Adolescent Years

Lily morphed and developed into a beautiful young women in the ten years of friendship with Snow Flower before her marriage. The two girls at an early age had already formed a relationship that would hold strong for many years to come. They not only grew off each other but helped each other through devasting situations as a true laotong should. Lily developed from a scared country girl into a fair maiden knowing the language of nu shu and strong embroidery skills. Whereas Snow Flower humbled herself, learning the skills and importance of everyday chores and manners. Snow Flower would visit Lily and her family frequently throughout the ten years before their marriages. Their friendship blossomed while sadly other family members died, withering away into the darkness of the afterworld. Their love for each other was like no other love they could have ever imagined, filled with sharing secrets and weaknesses, feeling the same emotions, and comforting each other in times of need. Their character strengthened together, yet another thing they shared in their teenage years, both blooming into fine young brides.

Snow Flower (Laotong)

"A laotong relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity. A marriage is not made by choice and has only one purpose-to have sons." The tension in Lily's house builds as Mama and Baba have to choose to make the laotong match or not. If they choose to build this new realtionship then Lily will obtain a higher status in the community, will marry into a wealthy family, and bring honor to the family home. But this would bring long working hours for Babe to raise money for gifts in the dowry and making extravagent gifts for Lily's laotong match and future husband. Eventually they reach the conclusion of allowing Lily to join her soul friend, in which they share the exact same birthdate, some amount of siblings, both third sisters died, and families are equal in many ways except for wealth. Lily and Snow Flower will start communicating on a secret fan in nu shu, the mysterious language only women know and this will hopefully bring eternal friendship and love to Lily's young life.

On The Waterfront

Overall I enjoyed the movie, On the Waterfront because it was well directed and used theatrical and literary aspects very well. The acting was very convincing. I especially thought that the lighting and music truly added to the movie's emotion and connection. It gave it senses of foreshadowing and really sucked in the viewer. For example, I thought in the beginning the irksome, troubling, jazzy music genuinely made me think something exciting was going to happen and it would be caused by some trouble. Also all the guys in nice clothing made me think something fishy was going on. Throughout the movie the theme of loyalty played its role. Terry had to choose between Edie or Johnny Friendly, a tough decision which was almost life or death in certain aspects. He could win the love of his life and serve justice but suffer the consequences of Johnny Friendly, or he could give in societal pressures and lie to the judge, but stay untouched by Friendly. He ultimately chose to serve justice, which had its rewards because in the end, Johnny Friendly's power was over thrown by the workers he had controlled for so long. He choice of justice not only rewarded him but also the men who had been man handled in the past.

New OR book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I chose Snow Flower and the Secret Fan partially because it was recommended by mom but also since we are learning about Chinese culture in AP World as well. I have already started to make connections between the book and new gained knowledge. Themes are already emerging in this compelling novel. Love (or lack of), loyalty, and sacrifice are all prevelant themes that all shown through the main character Lily. At the mere age of seven, she goes through the extremely painful process of foot binding. Bone gets broken, blood is shed all in the name of beauty. Beauty is pain. She is not alone however in this process, she is joined by her sisters Beautiful Moon and Third Sister. The matchmaker comes to their house and to their surprise says that Lily is a speical case, one of which beauty is radiant, feet the shape for perfection, and a promise of a glorious future including a wealthy husband and money. This is when her mother finally comes to notice her and love her. She is an obedient child, one who just wants to be noticed and have a purpose in life, and she will do anything to achieve this. When her Third Sister dies from the footbinding gone wrong, it teaches her a valuable life lesson on life and death and how beauty has its prices...

All My Sons

Overall I enjoyed this play. The characters kept me interested throughtout the plot and I liked the twists and turns it made. But most interesting of the characters to follow was Chris. At the beginning of the play he struck me being an anal, booksmart, loyal son to his father, who had a hard time showing his emotions and loving. But his devotion and love to Ann seemed to open him up. He is persistent and actually has strong feelings for what he believes in. His marriage was Ann was controversial but he pushed through it and eneded up fufilling his dream at the end. Through most of the novel he thought that Steve Deever had commited the horrible crime of shipping out faulty air parts. But when he found out that his father had done it his emotions spilled out and he finally allowed himself to be angry. He was ashamed, guilty, and heartbroken that his father would do such a thing to him and his family. All of this tied into the many themes of the play. Ethics, loyalty, and love tied together the characters and defined the whole play. Each was experienced by most of the characters and influenced the tone of the play. Overall the play made me understand and relate to the characters and truly understand the themes of the play, tying them to my own life and learning from the life lessons that were taught. It makes you think about your decisions and what is truly important to you...your nation or your family?