Novel Reading Response

War Comes to Willy Freeman

Written by: The Collier Brother (Christopher and James Collier)

The Colliers are probably some of the highly regarded book authors
recommended for children. They are also the author of the famous title “Jump Ship to
Freedom” and “Who is Carrie?” Nevertheless, the story itself is filled with adventure,
tragedy, problems, complications and dangers at each turn. It is a very interesting and
heart breaking adventure set in the late medieval era. The entire environment and tragedy
was reflected during the war between the Great Britain or England and the Americans.
The story is based on true historical documentation during those times. It is a very
inspiring and exciting historical fiction set within the life of a young black girl named
Wilhelmina Freeman. During these times of years, many people consider black people to
have a lower status than white people. Black people are treated awfully as slaves to the
white people. In order to gain their freedom, they must partake in the war against the
opposing forces of the country, and after it ended, they will receive their freedom.
Wilhelmina Freeman was a black girl living with his family in the verge of British
invasion. Her father fought on the American side, giving her and her mother freedom
from slavery. Often times, Wilhelmina was mistaken as a girl, which later came to be
called Willy. Her looks was very similar to a boy’s look, especially when she wear jeans.
One day, the British assaulted their homeland. Her father died defending the fort, and her
mother was kidnapped by the British and was nowhere to be found. Willy was left alone
with nowhere to go, nor knowing what to do. Disguising as a boy, he began his journey in
search of her mother. She travels far and wide, defying many dangers, taking up many
chances, following every clue that could lead her to her mother. Being black is bad
enough, but as a girl, she risks taking danger at every turn. Any white people could take
her up as a slave or either side forces may just killed her under the suspicion of a spy, or
raped her just for the fun of it.
She began her journey by traveling to her auntie and uncle’s place, hoping to find
the next clue that would lead her to her mother. Unfortunately she only came to find
herself on the verge of slavery and probably the end of her adventure. She was able to run
away to follow another clue towards the search of her mother. After a fateful and perilous
journey, she found herself a haven in Black Sam Fraunces’ tavern. She continued his
search for her mother, with the support of those still close to her. Long time of
perseverance, under the heavy burden that remained to hunt her, she moves on. Clue by
clue lead her closer and closer to her mother. Will she ever find her mother in time,
before any danger happen to her beloved one? Will the war ever ends? Will she be put
back to slavery? All questioned remained as Willy pursue her lost captive mother.
I personally love this fictional story. It is so thrilling and feels realistic with
exciting atmosphere. Through reading the book, I can learn a lot about history, especially
the conditions in that time. I could actually felt how bad black people were treated, and
how harsh their life was. Treated unequally, black people were nothing more than a mere
slave that the white people could take up anytime. They have nothing, not even control
over their own life. Furthermore, each event in the book was very interesting in how they
develop as the story goes on. As each places bring new challenges, new solutions and
new complications. The reader could almost felt like they were living in that era.
Other elements that was good from the story is that the authors were able to
combine fiction and facts so well in this historical fiction. However, some parts of the
books were said to be true. Some supporting characters and the incident were actually
documented. However, the main character itself, Wilhelmina, was a fiction. Yet, the
author was able to combine these elements into an exciting twist. It’s a great story to let
your time goes by. It has an easy vocabulary that allows the reader to understand the story
easily without thinking it over. I’ll gladly recommend this book to any elementary
students, because it would be a perfect medium for learning through history while having
a great time enjoying the story.

Vocabulary:
 Furlough
o Meaning: authorized absence from duty
o Sentence: My father takes a furlough due to a serious incident in his
family.
 Sconce
o Meaning: wall fixture for candles or electric lights
o Sentence: Medieval mansion is bound to have many sconces installed
 Cider
o Meaning: apple juice
o Sentence: My grandpa has his own personal apple farm and he makes the
best cider in the town.
 Pew
o Meaning: bench with a back used in a church
o Sentence: Sitting on this pew for hours would make my back go numb.
 Manacle
o Meaning: shackle for the hands
o Sentence: It’s better to stay away from the prisoner when they’re not
wearing a manacle.
 Bluff
o Meaning: cliff
o Sentence: Watch out for the bluff at the end of the road, you must use the
bridge at the eastern edge to cross it.
 Ruffle
o Meaning: roughen the surface of
o Sentence: We should ruffle the slope in order to increase the friction and
allowing us to have better grip over the surface.
 Macaroons
o Meaning: cookie of ground almonds or coconut
o Sentence: My grandma always gives me a treat of macaroons everytime I
visit her house.
 Magazine Reading Response
Fallout 3 Hardware Performance Guide

Fallout 3 has been one of the anticipated series in the Fallout game that have been
highly acclaimed since the past. This game tells a story of a post-nuclear war in a world
of nothing but despair as mankind fought for its survival. The latest installment in the
Fallout trilogy has been developed and published by the Bethesda Softworks, one of the
most highly acclaimed game developers renowned for their Elder Scrolls Series.
Personally, the Elder Scroll Series was my personal favorite game of all through its story,
graphics, combat dynamics, interface and gameplay. The end of this year, Fallout 3 has
been released to public, and it has scored a high grade in review as Bethesda’s main
project the Elder Scroll series. Fallout 1 and 2 has made a great leap towards Fallout 3 in
its graphics through Bethesda Softworks effort. The previous series in the trilogy offered
a quite popular dynamics in their era. However, both of them are very old and their
graphics are not comparable to present day games. Bethesda, known for its graphic
engine has enhanced the visual and realism power that brings gamers towards the world
of Fallout dramatically. Now gamers can enjoy a more developed story of Fallout and
mesmerize deep within the storyline at the same time.
As any result, heavier visual effects would cost PC gamers for a higher
speculation in their computer hardwares. Gamespot team has put the game to the test and
provides gamer with some of the performance test results through various range of
hardware. Indeed, Fallout 3 has given gamers some space to think of with its release. The
graphic engine of the game requires very heavy computer requirements towards its
maximum quality. As any today’s game which were completed with a wide range of
graphic settings, which includes anti-aliasing, long draw distances and high resolutions
that would make the game look totally realistic and amazing, it also requires stronger
video card. Performance is always an issue in gaming, as it allows gamer to enjoy the
game. However, at the same time a gamer would always desire a great visual presentation
of the game. Through the result, Gamespot team has shown that under a very high
resolution and very high quality of the game, the recommended system requirements
were only able to run the game only half as good. Under the heavy graphic engine, the
game only runs better on high-end PC, which includes a very expensive set of hardwares.
This has proven that Bethesda has leveled up their graphic engine and brought it to
Fallout 3 and bringing gamers an ultimate gaming experience. Here below is the system
requirement and the chart provided on the article.

System Setup:

High-End System: Intel Core2 QX9650, eVGA 780i, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory
(1GBx2), 750GB Seagate 7200.11 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows Vista 32-bit SP1.
Graphics Card: Radeon 4870X2, beta Catalyst HotFix 70517.

Recommended System: Intel Core2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz, eVGA 680i, 2GB Corsair XMS
Memory (1GBx2), 750GB Seagate 7200.11 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows Vista 32-bit
SP1. Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 GT, beta Nvidia ForceWare 180.42.

Minimum System: Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz, Asus P4C800, 1GB Corsair XMS Memory,
Seagate 160GB 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP Professional SP2. Graphics
Card: GeForce 6800, Nvidia Forceware 180.42.

Personally, the speculations on the high-end system were outrageous. It would

cost some fortunes to buy those hardwares. Even I would need to totally change all my
computer hardware to afford such a high level of system requirements. Even then, my
parents would not even let me. All I have to say is that this game is totally AWESOME!

Reference:
Sarju S. 2008, ‘Fallout 3 Hardware Performance Guide’, Gamespot, 14 November,
viewed 16 November 2008,
<http://www.gamespot.com/features/6201155/index.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=pick
s&tag=picks;title;2>
 Magazine Reading Response
Somali Pirates Threatening Western Videogame Shipments

We all know the problem of piracy in the gaming world. In fact you could obtain
any game through the internet. Maybe not only in the gaming world, all software movies
and most entertainments have suffered a great deal of loss due to piracy. It’s nearly
impossible to stop piracy, and it is always occurs as an ongoing activity. However, it’s a
different case in this article. This urgent news that has been brought seems to discuss a
news regarding “piracy”. Nothing special, it’s just so and so; it’s happening here and
there, nothing be concerned. Right?
Interestingly, this article discusses a
problem of a real piracy! YES! Pirates!!
Pointing guns and Swords! The problem in the
article was Somali pirates that been raiding
shipment of Videogame from the Europe to
the Middle-East and the Asia. Obviously this
piracy has caused a severe problem for the
shipments, which causes a major loss. Reports
of attack can be as rare as once a week to four
times in a day. In the past, their activity
weren’t much of a trouble. Recently though,
their activity has causes perils for the
shipment passing through the Suez Canal.
They suspect the piracy is due to supply the
war-torn city of Somalia itself. Videogame
companies have suggested diverting the route
of transport through the Cape of Good Hope,
which is South of Africa. At the same time, it would significantly increases the transport
time of the goods, and many people concern that the goods may not make it before
Christmas.
Personally this is a surprising new. When I first read the headline, I wasn’t all
interested in the subject itself. In fact, it is so common that it is something not to be
concerned of for me. Eventually, I realized there was something more to the story and it
was a pretty interesting article. It’s not common for people to have difficulties regarding
real pirates. As we know, real pirates have been more or less very rare and more
technologically-advanced. Because of this, pirates of the sea are not something to be seen
as a daily basis these days. The real concern of the problem was the delay in shipment,
and I think it is pretty reasonable. Christmas IS coming up and the children needs to get
present, but don’t forget ME and YOU for that matter.

Reference:
Kris P. 2008, ‘Somali Pirates Threatening Western Videogame Shipments’, Electronic
Gaming Monthly, 15 November, viewed 16 November 2008, <
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171338>
 Magazine Reading Response
One Million Copies of Far Cry 2 Sold in Less Than 3 Weeks

The fact that Far Cry is one of the most highly acclaimed game in Europe even in
the first series has made it second revival. This year Far Cry has dominated the sales over
the various gaming console reaching over 1 million copies sold for each. Sadly even with
these high numbers, Far Cry 2 had not made it to the top 1 game sale this year. In fact
Fable II has beaten Far Cry on its number 1 seat. Nervertheless, as a first person shooting
game, Far Cry is probably the best along with Half-Life. Its complex sound-effects
creepy atmosphere and action-packed atmosphere has brought many gamers into their
world. It has caught many FPS-lovers best interest, and thus makes it one of the best FPS
game. This time, Far Cry 2 has come back after the long year of its absence and hit with a
very high number of sale.
Though Far Cry is a great game to begin with, I did not like to play such game.
It’s not the action and gameplay that I dislike, but it’s the creepy atmosphere that could
makes you jump out of your seat. Crysis, Far Cry, Half-Life are some of the best games
in providing a formal situation under a very creepy atmosphere. At times and some point
of the game you would find yourself walking along a dark corridor. Sometimes voices of
electrics cable buzzing, lights twitching and your own footsteps would make you tense
enough. Then, all of the sudden a crawling thumping sound out of the ceiling passes by
and there’s a sound of people screaming far away. Not long after a monster would appear
out of the ceiling and towards your face, blowing you out of your seat and scaring the life
out of you. Sometimes, this part of the game would give me a hard time coping up with
my heart beat. The scenes are often frightening and the environment is so vivid. Once you
got to some point up the game, it would always have a vivid wicked element to it that just
makes you shiver. Even so, it encourages you to go on pulling you curiosity towards what
would happen next. All in all, it’s a great game with all its unique gameplay elements. I
would say it worth its place in gamer’s heart even if it is not for me. You could say I’m a
chicken, but just try the game for yourself, especially Far Cry 2, which I’m sure they’ll be
putting up some more frightening elements into the game.

Reference:
Kyle S. 2008, ‘One Million Copies of Far Cry 2 Sold in Less than 3 Weeks’, Electronic
Gaming Monthly, 13 November, viewed 16 November 2008,
<http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171300>
 Magazine Reading Response
Why the Energy Crisis Will Outlast the Credit Crisis

Many things on the agenda of many countries today are due to the economical
problem that has been suffered by America. At the same time, the economical crisis has
reduced the energy consumption and at the same time reduces the price of oil. However,
International Energy Agency’s analysts predict that oil prices will soon enter a steep
climb to a $120 per barrel in year 2030. They predicted that under the slow growth of
economy in these years, which would eventually accelerate in the coming years. It would
probably prompt many people to consume oil and burning electricity in their houses
which would increase the energy consumption again over the years. Many sides are
starting to pursue oil to further enhance their economics and gain much profit in the
future. While oil reserves are declining, more and more investment on oil would come
about. If the government did not act soon and provide a better policy in alternative
energy, impacts of global warming may come sooner than expected. Many reserves out of
America and Europe have started to come out and these people are trying to gain as much
profit as possible. In 2030, 97% of the green house gases would be contributed largely
from China, India and the Middle-East who would be consuming half of the world’s
energy. If global habit does not change, green house gas would keep increasing and an
energy crisis would certainly happen at 2020, by which the Credit crisis would have been
a history.
I don’t have much to comment on this article. In fact it is very interesting to know
that over the upcoming years, the possibility of such energy consumption to shift from
the US to the Middle-East and the Asian countries to occur. It would have seemed that
energy crisis and global warming have to be taken into the hearts of all people. Global
habit needs to change in such short period of time. Economical problem are nothing
compared to this problem which would have lasted for a long time. Governments around
the world needs to made policy based on alternative energy and put oil aside. It would be
a good chance during this financial crisis for a turning over, before people will start
seeing oil as source of profit again, therefore over consuming it without seeing the
impacts world-wide.

Vocabulary:
 Albeit
o Meaning: even though
o Sentence: We must keep pursuing our dreams, albeit we have to risk our
life to do it.

Reference:
Vivienne W. 2008, ‘Why the Energy Crisis Will Outlast the Credit Crisis’, TIME, 15
November, viewed 16 November 2008,
<http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1859236,00.html>
 Newspaper Reading Response
Doctors Say Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS

The article mentioned various interesting facts based on methods in curing AIDS.
Under an incident where a patient suffered both leukemia and AIDS, a general method
used is marrow transplant. Marrow is structure located inside the bone where while blood
cell is made. Under certain conditions, it became abnormal and produces more white
blood cells causing the person to obtain blood cancer. A particular American man
experience such incident and said to have all the symptoms and signatures of its AIDS
diseases removed. It also mentioned various incidents which emphasizes that the man’s
incident wasn’t the first time to happen. Other people have put this onto a test based on
journal of Medical Hypotheses. Dr. Huetter also said a theory that said these conditions
would of happen because a certain genetic mutation that is inherited and makes the
person immune to HIV virus. Through this theory, an experiment was supposedly to be
tried in hopes of finding the cure to HIV.
Personally, I think it is great news to see a little light shed on AIDS. Over the
years, many lives have been taken and careless people has been infected and killed by
AIDS. Furthermore, innocent children are born with AIDS having nothing to be blame
upon but their irresponsible parents. I don’t know how AIDS may be cured some day, but
it would certainly be a great discovery in the medical world to find its cure, just as to find
the cure for cancer.

Vocabulary:
 Scrutiny
o Meaning: careful inspection
o Sentence: Under an intense scrutiny, we are yet able to find a single
evidence to put this man behind bars.

Reference:
The Associated Press, 2008, Doctors Say Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS.
The Jakarta Post, [internet] 16 November. Available at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/16/doctors-say-marrow-transplant-may-
have-cured-aids.html [Accessed 16 November 2008]
 Newspaper Reading Response
Flores Runs Out of Rabies Vaccine

The article mentioned a condition in Flores whereas Rabies is still very common
and the many people were bitten by rabid dogs. Recently, the number of patients has
increased and the vaccines are running out causing more and more casualties. Some
people stated that the number of dogs in Flores vicinity have increased and caused the
attacks to be more frequent. Many patients keep coming in even without the treatment of
the vaccine. Sadly, many people still dies from the disease. Efforts have been made to
massacre the dogs, yet the effort has failed to prevent the spread of the disease.
It’s very interesting to know that places in Flores still experienced such tragic
incident. If efforts are to be made in reducing the numbers of those dogs and provide
them with health control, the government needs to take part and create city pounds. If the
dogs are let loose in the wild, they would only mate more and more producing more and
more host for the disease. In big city, this problem is quite rare and dogs do not run
around as much. A serious countermeasure is always needed to stop something once and
for all. Only using vaccine won’t help, the numbers would only increases. Like they say,
if you want to solve a problem, first stop the source of the problem. Especially in the
situation where Flores is quite a rural place and help are hard to reach. The government
must be more responsible towards its people even under small dilemma.

Reference:
Yemris F., 2008. Flores Runs Out of Rabies Vaccine. The Jakarta Post, [internet] 15
November. Available at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/15/flores-runs-out-
rabies-vaccine.html [Accessed 16 November 2008]
 Newspaper Reading Response
Jakarta to Begin Smoking Ban Campaign Monday

Some non-governmental organization in Jakarta is going to promote an anti-

smoking campaign which would visit business buildings to campaign no public smoking.
They would put up a new law and introduce it by Sunday and the consequences to the
people. Based on the law in 2005 of air pollution by public smoking, and whoever
violates the law would suffer 6 month in jail or a fine as much as Rp 50.000.000,-
I’m really glad that some people started to take action on this intolerable act.
Many people who smoke in public really have caused a lot of pain and misery for others.
In fact, I think smoking in public cause many other people to feel uncomfortable and
stifled. Personally, I hate smoking, especially the stench of the smoke. It makes my lungs
itchy and my throat to feel unsettled. It would be best if those people stay away and
smoke in smoking areas. However, most people like those are very stubborn and would
always repeat the same. People need to take action soon, because they not also pollute the
air, they may also induces cancer towards other people indirectly.

Reference:
The Jakarta Post, 2008. Jakarta to Begin Smoking Ban Campaign Monday. The Jakarta
Post, [internet] 16 November. Available at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/16/jakarta-begin-smoking-ban-campaign-
monday.html [Accessed 16 November 2008]
 Newspaper Reading Response
Suspected Bird Flu Patient Isolated

Recent incidents have shown that bird flu is emerging among the region in
Biringkanaya, whereas 17 patients have been isolated and tested of having avian flu. The
hospital has been preventing the outbreak of the virus as preventing family members to
visit the patient just in case. Among the resident, a 15 year old girl had died from the
avian flu. The parents who mistaken it as a normal fever did not bring their daughter to
the local hospital. Due to some social circumstances where the most of the residents
actually keep the bird as pets, the government started to cull the birds in an effort to put
the risk of the disease to spread at minimum. The plan was to cull the birds in the region
across a 1 kilometer radius. Until now, as much as 167 birds have been destroyed and
they are hoping that the effort would prevent any further tragedy.
Avian flu outbreak has been terrifying for the people of Indonesia. It has happens
across the country once, due to the majority of its population who actually breed
chickens. Even so, the disease is still a threat until today. It has not been completely
extinct, and the possibility of the disease being carried by migratory birds across country
still exists. It is actually important to be cautious in our environment. Avian flu is often
mistaken as normal influenza or a regular fever, as how its symptoms are pretty much
alike. Nevertheless, its great to know that government still take the right action at the
right time and provide a favorable action for the country.

Reference:
Andi H., Suherdjoko, 2008. Suspected Bird Flu Patient Isolated. The Jakarta Post,
[internet] 15 November. Available at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/15/suspected-bird-flu-patients-isolated.html
[Accessed 16 November 2008]