Entry 37: Why Be a Prodigy?

Jing-Mei's mother believes that a person can be anything he/she wants to be. She thinks that through hard work, everyone can excel. She wants Jing-Mei to be a prodigy because she wants to be proud of her daughter, so she could brag with other people, and just simply because she believes Jing-Mei can. Jing-Mei tries to meet up with her mother's expectations at first because she supposed that if she does then her parents would love her and she would be perfect. Later on her motivation changed because she failed too many tests that her mother gave her. She was frustrated that she could never be anything her mother wants, so she decides to just be herself. She gave up on herself and her mother. She doesn't want to listen to her mother anymore because she doesn't want to feel the same hateful feelings of failing. After her motivation changed, Jing-Mei creates major conflicts with her mother because she is obviously rebelling against her power.
My mother was never that traditional. Before my sister and I came to PAS she fought endlessly for a better education for both of us, especially for my sister. My sister, maybe because she is older than me and that schools were worse before, she had several horrible experiences with terrible teachers at school. My mother never forced me to meet up with some impossibly high expectations. I had mediocre grades in elementary school, and she never complained about it. When she let me have piano lessons she didn't force me to continue it when I said I didn't want to play piano anymore. I was only about 6, piano was boring me to death. However, being raised in an environment like Taiwan, I know how traditional Chinese parents think and act. From times to times I would be so grateful that my parents aren't like that and that I have really good relationships with them. I don't think the traditional Chinese way works very well. If I were born in a family like that I'm sure I won't have as much achievement as I have today.

Entry 36: Fahrenheit 451

First of all, what is the name of this entry?
It seemed like I was the only one who actually enjoyed the movie (not including Ms. Ruperez). I think the story just takes some time to develop and unfortunately when it's just started to get interesting the class was over. I really want to watch the whole movie when we have time. (Or I can as well watch on my own) I thought the firefighter outfit was kind of funny but pretty awesome, haha. Before I checked the date of the film I guessed that it was made in the 70's. However it turned out to be 1966! Wow that movie is really old and is generally in really good qualities. Other classmates just don't know how to appreciate a more thoughtful, less action-packed movie that looks old. They couldn't stand the part where the main character starts awkwardly reading a book. To me that scene tells more than it shows. The character had obviously never read a book before, even though he is literate. The difficulty he was having while reading the book was remarkable; makes us instinctively think about the way we view books today. Our society is depended on books, on reading. We being students especially; textbooks contains most of the things we need to survive in a class. I've always enjoyed old movies. I find those that try to predict the future fascinating. I have been wanting to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey for a long time. Hopefully I'd be able to see it during the Christmas Break.

Entry 35: Being Pushed

My parents are not the kind that will push me to do something I absolutely hate. Most of the time they don't. Except, several years ago when I was giving up on math, they told me to get at least a basic mathematical ability and not to fail. They talked to me for, who knows how long, on why I shouldn't be giving up this subject so early. I resisted at first, and that's for sure because I hated math so much, but they insisted. They sat down with me to teach me the most basic mathematical calculations (such as fractions, decimals, etc) that I should have learned in school but both the school and I was not doing a good job. Of course I would not just stand up and walk away, they are my parents, they have some power over me and I have to obey them. So I stayed and probably listened, but how much I did get I do not know. Nevertheless, they did persuaded me that if I didn't work hard on math back then, today I would struggle even more. They told me not to think about how much I hate math, not to even let the thought to cross my mind. Just work those problems through, practice more. Even today, math is my worse subject at school. Somehow I just can't seem to fully understand how those numbers and symbols work and how they keep switching position until they produce the correct answer. Algebra makes little sense to me. But now I'm taking Algebra II and my mom expects me to get a B. With such a teacher, every student suffers. Yes, my parents even pay a tutor for me, it seems like I could so easily get a B+ compared to other students who also struggle. Well, if that's true I will be getting an A now like my other classes. My parents are still pretty reasonable, my mom says a C in Pre-Calculus (which I will be taking next year) is fine. I...I can only hope that I won't fail.

Entry 33: Universal Experience

Books and movies relating to war that I have seen before are All Quiet On the Western Front (WWI), Saving Private Ryan (WWII), Pan’s Labyrinth (WWII – Spanish Civil War), Apocalypse Now (Vietnam War), The Pianist (WWII), and even Transformers and X-Men. Those two are imaginary. There might be more but I can’t remember to list them out. The universal theme in Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy? is the insanity of war. Almost every war stories depict the stressful surroundings and their effects on people. War drives people crazy. The Vietnam War is a rather recent event. It’s fought in the 60’s, 50 years from now, not very current but not really old either. In the story the soldiers have modernized weapons and chewing gum. The soldiers came from a modernized country, the U.S., and went to a developing country like Vietnam. The environments of the two countries are totally different. One is in southeast Asia, another in the far northwest. Many countries were involved in this war. In the story, the soldiers have to constantly squat down and wait due to the guerrilla warfare. The Vietcongs hide in the woods or bushes and shoot. There wasn’t any rule to this war either. Both sides used vicious weapons against each other. The Vietnamese set up booby traps. In return the US army used napalms.

Entry 32: Far From Home

It must be awful to have been thrust into a dangerous foreign land. For those young American men it was indeed a traumatic experience. When you arrive in a place like that, the first few weeks would be just horrible. You don’t know anyone and the environment is so different that you have troubles all the time. Over time, though, one would get used to the customs and environment. The soldiers have no choice but to rely on each other. However in an environment like battlefields…I doubt anyone would get completely used to it, like falling asleep with guns firing around you. If you do, you could be killed. After years of war, people just go insane.

I hate to bring up my experience in PAS again, I really do. Why does every topic remind me of it? ...I guess it’s because I have lived just fifteen years and that’s the only major “life-turning” event ever happened to me. Anyways, it does have a large impact on me and I can still remember how awkward it was at first. Fortunately, my mother and my sister were both present during my hardest times. I feel like I couldn’t have made it without them. So I guess it’s not entirely just me, alone, fighting aimlessly in a shocking new world. I did have people to support me and guide me. From this point, I couldn’t help but feel even worse for the soldiers in Vietnam.

Entry 31: Author’s Background

I think it is more credible when the author has firsthand experience with the topic. If the author has experienced the kind of situation him or herself, he or she can more correctly depict the character's feelings and reactions. If an author decides to make up some story, it depends on the writer's ability to empathize and describe. I believe it is possible for authors to do that. Writers, producers and directors dramatize true stories to make it more entertaining. If a story is told using the most "politically correct" diction, creating only the "true and basic" moods, and following the most straight-forward chronological order, the audience might find it boring and cliche. (or even funny because of the diction) I guess most people would rather get entertained than informed, but it still depends on each individual. Some people might want a balance of the two, getting both entertained and informed. However, I don't believe anyone would want to watch a movie that has absolutely no entertainment element for fun. Yes, if you are watching a documentary or an actual film footage from WW2, then maybe it's purely informative and not entertaining. (but, some people might find it interesting and entertaining, I cannot guarantee that.) For me, I would like to have a little bit of both. If the film is very entertaining but very informatively incorrect, I might enjoy it once and forget about it. Similarly, if the film is very informative but not entertaining I would probably fall asleep.