TY Reflection

This year has gone so fast its hard to believe its almost over! I have enjoyed this year because I made new friends and got to spend more time doing things I want to do rather than school work. I am glad I did TY because I feel ready to go into 5th year now, and I really didn't this time last year. I think Carlingford was the best part of TY because we were all together and we had such good craic. I got to try subjects I never would have picked - art, music and tech. Although I still wont be doing them next year, I enjoyed doing them this year! I also really liked pilates and dancing! Although it was hard work, mini company was a good experience. We had to contact loads of companies in our search for a manufacturer, and I think we learned valuable communication skills. We had loads of interviews, between mini company and Scifest, so that will help us when appyling for jobs too. Work Experience was the most beneficial part of Ty withot a doubt, so that in itself made it worthwhile. Sometimes I regret doing TY when I see my friends who went into 5th year and only have a year left in school. Although I'd like to be finished sooner, when I think of everything I have got out of this year I don't really regret it.

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

I have studied “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel is divided into three parts. Kath begins in the first chapter stating that her “name is Kathy H. I’m thirty-one years old, and I’ve been a carer now for over eleven years”. In the opening few pages, Kath speaks about her job as a carer and what her role entails. Upon first reading this, the reader finds it monotonous, and tends to be ignorant of what she is saying. She then begins to tell the story as an adult looking back on her childhood, growing up at Hailsham School with Tommy and Ruth. It is only when you read these first few pages again after finishing the novel that the descriptions which initially had seemed monotonous take effect. In this part of the novel, Kath’s memories are very innocent, and the reader does not appreciate the implications of them. All we know is that the students of Hailsham are “very special” and it is more important for them to never smoke than the guardians. In the second part of the novel, Kath reminisces on her time at “the cottages”, where she and some of her close friends from Hailsham spent a few years after they graduated. “The cottages” is kind of an awkward time in the lives of Kathy, Tommy and Ruth. They are finished their school days at Hailsham, but they still cling to the memories, as Hailsham is the only life they have ever known, without it they seem a bit lost in the world. There are people from other schools like Hailsham in the cottages; the ones who have been there longest are called veterans. At this point in the novel, the reader still does not know that they are all clones, living purely to donate their organs to dying humans, however the term “carer” and “donor” is introduced, but we don’t fully understand what they mean. It is still widely open to the reader’s personal interpretation. In the third part of “Never Let Me Go”, Kath portrays her life as a carer. The novel ends in Part three, in which Kath is still a carer. We never get to see what her life is like as a donor, although we know it will soon be upon her. In this part of the novel, Ishiguro slowly reveals why the students of Hailsham are “special” – they are clones, raised for organ donation. During her time as a carer, Kath is reunited with her friends Tommy and Ruth who are now donors, and who she hasn’t seen since her time at the cottages. For a time, their friendship is rekindled and slowly they begin to shake away the cobwebs of their past. Ruth and Tommy have long split up, and in her final few weeks, Ruth tells Tommy and Kath she knew they were always meant for each other, and they should try to defer the rest of Tommy’s donations, so they can have a few years together. After Ruth “completes” (dies) after a bad donation, Tommy and Kath decide to try to get a deferral for Tommy’s donations. They visit Madame, who was in charge of the art gallery at Hailsham, which Tommy believed was the key to getting a deferral, as art shows the true inclinations of the soul, and true love is the only way to get a deferral. They realise the stories about getting a deferral are nothing but rumours, and the truth about their lives. Having been raised at Hailsham, they have known love and happiness, and so they initially do not understand how people could be so selfish. They then realise love is the reason people are so selfish; and that without their organs, people who are loved all over the world will die. This is a small consolation, as Tommy and Kath realise their love is doomed. Tommy is nearing his fourth donation, which people rarely come through. They discuss what will happen when he completes, and in the days leading up to it. Tommy tells Kath he doesn’t want her to be his carer anymore, as he does not want her to have the memories of him in the horrendous pain he would be in during his last few days imprinted in her memory. Reluctantly, Kath agrees. She keeps visiting him, but they both know their time left together is very limited. The novel ends with Kath in her last few months of being a carer. She speaks of Tommy’s death. She was ready for it, she knew it was coming, but it still had a devastating effect on her. Not only is she mourning the loss of Tommy, her friend, and her lover, she is mourning the days they should have had together, but never could have because the world wanted a way to keep the people they love with them as long as they could. This is ironic, because this is exactly what Kath wanted for Tommy, and it is exactly what he died for. The strongest theme in the novel is the theme of love. The beauty in this novel is what makes its power to distress so poignant. The novel tells the story of depth and quality of the relationships between the three main characters; Kath (Viewpoint character), Tommy and Ruth. The cruelty of their deaths certainly accentuates their love, and the tragedy of how little time Tommy and Kath’s have together. From under the shadow of their fate, Ishiguro draws warmly compelling vignettes of love and friendship that cumulatively establish an urgent and engrossing story. When Tommy and Kath realise the stories about getting a deferral are nothing but rumours, and the truth about their lives, the theme of love is evident more than ever. As they have known love and happiness, from their childhood at Hailsham, they realise love is the reason people are so selfish; and that without their organs, people who are loved all over the world will die. This is a small consolation, as Tommy and Kath realise their love is doomed. Tommy is nearing his fourth donation, which people rarely come through. “Never Let Me Go” is a reminiscent story told through the protagonist Kath. I enjoyed the story being told from Kath’s perspective, as I like the hearing her opinions and insights into things. Having said this, I think it could have been interesting if it was written Ruth and Tommy’s perspectives at different times throughout the novel. I found the way the story was told; Kath looking back on her life, a bit frustrating. Ishiguro was clever; Kath almost tells you her feelings about a particular incident before he explains what actually happened. Maybe it is just because I am impatient, but I found this irritating at times. Ishiguro is clearly an absolute master of writing in first person. He uses it really cleverly in the novel to limit and control what we learn when, using not so much an unreliable narrator but an unquestioning one. He uses the very form of the narrative expectations, to set you up to expect a certain kind of thing, but then it turns out to be completely difference. There is certainly an element of appearance versus reality in this novel, as it is partly told through naive childhood memories. One thing I really admire about Ishiguro’s style in “Never Let Me Go”, is his amazing ability to create a sense of mystery and suspense. He manages to keep the reader in the dark about who the students of Hailsham are, and why they are so special until the very end of the novel. When at times there is nothing else to keep an easily distracted reader like myself reading, it is this creation of suspense and the desire Ishiguro creates within the reader to find out what the purpose of Hailsham is, that keeps the pages turning. “Never Let Me Go” is a revolutionary science fiction novel. Having grown up in Hailsham, a school for clones, being raised for organ donation, Kathy thinks she’s so lucky, she has a bedsit, and the work she does caring and advocating for the donors before she begins her own donations is actually useful. Yet she knows, “knows and does not know” as she says, that normal people can work in offices or as postmen, and she will be dead before she’s thirty-five, so that those “normal people” can have their cancer cured. And the normal people accept it. The most enlightened ones we see think that the lives of the clones shouldn’t be as horrible as they possibly can be, that they should be like Kathy’s lucky life. In a conventional story about clones and their horrible lives, you’d have clones trying to escape or organizing a revolt. They would at very least recognise how awful it is. It’s Kathy’s cheerful acceptance of everything that makes this so brilliant and unbearable. “Never Let Me Go” is simply a fantasy of complete powerlessness. This is what makes is such a heart-wrenching, tragic novel. There’s a rumour that people who are truly in love can get a deferral for a few years, to be together. It isn’t true, and when Tommy and Kath discover it isn’t true they accept it pretty much without protest. They are angry at their situation, but they never really seem to think it is unfair. They only imagined being able to defer, not to escape. That was the most they could hope for. I believe “Never Let Me Go” has the potential to become a classic and to be taught in schools. In reading this novel one may feel that the book addresses out current world, where scientific standings are changing, and so are the morals in the people. These children are raised to be donors. They are never allowed to leave their school grounds; they don’t interact with any other children and do not know any other way of life. I enjoyed this novel because it is thought provoking, and I think it is powerful, in that it has a very compelling plot, an insight to the human condition and it portrays the force of human nature and morals in society. For these reasons, I think it would be good for analysis in a classroom, and so it would be a good novel to study.

Geog post 5 - The Maldives

The Maldives consists of approximately 1,190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls along the north-south direction, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres, making this one of the most dispersed countries in the world. The atolls are live coral reefs and sand bars, situated on top of a submarine ridge 960 kilometres long. The Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 metres, with the average being only 1.5 metres above sea level, although in areas where construction exists, this has been increased to several metres. More than 80 per cent of the country's land, composed of coral islands, is less than one metre above sea level. The reef is composed of coral debris and living coral. This acts as a natural barrier against the sea, forming lagoons. The barrier reefs of the islands protect them from the storms and high waves of the Indian Ocean. A layer of humus 15 centimetres thick forms the top layer of soil on the islands. Below the humus layer are 60 centimetres of sandstone, followed by sand and then fresh water. Due to high levels of salt in the soil near the beach, vegetation is limited there to a few plants such as shrubs, flowering plants, and small hedges. In the interior of the island, more vegetation such as mangrove and banyan grow. Coconut palms, the national tree, are able to grow almost everywhere on the islands and are integral to the lifestyle of the population. The limited vegetation and land wildlife is made up for by the amazing marine life. The waters around the Maldives are abundant in rare species of biological and commercial value, with tuna fisheries being traditionally one of the main commercial resources of the country. The Maldives have an amazing diversity of sea life, with corals and over 2,000 species of fish, ranging from reef fish to reef sharks, moray eels, and a wide variety of rays: Manta rays; Stingray; and Eagle ray. The Maldivian waters are also home for the whale shark. The weather in the Maldives is affected by the large landmass of South Asia to the north. The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land and water. These factors set off a rush of moisture-rich air from the Indian Ocean over South Asia, resulting in the southwest monsoon. Two seasons dominate Maldives' weather: the dry season associated with the winter northeastern monsoon and the rainy season which brings strong winds and storms. The shift from the moist southwest monsoon to the dry northeast monsoon occurs during April and May. During this period, the northeast winds contribute to the formation of the northeast monsoon, which reaches Maldives in the beginning of June and lasts until the end of August. However, the weather patterns of Maldives do not always conform to the monsoon patterns of South Asia. The annual rainfall averages 2,540 millimetres in the north and 3,810 millimetres in the south.

The Maldives is to become the world's first carbon-neutral country Over the last century, sea levels have risen about 20 centimetres; further rises of the ocean could threaten the existence of Maldives, being the lowest country in the world. On 22 April 2008, then Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom pleaded for a cut in global greenhouse gas emissions, warning that rising sea levels could submerge the island nation of the Maldives.

The reality of Global Warming hit me while I was researching the Maldives. It has made me realise just how big a problem it is, and what a devastating effect it could have. I hope the Maldives will still be here so I can visit some day, as they are truly beautiful islands.

Geog post 4 - Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia

Ipanema Beach is in Rio de Janeiro, which is situated on a strip of Brazil's Atlantic coast, close to the Tropic of Capricorn. Facing largely south, the city was founded on an inlet of this stretch of the coast, Guanabara Bay (Baía de Guanabara), and its entrance is marked by a point of land called Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar) – a "calling card" of the city. The Centre of Rio, lies on the plains of the western shore of Guanabara Bay. The biggest part of the city known as the "Zona norte", plains composed of marine and continental sediments and on hills and several rocky mountains. The South Zone (Zona Sul) of the city, reaching the beaches fringing the open sea, is cut off from the Centre and from the North Zone by coastal mountains. These mountains and hills are offshoots of the Serra do Mar to the northwest, the ancient gneiss-granite mountain chain that forms the southern slopes of the Brazilian Highlands. The large West Zone (Zona Oeste), cut off by the mountainous terrain, was made accessible by new roads and tunnels by the end of the 20th century. The population of the city of Rio de Janeiro, occupying an area of 1,182.3 square kilometres (456.5 sq mi), is about 6,100,000. The population of the greater metropolitan area is estimated at 11–13.5 million. It was Brazil's capital until 1960, when Brasília took its place. Residents of the city are known as Cariocas.

I chose Ipanema Beach, because not only is it known as the number one sunbathing hotspot in the world, but it is also a place where people of all ages gather, and so there would always be new people there, making the atmosphere there very exciting.

Geog Post 3 - Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu as a city is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the area from Makapuu south of the Koolau Mountain range summit to the western edge of Halawa Valley. Located along the southern coast of Oahu, Honolulu is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands, just south of the Tropic of Cancer in the Pacific Ocean. The city is situated on a narrow plain between the ocean and the Koolau mountain range; it climbs the Punchbowl, an extinct volcano. Although the climate is semi-tropical, the trade winds usually keep the city comfortable, until the "kona" or south-erly winds blow for a few weeks in the summer. Honolulu's weather exhibits the least seasonal change of any city in the United States, with only a few degrees difference between winter and summer. Area: 86 square miles (2000) (City and county area in 2000: 600 square miles) Elevation: 15 feet above sea level Average Temperatures: January, 72.9° F; August, 81.4° F; annual average, 77.2° F Average Annual Precipitation: 22.02 inches

Geog Project Post 2 - Charles River Boston Massecusetts

I chose the Charles River in Boston because it is a truly unique place, famous for sunbathing. I chose Boston because it was, and still is one of the most popular cities for Irish People to emigrate to. Boston is sometimes regarded as the capital of Irish America. As a percentage of the population, Massachusetts is the most Irish state, with about a quarter of the population claiming Irish descent. New England remains the most Irish-American part of the country, with New Hampshire contributing a good portion of its population.

Boston is certainly not a beach, which immediately made me curious as to how it is such a sunbathing hotspot! With 1 in 6 people living in the city attending any one of the many institutions of higher learning, this hip town has a great deal of young eye candy to enjoy without wandering too far from the dignified boundaries of Beacon Hill or the Back Bay. The Esplanade has miles of jogging and rollerblade trails, and an abundance of manicured lawns where people gather to sunbathe and socialise. The Charles river was so named when Captain John Smith who mapped New England presented his map to King Charles I, and he suggested that the king should feel free to change any of the "barbarous names" for "English" ones. The king made many such changes, but only four survive today, one of which is the Charles River, which Charles named for himself.