Short Story: Abandon Ship

ABANDON SHIP
by Raymond Kim

Today is my 39th day on the voyage to my hometown. My captain has ordered me to bring down the whole cargo to the stern of the ship. I dragged my filthy body to the bottom of the ship to drag out the powder kegs and the barrels I had to carry to the back end of the ship. I hated the fact that there were only four men carrying the cargo and there were about 16 barrels. So, if we were to do the math fairly, a person would each take 4 cargoes. However, life wasn't as fair as simple mathematic laws. I was the lowest level or degree in the ship, which meant I had to carry more than half of the cargoes. This sucked so bad. I personly hated the rule of the sails.

Day 45th, our crew are having a bit of trouble sailing through the sea. I think there is going to be a big storm coming towards us. Our captain, as loony as he is, wants to go through the storm. I had to stay calm as everybody else on the ship cried out with sorrow. I took control of my heart and mind -- nevermind, the storm was much more devastating than I thought. On second thought, I decided to grab hold on the heaviest barrel that I can find (which wasn't really a good idea) and made sure the barrel and I were safe. Then, the malicious storm finally hit us. I rolled around with the barrel on the deck with my two arms and two legs attached to the barrel as tightly as I could. It was shocking to realize how much the storm could cause the ship to rattle. As I was getting a hold on myself, I realized that all the other crewmen were sprinting back and forth from the port to the starboard to make sure the ship was balanced. I thought it was going to work...but it actually made the ship rattle much worse... Then with a loud bang, I suddenly hit something ice cold over my body.

I don't remember how long I have been floating on the barrel I have been attached on to. I was feeling sick. I eventually vomitted water out...I haven't been eating for days. With an urge of curiousity, I opened the barrel with a hope of some food or at least a bottle of rum. Thank God, what I have found inside the barrel was some spinaches! That was all I got so I gobbled up as much as I could. Then with myself fueled up, I paddled my wet feet towards east thanks to the compass in my pocket. After I had paddled for about an hour, I was able to see another barrel floating by with a rope wrapped around it. Before I tied the two barrels together, I opened up the barrel with a hope of water. Sadly, I found bananas. Oh well, I could at least recharge myself with some potassium. After that, I paddled once more towards east. Now my feet was so wet that it felt too heavy for me... I had to rest. I think 6 more hours past. I saw a huge ship sailing by. I yelled as loud as I could. I was rescued. I felt happy and joyful...I never wanted to go out sailing again with a loony captain.

Hope

Slam Poetry

Hate-Hate Poems
By Raymond Kim

This is me writing a hate poem
Why amd I writing this poem?
I hate the fact that I have to finish this stanza
I don't even want to depict the fact why I hate-
Hate Poems

This poem that I abohor,
This poem that makes me want to go to war,
This poem that I utterly detest,
This poem that makes me stressed,
This poem that I strongly abominate,
This poem that I loathe,
This poem that I execrate as hell,
This poem that makes me think of repulsive smell,
I repudiate the fact that I have to finish this stanza.







HOHOHO Reflection:
This poetry slam ... topic was a very interesting thing for me to do. I thought this was very entertaining because I was able to express the feelings that I write on the poem myself. Thus, the fact that I was able to write any kind of poem I freely want, this made me much comfortable than other times when I was writing poems. Personally, I thought at first the poetry slam was not going to be fun. But as soon as I heard everybody saying their poems, I suddenly got interested and I was able to express the feelings I had. I really, really enjoyed the poetry slam, far more than what I expected.

Where I'm From

By Raymond Kim

I am from a flat land,

from plains to deserts

I am from the plains

(green, flowing

it looked peaceful)

where you can feel

wind and breeze

I am from the desert

from cactus to the Gulf of Mexico

I'm from the cowboys

whose longhorns and cows I remember

I'm from a summer

with a swimming pool

and a swim suit

I am from a swimming class

I'm from a winter

with no snow

to a desire

for a snow-fight

and a snowman

I am from a room

with full of toys

from dolls to electronics

In my lost closet was a cabinet

spilling old toys

with smiley faces

to refresh my memory

of my childhood.

I am from those moments--

lost back in my dreams--

my missing root.

Warm-Up: One Stanza

http://www.teen-beauty-tips.com/images/broken_cup.jpg
Broken Mind

A mind full of thoughts is a cup
A cup that keeps hold of your thoughts
Make sure you steady your cup up
For you might lose all your oughts

News Article: Connection

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/archives/result_contents.asp

According to this article, what really happened was, a teenager in Korea had hired his friend to kill the teenager's mother and sister by putting up a fire on their house. The purpose of this was to gain money through insurance; the teenager had promised his friend to share him some 300 million won ($258,000). I can relate this artcile to, The Pearl by connecting with the theme I came up: greed of wealth canturn you into a destructive force. I personaly think that these two really connect and relate to each other because of the idea where both characters desired money, and they were willing to do something malevolent to gain.

Reflection: The Pearl

Reflection

The Pearl is a book that is amazingly short; however, this 90 pages book gives an important moral and meaning for us to keep in mind. As John Steinbeck has mentioned to us that this story, The Pearl was a story that was a parable. First, a parable is a story that basically gives us a clear, definite meaning. For The Pearl, I personally think that the meaning is that you should never be overwhelmed by the idea of greed, because if greed takes over you, you will become a destructive force to the near matter.

First of all, we can see the idea of this meaning through many parts in the story. In the beginning, we could see Kino as a person who is very paternal, caring, and a peaceful guy.

“Kino’s eye opened, and he looked first at the lightening square which was the door and then he looked at the hanging box where Coyotito slept. And last he turned his head to Juana, his wife, who lay beside him on the mat, her blue head shawl over her nose and over her breasts and around the small of her back.” (pg. 1)

This part of the story gives big information of how Kino was, the way he acts towards his family. Even during the night, he checks over his family to find out whether they are safe. However, as we keep on going to the end of the book, he becomes a totally different person.

““They have taken the pearl. I have lost it. Now it is over,” he said. “The pearl is gone.” Juana quieted him as she would quiet a sick child. “Hush,” she said. “Here is your pearl. I found it in the path. Can you hear me now? Here is your pearl. Can you understand? You have killed a man. We must go away. They will come for us, can you understand? We must be gone before the daylight comes.”” (pg. 61)

Already, it is shown that Kino has killed a man because he thought that the pearl was stolen by this person. The only reason that Kino might have killed this man other than self-protection is because of his greed and his want of wielding the pearl. This is a clear example of how the meaning of this book can be described as never become overwhelmed by greed, for greed will always make you into a destructive force.

Other evidences that might bring up the idea of this meaning of greed is when Kino can’t give up on his pearl.

““No one shall take our good fortune from us,” he said.” (pg. 57)

This text emphasizes the idea, not that greed is addicting, but how overwhelming the idea of greed is. If the idea of greed was just an idea that was a desire, Kino would have probably went with Juana to give up on the pearl or could have sold it to the pearl buyers. However, through this passage, we can come up with the idea that Kino won’t give up the pearl because of some thoughtless desire of his. This one irresponsible thought by Kino brings a disaster to his family.

Lastly, greed is not only shown in Kino’s perspective, but also in the people around him.

“Blood oozed down from his scalp and there was a long deep cut in his cheek from ear to chin, a deep, bleeding slash. And Kino was only half conscious. He shook his head from side to side. His shirt was torn open and his clothes half pulled off.” (pg. 56)

This passage basically tells you that Kino was attacked during the night by a man or a woman because of the overwhelmed desire of the pearl. Either the man or the woman couldn’t control his/her desires and greed that they eventually came to try and steal the pearl. However, they couldn’t. That was when they attacked Kino. Otherwise, it was because they didn’t want to be caught stealing. This clearly backs up the meaning that greed can turn you into a destructive force.

In conclusion, this book clearly shows the change of Kino from a paternal person to an evil murderer because of overwhelming greed. Next, Kino’s thoughts show how greed’s overwhelming power can lead to a disastrous ending. Thus, the fact that Kino’s neighbors tried putting hands on the pearl and attacking Kino showed greed with destructive force. Therefore, this book was a parable with a meaning: never be overwhelmed by the idea of greed, because if greed takes over you, you will become a destructive force to the near matter.

This meaning, that you should never be overwhelmed by greed, can always reflect to me. It is because I had many moments where I had become selfish because of greed. For instance, I had received a reward from my parents for doing something really good. However, when I had received it, this feeling of desire of more and this urge came to me. I wanted more. That was when I had done evil and not-right things. I tried to trick my parents to get other additional rewards like games, toys, and electronics. However instead, I got punished for asking for more. This desire of something and greed can surely turn you into someone totally different and get you into real mess just like Kino in The Pearl.