Online Task Three

Nelson Mandela

by Sharifah Mazlin

 

Nelson,

Clever, Hardworking and Passionate,

The leader of African people,
Who loves his family , people, country more than anything else,
Is not afraid of what he think is right although being jailed for no reasons,

In order to make life better for his people and country,

True President of Africa,

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

 

 

Online Task Four

SPEECH is one of the interesting alternative text to be used in the literature classroom. The speech provided for you in the module is one by Martin Luther King.

1. Think of at least 3 benefits of using speeches by famous figures, in the classroom.

1.       Speeches by famous figures are interesting, so it can attract the students’ attention easily.

2.      Speeches by famous figures are well-written and can inspire students to write good speeches.

3.      Speeches by famous figures can influent late students to make famous and successful figures as their role model in the art of public speaking.

2. Go to www.youtube.com and find the audio-visual on the speech. In not less than 50 words, state would the audio-visual be of any use in helping understand the speech better? State your reasons.

The use of media in the classroom can helps students to understand the text better. By watching the audio-visual materials, students can really understand and help them to relate to the speech because listening and watching can improve our understanding instead of looking and black and white lines in a book that can the students felt boring. Listening to the tone of the speech also helps them to identify the key points.

3. Who is Martin Luther King?

Martin Luther King is an African American or the most famous black leader in the movement of the civil rights in the United States of America. He used the non-violent ways as that was used by the famous Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi.

4. Based on the questions below, analyse the features of the given written speech:

i. What is the purpose of the speech?

The purpose of the speech is mainly to motivate and persuade the white people in the USA to take action against the racial issues of his people that is “black people”. He makes them realise that racial equality was very important for America in order to achieve the noble aspirations Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

ii. What is the tone of the speech?
The tone is persuasive and aggression to shows that the message he is conveying is very meaningful to him and also to persuade his listener.

iii. What interesting major feature(s) can you see from the speech?

 (i.e.Repetition of phrases, emphasis on certain things said etc)

The repetition of “I have a dream” phrase.

iv) Any interesting facts that you can gather based on the background of the speech?

a)      The used of the most trusted sources that every people of America should have known that are the Bible, Emancipation Proclamation, United States’ Declaration of Independence and the United States’ Constitution to include in the speech. This will help him persuade his listener more effectively because all the sources that he used is very true and trusted by all.

b)      The venue that is Lincoln’s Memorial where Abraham Lincoln the President of Unites States of America signed the Emancipation Proclamation many years ago and until the day he delivered the speech, the black people were still ‘enslaved’ by the white people. Talking about the irony of it.

5. Suggest a while-reading activity that can be derived from this particular speech.

1.      Find the main idea of each paragraph in the speech and write the important details of the speech in chronological order.

2.      Answer the comprehension questions by using the option given during reading activity.

Online Task Two

Do we have a canon for Malaysian literary works? Let's say we do, who do you think are in it? Consider the fact that their works are well-known and most importantly included as part of the school syllabus- (both in BM and English)

1. Samad Said

2. Che Husna

3. Shirley Lim

4. K.S Maniam


The poems by Erica Jong raises some feminist issues. What are they?

1. The intimates feeling of a woman.

2. The true feelings that were face by many women.

Do you think they are suitable to teach at the secondary school level?  Explain.

Erica Jong’s poems are suitable to be taught at the upper secondary school level from Form 4 to Form 6. This is because it takes a mature students to understand her poems like After the Earthquake or Beast, Book, Body. Students have to really understand the poems that she wrote because her poems may raise certain issues that can be consider a taboo in Malaysian culture. For me we can use this poem as an alternative in teaching sex education for students.

Is Hillary Tham's poem more suitable?Yes, because the elements in her poems reflected the issues of Malaysian people and also the experience that students can relate to. The example of poems that girl students can relate to easily is “Becoming A Woman”. It is suitable because all of the girls will face a certain change in their life in becoming a woman.

The short tale from the Native American group is about a girl who is unsatisfied with her life. How is this a universal experience? Can it teach our students anything?Human being will face many experiences in their life. As a normal human, we are always have the feeling of dissatisfied of our feeling. Jealousy and envy always fuels the advocate us to feel unsatisfied with many things. The story is a good choice to be taught to our students because it is full of moral values which can help them to reflect their own life.

 
From your findings about his background, tell me about the dilemma he conveys through the poem CROSS.

This poem explores the deepest emotions and troubles of a young man born into a world of confusion. He is confused by his heritage but arrogant in his pride. He is growing up in the whirl of a white society, and cannot decide whether he is white or black. Hughes, using a black mother and white father, completely makes it easy for the reader to understand and almost foreshadow where this poem is going. It is evident that there is an inner sense of not belonging in this child. In line three through eight, it is clear that the child is sorry for all the pain he has brought on to his parents, unknowingly. He shows remorse for all the curses and bad wishes he said to his parents, now that they are dead. But this is all because of a bigger problem. Now that his parents are both dead, he has no one to turn to, to help him figure out what his is. He can’t seem to figure out whether he is going to die in riches or rags. This is the great dilemma Hughes presents to the reader and leaving the audience in query to this unanswerable question. He cannot seem to find any truth in himself whatsoever, this child is and forever will be lost in his own identity. Hughes uses this boy’s struggles symbolically, not to show the pressures of a “crossed” child but rather to show how we as a society stereotype the races. The white father dying in a fine house whereas the mother dies in a shack, depicts the common view of the white race as being a more upscale and richer society and the black culture oppressed in poverty and forever bound to the slums of the world.

I find "Dinner Guest: Me" laden with irony and sarcasm. Briefly state if you feel the same.

I feel the same about “Dinner Guest: Me”. Being half black and half white people he talks about how black people are put at the lower class of social hierarchy. Being half white and half black, he is like an alien at the dinner party at Park Avenue where white people look at him as black.

The experience in the poem Harlem is one that is true for many people. Do you agree?
I agree that the experience in Harlem is true for many people; Racism can caused a lot of problem.  It could disturb the peace and harmony in a community and could cause a country to face with many problems if no action is taken and matter is not done fairly to all.


Langston Hughes fights for the voice of his people. What is the movement called?

New Negro Movement

Online Task One

List some of the well known folktales from Malaysia.

Growing up, I always listened and read book about Malaysian folktales. Although the stories were quite short but the impact that it gave me were still in my head until now. There are many interesting folktales that came from Malaysia.

The folktales are :-

1. Sang Kancil and The Crocodile
2. Sang Kancil Helps Kerbau
3. Bawang Putih Bawang Merah
4. Badang
5. Mat Jenin
6.Si Tanggang
7. The Story Of The Coconut Tree
8. Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa
9. Batu Belah Batu Tertangkup
10. Puteri Gunung Ledang

List some of the possible issues found in The Son of the Turtle Spirit.

Some of the issues that I had found in ‘The Son of the Turtle Spirit’ are:-

1) In the Chinese culture turtles has spirits which manifests at night and disappear at dawn before the sunrise.

2) The Chinese community believe that the location of the burial ground is very important because it affects the wealth and the well-being of the dead. In this story, it had stated clearly in the 8th paragraph that “the sons and grandsons of anyone buried there would certainly rise to high honours.”

3) Regardless of race and religion, we still holding on to one common belief that is ‘fate’. The son of the turtle spirit was supposed to place the remains of the rich man’s grandfather in the dragon’s mouth as we know in Chinese community dragon bring good luck and fortune. Instead, he hung the bones on the dragon's horns because he followed his mother’s instructions. Finally, the son of the turtle spirit became the Emperor, and the son of the rich man was his minister. This is why I said that our life depends on our fates. We can only plan for something and work hard for it but our fate is determined by god. Everything in the universe works in accordance to the Almighty’s God will.

Are those issues universal in nature or are they only relevant in the Chinese culture ?

Issues one to two issues are closely relevant in the Chinese culture. Meanwhile the third issue is universal in nature regardless of race and religion.

 What are the other morals that can be gotten from the other fables by Aesop? List at least two.

Fables by Aesop

A fable is a story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are given human qualities and illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly..

The lion and the mouse - The moral of the story is that mercy brings its reward and that there is no being so small that it cannot help a greater.

The crow and the fox – Do not trust flatterer.  

Myths

One well - known literary figure from the Elizabethan age used Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe as a model to one of his famous plays. Who is he and what is the play?


The story of Pyramus and Thibes had inspires many artist and writers throughout the century. One of the famous writter of a play had adapted the story of Pyramus and Thisbe by Ovid during the Elizabethan age. The famous writer is William Sheakspear where he created the most famous play until now that is Romeo and Julliet.

Legends

1. Who is Thomas Malory?

Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1405 – 14 March 1471) was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur

 2. When was Le Mort d’Arthur written?

The Morte Darthur was finished, as the epilogue tells us, in the ninth year of Edward IV., i.e. between March 4, 1469 and the same date in 1470.

3. How many books/ parts are there in LMDA?
 21 books

4. What is book 8 about?
It is about Sir Tristram's life

5. Who were the two people who had an affair?
Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere

6. Book 6 has a strong connection to a popular modern fiction which is now a movie. What is the title of the popular modern fiction?
 King Arthur.

7. State three well-known facts about King Arthur/ his time as a King
1.  Excalibur is Arthur most precious sword.
2.  Arthur married Guinevere

3. Arthur got the Round table as a wedding present from her father Leodegrance.

Think of 2 ways in which you can use folktales/fables/myths or legends in the classroom. Explain briefly.

1.      Role play

-          Teacher ask students to play the part of important characters to help them to understand better about the difficult character like Arthur or Sir Lancelot.

-         

2.      Creating own dialogue based on the picture given.

-          Students are asks to create own dialogue based on the folktales/fables/myth or legends given. This will help them to paraphrase the lines in the story and can expand their ideas in writing.

-         

3.      Change the ending of the folktales/fables/myths or legends.

-          This activity will help students to think critically on what they think the ending of certain story should end. Maybe instead of only happy ending, students can change them in tragedy ending.

No Stopping the Power of Mother Nature

The solid earth, before an angry God,
Shakes at the terrors of His awful nod.
The balance of the mighty world is lost—
Its vast foundations, in confusion toss'd,
Through all the hollows of its deepest caves
Rock like a vessel foundering in the waves.
Volumes of sulphurous air, with booming sound,
Burst through the gorges of the parted ground.

The earth doth heave, with groanings of distress,
Beneath the weight of human sinfulness.
Shall not our eyes drop penitential rain,
When all creation travaileth in pain?
Great God! who shall not fear Thee in the hour
When heaven and earth are trembling at Thy power!
Father, to nature's tumult whisper peace,
And bid the wickedness of man to cease!

Latin poem composed by Reverend Peter Bulkeley, Concord, Massachusetts,                                      on the occasion of the 29 October 1653 earthquake; recorded by Cotton Mather.

Living in world nowadays, everything is fast, fast , fast. I miss the peaceful time early in the morning after Subuh prayer hanging out with my 5 cats lingering at in front of my house compound. Everything stops when the sun comes up and suddenly my life turns to a busy chaos. I think it’s time for me to pause and reflect, and be thankful for that brief breathes of time.

Suddenly the earth trembles, and we are reminded once again about how rapidly disaster can strike .Where were you when Japan was shook? Where were you when we've experienced the other mixed tragedies of tsunamis and earthquakes? Try to ask these questions. What does tragedy do to you? Does it make you rethink life? Does a life-wrenching experience cause you to re – evaluate yourself?

What ever we do or what ever we planned to do, remember there is the Greatest Power that we should always remember in everything that we do. God provide us with this beautiful life and beautiful earth to live in. Remember of our responsibility towards HIM and our responsibility towards Mother Nature.

Please say a prayer to the victims of the Japan Tsunamis and pray the healthy and safe life for the survivors there….

Lights, camera, actions !

Acting is not one of my speciality. I kind of looking akward if I acted on the stage. Maybe it was the way i move my body that can be decribe like a "log". For this semester, a lot of acting and monologue need to carried out in order to complete my assignments. A new experience for me when first I have to act in my monologue alone and then acted again in the group presentation on the stage.

After rehearsing after rehersing, I managed to act the character that was given to me dispite the nervousness that I felt. Comments were given and I were determined to improves myself to be a great and realistic actress in order to be a good example for my students in the future.

Actually, acting and performing are not an easy task. A lot of preparation need to be done. The most important thing is the actress or the actor have to be very prepared so that they can act out the character that they play as realistic and believable as they can be.

Here are the so called actor and actress in the group performance that we did last week. Do you think they deserve an award?  :-)

Linda ( The Minah Rempit Girl)

Holy Ghost ( Pink One !)

Adam ( The GirlMan Boyfriend )

Mom ( Sweet and Gentle )

Theatre, theatre.

Theater is one of the genres in literature. For me theater is one of the most interesting genre in literature. On the 19^th February 2011 me and my friend went to PJ Live Arts @ Jaya One to watch an interesting play entitle “D’Arranged Marriage”. I never watch a theatre before so this was my first experience of watching live act. I had to go all the way to Petaling Jaya, the place where I never been to before. But for the sake of learning I went there with my friends. I arrive early and eagerly waited for the play to start.

“D’Arranged Marriage” is a one-man stand-up comedy performed by Tarun Mohabhai from New Zealand. The comedy tells the story of 29 year-old Sanjay Gupta who stays with his parents Indian immigrants, Manhur and Pushpa and how he avoids the issue of an arranged marriage since he was 10 years old. As is well known, arranged marriages are a major part of Indian culture.

Simple story, funny acting plus the singing and dancing are what made the show a great comedy to watch. It was really a good night filled with lots of Indian stereotype jokes. I definitely laugh out loud (literally) at all the funny words and moves Tarun keeps throwing at the audience for a full 90 minutes, non-stop.

      

Feminist in John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums"



I always facinated by the story by John Steinbeck. From the Pearl to the Chrysanthemums.
From the first time I have read the Chrysanthemum story, I fell in love with the main character in the story that is Elisa. In this story, Steinbeck cleverly describing Elisa's character as the woman that is bravely expressing her innermost emotions and desires. There are many interpretation that we can understand from Elisa's characters.

1. Profundity in Simplicity

The insufficient outlets for her womanly affection are shown in her daily work and interaction with people she displays in the story, demonstrating her need for self-expression, for fulfillment in a life that seems inadequate in her point of view

2. An Opportunity for Self-Expression

The pivotal moment in the story where this need for self-recognition occurs is in Elisa's reaction to a travelling salesman, a peddler searching for business whose wanderings have led him to her farm. When he asks about her flowers, she sees an opportunity to demonstrate her area of expertise. She delves into an explanation of the delicate care they require, and it is only when he shows appreciation for her art that she displays some level of interest in his craft.

3. From Emotional Release to Extremism

Elisa’s interest takes on a new level, however, when she begins questioning the peddler on his lifestyle, and her interest in his gypsy career escalates into jealousy. The fact that such a way of life is thrilling to her is demonstrative of how much she has let her own life deteriorate into something she feels is unworthy of her ability, of her potential. She is dissatisfied; she feels that the daily work and toil of a farmer’s wife do not give her sufficient opportunity to display the depths of love, affection, and strength of which she is capable. Before he leaves, Elisa gives the peddler some chrysanthemum bulbs to pass on to one of his customers, and included in this gift is a part of her own self, an act of heroism in her own eyes.

4. The Final Inability to Find Beauty in Simplicity

At the end of "The Chrysanthemums", Elisa and her husband are driving into town for an evening out, and she sees the peddler pulled off to the side of the road. Her reaction is not for the welfare of the peddler, however; her last words in the story are directed at the welfare of her flowers. She thinks he pulled over to keep the bulbs safe, no other reason. She weeps, “weakly, like an old woman,” but tries to hide it. She is unable to balance what she perceives as strength, which is to hide weakness, and emotional release, which would be to share her thoughts and desires. In the end, she is as she was: unable to cope with this conflict of stoicism versus the need to express love, affection, and self-giving.

Not So Common Fairy Tales Characters

Growing up, cartoon and animated series had been part of my life. Big animated studios like Disney, Pixar had been producing many interesting fairytales stories like the famous Snow White, Cinderella or maybe Beauty and The Beast. Just wanted to ask you a questions. Who is the character that been playing the part of the princesses? Isn't it the common white girl with long blonde hair, fair skin and so beautiful?  Every girls dream to be like the character that they see in the cartoon character. Nowadays, the fairytales characters had changed from the common princesses to the uncommon princesses. Have you ever watch the animated movies like Shrek or maybe the Princess and the Frog? Maybe the animated studios had realised that imperfect characters are more accepted now. Portraying that although that you are not beautiful but you also have the right to be happy. Good wake up call forall the children out there. You don't have to be beautiful and suffer yourself to achieve happiness. Just be yourself because you will get the happiness that you need. Just the thought that i been thinking after watching the ugly ogre animated movie 'Shrek'!

Here are some of the clips that shows the not so common characters.

Music and Poem. Isn't it interesting?



Music had been a very meaningful impact in my life. Early in the morning, late at night before i went to sleep, music has been my best friend. Have you ever listened to the true lyrics of music nowadays? Some of it are so beautiful and bring great meaning that can easily inspire us. For me lyrics in the songs are same as lyrics in a poems. Sometimes the relation between poetry and music is very close indeed, as in the case of song lyrics or ballads. Consider one of the poems like the ballad of "Sir Patrick Spens."  What is there about the ballad form that lends itself so well to being sung? Of course, ballads are not the only poems that can be sung. Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" is an example of the sort of Renaissance lyric that might be sung but could just as easily stand alone as a poem.Many of the poets (including Shakespeare, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats, and Auden) have had some of their poems set to music, and Langston Hughes had a significant career writing for the musical theater. Don't believe me? Then click on the icon and listened them for yourself! Enjoy!

MEN

My passion for poetry seem to increased lately. Maybe because of the beautiful words that get you thinking what is the true meaning of the words in the poem. While doing my research I came accross a very controvercial poems. Some may said it a very it is a really digusting poem written by Maya Angelou but for me it is a very bold poem and its reflect the true nature of how woman is treated by man. This poem was very focused on physical things to show that one should never see things purely on how they appear. Not judging a book by its cover.  She is warning all females that they should be very careful and cautious when it comes to dealing with men. Rape nowadays is happening like everyday. Believe me rape is traumatizing! Anyone who experiences it is shocked by it. Our soul is being intruded. It is a very scary thought.  At the ‘universal’ level, her characterization of woman in every way is a kind of self-representation on the part of a sensitive woman, as the state of being in reality with all its multiple shades, colors and icons. She does not reduce herself into a sexual model of woman rather as a whole human being with the openness of a complete personality. She knows how to position a woman as a human being to some psychic state, as discussing the role of women she asserts.

Her poem is written around a logical split. She promotes individual integrity and separateness and devalues the personal and communal interdependency. She presents her own experiences of life as foregrounding to show inherently unpredictable, ever-changing, split and divided character of human personality. Her poetry shows the combination of individual agency and power of woman together. Her typical feminine poems resist and expose this combination and unity of the self, subjectivity at social and psychological level, intertwined. This reflects woman’s subordinate position within society and culture which always compel them to shrink themselves to be a romantic individual with their exotic, sensuous and sensual pleasures. The concept of woman in her poetry provides an entity that binds together all women in the face of racial, national and other differences. She is more self-aware human and representative of women from the position of silenced, deprived and unprivileged.  “Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives, the struggle for equality continues unabated, and the woman warrior who is armed with wit and courage will be among the first to celebrate victory” (Angelou,1993). Do you think I am a feminist?

Try to read it and see what do you understand by it. Don't forget to leave you comment.

Men By Maya Angelou

When I was young, I used to
watch behind the curtains
as men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men.
Young men sharp as mustard.
See them. Men are always
going somewhere.
They knew I was there. Fifteen
Years old and starving for them.
Under my window, they would pauses,
Their shoulders high like the
Breasts of a young girl,
Jacket tails slapping over
Those behinds,
Men.

One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
were the last raw egg in the world. Then
they tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little
more. The hurt begins. Wrench out a
Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly,
Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered.
It is your juice
That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes.
When the earth rights itself again,
And taste tries to return to the tongue,
Your body has slammed shut. Forever.
No keys exist.

Then the window draws full upon
Your mind. There, just beyond
The sway of curtains, men walk.
Knowing something.
Going someplace.
But this time, I will simply
Stand and watch.

Maybe.

Maya Angelou



CAN A POEM CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

Have you ever think that a single poem that you just read can move your emotion and also change your life? Surprising right but people tell me all the time that they don't like poetry. I wish they don’t say that. Not that I want them to lie but just want them to get it. I want their lives to be better because of poetry. I want them to care more about other people because of poetry. I want to take every student I have ever had, my family, my children, my town, my country into the auditorium of words.

Maybe you didn't have a great first experience in schools when you read Old English poems or Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare. How about a poet from our own country, our beautiful Malaysia? It seems to me that I never read work that wasn't European or American until after I graduated! Thankfully, I know that has changed somewhat before I graduated from this degree course.

Too many people didn’t like to be caught dead reading poetry. Be caught alive at a reading!! Seriously, what would happen if you went to a reading? Just for fun? No one would ask you to explain the poem. No circles to fill in with a number 2 pencil, just words and sound. The understanding of poem differs from every other people that read it. How it moves you that is the important thing that you should know.

This is just what I felt about poetry. Maybe it sounds silly right, talking about poems and how it can change my life. Well, I am on the same boat as you people also before I went through this degree courses and be inspired by the people that love and appreciate poetry a lot.

After browsing through some blogs I had found some useful blogs that can help you feel inspired by poetry. If you want to be inspired too, check out http://www.poets.org and follow the links to poets, poems and poetry readings. It's a good place to start. I have a list of some of my favorite poets (NOT an exhaustive list because there are so many more I love) posted here:  http://www.stefanielipsey.com/inspiration_and_resources

Poets and readers, please feel free to comment on some of your favourite poems and poets. Inspire me!!