What I Like About This Class

  In our grade eight English Class, I like how the homework isn't too much, unlike some teachers. It's always the right amount of homework for us to do. And also, most of the homework are done online, or by sending emails. It saves a lot of printing and paper money. Also, all the homework are posted on wikispaces, when some teachers don't even use schoology, so we won't be able to find out our homework if we forgot them. Another thing I like about this class is that most of the time, the environment is great, everyone are happy, and are laughing. Some of the times, it's not, but the teacher always jokes around, and make people laugh. One other thing is about hte pushups we have to do when we speak Chinese. It's very interesting, especially when you find out that the teacher was the only one who did the pushups before. The last thing I'm going to mention, is about the break. Not all teachers gives breaks, and some even deduct points when you go to the bathroom. It's not good! But in this English class, people are allowed to go to the bathroom when they need to.

What I Don't Like About This Class

  There isn't much of what I hate about this class, but one of them are that even though the homework are posted on wikispaces, the test dates aren't. For example, the Harriet Tubman's test wasn't posted on wikispaces, and almost the whole class didn't know that there was a test that day. So, the date we have a test should propably be posted on wiki also. One other thing I don't like is the Greek or Latin roots quiz. I think that there should be one test in two weeks. And also, sometimes, the teacher jokes about things students may not like, also, he sometimes gets crazy suddenly. It kind of scares the students, and the students don't know how to react sometimes. The last one and the MOST important one is that for these journal writings, some topics are too hard for us to write to 200 words. Even if we write around thte topic, sometimes we still aren't able to write to 200 words. I think that what the teacher should look at isn't how much we wrote, he should look at what we wrote instead.

Frietchie and Jasckson

  For the differences between Barbara Frietchie and Stonewall Jackson, first of all, Barbara is a female, which Jackson is not, and there age difference if pretty big. Also, Barbara  is very loyal to her country because she wasn't even scared when the troops went marching in the town. Everyone hid the flags, but her. She was the only one that kept the flag up, and when the soulders shot at the flag, she grabbed the flag and wansn't scared. She was willing to sacrifice herself also. Her actions were like heroes; but Jackson was not that loyal to his side. If there's a person that disobeys what he says, he should kill them, since he was a leader. If he doesn't kill them, people will think that he isn't scary, and won't listen to his orders. The similarities they have are that they are both human beings, and they both have their own side they believe in. Also, they are similar that they both are heroes. Barbara stood up for what she believed, and for her country; Jackson fought and led a whole army which is epic.

Standing up for your beliefs

  I think that actually everyone are thought as heroes, just as I wrote for one of the journals. Everyone is a hero for someone else, and so they stand up for things that aren't fair, what they don't agree with, and things that they think shouldn't happen that way. The more famous heroes are those ones that stand up for many people, and got thought of as a real hero. For example, Harriet Tubman. She stood up for the slaves because she believed that slaves shouldn't be treated like that. So, she stood up for the slaves and freed them. And me, I would stand up for anything that made me unhappy. For example, test grades. If I think that the teacher made a correcting or calculating mistake, I would go to the teacher and fight for it. I care about my grades, so I'll stand up for it. Also, if any of my friends are bullied, I will stand up for them also, because I believe that people shouldn't bully each other around, because it's mean.

Hero Biology

 The hero I'm going to talk about is born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1966. She lives with my brother, my dad and me. And, yes, I'm writing about my mom. For other people, she may not the best mom on earth, but to me, she's the best. Although she is very strict on me, and gives me a lot of pressure sometimes, I know that it is good for me. When my brother is angry and shouts at her, even if she's really angry, she doesn't shout back unless he was being too mean. But when he tries to hit me or hurt me, my mom jumps out and protects me from any harm. Not only harm from my brother, she protects me from harm from any one. For example, last time when one of my classmates were joking with me, and pulled my chair away when I sat down. It really hurt, and my mom was very worried, and even though she had a lot of work to do, she brought me to the hospital, and waited there with me. She cares about me a lot, and is willing to sacrifice anything to make me be happy. To me, she is my heroine.

What is a hero?

  I can guarantee that all of you have read about or seen stories about heroes. But, have you ever thought about this question? "What is a hero?" In a lot of stories, the heroes are superman, and saves people when they need to. It is true that heroes save people, but is it only that? I think that heroes don't have to have superpowers at all. All a hero has to have is a brave and kind heart that is full of justice. Also, they have to be willing to sacrifice themselves for other people without wanting payback.
  For examples for real heroes, I think that everyone is a hero, because for example, most NORMAL parents are heroes for their children, and teachers are heroes for students that are lost...etc. So, I think that everyone is a hero for one another. And for examples for  fake ones, I still think that every character is a hero even if it's a bad person. Think about it, when a person does something bad, there's going to be a motive for it. Alot of the times, the motive is because they want to save someone. To the people that are been saved by them, the bad people are heroes. They sacrifice themselves to save them. So, I really think that everyone is a hero to one another.

Leaving Everything Behind

  There is a Taiwanese movie filmed and showed not a long time ago. The name of the movie is "No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti". The title is in Spanish, and it means " I can't live without you". The story is basiclly talking about a father and a daughter trying to stay together, while the government wants to seperate them because they the father was too poor, and wasn't able to raise the child. They wanted to take away the child, but the father didn't want to, and did anything that could stop them from taking away the child. He worked many jobs at a time, and when the government people tried to take them apart, he even threatened to jump down a bridge. The whole movie is really touching, and almost everyone cried when they saw this.
  The daughter was actually the one that was like the slaves, because she is the one who is going to leave behind everything she knows, and loves. But, I actually think that the daughter in the movie is more pityful, because she's so young, and has to leave her father? I mean like, leave the ONLY person she loves, and the ONLY person that loves her? It was insane. I'm not saying that hte slaves weren't pityful, I just think that the little girl is more pityful because of her age. The slaves were more mature, and could get over things easier. The little girl may have her life ruined if she gets seperated with her dad.

The Promised Land

  How was Harriet Tubman like Moses? Both of them brought people that were suffering, to places that were called the "Promised Land". For Harriet, the Promised Land was Canada. Both of them sacrificed themselves and were willing to save other people from places they don't want to be, even though they didn't have to do that. They risked their lives for other people unselfishly, which is heroic. It is one of the definitions that is going to be on my essay for the English term essay. In my heart, I really respect this lady, Harriet. She makes me feel that I am a bad girl because I don't care about what others feel. As long as I am free, and am happy, what other people think does not matter to me. And for Moses, he risked his life to bring the people to the promised land also. Although some people betrayed them, but he still didn't mind. When I think of him, I feel that I am a bad girl also.

Why Risk Your Life

  Harriet was one of the few great people that sacrifices themselves, to save other people. She knows the feelings of being a slave, so she knows that the slaves were in pain and were suffering. Although she was free, she knew that she had the ability to save the slaves from the torturement, so she did it.  She was a great woman that is not selfish and is willing to save people she doesn't even know, just because she knows what it feels like. If I were in her shoes, I would never go to save those people I don't even know. I would think that I am free, why should I risk my life to save people I don't know? If I got caught, I would be tortured, and put to death. So now, I am free, I would stay home, and do whatever I want. I am actually that selfish.

For The Sake of Freedom

  What have people endured for the sake of freedom? People that wanted to be free, or not to be controled by anyone had to sacrifice something. For example, slaves. What did they sacrifice when they decided to run away? They sacrificed their "allowance" to walk around without hiding. If you're a slave and you ran away, you wouldn't be able to walk around like you did when you weren't free. Also, the slaves had to risk their lives, because if they didn't, they probably wouln't even be able to run away. And for the modern days, some children want to run away from their homes because they think that their parents are taking too much "care" of them, and they don't like it. If they want to run away from homes like that, the child would have to sacrifice their life of sleeping on a real bed, eating three meals...etc. And, for the question of what have people endured because their freedom was taken away, I would say that people rebelled and disobeyed their "freedom taker", because they wanted it back.

What Happens?

   Billy finally realized that something was wrong, and wanted to run away, but the landlady held him on the shoulder. She smiled at him in a wierd way, and said, "Billy, my dear Billy. Look at the calender on the wall over there." Billy turned around and looked at the calender. It read " April first". Billy was so nervous that he didn't understand what the landlady meant, and turned back. He said," Um...It is April first today." The landlady hesitated, and moved her hand to her neck, then started to peal off her skin. Billy was so scared and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he heard voice of his best friend, Ashley. Billy felt so reliefed and remembered that Ashley lives in Bath. Ashley explained everything to him, and Billy kind of got angry, but because Ashley was his best friend and was just playing with him, he just smiled and sat down.