Movie Review: Harry Potter and

 Haya Haha.

"Neither can live while the other survives"

Harry Potter:  it's the series of books written by J.K Rowling, the series that broke many records around the world. The last Harry Potter movie, directed by David Yates, was released July fifteenth of this year. It was the perfect ending to the Harry Potter phenomenon.

 The previous movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, ended with Harry, Ron and Hermione looking for the Horcruxes, and Voldemort snatching the elder wand from  Dumbledore's grave. In this movie, the search for the Horcruxes continues. However, the action is taken back to Hogwarts where everyone unites to put an end to all the corruption created by Voldemort.

The movie begins with our three wizards deciding to break into Gringotts  because they believe that one of the horcruxes is hidden there, as they make their miraculous escape they decide that they should head to Hogwarts because they think that another horcurux lies there. Voldemort follows them to Hogwarts and this is when Hogwarts’ battle begins. After the death of Severus Snape, Harry finds out from Snape’s memories that he should die in order for Voldemort to die as well; since Harry himself is a horcurux.

Harry gathers all his bravery and goes to hand himself in to Voldemort, at that very moment the snitch that Dumbledore gave him opens and inside was the Resurrection Stone that can summon ghosts; Harry sees all his family in front of him and this encourages him to go through with his decision, but when he is “killed” only the part of Voldemort that is living within him dies and he stays alive.

Then the battle starts again, Neville kills the last horcurux, Nagini (Voldemort’s snake) and this is when Harry makes his move and kills Voldemort. A scene after 19 years follows the final part at Hogwarts, showing Harry, Jenny, Ron and Hermione with their children at platform 9 3/4.

From the way I see it, this movie is the best one out of all eight. The events in the movie were almost as detailed as the ones in the book, although it's the only movie from the whole series where the differences between the book and the movie are major; some scenes were changed completely.  However, nothing is perfect!

The best thing about this movie is that the director was even able to show all the action, emotions, and anxiety that Rowling's strong words were able to create in the book.

I can say that since it's the last movie, the director, the actors and the entire crew put all their effort in it, to create a movie that even beat star wars. So I conclude by saying I give the movie 9.5/10.

فصل بداية النهاية

شهد العوري

حادي عشر بكالوريا

جالسة في منزلي, سمعت صوت بكاء السماء. ها قد بدأ فصل الشتاء بكل الذكريات التي يجلبها معه أكانت سعيدة أم حزينة.  فصل الخيرة و البركات هذا هو وصفه الشائع.  في هذا الفصل ينقلب لون السماء الى السكني المعتم و يتلبد فضائها بالغيوم المحملة  بدموع الأسى على حال الأرض, أم هي دموع الأرض على حال من عليها؟

مع انهطال المطر تغسل الشوارع و أحجار البيوت العتيقة ليبرز جمالها و رونقها, تتعرى بعض الأشجار من أوراقها, تلمع أوراق أخرى دائمة الاخضرار, تفوح رائحة الأرض الذكية و تبعث في نفسك موجة من الحزن و الأمل متذكرا أحبائك و أرضك المحتلة البعيدة و انتمائك لها.  تختفي زقزقة العصافير من صباحك و يستبدلها صوت هطول المطر ذا الايقاع المنتظم عند نافذة غرفتك, تصمت وتغني كلماتك الخاصة على صوت عزف المطر,  يحلّ محل فنجان القهوة كأس من الشاي الساخن, تطوق اليه ليملأ جوفك بالدفىء و يعيد الى جسدك بعضا من الطاقة بعد أن حلّ عليه الخمول الذي يصاحب قدوم فصل الشتاء.  رياح تصفر في زوايا الأزقة, تسمعها و شعور الرهبة و الخوف يملأ نفسك من ذكريات الماضي, أحداث الحاضر و توقعات المستقبل.  تكمل سيرك في الطريق و ترى الناس من حولك منهم من هو فرح بهذه الخيرات, يسير مبتسما شاكرا ربه على هذه النعمة, تحملق به, تتعجب و تبدأ بتحليله, فتوقفك نفسك و تأمرك بالسكوت, وترى آخرين تسللت موجة من الكآبة الى قلوبهم جاعلة خطاهم تسير مسرعة مبتعدة بلا هوادة الى مكان يقيهم من الأمطار, أو من الألم.

  فصل الشتاء, مرحلة متكررة من دورة الحياة, يأتينا كلّ سنة ليعلن نهايتها, و بأمطاره يساعدها على البدء من جديد, و لكن هل تبدأ من جديد

الوظيفه والدراسه!

شيماء عبد الرزاق(شيماء العزاوي)

الحادي عشر بكالوريا  J

ما يكتب هنا هو عبارة عن تجسيد لمسألة حسابية بسيطة في تكوينها وتمحورها بالكلمات لكن معقدة في تطبيقها وتشكيلها في الحياه العملية اليومية.كيف ياترى يعيش الانسان بلا وظائف ؟كيف يستمر في الحياة وهو بلا دخل او اجر شهري يعيله بقدر احتياجاته اللازمه منها؟ ماذا سيفعل اذا كان الشخص المطروح هنا (س) بلا كفيل معتمد ماليا   ويرغب بالدراسة والاستمرار للحصول على شهاده مرموقه؟ كيف له ان يوفق بين دراسته التي قد تحتاج الى بذل قصارى جهده في بعض السنين لكي يصل الى القمم وبين الوضيفه التي عليه ان يواضب عليها باستمرار دون انقطاع ولا غياب ,وفي الوقت ذاته عليه ان لا يقصر في واجباته؟.هذا مثال عن شخص لا يملك معيل يستطيع الاعتماد عليه بشكل كلي ماليا وماديا .

ان البعض يدرك مدى صعوبة الوضع العملي في هذه الحاله الاجتماعية التي اصبحت تتداول على السن الناس في هذه الاجيال يعتقدون بان الجمع بين العمل والدراسه  يشكل من الانسان صانع للمستتقبل ومبدع كثيرا لما هو قادم ضانين بان الضغط يولد الابداع والتحرر من قيود التمسك والتفكير داخل الصندوق العقلي البشري .من المعقول ان من يفعل الاثنان قد يكسب الخبره  والتعليم النظري معا مما ينفعه من ناحيه الوقت لايجاد وظيفه اخرى افضل من التي قد لا ترضيه في الوقت الحالي.لكن هذا يجب ان يحدث برعايه بعض القواعد التنسيقيه بين الدراسه والفروض المنزلية والواجبات العمليه المتطلبه من الانسان  كي لا ينخفض المعدل السنوي لدى الطالب او العامل وان لا يتأثر صحيا ايضا من ناحيه الارهاق الجسدي والسهر ليلا لانهاء الفروض وفي بعض الاحيان عدم اخذ القدر الكافي من الراحه اليوميه وذلك قد يؤثر سلبا على النشاط الاعتيادي للانسان.

ما يمر به الشباب في هذه الايام هي مرحله عمرية تتطلب منهم الصبر والحذر في الوقت ذاته فان الانسان لديه القدره على تنميه قدراته  العقلية لكي يؤمن لنفسه احتياجاته ومن الممكن وبخوض معركه شاقه ان ينجح الانسان بفعل الاثنين معا  وبالتاكيد هذا سيحدث نتيجه ايجابيا حتما..لكن هذا يحصل فقط اذا كانت الوظيفه التي يعمل بها الانسان بسيطة لا تتطلب جهدا كبيرا ولا تؤثر على المطلوب منه دراسيا واكاديميا اما اذا كانت الوظيفه المختارة تتطلب المزيد من الساعات  التعب فذلك قد يعود بالسلبيه على الطالب نفسه وسيضر بمستقله علما بانه لا يعطي كل جانب من حياته حقه المناسب

وفي النهايه يقال بان هناك العديد من الاراء التي قد تختلف على ماهو مناسب  وماهو غير مناسب للطالب في هذا العصر لكن من الواضح امامنا ان كل طالب له ضروفه الخاصة التي قد تحول به الى طرق لا يعرفها والتي قد تقوده الى دروب عالية ومعتمده تجعله قادرا على متابعه مسيرة حياته بنجاح تام او تدله على طرق بديله اقل شأنا من الاخرين ومغلقه الى درجة عدم الكفائة.

“We Found Love” by Rihanna

Written by Tala Zayhloul

“We found love” is Rihanna's newest hit song; she sang it with Calvin Harris. This song was released as the lead single from the album Talk That talk, it premiered on September 22^nd, 2011 in the United Kingdom on the Capital FM radio station. It was made available to download on the same day. "We Found Love" debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard hot 100 chart, and has reached number two, giving Rihanna the record of a solo artist that has amassed twenty top-ten singles in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 in the shortest amount of time. 

It was written and produced by Calvin Harris .

2011 Syrian Uprising

Leen kurdi

9 B     

"Let us not accept violence as the way of peace. Let us instead begin by respecting true freedom: the resulting peace will be able to satisfy the world's expectations, for it will be a peace built on justice, a peace founded on the incomparable dignity of the free human being." - Pope John Paul II

The wave of Arab unrest that started with the Tunisian revolution of January 2011 reached Syria in mid-March, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of the people.

Syria has been a dictatorship run by the Assad family since 1970. In the year 2000, Hafez al-Assad died, therefore his son, Bashar al-Assad, became President of Syria. Both Assads used terror and force to remain in power.

The 2011 Syrian uprising began in March as part of the "Arab Spring" rebellions throughout the Middle East; it rose to the level of an anti-government uprising resulting in at least hundreds of deaths.

It is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. The protest movement in Syria was at first modest, and took a while to gain power. It started on 26 January 2011, and escalated to an uprising by 15 March 2011. The uprising is influenced by protests in the region, and has been described as "abnormal." The demands of protesters include President Bashar al-Assad to step down, the ruling Baath Party which is -The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party- to allow other political parties to join, equal rights for Kurds, and broad political freedoms such as freedom of press, speech and assembly.

Like the revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt, it has taken the form of protests of various types, including marches and hunger strikes. Some Islamic groups in north Syria have taken advantage of the protests and started attacking the government.

As protests continued, the Syrian government used tanks and snipers to force people off the streets. Water and electricity were shut off and security forces began confiscating flour and food in particular areas including Daraa, Douma, and Homs. During the course of the uprising, the Syrian Army has stormed the cities of Daraa, Douma, Baniyas, Hama, Homs, Talkalakh, Rastan, Jisr ash-Shughur, Deir ez-Zor, and Latakia, among other towns, and occupied parts of Damascus. The violence escalated, with the killing reaching its highest level in early August. More than 3,000 protesters have been killed, many more injured, and thousands arrested. Dozens of arrested people have reportedly been tortured and killed.

Since the beginning of the uprising, the Syrian government has made several adjustments, though they were widely considered not important by protesters, who were demanding more meaningful changes. On 21^st of April, the government canceled an emergency law that had been in place since 1963. On 24^th of July, a draft law was created, to be debated by the parliament to allow more political parties, under the conditions that they were not based on religious, ethnic beliefs, and does not discriminate against gender. Protesters have dismissed the law as superficial, as Article 8 of the Syrian Constitution, which grants the Baath party the role of the leaders of state and society, would need to be changed.

 "Nothing is more precious than peace. Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind." - Daisaku Ikeda

Movie Review: Tomboy

Alissar Kaghadou

Tomboy is a French independent movie directed by Celine Sciamma, released in 2011.  It won the Teddy Jury Award (2011 Berlin International Film Festival), and the Grand Prix Award (2011 Odessa International Film Festival).

Her new film is a smaller-scale piece, directed with a light touch. Zoé Héran plays Laure, a 10-year-old girl who arrives with her family to a new town, one summer. Laure is a tomboy, with short hair and boys' clothes. A local girl, Lisa (Jeanne Disson), likes the look of Laure, but thinks she's a boy. Insecure and vulnerable, Laure plays along with the misunderstanding. Laure's younger sister plays along, too, greatly enamored of the fantasy of a tough, protective elder brother. Laure becomes a big hit as a boy; good at both football and fighting.

All in all, a really good movie.

16 Year Old Marries 51 Year Old Man!

Reem Rihani  

Courtney Alexis Stodden, a sixteen year old aspiring actress, married “Lost” actor Doug Hutchison, 51, in Las Vegas a few months back.

It seems that Stodden’s notorious marriage to Dough Hutchison is legal; Las Vegas law states that as long as one’s parent or legal guardian consents to the marriage, one can marry as soon as they turn 16. Stodden got parental consent from BOTH her parents, Alex and Krista Stodden. Her father Alex said, defending his daughter’s decision, “Courtney is one of the most level-headed girls out there and I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter. Doug is the nicest man I’ve ever met in my life."

“He was her manager, and then as we got to know him, we got to see what kind of person he was,” Courtney’s mother, Krista said. “He just became a wonderful person in our eyes, and he’s a great man.”

 The couple, who met online when 16 year old, signed up for acting classes on Hutchison's website, said they never expected their marriage to 'captivate the nation.' When their relationship became a global phenomenon, Hutchison says he is actually now more in demand.

Courtney and Doug did not want to wait the two years until she turned 18 to marry legally without parents consent. “I think probably because the distance, they didn’t want to wait,” explained Krista.  “They lived in different areas and, you know, they just wanted to be together and we supported her on that.”
The couple issued a statement through their spokeswoman, which said: “We're aware that our vast age difference is extremely controversial, but we're very much in love and want to get the message out there that true love can be ageless."

The couple is reportedly looking for a network to produce their own reality show and plan on starting a family at some point in the near future.

“We all needed a good man in our lives,” said Krista, adding that the 35-year age gap does not faze her. “After a while you don’t look at the age. You look at the love they started to have towards each other. He became more than a number to us.”

Deck The Hall

A note from your editor: Aimee Knaus

Yesterday was the school's annual Christmas Workshop, a time for students, teachers, and families to gather and work with their hands on ornaments, decorations, and cards all in anticipation of the Christmas Bazaar.  The workshop officially began at 10:00 am although, there was much going on behind the scenes leading up to the excitement   Students have been preparing for this day in art classes, coming up with the projects for this year, making models for this year, and preparing the materials to be used. 

 The elementary choir performed a variety of Christmas songs helping their audience really get into the spirit of Christmas.  The audience, however were not idly sitting and watching, both children and adults were busy gluing eye-balls on angel ornaments (and some mustaches?), sipping tea and munching on Christmas tree cookies, singing along with the choir, some children were even dancing.  The audience, reminded me of Santa's elves in their business, making and creating crafts to sell at the Christmas bazaar yet all with smiles on their faces. The Christmas Bazaar will be held next week at the school on Friday the 25th of November beginning at 10 am.   

  As a student at Ahliyyah, the Christmas workshop and bazaar has always been part of my mental calendar, it means the beginning of winter, the countdown to Christmas has now begun!  Students were not exactly decorating all the halls with boughs of holly, but at least the main one, and we can still sing the song can’t we?  

Jordan among Asia’s best

A celebration took place on the 11^th of November, 2011 when Jordan won against Singapore in football 3-0. The Jordanian Team said that they deserved to be rated as one of Asia’s top teams.

An important figure whom attended the game was the national football manager and FIFA’s vice presidents, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein who came to Singapore’s Jalan Besar Stadium.

Basically, the game went a little like this: Jordan went ahead when striker Abdallah Deeb scored in the 11^th minute by heading in a cross from about nine meters in front of 40,000 fans.  In the 54^th minute Anas Bani Yaseen beat the goal keeper of Singapore and scores another goal to make it 2-0 before Ahmad Hayel added the third. Ten minutes later, the team won by beating the Singapore goal keeper with a left-footed shot from 16 meters.

Ghena Haikal

 

“I was very happy tonight, my team played very well, and had a good result and the Jordan team is now closer than any more time to the fourth round.” Jordan’s Coach Adnan Hamad said.
He also added, “I think the result is fair…Singapore is actually a good team but unfortunately they played against a powerful team like Jordan.”

Singapore came to life and had a superb chance to gain in at the 19th minute, but Muhammad Safuwan's header bounced off the pitch and over the crossbar. Again, they were close to score a goal almost immediately after the second half re-start when Abdallah struck the crossbar after meeting an in swinging cross in right front of goal. Singapore had the ball in the net in the 76th minute but Shahril Ishak's thunderous strike was ruled out for offside by the referee.

While Jordan now has nine points from three games, Singapore remains on zero and may have to win all three remaining fixtures to reach the next round.

Quest for The Red Carpet 2011

Zein Al-Alami/ 8”c”

Music, sports and other types of entertainment is all it took to win the ultimate prize.

The event happened on the 22^nd of September, in the ASG hall. Fancy outfits, pictures, food, awards and 5 rounds of fun for the students of the Ahliyyah School for girls and the Bishop School for Boys were offered all evening. People entered and bought tickets and then kept them for the delicious snacks later. On their way in, girls and boys got their pictures taken in front of a black billboard, and as they walked along the red carpet to find their tables, music played in the background.

Everyone chatted and took pictures for a while until all the guests arrived. Music, laughter and dancing were everywhere. When everyone arrived, the event started and it was amazing, I believe.

Everyone had a paper on their tables to write their answers. The questions<!--[if !supportAnnotations]-->[J1]<!--[endif]-->  were displayed on the big screen for everyone to see. They revolved around all types of entertainment such as movies, music videos, sports, books, albums, movie stars and even authors!
As for the guys, there were a couple of questions about sports and the world cup, etc…
The quest had 5 rounds. After the first 3 rounds, there was a snack break. Fizzy drinks, manaqeesh and other stuff  were served.

After the break, people participated in the last 2 rounds.  Whoever answers the biggest amount of question right wins, and the winners got prizes! For the 1^st place, tickets for a fancy play in Amman were given away, but a huge stack of new released DVDs went to the 2^nd place winners.

The ones who went home with the prizes were the seniors. So basically, we can rap the whole event up by saying that the Red Carpet this year was extraordinary and that we really hope for more activities in the school   in the future.

by Ghalia Lattouf

The quest for the red carpet event was held on Saturday 22 of October in the main hall. The event was held by the student council members. But what was the event really all about? The students who attended were asked to dress to impress. Lights and cameras surrounded the area where everybody was taken a picture of before they entered the hall. When the crowd assembled, it was time for the event to begin, which was basically a quiz night that put the participants' knowledge of movies, celebrities and music to the test. The night kicked off with three rounds followed by a dinner break. After the students got back in their seats, three other rounds where played to bring the night to a close.

           Six seniors got the highest result and so they won tickets for a play called "sum3a سمعة”. It was really a spectacular event, a big hit. Good work student council, keep it up!

What’s Behind Your Clothes? Agony and Injustice, That’s for Sure.

Jude Khashman

Fashion is something most of us teenagers are obsessed about, whether it helps us express ourselves with the different styles, or inspires us to design and create. We get excited during the summer and winter sales, we nag for shopping trips to the mall, and we, undoubtedly, love showing off the season’s new accessories and clothes.  Of course, that would mean that we all know where the hottest trends are sold, which include: Forever21, Zara, Gap, Nike, and many more.

BUT! Are you aware that these shops, particularly, are employing children and women as slaves? The women and kids are being exploited by factories in South America and in Southeast Asia, because they can’t have a better job and are forced to work in hazardous and unhealthy conditions. They work for more than 12 hours a day, and for much less than the minimum wage, as they might receive just a piece of bread for the hard work they do. Not to mention, many workers are being subjected to physical abuse (being beaten up, raped and so on...), in such factories if they don’t achieve what’s expected from them. Furthermore, workers are not able to go to the bathrooms whenever they want, and when they can, they go to filthy and unhealthy toilets, where soaps and toilet paper aren’t even provided.

Forever21 has fired workers who had the nerve to complain to an investigator about the circumstances they were working under. The shop was also accused of preventing kids to go back to school in Uzbekistan since the cotton harvest season has begun. Child labour has also been present in Zara, where children under the age of 16 are working, to support their families with the little food they get to take. Nike has also been blamed for making sneakers which cost $5, but selling them for more than $120!

But many stores are working hard to prevent such acts of cruelty and injustice. Gap has fired an Indian company for employing children, and the President, Marka Hansen, said that she feels “violated and very upset and angry with our vendor and the subcontractor who made this very, very, very unwise decision,"  since she didn’t even know about it! Also, Nike has spent more than 10 million dollars a year since 1990 for better working conditions, and is trying to help children in Indonesia to continue their education.

Ok, so now that know what’s behind those shiny mannequins and stacked shelves, you might say: “Oh well I can’t really afford anything better.” Or, “These are the only shops I actually find clothes in, so I don’t have a choice really.” But while you’re walking in and out of the huge stores with your friends, swaying with the weight of the many shopping bags you’re carrying around, millions of girls on the other side of the world are forced –literally- to stagger under the weight of the things they have to sew and iron. They also have a responsibility of feeding their families with the little money they earn, whilst most of us don’t give a second thought to how much we’re spending on food and water. Our parents have to handle these issues, while we get to go spend more than 8 hours a day receiving an education, which will be a huge step towards getting a job. Maybe I can’t make a difference by myself, but that’s mostly what this article is for. Not supporting these stores, and thus not supporting the factories that act with such cruelty, you can help the number of children working dramatically, and slowly child labour might be on its way to extinction, resulting in the non-existence of illiteracy, child mortality...Etc.

So, is that new T-Shirt from Forever21, or those adorable trousers from Zara, still worth all the pain these children and women have to go through every day? And is it time to stop shopping at these stores, just to buy the “hottest trends”? That’s for you to decide.

 http://news.change.org/stories/activists-to-forever-21-forced-child-labor-is-out-of-style-for-fashion-week

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/07/business/fi-43072

http://www.39thandbroadway.com/hate-21/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2028041/Zara-accused-employing-children-young-14-slave-labour-factories-Brazil.html

http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=266

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_sweatshops

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-10-29/world/gap.labor_1_clothing-retailer-gap-child-labor-gap-kids-stores?_s=PM:WORLD

True Shots

As I sat on the rocky steps admiring every single detail I could see, and seeing it from every angle possible.  Realizing that our eyes could see things prettier than the camera and not because I could see it with all my senses. Yes I can smell the essences from every plant, hear the wind blowing through the leaves, taste the sweetness of nature, feel the sand touching my hands and see every detail, but that’s not why taking shots with our eyes is better than taking them with a camera. Its prettier because the shots we take in our mind don’t need to be saved on our computers so we won’t forget them, they are worth remembering. I am disappointed because my camera wasn’t charged enough and I was only able to take a few pictures but I took millions with my eyes. 

-        Written by: Yasmeen Abdeen 

Photograph by: Yasmeen Abdeen

The Editors

A note from your editor

I (Aimee), on the behalf of our editing team would like to personally thank all of our readers as well as our fabulous newsroom team.  We have a vision,  of a newspaper, that not only every student at the CMS reads, but a blog that is shared both nationally and internationally.  THe ASG newsroom is only just beginning,  next school year will be full of exciting articles written just for our readers.  Here is a picture of some of the team,  we thankyou you all once again for supporting us this Spring and we can't wait to continue next year!

Gothic fiction

Around 1764 the first Gothic fiction novel, Castle of Otranto, was published and ever since genre seemed to gain more and more popularity. As it grew and developed, the genre came to be defined as a "neoclassical Enlightened Establishment”. I know that does not sound like English, so instead we can concentrate on the elements of Gothic fiction which are romance, foreign dark atmospheres and most importantly the supernatural element. So if a book talks about forbidden love between two educated handsome young people in some beautiful haunted European castle then it is probably gothic. After the castle of Otranto a lot of novels and more importantly writers came along. At first (that is in the 1800 let’s say) these writers seemed to be collecting folklore and combining it with classic Gothic literature elements and the results, fantastic. To prove it look at the books this time period produced, Edgar Allen Poe's tell tale heart, his fall of the house of usher, Bram stoker's Dracula not to mention the Brontes' Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

A little later on parodies of Gothic fiction started to become popular as well, one example would be Jane Autsen's Northanger abbey, in this particular and I quote, " the naive protagonist, after reading too much Gothic fiction, conceives herself a heroine of a Radcliffian romance and imagines murder and villainy on every side, though the truth turns out to be much more prosaic." ¹ Nowadays Gothic fiction has been seriously modernised and all the forbidden love, fair maidens and young educated gentlemen were turned into, street dancers, school teachers and misunderstood teenagers. Now, some writers managed to pull this off without affecting the classic elements of the Gothic fiction or the image of some characters/creatures, examples include Stephen King's works, Anne Rice's works and some other novels like the Red Room by H.G.Wells. Others on the one hand have completely destroyed the image of a number of classic Gothic fiction protagonists/antagonists and released a wave of cheesy and quite dump novel , namely our darling dearest Stephenie Meyer.

So in short we can see that gothic fiction has almost always been a popular genre and will probably remain so.  We can also see that the plots and characters of this genre have gone through drastic changes at times resulting in amazing works and at other resulting in glittery disaster. At the end I would like to leave a small comment: next time you are in the library, hit the thriller section, look up some classics and read you will love it, promise.

Interesting facts: 

·         There are quite a number of novels that people read but do not know that they are classified as Gothic fiction, one example is a book taught in our school now and that is The Picture of Dorian Gray, another is Frankenstein.

·         Although the castle of Otranto is the official first gothic novel there is a number of gothic novels/plays the preceded it, such as Shakespeare's Macbeth, Bewolf and Faust.

Written by: Jude Khashman
With the help of: Shatha Degachi 

All of the Lights

The song "All of the Lights" if the fourth single for the hip-hop singer Kanye West in his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the song was released in January 18, 2011. The song was written by Kanye West, producer Jeff Bhasker, rapper Malik Yusef, and rapper Really Doe. After the song was released it took number 23 on US Billboard Hot 100.

The Lyrics:

The lyrics of the song talks about various stories and ideas. One of the main ideas that the song talks about is the road to fame, West talks about his experience and how he had to walk through all of the lights to reach fame, the lights that he starts talking about are the lights of the small gigs he did, and then when he finally became famous he was under the light of the camera's it’s as if his life has been put under a magnifying glass. 

In this song West dedicates his album to Michael Jackson in honor of him, and this is when he says the lyrics MJ gone.

The incident that happened with Taylor Swift last year is mentioned in the song as well (When he stepped into the stage when Swift was saying her thank you speech for getting the award of having the best music video of the year). He refers to this incident in his lyrics I slapped my girl, she called the feds. 

And then after this sentence he says 

I did that time and spent that bread I'm heading home,

I'm almost there
I'm on my way, heading up the stairs

He is saying here that after he took some time off after this incident it was like a vacation to him but when he came back he wasn't on top anymore 

(his place was taken by other singers like Nikki Manaj and Drake) his fans turned their back on him and at the same time his girlfriend left him , so he had to do everything again, in order to get into the lights again.

Kanye West talks about how he need everyone to see him again, to notice him again, he wants to get back under all of the spot lights.

you know what I need, want you to see everything
want you to see all of the lights 

So mainly the song is talking about the mistakes and experiences that Kanye West went through, and how everyone needs to work hard to get into the life that has all of the lights.

Music Video:

The music video for "All of the Lights" was filmed in January 2011 and the video premiered on February 19, 2011. The first video that was published had a lot of flashing bright lights in which caused seizures to a lot of its viewers so an alternate video was posted which starts with a warning that says that it might cause seizure and the neon colors at the introduction were cut out. 

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_of_the_Lights

http://rapgenius.com/lyrics/Kanye-west-ft-alicia-keys-charlie-wilson-elly-jackson-elton-john-fergie-john-legend-kid-cudi-rihanna-ryan-leslie-the-dream-and-tony-williams/All-of-the-lights

http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/Kanye-West/All-of-the-Lights

Written By: Haya Haha, 10

With the help of: Marah Zada, 8

Yoga

Most people hate sports and don’t like to be involved in them when there are some kinds of sports that don’t take a lot of effort from us, such as: Yoga. Yoga is a sport that needs concentration and balance. 

So what is Yoga? And how is it helpful?

Yoga is like a trend that began more than 3,000 years ago.  Yoga refers to the traditional physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines, originated in India. The word yoga is Sanskrit (one of the ancient languages of the East). It means to unite the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga has been lauded for centuries for improving strength, posture, flexibility, concentration, heart and lung health, and so much more. 

The goal in this sport is to attain a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility.  Yoga requires no equipments in order to sooth your soul and tone your body. This sport also helps strengthen your cardiovascular system, stretches your muscles, and improves your mental fitness. 

Yoga helps you train your mind, body, breath, as well as connecting with your spirituality. Yoga is really helpful; it doesn’t only give you balance, but it gives you flexibility, strength, deep breathes techniques, meditation, relaxation, stamina, better sleep, and mental clarity. In addition, it reduces anxiety, and lowers stress levels

Yoga can prevent cold and flu. There has been a new study that showed people who exercised 5 days a week and got sick for 40% fewer days than those who did. 

Yoga is a great option for reaping this benefit, since each person practices to his or her own ability so as not to be hard on the body. Yoga does not need to be only for woman. It can be very useful for men and kids as well. For men; it can go with weight training and can also help in obtaining a healthier body. For kids; it gives them relaxation from the outside pressures like after-school activities, peer pressure and workloads.

Written by: Ghena Haykal, 7

With the help of: Tala Nasser, 8

The Cultural Village Festival

Cultures from all over the world were held together in one place, can you believe it?? The Ahliyyah School for girls and the Bishop’s School for Boys organized a Cultural Village Festival on the 8th of March. This is a festival that showed traditions of many different civilizations, starting from Jordan to Germany. Many different private schools participated in the festival, where each one represented a country’s culture through traditional costume, traditional foods, folk art/literature, media …etc. This event had magic shows, puppet shows, songs, dances, lottery tickets sold and prizes given to the winners, and more. It included a range of stations, like handicrafts, food stations, theatre, bazaar, and children’s area. The festival also had a camel hidden behind one of the Arabian tents, which you could ride on, I wonder where that got it from?? You don't usually find camels wandering around Amman. At around 2:30 P.M it rained very heavily for about a few minutes and it was freezing so everyone cleared to the tents and the yard was almost empty. And many dancers were very worried that they wouldn’t have a chance to perform because of the rain. However, before we knew it the sun shone and dried up the rain and everyone came back out. The Ahliyyah School for Girls participated in the dabkeh dances, which represented the Lebanese and Iraq cultures. And two talented girls from our school also participated in the show. Lujain Al-Majali played Spanish music and Rand Farmawi sang. Our school also represented the Circassian culture by dancing and playing its music. The festival encouraged group work and team spirit between students and schools. In addition, it was like bringing world cultures together

Written By: Zein Alami, 7  

and Lara Nassar, 7

Robotic Surgery

Yes, try to repeat those words again. Robotic surgery. Don’t you just love how the name rolls off your tongue? It is said that in a few years, a robot will actually be able to perform a surgery, without the need of a surgeon. Frightening? Cool? Or perhaps a combination of both?

 In the 20^th century, people used to say: “A computer? Why, never in all my years have I heard such an outrageous word as that! I say, Gwendolyn, fetch me my monocle!”
Okay, maybe not exactly like that. However, you can’t deny the fact that when talking about computers and robots, only science fiction writers predicted the magnificent boom of technology. 

Where were we? Ah, yes. Robotic surgery can mean two things:

1. Using a computer to perform operations from a distance
2. Artificial intelligent robot which can perform a surgery on its own

The main difference between these types is the involvement of the surgeon with the surgery. In the first type, the surgeon is performing the surgery, which is usually extremely delicate, with the assistance of a robot. This means that he does not have to stand beside the patient in order to execute the surgery. As a matter of fact, the surgeon only controls robotic arms from a computer station, and the arms move according to the surgeon’s movement.

So you could say it’s a bit like a video game. Except in this case, there aren’t any extra lives. Yikes.

The advantage is the increased accuracy. You see, a surgeon is only human, and there is a chance that the surgeon might have shaky hands or might have a spontaneous sneezing fit. Who knows? Another advantage is the fact that this has opened new doors: a surgeon will be able to perform a surgery even though he is miles away! However, there is a disadvantage. Robotic surgery equipment is extremely expensive!

As for the second type, the robot performs the surgery on its own. The robot is programmed; it uses many different sensors and is able to carry out the surgery with no human assistance whatsoever. The movement of this robot is precise, and therefore accuracy increases. One example of this kind of surgery is in Italy, where a robot by the name of ‘The Da Vinci Robot’ has performed more than 40 surgeries.  

A superb advantage is instead of making an incision large enough for a human hand, the robot makes an incision large enough for the robot’s hands (which are about the size of a US dime). A smaller incision means fewer traumas for the patient, and therefore healing is quicker. It also decreases the chance of infection. Another advantage is precision, so there will be no need for the fear that the robot will go ballistic and accidentally cut the patient’s leg off. However, the disadvantage is the lack of human comfort. Some may find that a robot performing surgery on them creeps them out.

To conclude, there is no denying that robots will become a huge part of our lives in the future. We have already seen how robots have affected the manufacturing of goods, and some even own robotic pets! Will the artificial intelligence field rule the 21^st century? Bring it on!

Resources:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/robotic-surgery.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/robotic-surgery1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_surgery

http://fullcircle-pr.com/da-vinci-robot-arrived-venice-ocala-heart-institute-dr-fong-vasculardiseasemanagementcom/

Written by: Sara Almasri 

The Haves and the Have-nots in the 21st Century

Since her mother left, 14 year old Leeda from Cambodia has been in charge of the household. Every day she cooks, cleans and takes care of her brothers. A phone number to contact her mother in case of emergency is carved on one of the house's wooden beams.

Leeda is now in the seventh grade at the Dey Thoy School with a scholarship from the OPTIONS Programme, which is run by World Education with support from UNICEF, the United States Department of Labor and The McKnight Foundation. Despite her family's acute poverty and her responsibilities as her brothers' caretaker, she dreams of attending university and becoming a health worker, however, no one really knows if her dreams will come true, for if she does not have enough money to fulfill her dream, she knows that she'll be spending the rest of her life taking care of her siblings, trying to scratch and get any dime she can get to survive.

In every country, there are thousands, if not millions of families who are suffering each day, children and elderly people living in the midst of poverty and neglect, somehow surviving on less than one dollar a day. Based on World Bank figures which are used for official global poverty statistics, the number of people living below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day fell from 1.82 billion to 1.37 billion between 1990 and 2005.

It has been estimated that the continent with the biggest percentage of people living below the international poverty line compared to its population is Africa with 91 to 121 million in sub Saharan Africa alone. It has been estimated that THE poorest country in the world is Zimbabwe where 80% of the population is unemployed, 1.8 Million Zimbabweans live with HIV and receive no treatment as the health system has collapsed, due to of course financial issues.

When it comes to Jordan, the poverty line, based on 2008 figures, was JD57 per person per month and JD3,876 per household (5.7 people). That is, in order for one to consume a certain number of calories and meet basic needs, the household has to have an income of JD3, 876 per year, or JD323 per month. Note that a family that is provided for by one working person who is making less than JD323 per month will be considered poor.

There are so many people in need around the world, so many who need our help, our support, and our love, and the way to achieve that is not by sitting here reading about this, sympathizing for a few minutes then you forget you ever read this, because that won't help, support of give love to those in need, luckily, there are several given ways as to how to help eliminate poverty, try them!

1. Spread awareness
2. Donate food, money, clothes...etc
3. Help those in need find proper, affordable shelters or jobs
4. Volunteer: When you are on holiday or if you have free time, volunteer at shelters and children's homes
5. Share with others how much giving and contributing helped you and motivate them to help out too, spread the love!

There is so much pain, suffering, hunger and poverty in our world, and we have to do something about it really soon before all our current choices narrow down to only one, we need to take action, we need to help.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama

Name: Meera Maaytah, 8

Land Day

What is the land? How valuable is the land? Is it easy to give up the land? 

It’s not just any piece of land, our father’s and grandfather’s land. They were born there, and they planted it with their bare hands. They waited for their crops to grow, and anticipated the harvest season impatiently. They lived on the land and lived off of it too. Until one day tanks and planes took over the land, they kicked the people off the land and claimed that it was their own. People were alarmed, and had no choice but to abandon their oranges and leave.  

Before the establishment of the Israeli State, 75% of the Palestinians made their living off the land.  After the Palestinian exodus and the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israel war, land continued to play an important role in the lives of the 156,000 Palestinian Arabs who remained on their land, serving as the source of honor and pride.  The Israeli government adopted the “Law of Return” to smooth the progress of Jewish immigration; as a result many Jews are occupying the land and living on it. The Israeli government encouraged the Jews to move to Palestine and to live there in especially built settlements on the land.    

Absentees’ Property Law

 This law transferred the property rights of absentee owners to a government-appointed Custodian of Absentee Property.  This legalized the confiscation of lands belonging to Palestinians who fled or were expelled from the area in 1948. The number of absentees from among 1.2 million Palestinians is estimated in 2001 to be 200,000 or some 20% of the total Palestinian Arab population.

During the Six Day war of 1976, many citizens were killed, hundreds were wounded, and plenty arrested.  In addition to that, the Israeli forces took hold of hundreds of acres of land. They took the land that belongs to our ancestors, they took our olives and oranges, and they mistreated our history. On March 30^th, we honor our land, and we teach the young generations to honor the land as well.

For the Palestinians, Land Day has become a day of honor and tribute to those who have fallen in the struggle over the past decades to hold onto their land and identity. Our grandparents talk about the land, they talk about their trees, and they talk about the well. They pass on their memories and past to us, hoping that we value and appreciate them and pass them on to the coming generations. 

Written by: Hoor Al-Amin, 10

With the help of: Leen Kurdi, 8