Title: TOEFL Practice Essay
Posted: Monday, March 4, 2013 @ 7:55 AM

4. It has been said, "Not all learning takes place in the classroom." Compare and contrast knowledge gained from personal experience with knowledge gained from classroom instruction. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

Do you have a moment? Good. A moment is all it takes to absorb some knowledge that may affect your life. Knowledge is important. It affects our thoughts, our opinions, and our actions. According to the dictionary, knowledge is acquaintance of facts, truths, and principles. Both sources of knowledge -- from personal experience and from classroom instruction, are important. They have both similarities and differences, which will be discussed soon.

***Gaining knowledge from in-class learning and experience both take time. Although you can absorb it in an instant, it takes a long time to gain enough for your brain to be able to process complex situations and apply what you have learned.

***Although these two ways of gaining knowledge are similar in some ways, there are also differences. Classroom instructed knowledge is mostly based on hypothetical situations and are not always able to be applied in real life. However, knowledge built up from experiences are based on real situations, with real people and real problems. These situations are also based on yourself, and your own feelings and emotions. Since you have experienced it, you can also reflect on it, and gain a deeper knowledge. The wisdom gained from real situations is always useful in life.

***Combine

***In my opinion, knowledge gained from personal experience is more valuable than from classroom instruction. I believe that wisdom and common sense helps you in life more, and these two can only be gained through experience, not out of a book.

**My brain died here and I now cannot think, sorry ;_; I will finish it by tomorrow afternoon, maybe it'll be counted as late...**

Title: Hamlet Podcast
Posted: Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 10:44 AM

Hamlet Act II, Scenes I & II

Scene I:
Polonius - Julianne
Reynaldo - Duangkamol
Ophelia - Jung

Scene II:
Queen - Jung
Guildenstern - Duangkamol
Hamlet - Julianne

Download Link

Title: Figurative Speech in RFK's Speech
Posted: @ 6:59 AM

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening, because I have some -- some very sad news for all of you -- Could you lower those signs, please? -- I have some very sad news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.

We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.

For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.

But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.

My favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King -- yeah, it's true -- but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love -- a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past, but we -- and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.

And let's dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

Thank you very much.

Labels: English II, schoolwork

Title: Hamlet Response Journal
Posted: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 @ 9:50 AM

Response Journal for Act 1, scene 1 to Act 2, scene 2

1. How does the play make you feel at this point? Record your emotional response(s) in a few sentences and then explore them for a few minutes, trying to figure out why you feel as you do.

- Honestly, I do not feel much about the play at this point. I don't completely understand much of the script and I find the language so funny that whenever I try to read it I just burst out laughing. However, I suppose Hamlet was in a lot of pain. (Obviously.) Anyone in his situation would. Who wouldn't be rather bothered when their uncle takes the throne, their mother married that throne-stealing, wife-seducing, power-hungry moron that should be abdicated (Sorry for rather strong wording.), and then they find out that their father was, in fact, brutally murdered? I'd be completely deranged.

2. In what situations have you felt similar to the characters? What persons, places, or ideas from your own experiences came to your mind while you were reading this portion of the play? Try to list at least three associations, but don't worry about trying to figure out why they came to mind. Just accept that they occur.

- This is a harder question for me, considering I do not know any people who have been murdered or anything mentioned in the story. Here's what I came up with, however.

a. Hamlet's father died. I, too, lost my father. Fortunately he wasn't murdered. I do know, to some extent, how Hamlet felt when he found out his father had passed, before knowing that his uncle was the one who had killed his father. I know what it feels to have a void inside where your father once was. 'Nuff said.

b. I think I knew to some degree what Hamlet felt like when his own mother hurriedly got remarried after his father's passing. My cousin recently got divorced. His wife was one of my closest friends, honestly. She was my role-model, until she divorced my cousin, for the most ridiculous reasons. She broke his heart, and if that wasn't enough, stomped all over it too. A couple months later she was going out with another guy. It's very painful seeing how she let go of someone she had for twelve years to lower her standards, without even a decent amount of time to grieve over the one she let go.

c. Ophelia seems like a very obedient person in the way she agrees to not spend time with Hamlet. I think I know how she feels when she doesn't want to obey, but she does. I occasionally do this, though I think I'm much more stubborn than Ophelia. Most of the time I make my own plan as I go, and I tend to disregard logic in favor of what I want at the moment. I guess sometimes we need to obey our parents and trust that it's best for us.

3. What portions of Shakespeare's language attracts your attention? These might be individual words, phrases, lines, scenes, or images. Make note of whatever features draw your attention. Speculate for a few minutes about what you think they might mean.

- I really don't like Shakespeare's language because we use different language nowadays than they did back then. I guess the best part I've read is where he describes eyes as stars. It doesn't seem that significant, but I think eyes have deep meaning, as do stars. Therefore, I personally think describing eyes as stars was Shakespeare's best phrase in the script.

4. Make note of any portion of the play, its language, or events that cause you problems. Note any questions that you might ask.

- There is only one part in this play that bothers me a bit. That would be the part where Polonius is advising Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet. I do think it is typical, that a brother advise his sister in her love life, but I don't think he should have told her to stay away, because he doesn't know Hamlet as well as Ophelia does. Other than that, nothing causes me problems; it is a very well-written play.

Labels: English II Writing, schoolwork

Title: Spectator Sport: Convenience at Hand
Posted: Sunday, September 2, 2012 @ 9:08 AM

The tinny obnoxious ding-dong sound of doom greets you as soon as you walk in and contemplate your imminent penniless state. You are entering the zone of exorbitance. The silence is deafening. No one stops to chat here. The possibility of being discovered is too great. You stride down the short aisles, wending your way on your fat legs around suspiciously corpulent people, waiting to similarly obtain your daily fix, because most likely you're just there to pick up something you really don't need in order to proceed with your life. You're intemperate and you know it. Ridden with guilt, you dart your eyes around to make sure there are no witnesses to your illicit act. You jump about a mile when a fridge door slams, and sigh in relief when you realize you're still safe. However, flight is essential. Quickly grabbing what you don't need, you crack your wallet open at the counter, signaling your acquiescence to the dark side. Exiting the dealer's den with eyes lowered, deliberately avoiding eye contact, you don't talk. You skulk away into the shadows, hoping against hope that you haven't been observed by anyone who may besmirch your already grubby reputation. Lamenting your indigent financial state, you take comfort at the sight of your treasure, the goods you have just purchased, hoping there will be enough to tide you over until you need to satiate your next deprivation.

Can you guess what I'm talking about? That’s right, the malevolent omnipresence of a convenience store, strategically positioned in order to ensure your continued reliance on the closest parental wallet to satisfy your infinite needs.

It’s your haven, your home away from home, your fortress of refuge from society. The place is either silent or buzzing with activity. Your nose is treated to a symphony of aromas, ranging from greasy chips to floor cleaner to tomato sauce. No one takes long here. Even the regulars don’t linger.

On one particular day, my gaze zeroed in on the guy preceding me in the line, paying for his pack of Marlboro cigarettes. Not that he was cute or anything. He looked like a prison escapee. He wore a black earring, a band t-shirt, and a brutal look. I watched him glance at the cashier, who was taking her time as she rung up his sale. I never believed people’s eyes could “shoot daggers” until then. I absently speculated what crime he committed and why he’s out of jail, home free. He turned around. I contemplated running. Abruptly, his eyes changed. They crinkled at the corners, and his mouth gave way to a smile. That smile changed him; it lit his whole face up and made it look surprisingly mellow. He proceeded to the door with a gait surprisingly smooth for an ex-convict. I kept watching as, unabashed, he obligingly held the door open for an old lady coming in. It just goes to show; even the best presents can come wrapped up in unusual packages. I exited that store with a new perspective on life, and my faith in humanity restored.