Alice in Wonderland (FILM CRITIQUE)

    

    Alice gets herself down to normal proportions and continues her trek through the woods. In a clearing she comes across a little house and shrinks herself down enough to get inside. It is the house of the Duchess; the Duchess and the Cook are battling fiercely, and they seem unconcerned about the safety of the baby that the Duchess is nursing. Alice takes the baby with her, but the child turns into a pig and trots off into the woods. Alice next meets the Cheshire cat (who was sitting in the Duchess's house, but said nothing). The Cheshire cat helps her to find her way through the woods, but he warns her that everyone she meets will be mad.

   Alice goes to the March Hare's house, where she is treated to a Mad Tea Party. Present are the March Hare, the Hatter, and the Dormouse. Ever since Time stopped working for the Hatter, it has always been six o'clock; it is therefore always teatime. The creatures of the Mad Tea Party are some of the must argumentative in all of Wonderland. Alice leaves them and finds a tree with a door in it: when she looks through the door, she spies the door-lined hallway from the beginning of her adventures. This time, she is prepared, and she manages to get to the lovely garden that she saw earlier. She walks on through, and finds herself in the garden of the Queen of Hearts. There, three gardeners (with bodies shaped like playing cards) are painting the roses red. If the Queen finds out that they planted white roses, she'll have them beheaded. The Queen herself soon arrives, and she does order their execution; Alice helps to hide them in a large flowerpot.

   The Queen invites Alice to play croquet, which is a very difficult game in Wonderland, as the balls and mallets are live animals. The game is interrupted by the appearance of the Cheshire cat, whom the King of Hearts immediately dislikes.

   The Queen takes Alice to the Gryphon, who in turn takes Alice to the Mock Turtle. The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle tell Alice bizarre stories about their school under the sea.The Mock Turtles sings a melancholy song about turtle soup, and soon afterward the Gryphon drags Alice off to see the trial of the Knave of Hearts.

   The Knave of Hearts has been accused of stealing the tarts of the Queen of Hearts, but the evidence against him is very bad. Alice is appalled by the ridiculous proceedings. She also begins to grow larger. She is soon called to the witness stand; by this time she has grown to giant size. She refuses to be intimidated by the bad logic of the court and the bluster of the King and Queen of Hearts. Suddenly, the cards all rise up and attack her, at which point she wakes up. Her adventures in Wonderland have all been a fantastic dream.

Lord of the Flies- Character sketch for Simon

             The character of Simon plays an important role in the story Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Simon represents a kind of natural goodness, he is caring, supportive, smart and always tries find the truth behind things. He was the first and only boy to discover that the beast wasn’t real. He is a hard worker and works for the goodness of the tribe. He is quite a shy boy and although he has many smart ideas in his head it is hard for him to pass them along to the rest of the boys because he hates speaking at the assemblies. “He sighed. Other people could stand up and speak to an assembly, apparently, without that dreadful feeling of pressure” (page 112). Simon “was a skinny, vivid boy,” with “straight hair that hung down, black and coarse.” (Page 20) “His chin pointed, and his eyes so bright,” and “He wore the remains of shorts and his feet were bare like Jack’s. Always darkish in colour, Simon was burned by the sun to a deep tan that glistened with sweat.” (page 112). Although Simon was quite a small boy, he is a strong and the wisest of all the boys. 

          Simon is a very important character in the novel “Lord of the Flies”. He represents all that is good and pure. 

"if would throughly know anything teach it to other"

HOW TO MAKE PAPER BAG

How to make gift bags from newspaper

When I bought something at a store recently, the clerk handed me my purchase in a bag made from a newspaper. I liked it very much and had to make some more—thus today's DIY recycled newspaper project: gift bags made from the Wall Street Journal. You can vary the dimensions, of course, but here's what I used to create a bag that's 5" tall, 4.5" wide, and 3" deep.

Stack two sheets of newspaper on top of each other. This will be a two-ply bag for extra sturdiness.

Cut out a rectangle that's 15.5" wide and 8.25" tall. If your paper already has a fold in it, align the existing fold with one of the fold lines in the diagram below, unless you don't mind an extra fold appearing somewhere on your bag. I cut out this rectangle, then flipped the paper over so the blue area would be on the outside of the bag.

Fold a flap 1.25" down from the top. Fold a flap 2" up from the bottom. Then measure off and make vertical folds in the places shown in the diagram above. The front and back panels are 4.5" wide, the side gussets are 3" wide, and you'll need a 0.5" flap for gluing the bag together.

Cut two pieces of cardstock or chipboard to 4.25" x 1", then glue them on the widest two panels just under the top fold. These will reinforce the rim of the bag. Glue the top flap down along the length of the bag, covering the cardstock. Since the bag is two-ply, you'll need to glue both flap pieces down one at a time.

Put glue on the outside of the 0.5" tab and bring the left-most panel over to form the body of the bag, aligning the cut edge of the panel with the folded edge of the flap. Add a little more glue to make sure the outermost sheet of newsprint gets tacked down, too.

Upend the bag so the 2" flap is now up. Fold the short sides inward as if you were wrapping a present. If it seems easier, you could also lay the bag on its side and crease those folds against the table.

Put glue on both flaps and fold them inward to form the bottom of the bag. Standing the bag upright and pressing down from the inside will help to secure them.

Cut a piece of chipboard to 4" x 2.5" and glue it to the bottom of the bag to reinforce it and hide the flaps if you want to be an overachiever.

Punch holes in the rim of the bag, adding eyelets if you like, and string some cord through the holes to form handles. Knot each end of the cord so it won't pull out through the holes.

If you want to store your bag flat, pinch the top together, fold in the sides, and bring the bottom up so that it lies flat.

HOW TO COOK PUTO

PUTO is a traditional Phillipino dessert made with rice flour. There are revised versions of the recipe using wheat flour, however, they are Americanized versions that have a very different flavor and texture. Rice flour can be found at most health food stores or Asian markets. Puto is a good bread option for someone with siliac disease, or who is sensitive to wheat. Puto can be topped with coconut or butter, depending on the preferred flavor. Traditional puto is cooked in a steamer. If you don't have a steamer, make your own inside a roasting pan with a lid and boiling water

Things You'll Need

• Stockpot
• 3 cups rice flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. baking powder
• Sifter
• Mixing bowl
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. anise powder
• Spoon
• Muffin pan
• Roasting pan with lid
• 1 cup flaked coconut

INSTRUCTION

1. Fill a stockpot with water and place it on the stove on high heat to boil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Pour the rice flour, salt and baking powder into the sifter and sift them together into the mixing bowl.
3. Pour the coconut milk, sugar and anise powder into the bowl with the sifted dry ingredients and stir them together with the spoon until the dry ingredients are combined with the wet ingredients, and the mixture becomes a smooth pour able batter.
4. Pour the batter into the muffin cups. Fill each cup about 3/4 full.
5. Place the muffin pan into the roasting pan. Carefully pour the boiling water from the stockpot into the roasting pan and around the sides of the muffin pan, until the water reaches half way up the muffin pan.
6. Place the lid on the roasting pan and place the roasting pan in the oven, being careful not to splash the water into the batter.
7. Cook the puto for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a puto comes out clean. Remove the roasting pan from the oven.
8. Remove the muffin pan from the roasting pan with an oven mitt, and allow it to cool for about five minutes. Sprinkle the tops of the puto with flaked coconut while still warm, to allow it to stick

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a steamer, place the puto in the steamer to cook for 20 minutes.
• Make sure your roasting pan is at least 3 inches deeper than the muffin pan, so that the tops of the puto do not touch the top of the roasting pan as they rise.

The Grumpy Tree

SETTING 

In the forest 

CHARACTERS 

A Tree

A Girl 

The Spirit of the Forest  

STORY

There was once a grumpy tree. It was the biggest tree in the forest, and it didn't need its shadow for anything. However, the tree would never share its shadow with any of the animals, and wouldn't let them come anywhere near.

One day, the autumn and winter were terrible, and the tree, without its leaves, was going to die of cold. A little girl, who went to live with her grandma that winter, found the tree shivering, so she went to get a great big scarf to warm the tree up. The Spirit of the Forest appeared and told the little girl why that tree was so solitary, and why no one would help him. Even so, the girl decided to put the scarf on the tree.

The next springtime, the tree had learned from the girl's generosity, and when she sat next to the trunk the tree bent down to shade her from the sun. The Spirit of the Forest saw this and went to tell all the animals. He told them that from then on they would be able to shade themselves well, because the tree had learned that having kind and generous beings around makes the world a much better place to live in.

MORAL OF THE STORY

The stubbornness and selfishness of a tree are remedied with tenderness and generosity.

selfishness

Debts, bondage, much stress,

all for just a little joy,

discipline we lack.