Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi Book Review Essay Example for Free

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi Book Review Essay Sook Nyul Choi has written a heart-breaking book about love, brutal, loss, and the agonized life of a little girl, named Sookan, and her family. She has titled it Year of Impossible Goodbyes. The story has a lot of sacrifices and decisions that were hard to make, like this one, â€Å"Please, I beg of you, let’s not waste time talking about my [Aunt Tiger] coming along anymore† (Choi 125). It is a true story based on her experience under the dictatorship of the Japanese Imperial Government during World War II. After the war ended and the Japanese lost, Russia sent troops into Northern Korea to accept the surrender of the Japanese. As the Russian Communists occupy North Korea and threaten Korean civilians, Sookan, the narrator, faces the Japanese, the Russians, and her fight into South Korea. After I read this marvelous novel it reminded me of my family; I assure you it is one of my favorite books, and while I read this book, I learned that I could have different emotions! The novel reminded me of my family because they are always with me while Sookan’s parents, from time to time, were apart from her. Her Grandfather had always reminded them â€Å"Harmony will prevail, after darkness there will be light, yet we cannot have the light without the dark. Better days are bound to come now† as Cabuco 2 some of the family members were away (Choi 46). When I used to be alone at home with my grandfather, he used to tell me something similar to this about always sticking together, but when alone do not lose hope. Inchun reminds me of myself when I was small, because I used to follow my brothers everywhere, and I used to annoy them by whining and crying. This novel became one of my favorite novels because it taught me about pain, sacrifices, and loss. I could feel the pain Sookan went through as I read â€Å"I eard the dogs drawing closer and I thrust my body under the wire. The barbs dug into me. My hair was caught, my clothes ripped, and I could feel the blood pooling in the cuts on my back† (Choi 164). Therefore, they had a lot of sacrifices of leaving their homeland, friends, and the precious things of grandfather. They even lost Kisa, Aunt Tiger, the sock girls, and Unhi. As Sookan says herself â€Å"I wouldnt have lost so much if it werent for the Japanese† (F. , Anna). This statement is actually true because without the sacrifices and losses, they would not have made it for freedom. I also like this book because I think not many books are written about wars whose author has experienced it, but this book was. As I read this novel, I learned that I could have different emotions. At first, I thought it was boring since it had a lot of details and the first chapter was long, but as this story gets to its plot, I got interested as Sookan’s feelings are being expressed. â€Å"Can you blame them? How are they to know there’s anything better? Your Americans aren’t here. I [Aunt Tiger] heard they’re in Japan helping the Japanese! They’re nearby now, but they just don’t care about us,† I felt helpless, annoyed, and disappointed about the situation for being abandoned as I read this quote (Choi 106). I was getting irritated by how brutal the Japanese and Cabuco 3 Russians were treating the Koreans. I felt really annoyed by Inchun’s whining, crying, and complaining. As Sookan and Inchun arrived at their home in South Korea, I felt really lugubrious that they did not find their mother there, as they hoped they would. I felt really happy that they finally reached the South. I also like how the author’s choice of words, as they can really give the reader, like myself, vivid imageries and different emotions. I have no words to explain what I think about this novel, but I can assure that it has become one of my favorite books. As I was reading this novel till the very end, I found myself with different emotions. It reminded me of my parents and I felt so blessed that they were always with me. It is really easy to have a favorite book, but it is hard to know what it has really taught me. This book has really inspired me, that is why it has become one of my favorite books. The author has great choice of words that filled me with different emotions. Above all, I would rate it nine point five out of ten, because ten is reserved for the best book and I was quite bored to it until the novel got to its plot. I really like the part about understanding the life at war from someone, like the author, who has experienced it. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially to the little ones as they know very little about life at war. After reading this novel, the reader will feel really inspired by this wonderful novel from the author who has experienced it all.

Pigments Essay examples -- History, Prehistoric Painters

Pigments From prehistoric times, humans had discovered that pigments could be used to colour a surface and they have left their mark on their environment in the form of painted images [7]. Prehistoric painters used the pigments available in the vicinity of their homes. These pigments were the so-called earth pigments, soot from burning animal fat and charcoal from the fire. The colours available were yellow ochre, red ochre, and black [7], but with time, more colours were being discovered. In general, pigments are coloured material which is insoluble in a medium where they are incorporated [8]. Pigments will tend to absorb certain wavelength of light and reflect the others [9]. Wavelength reflected will represent the colour of the pigment. Dyes are coloured material which will dissolve in the medium and lose their crystal or particulate structure during the process [9]. Pigments can be classified into synthetic pigments and natural pigments [8]. The examples of natural pigments founded in animals and vegetables are carotenoids, chlorophyll, melanins, flavins, quinones, and anthocyanins [5, 6, 10]. In the industry, pigments are widely used as colouring agents in dyeing of cottons, silks and wool sample [11]. 2.1.1 Synthetic Pigments The first chemically synthesised pigments were made in Germany in 1704 by Diesbach who manufactured red lake pigments using potash and alkali as substrate [7]. Synthetic pigments can be divided into inorganic and organic pigments. Synthetic inorganic pigments usually composed by metal oxide or compound which from by the host of metal oxides. Moreover, the inorganic pigments possess thermal and chemical stabilities at high temperature. Most of the inorganic pigments are derived from toxic meta... ...-degradable. The increase of the packaging wastes caused serious global environmental problem [36]. Therefore, the development of biodegradable packaging materials from renewable natural resources has received widespread government support in EU countries and many national or international organisations [35]. The term ‘‘biodegradable’’ materials is used to describe those materials which can be degraded by the enzymatic action of living organisms, such as bacteria, yeasts, fungi and the ultimate end-products of the degradation process [37]. Biodegradable packaging materials may be broadly classified into biodegradable polymers and biopolymers based on whether the dominating ingredient is synthetic oil-based polymer or a biologically derived polymer. Biopolymers are naturally occurring long-chain molecules such as cellulose, polysaccharides, proteins and DNA [35].

My Heroes Essay

â€Å"My Heroes† was written by Elizabeth Berg, who has published many popular books since 1993. In the article, Berg told us that real heroes were ordinary people around us. Because Berg’s daughter chose her friend as a hero who saved her from drowning in a creek, Berg realized a hero wouldn’t have to be a famous person. When Mrs. Zinz, an eighth-grade English teacher, was harassed by Berg and her friend, she wasn’t angry. Mrs. Zinz didn’t lower herself and become mean. Another hero in Berg’s mind was her grandfather who was kind, warm and friendly. He liked to make his grandchild laugh. Sylvia, Berg’s mother-in-law, could enjoy her retirement life but instead, she went back to school to get a college diploma. Berg admired her because of her love of learning. Moreover, there were the people that Berg admired because of their jobs, such as mail carriers, nurses, stay-at-home mothers, and working mothers. Many people are around us every day, but you may not realize that they are heroes. However, Berg believes that if you look at them in a different way, you would know that they are heroes. After I read Berg’s essay, I think she was right. Heroes are not only the greatest people in history but also the ordinary people in our lives. They teach us small lessons and touch us in a quiet way. My heroes are people who inspire confidence in me since I was a child, who are brave enough to fight for things which are unfair and unconscionable, and who help and protect the weak groups in our community. My mother is one of my heroes, who always tells me I must be a self-confident person. Worrying about unknown things, fearing failures, and having a negative attitude were part of my character when I was a child. One day, my mother took me to the ice-skating center. She wanted me to build up my confidence during the process of learning ice-skating. When we were ready to skate, she said, â€Å"I won’t hold your hand. You should learn it by yourself. † At that moment, I thought my mother was a devil. I buttressed the handrail and moved slowly. I looked like a baby who was learning to walk. After I got used to it, I took off my hand from the handrail. Within a minute, I slid on the ice, lost my balance, and fell down. I asked for help by informing my mother with eye contact. â€Å"Get up! I know you can do it,† she encouraged me with supportive words. Finally, I got up but fell down again a few minutes later. I cried and yelled madly, â€Å"I don’t want to skate anymore. It’s so painful. I want to leave! † â€Å"Don’t give up, my sweetheart. Take out your confidence. After you learn it by yourself, you will realize all the pain that you overcome is worth it. † My mother said it tenderly. I saw a devil that became an angel. These words have been engraved in my heart deeply. I should not have doubted and looked down on my ability. After countless failures, I could fly on the ice. The happiness of success was the best feeling that I have ever had. My mother let me understand learning from failure was a way to build up confidence. My aunt, Jodie Li, who is a normal housewife in China, is also a hero of mine. I admire her because she is brave enough to fight for any unfair and unconscionable acts. When Jodie was on the bus, she saw a man who was taking advantage of a teenage girl who was too afraid to yell. Jodie stopped and grabbed the pervert, pulled the girls to hide behind her, and called the police. She did not think too much. At that time, she just wanted the pervert to get caught. If I were her, I wouldn’t have had enough courage to rescue the girl. In addition, Jodie fought with a company because they charged her extra money on her bill. The company didn’t notify Jodie that they had charged her many unknown fees. Jodie was furious. She kept investigating the reason. Finally, the company made a compromise and apologized to her. Besides that, Jodie found out that someone cheated while she was taking the paper driving test. She thought it was really unfair because she studied hard on the test. She told the examiner immediately. Sometimes, we would overlook something since it’s not related to us. However, Jodie couldn’t pretend that didn’t happen. Her attitude affected me. I cannot stay quiet when some unfair and unconscionable things happen to me. I have to fight for myself. Beyond that, there are people who are my heroes because they help and protect the weak groups in our community. Social workers work with people who are homeless, sick or have family problems and try their best to help people overcome problems and make people lives better. Police officers who have responsibility of protecting the residents risk their lives to arrest criminals. Ambulance staff who stand-by, rushes to the scene of the ccident, and rescues many people. Volunteers with animals who defend the animals selflessly look after the stray dogs or cats as pets. Heroes are everywhere. It depends on how you look at them. Have you ever thought about who were your heroes around you? Berg figured out her heroes, and so did I. My heroes are people who give confidence to me since I was a child, who are courageous enough to fight against unfair and unconscionable actions, and who help and shield the weak groups in our community. These people inspired me in a different way, in a different city, and in a different moment.

Assessing and Evaluating the Special Education Student Essay

Assessing and Evaluating the Special Education Student Assessing and evaluating students, as a teacher, carries many burdens in how one will do this fairly and honestly. The ability to assess and evaluate the special education students will be a very difficult thing to do, as each of these students has unique circumstances into how the student will be evaluated. I can foresee that grading is going to offer a difficult test in the classroom. I believe that the heaviest burden is going to be in creating fair, but challenging ways to assess the students. These burdens are going to be a heavy load to concentrate upon, but with the quality education that I am receiving and will receive I hope that I will be able to meet these challenges.†¦show more content†¦The ability to grade students is a power that can not be taken lightly. I believe that a teacher should not give a grade for participation or attendance. I believe this because a student should have to earn what grade the student is going to receive. This also allows each student to know where they stand in a class with out having to figure if their participation or attendance is going to help or possible hurt them. In some of my observations, I have seen grades that are given for participation by the teacher has the students answer questions at the end of each section. The students were allowed to help each other and quite often the teacher would help answer the questions. The teacher would only give either a 100 percent or 0 percent, but the overall percentage of this participation was only 5 percent of their finale grade. I really liked this idea and do not feel that it is giving an easy grade because the students had to look the answers up and then write the answers out and as the students did this they were learning the material. The enormous responsibility in creating test to evaluate what the students has learned ways heavily on my mind. I do not want to be a teacher that we have all had who tries to trick the students on the test with odd answers, but then I do not want to create questions that are to easy and do not evaluate what the students have learned. In observations that IShow MoreRelatedThe Academic Success Of Jacob Essay1613 Words   |  7 PagesJacob is struggling on multiple levels, being an ESL student with ADHD who missed some key foundational skills by not attending 1st or 2nd grade. In order to aid his literary endeavors, a teacher will have to develop an individualized plan to meet his needs and overcome his challenges. 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