Term 3 Week 4 : Personification

This week, a literacy device called Personification was introduced to the class.

Personification considers objects as alive, although in fact they are not. It depicts the objects as having human qualities. It assigns living qualities such as habits, actions, feelings, thoughts, and even personalities, to things that are not human.

Examples include:

1) The moon smiles to me at night.

2) Yellow leaves parachute down the trees onto the ground.

3) The dogs sympathized with me, and comforted me through the toughest of times.

4) Time will march on forever, so make sure you don't waste any of it.

If you noticed well enough, Personification can be sub-classified into 3 different categories:
***** Objects, Concepts & Animals *****

That's it for the post. See you next time for another blog post.

Term 3 Week 6 : 10-step Poem Analysis

Using a quick 10-step method, analysing poems just got easier. The following is the 10-step process done on the poem titled "Three or So".

1. Forget what the poem may or may not mean, or what it may be about.
   
   
2. Look at just the title and write down about half a dozen things that the title suggests to you. Give literal meanings as well as other associations.
   
   a) Poem about a child who is about three years old
   b) Counting things
   c) Guessing a child's age
   d) Recalling childhood memories
   e) Recalling an event related to a child
   
   
3. Read the poem once quickly, and then several more times slowly. Try to hear the poem aloud in the head. DO NOT recite the poem aloud in class; if you must hear it aloud, read it quietly to yourself.
   
   
4. Write down a list of all those things in the poem that force their attention on you or which catch your interest for a particular reason. This includes unusual/odd/striking words, rhymes, or repetitions/patterns/contrasts, etc.
   
   a) "mother's eyes & brother's smile" ---> the two phrases rhyme
   b) "drone, howl, scream, shush, whooshing" ---> emphasises on the scariness of the scene
   c) "I've forgotten... I've forgotten... I've forgotten" ---> poet has forgotten about her
   childhood, probably adult now
   d) "She's someone else now, to be wondered at" ---> poet has probably changed from that
   experience
   
   
5. Write down any features of figurative language in the poem: metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, symbolism, etc.
   
   a) Onomatopoeia
   b) Assonance
   c) Rhyme
   d) Alliteration
   e) Symbolism
   
   
6. Write down groups of words that may be thematically similar (for example, that all similes make reference to animals/death/plants, etc., or all the first words of lines are conjunction words, etc.). Don't worry about whether your groups of words seem silly or improbable; look at what you have observed and ask yourself: what is its significance?
   
   Symbolism in stanzas 4 and 5 describe a gangster's dangerous environment.
   Significance ---> could show how entering alley-way changed the author
   
   
7. Look at your lists, notes, and groups. Do you see any pattern taking shape? If so, WRITE DOWN this pattern.
   
   I do not see any pattern.
   
   
8. Read the poem again and WRITE DOWN your intelligent guesses of what the poem may mean.
   
   a) Author is reflecting about her past and regrets one of her past actions as a child.
   b) Thinking about her child, about what happened to her and the similarities they share.
   
   
9. Answer the following questions:
   
   a) Who is "speaking" in the poem? Is it the poet or a persona?
   The poet is speaking here, aka. this is a first-person poem.
   b) Who is the poem "spoken" to? In other words, who is the audience for this poem? Is it to a particular person, to the poet himself (reflective) or to the public in general?
   It is to the poet herself, aka. this poem is reflective. It can also be to her child.
   c) What is the speaker's attitude to this audience? Is it angry, sincere, joking, teasing, etc.?
   She is angry towards herself/her child, and is also frustrated.
   d) What is the poet's attitude to this audience? (This may be different from the speaker.)
   The same as the speaker.
   e) Why is the poem organized in the way that it is?
   The poet was trying to organize it in such a way that she first tells us how we reminisce on a photo of a young child, how it leads to a reflection of the past event, and how she feels about it. It is organized such that we can understand how she feels.
   f) What is the effect of all the things you have written down in Steps 2-8?
   It gives us an image, about the event that happened to the child, or the poet in her childhood times, and allows us to synchronize with the poet's feelings.
   
   
10. Write down your guess at the poet's intent: what do you think the poet hoped to accomplish in writing this poem?
    
    The poet hoped that this message could reach her daughter someday, who has probably gone lost from the event that was described in stanzas 4 and 5. / She wanted to remember this incident and teach her children, nephew, etc. not to follow her footsteps.

This marks the end for my blog post. See you next time for another blog post.

Term 3 Week 7 : Lessons Learnt from Poetry

Poetry has a lot of lessons in store for all. It holds many lessons, many messages and techniques that everyone could learn. Here are just some of the things that I have learnt from studying poetry all this while.

1. A good poem uses meaningful figurative language to convey its message to its readers.
   
   You are wondering why poems were so complicated and hard to understand in the first place. The truth is that once you understand the ways of poetry you'd appreciate poems and find that its meaning gets to you rather immediately.
   
   
2. Poetry... is A LOT harder than you think.
   
   A lot of concepts and topics go into poetry. In order to understand a good poem well, good knowledge about all these concepts is needed. Examples include alliteration, irony, assonance and so on. And analysing poems is also difficult because you have to read between the lines. You must catch anything that catches your attention, and infer what it actually conveys.
   
   
3. Poetry is a good way to enhance your linguistic and analytical skills.
   
   Poetry can truly improve your linguistic skills as you find ways to make your poem truly meaningful, colourful and expressive. It can be a true challenge to actually make it look real, with a message. Also, trying to understand poems can also improve analytical skills. Looking out for its message, displayed through vivid description, can really make us much sharper in detecting the message in the poem, and this can even be applied to other real-life applications, like determining a correct course of action when faced with a situation, given the circumstances.

Poetry has many benefits, so I'm sure that somehow, sometime, all these things Mr Lundberg is teaching me will be put into good use, and all would be worth it.

I'll see you next time with another blog post.

Term 3 Week 4 : Limericks

This week, Limericks were also introduced to the class.

Limericks are 5-line poems with only one stanza, where lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 rhyme, separately from the first 3 lines. It suggests a funny person, usually in ridiculous ways. An example is as follows:

A YOUNG MAN OF CALCUTTA ----------> title

There was a young man of Calcutta ----> rhyme (a)

Who spoke with a terrible stutter. ----> rhyme (a)

At breakfast he said, ----> rhyme (b)

'Give me b-b-b-bread, ----> rhyme (b)

And some b-b-b-b-b-b-butter.' ----> rhyme (a)

Also notice that lines 1, 2 and 5 are long lines while lines 3 and 4 are short ones. As seen here, the limerick describes a man from Calcutta (used probably for rhyme purposes) with a ridiculously bad stutter. Therefore these short poems are something like bizarre ideas portrayed through impossible events. One more thing, in limericks, past tense is always used.

An example of my own limerick:

THE FAT MAN NAMED STEVE

There was a fat man named Steve,

Who ate burgers, nuggets and steak.

He was such a big "ball",

That one day he had a fall,

And he rolled, like a wheel, down the street.

I'll see you next time with another blog post.

Term 3 Week 4 : Onomatopoeia

This week's lesson is about Onomatopoeia.

The seemingly long word actually has a very simple meaning in it. It is just a term used to describe a set of sound words, like bang, zing, gobble, and so on. These words can actually put a lot of meaning into a poem, emphasising on the intensity of an action, or just describing it, for example, munch sounds like small bites but chomp sounds like someone is taking big bites.

And now with my own poem using onomatopoeia:

Chomping on your beef steak.

Slurping on your pasta.

Crunching on your cookies.

That's what you do, fat pig.

Gulping on your soft drink.

Gobbling on your cake.

Munching on your fries.

That's what you do, fat pig.

You just cannot stop,

Chomping, slurping, munching,

Gulping, gobbling, nibbling,

When is it going to end?

You chomp and crunch on your chips,

And sip and slurp on your soda.

You gulp and gobble on your chicken.

You really eat like a fat pig.

Onomatopoeia in this poem is used to show how much of a big eater the person in the poem is. Through loud eating words like "chomp", "munch" and "gobble", it gives a reader the impression of how loudly, and how heavily, this person eats.

Alliteration is also used in the last stanza.

I'll see you next time with another blog post.

Term 3 Week 1: Metaphors and Similes

This week's lesson was on Metaphors and Similes, which are figurative language.

Metaphors are like describing something as another object. For example, "My dog is a dinosaur." is something like saying that your dog is a dinosaur, although in real life it is not possible. This kind of figurative language could let us describe the "indescribable" and give us a good look at just what this thing is like.

Similes are describing objects to be like something else. For example, "She was as calm as a cucumber" is describing a "her" that is calm, just like a cucumber. It comes in other forms like "He flew like the wind".

And here are a few metaphors of Life:

Life is a colouring book

Waiting for you to put

The last finishing touches in it

And make it look beautiful

Life is a supermarket

With a whole gallery of choices

For you to choose carefully

And make your purchase

Life is a wrestling match

Where you're fighting for victory

Using all kinds of tactics

To outwit your opponent

Term 2 Week 10b: IT Lesson 2 - Poem

Here is the poem that I created:

I remembered the time

When we used to played soccer

During our recess time

And end up wet as sponges

You used to be a hero

During exam MCQ

You shaded all the "A"s

And got yourself in trouble

Remember Mister Jason?

He used to be so sissy

That he became a "star"

In the very last school year

You would always come over

You said you want to revise

But instead of studying

You'd rush to the computer

John and Mike were like brothers

They would to things together

And always be together

And always stirred up trouble

So much laughing and shouting

That would evoke memories

Dude, want to do it again

If we could go back through time?

Term 2 Week 10a: IT Lesson 1 - Figurative Language

The chosen poem is as follows:

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was high up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born.

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

How Figurative Language is used in this poem-

1) Hyperbole: I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!

Reason for using this mode: Emphasizes on the emotion of the person in the poems

2) Personification: ~~~~~

3) Metaphor: ~~~~~

4) Simile: Fine as wine!

Reason for using this mode: Tells us how life is fine, like wine.

5) Symbolism: If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Reason for using this mode: Tell us how the water, height and the fact that she'll be dogged prevents her from commiting suicide.

Why I like this poem-

This is about how a mother, divorced, tries to kill herself, but in the end cannot, for the conditions were not right, and she can't leave her baby to fend for itself. So she lies to her child how fine her life is.

Term 2 Week 4d: IT Task #4 - Musical

Select a piece of ambient music that is suitable for a scene from the first five chapters of The Village by the Sea. If the music is available legally online, please provide a link to it. Explain the reasons for your choice.

I have selectively chosen Frederic Chopin's Nocturne, for the scene where Lila offers flowers to the sacred rock.



The reason I chose this piece of music for the selected scene is because it suits well, the ambient scene of the beach in the morning.

That is all for this week. See you next time with more blog posts.

Term 2 Week 4c: IT Task #3 - Intrapersonal

Write a journal entry from the point of view of one of the characters from The Village by the Sea. The entry should take place within the first five chapters of the novel, and must include key conflict details that prompted the character to write the entry.

The entry is as follows :

I've had it. I can't take it anymore. I've decided, I will leave this miserable little house, and go to Bombay, far, far away.
Just why must heaven make things difficult for me? My father, that stupid toddy addict, can't stop going to that blasted toddy shop and get himself drunk every night. Why can't he realise he is the centre of all the problems in the house? He no longer fishes and brings back money for us, sold away his cow and boat to pay debts, and now people want to harm us to get back their money. I just wish he could die soon.
My mother, she is always ill. Getting weaker day by day, but then, we do not know of any cure yet. She's having fever now, we don't have the money to take her to a doctor where hopefully, he could relieve Mother of her sickness. We can't do anything about it.
My family, it's so poor, no money! We can't cure Mother of her illness, can't pay off that toddy addict's debts, can't live a good life without pressure!
I can't take it! I will go to Bombay, I will get a job, experience that joy of having some money, and leave behind that hellhole.

To be continued with another blog post.

Term 2 Week 4b: IT Task #2 : Visual

b) Create an illustrated guide to “The Effects of Toddy.” You must generate at least four effects that alcoholic toddy has upon a person (familial, societal, physiological, etc.).

The following image is as shows:

To be continued with another blog post.

Term 2 Week 4a: IT Task #1 - Natualist

-Comparisons between Chapati and Roti Prata, Jalebi and 油条-

a) Chapati VS Roti Prata
1) Chapati
- is used to scoop up ingredients in a cone shape
- glazed with butter
- rolled out with a rolling pin
2) Roti Prata
- ingredients are inside the prata
- is flipped till flat

b) Jalebi VS 油条
1) Jalebi
- a sweet
- can be accompanied by warm milk
2) 油条
- a fried bread
- can be accompanied by rice congee or soy milk

-Recipe for chapati and jalebi-
1) Chapati

1. Ingredients
   

   3 cups

   1 1/2 teaspoon

   1 tablespoon

   1 cup
   

   Fine wholemeal flour or roti flour

   Salt or to taste

   Ghee or oil, optional

   Lukewarm water

2. Put flour in mixing bowl, reserving about half cup for rolling chapatis.

3. Mix salt through the flour in the bowl, then rub in ghee or oil, if used.

4. Add water all at once and mix to a firm but not stiff dough.

5. Knead dough for at least 10 minutes (the more it is kneaded, the lighter the bread will be).

6. Form dough into a ball, cover with clear plastic wrap and stand for 1 hour or longer (if left overnight, the chapatis will be very light and tender).

7. Shape dough into balls about the size of a large walnut.

8. Roll out each one on a lightly floured board (using reserved flour) to a circular shape as thin as a French crepe.

9. After rolling out chapatis, heat a griddle plate or heavy-based frying pan until very hot, and cook the chapatis, starting with those that were rolled first.

10. Put chapati on griddle and leave for about 1 minute.

11. Turn and cook other side a further minute, pressing lightly around the edges of the chapati with a folded tea towel or an egg slice.

12. This encourages bubble to form and make the chapatis light.

13. As each one is cooked, wrap in a clean tea towel until all are read.

14. Serve immediately with butter, dry curries or vegetable dishes.

2) Jalebi

1. Ingredients
   2 cups self-raising flour
   1/2 tsp baking powder
   1 cup yogurt
   Oil for deep frying
   1 cup sugar
   A few strands of saffron
   1/4 tsp cardamom powder
   2 drops orange food colour
   2 tps rose water
2. Mix the flour baking powder and yogurt into a batter and keep aside for 24 hours to ferment.

To be continued with another blog post.

Term 1 Week 9a: IT Home-Learning assignment

This is for HCI Home-based Learning LA, Monday, March 1. The assignment chosen is from the musical section, part a) Select a piece of ambient music that is suitable for the opening scene of "Lamb to the Slaughter." If the music is available legally online, please provide a link to it. Explain the reasons for your choice.

Looking through my album of classical songs (which definitely fits the beginning of Lamb to the Slaughter) I found one which at least the beginning suits the entrance of the TV play. It is titled "Waltz" by Tchaikovsky. The beginning had a rather homely atmosphere which suits the purpose as a replace the piece of music already in the play.

Here is a video of the above mentioned song. Feel free to compare with the TV play. Just play until 0:50 in the video. And there is some empty, soundless space in front so make sure you play this video a bit earlier.



Jordan also suggested me to find another piece for the part when Mary killed Patrick. I found it a good suggestion and tried the challenge.

I could find none in my library (it is very small) but I soon thought of one that would be suitable, remembering how it had a spooky beginning which I am sure many have heard. It is named Toccata and Fugue in D minor, created by Bach.

You can do another comparison here with this video.



Because I think the entrance of this song is rather spooky which suits that frightening feeling when you witness Mary kill Patrick makes this song suitable.

That is it for now. See later this week with another blog post.

Term 1 Week 8c: Explaination

I chose this gruel ending to the story because personally, I will point to the door with the tiger behind it, because if I were in the princess's shoes, I would feel that to let him die would be better than to let him marry to another woman. If I were to let him die, then at least he can wait in his afterlife and then later marry each other when the princess dies herself. To let him marry someone else would have been emotionally stressing because the princess will know that her love is lost forever. I was sure that long-waited love would be much better than lost love.

Also, seeing how the princess hates the woman inside one of the cages, I would understand the choice she will make.

That is it for this week. See you with more blog posts, next week.

Term 1 Week 8b: Weekend Homework

(Ending to "The Lady or The Tiger?", the tiger comes out)

Immediately the orange and black-striped monster pounced towards the lover of the princess, all ready for a quick and bloody kill. The youth, knowing that the princess had betrayed him, cried out in anguish and terror as he tried with all he can to avoid a gruel death but to no avail. The audience looked on in disgust as the ferocious beast shredded the youth into bits and pieces. Heads hung low as the youth managed to shout out to the princess, "Bye, my lover! We shall meet in Heaven!" before his head got brutally clobbered and torn off. Of course the princess could not bear to watch it, her lover having to meet such dire a fate. The semi-barbaric king however, watched in excitement as the red blood of the princess's lover stains part of the arena floor. His eyes widened as the youth, convicted guilty, was killed by the big cat as what he thought of as retribution to his crime, an obvious contrast to the masses. The iron bells sounded, sounding mournful as ever while the crowd, commemorating this fair youth, dispersed, and then all was quiet.
The princess, sinking back into her bed, with the gory scenes still fresh in mind, wondered wether it had been worth it. All the terror just to win over the other woman? The question floated in her mind as she slowly fell asleep.

To be continued with the explaination for the ending.

Term 1 Week 8a: A bit of Narrative Writing + Comprehension 2

This week Mr Lundberg carried on with a little bit of narrative writing before continuing with comprehension. The comprehension was about description and its methods.

1. Try to include all five senses - touch, taste, sight, smell, sound - into the descriptions.
2. Adjectives may have the same meaning but they usually have different a positive or negative description of the object (connotation). Use them wisely because when you use the wrong word marks can be deducted for composition tests.

Then he continued with comprehension. I actually failed my first compre assignment. A very bad way to start off with the lessons. Then Mr Lundberg went through the whole assignment. Now I know my mistakes: -

• Too vague
• Not answering to question
• COMPARITIVE QUESTION: MUST EXPLAIN AND GIVE EXAMPLES FROM PASSAGES

Also he gave us a new assignment and wanted us to complete that by Friday. I am determined that I will be able to do better this time, having noted my errors and flaws.

Here is a video which teaches you skill about how to understand the passages.



To be continued with weekend homework.

Term 1 Week 7: Socratic Seminar

This week the first Socratic Seminar took place on Friday. The topic was "What it means to be Singaporean". Leader Timothy Chong started off the discussion with a summary of the given articles but apparently he had not prepared well, as I, his observer, could clearly see. Then the discussion started of with a question : "What do we possess that is Uniquely Singaporean?"

The Socratic Seminar basically covered what it means to be Singaporean as well as the unique things Singapore has. The discussion had many breaks (I am sure teachers won't be happy with this) with the TIC (teacher-in-charge) making all the questions and discussions. One of the discussions (the main one actually) was about citizenship and patriotism. The definition, as we were discussing, citizenship was an official identification of your loyalty to a certain country while patriotism is more like where one's heart belongs to. Then we also discussed about what makes someone Singaporean. Factors like work, migration and more were discussed.

The seminar left me more perplexed towards the situation - many things, as discussed, can identify one as Singaporean! It left me with questions as I reflected on the Seminar. There has to be just one thing that will identify someone as Singaporean, then why all the debate? Why does Singapore want to stand out from the rest as uniquely diverse?

The good thing about the seminar was that a few of the participants were able to voice out their ideas clearly. But then the discussion was overall unsatisfactory, the panellists unable to speak up coherently, several of them coming unprepared.

The seminar had a few connections with a given article "What it means to be a Singaporean". The discussion's main topic, about citizenship and patrionism, has some of its ideas in the above mentioned article, the writer feeling a deep sense of homeliness. As he watched the parade he felt very lucky to be a Singaporean and the felt proud of our homeland. This has some relation to the patrionism mentioned in our Seminar.


See you next week with another blog post.

Meanwhile you can view this video about how Socratic Seminars should be properly held.

Term 1 Week 6: Comprehension and Methodology

This week, Mr Lundberg finally started on another topic - Comprehension. We were introduced to the types of questions in the English examination and how we go around answering them.

Since Monday and Tuesday was about MORE narrative writing I will not share about it.

Then on Wednesday Mr Lundberg carried out lessons on...
COMPREHENSION! FINALLY!

Comprehension is Secondary School, I just found out, would consist of more than 1 passage. There were 2 passages in the homework we were given. Most of them carried a low weightage except for vocabulary Q.s, inference Q.s and comparative Q.s, which is new to the syllabus this year.

1. RECALL/DIRECT/FACTUAL questions require you to refer to the specified passage. Read the question and passage carefully, and do not copy chunks of text. You should choose relevant details in the text.
2. "OWN WORDS" questions require you to answer in your own words. You have to get the idea in your answer but make sure you do not copy anything from the passage.
3. INFERENTIAL questions require you to understand the passage. They do not require extra knowledge outside the text.
4. LANGUAGE USE questions require you to have good vocabulary. To do well make sure you read more books to extend your vocabulary.
5. VOCABULARY question require you to have the same knowledge you apply in Language Use questions
6. Lastly, COMPARATIVE questions has a basic structure Statement, Elaborate, Example. The statement will be your comparison, the elaboration will be your explanation of the comparison and then you will give an example.

That is all for now. See you next week with another blog post: Socratic Seminar.

Term 1 Week 5: More Narrative Writing!!

This week, we did more narrative writing. First, we viewed a video about Lamb to the Slaughter. The purpose was to let us compare between the act and the story itself, building up our observation skills which would be used in comprehension.

The video is down here.



A website with the full story is here.

Then we were assigned to write a short story. OK, so we are supposed to write something about a giant octopus. It would not be practical to write about such supernatural beings so I was not used to it. We had 3 choices:

1. The giant octopus was your pet, you had to hide it in your room before your parents found out.
2. The giant octopus was your guinea pig for your experiment.
3. The giant octopus was violent and wanted to wreck the house and kill you.

I chose the second one because ideas "naturally" came to me for this subject.

Then when we brought our finished drafts the next day, we exchanged stories and commented and identified errors in the short stories.

Then the next day (last day) we did an activity - thinking up of a fictional character and acting it out.

See you next week with another blog post : Comprehension, finally!!

Term 1 Week 4d : Homework

Dear Diary,

Phew! The policemen are finally gone! I had managed to cleverly disguise my crime so they will never find out it was I who did it! I should be safe for the moment.

I am still wondering, are there laws for murderers who are pregnant? Would they mercilessly kill both the mother and child, or would they wait until the baby is born, then they execute the murderer? I am certainly not prepared to take a chance. Even masterminds get caught. I would not want to get caught now! I am still pregnant, I would not want my beloved baby to die!

I also do not understand why my darling would dare to do such a thing! Once he came home, he breaks the happy mood immediately, and tells me that he wants a divorce with me. How dare he! I am bearing his own child, how could he do such a thing, abandoning me to take care of the baby myself?

Well, he deserved his death.

Love,

Mary Maloney

OK so that is homework. See you next week with more blog posts.