Category: Grade 10

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo…Movie Magic!

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This is a unit about a magical space: the land of films! We studied how spells (from lighting, music, framing, angle to editing) are use to make the audience feel the way the director wants, and wrote a compare and contrast essay to show what we’ve learned in this fantasy land.

During this unit, I learned several things about movie techniques and new terminologies. I learned about how each technique creates different feelings, for example, high key lighting creates a feeling of warmness, short cuts creates a choppy and tense rhythm, and high angle shot creates a powerless feeling.

Looking into the Mirror: This I Believe

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This unit was like a mirror, showing our true self. We uncover our central belief, and express ourself to others through a personal essay and a video based on the essay. Throughout the unit, I also developed my drawing/animation skill when creating the video. It’s fun to look into the mirror, because you can discover a new part of you.

This I Believe Video:

This I Believe Essay:

Unit Reflection:

Remember Henrietta Lacks

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In this unit, we read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: a story about the immortal cell, the Lacks family, and the scientific field. Throughout the unit, we wrote TIEA and had group discussions to have an in-depth understanding of the book.

Discussion

TIEA

Blog Posts

Misunderstanding, Trust, and Communication

A Hard Choice: Privacy or Progress?

Verbal Analysis

Outline

Verbal Analysis

Unit Reflection

Misunderstanding, Trust, and Communication

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Misunderstanding is a common thing in our lives; some causes of it include assumptions, the lack of communication and listening, and vague languages. Everyone is different. Therefore, it is hard to understand what other people mean, and it is even harder to guess another’s mind. The results of it can vary from conflicts to reconciliation, depending on the communication after the misunderstanding.

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“Our mind is COMPLICATED.”

Photo by David Matos on Unsplash

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Misunderstanding bothers me since I was a child, and it’s still continuing now. It was seven years from now, when me and my best friend had the first argument. I got a really low grade for an exam, and it was very upsetting. Noticing my odd behaviors, my friend asked me what happened, and I told her about the grade. I ask her to keep it a secret.

A day after that, I saw her laughing and chatting with another classmate. I immediately connect it to the grade I got, and assume that she betrayed me. Without confirming with her, I gave her the silent treatment.

A few weeks later, she wrote me a letter asking what happened, and I figured out that it was all my misunderstanding. Rejecting communication is a very immature decision, because friendship is a thing between two people, and you can’t make a decision by yourself.

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The above example of myself isn’t a big deal, but in the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, a misunderstanding leads to a conflict.

Rebecca, a science journalist, worked with Deborah, the daughter of Henrietta Lacks, to figure out Henrietta’s life. Near the end of the book, they didn’t only find the story of Henrietta Lacks, but also the story of Deborah’s sister, Elsie.

When they figured out that doctors said Elsie has idiocy, Deborah said she didn’t want others to know about it. As Rebecca promised that she won’t, she smiled.

Not because I thought it was funny, but because I thought it was sweet that she was protective of her sister” (283).

This is where the misunderstanding happens. Deborah thought that Rebecca was lying because she was smiling, and Deborah assumed that she wasn’t taking it seriously.

For the first time since we met, I lost my patience with Deborah” (283).

The trust between those two broke. Deborah is a very sensitive person, and she viewed that smile as a sign of lying. While Rebecca, who has been through all those untrusting moments, finally breaks out.

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Trust and communication are some things essential for a relationship to last. It might hurt to trust someone and be betrayed, and it is also hard to trust someone if you have been hurt. This is when communication comes in handy. It might be complicated, but trust me, the result might surprise you!

A Hard Choice: Privacy or Progress?

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta (TILOHL) is a non fiction book written by Rebecca Skloot. In this book, the author talks about the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman who’s cell was taken by doctors and scientist without her permission. Henrietta’s cell AKA the HeLa cell, unlike other human cells, continues growing, and became the first IMMORTAL human cell.

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After Henrietta’s death, the scientists and doctors want to further investigate Henrietta’s cell. Dr. George Gey, one of the scientist who did experiments on HeLa cells, wanted to do an autopsy on Henrietta.

They way Day remembers it, someone from Hopkins called to tell him Henrietta had died, and ask permission for an autopsy, and Day said no” (89).

Day didn’t know what an autopsy is for, and the author didn’t tell the audience if it’s for their own good (profits) or to improve the scientific and medical field and save lives.

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Day is Henrietta’s husband. After he rejected the scientists, they called again, but framed “autopsy” in another way.

They said they wanted to run tests that might help his children someday ” (90).

The doctors and scientists lied and manipulated Day in order to have him agree on the autopsy. They used Day’s ignorance as an advantage, and didn’t respect the Lackses. No matter if they are doing it for their own good or to save lives, this is not acceptable.

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I believe that if they tell Day and the Lackses what the purpose of an autopsy is, they will agree because as Skloot mentioned, Henrietta Lacks once said that,

She was glad her pain would come to some good for someone” (66).

Henrietta Lacks is happy that she can help others, and I believe that the Lackses will too. And even if the Lackses don’t want to share, the doctors should respect their opinion and not manipulate them.

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Respect.

Photo by Tiago Felipe Ferreira on Unsplash

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But this leads to a question, it the goal is beneficial to many people, should we trick/lie to them in order to achieve the goal? Should we choose privacy or progress? To me, there is no answer.

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This questions is related to the Trolley Problem. The Trolley Problem is an experimental question about ethics, and it’s a situation that a train’s brakes broke, and it is speeding toward five workers, unable to move, on the track. Now, you can choose to pull the lever, which will make the train change side, but there is also one person at the end of the track.

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The Famous Trolly Problem.

Photo by POR7O on Unsplash

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Will you kill one to save five? Will you break your moral/ethic to save other’s life? There is no answer for me too, what about you?

What to learn more about the Trolly Problem?

A Poetic Reflection

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Unit Overview

Read The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo,

drop words from pencil,

shout lines from mouth,

creating and performing poems,

making them alive.

These are what we did

In this poetic unit on Poetry.

Dramatic Reading: Pulled Back

One finger one click,

leads you to my Dramatic,

Dramatic Reading.

TIEA: Pulled Back vs For Teenage Girls With Wild Ambitions and Trembling Hearts

Comparing and contrasting

apple and orange,

Pulled Back and “For Teenage Girls With Wild Ambitions and Trembling Hearts”.

Different yet similar.

Poetry Reading and Writing: Personal and Memoir Poem 

Words flow naturally

out of mind.

About my life,

my memories,

my deepest thoughts.

Annotation: For Teenage Girls With Wild Ambitions and Trembling Hearts

Reading a new poem

is like meeting a new friend.

By annotation,

we understand.

THE CURTAIN FALLS

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Introduction: Background + Accomplishment

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about witchcraft and humanity, a tragedy caused by several reasons. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is what we read and analyzed during this unit.

We understood this play by annotating it with different forms, including book snaps and sketchnotes. These gave us a basic understanding of the plot, character, and theme. We dive deep into this play by writing TIEAs and blog posts on several different topics and characters. This encourages us to think and clear our thoughts on the author’s choices. We show our understand by the DRAMATIC reading, expressing the emotion and feeling of the character. This forced inspired us to put ourselves into the character’s shoes.

Act 1: Dramatic Reading

Act 2: TIEA

Act 3: Blog Post

Take a look at my blog post by clicking here!

THE CURTAIN FALLS.

Is Extreme Love a Sin?

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Abigail, the antagonist in the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller, seems to be the one who caused the witchcraft tragedy in Salem. Her self preservation and love toward John Proctor is the leading event of witchcraft. But can a human really control their self preservation and love? Why is Abigail wrong by loving a person and trying to live?

Maybe you’ll say, she was too extreme on her love, but this is because of her parents. When Abigail was trying to threat other girls with what she had experienced, she said: “I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine” (19). There was no love in her life, and this is why she wants to keep her love, no matter in what way.

There are many others that cause this tragedy. Parris is one, Danforth is one, and the environment is also one. Parris wants a higher reputation, and hide the truth because of it; Danforth believes in his fake “justice”, and didn’t want to give up. The environment includes how people in the village view women, and how they’re religious.

Abigail can keep what they did on the night as a secret if people in the village didn’t relate it to witchcraft, but people did. Because of the will to live, Abigail convicted Tituba, the slave in her house, as a witch. “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba……” (40). She wants to live, just like everybody else. Tituba wants to live too, so this cycle went on and on, and more people got involved in the problem. Abigail never thought of this result.

She is not forgivable, though. Because of her extreme love and hate, many people died. When she used her power to convict others that are innocent, she has a sin. Goody Proctor is innocent, and just because she is Proctor’s wife, she was aimed and almost sent to death.

“love”

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Abigail did not get what she wanted at the end. Proctor never loves her back, and hated her because “She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!” (102). What does Abigail get with her power? Her lover’s death. This is her punishment.

Detention, a horror movie that was based on the White Terror period, has a deep connection with The Crucible. Both Abigail and the main character in Detention has a broken family, and they are extreme with the person they love. The main character of Detention also caused her lover’s death.

They love and live upon death. 

Citation:

  1. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Classics, 2003. Print.

The Power of Hypocrites and The Hypocrites of Power

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A crucible is a metal container that melts substances with its high temperature, while The Crucible is a playwright by Arthur Miller that demonstrates humanity with its severe trial.

 

Double Sided.

Photo by Xander on Unsplash

 

Mary Warren, a servant in Proctor’s house, a weak girl, is a hypocrite. A hypocrite that says justice and cover the truth at the same time. When Proctor banned her from going to the court, she answered:

“I must tell you, sir, I will go every day now. I am amazed you do not see the weighty work we do” (Miller, 56).

She is a weak girl, but she stands up this time, for her “justice”. She believed that she can help the village by going to court. However, what encouraged her was not justice, but the power she gets.

 

She was an inferior servant and obeys whatever wants her to. When she gets the power that she never had thought of in the court, she decided to protect this power. So when Proctor asked her to tell the truth, she said:

“I cannot, I cannot, I cannot……” (76).

Why can’t she? If she is trying to be fair and be justice, she should be able to stand up for the truth too. But she did not, and this shows that she’s a hypocrite.

 

Being a hypocrite is not Mary Warren’s own will though, it’s humanity. When a person without power suddenly gets control of something, they will want to keep it. Mary Warren actually tried to fix her problem later in the play, but in the end, she still shrank back.

 

Power has a powerful attraction.

 

The book Animal Farm by George Orwell is a good example of hypocrites and power. It is portraying a farm that is controlled by the pigs. The pigs lie to other animals, that everyone will be equal, but secretly save the goods for himself. The pigs say that:

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”

In this case, he is using his power to be a hypocrite.

 

 

Glint in the eye Steve Braund via Compfight

 

In conclusion, Power leads to hypocrisy, and hypocrisy leads to power. 

 

Citation:

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Classics, 2003.

The Crucible and Detention

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Both stories are based on a real historical event, a tragedy, and gives an uncomfortable feeling of oppression…

The Crucible is a playwright by Arthur Miller, and it talks about the Salem witch trials. This reminds me of the movie Detention.

 

Photo by Emiliano Bar on Unsplash

 

Detention is a horror movie based on Taiwan’s White Terror period, a time where freedom does not exist. Lots of people are killed at that time. In 1945, Kuomintang of China just came to Taiwan and it was trying to remove everyone that got in touch with the Communist Party of China. Nothing related to communism can be read, said, nor think. But eventually, this caused a lot of miscarriage of justice. People are using this reason to kill others that are in their way.

 

In The Crucible, the main antagonist Abigail said:

“I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (40)

and the other girls started to follow her:

ABIGAIL. I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!

BETTY. I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil!

ABIGAIL. I saw Goody Booth with the Devil! (46)

They started to implicate others because of fear, and because when telling the truth will kill them. This action also happened in the White Terror. The main character’s mom in Detention reported her husband to the government when her husband committed domestic violence, and might threaten her life.

 

Another similar setting is that Abigail and the main character in Detention both indirectly killed a lot of people, because of love. In The Crucible, Abigail…

drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! (18)

Abigail loves John Proctor and thought that he loves her too. She tries to kill Proctor’s wife so that she can take her place. In Detention, the main character reported her lover because she thought that he cheated on her, and this caused the death of many others that are related to this event.

 

Lastly, there is a major difference between the two stories. The ending of The Crucible is being forgotten. Abigail ran away, Proctor died, and Parris vanished. No one is left to remember this event and prevent it from happening again. But in Detention, the main character faced her crime and the voice in her heart, and there’s hope given to the audience.

Want to know more about White Terror and Detention?

Taiwan Kuomintang: Revisiting the White Terror years

White Terror era inspires horror game ‘Detention’