Entry 1_Vũ Thùy Linh

Item 1: Poem

Seize the day

Seize the day, for time is passing,

Seize the day, your days amassing.

Your time to live, and do, and be,

Is now for you a mystery.

To solve each day as it unfolds,

And watch the treasure it beholds.

Now understand your precious time,

Will one day just be over.

And understand the time to live,

Is now, not under clover!

So seize the moment, seize the time,

Seize that precious day.

And fill your life with happiness,

For this is your today! 

Rhetorical devices    

• Rhyme: passing-amassing, be-mystery, unfolds-beholds, over-clover, day-today
• Repetition: seize the day, seize
• Simile: Your time…-a mystery
• Metaphor: treasure (happiness, good things in life)

Message:

            All of us should appreciate every precious moment in to enjoy every wonderful thing happened in life.

Item 2: Story

The evil you do remains with you, the good you do comes back to you

A woman baked bread for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra bread on the Window-sill, for whoever would take it away.

Every day, a hunch-back came and took away the bread. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way:

“The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and uttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself…

“Everyday this hunch-back utters this jingle! What does he mean?”

One day, out of despiration, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunch-back,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the bread she prepared for him! As she was about to place it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said.

Immediately she threw the bread into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window-sill.

As usual, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and muttered the words:

“The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

The hunch-back proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Everyday, as the woman placed the bread on the window-sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return.

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway.. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so hungry that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunch-back passed by. I begged of him for a small part of his food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole bread. “As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!”

“As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale and red. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned bread that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life!

It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

Do good and; Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it’s not appreciated at that time.

Rhetorical devices:

Metaphor: the bread put on the window-sill every day – the good things you do for others; the poisoned bread – the evil things you do

Message:

People should always be kind to others and someday, they will be rewarded. If they do the bad things toward others, it may be them who suffer the consequences.

 

Item 3: Cartoon

Rhetorical devices:

•  Paradox: the anti-proliferation brigage pays attention to the small quantity of nuclear weapons of Iran in stead of the very larger ones from their countries.
• Irony  
  

Message :

The Anti-proliferation brigade of  the USA, Europe…criticizes the nuclear programs of Iran but ignoring the fact that the nuclear weapons their countries produce and own are so much more.


Sources:

Item 1: http://www.alegoo.com/pictures2/poems/inspirational-poems/inspirational-poems-4.php 

Item 2: http://2motivate.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/the-evil-you-do-remains-with-you-the-good-you-do-comes-back-to-you/ 

Item 3: http://otherwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nukes-anti-proliferation-irony-iran-cartoon2.jpg