Driving Forces of the Renaissance

Rivalry between city states is what made them fight over each other so much. A way to get ahead of another city state was to make your state better than everyone else. Like in Florence Phillipo Brunelleschi was patronized to build a dome in Florence and when he succeeded they got ahead and all the other city states tried hard to become better so there city states got better as well.

This I Believe

This I Believe

I believe in good sports-man ship. I have shown this many times but I would like to focus two events. They are fairly big events. They are the school touch tournaments. There was one here in Kuala Lumpur and one in Jakarta at. And when these two events came it was time to test my sports-man ship.

During the 2010 touch tournaments I was playing against the “best” school Jakarta VS KL. We were in KL and the score was 1-3 to us. We were all playing our best and it came down to the last minute of the game to see who would win. All we needed was to defend and wait until the time was up. But it would not be that easy. Their fastest player was one on one with me and he was full pace against me. He was about to score and I dived out about to touch him and he put the ball down. It was up to me, my word against his. I thought, “He faked a touch and made us loose a try… what should I do?”… “Maybe if I let this go my team will be angry” Then something over came me. I knew that saying other wise would be like cheating and I am NOT a CHEATER. I spoke to the referee and said, “ I did not touch him- it was a try.” The referee said, “Thank you for telling the truth” and awarded the try. I felt good and we won the game anyway, winning first. I was lucky my team was not angry at all. Just happy we won.

My next trip away was to Jakarta where we played our game undefeated. It came back down to the game again the score was all 3-4 to us and this time I was against another player the winger. He got a pass and I intercepted it. I had the ball and I hade a break away. I sprinted as fast as I could down the line to get to score the try. I was 10 metres away 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and I dived to score the try because I knew I was being chased I was in the air and then bump I landed and scored…. So I thought. The winger claimed he touched my shoe even though he did not. This was so unfair. I got this feeling I wanted to complain but I didn’t for one of the most important rules of sport is not to ague with the referee. So I took in the lie and I lined back up, annoyed but I knew I had to let in go. The time came again and I followed the winger and dived to tag him and bump, but I missed…. I was shocked the reason for this was he moved last minute and I missed he scored the try. I was asked again did I tag him and I thought… should I payback the winger or should I tell the truth… because it was for the trophy and the referees had been biased… but I had that feeling. I knew my conscience would bother me if I did this. I told the truth and we got 2^nd . I was happy but my team wasn’t but since I told the truth I explained to them, and they accepted it. We don’t want to win on a lie.

We ended up winning 1^st place in the mixed pool for KL. our whole team was really happy that we got to go home with a trophy. So I believe in sportsmanship, in fairness and speaking up and telling the truth is much better than winning a false game and living with the thought of cheating in my mind and in my heart.

The End

Response to Medieval games

For the website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/launch_gms_battle_hastings.shtml
In this game you can choose to be Harold Godwinson or Duke William. And you have to attack or defend yourself against the opposition. I liked the a part in the game were you cannot win as Harold because it is true because Harold lost in real life so in the game he as to die eventually in the battle. During the game I learned about a few battle strategies and the geography of the war. In the Battle of Hastings there were three rivals the Norwegian the English and the French (Normandy) they are all fighting for the throne of England or to keep it. I think this is a good learning experience because it teaches you a bit about the Battle of Hastings and who one and lost. Also it shows about some battle strategies.

For the website: http://y8.com/games/1066
In this game you are the Normans and fighting the English and the French (Normandy) for the rights over England. I liked this game because it was really challenging and very hard. During this game I learned a bit about battle tactics and how to make an army even. During the game I learned about a few battle strategies and the geography of the war. In the Battle of Hastings there were three rivals the Norwegian the English and the French (Normandy) they are all fighting for the throne of England or to keep it. This is a good learning experience because at the beginning it has a lot of information that is useful.

Response to Boy in the Stripped Pajamas

We should care about the issues because they are still going on but not as strong as it used to be. Like in the Boy the in the Striped Pajamas Bruno does not know much as do some of us right now with racism and Genocide. Also in Rose Blanche she does not know what is going on as to some people these days. We should care about the issues raised in the book because they happened in the past yeah but they are still important to learn about so we know what to do in the future if it ever happens again. Also we should care about this so that we can teach other people younger and older than us about this if they are interested. I think you should keep on studying this book in Grade 7 for further years because it is a really important matters and maybe stop people having a laugh over it. Also it is a very interesting matter, which I think people will find very fascinating.

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry is a photographer that is famous for his picture of the Afghan. Girl. He first worked for a newspaper but then became a photographer in India. And that’s when he launched from being interested in the world and freelanced around taking pictures of interesting subjects. The themes of his photos are mostly war and the other side of the world you don’t see every day like poverty. “In India in particular, where millions have no home but the streets, virtually every life event is carried out in public: prayer, eating, sleeping, nursing, crude dentistry, even bodily functions. In the secular West, where nothing is sacred, everything seems hidden; yet in Asia, where nothing is hidden, everything is sacred.”

The first picture is about the killing fields in Cambodia. It is in the group called Dith Pran – Out of the Killing Fields. This photo stands out to me because of how hard and scary it must have been to be living while innocent people were being killed in the killing field. In this picture the part that’s stands out most to me is the man turned away from the skulls looking sad and all the bones behind him and how many people that must have been and how many families were in pain during this terror. I think Steve McCurry was trying to emphasize how cruel the world can really be and what strong leaders can do to the world. Also he is also showing us that the world is not all nice and easy but dangerous and hard and you have to work to get something out of it. The connection between me and the photo is that when I was in Cambodia I was sight seeing around the Ankor Wat area and the guide asked us if we wanted to go to the killing fields but my parents said “no” because they thought it would make my sister and I really upset. So in the end my parents just told me as much info about it as they new.

This is my second picture. It is a picture of fishermen in Sri Lanka and it is in the group of photos called The Way it Was. This photo really wrabs my eye båcause of how physically demanding it must be to be able to fish in this sort of way and how old this way of0fmshing i| is but how much it really works. Álso what I like is even in vhå whether wiôh a storm0brewing (I think) how coímittud tèey are to ôheir jobn Steve McCurry is probaâly try to show uó that life is jard and even some of the hardest jobs in the world get paid the smallest wages. Also that you have to live with what you got. My connection with this picture is that I love fishing and I do it for fun but these people go out and fish off a top of a pole while I’m out in a boat with my uncle and really expensive fishing equipment and they are using sticks with a rope on the end. And then I realize that I am really lucky that I am not fishing to feed my family. So I really am thankful for all the things I am given in life.

All of Steve McCurry’s work deals with war or the other side of the world you don’t see every day. I have learned that some times the shot is better if it is rare rather than an every day idea. Photography brings change when we see a photo that is different and we see another part of the world different. A great photo is made by a interesting main focus that really is eye grabbing and the background that is interesting. Too make a photo last it needs to be something that not many people know about or see something interesting. To read a photo you look at the main focus then around it and try and see what it is saying or showing. Also you can try and think of other related factors to any other artwork you have seen. Steve McCurry’s work shows a journey of the world and of the change he saw in himself while around the world taken pictures. For those who were desperate, my camera became an object of hope (...)Throughout my year-long coverage of the monsoon world, my strongest conviction was that I was involved in the fundamentals of life.

The Lottery Response

1. If I was to name this story I would name it The Lottery because in this story is mainly about a lottery in a small town and old tradition.

2. I thought that there would be a lottery and that someone would be either stoned to death or just be stoned.

3. At the end I felt very anxious to find out what happened at the end and a huge void because we would not now what happened for the rest of the day.

4. I was confused when handed the paper but then someone in our group look in and told us what it was so that spoiled the void. But I did open it at 5:00pm though.

5. I felt like I really wanted to know what was the box what’s in the box and what does the black spot mean.

6. The whole story I was under suspense in wanting to know what will happen with the rocks and the lottery and when I read the end I fell into release and I was happy. I felt this way because I was really curious in what was going to happen and then the cut of and the end and waiting made me feel like there was a huge void.

7. Yes my predictions were correct and when I found out that I felt happy because I got it right.

8. To make a better prediction I think more info would help.

9. The author leaves voids in the story to make it more interesting.

10.

A: With no title your have no background information so your building suspense from the beginning.

B: With no ending you have so much suspense you really want to find out the ending.

C: With the clues you learn a bit more and a slight release of the tension.

D: The mystery paper and the delayed ending did not work on me because someone in our group looked inside and told us what was in it.

E: With a delayed ending I was in a lot of suspense and waiting for 5:00 pm

F: Nope

Band HW (Void)

The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides and exceptional  education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become (silence) a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

I think putting the word in that spot would create tension. I think this because it is far into the mission statement so your not thinking there would be a silence in the reading. Also it builds up a question and answer because you are wondering what the student is about to become and then is answers to the question. The silence also makes tension because you really want to know what it is and then there is a release when you find out the end of the sentence. 

Composers can create tension and release in their music by adding a sudden stop so people want to know what is happening next. Also you can make tension and release by slowing louder so people are waiting for the climax and then it comes and there is a release.