How to make an origami ninja star: reflection

4/24/2012

Dear Mrs. Shanley,

In addition to being my first craft tutorial, How to Make an Origami Ninja Star was one of the most unique writing pieces I have ever done. Being a craft tutorial,  How to Make an Origami Ninja Star also proved to be very challenging, as it included both visual and written components.

Usually when I write, I allow myself to ramble, adding semi-relevant details here and there to enhance the piece ans infuse more of my voice into the writing. However, the purpose of this piece, to teach, gave me less room to do that. In the past, I had read long winded, unclear tutorials by people who obviously didn't edit. Often, these tutorials had excess background information, something that I myself have a problem with. As I wrote this piece, not only did I focus on sentence fluency, but being straight to the point as well. Another HUGE difference that How to Make an Origami Ninja Star had from my usual writing process was the pictures. Formatting all those pictures and getting them to stay put was agonizing. Some other bumps in the road, including my camera's memory card being formatted, made it so that the time I spent fumbling with the pictures probably outweighed the amount of time I spent actually writing!

Something came up in our conference that was a toughie: how to substitute out the word "piece". There really is no other way to describe the individual... pieces that make up a ninja star. In the end, after checking several thesaurus websites, the best I could come up with was "segment". It would do, although the sound of the sentence wasn't extremely satisfying.

Overall, I'm glad that I chose an origami tutorial as my topic. I think that the biggest thing people will take from reading this is, well, learning how to make an origami ninja star. Hopefully, this will assist some of my friends in their relentless quests of obtaining cute things made of paper, which usually involves them constantly harassing me until I give in and make them one. From now on, I'll just tell them to refer back to my tutorial.

In fact, I like that. "Refer back to my tutorial." It sounds sharp and professional. Maybe I'll even make a few more.

Sincerely,
Elaine

Where I'm From- Inspired by George Ella Lyon

Where I’m From

I am from Aquafresh
from decoupage and sesame oil.
I am from peeling white paint,
the sunshine warming dusty corners.


From the hydrangea bush,
the magnolia tree,
whose long gone limbs
as if they were my own.


I’m from hard work and overachiever,
from Yunli and Yihe.
I’m from cynical and from sleep deprived,
Sit up straight and use more effort,
and 两只老虎.


I’m from Saturday breakfasts, Los Angeles.
from The People's Republic and winter melon soup,
from the dog with eight spots
who disappeared one day.


Those memories of laughs and tears
hang so precariously in the air.
Float from room to room,
settle in my heart.

Document Based Question: The Decline of Feudalism

The feudalism system was established in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, and was based upon loyalty. In feudalism, the distinction between the four major social classes (kings, lords, knights, serfs) were prominently drawn, and each class depended on each other. However, during the decline of feudalism, these lines began to blur and fade. Several factors contributed to this decline, namely the signing of the Magna Carta, the onset of the Bubonic Plague, and the Hundred Years' War. These events impacted the system of feudalism on any different levels.

King John was pressured into signing the Magna Carta in 1215 AD by rebellious barons who threatened to desert him if their desired course of action was not taken. The Magna Carta reduced the power of the kings, forcing them to ask permission of their lords before making decisions. It also ensured people convicted of crimes a trial by jury, instead of a trial by ordeal or combat. King John was against signing the Magna Carta, but quickly saw the power his lords had to abandon or overthrow him. "King John, seeing that he was far inferior in strength to the barons... granted the underwritten laws and liberties," states Roger of Wendover. In other words, King John only signed the document in a desperate, last resort attempt to hold his throne. By granting those rights mentioned in the Magna Carta, King John overturned many of the rules of feudalism, and gave the people what they weren't entitled to, if based on feudalism. This upset of feudalism's social hierarchy contributed to its eventual decline by paving the way to limited monarchy.

Carried from Asia by the rats that stowed away on trade ships and transmitted by fleas, the Bubonic Plague, or "Black Death", as it is commonly referred to, devastated over one third of Europe's population. The loss of so many citizens proved detrimental to the economy. Livestock wandered about aimlessly, with no one to herd them. Abandoned cities were collapsed due to their lack of maintenance. "Because of the fear of death, there were low prices for everything," (Knighton) as that was the only thing that merchants could do to lure people into buying their goods, since people were wary of each other, as they feared catching the plague. Alas, the plague not only affected the economy of feudal Europe, but the social pyramid as well. Because the majority of the working class succumbed, it became near impossible for business operations to flourish. The survivors of the Black Death were able to demand huge sums of money or rights for their services. Money and rights inevitably lead to power for the common people something unheard of in true feudalism. So, not only did the Bubonic Plague impact feudalism on an economic level, but a social one as well.

The Hundred Years' War was fought between the French and the English for land. During that time, their monarchs collected taxes to support large, professional armies, reducing their dependency on knights. This, in turn, reduced the power of lords, as a major role they played in feudal society was providing knights to fight for the king. Additionally, advancements in military technology, like the invention of the English longbow and the cannon weakened armies of knights. These new weapons were able to pierce through armor and bring down castle walls, exposing the knights inside. Once wounded, knights became useless, so their value fell dramatically. In the painting by Jean Froissart of The Battle of Crecy, the well organized, professional English army is using their longbows to kill French knights. The knights were much more scattered, and some were laying dead on the ground. Soon, the class of knights was diminishing, bringing lords down with them.

Thus, feudal Europe was on a path of rapid decline. As the lowest social class rose in power, the higher ones (lords and knights) fell. Additionally, trade was halted by the war and plague, leading to a collapse in the economy. Finally, people were granted rights that they could not have under feudalism. All these events were the result of three events- the signing of the Magna Carta. the Black Death, and The Hundred Years' War. These events spurred the fall of the Medieval socio-economic system of feudalism.

Chinese Essay: Summer Break

曹衣兰

今年暑假，我有很多计划－即要玩得好，也要学得好。

第一，我会跟妈妈一起回外公，外婆家。我们要在那里待两个星期。在那段时间里，我们准备去看望亲戚，到一些那里的景点旅游。

第二，我想去Maine露营。Maine的自然风景特别漂亮：碧绿的树林，蓝色的水，和高高的石岭。我上次去M的，时候都不想回来了。我真想再去一次，享受那儿的美丽。

最后，今年夏天，我希望跟我的朋友门有更多的机会见面。平常上学的时候，我只能学校见到他们。其它的时候，我只能打电话或在网上跟他们聊天。在夏天里，我要多跟他们出去。

另外，我也有很多学习的计划。

第一，我要继续学中文。我会复习以前学过的汉字，然后学习新的。我也会定期读中文报纸，写中文作文。而且，我要背颂中文诗。

在英文方面，我也要提高我的能力。我准备读一些难度更高的书。我还要学拉丁语的基础。我打算在网上找学习资料，或者借关于学拉丁语的书。

第三，我准备练习英文钢笔书法。我有一本很好的书法书，里面有几个漂亮的字体。我准备照着它们练习。

第四，我打算继续练习我的黑管。我争取每天至少练习十五分钟，因为音乐这种东西如果一段时间不练就会很快都忘记。

今年的夏天暑假里，我又要玩，又要学习。我不会浪费时间－我要把每一分钟都用来做有用的事情。

How to make an origami ninja star: Draft

Part 1- Intro and Materials

A ninja star is a simple origami figure, made from 8 pieces of paper. The ninja star was given its name because of its resemblance to, well, ninja stars, as well as its ability to transform. Pulling or pushing pieces of the ninja star in or out will cause it to transform into a donut-like ring or an eight pointed star.

You will need 8 square sheets of paper, each of the same size. You can use square self-stick notes, cut out magazine paper, newsprint, origami paper, or almost anything else you think of. Generally, slightly stiffer paper will work better for this project because it isn't apt to fall apart when your star is assembled.

Part 2- Folding the Pieces

1. First, fold the paper in half. Open it up, and use the center crease as a guide as you fold the top two corners in, similar to as if you were to make a paper airplane.

2. Then, using the same center crease, close the figure back up, so that the triangular flaps you just folded are on the inside. Remember to fold with precision and make sharp creases. Otherwise, the ninja star will not assemble correctly.

3. As shown in the diagram, push the opposing corner in. Align the center creases together, then flatten. The figure now looks like a parallelogram. The folds for the project really are not difficult, they just require you to be accurate and precise.

4. Your figure should now look like the first picture when opened up, and the second one when folded properly. 

Part 3- Assembling the Star


For many, this is the most difficult or confusing part of making a ninja star. It's very important to do this part right, and make your creases tight, otherwise your ninja star will fall apart.

5. First hold one of the pieces like this, with the point facing left and the open end facing right. Take a second piece and hold a second piece vertically, with point facing up and open end facing down. the vertical piece (piece A) should be above the horizontal piece (piece B).

6. Now, slide piece B into piece A, so that flaps of piece A "hug" piece B.

7. You will notice that the little corners of piece A are sticking out. Tuck these corners into the open end of piece B.

8. Now, continue adding pieces to the ninja star like so. When you get to the last piece, things will start to get a little tricky. you must put the open flaps of the piece over the preceding one, but stay between the flaps of the first one.

9. When you have the pieces in the right paces, carefully tuck the corners in, so you don't undo any of the other pieces.


Congrats!!! You've finished making your very own ninja star! Now, practice playing with it (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP!) Grasp two opposing fingers and pull on the ninja star. Continue with each "set" of pieces until your ninja star is completely transformed!

If all has gone well, you now have an amazing ninja star of your own. Now, go show it off to your friends.

Testing the Validity of a Website

Most modern day students resort to the internet to do research. Well, why should't they? Using a search engine to find information is quick, simple, and high yielding. Unfortunately, not all of the information posted online is reliable or accurate, which is why the knowledge of how to test the validity of a website is crucial to anyone who does Google searching.

Before you start researching, you'll need to know what information you'll be looking for the most. For many topics, it's best to start out with "who, what, when, where, why?", as well as any other information that seems interesting.

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• Other:

Now, the second step is to look at your search results and find the sites that look promising. These are the ones you'll go to first. Also, preview some of websites, if you're not sure. 

Screen reader users, click here to turn off Google Instant.

Here are some tips that'll help you filter out which sites you want to use, and which sites you don't:

• NEVER use wikis! they can be edited by anyone and any sort of irrelevant information can be posted on them!
• Well known sites or organizations that you may have heard of before will most likely be trustable.
• Do not use websites that are biased, for example something that was created to promote a certain political party, or talk trash about another.
• ".org", ".gov", or ".edu" websites are good sources to consider.
• If using an unfamiliar website, check what the author of the article/site is. If that author has credentials like college degrees or job experience, the information he or she provides will most likely be reliable.
• While in the search engine, read the URLs. Websites with URLs related to your topic are worth checking out.
• Read the website descriptions, so you can skip over anything irrelevant. For example, when one Google searches "civil war", one of the results is the homepage of a band, not information on a historical event.
• Sometimes, visual clues can show you whether a site is reliable or not. If a website has distracting, inappropriate, or popup ads, it's usually not a good source. If a site looks amateurishly designed or difficult to navigate, it is probably best ignored as well.
• Pretty much any website made for the sole purpose of kids or education is dependable- so an easy way to get basic information about anything is to write "for kids" after the keywords for whatever you're searching for.
• Is the information current? Some topics will require up to date information, such as world events or science, since topics like these are always changing.
• If the grammar on a site is insufficient or the sentences choppy, it was cleary not written by someone who knew what they were doing.
• Of course,one must also use common sense. If the information seems weird or incorrect, don't trust it right away! Instead, find backup in other sources.

After you've found some trusty sources for your research, gather the information you need. A good way to do this is to read the headings of each paragraph, of find any words in the article that are emphasized (large, bold, italics, underlined, different color, etc.). These words may give you a clue about what its context contains. Sometimes, it's more appropriate to actually read an article and find details, while other times, skimming will save time and eliminate surplus information.

The web plays a major role in our lives today, including our educations. It may be large and not extremely organized, but with the right tools and knowledge, anyone can make it safer, easier to use, and more beneficial to their personal needs.

Letter Essay #3: A time of Angels

Dear Mrs. Shanley,

Due to an extremely unappealing cover, a boring blurb, or perhaps (most likely) both, I've put off reading "A Time of Angels" for three years now- the amount of time I've had this book ever since it was given to me as a gift. The book is by Karen Hesse, and tells the story of a teen girl named Hannah who's parents are trapped in Russia by the war. Therefore, she lives in small Boston apartment with her sisters and her Tanta (Aunt) Rose. Tanta Rose and Hannah both work hard to support the family, but Rose's companion Vashti is annoyed by the girls.

When she is not working to help her family, Hannah draws. Lately, she's been drawing what she sees- angels.  Soon, many people in the neighborhood fall victim of the disease. When Rose is killed by the influenza epidemic, Vashti decides that the best course of action is send Hannah away into the countryside, where relatives are to care for her. On the train ride there, she catches the influenza and misses her stop in Albany, ending up unconscious and under emergency care in Vermont. Throughout all this time, Hannah is helped by a mysterious girl with black hair and violet eyes. Because of the influenza, Hannah's throat is badly damaged, and she's rendered unable to speak, writing and drawing in a notebook to communicate instead. A kindly old man who refers to himself as "Uncle Klaus" takes her in and nurses her back to health. During her time with Klaus, Hannah learns about kindness, giving, prejudice, and pain, as Klaus is of German blood and shunned by many of the townsfolk.

Constantly haunted by the fear that she has abandoned her sisters, Hannah, with the help of Uncle Klaus, earns money to pay for a train back to Boston. When back home, Hannah finds everything changed: many people dead, families torn apart, empty streets, and nearly every school and business closed. She rejoices to find her sisters alive and well. At the end of the book, Hannah reflects upon her journey and thanks the angel girl with violet eyes who helped her.

"A Time of Angels" was definitely a very engaging read. Even though the plot was a little extreme, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Karen Hesse has a way of letting the reader have a strong emotional connection with the characters (have you read "Out of the Dust"?)- I really could feel what Hannah was feeling (it was pretty stressful), and imagine all the places in the story, even though the author didn't actually put in too much of an in depth description of the setting(s).

Another thing I liked about "A Time of Angels" was that it actually taught me some stuff! From it, I've figured out three random folk cures: first, skim milk fixes broken cups, second, drinking excessive amounts of vinegar helps cure influenza, and finally, that oats wrapped in a little cheesecloth bag make for a more soothing bath. Yes, they're strange. I'm pretty sure that I'm only going to try the broken cup thing...

However, there was one major problem in the book that stood out to me. After all of Hannah's good times in Vermont with Uncle Klaus, she left for Boston way too... easily. ""One to Boston, please," I said, putting Uncle Klaus's money, Ottiwell Wood's money, my moose maple money under the grill." [Hesse 227] With this quote, Hannah describes paying for her ticket back home. There was very little hesitation to leave Uncle Klaus anywhere in this section of the story, and I didn't understand that. Personally, my heart ached when Hannah went back to Boston, because I couldn't help but think of how happy she was in Vermont, and how much Klaus must've missed her.

Also- the last sentence was a downer. "Slowly, making our way back across the rooftops of Chambers Street, Harry and I went home." [Hesse 269] This sentence was almost a complete book killer! All the pretext of it was amazing, magical, and described Hannah's ethereal encounter with her angel. All that, and then you give me "we went back home"? From a celebrated and award-winning author like Karen Hesse, I expected more. Exactly what I expected, I'm not sure, but I know that I wanted more.

In conclusion, the book "A Time of Angels" was a satisfying read with some errors, which while they left me with some questions, did not do too much damage to the overall quality of the text. After reading this, as well as the "Out of the Dust", I'm definitely thinking about investing some more time into Karen Hesse's works. Her stories are so creative and intricately woven! I'm sure that "A Time of Angels" is going to be one that I'll revisit over and over again.

Sincerely,
Elaine