"The news media should be blamed for the unhealthy paparazzi culture and going to the extremes for sensational news. How far do you agree?"
I disagree completely.
What are the possible factors of the ubiquity of the unhealthy paparazzi culture and the going to the extremes for sensation news? The news media, of course, is one of them. The readers is also a factor. And then there is the law.
It might be argued that the news media is being overly competitive and is trying to attract the attention of readers through sensational news. However, I would like to point out that nothing is not competitive in the current society, and as long as it is allowed, there is nothing wrong. Humans compete with each other for money; companies compete with each other for customers; countries compete with each other for dominance; and even animals compete with each other for food. It is almost impossible to find something in this world that is not competitive. The word "compete" is a social norm, which anyone at anywhere from anytime must follow in order to survive. Can you blame the news media companies for attempting to compete and therefore survive? Can you blame it for trying to protect the jobs of its workers?
The readers is another factor, though yet again I believe that the fault lies not in them. Humans have the intrinsic inquisitiveness - wanting to know things that they don't. Especially when they get a chance to know more about the private lives of famous people then - celebrities, people in power, etc. - I am pretty sure that they would grab the chance without hesitation. Again, I don't think they should be the ones to be blamed, for they are just being curious and, what's wrong with that? Curiousity might have killed the cat, but think of what good curiousity had done for mankind. Behind every discovery there is a scientist with a mind full of curiousity. Questions can only be answered when people never stop questioning.
The last factor here is the law. I think, that the law is the one to blame. A law should be set to prohibit the reportage of such news. Without such a law, news media is free to go around spreading news and literally spamming the newspapers with overly exaggerated reports on scandals and perhaps even the reportage of scandals that never actually existed. With such a law, famous people would not have to live under constant fear of being reported and have their freedom restricted as well. Uninterested readers would not be seeing over flooding of completely unimportant news that occupies the space for more important news. Gossipers might be disappointed, but I feel that they would not be overly so. After all, this type of news only serves to spice up their life and they could still live normally without these, unlike smoke addicts who might turn to drugs instead.
As a conclusion, though there are a variety of factors causing the unhealthy paparazzi culture, I do believe that the culture of the government is the one to blame.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Norway Shootings
I watch the video uploaded by Anders Breivik and could not resist but feel sad for him and also the people of Norway.
As the world goes towards internationalization, inevitably there would be a few people or groups of people that are radically conservative or perhaps even reactionary. This people will oppose any notions on internationalization and attempt to stop it through radical means such as bombing, massacres and so on. However, I believe that internationalization is one of the most important in today's society. With problems faced by mankind being more and more globalised (such as global warming, etc.), there is a need for people of different races, religions, and even languages to unite and solve these global problems together. It is necessary that we, as human beings, stop thinking about our differences and start thinking about something we share - we share the same problems. And we need to solve them together.
I think one of the important factors causing the shootings, other than the concept of internationalization, would be the similarly radical Islam groups. Anders Breivik probably witnessed how violent the Islamic terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda were and feared an attack launched on Norway.
Another one would probably be being stereotypical of Muslims. He saw how the terrorist groups in the Middle East constantly threatened Israel and linked it back to his own country, Norway. He found out that there has been a sharp rising trend in the number of Muslims in Norway and, based on the stereotype that all Muslims are jihadists and radical, concluded that the Muslims were plotting to overtake Norway and destroy Christianity in Europe, just like what they had attempted to do in Israel.
Last but not least, I feel that he is paranoid. He suspected that the European Union was another move by the Muslims to invade Europe.
As the world goes towards internationalization, inevitably there would be a few people or groups of people that are radically conservative or perhaps even reactionary. This people will oppose any notions on internationalization and attempt to stop it through radical means such as bombing, massacres and so on. However, I believe that internationalization is one of the most important in today's society. With problems faced by mankind being more and more globalised (such as global warming, etc.), there is a need for people of different races, religions, and even languages to unite and solve these global problems together. It is necessary that we, as human beings, stop thinking about our differences and start thinking about something we share - we share the same problems. And we need to solve them together.
I think one of the important factors causing the shootings, other than the concept of internationalization, would be the similarly radical Islam groups. Anders Breivik probably witnessed how violent the Islamic terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda were and feared an attack launched on Norway.
Another one would probably be being stereotypical of Muslims. He saw how the terrorist groups in the Middle East constantly threatened Israel and linked it back to his own country, Norway. He found out that there has been a sharp rising trend in the number of Muslims in Norway and, based on the stereotype that all Muslims are jihadists and radical, concluded that the Muslims were plotting to overtake Norway and destroy Christianity in Europe, just like what they had attempted to do in Israel.
Last but not least, I feel that he is paranoid. He suspected that the European Union was another move by the Muslims to invade Europe.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Justice and Mercyyy
By the end of the trial scene, do you think true justice and mercy was achieved? Reflect and write on the following questions:
1. Is there true justice? Why?
2. Is there true mercy, as expounded by Portia? Why?
3. Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power. Comment on this with reference to the text and other real-life cases and examples.
Definition of Justice: the administering of deserved punishment or reward.
Definition of Mercy: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power
I think there was no true justice at the end of the trial scene. Although nothing at all on blood was written in the bond, and Portia's accusation of Shylock seemed logical and very valid, one must note that Antonio never thought of that as way to "launch a surprise counterattack" on Shylock. He simply accepted it because he was overconfident and believed that his ships would not sink. He had also been warned of the consequences by Shylock several times, and should have know better than to give Shylock a chance to take revenge on the insults he received from him. However, he accepted the bond without even a second thought. The fact that he never knew that the words on the bond could be used to "counterattack" Shylock as Portia did was proven by his speeches of despair in the beginning of the trial scene. Therefore, strictly speaking only from the views of the two (Shylock and Antonio) who signed the bond, the thought of blood being related to the bond never came across Antonio's mind, and Antonio can only blame himself for not being sharp enough and also, more importantly, being overconfident. One can consider all the events leading up to the trial scene as a Tic-Tac-Toe game, which both signers of the bond (Antonio and Shylock) are playing. By the time Antonio realised he was losing, it was too late, and it could be said that Shylock won the game fair and square (justice). However, a friend of Antonio, Portia suddenly comes in the picture and told Antonio another way to win the seeming lost game which Antonio himself never thought of. Antonio then won the game. If one were to compare the entire Tic-Tac-Toe game to the definition of justice, he/she would come to realise that true justice was definitely not achieved and if Antonio had lost, he deserved it. The only counterargument I can think of is that Antonio deserved to win as he was helpful and kind, and promised to help Bassanio and Bassanio was, coincidentally, the husband of Portia. But then again, it might be just because Antonio is proud.
I think that there is no true mercy at the end of the trial scene. The word "Mercy" means compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power. The word "Compassion" means a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. Let us look at Antonio in his "merciful release" of Shylock. Was he truly being compassionate? Was he sympathetic? Was he sorrowful? Was he really trying to "alleviate the suffering" of Shylock from the bottom of his heart?
Yes. In the text, Portia manipulates justice cleverly and subtly. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the totalitarian dictator Napoleon manipulates the Law for his own good, for example changing the law from "No animal should sleep on bed" to "No animal should sleep on bed with sheets" in order to satisfy his own desire to sleep on beds.
1. Is there true justice? Why?
2. Is there true mercy, as expounded by Portia? Why?
3. Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power. Comment on this with reference to the text and other real-life cases and examples.
Definition of Justice: the administering of deserved punishment or reward.
Definition of Mercy: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power
I think there was no true justice at the end of the trial scene. Although nothing at all on blood was written in the bond, and Portia's accusation of Shylock seemed logical and very valid, one must note that Antonio never thought of that as way to "launch a surprise counterattack" on Shylock. He simply accepted it because he was overconfident and believed that his ships would not sink. He had also been warned of the consequences by Shylock several times, and should have know better than to give Shylock a chance to take revenge on the insults he received from him. However, he accepted the bond without even a second thought. The fact that he never knew that the words on the bond could be used to "counterattack" Shylock as Portia did was proven by his speeches of despair in the beginning of the trial scene. Therefore, strictly speaking only from the views of the two (Shylock and Antonio) who signed the bond, the thought of blood being related to the bond never came across Antonio's mind, and Antonio can only blame himself for not being sharp enough and also, more importantly, being overconfident. One can consider all the events leading up to the trial scene as a Tic-Tac-Toe game, which both signers of the bond (Antonio and Shylock) are playing. By the time Antonio realised he was losing, it was too late, and it could be said that Shylock won the game fair and square (justice). However, a friend of Antonio, Portia suddenly comes in the picture and told Antonio another way to win the seeming lost game which Antonio himself never thought of. Antonio then won the game. If one were to compare the entire Tic-Tac-Toe game to the definition of justice, he/she would come to realise that true justice was definitely not achieved and if Antonio had lost, he deserved it. The only counterargument I can think of is that Antonio deserved to win as he was helpful and kind, and promised to help Bassanio and Bassanio was, coincidentally, the husband of Portia. But then again, it might be just because Antonio is proud.
I think that there is no true mercy at the end of the trial scene. The word "Mercy" means compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power. The word "Compassion" means a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. Let us look at Antonio in his "merciful release" of Shylock. Was he truly being compassionate? Was he sympathetic? Was he sorrowful? Was he really trying to "alleviate the suffering" of Shylock from the bottom of his heart?
Yes. In the text, Portia manipulates justice cleverly and subtly. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the totalitarian dictator Napoleon manipulates the Law for his own good, for example changing the law from "No animal should sleep on bed" to "No animal should sleep on bed with sheets" in order to satisfy his own desire to sleep on beds.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Education System
http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/07/12/an-open-letter-to-the-education-minister-from-a-secondary-4-student/
1)To what extent do you agree with the issues that the student has raised here? Point out some issues of agreement and possible contention.
2)Examine her tone and attitude in this letter. Do you think it’s a well-crafted letter with the appropriate tone?
3)If you should write a letter to Minister of Education, what are some issues you would raise? Remember- your intention is to make the system better for society’s betterment via CONSTRUCTIVE ideas.
1)I agree to a great extent with her points.
She wrote in the letter that she preferred the Dictionary.com definition of education to the definition found in the most commonly used Cambridge dictionary. Yet, if we were to scrutinise the definitions, we would find out that they are basically the same.
Cambridge defined education as: the process of teaching or learning in a school or college, or the knowledge that you get from this. The key word here is LEARN.
What is to learn? Why is there a need to learn? How do we learn? And most importantly, what do we learn?
'Learn' is defined, by the Cambridge dictionary, as: to get KNOWLEDGE or SKILL in a new subject or activity. Dictionary.com defined it as :to acquire KNOWLEDGE of or SKILL in by study, instruction, or experience.
I experienced the education system before (and is still experiencing it) and there are countless examples on my education till now, many of which are similar to the ones she raised.
I remembered, for one of the science tests, there was a question: Why can't carbon form an ionic bond with oxygen (or something along those lines)? The answer (absurd-sounding to me) was that carbon is a group 4 element and that oxygen is one from group 6 in the periodic table. It made me ponder: Why can't the group 4 elements form an ionic bond with the group 6 elements? Is there some sort of qualities related to bonding of chemicals that classify elements into groups? Of course, school never thought me that, otherwise I would never have been asking myself that question. All we were told to do was to memorise, to cram the information into our poor minds.
Of course, though, I can raise some counterexamples. One would be that the when we ask 'why?' during the lessons, they would either give us an answer or (most probably) encourage us to research on that topic if we are interested. This shows that the teachers still do believe in satisfying the students' curiousity, by giving a logically valid answer, unlike the point she brought on the teachers only having a "Cambridge wants this, so we will give them this" attitude of teaching.
Till now, you must have realised that there are still 2 questions on learning that are yet to be answered.
I believe, that if there were to be a question in any sort of test paper that asks "Why is there a need to learn?", the model answer would probably be: Because we are students. But if you were to think deeply, you would come to the answer that: Because we are the future of the world.
Future of the world, so what do we need? Apart from knowledge, we need skills. Lots of skills. Analytical skills, critical thinking skill, etc. We also need good morals. How do we learn to have a good character? By watching acts of the morally upright, in this case teachers, parents and seniors must set good examples, and emulating them, which brings us to another point that I agreed with her: The flaw of the Civics and Moral Education in the timetable.
Which leaves us with one last question: How do we learn? And the answer should be: Through our education system.
2)I believe that it is a fairly well crafted letter, though there are still flaws in my opinion.
The structure of the letter is rather flawed. She should, in my humble opinion, place the example of how the education is placing the importance of factual memorisation over the usage of skills and creative thinking in the foremost part of the letter. The she can go on with explaining how important curiousity is. Also, i think that she did not explain how curiousity (or any other skills that she did not mention) is important in the development of a first world country. She should also give some examples on the education of technologically advanced first world countries like Japan and Korea. As for her second point, I feel that she did not state the right way to teach students to be morally upright people in the future.
Next, regarding the tone of the letter, though the way she put it is rather rude considering that the receiver of her letter is an education minister, I ind it fairly acceptable.
3)I will raise the issues she did.
1)To what extent do you agree with the issues that the student has raised here? Point out some issues of agreement and possible contention.
2)Examine her tone and attitude in this letter. Do you think it’s a well-crafted letter with the appropriate tone?
3)If you should write a letter to Minister of Education, what are some issues you would raise? Remember- your intention is to make the system better for society’s betterment via CONSTRUCTIVE ideas.
1)I agree to a great extent with her points.
She wrote in the letter that she preferred the Dictionary.com definition of education to the definition found in the most commonly used Cambridge dictionary. Yet, if we were to scrutinise the definitions, we would find out that they are basically the same.
Cambridge defined education as: the process of teaching or learning in a school or college, or the knowledge that you get from this. The key word here is LEARN.
What is to learn? Why is there a need to learn? How do we learn? And most importantly, what do we learn?
'Learn' is defined, by the Cambridge dictionary, as: to get KNOWLEDGE or SKILL in a new subject or activity. Dictionary.com defined it as :to acquire KNOWLEDGE of or SKILL in by study, instruction, or experience.
I experienced the education system before (and is still experiencing it) and there are countless examples on my education till now, many of which are similar to the ones she raised.
I remembered, for one of the science tests, there was a question: Why can't carbon form an ionic bond with oxygen (or something along those lines)? The answer (absurd-sounding to me) was that carbon is a group 4 element and that oxygen is one from group 6 in the periodic table. It made me ponder: Why can't the group 4 elements form an ionic bond with the group 6 elements? Is there some sort of qualities related to bonding of chemicals that classify elements into groups? Of course, school never thought me that, otherwise I would never have been asking myself that question. All we were told to do was to memorise, to cram the information into our poor minds.
Of course, though, I can raise some counterexamples. One would be that the when we ask 'why?' during the lessons, they would either give us an answer or (most probably) encourage us to research on that topic if we are interested. This shows that the teachers still do believe in satisfying the students' curiousity, by giving a logically valid answer, unlike the point she brought on the teachers only having a "Cambridge wants this, so we will give them this" attitude of teaching.
Till now, you must have realised that there are still 2 questions on learning that are yet to be answered.
I believe, that if there were to be a question in any sort of test paper that asks "Why is there a need to learn?", the model answer would probably be: Because we are students. But if you were to think deeply, you would come to the answer that: Because we are the future of the world.
Future of the world, so what do we need? Apart from knowledge, we need skills. Lots of skills. Analytical skills, critical thinking skill, etc. We also need good morals. How do we learn to have a good character? By watching acts of the morally upright, in this case teachers, parents and seniors must set good examples, and emulating them, which brings us to another point that I agreed with her: The flaw of the Civics and Moral Education in the timetable.
Which leaves us with one last question: How do we learn? And the answer should be: Through our education system.
2)I believe that it is a fairly well crafted letter, though there are still flaws in my opinion.
The structure of the letter is rather flawed. She should, in my humble opinion, place the example of how the education is placing the importance of factual memorisation over the usage of skills and creative thinking in the foremost part of the letter. The she can go on with explaining how important curiousity is. Also, i think that she did not explain how curiousity (or any other skills that she did not mention) is important in the development of a first world country. She should also give some examples on the education of technologically advanced first world countries like Japan and Korea. As for her second point, I feel that she did not state the right way to teach students to be morally upright people in the future.
Next, regarding the tone of the letter, though the way she put it is rather rude considering that the receiver of her letter is an education minister, I ind it fairly acceptable.
3)I will raise the issues she did.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Love vs Money
1)In your opinion, is money important in a relationship? Consider the 'transactional' element observed in the relationships between the couples.
2)Do you think there is an upward trend of relationships and marriages valuing money over other qualities? Provide examples for your responses.
1)I feel that, although money is an important factor to consider in a relationship, I do not think that it is most important.
I believe, the essence of whether of not to be in a relationship is whether you would be happy. After all, you would most probably be living with that person forever. If you do not truly love that person and do not feel happy when being together with him/her, the marriage would be pointless, and you will spend the next half of your life locked up in chains of regret.
A true couple must be one where both people are willing to sacrifice their own interests for each other. However, when you value money over anything else in a relationship, then it would be incredibly one-sided, with the other party(provided he/she actually truly loves you) constantly supplying you with money and you doing nothing in return. Of course, you would love the truckloads of cash entering your bank account, but soon you will become more and move ambitious later and eventually you would remarry to another person with more money, with the obvious purpose of being a parasite - feeding on his/her money. Is that called true love? Would you be truly satisfied by just being with that person?
Furthermore even if you truly love that person, just that you place money over love, that person would be working all day and night just to satisfy your desires. We all know, love takes time to actually manifest itself, and if your lover has absolutely no time to spend with you as all his/her time is wasted on trying to earn money, would you be truly happy in the end? Probably after a few years both of you would, despite being a couple, hardly speak to each other anymore, and the love gradually fades.
Of course, in the materialistic society of today, money is definitely required, whether to satisfy the basic needs or the perhaps unnecessary wants, but I still believe, that happiness and love is the ultimate goal of a relationship.
2)Yes, I do. As our society becomes increasingly materialistic, where people would work all day just to earn a few pieces of metal, true love is definitely becoming more and more overlooked. Romance and stuff like Romeo and Juliet would probably be laughed at by people, thinking that love is a foolish, unwanted and completely redundant feeling. As for examples, I think statistics speak for themselves. As people get more and more affluent, they would get faster cars, larger houses. However, the gap between the rich and poor would widen dramatically and cause the poor to have worse living conditions than before. Choosing between having a partner as a rich and as a poor would basically be equivalent to choosing between heaven and hell.
2)Do you think there is an upward trend of relationships and marriages valuing money over other qualities? Provide examples for your responses.
1)I feel that, although money is an important factor to consider in a relationship, I do not think that it is most important.
I believe, the essence of whether of not to be in a relationship is whether you would be happy. After all, you would most probably be living with that person forever. If you do not truly love that person and do not feel happy when being together with him/her, the marriage would be pointless, and you will spend the next half of your life locked up in chains of regret.
A true couple must be one where both people are willing to sacrifice their own interests for each other. However, when you value money over anything else in a relationship, then it would be incredibly one-sided, with the other party(provided he/she actually truly loves you) constantly supplying you with money and you doing nothing in return. Of course, you would love the truckloads of cash entering your bank account, but soon you will become more and move ambitious later and eventually you would remarry to another person with more money, with the obvious purpose of being a parasite - feeding on his/her money. Is that called true love? Would you be truly satisfied by just being with that person?
Furthermore even if you truly love that person, just that you place money over love, that person would be working all day and night just to satisfy your desires. We all know, love takes time to actually manifest itself, and if your lover has absolutely no time to spend with you as all his/her time is wasted on trying to earn money, would you be truly happy in the end? Probably after a few years both of you would, despite being a couple, hardly speak to each other anymore, and the love gradually fades.
Of course, in the materialistic society of today, money is definitely required, whether to satisfy the basic needs or the perhaps unnecessary wants, but I still believe, that happiness and love is the ultimate goal of a relationship.
2)Yes, I do. As our society becomes increasingly materialistic, where people would work all day just to earn a few pieces of metal, true love is definitely becoming more and more overlooked. Romance and stuff like Romeo and Juliet would probably be laughed at by people, thinking that love is a foolish, unwanted and completely redundant feeling. As for examples, I think statistics speak for themselves. As people get more and more affluent, they would get faster cars, larger houses. However, the gap between the rich and poor would widen dramatically and cause the poor to have worse living conditions than before. Choosing between having a partner as a rich and as a poor would basically be equivalent to choosing between heaven and hell.
Monday, July 11, 2011
The evolution of war
Points
Who?
Soldiers: No fixed army (even mercenaries) -> Professional soldiers (NS)
- Recruitment: Anyone welcome -> Satisfy specific requirements
- Organisation: No organisation -> Complex organising of soldiers
Civilians: Neutral -> Occasionally siding a group
Where?
Location: Land -> Land, air, sea
- Specific location: Within continent -> World wide (WWII)
-- Battles: Targeting cities -> Targeting cities and key resources(oil fields)
--- Location: Anywhere -> Edge given to the defenders (high ground)
What/How?
Strategies: Not much tactical maneuver -> deceptive wars
Technology: Relatively weak equipment -> Much stronger equipment
- Weapons: prehistoric weapons (sword) -> modern weapons (rocket launchers)
-- Types: Melee, ranged -> Ranged and other deadly weapons (bio weapons etc)
- Communications: Shouting -> Codes
Why?
Purpose: World domination -> Defending of territories
-- Peace: When both sides are unable to fight on -> Whenever if possible (peace keeping agencies)
Conclusion:
- technological advancements
- More experience with wars
- evolution caused by more wars
Who?
Soldiers: No fixed army (even mercenaries) -> Professional soldiers (NS)
- Recruitment: Anyone welcome -> Satisfy specific requirements
- Organisation: No organisation -> Complex organising of soldiers
Civilians: Neutral -> Occasionally siding a group
Where?
Location: Land -> Land, air, sea
- Specific location: Within continent -> World wide (WWII)
-- Battles: Targeting cities -> Targeting cities and key resources(oil fields)
--- Location: Anywhere -> Edge given to the defenders (high ground)
What/How?
Strategies: Not much tactical maneuver -> deceptive wars
Technology: Relatively weak equipment -> Much stronger equipment
- Weapons: prehistoric weapons (sword) -> modern weapons (rocket launchers)
-- Types: Melee, ranged -> Ranged and other deadly weapons (bio weapons etc)
- Communications: Shouting -> Codes
Why?
Purpose: World domination -> Defending of territories
-- Peace: When both sides are unable to fight on -> Whenever if possible (peace keeping agencies)
Conclusion:
- technological advancements
- More experience with wars
- evolution caused by more wars
Monday, June 27, 2011
Patriotism
Q1. We need young men to do national service annually. Why do you think national service is compulsory in Singapore and why is this important?
Q2. In the above poem, the speaker expresses his love for his country, England. Do you have this same spirit of patriotism towards Singapore? Why?
Q3. Do you find this same spirit of patriotism in Singapore?
Q1. Singapore is small and without natural resources to sustain itself, therefore it can be viewed as vulnerable to attacks and sieges. Constantly forcing young men to do national service can strengthen the military forces so as to be able to fend off attacks. National service also imbued a sense of willingness to defend Singapore, as the men would go through hardships together and bonds would be forged between them. They would finish off their service as good friends, and would be more than willing to defend their homeland, where their families and friends belong. Lastly, national service pushes these men to their physical and mental limits, training their endurance and therefore allowing them (as the future of Singapore) to be better equipped to empower their country and to allow it to soar into greater heights.
Q2. In the poem, the poet conveys a sort of radical and perhaps exaggerated view of patriotism. His patriotism went as far as to declare that his homeland, England, is heaven. Perhaps that might not be his actual thoughts, since he wrote that poem just to urge his comrades to defend England with all their might, and inorder to achieve this objective, exaggeration might be necessary. Since the poem might be an exaggeration, it is obvious that I would not share such radical sentiments, however i do feel a sense of patriotism towards Singapore, undeniably.
Q3. Today is a special day. As one walk on the pavement of a typical neighbourhood, he would be able to see people, clad in red shirts and white shorts, walking about. As one looks up, apart from the familiar sights of bamboo poles sticking out of the towering HDB flats, he would be able to see flags hanging out of every unit. Red on top, white below. A moon on the left of the red portion, right of the moon there are 5 stars, arranged in such a way that if there were lines to connect them together, one would be looking at a large star, or even a pentagon. As one walks past his neighbour's unit, he would be able to hear cheers. if he were to be piqued by curiousity, and were to look the screen of the neighbour's television, he would be looking at large groups of people, marching in an orderly manner. Some of them in the army costume, some in the police uniform, some carrying banners. When he suddenly began wondering what day is it, and why it is so special, he would take out his phone and take a look at the calendar. Then, the date, obviously, is 9 August.
That, is patriotism in Singapore
Q2. In the above poem, the speaker expresses his love for his country, England. Do you have this same spirit of patriotism towards Singapore? Why?
Q3. Do you find this same spirit of patriotism in Singapore?
Q1. Singapore is small and without natural resources to sustain itself, therefore it can be viewed as vulnerable to attacks and sieges. Constantly forcing young men to do national service can strengthen the military forces so as to be able to fend off attacks. National service also imbued a sense of willingness to defend Singapore, as the men would go through hardships together and bonds would be forged between them. They would finish off their service as good friends, and would be more than willing to defend their homeland, where their families and friends belong. Lastly, national service pushes these men to their physical and mental limits, training their endurance and therefore allowing them (as the future of Singapore) to be better equipped to empower their country and to allow it to soar into greater heights.
Q2. In the poem, the poet conveys a sort of radical and perhaps exaggerated view of patriotism. His patriotism went as far as to declare that his homeland, England, is heaven. Perhaps that might not be his actual thoughts, since he wrote that poem just to urge his comrades to defend England with all their might, and inorder to achieve this objective, exaggeration might be necessary. Since the poem might be an exaggeration, it is obvious that I would not share such radical sentiments, however i do feel a sense of patriotism towards Singapore, undeniably.
Q3. Today is a special day. As one walk on the pavement of a typical neighbourhood, he would be able to see people, clad in red shirts and white shorts, walking about. As one looks up, apart from the familiar sights of bamboo poles sticking out of the towering HDB flats, he would be able to see flags hanging out of every unit. Red on top, white below. A moon on the left of the red portion, right of the moon there are 5 stars, arranged in such a way that if there were lines to connect them together, one would be looking at a large star, or even a pentagon. As one walks past his neighbour's unit, he would be able to hear cheers. if he were to be piqued by curiousity, and were to look the screen of the neighbour's television, he would be looking at large groups of people, marching in an orderly manner. Some of them in the army costume, some in the police uniform, some carrying banners. When he suddenly began wondering what day is it, and why it is so special, he would take out his phone and take a look at the calendar. Then, the date, obviously, is 9 August.
That, is patriotism in Singapore
Monday, June 6, 2011
Book Review: The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is written by Alexander Dumas, around 1844. Set in the late 1620s, it revolves around the friendship of 4 men: D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. The adventures of these friends are continued in Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later. These three novels are known together as D'Artagnan Romances.
D'Artagnan, a young man from Glascony, leaves his hometown in search of a better life as a Musketeer in Paris. Upon arrival, he got into trouble and was challenged to three duels with three Musketeers by the names of Athos, Porthos and Aramis respectively. However, neither of the Musketeers know that the other had already challenged D'Artagnan to a duel. D'Artagnan realised that they were friends and together they fought off the guards of The Cardinal who were attempting to arrest them for illegal fighting. The four became friends after the incident. Then, he met Constance Bonacieux, the pretty wife of his landlord, and fell in love with her. Constance Bonacieux was the personal assistant of the queen, who was in a fragile position, and D'Artagnan volunteered to help the queen in order to gain love from Constance. Soon, he was drawn into a complex power struggle involving the queen, the Cardinal, who was attempting to remove the queen from power, and the lover of the queen, the Duke of Buckingham. He quickly developed a crush on Milady de Winter, whom he then known to be the Cardinal's agent. He unintentionally found out that Milady was a felon and Milady wanted him killed, for she did not want anyone to know of that. Meanwhile, Constance was captured by the Cardinal but the queen managed to rescue her and hid her in a Covent. Milady tried various methods to kill D'Artagnan, but her plans were foiled by the three Musketeers (Athos, Porthos and Aramis). She was then ordered by the Cardinal to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham, but the Musketeers overheard their plans and sent a letter to the Lord de Winter, warning him of Milady. Lord de Winter then had Milady captured and placed in a prison, but Milady managed to seduce the prison guard, and manipulated him to assassinate the Duke. She then escaped back to France, and coincidentally to the Covent Constance was in. She poisoned Constance as an act of vengeance against D'Artagnan. D'Artagnan and the Musketeers the had her caught, tried and executed. The four then broke up and led the lives of their own.
This story is worth reading as it combines love, friendship and battles of wit. It also has a historical setting which appeals to readers interested in France and England in the 1600s. Furthermore, parts of the story showcase the witty remarks made by the characters, some of which can be hilarious.
D'Artagnan, a young man from Glascony, leaves his hometown in search of a better life as a Musketeer in Paris. Upon arrival, he got into trouble and was challenged to three duels with three Musketeers by the names of Athos, Porthos and Aramis respectively. However, neither of the Musketeers know that the other had already challenged D'Artagnan to a duel. D'Artagnan realised that they were friends and together they fought off the guards of The Cardinal who were attempting to arrest them for illegal fighting. The four became friends after the incident. Then, he met Constance Bonacieux, the pretty wife of his landlord, and fell in love with her. Constance Bonacieux was the personal assistant of the queen, who was in a fragile position, and D'Artagnan volunteered to help the queen in order to gain love from Constance. Soon, he was drawn into a complex power struggle involving the queen, the Cardinal, who was attempting to remove the queen from power, and the lover of the queen, the Duke of Buckingham. He quickly developed a crush on Milady de Winter, whom he then known to be the Cardinal's agent. He unintentionally found out that Milady was a felon and Milady wanted him killed, for she did not want anyone to know of that. Meanwhile, Constance was captured by the Cardinal but the queen managed to rescue her and hid her in a Covent. Milady tried various methods to kill D'Artagnan, but her plans were foiled by the three Musketeers (Athos, Porthos and Aramis). She was then ordered by the Cardinal to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham, but the Musketeers overheard their plans and sent a letter to the Lord de Winter, warning him of Milady. Lord de Winter then had Milady captured and placed in a prison, but Milady managed to seduce the prison guard, and manipulated him to assassinate the Duke. She then escaped back to France, and coincidentally to the Covent Constance was in. She poisoned Constance as an act of vengeance against D'Artagnan. D'Artagnan and the Musketeers the had her caught, tried and executed. The four then broke up and led the lives of their own.
This story is worth reading as it combines love, friendship and battles of wit. It also has a historical setting which appeals to readers interested in France and England in the 1600s. Furthermore, parts of the story showcase the witty remarks made by the characters, some of which can be hilarious.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Online Lesson
Poem:We Slept With Our Boots On
Task 1
Poet:Steve Carlsen
Born and currently living in Dowagiac, Michigan(somewhere in America), Steve Carlsen joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He was deployed to various places such as Kosovo and Afganistan. He was discharged from the army in 2003, and has been attending Southwestern Michigan College since then. Throughout the poem, he hints on his occupation in the army-a paratrooper.
The poem is obviously about Steve Carlsen's personal experiences in war, so the conflict represented can only be the Afgan war (he only aided in peace-keeping in Kosovo, so it is not considered a war). Another clue that points us to the Afgan War would be the mention of "Hindu Kush" in the poem. The Hindu Kush is a mountain range that stretches from central Afganistan to northen Parkistan.
The Afgan war started in 2001, and has yet to be ended. It started as a direct result of the September 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre. On 7 October 2001, armed forces of America, Britain and the Afgan United Front launched as assault on southern Afganistan, with the objective of eliminating the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda, suspects of masterminding the bombing of the World Trade Centre and also removing the autocratic Taliban regime. Massive air raids were launched, and within a matter of weeks the Taliban regime was ousted and a Democratic republic was established. However, the other objective of this war was not achieved. To make matters worse, the Taliban still lurks in some parts of Afganistan, incessantly launching insurgents and constantly harassing and threatening to overthrow the government.
Task 2
Point of view: The point of view presented here is that of a soldier, or more specifically a paratrooper. Throughout the poem, the poet managed to show vividly his experiences in war, from what he sees to what he hears and even what he feels. These experiences are unique to soldiers, therefore I did not experience it beforehand. However, upon reading the poem, I was plunged to the scene of war-injured and dead lying on the floor, orders barked from my superiors, and the inevitable feeling of excitement tinged with dread upon being ordered to fight. The poet managed to maintain this sort of connection with the reader from the start to the end, showcasing the experiences of people in the very core of war-the soldiers.
Situation and setting: The war was set in Afganistan, in a particular range of mountains known as the Hindu Kush.
Language/Diction: The poem was written in simple language, and the poet seemed to be 'talking' to you through the poem. There was one instance where the word 'you' was mentioned, referring to the reader. Also, there was a part where the poet wrote down exactly what his superiors said. All these allowed me to personally feel the chaos during the battles, the incessant barking, shouting, gunshots, the murky fields and steep mountains the soldiers have to overcome, and so on. The poet wanted this to be formated in a sort of 'conversation', where the where he can share his first-hand experiences in a way much closer to the reader so that the reader would get to understand his pains. Nevertheless, the poet still managed to illustrate the battles quite vividly.
Personal response: This poem holds a realistic view of the war, not glorifying war, not criticising war. Steve Carlsen personally experienced war, and wrote this poem based on his memory. Instead of another poem critising war, where poets would only showcase the banes of war and never the benefits, or a poem glorifying war, where poets in control of an imperialist would dump all the benefits of war into one poem that would make your blood boil, this poem only talks about the experiences of soldiers. Although this poem has a slightly negative connotation of war (as life of a soldier is indeed tough), it actually brings out an important point in war, or in general every hardship faced in life, that bonds would be made, and on friendships that would last forever.
Task 1
Poet:Steve Carlsen
Born and currently living in Dowagiac, Michigan(somewhere in America), Steve Carlsen joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He was deployed to various places such as Kosovo and Afganistan. He was discharged from the army in 2003, and has been attending Southwestern Michigan College since then. Throughout the poem, he hints on his occupation in the army-a paratrooper.
The poem is obviously about Steve Carlsen's personal experiences in war, so the conflict represented can only be the Afgan war (he only aided in peace-keeping in Kosovo, so it is not considered a war). Another clue that points us to the Afgan War would be the mention of "Hindu Kush" in the poem. The Hindu Kush is a mountain range that stretches from central Afganistan to northen Parkistan.
The Afgan war started in 2001, and has yet to be ended. It started as a direct result of the September 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre. On 7 October 2001, armed forces of America, Britain and the Afgan United Front launched as assault on southern Afganistan, with the objective of eliminating the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda, suspects of masterminding the bombing of the World Trade Centre and also removing the autocratic Taliban regime. Massive air raids were launched, and within a matter of weeks the Taliban regime was ousted and a Democratic republic was established. However, the other objective of this war was not achieved. To make matters worse, the Taliban still lurks in some parts of Afganistan, incessantly launching insurgents and constantly harassing and threatening to overthrow the government.
Task 2
Point of view: The point of view presented here is that of a soldier, or more specifically a paratrooper. Throughout the poem, the poet managed to show vividly his experiences in war, from what he sees to what he hears and even what he feels. These experiences are unique to soldiers, therefore I did not experience it beforehand. However, upon reading the poem, I was plunged to the scene of war-injured and dead lying on the floor, orders barked from my superiors, and the inevitable feeling of excitement tinged with dread upon being ordered to fight. The poet managed to maintain this sort of connection with the reader from the start to the end, showcasing the experiences of people in the very core of war-the soldiers.
Situation and setting: The war was set in Afganistan, in a particular range of mountains known as the Hindu Kush.
Language/Diction: The poem was written in simple language, and the poet seemed to be 'talking' to you through the poem. There was one instance where the word 'you' was mentioned, referring to the reader. Also, there was a part where the poet wrote down exactly what his superiors said. All these allowed me to personally feel the chaos during the battles, the incessant barking, shouting, gunshots, the murky fields and steep mountains the soldiers have to overcome, and so on. The poet wanted this to be formated in a sort of 'conversation', where the where he can share his first-hand experiences in a way much closer to the reader so that the reader would get to understand his pains. Nevertheless, the poet still managed to illustrate the battles quite vividly.
Personal response: This poem holds a realistic view of the war, not glorifying war, not criticising war. Steve Carlsen personally experienced war, and wrote this poem based on his memory. Instead of another poem critising war, where poets would only showcase the banes of war and never the benefits, or a poem glorifying war, where poets in control of an imperialist would dump all the benefits of war into one poem that would make your blood boil, this poem only talks about the experiences of soldiers. Although this poem has a slightly negative connotation of war (as life of a soldier is indeed tough), it actually brings out an important point in war, or in general every hardship faced in life, that bonds would be made, and on friendships that would last forever.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
War-A personal response
The sky was full of loud bangs, like the roar of the devil; incessant, yet clear cracking sounds, sounds of evil laughing sadistically; and occasionally whizzing sounds, sounds of a swarm of sinister bees plaguing the battlefield. The battlefield literally turned into a cage of smoke, where no one can escape. Lights and fire lit up the cage, but were unable to make it any less ominous. The smell of gunpowder was the insidious, poisonous breathe, whoever who smelt it would die instantly. Inside, the people fought, but they know they would never escape from the monstrous and boundless hand of the devil. They knew it. They would all die...Maybe they would have preferred to die. Maybe they were already dead, because there was no difference between hell and the battlefield...
Beside the scattered debris of the once magnificent apartment, were three soldiers. Two of them were squatting, one with his eyes darting from left to right, obviously on a lookout of attackers. Another was, however, attending to a soldier lying, gravely injured, on the floor. His fare bore mixed expressions of fear and anxiety. The soldier lying on the floor had blood appearing from his nose. His breathing was faint and irregular, it was like as though he had just ran a marathon. His eyes were wide open, pupils dilated. His mouth was agape. A bullet, like the devil's claws, had shot him. Every second, his desperate cling on life becomes weaker. He would be gone soon. Very soon...
The blood from his nose gradually oozed down his pale cheeks, his dark green army attire, and down to the brown soil, and green grass.
When would this war end? When would this pointless bloodshed cease? No one would know. But, we all know something. We all know that the blood would turn the whole battlefield scarlet red...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8492000/8492777.stm - first image
Beside the scattered debris of the once magnificent apartment, were three soldiers. Two of them were squatting, one with his eyes darting from left to right, obviously on a lookout of attackers. Another was, however, attending to a soldier lying, gravely injured, on the floor. His fare bore mixed expressions of fear and anxiety. The soldier lying on the floor had blood appearing from his nose. His breathing was faint and irregular, it was like as though he had just ran a marathon. His eyes were wide open, pupils dilated. His mouth was agape. A bullet, like the devil's claws, had shot him. Every second, his desperate cling on life becomes weaker. He would be gone soon. Very soon...
The blood from his nose gradually oozed down his pale cheeks, his dark green army attire, and down to the brown soil, and green grass.
When would this war end? When would this pointless bloodshed cease? No one would know. But, we all know something. We all know that the blood would turn the whole battlefield scarlet red...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8492000/8492777.stm - first image
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Letter
Clementi Ave 5 Blk 381, #06-392
Singapore 120381
Dear Mr Jones,
I am Wang Shaodian, from Singapore. From your recent news report, I gathered that you are having a hard time in the city of Tokyo. There was shortage of food, and you had to be constantly fearful of the nuclear threat, and also of the tsunami. Yes, I agree full heartedly that life there is incredibly hard, and therefore I am writing this letter you encourage you to fight on against the possible advancing nuclear threat, despite the shortage of food.
The title of your news report suggests the ominous truth. But I would like to tell you, to encourage you, to give you hope. I do not want the beautiful and majestic metropolis of Tokyo to be destroyed, and the spirit of the Japanese to be flushed down by the colossal tides. Neither do I want it to be engulfed by the looming cloud of nuclear radiation.
I want you people to stand tall, to stand proud in the face of adversary, like a Great Oak Tree. The wind blows, but you will never fall down. The fire burns you into damp black coal, but after a while you will see the same old tree standing at the exact same spot, so grand, and so young. Rain, snow gradually cover the entire surrounding landscape, but the tree will still remain standing, lone , calm, and strong.
That is the human spirit. That is the human passion, the human instinct to survive.
A single human being is a lone candle. A large group of human beings would be a forest fire. They bring warmth, they bring hope. Their radiant light shine through the murky, dubious future. Their warmth encapsule every single human being, like a rocket, one that would lead the human race out of its current crisis.
And I want you to be the lone candle. The one that would lead to a forest fire. The one that would touch every single human being, even every single animal in the devastated city of Tokyo. The one that would tide the city over its crisis. The one that you neighbours currently need.
Give them the eternal light. Give them hope, and they will all survive.
And, trust me, one day, you would see light shining so brilliantly, so beautifully from the equally brilliant, equally beautiful city of Tokyo. And I mean literally.
May your candle light the dark room in your house. And then the entire city of Tokyo.
Thank you
Wang Shaodian
PS. Do not take this seriously, thanks
Singapore 120381
Dear Mr Jones,
I am Wang Shaodian, from Singapore. From your recent news report, I gathered that you are having a hard time in the city of Tokyo. There was shortage of food, and you had to be constantly fearful of the nuclear threat, and also of the tsunami. Yes, I agree full heartedly that life there is incredibly hard, and therefore I am writing this letter you encourage you to fight on against the possible advancing nuclear threat, despite the shortage of food.
The title of your news report suggests the ominous truth. But I would like to tell you, to encourage you, to give you hope. I do not want the beautiful and majestic metropolis of Tokyo to be destroyed, and the spirit of the Japanese to be flushed down by the colossal tides. Neither do I want it to be engulfed by the looming cloud of nuclear radiation.
I want you people to stand tall, to stand proud in the face of adversary, like a Great Oak Tree. The wind blows, but you will never fall down. The fire burns you into damp black coal, but after a while you will see the same old tree standing at the exact same spot, so grand, and so young. Rain, snow gradually cover the entire surrounding landscape, but the tree will still remain standing, lone , calm, and strong.
That is the human spirit. That is the human passion, the human instinct to survive.
A single human being is a lone candle. A large group of human beings would be a forest fire. They bring warmth, they bring hope. Their radiant light shine through the murky, dubious future. Their warmth encapsule every single human being, like a rocket, one that would lead the human race out of its current crisis.
And I want you to be the lone candle. The one that would lead to a forest fire. The one that would touch every single human being, even every single animal in the devastated city of Tokyo. The one that would tide the city over its crisis. The one that you neighbours currently need.
Give them the eternal light. Give them hope, and they will all survive.
And, trust me, one day, you would see light shining so brilliantly, so beautifully from the equally brilliant, equally beautiful city of Tokyo. And I mean literally.
May your candle light the dark room in your house. And then the entire city of Tokyo.
Thank you
Wang Shaodian
PS. Do not take this seriously, thanks
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The rainbow
The rainbow is beautiful, yet deadly. Throughout history, millions were sacrificed because of this particular mixture of colours. It is one of the main reasons for the emergence of the contemporary world. A learner of history would most definitely be allured by its seductive pleas. And so, more and more will die under the multicoloured blade of this mysterious wonder, and the shade of red will become darker...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
This is quite noob.
Note: This is merely a story.
Silence. The room was so silent that one could even hear a pin drop. The only source of noise was the clock on the wall ticking. Everyone seated in the room were staring at him, curious to know what would be his answer to the question posted to him. 50 pairs of eyes were all staring at one person. The person was a tall middle-aged man, seated on a chair in front of all of them. His head was bowed, and no one could see the expression on his face. However, everyone could feel it. If the Mars would give you a triumphant feeling, this particular person would give you a feeling of defeat, and loss. It was like as though he had the aura of defeat. Only someone who had experienced defeat equal to his would be able to empathize with him. And of course, no one in the room, perhaps not even a single one in the world, could.
The 50 people in the room waited, their interest never seeming to vanish. Then, after what seemed like eternity, the man lifted his head up, his handsome features completely covered by the expression of grief. His tear-rimmed eyes were bloodshot, and his face was so contorted in anguish that he did not even look like a human being. Then he opened his mouth and spoke. "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I” He could not resist any longer, and broke down into tears. “I believed in Malaysian merger and unity of the two territories. You know that we, as a people are connected by geography, economics, by ties of kinship... It literally broke everything that we stood for.... Now, I, Lee Kuan Yew, as Prime Minister of Singapore, in this current capacity of mine do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf of the people and the Government of Singapore that as from today, the ninth day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five, Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people in a most and just equal society." It did not sound like a speech at all. It sounded like the song sang at the funeral. The people in the press conference could not hold back their tears either. Soon, rivulets of tears were spotted on the floor. The clock stopped ticking too.
The man was none other than Lee Kuan Yew.
After the press conference, Lee Kuan Yew did not go home. He went to the beach. He sat down on the sand and sighed. He did not feel that he was sitting on sand. He felt like as though his was sitting on mud, and that he was trapped there permanently. He glanced up at the jet black sky in hope of inspiration, and his reply was the completely black, boundless cage which he was trapped in, condemned forever he was. There was no hope, just like there was not an iota of light in the gloomy sky. He glanced at the sea, hoping to find land, but none there were. The cold wind blew. His hair was blown back by the wind. His shirt, too. It was like as though they were trying to abandon him, to escape from this world of impossibilities. He wanted to, too. But he couldn’t. If the problems were the wind, there was a massive and incredibly heavy rock on his back, almost pinning him on to the ground, forcing him to face the problems. He sighed, again. He could not escape from these responsibilities, even though he would love to. He finally said this question out loud, looking at the abyss above, “What should we do?” And he still did not know. He thought he never would. It was helpless, and hopeless. He looked around for a source of inspiration he thought he would never find.
But he did. Somehow he did.
The cold wind grew bigger. The waves got bigger, too. He suddenly had a random thought. Why wasn’t this beach destroyed, even until now? The waves are so big! He realized something. This is a Singaporean beach! The land of Singapore was not destroyed by these great waves, so does that mean that Singapore is destined to survive? His jaw dropped. It took him long enough to understand this simple concept. Somehow, just somehow, it will survive. I’m sure it will. He paused for a while. Then, he let loose a roar, a roar of sheer joy. He did not have the physical strength of a lion, but this roar was certainly louder and much more powerful than that of even 10 lions.
Because he represents the lion city!
The cold wind got colder now. But coldness was the last thing he felt. He was sweating all over.
Because of his fiery passion!
He suddenly felt proud to be serving the Singapore he is living in.
He did not sleep that night. Who could?
Dawn. The Sun rose up, slowly yet steadily. The red giant seemed to bear the same shade of colour as the red in the Singapore flag. We all know that, when a Sun is going to rise up, nothing will stop it.
And it turned out that Singapore was destined to survive.
Silence. The room was so silent that one could even hear a pin drop. The only source of noise was the clock on the wall ticking. Everyone seated in the room were staring at him, curious to know what would be his answer to the question posted to him. 50 pairs of eyes were all staring at one person. The person was a tall middle-aged man, seated on a chair in front of all of them. His head was bowed, and no one could see the expression on his face. However, everyone could feel it. If the Mars would give you a triumphant feeling, this particular person would give you a feeling of defeat, and loss. It was like as though he had the aura of defeat. Only someone who had experienced defeat equal to his would be able to empathize with him. And of course, no one in the room, perhaps not even a single one in the world, could.
The 50 people in the room waited, their interest never seeming to vanish. Then, after what seemed like eternity, the man lifted his head up, his handsome features completely covered by the expression of grief. His tear-rimmed eyes were bloodshot, and his face was so contorted in anguish that he did not even look like a human being. Then he opened his mouth and spoke. "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I” He could not resist any longer, and broke down into tears. “I believed in Malaysian merger and unity of the two territories. You know that we, as a people are connected by geography, economics, by ties of kinship... It literally broke everything that we stood for.... Now, I, Lee Kuan Yew, as Prime Minister of Singapore, in this current capacity of mine do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf of the people and the Government of Singapore that as from today, the ninth day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five, Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people in a most and just equal society." It did not sound like a speech at all. It sounded like the song sang at the funeral. The people in the press conference could not hold back their tears either. Soon, rivulets of tears were spotted on the floor. The clock stopped ticking too.
The man was none other than Lee Kuan Yew.
After the press conference, Lee Kuan Yew did not go home. He went to the beach. He sat down on the sand and sighed. He did not feel that he was sitting on sand. He felt like as though his was sitting on mud, and that he was trapped there permanently. He glanced up at the jet black sky in hope of inspiration, and his reply was the completely black, boundless cage which he was trapped in, condemned forever he was. There was no hope, just like there was not an iota of light in the gloomy sky. He glanced at the sea, hoping to find land, but none there were. The cold wind blew. His hair was blown back by the wind. His shirt, too. It was like as though they were trying to abandon him, to escape from this world of impossibilities. He wanted to, too. But he couldn’t. If the problems were the wind, there was a massive and incredibly heavy rock on his back, almost pinning him on to the ground, forcing him to face the problems. He sighed, again. He could not escape from these responsibilities, even though he would love to. He finally said this question out loud, looking at the abyss above, “What should we do?” And he still did not know. He thought he never would. It was helpless, and hopeless. He looked around for a source of inspiration he thought he would never find.
But he did. Somehow he did.
The cold wind grew bigger. The waves got bigger, too. He suddenly had a random thought. Why wasn’t this beach destroyed, even until now? The waves are so big! He realized something. This is a Singaporean beach! The land of Singapore was not destroyed by these great waves, so does that mean that Singapore is destined to survive? His jaw dropped. It took him long enough to understand this simple concept. Somehow, just somehow, it will survive. I’m sure it will. He paused for a while. Then, he let loose a roar, a roar of sheer joy. He did not have the physical strength of a lion, but this roar was certainly louder and much more powerful than that of even 10 lions.
Because he represents the lion city!
The cold wind got colder now. But coldness was the last thing he felt. He was sweating all over.
Because of his fiery passion!
He suddenly felt proud to be serving the Singapore he is living in.
He did not sleep that night. Who could?
Dawn. The Sun rose up, slowly yet steadily. The red giant seemed to bear the same shade of colour as the red in the Singapore flag. We all know that, when a Sun is going to rise up, nothing will stop it.
And it turned out that Singapore was destined to survive.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Im not sure if this is acceptable as the short story...
The scene was like a scene in hell. The entire battlefield was enshrouded in smoke. Unpleasant, ear piercing sounds of firing of guns were heard. Occasionally, one could see fire erupting from below, like a small volcano eruption, and it was usually accompanied with a loud ‘boom’. If one were to take his eyes off the smoke covered sky, he would see men lying lifeless on the floor in a pool of scarlet blood. Cuts and bruises were seen everywhere in their body, on their wimpy arms and mutilated faces. They all showed one expression before their death, however – pride. In the epic clash between the two titans, humans were seen as mere ants that were tossed casually away.
Distinctly, one could see that there was a barrage on the right of the battlefield and the invading army marched from the left. The barrage looked like a long grey sinister snake, and the army from the left looked like a sky blue sea serpent. They were, of course, the French and German armies.
Young Hitler was in the midst of this titanic clash. Although he had seen and fought many wars before this one, he could not believe that the atmosphere in this particular war was so intense. He saw many comrades of his lying dead on the ground, blood staining their grey coats red. He growled in obvious resentment, “Those French Froggies. I would like to see how dirty their blood is.” Then, he continued on his merciless shooting, even more so now since he wanted to avenge the death of his comrades.
However, the longer the war was fought, the worse the situation seemed for Germany. More and more frequently could Hitler hear the ominous ‘boom’, clearly despite the din. Huh, those French losers could not win via melee, so they used this despicable trick. Then, he found out that his location suddenly became darker, and, instinctively, raised his head up to see what it was. He saw a biplane soaring about him, like a winged dragon, slowly descending to seal their fate. Another one of those lousy French planes. Suddenly, he leapt back in shock. The French biplane had dropped a bomb right next to him.
He then heard an archaic voice. It was old, but still had that uncanny clarity and sooths him. It also sounded majestic. Leave now. He was surprised, but thought that it was merely his imagination. Furthermore, he would never leave this battle, because he knew that if he did so he might put Germany in an even direr situation. At that point of time, soldiers of both armies were fighting for their lives in that battle, and his comrades desperately need his assistance. But the voice came back again and again. In the midst of this battle, Hitler actually stood immobile for a moment, legs rooted to the floor. He stared blankly ahead, without noticing that a bullet had just whizzed past him and missed him by an inch. For that moment, it was like as though his action packed surroundings were merely empty space, and all his attention were diverted at what was ahead of him (which was empty space). By then, countless bullets have already whizzed past him, and a few bombs were dropped beside him, but none seemed to him to be as important as the blank and empty space in front of him. Then, unconsciously, he really dropped the gun in his hand went away.
He was in a daze, and instead of running away, he actually walked. He was staring straight forward, his pupils dilated. It was as though he became a zombie. He looked like as though he was bewitched, enchanted. Only until he heard a loud ‘bang’ from behind him did he finally snap out of his trance. He leapt backward in sheer shock. He turned around and, to his surprise, saw that the exact spot where he was standing had been bombed. About a dozen of his comrades were lying dead on the floor, in scarlet pools. He shivered involuntarily and thought: If I hadn’t unconsciously moved away I would have suffered the same fate as them. He found it odd of him doing such things, and tried his best to recall what had happened before. He did not remember himself moving away, and paused for a moment, wondering what happened. Then he remembered the archaic voice. He felt tempted to find out whom it belonged to, but immediately realized his present situation and, feeling that fighting the war was more important, decided to pick up his gun and continue with the battle.
The cold wind blew, and the smoke that had once enshrouded the battlefield was gone, revealing the beautiful golden rays reflected off leaves. Lady luck seemed to favour Germany after that surprising event, and a bullet from Hitler’s gun managed to hit a bomb bound for the barrage. As the bomb was dropped and travelled in a diagonal direction, the bullet Hitler fired hit the bomb when it was in midair and (due to sheer luck) right on top of the enemy position. The bomb exploded right above the enemy and the fire managed to burn a highly concentrated part of the enemy position. The Germans took advantage of the situation and managed to repel the enemy.
Later that day, Hitler heard that voice again. I want you to become the savior of mankind, to warn the human race of a possible invasion. I want you to start another Great War(Hitler: did the great German Empire win?) after this one and to lose that war on purpose .Also, I want you to start a Genocide. This will be your quest. Let me warn you, however, that you will have to sacrifice your life in the end. Hitler suddenly felt that winning the war didn’t matter now and that felt that it was unimportant, and realized that the quest bestowed upon him was much more important. All his hatred of the French, English and the other Allies vanished. They no longer mattered. The quest was what that mattered now. “I accept the quest,” said Hitler solemnly.
And so, he began on his quest…
25 years later…
A short man stood in front of the flag of the former German empire. There were spots of darker colours on the flag. Then, after a while, he looked up at the sky and sighed, “Gott mit uns.” In his eyes, the sky had a Jewish star, which was what 'uns' was referred to.
Distinctly, one could see that there was a barrage on the right of the battlefield and the invading army marched from the left. The barrage looked like a long grey sinister snake, and the army from the left looked like a sky blue sea serpent. They were, of course, the French and German armies.
Young Hitler was in the midst of this titanic clash. Although he had seen and fought many wars before this one, he could not believe that the atmosphere in this particular war was so intense. He saw many comrades of his lying dead on the ground, blood staining their grey coats red. He growled in obvious resentment, “Those French Froggies. I would like to see how dirty their blood is.” Then, he continued on his merciless shooting, even more so now since he wanted to avenge the death of his comrades.
However, the longer the war was fought, the worse the situation seemed for Germany. More and more frequently could Hitler hear the ominous ‘boom’, clearly despite the din. Huh, those French losers could not win via melee, so they used this despicable trick. Then, he found out that his location suddenly became darker, and, instinctively, raised his head up to see what it was. He saw a biplane soaring about him, like a winged dragon, slowly descending to seal their fate. Another one of those lousy French planes. Suddenly, he leapt back in shock. The French biplane had dropped a bomb right next to him.
He then heard an archaic voice. It was old, but still had that uncanny clarity and sooths him. It also sounded majestic. Leave now. He was surprised, but thought that it was merely his imagination. Furthermore, he would never leave this battle, because he knew that if he did so he might put Germany in an even direr situation. At that point of time, soldiers of both armies were fighting for their lives in that battle, and his comrades desperately need his assistance. But the voice came back again and again. In the midst of this battle, Hitler actually stood immobile for a moment, legs rooted to the floor. He stared blankly ahead, without noticing that a bullet had just whizzed past him and missed him by an inch. For that moment, it was like as though his action packed surroundings were merely empty space, and all his attention were diverted at what was ahead of him (which was empty space). By then, countless bullets have already whizzed past him, and a few bombs were dropped beside him, but none seemed to him to be as important as the blank and empty space in front of him. Then, unconsciously, he really dropped the gun in his hand went away.
He was in a daze, and instead of running away, he actually walked. He was staring straight forward, his pupils dilated. It was as though he became a zombie. He looked like as though he was bewitched, enchanted. Only until he heard a loud ‘bang’ from behind him did he finally snap out of his trance. He leapt backward in sheer shock. He turned around and, to his surprise, saw that the exact spot where he was standing had been bombed. About a dozen of his comrades were lying dead on the floor, in scarlet pools. He shivered involuntarily and thought: If I hadn’t unconsciously moved away I would have suffered the same fate as them. He found it odd of him doing such things, and tried his best to recall what had happened before. He did not remember himself moving away, and paused for a moment, wondering what happened. Then he remembered the archaic voice. He felt tempted to find out whom it belonged to, but immediately realized his present situation and, feeling that fighting the war was more important, decided to pick up his gun and continue with the battle.
The cold wind blew, and the smoke that had once enshrouded the battlefield was gone, revealing the beautiful golden rays reflected off leaves. Lady luck seemed to favour Germany after that surprising event, and a bullet from Hitler’s gun managed to hit a bomb bound for the barrage. As the bomb was dropped and travelled in a diagonal direction, the bullet Hitler fired hit the bomb when it was in midair and (due to sheer luck) right on top of the enemy position. The bomb exploded right above the enemy and the fire managed to burn a highly concentrated part of the enemy position. The Germans took advantage of the situation and managed to repel the enemy.
Later that day, Hitler heard that voice again. I want you to become the savior of mankind, to warn the human race of a possible invasion. I want you to start another Great War(Hitler: did the great German Empire win?) after this one and to lose that war on purpose .Also, I want you to start a Genocide. This will be your quest. Let me warn you, however, that you will have to sacrifice your life in the end. Hitler suddenly felt that winning the war didn’t matter now and that felt that it was unimportant, and realized that the quest bestowed upon him was much more important. All his hatred of the French, English and the other Allies vanished. They no longer mattered. The quest was what that mattered now. “I accept the quest,” said Hitler solemnly.
And so, he began on his quest…
25 years later…
A short man stood in front of the flag of the former German empire. There were spots of darker colours on the flag. Then, after a while, he looked up at the sky and sighed, “Gott mit uns.” In his eyes, the sky had a Jewish star, which was what 'uns' was referred to.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Telephone Conversation
Q1. The 'dark' in the poem symbolizes the 'normal' colour of the discriminated blacks, and 'light' symbolizes the normal colours of whites. The 'red' represents equality of man. 'West Afican Sepia' means brown in colour, 'peroxide blond' means white, and raven black' means very black.
Q2. The dialogue in this poem reveals to us that the landlady is an extremely racist person and that the persona is a clever person who is also very honest. The land lady, instead of simply rejecting the persona, even went on and asked the persona 'how dark, or very dark' as she wants to add insult to injury just because the persona is a black and make the persona feel bad about being a black. The persona is clever in insulting the land lady by asking her to see his bottom and to witness for herself how black it is.He knows how to impress the land lady to show that, despite being an African, he is more knowledgeable. He is also honest in telling the land lady that he is an African even though he knew the outcome of saying that.
Q3. The persona wins the battle in the end. While the racist insults rained down upon him, he managed to defend successfully and even outwitted the land lady in the end with the witty remark "wouldn't you rather see for yourself?".
Q2. The dialogue in this poem reveals to us that the landlady is an extremely racist person and that the persona is a clever person who is also very honest. The land lady, instead of simply rejecting the persona, even went on and asked the persona 'how dark, or very dark' as she wants to add insult to injury just because the persona is a black and make the persona feel bad about being a black. The persona is clever in insulting the land lady by asking her to see his bottom and to witness for herself how black it is.He knows how to impress the land lady to show that, despite being an African, he is more knowledgeable. He is also honest in telling the land lady that he is an African even though he knew the outcome of saying that.
Q3. The persona wins the battle in the end. While the racist insults rained down upon him, he managed to defend successfully and even outwitted the land lady in the end with the witty remark "wouldn't you rather see for yourself?".
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Setting of a story
1.The Real Durwan was set in Calcutta, in India. The Adventure of the Speckled Band and Pride and Prejudice were set both in England, in Baker Street, London and an unknown town respectively.
2.The Real Durwan was set in the the in 1950s where people are suffering from the aftermath of the partition. The Adventure of the Speckled Bandwas set in the late 1800s, in Victorian England. Pride and Prejudice was set in the 18th century, in Elizabethan England.
3. The setting gives me clues of the plot. Examples would be 'old dilapedated house', which tells your the house had long been abandoned and that it might be a hunted house; 'torrential rain' night indicate a gloomy setting. Also when the story is set might also give you clues. For example, if the story was set in the premedival ages, the plot might be something about the royalty or the wars between countries.
2.The Real Durwan was set in the the in 1950s where people are suffering from the aftermath of the partition. The Adventure of the Speckled Bandwas set in the late 1800s, in Victorian England. Pride and Prejudice was set in the 18th century, in Elizabethan England.
3. The setting gives me clues of the plot. Examples would be 'old dilapedated house', which tells your the house had long been abandoned and that it might be a hunted house; 'torrential rain' night indicate a gloomy setting. Also when the story is set might also give you clues. For example, if the story was set in the premedival ages, the plot might be something about the royalty or the wars between countries.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
To Kill a mockingbird(II)
The Civil Rights movement
a. The civil rights movement began in 1896.
b. The civil rights movement was about attempting to bring equality and grant all African Americans full civil rights. It was mostly a nonviolent and also a long lasting struggle.
c. 1)The Brown v. Board of education was a court case in which ended with blacks being able to use facilities in schools that whites used.
2)The Montgomery Bus boycotts was a boycott of Montgomery Buses which led to the buses being desegregated.
3)Desegregating Little Rock was a case that ended with all schools in Little Rock becoming desegregated.
d.John Kennedy.
e.Discrimination became banned in the United States and the African Americans became enfranchised
f. The Civil rights movement was very popular then following Montgomery Bus incident and Harper Lee worte the novel at that time. It showcases the social injustice in the South and allow the readers, particularly the white readers, to sympathesize with Rosa Parks and the Blacks.
Montgomery Bus Boycott and Scottsboro trials
a.1) Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 1st 1955 Rosa Parks was charged with disorderly conduct and violating bus segregation laws. Then, on December 5, she was convicted and fined. Upon hearing that, blacks began boycott of the Montgomery buses.Black leaders decide to form the Montgomery Improvement Association(MIA), and elected Martin Luther King Jr as president. Negotiations between MIA, the city officials and the bus company broke down several times. Leaders of the MIA were then charged of starting boycotts without just cause. A decision by the US Supreme court was then misinterpreted by many to declare bus segregation unconstitutional. Following that, many bus companies, including the Montgomery Bus company, desegregated their buses. However, state officials then issued a law compelling bus companies to comply by the segregation laws. The blacks then challenge the segregation on a court case. Segregation was declared unconstitutional throughout America soon later.
2) Scottsboro trials. Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright hitched a train on March 31 1931. A fight had broken out between a few white men and black teenagers. The white men escaped and, furious after losing the fight, reported to the authorities that black teenagers on that train assaulted 2 white woman. Officers then went on the train to find every black youth on it. The 2 alleged victims of rape, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, then began accusing the 9 black teenagers (Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright) of raping them. The 9 black youths were then imprisoned in Scottsboro, Alabama, and were hence named the 'Scottsboro Boys'. A Scottsboro doctor investigated Price and Bates and reported that they did not show any signs of being raped. Samuel Leibowitz was called in as the defence attorney, and he worked on the case of the Scottsboro boys for several years without charging them fees. In the first trial most of the Scottsboro boys were found guilty and sentenced to death,but due to appeal the court declared a second trial. In the second trial of Haywood Patterson, Bates claimed that she and Price made up the entire story of rape, while Price maintained her original testimony. However, both Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris were given a guilty verdict and were sentenced to death. The US Supreme Court then found the trials unjust and demanded a retrial. The judge halted Haywood Patterson's retrial and went on with the trials of Andrew Wright and Charles Weems. After another series of trials, most of the Scottsboro boys were sent to prison.
b & c. Both trials were in the 1930s, and occured in the state of Alabama. Both stars a heroic character who tried to fend off racial discrimination and defend a black man(in the case of the Scottsboro trials, 9 black men)unjustly accused of raping white woman, which was illegal by law then.
Trials of a true Southern Belle and Southern Gentleman
a.1)The Southern gentleman rules are not inherited, but learned, i.e. one might not be borned in the South but he can acquire the Southern gentlemen rules. The rules include: dressing up for ladies, learning how to speak with ladies, flirting, etc.
2)The southern ladies rules include: wearing REAL pearls, calling you father and mother 'daddy' and 'mama' no matter how old she is, wearing branded clothes.
b.They cook.
c.
a & b.Nelle Harper Lee was born in Monroeville. In 1944, she graduated from Monroe County High School in Monroeville, and enrolled at Huntingdon College in Montgomery for one year,where she developed an interest in literature, and pursued a law degree at the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949. Though she did not complete the law degree, she studied for a summer in Oxford, England, before moving to New York City in 1950, where she worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air Lines and BOAC till 1958, when she sbegan putting more effort into writing.
c.To Kill a Mockingbird, Love—In Other Words,Christmas to Me,When Children Discover America, Romance and High Adventure
d.Pulitzer Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom
e. It was also something which had tremendous impact on the Americans and brought them new insights into the racial injustice dominant in the South then. It allowed Americans to empathise with and even advoate the blacks who started the Civil Rights movement when the book was published. All in all,it had a colossal influence on the views of the Americans on the blacks.
a. The civil rights movement began in 1896.
b. The civil rights movement was about attempting to bring equality and grant all African Americans full civil rights. It was mostly a nonviolent and also a long lasting struggle.
c. 1)The Brown v. Board of education was a court case in which ended with blacks being able to use facilities in schools that whites used.
2)The Montgomery Bus boycotts was a boycott of Montgomery Buses which led to the buses being desegregated.
3)Desegregating Little Rock was a case that ended with all schools in Little Rock becoming desegregated.
d.John Kennedy.
e.Discrimination became banned in the United States and the African Americans became enfranchised
f. The Civil rights movement was very popular then following Montgomery Bus incident and Harper Lee worte the novel at that time. It showcases the social injustice in the South and allow the readers, particularly the white readers, to sympathesize with Rosa Parks and the Blacks.
Montgomery Bus Boycott and Scottsboro trials
a.1) Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 1st 1955 Rosa Parks was charged with disorderly conduct and violating bus segregation laws. Then, on December 5, she was convicted and fined. Upon hearing that, blacks began boycott of the Montgomery buses.Black leaders decide to form the Montgomery Improvement Association(MIA), and elected Martin Luther King Jr as president. Negotiations between MIA, the city officials and the bus company broke down several times. Leaders of the MIA were then charged of starting boycotts without just cause. A decision by the US Supreme court was then misinterpreted by many to declare bus segregation unconstitutional. Following that, many bus companies, including the Montgomery Bus company, desegregated their buses. However, state officials then issued a law compelling bus companies to comply by the segregation laws. The blacks then challenge the segregation on a court case. Segregation was declared unconstitutional throughout America soon later.
2) Scottsboro trials. Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright hitched a train on March 31 1931. A fight had broken out between a few white men and black teenagers. The white men escaped and, furious after losing the fight, reported to the authorities that black teenagers on that train assaulted 2 white woman. Officers then went on the train to find every black youth on it. The 2 alleged victims of rape, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, then began accusing the 9 black teenagers (Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright) of raping them. The 9 black youths were then imprisoned in Scottsboro, Alabama, and were hence named the 'Scottsboro Boys'. A Scottsboro doctor investigated Price and Bates and reported that they did not show any signs of being raped. Samuel Leibowitz was called in as the defence attorney, and he worked on the case of the Scottsboro boys for several years without charging them fees. In the first trial most of the Scottsboro boys were found guilty and sentenced to death,but due to appeal the court declared a second trial. In the second trial of Haywood Patterson, Bates claimed that she and Price made up the entire story of rape, while Price maintained her original testimony. However, both Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris were given a guilty verdict and were sentenced to death. The US Supreme Court then found the trials unjust and demanded a retrial. The judge halted Haywood Patterson's retrial and went on with the trials of Andrew Wright and Charles Weems. After another series of trials, most of the Scottsboro boys were sent to prison.
b & c. Both trials were in the 1930s, and occured in the state of Alabama. Both stars a heroic character who tried to fend off racial discrimination and defend a black man(in the case of the Scottsboro trials, 9 black men)unjustly accused of raping white woman, which was illegal by law then.
Trials of a true Southern Belle and Southern Gentleman
a.1)The Southern gentleman rules are not inherited, but learned, i.e. one might not be borned in the South but he can acquire the Southern gentlemen rules. The rules include: dressing up for ladies, learning how to speak with ladies, flirting, etc.
2)The southern ladies rules include: wearing REAL pearls, calling you father and mother 'daddy' and 'mama' no matter how old she is, wearing branded clothes.
b.They cook.
c.
a & b.Nelle Harper Lee was born in Monroeville. In 1944, she graduated from Monroe County High School in Monroeville, and enrolled at Huntingdon College in Montgomery for one year,where she developed an interest in literature, and pursued a law degree at the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949. Though she did not complete the law degree, she studied for a summer in Oxford, England, before moving to New York City in 1950, where she worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air Lines and BOAC till 1958, when she sbegan putting more effort into writing.
c.To Kill a Mockingbird, Love—In Other Words,Christmas to Me,When Children Discover America, Romance and High Adventure
d.Pulitzer Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom
e. It was also something which had tremendous impact on the Americans and brought them new insights into the racial injustice dominant in the South then. It allowed Americans to empathise with and even advoate the blacks who started the Civil Rights movement when the book was published. All in all,it had a colossal influence on the views of the Americans on the blacks.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
To Kill a mockingbird(I)
Slavery
a.Slavery began in the southern states in 1619. It began when 2 pirate ships were damaged in battle and decided to trade human cargo with the locals in Virginia.
b.They were brought from countries in Afica.
c.The Europeans traditionally brought and owned the slaves
d.The slaves were forced to abide by various unfair laws. It was illegal for the slaves to gather in groups of more than 4. They cannot leave their owners property without a pass. They could not own weapons. Neither were they allowed to learn how to read or write.
e.The notions of slavery were related to racism and prejudice in the novel. African Americans ,who were once slaves, were called 'niggers' and were not granted special rights.
The Civil War
a. The southern states are:South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia
, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina
b. Abraham Lincoln
c.Lincoln had campaigned against the expansion of slavery beyond the states that have slavery then. After Lincoln became president, many southern states knew that he would enforce a law prohibiting expansion of slavery. Hence, they called for succession.
d. It was fought between 1861 and 1865
e. The Union defeated the Confederate states.
f. They both attempted to give the African Americans rights. The civil war freed them from slavery, while the Civil Rights movement gave them freedom to vote and freedom from discrimination.
Jim Crow's Laws
a.Jim Crow refers to 'Jim Jump Crow', a song and dance caricature of the African Americans performed by a white dancer in 'blackface'.
b.The African Americans were segregated in various ways, including in education, public transport and even public washrooms.
c.The African Americans were very displeased with the Jim Crow laws and even started various civil rights movements after World War 2, where they felt that their services make them worthy of being full citizens of America, instead of remaining as those who were segregated and discriminated.
d.A black man was charged of raping a white woman with the presumption of guilt in To kill a mockingbird, unlike the usual presumption of innocence which was then a 'privilege' of the whites.
a.Slavery began in the southern states in 1619. It began when 2 pirate ships were damaged in battle and decided to trade human cargo with the locals in Virginia.
b.They were brought from countries in Afica.
c.The Europeans traditionally brought and owned the slaves
d.The slaves were forced to abide by various unfair laws. It was illegal for the slaves to gather in groups of more than 4. They cannot leave their owners property without a pass. They could not own weapons. Neither were they allowed to learn how to read or write.
e.The notions of slavery were related to racism and prejudice in the novel. African Americans ,who were once slaves, were called 'niggers' and were not granted special rights.
The Civil War
a. The southern states are:South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia
, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina
b. Abraham Lincoln
c.Lincoln had campaigned against the expansion of slavery beyond the states that have slavery then. After Lincoln became president, many southern states knew that he would enforce a law prohibiting expansion of slavery. Hence, they called for succession.
d. It was fought between 1861 and 1865
e. The Union defeated the Confederate states.
f. They both attempted to give the African Americans rights. The civil war freed them from slavery, while the Civil Rights movement gave them freedom to vote and freedom from discrimination.
Jim Crow's Laws
a.Jim Crow refers to 'Jim Jump Crow', a song and dance caricature of the African Americans performed by a white dancer in 'blackface'.
b.The African Americans were segregated in various ways, including in education, public transport and even public washrooms.
c.The African Americans were very displeased with the Jim Crow laws and even started various civil rights movements after World War 2, where they felt that their services make them worthy of being full citizens of America, instead of remaining as those who were segregated and discriminated.
d.A black man was charged of raping a white woman with the presumption of guilt in To kill a mockingbird, unlike the usual presumption of innocence which was then a 'privilege' of the whites.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
I choose the different pictures in the background for an obvious reason-because the race was long and so the background could not be the same throughout. I also did change the picture of the characters a few times because I found it necessary to show the attitude of the characters. I want to tell others of how proud the main character was at first and also how shocked he was when he saw that the old man had completed the race long before him.
The theme of this story is that one must not be too proud. I choose the pictures based on the theme. The main character was depicted as a very strong athlete in a few frames, while the old man has his back hunched and had to rely on a walking stick. People may wonder, if the old man can't even walk without support, how can he beat the young, muscular athlete?Also, one might realise that all the backgrounds I choose are without the sun, as I want to show how effortless it is to run then, without the strong and 'resisting' presence of the Sun. All these were done by me just to show that the powerful athlete should have won, but he didn't. So, his loss must be due to another factor, namely his pride.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Awesome alliteration
Let us begin with two words that are alliterations, say:
Assaulting Angels
What do you call this?
Alliteration (obviously)
Continue with two other words that are alliterations:
Attacking Angrily.
What do you call this?
Alliteration Again.
What do you call this?
And again. (It’s another alliteration.)
This thing that continues timelessly, what do we call it?
An Abstruse, Absurd Abyss. (It never ends.)
?What is this
Alliteration Again.
___________________________________________________________________________
Brings us back to the part before (What do you call this?)
*Note that each question is referring to the answer before it.
Assaulting Angels
What do you call this?
Alliteration (obviously)
Continue with two other words that are alliterations:
Attacking Angrily.
What do you call this?
Alliteration Again.
What do you call this?
And again. (It’s another alliteration.)
This thing that continues timelessly, what do we call it?
An Abstruse, Absurd Abyss. (It never ends.)
?What is this
Alliteration Again.
___________________________________________________________________________
Brings us back to the part before (What do you call this?)
*Note that each question is referring to the answer before it.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Discrimination
Discrimination means unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice. Most, if not all, discriminations are named base on the victim. For example, a free thinker and completely ordinary person discriminates a Christian, it's called discrimination against religion; a physically normal person discriminates a person who is visually impaired, it's called discrimination against disability. I categorise discriminations under against intrinsic or extrinsic characteristics. Intrinsic refers to innate characteristics that are usually unchangeable. Extrinsic, on the other hand, refers to things not given upon birth and could be changed. I do admit, however, that the categories are quite ambiguous. For example, with modern technology, it is possible to change the gender via transsexual operation and its sometimes unclear whether gender is an intrinsic or extrinsic characteristic.
Intrinsic
1)Ancestry. One person might be a descendant of a notorious person in history, and many might think that he would follow the footsteps of his ancestors and thus discriminate him.
2)Race. Negroes were once discriminated in America and they were not granted many rights.
3)Gender. Many believe girls are better behaved than boys; therefore boys usually get a harsher scolding for committing a same offence as a girl.
4)Disability. Many look down on the physically disabled and think that they are inferior to them. Some of them might even rub salt into their wounds by insulting them.
5)Psychological disorder. Many mock the weird actions of the mentally unsound and also look down on them.
6)Age. People believe that old man are usually unable to do manual labour and therefore they never allow them to do so even if they can.
7)Intelligence. People believe others of inferior intellect are inferior to them in other ways too. THey even insult the intellectually inferior.
8)Appearance( face, etc). Some people judge the book by it's cover and believe that people with particular looks are immoral and therefore habour feelings of hate against them.
9)Family. People might believe in things such as 'like father, like son'.
Extrinsic
1)Education. A person who has been taught by an elite school would think that another person taught by an ordinary school is inferior to him and hence look down on him. He might even take some actions against the person taught by an ordinary school just to prove that he is superior.
2)Reverse Discrimination. A person might hate someone discriminating him and decides to let him 'have a taste of his own medicine'.
3)Political Affiliation. A person might from a stereotype-based prejudice against someone with a particular political belief. For example, he could say that 'all anarchists are violent', and starts insulting them.
4)Employment. People might discriminate others based on their jobs. For example, cleaners are stereotyped as smelly and dirty people. Some people intentionally avoid them or even purposely cover their nose in disgust when walking past them.
5)Nationality. Some people insult others based on their nationality. Europeans once discriminated Africans and Asians and bought them as slaves.
6)Marital status. People might think that old unmarried people are incapable of marriage and thus insult them for being incapable.
7)Social Status. People might hate the rich simply because they are richer and discriminate them.
8)Appearance(clothes, etc). (Same as 'appearance(face,etc.)')
9)Religion. Hitler once discriminated the Jews and massacred them.
10)Reverse reverse discrimination.
Of course, there are many other forms of discrimination that are not typed above.Also note that the discriminations might sometime be against two characteristics of the victim, for example, people might discriminate the child of a rich person because they are jealous of the comfort he enjoys. In this case it's discrimination against social status of family.
Intrinsic
1)Ancestry. One person might be a descendant of a notorious person in history, and many might think that he would follow the footsteps of his ancestors and thus discriminate him.
2)Race. Negroes were once discriminated in America and they were not granted many rights.
3)Gender. Many believe girls are better behaved than boys; therefore boys usually get a harsher scolding for committing a same offence as a girl.
4)Disability. Many look down on the physically disabled and think that they are inferior to them. Some of them might even rub salt into their wounds by insulting them.
5)Psychological disorder. Many mock the weird actions of the mentally unsound and also look down on them.
6)Age. People believe that old man are usually unable to do manual labour and therefore they never allow them to do so even if they can.
7)Intelligence. People believe others of inferior intellect are inferior to them in other ways too. THey even insult the intellectually inferior.
8)Appearance( face, etc). Some people judge the book by it's cover and believe that people with particular looks are immoral and therefore habour feelings of hate against them.
9)Family. People might believe in things such as 'like father, like son'.
Extrinsic
1)Education. A person who has been taught by an elite school would think that another person taught by an ordinary school is inferior to him and hence look down on him. He might even take some actions against the person taught by an ordinary school just to prove that he is superior.
2)Reverse Discrimination. A person might hate someone discriminating him and decides to let him 'have a taste of his own medicine'.
3)Political Affiliation. A person might from a stereotype-based prejudice against someone with a particular political belief. For example, he could say that 'all anarchists are violent', and starts insulting them.
4)Employment. People might discriminate others based on their jobs. For example, cleaners are stereotyped as smelly and dirty people. Some people intentionally avoid them or even purposely cover their nose in disgust when walking past them.
5)Nationality. Some people insult others based on their nationality. Europeans once discriminated Africans and Asians and bought them as slaves.
6)Marital status. People might think that old unmarried people are incapable of marriage and thus insult them for being incapable.
7)Social Status. People might hate the rich simply because they are richer and discriminate them.
8)Appearance(clothes, etc). (Same as 'appearance(face,etc.)')
9)Religion. Hitler once discriminated the Jews and massacred them.
10)Reverse reverse discrimination.
Of course, there are many other forms of discrimination that are not typed above.Also note that the discriminations might sometime be against two characteristics of the victim, for example, people might discriminate the child of a rich person because they are jealous of the comfort he enjoys. In this case it's discrimination against social status of family.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Literature and life
The little boy and the old man by Shel Silverstream
1)The underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem is that little boys do not usually get the attention they desire from adults and sometimes little boys would rather do something embarrassing like wetting their pants and crying often than not gain the attention of adults, which goes on to show how much attention is desired by little boys. The little told the old man various embarrassing things he did, most probably to get the attention of the old man.
2)Yes, the entire poem was in dialogs so as to describe the conversation between the little boy and the old man more clearly, to emphasize on the short replys the old man gave to the little boy, just to show how much the old man wishes to refrain from engaging in a conversation with the little boy and therefore show that the adults do not give the little boy the attention he desired.
Messy room by Shel Silverstream
1)This poem is humorous in an ironic way. The persona criticizes the owner of the room for the untidiness of it and said that whoever who owned this room should be ashamed. However, in the end, the person realises that the room is actually his own, and he was actually criticising himself all the long.
2)The aspect of the human character highlighted in this poem is the innate tendency of human beings to blame others, whether or not they are at fault.Around the end of the poem, the persona started speculating on who the owner of the room is, blaming Donald, Robert and Willie for the untidiness of the room when the one who made the room untidy was actually himself.
Cloony the Clown by Shel Silverstream
1)The irony was that when cloony the clown desires people laughing at him, what he got was sympathy, and when he desires sympathy, what he got was people laughing at him.
2)Shel Silverstream managed to convey the fact that when we want something, what we get would be something else; and when we want something else, what we get would be the thing we originally wanted.
3)Shel Silverstream used repetition various times to convey the message. Repeated passages include "But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all", and parts of sentences that are repeated include "Everyone...", "He had a...", "He told...", and "They laughed...". These passages were used to emphasize on the actions of the persona and other characters.
I find that I can identify with "Messy Room by Shel Silverstream" the most. Messy room gave an vivid illustration of that particular aspect of the human character, the tendency to blame others whenever they see something embarrassing. When faced with an embarrasing situation, the human mind will instinctively, and often arbitrarily, point the finger at someone else. Whenever you see something embarrassing, in this case the messy room, there would be a 'voice' in your subconscious that says "This is not done by me". Sometimes you don't even bother checking if it is or isn't done by you, because the 'voice', your dignity, would just 'tell' you "This is not done by you". Even though you never heard these voices before, it is implied from your sometimes unreasonable actions that this 'voice' in your subconscious actually exists. This 'voice', called dignity, is probably an innate aspect of a human being, just like the conscience. Men are born with it, and sometimes, it is the one that influences decisions, decisions that might change yours whole life
1)The underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem is that little boys do not usually get the attention they desire from adults and sometimes little boys would rather do something embarrassing like wetting their pants and crying often than not gain the attention of adults, which goes on to show how much attention is desired by little boys. The little told the old man various embarrassing things he did, most probably to get the attention of the old man.
2)Yes, the entire poem was in dialogs so as to describe the conversation between the little boy and the old man more clearly, to emphasize on the short replys the old man gave to the little boy, just to show how much the old man wishes to refrain from engaging in a conversation with the little boy and therefore show that the adults do not give the little boy the attention he desired.
Messy room by Shel Silverstream
1)This poem is humorous in an ironic way. The persona criticizes the owner of the room for the untidiness of it and said that whoever who owned this room should be ashamed. However, in the end, the person realises that the room is actually his own, and he was actually criticising himself all the long.
2)The aspect of the human character highlighted in this poem is the innate tendency of human beings to blame others, whether or not they are at fault.Around the end of the poem, the persona started speculating on who the owner of the room is, blaming Donald, Robert and Willie for the untidiness of the room when the one who made the room untidy was actually himself.
Cloony the Clown by Shel Silverstream
1)The irony was that when cloony the clown desires people laughing at him, what he got was sympathy, and when he desires sympathy, what he got was people laughing at him.
2)Shel Silverstream managed to convey the fact that when we want something, what we get would be something else; and when we want something else, what we get would be the thing we originally wanted.
3)Shel Silverstream used repetition various times to convey the message. Repeated passages include "But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all", and parts of sentences that are repeated include "Everyone...", "He had a...", "He told...", and "They laughed...". These passages were used to emphasize on the actions of the persona and other characters.
I find that I can identify with "Messy Room by Shel Silverstream" the most. Messy room gave an vivid illustration of that particular aspect of the human character, the tendency to blame others whenever they see something embarrassing. When faced with an embarrasing situation, the human mind will instinctively, and often arbitrarily, point the finger at someone else. Whenever you see something embarrassing, in this case the messy room, there would be a 'voice' in your subconscious that says "This is not done by me". Sometimes you don't even bother checking if it is or isn't done by you, because the 'voice', your dignity, would just 'tell' you "This is not done by you". Even though you never heard these voices before, it is implied from your sometimes unreasonable actions that this 'voice' in your subconscious actually exists. This 'voice', called dignity, is probably an innate aspect of a human being, just like the conscience. Men are born with it, and sometimes, it is the one that influences decisions, decisions that might change yours whole life
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