Writing Task 8 : Sending E-Mail to Overseas Friend

The last but not least post for Writing course's assignment guys, so get ready!
It is about sending e-mail to someone from other countries. Having friends from other countries could be the most amazing thing that ever happened to you. You can talk about something you interested for, discuss the diversity between our culture and theirs, or asking about how they spent their holiday in their country.

I got a new friend here, the name is Cici. She is a Chinese college student. I know her from penpalworld.com. It is kinda awkward since I never sent any e-mail to someone for a long time. Eventually, we have the same interest to animated movies or serial animation from Japan. Since we are just a friend, I used informal phrases to e-mail her. Here is our conversation :

Writing Task 7 : Summarizing part 2

                The Lost Colony

credit to http://www.hiddenouterbanks.com/

            The English were not the first Europeans to land their ships on American soil. The Vikings had discovered North America in the 11th century. Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492 for Spain, and the French began expeditions to the New World in 1524. But the first English presence in North America is important because the thirteen English colonies that would later be established eventually became the country now known as the United States of America.

Summary :
The first English presence in North America is important because the thirteen English colonies established North America to USA.

          In April of 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh, under the authority of Queen Elizabeth of England, sent an expedition of seven ships carrying 600 men, half of them soldiers, to found an English colony in North America. The colony was to be used to establish an English presence in the New World as well as a base from which English privateers, or pirates, could attack and plunder Spanish treasure fleets. Raleigh’s cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, led the expedition. 

Summary : 
In April 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh sent an expedition, led by Sir Richard Grenville, to find an English colony in North America.

                       In July of that year the bulk of the fleet reached a small island off the coast of Virginia that was called Roanoke. After building a small fort on the north side of the island, the colonists initiated relations with a Native American tribe that lived on the island, the Aquascogoc. These natives showed little interest in building relations with the English colonists, and they soon parted company. After this encounter, however, the English noticed that one of their silver cups had gone missing, and they attributed its disappearance to the Aquascogoc. Grenville, the English captain, was furious. He believed that the Aquascogoc had stolen the silver cup. Whether or not this was true, angry exchanges followed and soon the English burned the Aquascogoc village. The English held their fort against the subsequent attacks of the natives.

Summary :
In July 1585, the English expedition reached Roanoke island, Virginia. They initiated relation with a Native American tribe, the Aquascogoc, but burned the Aquascogoc village after they lost one of their silver cup.

                     Despite their success in battle, the colonists had a miserable time because they were mainly soldiers and adventurers, not farmers. They were hungry. They missed the comforts of England, such as soft feather beds and dainty foods. Also they had expected to find gold and silver on the island, and were disappointed when they found none. Grenville soon tired of these conditions and set out on his ship to plunder Spanish treasure fleets and return to England. The colony was gradually abandoned. 

Summary :
Sir Richard decided to plunder Spanish treasure fleets and abandoned the colony because the English could no longer survive in the island.

                    In 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh dispatched a further expedition of three ships and 150 colonists, led by John White, to Roanoke. This time the expedition included women and children, including White’s pregnant daughter, Elenora. Shortly after they reached Roanoke, Elenora delivered a child whom they named Virginia. Virginia was the first English person born in America. But the English soon ran into more trouble with the Native Americans. A colonist named George Howe was killed by natives while searching for crabs alone on the beach. The colonists were scared. They persuaded White to sail back to England to ask Sir Walter Raleigh for help. White left behind 114 colonists, including his daughter Elenora and granddaughter Virginia.

Summary :
In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh dispatched a further expedition led by John White but eventually White have to left his colonists because he needs to ask Sir Walter Raleigh for help.

                   Unfortunately for White and the colonists, England was preparing for a naval war with Spain. All shipping from English ports was ceased. It took White three years to get his relief expedition back to Roanoke. When he returned in August of 1590, White found no sign of his daughter, granddaughter, or anyone else. They found three letters, “CRO,” carved on a tree and the full word, “CROATOAN,” on a nearby post. Possibly this referred to the Croatoan Island, which was nearby. White searched long and anxiously, but failed to find them.

Summary : 

England was preparing for a naval war with Spain so it took 3 years for White to get his relief expedition. When he returned, he found no sign of his colony except three letters, “CRO” carved on a tree and word “CROATOAN” on a nearby post.

                     No further trace of the lost colony has ever been found. Sir Walter Raleigh himself searched for the colonists in 1595, and he sent another search-party in 1602, but nothing came of either attempt. To this day no one knows for certain what happened to the colonists.  

Summary :
Two search-party has been sent to search the lost colony but it has ever been found and no one knows what happened to the colonists until today.

Book Report : Our Mutual Friend

credit to http://img.bukabuku.net/

Author                         : Charles Dickens

Publisher                     : Dian Rakyat, 1995

Publication Date         : Serialized 1864–5; book form 1865

Genre                          : Novel

            Taking place in England at 19^th century, the story begins when John Harmon is came back to his hometown in order to fulfill his father’s last will. Old John Harmon had made a very strange will. He would give all his money to his son, John, but only if he agreed to marry a girl called Bella Wilfer. Unfortunately, John Harmon is thought to have been murdered soon after he left his ship. Jesse Hexam and his daughter, Lizzie, find a dead body in the Thames River that later on is identified as Harmon’s.

            Soon after the news spread, a pale-faced man named Julius Handford comes to look at the dead body then disappears into the dark street after he saw it. After John Harmon’s dead, the two servants of Harmon’s family, Noddy Boffin and his wife inherit the property. Mr. Boffin found that money can make a lot of trouble to him and his wife, so he decide to apply a mysterious man named John Rokesmith as their secretary.

            Mr. Boffin and his wife enjoy their new wealth and leisure, but they regret that the only son of old Harmon didn’t live to enjoy the fortune that actually should be his. So the Boffins invite Bella Wilfer to live with them in their grand new house, wishing to provide her with the kind of life she might have had as John Harmon’s wife. But later on, money have spoilt Bella and makes her think that money is everything she needs.

            In the other hand, after the lost of her father, Lizzie Hexam works for Jenny Wren, the Dolls’ Dressmaker. Eventually, Lizzie becomes good friend with Jenny because she likes to help Jenny and never been bothered with Jenny’s disabilities. Everything is smooth for Lizzie until her brother, Charley Hexam and his schoolmaster, Bradley Headstone visit her. That meeting has made Bradley fall in love with Lizzie. But there is another person who loves Lizzie, he is Eugene Wrayburn, a lawyer. So there are two gentlemen who fall in love with Lizzie Hexam. However, Headstone’s affection scares Lizzie then she flees to another area.

            Maybe you’re wandering now, who is the main character? If it is John Harmon, why he died in the beginning? Well, the good news is he is not died. The one who died is his imposter, George Radfoot. After the fake John Harmon pronounced to be dead, the real John Harmon disguise himself as Julius Handford, then as John Rokesmith to find out what kind of girl Bella Wilfer was. And then he works for the Boffins as their secretary.

            While working for the Boffins, John has some opportunities to talk with Bella Wilfer. And one day, John proposed Bella but Bella rejects him with disdain. Day by day, Mr. Boffin begun to get more miserly, but this is all part of a charade to show Bella Wilfer that money is not everything. When Mr. Boffin tries to discharge John Rokesmith, Bella has stand for Rokesmith’s side. Bella has become wiser, having seen how money and wealth have changed Mr. Boffin into an ill-tempered old man. She refuses to stay any longer with the Boffins and returns to her father. Then Bella marries Rokesmith because she loves him, and he eventually reveals that he is John Harmon.

            By the end of the book, all the bad guys are punished and the good guys are rewarded. Mr. Headstone drown in a river with Mr. Riderhood. Charley Hexam continues his study to make a better life. John Harmon and Bella Wilfer move into a fancy house in London and takes the Boffins as their loyal servants. Eugene Wrayburn marries Lizzie Hexam and he starts to recover from his wound.

            This is a wonderful book to read. This books is very classic when the bad guys are getting the ‘Sad Ending’ and the good guys are getting the ‘Happy Ending’. It is an excitement to see every characters’ efforts to get a better life. This book tries to tell us that money is not everything. Money can’t buy happiness, happiness can only be found if your heart feels warm and comfy when you see or do something. I am truly recommend this book for your teatime companion.

This is my favorite quote, when Bella finally understand the situation :

“I think I understand now, why you were always talking about money. You saw me becoming greedy and hard. So you pretended to be greedy and hard too, just to show me what it was like.”

Writing Task 7 : Summarizing part 1

credit to https://fa42cf2086b5b4ffa910-42905546d373f150b1b6e131d3710cf2.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/

The Challenger Disaster by Mary Jones

            By 1984, NASA, the United States space program, had carried out many successful flights of the space shuttle.  In fact, Americans were beginning to take the whole NASA program for granted.  Then, the president announced that the next shuttle would carry a school teacher into space.  Hundreds of teachers from all parts of the country applied for the job.  They all wanted to be “the first teacher in space.”  During the next year, these adventurous educators were tested and examined and trained.  At last, the choice was announced.  A teacher from New Hampshire, Christa MacAuliffe, would be the first teacher-astronaut.

Summary:  Christia MacAuliffe would be the first teacher carried into space by NASA.

            Many months of preparation and training followed the announcement.  First, Christa went through intensive physical training.  She had to be in top condition for the flight.  Then she learned how to operate some of the delicate instruments on the Challenger space shuttle.  Christa planned special lesions, which she would teach from space.  Finally, she trained with the astronauts, so they could work as a team in space.

Summary : Christia prepared herself to be ready for the flight to space with other
                    Challenger crew.

            Everyone knows what happened on that terrible day in January, 1986.  Early in the morning, the Challenger crew had a good breakfast and discussed their plans.  They made sure they understood all of the work they would be doing during the flight.  Later, they boarded a special  van, which carried them to the shuttle.  The weather was rather cold, and some NASA officials wondered if they should put off the flight.  After some discussion, they decided to go ahead.  The Challenger took off over the Atlantic Ocean in Florida.  Minutes later, it exploded in the air.  All the crew members died in the crash.

Summary : At 1986, the Challenger accident happened and killed all its crew members.

Movie Review : Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) Live Action

Have you ever thinking to kill your homeroom teacher back then? Maybe this crazy fantasy flashed at least once in every junior high schooler's head. But, how about you got to kill your homeroom teacher to save the world? This movie brings up your crazy fantasy into real!

The story begins in 3-E class where the worst third year students of Kunugigaoka Junior High school been gathered. There, a yellow octopus-like creature suddenly shows up as their homeroom teacher. For your information, this yellow being with a smiley-face emoticon for a head is incredibly strong and fast and he is going to destroy the earth in one year unless someone can stop him. In effort to make things not one-sided, he makes a deal with the governments to teach 3-E class students and not kill them until they graduate. Because the army can do nothing about it, the government of Japan assigns the students of class E with a secret mission to assassinate the yellow creature known as Koro-sensei (from korosenai = unkillable and sensei = teacher).

As you can expect from a manga-to-movie adaptation, this movie compress about 75 manga chapters, or one full anime season, into 110 minutes. Due to this, most of the character introduction is skimmed over and only focused on the major characters. Some settings also have been changed and are different from the manga.

About the casting, this movie took an advantage by lining the cast with current Japan teens idols. The movie gave us almost the same character's psychological side but changed the character in more realistic looks.

The movie protagonist, Nagisa Shiota is played by Ryosuke Yamada. Although Yamada can draw more attention from the female audience, he actually acting differently compared to the original Nagisa from the manga. Here, Nagisa looks timid, innocent, and observant. In the original source, Nagisa's look is tightly connected with his background story. If there is a sequel, I like to see how they overcome this if they do.

The genius but violent character, Karma Akabane is played by Masaki Suda. Suda played well as the devilish Karma with his haughty character.

The class' sexy Russian assassin / English teacher, Irina Jelavic is played by Kang Ji-Young. Kang does a good job as the seductive temptress.

The most impressive is Anarashi Kazumiya as the mischievous but endearing Koro-sensei. With his talented vocal acting skills, Ninomiya brings this mischievous but endearing Koro-sensei to life through his iconic but crispy chuckle and wise advice.

I am really enjoying this movie. It is fun to watch the humor and got hit with its serious drama. The action scenes are not bad after all. The film director, Eiichiro Hasumi tried his best to hit as many plot points and stick close to the source material. Every scenes that involve Koro-sensei are entertaining, especially when he gives his iconic laughter. There are also moral values too like respecting each other, we can be better than other people thought about us, etc.

In the scale of 1 to 5, I will give this movie 3,4! Let's see what's other people think about this movie :

credit to http://www.imdb.com/

Writing Task 6 : Making Poster

Hello readers from everywhere!

I got another assignment from Mrs. Devi!  \ (^o^) / yeah!
This time, it is about making poster. A poster is meant to convey some important information to a large number of people. It is a means of advertising or publicizing something on a large scale. I think this can be our chance to show what is our passion in life. It will be fun to make a poster based on something that makes you interested.

Hold your horses guys! Before making a poster, here are some things to remember :

• It should be visually very attractive.
• A powerful message should be stated in only a few words. 
• The theme or the topic should be clear.
• A message of appeal, awareness, caution, warning should be clear and precise.
• The name of the organisation/individual issuing it should be mentioned.
• Any style or size of the letters can be used.
• An eye-catching title should be given.

Well, I tried to make a poster today. It is about The International Tiger Day. It is kinda late to make the poster, but still I want to tell people that we must protect the gift from our nature. So that our children can see it not from a book or replica.

credit to projectsumatrantiger.wikispaces.com (Tiger cub's photo) and www.pinterest.com (roaring tiger's photo)

Writing Task 5 : Announcements

Another assignment from Mrs. Devi guys, so I will post it here again. Now, it is about announcement. Why should you make an announcement? Because it is an important information/news and people in public or in your area must know about it. Well, some people say announcement should be eye-catching. Yes, it is right but don't forget about the information you want to share.

Announcement needs to be effective or well-targeted. The content should be clear and you should pay attention with your diction. Don't pick words or term that lead to multiple interpretations. Instead of eye-catching, I made a simple announcement which only play with font and some shapes for decoration. Remember, this is only an example :

Keeping Pets

         Long time ago, many wild animals have been domesticated then became pets. For example, remember hamster? A mouse found by Laharoni at 1930 in a hole at Aleppo dessert, Siria. Mostly pets today have been fully domesticated and could live among us. But some people want to have more challenges. They keep undomesticated pets but captive-bred on commercial scale like tarantula, phyton, cockatiel, leopard gecko, sugar glider, etc.

         Keeping pets at home have several benefits. Whether you believe it or not, pets are a great way to improve your mood and temperament. Research has shown that people who suffer from various diseases have lesser chances of depression if they keep pets as compared to those who are suffering from similar diseases and don't keep pets. Beside enhancing your mood, pets can be an antidote for loneliness, reduce stress, a source of exercise, etc.

         You know, keeping a pet can be fun or troublesome, depend on your point of view. It will be fun if you enjoy spending your time with it. Keep in mind that everything you did for your pet is your responsibility. If you keep it since a baby, you will watch your pet grows and start to get used to it. You will know its behavior, personality, and its habit. You will feel the difference when sometimes it treats you as its mother or treats you as a friend. (or worse, it treats you as its slave *LOL* just kidding!)

credit to memecrunch.com

One day, will come a phase when you get bored with it. It will become old and not as cute when it was a baby. It is your choice to still love it or not. For your reminder, pets bond very strongly to its owner, and the longer a pet has lived with its owner, the stronger the bond and the greater the pain of abandonment. Even if your pet get new owner, sometimes their psychological side will change into unfriendly or unpassionate. Want my suggestion? Try to remember what you have been through with it. Then, you will find your decision.

Now, I want to share my story. This little fella, I met her in a store at PASTY. She was crawling alone inside an unproperly maintained aquarium. Her body was thin, and I spotted some ulcer and ringworm infection. For the first time I met her, she was afraid with human and try to defend herself. But, I decided to bring her home. There is no particular reason why I brought her home. I think I want to make she can life happily, that's all. This was her first day in my home :

After several treatments, she is actually a lovely and friendly hedgehog. It is a pleasure to see your pet healthy :

Unfortunately, one of my close friends wanted it badly. I am confused, whether I letting down my friend or keep my decision. At least, I gave it to my friend and make him promised to keep it with responsibility.

I hope, this can be your reminder that adopting a pet in the first place means taking responsibility for a pet’s whole life, not just for as long as it is convenient or cute.

Writing Task 3 : Diary

Hi folks! Today, I want to share my homework again. It is about writing a diary. You can write anything in your diary like your feeling, thought, what you have experienced in that day, or even your future plans. Here is the example :

Monday, 28 September 2015

What a colorful day!

Like I have said before, “New friends will bring new stories!”. I got some new friends today, actually they were my senior (I can call them senpai sometimes *LOL*). Their name is Adit and Nahar. Nahar is my female older cousin’s boyfriend and Adit lives in the same boarding house as me. Well, both of them were so friendly and funny. So, here is the story how I met them.

Tonight, Lissa, my female older cousin, and his boyfriend visited the Mosquitoes boarding house to met Adit. Before she went upstairs, she came to my room and invited me to join them. Actually, I have some tasks to do, but there is still enough time to do it later since its deadline is on 4 October 2015 so I decided to join them.

I came to Adit’s room, joined them playing PC game named Rayman Legends. That was the first time I met Nahar, I thought he was a cold person because he only talked if it’s necessary but the truth is the more I know him, he became more friendly to me.  Then Adit, a hilarious guy, the one who loved to throw jokes and make us laughed. Almost every minutes we spent there is filled by laughter.

The first game we played is Kung Foot. It is a minigame in Rayman Legends. The rule is simple, kick the ball to your enemies goalpost at any cost. You can punch, kick, slap or even use magic to get rid of your enemy if they stand in your way.  Well, since I am a newbie, I found myself really struggling. It was suck to face Adit or Nahar in Kung Foot because they were incredible. But it turned to fun when I saw them facing each other in Kung Foot. It was entertaining to saw their furious battle.

The second game we played is still Rayman Legends, but we tried to play the story-mode. It was really fun because the four of us could cooperate as a team. Adit said that moment when we played together made him remember the old times when he usually played the game with his gang (Lissa, Nahar and the other person I didn’t know). Adit said if it wasn't me here, they won't get a lot of fun today. Well, I am happy to got some new friends because not only I got excitement but also I got new stories to tell.

That’s enough for now.

Writing Task 2 : Postcards

Here is the tasks I do for postcards material. From this material, I learn how to write a postcard properly. Sorry, I can't give the detail, but I will show you some example :

credit to http://languageartsgames.4you4free.com/

Writing Postcards
Imagine you are on holiday in France with some friends.

The Sulistyo Family
Jl. Haji Nawawi, Cibinong, Bogor, Jawa Barat
16911
Indonesia

Hi everyone!
Having a great time here in France!
Thanks to Air France’s plane for their excellent service. Now, we stayed in the ocean side hotel.
My friends and I have visited many amazing places like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Mont Blanc. Mostly spent our evening at the beach, waiting for sunset.
The weather is sunny and hot everyday. Tomorrow we’re going to visit Pantheon.
See you soon.
Yudha

Imagine you are in Spain on a cooking holiday.

The Jaya Family
Jl. Abdul Muis, Solo, Jawa Tengah
57133
Indonesia

Hi everyone!
Having a wonderful time here in Spain.
Now, I stayed in Andalucian village, Vajer de la Frontera. Taking Annie B’s cooking courses with six other friends. We have learned many courses like Daily cooking classes, Spainish Culinary Classic course, etc. Some cuisine use cooking wine so I got to be more careful.
Hope to be a better head chef when I back.
See you soon.
Yudha

Look at the picture on the front of the postcard. Imagine that you are there.

The Krisna Family
Jl. Lempujangan RT 01, Yogyakarta
55211
Indonesia

Hi everyone!
Having a lovely time here with Tiana.
Mostly spent our time together like having a picnic, fishing, enjoying the sunrise or sunset, etc. We are happy to have our holiday here because the lake is so beautiful.
The weather is warm and sunny everyday, it is perfect season to have outdoor activities.
Best wishes.
Yudha & Tiana

Wish you were here?
Look at the picture on the front postcard.
This shows a holiday that might not have gone so well. Write about what went wrong on the holiday.

The Gatot Family
Jl. Merpati, Citeureup, Bogor, Jawa Barat
16810
Indonesia

Hi everyone!
Weather lovely.
It should be a nice holiday at New York, unfortunately the hotel’s manager didn’t tell us that there was a construction area near the hotel. We’re already booked a room so we hardly find our time to rest at the hotel.
That’s all the news for now.
Yudha

Trip of a lifetime
You have won the Lotto and you have just gone on the trip of a lifetime. Think about where in the world you might be.

Nadia Mega Triani
Tegalrejo, Klaten, Jawa Tengah
57465
Indonesia

Dear Mega
Greetings from sunny Canada!
The weather is sunny but cold everyday, thought Canada is almost the northest island in the world.
Mostly spend my day exploring the beautiful nature at Canada. I have visited the Niagara Falls, enjoying the most beautiful scenery at Banff National Park and the Rocky Mountains, playing ski at Whistler, having a trip to Old Quebec which contains most historical building in Canada, etc. I have some new friends from Japan.
The most memorable moment is when I stare at the lakes in Banff National Park, I think it is the most beautiful place on earth.
Wish you were here.
Yudha

Writing Skill Practice :

Sujilah & Krisgiantoro
Tegalsempu, Caturharjo, Pandak, Bantul, Yogyakarta
55761
Indonesia

Dear Mom & Dad
Having a great time here in New York!
My friends and I have visited many wonderful places like the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and the Adirondacks. I haven’t bought any souvenir from Chelsea Market yet so we planned to visit there later.
The weather is hot and sunny everyday. Tomorrow, we’re going to visit the Great Lakes and Chelsea Market.
Wish you were here.
Yudha

Writing Task 1 : Notes, Giving Direction, SMS

Hello friends, we meet again. For almost 2 years this blog site has been abandoned because of my real life business. Now, here I am, start to post something again. Today, I want to share something useful for your references, it's my homework. This homework came from Writing for Personal Responses course and it is about writing a note, giving direction, and asking for permission via SMS.

You guys must be familiar with a note, right? But, do you think it is simple enough to make? There are some things to consider before you write a note like the time and date, you gotta sign your name, use proper sentences, and the last things is you must make it short and straight to the point.

How about giving direction? Before giving a direction make sure you know the place and understand the direction. Here is a tip! Use some specific objects as a clue.

Asking for permission via SMS should be easy for you guys. Make sure to use proper sentences and tell your identity that the person you texted will be know that is you.

Here, I want to give you some example, check this out :

NOTE FOR A FRIEND :

credit to tdlove.files.wordpress.com

Tue 10 AM

Dika

I will be home late today.

Having an appointment with some friends to study in group at campus.

Come back at 9 o'clock so please don't lock the door before I back.

Yudha

DIRECTION FROM GK 1 TO PLA :

credit to rajakingindo.files.wordpress.com

From the front door of GK 1 you go straight until you pass a brown pendapa named Pendopo Tedjokusumo. The PLA buildings is on the north of Pendopo Tedjo Kusumo.

SMS ASKING FOR PERMISSION :

credit to http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/

Good afernoon Mrs. Devi, my name is Yudha Adi Pratama, NIM 15202241045 from J class.

I want to ask your permission not to attend your class on Tuesday because I have to join debate competition on the same day. Thank you for your permission.

That's all for now. I am open for any feedbacks, especially for a constructive one. I hope this post can help you in any way. Thank you!