The Book Thief My Favorite Chapter: The Joy of Cigarettes

 The Joy of Cigarettes

Exchanging books with Cigarettes:

Lisel's foster papa, Hans Hubermann, is the one who steps into Lisel's heart and caress her pain of the loss of dear brother and mother. When arriving Hubermann's household, Lisel resembles a bird losing her wings that fly her to the sky and holds no beliefs to anyone. Hans bends his back, stretch his head into the car, and reaches hand to the dazed girl with eyes covered with sorrows. Hans treats Lisel in a way that all the fathers do to their daughters, even better. To make Lisel talk, Hans talks about the book when finding her holding it in hands on the bed. It is a book belonging to her brother. Naturally, Hans reads the book to Lisel and teachers her the meanings of every words she doesn't comprehend. Sitting by her bed, he reads from chapter to chapter in a voice fatigue, desire to sleep, but never tiredness. Sometimes, Hans can't resist the heaviness of eyelids and falls into dream beside Lisel's bed. Lisel will wake him up with excitement to know the following story. Then Hans will take in a deep breath to refresh his mind, opens up his eyes and read "Chapter Twelve, Respecting the Graveyard." By the end of the night, he stretches his back and invites his highness to the breakfast. 

The last passage of that book goes like this:

We at the Bayern Cemetery Association hope that we have informed and entertained you in workings, safety measures, and duties of grave digging. We wish you every success with your career in the funerary arts and hope this book has helped in some way. 

(I will fall asleep in the very beginning of it if I were Lisel. It is amazing of her to be awake the whole night and focus on story-telling huh?)

On first Christmas Lisel has with Hubermann's family, she doesn't expect to get gifts from foster parents, clearly knowing that she is lucky enough if she has good food on Christmas' Eve with bad financial condition of the family. To her surprise, she finds a newspaper-wrapped present in the bright snowing morning. Book small books are in there. She hugged both of her foster parents in joy and thrills. Another morning, she pops out the questions bothering her for long when all are eating soup. "I just wanted to know how you found the money to buy my books." she asked. Then Hans took out the tabacco ration to roll a cigarette. "Are going to tell me or not?" she asked impatiently. Hans laughs and tells her that he is telling her. He makes cigarettes to exchanges books. Eight cigarettes for one book. It sounds strange right? People take education through the help of thing we are told not to touch. Except for books, he exchanges some dresses that Rosa in desperate needs and sometimes eggs. There is no denying that cigarettes bring them joy.

Questions:

Who was the first person teaching you to read and write?

Who accompanied you through out the night with sleepy face?

Who always thought of what you needed and wanted?

My answer to all questions above is my grandpa who left me 9 years ago. He was a wise old gentleman with strong body figure and passion for game-playing. There was nothing that I didn't count on him. By the time night forcing people to go to bed, I couldn't get in my dream so often with insecure of being lost in there or meeting human-eating monsters. Whenever that happened to me, he hugged me into his arms that could protect me from every harm, telling me stories of him being carpenter, fighting with gangsters, being haunted by the ghosts and et. It was so mean of him telling me a frightening story during bedtime, but I was never frighten because he always ended the stories by telling me how he kills those ghosts and monsters so bravely. 

As my grandpa, He rarely turned my requirements down, almost never. Candies, pinky bags, princess dresses and gigantic dolls, would all appear on my birthday, piped up like a mountain. Despite his few salary from being a school guard, he tried his best to satisfy a willful and difficult girl. However, I was spoiled because he taught me to be granted when I became a third grader by taking me to do some volunteering works. Instead of telling me how lucky I was to have those sources, he showed me people with almost nothing. in the process of helping others, I gained tremendous feedback from the people I helped and acknowledged that I should cherish what I had. Like what I said, he was a wise man, just like Hans to Lisel. 

You must have people like my grandfather to me:) And I would like to know~~~You comment below and share your story with me. 

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

 

Intro

"The Boys in the Striped Pajamas" was published in 2006, written by Irish novelist John Boyne. The novel is about Holocaust, and the writer used a nine-year-old boy Bruno to lead readers to take a peek at his life in "Out-With" and his journey with his new friend Shmuel.

Feedback

Before I read "The Boys in the Striped Pajamas," I had no idea what this novel was talking about. The only thing I knew was that it was about Holocaust. I have to say, this novel blew my mind and took my breath away. The protagonist Bruno is a nine-year-old boy, and his father is a commander in the concentration camp. One day, Bruno was told to pack his things and move to a new place due to his father's promotion. The name of that place they moved into is called "Out-With."(After I looked up online, I found that the author referred to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.) Bruno was desperate because he had lost all of his friends and had no one to talk to except his annoying sister. One day, Bruno decided to explore the area around Out-With, and unexpectedly, he found a boy named Shmuel on the other side of the fence.

One of the interesting things about this novel is that the readers already knew about the concentration camp and knew how cruel the Nazi was, but our protagonist Bruno has no idea what is going on. He only knew was that he was forced to leave his friends and cozy house in Berlin, and he also knew that his father was a good person. However, he didn't understand why many people were living on the other side of the fence and all wearing striped "pajamas"; he didn't understand why one of their servers once was a doctor, but now the only thing he had to do was to peel the potatoes; he didn't understand why Shmuel was so afraid of soldiers and didn't like Bruno's father. Bruno lived in a comfortable environment and he didn't have to worry about his next meal. However, because Shmuel was Jews, he had a totally different, miserable life compared to Bruno.

I have always been interested in reading Holocaust-related novels or movies because I want to know how brutal humans could be. Why did these people think they had the power to control others' life, even to end them? Till now, many similar things keep happening, which always makes me feel shocked and depressed. 

While reading this novel, I felt like I went on a journey with Bruno. He gradually realized the dark side of this world, although he still didn't fully comprehend everything. I admire how the author designed the plot, especially at the end of the story, he left readers in shock and sadness. I like what he said in the author's note, "Fences such as the one at the heart of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas still exist; it is unlikely that they will ever fully disappear." Although we don't have a physical fence to separate people nowadays, we still have a barrier between people. If we are all willing to spend some time understanding others, maybe one day, these fences will disappear.

History background of animal farm

Hello guys! How is your spring break? 

I am still reading the Animal Farm, and am currently in chapter 5. So far, animals have successfully overthrown human being. They build up a new system and enact seven commandments.

1.        Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2.        Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3.        No animal shall wear clothes.

4.        No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5.        No animal shall drink alcohol.

6.        No animal shall kill any other animal.

7.        All animals are equal.

When I read these commandments, I think they all look ideal. It’s like the core of any kind of value or pursuit starts from things that those seven commandments. We humans set up rules out of the interest of each member in the group, refuse kinds of stuff that lead to corruption, and call for unity. While the most important part is, that we advocate that every person is the same. Nonetheless, what usually happened is that with the development of the systems or the bigger ambition and aspiration of leaders, ideologies end up being deformed or even collapsed. Characters in animal farms actually imply such a thing.

The prototype of Mr. Jones, the original owner of the animal farm, is actually Nicholas ll, who is the last tsar of Russia, and the rebellion of animals stands for the first overthrow of the system of autocracy. There were 3 main causes for the Russia Revolution: political, social, and economic. Politically, people at that time were dissatisfied with the existing autocratic system, which culminated in the Bloody Sunday massacre. Thousands of unarmed Russian workers were shot by the Tsar’s troops when they were trying to plead for justice. Socially it formed the centuries of oppression towards the lower classes by the regime at that time as well as Nicholas’s failures in World War I. Economically was because of the outdated economy in Russia at that time, when its agriculture was largely relied on independent peasants instead of modern machinery.

Aside from the background of the book having something related to authentic history, other animals are actually the miniatures of real historic people. 

Old Major, the key character who inspired the rebellion, is actually based on Lenin, the leader of the Russian revolution. And then his successors, Napoleon, Snowball, represented Stalin and Trotsky, respectively. Horses actually imply the working classes; they believe the government, and are willing to devote themselves for the government. Ravens are the intellectual classes, they realized what the government tries to achieve, and even the schemes of the government, while they don’t really speak up for that. 

I always enjoy the process of reading the book first, and then finding out the profound meaning and historic background behind the book. It’s amazing to realize that such a slim book conveys so many things that are worthy to further investigate and get to know. Also, it’s also a great opportunity to realize history this way!

An Abundance of Katherines

    Welcome to my log 5! This semester, I choose three books to read and write my reading log. This is the last book, "An Abundance of Katherines". I was looking for my last book in the library. And suddenly I was attracted by the cover of this book. Also, the book title was extraordinary. I google the book for introduction, then I realized this is a book about love. It has a nice book cover and pretty good content. So, I decided to borrow the book from the school library! 

Book Intro

    This book was written by John Green. The author has another famous book called “The Fault in Our Stars.”, which I think is more familiar to most of you. It also adapted to movie in 2014.

    The main character in ”An abundance of Katherines” is Colin Singleton. When it comes to relationships, Colin’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. Not Kate, or Katie, or Catherine, it must be K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls, all of them had been named Katherine. And all of them, every single solitary one—had dumped him!

    The summer of senior high graduation, Colin was dumped by the nineteenth Katherine. In order to get rid of the pain, Hassan, Colin’s friend, suggested to have a road trip. Then they embarked on a journey without destination. During the journey, Colin gave himself a task. Using the past experience to create a formula to predict the future of one relationship.

Reflection

    Actually, I only read 10 chapters until I write the log. So I would basically write about the first 10 chapters. In the beginning of the book, it was the morning after Colin graduated and was dumped by the nineteenth Katherine. Colin took a bath. It seemed to be the best way for him to escape, escaped from the melancholy. The author mostly write about the interaction between Colin and his family. His parents sat together on his bed, waiting to comfort Colin's bad mood. I probably understand how painful the break-up is. Because many friends would come to me and complain about her ex-boyfriend. I think the author is very good at describing people's emotions. I can feel the same when reading his text. It really puts me into the situation. Also, when you break up with someone, it's critical to find a person to talk to. In the book, Hassan came to comfort Colin. Try his best to make Colin laugh. Finally Colin's mood is getting better because of the companion of Hassan. Friends are always important in our life. Imagine this, if you're under lots of sorrow but no one can listen to you and help you share the feelings, isn't that pathetic? 

Never let me go

Log 5

Never let me go

Kazuo Ishiguro

2006/01/05

The theme of the story is clones. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were grown up in a boarding school, named Hailsham. All of the students in this school didn’t have parents, and most of them live isolated from the rest of the world. Students in this school were special They were looked after well, and were required to perform well academically and physically. Needless to say, there were many excellent students in this school. However, when they grew up, they would not be part of society. They were given unique tasks at the moment they were born. They were designated to be the donator of organs, in order to continue human lives.

Besides the identity of the donator, they were allowed to be the caregiver. They were responsible for takig care of those donators who were weak after donations. When taking care of their peers, they were waiting for their first donations. Most of the donators were alive until the third donation. They would pass away in their midlife. Although there was no clear statement, they were not defined as human. They are clones. They are nothing but tools to donate organs.

The description of the story was from the insight of clones, about how they face themselves and how they treat the world. Their lives are meant to be short. What’s more, the time of death and the way to dead were literally clear.  They were having no misgivings about their destiny. However, they were still eager to hope. They accepted their identities, but they anticipated to real one. Frankly speaking, although clones are born by gene copies, they owned their emotions and feelings, like the donee did. In the end, using true love to exchange for the last of life was nothing but an illusion. They were confronted with a more brutal fact because they were doubted to have the root meaning of life, the existence of the soul.

As a whole, there was no happy scene or dramatic plot in the story. However, the story gave me a comfortable feeling and made me wonder about the genuine meaning of how we live.

The Book of Moods: Friends

 

    

 Friend, which is probably the most vital thing in a teenager's eyes, is something that may affect one's life experience. The author talked about how she missed all the love and hate between her and her old best friend, Roxanne. In my opinion, this chapter must tug so many readers' heartstrings since it mentioned the GONE friendship. People my age now are not allowed to be called naive anymore. We must have been through some inevitable separations. But we are also not that old to be called mature since we are not getting used to it. We suffer from those already begone friendships, whether before, now, or after.

 The first time when I needed to face the truth that I had lost a friend, I was 16, and it was in the first year of my high school life. At that time, I was trying to balance making new friends and keeping connecting with my old senior high school friends. I had 4 besties when I was a senior high student. After our graduation, three of us stayed in the same city, Taichung including me. Another two went to Tainan and Nantou to pursue their dreams. The one who went to Nantou was called BB because she had a very high voice, and we often told her to shut her mouth (嘴巴閉閉).

 BB went to a vocational high school as I did, and she had to live in the dorm since the shuffle time was too long. As she was a top social mixer, she soon made lots of good friends there, and she was happy about that. However, me and another girl in our group, Tin, thought her new friends were rude since we had heard her friends swear 3 times in a sentence and were outta control when we played online games. We told BB, very carefully and politely, trying not to hurt her feelings, that it was unpleasant to play with her new friends. Also, we thought BB should reflect on herself, for she made such awful friends simply out of lack of company.

 Undoubtedly, BB lost her temper as soon as she realized we did not like her new friends. She screamed that we just despised her and her new friends because they did not get good grades in the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students (會考). She misunderstood our intention, which hurt us. Although we tried to clarify, she shut down the conversation and stopped communicating with us. I realized we really lost her because she left our LINE group.

 It was extremely painful at the beginning. Tin and I could not stop blaming ourselves, and we started regretting our decision to tell BB we did not appreciate her friends. Nevertheless, we knew we were RIGHT. We missed BB, not only her existence but also her funny reactions, disturbing high voice, and lovely face.

 But as I said, some separation is inevitable. Indeed, it is said that we cannot have BB around us anymore, but the value behind her leaving has taught all of us something greater. I still miss her sometimes, and I remember whenever I was down, she would make an ugly face to make me laugh. Perhaps what I truly miss are those golden years that we spent together.

The Midnight Library Part III

 Hello, everyone it's Chiho again! 

I finally finished reading "The Midnight Library" this week. The ending of the story was unbelievable like nobody could expect. So, please stay on this page and see how the story ended!

Summary

    After Nora transferred the life in the Arctic, she became a glaciologist. She was chosen to be a spotter who checks and protects her coworkers from polar bears in that life. When she was staying outside and waiting for her colleagues to come back, she found out that polar bears were staring at her from a few meters away. She banged the ladle against the saucepan and screamed as loud as possible to let the polar bears feel fear and leave that place. However, both didn't work, and she decided to close her eyes and wish her to be sent back to the midnight library.  Fortunately, the polar bears disappeared, and Nora arrived and was saved by her coworkers. After the polar bears' emergence, Nora realized that she actually did not want to die. Even though she nearly died and felt much fear, she was still living this new life, and she met one guy called Hugo in her workplace. Hugo revealed that he was also staying in the place between actual life and death and trying his possible life as Nora does. After Nora and Hugo had some enjoyable conversations, they slept together. When Nora woke up, she was disappointed in herself about the last night and was soon sent back to the midnight library. 

    Nora tried all the lives she hoped to be before arriving at the midnight library. She had been a rock star, a dog worker, a software engineer, a hotel cleaner, and a thousand other things. However, whatever Nora tried, she started losing and sense of who she was. She felt something was missing and eventually went back to the midnight library. 

    After she had tried more than a thousand different lives, she chose the life she accepted the invitation to date Ash, who was her neighborhood in her original life. Nora's life with Ash, a daughter, called Molly, and a dog named Plato was perfect. However, day by day, she realized that Nora in this life was living the ideal life; however, the people whom she used to stay with were having difficulties in their lives. After Nora realized that fact, she was already back in the midnight library. 

    When Nora arrived at the midnight library, a big fire started happening, and all the books there were begun burning. The big fire showed the midnight library would soon be disappearing. Mrs. Elm told Nora that the only way she could escape from the library was by going back to her original life. Nora picked the book about her actual life and added the sentence "I am alive." Nora went back to her authentic life. She was throwing up and stumbling outside. The next time when Nora woke up, she was in the hospital. After she recovered, she began to correct the mistakes she made in the past and fix all the relationships she had, especially with her brother and her best friend. Nora is now trying to find out Mrs.Elm at the care facility.

Reflection  

    First of all, I loved this book very much, especially the ending. "The Midnight Library" is now one of the English books I like the most. In the middle of the story, I was pretty disappointed with Nora because although she tried the life she believed it to be, she ended up going back to the library. From my perspective, some of the life she tried were very attractive, and even though she mentioned why, I still could not understand why she wanted to end her new life. However, since I read the part when Nora chose the world in which Nora and Ash were dating, I could see what she hopes to have in her life and began to look forward to seeing which life she would choose as her end of life. From the story, I learned that what makes our lives more liveable and shinny is not changing the complete life we have right now. Even if we could try a new life, we will eventually face further difficulties. Therefore, we need to overcome the challenges we face now rather than hoping that life will end like Nora. 

    I finally finished reading the first English novel this semester! It took me around one and a half months to complete. However, I could learn a lot of helpful vocabulary and how English speakers express themselves. It was worthful for me! If this class asked me to read a book, I never had a chance to gain the enjoyment of reading the English novel. Now I am very excited to meet a new story!

Lord of the Flies (pt.3)

 Summary of what I've read this week:

After fights between boys at both Jack and Ralph's parties, they finally come together and sit by the fire, enjoying the meat hunted by Jack's hunters. Suddenly, a black shadow comes from the mountain, crawling to the boys on the beach. Not knowing the truth about the beast, they think it was a ferocious monster. Encouraged by their first triumph against the aggressive boar, the boys pick up their wooden sticks and rocks and courage against the mysterious black silhouette. Attacked fiercely, the shadow lies by the sea, still as a stone. It turns out, it is not a beast but their fellow who has been gone for hours coming to tell them the truth about the beast.

My reflection:

The boys  kill the unknown creature blindly only to survive, or maybe it is because Jack wants to show off his power now that he's the new one in charge. But however it is, I think when we are doubting something, we should have a full view of every aspect of the thing before deciding what to do. For example, when there's a negative rumor about a celebrity, some media don't check the facts, and lots of blind readers start to attack the celebrity with harsh words, causing damage that can't be undone. Or, on a piece of news I saw years ago, a young man was criticized by an elder lady for not giving the seat to her. But the truth was, the young person's legs got injured so he couldn't stand for too long while the elder lady obviously was energetic enough to shout at him. She didn't see the "unkindness" from every angle, and neither did lots of newsreaders. After the young man clarified, the table turned and the gun was pointed at the elder lady and those who commented with aggressive words. If the elder lady had considered all the aspects, the fight wouldn't have happened. 

However, critical thinking is easier said than done. Even I, myself, sometimes am led by the nose by the opinions of the majority. Let's all work harder on this together, and the society will be a better place.

Billy Elliot

Hello everyone, this is Christy. Today I would like to share this book with you, which are encouraging and inspirational.

Brief story introduction

The book is talking about a boy Billy Elliot, who are chasing his dream to become a professional dance. Born in a poor family, his mom has died in her young age. Somehow, his brother and his father is a miner.

He is definitely not a typical boy, who are brave and manly. Although his father has giving him money on having lesson on boxing, he could never do it well. Till then, his life is like a messy. He is totally different in others.

Luckily, life is not a joke to him. One day, he suddenly find out that just at the same location, after his course, there is a ballet course. At the first sight he seen this ballet course, he was so amazed by it. His eyes couldn't move away a second and he always wanted to imitate how do the little ballet dancer do! Through the days when he tried and practice, he finally moved the ballet teacher and she is willing to teach him, help him growth and finally train him as a professional one.

His story have proved that everyone could be a genius once you can find your passion and work hard on it!

Self reflection

 After reading this book. I feel so inspired when seeing a boy who is dared to chase his dream no matter how much difficulties that he has encountered. He broke through the gender stereotype, not only girl can be a good dancer, but also boys can do well on ballet. 

In the real life, we are all embarked on our own journey and creating our bright future. Whenever we are trying to make the choices which are different from others. What should we do. Undoubtedly, sometimes we would scared or being struggle. Should we becoming the same as other? Should we join the main stream? Those thoughts have always come to my mind when making decision.

However, this boy Billy Elliot teach us an important lesson, we don't have to be the same as other , what different choices that make who you are. That's why you are unique, special and irreplaceable.

 

The first part of the book introduces some of the book's main characters, such as Katniss Everdeen, the novel's protagonist. We also learn all the fundamental facts about the world where the story occurs. Katniss is a sixteen-year-old girl living in a dystopia, a made-up political state in which life is awful. The book is set at some unnamed time in the future, by which point the North American governments as we currently know them have disbanded. The cause of this dissolution isn't thoroughly elaborated, but Katniss does talk about the natural disasters that led to it. Rising sea levels and extreme storms indicate global warming played a role, as those are two of the most severe influences scientists predict global warming will cause. We also know there are worldwide food shortages. The state of Panem, the country that rose up after North America's destruction, is autocratic. It watches the speech and actions of its residents and ruthlessly punishes anything it construes as a dispute. The Hunger Games, which gives the book its title, expresses its pitilessness and control over its citizens.

But life is also awful for the people of District 12 for more direct reasons. Few people can learn and have enough to eat. Many are undernourished, and death by famine is common. Moreover, the primary industry in the region is coal mining, which is notoriously dangerous and challenging work. Katniss describes the miners, both men, and women, heading to work with hunched shoulders and swollen knuckles, signifying how physically hard the job is. The book also tells us that both Katniss's and Gale's fathers died from an explosion in the mine. District 12 is presently known as Appalachia, among the poorest regions in the modern United States. From Katniss's description, it seems the district is undoubtedly the poorest area of Panem.

The state's wealth stands in explicit contrast with the poverty of the people of District 12, and this unfairness between rich and poor is a theme that continues throughout the novel. Most obvious, the poorest of every district have an added hardship in that it is commonly their children who become tributes in the Hunger Games.

In conclusion, when I read the book, I couldn't help but feel a sense of sorrow. The depiction of poverty in this book somehow reflects the poverty problem we have in our society. In addition, Katniss's courteous spirit is truly inspiring, it urges us to be alike with her. To be brave and help those who are in need, like how she volunteered for tribute for her litter sister.

Revenge from Grendel’s mother

    In my previous blog, I talk about how Beowulf fought Grendel, but in the earlier story, which is after Grendel’s defeat, there are frequent suggestions from the people in the Danes. When the Danes were celebrating by singing the poetry in Heorot. Some of them think Grendel himself is still alive, though Beowulf rips his arm off, because as I mentioned, it didn't talk about Grendel's death, and so the remaining threat proves instead to be Grendel’s mother. From Line 1028 to 1850. It talks about Grendel’s mother avenging her son by attacking Heorot at night, killing King Hrothgar’s friend Aeschere, and taking with her the trophy of her son’s dismembered arm.

    From this part of the story, I would say Grendel and his mother’s killing motivation it’s very different. Grendel’s motivation is by hearing Hrothgar's bard sing songs about God's creation of the world, which rubs his demonic nature the wrong way. Unlike Grendel, the mother’s motivation seems purely retaliatory, because she is less interested in plunder than she is in making the Danes pay, and I believe this is why she leaves a clear trail behind and marks the spot for Hrothgar and Beowulf to discover. Grendel’s mother is luring Beowulf into the lake, so she can have her final revenge; And of course, Beowulf is totally more than up to the challenge, just by knowing what kind of personality he had from the previous blog I wrote.

    Their fight was savage, when Beowulf jumps into the lake, he was immediately captured by Grendel’s mother to her underwater cave. Beowulf uses the ancient sword Hrunting given by Unferth, and unfortunately, even the sword of Hrunting is unable to pierce the monster’s skin. Therefore, Beowulf tries to fight with her by only using his bare hand, like what he did to Grendel, but she matches him blow for blow. At last, he notices a sword hanging on the wall, which is an enormous weapon forged for giants. Beowulf used that weapon’s blade slices cleanly through Grendel’s mother’s neck, and she falls dead to the floor, gushing with blood. Beowulf looks around, his sword held high in readiness. He spies Grendel's corpse lying in a corner and he decapitates Grendel as a final repayment for all of the lives that Grendel took.

    But, after reading this part, I don't think this fight is worth celebrating, because looking at Grendel's mother’s motivation, you might think of her as an avenging monster, but in my perspective, she is more of a grieving mother who lost her child, and fighting for her son’s justified. And I believe the maternal bond between Grendel and his mother is important during this scene, because a mother can be caring and avenger at the same time. When she fears a threat to her child, she can do anything. The part of the story lacks portray motherly love but I can feel it through her action.

"Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen" chapter 6-7

StoryBrand Principal Three: A Guide

(Customers aren't looking for another hero; they're looking for a guide.)

Most stories have the guide characters to encourage the heroes and help them solve their problems. Katniss has Haymitch; Frodo has Gandalf; Luke Skywalker has Yoda. Just like the heroes, customers are sometimes troubled by problems that they cannot solve by themselves, so that's why they need a guide, which is a brand, to help. In this way, customers tend to choose brands that position themselves as the guide, not the hero. However, some brands, especially young brands that are eager to prove themselves, still make the fatal mistake of positioning themselves as the hero in the story, which ends in failure. There are two characteristics that a qualified guide must have, which are empathy and authority. These two characteristics can help brands make a great first impression with potential customers and earn their trust.

StoryBrand Principal Four: A Plan

(Customers trust a guide who has a plan.)

After brands position themselves as the guide, they create a bond of trust with customers, but it's not enough for customers to make a purchase. Customers still have concerns about the products or services, like what if they don't work. To ease their concerns, brands have to provide a plan to guide them.

Plans can be in different forms, but all effective plans either clarify how to do business with the brand, or remove the sense of risk customers might have when considering purchasing the products or services. There are two kinds of plans that can effectively encourage customers to place an order. The first one is the process plan, which describes the steps customers need to take to buy the products, or the steps customers need to take to use the products after the purchase, or a mixture of both. Its aim is to alleviate confusion for the customers. The second one is the agreement plan, which can be understood as a list of agreements that brands make with their customers to help them overcome their fear of buying the products or services. What's different from the process plan is that the agreement plan often works in the background. It doesn't have to be shown on the website. And if it's short enough, it can be on the packaging or shopping bags.

Reflection

In chapter 6, how do the brands (the guides) demonstrate the right amount of authority without bragging about themselves so much that they become the heroes? The author shows four ways, which are testimonials, statistics, awards, and logos. But with the booming of video platforms and social networking sites, there's another way – influencers, like celebrities or YouTubers. It may not be a new idea now, but it's still astonishing to see how fast the times change.

Log 5, Anxious people

 

    Hello, this is Carolyn again. Here comes my fifth log. This time, I will introduce the " second" English novel in my life to you, called "Anxious people." This book is quite a quirky novel according to the writer's style, but I genuinely love it. The reason is that almost all the author's arguments hit my heart straight to the point. Unlike "Flipped," I haven't seen the plot on Netflix this time; I chose this book was only appealed by its name.

    This book seems to be written by the method of "flashback." When I first read it, I admit that I felt a little absurd and funny, especially the interrogations that answered beyond questions and the stories played in reverse order. I even felt puzzled and had the impulse to give up my understanding. Nevertheless, the author's clever technique supported me to continue reading, and the more I read it, the matter in my heart seemed to have been explained and gradually entered the story in the book. This book mainly focuses on "a bank gun robber and a failed hostage-taking farce." But honestly, the robbery is precisely not the critical incident in the story, which seems like a medium that leads the audience to figure out its significant purpose. 

     "This story is about many things, but mostly about idiots." This is a sentence that the author attracted my attention on the first page. When I saw this sentence, my first reaction was to laugh, and it aroused my desire to know why the author would say so after a few seconds. My attention is not on the robbery incident, and I pay more attention to the hidden meaning in the author's words and sentences. As follows, another sentence touched me again, "It's always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being human is." After reading it, I fell into a series of questions about "being a person." In my opinion, being a human is not exactly a difficult thing for us; however, the main question is why being a human uses simplicity and difficulty to judge? People often complain, " life is so tough. how could we live such a life with lots of ordeals? " Actually, what makes people's lives feel tough and say these words does not come from themselves, but from the people and things that make them have these emotions. Anything can embarrass people, but what has been hindering people is the haunting "emotion" behind it.

    Next, I would like to share my personal insights based on the issues I have mentioned above. Emotion is a very polar manipulator. When we have positive emotions, the energy and atmosphere we exude can render all the things around us, and it can also make us show the best smile and speak beautifully to all things. However, when negative emotions take over us, they will cover everything we see with a thick dark cloud, and all the extreme and vulgar words and emotions will always appear in our minds. To sum up, we can find that most of our behaviors are guided by emotions. Perhaps after reading this, you may think that this has nothing to do with the "difficult of being a human" mentioned by the author. Everyone has different views and practices on everything, and we often only see things from our own perspective. Therefore, we often use the stories we have experienced and our own thinking logic to judge what a person does with emotions, which confirms the author's words, "It's always very easy to declare that other people are idiots" There's no doubt that we judge other people's behavior as an effortless thing. More, we often forget to explore why people have these behaviors and emotions behind them. When we consider things too subjective, we ignore, "What would we do if we were them?" Sometimes our subconscious behaviors are more absurd than theirs, and at this time, are we still qualified to laugh at others? In my life experience, I have usually used subjective judgment to judge what others have done, and I will always say something like, "I think you should...." However, looking back now, I always feel that the opinions I put forward were too self-righteous. When we put forward ideas, we can think from the other party's perspective, then any kind of ironic word may not appear.

    In fact, I spent a lot of time pondering the meaning of the text because the opinions put forward by the author in this book are very worth repeating and thinking about. Thus, it allowed me to gradually grasp the author's thinking logic in the following articles. Although I still have a clue about the robbery, I want to know the most about an episode memory in the text, which is about a man standing on a bridge ten years ago. The process of suicide was witnessed by a teenage boy, a young police officer after a decade. In the text, the author uses uncomplicated language to describe this memory, which makes me wonder if this memory is related to the robbery case. I consider it as the starting point of this book's " anxiety " factor. So far, I can't summarize the critical points of this farce because the dialogues in the book are somewhat nonsensical, and the psychology of perspective changes frequently, so I will try my best to continue to dig down. Indeed, I am eager to know what is going on. For example, "Caused this robbery," "why is this robbery so absurd?" and "why the answer from the hostage could be so nonsense?"

Reflection: Three Sisters (4)

 

Summary for this week:

 

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

 

One day, a friend of Cibi's came to notify her that she saw Magda in the place she worked. However, she wasn't sure if she was still alive after that. Hearing the news, Cibi tried to find Magda while sending messages to the other block. Fortunately, Magda was seen working within a group too; Cibi then took her back to her block. The three sisters eventually reunite again. After a few days, the sisters saw their mom and grandpa marching in a line. They knew that they were going to be put into the gas chamber. But there's nothing they could do. No one showed them mercy. That was their last goodbye, all of a sudden. What they can do now is to make sure they are all alive, and not to disappoint Chaya and Yitzchak

 

 

Reflection

It's glad to see the three sisters' reunion. It's been a long time since they last saw Magda. However, for their mom and grandpa, it's not a great outcome. I could feel that they were powerless when they saw one another, but they could simply watch them move away. To the sisters, the scene was despair. I was thinking, "If I were they, how could I tolerate the hopelessness? Just watching my dear family go die."  Also, compared to the sisters, Chaya and Yitzchak felt easier in mind when they see their (grand)daughters. I knew that it was all because of concern and duty, as (grand)parents, which would definitely be the first thing they care about no matter how hard the situation is. This occurred to me that every time my parents would always ensure my safety prior to theirs. I think it's the virtue of dedication and selflessness from most parents. After a week, someone from the sorting room gave a bag to Cibi, in which she find their family photos, along with the wedding ring once worn by her mom. That was the heritage of her mom and dad, which represented the proof of their ever-existence. The ring carried the memories they had together. I believe each of us should, if possible, possess a symbol of those who left but were important to us. Life is not reversible, so try to keep everything worthy of collecting. They would become your and others' stories one day in the future.

I would also like to mention an inhumane event that happened. There were four girls who destroyed a chamber and then escaped from the block, but they still got caught by the soldiers. Out of question, they were punished for the "guilt." The other girls were gathered one day in the morning; they were forced to watch the escapees hung on the gallows. If they close their eyes or turn their heads away, their consequences would be the same as the four ones. That was the menace that was done to tell the rest what would happen to them if they dare to slip away. If I were them, I would totally stay, working no matter a chance came to me. I might not risk my life for the sake of uncertain freedom, even to death. I think, probably, not many people can face the fear of death. It's extremely hard. 

Lastly, the Nazis were failing, I strongly believe there will be a great ending for the sisters. I hope so. 

Blade Runner 2049 - A Philosophical Movie Review

Blade Runner 2049 - A Movie Review

Written by: Hannah N Loo

Date: 2022/04/04 

Blade Runner 2049

In the year 2019, technology has become so advanced that there have been a precedented number of 'replicants' living in society. Replicants are bioengineer androids with human forms, designed by Tyrell corporation. Their existence is to undergo laborious tasks and become slaves by the humans. Replicants exhibit great strength, photogenic memories, and most importantly, human emotions. However, humans with meat and flesh treat replicants with the utmost disrespect. As the main protagonist,  Officer KD6-3.7, walks from his designated police station to his home, he is greeted with F-bombs by his supposed colleagues, and the pleasant graffiti "F__ off Skinner" can be seen on his door. 'Skinner' is a derogatory term used to degrade replicants, and it holds the same effect as saying the N-Word. (said by a Reddit post.)

After a series of violent rebellions, the Tyrell corporation collapsed. For a moment, the replicants were free of their slave owners, until Wallice took over and restart the invention of the new replicants. To eliminate old models and clean up the mess created by Tyrell, the new creation of replicants is set off to kill them. One of these "clean up crew" or killers is KD6-3.7, also known as K. 

On one particular mission to kill off a replicant living in isolation with his farm of warms, he unravels the secret of the rebellion'. A child born out of two replicants. That's right, Tyrell's technology was so advanced, that he had the potential of being God himself. The child must remain hidden, for if Wallice discovers its existence, the child will be subjected to countless examinations and he will open him up like the frog on the silver plate in Biology class. 

In his mission on finding the child, K goes through a process of inner conflict, shifting beliefs about himself as being real or man-made. As he sees the date etch on the tree where the remains of the child's mother. He remembers a memory as a child, but the memories are implanted not created. Is he the miracle child? Can he be the begotten son that has been thrown out of the world?

Spoilers Alert 

* This part contains the spoiler of the movie. If you wish not to be spoiled or informed of the plot of the story, I highly suggest you watch the movie on Netflix or your designated movie/streaming sites. 

As we continue on with the phenomenal movie with great cinematography and CGI, the shocking news is that K is in fact not the child, but it is Dr. Ana Setlline. She is working for Wallice as a creator of implanted memories. Memories are the key factor in making the replicants humane, and Ana was the best in her fields. When K questions what makes her creation exceptional to others, Ana answer it was the secret formula of mixing real and fake memories. She unintentionally and purposefully put her own memories in K's head, which results in the conflict of K's identity. 

K was hit with the sudden realization that he longs for being the child. The one born out of a miracle, or, most importantly, the desire of being a real human. Although we do not know what Ana is genetically, she resembles a hope for the replicants who have been enslaved by humans. The people made of flesh and blood are created by God, and the replicants are by a man. Either way, they are nothing less of the other.  We see famous novel series such as Harry Potter or The Mortal instruments, where the main protagonist has extraordinary abilities because he/she is the chosen one. However, K was just another victim of deception by his creator. Will he continues his mission of killing replicants as he is designed to? Or will he choose the humane way of keeping Ana safe out of Wallice's manhunt? Watch Blade Runner 2049 to find out the truth. 

From English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles to my lil view on Bilingual Nation 2030

Author: Rani Rubdy, Mario Saraceni

Genre: Linguistics/Journalism (Books)

Bilingual Nation 2030 promulgate in 2017. In order to enhance the nation’s competitive, this policy promoted to treat English as an official language in 2030. There are many objections and views on this policy, I will mainly explore in the English we learn under our education system along with this book I picked for log 5 – English in the world, to figure out whether turning this country to officially bilingual is needed.

First of all, English Languages. English undoubtedly is the most common language in the world, yet this is a language primitive applied only in a country. Thanks to the UK’s expansion and history of immigration, this language become a national and official language to countries in different continents. Book authors are applied linguists. They separate English into two types: English as a Native Language (ENL) and English as an International Language (EIL).

Bilingual

What type of ‘bilinguals’ do the policy wants? There are different types of bilinguals could be referring to. From those who have two mother tongues, considered native-like in two languages to considered as near-native speakers or those who are clearly not native speakers of English but use the language successfully in their own terms.

If one wants to be a ‘near-native speaker’, the next question will be how ‘near’ near-native is: in what way the near-native differ from the native speaker, and the standard of ‘good’ to be called ‘near’. There category suggested by the authors are: correct grammar; correct grammar with a large vocabulary; fluency on the level of idiomaticity same as natives as so on.

Choosing a model

Author brought out several models of English that could be used in language teaching in Outer and Expanding Circle countries as a lingua franca to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each. I would only introduce two of them, a native-speaker model and a nativized model. We might consider what suit us better for nation-wide and the purpose.

A native-speaker model            This model has been codified. There are grammars and dictionaries can refer, the norms can be evaluated and tested. This, as I quote, ‘reassures politicians and bureaucrats who fear that they will not be intelligible in the international community’. The advantageous I agreed with is that the adoption of a native-speaker standard for learners is to understand the mindset of native speakers of the language. However, from a wider view, learning cultures of particular native-speaking group isn’t the original attention our government hope for a bilingual nation. Able to communicate with fellow non-native speakers and potential commercial corporation who is a native speaker.

A nativized model                        Malaysia and Indonesia are two countries adopted regional nativized variety of English. They showed the vital of needs and purpose to learn English – to communicate within ASEAN and the region where both countries own a significant number of people from different ethnic backgrounds, religions and cultures. Multilingual and multicultural prowess is more than the accuracy of the language.

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This book helps me to clarify as a lingua franca, what English tries to play the role in education industry and nation needs. Showing me learning this particular foreign language isn't comparable to others. It is more than the considerations on language of one country/culture.