Spiritual/Character Goal

Jean’s Character and Spiritual Goal

Wisdom is the way to live without regrets.
When looking back through my past regrets, I always end up wishing to be wiser. I was and still am a “short” thinker. Many of my mistakes were carelessly made which majority could have been prevented if I had thought before my action a little more. One of the mistakes came from being a malicious, selfish sister to my baby brother back home. Too lazy to watch my brother rip pages out of advertisements in the magazines, I left him alone in the living room. Then, about a minute later, I heard a big cry coming from the doorway. He had bumped his head on the hard, wooden floor trying to crawl into my room. I was devastated at how selfish I was. I regretted for my insensitive behavior which was really hard to forgive.
To prevent this kind of foolish acts, I decided to become more wise, thinking and acting cleverly. Before I make decisions, I should double-think, making sure that I don’t end up regretting again. I should also care about others before me. What helped me to set my goal were some verses in the Holy Bible. It reads “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways (NIV Prov. 2:12-15)". By reading this verse, I was able to promise myself to accomplish my goal to be wiser no matter how long it takes.

Citation

Holy Bible, New International Version. Colorado Springs: International Bible Society, 1984.

My Learning Goals: Jean's Fresh New Start of the Year 2007

Goal1
Goal: When I’m revising my drafts, I only seem to focus on fixing little grammar mistakes, being lazy to look for new ways to improve my writing. Therefore, I decided that my first goal is to try new ways to edit my draft.
Method: Instead of being lazy, I should sit down and think for a second. I should try to get specific advices from the peer editor, asking them what they mean by things that they correct on my paper. Also, instead of being only focused on my writing, I should read other people’s writing and see the different methods of how each person views one’s paper.

Goal2
Goal: When I write, I always noticed that I don’t really use specific details to express the ideas as much as I can to the readers. My laziness caused my voice to be lost in the middle of nowhere. Therefore, I decided that my second goal is be able to control my voice, using specific details.
Method: I should read my paper aloud at least twice in case to double-check my voice. I should also read more books and practice describing objects using as many adjectives as I can to expand my vocabulary skills.

Goal3
Goal: Strangely, from when I was young, I always ignored the usage of articles before the noun. This problem led me to find myself looking at rows of red arrows pointing to spaces where I forgot to put articles while I was getting my paper edited. This led me to decide that my goal three would be to not forget to put articles before nouns.
Method: I could place articles before every noun and see if they work, making sure that I don’t forget them.

Goal4
Goal: Even though I’m a high school student, I still don’t know how to use some punctuation marks such as hyphens and dashes. Therefore, my fourth goal is to study and know in memory of all the different kinds of punctuation marks.
Method: I should pay more close attention to Ms. Johnson’s grammar lessons and ask her of any confusion I have. Also, I should search internet for extra information.

Goal5
Goal: When I’m writing research papers, I tend to depend only on one source: internet. From this year, as another goal, I want to be able to use variety of resources such as resources in the library.
Method: I should use resources available in Ms. Johnson’s class first, and try various MLA methods using those resources. I should also visit the library more often to get familiar with the library system.

Goal6
Goal: My sixth goal is to improve my word choice. When I’m writing a story, I always use “common” words such as good and bad.
Method: I really need to get close to thesaurus to learn new, advanced vocabularies. I should also read more books looking for colorful, descriptive words.

Semester Goal1
Goal: During this semester, my goal is to read numerous books and get fresh new ideas about the topics that I could write my stories about.
Method: Since I don’t have much time to read books due to activities I joined, I hope that by the end of this semester, I have many ideas I could write my stories with by reading as much as I can.

Semester Goal2
Goal: During this semester, my second goal is to learn how to do citations properly. On research papers, I depend on internet sites to give me proper citations. I hope that by the end of this semester, I would be able to write citations for my research paper without using internet sources like citationmachine.com.
Method: I could accomplish this goal by using the citations often, trying to do them on my own without copying and pasting them from the internet. I could also get help from Ms. Johnson.

Poetry Portfolio: School Life

Dedication:

To my mommy and daddy
And magnificent editors,
Christina and Nina

Preface

I personally, do my best work at home in my small, cozy room. It’s the best when I’m alone in the house because then, there’s total silence in the house. I get easily annoyed and irritated when I’m working on my homework even by the sound of foot steps in the house. How I do my most inspired work is a secret, but since this is my first poetry portfolio ever made, I’ll tell you. It might be hard to believe, but before I write, I have the outline of the writing piece in my head. I always seem to have an electronic organizer mentally. I usually get my ideas from comic strips on newspapers, story I heard my friends, and just my wild imaginations. The unexpected ideas I think of during my recreation time, are the best. I have to tell you that best ideas come when you are in a good mood.
My mom inspires me. Since when I was in fourth grade, my mom helped me through with my writing assignments. After I write a draft, she would always read it and tell suggestions of how I can improve my essay. I’ve always and still wonder where she gets all her ideas from. I’ve never read any of her stories, but by the way she looks at a writing piece, I could tell that she’s a good writer. She always asks five question to herself: who, what, where, when, and why. One of the most important facts is that she read and still reads numerous amounts of books. Even though I’m a writer, I hate to read. Sorry, but that’s the truth.
I value the chance that I have to express to people, who I am, in the writing process. What’s so amazing about the writing process in that you can write about anything you want. Out of all the ideas, I get to choose an idea that I like the most and write about it in detail. I think that writing is so unlimited, giving everyone in the world a chance to try.
This year, I have learned so much about the six traits in writing. For ideas, instead of writing another boring story, I got to try new types of writings like process essay and many types of poems. Even though I had hard time during the process, it introduced me into new ways we can write about the world. In writing, I never knew that the voice could be so significant. I thought that people read because a paper got many words on it. I also learned that the word choice affects the voice and that the voice is one of the major reasons why people read certain books. For example, some of my friends prefer an enthusiastic, happy-ending story while other friends prefer negative, sad-ending stories. By using the skills in convention, I was able to expand and improve more on my voice. Especially, exclamation marks and commas made huge difference in my writing. In the poems, it was hard to determine where to put the punctuation marks, but as I read them aloud, it helped me a lot. Reading aloud also helped me to improve on fluency and voice.

Concrete Poem: The Truth Behind Cheerleaders

Fist Fist
Fist Energized Fist
Energized
Stiff Excited Excited Stiff
Stiff Happy Happy Stiff
Sweat Happy Happy Sweat
Sweat Smile Smile Sweat
Tight Smile Smile Tight
Sore Gulp Sore
SORE Gulp SORE
Fear Fear
Nervous Shake Nervous
Tremble ICE Tremble
PUMP pump PUMP
Scared Pump Scared
Swirls Swirls Swirls
Sick Grouchy Sick
Cold Chilly Cold Chilly
Vibrate Tremble Vibrate
Sensitive Ache Sensitive
Flutter Swish Flutter Swish
Flirt Wink Flirt Wink Flirt Wink
Straight Straight
Straight Straight
Strong Strong
Strong Strong
Tight Tight
Tight Tight
Chilly Chilly
Chilly Chilly
Sore Sore
Tiptoe Tiptoe
Tiptoe Tiptoe
Warm Warm
Moist Moist
H O T H O T

Self Assessment: "The Truth Behind Cheerleaders"

Reading my poem, “The Truth Behind Cheerleaders”, resembled me of the games I cheered for. The adjectives described the exact emotions that I felt during the game. I think I did okay on the word choice. I liked how I put the word “Ice” in the middle of the heart. The word “Ice” was simple, but there was deep meaning to it. Ice made me think of the moment when my first game started. My voice was shaking and my heart beat was just abnormal. The “Ice” started to melt, calming my nervousness, as the time passed. One improvement that I can make would be changing some of the words into more descriptive words. For example, I can change the word “excited” to energized.
I think my message is clear and focused, telling the audience the truth. My poem told everything, every emotion you might have while cheering for basketball players. I liked how I gave a twist in the middle of the poem: “Flirt Wink Flirt Wink Flirt Wink.” Instead of talking about all the sores and pain I have while cheering, the twist seemed to attract more readers, making them to laugh.
Because concrete poem had to have a certain shape, I couldn’t do much with my convention. I think the spacing was good.
I think my voice need some improvement. There’s enthusiasm, but it doesn’t sound like I have a confidant voice. I think adding some capital letters to emphasize some words could really improve the voice.
I think I did well on the organization. When was writing my draft, I put the words in the order in which I felt
Good job, I think I should read the poem aloud once a gain to make sure that there’s no more mistakes.

Sound Poem: The Passing Time

Swish! Thump! Stomp!
Behind the beige and yellow door,
You can hear assiduous students’ foot steps.

Rushing in from the chase of the bell,
There’s an egg stuck in their throat.
I’m not sure if they are breathing.

When you hold their hand,
You can feel their heart sprinting.
BUMP! Bump! BUMP! Bump!

The clock devouring every second,
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!
Precious break time passes.

In the classroom next door,
You can hear artists hurrying
Slapping a chunk of paint on the canvas

Downstairs, musicians are tuning,
Dong! Fee! Boom! Clash!
Right before the class begins.

Narrative Poem: Relaxtion

pump pump pump
Everyone is calm and peaceful,
No need to worry about fears,
Have a sip of Cappuccino.
Is a cup of jasmine tea a better choice?
Sit on a comfy, cozy chair in the middle of the living room.
Relax.

PUMP PUMP PUMP PUMP PUMP
Everybody is trembling in fear for bloodcurdling test.
Cold air rushes through pallid faces of students.
Be aware your stomach might shrink.
One, two, three….begin!
Tack! Tack! Tack! Tack!
All the pencils in the classroom are attacking the paper.
Three, two, one….stop!
It’s over.
Relax.

Self Assessment: "Relaxation"

I think my idea was clear and focused. I was able to vividly imagine two different situations. The first stanza can be summarized as a description of a calm situation. The second stanza was about the opposite situation of the first stanza; it talked about a desperate, nervous moment while taking a test. I liked how I repeated the word “Relax” at the end of each stanza. Every time I read the poem, I smiled of the word “relax” because even though the words were same, the feeling in each word was different.
My conventions were okay. While writing this draft, I wasn’t sure about how to use the punctuation. To make a better poem, I can try to add punctuation marks and see if the sentence makes sense. For some lines, maybe I think adding periods might help to improve the voice and convention.
I think my organization was good. The way how I explained the calm situation first, grabbed the reader’s attention. It made me want to read more. I liked how I put my first line of each stanza with the sound of heartbeats. If the audience haven’t noticed, the heartbeat pace and the loudness differs in each stanza.
My voice was very enthusiastic. When I read the poem aloud, I noticed how my tone changed according to my words. On my first stanza, my reading pace was normal, but as I started to read the second stanza, I read faster and my voice got stronger. My word choice was original and precise. I used adjectives such as “bloodcurdling” to describe every bit of feeling.

Process Poem: How to Enjoy Washing Your Hair

Go into a pristine, white bathroom
Take a giant, bunny step toward the tub
Little more to the right, closer to the shower head

Are you ready?
Reach to the glistening shower head
And adjust the water temperature with a tip of your tiny pinky
Bend your back straight to ninety degrees

Poise the shower head on your head
Your hair is getting heavier and heavier
Devouring every single drop of H2O

Freeze!
Feel the tickles behind your wet ears
Streams of water sprinting aggressively down to your chin

Pump up two squeezes of Pantene shampoo on to your right palm
A hand full of creamy, pearl-colored shampoo!
Rub the fruity shampoo onto your wet hair

Scrub your head wildly like dogs scratching their ears
Sweet, bubble gum-like, fruity scent
Something like blossoming flowers stirred with ripened fruits

Massage your exhausted scalp thoroughly
Puffy foams in between your chubby fingers
Blow them and they’ll fly like balloons

Snatch a small, plastic comb from your shower basket
Gradually, untangle your hair
Feel each strand of silky, smooth hair as it sooths out

Squeeze out all the fluffy foams in your hair
Foams pop away in the tremendous, snow-white tub
Splash lukewarm water on to your bubbly, lathered hair

Watch as the rollercoaster of foams rush down the drain
When tiny bubbles are no where to be found
Your mission has been successfully accomplished

Ready for one more round?

Villanelle: House on Fire

Please stop following,
You are not a firefighter, Chris,
Smoke is wallowing.

The house is hollowing,
I’m not responsible for this,
Please stop following.

The fire is swallowing,
This is the truth. It is.
Smoke is wallowing.

Flame plowing,
The house is lack of bliss,
Please stop following.

People are following,
With water, the fire will hiss,
Please stop following,
Smoke is wallowing.

Self Assessment: " House on Fire"

When I read my poem, I suddenly got scared. I imagined a scenery: a kid trapped in a burning house. I think the idea was very random because my four other poems were about something that could happen in our daily life. I think I should change line two. The line sounded like as if Chris wanted to jump into the fire. I think I should change that line into something like “You are not a firefighter,” to make my message more clear.
The voice was enthusiastic in a negative way, describing a scary scene. I think my word choice affected my voice a lot. When I was looking for words rhyming with –lowing, I was only able to find words with definition relating to swallowing, and wiping out. I think that due to this, my poem was about fire swallowing up the house.
My word choice was okay. The words rhymed well. I think that young students like elementary and middle students will have no trouble trying to understand the poem.
I think I need to work on putting punctuation at the end of each line. For majority of the lines, I need to put commas to let the reader know where to rest. Since there were no commas, the reading pace was undetermined.
I think my organization was good. I couldn’t do much with the order in which I put the lines due to villanelle pattern, but the poem seemed flow well. I liked how my poem kept the visual of fire eating the house through out the whole poem.
I think that with minor touch-ups, my poem will be ready to publish.

Process Essay: How to Postpone a Test

Have you ever experienced a situation when you desperately needed to postpone a test to a day or two later than the actual date? For example, you might have three tests in a row or two quizzes and a test on one day. If you are facing this problem, I have a perfect solution for you. Just four simple steps are all you need to postpone a test.
There are several rules to follow before taking the first step. In order for this process to work, you must be a hard-working, studious student. This shows the teacher that you are a responsible person of your work. You must be attending either elementary, middle school, or high school because the finicky professors in universities and colleges never change test dates, I believe. The teachers in primary and secondary schools are more easily convinced. This process is only for those who are in a desperate situation, such as when they are expected to be prepared for a test the following day. The test must be a simple chapter test, not a semester exam or a quarter exams because they need to be graded on time for your report card. This process might take five to fifteen minutes depending on the strictness of the teacher.
First, you have to decide on which test to postpone. This step can greatly affect your success. It is best to aim for the test in the class taught by your easiest-going teacher. Also, you should ask to postpone the test at least twelve hours in advance because the teachers need the time to think.
After deciding which test to postpone, look for friends who have the same test as you and are also occupied with piles of homework and other tests. When finding friends to accompany you, be careful to ask only close friends. The closer you are to the friends, the more similar your thinking will be between each other. The similarity will help your explanation flow smoothly without difference between your reasons and those of your friends.
The most significant step of all the steps is the third step: facing the teacher. You first have to carefully enter the classroom like a sneaky cat, without looking like a person who is about to argue. Then, look at the teacher with innocent, clear eyes to show that you have something to propose. Finally, look at the teacher with eager eyes like a cat standing in front of a fish market. Tip toe over to the teacher with a depressed look on your face and begin your speech with a greeting but with no strength in your voice. While explaining your reasons for postponing the test, you should use a variety of expressions and tones. The expressions include a powerless voice and an about-to-cry face. One of the most persuasive reasons is because you have numerous activities that you are involved in after school. Try your best to express your situation through limited words and your facial expressions. Too much exaggeration can lead to a failure, so try to avoid it. Also, exaggeration can make you look like a drama king or queen, who looks like someone acting without solemnity.
Last but not least, when you think that you gave sufficient enough explanation, look at your teacher in the eyes for five seconds. If you have sharp, keen eyes, make sure that you are not glaring at the teacher like a lion viciously growling at its prey. The teacher might misunderstand and get scared. Immediately following, you should flutter your eyelashes twice and wait for a successful result.
End your fourth step with a last persuasive, sparkling expression on your face. You can make this expression by watering your eyes and pushing out your lips a little bit. The teacher, understanding your painful situation, will change the test date. This process or method has been surprisingly tested with success by Jean Lee in the year of 2006. If this process is too complicated or too long for you to remember, just highlight a few significant words: decide, find, explain, and stare. These four definite words can save you time and also give you spare time to relax.

Definition Essay: Identity

Can you state your identity? The word “identity” involves so many things that it is impossible to write all of them on one sheet of paper. A basic identity card for example, might simply show your name, birth, and address; but that’s it. There is no deep meaning to it: you can’t tell the person’s personality, wealth, values, and family relationship just by looking at an identity card. Identity comes from your heart through long-term experiences where you face irresistibly harsh challenges. It is a puzzle, a mirror, and a mystery which you will have to answer.
When we think of the word “identity”, we say it is what you are like a reflection of yourself in the mirror. Usually, a person who likes to clean is a very organized person. A person who is unorganized often is a person who puts little effort into their work and lives a careless life. When you look at a person who studies hard, you can tell that that person is going to be successful because a studious person uses his or her time wisely and effectively. Identity is who you are, who you face everyday.
Identity is a mystery that you solve piece by piece everyday in your life. Everyone wants to have an answer to the question why they exist. In the bible, God told us that he has a plan for each one of us that he created. The “plan” is the mystery. Why would anyone exist? Why were doctors and scientist created? To show off? I don’t think so. Doctors were meant to heal sick people; scientists were meant to investigate and to introduce a new field of study, I believe.
Identity is like a puzzle. We have to put pieces of information together in order to make a whole composition. Finding those pieces is the challenge. You have to hold on to yourself tight and go through breath-taking times. You’ll find out your reactions to certain movements. The reactions will determine your personality in which is one part of your identity.
Your identity can not be defined right away. It is not in the dictionary; therefore, the only definition that you can get is from yourself. It might take days, weeks, and years even. It is an explanation of yourself. Explanation includes such information like your values, personality, secret, strengths, and your sins. The bad thing is you never know what new information is going to be added. You’ll just know afterwards.
It is your responsibility to find it out. Even if you ask an expert, they’ll not have an answer to it. It is your identity that you can only define. Your identity card may be printed once you’re born, but as you grow, you’ll add on the information to it, identifying yourself: your true identity.