They were the diaries of heroine who was fourteen years old. Mia had many variety ideas and thoughts. She used her imagine to describe her feelings and scenery and put the emotion in it. She kept down all the feelings without anything hided or left, so I thought I found the most true life and honest person that I had never seen. Although these matters were not true, the feelings were very real. It let me thought more and enjoyed her humorous, I was attracted by it just in my first browse through the first page. Mia was not the popular girl in school, but it’s sure she was a good girl. She was just in the sensitive age. The first day diary was almost said what she bothered about most, like no guy asking her out, five foot nine, flat chest and a freshman who had flunking Algebra. She kept saying these disadvantages of her so that it impressed me and had picture in my brain. From the diaries, Mia seemed to be very kind and friendly. Although she had these disadvantages, her mental life was very colorful. However, in that age, every trivial thing would be serious. The teenagers must keep considering, comparing and noticing others everything. The book is totally a happy ending and in the process, I grow in the correct way with Mia. Every common teenager would like to be a mature, responsible and successful person. Maybe they knew it should have some luck, they just wanted to make a dream and worked hard to make it come true. The book said the correct behavior would have good ending no matter on Mia or on Lana, it was just proved. I really liked this book, the heroine was very humorous, and she talked to her dear diary or maybe herself exaggeratedly but naturally. So the little and ordinary things could really catch my eyes. The book had shown how realistic people were, Mia was originally just a small potato, but because of the heir of the princess of Genovia, she turned to a popular person overnight. From beginning to end, Mia was just same one person but had such dramatic change. Through the book, I could understand and knew the America school culture. In the lunch time, there were many groups divided to get together by their popularity in school or what kind of person of you. It’s very easy to be forgotten if someone was really shy or not attractive and then she or he would be embarrassed and upset. Although these things would also happen in Taiwan, it’s not so serious. I thought it’s a very complex problem. It would always have some people who had no partner to get and talk with. I thought it felt very uncomfortable to have no person to accompany but watched others getting together and laughing happily. They also had cheerleading culture. The cheerleader would be a lovely and attractive person who was always envied by all people in school and purchased by many guys, but they were too snotty, so they would be hated by people, they just didn’t say. I really like this book, I have two reasons. First, it’s very easy to understand and it has many practical phrases and sentences. Second, I really like the plot. Although I have seen it on the movie before, I still want to read it again. Generally speaking, it’s a delightful movie which has many funny parts. And, in the end, I just want to memorize the classical sentence of the last diary in the book. It said “I thought, really, I am a very lucky girl. Things had looked pretty bad there for a while. But isn’t it funny how everything kind of works itself out in the end?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
劉評堯The five people you meet in the heaven
This book Mitch Albom wrote was dedicated to his uncle. Because his uncle thought that he was unimportant as lots of people think during their lives. He wanted his uncle to realize how much he was cared and loved.
The story began with a maintenance who worked in an amusement park called “Ruby Pier”. He started working there since he was young. Though he didn’t like the job, he got no choice but to do it due to the economic purpose. Ironically, the place he worked at was where he died. Eddie lost his life when he was trying to save a little girl’s life.
Eddie then went to another world called “Heaven”. He started to meet people who once had connection with his life. Eddie talked to them, and learned lessons from them.
The first person that Eddie met was “The blue man”. The story between them tells us that even between two strangers can have big influence existed. It is necessary to be nice with people around us, because we’ll never know that perhaps one day they will have quite effect on us. People we do not know may be unfriendly toward us, but we should bear in mind that people live in the world are like a family.
In Eddie’s second stop, he saw his old captain, who always said “No man gets left behind”. Like every commanders during World War, he regarded his soldiers as his own brothers and friends. He saved Eddie’s life, and soon died due to explosion of land mine. The captain showed the spirit of sacrifice, he felt that it was his duty to keep his soldiers safe, even to lose his own life. The spirit is a good goal for us to reach. People nowadays lack of the thought to sacrifice for one another. They must know that even just a little toleration can make our society much better.
The next people Eddie talked to was Ruby. The amusement park Eddie worked in was named after her. She is the person who knew the final living moment of Eddie’s father. Eddie’s father stop talking to him since Eddie was young, they even had a quarrel. He never knew why he should work in the playground instead of purchasing his dream. The only thing he knew was that his father forced him to do it, and also he didn’t have choice because he got to maintain the balance of his family. Ruby told him the importance of forgiveness, to forgive his father and what he said or did to him. I think in this world, no one has responsibility to be nice to us. Only family members take care of each other. We get to love our family, because there is only a time for a lifelong, we can have them as family.
The fourth person was who Eddie loved during his life time, Marguerite. The stories of them tell us to capture every chance we have to be accompanied with our love ones. We never know what will happen to us in anytime. Always keep in good mood, have more toleration to them, and try not to lose temper easily. This way, we won’t lose chance to be with them.
Last person Eddie saw was Tala, a girl Eddie and fellow captives accidentally killed. Thought the girl was killed by their fire, she told to Eddie that how his life was important to others. It reminds us that every person born to this world has his or her own reason. Everyone must have his specialty. It also tells us that people who want to commit suicide must not understand this simple fact. Maybe somebody’s death won’t change the world, but it gets a huge effect on his or her friends and family.
The book used some interesting stories to teach us with different aspects. It gives me a fresh idea of way to think of everything happens around me in daily life. The stories left strong impression in my mind, and the lessons behind them had change the way of my view of life
柳宗成 Reflection on The Grass Is Singing
Making debut in 1950, The Grass Is Singing, one of the chefs d’oevre composed by a British female novelist Doris Lessing, presents a milieu interwoven by a white women’s struggles between her “white sexuality” and her ambiguous affection to the “black power.” Set in a British colony Rhodesia in 1940s, the novel chronicles Mary Turner the British woman’s repressive affection and her marriage with her husband Dick Turner, a white farmer who is in struggles for the greatest profits. Even though Mary remains in a marital relationship with his white husband Dick Turner, the economic difficulty and aloofness in their conjugal relationship conversely cause Mary’s physical encounter with the black houseboy Moses, the transgression of the normal relation between the white and the black, and the generation of the tragic decease of Mary herself. The contrasts between the helplessness of a white wife’s normal marriage with an impoverished white husband and the contravention of the subordination of the white and the black are thus presented with the writer’s indicting narrative.
Recounted intersectionally in the third person omniscient narrative and slightly limited perspective, the novel begins from an article in the newspaper which documents the murder of Mary Turner, the wife of Dick Turner. It is reported that the houseboy, who has no name in the article, “has confessed to the crime.” and his motive “is thought… [to be] in search of valuables” (P.9). As the short report demonstrates its description of the event of murder, we readers are instantaneously aware that the names in the report respectively have distinctive significance. The white’s names are explicitly written as “Mary Turner, wife of Richard Turner [or Dick Turner],” in the first line in the report. (P.9). Mary is the victim and the name of hers is indisputably placed at the beginning. However, the word of elucidating her relationship with Dick on the other hand insinuates the subordinate or hierarchal chains that make bonds between a man as a husband and a woman as a wife. Yet, compared to the two whites, the black houseboy appears merely as a “houseboy” in the report. However the murder develops, the houseboy, particularly the black “one”, are customarily silenced so that the black have no opportunities to defend himself from the defamation; what’s worse, the name of the black laborer Moses is effaced from the report. The defacement of name signifies the permanent evaporation from the memory. As the readers endeavor to clarify the wherefores of the events, the houseboy would be interpreted as an object that once existed but not now exists unlike the two whites with their names existing all the time.
After the report on the event of the murder, the novel makes a flashback from the childhood of the mistress through her youth and young womanhood to her decease. Mary spends almost all her childhood in an unhappy family and is kept in bonds with a controlling force of her family. Dick Turner and she would be a mismatched couple as she gets married with the man for avoiding herself from the societal pressure of the gossip about her spinsterhood and she is actually not well-prepared for this marriage. To Mary, her life is almost under the control of society and ontologically because she is female, she does not exist, not to say her desire or her will. However, as she is compared to the black servant who is deemed inferior to her, now she’s aware that the black is actually in no need of their basic desires, peculiarly the desire to “eat” as the novel describes, “She [Mary Turner] had forgotten completely about his need to eat; in fact she had never thought of natives as needing to eat at all.” (P.26). This way of treatment illuminates the human’s reaction or hierarchal consciousness as a fundament to construct the society and also elucidates the learning of means to control the subordinates. The male-constructed or androcentric society objectifies the females to satisfy their own needs; thus females are habitually ignored or silenced; nevertheless, as females are aware of their superiority to the others, the so-called “others” are simultaneously ignored and silenced and the females still utilize the males’ means of ruling to control the inferior “black” . But compared the black to the white males and white females, they are actually the victims of the double oppression—one from the male colonizer like the master Dick Turner, and the other from the mistress Mary Turner. This conceptualization of class consciousness and gender consciousness then sculpts a pyramid-like relationship to stabilize the development of the colony under colonization and besides it becomes the axis of the development of the three’s relationship in this novel.
Although the white male and the white female allies themselves with each other as a force to oppress the black in the beginning of the novel, the female force would reversely and subsequently keeps alliance with the black once the white male disbalances the relationship with the woman with one of his inferiority in society. White though Dick Turner is in African colony, he is in fact in impecuniousness unlike the other white wealthy colonizers in the African continent.
“I want to have a child,” she [Mary Turner] said one day.
Now for years Dick had wanted children, but he had always felt that she had always felt they were too poor. Mary had never encouraged his wish for a family.
“But the money, Mary. We haven’t got the money. School bills, books,
train fares, clothes…we just can’t afford it at the moment.” (P.39-P.40)
As Mary mentions her basic wish for having a child in a conjugal relationship, the husband’s circumstances are not qualified to fulfill her wish. Economy is accentuated to be in coexistence with the marriage. To Mary, she manages the farm merely on the basis for the making of money. She yearns for money to have herself away from the laborious management of the farm and the tedious supervision on the black servants. She extremely hopes that she herself could have a normal living as a white wife of a white husband and that they would have a child. Nonetheless, as Dick shows that he has no ideal economic basis, her desire for being a mother is seemingly restrained; thus she feels more sympathy for the black houseboy Moses who is also under the repression. And she also sees herself through the body of Moses, particularly when she has a physical contact with the black houseboy. The transgression of a conventional norm is seen as subversion to the bonds of a male as an oppressor and a female as an oppressed. The female character Mary Turner’s repressed will and desire is ultimately discharged to escape from the inherent dualistic relationship between women and men; however, the female character at the same time impels herself to be in guilt of the denormalize the relationship between a white mistress and a black servant, a guilt forming the conflict in her mind and then driving her into insanity.
Subsequently and eventually, the psychosis which Mary Turner possesses from the transgression also brings Mary herself to death. After the mistress Mary becomes increasingly insane, she is actually in disconnection with the farm; what’s more, the denouncement of the ownership of the farm and Mary’s decision to have a vacation with her husband in cause of the convalescence from sickness would assure the black that the farm is going to be closed. Knowing the termination of the management of the farm, Moses himself soon feels that the master relationship with Mary would develop into disillusion. In the white society, the black is intrinsically conditioned to believe that he’s inferior to the white; but Moses the black whose status is distinct and is elevated with the transgression of the white mistress believes that Mary Turner has bestowed the position as a master on him. However, with the mainstream in white society which asserts the decorous norm between the black and the white, his elevation in status on the other hand seems to be self-deceived and unrealistic. Under the circumstances, he determined to choose the relationship with Mary. Therefore, he slays her so that he has the opportunity to receive the death penalty from the white. And the death of the two would be regarded as an equal treatment not the treatment of a slave and a master; identically, the death would be an eternal reservation of the relationship as the relationship becomes “dead.”
The novel is pertinent to gender, race, and class. It is constructed by plenty of subordinate relationship and subversion of the conventionalized relationship. Even though the novel is interlaced with too much helplessness and too many miserable struggles, it unquestionably presents the universal and transpatial phenomena in society. Although some contend that “all men are created equal”, the mankind reversely creates inequality injustice and unfairness in forms of laws, ideologies, and cultures and conforms to the convention such as the belief in dualistic and subordinate relationship in man-woman, master-slave, and white-black relationship. To the androcentric society, social-class society and white-centric society, the operation of society essentially relies on the oppression to the “others” such as females, laborers and black. “Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance.” Mary and Moses, even though initially complying to the conventional relationship, both then challenge and resist the trite conception of the binary relation in which they are both the subordinates, but at the same moment their destiny is doomed to sacrifice as they contrast the mainstream and are unwilling to comply with the norm that has already existed. Mary Turner makes the transgression in a conjugal relationship and releases her repressive desire for an ideal affection. Moses, as a conditioned inferior, on the other hand, shows his desire to be elevated in a lower status to a higher status. Doris Lessing depicted a real phenomenon in humanity and accused the society built with class and subordination. Through the words and narration, she brought out an issue on the social struggles of the bipolar individuals as well as the dignity, the basic element in humanity. .
黃育敏 Pride and Prejudice
I admitted that I was deeply affected by the film, Pride and Prejudice(2005). While reading Pride and Prejudice, I almost recalled what had happened in the film, like a golden retriever, tracking my memories to the film, moving my fingers touching through the words to check if they were similar with the film. Whatever, I tried my best to realize what characters talking about.
Mr. Darcy was “reserved.” He was not only a man of few words but already engaged with Anne de Bourgh after both of them were born. He gave me a mysterious impression at first. He didn’t defend himself for rumors (pride, ill personality, selfish etc) surrounding him. That’s impossible for me to bear any rumor in silence. I will catch out the rumormonger and make him feel awfully sorry to do this stupid thing in his life! Well, just kidding. I’m too coward to defeat rumors and I don’t know what to do to stop rumors. Perhaps, I’m a little bit like Mr. Darcy. Both of us are not good at express ourselves. Maybe we should do what Lady Catherine said, “Practice more!” Anyway, after finishing reading Pride and Prejudice, I think Mr. Darcy was a motivated man. He always made decisions quickly and never regretted what he had done. He was a responsible man.
Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzy), symbolizing prejudice in the novel, was an independent and strong-minded woman. She believed what she saw and heard on Mr. Darcy so that she always mocked Mr. Darcy when they had a conversation. When Elizabeth Bennet read the long letter from Mr. Darcy, she regarded the letter as a lie at the beginning. However, she pressed herself to read it again and again and again (In the movie, she only read one time). At last, she believed what Darcy wrote and felt terribly ashamed to her abominable behavior to Mr. Darcy. As far as I’m concerned, Elizabeth made story interesting when she interacted to anyone. Her words always bring me plenty of joys. Her iron-willed mind, which might not be encouraged in her era, made her bear the most “tolerable” business, especially Lady Catherine’s insult. Therefore, I consider her the most gorgeous woman in the history.
George Wickham, the most nauseating but much handsome man in the book, always grumbled what Mr. Darcy had done to him. I don’t like him at the beginning, not just because I already knew what his true personalities were but because, his complaint like flood, nearly drowns me. I’ve never met a character complaining too frequently before reading Pride and Prejudice! Mr. Wickham is pretty “tolerable!” By the way, I didn’t oppose to Charlotte Lucas’s decision to marry Mr. Collin at all, since she lived under an unimaginable stress in that era.
To sum up, Pride and Prejudice was an interesting and romantic novel to read. I will read it again and again and again like Lizzy reading the letter written by Mr. Darcy, though it’s too difficult for me to understand the sarcasm in the conversation. Oh yeah, besides, marriage to a rich, single man is still a hot topic nowadays. As the information I learn from news, the age of men since too older then before!
張文瑄 Guilliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift’s Guilliver’s Travels describes Guilliver’s voyages to four different destinations each meeting unusual kinds of people. In Liliput, Gulliver comes across minute people, whereas in contrast, Brobdingnag, is a land full of giants. Laputa has people devoted to music, arts, and mathematics, but are utterly useless. It is a perfect satire of the Royal Society of England with philosophers, mathematicians who do no good for society. Finally, Houyhnhnmland is filled with Yahoos who are filthy: "Upon the whole, I never beheld in all my travels so disagreeable and animal, or one against which I naturally conceived so strong an antipathy" (Swift, 215), but as time goes on, Guillver slowly relates himself to them. He states: "my horror and astonishment are not to be described, when I observed, in this abdominal animal, a perfect human figure" (Swift, 220). These four destinations are four satirical themes that Jonathan Swift expresses as his view of humankind.
Through Gulliver’s Travels, Swift criticizes humankind through the characters in his book. He views humankind through negative dimensions depicting humans’ sinfulness, corruption, and pettiness. I agree with Swift’s view of humankind. Through Gulliver’s encounter with the Lilliputians, Swift aims to symbolize humanity’s conspiracies, pride, and pettiness. The people of Liliput fight over foolish things. Their enemies, the “Big Enders” believe that an egg should be cracked from the “big end”, while the Lilliputians believe that an egg should be cracked from the “little end.” And thus, this pettiness sparks a never-ending war. This also symbolizes humanity’s recklessness in resorting to violence and cruelty to solve problems. The politicians in Liliput kill as a form of solution, such as getting rid of the King’s mother. Many wars in today’s time and from the past were avoidable. Wars came into existence because of humanity’s greed, selfish ambitions, and decision to resort to violence.
In Houyhnhnmland, the society of horses portrays an ideal society that humans aim to obtain but never achieve. It is a contrasting realm that depicts the opposite of the negative aspects of human society. In this land, there are no vices, conflicts, and disagreements. Unlike humans, who resort to violence and unwise solutions to solve problems, the Houyhnhnms use reason to solve problems. They are very polite; always silent before speaking. On the contrary, humans lean toward the side of rudeness, and impulsiveness. In Houyhnhnmland, there is no existence of lies and they have no word for evil, government, war and power. In contrast, humans are well known for their capability to deceive, lie, cheat, and steal. Many of the governments all around the world are conceal money and power mongrels. I couldn’t help but to agree with Swift that humans, too, are a resemblance of the Yahoos. In essence, Houyhnhnmland is a perfection of nature used by Swift to contrast the tainted and distorted society of humankind.
In conclusion, Swift holds a cynical view of humankind, protrayed in each of the four destinations that Guillver travels to. All these criticisms are directed to England, but more specifically to the government, society, science, religion and man.
蕭郁軒 White Fang
A classic book is more than just words,it should also deliver readers images,to absorb readers in the story as if in reality and make reader's heart rise and fall as story moves on.White Fang is exactly a book which reachs a classic book’s accomplishment.
White Fang goes with a story of a part wolf,part dog’s adventure,it was due at Gold Rush times in America,many Americians thronged into the West-Northern with a hope of making fortune,however,most of them prove to be in vain.
White Fang was born from a half-wolf,half dog monther and a wolf father,thus keeps strong wild instinct.He entered human world accidently,hence experience all kinds of ventures he can never imagine before.
In this book,we can easily discover the effect defferent enviroments have on an individual,White Fang would have became a pure,whole wolf which belongs to the wild only had he not bumped into human being and experience the power and wonder of these two legged animals exert,because of it,White Fang was molded into a compromised kind of beast,he obey only to the human-god he assess,and destroy his own kind instead,he can belong to the woods and also belong to the camp in the meantime.
White Fang symbolizes primitive and toughness,later on his life,his days grew more miserable and harsher than ever,the camp dogs have never given up chasing him and trying to slash him into pieces,whenever they saw him,they bristle and bare their fangs while snarling at him,for to them,White Fang is incarnation of the wild nature,the mystery forest they long forgot by the domestic of generations,therefor fright and terror sank into their minds as the wolfish appearance of White Fang sohwed up.White Fand hence was forced to fight against all of them,he fought without options,his instince to live urge him to bite back,to slahsh his opponent's throat before they did the same to him,he adapt fast and well for enviroment leaves no mercy,there's no second chances out there.
As for human beings,it's same hard era and crual environment as well,gold rush attracted hundreds of thousand people from eyerywhere to the Northern and Wertern side,whereas,most of them returned crestfallenly and empty-handedly such as the author did.People then endured endless journey,frezzing weather,ragged mountain road,danger of death lurked everywhere,but gold seeker never disappeared,it was account for that they wanted to make their lives better,to make something out their life,to cling to life out of their very instinct.
White Fang adminstrates great toughness toward his own life,comparing to human,there's one man who can cope and adapt to the world like White Fange does.That's Wolf Larsen in one of Jack London's masterpieces:"the Sea Wolf"'he's a captain of a ship and was referd as a wolf by many sailors sailed across the sea,muscular and brilliant-minded as he was,he brutally treated and enslaved his crew,forcing them serve him by violence,no single one dare challanging him for the consequence is death only.
The sea wolf once said:"living dog is better than dead lion,life is unsatisfaction,but to look ahead to death is greater unsatisfaction",he claimed that the essence of life is movement,ceasing moving means death,death is nothing but emptyness.They 're both perfect manifestations of Species by Darwin,the true survivors.
Having been sent to fight other beast(such as wolves or bear) for money by a vicious merchant,White Fang stood a great deal of stresses of surviving.Theaerous,reversed,menancing became White Fang's best description gradually,he closed his fangs on his own kind,on human,on everything before his furious eyes,he began to hate,to attack outrageously,to stand against the whole world,until a man walked into his life path,Scott,he found White Fang while he was on the verge of dying.This man reached his hand out for White Fang and dragged him out of lightless abyss,offering White Fang something he never know before,love,the warm feeling started to melt his long frozen heart,all of a sudden,a hole inside of him was ameding.
For the first time,White Fang has something exceed his own needs and life,his old masters used to hurt him with club or chains,these punishments can hurt him only by skin deep,underneath the flesh lay the spirit not only untouched,but raged,splended and invincible,on the contrary,the love-master's cuff is rather too light to hurt his flesh,it went deeper,it's disapproval,disappointment,those words are like blade tear White Fang apart.Such a emotion alters White Fang's destiny once and for all,he's no longer broken,seperated,he is whole around the man he loves,the man who's just like breaking dawn that cast the nightmare away and shine the sky bright.
White Fang,the novel can be viewed as the author's own experience from the past,Jack London once was labor class,working in bitter environments,makeing only few sents by his bare hands and sweats,none the less,the salary he earned can barely meet his needs,under that circumstance,he realized the hardship labor-class then are living,further more,because Jack was fond of adventures,wherever on sea or land,he traveled deep into Alaska and northern of America to seek gold,and sailed far across the pacific to Eastern Asia,though those journeies didn't give him big fortune,he did attain a gift more precious and awarding than money itself,those are perfect story materials.Jack soon poured his journeies into writting,what followed was one of the most dazzling and prolific writting career in Americian history.His The Call of The Wild,The Iron Heel,The Sea Wolf,John Barleycorn and White Fang all became international bestseller,these masterpieces Jack created made Americian literature then a huge hit,brought countless readers feverishly indulge in his stories,and the most amazing part is,even now,his compositions still grasp reader's heart and marvel them with every words he wrote.
Closing the final leaf of White Fang.I knew the story must haunt me for a while,the heat,the shock never subside out of me,from time to time,I swang the gate open and step into nineteenth centuary of America,to relive the exotic scene and culture Jack once shaped,to fear as night approaches and fret by the footfall in the darkness,all again,my heart will twinge when I absorb the very last ink.For those who loves reading and appreciate the beauty of nature,I sincerely recommend my favorite story,it's your turn to be involved in this primeval world,to listen the wolf howl echoing through your chest,to feel throb wild beats restlessly,to behold the pure thoughness toward life,to follow the footprints of White Fang.
周瑩瀅What I have learned from “The Golden Touch”
King Midas loves gold. Nevertheless, does he love it too much?
Long ago in Greece, there was a very rich king called King Midas. King Midas is crazy for gold. In addition to decorating his palace with gold, he even ate off plates with gold. Instead of looking after his kingdom, King Midas spent most of his time counting his gold…
King Midas cared about gold whenever it is. King Midas always said,“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all these flowers were gold?”while walking in the garden. “Well, a gold fountain would be perfect,”said the king.“I wish I could touch things and turn them into gold.”
One day, when King Midas was in his storeroom counting his gold, a stranger dressed in gold-colored clothes suddenly appeared in front of him.“I heard the wish you made,”said the stranger. “I can grant your wish and give you the golden touch.”Hearing the key words, needless to say, King Midas gladly demanded the golden touch…
When entrying the gold-colored kingdom, you would see that King Midas is excitedly touching things in the magnificent palace and turning them into gold！Anything turned to gold in a wink with the magical power. Nevertheless, Midas could not suppress the desire for gold until his his hug unexpectedly turned his beloved daughter, Marygold, into gold！At the moment, King Midas realized. He cried and changed anything back to get his daughter alive...
“The Golden Touch” is an ancient story in the “Greek mythology” and has passed through centuries down to this day. As we know, King Midas realized the true meaning of happiness and got one more chance to make it right at the end of the story.
Nevertheless, when mistakes have been made, is it really possible to get one more chance easily in real life?
“A chance to change” is very common in stories. According to the plot of this story, the stranger, who gave King Midas the golden touch, dramatically appeared again after King Midas had experienced the happiness and sadness between gold and his daughter, Marygold. However, sadly to say, Chances are lost easily in real life. Miracle seldom knocks on the door. At the moment you got the golden touch, you should have used it carefully. The golden touch not only constructs the sweet dream, but also leads to the tragedy. In other words, being greedy for gold drives a person crazy.
Do you think money is really important? Indeed, with money we can have a lot in the world, but there are still many things we can not get with money, for instance, family, friendship, love, and happiness. Some one with a golden touch can make money from whatever they do, but can they also be successful at anything they do? Actually, money is not everything and it does not always bring happiness. When it comes to money, a greedy person is easily to become another King Midas. So, it is important for us to learn how to make money your servant, but not your master！
吳以恩 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Being one of the most known and savored English novella ever since published in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy Wonderland populated by unusual, even grotesque anthropomorphic creatures and attempts to come to terms with the puzzle of Wonderland as she undergoes great individual changes while entrenched in Wonderland. The adventure can actually be seen as an odyssey to foreign lands-- a voyage of growth.
The writer, Lewis Carroll, prefaced the story with an intriguing prefatory verse indicating part of the allusions, themes and motifs of the ensuing story going to be told. Scenes shift swiftly and plots thicken amusingly while our protagonist, Alice, follows the White Rabbit down a well and pursues him through Wonderland. After swimming in the pool of tears, competing in a “Caucus Race,” getting stuck in the White Rabbit’s house, wandering off into the forest, coming across the house of the Duchess, joining the tea party at March Hare’s house, she finally gains control over her size and enters the garden previously seen, where she is sent to visit the Mock Turtle with the Gryphon and later participates in the trial of the Knave of Hearts. Following the climax at the court, she realizes that Wonderland is a sham and knocks over the Queen’s army of playing cards, causing her to wake up and dispel the dream of Wonderland. The story was wound up with Alice’s sister pondering her adventures and the meaning of it.
In literal aspect, the tale plays with logic, allegory, parody, science, mathematics and abundant linguistic conventions like pun, symbol and anagram. With humorous wording, agile narrating, and adaptive point-of-views (mostly in third person, occasionally in first and second person,) the narrator follows Alice around on her travels and voices her thoughts and feelings with a rather straightforward tone, making the reading extremely entertaining, even exciting as we recognize more symbols and discovering more clues chapter by chapter. These features give the story lasting popularity with children as well as adults. In fact, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.
In contextual aspect, two themes are obviously portrayed in the story: growth and puzzle-like essence of life.
On one hand, Alice goes through a variety of absurd physical changes. The discomfort she feels at never being the right size may symbolize the changes occurring during puberty. As we can see, these changes can be uneasy, frustrating even traumatic to her. (E.g. in Chapter 5, she loses control over specific body parts and her neck grows to an absurd length.) However, different sizes provide her different sights into the world as well. Thus, the constant fluctuations of her size may represent the way a child feels as her body grows and changes during puberty. On the other hand, Alice’s mental ability and occupational performance make significant progress in the whole course. When she first gets to the hall and finds herself in the uncanny situation which gets her nowhere, she can barely keep her saneness and composure (as formerly shown in 1st chapter) to keep herself from panicking and crying. Yet, as her dream draws to a close, she is brave, self-possessed and able to hold herself against the most baffling logic and preposterous trail on the court. Her growth into a giant in the end may reflect her interior sight as she grows and becomes much stronger. Either aspect shows that the adventure is used as a metaphor of both physical and mental growth.
Second theme—“life can be similar to a meaningless puzzle” is much more obscure. Yet the trail is there, especially in the poems and songs. As the storyline unfolds, Alice encounters a series of puzzles that seem to have no clear solutions, just like the way life frustrates expectations. Alice tries to understand the Caucus race, solve the Mad Hatter’s riddle, and understand the Queen’s ridiculous croquet game, but all end in vain. In every instance, the riddles and challenges presented to Alice have no purpose or answer. Lewis Carroll makes a farce out of words, jokes, riddles, and games of logic in wonderland. Alice, as well as the readers, gets to understand that a certain logic or meaning simply cannot be found in the situations she encounters, even when they appear to be problems that would normally have solutions we could figure out. The fact that life frustrates expectations and resists interpretation is sometimes cruel yet real in the course of our life.
In conclusion, growth can be uneasy, life can be puzzle-like, yet we can always find a reconciliation between our inner self and the outer world by duly learning, challenging, sometimes accepting things as they are. While growing can change our thoughts and strengthen our mind, understanding and embrace a rather unexplainable world can be the happiest solution to life when there’s no way out. The best thing we can do is to give everything a try, including believing some things will never be able to logicalize by us. After all, Life is an adventure.
On one hand, Alice goes through a variety of absurd physical changes. The discomfort she feels at never being the right size may symbolize the changes occurring during puberty. As we can see, these changes can be uneasy, frustrating even traumatic to her. (E.g. in Chapter 5, she loses control over specific body parts and her neck grows to an absurd length.) However, different sizes provide her different sights into the world as well. Thus, the constant fluctuations of her size may represent the way a child feels as her body grows and changes during puberty. On the other hand, Alice’s mental ability and occupational performance make significant progress in the whole course. When she first gets to the hall and finds herself in the uncanny situation which gets her nowhere, she can barely keep her saneness and composure (as formerly shown in 1st chapter) to keep herself from panicking and crying. Yet, as her dream draws to a close, she is brave, self-possessed and able to hold herself against the most baffling logic and preposterous trail on the court. Her growth into a giant in the end may reflect her interior sight as she grows and becomes much stronger. Either aspect shows that the adventure is used as a metaphor of both physical and mental growth.
Second theme—“life can be similar to a meaningless puzzle” is much more obscure. Yet the trail is there, especially in the poems and songs. As the storyline unfolds, Alice encounters a series of puzzles that seem to have no clear solutions, just like the way life frustrates expectations. Alice tries to understand the Caucus race, solve the Mad Hatter’s riddle, and understand the Queen’s ridiculous croquet game, but all end in vain. In every instance, the riddles and challenges presented to Alice have no purpose or answer. Lewis Carroll makes a farce out of words, jokes, riddles, and games of logic in wonderland. Alice, as well as the readers, gets to understand that a certain logic or meaning simply cannot be found in the situations she encounters, even when they appear to be problems that would normally have solutions we could figure out. The fact that life frustrates expectations and resists interpretation is sometimes cruel yet real in the course of our life.
In conclusion, growth can be uneasy, life can be puzzle-like, yet we can always find a reconciliation between our inner self and the outer world by duly learning, challenging, sometimes accepting things as they are. While growing can change our thoughts and strengthen our mind, understanding and embrace a rather unexplainable world can be the happiest solution to life when there’s no way out. The best thing we can do is to give everything a try, including believing some things will never be able to logicalize by us. After all, Life is an adventure.
語言中心英文心得徵文比賽得獎名單
第一名: 應外三 49782025 柳宗成
第二名: 會計1A 49977091劉評堯
第三名: 應外二 49882025黃育敏
以上得獎同學將擇日頒發獎狀獎金
特別感謝 東吳大學 馬健君教授及台中教育大學的廖美玲教授擔任評分老師
感謝各位同學的踴躍投稿!