Category: Humanities

Independent Reading Reflection for 9th Grade

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For 9th grade, I have read some English books, for instance Catching Fire and Mockingjay, the last two books of Hunger Games (also about Katniss), also the first two books in the A Wrinkle in Time series about Meg and Charles Wallace, her little brother, and Calvin. I just finished The Forgotten Book, and I am now reading Emma by Jane Austen.

The book that gave me the most impact is Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games. I never thought that Katniss would enter another Game again after her first Game, which brought her great trauma. Katniss is very mature, courageous, and kind to others, all the qualities to become a leader (also demonstrated in the first book, the Hunger Games) and she did become the Mockingjay, leading others to the success of the revolution. She is my favorite character among the other protagonists.

For my next book, I would like to read Coral Island. This is also an adventure story, and the book surely sounds exciting.

10 years of Bloody Adventure—Clementine

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Introduction Paragraph:

I am a girl who survived the French Revolution, Clementine Amílié. People often call me Clem for short. Being a French girl is not as easy as it looks, because during the Revolution, many horrible things occurred. Nevertheless, I often felt proud of who I am. Please read my Journal Entries to understand more about my French life.

 

Many things have changed during the French Revolution, which lasted for about 10 years: 1. The people are all free from the monarchy, from the first and second estates. The king had limited power, everything is decided by the leaders that are elected by the people. Also, no one is partying all day long. Everyone is working hard. 2. People now have their own rights (although equality has not completely occurred yet, but close). Males had the right to vote, they owned much more land and much more properties than before. Best of all, taxes and tithes were abolished, and landowners increased rapidly.3. Napoleon made France strong again (or maybe even stronger). He was a general himself, and he trained the boys in the army harshly but patiently. They soon became strong and won many battles under Napoleon’s lead. He also made lives better for poor people, for instance lowering the taxes, giving them 8-hour workdays and 40-hour workweeks, allowing them to take a break during weekends. He was the hero of France!

 

Meanwhile, there are also continuities during the Revolution: 1. People were still suffering from hunger and famines. While Napoleon and his boys ate well, the poor peasants suffered from hunger and had to steal food to keep their families alive. 2. Until Napoleon’s death, France still hadn’t created a democracy yet. We basically switched a king for an emperor, an absolute monarch to an absolute dictatorship. Both rulers were cruel, and we weren’t really happy with any one of them. 3. Sexism still occurred rapidly. Women still could not vote and did not own as many rights as the males did. Worse of all, they could not even get a proper job like the males do. Some women were guillotined just because they marched, wanting more freedom from males.

Winner Takes All

Roxanne5 Comments

 

Image Credit

The crowd, consisting of both men and women, guns and spears, and the French flag, was storming into a building named the Bastille in Paris. Pierre Hulin Stanislas, the leader of the crowd, was directing the peasants to attack all sides. The guards tried to guard it, but their heads all moved from their necks onto the pikes. The crowd successfully took over the whole building. The king and his family tried to flee to Varennes, but they were soon recognized and captured back into Paris.

This is the French Revolution,  a Revolution caused by heavy taxes, the king & queen’s unfair rule, lavish lives, and fancy parties while the peasants were starving and breaking their backs in the field, and the first and second estates, who did not need to pay any tax. Worst of all, they can not speak their minds, nor can they vote.  They were so enraged that they woke up and protested, sent the royals, nobles, and clergy to the guillotine, and had them executed. Now they are free! What will they do now? Who will make all the decisions? One man named Napoleon Bonaparte comes up the stage just in time.

Surviving Through Harsh Conditions and Forgiving Others

Roxanne2 Comments

Unbroken is a book by Laura Hillenbrand that explores a famous Olympian runner, Louis Zamperini (Nicknamed Lou or Louie)’s journey from airman to castaway to captive in Japan, and he finally returned home safely and started a new life. The theme is that Forgiveness and survival usually encourage us to propel forward and it creates more chances for success.

You should definitely read this book because this book sends out key philosophies of life, for instance, “A moment’s pain is worth a life time’s glory”, or “If you can take it, you can make it”, or “The only way to propel forward is forgiveness, not revenge”. It also encourages us to be like Louie, surviving under harsh conditions, never give up even if there is only a small chance for survival, and generously forgiving others.

In this unit, I understood how to take notes properly, how to grasp the theme, and how to reread and make connections.

The Courageous Patriots Who Sacrificed Themselves for a Better Life for China

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Roxanne’s CER:
I belive that the boxers don’t deserve a bad reputation. Although they killed intruders,  but intruders were the ones who started this movement in the first place by angering the boxers and trying to imparalize China, and they murdered more Chinese people, so the boxers were just killing the intruders as self-defence. The Boxers were classic patriots who loved their country and their people more than themselves. That encouraged them into fighting for the freedom of China, and they did not care if they might die. As long as China was a strong country, even if they lost their lives, they can close their eyes. Another thing that outnumbered the intruders were the courage the boxers had. Most people would be so afraid to battle someone that was way much stronger that they might just surrender and work for them. But that wasn’t the boxers’ personality. They fought fearlessly on the battle field, all holding one hope: as long as we won, China would remain better place for all of us. And that was the source of energy that rushed through everyone and gave them audacity. The boxers wanted to make their homecountry a better place, isn’t that something that they should be respected & admired ? So i strongly belive that the boxers deserve a better reputation than what they have now.

Godess of Beauty and Love

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See this magazine cover by Roxanne. Wu

This magazine cover projects MSND by William Shakespeare. I chose Hermia as my main character because she has more lines to reflect on her and I like her. I think this image of Rowan Blanchard really matches Hermia because both girls have rosy cheeks and long dark hair. I am really proud of my title because I am using Venus’ identity on Hermia, and my color matches pretty well.

See here to know more about Rowan Blanchard

See here to learn more about William Shakespeare

Heroic and Clever

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See image  here

Did you know that mongooses can also be heroes, brave, and smart? Well, there were three evil snakes: Nag, his wife Nagaina, and their friend Karait. Then came a mongoose, very brave and smart, who killed all three wicked snakes one by one, and saved all his friends. His name was Rikki-Tikki. The big idea about this story was friendship and love, because Rikki-Tikki loved all his friends.

In the story “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” (see here to read this story)by Rudyard Kipling (see here to learn more about him), the author believes that love and friendship undoubtedly make you willing to fight and win victory for your friends. Teddy’s mother really appreciated Rikki-Tikki’s work, she “picked him up from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy from death.” (Kipling#4) Because of this victory, his friend Teddy and his parents loved Rikki-Tikki; also because he loved his friends, he was willing to fight for their lives, even if that means losing his own. Further along in the story, Rikki-Tikki became more powerful and beloved. Although Rikki-Tikki knows that Nagaina is worse than 5 Nags : “’Now I have Nagaina to settle with, and she will be worse than 5 Nags, and there’s no knowing when the eggs she spoke of will hatch”’ (Kipling#6), he still fought Nagaina and won. Rikki-Tikki killed Nagaina, and Teddy and his parents loved him even more because he saved all his friends’ lives, and became famous in the garden he and his friends lived in.

All in all, Rikki-Tikki was a very shrewd and courageous little creature who loved his friends and was willing to fight for them. I am sure he is not the only animal fellow who is like that, if you know more heroic and clever fellows, please tell me!

 

A Special External Conflict On A Street

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I edited the poem myself, see the picture here

The found poem above was taken from Thank You M’am by Langston Hughes.

It showed the external conflict between the protagonist Roger and antagonist Ms. Jones, which Ms. Jones beat Roger up because he stole her purse and failed.

In the first paragraph, the conflict was illustrated when the protagonist was trying to steal the antagonist’s purse to buy some blue suede shoes (author page 1). The conflict could also be seen when the protagonist was angry but kind-hearted. Hence, she took him to her house instead to the police (author page 1).

This conflict was resolved when the protagonist was touched and appreciated her kindness.

The picture is black and white, which is plain. Hence, I chose to use my favorite color, purple, to add some color to it.

For the poem layout, I made it all centralized to make it look better. By using the smaller font size, I ensured the length of the poem matches the height of the picture to make the whole image neat.

On the picture, the boy was young, and the woman looked nice and calm. I think that’s why she would take him to her house, provide his needs, and teach him a lesson to make him a better person.

See original story here

See author biography here

 

Percy Jackson is hot tempered.

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Percy Jackson is a hot tempered young man. “I am going to kill her, I mumbled.”  First of all,(on page3) he stands up for his friend, Grover, when he was boiled by Nancy. He was really angry, he does not want his friend to get boiled, he was trying really hard to keep cool and calm. “I turned so he couldn’t read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.” Secondly, (on page21) he was really angry, because he heard he’s leaving Yancy Academy. “Fine, I said, and threw the money on the table, I hope you lose.” He was very angry, because his stepfather didn’t even say anything like Nice to see you again. Instead, he asked Percy for cash. Overall, this is quit clear that Percy is a hot temper young man.