JE33 Free Write

            Today is a national holiday in Taiwan. I hope I could stay home. I was depressed yesterday because my SAT score is not improving and might even be worse than last time. I guess because it was too cold that my brain froze at the end. If I had brought an extra coat, I might have score better. Though with this result, I was happy that my writing score improved quite a lot. I hope I can reach 2000 by June. Also, this is not the end of the world so I guess if I keep working hard, the efforts would be paid back.

            Since I have nothing to talk about, I would like to share my interest and love for this amazingly cute animal ever existed – cats. I have a cat at home. She was 8 months old, a ragdoll (seal lynx mitted). I got her a while back ago in a cattery in Taipei. The cattery is one of the few catteries in Taiwan that import breed cats from United States and Canada. Ragdoll cat is one of the biggest cats in the world. Their personality is gentle, soothing, and sometimes playful. They were named ragdolls because they were dolls for American children. They are extremely suitable to pet at home. 

JE32 Use valid, credible sources for information

Hogge, Becky. "Six Million Ways to Buy: The Music Industry Shows Bad Business Sense by Threatening Downloaders, Writes Becky Hogge." New Statesman 4 Aug. 2008: 45.

1)    The Author is Becky Hogge. She is a music and technology writer. She was previously the managing editor, technology director, and technology commissioning editor for Open Rights Group.

2)    The source provided the harm that online piracy and file sharing have caused. The government, however, were not able to solve the problem effectively and entirely.

3)     The author didn't cite any source.

4)    The source was published in August 4, 2008 from New Statesmen: Vol. 137, Issue 4908.

5)    The source was to persuade and inform the government of how illegally downloading files can cause a business to go downward.

6)    It didn't go as deep as I needed. However, the author provided an example – downloading music – that alerted the problem of online piracy. It could be used as a good example in my sources.

I don't think this source is good enough for my essay. My essay is based on online piracy and further extends to the idea of online freedom and privacy. However, this source can be a good example for why Acts pertaining to online piracy were made. 

JE31How To Impress?

            Last time, I have chosen volunteer work, participation in short play competitions, and my interest in music. From discussing volunteer work in my essay, it would show that I have concern for the society. Being a part of it, I have always wanted to make some contributions to the society. Helping recycling shows my vision of environmental pollution that garbage we created would cause a big disaster to our environment. Therefore, it is important to recycle and make it to something else useful. Taking care of mentally retarded people also let me see the other corner of the society that some people are in fact living the lives that I have never imagined before. Playing with them and teaching them made them feel that they are being concerned. I was happy that I made such contributions. My experience in participating in drama club shows my leadership in being a screenwriter for the script and co-directed the show. It also shows my passion for art performances and that I am not entirely focused on academic works. Teamwork is also an important quality that is acquired during the process. Without anyone’s participation, we would not have made it. Also, my interest in art and music made me a creative person. I am not the person who is restricted in narrow thoughts. However, my extra curricular activities don’t show many of those listed. Maybe I should think deeper or consider some other activities as well. 

JE30 Extra Curricular Activities

·      Volunteer work: recycling/city library/education institute for the mentally repaired/teaching English in remote districts

·      Model United Nation

·      English Drama Club – National Competition (7^th grade); English Drama Competition (as screenwriter and actor) (10^th grade)

·      Badminton team

·      Art: designing/decoration/drawing/Chinese calligraphy

·      Yearbook club

·      Music: interest in contemporary music industry/collecting CDs/watching performances/violin (with performance)/guitar (with performance)/piano

·      Japanese

I think volunteer work, drama club, and music/art may be good topics for my essay. Volunteer work showed my contribution to the society, participating in drama club and winning awards proved my effort and appreciation of art, and music and art showed my interest with some background knowledge and specialties. I think these topics show another side of me that is beyond academics. They also show an active side of me.

Model United Nation might not work because I am not an experienced delegate yet and I haven’t spent a lot of time on it. Badminton team might also not work because I haven’t joined it for a long time, though I played it for quite a while. Yearbook club may not be a good topic because I have not been actively participated in it. Japanese might actually be a good topic for my essay because I put a lot of effort working on it. However, my language skills Japanese are fading away. 

JE29 Valentines

            Love means a caring relationship between two people. Love can varied in different perspectives, such as peer relationships, families, and marriage-relationships. According to dictionary, love means an intense feeling of deep affection. My definition for love is a happy feeling of a strong connecting with someone or something that is significant or even necessary in your life. It doesn't have to be a person you can spend with for the rest of your life. But it should be a thing or a person you care a lot and you definitely want the best for them.

Sometimes love is expressed in words. But sometimes it is expressed in action. Showing kindness and responsibility can be a way of expressing love to people you care and love. Sometimes I show love by doing something special, for instance, preparing a surprise gift. I want others to show they care about me by encouraging me verbally or to do something special for me. However, sometimes love can be invisible. Sometimes you just don't get the chance to see and understand how other people contribute to your life. We shall not take things for granted and always remember to look back at those contributors in our lives.