Individual Reflection#7 - My Journey to Become a Better Reader

 My Journey to Become a Better Reader 

    I've always loved reading and listening in English. In fact, I have been doing it daily ever since I was a middle school student. So when I was introduced to the Interactive Communicative Course at the beginning of the semester, and what it had in store for me, I felt fairly excited. I got to read and listen as part of class activities and assignments. I always think that reading and listening are key parts of learning the English language, and one of the most fun things to learn about English. By knowing how to read and listen in English, I could understand many movies, books, comics, and TV shows, etc., which are English media. This skill is very handy in class because most of the class's assignment and activities revolves around reviewing literature works or videos, and I enjoyed it all thoroughly.

    Regarding class activities that I've done this semester, there were many that I enjoyed, but two stood out as my favourite activities, and these activities are, of course, DEAL and DEAR. My reason for it is that it was rare for a classroom to be quiet, and all the students are reading or listening to books and videos of their choice. That rarity and the peaceful moments are why those two are my favourite activities among all. Not to say that all the other class activities were not as enjoyable as these two. All other activities were also fun and engaging, it's just that these two were the ones that left the most impression on me. 

    Although I must say that there is an activity that was not as enjoyable as others. This activity was, unfortunately, the final project of the class, which is a Reader's Theatre. Not to say that it's a bad activity, it was just that I didn't particularly have a good time working on it, and while preparing for the final project, it was not the most pleasant experience. During this time, I was somewhat forced to prepare it mostly by myself, this was because it was fairly difficult to communicate with my group members at the time. There were a bunch of miscommunications, inconsistencies, and uncertainty in my group. But we needed to decide the story, write the script, make stage directions, and prepare properties just so that there's progress to be made, and I just feel like the one who contributed the most in these preparations was me.  Not to say that other group members did nothing, they did great on acting and being in character for the performance day. But it was just unnecessarily hard for me to prepare most of it myself, which is why this activity is my least enjoyable pick.

    Those were just a fraction of the activities and projects I've done in class. Once again, I really did enjoy this course thoroughly, and now that the semester is coming to an end, I can't help to feel that I'm really grateful for having been able to attend the Interactive Communicative Course. After attending and experiencing this class, I started to think about reading and listening in English more playfully. I'm sure that the reason for this was because of all the fun and engaging class activities and assignments that I've experienced. I think this way of thinking will be really useful in the future, thus I'm happy and truly grateful.

    All things said, after being able to attend this course, I will continue to read and listen to English books or stories in my free time, but with a new mindset and vision. Even if I no longer attend or take ICC class, I will continue doing so. That is because reading and listening in English are my favourite activities and will continuously be my favourite, and after taking this class, I gained valuable skills and a mindset that will be very helpful and convenient in the future, so there's really no reason for me to stop what I do. 

Individual Reflection#6 Suit Up!

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame    

(Esmerelda)

Introduction

My name is Esmeralda, though my real name at birth was Agnès Guybertaut. I was created by Victor Hugo in his 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. I lived in France during the 15th century, where I became known as a beautiful dancer who performed with my little goat, Djali, in the streets of Paris. People often saw me as cheerful and full of life, but inside, my story was filled with pain, loss, and injustice. I was kidnapped as a baby by gypsies and grew up never knowing my true family. Despite the hardships I faced, I always tried to live with kindness, hope, and faith in love.

Life Event

The happiest moment of my life was when I finally reunited with my mother after so many years of being apart. The reason I came to Paris alone in the first place, the reason I worked so hard to protect myself, and the reason I never gave up, no matter how difficult things were, was all because of the hope of seeing my mother again and the determination to see her. From the moment I learned that I had been taken from her as a baby, I lived with the dream of meeting her again. That dream gave me the strength to keep living, even when I was alone, poor, or treated unfairly. When I finally found her, I felt a love that was pure and unconditional, something I had never experienced before. It was not about beauty, fame, or romance; it was about feeling belonging.

This moment was my happiest because it fulfilled the one hope that guided my whole life. For the first time, I did not have to dance to earn love or attention. I was loved simply because I was her daughter. Even though the happiness did not last long, that reunion gave me peace. It reminded me that true love, the kind that comes from the heart and asks for nothing in return, really does exist, even in a cruel world.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

(Huckleberry Finn)

Introduction

My name is Huckleberry Finn, but everyone calls me Huck. I was created by Mark Twain in his famous novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I live in a small town called St. Petersburg, Missouri, along the Mississippi River during the 1800s. I lived most of my life without a mother and was homeless. I'm used to wearing ragged castoff clothes. I’m a boy who doesn’t like being forced to behave “properly” or go to school; I would rather do whatever I want than be told to. I’d rather be outdoors, hunting, fishing, and trapping. I’m not afraid to break rules if I think something is unfair.

Life Event

One of the biggest events in my life was helping Jim, a runaway slave of Ms. Watson, escape to freedom. Jim and I traveled down the Mississippi River on a raft, trying to reach a place where he could live as a free man. During our journey, we faced storms, steamboats, tricky strangers like the two conmen who call themselves the Duke and the King, and moments of real danger along the way. At the end of my journey with Jim, we realised that Jim had been free all along. This is because Ms. Watson had died and set Jim free in her will.

I liked that moment because it showed me what real friendship and courage mean. I learned that being a good person sometimes means going against what others think is right. Even though the journey was hard and dangerous, it helped me understand what freedom and kindness truly are.

Individual Reflection #5 - My Choice

[Soapy's Choice]

     The title of this listening text is "Soapy's Choice", which is from the YouTube channel English Stories, based on the novel that O. Henry wrote. The Genre of this book is fiction, comedy, and tragedy, with the level of this story being A2.

 Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxgWHDypgFU

 Brief Summary :

Soapy, wanting to be free from the cold of winter and hunger, planned to go to a prison where he would be provided with warm rooms and food. He tried to commit lots of misdemeanors, but never got arrested because of the fortune that helped him. After avoiding several arrests and, upon arriving at the church, he reminisces about his past and decides to not go to jail but instead, get a job and live a good life, be a new man. But, ironically, not long after making up his mind, he is arrested for doing nothing and ends up serving the three-month prison sentence he had hoped for at the beginning of the story.

Poem: 

Reason:

The first sentence of this poem expresses the whole plot of the story: “life doesn’t go as planned.” Throughout the story, no matter what Soapy wanted or how he set his plans, they always failed. From one perspective, his story seems full of luck, the kind that usually makes people happy, but for Soapy, this kind of luck works against him. “Good luck” prevents him from achieving what he actually wants, that is, to be in jail. Since Soapy is homeless, jail is a better place than the street. In jail, he could get food and a warm place to stay. Ironically, the moments that seem fortunate to others only bring him frustration because they stop him from reaching his goal.

At the end of the story, Soapy finally gets what he had longed for, jail, but it happens just after he found a new hope. That is to change his life, work hard, and live honestly. When he planned to commit crimes to go to jail, he failed every time, but when he finally wished to be free and improve himself, he was arrested, most ironically, that is, when he had done nothing. In my acrostic poem, I started with the main theme of the story, told what happened to Soapy, and ended by repeating the main idea that life doesn’t always go as planned, shown through the irony and tragedy of his situation.

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[The Happy Prince] 

    The title of the book is The Happy Prince,  written by Oscar Wilde and adapted by Bill Cowler for the graded readers' version published by Oxford University Press. This book is a "starter" level in the graded readers chart. This book has 22 pages of text in total, with a genre of fiction, children's stories, and short stories.

Brief Summary:

The Happy Prince is a touching story about a golden statue of a prince who once lived a happy life inside his palace, without ever seeing sadness or poverty. After he dies, his statue is placed high above the city. From there, he can finally see how many people are poor, hungry, and suffering. Heartbroken, he asks a little Swallow to help him give away all his gold and jewels to those in need. The swallow, which was once on its way to Egypt, sacrifices itself to help and stay by the Prince’s side until the very end. Even though it means losing his beauty and eventually his life, the Prince chooses the kindness and happiness of people over his appearance.

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Chosen Emoji: 

Reason and Explanation:

I chose this emoji because this story made me feel sad, but amazed at the same time. I was so heartbroken by how the Happy Prince and the Swallow gave up everything for others, yet I was also in awe of their kindness and pure hearts. "After all the sacrifices and kindness that they give to others, I'm glad the Happy Prince and the Swallow ended up in a better, happier place," I thought to myself.

One scene that truly moved me is when the Happy Prince gives his sapphire eyes to help a poor playwright and a little match girl. Even though it means becoming blind, he still chooses to help others, giving them hope and a reason to stay strong. Another emotional moment and the most impactful of all, is when the Swallow decided to stay with the Prince in the freezing cold, whispering goodbye before he dies at the Prince’s feet. That part made me feel both melancholic and deeply touched. It showed what real love and sacrifice look like.

Individual Report #4: The Perfect Song

 

Matilda 

a. Introduction

    The title of the book that I've read is "Matilda". It is written by English author Roald Dahl, and is retold in a graded readers book by John Escott. It is a level 3 book with 1200 words in it. The length of the book is 31 pages, and there are 1200 headwords.

b. Summary 

    Matilda is a smart, brave, and brilliant bookworm who was neglected and disregarded by her parents. Despite their cruelty, she cleverly finds ways to stand up for herself while never giving up her love for reading. When she starts school, she faces the terrifying head teacher, Miss Trunchbull, who mistreats the students. However, Matilda meets Miss Honey, a kind teacher who recognizes her extraordinary talent and cares deeply for her. Together, they support each other, defeat Miss Trunchbull, and eventually become like a real family.

c.  Song

Naughty - Matilda: The Musical

link: https://youtu.be/eGB2AtcM61s

d. Explanation

   The song “Naughty” from Matilda: The Musical highlights Matilda’s realization that she must take control of her own life instead of accepting the unfairness around her. It shows her decision to not let adults, such as her neglectful parents or the cruel head teacher Miss Trunchbull, determine her future. The lyrics, 

“But nobody else is gonna put it right for me 

 Nobody but me is going to change my story,”

    Reflect Matilda’s independent and courageous spirit.

    This song captures Matilda’s cleverness, creativity, and determination to live life on her own terms rather than simply accepting unfairness. From this perspective, “Naughty” really represents Matilda’s personality, beliefs, and way of living, which is why it is the perfect song for her story.

Persephone

a.  Introduction

Title: Persephone: Bringer of Life or Destruction? | Fate & Fabled

Channel: Storied

Video link:

https://youtu.be/1hBkgFGG-cM?si=PXAjuPJLlDEvfT1B

Length: 10 min

b. Summary

    This video retells the popular Greek myth of how Persephone became the queen of the underworld and wife of Hades after he kidnapped her. Because she ate a pomegranate seed from the underworld, she could not fully return to her old life above, where she once lived among flowers and the warmth of spring. While the story may seem like one of loss and darkness, it holds a deeper meaning. Through this event, Persephone gains power over both life and death, creation and destruction, becoming the goddess who governs spring and the underworld. The video explains that her journey between the two worlds brings the seasons. Her return brings spring and life, while her absence brings winter and rest. Persephone is shown as a strong queen who connects life and death, symbolizing balance and renewal in nature.

c.  Song 

 Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machine

link:  https://youtu.be/l8LJ2Cb284M?si=Fv2QTYeE-7bWhUb8

d. Explanation

    When I listen to Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine, I can find both sides of her. When I focus on the lyrics of this music, I can see Persephone's story. Being left in the dark after being kidnapped, because of the environment of the underworld, trying to get out of the place, but decided to stay in the darkness, which can represent both the actual darkness of the underworld and the deep dark heart of Hades, becoming the wife of Hades and queen of death. Especially, there is a lyric 'I'm always in this twilight', and since 'twilight' can also be used as the border of the world of life and world of death or the time when two worlds are overlapped, this shows the situation that she is in, becoming the one who can control both life and death, standing on its border.

Acrostic Poem

[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson,  Retold by C. Kingsley Williams and A. G. Eyre

Summary: Dr. Jekyll hypothesizes that independent goodness and evilness exist within the human body, and through using a chemical liquid that he made, he succeeds in isolating the 'evilness' within himself, 'Edward Hyde.' However, fulfillment of proving his hypothesis and successfully conducting his experiment, and the moment of guilt-free pleasure he experienced as Hyde, are fleeting. His evilness, represented by Hyde, grows uncontrollable, reaching a point where Dr. Jekyll cannot even control it, which ultimately leads to his demise.

Chosen character: Jekyll

Reason for choosing this character: The core of this book emphasizes that avoidance, exploiting the duality of human nature, can never free humans from their responsibilities as human beings and their moral obligations. And Jekyll guides the reader through his innovative ideas, complicated anguish, and pain, and the increasingly intertwined internal conflict that makes this entire story possible. Therefore, I chose him, the one who can make this whole story possible.

Length of the book: This book has 60 pages, it is a level 5, which is upper intermediate, and has approximately 2300 words in it.  Published by  Penguin Readers

Poem meaning: 

Jekyll tries to separate the evil inside him into a separate man, Hyde. Since he succeeded at his experiment, he, Jekyll, can be a purely gentle person, making Hyde the most terrible criminal in the world. As time goes by, the contrast between them gets bigger and bigger, which eventually makes Jekyll unable to control Hyde anymore, feel more anguish than before, and take his life with his hand.  I tried to convey the reason for Hyde's existence, highlight Hyde's traits contrasting to Jekyll, and the result of his experiment, being erased by himself.

[The Tragic Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice - Brendan Pelsue]

Author/Video by: TED-Ed

Summary: Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, died because of the snake. Since he loved her so much, he tried to save her wife, going Tartaros, the world of dead souls(simply, underworld), and with his skill at playing the lyre, he was able to impress the gods and spirits of the underworld and gain the opportunity to resurrect his wife, but at the end of their journey to world of life, he broke the taboo of never looking back and failed to resurrect his wife.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhaepLsP5eg

Chosen character: Orpheus

Reason to pick him: He shows the critical vulnerability of humans that can ruin everything, 'doubt'. The more he wanted life with her again, the faster the doubt grew, and the heavier his fear of losing her pressed him. As a result, he accidentally chose to solve immediate anxiety, rather than wait for bliss right in front of them, which led him to a heartbreaking separation again. So, I chose him, the one who leads the whole story and makes us be immersed in the whole story by questioning minor but crucial things that can change his destiny.

Length of video: 4 min 41 sec (about 5 min)

Poem meaning: 

Firstly, when he got permission to bring dead Eurydice to life again, he was so happy to be with his wife again. However, he broke the rule at the end of the process, which led to separation again. So, I tried to convey his high, growing hopes with 4 lines, fear that he felt with 1 line, and the frustration of losing everything with the last line. And, at the same time, I also wanted to paraphrase his story, like one of the processes of comforting him. So, I wrote it as if I were talking to him through a poem.

Sketch It!

Sketch It! Anne of Green Gables

A.  The title of the book that I read this week is "Anne of Green Gables". It is written by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, and is retold in a graded readers book by Anne Collins. The length of the book is around 40 pages, and it has 600 words in it.

B. The book is about a girl whose name is Anne Shirley. She was adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, has red hair, and never stops walking forward. This book only contains day to day events that have happened in her life. In the book, Anne learned to make friends, attend school, and get to know what family is.

C. 

D. This scene is the aftermath of when Anne tried to dye her hair 'black', but it turned out that the hair dye she used was actually green. She dyed her hair because she doesn't like her natural red hair colour and would get mad whenever someone pointed out her hair colour, thus she wants to dye her hair black, but unfortunately, the dye is a mislabelled green dye. The dye won't come off after multiple rinses, so Anne resorted to cutting her hair short and saying, 'I'll never hate my red hair again".

 I chose this because, in some ways, after this event, it made Anne start to look more positively at her hair and made her realize again that there are more important things than just being beautiful.

My Emoji Story

Turkish Coffee - By CompassMedia

    This story is written by CompassMedia. The genre is factual, but to be specific, it falls under the cultural sub-genre. The level of this story is 16.70, but it's not very difficult for me, and I could read, understand, and enjoy the story well. There are 267 words in the story text, and it took me around one and a half minutes to finish it. To recap the story,  it introduced us to Turkish coffee, the way it is made, the ingredients, some traditions related to it, and the significance of those traditions. It mostly tells us about how in the past, Turkish women needed to know how to make and serve coffee well. The reason for that is marriage, where women would showcase their skills as a wife to parents-in-law so that they would be accepted.

    After reading the story, I felt a little craving for coffee. Thus, the reason why I chose a coffee emoji out of all things to describe my feeling. The way the text describes the process of making a Turkish coffee, the ingredients in the coffee, and the way it's served.  All of that just made me want a cup for myself. Sure, other aspects of the story still amuse me, but the coffee itself is the thing about the story that sticks with me the most.

Good Dog - By ELLLO

    This story is written and told by ELLLO. The genre of it is once again factual, but the sub-genre is love and relationships. The level of this story is 15.70, and for me, it was an easy listen. There are 204 words in this story, the duration is 1 minute, and it took me 1 minute and 36 seconds in total time to catch everything about the story. To recap, it is about the conversation between 2 people, James and Todd. In the story, Todd asked about a picture of a good dog on James's desk, and then James began to talk about his dog. James talked about his dog's name, how he found it, his dog's breed, the tricks his dog can do, and his dog's behaviour.

    After reading the story, I can feel just how much James loves Piper, his dog. For someone who loves dogs and has 2 dogs myself, I can relate to James and his story. I can also understand why he doesn't want puppies, even though it would be fun. After searching for a minute, the emoji that I have put is the one that could really describe my feelings after listening to and reading the story. All dogs are good boys and girls.