Memoir

Name: Thanthong Chim-ong Fifa

Class #: 1202

Unit 3: Project Intentions Directions: Submit this document along with your Unit 3 memoir. Responses should be complete, detailed, and clearly explain the intentions and purpose of your memoir. 1. Define the subject and theme of your memoir. The subject is I am confused by people believe and seeking for answer. The theme is how I ignore answer that I don’t like. 2. Define the tone of your memoir. The tone is “confusing and ignorant”

3. Describe the plot in a few sentences. The memoir is about I want to know why we have to go to a temple, why it bring good luck and show why I did get the answer.

4. Which goal(s) are you hoping to achieve when creating this memoir? -

To show that I don’t want to believe in religions because I want to be free and feel in control of my own life.

-

To show that sometime we ignore the answer to our problems because it not the answer we want.

5. For Written Memoirs: A memoir is a portion of your life that is crafted into a story. Explain which storytelling techniques (characterization, symbolism, climax/resolution, sensory details, etc.) you will use to communicate a central message or theme. I mainly use dialogs to show how characters respond to the event and use discerption to show the characters motions. I use the crowd in the temple to symbolize the confusion and chaos in myself at the moment. It show how I feel about the temple and it affect how I see the temple.

Name: Thanthong Chim-ong Fifa

Class #: 1202 Memoir

It was my 10th birthday when my mother wants us to go to a temple as a family. It is my family custom to go to a temple on our birthday. She believes doing this will bring good luck. That day, I didn’t want to go outside. I just wanted to stay home and play video games all day, but my mother had another idea. She dragged me out of my cozy bed at six in the morning and force me to take a shower. The shower was freezing because our water heater was broken. After I took a shower, I was a little bit upset. I hope we could go and come back as soon as possible so I rush downstairs for breakfast. I was the second person who readies to go. My father and brother still getting ready, so I had breakfast with my mother. We sat on a table then my father and brother came and sat with us. My mouth was full of cereal while I asked her “why we have to go to the temple on my birthday?”. “because it will bring good luck to you” she sighs while pouring coffee for my father who was reading news on his iPad. I lifted my cereal bowl and sip cereal milk from it then I asked with milk around my mouth “how?”. “yes, how?” my brother asked while he was smashing spoon on his cereal and make it splash. “I don’t know, why we don’t ask a monk there, and Uefa don’t do that you are making the table dirty”. She said while spreading peanut butter on her toast. “I’m sorry,” my brother said and put his spoon down. I feel like she answered me like she didn’t really care and just want me to follow along. Although I want the answer now I can’t argue with her because I afraid that I wouldn’t get my

Name: Thanthong Chim-ong Fifa

Class #: 1202

birthday present. After my father and brother finish their breakfast, we got on a car and drive to a temple. The temple was not very far. When we arrived, I walk out and stretch my legs and arms, although I was in the car for 20 minutes. The temple is cover with tall trees their leaves and branch stress far and wide. It covers the temple and makes it not too hot. The temple looks quite odd maybe because of it quite modern. It doesn’t have any decoration like other temples. It looks simples, overall the temple looks very calm and peaceful. I almost make me want to sleep. however, it’s almost new year and the temple was crowded with people, and I hate places with a lot of people and loud noise, in this case, it was monks praying noisily through a microphone. I always imagined a temple supposed to be peaceful, quiet, where people come to meditate and pray quietly. I just feel like this is not the ideal temple that I want to go. We go sat at the back of a wall-less building and listened to a preach about when Buddha meditates under a tree and heard a musician tune his instrument. the first string was too tense that it broke, the second string was too loose that it didn’t make any sound. last string was just right and make a beautiful sound. Then realize that too much or too less of something is not good and he started to understand how can he achieve his goal which finds peace and happiness. I found the story boring because I think there is no way anyone could give up everything to seek happiness. It sounded unreal like others myth and fairytale.

When the monk finishes people started to leave the temple. It was chaos. People were rushing out of the building and as a child, I was drowned in the crowd and almost got lost because some adults were pushing me. In my head I think again that isn’t coming to temple makes people clam and consider others above themselves? ‘Is Buddhism really worked?’ I think

Name: Thanthong Chim-ong Fifa

Class #: 1202

to myself. Luckily, In that chaos, my mother grabbed me and pull me out of the crowd to the side of the building. We were standing outside, waiting for the crowd to leave. Then my mother asked, “do u still want to ask the question”. At that point In my head was full of questions about why I need Buddhism and why it is important to believe in your religions.

then I went up to the monk sat in front of him with my mother. I looked at him in his eyes trying to tell him that even though I’m a child but I wand answer then I asked “why going to a temple on birthday bruin us good luck?” and the monk looked at me and smiled then he started to murmur about the concept of Buddhism like peace, meditation, cycle of life and karma and how they bring happiness. But I didn’t really listen to him because I was afraid that if I heard the answer I will believe in Buddhism. I like being outside the box. It makes me feel unique. I like being the only one in my school that didn’t believe in any religion. It makes me feel like I am in control of my life without the feeling of guilt when I do something agents religion rules. Like when I smash a mosquito that bites me or when I eat meat. I also want to rely on myself, not religion, because sometime when my family faces a problem they will go to the temple to pray and left the problems unfix. They didn’t even try, so I thought I will use the question as an excuse to not believe in religion. When the monk finishes, I realize that everyone had the answer to my question but they were not the answer I want to hear, I was the one who avoided to answer the question.