Blog Entry #15 - Expository Essay

Lisa Bui
Mr. Patrick Sullivan & Mr. Blake Stok
Language Arts & Social Studies
December 9th 2010

Greed or Need?

        Despite the fact that 75% of Likely Voters prefer free markets over a command economy, people rarely ask ‘why’? In a market economy individuals have the freedom to make decisions and earn profits, which also means there is a lot of competition. This type of economy appeals to quite a large amount of people, but for such a long time they have just been noticing its positive sides. Nevertheless, a market economy positively influences its citizens by allowing them to be creative and live a better quality of life, while at the same time it negatively influences them by causing greed and unsustainable living.

        A market economy allows people to make their own decisions and challenge conventional ideas with new and creative thoughts. In 1913, Henry Ford created the assembly line to accommodate the increased demand for the Model T – half of the cars in the U.S. by then were Model Ts. Accordingly, the invention of the assembly line has revolutionized automobile production by significantly reducing assembly time per vehicle, thus lowering costs. Furthermore, the invention later enabled Ford’s company to be the largest automobile manufacturer in the world due to the production of Model Ts. In short, the example above shows that in a market economy, people are highly motivated and therefore keep pushing themselves forward in order to achieve their goals. Creative inventions will provide people and future generations a better and more efficient life.

        At the same time, freedom in a market economy stimulates people to earn more profits – which may resemble greed. ‘“I have grasped too much, and ruined the whole affair. I can’t get there before the sun sets.”’ Pahóm in the short story “How Much Land Does A Man Need” by Leo Tolstoy is disturbed with this thought while trying to reach the starting point after spending the whole day marking his land without any concern for his ability or safety. Because the Bashkír Chief, who owns a vast amount of land, offers Pahóm the opportunity to mark as much land as he wishes before the sun sets, Pahóm starts with the breaking dawn without taking breakfast. He also keeps marking more and more beyond the land he actually needs. In the end, Pahóm accomplishes his goal yet he dies. Similarly, a market economy allows people to make their own decisions to earn more profits, in which there is much competition but that also causes greed. Since there are zero limits for wanting more, people are likely to become blinded and greedy. Once people are greedy, they can do anything to gain what they want such as corruption and bribes in the government, wars, killing, and other things which only lead to unexpected bad consequences.

        Together with competition, a market economy aims to make people consume more - which means the more people consume, the more unsustainably they live. Economic crisis in the U.S. is a striking example for unsustainable living – where it shows that the problem negatively affects the society, the economy, and the environment.  In the U.S., a high percentage of people are addicted to shopping in order to satisfy their greed, not their need. The habit results in high consumption, which is a negative effect on the environment. The more people consume unnecessary thing, the higher level of global warming planet Earth reaches. Meanwhile, since businesses always seek for more profits, inflation takes place and causes a negative economic problem – where the prices of the products increase while the qualities remain the same. For this reason, people strain themselves to work harder in order to earn more money, so that they are capable of consuming what they want; which explains why a high portion of U.S. citizens often build up stress, and this truly negatively affects the society by causing health problems, depressions in attitude and ways of thinking. In brief, a market economy causes unsustainable living where consumption, inflation, and competition are involved. 

        In conclusion, a market economy can benefit the citizens and damage them at the same time. Even though a market economy enables citizens to be open-minded to improve their quality of life, it’s also the cause for suffering in this world. It is reasonable that the modern world reveals many attractive sides and that people have to work hard in order to not fall behind but they should also consider the risks they have to take with the choices they make. Humanity keeps developing, intelligence keeps getting to a higher level, people keep approaching a better quality of life every day, but all of a sudden they forget that money is not the priority that determines their happiness. Money, power – they are fake satisfactions and will only last for as long as another ambition comes. And what will it take to satisfy the next ambition, or in other words, the next greed? People should not use their knowledge to benefit themselves only, but they should also know what they do now justifies future generations’ lives – which are their descendants. In short, the only way to make the world more sustainable where people can live an outstanding social, environmental, and economic life is that humans should be more educated and empathetic towards each other.

Blog Entry #14 - A Book Trailer for A Shot At It by Esmeralda Santiago

By Ami Vu and Lisa Bui

Blog Entry #13 - Vocabulary

1. The jury was convinced and the other party was shocked as they foundered into a shameful silence after the portly old indictee regained his self-possession and impeccably presented the last reason why he wasn't the one at fault.

 
2. Dylan struggled to cuddle herself into the corner of the dark room, groaning and mumbling some kind of superstitious spell she had eavesdropped from the conversation of her friends to shoo the ghosts. As a scrawny chilly hand gently tapped her shoulder, Dylan petrified: her hair stood on end and her eyeballs stopped moving up and down; but worst of all she couldn't finish the last word of the spell.

3. Mother Teresa lived a stoical life by giving up her own self and living for others.

4. The wild drunk man was standing on the edge of the bridge stared at me like a maniac; when I dissuaded him to jump down by calling for help and pulling him down towards the ground.

5. This year’s products' acquisition decreased a lot because of the economic crisis.

6. Japanese celebrate peace day on August 6th annually in order to commemorate Sadako Sasaki, who had become the leading symbol of the impact of nuclear war.

7. As eighth graders, we should be mature enough to make smart choices and behave well because the fellow students are mimicking us.

8. The commotion was chaotic with people elbowing one another and shouting piercingly, drawing attention from the surprised watchers.

9. When Claire and Susan first attended OCD, people kept mixing up their names because they resembled each other so much.

10. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is guarded with a corps of trained security where terrorists can hardly attack or perturb.

 

Blog Entry #12 - Vocabulary

1. Stop the Sun by Gary Paulsen
commotion, foundered, ruin, inert

         I was literally groaning and swearing the traffic jam at 5:00 yesterday afternoon when my dad was driving me home on his black motorcycle. As he struggled to proceed forward, I partly understood why we were still stuck on the road even though one hour had already passed. Further forward, we spotted a commotion surrounded by a crowded group of people. I saw one man with his hands on the hips, looking at something where other people were also looking at, made a face of disgust and said something to the man besides him. Don't these people have something else to do besides ... My thoughts suddenly foundered with schock when I saw a ruined  BWM on the ground where next to it was a smashed motorcycle laying inert and covered by bloody puddles.

2. Gentleman of Río en Medio by Juan A. A. Sedillo
negotiation, innumerable, boundaries, descendants

          Years ago in 20,000 BC, Naagarjun was occupated by the Dadarian Empire, and was forced to do backbreaking labor to serve the Dadarians' lives while they were mistreated by the Dadarians. People of the two empires kept on fighting generations later until the descendants of Naagarjun were exhausted  and went to negotiate with the Dadarian Empire about the peace truce between the two empires if the Dadarian Empire agreed to give Naagarjun's people back their freedom. The Dadarian Empire denied, and Naagarjun therefore was impatient, starting to wage a war on the Dadarian Empire. Through intelligent strategies and a quite adequately equipped army, Naagarjun managed to take back all of their land and the innumerable resources it had. By 18, 000 BC, Naagarjun finally got its independence, claiming its boundaries and began to organize a potential wealthy empire.

Blog Entry #11 - Literary Focus of "Gentleman of Rio en Medio"

6.  Infer Why doesn't Don Anselmo reveal who "owns" the trees on his first visit to the lawyer's office? Was he being clever, or was he unaware of the potential problem? Explain.

       

        I assume Don Anselmo was unaware of the potential problem when he didn’t reveal who “owned” the trees on his first visit to the lawyer’s office basically because of his background.

First of all, he is and old Spanish man who lives a simple life in the mountains, and “He also wore gloves. They were old and torn and his fingertips showed through them. He carried a cane, but it was only the skeleton of a worn-out umbrella.” (P. 299) shows that he perhaps does manual labor and lives an ordinary, inadequate but nature-living life style. 

It proves that he takes things easy and may be his knowledge is limited, in which it put him in a situation where he can’t picture the consequence of not telling about the trees. 

Additionally, probably due to the Spanish traditions, he considered the trees his descendants’ property and therefore could not sell them. Part of it is true, but in business, things have to be clear and usually should not be affected by emotional statements.  

 But, if he was to take advantage of the problem and ask for more money, he could have accepted to receive all of the money in the first play. 

Money???

Unaware of The Potential Problem???

Blog Entry #10 - Literary Focus of "Stop the Sun"

6. Interpret What is the significance of the story's title, "Stop the Sun"?

         The significance of the story’s title, “Stop the Sun” is Terry’s dad’s fear of being discovered and killed by ‘Charley’ when the dawn came in the Vietnam War and therefore had to hide under a dead body of a soldier, wishing he could stop the sun.

Briefly reciting, Terry’s dad was a soldier who served for the Vietnam War. One night he was crossing the paddy with the other soldiers and suddenly the Vietcong emerged and attacked them. Since it was a sudden attack, Terry’s dad was probably shocked and frightened because he wasn’t aware of this happening, and the only thing he could do was to get low and hid himself. The thought of being the only ‘gladiator’ in a combat that you were losing added up to his fright when he already knew he was the only one alive among all of the soldiers at the moment, but would be dead soon when the dawn came. He was having an internal conflict with himself while laying on the muddy cold ground under the rainy, dark night, wishing that the sun would just stop rising: he was afraid of death. He put so much hope in doing that and therefore terribly felt dead by the fact that he couldn’t stop the sun to rise. Despite that the Vietcong didn’t notice him the next day and therefore fortunately he could live longer and go to marry and had a son, still he was dead inside, suffering hard because of the Vietnam syndrome. That very incident at that very night was indeed a serious, remarkable scar in his mind that couldn’t help returning to him as ‘nightmares’ later on. And whenever it came to his mind, the desperate thought of wishing the sun would stop rising and the disappointment when knowing that it was impossible had ‘killed’ Terry’s dad also came back. What’s the purpose of living without enjoying your life and expressing your feelings or your real self? Terry’s dad lost that privilege, and his ‘sun’ couldn’t rise anymore.   

Blog Entry #9 - Short Story Assessment

Rest well, Danny!

Sweating all over, I gasped for breath while my hands jamming my dusty, trembling knees. The sight of my house loomed just a few feet away made me let out a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, I spotted an old man with frizzy grizzled shouldered hair that covered parts of his furrowed forehead, perching on a rusty bench in front of his brown bricky house. He was looking attentively into the distance and whistled whatever song I couldn’t hear; with one leg crossing over the other and his hand grabbing a bottle of wine. Out of my consciousness, I gulped and adjusted my back with my shivering palms clutching tightly to its handles. I clinched my eyes. I sniffed nervously. I snapped my lips as if to shred them. And afterwards, I rushed wildly towards my house… “Ouch!” I shouted loudly as I stumbled over a rock and crashed to the ground. The pain of my twisted ankle kept me groaning until I raised my head and froze in panic: before my petrified eyes was the very man, the very man I had been bolting away.

“Never shall you talk to that man, son. He’s The Killer! The Killer! What an insane man he is, drinking all the times and whistling to that stupid song every single day. It drives me nuts. Stay away from him. You never know what he will do to you…” Rehabilitating to my consciousness after recalling what Mrs. Simpson – my neighbor, acquainted me, my face turned pale and my hair stood on end. I gawked at The Killer who was known for killing his wife and son as he helped me to get to my feet. He roared with laughter with a raucous voice, uttering,

“Yo twisted your leg eh? Mind if I carry you over there?”

My jaw slumped as I frowned at him with disbelief and shock until I realized it was somewhat rude. Against my will, I stuttered,

“S…sure…”

The old Killer squatted and inspected my ankles. His gnarled hands with dust stuck in his nails slightly touched here and there to test if I could still sense them. I doubted his concerned attitude when doing that! Remember Danny, He’s The Killer! I kept cautioning my foolish self just when The Killer smashed the awkward silence, arousing me from my own thoughts,

“Rain coming, ain’t it? We better get in there. C’mon young boy, come into my house for a while. I’ll treat you something.”

“Uh… I think I better get home… Mommy’s waiting for me… Today’s my…” I hummed. There was no way I would come into that dead dungeon.

“Oh c’mon, come with me son.” The Killer interrupted me as he dragged me to my feet and put his rough hands around my flabby arms.

My mind was probably dead for a while, and when I was about to resist, my awareness told me that I was already sitting on a rigid old sofa in a dark, grubby living room. Not only the living room was dark, it was dark here! Goose bumps popping from every part of my body, and I quivered in sickness of the thought that there were red eyes of the deaths gloating at me from the darkness. I couldn’t manage to see any particular thing except for the chimney on my right and a short wooden table in front of me. There was a sparkle of light way back down the hall, where the Killer paced with his big, bare mucky feet towards me, bringing over some tea and chocolate cookies. He insisted,

“Be my guest, young man! You’re probably hungry.”

I thanked him but I guess he didn’t hear it.

“Uh…”

“Call me Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins”

“Oh… Okay… Mr. Jenkins, do you live alone?” I ventured to question him as I pretended to probe around the room, striving to stay away from looking at the long scar carved under his dark, deep brown eyes, emphasizing the bushy eyebrows that made him look just like a serial killer that I once saw in a movie. Suddenly, my eye balls were refrained on a framed picture settling on a round table on the right of the sofa. As if The Killer could read my thoughts, he smiled wryly, revealing some of the chipped yellow teeth. He replied me with his cigarette-smoky breath overflowing my face, making me sneeze,

“Well, I do live alone.” He snatched the framed picture, cleared his throat and was about to continue. My expectation to hear what he would say next was dashed as his head sunk into his big hands.

I thought I would better not disturb him, and thus leaped to take a closer look at the picture. The frame was rather obsolete with scratches all over and the paint had been rubbed off. I hesitated but slowly slipped it away from his hand. He let me! Too my surprise, in front of my eyes was a picture of a boy my age, and it wasn’t a normal picture at all: it was a picture reserved for funeral. I numbed as I tried to reach my breath, thinking to myself if that was any unwanted sign at all. Is he going to kill me or something? Like he had done to that boy in the picture? Is that his son? I panted as my thoughts raced to find the answers for my questions. I was still frozen, yet sweat flowed out of my head and my eyes began to blink out water. Out of the blue, The Killer broke the ominous silence, raising his head and wailed,

It was Danny’s sixteen birthday twenty years ago on this very day. His mom and I decided to give him a surprise gift by taking him to a well-known restaurant in town. Besides, we would also celebrate for his effort of winning the Science Competition at school, and it was really important to my son. However, I was shocked after knowing I had lost my job, and therefore went to drink with my buddies until I freaked out that I had forgot his special day. I arrived late and that caused a grievous quarrel between my wife and me. It was raining… hard, I guess… I couldn’t see anything in front of my eyes as I turned the steering wheel and crashed the other car that was also driving forward with a dead speed. I was driving them home… It was a total mess…” Mr. Jenkins burst into a violent sob as he banged the table vigorously.

Without him telling me, I knew for sure that the picture was of his son. Mr. Jenkins had placed it there to remind him of what he had done, to torture himself for the rest of his life. The framed picture was his punishment! I couldn’t say a word but instead, I let out my hands and held his. As for the first time ever since being in this place, I actually felt relieved.

Several minutes later, I asked leave to go home. Mr. Jenkins forced a smile and went to get me some more chocolate cookies. Putting on my Nike shoes, I heard him said Happy Birthday before the door behind me finally shut. I was astounded, yet satisfied to hear so and kept wondering how he knew that. I didn’t want to go home right away; I strolled slowly and eventually lingered on the wet muddy path to look up into the neon sky, trying to find if Danny was up there. A blast of wind eased my mind, and without knowing, I whispered,

“Happy birthday, Danny! Rest well, for you have such a great dad…"

Blog Entry #8 - Writing Focus

          By looking at her stout posture, most people would be stunned to know what a fragile woman mom is. At an age of fifty-one, she has been quite waned by hard work and sicknesses, revealing some gray hair that used to be perfectly sleeky black. Once I unexpectedly found mom staying up late in her office with one arm upholding her head and the other agilely scribbling hard on the paper. Looking at the calculator, mom’s forehead furrowed with intense concentration yet expressionless. Realizing that there was someone had been looking at her, mom peeked up as she met my eyes, forcing a benign smile and vaguely asked why I was still awake. Even if she did so, her gaunt oval face was cast with utter exhaustion through her deep worn out eyes, seaming with black wrinkled rings all way round; cannot deceive me. Her lips were pale and dry, making every word she said unclear and hoarse. I startled as I gazed at mom with disbelief: how old age could possibly change her that much… Still, mom’s simplicity and elegance always strike her out of any person. Purely putting on her blouse and skirt, jewelry not included, mom’s wholly ready for a new day. She is plain comparing to other women in common, but fabulously shines when she’s at work. Firmly short, every word she says are powered with genuine thoughts and great determination that can modify anyone without them noticing. However above all, mom’s varied manners allow her to fit in any situation or communicate with any sort of people is what I admire most about her.

Blog Entry #7 - "A Retrieved Reformation" - Vocabulary

          Out of the blue the sky turned gray, gradually spilling water down onto the roof louder and louder every step Billy had been proceeding towards the door. It flung open as Billy dashed into the house, staggering closer to the fire place where his father, Mr. Brown, had been waiting for him. The thought of his son being an alcoholic rake caused his father great anguish and disappointment, raising him from the sofa and shot his son an angry glint. As usual, Mr. Brown again repeated his tedious lecture with archaic sayings for a while until the kind heart of a father actuated him to give his son some clemency. Looking at Billy gently, he amiably put out his hand as if that would help rehabilitate his wild son, just too shockingly got swatted by the bottle of wine Billy had been grabbing sooner. Suddenly, an ominous silence came up, confusing Billy of what had been happening. Meanwhile, Mr. Brown laid deadly pale on the ground, elusively trying to find his consciousness.

Blog Entry #6 - Choices: Conduct an Interview

✿◕ ‿ ◕✿   An interview with Onica Yu ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

 

1. Where were your parents born?

          Onica Yu: My parents were both born in the Philippines.

2. What are your favorite foods?

          Onica Yu: My favorite foods are burgers, steaks, and ceasar salad.

3. What do you most enjoy doing?

          Onica Yu: I most enjoy spending all my free time with my family and friends. Also, I love to go out of town or out of country.

4. Do you enjoy doing something only for yourself?

          Onica Yu: Uhm, I love to play sports like basketball and soccer.

5. What is most important to you in life?

          Onica Yu: The most important in my life are my family and friends because they're always there for me and I know I can be myself to all of them.

6. When did u come to Vietnam?

          Onica Yu: I came to Vietnam 3 years ago. I began school here starting 5th grade.

7. What is your mother language?

          Onica Yu: My mother's language is Tagalog. But she can also speak Chinese because my mom's side is a bit Chinese.

8.What is your religion?

          Onica Yu: My religion is Catholic.

9. Is your father Vietnamese?

          Onica Yu: No, my father is also Filipino. Both my parents are.

10. So why did your family move here?

          Onica Yu: My mom lives in California and my dad lives in Nha Trang. I'm currently staying with my aunt. My dad moved here to work for my uncle.

          Even though Onica Yu and I are from different cultures, in which she is Filipino and I'm Vietnamese, we do have several factors in common. 
          Onica Yu speaks Tagalog and English while I speak Vietnamese - but we are both Catholic. Onica Yu was born in the Philippines and I was born in Vietnam - but we both love burgers.
          Onica Yu is raised in a different culture from mine - but we love spending times with our family and friends.
          And Onica Yu is raised in a different culture from mine - still we enjoy playing sports such as basketball.
          We are from different cultures and might experience different things, yet we have similar responses to life. We speak different languages but we follow the same religion and interpret it in similar ways. We have different family backgrounds, still we do appreciate that. Last but not least, we are two distinct people with different characteristics and important things incident to our personal lives. Though, we still interact with each other to create friendship. Similarities help people come together, and differences help people to complement and appreciate each other.

Blog Entry #5 - "Hamadi - Vocabulary

1. It is extremely tedious of Ted whenever I meet him and he keeps on babbling about military matters.

2. Shakespeare's writings are too archaic for they were written a quite long time ago - in which subsequent readers would find the context hard to understand.

3. Jeff stared into space with dazed horror in his eyes, vaguely reporting to the police how the accident had happened in a sort of trance.

 

4. By inquiring my peers, I found out that none of them likes the idea of having homeroom in the next quarter.

Blog Entry #4 - "The Monkey's Paw" & "Aunty Misery" - Vocabulary

1. Katie amiably helped me gather the scattered books on the ground without hesitating that I hadn't shown any appreciation at all.

2. In the folk tale "The Wise Old Woman", it is presumptuous of the cruel young lord to think that old people are neither useful nor able to work for a living.

3. Jane's credulity amuses me for she believes that we are going to die in 2012.

4. Saigon people are well-known for their hospitality toward guests.

5. That ancient gnarled tree has been standing there for years; being a quite nice playground for the kids in the village.

 

Blog Entry #3 - "The Treasure of Lemon Brown" - Vocabulary

1. Jesse came up with an impromptu dialogue while acting on stage.
2. My little brother, who was at an age of seven, tentatively revved the motorcycle as I challenged him
3. He intently bumped into me in the hallway, and then strutted away, sniggering.
4. I probed the streets intently without knowing where I was.
5. An eerie ominous silence rose as the result for the argument between my dad and me.