Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Extensive reading Chapter 2 (Ong Ding Shan)

1) What do you think causes an eating disorder?
I think it is caused by a misconception about the human adaptation. People have this thinking that if they starve themselves, they will reduce the amount of fats. but instead, the body is living on the muscles instead of the fats.

2) In the first paragraph, the psychologist ‘lounged’ in his chair, the teacher ‘sat ‘ at one side of the table while Ashley was ‘perched’ at the edge of her seat. What can you say about their attitudes at the meeting from the way they positioned themselves in their seats?
I think the psychologist was feeling calm and relaxed. The teacher was feeling that she should not interfere with the conversation, therefore sitting far away. Ashley however was scared and was lonely in the heart.

3) How did Ashley respond to the school psychologist?
She was firm and annoyed as if she was expecting more attention from the others.

4) List the responses in her mind, how she reacted outwardly and what she said.
She was afraid that everyone would know about her secret. She was panicking and wanted not to talk about the problem. However was firm to her stubborn attitude.

5) What is Ashley’s relationship with Miss Kingsley? Give evidence.
Their relationship as student and teacher is rocky in the sense that Ashley only revert to the teacher's name after some years. However was able to tell answers from her eye. The teacher remained as caring as before.

6) To what extent was the meeting successful? Give reasons for its success and failure.
It was successful to the extent that Ashley was able to get help from people around here and was thinking far ahead. However Ashley was not able to solve her problem right there and then.

7) If you were Ashley’s friend, how would you support her?
I would assure her about the situation and slowly work from there till her condition improves.

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1) Sometimes people say “Hey, that model looks anorexic!” What kind of shape or size would you expect that model to be?
I would think she would be very thin, therefore looking tall.

2) Pick out at least five negative effects of Anorexia on Claire, the author of this poem.
She could not control herself, drifted apart from her friends, could not concentrate, gave her a sense of achievement and blinds her heart.

3) How do you keep active and fit?
To be healthy in the mind and body is to exercise, take enough nutrition and do not think about negative stuffs.
3) How do you avoid situations that make you feel bad about yourself?
Avoid the person or place that gives you discomfort.
3) Name a few people you admire or love that are not perfect in their looks or body shape.
I think the most important is that you admire yourself before making others your idol.
3) Write a list of things that make you feel special and unique to others.
We have to think that there is only one "me" in the whole 6 billion people around the world. We do not have to change to match others. We would be making other people's history not our own.

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1) Write a list of things that make you feel special and unique to others.
√/x/√/√/x

2) In the first four paragraphs, people were trying to draw some blood from Anna’s vein. How many people were there?
There were three people. Anna, an old nurse and a younger one.

3) Why do you think Anna described the smell of sweet maple syrup as a ‘stench’, when the word ‘stench’ is often associated with a smell that is unpleasant?
She thinks that the scent is too strong and she could not take it.

4) Why did Nurse Ashley load a fresh bag of ‘parenteral nutrition’ after she offered a breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup to Anna?
She had to replenished the nutrition of Anna's body.

5) Dr Bloom said ‘Sometimes you have to give up your life in order to save it’. What kind of life was Anna having before being admitted to hospital? Describe.
She was very stressed and was suffering from malnutrition.

6) Claire, the young lady in the previous poem, and Anna in this poem are all teenagers who are high achievers in school and are always pushing themselves to excel in the things they do. In their cases, the pressure had negative effects on them. How do you deal with the pressure to do well in school?
We can organize the time wisely such that we will be fit yet clever. Research have shown that people study better after a meal and exercise than those who do not.

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1) (√) Over-eating at every meal

(x) The need to run and exercise everyday

(√) Cutting your arm and wrist constantly

(√) Having a cup of coffee every morning

2) How and why did Taylor start cutting herself?
She was influenced by her friend. She wanted to relieve her stress.

3) ‘Something terrible’ happened to her friend. What do you think actually happened?
I guess that she fainted due to the loss of blood.

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1) Recall an incident in which you told a lie and the consequences of it.
I was punished more severely than before.

2) Why did the popular classmates start taking notice of Lucille?
She was thought to be getting richer and her classmate think that that was an opportunity.

3) On pg 49, Lucille said ‘If only they had yelled at me, I wouldn’t have felt so awkward.’ Why would she feel awkward?
Instead of battling her parents, she was battling with herself.

4) At least 3 people were hurt in this recount. How were they hurt?
The author was hurt in the way that she had to battle her classmate remarks, then her own conscience.
The author's mum was hurt in the way that her care was insufficient to control her daughter.
Juliette is being "bullied" now, she was hurt in the way that she is tasting her own medicine.

5) ‘When you hurt yourself. You hurt others.’ Do you agree with this statement?
Only when people care about you, they feel hurt. Otherwise, you are only hurting you.

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1) Do you think depression is a medical condition or something you can will yourself out of?
Depression is a mental state where you think that all world is against you and you can only depend on yourself to survive.

2) Pg 51 ‘I woke up more ticked-off than Hulk Hogan’. What does this imply about Ian’s mood?
He was awake annoyed.

3) Ian hallucinated. What did he hallucinate about before the first stay in the Institute of Psychiatry and what did he see before his 2nd admission into the same place?
He hallucinate about all the expectant, judgmental minds before him. He hallucinated about shadows laughing at him.

4) Why was doing things in portions helpful to Ian?
They organized and scheduled things for Ian to prevent his thoughts from running wild and out of control.

5) Why was the mental hospital ‘paradise’ (pg 56 ) to Ian?
The hospital had caring staffs and he did not have to worry about anything.

6) If a classmate is showing signs (refer to pg 58) and suffering from untreated mental illness, what are some of the things your class and you can do to help him/her?
I would clarify about his condition and read some reference book about self help and get help from teachers.

Blog assessment

How comfortable are you with yourself & how do ensure you do not hurt yourself?

I think that looking about other people traits, why not look at myself and appreciate myself. I have my own traits that no other have. This way, i will feel that i am unique. I think I have my own friends and I might be left out there. However I can make myself know that i am lonely, yet not alone. I am comfortable with myself anyway. Silence by myself is fine, silence by others is not. I try to keep if friends that acknowledge me and can attend parties are any other party. Even I am not acknowledge, at least i know that i am there for me.

2 comments:

  1. You needn't post the answers to the reading questions. You just need to keep them in your English Folder 2011 on your learning device.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ding Shan,

    I don't often understand your expressions as they are non standard English expressions but I think I get the gist of what you are saying: that you are unique, have some friends and they are the sort that acknowledge your existence, and you are okay to be on your own.

    If these are the things that you believe in or ways you ensure you are happy with yourself and they help you not to hurt yourself then they are good and useful for you.

    You also have to start to expand your answers by elaborating each of your main idea. For example: you said 'silence by myself is fine but silence by others is not'. What do you mean by it. Can you explain it better and can you give examples to make the meaning even clearer?

    ReplyDelete