Exam Preparation

 After an entire year, it's finally reaching our end of year exams. Naturally, to ensure a good grade, i will have to study hard for the test. However, unlike Math and Science, Language Arts cannot be memorized. It requires reading up of different methods, committing them to memory and emulating them.

For paper one, I will be reading up on some of my own compositions as well as those from others who have written well and will try to emulate the methods that they used. I will also study the formating for situational writing.

I will reread animal farm as well as memorize the necessary  quotes in the animal farm that questions in the exam might make use of.

I will study the different poetry and prose analysis methods and decide which kind i will want to tackle during the exams.

These three are the main components that i will study. As for the rest, like comprehension open- ended, i see no way to study them since they are basically a test of our identifying of answers and applying of knowledge, together with other methods like inference.

My weread

I forgot the password to my previous account but here is the link to my new one: http://weread.com/iread_index.php

MBA- Who am I?

Song Used:Where is the love?
Artist: Black Eyed Peas
Lyrics: What's wrong with the world mama?
People living like aint got no mamas
I think the whole worlds addicted to the drama
Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma
Overseas yeah we tryin to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin
In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And if you hatin you're bound to get irate
Yeah madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
You gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach or
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the lovex3)(the love2x)

It just ain't the same all ways have changed
New days are strange is the world the insane?
If love and peace so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations dropping bombs
Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones
With ongoing suffering
As the youth die young
So ask yourself is the loving really strong?
So I can ask myself really what is going wrong
With this world that we living in
People keep on giving in
Makin wrong decisions
Only visions of them livin and
Not respecting each other
Deny thy brother
The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover
The truth is kept secret
Swept under the rug
If you never know truth
Then you never know love
Where's the love y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the truth y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the love y'all?

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can practice what you preach or
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father father father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the lovex3)(the lovex2)

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm getting older y'all people get colder
Most of us only care about money makin
Selfishness got us followin the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what the see in the cinema
Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading anomosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I gotta keep my faith alive, until love is found

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach or
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(fade)

Analysis: This song is mainly stating the evils of the human race. This song really represents what i believe in, in other words, like the singers, i really hope to change the world to be a better place, not the one that the singer is describing and which unfortunately, is the real world we are living in.

The first two lines of the first stanza end with the same word,"mama."This is a bit of a paradox as the first sentence potrays a little kid asking his mother what is wrong with the world, when in fact, everyone was living like they had no mothers to teach them right from wrong.The following lines show the current evils of the world. Problems like terrorism and racism are shown. "Love" and "hatin" are two words used by the songwriter. This two words may be contradictions of each other, but they're are actually used to show the balance between the love for your race and religion. Loving your own race and discriminating other races are signs of racism and like the songwriter, I do not believe in this. "Love" is repeated three times to show the different things. It's used to show the love for your own race that causes discrimination. The other two times it was used,however, are used to show that love can be used to solve the problems that the previous kind of 'love' caused. In this case, repetition is used to emphasize on this word and to show the pains and joys of 'love.'

The next stanza is the chorus. The words used inside the chorus potrays the main theme of this entire song. A large part of this stanza actually makes reference to religion, with words like "Father", in other words,God, and also "Preach", which is reminiscient of preachings and sermons made by the church. I strongly believe in what this stanza says, as it questions humans atrocities and killings and also thier heartlessness with the simple question,"Where is the love?" 'People killing people dying/Children hurtin you hear them crying' may seem like satire but this is actually the truth and it is being used to evoke negative emotions of the human race.

The next stanza writes about the wars that are happening. This may be reminiscient of the atomic bombings by the U.S.A, a historical event that has scarred the roots of Japan for a long time. I feel the same way as the songwriter. Is this really neccessary? Or was it just because people are making the wrong descisions? If love,peace and harmony are so important, why must such a tragedy be caused? Near to the end of the stanza, the sentence 'The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover' states that the war is going on for no reason at all. This further evokes the negative emotions as even though there were bombings and chemical raidings, this cruel things happened for no reason at all.

The second last stanza potrays the human in a very bad light. It states that humans are greedy and are only interested in making money. They fail to understand each other, leading them away from unity. As time passes, everyone gets colder, forgetting the values taught to us by our parents.

To conclude, this song really shows what i belive in, a better, harmonious world without these mass killings and acts of cruelty. A world with humanity, not senseless barbarians and most importantly, with love.

Blog Assignment:Poetry

There's a dragon in my house

It lies asleep in the kitchen

It's quiet like a mouse

Until it's dinnertime

It shoves food in at furious rates

Yet,the dragon never breathes fire

Instead all food that goes in

Will freeze in a cold so dire

Lesson Five:Poetry On Gambling

1. The poem, Tom Beatty, and the story, the rocking horse winner are in complete contrast with each other. In the poem, the main gist of the story is to know your limits and leave when you lose instead of staying and hoping to strike it lucky. The poet said that in the opera house, you have seventy years to play and whether the gambler wins or loses is controlled by either the lord or devil. Paul, on the other hand, had much less time than seventy years. After losing two horse races in one row, he did not stop. Rather, the loses fueled his desire to earn money. This caused him to become delirious ultimately resulting in his death. It may be a blessing in disguise however, to die so early. Like Paul's mother said, "My family has been a gambling family, and you won't know till you grow up how much damage it has done." If Paul had not died, he might grow up to become the man who "curse his losses, leaden-eyed,  whining to try and try." It may have been sad that one should die so young because of his parent's greed and desire for a high social status, but at least he had not grown up with this gambling addiction or he would be a big dent to society.

2. Just like the short story, paper, the person in the poem could not give up his gambling, no matter how big his losses are. The stocks in paper are the same, and no matter what we do to try and control or manipulate the stock market, it still remains vulnerable to changes. Unfortunately, when people lose in either the roulette or the stock market, they tend to harbor a "one last time feeling." In other words, they always play one last time in the hope of earning all their money back. Green is a color that can represent this as it shows greed and envy. In comparison, greed causes the gamblers to keep on playing, ultimately losing all their money. 

3. The one-dollar gambler has a relation to Ah Boh in the sense that no matter how much she has, there will always be money to bet or gamble with. She may have zero dollars to spend on food, but even if she is clean broke, she can never forget that that zero dollars will also be used for gambling. She often fails in her bets, as shown in the phrase,"empty hands" but keeps on betting again and again. This shows that the notion of gambling is embedded so deeply in her mind that she can never stop gambling, even if she has zeo dollars.

IT lesson 4:Gambling

2. Ah Boh was addicted to gambling and her addiction and obsession led her to believe in many suspicions. Due to her hope of 'striking it big', she doesn't even give money to her own mother. She also believed in suspicions like babies will bring her good luck and copied car plate numbers of cars involved in collisions to buy the lottery with. All these unconventional suspicions lead her to believe that she had a chance of gaining overnight wealth. She was not even remorseful when her mother died in a car accident and only thought of earning money through lottery to pay for her funeral. Her addiction will be the death of her sooner or later.

3. Paul's death was indirectly caused by his parents. He had never dreamed of using the money he earned for his selfish desires and only gave it to his parents. He had been haunted by the everlasting whispers of money. These whispers were actually a sign of their parent's greed. They lead a good life but there wanted money to earn a higher social status. To be respected, leverage is required and to them, money is leverage. Thus, Paul's parents desire to earn money resulted in his urge to earn money, causing him to become delirous and  ultimately resulted in his death.

Lesson 3: 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
1.He was talking about his primary school days and relieving memories of his youth.
He was probably missing primary school life and was probably feeling sad that he could no longer go back to his youth.

2.
My primary school days
Seemed so long ago

Life was simple
I was carefree

Gone out with friends
Played together after exams

Never could forget PSLE
But I did well in it

Lesson 2:Favourite Poet

I don't really have a favorite poet but after reading ahead to lesson 3, i thought that one of the poems there were pretty interesting. So, I decided to write about the poet, David McCord. He was a famous prolific poet, and he wrote many poems for children. He was also a philanthropist and fundraiser, earning money and donating them to his college. He was noted for his creative, rhythmic, and often whimsical poems. He was also said to write in ways few others do. He even invented his own way of writing, symmetric, to accommodate his way and style of writing. He was born in New York but spent most of his childhood outside portland. It was there that he developed his love for words.He entered Harvard with the intention of becoming a physicist and concentrated in physics. His love of physics and astronomy stayed with him and found its way into many of his poems. As World War I wound down, he served briefly in the military. In 1922, he became associate editor of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin, now the Harvard Magazine. He was editor of that publication from 1940 to 1946. He also taught poetry to many people and lived by a motto of ,"fishing with a barbless hook" to say that his aim in everything he did was to make friends, be it fundraisers or making poems. He died at a ripe age of 99. Even now, Harvard still respects him for being one of their best students ever.

THIS IS MY ROCK

"This is my rock, 
And here I run 
To steal the secret of the sun;

"This is my rock, 
And here come I 
Before the night has swept the sky;

"This is my rock, 
This is the place 
I meet the evening face to face."

EVERY TIME I CLIMB A TREE

"Every time I climb a tree 
Every time I climb a tree 
Every time I climb a tree 
I scrape a leg 
Or skin a knee 
And every time I climb a tree 
I find some ants 
Or dodge a bee 
And get the ants  
All over me

"And every time I climb a tree 
Where have you been? 
They say to me 
But don't they know that I am free 
Every time I climb a tree? 
I like it best 
To spot a nest 
That has an egg 
Or maybe three

"And then I skin 
The other knee 
But every time I climb a tree 
I see a lot of things to see 
Swallows,  rooftops and TV 
And all the fields and farms there be 
Every time I climb a tree 
Thought climbing may be good for ants 
It isn't awfully good for pants 
But still it's pretty good for me 
Every time I climb a tree"

Summer Shower

Window window window pane:
Let it let it let it rain
Drop by drop by drop by drop.

Run your rivers from the top
Zigzaggy down, like slow wet forks
Of lightning, so the slippery corks
Of bubbles float and overtake
Each other till three bubbles make
A kind of boat too fat to fit
The river. That's the end of it.
        Straight 
        down
        it
        slides
        and
        with
        a
        splash
Is lost against the window sash.

Window window window pane:
Let it let it let it rain. 

sources:http://www.embracingthechild.org/bookspecialmccord.html

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1997/04.17/DavidMcCordFund.html

http://www.k12.hi.us/~shasincl/poems_prop_cycle_weather.html

IT emergency lessons 1

Before the Worst by The script

1.It's been a while since the two of us talked 

2.About a week since the day you walked 
3.Knowing things would never be the same 
4.With your empty heart and mine full of pain 
5.So explain to me, how it came to this 
6.Take it back to the night we kissed 
7.It was Dublin city on a Friday night 
8.You were vodkas and coke, I was Guinness all night 

9.We were sitting with our backs against the world 
10.Saying things that we thought but never heard 
11.Who would have thought it would end up like this? 
12.Where everything we talked about is gone 
13.And the only chance we have of moving on 

14.Is try to take it back 
15.Before it all went wrong 

16.Before the worst, before we mend 
17.Before our hearts decide 
18.It's time to love again 
19.Before too late, before too long 
20.Lets try to take it back 
21.Before it all went wrong 

22.There was a time, that we'd stay up all night 
23.Best friends talking till the daylight 
24.Took the joys alongside the pain 
25.With not much to loose, but so much to gain 
26.Are hearing me? Cause I don't wanna miss, 
27.Set you a drift on memory bliss 
28.It was Grafton Street on a rainy night 
29.I was down on one knee and you where mine for life 

30.We we're thinking we would never be apart 
31.With your name tattooed across my heart 
32.Who would have thought it would end up like this? 
33.Where everything we talked about is gone 
34.And the only chance we have of moving on 

35.Is try to take it back 
36.Before it all went wrong 

37.Before the worst, before we mend 
38.Before our hearts decide 
39.It's time to love again 
40.Before too late, before too long 
41.Lets try to take it back 
42.Before it all went wrong 

43.If the clouds don't clear 
44.Then we'll rise above it, we'll rise above it 
45.Heavens gate is so near 
46.Come walk with me through 
47.Just like we use to, just like we use to 

48.Lets take it back 
49.Before it all went wrong 

50.Before the worst, before we mend 
51.Before our hearts decide 
52.It's time to love again 
53.Before too late, before too long 
54.Lets try to take it back 
55.Before it all went wrong

Line 4 - With your empty heart and mine full of pain 

Hyperbole - used to contrast the two parties emotions

Line 8 - You were vodkas and coke, I was Guinness all night 

Symbolism - used to show that both parties were drunk

Line 29 - I was down on one knee and you where mine for life 

Metaphor - one party was proposing and the other accepted

Line 43-44 - If the clouds don't clear 
Then we'll rise above it, we'll rise above it

Hyperbole - used to show the determination between the two parties,

no matter what the future is

Line 45 - Heavens gate is so near 

Symbolism - They are seeing a paradise

Book Reflection:Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony

Just a note:This isn't really required hw but after reading Artemis Fowl and the eternity code, i got hooked on the series and brought practically every series of it.So here's another book reflection for those who ran out of stuff to read and give them a preview of what they can expect in this amazing book.

Artemis Fowl was a child genius and criminal but lately, he has became obsessed with fairies and trying to exploit them.But now,he is no longer the only mud person(fairy slang for 'human')to know of this race.A young french girl,Minerva,has found out about these fairies,and to make it worse,she hopes to capture a demon,the most human-hating of all fairies.An ancient time spell keeps the demons from humans,but unfortunately,the demon warlocks who casted the spell were long dead.Or are they?The first fairy caught by minerva turned out to be an odd-one-out among the others as he wasn't bloodthirsty like other demons.Soon,the demon warlock,N01,was plunged into adventures with Artemis and his fairy ally,Holly.Together,they must stop Minerva from revealing the demon to the masses and to stop Leon Abbot,a crazed demon intent on controlling his race and killing all humans.Artemis had finally found his match,but this time,his match might prove too much for him. 

P.s.This time I made sure to keep the word limit under 200,so if you count it,there should only be 150 words exactly 

Book Reflection:Artemis Fowl and The Eternity Code

The story's plot was rather simple. A criminal mastermind, Artemis, creates a super computer,namely the c-box. It was extremely advanced technology and thus, when Artemis meets Chicago businessman Jon Spiro to show him the c-cube, Jon attempts to steal it. Artemis bodyguard, Butler, was killed by one of Spiro's Staff. However, he was revived by fairy magics from Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon squad. Unfortunately, the healing causes him to overage and leaves him unable to do his duties. However, his sister, Juliet, agrees to help recover the stolen computer. With the aid of the LEPrecon team and the dwarf, Mulch Diggums, they broke into Spiro's company and rescued Artemis. Even though Spiro had advanced security devices and the vault containing the c-cube was nearly unbreakable, the fairies technology was better, and they managed to get the cube. Artemis lets Foaly, the centuar who was the technical specialist of the LEP, take the c-cube and tricks Spiro into going to a rival company to sabotage their projects and gets him arrested by the Chicago police.I would seriously recommend this book to fantasy-lovers as it is very interesting and covers the many adventures that Artemis goes through. A good read!

Mercurial Tom

Brotherly Rivalry

Today's the day!

On a mission!

Mixed emotions ran through him.

He finally knew how to get promoted to chief.

Remove all obstacles.

Even his brother.

Opened the door.

Bang!Silence.

The body fell to the ground.

Smiling,his brother put alway his gun.

He always knew someone would want to usurp his position.

Micro-Fiction

55 word essay?

That's all you have to do for micro-fiction!

Seems too easy!

No problem!

Could be completed in 15 minutes!

Seems so simple!

Until I tried it.

It was hard work fitting everything to 55 words.

But guess what?

I did it!

I wrote about micro-fiction in micro-fiction format!

My First Micro-Fiction

My first M.F...

Here goes nothing!!!

His stupidity was seen in his results.

He failed.

He looked at the top student.

A smug look on his face.

In jealousy,he charged at the top student.

No response.

A punch,a kick and he fell.

The victor looked at him and sighed,"both dumb and weak."

My blogging experience

I don't have much to say about my blogging experience.Though other people's opinions may differ,I feel that blogging is a great way to do our work,after all,many teenagers tend to like to use computers and incorporating schoolwork into something we all enjoy does make schoolwork more fun.Also,blogging is a great way to express our own views and opinions to the entire world without being scared of what other people think of us.It is a haven for us to pour our hearts out.However, one flaw that i feel about blogging is the RBP.I,of course, understand the importance of it as rules are meant to restrict us and prevent us from breaking the rules.However,I feel that it is limiting what we can do.With all due respect,I can't help but feel that it might be more effective to write a diary.Also, the very thought that if you type one swear word in anger,someone could use it as evidence against you,and this could be traced back to the school.So,I suggest us using this blog only as a school blog and any other seperate blogs we might have must not be linked to any of our blogs.

Confessions of a game addict

     I was hooked the moment I started the game.I was a game addict and warcraft was always my favourite.I could play on hours at an end.Of course,my mother never turned a blind eye to this.On the contrary, she often nagged at me, telling me not to get addicted.And of course,like all game addicts,I simply said,"I'm not addicted."

     I never paid much attention to my mother's incessant nagging at me to stop playing.Until that day i was called into the office of my teacher.In my assignment,I had put the name "Zeus,God of Thunder" and the whole paper was a mess of doodlings of warcraft heroes.It was then that I was convinced that i was seriously addicted.I then created my quiting plan.

    I got my mother to put a password on the computer so i could not use it without her knowing.Still,i could not forget the game.It was the nicotine in a cigarrette and i was drawn to it like a siren song.It took alot of straining to make sure that i did not play.To distract me from playing,I also got out for movies or to exercise with my friends.I even went to malaysia with my friends for a three day mass eat-out.We turned the entire city upside down and no restaurant or hawker could escape me.When I went back,I no longer have the urge to play anymore.Instead, i got hooked on eating.

     But at least it's not a unhealthy habit.Now my mission's accomplished,french fries anyone?

Philip Malloy,"why did I do it?"

What did I do that for?Because of me,Miss Narwin got unjustly accused of being a non-patriot and has been indirectly asked to resign.Was it worth it?To cause a teacher to lose her job and to be treated as an enemy of americans just because she was the victim of a prank played on her out of hatred to spite her?Now,everyone knows that I am guilty of not even knowing the words to the star-spangled banner.All the things i've said about protecting my patriotic ideals were just lies,a prank gone horribly wrong.And all these because I hated Miss Narwin.She had left a bad impression with the press and radio stations like Jake Barlow's has proclaimed her a non-patriotic teacher just because she was following the rules of the school.Why did I do that?Had I thought that my getting Miss Narwin out of my life,I would be free?She was a wonderful teacher and commanded the respect of many students in the entire school cohort and yet,they were forced to say good-bye to her just because of me.And even then,she was just doing her job.Was it because,I hated her so much for flunking my english,dashing my chances to join the school team?I'm filled with regret now for causing her to lose her job and now america has labeled her as a non-patriot because of my words,the words of a boy who didn't even know the star-spangled banner.What have I done...I wish i could turn back time and undo this...

High School Life

It's been a long time since I last published a blog post.In the meantime,so much has happened as I had entered the thick of high school life.Of course there were the test papers,they were extremly difficult!I got a A1 for my math test!Yes!But then I flunked my English comprehension test...It was on this difficult passage called "The Tramp."If only i got half mark more,I would have passed...I improved on my chinese situational writing though,by a whooping two marks!Well than again,there is still space for improvement.I've been going for a lot of excercise this few days too!There was badminton,tennis,gym and of course there was the once a week 40 minute long P.E. period and it was for the first time i actually saw the difference between high school P.E. and primary school P.E. It was totally back-breaking and i would have sworn my back almost ripped itself to two as I did my 40 sit-ups!(rather unsuccesfully as in the end,my partner had to help me out)At the end of the whole thing,we were laughing like maniacs.But i guess that ultimately,that's high school life to me!

New Cousin

I've got a new cousin like one week old.She's a girl.Too bad...I would have rathered a boy cousin,especially because my other baby cousin was also a girl.Then again,i probably can't expect her to play video games with me at one week old,even if she is a boy.I actually saw her at the hospital a week ago.I would have expected her to have grown a little more when i visited her today again,but so far,i see no difference.I never would have expected a baby to be that small.After all,even my hand's bigger than her head.Maybe,she'll be bigger than what she is now when I see her during her one month old celebration.My other baby cousin,on the other hand,seems elated to have a new cousin.Maybe then she would not be the youngest in the family.

My first week as a sec 1

About a week of school has passed,had a enjoyable time.We had CCA orientation,introduction and stuff like that.Some of the teachers even started class already.In fact,the very reason I started this blog is because our english teacher asked us to.Seems like fun,though i'm not sure i can find the time to manage my blog.CCA orientation was very fun.Hopefully,i'll be able to join badminton. Maybe i'll put band as one of my CCA choices too.The band members in my school seem so cool,in their uniforms.The only flaw i see would be having to come out everyone morning and play the anthem at the school field.Don't they get bored of that,coming out to get stared at by everybody.It's like one wrong note and the whole band goes down and the entire school looks at you...Must be pressuring.Then again,it should be an honour playing for your entire school!(I hope...)