Short Story

Aibohphobia Lunch Challenge

Ella

9 Everest

     As I walked over to my usual table in the cafeteria, I noticed that something was amiss. The cafeteria was very... quiet. Too quiet. Usually, the cafeteria, filled with over 350 secondary students, would be so noisy that you can barely hear yourself think. Everyone yells at each other over the noise, and the radio at the corner of the room blares on and on, even though no one listens to it. Today, no one spoke a word. But the strangest thing of all, was actually the water balloons that I saw everywhere. Under the tables, on the food counters, by the food stalls, next to the radio, near the trash cans. They were everywhere.

     I sat on the bench next to my friends, Myra, Devi, Bella, and Tata. I casually waved to them. They usually say “Hi” to me, but today, they just smiled nervously at me. But I shrugged it off and started unpacking my lunch box. I took out my spicy chicken sandwhich and started to bite into it. The feeling of chilli sauce running down my throat made me feel like sticking out my tongue like a puppy, but at the same time, I wanted more. I was about to have another bite, when out of nowhere, Devi yelled, “Was it a bat I saw?” making me bite my tongue instead. Ouch! That stings. “Huh?” I asked her. “Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw? Wassamassaw!” she yelled once more. “What in the world are you talking about?” PLOP. I felt something hit my head. But I ignored it. It was probably just my imagination. At least, that’s what I thought until I felt something running down my hair, my cheeks, my chin, and... Plop! Onto my chicken sandwhich. It was some kind of liquid. Some kind of icky, gooey, red liquid. “Eww! Is this blood?” I shrieked. Then it happened once more. But this time, I saw it coming. It was a small, green water balloon, heading towards me at full speed. And I couldn’t get out of the way. SPLAT. Just my luck.

     As if that wasn’t weird enough, Bella suddenly screamed, “Did Hannah see bees? Hannah did.” I tried asking her, “Are you okay?” which just got me – you guessed it – another goo balloon to the head! And Myra just responded with a “Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did?” even though she wasn’t even drawing, which just made me feel even more confused. I jumped off my chair and screamed in frustration. Tata moved forward, like she was about to pull me down. SPLAT. Too late. I sucked in my breath. Okay, that’s enough. I packed my lunch box and climbed the endless stairs back to my homeroom class. I stayed quiet for the rest of the day, not wanting to ‘decorate’ my hair further. That day, all the colors of the rainbow decorated my hair, making me look very bright against the sea of dark haired people. I stomped past the small cafes, convenience stores, banks, and pharmacies, not caring if my steps made a lot of noise. People gave me strange looks. They even covered their childrens’ eyes, and I could hear those children asking their mothers if I was an insane person.

     The next day, I tiptoed my way in, occasionally looking over my shoulder to check if someone’s silently following me, but everything seemed to be back to normal. People chattered endlessly, there were no goo balloons, and lunch time was no different from all my other lunch breaks. It made me think that yesterday might have been a dream. I shook my head. The painful feeling of scraping all that goo off my hair was SO not a dream. So the paint on my head couldn’t have been a dream, either. “What happened yesterday?” I asked Myra once I arrived at my class. She just smiled and dragged me to the door. On the door, there was an announcement that had apparently been there since Monday.

Aibophobia Lunch Challenge

Is it I? It is I! Our school’s literary month is almost here! In order to celebrate it, on Thursday, we challenge you to only say palindromes during lunch time! If you say non-palindrome phrases, you will have a goo balloon thrown at you! The person who can come up with the most palindrome phrases wins a special prize!

Cheers,

The Student Council Members.    

   “Oh..."

- The End -

The Lottery Summary

A long time ago, in a village, a lottery was held annually every June 27th. It was a ritual for a sacrifice to fertilize the crops (in this case, the crops are corns). In this lottery, the head of the families choose first. The family with the black dot on their paper is the chosen family. From the chosen family, their tickets will be retrieved and they have to retake their lottery tickets. The winning member from the chosen family will be the sacrifice. They sacrifice the person by throwing stones at them. In this story, the chosen family is Bill Hutchinson's family, and the chosen villager from the Hutchinson family is Tessie, Bill Hutchinson's wife. What I found shocking is the stoning at the end, and also the fact that even children and her own husband threw stones at her. I find this story very weird and a bit scary because imagining the stoning part is a bit diisturbing.

War Horse Film Review REVISED

     "War Horse", directed by Oscar-winning Steven Spielberg, is a movie based on a novel with the same name, written by Michael Morpurgo. This film falls into a few categories, such as historical drama and family movie, as it focuses on World War I and is suitable for alla ges. The main character, Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine), is a young and kind boy from Devon who loves his brave and beautiful male thoroughbred, foal, Joey. His father is Ted Narracott, an old man with a drinking problem who is a veteran from the Boer War.
     The story begins when ALbert Narracott witnesses the birth of a thoroughbred foal. Some time later, Ted Narracott goes into town to buy a plowing horse in an auction, but he takes an interest in the same young thoroughbred ALbert saw. He brings him home after bidding a high price for the colt, and his wife, Rose Narracott (Emily Watson), isn't happy. Albert, however, is very happy to see the horse, and soon becomes bounded to it. He names the horse Joey. He trains Joey to respond to his calls and to plow the rocky grounds. But sixteen-year-old Albert soon becomes separated from Joey when their crops failed and they need money to pay their debt. Ted sells Joey to Captain Nicholls, a bright and clever british soldier. Joey is now a war horse, and Albert promises that Joey and he will meet once again. After being seperated from each other, they both face different difficulties and challenges. Will Albert be able to fulfill his promise and be together with Joey once more?
     The background music fits perfectly for every scene in the movie. For example, during the scene of teaching Joey to respond to calls, the background music starts softly When Albert starts to run, the music turns faster and jumpier, giving a playful tune. The music changes to a tense background music when the soldiers prepare to charge. It becomes soft yet strong, and gets faster as the battle reaches its climax, then slows down as the scene ends. It gives the feeling that the music follows everything that happens in the movie. John Williams, the composer of War Horse soundtrack, is a genius. The costumes designed by Joanna Johnston are very realistic. The costumes fit the characters very well. For example, Rose wears a beautiful, long, pale pink dress, and it gives off the feeling of a normal English woman. Another example is Emilie's costume. She wears a bright yellow dress, and the bright yellow dress creates a feeling of a cheerful and young French girl.

     War Horse is a highly enjoyable and suspenseful movie. Watchers of all ages will not regret watching this movie. It really captures how people on different sides of World War I feel, and it’s definitely a first-rate movie. I strongly recommend it. Don’t miss it!

War Horse Film Review

     "War Horse", directed by Oscar-winning Spielberg, is a movie based on a novel with the same name, written by Michael Morpurgo. The film falls in a few categories, such as historical drama and family movies, as it focuses on World War I and is suitable for all ages. The main character, Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine), is a young and kind boy from Devon who loves his brave and beautiful male thoroughbred foal, Joey. His father is Ted Narracott, an old man with drinking problems who is a veteran from the Boer War.

     The story begins when Albert Narracott witnesses the birth of a thoroughbred foal. Some time later, Ted Narracott went into town to buy a plowing horse in an auction, but he took an interest in the same young thoroughbred Albert saw. He brought him home after bidding a high price for the colt, and his wife, Rose Narracott (Emily Watson), wasn't happy. Albert, however, is very happy to see the horse, and soon became bounded to it. He named the horse Joey. He trained Joey to respond to his calls and to plow the rocky grounds. But sixteen-year old Albert soon became separated from Joey when their crops failed and they needed money to pay their debt. They had to sell Joey to Captain Nicholls, a bright and clever british soldier. Joey was now a war horse, and Albert promises that Joey and he will meet once again. Will Albert be able to fulfill his promise and be together with Joey once more?

     The background music fits perfectly for every scene in the movie. For example, during the scene of teaching Joey to respond to his calls, the background music started softly. When Albert stared to run, the music turned faster and jumpier, giving a playful tune. The music changes to a tense background music when the soldiers prepared to charge. It became soft yet strong, and gets afaster as the fight reaches its climax, then slows down as the scene ends. It gives the feeling that the music follows everything that happens in the movie. John Williams, the composer of War Horse soundtrack, is a genius. The costumes designed by Joanna Johnston were very realistic. The costumes fit the characters very well. For example, Rose had a beautiful, long, pale pink dress, and it gave off the feeling of a normal English woman. Another example is Emilie's costume. She wore a bright yellow dress, and the bright yellow dress creates a feeling of a cheerful, young French girl.

     War Horse is a highly enjoyable and suspenseful movie. Watchers of all ages will not regret watching this movie. It really captures how people on different sides of World War I feels, and it's definitely a first-rate movie. I strongly recommend it. Don't miss it!

REFLECTION//Argumentative Essays and Debates

     This unit, we learned about argumentative essays and debates. For argumentative essay, we wrote an argumentative essay about a topic that we chose our self. In an argumentative essay. In an argumentative essay, there should be introduction paragraph which is kind of background information, and end the introduction with a thesis sentence/statement that should include two reasons. There should also be a format in the body paragraph, which is either pro-pro-con or con-con-pro. After writing the body paragraph, we should write the conclusion paragraph, which summarizes the essay and restates the thesis statement in a different way. It's also called paraphrasing the thesis statement. After the conclusion paragraph,you should put a citation list. The citation should use APA format. The reference list should be written on a separate page, not on the same page as the essay. I think that I wrote a good enough thesis statement and conclusion paragraph. The format of the body paragraph was also clear, and I disproved the possible counter argument. However, I think that my thesis statement still needed to be clearer, more straight to the point, shorter, and more specific. My arguments in the body paragraph still wasn't enough, especially the data about the chairs and tables in the cafeteria and number of secondary students.
     In the debate topic, we had to do a debate in a team. My teammates were Aura, Sania, and Thomas. Thomas was the first speaker, followed by Aura, then Sania, and me. I did the rebuttal. Our debate topic was "Will globalization lead to a brighter future?", and we were on the opposition team. The affirmative team consisted of Denisa, Dinda, Phoebe, and Willy. I think what I did well was the preparation and the arguments. The collaboration was good too, since we helped each other write the arguments. However, I'm not good at expressing and talking, especially in public, so I think that didn't go so well. I also talked too long, more than the appropriate time. I had difficulties rebutting, especially because I'm not really good at thinking quickly without research and I'm not good at speaking either.

To the Cafeteria and Beyond

     The cafeteria is one of the most important places in Sekolah Victory Plus. Most teachers and secondary students spend their break time and lunch time in the cafeteria. Every lunch period, the cafeteria is always full of students and teachers who are eating their lunch. One of the main reasons as to why the cafeteria is always full is because students are not allowed to eat inside the class, or in any area outside the cafeteria. Because of this, a lot of students experience difficulties in looking for an empty table because the cafeteria becomes full very quickly. In order to solve this issue, SVP secondary students should be allowed to eat outside the cafeteria area because the current space is not big enough, and the space could be used more effectively.

     First of all, the current space of SVP cafeteria is not big enough. There are over 300 secondary students, but there are only about 200 chairs. The secondary students’ eating area is restricted to the cafeteria. However, due to the little space in the cafeteria, most students who are dismissed late, or for some reason arrive at the cafeteria late, experience difficulties in finding seats. If students were allowed to eat outside the cafeteria, then it wouldn't be as difficult for the latecomers to find a place to eat. During an interview, a La Myra Bening, a ninth grader, said, “I find it difficult to get a seat in the cafeteria during lunch, because every time I get there, it’s always crowded. I would like it if we were allowed to eat outside the cafeteria, preferably in front of the library.” Another ninth grader, Nadya Prasetyo, agreed to this statement. She also added, “It’s very difficult. Even if you arrive just a little late, there’s no hope for eating in the cafeteria.”

     Another reason is the fact that the space outside the cafeteria could be used more effectively. There are lots of space that students can occupy during lunch time, such as the tables and chairs outside Grade 9 Everest and the picnic furniture that used to be outside the library. However, students are not allowed to eat there, which often make the tables look useless, because no one eats on it. If secondary students were allowed to eat there, then the space would look more useful, and we can make better use of the furniture and school facilities.

     Teachers often say that if students eat outside the cafeteria, then the school janitors would need to clean a wider range of mess. Nevertheless, students should learn to clean their own mess. They can use this opportunity to improve their awareness on cleanliness and hygiene, because they need to clean their own mess. From this experience, students would be able to attain the sense of responsibility and learn to be more responsible.

     The above evidence shows that allowing students to have their meal time outside the cafeteria would help them find an eating location faster and that it can make better use of the unoccupied space and facilities. Aside from that, students will also be able to learn how to be responsible, clean and tidy. Therefore, students should be allowed to eat in different parts of the school.

Bibliography

• Bening, La Myra. Personal interview. 24 Oct. 2013.
• Prasetyo, Nadya Kasih Reihan. Personal interview. 24 Oct. 2013.

Ahmad Dani Should Be Held Responsible

   Ahmad Abdul "Dul" Qodir's car accident, which killed 7 people and injured others, had been a hot topic in Indonesia, especially because the driver himself was underage, and the son of a famous singer, Ahmad Dani. There had been a lot of debates on who should be held responsible - the boy himself, or his father. Ahmad Dani must be held responsible, because as a father, he knows more than his son about driving and the laws of driving in Indonesia.

   First of all, his father was the one who told his 13 year old son to take his girlfriend home, even though he knew that it's against Indonesia's driving regulations. In Indonesia, every driver must always bring their driving license (also known as SIM in Indonesia), which they can validly acquire after passing the driving test at the earliest age of 17. Letting someone who is 4 years younger than the legitimate age shows disrespect towards Indonesian road and safety regulations, as well as being irresponsible towards his son's actions.

   Another reason why he should be held responsible is because as a father, he has control over what his son can and cannot do. Generally, when people have a child, especially young children, they would do their best to control their children and show them what is wrong and what is right. If they are bout to do something wrong, or suggesting a bad idea, they would tell them that it's a bad idea, and sometimes even give advice. For example, if their son was on a date or with his girlfriend, they should tell them not to go back too late. And in this case, his son was driving very late at night after driving his girlfriend back home.

   Some people think that it is actually Dul's fault for driving underage, and at night, too. I understand this point of view. However, Ahmad Dani has the rights as a father to stop his son from doing something wrong. However, it was actually Dul's father himself that asked Dul to drive his girlfriend home. Therefore, Dul was actually following his father's orders, not disobeying them. 

   Although there are objections, the evidence above shows that Ahmad Dani played a very big role in the accident, especially because he knows about driving and road regulations in Indonesia. He knows about the legitimate driving age and did not make sure that his son follows the rules. Therefore, he must be held responsible for the accident.