The Working Man

All day the Sun is shining

Like an old man working the midday shift

Each day the man continues his dull work with

The setting of the sun signifying

Yet another banal day

Aeons of time has passed

But he is still indentured for another eternity

What callous man would do such an act?

Who can live with such atrocities?

This is our future

This is the utopian world promised to us

By our ancestors

This is the World we all live in

The Hell that we all call home

A place where one man’s happiness

Comes at the cost of another's

A community where malevolence is cherished

Heroes condemned.

The Fun Side of the Island-Found Poem

The Fun Side of the Island

Found poem from William Golding's Lord of the Flies

P.114-118, 194-197

Surrounded by chasms of empty air
No where to hide
Water sinking among the rocks
Revealing,
Pink tables of granite

One flat rock
Spread like a table
The water rising
Boiling over the table rock with a roar
No sense of passage
Only this minute long rise and fall

No fresh water
A rotten place
With enormous red blocks
Large as a mill wheel
Heaved into the sea

A Savage
Painted out of recognition
Sniggering and laughing
Stabbing his spear
Pushing and glaring
Breathing heavily and fighting fiercely
All just playing a game

Poem, images and music by:
Peidong Huang

Found Poem

From Lord of the Flies by Golding p.7-15


All around, the jungle, and heat
Beneath was grass,
Decaying coconuts and saplings
This is an island
That's the sea
There aren't any grown ups at all
The shore fledged with palms
Green feathers in the air
Out there the white surf
Shimmering water and ocean blue
The efflorescence tropical weed and coral
A school of glittering fish hither and thither
Beyond, more enchantment
A great platform, uncompromising,
Thrusting up through forest to a point at infinity
A long deep incredible pool of dark green, pink granite,
Water warmer than blood, a huge bath
Golden light danced and shattered
Mirages wrestled with the brilliance of the lagoon

What I Learned

The English Patient has taught me many life lessons and skills as I was reading through the book and doing our inquiry question. For example, when Hana decide to help Almasy even after his Hungarian lineage was revealed taught me that someone's nationality does not define who they are as a person and other examples include learning how to write emails and creating pecha kuchas. I believe such skills are beneficial in life because in a multicultural nation like Canada, we run into these problems on a daily basis and learning how to solve these problems will make our lives easier in the long run. I believe that the content and phantom skills I learned while doing this inquiry project will definitely go towards shaping my future.

Our Results

When our groups met for the first time this weekend. We agreed on an ambitious plan to find and donate books for Admiral Seymour Elementary School. When I arrived at school today it is clear that our bold plan had worked. The box of donated books had reached to over twenty books in the past few days. In addition, the books being contributed were a wide array of books ranging from kindergarten books all the way to grade seven. As a result, we decided that we would take these books to the school starting next week. We all agreed that next week would be the best time since that will give everyone the opportunity to donate. I hope that our books will be a success and cannot wait to see the reaction on their faces.

Post #7: Community

Reading the book further, I realized that the English Patient is like an elder in a community. The English patient is the focal point of the small community formed by Hana, Kip and Caravaggio. Each of them depends on the English patient to bring them together and it's obvious that none of them are sure what to do if the English patient was to pass away. However, it's also clear that they depend of each other. I think that the book is telling us the importance of community and that we should cherish what we currently have. Since, the book accentuates the importance of community, it suggests that we trust and look for help in others as a way to be successful.

Entry #6: Inquiry Question Part 2

Last week, our group decided on our inquiry question. The process was long and tedious, but we did in the end decide on the topic of altruism. This week, we decided to work on the community part of our project. Similar to choosing our inquiry question, deciding on what to do also sparked a debate among us. Many ideas were thrown out, ranging from protesting to fundraising. In the end, we decided to do a form of fundraising. Our group would go out over the weekend and help fundraiser for the Vancouver Sun Children's Fund. We determined that we would go around and collect stationaries from different stores. We hope that by helping other less fortunate individuals, we can make the world a better place. I am looking forward to the weekend that I will be having.

Love in The English Patient

Love is definitely a major theme in the book, The English Patient and many forms of it is shown throughout the story. These include both romantic and friendship love. For example, romantic love occurs between Kip and Hana and while friendship love occurs between Hana and the English patient. Since each of these people have just been through a war, they all react to love differently. I think this is significant because we, the students who are reading this book, are going to begin experiencing romantic love in the future. Thus, It is very important that we are able to distinguish between them. Furthermore by seeing how the characters in the book cope with the implications of love, we may better prepare ourselves for what is yet to come.

What I think about the characters

The book, The English Patient, does a great job at allowing the reader to connect with the characters in the book. After reading the book for a week, it has become apparent that each character in the book has been well developed with his/her unique traits. For example Hana, the nurse, has been through so much pain and suffering that she no longer wants to form attachments with other people. And Caravaggio, the spy, despite being rational on the outside, the loss of his thumbs and his feeling of vengeance have clearly altered his way of thinking and the way he views life. I enjoy book that have many characters and I like how this book continues to add new characters to keep the reader interested. I'm excited to see if any more characters will be revealed as the book continues in chapter four.

The book keeps getting better!

This week I read further into The English Patient. The story is starting to get interesting as more characters are revealed. There were many flashbacks involving the main characters like Hana and the English patient and their true feelings and experiences become exposed. The development of their characters added more depth to the story and allowed me to further connect with their thoughts. My favourite aspect about this book still remains to be its mysterious nature. I liked how the author continues to add twists to the story to keep the reader guessing. Scenes like the appearance of Caravaggio is what keeps this book a page-turner. I hope the book continues to be as interesting as it is now.

The English Patient: First impressions

Last night was when I first started reading The English Patient. The book takes place in a small war ruined village hospital somewhere in Italy. The book features many characters who each are suffering from the effects of post-war trauma in one way or another. Each of the characters depend on each other for support. I like how the book engaged my interest from the start with its mysterious opening and dark atmosphere. In addition, I like how the book continues to hook onto the reader with its descriptive nature and use of foreshadowing. So far, the book has been very engaging and I look forward to seeing how the book will continue to develop.

why did I choose this book and what I hope to learn from it

The book i chose is the English Patient Michael Ondaatje. I chose this book because  of its unique storyline. The story  follows a injured burned man in a hospital and his nurse who is looking after him. The book talks about the experiences of World War 2 and the hardships it can cause.I hope by reading this book, I can learn more about the hardships people face and how to overcome them. I hope that by furthering my understanding on topics such as these, I can dedicate myself to be able to help others who are in pain. The inquiry question I may have is how I can help others who are dealing with hardships?