Oliver Twist

林紘毅

In the story of Oliver Twist,we can the dirty streets and how child labors were treated durng the industrial revolution.There are also strong contrasts between the lower class and the upper class through the depictions of the environments and character traits.For example,Mr Brownlow,who lives in a wealthy community, appears to be a neat and kind gentleman throught the story. As for Fagin and his other associates who live in the ghetto,desperately tried to survive by engaging in illegal activities.Despite his misfortune through the story,Oliver was able to remain pure and morally good.Him redeeming Fagin at the end of the story put an end of his terrible fate,allowing Oliver to start a brand new life.

林珍金 劉有福

The story begins in a parish, where Oliver Twist an orphan was taken. There He and the other children lives a very sad life where they have to work every day and only get a little portion of food. Through the lottery, Oliver was picked to asked for a bigger portion of food and that ended up sent him to the church officials that in the moment is having a big and fancy meal. They decided to sell him to anyone who wants him for five pounds. Long short story he escaped from it and was given to the undertaker . There , he eats more, but still not very happy. He even ran away from the undertaker after gets into a fight with another child, because that child insulted his late mother.

After 7 days of walking, he arrived in London. There he meets Jack who offers him something to eat and a place to stay. Sadly, it turns out that Jack and his gang is a pickpocket who works for a criminal called Fagin. Then one day, Oliver and his two friends go to the town and saw his two friend pickpocketing one man’s handkerchief in front of a book store. Two of his friends run away and left him behind. As soon as he run, the book store owner thought that he was the culprit, while he might be run because he is afraid. Oliver was arrested by the police. Soon after that, the book store owner who knew that Oliver is not the culprit and he come to testify about it. He could not go there earlier because he has to watch for the bookstore. The owner of the bookstore pity him and then offers to take care of Oliver. But he couldn’t live freely, because he already knew about Jack and his friend’s activity. Long short story, Fagin and his gang discuss about how to bring Oliver back to them. Nancy and Bill was sent to take Oliver back. They did it by kidnapping him when he was sent by the bookstore’s owner to run an errand for him. Oliver screams to get people’s attention so that someone could help him, but Nancy claims that she is Oliver’s sister and saying that Oliver ran from the house, so no one believes Oliver.

Then, Fagin and Bill find out about the relationship that Oliver has with the rich bookstore’s owner. Few moments after that Oliver is sent to a burglary mission with Bill and another member. On this mission, Oliver is shot in the arm and failed to complete the mission, so Bill ran his way back to the gang while carrying Oliver. Long story short, Nancy helps Oliver in the end. She tried to find Mr. Brownlow (the owner of the bookstore), and tried to told him about the plans that Fagin made. But Bill heard about Nancy’s betrayal and killed her. And in the end of this movie, Mr. Brownlow, his wife and Oliver move to another country (or countryside), and live happily ever after.

From this movie, we could see the difference between the poor and the rich. How the poor treated poorly and how hard it is to keep going and living there. Oliver was struggling so much, so that he had no choice but to follow his new friends to pickpocket. His dream was to start a new life, but Fagin and the gang keep bothering him. The poor ones have no voice in the crowd, they couldn’t even protect themselves. When I looked into the internet, it said that Charles Dickens, the author, spent the similar childhood. While his father in debtor’s prison, he worked in a boot-blacking factory. They treated people badly. They failed to protect kid and low class people. They let the other beat low class people. And low class people have no other choice than to plan for a crime, to stay alive.

王妍方

The story is focused on Oliver Twist's dislocated and bullied childhood, Oliver's biological mother accidentally conceived him, so she ran away from home and gave birth to Oliver in an asylum near London. Orphaned, Oliver's rough childhood began.

He grew up in an orphanage, working non-stop every day but never getting enough food to feed him. He escaped from an impersonal orphanage and was sent to apprentice in a coffin shop, but was abused again, so Oliver fled again, wandering the streets of London. But unfortunately, he was deceived into joining a thief group and was forced to be a petty pickpocket on the street. Oliver was arrested and imprisoned. Luck was not far from Oliver. Oliver's kindness helped him, and he was finally cleared of the crime, broke away from the thief group, learned his true identity, and reunited with his family.

The whole movie from the screen to the storyline has a darkness that cannot be dissipated, and it can even be said to be a little lifeless. But the story itself is shocking, and each character has a distinct personality. Oliver seems to have met very few good people in his life. In the orphanage, the orphans are forced to work day and night , and they can only eat a small amount of food in order to make them tame.No one gave him a smile at the coffin shop he went to, and the coffin shop owner who sympathized with him was afraid of his wife's prestige and finally beat him. Fled to London with difficulty, but fell into thief group again.

But there are times when the "bad guys" are benign. Nancy in the thief group was worried that Oliver would be killed and that her lover would commit a serious crime, so she chose to report that, but it was a pity that she was beaten and killed. Fagin, the leader of the group, is ruthless, but there are times when he cherishes and takes care of Oliver. Of course, he was punished by the law in the end, but the short-lived kindness made Oliver still willing to go to prison to visit him who had been talking crazy, and give hugs and prayers.

BBC 6 Minute English January 28, 2016 - The commute

A Skateboard, with a Boost

Is Eating Meat Killing Our Planet?

The Oval Portrait

1. What's the purpose of using frame narrative?

2. What are the characteristics of Gothic novels?

3. How do you know this story is a gothic story? Explain. Give us some examples. 

4. Please comment on the story. 

220318-恩典。麗品姐親自魯的滷味

 

The food delivery revolution - 6 Minute English

The Hollow of the Three Hills

許絲媛

The setting of the environment set the tone of this story. The place is sort of hidden from the outside world, just like the lady herself. The lady's family does not know where she is. Therefore, no one she loves would know where the lady because she died in a basin where remain in dark forever. Three little hills represent the lady's family respectively. The author emphasize the hollowness of the hills to suggest the crumbled status of the lady's family. Although it seems like that the author describes the woods is decaying, it actually forecasts the ending. The season, autumn, symbolizes death and sorrow in the story.

陳品洋 霍恩蕎 黃凱祈

The author use many natural phenomena metaphor to depict the the circumstance of real life. The use of a "decaying" and desolate setting contributes to the mystery: as "no mortal could observe them" in this place. Hawthorne creates an ominous mood through the use of negative metaphors and images referring to death. "Brown grass" and a hollow devoid of growth not only contribute to this mood but foreshadow events to come. Therefore, the dark and desolate mood not only accentuate the mystery but through the foreshadowing of the setting itself, its significance creates suspense.

張昱 杜杰穎

The three hills may be representing the three parts of the lady's family, which are parents, husband, and her child. The hollow my be inferring the sadness or misery that they have been suffering after the absence of the lady.

陳姮伉 門欣瑜 黃韻茹

•The scene that the lady and the old woman met in a place and time they assigned, echoing the scene that the three hills get close to each other. In the nature, the hills always stand side by side.

•“One of these masses of decaying wood, formerly a majestic oak, rested close beside a pool of green and sluggish water at the bottom of the basin.”→an impious baptismal rite

“The golden skirts of day were yet lingering upon the hills, but deep shades obscured the hollow and the pool”→the darken that covered the world

“Like a clang that had travelled far over valley and rising ground, and was just ready to die in the air.”→knolling of a bell

“the tone of a death bell”→doom

“thin vapor”→The sweeping sound of the funeral train

(Comparison)

• In the story, the man mentioned about the unfaithfulness of the woman, and also mentioned that she broke her oaths, when he wanted to continue his speech, the variety of sound became into “uneven sound of the wind”（30). and it had fight between the pine trees. In the nature, wind supposed to be tender and smooth, but in the story the wind was depicted as aggressive.

蔡一澈

I think this short story uses nature as a metaphor to death— the fallen trunk, the mourned wind, the pool obscured by shades, and so on. I don’t exactly know

林紘毅

In terms of nature,the story of The Hollow of the Three Hills features a gloomy and dark depiction of it. In addition,the story contains supernatural elements like witchcraft,which is contrary to nature.

林珍金，劉有福

In this short Story, the nature represent symbols such as the three hills. It represents three scene of the young woman’s memories. The first scene is showing the woman’s parents. The second one is showing her husband which she broke her vow to, and the last one is showing her child which she left to die. We assume that in that time, there are connections where if you want to set your self free (of burden) you need to erase all the bonds with the family.

Next the setting of the story is on October (autumn) which represents reaping. The young woman reap what she sow (broke her vow to her husband, leave her child to die).

Lastly, the fallen tree. It represents the woman’s family tree that ends at her. “No green successor from its roots” is a metaphor saying that the woman no longer have family nor children that can carry the bloodline.

The five boons of life 2

許絲媛

I think that this story is Mark Twain's observation about what happen to people who have one of these five "gifts". Expect Death, other gifts are positive. That is, people strive to have. However, each positive gift turns out to be false promises because they never stay.

First, pleasure makes the narrator's life disappointing because it is short-lived. Pleasure does not equal to happiness. People would get tired of the things which give you pleasure initially, so every pleasure turns out to be disappointments.

Second, love seems to be a reasonable choice due to beauty of it. Nevertheless, the narrator had plenty of lovers, and each of them died. Only when he lost the dearest and the last, he realized that the time he spent on grieving as many as he spent on love. The love eventually becomes a futility to the narrator. The love here becomes a inferior thing because it is not precious or valued. It becomes something could be achieve again and again.

Third, flame is the most intangible thing because others can destroy it in the blink of an eye. To me, it is also the last thing I want to have. Having flame is exhausting because you have to maintain it all the time. There are few people can have good reputation without being sabotaged.

Finally, the wealth is difficult to hold because it slips away eventually. Despite the ability to buy everything, it would never last. Those positive things are just borrowed. The dream of having all of them forever will never come true. Only death is inevitable, for no one can escape from it. No matter how many fame, love, riches, and pleasure you have, none of them are able to cure death.

The lesson of this story is that we need to work hard for those positive gifts. It never to last if a fairy just handed to you. Once you have these, you also need to maintain them carefully.

張育誠 翁誠泰 莊易哲

The author wants to express the idea that all of happiness are short-lived. The gift the young man choose is only about his benefits but without considering the consequences of his decision. At first, he chooses pleasure but only gets disappointing. Then he chooses love, but he only gets loneliness. After that, he chooses fame. For what he gets just envy, detraction, calumny, hate, persecution, and derision. Then, he chooses riches. However, he still gets poverty. In the end, the young man wants to choose death, but he has no chance to choose because he has already use all of the opportunities that the fairy has given. The young man experiences all the hardships, pain, poverty, grief, and shame. After that, he could not die immediately, but wanton insult of old age. In our comment, we think everyone would eventually die. Therefore, no matter how people get their fame, wealth, pleasure or love in real world. Once they died, they can’t bring their success to next world. Although the gifts are not eternal, most people still want to pursue them. For example, most of us want to get good jobs and get money. We think it is a kind of pursuit of wealth. We think that author is too pessimistic about this world. 4 of 5 gifts are seen to be good, but their consequences are tragic. The one which seems the only bad gift is the only good option. We think the author think that death is the only way to escape, but it only escapes from the hardships.

劉育榕

In my opinion, Mark Twain used a wise way to emphasize death. It shows man as wanting and desiring things we don’t have and those desires ending up still feeling empty. This reminds me that as long as I could face death bravely and seriously, I will be more optimistic about the other four gifts in life: Fame, Love, Riches, and Pleasure. Death can make people to seize the day and live in the moment. Among all the gifts showed by the fairy, Death is the only one that we as humans will certainly encounter and experience in our lives. In my case, Death has always been a warning sign. If we are aware of Death, we will cherish every moment and memory we had before, no matter it was a good or bad one; if we are aware of Death, we will remember the mistakes we had made and learn the helpful lessons; if we are aware of Death, we will work diligently to seek the other four gifts.

邱慧嬫 竹田彩音 陳建喻

The story is about choosing wisely from “Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, Death”. All the first 4 are related to happiness, but the last one “Death” is the only thing that is related to grief or sadness.

First, the man chose Pleasure. But, all the pleasures he had in the world was “short-lived” (59) and last for a while only. Feeling pleasure only lasts for a while because it can goes away in the future. For example, if you received a 100 on a test, the feeling only lasts for a while. In the future, the feelings already disappear.

Second, the man chose Love. And again, Love is only a temporary feeling. Like the phrase says “Love comes and goes”. Love only lasts for a moment for people. There are examples like ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. So, love can be gone in just a moment.

Third, the man chose Fame. Fame is only there “for a little while” (60). When he is famous, people will get jealous and they will say fake things which could jeopardize his fame. People will say false statements to ruin his reputation and career.

Fourth, the man chose Riches. The man gets crazy because he chose wrongly the first three choices. He also gets crazy because of a large sum of money. Riches is also for a temporary thing only. While he gets rich, the money can be gone in an instant. So, Riches is not a wise choice.

The last one is Death. Because he chose wrongly in the first four, he has no option left but Death. If he chose Death in the beginning, he would not have felt pain or anger. He would just live life peacefully like having a very long dream.

All of the first four emotions are only temporary while Death lasts forever. So, Death is the only valuable one compared to the other four choices.

張昱 杜杰穎

In the story, a fairy gave a man five gifts, which was pleasure, love, fame, riches, and death, to choose. He chose in the order written above but couldn’t get the last one, death, after experiencing all previous four. In the fourth paragraph, the author gives us the four antonyms of pleasure, love, fame and riches, which were pain, grief, shame, and poverty. These antonyms are the things the man has suffered from, and finally was seeking for death. However, there was no such a gift remained, he can only but to keep his life going.

It seems that it is about to choose wisely, but for me, it is what you do after you have chosen that matters. Since you can only choose from death or sufferings, why don’t you try to suffer less? At least try to live a life that you can die without suffering mentally.

2022 English Reading Conest: Poetry

2022 English Reading Contest
Poetry

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TDDpfluGcLoGgW7rE-J5rZ7z8G84wpq3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108408279407545237141&rtpof=true&sd=true

The five boons of life 1

邱慧嬫 竹田彩音 陳建喻

If we were granted one wish, we would wish for Doraemon. If there is Doraemon, we can do whatever we want. For example we can get 100 points all of the exam by using Anki pan which is a bread that we can eat to be able to memorize perfectly in every details. We can go everywhere and transport to any place by a door. We can also use a time machine to be able to go to the past or to the future. There is nothing we cannot do if we have Doraemon. Life would be perfect and flawless because of Doraemon. We could be anything we want to be. We could do anything we want to do. We could do almost anything and everything. Therefore, if we have one wish, we want to have Doraemon as our own friend.

許絲媛

I would ask for love if I were granted one wish. I think that love is the least shallow thing among those choice which the fairly offers. From the story we can see that the ending of love is not going well because death eventually arrives. However, I believes that tragic love story is truly memorable. The happy endings from the fairytale is only a illusion. If love can only last for a period of time, it is alright as long as the memory of it is wonderful. The reason why people love Romeo and Juliet so much is because they do not live happily ever after. Sometimes people craves for unforgettable and fleeting love. I think it is acceptable that love would not last forever.

陳亭維 

If I were granted one wish, I would choose RICHES. I’ve always been loved by my family and friends, so I wouldn’t choose LOVE; also, I don’t crave for fame or reputation, since I’m just an ordinary person. As for PLEASURE and RICHES, frankly speaking, I would gain happiness and wouldn’t have financial stress if I were rich, for I know that a lot of problems can be solved with money in reality. It’s realistic but totally true. Moreover, I wouldn’t waste or squander if I became rich, and would only spend money on necessities. Finally, I won’t choose DEATH. I believe DEATH has its advantages, but I prefer enjoying my own life.

張育誠 翁誠泰 莊易哲

We would choose riches because we believe you can get the rest four gifts if you are rich. If you are a rich, you will get a lot of fame because of your wealth. If you are a rich, you can get love but might not be true love because no one does not like money. If you are a rich, you can buy anything you want or do anything you like except crime, so you can get pleasure by these behaviors. If you are a rich, you can choose your death means that you can choose when to die and how to die. Although the man in this story spends three years on wasting money, we believe that you still can keep your wealth for a long time if you manage money properly and reasonably.

The Five Boons of Life

1. If you were granted one wish, what would you ask for? Explain. At least 100 words. 

2. Please analyze the story and comment on it. At least 250 words. 

Top 5 Tips for Poetry Performance: Doing Poetry Right with Renee M. LaTu...

Where is home?

The Wife

林珍金 劉有福

1. The main idea of the story is about the comparison of the women and men, and about how they have to pass a problem. The main story is about a women who always be there for his husband through the thick and thin. Even when his husband is not in a good circumstances, she decided to stay and stand strong beside him, supports him in every way.

2. Because vine and hardy plant represents the "mutual dependency"; metaphor. The vine (woman) clings on the hardy plant (man) lifted by it into the sunshine (when the man have a great fortune, his wife will be able to also feel his fortune) and when the hardy plant is rifted by the thunderbolt(struck by sudden misfortune or disaster), the vine cling round it with its caressing tendrils, bind up its shattered boughs (comfort and always support the man).

3. The characteristics of women are intredipity and elevation to their character compared to men, a soft and tender female, who had been all weakness and dependence, in a mental force still decide to be a comforter and support her husband under all of the circumstances or misunderstanding, they decided to stay. They have strength, fortitude, and also resilience.

4. Agree, quoting from the proverb "behind a successful man, there's a strong woman." Which means that a man's success is also determined by how the woman(his wife) be have. Which means that both man and woman are mutually dependent. A woman will enjoy his man's fortune but she also has to be ready to always be there to support their man if a misfortune happened.

5. Yes, we agree with this sentence. Because married man has someone who will always support him no matter what happen, he could still feel all the love that his wife gives, and it can be a source of strength for him. A support from one person could change everything. And to have a family means that man has to stand on his feet, to keep trying to find the way out of the problem, becuse he has lifes that he has to cover. And usually, women are willing to go down with her husband, in all situations or circumtsnces that may occur. Women are the ministering angel.

6. Not really, because real life is much more unfair than it is in fairy tale. Even that we can always learn something from the fairy tale, but we can't expect that real life will be as smooth as the fairy tale. Taking example of this short story, in real life there is only small portion of woman whose willing to support her man at his lowest point.

7. Because she tried all her sprightly powers and tender blandishments. But the more she tried, the more he felt the pressure around his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he’s about to make her life change. The more she tried, the more he felt the love, and the thought that he had to bring her down with him tortured him. He couldn’t bear the thought of her live in poverty, that the happy heart will be weighed down by the cares, worries and miseries of the world, just like his.

8. Because the husband is afraid that he broke his wife's heart and ruin her life because he dragged his wife down from the sphere with brightness (he used to indulge her) into the poverty. He can't bear the guilt and afraid that his wife might not be able to accept that.

9. The author said that she must know it sooner or later because she is is wife. In the end he also have to tell her about everything that have been going on. The intelligence may break upon her in a more startling way, either because he has been keeping or hiding it from her or because she hear it from the other first. He can’t keep it long from her, because it is better for her to know it from his own husband, than to know it from anyone else. It would break her heart, with many thought in her head about why would her husband tell her first. Was it because she couldn’t handle it? Or was it because he feel that she’s unreliable? And many thought would come to that tiny head of hers. And the other reason was because the author know that she would go down with him, will support him. He said that true love will not brook reserve. Besides, the author felt like Leslie depriving himself of the comforts of her sympathy, and also endangering the only bond that can keep hearts together. The author knew that Leslie loves his wife so much, to the point that he couldn’t bring himself to tell her about the problem that they were in, but he thought that it would be better for Leslie to tell his wife and go through it together. Leslie couldn’t bear it alone for too long, he would need his wife’s support. His wife also need to change the way of her living her life.

The Wife

The Wife

1. What is the main idea of the story?
2. Woman is like the vine. Why? Please explain.
3. What are the characteristics of women?
4. Woman is “the mere dependent and ornament of man in his happier hours. . . ” (14). Do you agree? Please explain.
5. “A married man falling into misfortune is more apt to retrieve his situation in the world than single one” (14). Do you agree? Please explain.
6. Do you think that life shall be like a fairy tale? Please explain.
7. His wife attempted to win him back to happiness, but she drove the arrow deeper into his soul. Why?
8. The husband didn’t want to let his wife know the misfortune. Why?
9. Why did the author say his wife must know the truth sooner or later?
10. The author is Leslie’s good friend. How do we know?
11. How did the author persuade Leslie?
12. Why did the author feel some little solicitude for the result?
13. What was Mary’s reaction after knowing the truth?
14. The author suggested, “the sooner you let the world into the secret the better” (20). What does it mean and why?
15. Leslie never was so rich. Why?
16. Page 23-24. What did the author try to tell us?
17. Please make comments on the story.

The food delivery revolution - 6 Minute English

Questions (Covid-19)

1. What is COVID-19?

2. What do you think about China’s response to the outbreak?

3. Can you explain briefly what our government did to help in this moment of crisis?
4. Do you think it is necessary to identify potential contacts?
5. In what conditions does COVID-19 survive the longest?
6. What can you do to help?
7. What are the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health?

8. How does the COVID-19 crisis affect our everyday life?