The Odyssey Part Two Quickwrite

Normally, if someone has been absent from home for many years, when the person think or feel upon returning home, the person will shout, announce his/her return in public, and thank to the God. The person will celebrate with a party, appreciate and embrace his/her family members for waiting so long, and ask his/her lover "Do you still love me?". In The Dark Divine, Daniel has left the Divine family for a dark secret. When he returned to the family, he couldn't face the family bravely and was despised by his friends. He didn't have a sweet, happy-ever after reunion, but he had to respond to his disappearance. Therefore, I think that whether the returning is joyful or gloomy depends on why does the person leave in the first place. If the person leaves for fighting for pride, honor, and beloved country, he/she will be treated as heroes or heroines. However, if the person leaves for escaping the bad things, he/she will be suspected and kept aloof with the family. It's quite painful that people couldn't reunite with their family with happiness, so I think we all have to learn to forgive the mistakes that the people have done before. We aren't saints at all and we'll make mistakes.

Difference Between The Cyclops in the Book and in Movie

There are differences of Cyclops in the real epic poem and in the movie. In the book, Odysseus and his men waited for one full day until he was prepared for stabbing Polyphemeus' eyes. He prepared the wood staff and three cups of wine while Polyphemeus was tending the sheep outside the cave. However, in the movie, Odysseus provided Polyphemeus a cup of wine right away after he swallowed one man in one night. The Cyclops fell asleep. Then a musician in Odysseus' group played the bamboo flute as a lullaby for Polyphemeus. Odysseus stabbed the Cyclops' eye, made it blind, and escaped at the same night. Furthermore, in the movie, Polyphemeus ate the musician due to anger while other men were escaping. The musician wasn't fast enough to escape from the atrocious Cyclops. The wasn't the musician in the book. In the movie, Odysseus and his men escaped the cave when Polyphemeus was blind with panic. In the book, they escaped by hiding under the sheep' bellies on next morning. There weren't any sheep in the movie. In addition, Polyphemeus threw an enormous rock at Odysseus and his men, but not in the book. At the end of the book, Polyphemeus begged Odysseus to come back, but it didn't happen in the movie. The movie shortened the dialogue between Polyphemeus and Odysseus due to time restriction. However, the movie did include the important points from the book and successfully shorten the additional details, but not the plot.

Odyssey Part One Quickwrite

I believe that courage, determination, and sacrifice make a hero. In different cultures, people have different standards for heroes, heroines, but courage, determination, and sacrifice are universal traits. They don't only reflect in my own culture. In Beowulf, Beowulf is an arrogant, over-confident warrior whom people regard him as a hero due to his physical strength. However, he is merely powerful, belligerent, but he isn't kindhearted enough to protect his people. Thus, I regard him as a hero, but I don't respect this type of hero. Perhaps in Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf is a hero. On the other hand, I strongly regard Joan of Arc as a determined, brave, and patriotic heroine who is willing to sacrifice herself in order to protect her beloved country. I respect and learn a heroine's qualities, behaviors from her. As for fictional hero, Robin Hood is worth to be exemplified. He robs from the rich and gives it to the poor. He is brave enough to commit such a dangerous yet self-sacrificing crime. He is also determined to help the poor, even though he suffers in poverty. There are many real and fictional characters who share the universal traits of a hero, and they are worth for us to learn and ponder our behaviors.

Deception

Not only propagandas can be deceptive, but also organizations, especially the ones with charity frauds. In 2007, the disastrous Hurricane Katrina struck people with terror. Nearly 50 people donated forty thousand USD to a fake charity, AirKatrina.com, which claimed to support the victims. The organization asserted to fly babies for transplant surgery and save the babies' lives. However, there weren't any flights nor babies. Sending unsolicited e-mails requesting money from an organization was a popular trick at that time. People tended to sympathize the victims without suspecting whether the organizations were fake or not. Unscrupulous people earned money by claiming a charity donation. Therefore, people must understand the organizations' identities before donating money. People can't easily believe in illegitimate organizations just because they claimed to support refugees, victims, and children. They must find a reliable trustful organization, such as the Red Cross. I personally abhor organizations which perform charity frauds because they abuse the point of saving people and discourage people from donating money. Who else wants to donate money to a fake organization? People tend to worry whether the organizations are fake and thus prevent them from donating since "worries" are troublesome. People's humanity should prevent them from tricking and deceiving innocent victims.

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I have been misled by the appearance of my classmate. She seems kindhearted and always ardently volunteers to aid people. She seems introverted and genuine, but she makes someone as a scapegoat if she does something wrong. My friend once lost her bracelet and she concerned that there was a thief. I tried to find with her, but I could hardly find a lost bracelet in such a huge school. Then "she" asks me to do her a favor by delivering a box of candies to the teacher since she was busy. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I was in danger. When the teacher opened the box, she was extremely surprised and inquired me that why did I hide the bracelet. I was so dumbfounded that my mouth kept murmuring illogical words that I didn't even understand. Since I was merely a silly 2nd grade student who couldn't react the plight aptly, I was suspicious of stealing. My tears burst out without my allowance and I couldn't prove my innocence. My friend no longer trusted me even I explained that it wasn't my fault. I didn't suspect "her" who took the blame for me. After 2 days, the teacher called me and her to the office and I realized it was "her" who detriorated my reputation and broke my friendship. The teacher suspected where did the box come from and proved my innocence. However, my friendship shattered as broken glass. My friend and I could never find the right feeling with each other. We gradually became apathy. It was a regret that I could never fix it. Still, deep in my heart, I could hear the echo of her voice and her splendid smiles seem to appear in front of me.

Historical Moments

There are moments in my life that I will always remember. They are memorial events which have both historical significance and personal importance. The first event was the 2285th anniversary death of Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo river because the emperor no longer believed in him and listened to traitors. Qu Yuan thought that his sacrifice could warn the emperor and lead him to the right way. However, in my opinion, I don't think Qu Yuan is smart. I do appreciate his love and patriotism for the country, but the emperor doesn't care at all. On the anniversary, we students took graduation pictures in which my tears burst out immediately. I have such wonderful friends and classmates who respect and stand up for me. I am reluctant to leave the school and my dear classmates. However, the graduation was coming soon, which would mark a whole-new starting point. We classmates took amusing pictures which would make me laugh forever. The second event was the sixtieth anniversary of 228 massacre. My class visited the 228 Peace Memorial Museum and grieved over the victims' death. Taiwanese suffered severe trauma due to 228 massacre. 228 massacre was the memory in which Taiwanese didn't want to remember. I understood the truth of 228 massacre and lamented for the loss of all victims. I learned the cruelty of history and hoped that Taiwanese will no longer suffer in the tragedy. I realized that Taiwanese had the dark history in which people weren't willing to face. It was my first time to ponder the feelings of losing family and friends. I hoped that I didn't have to face the tragedy in my life and massacre would never happen in Taiwan again.

How to eat a Guava

My absolute favorite food are burnt cream and tiramisu. When I'm eating burnt cream, I feel that the fireworks are sparkling in the velvet night sky, and the meteors are shooting through the horizon. When I'm eating tiramisu, I feel that the autumn breeze is kissing my face lightly, the spring petals are fluttering, and the falling leaves are swirling. I associate both burnt cream and tiramisu when my family celebrates birthdays. The best burnt cream is in Royal Hotel Taipei, which is incredibly tasty. People have to "struggle" against each other and follow Darwin's theory, survival of the fittest. The topping of burnt cream has a hard layer of caramel, which is crispy, attractive, and gorgeous. The rich custard base seems a glitter, which enhances the quality of the dessert. As for tiramisu, my family often buys it in a famous dessert store, which provides various flavor of tiramisu. Tiramisu tastes better than Haagen Dazs ice cream. The egg yolks and ladyfingers ripple in tongue with a strong aftertaste. The world seems to turn around and butterflies flutter their wings and blossoms smile splendidly and all the beautiful wonders happen one by one. Tiramisu is amazingly soft and smooth as grease due to the mascarpone. It is even gentler than the baby's skin. I am always extremely joyful if my parents give me burnt cream and tiramisu as deserts since they are the best food memory to me.