Post 17: Poisonwood Figure 8 #1 (Genesis)

Today, we met in our discussion groups consisting of 4-5 people per group to discuss "Genesis," from, "The Poisonwood Bible." My group first established each of the characters, and their voices in the book. We described Rachel as not belonging in the family (since the rest of the family are devout Christians, with the father being a priest), Ruth May as being innocent (well, she's a 5 year old, so she'll believe everything told to her, even when her friend said the tribes in Africa would attack her). The only thing we said about Leah was that we thought that even though her twin sister, Adah, is mute, that we think Adah is much smarter. (Alex pointed out that Adah could come up with a verse correctly whereas her twin sister could not, and I pointed out how Adah came up with various palindromes).

Now that I look at how I just described Rachel, perhaps she is the lone copper person among four gold petroglyphs on the cover?

The next thing my discussion group talked about was what we thought the Kilanga residents would react to the father trying to convert all of them to Christianity. I said that I thought he would repel them from religion since even when he first came to Kilanga, he criticized them to ideals of the Bible they were ignorant to. I added that the family even had to have a picnic to increase attendance to sermons. Alex added on that he thought the father's garden was a foreshadowing to what he thinks the response will be for the Kilanga residents: the father's garden thrived in the U.S., but when in Africa, he had to succumb to growing a garden in a way where the conditions around the garden supported it.

All in all, I think we had a great discussion today, and the discussion made me realize several things about the book thus far that I had not noticed previously.

Post 16: A 10 minute reflection on my SAT essay

My essay was definitely disorganized: I started off with a definite statement and halfway through writing the essay, I realized that I knew of examples where I did not think that the media affects me personally. Therefore, I started off with one statement yet ended with a compromising statement. When I changed my view midway through the essay, I should have gone back and revised my essay statement on what I believed in. My Asian history teacher, Mr. Kakos, used the analogy of a funnel as the first paragraph: you have to lead the reader in the right direction and funnel down to specific examples in which your body paragraphs. Using this analogy, I guess what you could say I did was I had two funnels, and therefore could not guide the grader of my essay in the right direction- having only three minutes, the grader would probably get frustrated because it would be confusing, resulting in a low score.

Aside from that, I also think that I need to have better transitions between paragraphs: I support one point and then suddenly just play the devil's advocate, and contradict everything I'd just said. This would make sense if I declared I was going to do this in my introduction paragraph, but since I did not, the reader would be confused.

I think I also need to incorporate either more vivid descriptions (without sounding like I'm trying to impress the grader too much), and more descriptive vocabulary. As my essay is right now, there would be nothing stand out about it: there would be nothing to catch the reader's attention both point wise and description wise. I would probably receive a low score because of this.

It was an eye opener to take the perspective of the grader of the essay, where time is of the essence and therefore, essays must be graded accordingly.

Post 15: Lexicographer for Book One: Genesis

Format: *= word was seen twice, **= word was seen three times, etc.
(_) page number inside parentheses

brindled (1): having obscure dark streaks or flecks on a usually gray or tawny ground
copulation (1): noun form of: to engage in sexual intercourse
imperious (1): befitting or characteristic of one of eminent rank or attainments
: intensely compelling
confederated (13): to band together
contingency*(14): event or condition
: an event (as an emergency) that may but is not certain to occur
flout (15): to indulge in scornful behavior
surmise (16): a thought or idea based on scanty evidence
pandemony(23): (sp? I looked it up again in the book and it's spelled this way, yet there are no entries found in my dictionary). (probably related to:) pandemonium: hell
katydid (28): any of various large green American long-horned grasshoppers
edification (33): the act of instructing and improving, especially in moral and religious knowledge
dubious (33): of doubtful promise or outcome
gallimaufry (34): hodgepodge
aphasia (34): loss or impairment of the power to use or comprehend words usually resulting from brain damage
parable (39): a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle
penance (42): an act of self-abasement, mortification, or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin
pestilence (58): a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating
desultory (59): marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose
castigated (59): to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism
latent (61): present and capable of becoming though not now visible, obvious, active, or symptomatic
deluge* (61, 63): an overflowing of the land by water
palpitated (67): to beat rapidly and strongly
regaled (68): to entertain sumptuously
enema (69): the injection of liquid into the intestine by way of the anus
finagled (69): to obtain by trickery
putrefaction (70): the decomposition of organic matter
bedraggled (71): to wet thoroughly
bovine (73): ox-like, cow-like
putative (74): commonly accepted or supposed
: assumed to exist or to have existed
semaphore (74): an apparatus for visual signaling

Post 14: SAT Practice Essay

This is from an SAT practice essay:

I believe that the media definitely impacts my sense of what is good and what is not. Oftentimes, when I watch TV, I do homework during commercial breaks. That obviously, is because I intend to watch the show and not the commercials since the show is more interesting. However, I won't lie to you. The commercials which do catch my attention the most are those which have that hot model, or with that really fast, luxurious car. This is because the media, and the society we live in says that these things are cool, or are hot. Honestly, if that model was overweight, I'd probably be disgusted by the commercial; maybe switch the channel, or even be turned off of that product. There's a voice in my head which tells me being this judgmental on looks alone is a bad thing to do. I mean, I don't know that lady: I've never talked to her, or got to know her, and the size of her waist doesn't change her personality or anything. However, that voice in my head is silenced by the cacophony of media advertisements and what the media tells me is right.

Conversely, there are situations when I do not believe the media can affect my sense of what is right and wrong. An example of this is video games. Many times, the media has said video games distort a person and make them do gruesome things. Joe Lieberman has openly discouraged young children, or even teenagers from playing "gory" video games. His speaking out, along with many parents across the country have definitely influenced my mother. "Turn off that video game!" she shrieks across the house. I however, do not think that the media really gets to me. I think that no matter how gruesome the game, I can still play it without being affected.

What I've come to believe through this essay is that us, the viewers of the media, always have a say in what to believe. Even if most of the country conforms to commercials about hot women, fast cars, and the negative influence of video games, when it comes down to it, is it really better to fit in, or do what you think is the right thing? I know that I want to follow what I believe in life, but maybe I am just not mature enough yet to see past that waist, or that car, and so I lay onslaught with the same commercials, evoking the response from me intended by that company.

Post 13: Reflection

When I first opened this blog, I was asked to pose the essentials questions we are exploring in sophomore English. Those questions were: 1. What kind of a world is this?, and 2. How should I live in it? Through many posts about philanthropy, and through the, "This I Believe" statement we had to record, I have began to find my own voice and values.

I'm not sure if I will ever find an answer to these essential questions. I am not sure if I will ever discover who I am, and what I believe in. Currently, I believe that my problems are petty compared to many other's problems in the world. Recently, my tennis coach had to quit his job to take care after his mother who was diagnosed with cancer. Additionally, Mr. Johnson, a teacher beloved by many passed away on the boat trip. I used to think that my life was unfair: that I should be taller, or that I shouldn't have any teachers I don't want to have, or that my family should be better off financially. However, it's become apparent to me that all of these problems which I thought I had were worthless compared to everything else negatively affecting the world today. At the point when I realized my prior ignorance to what problems really are, and what is just my extravagance, I felt worthless; as though I could not make a difference in the world. I saw these unfair things happening, and I couldn't do anything about it.

Conversely, now, my thinking has began to change. Perhaps, if you made a difference in just one life, or just a hundred lives, that difference; that legacy that those people take from it could make all the difference in their lives. At this point, currently, I almost think of it as an obligation to help others, even if I do not think it will make a difference. I realize how privileged we are at Punahou, and I know that all of us will one day be able to accomplish great things. I feel the obligation to try make a difference in other's lives (not for self satisfaction of course, but rather), because I know that if I make a difference in someone's life, that I was not the first to be able to make that difference. In other words, I want to honor someone underprivileged who could have accomplished the same feat I did of helping someone, since I know that that person could've made the same difference, and in that sense, I do not want to squander the opportunities I have that they do not.

Post 12: "Peace With Inches"

One of the rituals I have before I play an important tennis match is to listen to a speech from, "Any Given Sunday," recited by Al Pachino. Here is the most momentous part of the speech in my opinion:

"You find out life's just a game of inches. So's football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches, that's gonna make the *censored* difference between winning and losing... I'll tell you this, in any fight, it's the guy who's willing to die who's gonna win that inch."

Throughout tryouts, this speech resonated in my mind. Honestly, this tryout yielded a lot of pressure on me in the last two matches, since both matches were directly related to my rank on the team for the rest of the year. Last year, since I was a freshman trying out for the first time, it was as though all the pressure was on the other players; the returning players. However, this year, since I was returning, I let the pressure get to me, which resulted in sub-par performance. However, the biggest difference between how I played in tryouts this year and how I played in tryouts last year was how I played on the big points, such as "no-ad" deuces. Last year, when I would win 2/5, this time around, I won 4/5. Two points is the difference between winning the set 6-4 and losing the set 4-6. Inch by inch, I had to work hard to win those matches.

My coach told me that tournaments are won months before they are played. He has never really explained it to me why this is so, but I think that this is because the mentality which someone has all the time determines how well they do, and how much they improve.

Post 11: Description of the Academy Quad

Ants creep up the non-placid surface, crevice by crevice, inch by inch. Trees as wide and tall as some buildings, reach out to touch the sky. The tree is encompassed by a semi circular, condescending step-like pattern: brushed designs on the concrete on top, with porous lava rocks residing underneath.

This tree in the quad I just described can be related to the community at Punahou. The tree resembles everything which transverses here. The tree is reaching out into the community, pulling in students regardless of background. Here at Punahou, we are all equals. Regardless of status, if we want to succeed, we all have to work equally hard. In that way, we are like the ants, working up the tree. From the bottom, the daunting height of the tree seems impossible to scale, but as we assist each other, we become capable of many things we wouldn't be able to accomplish without each other's assistance. Whether trekking a tree as a mere ant, or doing everything possible to get into a top college, if nothing else, I hope that what I will leave behind at Punahou is helping the community improve as much as I can. Right now, I am at the bottom of a seemingly insurmountable tree. But hopefully by working together, one day I will be able to look down at the accomplishment I achieved. And it all starts with an inch.

Post 10: Regrets

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Words from a song I first heard in 6th grade, singing it with vindication at Camp Timberline, which hold so true in my life now. Currently, school is very much of a burden for me, and for many others. I resent having to wake up early, and I regret having to trek from class to class. To me, I feel as though most of the time, homework doesn’t help me learn anything, and I feel as though I’d learn much more if I just read the book myself and looked at the book’s examples than trying to learn sitting in class.

However, I’m almost definite that after I leave Punahou, that I will have many regrets. I’m almost certain that I will miss all the teachers I had, regardless of if I thought they were good or bad teachers at the time I was actually in their class. And, I’m almost sure that however much I hated a class at that time, I will miss the great times that I made out of it. I know this, for it has already started to happen: the past two summers I took Algebra 1, and Chemistry honors, of which, both had tests everyday. At the time, it was horrible: I had to waste my summers staying up late, stressing over grades, and I didn’t get to have fun that all the others around me were experiencing with a break from hard courses. Now that I look back on both of those classes, I miss both of my teachers, and I miss having that uncertainty before the test, trying to cram in the last studying possible five minutes before the test.

Right now, I dislike many courses. I hate staying up till the early hours of the morning studying for a test when all I want to do is sleep, and I hate getting that low test grade. However, perhaps I will learn to love those tests, those late nights, and every other seemingly negative aspect of these courses I have right now, as I once did before. Perhaps I feel nostalgic and I feel as though I want to go back to that time, yet this time around feeling positive about that class because looking back on it, I feel accomplished that I had enough dedication to finish the class. Perhaps, it gives me a chip on my shoulder, which I use to try harder on current tests and current adversities I have, staring them down and showing them what I’m capable of. The truth is, even if I was given the chance to go back and redo both those summer courses, I would not take that opportunity to improve my grade for either class, but rather, I’d rather relive the course how I once experienced it, since now I can appreciate it more.

It’s quite amazing when you can tell that you’re going to have regrets about courses and school before they’re going to happen. You may ask me, if I can see the problem, and what I have to do to solve the problem in the future, could I just fix the problem if I was just more appreciative of everything instead of just letting it pass by? Strangely, I do not think that I can, but I am fine with that harsh truth, for having to fight for that grade, having to study that hard for that test, makes it that much more enjoyable when you get that grade you want. I will live with regrets about school, and about courses and my grades in them, but I’m fine with that harsh truth. For one day, I’ll feel much more accomplished as a result of it.

Post 9: "This I Believe" full essay

Revised on 2/24 to correct two spelling errors:

I believe in hope. Recently, I watched the movie, "The Pianist." Szpilman, a Jewish pianist residing in Poland in the midst of World War II, nearly averted death multiple times. It's ironic that I should use a depressing movie where seemingly everything goes wrong to exemplify hope. The matter of fact is that it was only when even hoping for survival was futile: when Szpilman's entire family was sent to a concentration camp, when he ran out of food and water for days at a time, when his hope; his vindication to live shined through prior adversity.

It would be naïve of me to think that any of my problems can be compared to Szpilman’s story of hope, but when I have that bad match in tennis, hope, and never giving up is what pulls me through. The only thing which keeps me going is that voice in my head which tells me, “Never give up: if you try harder on the next point, you’ll be back on track to win. I’ve got this.”

Through my experiences in tennis, hope has been what has made me win tough matches. At the end of every tennis season, there is a tournament among the 60 best players in the state. Last year, I was the only freshman in the quarterfinals, and I was playing a tight match against a junior. I had won the first set, 6-4, and in the second set, I was down 4-5, and in that game, 15-40. What was worse is that we were playing “no-ad,” which, to put it simply, meant that my opponent had three consecutive points in which he could win the set. Since we had already spent over two hours straight battling in the relentless, blazing sun, I was ready to fight like I’d never fought before for those three points. I took a step back and took three deep breaths: in through my nose, holding each for five seconds while gently shutting my eyes, and exhaling through my mouth. I reluctantly swiveled around, opened my eyes, and was greeted by reality: the crowd, which my court was encompassed in, was now on their feet in anticipation, without a single person cheering for me. My opponent bounced the ball twice, tossed it up, and smacked it. The seemingly fastest serve I had ever seen was heading straight toward me. My body froze in shock and my legs did not budge. Just as the ball was about to pass me, I told myself, “Never give up: if you try hard on this point, you’ll be back on track to win. I’ve got this.” At the last moment, I lunged toward the ball, barely getting my racquet on it. The shot flew a few feet above the net toward my opponent. He sprinted to the ball and pummeled it into the other corner. Running as fast as I could, I barely got to the ball again, just being able to tap it over the net. However, this time, my opponent missed the “put-away” shot. Discouraged by this point, he played the next two points carelessly, missing shots by wide margins. I brought the score up to 5-5. I knew that I had him now: his head was hanging, and he threw his racquet at the fence, resulting in a loud reverberating clank. With this new-found confidence, I was able to win the proceeding two games, and take the set, 7-5, and the entire match as well.

Sometimes, hope is lurking just around the corner, or just past that one shot. Who would have guessed that getting just one more ball back could lead to my opponent losing his cool? Who would have known that hoping for the best, and not giving up; just hoping for one break to pull myself out of a daunting situation could lead to winning the set, and the match? Perhaps, before that tennis match, the voice in my head telling me to get one more shot back, and to win one more point, was just a mere mantra which I recited to myself, believing the words of my coaches. However, after that experience, I genuinely know how much hope can result in. And it all starts with a one more step, for that one point. “Never give up: if you try harder on the next point, you’ll be back on track to win. I’ve got this.”

Post 8: "This I Believe" Ideas

I believe in dreams.

I believe in hope. Recently I watched the movie, "The Pianist." Szpilman, the main character in the movie, nearly averted death multiple times. It's interesting that I should bring up such a depressing movie where seemingly everything goes wrong to talk about hope. The matter of fact is that it was only when there was no hope: when Szpilman's entire family gets sent to a concentration camp, and when he ran out of food and water for days at a time where his hope; his vindiction to live shined through the darkness. I complain about getting that bad math grade, or about not getting that present which I really wanted for Christmas. It was humbling to see someone who had nothing not complain about what he did not have, but rather appreciated everything which was given to him.

"Perhaps they're lucky. The quicker the better." -I'll write a reflection on that quote from "The Pianist" later.

Any suggestions or comments are much appreciated!