Last blog post - recommendation for book

I recommend 'The Present' written by Spencer Johnson. Students should study and need motivation to study. In that point, this book helped me during my adolescent period. When I was tired of studying or had a lack of motivation to study, this book reminded me of learning importance. Also, it not only encourages students to study, but it also advise them to be dilligence.

As the book title suggests, it can be two meaning. 'The Present' can mean a gift that you receive from somebody. However, 'The Present' also means 'right now.' It is between the past and the future. Therefore, the book put importance on the time, especially now. Through a person's story, this book emphasises on the valuable time.

I think this book will not be a burden to students because it contains short story which is just about 100 pages long with a big text size. Additionally, it teaches students a life lesson about managing the time.

After I read the Emerging Scholar's website, I feel the students need some motivation to study and learn how to manage the valuable time. I believe that 'The Present' will help them to go to college and get a degree.

Mulan and Ailin

I don't agree with this idea because were also brave and independent. I cannot understand why some people think Mulan has been overly westernized. I don't see the point of meaning westernized. Is this because Mulan fought against men or fought against custom ? Or does it mean Mulan did not want to marry a man whom she do not know? In my opinion, if people think Mulan has been overly westernized, they do not know eastern culutre well. They didn't even research the culture and history. There were queens in Chinese history. Sometimes Chinese women governed over the men.
I think Disney viewers will be find with Ailin. Even though Ailin lived in the different culture, people know what is going on globally. They know their culture is not only one, but they know that there are many different cultures all over the world. Additionally, Ailin also pursue the freedom from old Cihnese culture which is foot binding. The westerners also fought against their freedom, so I think they can understand or have even sympathy for Ailin.
I think that Ailin is more representative of Chinese culture because Ailin showed more old Chinses custom which western people do not know, and the old custom is foot binding. Foot binding is only old custom of China. However, the readers can see Chinese culture in Mulan is marriage. The women's marriage brings honor to their family. I learned that this marriage meaning is similar to western culture in the past. The wester women also married in order to bring honor to their family.
Marriage matter is also important to Chinese culture, but the foot binding is the only custom that Chinese culture has. This is the reason why I think Ailin is more representative of Chinese culture.

[Black and White] Answer of number 17 question.

I think Eddie's wealth made his crime lighter than Marcus's one. Eddie could hire a lawyer who could defend him from his crime with money. In contrast, Marcus's family didn't have money, so Marcus only got a local lawyear who worked for the government.

Eddie's lawyer who is paid is more responsible to defend his client than Marcus's lawyer who worekd for the government.

The reason is because the lawyers who work for clients are more affected by their result whether they win the case or not, but the other lawyers who work for the government are safe even though they lose their trial.

Article.

It is interesting to know the differences between children literature and adult literature. There should be differences, but after reading this article, I can get a more idea about it.

This research compared three types of writing. Those are children literature, adult literature, and newspaper article.

I like children literature because the vocabulary which they use is interesting. They write about children and about children's concerns.

Fiction which is for children deals with bravery and fear in its topic. I think this is because children is our hope and future. I believe that's why writer in children's book writes more about bravery and fear in their book. I can see this perspective in Harry Potter that conveys bravery to fight against vice and fear for losing their hope. On the other hand, fiction which is for adult describes topic of intimacy and sexuality. Adults are more interested in family and society. They know that they should be close with each other and live together.

It is interesting to read this article and getting to know about more detail in the differences between writings.

When it comes to fairy tales

I vividly remember Cinderella. This fairy tale target girls because it is about a poor girl who was bullied by her stepmother and married the most handsome prince. Prince rescued Cinderella from her stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. This is one reason why I remember Cinderella.

Another reason why I remember Cinderella is because there are a number of dramas that get their motives from the Cinderella story. Whenever one of the movie or drama shows, it reminds me of Cinderella. Many girls dream that one day the most handsome and competent prince will rescue them from their situation. For example, Julia Roberts, who acts as Vivian Ward, in ‘Pretty Woman,’ was a prostitute. However, she met Richard Gere, who acts as Edward Lewis. He was a really rich man. At the end of the movie, they fell in love and Julia Roberts was rescued from her prostitute situation.

A Single Shard

I agree with the article by Linda Sue Park because I also felt same feeling whenever I tried to find a book and read. Since hefty book titles are sold out well with celebrity authors name on it, some authors do not care about how they write. They just describe the normal things which are nothing special.

In this sense, I think Copper Sun is a really great book. This book has a theme of slavery and friendship. This can help adolescents to rethink about their history and life again because slavery was their own history and friendship is what adolescents are experiencing in school. Furthermore, the title of the book has an implication. The surface meaning of Copper Sun is about the sunset and sunrise. However, if you relate it to Amari’s life, the Copper Sun can have a different meaning.

On the other hand, Twilight is a really famous book, but I cannot find important meaning in the story. I think that is because it deals with the fantasy world and love story. There is vampire and wolf. Edward, a vampire, fell in love with Bella, a human. They tried to overcome the differences in their species. I feel like that there are some lessons you can learn, but I am sure most of the story in this book is unrealistic. You cannot learn something valuable after reading this. There is no vampire and no wolf-man in this world. We do not have a chance to see their fighting and falling in love with a human. Twilight is just for fun. I like it, but I cannot get real lessons about life. This book only made me think of the fantasy world.

Fresh Gril

Fresh Girl

I can see the multi cultural theme in this book because there are apparent different ethnicities.
It was another book about cultural differences.

The main character, Mardi, is an immigrant American from Haiti. She is just 12 years old, but I still knew someone in her class would bully her because she is from Haiti. Isaac, who is also called Ike, always teases her and makes fun of her. I am not sure whether Ike is from Haiti or not. Elementary students are not mature. They do not know how to accept differences, especially when appearances are totally different from theirs. Differences, such as skin color, and language, caused her to be treated as nothing or somewhat weird. This problem still exists today.

This book not only deals with multi-cultural issues, but the book also deals with the sexual violence. Mardi acted very strangely in the book. She sometimes cut herself in bathtub. She was so concerned about what mother and Serina said about sexual things. At the end of the book, it is discovered that she was raped. This happened when her family was escaping from Haiti because of her uncle, Perin. She was very very young when she was raped. She did not know about sexual acts much.

Finally she told about everything that happened to her, and that was the beginning of how Mardi overcame the hardship.

This book also brings to mind a political issue today. I heard still now Haiti is not so stable as a country, and there was an earthquake which killed thousands of people. This book made me think of that. If their government was well-organized, the nation in Haiti will get over the disaster much easier.