This week we have ended our second unit in Language Arts —- Right and Responsibilities. In order to demonstrate our knowledge and discuss topics with peers, we constructed our wiki space by either groups or individuals, and I chose “The Right to Democracy” as my research topic individually. Spending nearly three months on this unit, I came upon with new ideas from what I have learned, and I discovered my struggle as well.

I found that democracy is so far the best form of government, and we are responsible for those who are deprived by the right to democracy. First, the power of democracy is long-lasting. Citizens have faith in their leader through election because they are given freedom to opt their own leader. This leads to a win-win in citizens and leaders since both sides are completely satisfied and pleased by the unanimous result; therefore, the tendency for democratic governments to last longer increases. Even several non-democratic countries such as China and Russia are gradually moving towards and trying to emulate democratic countries nowadays.  Next, I believe that helping towards who are less fortunate than us is necessary, which I have never thought of. This idea all began when I researched for basic rights in a democracy, but unintentionally encountered a recent news that Poland citizens protested to defend their democracy. Afterwards, I delved into relevant information and felt uneasy for those people. There are thousands of innocents who’s rights are in danger everyday, yet most of us are oblivious. Once we know the information, we cannot furtively let the issue drift away because the issue will involve more and more people and eventually affect us one day. Action must be taken. In addition, mentioning about my new ideas I came up with, I realized my thoughts did change after this unit as I expect from my previous blog post. Before I placed “Responsibility” as the least important among thirty human rights because I cannot perceive any beneficial possibilities for us to help others. Nevertheless, as I discovered that certain people still live in misery day and day, but too powerless to stand up for themselves, I started to be more sympathetic and compassionate in three months.

My biggest struggle is my analysis, which is also the part that needs to be improved. After doing all the work in my page such as introduction, importance, examples, personal opinion, and reference, I had not yet write a single line of analysis. What a foolhardy mistake. Just like anyone else, I added my analysis to my page without a doubt. However, I realized that my page would be too lengthy and dull for my readers to absorb massive information at once, so I must reluctantly merge my analysis as a part of the discussion. As a consequence, this will negatively affect my page because my analysis might be easily ignored by readers. My suggestion for this error is that I should read and understand all the directions thoroughly before starting so that I will not trap into similar situation again.

At the end of this unit, I am truly delighted to engage with the issue of the right to democracy and other’s topic as well. The unit “Right and Responsibilities” made me think that rights should be empowered by everyone no matter which age, gender, nationalities, ethnicities, or social status the person is. Supporting others who are less fortunate than us is also unquestionably significant, too. Furthermore, I found my weakness and perceived a practical way to avoid it next time.

 

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By the end of the week we finished our first unit, culture; in order to have a deeper understanding, we read different cultural background of novel, story, and poems. Hence, looking back the past few months what we have done, it can be divided into three parts: connect, extend, and challenge.

First, this unit is connected to my known knowledge of the differences between countries. Remembering few months ago when teacher said “In this unit we will be talking about culture.”, my mind immediately had the image of countries’ flag, ethnicities, food, and languages because obviously these differences made different cultures. Also, we made posters about our home countries at the beginning so that by putting those posters on the board, I can compare the differences between one and another. Next, as we dug in about culture, my knowledge was greatly extended by the The Serpent’s Children, The Loaded Dog, and several poems. I am no longer to solely recognize the modern cultures but ancient cultures, and I found out that the differences in cultures may cause conflicts whether in an individual or a group. Finally, what challenged me in this unit was to perceive the connections in cultures.  Before I used to think that cultures are just different groups of people with different ways of living, so as the time past, the differences became more explicit. However, by the time we started to make connections in essays, I found out that cultures are not only the diversities but also the similarities such as the same formations of cultures and the effect of one’s culture.

At the end of this unit my thoughts about cultures changed by understanding and summarizing materials. Moreover, I made new discoveries from my knowledge which I would never thought about before.

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In the past few months we have been discussing the meaning of culture by reading different cultural background of novel, stories, and poems. In order to demonstrate our knowledge of culture, the requirement of consolidate our concepts into an analytical essay is made. From forming a thesis statement to the process of writing, then revising and editing until it is fully satisfied, several thoughts came up during the process.
First, I came up my thesis statement by drawing a table. Initially, I was by no means to figure out the connections among the novel, stories, and poems to establish a strong statement. However, by drawing a table for comparison and contrast, the idea gradually emerged. I discerned that different cultures are fundamentally found in different living styles from the natural environment, but they all lead to the same direction, thereby forming my thesis statement “Different cultures are formed by different living styles which all create an extreme feeling”. Next, in the duration of the process I was full of eager discomfort because there were lots of uncertainties. Say, the focus, the usage of language, the connections, or the balanced portion between explanations and evidences. These were the main point I tried to achieve in my essay. Last, my biggest concern is the portion between explanations and evidences. Due to the reason that, from the language art class today, I realized that the portion in my essay are highly unbalanced. Unnecessary waffles covered the evidences; moreover, the evidences are not analytical without giving any quotations. Therefore, I will edit my essay in the following days.
In short, these are the progress about my essay by gathering the knowledge of culture so far, and I will revise my essay in order to improve it.

After reading a book, I wrote down summary, wrote down my opinion, then conceived the theme of the story. This was what I usually do for every book project, whether which school I was in and whether which language I was using. However, this last no longer until the coming the assessment task for language art class. Together with our own research question, the requirement of the connection between research question and book was made, but I was by no means to continue once the journal had begun.
In the course of breaking, remaking, interweaving, and beginning afresh, it was as if a blurred image in a painter appeared: the painter adds a brushstroke and another, and it was gone, but the painter will not rest until he capture it. Sometimes I have been staring at a blank screen for minutes and had an expectation for words to bump out automatically, yet a blank screen was simply a blank screen until I forced myself to type a single word. That is it to say, with uncertainty and, once I began, the discomfort of changes from my draft hampered my continuation, especially to write for a task I have never done before. Therefore, by the time I started to force myself, I started to get more and more used to it. Hence, in this angle of doing a research question which was based on the novel, the deeper understanding of the novel was made.
By doing this assessment task, it led me to an extraordinary self-discovery and the profound understanding of the book. Although I have not entirely got over the hardship of writing, I know I will get over eventually since the problem in me was discerned, and I should content in the thought that what has been possibly done in this task.

 

▲ The entrance of  Monastery

 

Going on a trip for four days, does not only mean having fun with friends and have couple days off the school, but gaining educational knowledge by means of practical experiences. Layers of rocks slide down precipitously as if it was carved from the height of clouds to the inmost part of the Earth, and on the top of the mountain the glacier presents a more astounding spectacle and harsh weather than I have ever experienced before. It proves the inclement weather especially as soon as the squalls and dusts add in which appears tough for residents to survive in that condition thus causes people to regard Hei Shui as a developing place. Due to the reason above, I began to think about the discoveries of Hei Shui I have made during these days.

I found the preliminary way of living from the people. They have an air of freedom and pureness, and have no restricted standards or devotion to material things. In the morning, craws and barks from chickens and dogs vied with others which broke the silence of night. As it happened, people started to wake up and settle for a day, but I saw no lights or monstrous machines on the street. In the afternoon, groups of people sat and chatted while others working in fields which created a picture of harmony with the nature until night. However, before a long time we would be complaining about the unpleasant environment and tedious meals. Therefore, what If we notice that on the way up to the monastery there were not only curvy roads which had the undercurrent of danger, but people waving their arms with fervent and a big smile on the side of the streets no matter the time we met was only merely a glimpse. What if we notice that the buns, meats, and vegetables on the dining table were not produced by machines and the artificial way which we are familiar with, but by their hard-working and sweat day by day. Are those people culpable because they do not receive resources as much as we do? If we could notice these things, surely we would understand that this is their own way of living and culture. The way that  conveys the virtue of coexisting with nature.

A great opportunity of understanding and exploring Tibetan culture was given from this trip to Hei Shui. Moreover, I have learned how to take enjoyment in other culture which is not taught in textbooks until the coming of my own experience

▲ Inside the Monastery

▲ Local people in Hei Shui

 

▲ The environment of Hei Shui