Before you read anything, please remember these:
1. I'm nobody. Nobody is perfect. So I am PERFECT :D
2. If you find anything wrong with my blog, please refer to #1...

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Reflection #8: learnings

Finally completed reading The English Patient, I gradually understood the theme that Ondaatje tries to convey. With Hana's altruism, he advises us to care for the people around us. The love of Hana to her father, from Almasy to Katherine, and between Kit and Hana are perfect embodiment of the theme of love which is one of the story's main ideas. Also, the hopefulness Hana has to the patient exemplifies an attitude which the author wants us to adopt. Overall, this novel evokes really deep thinking from the readers and contains much useful information and knowledge which can be applied to our daily life.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Group Inquiry Project

Having picked altruism as our inquiry question, my group members and I started to take actions. We planned to collect books and donate them to Admiral Seymour Elementary school, thus demonstrating our altruism. We went to every house around the neighborhood, asking them for used books. At first, we encountered many problems. Some people were annoyed when we knocked the door and others did not want to take pictures with us, which made it difficult for us to do the Pecha Kucha. But as we got better at the job, we were able to get more books and grew more confident. The greatest success so far in our inquiry project is that we were able to resolve the problems we face. We will keep up with the things we do and continue with our inquiry.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The English Patient: The Connection

Altruism, a predominant theme in The English Patient, is closely related to my life. In the novel, Hana nurses her patient carefully and asks nothing in return. Her altruism is just like my care for the animals. Since grade 10, I have been attempting to raise animal conservation awareness in BC through social media, online advertisement, and local newspapers. What I am doing for the animals is similar to what Hana does in that we both do not ask anything in return. The novel confirms my belief in the animal rights movement and encourages me to keep up with what I am doing.

Monday, February 18, 2013

The English Patient: Altruism

Altruism is embodied in The English Patient primarily through Hana's meticulous care for Almasy. She reads to him, wipes his body, and feeds him every day without complaining about the trouble that she has endured. She cares for him with heart and soul without asking anything in return. Her behaviors are so inspiring to me that I started helping others and noticing more and more altruistic behaviors in the current society. The impact that the novel has had on me is tremendous, and this effect can only be achieved by a masterpiece. Therefore, once again, I have to say that The English Patient is a powerful literary work and I recommend it to everyone interested in reading.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

The English Patient: Love VS Friendship

When I am reading The English Patient, this question keeps popping out of my head, "What is the difference between love and friendship?" Hana takes care of the English patient, yet she cannot distinguish her feelings toward him clearly. This makes me question some relationships in my life. Sometimes I mistaken friendship as love and take love as a friendship.
After thinking about the difference between them carefully, I came up with a method, or merely an idea, to vary the two. Imagine that you are alone in a dark house. You cannot get out but can let one person in to accompany you. The person who comes into your mind immediately is exactly your love.
Hope this will provide you with some thoughts. Comment if you have your own way of distinguishing love and friendship.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The English Patient: a way of writing

  Michael Ondaatje forms a unique and interesting narrative style in The English Patient. It follows neither the order of time nor the shifting of spaces. The narration constantly skips back and forth between past and present, and from place to place.
  This style of writing was really confusing for me at first. It is hard to determine what is going on in the story without sufficient information given. However, as I got used the skipping-back-and-forth, I realized that there is a key skill we have to develop in order to read Ondaatje's novel--identifying the point of shifting. Once we find out that the setting has changed, we then look for the specific time and place of the scene. Thus, the reading becomes much easier and a more enjoyable experience.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

The English Patient: Hope

I have to admit that The English Patient enthralls me more than any other novels. Not only is the plot intriguing, but also does it allow room for imagination. Having read for a few more days, I get a better understanding of the story and discover what the author tries to convey. Hana, the nurse who takes care of the burnt patient, refuses to leave the war zone and insists that she remain to take care of the patient. The novel thus describes how she lives under the devastating circumstance while not losing her hope. In the meantime, this quality of not giving up can be related to our lives.  For instance, many of us relinquish so easily when we face a challenge or fail a task. However, if we could be patient and hope for the better, like what hana does, then things might turn out for the better.

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

First Reflection

The book that I chose is The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. This is a story about love and conflict during the WWⅡ. I chose this book because of its well-designed cover (cater to my taste... as you can see) and its intriguing plot summary. Having read the introduction, I think my inquiry question will most likely be about love or one's persistence in a devastating situation. I am looking forward to see how the author combines love and conflict in developing the plot. I truly believe that the story will be somehow related to my life and that I can learn plenty from it. (Since it's a love story... maybe a point or two on dating?? Hehe...)