How do chapters 16 ~ 18 relate to the theme of freedom and choice?

I definitely think that chapters 16 ~ 18 relate to the theme of freedom and choice. I’ll explain why I think it relates to choice and then I’ll explain how I think it relates to freedom.

First, I think the chapters were related to choice because Jonas ended up having to make a couple of really hard decisions. He was so upset with his town after experiencing how the world used to be so wonderful. The world used to have color, feelings, and freedom. Jonas was then presented with the choice to escape from his society and try to find Elsewhere or he could stay and try to cope with his world. That was a choice for him to make and it seems like he would obviously choose to leave but it wasn’t so easy. Getting to Elsewhere was a very difficult challenge and when he left, he knew he would be on his own with nobody to take care of him through the journey. He would also really miss his parents, Lily, Asher, Fiona, and especially the Giver. But staying in his town wasn’t so easy either. He would have to suffer the pain of having the emptiness from no feeling, color, and music. Jonas has already been sad with living in a world where hardly anybody would really know how he felt because only one person would be there for him. Jonas had to make an amazingly huge and difficult choice but he chose to leave. Right when everything was in place, another choice came his way. Jonas’ father had mentioned that they were going to release Gabriel and Jonas had just found out what release really meant. He had to decide if he would take Gabriel on the journey with him or not. Once again that was not an easy decision. The little baby could suffer through more pain by going through such a challenging journey than if he were just released. But of Jonas was strong enough to keep Gabriel alive, they would both be happy Elsewhere. It was really a matter of life or death for Gabriel and Jonas decided to take the chance and bring Gabriel along with him. That’s how choice was related and what the choices were.

I think the chapters relate to the topic of freedom because of the way Jonas became free at the end of the book and he had the freedom to make decisions. In his town there was no freedom to make choices and I believe that being able to make choices is a type of freedom. As I mention already, Jonas had a couple of difficult choices to make. That means that there was already some freedom for him. When Jonas decided to escape from his society and leave to find Elsewhere with Gabriel, he was practically choosing to be free. He knew that there would be colors, music, and a different world outside from his. In that world there would be freedom and he would be so captivated like he was in sameness. Jonas’ society had no freedom and all you really had to do was follow orders. When Jonas escaped and finally made it to Elsewhere at the very end of the book, he was free! Free from all the ridiculous rules, free from choices being made from him, free from the hunger for life. He had what he had always wanted. A town full of love, music, color, and other people that could feel things like he could. He was absolutely in every way free!

In conclusion, chapters 16 ~ 18 was related to freedom and choice because Jonas ended up having to make a couple of really hard decisions. Also because of the way Jonas became free at the end of the book and he had the freedom to make decisions

Why does Jonas find the instruction about lying so disturbing?

I think Jonas found the instruction about lying so disturbing for a couple of reasons. The first one is because since he’s in such a perfect society, lying would probably be against the rules and he also had never experienced it before. The second reason is because he probably thought that lying is a very horrible thing. Maybe even as bad as what we think about a crime. For example Jonas said "Finally he steeled himself to read the final rule again. He had been trained since earliest childhood, since his earliest learning of language, never to lie." (Page 70).

For the first reason, I said that since Jonas lives in such a perfect society, lying would probably be against the rules. I also mentioned that he had never experienced it before. What Jonas did not understand was that there is such thing as a white lie, which is lying for a good cause. All he knew was that lying is not right and he shouldn’t do it. That’s the way he was raised. I think he felt that lying is a form of rudeness, disrespect and also breaking rules. When he read the list of instructions, it said he was allowed to lie, but in such a perfect community, I think he thought there was no reason to lie about anything. His community had probably thought the same thing and made it a rule not to lie. It must have disturbed Jonas to think about himself lying to other people and then it probably would have made him feel guilty inside. Jonas isn’t like the others, but I think he still felt the same way as them about breaking rules.

For the second reason, I said Jonas most likely thought that lying was such a horrible thing. Maybe even like the same way we feel about a crime. I wanted to connect our society to Jonas’ by looking at the rules. Like in our community we have laws and if you break one, there are consequences and it’s probably the same for Jonas’ community with their rules. I think Jonas might have been scared to lie even though he was excused from that law. For example, if someone told you that you could commit a crime and would not have to go to jail; wouldn’t you still decide not to do the crime? For us it might not be so horrible to lie at times, but for them it’s against their law. You’re not allowed to do it! I think that’s why it really disturbs Jonas so much.

As a conclusion, I think Jonas was disturbed by being allowed to lie because it was against his rules. He was raised to believe that it was a really bad thing to do, and because there was never any point to lie about anything, he had never thought or dealt with lying before!

The Giver: Would you like your future to be decided by others? Why or why not?

I have chosen this question because I thought it was a pretty tough one after you think about for a while. At first everyone thinks no because you want to have a choice of what you want to do. But sometimes it might be good to not have to make such big decisions. Maybe you do know what you want, so then it's great to be able to choose. But if you don't, it's much easier to have someone to make the decision for you.

I finally decided that I don't want choices to be made for me by someone else. I want some kind of freedom in life, not too much freedom but at least enough to make certain decisions. I realized that instead of having someone else make the enitre choice for me, I think I'd rather have someone helping me to choose. Like my mom or my dad could help me to figure out the choices, but then I could still decide by myself what I think is right for me. You would still have someone there you can depend on to help, but you can still make your own choices. For example in The Giver, Jonas is starting to wonder about all the decisions the Elders make and starts to question things about his "perfect" town. He can't make any choices for himself. Nothing at all! Jonas is starting to worry about the job he is going to be assigned to. He's afraid that he will be disappointed with his job. I think he started to question why he's not allowed to choose his own job.

I'm a logic type of person, so I like things to be given to me in a certain order and I want to know how to do things, but sometimes I also want to mix it up and not have things in order and just play with stuff. I sometimes feel that way about choices too. Sometimes I want to be able to just do things that someone else I trust thinks is right for me, but sometimes I feel like I want to do what I like, not what you want me to do. As I said, if I had to choose one, I would rather make my own decisions. I think Jonas feels the same. I think he may be happy that others can choose what job he has to do because he said he doesn't really know what he wants to do. But I also think he kind of wants to choose his job too because he's scared that he won't like the job that's selected for him. In general, I am convinced that he wants to make his own choices. Just like me!

As a conclusion, I would like to make my own decisions, but with help from others. If that is a choice. Otherwise I would choose to make my own decisions in general. In my opinion, I think Jonas might feel the same way. How do you feel about this question?

Sol and Natalie Ancient Egypt

Egyptian Pharaoh Assignment

I think maybe ancient Egyptian Pharaohs created monuments to leave a piece of them behind. Maybe they wanted to be remembered even after their time had passed. So building something special to them or a dedication, could remain there forever and people would rediscover it over and over again. Pharaohs might also have created monuments to show they're appreciation for one. For example, I know that Cleopatra built a monument called Caesareum in honor of Julius Caesar and I'm guessing she did that because she loved him.

One of the monuments in today's society would be the Statue of Liberty in New York. The monument was built as a gift by France to the United States. The statue in general represents freedom. It's like Cleopatra giving Julius Caesar the monument of the Caesareum and the the French gave the United States a monument called the Statue of Liberty. Cleopatra's gift probably means love, while the French people's gift if an offering showing freedom.

Another monument that's famous is the Petronas Twin Towers. It's located right here in Malaysia and is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur. It used to be the tallest building in the world until Tapei 101 built. The two Argentine men who designed the Twin Towers were Cesar Pelli and Djay Cerico. My guess was that these two men tried to make the towers the tallest in the world, but in Ancient Egypt, I don't think that was the goal of monuments!

Using Google Docs as the main portal for collaboration really helped, because you and your partner would be able to work on the same page at the same time and could see what the other was doing and they could chat with each other through the doc to give suggestions and things like that. It was an easy and great way for you to collaborate with your partner!

From this assignment, I learned a lot more about my Pharaoh, which was Cleopatra. Before this project I only knew the basics about her, like she killed herself with an asp. But after this project I learned so much more about her and how she really helped her country. I also learned a little about her love life and why she killed herself with an asp. It was a really interesting topic and I enjoyed it a lot.


Something challenging about this project was getting everything done in time and with good quality work. We had to get information, the right graphics, and make a pretty good and short iMovie. It was a challenge to do all that but hopefully Sol (my partner) and I got everything covered!

The school wide learning result that I think was evident in this project was probably "Collaborate Constructively", "Communicate Effectively", and "Learn Enthusiastically" because that's exactly what we did in this project!

In general I had a really fun time doing this project. I enjoyed making the iMovie most of all and also working with a partner was great!

https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/Doc?id=dcqdbmww_32cmfm47hh

Sources for Pictures:
latestworldbreakingnews.com
scrapetv.com

My City Connections Reflection

In class we had to present our City Connections Powerpoints. I chose Kuala Lumpur as the city that I call home since I've lived here for 11 years.

Something I think I did well on my project was the information I included. I put in all the facts needed on each topic. Mrs. Narsiman gave us an outline of what kind of information should be on the powerpoint and I think I did a pretty good job on gathering the facts. We had to write about the Enviormental factors, the History, Statistical information and other extra things. For my prospective, I covered all topics and information.

Something I would like to improve on for future presentations and projects would be to be able to be confident. Whenever I get up in front of a class, I start to freak out and get nervous, so I start to fidget and move. Sometimes I memorize what I need to say but look at the board anyways because I don't want to make eye contact with anybody. So in the future I would like to be able to get up in front of people and be confident that I can present information. I know I need to work on presenting because when I spoke to the class about my city, I mover my feet a lot and played with my pockets. I also looked at the board quite a few times. But my goal for next time is to not do any of that!

I learned from my presentation and other's that if you're confident, then everyone else will think you're confident and everything will work out fine. For example, I saw other people so comfortable while they presented and I thought about why I was worried. Silly me to be worried about something so small. I also learned new things about different countries. I never knew so many things that my friends told me. It's really interesting to listen about different countries and their history and cultures.

I think I did well on my performance. I had the facts and presented all of them. I could have done much worse, but I could have also done much better. I could improve my project in many ways. Hope fully I can take my mistake and use them to help me in my next million projects. I can only improve because I have to present for the rest of my life no matter what. It just won't stop!

If you want to take a quick look at my project click here -https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/edit?id=0Ab4PS4n7aSqTZGNxZGJtd3dfMjBmN3NudGNmNA&hl=en

☺ My New Years Resolutions ☺

What is my first New Years Resolution?
     I have never really made a New Years resolution before and I was sure what it should be. I thought about the resolutions that most people in the world make. Then I tried to see which one might really help me this year. After a while, I thought maybe to get myself organized would be a pretty good start. I do need to get organized and stay organized . . .


     I can actually be quite organized at times, but when I try to get organized, sometimes I can't keep it up. For example, my locker. At the beginning of the day my locker is neat and organized because it's a good way to get through middle school. But by the time school is almost over, my locker is a complete mess! While the day goes on, I get tired of putting things in order after every class. So I want to be able to have my locker in order.


     Another reason why I want to be organized is because I can never find anything anymore! I loose all my personal belongings inside my own house. When I use something, that will probably be the last time I see it before the object disappears to someplace. I really want to be able to put my things in an orderly ways, so that I could find them again! And I also hope I can find the items I "lost".


2nd resolution?
     My second resolution for 2011 would be to get more fit. I honestly don't think I am fat, but I don't think I am fit as in healthy. This is because I don't exercise much when I really enjoy watching TV. And I also don't eat healthy food. I want to be able to stay skinny and be healthy with food habits. I always eat junk food, which will never benefit me in the future.

     Getting fit is actually one of the most made New Years Resolutions along with getting organized. I obviously agree with the top resolutions because mine are within that catagory. What are your new years resolutions?

Where did I go for Christmas Vacation?

     For my vacation I went to Germany to visit my dad's side of the family. My dad left before us, so my mom and I traveled without him.When we finally reached Hamburg after several hours in the plane, There was snow everywhere! I was so excited to play in the snow, but wasn't looking forward to the freezing temperature. But you can't have everything.

     We all had a white Christmas, including my uncle and aunt's new puppy! The family had a deliciouse dinner and exchanged great presents. Everyone was there! My mom, dad, uncle, aunt, grandmother, cousins, and me (I guess the puppy kind of counts). Everyone enjoyed the night and gifts!

     At New Years we bought fireworks and shot them into the sky along with all the other neighbors. And yes it's legal there! It was loud, but so much fun. Everybody had a great New Years and once again everyone was there, at least most of the time. If I were to describe my holiday in Germany with one word I would say "Perfect"!

☺~ Natalie



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