Dairy Self-Assessment

In this project, it is the longest articles I have ever written. Writing dairies is a project that I never did before, and I had many problem at the beginning. After I finished the project and print it out, I felt very proud of myself to made this project successfully.

In this project, I created a new character for main character. She is almost the copy of myself, so I can write the dairies easier. I wrote about some things that truly happened at me in her dairies, and I tried to write the things that I want to do in her dairy too. For example, I do not good at painting at the real life, but I want to have the ability to draw some beautiful pictures. So I make my character a painter.

Beside this, I become more sensitive about details. When I tried to write something like "Sookan was beautiful in her dress", I do not just write the sentence. I wrote "The Korean girl who wore a pale blue silk dress looked like a princess" for instant. Also, I did this in expressing my feelings. I try to avoid using too much simple sentence to express character's feeling in this project, and I write about details like their actions to show the feeling. I feel very confident about these two parts.

About clarity in my project. Even though I have checked dairies, I still think there are many mistakes in the project. Sometime when I am writing, I thinks in Chinese then translate to English. This made many of my dairies have very small mistakes. For example, I forgets add "s" or "ed" after verbs a lot. I really need more time to check my dairies carefully to find these mistakes. On the other hand. I am very careful about comma splice, run-on sentence in this project. I think I did a good job at this part in my project. I can make the quality much better if there is more time for me to check the grammer in my dairies.

I feel very confident for my length because it is definitely the longest writing I have done. I always think that 50 words are not enough for me to write a complete entry, and I always write around 100 words for an entry.

In conclusion, this project extends my knowledge about writing. I feel more confident to write a long article. I know about how to write things in detail, and how to write a good description. This project helps me learn a lot.

Writing Center Review

Rujian, Zhou

12/13/2015

Visited The Writing Center

Last Tuesday, I visited the writing center of our school. I have heard about writing center a lot last year. My English teacher, Mr.G told me that I can get a lot of help from there, and my Writing teacher Mrs.B also said that. But this time is my first visit to the writing center.

The writing center is on the second floor of Humanity. It is different from the other classrooms where near it. Inside of the writing center, there is a long wooden table at the center of it. Around the table, there are 4 tall chairs. The first impression it gave me was warm and welcome. Also, there was a flower perfume smell in the room. I felt very comfortable when I talked about my dairies with Mrs.Swift.

Firstly, Mrs.Swift let me read about my dairies to her. This is a very helpful way to check articles, I did it at my dorm room too. Because I had checked my diary many times before I came, including I did reviews at class, I felt very confident when I read it. I thought that there was no a single mistake in my dairies, and I did not need to spend more than 10 minutes at here. But I was proven wrong just about 5 second later. It was my second sentence of my entry, I wrote “There are no changes, always the same people, same building and same life.” I was complete shock by this, even though I had checked a lot in the dairies, there was still such a careless mistake. I was very impressive, and I quickly changed “are” into “were” before Mrs.Swift said anything.

After that, the real big problem came. When I read the last sentence of my entry “Today, my journey had started”, Mrs. Swift stopped me. Then she said “ Here, because people always write diary at night; usually before going to bed, it is better to use present time.” I was confused and had thought a lot about this sentence myself too. I talked about my reason to use “had” in here to Mrs.Swift, which I thought my whole entry used in past time, so it was reasonable to use past time here. In this way, the times fit each other in the entry. Mrs.swift pointed out that, even though the other sentences were in past time, to this sentence it was happening when the time I was writing. So it was present time to me, as the writer. It was a really confuse and difficult question to me. Mrs.Swift noticed that and gave me more examples about this. Moreover, when she saw I was still not understand of it, she went to her room and took a grammar book from there.

At the moment she was looking for the grammar book, K who is my classmate came to the writing center too. I was very happy that I had a partner with me. After all, I felt very nervous about being one to one with a teacher. K’s coming let me relaxed a lot. Then Mrs.Swift brought her grammar book out. She talked with K when she saw him. After that, she explained about my mistakes to me and K. She told us a sentence that she read from book “People always live in the past”. She explained that, everything people did became the history at the moment the people did it. It was a very hard to understand this sentence, but it explained my problem. I knew that there were several other sentences that I used in past tense, so I went to correct those sentence when Mrs.Swift began checking K’s dairy.

I was in the writing center for about 45 minutes, I left there a little early before my free period end because I needed to change my art class at academy office. I did not realize I had stayed there for how long after I looked at the clock on my ipad. Even though I stayed there for almost a class’ time, I only read and checked my 2 dairies with Mrs.Swift. But I had learnt a lot, except the past tense confusing. Mrs.Swift also talked about comma splice, and run-on sentence to us. She was very conscientious when she listened me reading my diaries and found the mistakes immediately. Moreover, I was impressive that she explained to me very detailed. She used a lot of examples, like she had so many ways to teach me that her idea would run out.

After that, I realized that why so many teachers encourage students in Cheshire Academy go to visit the writing center. It is a place that can bring your articles a lot of changes. I felt my dairies became much better before I went there. And the teachers in the writing center were very kind and patient, they can listen or read your articles for an hour and find every mistakes. The writing center can help student a lot, if you have a chance and want to improve your writing, I suggest you to visit there as well.

Grammar about Sentences

Comma Splice: Use of a comma to join two independent clauses

I have a lot of homework to do, it is nearly end of the marking period.

(I have a lot of homework to do, because it is nearly end of the marking period.)

Run-on Sentence: Two or more independent clauses are joined without an appropriate punctuation or conjunction

I called my mother I talked with her about my life at school.

(I called my mother and talked with her about my life at school.)

Sentence Fragment: Sentence that can not stand by itself. It doesn't have any independent clauses.

Worked very hard every day that could not have enough sleep.

(He worked very hard every day that could not have enough sleep.)

Independent Clause: A clause that can stand by itself as a simple sentence.

I play soccer.

Dependent Clause: A clause that provides an independent clause with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence.

He is the boy who broke the window.

Dairy Fist Draft

Rujian, Zhou

11/30/2015

English II

Mrs. Guarino

Dairies

Inter:

I had a dream when I was small, I wanted to go out of country and see the world. I got used to views in my hometown, there were always the same, same people, same building and same life. And this morning October 29th, my dream came true, I arrived at JFK airport in New York and  I was ready to begin my studying in America.

I was so excited when I got off the plane, I was going to enter a new world that I never know before. I felt I was exploring a new world. Then, I saw the securities in the airport, they were people who different from people in my city. They spoke English, they had brown eyes, blue eyes, and golden hair. As well as guide sign in the airport, all of the words are in English. I was clearly realized that I was not in China, but America.

America was a whole new world for me, I could not wait to start my first year in my school. My journey had started!

Sep 1st

Dear Diary:

Today was my first day at school, I was so excited that I could not sleep last night. I did not know what will happen in the school year, but I was sure that I would have a great time at this school.

At the morning, I went to the administration building, as called “The Castle”  to check in with teachers. The administration building is a big, European structure made by gray stone and has four turrets on it. I had never seen a building like this in China, I realized I was in a different country again. Then, all the students and teachers attended the opening ceremony of the school year. All of us went to a church, which was a classic Catholic church with polychrome stained glass window, as well as people who song Hymn in the center. With the Hymn and the sunshiny from the stained glass, I felt the church was the most holy place in the world.

It was a great start for the school, I believed that this year would have a lot of good things happen.

Sep 2nd:

Dear Diary:

Today was the end of the orientation session. I had learnt a lot about my school. I knew about my schedule, the location of classrooms and other things that I needed to prepare for the school. It was very helpful for me, an international student to have orientation. It helped me know what I should do and how was the school like.

At the afternoon, all the student were in the assembly hall for the final orientation session. At the middle of the session, a asian looking girl who wore a pale blue silk made dress went into the hall with a sound of opening door. She had beautiful long black hair, and big brown eyes. She looked like a Chinese, I was curious about her and more importantly, I felt at ease to see someone liked me in the school. Because she looked so pretty in her silk dress, all of the students in the hall was looking at her. Then, the girl’s face burned with embarrassment, she must be very shy.

Beside this surprise, the orientation session went on good. The school was going to officially start, there were still many things I needed to do.

Sep 7th:

Dear Diary:

This was the end of my first week at my American school. It was a tough week, I had so many troubles in the school.

Firstly, I could not understand what my teacher saying at class. They always speak too fast for me to translate words in my head. Because of my poor English, I could not speak a lot to my classmate, and sometime I could not understand what they were talking about either. It was the worst time for me, I felt helpless. I did not know what I should do in the school, and I wondered that my decision to come here is right or not.

The only thing I could do was keep practicing my English, because all the causes of troubles were related to my poor English. I had to spend more time than other on studying and used all my rest time to read my English book.

Sep 30th:

Dear Diary:

After a month’s studying, my English had improved. Even though there were still many problems with my grammar and speaking, I was glad that my hard work had reply.

One of the things had helped me was my English class. I was so happy about there was English class in the school. In this way, I had more times to learn English and get help from my English teacher. Also, I was more and more familiar with the environment, the lifestyle of living in America. I still remember I had heavy jet lag at the first few days I came here. My life got a little easier than I just came.

I was very glad about my improvement in English. And I wanted to improve more, then I could speak more at the class and makes friends with my classmates.

Oct 1st:

Dear Diary:

October 1st is the National Day of China. I remembered my old school always had a big celebration at the National Day each year.

I thought about the National Day at last year, my old school setted up a sports game. Each classes made their own uniforms for students, and we wore the uniform during the sports game. I thought about one of friend at my class named Owen. He was a tall, handsome boy who love playing tennis. In the sports game, he signed up for the tennis game. I went to support him as well as some of my classmates. We were very excited, every time he got a point we shout together, and we wave our uniforms to him. He won the game at last, I ran to him and hug him.

It had been a month since I came to America, and now I was thinking about all the things happened in China. I missed my country very much.

Oct 9th:

Dear Diary:

I had one new friends today. Her name is Ellen, she is also a freshman. She is tall and had a beautiful blue eyes with golden hair.

I met Ellen in our Biology class, we were assigned into one group to do an experiment. Before I saying anything, she introduced herself with a big smile “Hi, I am Ellen. You look like my roommate Sookan, both you and her has such a beautiful black hair” I was shocked by this frank greeting. Then, we talked to each other after school. She invited me come with her and some of her friends to have some drinks. Ellen is a very outgoing girl and she has a lot of friends. She treats every people she meets with smile, and she is friendly to all of us.

I was very happy to know Ellen. It is very nice to have her as a friend.

Oct 10th:

Dear Diary:

Today, I went to the post office and got a letter from my mother.

At the first sentence of the letter, my mother wrote “I miss you.” When I read that, I felt my heart was bleeding. I missed my mother, and all my family members very much. I could not find a word to describe how much I missed them. So when I read about this sentence, all the feeling that I hided deep in my heart came out. I could not control myself from crying. It felt like I was away from my family for decades, at that moment I thought I would give up anything if I could come home.

My mother wrote about her and other people lives in China. She wrote that they were all right and all I need to do was studying. She did not want my to worry about anything at home. After I finish the letter, I saved it very carefull in a box and placed it under my bed. The letter became my little treasure.

Oct 21st:

Dear Diary:

I was so happy today, there was a big project in my world literature class and I got full score in this project.

My teacher - Professor Bennett asked us to write an essay about our understanding of literature. Because it was my first big assignment which worth a lot of points, I was very nervous about it. I went to ask help from Professor Bennett at the first day’s afternoon. I was worried about that I wasn’t a native English speaker, and I am still learning English, how could I write an essay? Then Professor Bennett told me about all the main points and importances in an essay that I should pay attention. He was very patient and answered all my questions. At the end, he listed all those things on a paper and gave it to me. And I found it was already evening.

I was moved by Professor Bennett, and I did all the things to the best in my essay. Today, when I got the result, I knew I earned it and I could not did it without Professor Bennett’s help.

Oct 31th:

Dear Diary:

It has been 2 months since I came to America. My life at the first month was full of struggle, but now it got much better.

My English has improved a lot. I gained confidence by the essay at Professor Bennett’s class. Then I felt more comfortable about talking with other people. I could understand my teachers’ speaking at class. I was glad about my improvement in English. At the other hand, Ellen and I became closer and closer, we always talked about Kyle who was her boy friend. Moreover, Ellen introduced Sookan to me. Sookan is also a very good girl, but she is always busy and we could not meet her.

This was a wonderful month.

Thanksgiving Break Diary

Nov 27th, 2015

Dear Diary:

  The last 2 days, I went to a field trip with my parents. It was my father's idea that we should go out of the city and spent time with each other. So we went to Huizhou, where is a countryside city near Guangzhou. It had very clean air and blue sky compare to Guangzhou. I could smile the fruits and vegetables from the air. There were also many green trees and big farms in Huizhou. I was very excited about the field trip, I did not go out with my family for a long time. I talked with my mother for a long time. I talked about my life in Cheshire, what did I feel in America, what I did in my class and all the funny things happened in school. My mother was very happy to hear the stoies.

  We bought some vegetables and 3 chickens from a local farmer before we came back. I was interested in the chickens very much. It is rare to see a live chicken in city. Those chicken had very smooth golden fur. When I touched them, I felt like I was touching an expensive well-done carpet. When we went back home, my father placed them in a big box at our garden. We wanted to fed those chicken for a while. 

  I was very happy about the field trip, it was nice to have some time with my family. Coming home is always the best.

Thanksgiving Break

  In this Thanksgiving break, I went back to Guangzhou China, where is my hometown. I had  a lot of fun there. I ate breakfast tea, watched a movie with my friends and had a field trip with my familly. The most happy thing was the field trip, because I did not go out with my family for a long time. We went to Huizhou, where is a courtyside near Guangzhou. The air there was very clean and had a lot of trees and farms. It was great to leave a city for a while, that you can enjoy the nature. Also, because there was not wifi, I could not play my phone. But I had more time that I could talk with my family about the my 3 months in America. We stayed in Huizhou fro 2 days, we visted some farms and ate local foods. Before we left, my father bought a lot vegetables and 3 chickens from a farmer. The vegetables were very fresh, green and delicious. And the chickens were strong, my father put them in our garden when we back at home and fed them. Those chickens were very clever, after you let them went to find foods, they would go back to the boxes where they slept. It was not common for me to see live chickens, I thought it was very interesting to keep the chickens in my house. I felt like I was a farmer. 

Book Review: Gathering Of Pearls

Rujian, Zhou

11/18/2015

English II

Mrs. Guarino

Sookan’s Spirits

“Taking the suffering, and creating a pearl around the pain.” The book Gathering Of Pearls gives us an example of a Korean girl’s life in America. The girl’s name is Sookan, she is an 18 years old Korean girl who goes to America for studying. She has faced many difficulties in school and personal life in her first year in America. Gathering Of Pearls tells us not only about how Sookan overcomes her difficulties but also her spirit, which she is always hard-working and friendly to everyone.

Sookan does not come from a rich family, she goes to college by the scholarship. Because of this, Sookan has a lot of pressures. For example, she needs to complete all her subjects for a high grade. This is one of the major problem she faced at the whole year, because of her poor English. Sookan has to spend much more time than other students in studying. She always reads books and she has not time to stay with her friends Ellen and Marci. Also, the scholarship requires her to work in school. She wishes dishes and cleans the tables in school dining hall. Because of the homework and the scholarship works, Sookan has nearly no free time everyday. Moreover, Sookan does babysitting for professor Bennett's family, because she need money for herself that she can buy some presents for her family.

All of these works make Sookan’s life extremely busy, but she received many good replays. For example, Sister Reed considers Sookan is one of the best student and gives Sookan a very precious pearl necklace. Also, Sookan knows many people from the scholarship work, she know other scholarship student and Peggy who is the captain of waitresses. Moreover, Sookan’s work is praised by professor Bennett's. After she cleaned professor Bennett’s garden, Mr and Mrs Bennett were grateful for her work and send her flowers.

Sookan has a lot of good qualities that helps her as well as her friends. She convinced Ellen do not elope with her boyfriend Kyle, and she comforted Marci when Marci had an argument with her parents. Because of all of her kindness, she has a lot of friends in college. When I read about she held a Christmas party and invited Marci, Ellen, Sister Reed and Bennett’s family to come, I can feel that everyone there loves Sookan. hey trust her and they think Sookan is one of important member of them.

At the end of the year, Sookan achieves many things. She grows up, she becomes more independent and she adapt the life in America. In my opinion, all of these are because of Sookan’s unique sprite. There is no one else in Sookan’s college that like her, she always pushed herself so hard to work and she never been rude to anyone. Even though Sookan was fainted because of all those works, the first thing she thought when she woke up was her grade and tests. It is hard to believe that a person can be such hard working, but Sookan did that.

Sookan did exactly what her mother wrote her in a letter “Taking the suffering, and creating a pearl around the pain.” Sookan has many sufferings in her life, but her efforts in studying and her kindhearted help her to overcome them. Then Sookan’s life become better and better. She has many friends and improve her grades at the end of the year. Sookan is one of the kind!

In conclusion, Gathering Of Pearls teaches me a lot, I know that people’s payouts will be replied at last. And I admired Sookan, there are so many things I can learn from her too. At last, Gathering Of Pearls is a book that deserves to read, especially you are an international students. You will find many similarities between you and Sookan and you will find out how good this book is.

Ending Of Peter Pan

  In my opinion, Peter Pan has a good ending. Peter faught with Captain Hook and won. He saved all the lost boys and Wendy. The Neverland became peaceful and everybody was happy.

  At the ending, captain Hook had a big fight with Peter. Peter won the fight and captain Hook jumped out from the boat. Captain Hook was eaten by the crocodile at last. Peter showed his brave and wisdom, he pretented the clock sound from the crocodile and tricked all the pirates. After that, the lost boys were saved. They would not worry about pirates any more in Neverland and I believed they would have a better lives. Also, Wendy and her little brothers went home. Their parens were happy and cried because their returning. Their parents missed then very much, and they thought about treating them better than before. Lastly, even though Wendy could not stay in Nerveland with Peter, Peter promised her that he would come to visit her once a year. So Wendy could see Peter in the future, and she did not need to worry about her family. 

  In conclusion, it is a happy ending in Peter Pan. Peter and Wendy could see each other and the other people lived in Neverland happily.  

 

  

Review: Peter Pan

Rujian, Zhou

11/15/2015

Mrs. Guarino

English II

A Beautiful Night With An Amazing Show

At the last Friday night, I went to watch a drama Peter Pan which was produced by my own school members. It was my first time to see my classmate and friends representing a drama ever, so I felt very excited about it.

The drama was about Peter Pan who is a boy that never wanted to grow up. One day, he met Wendy when he was finding his shadow. Wendy was a very nice girl and helped him fix his shadow. Then Peter invited Wendy and her little brothers to go to Neverland, where Peter lived with other boys. Then Wendy began her adventure, which she lived with the lost boys, caught by pirate captain Hook, saved by Peter and Peter promised her to visit her once a year at the end.

After all, it was a show gave me so much surprise that I could not think other things. I was completed shock when I saw John, who is my beat friend and also cast Mr.Darling and Curly in the show. I could not control myself from laughing when I saw John wore the golden wig with a very classical suit. It gave me a complete different image of John, it was a magical experience that saw the people around you acting in a show. Beside John, I saw Erin who cast Peter Pan and David who casted Slightly. They are both in the same history class with me. I felt so proud of their acting.

At the main time, I was impressive by all of the crews and casts. This drama showed all of their hard work. It is very hard to produce such a drama in our school’s black box. There were many scene changes in Peter Pan, which is hard to represented in the play. But at the show, they showed the changes by replacing the decorations, adding small items and light effect. Also, it was very smart to use a green laser light to represent the fairy Tinker in the show. I could feel that many people put their efforts in the show, and they tried to make the show the best they can.

Beside this, I knew that a show depends on not only casts but also its crews. At the last, I saw the student directors who wore earphones on the stage. I did not know what they did for the show very well, but I realized that not only the actors paid out for the show.

When I left the black box, I saw many audiences huge, took selfie and congratulated the casts and crews of the drama. Everyone was celebrating about the success of the show. It was an excellent show, and I wanted to think all the members of the drama for their efforts.

Vocabulary #3

1. A small, black velvet purse hung on the shoulder of the mannequin. (Mannequin: n, life-since model of a person which is used to display clothes)

2. To save money, I had purchased second-hand textbooks from upperclassmen at a fraction of the original price, (Second-hand: adj, something that is used before / not new)

3. Many of our classmates were there, with drinks in hand, talking animatedly. (Animatedly: adj, lively and shows feelings)

4. Flustered, I faltered, then hurriedly responded, "Yes, well, I had a good time, too. Good night." (Faltered: v, hesitate or pause because of unsure about somethings you are going to say)

5. She would acknowledge that I had done something impulsive, but would say that it was okay. (Impulsive: adj, doing something suddenly without thinking about them carefully first)

6. I had always felt constrained there. (Constrained: adj, feel you're been limited or forced to do something)

7. A Gregorian chant program is scheduled for June, and students will be coming from around the world. (Gregorian chant: n, a liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church)

8. I reached to unclasp the pearl necklace, when suddenly, the strand broke, and all the pearls scattered across the floor. (Pearl: n, a hard, round object which is shiny and creamy white in color)

9. I just want to elope and get our lives started now! (Elope: v, go away secretly together to get marked)

10. I would write to each of my taciturn brothers, even though they had never written to me. (Taciturn: adj, not speak very much)

11. I sat, buried my face in my hands, and sobbed. (Sobbed: v, cry in a noisy way)

12. In a silk pouch that Mother had made was her thin, white gold wedding band. (Pouch: n, a flexible container like a small bag)

13. As I stared forward listlessly, (Listlessly: adj, no energy or enthusiasm)

14. was comforted by their high-pitched hymns reverberating in the domed chapel. (Hymn: n, a religious song that Christians sing in church)

15. She had fainted, and they found out it was a cerebral hemorrhage. (Fainted: v, lose consciousness for a short time) 

Blog: Sookan's Future

Rujian, Zhou

11/5/2015

English II

Mrs. Guarino

The Repay Of Hard Works

Like an old word said “You get what you’ve done.” I believe that a person will get what he or she want after the person spent a lot time and put a lot efforts in doing it. For example, like Sookan in the book, I think she will become more and more comfortable about living in America in the rest of the novel.

First of all, Sookan is a girl who is always hard-working and friendly to her friends as all the reader know. The only barrier of her is English, which is a new language to her, and Sookan must takes more time to practice it. Even though Sookan is not as outgoing as Ellen, but she still has friends such as Marci and Ellen. So when she stays more time in America, when her English become better and better, she will be able to fit in the community better. And at that time there will not be any barriers to Sookan, she will success in her college. She is hard-working, she reads a lot of books, does homework and she takes notes. There must be nothing to stop her from becoming top students in the college.

At the meanwhile, her friendship with Ellen and Marci will stay stronger and stronger. Because Sookan does not have any bad behaviors. She is not mean to anybody in the campus, and it is impossible to think about she will do something bad to any of her friends. Instead, by the improvement of her English, she can talk more things to Ellen and Marci. She can expressive what she thoughts to them and let them understand her better. Sookan, Ellen and Marci will become closer to closer to each other.

Moreover, it is always hard for Sookan to stay away from home. As we read, Sookan always misses her country and her family. She cries after she read the letters from her mother and sister. She wants to be home everyday, so I think she will return to Korea one day. But she won’t stay in Korea and never come back, because it is better for her to keep studying in America. Whatever the opportunity or the safety, America is better than Korean at that period. Maybe Sookan will go home to see her mother, sisters and brothers. But she will also miss her friends and the life in America. It will also be hard to Sookan to come back to Korea because she used to live the freedom life in America. It will be strict to her to adapt all the old traditions in Korea.

On the other hand, I don’t think her family will not be angry with her. Sookan goes to study in America alone, and she never gives up her hard works at any moments. For example, she passed out because of she tried so hard to finish the homework, the scholarship works and all the other works for her. There will not be a reason that let Sookan’s family angry with her. Even though Sookan’s grades were not good as the first, her family members especially her mother will understand her difficulties in studying. As her mother wrote in the letter to Sookan, her mother shows her worries to Sookan. Her mother also understand the difficulties Sookan faces in America like English and making friends. But those difficulties will not last very long. As I said before, Sookan’s condition will be better and better after she stays in America longer.

As we speak to family, there is another family that important to Sookan, which is the Bennetts family. In my opinion, the Bennetts are like the Sookan’s family in America. They cares about Sookan, and they joined Sookan’s Christmas party in the dorm. Sookan likes Bennets family, but she loves her own family more. Her mother work so hard to send her to America, and her sister wrote many letters to her to guide her. The people who cares you the most always come from your own family. Sookan’s family support her a lot, and made her what she is now. So I think Sookan likes her own family more than the Bennetts family.

In conclusion, I have many similarities with Sookan since both of us are international students from other country to America, I understand Sookan better. After I read more and more chapters, I know that Sookan is a wonderful girls that never let her people down. As her work harder and harder, she will get more replies in the future. It is never a bad choice that work hard when you are in a difficult time.

"Capturing the Pass" Photos

Rujian, Zhou

11/5/2015

English II

Seeing The Pass From Photos

Today, I listened the speech from a community of photographers. All of them were very open, creative and outstanding. I enjoyed the time of looking at the photos they took.

The photos from them were mainly about some old, dirty and abundant buildings. And I heard about one man from the group said about their creative. Like an old words “There are always beautiful things around you, all you need is to find them.” There is no way to a normal person to have any interesting of the decay building, but those artists did. They found out the beauty of the decays from the buildings and took many photos. When I was looking at them, I could see the story from the pass. I tried to image what happen to the building and why it became the way in the photo. And what was the building liked when it was done at the first time. I was curious about all those things, and I felt respect and grateful to the authors.

In conclusion, even though I don’t understand art very well, I know that everybody should be creative, and even though a sample photo can tell you a lot of things. It is always impressive to see the art works.

Changes

I never saw man cook or enter the kitchen in Korea

I did not have much money in Korea

I had to respect the elder all the time

I did babysitting for free

I never saw people kiss at the public place

I see professor cooks for his family

I see Ellen can buy the things she wants

I can talk to elder normally

I get pay from babysitting my professor's children

I see people kiss each other.

In Class Writing: Differences between me and Sookan

  When the time I first came to America, I felt nervous, panic and overwhelming just like Sookan. I remember when I was in the airport, I saw and heard people that different from me. They looked different, they have different skin color, different hair color and different style of dressing. And I found out I was in a different world, all of the poeple there were speaking English. Even though I could understand some of them, I still feel I was a stranger in the place. I stood near with my family, and I did not know what should I do.

  Fortunately, I went to America with my father and mother together. So I felt not as much as lonely as Sookan. But still, I anxiously followed my father where ever he went, because I was so afraid that I would lost in the crowd of the people who did not speak Chinese. I could not imagine what could I do if I really lost, could I communicate with them i English? 

  Lastly, bith Sookan and I were shy. Maybe because of the languages, I was afraid of talking to other American students when I first arrived here. I was always concerned about my gammer in English. I also tried to manage the sentence in my mind and then speak them out.

Questions of Chapter 3-4

1. Why Marci was lonely?

2. Why Sookan felt sorry to Marci?

3. Did Sookan like his job?

4. What did Sookan's mother wrote in the letter?

5. What did Sookan feel after she reading the letter?

Gathering Pearls Author: Sook Nyul Choi

The author of Garthing Pearls is Sook Nyul Choi. Even though she writes in English, Korean is her mother language. She was born in North Korea, then she emigrated to America. And now she becomes a writer in America. She writes about the life in North Korea, Korean War and the influences between countries in her books. Her books have many rewards, she is a good writer. She also write stories for children. Lastly, She has written 6 books so far.

Reading & Writing Experience

Rujian, Zhou

Period G

Ms. Guarino

10/13/2015

                                                            Adventures In My Head

    Reading and writing are two of the most important things in people’s life. I have read and written many things in my life. For reading, I usually imagine the scenes in the book. In this way, I can see the characters, the places and all the things in my head like watching movie. For writing, I recall my memories with details. Then I can write the story down with beautiful words, and good sentences that describes the story. Every time I read or write something, it is like an amazing adventure happening in my head. Because of this, I enjoy the time when I am reading or writing.

    There are many things that I have read and written since I was born, like the fairy tales and diaries. But the first time I considered I read something is The Graver Robbers’ Chronicles, which is a wonderful horror fiction written in chinese. The story is very long, there are 9 books in total. And the main story is about the tombs and zombies. I still remember that I could not sleep at night when I was reading it. Because when I was reading it, the scenes of gloomy tombs as well as the bloody zombies appeared in my head. I also write essays in my old school, but they are written in Chinese. The first thing I write in English was a Personal Narrative for my writing class last year. It was about what I felt studying in America. When I was writing it, I tried very hard to recall what I did for going abroad. Then pictures from the past appeared in my head, I felt I was watching a movie about myself.

    In my opinion, I like to read because the stories are always long and interesting in a book. I can know more in a book than a movie. People usually watch a movie for one or two hours, but reading a book always takes more time than that. There are more contents in a book, so I can know more about the setting, characters and plots. I read a lot in China, there are many articles in the textbook of my old school. Since I have come to America, I read less than before. Because it is hard for me to read in English. There are always words that I don’t understand in the book, which I have to search. Because of this, read something in English takes more time for me. It likes a challenge for me to read in English, but I feel proud after reading an English article.

    I like to read things like fantasy. Fantasy never let me down, there are always good stories in a fantasy book. More importantly, the worlds in the book are amazing, like the magical world in Harry Potter. I am curious about the lifes in the world of Harry Potter, and this curiosity push me to read the book. Reading a Fantasy book is the best way to use my imaginations, and I always enjoys the time when I am reading it.

    My favourite book that I have read in English for my class is The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian. This book was my summer reading last year. It is a very interesting book about an Indian boy’s life. It is written in a very childish way, which is very funny for me. Sometime I laugh when I am reading it. Also, there are not very complex words in the book. So I can easily read it and I do not feel boring when I am reading it.

    The Graver Robbers’ Chronicles is my favourite book in general. Its story which is about a tomb robber is very attractive. The writer uses more than hundreds or words to describe tombs in the book. Because of this, readers can easily imagine what are the tombs like in the book. Also, the adventure of the main characters makes reader nervous. Especially when they were trapped in a tomb in one chapter, I am very afraid of they could not get out. It is a good book that worth reader to read.

    In conclusion, I have some reading and writing experience but I am definitely not an expert of them. And I am looking forward to read and write more, as well as improving my reading and writing skills.