Cyrano de Bergerac/ Roxanne - Compare & Contrast

Apparently Cyrano de Bergerac is more according to the original play and Roxanne is a modified version. Cyrano de Bergerac sets in France, characters speak French, and the story happens in the ancient times. Roxanne sets in America, characters speak English, and the story happens in the 80's.

Since the two movies are based on the same play, both have the basic, main characters. However, the names change in the modern version. Cyrano de Burgerac becomes C.D. (Charlie) Bales. Christian becomes Chris. But Roxanne is still Roxanne. According to the original play, Cyrano and Christian are soldiers, but in "Roxanne" they are firefighters. Roxanne, while in the original play is just a rich young lady, studies astronomy in the modernized version.

The characters behave similar and have the same relationships: Cyrano/C.D. has a big nose but is eloquent and funny. Christian/Chris is handsome but useless when it comes to women. Roxanne seems to be just pretty in the original play, but in the modernized version she has more depth as a character, and smart too.

Of course during different time periods there are different norms. Writing letters to a person you like seems normal in the early times, but it's odd during modern times when you could just use a telephone. That's why in Roxanne C.D. has to "justify" Christian's act of writing letters.

The endings are different, too. The original Cyrano de Bergerac is very tragic. Christian died, Roxanne mourns over his death, and Cyrano doesn't reveal the truth until he is dying. But in Roxanne, it has a happy ending. Christian finds someone he truly loves, Roxanne discovers the truth while she and C.D. are still young and healthy, and everyone is happy. C.D. even finds an advantage for his nose!

Favorite Legend

My favorite legend is Journey to the West, the traditional Chinese story, written by Wu Cheng’en in the Ming Dynasty. The story is about a monkey, a monk, a pig, and an ogre traveling to India to get a Buddhist scripture, as well as enlightenment. They encounter various monsters along the way and defeat them, sometimes with the help of gods. I like this legend because I was introduced to it since I was little. The story had become a culture among Chinese people. When I was in kindergarten I used to listen to the audio-book/children version of the book in my mother’s car. It has a very original and interesting plot that can be funny in some ways. The characters are very different from each other and are depicted vividly. The story is an extended allegory, too. The journey to India symbolizes the journey to one’s enlightenment. Each character represents a kind of weakness in us that we must overcome. I was going to read the original version of the book, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The Odyssey, Part One - Quickwrite (pg. 749)

- My parents
- Sun Yat-Sen
-  Martin Luther King Jr.
- Wiliam Wilberforce

- brave
- would sacrifice for other people
- good intentions
- strong will
- not stupid
- fights tirelessly for a cause

I think most of the traits I wrote are universal for heroes.

Animal Farm Movie Impressions

For a 1950's cartoon, Animal Farm is relatively well-drawn. The animals don't really talk much...except the pigs. Most talking is done by a narrator. In the book the animals seem to talk even more than the humans.
At first when Old Major makes his speech, the book version says he died a few days later, but in the cartoon he died right where he sits. In the Battle of the Cowshed (in the movie there's no name for the battles), Snowball gets a bullet scratched along his spine but in the movie his leg is wounded. The result of the battle, according to the book, is that a sheep is dead. In the movie the dog dies, and that is also the reason why Napoleon took away the puppies.
The movie doesn't really mention some characters like Clover, Mollie, Muriel, etc.
I don't remember Napoleon traded with Mr. Whymper for jam in the book.
The book doesn't really say who destroys the windmill, but in the movie it is Mr. Jones who bombs it.
And the pigs have fangs in the movie...that's unusual. I think for little kids this movie is really scary. The pigs and dogs have evil eyes and sharp teeth and the dogs kill!

Beware of the Dog - Quickwrite (pg. 686)

Misled by appearances happens all the time. Several times when I walk down the street trying a find a restaurant for dinner, I would go for restaurants that look clean and decent. However, the food could be not as decent as it looks on the menu.

Somtimes you can find someone's appearance attractive, but after being with that person for a while you find him/her the most annoying person ever.
"Don't judge a book by its cover." But sometimes the cover of a book looks so inviting that you blindly buy it, and after reading the first ten pages you throw the book away.
An orange may look round and smooth and healthy on the surface, but inside the it's spoiled and rotten.
A person appears to be very nice to you, but secretly he/she is planning to use you for something for his/her own benefit. You could be deceived by his/her kindness on the outside.

What is Bullying? Have You Ever Been Bullied?

Bullying is when a person do personal attacks to another person. It can be physical or oral. Most of the time bullying is intended to cause pain to the other person. Sometimes a person can be bullied by segregation from the rest of the group. Bullying can be seen everywhere, school, workplace, or your neighborhood. The seemingly stronger and more powerful person is often the bully. He/She would choose someone that looks weak to hurt.
Now there's even cyber-bullying, in which a person bullies another with text messages or social websites. They are often anonymous, using false identities.
Bullying is not right, but it's natural. All animals would somehow strengthen its own power and look down at the weaks.

From what I can remember - I've never been bullied. But I've seen people being bullied.

American History - Quickwrite (pg. 660)

- September 21st, the giant earthquake in Taiwan, I slept through the actual earthquake but the effect was unforgettable, and people kept talking about it.
- Taiwanese people wore red to protest against ex-President Chen, I didn't actually go to the march but I supported them.
- Ex-President Chen was put in jail for corruption, Taiwanese people don't have to suffer under his governing anymore.
- My sister became the first home-schooling middle-school student of Taichung, made me realize that Taiwan's education is awful, and later I began home-schooling too.
- Michael Jackson died, I've always liked his music and it was quite a big event at that time.
- Aug. 8th flood, it destroyed the road that led to our little cabin (it is sold now), as well as large areas in the mountains. It was terrible.