Journal Entry 82: My Last Journal Entry :)

FINALLY THIS IS THE LAST JOURNAL ENTRY, NO MORE HAVING TO WRITE IT ANYMORE! YEAH THIS IS SO AWESOME AND I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT IT! After writing 82 journal entries, I think that writing journals really do help me a lot. I think I learned how to respond to questions faster and I can now write about one thing into two hundred words. Well in the beginning I was not really use to writing journals almost everyday and I thought it was a pretty lame and boring thing to do like writing it was a waste of my time. Now I think writing these journals became a habit which is actually sort of a fun thing to do because you get to share your own thoughts and ideas to other people and people might learn something from your journals. Well I am sort of proud of this blog because I never written a blog with so much posts, the most post I have written in a blog was like 50 posts but this one is like 82 posts. It is actually pretty cool to have my own blog, it is like having my own book or something like that. So maybe sometimes I can like look back through my journals and see what I have done during the whole year of 8th grade in English class.

Journal Entry 81: In Defense of My Treasure :)

In the story The Treasure of Lemon Brown, Lemon Brown would sacrifice himself to protect his treasure (his treasure was some old clippings and a broken harmonica) that actually meant nothing to others. I think Lemon Brown protected his treasure because it was important to him since his treasure has gone through many experiences like Lemon Brown gave it to his son before and his son treated it just like it was his own treasure although his son died in war so the treasure was sent back to Lemon Brown again. Well I would probably protect my treasure just like what Lemon Brown did since my treasure is important to me. In the previous journal entry I wrote that my treasure was the relationship between my family and me. Of course I would protect my family under some conditions such as if there was someone who talks about bad things about my family then I might talk back to them (a little bit like the story Raymond's Run where the main character, Squeaky protects Raymond, her brother and help his brother talk back to them). I would protect my family because the first reason is that my family takes good care of me so I want to protect them. The second reason is that they really mean something very very very precious to me and the third reason is that I love them really much.

Journal Entry 80: My Treasure :)

I think the thing that I value the most is the relationship between my family and me. They are like a treasure, very special since they really mean something very precious to me. I love my family very much and my family loves me too. My family is very sweet and my family is always there for me and they always watch my back. Although sometimes they can be a little strict but I appreciate that because they want to make me change so I do not do the wrong thing. There is always happiness and laughter in my family. I care about my family really much and so do they care about me too. When I need help, they will always lend me a hand. When I am sad, my family will always lend me a shoulder to lean on. When I am happy, there will also be smiles on their face too. When I am mad, they will always try to cheer me up. My family is a warm and welcoming place, which makes me feel safe and sound. My family is really valuable to me. They are the one and only family like this, no other family can replace them.

Journal Entry 79: My Background :)

In this journal entry I am going to write stuff about my background. My name is Ting. I am a thirteen year old girl. I have black hair, brown eyes, and yellow colored skin (of course because I am an Asian). I was born in Taiwan. My birthday is November 4, 1998. I have been to United States of America and Denmark for studying because of my family. Now I came back to live in Taiwan to study. I have no sister and no brother, so I am the only child in my family, which is "sometimes" sort of boring. I can play instruments, which is the violin and the piano. I learned violin when I was three years old and I learned piano when I was eleven years old. I can speak five kinds of languages, including English, Chinese, Taiwanese, Danish, and French. My main language is English although I am an Asian but I do not know Chinese that well since the first language I learned first was English where I can both read and write but for Chinese I am not that good at writing it. Well my background contributes to who I am today like what type of person I am and what types of stuffs I learned which I can do.

Journal Entry 78: Style :)

There are many elements of style in Raymond's Run but the two elements of style I am going to talk about is dialect and allusion. In the story the narrator uses dialect such as slang. For example, in the story there was something like "playing the dozen". By that the narrator means exchanging insults. The narrator also likes to use the word "ain't", which is a slang word. There was also allusion in the story. For example, Squeaky was compared to Mercury since Squeaky runs super fast. Another example is Mr. Pearson (teacher) was compared to "Jack and the Beanstalk"since Mr. Pearson is very clumsy. The two elements of style in The Treasure of Lemon Brown is mood and conflict. For example the mood in the story was sort of depressing and gloomy. There was many conflicts in the story. For example, there were three bad guys coming into the old tenement wanting to steal Lemon Brown's treasure but Lemon Brown did not give them his treasure because it was very important to him, so the bad guys decided to go after Lemon Brown and hit him. That is external conflict because it is conflict between Lemon Brown and three bad guys.

Journal Entry 77: Slang :)

Slang is a type of dialect. It is sort of like a type of secret language or something for young people which is informal. There are many kinds of slangs and one of the slang is called internet slang. Internet slang is used on the internet where words are shorten and cut off (abbreviated). Here are some examples and meanings of the internet slang:

• Lol means laugh out loud 
• Rofl means rolling on the floor laughing
• Lmao means laugh my ass out
• Brb means be right back
• Gtg or G2g means got to go
• Aka means also known as
• Omg means oh my god
• Fyi means for your information
• Cya or Cu means see you
• Ttyl means talk to you later
• Btw means by the way
• Afk or Afc means away from keyboard or away from computer
• Bbs means be back soon
• Thx means thanks
• Np means no problem
• U means you
• L8r means later
• Afaik means as far as I know
• 2b means to be
• Ikr means I know right
• Oic means oh, I see
• W/ means with
• W/o means without
• Plz means please
• R8 means right
• Jk means just kidding
• R means are
• Ur means your
• Asap means as soon as possible
• Imo means in my opinion

Journal Entry 76: Analogy :)

An analogy is about comparing the similarity of two things that are sort of connected to each other. An example of an analogy can be like "the baby was like a feather". In that analogy, it is comparing a baby with a piece of feather. The two things are both very light and delicate. Another example of an analogy is "the eagle flew like an airplane". This analogy means that the eagle flies really rapid like an airplane. Another example is "the textbook weighs just like an elephant". In this analogy, it is describing that the textbook is very heavy just like an elephant. Another analogy is "getting a paper cut feels like getting stabbed by a knife". In that analogy, it means that getting stabbed by a knife hurts really much and getting a paper cut hurts very much too just like getting stabbed by a knife. Another example of an analogy is "running a race is like getting chased by a cheetah". This analogy is describing how when running a race people have to be fast just like getting chased by a cheetah. Another example of an analogy is "shopping is like being in heaven". The two things are both very happy stuffs to do.

Journal Entry 75: Fighting Words :)

In the story Raymond's Run the character called Squeaky talks back to other people when the people try to insult her brother (since her job is to take care of her brother). Well I do not really think that words are that important to fight about because if you know that people are just making things up to insult you or your friends then why even bother to care if the whole thing they say is just a lie?! Sometimes people keep saying stuff like "that person hate me and my friend for no reason" when they don't even know that they have hurt those people and they start acting like they are the poor ones when they are the ones really bullying others. Like once these group of people told me not to be best friends with one of this girl that I am very good friends with. Although I did not really want to do what they told me because they did not know that the girl is actually a very nice and kind person not like what they say she is scary and annoying. Then I help my friend say some nice stuffs and those group of people start to think that I am becoming an idiot like that girl. So then those people start to hate me just because I did not listen to them to not be friends with that girl. Well I think it is important to defend ourselves, friends, and family. Although people do not need to spend a lot of time fighting back because I think it is best to have peace and be nice to each other like this sentence I heard before, "Being nice to someone you dislike doesn't mean your fake. It means you are mature enough to tolerate your dislike towards them".

Journal Entry 74: Below the Surface :)

In the story Raymond's Run one of the characters called Squeaky likes to judge people just from the way people look like on the outside and the way how the people talk. This kind of situation also appears in real life not just in stories like Raymond's Run. Well I have been judged by someone before just because of my look and this happened many times. Usually when I change to new schools people will start out thinking I am a shy and quiet student (sort of because my expression is sort of emotionless <-- do not know if that really is a word but I am trying to say that I have no expression and a little bit serious). Although when the person knows me well they will think I am a very noisy and crazy student. I have also been surprised to discover something new about someone. Well there was this girl that came to our school, which is a korean, the first time I saw her I was like "oh god it is those kind of narcissism korea person". Although when I became good friends with her I found out she is actually pretty cool, and nice.

Journal Entry 73: OOPS! :)

In this journal entry I am going to write about an incident in life which is where first impression turns out to be wrong. First impression is like a feeling or comment or judgement of a person that you saw at first sight. First impression can be wrong most of the time since you do not know the person well at first impression so you have to know the person well to get to know the person's real personality. Also most first impression people already judge a person just after a few seconds they met although since you do not know the person well it is more like they are judging others' physical appearance not mental. First impression can be wrong because I met this girl before and at the first time I saw her, I though that girl was a very shy and quiet person but then I found out that the girl was pretty outgoing and crazy when you know her well. There was also one time where I thought this girl was very mean since she looked kind of scary, serious and stuff like that but when I knew her well, she was a really nice person.

Journal Entry 72: My Tell-Tale Ending :)

Louder! Louder! Louder! The sound of my heart continued to beat rapidly. I could not take it anymore. I was getting totally insane. I started rushing out through the door passing by the policemen that were about to chase after me out the door. While running I started screaming like a wild, furious monkey and I climbed up a nearby skyscraper just like a monkey too. When I got to the top of the skyscraper I found out that the policemen were gone. Finally my heartbeat sound was not that loud anymore. Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me! What could it be?! I dared to turn back and look. Oh my god, it is the police! How did they come up to the top of the skyscraper?! They must have took the elevator to come up here. Oh no, now I am trapped up here...Wait I have an idea! I can just push the police off the skyscraper since I am sooo crazy! Now my heartbeat sound was starting to beat rapidly again and even more loud! Now all I could hear is my tremendously loud heartbeat sound. I do not feel so good now, my head is getting dizzy and my vision was turning white. Everything blanked out. When I woke up I found out that I had just fainted and the policemen had caught me and putted me in jail! NOOOO!!! Now that I am in jail, I can not go home and eat the delicious corpse of the old man. So from there on I spent my life in jail.

Journal Entry 71: Hints & Foreshadowing :)

In the story Tell-Tale Heart the stuffs that the narrator says about himself is very ironic. Ironic means an event where one thing is express but the thing turns out the opposite of the meaning. You can tell that the narrator is insane in the story although the narrator keeps saying that he is not insane. The narrator is insane because he says " But why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my sense--not destroyed--not dulled them." The narrator also said "I heard many thing in hell. How, then, am I mad?" Another thing which is weird is that the narrator says he is not insane just because he can tell the whole story calmly. In the first paragraph of the story you could foreshadow that the narrator is going to kill this old man in the story just because the narrator did not like the old man's eye (which is a very stupid reason for killing someone) and also because the narrator is insane so he would probably do this kind of thing. I guess this story's overall feeling is to make the readers terrified and shocked. I also think that the narrator is also trying to confuse the readers somehow.