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BOOK REVIEW / LANGUAGE

The article is a book review of “A Man without Words.” It is about a man who never learned language until in his late 20s.

Humans are the only animal that knows how to use signs. Life must be boring if one does not, considering the case of Ildefonso, an illegal immigrant to the US. Ildefonso was born deaf and never learned how to use sign language. Somehow he got by without using words. He started to learn sign language when he met Susan Schaller. From then on his life has been very different.

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Film Reviews

Reading a film review is an emotional experience. The writer watches a film, feels something, and expresses his (her) response to the film in words. The reader then picks up the feel reading it. A communication is thus accomplished. Language has to be the greatest privilege humans enjoy; animals do not have such tool to exact an abstract concept.

Here are two film reviews (from New York Times and Time Magazine) of Blue Gate Grossing, a Taiwanese teen movie. It is always interesting to see how foreigners see us because we are often too involved with ourselves, forgetting to see things from a different perspective. The writings are also beautiful and perceptive. They show once again that words can get deep into a text, digging out hidden treasures for us to enjoy.

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WRITING

China is rising, but its internal unrest often remains invisible to the world outside. However, we can understand this through the article because the author was trying to make sense of the truth.

The author Hannah Beech started writing for Time magazine when she was still in her 20s. Her multicultural background contributes to her depth in writing: her father is American and mother Japanese. She speaks many languages and travels intensively. Her reports are mainly on underprivileged groups and she delivered their predicaments effectively through her writing. The article contains only 847 words, among which we see picture after picture playing out for us. We hear the sounds, we feel the situations.

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POETRY
 

Here the article talks about poetry, through which we understand the functions of language. The author has great passion for literature, and his literature textbook Literature, Sound, and Sense “has taught hundreds of thousands, perhaps by now several millions of high school, junior college and college students how to read works of literature with appreciation, perception and perspicacity.”[1] In this article, he shows us the importance of poetry. He makes the abstract features of literature palpable to the general public.

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What Is Poetry?
(The article is taken from Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense by Laurence Perrine, p553 – 556)
by Laurence Perrine

PSYCHOLOGY / NEUROLOGY

Scholars like Steven Pinker are rare. The Harvard professor looks like a rock star that makes him so noticeable among people. He possesses formidable knowledge and he also knows how to make it accessible to the general public. He often asks interesting questions and it is stimulating reading his books. The following article is his view about the mind.

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Will The Mind Figure Out How The Brain Works?
Understanding how neurons operate is one thing; understanding how they make us the conscious beings we are is another matter
By STEVEN PINKER

ART / BUSINESS / TREND / HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Art is language, through which we feel certain truth. An artifact also has value, measured by the dollar. Here we use art to understand one thing – the formidable rise of China. No doubt that China is systematically working toward replacing America as the new Superpower.

From this article, we also learn how these businessmen and artists channel the market, manipulate values, and fool people.

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THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

 In this article, David Crystal shows us how to learn grammar.

Mr. Crystal is an English linguist. He has profound knowledge in linguistics and his passion in languages is so strong that it is hard not to be influenced by him reading his books – he makes language learning entertaining.

He was awarded the OBE (Order of British Empire)[1] in 1995 for his contribution in the English language.

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BIOGRAPHY / CULTURAL PHENOMENA

Anna Nicole Smith (1967 – 2007) was an American model, actress and blonde celebrity.

Smith began her show business career as a dancer/stripper in Houston, Texas. She first gained nationwide attention when she appeared on the cover of the March 1992 issue of Playboy magazine. She then gained immense popularity as Playboy's 1993 Playmate of the Year. She also became a model for clothing companies, including Guess jeans.

Her highly publicized marriage to oil business executive and billionaire J. Howard Marshall, 63 years her senior, resulted in speculation that she married the octogenarian for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate; her case, Marshall v. Marshall, reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

RELATIONSHIP / EDUCATION / HUMAN BEHAVIOR

RELATIONSHIP / EDUCATION / HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Here is a New York Times article about relationship, about how a wife (the author) learns to make her husband behave her way, and she learns so from animal trainers! It is full of funny and useful information and the tactics mentioned are too good to be missed. I think they are very useful not just in relationship. In schools or companies, teachers and managers can apply the same techniques

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ASTRONOMY / BIOGRAPHY / VOCATION / PASSION / WORLDVIEW

Dr. Carolyn Porco first peered through a telescope when she was 13, and her life-long passion has since been at the other side of the telescope.Science is a very male thing, but Dr. Porco’s passion for the planets is way beyond that stereotype. Because of her dogged pursuit, she extends our scope of the solar system, reminding us how narrow-minded we sometimes are.

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