Rome elevate towards the heavens. Brutus’s love for Rome is also a fact on why he feels that everybody should love their own country and that Romans are true citizens who are polite and honorable. During Brutus’ funeral speech he also states that as a Roman, killing Caesar was a noble, polite and honorable deed. “Who here is so rude, that would not be a Roman?....Who here is so vile, that will not love his country?”(Julius Caesar; Act3 scene2 lines 28~30). Here, Brutus meant that a Roman citizen who does not feel love for his country is a vile and rude person and emphasizes his patriotism. This quotation gives support of Brutus’s point of view that a person’s love for his country is very important and furthermore, any Roman who does not feel love towards Rome is not considered Roman since he/she does not recognize the importance of having citizenship for their country. Also he states that anyone who supports Caesar is a disgrace to Roman citizens but also a person who does not love his country. Through Brutus’s speech, Brutus emphasizes his love for Rome as he defends himself that the act of killing Caesar was an honorable deed to help Rome heal itself and to develop further. However for Brutus, killing Caesar was not only out of patriotism but it was an act of honor and nobility.

As the play continues, Brutus also portrays one of his motivators; honor. Brutus, because he is a Roman who will do anything to do for honor, he is a very well respected aristocrat in Rome. Also, since he has power and always being proud on himself many Roman senators view him as an upright, reputable and a decent nobleman. However, due to his reputation, Brutus believes that he is the most honorable person in Rome and starts to take lowly of the people around him. “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and wake your senses, that you may be the better judge.” (Julius Caesar; Act3 scene2 lines 14~17). Here, Brutus is asking the plebeians for their attention. This quotation signifies Brutus lowly thinking of the plebeians because since he is so honorable, he thinks that he himself is very superior compared to the plebeians and feels the need to speak in pro since he believes that low class citizens are not wise enough to comprehend speeches spoken in verse. Brutus thinks that the plebeians are so disorganized in a way that he has to unify them by asking for their attention as if an adult is asking a child to focus on something. Through this he shows how is honor can simply underestimate people. But for Brutus, he not only thinks lowly of commoners, but he does misjudge and downgrades Antony, one of Caesar’s major supporters who was once Caesar’s third arm. The reason why Brutus was able to raise his nose high enough even to be wrong about Roman nobles, is mainly caused because he digests in all the flattery said by other people and soon turns out to become a narrow minded decision maker who does not think about consequences and only concentrates on his reputation as an honorable Roman. Before Caesar’s death when the conspirators begin to plan out the act, Cassius comes up with a suggestion that Antony, one of Caesar’s major supporters, has to be killed along with Caesar because he strongly utters that it not, there is a high possibility that Antony can always break out a war of revenge. “And for Mark Antony, think not of him; for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm when Cesar’s head is off” (Julius Caesar; Act2 scene1 lines 180~182). Furthermore, he defends that killing Antony will seem like as if they had planned to kill Caesar for personal reasons. This quotation means that Brutus is underestimating Antony as a party boy that he is nothing but a useless arm of Caesar who has no power to do anything when Caesar is dead. Brutus, a character who is so into honor, does not give much thought to other’s ideas whenever it is put on the discussion table. Yet, Brutus is an honorable person who does anything for the sake of his honor and this has clouded his judgments and caused him to only concentrate on his reputation. Eventually this was one of Brutus’s greatest mistakes because as soon as the conspirators kill Caesar, Antony brings fierce civil war into Rome with Octavian, a nephew of Julius Caesar.

Brutus, who decides to stand against Caesar, has made his choice through his love for Rome and for his honor. However, these main motivators and Brutus leads him towards his tragic flaw of death. Brutus’s patriotism caused him to join the conspiracy and take away his own life, however on the opposite end, his honor, caused him to underestimate people and think highly of himself. Brutus was noble but he partially achieves his goal to save Rome from its ashes. He believed that joining the conspiracy was a deed for the sake of Rome since he strongly agreed that Rome doesn’t need a king. Here, Brutus failed to recognize his goal as a Roman patriot because never asked the Roman citizens, the true supporter of Rome on whether they would want a king to rule them or not. But nonetheless, Brutus achieved his goal at the end of the story when he realizes that killing Caesar has truly suffocated Rome and that the civil war needed to be stopped in order to heal back to it’s normal state. Knowing that the war will stop if the leader of the conspirators, technically Brutus, is dead the civil war will end with the victory of Caesar’s avengers. Even though his army will lose the war when he dies, Brutus took his life away by himself because all the wanted was Rome to heal and recover from the mess that was made. In the end, the goal of killing Caesar to flourish Rome was not a worthy act. Because the whole point of killing Caesar was to unify Rome away from the hands of a tyrant. But he and the conspirators failed to do so as the events broke out into an all out civil war, and separating Rome into pieces rather than bringing Rome together as one.

Thank God I Fight for Hope

Think Creatively!

In my collage, I think that the use of the rotten rose and he full bloom rose was very creative of me. I used the concept of hopeless, devastating as rotten, and joy, hope and activeness arranged with the fresh. It was also creative to show the contrast between how the Lost Boys felt during migration and how they felt when they saw hope in America.

Also, for the background, I decided to tear the green and red paper. I feel that this was unique because I purposely did this to symbolize that the feelings of hope and despair isn’t always clean and simple. I tried to show that people’s feelings can very and change according to different situations by randomly tearing apart the paper rather than gluing it neatly on the board.

Reason Critically!

I used the images to represent my understanding of the Lost Boy’s situation and one of the images that I used was the torn family photo with a blood drop on it. I think that this has a deep symbolism summarizing how the Lost Boy’s felt during the war. I wanted to highlight the fact that many of the Lost Boys had been torn away from their families by death and violence, which I decided to paste it on the hopeless side of the collage.

Communicate Effectively!

I think that this collage creates awareness for the Lost Boys’ plight towards the audience. This collage emphasizes the lost boys’ devastating past to the bright future which they are fighting for and the shocking images of genocide in Sudan attacks the audience to be aware that there was blood shed, while the pictures of hope and joy portrays the Boys’ effort to life a better life and help their families.

Live Ethically!

I think that this collage demonstrates empathy and might evoke an emotional response from my viewers. By gluing breathtaking and violent pictures of war and contrasting it with the positive images shows gives the audience a sense that through the bloody days, many Lost Boys are enduring the hard times with tolerance that there is a better world somewhere out and beyond. Also, I used the hand stretching out for help to grab the attention of the audience so that the first emotion that they feel is empathy and the urge to assist the helping hand. Through this collage, I wanted to project my voice towards the audience that there are boys who’ve been through war and now, they are in need of help.

Sudan...Home

Due to the Sudanese civil war, thousands of people lost their lives while millions of people where displaced. Among the displaced Sudanese victims, many of them where sent to refugee camps.
The documentary, “Lost Boys of Sudan” explains the story of two Dinka boys who experienced forced migration because of the Sudanese civil war that raged for over 20 years. While the Dinka boys were tending their responsibilities in the pastures, their village was perished and family members were killed or violently taken as captives. Boys nearby the village during the attack ran away to avoid the strike. The boys spent years walking while dodging bullets, escaping wild animals, and fighting against hunger and insanity before they found safety at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. As time passed, these boys were guaranteed a better life in America where they would be able to gain education and make money support their families back in Sudan. However, when they settled down in America they realized and found that all that they have been told isn’t true.
Peter, one of the Lost Boys followed in this documentary, was sent to America with no family so that he could start a new life in the States. Peter believed that his reason to go to America was to work and gain an education so that later, he would be able to support his family back in Sudan. Once he settled in Houston, he shared an apartment with an apartment with few other Sudanese refugees. But not long after Peter arrived at Houston, he left Texas and went to Kansas because he felt that he was not achieving what he was sent to the States for. In Houston, he couldn’t make enough money to pay for the rents and he couldn’t receive education. However, in Kansas he could get a birth certificate that will help him get into high school.
When Peter applied for school, he had many cultural difficulties that he had to experience while blending into the American culture. Racism, financial problems and they’re different ways to express emotions. Many people often accused Peter for being black. For example, Peter’s boss at WallMart told him to work outside as she defended her ideas that black people were made to work in to sun and that Africans can easily work in the sun; which forced Peter and other black workers to work outdoors, in the heat. During his life in Kansas, he had to send money back to Sudan, to go school, manage the school work, do his job and pay his rents all by himself. This was a lot of pressure on a young man who has no one to lean on to for support. Peter also found adjusting to the American culture hard because he was unsure how things work. As he went to school, he liked a girl but didn’t know what to do and caught a bird for her, which was a way to express his affections in Sudan but the girl was left confused about why Peter caught a bird for her. Compared to Santino, Peter goes through more hard times so make himself blend into the American culture. This is because Santino prefers to live among the Sudanese refugees and tends to hang around with people from his culture. However Peter, he tries his best to adjust himself into this new habitat. Peter goes to church, a type of community gathering and always kept himself open-minded; making it easier for him to hang out with school friends from various different countries. He also participates in ceremonies although it isn’t easy for him to actively take part.

Julius Caesar- Solo Acting

The scene I chose to act out is when Cassius flatters Brutus so that he is seduced to join the conspirators. This takes place when Caesar and his train is off to run through Anthony’s race but Brutus decides not to join with them and Cassius takes notice and quickly takes his chance to persuade noble Brutus. This passage is a monologue of Cassius’s thoughts about Caesar. From his experiences with Caesar, he supports that Caesar is unworthy and weak to rule the vast Rome by himself. He also complains to Brutus on how Caesar is disrespectful towards the people who have helped him by emphasizing how badly Caesar is mistreating him as a person who must bow if Caesar condescends to nod to him.

The passage is in Act 1, scene 2, lines 89~130(pg’s 32~34)

Cassius-
I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
As well as I do know your outward favor.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life; but for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
I was born free as Caesar; so were you;
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter’s cold as well as he:
For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Caesar said to me, ‘Dar’st thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood,
And swim to yonder point?’ Upon the word,
Accountred as I was, I plunged in
And bade him follow; so indeed he did.
The torrent roar’d, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy.
But ere we could arrive the point propos’d,
Caesar cried, ‘Help me, Cassius, or I sink.’
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Caesar. And this man
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature, and must bend his body
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And when the fit was on him, I did mark
How he did shake; ‘tis true, this god did shake;
How coward lips did from their colour fly,
And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
Did lose his luster; I did hear him groan;
Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans
Mark him and write his speeches in their books,
Alas, it cried, ‘Give me some drink, Titinius,’
As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world,
And bear the palm alone.

Void in Literature

- How I felt as a reader

The title of this story is unknown however, if I had a chance to give a name to this story, I would call it ‘Stones’. In the beginning of the story, when the children piled the stones, I feel that the author used this to foreshadow the consequences of the lottery. And stones acted heavily in the story because it played with mood and irony. Because to me, the stones meant two different ideas, one was a significance of joy and happiness and the other meant violation and pain. This proves that the term ‘Stones’ goes well along with the tension in this story. While reading the story, I thought the lottery as a lucky draw to choose a person who would have to sacrifice everything for everybody else’s sake. The text provided clues that led me to think this. For example, before the lottery, the mood was frequently changing from joy, to sober and back and forth. This meant that the lottery meant something unfortunate to the villagers. Another clue was when a few people were hesitant to help Mr. Summer support the black box because it was the box where the lottery had to be drawn out from and it surely meant that the lottery meant something very bad that even many villagers protested to touch it.

I felt frustrated when the end of the story wasn’t provided. But when we were given the mystery paper, I felt excited and very eager to find out what information he paper held. When I first received the paper, I thought that the ending of the story was inside it and too eager to find out I did not follow the instructions and tore open the paper as soon as I stepped out of class. I think I was extremely anxious inside and was too excited to read the paper.

When the black box was first shown to me, I related it as a lucky draw box and was quite anxious because I wondered on what the lucky draw might be about and whether if I will get drawn for this. At the end, I drew a blank paper I first impression was that I and not chosen for this and I was a bit upset. However, when I started to relate the vote to the story and how everybody was relived not to be chosen from the draw I was calmed after considering that there is a higher chance that blank papers meant something good.

When I read the end of the story, I felt sorry for Tessie and was more comfortable than before but I am a little bit hung because I could still not fully comprehend the true purpose of the lottery even though the author provided the consequences of it. However my prediction of sacrifice was correct. Tessie Hutchinson had to sacrifice herself for the sake of the village.

My predictions were right I feel satisfied that I was right because it felt like as if I could communicate with the author even though he just left scraps of clues behind. In order to make better predictions, I could have annotated passages of the text so that I can comprehend more deeply into the text and determine whether my prediction is likely or not.

The author left voids in the story because he wanted the reader to stay engaged with his writing and keep them wonder on about what will happen next. He also left voids to create tension between the reader and the writing, which teases the reader by providing details but not allowing the reader to figure out the main point.

Through this experience the power void impacted on how I read the story. The unknown title, author information attracted me to read the story. As I read, I kept on asking questions whenever I came across text clues or foreshadowing techniques. However, the delayed ending frustrated me as I hurried and skimmed across the text for any clues on the ending. This created tension in me as the author toyed with my patience. At the end when the mystery paper was handed out, it kept me asking questions on it as I started to relate it to different situations or stories; this kept me curious and impatient.

Power of the Void

ISKL Mission Statement

The International School of Kuala Lumpur (silence) provides an exceptional education (silence) that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become (silence) a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

I inserted a ‘silence’ part in a few areas of the school’s mission statement. The purpose of the silence was to create void and tension for the listener. I think that my void using ‘silence’ works because it is put in places where it is explaining deeper into statement’s idea. For example, the placing of ‘silence’ in this text, ”to become (silence) a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.” creates void because the silence before revealing the school’s ultimate goal helps the reader stay engaged with the statement. This also creates tension to the reader because it makes them to wonder/ask on what will happen next, or in this case, what is the school’s mission statement ultimately lead to.

Composers create tension throughout the piece in a question and answer format. One way they can use the question part is silence/pause and the release is done by going back to the piece’s normal state. Many composers tend to silence/pause during the music since it makes the listener wait for the important part and it surprises them. This creates void as it hangs the audience and makes them ask questions.