Will the Tripods hater!!!!

In the book "The White Mountains", the Tripods control the behavior of humans by using devices that the humans call "Caps". They are metal plates which are fitted over the humans' heads and "somehow welded" (page 168) to the human's heads. I think these Caps are bigger and more powerful versions of the tracking device that is implanted in Will. So the Caps should have thousands of "tiny wires just below the surface" (page 173") which probably send out signals to the humans' brains and also to the Tripods. This lets the Tripods know what the humans are thinking and doing and also allows the Tripods to control the humans' behavior. I think when the Tripods first invaded Earth, they forced humans into wearing the Caps. Probably after many years, the Tripods made the humans create a custom that all children turning fourteen must go through a ceremony where they would be Capped. I think this was to make it easier for the Tripods to continue to Cap all humans without always having to force them because by having a human custom, the humans would not question Capping.

When Will is at the Red Castle, you can tell that he is feeling very comfortable living there but he is frustrated that the Comte, Comtesse and Eloise are Capped. In page 111, Will said "The bitter thing was that all the spirit, all the gallantry, was wasted. For even more than their inferiors, they accepted and looked forward to being Capped. It was a part of becoming a knight, or of hunting from girl to lady. Thinking of this, I saw how good things could be meaningless in isolation. What value did courage have, without a free and challenging mind to direct it?" In page 116, Will also said " And I had despised them for it-despised even, for all their kindness to me and their goodness, the Comte and Comtesse." I think that Will feels that even though the Comte, Comtesse and Eloise are kind and good hearted, they are still Capped and brainwashed, and obey the Tripods' commands no matter what. He is shocked and frustrated that the Comte and Comtesse would allow Eloise, their only daughter, to go away to serve the Tripods. "They had, as I knew, deeply missed their sons, sent away for a few years only to learn knighthood in another household. And this was their daughter, whom they loved perhaps more dearly still, and she was to go to the Tripods and never return ... and all day long I had seen them happy and rejoicing. It was monstrous." (page 135-136) Will is also shocked that Eloise is so happy to leave hr family and him to go to the Tripods. "Her words shocked me, but the look on her face was more shocking still. It was a kind of rapt devotion, the expression of someone who hugs in secret her heart's desire." (page 135). In page 136, Will says "She had forgotten me already, in any sense that truly mattered. All her mind was concentrated on the Tripods. Her masters had called, and she was going to them gladly." He is so shocked and frustrated that the Comte, Comtesse and Eloise don't even want to disobey the Tripods that he finally decides to leave the Castle even though he is so comfortable there.

It seems that Will's feelings about being Capped change a few times in the book. At first he doesn't seem to care about being Capped. "One did not think much about things connected with the Cappings" (page 10). He thinks it is normal for everyone to be Capped once they turn 14 years old so he doesn't have any feelings about it. But he starts to have doubts after seeing the changes in Jack after he has been Capped. "Why should the Tripods take people away, and Cap them? What right have they? ... But I don't see why it has to happen. I'd sooner stay as I am." (page 18) After learning about being Capped from Ozymandias, Will started hating being Capped. In page 39, Will says "And I knew that I would rather die than wear a Cap." This makes him decide to run away from Wherton.But later, when Will is living comfortably at the Castle of the Red Tower and is asked to stay by the Comtesse, he changes his mind about being Capped. He sees that you can be Capped and still be happy. "And the better I knew them, the harder it was to make a sweeping condemnation. They were Capped, they accepted the Tripods and all they stood for, but that did not prevent them from being, as I had seen in the Comte and Comtesse and Eloise and now in others, warmhearted, generous and brave. And happy." (page 122) Will tries to find reasons to accept being Capped. He asks himself, what was so bad about being Capped? "Before Capping there might be doubts and uncertainties and revulsion; perhaps these people had known them, too. When the Cap was put on, the doubts vanished. How great a loss was that? Was it a loss at all? The Tripods, apart from the act of Capping itself, did not seem to interfere much with men." (page 123) In page 125, Will thinks "If our ancestors, with all their strength, had failed, how pitiful was the defiance of a few men clinging to the slopes of barren mountains. And if there was no hope of defeating them, what were the true alternatives? To live wretchedly, like a hunted animal, suffering hardship and despair-or this life, with its fullness and security and happiness." This shows the doubts in Will about whether it's worth fighting the Tripods. But Will's feelings change again when Eloise tells him that she will go away forever to serve the Tripods. He is shocked that she and her parents can happily allow such a terrible thing to happen.

I think deep down, Will really doesn't want to be Capped at all. Will said in page 111, "Thinking of this, I saw how good things could be meaningless in isolation. What value did courage have, without a free and challenging mind to direct it?" That proves that he really wants to have freedom and that he wants to think freely and also live a good and free life.

Beanpole the awesomeness!!!!!!

In the book "The White Mountains" Will and Henry have run away from home to escape being Capped by the Tripods. They meet a boy called Zhanpole or Beanpole who joins them on their journey to the White Mountains. Beanpole is a weird-looking boy and different from the other people that Will and Henry have met. In page 69 of the book, Beanpole is described as "He looked odd and solemn standing there, tall and thin, with that strange metal-and-glass thing on his face." Beanpole is a very clever person. He has "a tremendous brain" (page 71). He made his own spectacles so that he could see more clearly. He also taught himself English from an old book.

I think that Beanpole will be very helpful for Will and Henry on their journey to the White Mountains. First, he can communicate with them in English but he can also speak the local language. This is very useful because Will and Henry have to travel across Beanpole's country (France) to get to the White Mountains but they cannot speak the local language. Beanpole can communicate with the local people. This makes it easier for the boys to get important information, like when Capping day is held at the Castle of the Red Tower so they can leave in time (page 109). Also, since Beanpole can speak the local language, it makes it less suspicious to other people who might alert the Tripods. The boys would look like they are locals, and not runaways from another country. They achieved this by pretending to be deaf-mute cousins of Beanpole. This was also Beanpole's idea (page 103). So again it shows how useful he is to Will and Henry.

Another reason why I think Beanpole can help Will and Henry on their journey is because being a local, he knows certain things which can help the boys get to the White Mountains faster and without being detected. For example, Beanpole knows where the Tripods usually travel, so they could avoid the roads that the Tripods usually use. He also knows about ways of traveling that could get the boys to the White Mountains faster than walking on roads. He took them to the Shmand-Fair, the train pulled by horses. The train took them south much farther and faster than they would have done by walking (pages 72-77).

The last reason why I think Beanpole can help Will and Henry on their journey is because he is a good planner and inventor. For example, Beanpole came up with the idea to escape from the Castle of the Red Tower during the tournament and not immediately. He knew that people would be busy and there would be much confusion and so the boys would not be missed for a few days. And because there would be more exciting things to do at the castle during the tournament, the people would not take the trouble to hunt for the boys. I think that Beanpole is a good inventor because he created his spectacles and said that he knew that hot air rises and that this could be used to power a hot air balloon, or even the subway train and cars that they discovered in the Ancient City (page 79 and 87).

Being an inventor, he might be able create a hot air balloon that works so the boys could travel even faster. He might even be able to create a weapon using the "metal eggs" or grenades that they found in the Ancient City and brought along with them.

These are the reasons why I think Beanpole can help Will and Henry on their journey. I think that Beanpole is the smartest person in the book, even smarter than Ozymandias!!

How is Will just like me????

Right now, I am reading a science fiction novel called "Tripods: The White Mountains" for my lit circle. This story is about a twelve year old boy named Will who is trying to get to the White Mountains so that he can escape machines called Tripods. In the book, all humans are capped by the Tripods when they reach the age ofthirteen years. The Tripods implant a metal device on people's heads that allows the Tripods to control the humans' minds like how they think and what they want them to think. People are not sure what the Tripods are. It is believed that they are either man-made machines which rebelled against the humans, or that they are alien vehicles.

How is Will like me?

Apart from us being the same age, I think that Will is similar to me in several ways. First of all, Will and I both know people that bullied us and ended up being friends. The person I am talking about was a classmate of mine in Standard 1 at my old school, S.J.K.(C) Jalan Davidson. He is exactly like Henry, Will's cousin who always bullied him. This boy and I had many nasty encounters in school. He has kicked me in the back, threw my books and water bottle down two floors, and even pushed me down the stairs. We even fought several times. In the end, it would always end up really badly. One day in Standard Two, he couldn't be found when his parents went to school to pick him up. They panicked and got the teachers to look for him. But they still couldn't find him anywhere. Then his parents saw me and asked me to find him. I saw how worried they were and decided to help even though I didn't like him. I went looking all over the school and managed to find him. When he realized how worried his parents had been, and how much help I had given to search for him, he changed his attitude towards me. Eventually, I became his best friend. In the book, Will and Henry hated each other at first but slowly their attitudes towards each other changed.

Secondly, Will and I both have a cousin who we depend on a lot. The cousin that he depends on is Jack (who is Capped early in the story) and the cousin I depend on is a boy named Yee Jiang. Jack would always break up Will and Henry's fights, and he gave Will a lot of good advice. My cousin Yee Jiang would always help me out with any problems I had.

But the most important reason why I think that Will and I are similar is that we don't want or like our lives to be in the hands of others. It seems like I am always asked to do this and that by my parents and other adults, like teachers. I feel like I am being controlled. If we weren'tcontrolled by others, we could live our life however we want. That's the reason why Will wants to go to the White Mountains. In a way, my teachers and parents are just like the Tripods: they can control me and make me bow down to them. But even though I would like to control my own life, I would not run away like Will. That's a big difference between him and me!

Ancient Egypt Imovie Reflection

Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs created monuments for various reasons. I think that the main reason the Pharaohs created monuments was to make people remember them. The monuments usually showed how powerful and mighty the pharaohs were. The Pharaohs also created monuments as tributes to their gods. Another reason the pharaohs created monuments was to portray themselves as someone else. For example, Cleopatra created a monument portraying herself as Isis, the mother goddess, because she believed that she was the reincarnation of Isis.

There are monuments that are similar in our society such as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and The Great Wall of China because they represent the country that they are in. For example, you will know that you are in Paris when you see the Eiffel Tower and that you are in China when you see the Great Wall of China. The Louvre is an interesting example of a monument because part of it is designed as a modern glass pyramid. In Malaysia, the Tugu Kebangsaan (National Monument) is a tribute to heroic soldiers who sacrificed their lives to fight for Malaysia.

These are the graphics:

The Louvre Eiffel TowerTugu Kebangsaan

Using google docs was good because my partner and I could work at the same time and see what each other was doing. The benefit of this was that I would not repeat what she had done. We could also edit and correct each other's work in real time. It was also good because I could communicate with my partner and get a response immediately. Even if she was offline, google docs allowed me to leave notes for her that she could read later. So I think google docs enabled us to work in a very productive way.

I learnt from this assignment that Cleopatra committed suicide either by getting bitten by an asp or by rubbing toxic ointment on herself. I also learnt that Cleopatra thought that she was the reincarnation of Isis, the mother goddess. I also learnt that Cleopatra ruled after the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, in the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt, during the Hellenistic times.

The challenging part of this assignment was finding information on the monuments that Cleopatra created. In the end, Mrs N advised us to research Cleopatra's tomb. We found some interesting information from that, like how her tomb was discovered under the sea. It was also quite challenging to find the true history of Cleopatra because there were quite a lot of stories about her.

In this assignment, my partner and I had to collaborate constructively to produce a good iMovie. We had to plan the work that each partner would do separately and then act as a team to put the work together. We also had to communicate effectively with each other and the audience. Both of us had to speak clearly while recording and tell the story in an interesting way.

I enjoyed this assignment because the subject was very interesting and I was able to learn a lot from my partner, Sunskruthi.

Nick's city reflection

Last week, My teacher gave us an assignment which was to give a presentation based on the city we call home. We had to find out the history, environmental factors, median age, statistical information, etc based on the chosen city. I chose Kuala Lumpur. I was actually nervous to go up to present but I got the courage to do it when I saw how well my friends gave their presentation. I thought they were really brave and presented with courage.

I think I did alright on certain parts. For example, in the historical factors section, I mentioned Kuala Lumpur's founding and when it achieved city status. In the environmental factors section, I mentioned the local vegetation, water supply and the topography. I included some graphics so that the audience could more easily understand what I was talking about. I showed a clear map of the location of my city and I also showed its origins. I gave the right statistical information like the population, and important dates in Kuala Lumpur's history.

To improve my presentation in the future, I would try and understand what I have written so that when the teacher or the audience ask me what it means, I would know how to answer. Instead of just including information that other people can find on websites, I would include information from my own experience that no one else would know of like where the best roti canai is or like which place has the best view of Kuala Lumpur. I think I should also put less animations on my presentation so there is more space to put more information. There is also more information I should include like the Petronas Twin Towers even though I did put in a picture of it.

In doing this assignment, I learnt many things about Kuala Lumpur. I did not know that Kuala Lumpur had its origins in the 1850s. I was surprised to discover that Kuala Lumpur achieved city status only in 1972 , more than a hundred years after it was founded. I had learnt in my presentation that the population in Kuala Lumpur is 1.9million. I also had not known that the Titiwangsa mountains protected the eastern side of Kuala Lumpur from the monsoon rains.

Overall, I think that I didn't do very well for the presentation. I think I didn't put enough effort into my work. I just copied a lot of information straight from websites and pasted it onto the presentation. Also, I didn't make much eye contact with the audience because I didn't memorize what I wanted to say and kept looking at the presentation which was being projected on the whiteboard. I also think I didn't present in a very interesting way.

Here is a picture of my presentation:

If you want to see my presentation visit this link!

https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/edit?id=0AQyiJzjoNVqrZG1mbW14eF8yMGZmeG5kOXho&hl=en

My resolutions

It is finally a new year, 2011, and I have decided to make some resolutions and set some goals that I want to accomplish. Before this I had never made any resolutions or even knew what the word meant! I know some people say that people who make resolutions don't keep them, but this is going to be different! This is my first time and I'm not going to start off on the wrong foot.My first resolution is to work harder at my studies. I need to do this because right now my grades are quite bad. I know I can do better. I want to make my parents and teachers proud. By doing well in my studies, I will have more time to do other stuff, which brings me to my second resolution ...
My second resolution is to get really fit. I am getting flabby and I know it's bad for my health. The problem is that I love food and most of my free time is spent doing passive things like reading, watching TV or playing video games. I don't spend enough time doing healthy activities like sports. I like to play tennis and football but sometimes I find that there's no time for that since I have a lot of afternoon classes. I do play tennis once a week but I really should play more often. 
My third resolution is that I want to become more organized because I am not as you all call it, a "neat freak". Probably my messiness runs in the family. My dad is really messy! His study has piles and piles of books and newspapers and electronic equipment and other stuff. Walking into it is like going on an obstacle course. I am trying to change my destiny by being organized!
My first goal has been to learn more about Greek mythology. Ever since I started reading Percy Jackson and re-reading the Lord of the Rings, I have become fascinated with tales of men and gods. I think it is very interesting. 
My second goal is that I want to be better at football. I love watching and playing football. I support Manchester United and I love to see how well the players pass the ball and work together as a team. Right now I think I am not great at it because my fitness levels are not as good as some of my friends. I want to get chosen for the school football team and to achieve that I have to become much better. 
During the Christmas holidays last year, my family and I went to Penang for a week. We went with my my grandmother, my aunt (who came back from New York City for the holidays), my uncle and his kids. All of us stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was very exciting and fun because there was a great big swimming pool, water slides, and a kids' club where you could play video games, foosball or pool. I spent most of the day playing in the pool and on the water slides. For dinner, all of us kids had pizzas and burgers from room service. The adults preferred to go out for dinner. So it was really fun because we could do anything we wanted in the hotel suite while they were away. I think it's the best hotel in Penang. We returned to KL the day after Christmas so that part wasn't quite fun. But I guess I must have had too much fun during the holiday because I just slept all the way home. But it wasn't too bad because after the Penang holiday I had a few days to play with the Xbox 360 Kinect hands-free video game system which my sister and I got for Christmas. Here are some pictures of my holiday and the Kinect I got for Christmas:

Our Stylised X'mas tree.

My Kinect all set up and ready to go!

My" Ultimate" favourite game!!

The Hard Rock Hotel!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weee! Sliding down was awesome!!!

The Biggest smiles from my cousin Matt and my sis Allegra ; )

So I think I had a really great Christmas holiday. But now that the holidays are over, I am focused on achieving my resolutions and goals. 2011, here I come!

My zeitgeist

Here is my grade 6 Zeitgeist. Enjoy!