Haiku

Another year's gone,

I can hear birds on the tree

Singing in the spring

Rhythm of the falling rain

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain please tell me know does that seem fair
For her to steal my heart away when she don't care
I can't love another when my heart's somewhere far away
The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain won't you tell her that I love her so
Please ask the sun to set her heart aglow
Rain in her heart and let the love we knew start to grow
Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
Oh listen to the falling rain

I like this song because of not only its rhyming lyric and also the story it tells among the lyrics. It is pretty obvious that the lyrics are rhyming. Like the end words of the lines, "rain", "vain", "start" and "heart", they sound alike. Although the lyrics seem to be a little long, the words are actually simple. And the lyrics keep repeating in the later part. Thus, it is easy to memorize the whole lyrics of this song.

What's more interesting, the story in this song is impressive and kind of sad. It talks about a love story which a boy was attracted by a beautiful girl and had fallen in love with her. However, the girl in the story just went away and left the boy alone. The rest of the song tells how the boy missed the girl, and how sad he was. By using simple rhyming sentences, a simple but a little sad love story is shown in front of my eyes. In fact, if you listen to this song without noticing its lyrics, you might think that it is a happy and relaxing song. However, the lyrics are sad and regretful, which is opposite to what it sounds like.

Based on this three points, the rhyming lyrics, the beautiful story and the different feeling before or after listening to the song, it is really attractive, I think.

Poem-True Friend

True Friend

--Ashley Campbell

A friend is like a star that twinkles and glows
Or maybe like the ocean that gently flows
A friend is like gold that you should treasure 
And take care of forever and ever
A friend is like an angel that is there to guide you
A friend is someone you can trust out of a few
A friend is more than one in a million 
They are one in a ca-zillion
And you, my friend, are very special
and so it is official.

This poem is about true friends we have. I chose this poem because I think it is rhyming and lyrical. It's pretty easy to memorize. I like the sentences "A friend is like an angel that is there to guide you/ A friend is someone you can trust out of a few". They are educational and thought-provoking.

Reflection on project

     During the time working on my project about Pobby and Dingan, I learned a lot and really enjoyed working on it. I chose to write biographies because I think it's helpful to understand deeply about the novel. There were some questions which were not discuss in the class, such as the personalities of different characters, the motivation of one character's behavior, and the relationship between those characters. So I decided three characters to research for. At first, I thought it wouldn't be hard to finish a project, but when I began my work, I found that I had to spend a lot of time to read the book over and over again in order to find the clues.

     For the Ashmol's part, it was the longest essay which I spent more time on it. And it was the part that I talked about both Ashmol's deeper personalities and the main idea of the novel. Since the whole story was told in Ashmol's sight, there was abundant information for me to know more about Ashmol himself. His personalities appeared in the conversations and his mental activities, so it was usually harder to identify which part was more important that I could count it as a clue. At first I tried to focus on the more important chapters to find if there were any hints to show his features. After reading these parts over and over again, I found that they didn't help a lot. Since these parts were really helpful to reveal other characters' personalities but not really help explain Ashmol's, I had to search for the book once again. And then I realized that some chapters which were so-called no that important for the plot were more essential for me to dig deeper into Ashmol's world. There were some short chapters which seemed to be less important but actually helped a lot because they were simply composed of Ashmol's thoughts after an event happened. The longer chapters had to promote important events, so they seldom included what Ashmol's thought toward the events. So I then looked at these shorter chapters and started again. After I explored about Ashmol's characteristics, I realized it was easier to learn the main idea of the book. So I tried to discuss it a little bit in Ashmol's biography, but I didn't do very well. I thought there was a connection between the main character Ashmol and the main point of the novel, but I couldn't really connect them perfectly in Ashmol's biography.

     Kellyanne's biography was the one that I paired more attention on because I could know more about Pobby and Dingan, two invisible but important characters. Actually when I began to read the beginning of the novel, I was like Ashmol, considering Kellyanne as a "fruit loop". Kellyanne was like a autistic kid in the town and didn't know how to stay well with others; as a result, she created two imaginary friends in order to pretend that she was not lonely. When I finished reading the book for the first time, I felt really sorry for Kellyanne. Then I began thinking about Pobby and Dingan. I was confused the reason why Kellyanne created two imaginary friends with some different personalities and appearances. However, there was not much information about Pobby and Dingan in the whole story. The only clues I had were the descriptions and of their appearances and personalities. So I read them again and again. Then I realized that Pobby and Dingan existed for some reasons. So I explained the relationship among Pobby, Dingan and Kellyanne. And I thought it was a success. I was satisfied with Kellyanne's biography

     As for Rex's biography, it was kind of short because there weren't many plots talking about him and I couldn't find more about Rex himself. So I asked myself what I could work on this biography. It was hard to begin it because I failed to think about any ideas. I asked myself again: why Rex Williamson had an argument with his wife? Why there was a chapter talking about how life was when Annie was in England and had a great time with her ex-boyfriend? Then I realized that maybe that was the point I could explore about. If Annie was happy in the England and was not satisfied with life in Lightning Ridge, why she gave up her happy life in England and came to Australia with Rex? This was the point I could reveal because it explained how Rex's characteristics attracted Annie. Thus, I looked for some clues to help me understand this point and wrote them into the biography. I succeeded finishing it and was satisfied with my work.

     In a nutshell, I wasn't regret choosing to write biographies as my project. I learned what I didn't know in class.

     

Progress about my project

I've just finished Ashmol's biography and started with Kellyanne's right now. I am focusing on the parts of Kellyanne in the book and trying to find some details from the book so that I can start my essay. For Rex's biography, I will also be looking for plots in the book and turn them to a short biography, because the whole book doesn't talk too much about him. For the final work, there are going to be three different essays about three characters. I will get 10 copies of each so that everyone can have one. During the presentation, I will split the class into three groups and read different biographies and answer the questions I make.

Proposal for my creative project

You will need to submit a proposal (one per group) that says exactly what you plan to do, how you will do it, why, and what you hope to learn from it. Also discuss the estimated amount of time you think it will take and how you will break down the time into a project noting the days and times you will complete each part of the project. If you are working in a group, please specify exactly who will do what and when.

     For my own project, I'm going to play as a biographer to do research on the characters more deeply and explore the relationships from one to another. I will mainly focus on and discuss the characters like Ashmol, Kellyanne, Ashmol's parents and Pobby and Dingan. These five are the most important characters in both the book and the movie, and the story is developed around them. Also, there are other characters which are not so important but still help promote the plot of the story and thus I would also like to study them. In general, I will put more attention on Ashmol, the main character, and Kellyanne and her two imaginary friends. For me, I think the most mysterious characters are Pobby and Dingan. They don't even talk in the whole book because they are invisible. Their appearances are also described by Kellyanne but not be seen by others. As a result, Pobby and Dingan remain unclear to me. From my perspective, Pobby and Dingan represent different kinds of people. As Kellyanne says, Pobby is shy and quiet, and Dingan is beautiful and is a pacifist. Both of them are really friendly. But why does kellyanne think she has these two kinds of friends but not like others? Are these two different personalities represent some kind of Kellyanne's characteristics?

      Also, the main character, Ashmol, is also worth being studied. In the beginning of the book, it seems like he is a boy with no sympathy with his sister and doesn't believe in anything. Just like his dad, he concentrates on the opals and his boring life in the desert. But how does he change when Kellyanne is sick? Why does he agree to help to look for Pobby and Dingan over and over again? And why does he finally convince himself that Pobby and Dingan are in reality? And why does his dad acts like he truly believes that Pobby and Dingan are real and even takes care of them in the beginning of the book? How does dad know mom? Why mom doesn't choose her ex-boyfriend to marry?

     For my project, I think I will spend 8 hours in total to complete. The first 4 hours I will look back at the book, exploring the important quotes form it and thinking about how they relate to the plot. After that, I will collect and manage the information I get from the book to make an outline about what I am going to write in my biography. The rest of the time I will begin working on my essay talking about the characters I mentioned above. By objectly expressing the information I get from the book, I think I am able to learn more about this book and think more about these characters and the main idea of the book.

My own thoughts of Pobby and Dingan

     The book Pobby and Dingan is all about love and dreams. From my perspective, the quote saying "The secret of an opal's color lies not in its substance but in its absences" means something which is missing is more important than something that is already shown in front of our eyes. 

     The main character Ashmol Williamson is a boy living in Lightning Ridge in Australia. The Williamson family is struggling with opals all day long. Everyone in this family has their own problems. In the book, Dad is considered as a "ratter" by others in the town because of the accusation of Old Sid, who claims that Dad is stealing his opals in his claim; Mom is homesick and feels less hope and also angry about finding opals, and she also winders she might did a wrong decision for coming to Australia; Kellyanne is sick and is dying because of unknown reasons. As the only one who has no problems in the family, Ashmol has to do something to change the situation of his family. He tries to get into his Dad's claim at night in order to help Kellyanne to find her imaginary friends. Instead of finding their corpses, he finds a beautiful opal under the rocks. He decides to sell the opal for a funeral for Pobby and Dingan, although at first he wants to sell it for a holiday for his mom. He does so because he knows what is more important than money and those practical things.

     For Mr. Dan, the opal means money because of its beautiful colors; for Kellyanne, it means the corpses of Pobby and Dingan; for mom, maybe it values a holiday back to England; for Ashmol himself, the opal he found means hope. He thinks the opal is the only way to save his dying sister. After a series of changes happened to their family, Ashmal thinks he can only get his family out of such undurable situation by making Kellyanne feels better. Ashmol invites everyone in the town to attend the funeral holding for Pobby and Dingan, and the successful funeral makes everyone in the Williamson family feels better. The relationship between them has been warmed up again. Although there is a sad ending for Kellyanne, the rest of her life is covered by warmth from her family and even the whole town.

     Pobby and Dingan are invisible, but they are real. Because "perception creates reality", and Kellyanne perceives them, then they do exist in the world. The "absences" are actually the previous warmth in Ashmol's family. He finds it through the funeral and thus his family gets better again. Only when people feel warmth can they have hope and dream. So the Williamson family is able to dreaming about their future again. It's the "absence" which makes the whole family look wonderful and as shiny as the mysterious opal.