Bye sophomore year!

Time goes by very fast; it seems like I just came to Cheshire Academy yesterday. It’s been a year, and in this year, I made big progresses. Once when I read the blog posts that I wrote in the beginning of year, I was so amazed that I wrote those funny words. I did improve a lot in this year, especially in this semester. I have a better reading and writing skills now, I also read some good books, such as Persepolis.

First of all, I learnt myriad things this year, but I like the dramas most. If I did not take this class, I might not watch these fantastic dramas and learn something from them. During this year, I watched several dramas. I saw how hard the actors worked and how beautiful the scenes are, so I started being interested in acting. All of the shows I’ve seen all taught me how the stage worked and how several kinds of art combined and had a good drama finally. In summary, I’m so glad to see these dramas and learn these amazing things from it.

Secondly, I made big progresses in reading and writing parts. At the beginning of the year, I can still remember it clearly. I stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish reading a chapter, however, I can finish Poppy and Dingan in two hours. I had a small vocabulary, so it lowered my reading speed. During this year, I learn vocabulary everyday, as a result, I hardly need to look up unfamiliar words while I am reading. Also, my writing skills also improved; it can be obvious seen through my blog posts. At the beginning of the year, I can only earn about seventy points in a blog post, however, I can get more than ninety points. I almost complained about blog posts everyday in this year, but I cannot deny that I improved because of these “boring” blog posts. At the beginning of the year, I can only write simple sentences, and I can hardly write a complex or compound sentence. Now, I can write compoud-complex sentences easily, and I can coherent a paragraph well. To conclude, because of this class, I can read faster and write more professional.

Even though I had big progresses, I still need to improve my writing speed. I can write a more professional article now, but I cannot write it in a limited time. I always spend more than one hour writing a blog post, which is too slow to handle some big writing tests, such as TOEFL or SAT tests. I have already tried to speed up, but I am always detracted by other things. I can hardly concentrate on writing, therefore, I often divide an article to several parts and write one part a day. Subsequently, I should still work on my writing speed next year.

At last, I want to introduce my favorite book in this year, which is Persepolis. I am interested in Irani culture, so when I knew that this book was about Iran, I was so excited. In this book, I saw the situation in Iran clearly in a little girl’s eyes. In her eyes, everything is so simple that she only tells what she sees and hears. My emotion was influenced by the book; I started sympathizing the girl and Iranians. I like this book, so I borrowed the second book of the serie from library. When I finished the book, I was relaxed, because I finally saw the little girl grew up and became a beautiful and knowledgeable woman. All in all, Persepolis actually brought me to Iran, and I enjoyed reading it.

 In conclusion, before I wrote down this blog, I never realized I made this big progresses. I summarized all my thoughts of my development and this class; I am so glad to take this class in this year. This is not a hard class, but it is interesting. I learn things not only from the books, such as my favorite book, Persepolis, but also from dramas or some creative projects. Although I improved a lot in this year, I will still keep working on my writing next year. Bye, Sophomore year! Go, Junior year! 

The Best Drama in the Year

“Life is like a drama, everything depends on your acting. ” When I was watching the drama, Bone Chiller!, I kept thinking about this sentence. The drama was written by Monk Ferris and presented by Cheshire Academy varsity players. It was a mystery which was about a murder and a puzzle. I really enjoyed the show. The music, lights and actors are extremely professional, and the plots were pretty tense which made me feel excited. 

First, the plots were extremely tense and exciting; this made me feel that I was a real detective while I was watching the show. The story began with a will which was written by a rich man, however, the will was actually a puzzle. He did not only write where the money was, but also wrote who the killer was. He asked his lawyer to invite twelve people to decode the puzzle, and he promised that whoever could decode the puzzle would get a large amount of money. The thirteen people all had their own experiences and opinions about the puzzle, and they finally found out who the killers were. During the show, I was always trying to figure out who the killers were. I had a prediction, which was about the actors’ nail colors. There were ten female characters on the stage, but only three of them colored their nails, who were Zita, Kissy and Pippi. Also, Zita had Gypsy power, which meant she might have the power to kill Mauve without moving her feet. Thus, I thought they three were killers. As more and more details came out, I realized I was wrong, nevertheless, I never expected an ending like this. The lawyer and Dan were killers, and I had never thought about the Halloween tradition. This was so surprising and impressive that I still could remember all the details of the show. In summary, the show and the plots were so memorable, and it was a real enjoyment. 

Second, the music, lights and actors were also professional. It is so important to have good music and light for a drama. The mysterious atmosphere was all depended on the music or lights. In Bone Chiller!, Richard and the technical group did wonderful job. Richard used his Guitar to make the ambience more scary and mysterious. Also, the light and the sound effects were big roles in a drama, especially a mystery. In this show, several colors of lights made it easier to change the scene and adjust atmosphere. The technical part was excellent; they changed the lights very proper. In any good dramas, the actors are always professional. In Bone Chiller!, actors presented their best to the audience. Jaime was actually surprised me, and her acting totally changed my perception of her. I used to think she was an introvert girl who only played little girls in dramas, like her role in Spelling Bee. However, she played a rebellious and extroverted roll this time, and this showed me that she was a extremely professional actor. Except Jaime, other actors were also very professional. As a result, professional facilities and actors were actually one of the biggest reasons of why Bone Chiller was so successful. 

In conclusion, I was so happy to watch this fantastic show. A good show should contain fascinating plots, proper music or lights and professional actors. Obviously, Bone Chiller! fulfilled all the conditions, and it was the best drama I’ve ever seen since I got to Cheshire. 

Ghost or imagination?

Compare to imagination, I'd rather believe Gat, Johnny and Mirren became ghosts. First, after the fire, Cadence never sees the liars, and she tries to email them. If the liars are ghosts, they will be with Cadence all the time, but they don't. Second, ghosts can have their own minds, but imagination can hardly do that, because imagination is only from Cadence's mind. In the book, Mirren even goes to Windemere and reads the emails Cadence writes to her. Also, in the book, the liars always have different opinions, which means they are not from one man's mind. Third, there is such a big mess in Cuddledown, Cadence cannot make it by herself. At last, when the liars go to the cliff and jump to the sea, Gat and Johnny jump first, and Mirren just lie on the ground. Everything is so real, and they all have their own mind. In conclusion, I think Gat, Johnny and Mirren are ghosts. In addition, I really hope they are ghosts, because they can continue living in this way and being with Cadence.

A good story with a bad ending

People always say a sad surprising ending can make the story more significant. However, as far as I am concerned, not all of the surprising endings make the stories more impressive. In the book, We Were Liars, the author told the readers a story about an accident which happened to a girl, Cadence. I like the story, but I do not like the ending at all. 

I enjoyed reading this book, because the author used a special way to narrate the story, which made us read the story in Cadence’s eyes. When I started reading the book, I did not expect an accident would happen, because everything seemed to be so peaceful. Cadence played with the liars, and even it was always sunny in the island. However, the family was not really happy; since grandma died, the family fell apart actually. It did not influence Cadence that much, and she played with liars as usual. Then she hurt her head; she could not remember what happened. She started looking for the memories, and I was like a camera which recorded everything she saw. She thought, I thought; she loved Gat, I loved Gat. Her emotion influenced me; I desired the truth as she did. I love the way how the author wrote the book, this made me truly understand the book. 

However, I never expected an ending like this. I could not wait for reading the ending, so I stayed up until 2 a.m. The ending actually disappointed me, because I expected a very impressive ending which was not a fire. In the book, the liars set a fire in the Clairmont, but three of them died because of Cadence. Cadence thought they already got out, but actually they did not. They could have thrown a match in or used phones to contact to each other; Cadence should have double checked the house or called fire apartments immediately. However, they did not do all of these things, they just died! That did not make sense, and the author tried to explain everything by the alcohol, which still made no sense. In addition, the author left many mysteries to us, and she just arranged a fire to erase everything. This ending may be surprising, but it was not a good ending. 

In conclusion, in the past few weeks, I really enjoyed reading this book. I like the way how the author narrated the story; I followed Cadence’s steps to find out the truth. However, I extremely dislike this ending, because it was unreasonable. Even though the ending was surprising, it was not impressive, and it still left numerous unsolved questions. In another word, I think the ending actually ruined the book. 

Cadence's memory

Cadence remembered that aunt Carrie was crying and wearing Johnny's coat. Then she remembered that summer 15, the liars were trying to spin on the tire which was hung on the tree in front of clairmont. she remembered that the liars, they set up a big fire on clairmont.
Cadence had a new memory: on summer 15, Grandad gave Boston house to Bess, and the rest aunts had a fight. Also on summer 15, Gat and Cadence stole chocolate in clairmont. On summer 15, aunts and grandad had another fight in a meal.

Quiz Questions

1. Cadence did not want liars to console her, why?
2. What do you think the meaning of Mirren's motto?

Chapter 31-40 Notes

Chapter 31
Mirren found that Cady wanted to give her drawings, books and stuffs away, and they had a talk. Cadence was still mad at Mirrent, because she did not reply to her. Mirrent tried to persuade Cady to live with them, but her mom did not allow her to do that.

Chapter 32
Cadence and Gat went to a low hill, and they kissed. Cady told Gat that she was mad at him, and she said he was suboptimal. Finally, they decided to start over.

Chapter 33
Cadence went to lunch in Clairmont, and she found grandad erased his life also. When cadence mentioned Aunt Carrie's last night behaviors, Carrie seemed have no idea about what she was talking about.

Chapter 34
Cadence had a unhappy conversation with will and Taft, and Cadence found twins checked her room.

Chapter 35
The liars redecorated the Cuddledown, and Mirren told Cadence that Penny told the family everything.

Chapter 36
The liars played tennis together, and they talked about Cadence's Europe trip. Cadence told them she was not happy; liars all consoled her.

Chapter 37
Cadence's mother was happy to see Cadence played tennis again, and she invited Cadence to play with her, but Cadence refused. During the dinner in Clairmont, Cadence remembered a piece of her memory: once they had dinner few weeks before her accident. Compare to now, Cadence felt the relationship between grandad and aunties is different.

Chapter 38
The liars were playing scrabble, and they talked about their mottos.

Chapter 39
Cady and Gat kissed upstairs, and they had a short talk. Gat felt that Grandad did not like him; he was so inferior, however, Cadence thought he was perfect.

Chapter 40
Cadence wrote another fairy tale. It was about a little princess. She fell in love with a mouse, but her family did not like mice. Then they ran away from the Palace.

Chapter 16-25 Notes

Chapter 16:
In this chapter, Cadence told us a story she wrote. It was about three princesses competed for the inherit of the king. They proved how much they loved the king. However, the youngest princess got the inherit, she was not happy.

Chapter 17:
Cadence mailed her friends gifts, but neither of them replied her. She also gave the photo of her grandma away.

Chapter 18:
After the accident, Cadence lost some of her memory, and she always forgot things. She asked her mother about the accident everyday, because she could not remember it.

Chapter 19:
Cadence's father wanted to take her to Australia and New Zealand, but Cadence didn't want to go. She wanted to stay with her mom and friends in the Beechwood Island. In the meanwhile, Cadence's granddad came, and he changed a lot.

Chapter 20:
Cadence told us another story. In this story, the king sent his three daughters to beg the evil dragon's mercy, but the dragon just simply ate them all. After grandpa's leaves, Cadence's mother called her father, and told him Cadence would not go to Australia. Instead, Cadence was going to Beechwood for four weeks.

Chapter 21:
Cadence started packing her things. When she thought of Gat, she still felt hurt.

Chapter 22:
Taft called, and he asked whether Cadence was a drug addict. Cadence liked Taft, and she promised that she would take Taft to snorkel and swim.

Chapter 23:
Cadence and her mother arrived in the Island finally, and Cadence found there was a huge change happened to the island.

Chapter 24
Cadence met the littles. The littles lived with Grandad, and liars lived in Cuddledown alone except Cadence. Cadence found grandad had some mental problems, he always called her Mirren.

Chapter 25
The liars had a conversation. They talked about colleges, and Cadence told them she could not go to college this year. Liars felt Cadence was pitiful, but Cadence told them not to be sorry for her.

Questions

Who is gat?
Where does penny and cadence live on island?
Who is the eldest grandchild?
What's the name of Gat's girlfriend in New York ?
What is the name of the island where Sinclairs spend summer?

Think about what do Sinclairs think of Gat.
Analyze what is the relationship with gat and Cadence?
Why do you think four young children lie?

Sinclair----unhappy old-money family

In the book, We Were Liars, the story takes place in Massachusetts America, specifically a private island; it is about a distinguished family, Sinclairs. This family spends every summer in their own private island, and the story starts when the main character, Cadence is eight years old. Cadence and her cousins have a good time in the first few years, until an accident takes place suddenly.

Sinclairs are all white, blonde, athletic and beautiful, however, they are not actually as perfect as they seem like. Sinclair is an old-money family, but they are almost running out of their money. Harris and Tipper are Cadence’s grandparents, and they hold the money. They are deceitful; they also teach their children to smile all the time, even though they are in a bad mood. When Carrie brings Ed to the island, even if they do not like Ed, they still smile to him and praise him. Also, Carrie and Penny have failed marriage. When Cadence’s father leaves, Cadence is sad and upset, but her mother said to “get hold of myself. Be normal, now, she said. Right now, she said. “ (E. Lockhart, We Were Liars, Kindle Locations 182-183). People in this family actually live in other’s eyes. They fear that other people know they are not happy, so they smile all the time. They hide their true emotion, and they wear masks everyday.

Children are more honest and happy than the adults in the Sinclair family. Cadence has six cousins: Johnny, Will, Mirren, Taft and twins. When Cadence is eight, Gat starts coming to the island and playing with them. Since then, Johnny, Mirren, Gat and Cadence are called liars. Gat is not like Sinclairs at all. Gat has dark skin, and he does not have blonde hair. Gat is a quiet boy; he is not as active as Johnny. He likes reading books alone in the hammock. Although Gat is just a kid, but he is clever. He understands that he is not a Sinclair, and he cannot borrow the boat by himself. Though he is close to Sinclair kids, there is still a line between them. He comes to Cadence, because he likes Cadence. The “liars” are so naive so far; they just play together. Johnny is a naughty, bounce boy, and he hates girls. He kicked his cousins, instead saying hi. “ Back then he would hang our Barbies by the necks or shoot us with guns made of Lego.” (E. Lockhart, We Were Liars, Kindle Locations 209-210) In addition, Johnny is the first grandson, so the grandparents hardly refuse his requests. This makes Johnny spoiled. Oppositely, Mirren is a sweet, curious but wet girl. Cadence is a sensitive and clever girl, but she is not happy. Through the words, Cadence always uses a sarcastic tone; she actually hates her family and the way they live. Her father’s departure hurts Cadence, but she does not say that, like all the Sinclairs do. Cadence is also a clever girl; she understands her situation all the time. When her father leaves, she follows her mother’s orders, because she does not want to lose her mother. When other kids live in the appearance happily, Cadence knows the real situation the family is in. Like what she said:“Suffer migraines. Do not suffer fools.” (E. Lockhart, We Were Liars, Kindle Location 164) Though these kids have different personalities, skin color or background, they are still close friends.

In conclusion, Sinclair is an old-money family, but people are not happy. They hide too many secrets, and they actually live for other people’s eyes. The first five chapters are just beginning. Readers have not known about the accident Cadence suffers, the secrets Sinclairs hide, the lies they tell yet. 

Notes

In this two chapters, Lorenzo went to the hospital where his grandma lived to find some medicines for Olivia. Lorenzo started changing in these two chapters, he wanted to help and save his sister. When he got the pills, he woke his grandma, and she thought Lorenzo came to visit her. Lorenzo then told her a story about the robot which cleaned their swimming pools. The robot's name was K19, which had an electronic brain. It was designed for assassinating Saddam, however, the postman made a mistake. The robot was sent to a family in California. Because K19 is a weapon, it killed thousands of people who lived in California. The government sent armies to kill K19; K19 then jumped into the sea. It seemed like a sad ending, so Lorenzo made up a new ending. K19 lived in the sea with turtles, and it had its own babies. After telling the story, someone saw Lorenzo, so he had to run away. On the way to the cellar, he destroyed Silver Monkey's soup and stole his beer. When he got to the cellar, he saw his sister was lying on the bed. He thought she was dead, but she was not. She just took some sleeping pills and slept.

reaction

When I finished reading chapter 10, I thought this is a good ending. They danced and sang to celebrate the last night. Olivia promised that she would never take drugs, and Lorenzo promised they would meet again. I started imagining the picture of their second meeting. I really hope I didn't keep reading, I should've end in chapter 10! I know I should've go to bed immediately! His sister died because of overdose! She broke her promise, and they met after she dead. This ending made me sad and angry. I feel sad for Olivia, because Roman did not be with her when she was dying, and she was alone again at last. I was mad, because how could the author make up this ending! After reading this book, I only learned one thing: never take drugs, because once you take, it is hard to live without it. 

Revised Haiku Poems

Moonlight

Moonlight is so sweet, 

It lay on my bed tonight , 

say good night to me. 

Go outside

You need to listen,

ha, birds are singing outside, 

but you are working. 

Umbrella 

My heart is raining,

Please give me an umbrella, 

Now it is sunny. 

Three thinking questions

1. What do Lorenzo's parents think about Olivia?
2. Why Olivia has nowhere to go?
3. Why Olivia doesn't ask Lorenzo's parents for help?

Lorenzo's sister

In my opinion, Lorenzo's sister, Olivia is a sensitive and rebel girl who lives in absence of affection, but she is also a poor girl. She smokes, takes nude photos, and keeps getting into trouble. She seems like a bad girl, but this is not all her fault. She lives in a divorced family, and she did not get enough love from her father. However, a father is a big role in either a family or a kid's life. In kids' development, there should be a father to teach them something necessary. In the book, when Olivia gets into trouble, Lorenzo's father just gives money, and he does not teach Olivia the rules in the society that she is supposed to know. Even when they are together, Lorenzo's father is just telling Olivia negative things about her mother. Thus, Olivia keeps making trouble. She is so sensitive that when she saw her box was in the cellar, she was angry. In my opinion, Olivia actually loves her father, and she cares about his feelings. That is why she keeps the stuff and memory of her father in the box. Lorenzo mentioned that when he saw his sister in a party which was held by his father, his sister looked pretty good. When he saw his sister in the cellar, she looked bad. Olivia loves her father, and she wants to get his attention. That might be the reason of why she dressed well in the party and rebel. Olivia wants her father's attention and love, but she goes the wrong way which makes her sensitive and rebel. 

Summary of chapter 5

At the beginning of the chapter, Lorenzo imagined himself as Countess Nunziante. He held a party, everything was interesting. However, his sister Olivia just came, and they were looking for a box together. His sister did not ask why he was hiding in the cellar; she just took her book and left. After she left, Lorenzo read a letter from Olivia to his father. The letter showed how much Olivia hated their father, and then Lorenzo was angry at Olivia. In the midnight, his sister came and asked Lorenzo to let her sleep here. If Lorenzo did not agree, she would tell his parents that he was hiding in the cellar, so Lorenzo allowed Olivia to sleep here for a night. 

Questions

Lorenzo's mother extremely hates the traffic issues in the city, so she wants to bring Lorenzo to countryside. His mother wants to live here, but Lorenzo does not like this idea. One day, she drives into one man's car, and the man's mirror is crashed. He was so aggressive. He wants his mother to pay, and the man says some dirty words to his mother. 

Lorenzo is angry, guilty, afraid, and confused. He does not know what to do. He wants to get out of the car and have a fight with the men, but he has to control his anger. On the other hand, he is afraid of the man. He feels guilty, because he is not able to protect his mother. He is so confused about what he should do. Then he fainted. 

This is important, because he is different from the way he was. He used to be so aggressive; if someone pushed him so hard, he would fight them back. He is not able to save his mother now, however, he thinks he can kill the man. He changed a lot, and he is not as strong as he thinks he is. Thus, it is important. 

Summary

This chapter describes Lorenzo's "ski trip". Lorenzo lied to his mother about the trip, and he had nowhere to go, so he decided to spend his time in the basement. He only ate a bar of chocolate for lunch. He listened to music and imagined what his mother was doing above.

Lorenzo

I like Lorenzo as a character in this book. He is totally different from others in this book or out of this book. This makes me like Lorenzo. He is an interesting character who has a special mental problem, too much self-importance. I haven't seen people who have this problem in my past 17 years life, so I am curious about him and this book. Lorenzo's life is different from normal people's. Going to school is a easy thing for all of us, but it is the most difficult thing for Lorenzo. He should wear mask everyday, if he does not, he will be bullied. For example, when he is young, if somebody does not leave him alone or push him too hard, he wIll shout and throw things to the person. Because of his much self-importance, he thinks everybody is stupid, except his family. All of these differences between him and normal people make this book and this character beautiful. Sometimes strange people are more attractive, so I like Lorenzo as a character I this book.

Me and you chapter 1

I do not like this book so far, because of the author's slow rhythm. When I was reading the first chapter, I almost fell asleep, because the slots run so slow. The author writes lots of descriptive things, such as the description of environment or argument between Lorenzo and Lorenzo's mother. Too much description makes the book boring, that is why I like mystery and fancy novels, because there are less description and more slots. I like the books which have strong and fast rhythm or slots; however, chapter 1 has many boring things, so I do not like this chapter.