Childhood Memory

Childhood is often described as innocent, pure, and sweet. It is pretty difficult for people to remember every detail the memories of their childhood. For me, I only remember things that my mother told me. She said that when I was a child. I was speechless; I can play my toys or stuffs all by myself for hours, no one needs to be there and take care of me. However, I have an older sister, who thought that I drag all my parent’s attention from her, always likes to tease me. She would pinch my leg or face when my mother was busy. Then, I started to cry really loud, after she pinched me. Later, my mother would ask my sister, “What happened?” Then, my sister responded, “I have no idea, he just started to cry.” So, my mother even brought me to some secret Chinese temple to asked whether or not I’ve got frighten by a ghost or something. In the end, my mother was hiding in the kitchen to see what’s really going on with me. Suddenly, she saw my sister sneaked to my side and pinched me. Then, my mother told her that she should not treat her brother like this. I think that’s the happiest childhood memory I had.

Leadership

There are many important qualities that a successfully need to acquire. First, a great leader needs to have a powerful voice and great communication skills in order to persuade and convince the public. Otherwise, there is no central power support everyone. Second, a leader needs to have bravery and wisdom to make significant decision. For instance, declaring war is not a simple choice. This decision can result the loss of thousands of people’s lives. That’s why a leader ought to make a decision bravely and wisely. Third, fairness is also another great quality a leader should have. The reason is that how can a person, who does not treat each other fairly, lead us to success? If a leader does not contain fairness as one of his/her qualities, this group will eventually destroy. At last, creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. This is also very important to a leader because a person with huge creativity usually can find solutions to help everyone.

Reflection of The Lady of Shalott

            In fact, this story is extremely mysterious and weird. The reason is that the story never tells the readers why the curse falls on the Lady of Shalott. Moreover, how come such a pretty lady got imprisoned in the tower for such a long time and the only thing she can do is sewing the magic web. In addition, this story created a kind of romance that is different from other stories. For instance, when the Lady of Shalott found out the mirror has broken and the curse has fallen on her. She decided to ride a boat to Camelot. This result Sir Lancelot met the Shalott in the end. I believe the message that the writer tries to convey is Love is a magical and mysterious thing. It not only can make people fearless, but it also harms people. Also, if the Lady of Shalott does not believe in the curse, the whole story will probably be different.

Quick Talk

When I watch some Hollywood movies, I sometimes see parents tell bedtime stories to their children in the movie. Some of the stories could be knights saving Princess or something special about chivalry. People in modern days remain enchanted with stories of castles, knights, and thing in medieval times. I believe one of the reasons is that we admired their courage. For instance, knights have the bravery to fight enemies on the battlefield for their owners and honor. Another reason is that I think all these characters in the question can actually link together. For example, a knight could possibly go on quest to search his perfect lady in some special and mystery castle. However, he has to fight a dragon in order to reach his goal, which is saving the princess. In addition, all these things are not exist in modern days. That is also why people think they are rare and unique. Although they only live in the past, their spirits and absolute characteristics will last forever.

I Shot the Albatross

After I read through the part where the ancient mariner killed the albatross, which surprised the crew. I think of two reasons that can explain why the mariner killed the albatross. First reason is that, the ancient mariner was really angry about the weather condition they were facing, which prevailed their ship to caught in the seawaters. So, he killed the albatross in order to release his anger. The second reason is that the mariner killed the bird because he wanted his fellowmen to stop being superstitious and suspicious that whether or not the bird is the main reason that cause the extreme weather changed. Therefore, once he killed the albatross, the crew will suspect the power and ability of the albatross. However, I searched this question on the Internet. Some said that Coleridge wrote this situation, and there is no concrete reason why the ancient mariner killed the albatross. It was just an impulse, which made him do the hellish crime.

Coleridge's Imagination

           Although Coleridge’s later life was totally different from the life he used to have. He lost three significant things that a person should have, which are marriage, friendship, and health. However, I believe that this troubles instead of pulling him down, they strength his imagination. According to his extraordinary memory and powerful, persuasive expression of ideas, Coleridge could use these real life examples to create more work on different areas. For instance, he continued writing and mostly about philosophy and literary criticism, until his death in London. I think that philosophy is about life and love. These are part of the things he lost, which are health and marriage. On the other hand, he published work about literary criticism. This makes me think of William Wordsworth; because he lost his best friend and no one’s work can compare and compete with his best friend’s. Although this troubles make Coleridge suffered, they do not stop Coleridge’s imagination; they only made his ideas more powerful and unique.

The Earth Is Full

      Have we used up all our resources? Have we filled up all the livable space on Earth? After listening the presentation of Paul Gilding, I kept asking these two questions to myself. Besides lands, oceans, and air, the last main thing that exists on Earth is human being. In other words, Earth is filled with human beings right now. Paul Gilding also stated that the current growth based socioeconomic approach is unsustainable. Although the technology and economy are improving, which take us to live in a better quality of lives. However, we did not think of the consequences that we made. In addition, people in nowadays are having a wrong and impossible expectation that the economy will become bigger and stronger in a limited time. This is totally agreeable, because people should not care about present only. What matters the most is the condition in the future. Paul Gilding also reminded us that we should all be fear about things that closely surrounded us, such as families, friends and children, because we are living in uncertainties. Therefore, it is significant to think about the future rather than the present.