Direct English-language Learning Weekly Worksheet Week 2

Goal: In this week, I want to improve my English-reading and writing skill.

Be able to find the theme as the meaning of each story that I read.

Be able to summarise each story in my own word uses.

Completed (include brief description of what you did and the learning process):

Reading Activity: In this week, I mananged to finish one book. I picked one story called “Oliver Twist” to read. It was more than a hundred pages long. I took two days just to finish this book. Reading is easy for those who read just to read, but it is really hard for those who read in order to get the meaning, the theme and the morality of the whole story’s line. For me I have spent two hours each day just to read books. I like to pick up novel, history book and phycology book to read. For words and vocabularies that I don’t know, it is the biggest challenge in my reading. It is going to be a waste of time if you spend time in checking dictionary. But in order to overcome this kind of challenge, I tried not to open my dictionary and tried to understand the context so that I can understand those words easily without opening dictionary.

Writing Activity:  After reading the whole story, I started to summarise without looking at the book again. I spent 2 hours just to finish summarising 1 story. As for Oliver Twist story, it’s not a criticle story, so it easy to summarise. All I need to do is memorising the story’s line and every actors.

Self-Evaluation: 

These are activities that I choosed in order to develop and improve my English-reading and writing skill this week. As I have mentioned reading is easy for those who read just to read, but it is really hard for those who read in order to get the meaning, the theme and the morality of the whole story’s line. For English-writing, I have learned how to choose words to summary. At first it’s hard for me to choose words to write but after I started to read a lot, there were many words came up to my mind. Self-innovation also takes part in writing as well. Writing just like an art, we write for readers to read. So in order to attract the reader’s intention we need to include all of our feeling and understanding in that one particular topic.

I think I have improved a lot by comparing to the past week.  Eventhough it is hard to build a habbit of reading and writing, I believe that I keep get improved if I keep practicing these kinds activity everyday. 

Story Summary
“Oliver twist”

  The story started in 1830s in England. Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse near London. His mother died after he was born. Before her death, she handed a gold locket to a woman in the workhouse, saying that this gold locket will lead this baby to his family. Oliver was placed in the care of a badly run home for young orphans for his first nine years of his life. At age of nine, he was sent to the workhouse working for a living. Kids there were mistreated, as they never got enough foods and clothes. After representing his fellow sufferers in an attempt to get more gruel at the end of a meal, Oliver was punished and apprenticed to Mr. Sowerberry, a local funeral undertaker. When the undertaker’s other apprentice made disparaging comments about Oliver’s mother, Oliver attacked him and incured the Mr. Sowerberrys’ wrath. Desperate, Oliver ran away at dawn and heads for London. He begged food on his way and sleeps rough in the fields. After walking for seven days, he arrived London. Outside London, Oliver starved and exhausted then he met Jack Dawkins, a boy in his age. Jack offers Olive shelter in London slums with Fagin. Fagin is a career criminal; he trained orphan boys to do pick pockets for him. After a few days’ training, Oliver was sent out with Jack and other boys on a pickpocket expedition. While doing pick poket, a man saw the two boys stole a handkerchief from an elderly gentleman outside a bookstore. Oliver was horrified and ran off but later he was caught and sent to the police. Oliver was freed upon proved innocent by Mr. Brownlow, the wealthy gentleman whose handkerchief was stolen and felt sorry for Oliver, then the toke Oliver to his home and treated him very well. Oliver thrived in Mr. Brownlow’s home, Fagin asked Bill Sikes and Nancy, two young adults in his gang, to capture Oliver on the street and bring him back to the Fagin’s den by force. Bill Sikes make a living by robbing houses. One night Bill toke Oliver to rob a house. Oliver’s refusal of getting involved in the burglary alarms the inhabitants of the house. Sikes fired at him with great anger and flees hastily. Oliver was taken in by the kind hearted Mrs. May, the house owner and her adopted niece Rose. With careful nursing by Mrs. May and Rose, Oliver made a quick recovery from the injury. Meanwhile, a mysterious Mr. Monks who was interested in Oliver’s origin manages to get the gold locket left behind by Oliver’s mother. As a matter of fact, Oliver was Monk half brother. In the attempt to deprive Oliver’s share of his family inheritance, Monks decided to keep the finding as a secret and sinked the gold locket into the river. Moreover, he ploted against Oliver with Fagin. Nancy, Sikes’ wife by chance overhears the conversation between Monks and Fagin. To save Oliver she tells Rose on Monk’s plot. Rose brought Oliver to Mr. Brownlow and told him the whole story. But after Fagin told Sikes what Nancy had done against them. Sikes brutally murders Nancy in a rage. Mr. Brownlow caught Monks and wrings the truth about Oliver’s parentage from him. Fagin was arrested and condemned to death. While trying to escape, Sikes accidentally hang himself. Having got his inheritance and been adopted by Mr. Brownlow, Oliver starts his happy life after going through all these misery.