Anna Lee: Gotta Dance

The story “Gotta dance” was written by Jackson Jodie Daviss. The main idea of this story was about a young girl named Katie who had a self-motivated goal and plan on tapped dance. Her perseverance made her dream come true, even though most of her family members and relatives didn’t agree with her plan. Katie left home to pursue her dream and did an excellent performance in front of a group of theatergoers. Katie held three main qualities that I believe make her a successful person.

The first quality was passion. Katie had a natural inclination for dancing. In order to fulfill her dream being a good dancer, she learned dancing from tapes and VCR and wore out a few sets of tapes. She practiced perseveringly until she had several famous contemporary dancers’ steps. She danced as best as she could, so she could dance like “everyone you’ve even seen and even better.”

The second quality that Katie held was responding to her inner child. Katie was proud of her ability of dancing, and had compulsion and self-motivation in dancing. But the only person who supported her dancing goal was her brother who died before he could make his own dream come true. Katie realized that she had to take some steps for her and her brother before it was too late. So, she rebelled against her family and relatives’suggestion and made her first step to fly away from home.

The last quality that I think Katie held was setting goals. Katie focused on what she wanted to accomplish. The transportation she chose to travel to another city and the diner she chose for observing potential audience were two examples of Katie’s drive in achieving her goals. Katie wanted to be a good dancer and was pretty sure that she was a fine dance who could dance anywhere and anytime. Katie made her first performance and obtained a great deal of compliments from the audience. She had not only the talent but also the knowledge to choose the right audience and the right place to perform her dance. Being optimistic toward the future is also an important quality for a successful person. Although her brother could not accompany with her, Katie made her next trip to another city and looked forward to the tour.

A famous saying says that 99% of endeavor plus 1% of talent makes a successful person. Although Katie was a natural dancer, without the three main qualities that mentioned earlier, she could not be so successful. The story of “Gotta dance” did stir me up in learning English, so I will follow her model to reach my goal.

David Liu: Razor's Edge

The Razor’s Edge, a novel written by W. S. Maugham, tells us a story the pursuit of happiness by two generations of American’s during the period of the 1910s and 20s. Larry, Isabel and Elliott are the three main characters, each of whom has a different way to lead their lives. The author, through comparing the three characters’ philosophy in his story, encourages readers to think about what kind of life is the real happy life.

The first character is Larry Darrell, a young man who was a soldier during the WWI. His fiancée Isabel is the second character, who was raised by her uncle and waited for Larry for many years to get married to him as soon as he returned. She was dying to lead a stable and rich life just in Chicago. Surprisingly, Larry had no intention to settle down at once but had planed to go abroad. His decision not only hurt Isabel but also frustrated her uncle Elliott, a third character who is a wealthy snob. However, Larry insisted that he had to travel and find something that he had been searching for since the end of the war. After saying good-bye to Isabel, Larry left America determinedly and began his journey while the other characters also started their own lives. Almost ten years later, when Larry met Isabel and her uncle Elliott in Paris, he had already become a totally different person full of goodness, power and a sense of fulfillment. He also seemed extremely satisfied with his new life despite the fact that he had neither enough money nor a family. On the contrary, his former fiancée, Isabel, who married a then millionaire when she turned her back to Larry ten years ago, unfortunately lost her whole fortune; and even her husband fell ill. Besides, Isabel’s uncle Elliott, although still rich then, was forgotten and abandoned by the nobles whom he had treasured for his whole life and finally died lonely. Below are the reasons why Larry Darrell can finally becomes a strong and happy man but Isabel and Elliott cannot.

Firstly, the method to pursue a happy life is different. Larry’s ‘new body’ made him continuously find out the truth of real life. At the beginning of the story, Larry couldn’t help thinking what the real meaning of life was, and he shouted at Isabel that ‘life is a stupid blunder’; ‘I don’t believe in anything’. That is because he experienced the cruel war, and his ‘new body’ was given to him by his fellow soldier in the battle field of WWI. Absolutely, without other people’s sacrifice for him, Larry could have lost his life forever. This event deeply affected Larry and made him decide to reject a well-paid job and even Isabel’s love to ‘loaf’ in the world to ‘find something’. Then, as he determined, he ‘loafed’ in France, Germany and India, working whole day in a Paris’s coal mine, spending a large amount of money and time on books, practising austerities in India, and eventually, he found the ‘something’ in a place on the top of a mountain guided by an old monk. Finally, Larry ‘got the second chance’ and became an unusual man.
However, Larry’s fiancée Isabel is a selfish woman. Although she urged Larry to take a job to serve the country as other men do, her intention is to want Larry to make much more money for their own little family’s happiness but not for any other people; she even did not care about one of her best friends Sophie when she fell into depression. Besides, she only thinks about the normal daily life itself but not the true meaning of it. Therefore, she always pursues endlessly women’s common lives like man’s love, marriage, babies, clothes and dance. In comparison, Isabel’s uncle Elliot is an old snob man only paying attention to his fame and social position. He also constantly pursues man’s common lives such as honor, reputation and vanity but never mentioned how to contribute to the country and other people.

Secondly, the attitude towards life and love is different. First of all, since Larry found the true meaning of life (which most of it is ‘to give what you have to other people ’ as his fellow soldier did to him), he began to unconditionally contribute his heart and soul to other people. He cured Isabel’s husband (Gray) of his illness with his super power and made their family life happy even though he knew that it was Gray who took his former Fiancée; he created a ‘fake’ invitation card which was the Elliot’s last will and gave his best wishes helping Elliot pass away peacefully; he did his best to get Sophie out of depression and even helped her give up the life of debauchery. And then, Larry had a strong mind of suffering instead of enjoying. He volunteered to work under ground in a coal mine but not in the surface; he preferred to be a taxi driver but not an office clerk. In addition, he dared to choose to sacrifice himself instead of obtaining from other people. The typical action is that he makes up his mind to get married to Sophie, a then middle-aged drunk woman wandering around from one bar to another without any assets and honors, intending to share her sadness and pains due to the deaths of her family members several years ago and to make the rest of her life happy.

On the contrary, Isabel is a woman who always thinks about how to ‘take’ what she needs from other people but never ‘gives’. She asked Larry to make as much money as she wanted when she was still Larry’s fiancée; she discarded her true love just for
the purpose of obtaining ‘a square-cut diamond’; she even dared to scheme to deprive Sophie from her ‘last chance’ to be reborn in order to recover the love from Larry. Besides, she is a woman who only knows the pleasure and how to enjoy life. She wants ‘to have fun’, wants ‘to do all things that people do’, wants ‘to go to parties,’ and wants ‘to play golf and ride on horse-back’. Furthermore, she is also a materialistic woman. She needs a gorgeous house and nice clothes. ‘Can’t imagine what it means to a girl not to be as well dressed as the rest of her crowd?’ is the real intention from the bottom of her heart.
As for Elliot, we have to recognize that he is a generous man. However, the difference between Elliot and Larry is that Elliot’s contribution to other people is limited and conditional. He only donates his money to churches to win his family title. He spent so much money on parties to get close connection with the rich and the nobles to gain popularity. Meanwhile, Elliot regards money, house and social position as the three most important matters in his life and never stops seeking them until he takes leave of life. Besides, Elliot is a snob of vanity which is one of his unique features. The most impressive scene is that even though he was dying on his bed, he dictated a reply with his last breath when he received the fake invitation letter, telling the inviters that he deeply regretted not being able to attend the party.

Thirdly, the life style is different. Larry makes great efforts to ‘loaf’ in the world to make his dream come true. And he always leads a simple and artless life. He stayed at a poor apartment in Paris and ‘had no evening clothes’. He even did not invite Elliot and Isabel to have lunch with him when he met them the first time in France. What is more, Larry makes light of money. He thinks that 3,000 dollars annually is enough for both him and Isabel. ‘To me, money means bondage’. In addition, he is a hard-working man, even spares no effort to take the most dangerous and dirtiest job instead of just sitting in a gorgeous office building.
However, Isabel has a strong desire of a stable family life in a big city with a wealthy husband. She has got used to a gorgeous and joyful life style and cannot suffer any damage like bankruptcy. She values money and materials, so, she could give her body to a man whom she never loves.
Compared to Larry, Elliot is absolutely an old man with a traditional life style. He never moves around to search for something like the truth of life. The only thing he is interested is party. He not only finds the value of his whole life in the ‘party’ but also dies of the ‘party’. However, finally, the ‘party’ did not appreciate his efforts but threw him away—the nobles even do not give him the pass that can lead him to his heaven.

About three hundred years ago, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question’ which led Hamlet a hero prince; however, one hundred years ago, this question became ’why to be and how to be’ which created Larry an American superman. Actually, life is like walking on the razor’s edge. Normal human beings can easily be hurt if they don’t try their best to find the truth of life and discard their selfishness. Only people with great goodness which brings them super power can dance freely and happily right on the edge without any pains. However, the real life is not so simple, and now the question turns out to be: ‘how many people can become such a man with super power like Larry in the modern society?’

Anna Lee: Unlighted Lamps

The story of “Unlighted lamps”was written by Sherwood Anderson. It was back in the year of nineteen hundred and eight. Mary, an eighteen-year-old young girl, lived with her silent cold father in a rather quiet cheerless place. A critical incidence happened to her, and she began to think seriously about making plans for her future. Mary’s life was in a crisis. There were two reasons that made me believe that Mary was unhappy.

The first reason was that Mary had a troubled Childhood. Mary’s mother left home when she was pretty little, and she made no contact through all those years. Mary had no female role model to follow. In addition, the rumor about her mother and father even made it worse for her to interact with young men due to her fear of the notion of “like mother, like daughter”. The habitual silence between Mary and her father not only affected her attitude toward the people of the town where she lived but also made her own life a lonely one. She had no chance to break the ice between her and her father, even though she was eager to make a close relationship with her father. As a result, Mary’s life was never anything warm and close.

The second reason which attributed to Mary’s unhappiness was Mary’s unclear future. Mary’s father was going to die and had no much bequest left for her. Thinking back to the beginning of nineteen century when education was not prevalent among girls, one of Mary’s goals was probably to be married to someone she loved. But the only chaser at that time was Duke Yetter, the one she thought to be a rough who she had struck a sharp blow on his cheek. Nevertheless, it was not all pessimistic regarding Mary’s future. The death of her father would open the door of a new life for her. She might move to Chicago where she had spent a day with her father on several occasions. Beside, knowing that her father was not an unfeeling person as he behaved would help Mary to rebuild interpersonal skills because she knew giving herself was one of the ways to break through the wall.

In conclusion, a new door was opened to Mary after her father’s death. If Mary could show warm and generous attitude toward others, her unhappiness would probably be solved. The story reminds me of the importance of being a warm and thoughtful mother. Without an upbeat mother, without a happy daughter.

Ana Lee: Away from Home

Away from home
Although living in a landscape breathtaking country has been my dream since I was a little girl, when the dream was coming true, the determination of whether I should move to Canada with my family was still a dilemma. In researching the pros and cons of moving, all the factors that would affect our life needed to be considered.

Peaceful nature is the first advantage of living in Canada. Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia, but there are only three people inhabiting each square kilometer. Plenty of lands and natural resources, lakes, river-filled forest, mountains, etc. attract a person who has lived in a very busy, modernized, and crowded city as Taipei. Learning English is the second advantage of living in Canada, especially free adult and children ESL programs. English is the most popular and powerful language in the world, so speaking fluent English would be an asset in all aspects of life events.

Nevertheless, there are disadvantages that needed to be considered. The far distance between Taiwan and Canada is the first disadvantage I thought about when I faced the dilemma. It is a twenty-hour flight from Taipei to Toronto. Most of my relatives and friends don’t live in Canada; therefore, it would be hard for us to see each other physically. The second disadvantage is losing our career identity. Although there is a shortage of experienced experts and skilled workers in Canada, it would be difficult for a middle-aged person such as me to find a job position as high as I held back home.

After considering the pros and cons we arrived in Toronto in the cold February of this year; I still wonder the rightness of my decision. Four years after arrival, over two thirds of the recent immigrants who participated in a study done by the Canada government said that their life in Canada has already met or exceeded their expectations. In addition, about half of the participants hoped to bring more of their relatives over through family sponsorship. If that is the case, I am really looking forward to the arrival of my four years.

Wang Tai Lee: Mary in Unlighted Lamps

Sherwood Anderson's short story "Unlighted Lamps" is apsychological story. The story itself is simple and ordinary, but thepsychological struggles of the main characters, Mary and her father,are full and dramatic. The story starts as Doctor Lester Cochran toldhis daughter he might die at any moment because of heart disease.Then Mary went out of her house, walked along the streets, and thoughtof her family and her future vividly. The author narrated Mary's andher father's thoughtful state of minds in the story. According to his description, Mary is not a happy girl from the following three points of view.

Looking at her family first, the readers found that Mary was mostlikely hurt because her parents had broken up. Actually, Mary was alonely child who lived alone with her father. Her mother left thefamily when she was a baby. Being a baby girl is normally much more inneed of mother than father. How could a girl enjoy an intimateexperience when her mother was always absent in her life? Furthermore,her father had a reticent disposition and didn't know how to expresshis feelings. She had no chance to learn from her family how toappreciate and show her love, but this didn't mean that she didn'tneed and have love. Nevertheless, she had unsatiated emotional hungerbecause she never had a close relationship with her father. They were both reserved; thus when she saw a young man taking hold of hissweetheart's arm, there was " a hunger to be touched thus tenderly bya man's hand".

Secondly, she grew up in a town full of gossips. She had beensuffering from the stigmatic rumors since she was little. Hermother's leaving became a scandal in the town. This was not true, buther reticent father never told the truth to the general public andeven to his own daughter. Therefore, "She had always lived under acloud", and that "was becoming constantly more and more oppressive".Consequently, poor Mary needed to escape from the rumors; she oftenwalked out of her house alone and left her father behind. Sometimes,she hid herself beneath a tree in the orchard.

As a result of her personal circumstances, Mary was confusedabout the important life issues. These affected her relationship withopposite sex in the first place. She was so aggressive to DukeYetter; then she felt ashamed of herself and even cried after heroutburst. In addition, she had a guilty conscience of her father'ssilent nature. She thought that she was to blame for the life thatshe and her father had led together. What is more, she always hadnegative and pessimistic outlook. The author, Sherwood Anderson,created some symbolic scenes in his story; for example, when Marystood on a bridge, "….like a stream running always in shadows andnever coming out into the sunlight" she thought.

In fact, a person has the reticent temperament is introverted normally but not necessarily unhappy. The key point is one's attitudeand it can be changed gradually. Actually, every cloud has a silverlining. If Mary has a positive and optimistic outlook, on the otherwords, if she tries to look at the bright side of the moon, she willhave a rosy future.

Susan Lee: Unlighted Lamps

The story of "Unlighted lamps" written by Sherwood Anderson, which is narrated from Mary's point of view, it's about her personal character, motherless family and cold relations with her father. Environment also was potent factor which affected her, and the lack of the affection could have a demoralizing influence on her. In my opinion, Mary was an unhappy girl, based on her personal circumstances in the story. The two reasons caused which Mary's unhappy life are related to her environment.

In the first place, Doctor Lester Cochran, her father, was an inhibited person. There was no preliminary talk even when her father made an announcement of his death that he might die at any moment because of his heart disease. Doctor Cochran never express his love to his daughter even when he had a warm hearts in his mind. That is why Mary felt she had never been anything warm and close with her father. Also, Mary remembered that she had met her father's advances in silence when she was young.

Second, the problem of Mary's life could be attributed to her social conditions. She lived in inhospitable environment, specifically, she was a child who lived with a single father. Her parents's marriage was doomed to failure from the start by a neighbor, but it was not true; anyway, Mary's mother realized that she was living with cold man after Mary was born. Therefore, I maintain that Mary's parents were in an unhappy marriage. Besides, Mary cared much about people's gossip for her mother. For this reason, Mary had a poor self-image. She was fascinated with adventures and busy place because of feeling that she was lonely; likewise, she could not but fe디 ashamed of herself.

In brief, her home environment made her character as if she was in a chaotic situation. She did not intend what to do. Although environment has a powerful effect on us, it do not control all of our lives; however, in Mary's case, I am sure that her unhappy life connected with her environment.