Effective Leaders

The mettle of an effective leader is at a high level. They have qualities that make them stand out. Some people lack infirmity but they definitely make up for that it mental and emotional strength. A good leader is someone that can help others and bring people up when they are at their lowest point. Their countenance is cheery and loving. They show their cares in many ways. The good that they encompass shows through the deeds they do day in and day out. Their attitude-outstanding; never amiss. Always fawning for new ideas to help and teach, effective leaders seem to be born to help others.

Effective leaders have qualities that only those of their type utilize. In order to be effective at any skill you need to utilize all that is given to you and this category of people definitely does. They can make things work for a good cause even if it seems to be working out badly. Their battlement is not a weapon used to hurt but used in a good way to help. Effective leaders lead not into harm but into good that can be spread throughout.

Shakespeare

Some of Shakespeare's writing is confusing and hard to understand, but it is really good to read. It has helped me to sharpen my reading skills and press into the meanings of stories. It is hard to decipher text and especially when it is something in the Middle English, hard to understand context. The Middle English that Shakespeare writes in will make your mind explode at times but it is good to learn how to decode his writing.

China

Based on the things I have read and watched, I think that if I went to China I would like to visit the temples and the cultural spots that they have. There are a lot of spots that I would like to visit. I think that China's language is interesting and I have always wanted to learn it. I would also like to go on a ride down the rivers in China. It looks like it is a lot of fun and the sights seem to be amazing.

If I could go to China, I would like to visit the places that make noodles. It looks amazing how they can turn one piece of dough into a million little perfect noodles. Although I do not eat their food, I think that learning to prepare it will be cool.

China has a lot of friendly people and sights to see and if I had the money I think I would enjoy going to China

China today has changed in the sense of becoming modern. Back in the time of Wang Lung being a farmer and working for your money was not uncommon. Today Chinese people still work hard but things are more modern and easier.

The Hidden Rose

The rose that is within all people does not always show. In the poem, the writer is saying that we need to help people to find their inner rose. Rose bushes are much like people rough and prickly around the edges yet beautiful and soft at the heart of the bloom. Like roses not getting enough water, if we do not feed the inner part of us that is doing the good it will die and we will not see the good inside of us. The purpose for writing this is to show that all people are good they just need to be reminded to water it every once in awhile.

Christmas Truce

"The reality of the Christmas Truce, however, is a slightly less romantic and a more down to earth story. It was an organic affair that in some spots hardly registered a mention and in others left a profound impact upon those who took part."

I chose to post this quote out of the article because this really had a meaning to me. Paul Baumer would think highly of this truce. He would like the war to have meaning. Even though he is at war he has a big heart. I think that this shows that the men that were fighting and blowing up everything really do care and have hearts. They are people just like you and me. They have families and lives and they are risking it all to protect their country and their land. I'm sure that it meant a lot to the men out there fighting to just have a moment to remember what things are really all about. I am sure that most of the men thought of their families and their lives back home at that moment. The truce gave them time to think and recuperate. Also, I think that this truce helped them to see who they were fighting and what the men they had been killing were really like. The men that took part in this truce were most likely changed because they got to see that the men they were fighting were on the same page as them; defending their country.

Origins of War

The origins of war are the actual reasons that the war was started such as the events leading up to the war. The men think that war is war no matter if the guys have families or not. Paul thinks differently however. He feels bad that he killed the Frenchman.
I think that the ideas apply to the present as well as they did back then.

A Soldier's Letter

Dear Mother,
I am writing to you today to let you know how much I love you. I know that it is difficult being apart from you, I miss you terribly. Soon I hope to come to visit you. I also would like to say that for all of the things that happened in my childhood that I did wrong, I am sorry. I love you very much and wish you the very best. As for my future in life I hope to survive this war and come home and have a family. I hope that you will be very proud of me and my decisions no matter what the future brings for us. I will take care of the family for you and make sure that things go well. I will try to keep things up as you would. I will close by saying again that I love you and I hope to see you soon. If I do not get to see you I will understand that you will be looking down upon me. I just want to thank you for raising me well.
I love you,
Your son

The picture reminds me of a cemetary in Kentucky. I think that this is a beautiful picture and it has a lot of meaning to someone. I think that the scenery in this picture is amazing. It looks so open and full of life even though it houses the dead.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Even if you get out of the war you can still be affected by it. The events of war can have a major affect on people's lives. After seeing people die and suffer it is hard to get that image out of your mind.
The first few chapters of the book were about guy that knew of their friends dying in the war. They then tried to take their rations of food and cigarettes. Also, they took their boots. It was a hard time being in the war for them because they didn't have much to live with.

Description....

His eyes are the beautiful color of the sky on a nice spring day. His hair the texture of a soft blanket. The smell he has is like a warm spring morning; soft and sweet. When he talks his words flow out like the waves in the ocean. He looks so smooth and walks as though his feet are rocking over the ground. When I touch his skin it is as though I am touching a baby. His heartbeat seems to be the beating of a drum in my ear when I lay on his chest. I feel like a bird, so light and free, when he sits next to me.

Gene and Finny

If I were Gene, I would feel really bad. Finny is an athletic person and he is now unable to run and play the sports that he loves. I think that I would feel a little guilty. I do not think that I would be able to say anything to Finny before I said that I was sorry though because he will be down for a fair amount of time and I would feel very sorry for him.
In this book Gene doesn't seem to be very sympathetic though. He jounced Finny on purpose, but I do not think that he meant for him to get hurt like he did. I do not think that Gene put a lot of thought into what he did.

The Place of the Gods

The Place of the Gods was a place that was supposed to be sacred and no one was supposed to go there except priests or the sons of priests. The Place of the Gods sort of became a place that people wanted to go I think. They were curious and wanted to explore. I think that there was a lot of superstition in the story because of the way that the characters acted. They believed that if the bones of a person turned to ash because of them they would die.
The city ended up becoming sort of modern. There were roads everywhere and tunnels were being built and everything. I think that by the meaning that the Gods were everywhere meant that the people were trying to get away from the gods.

Irony

Verbal irony is saying on thing and meaning the opposite. An example of this would be saying something like good job smart guy when someone says something ignorant.

Situational Irony is when you get something you want but in the opposite way that you expected. An example of this would be if you wanted to hang out with someone special and then you got all excited but then they ended up bringing someone along with them and ignoring you completely.

Dramatic Irony is when you know something about a character that he or she does not know. An example of dramatic irony is the last few lines of "Romeo and Juliet" where Romeo thought that Juliet was dead but instead just in a long sleep. He then drank the poison to find out that she was waking up. The reader knows that she will wake, but he does not.

Showing Love

Bola and the father of "Distillation" showed their love for their children in many of the same ways. I think that they both went to great lengths for their children. They wanted to help them in as many ways as they could. Also, in the story "Distillation", the father was not proud that he was poor, but he did whatever he could to protect his children and get food for them. The children respected their father very much because they felt safe with him and they saw that he was doing everything that he could to provide for them.
Bola, showed her love for her child and grandchild by providing for them and catering to them. She took care of her grandchild for her son. Asi, the grandchild in turn became very close to her.

Do I love you?

I let people know that I love them by giving them hugs and kisses and sometimes I even tell them that I love them. Other ways that I show that I love people is by caring about their feelings and listening to the stories that they share. People also know that I care about them if I get mad at them or ignore them when they do something that I think is wrong. When I get mad I tend to run away from problems if I fail to face them head-on. I have many caring ways though like for instance, my eyes can give away my mood. Most people know that I love them just by the way that I look at them.

Most of the ways that I show affection have to do with my body language and the way that I conduct myself around people. For instance if I love someone then I am going to act different around that person than someone that I dislike. If I dislike someone then I will most likely remove myself from the area and go to a different one. I think that I show affection much like most other people do. I use body language, kisses, hugs, and moods to let people know that I like or dislike them.

The theme of the story that comes out is that no one is ever good enough for the ones you love. He wanted more for his daughter and he thought that just because he loved her and wanted the best life for her. It just goes to show that you do not have to be rich and monetarily based for your heart to be true.

I would rather my daughter date someone that will love her for her and not someone that just has money. Money only goes so far. You definitely can not buy happiness.

Meeting

I would like to meet Ezinma because I would like to see how it feels to be an only child in that time in Africa. I think that it would be cool to be pampered and given whatever I wanted like she was. I would also like to ask her what she thought about her father, Okonkwo. I would ask her what it was like to go looking for her "little pebble" when she had no clue where it was. I wonder what it would be like being a girl and cooking and cleaning and catering to a man's every desire. I do not think that I could do that to the extent that it is in Africa in the village that she lives in.

African Songs(cont)

I love the beat of the song. It reminds me of an African movie. It is sort of related to the hip- hop music from today, it is just in a different language. As I listen to this song, it is sort of hard not to dance. The mood is very upbeat and the beat pushes the song forward. It seems to be accented and anticipated. I liked the song a lot because it had a happy mood.

second song; this song when it started out sent chills through my body because it reminds me of a church song that I sing. It is very peaceful and celebratory. I love the chords when the song starts to bring in the harmony also. I love this song because it is peaceful and it reminds me of one of my favorite church songs.

3) This song sounds very upbeat and it sort of reminds me of a country folk song,

4) This song seems like he is scared or excited about something; again the song is very upbeat.

African Song

The song that I am listening to now seems to be a cultural song that could have been a church song or a song that was sung in the slave days. I liked the beat of the song and also the way that the drums and the guitar keep a steady rolling sort of beat. It seems that the singer is singing about something spiritual and he is putting his heart into the music. In the two pieces of music that I listened to I could not understand the language but I could still feel the beat and the melody of the music. It gave it a slow and rhythmic feeling.

African Song (Jammu)

The songs have a strong beat and also the string instruments have a repeating pattern. Even though it is in a different language, you can still get the feeling of what he is saying just through the beat of the music. Everything follows a very straight tempo. I liked the beat of the song but the singing is cultural, so I did not understand it much. I know that this is a song about Africa, and beings that we are reading and working with a book based in Africa, it was nice to get a feel of their culture through music. Music is awesome in the way that it can express many things. It can tell a story about a country, culture, or many other things.

The Secret Escape

Simon goes into the forest by the mountain and he just feels safe there. It is midway up the mountain and this is about where he sees the parachutist come from. It is away from everything else; he can think there.
When I get stressed out about something, I usually go into my room and close my door and lay on my bed. I most likely turn on my radio or read a book. When I just relax and take my mind off of things all the stress seems to subside. It helps me to clear my mind and focus on the things that I have to get done.

Simon's death was pretty brutal and unnecessary. The boys killed him because they were dehydrated and crazy. They didn't realize what they were doing. He was stabbed so many times and he just laid there bleeding to death.