Greek and Latin Roots

By knowing and understanding Greek and Latin Roots, we can improve our vocabularies. This is because through the various activities we've done previously, I found out that many English words start with prefixes like Bio, Gen, Mater, which are all Greek and Latin Roots. If we know what they mean, we can expand our word bank by adding them to the appropriate words, e.g. BIOlogy, MATERnity, GENeration, etc. Therefore, our vocabularies will improve significantly.

Percy Jackson; The Sea of Monsters Book Review (Ch. 1 - 2)

Today our group did a review on the first two chapters of the book, “Percy Jackson; The Sea of Monsters” by Rick Riordan. The story starts off with Percy having a nightmare about Grover, his best friend, being chased by a horrific monster around Florida (though why he knew that, he didn’t know). Grover was muttering, “Have to get away. Have to warn them!” as he ran around the city for his life. He hid in a bridal boutique and the monster fortunately passed by the shop. Just when he thought it was gone, lightning suddenly flashed, the entire front of the store exploded and a monstrous voice bellowed, “MIIIIINE!” Percy woke up with a start and realised it was all a dream. He noticed a shadow flickr across his bedroom window, but he thought it was his imagination as his mother called him for breakfast. It was his last day of the school year and it was the first time he had survived almost a year without getting expelled. He was supposed to go to Camp Half-Blood, his favourite place in the world, but his mother had bad news for him. Chiron contacted her saying that he thinks Percy shouldn’t go back to camp just yet. Something bad was going on, but she refused to tell him about it. He left the house reluctantly for school when he saw a human silhouette against the brick wall of a building across the street that belonged to no one. It rippled and vanished as soon as it appeared. He had a bad feeling about this.

Percy’s day started off normal. His school, Meriwether College Prep, was a “progressive” school, which meant the students sat on beanbags instead of chairs, they didn’t get grades, the teachers wore jeans and rock concert t-shirts to work... basically a school for troubled kids, more or less. He had made a friend called Tyson - he was massive and built like an Abominable Snowman, but he cried a lot and was scared of just about everything (including his own reflection). He was abandoned by his parents at a young age and currently lives in a refrigerator box in an alley. He was adopted by the school as part of a community service project so the students would feel good about themselves, but they couldn’t tolerate him. When they found out that he was just a big softie, they started bullying him to feel good instead. His only friend was Percy, which meant Percy’s only friend was Tyson as well. They were just having their end-of-term examinations that day - for English, the students had read a book called “Lord of the Flies” where all the kids get stranded on an island and get crazy, so the teachers sent them into the break yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen. The class bully, Matt Sloan, was organising massive wedgie contests, pebble fights, and a full-tackle basketball game. When Sloan was just about to give Tyson a massive wedgie, he swatted him away out of panic and flew fifteen feet away. When he finally got up, he and his goons started calling Tyson a freak, warning him and Percy that they will be dead during PE lesson later on. Percy noticed that there were more people hanging around Sloan that day, and most of them whom he did not recognise.

After reassuring Tyson that he wasn’t a freak and stopping him from crying, they went to their next class, Science, to take an exam where they had to mix chemicals until something exploded. They aced it thanks to Tyson’s carelessness (he knocked a tray over with various chemicals on top, causing a big explosion) and soon it was PE time. They had a game of dodgeball with Sloan in charge (the teacher was reading a magazine and gave him permission out of a whim) and the teams were separated - all the class bullies and popular kids were on Sloan’s side, whereas the bullied victims and nerds were on Percy’s. When the match started, the gangsters started running for the balls in the middle of the court while most of the Percy’s team cowered in fear and tried not to look like targets. Just as he was trying to encourage his teammates, something suddenly stroke him in the stomach real hard. It was a ball thrown by the goons around Sloan whom he hadn’t seen before and unbelievably, they were growing bigger every second. They were saying his full name, Perseus Jackson, and something about how everyone in the Gym was going to be their meal soon. Monsters. They are apparently Giants called “Laistrygonians” and are cannibals (no surprise). Upon summoning several cannon balls perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes, they started throwing them at Percy and Tyson. Percy was able to dodge some of them, but there were just too much at once. Just when he thought he was a goner, Tyson surged forward suddenly and stopped two of them with his bare hands, sending them hurtling back toward their throwers, pulverizing them. The remaining Giants were furious. That didn’t stop Tyson, however, and he proceeded to pulverizing them either by using the cannonballs or his bare fists. Unfortunately, the leader of the monsters had his plan. Just when Tyson turned around to face him after defeating the last Giant, he smashed the cannonball right at him, sending him crashing into the wall, creating a hole. The leader grinned victoriously and prepared to throw one more at Percy. He braced himself for death, but just then a knife appeared right in the Giant’s belly. It melted into sand and ashes, and there stood Annabeth, a friend Percy made at Camp Half-Blood. She was wearing her invisibility cap and explained that she had been trailing him the whole morning, trying to look for a chance to speak to him. That explained the weird shadows he had seen earlier that day, but before they could talk more, the principal, along with most of the school staff and a few police officers, marched into the Gym. Annabeth used her cap just then, leaving Percy and Tyson to face the authorities. Sloan, who finally came around after being knocked out by Annabeth a few moments ago, claimed that Percy was the culprit behind this. Before he could be questioned, he dragged Tyson and jumped out of the hole created just now on the side of the Gym. That concludes chapter two.

I found these two chapters really interesting, and it makes me want to keep on reading until the end. The strong grammar and vocabularies, the great plot that creates a link between the previous book and the current book, the twist of the situation during the battle... all of these are reasons of why I got hooked to the book. Also, I like the way this story is written; it is narrated by Percy himself - he is telling the story. The sentences and words used are suited for modern teenagers as well, so that people of all ages can understand the plot easily and have vivid images of the story as it is being told.

The characters in this story are portrayed really well; for example, Percy, being the main character, talks about himself being a “problem” child with ADHD and dyslexia as well as a demigod - half mortal, half immortal. He says all these like it’s no big deal. We can tell that he has already been through loads of things and is used to these facts. Also, from seeing how he befriended Tyson, the “different” guy in the school, we can see that he has a strong sense of justice and helps people in need. These are all important factors for a good main character, and Percy has it all. The key to excellent books start from how the main character is like, so we can clearly see that this has a worth-to-read content.

The genre of this book is Adventure and Myth, mainly because of the many supernatural events happening around Percy and that all of these are related to Greek Mythology. The sudden change in Tyson during the battle was really intriguing as well, and that is what generated the most discussion in today’s Literature Circle. At first, he was described as a cowardly Abominable Snowman, but during the fight, he suddenly changed personality and protected Percy from the cannonballs using his massive strength. We are really eager to find out who he really is.

I would recommend this book to people of all ages because of the simple and easy-to-understand language used, and if you are looking for something adventurous and supernatural, this is for you. I guarantee that you would get hooked on it after a few chapters of reading, so grab a copy now!

Under The Ice Story Review

Today our group did a review on a story, "Under The Ice" by John Gordon. It starts off when the friend of the main character called him to come over to his house, and when he did, they went skating together by the lake nearby. It was already pretty dark, and the moon was shining above them. Just then, the main character saw a corpse under the ice that he was skating on. To add on to his shock, his friend suddenly started talking to him about how the corpse was his uncle and that him and his father are the ones who drowned him there. He was filled with fear as he watched his friend rant on and on about the history between him and his uncle. After letting out everything inside him, he finally realised what he was doing and shouted at the main character to go home. He did as he was told.

In school the next day, there was nothing wrong or awkward between the both of them and there were no more problems for a while. One day, however, the friend asked the main character to go over to his house again with a guilty expression on his face. Seeing his pal like that, he just couldn't say no. They decided to go skating again but in the afternoon this time. They had a lot of fun together and before they knew it, evening approached. They sat down together and apologized to each other about the various things that happened the previous time. Just when they were being happy about the make up, the friend's father suddenly showed up at the riverbank, warning them to go home quickly. The two boys started skating back to the bank obediently and it was then that the first hint of moonlight showed. The ice beneath the friend cracked open suddenly and up popped out his uncle's corpse! He was paralyzed with fear. The main character managed to skate his way to the bank and turned around to see a horrifying view. The friend's father skated as quickly as he can to save him, but he was too late. When he finally reached his son's side, the corpse grabbed both of them tight and started submerging back into the water. The main character stood there stupefied, as he saw them drowning slowly and in agony as they have done to the corpse before......

This was another strange and scary story to me, and sent shivers down my spine. The plot is very well thought out, and makes the readers feel lots of thrill and suspense. The different scenes in the story are all well described and creates vivid images in our minds, adding on to the feeling of horror when reading.

The characters in the story are well portrayed too. For example, the friend of the main character seems kind and sincere, but is actually the criminal act; all the different complexes of him are described in detail and we can imagine how he looks like.

There was also an intriguing element in the story and that was whether the corpse was real or not. This was what generated the most discussion in today's Literature Circle. It may have been an accident where both the friend and his father drop into a hole which opened up beneath them due to the weight applied on it, and what the main character saw was all just an imagination. But, everybody has different opinions about it so it will be up to you to decide in the end.

This genre of this story is thrill/suspense and I would recommend this book to older people due to the complicated and strong language used in it. Young readers might not be able to understand the plot and it will be a bad influence to them when they see the various swearing. Nonetheless, I am sure older readers/thriller fans would love this book because of the interesting content and scary, vivid descriptions in it. So what are you waiting for? Grab a copy now!

The Bear Got Me Story Review

Today our group did a review on a short story, "The Bear Got Me" by Matthew Licht. The story is about a Military Engineer who was hired to check all the weapons to see if they are working normally. On the way to the Military base, he was trespassing an Alaskan forest when he noticed something trailing his jeep. He looked at his side mirror and was shocked. A big, black bear was racing after him! His fear quickly turned into curiosity and became fascinated at how fast it can go and for how long. He slowed down the jeep and kept watching from his side mirror. Suddenly, he started to have weird visions of the bear racing up to his window, proceeding to slash at him ferociously and brutally. He panicked and  picked up speed again, but the bear was still trailing him without fail. Just when he was completely devastated, he saw a light up ahead. It was the Military base he was heading to! He sighed with relief, but remembered the bear behind him again. Due to the fear of being caught up, he didn't stop even when the security soldiers were telling him to. Without any choice, they shot the wheels of his jeep in order to prevent him from breaking in to the base. When they went to his window to interrogate him, he had a strange vision again of the bear slaughtering all three of them in an even more brutal way than before. After the two security soldiers listened to his story, they claimed that there was no such bear following the jeep in the first place, and that maybe he had a bit too much to drink. The story ends there.

This was a very weird and strange story to me, and nobody knows whether the Engineer was actually hallucinating for sure. Maybe it was a spirit that only he can see? Maybe he was drunk? I think that's up to our imaginations to decide. The story starts really suddenly without a proper introduction and ends as fast as it started. Honestly, I had a pretty hard time taking in the plot of the story myself.

The characters are portrayed really well though. The Engineer is an impatient and grumpy man, and swears whenever things don't go his way, but he is also very curious at strange happenings, seeing how he tested the bear's speed and stamina by slowing down his jeep. On the other hand, the security soldiers may seem strict since that's their job, but judging from how they suggested that the Engineer had too much to drink when he claimed he saw a bear, we can tell that they like to joke around.

The genre of this book is suspense, because at the part where the bear is chasing him, he panics that he will get caught up by it, and makes the reader nervous and tense, urging us to read on to see what happens. But, in the end, the story ends with the soldiers claiming they have not seen any bears around the area. Was it just a hallucination, was it a spirit, or was he simply crazy? That was what generated the most discussion in today's literature circle. We agreed that there was no actual proof of the bear being non-existent, so we decided to let our imaginations conclude the story. I thought the bear was actually a spirit who had a grudge on human beings for killing them years ago before the incident in the book.

I would recommend this book to older people because of the complicated language as well as the various swearing used in it. The plot is pretty confusing too as I mentioned above , so it will be a very difficult read for a young audience. Nonetheless, for mature people who love suspense stories, this one's for you!

REFLECTION

The reflection from 10 May is missing. Please stay up to date with the work set.

Animal Farm Review (Ch. 9 and 10)

Today our group did a review on the ninth and tenth chapter of "Animal Farm" by George Owell. We have finally finished reading the book. In chapter 9, it tells us that Boxer's hoof was taking a long time to heal but he was still working as hard as ever. Food was reduced for the animals and construction of a schoolhouse (for the young pigs) was in progress besides the windmill. It was also discovered that every pig was receiving a pint of beer daily. Though life was hard, the animals agreed that life had a greater dignity than in Jone's time. One day, Boxer had an accident while hauling rocks up the hill and Napoleon called for a 'vet'. Turned out that the 'vet' was actually a horse slaughterer and Boxer was never seen again. A funeral and banquet was organised to give honours to him, and somehow the pigs had money to purchase whiskey for themselves.

In chapter 10, years had passed on Animal Farm and there were very few who remembered the days before the rebellion. The number of animals has significantly increased; some were brought from other farms, and the others were born in the farm itself. The pigs were still making up excuses for getting the most product and harvest, whilst the other animals continued to have a low quality life. The sense of honour and privilege in being members of Animal Farm was never lost though.

One day, Squealer took all the sheep to an abandoned patch of the farm and claimed that he was teaching them a new song. A week later all of them came back - except that the pigs, including Napoleon, were all standing on their hind legs with whip in their hands. Immediately, the sheep started to sing 'Four legs good, two legs better!' From then on, the pigs supervised the other animals carrying threatening whips around. The commandments have been changed as well and there was only one - All Animals Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others.' Soon after, Mr. Pilkington was invited to look around Animal Farm and he was amazed.

There was a party that night between the pigs and Mr. Pilkington and it was declared that Animal Farm has been renamed into Manor Farm. They had a toast and proceeded with a game of cards. An argument started between them a few minutes later about who drew an ace of spades first. At the sight of the pigs, who were all wearing clothes and standing on their hind legs, quarrel with the humans... it was impossible to tell them apart.

In these last two chapters you can tell that the pigs are exactly like humans now. They're standing on two legs, wearing clothes, smoking pipes (Napoleon), carrying whips around, drinking alcohol, befriending humans (Mr. Pilkington), etc. What's more, they have changed the Commandments and only one was left - 'All Animals Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others.' This is a sign that they have completely discriminated themselves from the other animals. On top of that, Napoleon changed the name 'Animal Farm' back to 'Manor Farm'; the original name of the farm before the rebellion. These are all evidence that the place is now no different than when Jones was in charge.

The story shocks and even scares me as I flip through the pages. Those feelings are definitely due to the surprising twists and turns of the plot. The characters drastic change in personality and way of life are really intriguing and it's interesting how the author portrays Animal Farm now - no different than when it was during Jone's days; bitter, horrifying and full of despair.

The genre of this book is fiction and is thought-provoking. The pigs have finally become the worst that they can get, acting like humans in whatever they do as I have mentioned above. The farm's future is doomed if this goes on - the animals will all die of torture and hunger; then in a desperate attempt, they might try to change the farm by starting a rebellion against the pigs. But even if they win, another fight for leadership will start all over again. The vicious cycle will never stop. This is what generated the most discussion in today's Literature Circle. Although life during Jone's days was harder, it seems more cruel now considering that an animal is enslaving other animals. What do you think is going to happen next if there ever was a second book? That's up to your imaginations!

 

I would recommend this book to teenagers and above due to the complicated language used, as I have mentioned in my previous reviews. Reading between the lines is essential if you want to fully understand the story. On top of that, the vocabulary used is very complicated, so it will be difficult for a young audience to enjoy the content of this book. The storyline is really good though, and the author's style of writing really pulls you in. Amazing book, read it and be fascinated.

Animal Farm (Ch. 7 and 8) Review

Today our group did a review on the seventh to eighth chapter of "Animal Farm" by George Owell. Our group decided to read on until we finish the book. In these two chapters, various things happened - the animals found out that apparently Snowball was actually frequenting the farm by night and causing trouble around the farm; soon it became normal to blame all the troubles that happens to Snowball; one day, Napoleon held a meeting and suddenly lashed out his dogs at a few animals that have apparently been in league with Snowball; one by one more animals confess on helping Snowball with his various crimes and all of them were brutally slaughtered; shaken, the others huddle together and start singing "Beasts of England" for comfort; soon after, Squealer comes over and declares that "Beasts of England" has been banned and is replaced by a short song praising Animal Farm; in the next chapter, the windmill is finally completed after loads of hard work and the animals rejoice; unfortunately, a war breaks out not long after between Animal Farm and a neighbouring farm due to farmer Fredrick's betrayal; it ended with Animal Farm's victory, but the windmill was blown up and there were a lot of casualties; later, it was found that the pigs have been drowning themselves in alcohol and Napoleon went running around the farm, drunk; the animals then realised that the commandments have not been the way that it was when Animal Farm was first established, e.g. one of them was "No animal shall drink alcohol" but now, it's been changed to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess."

In these chapters, we can see Napoleon and the other pigs being strict and evil leaders, slaughtering other animals without hesitation, changing the commandments to suit him, praising himself for something he didn't do, etc. He is no different than the human beings he hate now, drinking alcohol, residing in a human farmhouse, torturing other animals to no end; these are what they have vowed not to do during the early days of Animal Farm. What do you think is going to happen in the last two chapters? Read the book to find out!

The story surprises and even shocks me as I read on and the twists and turns of the plot amazes me greatly. The characters' change of personality and actions are very intriguing as well and I like how the author portrays Animal Farm now - scary and sad, no different than when Mr. Jones was in charge. 

The genre of this book is fiction and is also thought-provoking. The pigs are definitely starting to get worse, killing their own kind and breaking the commandments they have set for themselves. At this rate, Animal Farm will start falling apart and animals may start fighting against each other or even start a rebellion. This is what generated the most discussion in today's Literature Circle. Something has to be done or the farm's future is doomed.

I would recommend this book to teenagers and above due to the complicated language used, as I mentioned in my previous reviews. Reading between the lines is very essential if you want to fully enjoy the story and the vocabulary used is very complicated, so it will be difficult for a young audience to understand the content of this book. The storyline is really good though, and the author's style of writing is really intriguing. Fantastic book, read it and be amazed.