【102-2微●心得 佳作】休運一 張〇心：Black Beauty

Black Beauty 

參賽者： 張〇心（休運一）
名次：佳作
書名：Black Beauty
得獎作品：

     “Always be good, so people will love you. Always work hard and do your best.” These were the words of black beauty’s mother to her son.

     I think these words make black beauty’s life happy. People always want to let him have a good, kind owner in return his hard work.

Failures always blame for fate, but the truth is that they didn’t try their best. Black beauty had a happy life due to his hardworking, and he always do his best to help people, thus they treated him that way. Every time, we envy someone can have good luck to meet kind person, however, we all ignore his/her efforts.

     A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds. And your life is up to you not the uncertain fate.

【102-2微●心得 佳作】應外二 柯〇瀚：The Elephant Man

The Elephant Man

參賽者：柯〇瀚（應外二）
名次：佳作
書名：The Elephant Man
得獎作品：

     Well goes the saying, “We should never judge a book from its cover.” But do we really put this proverb into our daily lessons? To summarize, the elephant man is a novel about the story of an ugly man with giant head and elephant-like skin regain his self-esteem by others warm comfort. Hundred years ago, there was a creep living in London, called the elephant man. Due to his hideous face, everyone was afraid of him and mocked at him. One day, Dr. Treves met him in the small shop when the elephant man had been showing as a rare creature in the zoo. The doctor took him back to the hospital for nursing him and providing him a sound environment. In the end, the doctor gave the rebirth of the elephant man, even gave the opportunity of the self acceptance. London always gives us the image of darkness, but the boundless love makes it warm and glorious.

【102-2微●心得 佳作】中文二 李〇蓉：The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

參賽者：李〇蓉（中文二）
名次：佳作
書名：The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
得獎作品：

     The Adventures of Tom Sawyer tells the mischievous tricks and risky adventures of a naughty boy, Tom, together with his best friend and partner,Huck.

     I couldn’t calm down until the end of the stimulating adventures, which varied from petty triumphs over his friends and his beloved girl,Becky, to his intervention in a murder trial. Mark Twain shaped a defining figure in the American cultural imagination.

     Tom said,“to make a boy want something, all you had to do was to make that something hard to get.”Following this brilliant principle, Tom succeeded in having Ben paint the fence instead of himself. I learned that Tom had a fascinating personality and enterprising leadership characteristic to turn things around.

     If I were to recommend some books to teenagers, this one would be in my list. Tom was a boy with creativity and execution. Once he came up with a superb idea, he put it into practice. This book made Tom’s triumphant adventures, and as well, distinguished him from his peers.

【102-2微●心得 佳作】法學三 蔡〇雅：The Murder by Art

The Murder by Art

參賽者：蔡〇雅（法學三）
名次：佳作
書名：The Murder by Art
得獎作品：

     The love of money is the root of all evil. Greed not only brings people to jail, but also ruins their bright future. As a result, cherishing what we have and learning to be contented is what this novel has taught us.

     In the beginning of this story, the complicated plot leads readers into a suspicious circumstance. Some of the people died or injured without any reason. That is why the police officer begins to investigate this intricate case. During the investigation, some evidences start to pop up. It turns out as a battle between these greedy artists. All of them just want to make more money and get higher reputation from the audiences. They intrigue the one who obstructs their way toward success even if some of the means are illegal.

     What goes around comes around. No one can always remain out of the law's reach. In the end of the story, the murders didn’t get any wealth but had to stay in jail for a long time. Treasure what we get and enjoy the moments we have is really the philosophy of life!

【102-2微●心得 佳作】應外一 李〇萫：Cranford

Cranford

參賽者：李〇萫（應外一）
名次：佳作
書名：Cranford
得獎作品：

     This is a story about the life in Cranford, a small English town. After I finished this book, there are some impressive parts in this story to me.

     Miss Matty, who worried about that her servant would fall in love with other man in the beginning, told her servant that if they fell in love with each other, they could meet once a week, after Miss Matty’s lover was dead without knowing that she loved him. Sometimes people refuse or exclude something in the beginning; until they go through and have more experiences, they will realize something special and make some different changes.

     The other part which touched my heart is the moment that Miss Matty lost all her money because of a crash of the bank. Although she was so sorrowful about her misfortune, she wasn’t angry with the bank or made any curse toward someone. She said that there were more poor people had less. What a beautiful heart Miss Matty had! I think she lost nothing at all since she always had a heart of gold, which made her be a “rich” person in this world.

     It seems a regular and peaceful life in this small town; nevertheless, there are so much tears and laughing behind every villager. Moreover, the sincere relationship between these kind and friendly people make this town more beautiful and colorful.

【102-2微●心得 佳作】法學三 郭〇雄：The Street Lawyer

The Street Lawyer

參賽者：郭〇雄（法學三）
名次：佳作
書名：The Street Lawyer
得獎作品：

     The reason I choose this book is because being a law student, when I first came across the book title, “The Street Lawyer”, the book totally aroused my curiosity.

     This story took place in the office of the Washington DC law firm Drake & Sweeney. One day, a homeless man called himself ”Mister”, brought a gun and dynamite and entered the office in order to find who evicted him out of the apartment he rented. Finally, although he was shot by the police sniper, the issue he mentioned has brought attention to Michael Brock, who is one of the lawyers in Drake & Sweeney. Afterwards Michael tried to discover who the man was and uncovered a dangerous secret about Drake and Sweeney.

     In the story, my favorite character is Michael Brock, not only is he the main character and lawyer , but also his justness(dedicated to find the truth of Devon Hardy vs RiverOaks lawsuit) and his non-hankering after fame and gains(given up the opportunity to become the partner of Drake & Sweeney but being a street lawyer) has set me an example of a good lawyer.

     This story is very impressive, as the organization is very good, linking each chapter well  one after another. Moreover, the writer describes all the scenes and characters in detail and vividly, seems they are real life images appearing before my eyes!

【102-2微●心得 佳作】應外四 吳〇萱：I’ve Got Your Number

I've Got Your Number

參賽者： 吳〇萱（應外四）
名次：佳作
書名：I've Got Your Number
得獎作品：

     Sophie Kinsella’s stories are always full of surprising plots which make readers obsessed with them and unwilling to drop the book until they finished it. Those unpredictable plots spice the common romantic stories which sometimes bore readers of extensive reading. In addition to her strong consistent writing style, I’ve got your number features its footnotes which suppose to be used to explain obscure academic term. However, the footnotes are used to express the main role’s hilarious hidden thoughts and to satirize the intellectual mother-in-law who thinks herself superior to others and loves to do research of all things in her life. Though Sophie Kinsella has written several stories in the similar skeleton, readers will always be amazed at her fresh and creative ideas.

【102-2 第三名】財法三 洪〇凡：The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

參賽者：洪〇凡（財法三）
名次：第三名
書名：The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
得獎作品：

     This is the sequel to the novel ‘’The Hunger Games’’. The story took place in a nation known as Panem, established in North America after the destruction of the continent's civilization by an unknown apocalyptic event. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercised political control over the rest of the nation. The nation consisted of the wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts united under the Capitol's control. District 12, where the story began, was located in the coal-rich region that was formerly known as Appalachia.

     The Hunger Games was an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol were selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death. All tributes must fight to the death until only one individual remained. By the games, the ruler entertained the people in the Capitol on one hand. On the other hand, he intimidated the people of 12 districts, making them threatened and obedient to the leader.  People in the Capitol lived a luxurious life. In contrast, people in 12 districts couldn’t eat to the full.  The rich were in furs, while the poor were in rages. Once the tribute who won the game, was received lifetime goods and materials to live without worrying back and belly as rewards, so as to show Capitol’s generosity.

     In the 1st book, Katniss, who volunteered for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose, pretended to fall in love frantically with Peeta Mellark, the male tribute chosen from the district 12, to gain more favor with the audience whereas Peeta was out of the loop. The audience in the Capitol were moved and agitated when both of them were going to eat poisonous berries to commit suicide. In hence, the gamemaker announced that both would be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.  

     In the 2nd book, president Snow tried so hard to kill Katniss in view of the winning of 2 victors is the Capitol’s shame. Katniss created a win-win situation. It ignited the fire of the hope for all districts. All of them were under a long-term awful autocracy and driven beyond the limits of forbearance. Not until Katniss succeeded did they dare to burst into anger. President Snow was afraid that she would be the trigger of the rebellion across the districts, though she didn’t mean to do so. She was willing to do everything to show the people that she was grateful and obedient to him, to save her family’s life. Little did she expect that the winning of the Games was like catching fire, turning herself into the symbol of rebellion. Consequently, President Snow announced a special Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell, where all tributes would be selected from previous victors, so as to get rid of her.         

     The main of the 1st book was focus on the excitement and the challenges in the Games. The dark and the ugly side of people’s mind was revealed without covering. After all, the tributes fought for survival. However, in the 2nd book, all kinds of emotions were deeply depicted. Not only the tributes but also the people across the districts rose their anger, hatred, love and unity. People in the Capitol viewed the kill as the diversion while the others regarded it as the dreadful nightmare. People in the Capitol urged to spit so as to taste much more delicacies rather than stop eating. Nevertheless, the poor would never know whether they could keep themselves fed after they open their eyes in another morning.

     It is pretty inspiring. In the reality, the gap between rich and poor is badly expanding. In the age of advances in technology and free democracy; however, the chance will never be on minority groups’ side. Never to expect for those who are holding powers, owning everything and sitting right on the top of the pyramid to share what they are enjoying. As a result, the greed erodes the peace creating by the equality. Exploitation begins, and the people blind by the greed can’t see the truth. Therefore, the people with the backlog of resentment rise in rebellion. The fight explodes. Not the same as the novel, we are fortunate to own the rights which are protected by the constitution, so we can protest against the unfairness in legal ways and guard our rights. Instead, what the people in the story can do is to risk their lives, revolting through their blood and tears.

     As a student, watching unfair social affairs pile up one after another, I feel nothing to help. Though we have laws as protection, people with ugly thoughts are hiding behind laws. Though we elect legislators to voice for the society, they finally collude with businessmen.  The tax inflates year by year, and the price of houses is high enough to take us aback. Not stepping into the society, I take shelter under the identity as a student, and stagger in vision of the unknown.   

Perhaps, it is God’s arrangement for us to take the challenges.

     People in the story strive to survive, and to change their fate. We should make efforts and get over hardship for ourselves, and embrace the sun the day after tomorrow. After all, we have no choice but to face the cruel fact, so just do the right things and don’t be hesitate.

【102-2 第三名】應外二 楊〇玟：For One More Day by Mitch Albom

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

參賽者：楊〇玟（應外二）
名次：第三名
書名：For One More Day
得獎作品：

     The story is about a man named Charley "Chick" Benetto. Chick used to be a baseball player, but he retired due to injury and became a salesman to make a living. He is desperate and he often drinks to excess; therefore, his wife leaves him with their only daughter and asks for divorce. When he finds out that he is not invited to his daughter’s wedding, his life hits rock bottom. Then, Chick decides to return to his hometown and take his own life. He intends to commit suicide by colliding with a truck on his way home, but he fails. Afterward, he staggers back to his old house, only to make an astonishing discovery. His mother, who has passed away eight years ago, is still alive and welcomes him home as if nothing has happened. Then, Chick spends one day with his mother, and learns something that he never knew about her and her dedication to the family. With his mother’s guidance, Chick pulls himself together and lives a new life.

     At the introduction of this book, it says that the story explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one? When I read this book for the first time, my aunt had just passed away. That was my first time to know the feeling of losing my beloved one. I was sent to my aunt when I was little because my parents wanted to focus on their work and save more money at that time; therefore, my aunt and I became very intimate. I remembered that I used to call her “mommy aunt” because she was just like my second mother. I remembered that we went to everywhere together, even if she went to play Mahjong with the neighbors, she brought me there. Nevertheless, I came back to live with my parents when I was going to attend elementary school. After that, I could only meet her once a year. When I got the news that she had been diagnosed with cancer and she didn’t have much time, I was frightened, and full of regret. I regretted that I seldom called her to care for her, not to mention to visit her. I regretted that I hadn’t showed my appreciation for taking care of me and repaid for it. This is the main point of the story－we often ignore the importance of people around us until it is too late to compensate. Chick didn’t know that his father left their family because of an affair; he thought that his mother expelled his father out and he was unhappy about it. Until Chick spends one day with his mother, he realizes that his mother is the one who sacrifice herself to protect her family. The secret used to be a wall between Chick and his mother; however, after the day, he knows his mother again. Chick bears in mind what he has learned at that day and starts a new life. Although this can be considered as a happy ending, Chick has already lost his mother. If Chick had cherished the time that he spent with his mother, the misunderstanding would have been clarified earlier.

     From this book, we learn that we have to cherish every day we spend with our beloved ones before it is too late, and we also learn the importance of family. So, why don’t you pick up your phones to call your parents and tell them you love them now?

【102-2 第二名】統計四 鄭〇涵：Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

參賽者：鄭〇涵
名次：第二名
書名：Eat Pray Love
得獎作品：

     Have you ever thought of leaving all the work behind and escaping from a noisy city alone just to find a balance in your life? Well, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert has. Despite possessing a successful career as a writer and owning a wonderful husband, she was not happy and satisfied. Lack of private space to ponder, she felt confused, helpless and couldn’t figure out what she really wanted. Making up her mind to end her marriage and take a journey to Italy, India, and Indonesia for the sake of purifying spirits, she found out where she belonged to in the long run.

     Travel alone is a way to pursue pleasure. Without familiars, you face a whole new environment and all you can do is feel free to the strange city and embrace it. Enjoying delicacies, beautiful scenery, and new friends in Italy, Elizabeth realized that romantic love was not the only choice to fill her empty mind. Besides, she seemed to be able to smile to herself. This was the first change as well as a good start for her. “Smile with face, smile with mind, even smile in liver.” this is quite interesting and important for people in modern society. Most people are too busy chasing for fame and wealth to smile. In fact, we are kind of similar to Elizabeth. The way we keep following might not be what we really want, leading to complaint about working tiredness and dissatisfaction. Maybe we can learn from Elizabeth, just go and search for our own word.

     Travel alone is a way to confront self. Listen to the dreaded voice in your deep heart instead of fleeing from it, and you can control and change it. Leaving from Italy as a heaven, Elizabeth headed for a substance-deficient country, India, in order to see the real ego clearly. In the beginning, she slept over for the religious practice and dozed off during meditation. Day by day, she gradually stayed on track and straightened out the messy thoughts, knowing that the only way to conquer it was open her mind and face it at ease. Something impresses me is that Elizabeth made a great influence on a seventeen-year-old Indian girl, Tulsi. At first, Tulsi was reluctant to get marry by the custom. Through Elizabeth’s support and dedication of Guru Gita to her, she finally felt released and believed to be happy in her marriage. Not only did Elizabeth find the peace in her spirit, but also inspired people around her. I think this change of Elizabeth is worthy of respect. From this part of story, I discover that being alone is more challenging than it looks. Maybe the reason is that most people don’t really know their mind completely and can’t find the sense of belonging. This is why sometimes being accompanied is lonelier than being alone. And the sentence, “No looking at world through your head, look through your heart instead.” will always keep in my mind.

     Travel alone is a way to find a balance. People run after balance, but what is the definition of balance? Elizabeth’s final destination was Bali, Indonesia, for the purpose of meeting a medicine man, Ketut Liyer. In the day time, she kept daily routine, religious practice. At night, she had fun in the party to enjoy her life. Here, she remained a balance between body and mind. Until she met a Mr. Right, Felipe, she was plunged into confusion again. Afraid of breaking her balance and being hurt, she refused Felipe flatly. At that time, Ketut told her “Sometimes to lose balance for love is part of living balanced life.” Realizing the meaning of “one body two sides”, she decided on her word: “Let’s cross over.” I’m so delight to see the happy ending that the author eventually got over her deficiency and gained bliss. In addition to her love story, I pay attention to good deeds made by Elizabeth. She donated to help a healer named Wayan Nuriasih who was a single mother with bad living condition. It reminds me of what teacher ever said: volunteering is a way of life. If you already reach your balance, please help those who are in need to make them balanced.

     Divorce was a turning point for Elizabeth. Even though it destroyed the original life in marriage, it ended up bringing her the real bliss. After reading this book, I make self-examination. “You have to learn to select your thoughts the way you select your clothes every day.” I can’t agree with it any more. By learning from Elizabeth, I will spare time for self thinking in order to ensure the right direction I’m going forward. As for traveling alone, it is a process to understand self condition. Courageous enough to depart from original life, you can see the broadened road waiting for you. Changing the aspect you treat yourself, you can truly face the problem. And when you are no longer scared of losing balance, probably you have achieved the genuine balance. Due to advantages of traveling alone, I would like to map out a journey on my own, hoping to search out my exclusive word and be a better guy.

【102-2 第一名】法學一 曾〇菁：Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

參賽者：曾〇菁
名次：第一名
書名：Life of Pi
得獎作品：

      What’s the image in your mind if we mention “danger”? A psycho with a bloody knife? Or an old car speeding in narrow allies? How about drifting on Pacific Ocean by a small and shabby life boat with a Bengal tiger?

     “Life of Pi” is a story about how did a boy grow and change after experiencing a cruel and terrible shipwreck. At the beginning of the story, I guessed that would be an interesting and inspiring story. However, I was totally wrong. Nothing about survival is interesting, it is truly sad and appalling. I had even felt myself shivering or shedding tears several times when I was reading. However, except for those tearful and cruel plots, “Life of Pi” also talking about philosophic thinking of struggle between faith and survival as well as the conflict between divinity and the primitive desire of human. In order to make the appalling story fantastic, the author pictured the story metaphorically. But still, we readers can follow the clues that the author had left for us.

     Reading Pi’s story is reading the process of his changing. He was a naïve teenager before the terrible shipwreck, however, after starving, serious sunburn, rainstorm and the horrible mental shock, he got a new life. I can not directly and easily judge if Pi’s experience is good or bad because one of the lessons that this story had taught me is that everything has at least two aspects. Just like the symbol of Taiji, a circle which is divided into black part and white part. Those two parts are in the same shape and size, which has added some balanced phenomenon to the symbol. Though it seems like the color had already divided the circle exactly, there are two little circles, a white one and a black one, being put on the black part and the white part, making the color black being surrounded by white and white being surrounded by black. Except for the conception of balance, Taiji also means “coexistence”. The disaster is a refinement for Pi’s spirit, but this refinement is based on catastrophe.

     Also, his changing reminds me that all of us are changing in every moment. It was the world shapes us in the ways that out of our imaginations. Pi would be an innocent boy ever after if he dies in the shipwreck with his family, but he didn’t. He caught the very chance to climb on the little life boat and started his adventure of struggling for his survival. After that, the world shaped him and polished his eyes to see things not just from a religious and pure vision but a realistic one.

     During Pi’s journey, the author showed readers the conflict between divinity and the primitive desire of human by the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker. In the past, Pi religiously believed in Christianity, Hinduism and Islam as well as chose to be a vegetarian. Through the baptism, Pi learnt how to hunt fish and turtles and viewed them as delicious food even though all of his preys were uncooked. Pi hunted not just for feeding himself but also Richard Parker. As long as it was full, it would not attack Pi. In my opinion, Richard Parker symbolizes Pi’s desire and physical needs, which is opposite to divinity, an idea being symbolized by “Pi” the character. Nobody can deny that everyone must have the primitive desire, and that is what supports human being to be alive. However, once human trying to explain those things which were too hard for them to understand, they create religion for it. People set some doctrines to follow for pursuing the divinity, and it was the reason why Pi fed Richard Parker── getting divinity is based on satisfying the primitive desire. The disappear divinity will be back until desire has been satisfied, and I think it is the reason why Pi left the carnivorous island, which is a metaphor for picturing that Pi was living on his mother’s rotten body. Also, it can explain why Richard Parker left Pi after they finally went ashore.

    When it comes to the carnivorous island, we can interpret it in two ways. First, based on the story without animals, we know that the carnivorous island means Pi’s mother’s body. The island was so-called “the carnivorous island”, but actually it was physically eaten. It was her body that fed him, turned the situation better and evoked Pi’s desire. Second, however, while the spirit of desire awoke, Pi’s divinity was suppressed. The only thing that the carnivorous island had eaten was Pi’s divinity. But as we mentioned above, getting divinity is based on satisfying the primitive desire, Pi finally got his rationality back after he was satisfied.

     The island is really an excellent food for thought and so did the two stories, both of the one with animals and the one without animals. Somebody said that they believe the story with animals and the others claimed that they believe the one without animals. In my opinion, I think both of them are true. René Descartes said “I think, therefore I am.” After all, everything has at least two aspects. To people who weren’t on the drifting life boat, the story without animals would be fact, but to Pi and Richard Parker, the truth may be the story with animals.

     Aside from the above, the last one of my reflections is that we should cherish things around us. It’s wrong to take anything for granted. Even if there were so many bad and unfortunate things happened, life itself is worth appreciating.