Free – Fall

A Found Poem from Lord of the Flies

Pages: 28 – 60, 100 – 168, 169 – 221

Full Text:

They accepted the pleasures of morning,

The bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air,

As a time when play was good,

Life so dull,

That hope was not necessary.

Forgotten.

Strange things happen at midday,

The glittering sea rises up,

Moving apart in planes of blatant impossibility:

Coral reefs, stunted palms,

Clinging to elevated parts that would float up into the sky,

Quivering,

Like raindrops on a wire,

A tone in agony.

Dark skies,

Shattered by a blue-white scar,

Noise like the blow of a gigantic whip.

The crowd surging after the beast,

Screaming, striking, biting,

Madness of extreme terror

Shattering the heart of civilization in their fear,

Nothing but screaming

Of fright

Anger

And desperation.

THe English Patient – Entry 9

Finally, we have successfully completed out inquiry question project and we are now preparing for our pecha kucha presentation. We are most likely going to do it live because of certain schedule contraints that prevent us from making a film, but it will be great nonetheless. However, overall the entire experience was very fun, with the novel definitely invoking my interest on the effects that wars have on individuals, as well as whether people are truly altruistic or not. Even the visit to Admiral Seymour Elementary School was extremely fun, as we really felt that we helped the community through our donations. In the end, I feel that every single part of this activity was important, and they will remain as great memories of mine for a very long time. 

The English Patient – Entry 8

After finishing the English Patient, i have to say that this book really surprised me. in the very beginning, before i started reading the book, i did not think that it would be this dense. However, the book is not dense in terms of size, but rather in terms of all of the content that is contained within this book. With its great amount of detail, it is no wonder how this book won famous awards. The feelings of the characters were expressed through their actions until the very end, when Kip decided to leave the villa. This really examplified his emotions as he feels that his trust was once again betrayed by western aggression, that if Japan was a white country, they would not have bombed it. In a way, I believe that Kip is right, but countries can change their attitudes over time. Yet, since I have not had my faith betrayed yet, i understand hoe difficult it must be for him to start believing again. In the end, the English Patient is a fantastic book that relies on the characters to build the plot, and with its amazingly detailed description, this is truly a book that sparks in terest in human relationships for readers everywhere.

The English Patient – Entry 7

Thinking back, the English Patient focuses on many important aspects of life that remain unchanged by the war. For example, the desire to protect and help people still exists, despite the coldness of war that resonates itself through everyone that is trapped in it. Despite being unable to escape from this hellish prison, they are still trying to stay true to their values and maintain their humanity, such as how Kip dedicates himself to remove bombs for other people despite them having different beliefs as him. For Kip, who is trapped between the western ideals and his own culture, he still struggles to help others despite struggling to find his own identity. Ultimately, the English Patient is a book that focuses on the characters of the story, and the interactions of the characters will definitely become more and more interesting.

The English Patient – Entry 6

The inquiry question that we have chosen for our project is “are people altruistic”. this idea of altruism is shown by characters such as Hana helping the English patient, and it may be found in other areas of the book as well. For our project, we plan to collect items that we can donate to the Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund, such as food, clothing, and other supplies. Also, we will donate to another elementary school in a “sister school” like program where we will donate school supplies to assist in studying. We believe that there are poorer schools in our region that do deserve lots of help. Also, we will be writing a letter to the MLA together to discuss the current problems that are plaguing our society and the solutions that we have thought of, as well how the possible solutions that we thought up. Also, we will be planning and conducting fundraising operations in the future. We hope that by doing this, we can exemplify ourselves as people who are selflessly helping others. 

The English Patient – Entry 4

In this part of the English Patient that I have read, it is revealed that Hana cut off her hair because it got in the the way of her work. Furthermore, after being in the war for such a long period, she started to become more cold toward others. To me, this seems as if she is throwing away her womanhood in order to dedicate herself to help other people. However, in a way, Hana has also been emotionally scarred by the war, and in her case this originated from the notice that informed her of her father’s death. Therefore, she wishes, in a way, to be far away from war by remaining in the villa. Once again, this closely reflects how war is of extreme intensity that can very easily completely change another person’s personality. I am not quite sure of how Hana’s character will develop from here, but I know I will eventually through the story of The English Patient. 

The English Patient – Entry 3

The inquiry question I have for today is: Are people who they seem to be? After taking a closer look at the English Patient, it would appear that the nurse believes that the burned patient is English due to his speaking style and mannerisms. However, while a style of how someone speaks can determine who that person is, I believe that the English Patient may not actually be who he claims to be. This is because his past is very mysterious, therefore it would not surprise me thatthere was some of sort of twist involved with this mysterious character. He may only be pretending to be English to obtain help, for example. Then again, on the other side, it is quite possible that he is just an everyday englishman, but I feel that the twist is much better if he turned out to be of another race, mainly because I would like to see how the nurse would react. The nurse seems to have an idea of who the English Patient is, and I think that seeing her reactions to the truth will be very interesting. However, only time will tell, and thus I continue to dwell deeper into the story of the English Patient, in hopes of finding the answer to my question.

The English Patient – Entry 2

While reading the first few pages of The English Patient, I discovered that the story is actually about the nurse taking care of an English Patient who was abandoned by other doctors and nurses. It seems that the story takes place during World War II, where the German army has actually planted mines around the house where the nurse and her English Patient currently reside in, making it very difficult for her to leave this melancholic cage. However, she herself does not appear to have any intentions of leaving, because she is fully concentrated on her English Patient. This makes me wonder why she would do so much, going at the point of risking her life, for a helpless person, and what caused her to make that decision of staying to help. I feel that this is a very interesting point and I will be glad to keep reading on to find out more about why the nurse chose to take this path. My inquiry question today is mainly related to how the nurse and her burnt victim are trapped in the house, surrounded by mines. In life, people may not necessarily be trapped physically, but rather mentally. They feel that they cannot breathe, as if forcefully submerged underwater. Despite their struggles to reach the surface, they can never manage to break free of the cold, icy grasp. I have also had similar experiences to this due to factors such as stress, and I wish to learn more about how to solve this problem through reading this book, because so far, this book has provided me with the opinion that the best way to escape the cage, whether physical or mental, is to not pay attention to it. In this way, people could concentrate on getting things done instead of fruitless efforts in trying to break free. However, I greatly look forward to further elaboration on this point. 

The book that I decided to choose for this project is called the English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje. I chose this book because I know that this book has won many awards. Also, it was recommended by one of my friends when I was in grade 5, but I almost completely forgot to read it – well, until now. In any case, I believe that the premise of this book is very interesting, in that in the beginning, we know absolutely nothing about the bandaged man, so there is a mysterious factor within this book. It really perks my interest to learn more about theirs person and who he was before he received the injuries that he has now. I hope to learn more burned the emotions of burned or crippled men and women through this book, because I believe that knowing how other people feel is very important. My inquiry question is, how can I help war veterans who have been scarred both physically and mentally by world war 2, because I believe that they deserve to there specter and helped by everyone. 

Puzzle God

(source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KJtp_BV3Yw4/UDJT6qE6BJI/AAAAAAAACCE/840Jd5oAPYs/s1600/puzzles.gif)

“Will you please get a move on, Godfrey!? We’re going to be late for school!”

Godfrey Freyas hurried after his more athletic friend, Megan Vinces, as they ran towards the school gate. The sharp autumn winds blew through Godfrey’s straight black hair as he dashed forward among the gently falling crimson leaves.

If only I didn’t get stuck on that puzzle last night, he thought. Then I would not have to do all of this running…now that I think about it, what was the answer to that puzzle? Hmm…

“Less thinking, more running!” Megan shouted at the top of her lungs. “You know how bad the punishment is for late people!”

Megan’s loud voice broke Godfrey’s concentration, and he became aware of how late they were going to be if they continued at this pace. Godfrey hated running because they have absolutely nothing to do with puzzles. Then again, he dislikes anything that does not have anything to do with puzzles, but he did understand that he had to prioritize some things over others at given times.

“I know, I know!” he replied, as he struggled to catch up. The puzzle would simply have to be solved at another time.

The bell rang just at the time when Megan and Godfrey entered the classroom. Panting and out of breath, they slowly made their way toward their wooden desks and sat down on the smooth plastic chairs.

“Whew, what a relief!” said Megan to Godfrey, since Godfrey’s desk was right in front of Megan’s. “I’m amazed that we made it on time!”

However, Godfrey was not paying attention to his surroundings anymore. His mind was completely focused on remembering the solution to the puzzle that he was stuck on yesterday. He licked his lips and he could feel that it was just on the tip of his tongue…

“I remember now!” He cried loudly, standing up in a fit of excitement. “The ages of the children are three, three and eight!”

Everyone turned to stare at Godfrey, then turned around and focused on their work. This was pretty normal for the genius known as Godfrey Freyas, after all. Despite being a first year student, he has already established his fame as the smartest student in the entire academy, as well as the fact that he is extremely good at solving puzzles. Many people have challenged his brain, but there has never been a puzzle that he was not able to solve. Whether it was Sudoku, logic puzzles, mathematical enigmas, even jigsaw puzzles without a picture – all solutions were found by the hands of the Puzzle God.

Godfrey sat back in his chair as his morning classes passed by like the wind. He found that he often did not have to concentrate, since most of concepts were very simple for him. Besides, he would really like to dedicate all of his time to solving puzzles instead. Suddenly, it was lunchtime, so he went to the cafeteria and bought everything on the menu. This school has a special system where, if a student is within the top 1% of the entire student body in one specific area of focus, they would receive free food for a month. Godfrey hurried back to the classroom so he could start eating.

“Jeez, why did you order that much food?” Megan asked with a humorous tone. “Aren’t you afraid of getting fat?”

“Actually, I’ve always eaten at least this much!” exclaimed Godfrey, who, despite his food intake, has a surprisingly slim build. “I suppose that my brain burns off the extra calories.”

“Honestly, you defy science.” Megan sighed, looking at Godfrey munching on just about any kind of food items one can think of. Suddenly, she also noticed that someone was walking towards them. She raised her head, her long brown hair passing by her shoulders, and looked into the familiar face of the biggest jerk she has ever met in her life.

“Steven Edgelight.” She muttered under her breath. This student has always been jealous of Godfrey’s puzzle solving skills, she thought. What could he possibly want now?

“God – no, Dumbfrey Freyas, I have come to challenge you with the most dangerous and most difficult puzzle ever!” Steven shouted at the top of his lungs, causing a great silence to fall upon the classroom. However, the silence did not last long.

“Very well, Steven, I accept your challenge!” Godfrey replied. “And in return, you have to stop calling me Dumbfrey!”

“Wait, did you just say ‘dangerous’?” realized Megan. She knew that Steven liked making puzzles that no one could solve just as much as Godfrey liked solving them, but she never considered that puzzles could be dangerous. “Godfrey, this puzzle doesn’t sound very safe…”

“Don’t worry, Megan!” Godfrey exclaimed. He was so excited about a difficult puzzle that he completely ignored the danger part in his mind. “There’s no puzzle that I can’t solve!”

“Very well, Dumbfrey.” sneered Steven. “We’ll see if you are truly the puzzle god or not! Farewell!”

Steven handed Godfrey a letter-sized envelope and left. After school, Godfrey opened the parchment, discovering a piece of paper and a map within. He fixed his eyes on Steven’s handwriting, which was exceptionally hard to read.

“Let’s see…okay, so this puzzle is located in the mountains. Interesting…”

Suddenly, a hand appeared from above Godfrey and snatched the paper and the map away.

“Hey!” Godfrey cried, as he turned around. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“You’re not going anywhere without me!” Megan replied.

“No, I’m doing this alone. You said it yourself that it’s dangerous, remember?”

“That’s precisely why you can’t do this alone! I’m coming with you.”

“I refuse! I’ve always solved puzzles by myself, and I don’t plan on changing that!”

Godfrey took the contents of the letter back and started to walk towards the mountains.

Megan sighed. “Oh well, time to move to plan B…”

Without Godfrey noticing, Megan followed him from a distance, making sure that Godfrey did not see her. When Godfrey reached the mountains, he discovered that there was an entrance into one of the caverns. He walked in and he noticed that there was a staircase leading downwards. He descended the staircase, along with Megan following close behind. When Godfrey reached the foot of the staircase, he realized that there was a door with a puzzle on it. It was a touchscreen Sudoku, with a touchscreen pen for inputting numbers. Holding the pen in his hand, Godfrey easily inputted the correct numbers, one by one.

Piece of cake, he thought.

The door slowly opened, sliding towards the right direction to reveal a new maze. Godfrey walked into the stony labyrinth, but after taking a few steps forward he noticed that the door was closing behind him, trying to shut him in. He immediately broke into a run, and he was just about to make it out when suddenly, Megan rushed in and pushed Godfrey, along with herself, right back into the labyrinth.

“Ow!” shouted Godfrey, who landed on this back. “Megan, why did you follow me here? And worse, why did you push me back into the labyrinth?”

“Well, I was worried for your safety…” Megan frowned, as she looked away. “And I didn’t want you to be trapped in this horrifying maze alone, so…sorry.”

Godfrey pondered for a second on how badly he should scold Megan, but after seeing her being this sad, he decided to let go just this once.

“Okay, fine…” he sighed. “It’s not like just standing here will get us anywhere. Let’s start moving.”

Megan smiled. “Sure thing! I’ll try to be as helpful as I can!”

With this declaration, Megan rushed forward and ran past Godfrey, creating lots of dust in the still air.

“Wait, Megan!” Godfrey shouted behind her desperately. “There are traps within this puzzle!”

However, Megan, who was too focused on getting out of here as soon as possible, could not hear what Godfrey’s words were. Let’s see… She thought. I know that if I keep my right hand on the wall of a maze, I’ll make it out for sure! It’s what those children’s books taught me, after all.

With that thought, she ran full speed, while keeping her hand on the right wall.

                Wait a second, she thought. Wasn’t Godfrey trying to tell me about something? His voice sounded strange, like he was afraid of something…let’s see, I think he mentioned something about traps?

Suddenly, Megan could no longer feel the ground. She looked down and realized that there was no more surfaces for her to run on, only a square hole that had nothing but darkness below her. Time seemed to have slowed down as gravity was sucking her down towards the dark abyss.

Goodbye, everyone. She thought, tears appearing in her eyes. Sorry for not listening to you, Godfrey…

She was ready to accept her fate when she felt something holding onto her hand, refusing to allow her to fall down. No…it was not something. It was someone.

“Godfrey!” She exclaimed.

Godfrey clinched his teeth and struggled to pull Megan up with both of his arms. When he finally succeeded, he collapsed on the ground due to the sheer effort he had to put in.

“I told you, there are traps on the wrong paths!” Godfrey said. “It was on the sheet of paper Steven gave me. Honestly, what were you thinking!? You knew that this puzzle was dangerous and yet you stil-”

However, Megan interrupted Godfrey’s sentence with a big hug.

“Thanks, Godfrey.” She spoke softly, wiping the tears from her eyes. “If you weren’t here, I would have…”

Godfrey blushed as he stood up and dragged Megan to her feet. Her feet are still shaking, he noticed.

“J-just pay more attention next time…” Godfrey turned away. “I am concerned for your safety, you know…”

“I know. Thanks for saving me. Now, how do we get out of here?”

“I figured you would ask that. You see, while I was chasing after you, I noticed that on one of the corners, there was an O-shaped symbol near the bottom. Then, I looked at the other corner of the walkway, and there was an X-shaped symbol on that one. I took note that on the last right turn you made, the right corner had an X on it, so this means that X is the wrong path and O is the right path!”

“You’re brilliant, Godfrey!” Megan smiled. “Now, let’s leave this creepy place as fast as possible!”

Megan was about to start running, but then she realized she was about to make the same mistake that she made before.

“Um…after you, of course.” Megan said sheepishly.

“Why thank you.” Joked Godfrey, as he took the lead this time. After turning many corners, with the feeling that they have been walking in circles all along, Godfrey and Megan finally reached yet another door, except this one was a double door. Godfrey grimaced because he sensed danger stemming from behind this door, and he turned to look at Megan. Megan nodded, and together they pushed the two doors open. Once they entered, they discovered a large caved room with many intricate, old-looking gears that are connected to each other. They were attached to the roof of this cave by ropes that looked like they were going to snap any second. Godfrey turned his focus away from the gears and more towards the back of this rocky cavern. Over there, he can see five ropes hanging from the ceiling, followed by a Giant Golden Buddha statue in the very back of the room. What’s a Buddha statue doing here for? He thought.

“Ahahahahahahaha!!” The thunderous voice rang. Godfrey could tell whose voice it was, since he just heard the same person speak a few hours ago.

“Steven!” Godfrey cried at the top of his lungs. “What is wrong with this puzzle? Puzzles are supposed to be fun, not dangerous!”

“Haha, that is what you get for underestimating me, Godfrey Freyas! Now, be warned, for after exactly sixty seconds, the gears will start turning and the roof of the cave will collapse! Unless you pull the right rope, that is…Farewell! Ahahahhahahhahahaha!”

Steven’s voice slowly faded in Godfrey’s mind, as now his full concentration was on the ropes. He could tell that each rope was connected to a gear, but there were so many gears that he could not figure out pulling which will stop all of the gears from activating. He thought and thought, but it was absolutely impossible and hopeless.

Thirty seconds left…he thought. This is bad, I should have known better than to accept a puzzle that was this dangerous…sorry, Megan…

“Don’t give up!”

Megan shouted at Godfrey from a far distance away, as she was looking for any other hints to the solution. “Godfrey Freyas, didn’t you say that you can solve any puzzle? Never give up, not until you have solved all of the puzzles in the world!”

The corners of Godfrey’s mouth slowly started pointing upwards. Stupid, even I can’t solve all of the puzzles in the world…he thought. But, that certainly doesn’t stop me from trying!

Godfrey visualized everything that was in the cave within his mind, and he discovered an irregularity. He immediately realized the correct answer, and with just one second left, he pulled the middle rope as hard as he can.

The seconds slowly ticked by, like droplets of water stemming from a leaking tap, until Godfrey finally relaxed, convinced that he had pulled the correct rope.

“Godfrey, that’s amazing!” Megan exclaimed. “How did you know that that was the right rope to pull?”

“Just a little knowledge of Buddhism.” Godfrey replied. “The middle path is the right path to take, after all…”

Then, Godfrey discovered after some searching that there was actually an exit behind the Buddha statue. He and Megan slowly crawled through the tunnels heading upward, and finally, they reached outside, just in time to see the sun rise.

“Well, let’s go home.” Godfrey smiled, brushing the dust off of his shoulders. “That’s enough excitement for one day.”

“Wait, what are we going to do about Steven?” Megan wondered. She honestly thought that Steven is a dangerous individual and should be sent to a youth detention centre, in the very least.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Godfrey answered. “After I solved the final puzzle, I had some more time to look at the gears…and it turns out that they were not connected to the roof at all! They merely connected to each other. Pulling the wrong rope might have caused all of the gears to start turning, but that’s it, really. Also, for the trap you almost fell into, there was probably some sort of bed that was painted black. In the end, Steven didn’t mean us any harm at all. He just wanted to give me this fun puzzle. And boy, was it fun! I think I found new respect for him.”

“Haha…I’m not so sure about the fun part…” Megan grimaced on how simple Godfrey thought about things at times. However, perhaps that was the best way of thinking for now. Besides, she could not wait to see the look on Steven’s face when Godfrey and Megan show up at school, unharmed.

“Well, in that case…want to race back to our homes?” Megan smirked.

“More running!? Oh, not again…” Godfrey groaned.

Megan laughed as she ran toward the horizon; her brown hair flowing freely shone golden under the brilliant sunlight.

“Try and catch me if you can, Puzzle God!”

“Oh come on, running has absolutely nothing to do with puzzles!” shouted Godfrey. He hurried after his faster friend as both of them finally made their way back home.

The end