What I Like about this Class

Let me see....of all the topics in the world. Mr.McCool picked this. What may this tell us.....That is for you to decide. However, let me state what I like this class. I like Mr. McCool's jokes, especially when it is made on subjects involving Danny or Daniel. It always give me a laugh. (I bet I live longer every single time I laughed...)Thanks to Mr. McCool. I also like how the trash can is next to my seat, so I can just throw my trash without leaving my seat (excluding the smell of course, which is fairly nothing except once..=D) I also like the seating arrangement. There is Ben and Daniel making me laugh across the room. Danny is not too far to my left so I can argue with him over Hester /Dimmesdale /Chillingworth.  Bill's dozing off always invigorates me...(I dont want to be like him....can't even feel rubber bands shot at him...). James and I can argue over non-sense when I feel like it, and can tell me where we are on the text if I lost focus. To my right/front, Christine Hsu serves as a silent protection from communicating over a long distance. Both sides (James and Christine) grades me leniently on Greek Roots (barely makes a difference...max 0.5...). Not to mention I have a perfect 45 degree angle to Mr. McCool's desk and 90 degree to his podium. I like the current seating arrangement.

What I Don’t Like About This Class

First, I would like to start with a kudos to Mr. McCool. The fact that he gave us this topic indicates he is willing to listen to our complaints. So I will now state my frustration in his class. Mr. McCool is a laughist. He discriminates against my laugh. I believe my laugh has a soothing effect. It melodic sounds can heat up the atmosphere and can dissolve awkward silent moments. I can't believe he dislike it. Furthermore, the very existence of English classes is lack of fun. English classes are boring. They have tons of possible answers. It doesn't even have a definite logic. I am a person of discipline. Therefore, I hate those ambigous answers. And like Dictator Danny always said, "But...it IMPLIES...."...Those implication stuff is not only boring but also useless, so, English itself is something that I dislike. That is not all. Some of Mr.McCool stuff, like this blog journal thing, is NO FUN!!! The tests, are no good either. Tests massacre my brain cells. I absolutely hate them. And also, there are so many books to carry for American Literature that I think I get shorter because of it. Besides, why are we studying American Literature when there is Taiwanese/Chinese literature for us!!!! NATIONAL PRIDE~~~~ we are bowing down to the evil Western Nations. This is BAD...I mean REAL BAD. SO....yea..this class is definitely no good.

The Unknown Quantity

Humans are embodiments of selfishness. This is a must-have trait as a human being. Some may express this quality in everyday life, others need some stimulus to reveal this quanitity. We, humans, are born as an unknown quantity into the world. Unknown to world, nor known to self. However, over time, we reveal our true nature without us knowing. Some learned the way to survive in this world, selfish,  by accumulating experience. Others need some dramatic events, mostly tragic to reveal this nature. There are many literature works and movies that showed this, such as The Mist, Lord of the Flies, etc. Some only show their selfishness under extreme condition when life and death is on the betting table. Picture each human being as a sealed barrel. You have no idea how much water they have in them. Some may have some parts that are transparent, showing the bottom of water. You know they are selfish, but you just don't know how selfish they are. When a dramatic event happen, they spill their barrel, at that point, you know what they are truly made of. The selfishness and evilness one hids deep under their heart. I believe although selfishness can be revealed in normal life, only under extreme tragic events such as getting haunted by creepy stuff or stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere would one's true "potential" be revealed. Therefore, yes, I believe that only under those crazy and mad situations can one's quanitiy be known and defined.

Persuade Me

Trust me, my friend. Money is the ruler of the world. People work FOR money. We have become so dependent on money that it is utterly impossible for anyone to live without it. Believe it or not, our society will instantly crash once we remove money from our lives. Our so called charity or philanthropic acts are donating what?? Money, some random papers with numbers printed on it, or a circular metal with some cool stuff minted on it. If nobody recognize those, they barely hold any value, no? Our perception has been severely altered by the very existence of money. It blinds us from other forms of joy. Althought we may understand this fact, but its a task next to impossible if we try to avoid this and revert our change. Simply put, mankinds are merely slaves working under money. The very invention of common currency is designed rather poorly. Overdependence on some unimportant metals and papers does not do us any good. However unreliable and unfavorable this maybe, money has rose to a position higher than presidents or prime ministers of every country on Earth. This is an undeniable fact. With this been said, we can conclude that humans will not survive without money under current state....

Give me liberty or give me MONEY!!!

The epic quote that brought catastrophe to America by Patrick Henry " Give me liberty of give me death!!!" boils American's blood. This idea ingrained into American's heart, and eventually led to American Independence from Great Britain. Ever since that period of mass blood spilling, United States has branded herself as the iconic symbol of land of liberty and freedom. Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights, are all widely supported ideals. However, those words do not stir my interest. They just seem to far away. These ideals seem to be never ending, and would affect us less. 3 words that I believe should boil one's blood is gold, glory, greed. For Gold, it should be evident. Who doesnt want money....You need money to live a life!!! For Glory, everyone desires fame, good or bad alike. Popularity has become a key index of one's success apart from wealth nowadays. Fame can provide good connections, which is one of the smoothest and best shortcut to the bling bling. As for Greed, this may confuse some, so let me explain. Greed has always been the engine of evolution of mankind. Mankind are created with insatiable greed of stuff. One can never complain that he or she has too much money. Simply put, scientists did experiments driving by the greed of knowledge, inventors spent time to build stuff with the greed of fame, stock traders invest money and time under the influence of greed for money.

My Sermon : SIN!!!!

Sin is what one did that brings material loss and mental displeasure to himself. You should care about yourself more than anyone else. Putting others priority in front of you is a sin. Helping others with homework before you finish yours is a sin (unless you gain something from helping). God made mankinds selfish. We make friends because we need them, in times of crisis, in times of boredom. This is when we need friends. Its like paying for insurance. Giving without gaining is a sin. People who donate want fame and good reputation in return. There is basically no sin in the world, only how you look at it. God will give punishment to those who act on accord of others. Think about it. God created the divine you. If you don't protect yourself and you don't prosper, God will be ashamed because he created you. Therefore, He will strike you with thunder, burn you in hell and eat you on gold plates. Sins are bad stuff. Stuff that makes God mad. Stuff that pisses God off. Stuff that brings God wrath. Those bad stuff....are things that you do that may hurt you. Its like how your parents get mad when you hurt yourself (ex. running into a wall...) when you are a kid. Now, my dear friend, I will tell you one shocking fact. There is no such thing as moral. The world is evil. People out there are all against you. Fight them until you reach the top. That is the truth of the world. It is a sin for you to stay down on the scale and let people stand on you.

Re: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards

Who do you think you are?  Are you Jesus??? or even God?? Only you will burn in hell.....using the lord's name in vain. And knowing that what God will do when he is angry?? When do you see that??It is technically impossible for you to know since you are following his rules so strictly, no? You must be some kind of God as well, after going to heaven and hell alike, no? Stop making up nonsense and create public fear. What if everyone start panicing and running around like mad people, would God do so?? You must be pathetically bored, epically stupid, or messenger from SATAN. Which one do you prefer?? The real God will show himself in no time, much faster than you thought He would. And after he do appear, you will face the real WRATH of GOD... You will know how dark, how painful, it is to use God's name in creating  a huge panic for nothing but your boredom, stupidity or evil intentions....We shall wait until the day when punishment befall on you and see how you repent for your sins....

Sin

According to Merriam Webster, sin is an act that is offensive to religious or moral law or an act that makes one feel reprehensible. The popular definition now is an offense to law. However, I believe sin is something that is against moral ideals, not limited to law. In any religion, whatever God says is the rule (tempting me to create a Howardism...). No lying, no drinking, no crazy monkey dance (= no humans thereafter...), no eating, no driving, no writing (awesome), no homework (even better), no school forever (can't be better now...). Basically, sin is something that one think is bad. I believe dissing people and joking around is awesome...definitely not for my classmates...=D. The definition varies from one to another. There are always those annoying people who try to force their justice and rules on others, making everyone but himself a sinner. Thus creating the paradox. Everyone would go to hell, but a guy, so there is only one that is going to heaven. But that very same guy is a sinner that goes to hell from everyone else's point of view. Thus, everyone goes in heaven once but at the same time, goes to hell (6,874,700,000-1 times). That means everyone have 6,874,700,000( total earth population) copies, which is impossible. Therefore, there is no heaven and hell (?). Wierd!!!!

Fear as Motivator

I believe fear, as the most effective and popular motivator, is a good motivator. Only under fear do humans evolve. Only under fear do humans work. Only under fear do humans prosper. Without fear of failing, students wouldn't be studying. Without fear of babies, people would make crazy monkey dances all over the world endlessly. Without fear of the lack of money, nobody would work. The society human lives in is based solely on fear. Many films, particularly Disney, who ruined just about every Pixar movie with nice morals, tried to state fear is a bad thing. "Fear is for cowards. Control over fear is not the best way. Fear is characteristics for evil people. "....However, fear is the absolute basis for we humankinds. Without fear, none of our society structure would function properly. Basically, as long as we are living, fear is an integrated part of our life. This is not about good or bad, brave or coward, smart or stupid. This simply part of our existence as human beings.

Church

During NYC MUN trip, I say a gothic looking creepy church, but I didnt go in due to my urge of shopping. I never went in an actual church. However, I pay visit to Chinese temples often. In there, the first thing you can sense is probably that distinct incense smell ( I totally dislike it). Usually, there is this huge big metal pot-looking container that people stick their incense stick in. There is always a threshold on the entrance. Although its really intended for crossing into somekind of holy space and should not be step on, many worshippers (do they even know what they are doing??) step on it anyways. After you step into the temple itself, you will hear people moaning stuff, from prayers to shouting of some wierd stuff, from plastic bags rustling to the dropping of banana shaped wood pieces (a tradition used to ask if God approves or if they are full yet....). Before you notice, your eyes will be blinded  by the dazzling light of those gold god statues (why don't thieves hit on those targets instead of those in museum??). There are also lights on the side with some names on it for protection and good luck of those with names on it...There are also stuff like luck of the month/year crap..However, I must say, a Chinese temple, despite how I dislike all the noise, smell and sight, is better than a Western Chruch. Temples are much more welcoming than those creepy buildings.

Motivation

In Burning of my house and Scarlet Letter, Bradstreet and Hawthrone emphasized on religous piety. In Burning of my house, Bradstreet was trying to not mourn for the material possessions she lost in the fire. Normal people would like go nuts, cry, break down...and a lot of negative reactions. This shows that piety can make a lot of nonsense happen. In Scarlet Letter, the religous "symptoms" are much devastating. First, the villagers made a so freaking big deal about adultery Dimmesdale and Hester did. Think about it, who cares? Hester lost her husband, so she have every right to make sex. Secondly, Dimmesdale was overly concerned with guilt. Who in the world now would be all that angry at himself for having sex with another girl? Its not even raping because Hester liked it. For me, my motivation is FOOD. Like how the panda in KungFu Panda, I admire food. I can do just about any nonsense for food, such as rushing to lockers after American Literature eagerly (we all love this class, don't worry). And of course, religious motivation seems almost non-existing to my actions. At least so far in my life, I have never tried to act in the name of God, Great Architect, or something as holy as that. Earthly beings have their place, and neither above nor below should be connected with each other.

Compare and Contrast: Bradstreet vs. Sor Juana

Bradstreet's On the burning of our house and Sor Juana's World in Hounding Me both mention about vanity. However, Bradstreet believes the true treasure is in heaven while Sor Juana believe its in one's soul. Bradstreet used inversion to rhyme the sentences while Sor Juana didn't, due to the translation failure. The translator failed...epically. Bradstreet condemns herself of trying to mourn for material possession and try to convey that what God keeps for her in the afterlife is the true importance. Sor Juana believed that she would like to keep her mind on knowledge collection than on observing all beauties that present itself in front of her. So in short, Bradstreet is another Puritan religion freak that got absolutely obsessed with God and her creation, and Sor Juana is just another nerd that try to justify her nerdy acts...which is kind of pointless in the end. Both of them is trying to say that their way is better than common people....crazy~~~...