SPEECH CHOIR COMPETITION

Last December 22, 2015 our block BM-151 had our performance in the Speech choir competition. It was a good performance but unfortunately we didn't won any places. Despite of having the time to practice we still did not win. But it's okay because I know God has a better plan for us. We may not be the best block but I know deep inside me  that we are the best block. Because of this competition we became more close to each other. Thanks by the way to our team leaders who made our performance possible. And of course to each and everyone of you including the audience for supporting us.  BM-151 is now part of my life. I may not be part of their block for the next semesters but no matter what happen I'll be there for them to help them and to support them. If you want to have a successful speech choir like ours you need to consider this things:

Breathing

• The most important part of any performing art, from playing an instrument to acting in a play, is breath. While we breath involuntarily all the time, many green performers forget to breathe while on stage. Mark your speech choir piece like a sheet of music, noting where it makes sense to take a breath, so you don't interrupt the word flow but have enough breath to make it through the line (punctuation marks are a good start). Breathing in performance links you with your whole group, calms your nerves, and gives your performance life.

Articulation and Diction

• The audience wants to hear what you have to say. If you don't articulate, all they will hear is a bunch of mush. By practicing your articulation and diction, your words will be clear and vibrant. Say every sound of a word, paying special attention to the beginning and ending letters. Strive to make every word lucid and colorful. Diction is a learned skill; articulate strongly in rehearsal and in your everyday life. People will notice how well you command language.

Connection to the Group

• A speech choir is a living organism made up on individuals, never forget that. You aren't performing a monologue, you are a part of a group performance. Onstage, the choir is your family. The best speech choir performances are presented by groups that are in sync with each other. Listen to those around you. Connecting with them will eliminate any stage fright. If anything unexpected happens (someone forgets a line, a light falls from the rafters), the group must respond and correct together.

The Text

• The text is your guide; it's what the audience came to see and hear you perform. In rehearsal, commit your lines to memory (even if you are provided with the piece onstage). Performing the text requires you to know the text inside and out. Once you know what you are saying, add color and meaning to the words. Let the audience "see" what you are saying. Let your personal reaction to the words sprinkle meaning on the performance.

IGNITE SPEECH COMPETITION

Last December 22, 2015 along with the Speech choir competition, Ignite speech competition was held at Asia pacific college's auditorium. It was an alternate presentation the program started with first Speech choir contestants then followed by the the first ignite speech participant the so on and so forth. Our representative Benjamin Paulo Bajet was the last speaker and we were so excited to hear his speech and our time waiting was worth it because he won in the Ignite speech competition. I'm proud of you bro. Even though we didn't win in the Speech choir at least we won in the Ignite speech after all there are more competition that we can join and win right. It was a good experience for him. His title as the Ignite speech champion could add to his credibility and reputation as a student and of course as part of the APC Speaks. Of course in order to be a good speaker also we need to do this things: Don’t talk right away. Show up to give, not to take. Make eye contact with audience members one by one. Speak unusually slowly. Ignore the naysayers.  Turn nervousness into excitement. Say thank you when you’re done. I assure you that this will result to a good speech.

Now for you to be confident here are 5 Secrets to Looking Confident While Speaking in Public:

1. Get the audience laughing.

In my experience, I've found that opening with a joke always starts a speech off in the right direction. It immediately lightens the mood in the room and helps me relax. There is something about looking out in the audience and seeing smiling faces that helps create a bond -- particularly if I can get the audience to join me in laughing at myself. Laugh at yourself is incredibly self-deprecating, and if you get others to join you in that laughter, then it creates a level of trust. The laughter allows your attendees to break down the wall that forces them to see themselves as vastly different from you.

2. Focus on people who are nodding.

When you feel like you aren't connecting with your attendees it can be extremely nerve wracking. And your nerves can be taken to a whole other level if there are people who appear completely disinterested. You can often look out in the audience and find a few people who are nodding along with your story or points. There is a real sense of reassurance when someone is agreeing with you. And the more you focus on these individuals, the more confident you sound. And the more confident you sound, the more people you attract. Part way through your talk, you could likely find a room full of people nodding along with you or sitting on the edge of their seats hanging on your every word. All of a sudden, the nerves are gone.

3. Be expressive with your emotions.

When I first started speaking, I can admit that I was nervous. I watched videos of my speeches and realized that I sounded AND looked nervous. There are times that no matter what you tell yourself to calm your concerns, it just doesn't work. Anxieties aren't always the easiest thing to quell. I realized that I was just more prone to tensions when I kicked off my presentations. I often couldn't stop the tensions, but I found that I could hide them. Playing up my emotions by really getting into the excitement of my story or working to honestly feel the disappointment I had experienced, I was able to mask the jitters. It's much easier to hide one emotion with another than it is to hide an emotion by suppressing it.

4. Practice, practice, practice.

There are many people that believe that speaking is something you are good at or not. I have learned through personal experience that speaking is something you can build up -- but, you have to be willing to put in the time. When I started speaking I realized I needed to work on my skills so I went to 100 different Rotary clubs around the Los Angeles area and offered to speak for free if I could place a video camera in the back of the room. After each engagement, I'd review the videos to see what I could improve. Just as in school, sports and business, the more I practiced, the more confident I was and the better I'd perform. As an aerial skier, I would do my jumps hundreds -- if not thousands -- of times before I would perform a maneuver in competition. I realized that speaking should be no different. With more and more practice delivering speeches, I could visibly see my performances improving. And you can't help but gain self-esteem with the more experience you have.

5. Be prepared if you make a mistake.

One of the most important lessons I learned as a speaker actually came from late-night TV. I saw an interview with Johnny Carson and he confessed to preparing a joke that he'd keep on hand if and when he made a blunder. No matter how professional someone is and how long they have spoken, everyone makes mistakes. And the mistakes actually make people appear more human and come across as more relatable. But, when we become uncomfortable with slip-ups and gaffes, then our audience becomes more uncomfortable as well. As I shared in my first tip, laughing at ourselves can put everyone at ease. So try preparing a comment like, "I guess those swan dives off our family loft as a child did have its repercussions." It helps you suppress some of your speaking fears when you know you have one or two "get out of jail free" cards on hand.

So no matter if speaking is your number one fear or you just want to come across with more confidence, the cold sweats and internal butterflies will soon be a thing of the past. source

PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION

Last December 21, 2015 Public Competition was held at Asia Pacific College. There were 30 participants we were divided  and sent into different rooms. I was assigned in Discussion room A in 7th floor near the library. Unfortunately I did not make it into the finals. But It was a good experience for me. Let me share to you my speech. By the way the main topic was" The clut of celebrities and fantasies a Filipino obsession.

The Cult of Celebrities and fantasies... a Filipino obsession

Have you ever been in the state where you are itching to know what the updates on your crazed celebrities are? Like what will happen next in the next episode in aldub? Will alden get to finally be with maine forever? Or what would be the follow up on the pangako sayo be? Or does Derek Ramsey really have 10 pack abs. Or have you ever wanted to be like Stephen Curry of the Golden state warriors? Or have the body and the beauty of kendall jenner? Or have the looks and the dimples of alden? And if you do, that is perfectly normal.

My name is Greg Cenon Andaman a student of BM-151 here to share to you about obsession over celebrity and fantasies of Filipinos. Now just to share, I am an avid fan of the late Paul Walker the star in the Fast and the Furious movie franchise. I idolized the person so much that I saved up money so that I could buy a car just like what he drove in the franchise. But his passing last 2013 shocked me and placed me in the state of awe for quite some time because learning that someone you idolized die due to an accident is really depressing. I know it’s silly how we are not or whatsoever related but I felt like we had a deep connection towards each other that it made me feel depressed now that he is gone. Honestly, the break of the news placed me in tears. Now this form of connection towards someone you don’t know is perfectly normal. Especially if he or she is a celebrity or merely a well known person.

Idolizing someone is completely natural because looking for an idol and following them is a trait preprogrammed in out DNA. That is why fantasizing about a celebrity’s lifestyle is absolutely normal. Why? Some people relate their lives according to whom they idolize. They wanted their lives to be patterned by the celebrity they follow. For the reason that they find satisfaction in seeing that they are mimicking a lifestyle that is successful and related to their fantasy and that somehow their lives would be similar to whom they idolize which would give them the sense of fulfilment over the fact that they are living in the world of the celebrity and their fantasies. But some use their idolization as a fad that whoever is the current star of that genre is the craze. Which is very dangerous. For the reason that bandwagon obsession or mob obsession is a very unhealthy practice. Mob obsession clouds the judgement of the participants. The more members of the mob the less they know about what they’re cause or agenda really is. Some participate in such practice for the reason to be “in” or belong. But couldn’t seem to grasp the reality and the purpose. Which could harm those oblivious to what’s happening.

Some people seem to see their selves in the shoes of the celebrities for them to feel the fulfilment of life but in reality the happiness that all a person need is for them to be around the person who truly loves you. Not the material things like money and fame but because of you.

Ignite Speech: E- cigarette vs. Traditional cigarette

Yesterday Dec. 15, 2015, I had my Ignite speech presented in front of the class and my prof. Ms. Agaton. Sad thing coz' it takes a lot of time before I can officially start my speech because the laptop is not working properly. But after 10 mins. I was able to deliver my speech about E-cigarettes and Traditional cigarettes. Now let me share to you my persuasive speech.

Ignite Speech: E- cigarette vs. Traditional cigarette

Smoking 1 stick of cigarette removes 16 mins of your life. Good morning, my name is Greg Cenon Andaman and i am going to be pursuading you to switch from smoking your traditional cigarette and convert into vaping.

Studies show that multiple respiratory illnesses are caused by smoking. Namely.... and these are caused by the harmful chemicals that are found in the said cigarette when inhaled. Now, wouldn't you want to have that same smoking sensation but less the harmful chemicals? We'll get into that.

First, did you know that a cigarette is made out of 600 ingredients? Yes! It actually is. It is made out of 600 ingredients which 69 of those are found to be carcinogenic. Do you know what carcinogenic is?? No?? Don't worry! I do not also know!

smile emoticon but i asked our good buddy Merriam defensor - Webster what a carcinogen is. And she said.... that is pretty scary considering that cells could actually do that.

Second, did you know that when a cigarette is lit it produces over 7000 harmful chemicals. 7000!!!! Then you are inhaling it!! Imagine feeding your lungs with 7000 chemicals. That is like filling a condom with sand... i actually didn't know the correlation between the sand and the condom... but yes that is bad. Now... killing yourself by inhaling those chemicals is already a sin to your badeh!! But puffing it out for others to breath it?? If only there would be a law that if you saw someone smoke and puffed right in front of you, you could sew him for murder. Because thats what the equivalence is as to your puffing out smoke. Second hand smoke s a very serious matter. Innocent children gets diagnosed with lung cancer because their idiot parents or idiot people around them couldn't care less about their health. Guys... those are kids!! Ika nga ni rizal! "The children is our future." At sabi ni Jesus diba?? " let the little children come to me". See love our children!! Go and make babies!!!

Ok so going back to what i said awhile ago. Wouldn't you wanna have that smoking sensation but without the harmful effects? Now you can!! With the e cigarette or vape!! This e cigarette is an apparatus that mimics the effects of smoke. Mimics the effects of smoke?? How come its not harmful?? As i said it just mimics not copy. How?? E cigarette uses the water vapor principle which heats the liquid up to the point of boiling thus producing water vapor. Is the liquid of vape safe? The answer is yes!! It is safe for the reason that, all the ingredients used are also used in flavoring foods and baking. But it still uses nicotine so how would it be different from smoking a cigarette? Haha young child you have a lot to learn

wink emoticon

the nicotine used in cigarettes are directly from the tobacco leaves itself plus another 599 ingredients while the nicotine in vape is a diluted extraction which is also pharmaceutical grade nicotine which means it is processed by FDA approved labs for consumption plus its added to 2 kinds of glycerin which are sugars. Now still don't believe me? Here is a comparison of your nicotine intake with a cigarette and vape.

Now you can see the benefits that the vape has and see the difference in it but if you look closer this is not expensive. You are investing in you future.

What can you say now? did I persuaded you enough to leave traditional cigarettes and buy e- cigarettes now?

Media Literary

" Mobilizing the millennials as Social responsible prosumers"

What is Media Literacy?

Media literacy involves not only knowledge but also critical thinking, linguistic, visual and film literacy. Media communication has become quite a force in society today, allowing for consumption of loads of information. And today's digital consumers are masters of media multitasking, which involves simultaneous contact with two or more other forms of media. As consumers of media, it is important to have the ability to understand, translate and use the information we receive.

The Importance of Digital Literacy in our Lives

Printing press for media communication in the Industrial Era

Media literacy is actually not a new phenomenon. Starting with the invention of the printing press in the 1400s, media has developed as a form of communication beyond the interpersonal. Newspapers and magazines were a media force of the Industrial Era.

Continual advances in technology expose us to more and more media, oftentimes unnoticed. The use of technology and digital literacy go hand in hand. Technology allows for greater expansion of mass media outlets, starting with the Internet, but we also must consider Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… the list goes on and on. source

There are different purposes for mass communication, including:

• To Inform
• To Amuse
• To Persuade
• To Enlighten

Last November 25, 2015, I attended the seminar about Media Literacy. There were three speakers but I focus on the second speaker. Ms. Jan Maynard Nualla.  She talked about the influence of social media on news reporting and our impact as millennial in today's modern society. I find interesting because in her topic it includes us, the students. That's why listened to her carefully. According to her the young bloods or the youth have rights to say what they want to say, to share what they want to share that could help our society. She want's us to be more active in spreading news and special events. But the best thing I've learned from is that we should not be easily influenced by the things that we read online or social media not all of them are true most of are false statement.

Vintage Cars

Vintage cars are vehicles which were built in the vintage era, which began in 1919. The end of the vintage era is debatable, but falls somewhere between 1925 and 1930. (1925 is when the classic car era began; therefore ending the vintage period according to the Classic Car Club of America, but the British claim 1930 as the end of the vintage era.) In any case, the vintage car era ushered in many significant changes both to the automobile and the way people perceived them, and thus was hugely important to the development of the automobiles we see today.

In the late 1800s and the first decade or so of the 1900s, automobiles were a luxury owned only by the rich. Henry Ford made the automobile available to everyone when he introduced the Ford Model-T in 1908, the first car to be mass-produced using the relatively new concept of an assembly line. Because these cars were now produced much more cheaply and efficiently than before, they became affordable to the average American family. By 1919, the end of World War I and beginning of the vintage era, they were just another part of common, everyday life.

As cars became more and more popular, vintage cars evolved to suit the demands of the consumers. The automobile made travel common, and as more people traveled more often, automobiles needed to become lighter, faster and more comfortable – a big change from the heavier luxury cars from earlier in the decade. These continually evolving cars are the cars of the vintage era: the transitional cars which brought forth huge advances in engineering and design and ultimately led to the style, luxury and convenience of modern vehicles.

Some of the specific changes brought forth by the vintage era were: closed-bodied cars with heating systems, standardized controls, and front-mounted engines. The new closed-body style allowed families to travel while comfortably shielded from the elements, and standard controls made driving more convenient and easier. Engine development made great headway in this era, as technology continually improved the internal combustion engine and made cars more efficient.

Important cars from the vintage era include the Austin 7, after which many other cars were modeled, and the Cadillac V-16 and Bugatti Royale, which became the ultimate icons of luxury vintage cars. The most popular vehicle of the vintage era was the Ford Model A, with over 4 million units produced.

As vintage cars became increasingly better and more people owned them, American society changed to accommodate them. Drive-in diners and movies, malls, and motels were introduced thanks to the popularity of the automobile. The vintage car era ushered in a completely new age in America, and so is largely responsible for the lifestyles we enjoy today.Credits

Global Warming

" Global Warming"

Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth’s climate. There is great debate among many people, and sometimes in the news, on whether global warming is real (some call it a hoax). But climate scientists looking at the data and facts agree the planet is warming. While many view the effects of global warming to be more substantial and more rapidly occurring than others do, the scientific consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is that the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 °C over the past 100 years. The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has occurred over the past 50 years. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have recently predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 °C by the year 2100. Changes resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events. source

Global warming is already having significant and harmful effects on our communities, our health, and our climate. Sea level rise is accelerating. The number of large wildfires is growing. Dangerous heat waves are becoming more common. Extreme storm events are increasing in many areas. More severe droughts are occurring in others. 

We must take immediate action to address global warming or these consequences will continue to intensify, grow ever more costly, and increasingly affect the entire planet—including you, your community, and your family.sources

As our climate changes, the risk of injury, illness, and death from the resulting heat waves, wildfires, intense storms, and floods rises.

•  People do not bear the health risks of climate change equally because:Extreme heat. If high temperatures, especially when combined with high relative humidity, persist for several days (heat waves), and if nighttime temperatures do not drop, extreme heat can be a killer. Of all climate-related projections by scientists, rising temperatures are the most robust. Higher temperatures are also the most influenced by human behavior: the fewer heat-trapping emissions we release into the atmosphere, the cooler we can keep our planet. Because winter temperatures are rising faster than summer ones, cold-related deaths are likely to decline.
• "Natural" disasters. Projected changes in temperature and precipitation under global warming are likely to lead to other effects that threaten human health and safety. For example, changing precipitation patterns and prolonged heat can create drought, which can cause forest and peat fires, putting residents and firefighters in danger. However, a warming atmosphere also holds more moisture, so the chance of extreme rainfall and flooding continues to rise in some regions with rain or snow. In many heavily populated areas, sea-level rise is more likely to put people in the path of storm surges and coastal flooding. Warmer ocean waters may spawn more intense tropical hurricanes and typhoons while ocean cycles continue to be a factor in the frequency of tropical cyclones.
• Poor air quality. Three key ingredients—sunlight, warm air, and pollution from power plants and cars burning coal and gasoline—combine to produce ground-level ozone (smog), which humans experience as poor air quality. Higher air temperatures increase smog, if sunlight, fossil fuel pollution, and air currents remain the same.
• Allergens and other nuisances. Warmer temperatures and higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stimulate some plants to grow faster, mature earlier, or produce more potent allergens. Common allergens such as ragweed seem to respond particularly well to higher concentrations of CO2, as do pesky plants such as poison ivy. Allergy-related diseases rank among the most common and chronic illnesses that can lead to lower productivity.
• Spreading diseases. Scientists expect a warmer world to bring changes in "disease vectors"—the mechanisms that spread some diseases. Insects previously stopped by cold winters are already moving to higher latitudes (toward the poles). Warmer oceans and other surface waters may also mean severe cholera outbreaks and harmful bacteria in certain types of seafood. Still, changes in land use and the ability of public health systems to respond make projecting the risk of vector-borne disease particularly difficult.

• Climate trends differ by region. People who live in floodplains, for example, are more likely to see river or coastal flooding. Similarly, people who live in regions with poor air quality today are at greater risk from poor air quality days in the future.
• Some people are more vulnerable to illness or death. Young children, the elderly, and those who are already ill are less able to withstand high temperatures and poor air quality, for example. Temperature extremes and smog hit people with heart and respiratory diseases, including asthma, particularly hard.
• Wealthy nations are more likely to adapt to projected climate change and recover from climate-related disasters than poor countries . Even within nations, less economically fortunate individuals are more vulnerable because they are less likely to have air conditioning and well-insulated homes, and because they have fewer resources to escape danger.

Better planning—through investments in infrastructure and public health strategies—can help communities become more resilient in a warming world. However, the costs of coping with health risks linked to severe climate change are often higher than the costs of curbing heat-trapping emissions in the first place. sources

Stem cell research

What are stem cells, and why are they important?

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue- or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.

Until recently, scientists primarily worked with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic " somatic or adult" stem cells. The functions and characteristics of these cells will be explained in this document. Scientists discovered ways to derive embryonic stem cells from early mouse embryos more than 30 years ago, in 1981. The detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery, in 1998, of a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These cells are called human embryonic stem cells. The embryos used in these studies were created for reproductive purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures. When they were no longer needed for that purpose, they were donated for research with the informed consent of the donor. In 2006, researchers made another breakthrough by identifying conditions that would allow some specialized adult cells to be "reprogrammed" genetically to assume a stem cell-like state. This new type of stem cell, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will be discussed in a later section of this document.

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, skin, sperm, eggs and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

Given their unique regenerative abilities, stem cells offer new potentials for treating diseases such as diabetes, and heart disease. However, much work remains to be done in the laboratory and the clinic to understand how to use these cells for cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is also referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine.
Laboratory studies of stem cells enable scientists to learn about the cells’ essential properties and what makes them different from specialized cell types. Scientists are already using stem cells in the laboratory to screen new drugs and to develop model systems to study normal growth and identify the causes of birth defects.
Research on stem cells continues to advance knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. Stem cell research is one of the most fascinating areas of contemporary biology, but, as with many expanding fields of scientific inquiry, research on stem cells raises scientific questions as rapidly as it generates new discoveries. Source

NO COPYING ALLOWED!!!

What is Plagiarism?

plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying  about it  

afterward.

In order to understand plagiarism, it helps to understand the process of sharing and creating ideas in the university. All knowledge is built from previous knowledge. As we read, study, perform experiments, and gather perspectives, we are drawing on other people’s ideas. Building on their ideas and experiences, we create our own. When you put your ideas on paper, your instructors want to distinguish between the building block ideas borrowed from other people and your own newly reasoned perspectives or conclusions. You make these distinctions in a written paper by citing the sources for your building block ideas. Providing appropriate citations will also help readers who are interested in your topic find additional, related material to read—in this way, they will be able to build on the work you have done to find sources.

Think of it this way: in the vast majority of assignments you’ll get in college, your instructors will ask you to read something (think of this material as the building blocks) and then write a paper in which you analyze one or more aspects of what you have read (think of this as the new structure you build). Essentially, your instructors are asking you to do three things:

• Show that you have a clear understanding of the material you’ve read.
• Refer to your sources to support the ideas you have developed.
• Distinguish your analysis of what you’ve read from the authors’ analyses.

When you cite a source, you are using an expert’s ideas as proof or evidence of a new idea that you are trying to communicate to the reader.

Paraphrasing means taking another person’s ideas and putting those ideas in your own words. Paraphrasing does NOT mean changing a word or two in someone else’s sentence, changing the sentence structure while maintaining the original words, or changing a few words to synonyms. If you are tempted to rearrange a sentence in any of these ways, you are writing too close to the original. That’s plagiarizing, not paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is a fine way to use another person’s ideas to support your argument as long as you attribute the material to the author and cite the source in the text at the end of the sentence. In order to make sure you are paraphrasing in the first place, take notes from your reading with the book closed. Doing so will make it easier to put the ideas in your own words. When you are unsure if you are writing too close to the original, check with your instructor BEFORE you turn in the paper for a grade. So, just to be clear—do you need to cite when you paraphrase? Yes, you do!

]credits

Phantom of the Opera

" The Phantom of the Opera"

We begin with a picture of the Paris Opera House -- the Opera Populaire -- in 1917 which is lit by a single small candle, and slowly fade into black and white reality. There is an auction going on there, and we come in the same time as the now seventy year old Raoul (Patrick Wilson in makeup). He enters in his wheelchair with the help of his assistants just as the auctioneer has finished giving away an old poster of the house production of Hannibal to the old Meg Giry (Jennifer Ellison, also in makeup). The next item up is an old papier-mache music box with a monkey playing the cymbals on top (important piece). Meg and Raoul do a small friendly bidding war for it, but Meg eventually lets Raoul get it for thirty francs. He muses on how well Christine was able to describe it to him (from what he says, we can figure out that she's now deceased). Next up for auction is an old chandelier which figures into the mystery of the "Phantom of the Opera." Parts of it have recently been fitted with electrical wiring, and the auctioneer gives the order to light it up. It lights, and we journey back to 1870.

In 1870, we see the house rehearsing for Hannibal as the current opera manager, M. Lefevre, is showing his replacements, Ms. Firmin (Ciarán Hinds) and Andre (Simon Callow) around, interrupting rehearsal, much to the displeasure of the house star, Carlotta (Minnie Driver). Lefevre points out Firmin and Andre as his replacements, but Carlotta storms off, leaving Andre and Firmin to, as Lefevre puts it, "Grovel." After this, Madame Giry (Miranda Richardson) comes along and starts directing the new guys around rehearsel. At this point Raoul -- looking young, strong, and impeccable -- comes in and walks right past his childhood friend Christine (Emmy Rossum). He doesn't notice her, and Christine says to Meg (her best friend) that he likely forgot her, but Meg thinks it more likely he just didn't see her. Raoul exits as quickly as he came in -- not sure why -- and the managers start touring the stage. Andre notices one promising and one beautiful dancer -- Meg and Christine (Emmy Rossum), respectively. Lefevre points out that Meg is Madama Giry's daughter and while Christine is really the daughter of a deceased Swedish violinist, Madame Giry loves her like a daughter. Rehearsals continue, but with Carlotta still mad, they don't get far. Andre grovels some more and requests she sing a magnificent piece from Act Three of the opera, "Think of Me." Carlotta "allows" it, turns to the conductor, M. Reyer, and starts to sing. Before she can get too far, though, we see a shadowy figure cut some ropes, and a backdrop falls to the stage on top of Carlotta. People yell at the stagehand, Joseph Buquet (Kevin McNally), but Buquet says that there's no one there, so it must be a ghost. The ballet girls titter, and Carlotta storms off, followed by the chief tenor, Ubaldo Piangi (Victor McGuire), who looks at the new guys and says, "Amateurs." The managers ask if there's an understudy, but there isn't one. To top it off, Madame Giry comes up with a note from the Phantom, welcoming the managers to his opera house and requesting that they continue to leave box five open for him and continue paying him his ssalary of twnty thousand francs a month. They scoff, but Giry just goes on saying that maybe with the vicomte de chagny (Raoul) as their patron, they'll be able to afford more. Firmin rounds on her saying he wanted to publicly announce that at tonight's show, which now won't happen in all likelihood. Just then, Meg volunteers Christine to fill in. Christine reluctantly steps forward to audition, and...

...we fade to Christine singing "Think of me" on stage in a beautiful soprano. Raoul (in box five--oops) sees her, recognizes her, and cheers louder than the rest of the house. While Christine finishes the song, Raoul runs out to try to find some flowers for her. Later, while the after party is going on, Christine is in a chapel lighting a candle for her dead father. Meg comes in and asks where she's been hiding. Christine smiles and says that her father once told her that when he died, he would send her the Angel of Music to help her sing perfectly ("Angel of Music"). Meg takes Christine back to her dressing room, where Madame Giry gives her (Christine, I mean) a rose with a black ribbon around it. Giry tells Christine that she sang very well and that, "He will be pleased." Christine looks at the rose and wonders what it means and who sent it, though she seems to have a good idea...

Meanwhile, Raoul is trying to work his way away from Firmin and Andre, who have a basket of flowers for Christine, or "their discovery." Raoul takes the basket, and he and Christine have a little reunion ("Little Lotte"). She tells him about the Angel, and Raoul agrees that she has been visited and they should celebrate by goiing out to dinner. Christine protests, but Raoul doesn't listen and heads out, closing the door behind him. After he leaves, we see a gloved hand insert a key into the lock in Christines door and turn it, shutting her in and everyone else out. Inside, Christine is changing when an unexplainable wind starts blowing out the candles in the room. She then hears the Phantom (her Angel, in case you haven't guessed) and she apologizes for wanting to go out with Raoul and begs him reveal himself ("The Mirror). He does, appearing to her in the mirror, which she then seems to go through...and emerges into a tunnel, where the Phantom (Gerard Butler) is waiting. He takes her deep underground and across a lake ("The Phantom of the Opera") to his home beneath the opera, complete with swan shaped bed, mirrors, and a mannequin of Christine wearing a wedding dress ("The Music of the Night"). Upon seeing all this, Christine faints. The Phantom catches her and puts her in bed for the night.

Meanwhile, Meg is upstairs (well, I guess you'd call it that...) looking for Christine. She gets into Christine's room and notices a light coming from behind the mirror. She pushes the mirror and finds the passage the Phantom and Christine were going down earlier. She starts down it but is discovered by her mother. They leave and on their way back overhear Buquet pretending to be the Phantom and demonstrating how to fight off the Phantom's Punjab Lasso ("Magical Lasso") Madame Giry cautions him to be quiet, lest he get killed by the lasso.

At this point, we hop back to 1917. We see Raoul holding the monkey tightly, and being wheeled out of the opera house. He and Meg see each other and smile briefly before Raoul gets into his car and heads for home.

Back in 1870, Christine is awakened in the Phantom's lair by a certain toy monkey. She wanders around talking to herself about what happened last night, ("I Remember..."). The Phantom looks at her briefly and then goes back to writing some music (VERY important). Christine approaches him slowly, and then innocently takes his mask off. She screams, and is rounded upon by the Phantom (we don't see his face yet). He yells at her, but soon changes his tune (sorry) and says that he's human inside ("Stranger than you dream t it..."). She takes pity on him and returns the mask. He replaces it, gets up, and then tells her that they have to get her back, because "...those two fools who run my theater will be missing you."

Speaking of Firmin and Andre, they are outraged at the papers reports of Christine's disappearance and offended by notes to them from the Phantom ("Notes"), one demanding his payment (for Firmin) and the other insulting Carlotta (Andre). As if that weren't enough, Raoul comes in with a note he thinks is from the managers telling him to avoid seeing Christine, who is under the care of the Angel of Music. As if THAT weren't enough, Carlotta and Piangi come up with a note for her (three guesses who wrote it and the first two don't count) that she thinks is from Raoul saying that Christine is going to be taking Carlotta's place. Andre and Firmin voice their hatred of all these notes when Meg and Madame Giry come up saying that Christine has returned. Giry also has another note. This one says that the Phantom has "...now sent them several notes of the most amiable nature, detailing how my thater is to be run. You have not followed my instructions. I shall give you one last chance." He commands them to put Christine in the lead role for that nights production of "Il Muto" (Itailian for "The Mute") and put Carlotta in the silent role, but in a vast appeal to Carlotta ("Prima Donna"), they refuse, despite the confusion and outage and protestations of Raoul, Giry, and Meg.

That night, at the opera, things are going well for everyone ("Poor fool...") until the Phantom announces his presence. Christine freaks, and Carlotta yells at her, gets her throat moistened...and then starts croaking, since the Phantom switched water with some kinda salve or something. Anyway, the managers say that the performance will continue in ten minutes with Christine in the lead role. They then arrange for a set called "The Ballet" from act three to be performed, and this happens while Buquet, who saw the Phantom earlier, pursues him across the rafters...and ends up getting choked with the lasso and thrown onto the stage. Christine and Raoul head for the roof and safety ("Why have you...") where Christine tells Raoul what she saw beneath the opera ("Raoul, I've been there..."). Raoul comforts her and the two confess their love for each other ("All I ask of you"). They head back inside as a heartbroken Phantom swears revenge on the pair ("All I ask of you [reprise]")

We head back to 1917 for a minute and see Raoul leaving his house in the country, still holding tightly to the musical monkey box.

Back in 1870, we have jumped six months ahead in time, to a new year's masquerade ball ("Masquerade"). The Phantom hasn't been seen in all that time, the opera is doing splendid business, and Christine and Raoul are happily engaged...until the Phantom crashes the party dressed as Red Death and bringing with him a new opera ("Why so silent...") and insults for everybody (Piangi = too fat; Carlotta = can't act; Firmin and Andre = interfering idiots). Raoul runs out to find his dueling sword, since the Phantom has brought his own sticker with him. He gets back in time to see the Phantom snatch Christine's ring away and vanish in a flash of flame. Raoul dives after him and lands in a dark room full of mirrors, all showing the Phantom. He tries to get the Phantom, but all he hits is air. Suddenly, madame Giry comes up behind him and gets him out of there. He convinces her to tell him what she knows of the Phantom. She confesses that when she was a young girl in the ballet, she visited a traveling circus and there saw a teenage boy who was locked in a cage and was billed as some kind of freak show. The night she was there, the boy broke loose, killing his master, and young Madame Giry helped the young Phantom to escape. She hid him in the opera house, where he became a genius of sorts -- architectural, musical, you name it. However, as Raoul says, "...genius has now turned to madness"

In 1917, we see Raoul and the monkey being driven down a road when he observes a buck running alongside it.

In 1870, a few days after the party, Christine wakes up and sneaks past a sleeping Raoul, sitting outside her door. She goes to a horse master and pays him to take her somewhere. She goes to put on her coat when the horse master is knocked out. Christine gets into the coach and heads for a graveyard, now being driven there by the Phantom. Meanwhile, Raoul has woken up and borrowed a horse from the horse master and is chasing Christine's carriage. Christine arrives at the graveyard and pines for her departed father ("Wishing you were somehow here again") when she hears the Phantom speaking from somewhere ("Wandering Child").Suddenly Raoul shows up and he and the Phantom have a pretty intense sword fight. Eventually Raoul gets the better of the Phantom and is about to kill him when Christine begs him not to. Raoul lets the Phantom live and he and Christine ride the horse back into Paris. Meanwhile, the Phantom glares after them and says, "So be it...now let it be war upon you both..."

Back at the Opera, Raoul tells the managers that if they do what the Phantom wants them to, they may have a chance to end this all and capture him...if they do it right. Later, Raoul finds Christine in the chapel, where she begs him not to put her through this "ordeal by fire," since she's worried that if it doesn't work, he'll take her forever and never let her go ("Twisted Every Way"). Raoul tries to comfort her, but it seems to be cold comfort.

Later, the opera is underway with armed guards posted everywhere. The audience doesn't seem to think much of the production, but this is secondary. Onstage, "Don Juan" played by Piangi, is gloating about his next great conquest, Aminta (Christine, of course). Don Juan heads offstage to let Christine come on unobserved, but he is met by the Phantom and more importantly, the Punjab lasso. The Phantom emerges back onstage in Piangi's outfit and takes over the role, singing "Past the Point of No Return," which now contains a double meaning for the Phantom/Christine relationship. Eventually, everyone who knows about the Phantom realizes that it's him behind the mask, and at the end of the song, as the Phantom lets his guard drop and asks Christine to marry him, Christine rips off the mask, revealing a half young, half old and burned-to-a-red-tenderness face which shocks everyone into action. Infuriated, the Phantom cuts one of the ropes holding the chandelier up and disappears with Christine through a trapdoor just before the chandelier crashes, causing a spread of panic and destruction. Meanwhile, Raoul and Madame Giry and Meg have found each other, and Giry says that she will lead Raoul to the Phantom's lair, but she cautions Meg to stay behind. Raoul and Giry leave, and Meg then proceeds to lead another group down to the Phantom's lair.

While all this is happening, the Phantom is taking Christine down to his lair ("Down once more..."). He seems to have lost any restraint he once had, but still pities himself for, "...the wickedness of my abhorrent face!" As they're pursued by Raoul and the mob, the Phantom begs for pity from Christine. Meanwhile, the mob is descending ("Track down this murderer...") and Giry and Raoul have reached a point where she dare go no further. Raoul thanks her and continues the descent on his own. He finds a pool benath some kind of grate, but as soon as he's in the pool, the grate begins to lower. He tries to get some wheel turning to raise it, but it won't budge until the last second. He gets out and keeps going down.

In the lair, Christine is outfitted in the wedding dress from before while a mask less Phantom readies the veil. Christine begs him to stop, but he refuses, forcing her to accept, "an eternity of this before your eyes." She says that it's in his soul that the true distortion lies just as Raoul arrives. He begs to be let in and is granted entrance. The gate closes behind him and the Phantom advances slowly. When they're close enough to touch, the Phantom grabs up a hidden rope and ties Raoul to the gate so that if the Phantom pulls on a rope he holds, Raoul dies. Christine is forced by the Phantom to choose between living with the Phantom and saving Raoul (which Raoul begs her not to do) or refusing and getting Raoul killed. She hesitates, and then amazingly chooses the Phantom, being willing to show that he is not alone. The Phantom smiles, but then when he hears the approaching mob, he cries out and yells at Christine and Raoul to leave now, before it's too late. The Phantom heads for the toy monkey, which starts playing the tune we now know as "Masquerade." He sings along, and then turns to see Christine standing there. She steps over to him, and presses the ring into his hands, signifying a love for him as well as Raoul. She heads back for Raoul and they exit the caves in the boat. The Phantom screams out and says, "You alone can make my song take flight...it's over now--the music of the night!" He gets up and starts smashing mirrors to avoid seeing himself clearly. At last he lifts up a flap, smashes another mirror, and reveals a passageway behind it. He steps through, dropping the tent flap behind him just as Meg and the crowd enter. They search, but find nothing but the mask, which Meg holds tentatively in her hand...

In 1917, Raoul wanders to the grave of his recently deceased wife of almost fifty years, Christine. He places the monkey on a ledge sticking out on it, and then he notices something which was recently placed there--a rose with a black ribbon tied around it. Christine's engagement ring is tied to the rose with the ribbon, which was the ring Raoul gave her. He looks around as if hoping to get a glimpse of the Phantom, but of course sees nothing. The camera zooms in on the black and white rose, whose petals soon turn to red, and this turns into a picture lit up by a single small candle, which is then blown out by an unseen puff of wind...credits