Activity 3

I believe Mark Twain wants us to characterize the persona of the speaker as gracefully intelligent with her play of words. First of all she uses many metaphors and abstract speaking to describe emotions or situations. "In the common walks of life" people don't literally "walk" through life but it's a nice way to put life since it describes life just as common as walking, always happening and never stopping. "Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy" meaning that imagination flourishes and the spontaneity overwhelms her with joy, indulging her in the "voluptuous" world. The speaker uses many big but most of all powerful words like "voluptuous", "elysian" and "embittered". These words carry a strong connotation and emotions that the author is trying to tell. The writer seems emotionally indulged and logic and reasoning does not seem to be present. She writes abstractly, talking about the mind, the feeling, the desire and the disappointment in the end. She seems excited at first as she says “anticipated scene of festivity!” it is obvious that she is looking forward to this event of exploring and expecting to experience the wonders of a world she knows nothing of. However, she describes that “how fairylike does everything appear to her enchanted vision! Each new scene is more charming than the last. But after a while she finds that beneath this goodly exterior, all is vanity”. She is disappointed that everything so exciting and beautiful were actually created by vanity. The materialistic adrenalin feeling quickly drained away because there is simply not enough to satisfy this growing monster. The question asked then, is "after you have everything, what else do you want". Her reply is "the flattery which once charmed her soul now grates harsly upon her ear; the ballroom has lost its charms; and with wasted health and embittered heart she turns away with the conviction that earthly pleasures cannot satisfy the longing of the soul!" She admits that everything that had fascinated her suddenly turned ugly and the truth condemned her to stay away.
With all these fancy words to describe her emotions, she is characterized as naive, in the way that children wait for adulthood only to find it tiresome and stressful. He uses those idealistic adjectives and verbs to characterize her as blind by luxury and awaken by the ugliness of vanity.

visual: 14

social: 12

physical: 11

aural: 13

verbal: 8

solitary: 13

logical: 15

I agree with my results from “learning-style-online.com” testing because I am more of a visual and physical learner than an auditory learner. First of all I am not much of a “social” worker (as in group and partner work) but I like to be alone when I am studying or learning. When other people are present I cannot concentrate and have to constantly fight my urges to chat with them or not to eaves drop on their conversations. I don’t deliberately put an effort into other people’s little chats but it’s extremely hard to concentrate on the textbook in front of me when so much more (sometimes interesting and other times random) is going on around me, occupying my ears and concentration. That is why I prefer to study or learn alone with one-on-one help from the teacher.
I am also a physical learner, because I like to learn from “hands-on” experiences and it helps me to remember from my memory. I guess, in a way, it’s like an “easier way” to memorize because I’m not forcing my brain to suck it up but I’m recalling it from my own memory and from my own experience. For example, labs really help me memorize and learn the material in biology and environmental science because I able to physically perform the experiments and observe the results myself.
Auditory learning is probably my second best learning strategy. During class, the lectures help when the teacher is in front of me and with the overhead to explain the diagrams. When there is a diagram or chart that needs to be explained, I feel like it is best when someone is there to explain with words rather than write it all out on book. So it really depends on when and what I’m trying to learn because I use different strategies for various scenarios.
My favorite learning strategy is probably logic and reasoning because I love to apply one concept to many different scenarios. The concepts are like puzzles that fit right snug with each other and a missing piece is always easy to replace with the pieces beside it. They flow right into place and there is little confusion when it is all linked together. One thing happens because of this and so on and I like how the concepts are all interdependent on each other.
I’m not quite sure why my verbal is so low though. What is the difference between auditory and verbal?

Activity 1 and Activity 2

Activity 1
When he is interacting with his friend Brandon, he expects his friend to actually hand him the money without a second word. He does not beg but requests “you have to help me out” and “you know how important I am to the store” all the reasons he finds that Brandon must help him out. However, when his friend denies and says he has to take his girlfriend out for a burger, Randall thinks to himself “I lose out to Brandon’s temperamental girlfriend”. He believes that he is more important than Brandon’s “temperamental” girlfriend and that Brandon has, in a way, “let him down.
Kim walks over and the essay refers to her as “the object of his [Randall’s] own affections, he does not demand, as he did to Brandon, but first appeals to her better side by acting positive about their meeting. “How’s my best friend in the whole world doing today?” he asks but immediately Kim knows that he is up to something. Randall likes Kim but because she is a girl and he likes her, he cannot appeal to her as he did to Brandon but must treat her well to get her to do what he wants.
However, after Kim leaves with her friends, Randall spots Nate. The passage describes his relationship with Nate as acquaintances and not really “friend” enough to ask money for but due to his tough situation he “tries a long shot”. Since Nate does not really know Randall as a person, Randall takes the time to persuade Nate into trusting him and lending him money, reassuring Nate that he will not run off with the money. He tells Nate that he is a man who is “good to my [his] words” and “if there’s anybody you can count on to pay you back, you know I’m [Randall’s] the guy”. With Kim and Brandon, he never had to explain his trustworthiness or his situation about his absentmindedness but because Nate does not know Randall very well Randall has to reassure Nate his trustworthiness and set his tone as sincere.
Activity 2
1. Brandon: Randall tried to present himself as a friend who was in need of help and expected Brandon to help him since they were good friends or at least better than his “temperamental girlfriend”Kim: Randall likes her and so he does not want to make her feel like he is just “using” her as a person, taking her for granted, or expecting her to do what he wants, as he did to Brandon, but he appeals to her good side with compliments and cheerfulness in his anticipation to see her. Nate: Randall wants Nate to trust him even though Nate knows nothing about him as a friend and so he thoroughly explains his situation and needs to Nate in hopes of persuading him.
2. Brandon: Randall expected Brandon to put him as a friend before his temperamental girlfriend but was disappointed by Brandon’s inability to loan him money. He also expected Brandon to understand his situation and be kind enough to sympathize his position to lend him money.Kim: Randall also expected Kim to lend him money but he would only arouse her worse side if he had used the tone he did with Brandon so he did not demand the money but begged in a friendly flirty way to get her attention, affection and money.Nate: Randall does not know Nate and so he wants to reassure Nate that he will not run off with the money with explanations and begging.
3. Brandon: “you have to help me out”, I can’t call in sick, man—you’ve been there, you know how important I am to the store”, “I lose out to Brandon’s temperamental girlfriend”Kim: “how’s my best friend in the whole world doing today?”, “It’s always just such a joy to see you, that’s all. You light up my life and all that –you bring bliss, love, companionship…etc.”, “there would be something you can do that would make me very very happy”Nate: “You know me to be an honest, dependable guy”, “since you know you can trust me, and you know I’m good to my word”, “if there’s anybody you can count on to pay you back, you know I’m the guy”
4. Brandon and Kim have both known Randall for a much longer period of time than Nate and so therefore they were more lenient about Randall’s situation and were sure that Randall would not get angry at them if they didn’t help him out. Nate, however, has not known Randall for a very long time and it would be considered “unkind” or “apathetic” to just walk away from Randall, as Brandon and Kim did, leaving him in the tight situation he was in already. Nate therefore took the time to check for money and lend it to him, helping him with his situation. Brandon and Kim were sure that Randall would find another way and if he didn’t go to work, it’d be okay because his job probably wasn’t as serious as Randall thought, except he hated missing a work day. Nate knew nothing about Randall’s work but only that he needed to be there and Nate was a person that could help him out. Randall proved to be a good partner and so since he kept his words in school, Nate trusted him to return the loan.

Ethos

1. What do you live life for/ Why are you here
2. If you caught your friend in the middle of commiting a crime, what would you do?
3. Why do you love the ones you do
4. Who has made the greatest impact in your life
5. What is your favorite quote and why
6. If you could have any trait of character, which one would you pick?

The Color of Water

"which character do you identify most with"
I don't think I am most like any of the characters in the book "the color of water". I've never had to deal with any type of racism in my life. I've always lived in areas that were mainly populated by people of the same skin color as I was. "Standing out of the crowd" has never occured as an issue to me because I've always adapted, either by changing or compromising my own values with society's expectations. However, skin color is unchangeable so it is impossible for me to understand the uneasiness of racism especially against discrimination. Vancouver, Los Angeles and Taipei is the place I call home, but so do many other Asians, espcially Chinese.
However, I would identify closest with the author of “The Color of Water” because, like him, I am more of a conformist than an “activist”. Activist, I don’t mean large campaigns or parades fighting for equal rights, but that I would not confront another person even when I am verbally abused or criticized for being myself. It is already embarrassing enough to be talked about and there is no need to attract more unwanted attention to myself. What others can do, I cannot control but I can decide the attitude I use to confront these criticisms. First of all, it take courage to argue, especially if one’s perspective differs from the main stream but in the end, whatever you were arguing about, may only seem to make sense to him or herself and not to the others. Sometimes an issue can have no right or wrong answer but just a matter of differences in perspective. However, I would not have had the courage like his mother to go back to the store, confront the store keeper or fling a carton of milk at a criticism. I would have been like McBride, try to get my mom not to go back to the store and tell her to let it go. Why try to seek out trouble for myself when I it’s just easier to let things pass by. I am just as naïve and ignorant to the world as McBride was, living in the little neighborhood where everybody else around me looks like me. The mother, however, is “light-skinned” and yet has gone through a whole series of tragedy, rape, disownment, rejection and most of all, racial discrimination by the blacks. It is a malignant cycle, whites discriminating blacks, blacks having prejudice against “arrogant whites” and looking down on “poor white trash”. Unless prejudice and stereotypes can be put to rest, it is impossible for the two races to live together without suspicion and insecurity. The mother is stuck in this “cold war” between the two races, unable to side with either. McBride and I cannot possibly understand some of her actions because we have always looked like the ones around us and we have never had any criticism thrown at us for our looks and our differences.

Author, orator, philosopher, teacher, actor, artist, musician?

I am most like a musician.

As a matter of fact, I do play the piano and I've learned the cello for two years. I currently do not take lessons from an instructor but within the past few months, I noticed that music has made a great amount of influence in my life.

I may not be standing on a stage performing or famous for "genius teen musician" but I believe I would be most associated with the title musician. I play my song and I perform for others so they enjoy it. However, private practices are dedicated to myself. Sometimes I feel like I cannot express myself in fear that others will not approve or reject me, so I can have the choice of playing for my own pleasure. With the piano, I can control my speed, tempo, melody and most importantly the music I play. Piano playing alleviates my stresses and envelopes me in the world of music and notes. I cannot hear the directions, commands and expectations of the outside but I am allowed privacy. Just me and my instrument.

Skateboard, sailboat, airplane, truck, train, bicycle?

I believe that I am most like a bicycle.

You have to keep kicking on a skateboard and it's not such a constant movement with the random pushing off movements. Sailboats make me seasick and the often "wind blowing in my hair" saying doesn't suit me. My hair gets sticky from the salty breeze. Airplane? I get "plane sick" and car sick (yes, I get uncomfortable very easily). I've never been on a traditional chu-chu train before and I've been riding the MRT all year long for over one hour just to get to school so I guess you could say I'm also "sick" of the MRT train. Process of elimination brings me to the conclusion of bicycle.

However, I chose a bicycle as a metaphor for me because I'm very easy going. I can rush full speed or waltz with "grace" through everyday life. I like to be in control of the wheel and I know my measures, strengths and weaknesses well enough to know what not to attempt and what I do best. I can go on through life with no other source of energey other than my own. Of course, when I'm going through difficult times, I may need umbrellas (my friends) to help me through the rain and a safe home (my family and religion) to shelter me when there is a storm outside and I cannot ride anymore. On a bicycle I can go a decent distance, not too fast and not too slow with the large amount of time I have. The speed of a bicycle is just right, whereas other transportations are more extreme with high speed or turtle slowness.

Lets talk food

Shaved Ice
Living in Taiwan, you cannot possible go out on a summer trip, whether it's to the beach or out shopping, and not drop by a shaved ice stand or a little cold dessert. The variety of choices you have to personally customize your favorite summer treat is amazing, with choices of red bean, green bean, "shien-tsao", taro yuan, tapioca and the list goes on.

mild sweetness of syrup

coolness of ice on your tongue

softness of taro and tang-yuan

chewy beans of all kind

slippery shien-tsao and do-hua

and many other more.

its a "seductive" summer sweetness that is undeniable.

sometimes it may not look so pretty, as foreigners who have never had it before may say, and a little disgusting too, all that stuff bunched up in that little bowl but hey, give it one taste and careful that you'll get addicted to it.

treat yourself to this summer sweet (: