My Superhero

Most of the time when asking a question like, "Who's your superhero?" people will respond with "oh, my mom" or "oh, my dad" or even "oh, my sibling". It's truly amazing how we tend to complain about the ones that are closest to us in our lives because of our blood bond, but how much we look up to them at the exact same time. Well yes my parents and my brother are my superheros but other influences I have had are from characters in books. I am a 'bookworm' as some people say because I love to read. There's no shorter or denser explanation than that.

Recently, I just read a series called 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU by Meg Cabot. People probably know Meg Cabot from her Princess Diaries series, but this series means a lot to me. In this series, the main character is a girl named Jess. She is 5', a slight social outcast, and some people would even call her a bully. She only has one friend, Ruth who is probably the only person that likes her in the school. It's not exactly her fault that she can't handle her own temper, plus what would you do if others teased you about your suicidal brother? It's out of pure concern and care. She just doesn't want anyone making mean comments about him (especially when she's around), and the only way for them to learn, she's concluded, is to 'knock' some sense into them. One day she gets this amazing ability after being striked by lightning - she is able to find missing children. Jess doesn't find out about her ability at first until the next day when she's looking at a milk carton and realizes she knows who the kid on the back of the carton is, and where she can find him. Throughout the book series amazing events happen and the books get really intense and exciting, but not only because of her powers, it's just her personality.

I guess I should thank Meg Cabot for creating Jess, because I really look up to her. It's not good to beat up people or anything, but the way she handles everything without being a girly girl about it and crying, she is very courageous and strong. She deals with her own problems and doesn't want anyone to take her side - she fights her battles on her own.

Even if her brother did try to kill herself, she treats her brother like how she would treat a 'normal' brother and that makes him feel accepted. Jess doesn't try to be anyone but herself and won't change herself even if it means having only one best friend at school and not having too much of a regular social life.

At one point of the book, the CIA actually comes looking for Jess Mastriani asking her to work with them so they can find criminals and missing children. She refuses to do it because one kid that she had found, actually didn't want to be found and had been kidnapped by his own mother by his own will so that he didn't have to live with his father. She had spent time asking herself, "What if this happens over and over and over again? What if I actually capture innocent people who have to die or be punished for a crime they did not even start and had been framed?" This thought made her realize that she should just leave it to the professionals. To get the CIA off her back she gives them the names and locations of the criminals and missing children who are already dead. That way no harm comes to anybody and the CIA can clear their list of some names. I really admired Jess Mastriani for this because she's not thinking about what's going to benefit her (the CIA would've paid her), but the fate of others that she might've captured. It shows a soft side of Jess and how considerate she can be. Even with this 'magical' power, she wants to go on living the way she has, not popular, not anything, just herself.

Although her life isn't completely normal after she gets her new ability, she tries her best to keep a low profile. Even if being on the CNN and other news channels didn't help that much. When she suddenly gets popularity status at her school, she stays friends with the one close friend that was there for her even when she wasn't popular. She stays true to the ones that have always been there for her and doesn't go off flaunting her new powers. She doesn't even want any popularity of any sort, she just wants to be normal - or close to normal that is.

Witty, strong, caring, cautious, and intelligent are all the qualities that Jess Mastriani possesses and which I admire. She's never unsure about anything that she believes and always stands tall. She has the true makings of a great leader.

Methods of Characterization

Appearance

• wise face
• wrinkles
• traditional Korean robe and scholar hat

Inner Thoughts and Feelings

• adventurous
• wants to know more
• knows he has power
• wants to help other Koreans that want to pursue education

Environment

• Tokyo University - college with education
• Lived with a powerful father - had riches

What they say

• "I will help you in any way I can."
• "I have power and tell me if you need my assistance."

What others say

• "he's rich, powerful, and smart with a good background, we need to keep him." - Japanese
• "he's rich, powerful, smart, caring, and concerning, we rely on him and need his help." -Koreans (in his state)
  
• "We're proud of you." - my dad and I

Actions

• Traveling from Korea to Japan and back
  
• Sending Korean people to Japan to get education
• Taking care of his people that lived under his rule
• Working with the Japanese who let him keep his position
  

Family Story

When I was in fourth or fifth grade there was a project where I had to research about my family history and an important part of my family's past. We were supposed to ask our parents about our ancestors and then talk about what we learned about our families to the class the next day. When I got home that day I told my dad about the assignment that I had to complete that night and he began talking about my great great great grandfather.

"My great great grandfather, or your great great great grandfather was a well-known man in Korea. Now he was alive about a hundred years ago, but I've heard about him from my great grandfather, my grandfather, and my father. In Korea there are still books about him because he was an important and knowledgeable person. The pictures that I've seen of him are obviouosly very old and black and white, but I've also seen a painting of him where he was wearing a traditional Korean robe with the scholar's black hat. He had such a plain face with mustache and beard, wrinkles of wisdom. Although he was quite old in the portrait I could see his young spirit yearning for more adventures and knowledge, wanting to know more about everything."

My dad paused for a moment to get a grasp on the facts that were rusty in his head. I sat in front of my dad with my neck outstretched wanting to know more about how important he was, how powerful he was to make him so well-known, what he did, and so much more. I was very curious and was waiting for my dad's lips to move once again.

My dad cleared his throat and continued, "Your great great great grandfather's name was Jeong Jin Ki. He was a very bright man and had studied in Japan's infamous University of Tokyo. After completing his education at the University of Tokyo, he went back to Korea and took over the position of his father as the prime minister of one of the sixteen Korean states. The states still remain in Korea but some are in North Korea and some are in South Korea. Back then Korea was not divided into two separate regions, it was just one country. Your great great great grandfather had become the prime minister or Jung Sung (in Korean) of one of the more Southern states which was called Jung Sam Nam Do back then."

"Prime Minister?" I interrupted, "What was his role exactly?"

"Well, he was kind of like a govenor in his state and many people respected him, he was one of the most respected men in his time. Obviously because of his education and background which leads me to an important part of your great great great grandfather's life. In 1909, Japan took over Korea but even if they took over Korea, your great great great grandfather still got to keep his position under the Japanese power. Why? Well, they had to keep him to control the rest of the Koreans in his state. He had power, wealth, knowledge, position, and background which made the Japanese respect him. With his power he supported his people and sent the ones that really wanted to pursue an education to Japan, where they had better classes than Korea at the time. He worked very hard and tried his best to help others dreams come true while making his own dreams come true."

I sat there for awhile, digesting everything my dad had told me. It was amazing how such an important figure in the past was one of my ancestors, part of my bloodline. I was so proud of my great great great grandfather and all the achievements he had and I still am extremely proud of him today. The next day I talked about my great great great grandfather at school with pride. People came up to me telling me how great it must be to have an ancestor like that. I still talk about my great great great grandfather with pride and honor and hope that one day I can do something as important as my great great great grandfather did and I hope that my grandchildren can talk about me with as much happiness as I have.

Maxine Hong's Imagination

What does Maxine's description and imagination about her aunt say about her?

"It could very well have been, however, that my aunt did not take subtle enjoyment of her friend, but, a wild woman, kept rollicking company. Imagining her free with sex doesn't fit, though. I don't know any women like that, or men either."

This is one of the many ideas that Maxine came up with concerning her Aunt - who her Aunt was and what she was like. I don't know about other topics but when talking about her aunt, Maxine is very blunt and doesn't seem to care about what comments people will make on the assumptions she has about her Aunt. She is very straight forward and doesn't want to waste her time outlining ever idea she has. Maxine's imagination is huge and seems ongoing which helps me come to the conclusion that Maxine is the type of person always on her toes and on the lookout, very cautious and alert, waiting for something to happen.

"She may have gone to the pigsty as a last act of responsibility: she would protect this child as she had protected its father."

In this quote, Maxine seems to put herself in other people's shoes to feel they way they felt and to see what they saw and to find out why people might've done what they did. There was a sense of compassion, sorrow, and pain. It shows that Maxine isn't a person that only thinks about herself, and that she's not cruel. I also could see that Maxine was trying to picture what she would've done if she had been in her Aunt's position and decided that she would've done the same as her Aunt had.

Woman Warrior Quotes

In English Class we just started reading a book called Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong. It's about her life part fiction part non-fiction. We (the class) were asked to identify two quotes that had some significance or meant something to us and explain why.

"In a commensal tradition, where food is precious, the powerful older people made wrongdoers eat alone. Instead of letting them start separate new lives like the Japanese, who could become samurais and geishas, the Chinese family, faces averted but eyes glowering sideways, hung on the the offenders and fed them leftovers."

This quote appealed to me because the author, Maxine Hong, is comparing two similar, yet different cultures. When reading this quote I realized that Maxine Hong seemed to be slightly intimidated and upset with the way that her culture dealed with the outcasts. Maxine Hong directed this quote to her Aunt who had been an outcast in her family and also in the village. She seems to want the outcasts to start anew, like the Japanese outcasts do, and seemed to have wanted her aunt to live a better life - away from her family. I thought that it was really sad that the Chinese want to torture an outcast forever, and never wants to let them go.

"Always hungry, always needing, she would have to beg food from other ghosts, snatch and steal it from those whose living descendants give them gifts...My aunt remains forever hungry. Goods are not distributed evenly among the dead."

This quote is similar to the one above because it's showing more pity that Maxine Hong holds for her Aunt. Being an outcast in one life is one thing, but two lives is heartbreaking. Her aunt was not loved by anybody and had to die leaving into the next world where she wouldn't be accepted once again. Her Aunt's first life had severely affected her second life because her family members didn't bring her anything to eat or even pray, they just forgot her. Even the other ghosts don't want to do anything with her and she just wanders aimlessly begging, stealing, and being an outcast - never resting in peace.

About Moodle

In English class, my classmates and I have been using something called Moodle. It is a website where we can post different things from small comments to homework assignments for either everyone in the class or just the teacher to see. We started this only about a week or two ago, and it's really fun to work with. There are some technical difficulties that I faced, but with using it a little more it made more sense and became easier to work with.

Some of the things that I like about Moodle is that there are ways to communicate with our classmates and are slightly similar to the use of instant messaging. Only thing is, it's not instant and it takes awhile for a person to realize that they got a new message and it takes awhile for them to reply.
Since moodle is a website where we can post our homework for only the teacher to see, it saves a lot of paper which is a benefit to Earth. Another plus about Moodle is that it's safe and no stalkers or other weird sorts of people can make an account on this site.
In class, Mr. Watson also asked us to answer questions like, "What are some creative ways to use Moodl? and What do you wish Moodle could do?" Well, some creative ways to use Moodle that me, Caitlin, and Michelle came up with were messaging with friends if you can't use something like AIM, editing the work that you posted, and as I said earlier sending our homework. If there was some way for Moodle to be more personalized like this blog, it would be even more exciting to work with. Also, if Moodle could play music it'd be a good way for people to post their ideas and read others while enjoying a nice tune. It would also be cool if I could communicate with kids around the world from countries like Japan, Korea, England, Etc.

Moodle is very fun to use and convienient as well, I'm glad that I got to learn about it in English class and hope to use it more in the future.

Introduction

People call me Sierra - nothing more, nothing less. I am fourteen years old and in the ninth grade in Honolulu, Hawaii. I live with my family of four - my mom, my dad, my brother, and myself. My mom and my dad are immigrants from South Korea and they currently own three stores selling clothing products, jewelry, sunglasses, Etc. My brother, Harrison, is thirteen years old and is in the seventh grade, and attends the same school as me. He enjoys playing tennis and basketball and his favorite subject is math.

My favorite subject is English. I like English because I enjoy reading and writing and it's a subject where there is never one answer to anything, like math, and there are many ways to express ideas and opinions on different issues and topics. I also like learning Japanese because it gives me a chance to learn part of a new culture and compare it to the life I live. Reading is one of my hobbies and I try my best to keep it at a balance with my school work. I read at least a book every week and my room is basically my own personal library. I enjoy reading all types of books but my least favorite and one that I wouldn't read unless necessary are scary stories. I remember when many of my classmates used to read R.L. Stine, and I never personally took those books into interest. The reason why I enjoy reading is because it takes me to another world another place, and lets me adventure that land, or it let's me look at someone else's life through their eyes. Reading helps me expand my imagination and has made me the creative person that I am today.

I also love playing the piano. I started playing the piano when I was three, and I'm not a professional and haven't really tried for competitions but I love how my fingers can fly on the keyboard making a beautiful sound. Playing the piano is not only enjoyable but teaches me how to be patient, expressive, and hardworking.
Another hobby of mine is watching movies, Ever since I was ten I used to walk every Saturday from where I take piano, to the theaters and well watch a movie. I like movies that have a lot going on, and make people think and contemplate about what's happening or what's going to happen or what happened. I also like movies that are extremely funny and can't make you stop laughing, these movies help people forget about their worries and put them in a happier place.

People say that I am loquacious, thoughtful, funny, blunt, creative, intelligent, daring, and much more and I have to say that I agree with them because those qualities have made me who I am today.

Lost Sister 'Quiz'

In class today, there were questions about a poem called 'Lost Sister' that we had to answer. Mr. Watson told us that it was like a 'quiz' and we had to do it in a time limit of about fifteen minimum minutes. The first question asked something like, "What was the quote that appealed to you the most?" The second question asked something like, "How does the poem relate to our 'selves'?"


1) The quote that I thought was the most significant in the poem 'Lost Sister' was at the beginning of the poem where the girl, who's narrarating the poem, name is described.

"Jade --
the stone that in the far fields
could moisten the dry season,
could make men move mountains
for the healing green of the inner hills
glistening like slices of winter melon."

Before this part of the poem comes up, the girl introduces where she comes from, China,and how common her name is in this country. This quote had an impact on me because I am given an image of the color that the name is and the taste when hearing the name. Although it is not a long description there is a lot of feeling in each phrase making the name become alive.

2) This poem gives a history and a sense of what a Chinese women's life is like - how they are treated and what their responsibilities are in the Chinese community. Although the poem is about one girl, Jade, it is talking about many Chinese women that live a similar life to her. By living under the same influence the minds of these women would work in similar ways because they would've grown up learning the same values and techniques. This shows how culture has a big impact on how a person might become and the personality they might have in the future.