character development Ace

Exercise 4

Day 50

Dear Diary,

It has been 50 days since I first came in to prison. Only 10 more days left before I am released! No more lousy prison food and reading books over and over again! I am so excited! But at the same time, I also feel sad. When I think about what I have done, I really regret my actions of shoplifting from a department store. Due to my greed, I now have to stay in prison. Prison is so boring. Every day I am doing the same thing over and over again. First, we are forced to wake up at 7 in the morning. Then, we have to eat breakfast. It’s the same bread and eggs forever. After that, it is one hour at the gym. Next, we are back in the cell for the rest of the day. There is also a very small library in the prison, thus making me unable to pursue my passion for reading. While sitting in the cell, I had thought about my family. I hope they forgave me for what I have done. When they first saw me in prison, they cried and I cried with them. They were so disappointed in me. I have reflected on my actions and decided to turn over a new leaf and not commit any crimes again. I have also thought about my career in the future. Before I went to jail, I worked at Intel, the chip manufacturing company. Now, after I went to prison, I am pretty sure they would not want me back there. I wonder which job would be best for me once I leave prison. I probably would have to settle for a low income job first. I guess that’s all I can write, as I have to go to sleep. Soon I would be out in the world again.

Exercise 5

“Ring! Ring!” The alarm clock rings loudly in Jane’s bedroom. It is six in the morning. Being a regular housewife, she has to wake up early everyday to drive her two kids, Johnny and Anne, to school. She started making breakfast for them. When she was done, she went into the kids’ room to call them. Anne, being a light sleeper, woke up immediately when called. However, lazy Johnny had to be called numerous times before he woke up. Jane hurried them through breakfast and loaded them onto her Toyota Prius. She drove quickly as Johnny and Anne were already late for school due to the fact that they woke up too late and ate breakfast too slowly. “Next time do things faster okay you two?” Jane told them, a bit annoyed. After she drove them to school, she went directly to the wet market to buy some fruits and vegetables. Then, she rushed back home just in time to watch her favourite television series, the little Nonya. She enjoyed her cereal slowly as she watched the show. Soon, it was time to fetch Johnny and Anne from school. She drove into the school carpark and waited for the two of them there. Both of them came late and got a stern reprimanding from Jane. When they reached home, it was time for Jane to do the household chores. She vacuumed and mopped the floor. She also cleaned the toilet and wiped the tables. Just as she was done, Jane heard calls from Anne to help her with her homework. When Anne was done with her homework, Jane had to help Johnny too. The time flied and soon it was time for dinner. Jane’s husband came home and the four of them ate at a nearby restaurant. After they came back, it was time to sleep already. What a hectic day for Jane!

My short story

“Finally, PE’s over.” Tim told John and Steve. It was recess, after a long and boring pe lesson. Steve complained loudly, “That was boring. Why do we have to run 3 kilometres every pe lesson?” “Yeah precisely.” John, the optimist of the group, told them “Don’t worry; we get exercise from running anyway, so it is good for our body too.”

During recess, the three of them agreed to go to the library every day to study for the impending test. They followed this plan for many days.

One day, as usual, Tim and Steve went to the library early. They decided to start work first while waiting for John to come. It was some time before John turned up. It was unlike John to be late for their appointment. Nevertheless, after his profuse apologies, they lost no time in doing their homework. After half an hour, Steve was surprised to see John staring into space. He looked like he was deep in thought and was biting the tip of his pen.

Steve nudged Tim to get his attention. Then, Steve, concerned, asked John “John, are you alright? You have been looking at the ceiling for the past five minutes. “Uhhh, don’t worry, I am alright. I just did not get enough sleep and I am a bit tired. Let’s continue our work.” John, looking down from the ceiling and feeling slightly startled, replied. Everything seemed fine, although Steve and Tim could not help feeling that something was amiss.

For the next few days, Tim and Steve were surprised to see John having nothing but butter toasted bread for every recess. The once cheerful and optimistic friend of theirs had now become more reserved and shunned the company of other classmates except Tim and Steve. Even when he was with them, he spoke very little and gave excuses about eating butter toasted bread every day.

Tim and Steve also saw that every time pupils need to pay money, John would look very distressed and pay the money up very reluctantly. John also said that he would not be able to go with Tim and Steve to the library every day, citing that he was too busy. Tim and Steve felt that John has changed a lot but was unable to do anything.

One day, the two of them could not take it any longer and confronted John. “John, you have to tell us the truth if we are friends. You’re just not yourself lately.” Tim said to John as the trio left the school gate together.

“We are concerned about you and we want to help you.” Steve added quickly to prevent any arguments. Their reassuring tone convinced John that they were not going to use anything he said against her.

Looking up, John said softly, “My father was just retrenched and we are running into some financial problems. We do not have enough money to use as my mother does not work.” He went on to explain that he had been trying to save money by eating simply during recess and using as little money as possible in school.

With the truth disclosed, Tim and Steve reassured John that they understand his situation. That made John feel a lot better. Tim even volunteered to make sandwiches for John and Steve helped John’s father to find a job.

After a month of searching for jobs, Steve managed to help John’s father find a job in accounting. John was so happy and thanked the two of them profusely. They gave a friendly pat on his shoulder and said in unison, “That’s what friends are for!”

By crazygamesfan | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

I used the pictures and background to portray the scene like a typical Singaporean street as this type of events happen often in Singapore.

My Prejudice essay and reflections

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jpoae7-QLFVjftj-w1GV5krK14OwDkDHORE8rTCTJJA/edit?authkey=CL_Y9ZUD&hl=en#

Reflections:
I feel that prejudice is not good, but everybody will have prejudiced opinions of other people. It is impossible to stop it. We should try not to discriminate the people we are prejudiced towards and we should put ourselves in their shoes. We should try to feel how they are feeling. This way, we can make more friends and also become better people ourselves.