Alice in Wonderland

(From the movie, Alice in Wonderland)

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

-Alice in Wonderland-

Live like…

(From Flickr.com)

Work like you don’t need the money
dance like no one is watching
sing like no one is listening
love like you’ve never been hurt
and live life every day as if it were your last

-Aurora Greenway-

The Brilliant, but Unfortunate Genius, Mozart!

(From musicalmozart.co.kr)

I would like to talk a little bit about a musical that I watched last weekend. The title of the musical was “Mozart!”, and as you have already figured, it was about the life of the famous  composer, Mozart. The primary reason why I bought the tickets for this musical is because I read a news that it stars my favorite singer, Xiah Junsu, as Mozart. I didn’t have much expectations for the musical itself, since I was solely interested in Xiah, but after watching the musical, I cannot express how much I was mesmerized by it. I loved every single thing about it: the colorful costumes, powerful music, and the peaceful plot. If you live in Korea and you can understand Korea, I highly encourage you to visit the performance theatre before the musical is over.

(From musicalmozart.co.kr)

This musical has revealed to me, the real Mozart, not the one you read about in books. Mozart’s music is celebrated all over the world, and the world today remembers him as a genius for his heavenly symphonies, operas, and concerts. However, this genius composer was not a god, but just a regular human, like the rest of us. Like us, he also wanted to live his life loving others and being free. Yet, his genius forbade him from these this seemingly ordinary dream. His family and the music in his head constantly pressured him to compose music and make money. Therefore, Mozart became a victim of his own genius, his dreams completely shattered. This theme is intimately expressed through the costumes and songs. Mozart’s ripped jeans depict his youthfulness and desire for freedom, and the melancholy tunes demonstrate his internal delicacy.

Again, I want to say how much I loved this musical! The world will now remember Mozart as a person, not a cult figure created by the society and history!

What I need to work on

In a blog post, write what, after discussing writing for the last few days, you need to specifically work on in your writing.

After discussing about writings and essays for the last few days, I have discovered some of the flaws in my writings which I need to improve on. One of the mistakes that I realized is that I tend to summarized the quotes instead of analysing, when writing essays that require quote analysis as the supporting evidence. I could discover this flaw by observing and dissecting the essays of my classmates, because they often made such mistakes. Therefore, I must work towards simple and straight-forward analysis of quotes, and watch out for merely summarizing the context. Also, I must improve on deeper ideas and content; although I think that my ideas are thorough and high-standard when I am self-editing, I always receive 4 out of 5 for ideas and content. This shows that I must be more thorough with my points and support the with stronger details.

Final Semester Reflection

Looking back on the first semester of English, I have acquired many useful skills, including grammar, cooperation, active reading and discussion, and presentation. During the beginning of each class, the class began with short grammar lessons, called Daily Oral Languages (DOL). With a partner, I corrected two sentences with grammatical errors. Through these daily grammar practices, I was able to improve my grammar skills drastically, which later on helped me with correcting my own essays. Working with a partner every class also taught me cooperation and teamwork. Many times, we did not agree with each other on how to correct the errors, but through talking it out, we were able to negotiate and arrive at an agreeable point for the both of us. I also gained active reading and discussion skills. As a class, we read many classic literature in this semester; therefore, the class usually worked this way: we would annotate the novel or play for homework each night, and discuss about the reading in class. As a result, I was able to develop annotation skills (“reading between the lines”), which led me to understand the text at a much deeper level. Through discussion and debate, I was able to listen to the others’ ideas and apply them to my own. The presentation skills that I learned has helped me in other subjects as well. Through the course, I have learned various ways of presenting my information, including blogs, keynote, play or skit, and podcast. Experimenting with this wide range of ways of presentation has led me to realize which way works the best for me for different types of information. For instance, I realized that keynotes are effective when delivering information formally, and that blogs are effective when trying to be casual and more interactive with the audience.

Macbeth Final Presentation & reflection

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=284140619099&saved#/video/video.php?v=284140619099

For my final English exam, I gave a short keynote presentation with a speech, and here is what I did well and what I still need to improve on:
I believe that I used my time wisely, because I was able to deliver all my information within the 5-minutes time limit. Because I had enough time, I felt calm and confident. Also, I did not feel very nervous; therefore, I was able to deliver my presentation without shaking, swaying, or forgetting my lines. However, there are still many things I need to improve on. I did not make constant eye-contact with the audience and looked down on the floor for some parts of the presentation. Also, I felt that some of the points were not thoroughly explained or developed. In the next semester, I will work towards improving on these weaknesses.

Multi-Genre Project: Genre#3- Website

Again, the aim of the Multi-Genre Project (MGP) was to choose a topic, and explore the topic in different ways. Having written a research paper for my first genre and a comic book for my second genre, I chose to create a website for my last genre. I used the website, Wix.com, to accomplish this. I enjoyed making this website, especially because I like working with both technology and art.

To visit the website, click the image!