Extra Credit #3 Essay (Are rewarding system an effective means of controlling human behavior?)

      We often see a lot of people complaining about work. A majority of them regard working as an extremely hard, vapid and low earning affliction. They always dream to live a happy life without working. But in reality, it is not possible to live without doing work. Each individual needs to work for various reasons, no matter whether he is the son of the billionaire or a layman struggling with poverty. When it comes to doing work, we are usually driven by an intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. According to Oxford English Dictionary, intrinsic is defined as “belonging naturally; essential”, while extrinsic is defined as “not part of the essential nature of someone or something; coming or operating from outside’. We can clearly depict from these two definition that people are either driven by their own passion or self-interest towards a particular subject, or to the rewards promised upon completing a task that is difficult to accomplish. Having an intrinsic motivation is kind of normal. People who are devoted to their target will work and sacrifice everything to achieve them. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation are usually weak and interdependent. People rely heavily on the rewards and may be discouraged if they fail to obtain them. In my opinion, rewarding system is not an effective method to control human behavior because they creates many negative consequences in the long run.

     First and foremost, rewards can create problems from the science point of view. According to Deci, the extrinsic motivation, in general, causes decreased feelings of self-determination, which then result in reduced intrinsic motivation. In the case of organizational structure, as the organization approaches the mechanistic end of the structural continuum, a decrease in self-determination ostensibly will result, in increase of formal rules and standardized procedures (130). Such circumstance should never happens because a strict rules will only troubles people for petty reasons. For instance, an accountant relies heavily on monthly bonuses or incentives before in order to provide good labor. Without these extra credits he won’t contribute as much as he possibly could. The chief will then have to set a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to ensure people work accordingly to run the company. All this because of a number of people who set incentives as their main target in doing work. Sherman and Howard also said “Although this effect (the rewards system’s effect) may be of only minor importance in private and public sector organizations, it is of critical importance in voluntary or third sectors organization in which extrinsic incentives are scarce and the organization is dependent largely on voluntary activity that is primarily intrinsically motivated” (884). People should never rely on rewards because not all employers can afford to allocate budget for them. Rewards, if promised, should never be set as the main priority when doing work. Instead, we should try to foster ourselves to develop interest towards our work. In this way, even though we might not get reward for something that we did, at least we can continue helping the organization we serve to continue developing. Indirectly, we are actually serving our country by maintaining a stable economy.

 

     Another point of view that should be taken into account is from the educational point of view. Students are normally graded and labelled by teachers according to their exam grades which are parallel with their intellect. Smart students will be given rewards for their performance in form of praises or even gifts by their parents or teachers. On the other hand, students who often get low marks will be ashamed of their bad results, sometimes to the extent of losing their self-confidence. Expectations from parents and teachers only worsens this situation. They must study even harder to prevent the same thing from occurring. Unfortunately, this situation also forces students to cheat as a solution. The low-achievers will want to get the same rewards as the smart students and eventually most of them choose the wrong way. An unhealthy environment was then unintentionally created. In my very own personal experience, I have seen my close friends cheat during an important exams i.e. SPM. When asked why they did that, many of the reasons is because they couldn’t bear to see sadness in their parent’s face if they fail. To witness this kind of situation first hand makes me question the conventional education system. The students are kind of forced to score during exams or they will have a hard time to cope at college or school. Robin Grille said that “Rewards and praise condition children to seek approval; they end up doing things to impress, instead of doing things for themselves.” (Rewards and Praise: The Poisoned Carrot). We can see from this situation that rewarding system deviates students from learning with pristine values of education. Many of the students will study for the sake of passing exams and not trying to apply their knowledge to real life. Perhaps the authority should revise the education system that only focuses on being the best on exam papers when instead there are people who are weak in doing so but excel in other fields such as hands on work. 

  

      In a nutshell, extrinsic rewards can trouble humans in a number of ways. Reward system, if fostered to students of young age through praises or gifts by parents and teachers will create problems in the future. The same students, when they were grown up, will be very likely to hope for rewards from the organization they’re working with. Even though it does have some good minor potential, the major harms can destroy us as a society ultimately in the long run. We should come to a realization that rewarding to motivate is not a good method to keep people producing good works. It can unintentionally persuade people to do things beyond sanity.   

    

                                                                                        

Works Cited:

Grille, Robin. “Rewards and Praise: The Poisoned Carrot – The Natural …” “The Natural Child Project”

                   http://www.naturalchild.org N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016

Staw, Barry M. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Center, 1976. Print.

Sherman, Daniel J., and Howard L. Smith. The Influence of Organizational Structure on Intrinsic versus

                  Extrinsic Motivation. 4th ed. Vol. 27. N.p.: Academy of Management, n.d. Print.

Extra Credit #2 Movie Review (A Nightmare On Elm Street)

To start off with, I have to say this is one of my favorite horror movie of all time. It all starts in a restaurant when Dean went there with his girlfriend. He suddenly fells asleep at the table and in his dreams, he meets a man covered in burn scars, with a scary clawed glove on his hand. The burned man cuts Dean's throat in the dream, but in reality it appears that Dean is cutting his own throat as her girlfriend, Kris, shockingly looks on with to what is happening. But she does not had any idea of how that happened and ended up thinking it was suicide. At Dean's funeral, Kris sees a photograph of her and Dean as children, but cannot recall ever knowing Dean before high school. Kris begins to dream about the burned man herself and refuses to go to sleep for fear that she will die in her dreams like Dean did. Jesse, Kris' friend, shows up at her house to keep her company while she sleeps, but Kris meets the burned man in her dreams and she too is murdered horrifiedly. Covered in blood, Jesse runs to Nancy's house to try to explain what happened and he learns that Nancy has been having dreams about the same man; that man's name is Freddy. Jesse is apprehended by the police under suspicion of murdering Kris, and he is killed by Freddy when he falls asleep in his jail cell. With her friends dying, Nancy begins to question what everyone's connection is to each other, given that none of them can remember each other before their teenage years. Eventually, Nancy and her friend, Quentin, discover that all of them, including more children, attended the same preschool together. After forcing the adults to tell the truth, Nancy's mother reluctantly tells Nancy and Quentin that there was a gardener at the pre-school, named Fred Krueger, who sexually abused Nancy and the rest of the kids. Gwen explains that Nancy was his favorite, and came home one day telling her mom about the things that happened. Gwen claims Krueger skipped town before he was arrested. Nancy does not believe her and attempts to track down the remaining kids from the school. Nancy then eventually discovers that all of the other kids have been killed, most of them in their sleep. Meanwhile, Quentin tries to accept that everything is nothing more than repressed memories, but he falls asleep during swim practice and witnesses what really happened to Krueger. Quentin sees everyone's parents hunt down Krueger, and then burn him alive. Quentin and Nancy confront Quentin's father and he exposed the truth about the reality they murdered Krueger with no actual evidence that he had committed any crime. Nancy and Quentin, who both begin sporadically dreaming while they are awake as a result of insomnia, decide to go to the abandoned preschool and learn what they can about Krueger. On the way, Nancy falls asleep and is attacked by Freddy, but when Quentin wakes her up they discover she has pulled a piece of Freddy's sweater out of the dreamworld and into reality. Quentin takes Nancy to the hospital for cuts on her arm; there, he steals some adrenaline and a syringe to help them stay awake. Nancy and Quentin leave the hospital and eventually make it to the pre-school. Quentin uncovers Krueger's "magic cave" and the evidence that proves Krueger was physically and sexually abusing all of the children. Nancy decides the only way to end this is to pull Krueger out of their dreams and kill him in reality. Quentin tries to stay awake long enough to pull Nancy out of her dream when she has Freddy, but he falls asleep and is attacked as well. Krueger then goes after Nancy, and explains that he intentionally left her for last so she would stay awake long enough that when she finally fell asleep, she would no longer be able to wake back up. While Nancy struggles with Freddy, Quentin wakes and uses the adrenaline to bring Nancy up and pull Freddy into reality. With Krueger distracted by Quentin, Nancy uses a broken paper cutter blade to cut Freddy's gloved hand off, and then slice his throat. Afterward, Nancy torches the secret room, with Krueger's body left inside, while she and Quentin leave. Nancy and her mother return home from the hospital, with Nancy being told she should get some sleep. Krueger suddenly appears in a mirror's reflection and kills Nancy's mother before pulling her body through the mirror. In my opinion, Krueger will never stop until everyone who are involved in killing him is dead because he is naturally a bad guy. So it continues when he becomes a ghost.

The Magnificent Seven (movie review)

In 1879, corrupt industrialist Bartholomew Bogue besieges the mining town of Rose Creek, and slaughters a group of locals led by Matthew Cullen when they attempt to stand up to him. Matthew's wife, Emma Cullen, and her friend, Teddy Q, ride to the nearest town in search of someone who can help them and come upon warrant officer Sam Chisolm, who initially declines their proposal until he learns of Bogue's involvement.

Chisolm sets out to recruit a group of gunslingers who can help him, starting with gambler Josh Faraday. They are later joined by sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux, knife-wielding Billy Rocks, skilled tracker Jack Horne, Comanche warrior Red Harvest and notorious Mexican outlaw Vasquez.

Arriving in Rose Creek, the seven engage in a gunfight with Bogue's enforcer McCann and his men, shot dead 22 of them, and drive the corrupt sheriff away with a warning to leave Rose Creek alone. Surmising that Bogue and his forces will return in a week, the seven and Cullen train the townspeople to defend their home and grow fond of them. Robicheaux, haunted by the horrors of the Civil War and fearing the inevitable killing he will be a part of, abandons the group and is replaced by Cullen.

Bogue arrives with his forces and attacks the city, but the bandits are ambushed by the townspeople, leading to a shootout during which Robicheaux rejoins the group. Bogue then unveils his secret weapon, a Gatling gun, with which he kills numerous innocents. Realizing they're outgunned, the seven drive the townspeople away and mount their last stand. Horne is killed by Bogue's Comanche assassin Denali, who is later killed by Red Harvest.

Robicheaux and Rocks are killed by a second round of gunfire as Faraday sacrifices himself to destroy the Gatling gun and the rest of Bogue's men, riding up to them in a final charge and then detonating a stick of dynamite right next to the gun. Bogue flees into town, where he is confronted by Chisolm, who disarms and wounds Bogue. As Chisolm is strangling Bogue, he reveals that Bogue and his men raped and murdered his mother and sisters during a raid several years earlier, in which he himself survived being hanged. Bogue is then fatally shot by Cullen while reaching for a hidden gun in his boot.

In the aftermath, Faraday, Robicheaux, Rocks and Horne are buried in town and honored by the people of Rose Creek as heroes, while Chisolm, Vasquez and Red Harvest ride off, with Cullen remarking that their heroism made them legends and that it was "magnificent".

Three new words:

1) Vulnerary - useful in healing wounds (Rebecca examined her wound, and having applied to it such vulnerary remedies as her art prescribed)

If I were the main character...

I would be sad and grieve upon the death of the new comrades recruited, especially Goodnight. He created an honest relationship with me and to see him die was awful. Nevertheless, if I was him I would have recruited even more skilled and powerful people from all over the country. 

Predestination (a.k.a. the craziest mind-boggling movie that I ever watched) review

 Temporal Agents, is an elite group of people charged with traveling through time in order to prevent horrible crimes before they occur. One such agent, was trying to disarm the latest deadly explosive set by the Fizzle Bomber, a terrorist wreaking havoc on 7O-s era New York when it goes off in his face, burning him badly in the process. He manages to return to headquarters and after massive plastic surgery and a long recuperation process, he recovers. Returning to New York in the hopes of catching the Fizzle Bomber, he is working as a bartender when he strikes up a conversation with a slightly androgynous-looking guy who calls himself "The Unmarried Mother"—he makes his living writing fake tales of woe for so-called "confession" magazines—and who promises to tell "the best story that you ever heard," a saga that begins when she was left on the steps of an orphanage as an infant.
Yes, "she" for, as it turns out, he started life as a girl named Jane. Growing up in the orphanage, Jane  was relentlessly picked on by her peers for being different but proved to be smart as a whip, surprisingly strong and filled with determination. These qualities, not to mention the retention of her virginity, prove to be of interest to Space Corp, a Sixties-era government agency charged with recruiting women to go into space to provide relief, as it were, for astronauts on long missions. Alas, after a fight, she is kicked out of Space Corp, but one of the people in charge, the enigmatic Mr. Robertson, continues to find her of interest. Around this time, though, Jane meets a mysterious man and falls in love but is crushed when he vanishes, leaving her pregnant and alone. While delivering her child, another unanticipated discovery is made that will change her life forever, among other things.
Unfortunately for Jane, she lost her baby on the same day she delivered them to the world. And to make things worse, she found out she have two pairs of male and female reproductive inside of her. And due to the pregnancy, the doctors have to remove the female part since it was severely damaged. Later, she changed her name to John and the bartender have to agree his story was mad. The bartender later offered him to travel back in time to kill the guy who turned his life upside down, and she agreed without a second thought. While waiting for the guy, he soon realizes that he was actually the one bumped into Jane and they eventually fell in love and make love to each other. The bartender then travel to another part of time and took the baby from Jane and the guy from the future (which are actually the same person!!!!) and put her in front of an orphanage house. The agent then took the guy from Jane and later he was brought up as one of the temporal agent. The agent then travel to another part of the past and found the Fizzle Bomber (turns out Fizzle Bomber was an older version of himself!!!!). The Fizzle Bomber then explained to him that he actually had the done the right thing, preventing even more serious situation from happening. He hesitates at first but eventually kills the Fizzle Bomber.

Three words:
1) Jabbed - He jabbed at the other player with his hockey stick
2) Poach - Jon poached the fish before marinating it.   
3) Puncheon - Jane used puncheon to carve the stone.

After watching the movie, my mind went crazy thinking about how on earth that could happen and questioning its possibility behind it. However, if i was the main character (which is the same person throughout the movie), I would do something different than what is anticipated for me to be doing. That would break the chain but I am eager to know what is going to happen the next.

My experience in Korea

       Holidays, A time everyone gets hyped up over, parents planning activities for the family to spend quality time with and school children jumping for joy. In my case, a holiday I would never forget is a fruitful one I expereinced five years ago, where my family and I spent six days in the land of K-Pop and ' kimchi '- Korea.

        Finally, after ages of waiting, our family arrived in beautiful Korea. Stepping out of the plane, we could feel the chilly weather to our bones. Never experiencing that kind of weather, my siblings and I were totally excited. Passing through immigration and baggage claim, we were talking animatedly about our new surroundings. Since we went with tour group, we knew we were in good hands. Incident number one. We were supposed to take a bus to check in at the hotel, as instructed. I guessed I was overeager and without thinking. I ran to a random bus and knocked on the door. The young bus driver opened the door and looked at me with a puzzled expression. He started asking me something in Korean, which of course I did not understand. I tried to reply in English, but before I could make the attempt, my father quickly apologized to the driver and walked me back to the tour group who was watching from afar, shaking with laughter. It turned out that the bus I was running to was not the bus we were supposed to take. I dismissed my burning cheeks. I was glad I could be the butt of everyone's jokes on my first day in a foreign country.

        It was a bit past lunch time when we were done checking in our hotel. Not doubt, everybody's stomachs were grumbling. Thank God after checking in, we were going to have our lunch and do a bit of sightseeing. At the restaurant, a delicious meal was already spread out for us. That was the first time we all tried kimchi, a spicy  and sour vegetable side dish.I did not think it was horrible,  buut I preferred the fish kimchi much better. We all ate using chopsticks, so that was kind or awkward for me  and  my siblings, as we were not skilled at using them yet. Being Malaysians, we were used to rice, so it was a good thing that the Korean meal included rice and a few other side dish, eaten from a Bento box. It was weird though, the rice was stickier compared to the rice  we eat at home, mainly to make it easier to eat using chopsticks. There was also hot and scrumptious miso soup together with the meal. Since my sister and my brother did not like it much, I finished up theirs. I gulped the warm soup down my throat- a nice contrast from the shivering weather outside.

        One of the highlights of our activities that we did in Korea was skiing. Everybody from the tour group was looking forward to that, even the 52-year old couple traveling with us. Since it wasn't fully snowing yet, the hill was covered with artificial snow. After grabbing our ski gear, we listen to a briefing by the instructor. He was very helpful, especially with us kids and the elderly couple. Feeling jumpy and hyperactive, me and my sister made our way to the cable car and successfully skied down a slope. I thought, " We're natural at this," and my sister could not agree more. Then, my brother started to throw a snowball towards me and my sister. It hit me, and we started having a small snowball fight of our own, just like in the movies! I guessed we got a bit out of hand and my sister accidentally hit a woman's back. when she turned around, she had this angry look on her face and started to walk towards us.I hurried my siblings to continue skiing with our parents,and we ran away before she cold catch us. Breathless, we giggled naively as we recapped the moment.

        Shopping in Korea was also different compared to Malaysia. Its malls were packed with small shops or stalls on every floor. Big boutiques were not seen as much as the quaint kiosks. Nevertheless, I found shopping at their markets more enjoyable, especially because you could haggle the price. Their specialities  were crystals, fabrics and outerwear. Apart form that, I also liked their wet markets , mainly because they were very clean and they did not have that fishy smell. There was also a treasure trove among the stalls of the wet market- a tiny shop which served grilled seafood. My family stepped into the shop and ordered some grilled fish.
       
        They were so many things to on my memorable trip to Korean. Not only we got to spend quality time together as a family, but we also learnt countless new things and even discovered hidden talents. My father always said we should travel with an open mind and an open  heart. This is when you get to see your capability to adapt to changes. Just enjoy the simple things in life and be thankful of what you have.  

My first time driving

We pulled up in a next to empty parking lot besides a mosque near my home; it was about 10:30a.m  as I looked down at the clock. My father got out and walked around to my door and told me to get out, I looked at him kind of somewhat scared not knowing what to think. He opened my door slowly and told me to get out, then told me that he thought I'd like to drive. I looked at him oddly considering I was only fourteen at the time and said "sure”.

I got out and ran to the other side half excited and half scared. I was thinking and somewhat hoping that it wouldn't be that hard and that it would be something like one of my favorite games 'Grand Theft Auto'. I got in and pressed my foot on the brake, put the car in reverse and went flying backwards. I soon realized that screaming would not make the car stop.

My father calmly looked over at me and said, "Try the brakes”, of course knowing exactly what would happen he braced himself as the car came to a screeching halt. Finally backed out of the parking space he had put me in, I put the car in drive and we went flying forward, also knowing this would happen my dad braced himself again.

He then told me that neither pedal needed to be pushed to the floor. I made it around the parking lot a few times it was kind of jumpy but I'm sure most people's first time is.

From there I kept driving in parking lots until I got better. The next thing I knew I had gotten my driving license and I was legal to drive. My mom took me down to a mall on my birthday and as soon as we got out my mom tossed me the keys and said, "I've been driving for 40 years I'm tired of it”.

I looked at her like she was crazy I had never driven on a road around other traffic, this proved to be interesting. I drove down NPE highway towards home, crossing over lanes of traffic and such just trying to get there. After that first time on the road I got better and better as most people did.

My experience joining a rugby team

I have learned a great many things from participating in rugby. It has changed my entire outlook on and attitude toward life. Before my upper form in MRSM, I had low self-esteem and turned away from seemingly impossible challenges. Rugby has altered all of these qualities. On the first day of practice, the team warmed up with a game of touch play. The players were split up and the game began. However, during the game, I noticed that I didn't run as hard as I could, nor did I try to evade opponent's fullback and get open. The fact of the matter is that I really did not want to be thrown the ball. I didn't want to be the one at fault if I dropped the ball and the play didn't succeed. I did not want the responsibility of helping the team because I was too afraid of making a mistake. That aspect of my character led the first years of my boarding school life. I refrained from asking questions in class, afraid they might be considered too stupid or dumb by my classmates.

Yet my apprehension prevailed as I continued to fear getting put in the game in case another player was injured. I was still afraid of making mistakes and getting blamed by screaming coaches and angry teammates. Sometimes these fears came true. During my first few months of playing rugby, my position at Prop led me to play in the vital role on many occasions. On such occasions, I often made mistakes. Most of the time the mistakes were not significant; they rarely changed the outcome of a play. Yet I received a thorough verbal lashing at practice for the mistakes I had made. These occurrences only compounded my fears of playing. However, I did not always make mistakes. Sometimes I made great plays, for which I was congratulated. Now, as I dawn on my senior year of rugby and am faced with two starting positions, I feel like a changed person.

Over the years, playing rugby has taught me what it takes to succeed. From months of tough practices, I have gained a hard work ethic. From my coaches and fellow teammates, I have learned to work well with others in a group, as it is necessary to cooperate with teammates on the playing field. But most important, I have also gained self-confidence. If I fail, it doesn't matter if they mock or ridicule me; I'll just try again and do it better. I realize that it is necessary to risk failure in order to gain success. The coach have always said before games that nothing is impossible; I know that now. Now, I welcome the challenge. Whether I succeed or fail is irrelevant; it is only important that I have tried and tested myself.

Game of Thrones (Season 1 Episode 1)

    Three men of the Night's Watch ride out beyond the Wall after receiving reports that lawless tribes of wildings have been sighted near the border. One of them verifies this information when he finds the corpses of the group's men, women and children scattered in a frozen glade. He carries the news back to his comrades but before they can investigate further, the bodies disappear. As he searches the area, the forest fills with one of his comrades' screams and the gallop of the group's bolting horses. He then races through the trees and comes face to face with another surviving subordinate - moments before a shadowy creature with glowing blue eyes severs his friend's head and tosses it at Will's feet.

     In the courtyard of Winterfell, the Stark family were enjoying themselves but their mirth is cut short, however, by news from the house's Master at Arms. They've captured a deserter from Night's Watch. Lord Ned Stark then brought all his sons to be present on the execution of the deserter. However, moments before he swing the sword, the deserter warns him about the White Walkers.

     On their return to Winterfell, the party comes across a dead direwolf - a creature rarely seen south of the Wall. The wolf birthed a litter of pups before her death, and Jon Snow, bastard son to Ned, convinces his father that it's an omen: The direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, and Ned's five true-born children are meant to have the pups. As they walk away, Jon spies an albino runt cast to the side and takes it for himself.

     In the throne room at King's Landing, the Silent Sisters perform death rights over the body of John Arryn, the Hand of the King. A message arrives at Winterfell saying that John Arryn is dead and King Robert is paying a visit. Ned knows this can mean that Robert plans to ask him to serve as the new Hand. The house is thrown into preparation, and when the king arrives he greets his old friend with a bear hug and immediately asks to visit the crypts of Winterfell. The Stark family throws a feast in Robert's honor, which the king thoroughly enjoys by getting drunk.

     Jon Snow, on the other hand, is seated far from the royal table so as not to insult the queen with his low birth. He steps outside to talk with his uncle, Benjen Stark, who is a ranger in the Night's Watch. Jon begs Benjen to take him to the Wall when he returns, but his uncle knows that Jon is too young to make such a weighty decision. Inside, Benjen tells Ned that he's also heard reports of White Walkers, which must be untrue but even as a madman's raving is unwelcome. Ned then felt discomforted by the news. Far to the southeast of Winterfell, across the Narrow Sea, a young man, Viserys Targaryen, prepares his sister Daenerys to meet a possible husband. As the last heir in his line - a storied family of kings who Robert nearly wiped out when usurping the Iron Throne - Viserys hopes to wed his sister to a Dothraki horselord named Khal Drogo as a means of securing the khal's massive army to help reclaim rule over Westeros. Their wedding is performed in traditional Dothraki style, meaning that the crowd participates in  sex and murder. As a gift, Daenarys receives a chest of  dragon eggs from Illyrio and a knight named Ser Jorah Mormont gives her books containing the history of her homeland.


After the feast, Ned and Catelyn rest in bed when Maester Luwin arrives with a missive from Catelyn's sister Lysa, the widow of Jon Arryn. The message says that Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters and that the king is in danger. Catelyn begs her husband not go south to King's Landing, but he knows he has no other option. The next morning, after he accepts Roberts offer, the king thanks him and says he knows the sacrifice Ned is making - but there's no other man he can trust.
 Ned leaves for a hunt with Robert, waving goodbye to his Bran. The young Stark spends the afternoon climbing the rocky walls of Winterfell, one of his favorite hobbies. At the pinnacle of an abandoned tower, he hears strange noises, and when he looks inside a window, he sees Jaime Lannister and his twin sister, Queen Cersei, having sex on the floor. Cersei notices Bran and screams. Jaime steps to the window frame and grabs the boy, holding him firmly. He looks to his sister and then to the ground before sending Bran helplessly to the rocky ground below.

i) Three new words:
1)Throne - Bran was expected by many to be the heir to the throne of Winterfell.
2)Raucous - The King eat raucously in front of his slaves.
3) Desert - He deserted his wife in order to go to be the Hand of the King.

ii) I liked this episode because it taught me a glimpse of how different it was back then. With no technology, how people used to enjoy themselves and what surprised me the most is how complex the system of ruling even though they were commonly known as uncivilized people.

Words of the day:

     1) Accord - concurrence of opinion
        The committee worked in accord on the bill, and it eventually passed.
     2) Scarce - deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

   Meanwhile, heating oil could grow more scarce in the Northeast this winter if the conflict remain                         unsolved.  

3)  Commission - a special group delegated to consider some matter

    The developers are now seeking approval from the landmarks commission. 

4) Confer - have a meeting in order to talk something over

    Mr. Dumbledore conferred with the Weasely family following Ron's joining the Death Eaters.

5) Dwell - think moodily or anxiously about something

    Hazim dwell with his thoughts when he were about to approach Anis. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone novel review

Dursley family is a middle-class family that lives in Little Whinging, Surrey. Vernon and Petunia Dursley took bad care of Lily’s infant son, Harry, is left on their doorstep. Lily and her husband, James Potter, had been murdered by the dark wizard, Voldemort, but when Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, his power somehow broke. Harry becomes the only living person ever to survive the killing curse. Because Harry does not have any other living relatives, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, decides to leave him with the Dursleys until he is old enough to attend Hogwarts.

 From a young age, Harry is told that his parents were killed in a car crash but has no other information about them, not even a photograph. Harry’s cousin Dudley dominates the household, bullying Harry with his gang of friends and being spoiled rotten by Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. While Dudley has two bedrooms– one for his bed and one for all of his broken toys – Harry is relegated to the small cupboard under the stairs. Although he strives to avoid attracting attention, Harry cannot deny that strange things often happen around him.

On Dudley’s eleventh birthday, Harry accompanies the family and Dudley’s best friend, Piers Polkiss, to the zoo. While Harry is in the reptile house, the glass front of the boa constrictor cage suddenly vanishes. Harry is unable to explain the incident, but Uncle Vernon blames him anyway and restricts him to the cupboard under the stairs until the summer holidays. One day, mysterious letters begin to arrive for Harry. Uncle Vernon refuses to let Harry read the letter but tells him that it was addressed to him by mistake. Over the next few days, more and more of the letters arrive in the house, but Uncle Vernon keeps Harry from intercepting any of them. In an extreme effort to escape from the letters, Uncle Vernon takes the family to a desolate shack on an island on the night before Harry’s eleventh birthday.

As the clock strikes midnight and Harry wishes himself a silent “Harry Birthday,” there is a loud bang on the door and Hagrid enters. Hagrid introduces himself as the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts and then explains that Harry is a wizard who has been admitted to Hogwarts in order to study magic. Harry discovers that the Dursleys have always been aware of his magical abilities but have attempted to stifle them and make him “normal.” Moreover, Harry learns the truth about his parents’ murder by Voldemort.


A month later, Harry leaves Little Whinging to catch the Hogwarts Express and befriends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.  When the train arrives at Hogwarts, the students immediately file into the dining hall to be “sorted,” or assigned to one of the four houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Harry worries that he will be sorted into Voldemort’s old house, Slytherin, and he makes a special request to the Sorting Hat to be assigned to any other house. The Sorting Hat considers carefully but ultimately places Harry (as well as Ron and Hermione) in Gryffindor House.



On Halloween, the faculty is alerted of a wayward troll in the school and escort the students back to their houses. Harry and Ron sneak away to find Hermione, who is in the girl’s bathroom and missed the warning. After inadvertently locking the troll in the girl’s bathroom with Hermione, Ron and Harry knock the troll unconscious. Hermione takes the blame for the battle, and the three become fast friends. After the holidays end, Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally discover the identity of Nicolas Flamel: he is the only known maker of the Sorcerer’s Stone, which produces the elixir of life. Harry begins to suspect that Snape is planning to steal it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione also discover that Hagrid is raising an illegal dragon that was given to him by a mysterious stranger in a bar in exchange for information about the three-headed dog.

As punishment for disobeying school curfew, Harry and Hermione (as well as Malfoy and Neville, who were also out of bed at the time) are sent into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to locate a wounded unicorn. When the group splits into two, Harry and Malfoy come across the body of the unicorn just as a hooded figure crawls toward it and starts to drink its blood. Harry is frozen in place by an agonizing pain that is suddenly spreading from his scar. As the hooded figure moves toward him, a centaur gallops in front of Harry protectively and the figure disappears. The centaur suggests that the hooded figure was Voldemort and that he drank the unicorn’s blood in order to stay alive until he can steal the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Harry decides to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone before Voldemort can. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneak off to the forbidden corridor and get past the three-headed dog by lulling it to sleep with music. Once through the trap door, they land on Devil’s Snare, the first of several challenges put in place by the Hogwart’s teachers. As the plant’s snake-like tendrils threatened to strangle Ron and Harry, Hermione uses magical fire to repel the plant and break them free. The next challenge is to pass through a room filled with hundreds of small flying keys. Harry flies on a broomstick to find the silver key that matches the lock on the door and finally snatches it out of the swarm. The door opens to reveal a giant wizard’s chessboard. An expert chess player, Ron takes the lead in this challenge and ultimately sacrifices himself in order to allow Harry and Hermione to reach the next challenge. When Harry and Hermione step into the next room, they are instantly surrounded by flames and faced with a complex riddle of poisonous potions. Hermione rationally solves the riddle and gives Harry the potion needed to travel to the next room and the final challenge while she returns to help Ron.

In the final chamber, Harry is surprised to find neither Snape nor Voldemort, but Professor Quirrell, the teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts. Quirrell reveals that he, not Snape, has been Voldemort’s servant all along. Now, in the final challenge, Quirrell needs only to retrieve the Sorcerer’s Stone from within the Mirror of Erised. He asks his master for help, and Harry hears a disembodied voice speak from within Quirrell, telling him to use Harry to get to it. Quirrell stands Harry in front of the mirror and orders him to tell him what he sees. Determined to keep the Stone from falling into Voldemort’s hands, Harry lies and tells Quirrell that he sees himself winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. He then actually sees himself holding the Sorcerer’s Stone and putting it in his pocket. Realizing that the Stone is now in his pocket, Harry tries to stall for time until he can escape. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals Voldemort’s face emerging from the back of his head. Voldemort speaks directly to Harry, taunting him about the death of his parents, and then orders Quirrell to kill him. When Quirrell tries to touch Harry, his skin blisters and, though Harry is in excruciating pain from his scar, he forces the contact with Quirrell. With Voldemort’s screams of anger echoing in his head, Harry finally passes out.

When Harry wakes up, he finds himself in the hospital wing with Dumbledore. Dumbledore found Harry just in time to keep Quirrell from killing him, though Voldemort escaped once again. Dumbledore explains that Quirrell was unable to touch Harry’s skin because of his mother’s love: when Lily Potter sacrificed herself for him, she left Harry with an ancient magical protection. He knew that only Harry would be able to retrieve the Stone from the Mirror of Erised because, unlike Quirrell and Voldemort, Harry wanted to find the Stone but did not want to use it. Although Voldemort was not destroyed, Harry’s actions have kept him from regaining power for now.

At the end of the year banquet, the members of Slytherin House are celebrating their victory of the House Cup for the seventh straight year. Unexpectedly, Dumbledore awards last-minute points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, which gives Gryffindor the edge over Slytherin. Harry returns to spend the summer with the Dursleys content in the friendships that he has made at Hogwarts.

i) Three words:
    Taunting- Malfoy taunted Hermione by saying she is a muggle-born and does not deserves to be in Hogwarts. 
    Snatches- Harry snatched the Snitch and won Gryffindor the Quidditch match, yay!
    Vault- The vault is used by Mrs. McGonagall to keep her wine so they can stay preserved.
ii) Did the ending match your initial impression of the novel?
    Most probably no. The novel have a quite complicated plot twist and I initially thought Voldemort will eventually get his hands to the Elixir of Life. I am impressed by the quick minded Harry to discover everything and unveil the truth behind weird happenings in Hogwarts.

THE INTERNSHIP

            

                    Nick and Campbell was a watch salesmen and they pulled off quite some good records of their past works. Suddenly, one day they got laid off by their employer because he claimed that their business were no longer successful. Having no academic qualifications, both of them had a hard time to look for suitable work replacement. To make things worse, Billy’s wife decided to end their relationship and move out from their house. Nick ended up working at his sister’s mattress store. However, Billy found about Google and submitted fake qualifications for himself as well as Nick. However, they are accepted due to their unorthodox interview answers, despite a lack of relevant experience. They will spend the summer competing in teams in a variety of tasks, and only the members of the winning team will be guaranteed jobs with Google. Billy and Nick are teamed with other interns seen as rejects: Stuart, who is usually engrossed in his smart phone; Yo-Yo, a Filipino-American who was homeschooled by a stereotypical overbearing Asian mother; and Neha, an Indian-American who is an enthusiast of nerd-related kink. The team is led by Lyle, who constantly tries to act hip in order to hide his insecurities. Their first task was to find a bug and their team failed because Nick and Billy obviously knew nothing and contributed to their team losing. On the second task, their team rallied and scored a draw against Graham (an egoistic intern), but however they lost because Graham cheated. When the teams are tasked with developing an app, Billy and Nick convince the team to indulge in a wild night out. Before sunrise that same night, Stuart now learns to appreciate his surroundings, and Lyle's drunken antics inspire the team to create an app that guards against reckless phone usage while drunk. They win the task by earning the most downloads.Meanwhile, Nick has been flirting with an executive, Dana, with little success. When he begins attending technical presentations to impress her, he develops an interest in the material. While the teams prepare to staff the technical support hotline, only Billy feels at a loss. A Google employee, "Headphones", who always wears headphones and never socializes, approaches Billy and tells him that the way he interacts with people is special. He tutors Billy on the technical information. Dana agrees to go on a date with Nick, and she invites him in at the end of the evening. During the task, Billy is comfortable with the material, but his team receives no score because he failed to properly log his calls for review. Dejected, Billy leaves Google to pursue a new sales opportunity with his former boss. The final task is announced as a sales challenge. Teams must sign the largest possible company to begin advertising with Google. The team is stunned when Nick tells them that Billy has left, and they declare that they do not want to do the task without him. Nick convinces Billy to return, and Billy leads the team to show a local pizzeria owner how Google can help him interact with potential customers and thereby expand his business, while remaining true to his professional values. Back at Google headquarters, Chetty is about to award Graham's team, Billy arrives throwing pizza at everyone. Chetty recognizes that although the pizzeria is not a large business, its potential is limitless because it is expanding via technology. Graham protests and is dressed down by Headphones, who turns out to be the head of Google Search. Nick, Billy, Stuart, Yo-Yo, and Neha are declared the winners and will receive jobs at Google, which the latter three will start after their senior years in college.

i)  3 interesting words:
1) Circumnavigate - He helped her to circumnavigate a frozen puddle
2) Fatuous – Her fatuous point during the debate costed her team the match
3) Jejune – The poem seems jejune to me despite having received global attention

ii)                  One lesson I learned from the material is that we must never give up no matter how hopeless life has to offer us because eventually, it will get better. A wise man once said, “In the end, things will get better, if it doesn’t, then it is not the end”. 

PERFECT PEOPLE (CHAPTER 11-24)

After the treatment on the ship for months with Dr. Dettore, the couple returned to their home to continue their daily life. They were at first reluctant assuming that the treatment was a success and their boy will be a great person one day. That was until they meet Dr. Rosengarton where she told them their test results regarding their child that she was a girl. The couple was devastated, thinking that if deciding the gender of the child which should be the easiest task can't be done properly, how can they be sure that other traits have been incorporated into their child's DNA? And more importantly will their child get sick like the one's before? Ensuring X and Y chromosome should have been a piece of cake for someone who sought himself as a genetic doctor. To reassure themselves, the couple tried consulting other doctor to see if Rosengarton could have made a mistake but it all seems hopeless. Of course they were mad and ever since that, they tried to contact Dr. Dettore but he couldn't be reached because he might be out of area. In the meantime, John was interviewed by a woman about his work and after getting himself drunk, he made out with her and to make things worse, Naomi found out about it. Eventually, Naomi and John held to each other in a good way. One fine morning, John received an email from Dr. Dettore that he will contact them later and they were happy because they thought they could find a solution for their problem. But as soon as things about to look great, something terrible happened. On the news, it was reported Dr. Dettore died on a helicopter explosion and it might have been caused by intentional explosion. 

i) Three interesting words: 

1) Clout - Kourtney Kardashian have a big clout and because of that, she managed to launch her new product successfully. 

2) Curt - Anis is being curt to Jane when explaining her plans for the class. 

3) Sanity - Abu loses his sanity when he founds out that his cat has died in a tragic accident. 

 

i) What advise would you give to the character?

- I would advise the couple to be strong and endure everything that is coming their way. I mean having to spent thousands of dollars on something that doesn't work out is not a good way to have your first child. Even so, they could do nothing about their loss since the doctor himself is dead. 

The Great Gatsby

 

Nick Carraway was a Yale graduate and he once had a dream of becoming a novel writer. But in 1992, the stocks price increased tremendously and he made the decision to take a job in New York as bond salesman. He rented a small, cozy house in West Egg. Next to a lavish mansion known to be owned by Jay Gatsby. A mysterious millionaire. Nick soon began to learn Gatsby held parties every weekend and powerful people from all over New York will come but Gatsby himself never showed up at his own party. 

One day, Nick droves to East Egg for dinner at his cousin's house, Daisy Buchanan. Who is married to Tom Buchanan, one of the wealthiest person in America. There, he was introduced to an attractive, cynical young golfer named Jordan Baker. And Nick began his romantic relationship with her. She revealed to Nick that Tom have a mistress named Myrtle who lived in an industrial dumping ground with her husband. They somehow managed to keep their relationship a secret. 

During summer, Nick received an actual invitation to one of Gatsby's parties. There she met Jordan and Jay Gatsby for the first time. Jordan told Nick that Gatsby and Daisy were once mad couple but when Gatsby had to go to war, they were separated. Later on, Daisy met Tom and on the day of their marriage, Daisy received a letter from Gatsby but realised somehow it was too late for her to stop the marriage. Gatsby on the other hand gained wealth and built his mansion across the bay to Daisy's house. Gatsby spent many nights staring at the green light from Daisy's dock, hoping one day to rekindle their lost romance. 

Gatsby wanted a reunion with her and realising that, Nick invited Daisy to his house for a tea, without telling her Gatsby will also be present. After reestablishing their relationship, Tom grew suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans' house, Daisy spokes to Gatsby with such undisguised intimacy that Tom realised she is in love with Gatsby. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is outraged by his wife's infidelity. He forced the group to drive into New York City and confronted Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, asserting that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand. In addition to that, he announced to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal whose fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realised that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sent her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him. 

When Jordan, Nick and Tom passes the industrial dumping ground, they discovered that Gatsby's yellow custom car had killed Myrtle. Myrtle's husband was so outraged that he believed a lie told by Tom that Gatsby had a scandal with his wife and killed her purposely. Nick later learned that Daisy was actually who accidentally killed Myrtle but Gatsby decided to keep it as a secret. 

When Daisy was about to call Gatsby to plan to runaway from everything and starts a new life, Myrtle's husband fatally shot Gatsby to 'avenge' his wife's death. Then, he committed suicide. Nick stages an unsettlingly small funeral for Gatsby. Unfortunately, no one showed up at his funeral, not even Daisy. He felt really sorry for Gatsby who devoted his life for the love of his life but got nothing in return. Nick then ended his relationship with Jordan and moved back to Midwest to start a new life. 

i) Three interesting words: 

1) Cynical - Being a cynical young boy, John showed no interest in taking part to serve the community. 

2) Lavish - He was lavish with his hospitality 

3) Rekindle - The photos rekindled memories with his past colleagues. 

ii)  I liked the movie because it had a personal impact on me. Jay Gatsby was a great man and did everything he could to make Daisy happy because she meant the world for him. Daisy on the other hand did not took responsibilities of her action killing Myrtle and more disgustingly ran away with Tom on the day of his funeral. Gatsby deserved a lot more than what Daisy did, but that's what life do. You will oftenly found yourself in Gatsby's shoe where you gave your all to someone/something but ended up being treated like shit. They won't appreciate for what you have gone through to keep them happy. But it is your responsibility to get on your toes and move on. We have to beat on, boats against the current and borne ceaselessly to the state where we would be fine. Nobody's going to feel sorry for you and you will have to realise that in the end of any situation, you will only have yourself to count on. 

PERFECT PEOPLE (CHAPTER 1-10)

        

 

John and Naomi Klaesson were grieved by their son's traumatic death that continued to haunt them several years later. They soon began to learn that their son suffered a rare yet deadly genetic disorder called Dreyens-Schlemmer. They then were desperate to have another child but when they found out they are both carriers of rogue gene, the odds of their next child contracting the same  disease are high. After earning and borrowing enough funds, the couple decided to take Doctor Leo Dettore as their solution. They will have to board a big ship and it travels as long as the treatment is going. But what's weird about that ship is that they didn't see any other clients than themselves. He is a geneticist and un popularly known as someone who could help people with such problems. The couples were reluctant to opt for him but since he is their last resort they took risks being their client. After running a few tests, the results show that they both inherited lots of disease; enough to fill up 16 pages. Doctor Leo strongly advised the couple to add up good traits into their next son's DNA because he believed that it was fundamental for someone in this ever challenging world. But the couple disagreed because they don't want their child to be so different from other children that he might not have friends in his life. 

i) Three interesting words :

    1) dungarees - The boy Looked handsome in his blue dungarees.  

    2) tamper - Someone tampered with the brakes, causing the driver to lost control and crashed to a tree. 

    3) assertive - Patients should be more assertive with their doctor

ii) What advice would you offer on one of the character? 

- I will advice Naomi Klaesson to inherit great genes into his son. I believe it is fundamental and beneficial for someone to possess as much as good traits as he could. It would help him a lot in his studies in schools and college. It will also help him to find a good work that can earn him enough money without having to work harder than anyone else. 

The Theory Of Everything

Stephen Hawking is an astrophysics student in Cambridge University. He excels at mathematics and physics and often surprises his colleagues and lecturers. While working on his PhD, he stumbles upon a beautiful young woman, Jane. There, his life started to change and everything seems to be perfect for him.

One unfortunate day, he fell and hit his head. Causing a serious mental defect, motor neuron disease. He will unable to talk, swallow, breathe or move most of his body and the doctor told him he has approximately two years to live. As Stephen becomes reclusive, focusing on work, Jane confesses to him. She vows to stay with him even though his condition worsens. They got married later and have a son.
After having a second child, Stephen develops a theory about the visibility of black holes and becomes a world-renowned physicist. Despite being famous, his health worsens that Jane founds Jonathan where he befriends the whole family and contributed a lot to them. There, Jane started to fall in love with Jonathan and after some time they confessed to each other.
Stephen on the other hand met Elaine, fell in love and went to America together.  Jane and Stephen eventually break up, however the two of them remain close friends.










i) 3 interesting words from the material :
1) Compassion – Jane promptly shows compassion towards Stephen for problems that he faced
2) Insightful – Stephen is insightful towards physics that he managed to come up with several                                     brilliant theory
3) Unconventional - The unconventional marriage between Stephen and Jane eventually causes                                            
them to break up.


ii) In my opinion, the most significant aspect of the movie was when Jane decided to devote her life to help Stephen. She was very patient with whatever struggle storms her life as well as Stephen’s. It was mesmerizing that she could still love Stephen no matter how harsh the reality turn up to be, and helped him defy every expectations, both scientific and personal. She should be a good example for young woman who’s about to get serious with their relationships.