Exploring Daniel’s World

            300 Through Lens

             Each individual is born with a pair of an organ. This fascinating organ known as eyes has been covered by lens a single layer by layer. Thus we begin to judge everything by using your lens that could have been influenced by parents, religion, race, or gender without noticing. We begin to overestimate ourselves and believe that our own thoughts only deserve to be true and meaningful. However, I am about to try my very best to peal out the layers and begin to use other people’s layers to investigate the human work. I thought a movie called 300 would be a good example to use for this experience.

                        Males and females are the same species; however, our minds roll in different directions. In the movie, the Spartans live with dignity, power, and strength. As the lens of males, I gain the thought that men can’t show their weakness. We must protect the females. Moreover, loyalty to our own kind and land is another feeling the movie generates to us. By watching the movie with the male lens, we have to be undefeatable and loyal. On the other hand, with the lens of the females, I feel that I must only be attracted to the man with a pretty face and a perfect body form. I might also think that men with power, loyalty, and dignity is the man of my dreams. The queen of Sparta gave a fantastic speech which motivated the men of council. This makes me feel that women are smarter. As you could investigate, males and females can absorb completely different source by watching the same movie.

                      Race lens is one of the easiest that can be evaluated in the movie, 300. I will divide two race groups by Asians and Europeans. If I am a European I could be extremely proud to be a European as they are the strong and undefeatable.In my mind, I could keep thinking the Persian, Asians, are the evil ones who don’t have any power, dignity or loyalty. These ideas will definitely come up by watching the movie if you are a European. However, the image and the emotion the Asian would get from watching this movie wouldn’t be peaceful or pleasant. In the movie, the Persians carry the images that are unfit for reality. As I am an Asian, I thought that this movie was disgraceful to watch as it mocked the Asians and raised the Europeans to a different layer.

                      Last lens that I am going to use for compare is the classes. If I was the lower class, I would probably shake my head form the left to right. This is because I would be simply amazed on the money they used to make a single scene when they could make their family sleep warmer. On the other hand, the rich would think the opposite. They would say “Ah, that part of the movie could have been better with a bit more money. It’s a shame”. With the rich lens, I might complain to every scene that was made with less effort or could see that they wanted to use less money. As you have read the above words, it is vital for us to be able to use other lens and understand the thought of others to keep peace to the world.

  Two examples I was able to understand.

•1.      (act 1 sc. 2 line 257) But a felt a fever of mad, and played some trick of desperation

•2.      (act 1 sc. 2 line 558) I’ll manacle thy neck and feet together

(Meaning)

•1)      People there got crazy and done desperate actions.

•2)      I will tie your neck and your feet together  

Two examples I was not able to understand

•1.      (act 1 sc. 2 line 385) As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed with raven’s feather from unwholesome fen drop on you both. A southwest blow on you and blister you all o’er.

•2.      (act 1 sc. 2 line 590) Thy nerves are in their infancy again and have no vigor in them

Two questions I have about the plot of the play

•1.      How did Prospero became magical to use magic on others?

•2.      Why did Prospero betray his own brother when he did nothing but love him?

Journal Entry

             The previous quarter became an experience that I will not forget in a thousand years. For the first time in my life, I was able to see myself move forward and become more mature. The Poetry unit gave me this special gift. Poetry was a word that I simply hated and found no interest to learn. All the horrible memories of rhyming that tortured my brain as if it was eating my brain alive. However, towards the end, poetry became a vitamin for my knowledge. I was able to see the magnificence of Poetry. Now I believe that poetry is a piece of art and we fall to our knees just investigating a corner. 

                        Through the process of the poetry unit I was able to become a self-directed learner. A branch of this word was being able to take creative risk in developing untried ideas. As this definition can express different looks to every individual, I understood it as it was to have the power and bravery to complete work in a way that no other might have thought. The bravery comes as this risk could not result in such good grades. However, this meaning stands for using your individual brain. I believe it is the training for you to become independent and develop your skills of being special and standing out from a roar of crowd. I dare say that I might have done this definition in some areas. As you already guessed, poetry shines as it becomes original. Each word or even each letter must be unique in order to create poems. During the unit I had to write several poems. At the beginning my poems rhymed with clichés as only my parents would enjoy the poems. However as I learnt the essence of poems, I began to write creatively with my words and with the patterns of my poems. In addition, the poetry book that I made wasn’t created with simple thought. I went through from the basic to extras. I focused on what this book was supposed to be. I realized that this book was file of artwork and a not plain book full of poems. Therefore, I made my book artistic and a bit messy instead of losing the artistic nature and being completely neat. This was the creative risk I took not knowing how my grade will turn out.

           Unfortunately, as I am still in the process of learning I regret of how many other activities I could have taken creative risks in developing untried ideas. One of the examples was reading in front of the stage during the poetry night. As most of the students, I read my poems without any special taste to it. I read my poem clearly and loudly; however, it was not enough for me to become a self-directed learner. I could have sung a song like Joo Keng, or read the poetry as if I was reading a night story to my children like Abi. As I sit on this chair and look back I wish I could have done it more creatively and more extraordinary. Furthermore, the photography I have created for the teen life project could have been more unique from others. I added a few touches to make the photo fit well with the poem. However, it was just a picture unlike one of my fellow students named Adrian who thought of an idea to take shot of a photo burning up. These exceptional ideas added much more advanced feel to the image.

           As I am pondering what I could have done better in the previous quarter I was also accepting responsibility for my own learning. I have reflected on my own work and thought what I could have done in a higher level. More over, by taking creative risks in developing untried ideas I was being an effective communicator as I demonstrated my creative talents to convey ideas. By creating the book, I have showed my creative work to the school. My book shared my ideas and thoughts that are bouncing in my head. Just by taking creative risks, I was able to earn more titles of ESLR than I expected. What I have deeply understood and written down on this document is only the beginning step of improving. I have viewed what I could have done to become a true Self-directed learner. I experience that every single work I do can be related to this ESLR. I have passed by them not even noticing that I was missing the final taste such as missing an ingredient of a cupcake. Most importantly, I learnt that my life has to become different from ordinary. I believe bravery is not having any fear, but it is standing against the fear and excelling. I will become bold and become creative and try untried ideas. In conclusion, I have much room to absorb the marrow out of the word, self-directed learner. I believe I have done my best on all my work. However, my work was not enough to become noticeable. Therefore, if I grade myself on this meaning I will give myself a B.

                      Overall, this quarter became a huge lesson that has been carved in my brain. I can’t get the smile off my face when I observe my improvements during this unit. I began with an attitude about learning poetry and ended up me reaching out for more and more of this unique type of art. I was a kid who was glad about the trial road; however, now I walk where my body takes me. The time and sweat I have put in the quarter pays me back at this second as I gain this feel that is too enormous to be written down in languages. This is the end of a chapter of my life. With the knowledge I gained, I wish I can see myself reach my goals and become the man I want to be.

Cocoa 

             Recently, researchers might have found a way to get rid of the west’s top killer diseases. Harvard medical school has researched and studied many years that people in panama’s four most common killers is stroke, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Researchers have found out that cocoa contains high levels of epicatechin and they could consider cocoa as a vitamin. Some say that they could also change the definition of vitamin to fit cocoa into the word, vitamin. They say that cocoa used in dark chocolate helps the blood flow to the brain and may boost short –term memory. They also have tested drinking a drinking flavanol-rich cocoa boosted blood flow for tow to three hours. They might have found a new type of vitamin that helps the killer disease.

            This article was written 12/march/07 at 20:26. In addition, this article is necessary for us to understand since this might be a way to cure fatal diseases. This will impact us and to everyone else since this might save your life or you close one’s. I hope this research carries on and be able to find something that can help us.  If you want to read the real article click here. In the real article, it gives you more specific details and more details. Hope you enjoyed my article.  

Langston Hughes

               Langston was an African American male born 1902 and passed out at the year of 1967. He was born in
Joplin, Missouri and his parents divorced when he was a little child and he lived with his grandmother till he became thirteen. Then, he went to Lincoln to live with his mother and her husband where he started writing poetry. Then, he graduated and spent two years in two different places having awkward jobs such as seamen, cooking, busboy, and launder. After that, he move to Washington DC where he published his first book of poetry called “the weary blues” at 1926. He finished his studies at the university and at 1930 his first novel got published and earned the Harmon gold medal for literature. It was called not without laughter. He wrote short stories, novels, and poems and jazz influenced his writing as he was engaged with jazz. He wanted to write the truth about his people covering the sad moments and happy moments of music, laughter, and languages. Langston left the world because of prostate cancer. However, he will not be forgotten in the future. His true feelings about jazz, his people, and others will be noticed and applauded.  

Life is Fine

by Langston Hughes   

I went down to the river,

I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn’t,

So I jumped in and sank. I came up once and hollered!

I came up twice and cried!

If that water hadn’t a-been so cold

I might’ve sunk and died.     

But it was      Cold in that water!      It was cold! 

I took the elevator

Sixteen floors above the ground.

I thought about my baby

And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!

 I stood there and I cried! If it hadn’t a-been so high

I might’ve jumped and died. 

     But it was      High up there!      It was high! 

So since I’m still here livin’,

I guess I will live on.

I could’ve died for love–

But for livin’ I was born Though you may hear me holler,

And you may see me cry–

I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,

If you gonna see me die.

  Life is fine!      Fine as wine!      Life is fine! 

             If I had any questions I would ask two questions to this poet. I would ask what the second last means and why he put images of baby in this poem. The first question just plainly because I do not understand and the second one cause I wanted to understand why he used baby instead of other images.

              It might look like a short poem, but there are hidden pattern and ways this poem was written. I have noticed that each line is mostly six syllables and some lines were a bit more than six. This poem also followed six sets of quatrains and each line from each set had the same words or/and meant similar things. Each second Quatrains of each set ended with the same word except for the third line. Thus, this poem includes repetition. I believe that there isn’t any personification or simile. However, there might be a metaphor using the whole poem. I think it is comparing to himself to the world. In addition, this poem included internal rhyme as one line in the poem rhyme in a single line of poetry. This line reads “Life is fine!      Fine as wine!      Life is fine!”. This poem might look small but its meaning and purpose is deeper than many poems.  

Introduction 

          I will introduce myself to the students around the world so that you can get an imagination of who I am. I am an average 14 years old boy named Daniel. I have a sister who is in the 12^th grade. On my point of view my sister, SuJin, is very pretty, smart, and kind. My whole family is pure Koreans, but my sister and I came to this international community. Since I have moved to this community I have enjoyed the peaceful, fun, and hopeful life.  

          The funniest part of my life is hanging around with my friends on Fridays and Saturdays. Not once in my life have I meat a group of friends that I feel close like a blood related siblings but this international community has increased the number of my family members. Most of my free times are spent with my friends. At Fridays or Saturdays we go to Coffee Bean, Starbucks, MacDonald, Burger King, Curve (a shopping center to enjoy movies), or Three Hartams (a place where we hang around at the music store). When I spend time with my friends, it makes me feel more independent. I get to discover that I am not a baby who can’t cross the road alone. Furthermore, I learnt that I have to be more responsible for my actions.  

          Mover over, in this community, which I have lived for five years, is the one of the best places you can be stress free. This community might not have the best technology but I must agree that in this community times flows fast like water in a rainfall. In addition, as this is an international community I have been able to meet countless number of people who are from different countries. This also opened my brain of how big the world is and how each country is unique. This is one of the reasons I am extremely excited to be part of Teen Life Project.  

          Lastly, school is a word most students do not adore. I also feel like staying at home and skipping school. Our school is not perfect so there several parts that can be developed. However, when I reflect on myself, the improvements on all skills were made in school. From time to time I experience the electronic feeling that runs through your back and become simply amazed of what I learnt. Our school is not the biggest but our spirit is bigger than anyone can imagine. Therefore, my life is a different level from happy. My life is fantastic, joyful, pleasant, wonderful, and incredible.                      

           To tell you the truth, I am a type of guy who does not read the paper or see the news. This might sound selfish, but I do what I have to do and don’t step into to extras for my knowledge. Fortunately, I hear some stories that happen outside of our community from my family, friends, and teachers. Of these that I hear, lack of oil makes me think deep down to myself. Every time something that relates to gas such as putting oil into our car and just hearing the simple word “oil” makes me ponder. How are we going move from one place to the other? Then, I tell myself we can use the power of the sun. However, will we be able have enough solar cars, airplanes, tanks, buses, or trucks to live the way we used to? I haven’t found the answer to it, but I will love to hear ideas from each of you who are reading this piece of writing.  

          To take this a step further this world issue also relates to something that I am very interested in. It is technology. In a decade will we be depending on the power of the sun to survive our daily lives or will we find a liquid which does the part for the oil. Will the future airplanes be as fast as the speed of light? Will we find another planet where it is suitable for us to live in? These kinds of question are endless and yet they have no permanent answer. I am a teenager who likes to search and imagine for the unknown. As I am interested in technology, I have one desire which is the hope that the technology will develop to have much faster transportation. I wish I could move from countries to countries in one minute. I always have dreamed that this will happen in order to see my parents. I had to be separated from my parents to come to this community since I was in third grade. Thus, for a short period of time, I lose happiness whenever I separate. I hope that someone or something will appear so that we can enjoy our lives more joyfully than now. I will leave at this point of what I enjoy to explore.  

               These words can only define some parts of me. Therefore, when you run into the introduction about a man named Daniel, I hope you will leave comments and we can start an online relationship. I am looking forward to your comments to meet and learn about you.  

Writing Part of English Final Assessment Project

1. How are symbols, images, and sounds and other conventions used in visual media?
2. What are the ways in which image-makers carefully construct meaning?
3. How are techniques used in visual media to influence or appeal to a particular audience?

1. Symbols are everywhere. Our world, infused with media, advertisements, electronics, and shops, is practically bursting with symbols. In visual media, practically everything could be assigned a symbolic meaning—whether intended or not. For example, in the film ‘Stormbreaker’, inside the facility, there were large signs with a black number on them, and a red and white background. Almost imperceptibly, it reminds us of the Nazis, and the swastika.
2. Image makers carefully construct meaning using the physiology of man. Being very reflexive and intuitive, humans are easily influenced. For example, if you see a small wooden hut, with a smoking chimney, and a warm fire inside, you will immediately start feeling warmer and better inside. This has been proved by scientific experiments. So, all the advertisers have to do is add a person drinking hot chocolate, and there you go: a perfect enticement.
3. Appealing a particular audience, using certain techniques, can have even better results. For example, an advert for Barbie’s is probably going to be with little writing, next to toy shops were children are sure to see it, and probably 90% pink. Many small children would easily fall for this advertisement, whether their parents are disgusted by it or not

1. Knowledge-Describe the symbols, images, and sounds you used to complete your project
2. Comprehension- Discuss how these symbols, images, and sounds carefully construct meaning
3. Application- Explain how these symbols, images, and sounds will influence or appeal to your audience. Illustrate the symbols, images, and sounds (This will be done when you actually do the project)
4. Analysis- compare the symbols, images, and sounds you chose. Which are the most powerful? Why?
5. Synthesis- Create or design a memorial to Anne Frank and the victims of the Holocaust, or Design and create a commercial or short film spreading Anne’s hopeful message of peace. (Doing the project will accomplish this aspect of Bloom’s Taxonomy)
6. Evaluation- summarize and grade the final product and the process to accomplish this task

1. The symbols we used were: the barbed wire fence, the rails, Anne frank’s diary, the star of David, the grass and its progression, a caged hawk on a golden plaque, the colors used to paint all of the above, and the music
2. The barbed wire on either side represents oppression, and captivity. In the center of the memorial, there is a small area that is open. This symbolizes that even under oppression, with but greed, hate and anger all round, good qualities can and do develop, and that even during such times, there is a way out.  Anne Frank’s diary hint at the fact that Anne was one of these people, and it also attempts to show that human nature is, contrary to Golding’s gloomy thoughts, good rather than evil. As a person walks from one side of the memorial, the barbed wire gradually opens, and the grass that was at the beginning brown and dead becomes more lively. This represents the progression, and how near the end of the war, for not all but many people, things were getting. The rail tracks under one’s feet are a hidden allusion to those that carried millions of Jews to their deaths. The fact that they are unbroken, even at the end, could be taken for granted but when examined deeply can also be considered as a hint to the stunning fact that even near the end of the war, Allied powers did not make an effort to stop the genocide, though the bombing of train tracks would have done much to achieve it.  The caged bird represents the freedom and the spirit of Anne, but it is caged and cannot fly free. The song we chose to accompany our monument is Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis. The beginning of the music with the deep drumming represents the oppression, and how Germany began to conquer other countries, methodically exterminating innocent Jews. The sad murmuring that follows with the instrumental accompanying symbolizes the lamentations for the dead, and as it accelerates and reaches its climax, it symbolizes the pain of those that survived to live without their families, friends or relatives. After that, some more instruments join to form the chorus, representing hope, effort and spirit in spite of the events that occurred. Once again, the drumming and the murmurs return, symbolizing the eternal struggle between the hopeful, the spirit, and the oppressing, the blinded. What follows is an alternation between the two, and it does not end in the victory of either side but rather the fact that this struggle will continue until eternity.
3. The symbols will influence people by making them re-think their own perspectives on human behavior during wars, some might come to find that these new perspectives suit them better while others will find that their own thoughts more correct in their opinion. They will appeal to my audience because we made our symbols interesting and colorfully coordinated. The sounds will influence them because there is no singing, only instruments, and the atmosphere is largely calming and restful. It offers a place where people can go to think through their own problems and find their strength in Anne.
4. The most powerful symbols that I think we used were the barbed wire and the grass and flowers. The barbed wire is a very obvious symbol for oppression, hate, and captivity. And as it opens up in the centre, it powerfully gets across that even under oppression, hate, fear and captivity, great qualities can develop. Also, the way it takes you on a journey, as it widens near the end, and as the first blackish, brown-red grass progresses towards a green, creates this really amazing effect. For though war is not always like that, and people were still being killed even at the end, gradually, camps were being liberated, people were freed, and families were re-united.
5. Our memorial can be seen. Right over there. Yeah, that’s the one.
6. In conclusion, I believe that we have completed this task to the best of our abilities as they are in such a short time frame. Though we essentially mismanaged our time, the final product appears to be excellent, and with every glance it yields another allusion to the war, to those that have died and those that are still alive.  We all worked together in an effort to first design and then create a memorial that will strike emotion into every heart, be it that of an eight year old child or a 70 year old soldier. We also went through a very varied process: designing the monument, choosing the music, discussing some of the symbols, and then actually creating a scale model out of clay and wire. Unfortunately, out first monument fell apart just hours (about twenty four, actually) before the date it was due. We were then forced to change our plans, and Daniel Bae having been the only one with the required materials, we left it to him to recreate the monument, and only did some of the painting. In return, I (Aron) did much of the writing, and Alex also contributed to it. However, if required to complete another project, I believe that we should be better organized to avoid such problems, especially with a meager time budget.  As our final self-evaluation, we believe that the grade we have earned is: 96%. Though we spent a lot of time, both in and out of school, working on it, and the final project we believe is pretty good, that is the highest grade the we can give ourselves.

ESLRS
During our project, we used many ESLRS effectively, but we still require work on other ones. The most important ESLR in this project we believe is Effective Communicator, because of our group roles, so here are some of them/
# Understand and convey written, oral and visual information using appropriate media
We made our model out of clay, and painted it. The model is of a good size, and is easily understandable. Upon asking some other students as to the clarity, they were able to name nearly all of the main features. We used a mobile phone to play the song ‘Conquest of Paradise’ by Vangelis, and typed up our writing on computer. I believe that we effectively achieved this ESLR.
# Demonstrate the skills of effective collaboration
This is one of the ESLRS that we really need to work on. Though in the end, we managed to do pretty well together, we had numerous arguments that hindered our ability to complete the project. I myself didn’t compromise too much, and was set on doing what I wanted. This is definitely an ESLR that we really need to work on for next time.
# Demonstrate their creative talents to convey ideas
Instead of simply making a 2D presentation on the computer, we actually made our model out of clay for all to see. In real life, it would be far larger, and this is not perfectly on scale, but it represents what we attempted to convey well. We also spent a lot of time after school working on our first model that broke apart. This is another ESLR that I believe we achieved
# Collaborate with others in appropriate learning situations to achieve group goals
Finally, this is an ESLR that depends entirely on the group members. Luckily, our group was pretty concentrated and we all wanted a good grade, so we spent a lot of time at home and after school working on our project and perfecting it.  We think that we somewhat achieved this, because we were uncomfortable in letting other group members do work and so need to work on this ESLR, though we somewhat achieved it

Step one:

Aztecs originally lived in Atzlan located around the North West Mexico. The place where they stayed was chaos since people were wild, dirty, and had eaten nasty food. Then, Cheiftain Tenoch had a vision from a god, Huitzilopochtli, who told him to bring his people to the place where he will see an eagle standing on a cactus eating a snake which ended up to be a muddy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

Step two:

Pros: They were able to crop all year using irrigation. They also created these farming islands called “floating gardens” which was pile of mud with trees planted on them to hold the island. These lands were created to grow crops well instead of searching for land to farm. They didn’t have to use their land for farming but they could use them to build other things. The floating gardens were the one of the reasons why the Aztecs grew into an enormous empire.

Cons: To create the floating gardens they had to use labor and man power to create it. Citizens had to work to pile up mud and grow trees trying to make the mud not sink into the lake. This took a lot of effort and time.

Step three:

There were many gods but there were three gods who were the most important. They were Huitzilopochtli (chief god of Tenochca and war and sun god), Tezcatlipoca (chief god of Aztecs in general), and Quetzalcoatl(god of civilization, priesthood, and learning and was worshipped by many people in
Mesoamerica.) Some other vital gods were the rain god, Tlaloc, god of growth, Chalchihuitlicue, and god related with spring, Xipe. The purpose of the pyramids were to honor the gods by human sacrifices. The three most important gods were Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca, and Quetzalcoatl.

Step four:

There were three different classes which were slaves, commoners, and nobility. Slaves were owned by a person; thus they had to do whatever their owner told them to do. Commoners very interested in trades and agriculture. Citizens who were in the lower class of commoners had to work on farms and they could never own land. While higher commoners were assigned to land and they could keep what they produce. The highest nobility were the priest and the army. They were the higher ones at the government. They were also highly respected by all citizens. Long distance traders were able to join in governments and the best and the most intelligent teachers were respected as nobles too.

Step five:

The language they spoke is called Nhuatl.They used pictures and symbols to write and communicate with each other. These pictures demonstrate sounds and ideas. They used these little pictures also known as glyphs to and put them together to create a sentence. This language were often carved and painted on stones,

Step six:

They used Chimnampas known as floating garden to grow crops. It was placed in the swamp with roots of the tree making it stable. They also used slash and burn strategy to grow good crops. These techniques helped the Aztecs grow crops. The main crops they grew were corn, chili pepers, squash, tomatoes, beans and other kinds of food.  These people traded from close to far places. They also traded with different zones of the region. They traded almost everthing that they had to get something they did not have. The basic currency in Aztec was cacao. There were also different objects that were used as a kind of currency.

Big Oil’s Burden

          In Nigeria, there are great amount of oil and gas which made them earn billions of dollars every year. Unfortunately, the oil and the gas also brought some very unfortunate events to Nigerians. The oil company called “Royal Dutch Shell” has been drilling oil for 50 years in this country and this procedure has polluted water and destroyed their crops. Ten years ago, soldiers killed a leader and eight other citizens who rebelled against Shell. This brainless action made the citizens of Nigeria very angry. Since then, Shell has been trying to earn the trust from Nigerians to keep on drilling oil without any trouble or rebels. Therefore, the company, shell, has donated millions of dollars to build the country’s development. To make the situation worse, the officials took the money for themselves. After seeing what happened to their last donation, Shell has once again provided $7.7 million to develop this county. The money was desperately needed, because Nigeria has a very small amount of hospitals, schools, and other buildings needed for a civilized country. Moreover, the people in Nigeria are sick from diseases such as malaria caused from the pollution. In spite of what Shell has donated, the citizens say they still don’t trust them. They say they will require apologizes for the past and start to have discussions face to face. Till then the citizens believe that drilling oil can lead to violence.

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