Linguistic ( a )

I would choose to be friends with Dill. The world is quite evil, any way you look at it. Evil in fact is quite a general term. To take a life is evil. To kill a tree, that is also evil. Evil is all around us, it cannot be measured. Dill takes a light view of everything. He chooses to laugh at everything instead of being too serious about it. Dill is innocent and in a way naive. He does not bother much about the world and no matter what happens, he always has a way to make light of it. He even wants to be a ' clown ' that cheers people and himself up. Thus, it would be great to have a friend like him who can cheer me up even when I am down.

Naturalistic(Mockingbirds)

Natural Habitat: Open Woodland; open country with thickets; gardens; orchards

Distribution: Southern Canada; Most of USA and Mexico; Parts of carribean

Maycomb is a pretty poor country and I suppose much of the revenue in Maycomb is generated through farming or other agricultural activities. Large spaces of empty farmland are very suitable for Mockingbirds to breed and crops from the farmland can help feed the mockingbirds. Also, as shown from the distribution above, Mockingbirds are often found in America, which is where Maycomb is located at.

Some extra things I have found out about TKAM:

One of the definitions of a mockingbird in the story is "good being destroyed through contact with evil." Under this definition, a good example would be Jem Finch. But even his name has a reason to it. A Finch is also a kind of bird, a small bird, which could possibly be used to show the vulnerability to the evils of the world. Mockingbirds are also very territorial creatures and are also very brave, sometimes even fighting(and failing) dogs and cats who intrude their territory. This is seen in some parts of the novel where Jem himself attempts to fight of any who might bring harm to his family and also where he stands up for his father in spite of the country waiting to lynch him.

What do I feel about the Multiple Intelligence Test?

According to the test, I am intrapersonal and naturalistic. I feel that this is very true as i feel i do know about myself quite well, my strengths and my weaknesses. That is not to say that I can manipulate my strengths and weaknesses well enough. I am also a very naturalistic person.I may not necessarily be a very outdoor kind of person but i still feel a strong connection to nature.

Modern Fashion Too Casual?

Singapore has a fashion sense that is more often than not casual. Go to a wedding? Should I wear a tuxedo? A suit? No!!! The best would be a Polo Shirt and jeans. What about a opera? A buttoned-up suit? What about a double-breasted suit? No!!! The best would be perhaps a shirt showing your favorite band and trousers.

These habits may seem odd but they are happening in Singapore. In the past, people often felt that their dressing was their number one priority. They insisted on wearing their best, suits and dresses at any time of their life. But if you dress with this kind of 'formality' in contemporary society, you will immediately stick out like a sore thumb in a bunch of people. So what happened in between the past and now? Have people lost their respect for dressing? Or perhaps, as Singaporeans often say, they dress like this because 'its too hot?'Or perhaps, the answer is simpler than this. In the past, people will dress more or less the same. Men in button-up suits and women in flowery, flowing dresses. Whether there is a difference in colors, in quality or material, the people of the past dress more or less in the same way. In other words, whether they are doing it consciously or not, they are following a hidden protocol.

In a way, so are we. Our dress styles may seem weird to people of the past, but then of course, their dress styles weren't exactly normal to us either! I mean, girls nowadays dress in flowery dresses only for extremely important things like weddings and boys nowadays dress in suits only for important events like funerals. Other than that, we dress in our own style, to our own liking. But like the people of the past, we too are following a hidden protocol. This would be the 'trend.' Trends change as time pass, girls may change their jeans for shorts and pants while boys change suits with tees. One day, orange spectacles may be very fashionable and the next day, it could be black. Trends change and people are simply adapting.

Thus, to conclude, i do not agree that modern fashion is to casual. The fashion changes with time and we are not any more casual than people in the past are any more formal. We are simply defining our style as the trend goes.

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.