Christy+Reading+Journal

READING JOURNAL 1
====The website that I check out everyday is www.youtube.com. I think everyone should be familiar with it. If you aren't, please go to have a look. There is a variety of videos uploaded by millions of users for us to watch every moment. No matter where you are, this website links people closer to each other through news, blogs and even comedy. However, I mostly look at sports, entertainment and how to style videos, seeing how people express their talents. It’s a good place to refresh myself after bursting into laughter. I am recently watching a Korean televison programme about skating. I am very impressed by the performers how they can bend their body in right angle and spin without feeling dizzy. The most shocking point is that most of the performers have not learnt skating in the past. They just start their training a few weeks before the show is on. I hope you guys can have a look on this show. Here’re the links:==== [] []

READING JOURNAL 2
====Basically, I understood the story ‘Twins’. After watching this story twice, I found out that the killer should be the man. As the last sentence of the story, ‘The rest went exactly as he had planned.’, it certainly shows that the man who is a writer of detective stories makes up a plan to bring his wife to the old mineshaft and kill her there. He is a perfectionist, so he detailedly plans with fake quarrels in motel as well as disguising as his wife. Thus, the ending of the story says what he planned can successfully avoid the others’ suspects.====

====For the confusing part, I think it is a line on the last page, ‘She had thrown his gun, from which she had removed the ammunition the night before they started their trip, when she realized what he was planning, into the French River on her way to Parry Sound.’ Here says that the ammunition is removed before the man and his wife goes to the old mineshaft in the bush, but how can the man kill his wife without any ammunition placed in the handgun?====

====I like ‘Twins’ because I like reading this type of mysterious story that the writer does not tell all the clues clearly. Eric Wright just keeps on addressing the killer with either him or her, so confusions may occur. This allows reader to think and discover the answer by their own. Even though we may not get the right answer, we can enjoy the process of determining whether it is right or not!====

Vocabularies:

 * 1) ====//flesh sth out:// to add more details to something in order to make it clear, more interesting etc [= put flesh on something]====
 * 2) ====//hunch:// if you have a hunch that something is true or will happen, you feel that it is true or will happen====
 * 3) ====//condominium:// one apartment in a building with several apartments, each of which is owned by the people living in it====
 * 4) ====//thug:// a violent man====
 * 5) ====//pliers:// a small tool made of two crossed pieces of metal, used to hold small things or to bend and cut wire====

AUGUST 31, 2011
====Alterations: The murderer should be the wife, Lucy because she has found that her husband has another girlfriend. Thus, she plans to check if her guess is right or not. She has those ammunition taken out from the handgun before their trip instead of shooting by her husband.====

READING JOURNAL 4
====As time goes by, everything changes, especially educational system. Every year, the governments of each country reevaluate their systems to see if they work or not, following by carrying out reformations as well as inputting innovative ideas which are suitable to the younger generations to adapt their future. Thus, I think reading stories about murder in school is a nice idea to explore the mentality of both teenagers studying and staffs working in school nowadays, pointing out any shortcomings for changes.====

====I cannot deny that imaginary world does have impacts on the real world we are living. No matter which authors, they do have reasons in writing a story. For example, in the story ‘Twins’, after Lucy kills her husband, she does not need to be imprisoned with all her planned tricks. However, is that right to do so? This question allows us to determine whether ‘crime does not require any payment’. If a person kills someone without paying any responsibility, what do you think the others will be? Will they just follow what the murderer is doing? Actually, there must be a way to solve a problem. We should try out many ways in which one of them must work!====

READING JOURNAL 6
====Here is the link which has connections to my role in a fantasy love story: [|www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/english/story_telling/cinderella/cinderella1.htm]====

====Talking about fantasy love story, magic will mostly involve. There are many similar examples, just like the well-known folk tale 'Cinderella'. In 'Cinderella', the poor unhappy girl is ill-treated by her stepmother and stepsisters. She cannot enjoy the glamorous life like her sisters. Everyday, she needs to do housework and does not have a chance to go out, joining a ball held at the palace. Luckily, a fairy appears. With a flick of the magical wand, she finds herself dressing nicely and can attend the ball, living happily ever as an end. This story looks alike our group creative story, involving super natural creatures who help changing one's life by applying magic on the person. Through this link, it can help us to understand some of the conventions needed for a fantasy story and apply them into our film.====

READING JOURNAL 7
====In this paperclip project, I am an actress. Personally, I did like my job since I could engage in decision making process and acting. These allow me to imagine creatively and how to think detailedly in order to prevent any contradictions happen in the story.====

====I like to work in a group and enjoy meeting with new people. Actually, I had lots of experience working in a group in my previous school, but this was my first time to work with boys. That's why it was quite difficult because I needed to learn how to get along with boys instead of girls. They may not be serious enough as well as our viewpoint varies. This provided me a chance to accept the indifference.====

====In addition, when we started writing the script, there was a problem that it was too long. Thus, rewriting was needed and we changed our genre from mystery to fantasy love story. After the script was rewritten, I pointed out that corrections were needed. I helped in correcting and planning the story in a better way. Even though there were some disagreements in between us. I tried to adapt this new environment and cooperated with them, finding the best solution.====

Chapter 1
====The man in Tom Waits ‘What’s He Building Down There?’ and Boo Radley are quite similar because both are mysterious. They have no friends and are alone. They live inside a house with the lawn dying outside. They do have some weird actions at night, attracting others’ attention and making others wondering what they are hiding inside the house with a degree of fear. This fascination makes Dill and Tom Waits always imagine what the mysterious man is doing inside. That’s why the lyrics keep on repeating ‘What’s he building down there?’ Even though their guesses are wrong, they would like to discover the truths one by one.====

====I think the man in the song is working for the government. He may be building a machine which will destroy the arm of countries nearby, so he always receives mails even he has no friends. Boo Radley is an ugly guy with lots of scars all over the body, so he keeps himself away from others. He thinks there is no need to tidy up himself, having a messy beard and wearing torn clothes.====

Chapter 2
====The worst trouble I have encountered in school should be correcting teacher’s writings. In primary one, I was once caught by teacher studying under the drawer, so she marked down on my student diary to inform my parents for what I did. Because of fear, I deleted her markings with correction fluid. Later, the teacher found out. She did not scold me but asked me for explanation. At that time, my parents were mad and hit me. They told me that it was not a big deal but I should not commit again and be obedient for what I did wrong.====

====In compare to the experience of Scout with Miss Caroline, I think her situation is worse than me. For what I did, it is just something that most children’s fault due to childishness. However, Scout does not do anything wrong. She expresses what she thinks and knows. Her purpose is not to show off her intelligence. That’s why there’s not point for Miss Caroline keeping on pointing her discontentment towards Scout.====

READING JOURNAL 10
====Jem starts to go to school and meets with different students. One of them is Burris Ewell who is known as a mean student. He is filthy with dark gray neck, rusty hands and black deep fingernails. Because of his untidiness, it brings cootie into the classroom. Miss Caroline is shocked and asks him to take a bath back home. This makes him angry and //**mortified**//, starting a //**deliberate**// argument with the teacher as well as his classmate, Little Chick Little. I //**rekon**// we are alike in some points. Although I may not be as rude as Burris, I will sometimes lose control, especially when I am not contented with my parents' opinion. I will argue with them disrespectfully and insist on my idea. Just like Burris, we are self-centered and //**gouge**// holes by ourselves. Burris even makes Miss Caroline cry. Why shouldn't we put ourselves into others' shoes and determine the reason of being scolded? We should conside what the elders say is mostly right. They want us to be a better person, so we should learn to accept but not reject or hurt one's feelings.====

READING JOURNAL 11
====1a) I don't like someone who is unsteady. That is someone who cannot make up his mind and give out his opinions when he is asked. I cannot bear this kind of person especially I am not in mood. For example, I ask my roommate whether she wants to eat Japanese or Chinese cuisine. At that time, both of us are extremely hungry. She does not give me a response and keeps on saying nonsense. No decisions can be made and it is always me who come up with the final result. The unsteady persons are just wasting my time or in short blocking my way to reach my destination. I know they have their own reasons for not expressing their true selves. Most of them are afraid to displease others. They are not satisfied with what they say. Or they worry about what others are thinking. Even thought I may guess correctly what their perspective is, I cannot match up with every unsteady person. I hope I can vigilant myself to be more empathized.====

====2) Evil does not grow deep inside from someone. If someone is considered as evil, it is the surrounding environment that causes the formation of an evil person. It can be parents or peer pressure. Therefore, we can see a lot of pure evil examples globally. One of them is stealing. Here is the link to the news article: [].====

====It is stated in your news article that evil comes from social factors. These factors determine the stability of a person's childhood or environmental forces. If someone is ill-treated by his parents during childhood, this will increase the tendency of him doing similar things to his next generation. Another case is that someone is forced to do evil things because of pressure from his friends. Thus, there are a lot of teenagers nowadays who abuse drugs or do some other illegal things. The second reason can be due to emotions, alcoholic drinks or drugs. All these affect your normal ways of thinking, disrupting the empathy circuit in our brain.====

READING JOURNAL 12
====The evil of these hateful people comes from deep down of their hearts - how they think and understand a person. They base on what others told them about Negroes and thought the Negroes are bad. This hatred can be shown through how they address the Negroes as niggers. They even call those people who help the Negros as nigger-lovers. This discrimination is the darkness inside me.====