Journal 39: Christmas Holiday Option 1

  When I was a little child, I wished that people celebrate Christmas everyday. Christmas is the time for people to gather together with their families and celebrate. It's time for everyone to stop working and relax, and the most important of all for a child, it's time for child to get presents from Santa. Christmas is a very fun and important holiday, because it means a lot to everyone. If people are separated during the rest of the year, Christmas is the time for them to stay together and spend this precious time together. Christmas is the sign of a whole new year coming. I celebrate Christmas even though I'm in Taiwan.My family and I held up a Christmas tree and we wish our prays of the whole new year coming towards us. I believe that Christmas is a fantastic holiday and we should  treasure this precious time and not waste it.

Journal 38: Mars

Where is Mars? Mars is a planet in our Solar System that is just beside Earth. It is the fourth planet from the sun. Although it is just beside Earth, it is 225,000,000 kilometers far from us. In the article, Destination: Mars, the writer tells us that astronomers are looking for life signs on Mars and how human can live on Mars. If we find a way to survive and live on Mars, we can replace Earth by Mars. Even though a lot of people believe there are signs of life on Mars, we still have to find a way to overcome the freezing temperature and the dry cold surface of Mars. I hope people could find a way to live on Mars.

Journal 37: Setting and Plot

Settings of a story can function as a character. It can affect the story by limiting the things used in an essay and the timeline of a story. For example, if the setting of a story is in a galaxy far far away, the story might be something about spaceships and space, because it is in a galaxy. If another story is in a forest in the prehistoric period, the story will not contain spaceships and guns, instead, it will have people hunting animals for living. If the setting of the story of King Arthur has changed from Britain to China, the story will be quite different than the King Arthur we know. If the setting of the story Robinson Crusoe has changed from a lonely island to a populated city, Robinson wouldn't have to find food and living so hard, he can just buy things from stores like we do now, and he wouldn't have to seek for help. This is what influences the setting will make when a story changes.

Journal 36: Writing is Difficult

Writing is very important in our life, because it can help us communicate with others. Writing is a way for people to express their own feelings. I believe the reason why Ray Bradbury said writing is difficult is because writing is reality to a person like him. Writing stories can be very interesting, but in the meantime they can be very boring. If you are writing a science fiction story, it might seem interesting, because all the things are from your imagination and they are not real. If you are a writer of history books, you may feel bored, because history is unchangeable. People who write history can only copy the events that were happened a long time ago. I believe that writing is very fun. We can express our own feelings and communicate with others by writing. For example, a book called "Outsiders" is a story based on a life of a teenager. The teenager felt very complicated and wrote down the story for people to read. He was trying to express his own feelings. This is the reason why I believe writing is good and enjoyable.

Journal 35: Chronological Order

Time is everywhere, people live in time, things get old in time, and nothing can stay the same under time. In the story there will come soft rains, the house was destroyed. The little time clock on the top left of every paragraph represents the time. When time passes by, the house is a step closer to the disaster, and the house was then destroyed. If there was no time, the house would have never been destroyed, and none of this would've happened. I believe the author is trying to tell us that every thing will die, grow old and break down eventually, and there are no such world that every thing is perfect.

Journal 34: Irony

Why do people fight wars? To satisfy themselves? To take from others? To compete with each other, or to protect yourself? People fight wars for a lot of reasons. People are always eager to get more, own more and take more. If people can stop their eagerness and envy of others, the world will be a peace, safe place without wars. In "There will some soft rains", people are served very well with machines, yet the world was destroyed by a nuclear war. Why did people fight each other even though they are satisfied? This is ironic because the nuclear war occurred even though people live in a our ideal life. People will always want to find more satisfactions when everything is all well. When people's problems are solved, other problems will come out. This is why I believe there is no ideal life if people don't stop their eagerness. People will risk everything, because they believe if they just succeed, it will be a better place, but not every time that the outcome will turn out to be a good one. When bad outcomes happen, wars or other disagreement comes out.

Journal 33: My Invention

Without inventions, people's life will be boring and without inventions. Everyone will be living their own boring life and nothing will be interesting. Without inventions, nothing will be creative, nothing will be outstanding and there will be no art in the world. This is why we need inventions. If I were an inventor, I will try to invent a robot. A robot is just like a clone of a human. They can help you do chores, cook breakfast or even help you finish your homework. A robot can also be very fun to play with. It can even accompany you as a pet will. To make it more realistic and efficient, I will make it like a human with metal skin. It will be super strong and uneasy to break. It will do whatever I tell it to do. I will use it to help me with my homework, my mom with the chores and my dad with his job. When I am out visiting another country, it can help us to do my house chores. Although my robot is a machine it still needs rest. Like human, my robot has to rest everyday and needs to be recharged every week. It will always obey me if I treat it like a human and take care of it.

Journal 32: Modern Technology

How have technology changed people's life? In the past, people didn't have internet, electricity, cars, computers, cell phones... Now, we have laptops, the World Wide Web system, touch screen cell phones and so on. Technology had changed during the last century, and it is Changing faster and faster as years past by. If technology keeps on changing this way, I believe those spaceships in science fictions won't be fantasy anymore. I believe a hundred years from now, people will be able to do a lot of things. People will have spaceships that can travel around the universe and explore the universe. We will have weapons such as light-sabers to defend ourselves from wild animals. We will be able to communicate with aliens and interact with them. We might even become friends! People will be able to live on Mars and other planets in the Solar System. We will be able to travel through the wormhole and travel through time in time machines. We will have every transportation electronically that no cars need fuel anymore. We will be able to plant cells inside human bodies to cure every kinds of disease. These are the things I think we will achieve in a hundred years from now.

Journal 31: Compare and Contrast Dogs

In the story "In Trouble", Gary Paulsen found out that dogs have individual feelings and personalities. He saw his smart dog, Columbia, teasing another dog. Columbia pretended to give the other dog a bone, but took it back every time before the other dog can touch it. I remembered once I was in a zoo in Toronto, I saw two Grizzly Bears, one male and the other female. The male one was twelve years-old (which is still considered a kid). He was standing up inside a pool of water (you know how tall bears are when they stand up) and playing with a ball. The bear was trying to push the ball under water, like what a young one year old baby would do when he or she finds a ball. Because the ball was filled with air, it floats all the time and I'm sure a bear wouldn't know this. He was even jumping and trying to push the ball under water with his weight, meanwhile, the female one was not moving at all. The female one was a little bit older. She was about fourteen years old. She sat under the shade of a a gigantic tree with her body lying down (it was quite hot that day). She wasn't moving and I noticed that she was sleeping. After a while, I saw a zookeeper going into the place where the bears are caged. The bears stood up and walked immediately toward the zookeeper. I believe one was trying to find a new thing to play and the other was trying to find a way to cool itself!

Journal 30: Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is coming, out English teacher asked us to write and post about what I'm thankful of. What am I thankful of? I'm thankful of a lot of things, my parents, my teachers and even the bus driver. I'm thankful for my parents because they raise me up, send me to school for me to learn knowledge, buy books for me to read, bring me to foreign countries for me to learn other cultures and languages and they taught me a lot of things such as how to solve an Algebraic expression and so on. I'm thankful for my teachers because they taught me knowledge, how to read and write, how to communicate and work with others and even how to turn in homework on time. I'm thankful for Mrs. Pamela because she established PAS for me to go to and taught me the importance of honesty and team. I'm thankful of the High Speed Rail CEO who constructed the HSR for me to go to school in a easier way. I'm thankful of the High Speed Rail shuttle bus driver because he drives me to school and home every day and night. These are only a little part of the people I'm thankful of and we should always be thankful of others and remember to say "thank you" when someone helps you.

Journal 29: Heroes Revisited

The two definitions I found for heroes are:  "A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life" and " The principal male character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation." (Definitions from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Hero). The first definition means a person who is not afraid of anything and who helps people even though they might have to sacrifice something. These heroes might even sacrifice their own lives to help other people. For example, Spiderman is be a hero because he sacrifices himself and his life to save the citizens from danger. The second definition means the main character in a novel, poem or a book. This means the person that saves the world in a story. For example, Sherlock Holmes is a hero because he solved a lot of cases. He was the main character of a story, but he didn't save anything, but still, he is a hero. I like the first definition better because it is not as fake as the second one. The hero in the first one is a hero that everybody believes and trust in, but the second hero is only a hero that the writer of the story thinks. If I were to change the definition of the dictionary, I will change the second one into "A main character of a novel that behaves like a hero and saves the world."

Journal 28: Great, Old Knowledge

In the story "the trouble", Gary Paulsen said that the dogs have the "lost knowledge" that human doesn't have. I believe this knowledge is the ability to work together and the feeling for others. In the story, Gary was injured and trapped in the snowy and freezing weather. He had been thrown out of the sled and he believed that his dogs have gone away. After realizing the dogs have came back to save him, he found out that the dogs have the ability to work with others and feeling for others. The dogs had worked together to save Gary. I think this is the long lost knowledge that people have lost. People now days mostly think only about themselves. They won't risk anything at all. A lot of people now days can't work together because they do things only for themselves. I think these are the things that people have lost.

Journal 27: Animal v Human

Animals are like humans. First of all, animals, like humans, have families too. The parents of a baby tiger or lion will protect their baby. They will find food, shelter and other things that are necessary for living. The baby will do the same when it grows up and becomes a parent. Animals have feelings too. Most animals can feel, hear, see, smell and listen. These animals have the five senses that humans also have. Once I was in a zoo in Toronto, I saw a black gorilla folding a blanket for it's child. He folded the blanket just like how my parents fold mine. I also saw a twelve year old Grizzly Bear (which is considered young) playing with water. It tried to push a ball under water, but the ball just kept floating upwards. The bear didn't give up and tried again. This is like a child playing with a ball. Most animals have legs and arms just like human. Monkeys even have body structures that are like human. These are the reasons why I think animals are like humans.

Journal 26: Game Character

In every game, there are characters. In my game, the main character is the hunters who wear armors and carry knives to protect themselves or to hunt down monsters. The other characters are the monsters. Monsters have different kind of levels. For example, a monster which is very strong can't be hunted down by hunters who have no skills. There are different kinds of monsters. There are unimportant little monsters that can harm you. There are also bosses who are very strong. The bosses are usually the main monster in a mission. Bosses can usually control a special element that can help them to defeat hunters. There are different ranked monsters and the strong ones are very dangerous. Hunting down a boss can earn you it's parts and you can win the mission. You can use the parts you've earned to make more armors and weapons. There are also cats that can help you hunt monsters. Although cats are weak, they can carry weapons and wear armors too. They can help you when you when you need help and they will sacrifice themselves if their owner is in danger. Another way to gain help is to hunt a monster together with other players. The other players can help you hunt down the monster faster and they can save your life too!

Journal 25: EMERGENCY!

Everyone has seen in emergencies on televisions before and everyone has been in emergencies. Usually when people are in emergencies, they feel scared, frightened and unsure. People who are in emergencies feel nervous, scared and unsure because they don't know what will happen next. For example, everyone has been in a earthquake. When a earthquake comes, people are always nervous, afraid and unsure of what will happen next. This tells us that when people are not sure what will happen, they feel uncomfortable. When I got the H1N1 flue last year, it was kind of a emergency. I remembered that I was very tired and sick. I had a headache and I was feeling very uncomfortable. My mom found out and took me to the hospital. They told me that I got H1N1 and I had to stay home in my little room for a whole week. If I hadn't go to the doctor the day I got sick, the flue might have spread and infect my family. For the whole week, I had to stay in bed and get enough sleep. I was glad that I recovered very soon. From that day on, I noticed that if you are getting sick, you should go to the doctor as soon as possible. I think that emergency problems are dangerous and must be solved as soon as possible.

Journal 24: Setting in Art

  First of all, this picture makes me feel cold, sad and gloomy. The background of a painting is painted with a dark white background and there are houses with white snow on them flying everywhere. There is a large, orange, horse-like monster with a man trying to stop it. The horse is trying to escape get rid of the man holding him. The dark white background makes me feel like the time was some night in a winter time, and the snows on the top of the houses makes me feel cold. The woman and child on the left top corner are kind of in a sad and uncomfortable mood, so this makes me feel sad too. The huge horse-monster gives me the feeling that the houses flying around where probably destroyed by the monster and the man behind the horse is trying to stop it. Looks like the horse has destroyed the family of the woman in the corner, so she is sad. The man is trying to stop it, but he can't. The monster is obviously too strong for the man. The monster horse might be an invader that came and destroy the village the humans where living in and there is no one to stop it.

Journal 23: Game Conflict

Like I said on the last paragraph, my game is about hunting monsters. The main setting is in a village where you can get missions and quests. To make this game more complicated, there are many different kinds of missions and monsters. There are single mission (which you hunt down the only boss level monster in the mission), continuous missions (which you have to hunt down two or more boss level monsters), collecting missions (which you collect materials that the mission requires you to do). There are different monsters that can control ice, water, fire, lightning and so on. The main goal of these missions is to hunt down the monster in the mission, but the monsters are usually nimble and strong. You'll need several skills even to hunt down the most basic monster. Like the dinosaurs, some monsters are carnivorous and herbivorous monsters. The herbivorous monsters are usually more safe while the carnivorous are dangerous and might attack you aggressively. To make it even harder, the monsters have different abilities and ways to attack you. Prepare for then dangerous and endless adventure against the monsters!

Journal Entry 22: Game Setting

 My favorite game is called Monster Hunter, so I have always wanted to make a game on monsters. Like Monster Hunter, I want my game setting to be in a village in the past. I want my game to be in the past because my game is about hunting and the weapons hunters use are knives, swords and bow guns or arrows. Hunters can defend  themselves by a shield (which some special weapons include) or by escaping from a monster's attack. I want my game to be in a village because the hunters are given missions by the mayor of the village. There will be different kinds of places that the hunters can hunt. There are deserts, snowy mountains, forests and even under water. If the hunter's mission is in a desert, the hunter must need a special drink to stay alive or else they will die by hotness. Similarly, if a hunter is in a snowy mountain, the hunter must need a special drink to stay warm. Monsters also live in different places according to their habits and appearance. For example, a white dragon may be living in the snowy mountains and a monster that drinks water a lot would not be in the deserts. This is my setting of my monster game.

Journal Entry 21: Describe a Place You Know

To describe a place I know, I will choose my room, because it's a place I go everyday. Whenever I'm in my study room, I study. My study room is small, but fulled with books. There are two tables leaning to the wall. There is a computer on one table and a shelf just on top of the computer.  The self is fulled with books and paper. There are two printers on the second table. There is a window beside the table and  an air conditioner above the window.When ever it's too hot, I turn on the air conditioner and feel an air of coldness. I hear my dad hurrying me up to do my homework every time and I smell the dinner my mom is preparing before every dine. This is my study room.

Journal Entry 20: The Influence of Setting

How can settings influence a story? Since settings are the place and time period of an event, it can change the story in a lot of ways. For example, you won't expect a a prehistoric war to have guns and canons (not in reality). You will expect the people fighting with spears or stones. But settings in fantasies are different. For example, Star Wars happened a long time ago in the galaxy far far away. Although it's a long time ago, people had space ships that can travel in light speed. These settings won't influence the story too much.

Journal Entry 19: Do the Right Thing

Doing the right thing can make a person hero. For example, Harriet Tubman chose to save the slaves (which I consider as the right thing) instead of enjoying her free life while watching the others suffer being as a slave. Barbara Frietchie chose to wave her country's flag instead of surrendering like cowards to Stonewall Jackson. Stonewall Jackson chose not to shoot Barbara Frietchie when he felt ashamed of himself because the words from Barbara Frietchie. These people have done the right thing for others, so they are considered heroes in some ways.

Journal Entry 18: Setting

Settings are the place where events take place and where characters do things. Settings determine the time period and when things take place. For example, a setting for s student can be a school he goes to or the house he lives in. Settings an also determine how a person feels. For example, if you are in a wide open space under the sun during summer time, you will feel the heat of the sun and sweat sooner or later. The feelings you may feel in a forest in winter might be coldness. So knowing the setting can tell us where and what time the event is happening and how might the characters feel.

Journal Entry 17: My Hero?

What are heroes? Most people believe heroes are people who are famous or unique. For example, George Washington is a hero that led the U.S free. Another example of a hero would be Harriet Tubman who risked her own life to free the black slaves. I agree, but do heroes need to be well-known and special? I think heroes are people who spend their time and sacrifice themselves to help other people who need help. They don’t necessarily have to be famous. A non-famous daily life hero for me could be the driver of the shuttle bus to the High Speed Rail Station. They are heroes for me because they have to work very hard to drive me to the High Speed Rail every day. Another kind of daily life hero is the teachers who teach us daily and spend their own time and teach us knowledge. I think people who are considered heroes should have great responsibilities and always help the others when they need help. 

Journal Entry 16: What is a hero?

What is a hero? A hero to me is someone who is brave, determined and willing to sacrifice for the others who need help. Heroes don't necessarily have to be famous, but they must represent justice and should be hard working. For example, a hero to the United States could be George Washington. He lead the civil war and brought the U.S a democratic government. A hero to the citizens in forest Hill in New York could be Spider-man who saves the world by defeating the bad guys and protecting the good guys. I believe good heroes require good qualities that can make them heroes.

Journal Entry 15: Leaving Everything Behind

Leaving important things behind is very painful to everyone. For example, if you have to leave a country permanently, you may have to leave everything you have right now. Back in centuries when there was slavery, people could hardly ever escape from their owners. For example, Harriet Tubman risked her own life and left every thing behind in order to save the slave. She was a free woman already, but she chose to leave her life behind and lead the slaves to a better life. If I were her, I would have done the same thing too, because I think sacrifice ourselves to make the others live a better life is worth the price.

Journal Entry 14: Why Risk Your Life?

Why do people risk their lives for others? I think it is because they want to protect the others. For example, Harriet Tubman led black slaves to freedom. Although she is already a free woman, she came back to the U.S and brought the slaves away from the cruel law. She risked her own life for the others. This is called sacrificing. This reminded me of a "sacrifice" I made last year. Last year, I got a powerful disease called H1N1. I went to the hospital and because the season was changing, a lot of people were sick, so the waiting area was crowded. While I was waiting for the doctor, I saw an old man. I knew he was sick too and he needs the chair more than I do, but I could hardly even stand up. At last, I decided to go stand and I gave the chair to the old man. I believe when the others need more help then we need, we should help them no matter what person they are.

Journal Entry 13: Freedom Fighter

First of all, I think slavery is very unfair. Slaves are treated like properties instead of people. If you own a slave, you could do what ever you wanted to "it". Slaves have no right to talk and no ways to express themselves. If I were able to change this, I will do what ever I can to help the slaves. If my country has slavery, I will try to find a way to gather a group that can help them get away and reach freedom. This is a short story of how I did it.

I am a worker of the government and the government has been complaining about the missing slaves that began to disappear since last month. They sent me to check things out...
This day, I pretended to be a guy who wants to send slaves out of the country. I went down to the street looking for people who might have sent the slaves away. Since the government made a rule that anyone who helped slaves should be killed, no one was interested. Just as I'm about to give up, I saw a person wearing a hat who was walking down the street. I walked up and tried to talk to him. When I stood beside him, he was shocked and he tried to walk away faster. I felt strange, so I followed him. Soon he began to run and I chased him till he stopped. I walked towards him and took off his hat. I saw a person all covered with dirt. I notice that he was a slave and I asked him what he is doing here. He was too frightened even to talk. Then I realized why.

" You are a run away slave, that's why you were so nervous right?" I asked

"Yes, you treated us like we were "things". Now what are you going to do about me?" he shouted like he wasn't afraid at all.

" I won't hurt you, in fact, I wanted slavery to end so badly that I was searching on the streets for someone who can help me save the slaves." I lied.

"Really? Is that true?" he asked. "We have a team."

" A team? How does that work? I thought slaves can't communicate with anyone." I said.

" It started a month ago. Come I can bring you to our meeting area with other slaves." so he told me to follow him.

He brought me to an old park and told me everyone was inside. I saw a lot lot slaves resting in the area. Then, a woman in a pink hat came out and welcomed me. I came out with an idea that she was the "commander in chief". I followed her into a small room fulled with maps.

She said "These are our maps of the roads we can escape. The next team to escape is the blue team. They have already stayed here for over 2 weeks. We must think of a fast and safe way for them to go."

I asked her "Why are you helping these slaves, I mean, from the look of your clothes and how you dressed, you are quite rich right?"

She answered "Don't you have the same feeling as I do? You know, to save the slaves?"

" Yes of course, sorry about what I asked, let's continue," I replied nervously.

"Well I believe we can go this way," she said as she pointed a long street that runs to the end of the northern border of our country. "But the problem is that how do we get there?"

"I can help you because my house is just beside the border." I said thinking that I can tell the government and capture them all at once.

"OK, then we will do it tomorrow! Have a good sleep tonight!" she shouted out loud and walked to her bedroom.

After that, I went back home to take a rest and told the government where they will go tomorrow. The government said that they will send a group of army and arrest the slaves tomorrow when they reached the border.

The next day, I joined the team and we rushed to the border of the country and the group of army suddenly came out. I pretended that I was surprised. Then the "commander in chief" shouted out loudly to tell the slaves to run back to where they came. The commander herself was captured and shot by the head immediately. For a minute, I felt guiltiness rushing through all over my hold body. "Why is she giving up her life for the slaves?" I asked to myself. Then I took a look at the slaves running and crying with pain, as they get killed on by one by the government's army. Now I know the answer. The slaves weren't THINGS. They were also human beings. I found out that what I did was actually wrong.

After the massacre, I went back once again to the other remaining slaves and told them what happened. I told them we were captured accidentally and only I have managed to come back. They all believed in me and we prepared a route for all the remaining slaves. The next day, we traveled through the border and never came back. All of the slaves found families in this peaceful country and they lived happily ever after.

Journal Entry 12: To Be A Slave

  This day, I woke up with my family captured and sent to an unknown island. We were forced to become slaves. We were separated and we only got enough food to stay alive. We are beaten if we don't work enough. I know this myself, that this kind of day will kill me sooner or later. This day when I finished work at night, I were inside my cell with no windows and only one small door. I heard a person's footstep approaching...

  This person came to the other side of the wall and said "I can bring you away from here!" Even though the wind was blowing strongly outside the room, I stood up and walked outside. When I was outside, I saw an Asian, with dirty clothes and mud all over his body. I noticed that he is a slave and he must have been risking his life to come and talk to me. I asked him "Where are you from?" The man said "I can't tell you until we reach the boarder because other people will hear us!" I thought: If I went escaping with him, I might get away from this slave system, but if I were caught, I will be tortured or even killed. I decided to ignore him and go back to sleep. He saw me going back and he said "There are four of us. We're trying to escape before tomorrow night. At night even though our owner found out we're gone, they can't do anything because it is too dark outside at night. I'll wait for your answer tomorrow in the center park of the country." With his fast and quiet footsteps, he went away into the foggy darkness. I went in and thought about his words. If I went away with him, I can live a better life, escape from slavery and reach freedom. But if I were found escaping, I might get tortured and sent back to slavery or even get killed. Plus I don't even know who he is...

  The next day, I finished my job and went to the park. I saw the person I met yesterday and three other people who look familiar. I realized that they were my family and I shouted out with happiness and threw my arms around them and gave them the biggest hug I can do. I asked the person who came to me yesterday " Why didn't you tell me you they were my family?" He answered "Because I was afraid you will shout too loud like what you just did." They said "We have a map to the nearest boarder of the country. There, we can go to a huge land that is fulled with freedom. Let's go!". We traveled South as fast as we could. The weather became warmer and warmer as we traveled South. Five weeks later, he reached the boarder of our unknown country. We kept walking until we saw a huge island with a huge sign. On the huge sign, huge letters were written on it. It read "Welcome to Canada."

Journal Entry 11: More Freedom

People in most of the countries now days have the freedom to do what ever they want as long as it's not against the law. For example is people can't smoke, drink alcohol or drive until they are over eighteen years old. There are also restrictions other than the law. For example, playing video games all day isn't against the law, but your parents will stop you doing that. For me myself, I am under eighteen. I can have my own time, play my PSP for a few minutes, watch T.V and even go on Facebook. Things that I can't do are smoking, drinking alcohol and driving. These are the examples of restrictions and freedoms in my life. There is also another kind of restrictions which are things I don't want to do, but I have to. For example, doing my homework, doing chores and taking exams. This is why I think I'm lucky to be free enough.

Journal Entry 10: For the Sake of Freedom

For me, freedom means to have your own rights and own privacy. In my  life, I think I am quite free. Even though my mom cares a lot about me, she gives me a lot of my own time and is not so strict to me. I've never felt freedom taken away, but I got my PSP taken away from me once. I remembered I was arguing with my mom and dad, so they took it away. At that time, I was really I sad, I think my freedom was taken. But now, I think it was ok, because my parents gave it back. The people have fought for their freedom for centuries. People rebel if their freedom was taken away. People would risk their own lives for freedom. If I were the person whose freedom was taken, I would fight back and earn my freedom back.

Journal Entry 9: If You Were Billy

If I were Billy, I would still go to the boardinghouse of the landlady, because it is a lot cheaper and closer. I might not notice she came out immediately because I am too tired. When I ask her what is the price, I might think that it's a little bit cheap, but I will not have suspected her. When I see the names of Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple, I might not notice immediately, but I would not let the landlady interrupt my thoughts. If I keep on thinking, I might not have drank the tea and I can find out faster what's wrong with the landlady. I might realize that the landlady has been preserving the bodies when I heard that she preserves her pet and Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple are still on the second floor. At this point, I might find some ways to get away from her so I won't end up like Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple.

Journal Entry 8: After The End?

  After Billy heard what the landlady had said, he realized that the two people who were on the guest book was the same people that has been missing for more than a year. Noticing that something was wrong, Billy threw the cup onto the ground and decided to run through the front door. But suddenly, he felt dizzy and couldn't even stand still. He was poisoned.  He remembered the taste of bitter almonds inside his tea.

" What have you done to me," he spoke in a voice like he's going to pass out every other second. "What happened to Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple? You killed them didn't you!"

"No I didn't, I only fixed them so they can stay with me forever. Don't worry, I'm sure you will like to join them don't you?" said the landlady with a smile on her face.

Knowing that there's no hope for himself, Billy pushed the landlady as hard as he can with his last bit of energy. Although Billy was weak, he was still stronger than the old little woman. The landlady fell into the fire place behind her and began to burn.

"No, stop this!" shouted the landlady.

"I know that there's no hope for me, because the poison is deadly, but I will not let you hurt anyone anymore!" shouted Billy before he closed his eyes forever.

Now, the landlady was running around the place and trying to get out from the fire which she can't. The fire just went burning and burning, till the landlady was dead. Now in Bath, we can even hear the screaming and crying sound of the landlady sometimes during midnight.

Journal Entry 7: Three Pigs

  Once upon a time, there were three little pigs that desired to go to school, so their mother sent them to the best school in the village, Pig American School. One day, a wolf saw the three little pigs walking to school and he decides to eat the three little pigs, so he followed them to school by wearing a pig suit. Because the big wolf was too big to fit, the pigs noticed that he was a wolf, so they ran and ran until they came to PAS(Pig American School). The pigs then ran into Dr. Porter's room and the wolf said "A room made out of paper? HA, I can blow this down in a second." With a huff and a puff, the wolf blew down the room, so the little pigs ran out and went in to Mr. James room. The wolf came in and said "What a fragile room made from sticks? HA, I can blow this room down in one second." So again with a huff and a puff, the wolf blew down the room, and the little pigs ran into Mr. Smart's room. The wolf saw the room and said " HA, a room made out of bricks? I can blow this room down in a second." With a huff and a puff, the wolf blew at the house, but nothing happened. So the wolf blew again as hard as he can, but still, nothing happened. The wolf asked "Why can't I blow this room down?" Then, the little pigs, still sitting inside the room said "Mr. Smart is our Science teacher, so he knows what materials can make a wall of a room strongest. The wolf knew he could never blow the house down, so he decided to run away before anyone noticed, but it was too late. The head of the school, Mrs. Pamela came and told her super teacher guards to catch the wolf. She announced that the wolf should be punished and it should be  banished out of the village for ever. With the big bad wolf gone, the three little pigs studied at PAS happily ever after.

Journal Entry 6: Imagine a Place

  This day, I arrived at a new town and I saw a sign in a window that says“Bed and Breakfast”. I thought about it for a minute and decided to go into the building since I need a place to stay. When I went into the building, I saw a green curtain hanging on the window a vase fulled of yellow flowers and a vase fulled of yellow flowers, so  I guess that's why the room was filled with a smell of flowers. At the counter, I saw an old woman short woman with long hair. There was a huge bear  model on the wall and a table in the middle of the room. I could hear the song "I'm all out love" playing from the player at the corner. I asked the old lady if I could stay there for a night and she gave me a key for my room. When I went into my room, I saw a large queen size bed and a brown sofa lying behind the table which a old style television was placed. After all, I think the room was quite comfortable. The next morning, I woke up early and ate breakfast. Although the breakfast didn't taste so well, it still made me full. I think this was a quite normal and comfortable hotel to live in.

Journal Entry 5: Advice

Dear Mr. Responder:

  Hi, Mr. Responder, I'm Ernie from "The Broken Chain". I have a serious problem that has been bugging me for a whole week. My little brother, Alfonso broke his bike and now he is trying to borrow a bike from me for a date with Sandra, a girl he likes. I know it's the first time for him going on a date, so I don't want to let him down. The problem is that the girl he's going with had once embarrassed me in front of my best friend and the whole class, and also I need my bike to catch frogs in the fields this weekend with my friends. They will be asking why I didn't go with them and laugh at me when they know the reason. This is why, I don't want to borrow him, but I think I should because he's my be-loved brother. What will you do if you were me? Borrow him the bike for a date or go on a trip with my friends? If you can you think of new ideas and give me advises, that would be great. Please answer me as fast as you can, Mr.Responder. Thank you very much.

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                            Sincerely,

Ernie 

Journal Entry 4: Girls v Boys

  Most of the discussions in our English class these weeks was"Are girls similar or different to boys?"  In my point of view, I think we think the same way, but we act differently. For example, once Mr. Mccool told us that girls think when the teacher asks, meanwhile the boys just shout out the answer. I agree with this, but I think both the boys and the girls are thinking, but it's just that boys tend to answer faster. The girls may think of it but even if they knew the answer, they will probably still remain quiet. In "Broken Chain" from the textbook, Alfonso wants to look attractive, but what about Sandra? Sandra wants to look attractive too, so I think this why most girls and boys think the same. I think the differences between girls and boys may change over time, but the similarities doesn't. For example, when a girl is a baby, she thinks in the same way as a baby boy. When we grow up to an adult, we might think the same way, but act differently. Then at last when we become grandparents, we might think alike and also act alike. I think this is because we don't care so much when we're old. These are the reasons why I think boys and girls think similarly.

Journal Entry 3: Popular or Intelligent?

  Most of the students(and maybe some teachers) in school want to be popular, especially the ones in middle or high school. Being popular can make you the most well-known person and being smart can make you popular, but being popular doesn't mean that you are smart. The advantages of being popular and smart are very obvious. You are well-known, most of the people like you and you are followed by a pile of other students(especially the ones who are smaller than you). On the other hand, you may get bullied by the students who are jealous. People sacrifice their own time to try to become popular. For example, a boy may spend hours in the bathroom combing his hair and trying to look as good as he can get. Feeling fitted into the school is one of the most important basics of being popular, because if you can't fit into the school system, then you won't be popular. In conclusion, there are a lot of ways of being popular. If it was my choice I would choose to be smarter to become popular.

Journal Entry 2: Teen Feelings

Have you ever seen a high school student in front of the mirror looking and combing his hair? This happenes to everyone in their life. Like all the other students in our class, we are becoming teenagers now. The common thing about teenagers is that they care a lot about their appearance. Teenagers usually what themselves to look good(especially towards their opposite gender). For example, the story Broken Chain tells about a guy who is a teenager that cares a lot about his appearance. He is trying to make a girl he liked feel good about him. In fact, this is what most teenagers do to make the people they like feel better about themselves. Another thing teenagers will do is to show off . People show off for a lot of reasons. For example in a school, a student may have bought a new, awesome cell phone and because he wants to make others feel good about himself, he may be telling the others of how they suck by using the old cell phone. I'm sure everyone can't avoid of becoming a teenager, so I don't think we should feel too much about our appearance and how others feel about us.

Journal Entry 1: Introduction to Me

My name is Hank, I'm in middle school. I was born in Taipei. I have three people in my family, my dad, my mom and me. I like to play basketball, baseball and soccer etc. I like most of the sports we play today except for Kabaddi. Kabaddi was a sport our history teacher last year wanted us to play during P.E class. It is a sport like american football that is played in Middle East. I like to eat pretty much every kind of food. What I don't like to do is to lie to our parents and other elders. I don't like to watch scary movies and do disgusting things. I think doing those things shows immature and disrespect of oneself. I've been to Europe and North America. I want to go to Egypt and explore the pyramids and to the amazon river in South America. This blog is supposed to tell our English teacher we did our homework. Before when I was in elementary school, I've never used a blog before. I think blogs are quite useful because people can use them to share ideas and comments without meeting each other,  so I think we should use blogs more.