Our Universe Of Obligation

Mankind is no island. What does that mean? The word 'island' means a piece of land surrounded by water and a feeling resembling an island is the feeling of being isolated and detached. Mankind is no island. No human being or man should have that feeling of being isolated or detached. In other words, no human being should stand on his or her own and no human being should feel that he or she is alone in this world.

In this poem John Donne emphasizes the idea of no man is an island entirely of itself. No man is alone and no man stands by himself or herself. 'Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.' This quote really stands out as Donne is saying every man's death affect all of us as we are all involved in mankind. Donne suggests that we are all interconnected in our universe of obligation. The word 'obligation' comes from the Latin root 'ligare' which means to bind therefore we are all bound together in this world.

Jason Van Genderen's visual poem 'Mankind Is No Island' emphasizes the same idea no man is an island and no man should be standing alone. On the streets, there are so many homeless people. We show our empathy and sympathy by giving them money but honestly should we be showing our empathy through money or love or just simple acknowledgement by smiling? In the video, people stop and give these homeless people money but no one really stops and listens to their stories. People just walk past these homeless people and don't even glance at them. People don't care about them. They are isolated. They feel detached. They're on an island. They all have stories and if we just listen to them, that feeling of being isolated and detached will diminish from this world.

I think both poems are trying to tell us that every man is important to the world and that we should care for others like homeless people and not only restricting ourselves to caring only about our own friends and family. Should not all of mankind fall into our circle of obligation? Should we not feel pain or concern when we see or hear through the news that people are suffering through starvation, or lack of access to health care? Do we not all have rights?

'Mankind is no island'. This relates to the themes of 'The Island' by Armin Greder and Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle for democracy. Donne and Genderen's themes of interconnection relates to the themes of 'The Island'. A vulnerable stranger appears from the wild sea and he is rejected and separated because he looks different than the others there. They didn't listen to his story and just locked him away. Just because we see others that are 'alien' to us our mind completely shuts out. It shuts out the value of humanity toward other mankind. Why do we do this? We have a choice to acknowledge or just ignore. Most people choose ignore. Should we be doing this? We judge people that are different from what they look like but really should we be shutting out just because other people seem like aliens? No man is an island. No man should be judged by his differences that seem 'alien' to us.

Aung San Suu Kyi also relates to the term 'Mankind is no island'. She has said that her arrest and her fight for democracy is no different than any other person under arrest and their fight for democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi has given up so much for her people. She has given up her personal matters for her people. People in need and she's been recognized all over the world for what she has done. She treats her people like her family. She stayed in Burma to help her people, her people in need. Aung San Suu Kyi has given up so much. She couldn't say good bye to her husband who died of cancer and she has missed out on the chance of watching her two boys grow up. It's these sacrifices that make us admire her. She had to give up so much and honestly, how many of us have had to sacrifice as much as she had to?

Aung San Suu Kyi also has given up her own safety but her believe in the interconnection with the people of Burma stopped her. She could've been safe. She could've been with her family and yet, she gave her personal matters up. Shouldn't 'Mankind Is No Island' be effort from all mankind, from all human beings? Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the leaders, who are trying to make the words 'Mankind Is No Island' work. We, as human beings, as people part of our universe of obligation should help in making the words 'Mankind Is No Island' work.

I chose this painting- painted by Morris Louis as the stripes on the sides are different and they spread from the bottom left and right corner but stop as they invade into the space. And it symbolizes 'ignorance' as both clusters of stripes don't want to acknowledge the alien which is the space in the middle.

10 Objects That Represent Me

A mug with a dog on it, glasses case, a ticket to the National Museum Of Singapore, Apple Care Protection Plan, A tag which says Natural Shopper, a sequin beaded cow, a Smiggle case, headphones, Glee DVD and a statue with 3 people on it. What on earth do these objects/odd assortment of ‘stuff’ say about me- my interests, excitements, passions and my life.

First, the mug with a dog on it because I really love dogs. My dog’s name is Izzie Elisha Wilkerson. She’s a Miniature Schnauzer and she’s from America and the Philippines but was born right here in Penang, Malaysia. I remember I had always wanted a dog ever since my mother’s dog, Coco passed on. Then, one day when my brother and I returned from school, there was a miniature schnauzer sleeping on my mother’s lap who started barking at me. I was so happy. I remember when I was in the middle of a big fight with my friend and I was lying on my bed, crying, devastated and Izzie jumped on my bed. She licked the streaming tears that were coming down my face. She made me feel much better and I hugged her and that was when I realized that Izzie was my true best friend. She has never turned me down when I needed a hug or never wasn’t there when I needed her.

I chose a glasses case because I use to wear glasses for about 6 years now and it feels like a part of me. When I wore glasses, I felt like I had to put them on because I was so used to wearing them and it felt wrong when I didn’t have them on. It was like my helping friend, one who helped me see the beauty of life. I remember the moment when I first got my glasses, it was like a miracle. Suddenly the world was so clear and it was amazing. Now, I’ve moved on from my helping glasses to my hard-lens contacts. When I first put them in, they really hurt and I started tearing but after 5 magical hours, I took them out and the world was as clear as it looked like with my helping glasses but the only difference was that I wasn’t wearing my glasses. After 2 weeks, of waiting for my contacts to be created, it was time for the overnight wear. The overnight wear meant that I had to put the contacts on after cleaning it with saline solution and cleansing solution and jump into bed. After that 12 hours of sleeping, I woke up to my alarm clock and went into the bathroom to remove these contacts and for the rest of the day it was crystal clear. It was magic.

A ticket to the National Museum Of Singapore shows that I went to a Museum and I really like history. I find history a really fascinating subject because you can see how much time has changed and when you look at what we have now; computers, iPods and iPhones & thumbdrives and what the time before us had; they had to struggle to find food you just go ‘WOW!’ It really fascinates me how so many things have happened over the thousands of years.

‘Why an Apple Care Protection Plan?’ You may ask. Well it’s because I am really good at using technology and I help my classmates and teachers when they have problems with technology. I really like using tech because it is so much useful. When you compare students back in the day, they had to carry around heavy textbooks and dictionaries when now you have Google Docs and laptops which have everything from calculators and dictionaries. I remember in 6th Grade when we first were starting up blogs and how everyone was struggling but I just ran through it and chose really cool backgrounds and I remember that feeling when everyone came up to me and asked me how to add the cool backgrounds onto their blogs. The feeling was in replaceable and the fact that I got to help many other classmates just kept me smiling.

I chose the tag which says Natural Shopper because I’m a shopaholic. I buy a lot of junk and at times I don’t really need it. My favourite place to shop is in Bangkok and whenever I go there I end up coming back with tons of stuff like necklaces, bracelets, stationary and bags. I love buying things but I’ve learnt that I can’t keep shopping and shopping when its wasting money. Now, I only buy things when necessary like binders and stationary for school and sometimes clothes.

The sequin beaded cow is important to me because I was born in the year of the cow. The year of my birth to me is really special because I was born on the 12th Of December (12/12) but it was sad that I wasn’t born in 2012. I really like my birthday because its something special to me and people remember my birthday because its so easy to remember and when people wish me Happy Birthday on Facebook (yes, it’s really annoying when you have to say Thank You to 400 over people) i enjoy it because I’m grateful that each and everyone of them took at least 3 minutes of their time to say Happy Birthday to me.

I chose a Smiggle case because I really like buying stationary. I love the brand Smiggle because it has lots of cool stuff like animal shaped erases on cute small ice-cream sticks and zippy pencil cases. I remember when I first discovered the brand Smiggle. I was at Claremont, Perth and we were walking down the street and we saw the brand and we walked in and there was a bunch of cool stuff. I took such a long time choosing what I wanted because there was so many colorful and cool stuff. There were Nintendo DS skin’s, iPod skins, phone skins, cool patterned notebooks and cool shaped erasers.

I LOVE listening to music a lot whether I’m on a plane, in the car or on the bus and that’s why I chose headphones. I love catching up on latest music and right now, I’m listening to Airplanes by B.O.B feat Hayley Williams. I love the song ‘Airplanes’ because sometimes in situations that I really don’t want to be in, I always wish to have a wish to make all the hurt go away especially when I’m in fights and times when I’m just hurt. I really like these earphones because when you listen to music through these earphones the sound quality is AMAZING!

If you don’t know what Glee is about well let me tell you, it’s about expressing yourself through music and drama, both which are very important to me. Drama is something that I can relate to as its part of life. Every step you take it’s like your on stage and to me when I’m on stage its like a total different place where its just happy thoughts and no hurt. I remember when in 6th Grade, Drama and we were having small plays and I was acting in one and I was asked to narrate another play and at that moment performing for an audience, the feeling just kept me smiling.

I chose the statue with 3 people on it because it represents my mom, brother and I. I really love my family and especially my mom. My mom always supports me in whatever I do. She’s does things that I don’t think I could do for my own daughter. She gives up so much for me and I really love her and she guides me through the way of life. I love my brother too so much even though he’s a devil. I love him because when I’m sad or I don’t accomplish what I wanted to he’s always there to support me and there to say ‘I love him, it’s okay Jie Jie’. Jie Jie in Chinese means older sister. I really love my dad to because he pays so much for my education and even he’s not home often I always feel that he protects me and really encourages me in no matter what I do.

I’m a person who loves music and drama, a person who loves history, a person who loves being with family.

Why I chose 'Little Voices Of Courage'

I chose 'Little Voices of Courage because when people hear the word 'Courage' they think of big and heroic things and that is what courage is about but not many people think about the little things that people do that need courage to keep them motivated to do it.

The Quote;
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow. By Mary Anne Radmacher. That's what made me think. If I needed to do something today and I couldn't accomplish it I wouldn't just give up and 'courage' keeps me motivated to try again tomorrow. And that's why I chose 'Little Voices Of Courage' as my blog title for Grade 7.

Respond to Matt Harding's Dancing Video

I think that Matt Harding is a really friendly and open person. His video's of him dancing all over the world in 70 different countries and 7 different continents really shows the world how much he thinks that dancing can unite so many people together no matter wherever they are. He invited people to join him on his dancing quest and to see all those smiles on people's faces it made me feel so happy and made me feel like i wanted to join him.

I chose this picture because its very colorful and when I look at it, it made me feel so happy. http://www.public-republic.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/from-the-windows-of-jupiter.jpg

Respond to the 'Compliment Guys'

When I watched the YouTube video of Cameron Brown & Brett Westcott, I couldn't stop having a smile on my face. Everyone likes compliments and the way Cameron and Brett just went out with a sign and giving people compliments was just fantastic. It was also very nice how they just gave people compliments without asking for anything in return. I really think that giving your peers, your parents, your siblings, your teachers & any random stranger a compliment and you smile at them I believe its one of the best feelings. Another thing that the 'Compliment Guys' are doing is that they are showing people that if you say anything positive to anyone you will always get a smile back. I believe that in the outside world a lot of people are feeling stressed about jobs, reports & etc and when you have some people like the 'Compliment Guys' giving you a compliment it makes you feel so much better and it gives you a boost and you would want to give other people that. So if everyone keeps this up, the world can be such a great place to be.

The Giver Blog Post

Would you want your future to be decided by others ? why or why not ?

I would not want other people to be decided by others. In the book 'Giver' the people in that community had to follow rules and each dwelling had the book which contained the rules which were to be followed which was called the 'Book Of Rules'. In our world, we have rules & laws that we have to follow but we have the freedom to make our own choices. Referring to the book 'The Giver' people in their community, had their choices made for them and if the people didn't like what they had been assigned to they just had to accept it. If other people chose your future for you, you will not understand what you shouldn't do and what you should do because you'll just be walking a path that other people made for you. If you were to make a path yourself that would be more interesting and if you are not happy with the path you have made for yourself you cant blame anyone else but yourself because that was the path YOU made for yourself. Also, when you have accomplished something, you'll be thankful to yourself and not to the person who chose for you to do it. When you grow up and look back at your past your going to be proud because its the path that YOU created. That is why I wouldn't want others to decide my future for me.

the end is here.... :(

The end is here. What I mean by 'the end' is that it is the end of our tripods book and it's time to get a move on with our lives.. I have chosen to write a letter to Will.

Dear Will,
I have a few questions to ask you. I'm very curious about your relationship with Henry.. Did your relationship with him get anywhere? Are you guys still enemies or good pals? Also, I was wondering whether you still keep in contact with Eloise. Obviously you miss her but do you wish you could go back in time and do it all over again? When the Tripods were stalking you three, did it ever occur to you to give up and just surrender? Enough questions from the past. How are you, Henry and Beanpole doing in the White Mountains? Is it nice there and did you meet any other interesting people such as yourselves? Have you ever thought of going back to your parents?

I can honestly tell you if I were you, I would've already given up. Especially the time where the Tripods were stalking you, I would've surrendered. I liked how you, Henry and Beanpole didn't give up and stood up to what you believed in.

As Ozymandias said the chances to reach the White Mountains is very unlikely I think that you guys did a fantastic job!!

Regards, Clarissa

Review on the Book :

At first I HATED the book but I decided to put away my negativity and i enjoyed the middle of the book but when it reached the end i didn't really like it because nothing really happens.. All that happens is that the writer tells the reader that they have reached the white mountains. I really like the climax because it went from Just henry and Will to Henry, Will and Beanpole and when they reached Chateau de La Rouge new characters were introduced and i found the climax very entertaining.