A witness for the prosecution by Agatha Christie

.     This past week in my English class we read the story A Witness For the Prosecution  By Agatha Christie. This book was very interesting and one of the characters in the book had a very genius  way of thinking. Mrs Vole's husband was accused of murder and what she did to combat that in court was flat out brilliant. An excerp from the book:"But, my dear Mrs. Vole—you are overwrought. Being so devoted to your

husband—"
"I beg your pardon?"
The sharpness of her voice made him start. He repeated in a hesitating manner: "Being so devoted to your husband—"
Romaine Vole nodded slowly, the same strange smile on her lips.
"Did he tell you that I was devoted to him?" she asked softly. "Ah! yes, I can see he
did. How stupid men are! Stupid—stupid—stupid—"
She rose suddenly to her feet. All the intense emotion that the lawyer had been
conscious of in the atmosphere was now concentrated in her tone.
"I hate him, I tell you! I hate him. I hate him. I hate him! I would like to see him
hanged by the neck till he is dead."
The lawyer recoiled before her and the smoldering passion in her eyes.
She advanced a step nearer, and continued vehemently:
"Perhaps I shall see it. Supposing I tell you that he did not come in that night at
twenty past nine, but at twenty past ten? You say that he tells you he knew nothing about the money coming to him. Supposing I tell you he knew all about it, and counted on it,.........(skipped a few pieces)"If we can shake that Austrian woman's testimony, we might do something," he

said dubiously. "But it's a bad business."........Then came the surprising denouement, the production of the letter. It was read aloud in court in the midst of a breathless stillness.

Max, beloved, the Fates have delivered him into our hands! He has been arrested for murder—but, yes, the murder of an old lady! Leonard, who would not hurt a fly! At last I shall have my revenge. The poor chicken! I shall say that he came in that night with blood upon him—that he confessed to me. I shall hang him, Max—and when he hangs he will know and realize that it was Romaine who sent him to his death. And then—happiness, Beloved! Happiness at last! ...............The evidence of a woman devoted to him would not have been enough—you hinted as much yourself. But I know something of the psychology of crowds. Let my evidence be wrung from me, as an admission, damning me in the eyes of the law, and a reaction in favor of the prisoner would immediately set in."....."I dared not risk it. You see you thought he was innocent—"

"And you knew it? I see," said little Mr. Mayherne.
"My dear Mr. Mayherne," said Romaine, "you do not see at all. I knew—he was
guilty!" End of excerpt
     Mrs. Vole who is an Austrian actress understood the importance of her testimony in her husbands case and therefore  read in-between-the-lines(see the underlined part above) to keep her husband from going to jail. By acting like she hated her husband, intentionally leaving holes in her story, leaving fake evidence to explain her lying testimony, and then made her testimony go in favor of her husband she was the reason that her husband didn't go to jail. Mrs. Vole used the basics of human thought, basic psychology, and her acting skills to save her husband. Mrs. Vole used the way humans think to her advantage. This is why she is brilliant!!!!!!!
     

 

Well here is me essay for my blog post…Enjoy :)              

            

Why Do You Expect Me?

     "The standards others have for you will  ruin your soul, and yet it will MAKE you and MAKE yourself find the REAL you."-Kalea Pauole  There are three words the natural man loves to hear they are: my, mine, and me. Three little words that pertain only to one's self, their life, their religion, their family, and most importantly  their choices. Every teenager at some point realizes something. Something that is a rite-of-passage,  a super amazing realization of how little their standards, and their wants are put in play versus the expectations and standards of others around them for that teen. Sure, it's the teens choice but is it really their choice? No, and then the teenager realizes that gosh darn, it is their life, they are in charge, and being older they have more freedom.The parents, teachers, and  family members have less and less power in how decisions for the teen are made. The author Amy Tan wrote a story called Two-Kinds. Two-Kinds covers that realization all teenagers have.  I have had that rite-of-passage realization and, this is my story. This is my experiences leading up to that realization, the realization and the aftermath.

Typically when  family members tell you that something doesn’t match or looks weird they have their best interest in mind no matter how much you are offended. However, there are times when I absolutly love the way my hair is done or  I love they way I put my outfit together and my mom and my older sister will say something like “ You are doing your hair like that?”, “That looks weird”, or even “I don’t think you match today”. There were a lot of times that I when I liked the way I looked but because my sister or my mom or even my little brother said something about my outfit I would change it because what I was wearing didnt fit their standards. I relied on my family for too long about what how I looked. Jing-Mei in the book Two-Kinds had the same problem. Jing-Mei let her mom change her and try to transform her into a child prodigy. Jing-Mei just like me slowly began to realize that it was her life and although her mom had some of the blame Jing-Mei had the power to sever the cord.

Very slowly over the years of began to realize I have the choice, that  it is my call. There have been times when meet my mother will disagree on different things and the majority of those times those things are because I exercised my opinion or I exercised my right to make a choice via action and, it became a bit of a problem for me and my mom . One night in the beginning of June I was talking to my dad.That night something he said really hit me. He said this "your mother and I are getting to the point where we can no longer tell you what to do." That single particular sentence felt like I was hit with the cannon that had knocked the wind out of me as to have a sudden realization. My dad then continued on "you guys are at the age(talking about me and my older sister) where you make your own choices, mine and mom’s job now is to give you all the information you need to make educated and well informed choices. Whatever those choices are we  will respect it". At that moment it felt like I had been liberated. Sure we are all free to make our own choices, but I was at the age where I can make choices no one can't tell me know or, tell me that I'm not allowed to make that choice. Not only did those simple sentences make me realize that I was my own person , but that I was my own person who got to make choices without being bossed around or being forced into something. That freedom that I had felt  like it was fabricated, like it was a real literal object. After getting upset with her mom Jing-Meir felt the same way. She felt as though she has been liberated and she  realized that it was her life and she could do whatever she wanted to do. Jing-Mei and I relate in the way that we both had the expierience when we truly felt free and realized that it it really is our life, our choices, and we owned it.

    The aftermath... Once I realized I had that I actually had the power. I was at the age where I can make my own conscious informed decisions, and was like night and day for me. Sure, the freedom came slowly and gradually. However, once I realized I had it, the choice was mine. I was not afraid to use my new found freedom and make sure that the choices made  were originally mine, and mine alone. Jing-Mei realized that when she looked in the mirror. She realized that her mom could not make her into something that she was not. While Jing-Mei’s mom can have as many expectations as she wants, Jing-Mei realized that she had the choice to live up to those expectations. Jing-Mei didn’t like those expectations so she  used her freedom  to make her own choices.  Jing-Mei and I both felt liberated from  expectations  of loved ones.  We realized that we don’t have to please or amount up to anyone else’s expectations but ourselves.The aftermath...Jing-Mei and I both felt happy!

In conclusion Jing-Mei and I relate and connect because we both had that experience that made us realize that it really is our life and our choices. We liberated ourselves from the standards of others by simply realizing that we don't have to please anyone but ourselves. We freed ourselves from the part of us that said we had to be everything everybody else wants us to be. We felt the pressure of the incline leading up to the massive realization that we are free. Jing-Mei bathed in the enjoyment after she discovered her freedom.  Jing-Mei and I discovered that we were compromising our happiness over others happiness. All in all, Jing-Mei and I realized that the expectations others have for us doesn’t  matter, because we are happy!

*Discretion, I did not mean anything against my parents(especially my mom). I just used examples from my life to relate to Jing-Mei

      This week my English blog assignment is on a book called  Two Kinds by Amy Tan. Two Kinds is a autobiography (of sorts) about Amy Tan (in the book her name is Jing-Mei). Jing-Mei's mother lived in China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and during her escape from China Jing-Mei's mother lost her twin baby girls, her husband, and parents.  Jing-Mei lives in Sacramento, California. Jing-Mei's mother has a expectation for Jing-Mei and I am sure  you can figure out why. A poor young Chinese women lost her twin baby girls, her husband, her parents, and her life in China. Then to come to America the land where all dreams come true and where anyone can be famous so easily; why wouldn't that mother have high expectations for her daughter? Jing-Mei's mother is giving Jing-Mei everything and every opportunity the china forsaken mother never had. Jing-Mei's mother wants Jing-Mei to be a child prodigy after trying lots of different things the piano get mentioned.  At some point Jing-Mei realizes something in herself and doesn't want to play the piano and she is tired of her mom bugging her about being a prodigy...... And the change, and the raw emotion is what drives this lesson filled story. 
     I was going to type a sort of essay about my connection with the book but my English teacher already has that assignment in mind so I decided to put my rough draft and then next week the whole edited paper will be on my blog! I do have to warn you, my rough draft has some grammatical errors but hey that is why it is called a rough draft. There are some other ideas I may put in my paper and they are listed. Enjoy the read!-Kalea

                    Why Do You Expect Me?

     

    "The standards others have for you will  ruin your soul, and yet it will MAKE you and MAKE yourself find the REAL you."-Kalea Pauole  There are three words the natural man loves to hear they are: my, mine, and me. Three little words that pertain only to one's self, their life, their religion, their family, and most importantly  their choices. Every teenager at some point realizes something. Something that is a rite-of-passage, super amazing realization of how little their standards, and their wants are put in play versus the expectations and standards of others around them for that teen. Sure it's the teens choice but is it really their choice? No, and then that teenager realizes that gosh darn it is their life, they are in charge and being older they have more freedom. The parents, teachers, and  family members have less and less power in how decisions for that teen are made. The author Amy Tan wrote a story called two kinds that story covers that realization all teenagers have.  I have had that rite-of-passage, mind blown realization, and this is my story. This is my experiences leading up to that realization, the realization and the aftermath.

    My dad and my mom have  always told us that me and my siblings can come to them about anything. This is more true for my dad.(it is for my mom to but..) My dad is very into letting his kids have free rein and he is very good at respecting and supporting his kids in their individual choices. My mom is more structured, standardized, and vocal. Everyone knows that parents(especially mothers) have high standards and expectations for their kids. There's no doubt that my mom does, Its a good thing because I will always know where my mom stands.

Other ideas for this paper: when someone(saved for actual paper) told me parents have little over me this age

realized it is my life

my choice

Jing-Mei and I both play(ed) piano, I still do

Broken pieces of mothers life, wanted Jing-Mei to have everything she didnt

Parents confidence depends on children

What Jing-Mei realizes at the end of book

the point of the old chinese dresses

the old untouched piano-relate to life

Talent show

Aunt and cousin putting to much pressure on Jing-Mei’s mom

Jing-Mei's cousin being full of herself

I also typed this paragraph for the intro and I might put it somewhere else

Sure everyone has been told since preschool that it is their life and don't let other people tell them how to live and what to do, but that really isn't applicable until you are older and have more experience and less parental rein. Now not that I am trying to  make a point against parents......(unfinished thought)

In the Begining......

      In the beginning...There was only light and darkness, land and water...Several thousand years later there was a girl who found a talent for writing papers, enjoyed writing poems, and did not hate reading Shakespeare. That girl's teacher thought it would be funny to recommend that young girl to Honors English 10 then watch as the girl suffered, sank into oblivion and  killed by piles and piles of  'smart people' homework.... Nah, just kidding that English teacher recommended that girl and the girl agreed with the recommendation. And that puts me at where I am today. My name is Kalea Pauole. I live in Nephi, Utah. I attend Juab High School. The point of this blog? This blog is an assignment for my English 10 Honors class. You see where I live in it is rather rural and my high school doesn't have a honors English 10 so I have to do some extra work and my high school transcript will have honors English 10 on it.