Self-Assesment of my project

        After reading gathering the pearls, we wrote a diary as the final project. In the diary, we pretend to be one of the students in Sookan's college and write about things happen in the freshman year.
        In this project, I think I did well on fulfilling the length. We are required to write 1900 words, but I write almost 3000 word. At first, I just put a lot of details on my first diary. I just kept adding details in order make the story more specific. As the time going, I felt like I should be more organized when I was describing the events. I created my unique character's story and it was almost my own experience when I first came to America. I was being shy and was not very cofident to talk. I chose to be silent all the time and I did not have any friend. In the diary I developed my own character from a shy girl who did not have any friends to a girl that had more confident. Besides this, I also used the third person view to write about things happen in "Gathering in pearls". For example, I wrote that I became friends with Ellen and Sookan. I included some details about their characteristic in the story, and I wrote about my personal feeling about them.
        To describe my story, I mostly use narration to tell the things happen in the college. I wrote about things happen in different date such as what I did, who I met, and how I thought.  However, I lack the five senses, because I did not use them very often. I did not think I wrote about any thing about smelling and touching. I just wrote what I saw and what I heard. On the other hand, I think there are probably some mistakes in the diary such as comma splice and gramma. If I had more time, I think I can take another look on my diary carefully. I would be able to figure out the mistakes and included more description about the five senses.

Writing Center Reflection

It is my third year at Cheshire Academy. During these two years, I heard about there is a place in our school called writing center. It is a place for student to edit their paper and get some advice for their writing assignment. I haven't been to the writing center before since I came to this school. Last Tuesday was my first time visit the writing center. The writing center located on the second floor in Humanity building. 

While I was visiting the writing center, I met Ms.Swift. She is the teacher who is responsible for the writing center. When I came inside to the writing center, I saw some familiar face. It looked like some of my classmates came to visit the writing center as the same time as me, and we were here for the same purpose. The reason why we were here is because our English teacher Ms.Guarino wanted us to come here in order to edit our diary entry. Although there were almost 6 people in the writing center, Ms.Swift was still very welcome and happy to help all of us. She walked around and looked at each of our paper carefully. She corrected some of the grammar mistakes of our diary entries. As there were so many people here, she could not take a look at all of our work specifically. She suggested us to read through our paper while she was working with another student. She said: “If you read it all loud, you will find your mistakes.” 

When I was reading my entry, as she had talked about, I found out a lot of spelling mistakes and tense mistakes. I realized that I need to fix a lot of mistakes before I finished it. I have a question which confuse me all the time: when I should use present tense and when I should use past tense. In order to avoid tense mistakes, I usually write the essay in the same tense. Between present and past tense I prefer to write in the past tense, because I felt like what I am writing about is always happen in the past. Then, I should use past tense. However, after I visited the writing center, Ms.Swift told us, when we should use past tense of present tense depends on the condition of the sentence. If the thing is still happening, we need to use present. If the thing was only happen in the past. Then we should use past tense. When we are writing a sentence, we need to always think about that if it is still happening or not.

Beside the tense problem, she told us. While you are writing a diary, you need to imagine that you are the character in the story. From that, we can make the store more realistic and attract reader to read. After that, she showed us some magazine which she like very much as example. She told us the best way to improve our writing skill was to read more books or magazine in English. Also watching some English movie was another good way to improve our English. She spent a long time talking about the magazine, how the article was strange and interesting which I did not get what she was talking about. Beside this, I learned a lot from this experience visit the writing center.

Dairy

9/1.  
Dear Diary:
it was my first time study abroad in America, I was a foreign student from China. This new place seemed to be very strange to me. After a long time traveling, I finally arrived the campus. It was a really big campus, I thought I would be lost if there was nobody taking the tour for me. The person who was taking tour for me was a faculty member named Sister Casey. She was a very welcome woman I thought, because when I first met her, she opened her arm and hugged me tightly. "Welcome to Campus, Jerry. " she said nicely. I was nervous because in China people didn't hug each other when they met for the first time. We didn't even shake hands. Instead, we said hello to each other nicely. This sudden hugging makes me feel strange, probably she was a outing woman or maybe it was American style to show welcome to other people. After she showed different kinds of building in this campus, I was settled into my room. In my room, I saw two small beds and two desks with a closet beside it. It was a small room, but I thought it had enough space for two students to live. It looked like my roommate haven't arrive yet, because the room was still empty.

9/10
The first week of the school was ended. I met my roommate at the second day. Her name was Johnnie, and she was an  American. She was a silent person, we just introduced ourselves and then we started to do our own thing. During the orientation, I saw a girl came from Korea wearing a special cloth called hanbok. Her name was Sookan, and  she said it was her country cloth. I used to think hanbok was a cloth from Japan, but actually that cloth was from Korea, and the one from Japan was called kimono. They looked similar but they were different.  The courses I was taking wasn't hard especially Math. In China, the Math problems was very complex and extremely hard. We sometimes may spent half an hour to do only one question.  Here I can easily understand the problem and finish it in 5 minutes. The other courses were fine, maybe because it was just the start of the year. It will be harder in the future.

9/17
Before I left, my mom told me to make some foreigner friends, However as a Chinese students, my English was very well, sometimes I did not understand what the other kids were talking about. I was being shy and being worried all the time: what if they did not like me; what I joined their groups but they did not understand me; what if they made fun of me when we were together. For the whole half of month, I was being lonely. I tried to find the other Asian: that Korean girl Sookan, but she was busy all the time. I heard about that she need to do a lot of scholarship work and She spent most of the time outside. I prefer stayed in my own room. Luckily, my roommate was same as me. Looked like She hadn't make any friend yet. Although we were roommate, we didn't talk very much. Mostly she was doing her things and I am doing my things.

9/26
It was almost a month since I came here. I haven't create a lot of friendships yet. But because both my roommate and me liked to stay in the room, we had a lot of time staying with each other. As the time going, we became friends, and my school life wasn't lonely any more and I will tried to make more friends. My grade was not very bad as I studied sometimes. I recieved a mail from my mother. In the mail, she told me everything was fine in China, except my naughty brother who always made her angry. She continued telling me tried to find more friends which made me nervous. I thought she did not understand it was not that easy for me to create a lot of friendships as I was a shy girl. However, I knew she was right and I will make more friends in the future.

10/5
Today, we had sit down dinner which we had to go to dining hall and have dining with every body. I used to sit in the corner with Johnnie all the time having lunch or dinner. I was being shy when I first meet other new students. Now they had already made some "groups". I did not know how to join their groups, and I was being afraid to join their group. What if they thought me as a idiot. During the sit down dinner today, I had a table with different students. I saw that Korean girl Sookan was them to serve the food. Probably she was doing her scholarship again. In our table, I met a girl named Ellen, she was a outgoing girl that she never stopped talking. She asked me a lot questions about China. I remembered she had a good relationship with Sookan also. It seemed to that she was interested in Asian country. I started to talk in the table, and I began to be more confidence.
Today I had a new friend and her name was Ellen.

10/14
Today was Saturday, and Ellen came into my room told me there would be a dance party at night with the other school. She looked very excited and looking forward to the party. She asked me if I could go with her. Her roommate Sookan was doing babysitting for Professor Bennett so she can't go with us. At first, I did not want go, because it will be a place full of boys and strange people. I never went to a dance party before. However, Ellen continued saying don't worry and she will handle it. We will have a lot of fun. At last, I went with her, on the way, I asked her why she was so excited. She told me her boyfriend Kyle will come tonight and dance with her. She kept telling me everything about Kyle until we arrived.

10/25
It was almost the end of the marking period, the work was getting harder, and I had more and more quiz and tests. I used to organized my time well, because I was staying in my room all the time. However, now, Ellen always invited me to go outside and have some fun. It was true that my life was no more boring or lonely since I met Ellen, but I felt that my grade was getting worse. I wondered why she had so much time to have fun. I thought I need to studied more studied more instead of having fun with her.

10/31
Today was the end of the marking period, I recieved the report card. When I checked my grades, I surprised. I thought
I will have a good grade but in fact I did not get that. My grade was neither awful or good. I did well both on the test and the homework. I found out the only thing I lack was the participation. I was talkless in the class, and that was why.
I thought my mom must call me after she saw it, and we probably will have a long talk.

11/1
Today I got a call from my mom, I knew that will happened as she saw my grade. I thought she would be very curious and disappointed about my grade. Why couldn't I do well in participation. I even thought about if she would get angry about me. However, in the phone, her voice did seemed like she was angry or mad. She said she understand it wasn't very easy because I was an international student. And she knew that I had tried very hard. She encouraged me to do better in the future. I was glad that my mom understood me, and I decided to work harder and show her a better grade in the next marking period.

11/9
This week, we had a lot of work. I had 4 tests coming forward, and 2 project due Thursday. I did not understand why we still had that much of work when the first marking period was just ended. There should be a time for us to have a relax. I wondered why can't we have a break after each marking period. For example, thanksgiving after the MP 1, Christmas after MP 2, Spring break after MP 3, summer vacation after MP 4. I knew I was dreaming about it, and I was very looking forward to my Thanks Giving break. I need some time to relax from all of those work.

11/20
Finally, it was time to have the thanksgiving break, I had been waiting it for a long time.  Both of me and Johnnie signed up the Boston trip. We will travel to Boston and stayed there for a week. I heard that there was China town in Boston right next to the place we lived. What a surprise. I had not eaten any Chinese food since I came here. I can imagine that how delicious the food will be. I wished I could invited Ellen, she must be very interest in these, but she told me that she would spent her time with her boyfriend Kyle. Kyle must be the most important people for her, so I wished her have fun with him. Now let's time to have fun and relax!

11/27 The Black Friday
Today I got up earlier than before, because I had a lot of things to do. I waked up at 11:00 rather than 1:00. I went to china town for some food first, after that I went on a bowling trip. The bowling club was very dark but with different color light shining. The first ball I missed everything because I threw it too hard. For the rest of the balls I focused more and tried to throw it more easy. Finally I made a strike. I felt very proud and excited when people were clapping hand to me. After that I went to Newbury St for shopping. There were crowed every where, and we need to wait in lines to get in one shop. I bought a cloth which was expensive but I liked it. I hesitated for a long time and finally made the decision. After I bought this cloth, I felt like my mom will kill me when she waked up. However, when I got back to the hotel, I received her message. She just wanted me to show her what I bought. Nothing else.

12/1
Time passed so fast, and the Thanksgiving break was end. I still missed the time when I was stayed in Boston. The food I had and the place I lived for a week. I got back to school yesterday, but I still thought the Thanksgiving break had just started. I could not believed time passed that fast.

Diary form

11/27/2015 The Black Friday
Today I got up earlier than before, because I had a lot of things to do. I waked up at 11:00 rather than 1:00. I went to china town for some food first, after that I went on a bowling trip. The bowling club was very dark but with different color light shining. It made me felt like it was a night club instead of bowling club. Never mind, the goal is to have fun. The first ball I missed everything because I threw it too hard. For the rest of the balls I focused more and tried to throw it more easy. Finally I made a strike. I felt very proud and excited when people were clapping hand to me. After that I went to Newbury St for shopping. There were crowed every where, and we need to wait in lines to get in one shop. I bought a cloth which was expensive but I liked it. I hesitated for a long time and finally made the decision. After I bought this cloth, I felt like my mom will kill me when she waked up. However, when I got back to the hotel, I received her message. She just wanted me to show her what I bought. Nothing else.

Thanks giving break

This Thanks giving break, I went to Boston for the school trip. I had delicious Asian food in China town and I met our friends here. I got up very late, so there was no morning in my Thanks giving break. I usually got up at 1:00 and went out for lunch. There were activities in the afternoon, I went on the duck boat which was a van but can transform into a boat. Beside the duck boat trip, I also went bowling. Bowling was very fun, I felt very proud and excited when I made a strike. The rest of the time, I stayed in my room because I was being lazy and outside was very cold. On Black Friday, I went shopping at Newbury St. There were people every where, and I need to wait in order to get in a shop.  Thanks giving break was so fast, that I could not think about more besides these. I felt like the beak had just started when I got back to school.

Gathering the Pearl

Jerry Wu

Ms.Guarino

English II

Nov.18.2015

Gathering the Pearls Review

Gathering the Pearls talked about a girl called Sookan who came to America to study. She was an international student, and her goal was to be successful. She spent most of the time doing scholarship in order to save some money, and she spent the rest of time studying. During the year, she still made a lot of friends and built up some good relationships though she was busy all the time. In the story, Sookan communicated with her family members through writing letters. She had a good relationship with her mom, and she always told her mother what was happening in the school. Her mom was very special, that she never complained about hardships. She did not want to give her children pressure. She supported Sookan to achieve her dream. Another person who kept in track with Sookan was her sister. Different as Sookan's mom, Sookan's sister wanted to control Sookan's mind, she want Sookan to be as a nun like her. She disagreed with Sookan’s goal. She always told Sookan do not get too much influence by American Culture. Both Sookan’s mom and her sister cared about her, but in different ways. Besides her family, Sookan also made good friends such as Ellen and Marci. Ellen was a outgoing girl, but Marci was a little bit shy. Both of them influenced Sookan a lot.

I liked reading this novel, because novel was more interesting than a textbook. Moreover, the story it talked about was similar to my own experience. I am also a international student who studies in America. However, different from Sookan’s experience, my life here is easier and more relaxed. I do not need to do scholarship and study for most of my time. I make new friends here, and I enjoy staying with them and having fun. My favorite part of this story was what Sookan mom told her. As a mom, she understands her children. She said that in the story: Woman was like oysters, a woman can take a painful experience and enrich herself by creating something precious from that pain. Although Sookan had some hard time when she was at school, she never gave up as her mother told her. Now she created things that were important to her which were her friends and education. Same as Sookan, my mom also talked with me when I was in America. When I felt sad or met some problems, my mom always talked with me, and I felt better after talking with her and I will know what I should do.

If my friends want me to recommend some books to them, I will recommend this book to them. As a novel, this book talks about student’s life, it is interesting and attracts reader. The story was realistic and easy to understand and reader will learn something from it. For example, after I read this book, I knew that we should never give up when we meet something painful or hard. Through pain, we could make something important or precious for ourselves.

Peter Pan Review

Jerry Wu
Mrs.Guarino
English II
Dec.15.2015

Review of Peter Pan

    During the weekend, we watched a drama show which was produced by students. It was about Peter Pan, a famous Disney film, but this was my first time seeing it.  The story started with a conversation between a family. I saw some familiar people and I heard some familiar voices. That was my friend John who was acting Mr.Darling, the father. I was surprised my friend acting so well with various intonation and perfect emotion. He was not even a native English speaker. It was so amazing to see him behaving so well on a stage during a show. Another person that caught my eyes was a "human" with dog costume. I guessed he must be acting the dog Nana of this family. It was funny to see William"the dog" barking and pretending to be a real dog.

    Overall, Peter Pan was a story talking about a magic boy Peter Pan who was trying to find his shadow in The Darlings' house. While he was searching the shadow, he fortuitously met a girl named Wendy who was the children of the Darlings. Wendy helped him to fix the shadow, and in return, Peter Pan taught her and her brothers John and Michael to fly. After that Peter Pan brought them to the Neverland to see his friends. At Neverland, Wendy became their mother because those boys here need one. However, Captain Hook the bad guy came. He fought Peter Pan and Peter Pan's friend. At the first time, Peter successfully defended his friends, but things did not last peacefully. Captain Hook came again and caught all of Peter's friend. Peter Pan had to go save them, and at last he used his intelligence and strong power "defeat" Captain Hook. And Wendy and her brothers finally got back home, and they got back with their family member.Peter and Wendy can see each other one time a year. 

    In the show, all of the actor acted out their role's characteristic. It was an interesting and well performing show. From this show, I knew what the story of Peter Pan is talking about though I haven't watched the Disney version before. Now I understand why Peter Pan did not want to grow up, and he did not want his friend to grow up. He did not want to be alone. As every body else were growing up into a man or lady, Peter did not have any changes. Peter more like to be a boy who was naive and having fun with friends.

Peter Pan Ending

At the end of the story Peter Pan, Wendy and Peter Pan only can meet each other one time a year. It was a sad ending as Wendy and Peter Pan had already create a good friendship between each other. Maybe they were not only friends and they loved each other. It should be sad for those two people who liked each other only see each other one time a year. They would miss each other. After several years, Wendy grew up into a lady, but Peter Pan stayed same without any changes. We can see that they were different and they could not be together. That will be a sad ending for them. However, the whole story ended well. Wendy and her sister and brother got back to their home, their mom finally found them. Captain Hook was died, things were back to peace. Peter Pan changed his mind about mother, he finally understanded mother is good and important to her children.

Vocabulary

Mannequin(n).  a life-size dummy used to display clothes
A small, black velvet purse hung on the shoulder of the mannequin.
Second-hand(adj) an intermediate person; used in the phrase `at second hand'
To save money, I had purchased second-hand textbooks from upperclassmen at a fraction of the original price, and I was careful not to use too many notebooks.
Animatedly(adv). in an animated manner
Many of our classmates were there, with drinks in hand, talking animatedly.
Faltered(v.) speak haltingly
"Marci"—Mrs. Gannon faltered—"I just want you to look pretty for your formal dinners at the dining hall.
Impulsive(adj) proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus
She would acknowledge that I had done something impulsive, but would say that it was okay.
You are a bit impulsive and head' strong at times, but you did well.
constrained(adj) lacking spontaneity; not natural
But maybe that was why I had wanted to leave home for a while; I had always felt constrained there.
Gregorian chant(n) liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church
A Gregorian chant program is scheduled for June, and students will be coming from around the world.
pearl(n) smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel
Next to the necklace was a shiny platinum pin in the shape of a wishbone, with a single pearl in its grasp.
elope(v) run away secretly with one's beloved
I just want to elope and get our lives started now!"
taciturn(adj) talkless
I would write to each of my taciturn brothers, even though they had never written to me.
sobbed(v) cry
I sat, buried my face in my hands, and sobbed.
pouch(n) small or medium size container for holding or carrying things
In a silk pouch that Mother had made was her thin, white gold wedding band.
listlessly(adv) in a listless manner
As I stared forward listlessly, little Sarah snuggled up against me, and whispered into my ear, "I love you, Sookan." She squeezed my hand.
hymn(n) a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
I was comforted by their high-pitched hymns reverberating in the domed chapel.
fainted(v) pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain
She had fainted, and they found out it was a cerebral hemorrhage.

Gathering the Pearls

Jerry Wu
Ms.Guarino
English II
Nov.5.2015
    Sookan was Korean girl who came American to study. Between America and Korea, there was so many culture differences. It was hard for a Korean students to fit into this new environment very quickly, but Sookan did it. Although it was very hard, for instance, Sookan need to do scholarship and studying for most of the time, she still figured it out and made a lot of friends. In fact, she needed to work hard to get good education. Her mom provided her this ability to study abroad so that she need to be successful to pay back.
   Through the story, we knew that she made friends such Ellen and Marci, and they were good friend. They chatted all the time, and they concern and care of each others. Although Sookan did not have a lot time staying with her friends and having fun because of her busy. They will continue being good friends in the future, because distance makes out beauty. Everything here was fine, except Sookan was busy doing all her works. She enjoyed some of the works, for instance baby sitting for the Bennett family. She'd like to spend her time looking after their children Jimmy and Sarah, and playing with them. For Jimmy and Sarah, she was nearly like a big sister, and the Bennett were like another parent for Sookan in America. Sookan mentioned that in the story, she sometimes missed her mom a lot while she was staying with the Bennett. As there were so many difference between the American Culture and Korean Culture. Sometimes when She found out those difference, she usually thought about her own family. When she missed her mom, she wrote a letter to her. In the letter she sent to her mom, she talked about her life here, and told her mom don't worry about her. Through her mother's letter, she was told to take care about herself, and she knew the things happened in Korea, how were her family member and her best friends. Sookan's mother had a great relationship with her daughter. She supported Sookan's dream and sent her to America. Also she wanted Sookan to have Freedom. Besides her mother, Sookan sometimes exchanged letter with her sister. However, her sister was very different. She did not agree with American Culture that was why she always said to Sookan do not get too much influence by the American culture. She was more like controlling Sookan's idea, and wanted her to obey. That was why she always got mad when she heard about Sookan's life here.
   As the time going, Sookan will spent all of her time studying in America until she finished her education in collage. It will be a long time, and she must feel homesick sometimes. However, she could not go back and she knew that she shouldn't. She knew that she need to finish her studying first and be successful. Then she could go back to Korea. In my opinion, I think she will be successful as she worked so hard and at last she will achieve her dream.

Change

In Korea, only women were in charge of cooking and serving in the kitchen.

In Korea, women had to do all the house work, and men were working outside.

In Korea, people had to be polite and could not say no to elders.

In Korea, parents were the one who decided their kids' marriage no matter if they liked it or not.

In Korea, individuals paid for everyone (friends/elders) to show politeness.

In the U.S., both women and men can cook and serve in the kitchen.

In the U.S., both men and women can work outside, and both of them can do the housework (together).

In the U.S., people have freedom of speech.

In the U.S., people can marry whoever they want to, and it is not based on their parents' opinion. 

In the U.S., people split the bill and pay for their own.

When I first came to Cheshire Academy

     When I first came to Cheshire Academy, same as Sookan's experience, I felt that the culture was very different. People here were very welcome and outgoing, except me. I was very nervous because my mom said that I need to make a lot of foreign friends as there is so many Chinese here in this school. My English was not very well that time, I still tried to talk to them though my voice was not coherent. Different from Sookan, I didn't adapt this new environment very quickly. For a long time, neither foreign friends nor Chinese friend. I was very lonely and felt homesick. Luckily, the courses I took weren't very hard, I could  handle it easily and had a lot of free time. Mostly, I spent my free time in my room with myself as I did not have any close friend. Things didn't get better until I finally gave up and join the Chinese group. After I knew more people, I became more confident, and now I had not only Chinese friend but also foreign friends.

Questions for chapter 4 and 3

1. Where did Sookan go instead of having lunch with Marci,why she need to go there?
2. Why Sookan take so many difficult classes?
3.What kind of person is Marci? And who is Marci?
4. What job did Spokane get? Who gave her this job?
5. What kind of person Sookan's mother is? What did Sookan think after reading the letter from her mother?

Sook Nyul Choi

The book "gathering the pearl" that I am going to read is written by an author named Sook Nyul Choi.
She was borned in Korean but her nationality was American.
She had two countries, her native country Korea and her adapted country America.
Her writing will tell the reader the history and culture of Korea.
She wrote about her own experience as a young refuge of the Korean War.

As a reader and a writer

    Since we have been a student for so many years, we learnd a lot about how to read or write and we experienced a lot. In schools, we spent a lot of time reading and writing. Most of the time we were required to read a novel and write about it. I did not like writing or reading when it was for homework. However, as we read and write a lot, our learning skills got improved. Both of writing and reading became easier for me than before.
    I used to like reading when I was still in primary school. The most enjoyable thing I had was lying on the sofa and read some books. This time seem to be very peaceful and that was why I enjoyed it so much. However, as I grew up, I had more hobbys and friends that took most of time. I started to spend less time reading and lying on my sofa. Now the only kinds of book that I would like to read were comic book and suspense stories. Not only because I have more thing to do rather than reading, but also because I have more reading assignments to do for classes. Most of there reading assignments were boring and hard to understand. Usually, while I was reading a novel, I read through one pages but in fact I did get any of the details. I just read it without understanding it. That why if I was reading a novel, I need to be very careful and focus my attention well. Reading a English book used to be very hard for me, but since I read more and I learned more vocabulary, it became easier. My favourite book from English class is Persepolis. It is a comic novel which is the one I have interest to read. It talked about a girl named Marji’s childhood. It included a lot of pictures which made the story easier to read, and full of decrepive details such as her emotion. Otherwise, my favorite book is . It is a suspense story which talked about 14 suspense artists was taken to a secret house, and they had to create a story duing each night. The people who had the highest score can escape. 
    For writing, I like writing if it was a topic that I have idea to write. The writing I don’t like to write is the one I have no idea to write. If I have a topic which I know how to write and have idea about how to write, it will be very easy. However, if I don’t have any idea, I can’t even start the introduction. The worset writng assignment I had before was the lab report. So it was all depends on topic. As a writer, I think writing is a way to make me think and help me express my idea. Sometimes, I have no idea on onething, I write it down and focus my attention. Then after writing a while, I get the idea.
    In conclusion, whether as a reader or a writer, I am still a student. Students do writng and reading all the time, and they learned about how to read and write in schools. As the time going, I think I will be more and more good at writing and reading.