Preparation for EOYs- LA

Paper 1(Narrative and Situational writing):

I will definitely have to go over the notes that were given out and create my own notes from them. Memorising letter writing formats, especially letters of request and complains, will also be a must on the list. Re-writing micro-fiction would also be a big boost to making my story as tight as possible. Besides, as the saying goes "the more you write, the more you get wrong!"
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Paper 2(Comprehension):

PRACTICE is critical to honing one's skill at comprehension. The ability to carefully and accurately make inferences and picking out the right points is the outcome of countless practices.
As for the vocabulary section, reading more of the newspaper and maybe even the dictionary would help to increase our "arsenal" of vocabulary. For the summary, again, practising micro-fiction will be an essential tool to conquering the paper.
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Paper 3( Literature-Unseen poem/ Unseen prose):

Re-reading Animal Farm is one of the main points in this part of revision. I can also re-read the previous tests or written practices on unseen poems or prose to see my mistakes and hopefully manage to correct them with the help of the many notes with regards to figures of speech, how to do character sketches etc.
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Here's me signing of with a famous quote by Julius Caesar(not Caesar salad, which was created by Caesar Cardini but I will not go into details...):
Veni (I came into the Examination room), Vidi (I saw the examination scripts), Vici( I conquered it...hopefully) Buh Bye till the next post...=]

MBA(Major Blogging Assignment)

This is the song I think represents me the most:

"Perfect"by Simple Plan

Hey dad look at me
Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan?
And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do?
But it hurts when you disapprove all along

And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't pretend that
I'm alright
And you can't change me

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

I try not to think
About the pain I feel inside
Did you know you used to be my hero?
All the days you spent with me
Now seem so far away
And it feels like you don't care anymore

And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't stand another fight
And nothing's alright

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

Nothing's gonna change the things that you said
Nothing's gonna make this right again
Please don't turn your back
I can't believe it's hard
Just to talk to you
But you don't understand

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

ANALYSIS

The first stanza is basically about a teenager who asks his father as to whether he has made his father proud in the phrase "Did I grow up according to plan", showing the persona's uncertainty on whether he has done anything to please or disgrace his father. In my case, I have always been uncertain on whether i should do certain things, as I am afraid it might displease anyone around me.
"And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do" represents my feelings of whether my parents would actually disapprove of me doing things of my interest. "But it hurts when you disapprove all along" describes my feelings as I find out about their disapproval of my interests. In the second stanza, "And now I try hard to make it I just want to make you proud" shows that I am constantly trying to adapt, to fit into the criteria of what other people and my parents want me to be. "I'm never gonna be good enough for you" shows two meanings. One, is that I have a low self-esteem, and that I do not feel confident enough to be "good enough for you". Two, is that I keep striving to be "perfect", that nothing is good enough for me. "And you can't change me" describes that I will stick to my ways if I feel that it is the correct thing to do, and not blindly follow others.

The third stanza is repeated in the sixth, eight and ninth stanza. "'Cuz we lost it all/Nothing lasts forever" shows that my relationship with my parents are strained, that I fell they do not understand me at times, and vice versa. "I'm sorry/I can't be perfect" show that I feel that I cannot live up to my parents' requirements, hinting my desperation. "Now it's just too late" for us to go back the way we were. The fourth stanza starts with "I try not to think/About the pain I feel inside" which shows that I am trying hard to forget the bitterness within me, trying to forgive possibly. "Did you know you used to be my hero?" shows that I once looked up to them as role models, but my view has changed as "All the days you spent with me/Now seem so far away", that "it feels like you don't care anymore". The seventh stanza reveals that "Nothing's gonna change the things that you said" which means that I will not trust them the way I did before. However, I actually want to communicate with them to solve our problems, asking them "Please don't turn your back". In the end, "I can't believe it's hard/Just to talk to you" that you will not listen, and that "you don't understand".
I feel that the tone in this song is rather pleading, as the teenager in the song just wants his father to be proud of him, to proudly announce that he's his son. It sort of relates to me too, as I want my parents to be proud of me, even though they keep comparing me with people of better caliber, no matter how much effort I have already put in.

Here's my response to the the song in the form, of a poem..Enjoy!!=]

Please Don't Turn Your Back
by Joel Lee

Please don't turn your back
Lest you miss what I mean
Engrossed in your activities
Anxious about all the wrong things
Still giving me the cold shoulder
Engrossed in your cards which form the dealer's deck

Do listen mother and father
Oblivious to motion
Neglecting emotions
Tearing apart the fruit of your labour

Tumultuous weather threaten cloudy skies
Under attack away the small clouds flee
Respite found only in the depths of the sea
Nursing the sick and close to die

Your parents have left you, haven't you see?
Oblivious to the danger you kids were left in
Unanimously the clouds voted in
Responded "we were just trying to please"

Beware parents who do not care
A future in where both parties suffer
Concrete blocks that make a tower
Keep tumbling down


And now...My father's response!!*gasp*
"I never knew that he thought he did not live up to our requirements. He was really brave to come up to even ask us to respond to his analysis as this has always been quite an important matter to him. I hope that my wife and I can change how he describes himself, but in a more positive way."

Extended Metaphor Poem of a Household Item

Fabled to reflect souls
Filled with secrets untold
An item of immortality
with its fragile heart

Filled with kindness or cruelty
A being of many personalities
A marveled work of art
unlike any other

Unduly playing its part
Hung on a wall or even a cupboard
Ode to all mothers
that man in the mirror

Lesson 5: Poetry on Gambling

Thread 1:
Paul's weakness was that he never managed to contain his fervour for betting on horses, and this led to his addiction to it. He only allowed it to fester like an infected wound, only draining him of his strength and weakening his mentality, a contrast to what he thought of it. This just led him to repeatedly betting on horses which causes him to die in the end.

As for the cards stacked against him, it meant that things were not likely to go entirely his way, as he started losing money despite his initial wins, causing him to use a lot of effort just to predict who will win for the next match.

Paul was better off dying early rather than as an old man seventy years of age. If he had lived to seventy, who knows how addicted he would be to betting, seeing how addicted he was already when he was such a young boy. He is also unable to contain his interest for it, if he had money in the future he could most likely squander it away with a bad pick if he was unlucky, or made many times its original amount in profits if he was in luck. Money and horse betting could be all he thinks about, with a possibility that he would explore even more aspects of gambling leading him to use different methods to source for "luck". If one of this sources was to kill someone, would he not have done it for the sake of amassing a greater fortune? It would not have been worth it, killing just to win in a bet.

Thread 3:
Ah Boh could be said to be blinded throughout the entire story - by superstitions. Even up till the end of the story I doubt that she has repented. Despite saying that she would buy a grand coffin for her dead mother-in-law, she said that it would be with her winnings. If she did not win anytime soon, would she carry on gambling, using the excuse of buying a grand coffin for her mother?

As for numbers, she was obsessed with them, interpreting everything around her as a sign for a winning number in the lottery. Even sacrificing much of her time to go around looking for such numbers show how much this numbers really meant to her.

Eventually she would end up with no income or savings if she continues to squander her money away on useless gambling. In the meanwhile, her interpersonal relationships have spiralled down as she fails to listen to her friends and family's advice to quit. Her hopeless hope for a quick windfall would cause her ultimately - zero dollars.

Lesson 4: Gambling

Thread 2:
As seen in the story, Ah Boh was very superstitious when it came to gambling. She was also addicted to it as she could forsake her mother-in-law and her own daily needs. She interpreted winning numbers from dreams, even taking the effort to pen down her dreams and figure out what they meant, like a spider represents the number three and so on. Weighing her employer's cat and even asking a month-old baby to help her pick numbers, these are just a few ways in which she satisfy her superstitious needs. She would even go so far as to rush to accident scenes and stand the gruesome sight just to copy down the car plate number of the cars involved in the accidents. These unfounded beliefs just led Ah Boh to gamble even more.

Thread 3:
The person who led Paul to his demise was his uncle, Oscar Cresswell. Although the person who introduced him to gambling was his gardener, Basset, Paul won his first race using ten shillings which Uncle Oscar had given him, causing him to think that Uncle Oscar was lucky. This caused Paul to ask Uncle Oscar to join him in horse betting and become partners. If Uncle Oscar disagreed to being partners, Paul might have given up on horse betting. In addition, when Uncle Oscar started winning money through Paul, he started to get greedier, and this encouraged Paul to continue with his gambling habits, eventually leading to his death.

Analysis of The Son is in Secondary School by Affran Sa’at

My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something

At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem

It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes

Especially on Wednesdays I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another
Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

On Chinese New Year Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A’s
For his Chinese Language Multiple-choice paper

In our annual yearbook
There is a photograph of me
Pushing a wheelchair and smiling
They caught me
At the exact moment
When my eyes were actually closed

Affran Sa'at has chosen to write this poem in the form of a free verse, structuring it like daily conversation, as if he is trying to engage the reader in casual conversation, relating events about his school, rather than in a poetic form. The absence of alliterations show that making this poem musical is not the top priority in composing this poem. There were instances where imagery was used. For instance, "black crows" and "whiteness of my shoes". Even though these are not very strong "word pictures", they enable the reader to visualise what the poet is talking about.


Response to threads:
1. The poet misses his secondary school, as he remembers many significant details of it, regardless of whether it happened once or regularly. Many of the things he remember are those of happy thoughts, that he did not leave this school having a grudge with it. He seems to want to go back to secondary school life if he had the chance, to relive his past memories.

2.
Cross atop a building
Angel at the front gate standing
Spiritually filled it stood
A guardian of what is good

Field with memories never forgotten till time's end
A bed of barren, desert land
Hours of tackling, scoring, passing
Disregarding the need for studying or spelling

Classrooms filled with shaky fans
Whiteboard stained with the mark of our hands
A little souvenir for the classes below
A tinted glass window from the shaky side panel

Friends who moved about and stayed
Memories that would never fade
Quarrels, fights, arguments and brawls
Nevertheless a family, one for all

Our science teacher was a young bloke
loved to make all kinds of jokes
English teacher wasn't the same
A big NO to fun and games

Many things to say
Many stories to share
But at the end of the day
It is how you live life, over there

Favourite Poet!!

As you can see from my previous poem, the poet I favor is Robert Lee Frost, though more famously known simply as Robert Frost. Why is that so? One reason is that he was one of the first poets I came to know about and therefore he has left an impression on me with "The Road Not Taken", which was also the first poem that I have read since starting literature.

It was noted that mental illnesses ran through the family, as both he and his mother suffered from depression, while his sister was admitted to a mental hospital. He led a life filled with grief as his children and wife started succumbing to different illnesses, with only two children out of six outliving their parents.

An author who wrote on his life quoted that Robert Frost was "a loner who liked company; a poet of isolation who sought a mass audience; a rebel who sought to fit in." He also "traveled more than any poet of his generation to give lectures and readings, even though he remained terrified of public speaking to the end." Despite initially being regarded as an ordinary "farm-poet", Robert Frost eventually gained recognition through his literary works with realistic depictions on rural life and his command of American colloquial speech.

He attended Dartmouth College and Harvard College, but dropped out halfway to support his family. However, he managed to obtain honorary degrees from several well-known colleges including Harvard Oxford, and Cambridge universities at the height of his fame. A high point in his life was when he read out a poem at JFK's inauguration‘s president. The plan was to originally read out a new poem he wrote for the inauguration, entitled "Dedication". However, but due to certain factors regarding his age and How new the poem was to him, he decided to fall back and read another poem, entitled "The Gift Outright".

Three of Robert Frost's more famous poems include:

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

This poem is basically about the fact that nothing in the world remains pure and perfect for long.

Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

It discusses the end of the world, likening the elemental force of fire with the emotion of desire and hate with ice.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

This poem was what Robert Frost claimed as one of his favourite poems, saying that it was his "best bid for remembrance". A broadcasting station read out this poem during the report of John F. Kennedy's casket reaching the white house. The person who was reading the poem at that time, Sid Davis, was overcome with emotion when he signed off his report with it.

Sources:

en.wikipedia.org

http://www.google.com/

My Favourite Poem(So far...)

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

1.One method of using figurative language used in this poem is that of symbolism, shown as choosing between two roads to walk on. The choosing of roads in the poem refers to different choices he made in life, and the roads themselves refer to the experiences in life. He chooses to use roads to symbolise experiences in life as the surroundings of the roads represent different phases in life, not all of which are necessarily the same.

Another is the use of personification, also in the case of the roads. As the poem goes, the roads "wanted wear", and as roads cannot think, they cannot want. Wanting, is what humans do.

Use of hyper boles is shown as "somewhere ages and ages hence", as it is exaggerated greatly.

2. This poem is about making decisions in life. And that choices you make will affect you in the future, be it good or bad. What I perceive of this poem is that choices are inevitable in life, and you will only live to regret or treasure it after you have travelled it. I like it with the fact that it relates to normal people's everyday life and that people can understand it better as it is a subject closer to them than some other profound poems. Choices is something we have to make everyday, be it choosing to do your chores or not etc. However, this poem is evidently about making choices that are likely to affect you in life in the future. The way he describes the choices and how he has to make them show that he has not regretted making that choice, despite it being the one less favoured by others. It is simple, yet profound, and the way its message is conveyed is understandable by people of all ages allows me to enjoy it.

The Mercurial Tom

Graveyard of Memories

Destroyed.
Engulfed with emotions.
A chance missed.
Dandelions in arms, he strode in.

Marigolds swayed as he passed,
Engulfed in bitterness he walked on,
Modestly, bowing to grievers.
Over that stone, his destination.
Rain poured,
Integrated with footsteps,
Echoed a sad tune.
Settled his flowers on the "TOMb".

"How can I find another job now?"

The Cure

"The Cure" is a book about two siblings, Raul and Arym, who were abandoned as children and taken into nurture-homes under the care of the Republic, a government that seeks to curb all superstitious beliefs and banish its believers, also known as "unbelievers" of the Republic. Raul could not suppress his anger towards the Republic at times, and it eventually leads him and his sister to be brought to Parens Island in hopes of curing their"unbelief".On Parens Island, healers take charge of small groups of children in hopes of healing them, while serious "unbelievers" are sent to Doctor Tomas for "treatment". As the story progresses on, Raul learns more about the past of the Republic and the religious groups.Uncovering more about the past of Parens Island,he grows in belief towards faith, with his sister following suit despite her initial doubts.The ending is an unexpected one, and the story ends with a line filled with faith.

This book outdid expectations and as the story progressed on, I found myself more drawn into the book and the stories it told.Thumbs up!

Lost Treasure

The night was young.The moon was high.
Rainclouds,overcast in the sky.
A tiny figure scurried along the streets.
Looking for shelter,shade or a tree.
Raindrops fell,all at once.
He tripped and fell,efforts wasted.
Drenched,he sat,looking at his lost treasure.
That small little piece of rain-soaked cheddar.

Parent's comments on e-bookshelf

The following is a quote from my mother after going through my e-bookshelf:

"I feel that this is quite a new and innovative way to encourage our sons to read and enjoy books. This is also a good way to share books which they find interesting with their peers and teachers. With such a platform, they being able to share books with one another allows them to read books which are of the different genres from the ones they usually read.This increases their knowledge in a way, so I feel that this idea of an electronic bookshelf is really good. I hope my son will really benefit from it."(This quote has been edited by me as some words I found were used wrongly.)

I hope this quote is useful somehow. =)

Mother's Memorable Read

Well, to start of, my mother was never quite much of a reader(no offence mom!) Ask her what book she has read and she will take only a few seconds to tell you that she only remembers one book:Tuesdays With Morrie. Sure, she cannot really remember the details of the book clearly, but she mentioning this book almost instantly after my questioning should mean something about it!

By the way, for those of you who have never read it, it is basically a book on life, each chapter about a different aspect of life.From forgiveness to regrets, the topics are somewhat inspiring at times.In a way, my mother was generally moved by how Morrie lived his live to the fullest, up to his last breath.Her favourite part of the story is also when Morrie says goodbye to the author before he dies.It is very emotional at that part.The story is also based on a true account by its author!(Morrie, rest in peace)

To be honest, the first time I read this book was years ago, and I was actually quite bored by its relatively simple contents.However, when I read it maybe a few months back, I was pretty impressed by it.Kudos to Mitch Albom for such a read!

Confessions of a softie?

OK...the title may sound weird but I guess that's the best confession I can think of so far..come to think of it..it is not really a confession. I am guessing this is quite common among all of us..compassion. Whenever I see old or disabled people on the streets busking for a living or just selling stuff like tissue paper, I cant help but feel very bad for them. In a way I have the feeling that it is my fault they are in this situation. Even after passing them for a long time, I cant help but think about them again. Sometime its just so distracting, I begin to wonder if this "softness" is a disadvantage.
Another aspect of my "softness" is that I'm easily how should I put it,"pushed around"?Well at least I was during my primary school days. Do not be fooled by my "massive"(so as some say) frame, I am actually a gentle giant...Still, I think everyone knows that by now. I feel that I should stand up for myself more often than not, but alas, I cant for no reason.
I guess that concludes my confession..bye?

Differentiated Assignment-Linguistic

Well,I guess this is it then.Goodbye Harrison,goodbye teachers and friends,goodbye track... Actually,this past few days I have been thinking about whether I made the right choice. I have caused so much trouble and grief for both the school and I. I really regret this now. Why did I did I start all these anyway.All it took was humming to "The Star-Spangled Banner" in class and a little media here and there and look how much this matter has blown up to.

I guess I really have to apologise to everyone who has suffered because of me.However,I really owe the biggest apology to Miss Narwin.It was because of me that she had to move away to live with her sister.It was me who ruined her career,when all she wanted to do was to let her students learn literature in a fun way.If you are seeing this Miss Narwin,I am REALLY sorry.

Since this has damaged the reputation of the school in a way, I also owe an apology to Dr Gertrude Doane.

Coach Jamison,Mr Lunser, thank you all for your encouragements(in a way).

Well,this has come to an end.Goodbye teachers and classmates of Harrison School,I hope that me leaving will at least bring an end to this entire fiasco.Once again,I am sorry for all that i have done.Will u all ever forgive me?

Comments:

Coach Jamison:
Hey there sport,what a waste your leaving.You could have been a real great athlete,could have even made it to the Olympics!Too bad now man.You should have just asked Narwin for extra assignments or something.Now you have wasted your talent.Nevertheless, you have got to continue your training on your own.Never give up like the fighter u are OK?
Your coach,
Coach Jamison

Miss Narwin:
Guess it is all too late now Phil.However,it is better late then never for you to realise your mistakes!I'm doing fine here by the way.Hope you will do fine in your new school,even though there is no track for you to join there.Well,that's all I have got to say to you,good luck!
Your teacher,
Miss Narwin

Superintendent Albert Seymour:
Do not take this the wrong way but I am really grateful for you to be leaving Harrison School.As you know,we have been having some troubles with the school budget and this recent media scandal is definitely not helping.Nonetheless,good luck with your new school.
Albert Seymour

Mr Lunser:
Hey there funny guy,how life?What a waste for you to be leaving Harrison,I was starting to like you!We already starting to miss you around here!What a brave act of patriotism you showed there eh?Too bad it wasn't real.I know you will do great in your new school!Stay happy okay?
Your chum,
Mr Lunser

Concluding Term 1.....

In all,this has been a refreshing new term for me, mostly due to what I am doing now,blogging!Since this is my first time blogging,I have many new questions regarding it.However,since it is not really related to my topic of this post,I shall not elaborate further on it,maybe next time on a separate post =].

Now on to my nest point,what I like and dislike about it...Basically,this has been a very enjoyable experience. Sure,this has enabled me to post my feelings and thoughts on an electronic platform,which come to think of is quite cool,however there are two faces to a coin.I'm sure some of you would agree that this is somewhat personal to you and(shock!)it is actually public to everyone!Not that people besides my classmates or my LA teacher know that I have this blog,but,there is still this sense of insecurity that someone,somewhere is looking at all the blog posts that have been published.That aside, I cannot help but admit that I have almost forgotten all about the RBP,which my class created to ensure responsible blogging.This means that we have to be very careful when we are blogging,including not revealing stuff about yourself.(Remember why I keep writing"my LA teacher"instead of just writing his name??)

Now here are some suggestions on how to improve this whole process......I have no suggestions.Besides limiting people who can read my blog,I really have no suggestions to contribute!At least,what I meant was useful suggestions.

Last but definitely not least, the relationship between my reading habits and my electronic bookshelf.Obviously,the books that I place on my electronic bookshelf are those of which I have read and like.Likewise,whatever I posted for my reading habits post should be given a place in my electronic bookshelf,although this might not always be the case. What we post on our electronic bookshelf is also somewhat linked to our.....interests and at times,our personality!Being a lover of crime and mystery stories does not mean that I would like to be a detective or even a criminal in the future!(okay,i am getting too side-tracked here...) However,this I feel is definitely linked with ones interests.I guess they are connected through ones interests.Guess this concludes this post,the final blog assignment of term 1!

School Holidays!Fun,Fun and more Fun!

Hallelujah!The school holidays are just 2 weeks away from now!(w00h00!!)Finally a breathing space for me(and maybe everyone else=])Wonder what I shall do then....0_o

Well before that,I still have this camp to attend.I could still remember the last camp I went to.I was 11and to me,the camp was quite disastrous..(never liked camping anyways...)call me a pampered guy but I'm not going to change my opinions about camps!=P Wonder if I should discuss about that experience..maybe some other day since this entry IS about the SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!!!

The day immediately after the camp,I would be going back to my old school for a old boys tournament(wow I feel so old..-_-),held in conjunction with the inter-class of the primary 5's.I wanted to go for the tournament with a few of my p6 class's friends(not meaning to brag here but they were the champions for our inter-class that year!Too bad I was not in...=D)In the end,I realised that I had something on and that I could not make it for the match,however,I could make it at night for the buffet and the a screening of a match.(YAY!)

That aside,I have nothing else planned for the holidays...just the 3 R's.REST,RELAX and REVISE!!

Narrative and Graphics-My Connection

Hello one and all,I'm back!(not like I was gone for a while...)

To start off,recently my English teacher told us to take an online test,which would determine our preferred learning styles(not like I preferred learning but..you get my point).We were to hand it up the next day so that he could group us into groups for a group work we were going to do.Well,here are my top three preferred learning styles:Intrapersonal,Musical,Interpersonal and Visual(OK I know I listed four but as my Interpersonal AND Visual were of the same..points I guess..I have no choice but to list both).Back to my story,by the next day,he was ready with the groups.To my surprise(a very big one),I was put into the logical group,which I had fared the worst in for the test!(=0)

Soon after we began a group activity,in which we were supposed to form a story with pictures he gave us.I had to admit,I was not very good at it.Actually,I stank.That aside,now I have to write about my connection between narrative and graphics.I did not really understand what he meant by that,so here is my interpretation of the topic:I was supposed to write a post about what I felt about narrative and graphics and how I feel that they are connected,or how I am connected to them.So here it is!

Generally, I feel that using graphics are better than narrating a story using well,words!My reason?Well, reading words of a book just cant convey the story as well as graphics as they enable the reader to visualise the scene happening in the story.When one reads,he(or she) has to both read the text and visualise the plot unfolding in front of them,which,in my case,I feel more tiring to do so.In addition, graphics do not follow a certain storyline,thus for those imaginative ones out there(that's you!)you can create an entire story just by using your imagination and the graphics!Be your own author for a day or two!(depending on how fast you read=]..)

What is that I hear?You do not agree?Well this next bit shall satisfy you.Have you heard this famous phrase:When there are pros there are cons(OK..I kinda made it up...)Back to my point,
when reading graphic novels,the story might be a little hard to make out at times.There are several reasons.1.You are NOT imaginative!2.Sometimes its just the story itself,you just have to make out what it means by reading either the picture before or after that part of the story!

Still not satisfied?Well I'm all out of ideas.Open your mind and broaden your heart(or is it vice-versa..),you will come to understand what I mean eventually!

My connection?Graphics relate better to me I guess...

My Reading Habits.

Well,I do not know when I started to pick up books and learnt how to read but I guess it all started somehow!I guess the first few books I read were those that were mainly pictures with GIGANTIC or little words on them.i couldnt help it,I was just a kid.

As time passed and I grew up and i started to read more profound books(Thank GOD)These included books written by famous writers like Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl(what a hard name to spell!)I read books like BFG,Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(-.-)just to name a few.....As time flew by(again..)i started to read novels and other books...

I cant really remember the first novel I read, but I think it was by a female author(not much information?I know...).Still one of the most prominent books that have CHANGED my life came from the one and only Mitch Albom. The first book I read that was written by him was "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"even though it was written after "Tuesdays With Morrie"(I was ignorant then=])The moment i read"Tuesdays With Morrie",it overwhelmed me with emotions words alone cannot describe.They were mostly,though,grief and sympathy for Morrie.Even so, the lessons he taught were really aplicable to present day situations in life.Now I know this might sound corny,but i remembered times when i really wanted to break down,but this book really taught me to let go.Maybe it is because I have not read enough books yet,but up till today,up till this moment when im typing this sentence,this word, this book is THE best book I have ever read.

Okay, now to more recent reads(I meant during my P6 days). I got introduced to Nicci French by one of my ex-tutors,after she told each of us in our class to bring home a book she had laid out on a table in front of us.As I was usually slower,i got beaten to the more exciting books,in the end haveing to settle for "Beneath The Skin" written by Nicci French.I went home to read it as the teacher wanted us to write a book review about the books we were reading.Slowly but surely,the book got more and more interesting,as twists and turns complicated the already captivating plot.The book's theme was about crime,psycology at some point,and mystery.I started searching for books written by her after my first read and soon after borrowed two more books by her(I could only find two at that time).The books were equally intersting,her genre mainly specialising in those of action and thrillers,mystery and crime, and suspense.

Wow guess I got carried away.Well thats it!My reading habits!

http://weread.com/profile/Joel+/C6DF69C5-4B82-4824-9B89-ABA893312712?refuid=C6DF69C5-4B82-4824-9B89-ABA893312712&src=&auri=

Philip Malloy's Diary Entry

Why did I do it?Wonder what drove me to think of making such a stupid move!Was it because of that Narwin, or because I had stood up for what I thought was right?I mean I should have been right,since so many people were behind me,especially mum and dad......but still...was it the right thing to do?Why did I have to cause myself to end up like this, in a geeky private school with no track team and maybe,no fun at all. I mean, sure my new form teacher is nice and all but, I just feel uneasy.This is all Narwin's fault.If it weren't for her ruining homeroom and English class with all her strict rules and boring lessons,would I have landed in this state?And my friends and classmates,it makes me mad and confused just thinking of them.As their friend, shouldn't they support me in my decision, instead of backing Narwin up, by trying to make me apologise to her?If I had a second chance, I would still not apologise to her.After all I have done,look what has happened to me.Why......Why did it have to end like this......

Saying hello

First day of school. As a new student in a new secondary school. Secondary one to me was like a completely new environment. New teachers, new facilities, not to mention new friends. I felt great, and a bit nauseous, feeling like I was having stomachaches at times. All in all, I was nervous. As if to make matters worse, I was completely alone. Only a few of my friends had followed me to this new school of mine. After I was posted to my class, it was with a hint of dismal that I found out none of them were in my class.Looking on the bright side, I could make more new friends!






First day of school was mainly a tour of the school campus. The library, hall, canteen, last but not least, our classrooms. In our classrooms, our form teacher discussed about school rules, class rules...... Got quite boring, up to the point when he asked us to introduce ourselves. I listened intently, hoping to hear what were my classmates reasons for coming to this school and also what their hobbies were. Soon, it was my turn. My stomach was churning, I stood up wobbly and " confidently" stated where I came from, what I like to do in my spare time and my reason for choosing this school. Soon, it was over. I never really enjoyed lectures, so this made my teacher's talk seem like ages had passed before he finally came to a halt. After a "gruelling" first day, it had finally ended. Even so, this was the first of many to come.