A Dog’s Story

In recent years, the film “Hachiko—A Dog’s Story” has been very popular. It is mainly about an impressive story between a loyal dog and a professor. As far I am concerned, there are many things we can learn from the film.

To begin with, I believe that most people who have watched this film were moved by the dog’s loyalty. The dog has waited for his owner for a lifetime and hid loyal behavior has taught us never forget anyone we loved—the meaning of loyalty. We can learn that we should try to get along with each other with true affection and never betray in an intimated relationship so that we can strengthen our relationship and understand each other better. And we should believe that there is still a true affection in the world. Like my parents told me, treat every person the same, even your enemies. Jesus also told us to love our enemies. Everyone lives only one life, however you treat others, you will end in death, so why not be a nice person and make the world proud of your existence?

Another thing we can learn from the film is to value what we have. In other words, we should learn to count our fortunes. What we own is always unique and cannot be replaced by others, so we have to value what we have. As the saying goes, “Tree prefers calm while wind not subsides; Son chooses filial while parents died”. We should never be regretful until losing.

Finally, we should learn to treat our pets well because they are also our friends and even our family members. The meaning is not deep, but the reflection of the dog is people that are always around us and with us, but we realizes their importance only when we lose them. Here is a sentence from one of my favorite song Let Her Go: "Only know you love her when you let her go."

Spirited Away by My Favorite Japanese Cartoonist

        Whenever people talk about the famous cartoonist Hayao Miyazaki , I will talk about his films. I've seen his well-known animation " Spirited Away" when I was in third grade, but I just thought this is a good cartoon. I was over-whelmed by all the strange creatures but had no other special feeling.        
This year, I saw the movie again. I felt that the scenes were not as unbelievable as I thought when I was a kid, but I noticed more about the relationships between characters. I thought the two protagonists are just lovers, but this time I recognized the power of support from people that is like you. In this movie, the girl Chihiro accidentally got into another world, and Haku is the only "human-like" person in this town. It makes me think of my life in America. My parents always tell me to make more American friends, but sometimes I find that people that are like me give me more support.        
 Later, I found the name of the movie is very profound meaning . The movie is called "Spirited Away " because the wicked old woman changed Chihiro' s name to Sen, and later, by Chihiro and White Dragon(Haku)'s dialogue, I know that once Chihiro forget her  name, just like White Dragon, she cannot return to the original world. This reflects the importance of our names due to their duty of recalling the past.
That day I had a strange idea, assuming that people live in the world without names, the world would be completely different and confusing. Names are symbols of our lives, they are the most basic things that make us unique.

Tiny Time

        Tiny Time is a famous series these days in China, especially among young adults. It is made into films last year during summer break, and I also watched the movies.
The books are about upper-class lives of colleges students in Shanghai, and Shanghai is a busy and material city. All characters in this story are rich except Lin Xiao, who is the narrator of this story. People in this story are all perfectly designed; they have good grades and wear expensive brands. I hate these books at first because talking about luxuries all the time makes me uncomfortable. The first book is about their college lives, innocent and sweet. But their fate twists suddenly at the end of the first book. All bad things that can happen in one's life take place time after time: cheating in relationships, betraying in friendships, and death.
        This series is about "money can solve everything" and "but it does not work sometimes". Gu Li is the most popular character in this story because she is brilliant, good-looking and rich. Though she is rich, she cannot get her dead father back. Readers love her also because she is good at insulting. However, my favorite saying of her is "Love is like sand if there is no material support. There is no need for wind, it will break apart after several steps." My friends always talk about "true love", but to be honest, it only exists before college.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

        Instead of saying Jen is the hidden dragon, Li Mu Bai is actually it. Though everyone knows that Li Mu Bai is the best master of that area, he is not cocky. He never shows off or tries to collect lots of pupils in order to be famous. Knowing what is appropriate to do as a gentleman is his best characteristic that makes him a attractive person. "Hidden" does not mean anonymous, but to maintain your ability to yourself and keeping getting stronger through competition with yourself. Li only fight for righteousness when it is necessary. In another word, he does not use his ability for conquering.

        Although Jen fierce and angry, she is trying to hide her birth and she refuses to enlighten Li Mu Bai about her background. Unlike Li Mu Bai, Jen fight for fun. She follows her free will; however, she is also controlled by her free will. Li Mu Bai is the master not only because of his skills, but only his well controlling of his mind. Jen tries hard to conquer her enemies, but she fails to conquer her own mind. She is too confident in herself of beating Li Mu Bai that she lose the basic respect for the old. Morality is not her killing guideline. But I think it is unfair for her to judge on things she does. She is too young, but she goes too far. Her ability is far beyond her maturity; therefore, she is dangerous. Everything seems easy and simple for her that in her mind, violence is the solution for everything.

        Comparing with Li Mu Bai, Jen is like a tiger facing a dragon. The dragon can easily killed the tiger, but Li chooses to convince her to follow him. Li's desire of teaching Jen is out of surprise and worry. He finally find someone who is young and good enough to be his pupil, but if she is not correctly guided, she will be a threat to Jiang Hu. However, Jen clearly does not want to be limited by him. She thinks Jiang Hu is a game, and she can play it however she wants as long as she is good enough to survive. Arrogance pushes her to look down at everyone else; it also blinds her. Jen also has desire to be love. She does not get enough love from her parents; her parents are blocking her from her life of Jiang Hu. Though she loves Lo, she does not deserve Lo's love.  It is just like inability to control her mind, her love is shaky and temporary. In my opinion, everything will work out fine for her as she grow up, time can cure, but she chooses to jump off the cliff.

Little Women

    Before I read this book, I had watched a cartoon movie made by Japan. So I have a strong interest on it. And my dad bought the book to me.

    It all begins in the dead of winter; The Christmas Season. The coldest one of all, were the war has made fuel for heating very scarce. While her husband is off at war, Marmee is left alone to raise their four daughters: Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy. They have totally different personalities, but they all find their true love in the end. The book is simple but not flat, though it does not have a obvious climax, it shows the beauty of faith in relationships.
 
    One of the themes in Little Women is the maturation of the girls.  During the course of the novel we see them grow in many ways -- physically, intellectually, and especially emotionally. One question which readers must ask themselves is whether the views the characters have on the coming of age process are shared by Alcott. If they aren't, what are Alcott's views and how do they differ from those of the women in her story?

    Jo addresses the maturation issue as she speaks with Marmee of the situation between Meg and Mr. Brooke. The possible love between these two represents one of the very important aspects in coming of age for a teenage girl. Jo treats this natural process as if it were some sort of disease, however. Jo cannot understand why Meg would want to stop behaving "like a sensible creature" , and refers to love as "such nonsense."

Lu Xun- Tragic hero?

    Today's exam reminds me of Lu Xun.
    Reading Lu Xun's articles,I feel the deepest is his shining personality charm. Though the article, I see a sword of wisdom and sharp dissection of the national servility and a fool at that time, courageous criticism for myself, not afraid of man power, not afraid of people's ignorance, not afraid of the so-called "literati" vocals. People were not allowed to write things that are opposite of communism. So that Lu Xun wrote articles that that are obscurely reflecting Chinese old and dark society. 
   "Sanwei Bookroom" to "The Story of ah Q" "Kong YiJi" which I read in middle school, all left deep impression in my mind. I can't tell what kind of change, at least my outlook on life, values, even understanding of China change. He not only taught me how to live, but I also learn how to be more optimistic while everything is going wrong.
　　Articles of Lu Xun are not only powerful testimony of history, but also a powerful description of humanity.Indeed, his articles give my life a very strong motivation. He is the one that truly devoted life to make China better. He was studying medical science , but he gave it up and became a writer. Because he said, which is my favorite saying of him,"Doctors cannot save China."

Pride and Prejudice AND $

　  Many people simply regard Pride and Prejudice as a love story, but I think this book is also an illustration of the society at that time. Jane Austen perfectly reflected the relation between money and marriage at her time and gave the people in her works vivid characters.Mrs. Bennet is a woman who makes great efforts to marry off her daughters. Mr. Bingley is a friendly young man, but his friend, Mr. Darcy, is a very proud man who seems to always feel superior. Even the five daughters in Bennet family are very different. Jane is simple, innocent and never speaks evil of others. Elizabeth is a clever girl who always has her own opinion. Mary likes reading classic books but she is kind of nerdy. Kitty doesn’t have her own opinion but likes to follow her sister, Lydia. Lydia is a girl who follows exotic things, handsome man, and is somehow a little profligate. Being a mom of these five totally different daughters is like being friend with five inharmonious friends.
   The sister of Mr. Bingley strongly opposed his plan of marrying Jane because the Bennets don’t have many possessions and their social positions are much lower than theirs. From this, we can see there are a lot of obstacles for a not very rich woman to marry a wealthy husband. The society, the relatives would not allow them to get married.One of the reasons of liking this book is that it centers the theme of money. This theme is a everlasting theme of the society, regardless of time.
    In modern society, although the marriages of economic needs have decreased rapidly, the concept of “money determines everything” is still rooted in our mind. Parents try hard to interfere their children’s marriages.Especially in some conservative countries.Education background, possessions, jobs remains the main reason that may influence one’s marriage.Many cynical critics say that money is lame and greed is the root of all evil. However, like a quote from a Chinese movie called Tiny Times, "Love without materialism is just a pile of sand, even without the flowing wind, it will spill after a couple of steps."