【98-2 第二回 佳作】應外三 鍾錦樑：Reflection on Doctor Faustus

Reflection on Doctor Faustus

參賽者：鍾錦樑（應外三）
名次：佳作
書名：Doctor Faustus
得獎作品：

     Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus is not only a masterpiece in the English Literature but also a perfect reflection on human nature. We all have desires so we do whatever it takes to fulfill and pursue them no matter what the results are. A tragedy often has a tragic hero who will lead the situation to destruction. Doctor Faustus is qualified as a tragic hero because of his desiring for knowledge and reputation which finally led him to destruction.

     Like every other scholars, Doctor Faustus tried hard to understand the mystery of human knowledge and dare to challenge the limitation. Not satisfied with his studies, he began to use dark magic to make up for the insufficiency of his knowledge. He feared for the unknown world yet he was fascinated by it. Summoning Mephistophilis, he gave his afterlife to Lucifer in return for 24 years to live. His arrogant of pursuing knowledge blinded his thoughts and made him choose the dark magic. And his desire was so strong that forced him to ignore the good angel of his heart. There were two angels lived inside Faustus’ mind, good and evil. Because he could not control his desire, he followed the evil in exchange for long live. Although he only asked for 24 years, the ideas came out as people pursuing immortality. Most of us don’t want to age and then die. That’s why we fear the unknown world but at the same time crazy about it.

     Such characteristic followed him to the end of the play and he failed to repent. His pride represents the superiority of human being. We often think that we cannot end miserably due to our intelligence of everything but the simple fact is that we have to change for the better. Most people don’t regret even before their deaths. At the end of the play the devils tore Faustus apart and left him be damned in hell because of his hubris. This was Doctor Faustus’ tragic flaw. He refused to change and this personality drove him to insanity but not eternity he had searched for.

     The playwright gave us a warning by the story of Doctor Faustus. To err is human. We cannot force too much on pursuing the desires. Even though we make mistakes, we can still repent and start over. Nothing is doomed to death. We think we know everything and are the mightiest but the fact is that we still have a lot to learn from the world. Doctor Faustus shows the extremity of pride and desire. Christopher Marlow used beautiful words to represent the scholastic knowledge of Faustus. The moral issues lie deep under the words waiting for discovery. Everyone has a Doctor Faustus inside his heart. But we have to know ourselves like we know Doctor Faustus. We never know what our fates are but one thing is for sure, that is we always have choices to make. Try our best to make the changes right!

【98-2 第二回 優等】行政二B 宋艾玲：The Gift - Danielle Steel

The Gift - Danielle Steel

參賽者：宋艾玲（行政二B）
名次：優等
書名：The Gift
得獎作品：

     The story happened during 1950s, in a small mid-western town near Chicago. Another part of story took place on a tree- lined street in the heartland of America.

     The Gift is a very powerful love story. It doesn’t, however, only talk about love between a boy and a girl. The story highlighted love in the family, between a mother and her children, between husband and wife, among friends and even between strangers. The author successfully created a simple story that will influence readers to believe in the magic of love and to just keep on believing.

     The conflict in the story was resolved when the two dissimilar families that came from different places, which just like a parallel line that will never have an intersect point, met together and their lives became connected somehow. In the begging, the Whittaker family is a perfect and full of happiness family. After Annie, the youngest child, died from an accident on the day of Christmas, everything changes a hundred eighty degree. The family broken down and every one walk their own way of life. There’s no laughter in the house, no celebrating of any holiday, and not even sit together in one table for a meal. Another family, a teenage girl- Mari Beth Robertson’s life was going to be shattered because she got pregnant out of marriage.

     The Whittakers lost a precious gift of life while Mari Beth lost her life when she got pregnant. Mari Beth left her baby to the Whittakers as a gift of love because it was the wisest decision she can have. They helped to give Mari Beth her life back by assisting her in schoolwork and building her self- confidence by simply believing in her.

     The courage of a person is really important for choosing the way you want to go in life. Whatever choice the person takes, she or him self need to have the responsibility to handle the things that would happen after. If I was in Mari Beth’s situation, I don’t think I’ll do the same thing- to face the truth. There’s possibility I might suicide or make myself become a depraved person or perhaps I will like Mari Beth face the problem and solved it. Everything can be change so fast just like a snap of the fingers. No one knows what event or adventure will come next minute of life, when it’s there…it’s there! Any problem in life there’s a solution to solve, and it’s just depended on whether you want to solve or not.

     I have learned many things from this special story. Some lessons are hurtful enough to make a reader cry while others make the heart full with happiness. I learned more about love and hatred, about living and dying, and about the meaning of getting gifts and giving gifts.

     The story helped me realize some truths like life becomes beautiful when you keep love in your heart or that dying is not the end of life. I also appreciate how the main characters showed good attitudes like humility, patience, honesty, positive thinking, and unselfishness. It influences readers to emulate them.

     The most touching part in the story for me is a quote goes like this, “It’s like some people just come through our lives to bring us something, a gift, a blessing, a lesson we need to learn, and that’s why they’re here. After giving the gift then they’re free to move on and you’ll have that gift forever.” This is a very inspiring quote and it teaches us about accepting some circumstances and Letting it go.

【98-2 第二回 特優】企管三B 陳綺雯：Book Review on “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold

Book Review on “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold

參賽者：陳綺雯（企管三B）
名次：特優
書名：The Lovely Bones
得獎作品：

“The Lovely Bones” begins with an “end” – Death.

     Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in 1973, narrated a thrilling and heart-stirring tale full of surprises and hope. Her wish was to become a biological photographer, but her dream never comes true as she was then in heaven observing how her death had affected her loved ones’ lives in the world of mortals. She was alive in her own perfect world – where she got everything she ever wanted simply by thinking of it. However, there was one wish that heaven could never fulfill her - to be back in life and live with her loved ones.

     Several weeks after the tragedy, all the things went wrong. Her father kept on unrelentingly looking for clues to find the murderer and while trying to forget the pain and emptiness inside her heart, her mother was involved in an extramarital affair. Her sister Lindsay, hardened herself so that not to get hurt from rumors from her schoolmates and Buckley, her little brother, tried to grasp the meaning of death.

     When Mr. Harvey, the murderer and also their neighbor, tried to cover his tracks, Susie wished nothing more but an immediate death of him. But then her family was broken apart with her mother leaving and her father hurt himself while struggling to find out the truth. Susie finally realized that hatred never brings any good, only love and cherish can mend broken hearts. Through care, inspiration and growing understanding, Susie saw her loved ones passed through grief and began to recover as time passed.

     I believe every story has its own underlying message for its readers. A good ending is always something like “The evil will not triumph over the virtuous, and the Prince and Princess living together happily forever and ever”, but “The Lovely Bones” conveys another message that a good ending can be different. It can be like the evil were meted with punishments and those who suffered can also manage a happy life no matter what they have gone through.

     Before I start reading the book, I was curious about the title – what does “The Lovely Bones” literally mean? When I finished, I realized that the “bones” actually mean the connections which had “grown” around Susie’s absence, sometimes tenuous and sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent. The events that happened after she was gone were “bones” of a body that would finally become whole at some time. I finished the book not long before my grandmother passed away. I come to understand that what will be will be and all things has its own way, we cannot change them but we can change our thoughts towards all these “bones” that grown after them.

     We often take everything we have as granted and would only realize that someone or something is important until we lose them. Every person we met in our lives means something to us. It is destined. I hope all of us can learn how to love and care about others, so that we will not have regrets whatever happens to us - good or bad. And one thing I believe is that no matter what difficulties we may encounter, we can overcome with the love and support of the family members and friends and we must have confidence in our loved ones in time of needs.