Reflexion on "YOU" CHAPTER 9 TO 12

The phase of the story in terms of intensity, was layer over layers. And this time, it blew my expectation away once again. Joe was too smart and so bold, that literally made me start worrying about him, the karma he might get for what he has done. Remember the last time he only stole a phone? This time he kidnapped a person. Benji. 

Joe scammed Benji in a reason for buisiness, because Benji wanted to sale his club soda, so Joe disguised him self as a buyer and meets up with Benji. He guides him to the basement of the bookstore, said it was a nice place to talk about buisiness. Right after Benji enters the basement, Benji senses that something is wrong, but by the time he's starting to change his mind, Joe has already smashed a hammer in his face. Joe locks him into the acrylic cage and just gets back to work like nothing happened. 

Beck comes to the bookstore to thank Joe again for saving her from the rails, and Joe asks her out on a date, and she says yes! On the day of the date, Joe is over the moon, but Beck on the other hand was pretty distracted, worrying about Benji. And that was real generationly upsetting for Joe, he went back to the cage and asked Benji for his phone password in exchange for a line of heroin, and takes over his Twitter account. He starts posting a lot so Beck can finally stop thinking about Benji. And that is the problem happens in this generation, the social media controls everythings, people's mind, a few tweets could form up with a piece of truth. The details in this story kept warning us about the hidden and invisible dangers in our generation.

Beck asks Joe to go to her best friend Peach's party with her the next day. Peach throws this party every year on her parent's divorce anniversary to distract herself from thinking about it. She used this as an emotional blackmail to convince Beck for coming to the party, which has been emphasized that this is one of the feature of her personality. As soon as they arrive at the party, Peach immediately steals Beck away from Joe, leaving him to discover the house alone. He was admiring a very beautiful collection of first edition books that he found in one of the rooms when Peach came to talk to him, saying in a very casual but also sharp way, how impossible it is, to run into each other twice, in such a big city. Joe catches that sharp, detective tone, and he steals one of her expensive first edition books out of anger. As Beck and Joe are about to leave the party, a woman named Maddie came up to Joe and said that she heard about him and "Candace", and how she left so suddenly...

Even the mainline story was so intense, the author kept bringing us back into a peaceful and a lovely vibe to make us think that what Joe has done was not really scary, and made it seems like reasonable. I couldn't stop wondering: Is it a love novel or a horror novel. Actually, I don't want to find out it's caregory on google, I'll just keep reading and find the answer in the book. If you are still reading this, thank you very much, I hope you feel the same, and hopefully I'll See you next week!

Beat the reaper

 

Hey, it's your girl Katherine here. I started reading a new novel called "Beat the Reaper." I haven't finished reading the book. So, I would only provide a partial reflection.

Plot Summary: Meet Peter Brown, a youthful Manhattan Catholic doctor with an uncommon past about to catch up with him. His morning begins with the prompt disarming of a would-be mugger. However, Peter quickly takes down the mug because of Peter's mysterious past. Then, followed by a steamy elevator encounter with a sexy young pharmaceutical rep, topped off by a visit with a new patient— Nicholas LoBrutto, who was astounded to see Peter for some strange reason that seemed like it has something to do with Peter's past. Peter's day will get a lot worse and more bizarre because that patient knows Peter from his other life when he had a different identity and a very different job.

The only reason he's a doctor now is thanks to the Witness Protection Program—and even that can't protect him from the long reach of the New Jersey mob. Now he's got to do whatever it takes to keep his patient alive so he can buy some time and beat the reaper.

Afterthoughts: From the moment I started reading "Beat the Reaper"—which opens with the protagonist Dr. Peter Brown brutally, efficiently, and humorously taking out a mugger, and footnotes about the fibula and how removing it doesn't affect a person's ability to walk—I knew I was in for a wild ride. And from there, things get a lot crazier, starting with a colorful cast of characters.

Even crazier is the plot which jumps back and forth between the present-day and Peter's current job as a first-year intern at Manhattan Catholic, and his past life when Peter Brown was known as Pietro Brnwa, aka "Bearclaw," a noted hitman for the New Jersey mob. Of the latter, readers will get to learn about the protagonist's grandparents getting killed by mobsters as part of an initiation ritual; Pietro ironically joining the mob himself; getting revenge against his grandparents' murderers; becoming a hitman; finding—and losing—the love of his life Magdalena; being betrayed by his best friend, and entering the Witness Protection Program. All excellent stuff—particularly a standout scene with man-eating sharks!—but what takes the cake is what happens when Pietro's past finally catches up with him in the hospital and how far he'll go to survive.

On the other hand, "Beat the Reaper" does have a few minor issues. Firstly, the beginning of the book can be perplexing with all of the footnotes. They are sometimes funny and sometimes informational, but not always necessary—and the narrative jumps around between the past and the present. Secondly, the narrative structure can get a bit tiresome after a while. Granted, the setup does help build the novel's suspense, but I thought the author could have mixed things up and tightened up the plotting. Thirdly, there's a lot of foreshadowing in the book, some of it excellent and unexpected, and some of it not so good. 

Review for Animal Farm Chapter1,2

One day, after Mr. Jones fell asleep, a white boar named “Major” gathered all animals of the Manor Farm. He said to the animals that it is the time for them to break free, curb their miserable condition of being controlled and exploited by human beings, and build a new world where “all animals are equal.”

I have read the book “Animal Farm” by George Orwell for the first two chapters. When I got this book, I was overwhelmed with excitement and curiosity. I always heard people talking about how famous this book is and how significant its existence is for the critique of the history and rhetoric of the Russian Revolution. With the opportunity to read books whatever we want, I thus choose this animal fable.

Since I haven’t finished the whole book, I would like to share several points I regard as attractive about this book.

1) The background of Animal Farm

The author, George Orwell, was an England born in India in 1903. The working experience of being a police in Myanmar after graduation from college made him resent Imperialism. Thus, when he returned to the UK, he hoped to pursue writing as his career. However, similar to most writers, he couldn’t make a living simply by writing. He was impoverished, and the condition of living underclass made him be inclined to support Socialism. In 1936, he joined the Trotskyists in Spain's civil war, witnessing the tyranny of communists and how they oppressed Trotskyists after they controlled the government. At the same time, the Soviet Union vigorously promoted and accused the ill of Trotskyist. The author knew the smear campaign of the Soviet Union after the experience in Spain. More importantly, it dawned on him “ how easily totalitarian propaganda can control the opinion of enlightened people in domestic countries.”

    When he returned to the UK from Spain, he found many proletarians and even intellectuals easily believed in the hypocritical image that the Soviet Union built. He regarded their misunderstanding toward the Soviet Union would bring out severe consequences in developing Socialism and diplomatic policies in the UK. Consequently, he hoped to write a story to reveal the truth of the Soviet Union, and that was also the birth of this book, Animal Farm.

2) Why it is called Animal “Farm.”

After realizing the book's background, I started to wonder why the author used “ farm” to title the book and what it implied. The animal farm symbolized Russia and the Soviet Union under Communist rule.

3) Reviews for reading chapters 1 and 2

 Major did a successful work to evoke each animal's aspiration to rebel against their master. He blew the pain point of each animal, directly hit their appeals. From individual profits to collective pursuits, I saw how smart and persuasive Major was. While from another point of view, these animals seemed to be so easily convinced. They deemed Major as their leader, so they believed in whatever he said. Major might somehow use his influence to control those animals to the aim he wanted to achieve. What appeared in my mind was that this plot was what would happen in our world. When we blindly followed somebody's advocacy, we might end up being used as a tool. 

When Major died, the strong ambition to revolt against human beings seemed to be weakened. Probably was out of the existence of the chief, the true value of their plan started to have different explanations by different animals, and also, the illustration of belief was not as central as when Major was still alive.

In the meantime, the behaviors of some animals were also ironic. They were originally planned to launch a great revolution, with a beautiful blue map, and an ambitious goal. However, some animals started to doubt the necessity of the rebellion, focusing on the short-term profit they can enjoy despite the fact under the ruling of human beings. Take the mare Mollie, for example, she only cared about whether she could still wear ribbons in her mane, or whether there still be sugar after the rebellion. I think these behaviors reflect two things: 

1) Their faith in rebellion is weak.

 After the head disappeared, their belief also faded away. No matter how vigorous and devoted they used to be, that kind of passion was built on the shaky foundation with ignorant awareness of their own behavior.

2) The disregard for mutual prosperity.

The plot might imply that no matter how crucial and precarious the situation is, there will always be people who rather choose to sit back and give up resistance. Major had told those animals they were exploited by human beings, and they would even be killed eventually. While after Major died, it seems that some animals show no cares for their authentic and long-term self-interest. They are short-sighted and lacked the willingness to build a prospective future for their descendants. 

The Book of Moods: WORK

  

This chapter talks about every kind of mood when doing our job. This author was an editor, and she was almost like a deputy manager to help run the department. As one of the supervisors, she needed to become a working model; offering spiritual support to her subordinates and providing physical assistance of work were stressed her out. The author once made a mistake at work, and what she first thought about how I should explain to my boss and subordinates? Of course, this was not the first time she made mistakes in the job, but her position was different this time. The boss would need to compensate and apologize to clients, and her subordinates' efforts were all drained by her careless action. She had a mental breakdown in the bathroom, yet she had no choice but to wipe her eyes and walk out to fix the problem.

  Honestly, this story is too ordinary to read, But it is, at the same time, so touching and so down-to-earth. 

  Recently I have been through some setbacks from my job as a project manager in an NPO. I decided to take this job in February, and I thought it would be a new opportunity to gain work experience, but I was WRONG. For example, I don't have strict work hours, and I thought it would be great for me since, in this way, I would be more capable of dealing with a variety of tasks. However, after approximately one month, I realized that I could not fit in this work. I am the type of person who needs to draw a line between work and home, and I did not even notice that before I accepted this job. It is extremely hard for me to tolerate endless work messages and calls, though I clearly know that is part of my job. I feel frustrated and less motivated at home because I cannot just relax and chill in my private space. In comparison, my colleague, who is relatively enjoying this working environment, tells me that he is doing quite well, for he is getting used to it and finding it more productive and effective.

  I felt more depressed after hearing his comments about my confession.

  Well, to think it in the optimistic way, now I know I need to find a job with regular work hours (wry smile).

Pride and Prejudice

A few days after the Bennet reunions, Mr. Collins comes to visit them. But he wants to inherit their properties, so he needs to marry one of Mr. Bennet's daughters. He first chooses Jane to be his wife, but later, Mrs. Bennet tells him that Jane is engaged with Mr. Bingley. And then Mr. Collins picks Elizabeth to be his alternative. However, facing Mr. Collins’s pursuit, Elizabeth turns him down straightly. It shows that she is brave to be a master of herself and doesn't compromise the traditional thoughts in that time. As I have mentioned before, a woman should marry a rich man with high social status. She notices some defects in Mr. Collins's character and follows her heart to make a decision. 

Compared to Elizabeth, Charlotte, who eventually becomes Mr. Collins's wife, chooses to follow the traditions since she is afraid to be alone for the rest of her life. She is eager to manage her house and be someone's wife no matter what defects her partner's character. We can see that Elizabeth is an independent and critical woman who tends to have her own opinions to the whole society instead of following the trends blindly. But it may also have another reason why Elizabeth is different from other women. That is, she is informed. She likes to read, which can give her more perspectives on things. That's how it makes Elizabeth different from Charlotte.

Soon after, Elizabeth meets Mr. William, a soldier, and is adopted by Mr. Darcy's father. After Mr. William said his story and relationship with Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is convinced and more resents Mr. Darcy. In Mr. William's opinion, Mr. Darcy interrupts him to manage the church that Mr. Darcy's father leaves since Mr. Darcy is jealous that his father likes Mr. William more than him. At this moment, I can’t help but wonder why Elizabeth believes what Mr. William says so quickly. She has known Mr. Darcy for a while and even longer than Mr. William. Even though Mr. Darcy is proud and arrogant, he has no sign of being despicable. I don’t think Elizabeth should accept it as true only by Mr. William’s words. People sometimes seem to believe what they have heard of rather than what they have seen and that's how misunderstandings are formed. I wish Mr. Darcy could explain the truth to Elizabeth in the following plots.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird – 3rd Reflection

 

The most apparent and easy to catch on theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is the injustice and unfairness some of the people were subjected to in the small and isolated town of Maycomb. The prejudice and hatred swirled in the place toward the black community, the poor ‘white trash’ community and the women since the first Finch founded and established the town. 

Harper Lee’s approach to expose the condition that the people were living in in the American south during the 60s is the most interesting writing choice to observe. Through the eyes of the 9-year-old that we follow, our hearts dance with her thoughts, her fears and her questions about the community. She herself had made the mistakes of putting people in a certain type of box, such as Cunninghams were supposed to be poor and uncaring for their own terrible situation, like Arthur Radley was a phantom that haunted the people of Maycomb for no apparent reason, and how Aunt Alexandra was this overly conservative and demanding woman that wanted to shape people to fit into her own ideology. 

But through Scout Finch’s gradual understanding of humanity, she realized everyone in this town; although sometimes would commit monstrous acts, was still human in their hearts. They have their own reasons, justified or not, to make those decisions. In the monumental case against Tom Robinson, we understood why Mayella Ewell lied in her testimony about Robinson assaulting her. We can never justify her lies, but we can all sympathize with her.

I recently watched a heart-wrenching crime documentary on the repent of people who sexually assaulted children, ‘What Drives A Family To Prey On Their Own - Incest: A Family Tragedy.’ The director, Edward Blackoff, interviewed a number of people who were assaulted by family members or had assaulted minors. And it was quick in the interview that the viewers would realize most of the offenders were victims once; they were preyed on by their own family members and lived in fear and pain one time. Of course, it doesn’t and can never excuse their hideous doings, but it opened up a brand-new perspective that this vicious cycle developed from a family tragedy and human psychology could never be stopped if we don’t act on preventing it. 

"Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen" chapter 4-5

How to tell a good story?

Now we know that story is the key to successful marketing, but how to tell a good story that makes your company stand out from the other competitors? Here comes the main character of this book, the SB7 Framework (StoryBrand 7-part Framework). By using this formula, companies can tell good stories that clarify their message and make communicating easy. 

There are seven basic elements that appear in almost every good story and movie, which are character, problem, guide, plan, call to action, failure, and success. These seven plot points can create an infinite variety of stories and they form the SB7 Framework. 

StoryBrand Principal One: A Character

(The customer is the hero, not your brand.)

The first step is to define what your customers want. Only when you identify their needs will they listen to you. Then, you have to let your customers know where you can take them. Once they see your brand as a trustworthy guide, they will likely engage. 

StoryBrand Principal Two: Has A Problem

In a story, the problem that the villain causes to the hero actually includes three levels: external problems, internal problems, and philosophical problems. External problems are the most obvious and often physical and tangible problems that heroes have to overcome. Internal problems are the emotional struggle caused by external problems, such as frustrations. Philosophical problems are the intangible values or dreams that are larger than the story itself and have a deeper meaning. 

However, companies often recognize only the external problems and sell solutions to external problems, but what customers really want is the solution to internal and philosophical problems. 

Take Starbucks for example. Starbucks deliver more value than just coffee; they provide a sense of sophistication and enthusiasm about life. They also offer a place for people to meet and to experience affiliation and belonging. Customers feel good about themselves when walking into a Starbucks. Since Starbucks understand how their customers want to feel, their customers are willing to pay more for their coffee because they sense greater value with each cup. 

Reflection

After learning the three levels of problems, I tried to apply it to my previous buying experiences. About a year ago, I needed a storage box for my clothes, so I searched online, trying to find a suitable one. After browsing through different styles of storage boxes, I decided to buy a detachable and foldable one. In this case, the external problem was that I needed a storage box. The internal problem was that I wanted it to be easy to carry and space-saving. The philosophical problem was that when I bought it from IKEA, I had the warm and comfortable feeling of home, which was the impression that IKEA gave me.

Lord of the Flies (pt. 2)

 Summary for what I've read this week:

The threat of the mysterious beast from the dark keeps haunting the boys in reality and in their dreams. After several quarrels, they summon courage to find the beast. Along the way to the mountain top, two leading characters, the leader Ralph and his second hand, Jack, who respectively represent ideals of "being content with the status quo" and "growing in adversities," have another several quarrels over how to survive and how to lead. Reaching the mountain top, Jack goes alone for the unknown where the beast might be dwelling, while Ralph avoids getting close to danger.

At this moment, the readers would have known that the beast is actually a fallen paratrooper who is now hung on a tree by his parachute, which is showed two chapters before. But in the kids' eyes, the human transforms into an ape-like beast under the influence of dark surroundings and fear rooted in their hearts. Returning to where Ralph stands, Jack shows rare hesitation when Ralph suggested going to take a closer look himself. Confirming the existence of the beast, Ralph and the boys was told to retreat by their subconsciousness. Even the brave Jack who stands for "growing in adversities" sees slight, almost no chance of fighting the beast with merely sticks they have in a deserted island.

Back to where they camp, Jack decides to overthrow Ralph's rule for the leader's lack of courage on the mountain top, but none of the other 10 boys agrees with him after his emotional speech. However, four of the boys go with Jack furtively after Jack's lone departure. They hunt down a boar as they are the only ones who have experience hunting while Team Ralph have only fruit to eat. Team Jack later raids Team Ralph and takes their fire which Team Jack don't know how to make, inviting other boys to join them for a feast. This invitation makes the heart of some littler boys tilt towards Jack, for all they think is nothing more than having fun.

My reflection:

As there are more serious tensions between the character, the story gets deeper. Not only do the boys have to survive and fight the threat from the island, they have to fight each other. The author gave the characters childish thoughts and lines, but I feel like they are adults fighting, because after all, that is actually how some adults fight: like kids, speaking the ill of each other to get more supporters for their party instead of recognizing each other's advantages and rationally communicate. In the middle of crisis, if people still fight like this and don't work as one, they will be doomed eventually.

And as always, the descriptive writing of the author pictures every detail of the settings and every motion of characters, making me feel like I'm actually stand there, seeing what they see, hearing them fighting.
 

Everything I Never told you: The contradiction of My Siblings

        Hi everyone. I'm your girl Joyceline again. Finally, I had read the second half of "Everything I never told you" in my spare time. It is beyond my view of the novel plot I have read before. The second half of the book is more tragic than the first. Indeed, as my log1, I introspect my relationship between my family, friend, and boyfriend through this novel. In my perspective, this novel will become a hot hit film because of its every climax, detail, and vivid writing style. Therefore, I made primary and secondary characters images to give you more empathy when going through what I have learned in this novel.

Summary

        The story came to the mother, Marilyn, who has come home. Hence, she still misses her children and finds out that she's pregnant and her name is Hannah. However, Hannah, the third child of Lee's family, is ignored by her parents. The Lees family uses silence to cover the problem between their relationship. For instance, The Lees had tried to forget mother had once left without saying goodbye. But it lingered, like a bad smell. It had suffused them so deeply it could never wash out. This issue causes the three children to hesitate the habit of not expressing their true feelings in their life problems. Moreover, the reader could notice children have to fight for attention from their parents through the old brother and Lydia's interaction. These three siblings' complicated relationships as if they reflected my actual siblings' relationship and family education.

The contradiction of My Siblings

       My family has three children, as the Lees family in this novel. I am the third child in the family. The love from parents is different from the third child in the story. I'm the favorite girl of my parents; even my brothers sometimes complain to my mother. As the favorite child, I suffer from Princess Syndrome a bit. My confidence is built by others' compliments, and I usually have an impressionable mind. It has several disadvantages of being the most favorite child. Even though I am twenty-one, I don't know how to cook a meal, drive a car, and manage financially. As the third child of the book, the compression resistance and independent ability are what I lack in my personality. This point could be mentioned in the sibling's relationship with my brothers. I realize my attitude is horrible at building confidence from others' compliments. The motivation for getting good grades is to make my parents proud of me. I proved that I was the perfect child for my brothers. Once, I got into a fight with my young brother, and he complained that my parents used grades to value the children's value. It was a standard error judging a person by its score in Taiwan's traditional culture. This social stereotype also occurs in Lee's family education, a Chinese American family. However, both my family and Lee's family have a standard way of trying to reach the developmentally appropriate. 

    On the other hand, my relationship with my brother was closer in my childhood than now. It is contradictory to living about twenty-one years together, and I gradually don't know my siblings. The old brother and younger sister have the same brown eyes as their Asian American father in the story; Lydia, the main character, has blue eyes like her American mother. These character settings reveal the nuance behind the story's development.

In contrast, my younger brother and I were like two peas in a pod during childhood. We both have two small eyes and single-fold eyelids. I am closer to my younger brother than the older one. However, when I grew up, my older brother and I were made from the same mold, and we had the same big eyes with double eyelids. This consequence is the gene chosen by your following personalities and encounters in your future life. In addition, humans usually read others' minds through their eyes, let alone in this pandemic. Individuals only could see others' eyes in the first impression. The eyes are the windows to the soul. Eyes are the tunnel of expressing one's feelings and emotions. A phrase reminds me of the spirit in "Lady on fire," a movie annals the female gender in the eight teen century. The film uses the gaze movement in lots of the plots rather than letting character speak up their thoughts. I consider this is why I chose silence to speak up my words to my brothers.    

The motivation for calling my family is when I read through the second half of the chapters. It was a long period of not caring for my siblings. Once, when I passed my brother's bedroom, I heard his weeping, but I ignored his sadness and pretended as if it had never happened. I regret at all my selfishness to my most relative person. I like the one in this novel as if this book is my diary. Suppose there's an answer at the end of the book. I desire to find the solution behind the complex connection with my loved family.

  

Reflection: Three Sisters (3)

 

Summary for this week:

 

Cibi, the eldest sister. Magda, the middle. Livi, the youngest. Menachem, sisters’ father. Chaya, sisters’ mother. Yitzchak, sisters’ grandfather.

 

    Compared to Cibi and Livi, Magda's life with her mother and grandpa is a lot easier. However, every Sunday, due to Shabbat, she has to hide in a secret chamber of their neighbor's house so as to prevent the Nazis' recruitment. It has been a year since Cibi and Livi went to the camp for work. One day, another selection takes place again; it's grateful that a kapo (their supervisor) helps them overcome this inhumane event again for their useful knowledge. They made it, luckily, once again. However, some of their friends didn't. Typhus, selections, and bullets came to them without announcements. There were more to suffer from.

 

 

Reflection

Life was not easy for them day by day. They were living under death threat every minute; no one knows what was coming next. And for Magda, maybe this form of life would happen to her soon. She had thought of going with the Nazis to look for her sisters, but her mom and grandpa stopped her. I'm not sure if it's a good outcome for her or not. Maybe she cannot tolerate the jobs, or she might be fine with them. Also, once she leaves, Chaya and Yitzchak would have less pressure on the food shortage.

This week, I was touched and shocked by some expressions in the novel. One is during the selection. Originally, Cibi was going to be examined before Livi, but she change the sequence of Livi and her. After they both survived this turn, Livi asked Cibi about the intention why she did that. "If you were sent to the left then I would have followed you," said Cibi. (Those who were sent to the left would be executed)  Moreover, Livi asked what if Cibi were sent to the left beforehand. And she replied, "I would have made sure you were out of sight before I went to the left, that you wouldn't see me and couldn't follow." I almost cried in this part. I saw Cibi's determination to protect and even stay with Livi no matter what, even to her death. It wasn't just getting wounded, but the most fearful consequence. I believe that most people are afraid of death, not to mention dying for someone voluntarily.

Another one is about one of their friends, Hannah, who came alone. One day, they met one another on a square. They were killing the lice mutually. But Hannah responded, " I'll let my dice die with me." Cibi and Livi required her to ask her kapo for medicine to cure the sores. Hannah promised them and implored them to sit together in the sun with her. Next Sunday, more exactly, every Sunday, they never saw Hannah again. I was wondering, were they the "murderers" as they requested her to "ask?"  Because anyone who was found weak would become useless and got killed. Their lives have no difference with lice's. Sitting in the sun was the most luxurious thing they could do. I can hardly imagine the hardship they experienced while living with ease. 

Thoughts on After the End

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Genres: fiction

What is your definition of life?

The book separates into two parts. What happened? And what happens after the end. It is a book everyone should read as other readers are commended on the back of the book. But to be more specific, it is a discussion on what is life which I really recommended people in their adulthood have a read on it.

Brief story: A two-year-old current resident in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) of the same hospital where he was born just a couple of years earlier Dylan, because of his brain tumour triggered by pneumonitis. His mother, Pip, takes a long break from her job to take care of her son in the hospital. His father, Max, is a worker frequently travelling between the US and the UK.

When your beloved one is suffering, fighting for the tremor weeks and months from every kind of treatment, a new treatment introduced to you, not that it will make them walk out of the hospital again, but to prolong their lives. Would you take it?

I have spent every day with my son since he was admitted to hospital last autumn. I’ve been there when he’s had seizures so bad they’ve had to sedate him, when they’ve given him morphine for the pain. I’ve learned how to suction his saliva, how to massage his back to lessen the secretions, how to manipulate his arms and legs so they don’t waste away.  

Life biggest question. The most compelling and vital is the decision. Max and Pip have different wishes, but they both agree the point – they do the best for their son, Dylan. What is the best? As in one of the author’s interviews, I can somehow give the view of the two main characters on life. Max hope for the quantity of life; Pip hopes for the quality of life. No right or wrong here, I have to state. Max tried his best to give life back to his son; meanwhile, he was concerned about the aftermath of the new treatment. Asked the doctor how it would the life be for his son. Pip, on the other hand, refuses to let her son live the way he’ll live if he survives.

Public's child. The other part I notice is the fundraising that Max put up on Twitter. The influence of social networks has done its job – spreading to more residents and media. Reports and stories of them shape in a way the public wants. On the flip side, titles and shorten-stories didn’t cover the whole thing. Invective to Pip, calling her the mother of the son enduring serious condition the murderer. The public is keenly aware as if he is their child. I find it so heart-wrenching but realistic.

I couldn’t cover all my thoughts here. But this book just indicates how life indeed can be. And trust me, the best part of the book is after the life ends of Dylan, which is the last one-third of the book. How we wish to stand at the fork of the road and hope that we could see the end of each route of the paths because we could know which one to take.

/

Question: How would you treat a life? Surviving/Existing with a bearable condition which could quickly be used to it. Or struggles and challenges through life without knowing when to end and if it could succeed.

The Metamorphasis - 2nd Book Reflection Part 2

 

In the previous reflection, I mentioned the first chapter illustrates Gregor Samsa's, a traveling salesman, plethora of mundane and inconsequential problems as he is faced with the transformation of a monstrous vermin (huge insect). What seems a terrible turn of events cannot be more horribly handled and executed. As the clock strikes 6am in the morning, which is overpassed his usual wake-up time by an hour, there are a number of people trying to get inside Gregor's room unassumingly thinking he has not yet gotten up from his sound sleep. As they were to try their best to get inside the room, Gregor's metamorphosis has begun to take place. The moans exuding relentlessly from him were enough signs to alert the family even more. 

Gregor's Relationship With His Family

The Samsa family was a family of 4, consisting of Gregor, his sister, father, and mother. Throughout the whole entire novel, apart from the main protagonist, the other family members were not given a name. They are always called "father" and "mother." This writing tactic was a clever way to have a better point of view of the main character, to actually be in his shoe. After the whole altercation at the front doors of Gregor's bedroom, they have finally seen what a monstrous vermin Gregor has become. While remaining conscious of his human past life and the inner complexity of human emotions, the metamorphosis initiates the indifferences with his family. Which cause another plethora of problems that made Gregor's relationship with his parents grow bitter, only seeing him as a 'challenge' or an 'impediment'. 

This reflects the author's relationship with his own parent. Having not the best father figure in the whole world, Franz endured indifference with his father. Franz was good at writing, but his father wanted him to follow the family business and attribute it to capitalism. He, then, suffered through years of drudgery. Only writing stories on the sidelines, never seeing his own potential. As we dissect even further into the name Gregor Samsa, the Czech meaning for "I am" translates to "jsem", and "alone" to "sám". If we put the words together, it generates the sentence "I am alone." As it was like in the novel for Gregor. As it was like for Franz in his own life. 

Reflection

Having my own indifferences with my own family, I could not help but feel at home at Franz Kafka's writing. In the book, Gregor lost his ability to speak human language but still remains his human consciousness. In some ways, I have felt the same thing with my own parents, and they have as well with me. A lot can attribute to the mutual silence, like the generation gap, idealogy differences or we are just not fit into talking the emotions out. Nonetheless, my personal unfavorable experience has become the backbone of my relatability and fondness over Franz Kafka. He remains my all-time favorite underrated writer of his own time. 

TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY (part II)

This is my second part of the reflection, about 13 reasons why. I'm going to discuss the teenagers' suicide problem in this log. Also, I want to point out the issues of peer bullying. 

Book Intro

Hannah Baker is a high school student who suicided because of being bullied in the school. More specifically, Hannah's classmates spread rumors about her, laughed at her, excluded her from the class, what's worse, she was once raped. Hannah used 7 tapes to record the 13 reasons why she ended her life. There will be 13 people in the recording. Hannah explained about what role that person plays in her death. 

Reflection

In the previous log, I talked about some features of the book and the importance of helping. This time, I'd like to focus on the problem of teenage suicide, which is the biggest issue in this book. In the novel, Hannah is bullied by her classmates, so she chooses to kill herself. And I think this is also a serious problem that usually happens in real life. We see many news reports that there are students who jumped off a building. This may be because their peers isolate them or are under a lot of pressure. Actually, as a teenager, we cared about our peers very much, even sometimes more than our family. At this young age, our mentalities are not mature enough. One word or one action can have a big influence on our minds. That's why so many unfortunate things happened. People usually say that those who commit suicide are very selfish or don't cherish their lives. They don't think about their family or people who still love them. However, in my opinion, if I were Hannah, I won't care about other people. I know that's selfish, but I was painful and suffering. I will choose to end my life and release myself rather than live tragically. We don't know how desperate they were when most people decided to die. We can't keep blaming suicide people, and we should try to think from their perspective. We meet many setbacks and failures in our life. If we can turn them into motivation and continue life, that will be better.  

This is the #1 NEW YORK TIMES and international bestseller; I highly recommend this book to teenagers. Maybe after reading this novel, there will be some changes or inspirations. I read the comments on my last blog post, many classmates have read 13 reasons why before. This is really a popular novel! I will try to watch the NETFLIX series when I have spare time. I hope that the series will make me feel something different from the book.

The Midnight Library part II

Hello, this is Chiho! This is a second reflection of The Midnight Library, if you are interested in this novel, I suggest you to go to the first reflection and come back here, so you can get to know the story better ! 

Summary

 Nora is now trying a new life in Australia where her best friend Izzy is living. When she transferred from the library she was in the pool. She swam some and recalled that she used to love swimming a lot. In the water, it disappears everything. Her focus had always been very unmixed that she thought of nothing else. In this world, Nora has friends, Nora loves to write a poem, and the relationship with Dan was going alright. Everything seems to go smoothly. However, Nora noted that a different life didn't mean a different planet. A couple of hours later, she went out of the swimming pool and headed to her home. She was expecting that she lived with Izzy, but she couldn't find Izzy even at the home. Instead, she met one flatmate. When Nora was chatting with that mysterious flatmate and asking her what happened to Izzy. That mysterious flatmate gently told her that Izzy was dead in a car accident on Nora’s birthday. 

Nora immediately was sent back to the library. She told Mrs. Elm that each life, she was stuck by something, so she would like to have a life where she isn’t stuck, and a life where she is successful with something. While Nora was talking with Mrs. Elm, she started to wonder about the life where she did everything that her dad wanted, and she reached the Olympics by swimming. 

The next moment, she woke up by the phone alarm. It was 6:30 am and she was in the luxury hotel room. In this new life, she was a swimmer who had won a gold medal and a silver medal at the Olympics. She even held a world record for women’s 400 m freestyle at the World Aquatic Championship. When Nora was strolling the room, somebody called her. It was Nadia, who Nora’s father was having an affair with. Different from her root life, her dad was still alive, however, he was having an affair, and due to that Nora’s mom died earlier. Although she was dedicated to swimming and was doing all the things that her dad wanted her to do, her dad was still as cold as he always was. After the phone call, Nora was back in the hot’s vast conference room and giving a speech. Instead of giving a speech like how she succeeded or how she trained, she discussed how depressed she is, how much frightening this life is. Right after she finished her speech, she was sent to the library. 

For the next life, Nora chose the life of being a glaciologist which Mrs. Elm kept encouraging her to be and Nora wanted to be in her original life. Is her life finally going to end? What is a spotter? 

Reflection

Damn, I love this novel a lot!!!!! This is the best English novel I've ever read before!!!! I wish I had more time to read this book. Nora is definitely a symbol of negative emotions. I can have sympathy on every feeling she expresses. Unlike fantasy novels, all the wounds she had had are very real ,all of the terrible incidents happened to her can might happen to us. But on the other hand, I am bit intolerable to see her life. Every life, she needed to face some tragic events and felt sorrow and disappointment. For instance, if she didn't try life being a swimmer, she didn't need to realize that her dad never cared about Nora like he used to do in her original life. When we faced some tragic events, we instinctively delete those memories, however, Nora has to face these again! Imagine, you need to try a new life that you don't know whether you can live life happily ever after, it might harm your heart again or might let you face new events that harm your heart. It's like you can try a new life based on the movie but you can't know whether it is a happy ending or not. And what's more, you need to try again and again until you find the life which is perfect for you. Hell no, for me, it’s just like I’m tortured unlimitedly but never die. 

Log 4, Flipped

 

Hello, this is Carolyn again. In my free time this week, I finally ushered in the end of this book, and the most important thing is that this is the first English original novel I have completed in this study process. After reading this novel, I was deeply indulged in Juli. From the beginning of the book, we know that Juli has been approaching and adoring Bryce since the first sight of him. However, Bryce has always avoided her as a "plague" and believes that Julie has deeply affected his life. However, after reading the entire novel, I discovered that Julie is a near-perfect existence, even perfect that I am very envious. Next, I will present a few points that I have observed for a brief exposition.

 At first, we were offended by Juli's crazy behavior towards Bryce; however, as I said in Log 3, the incident about the sycamore tree taught me to get to know Juli deeply. From my perspective, she is very self-confident and bright in learning, which shows in comprehending the notion beyond her ability.; Also, she is brave and dares to approach the people she likes. Moreover, she is kind and knows how to take the initiative to apply to her father to visit her uncle, who is mentally disabled. The most appealing thing is that Juli loves and is eager to be close to nature, and she knows how to appreciate the beauty of nature, who will talk to sycamore trees and chickens that she has cultivated. As mentioned above, those show that she has an intense curiosity and enthusiasm for everything, and also the drive that she had are qualities that most people lack these days. Obviously, she still retains this quality, which makes me believe she is completely attractive. Likewise, we can find in the novel that the sycamore tree incident also seems to be the turning point in Bryce's discovery of falling in love with Juli. From the incident, he may have discovered the advantages of Juli, such as freedom, bravery, kindness, firmness, and so on. To my knowledge, Julie was also full of magic for Bryce, and he began to be deeply attracted by Julie.

Nevertheless, he felt despondent when he found out that Juli didn't like him as much as before. Thus, this is the evidence that revealed Bryce fell in love with Juli. Although he initially only avoided and feared Julie, when Julie continued to show her charm and kept her enthusiasm for life and love for various things, he finally couldn't help but fall in love with her.

Therefore, what I want to share with you in this reflection is "the importance of having one's own charisma." In today's society, we will find that everyone is pursuing the so-called "standard beauty" regardless of gender. Still, they gradually lose their original self in blindly following "standard beauty." Imagine that is such beauty really attractive? When there is only one form of beauty in the world. Back to my experience, I used to try to change my image and behavior under other people's opinions, which led me to lose myself in the process. It is no exaggeration to say that I don't know who I am at that time. In my opinion, we can accept other people's suggestions to us. Still, we can't be attracted by a person's partial charm all the time, such as the handsome and beautiful face, fashionable dress, and so on. Thus, we should respect our individual nature traits because there's useless to change ourselves with one word. As mentioned in the novel, "the whole being greater than the sum of the parts." We need to cultivate our own charisma, maintain curiosity and enthusiasm for life, and even constantly invest in ourselves to make ourselves more valuable. Thus, instead of trying hard or making the other person like you, it is better to cultivate your abilities, build your own personality charm, and form a certain degree of irreplaceability when you have someone you are attracted to. Finally, the person who suits you will come to you and maybe meet someone better.

From my perspective, a good relationship should be two people who appreciate each other, make progress together, and continue to become better people for each other. Of course, the focus of cultivating your charisma is not only for a good relationship but also to make yourself more robust and more confident. To sum up, everyone is unique. Only when we find our personality traits and show them in time can we enjoy our belonged life.

Atomic habits (Part II)

 

Hello everyone, this is Christy. The following paragraph will taking about the second part of this book, atomic habits.

Key things that I have learnt in this week:

To us, we all believe that goal is somethings that lead to our happiness. Therefore, we always chase for goals in our life. However, when we reached our goal  we will keep on finding the new goal for us. Life is just like a process of chasing goals one and one over.

1. Three layers of behavior changes

For each behavior, there are total three layers, which are outcomes, processes and identity.

Outcomes layer: 

This focus on the result of the habit. For example, if you want to keep fit, and outcomes layers means the result which is having a slim body.

Processes layer:

This layer focus on changing the habit and systems.

Identity layer:

This layer means that focus the belief and change your personal identity.

Most people would like to process the habit formation from outer circle to the inner one. They would first making an expected outcomes. However, scientific proved that creating the habit from the inner one to the outer one will truly successfully build up the habits.

2. Four steps for creating a good habit and remove the bad ones.

The fours steps that lead to a good habit including cues, craving, response and reward. We 

would talk a bit more details about the fours steps on the following chapter. But for this week, I have read more about the steps on making cues. Cues is something can help to trigger your brain to do something. Therefore, for good habit, you should make the cues much obvious while the bad habit, try to keep it more unnoticeable. 

Feedbacks:

    After reading several chapters for this week, I have learnt several skills that can improve my life. Sometimes we would have the crave for making a new habit. For example, I always want to become such a tidy person. From time to time, I would tidy my working desk, my drawers and makes everything are organized after that big improvement. However, I would find out that my desk starts to be untidy after several days. This looks like an unstopped cycle for me and that's makes me feel kind of frustrated.

   Then, at this points the skills that I have learned in this books really work!!! I use the first steps for changing my identity by two simple steps in this book. First is that I have decide the type of person that I want to be and then I prove it myself by a small wins.

   Therefore, I try to think of becoming a tidy person, giving myself small rewards. Days by days, it works!!

Beowulf and Grendel

 

    From line 703 to 982, It talks about the fight between Beowulf and Grendel. In summary, knowing that Grendel is envious, resentful, and angry toward mankind, and Grendel especially resents the light, joy, and music he observes in Hrothgar's beautiful mead-hall called Heorot. Therefore, Beowulf and his warriors sang poetry and music to kind of spice up the vibe in Heorot. During the night of, Grendel bursts into Heorot. He tears the door from its hinges with his bare hands and immediately devours a Geatish warrior while Beowulf carefully observes. To me, this is probably the most excited part, because in my previous log, I have mentioned, in the story, it didn’t specify whether Grendel is a male or female, but the story made Grendel sounds like a man, so it's quite hard for me to imagine a giant man eating another man in the bloody way so easily. 

    Then when Grendel reaches out to snatch up Beowulf, he is stunned to find his arm gripped with greater strength than he knew possible. He was terrified like a cornered animal, Grendel was about longing to run back to the safety of the swamplands. But Beowulf took him down just in second. The combatants crash around the hall, rattling the walls and smashing the mead-benches. Grendel begins to shriek in pain and fear; the sound terrifies all who hear it. Beowulf’s men heroically hack at the demon as Beowulf fights with him, but no weapon on earth is capable of harming Grendel. Beowulf summons even greater strength and rips Grendel’s arm completely out of its socket. Fatally wounded, Grendel slinks back to his swampy home to die. Back in the mead-hall, Beowulf holds up his glory trophy in triumph. He proudly hangs the arm high on the wall of Heorot as proof of his victory.

    In the battle against Grendel, was so full of determination that he was willing to bear arms and fight with Grendel. When Beowulf fought Grendel, he fought with a courageous and confident attitude, and I believe that his attitude is what made him win, because his attitude gave him the confidence that he needed to stand in front of a huge monster and fight for victory. But when Beowulf won the battle he wasn't satisfied with just knowing his victory, because after the fight, which I didn't mentioned, he actually  cut off Grendel 's arm and mounted it as a trophy of his victory, showing the world how foolhardy his attitude was, proving that a victory isn't enough to  satisfy his needs. So my conclusion is that, is good to show that you are a courageous and confident person, but make sure to stay humble too, otherwise it will make others think you are just too hypocritical.

The Lady In the Lake

 

The lady in the lake is a detective novel written by Raymond Chandler. This novel is about Detective Philip Marlowe is looking for Derace Kingsley’s wife, Crystal. Is she dead or not? Marlowe finds more than one dead body and learns about women, drugs, men in love, and a police cover-up. Who killed The Lady in the Lake and why?

I choose another detective novel by Raymond Chandler to see the differences between his works. The more I read, the more I admire how the author designs the plot of crime. Whenever I read a detective novel, I read fast and can't wait to know who the murderer is. When I almost finish the story, there's sometimes a plot twist that reverses what I've speculated. It is the surprise that makes me enjoy the detective novels a lot. 

Also, I found out the law regarding the detective novel. It's complicated relationships. Every character has a slight connection with the dead so that everyone is likely to be the murderer. That's the necessity to keep a story going on. But sometimes, there are too many relationships to figure out in the novel. At this moment, I'll skip those plots and jump to the ending. Am I an impatient reader? I don't know. I just want to know who the murderer is without too much setup. (lol)

The trigger of murder is love in this book. It's somehow related to social issues nowadays. Love can be a driving force behind a crime. For instance, people kill their lovers because they fail to get back together. That's what we call "horror lovers." In other cases, some celebrities get killed by their extreme fans. Love is supposed to be a pleasant feeling between people. How come it would be a potential motive of the crime? To think carefully, when the love toward someone grows stronger, what you will feel is definitely more than jealousy or something else. I can somehow resonate with this kind of situation. For instance, as a fan of BTS, whenever I see or hear people leave hate comments, I always think of replying to those haters by saying nasty words and wishing all the bad things happen to them. But I don't want to be a hater of those haters. I choose to be rational in the virtual and the real world. Therefore, I think whether love becomes the trigger of the crime depends on the rationality of humans. 

1984

 

Introduction

"Nineteen Eighty-Four"(1984) was published in 1949, written by English writer George Orwell. It is a dystopian social science fiction novel depicting the world in 1984, using the protagonist Winston Smith to unveil the dark side of this dictatorial world.

Feedback

The first time I read "1984" was in high school, and I was shocked by the plot and how precisely George Orwell depicted this world. As a result, "1984" was my favorite book during high school. However, I read the Chinese version at that time, so I think it would be a great opportunity to read it again in the original version.

"Big brother is watching you."

I guess it is impossible for people in 1949 to picture such a world in the novel. But for us, who live in 21 century, we would find so many similarities compared to the modern world. The most famous quote in "1984" is, "Big brother is watching you." In Great Britain(book's imaginary state), people are under surveillance by the government. They can not express any suspicion toward the Party; otherwise, their life will be threatened by Thought Police. However, thanks to the successful brainwashing, it is rare that people will show any distrust. The whole story is under a gloomy atmosphere because no one knows whether "Big Brother" is watching or not.

Big Brother is the leader of Oceania, he is idealized and brave, but he never showed up in "1984." In my opinion, he is a made-up person, and the reason why the Party creates such a leader is that it is much easier for people to understand the situation. Besides, people are more tend to follow an "icon" more than the government, just like current North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, people adore or even worship him, treat him like God.

In the story, Winston and his lover Julia wanted to rebel but ended up finding the place they hid that was already under Thought Police's control. When reading this plot, I cannot help thinking, "Is there anyone we can trust?" Back to the present, 2022, the era in which everyone has their own smartphone, didn't we just provide a perfect tool for the government or other people with bad intentions to track? 

What is truth?

Winston works at the "Ministry of Truth," and his job is to distort history. Whenever the Party announces something different than previous words, Winston has to rewrite the news and destroy the original one. People should follow whatever the government said, and if they said 2+2=5, that is also correct. 

I have always thought that history is unshakable, but I started to doubt it after reading this novel. Do People really that easy to be manipulated? Independent thinking is essential, but what if the so-called "independent thinking" is constructed on a fake world?

In Great Britain, there have "Thought Police," these people will control and monitor citizens, and if anyone shows any "incorrect" thoughts, Thought Police will put them in jail and "purify" them. Thought Police made me think of China, which only permits one voice. As Taiwanese, it would not be unfamiliar to see the celebrities "admit their faults" and apologize to Chinese people. 

If we only live in the echo chamber, only listen to the things we want to hear, only watch the things we want to see, then what is the point of living? I think one of the essences of life is to become a better self, but how can we improve if we reject and eliminate different opinions? "1984" is not only a cautionary tale but also makes readers reflect on themselves. 

"1984" is definitely a masterpiece, whether in the past or present. Every time I read it, I will admire the author George Orwell again on how he precisely predicted the future. This novel discussed so many aspects, and each of these is worth diving deep into. I raised so many questions after reading "1984," although I still cannot figure out the answer, and maybe we will never find out, but it is still nice once we start to discuss these issues.