What an Amazing Guy

Frozen In Time, written by Mark Kurlansky,  is a book that our English class started to read from this Tuesday. This book was especially hard to me comparing with other books that we had read in class. I think it is because this book doesn't have a specific story line as it is non-fiction. This book is a biography of a person, Clarence Birdseye who later changed his first name as Bob, and shows other inventors and achievements at that time. 

Mark Kurlansky 

Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) was born in Brooklyn, NY which is also known as the place where my sister lives in now, and he had such a many careers. He was a inventor, entrepreneur, and the founder of frozen food industry, however he was seeking for adventures in his life other than those careers like hunting, cooking, and showed his love to nature. It is ironic that he did work as hunter and naturalist at the same time by the way.

An interesting thing that I found from him was he didn't finish college, which is the common characteristic can be found from the successful entrepreneurs for centuries like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He was the student of Amherst University in Massachusetts but because of the lack of money, he dropped out of there. It is so sad that money which is made by human could ruin human's life. Well, in this case, he was not ruined, and rather he tried to do as many things as he wanted such as those careers I said above. I was so impressed that he has the same motto with me. In this short life, I think we need to do whatever we want and give a try like Birdseye. I don't know if he wanted to keep studying at college or not, consequently he dropped out of college for whatever reason and even though he was very young at that time, he adventurously sought for his interests. His courage and sense of challenge were really impressed for me. I would definitely do what he did, and because of those things, he could be millionaire and become successful I think. 

Clarence Birdseye

His well-known career began in Labrador which was one of the most remote and undeveloped corners of the world. He was invited to spend 6 weeks in bitterly cold weather of Labrador. And there, he had decided to do a business inspired from Grenfell's fox farming story, and he put into action immediately. He got investment from Hammond and the fur company had begun. He also became interested in food industry in Labrador. He inspired by freshness of fish in there so he kept contemplating about it and found out fast freezing. During those processes, I really liked the way he got inspired and carried out right away even though the condition there was extremely poor. I think I would like to do what he did but I couldn't do like him. He had amazing adaptation skill and wide sight. I wish I would have that too. 
He is one of the most challenging people I have ever seen and I want to take some of his nice characteristics.  

Vocabulary of Chapter 4,5 of the book "Frozen In Time"

Chapter 4

dreaded (pg. 29) : to fear something that will or might happen
afflicted (pg. 30) : to cause pain or suffering to (someone or something)
delirious (pg. 30) : not able to think or speak clearly especially because of fever or other illness
decimating (pg. 31) : to destroy a large number of (plants, animals, people, etc.)
plummeting (pg. 34) : to fall suddenly straight down especially from a very high place
dubious (pg. 35) : unsure or uncertain : feeling doubt about something
exempt (pg. 36) : not required to do something that others are required to do
engorged (pg. 38) : to fill with with blood to the point of congestion
cauterize (pg. 38) : to burn (something, such as a wound) with heat or a chemical substance in order to destroy infected tissue
culprit (pg. 41) : a person who has committed a crime or done something wrong

Chapter 5

teeming (pg. 44) : give birth to / to become filled to overflowing : abound
deformity (pg. 46) : a condition in which part of the body does not have the normal or expected shape
provisions (pg. 48) : a supply of food and other things that are needed
frisky (pg. 48) : very playful or lively
dissuade (pg. 50) : to convince (someone) not to do something
intricacy (pg. 51) : something that is complex or detailed
bewildered (pg. 52) : to confuse (someone) very much
procuring (pg. 53) : to get (something) by some action or effort
perched (pg. 65) : to sit on or be on something high or on something from which it is easy to fall
contemplating (pg. 74) : to think deeply or carefully about (something)

Opal Dream vs Pobby and Dingan

Today, our class finished to watch movie "Opal Dream" which is film version of the book Pobby and Dingan. I was very shocked that this book has the film version, and as soon I watched it, I was shocked again because there were several differences between the book and the movie.

First, many parts that were in the book not appeared in the movie. Also many parts that were not in the book were added in the movie. Those parts were not that big and important. I think to make a movie with the whole book, information in the book was maybe too much, so they cut those scenes out and added the scenes that were easier to express in the movie and regarded as a important scene to director. Especially in the movie, they added more conversations and detailed situation about the trial of Kellyanne's father. 

Also the ending scene in the movie was ambiguous while the ending in the book was very obvious which was die of Kellyanne. I think the director wanted to give a impression and chance to think about it but I read this original story already, so it was not actually impressed to me.


Lastly, the atmosphere of the book and movie was different to me. The book was kind of sad but the movie was not that sad. I think it is because in the movie, it simplified the process that Ashmol tried to do a funeral for Pobby and Dingan which makes the air of the story sad and emphasize on the tragicalness as well as the funeral scene.


To conclude, I liked the book version more. As always, I think the movie which is remake version couldn't contain all the feelings and atmospheres of the book which is original piece. The movie hastened a little bit to try to develop the whole book's plot. 

Galileo, the Bible Killer!

It was not that boring than I thought! This Saturday, I went to the fall production play Life of Galileo written by Bertolt Brecht and performed by Cheshire Academy's varsity players. Saturday was the finale of the show and that was my first time ever to watch the play in my life. I heard some sounds that the show was really boring but I was excited to see it though. When I arrived at The Black Box Theater where the play is performed, there were so many parents of players I guess. They were carrying bouquet. There weren't many students like me. Later, I heard that there were many students at Friday performance. Anyway, I found a sit and waited for the beginning. 

Life of Galileo is about life of Galileo but not his whole life. It is from his later years to his death. His experiments with telescope which was actually not his invention but his student's idea and the evidences that prove sun is still and Earth is moving were threatening the Church, which was resulting in his inquisition and his recantation of his scientific findings. 

As soon as I heard the first line of Galileo, I was shocked that it was not like an amateur. I am not expert in acting and I don't know that much of it but I can say she was really impressive although she acted the role of man. Some players were not really good but it was fine :) In addition, everything was very new and fun to me. For example, 10 minutes of intermission and a little term between chapter to chapter that applause comes out and stage managers are arranging the structure of stage. But to me, contact with audience was really impressive. They didn't actually talk to audience but they sometimes make eye contact and in this play, they throw the thing to audience. I got the brown paper that was used in the play. "Sorry I hit you." was written on the paper by the way haha. I liked the way they think the audience as a part of the stage. 

However, I was really confused because I didn't know who is who. Some people had more than one roles and there was not big difference between the characters except clothes. They just changed their clothes and acted different roles. I think there were not enough players to act one role per person. It is sad reality :( Also as a non-native speaker of English, it was so hard to follow the plot. Their words and pronunciation were unusual for me. I could partially understand what they were saying so all I could do in order to follow was guessing with their motion. But it was fine, it was great motivation that makes me study English haha. 

I want to recommend this play to others. I think it is worth 2 hours of our life. It is actually hard to understand for people who are not familiar with English and it is kind of boring topic, it will be property in our mind and afterward it would be helpful in our life.

About Brecht!!!

Yesterday, I researched about Galileo because there will be a play called Galileo in our school by varsity players. Today, I am going to tell a little about the playwright Brecht who wrote Galileo. 

Bertolt Brecht was a German playwright, poet, and theater director. He was born February 10, 1898 in Germany and died in August 14, 1956 at age of 58 because of a heart attack. He was the first child and he had one younger brother, Walter, who was born in 1900. He was a sickly child. He had a heart problem and a facial tic. So he was sent to a sanitarium to relax. At age of twelve, he suffered a heart attack but soon he recovered and continued his education. 

 His writing skill was outstanding. When he was around age of sixteen, he wrote a local newspaper, magazine and also his first play, The Bible.  By nineteen, he left the school and started doing clerical work for the war. He wrote poetry when he was a student at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich as a medical major. After military service during World War I, he abandoned his medical studies to pursue writing and the theater. 
He had written many good plays but among them there are four great plays were written between 1938 and 1945. These included, for one, The Life of Galileo, which is going to be performed in our school. 
In his life and works, he experimented with Dadaism and expressionism in his early plays, but he soon developed a unique style that suited his own vision. To get that vision, two world wars and Bible affected him maybe. His works still have huge impact nowadays. There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices.

About Galileo!!!

From this Thursday to Saturday, our school's varsity players are going to perform a play called Galileo by Bertolt Brecht. So I researched some information about Galileo.

Galileo Galilei, who is often known as just Galileo, was an Italian physicist, mathematician, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher. He had achieved so many things in numerous fields especially science. He was born on 15 February 1564 in Pisa, Italy and was the oldest of six children in his family. He died on 8 January 1642 after suffering fever and heart palpitations. 

When he was young man he studied medicine at the University of Pisa and later he became a professor and chair of mathematics at the university. He also made several discoveries in physics such as "Principle of Inertia" which was similar to Newton's First Law. 
Then he became interested in optics and astronomy, and in 1609 he built his first telescope and begun making observations. Most of his observations were opposing the Church's belief so eventually he angered the Pope in 1632 because he published a book that was openly stated his idea that disagree with the church. He was first imprisoned, and later confined to his house near Florence. 

However his publishing was not ended. He continued to write about physics. "the laws of mechanics will be the same for all observers moving at the same speed and direction with respect to one another." This fundamental concept later formed the basis for Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. He was one of the scientists who began the Scientific Revolution in Europe and his works are playing significant roles nowadays. 

Meaning of the Quote

At the very first of the book Pobby and Dingan, there is the quote "The secret of an opal's color lies not in its substance but in its absences." which means the true meaning of opal in this book is related with something that is absent. Then what is the absence this quote is talking about?
I think it means the absence of trust, trust between the family.
In terms of the family, at first, all the family members except mother not belived Kellyanne's imaginary friends Pobby and Dingan. Father was just caring about an opal, which he never couldn't find. He was just caring about being rich. As soon as he lost Pobby and Dingan and worsely, he got arrested, his family became completely desperate. Kellyanne got sick and mother was crying whole day. That was because they didn't trust each others. Later, Ashomol went to the claim in order to find Pobby and Dingan, he started to believe the existence of them. He found himself calling Pobby and Dingan as if they were real. And he found the opal which is believed as Dingan's bellybutton. That was because he believed it. The true color of the opal turns in to real when the family members started to believe each other.

What I like and dislike about Pobby and Dingan

Eventually our English class started to read new book which doesn't contain the war related content and the Islamic things. Honestly, for the whole quarter period, our class went over the book and poem that has such a serious and profound topics so I was little bit getting bored with those. I am so glad to read another book that is truly enjoyable and easy to understand. And those are actually the reasons why I like this book "Pobby and Dingan".

This book is about the girl Kellyanne who has imaginary friends called Pobby and Dingan. Her mother understands her to play with them. However many people including her brother Ashmol and her father see her as a weirdo and don't understand her. I like this kind of book which talks about a young soul's pureness. It reminds me about my childhood memory. Although I didn't have imaginary friends like Kellyanne, when I read this book, I feel like I am going back to my child time. Anyway, if someone asks me that I like this book or not, I would definitely say I like this book.

This book is I think the first book that I felt easy to read. I don't fully know about this book yet because I didn't finish reading this book, but the plot was not so hard to understand and interesting. Also the words that used in this book were mostly easy that I didn't even use a dictionary when I read. If there was a word that I didn't know, I could easily guess the meaning of the word with the context though. 

I like the plot of this book so far. As I said above, it is truly enjoyable book. I am pretty sure that it took less than two hours to read sixty pages of this book. That is because I enjoyed to read it. Page turned fast than other books that I had read. Not only it has the interesting story but also it has some parts that made me think too. For example at the first of the book, Ashmol says "Things that never exist can't be dead". (Rice, 3)It made me think about it. 

I like pretty many aspects of this book but if I must have the thing that I dislike about this book, I would say the language of this book. I like the fact that it doesn't have that hard vocabulary but it is bit hard to understand slangs of Australia which uses little bit different kind of English than America. I can understand in terms of conveying vivid and actual life of Australian people and their culture. But I think there could be better way not to confuse the readers who are not from Australia. However that is just for some parts of this book. For instance "I noticed one of the blokes was holding his face...." (Rice, 42) The author used the word "bloke" for meaning the men. 

This book is the one that took my mind with its words. I didn't have hard time with it and I didn't get bored which is big deal. I said it has some words that hard to understand as a non-Australian, but still I like this book and I would highly recommend this book. By the way Mr. Huston, a Mathematic teacher, likes this book too. 

Real Hero Called Father - Revised

“KABOOM!!!” “Run!!!” “Down with the King!!!!!” Age of revolution is inevitably chaotic. Likewise Iranian Revolution was very chaotic. Also, there is a book about that chaotic revolution. "Persepolis" is the book that was written by Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator. It was originally published in French, and it has been translated into several languages including English. The story is divided into two books and the first book that I read is about Marjane’s childhood and the second book is about the story from her high school life to moving to France. “Persepolis” also has a film version. And it was nominated for 2007 Academy Award. The book "Persepolis" has many characters inside. All the characters play important roles in this book. Among them, I choose to write about Marjane's father. He was a brave person. He got almost arrested by government because he engaged in the demonstration and took a picture of it even though it was strictly forbidden at that time. He was also being strict and hypocritical sometimes like the incident about their maid, which made Marjane confused. However the most important thing is Marjane’s father plays a role of her hero because he always stood beside her and gave her comfort and courage to live and make her own voice.

The first reason why I think he is a hero is because he is “a hero” which Marjane wants. At first, she didn’t think he was “a hero” but later on she realized that her father was a hero. According to the book, one of Marjane’s friends said “I wish he were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero” (Satrapi 86). Her father was martyr which means a hero died for the country. However she wanted her father to be with her rather than be a hero. Because death of father was really hard to tolerate to young girl. After Marjane listened to that, she realized. Unlike her friend's father, Marjane’s father was always with Marjane and did her favor. He told her story of the history and about their family. Marjane was really interested in that kind of story so afterward, he kept telling her fun story next to her. In addition, when he and his wife decided to go to travel to Turkey, Marjane asked them to buy westernized culture stuff such as Michael Jackson badge, denim jacket, newest Nike sneakers and posters of American singers. Those were highly banned products and if they were exposed, it could be led to serious problem but he took a risk and bought them for her. Those were all because he loved Marjane so much.

Another reason is because he tried to give her comfort and courage. At last of the book, he decided to send Marjane to Austria because he worried so much about her safety in this country. Of course, Marjane didn’t want to go with giving the reason she is too young to go alone. He said to her that he truly believes her that she will do it valiantly rather than convince her logically. “We adore you! Don’t ever forget who you are!” (Satrapi, 148) he said to Marjane in order to give her sincere mind of him which made Marjane comfortable and courageous. On the way of airport and in front of the door, the only person cried was her father. Not only at the airport but also every time Marjane said that she wanted to do a threatening things, he truly worried and tried to prevent it. Furthermore, when Marjane's teacher said her dream is inappropriate, he didn't care and rather he understood her. I think that beliefs of her father on Marjane made her to be more outspoken and independent than any other girls.

Marjane’s father is a person who gave comfort to Marjane just for standing beside. He is “a hero” and “a true father” to Marjane. He was being friendly but sometimes being strict, he even made me curious about if there is any father like him in this world. To be honest, there were not so many of his part in this book. However his impression was big enough to distinguish. If Marjane’s father was one of a hero of country, what would Marjane’s future be?



Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood
New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003

What was Improved, What will be Improved

Unfortunately my goals were not written on previous blog post I don't know why. Maybe I forgot to write it. Therefore I will just tell you my goals that were set when I came to America first, and evaluate those right in this post. I am getting afraid to think back on the past but it is exciting in some parts!

First and foremost, one of them was "improving English skill". I think I improved pretty much. I cannot feel it directly but I can feel that using English became more natural than before. I am getting used to it. My roommate was helpful. He can speak English fluently because he is from Switzerland which uses five official languages so he is really good at linguistic stuff. I talked a lot with him and tried to get nice accent and vocabulary from him. Even though he used cursing words and slangs most of the time but it was still helpful to improve my conversation skill. In addition, through the guitar lesson to my peer, I learned a lot. Whole lesson proceed in only English because he is Chinese, so it should be necessarily in English. 

Secondly, I had decided to "read a lot of books". However I think I didn't accomplish that one because all the books I read for two months are summer reading books, and Persepolis. Maybe it is such a lame excuse but I didn't know that I will not have time for reading before I came to US. I thought I will have time for doing other things than my class stuff and extra-curricular activities. I am busy enough to do things that I have now. So I am really going to read some books during thanksgiving break! I hope I will have time for reading at that time. I already set up the plan for reading too.




Lastly, I wanted to "make a lot of good friends". Honestly I don't know about this yet. I think most of people are nice to me and they are kind. However I don't know if they are truly my friends. I talked about this with my true friend that I met at Cheshire Academy, and he said he felt same thing with me recently. I have fun with my unsure true friends and afterwards, I easily become lonely again. It is hard to explain. It feels just weird. Once, the guy that I believed that he was my true friend and dedicated most of my time betrayed me suddenly. Since then, I am  afraid to meet new friends and new people. And nowadays, I feel it much more than before. 

On the next upcoming marking period, I will, of course, improve my English skill, and make at least one true friend rather than hundred of friends. Also, different with this marking period and most importantly, I will try not to lose my very first resolution to be a cool guy :) I feel like I am going to easy these days.

Brief Summarize of "My Grandmother in the Stars"

This poem is basically about missing grandmother. Narrator and grandmother are apart probably far away from each other that they couldn't even think about meeting again on this planet and narrator is sad about it. Narrator thinks about the things like the horse and the cow that represent her hometown or the place where grandmother lives in. She misses her hometown so much. She admits that grandmother and she are apart according to the last stanza "Where we live in the world
is never one place." and "You and I on a roof at sunset, our two languages adrift" ,but she believes that they are living in their hearts, and the moon is always lighting them.

Longing (inspired poem)

Papa went a journey to white sky
With his damp and sick skin,
With my foolish, indifferent
and half-hearted thought

However he is still everywhere around me
At the street, in my dream, even in my pocket

Papa if you are listening,
Please answer to my dim voice

Nye's Wish

     Lately I learned tons of information about Islamic culture. I totally didn't have interest in it but the more I know about it, it gets more interesting. 

     19 Varieties of Gazelle, was written by Naomi Shihab Nye, is a poetry book that shows the live of people in the Middle East, in the light of the September 11 attack and it has many different poems about her family story. 
September 11 attack is terrible tragedy that was committed by Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. They destroyed 
landmark towers in United States such as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. It had killed almost 3000 people and caused astronomical number loss in property and infrastructure. I don't know much about the history in America, but I think because of the incident on 9.11, people in America started to recognize Arabians as a terrorists. Those stereotypes and prejudices lead Arabians to serious situation. Americans killed innocent people, treated Arabian inhumanely. Discrimination to people who are from middle east left scar on their heart and their community. In that inappropriate situation, Nye ,who is Arab-American poet lived in Arabic culture and raised by Palestinian father and American mother, wanted to show Americans that actual Arabians mind, culture, atmosphere in order to change Americans biased thought. 
     
     Firstly, if we take a look at the one of her poems that is called "My Father and the Fig Tree", it is about her father who loves a fig which symbolizes her father's longing about his home in Palestine even though he was in America for more than 20 years. He always think about a fig even when he tells a folktale to his daughter, he just sticks in that word to the story. I think this poem shows Arabians humanity. Americans regard Arabians as bad people and terrorists but they are same human as Americans. They have their family, hometown, and they feel nostalgia. Nye wanted to convey this message to Americans. In addition, another poem that is called "The Words under the Words" is talking about her grandmother who has warm heart, peaceful mind, religion, and loneliness like everybody. She love s granddaughter, tells a story, be next to granddaughter when she is sick like every other ordinary grandmother. After she died, Nye believes she would be in the stars according the poem "My Grandmother in the Stars", she keeps memories with her grandmother and misses her. All the poems have something in common. They show Arabians are the same people as everybody. 

     By writing this poems and citing this characters, Nye wanted to fix the misunderstanding about Arabians of not only Americans' but also people all over the world outside of middle east. Arabians are the people who are peaceful, kind, warm-hearted rather than scary and potential terrorist. Furthermore, she wanted Americans to stop treating Arabians unfairly and abandon the thought that Arabians are dangerous and bad. I think in order to convey that messages, it was effective way to write this poems so that she could convince people with quietly but strongly because sometimes the pen is stronger than the sword. 

Grandmother's Personality

I think Nye's grandmother is intimate person. Her caring about Nye is showed on first stanza of "The Words under the Words". When the author woke from the long fever, her grandmother's hand was covering her forehead. Thus Nye miss and think about her grandmother on "My Grandmother in the stars". Nye said, every time she thinks about the fact we will not meet again on earth, it makes her throat filled with dust. Furthermore, she said, it is never one place that we live in the world, it is our hearts and those dogged mirrors, keep flashing us moons before we are ready for them.

 Also I think Nye's grandmother has loneliness in her mind. She waits for the mails usually it is not mail but she keeps waiting, and if one comes she read it aloud again and again. She lost her husband, who was loved and nourished so much by his wife, and sense of loss came from it makes her loneliness bigger.

Discussion Question

1. All three poem is about the story of 'father'. What is 'father' meaning to author?
2. Why her father's attitude to plants was insincere when they moved to new house?

Satrapi's Message in the book "Persepolis"

Marjane Satrapi, the author of the book "Persepolis" who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator, wrote her book about her childhood story to people who are not aware of real history of Iran and Islamic Revolution. Still there are many people who didn't learn about a world history especially about Iran, and many people don't have interest in the history of Iran. Because of those reasons, she used a way that readers could easily understand it; such as using of picture and easy vocabulary. She wanted to make readers not get bored while they read her book. Honestly, I didn't have interest and care about the country called "Iran" before I read this book. I thought Iran was peaceful place because my home country South Korea and Iran are "Diplomatic Relations" which is connected with peace making, trade, culture and economic. Anyway, let's think about this. Why did Satrapi write and publish this book in France? This is important problem. If she published this book in Iran and many people got to know about the terrifying reality of Iran, of course she would be seriously in danger. The Iranian government never let her be alive. Probably she would be killed.

Satrapi tried to convey how chaotic and painful was the reality and the hardship she undergone. She wanted to denounce all the horrible things committed by the brutal government; such as recruiting young boys to the army and making into a slaughter, serious unfairness between men and women, demonstrations and wars that led many people to die. By setting her as the main character, the readers could feel more realistic and empathize with her because they would think this book as a autobiography. Also because of her vivid descriptions and pictures of background, the readers could easily approach to the book, and Satrapi could show what she wanted to convey more effectively. I think the message she wanted to tell was "Be aware of the real situations at that time, and don't forget the hardships that was undergone by the martyrs made Iran of now." Her book plays the role of history textbook that tells the facts that should be indelible to descendants.

I think she definitely achieved her purpose. I am the one of the audiences she aimed, and at least my classmates and I became to know about the reality of that time. She wanted more and more people to know about her message and spread out. In that perspective, this book was filmed as a movie and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academic Award 2007 too. That shows her book was impressive and implies the number of people who have read or watched "Persepolis" would be large. Also, thanks to this book, I could fully understand about the real history of Iran and wrote a book review to recommend this book to others. Thus I hope this book spread out more widely and people start to recognize about the history of Iran. 

Real Hero Called Father (edited)

“KABOOM!!!” “Run!!!” “Down with the King!!!!!” Age of revolution is inevitably chaotic. Likewise  Iranian Revolution was very chaotic. Also, there is a book about that chaotic revolution. "Persepolis" is the book that was written by Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator. It was originally published in French, and it has been translated into several languages including English. It is divided into two books and the first book that I read is about Marjane’s childhood and the second book is about the story from her high school life to moving to France. “Persepolis” also has a film version. And it was nominated for 2007 Academy Award. The book "Persepolis" has many characters inside. All the characters play important roles in this book. Among them, I choose to write about Marjane's father. He is a brave person. He got almost arrested by government because he engaged in the demonstration and took a picture of it even though it was strictly forbidden at that time. He is also being strict and hypocritical sometimes like the incident about their maid, which make Marjane confused. However the most important thing is Marjane’s father plays a role of her hero because he always stands beside her and gives her comfort and courage to live and make her own voice.

The first reason why I think he is a hero is because he is “a hero” which Marjane wants. At first, she didn’t think he was “a hero” but later on she realized that her father was a hero. According to the book, one of Marjane’s friends said “I wish he were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero” (Satrapi 86). Her father was martyr which means a hero died for the country. However she wanted her father to be with her rather than be a hero. Because death of father was really hard to tolerate to young girl. After Marjane listened to that, she realized. Unlike her father, Marjane’s father is always with Marjane and do her favor. He told her story of the history and about their family. Marjane was really interested in that kind of story so afterward, he kept telling her fun story next to her. In addition, when he and his wife decided to go to travel to Turkey, Marjane asked them to buy westernized culture stuffs such as Michael Jackson badge, denim jacket, newest Nike sneakers and posters of American singers. Those were highly banned products and if they were exposed, it could be lead to serious problem but he took a risk and bought them for her. That is all because he loved Marjane so much.

Another reason is because he tried to give her comfort and courage. At last of the book, he decided to send Marjane to Austria because he worried so much about her safety in this country. Of course, Marjane didn’t want to go with giving the reason she is too young to go alone. He said to her that he truly believes her that she will do it valiantly rather than convince her logically. “We adore you! Don’t ever forget who you are!” (Satrapi, 148) he said to Marjane in order to give her sincere mind of him which made Marjane comfortable and courageous. On the way of airport and in front of the door, the only person who crying was her father. Not only at the airport but also every time Marjane said that she wants to do a threatening things, he truly worried and tried to prevent it. Furthermore, when Marjane's teacher said her dream is inappropriate, he didn't care and rather he understood her. I think that beliefs of her father on Marjane made her to be outspoken and independent.

Marjane’s father is a person who gives comfort to Marjane just for standing beside. He is “a hero” and “a true father” to Marjane. He is being friendly but sometimes being strict, he even makes me curious about if there is any father like him in this world. To be honest, there are not so many of his part in this book. However his impression is big enough to distinguish. If Marjane’s father was one of a hero of country, what would Marjane’s future be?



Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood
New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003

Real Hero Called Father

“KABOOM!!!” “Run!!!” “Down with the King!!!!!” Age of revolution is inevitably noisy. Likewise  Iranian Revolution was very noisy. And there is a book has some contents about that noisy Revolution. "Persepolis" is the book that is written by Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator. It was originally published in French, and it has been translated into several languages including English. It is divided into two books and the first book that I read is about Marjane’s childhood and the second book is about the story from her high school life to moving to France. “Persepolis” also has a film version. And it was nominated for 2007 Academy Award. The book "Persepolis" has many characters inside. All the characters do important roles in this book. Among them, I choose to write about Marjane's father. He is a brave person. He got almost arrested by government because he engaged in the demonstration and took a picture of it even though it was strictly forbidden at that time. He also being strict and hypocritical sometimes like the incident about their maid, so makes Marjane confused. But most important thing is Marjane’s father plays a role of her hero because he always stands beside her and gives her a comfort and a courage to live and make her own voice.

The first reason why I think he is a hero is because he is “a hero” which Marjane wants. At first, she didn’t think he is “a hero” but later on she realized that her father was a hero. According the book, one of Marjane’s friends said “I wish he were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero” (Satrapi 86). Her father is martyr which means a hero died for the country. But she wants her father to be with her rather than be a hero. Because death of father was really hard to tolerate to young girl. After Marjane listened to that, she realized. Unlike her father, Marjane’s father is always be with Marjane and do her favor. He told her story of the history and about their family. Marjane was really interested in that kind of story so afterward, he kept telling her fun story next to her. In addition, when he and his wife decided to go to travel to Turkey, Marjane asked them to buy westernized culture stuffs such as Michael Jackson badge, denim jacket, newest Nike sneakers and posters of American singers. Those were highly banned products and if they were exposed, it could be lead to serious problem but he took a risk and bought them for her. That is all because he loved Marjane so much.

Another reason is because he tried to give her a comfort and a courage. At last of the book, he decided to send Marjane to Austria. Because he worried so much about her safety in this country. And of course, Marjane didn’t want to go with giving the reason she is too young to go alone. He said to her that he truly believes her that she will do it valiantly rather than convince her logically. “We adore you! Don’t ever forget who you are!” (Satrapi, 148) he said to Marjane in order to give her sincere mind of him which made Marjane comfortable and courageous. On the way of airport and in front of the door, the only person who crying was her father. Not only at the airport but also every time Marjane said that she wants to do a threatening things, he truly worried and tried to prevent it. Furthermore, when Marjane's teacher said her dream is inappropriate, he didn't care and rather he understood her. I think that beliefs of her father on Marjane made her to be outspoken and independent.

Marjane’s father is a person who gives comfort to Marjane just for standing beside. He is “a hero” and “a true father” to Marjane. Friendly but strict sometimes, he even makes me curious about if there is any father like him in this world. To be honest, there are not that many of his part in this book. But his impression is big enough to distinguish. If Marjane’s father was one of a hero of country, what would Marjane’s future be?

Works Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood

New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003

First Draft (very not organized)

“KABOOM!!!” “Run!!!” “Down with the King!!!!!” Age of revolution is inevitably noisy. Likewise  Iranian Revolution was very noisy. And there is a book has some contents about that noisy Revolution. "Persepolis" is the book that is written by Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator. It was originally published in French, and it has been translated into several languages including English. It is divided into two books and the first book that I read is about Marjane’s childhood and the second book is about the story from her high school life to moving to France. “Persepolis” also has a film version. And it was nominated for 2007 Academy Award. The book "Persepolis" has many characters inside. All the characters do important roles in this book. Among them, I choose to write about Marjane's father. He is basically a brave person. He got almost arrested by government because he engaged in the demonstration and took a picture of it even though it was strictly forbidden at that time. But most important thing is Marjane’s father do a role of her hero because he gives Marjane a comfort and a courage to live and make her own voice.

unlike other fathers of Marjane’s friends, he always be with her and do her favor. He told her story of the history, bought what she wanted from Europe. Also he is a brave person. He got almost arrested by government because he engaged in the demonstration and took a picture of it even though it was strictly forbidden at that time. He really does care about Marjane and try to support her in a way that benefits her. Marjane's teacher said her dream is inappropriate, he didn't care and rather he understood her. Sometimes like the incident about their maid, he is being hypocritical so making Marjane confused. However, he is still great father of Marjane I think.

First reason why I think he is a hero is because he is “a hero” which Marjane wants. At first, she didn’t think he is “a hero” but later on she realized that her father was a hero. According the book, one of Marjane’s friends said “I wish he were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero” (Satrapi 86). Her father is martyr which means a hero died for the country. But she wants her father to be with her rather than be a hero. Because death of father was really hard to tolerate to young girl. After Marjane listened to that, she realized. Unlike her father, Marjane’s father is always be with Marjane and do her favor. He told her story of the history and about their family. Marjane was really interested in that kind of story so afterward, he kept telling her fun story next to her. In addition, when he and his wife decided to go to travel to Turkey, Marjane asked them to buy westernized culture stuffs such as Michael Jackson badge, denim jacket, newest Nike sneakers and posters of American singers. Those were highly banned products and if they were exposed, it could be lead to serious problem but he took a risk and bought them for her. That is all because he loved Marjane so much.

He gave her comfort and courage by told her whenever you feel like to come back home, feel free to do so.


Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood
New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003

Persepolis: Such A Nice History Record

"Persepolis" is the book written by Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator. It was originally published in French, and it has been translated into several languages including English. It is divided into two books and the first book that I read is about Marjane’s childhood and the second book is about the story from her high school life to moving to France. “Persepolis” also has a film version. And it was nominated for 2007 Academy Award. So it was already proved that this is good book. And I liked this book. First reason why is  it was great to learn about history of Iran which I didn’t have chance to learn in Korea. Also it was easy to read for me who is beginner at reading English book because it was comic book and didn’t use a hard vocabulary. Lastly, I really liked the viewpoint in this book.

Marjane, a little girl, is the main character of this book and she tells us her life story in her perspective as I said above. It helps to show the reality of that time in a way that is more honestly and plainly. She lived in very dangerous and strict society after the Islamic Revolution. And she was outspoken and interested in the problem of society so she always had trouble with things that were really threatening. But she kept coming out with a question of unfairness of the society, and she had learned many lessons in that process.

“Persepolis” didn’t use that really hard vocabulary. I think it’s because of little girl’s viewpoint. I am not an expert at English book reading, so understanding whole story without using dictionary is biggest goal. And with this book, I could accomplish my goal. Even if when I didn’t get it completely, the picture of this book helped me to understand. For example, through character’s facial expression, I could guess what was happening on that page.

However this was little bit uncomfortable to read in perspective of the affluent family. I think it leads to get biased information. According to the book, a poor people were recruited to army which was actually slaughter. At the same time, Marjane was at the party with friends and had fun time. In terms of showing opposite situation that emphasize tragedy, it was helpful but for some people, it might be uncomfortable I think.

I highly recommend this book. This will help readers to learn about the history of Iran without feeling bored. Even though it can be interpret as bit partial, I know it is inevitable problem for history related book, and the good parts of this book are enough to conceal that problem.

http://youtu.be/StgaphDN4Jw video review

Thesis of Book Review

I liked book "Persepolis". First of all, it was great chance to learn about history of Iran which I couldn't learn in Korea. Also it was easy to read for me who is beginner at reading English book. Furthermore, it was comic book so it was impressive enough to catch my attention. Lastly, I really liked the viewpoint in this book.

Andrew Fezza

Andrew Fezza came to Cheshire Academy last Thursday. He had a speech as well as exhibition of his clothes. He graduated Cheshire Academy and studied at Boston College. He didn’t major art or fashion at there. And even his dream at first was not a fashion designer. He decided to be fashion designer when he had been to Europe. Even though he studied non-art thing at the college but he learned art since he was very young and art was what he was good at so it was very suitable dream choice for him actually.

It was first time to me watch famous fashion designer in reality so it was such a unique experience to me. By the way, I was surprised that his fashion was not so special even though he works in fashion company. I thought he would wear like a fashionista haha. Actually someone at his talking asked that if fashion designers wear the clothes that they made and he said simply “NOPE”. It was funny.

Anyway, I have interest in a fashion so I try my best to listen carefully to what he speaks. One of the things I caught from his talking was importance of “connection”. When he was at the company, he made a lot of connections between he and colleagues. The connections he made at the company helped him to accomplish his dream and now they still help him in a variety ways. After I heard it, I decided to make good relationship others.

The other thing was don’t give up even if there are many troubles that disturb you. I heard that kind of advice many times but this time was little bit different. After I came to this school, I was struggling with many problems such as language, culture and I’m still having hard time with them. In this situation, his word was really touching and made me change my mindset.

Drawing in the book

    Drawing in the book has several effects. It affects in terms of efficiency, emotion, and attraction. So many authors intentionally put the picture in their books in order to draw interest of their readers. Because sometimes showing one picture can be better than the hundred words.
    First of all, putting a picture can be efficient way to convey writer's thought. It has limit to describe something by just using words. In that case, using a picture is best way to make readers to easily comprehend what is an author talking about. For example, 'Persepolis' used the picture at little girl's perspective so that we can see the world itself without a bias and recognize the reality at that time. Also author drew the background darkly so that she can show her gloomy vision on the society that has limitation to express in words.
    Second, drawing can be another way to express an emotion of character or writer-self. Without using words, such as 'Persepolis' successfully showed characters feeling. At the very first of the book, author of this book showed characters sullen and sad faces to express the bad feeling of them due to the tragic background.
     Lastly, it helps to wake readers up. It means a picture among the tons of words can play a role of oasis in desert. It attract readers interests and make them more concentrate on the book. I always feels that thing. When it gets bored to read and then suddenly the page with picture on comes up, it really helps me to pay attention on the book.
     
     In 'Persepolis', there are many meaningful pictures that shows us the content of the story at that time. Among them, one of the pictures that stood out to me is the picture in page 52 which has the man cut into the pieces. It shows the reality at that time as well as the perspective of this book. It doesn't make sense that body was cut into pieces but there is no blood, no organs and inside of body is empty like a mannequin. So we can infer it was written by little girl's perspective. In addition, it shows the cruel reality at that time. The dead man was Ahmadi who was the member of guerrilla. So the government arrested, tortured and finally killed him. It was really scary and no-mercy society to antigovernment people based on that picture. Simply there was no 'freedom'. This drawing was so important that mentioned in class too.
     Another drawing that was impressive is the picture of god. God is the only person Marjane tells the truth and he looks very kind and benevolent like her grandmother. But he doesn't looks like any other god in the world. So it also shows little girl's perspective that doesn't know how god looks like. And the color of god may indicate the god's role I guess. Unlike any other characters in this book, god is the only character who has all white color. I think god is the only character who is fully clean in that devastated society.


   
     

Collage

 

    When I was young, I hated to read. It was boring and waste of time to little boy. But after I got into middle school, I realized that my lack of background knowledge compared to others then I started to read many books and like reading. Now when I read book, it helps me to relax and feels like happily isolated. Because nobody bothers me so I can use my own time entirely for me. 

    I am such a slow reader. I have a strange obsession that try not to miss any information in the book. Others can think me as weirdo but this is my reading habit that is already set. So it takes almost a week to read 1 book to me and if it is English book, it may takes much more days. 

   My favorite foreign author is Franz Kafka. He wrote fiction called 'Metamorphosis' which has been cited as one of the masterpieces of the 20th century and studied in colleges all over the world. My favorite Korean author is Lee Juck. He is actually musician but he also wrote fiction based on his dreams and imagination. He, as musician, achieved a lot of things such as awards, royalty, respect from other musicians. But I think he has strong desire to be author. And he's good at writing in fact. Some of his music shows that how amazing he is as writer. If we look at the lyric of his song, one whole perfect story is in it. 

   I usually read fiction, poem, comic, philosophy. It may sounds old and dull that read books about philosophy, but sometimes interesting part is exist in philosophy. Funny thing is I never had experience that finished philosophy books. It is hard even though I like to read it. 

   I like to read books at silent place like library, my room. If around of me is noisy, I can't concentrate on anything. Also, I like to read alone. So when I'm at the library, I always try to find the seat that no one around me. 

Blog Assignment

   I choose 'Born this way' by Lady Gaga, 'Still Waiting' by Sum41, and 'Departure' by Hareem. 

   First of all, 'Born this way' by Lady Gaga is saying ''be confident, love yourself, and you're in right way''. And yes I should be confident in this school and I should love myself and fortunately the song said I'm in right way. This song gives me hope and energy. Not only the lyric of this song but also the singer of this song 'Lady Gaga' give influence. She has really distinct characteristic and it makes her to be superstar on globe. She does whatever she wants no matter what other people say. I think the biggest reason why this song gives me hope and energy is because it is Lady Gaga's song.

    Secondly, 'Still Waiting' by Sum41 is one of my special songs. I started to play guitar because of this song. Started to play guitar is kind of turning point in my life. It is part of me now and doing role of bridge between people and me. After I started guitar, I got my own talent that could be different from others and my attitude became more positive. 

     Lastly the song 'Departure' by Hareem is Korean song that is about departure haha. This song is about my biggest turning point in my life. I decided to study abroad and farewell to my old friends. When I was at the airport in Korea, I listened to this music. Many things are going through my brain and it was weird. I couldn't fully realize that I'm leaving my hometown. 

     I think songs are best to think about memories looking back my life. Simply, they are amazing!

Seize the day

 "Good sleep is your body mending time. In its sweet release, the fires of worry and anger will be subdued."
   I like this quote from the poem called 'Carpe Diem'. I am fully agree with poet's thinking. Because I have experience that all the matters and fatigue that were accumulated during the day disappeared after I slept over the night. In addition, before we go to bed we usually think about something that is bothering you, worried about, sad feeling you have. But all those feelings are gone when you just wake up. I think this is the power of sleep that can refresh our mind.