SHAIRA R.

BAILINGO
BSED ENGLISH 3
Queen for Seven Days
(Korean Sageuk)

Summary:
'Queen for Seven Days' is a political romance about the love story between
Grand Prince Lee Yeok (Yeon Woo Jin) and the daughter (Park Min Young) of a
prominent politician that became queen for just one week before being dethroned.
She gets caught in the middle of the rivalry between him and his half-brother King
Yeon Sangug (Lee Dong Gun).
We have the beautiful Park Min Young as our future queen Shin Chae
Gyung. She is a spirited woman who won't hesitate to get involved when she sees
injustice. But when she found herself in the middle of King and the Grand Prince,
her heart and her life ended up on the line.
Yeon Woo Jin portrays the role of Grand Prince Lee Yeok. He has to live his
life trying not to cause trouble for his older brother, the king, and tries to convince
him that he doesn't want his throne. But the king never truly trusted him, which
ultimately sends him on a path where he may need to take the throne for his safety
as well as the kingdom.
We then have Lee Dong Gun as Lee Yeong (King Yeongsangung).
Although he does care for his brother, his fear that Yeok will try to overthrow him
torments him. This and his temper make him borderline crazy. And the saddest
thing is that his actions eventually brought his fears into reality.
 Reflection:
Once in a while, I witness a beautiful love story that I want to tell everyone
about it because I want to share that stunning experience with it. That’s the exact
feeling I had when I was watching Queen for Seven Days. It bought me to the
sweetest highs and sad lows as the story tricked me in a web of doubts, betrayals
and love.
Queen for Seven Days pushed me to the limit of my tears. Staged in
traditional background, it narrates a breathtaking chronicle of a woman, who relies
on love but falters on trusting that love which eventually leads to her misfortunes.
Queen for Seven Days will challenge your emotional strength in a way when ice
cream and chocolates won’t help.
Layered by the exhausting political power struggles, the war between two
brothers wanting to keep the throne to protect and keep the woman they cherish in
their hearts is full of touching moments, where viewers would sympathize on the
pain and sacrifices of the main characters. They have to go through endless
discernment to achieve vindication of the right and wrong options which they
picked in trying to shield the people they love.
Queen for Seven Days leaves a lingering message on how an enduring love
may not picture an ever after at the moment, yet it does not mean that it won’t
fulfilled in the future. Chae Gyung and Prince Jin Seong’s love story is a reminder
that such sacrifices are inevitable when you are truly in love.
 Angels and Demons
(Dan Brown)

Summary:
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a
Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a
murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of
an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati... the most powerful
underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has surfaced from
the shadows to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most
hated enemy... the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave,
when a messenger of the Illuminati announces he has hidden an unstoppable time
bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon
jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian
scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.

Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted

cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and
Vetra follow a 400-year old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome
toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair... a secret location that contains the only
hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening

epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.
 Reflection:
The film has inspired dispute and controversy regarding data relating to the
film's topics. Outstanding amongst its complaint and faults is its approach to
Christianity and beliefs.
The movie is going on to raise questions concerning all of the facts and
teachings that have been taught through time. The film criticized the basis beliefs
of the religion, in question. It is a mystery the specializes in the efforts of a
detective who undertakes to solve mysterious situations. Angels and demons
basically revolved around weaponry, studies, murder, and mystery-solving. Even
though i do not in reality like it, it has nonetheless controlled to carry out all the
qualities of an awesome movie.
 The Notebook

Summary:
At a modern-day home, an elderly man named Duke reads a romantic story
from his notebook to a fellow patient. In 1940 Seabrook Island South Carolina,
poor lumbermill worker Noah Calhoun sees the 17-year-old Allison 'Allie'
Hamilton, at a carnival. He pursued her and they had a summer romance. Noah
takes Allie to an abandoned house he intends to buy for then, Noah tried to lay
with Allie, but his friend Fin arrived with the news that Allie's parents have the
police with them looking for her. When Allie and Noah return to her parent's
mansion, Allie's mother calls Noah trash and didn't like him for her. They forbid
the two of them from seeing each other. Noah walked out and Allie chased after
him, Argument ensues, leading to the two breaking up. Allie's mom announces that
they are returning to Charleston. Allie then tried to contact Noah but wasn't able to,
so she asked Fin to tell Noah she loves him. When Noah got the message, he
rushed to Allie's house yet it was empty. Noah writes to Allie every year but Allie's
mom intercepts so it never reached Allie.
Noah and Fin then enlisted to fight in the warm where Fin ultimately dies in
battle. Allie also volunteered as a nurse aid for the wounded soldiers. There, she
met Captain Lon Hammond Jr., a young lawyer from Old Southern Money. After 2
years of being together, the two became engaged. When Noah returns from the
war, his father sold their house so that he can buy the abandoned house. While
visiting Charleston, Noah witnessed Allie and Lon kissing. He convinced himself
that if he refurbished the house, Alli will come back. Allie was startled and almost
fainted when she read in the news that Noah completed the house to the
specifications she made before. Allie asked permission from Lon to take a little trip
before their wedding, she then returned to Seabrook to find Noah living in the
now-restored house. The two rekindled their relationship and made love. Several
days later, Allie's mom arrives at their doorstep to warn Allie that Lon followed her
to Seabrook. Her mother reveals that in her youth, she was also in love with a
lower-class man and still thinks about him to his day. She also gives the letter that
Noah wrote to Alli, admitting that she was hiding them from her. Subsequently,
Allie confessed to Lon that she has spent time with Noah and eventually falls in
love with him again.
In the present narrative, it is revealed that the elderly woman Duke was
narrating the story to is a dementia-stricken Allie. Duke is actually her husband,
Noah, and that Allie told him during the early stages of her illness to reread their
journals to help her remember the past. She briefly remembers Noah, but soon
forgets. Her ensuing panic forces the medical personnel to sedate her. Noah
suffered a heart attack and was sent to the hospital; Allie is sent to the dementia
ward in the same hospital. Noah visits Allie at midnight causing her to remember
him again. He reminds her that they can do anything with the love they share. They
kiss and hold hands, and they fall asleep together with Noah telling Allie "I'll be
seeing you.". In the morning, it was discovered that they died in their sleep, with
their hands still clasped together.
 Reflection:
The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a
story of miracles that will stay with you forever.
 It makes you believe in that true love and it makes you believe that if it has to be
yours then it will be yours no matter what happens. It teaches you never to give up
on the person you love. It teaches you that life isn’t perfect as a whole. And life
really is just a series of perfect moments strung together. You’ll get into arguments
and disagree from time to time because no one’s perfect. But as long as there is love
between you, fights will only make your relationship stronger.
 The Kite Runner
(Khaled Hosseini)

Summary:
The Kite Runner is the story of Amir, a Sunni Muslim, who struggles to find
his place in the world after the effects and fallout from a series of traumatic
childhood events. An adult Amir opens the novel in the present-day United States
with a vague reference to one of these events. Then the novel flashes back to
Amir's childhood in Afghanistan. In addition to the typical childhood experiences,
Amir struggles with forging a closer relationship with his father, Baba, with
determining the exact nature of his relationship with Hassan, his Shi'a Muslim
servant; and eventually with a fine way to atone for pre-adolescent decisions that
have lasting repercussions. One of the biggest struggles for Amir is learning to
navigate the complex socio-economic culture he faces-up in Afghanistan as a
member of the privileged class yet not feeling like a member of his own family.
Hasan and his father, Ali, are servants. Yet at times, Amir's relationship with
them is more like that of a family member. Amir's father, Baba, who does not
consistently adhere to the tenets of his culture, confuses rather than classifies
things for young Amir. Many of the ruling class elites in Afghanistan view the
world as black and white, yet Amir identifies many shades of gray. During a
crucial episode, which takes place during an important kite-flying tournament,
Amir decides not to act- he decides not to confront the bullies and aggressor when
he has the chance- and this conscious choice of inactions sets off a chain reaction
that leads to guilty lies and betrayals. Eventually, because of the changing political
climate, Amir and his father are forced to flee to the United States. He views
coming to America as an opportunity to leave the past behind.
 Reflections:
The film “The Kite Runner” is overall a very touching movie and it displays
racial discrimination, braveness, an absolute class of friendship a feeling of getting
loved and violence led by uneducated people. Our society needs to get educated
and learn to welcome peace while dropping ego and greediness at the doorstep.
 The Hunger Games
(Suzanne Collin)

Summary:
The story of a teenage girl named Katniss, who lived in the 12th District,
Post-Apocalyptic North America called Panem. She lives with her mother and
sister, Prim, as they struggle to find food and survived. Each year, as part of the
punishment for the previous rebellion, each of the districts selects a boy and a girl
as tributes to fight for the Hunger Games, basically a battle royale. Prim got
selected, but Katniss quickly volunteered to take her place, becoming one of the
tributes of District 12 along with Peeta, the baker's son.
They get transported to the capital and are introduced to their coach,
Haymitch, a drunkard. But Haymitch is clever and proposed to fake a romantic
strategy between Katniss and Peeta. Both were dressed by the stylists, named
Cinna. She dressed them with flames and the audience applauded during the
ceremony. Over a few days, each of the tributes was trained by their specialized
trainers, learning survival and combat skills. At the end of the training, each of the
trainees is given radiant potentials. Peeta earned 8, while Katniss earned 11. As
they prepare to enter the Arena, Haymitchtold them that the best chance they had
in surviving is to run away immediately when the games start. Everyone in the
arena was alerted when the gong signaled the start of the game. Katniss
immediately caught the scene of killings, she reached over her backpack and went
to hide in the forest. She has all her basic supplies with her, but she lacked water.
Katniss felt like she'll die from dehydration, but she eventually finds water. She
came across a group of tributes working together, they call themselves Career.
Together with them is Peeta, and their leader is named Cato. They trapped
Katniss in a tree, so she decided to throw some tracker jackers, they're like insects
with powerful venom. The swarm killed two girls and scared off the rest, this
allowed Katniss to escape. She decided to get the bow and arrow from the two
dead girls. Peeta helps her escape Cato, but she's confused as to why. They walk
away, but she succumbed to the venom of the trackers and fell asleep. When she
wakes up and collects herself, she finds a little girl named Rue. Rue's skilled in
acrobatics and they both decided to work together. As Katniss was out looking for
food and supplies, she got ambushed and lost hearing from one of her ears. She
found that Rue was killed, so she avenges her but it was too late. The
announcement that made there can be 2 victors for the Hunger Games from the
same district, which meant Peeta and Katniss can win. She then found Peeta who
has an injured leg, which scared her. They went to a cave and got romantic with
each other. The audience watching the romantic scene and expresses their approval
through gifts of food and medicine.
As Peeta was recovering, an announcement was made that each district will
be given supplies to Cornucopia, the center place of the arena. Since it's dangerous,
Peeta doesn't want Katniss to go but dragged him and went alone to recover the
supplies. She got ambushed by the Careers, and right as she was about to be killed,
another tribute saves her, repaying her for saving Rue. Katniss returned to the cave
with the serum to save Peeta. The two decided to leave, as they are hunting for
food, another tribute named Foxface ate the poisonous berries that Peeta picked
and died. Now there are three remaining tributes, so they look for Cato, and he
showed up being chased by mutated dogs. Katniss realized that the dogs are
actually the other tributes that were in the Hunger Games, they let Cato die to the
dogs. Katniss and Peeta are the last two alive, however, an announcement is made
that only one can be declared the winner. Peeta and Katniss decided to fake
poisoning themselves but was stopped when they were declared the winners.
Haymitch, however, warned them that their suicide stunt was not appreciated.
Katniss and Peeta were interviewed and sent home. Peeta discovered that Katniss
was being coached to like him, but his feelings for her were true.
 Reflection:
The movie is also a critique of the spiritual sickness of those who are
addicted to reality television shows. They, like the residents of the Capitol, love to
watch people suffer and humiliate each other in the quest for victory. Even worse,
is our addiction to violence, our gladiator culture where those who can thoroughly
trounce their opponents, whether in sports or war, are considered heroes. This sad
story proves there is nothing redemptive about violence.
Hope is a positive and potent spiritual practice with the power to pull us through
difficult times.
In the deeds and words of Katniss we see some of the virtues that can halt the
destructiveness of competition and violence. She lifts our spirits by showing what
Ernest Hemingway once described as "grace under pressure." We need hope to
keep our souls alive, and The Hunger Games delivers a healing tonic for our times.
 Crazy Rich Asians
(Kevin Kwan)

Summary:
Following a rich Asian woman named Raechel Chu who is an economist and
professor living in New York with her boyfriend, Nicholas Yang. Nicholas is also
a professor at the same University Raechel works in, he also happens to be one of
the wealthiest bachelors in Singapore. So, he invited Rachel to go back to
Singapore for the summer, to visit his family and attend his best friend's wedding.
Nicholas really didn't prepare Raechel for the world that she is about to
enter. Nicholas' Singaporean family, is genuinely crazy rich. For one, Nicholas is
the most eligible bachelor, and when Raechel got there, his lady friends are not so
friendly. Likewise, his family is a bit snobbish when it comes to money. And also,
blood comes to old school family, Raechel is trapped in a bit with these crazy
Asians. But despite their treatment of her, Raechel didn't mind them. Nicholas
proved to them how profound his love for Raechel. Never left her side, despite the
disapproval of his friends and family.
 Reflection:
It's not actually an issue for me, they're simply making them an issue for
themselves in light of the great upkeep. Such a large number of characters,
however I understood the story on one hand is practical. Asian families will in
general be gigantic and I know as a main priority that it is exceptionally difficult to
follow what everybody's identity was. Scratch and Raech's relationship are
somewhat ridiculous. It is difficult to accept that for a very long time, that they
never discussed Nick's family and foundation. I make the most of Raechel's
character, entirely relatable, and genuine. She's not evaluating or irritating anybody
which I found in other female characters in contemporary literature.
 Chinese Cinderella
(Adeline Men-Yeh)

Summary:
Growing up in a wealthy family in the 1950s. Adeline is born as the fifth
child. Her mother dies due to complications and her family thus views Adeline as
'bad luck' by her siblings. The situation is compounded by her father's new
marriage to a young French Asian woman who has little affection for her husband's
5 children, particularly, Adeline, whilst favoring her own younger son and
daughter born soon after marriage. Despite being unloved by her parents, Adeline
finds solace relationship with his grandfather, Ye-Ye, and aunt Baba. Adeline
immerses herself in striving for academic achievement in hopes of winning favor
from her father, who reacted positively to her medals and success. When the family
moved to Shanghai, Adeline suffers the worsts at the hand of her stepmother.
Adeline finds great success at school and gets elected as class president. A
time of momentous joy for her classmates chooses to bring the celebration to her
house. She is shocked to find out that she is being sent to a boarding school in
Tianjin immediately. her ensuing goodbyes with Aunt Baba and Ye-Ye are
sorrowful but filled with uplifting words. To years at the boarding school, Adeline
receives no visitors and no mails. She later learned that Niang instructed that all of
Adeline's incoming and outgoing mail will be sent to her. She was even left at
school for Christmas breaks. The only student who has not left school.
Somehow, Niang's abusive behavior and father's abandonment of her did not
dump Adeline's drive to learn and excel at school. Her father had forgotten her
given name and the actual date of birth while filling up some documents for a
flight. He was taking finally realized what an outstanding person his daughter was
and what great potential she had. Adeline won in an international writing
competition, he told her that he would be sending her to Oxford England. Aunt
Baba told Adeline that she was proud of her and that she will always be precious to
her. She affectionately called Adeline her 'Chinese Cinderella'.
 Reflection:
The book is truly astounding, Adeline's emotions are relatable and genuine. She
had a horrible adolescence, yet she had a ton of mental fortitude. A young lady
who is resolved to, living with a pitiless family, similar to Cinderella. However, in
contrast to some other fantasy, rather than hanging tight for a Prince Charming to
save her, she put forth a valiant effort in school and expected her dad's affection.
Adeline bloomed in spite of everything and eventually as her dad consents to give
her examination access England. This story is charming regardless of the substance
since it is so elegantly composed. Described by Adeline herself, it is a wisely
private recounted story.