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.