Spanish bull rampage

Yesterday, in Spain, a raging bull jumped out of the arena at a Spanish bullring and ran around in the crowd. Once it had jumped out of the ring, the bull tried to make its way upwards. The spectators that were in its path hurridly got out of its way, and in this confusion, some spectators were injured. The spectators tried to enter the ring to escape from the bull. Eventually, after a while, the spectators restrained the bull and after a few minutes, the bull was brought under control and was killed.

In the confusion, approximately 40 people were injured but there were no casualties. Most of the injured were treated for cuts and bruises, said officials in the northern town of Tafalla. However, 9 of the injured were sent to a hospital and among them was a 10-year-old boy who apparently suffered multiple bruising when the bull fell on him, and a 24-year-old who was gored. 

Analysts say that bulls occasionally leap security fences at bullrings but they rarely make it into the crowd. This particular incident comes at a time amid intense debate in Spain over the centuries-old tradition of bullfighting in Spain. In a recent opinion poll, 60 per cent of Spaniards said they do not like the spectacle, which ends with the death of the bull from a well-placed sword.

I feel that bullfighting should be banned. This is because bullfighting is essentially making fun of a bull by making it run here and there in an arena. The bull will then be killed with a sword. Moreover, the matador in the arena with the bull has a very high chance of being either injured or killed by the bull whenever something goes wrong. 

This is evident in the incident that happened during April this year. One of Spain's top bullfighters was badly gored during a fight in Mexico. The extent of injury is shown when he needed to be immediately operated on at the scene due to a punctured vein and artery. He was bleeding so badly that officials appealed over loudspeakers for compatible donors to come forward from the crowd.

This shows even experienced bullfighters can get badly injured in a fight, so what are the chances of less experienced bullfighters being free of injury after every fight? So in conclusion, I feel that bullfighting should be banned for the benefit of both the bull and the matador.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8642637.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11022260

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/19/2987218.htm

First poll in Burma (Myanmar) in two decades

Burma Coat of Arms

Burma, or otherwise known as Myanmar, will be holding its first general elections on 7 November 2010. This was announced yesterday by ruling generals, ending months of speculation. The poll is the first since pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in 1990. The military never allowed her party to take power, and it was disbanded. Ms Suu Kyi has been either in jail or under house arrest in the past 20 years, and has been barred from standing because of past criminal convictions, as are many other pro-democracy activists.

Critics of the elections say that it will be a sham, due to the poll laws which are in the favour of the authorities. The law states that those with criminal convictions and members of religious orders cannot take part, ruling out many activists and monks. A new consititution reserves 25% of the parliament for the military, and some of the parties that have registered for the polls are seen to be proxies of the military. 

One party not linked to the military has already complained to the Election Commission that its members are being intimidated. Ironically, the members of the Election Comission are handpicked by the Burmese military government.

I feel that this election is a complete sham as the current military government seems to have removed any loopholes that might be exploited by the opposition, thus reducing chances that any party that could gain an overall majority of the votes could register. Moreover, even if the
military's worst-case scenario happens, they would still be in control of 25% of the parliament. With the new constitution stating that any constitutional change would have to garner more than 75% approval of the parliament, it meant that the military would effectively still be in control of the parliament.

Despite this, there are still people that feel that this election, however flawed, could be the start of a process of much-needed change.

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10961366

Former Cuban President - Fidel Castro, warns of nuclear "holocaust"

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban politician and former president. One of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Castro served as the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976, and then as the President of the Council of State of Cuba and the president of Council of Ministers of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008. He currently serves as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, a position he has held since its inception in 1965.

Yesterday, he mustered enough strength to address the country's parliament, for the first time since his health crisis four years ago, to issue a dire warning of a nuclear holocaust. Castro said it would be up to US President Barack Obama to issue an order to carry out such a strike, but that, if he realised the consequences of this action, "he would not give it". He stressed that should nuclear war be unleashed, "the existing world order would not survive and would immediately collapse". 

I agree with Fidel Castro. This is because if we look at the past (1945, to be exact), when the US dropped the nuclear bombs onto Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day". This shows the devastating impact nuclear bombs has on the targeted country/city. Combined with the dense population the world now has, I am sure the casualities of the nuclear war will make the casualties of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem negligible. Moreover, it will be the innocent civilians that will suffer the most from the nuclear war. So, I feel that nuclear war should be avoided for the sake of mankind.

Sources:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1074095/1/.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro

Vulnerability in Apple's Operating System

Apple's operating system for the iPhone, iPad tablet computer and iPod music player have been discovered to have two vulnerabilities, says security firms. The vulnerability could be exploited by remote attackers to take complete control of a vulnerable device. However, at present, experts say that the threat only exists on paper but Apple has to address this issue before it becomes a reality.

Apple said that the company was aware of the report and was investigating. One vulnerability is caused by a glitch triggered when a user views data in Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. As Apple's Mobile Safari automatically opens PDF files, a hacker could embed malicious codes into this files.

However, ironically, the only way to prevent Mobile Safari from automatically opening PDF files is by jailbreaking a phone and installing an application called PDF Loading Warner. That application asks for permission everytime the browser tries to open an PDF file. 

Now, it up to Apple to release a patch that would either prevent Jailbreak from working or close the highlighted security flaw. But, in retrospect, Apple has been slow to fix problems on their mobile browsers.

Personally, I feel that Apple, now, has to change the way it faces problems, and fix this current one as soon as possible. This is because once the threat becomes real, it will be even more difficult for Apple to prevent it, and the unknowing users might fall victim to the hackers.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10865288

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/1073721/1/.html

Founder of WikiLeaks denies "blood on hands"

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has rejected U.S. claims that he has blood on his hands after releasing 90,000 leaked classified documents on the Afghan war. Julian Assange said that there were no evidence that any infomants had died as a result of the leaks. He then accused the Pentagon of trying to distract attention from the thousands of lives being lost in the war.

The White House has appealed to Wikileaks not to publish another 15,000 documents it is thought to hold, and the U.S. denied Mr Assange's assertion that he had asked the US government to help vet the documents to protect lives.

In an interview with the BBC, he directly addressed comments made by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who sharply criticised WikiLeaks. "One must consider why the Pentagon is focusing on the hypothetical blood that it says might be on our hands - although there is no evidence of that - compared to the 20,000 lives that have been lost in Afghanistan that are documented and exposed by our material."

Despite the appeal made by the White House to WikiLeaks, Mr Assange has pledged to continue the release of documents. 

I personally feel that Mr Assange should not continue to publish the documents as it will only continue to serve as a tool for the enemy. Publishing those documents only compromises the lives of the people involved. The damage done so far is irreparable, as "once a document published it is essentially impossible to censor,", according to WikiLeaks. So, instead of publishing the remaining documents, they should be either be deleted or remain unpublished.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10825183
http://thenextweb.com/files/2010/01/Wikileaks_3_1.jpg 
http://www.wikileaks.com/wiki/WikiLeaks:About

Leaked documents on Wikileaks compromise infomants' and soldiers' lives

WikiLeaks is a "multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public". Since July 2007, they have "worked across the globe to obtain, publish and defend such materials", and, also, "to fight in the legal and political spheres for the broader principles on which our work is based: the integrity of our common historical record and the rights of all peoples to create new history".

Recently, WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of secret documents about the Afghan War.  During a Pentagon press meeting on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen could barely contain their anger on Thursday at WikiLeaks.

Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went so far as to say that the transparency activists “might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier” or an Afghan partner, with his voice elevating slightly.

They described WikiLeaks’s huge disclosure as having consequences on the battlefield and beyond. The leak exposed sources and methods for US intelligence agencies and allowed US adversaries to learn about military tactics and procedures, said Gates, clearly angry over the episode. Gates vowed the Pentagon will "aggressively investigate" and prosecute those behind the leak and had asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help in the probe.

I feel that whoever leaked the documents to WikiLeaks was extremely irresponsible as it endangered the lives of soldiers, Afghan civilians and infomants. In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military has worked to ensure soldiers deployed on the front line had the latest intelligence, entrusting troops with sensitive information. Misusing this infomation is a severe breach of trust by the soldier, and is morally wrong.

Sources:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=wikileaks&id=1072357

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/top-military-officer-wikileaks-has-blood-on-its-hands/#more-28883
http://www.wikileaks.com/wiki/WikiLeaks:About

HCI's gateway to be dismantled soon and re-erected in 2014

Due to the recent construction of the Tan Kah Kee station (Downtown Line), which sits in the HCI campus, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) have been in a discussion about the two iconic gateways HCI has. This is because extensive tunnelling right below the gateways and major construction works will be conducted, and this would cause a problem in keeping the gateways. However, after approximately a year of discussions, the LTA and HCI have a found a way not just to preserve HCI's pair of 31-year-old granite gateways, but to also keep them exactly where they stand now.

The 10m tall gateways will have to be dismantled for approximately 4 years and will be re-erected when the Tan Kah Kee MRT station is ready by the end of 2014. Re-installing the gateways will be done in two stages: The top part, the arch comprising the emerald-green tiles, will first be removed and then be mounted on temporary pillars about 20m from they will finally be. The metal gates below will also be dismantled. In late 2014, when the station is ready, these gates will be re-erected.

About 15,000 square metres of the school's campus will be affected by the building of the underground train tunnel. The LTA will bear the cost of reconstructing the gates, four basketball courts, replanting of trees and renting of alternative sports venues so the school's sports activites can carry on.

Being a HCI student myself, I feel that the dismantling and re-erecting of the gateways is to the benefit of the students in HCI as the gateways is part of the school's heritage. The gateways are also what many HCI students remember of the school so this would help the students remember HCI in the future.

Term 2 Week 10 Home learning 

Task 2:

Analysis of the poem

1) Point of view

This poem's point of view is from the author's perspective. The poet wrote this poem based on his experiences when he was a paratrooper as in the last line of the poem, the author wrote "Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir". The fact that the author was writing from his perspective gives us a first-hand experience of what it was like during the combat. The speaker's function in this poem is to give this poem a sense of realism.

2) Setting and situation

The author was writing this poem based on his experiences when he was a paratrooper fighting in Afghanistan. The author was deployed to Afghanistan during the year 2002. I know that this poem was based on experiences in Afghanistan as the poem says that the "Hindu Kush has changed so many lives". The Hindu Kush is basically a 500-mile mountain range stretching between north-western Pakistan and eastern and central Afghanistan. In the poem, tension is created by describing what the author did during the combat. For example, "We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not" and "I run as fast as I can through the lead rain" meant that the author was on a helicopter/plane and had to jump from it despite them not wanting to. After jumping, the author had to run through a "lead rain", which is actually means a lot of bullets flying around.

3) Language and Diction

The author used an object in this world to describe how it affects him and the other troops. The author related to the Hindu Kush, which is a 500-mile mountain range. The author wrote that "The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives ; Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod". The mountain range could change a person's life, either by destroying the life, or by restricting it (by injuring the person). The theme of this poem is survival. During combats, even when sleeping, a soldier must be prepared for any sudden attacks or ambushes. This is shown by "We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared". Another theme could be brotherhood. The poem states that "blood is thicker than water", but "lead is thicker than blood". This means that the soldier built up friendship by fighting alongside each other.

4) Personal response

Personally, I feel that this poem shows the reality of combat as this poem is written by a person who has experienced combat himself in the past. People die during the course of combat. So, in the future, war should be avoided at all costs.

References:

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Steve

http://superdeetwinkle.wikispaces.com/IT+Home+Learning+T2W10+2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_kush

Term 2 Week 10 Home learning  


Task 1:

Background infomation about the poet.

Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to 

D Company 1^st battalion 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82^nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He was deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He was later deployed to Afghanistan in December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.

References:

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Steve

Term 2 Week 10 Home learning  


The poem I will be analysing today will be "We Slept With Our Boots On" by Steve Carlsen.

The poem:

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell

Game review of Imperial Ages

Well, above is a screenshot I took from a browser game I just quit. The name of the game is Imperial Ages. The reason why I decided to quit this game is because this game requires the player to be active. If a player is not active for even a day, he/she might be what the community call, "farmed". As I could not be active (i.e. Online playing everyday for at least 1.5 hours), I simply quit the game.

This is the...well, 3rd time I quit this game (I joined last year)

There is actually a story for the game but it is quite...long. Nevertheless, here it is:

Prologue -->

The world has changed. Under the heavy hand of history, land is changing its shape, people are changing their thoughts and words are changing their meanings. An older concept is being brought back to life: power – the measure of all things.

The same reason and force that once made people unite – creating tribes at first, large armies later – is now tearing families apart. Power makes a man gain a class, a place in existence’s vast memory; this is the best way for winning an identity.

For people are the weakest, when the illusion of power becomes their psychosis and the imaginary becomes their first nature. They become vampires – not the legendary ones – seeking a blood that gains the view of each one’s desire and they would joyfully give their lives for that purpose. In the altar in which Evil had made its moves onward world domination through swords and fire, there are also named the humans chosen to make this possible.

The Ancient Stones speak in great silence of an alliance of brave men, Fate of the Rose, ruled by four brothers that, hundreds of years ago, kept the flag of freedom against obedience to the tyrants of the world, the emperors of the Dark Empire. The alliance was flawless, for the spiritual dimension of its leaders were all the pieces needed for a glorious omnipresence: the Trader – well developed capacity of weighting not only goods, but also situations and a precise sense of numbers; the Priest – strong in his beliefs, caretaker of the beliefs of people seeking advice and direction; the Warrior – courageous and very skillful in battle, he enclosed within himself the knowledge of weapons; the last one is the Barbarian – resembling in some ways the Warrior, he was endowed with great physical strength and great impact over the enemies, due to his numerous armies, attacking with rage and lust for glory. These were the four element of a powerful mechanism that stood in chaos and anarchy’s way for years.

In their last great victory against human evil, they heard of a relic with great power, the Scepter of Ur, an artifact that could unite and disunite humans under a sole commandment. Right before the alliance got to the last bastion of the Dark Empire, one of the Dark Lords displaced the Scepter in four pieces and buried them in four corners of the world. Assuming that the destruction of this instrument will guard peace and freedom, the four brothers departed, one in each corner of the four.

After finding them, one after another, the brave knights succumbed to the desire of being for themselves rulers of the peace and freedom they desired. They have settled in each corner they looked for the components of the scepter and gave birth, from their own inner spark, on the one hand, to four great kingdoms: The Papal State, The Hanseatic League, Valachia and the Mongol Empire and, on the other hand, to an irreversible separation between them.

Old family ties are forgotten, ideas and feelings are put behind and the Four are now in quest for ultimate power but, unlike other times, for their own. Because none of them wanted to unite their kingdoms by will, a war is now imminent. The only good thing – but an expensive one – the war and the wish for more ever brought is evolution. Civilizations were forged and conquered inside war rooms, a certain kind of competition developed between opposite sides, making them climb higher on the scale of human life complexity. As time passes, the four kingdoms get bigger, stronger, they develop new standards of living and fighting and they permanently search for more.

The Scepter of Ur cannot be assembled, since none of the four leaders would give up his piece. But it has been heard of other relics which, found and put together, would give great mystical power to the bearer. Alas, no matter of how great that power can be or get, it does not last forever. And everyone seems to know that, because their kingdoms are getting prepared for war.

As this story is about to end and as reality is about to be unleashed to decide upon the fate of its participants, these words are mystified and enwrapped in an aura of auspicious times. The Ancient Stones are still the ones to observe and memorize the events to come…

Thus, the hunt for power begins!

Game review of Empire Craft:

I have just started this game called Empire Craft. You can use your facebook account (if you have one) to connect with the game, or you can just create an account. This game is similar to all other browser-based strategy game I have played before, only with better graphics. However, I feel that the user interface for this game still cannot compare with Evony's. Evony has the best user interface I have ever seen. Apart from that, the other functions of Empire Craft is still ok.

Well, the picture at the top is what you will see when you first enter the game. You can choose from 3 different types of characters, Human, Orc, or Elf. I chose Human :D. You will then have to build buildings, train troops, attack, spy etc. From those you will gain population, gold coins, diamonds and more. The gold coins are used to increase your apprasial, which is used to increase your rank.

About the time it takes to upgrade buildings, at the beginning, Empire Craft takes a faster time to upgrade its buildings compared with Evony. However, later on in the game, Evony actually takes a faster time to upgrade its buildings. One example of Empire Craft taking a faster time is the upgrading of its Level 0->Level 1 farmland. From the screenshot at the right hand side, you can see that to upgrade a Level 0 farmland takes only 8 seconds, which is fast, compared to its counterpart in Evony, which takes 30 seconds.

One example of Empire Craft taking a longer time to upgrade its building:

As you can see, it takes 2 hours 30 minutes to upgrade a Level 1->Level 2 barrack. However, in Evony, it only takes approximately 15 minutes, or less. This shows a vast difference in the amount of time required to upgrade this particular building.

Well, here are now some screenshots of the game:

 2010 National Inter-School Shooting Championships


Since 2009, we have been training - 6 times a week (5 times a week during school term holidays), except Sundays and public holidays.

In 2010, we were still training, same target - To be the champions of the 2010 National Inter-School Shooting Championships C-div Boys.

On the day of the competition, April 13, we competed against other schools including Raffles Institution, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), and West Spring Secondary School. After a grueling 4 hours, the results were out. We were the CHAMPIONS of the 2010 National Inter-School Shooting Championships! All our hard work in 2009 and 2010 had paid off. Hwa Chong Institution now has a 4-year consecutive record of being champions in the National Inter-School Shooting Championships for the C-Division Air Rifle Boys!

The results for other divisions are shown here:

Air Rifle (Team):

A Division Girls - Champion

A Division Boys - Champion

B Division Boys - 2nd Runner Up

C Division Boys - Champion  :D

Air Pistol (Team):

A Division Boys - 2nd Runner Up

B Division Boys - 1st Runner Up

C Division Boys - 2nd Runner Up

HCISC - I'm proud to be in the team!!!

Chapter naming

Chapter 7 - The hole in the tree

There is only one reason as to why I named this chapter "The hole in the tree"

Reason 1:

One day, when Jem and Scout went back home from school, they found a ball of twine in the oak tree. Although they did not take it on the first day, they took it on the third day. A month later, two dolls, resembling Jem and Scout, carved out of soap are found in the tree. Over the next few weeks, both Jem and Scout find a number of other items and eventually decide to write a letter of thanks to put in the tree. However, before they can do so, Nathan Radley filled the tree with cement. This chapter mainly revolves around the tree, the items in the tree, Jem, and Scout.

Chapter naming

Chapter 6 - Maturity of Jem

There are two reasons as to why I named this chapter "Maturity of Jem"

Reason 1:

Jem's increasing maturity is shown when he deals with the matter of getting his trousers back. There were two reasons why Jem decided to go back to the Radley place to get his trousers. The first reason was pride. Jem has never been beaten by Atticus before and did not want to get beaten now. Another reason was because of consideration. Jem did not want to give Atticus a reason for beating him. Jem being able to consider this two factors shows his increasing maturity.

Reason 2:

Jem's increasing maturity is also shown in his courage. It takes a lot of courage for Jem to go back to the Radley place. Moreover, he went back during the night, where there was an increased risk of getting shot by Nathan Radley as people cannot see clearly in the dark.

Game review of Travian:

This is the game description by Travian itself:

Travian is a browser game featuring a world with thousands of other real players.

One begins the game acting as a chief of a tiny village

About the game:

• No downloads necessary, the game is directly playable.
• You play with thousands of real players in a persistent ancient world.
• Build up villages, wage wars or trade with your neighbors.

I feel that the game, although it is better than other games out there which have lousy graphics and lousy user interface, needs a very long time to play. Travian has been around for quite a long time and it has 295 different server altogether.

I played this game since I was in Primary 6 and have been quitting and rejoining Travian servers until around June 2009. The good points about Travian is that it has a tutorial for those who want to join but want to have some knowledge before playing.

After a person joins a game, there is a in-game tutorial where the "advisor" gives the user tasks to complete. However, he/she can choose to skip the tutorial.

Some good points about Travian:

1.  Browser game - No download necessary
2. Good graphics
3. Good user interface - User friendly
4. Have guides about building, troops etc

The one and only bad point about Travian (to me):

1. Takes a long time to play - eg. Level 1 Cropland takes 2min 30sec to build. However, in some other similiar game like Evony, the equilvalent of cropland takes less than 40sec.

Some pictures of Travian (Some are in the German interface):

Recently, I stumbled upon a new browser game - Grepolis

The link is here: en.grepolis.com.

It combines both Greek mythology and the Roman Empire.

This is what the game is about, in a nutshell (It's on the game's main page):

Build magnificent cities,
forge mighty alliances,
utilize the power of the gods,
conquer the world!

Does this sound interesting to you? Personally, I feel that the words do not attract me, but instead it was the pictures that made me register for an account.

Here are some screenshots of Grepolis:

Have I enticed you enough to join this game ?  :D

Feel free to post your comments on this game.

Chapter naming

Chapter 4 and 5 - Jem

There are two reasons as to why I named this two chapters "Jem"

Reason 1:

The writer, in chapter 4, shows the different characteristics of Jem and his mentality. When Jem and Scout found a tiny shiny package in the knot-hole that contained "two scrubbed and polished pennies" (Pg 40), Jem said that "Finders were keepers unless title was proven". That was a combination of their childhood tradition and the legal jargon that they have picked up from Atticus.

Jem is also beginning to analyse matters. He suspects that Boo Radley might be responsible for the gifts. Scout commented that Jem "looked for a long time at the Radley Place. He seemed to be thinking again" (Pg 41).

Jem is also beginning to have a lawyer's mind. He has some meaning of entailment, albeit not totally accurate, and during the Tom Robinson's trial, Jem is able to understand the implications of many of the legal points raised.

Lastly, Jem starts the "Boo Radley" game. In which he will continue until Atticus caught him and Dill red-handed.

Reason 2:

In chapter 5, as further evidence that Jem is beginning to have a lawyer's mind, he uses a legal quibble to justify the continuation of the "Boo Radley" game. He said that "Atticus hadn't said we couldn't, therefore we could" (Pg 47).

Chapter naming

Chapter 3 - Walter Cunningham / Atticus

I feel that there are two reasons as to why this chapter can either be named "Walter Cunningham" or "Atticus"

Reason 1:

Walter Cunningham's life and background is introduced to the readers as he is invited by Jem to go to their house for dinner. During the meal, Atticus and Walter Cunningham "talked together like two men" (Pg 30). Scout embarrassed Walter when he "poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand". This shows that Walter brought his habits from home and that the Cunninghams were poor. I can infer that the Cunninghams are poor as the reason why they pour syrup on their food is to make it more tasty due to their lack of money to buy good food.

Reason 2:

The writer brings out several attributes of Atticus. Firstly, Atticus is tolerant of all man. I know this as when Walter Cunningham was invited for dinner by Jem. Atticus greeted Walter and talked to Walter "about crops" (Pg 29), a topic that Walter is familiar is, so that he would feel at ease. Atticus is also able to see the other person's point of view, which is something he tries to teach Scout. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (Pg 35).

Atticus also shows his ability to reason and his wisdom when he offers a compromise to Scout. Atticus too, has a sense of humour as shown when he walked to the "wisteria vine" (Pg 35). He is clearly amused by what has happened to Scout and does not want to offend Scout by laughing at her. When Scout tries to seal their compromise by spitting on her hand before she and Atticus shake hands, Atticus once again shows his sense of humour by commenting "We'll consider it sealed without the usual formality" (Pg 37)

Intrapersonal:

a) Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain.

I would like to be friends with Jem in the novel as I can feel a strong leadership capability inside Jem and since I cannot lead well, I might as well just follow people. Jem is also very brave and has a mind of a lawyer. I know that Jem is brave as he went up to to Radley Place and touched the door, although he only touched it for less than 1 second, as the Radley Place is considered a taboo, even if Jem touched the door for less than one second, he is still considered brave.

Jem, with the influence of Atticus, has developed a "lawyer mind". He could analyse what was happening during the court case and be able to explain it to Scout and Dill.

Naturalist:

a. Do a research on the natural habitat of mockingbird. In your research, include the kind of flora and fauna you think exist in Maycomb and explain why the mockingbirds live in Maycomb.

Mockingbirds are members of the Mimidae family, a group of American passerines that also includes thrashers, tremblers, and New World catbirds. These stentorian songbirds, medium sized with angular proportions and long, twitchy tails, range from the Canadian border down through South America. The song of the mockingbird is actually a medley of the calls of many other birds. Each imitation is repeated two or three times before another song is initiated. A given bird may have 30, 40 or even 200 songs in its repertoire, including other bird songs, insect and amphibian sounds, and even the occasional mechanical noise.

The mockingbird is gray on top and white on its underside. It has white patches on its wings that look like bars; a long black tail with white outer feathers and a long, slender bill. Males and females look alike.

I think that the mockingbirds found in Maycomb should be the Northern Mockingbird. The Northern mockingbird lives in open country with thickets, farmland and desert brush. The Northern mockingbird can be found in most of the continental United States from southern Oregon through northern Utah to Newfoundland and south to Mexico. The diet of the northern mockingbird consists of ants, beetles, grasshoppers, seeds and berries.

Based on the infomation on the habitat of the mockingbird and more, I think that Maycomb was an area with big patches of farmland and has a lot of desert brushes. I think the reason why mockingbirds live in Maycomb as Maycomb's surroundings is similar to a mockingbird's habitat. Another possibility could be that because Maycomb was not densely populated, so the mockingbirds could set up nests there without being disturbed.

References:

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/mockingbird.htm

http://10000birds.com/mockingbirds.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird

I will be doing the naturalist task and the intrapersonal task

Multiple Intelligences:

 

 As the graph shows, I am a logical guy and I am number smart. The graph also shows that I am very weak in the areas of nature and linguistics. This means that I am not good with my words and affected by nature greatly. However, I feel that I am not good in music and I should be better in the field of nature. I feel that the Multiple Intelligence test result will not be accurate for everyone who takes the test as people might lie in order to achieve better results. The second reason is that I feel that there are not enough questions to access a person's true capabilities. Take the MIDAS test I took last year. It had more than 50 questions to access my capabilities while this test only had 40 questions.

However, I agree on a fact that says that this graph shows the areas that the people are strong and weak in, and this allows them to improve on themselves.

Chapter naming

Chapter 2 - School.

There are two reasons why I named this chapter "School and Education".

Reason 1:
Scout goes "to school for the first time" (Pg 21) and she realises that "'school's different'" from home. Jem is little ashamed of his sister and gives her clear instructions not to "embarrass him" (Pg 22) or "tag along behind him" (Pg 22).

Reason 2:
Scout gets scolded and punished on her first day of school by her teacher, Miss Fisher, when she tries to explain that Walter Cunningham comes from a poor family who does not accept charity. Miss Fisher is an "outsider" as she comes from a town a few milesaway from Maycomb, and this chapter emphasises the Maycomb distrust of people not from the district. This chapter also criticises the education system, where the talk is only about new methods and the children are made to conform to the expectations of the teachers.

Chapter naming

Chapter 1 - Introduction

There are two reasons why I named Chapter 1 Introduction.

Reason 1:
"Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself." (Pg 11). This quote introduces one of the main themes in the novel - Fear. One example of fear at work in the novel is Boo Radley, who has been portrayed by the Maycomb community as a monster. Everything that happens in the town is blamed on him, even though there was evidence that it was not related to him, the people of Maycomb were "unwilling to discard their initial suspicions" (Pg 15).

Reason 2:
"The sheriff hadn't the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes" (Pg 17) shows the racial prejudice that people had against Negroes, racial prejudice is also one of the themes in the novel. This is evident when Tom Robinson was found guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, something which he did not do.

Hi! This is my new blog for 2010! This blog is mainly for me to post my literature assignments so there will be nothing on my personal life. Thanks!