Voids: In Literature

Story Reflection

1. What would you call this story? Why?

I would title this story The Lottery, because the whole story is always referencing to a lottery, and all of the villagers are afraid of it. This gives the title more significance because the reader doesn’t know what the lottery is.

2. What did you think was going to happen? What clues in the text led you to think this?

I thought that the lottery was one where the winner had to give away all of their money to the other villagers or make the money go to the profit of the town and then force the winners to live like insignificant, unimportant people. What led me to these conclusions was the fact that everyone was so solemn and on edge throughout the whole story.

3. How did you feel when the end of the story was not given to you?

I felt really disturbed when I was not given the end of the story because I still had many important, uncertain questions in my mind. I wanted to know what happened because I didn’t know what the lottery was and also why everyone was so nervous about it.

4. How did you feel when you were handed the mystery paper? What did you think was in it? Did you follow the instructions? Why or why not?

I felt nervous when I was handed the paper, mainly because I did not know what was in it. However, I did know that there was a wordle in it, for you could see it plainly through the paper. I was able to follow the instructions on the paper that told me not to open it till 5pm, and it was hard, but I made it easier on me because I put it in a spot in my locker where I ignore what is up there till the end of the day.

5. How did you feel about the black box and the black spot/blank paper? Explain.

The fact that the teachers used a black box was really unsettling because it was just like the one in the story. I got a paper with no black dot, so I felt somewhat calmed because mine was not marked apart from the others. However, I still did feel uncertainty because it could have been the other way around with the blank papers being something bad.

6. How did you feel when you read the end of the story? Explain.

I felt shocked; however I also felt some uncertainty still. There was still one last question left unanswered in my head, and the transfer to the end of the story was choppy and not flowing. This made me ask, “Is this really how it ended?”

7. Were your predictions correct? How did you feel about that?

My predictions that the reasons that all of the villagers were really nervous because they had to give all their money away, etc… were incorrect. This made me wonder how the author did it and this uncertainty made me feel really shocked.

8. What would have helped you to make a better prediction?

The thing that would have enabled me to make better predictions would have been more text clues from the audience at the lottery, such as gossiping. This would have given me more content to study and deconstruct.

9. Why did the author leave these voids in the story?

The author left the voids in the story to keep the reader’s attention. Without the voids, the story would have been uninteresting to me and I would have walked away.

10. Explain the power of the void in this experience:

A. No title/author information – Made me wonder what the whole story was going to be about.

B. No ending – Made me really question and think about what the ending was going to be, because I knew I would get the ending eventually.

C. Text clues and foreshadowing throughout – Made me uncertain because the villagers were connotating the lottery with bad ideas, and I did not know what sort of lottery is bad.

D. Mystery paper – Made me annoyed because I did not know when I could open it, yet I somehow knew that the ending of the story was in it. It made me ask “Why are the teachers doing this?”

E. Delayed ending – Made less tension in me, because when I put it in my locker, I forgot about it, not really thinking about it until the end of the day. It still made me ask “Why? What happens?”

F. Anything else that created tension and conflict for you… The fact that I had some idea of what was going on really unsettled me because I did not know what to make of it and what was going to happen to me or in the story.

Voids: Tension and Release

The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop (Silence) the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

I feel that adding the word Silence after develop provides a void with maximum tension for the listener because it is just before the part where the mission statement is going to describe what the “develop” is. A void creates tension for the audience by making them uncertain and asking questions. One way to create tension is to add silence, which is possibly the best void, in which the listener wonders where, when and why the main idea is and what happened to it. Pausing right after “develop” makes the audience ask questions, in this case, “What?” “How?” I believe that this place for silence will provide the maximum tension for the audience.

One of the way composers can create tension for the audience is to remove or add an element of music. The composer may call for the melody, harmony or pulse to be added or removed. In the absence of one of these, the audience feels tension and asks questions because they are uncertain of what will happen next etc. When the composer decides to provide the release to the tension (the answer to the audience’s questions), he or she just adds or removes the element which they changed in the beginning.

School of Athens: A Clean Mirror

The School of Athens

The fresco painting “The School of Athens” painted by Raphael mirrors renaissance society. It does so by showing most of the famous scientific or philosopher people from Ancient Greece. The fact that there seem to be two distinct mindsets (the philosophers and the scientists) in the painting shows that at the time of the Renaissance, newer ideas were being introduced. The philosophers believed what the church told them, for example ideas such as that the earth was the center of the solar system. However, some scientists believed the opposite, that the sun was the center of the solar system. The scientists went out into the outside world to get their knowledge. This showed that more people were looking outside of the church for answers to their questions. Another part of the painting that reflects the Renaissance is the fact that most of the were from Ancient Greece. During the Renaissance, society started looking into the past at ancient civilizations to get new ideas and to know how the ancients would have tackled the problem. This shows that they were being more logical, and this was a key characteristic of the Renaissance.

If I could be anyone in “The School of Athens” I would be Aristotle, the student philosopher. Aristotle was a Greek philosopher that had a down to earth, hands on personality and beliefs. Aristotle was a person who liked to think of the world in a practical way, so he was not taking the view of the Catholic Church. He can be called as a humanist, similar to me, for I am an atheist. I take a scientific belief on the earth and everything that happens on it, and why we are here, just like Aristotle. I have never gone to church, or believed in religion, and I wish to stay this way. I am a very logical and scientific person.

Images taken from:
http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/nlewis/files/2009/09/school_of_athens2.jpg
http://www.newbanner.com/AboutPic/athena/raphael/nbi_aris2.html

Persevere In Life

The Victor
Poet: C.W. Longenecker

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

I think that this poem is very much showing that if you persist and have self confidence, you can do pretty much anything you want to. If you persist, you can take on any project or assignment that teachers can give you, even if you don’t feel like going on. This poem shows that if you believe in yourself, you can do anything, but if you doubt in yourself, you will not get anything done in life.

Destiny - Pursue It

Destiny

Destiny snuck into the corridor,

Clad in comprehension and enticement,

It left an understandable path intended for me to pursue.

Literature shows the values of a time period or culture, and it does that through using its literary elements such as mood, theme and actions of the characters. The mood of the story relating to the events and actions of the characters can hint about what a culture feels about an item or tradition of value. If a character in the story does something that is considered wrong with the tradition, then there would be a reaction to the event in the story. When the themes of the story appear (such as the wind), it tells the reader that there is going to be something important happening soon. Literature digs deep into the secrets of an time and culture, and sometimes leaves them wide open for the reader to see.

Just Keep Going

A trait that will allow me to succeed in life is that I am a hard worker and that I will do my best to complete whatever I am faced with. When I am away and out of school for reasons beyond my control, such as my recent trip to London, I will try as hard as I can to do any work in advance. I will go around to teachers and get any work that I can do beforehand and turn that work in either before or after I return. Upon my return, I will do whatever it takes to get the work done, such as staying after school for help and tips from teachers to expedite the catch-up process.
Image taken from:
1st-art-gallery.com

Survive the Challenges

The people who come here have a lot of money to spend, … amongst us, the only ones who travel are the shepherds.’ ‘Well then I’ll be shepherd!’” (Coelho 9) In The Alchemist, Santiago, living in Andalusia, is a young shepherd boy who wants to travel and see the world. When he dreams of treasure near the pyramids, he sets out to find it, and along the way, he meets and gets to know many people. He finds the love of his life, succeeds in getting around many challenges and becomes more self-aware. Santiago uses his ambition, determination and confidence to help him achieve his destiny.

On his journey, Santiago uses his ambition in an assortment of ways. First, Santiago wants to be a shepherd instead of a priest, which is what his dad wanted him to be. Santiago’s father wanted him to be a priest, but Santiago wanted to travel and see the world. He is very ambitious to go see where the people that come to his hometown live and how they live. It is this decision to travel and be a shepherd in the first place that sets him off on his long journey to his destiny. Next, when Santiago is forced to stop in Al-Fayoum because of the tribal wars, he meets a woman of the desert who he falls in love with immediately named Fatima. As Santiago knows that this is the woman of his dreams, he feels extremely ambitious and declares, “‘I came to tell you just one thing, I want you to be my wife. I love you’… ‘I’m going to wait here for you every day. I have crossed the desert in search of a treasure that is somewhere near the Pyramids, and for me, the war seemed a curse. But now it’s a blessing, because it brought me to you’” (91). In the beginning, Santiago thinks that when the caravan has been held up in Al-Fayoum because of tribal wars that he should be angry because he is wasting time in Al-Fayoum, but in a few days that all changes because he meets Fatima. When he meets Fatima, Santiago first thinks that he has found his treasure, but the alchemist persuades him to keep pursing his destiny, because it is not his destiny to stay in Al-Fayoum with Fatima. His destiny is to find the treasure near the pyramids and be the apprentice to the alchemist. He will then be free to live as he pleases. Last of all, when Santiago is leaving Al-Fayoum with the alchemist, he says goodbye to Fatima, he is feeling ambitious because it is his goal to return to her with his treasure in a timely manner. He feels that it is achievable to become the apprentice of the alchemist and to find treasure. Santiago is sure because he has his ambition and is able to say with confidence that he will be back to Fatima in Al-Fayoum eventually with his treasure. This ambition that Santiago has is extremely important on his journey to his destiny, however he also uses his determination to overcome the challenges that he comes across on his journey.

Santiago uses his determination to persevere all the way to his destiny in a couple different ways. The earliest example of Santiago’s determination is when Santiago is in Al-Fayoum and he has seen the omen of the hawks, and is in the tent explaining to the tribal chieftains what he has seen. One chieftain doubts that Santiago saw the omen of the hawks and was able to interpret it correctly because he doubts that an eye not accustomed to the desert would be able to see the omen. On the contrary, it is the exact opposite. The main chieftain of the oasis tells Santiago a story about the tradition. The tradition states that when the omens present themselves to be read, they should be abided by. Santiago, with his determination, is able to pull through the situation presented to him and survive. Shortly afterward, Santiago is determined that he has found his treasure and his destiny in Al-Fayoum with Fatima. Santiago wants to stay in Al-Fayoum, quoting “‘I came to tell you just one thing; I want you to be my wife. I love you’… ‘I’m going to wait here for you every day. I have crossed the desert in search of a treasure that is somewhere near the Pyramids, and for me, the war seemed a curse. But now it’s a blessing, because it brought me to you’” (91). During his time with Fatima in Al-Fayoum, Santiago realizes that he loves Fatima to no end and wants to marry her. He is so determined by this that initially, he mistakes Fatima with his destiny. Only the Alchemist persuades Santiago to persevere onwards to his destiny. Further still into The Alchemist, Santiago is once again determined to persevere, only this time; it’s a little more complicated. Santiago must turn himself into the wind in order to stay alive; a tribe at war has caught him and the Alchemist. They think that Santiago and the Alchemist are spies, and threaten to kill them unless Santiago can turn himself into the wind. Santiago eventually does turn himself into the wind, but he needs all of his determination to do it. The determination is very important in Santiago’s destiny, but he also uses his courage to survive his challenging and doubtful journey.

During Santiago’s journey to his destiny, he must use his confidence to survive his long quest. The first example of this is when Santiago is with the crystal merchant in Terim; he needs to get enough money to continue on his destiny. Santiago is working for a crystal merchant, but the crystal merchant is not warming up to the idea of attracting customers by building a display case at the bottom of the hill. Santiago is confident that if the people see the crystal in the display case, they will come up the hill to buy the crystal. However, the crystal merchant is reluctant to allow Santiago to build the case because he fears that the crystal will be broken. Santiago also displays courage when he is faced with the Alchemist for the first time. When the Alchemist crosses paths with Santiago, the Alchemist tests Santiago for his level of courage. Santiago is at first scared, but later in the encounter, he becomes more confident because the Alchemist is asking him whether or not it is he who read the omens of the hawks. When Santiago feels confident that the Alchemist will not kill him, he becomes more self-aware and declares, “‘It is I who dared to do so,’ he repeated…” (105). This shows the reader that Santiago is confident, however, he isn’t always confident when he is first displayed with the problem. For example, when Santiago has to turn himself into the wind to survive, he is not confident in himself. Santiago is fretting over the fact that he is not able to turn into the wind, he and the Alchemist will die. He is only able to turn himself into the wind by turning to his heart and to the soul of the world. Only after he turns into the wind does he become fully confident in his abilities. Santiago uses his courage to defeat the tests that he is tested with in the Alchemist.

Santiago travels from his home in southern Spain all the way to Egypt in Africa in search of his treasure, only to be forced to return all the way to southern Spain to find his treasure and his destiny, but part of his destiny is to meet all of the people along the way and to become the alchemist’s apprentice. Santiago uses his ambition, determination and confidence to help him complete his destiny. Santiago wants to achieve his destiny and it wouldn’t have been possible for him to realize and achieve his destiny using his traits. His ambition drives his determination to achieve his destiny, and he uses his confidence to get around the obstacles that he meets on his journey. He emerges from this journey a new young man with riches and love, more confident, ambitious and determined then ever. Thus, Santiago’s tale serves as a reminder to all. All can achieve their destiny, if they survive the challenges.

Da Vinci-- The true genius

Da Vinci is a true renaissance man because he was way ahead of his era in terms of thinking. He was thinking of things that no one had even remotely thought about, and he was thinking in many different areas of science. Some of the areas included astronomy, anatomy, natural and life sciences, art and sculpting. Da Vinci started to doubt what the current beliefs were, and so he set out to find out the truth for himself. He went out and found out things for himself to argue the existing beliefs on all areas of science. He also made great works of art such as the Mona Lisa, which inspired people. His ability to do all this sets him apart from any other figure of that time period, therefore, he is a true renaissance man.

ownfineart.com

Flexibility and skills

I believe in skill and flexibility. I believe that everyone in the world should have these traits, because with them, there would be no wars. I want no wars, just peace. Please read my essay on these beliefs.
Image taken from:
townhallmeeting.org

Dreams and Me

I chose these poems because they suit me. The poems describe me, so I decided to do it. I chose a short poem, so I had to do a second poem to maintain the length of the movie. I took the literal approach to the ideas and images, because I believe that that would deliver a deeper message. I altered this approach for my own poem, just showing that I was the main thing, “the sea”. It is important that I got the message across, I believe that I got that point across.

Everyone has a talent

I am just amazed at what this video has shown me. The amount of people who are willing to just go out there and dance, even though it was being filmed and put up on youtube, it just shows how many good and happy people in the world. This is all just amazing because even though there are some people in the world who are unhappy and angry, the world is still a happy place. I also agree with Matt that people are all connected by common hobbies. Not all people are, but a lot of the 6,775,000,000 people that live on this earth are connected.

Video viewed from: http://breakingfrozenseas.blogspot.com/

Inspiration and Awe

When I first saw this video a couple of days ago, I thought that this was just another performance by a wanna be. And it was, but the person was actually full of talent. I think that this shows that the human generation is doubtful and mean sometimes.

We don’t know if we are wrong or right until we have actually seen what they can do. This also means that because we are shaped by society, we judge people by age, clothes and gender. This is racist and mean of us and we need to change our way of thinking.

The connections to the Langston Hughes poem “The Dream Keeper” that I can come up with is that the poem talks about the person catching dreams and holding on to them so that they can survive the onslaught of the world. This clip matches this idea perfectly.

http://www.breakingfrozenseas.com/

Me: The Seas

The Seas

I am the sea

Embracing the world

With green-blue waves

Destroying the world

With shear power

Unpredictable yet predictable

Raging yet calm

Choppy yet flat

I am dominant

My waves reach

All corners of the world

And break on all shorelines

I am unique

And only me

I am a natural force

Often underestimated

I provide life

And cause death

By way of raging winds

And high frothy waves

Crashing down

On the sandy beach

I am opposites.

I am the seas.

I am me.

I chose this image because it fits the poem perfectly. The sea is a powerful element that crashes around, constantly moving around. Just like me.

Image taken from:

mathpaint.blogspot.com

Colorful Characteristics

Skiing: Gloves

Don't you just love the freezing, biting wind on your exposed face. Ski gloves are my item because I simply love to go skiing. It is such a sensation to be on skis rushing down a steep white mountain. Your face becomes rosy after that long walk in clunky ski boots down to the ski lockers underneath the hotel. Just because we live somewhere warm, does not mean that we can’t enjoy winter activities.

Liquid Fire

I chose the blog title liquid fire because liquid fire is impossible (that is what I think) to create, and I like the theory of someday doing impossible things. It is fascinating, to know that we humans have come from the stone ages and will progress much further than we are now.