Gathering of pearls questions

Chapter 1: 

1. Getting married right out of high school or while in college was considered the norm for American women at that time. Women were encouraged to stay at home if the family could afford it. Women were supposed to fulfill certain roles, such as a caring mother, a diligent homemaker, and an obedient wife. 

Chapter 2: 

1. a. Pocket money: Little money for daily life. Parents always give pocket money to their children. b. honorific: Some special terms in Korean. Young people use honorific terms to older people to show the respects. 
2. Because Ellen’s outfits matched right down to her nail polish and earrings. 
3. The scholarship pays for her tuition, and room and board. 
4. She needs to work 15 hours a week in the college dining hall and get good grades in all courses and meet the social, moral, religious standards of the school. 
5. It means that they only pay their own things, pay separate. 
6. First, Sookan has to consider the financial problems, but Ellen doesn’t. Second, Sookan needs to spend much time on studying or working for her scholarship, but Ellen doesn’t. Third, Ellen cares about her look or color coordination, but Sookan does not care. Ellen has many friends and they talk to each other really free, but Sookan doesn’t. Sookan is shier than Ellen, her English is not really well. She was also influenced by Korean culture for a long run, so she has a different thinking way from American. Ellen is a native speaker, so she doesn't worry about the language. Also, she grows in a free environment, that is different from Korea. 

Chapter 3: 

1. She signed up for world literature, world religious, Greek and Roman culture and early Europe history. The most difficult one is Europe history. 
2. Marci is Sookan’s schoolmate who lived in a single room across the hall from Ellen and me. First, she reminded Sookan to go for lunch in the classroom. She is too shy to talk to Sookan, she was just staring Sookan. When Sookan’s eyes met hers, she looked away. Marci is a shy girl, and she is always alone. she wants to make friends and be popular, but she doesn't know what to say. She is a warm-hearted and careful girl, she keeps an eye on Sookan. She noticed that Sookan always missed lunch, so she asked Sookan. She also wanted to take Sookan’s books back for her, because she noticed that the books were heavy. She knew Sookan did not eat lunch, so she bought her a sandwich. 
3. The job is baby-sitting. 
4. Sookan is proud of her sister and she think she must obey her sister. She wants to get praise from her sister. In her opinion, her sister is like her mother. She does not really want to tell her sister her secret, but she felt guilty about not obeying her sister. 

Chapter 4: 

1. Melancholy means sad and moved. 
2. First, she might be homesick. Second, she feels her mother’s love from the letter. she feels guilty that she could not be with her mother and care for her. She had no daughters at home. Third, she feels bad because she lets her family worry about her. She feels ashamed that she cannot be there and help her mother through her hardships. Besides, Sookan is melancholy, because her mother thinks she is not a good mother, and Sookan thinks she makes her mother feel guilty. Fifth, her mother mentioned a lot of things about home, such as the ducks and the sweater. These things make Sookan feel melancholy, because these things are really normal, if Sookan is at home. However, she is not here. Although these things are normal, she could not see and touch them. This makes her sad. 
3. She is a tough woman, and she never complained about her hardships. She does not want her children to worry about her. Second, she is a good mother, she loves her children. She never talks of filial duty,of the obligation children had to their elders and their ancestors. She loves her children. She hates imposing her children. These things make her different from other mothers in Korea. Also, as a mother, she trusted and her children. She believes Sookan can succeed in America. 

Chapter 5: 

1. Yes, she enjoys baby-sitting. She enjoys playing with children. They have fun together. It makes her uneasy to know that she is being paid for being with them. She does lots of things for Jimmy and Sarah, such as reading books for them and playing with them outside. Also, children do something for Sookan, such as correcting her pronunciation and picking flowers for her. They like each other. 
2. In America, both women and men do housework. While baby-sitting, she saw Mr. Bennet cooking. However, in Korea, cooking is women’s job. Men never cook, and even enter a kitchen. Women never seemed happier than when they watched men gobble up all the food they had spent the day preparing in Korea. 
3. Yes, I would do, because I am glad to spend time with children. I like kids, especially when they smile. I think Sookan did them because she likes the kids, and she likes Mr. Bennet. She thinks that is her duty, because babysitting neighbor’s children is free in Korea. She appreciates that she can get paid for this job. In her opinion, this is not hard, so she must do that. 

letter

Dear sister, 

I am sorry to send you this letter late, because I have much work to do. I like America, people are friendly here. I have two best friends, Ellen and Marci. They are two good girls, and they like Korean culture. I think I should bring them some gifts from home next time. I am doing well, so don't worry about me. You know what, I learned much Europe culture and history in the class. That is really different from Korean culture, and it is really interesting! You know Louis XIII? He became the king when he was only four years old! How amazing is it !Also, my classmates like my hanbok. I thought they would not like it! How's everyone doing at home? Do you often visit our mother? 

I love you! 

Yours, 

Sookan

Gathering of pearls info

Gathering of pearls is a non-fiction. It is written by Sook Nyul Choi. The writer is from North Korea and she emigrated to The United States. She born in 1937. She was a school teacher. She had two daughters. She always write her experience. She writes children's literature.  

Real bravery----Let The Bullets Fly

Let The Bullets Fly is a Chinese movie which is directed by Wen Jiang at 2010. I watched this movie several times. To be honest, I did not understand it well, because this movie contains many political metaphors. Thus I thought this movie was so boring. I watched this movie again during this winter break, and I finally understood it. This movie is so realistic that if you do understand it, you must think it is a really enjoyable movie. This movie was nominated 13 times in Hong Kong Film Awards by 2012. I like this movie and I was surprised that the plot so thickens. This movie shows the genuine bravery to us.

The story happened during the warring 1920s. A bandit named “Pock Mark” led six people to rob bad rich people and help poor people. Once they robbed the new leader of Goose town. He used the actual leader’s name and pretended as the leader of the town, because he wanted to gain money. The authentic leader became his counsellor. They had a big enemy in Goose town, local mobster master Huang. He was one of the biggest drug sellers in the whole country, so he was so rich that the previous leaders should listen to him. Pock Mark did not mind him, so Huang was angry. He killed Pock Mark’s son. Pock Mark wanted to pay back. Then they had a fight, and Pock Mark led the poor people to win the fight.

In this movie, I like Pock Mark most. Pock Mark represented real bravery. Before him, the previous leaders of the town only gained money from increasing the poor people’s tax, and never took money from rich people. Pock Mark was different, he never took poor people’s money, and he wanted to gain money from the richest and the worst person in the town, Huang. Every person in town was afraid of Huang, they were all Huang’s soldiers. Pock Mark only had 6 people, that was so dangerous. However, Pock Mark had fewer people, he was clever. Although people in the town were afraid of Huang, but they were all angry with Huang. Pock Mark used their angers, and they all became Pock Mark’s soldiers finally. Then, Pock Mark won the fight. That’s the real bravery. Real bravery is not to fight blindly. It is to use wisdom to get goals.

I like this movie because it has many political and realistic metaphors. These metaphors are interesting. For instance, previous leaders all gained money from poor people by increasing the tax. They were fearful of Huang, and they always gave poor people’s money to Huang. This phenomenon is like today’s malfeasants. They are always rich people’s partner. They help rich people and squeeze poor people. There is another interesting metaphor. In the movie, Pock Mark took the position from his counsellor. He also took his wife. At the first night, Pock Mark said he would not sleep with her. However, the woman said that was ok, because she just wanted to marry or sleep a leader. That was realistic. Nowadays, some women wanted to marry rich people only. These metaphors are so interesting that I laughed so many times.

In conclusion, I like this movie and I will recommend it to my friends. I learned the real bravery from this movie. In my opinion, it is not only a movie, but also a mirror. It reflects the reality and the society.

successes come from creating

Clarence Birdseye, a man who had a funny name, but had a great life. He has many identities, such as a scientist, an inventor or a successful businessman. In his 70 years’ life, he did many things which were unbelievable in my eyes. Recently, I have read a book named Frozen In Time which is written by Mark Kurlansky. He allows us to know the story of Clarence Birdseye. At first, I thought it was a boring and empty book, but after I reading deeper, I found this is an amazing story. I am really interested in his success, why did he succeed? As I said in the title, successes come by creating. Also, successes need some more conditions.

One of the biggest parts of this book and Birdseye’s life is going to the Labrador island. I think this is also the most important part of this book, so I am more interested in this part. In this bleak desolate island, he made money and came up with the idea which changed his whole life.

At first, Birdseye just wanted to make money here, but he also found how to refrigerate food accidentally. When he fished in the winter in Labrador, he found the fishes froze immediately when they left the water. Then, Birdseye got the inspiration to invent refrigerators. Labrador had a large number of fishermen, but none of them came up with this idea. Birdseye cared about every details in his life, and he had the business savvy that normal people did not have. That is one reason that why Birdseye succeeded, but others did not.

Also, Birdseye has persistence. If he wanted do something that he was interested in, he would not give up. When he was in Labrador Island, he wanted to build a company. However, he did not have enough money, but he had enough persistence. His father recommended an investor to him. He immediately flew to New York City, but the investor even did not want to see him. As I said Birdseye had sufficient persistence. He waited for the investor and called him day by day. Finally, the investor decided to invest his company. Birdseye’s persistence was the biggest reason that why he succeeded.

At last, let’s talk about his idea that coming to Labrador, one of the most desolate places. If I were him, I may not go to this island, because I had a good life in America, why should I go to that bitterly cold and impoverished place? Also, America has a lot of opportunities. If I work hard, I will succeed in America, not Labrador. I just left from one dangerous place, why would I go to another bad place to live? However, Birdseye decided to go, and this trip changed his life. He was far-sighted. He may not know he would find the secret of refrigerators, but he did know he could make money here.

In addition, some external factors made him succeed. Birdseye had a good wife, she always supported him. When Birdseye said he wanted to go to Labrador, she supported him. In fact, many wives would persuade their husbands not to go, but Birdseye’s wife did not. She supported her husband all the time, she believed Birdseye had his own mind. A good supporter is also an important factor to achieve success.

In conclusion, I am always interested in how a successful men succeed. Birdseye was a good example. He had persistence to the things that he wanted to do, and he was far-sighted. I learned a lot from his story. Like I said above, successes are not about luck, they come from creating.

Frozen in time: Vocabulary

1. expeditions: You can refer to a group of people who are going on an expedition as an expedition. Page 332
2. tremendous: You use tremendous to emphasize how strong a feeling or quality is, or how large an amount is. Page: 343
3. mortality: The mortality in a particular place or situation is the number of people who die. Page: 343
4. lumber: Lumber consists of trees and large pieces of wood that have been roughly cut up. Page: 370
5. monitor: If you monitor something, you regularly check its development or progress, and sometimes comment on it. Page: 370
6. arthropod: N any invertebrate of the phylum Arthropod, having jointed limbs, a segmented body, and an exoskeleton made of chitin. The group includes the crustaceans, insects, arachnids, and centipedes. Page: 383
7. dampen: To dampen something such as someone's enthusiasm or excitement means to make it less lively or intense. Page: 397
8. unrestricted: If an activity is unrestricted, you are free to do it in the way that you want, without being limited by any rules. Page: 411
9. exempt: If someone or something is exempt from a particular rule, duty, or obligation, they do not have to follow it or do it. Page: 418
10. reminisce: If you reminisce about something from your past, you write or talk about it, often with pleasure. Page: 432

Comparison: visual way and imagination

There are always many differences between books and movies of a same story. Some of movies are true to the books, but some are not really. Today, I watched a movie named Opal dreams which is adapted from the book, Pobby and Dingan. The movie is quite different from the book. In my opinion, I like the book more.

First, there are numerous differences. For example, the movie deleted one of my favorite parts in the book. There is a plot in the book that Ashmol came to tell the preacher something about Pobby and Dingan. When I was reading this part of the book, I imagined that the preacher must be a kind old man. I expected to see how this character look like in the movie, but the movie never mentioned this character! Also, Ashmol in this movie is not as brave as the book. In the book, there are many conversations between Ashmol and his family. However, the conversations are deleted in the movie, especially the conversations between Ashmol and Kellyanne. In my opinion, some conversations can express Ashmol’s bravery and love to his family. The film only has a few conversations. That makes Ashmol not as brave as the book.

In my opinion, I like the book more. The scenes in the book are invisible, so we can imagine them as what we like them to be. However, the movie is like what the directer liked. Thus, the scenes are different from what I thought. Also, the book has a richer content. The directer must consider the length of the film, so he must delete something. For me, I’d like to see a detailed story, so I like the book.

There are numerous differences between the movie and the book. The movie tells the story as a visual way, and the book gives us space to imagine. Both of them are excellent, but I like to read the book rather than watch the movie.