Blog 7

I was watching some videos on YouTube and somehow I stumbled upon some Dr. Phil videos.  I came across an hour and a half long video of a girl who was kidnapped by a much older man for about a decade. She told her story to Dr. Phil and the audience about the time she got kidnapped and after when she escaped.  She was fourteen years old when she first met the guy who kidnapped her.  He worked at her school and the time when she skipped a class he made a move on her. After that move they just met up more often and she began falling in love with him. She also didn’t have good relations with her family in the first place either. She said that her father never shown her any attention and that he was always occupied with a girlfriend. She said that the man made her feel special and wanted, something that she never got from her family.  The man devised a plan for her to run away from home and live with him instead. She was still young and depressed so she did go with him.  In about a week in at living with him she said that he claimed that he owned her and started to sexually attack her.  The fear and hurt that he put into her forced her to stay with him and surrender to him. He became like a god figure to him. He became a person that no matter what she could not disobey and go against. So she could never run away and the farthest she ever went was to the bus stop. She was forced to stay in a small bedroom and could only use a bucket to relieve herself and tried her best to collect toilet paper whenever she could. Even when she got extremely sick she couldn’t go see a doctor since she could never leave the house. She said that she even had to memorize the steps to take so that she wouldn’t make any creak sounds through the floor. She was just brainwashed from such a young age that she just couldn’t rebel or run away. He always told her that no one misses her and that no one’s looking for her. He just told her that she was the only one that cared and that he saved her from her depressing life and that he gave her life and that she should be grateful.  One day she just broke down and spilled her heart out to someone and he helped her escape. She called for help and they came and with that she was free.  She was brave enough to share her story with an audience but the memories still haunt and torture her.

Photo Reflection Essay

Emily Ham

English 1105

October 11, 2012

Sister Complex

The wood chips pelted me as my eyes began to sting. Blindly, I fled to avoid the showering of wood chips that continued to hit me. Tears obstructed my vision, but I ran as far and as fast as I could from my attackers. I suddenly hit a tree with full force and was thrown backwards. The burning sensation of the tree bark imprinted onto my face and the hot blood trickled down my forehead. As I struggled to get up I heard shouts draw closer. The shouts brought relief as my sister appeared and chucked wood chips and any other object she could find at my attackers. The two boys ran away as she grabbed my seven year old hand to pick me up, and carried me home on her warm back. I snuggled my face into her neck, closed my eyes and allowed my body to be flooded with comfort and pride that she was my sister. I wished for the loving and warm moments such as this one to last forever.

In the same playground where I was assaulted, there was a massive tree where my sister and I would pretend that it was our home.  Every day for nearly the entire day we would scamper off to the playground running as fast as our underdeveloped legs could carry us.  We would mash up a variety of berries we scavenged for and pretend cook with them. The playground was like my little haven that had everything I ever needed. The old and rusty tire swing was by far my favorite part of the playground. My legs were tucked securely underneath the tire as I waited patiently for takeoff. Once I had my fragile seven year old arms firmly grasping the rattling chains holding the tire, I would give a quick nod and wide smile towards my sister. Placing her stronger eleven year old arms beneath the tire, she would lift me and run around in a circle. With a strong thrust, she would let go and watch me laughing almost maniacally with my short hair dancing and my dress blowing through the wind. The feeling will never leave me, how the crisp air and winds tickled my face and the dry and musky scent of mulch filled the air. The chains which help the tire would creak loudly and groan harshly due to my weight as I enjoyed every little screech and squeal.   We would talk for hours on the bright neon orange colored swing set. The brightness of it never ceased to blind me and only intensified in the shines of sunlight.  I would always burn myself through the friction of rapidly sliding down the slides trying to beat my sister in a race. The playground was small and didn’t have much to offer, but to me it had my whole world.

Unfortunately, I never took a picture of the playground, but there was a small forest area right next to it.  My sister and I would go on journeys pretending that we were some travelers or explorers as we would wander inside the forest and rejoice when we got though. The photo shows what is beyond the forest, behind it and the playground. There would be a lake on the other side and during winters we would walk on top of it and pretend to ice-skate. I remember loving my sister more than anything in the world. I did everything with her and stuck to her like glue. I would always take a picture with her with the same expression every time. My teeth on full display clenched hard from happiness and my eyes tightly closed shut as my nose would scrunch up. I would always be grabbing her and never letting go. She always kept a clam countenance with her usual simple wink and some type of hand motion.  The photo reminds me of my past where everything was once so pure and innocent, including my sister.  We were like the perfect sisters and I saw her as my hero and role model. As we grew up we became more distant and less affectionate, but looking at this photo will always remind me of all the good times we’ve had.

Ankit photo reflection response

Ankit, I think it was interesting that you used eight very different and yet similar pictures as your chosen photo. I think they work very well for your essay. I think you did a good job in describing your feelings and the event especially when you talked about your emotions. Although, I think that you could put the picture somewhere in your essay. You could leave it at the end but you could also put it in between a paragraph somewhere while you’re talking about it. I like how you put in a lot of detail within the effort you put in towards your passion, it is clear and emotional.  I also like how you talked about each individual picture within the eight pictures and how they are different from each other. Although, I think you could add in some more sensory details, maybe like the smell of the auditorium or something like that.

Emily

Natalie photo reflection response

Natalie, I liked how you included a lot of details about the picture like how you described the top corner of the photo. There were a couple of confusing or wordy sentences that just didn’t make your ideas clear. You focus a lot on the memories and the event but I think it could be better if you also added more details relating to our senses. You could add like some very descriptive details about the setting where it focuses on imagery or any other sense. When you said that you liked the photo since everyone didn’t look ready for it, you could explain in detail why you do.  You also add some examples of how your best friends became like sisters to you like a very touching memory. I think that if you add in some specifics regarding to the five senses the writing can be a lot more powerful.

Emily

Blog 6

I remember that I visited my hometown Korea during summer in middle school. Needless to say it wasn’t the best trip of my life. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I haven’t been to my home country since I’ve moved to America. I had to memories whatsoever about the place. That is why when I went to visit my grandparents; I realized that I didn’t want to stay there. Of course I knew that Korea would be a completely different place in regards to America, but I didn’t know how different they could be.  I would say that the best part about the trip was the food. I eat Korean food here and shop at Korean grocery stores and whatnot, but they do not compare to the actual authentic food made in Korea.  It was also nice seeing my grandparents again but I don’t think there were any other good parts to the trip. As much as I love Korean food, I also love steak and hamburgers and other American food. Plus, Korean food also has a good amount of vegetables which I hate. I ate my grandmother’s food in Korea, and since it was my grandmother’s whose lived in the Korean lifestyle all her life, I had to eat everything so that no food was left. I know it’s not good to leave food as a waste, but I think it’s worse if someone forces themselves to eat everything when they don’t want too or when they are too full. Unfortunately I couldn’t really act against it so I continued to clean my bowls anyway.  The other thing I didn’t like about the trip was the whole age respect thing in most Asian cultures. I know it’s a given to respect your elders and such but sometimes it can get too extreme. I opened the door for an old lady and I expected a thank you or a nod or some type of gratitude, but she didn’t even look at me or anything and continued on her way.  Obviously I did not appreciate that gesture, a normal person would have said a simple thank you but I guess not.  Because I am Korean I know how most Koreans are usually like, and I can say they are not the best kind of people. People do not notice this because the great reputation Korean has received lately from its music worldly known as k-pop and its dramas also famous around the world. I suppose I do like Koran music, but I also don’t get why it’s so popular. The gangnam style music video went completely viral around the whole world. Even here at Virginia tech I can’t go anywhere for five minutes without it playing somewhere. Due to just personal experiences in my life I just tend to avoid the fake appearance of most of Korea and Koreans.