Thursday 25 April 2013

Themes...





The above slides are what we were required to do in English: three movies with one word representing their theme. This task was basically given to us to make us think-about how themes are connected with daily life. Even the movies that everyone loves to watch aren't just for entertainment-they all have a theme too. And there is a huge difference between a theme and a genre. Usually we confuse theme with genre, but yes, there is a difference. So I just chose three movies I've watched, picking out themes that I think support them.

Take for example The Hunger Games. The genre is probably something like action and adventure, or science fiction. But the theme of the movie is cruelty, desperation, or something like that. And yes, all of the possible themes are connected in some way. Love, friendship, hatred, cruelty...all of these are connected and keep coming back to each other; in a good movie or book. Not many people know how to recognize it; and yes, neither do I. Maybe people keep coming back to the same movies and books because without knowing that we understand the theme, we still do get it in our subconsciousness, if that makes sense. And each person has different tastes and interpretations because of the very individuality everyone has that makes us who we are. Our different experiences in life will cause us to turn to different types of movies and books. And that's why, as a general rule, there are so many movies, most of them with the same themes, but entirely different characters, storyline, plot, setting, etc.

Sunday 24 February 2013

The Book Thief

Recently we started reading 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak in English class. One character who I thought was very interesting was Death, who narrates the story. He was definitely not what one always thinks of Death. He was very lonely, gentle, vulnerable, irreplaceable, and possibly frustrated with his job, quoting from the line 'Distraction is my one saving grace that keeps me sane', on page 4. He also paid great attention to colors, quoting the various lines 'White is a blinding color', 'I would like a dark, chocolate-colored sky when I come for you', and so on.

Each passage in the book conveys a certain mood-the moods that Death is feeling, that the other people in the book might be feeling, and also what the reader is meant to feel. 
I particularly liked this paragraph, on pg 11:
'....You see, to me, for just a moment, despite all of the colors that touch and grapple with what I see in this world, I will often catch an eclipse when a human dies. I've seen millions of them. I've seen more eclipses than I care to remember...'

By eclipses, Death might not mean the scientific one when the moon moves across the sun, he might mean the blotting out of life, the darkness of death. And being Death, he will have seen and sensed loads of eclipses, so many he probably doesn't want to remember. 


Saturday 9 February 2013


The Cold Within
Six humans trapped by happenstance, in bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood, or so the story is told. 

Their dying fire in need of logs, the first man held his back.
For of the faces 'round the fire, he noticed one was black.

The next one looking 'cross the way saw one not of his church
And couldn't bring himself to give the fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered clothes, he gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put to use to warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.

The black man's face bespoke revenge as the fire passed from sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood was a chance to spite the white.

The last man of this forlorn group did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave was how he played the game.

Their logs held tight in death's still hand was proof of human sin,
They didn't die from the cold without-they died from the cold within.
-Anonymous

I really liked this poem because it tells the story of what happens when people pre-judge each other. Just due to prejudice and selfishness, the whole group of six men died. I guess this poem is sending us a message to celebrate diversity, not shun it, and that the colour of your skin, the clothes you wear, your accent-all these things don't matter. You're a human being, and all human beings deserve to be treated and to treat others as equals.

Friday 11 January 2013


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19800253

In the past 27 years, half of the coral cover in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been lost. This is due to storms, a coral-feeding type of starfish and bleaching due to climate change. About 48 % of the damage is attributed to tropical cyclones, 42 % due to the growth of the coral feeding crown-of-thorns starfish, and the remaining 10 % is due to coral bleaching because of ocean-warming.
Researchers say that this is a major cause for concern because the loss of the reefs will probably mean that various species that inhabit the reefs will lose their habitat. Recovery should take 10-20 years, but the pauses between the disturbances are generally too short for complete recovery.

Climate change. The curse of the century. Almost all nature problems that crop up nowadays are mainly due to climate change.
And the situation is pretty grim for the barrier reefs in Australia. Besides being home to thousands of marine species, they protect the coastline from damaging impacts of the waves. Short term effects are targeted towards reducing the growth of the starfish that feeds on the coral.

I chose this article to write upon because I am a nature(and animal) lover. I'm interested in news reports to do with nature, animals and climate change. I get pretty upset seeing news like this; like the many problems cropping up due to climate change, extinction of species, or cruelty to animals.






Sunday 6 January 2013

2013. The start of a new year, a new beginning. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to stay disciplined for the whole year. And by 'discipline' I mean continue pursuing my goals without slacking and be a little less careless and untidy. It won't come to me in a hurry but I'll try to work at it.

Saturday 24 November 2012

It's been a long time since I posted anything on my blog, but actually I didn't get any inspiration for a post. This post will be about:
War.Disagreements.People taking sides. Why do we have all this? I think we have wars, fights, disagreements between countries because both sides are too proud to back down. They would both wait for the other side to suggest some comprise or to back down and apologize. Which is never going to happen. I think instead we should empathize with the other 'side' or person or whatever. Try to get into their thoughts and see the thing from their viewpoint.
Of course, I don't believe that minor disagreements-like at school-should not occur-after all, what's life without a slight disagreement or quarrel occurring now and then?-but really major fights, like war between countries, or spiteful feelings between two people which has been going on for too long-no. We should try to stop the spite. Spite-absolutely not. Quarrels, arguments, all right. At least monotony is prevented from occurring in our daily life with those. But I think fights and stuff should not harbor spite because that's a really blind feeling that stops you from being able to think straight and know what is right or wrong.You then become totally unscrupulous.(Of course, this is only my view point.Others might think otherwise).

Tuesday 6 November 2012

10 things I'm most grateful for

There are countless number of things I’m thankful for, but these are the 10 things that I’m most thankful for-
1.Having a good family with great parents who are always there for me, helping in times of trouble and making me do things that are good for me(like eating the right food).
2. Getting great education in a different school where they encourage us to give ourselves a push and making us do multiple activities.
3.There are colours in the world.
4.There are trees in this world that clean the air and give us a hundred useful things(only we don't give them something back).
5.There is such a thing as art so we have famous artists that encourage our sense of beauty by making really beautiful artwork and making people want to follow in their footsteps.
6.There is such a thing as music so I can play and improvise and do something I really love.
7.There is such a thing as sports so there is badminton which I really enjoy doing.
8.I have really great friends which stick by me whether I'm happy or sad.
9.Winter exists and I feel that sense of coolness which some people call 'too cold' but which I really like.
10.There are thousands of languages in the world, not just one language that everybody knows, so I can learn new languages.