Create Project

https://youtu.be/jwhn1R8eUjU

Revision

                                 The Atmosphere of the Poem 

           The busy street, the floating cloud, the verdant trees, the humming bees...all of these subjects can be written in poems, no matter they are lovely or not because there is no limitation. Moreover, poets can give anything a totally different meaning than its original meaning by creating the atmosphere properly. The atmosphere of a poem helps readers understand the poem better physically and psychological. In " Once Upon an Autumn Day" , Joseph T. Renaldi creates a soft and peaceful atmosphere to show that death is not horrible and accepting is the best way to face it. 

          “Once Upon an Autumn Day” is about the life-time of autumn leaves. It shows the pressures of those leaves’ change during autumn day by day and finally nest in a haven to welcome their winter-----death. Renaldi also wrote some sceneries in the woods which create a peaceful, cold and a little bit blue atmosphere of the autumn. The poem is separated into four stanzas, and the first sentence of each stanza is all the same which is “ once upon an autumn day”. The title is also the same. This kind of repetition of sentence makes the poem look much more neatly and orderly. And other three sentences in one stanza are different. And it will let people focus on the differences between the last three sentences of every stanza that indicates the change of autumn leaves and trees as the passing of time. The poem clearly shows that the leaves first change their colors and then fall down roaming in the wind, and they stop in the haven and finally be covered by the snow.

            The poem is not only just telling the fact of leaves’ falling or winter’s coming, but also uses many figurative languages that portrays the deeper meaning of the poem. This is the way that helps readers understand the poem mentally. For example, the whole poem uses personification to describe the breeze and leaves. It says “whispering breeze was here to stay/ moving aimlessly through the countless trees” which means the breeze is soft and not that strong. It creates a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. And the leaves “until at last they came to rest/ finding a haven in which to nest” also indicates that it is the end of the leaves life, and they find their belonging to start the long dreams. The important thing of writing a scenery poem like “Once Upon an Autumn Day” is to create the atmosphere and images because by doing this way the readers can imagine the pictures of the poem and can think about the plots by themselves. It is kind of to arouse the same feelings between the speaker and readers, and Renaldi tries to let readers taste the feelings of watching the falling of human-like leaves. It is a psychological way to help readers understand the poetry much better. Renaldi also uses hyperbole. “ the countless trees” shows the number of the trees is big, however, it is still a countable number, so here is hyperbole. The tremendous number of trees is trying to show that here is the homeland of leaves and trees which matches up with the “belonging” that mentioned above, which is much easier to lead readers get into that sense.  

          Moreover, the rhyme scheme is AABB AACC AADD AAEE which is very strict, however, the meters are not strictly following the rule. For the first stanza, it uses assonance, which is the repetition of /i/ sound, that gives readers the feeling of chilly to indicate the autumn’s coming. It is not the hot summer any more, which lays the foundation of the temperature of the poem. Actually, the repetition of /i/ sound appears all over the whole poem. Renaldi also uses consonances, which is the repetition of /s/ sound. It imitates the sound of the wind and the sound of leaves falling down. The repetition of sounds is a physical way to create the feelings and atmosphere which lets readers involve in the poem successfully.

            When I read the poem, there are many images floating in my brain which are the fading leaves hanging on the tree branches and be blown down to the ground by the wind; a haven which is full of dead leaves and finally is covered by the white snow. I even can feel the chilly of autumn wind and winter snow, and my world becomes silent and peaceful all of a sudden. Normally, death is a sad and scary thing. However, in this poem, because of the way the author writes and the atmosphere he creates, the death of leaves becomes to a peaceful thing that is much more acceptable. They are just resting in their belonging, the haven, and having a sweet lengthy winter dream.

Thesis

The atmosphere of a poem helps readers understand the poem better physically and psychological. In " Once Upon an Autumn Day" , Joseph T. Renaldi creates a soft and peaceful atmosphere to show that death is not horrible and accepting is the best way to face it. 

Peer review of Johnny's paper

          You did a good job! I really like your thesis which kind of gives readers a lesson that everything has two different sides which makes the world variable and colorful. You got this thesis by finding the deeper meaning of the poem, so that the thesis statement comes from the content part.

          By reading you paper, I can understand that you want people to see the different sizes/ perspectives of one thing. The thesis is pretty clear, and my suggestion is to make your thesis stronger which could help your aim of this paper become much clearer. So the way I suggest you to do that is taking of the words such as "should" and adding strong words in.

          The second paragraph talks about the meaning of the poem which analyzes profoundly but a little repetitive, and I can clearly understand the poem because of your analysis. And the quotes you chose are good because you chose the quotes that you can talk a lot about. My suggestions are what about combining those quotes together in order to make your analysis concise. Otherwise, readers might feel boring when they read this kind of similar quotes with similar analysis.

          And the other good thing which I noticed while I was reading your paper was you even pointed out the second meaning of the poem: "everything has reasons why it exists" which rises an upper level for your paper. And you use a metaphor to explain. You said everything is like a door, and on one side you need to pull it to open, however, when you stand at the other side of the door, then you need to push it to open which indicates that everything has two different sides, and no matter which side you face, you should always remember that there is another side waiting for you to explore.

         Your analysis of the poem structure was pretty good. However, you forgot to say the rhyme scheme of this poem which is ABABCDCDEFEF, and it is kind of clear and strict. And I have a question that I wish you can answer in your paper: Number 1 and Number 5 are questions, and other lines are statements. Does the author mean to do that? I think you can analysis about it a little bit. 

You talk a lot about the meaning of the poem, maybe add more about the analysis of the way the author wrote the poem. But you have already written a lot of words, so maybe cannel some repetitive sentences before you add. 

        You can add a hook in your introduction paragraph to grab readers attention.

You have some grammar mistakes:

" He is not a famous poet, his poems are about everything in his life, he didn't focus on one specific topic, the poem I choose is about 11 pairs of thing." You should add the connect words such as "and" between the clauses you wrote. Besides, do not use abbreviation in you paper because this is a formal paper.

        Here are the things that I realized after reading your paper. Keep working hard, and I wish you can get a good grade!

Theater Review

                                                                 Theater review

      It was an unusual show!

      This show was different than those last several shows I had seen before. Although every show was impressive, this new form still made me feel surprised. The main part of this show was comedy and the goal was to make everybody laugh. It was a very relax and happy show, and I liked it very much. 

     During the show, people around me, include me, laughed a lot. And my tears even came out when I saw the “morning meeting” in Act two. Every actor focused on each teacher’s characteristics and zoomed them out which can let audiences recognize who was acting who immediately. And they let everybody cannot help laughing. Besides, the show separated into several different little shows which were also much more easy to understand. And the style of each was different than the other that made the whole show much more interesting and free. I would not feel that I was overwhelmed by the super long plots.

      The actors face emotions were very variable and vivd. I believe this is one of the characteristics of comedy. Not only actors’ dialogues but also their emotions and actions also make audience laugh, and they did that successful. 

      The most impressive thing was those three actors dressed like women in some stories. It was a very brave and challenging thing. However, they handled their characters perfectly. On this stage, they showed their totally different personalities to audiences. I felt really impressed because of their hardworking.

      After watching this show, I felt pretty relax and happy. I thought that might because I laughed a lot and released my pressure. It is really a good show that deserves to see especially before the coming final exams. I want to thank every drama member that brought us a lot of fun and joy.

      Good job!!   

Poem recitation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0OLr5PHBj8&feature=share

Poem analysis---The Atmosphere of the Poem

                                                     The Atmosphere of the Poem 

           Poem is beautiful and when you read it, it sounds more like a song than a prose. It is not focus on the grammar and correct English but the feelings, emotions and atmosphere. How can a poem be readable without using full sentences for each line? How can author’s emotions when he wrote the poem be understandable by reading the poem? Some of the poems can be understood by people who are not good at analyzing poems, the reason is the feelings and the atmosphere of the poem can bring readers into the world that it describes. The atmosphere of a poem helps readers understand the poem better physically and psychological.

           This poem is about the life-time of autumn leaves. How those leaves change during autumn day by day. And also some sceneries in the woods, which create a peaceful, cold and little bit grey atmosphere of the autumn. 

           The poem is separated into four stanzas, and the first sentence of each stanza is all the same which is “ once upon an autumn day”. The title is also the same. This kind of repetition of sentence makes the poem look much more neatly and orderly. And other three sentences in one stanza are different. And it will let people focus on the differences between the last three sentences of every stanza that indicates the change of autumn leaves and trees as the passing of time. The poem clearly shows that the leaves first change their colors and then fall down roaming in the wind, and they stop in the haven and finally be covered by the snow.

            It seems as just telling the facts, but the whole poem uses many figurative languages that portrays the deeper meaning of the poem. For example, the whole poem uses personification to describe the breeze and leaves. It says “whispering breeze was here to stay/ moving aimlessly through the countless trees” which means the breeze is soft and not that strong. It creates a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. And the leaves “until at last they came to rest/ finding a haven in which to nest” also indicates that it is the end of the leaves life, and they find their belonging to start the long dreams. The important thing of writing a scenery poem is to create the atmosphere and images because by doing this way the readers can imagine the pictures of the poem and think about the plots by themselves. It is kind of to call the same feelings between the speaker and readers. It is a psychological way to help readers understand the poetry much better. 

            The author uses hyperbole. “ the countless trees” shows the number of the trees is big. But the trees are countable, so here is hyperbole. The reason why the author writes there are lots of trees is to show that here is the homeland of leaves and trees which matches up with the “belonging” that mentioned above. 

           The rhyme scheme is AABB AACC AADD AAEE which is very strict, however, the meters are not strictly following the rule. For the first stanza, it uses assonance, which is the repetition of /i/ sound, that gives readers the feeling of chilly to tell that autumn is coming. It is not the hot summer any more, which lays the foundation of the temperature of the poem. Actually, there are many /i/ sounds in the whole poem. The author also uses consonances, which is the repetition of /s/ sound. It imitates the sound of the wind and the sound of leaves falling down. The repetition of sounds is a good way to create the feelings and atmosphere which lets reader involve in the poem physically.

            When I read the poem, there are many images floating in my brain which are the fading leaves hanging on the tree branches and be blown down to the ground by the wind; a haven which is full of dead leaves and finally is covered by the white snow. Normally, death is a sad and scary thing. However, in this poem, because of the way the author writes and the atmosphere he creates, the death of leaves becomes to a peaceful thing that is much more acceptable. They are just resting in their belonging, the haven, and having a sweet lengthy winter dream.

Once Upon An Autumn Day

-----by Joseph T. Renaldi

time: unknown

Once Upon an autumn day, 
Colorful leaves began to fade
In the midst of a chilly, frosty air
As multitude of trees grew steadily bare.

Once upon an autumn day, 
The whispering breeze was here to stay
Moving aimlessly through the countless trees
Scattering leaves with the greatest of ease.

Once upon an autumn day, 
The leaves whirled freely in every way, 
Until at last they came to rest
Finding a haven in which to nest.

Once upon an autumn day, 
The trees were dormant, and the leaves lay
Waiting for the winter snow to fall
To quickly obscure them one and all. 

In class found poem

found poems

http://articles.famouswhy.com/everyday_life_in_britain/

Talking about the weather is one of the stereotypes which we apply to the British. In fact it is not quite a cliche as they do speak about weather all the time. They do so because in Britain weather changes a lot. Wind, rain, sun, clouds, snow- they can all happen in Britain winter or summer.

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No.1

British weather

Variable weather

no matter winter or summer

snow chases behind the sun

wind dances next to the rain

the British weather

likes the joker in the poker

No.2

Coffee with tea

smells of spring

like growing leaves,

fresh rainy street,

ground-buried sweet,

heaven angle's dream

in class writing

Image of Fig

what does the fig mean to the father?

The fig is father's favorite friut, and it is like the one in father's mind. And it is a kind of thing which father awalys looks forward to. It is more like a goal for him, and in his mind, the best fig tree in the world is a gift given by Allah. He is finding the tree is like he is following Allah's foot steps. 

What does the fig symbolize in the poem?

The fig symbolizes Allah's gift, becasue he is a dreamer and a Musliem. He never plant a tree by himself but want to meet a tree with fattest, sweetest and largest figs on it accidentally. He seems that kind of fig tree is a gift given by Allah. It is like a core of father's religion. And the whole poem is about father and fig tree, so the fig tree is also the core of the poem. 

The fig tree is the symbol of the father's culture and his belonging because the best fig trees are only grow in Arabic. And he wants to remain himself of those things

Haiku

Sunny coming spring,

Dandelion is smiling. 

hopes float in the air 

Fluffy seed grows high,

under the shining sun light

waving and singing

open the window

feel the transparent rain drops

chilly, also fresh 

poem ring out wild bells

Ring Out , Wild Bells 
Alfred Lord Tennyson

1
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,     A 8
The flying cloud, the frosty light;     B 8
The year is dying in the night;        B 8
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.   A 8
2
Ring out the old, ring in the new,     C 8
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:   C’’’’ 6
The year is going, let him go;        D 7
Ring out the false, ring in the true.  E 8
3
Ring out the grief that saps the mind,  A 8
For those that here we see no more,   B 8
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,  B 8
Ring in redress to all mankind.    A 8
4
Ring out a slowly dying cause,    C 8
And ancient forms of party strife;  D 8
Ring in the nobler modes of life,   D 8
With sweeter manners, purer laws.  C’’ 8
5
Ring out the want, the care the sin,  E 8
The faithless coldness of the times;  A 8
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,  A 8
But ring the fuller minstrel in.   E 8
6
Ring out false pride in place and blood,   B 8
The civic slander and the spite;  C 8
Ring in the love of truth and right, C 8
Ring in the common love of good.  B 8
7
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,  D 8
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; E 9
Ring out the thousand wars of old,  E 8
Ring in the thousand years of peace. D 8
8
Ring in the valiant man and free, A 8
The larger heart, the kindlier hand; B 8
Ring out the darkness of the land, B 8
Ring in the Christ that is to be. A 8

I have written down the numbers of syllables and the rhymes at the end of each line. Most of them have 8 syllables for each line, and the rhymes form of them is ABBA, except for Stanza Number 2 and 7. The numbers of syllables are not as strict as others. The poem mainly talks about the wild Christmas bell.  For the bell is one of the symbols of Christmas, it can take away the “old staff” and the “bad luck” of the past old year and bring us the “ new start” and “ good luck” of the coming new years, while it rings. This poem wants to tell us about the poet’s good wishes for the new year. And everyone should enjoy this great holiday at this time. The form of the poem is quite clear and strict, so when I read it I can feel the beats and the melody. Besides, this poem is very positive and happy, which is very suitable for the Christmas holiday, and people can express their wishes by reading this poem. It creates an atmosphere of happy Christmas and New Year successfully, and that is reason why I like it. It is quiet long, it is easy to understand and recite. When I read it, I can sort of see the images of the ringing wild bells. Such as the ringing golden bells are hanging outside everyone’s house, and the beautiful sound of them brings people joy and good luck. They are shining in the day and night, in the snow and wind. Families and friends are getting together, sharing their happiness and listening to the bells. The bells merge into people’s happy memories naturally, and becomes to an essential elements of the unforgettable Christmas. This image will float in my mind while I am reading this poem which makes me happy and appreciate.  

In-class writing about the poem

This Dog - Poem by Rabindranath Tagore

Every morning this dog, very attached to me,

Quietly keeps sitting near my seat

Till touching its head

I recognize its company.

This recognition gives it so much joy

Pure delight ripples through its entire body.

Among all dumb creatures

It is the only living being

That has seen the whole man

Beyond what is good or bad in him

It has seen

For his love it can sacrifice its life

It can love him too for the sake of love alone

For it is he who shows the way

To the vast world pulsating with life.

When I see its deep devotion

The offer of its whole being

I fail to understand

By its sheer instinct

What truth it has discovered in man.

By its silent anxious piteous looks

It cannot communicate what it understands

But it has succeeded in conveying to me

Among the whole creation

What is the true status of man. 

I chose a short poem from Tagore. The reason why I chose this poem is because Tagore is my favorite poet and many of his projects are very beautiful and famous such as Stary Birds and Let Life Be Beautiful As Summer Flowers. But this poem is only a sweet dog which likes to stay with people. The object of the poem is very small but interesting, so I chose it. And the poet seems like to talk about the dog is pure and loyal, although it cannot express its thoughts, it can understand people and always accompany people. (I am not sure) 

Reflection of the Creative Project

                                                     Dolls of A Happy Family

      Six different characters which are designed by myself were painted on the surface of three blank wooden dolls. They are Ashmol and Kellyanne, Annie and Rex, Pobby and Dingan which are the main characters of the book Pobby and Dingan. Different couples of characters have different backgrounds, and of them have different deep meanings.  

     The characters on the biggest doll are Asmol and Kellyanne. They have golden hair, dark eyes, and even some nifty freckles. Ashmol wears an orange T-shirt which we can tell his open and vivacious personality by looking at it. There are some green leaves patterns behind and next to his shoulders, which symbolize that Ashmol is like leaves. He is positive and willing to face the sun, and he shows his enormous vitality. In the book, he tries his best to help his family solve problems. Compare with Kellyanne, he has longer life, so that is why the background of Kellyanne are roses----beautiful but fragile. On the biggest doll, Kellyanne is wearing a pink dress standing in front of the roses. She is pale and pretty just like those delicate and charming roses. Above Ashmol and Kellyanne’s heads, it is a night sky. The patterns on the sky are not stars but mysterious white circles which represent Kellyanne and Ashmol’s endless imagination because in the book Kellyanne and Ashmol are the two people who believe Pobby and Dingan so as those imaginary things are real.

     For the second doll, we painted Dad and Mom on it. Annie has blond straight hair and wears a deep purple skinny shirt. There are not many emotions on her face, and she looks strict. In my opinion, she is not that strong, and she always felt unhappy and homesick during that time period when her family was in a terrible situation. On the opposite side of the doll, we drew Rex. He has curly brown hair and wears a black suit. He has a face of vicissitudes that because he works in the mine and needs to do those heavy works everyday. We want people can see tired on his face. The background of Annie and Rex are the national flags of Australia and England which tells the nationalities of them. And we combine the two national flags together without separate also want to show that love can break the differences between country, culture and language (Australia English and British English have some differences). 

     The two important characters are on the smallest doll----Pobby and Dingan. Red and pastel blue are the colors that normal people will not use to color their hair. However, they are Pobby and Dingan’s hair colors which indicate that they are not normal people but imaginary friends of Kellyanne. The background of Pobby and Dingan has four colors: blue, yellow, green and pink with colorful butterflies on it. These four colors are light colors which can create an atmosphere of wonderland, and butterflies give people a common sense of fairies. All of those patterns show that Pobby and Dingan are not human. Besides, Pobby wears white and blue that means he is a pacifist. The reason why we painted them on the smallest doll is that we see the doll as a person, and the closer the thing to the inside, the closer to the spirit world. 

      The most important part of the project is a picture of the whole family sitting at the dinner table. The happy shows on everyone’s face, and we can feel the peaceful atmosphere at that moment. The whole family is united together. This picture is the shining memory which is like the core of the dolls so as the whole family. I learnt that family will always be the strongest support of a person, and the happy memories among the family members will become the bond of them which can make the love tighter and deeper. 

      I met many difficulties when I did the project such as the water color are very easy to stick on my fingers and when my finger with color press on the blank space of the doll, it becomes dirty. So it is very hard to deal with this problem. Besides, it is also difficult to draw pictures on the curly surface, and it always makes my finger ache if I spend a long time painting.  

The progressed we have done

Last Firday we only designed 2 characters---Kellyanne and Ashmol. Now we have finished designing the six characters, and we used pencil draw them on the dolls. And we have almost finished coloring the biggest doll with Ashmol and Kellyanne on it. We still needed to draw a picture of the whole family on a piece of paper and write some sentences on the back of it, in order to put it inside the doll. Besides, we need to color other 2 dolls which have Dad and Mom and Pobby and Dingan on them. 

proposal

Proposal of creative project:
Yichen and me want to make a project together which has something to do with painting. I suggested to paint the characters on blank Matryoshka dolls, each doll paints two characters. I think that will be a great idea because draw pictures on the Matryoshka dolls would be a lovely way to show our work. And Yichen suggested to put a long piece of paper inside the dolls and draw some important plots on it. I think it is a very fancy idea, too. And it will surprise people. 
So: 
1. We have already bought the blank Matryoshka dolls on Amazon, and it will be shipped to school on 12th April. ( I once thought that we can make the ceramic dolls by ourselves, but then we realized that it will waste too much time, and we won’t finish the project on time. Then I gave up.)
2. We will design the cartoon style characters by ourselves not copy from the internet, but I will search for some cartoons and learn how to draw them. There are six characters in total, Ashmol, Kellyanne, Pobby, Dingan, Dad and mom. The important thing for this part is that I need to zoom those characters characteristics, so that we can recognize who is who, but it is very hard to draw. 
3. Then we will use watercolor to color the dolls. Actually I have no idea where can we borrow the watercolor. ( Maybe I think I should at least two groups of Matryoshka dolls because we will probably make some mistakes while we are painting)
4. We will use color pencils to draw the long paper with plots. We will discuss together to choose 3~4 plots that we think are the most important and link them together on one piece of paper. The plots we are going to choose are: Kellyanne plays with Pobby and Dingan. Their fence are setting on fire; Annie sits on the bed watching old photos; Ashmol goes down to the mine and finds Pobby and Dingan by himself during the midnight; All of the people in the town come to join Pobby and Dingan's funeral. The thing is that piece of paper would be very tiny, so that it is also hard to draw.

Finally, I want sort of improve my art skills, and I have this chance to create my own cartoon characters. So that It also can improve my imagination. 

The meaning of the quote

Explain the meaning of this quote: "The secret of an opal's color lies not in its substance but in its absences." What does it mean to the characters in the novel and how does it relate to the plot? What do you think the opal symbolizes for the family and especially for Ashmol? Why is it important that it contains many colors and why are the absences important?

     This sentence is at the beginning of the book written by Australian Geographic, and it is really hard to answer because It does not show its meaning directly. The "secret"."opal's color","substance" and "absences” all have deeper meanings. In this sentence, the word secret means that the most important thing or the truly meaning. Then we can rewrite this sentence into “The most important part of an opal's color is in its absences not in its substance.” Opal is the core of the book, and it is the big background which surround the characters. Rex's dream was finding the opal. Opals are real to him. Ashmol likes those beautiful stones too. And there is even a big valuable opal on one of Kellyanne's imaginary friend Dingan's bellybutton. And this family is kind of be gathered together in Australia because of opal. Besides, at the beginning of the book, I remember that there is a plot about a teacher said to Ashmol, opals are magical and there are sprits in them. This plot creates a magical atmosphere for the opal, and let readers curious about how mystery the opals are. And in this book, opal also symbolizes dream, which is the support of people and like the guide light leads people walk straight towards their goals.

      Then I am going to talk about the substance and the absences in the sentence. I think the substance means the things that people can see and really exists, which symbolizes Ashmol's family members. They have different personalities and all of them are nice and sweet, so do the substance colors which are different and colorful. The absences means the things which we cannot see and maybe they do not exist at all, that symbolize Pobby and Dingan. They are imaginary friends of Kellyanne. They are invisible, and we cannot tell whether they are real exist or not actually. If you believe, they are exist; if you do not, they are not. But they brought huge influences to Ashmol's family, especially to Ashmol. They change Ashmol from punching air to show that he does not believe those imaginary things to a mature boy who can carry a heart with hope to find them in the deep mine during the midnight. They are Kellyanne’s imaginary friends, but they can change Ashmol and make him become more hopeful, positive and enthusiastic to face everything. They are like a gift. That is why they are really powerful and important. 

      In Pobby and Dingan, the main idea is that dream should be protected because they are valuable and important. 

      In my opinion, dreams can be separated in to two different types, one is your goals which is achievable and touchable, like opals, they are beautiful stones that Rex wants to get; one is your imagination, which is much more creative, and they are not real and even might not exist, like Pobby and Dingan, Kellyanne's imaginary friends. They are far from our real life, but they are still meaningful and important to people's certain period of lifetime. However, as I just mention, Pobby and Dingan are the absences of opal's colors. They are important and mystery and what the lies are telling. They are the other form of dreams which contains more of our hope and impossible, for it has endless possibility. No one could tell how they look like and why people have those ridiculous imaginations. But they are the truly meaning of a dream. 

     

     

list 3 ways that the ending of the film is different from the ending of the book

1. In the book, it says Kellyanne died and was burried with P&D, but in the film, she does not.

2. In the film, the director of the funeral gives Dingan's bellybutton back to Ashmol, but in the book, he does not.

3. In the book, there are thousands of people attend the P&D's funeral, but in the film, there are just about one hundred.

Quiz

2. What connection does Asmol make between the land covered with seawater and Pobby and Dingan? Why is that important to the story?

Answer:

" I felt a shiver go down my spine just thinking about how strange this was, that a sea was once here where now there is nothing but dry land. And suddenly I thought how maybe if this amazing thing was true it was just possible Pobby and Dingan were true too."

Ashmol thought if this extremely change which was the land he was step on was changed from sea could happen, so that nothing will be impossible. That means Pobby and Dingan have some chances to be real too. ( Analyze: what Ashmol saw was the land, and he did not see the sea so do everybody because no one can live thousands of years, but people still know and believe that the sea was truly exist here thousand years ago. That means the thing which you cannot see by your own eyes still possibly exist.) 

* This was Ashmol's mental activities, which clearly shows that at this moment, he converted his mind and believed that maybe Pobby and Dingan were truly exist because of the scenery he saw and what his dad told him. It shows the big change of Ashmol from strongly believe that P&D were fake to try to think about maybe they are real. This big change pushed the plot move forward. It lay the foundition of Ashmol found Dingan's big opal bellybutton and Pobby and Dingan's died bodies. 

5. In the very end of the novel, Ashmol talks about what it’s like to “believe in something which is hard to see. Or to keep looking for something that’s totally hard to find.” Discuss the importance of imagination and dreams in this novel. Why are they so important even if they cannot be seen. Consider what dreams Rex, the father, and Annie, the mother, have in the story. Consider, also, the dream that Ashmol has. How do those "unseen" dreams connect to Kellyanne's belief in Pobby and Dingan?

                  

         (Mine : Rex)

Answer:

All of Ashmol’s family members have dream.

Kellyanne's dream is "her imaginary friends Pobby and Dingan.

Rex's dream is: finding tons of valuble opals by himself and becoming to a succeful millinair, so that        everybody will admire him and no one will tease him and his family anymore.

Kellyanne is the youngest member of this family, and she is not that mature, so her dream is the most childish and objectivise which is P&D. But it is still equally with everybody else dream. It is important to her and effect her a lot. So that it is meaningful. 

*What is dream? in my opinion, dream is like something you strongly believe no matter what other people say, and it can cheer you up and has good effects on you. Dream is the shore of a person during a certain period of his\her lifetime. 

 Of course, dream is invisble and untouchble because it is on the profound level of your sprite. However, it is important for everyone. Because of dream, Rex could still stay at this tough mining area and keep finding opal when other miners set his fence on fire and called him rat. Just because he strongly believes his dream that he can find opal. That's true his dream might be ridiclous to somebody, and he might face many difficulties and troubles, but it is close and touchable and really exist to him.

 Because of P&D which is Kellyanne’s dream, she could have her own friendship and have a happy childhood. It weighed the same as Rex's dream. So dream so be protected.

Dreamis powerful. Because of it people have goals, and it can make you face your tomorrow much more positively. 

Quiz questions No.4

4. Why do you think Ashmol promises not to use the opal to get money? Do you agree with this decision? 

*Because He promised Kellyanne, and that promise worked. Kellyanne wants him to use that opal to buy a coffin and hold a funeral for P&D, he wants to make her happy.

*That bellybutton belongs to Dingan not anyone else, he does not have right to sell it for money to gain benefits for himself.

* The only important thing for him right now was to make Kellyanne feel better, and he believed that hold a funeral for P&D by using that opal will work.

Yes, He is a really nice boy. He knows how important the kinship is, he kind of weighted Kellyanne and money, and he chose Kellyanne immediately 

About Pobby and Dingan

      Pobby: He is a boy and he has a wonden leg, which makes him walk really slow like a turtle. Besides, he was short and fat so that I think the way he walks will not be graceful and agile. Maybe Pobby is a fatty and sweet boy who has short hair, round face and big ears. And he is probably gentle and cute because the person who has a slow pace would be that kind and moderate. The most important thing is that Pobby likes Lolipops, sitting on the swing and playing with Kellyanne. He might were a cap and holds a bagpack with a stick which helps him to walk hanging on it on his shoulder. I think he might wear a dark shirt and a long grey pants in order to cover his wooden leg because he does not others look down no him. He kind of feels shame about his leg. He gives me a feeling which is that he is old but I do not know why; he is just a teenager. 

       

Dingan: She is a girl, and she was the one who won the third place of a competition which means in Kellyanne's mind, she must be very pretty. Kellyanne always mentions that there is an extremely beautiful big opal on her bellybutton. The color of the opal is green, red and black. So in my opinion, Dingan might have long hair and blue big opal like eyes, and she might be a really girly person who usually wear dress. And because she wears opal in her bellybutten that means she probably likes jewelry, and she might wear a shining necklace. She is tall and thin. Moreover, she sounds like a lovely gentle girl, so in my imaginary, she might wear a hat with pink bowknot. The things she likes to do are reading books, painting pictures, sitting on the swings, singing and so on. Her favorite this is lolipops. The color of Dingan's clothes might be bright and colorful, so that I drew some sunflowers on them which are my favorite flowers.

     Pobby and Dingan “ speak English quietly. And they likes to whistle. But you have to be a certain kind of person to hear them.” 

Vocabulary

For each word, write the sentence that it comes from, the part of speech, and the meaning as it is used in the sentence.

claim n.

It is a kind of sign which 

Mum asked one night when she’d got back from her job on the checkout at Khan’s and me and Dad were relaxing after a hard afternoon’s work out at the claim.

wobbling adj. n. v.

Wobbling means shaking and trembling.

The noise of a car drove into our ears and a four-wheel-drive police jeep came wobbling down the creamy red track that leads to our claim.

startled adj.

shocked, feels really surprised

My dad turned around, startled.

figment n.

small pieces of segment 

Kellyanne glared at me through tears the way she did the time I slammed the door of the ute in Dingan’s face or the time I walked over to where Pobby was supposed to be sitting and punched the air and kicked the air in the head to show Kellyanne that Pobby was a figment of her imaginings.

rummaged v.

checked 

He rummaged through piles of rocks.

ute n.

It is a kind of Indian in America

Kellyanne glared at me through tears the way she did the time I slammed the door of the ute in Dingan’s face or the time I walked over to where Pobby was supposed to be sitting and punched the air and kicked the air in the head to show Kellyanne that Pobby was a figment of her imaginings.

crackpot n.

crazy thoughts 

Lightning Ridge was full of flaming crackpots as far as I could see.

Mello Yello n.

A kind of drink which is similar with the soda

“Pobby and Dingan aren’t dead,” I said, hiding my anger in a swig from my can of Mello Yello.

mates n.

friends, playmates.

“I still say Kellyanne could do with some real-live mates,” went on my dad, as if he was talking to someone inside his beer.

opal n.

A kind of valuable beautiful stone.

My dad would come back from the opal mines covered in dust, his beard like the back end of a dog that’s shat all over its tail.

fairdinkum (I don't know the part of speech of this word)

Seriously.

“Fairdinkum?”

imaginary n.

Fake, and create by people's brain

Now, I was as much a rockhound as the next kid, but I wasn’t crazy enough to talk to imaginary friends, I’ll tell you that for nothing.

grub n.

Food 

She said they were quieter and better behaved than me and deserved the grub.

fossilized adj.

very old and looks like stone.

There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth tooth with sun-flash in it.

mammoth n.

a kind of animal which had already disappeared  in the Earth.

There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth tooth with sun-flash in it.

In class writing

Do you think Pobby and Dingan are real? Why or why not? Use evidence from the book to back up your ideas.

      I think Pobby and Dingan are real. 

      Firstly, the title of the book is Pobby and Dingan, and the whole book might all about these two characters. So let's make a hypothesis that Pobby and Dingan are not really exist in this book. Then the whole book will be aimless because if the author just write about the characters which are not exist which make other people argue with that, it is kind of boring and ridiculous. And the nerdier says," I tried to get my head round how it could be their fault if they didn’t even exist." which means that the Ashmol starts to think about how could the fake people make such huge influence. That portarys there must be something really exist, and he just has not found out yet. His opinions about Pobby and DIngan are no longer stonge.

      Secondly, From Chapter 1 and 2, it seems only Kellyanne herself sees Pobby and Dingan as her really friends. Other people are just want to make Kellyanne happy and act as they believe Pobby and Dingan are exist. They see Kellyanne as a little bit different childish girl who likes imagining. So that when Dad brought Pobby and Dingan outside and did not pay attention with them at all, so as a result he lost them which made Kellyanne extremely mad. Then they had to go out and find Pobby and Dingan. Ashmol and father hoped that " any minute now Kellyanne was going to suddenly imagine she had found her imaginary friends and start beaming all over her face." However, they spent a long time finding Pobby and Dingan, and they still did not find anything. And Kellyanne looks really worried. That means Kellyanne were looking for her friends for real and serious. If Pobby and Dingan are just the friends she imagined, she could find them whenever and wherever she wants, but she does not. According to this detail, I think Pobby and Dingan are probably exist in some way.

final draft

Betty Huang

                                           The Change of Cocoon

       What is love? Love is a giant mutual power which can connect people's hearts, lets them become closer and changes their personalities. No one wants to always be alone and always be the "different type" in others' eyes. Everyone yearns for someone who could give a little piece of love to them, care about them and never give up on them. This love will change them. In Me and You, Olivia trusts Lorenzo and shares her feelings with him, and gives Lorenzo a special experience of being needed, which lets Lorenzo know how to care about other people and actually do something to help others; In the film, Lilo&Stitch, Lilo teaches Stitch the meaning of love and family, and she shares hers with Stitch, making him feel warm and safe. Because of this, Stitch changes from an evil cold-blood monster to an important indispensable member of Lilo's little sweet family. Because of two Olivia and Lilo’s gentleness and patience, Lorenzo and Stitch open their minds and become to more caring people.

          Me and You shows how Lorenzo, an isolated boy, opens his mind and becomes to a mature and reliable man because of the days which he spent with Olivia in the cellar. Lorenzo used to be a lonely boy who was lack of safety, and he does not trust anyone because when he was a little boy his father forced him to swim by suddenly throwing him into the sea, although he was very afraid of water. His sister Olivia saw: “You were down in the cockpit playing with your toys, they came up to you from behind, slipped your armbands off and you started wriggling, yelling like they were skinning you alive” (Ammaniti 139). This indicates how terrible Lorenzo’s father is. He does not care about Lorenzo’s feeling at all. The way he treats his own kid is kind of cruel. The actions which Lorenzo did show he was extremely scared because of this, and this is a horrible experience for him which left an unforgettable nightmare in his deep mind. This is reason why Lorenzo resists trusting people because he was betrayed by one of his dearest people. He lost the ability of trust and closed his mind when he wassuch a young boy. He cannot get involved with others, and he shows his tough and stubborn side in order to protect himself. He lies to his mother that he is going to the ski trip with his friends, but actually he is hiding in the cellar alone. This portrays that a lonely and pathetic boy locks himself in his own world which is like the dark cellar and refuses to feel the sunshine outside. He needs someone to open the door of the dark room inside his heart. 

           Olivia is the person who changes Lorenzo because she rushed into Lorenzo’s world accidentally and brought him a totally different experience which he has never had before. She is an addict, and she has bad relationship with others, specifically, her father. When she was suffering from withdrawal, she came to the cellar.  At first, Lorenzo did not want Olivia to come in because he does not trust Olivia. He is vigilant against her because he was afraid that Olivia would reveal his secret. However, when he lets her in and sees that “she looked liked she’d been chewed up and spat out by a monster who had found her too bitter to eat” (Ammaniti 91), he feels pity for her. So Lorenzo takes care of her and finds medicinefor her. Because of this, he feels like he is a useful man, a hero. This portrays that the feeling of being needed is amazing, and it gains Lorenzothe sense of accomplishment by helping his half-sister, which holds two young person’s hearts closer little by little. Lorenzo is no longer as selfish as he was before, and he learns how to care about others because of this. Olivia feels better, for Lorenzo’s great efforts. She has a heart-to-heart talk with Lorenzo and dances with him: “But that evening I danced, and when Idanced I felt something I’d never felt before. I felt alive-it took my breath away” (Ammaniti 143). This shows that because of Olivia, Lorenzo overcomes the thing which he hates the most---dancing, and he feels alive when he is dancing with Olivia. This is a certainly new experience for him. Because of this, Lorenzo starts to experience new things, shares his feelings with others. It is a huge step for him. Lorenzo is thinking: “I knew that beyond that door the world was waiting for me, and that I would be able to talk to the others like I was one of them. I could leave. I could go to boarding school. I could change the furniture in my bedroom” (Ammaniti143). This shows that because of Olivia, Lorenzo starts to think about his own, think about his life and think about the world around him. He discovers the truly himself which is hopeful and positive. He starts to use his heart to feel, and everything suddenly becomes bright and meaningful. Lorenzo is changing little by little like a cocoon which is going to get outthe struggle and ready to become a butterfly.

           At the beginning of Lilo & Stitch, when Stitch has not met Lilo yet, his another side which can feel the warm of love and human being has not been discovered, either. His exist is seemed as an unbearable evil thing among the whole universe because he is designed to destroy. Then he escaped from the spaceship and landed on the Earth accidentally. Because of this, his whole life has been changed, and he is given a chance to embrace his new life. He pretends that he is a normal dog but a little bit weird, and he is adopted by a little Hawaii girl names Lilo. He did not know how to restrain his instinct. He broke the shelf, tear down the pillow,bit the camera and hit people. This shows that he is tough and cannot fit in this new environment, and actually he cannot really fit in any kinds of environment because he is man-made, and he is not even a creature which can have emotions and feelings, that means he was more likely to be a computer program than a human. But he is smart, many things he can learn step by step on his own. When he finds out there is nothing can be destroyed, and he is the only different one, he feels lonely and helpless.

                Family for a violent alien experiment is far out of reach, but it is also the thing which Stitch needs the most. Love is a magic power which is strong enough to change every people. Lilo’s appear is the most essential thing that changes Stitch because she continues trying her best to teach Stitch the meaning of love and family: “nobody will be left behind or forgotten" (Chris Sander) which Stitch has never touched before. She always treats him as her family member and lets him feel warm and safe. So that gives Stitch the sense of belonging. When Stitch lost in the woods, holding the story book and said, “I’m waiting. For family” (Chris Sander) to the scientist who built him. This clearly shows that how strongly Stitch yearns for a family which could accept him, care about him and never giveup on him. He is not an evil monster, and he does not want to lead a displaced life any more. He finds his new self and the meaning of life because of Lilo, who shares her own little sweet family with him. It’s like a butterfly bolts in Stitch’s heart and ignites the light inside his heart. 

            Both of the film and story tell the audiences how strong the power of love is, which can change people’s personalities. There actually are some of people who cannot get involved with others and they need someone to love them and let them experience the feelings of being cared and needed. They are like the cocoons, struggling in that little dark space, and they are isolated and lonely. However, they are changeable. If someone gives a little piece of love to them to melt the hard cold ice surround them. At that time, their hearts will be filled up by sunshine, and they will be able to face their lives with bright happy smile.