月度归档： 2024年1月

亲爱的浥尘宝非常非常用功的结束了11年级第一学期，我们来盘点一下她有什么进步：

1.托福考到110！误打误撞完成了kpi

2.gpa 3.94！达到了历史最高gpa，恭喜

3.英语写作水平大进步！感谢Sybill，Ellie，Wen三位老师对我写作和逻辑的打磨，还有chatgpt和deepl老师没日没夜的陪伴

4.认识新朋友和伙伴，和新的朋友课友们关系都很融洽，也和老朋友们保持联络

5.感受到对学习的热情和喜爱，所以现在非常有方向感！我觉得这一点是全方位的，不仅仅是学术和申请上，也是生活其他方面的规划更清晰了。这一点其实涵盖很广，或者说是一个模糊的心理突破，发现很多事情其实我可以做到，开始对从前斤斤计较的鸡毛蒜皮感到漠然，对外界的伤害的悍然，也减少了自我矛盾折磨的很多心结

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先说说学习，也是我这小半年生活的主要组成部分。我从来没想过我会变成这样的人，仿佛一夜之间对于学术和要求、严谨，和愿意付诸的努力都翻了十倍。当然我自己知道，这不是一夜所得，是一年心智的累积和对未来的期冀。我刚开学的时候也不是很顺利，seminar和world history两门课算是相当吃力的，ap english的同学也让我这点破英语自惭形秽。我记得我最开始写东西的时候，p也放不出来，文章结构就像一坨大粪，完全不知道怎么线性的表达想法。我还是保持了自己一贯的风格，第一时间就想到放弃，也就是退课。这一点我必须要感谢eva，是她当时劝住我，最后决定咬牙上下去。那个时候我每天要读十几页pdf，写好多好多东西，一遍一遍写，慢慢摸索出一个属于自己的框架。

后来世界史步入正轨了，seminar的project又来了，有一天和Eva融融在教室练到晚上9点多，我说我们肯定没问题，肯定满分，但其实那天我心里也没什么底，上台的时候声线都是抖的。到了期中之后，天气越来越冷了，我再也没法出门走走，在偌大的校园里听听歌，只能每天回到宿舍，接一杯热水，打开电脑。这会所有科目的压力都上来了，还有托福，其实我9月和11月的两场考的非常不理想，所以每天还要花半个小时背单词，半个小时做题，如果课内的作业少了，就多写两篇写作。基本上最忙的时候吧，3点下课回宿舍，收拾一下房间，4点学到6点吃个饭，歇一会又继续学，每天都要到12点才能合电脑，然后1点入睡。元旦前后那段时间，先回了趟老家被所有人精神凌虐了一番，那会离我托福不到十天了，压力大到每天在宿舍默默掉眼泪。我就是太要强了，不能接受自己比别人差，其实世事难两全，更别说十几件事同时堆在眼前，总是有兼顾不到的地方。但我就是没法放过自己，也不能原谅，我总是在想为什么不能更好，然后就会花更多更多的时间在上面。有时候我会放10件事在todolist上，因为我知道我做不完那么多，但是只要完成8件今天就说的过去了。

你看，其实我知道我做不完的，可是当我真的躺在床上了，我又不断的鞭挞自己，为什么不能再高效一点，再把那最后两件也做到呢。一个学期，整整五个月，每一天都早起化妆、洗头、卷头发，直到期末累得痛哭那几天之前，请过的假都只有去考托福和奔丧。有时候我也不知道为什么有这些莫名其妙的坚持，就是习惯了对自己的苛刻。我对这样的苛刻感到很矛盾，我当然感谢他，不然我这学期不可能有这么多新的成就，暂时来看我也不想改，因为我还需要它继续motivate我各个方面的进步，我又不是多么天才多么聪明的小女孩，只能多逼一逼自己。

但是最近我觉得，也许我该想想有什么新的，生活的信念感。因为现在这份要强支持起来的运作系统快要枯萎了，而且很空洞。关键在于，我觉得这不是个正向的情绪，我一直满怀着对父母，对欺负过我的人们深层的恨意，以及对他们认可我的渴望。那天我和sandy聊天的时候就很伤感，说得难听点，漂亮小女孩的处境就像被世界这个巨大的几把从各个方面操了。。浅层来看，我的敌人是我的父母同学，我的周边，但这些人背后其实是个巨大的、沉重的男权系统。我在社会里的定位应该是玩物、供人取乐的妓女，胸大无脑的意淫女神，可以兼得美丽、性感、智慧的，受人尊崇的女性是不可能存在的，是整体系统罪恶的事故。这些东西很难靠一个17岁的少女独自抗衡，我是一个耀眼的弱者，就像丝路上一个受伤的大富商，这个时候谁都会想来分一杯羹。我必须承认自己在现状上的无能，如果要靠着恨这些继续生活下去，我想我无力承受。但是今天是一条开心的博客，所以话说回来——

我觉得我对生活的信念感，我的爱，都需要引入一些新的能量。我很高兴在这学期里，把“因为要强所以努力学习”的这个附加结果转化为“学习和知识可以成为我新的一部分信念感”。我从前在父母和男人身上获取生命力，被反噬的很厉害，但是学业不会。我投入10分，它就实实在在的还给我十分，这样的生意我非常乐意做。我父母常常吹嘘读书多么伟大高尚，我想他们两个人其实并不真的理解这其中含韵。他们对于文化和读书的追捧更像一种对上流阶级拧巴的渴求。但是很高兴，他们的错误引导最终没有影响到我，我还是靠自己发现了个中滋味。新的生活模式让我从这几年仇恨的溺亡感中解脱出来，所以旧的模式枯萎了，我努力找到新的运作方式，并且已经在成功的路上

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说说心情，我发现我必须要远离那些精神折磨我的因子。首当其冲的自然是我爸，我现在和他正常的沟通也很困难了，他对我脱离掌控的暴怒和无能会转化为对我严重的言语暴力和人格侮辱，我当然也不堪示弱，在家庭里越来越凌厉，一改过去十几年的懦弱顺从，现在一会讲道理一会撒泼大闹，把所有垃圾手段统统用了个遍。一些忽冷忽热影响我情绪的朋友，我直接无视换人，反正总有大把的人喜欢我，很多好朋友只是不在身边，又不是死了。提问箱里有人骂我，以前我非要坚持继续发跟骂我的人争一口气，现在我直接注销账号了，不给莫名其妙的人伤害我的机会。总之谁他妈都不能让我不高兴，老子不管怎么样都不能委屈了自己。

这种心态，和对于心态的落实，让我整个人的状态都越来越棒了。因为远离痛苦的源头之后，才能发现和修补生活里积极的部分，比如和妈妈的关系。从前我被我爸那套洗脑教育控制着，被自己莫名其妙的拧巴束缚着，总希望妈妈猜到我这几年的辛苦，这个想法简直太扯了，谁家好人能完美猜中别人几年前的过往啊，所以在上周末我终于空闲下来的时候就好好和我妈妈谈了一谈，把她搞得母性大爆发了，对我乳腺真的很好。所以你看吧，其实自己不折磨自己就能省去很多烦心事，我是在努力学会原谅自己不完美的地方，让自己高兴一些。因为我也确确实实发现世界上没人能做我的savior，在每个关键时机拉我一把，我不会成为言情小说里金手指拉满，众星捧月的女主人公。所以我必须得自己好好照顾自己，从17岁开始，我要好好养大我自己了！这是浥尘小姐思想上多么大的进步！我要感动到落泪了！

以后，该吵的架就去吵，实在不想做的事就不做，喜欢的男人大胆示爱，如果被拒绝了就大哭一场舔两天再下头。这个世界为难我的已经不少了，我不想做伤害自己的加害者，也不想继续装作洒脱了。潇洒不应该是一种理想人设，应该成为我自然流露的生活状态

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我常常在想，过一年我究竟会收到什么样学校的offer呢，以后会走上怎样一条路？

Mongol Empire Policy Paper

Introduction

In the history of the Mongol empire, the undeniable fact is their strong and cruel military power. It allowed Mongols to expand at an incredible speed. However, since the nomadic people relatively lack experience in how to rule such a large empire. Therefore, this essay will give some advice to the Mongol empire in the period of Khan Chinggis to help him maintain the stability of the empire. It contains policies-suggestion of the administration, succession, law, rewarding and citizenship, mixed marriage, Emperor apotheosis, religion, culture, and history maintenance.

Background information

Khan Chinggis who formerly known as Temujin, succeeded in unifying the various Mongol tribes and establishing a powerful military force. Under Genghis Khan’s leadership, the Mongol army undertook a series of conquests, including those of Central Asia, Persia, Eastern Europe, and China. These conquests made the Mongol Empire the largest land empire in the world at the time.

Policies-Suggestion

1. Administration 

-In order to contain more perspectives from different nations in ruling and balancing the power of the empire, I suggest that Khan Chinggis and his generals select the members for these 2 congresses to be the first session. X should be Mongol nobles and leaders, and Y should be non-Mongol nobles, artisans, and others who have outstanding performances in their fields. The most important events must be discussed by the emperor and 2 congresses, such as decisions for succession and legislation. 

Respond for 13,18

2. Succession

-Eligibility: Candidates of the successor include sons of the emperor and other 3 leaders elected by 3 main Mongol tribes (These 3 tribes should each be chosen by the emperor, congress X, and Congress Y). The successor must be of Mongol lineage, half is also accepted, and they must join the army before. All candidates have participated in the military before and have contributed to it. This is for the successor, which means the future emperor’s legitimacy, to prove their leader is capable and orthodox.

-Election: The next successor should be elected after the discussion of the emperor and congresses, to ensure the fairness of the election. Each member has 2 votes. If there are candidates get the same number of votes, the emperor has the power to decide which one.

Respond to concerns 15 22

3. Law

-2 Congresses work together to make the basic law of the empire, and the local tribes, governments, and nations have the right of explain the laws and right of execution, meaning that they can have some differences in specific rules considering their varied cultural backgrounds, however, it cannot be contradict with the basic law made by central congresses. For example, for Iran women, might need to wear hijabs to cover their body, which is an important policy in their law. But in China, since people don’t believe in Islamic doctrine, they won’t need to do this. This will be the empire’s concession for diversity and inclusion.

-The congresses will hold a leading meeting every 3 years. Leaders of local governments should come to the meeting to report their work. The congresses can randomly pick 2 places and go there for the check. 

-Each local government must have 2 leaders, one is Mongol appointed by the central government(congress or emperor) and another one can be Mongol or non-Mongol from the local. The second and third one is designed to prevent local governments from detaching from central controls.

Respond to concerns 17 20 21

4. Rewarding and Citizenship

-Mongols can learn from the Roman Empire, which emphasizes the value of citizenship. When considering the reward system, for Mongols, the government can give them money and military rank, and for non-Mongols, the government can give them Mongol citizenship and give rewards to their hometown. This can help to get the loyalty of non-Mongols and promote the integrated of the empire.

-To elevate the value of Mongol citizenship, non-Mongols will have a ceiling for the military or official rank.

Respond to concerns 19

5. Military 

-In order to maintain the strong military power of Mongols, all males, except disabilities, are forced to join the army from 16 to 26 years old. If they got a promotion during this period, they are being suggested to stay in the army, if they are not, they could decide whether to change to other fields.

-Generals will be on duty rotation every 5 years, which means their ministries and soldiers will be regularly changing. It is to prevent every general from getting too close to soldiers that they might be threatened by the emperor.

Respond to concerns 14 18

6. Mixed marriage

-To reinforce loyalty and integration, the government will encourage mixed marriages, both more plebeians and nobles. As it promotes the connection between different nations and cultures, it can enhance the stability of the empire.

-The children born with mixed marriages will automatically qualify to get Mongol citizenship, but the parents can also choose to let children join other nation’s citizenship.

14 15

7. Emperor apotheosis 

-To enhance the great of the emperor’s sovereignty, the emperor can clarify himself as the representation of the Mongol religious God in the human world. By building a connection with supernatural power, people will respect and obey the emperor.

15

8. Religious

-Allowing and respecting all religions to exist.

-Any leader of religion cannot recruit military power, and they also cannot enter the military management system. This can avoid giving too much power to the religious.

7

9. Culture and history maintenance

-An official group will be responsible for recording every big event such as the change of succession and war. It will be written in books, each year have one book.

10

Conclusion

These policies are designed to help the empire stable, avoid rebellion, and enforce obedience. The main philosophy is to promote the integration of cultures and nations, be aware of the potential risks that might cause rebellion and balance the power of different institutions.

Bagels teamwork achievement!!

WE GOT 50.5/50 FOR THIS PA!

Our topic is murals during the Silk Road period reflect cultural fusion. This video includes evidence pieces from 5 different documentaries that talk about the Silk Roads civilization. We built connections for these documentaries and evidence to revitalize the glory of Silk Roads, forming a new video with the BGM lyrics adapted by ourselves.

By Amber, Eva, Echo, David, Sally

Linguistic relativism12.31

Unit 3 Performance Assessment Advanced English Language and Composition Amber Shen
Word Count: 1214

Introduction

Linguistic relativism is a concept known as the principle of linguistic relativity or the Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis. It is related to cognitive science which basically suggests that language influences people’s perceptions and behavior. Although there is controversy over the specific extent to which language influences perception, generally speaking, linguistic relativism would construct people’s way of thinking and further impact their cognition and interaction with the world

Language Shapes People’s Different Thought Patterns

linguistic structures can construct people’s way of thinking and form the habitual thought patterns of speakers. According to Yunxi Fei, there are differences in distinct preferences in word presentation, and the main idea selection between English and Chinese reflects this idea (Fei, 2014). English is more focused on rationality, focusing on specific details and logical correlations for arguments. However, the Chinese emphasize visualizing the content. It prioritizes overall impressions and intuitive feeling. For instance, when we describe a garden, English speakers might tend to depict it “The garden is blooming with a variety of flowers, including red roses, purple lavenders, and sunflowers.” This description focuses on listing specific flower species and colors to be the evidence, to build a logical and detailed scene. As for Chinese speakers, they tend to write “In the garden, the colorful flowers compete with each other and the green leaves sway gently in the breeze, creating a vibrant scene.” It can be found that it focuses on creating a vivid visual picture that makes people feel the beauty and liveliness of the scene. The differences in these descriptive ways prove the key role language plays in constructing thought. This demonstrates how the characteristics of language itself influence people’s understanding of things which will lead to different expressions. The long-term impact of their own linguistic environment lets people tend to understand and describe in specific ways finally forming unique perception habits with different emphases.

Vocabulary system influences people’s perception of the world

Vocabulary systems in different languages would create differences and limitations on how people perceive the world, especially occurs when cross-cultural communication. The actual language we speak plays an important role in interacting our reality. By comparing languages, we can see differences in the way we talk about the world. In English, we have the
words grandfather and grandmother, but no single word that distinguishes between a maternal grandfather and a paternal grandfather. But in Swedish, there’s a specific word for each grandparent: morfar is mother’s father, farfar is father’s father, farmor is father’s mother,
and mormor is mother’s mother (Crystal, 2005). So when cross-culture people communicate with each other, if an English speaker wants to talk about his story with his maternal grandfather, the general word “grandfather” might make the Swedish speaker feel confused about which person he is discussing. In this kind of vocabulary difference, it can be inferred that the design of language actually influences people’s interaction with and expression of the world. This will lead them to have different reactions to the same event. Slight differences in the designing of language systems can cause obstacles or misunderstandings when people trying to comprehend other cultures’ communication scenarios. Their value to the world is rooted in thought patterns constructed by distinctive linguistic systems. Therefore, the vocabulary system has a strong influence on an individual’s understanding of the entire world.

Language determines perception and the following behavior

Although the theory of the impact of language to perception has been accepted in most cases, the specific extent of it remains a matter of controversy due to the Weak Whorf Hypothesis. This hypothesis proposed that “the language you speak influences perception, but does not determine which thoughts you can have” (The Whorf Hypothesis, n.d.). It suggests that humans have cognitive flexibility, meaning that language’s influence on perception is more of a slight guidance or reference rather than being controlled by language. A famous example supporting the Weak Whorf Hypothesis is an indigenous group in Australia, which is the speakers of the Kuuk Thaayorre language. These speakers are not use direction terms like “left” or “right” but describe all spatial relations based on cardinal directions. For example, when they depict the location of the object, they tend to say “the cup to the east” instead of “to the right”. This linguistic habit provides Kuuk Thaayorre speakers with an outstanding directional perception ability. They can point out geographical directions even in unfamiliar environments very accurately. This shows that although language brought unique capability to Kuuk Thaayorre speakers and promoted their perception, their determination is more based on facts which is the physical direction rather than language. Their distinctive linguistic convention won’t affect their judgment. So language functioned more as a container of one’s expression that demonstrates language influences but does not determine thought.

However, this theory overlooks an important point is how to define the relationship and difference between influence and determination. These two concepts are almost impossible to separate since the biases brought by language are already embedded in cognition. This not only determines the outcome of thought but also impacts the subsequent decisions made driven by thoughts. In the case of the Kuuk Thaayorre language, the issue is that the terms for whatever cardinal direction or relative direction, all refer to the same factual concept that has universal true answers. Therefore, the influence of language does not constitute a bias. In fact, this kind of convention is relatively rare. Many customs in other languages are unique and sole, which means their meanings might not having a unified correct answer in other cultures or languages. In such scenarios, thoughts that contain preferences pass through in language. It will form biases that unconsciously determine the speaker’s thought outcomes. For example, in languages like French, German, and Spanish, nouns are categorized with gender identities. As mentioned in “The Language Hoax,” it is easy to suppose that people whose languages assign genders to inanimate objects perceive those objects as meaningfully more male or female than speakers of English (Mcwhorter, 2016). This emphasizes the determination of perception brought by gender labeling, further affecting people’s actions. In German, the word for “bridge” (Brücke) is feminine. It will lead speakers to naturally associate bridges with female characteristics, such as elegance or tenderness. However, there is no similar implicit meaning of “bridge” in other languages, and therefore, creating a gap in understanding. In this case, the unique language convention already offers a bias to German speakers before they realize it, and causes them to believe the bridge should be more related to women. This perception can further extend to practical decisions, where designers might prioritize aesthetic appeal to be elegant in bridge construction in order to highlight the feminine style. Considering these, in most cases excluding examples with factual meanings, language will affect people’s perceptions. This effect will determine their thoughts and reveal in their later behavior.

Conclusion

To conclude, linguistic relativism through the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis has shown the profound influence of language on building an individual’s thinking process and perceptions of the world. While the Weak-Whorf Hypothesis presents that language impact won’t directly influences one’s thoughts, it is not applicable in most cases since the diversity of language conventions leads to different biases that are embedded in the human mind before they realize such things in thinking.

References

Fei, Y. (2014). The differences in thinking patterns between English and Chinese in Chinese students’ English writing. School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology.

The Decision Lab. (n.d.). The Whorf Hypothesis. The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/ reference-guide/linguistics/the-whorf-hypothesis

Crystal, D., How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die (Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2005), 155.

Mcwhorter, J. H. (2016). The language hoax : why the world looks the same in any language. Oxford University Press.