Personal Reflection

1. Based on my understanding of my spiritual pathway, what are one or two activities I need to engage in regularly to stay connected with God? How will I incorporate these activities into the rhythm of my life?
- My spiritual pathway has more depth into NATURE/CREATION. In this pathway, I connect with God through my senses, experiences different facets of God's character in His creation, and my soul is replensihed by being in nature. I somewhat agree to this. I do love nature and feel happy when I see beautiful sunset, sky, etc. To build up my strengths, I should basically do more sports activities outside in parks, hang around with people more outside, and maybe taking a trip to view many different kinds of nature. If I do these things, I personally think that these will help with the rhythm of my life in many ways. First of all, doing sports activities outside and exercising allows you to have a organized schedule in your one day life, and it also helps you to stay healthy through continuous exercise. Also, since I feel peaceful and happy when I see the beauty of nature, it would be really helpful to take more time and activities outside because I would be able to exert out my stresses and relax. This will have great impact on the way I connect with God AND help myself organized.

2. In what ways can I stretch myself to experience God in new ways?
- There are many ways to stretch myself to experience God. One of my favorite things is to pray. It works best for me anywhere, anytime, and in any situation. All you need to do is to just pray. This skill is very simple for many people are able to do this "praying". Another thing I think that is a good way to stretch myself to God is to follow His words, instructions, and rules. God's Ten Commandments, instructions like in Psalms, and the way He speaks to you in a indirect way are good things that you can always follow and be satisfied with. Most of the rules and commandments are from the Bible, (Reading the Bible and finding out more things about God and Jesus will be also a good way to connect with God) and most of these things would seem pretty much the right thing to do. For instance, respecting your parents, this seems pretty obvious that we should definitely do it no matter what since they were the ones who gave birth to you. Even in many cultures, they respect this idea. I really think I need to stretch out more and connect with God.

Daily Reflection #7

11/06/09
- For today's work...We first began working on crazy careers. I found out that there were many weird-like jobs in the world. One thing I found out was the ice cream taste person. It was very different, but somewhat a important job. Mrs. Gunther explained to us that it was very important for a person to have a organized and beneficial diet for your taste. For example, you couldn't drink alcoholic drinks. Next, we got to the part where we looked at our interest jobs. Mine was astronomer. Compared to other jobs, this astronomer job required certain passes and needed requirements to become one. Thus, it was mostly in researching and it is a very competitive job to do. I learned a lot today; I have to make sure that the job I choose is what I will really take my time a lot patiently.

Daily Reflection #6

11/05/09
- In today's writing class, I watched a powerpoint by Mrs. Gunther that told us about the personal learning styles. There were three kinds of learning styles. First one was visual. This one was basically the ones who learns best through visualization. This was kind of the way I learned. Second was the auditory learning. I had the least possibilty for this kind of learning. Third, was the kinetic...something like that. This one was more of my style. I wasn't a person who really stayed still for a long time. I had to be active in order to learn best. Today was interesting, to find out what ways we learn best.

Daily Reflection #5

11/03/09
- In class, we took this test that showed our personal learning style, and the personalities. I really hated my result. The basic idea of my personality and learning style was correct, I agreed to that. However, the part about my interests and the career, I really disagreed. The result showed that I should work along environments when I was really interested in space; astronomy. I really disagreed to today's work.

Daily Reflection #4

10/30/09
- The day before Halloween...Nothing exciting happened. Today, we continued working on the test. As I went through the test, I found out that I was mostly related and interested in the science and math part as I expected. The code that I got after the test was IRE. The careers for this code was Astronomer, Engineers, Physicsts, Biologist, etc. It was mostly related to economics and science. I was so amazed at how this test's result was exactly related to my interests.

Daily Reflection #3

10/29/09
- This was our third day, we continued on studying on our career. However this time, we came over to the idea of interests. My interest vaguely, was related to math and science types of careers. In these types of topics, I was mainly interested in the category of Physics: Astronomy. From when I was young, I was really interested in this part of section because of suspicion about extra-terrestrial beings, how wide the universe is, how it is created, and many more. Later on, we began taking the test that estimates your interests, values, and your careers. I wonder what my result would be!!!!

Daily Reflection #2

10/22/09
- Continued on our second day, we talked about our careers and wealth. Mrs. Gunther explained to us how important it was to plan out our life to reach our dream, goal, and careers. We also talked about our talents. We began defining what talents were, and we got to write about our talents. This was another moment where I really had time to reflect on myself to find out what kind of talents I really had. For the careers, I was able to connect my talents with the kind of careers I want. I would have to choose the kind of career that is related to my interests so that I would do well in the work. Thus, I would be also good at it since it is one of my talents. As I reflected, my interests wree mostly in space and the studies of the universe. However, my talents were in designing, and some works in math and science. I thought, 'maybe, this job isn't the perfect job for me...'.

Daily Reflection #1

10/20/09
- Today, in class Mrs. Gunther came to us and talked about career and some Bible verses. First, the Bible verse I got was about listening to the father's instructions, gaining wisdom, and not falling into the path of evil. I can't remember the verse exactly, but I know it was from Psalms. The most part that struck me in these verses was the part where not falling in the path of temptation and evil. Through many books and movies that I read and watched, I found out that people usually change after they hang out with either wrong people or get tempted by evil thoughts. For example, I had known a nice friend in a Korean elementary school. This guy was a very respectful and caring guy to others. People actually complimented him that he was a really respectful guy. However, when I met him when we entered middle school, he was totally a different person. His attitude was so different from when he was in elementary school. From other friends, I have heard that he was hanging with some naughty boys. I could connect with this thought when I found out about this verse. This day, I was able to reflect a lot back to my life.

Blogging Assignment #10

Pictures

#1. "Liberty Leading People" By Eugene Delacroix

This painting, "Liberty Leading People" is a painting by Eugene Delacroix. The photo is basically a painting that describes liberty and freedom in a nation. The woman in the painting is a symbol of the nation; a goddess symbol.
The painting is just a picture of people fighting, yet we can tell that it is fighting for some kind of liberty because of the flag and the background details given. When I first saw this, it gave me a feeling of freedom and fighting against something. And of course, the painting had a strong voice for me.

#2. Adolf Hitler

The Adolf Hitler picture represents Hitler. As soon as you look at it, you can sort of feel the kind of impression that is on the person. I really had a strong voice when I just saw the picture. Mainly, I got the voice from the way the person or the character looked in this picture. The way he looks, his eyes especially indicates some of the strength and firmness. When I first saw this, I was able to think of power. So overall, I would describe this picture as power.

#3. Nobel Prize

The picture of a person getting a Nobel Prize is also another picture that left a great impression on me. I also considered it a picture with a strong voice. This one was quite hard for me to realize the voice in the picture. But if you take a close look in what the scene is about, you will realize some kind of meaning in the picture...Thus, this picture does have a strong voice.

#4. Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix, is one of the well-known guitarist in America. This photo also gives us good voice and connection. His face expression, however is very confusing. If you think simply, you might think that he is very pleased and happy in playing the rock music. Now if we turn the idea upside down, he might be in pain. This photo definitely has a strong voice into it.

#5. Hardcore Gamer

This picture is a very interesting picture. As soon as you look at it, you are able to tell the voice of the picture. The character's expression and impression definitely shows and visualizes the voice. His outfit, totally proves that he loves to play game comfortably, and his face expression tells us that he loves to play game and he is very in to it. This photo obviously has good voice likewise.

Blogging Assignment #9

VOICE:

The author of this "The Sound Of Your Voice" stated that breeziness, condescension, and clichés. First of all, when the author said the voice must be breezy, the author meant that the voice the writer is using should be confident in what he/she is saying. The author also admits that taste is very important for the writer. The author mentions that the voice is one thing that the reader will enjoy. Taste can sometimes visible in the writing very easily, but sometimes it is invisible, or hard to find. He mainly warns us to not be verbose and corny. Imitation is one thing that the author mentioned as a good skill of learning. Through imitating, the author says that you will learn different skills. Also, he says to be not afraid of using your own voice. Also, he admits that we writers should not be intimidated by what the reader's bad comments and thoughts.
After reading "The Sound Of Your Voice", I personally thought that what he said was mostly true. First of all, we should never be intimidated in what other people say. When we get intimidated, we usually lose confidence. However, we should be confident of our own voice because each of our voice is unique. Also, we should build up our own voice as well. This is why mostly I agree to the author's statements.

Blogging Assignment #8

1. What is voice? What makes a voice unique? How would you describe your writing voice?
- A voice is a sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing crying, screaming, etc. It is one of the main source on your body that can create sounds. In order to create the sound the lung must provide adequate airflow and air pressure to vibrate the vocal folds. However, the voice in the literary form is somewhat different. The voice that is used in the literary term is the language style used by the author to communicate to the reader or the audience. It is a very important term in literary because if the voice of a character in a story is misplaced, the story will be very boring and won't make sense. Your own unique style of language makes your voice unique, because everyone uses different styles of language. My writing voice would be very normal, just like an ordinary student.

2...
- Object: iPod

***I always have a usually day; I do most of the same things over and over again. I find out that I usually sing to SOMEONE when I get along with this GUY to HIS school. Also, when HE comes back home, I have to sing to HIM again. This is because he loves to listen to music. Not only music, I figured he also like to watch movies, some action, mystery, comedic, and many more. Sometimes, he plays the games that I originally had. I enjoy playing with him, but too much playing makes me faint.
***When we finally arrive home, I get a little bit of chance to rest my voice, when HE takes a shower. After that, I have to sing for him once more. HE rubs his finger along my belly trying to control the songs or use other features that I can use. Other times, HE watches movies. It is very interesting to notice how I can play the movie for HIM. When I play the movies too much, I get too tired, and sometimes I faint right away. Movies take more effort to play because, it uses high technology to run the system. Creating all the colors and the light, running all the pictures in process is a very hard job. That's when HE has to give me my juice and battery. When I get my juice and my battery, I sometimes learn new songs that HE gives me, or get new movies. Even though I sing everyday for HIM, I never get tired or bored of singing, no one will be able to accomplish the job I have intended to do. When I connect with my friend, I look through the public stores, and take a look at the famous songs and popular songs. One of the most place I got to is the Billboard. The Billboard site especially gives you a clear idea of what popular songs are these days. I connect with myself to the iTunes Store and find out the hit, popular, and famous songs and sometimes receive the songs. Many of my fellow Pod's users gain songs by using pirated songs. I figured this was saving money, but illegal.
***Today was a really bad day for me, I was squished into a big bag after I sang a song for HIM when we rode a car to HIS school. Through the whole time in the school, I was quiet, like a dead mouse for the whole time. This was terrible, I had to stay in this narrowed, cornered, black empty space with no light wrapped around my wires. When HE finally opened the bag, I was totally squished into one small piece of me. When I opened my eyes, I figured that I was in the library; the air conditioning wind hit with such force that the surface of my body became cool as ice. It felt so good to be back out in the open. Later on in the day, all I did was the usual, sing. And I probably think that I will have the usual days anyway...

Blogging Assignment #7/ Reflection

1.What are some of the aspects of narrative writing and did you like using them?
- One of the aspects I used in my narrative writing was to lead the story in a 1st person perspective. I was able to say "I". This means that I was able to introduce myself as a main character. Also, I was able to communicate my story from my own personal experience. This was way easier and comfortable for me to communicate my experience and what I learned from this experience. An idea that I liked from this writing I also liked was that it didn't always need to be like an essay. It could be more like a story. This was what I really liked about this writing project.

2.How did you determine what details were relevant and necessary to support your ideas?

- I determined what details I needed in this writing by taking a closer look at my topic. My topic was about the CO2 dragster. How I started it, and how it ended. I eventually brought up a moral through this event I had. Through using a moral, I had more things to communicate. Also, if I focused on my topic, the answer became clear; it was easier for me to concentrate on what to write. Also, I was able to determine whether the things I wrote were relevant and necessary to support my ideas if I tried to connect the ideas with my topic. Also, being very detailed helped me through writing the story.

3.How did you create a unique piece of writing?

- I was easily able to create a unique piece of writing because the experience I had was quite different with others. As everyone tells us, every one's experience is different, and their personal thoughts is different with people. Which this also means that their perspective is also different. Also, to make sure the experience is not so similar to other experiences, I added the moral, which was able change a bit of things, such as the experience, thoughts, and ideas.

4.How did you craft your writing to meet the audience expectations? What is easy or hard?

- To make my writing piece meet the audience expectations, I tried to make the story as detailed, funny, and interesting as possible. As I wrote the story, I had to make sure that the inappropriate stuff for the story had to be deleted. For the part where I had to make it funny and interesting. I had to try to remember the parts where my friends had said somethings that were funny. This was kind of hard for me even though the event was only a year away. I also had to think of the style of language I use, and the topic I use. If the topic was too familiar or cheesy, I had to change it, or if the style of language was like talking to a 1st grader, I had to consider that as well.

5.How did your personal experience and faith shape the way you told this story?

- My personal experience gave me a more clear idea of what I had to right. Since I had experienced what had happended in the event, I knew kind of what to right. I did take out some boring parts which might have been too long, but I didn't change the story at all. The basic event and the ideas were the same from my perspective. However, I would have adjusted how the story could flow, then the story might have been a little more better.

6.What would your life be like without the experience?

- If I didn't have this experience, I would have been more different from who I was right now. From this event, I found out what I was good at. Compared to other kids, I was better at using the carving tools, racing, and technology. This gave me a goal in my life. I had a dream and a goal since I found out what I was kind of good at.

http://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/hook.php
-This article says that transitions are managed in the mainstream, mass-audience movies, and many more. The article also says that unity is needed in the hook. The unity of hook towards the audience is very needed.
1.) A sound can hook to another sound.
2.) A sound can hook to an image.
3.) An image can hook to an image.
4.) An image can hook to a sound.


http://authormarketingtools.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/writing-the-introduction-how-to-hook-your-audience-and-keep-them-reading/
- You have to make a hook that makes the reader content, and want them to stay reading.

1. Begin with a question or a challenge to your reader.
2. Follow this with a good thesis statement that identifies the objective of the work, makes a point with making, provides structure for the complete work and is easy to identify.
3. The remainder of the work should be filled with stories and solutions that the reader can connect to as they continue to read.
4. Make sure that all of the remaining sections of the work are compelling, well organized and easily read.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/print_article.php?articleId=10699
- This article says that the hook should be good, enough to catch the reader, audience's attention, because if the hook is not good, the author has many possibilities to lose the reader's attention. The hook also gives the reader a good idea of what the text will be like.


“The Tell-Tale Heart”
http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/tell-tale-heart.html

- TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.

The hook is quite interesting enough for me. I would consider this hook as a good hook. It is good because it got my attention using suspense, questioning the audience, and with many interesting details. The hooks from a literary text and a movie text differ because the literary text has to catch the audience's attention by just using sentence, while the movie can not only use words, but sounds, and visual effects.



3 Examples of Hook:

Online News Article: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/archives/result_contents.asp
Hook:Swine flu may infect half the U.S. population this year, hospitalize 1.8 million patients and lead to as many as 90,000 deaths, more than twice the number killed in a typical seasonal flu, White House advisers said.
-This hook gives you a shocking fact or a prediction that might become true.

Book: Where The Red Fern Grows
- This book's hook gives you a interesting detail of what the main character is like, communicating in a awkward way of speaking.

Movie: Wall-E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UblUO0LjPUg
- This movie makes you think what happened to Earth, after showing the Earth covered in Trash. Also, the sound or the song is kind of the hook as well.

Vocabulary Short Story- Blogging Assignment #5

"Over the Swine Flu Break"

I, Raymond Kim, is a student who goes to TCIS in a country. He enjoys quite a lot going to this school. It is very interesting, and fun. One day, this disease H1N1 influenza, a.k.a. Swine flu attacked our community, and some of the students were infected and were to be sent home.The nurses in the school were ambivalent what their decisions should be. After the students found out that the disease was very deadly, people began disdaining the disease. Some who are caring enough, however I believe would have lamented for the people who got infected. I really revere these kinds of people because, even though their situations might be bad, but they still mourn and care for others.
The school eventually closed down! The H1N1 influenza had infected too many people in our school that we had to close it for a while. However, this wasn't our only conflict we had to face. Homework!!! This was our next conflict. There were too much homework that after I finished all my homework, my face was too angular that it was able to cut through metal. After I was done, I embellished my work for extra work, and I didn't become arrogant, because I was too shy and taciturn. My work was ostentatious, because I worked on it too much. During the break, the school was being sterillizing; the school was not serene.

Blogging Assignment #4

Swine Influenza Article from Korean Herald
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/archives/result_contents.asp

Importance of Nouns:
Nouns are one of the most important things in writing. Nouns are person, place, thing, or an idea. It is basically almost all of the things around you. Most of the other grammar terms like verbs, adverbs, adjective, etc. are things you can't say much without nouns. The sentence is mostly based on the noun as well.

How do they affect our daily lives?:
Nouns also affect our lives very much. We use nouns everyday, and everytime. When we call someone, we call them by names. When we call people by names, you are using proper nouns. Also, without nouns, we would have a hard time calling people, saying sentences, and doing stuff with grammar. Basically, you wouldn't be able to create a normal sentence.

Would the language be limited without nouns?:
Yes, our languages will be limited. The sentences are mostly constructed up with nouns; the other terms, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. will basically be no use. We will not be able to say a sentence or a word.

How do nouns affect other language?:
Nouns affect other languages in the same way. Other languages will basically limit out just like English because nouns are mostly everything around us; person, place, thing, or an idea.


Nouns in the article:

Common nouns:
world
choir
contest
participants
health
authorities
organizers
people
virus
health ministry
statements
event
foreigners
contestants
public
government

Proper nouns:
South Korea
Indonesian participants
swine flu
Sunday
Indonesian
South Korean
A(H1N1) influenza
Saturday
July
South Gyeoungsang Province
Kang Mal-rim

Analyzing Articles

"Pakistan Burn Victims Turn Beauticians"

- This article basically talked about 2 Pakistan women; Saira Liaqat and Urooj Akbar who were beauticians even though they were seriously injured from the acid or fire. The two women had similar incidents; their husbands, had basically poured acid or burned her. The two women however, even through serious injury, didn't gave up and became a beautician who now works in a beauty salon in Pakistan.

- This article is an article with good ideas and quite clear theme. The article is well supported with many quotes, such as, "Every person wishes that he or she is beautiful, But in my view, your face is not everything. Real beauty lies inside a person, not outside."(Liaqat, 21). The article somehow helps the reader get an idea of what the situation is in the article. Additionally, ideas are reasonably accurate with support, and the writer seems to be writing from knowledge or experience.



Article #1
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=8347902
"Man Claims Aliens Send Him Messages"
- I came to look at this article because it was very unusual. It somehow caught my attention, in the idea of aliens. This article would be considered a good article in how the writer wrote it, but if considering the idea and the theme, it would be considered as a bad article. The article has many thoughts and researched ideas with many support using quotes, details, and backups from the research, but the article doesn't really seem to show what the real conclusion is at the end. The article just leaves off with a suspense idea. The writer says that some people think the man who claims to met an alien, Stan Romanek, is crazy and others that its true. Furthermore, the article leaves the reader with more questions.



Article #2
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/08/18/new.generation.telescopes/index.html
"Telescopes to show universe soon after Big Bang"
- This article is very good in a way of describing many details about the telescope, which is the main idea. It also talks about space, which is also related. It mostly talks about how telescopes advanced far from the past, and that they would be able to see many things people couldn't see in the past about the universe. The idea is to tell us about the telescope. There are many supporting ideas to this article. It is mainly reasonably accurate, and is full of detail.

Tracks Of Life

Life Moment #1
- "One Last Breath" By Creed -When I came to America & In America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmtGpROtFjo&feature=fvst

I chose this song as my first moment song, because its one of those songs you listened to a lot. When I was in America, my brother used to turn on the radio, and this song would many times come out.


Life Moment #2 -When I first came to America & And when I was having a hard time speaking English
- "Far Away" By Nickelback
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbL8blg1vk



This song I chose it because it kind of reminded me of the past when I was in America. I also used to listen to this song a lot in America as well.




Life Moment #3 - After I came back to Korea & When I went in to Korea school again
- "A Thousand Miles" By Vanessa Carlton


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnkvhi1XOR8&feature=fvst



"A Thousand Miles" was another song that I really had a big hit when it came out. That time, I was in America, and the song came out on the radio a whole bunch of times. This song I listened to a lot as well.



Life Moment #3
- "Bad Day" By Daniel Powter- During TCIS, when I was having a hard time catching up with friends and work & Right now...Swine Flu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnkvhi1XOR8&feature=fvst

This song had many influensive lyrics in the song. This song also was a big hit song. I really enjoyed it and this song made me think back to the days I had trouble in America speaking English.

About My Writing

*What characteristics describe “good” writing?

In my perspective, I think the characteristics of a good writing should contain minimized grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. These are basic characteristics in my thoughts because otherwise, the writing piece would not make sense. Additionally, a good writing should have a clear defined purpose of what the writer is going to write. Without an specific purpose or an idea, the writing would flow to a unusal ending that would not make sense. I also think that a good writing piece should have a support of what they are writing. Without an support, they might not be able to prove what they are trying to say. Furthermore, it would be better if the word choices in the writing fits the situation and makes sense.

*What is the process of writing?

The process of writing can be divided into 5 main parts. Prewriting (Outline & Brainstorm), Writing, Revising, Editing, and lastly, Publishing. We use these process to make our writing piece more better; sound more clear. If we use the process of writing, we can create a clear purpose of writing, make less mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Also, the writing piece will sound more better. In other words, it will be easier to create a good writing piece.