111吳姿蓓

The Secret Garden

In fact, I have already read this book many times since my mom bought it for me. I like this book very much, because its story interests me.

It was so mysterious how the protagonist Little Mary changed from a very selfish, disagreeable, bad-tempered and crossly little ugly girl into a lively, outgoing, friendly and healthy pretty girl. I admire Mary for her change very much, because it is really difficult to change one’s mind in such a short time. The story also shows that nature plays an important part in our life. I like everything in nature; all of them can let me feel relaxed and enjoyable. When I listen to the birds singing in the trees or the insects crying on the ground, it seems to carry off all my worry.

I think another selfish boy—the spoiled child Colin is also an important role in the story. I didn’t like him at first, because he was an arbitrary and pessimistic boy. Actually, I like optimistic people. But when I saw his change like Mary’s, I feel happy for him. Mary is the key that made Colin not to think about dying and also made him feel his life is full of hopes. If everyone in the world can have a friend like Mary, the world will be more joyful.

My favorite role is Dickon. As mentioned above, I like nature. Dickon can make friends with animals, like birds, foxes, goats and so on. I also dream to be friends with them! Dickon and Mary also like flowers and trees. If I have a piece of land, I want to plant many flowers and trees on it, just like what Dickon and Mary did in the Secret Garden.

Mary’s curiosity led her to find out the Secret Garden which was sealed up for ten years since Mary’s aunt died. As a matter of fact, I found I’m not as curious as a ten-year girl. So having curiosity like Mary is important. If we don’t have curiosity, our life will be boring.

We people always consider us greater than any other creature. We are no better, and this is explained well by the roles of this book.

This story makes me the notice that although Mary was poor, both of her parents and all of her servants were dead, she was not alone. Dickon, Colin and the animal friends all keep company with her. She learned many things and had new adventures in the new environment. In sum, she became happier and more joyful than ever before.

Maybe there is a Secret Garden in everyone’s heart. There are bad memories in Secret Garden and it was sealed up, because people tend to escape questions and don’t want to face the fact; they seal up their mind like Mary’s uncle. But even if we don’t want to face up to the fact, we still have to do it one day. That is, we still have to open our Secret Garden one day. We can’t always escape from the fact because that will not solve any problems. So we should try to find the key and open the door of our Secret Garden. We can try to change our mind. After all, it is the one and only way to have a healthy and happy mind.

111周玉真

Brat Farrar

The detective story, Brat Farrar, is written by a famous authoress, Josephine Tey. The unbelievable things happened to the Ashby makes the story thrilling and exciting. Patrick Ashby, who died eight years ago, came home and inherited the family property. The Ashby was happy except for his twin brother, Simon. But the returning Patrick had a great secret: he was an imposter. His name was Brat. Finally, the false Patrick exposed the scam to Simon. After reading the book, I realize some rules of life. I like the story very much because Brat was brave.

In order to get all the fortune which belonged to his twin brother Patrick, Simon murdered Patrick. Luckily, Brat revealed the bad plan in the end. Recently, there was a murder case which shocked Taiwan. Two students studying abroad were killed in Japan. This was talked about a lot in the newspapers. Nobody knew why the criminal did this. It seems that crimes in a modern society cannot be avoided. But we can make them decrease and education plays a weighty role. Teenagers are the future of our country. So how to let younger students understand the knowledge of life is what our government needs to now to improve one of the teenager problems. It may take much time to change their mind, yet this is what all of us in the world should pay much attention to. As far as a high school student is concerned, there is nothing more important than to know how to love oneself.

Another thing I learned from the book is not to tell lies. “I am not an actor,” was replied by Brat when he knew the plan at first. And then Brat still decided to pretend to be the dead Patrick Ashby and inherit his property. He chose to live with a lie with scare even though Brat knew it was wrong. I think he was struggling and felt uncomfortable to be an imposter. Maybe we tell a lie to cover the truth but we always use more lies to cover it up. A lie is like a candy with poison. It is sweet, delicious but dangerous. No one likes other people to lie to us so do not do to others what you do not want to be done to you. If the lie has been told, I must make a sincere apology. This is the best way to solve it.

One more thing I know is that family is the best thing in the world. Brat was an orphan. He lived in an orphanage alone for many years and did not know who his parents were. If Brat had had a perfect home, he would not have become a faker to get what he wanted. I have much to say about it. Family is an important part in our life. People can lose anything; however, love of family is necessary. When I face failure, I would think of my family members and feel delighted soon. To my sadness, some people do not have a family. In fact, there are many people not treating their family cherishingly such as Simon in the story. Family is one of jewels in my lifetime.

I think it is the nicest detective story than any one I read before. At the same time, I find out that with social progress and economic development, there are a lot of problems in our society. Now we need to be careful of either moral education or crime actions. If we can improve them, our society will be better one day.

112江宇諼

Handbook of Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief is a book whose background was set in the modern city—New York, and the character of this book was a boy called Percy Jackson and he was a boy who always got in trouble, but someday he was told that his missing father was a god and was one of the most powerful god—Poseidon. All of a sudden Percy’s life was changed, and he must find the missing weapon of Zeus to help his father to stop the war with Olympus.

After reading this book, all I felt is amazed because I have never read this kind of book before and the action of this book was very fluent and compact. The main character Percy was the boy who had an adventure. He was brave and took care of his friends very much. When he knew his friends were in danger, he would try his best to save his friends. And his bravery always let him have the power to do anything in many dangerous places. Percy used his bravery to solve many problems.

There are also some things in this book that interest me, like the mystical Greek mythology. I couldn’t imagine that modern world can mix with Greek mythology. I cannot put down my hand since I began to read it. You cannot imagine that the Greek gods are still with us in the modern world. For example, the eagle symbolizes America now, but it also symbolized Zeus in the past. There are still many things that symbolize Greek gods.

The bravery and the care for friends were what make Percy succeed. If Percy did not have these two things he absolutely could not find the lightning bolt and came back safely. His friend also played an important role to help Percy succeed.

In the history, many people were just like Percy. When they faced problems or danger, they would use their bravery to help them keep going. They used the heart which cares for friends to solve the problem. Even when they failed, they would not give up any hopes.

“Believe yourself, and than you can do anything”. I think that Percy can be the example of this sentence because he believed that he could save his mother and help his father, and that’s why he could go to the hill fight with Pluto and got the lightning bolt from Ares.

This book teaches me a lot from many ways and when I read it again, I can still get many things from the book. I think that reading is the most simple and the easiest way to get knowledge. Though you cannot go to the place where the book describes, you can still use your imagination to picture how it looks like just by a few sentences. It is amazing, isn’t it? I sincerely recommend you to read this book. It is really a fantastic book. I guess you will have the same feeling after reading it.

112秦詠聆

If I Stay

Gayle Forman, the author of If I Stay, won the 2009 NAIBA Book of the Year Awards and is a 2010 Indie Choice Honor Award winner for If I Stay. And she also got many literature awards such as Other Notable Literary Awards, British Fantasy Award (2010), and South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2011), etc.

If I Stay is about a “Choice Problem” story. Mia is a fortunate girl in this world. After a serious car accident everything was changed. Mia had to choose her life and think many things she had never thought. Although it was a difficult choice, she still had to face it. Because God wanted Mia not to be afraid and to look for the best way to solve problems. About choices and love, can you put them down? Can you choose to stay or to leave? To stay or not is up to you.

When I first saw the cover of If I Stay, I thought it was a good English novel for me. It is not only the photos that attracted me, but I could feel the novel filled with lots of emotion, love and many questions of all our life as well. In this novel, I understood Mia couldn’t put down her future and love of her friends and family. She was just a seventeen years old girl, but she needed to have strong courage and power to deal with these tragedies. Mia also reflected on questions such as “What would it be like if I stay?” and “What would it feel like to wake up as an orphan?” Maybe Mia once wanted to give up because her family were gone and she had no excuse to stay in this world. Adam was also a true lover for Mia. He never thought he should leave after his girlfriend had a big car accident. Adam wanted to stay with Mia because he knew Mia needed him and he had to comfort her sad heart. How romantic he was! If someday I encounter the thing like this, I won’t flinch. I have to walk forward and start a new life. Perhaps I will feel sad and want to leave this world to accompany all of people who I knew. Actually my eyes were filled with tears after I read If I Stay. That feeling is so true that I seem to be Mia. I can experience Mia’s life and thought. A novel that can touch people’s hearts is not easy. So the author of If I Stay must have her experience and ideas that she wants to tell us.

“I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.” This is Mia’s realization after she became a ghost to loiter in the hospital and around her body. When some people fall into a dilemma, they always think that they can’t face and solve it and decide to commit suicide to escape. Don’t choose this way but accept the truth. If Mia can face the problems, why can’t you? Life is very important and precious. No one can give up their life easily.

No matter how big a problem you made, you shouldn’t be a coward. Choices are difficult for us to choose. If you don’t make up your mind to do it, you will regret forever. We can see things in many ways. Sometimes due to a strange idea, you may change the face of the mode. So we need to think twice before you do everything. It’s much better for your friends, family, relatives and yourself.

113李政勳

View and Description of the Story in the West Coast of Greece

This is an exciting and adventurous story. It took place in a small island called Corfu. It is located on the west coast of Greece. The leading role, Lucy, accepted the invitation of her sister, Phyllida. They went to this beautiful and magical island together. However, some accidents happened quietly.

In a normal morning, Lucy went swimming at the beach and met a dolphin accidentally. But someone tried to kill it by a gun. She looked toward the cliff. It’s the son of a famous actor, Max. They had left a bad impression to each other since this argument. Then, Miranda’s brother, Spior, died unexpectedly because he once set sail at night. His boss, Godfrey, who was writing a book in the boat-house, felt very sorry. This event made his family sad. After that, in another morning, Lucy found something horrible when she was swimming. Someone died in the sea, and Godfrey said he was being drowned. But Max had doubts, and there was something to prove his ideas. That was Spior, who was still alive and told them what happened that night. The murderer is Godfrey, and he did another murder. To bring Spior to the hospital, Lucy had to distract him. So she spent one afternoon with him. In order to reveal his secret, she got into his boat. But she was pushed into the sea unfortunately. She wasn’t killed. Instead, she drifted to the beach on the other side of the sea. Fortunately, he was sent back by local residents, and she solved all the mysteries. But Godfrey drove the boat away. He died on the sea because of the bombardment. That was the end of the story.

In this story, I see many impressive roles such as Lucy. She was a brave and intelligent person. After entering the ship, she found out the secret and fought with Godfrey. She thought very carefully, even when she was in a great danger. She would find the information and others’ weaknesses which were advantageous to her. She could make the right choice in the proper time. So she could tell the truth in end of the story. However, the murderer, Godfrey, engaged in smuggling and illicit trafficking. He lied to everyone in the beginning and in order to achieve his goals, he even intended to kill Spior and somebody else. He certainly did not know how much sadness it would cause to Spior’s family. They have lost their father so that they could not live without Spior. The whole family lost their source of income because of Godfrey’s selfishness. But he had been penalized on the sea. His death taught us a good lesson. A person who does bad things won’t have a good ending. This story also shows us one thing. No matter how many obstructions there are on our road, we will get by. Just Like Lucy, she created a different life for herself. We will hold our future by our volitions.

Vivid description of characters and horror plot are used by the author to attract readers. She used them very well. It is not only interesting but also has a deep meaning. I thought I also have been to the west coast of Greece and experienced their adventure.

113陳卉芯

Money vs Morality

What is the ultimate aim you have pursued the whole life? Fortune? Power? Love? Faith?

The leading role of this story, Michael, was the lawyer in a well-known company, and he would very likely become the partner who earned more than a million dollars a year in the next two or three years. He was a white-collared worker. Everyone would never associate the poor with him. But one day something different happened. A guy, Hardy, who was homeless, intruded the office Michael and his co-workers worked in, and threatened them with dynamites. He was finally rescued by the police. The homeless guy was also killed. Michael stared to notice the people who were either poor or homeless. He even thought what his work meant to him. Did he really like the things which he was doing now? He knew the lawyer, Mordecai, whose clients were the homeless. He helped them and charged low. Later Michael met a homeless mother, Burton, who took three children, and this family was poisoned with carbon dioxide in their car the next few days. Michael was shocked but something was more surprising to him. Hardy and Burton’ family were tenants, but they were evicted by one of the lawyers in Michael’s company, and they became homeless. Mordecai and Michael started to have a litigation with Michael’s company. Finally, they won the lawsuit, and got a big amount of compensation for the homeless. Although Michael didn’t earn as much as before, he found the ultimate aim of his life-being as a lawyer with heart.

Let us think about another question. Can we own our heart and fortune together? Or do we have to choose one between them? I have thought this question for a long time. But one thing can be sure is that it will be very difficult to own our heart and fortune together. A man who wants to make a lot of money must spend much time chasing it, and he may ignore the people who need help. Another man who always helps others may lose some time to pursue fortune or power. Michael chased for more fortune and power before. But he changed when he met those poor people. He wanted to do his best to help others. If I were Michael, I would do the same thing because I believe it is more important to help others.

There are many people still in poor. A scary study said that ten thousand people died in one minute for hunger. This is very sad to me. I want to do something for them. Though I am only one person, actions speak louder than words. My life is more comfortable than those in poor. If I eat less every day, and save more money, I can help more people. Many a little makes a mickle. Little by little and bit by bit. A penny saved is a penny earned. It will be very useful. Maybe someday my dream that there are no more poor people around the world will come true.

114黃聖龍

Pride and Prejudice

During the winter break, I read a story called Pride and Prejudice, and I would like to introduce the brief content of the book and my viewpoints of the book.

" Pride and Prejudice ", literally it is mainly describing how human characters vary and how people respond to life affairs . In the book Pride and Prejudice, the characters’ conversations are full of fun and intelligence. I was attracted by the interaction of the roles. The story also gave me a lesson of the dark side of the human. When someone regard himself as genius, it is always the case that he holds the attitude. Or, it is quite natural for someone opposes to all deeds of the one against whom he is biased. Effective communication hardly occurs at this moment, which also builds a giant gap among people.
In daily lives, we act almost the same way as the roles of the book do. Arrogance and Prejudice are so easy to be spotted around us anytime. Pride and Prejudice describe the dark side of human characters in an extremely exaggerated way. Although the overstated description, it is absolutely worth thinking. The subjective ideology of the first impression is stubbornly rooted in our thoughts. Because of Elizabeth's ordinary birth, Darcy failed to express his feelings to Elizabeth by giving up his pride. He felt confused by falling in love with a girl who lived in inferior family. It is obvious that his dignity faced a tremendous challenge.

In spite of numerous difficulty and misunderstanding, love is so unstoppable over every obstacle. After Elizabeth realizes the error of her initial prejudice against Darcy, it was embarrassing when they met each other again. They aren't able to have a conversation comfortably; they feel awkward talking to each other, just like a shy couple together. Also, love stops you from thinking sensibly. You might also do stupid things when you fall in love. Among all of the conflicting events in processes, the two human characters, pride and prejudice, apparently reveal.

114  許毓芳                    

The Eagle of the Ninth