English Blog

Alexandra Espina, Sajid Cadavero & Kimberly Tiogangco of 12A 

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The Silence of Snow by: Orhan Pamuk

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The Valley of Amazement  by: Amy Tan (USA)

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The moment, THAT moment where you are distracted by something, a phenomenon at the least that is something you can't explain at first. The moment when falling in love is avoidable and happens on the spot.

This certain excerpt of the story "Silk" by Alessandro Baricco talks about how Herve Joncour looks at the girl sleeping on the lap of Hara Kei’s lap. On why the girl is there just sleeping. But when she finally wakes up from her sleep, she stared at the Herve Joncour as they were having a conversation. Suddenly out of nowhere, the room became silent as she stuck one hand outside of her silk robe and took the cup where Herve Joncour was drinking, raised it and took drank from the exact point where he was drinking.

She slowly returned the cup to where she picked it and rested her head to Hara Kei’s lap again but now eyes opened to those of Herve.

With that said, what the girl did showed what she wants to say. She need not words to express her feelings and went with what was comfortable to her. Struck by moment, Herve Joncour communicated with the girl with unspoken words. Experiencing of what might be Love or Lust of possible attractions with someone on different places.

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Malinche

The Colonizer's Tongue

Malinche  ( The Tongue) or Malinalli, was the translator of Hernan Cortes. Called the tongue because of her linguistic skills, thought special, she is alien to it. Because of it she became open to everything there is like myths, ideas, religions and treasures. Even became a service of the gods to share the wisdom and words through the universe the very meaning of existence. But she dislikes that idea and she thinks that she is not up to the task because often when she speaks or translating, she fears herself to be guided by her own feelings, being the voice of her own idea and not of others. Of having that kind of power and of taking that power to others.

-"Whoever controls information, whoever controls meaning, acquires power" 

This is what she meant about anything and everything she know, driven by feelings she may very well be able to share info that shouldn’t be in the minds of others, she may even do so herself.

-”She discovered that when translating, she controls the situation and controls the words that could be weapons. The finest of weapons.

This just shows how dangerous is to have too much information plus the lack of ability to even keep it even in hard times. She can share truth and lies, hide or reveal secrets, heck she can even save lives or bring them to their doom.

Thus as the saying goes

“The tongue is the most remarkable. For we use it both to taste out sweet wine and bitter poison, thus also do we utter words both sweet and sour with the same tongue.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Excerpt Chapter 29,4

Christopher, pointing out how he see others when doing such impressions and body language that he thought is weird. Reading someone quickly shows how impressive we can be. A feat that we all have when we see or talk to someone.

From our facial expressions to our body movements, the things we don't say can still convey volumes of information. Smiling can show happiness and approval. Frowning can show sadness or disapproval. Our expressions may reveal our true feelings when you say things like saying you are feeling fine but with your looks, it just shows otherwise.

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“The amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”  by: Micheal Chabon

In the story of "The amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" it is about martial law. People are oppressed, they tend to be sullen, until they finally rebel. That’s why each of us should have freedom to do whatever we want to do. Live a life the way you want to not live a life you are being told to. We only live once as the saying goes.

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“A Low Art” by: Margaret Atwood 

In the story of A Low Art it is all about backstabbing. People will say nice things about you in whenever you're there, but only to turn around and tell others what a good for nothing, hopeless waste of space you are.There is no friendship without self-interests. They feel insecure, emotionally vulnerable, and angry with themselves and the world, so make up stories about others or exaggerate minor mistakes and weaknesses of people.

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“The Good Body”  by: Eve Ensler

In the story in titled "The Good body" is all about insecurity. Insecurity is a natural part of the human experience. No matter who you are, you can expect to deal with insecurity of some kind on a daily basis. It may be something small or something huge. We learned that when you find something negative about someone else to say, stop and understand that the only reason you are jealous is because you are uncomfortable and unhappy with yourself. Take a mirror and stare at your-self acknowledge all the flaws. You have to accept that they are a part of you, whether it’s bad or good something that makes you different and quirky. Admit your mistakes because if not projecting your own mistakes one someone else just makes you insecure and more likely to fall into the cycle of self-hate. People with more insecurity tend to have poorer self-esteem. “It's important to remember that no one is perfect we all come with some baggage. But it isn’t necessary to be perfect in order to be in a happy, healthy, and secure relationship. When you take your attention off of what other people think and keep the focus on yourself, you can’t help become a better, more secure version of yourself.” As someone said. :)