2011년 1월 27일 목요일

A month in GLPS - My final Writing

     Today is the 27th day in GLPS. After 2 days, we leave this place. Now, I just want to write about the things that I think about GLPS. Actually, I thought that GLPS wouldn't be so much fun when I first went here. I just thought that it was similar to other camps during vacations. However, my idea broke up in less than a week. We did some placement test and then, we were divided as classes. In my case, I became class 26. Even though I became the Intensive class, I felt somewhat not good because I couldn't do things such as music, PE, or other fun activities. Well, that idea broke up in less than a week, too. We, the intensive class focused on Debate, History, Writing, and Math. I liked all of the subjects but personally, I think I enjoyed Debate and Writing. Actually, I didn't like both Debate and Writing before I came into this camp. However, because my Advisor teacher, Mr. Wayne Baumgardner was also the Debate teacher, and because he was very interesting, I started to like the class he teached. Also, the reason that I liked Writing is because of the system. In Writing class, we had a quite special system. In Writing class, we wrote our essays using the computer. We made a blog, especially using the blogspot, which was on the Google, to post our writings. I thought that it was very interesting to do the class in this way.

     I think I quite enjoyed the month in GLPS. Even though I had some subjects that I dislike and some things that I dislike, I tried to do my best on everything and that really helped me improve my skills in English. If I have an opportunity, I may come back to GLPS. However, I think that will be a little bit hard because I am becoming a second grader, so I have to study a lot. But I can maybe try out for coming to KMLA when I become a high school student. Based on the things that I had learned in GLPS, I would try to come to KMLA and learn more things that I had learned in GLPS. I really feel thankful to all the teachers and my friends who helped me out during the camp. I hope we meet again if we have opportunity.

Book Review - Angels and Demons


     Today I want to review a book, which I thought it was very interesting. The title of the book is 'Angels and Demons'. Some of you may have heard about it. It was very popular and it had been made as a movie also. The Author of the book is Dan Brown, who wrote the Da Vinci Code and the Deception Point which are also books that I want to recommend to you.

     First, I will breifly summarize the plot of Angels and Demons. The main character is Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist. He tries to stop the Illuminati, a legendary secret society, from destroying Vatican City withthe newly discovered power of antimatter. But the problem was that the antimatter would explode and destroy the Vatican City in 24 hours. Langdon attempts to retrace the steps of the "Path of Illumination", a process once used by the Illuminati as a means of inducting new members. The path leads Langdon to four locations in Rome, each associated with the one of the primordial elements; Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Finally, Langdon finds to Castel Sant' Angelo, that hides a tunnel leading directly into the pope's chambers in the Vatican. Langdon then founds out that Kohler, the leader of the CERN, has arrive to confront the camerlengo in private. Langdon thinks that Kohler was the one who committed all the things, but the truth was that the camerlengo was the one who committed all the murders. The camerlengo kills himself after the people knew about the truth.

     After reading this book, I thought it was very interesting. Not so long after I first read the book, the movie of  the book had appeared and I was fond to watch it. I don't know the reason why I preferred the book than the movie, but I think it was because that the movie couldn't show everything of the book and also it was maybe because I already knew all about the plot and the truth of the story. Whatever, I thought that this book, Angels and Demons was a very interesting book that I want to recommend to all of you. I will give you some advice about reading this book. First, watch the movie. Then, read the book. Because the book has more information, you wouldn't like to read the book first. If you watch the movie first, it would be easier for you to imagine about the plot when you are reading the book. I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I did.

2011년 1월 25일 화요일

Writing Chain : Smoking Must be Stopped - by class 26

[Introduction]
   Hi, my name is Eleanor and my Korean name is Soha Jung. I am in class 26 at the 15th GLPS. We, class 26 did an exercise which is called 'Writing Chain' and it goes like this. First, I start to write a paragraph for 5 to 10 minutes. However, we don't just start writing on an empty paper. Some words are written in the paper and we should start writing using the words. In my case, 'must be stopped' was written on the paper. After about 5 to 10 minutes, we pass the paper to the other person and they start to write the paragraphs again and it keeps going for about an hour. Now I am going to write the paper that I started,


Suicide

[Smoking must be stopped]
   Smoking must be stopped. Nowadays, people are smoking more than the days before. Also, the worse problem is that teenagers too, are smoking and it is becoming more serious. Therefore, I strongly agree that smoking must be banned.

   First of all, I think that smoking must be stopped because it's bad for health. It is proven scientifically that smoking cigaretts give a terrible effect to the smoker's lungs. It is also well-known that the smokers have more probabilities to have lung cancer. And now we all know that smoking can lead us to cancer so we should stop doing things that makes our health worse.

   Next, smoking is not only bad for your health, but it gives harm to other people. Second-hand smoking is also bad, just like the first-hand smoking. When you smoke, the harmful elements in the cigarettes and the smoke of it is very harmful for other people who are around you. Therefore, we should not only ban the smoking in public places, but ban it completely.

   Also, smoking gives negative effects to pregnant women and to their babies. This could lead to a serious global tragedy. If women smoke boith on first-hand and second-hand, they'll possibly give birth to mutated babies, As the babies grow up, there will be social issues such as people suffering from depression caused by the disappointment they have about their own bodies. How can there be a normal world with peace when all the people are depressed?

   Moreover, smoking gives displeasure to others. There will be nobody who would like the terrible smell of the cigarette when they are having a conversation with you. The more you smoke, the more your lungs' condition gets worse. Your body shape will be ruined too. Did you ever think about the results after smoking? If you didn't, you need to think about it which is horrible. You don't want to mess up your own life with a paper rolled up with harmful substances inside it, do you?

   Furthermore, smoking can give some bad effects to teenagers as they follow some actions from adults including smoking cigarettes. Teenagers are very curious about many things. Also, they want to be an adult faster as they have no unique group that they are included which means they are not kids but they not adults either. So, with these two facts, teenagers copy some bad actions from adults and this makes additional problems with smoking.

History Presentation - Dido and Aeneas

Dido and Aeneas 






     In this week's history class, I have to write a paper about a topic called 'Dido and Aeneas, Carthage and Rome'. I am recently writing a paper about it and I am now going to post about a half of the paper, which is about Dido and Anchises. Well, originally, the topic is about Dido and Aeneas, Carthage and Rome but because I didn't finish the research about Carthage and Rome, and because it would be too long if I write everything about the topic, I will just write about Dido and Aeneas.


     First, I would like to talk about the event which happened between Dido and Aeneas. During Aeneas’ journey to Italy, Aeneas arrives at the coast of Libya. And with the help of his mother, Venus, Aeneas and his friend Achates approach Carthage, shrouded in a cloud that conjures to prevent them from being seen. When they arrive in Dido’s court to find many of their comrades who were lost and scattered in the storm asking Dido for aid in rebuilding their fleet. Dido gladly grants their request and says them that they could stay in Carthage if they need help. Aeneas accepts and his crew stayed for a year in Carthage.
     During the time in Carthage, Dido and Aeneas falls in love with each other. However, Jupiter tells Aeneas by sending Mercury and said that Aeneas has more important thing to do which is finding a new country which would be the start of Rome. So Aeneas sailed towards Italy without telling it to Dido. When Dido saw Aeneas’ fleet leaving, she cursed Aeneas and suicide after that.
     But this is not the end of the relationship between Dido and Aeneas. After several years, Aeneas goes to the land of the dead, which can be also called as underworld. In there, he sees many dead people whom he know and he also sees Dido. But when Aeneas tries to talk to Dido, Dido just passes Aeneas and goes to Sychaeus, who was her first husband.


     Secondly, I want to state the facts about Dido. She is the queen of Carthage and also the founder of Carthage. She is the daughter of BelusⅡ and also younger sister of Pygmalion. Dido was married to Sychaeus but because of the rumor that Sychaeus had a lot of gold, Pygmalion secretly murders Sychaeus. For Dido, who wasn't aware of the murder, Sychaeus appears in her dream and advices her to flee the country. Dido follows her husband's advice and goes to Libya, the land she had rebuilt a new country named Carthage. Under the rule of Dido, Carthage had become a successful kingdom in just 7 years.


     Then, there are some facts about Aeneas. Aeneas was the leader of Troy's Dardanian allies during the Trojan War and he was the third cousin and lieutenant of Hector, the prince of Troy. Also, Aeneas was the son of Venus and Anchises. After Troy fell, Aeneas went to a journey heading Italy. During the journey, he had a lot of adventures. And after he arrived at Italy, he became a founder of Lavinium, which becomes the origin of Rome later. When he died, Venus asked Jupiter to make Aeneas become immortal so Aeneas became a god. He is a deity of Life-Death-Life.


     Now, I want to talk about the characteristics of Dido. First, Dido has a great leadership. Dido had constructed Carthage as a successful kingdom during only 7 years. Under the rule of Dido, Carthage was called as the ‘Shining City’, which ruled 300 other cities around it. We can see that Dido was a good leader who has a great leadership which can lead people in a successful way.
     Second, Dido is kind and generous. When Aeneas’ crew arrived at Carthage, Dido helped them without any conditions that could give her some benefits that would help Carthage. However, Dido didn’t hope or wanted any conditions for helping Aeneas’ fleet.
     Third, Dido is shown as a tortured, and repentant woman. In the Aeneid, Virgil had shown Dido as a woman that is loyal to her original husband in the end. However, Dido dies as a tortured and repentant woman who has fallen away from that loyalty in Virgil’s version.
     Moreover, she is somewhat seen as irresponsible. When Dido dies, what happens to the people in Carthage? Dido didn’t have any siblings that could become the king or the queen of Carthage. By this, we can see that Dido has a personality which is quite irresponsible.
     Furthermore, Dido is impulsive. She can’t control her minds or emotions well. She killed herself just because Aeneas left her. She had to think more about future of herself and Carthage. She should have thought more about the effects that will cause after her death.


     Lastly, I want to talk about the characteristics of Aeneas. Aeneas has also great leadership as Dido. He was a leader of Troy's Dardanian allies and he becomes the king and also the founder of Lavinium. This proves that Aeneas has enough proof that he has a great leadership.
     Also, he is very brave. For example, he dares to go to the underworld which is ruled by Hades. Most people won't dare to go to the underworld easily but Aeneas goes to the underworld so we can see that he is very gallant than others.
     In addition, Aeneas is kind and generous like Dido. He helps other people who needs help. For instance, in the land of Cyclops, he makes Achaemenides, one of the Odysseus' crew who have left behind, to join his crew. This means that Aeneas helps others if they need help.


     By writing the paper, I had to do a lot of research than the previous weeks. However, as I researched through the Internet and reading books, I had found out that it is not always boring to do the research. I found that it is actually very interesting and fun if I find out new informations. Personally, I like to find out the characteristics and the events by reading books and using the Internet. It was really interesting that I could do the thing that I like in GLPS. Because this is the final paper, I will try my best in writing this paper and presenting it.

2011년 1월 23일 일요일

Debate - Juveniles Who Commit Serious Crimes Should Be Tried As Adults


     In debate class, we are now debating about the topic for the final week; Juveniles who commit serious crimes should be tried as adults. We don't know our sides yet, if we are going to be the Government or the Opposition, but I will write an argumentative essay based on my thoughts. I think that juveniles who commit serious crimes shouldn't be tried as adults and I will now state some reasons why I think so. But first, I will define some words. Juveniles mean people who are not adults yet and serious crimes mean crimes that gives so much damage to others. For example, there are murder and rape.

     First, I think that juveniles who commit serious crimes shouldn't be tried as adults because putting juveniles into adult system would give so much harm to the juveniles. What I mean is that juveniles have more hardness than the juveniles in juvenile systems. For example, it is hard for them to get a job when they become a full grown-ups because their college loans are limited if they go to jail. Also, who would like to accept a person who has a criminal record? No one would like a person who has been to jail for committing a serious crime. Moreover, the condition of the prison is poor according to a research by Human Rights Watch. Furthermore, juveniles are likely to be assaulted, abused, and commit suicide in the adult system. Lastly, they are deprived of counseling and family support which are crucial to juveniles.

     Second, the society will have more benefits. Some people might think that the society will be more dangerous if we keep juveniles in the juvenile system but actually it doesn't give the society much benefit. The reason why that I say like this is because we can use juveniles to do the community service. In that way, both society and juveniles would have a good effect. In the perspective of the society, it is good because the juveniles help the society to become better by doing some service and in the perspective of the juveniles, it is good because they could help the society and regret their wrong behaviours so it could be an opportunity to live a new life, helping others.

     In conclusion, I had written about my idea about the topic; Juveniles who commit serious crimes should be tried as adults and I strongly disagree with it. I gave two major arguments which were Hardness of Juveniles and Social Benefit. Because of these, I think that we shouldn't put juveniles who commit serious crimes into jails that could effect their lives forever.

Day in GLPS - 3rd Person Narrative

     Eleanor opened her eyes in the morning, just as the alarm rang. She got up on the bed but she almost got hit by the celling so she lowered my head. Then she went down the stairs and headed for the bathroom. Some of her roommates got up earlier and they were getting ready for breakfast. After she washed her face and brushed her teeth, she headed for room 910, to wake up her friends. Eleanor was allowed to go in room 910 anytime she want except the studying period and in the night. As she thought, everyone in room 910 were sleeping. Eleanor started to wake up all of them and after 10 minutes, they all woke up. With them, she went to eat breakfast which was fantastic.

     When she got back to her room, Eleanor got ready for the Advisor Time. She was in class 26, so she went to Da-san building to see Mr. Baumgardner. Her class had some interesting conversations about camp and actually, it was very interesting to listen to her classmates' stories. One of the interesting stories was the story of Sun Woo and she told us about her roommate, who was angry about the other roommates putting a tape on her eyes.

     After the Advisor Time, Eleanor went to Chung-mu building to attend a History class. At this time, she had to present a presentation to all class and also Mr. Ganse, who was the History teacher. Her topic was about Anchises, who is the father of Aeneas, the founder of Rome. Eleanor thought that she would do a terrible job but after the presentation, she thought that she did a better job than the last week. After all classmates finished their presentation, the class had to choose another topic and Eleanor's was about 'Dido and Aeneas, Carthage and Rome'.

     Eleanor ate lunch after the 4th period and it was quite good. She liked today's menu. At 2 o' clock, she went to Debate class, which was Mr. Baumgardner's class. In the Debate class, the class debated about abortion. Eleanor was in the same team with Steve and Justin and her team argued for the Opposition. The Government were Lily, Julie, and Sung Jae. Although Eleanor's team weren't excellent, Mr. Baumgardner said that they did a fine job. Eleanor thought that the Opposition lost but it wasn't. They won by 1 point. Eleanor thought that she should improve more because her team just won by 1 point.

     :Lastly, Eleanor went to Writing class and Mr. Crawford told the class to write things in our blogs. Now she is writing something to post in her blog and this is the consequence of it. Even though today was not finished yet, Eleanor thought that today was a fine day like the other days because unless she didn't have something terrible until now. She hoped that today will just past like this so it could be ended as a fine day.

2011년 1월 20일 목요일

Day in GLPS - 2nd Person Narrative

     You open your eyes in the morning, just as the alarm rings. You get up on the bed but because you almost got hit by the celling, you lower your head. Then you go down the stairs and head for the bathroom. Some of your roommates got up earlier and they are getting ready for breakfast. After you wash your face and brush your teeth, you head for room 910 to wake up your friends. You were allowed to go in room 910 anytime you want except during the study period and in night. As you thought, everyone in room 910 is asleep. You starts to wake up all of them and after 10 minutes, they all wake up. With them, you go to eat breakfast which is fantastic.

     When you and your friends go back to the rooms, you get ready for the Advisor time. You are in class 26, so you go to Da-san building to see Mr. Baumgardner. Your class had some interesting conversations about camp and actually, you think that it is very interesting to listen to your classmates' stories. One of the interesting stories that you thought was a story of Sun Woo and she told the class about her roommate, who was angry about the other roommates putting a tape on her eyes.

     After the Advisor time, you go to Chung-mu building to attend a History class. At this time, you have to present a presentation to all class and also Mr. Ganse, who is the History teacher. Your topic is about Anchises, father of Aeneas, the founder of Rome. You think that you will do a terrible job but after the presentation, you think that you did a better job than last week. After all classmates finish their presentation, you have to choose another topic and yours is about 'Dido and Aeneas, Carthage and Rome.'

     You eat lunch after the 4th period and it is quite good. You like today's menu. At 2 o' clock, you go to Debate class, which is Mr. Baumgardner's class. In the Debate class, you debate about abortion. Steve, Justin, and you are in the same team and you argue for the Opposition. The Government are Lily, Julie, and Sung Jae. Although you weren't excellent, Mr. Baumgardner said that the debaters did a fine job. You think that the Opposition lost but it isn't. You win the Government by 1 point. You think that you should improve more because you won by only 1 point.

     Lastly, you go to Writing class and Mr. Crawford tells the class to write things in their blogs. Now you are writing something to post in your blog and this is the consequence of it. Even though today is not finished yet, you think that today was a fine day like the other days because unless you didn't have something terrible until now. You hope that today will just past like this so it could end as a fine day.