Personal Reflection

If I had to rank or grade myself in class, I would honestly say that I am definitely lacking effort in my work. A lot of the time, I just do the least amount which is required. I did not really put a lot of thought and effort in the work. In class participation, I would pretty much say that I did pretty well. I listen to the teacher and raised my hand when I wanted to speak or raise a question, but I did not raise my hand often for questions. In homework assignments, I admit that sometimes copy other peoples work when I get lazy. Like I said earlier, I did not put a lot of effort in my work. I only do the minimum work that is required. Yes, it's pass-able, but it's not the best. I do miss some of my blogger entries. For me, it is very easy for me to forget about the blogger entries which are due on the exact same day which they were assigned. I do try to make up the blogger entries in order to get the point from doing the work. I do make sure that I have enough time for homework assignments. I do not start homework right after they were assigned, but I do start before hand (Not the last minute). There are still places for me to improve in this class, and I would try my dest to do so.

Style

In the story "Raymond's Run", the writer uses two different styles which are dramatic irony and situational irony. The story shows dramatic irony when Squeaky kept saying that she is the fastest runner in her neighborhood. Of course, we know that she's not. When running, she lost to a guy who ran with his hands in his pockets. She pretended that she did not practice or prepare for something but she actually did. She pretended that she completely forgot about the spelling bee contest, but she actually did prepare. She doesn't want people to see or know that she had prepared for something. She believed that this will make people think that she is good at that particular thing.
The story shows situational irony when after the race, Squeaky shows respect to Gretchen. The writer described Squeaky as a cocky girl. The reader would never predict that Squeak, a cocky girl who thinks that she is always the best, would show respect to another person who is her opponent. Normally, readers would probably predict that Squeaky would try to embarrass or even laugh at Gretchen. These are the two major styles in the story, "Raymond's Run".

Brainstorming a Poem

Eric is an important person for me, he is my friend since 4th grade.
He is short, spiky, funny, loud, generous, competitive, dramatic, sporty, hyper,and goofy.
Eric is quite short with spiky hair.
He sometimes tries rapping rap songs that he liked.
He smells like the donut that he always eat after school.
His hair is spiky.
Laugh, Exercise, Rap, Compete, Chat

Eric, my best friend
Short with spiky hair
Funny, dramatic, and sometimes goofy
When you tries to rap, you always makes me laugh.
I could always smell the donut that you get from O'Fa.
The spiky-ness of your hair, just like touching a porcupine
with your bare hands.
We laugh, compete, chat, and exercise together
You are my best friend.

End Game

When I planned our board game on another blogger post about a week ago. I said that the board game would be similar to the game Monopoly, but with a lot more variety. With special skills the players could use to other players. We had basically followed the plan when we were making the game. The game we made are pretty identical to what the plan had said. "A monopoly board game, but with a lot more variations. The game could be played from two to five players. The characters in the game are Angela Wexler, Turtle Wexler, Sandy McSouthers, Doug Hoo, and Sunny Hoo. Each one of then have special skills they could use in the game. Such as, bombing other players within 3 blocks, or teleporting to other blocks. The board is made out of plastic card boards, the character tokens were made out of clay, and the cards were printed with construction paper and then was cut out. We did not make the game board as big as the ones in monopoly because we want the game to end quicker. Therefore, players could switch characters to play with. People may think there are advantages among other characters, thats why we wanted the game to end as fast as possible.

Slang

Most slangs I know are slangs that teens like us uses, such as lol, wtf, sup, and dude. Of course, if you are a older person, you might not know what these words means. Slangs are like codes that people in a certain region would understand, this means that not all people would get these slangs. These slangs can be used in different circumstances. When you heard something very funny, you would say "lol", which means laugh out loud. When someones says something surprising or unbelievable, we would normally say "wtf", which means what the f***? There are also some slangs that only people in a certain region would know. Such as, 88 which means bye bye in chinese. The word 8 sounds like the world "掰". To me slangs are part of my life now. I just say it with out hesitating. I'm not exactly sure if this is a good thing or bad. At lease I haven't been involved in any problems from using these slangs. Slangs could make conversations more fun. Using these slangs will make the conversation more relaxed and unserious. In stead of saying the person's name when calling them, you would say "dude" instead.

Analogy

My analogy is "listening to music is like a party that is going on around you". I personally love to listen to music when I have spare time. When listening to music, it is just like a party is going on around you. The music could make you feel like you are in a party. Music could change your mood from a sad and low mood to a happy and relaxing mood. I don't just listen to music when I have nothing to do. I listen to them when I'm on a car ride to somewhere, when playing sports, and sometimes when doing homework. Music could actually help me concentrate on doing what I am suppose to do, instead of looking at other things. When exercising, it also helps me concentrate on playing the sport, instead of thinking about random things in my mind which could cause me to do a mistake. On the car, bus, train, or even on a plane, it is the best place to relax by listening to some music that you like. It is just like you are in a party, relax and also having a good time. Music is a great creation for me, and definitely for other people that also love music.

Fighting Words

Yes, I had been in an arguement before with another person who was talking about bad things about me. The person started to say names about me, and all kinds of unkind things about me. This is when the arguement begun. The person don't even know what circumstance I am in at that moment. He just started talking about what I did wrong and other things which is unnecessary. I believe everyone had these experiences before. It is quite easy to start an arguement if people are saying "unkind", or bad things about each other. Yes, maybe some times violence is a way to stop arguements, but to me. I think that is wrong. People should get alone with each other. Violence isn't the answer to all things. I had not been in a physical fight before, and I do not wish I would get in one either. Some people are more of an action type person. They would consider using force to stop problems. Of course, a fight would have a winner, and a loser. Technically, this does not mean the problem is solved. In order for a problem to be solved, both sides must all agree on their decision.

OOPS!

I have a friend who plays tennis every single day after school. I always assumed that he must have poor grades from playing tennis everyday after school. I use to be in the same school as him, after I transfered to Pacific American School, the chances of me and him reduced. As one day I was playing tennis during a weekend. I saw him playing on the court beside me. After we met each other, we started chatting about how was both of us doing. I was very surprised about his school academic. He got in a very good local school in Hsinchu, which is a pretty hard school to get in. In order to get in, you'll have to take tests to see if your capable of being in the school. From what I assumed, I always thought he was always concentrating on his tennis career. He actually has very good school grades. I was very surprised by how he was able to get in the school. This incident was important to me because now I know that everyone is capable of doing what they could do. A person who focuses on one things doesn't mean that he is bad on other subjects or things.

Below The Surface

The saying "don't judge a book by its cover", means that you shouldn't judge someone or something by its appearance. I use to know a person who came to our class when i was in 5th grade. When she first came to out class, she never spoken one word. She never tries to talk to us. She also sits alone during lunch. After a couple weeks she started to talk to us, we started to know each other. As we know each other more and more, I found out that she is not shy at all. She is a very active, nice, and also funny girl. From this experience, I was very surprise by the change in action. I believed in the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" after what I saw. Things may not be what you have expected all the time. Sometimes, it might turn out that you are correct, but you may also be wrong. You shouldn't always assume that things will be what you thing it would be. You may lose opportunities or chances to do something you may be capable of doing. To me, "don't judge a book by its cover" is a saying that you should always follow.

Your Game

I would definitely contain the characters in my game, and also some of the rules the "Westing Game" has. Of course the money that the players receive in the book, which is 10000 dollars. We are planning to have a game similar to the game monopoly. It is going to have a lot more actions and variations then monopoly. We are planning to make the characters have special skills or features that players could use, such as being able to move 2 more blocks from the number you rolled on the dice. Also, the blocks the players are going to be landing on will be locations that are mentioned in the book. In the game, the more you move, you more chances you would get in order to win. The number of rounds that people go around is going to be chosen by how many people is playing the game. The more the people, the lesser the number of rounds. We haven't decided the goal to win the game. In the game monopoly, the game is ended by a person being bankrupted, or when all the properties are sold out. The person who has the most money wins, but in the "Westing Game", money is not a big factor. This is why we are still thinking of a goal to achieve in the game.

Your Ending

As the sound gets louder.. louder.. and louder! He finally can't stand the enormous sound of the heart beat. He pulls out a swiss army knife, and killed both of the officers. It does not stop the pounding of the heart beat. He searched for where the sound was coming from, under the planks where he hid the old man's corpse. He was in an absolute panic state. He even carry all the bodies he had out side. Still, the sound of the pounding heart is still very loud. At last, he couldn't stand the sound. He used his swiss army knife to stab it right in his own heart. As he fell down to the floor with pain. The heart beat started to slow down. Now he figured out that the pounding heart beat was his own heart beat. He lies on the floor with pain, and also regrets.