PIECE OF WORK

Drama DW (Developmental Workbook)

DRAMA

About the chosen work In the first rotation of Performing Arts, I chose the subject Drama, and there was a requirement for all students to keep a process journal (also called a DW developmental workbook), in which I included all my ideas, brainstorms, planning, scripts, reflections and also evaluations. There were three main units in this subject: Fame (exploring the life of Amy Winehouse), Absurdist theatre (looking at how to create and use space and also learning about famous absurdist playwrights) and Prisoners (finding out about Augusto Boal, but mainly focusing on the "Stolen Generations", Aboriginal children who were snatched away from their family to be "educated"). Although there is a mix of brainstorms, plans, scripts and reflections throughout the entire DW, there are particularly 2 main tasks both located near the end of the term of drama: the research task on the Aboriginal culture and the final self written, directed and acted short drama play based upon "The Burnt Stick" novel, which is a part in the DW that I would like to focus on here in this reflection. Why I chose this piece of work I chose the Drama DW to indicate that I am principled, due to the reason that there were various tasks which distinctively showed my ability to make decisions and distinguish between right and wrong. In the first unit of Fame, I looked at Amy Winehouse and learnt about the downfall of her career as she was over pressured and started taking drugs, which in my opinion, is a terrible, immoral, and unlawful act. In the small plays that I created with my group showing scenes of Amy before "Show Time", we chose to emphasize that Amy made a horrible choice which she paid off with her life. In the second unit of Absurdist Theatre, I was given 3 scripts to choose from and act out with my partner. In the end, we chose the script about a blind man trying to communicate with his handicapped wife, which although is absurd (as they can't really "communicate" and "help" each other), has a hidden message reflecting a real life situation where people have disabilities but are helpless. In the third and last unit of Prisoners, I looked into the various types of prisoners and applied my understanding into shaping the final performance of the subject, where I merged prisoners with the "Stolen Generations" of the Aborigines to show the bad act of the Australian government, which proves that I can chose and weigh out between good and bad. Reflection on work Looking through all the brainstorming, planning and reflections in my developmental workbook, there were several tasks that I believe I did quite well, such as the final performance, a few reflections, and the blind man's play in absurdist theatre. However, quite a lot of brainstorming and planning weren't completed and recorded as well, which is a shame, as this step greatly affects the acting out parts. Nevertheless, throughout the entire semester in drama, I learnt an ideal more about morals, decisions, justice and also gained more experience and skills in terms of performing and acting in drama. In particular, the monologue at the end of the final performance on "The Burnt Stick" gave me another chance to practice and display my strength of reciting, where I used gestures and emotions to convey the strong message that it was a bad act of the Australian government, stealing the Aboriginal children away from their families. To improve the DW, I should have added more detail in the brainstorming and planning parts, so I would be more organized and prepared for the performances (as some small acts were a little too rushed to complete).

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Macromolecules Essay
About the chosen work In the unit of Chemical Structures, where I explored different chemical bondings and lattice structures, I was given the task to pick a macromolecule and discuss its impact on the world. Out of the list, I chose Diamond, "every girl's best friend", and discussed how synthetic (man-made) diamonds have affected the society. In the essay, not only did I point out the positive impacts synthetic diamonds have brought to the society: that synthetic diamond can be an alternative to the scarce naturally mined mineral, they are much cheaper to buy because they are easier to produce, but I also made clear the negative impacts synthetic diamonds have induced, such as a moral distrust, no safe guard for natural diamonds, and ethical issues regarding greedy businessman. Nevertheless, I didn't take any sides on this issue, since the purpose of this task or essay was just to enable me to explore, understand and appreciate the impact of science on technology and the world. Why I chose this piece of work I picked this essay to display that I am open-minded, showing that I am accustomed to seeking and interpreting ideas and points from different perspectives, for the reason that I looked at a wide range of information and thought about various impacts that synthetic diamonds have brought to the society, including environmental, economic, moral and ethical impacts. Rather than only focusing on one particular issue raised by synthetics diamonds, for example economic, where there can be cheaper diamonds to be used both as jewelry and in industrial products, I chose to expand on its impact and discuss about the effect of synthetic diamonds on the environment and also its consequence of altering moral and ethical views, that there is a good chance that the consumers maybe cheated by selfish businessmen. This way, the essay would cover a broader range of ideas, showing more of a balance and a comparison between the pros and cons brought by this scientific and technological advancement. Reflection on work Being the first essay of the year in Science, this piece of work in my opinion is quite well written, as I was able to "open my mind" towards a range of ideas about the impact of synthetic diamonds, include a bit of detail on the methods used to produce these artificial diamonds as well as state some basic information about both natural and synthetic diamonds. Compared to several science essays which I have written in the past few years, this is an improvement, mainly because previously, I usually miss out parts to either brief information, or the steps necessary to produce the product or object, and can scarcely cover such a wide range of factors being affected. Since I normally focus on either the environmental impact or the economic benefits or disadvantages, scarcely discussing about moral, ethical or social issues. Thus, showing my progress on developing into a more open-minded person, which was the learner profile goal that I believed needed to be worked on from last year.

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Kidney Essay
About the chosen work After a unit learning about cells and enzymes in the Biology trimester, our class began looking into the endocrine system, where we were given the task to write an essay discussing the question: Should it be legal to buy a kidney? A major issue that has been raised all over the world, in which everyone should be aware of, even though the phenomenon of black markets usually arises in developing countries where people are desperately in need for money. In the essay, I began by stating the use of kidneys, emphasizing that everyone can be as healthy with only one kidney (so the issue about sacrificing one's life doesn't necessarily have to be considered in this essay), then I stated the major problem currently, and from this, I suggested that legalizing this trade of kidney buying and selling would most likely be able to alleviate the current problem. However, when I considered the disadvantages of legalizing this kidney trade, I came to realize that there were also a range of different factors regarding not only the helpless victims of the black market trade and the wealthy but being cheated kidney patients, but rather, the larger and broader society, and also different religions or beliefs. Moreover, since there is the option of kidney donation, I concluded in the end that a greater range of people and factors have to be considered before a decision can be made. Why I chose this piece of work I reckon that this piece of work is a good example showing that I am caring, not only for the reason that I was addressing an issue which greatly affected the lives of the poor and the safety of the rich, but an issue which involved the health of others in the society as well as clashes between religions. Therefore, by describing how legalizing the act of buying kidneys affects all these people, and stating at the end that all of these issues must carefully be considered to make a final decision, my care towards a wide range of people is clearly showed. I do not only care for a particular group or type of people, but instead, am affectionate towards different groups of people. From research material and the real life examples as well as from stories about people from developing countries who were basically "forced" to sell their kidney to pay their debt, I was able to "put myself in others' boots", looking at the issue from their perspective and adding in more of my developed opinion to expand further and support their argument, lending a helping hand in an ambiguous way. Reflection on work Although this essay covers a range of factors affected by the legalization of buying kidneys, such as economic, social, health, morals and ethics, I reckon that one of the points isn't realistic and seems as though I didn't really think through it thoroughly. Near the end of the essay, I discussed the disadvantages of legalizing the act of buying a kidney, where I pointed out that Brazilian children were already in danger of getting kidnapped or killed for their kidneys which can then be sold at a high price in the black market. I then explained that if such kidney trades are legalized, the children would be in even more risk of getting kidnapped. However, when I now think about it, I find that it doesn't really make sense and actually clashes with reality, since legalizing the buying and selling of kidneys would result in lower prices and a reduced scale of black markets, hence kidnappers wouldn't waste time and energy to kidnap and kill these children for a lesser amount of money. Therefore, as an improvement, instead of having this point as a negative impact, it could be a benefit that will be brought if the trade is legalized.

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Renaissance Masters
About the chosen work In the second unit of math, we started looking at the nature of linear lines geometrically, graphically and algebraically. As we reached the end of the topic, we were given the task to create or draw out an object, shape or anything we wanted that could be represented by a maximum of 50 straight lines. After drawing the linear art, we had to determine and calculate the equation for each and every line. For this task, I originally thought of creating the "masterpiece" in the form of a silhouette, which is pretty simple, but would be pretty aesthetically pleasing. However, as I started planning for it, I found that it would be too simple, hence I decided to move onto an object. I then chose a clock, but decided that it would still be too plain, that was when I saw a poster with a flying pig, which then inspired me to create the laughing pig. After I was finished with the linear art of the pig, I carefully imputed the co-ordinates of each point into an excel document, set up the functions, which aided me greatly in forming the equations, saving me a lot of time calculating each of them. However, I still had to double check the values and equations generated by excel, which more or less took a really long time to complete. Why I chose this piece of work I chose this piece of work to indicate that I am a risk taker, because firstly, I am not good at art, and secondly, I haven't gotten really familiar with calculating slopes and lengths of linear lines. Nevertheless, I still tried hard, took a step out of my comfort zone of drawing simple geometric shapes, and instead, carefully drew out a simple sketch or picture of a "laughing" pig. Although it may not seem such a challenging drawing, the legs and tail of the pig took me a really long time to get correct and to scale. It was either that the legs were over fat or too slim or that the tail was too pointy and not proportional, so I had to constantly alter the position and slope of the lines, finally achieving the "masterpiece". Additionally, after all the trials for a proportional and better looking laughing pig, I had to slowly and carefully calculate the lengths of each and every line as well as their gradients or slopes, to be able to record the equation of all the lines forming the pig. All these were really challenging to me, however I chose to take a risk and my hard work was rewarded. Reflection on work I am really proud of this work, since I did put a lot of effort while working on it. From this task, not only did I get a better understanding of linear lines and the nature of linear equations, but I was also able to practice my art skills and learn more about my own creativity skills. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I made a silly mistake or decision of not directly asking the teacher for a clarification of the question on the task sheet, which resulted in more unnecessary work of listing and showing the calculations of perpendicular and parallel lines. However, this extra work enabled me to further understand a concept that I was previously not too clear about. I understood that each equation specifies a different line characterized by their gradient and position, which is why from only the gradients, a range of pairs of lines that have no contact with each other are actually perpendicular or parallel to each other. At the end, after I finally handed the task in, I was pleased and at the same time relieved to have completed the entire task with such precision.

Year 10 EOTC in HK
About the chosen work As part of the Education Outside the Classroom learning experience, I went to Sai Kung for 5 days on the Sky to Sea activity with Asia Pacific Adventure. Where the first two and a half days were dedicated to hiking and the rest of the trip for kayaking, in which throughout the entire trip, all 15 of us were challenged to be cooperative, be organized and to show leadership traits at times. From the team building activities to the hiking and kayaking expeditions, we all worked as a team, supporting, helping and encouraging each other to overcome challenging situations and problems, where we all at sometime of the trip developed and learnt new skills, got to know other students in Year 10 more and saw another face to the beautiful, peaceful yet natural Sai Kung Country Park with a layer of heavy fog hanging over the mountains and beaches. Our adventure kicked off at Tai Long Au, where we hiked with all our gear to Ham Tin Bay, set up our tents and had a peaceful (except for the ferocious roaring of the waves) night in the mist. There was the team building activities in the morning, then we hiked to the dormitories at Caritas and had another comfortable night. After another hike to Wong Shek Pier (this time I was the team leader), we set off on the kayak expedition, had a cold shower and a freezing night at Wan Chai Peninsula, where we finally arrived at our destination in Tseng Tao. Why I chose this piece of work I chose this experience to show that I am balanced, because from this experience, I took away with me an understanding of the importance of being physically, emotionally and intellectually balanced. From the team building activities such as the obstructed goal and frisbee, I discovered that although being balanced in the mind and the body was beneficial during the activities, what is more important is to be encouraging, as well as being socially and emotionally balanced, since the will for completing a task is greatly affected by how the person feels. Moreover, from my role of being the leader during the hike and the navigator on the kayaks, I was able to show that I had the ability of being physically fit enough to lead the team or group, and help out with transporting some equipment and goods. From the team building activities, I was able to voice out suitable, feasible and working ideas, a sign that I am intellectually quite balanced. Also, even though there were times when I was frustrated (times where I couldnt complete a task, times where our group failed the expectation, times when we couldnt do any adventurous activities due to the weather etc.), I kept myself under control, calming myself down, and I began to say encouraging and supportive words to other team members, showing that I am also emotionally balanced. Reflection on work After taking part in three years of EOTC, this experience has left behind wonderful memories for me, a marvelous ending being the last year of such entertaining yet informative and challenging one week long curriculum. During this trip, I have been able to continue developing my leadership, cooperation and communicating skills, and in the meantime, I also got the chance to meet new peers, be part of a small team and take part in challenging adventures that encouraged all of us to show team spirit. One activity I particularly enjoyed was the small frisbee match played on the beach of Ham Tin Bay on the first day. During this game, everyone (including the APA staff and the teachers from RCHK) were split into two teams of equal numbers but not equal gender. In the beginning, being part of the 'girls dominated team', all of us weren't truly prepared both mentally, physically and emotionally, since most of us had given up hope in winning. However, after a lucky goal, we all became more motivated, and even though we were behind the 'boys dominated team' by 3 points, through encouragement we gave each other (just a simply "great work" was enough), we were able to beat the other team by one goal, which was a great achievement for all of us. To conclude this experience, I can only say " ", meaning: rather than reading thousands and thousands of books, why not venture out and experience the knowledge and skills instead?

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(Leaving Home)

Essay

About the chosen work In the third unit of Chinese, we looked at expressive writing (), and watched the movie "My dad and mum" () as a source of inspiration for the summative assessment. The movie is based upon the love story of the parents of the boy in the movie, portraying senses of desperation, mood swings, times of sadness and moments of happiness of their unique relationship. For this task, I chose to interview my grandmother (dad's mum) who seemed to have a sad but eventful childhood, with a terrible and lazy father, a hardworking, lower class mother, and being under the threat of a turbulent society. The first event in my essay was when my grandmother's dad tried to sell her because he had lost all his money and property due to a terrible habit of betting. In this incident, changes of my grandmother's feelings was clearly visible, from helplessness to distress to desperation, then once she thought of a tactic to escape, a sense of hopefulness and finally, once she was safe, happiness and relief. Whilst the second event was about her treacherous journey escaping from her hometown in mainland China to Hong Kong all alone when she was only 11. Before and after both events, I linked objects and scenery of the past and the present, allowing the flashbacks to stand out more. Why I chose this piece of work I reckon that this piece of work clearly shows that I am reflective, because throughout the entire essay or story, I continually referred back to the event told by my grandmother, comparing the events of the past with the present, thinking and speaking from the perspective of my grandmother while reflecting on my own childhood, altering some minor details, and adding in more descriptions to make the story more lively and impressive. For the assessment, I had to first interview an elder in my family about a significant event in their life (childhood most preferred), then rewrite their story so I become the first person in the event. However, we were not allowed to regurgitate their story from beginning to end, instead, we had to observe and include their emotions (shown by gestures and facial expressions when they retold their story) in our piece of work, while rearranging and altering the order of how the events took place, so that there would be flash few flashbacks (). This was the main challenge of the assessment, while the aim of the task was to reflect on the story about my family member's childhood, interpreting and rewriting it after relating the events to myself, so the psychological description () would be more realistic, the plot would make more sense and the whole story itself would be more touching. Reflection on work This piece of work was definitely a new challenge for me, however, I was able to take up the challenge and in my opinion, did a great job writing this story. This task was a challenge, firstly since I don't usually ask my grandparents about their childhood (as they generally bring back bad memories), but I tried my best to use an indirect method to start my grandmother off in telling her story: I told her some special moments in my life, then she added in her comments talking about her own childhood, which later became the basis of the story. Moreover, I am really proud of this piece of work, not only in terms of the grade, but also because I truly put a lot of effort in altering and polishing the piece, adding in as much linguistic techniques, vivid descriptions on both humans and scenery as possible. From this task, not only was I able to learn a great deal more about my grandmother, discovery the "old" Chinese society from the perspective of a low income family, but I was also able to compare the society of China during different time periods, reflecting on my childhood, and thinking about how lucky I truly am. Furthermore, I could improve this expository essay by adding more descriptions to describe the scenery, which if written and matched correctly, would bring a more vivid, realistic image to readers, allowing this piece to leave behind an even stronger mark in the reader's memory.