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.