EDDIE

November 21, 2011 //Children of Men// // Children of Men // is a dystopian film set in 2027 in which the world is suffering from doomsday that women cannot be pregnant for 18 years since 2009. Illegal immigrants all over the world seek sanctuary in England, where the government makes atrocious immigration law on refugees. The hero named Theo Faron does his best to help a West African refugee Kee who is the only woman that gets pregnant escape from the chaos to reach The Tomorrow, a boat owned by Human Project, in order to save human’s future. There are several connections to //Anthem// in some degrees. To start with, both //Anthem// and //Children of Men// have various limitations. For example, in //Anthem//, man cannot write, cannot smile without reason, cannot love others and cannot disobey the rules so that men feel fear. As for the movie, British government makes the immigration law to limit the immigrants’ activities. Specifically, government violent forces refugees to be locked in cage, and everyone is uncomfortable due to the chaos of the society. It is obvious that the limitations provided emphasize the damage that man cannot cultivate their own interest and reveal the importance of freedom that man is an end in himself. Next connection to //Anthem// is hopelessness. In //Anthem//, people are set in groups to live and work every day. They do not have hope but fear and just know to follow the rules so that they can live without punishment. Moreover, nobody has escaped from the Palace of Corrective Detention except Equality illustrating the hopelessness of citizens. While in //Children of Men//, people feel hopeless since the loss of reproductive performance which means that there is no continuity of life. When Theo asks his brother that what makes him continue making artwork even though after one hundred years there will be no human beings, revealing that people are surrounded by the negative ideas. However, both //Anthem// and //Children of Men// have happy endings that the heroes bring hope to the society. In //Anthem//, even though the scholars and the councils do not allow Equality do experiments, he discovers electricity which can make great contributions to the development of society. In addition, after entering the uncharted forest, Equality gets access to more advanced technologies. It is reasonable to believe that Equality will finally bring high technology to the society and will rescue his friends to live in a society in which people exist for their own sake. Similar to the novel, through struggling, Theo finally helps the woman and her baby reach their destination, the Human Project. These reveal that as long as we paid efforts and do not give up, no matter how difficult it is, we can come across it. As for the heroes in both the movie and novel, the heroes are always brave, helpful and persistent. For example, in //Anthem//, Equality does his experiment by himself. Obviously, he faces varieties of difficulties but he never gives up. Also, when he is locked and lashed in the Palace of Corrective Detention, he chooses to escape to show his discovery to the scholars, which demonstrates that Equality is brave and persistent since nobody escapes from the prison before. Since Equality wants to rescue his friends and bring freedom to the society, Equality is glad to help others. Similarly, Theo breaks the law that English citizens cannot help refugees to live in England illegally. After knowing the existence of the new baby, Theo chooses to protect Kee, and even when he is shot, he still does his best to protect Kee getting out of battlefield. In terms of comparison, the existence of children is the crucial difference. In //Anthem//, children even do not know their parents since after they born, they live with their peers together in the councils, and man cannot feed their children. Similarly, in //Children of Men//, the reason for man cannot feed their children is that man lost their reproductive performance since 2009 so that they even cannot have children to feed. After 2009, people start to realize the importance of younger generation and consider baby as the hope for man’s future. //Anthem// prefers the education of children while //Children of Men// emphasizes the importance of children’s life. In //Children of Men//, the importance of children should be concerned seriously. In the movie, since people lose reproductive performance, they lose the hope and goal to live. Moreover, when the soldiers find the baby, they even stop fighting revealing the importance of children in people’s mind. However, nowadays a large number of young people do not want to have babies since they consider babies as heavy burden for them. Actually, people have the rights to choose whether they want a baby or not. But, what if everyone does not want to have a baby? If so, after one hundred years, there will be no human beings in the world and the cultural and technology cannot be continued. Thus, this is a serious problem for people to think about. Personally, I think younger generation should think carefully about this issue and government may take some policies to encourage citizens to have babies. Anyway, there must be some ways to balance human’s right and continuity of life. September 5, 2011 My Grandfather The person who is really important to me is not only my grandfather but also my friend, Sam. When I was in primary school, I lived with my grandfather in a small town. Every day, he carried me to school by his old bicycle no matter how bad the weather was. After school, we sometimes went fishing in the countryside as an enjoyable activity because he thought fishing can be beneficial for improving our persistence and attention. At night, he always asked me to finish homework by myself since he suggested I should have the ability to work out the question on my own. Then he would check my answers. Also, he liked to play Chinese chess with me and he was really good at it. He believed that through playing Chinese chess, we can understand others’ thinking and characteristics. I found that he was a really good educator since he could tell me the truth when we were playing and I did learn a lot from him. The most important aspect of him that I should learn is his optimism. Five years ago, he was found to have cardiopathy and had to live in ICU. However, he never felt disappointed and always comforted me. We kept playing Chinese chess in ICU until he died, and throughout the hours we spent together, I realized that he was happy all the time even he might die immediately. His optimism and bravery are what I really need to learn from him. Even now, my grandfather still lives in my mind because what he taught me has influenced my life a lot. September 13, 2011 Descriptive Paragraph After lunch, Antony felt extremely anxious since he lost his wallet where his love letter was. He went back in a hurry to the park he played that morning. There was a dog eating something analogous to his wallet. He shouted at the dog, what are you doing. The dog was scared by the terrible voice which seemed came from the hell so it ran away just like a rocket. Antony went mad and had to run after the stupid crazy dog. Finally, he caught the dog when the way he breathed was the same as a dog. Unfortunately, the wallet the dog ate was not the one contained his love letter. He came back home disconsolately as though he was a deflated balloon. Drolly, the wallet he was trying to find was lying on his bed tranquilly. October 8, 2011 High School Musical During National Day, I watched a movie named High School Musical which brought me some thoughts about my live. I think the foremost part about this movie is not the pure love between Troy and Gabriella but the way Troy pursues his aspiration. Specifically, instead of receiving special treatment and performing in talent show, Troy chose to be with his friend and do what he wants without hesitation. Obviously, most students want to go to good university, and if they have a chance, they will do everything for it. However, Troy thinks the most important thing for him is to be with his friends. I am moved by him because he is not influenced by others which is really hard for everyone. What is more, when choosing university, he makes a decision to study both basketball and music which maybe his father and friends cannot understand, but he makes this decision bravely. It is hard for his father (the coach) to understand why a basketball boy wants to study music, but Troy insists his aspiration, which is the foremost part that I should learn from this movie; being myself and do not care about others’ views.