Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Description Of A Beach

As the golden beaming sun slide down the horizon, the sky and sea merged into one. The clouds facing the ocean was a dark shade of purple and had shades of pink and was fluffy like a cotton candy. The sun shone its beams onto the clouds, giving them their yellow and orange crowns. The rocks in the distance turned black as charcoal and seemingly floated on the surface of the sea. They imprinted onto the background as if they merged into one with the sunset. The silent splashing of the silky waves which throbbed in my ears brought me closer to the sea. From afar, the sea was a mirror which reflected the colours of the sky. There were patches of crimson and lemon yellow which painted the sea. As I went closer, the soft breeze blew across the surface of the sea making the waves splash across the sand. I felt both warm and cooling as I bent down to touch the water; the water was as warm as the cuddle of a mother's hug while the wind was cool as a summer's breeze.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

LA comic strip

The Environment 1


The Environment 2

By ivanyeo | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon


- Why did you choose the different pictures or background(s)?

For the first three scenes, they were the effects and causes of natural disasters and pollution. This signifies the impact on us if we do not take care of the environment. For the 5th to 7th scene, there are pictures of scenery and the beautiful environment and shows the beauty if we take good care of the environment. I have placed a tree in every of the eight scenes, which show the importance of looking after the environment.

- How do they contribute to the elements (plot, setting, characterisation) of your narrative?

As the background change from a dim, negative and dark one to a bright, positive and warm one, the boy's feelings also changes along with it. The plot is also reflected as the background changes.

- How did you make use of the different elements to contribute to the theme you have chosen?

There is a comparison between the effects of taking care of the environment and not doing so. The transition of the boy's feelings from the starting to ending is also shown on his face as well as in the different backgrounds. The dialogue and and setting also reflect the plot of the simple story. This shows that taking care of the environment affects us and the environment positively and we should do so.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Historical Background of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

Essential Questions
  1. Why is it necessary to understand the historical and cultural context of the novel?
  2. How does it help to understand the author's background? Is it neccesary to learn about the author's background?
  3. Is it possible to appreciate the text without pre-reading about the historical and cultural context of the novel / background of the novel?
1. By understanding the historical and cultural context of the novel, we would be able to better understand the novel in terms of the vocabulary used, the plot of the novel, whether issues in the novel pertain to issues then, the setting and characterisation in the novel, whether they hold any significance. This would greatly enrich our reading and understanding of the novel.

2. It might not be necessary to learn about the author's background although it would come in useful if we want to have a complete and comprehensive understanding of the novel. By understanding the author's background, we might be able to better understand the issues and themes in the novel, if they are parallels with the issues present in the society during the author's times.

3. It is possible to appreciate the text before pre-reading its background and historical and cultural context, but only in terms of literature alone, and not humanities as a whole. By pre-reading about the background of the novel, we would be able to understand the novel in other disciplines of humanities like history and law.

Prejudice-Real Life Example

EITHER

  • Have you ever been in the company of a group of which you clearly were not included? Describe the circumstances. How did you act? How did the situation / event affect you?

OR

  • Have you ever been part of a group of people that were unkind to one or more individuals? Describe the circumstances. What caused you to behave the way you did? How did you feel then? How do you feel about the circumstances / events in retrospect?
In Primary 4, when I changed school to join the GEP programme, I had to start to take the school bus from school back to home. On the first day of school, when I first boarded the school bus after school, I was stopped by a bully that was taking the same school bus as me. I was not the only victim of the incident. I was verbally insulted and almost physically injured if the bus uncle did not come in time.

After clarifying the details with the other students on board the same bus, I understood that that particular student was a problem not only in class but also a nuisance to the bus driver and passengers. He often ran about the bus when the bus is on the road, shouts, swears and often shout profanities as well as bully (both verbally and physically) those who are smaller than him. In actual fact, I was considered a "newcomer" and if he had known that I was not smaller than him, he would not have interfered with my affairs. I was sad and afraid of what would come in the next few weeks.

Since that incident, he had not bother me neither did I bother him but the bully of the real "newcomers" persisted. A week after the incident took place, the school counselor went about the new classes introducing herself and asking us if we had any problems with our school work and life. I decided to report the student to her. Although I did not know what had happened, I guess the counselor reported it to the teacher and the teacher reprimanded him. The next day, he seemed more passive than usual.

However, as expected, the bullying and shouting continued, if not, he would not be so notorious. Within the next two years, there were numerous complaints from the passengers of the school bus as well as from teachers and the school bus uncle. One complaint was made by a victim of the bullying while another was regarding the swearing and running around in the bus. Several teachers came aboard our school bus a few times to reprimand us, especially the bully and his "gang". To no avail, the irresponsible behaviour continued and persisted.

It was only in my last year in Primary 6 that the school took charge of the situation. For example, any student who did not buckle their seatbelt on the bus would have their names sent to the principal office and face the consequences. Fortunately, the behaviours of the "bully" and his gang got less worse and slowly diminished. It could be due to a serious punishment that was administered to him, or counselling or him maturing. Whatever the case was, I could heave a sign of relief for the school bus uncle, the teachers, the students aboard the bus and last but not least for myself. I hoped that another "bully" would not appear and disrupt the school peace and environment once again.

From this whole incident, I have learnt many concepts as well as the fundamentals of what I later known as prejudice, in this case, prejudice against those who are younger and of different character and personality. I learnt that prejudice is frowned upon and might lead to consequences that would prove undesirable.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Prejudice

What do I already know about prejudice?

Prejudice might be against any group or individual due to certain differences between the two parties. One party will think that he is superior to the other and bullies the other party verbally and/or physically through words and actions. Special rights might be given to the “superior” party while rights are taken away from the other party. It has been frown upon in modern developed countries.

What do I want to learn about prejudice?

I want to learn about prejudice in different forms and some examples through non-fictional history. I want to learn the concepts behind prejudice as well as why prejudice is inevitable in countries. I want to understand the perspective of the prejudiced as well as the group who prejudice others.

LA 2011 first lesson

For this lesson, we were given a task to pick a poem or prose extract that has left a deep impression on me. We are supposed to write about why it left such a deep impression, and what I have learnt from it.

Extract from “I Have A Dream Speech” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

Setting of the speech

This speech was made by Martin Luther King during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with a congregation with over 200,000 people. The March was a political rally held at the Lincoln Memorial. The March advocates racial equality and harmony and a stop to discrimination against African-Americans. At that time, segregation was present in the society and African-Americans were deprived of civil and economic rights. They were exploited and were treated with violence from the other citizens and organisations in the South. This March was part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) which refers to the period where discrimination against African-Americans was outlawed as well as the restoration of voting rights in the Southern states.

Why has the speech left a deep impression on me?

The first time I had heard of this speech was in Primary 6 when I was doing a concept unit on Change. The teacher had advised us to listen to this speech and reflect upon it. I admired the speech made by Martin Luther King due to two reasons. Firstly, the content and secondly, the way in which he delivers his speech.

Martin Luther King’s speech was well prepared and well researched. The extract which I have taken out from the 17 minute speech draws a picture of the near-future when African-Americans are no longer discriminated against. The speech uses a lot of visual scenes and paints the future which all African-Americans were hopeful of. Notably, the speech makes references to the Bible, The United States Declaration of Independence and many others well known and influential sources. This extract from the full speech is a rhetorical one with the use of anaphora or the repeat of a sequence of words at the beginning of sentences. For me, the use of anaphora left a great impression. It emphasises on how much the African-Americans wanted racial harmony and equality in the United States. It portrays the unsettling souls of the people who persist to the end and stay firmly with their beliefs.

The speech left a huge impact on me and set me thinking about racism and racial discrimination in other countries. I thought about the reasons for racial discrimination and the actions taken by our government to prevent it in Singapore.

Secondly, Martin Luther King delivered his speech firmly and got his message across with clarity and precision. His speech was influential and powerful; it brought the Civil Rights Movement a huge step forward. His tone and body language were persuasive in their purposes, he emphasised on the anaphors used in his speech and his stand was clear and precise

What I have learnt from the speech

I have learnt several techniques that are useful in persuading others, these include using anaphora to get your message across clearly while at the same time leave a huge impression in the audiences’ minds, research comprehensively, include information that refer to items that the audience can relate to, contrast between present and desired outcome, the way in which he used vocabulary and writing techniques as applicable to the context as well as referring to previous examples, and use them as an example of a successful outcome. These are some of the many techniques which can be learnt from Martin Luther King’s speech.

As for the content of the speech, I have learnt that racial discrimination is inevitable during the transition of a country from a third-world one to a developed nation. It is one of the many challenges that a country has to face an overcome during its development. Discrimination as a whole has many reasons. It could be that the people discriminating have the viewpoint that they have some qualities that are superior to the discriminated but miss out that the discriminated might have qualities that are superior to them. It could also be due to some conflict over sensitive issues like religion and politics which then lead to tensions and result in riots and discrimination. Our government is so concerned with racial harmony within Singapore due to the many races present in our society and we have learnt our lessons during the racial riots in the 1960s. We should understand the fact that all humans are created equally and there is no one that is superior to any other human being. As long as we are all inhabitants of the earth, we are all equal regardless of race, religion or nationality.