(Novia) Its a blog…I think you already knew that…

Eighth Grade Final Exam

This year was a year filled with Bloom’s Taxonomy, ESLRs, reflective journals, and long hours in front of the computer trying to regurgitate what we have learned in class in the most interesting and different way possible. In total we have read four books Lord of the Flies, The Wave, Anne Frank, Tempest, have had one poetry unit where we ourselves created the books, and the Teen Life project. I find that this year really stressed on analyzing situations and really dissecting a book, page by page trying to find the hidden meanings or in the case of the Tempest, deciphering old English. I honestly believe that this has been an enjoyable class this year, filled with multimedia, arts, and languages, it has shown me that there is more to English than conventions and grammar, more than long words or conjugating nightmares. It is a whole new world left to explore, always changing and evolving, like water with no shape of its own and only to do what you will it too.
Writing is a very flexible subject, it can be as complicated and structured as a mathematical equation of (y=mx+b), or as creative and wild as modern dance. People each have their own styles of writing, some like to have everything in order and to follow standard rules, such as meter and rhythm in a poem, where as another individual might depict an original, sensational piece of work to be more of value. All this has to do with perspectives and the lenses people use to view situations in. As a saying goes, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Now based on the current world today, there are those who grow up with constant stereotypes shoved in their faces and run through their ears. It’s something that is very common in our modern society of today and is continuing to happen. Everything always starts small, like a simple joke or an insignificant parody, but as one thing leads to another, the tension builds and soon it gets into the media’s system, in magazines, commercials, television shows, internet, which provides countless citizens with the knowledge they had retained. This is something like an everlasting fashion trend, which sticks in juvenile minds and the knowledge given to them is what shapes their views in life. The environment of one’s place determines the person’s way of life and thinking. Sadly racial discriminations and sexism has risen to a high point in statistics and is causing people who have a phobia of black people or the common thought that a woman is supposed to be a house wife and the man should go out and earn the meat for the family. Some examples I would like to share is that in Lord of the Flies the author was trying to show how there are two sides of a human and if not kept in a proper society your savage side gets the better of you. The author had tried to deliver the message of that animals are of a lower class than humans and there are many other books who degrade the animal’s class in society. In effect of these acts, people really do believe that animals are lower than human and should not be given the same respect, but there are those who rebuttal and state that respect is demanded from to humans to animals, for after all according to the geological time scale, the animals have been here for billions of years here before we came. Another analysis of literature is about poetry; poetry is written in a way that one really has to ponder on every word and try to create meaning from mere phrases. The goal of a poem is to create vivid images in the viewers mind, the person however may not always see our writing in the way you have willed it to, since as I had last said, everyone has their own perspectives and people as people all have different eye sight powers, people have many lenses. For Anne Frank the Nazi’s had seen the Jews as unworthy and dirty, but it was not always this way. It all started from small jokes and gossip of the Jews that really rallied the Nazi’s up, in the end. All in all people need to be more open minded because we have to many close minded people ho are not available to new information, but the time will soon come since we are now emerging from the industrial age into the information age.
Another topic that I would like to bring up is about mercy and revenge. Again there is a stereotype, mercy is good and revenge is bad. In my personal opinion and my perspective of this topic I would say that revenge maybe sweet and fulfill your emotional satisfaction, but it never really helps in any other way unless that is all you are really going for. Revenge is a side in a human to get back at someone who have wronged them before by trying to place the person in the shoes you had last worn and to show the them the feeling they had inflicted on you before. A person who has such thoughts of deceiving someone in life, has low self esteem because if that person can be affected by another so easily and allow the other party to control their thoughts, the power of the opposition usually has a stronger reign on the situation, but if they too revenge both are equal and are most likely to continue until one realizes that revenge probably isn’t the best solution. Mercy is something like the UN, where everyone comes together and talks about the conflicts they face by submitting resolutions to solve these problems and coming to peaceful agreements. To ensure a brighter future, mercy should be sided on and revenge should be more or less left out, but since utopia is only imaginary there will always be those one or two who fail to see the good of mercy. Some examples of mercy and revenge is that in lord of the flies Jack was angered with Ralph for blaming him about the fire, because of this Jack would purposely go against Jack and soon enough he formed a tribe of his own. The continuous battle for Ralph was ongoing and never ending, until soon the final hunt for Ralph was set and the fight had ended in fiery flames of where the whole island burned down. The smoke caused from the fire allowed the island to be sighted and there they were rescued, so this revenge had benefited some, but in another way had caused some of their lives.
Fear is something people use to control our lives everyday such as, grades, consequences; financial stress, relationship arguments and we live through these things so daily that everything seems to be normal. However what these really are, are forms of fear in a neutral form. The Nazis and the Wave were using fear against people to get them to be infused with their group and if you were not in it, you were to be considered and outcast and someone unprotected. This fear quickly arose in the people and some who are weak willed or those who like the idea, join the group and so the Nazis and the Wave grew. Fear is something like an irremovable file that you can’t delete, you may hide it in a file or recycle it in the trashcan, but there is always that possibility of someone finding it and unleashing it. It’s simple like a lock and a key, if the key fits, the door opens and so if someone pushes the right button you will back down in fear. Threats is another common thing in the world, when burglars raid a bank they capture a hostage and use people’s fear of the citizens getting hurt to escape. In Lord of the Flies jack used fear to control everyone on the island, he would threaten to hurt Ralph and often show of his vulgarity to scare the children into siding with him. When a child did something of which he believed wrong, the boy was punished and set as an example to others, to not misbehave or the consequence will fall on you. The world is constantly filled with these factors of fear, punishments, power and much more, many lead life under this ruling and some have fear instilled so deeply in them, that a bit of them will always be scared of the effect in their situation and what may follow after their actions. Fear may be a good thing sometimes though because when the terrorists hit Washington DC, the twin towers security around the world immediately tightened and so defenses were improved in other nations, ensuring the citizen’s safety.
There is much more area to cover in all of these topics, but this essay can only take up so much time that one can type in. In my perspective the time remaining will only be sufficient enough for a conclusion, but maybe in someone else’s lens like the person sitting next to me may feel that this time would be just enough time fore a few more sentences of their final paragraph and their conclusion. Everyone finishes at different times and type different lengths. These are my views of these topics, this is what I feel, and this is my lens. I do believe that I have done 99% of this quarter to the best of my abilities, but the fear in me wills me to write longer since I fear the grade I will receive. All in all this year has taught me a great deal on looking at things differently and really picturing thoughts in my mind and how to create vivid images in people’s minds in a few quick descriptive words. This experience is something I am sure to have again, but now I know and will continue to learn and expand in my fields of knowledge in literature.

Perspectives can be delivered in many forms and viewed from many lenses. Its a powerful topic in the world today which gives shape to the world of what it is now. Deciding if someone should die or live is perspective, fate is decided by how the person views the circumstances. Someone with an angry and jealous mind will view scenes differently as with a person with a calm and peaceful mind.

For this I will be talking about the book Bourne Trilogy, written by Robert Ludlum. For this book the topics to focus on is sexism, racism , and class. This book is very long, about 1400 pages and covers many areas of which I will explain in this post today.

Viewing this book from a sexism point of view, I should say that through out this whole book females play an incredibly minimal role in this book. All the high positioned generals are males, criminals are males, and the main character himself is a male. There is only one girl in the whole entire book and she turns out to be a very smart and well educated lady with a high status. Why is this so? Does the writer believe that girls don’t play a very important role or that one girl is good enough to complete a story? Whenever the guy has a breakdown or gets a bit lost she is always the one who knows him the best and helps him regain his senses. Does the writer believe that guys can’t comfort as good and that males need a girl or a women to lean against during their weakest moments to be able to see clearly again? Another thing is that all the important generals are males, why can’t woman be the one to run the Medusa [a program]. Girls and males can find this book to be offending to both sexes because it shows how girls can’t do things like politics or government while males don’t have a very emotional side and isn’t very sensitive to others meaning that their not good at comforting people.

Viewing this book through a racial lens I should say that this book is quite unfair to the races because the only people that they keep are Whites and Chinese, but mostly whites. David Webb, the main character was a white, the women Marie was white,  along with all the generals. Only in the second section of the book did it start on about Chinese, but still mentioned less than the whites. Other races such as indian, japanese, korean, etc. were not mentioned but European countries like France was noticed, leaving Asia in the dark.

Viewing this book through a lens of class, I should say that this book is quite fair to it. I mean a regular man who was a criminal became a legend and a most feared assassin through out the world in just a matter of 3 years. It also shows how a high class, well educated lady could get turned into a hunted murderer in just a few days. This book shows how the general were quite slow at  finding the smart criminal and sometimes make mistakes like believing that David Webb had turned his back on them and got into action to hunt him down and kill him, only to find that he had caught a bad case of amnesia, then treating him like a psycho case.  This making them not believe him and not trusting him because of his class, showing how the higher class looks down upon those lower than them.

This book in general is a great book and can be looked through countless lenses, but never goes to a point of where it completely tips a balance in any perspective like races, sexes, etc.

�Tempest Discussions [Questions]:

Is Prospero really good or bad?

Why would Prospero want to set lost people on the island?

What did Caliban do that made Miranda and Prospero treat him so poorly?

ESLR Journal

Novia Soo

Eng. H

 

This post acknowledges my past experiences and lessons from the third quarter.  As a brief overview, in English class each person created a personalized hand-made book from the poetry unit.  All our work was compiled at the end and presented during poetry night.  In the meantime, we participated in a Teen Life project, which is a program for teenagers to come together and contribute thoughts and ideas of the global happenings with each other and help widen their views.  In the process of all this, I have represented a specific ESLR for some of my actions.

 

During the Teen Life project, I exhibited being a critical thinker for I had to use my past knowledge and manage to share it with others for them to contribute to the thought, idea, etc. In other words, I built meaning and understanding using prior knowledge and new information. Furthermore, while sharing my ideas I was forming solutions and trying to find ways to solve the problems of today, meaning that I applied problem-solving skills to facilitate learning. Of course in the proceedings I had to search through sources such as the Internet, magazines, newspapers, and books again showing me to be a critical thinker for I had gathered and processed information from a variety of sources to solve problems using a choice of strategies, therefore using resources effectively for the purpose of problem solving.  Maybe if I had done more into research and found specific sites where there were solutions offered it could have resulted in better outcomes.  From this realization, in the future I will plan to be more thorough and strive for accuracy, so the information would be more valid and useful.  What’s more is that using books more would have been more accurate since the internet has not been checked by professionals and may have been altered where as books have been doctored by numerous professors and specialists. Being a critical thinker was mandatory for the Teen Life project for vague and unexplained answers would leave problems hanging in midair with useless solutions that offer no help. To conclude I would grade myself as an intermediate critical thinker who still has room for further improvement.

 

As for the poetry unit I used book examples in class to refer to and study for a better understanding on the structure and language of the specific poem introduced. For instance, the alliteration poem where a letter would be constantly repeated at the beginning of the majority of the words in the poem creating a sort of feel, for example the “s” sound is creepy and soft. Moreover finding a way to illustrate an image in words was a task that included extensive word choice to be able to paint your thoughts in a reader’s mind.  In order to do that a thesaurus is needed meaning a source would be in use, then again proving my actions to be one of a critical thinker.  Also meaning that I apply problem-solving skills to facilitate learning. Some things I believe I could have done better was that I should have been more willing and accepting to assistance and guidance therefore helping my poetry be more of a success.  If I had done that I probably would have gotten a better grade on my poetry book results for that was where my points were taken off from.  In summary poetry unit needed a critical thinker. In order to compose good poems you need to be able to think of things in different angles and ways to put it out on paper, so in conclusion mentions above should be sufficient to give you a clear idea of how my actions had proven me to be a critical thinker in the poetry unit.

 

Through out the Teen Life project I had demonstrated being an academic achiever for when ever I see areas in need of improvement I add and enhance to its quality and information.  In ESLR terms, meaning that I continually assess, evaluate and adjust work to maintain high standards. Independence is another vital point you need, at the same time must be able to collaborate with a team resulting in an academic achiever. In order to achieve this I created my own poems and posted ideas on how I would like the project to turn out and allow others to make edits and respond to my interpretation or opinion.  Being an academic achiever it helped me progress further with the teen life for I managed to get more out of it and strived for accurate information.  However some things I could have augmented was demonstrating progress in all curricular areas, although I was detailed in some areas I was not consistent in all, for example, there was a site for each project to take place in and I had not contributed as much as I really could have and doing only what I had been asked to do, therefore in that area I lacked being an academic achiever for I did not accent on any important points nor did I stress on anything else of importance.  So probably in the future I would plan to be less inconsistent and strive hard to fulfill each task with full efforts. In conclusion I assess myself to be an average academic achiever still in need of higher goals and greater motivations to be able to push forward and expand in my educational studies.

 

Amidst the poetry unit, I indicated an academic achiever because for every poem, thought was put in many angles and checked for better word choice in the internet thesaurus.  When an idea was unclear or foggy, or if word choice was in need of change the improvements were always made and if not improved it was completely reconstructed into something, which was a better fit to the poem. This showed that I continually assess, evaluate and adjust work to maintain high standards. As well as the use of the thesaurus meaning that I demonstrated technological literacy and the use of technology as a tool for the efficient and creative completion of a project.  However some things that I could have performed to higher standards is the ability to work both independently and collaboratively. I worked independently however to collaborate with others was one challenge I faced and cost some points off my grade from the poetry book. Cooperation and teamwork for the poetry book was a point, I was weak in and enhancement would be favored in that skill.  For future references I will be more accepting to other’s points of views and be more of a partner than working independently on the poems with no exception of help from others.  As a result I feel to be a work in progress for I do not cover all areas and my efforts are unevenly scattered through out the fields of an academic achiever therefore consistency is to be practiced.

 

Overall I view myself as an involved citizen during the Teen Life project because I had to converse with many teens around the world and share my ideas and merge thoughts with them in order for this project to be a success. I also had to involve myself in the global affairs to talk about them with others and so that I have a better understanding on the topics at hand. During the discussions, I kept a low accusatory tone and use a very welcoming and non-offensive language, which would encourage others to share and collaborate further with you.  This showing that I demonstrate awareness and respect for the rights of others, furthermore I make sure who my audience is and use the respective choice of tone to suit the targeted audience to make it easier to understand showing that I interact respectfully with people of diverse cultures.  With the teens I discuss the conflicts of the world and offered solutions, which might have made the world a better and safer place to inhibit. Some things I could have done better was to contribute in more detail to the page of the project preparations and ideas. I had not given much to that page and only minimal work which was asked for however points were not elaborated.  In the future I will input more facts and fully explain each point put out. Judging by my actions I find myself to be a self-sufficient involved citizen, but like everything else I am not perfect and improvement is always welcomed.

 

During the poetry unit I was an involved citizen because I would first think about who am I directing my poem too and what kind of an audience it is, so I know what words to use.  For example when I was doing the “Bagel Poem” I used simple words for the targeted audience would be kids.  Every word would be of my decision to see if its appropriate or not, this would be demonstrating responsibility in active decision-making.  Some things I could have been better in is probably by demonstrating care and concern for their environment by writing more environmental and problem solving poems. In the future I will write more things on how to improve life and more helpful poems rather than passive ones, which come of no use.  I believe that the ESLR involved citizen does not relate to poetry much for it is a practical thing to help and respect others where poetry is rather more towards abstract and fantasy.  Overall I believe that I was an exceptional involved citizen during the poetry unit and improvement would be of help.

 

The Teen Life project proved me to be an effective communicator for while I was having on going conversations with people I managed to convince them about many things and what directions the world was heading. At the same time they helped open my eyes to their world and how different we are, how diverse our cultures were. It was a learning experience, which helped everyone expand in their views of the current world. Some example of me convincing people would be that I believed that human trafficking was a very rich and ongoing market.  If this market was not to be stopped this would be the business of the future, this got many people concerned about this conflict, before when many were concentrated on famine, drugs, global warming, and smoking. This action demonstrates the skills of effective collaboration I also used the Internet to the best of my abilities for successful interaction to have clear communications and no misunderstandings, in other words I incorporate/utilize technology as a tool for communication.  I also wrote poems as a way to demonstrate creative talents to convey ideas.  Some things that I could improve on is not much actually. I do not do well in the media section, however that was not my job, so I believe that I had done my part and nothing was left undone so in conclusion I feel that I have done a satisfactory job in the effective communicator area.

 

The Poetry Unit made me realize that I was a very effective communicator.  This would be because I can say or convey ideas in many different ways, such as grammar, word choice, and structure. This meaning that I demonstrate creative talents to convey ideas. I also achieved understanding and conveying written, oral and visual information using appropriate media because I had recorded my voice in the poem “We are” and have created a hand made book from scratch and writing my work in it, then orally presenting it, in front of an audience during the poetry night. My details in the poems were very intricate and there for making it very clear in the reader’s mind. To be able to paint a picture in a mind is an art that an effective communicator and poet must have to be a success.  I believe that in the most part I have done what I needed to do above average in this area, but of course some of my work will still need editing.  In the future I will just work harder and that’s about it. On the whole I think I did a pretty good job and got sufficient work done.

 

A self-directed learner is an ESLR I have been during the Teen Life for quite a bit of it was voluntary and I did it. I participated in resourceful comments and met new people who shared the same interests and by doing this I am accepting responsibility for their own learning.  I also give the site that belongs to my project a check up every now and then to see how its going and clean up anything left affray.  This would be monitoring, adjusting and documenting work in progress.  Some things I could have performed to a higher standard is being more thorough and detailed with the research explanations rather than vague definitions of certain points which are left hanging and unclear to the public.  In the future I will stress and enhance certain points and on every point a clear and concise definition will be placed for it.  For an evaluation on myself I believe that I did not cover all areas of being a self-directed learner but I think its enough to call myself a good self-directed learner.

 

During the poetry unit I find that I was a successful self-directed learner for I would work on poems and find definitions or synonyms.  If something doesn’t fit I would take it out and put in something more worthwhile.  Weighting each of my words to be heavy and leave a heavy imprint in other’s minds.  Some ways I did this was to reread my poems and see how it sounds or peer edit.  Even though I tried to be as thorough as possible, room for enhancement is recommended for being better is never suppressed.  I find that I enjoyed the poetry unit making me to do extra things like writing them in my free time meaning that I accept responsibility for their own learning.  Another point I had shown is taking creative risks in developing untried ideas; a way I do this is by trying to visualize things in ways that people would usually find unusual or better yet, original.  Some things that could be improved upon is having ideas planned out first and main ideas. In the future, I will think and plan out the poem first before I start to have a better idea of what it will turn out to be. When grading myself upon this ESLR I find that I have done a good job on it and if improvements are to be made I will do my best to do them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Harding was brilliant student who spent most of his youth in the Julia Martins School.  From there he set out to be a architecture and found interest in language arts.  With those thoughts steady in mind, Harding set out to study Latin, French, and read a variety of books.  His goal to be an architecture had been succeeded and his love for his occupation convinced him to be a full time writer.  As his career was going well he had met his true love called Emma, after marriage he continued to continue his writing and soon published numerous books to the public such as Far From The Maddening Crowd and A Pair Of Blue Eyes.  Years after, Harding reached his time and left the Earth; his heart buried in his lover’s grave and his body in another.  With Harding gone form our side the only reminiscence we have left of him are his pieces of work.

 

  Jewels in joy designed

     To ravish the sensuous mind

Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind.

 

I feel that this poem is short, sweet, concise, yet it is heavy and carries meaning. However I still fine this poem to be a little bit vague and needs more information or back round to be able to project more clarity to the audience.

 

Questions:

 

Why does jewelry symbolize joy?

How does it ravish the sensuous mind?

What was your inspiration to this poem?

 

Figurative Language:

 Jewelry and joy

  

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir February 16, 2007, Friday had rejected the peace mission for
Darfur.  He had said that he would not grant visas to UN rights monitors who want to visit
Darfur.  He prefers for
Darfur to be under the protection of the African Union instead and the UN will be confined to the technical and logistics role.  Another remark made by Bashir was that Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, led by Nobel peace laureate and anti-landmines campaigner Jody Williams, were not allowed onto the grounds of
Darfur for he finds the party guilty for being biased. He finds that the member’s views are unprejudiced therefore making it hard to see if their words were honest in anyway he said at the end of an Africa-France conference.  The reason of the peace proposal was because of the conflicts going on in
Darfur.  About 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million people were displaced after the fight/war in 2003, this has raised overwhelming concerns dominating the two-day gathering in the Riviera resort of
Cannes. President Jacques Chirac had added during a summit that he urges Bashir to accept western and international forces to come aid the country for he is afraid humanitarian catastrophe may arise. Currently the UN chief is waiting for Sudanese president to respond to his request of sending in 2,300 UN troops to help out
Darfur and take over the peace keeping form the AU (African Union)Click here to see the actual article

Hey, my name is Novia and I am a 13 yr old girl who lives in Malaysia, KL. Well I am basically a happy go lucky girl and I believe that there are two ways to look at life and you can choose how you want to see it. You could try to put a positive spin on everything and live life the way you do now or start planning for a brighter future despite the present, good or bad. Maybe what I think probably is not about the future only, I mean I have to live life in the present too. Sometimes I tend to worry on what others think about you and you become more self conscious when strangers or even other school mates are around you. This makes you a two sided person, when at home you are good and follow instructions and at school you are more out spoken and more used to spazzing in front of your peers.As a teen a guess friends are more of an influence to me even if I only see my friends in school 35 hours a week while we spend 119 hours a week with my family. Sometimes when you want to go somewhere your parents will not allow or maybe they tell you that your grades are not high enough. It seems unfair at times when you compare your parents to others and your parents expect much more of you than others, but sometimes it is just for your own good as they say. I think that maybe now I might disagree with my parents strongly but then again what if I grow up and think exactly like them, for I pretty sure my beliefs and principals will change over the years as I grow and learn new things. After all I have only been on this Earth for 13 years where as my parents probably had two decades more experience than me.

This is basically some things about me and probably what some people would want to know. Maybe some people may have a wrong image on teens, because there are many stereo types of where teens are rascals that like to break rules and act cool and can not resist peer pressure. Usually the teen just wants to do the thing peer pressure or not and hey they had a choice and they made one period, end of story. If adults may took a better look of us young adults we probably won’t seem so bad and anyways most bad teens come from bad parents and bad parents are mostly adults.

Sometimes I wonder about how will I get a job these days with everyone so well educated then it will be quite the contest for a good occupation. Also if I were to do business, when should I start? Maybe I could start investing now? Maybe learn to manage an account. Money is so important now because you need money to do anything, it is like the world’s language right now, especially with all the inflations and not much on the salary. Many complain that they do not get a raise or need more time off but still demand the same amount of pay. But they can simply earn more money during their free time, especially with the amount of leverages today like computer and other forms of technology and media. For an example, in France there are countless protests about not getting paid enough or enough free time. This usually causes road blocks or transport delays. Your boss’s job isn’t to make you rich. His job is to make sure you get your assigned salary for the amount of work given to you. This is one thing most people do not understand. However it is the rich who provide our facilities and housing, by being generous with the housing and large family houses they are able to support numerous people and this helps both sides, of rich and poor. The government fully supports this idea because this helps people to get out of the slums. The slums are the places which are ruled over by the black society who have bad influences on the other people around them. This is basically one of my worries.

Another one of my worries is Human Trafficking. America has been said to have no human trafficking some years back though America is the number one largest market in human trafficking and now humans are basically becoming part of the trade system. Human trafficking though is happening world wide. They are fed with grains, injected with sleeping liquid, and packed up in a crate to be shipped off to another country. However human trafficking is very profitable to the person selling them for one human could be sold at about 300 to even 25,000 dollars and can be sold again and again everyday for a large amount of money. Some children as young as 5 yrs old have been kidnapped and sent to new locations monthly to make it hard for cops to track them down and most usually live about 1-4 years and either die of a disease, over drugged, or killed not obeying their master’s rules. Some are lured in by maybe internet relationships and made to come over to another country or maybe a fake modeling industry taking in girls and boys by groups. First they ask for all matter of identification and destroy it so there would be no ways for anyone to track them down. It is an extremely terrible thing that is happening and even your next door neighbor or doctor could be involved in this trade. If this is not stopped or taken to further notice, I should say that human trafficking is the business of the future.

Novia Soo >.< (Hope you enjoyed my post)

Design and create a memorial to Anne Frank and the victims of the Holocaust
A memorial is something designed to preserve the memory of a person, or event. You will design and create either a model or blueprint/layout of a monument. This memorial can use multi-media. If you want to have flat screens projecting a movie, or speakers playing a song, you can. You simply must explain these features in your design plan, and insert them into your model or blueprint.

Design and create a commercial or short film spreading Anne’s hopeful message of peace

Questions

How are symbols, images, and sounds and other conventions used in visual media?

iMovie
In the iMovie, we searched for pictures on the net and we took those images and inserted them into the iMovie so that we could recapture the reminiscence of World War 2, the holocaust, and Anne Frank. We used sounds, such as recordings, music, and downloaded sounds from the internet. We used recordings to enhance the pictures and make them seem more like a reality. The music was used to set the mood and many of the lyrics are related to Anne Frank and World War 2 victims. For example after Anne’s family and her pictures had been shown the song changed into a sadder and more depressed song when Margot’s letter to the concentration camp appeared. For symbols for the movie we had gas chambers and chimneys to symbolize death and being trapped with no escape. Also the trains symbolize life being caught and put to death. The Judd badges and the Nazi symbols show how diverse and separated they are from one another. Symbols were in almost every single picture and will be found if you really look in depth.

Memorial

For the memorial, we showed images of everyone’s personalities, for example, we showed Margot, with an A+ beside her showing how perfect she was. We showed a big rock with each war victims name engraved on it showing that everyone’s lives has been acknowledged. The holocaust room has a door that shows people dying and trapped. This symbolizes how the Jewish were treated and felt when they were abducted by the Nazis. Also there is a cut up carpet on the floor after the room of friends that shows how rugged and unruly their lifestyle were after the Nazis actions of discrimination were put into force. In the peace room there are yellow flowers that shows how the world has come to harmony and all is in serenity and well-being. Also this memorial goes in a type of order for first Anne was a happy girl who had her friends and family however after the Nazi’s attacked they had a secret Annexe and were discovered so they were sent to concentration camps. Sadly when peace had come Anne and most of her family and friends had already died and said their goodbyes to the world they once knew.

What are the ways in which image-makers carefully construct meaning?

iMovie

Some ways they do this is by capturing a specific cause of what is happening now. For example to show death and execution the iMovie has shown a chimney to show how every puff of smoke shows the remains of a dead Jew leaving the Earth. Also it shows a gas chamber to show how they did mass killing all at once in vulgar ways. Another thing that image-makers construct meaning is the colours. Like if you show black and white you will see how ancient or long ago it was or maybe it would make the picture seem more serious where as a colourful picture will not be as serious and mature.

Memorial

In the images of the memorial I have pasted them in various ways. This shows some meaning because for example if I put it crooked you can see how messed up and crowded the place was really like and you would get some feeling of imperfection or wrong doings, though if straight and neat you will have a feeling vice versa of a crooked image/picture.

How are techniques used in visual media to influence or appeal to a particular audience?

iMovie

Some techniques we used in visual media are how we changed the colours and made the background suit what the topic was. Also the pictures showed things that are related to Anne Frank, World War Two, and the holocaust. Also the fonts and the settings of the text have been arranged in a way to get people to pay attention and feel the way we want them to. Visual media pays a very important role in the iMovie and send out a message without really being said.

Memorial

The techniques used in visual media to appeal to the audience are the colour and settings. I have set them up in various different ways so not everything seems the same and dull. This adds a bit of spice to the project and it becomes more lively and more of a reality. Also I frequently rotate colours for the project to be more attractive.

Blooms Taxonomy

Knowledge - Describe the symbols, images, and sounds you used to complete your project
For the Imovie we used pictures of a train with the sound of the train moving, we used pictures of The Franks peaceful life before they were caught with the song how to save a life (in craniological order), we used pictures of the actual fighting we had the sound of people crying, we had a very important picture of the final solution we had people screaming and crying, and lastly we change the song to Emenium and had two pictures of Margot and Anne Frank’s grave with a quote.
For the memorial the doors, which symbolize beings trapped with no escape.

Comprehension - Discuss how these symbols, images, and sounds carefully construct meaning
For the Imovie some symbols that we used to elements that caused such things in the world. Such as the chimney, which does not show the whole picture however if you look in depth to it you will see that it symbolizes people dying/dead. As for the images we first did all of them in chronological order according to Anne’s age and after Margot’s letter to the concentration camp we showed pictures of the Secret Annexe and after they got caught pictures of the concentration camps were shown and the slaughtering or the things used to slaughter the Jews in mass numbers. In the end we showed Anne’s grave and a few quotes to the world. As for the sounds for the concentration camp we had people and babies screaming in pain and also for the end when you see the grave we have Eminem’s song “When I’m Gone” to symbolize Anne’s death.

For the memorial we show symbols by in the room if the jew’s discrimination we showed a red silk carpet that as torn for it symbolized the jews of how they used to have a great rich life but then it all was tattered away. Also there is a door on the room of concentration camps which showed how the jews were trapped and dying, but were fighting to escape. Another symbol were the yellow flowers thrown on the floor to symbolize peace and harmony. For the images we have Anne’s interests in the first room and in the Family room aka 2nd room it shows Margot with an A+ on the side to show how she was viewed as perfect, same goes for the rest of the pictures.

Application - Explain how these symbols, images, and sounds will influence or appeal to your audience. Illustrate the symbols, images, and sounds (This will be done when you actually do the project)

For the imovie we used modern sounds to capture peoples attention and the images show world war 2 and almost everyone can relate to that because it affected everyones families in some way. As got the symbols there were things such as the jewish badges and nazi badges to show how diverse and separate the were from one another.

Analysis - Compare the symbols, images, and sounds you chose. Which are the most powerful? Why?

The symbols for the movie was concentration camps which symbolized death and trains which symbolized lives being caught and about to reach their death. Some images we used were things such as Anne and her family along with all the other sad things, we first started before the war and after to create a more dramatic effect. As for the sounds we used different music according to lyrics and tunes to suit the images/symbols. The most powerful was probably sounds for it made people feel a certain way about each image.

The symbols for the memorial was that people were dying on the door and were trying to escape, also we have people starving in concentration camps. Also at the end in the peace room we have yellow flowers to symbolize peace and hope. For the images we showed how people lived through each situation, the people itself, or maybe some side things that happened during that event. (No sounds) I think the most powerful were the pictures for it gave people straight forward information where as the symbols you had to really look in it in depth.

Synthesis - Create or design a memorial to Anne Frank and the victims of the Holocaust, or Design and create a commercial or short film spreading Anne’s hopeful message of peace. (Doing the project will accomplish this aspect of Bloom’s Taxonomy)

Evaluation - Summarize and grade the final product and the process to accomplish this task
The final product of our iMovie was well constructed. It was a good introduction to Anne Frank and the war. A few drafts of the movie were made before the final copy. Firstly we got all the pictures, music, sounds, and symbols. We then organized them by the order of which they would be shown. We put this into a movie and kept editing it until we were happy.
The final product of the model of the memorial was very well thought-out. Each room has a specific idea to show. Most of it was very well constructed and looks well made. In both projects a lot of time and effort was put into it and we had very good time management.

ESLR’s
Completing this task will involve the use of many ESLR’s. Your write up should also include a paragraph or two about how your group used the ESLR’s. If you want to be successful in this project please pay close attention to the Effective Communicator ESLR. The key to this project is collaboration. So please also include a paragraph or two about who did what, and how effectively they were at completing their assigned tasks.

iMovie:

Some ESLR’s that were used was effective communicator for we have to be able to communicate with people through a different way and we are being a critical thinker so we can think of many ways to present it to the audience. Another ESLR that this covers is an academic achiever for we have gone to find over 65 pictures and have put in a lot of effort to record sounds and find them on the internet. During the process of making the movie, it is important to be a self directed learner for there are no set guidelines on what the iMovie should be there fore you have to think about it for yourself and manage to put it out on paper and share it with others and that will make you be and involved citizen for you are letting others in on your idea and giving them a better understanding of the topic.

The memorial showed effective communicating skills for it manages to show and tell everyone about Anne frank, World War 2, and the holocaust. Also information is shown in various different ways. The memorial also shows a self directed learner because you have to stay up and finish gluing and cutting, along with drawing and a lot of other art related things. Also this shows an academic achiever for you have to really be neat and concentrate on what message you want to give out in order to have a successful project and to capture and audience’s attention. Another thing that the memorial shows is critical thinker because you have to really think on how you want to place something and where or maybe you have to question yourself on if there would be enough space for “that”.

Josh had made the whole iMovie with some assistance from Novia, while Farouk commented on it, while Novia on the other hand did the whole memorial with the help of Josh and feed back from Farouk. Also Farouk brought some supplies needed for the project such as the Styrofoam. Every member of the group put in effort to make this project a successful one and tried their best to make sure we all manage to complete the work on time.

Using resources to the best of your efforts.

Exp: We used all the tools in iMovie and tried to use it to enhance what we were talking about.

Grade: Excellent

Picture of Model:

Anthropologist: Someone who studies and observes human’s behavior and how they came to be.

Archeologist: Someone who studies early humans and ancient civilizations.

Economist: Someone who is a professional in the fields of economics.

Historian: Someone who records down important events and compiles it in a chronological order.

Linguist: Someone who is able to communicate in several languages fluently.

Theologian: People who study and learn about divine beings and their purposes.

 

Essential Questions:

Step 1:

Where did the Aztecs originally live? What prompted them to relocate? Where did they end up and why? Chose an artifact, which you feel best, represents this event. Support your choice.

 

The Aztecs originally lived in Atzlan some where in North West Mexico. They wanted to relocate because their leader Tenoch had a vision of a snake, eagle and cactus that would mark their new land. They ended up in the Valley of Mexico called Anahauc because there is where their leader saw an eagle, snake, and cactus.

Step 2:

The Aztecs ended up in the middle of a lake and built their new capital Tenochtitlan. What were the pros and cons of settling in the middle of a lake? Describe the lay of the land and chose an image for your exhibit.

 

The pros of settling in the middle of a lake was that many could not attack them unless they come in boats which would handicap the enemies slightly and also the could make moats and catch plenty of fishes for the population to eat. However getting around and through these marshes and swampy water was not easy so the Aztecs built canals, bridges, lime stone lined walls, and causeways. They lay of the land was muddy, wet, surrounded by swampy lakes, filled with marshes, and itself was a small little island.

 

 

 

Step 3:

Which gods were worshiped? The pyramids were built for what purpose?

 

The gods that were worshipped were Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, Chalchiuhtlicue, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe. The pyramids were built to perform sacrificial rituals and other religious acts.

 

Step 4:

Who are the different members of Aztec society? What are their roles? Choose an artifact that represents the social order of Aztec society.

 

The Aztecs were very much separated through status and all were considered as different members according to their status, they were generally set into 3 groups, nobility, commoners, and slaves. Commoners were often addressed as macehualtin, these people’s daily lives consisted of agriculture and common trades. Commoners would be given a life time ownage of their area though the lowest commoners were not allowed to own property.

 

As for the slaves they had a hard life. Their lives would usually start of as their parents selling them and after a while they would buy back their freedom. Another way of winning their freedom is if they sneak out and manage to reach the royal palace, so with that they will be instantly freed.

 

Now the nobles were the highest ranking elite group and had a lot of respect directed towards them. Warriors and priests were considered great and the leader of this group was called tlatoani, the leader who shall lead them till his death. The great artisans, physicians and truly wise teachers were also highly praised and considered on with the elite group of nobles.

 

 

 

Step 5: Communication
The Aztecs have a spoken language. What was it called? Did they use any other forms of communication? Include an example of either written or visual language of the Aztecs.

 

The Aztecs spoke a tongue called Nahuatal and this belonged to a large group of Indian languages. The Aztecs wrote in pictographs to try to put out their ideas, drawings, or sounds. A variety of these languages are still spoken in the remote areas of Mexico and the Southwestern US.

 

Step 6: Economy
How did the Aztecs grow food and what was their main crop? Did they trade and with whom? Did they have a currency (money)? Find an image for your exhibit about making a living Aztec style.

Their main crops were corn, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, beans, and other kinds of food. They also built causeways and bridges to trade with many parts of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs only traded though and did not pay with money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7: Arrival of the Spanish (Websites on web quest are not working). Try the following websites:

http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/aztec.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-conq.html

http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_flat.html

http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4hcortez_p1jf.htm

Discuss the Impact of Spanish Contact 1519 from both the Aztec point of view and the Spanish point of view. Find an image depicting this event.

The Spanish had just arrived on a new land and set out to own it with the help of some other tribes at that area. With that they gathered many and finally made it to the Aztec empire and were over whelmed with its size and architecture. However they arrived on the day where the Aztecs predicted a manifestation of their god would come. Therefore the Spanish were lucky and were welcomed like royalty and treated like gods.

 

 

 

Step 8: Fall of the Empire

Discuss La Malinche or Dona Marina. Debate her positive/negative impact on Mexico past and present. What does the term Mestizo refer to? What influences remain today from Aztec culture of the past?

Was considered a traitor and spy to the Aztecs for she had helped Cortez conquer them, however she had excellent communication skills and saved thousands of Indians and even had him help stop slaughter of humans. Really she was not offering help to Cortes but was given to him as a slave and from there their communication grew. The term Mestizo means someone who has a mix of Spanish and American blood. Some influences of the Aztec culture of the past is the language that we speak and the food we eat, also slaughter and human sacrifices have been banned and branded as illegal.

I wonder whether you can tell me why it is important that people always try so hard to hide their real feelings? How is it that I always behave quite differently from what I should on other people’s company? Why do we trust on another so little? I know there must be a reason, but still I sometimes think it’s horrible that you find you can never really confide in people, even in those who are nearest to you. (Page 139)

1. Write a letter to Anne answering her questions.

Dear Anne Frank,

People try ever so hard to hide their feelings because they believe that they are judged for what they do and look like. They do not want to be known as someone bad, sad, angry, and mad, etc. so they try to camouflage it with fake laughter and smiles. Sometimes after keeping it in so long one day they will break down and get really low and depressed. Some people may even go to the extent of trying to commit suicide, however I really disagree with that for you only have one life but you can pick up countless problems around the corner. Many have lost themselves by being pressured by the public society or maybe because of media or close relations. Many things can affect one person’s behavior and so trying to cure someone depressed is difficult for there are numerous variables that may be causing them to act like this. However some do not want to be known as “the person who seeks help” so they hide it under layers of fake attitudes and characters. Though it only makes them because they feel suppressed and locked up inside. This is probably why you act so different from what you should in other people’s company. You don’t want to be known as a dumb, stupid, careless, sad little girl, so you put on an act so that you become the ideal little princess. Life is like a play, every now and then you change character, sometimes you’re good at playing it and sometimes you’re not, though you keep rehearsing until you finally get it, and when you forget your lines you are out of character, like if you mess up and act clumsy then you are no longer a poised character. So in life many people are always on their toes, trying their best not to forget when they exit and enter and what they should say and do. We trust each other so little, for we do not open up to each other and really talk, we talk with set invisible lines that say nothing about us, but only obvious facts. We only say what is necessary and treat words like glass which can easily slip so we must be careful with what we say or it may break and shatter into a thousand pieces and it would take a lot of work to repair and fix until its ok, but there will always be some dents or hurtful memories that bring back pain and dismay.  At times you cannot fix what you have said and all is lost, ruptured and crippled for as long as we live. We communicate with masks on us and we do not show our true colors and paint over it with something different and unfamiliar. We are too afraid of what we really are an don’t want other people too know, so we decorate it and plaster it with materials and disguises, then we practice our act and try to get in character. Later on we get used to it and start feeling comfortable with it and use the disguise often. People then forget the old you and go along with the new you, though some friends who do not agree drop out on your friendship and you gain new friends who don’t like you for who you are but who you are pretending to be. However when you seek for your old self, you are afraid your new friends will leave for they are not true so you stick with what you are acting as. Soon enough you forget your true identity and become “the mask” and then you are lost, so lost you are too scared to confide in anyone in fear that you get even more distant from the self you once knew, and so you hang on tight and play your part until the one day of which you forget your lines and get sent back to rehearse and audition for a new part once again.
Yours Truly,

Novia

2. Write a post to your readers persuading them to open up and share their ideas, thoughts, and feeling with the world.

People should learn to open themselves to many things and share their knowledge with the world. I believe that many people sometimes feel that their ideas may be stupid or not worthwhile, however if they have some strong supporters they may be a great person one day. Our world practically thrives on opinions, for opinions lead to great discoveries, which leave such great impacts on the world today. Do not be afraid if not all people agree with you for opinions never really have a right answer and are always open for comments. Ideas are another thing many people fear of talking about. They are maybe too self-conscious of what other people may think or are worried that their idea may be useless and so people will judge them through that. Sadly though, in our world today that is mainly true, so many have been keeping their ideas in. The world has been growing and expanding in many ways to finally reach the state it is in today. Imagine that years back we used to think the world was flat and if we were to go too far we were going to fall off the edge and die. Though a great sailor name Christopher Columbus disagreed with this and stated that he was going to sail around the world and prove the world to be round and so he did. Now for the people’s questions of why didn’t Christopher fall of the bottom of the globe, it was answered thanks to the discovery of gravity. Also guess how gravity was found out…it was because one day a normal person just like me and you was sitting under an apple tree, when suddenly an apple fell and there came the gravity theory. All these ideas and discoveries all came from little incidents and brave people having their own opinions and trying to state themselves right with ideas of theirs. A mistake many people make is that they think that their idea must be ideal or the best of the bunch to be able to be expressed, however they are greatly mistaken. Maybe the ideas you give out are not the greatest nor the most perfect, though if everyone hears it and builds on it, as well as corrects it you are set to go and have one idea that had been built on by many others including you. The world today has become more open towards new ideas of others because in the past they have learnt that when one is free to think the results are great and helps many people globally. There have been creative writing workshops and teachers having been pressing students to express their true feelings and try to translate their thoughts into words as accurately as they can, which also helps a student grow in word choice and sentence fluency as well as many others of the 6 traits. All this free thinking can be started as young as 3rd grade for that is when you start being able to put what you feel into words and being able to express what you are trying to say onto paper. Adults sometimes think that maybe these ideas are not as valuable, though great things come in small packages and in order to achieve something huge, you need to start somewhere. Beautiful things take time and so do great ideas so to hone them you should practice and remember to give out small little comments or pointers to the topics. The world needs you to help contribute to help the world go round and continue its progress in technology, learning, and education.