Carpe Diem

Streets of London London from Ralph Mctell is considered as folklore for two main reasons. Firstly, this song reflects a culture shared by London citizens, especially old people. Mctell describes certain conditions which are encountered by old generations about their loneliness. Since those scenes depicted from the song is a common experience for old people, it can be considered as a shared culture, which is an essential characteristic of folklore. Secondly, the acoustic style of Streets of London is relatively closer to folk songs. It can not be defined as classic because it is just played by a guitar instead of an established form of symphony or orchestra. Not only the instrument but also the natural keys of “C”, “G”, “D” and the time signature of 4/4 define this song as folk music. The reason I choose this song is that I have heard this song before, and it was once singed by one of my parent’s favorite singer, Leslie Cheung. When I was listening to the Streets of London, this ...

Journal 7 the quickest way of ending a war is to lose it When two countries are encountering a war with each other without using an ultimate weapon that can wipe out the whole country, such as the nuclear bomb, the war will eventually turn into a seesaw battle that both sides need constantly put into human and material resources into the battlefield. A country without an overwhelming power difference can rarely determinate or conquer another within a relatively short period. Due to the limits of transportation, both sides can only exert limited influence on the battlefield which is not enough to establish an absolute advantage over another. Thus, the war will become a quagmire for both sides: to win is to invest, but to end is to lose. However, this constant effort to keep the “not lose” will not bring the victory or the price of victory will outweigh the prize of the victory. As a result, lose the war to end the war would be reasonable and worthy. There is a similar economic term...

Journal 6 who controls the past controls the future, Who controls the present controls the past. In a general definition, the past, or history, means everything that is before "present". Since the party wants to control every single aspect of lives, establish absolute authority, and appear as an omnipotent figure. However, the party is not a god. In order to be the "god" in people's mind, the party needs to modify records and articles of past policy that are different than today's. Then, they manipulate and fabricate the history that the party owns credits of every single righteous and mighty object or action, and the enemy is responsible for all evil. Then, the records provide statistic of the past situation, which offers data and criteria to evaluate the contemporary situation, to image the different lifestyle of the past, and to contrast, evaluate, analyze, and suspect the party. This will directly threaten the party's dictatorship, so the party n...

Journal 5: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH Describe what these three statements mean and their contradictions. How would you rationalize these statements? War Is Peace is a slogan used by the Party, which first appeared in part 1 to describe a situation that a nation or a country will only be united with a common enemy. When a country is in constant conflict with an enemy, the party will gain justification for certain actions that are not plausible during the peace era and people's attention will deviate from the internal government to external intruders. With these conditions created, the people will be less likely to revolt and create a stable society, which is equal to "peace" in the party's definition. Secondly, the slogan Freedom Is Slavery means that any unsubordinated people in society will be eventually bounded to chaos. If everyone act in their own way of interest, they will get not the freedom but the chaos. The party used this s...

1. A book that left a lasting impression; made me think; etc. is ___________________ because........... (150 words minimum). 2. Who are you, and where are you going? (150 words) Steven: 1. A book that left a lasting impression is Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham because this book argues the conflicts between materialism world and spiritual world. The protagonist is a British Stockbroker named Charles Strickland who has married for seventeen years and makes an impulse decision to go to Paris to be an artist. Throughout the book, the protagonist was struggling to escape from bondage of “sixpence”. Even though he is strong enough to ignore the fame and wealth, he was not able to reject his human instincts. This book made me ponder for a question: did I ignore the moon above me while I was looking for sixpences on the ground? Although I, as a student, do not have real concern toward material aspect of life, my pursuition and efforts are still focused on material gain. I was do...