The Rabbit Proof Fence

In my opinion, a hero is somebody who can lead and help others when in need. Molly is a leader and a hero to her sister, Daisy, and her cousin, Gracie. The three girls were taken to Moore River where they would learn the 'proper' British manners and customs. Sick of the British, Molly decides to take Daisy and Gracie and escape from the school. A storm had broken out which gave Molly the upper hand. Covered up by the storm, the tracker had trouble tracking them. This shows that Molly is a cleaver girl who can lead and guide Gracie and Daisy to safety.

Duet Acting, Shakespeare- Act 1, Scene 2

CASSIUS
Will you go see the order of the course?

BRUTUS
Not I.

CASSIUS
I pray you, do.

BRUTUS
I am not gamesome: I do lack some part
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony.
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;
I'll leave you.

CASSIUS
Brutus, I do observe you now of late:
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love as I was wont to have:
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you.

BRUTUS
Cassius,
Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved--
Among which number, Cassius, be you one--
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.

CASSIUS
Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion;
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?

BRUTUS
No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself,
But by reflection, by some other things.

CASSIUS
'Tis just:
And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome,
Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus
And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes.

BRUTUS
Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?

Leonardo Da Vinci 'A True Renaissance Man?'

Leonardo da Vinci was a true renaissance man. He was a philosopher, mathematician, engineer, inventor, architect and a painter. He was born into the renaissance age and was a genius, not likely to be seen again. He seemed to be interested in everything which led him to discovering and creating many things. His scientific study of light and shadow allowed him to discover that objects are not simply created by lines, but also by light and shadow which helped give the three dimensional effects. His detailed anatomical study shown in the Vitruvian man has shown the symmetry and proportion of a human body which was never studied. He was the first artist to study the proportion of men. In a time when there was a limitation in scientific research, Da Vinci was not afraid to query and discover new things. He also assisted in the design of guns and armor tanks for the army. In the field of architecture, he participated in the competition for the Cupola of the Milan Cathedral (1487-90). But his design was not selected. In the field of mathematics, this can be seen in his design by introducing to the world perspective. He believes that mathematics is closely related to drawings and paintings. He also believes that: "things of the mind untested by the senses are useless." It was this curious and querying mind of his that led him to discover new things to introduce to the world. He is truly one of the greatest Renaissance men.

Brunelleschi- Risk Taker

Brunelleschi was definitely a risk taker because he challenged new ideas that had not been tested. Building a dome weighing 37,000 tons consisting of 4,000,000 bricks was not a simple feat during the renaissance. He had to convince the church and those involved that this could be done. During the 14th century as Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) was constructed, the Opera de Duomo which oversaw the construction held a competition to see who could build a dome on the cathedral. It was Brunelleschi who won the competition. He convinced the authorities by standing an egg upright breaking its bottom. It was almost an impossible mission as Brunelleschi "had to rewrite the rules of Western architecture and there was no guarantee of success." At that time, there was a shortage of timber in tuscany which could be used for building scaffolds in the cathedral, so Brunelleschi had to think of a new idea to make this possible. Ingeniously, "his plans showed an inner hemispherical dome within the cathedral's octagonal drum, a second ovoid brick was placed on top held by nine sandstone rings." To raise the bricks and sandstone beams, he invented a hoist to raise them; this was the world's first reverse gear invented. Everyday he came up with new ideas to finally complete the task proving that his theory was workable when many doubted it. Even when there are times when he could have doubted himself, he persevered by inventing new methods and coming up with unconventional ideas to overcome his obstacles. He was willing to take risk when he was unsure of the outcome. It was his risk taking spirit that the Duomo was the largest masonry dome ever built. Fillipo Brunelleschi reinvented engineering and architecture proving himself to be the greatest architect and engineer of the Renaissance.

His dome could not have been created without the help of the Medici family. Because he had the support of the Medici, the church had no choice but to support him. Because his idea wasn't fully tested, they could only hope for his creation to hold up. Each time he proved that his new method works, people began to have more faith in him. Had the church not given him a chance, new engineering methods would not have been discovered. He was the first engineer of the Renaissance.

Where Do New Ideas Come From?

There are many types of ideas such as business ideas, inovative ideas, good ideas, terrible ideas, etc. But where do all theses ideas come from? They can from the enviroment we live in, TV,advertisements, internet, people around us, dreams, etc. But where they come from is not as important as if it actually works. Steve Jobs's mackintosh and ipods are good examples of good ideas. In today's society, one of the many universal ideas is to come up with ways to save our planet. These ideas involve the three R's, reduce, reuse, and recycle. Producing energy saving cars such as electric cars, more energy efficient buildings, water recycling are all fantastic ideas of this century. There will definitely be many more innovative and green ideas to come that to meet our every needs.

My Favorite Story- What makes a good story?

What makes a good story? A good story is one that hooks the reader into wanting to read more. Building tension making the story even more exciting is the best way to keep readers wanting to read on. Many stories such as "The Sniper" are interesting to read because it talks about the history of a country and how people struggled to survive. From the "The Sniper", we are able to feel the tension that's going on not only between the two snipers, but also the political tension in the country. Furthermore, we get to see the mind of the snipers, how they feel and what are their moves to accomplish their mission. It is from this story that I can see that a sniper has two sides of him, a robotic side which feels no pain but programmed to kill his target and a human side of him that has emotions and curiosity. "The Sniper" is one of my favorite stories as it is able to draw me into its war setting and make me curious about the the IRA and the Free Staters. It is from this story that I get to understand Ireland more.

This I Believe

I believe that all races not only come in different color; but also in different shapes and sizes. Everyone thought that I was short because I am Chinese. Similarly, many people have the notion that Americans must be tall.

Back in Singapore when I was in kindergarten, I was considered as an average height student. You could probably say that I was one of the tallest in my class, but I was WAY skinnier than the other students. When I moved to Sydney, I was a dwarf in the school. I must say Australian kids are really big and tall. Even my mom was getting worried that I did not inherit the Shanghainese gene. Well, Shanghainese being closer to the north of China are supposed to be taller than southern chinese. So my parents thought I could have inherited the inferior gene.

When I moved to Kuala Lumpur and started grade 1 at ISKL, I was not that dwarf like anymore. ISKL being an international school with students from all around the world, showed me that westerners are not really as tall as I had thought them to be. I remembered my first day at ISKL, I was really excited to make new friends with different people with different nationalities. But it didn't go as I thought. Many of the kids looked down at me due to my height. In ISKL, most of the students were at least half a head taller than me. I was the same height as a prep junior! Not only was I just short, but I didn't show much talent for anything, especially when I joined the basketball team. No one would pass to me because I couldn't shoot, pass or dribble the ball. On the following year in second grade not much had changed. But at least everyone excepted me more than in first grade.

It was only in my third grade that I started to shoot up. After my summer holiday, I was actually taller than most of the students who used to be much taller than me. Not only that, when I joined the basketball team again more people started passing the ball to me. Because I kept getting the ball, I was able to see what I was really capable of. I became one of the top players in the whole of grade three. Practically everyone changed the way they thought about most Chinese people; especially about height.

I used to think that I was short because I was Chinese. At least that was what my friends made me think. But now I realized even people from Holland can be short although they are famous for being tall. Now in 7th grade, I am considered tall in school. Thus I believe that we should not stereotype someone because of their race. This I believe.