Comparison of 1964 and 1996 Romeo and Juliet

Over years several Romeo and Juliet movies are filmed. The 1964 version started with the servants of the Capulets walking on the streets and biting his thumb at the Montagues, which led to a bloody fight between two families. This is more similar to the original Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare. However, 1996 version of the Romeo and Juliet is different from 1964 version. In 1996 version, the Capulets, including Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, were driving their car to a gas station, where the Montagues were, too. Also, the weapons that use in different film were different, too. In 1964 version, people were using swords. Instead, people in 1996 version of the Romeo and Juliet were using guns. Later on, the plot of the movies are quite similar. The Capulets were biting their thumbs are the Montagues, and later on led to a fight. Also, the dialogue when the servants of the Capulets respond to the Montagues are almost exactly the same as the 1964 version. I like the 1996 version of the Romeo and Juliet better because it is more modern, and easy to understand. The most important, I like the actors in 1996 version of the movie more than the 1964 version of the movie.

Privacy Debate Reflection

Today the privacy debate is pretty good and pretty productive. My side and the opponent side are both arguing the point back. I think our group did OK and well. Our group members are involving actively in the debate and discussion. However, at the beginning of the debate, I don't realize that we have to do 3 people on one side. Personally, I think I did pretty well; I am the third person who talks for the government side. Steven did pretty well because he addresses the main point. Then is Melody, she do pretty well, too; she did mentioned some of the information that Steven didn't mentioned about. I did pretty well too, I use specific reasons that support our thesis, which gives them not much speeches about what we have said. I think our team members should participate more on discussion and be more actively. They can also improve themselves by proposing more questions during discussion time. However, for the debate for this time, our team members didn't know that we need to have 3 people to make our positions and speeches, so that takes away pretty much points. For the overall, I think we've done pretty good. GOOD JOB GUYS :D

Is Privacy An Illusion?

Every phone number appears in a database. Everyone of your favorite web site keeps track of your computer. With many other factors, our privacy is under a invisible threats. Sometimes, our privacy could be invaded by others through the use internet. Since now we are living in a global community, not everyone know your name, your social ID number, or even your phone number. Through some of the browser and other online program people can "stock" you. Skype, Facebook, Twitter, or even online shopping website could let other people stock you. In today modern society, I think our privacy is at risk, since there are so many hacker around the world right now. Personally, I think my privacy is at risk because people might be reading or tracing my computer ID now. Until now, the companies have not develop a program that can effectively block the outside intruder when they are trying to hack in for someone's privacy. Concerned that the physical safety of individuals, it is important for everyone to protect their own privacy.

How Do You Sell An Idea?

In this world right now, everything needs to be paid from someone. It is important for the companies to try to sell their product. Commercial companies used different techniques to insert the image, word, or document inside your mind and eventually, you will buy the product. They use techniques such as emotional appeals. Emotional appeals could be the appeal to pity, fear, or vanity. They use the customers’ pity to urge other people to buy their product. I think it is the most effective way to sell an idea or a product. For example, a commercial tried to induce people to buy the goods, so they could use the money to donate to the people in poverty places. They could use an image or a video of the children from Africa or Middle East to sell the idea of the children is suffering in their own countries, and they need the changes. The title could use, “Use changes for changes”. If the commercial companies wanted to sell the idea in a large amount, then it is important for them to use an effective techniques, unique idea, and appropriate content to sell the idea. 

Can a Dream Change the World?

My vision for a better world includes equal rights for everyone, full education system with proper place and equipment for children to go to and to use. Safe community and clean air are also in my dreamed world. Equal rights for everyone, despite the gender, the age, or the appearance, are important for shaping the perfect world. In some countries, women are raped and aren't allowed to attend to school. People are now constantly debating about the rights for the women. Education is also important for every children in different countries because every child may have the chance of being another Bill Gates. It would also raise the literacy in different countries. Also, safety community gives insurance of protection from the government to the civilians. It is very important for a perfect world since the security of each people is in the first place of establishing a new world, so if government can't ensure the security, what is the point of forming a government to control a world? Clean air is also essential for my dreamed world, because healthiness gives people time to live. Without clean air or fresh water, people may not still be alive on Earth.

How Does Friendship Begin?

Friendship is a relationship between two or more people who hold mutual affection for each other. People made different kind of people, including different age, personality, or view towards the world. Basically, friendships begin when two or more people shared common interest, favorite celebrities, and types of music, topic, or even the common enemy. To myself, I have friends in different ages, seniors, juniors, sophomores, 8th grader, or even younger. Mostly, I know them because of shared interests, or even in the same club. Mostly I know my not-in-my-age friends from in the same sports team. Actually sports team is a good pathway to know someone who is not in your own age. If you play the game well, the team players, whether seniors or juniors, they will be friends with you. Common topic is also a good way to know someone who is not in your age. Since there are common topics, they can talk about that topic on and on. Common enemy is always a good way to know a friend. Once a group of people shared a common enemy, they can work together, and began to be friends.

Who Makes You Laugh?

Many things around the world would make me laugh. For example, people walking on the streets and slipped by banana peel, that's funny. Another one is when the people are wearing funny dresses and walking on the street, or when people have something at their back but they didn't notice about it. Friends make me laugh, too. When we talked to our friends, they told us something funny or something that makes them funny. I think the reason that the topic between friends and us is so funny is because me and my friends have been knowing each other for many years, so we know what is each other talking about. Another person that makes me laugh is the clown. People always misunderstand the clowns; they see them as a symbol of craziness. However, I think the clowns are usually funny because they can fall purposely and acted like it's real. Almost everything and everyone in the world can make me laugh simply by making weird faces.

Is Fear Our Worst Enemy?

Fear is expressed in ways such as worry, anxiety, dread, terror, and horror. Sometimes fear can be our enemy, and also our greatest motivation. Fear is more than a simply mental state, it effects both physiology of the body and the chemical balance in the brain as well. When we are afraid it generates stress, which makes us to do things in a different way. Some people use it as an energy booster to solve the problem (technically it is called "adrenaline"). For example, when someone is under threaten, the guy under the threaten may react in two different ways: one is scare to pee their pants, and another is to use the fear as an energy to fight against. I would said mostly fear is our worst enemy. Since if you are in a dark room with no windows and no doors, just 4 walls surrounding you, you might gone crazy. Under this circumstances, the fear is our only and worst enemy. We should be using the fear as an energy booster to solve the problem, but the amount of fear we use should be as less as possible.

Reflection on Reciting a Poem In English Class

"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins:

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed. 

I think when I recite this poem on the stage and read it out in the class before everyone, I forgot some of the lines. From the beginning of my poem, I almost remember everything, but those lines showed up in my head with a little late. In the second stanza, I think I've done pretty well, because I remember the image that is created by the imagery. However, in the last stanza, I forgot the first line. I think that is because I spent almost most of my brain on imaging the picture for the first few stanza. Remember many things for me is quite impossible, because I think I have less brain cell to remember all of the details of the poem, especially the one that is without the end rhyme. Also, I accidentally chose the poem that didn't rhyme. At first I thought I couldn't memorize all lines in the poem word by word without the end rhyme, but I did it!!! That is one of the greatest achievements that I have ever got. Overall, I think I did a pretty great job.

Reflection On Chinese New Year

During Chinese New Year, I spend my time in Taipei and Miaoli for the first half of the week, and the other half in Hsinchu. In Taipei, we went to my grandmother's (dad side) house for the New Year Eve dinner. We didn't brought our dog to Taipei because my grandmother is allergic to dog. After the dinner, we played Mahjong, a type of Chinese board game, for the rest of the night. We also sleep in my grandmother's house. We also slept in there, too. I wan't so please for this Taipei trip, because my parents' attitude to my grandmother wasn't so nice. The next day, the official first day of the Chinese New Year, we left Taipei and went to Miaoli to my another grandmother's (mother side) house to eat lunch and pick up our dog. After the lunch, we leaved Miaoli. From both trips, I received many Red Envelope, but I haven't counted the money yet. I decided to save all of my Red Envelope in the bank. I think this Chinese New Year is pretty good to me, although I didn't go anywhere for the another half of the Chinese New Year.

Can You Think Out Of The Box?

Why is innovative thinking so important? Innovative thinking is so important because sometimes it helps solving the problem. For example, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, in order to solve the problem of wasting candle when people are trying to do things. Sometime people think outside of the box because they have different mind in their brain. In another word, they considered the problem in people's life and tried to solve it with new invention. Sometimes, the new invention solves many problems all at once. Using light bulb's example, the invention of light bulb not only solved the problem of saving the number of candle using every day, but also solve the working time in the factory. Instead of working only in daytime, factories owner required workers to work at night, too, with using light bulb. To me, I think I won't be able to think outside of the box, because all I can do is to stick to the rules instead of dream big by myself.

Reflection on 1st Semester

In the first semester, I think my performance is pretty good, except for the reading quizzes that we took in the class. I'm not good at doing reading quiz, despite I finished the story before the quiz. Other than that, I think I did a pretty good job on handing in the homework, doing classwork, such as the literary circle, discussion, and doing the holt reader in class. I also think I cared about my grade a lot, because when I am missing some homework or classwork, I will go to Mr. Dahl when I have time and talk to him about it. As looking at my report card, my highest grade is my Class Participation point, and my journal entry. I got those 100 % because it is the easiest point to get in English class. For my homework, I should really be more careful on the grammar and the writing. For the next semester, I should be more focus on my grammar and writing, and also the diary. Originally my total score is 88.99 percent, after adding the extra points, my total score changed into 92.64 or so.

How Do Expectations Affect Performance?

Sometimes parents set high expectations for their child. There are reasons for high expectations. 1. They want to use their children's talent to brag about; using their children's talent to show that their children are the best. 2. They want the best for their children. 3. They want their children to be the prodigy of the future. However, despite the fact that parents want the best for their children, the fact that they want to brag about is the most. I know a child, whose mother trained him since he was in elementary school. Finally, their pay has returns. That child skipped a grade and his mother started to brag about it. That child doesn't have a good class grade for every class, but he had a good grade on SAT. His mother brag about is how amazing and smart her child is, scoring so high on SAT, and she is proud to have a son like that. All these annoyed me. This is an example of how a mother expected her son to do well in school, but he didn't. If his mother finds out what is going on with him, she must be pissed.

Where Do You Go To Get Away From It All?

Types of nature that I enjoy are go hiking, bicycling, walking, relaxing in the forest, and go swimming. These are the activities that I enjoy and get away from city. I think go hiking is a good activity for training your feet. Also, the activity of relaxing in the forest can also be a done when going to hiking. Relaxing in the forest is a kind of healthy for our body's exercise, because in the forest people said there will be Pythoncidere, which is a kind of thing that can help our body to get cure from all the disease, said the wikipedia. Walking, which is a kind of healthy exercise that we all do when we are getting books from our locker to classroom, or going to 7-11 to buy things. Bicycling, a kind of exercise that I love the most. Sometimes I ride my bicycle to school, and go back home, too. It is a kind of exercise that can strengthen your breathing issue, and also strengthen your legs. 

Why Do We Hurt The Ones We Love?

Sometimes we hurt the ones we love because they hurt us badly first. Sometimes I get mad at my friends because they didn't act with their manner before everyone, even though I like them. However, sometimes we have to correct them with the right way, so they won't act like that anymore. For example, sometimes my friend always eat with loud voice, and I don't quite like it because I think it’s a manner, and it also shows that her family didn't educated her well when she's young. If her friends, like me, didn't tell her the manner on the dining table, then she will not be able to do learn the dining manner when she grows up. Sometimes we hurt the ones we love only because we love and want to help them, and also to do us a favor. For example, if a dog pee on the ground, the role of being a good keeper is to hit its butt to tell him that peeing on the ground is not the right place to pee.