Blog 9: Birdseye in the Frozen Land

     This week, we just start reading a book which was written by Mark Kurlansky called "Frozen in Time". Unlike any other books we have read before, it is not a fiction or novel. It is a nonfiction which tells life stories about a famous man called Clarence Birdseye. 

     Clarence Birdseye is an American inventor and is considered to be the founder of the frozen food industry. He is bored in Brooklyn, New York. He went to the Amherst University in Massachusetts, but because of the lack of money, he dropped school. He is very abnormal compares to other children at his age. He is very curious about animals, insects and everything else in the nature. He has been called "bug" when he was young. However, he believes that only learning to get used to the mockery can bring him to success. He shows his astonishing talents in science and business. He love new things. He is always looking for adventures and feels never will get enough of it. One thing that really interests me about Clarence Birdseye is his action of going to Labrador. 

     Labrador is one of the most undeveloped place in the world. It actually is a Frozen land where Eskimos live. Clarence Birdseye is invited to spend six weeks along the Labrador coast. He is very willing to accept the invitation and immediately go there without any hesitating. There, he sees a big opportunity of both science and economy. A successful fox farm had been established in Labrador. High prices have been paid for live foxes. Clarence Birdseye then starts to observe foxes and do reaserch on it. Although it's unimaginably cold in Labrador, he dose not choose to quit. He keeps writing journals to record his life and observations and he says that he gets used to frostbite just like mosquito bites. He misses his family a lot and often sends them letters but he still stays in Labrador. 

     If I am him, I will never accept the invitation and go to Labrador. First, I hate being cold. I can not even stand the winter in Connecticut. So I can not imagine what -40 degrees Fahrenheit will be like. Second, I will never leave my family and go to such a dangerous place like that. He also has family but he chooses to take the risk of sacrificing his life to explore the frozen land. Has he ever thought about what his family will do if he dies? I don't think so. He is obsessed with adventures. 

     Another thing that surprises me about Clarence Birdseye is that he actually builds a home in Labrador. He brings his wife and his first child Kellogg there. I think only himself to take the risk is enough, but he brings his whole family there. This is one thing I will never do. I will not move to such a strange place with my whole family. To most of people, they see this action as suffering but to Clarence Birdseye, it's a joy. If I am him, I will stays where I am with my family and look for job opportunities in my city. 

     However, I think it is his bravery, love of adventures and being himself bring him success in his life. He is always looking for new things and do things that others never notice or dare to do. I think this is what makes him famous and a inventor. 

Vocabulary

Destine-  decree or designate beforehand. P60

Contagious-easily diffused or spread as from one person to another. P62

Articulate- put into words or an expression. P62

Perch- support consisting of a branch or rod that serves as a resting place. P65

Copious- large in number or quantity. P66

Prospective- concerned with or related to the future. P67

Subarctic-  of or relating to latitudes just south of the Arctic Circle. P67

Partridge - heavy-bodied small-winged South American game bird resembling a gallinaceous bird but related to the ratite birds. P70

Conspiracy-  a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act. P73

Scheme-an elaborate and systematic plan of action. P73

Vocabulary: chapter 1-3

Rayon- a synthetic silklike fabric. P6

Massacre- large numbers of people were killed. P11

Trapezoidal- resembling a trapezoid. P14

Muskrat- beaver like aquatic rodent of North America with dark glossy brown fur. P15

Ridicule- a language or behavior intended to mock pain or suffer. P19

Mockery- make fun of or laugh at someone. P19

Fraternity- a social club for male college students. P20

Coyote- small wolf native to western North America. P23

Discredit- cause to doubt and disbelieve. P23

Insatiable- impossible to get enough or be satisfied. P27

Comparison: Opal Dream VS Pobby and Dingan

     We just finished the book called "Pobby and Dingan" recently, and we watched a movie called Opal Dream today. This movie is reorganized based on the novel itself. It mainly talking about a story that happens on the Williamson family in Australia. Kellyanne has two imaginary friends whose names are Pobby and Dingan. At first, no one believes in the existence of her imaginary friends, but after her father lost them and her brother Ashmol starts looking for them and as well as the people in town, more and more people actually believe Pobby and Dingan are real. 

     If you ask me which one I like best between the movie or the novel, I will definitely choose the novel. I think the novel is the original form which was created directly by the author and not adapted by any other people. It is much more detailed than the movie and I think it makes more sense. It tells us the story logically. In comparison, the movie deletes some scenes which are suppose to be in the original book. For example, the book tells that after Ashmol tells all the people in the town to help Kellyanne to find Pobby and Dingan, people are actually looking for them. Many people go to the Williamson's house and claim that they find Pobby and Dingan and ask for rewards, but Kellyanne insists that they are lying. The whole part of this section is missing in the film. I think this is a very important scene, because it is actually why Kellyanne asks Ashmol to go to the mine and search for the bodies of Pobby and Dingan. It is a vital part which connects things that happens before with things that are going to happen together. It exhibit a logical way to the reader, and I think people will probably get confused if they only watch the film. 

Also, the novel actually creats a much wilder space for our imagination to expand. Virtually, the film is like a "mind killer". I imagine what every person in the Williamson looks like; I imagine the environment they live in and also how people are searching for Pobby and Dingan and gradually change their attitude. All the actors and actress in the film are actually totally different from what I imagine. 

This is why I like the novel much more than the film. Although I know there are a lot of people love the movie because it kind of gives us some images, and the movie tells the story in a way closer to what we hope, I still think the original novel has more advantages for us to read.  

Life of Galileo: An Unforgettable Night

On this Friday night, I went to our school's Black Box Theater to watch the drama play called "Life of Galileo". Galileo is an astronomer and a mathematician. This show is mainly talking about Galileo built his own telescope and used the telescope to affirm Copernicus's heliocentric model of our solar system was correct. His action was both against the Church and people's common belief. He then was brought to Vatican for interrogating. Because of the suppression from the Church and pressure of threatening and torturing, he withdrew his teaching. Then he was put under house arrest. When his friend Andrea visited him, Galileo gave him a book which contains all of his scientic discoveries and theories, and he asked Andrea to bring it out of Italy. Andrea finally knows that Galileo withdraws his teaching to fool the Church. 

To be honest, I did not really get what the whole play was talking about when I see it in the Black Box Theater. However, when I search it online after I watched it, I think everything seems to make a little bit sense to me. One thing that surprises me is that this play is not like other drama which make good compliments on Galileo. It shows us another side of Galileo. He is not like what people thinks which he is a hero and he dedicates himself for science and truth. He is brave to say things that he sees and challenges the authority fans the Church. However, he did all of these things not for his passion to science but his desire for money, food and drink. He is just like a normal person who wants these normal things and owns a dream of being wealthy. 

For the last part of the play, I think it is kind of surprised but meaningful. Andrea says to the boy: "Believe what you see, child." This sentence provide much information for thought. Andrea tells us that we should not believe in rumor and what other people are saying. We need physical evidence and should believe in what we see, just like Galileo. Although Galileo takes risk for his personal goals, we still should respect his bravery and insistence of believing the truth. We should all like him, believe in our eyes rather than our ears. 

This is actually my first time to see this kind of play. Although it does not have a crowd of audience, but I think every audience behaves very well. There is no ringing of cellphone or cheat chatting. Everyone is quiet and pays full attention to the actors and actresses on the stage. I have to say I was amazed by these actors and actresses in the play. As we all know, the language of this play is very hard and it is kind of old fashion English. Not just saying that it is hard for us to understand, but it is even harder for people who are in this show to remember and act out naturally like it is her own saying. They did a really awesome job! They are amazing! I can not imagine how hard for me to remember these words and act on the stage under the spotlight. 

I think this is a very successful and good play which makes us to think and learn. I really appreciate those people who work hard to give us this fabulous play. This is an unforgettable night! 

Research on Brecht

Bertolt Brecht is a German dramatist, poet, and theatre director. He is born in 10 February, 1898 in Germany. He dedicated himself into his career and made great contribution to theatrical production. He had many famous works such as "Life of Galileo", "Mother Courage and Her Children" and "The Good Person of Szechwan". He developed a style of epic theater which is a long narrative poem telling people historical stories. It proposed that a play should cause people to question the actions on the stage and self-reflection. He wanted his audience to provide critical persepectives and views and connect with their own society and also bring effects to the whole world. One interesting thing about Brecht is that he is influenced by Chinese theatre. Brecht attended a Chinese opera performance and was introduced to a Chinese opera performer called Mei LanFang in 1935, who is the most popular, famous, influential and respected opera performer throughout Chinese history. However, he found out that Chinese opera style is not transportable, his epic theatre needed to seek another way of addressing society and telling historical events. He used both his poem and drama to criticize European culture. He then died at the age of fifty eight in 14 August, 1956. Although he passed away at such a young age, he left remarkable influences to the world drama. 

In Class Writing on Pobby and Dingan

The secret of an opal's color is not in its substance because all of its substance can be seen by others. However, what it's absences are is what really important. For example, the opal Ashmol found in the mine has different meanings toward different people. For Mr. Dan, it is a very valuable opal because it has strange colors. For Kellyanne, it represents Pobby and Dingan. However, for Ashmol, the opal means hope. He finally got proved that their mine actually has opals. The opal also means that it will make Kellyanne get better after she knew it is Dingan's bellybutton. This opal's real value is not its rare color or its price, but things that cannot be priced and are important to the Williamson family. Its real value cannot just simply be seen from its color, but things and stories behind it. I think this is the reason why the author says: "The secret of an opal's color lies not in its substance but in its absences."

Preparation for "Life of Galileo"

"Life of Galileo" is a play which was created by a German dramatist in twentieth century. It is also called "Galileo". It has two versions: one is German and one is English. The main character Galileo is a mathematician, an astronomer and a philosopher during the scientific revolution. At that time, a great debate about world astronomy was going on between the Geocentrism and Heliocentrism. Galileo built his own telescope and used the telescope to affirm Copernicus's heliocentric model of our solar system was correct. His action was both against the Church and people's common belief. He then was brought to Vatican for interrogating. Because of the suppression from the Church and pressure of threatening and torturing, he withdrew his teaching. Then he was put under house arrest. When his friend Andrea visited him, Galileo gave him a book which contains all of his scientic discoveries and theories, and he asked Andrea to bring it out of Italy. Andrea finally knows that Galileo withdraws his teaching to fool the Church. Andrea thinks his action was heroic, but Galileo said this action had nothing do with being a hero but self-interest. In this case, he published his last work in Germany in 1638. On January 8th, 1642, Galileo passed away at the age of seventy seven. 

Have You Ever Had a Imaginary Friend?

     This week in our English class we started to read "Pobby and Dingan" by Ben Rice. This is a book which talkes about imaginary friends. There are some main characters: Kellyanne, who is the girl has imaginary friends, Ashmol, who is her brother, her father, her mother and her imaginary friends: Pobby and Dingan. Till now, which I read, the book is mainly talking about stories of how Ashmol and his father didn't believe in the existence of Pobby and Dingan, but then they tried all they can to help Kellyanne to find Pobby and Dingan when her father lost them. If you are going to ask me whether I like this book or not, I think it is half and half. 

     First of all, I like this book is because it has a very interesting topic. When I read this book, I was a little bit confused by who Pobby and Dingan are. Then when I know they are Kellyanne's imaginary friends, I was surprised because I have never read any book about the imaginary friend. This is very special and makes my want to know what's the story between the Williamsons and Pobby and Dingan. Also, this book is a book which has the theme of love. I can feel the warmth of the family when I read this book. Especially, I love the part where talkes about Ashmol decides to help Kellyanne and his whole family to get into a better condition, he goes out and telles all people to help her sister to find Pobby and Dingan. I was moved when he figured out what he is going to do repot help Kellyanne: "I reckoned that the first thing would be to have as many people as possible looking for them, or pretending to look, so that at least Kellyanne know that people cared, that they believed in her imaginary friends and wanted to help out." He is really brave. He can come out with this idea while most people in their town don't like them and think they are ratters. Although he knows that his family has a bad reputation in the town, he still chooses the most efficient way but will take risks to do it. He loves his sister so much so he tries everything he can to make her sister get better. 

     However, there are things that I don't really like about this book. First, there are many bad words in it. I really don't like that. I think its acceptable if it appears fewer times, but there are actually many words like that in the book. I think it is not good for us to learn these words an use them in our life. I think the writer could choose some words that are more formal and politely but still can show his emotion. This is a better way to write and for our readers to receive good and positive information from the book. Second, there are many slangs in the book. The story happens in Australia, which is not local American English. There are many slangs that I don't know and I can not find the meaning in my translator, either. In this way, it is hard to understand the full information which the author is trying to convey to us. I think the best way to solve this problem is that the writer could have some notes at the bottom of every pages to explain what the word means. In this way, our readers are able to understand the story better. 

     All in all, I think Pobby and Dingan is a good book. Although it has things that I like and don't like, I will focus more on the good things. I enjoy my time when I read this book. I hope everyone has similar feeling toward this book. 

Persepolis: A New Explanation of God (Revised)

     Do you believe in God? There are a lot of people in the world have faith in God. They believe God is the master of our whole world and they honor him. However, in Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, the main character Marjane shows us the perspective of God in a little girl's mind. The book told stories from the author's childhood in Iran by using many pictures and drawings to express her thoughts. By acting like her conscience in Persepolis, God supports Marjane, comforts her, and makes her learn to judge the wrong and right things in her life. 

     God is a very kind and peaceful figure in the book. God is very tolerant. When Marjane shouted at him about her uncle Anoosh's death, God wasn't mad at Marjane. Marjane is actually struggling with herself. She is mad at that she cannot do anything to help Uncle Anoosh to get out of the prison. She is indeed upset but could do nothing. He always gives Marjane supports whenever she needs. For example, he supports Marjane's dream. The picture shows that God holds Marjane like holding a baby and says: "Yes you are celestial light, you are my choice, my last and my best choice." (Satrapi 8) In fact, Marjane definitely cannot talk to God like that. God is created by her own imagination. It is the voice from her inside world. The talking with God every night is actually the communication between the girl people see and the real person she is. She needs to be the person she doesn't truly want in the day, but she can be herself when she talks with God at night. God in her mind gives her strength to continue doing what she truly want. She will not be controlled or changed by anyone. God gives her a strong support to her dream and every decision she makes. 

     God comforts Marjane to make her feel better when Marjane is confused by things happened in her society. He gives her a shoulder which Marjane can rely on. He gives her a harbour where Marjane can feel safe and does not need to be nervous about anything that happens in her society or life. For instance, when she hears about people who are put into the jail are tortured and die from it, she starts imagining the scenes in her head and tries to play games about it. However, she is overwhelmed. She is scared and doesn't know what justice is when she cries to her mother. She said: "The only place I felt safe was in the arms of my friend." (Satrapi 53) God can give her relief. She doesn't need to pretend or worry about anything. When she is sacred, confused or even gets lost, she goes to find God. God will clear up all these unpleasant things. In God's arms, she totally relaxes herself from the environment around her and feels safe. 

     God is the person who Marjane turns to when she meets problems in her life. She is only a child. She gets confused easily by all kinds of phenomenon that appear in her life. Instead of asking anyone else, she asks God to find the answer that she can accept to eliminate her confusion. That is her voice from her inside world. The God inside her always can teach her to Judge whether the thing is right or wrong. When her teacher asks her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says she wants to be a prophet. Her teacher finds her parents to tell Marjane's abnormal dream, her parents say they do not worry about it. Although they seem support Marjane's dream, they still worry about Marjane's specialness. They ask Marjane what she wants to be in the future. Instead of saying that she wants to be a prophet, she says she wants to be a doctor. Her parents get relief. However, Marjane feels guilty toward God, because this is not what she truly wants. She wants her parents to not worry about her so she pretends she wants to be a prophet. She cheats herself. At night, God questions her about her dream, she finally confirms her dream and promises that she will let no one know about her dream. God makes her know clearly what she truly desires. 

      For Marjane, God is her friend, her family, her teacher, and a real her. Because he questions her and supports her, Marjane is inspired to be always true and honest to herself. God is a very important figure in Persepolis who supports Marjane, makes her feel comfortable and helps her make the right decision by acting as her conscience. God will accompany Marjane throughout her whole life and reminds her real desires. 

Work Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003. 

Say Goodbye to My First Marking Period

It's nearly the end of the first marking period. It is the time I need to go back and do the work of self analysis. I recall back for goals I set up at the beginning of this marking period. I have three goals: the first one is never being afraid of writing; the second one is reading more English books, and the last one is speaking English more fluently. 

I think I'm pretty satisfied on achieving the first goal. I use to be really afraid of writing because every time when I get a writing assignment, I have no idea how to start it. Sometimes I feel like I have many ideas and things that I want to write about, but I just can not write it down. There is no specific direction or clue for readers to follow. All the things in my paper are just a mess. It is totally unorganized. So I start fearing to write. Usually when I get the writing assignment, my headache comes with it. However, I changed my attitude to writing through this marking period. The teacher teaches me how to brainstorm, make a list and map before I start writing, which I think it is very helpful to organize my ideas. Then I know how to creat an outline which leads me to put all my ideas into an ideal form. I think all these methods help me a lot in writing a paper. Although sometimes I still feel it is hard to write a paper, at least I feel I may over come it and have some sort of thoughts to start it. 

My second goal is reading more English books. I really love reading when I was in China. I am obsessed with some Chinese books, and I did read a lot of books. However, I find out that recently I didn't read a lot of books neither Chinese nor English. I think it is probably because English is a totally new language for me so I do not know it very well. Also, I'm not very good at English so it did not quite as much as Chinese interest me. So I set my goal of reading more English books to know more about English and American culture which will help me greatly in my future life in America. Besides those books that my teacher asks me to read, I go to the library and ask the librarian what book is suitable for me, as a English language learner to read. The librarian suggests me to read a science fiction called "Life as we knew it". This is a very good book that when I started to read, I was attracted by the plots and could not help myself from keeping reading it. I already read one hundred pages till now. I think one thing I need to improve is my speed of reading the book. Although I know I need time and read more books to improve this. 

My last goal is speaking English fluently. I think there is a large space left that I need to improve. I find out that my grammar is terrible when I speak with others. Sometimes, I feel like I can not find a good topic when I am chatting with my friends. I also think that when I am describing a thing or telling a story to someone in English, I find many difficulties in language. One way I think to solve this problem is to make more American friends and use more English. I also should pay attention to how others use English when they are talking. In this case, I will be able to improve my English speaking skill very quickly. 

All in all, I think I've done a good job so far. For the next marking period, I need to work on things that I have not achieve yet and were left in the first marking period. I also have to work on new goals, which I set two goals: one is to try to think things in English instead of translating into Chinese. Another one is to know more English words and less use of translator. 

Quiz on Two Countries

1. Skin gives us hope. When we are in a totally strange place or country, we are looking forward to see someone who comes from our country; who has the same skin color as us. It gives us relief and feel like we have some connections to where we truely from. The author says that "when skin is not alone,it remembers being alone and thanks something larger that there are travelers, that people go placeslarger than themselves." She is an American- Arabic girl who loves both of her countries. Her skin color always reminds her where her blood is and where she comes from. 

2. People in different regions of the world have different skin and skin colors. In this case, skin represents different cultures, different countries and different people. 

3. The poem is thankful for those travelers. Traveling can lead to cultural diffusion which mean that different cultures are mixed by those people who go traveling. It not only brings people to different place, but also bring their own cultural influences to that place. It's these travelers who make people in different place can find something similar about their hometown and feel relief. They make people all around the world seem to tie together as a big family. 

Discussing Questions

1. Why did Nye write a lot of poems about her grandmother?

2. Why did Nye say that she doesn't need to explain herself to 9/11 as an American Arabic descant?

A Seed, A Song, A Sky: A Mother's Love

This poem which is called "A Seed, A Song, A Sky" is mainly talking about her baby. Her hasband puts her baby back to her bed after she falls into sleep in his arms. Nye kneels down and touches her baby gentlly. In Nye's mind, her baby is like a small flower and a miracle. She makes wishes for her baby's future and she hopes her wishes will become true when her child grows up. She doesn't know if theses wishes will be enough for her child to face the world which is totally strange for her. She doesn't know whether her wishes can come true or not. She questions if her wishes will make her child get ready to meet the new and strange world. She hopes her wishes can protect her child and make her baby know what the world like. Her baby is the seed that she plant into this world. Her wishes form a nice and pleasant song which will accompany her child growing up and throughout her life. Eventually, her baby will become a mature, beautiful flower to meet the blue sky. All Nye wants is that she wants her child get ready to walk into  the mysterious world when she grows up with full prepared. This poem shows the author is a little bit worried about her child's future life, and it also exhibits her profound love to her child. 

Aim for Journeys

Journeys can be different. 

Follow your eyes and walk through the world: 

To see those damp new grapes in the orchard, 

To hear these prayers and let them cool you down, 

And sleep on those stones with rough edges. 

19 Varieties of Gazelle: A Way of Knowing True Arabs

What will you connect to when someone says things about the Middle East? The first word that come to my mind is "veil". In my mind, all the women in the Middle East need to use the scarf to cover their hair. For me, it is like already a symbol of all these countries in the Middle East. However, since I read poems that were written by Naomi Shihab Nye, I totally change my view to those Arab people. 

Naomi Shihab Nye is an American-Arab poet who writes a lot of poems about Arab cultures and stories. Her mother is an American and her father is a Palestinian. Although she was born in America and grew up here, she till considers herself as one of the Palestinians. One of her famous books is called "19 Varieties of Gazelle". It is a collection of poems which she writes in order to be as a response to 9.11. 

As we all know that 9.11 is a tragedy that happened on American people in 2001. The World Trade Center was hit by a plane that was controlled by terrorists from the Middle East. From that moment, people in the world are not only sorrowful, but also they have an impression that people from the Middle East are all terrorists. People are all scared by this big event, so they all assume that Arab people are scary, mentally insane, and they are terrorists. However, by reading Nye's poems in the book, I realize that the fact is not what people are thinking. The reason why Naomi Shihab Nye chooses this books to be as a response to 9.11 is that she wants to change people's tortile views toward Arab people. They are very friendly and very kind people. All these bad views about the Arabs people have are created by the government. People in the Middle East don't have fault. It's not their choice to have this kind of government. They don't get to make their politics. If you talk to those people, if you get chances to know them, you will be amazed and totally change your view toward Arabs. 

Arab people love their family. They are hard-working. For example, in the poem called "My Father and the Fig Tree", the author's father came American when he was in the college. Although he loves his country, he has to stay in America because of the war. He loves those fig trees which are very common in Palestine. For him, it is a symbol of his culture and his country. However, he cannot find a fig tree in America. He always sits on Nye's bed and tells all these stories and folktales of Palestine about fig trees. Even sometimes, it doesn't fit; he sticks in. He tries so hard to get rid of the title of "terrorists". He writes stories and poems to show the people how the Arab people really are. The author is very proud of her father and very proud that she has such a good father. 

All these things are what Naomi Shihab Nye is trying to show our people who are outside the Middle East. These Arab people are not as scary as we think and actually, they are not at all. They love their lives, their family and everything around them. They are not crazy, not insane. They hope the world is peaceful; there is no war going on. We should try to know them by ourselves instead of judging them only by an unexpectable event. 

Words under the Words

The author's grandmother is very kindly. The author says that she finds her grandmother's hands when she wakes up from a long fever. Her grandmother gently touches her forehead. Her grandmother's hands can make her cool down and get into a good shape. She is a woman who enjoys her life. She loves cooking and baking. As the author says, her grandmother's days are made of bread. She is looking forward mail's coming, but she never gets upset when there is no mail. She loves her life and didn't complain about anything. She is experienced and knowledgeable. She says that nothing can surprise her, and she knows all most every thing. She believes in Allah. She thinks Allah is everywhere in their lives. She  talks about Allah all the time: when she goes to orchard and even when she is telling a folktale. She is a person who the author loves and a person who loves her family, her life and her God. 

Fig tree

It means that the author's father finally finds a fig tree in America which represents his homeland. He misses his country so much but he could go back because of the war. This fig tree he finds in America gives him relief. 

Questions

Why doesn't the author's father never plant a fig tree in their new house? 

Why does the author say "I wave the flag of stone and seed, table mat stitched in blue"?  

A New Impression of Iran

Recently, we read Persepolis for English class. It is a great comic book which was written by Marjane Satrapi and it was published in Paris, France. This book is basically telling all the stories from the author's childhood in Iran. The author uses all the pictures and images to show us her memories about Iran. It shows a totally different Iran to us and make us know more about what was happening at that time in Iran. 

As I mentioned before, this book is published in France instead of publishing in Iran. Marjane Satrapi leaves Iran and writes this book. Why she did not choose to publish it in Iran? She can not write out her memories and published it to let all the people know the real situation of her country when she is in Iran, or she will be in danger or killed by the government. However, she leaves Iran and wants to let all the people outside of Iran know the truth. Once she decides to publish it in France, she will never be able to get back to Iran. The people who she was writing to are us, people outside Iran. She wants us to see the real Iran. It is not like what the movie or social media tells us, fancy, wealthy and interesting culture. Iran actually has a disgraced history and a brutal government. People are suffering and struggling in Iran. The whole society goes into chaos and fears. The Iran isn't like the old Persian Empire which has advanced civilization any more. All kinds of demonstrations are led by people. Iran starts war with neighbouring country. The government is urging young boys to join the war. Many people die and sacrifice and they all become the government's tools. The government also opposes anything that is from the West. They think it is the symbol of decadence. All these images of Iran's darkness come from the author's childhood memory. The author's purpose is by show us all these stories that happened in her childhood to let us see Iran clearly and thoroughly and do not believe in what the social media tells you. Hear the real story about Iran which is in a Iranian girl's mind. 

I think Marjane Satrapi achieves her purpose. First, her book of telling the truth of Iran is published. It was printed and sold to the public. People outside of Iran are able to know her memories and true stories when she was in Iran. Second, she also makes the government of Iran be aware of what they are doing to their own people. She let them know that they can not just try to hide the truth and pretend they have done nothing horrible. The fact is the fact. They can not change it. All people will know Iranian people are suffering and the country is not in peace. They probably will take some actions to help the Iranian people to raze the current situation and rebuild a new ideal country. 

Persepolis: A New Explanation of God

     Do you believe in God? There are a lot of people in the world have faith in God. They believe God is the master of our whole world and they honor him. However, in Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, the main character Marjane shows us the perspective of God in a little girl's mind. The book told stories from the author's childhood in Iran by using many pictures and drawings to express her thoughts. By acting like her conscience in Persepolis, God supports Marjane, comforts her, and makes her learn to judge the wrong and right things in her life. 

     God is a very kind and peaceful figure in the book. God is very tolerant. When Marjane shouted at him about her uncle Anoosh's death, God wasn't mad at Marjane. Marjane is actually struggling with herself. She is mad at that she cannot do anything to help Uncle Anoosh to get out of the prison. She is indeed upset but could do nothing. He always gives Marjane supports whenever she needs. For example, he supports Marjane's dream. The picture shows that God holds Marjane like holding a baby and says: "Yes you are celestial light, you are my choice, my last and my best choice." (Satrapi 8) In fact, Marjane definitely cannot talk to God like that. God is created by her own imagination. It is the voice from her inside world. The talking with God every night is actually the communication between the girl people see and the real person she is. She needs to be the person she doesn't truly want in the day, but she can be herself when she talks with God at night. God in her mind gives her strength to continue doing what she truly want. She will not be controlled or changed by anyone. God gives her a strong support to her dream and every decision she makes. 

     God comforts Marjane to make her feel better when Marjane is confused by things happened in her society. He gives her a shoulder which Marjane can rely on. He gives her a harbour where Marjane can feel safe and does not need to be nervous about anything that happens in her society or life. For instance, when she hears about people who are put into the jail are tortured and die from it, she starts imagining the scenes in her head and tries to play games about it. However, she is overwhelmed. She is scared and doesn't know what justice is when she cries to her mother. She said: "The only place I felt safe was in the arms of my friend." (Satrapi 53) God can give her relief. She doesn't need to pretend or worry about anything. When she is sacred, confused or even gets lost, she goes to find God. God will clear up all these unpleasant things. In God's arms, she totally relaxes herself from the environment around her and feels safe. 

     God is the person who Marjane turns to when she meets problems in her life. She is only a child. She gets confused easily by all kinds of phenomenon that appear in her life. Instead of asking anyone else, she asks God to find the answer that she can accept to eliminate her confusion. That is her voice from her inside world. The God inside her always can teach her to Judge whether the thing is right or wrong. When her teacher asks her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says she wants to be a prophet. Her teacher finds her parents to tell Marjane's abnormal dream, her parents say they do not worry about it. Although they seem support Marjane's dream, they still worry about Marjane's specialness. They ask Marjane what she wants to be in the future. Instead of saying that she wants to be a prophet, she says she wants to be a doctor. Her parents get relief. However, Marjane feels guilty toward God, because this is not what she truly wants. She wants her parents to not worry about her so she pretends she wants to be a prophet. She cheats herself. At night, God questions her about her dream, she finally confirms her dream and promises that she will let no one know about her dream. God makes her know clearly what she truly desires. 

      For Marjane, God is her friend, her family, her teacher, and a real her. Because he questions her and supports her, Marjane is inspired to be always true and honest to herself. God is a very important figure in Persepolis who supports Marjane, makes her feel comfortable and helps her make the right decision by acting as her conscience. God will accompany Marjane throughout her whole life and reminds her real desires. 

Work Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003. 

Persepolis: A Collection of Precious Memory

     Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, is a comic book which I think it is suitable for people at whatever ages to read. This book is a memory collection of the author's childhood in Iran. It tells about all the author's stories from years ago. Persepolis uses pictures and some words to  exhibits the thoughts and inside world of a little girl. I really like this book, because of easy to read, warm and impressive scenes, and the true telling of Iranian history. 

     Persepolis is mainly talking about stories that happened on a fourteen-year-old Iranian girl whose name is Marjane. She is very special and more mature than any other children at her age. She has a lot of unique thoughts and can talk to God. She questions the teachers and the environment around her when she know the history of her family and the truth behind the government. She sees all the ugliness in the society. Because of her outspoken, her parents think it is very dangerous for Marjane living in Iran. So they decide to send Marjane abroad to Austria, even though they don't want to. 

     This book isn't like any other books which has a lot of words and long sentences. It is easy for us to read. Although it may have some hard words, this book is consisted by drawings which can provide a better background and explain the situation in Iran at that time better than just the words. Such pictures in the book require more thinking of our own. For example, when Marjane heard about Ahmadi was cut into piece, she thought it as a doll was cut into pieces. In the picture, the man was very fake, and it was empty inside of his body. As we all knew, if a person was cut, there should be blood around. But there was no blood around the man in the picture. Marjane was only a little girl, in her world, there were no pictures of horrifying things like a bloody died body. The picture of the man was the worst condition she could imagine. 

     There are a lot of warm and impressive scenes in the book. Sometimes, I feel it was funny but the author seems to tell us more befind the humor. I was really attracted by those plots, especially when Marjane spent her time with her uncle Anoosh for the last time. Before her uncle Anoosh is executed, he has a chance to see a person he wants. Instead of anyone else, he chooses Marjane. He hugs Marjane and says very warm things to her. I was moved when he gives Marjane the swan which is made of bread. He uses the only thing he can can in the prison to make a swan in order for Marjane to remember him. 

     This book I also a good history recorder. By telling all the stories from Marjane's childhood, the book shows a real Iran to our readers. It enhances my knowledge toward Iran's history. I also get to know what people's lives like when they are in Iran. No one has freedom. People are suffering, struggling with the government and fearing. They couldn't see their future. This book was published in France. It tells the truth of Iran, which means that the author will never be able to go back to Iran once this book is published. This also confirm its reliability. 

     Although this book is a very good, it is all in black and white. It has no colorful pictures. I think it's very hard for readers to distinguish the characters. Especially when the women in the book all wear veils, I can't tell who is who. I get really confused and feel difficult to understand some phenomenons. 

      All in all, Persepolis is an excellent book which is suitable for people at all ages. Although it doesn't have colorful pictures, we still are able to understand the main ideas. In this case, because of its interesting story and impressive plots, I highly recommend it. 

http://youtu.be/W_zUTQEnJPo

Thesis

I really like this book, because of easy to read, warm and impressive scenes, and the true telling of Iranian history. 

Learning from Andrew Fezza

When I walked into the room, all the pictures of models wearing nice clothes hung on the wall. I immediately felt the air of art and design just blew on my face. Andrew Fezza, the designer of all these fashion clothes in the pictures, stood in the center of the people. He was talking about his whole experience of walking in to the world of fashion. He started fashion design when he was young. He started working at a company, but later he quitted the job and worked at his own studio and did his own business. From his talking, I could see how hard the working of fashion design is. He had to work with many companies and people back and forth to design the cloth and published it. Then he needed to put these clothes he designed into production. Although this work is really complicated and hard, he really loved it and enjoyed all the processes. He travelled all around the places to get inspired. All these inspirations of his design came from all the cultures he experienced, the people he met and the places he stayed. His favorite place is New York City. From here, he saw a lot of people who had their own point of view toward fashion and liked to hear their stories. He said that he made a lot of mistake through his whole life, but working as a fashion designer is the best choice he had ever made. He never regretted the choice he had made, because that was the decision from his heart. He followed his heart and did what he truly wanted to do.  When people asked him why did he  want to choose art as his career, he said this was what he was good at and interested in. Although this job is harder than any other jobs, this is his dream. We should be like him, follow our dreams and never give up. I really enjoy the story he told me after his speech to all the people. He said that once he went to a store and saw a jacket, he really liked the jacket, and it fitted him well. But he thought that the color of the jacket was not the color he liked. So he bought it back home and changed the color of the jacket but himself. I thought he was really creative. And I thought that was the top reason why he became a fashion designer. Creativity can make one stand out and become different. This is what I learn from Andrew Fezza. I had an impressive class that I will never forget and what I learn from him will benefit me forever. 

Images are as important as words

    Some people think reading words is the only way you can get knowledges. They opposed to read comics and think that is wasting of our time. However, the fact is that images are as important as the words. Images can even give us more information than just words. When we are free and want to read books, words usually will make us feel bored and can't totally relax ourselves from a busy day. People will choose to read comics instead. Because in comics, although there are words in it, we will be able to see the scenes when a story happened. Also, these pictures in the book usually excite us and open our mind to allow more imagination to occur. "Persepolis",written by Marjane Satrapi, is a very good example to support this point of view. 

     "Persepolis" is a book which was consisted by a lot of pictures to tell us about stories that happened on a little girl in Iran. Author Marjane Satrapi draws a lot of pictures to let us know about the real past of Iran. It is a book of her memories from childhood. When Marjane was 10, the "Islamic Revolution" took place in Tehran. People were demonstrating on the street to fight the Shah. Her parents also went to the demonstration and want to their old Iran back. Some people were arrested and put into the jail. When Marjane heard her parents' friends talk about the torturing in the jail, she was terrified. She started to imagine the sences. The first picture in page 52 showed what Marjane had imagined. When she heard about Ahmadi was cut into piece, she thought it as a doll was cut into pieces. In the picture, the man was very fake, and it was empty inside of his body. As we all knew, if a person was cut, there should be blood around. But was no blood around the man in the picture. Marjane was only a little girl, in her world, there were no pictures of horrifying things like a bloody died body. The picture of the man was the worst condition she could imagine. 

     Marjane was a very special and unique girl. She wasn't like other children at her age. She liked talking with God. And she had a very "strange" dream which she wanted to be a prophet when she grew up. She believed it was God who chose him to be the best and last prophet. In page number 8, the first and the second picture showed what God looked like in her thought. God is a very kindly and peaceful old man. His imagine was like Santa Claus. He held Marjane around with his arms like a baby lean close to him. This is Marjane's God. Her God is not like other's for worshiping but a very close friend to her. 

      All these information I get is by seeing the pictures in the book. I can totally know Marjane's inside world and try to understand the reason she feels like that. It's very interesting when you totally see a through a person from the words she said, the emotion that appears on her face. This is what you can get that you won't able to know from just words. In this case, I think images are as crucial as words for us to read a book. 

One World, Many Stories

This is my collage about reading books. We live in one world, but there are a lot of things happening around us. There are many stories we can know from our life by reading news paper, news website, books, magazines and so on. It is a key to learning. When you have this key, you can open the door of knowledge. I can learn a lot of things from reading. I feel my road of future is enlighten by these words in the books. For me, reading is delicious. When I fell into the story, I'm just in it and forget about anything else. Reading  makes me fell replenished, not physically, but spiritually. Although I didn't travel to a lot of places, I feel I've been all around the world. I got into those plots and experience different cultures and met a lot of people. I like reading novels. My favorite books are "Fahrenheit 451", "The House on Mango Street", "Between Shades of Gray", "The Lost Symbol". I love the feeling of totally knowing the characters's inside world. Because in our real life, we all wear masks and pretend to be the people who we don't want to be. I can release myself by reading these novels. My emotion also change when the character's emotion goes up and down. I also love to reading in the library.It is a very good environment for reading. It gives a fantasy of all the things that are on the bookcase just come into my head. This is me and my reading. 

Seize The Day

"Greeting your ancestors in our native tongue, let them guide you to the place of your origin."
        I like this sentence because I have the same experience. I always try to talk to myself before sleep in Chinese. All my family members are in China, but I'm in America only by myself. I talk in Chinese about my day, my study, and my secret thought. I hope the wind can bring my saying to my parents to let them know my life in America. In this way I can release myself from a stressful day and subdue my miss to my family.

Positive effective classroom community

To have a positive effective classroom community, there are some characters that we need to have. First, we need to have a good learning environment. Everyone in the class should have a good study attitude. If your classmates are studying hard, and you will definitely want to join with them. Second, our students need to follow the rules in the class. We shouldn't break it and try our best to lead our class to a good direction. Third, we have to be willing to work with others in the class. Teamwork often can creat a lot of good and unexpected things. We can also communicate with others about our opinions. Fourth, we have to show respect to everyone in the class. Not only the teacher, but also our classmates. When a person is talking, we can't just interrupt him or her. We may say our opinions after his or her talking. The last one is that we need to participate in the class. We should speak out our thought and always follow the teacher's teaching. All these things are the base of our positive effective classroom community. We will definitely enjoy our studying in this classroom community.