Writing at least Five Minutes a Day
Writing at least Five Minutes a DayReading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. ----Francis Bacon
I notice that almost every day I read something in English, but I seldom write in English except for what my professional demands. One of the outcomes is that my writing skill is rather poor. I cannot avoid slips, and write coherently and logically.
Writing is an efficient way not only for the mastery of a language, but for the shaping of one’s mind. And furthermore, it is crucial for us to communicate in an online forum. When you want to talk with someone, you have to put your fingers over the keyboard or upon a mouse. The mouth doesn’t help much, so do the fists.
I will manage to write something in English for at least five minutes a day and see what will happen if I can keep on writing. If you are interested in this attempt, welcome to join me!
The Nature Is Awesome
2008-7-5
Last night, when my wife was luring my one-year old son to sleep, the rain came. At first, there were droning thunders, just like a squadron of ancient warriors driving their chariots over the cloud. The night was darker. Then, the condensed darkness was suddenly torn open by a lightening. The white, sparkling and soundless lash of lightening startled my son. He murmured and turned over in the bed. The wind stopped for a while, like a horse preparing for dashing. With the loudest burst of thunder and the quickest and brightest lightening, the heavy rain poured down. The world outside was shaken by the crazy rain. The raindrops pounded the window panes constantly, like the fists of a fierce and tireless boxer. My wife patted the back of my son, and said, “the nature is awesome.” Writing an exact man
July 6,2008
It struck my mind when I read the post above. Although I am also major in English, I seldom pick up my pen to write something, except for writing composition in classroom. Maybe the reason is that it is hard for me to write something in Chinese, let alone do this in English. This seems to be a cliché, but it is really a good excuse to comfort myself.
Writing is hard, but writing in second language is even harder. First, I have to keep my mind upon everything that comes to me. I should be sentimental and careful, or I will miss the inspired moment in my daily life. Then, when my mind catches something, then I need to ponder over how to express it. While it is not finished yet, for there is a translation process waiting for me. As Francis Bacon said writing (makes) an exact man, I wonder that writing in second language makes man firm as well as sensitive. Moving House
2008-7-6
After delaying for more than half a year, we decide to move home. We have a baby now, so situation is changed. What we shall consider is convenience, not comfort. The new apartment is nearer to the military hospital where my wife works, but in fact it is older than the house we are living now. It was built in the 1970s or even earlier and afforded to those who serve in the hospital. The former head nurse, who was transferred to civilian work and went to Suzhou, left us the apartment.
We have a sitting room, a bedroom, a dining room, a kitchen, and a toilet. They are small, but seem to be bright and comfort. We prepared for the moving for several weeks, cleaning the rooms and painting the wall with latex coating. The preparation is not easy. We have to do it when off duty. Sometimes for having a rest, my wife and I sat on the clean floor and chatted for a while. It’s sweet. The scent of the camphor trees out of the windows was brought to us by the breeze, and the twilight was shining on my wife’s hair.
After the birth of our son, she had cut her long hair, but she is lovelier in my eyes.
Today, we hire a truck and three porters to transport the furniture, daily used objects, and household appliances. It’s no picnic. The porters’ skill is amazing. They are respectively a young man, a young woman, and an old man in his fifties. They all can carry a heavy object such as an icebox or air conditioner single-handedly. Some objects are very large, for instance, the mattress, but they manage to keep balance and carry them up to the fourth floor steadily. Any time when I want to help them, they will be shouting: Get away! Take away your hands! So my wife and I have to follow them carefully and take some light objects.
But the two carpenters hired to dismantle and install the furniture are disappointing. One of them boasted that he can do it with one hand behind his back, but after more than one hour’s awkward operation, they declare that they have to give up. Looking at the doors and panels taken from the big wardrobe, I lose temper and begin to shout at them. While my wife remains calm. She persuades me not to be angry and to analyze the situation. The wardrobe and the bed frame have to be left, waiting for a skillful carpenter. She says that we can transport these articles the next time. Then we discuss the problem with the porters and they agree to take less money from us as transporting the left objects the next time. We let the carpenters go, and they feel ashamed and dare not ask for payment.
Thank God! It is hot today, and we have labored for more than five hours and we could not have a rest at noon. There seems to be enough reason for one’s bad temper. It’s fortunate that my wife doesn’t lose temper too and quarrel with me. I do not realize when patience becomes one of her virtues – we used to quarrel frequently before marrying, but I really appreciate it.
We have to say goodbye to our former home now. It took us half a year to make it a comfort home. We designed the decoration and brought everything by ourselves. We love it as swallows love their nest. Now it’s time to say goodbye. Anyway, we have moved to a new home and begun a new life with our baby. Have my hair cut
July 7,2008
It happened just 20 minutes ago. My mother is a hair dresser, so it is naturally for me to have my hair cut by her. However, when I was young I did hate cutting my hair, for it made me feel losing something on my head and I was not accustomed to that. So my mother would give me some money to buy some snacks. But when I grow up, I strangely find that I am not averse to cutting hair as before. Nowadays, when I am in gloomy mood or low spirit, I find it is a outlet to have the “trace of trouble” cut. An Accident
2008-7-7
This morning, I witnessed an accident when I was on a bus. It happened abruptly. The bus stopped at a terminal, and several passengers got off. Among them was a little boy of seven or eight years old, with a big shoulder bag. Just as he lifted one of his legs to ascend the sidewalk, a motorbike dashed speedily out and knocked him to the ground. The rider was a middle-aged man, thin and short. He got off the motorbike and helped the boy stand up. He asked eagerly, “Are you feeling all right? Is there anything wrong with you?” The boy tried to stretch his arms and legs painfully, and said shyly, “I am fine, I am okay.” It seems that it was the boy who has done something wrong. The middle-aged man relaxed, got on his motorbike, and drove away quickly. The boy turned around and walked slowly, trying hard to follow his fellows.
It’s fine today, but I am dismayed to see this accident. The boy is so innocent and good that he doesn’t know how to protect himself. If I were the man who caused the trouble, I could not have gone away light-heartedly. At least, he may give his phone number to the boy because it is still uncertain that the boy was not injured.
I recall another accident I encountered four or five years ago. A middle-aged man defrauded my wife’s aunt of fifty yuan by pretending to be injured by her car, and he run away quickly into the crowd and disappeared.
Compared with the two middle-aged men, the boy is much nobler. I hope that luck will be on his side.
Memory about Readfree
July 8,2008
I do not remember why I came to Readfree two years ago. What I do remember is that the first time I came to this forum I found it is not amiable and easy of approach. I need to gain enough prestige to access many contents in it. Needless to say, at that time I did not understand why the administrative personnel set such cold and tough rules. Moreover, earning prestige is not an easy job, and sometimes I have to pay for it for not knowing the rules. Maybe that is called no pains no gains. So it brought me a lot of pleasure when I obtained my first prestige.
Gradually, I love it and become somewhat addicted as some people said that the first thing I open browser is to see whether there were something new happening. The people I meet in it have both ability and political integrity, and they teach me a lot. Thank Readfree! Although it gives me more than I can give to it, I will try my best to contribute a little more to it each day. Cinderella Man
2008-7-8
The title of this movie is translated into Chinese as “A Man with Iron Fists” (铁拳男人). This translation meets the expectation for a boxing movie, but it neglects something essential of this movie to be remembered as a good movie. A Man with Iron Fists? Yes, it’s not wrong, but it’s not good enough. What is lost is humor and empathy, I think.
The story, or the plot, is based on facts. It took place in the years of the Great Depression in North America. A former lucky and successful boxer, Jim Braddock, lost his fortune in these miserable days of the country. He was injured severely in boxing match and lost his money in the stock market. For earning a living for a family with three kids, he was obliged to apply for Public Relief and work in the wharf as a porter, which was his profession before he became a boxer.
In this desperate situation, he got a chance…
Just at this point, I sit myself down in a sofa of the sitting room of one of my relatives living in a big city. I just went to bid farewell to her. But the movie attracted me immediately. I sit there for more than an hour to watch on TV how Braddock unbelievably defeated one after another heavyweight boxer till marched into the final bout. At last, he gained the chance to challenge Max Baer, the world heavyweight champion, as Braddock himself was a lightweight boxer before this match. Max Baer was a horrible boxer, as he had killed two boxers in the ring. This fact was reiterated repeatedly by different characters such as the organizer of the boxing match, the journalists in the news conference, and Max Baer himself, to create an atmosphere of horrible suspension.
Braddock didn’t retreat. He went into the ring and fought bravely. I am not a fun of either boxing movie or Russell Crowe. But I really shocked by the amazingly represented historic boxing match. The match happened on June 13, 1935, at Madison Square Garden Bowl. Braddock endured the fierce attack from Max Baer, who was younger, much stronger, and contemptuous. They fought ten rounds. Max Baer hit the lower parts of Braddock’s body in order to taunt and damage him. But Braddock kept a good rhythm and outpointed till then end of the ninth round.
Before the beginning of the last round, Braddock’s coach instructed him to avoid direct encounter and win by outpointing. Max Baer was still disdainful and over self-confident. He dashed toward Braddock and punched relentlessly. All the audience stood up and encouraged Braddock by calling his name. Braddock didn’t withdraw. He boldly attacked Max Baer and beat him skillfully and heavily. The Madison Square Garden Bowl was almost exploded by the shouting of the excited, oh, crazy audience!
Jim Braddock won the impossible to win bout. It’s a phenomenal triumph and thus this movie is memorable.
I know that this movie is a so-called mainstream movie. Jim Braddock became the hero of the poor people in the Great Depression, and they went to church to pray for him when the final bout started. What’s more ostentatious is what Jim Braddock said when he returned the public relief:
I believe we live in a great country, a country that's great enough to help a man financially when he's in trouble. But lately, I've had some good fortune, and I'm back in the black. And I just thought I should return it.
But I still like this movie and this Cinderella man, Jim Braddock.
[The Photeo is from Wikipedia.] My revision of your article is as follows. You know that it's only my opinion. I am expecting your criticism on what I have posted.
Now that we have been off the starting blocks, what matters is to persist!
I hope more friends will join us!
引用第5楼yjj543000于2008-07-08 08:20发表的 :
Memory about of Readfree
July 8,2008
I do not remember why I came to Readfree two years ago. What I do remember is that as I came to this forum for the first time I found it is not amiable and easy of to approach. I need to gain enough prestige to access many contents in it. Needless to say, at that time I did not understand why the administrative personnel administrators set such cold and tough rules. Moreover, earning prestige is not an easy job, and sometimes I have to pay for it for not knowing the rules. Maybe that is called the implication of the saying, that is, no pains no gains. So it brought me a lot of pleasure when I obtained to get my first prestige.
.......
A friend told me that native speakers of English seldom use the word "maybe". Instead, they use to say "perhaps", or "possibly".
Do you agree with him?
The Child Is Father of the Man, Why?
The Child Is Father of the Man, Why?2008-7-9
My heart leaps up when I behold
A Rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the man;
And I wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
---“The Rainbow”, William Wordsworth
“The Child is father of the man”, this is a famous line of William Wordsworth. It’s hard for a reader not to be impressed by its simplicity, directness, and wit. It’s witty in the sense that it seems to be paradoxical at the first glimpse, because it is against common sense. But it is so close to man’s intuition, one need not to think twice to realize that, ah, it’s simply right.
The strength of this simple line draws on the whole poem, even the whole poetry of William Wordsworth. We understand its implication almost intuitively.
A man originates from a child. In other words, everyone is a child when he/she comes to the world. And what’s more meaningful is that we shall never lose or discard the "inner child", that is, the natural piety, which is in Chinese 赤子之心. This natural piety impels or enables us to laugh, to weep, and to fear before the various visions which the nature shows us.
But we can think twice about this verse line. My interpretation is as follows:
Why the child is father of the man?
Based on my own experience, I think the reason is that you have to call your baby “Papa, mama” repeatedly in order to make him acknowledge your identity. So, it’s quite simple: you call the baby “papa”, and he just replies: um.
The Musicians of Summer Night
July 9, 2008
Believe me or not, there are such musicians in summer night who are by your side and pass you by without paying a little attention to their spectators. Their show is totally free, while in other works(words), sometimes you have to listen to their songs even if their songs are not your type. At first, you would not consider their masterpieces as melody(melodies), for they are just full of clicks and reedy scrapings. But, in the context of summer night, they become as wide and warm as any symphony. You think it is time to check who they are, and you surprisingly find out they are so tiny or eccentric. At last, they turn out to be the grass hopper, cricket, winged insect, flog, and even bat. 引用第9楼yjj543000于2008-07-09 19:35发表的 :
The Musicians of Summer Night
...
What a soothing topic In my view, you may correct some slips to make your post perfect:)
I quote a poem by one of my friends to intrepret your post, perhaps tomorow we can try to translate it into Chinese:
《夜听蛙声》
每一夜我如期醒来
总有蛙声在郊野四起
它们像灯火浮在大地上空
像河流即将打开喉咙
每一个夜晚我头枕山脉
蛙声在周围起伏
黑暗遮蔽了地点及岁月
这是何时，我身处何方
我听见一个人默默走向荒凉
很久没有这样强大的宁静
让我感动
让我不知所措
黑暗中的蛙声伴随车轮和蟋蟀的鸣叫
像被时光穿透的明瓦
进入我的听觉，并从一首
古老的诗中给我安慰
我感到自己拥有一颗饱满的心脏
像枇杷一样在故乡生长
08年5月、6月
http://zgqnxh.blogbus.com/c1821454/index_2.html
Re:The Child Is Father of the Man, Why?
详见楼下，操作失误Re:The Child Is Father of the Man, Why?
引用第8楼白马西北驰于2008-07-09 19:12发表的 The Child Is Father of the Man, Why? :The Child Is Father of the Man, Why?
Based on my own experience, I think the reason is that you have to call your baby “Papa, mama” repeatedly in order to make him acknowledge your identity. So, it’s quite simple: you call the baby “papa”, and he just replies: um.
，,，白马兄的这个解释有点冷幽默哦。哈哈。
这个主题让我想起圣经上的一段话：Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men。（1 Corinthians 14:20)
弟兄们，在心志上不要作小孩子。然而在恶事上要作婴孩。在心志上总要作大人。（林前14：20） 引用第8楼白马西北驰于2008-07-09 19:12发表的 The Child Is Father of the Man, Why? :
... ...
Why the child is father of the man?
Based on my own experience, I think the reason is that you have to call your baby “Papa, mama” repeatedly in order to make him acknowledge your identity. So, it’s quite simple: you call the baby “papa”, and he just replies: um.
The child is father of (or to) the man.
—Every man was once a child, and his character hns developed from his character as a child. In the same way his body has developed from the child's body, so in two ways the child can be called "father of the man"/ The characteristics of manhood are revealed in childhood.
The proverb is a quotation from the poem My Heart Leaps Up by W. Wordsworth. He holds that the instincts and pleasures of a healthy childhood sufficiently indicate the lines on which our mature character should be formed.
从小看大。/≈三岁看大，七岁看老。
[注]意即：从一个人的童年就可看出将来他会成什么样的人。语出英国诗人华兹华斯。
——《英汉双解英语谚语辞典》盛绍裘 李永芳编 知识出版社（上海）1999年10月第1版 引用第9楼yjj543000于2008-07-09 19:35发表的 :
The Musicians of Summer Night
July 9, 2008
Believe me or not, there are such musicians in summer night who are by your side and pass you by without paying a little attention to their spectators. Their show is totally free, while in other works(words), sometimes you have to listen to their songs even if their songs are not your type. At first, you would not consider their masterpieces as melody(melodies), for they are just full of clicks and reedy scrapings. But, in the context of summer night, they become as wide and warm as any symphony. You think it is time to check who they are, and you surprisingly find out they are so tiny or eccentric. At last, they turn out to be the grass hopper, cricket, winged insect, flog, and even bat.
Perhaps, yjj543000's writing needs further polishing.
Believe it or not (idiom)
... are such musicians in/on summer nights as are ...
... without paying any attention to ... (not a little = much/ a lot <of>)
... their songs are not to your taste ...( your type? )
... they turn out to be the grass hopper, cricket, winged insect, flog, and even bat. (agreement ???) 引用第14楼brianleeeee于2008-07-09 20:35发表的 :
Perhaps, yjj543000's writing needs further polishing.............
Thank you for your sincere advice. I seldom check my writing again once I finish. That is a bad habit, and I will pay attention to that.
Wires on My Desk
“One, two, three, four……fifteen!!!” Woo, there are altogether fifteen wires tangling up on my desk. They belong to my MP3, mobile phone, radio, PDA, computer and so on. Facing these wires, I’m a little sacred, as if each of them is a vicious snake. And I begin to reassess all the things I own. Had they really make my life easier? I find that many were superfluous and require more upkeep than I have bargained for, let alone my energy they consume. However, I have to admit that they do bring some connivance to my life and I can not leave some of them. Henry David Thoreau is right; he once said that technology made man a tool of his tools. Unfortunately, I find myself become the “victim” of technology and have been consumed by it. Well, my fellows, how many wires are there on your desks? Out
“He kind of likes me, but he’s only 8. I try to be nice to him because the girl he was going out with broke his heart.”
“Going out?” I said.
“Yeah, he was dating her.”
“What does an 8 year old do on a date?” I asked.
She shrugged, “Oh, you know, go for a walk or ride bikes. Meet at recess. Maybe go to the mall or something.” Interpreting a Poem: "Bright Star" (I)
2008-7-10
Bright Star
John Keats (1795-1821)
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task 5
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shore,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair love’s ripening breast, 10
To feel forever its soft fall and swell,
Awake forever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.
To write this poem, Keats follows the tradition of classical sonneteers from Dante, Petrarch, and Sydney to Shakespeare. They all sing about a similar theme, that is, an unrequited love, but in different maneuvers. Keats expresses his feelings via imaginary images，which is a common character shared by the Romanticists. While Keats is more sensitive and his song is more delicate, which makes him a different poet. We can appreciate his ingenious expression of thinking and feeling in terms of the poem’s syntax, metrics and figurative language.
I. Overall Structure
So, although the poem is written in the pattern of English or Shakespearean sonnet, its implied structure is of Italian one, which consists of an octave and a sestet, with slight variation of the separated first line. In this sense, the dashes help to interrupt the statement of the poem and put the revelation of the main idea back.
The syntactic structure of this poem is unique. It is a single sentence, which is not quite rare among sonnets. The salient character of this “sentence” is that it is prolonged over and over again, which makes it flow very slowly and at the same time easily. This postponement can be detected at different levels.
For grasping its overall structure, we can reduce this poem to a simple sentence, that is, “I wish I were as steadfast as the bright star, not hung aloft the night, but pillowed upon my love’s breast.” But this simple sentence is divided by two dashes at the end of the first line and the eighth line, without taking into account the other two in the middle of the ninth and fourteenth line. These two dashes divide the whole poem into three parts. The first part is the first line, in which the speaker calls out to Bright Star and avows that he wants to be as steadfast as the star. In the second part, from the second line to the eighth line, the speaker tells the star or himself that he does not want to be as lonely as an eremite. The last part, which is from the ninth line to the fourteenth line, is more likely to be said to the speaker himself. The speaker expresses his will to be a steadfast lover, staying with his love forever provided that he will never die. Interpreting a Poem: "Bright Star" (II)
Fanny Brawne: Keat's Love
II.Syntax
2008-7-11
At the level of the lines, the caesuras serve to interrupt and postpone the flow of the words. The stop in the first line is natural as an addresser wants to attract the attention of an addressee, but it also makes the star isolated with the rest of the poem, an image “in lone splendor hung aloft the night”. In the third line and the fourth line, two caesuras postpone the object of “watching” to appear in the fifth line. On the other hand, the appearance of caesuras is not so frequent and prominent in the sestet. The stop in the middle of the ninth line and the one at the beginning of the eleventh line suggest a slow and meditative tone. But the dash in the last line is an unexpected caesura. It makes a strong sense of surprise and a turn of meaning, that is, “if I cannot live ever with my love, I would rather die”.
Another interesting phenomenon of the poem’s syntax is its voice. Let us re-examine its structure: “I wish I will be as steadfast as Bright Star, not hung aloft the night, but pillowed upon my love’s breast, and if I cannot be with my love, I may die.” Notice that the two adverbials of the first clause of the sentence are in passive voice, that is, “hung” and “pillowed”. The implication of this wording is that “I do not want to be hung aloft the night” and “I would like to be pillowed upon my love’s breast.” The speaker’s attitude is passive. It is not difficult to understand why a star is hung on the sky. Bright star in this poem refers to Pole Star, which is a fairly bright star in the constellation of Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). The origin of this name is from the story in Greek mythology that the nymph Callisto and her son were turned into the Greater Bear and the Little Bear and placed as constellations in the heavens by Zeus. So Pole Star is hung by Zeus or nature or God in the sky. But why does the speaker say that he wants to be pillowed upon his love’s breast? At least, his words show his attitude. The tone is not confident, because he swears in the second half of the last line that he determines to die if he cannot be pillowed where he wants to. We can infer from this analysis that the speaker is ready to accept the nature’s design, as steadfast as Pole Star.
The tense of the verbs in the clauses is also worth discussing. Keats describes the star as “watching” the “moving waters”. The present participle “watching” implies the star’s eternality. When expressing his own will, he uses infinitives, that is, “to feel” and “to hear”. And what is more interesting is in the last line: “And so live ever – or else swoon to death.” It’s in present tense. So, from the grammatical perspective, this line is a coordinate clause with the rest part of the poem. This change of tense implies that the speaker turns from expectation or dream to reality. He does know that he cannot be with his love forever, and he must face this unavoidable reality.
I'll tell you how the Sun rose --
A Ribbon at a time --
The Steeples swam in Amethyst --
The news, like Squirrels, ran --
The Hills untied their Bonnets --
The Bobolinks -- begun --
Then I said softly to myself --
"That must have been the Sun"!
But how he set -- I know not --
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while --
Till when they reached the other side,
A Dominie in Gray --
Put gently up the evening Bars --
And led the flock away
(Johnson, 1982:150)
The colorful imageries in this poem present us a vivid description of the sun rising and setting. The kernel of this part is the world’s reactions to the sunrise, including the coming of pink clouds, the disappearance of mist and the singing of birds, which show that the whole world is immersed into happiness and reverence. What is more, the morning’s beauty not only lies in its vitality, but also in its beautiful melody. The Birds begun at Four o'clock --/Their period for Dawn --/A Music numerous as space --/But neighboring as Noon (Johnson, 1982:381).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above paragraph is one part of my graduation thesis, and I have posted it on Readfree( http://www.readfree.net/bbs/read.php?tid=4615657). Although the oral defense of my thesis have finished, I find that it is necessary to supplement something to the interpretation of this poem.
1).why a ribbon at a time?
The sun’s rising is described as if it were putting on ribbons, which is paralleled by hills untying their bonnets. The ribbons are thin strips of colored clouds common at sunrise, and while it gets lighter, it might seem to appear in various and changing colors .
2).Dickinson claims to be unable to describe the sunset (But how he set -- I know not --).
The p_w_picpath for the sunset changes more rapidly than that of sunrise.Dickinson avoid the limitation of specific words ,and provided us a room for imagination by the presence of little school children climbing a stile. They go over the horizon into a different field, where a dominie shepherds them away. The yellow children are the weak beams of light and the purple stile is the darkening cloud at sunset.
页:
[1]
2