A really cool vocab game:
www.freerice.com
My current vocab level (without consulting the dictionary) is Level 46 and the server hanged on me so I had to restart! I've donated 1220 grains of rice today. :)
The max. Vocab level is 50.
For those of you taking SAT Verbal, it's good practice too. haha.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
latest additions to the charity sale of books
Hi everyone,
I've added quite a few items to the list.
In view of the late additions, I've extended the deadline to 31 Dec for you to make your choices.
Pls login to. docs.google.com
Username: (get from your lit rep or you should know)
password: (get from your lit rep or you should know)
to access the booklist.
Have a productive and good time with what's left of the holidays!
:)
Ms Chia
I've added quite a few items to the list.
In view of the late additions, I've extended the deadline to 31 Dec for you to make your choices.
Pls login to. docs.google.com
Username: (get from your lit rep or you should know)
password: (get from your lit rep or you should know)
to access the booklist.
Have a productive and good time with what's left of the holidays!
:)
Ms Chia
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
more books in the charity book sale
the entries highlighted in yellow are from mr teo gene-en's collection. some great pickings there! book your book early!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Lit H3 holiday supervision reminder, update contact list and additions to charity book sale
Hi everyone!
Hope you have been enjoying your holidays AND doing some reading. Year 2 will ZOOM past, so pls get your H2 reading for 2008 DONE when term STARTS.
For H3 Lit applicants, we have already stated at the briefing on 29 Oct that you are to contact your lit tutors if you want us to check if you are going in the right direction. the list of supervisees and supervisors has been uploaded on VJC blackboard. We understand that you may not use the vjc.sg email address that has been given to all of you, so pls update your email address / mobile no in the Google Doc that can be found at the Gmail accout of VJClitrocks. You should know the userid and password, or get it from your lit rep.
Last, but not least, I have uploaded new entries in the charity book sale. For those who want to see if you can get cheap critical readings for your H2, H3, pls look there asap. Will update the final list tmrw. the Sale closes on 20 Dec and the list can be found at the Google Doc that can be found at the Gmail accout of VJClitrocks too.
:)
Ms Chia
Hope you have been enjoying your holidays AND doing some reading. Year 2 will ZOOM past, so pls get your H2 reading for 2008 DONE when term STARTS.
For H3 Lit applicants, we have already stated at the briefing on 29 Oct that you are to contact your lit tutors if you want us to check if you are going in the right direction. the list of supervisees and supervisors has been uploaded on VJC blackboard. We understand that you may not use the vjc.sg email address that has been given to all of you, so pls update your email address / mobile no in the Google Doc that can be found at the Gmail accout of VJClitrocks. You should know the userid and password, or get it from your lit rep.
Last, but not least, I have uploaded new entries in the charity book sale. For those who want to see if you can get cheap critical readings for your H2, H3, pls look there asap. Will update the final list tmrw. the Sale closes on 20 Dec and the list can be found at the Google Doc that can be found at the Gmail accout of VJClitrocks too.
:)
Ms Chia
Thursday, December 6, 2007
WHY PROCRASTINATE? mr teo aik cher's new illustrated book!
Haha. Don't procrastinate in getting Mr Teo's new book, available in all major book stores. It's funny, well-illustrated and good value for money at $14. I'm buying two copies myself.
"In this illustrated book, Aik Cher shares with you 13 reasons why most people procrastinate and equips you with 13 strategies on how to move beyond inertia and put yourself on the road to results and success. I am sure you will find it an enjoyable and enriching read."
Adam Khoo
Executive Chairman
Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group Pte Ltd
In his Foreword
Armour Publishing New Release
WHY PROCRASTINATE?
A Teenagers' Guide to Overcoming Procrastination
By Teo Aik Cher
WHY PROCRASTINATE? is a practical and entertaining book that helps teenagers overcome as well as eradicate the ills of procrastination. Written in a light-hearted manner and filled with cartoons, author Teo Aik Cher, an educator, explores:
- Some of the reasons why teenagers procrastinate;
- Why they behave the way they do; and
- How this problem of procrastination can be dealt with effectively through proven strategies.
Let's begin a journey to success as you read this inspiring guide!
WHO SHOULD READ
Teens, parents of teens, principal and teachers, educators, counsellors and all readers who aspire to kick the habit of procrastination.
ORDER + BULK PURCHASE + ENQUIRIES
WHY PROCRASTINATE? will be available end-October 2007. Retail price is S$14.00. You may use the attached Order Form to order. Prevailing discount applies for bulk purchase. Please email me at jenny@armourpublishing.com or call 62769976 for any enquiries.
****** *
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Teo Aik Cher is an educator whose words and illustrations have been featured in numerous publications. He was the illustrator for Adam Khoo's latest best-selling book, Secrets of Millionaire Investors and the Speak Good English booklet, Speak Well, Be Understood. He also illustrated and wrote for the first and second Singapore Kindness Movement books. His cartoons are featured regularly in the Chinese Newspaper, Lian He Zao Bao, where he has a weekend column.
*******
Book Specifications
Cover Price: S$14.00 (Singapore/Malaysia)
ISBN 13: 978-981-4222-25-9
Size: 198mm by 129mm
No. of Pages: 136 Pages
Thursday, November 22, 2007
change of format for charity sale
based on the example of the Andy Warhol art sale recently, I have decided to change the rules of the charity book sale.
It will be first-come-first-served, once you hit the "Recommended" charity price
You can bid BELOW the "Recommended" charity price, of course, but you'll have to check in every now and then till 20 Dec to make sure your bid is successful and if your bid is too ridiculously low, I may not sell it to you at all...
:)
Ms Chia
It will be first-come-first-served, once you hit the "Recommended" charity price
You can bid BELOW the "Recommended" charity price, of course, but you'll have to check in every now and then till 20 Dec to make sure your bid is successful and if your bid is too ridiculously low, I may not sell it to you at all...
:)
Ms Chia
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Ms Chia's charity booksale
Hi everyone!
I'm selling off some of my lit books as well as the more frivolous books/magazines for charity. I've done some research on the reputation/governance of the two charities i have in mind and they are:
1. Dover Park Hospice
2. The Singapore Children's Society
I've put up the list of books I'm selling on Google Docs under the Vjclitrocks account. 100% of all proceeds will go to the charities and you get to choose which one of the two to give it to! Once all the sales close, I will donate the collected sums and announce to you the sum donated, with documentation.
To Access Google Docs, you will need to:
1. Go to gmail.com
2. Type in vjclitrocks in the username
3. Type in the password: you should remember this or get it from your lit rep or me
4. You will see the inbox of the Vjclitrocks account: that's not it. Just look to the TOP LEFT HAND CORNER of the INBOX and you will see 'DOCUMENTS' in tiny font. Click on it and Voila, you are at the list.
The charity sale is run on an auction style. So even if you are later, if you are prepared to GIVE a HIGHER price, you just type your price over the previous price, and your contact details over the lower bid. Please observe the honour system of not poaching another person's details or typing over their auction bid unfairly. It's only fair if your bid is higher than theirs!
All bids will be closed on 20 December 2007, 12 noon, Singapore time. This list of books is NOT COMPLETE. I will be adding extra lists of items for charity up to 1 December 2007. Pls buy loads of books and give loads :)
I'm selling off some of my lit books as well as the more frivolous books/magazines for charity. I've done some research on the reputation/governance of the two charities i have in mind and they are:
1. Dover Park Hospice
2. The Singapore Children's Society
I've put up the list of books I'm selling on Google Docs under the Vjclitrocks account. 100% of all proceeds will go to the charities and you get to choose which one of the two to give it to! Once all the sales close, I will donate the collected sums and announce to you the sum donated, with documentation.
To Access Google Docs, you will need to:
1. Go to gmail.com
2. Type in vjclitrocks in the username
3. Type in the password: you should remember this or get it from your lit rep or me
4. You will see the inbox of the Vjclitrocks account: that's not it. Just look to the TOP LEFT HAND CORNER of the INBOX and you will see 'DOCUMENTS' in tiny font. Click on it and Voila, you are at the list.
The charity sale is run on an auction style. So even if you are later, if you are prepared to GIVE a HIGHER price, you just type your price over the previous price, and your contact details over the lower bid. Please observe the honour system of not poaching another person's details or typing over their auction bid unfairly. It's only fair if your bid is higher than theirs!
All bids will be closed on 20 December 2007, 12 noon, Singapore time. This list of books is NOT COMPLETE. I will be adding extra lists of items for charity up to 1 December 2007. Pls buy loads of books and give loads :)
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Lit H3: more examples
All H3 aspirants,
Do check blackboard if you want to read beyond the exemplars. I've uploaded the whole of last year's H3 cohort. And of course, they are meant for reference only. Do NOT plagiarise.
:)
Do check blackboard if you want to read beyond the exemplars. I've uploaded the whole of last year's H3 cohort. And of course, they are meant for reference only. Do NOT plagiarise.
:)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
very interesting ww1 site
letters from a soldier in wwI, posted exactly 90 years after they were written. very cool. i've put the site under useful sites too
my entry for the Meiyi's photo essay
The VJC UK-France Lit trip really expanded the students' horizons. In 9 nights and 10 days, the 32 Lit and non-Lit students covered so many cultural and literary highlights that we could not really believe that it was only 10 days.
For UK, we went for the authentic Elizabethan theatre experience by standing throughout the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) performance of Othello, just like the Elizabethan playgoers. Other than the sore legs, the play was good and we learned so much from the highly interactive and fun workshop we had in the afternoon and the special preview of an RSC rehearsal too. Now what was the play they were rehearsing? It was not Othello....
A chief takeaway from this trip was how Shakespeare's words are truly meant to be and deliver a sensory overload and experience, not just words on the page. Of course, we were blown away by Sir Ian McKellen's impeccable comic timing in Chekhov's performedSeagull too and thankfully had a very knowledgeable guide at Shakespeare's house that really opened our eyes to the fact that infant mortality in Elizabethan society was very high and this affected the social customs and Elizabethan concerns in drama and that the people slept upright!
Westminster Abbey, the place of the coronation, marriage and burial of all British monarchs with few exceptions since 1066, was super impressive. It put into perspective what a young nation Singapore was. Every nook and cranny of the Abbey was literally stuffed with history, art and culture and you are literally walking on the remains of the great and worthy like Isaac Newton and Geoffrey Chaucer. Imagine, there are at least 3000 such notables buried in the Abbey. To do justice to such an awe-inspiring place, we had the best professional guides at the Abbey.
Dickens Festival was a blast too. Lots of us took pictures with the costumed players parading the streets. To talk about every highlight in the UK we experienced would take too long so you just have to be content with a list: Jane Austen's house, Roman Baths, Imperial War Museum, Charles Dickens' House, Canterbury Cathedral, Eurostar...
France was no less an eye-opener and we could register the difference between both countries. Both has long-standing monarchies but the style of architecture in France was grander and Louis XIV's Versailles Palace and gardens totally redefined grandeur for us. The Hall of Mirrors, where the WWI Treaty of Versailles was signed was, needless to say, impressive.
We went to France to experience and see for ourselves the WWI battlefields mentioned in our Literature texts and found the sites lovingly maintained. We were so fortunate to actually speak with WW2 veterans who were having a memorial service on the very day we visited too. Our guide for WWI sites, Brian, was a fount of knowledge and enthusiasm.
Paris, the eternal city of romance, exhausted our camera batteries in a hurry. We hit the Louvre, D'Orsay Museum, Notre Dame and the magnificent Eiffel Tower in a short span of 3 days. Try climbing the Eiffel Tower to the 2nd level. Your legs will hate you but your eyes will love you. 80km panoramic view from the top of Eiffel on a clear day. That's twice the span of Singapore. Really puts a new and literal spin on expanding our horizons. Another big difference was how much pride the French take in their own artistic and historical heritage. This is evident from the busloads of internal (French) tourists that we saw everywhere, which is so different from Singapore.
Needless to say, we all felt that 10 days was not enough and, many groups of students were saying it was the best trip of their lives so far and they all wanted to come back on their own. The teachers were very proud of the students, who really took their learning seriously and many could be seen reading the materials they have bought, or scribbling down their precious memories of the trip.
For UK, we went for the authentic Elizabethan theatre experience by standing throughout the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) performance of Othello, just like the Elizabethan playgoers. Other than the sore legs, the play was good and we learned so much from the highly interactive and fun workshop we had in the afternoon and the special preview of an RSC rehearsal too. Now what was the play they were rehearsing? It was not Othello....
A chief takeaway from this trip was how Shakespeare's words are truly meant to be and deliver a sensory overload and experience, not just words on the page. Of course, we were blown away by Sir Ian McKellen's impeccable comic timing in Chekhov's performedSeagull too and thankfully had a very knowledgeable guide at Shakespeare's house that really opened our eyes to the fact that infant mortality in Elizabethan society was very high and this affected the social customs and Elizabethan concerns in drama and that the people slept upright!
Westminster Abbey, the place of the coronation, marriage and burial of all British monarchs with few exceptions since 1066, was super impressive. It put into perspective what a young nation Singapore was. Every nook and cranny of the Abbey was literally stuffed with history, art and culture and you are literally walking on the remains of the great and worthy like Isaac Newton and Geoffrey Chaucer. Imagine, there are at least 3000 such notables buried in the Abbey. To do justice to such an awe-inspiring place, we had the best professional guides at the Abbey.
Dickens Festival was a blast too. Lots of us took pictures with the costumed players parading the streets. To talk about every highlight in the UK we experienced would take too long so you just have to be content with a list: Jane Austen's house, Roman Baths, Imperial War Museum, Charles Dickens' House, Canterbury Cathedral, Eurostar...
France was no less an eye-opener and we could register the difference between both countries. Both has long-standing monarchies but the style of architecture in France was grander and Louis XIV's Versailles Palace and gardens totally redefined grandeur for us. The Hall of Mirrors, where the WWI Treaty of Versailles was signed was, needless to say, impressive.
We went to France to experience and see for ourselves the WWI battlefields mentioned in our Literature texts and found the sites lovingly maintained. We were so fortunate to actually speak with WW2 veterans who were having a memorial service on the very day we visited too. Our guide for WWI sites, Brian, was a fount of knowledge and enthusiasm.
Paris, the eternal city of romance, exhausted our camera batteries in a hurry. We hit the Louvre, D'Orsay Museum, Notre Dame and the magnificent Eiffel Tower in a short span of 3 days. Try climbing the Eiffel Tower to the 2nd level. Your legs will hate you but your eyes will love you. 80km panoramic view from the top of Eiffel on a clear day. That's twice the span of Singapore. Really puts a new and literal spin on expanding our horizons. Another big difference was how much pride the French take in their own artistic and historical heritage. This is evident from the busloads of internal (French) tourists that we saw everywhere, which is so different from Singapore.
Needless to say, we all felt that 10 days was not enough and, many groups of students were saying it was the best trip of their lives so far and they all wanted to come back on their own. The teachers were very proud of the students, who really took their learning seriously and many could be seen reading the materials they have bought, or scribbling down their precious memories of the trip.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Lit H3 exemplars
Those of you interested in taking Lit H3, read the following VERY CAREFULLY!
I've uploaded 4 exemplars of your seniors' work onto VJC Blackboard.
If you have trouble downloading from Blackboard for whatever reason (sigh), I've anticipated this, and have sent the soft copies to the Lit reps of the following classes: 07A12, A14, A15, S43, S53. I sent to only these as I don't teach the other classes and don't have the reps' emails :)
Your seniors have been kind and generous enough to agree to share their good work with you. You must not abuse their kindness by plagiarising their work in any form.
I've also attached a list of all the topics offered by students this year. Hopefully it will inspire you, to see how varied the topics can be, while each singular thesis ends up so beautifully cohesive. :)
I've uploaded 4 exemplars of your seniors' work onto VJC Blackboard.
If you have trouble downloading from Blackboard for whatever reason (sigh), I've anticipated this, and have sent the soft copies to the Lit reps of the following classes: 07A12, A14, A15, S43, S53. I sent to only these as I don't teach the other classes and don't have the reps' emails :)
Your seniors have been kind and generous enough to agree to share their good work with you. You must not abuse their kindness by plagiarising their work in any form.
I've also attached a list of all the topics offered by students this year. Hopefully it will inspire you, to see how varied the topics can be, while each singular thesis ends up so beautifully cohesive. :)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Lit trip reunion: great tips
Hi Lit trip people,
Once again, thanks to Gwen and her parents for hosting us, and Mr Teo for volunteering to share the cost of the pizzas with me, heh.
I will need your help to piece together the useful tips given by my friend Aidah for lone female backpackers in Europe:
After our gathering, I called my friend up to clarify some details:
if in Paris, stay in Hotel De Fourcy of the MIJE chain. The MIJE chain has 3 hostels but the Fourcy branch is the best located and the safest. there's another one but that is in a rather dodgy location.
The day-time receptionist is very good and speaks fluent English. The night-duty receptionist speaks French and is not so friendly.
Tips:
Planning for the trip
I had a great time today looking at the photos and I realised how much I have forgotten after looking at the photos. We had such fun during the trip! So plan your next trip well, with full attention to safety and I'm sure you'll have a super fun time. :)))
Once again, thanks to Gwen and her parents for hosting us, and Mr Teo for volunteering to share the cost of the pizzas with me, heh.
I will need your help to piece together the useful tips given by my friend Aidah for lone female backpackers in Europe:
After our gathering, I called my friend up to clarify some details:
if in Paris, stay in Hotel De Fourcy of the MIJE chain. The MIJE chain has 3 hostels but the Fourcy branch is the best located and the safest. there's another one but that is in a rather dodgy location.
The day-time receptionist is very good and speaks fluent English. The night-duty receptionist speaks French and is not so friendly.
Tips:
Planning for the trip
- If staying with friends, please make sure you KNOW them well and TRUST them. Don't stay with almost-strangers.
- Arrive at your destination in the day. Night-time can be confusing and you'll probably need to catch a cab at night if you arrive too late.
- Try not to travel overnight on rail if you are alone as you may get pickpocketed or robbed
- Budget airlines IN Europe can be way cheaper than the long-distance rail like Eurostar. Some airtickets are 10 pounds only. while the Eurostar without student discount is about 100 Euros
- A supplementary credit card is good for emergencies.
- If using travellers' cheques, get them in the currency you will be using. If you are intending to spend them in Euros, don't get the cheques in US dollars as there will be an additional charge
- Check on visa requirements FIRST. the requirements could differ even among EU members, e.g Germany and Finland.
- Read maps and get sense of direction in the hostel before setting out. Avoid reading maps in public--it's a dead giveaway that you are a tourist.
- If you are hostelling, it'll be good to carry a backpack. You can lock up your backpack with a metal mesh when you are checking in for the flight. The metal mesh can be bought from travellers' shops or backpacking shops
- Get a International Students' card for MANY discounts at many places of attraction
- Get a Youth Hostelling Association Card if you are staying at hostels all the way. The German-speaking countries like Germany and Switzerland have very good and clean hostels all across the country and getting a Hostel membership can save you quite a lot! While touring after the St. Gallen Symposium, one of my hostel rooms had this view of the Matterhorn :) It made waking up early really sweet. :)))
- Observe the locals in all the countries you go to and try to do what they do. E.g: Do not wave at the waiter in French cafes to catch their attention as the locals don't do that. Catch their eye with your gaze and nod at them for e.g.
- In Paris, layering of chic clothes helps you to blend in with the Parisians.
I had a great time today looking at the photos and I realised how much I have forgotten after looking at the photos. We had such fun during the trip! So plan your next trip well, with full attention to safety and I'm sure you'll have a super fun time. :)))
Monday, November 5, 2007
Lit Trip reunion at Gwen's house TMRW! 6 Nov
Hi Lit trip people,
the long-awaited reunion is here! It is NOT 8 Nov. I would like to thank on behalf of the Lit trip people:
Gwen (of course!) and her parents, for hosting and co-ordinating the gathering
Mark Leong (for co-ordinating the responses from the guys)
Kum Boon (for co-ordinating her group's responses)
Yeow Boon (for agreeing to help with the food)
Everyone who's attending
and everyone who really wants to attend but can't.
and me...haha. for sending the smses and for some sponsorship...
Ok Details:
1. The gathering will start around 230pm
Programme:
How to backpack in Europe if you are alone /female/on a budget. the tips also apply to males
Photos of the lit trip: Mark Thompson's dvd
Mei Yi's announcement about her photo essay of the lit trip
Time permitting: screening of the best bits of Je Taime Paris OR Before Sunset--one of the MOST romantic movies about Paris (if Mr Harris remembers to bring it, please keep your fingers crossed)
if all goes well, we should end by 630pm max and go home and pig out some more.
What you need to bring:
$2 per person as we will be ordering Pizzas and snacks and you will still need to top up some money after Ms Chia's subsidy.
For safety purposes, it is NOT possible to put down Gwen's address or mobile number here. anyway, all of you who are coming tomorrow have already responded to my SMS.
See you and BRING YOUR PHOTOS AND CAMERAS! :)
the long-awaited reunion is here! It is NOT 8 Nov. I would like to thank on behalf of the Lit trip people:
Gwen (of course!) and her parents, for hosting and co-ordinating the gathering
Mark Leong (for co-ordinating the responses from the guys)
Kum Boon (for co-ordinating her group's responses)
Yeow Boon (for agreeing to help with the food)
Everyone who's attending
and everyone who really wants to attend but can't.
and me...haha. for sending the smses and for some sponsorship...
Ok Details:
1. The gathering will start around 230pm
Programme:
How to backpack in Europe if you are alone /female/on a budget. the tips also apply to males
Photos of the lit trip: Mark Thompson's dvd
Mei Yi's announcement about her photo essay of the lit trip
Time permitting: screening of the best bits of Je Taime Paris OR Before Sunset--one of the MOST romantic movies about Paris (if Mr Harris remembers to bring it, please keep your fingers crossed)
if all goes well, we should end by 630pm max and go home and pig out some more.
What you need to bring:
$2 per person as we will be ordering Pizzas and snacks and you will still need to top up some money after Ms Chia's subsidy.
For safety purposes, it is NOT possible to put down Gwen's address or mobile number here. anyway, all of you who are coming tomorrow have already responded to my SMS.
See you and BRING YOUR PHOTOS AND CAMERAS! :)
Monday, October 29, 2007
cliffs notes in haiku
from one hundred great books in haiku by david bader:
note: if you know me, you will know my extreme disdain for cliffs notes. go there at your peril.
what's below is for laughs.
d.h. lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover:
On the grounds, fresh game.
On the new gamekeeper, fresh
Lady Chatterley.
herman melville, Moby Dick:
Vengeance! Black blood! Aye!
Doubloons to him that harpoons
the Greenpeace dinghy.
jane austen, Pride and Prejudice:
(this is my one of my favourites)
Single white lass seeks
landed gent for marriage, whist.
No parsons, thank you.
charles dickens, Bleak House:
Fog, gloom, men in wigs --
the Chancery Court blights all.
See where law school leads?
william golding, Lord of the Flies:
'Kill him! Spill his blood!'
Marooned lads hold savage rites.
Choirboys learn how to prey.
samuel beckett, Waiting for Godot:
Act I. 'It's hopeless.
My boots don't fit. Where's God?'
Act II. The same thing.
william shakespeare, Hamlet:
'His mother wed his
dead murdered father's brother!'
Next Jerry Springer.
nathaniel hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter:
Grim, grey New England --
all adulterers receive
free monogramming.
vladimir nabokov, Lolita:
(this is very clever)
Lecherous linguist --
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo.
michel foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison:
Carceral discourse
polyvalently deployed.
Hot air gently blows.
george orwell, 1984:
Love is a thoughtcrime.
The Thought Police make Winston
forget whatsername.
charlotte bronte, Jane Eyre:
O woe! His mad wife --
in the attic! Had they but
lived together first.
christopher marlowe, Doctor Faustus:
A scholar trades a
few fun years for endless Hell.
Maths was not his field.
St. Augustine, The Confessions
This is just to say
I screwed around. Forgive me.
I enjoyed it so.
oscar wilde, The importance of being Ernest:
(very good)
Earnestly posing
as Ernest, Jack learns he's named
Ernest in earnest.
j.d. salinger, The Catcher in the Rye:
I flunked out again.
Crumby prep schools. Bunch of dopes.
Boy, I'm not kidding.
f. scott fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby:
(not good but for here for comparison with the novel)
Beauty to weep for --
coral, azure, apple green.
His custom-made shirts.
nietzsche, Also Sprach Zarathustra:
Kindness is weakness!
Abhor pity, worship strength!
Be an uber-jerk!
michel de montaigne, Essays
Genteel French musings --
life, death, odd smells, my moustache.
Today's topic: Thumbs.
george eliot, Middlemarch
Stifling social roles,
small-town gossip -- beware the
eyes of Middlemarch.
ernest hemingway, The Sun Also Rises:
'Why can't we?' she said.
'War wound,' I said. 'Oy,' Cohn said.
Back to Harry's Bar.
note: if you know me, you will know my extreme disdain for cliffs notes. go there at your peril.
what's below is for laughs.
d.h. lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover:
On the grounds, fresh game.
On the new gamekeeper, fresh
Lady Chatterley.
herman melville, Moby Dick:
Vengeance! Black blood! Aye!
Doubloons to him that harpoons
the Greenpeace dinghy.
jane austen, Pride and Prejudice:
(this is my one of my favourites)
Single white lass seeks
landed gent for marriage, whist.
No parsons, thank you.
charles dickens, Bleak House:
Fog, gloom, men in wigs --
the Chancery Court blights all.
See where law school leads?
william golding, Lord of the Flies:
'Kill him! Spill his blood!'
Marooned lads hold savage rites.
Choirboys learn how to prey.
samuel beckett, Waiting for Godot:
Act I. 'It's hopeless.
My boots don't fit. Where's God?'
Act II. The same thing.
william shakespeare, Hamlet:
'His mother wed his
dead murdered father's brother!'
Next Jerry Springer.
nathaniel hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter:
Grim, grey New England --
all adulterers receive
free monogramming.
vladimir nabokov, Lolita:
(this is very clever)
Lecherous linguist --
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo.
michel foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison:
Carceral discourse
polyvalently deployed.
Hot air gently blows.
george orwell, 1984:
Love is a thoughtcrime.
The Thought Police make Winston
forget whatsername.
charlotte bronte, Jane Eyre:
O woe! His mad wife --
in the attic! Had they but
lived together first.
christopher marlowe, Doctor Faustus:
A scholar trades a
few fun years for endless Hell.
Maths was not his field.
St. Augustine, The Confessions
This is just to say
I screwed around. Forgive me.
I enjoyed it so.
oscar wilde, The importance of being Ernest:
(very good)
Earnestly posing
as Ernest, Jack learns he's named
Ernest in earnest.
j.d. salinger, The Catcher in the Rye:
I flunked out again.
Crumby prep schools. Bunch of dopes.
Boy, I'm not kidding.
f. scott fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby:
(not good but for here for comparison with the novel)
Beauty to weep for --
coral, azure, apple green.
His custom-made shirts.
nietzsche, Also Sprach Zarathustra:
Kindness is weakness!
Abhor pity, worship strength!
Be an uber-jerk!
michel de montaigne, Essays
Genteel French musings --
life, death, odd smells, my moustache.
Today's topic: Thumbs.
george eliot, Middlemarch
Stifling social roles,
small-town gossip -- beware the
eyes of Middlemarch.
ernest hemingway, The Sun Also Rises:
'Why can't we?' she said.
'War wound,' I said. 'Oy,' Cohn said.
Back to Harry's Bar.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
lit trip gathering?
well, i heard that some people would be keen on a gathering.
common sense dictates that the gathering has to be:
1. before the OCIP
2. after the PW OP
3. in a convenient location
4. not take too much time to organise
my suggestions (strictly provisional), and the group leaders of the trip, pls gather feedback on how MOST people want the gathering:
If the gathering starts in SCHOOL:
1. see Mark Thompson's DVD compilation of all the group photos + hilarious out-takes (e.g. the super parody pose photos by the guys) that are not included in the DVD
2. Makan after seeing the photos, at a convenient location near school
If the gathering starts in someone's home:
1. see Mark Thompson's DVD compilation of all the group photos + hilarious out-takes (e.g. the super parody pose photos by the guys) that are not included in the DVD + Makan while seeing photos.
yep, that's it. Quite simple. If the lit trip STUDENTS are not organising it, Ms Chia is NOT going to organise it.
But if you want to organise it, I'll help you to book the classroom, announce it on the blog--which you can do yourself...
:)
Ms Chia
common sense dictates that the gathering has to be:
1. before the OCIP
2. after the PW OP
3. in a convenient location
4. not take too much time to organise
my suggestions (strictly provisional), and the group leaders of the trip, pls gather feedback on how MOST people want the gathering:
If the gathering starts in SCHOOL:
1. see Mark Thompson's DVD compilation of all the group photos + hilarious out-takes (e.g. the super parody pose photos by the guys) that are not included in the DVD
2. Makan after seeing the photos, at a convenient location near school
If the gathering starts in someone's home:
1. see Mark Thompson's DVD compilation of all the group photos + hilarious out-takes (e.g. the super parody pose photos by the guys) that are not included in the DVD + Makan while seeing photos.
yep, that's it. Quite simple. If the lit trip STUDENTS are not organising it, Ms Chia is NOT going to organise it.
But if you want to organise it, I'll help you to book the classroom, announce it on the blog--which you can do yourself...
:)
Ms Chia
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
a very good essay
Agung S. Ongko
Warning from Ms Chia: Don't plagiarise. Not that you can anyway as this won't be coming out again.
VJC H2 LITERATURE
Practical Criticism of Angel Pavement
Write a critical appreciation of the passage, showing in what ways it is characteristic of the modern period.
There are many layers of the passage that indicate its close association to the modern period – a time that marked the world’s transition from the Victorian era to the troubled 20th century. This essay shall demonstrate how the passage is characteristic of this period, by paying particular attention to the themes explored, the characterisation, as well as the style employed by the writer.
The modern period is often linked to the rejection of social norms, conventions, and values that used to be held by the older generation of the 19th century. By dissecting the majestic façade of the tea‐house, this passage expresses the same disapproval of the vulgar hedonism that used to be the hallmark of the late Victorian and Edwardian society. The artificiality of the glamour is first implied by the ‘crazy‐coloured fountains of illumination’, which painted over the ‘blue dusk’ with ‘green and crimson fire’. The natural blue hues of the night sky are distorted by the wild combination of colourful lights, suggesting that the apparent wonders of the tea‐house are actually far removed from nature and the reality. In this case, lights, which are supposed to be a source of lucidity that dispels doubts and uncertainties, become exactly the thing that deceives human senses and perceptions. This light touch of irony at the beginning of the passage already creates an ominous sense of vagueness about the tea‐house; it seems to forewarn the readers of the negative undertones that lie beneath all the hyperbolical descriptions that follow.
The magnificent tea‐house functions as a microcosmic manifestation of the society. As its multiple layers gradually unfold in the paragraph, more of the thoughtless excesses of the society are also revealed. At first, the tea‐house is seen as ‘a white palace with ten thousand lights’, but afterwards, it is also described as the ‘outpost’ of a ‘new barbarism’, and a ‘careless profusion of luxury’. Then, as we go deeper into the tea‐house, behind all the lights and the dizzying luxury, its pomp and fanfare (‘ten thousand lights and acres of white napery…the cauldrons of stewed steak’), we find as the essence of the place a group of men who deal with ‘fractions of a farthing’. This seems to illustrate the absence of a spirit or a soul at the heart of this rich society, a lack of any substantial paradigm that underlies its people and their relationships with each other. As we approach the core of the society, we realise that its fantastic and colourful surface is reduced to mere trivia, an absolute emptiness. Indeed, this crowded tea‐house ‘steamed with humanity’, where it possibly boils over and then evaporates altogether from the place.
The modern period also sees the development of a certain aversion towards industrialism among the artistic community, including writers. This is especially so, as the dawn of industrial advancement and mechanisation was considered to be anti‐humanist, being primarily, if not solely, concerned with workers’ efficiency and, to quite a large extent, depriving humans of other pursuits related to the arts or spiritual development. While this theme is not explored in great detail in the passage, Turgis’s disdain of lifts and his preference for the staircase appear to point quite sharply at the issue; these seem to be potent metaphors for the rejection of industrialism and mechanisation.
Apart from suggesting the above opposition against industrialism, the passage also implies another major phenomenon that occurred during the modern period – the departure from positivistic empiricism and in turn, the acceptance of relativist thinking. The portrayal of a banal routine in the kitchen of the tea‐house as a scientific process, complete with mundane descriptions of a waitress’s physical condition like those in health surveys (‘five‐feet four in height and in average health’), results in a mockery of the precision of the positivistic approach to scientific inquiry. Using phrases like ‘given weight’, and repeating expressions like ‘how many units’ and ‘how many minutes and seconds’, the writer highlights the approach’s obsession with certainty and fixed quantities, which runs in counter with relativism and the increasingly popular concept then of entropy – that the world moves naturally towards a state of chaos and disorder.
The acceptance of relativism is also specifically expressed in the juxtaposition of activities in the upper storeys and the basement of the tea‐house. While ‘a warm sensuous vulgar life’ goes on in the former, ‘cold science’ works in the latter. This emphasises the fact that how the tea‐house appears is largely dependent on one’s viewpoint; from the perspective of a waitress working in the basement, the tea‐house is simply another industrial factory, but from Turgis’s perspective, the tea‐house is a dreamland (‘high midsummer of confectionery’) that offers him ‘all the enchantment of unfamiliar luxury’. In other words, the contradiction in the tea‐house is actually an acknowledgment of relativism’s place in the modern period, an affirmation that perspective plays a significant role in determining what and how we know.
The character in the passage, Turgis, also distinctively belongs to the modern period. As a delusional dreamer, he seeks to indulge in the ephemeral pleasures of the tea‐house (a transitory ‘railway station’), and continues to be overwhelmed by his own imagination that he is well‐to‐do. The writer suggests that Turgis perhaps thinks of his arrival at the tea‐house as an occasion more momentous than even the looting of ‘whole kingdoms’ and the conquest of ‘half the known world’, and this delusion is further accentuated by the pause between the third and fourth paragraphs. Before directly mentioning that the tea‐house ‘was built for a great many other people too’, the writer actually dedicates a paragraph to express that ‘the place was built for him [Turgis]’, underlining the ironic lie that Turgis probably tells himself.
Yet, even with the high hopes and dreams that he harbours, Turgis is still very much a lone character who is subject to whatever fate deals him in the wildly indulgent society. ‘There was no picking and choosing your [his] company at the table’, and he ‘had to take the seat they offered you [him]’. Ultimately, in Turgis’s journey to seek enjoyment and find meaning in his interaction with the society, he has to directly confront its excesses and paradoxical hollowness, as personified exactly by the people with whom he shares the table – the two ‘stout’, ‘voluble’ middle‐aged lady, and the middle‐aged man who ‘would shrink to nothing but spectacles, a nose, a collar, and a pair of boots’. Indeed, the challenges of the modern period are reflected by the characters in this passage and their experience.
In terms of writing style, this passage is characteristic of the modern period, as it is unadorned by 19th century sentimentalism, which normally entails emotionally‐charged diction and characterisation. Such rejection of sentimentalism is actually done by modernist writers to establish some distance from their writings, and maintain the objectivity of their voices. The descriptions of the tea‐house in this passage are very vivid, but in general, they merely evoke a sense of awe and amazement – sentiments that are not particularly personal, even rather distant, in nature. In the same way, there is also little evidence of much attempt at all on the writer’s part to specifically win our sympathy, or any other strong emotions for that matter, for Turgis. Other than drawing our attention to Turgis’s unluckiness in the last paragraph, the writer maintains a certain emotional distance from the passage. In other words, the writer’s subjectivity does not significantly intrude on our experience of the passage.
The modernists’ desire to remain objective in their writings also translates to the use of external means, including any objects and situations outside of their characters, to explore these characters’ individual subjectivity. This method is evident in the passage, as shown by the analysis of Turgis’s predicament as a member of the society through the dissection of the tea‐house’s grand façade, as well as through his encounter with the three unusual characters in the tea‐house. Instead of illustrating clearly to the readers what Turgis thinks and feels, the writer uses the world around Turgis to explain his situation.
The themes, characters, and the style of the passage show that it is indeed a creative legacy of the modern period, born out of a shift in the societal paradigm brought about by the transition from the 19th to 20th century. A sense of rejection against the past norms and values, even the status quo, permeates the passage, while a yearning to embrace the new century’s new ideas is woven subtly into the paragraphs. At the same time, the challenges facing Turgis are laid out as a warning against the temptations of hedonistic lifestyle in the modern period. Even more than that, Turgis’s encounter with the contradiction between excesses and hollowness could be an impetus to further self‐discovery on the part of the readers then, especially in the midst of all the changes at the turn of the century.
Comments: excellent work, with great attention to detail and subtlety of expression. :)
Warning from Ms Chia: Don't plagiarise. Not that you can anyway as this won't be coming out again.
VJC H2 LITERATURE
Practical Criticism of Angel Pavement
Write a critical appreciation of the passage, showing in what ways it is characteristic of the modern period.
There are many layers of the passage that indicate its close association to the modern period – a time that marked the world’s transition from the Victorian era to the troubled 20th century. This essay shall demonstrate how the passage is characteristic of this period, by paying particular attention to the themes explored, the characterisation, as well as the style employed by the writer.
The modern period is often linked to the rejection of social norms, conventions, and values that used to be held by the older generation of the 19th century. By dissecting the majestic façade of the tea‐house, this passage expresses the same disapproval of the vulgar hedonism that used to be the hallmark of the late Victorian and Edwardian society. The artificiality of the glamour is first implied by the ‘crazy‐coloured fountains of illumination’, which painted over the ‘blue dusk’ with ‘green and crimson fire’. The natural blue hues of the night sky are distorted by the wild combination of colourful lights, suggesting that the apparent wonders of the tea‐house are actually far removed from nature and the reality. In this case, lights, which are supposed to be a source of lucidity that dispels doubts and uncertainties, become exactly the thing that deceives human senses and perceptions. This light touch of irony at the beginning of the passage already creates an ominous sense of vagueness about the tea‐house; it seems to forewarn the readers of the negative undertones that lie beneath all the hyperbolical descriptions that follow.
The magnificent tea‐house functions as a microcosmic manifestation of the society. As its multiple layers gradually unfold in the paragraph, more of the thoughtless excesses of the society are also revealed. At first, the tea‐house is seen as ‘a white palace with ten thousand lights’, but afterwards, it is also described as the ‘outpost’ of a ‘new barbarism’, and a ‘careless profusion of luxury’. Then, as we go deeper into the tea‐house, behind all the lights and the dizzying luxury, its pomp and fanfare (‘ten thousand lights and acres of white napery…the cauldrons of stewed steak’), we find as the essence of the place a group of men who deal with ‘fractions of a farthing’. This seems to illustrate the absence of a spirit or a soul at the heart of this rich society, a lack of any substantial paradigm that underlies its people and their relationships with each other. As we approach the core of the society, we realise that its fantastic and colourful surface is reduced to mere trivia, an absolute emptiness. Indeed, this crowded tea‐house ‘steamed with humanity’, where it possibly boils over and then evaporates altogether from the place.
The modern period also sees the development of a certain aversion towards industrialism among the artistic community, including writers. This is especially so, as the dawn of industrial advancement and mechanisation was considered to be anti‐humanist, being primarily, if not solely, concerned with workers’ efficiency and, to quite a large extent, depriving humans of other pursuits related to the arts or spiritual development. While this theme is not explored in great detail in the passage, Turgis’s disdain of lifts and his preference for the staircase appear to point quite sharply at the issue; these seem to be potent metaphors for the rejection of industrialism and mechanisation.
Apart from suggesting the above opposition against industrialism, the passage also implies another major phenomenon that occurred during the modern period – the departure from positivistic empiricism and in turn, the acceptance of relativist thinking. The portrayal of a banal routine in the kitchen of the tea‐house as a scientific process, complete with mundane descriptions of a waitress’s physical condition like those in health surveys (‘five‐feet four in height and in average health’), results in a mockery of the precision of the positivistic approach to scientific inquiry. Using phrases like ‘given weight’, and repeating expressions like ‘how many units’ and ‘how many minutes and seconds’, the writer highlights the approach’s obsession with certainty and fixed quantities, which runs in counter with relativism and the increasingly popular concept then of entropy – that the world moves naturally towards a state of chaos and disorder.
The acceptance of relativism is also specifically expressed in the juxtaposition of activities in the upper storeys and the basement of the tea‐house. While ‘a warm sensuous vulgar life’ goes on in the former, ‘cold science’ works in the latter. This emphasises the fact that how the tea‐house appears is largely dependent on one’s viewpoint; from the perspective of a waitress working in the basement, the tea‐house is simply another industrial factory, but from Turgis’s perspective, the tea‐house is a dreamland (‘high midsummer of confectionery’) that offers him ‘all the enchantment of unfamiliar luxury’. In other words, the contradiction in the tea‐house is actually an acknowledgment of relativism’s place in the modern period, an affirmation that perspective plays a significant role in determining what and how we know.
The character in the passage, Turgis, also distinctively belongs to the modern period. As a delusional dreamer, he seeks to indulge in the ephemeral pleasures of the tea‐house (a transitory ‘railway station’), and continues to be overwhelmed by his own imagination that he is well‐to‐do. The writer suggests that Turgis perhaps thinks of his arrival at the tea‐house as an occasion more momentous than even the looting of ‘whole kingdoms’ and the conquest of ‘half the known world’, and this delusion is further accentuated by the pause between the third and fourth paragraphs. Before directly mentioning that the tea‐house ‘was built for a great many other people too’, the writer actually dedicates a paragraph to express that ‘the place was built for him [Turgis]’, underlining the ironic lie that Turgis probably tells himself.
Yet, even with the high hopes and dreams that he harbours, Turgis is still very much a lone character who is subject to whatever fate deals him in the wildly indulgent society. ‘There was no picking and choosing your [his] company at the table’, and he ‘had to take the seat they offered you [him]’. Ultimately, in Turgis’s journey to seek enjoyment and find meaning in his interaction with the society, he has to directly confront its excesses and paradoxical hollowness, as personified exactly by the people with whom he shares the table – the two ‘stout’, ‘voluble’ middle‐aged lady, and the middle‐aged man who ‘would shrink to nothing but spectacles, a nose, a collar, and a pair of boots’. Indeed, the challenges of the modern period are reflected by the characters in this passage and their experience.
In terms of writing style, this passage is characteristic of the modern period, as it is unadorned by 19th century sentimentalism, which normally entails emotionally‐charged diction and characterisation. Such rejection of sentimentalism is actually done by modernist writers to establish some distance from their writings, and maintain the objectivity of their voices. The descriptions of the tea‐house in this passage are very vivid, but in general, they merely evoke a sense of awe and amazement – sentiments that are not particularly personal, even rather distant, in nature. In the same way, there is also little evidence of much attempt at all on the writer’s part to specifically win our sympathy, or any other strong emotions for that matter, for Turgis. Other than drawing our attention to Turgis’s unluckiness in the last paragraph, the writer maintains a certain emotional distance from the passage. In other words, the writer’s subjectivity does not significantly intrude on our experience of the passage.
The modernists’ desire to remain objective in their writings also translates to the use of external means, including any objects and situations outside of their characters, to explore these characters’ individual subjectivity. This method is evident in the passage, as shown by the analysis of Turgis’s predicament as a member of the society through the dissection of the tea‐house’s grand façade, as well as through his encounter with the three unusual characters in the tea‐house. Instead of illustrating clearly to the readers what Turgis thinks and feels, the writer uses the world around Turgis to explain his situation.
The themes, characters, and the style of the passage show that it is indeed a creative legacy of the modern period, born out of a shift in the societal paradigm brought about by the transition from the 19th to 20th century. A sense of rejection against the past norms and values, even the status quo, permeates the passage, while a yearning to embrace the new century’s new ideas is woven subtly into the paragraphs. At the same time, the challenges facing Turgis are laid out as a warning against the temptations of hedonistic lifestyle in the modern period. Even more than that, Turgis’s encounter with the contradiction between excesses and hollowness could be an impetus to further self‐discovery on the part of the readers then, especially in the midst of all the changes at the turn of the century.
Comments: excellent work, with great attention to detail and subtlety of expression. :)
Monday, September 10, 2007
unseen prose analysis: common errors and good essays
Common errors:
1. inaccurate attribution of "stream of consciousness writing" to Angel Pavement
2. lack of close textual analysis to support statements made
3. misreading/mis-interpretation
good points (these are extracted from actual essays)
1. "Priestley describes the tea-shop as a 'citadel' 'towering above the older buildings.' This motif of giving protection and support to a newly emerging world order is continued when Turgis 'marches' into it, with a likely satisfaction ins perceiving that he has encountered luxury far greater than any human 'conqueror'. (close reading and elaboration of point)
2. "All in all, the passage, with its derisive scorn for this "Bablylonian' pleasure-seeking lifestyle, the pathetic protagonist and changing world is symptomatic of the modern age [...] this piece of literature is in fact reactionary to that which has lately arisen." (good summation of points, with most apt use of adjectives)
3. "The extract from J. B. Priestley's Angel Pavement, can easily be identified as a work of the modern period as the elements which characterise it as such do so clearly and pointedly. The extract, for instance, excites the reader with a sensory feast, especially with its imagery. However, the deception which lurks beneath such imagery creates doubt and disenchantment within the reader and the idea of such embellishments crumbling in on themselves in that they merely support a facade to conceal an uglier interior, form the true parameters of a piece of modern writing." (Good introduction)
4. "Priestley was clearly a disillusioned man, as seen in how he has characterised Turgis, as one still enchanted by the Revolution of prosperity. From "Perhaps he knew in his heart that men have conquered half the known world, looted whole kingdoms, and never arrived at such luxury. The place was built for him", we see that Turgis considers material pleasures to be man's ultimate gratification. It is clear that Priestley rejects such materialism associated with modernisation from his constant interjections of disconcertion throughout the extract. Examples are how he deflates hope for 'a new civilisation" with "a new barbarism" and how he immediately poisons "warm sensuous" with "vulgar", thereby never leaving a scene to seem completely picture perfect. This is proof, therefore, of Priestley's disillusionment as a writer, and more importantly, as a member of the decaying society and this is how disillusionment takes centrestage in modernist literature." (Good close reading)
5. "People's obsession with money and their carelessness with it, together with its consequences, are also brought out in this passage, as can be inferred from paragraph one. With the description of the "new age", "new civilisation", being made up of nothing but stacked up pennies, represents the modern person's obsession with money. Also, the world "balanced", the basis of which this new world is built on, has its vulnerability made clear." (Good close reading, with extrapolation into thematic concerns)
6.
Speaking of descriptions, the imagery used in “Angel Pavement” is also an apt reflection of the Jazz Age in its extravagant descriptions that overwhelm the senses. Descriptions of a “golden tropical” atmosphere permeating the tea shop, and image of the place being a “white palace”, “[towering] above the older buildings like [even] the citadel” shows the sheer grandeur and opulence of the surroundings – something that is often alluded to that period. However, with the recounting of there being “ten thousand lights” and “acres of white napery”, there also appears to be a recurring image of excessiveness to the point of absurdity (very good). There is also a hint of a certain of superficiality and artificiality, which is seen mostly from how the only type of food available was the likes of “mounds of shimmering bonbons and multi-coloured Veinnese pastries”; which can hardly be considered as substantial food, thus rightfully relegating the tea shop as “some high midsummer confectionery”. Once again, facing these seemingly resplendent visions, Priestley hints that such indulgences and decadence could in fact be working against (very good) Man, and eventually explode back into their faces like a “sugary bomb”.
Like many other pieces of literary work at that time, “Angel Pavement” not only presents the grandeur and frivolity of the Jazz Age, it also warns the people of that time about the very culture that they had immersed themselves in by effectively portrays the cracks of society at that point of time. Hence, as can be seen from its thematic concerns and its stylistic nuances, “Angel Pavement” is truly characteristic of the modern period.
(Good close reading, with extrapolation into thematic concerns)
7. The café being described as a public place such as the “railway station” suggests that it is a mere place of the accidental gathering of strangers, despite the façade of the “warm sensuous” intimacy that “flower[ed]” the place. (very good close reading)
8. Turgis is not the only person in isolation. Priestley suggests that everyone else is having similar experiences to him. As Turgis observes the richness of his surroundings, he cannot help but feel that “the place was built for him” – that surely in this bustling café is the human communication he wants, waiting for him to find it. However the anticlimactic undercutting (good) of the next sentence, emphasized by the stark jump into another paragraph, shows that Turgis is not actually as special as he feels, as the place was “built for a great many other people, too”. The fact that all the other people also feel some singular personal connection with the café hints that these emotions are just imagination, wishful thinking (good) in each person’s head. All these individual consciousnesses with their separate ideas give an image of everyone in their own personal bubble, distanced from each other. It is ironic (very apt) that in a place that “steamed with humanity” it is impossible to properly relate to another human being. For example, the “young Jewish violinist” who is like “a magnet to a thousand girls” can only interact with them on a superficial level, the irony of a well-loved celebrity.
(clear topic sentence and very good close reading)
1. inaccurate attribution of "stream of consciousness writing" to Angel Pavement
2. lack of close textual analysis to support statements made
3. misreading/mis-interpretation
good points (these are extracted from actual essays)
1. "Priestley describes the tea-shop as a 'citadel' 'towering above the older buildings.' This motif of giving protection and support to a newly emerging world order is continued when Turgis 'marches' into it, with a likely satisfaction ins perceiving that he has encountered luxury far greater than any human 'conqueror'. (close reading and elaboration of point)
2. "All in all, the passage, with its derisive scorn for this "Bablylonian' pleasure-seeking lifestyle, the pathetic protagonist and changing world is symptomatic of the modern age [...] this piece of literature is in fact reactionary to that which has lately arisen." (good summation of points, with most apt use of adjectives)
3. "The extract from J. B. Priestley's Angel Pavement, can easily be identified as a work of the modern period as the elements which characterise it as such do so clearly and pointedly. The extract, for instance, excites the reader with a sensory feast, especially with its imagery. However, the deception which lurks beneath such imagery creates doubt and disenchantment within the reader and the idea of such embellishments crumbling in on themselves in that they merely support a facade to conceal an uglier interior, form the true parameters of a piece of modern writing." (Good introduction)
4. "Priestley was clearly a disillusioned man, as seen in how he has characterised Turgis, as one still enchanted by the Revolution of prosperity. From "Perhaps he knew in his heart that men have conquered half the known world, looted whole kingdoms, and never arrived at such luxury. The place was built for him", we see that Turgis considers material pleasures to be man's ultimate gratification. It is clear that Priestley rejects such materialism associated with modernisation from his constant interjections of disconcertion throughout the extract. Examples are how he deflates hope for 'a new civilisation" with "a new barbarism" and how he immediately poisons "warm sensuous" with "vulgar", thereby never leaving a scene to seem completely picture perfect. This is proof, therefore, of Priestley's disillusionment as a writer, and more importantly, as a member of the decaying society and this is how disillusionment takes centrestage in modernist literature." (Good close reading)
5. "People's obsession with money and their carelessness with it, together with its consequences, are also brought out in this passage, as can be inferred from paragraph one. With the description of the "new age", "new civilisation", being made up of nothing but stacked up pennies, represents the modern person's obsession with money. Also, the world "balanced", the basis of which this new world is built on, has its vulnerability made clear." (Good close reading, with extrapolation into thematic concerns)
6.
Speaking of descriptions, the imagery used in “Angel Pavement” is also an apt reflection of the Jazz Age in its extravagant descriptions that overwhelm the senses. Descriptions of a “golden tropical” atmosphere permeating the tea shop, and image of the place being a “white palace”, “[towering] above the older buildings like [even] the citadel” shows the sheer grandeur and opulence of the surroundings – something that is often alluded to that period. However, with the recounting of there being “ten thousand lights” and “acres of white napery”, there also appears to be a recurring image of excessiveness to the point of absurdity (very good). There is also a hint of a certain of superficiality and artificiality, which is seen mostly from how the only type of food available was the likes of “mounds of shimmering bonbons and multi-coloured Veinnese pastries”; which can hardly be considered as substantial food, thus rightfully relegating the tea shop as “some high midsummer confectionery”. Once again, facing these seemingly resplendent visions, Priestley hints that such indulgences and decadence could in fact be working against (very good) Man, and eventually explode back into their faces like a “sugary bomb”.
Like many other pieces of literary work at that time, “Angel Pavement” not only presents the grandeur and frivolity of the Jazz Age, it also warns the people of that time about the very culture that they had immersed themselves in by effectively portrays the cracks of society at that point of time. Hence, as can be seen from its thematic concerns and its stylistic nuances, “Angel Pavement” is truly characteristic of the modern period.
(Good close reading, with extrapolation into thematic concerns)
7. The café being described as a public place such as the “railway station” suggests that it is a mere place of the accidental gathering of strangers, despite the façade of the “warm sensuous” intimacy that “flower[ed]” the place. (very good close reading)
8. Turgis is not the only person in isolation. Priestley suggests that everyone else is having similar experiences to him. As Turgis observes the richness of his surroundings, he cannot help but feel that “the place was built for him” – that surely in this bustling café is the human communication he wants, waiting for him to find it. However the anticlimactic undercutting (good) of the next sentence, emphasized by the stark jump into another paragraph, shows that Turgis is not actually as special as he feels, as the place was “built for a great many other people, too”. The fact that all the other people also feel some singular personal connection with the café hints that these emotions are just imagination, wishful thinking (good) in each person’s head. All these individual consciousnesses with their separate ideas give an image of everyone in their own personal bubble, distanced from each other. It is ironic (very apt) that in a place that “steamed with humanity” it is impossible to properly relate to another human being. For example, the “young Jewish violinist” who is like “a magnet to a thousand girls” can only interact with them on a superficial level, the irony of a well-loved celebrity.
(clear topic sentence and very good close reading)
Saturday, July 28, 2007
10 Owen poems
Um it seems that I shall be the first (be proud of me, Ms Chia!) to post my selection of the 10 Owen poems. They are: Dulce, Mental Cases, Exposure, Disabled, Futility, Last Laugh, Send-off, Insensibility, Greater Love, Apologia.
Poems used for:
Pity for/suffering of soldiers
Dulce, Exposure, Mental Cases, Disabled
Horrors in the aftermath of war
Dulce, Mental Cases, Disabled
Futility of ideals (eg. living, "glory from war" idealistic fantasies)
Futility, Send-off, Last Laugh, Disabled, Dulce
Disillusionment with society and civilians who are "fair-weather friends", or are indifferent
Send-off, Disabled, Insensibility
Disturbing personification of inanimate objects to emphasize disconcertion of poem
Last Laugh, Send-off
Losses/sacrifices (not just physical ones, including humanity, faith) made by soldiers
Mental Cases, Exposure, Disabled
Owen's form as compared to traditional forms and how it emphasizes message of poem
Futility, Send-off
Owen comparing traditional subjects of poetry (eg. flowers, romantic love) to issues concerning war which he considers to be more important (eg. senseless sacrifice of soldiers, sacrificial love)
Insensibility, Greater Love, Apologia
You will notice they are heavy on the poems learnt in Term 2 as I am still quite unfamiliar with the religion ones. Oh well.
Yiling
Poems used for:
Pity for/suffering of soldiers
Dulce, Exposure, Mental Cases, Disabled
Horrors in the aftermath of war
Dulce, Mental Cases, Disabled
Futility of ideals (eg. living, "glory from war" idealistic fantasies)
Futility, Send-off, Last Laugh, Disabled, Dulce
Disillusionment with society and civilians who are "fair-weather friends", or are indifferent
Send-off, Disabled, Insensibility
Disturbing personification of inanimate objects to emphasize disconcertion of poem
Last Laugh, Send-off
Losses/sacrifices (not just physical ones, including humanity, faith) made by soldiers
Mental Cases, Exposure, Disabled
Owen's form as compared to traditional forms and how it emphasizes message of poem
Futility, Send-off
Owen comparing traditional subjects of poetry (eg. flowers, romantic love) to issues concerning war which he considers to be more important (eg. senseless sacrifice of soldiers, sacrificial love)
Insensibility, Greater Love, Apologia
You will notice they are heavy on the poems learnt in Term 2 as I am still quite unfamiliar with the religion ones. Oh well.
Yiling
Saturday, July 21, 2007
King Lear
Is an awesome experience. McKellen is The man for the job. I was pleased as punch to see that he could carry Cordelia at the end, as required by the text and how he played with the 5 "nevers", which are so wretchedly hard to pull off. Of course, for such an old pro, I expected every line said by him to be almost pitch perfect and he did not disappoint. For people without the gift, fitness and courage to act, witnessing the simulation of emotions we would not want to confront or think about is quite awe-inspiring. I admire good actors immensely--there are very few who can be properly called actors, who can suspend our disbelief, in the classical sense.
Of course, a great actor needs a great supporting cast as well and everything ran together like a well-oiled machine. a lot of hard work went into being so "pro"...
Trevor Nunn has a certain style. he likes a dumb show at the start: that start of both King Lear and Macbeth (both dir. by Nunn) have dumb shows....
there were some VJC students there and the place was packed with theatre folk: i saw 2 of the 3 Dimsum Dollies there--Pam Oei and Emma Yong and I won't be surprised if Selena Tan was there as well. A sprinkling of newscasters as well. What gave me the extra kick was comparing the Lear performance with the Seagull, seeing as Goneril is also played by the same actress as Arkadina, and so on.
Of course, a great actor needs a great supporting cast as well and everything ran together like a well-oiled machine. a lot of hard work went into being so "pro"...
Trevor Nunn has a certain style. he likes a dumb show at the start: that start of both King Lear and Macbeth (both dir. by Nunn) have dumb shows....
there were some VJC students there and the place was packed with theatre folk: i saw 2 of the 3 Dimsum Dollies there--Pam Oei and Emma Yong and I won't be surprised if Selena Tan was there as well. A sprinkling of newscasters as well. What gave me the extra kick was comparing the Lear performance with the Seagull, seeing as Goneril is also played by the same actress as Arkadina, and so on.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
end of year party to see lit trip dvd and catch up
hi lit trip people,
first of all i want to thank everyone for giving solid quotes and photos. kudos to all who posted the quotes in time for Mr Chan's speech.
i was toying with the idea of having an end-of-year party to see all the corny and happy photos that mark thompson has compiled on dvd. but we need a venue.
and if we have enough people, i think i may invite 1 or 2 of my friends who are experienced Europe backpackers to share some tips at our party too, in prep for your own non-school Europe trip.
so, whose house is open to us? :)
--Ms Chia
first of all i want to thank everyone for giving solid quotes and photos. kudos to all who posted the quotes in time for Mr Chan's speech.
i was toying with the idea of having an end-of-year party to see all the corny and happy photos that mark thompson has compiled on dvd. but we need a venue.
and if we have enough people, i think i may invite 1 or 2 of my friends who are experienced Europe backpackers to share some tips at our party too, in prep for your own non-school Europe trip.
so, whose house is open to us? :)
--Ms Chia
study smart shortcut: post your top 10 Owen poems list here
Remember what Mr Teo said in the last Owen lecture that you only need 10 of the 32 poems in the A-level syllabus for the actual exam?
I've asked those in my class who scored 35 and above to post their list of 10 poems on this blog, so keep a lookout.
Those of you who did not get 35 and above but who still want to post, by all means do so.
the suggested format (E.g. only)
1. "Dulce" (Can be used for questions on Pity, Propaganda and Disillusionment, The accusatory voice, Pitching to an elite audience)
2. "Smile, Smile, Smile" (Irony, Propaganda (mimicry of it) and etc)
Yes, so pls put a short note beside the title of the poem how many different ways you can permutate the uses of that poem.
:)
I've asked those in my class who scored 35 and above to post their list of 10 poems on this blog, so keep a lookout.
Those of you who did not get 35 and above but who still want to post, by all means do so.
the suggested format (E.g. only)
1. "Dulce" (Can be used for questions on Pity, Propaganda and Disillusionment, The accusatory voice, Pitching to an elite audience)
2. "Smile, Smile, Smile" (Irony, Propaganda (mimicry of it) and etc)
Yes, so pls put a short note beside the title of the poem how many different ways you can permutate the uses of that poem.
:)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
haha,
i learnt from Feng Jie of the photocopy shop that a student pirated my lit trip booklet, asking her to print from an existing bound copy. which is puzzling, as a lot of the info is made up of lists directly relevant only to the lit trip students.
if it's a student who went on the lit trip and lost his/her booklet, all he/she has to do is to ask me for my master copy. it will print better that way.
if it's not a student who went on the trip, i am truly confounded. if you are the student who pirated my booklet, pls confirm the reason, to allay my curiosity.
also learnt from Mr Jeff Lim that some Year 2 students asked if they could access the Year 1 Owen lecture notes that I've generated. Very decent of them to ask for permission beforehand. Of course, any suggestions on how I can improve them would be great, and hopefully the suggestions will not involve a total overhaul, as I did spend an indecent amount of time researching...
i learnt from Feng Jie of the photocopy shop that a student pirated my lit trip booklet, asking her to print from an existing bound copy. which is puzzling, as a lot of the info is made up of lists directly relevant only to the lit trip students.
if it's a student who went on the lit trip and lost his/her booklet, all he/she has to do is to ask me for my master copy. it will print better that way.
if it's not a student who went on the trip, i am truly confounded. if you are the student who pirated my booklet, pls confirm the reason, to allay my curiosity.
also learnt from Mr Jeff Lim that some Year 2 students asked if they could access the Year 1 Owen lecture notes that I've generated. Very decent of them to ask for permission beforehand. Of course, any suggestions on how I can improve them would be great, and hopefully the suggestions will not involve a total overhaul, as I did spend an indecent amount of time researching...
Friday, July 6, 2007
nouvelle nostalgia
London & France, where we found ourselves set upon a background of unfamiliarity and diversified culture. The peculiar smell of London's fresh greenery in contrast to the urban skyscrapers set the stage for 32 students, awaiting our impending exploration.
The novel environment; the footsteps that sound different on foreign grounds; the laughter that rang in the air consistently for 9 days or so; these contributed to the inexhaustible list of experiences I've had on the Literature Trip.
But what have I missed the most for the 9 days? The utter warmth of the Sun's radiant glow upon my skin, the sweat that remained under my skin for 9 days, even the occasional squint of my eyes. The sensational weather of homeland.
I miss London & France; but most of all, I miss Singapore because it's where I feel so appreciated and identifiable; where my family and friends reside.
- Group 5
The novel environment; the footsteps that sound different on foreign grounds; the laughter that rang in the air consistently for 9 days or so; these contributed to the inexhaustible list of experiences I've had on the Literature Trip.
But what have I missed the most for the 9 days? The utter warmth of the Sun's radiant glow upon my skin, the sweat that remained under my skin for 9 days, even the occasional squint of my eyes. The sensational weather of homeland.
I miss London & France; but most of all, I miss Singapore because it's where I feel so appreciated and identifiable; where my family and friends reside.
- Group 5
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Anecdotes from the A11 girls (I'm sorry! I don't remember our group number.):
Culture in the UK comes cheap. It almost seems that nothing complements a cup of afternoon tea and scones better than a piece of engaging theatrical work.Entire theatres dedicated to the showing of just one play or musical, and these theatres in no lack too! Tickets to shows are inexpensive and judging by the multitudes, there is certainly no lack of interest. We also enjoyed free entrance to the museums and were bowled over by the sheer mass of artefacts, leaving us highly discontented with our dear homeland's rather noticeable lack of such defining culture.
The strong sense of discontent and unease at viewing first-hand the massive losses of the war; witnessing with slight disgust the opulence and redundance of the Versailles; the exhilaration of standing at the top of the Eiffel, looking down at the rest of Paris - all of these were part and parcel of our experience in Europe. No culture is complete or perfect - under the gloss on the surface lies the displeasing and unsavoury part of the new society. But appreciation and tolerance is what brings the understanding of culture closer - both that of the foreign land, and of our own.
Culture in the UK comes cheap. It almost seems that nothing complements a cup of afternoon tea and scones better than a piece of engaging theatrical work.Entire theatres dedicated to the showing of just one play or musical, and these theatres in no lack too! Tickets to shows are inexpensive and judging by the multitudes, there is certainly no lack of interest. We also enjoyed free entrance to the museums and were bowled over by the sheer mass of artefacts, leaving us highly discontented with our dear homeland's rather noticeable lack of such defining culture.
The strong sense of discontent and unease at viewing first-hand the massive losses of the war; witnessing with slight disgust the opulence and redundance of the Versailles; the exhilaration of standing at the top of the Eiffel, looking down at the rest of Paris - all of these were part and parcel of our experience in Europe. No culture is complete or perfect - under the gloss on the surface lies the displeasing and unsavoury part of the new society. But appreciation and tolerance is what brings the understanding of culture closer - both that of the foreign land, and of our own.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
what do we tell them?
Do I tell them about the Eiffel tower, Versailles, the imperial was museum?
Or do I tell them about the 600 graves at the Anglo-Franc war memorial, or the graveyards all over the Somme?
Do I tell them about Westminster abbey, the tombs of kings or perhaps Notre Dame, one of the largest cathedrals in the world
Or do I tell them how I can feel god just looking outside my window at the vast green pastures, the beautiful trees and think about how amazing creation actually is?
Do I tell them about how friendly they are, the excellent service, how please and thank you are words that you hear almost everyday?
Or do I tell them about how we had to always go out in a group for fear of getting mugged, how sometimes we were afraid to turn left outside of our hotel?
What do I tell them?
done by group 6
Or do I tell them about the 600 graves at the Anglo-Franc war memorial, or the graveyards all over the Somme?
Do I tell them about Westminster abbey, the tombs of kings or perhaps Notre Dame, one of the largest cathedrals in the world
Or do I tell them how I can feel god just looking outside my window at the vast green pastures, the beautiful trees and think about how amazing creation actually is?
Do I tell them about how friendly they are, the excellent service, how please and thank you are words that you hear almost everyday?
Or do I tell them about how we had to always go out in a group for fear of getting mugged, how sometimes we were afraid to turn left outside of our hotel?
What do I tell them?
done by group 6
Hi Ms Chia!
This is the anecdote from group 3:-
Upon setting foot in France, we found ourselves bombarded by posters in a foreign language completely alien to us, but there were some that transcended all languages - the ones that were conveyed through body language. Oh liberal France! Nude magazine covers could be found at all newsstands while liberal TV programmes were open to the public. This is a phenomenon which we will never expect to find in conservative Singapore.
The exquisite french cuisine was an eye-opener when it came to the escargots but after four days, us true blue Singaporeans missed our favourite curry chicken and satay. Indeed, french cuisine has sugar and everything nice but they lack spice! Oh chilli was greatly missed! Not to forget water! We would never take it for granted again. In Singapore, water is easily available and even tap water can be drunk! But in France, water was twice as expensive as wine!
There's really nothing like home. Indeed, on this trip, we realized there is nothing like our signature 'lah's and 'lor's, nothing we missed more than knowing at one glance which is a one dollar coin (We fumbled with our wallets for every purchase! Two pounds is a coin!), nothing we yearned more than our own comfortable beds and teddy bears and nothing we treasured more than being able to see familiar faces everywhere!
This is the anecdote from group 3:-
Upon setting foot in France, we found ourselves bombarded by posters in a foreign language completely alien to us, but there were some that transcended all languages - the ones that were conveyed through body language. Oh liberal France! Nude magazine covers could be found at all newsstands while liberal TV programmes were open to the public. This is a phenomenon which we will never expect to find in conservative Singapore.
The exquisite french cuisine was an eye-opener when it came to the escargots but after four days, us true blue Singaporeans missed our favourite curry chicken and satay. Indeed, french cuisine has sugar and everything nice but they lack spice! Oh chilli was greatly missed! Not to forget water! We would never take it for granted again. In Singapore, water is easily available and even tap water can be drunk! But in France, water was twice as expensive as wine!
There's really nothing like home. Indeed, on this trip, we realized there is nothing like our signature 'lah's and 'lor's, nothing we missed more than knowing at one glance which is a one dollar coin (We fumbled with our wallets for every purchase! Two pounds is a coin!), nothing we yearned more than our own comfortable beds and teddy bears and nothing we treasured more than being able to see familiar faces everywhere!
Monday, July 2, 2007
quotable quotes
hi, Mr Chan our principal would like
quotes from students
the theme for this year's speech is on globalisation.
these quotes should pepper the speech with interesting anecdotes along the lines of:
1. what's most culturally interesting/impressive about your country of visit, in relation to Singapore culture?
2. How does being in a foreign country make you more aware of your being Singaporean?
3. What does "home" mean to you? How has your visit changed your experience of what home is?
the anecdotes/quotes should be funny, witty, concise....
quotes from students
--for their learning and reflection from the "Beyond Borders" trips
for his College Day speech
for his College Day speech
the theme for this year's speech is on globalisation.
these quotes should pepper the speech with interesting anecdotes along the lines of:
1. what's most culturally interesting/impressive about your country of visit, in relation to Singapore culture?
2. How does being in a foreign country make you more aware of your being Singaporean?
3. What does "home" mean to you? How has your visit changed your experience of what home is?
the anecdotes/quotes should be funny, witty, concise....
group leaders, pls post at least 1 solid anecdote per group on this blog or email it to me by tomorrow. Just got the request today. thanks!
I'll offer one of my own:
1. what i found most interesting: the row of wig shops in the "African" sector of France. Obviously, French women of African origin do not like the hair they were born with, or they have social pressures to undo the hair they have. we hardly see wig shops in Singapore and certainly not 5 or 6 of them in row!
Ms Chia
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Submission of photos
Mark Thompson here.
As Ms Chia said, you need to submit all your photos to your group leader. Since exams are finally over, and next Monday is a holiday, you have lots of time to burn all your pics onto a cd by tues and submit them to your group leaders. Failure to do so will result in Ms Chia 'bugging the heck out of you'. Format of submission as follows:
-Place all your photos into a folder with your name as the title.
-Burn this folder into a cd. If a cd is insufficient, use 2 cds. Or buy a dvd. Or use a thumbdrive. (I might forget to return your thumbdrive. Submit at your own risk.)
-Give the cd to your group leader on Tuesday.
-Group leaders pass me all the cds on the same day-my hp: 91714858
I shall choose the best pics and compile all of them in a dvd to submit to Mr Teo by the end of next week. So please be on time! A cd costs an amazing $0.50 , and burning the pics takes only 10 minutes, so no excuses, or I shall unleash the Fury of Ms Chia upon you. =D.
ps. bribery greatly increases your chances of making top 10.
As Ms Chia said, you need to submit all your photos to your group leader. Since exams are finally over, and next Monday is a holiday, you have lots of time to burn all your pics onto a cd by tues and submit them to your group leaders. Failure to do so will result in Ms Chia 'bugging the heck out of you'. Format of submission as follows:
-Place all your photos into a folder with your name as the title.
-Burn this folder into a cd. If a cd is insufficient, use 2 cds. Or buy a dvd. Or use a thumbdrive. (I might forget to return your thumbdrive. Submit at your own risk.)
-Give the cd to your group leader on Tuesday.
-Group leaders pass me all the cds on the same day-my hp: 91714858
I shall choose the best pics and compile all of them in a dvd to submit to Mr Teo by the end of next week. So please be on time! A cd costs an amazing $0.50 , and burning the pics takes only 10 minutes, so no excuses, or I shall unleash the Fury of Ms Chia upon you. =D.
ps. bribery greatly increases your chances of making top 10.
Monday, June 25, 2007
WANTED--ALL your photos
Pls see Mr Teo abd Ms Goh Hui Hua's request:
We need 10 BEST shots from Lit Trip of students in some "foreign-looking" environment, close-ups of the activities they participated in, interacting with the people they met there......
Pls ask lit trip students to burn ALL their photos on to a CD-rom or DVD and pass to me. If they need reimbursement I'll pay them.
It's for Ms Goh Huihua, College Day, College Day and Archive!
make sure the photos are well-taken--she only needs about 10 photos in total from Lit trip...
Of course, Mark Thompson, pls take note of the following requirements and deliver as per the specs to Mr Teo and inform me when you have delivered the goodies.
For the good but not top 10 photos, we'll use them all in a slide show/video for the next Lit Trip publicity SO HAND IN YOUR PHOTOS TO YOUR GROUP LEADER ASAP.
Mark T, bug the heck out of the group leaders till you get the photos. If you have any problems getting any group's photos, pls tell me.
Due Date for group leaders and Mark T: asap after the CTs :)
We need 10 BEST shots from Lit Trip of students in some "foreign-looking" environment, close-ups of the activities they participated in, interacting with the people they met there......
Pls ask lit trip students to burn ALL their photos on to a CD-rom or DVD and pass to me. If they need reimbursement I'll pay them.
It's for Ms Goh Huihua, College Day, College Day and Archive!
make sure the photos are well-taken--she only needs about 10 photos in total from Lit trip...
Of course, Mark Thompson, pls take note of the following requirements and deliver as per the specs to Mr Teo and inform me when you have delivered the goodies.
For the good but not top 10 photos, we'll use them all in a slide show/video for the next Lit Trip publicity SO HAND IN YOUR PHOTOS TO YOUR GROUP LEADER ASAP.
Mark T, bug the heck out of the group leaders till you get the photos. If you have any problems getting any group's photos, pls tell me.
Due Date for group leaders and Mark T: asap after the CTs :)
vanity fair special issue on africa--with 20 different covers
say what you like about Bono, the guy really knows how to leverage the media for the causes he cares about. and use his connections. no other guest editor would have been able to gather so many bigshot celebrities onboard, except Oprah, i think...
i mean, he has made anti-poverty a big issue and i totally agree it should be. read the issue for some heart-rending and heart-warming facts.
africa is more than just poverty and AIDS, big though these issues are. and do something like click on The Hungersite EVERYDAY. It's free and someone somewhere who needs a breakfast/lunch/dinner will get perhaps their only square meal of the day because you CLICKED that day.
do it. now. :)
i mean, he has made anti-poverty a big issue and i totally agree it should be. read the issue for some heart-rending and heart-warming facts.
africa is more than just poverty and AIDS, big though these issues are. and do something like click on The Hungersite EVERYDAY. It's free and someone somewhere who needs a breakfast/lunch/dinner will get perhaps their only square meal of the day because you CLICKED that day.
do it. now. :)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
all the best for the exams and pls help me tidy/beautify blog
hey there, lit students :)
all the best for ALL your exams, not just lit and don't worry, they'll be over soon.
once they are done, pls post your photos online and share the URL, ok? though I seriously doubt all of you were mugging so consistently that you couldn't have posted your trip photos online but by the end of the exams, there will be NO MORE EXCUSES.... haha.
Blogger's recommendations for Blogs of note are almost always spot on: check out Beautiful Revolution, a blog of really childlike but meaningful drawings.
and pls, someone shorten the recommendations for the lit trip--they are useful but they do clutter the page and we don't need the long summary of why the link is worth visiting anymore....
all the best for ALL your exams, not just lit and don't worry, they'll be over soon.
once they are done, pls post your photos online and share the URL, ok? though I seriously doubt all of you were mugging so consistently that you couldn't have posted your trip photos online but by the end of the exams, there will be NO MORE EXCUSES.... haha.
Blogger's recommendations for Blogs of note are almost always spot on: check out Beautiful Revolution, a blog of really childlike but meaningful drawings.
and pls, someone shorten the recommendations for the lit trip--they are useful but they do clutter the page and we don't need the long summary of why the link is worth visiting anymore....
Thursday, June 14, 2007
hi all
this is the flickr web page for group 7's photos. It's not complete yet so please give us a few days to finish uploading all the photos with the captions. Thanks!
www.flickr.com/photos/limeylollipop
may
this is the flickr web page for group 7's photos. It's not complete yet so please give us a few days to finish uploading all the photos with the captions. Thanks!
www.flickr.com/photos/limeylollipop
may
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Paris photos
My Flickr photos are here. :) My other photos are in Mr Teo's laptop...You probably won't get to see them till 25 June at the earliest.
The photo essay groups, I hope you have got over your jetlag and will be uploading your photos with captions in the next few days? by 15 June pls. :)
The guy groups who are doing the intro essays to the trip and are supposed to help anyone who doesn't quite know how to upload photos, pls post your intro essays by this Friday (15 June)
As I said in earlier post, I had a super hectic, jet-lag inducing weekend but I could still post. That means you can too....
No need for epics--short and sweet will do. :)
:)
Ms Chia
The photo essay groups, I hope you have got over your jetlag and will be uploading your photos with captions in the next few days? by 15 June pls. :)
The guy groups who are doing the intro essays to the trip and are supposed to help anyone who doesn't quite know how to upload photos, pls post your intro essays by this Friday (15 June)
As I said in earlier post, I had a super hectic, jet-lag inducing weekend but I could still post. That means you can too....
No need for epics--short and sweet will do. :)
:)
Ms Chia
thank you to all the group leaders and others
I apologise for the belated thanks but let me explain: after touch-down on Friday evening, I went for Godmum's Chinese birthday dinner. Then the next afternoon I went back to school to settle final GYLC stuff and had Godmum's round 2 birthday dinner (which lasted till 10pm). Went back, woke up at 3AM to send off GYLC students at the airport and found that I was the only GYLC teacher there and an ACS parent made the most unusual request that since I was apparently the only teacher there and was giving the VJC students a short briefing, would I mind briefing the ACS(I) students as well!!!???? Gosh. Crashed into bed and then went to church the next day. So you can see, my jet-lag was exacerbated by quite a few factors....
I want to thank the following:
Julie: for being cool under pressure--when Renee got pickpocketed, she calmly called me and helped Renee to file a police report.
Renee: I really want to salute Renee too, for being so calm after her wallet was stolen. She proceeded to enjoy the rest of the trip, regardless. Both of them are Year 2s, so it's really rare to have them along. :)
Gwyneth: for plaiting my hair, humoring my "Friend Bear" photo requests and being a very responsible leader. For volunteering to go without the guide at Versailles--self-sacrificing....
Jing Han: for being a responsible leader and for being super enthusiastic about Owen's poetry/upcoming Mid-Year--to the extent of requesting for a lesson during the Paris trip, rather than playing cards....
Daniel Fflug: for being very responsible in keeping me updated about the group's whereabouts, since Jing Han's phone was not working sometimes.
Mark Thompson: for being the first to share his photos and for regularly uploading the photos. He's a good Chief Photographer. Some of his photos are very arty and observant. :)
Shun Wei: for being a good sport--this is a very literary trip but she really enjoyed herself and helped to take care of her group mates too.
Jeremy: for accounting for his group when needed. :)
Nicholas: For volunteering to go without the guide at Versailles--self-sacrificing....for buying DVDs on the Somme that I may shamelessly ask to borrow
Yi Ci: for reading up on the Unknown Soldier during the trip--a sight that makes the tedious trip prep worthwhile.
Phoebe: for accounting for the group when needed. :)
Shu Wen: for carrying all the London and Paris maps--Merci beaucoup! :) Too bad we never got to hear your beautiful voice--do you know that it was Mr Teo who wanted you to read the poem at Somme? A real trooper too, she was a little unwell towards the end but kept her spirits up.
May: for taking good care of her group and for being a real trooper--she kept her spirits up, though she was sickish.
Rachel: For being positive though she was ill.
Xiangli: for taking good care of Rachel and amusing us with her incredible potato chip eating feat--you have to see it to believe it...
Audrey: For trying so hard to enjoy the trip though she was ill
There are many other things to mention but that shall be reserved for another post....
Merci Beaucoup to all. :)
I want to thank the following:
Julie: for being cool under pressure--when Renee got pickpocketed, she calmly called me and helped Renee to file a police report.
Renee: I really want to salute Renee too, for being so calm after her wallet was stolen. She proceeded to enjoy the rest of the trip, regardless. Both of them are Year 2s, so it's really rare to have them along. :)
Gwyneth: for plaiting my hair, humoring my "Friend Bear" photo requests and being a very responsible leader. For volunteering to go without the guide at Versailles--self-sacrificing....
Jing Han: for being a responsible leader and for being super enthusiastic about Owen's poetry/upcoming Mid-Year--to the extent of requesting for a lesson during the Paris trip, rather than playing cards....
Daniel Fflug: for being very responsible in keeping me updated about the group's whereabouts, since Jing Han's phone was not working sometimes.
Mark Thompson: for being the first to share his photos and for regularly uploading the photos. He's a good Chief Photographer. Some of his photos are very arty and observant. :)
Shun Wei: for being a good sport--this is a very literary trip but she really enjoyed herself and helped to take care of her group mates too.
Jeremy: for accounting for his group when needed. :)
Nicholas: For volunteering to go without the guide at Versailles--self-sacrificing....for buying DVDs on the Somme that I may shamelessly ask to borrow
Yi Ci: for reading up on the Unknown Soldier during the trip--a sight that makes the tedious trip prep worthwhile.
Phoebe: for accounting for the group when needed. :)
Shu Wen: for carrying all the London and Paris maps--Merci beaucoup! :) Too bad we never got to hear your beautiful voice--do you know that it was Mr Teo who wanted you to read the poem at Somme? A real trooper too, she was a little unwell towards the end but kept her spirits up.
May: for taking good care of her group and for being a real trooper--she kept her spirits up, though she was sickish.
Rachel: For being positive though she was ill.
Xiangli: for taking good care of Rachel and amusing us with her incredible potato chip eating feat--you have to see it to believe it...
Audrey: For trying so hard to enjoy the trip though she was ill
There are many other things to mention but that shall be reserved for another post....
Merci Beaucoup to all. :)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Photos
Here's my Flickr Account, although it's mostly filled with random shots from the trip. If anyone wants photos, feel free to contact me. Share your photos too! Just download the flickr uploader, it automatically resizes and uploads all your photos.
Mark Thompson
ps- Mark Leong's Flickr
Mark Thompson
ps- Mark Leong's Flickr
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
we are back from lit trip!
wow, it was super awesome. :) my cam ran out of batt quite a few times during the day because of the clicking and I think i was quite restrained. i'm really looking forward to the great photos and photo essays done by the groups. will update soon.
for those of you who are looking for FREE hosting and resizing sites/software, some students have recommended Flickr and Picasa.
Flickr has a limit of 20MB per month.
Picasa resizes and renames easily
If you are a heavy uploader of photos, a student recommended Zenfolio: unlimited uploads for US40/year
Above is one of my favourite pics from Paris.
And everyone in lit, pls make this blog yours as well. I noticed so many people like May, Yvonne, Jiaxin, Gwen, Bev (just to name a few) who seem to be recording their experiences faithfully everyday.
Do share with us the beauties and insights that you captured....
You know the password and the id for this blog, so pls share. :)
Of course, I want to set down in writing my thanks to the teachers and all of you for making this trip enjoyable for me. A thankful heart is a happy heart. :)
Remember to thank your parents!
Ms Chia
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Paris address
Hi!
The Paris hotel address and number:
Hotel Chinagora
1 Place du Confluent Fran
94140 Alfortville
Tel : +331 43535888
Pls update your parents.
And anyone, esp. the group doing the France links should post a link to the map of the hotel location. all of you will be getting a Paris map but the London maps are in limited quantity, so pls get your own London map print out from the web.
The Paris hotel address and number:
Hotel Chinagora
1 Place du Confluent Fran
94140 Alfortville
Tel : +331 43535888
Pls update your parents.
And anyone, esp. the group doing the France links should post a link to the map of the hotel location. all of you will be getting a Paris map but the London maps are in limited quantity, so pls get your own London map print out from the web.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
note about buddy pairs
in view of the directionally-challenged among us, and the forgetful, it is necessary that the students take care of each other.
individual responsibility--what everyone must do for himself/herself: take care of personal safety, personal belongings, personal hygiene...
leader's responsibility: every room will have a leader, who must be able to account for the whereabouts of the members in the room at all waking hours. that is, if the teacher asks for the whereabouts of Audrey, who's under Phoebe, Phoebe must be able to tell me where Audrey is.
Note: the room leader is also in charge of making sure that each room has a multi-plug--he/she has to make sure it's working and with the group, not that she/he has to buy one
on top of that, from the momemt we leave Singapore, everyone's buddy is their guardian angel. the buddies should be with each other most times and if we see only one buddy without the other buddy, woebetide him/her. i shall be royally displeased.
that said, if you spot anyone who is not your buddy/room mate doing something stupid/immoral etc, pls STOP him/her asap and look out for each other's safety...
one for all, all for one..
individual responsibility--what everyone must do for himself/herself: take care of personal safety, personal belongings, personal hygiene...
leader's responsibility: every room will have a leader, who must be able to account for the whereabouts of the members in the room at all waking hours. that is, if the teacher asks for the whereabouts of Audrey, who's under Phoebe, Phoebe must be able to tell me where Audrey is.
Note: the room leader is also in charge of making sure that each room has a multi-plug--he/she has to make sure it's working and with the group, not that she/he has to buy one
on top of that, from the momemt we leave Singapore, everyone's buddy is their guardian angel. the buddies should be with each other most times and if we see only one buddy without the other buddy, woebetide him/her. i shall be royally displeased.
that said, if you spot anyone who is not your buddy/room mate doing something stupid/immoral etc, pls STOP him/her asap and look out for each other's safety...
one for all, all for one..
Lit Trip prep
Hi!
Yes, we have 7 provisional room groupings but in France, we will be settled into twin rooms. so pls login to google doc and make sure you get someone who does not snore. the 9 guys will have a problem but i think you are all pretty slim so no prob squeezing 3 guys into one of the rooms.
about the trip, the educational part will be largely self-directed but we have some minimum standards. We don't want to tax you too much since you may be mugging for your other subjects but it's a lit trip after all...
That's why I emphasised that the captions/essays/creative prose should be SHORT AND MEANINGFUL.
since there are 7 rooms, each room will play a part:
-- Provide researched links on literary significance of the 17 places of attraction OR PLAYS (2 room groups will do this): 1 GOOD LINK PER play or place of attraction: pls write short explanation of why it is a good link.
-- Photo Essay of UK (literary-historical), with captions: 1 group
-- Photo Essay of France (literary-historical) and transits in Dubai, with captions: 1 group
-- Creative SHORT prose or poetry to accompany photos: 1 group
-- Consolidating the info, writing the introductory essay for the photo essays for Uk and France: 2 groups
all links to be consolidated here and they have to be posted up by 28 May!
the photo essays, creative prose/poetry to accompany the photos should be done on the spot, and refined at the end of every day (we will give you time to jot stuff down in your journals every night) by 8 june.
all groups with the raw material will give the info to the 2 groups compiling to upload. uploading and intro essay to be done by 11 june 2007: extension to be negotiated (11 june should give you time to recover fr jet lag)
I will be smsing the group leaders and it is either you state your preference, first come first serve or lucky draw.
list of places of attraction or plays:
The plays we are watching:
1. The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
2. Othello by Shakespeare
The places we are visiting:
1. Stratford: RSC and Shakespeare Birthplace Centre
2. Globe Theatre
3. Westminister Abbey: Poets' Corner and etc
4. Bath: Roman Baths and Jane Austen Centre
5. Oxford: Bodleian Library
6. Charles Dickens Museum
7. Rochester: St James Churchyard: place of the little graves
8. Imperial War Museum
9. Somme, Beaumont Hamel, Newfoundland Memorial Park
10. Paris:
11. Latin Quarter
12. Shakespeare and Co: Sylvia Beach and Modernists
13. Notre Dame Cathedral
14. Eiffel Tower
15. Versailles Palace: WWI Treaty of Versailles and the Hall of Mirrors
So, there are 17 items to cover: 15 places + 2 plays.
Yes, we have 7 provisional room groupings but in France, we will be settled into twin rooms. so pls login to google doc and make sure you get someone who does not snore. the 9 guys will have a problem but i think you are all pretty slim so no prob squeezing 3 guys into one of the rooms.
about the trip, the educational part will be largely self-directed but we have some minimum standards. We don't want to tax you too much since you may be mugging for your other subjects but it's a lit trip after all...
That's why I emphasised that the captions/essays/creative prose should be SHORT AND MEANINGFUL.
since there are 7 rooms, each room will play a part:
-- Provide researched links on literary significance of the 17 places of attraction OR PLAYS (2 room groups will do this): 1 GOOD LINK PER play or place of attraction: pls write short explanation of why it is a good link.
-- Photo Essay of UK (literary-historical), with captions: 1 group
-- Photo Essay of France (literary-historical) and transits in Dubai, with captions: 1 group
-- Creative SHORT prose or poetry to accompany photos: 1 group
-- Consolidating the info, writing the introductory essay for the photo essays for Uk and France: 2 groups
all links to be consolidated here and they have to be posted up by 28 May!
the photo essays, creative prose/poetry to accompany the photos should be done on the spot, and refined at the end of every day (we will give you time to jot stuff down in your journals every night) by 8 june.
all groups with the raw material will give the info to the 2 groups compiling to upload. uploading and intro essay to be done by 11 june 2007: extension to be negotiated (11 june should give you time to recover fr jet lag)
I will be smsing the group leaders and it is either you state your preference, first come first serve or lucky draw.
list of places of attraction or plays:
The plays we are watching:
1. The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
2. Othello by Shakespeare
The places we are visiting:
1. Stratford: RSC and Shakespeare Birthplace Centre
2. Globe Theatre
3. Westminister Abbey: Poets' Corner and etc
4. Bath: Roman Baths and Jane Austen Centre
5. Oxford: Bodleian Library
6. Charles Dickens Museum
7. Rochester: St James Churchyard: place of the little graves
8. Imperial War Museum
9. Somme, Beaumont Hamel, Newfoundland Memorial Park
10. Paris:
11. Latin Quarter
12. Shakespeare and Co: Sylvia Beach and Modernists
13. Notre Dame Cathedral
14. Eiffel Tower
15. Versailles Palace: WWI Treaty of Versailles and the Hall of Mirrors
So, there are 17 items to cover: 15 places + 2 plays.
Monday, May 21, 2007
is owen excessively sentimental?!
• given to or marked by sentiment or sentimentality
• bathetic: effusively or insincerely emotional; "a bathetic novel"; "maudlin expressions of sympathy"; "mushy effusiveness"; "a schmaltzy song"; "sentimental soap operas"; "slushy poetry"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• something which appeals excessively to your emotions, for example a story in which a perfect child dies of a terrible disease, which brings its previously warring parents together again, only for one of them to die as well
www.longman.co.uk/tt_seceng/resources/glosauth.htm
In 1936 William Butler Yeats edited The Oxford Book of Modern Verse, 1892-1935. Absent from its pages-- to the surprise of some-- were all the poets of The Great War; summarily dismissed were Owen, Sassoon, Blunden, Rosenberg and all their comrades who had written and in some cases died during the war. Yeats explains his editorial decision in a passage from the introduction to The Oxford Book of Modern Verse:
I have a distaste for certain poems written in the midst of the great war; they are in all anthologies, but I have substituted Herbert Read's 'End of the War' written long after. The writers of these poems were invariably officers of exceptional courage and capacity, one a man constantly selected for dangerous work, all, I think, had the Military Cross; their letters are vivid and humorous, they were not without joy-- for all skill is joyful-- but felt bound, in the words of the best known, to plead the suffering of their men. In poems that had for a time considerable fame, written in the first person, they made that suffering their own. I have rejected these poems for the same reason that made Arnold withdraw his "Empedocles on Etna" from circulation; passive suffering is not a theme for poetry. In all the great tragedies, tragedy is a joy to the man who dies; in Greece the tragic chorus danced (From the "Introduction," p. xxxiv).
Yeats probably had somewhere in his mind the words of Wilfred Owen. In June, 1918, a few months before he was killed at the front, Owen was preparing Disabled and Other Poems for publication. He was drafting these comments as a preface for the book-- now-famous words that have become essential in discussing his work and much of the poetry of World War I: "This book is not about heroes. English poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds, or land, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity. Yet these elegies are to this generation in no sense consolatory. They may be to the next. All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful."
"My anthology continues to sell," Yeats says, "& the critics get more & more angry. When I excluded Wilfred Owen, whom I consider unworthy of the poets' corner of a country newspaper, I did not know I was excluding a revered sandwich-board Man of the revolution & that some body has put his worst & most famous poem* in a glass-case in the British Museum-- however if I had known it I would have excluded him just the same. He is all blood, dirt & sucked sugar stick (look at the selection in Faber's Anthology-- he calls poets 'bards,' a girl a 'maid,' & talks about 'Titanic wars'). There is every excuse for him but none for those who like him. . . ." (from a letter of December 26, 1936, in Letters on Poetry from W. B. Yeats to Dorothy Wellesley, p. 113). *Dulce et Decorum Est
Source: http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/Yeats.html
• bathetic: effusively or insincerely emotional; "a bathetic novel"; "maudlin expressions of sympathy"; "mushy effusiveness"; "a schmaltzy song"; "sentimental soap operas"; "slushy poetry"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• something which appeals excessively to your emotions, for example a story in which a perfect child dies of a terrible disease, which brings its previously warring parents together again, only for one of them to die as well
www.longman.co.uk/tt_seceng/resources/glosauth.htm
In 1936 William Butler Yeats edited The Oxford Book of Modern Verse, 1892-1935. Absent from its pages-- to the surprise of some-- were all the poets of The Great War; summarily dismissed were Owen, Sassoon, Blunden, Rosenberg and all their comrades who had written and in some cases died during the war. Yeats explains his editorial decision in a passage from the introduction to The Oxford Book of Modern Verse:
I have a distaste for certain poems written in the midst of the great war; they are in all anthologies, but I have substituted Herbert Read's 'End of the War' written long after. The writers of these poems were invariably officers of exceptional courage and capacity, one a man constantly selected for dangerous work, all, I think, had the Military Cross; their letters are vivid and humorous, they were not without joy-- for all skill is joyful-- but felt bound, in the words of the best known, to plead the suffering of their men. In poems that had for a time considerable fame, written in the first person, they made that suffering their own. I have rejected these poems for the same reason that made Arnold withdraw his "Empedocles on Etna" from circulation; passive suffering is not a theme for poetry. In all the great tragedies, tragedy is a joy to the man who dies; in Greece the tragic chorus danced (From the "Introduction," p. xxxiv).
Yeats probably had somewhere in his mind the words of Wilfred Owen. In June, 1918, a few months before he was killed at the front, Owen was preparing Disabled and Other Poems for publication. He was drafting these comments as a preface for the book-- now-famous words that have become essential in discussing his work and much of the poetry of World War I: "This book is not about heroes. English poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds, or land, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity. Yet these elegies are to this generation in no sense consolatory. They may be to the next. All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful."
"My anthology continues to sell," Yeats says, "& the critics get more & more angry. When I excluded Wilfred Owen, whom I consider unworthy of the poets' corner of a country newspaper, I did not know I was excluding a revered sandwich-board Man of the revolution & that some body has put his worst & most famous poem* in a glass-case in the British Museum-- however if I had known it I would have excluded him just the same. He is all blood, dirt & sucked sugar stick (look at the selection in Faber's Anthology-- he calls poets 'bards,' a girl a 'maid,' & talks about 'Titanic wars'). There is every excuse for him but none for those who like him. . . ." (from a letter of December 26, 1936, in Letters on Poetry from W. B. Yeats to Dorothy Wellesley, p. 113). *Dulce et Decorum Est
Source: http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/Yeats.html
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Toilets...the ugly side of paris
Er, we all need toilets and be warned that they are EXPENSIVE and not that clean in France. Tips on finding free and clean toilets
And being polite is even more impt!
From a Paris guru:
Perhaps the most important thing in Paris is to observe 'la politesse'.
.
ALWAYS start with 'Bonjour Madame/ Mademoiselle/ Monsieur.' And say 'Au revoir' Madame/ Mademoiselle/ Monsieur' as you leave the store. I have learned through many visits that the French formality is cultural, rather than a coolness towards outsiders.
Perhaps the most important thing in Paris is to observe 'la politesse'.
.
ALWAYS start with 'Bonjour Madame/ Mademoiselle/ Monsieur.' And say 'Au revoir' Madame/ Mademoiselle/ Monsieur' as you leave the store. I have learned through many visits that the French formality is cultural, rather than a coolness towards outsiders.
Dressing better will get you better service in France!
Er, I think we know the French are pretty snobbish when it comes to the fashion front. And dressing is quite formal there.
Look at the fashion tips under the LOCAL CUSTOMS section of the TIPS in Virtual Tourist.
Some hard-won experience from tourists on Virtual Tourist:
If you are American, it would be beneficial to not broadcast it to the city. First of all, shorts, short skirts, and tank tops are generally not allowed in cathedrals. Some rules are different from place to place. Respect this rule! Make an effort to blend in with the locals. The French are very fashionable and will treat you better if you attempt to make an effort.
The people of Paris are well dressed and very stylish. You won't see too many people with baggy jeans down around their thighs and their underwear showing. If you want to fit in, plan to dress nicely the way the locals do.
Everyone in Paris is very fashionable, it's so easy to spot out Americans! My tip is to wear black or dark colors, it is very chic, and the style in Paris, as it always has been!
I can't say how many times I have seen "is it OK to wear tennis shoes and blue jeans in Europe?" asked in different forums. Although Parisians are generally well dressed, older Parisians more so than the younger ones it seemed, certainly you see locals wearing tennis shoes and jeans although I noticed that most of the tennis shoes were colored, not stark white like many of ours in the US.
The bottom line is that you will be doing a lot of walking in Paris if you really want to enjoy the city and you need to wear comfortable shoes. If comfortable shoes means tennis shoes then that is what you should wear.
Look at the fashion tips under the LOCAL CUSTOMS section of the TIPS in Virtual Tourist.
Some hard-won experience from tourists on Virtual Tourist:
If you are American, it would be beneficial to not broadcast it to the city. First of all, shorts, short skirts, and tank tops are generally not allowed in cathedrals. Some rules are different from place to place. Respect this rule! Make an effort to blend in with the locals. The French are very fashionable and will treat you better if you attempt to make an effort.
The people of Paris are well dressed and very stylish. You won't see too many people with baggy jeans down around their thighs and their underwear showing. If you want to fit in, plan to dress nicely the way the locals do.
Everyone in Paris is very fashionable, it's so easy to spot out Americans! My tip is to wear black or dark colors, it is very chic, and the style in Paris, as it always has been!
I can't say how many times I have seen "is it OK to wear tennis shoes and blue jeans in Europe?" asked in different forums. Although Parisians are generally well dressed, older Parisians more so than the younger ones it seemed, certainly you see locals wearing tennis shoes and jeans although I noticed that most of the tennis shoes were colored, not stark white like many of ours in the US.
The bottom line is that you will be doing a lot of walking in Paris if you really want to enjoy the city and you need to wear comfortable shoes. If comfortable shoes means tennis shoes then that is what you should wear.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Lit Trip: Pre-Trip briefing and sample packing list
The Lit Trip briefing is on 19 May 2007 (Sat): 0830-1000
If your parents can make it, they are most welcome to come as the travel agent, Mr Raymond Wong, will be there to help answer ALL the questions they may have.
In fact, I will highly encourage them to attend if they can make it so that we will not have questions too near the trip.
Start packing and buying anything necessary NOW:
Check out the info on the New Packing regulations on Liquids and Aerosols
Reminder of following group rules: anyone compromises their safety or someone else's safety, it is going to be very unhappy after that. We want to have fun, NOT have people pickpocketed, mugged or worse.
2 weeks before trip don't eat anything strange, GET ENOUGH REST.
--you need time to acclimatise
--if you are the kind to get cold easily, you may wear thermal....
Below is a sample packing list from a friend who had gone to Europe 3 times
Rule no. 1: Pack LIGHT. You'll be moving around and we'll have to use the Eurostar. You won't want to lug heavy trunk luggage up steps, trust me.
1 backpacker's backpack: preferred to luggage due to mobility: but if you don't already have one and don't plan on getting one, it's ok.
3 Basic tops
1 black pants
1 pair of loosely comfortable jeans because of pockets and durability
2 set of sleepwear
1 Jacket: make sure can withstand 10-12 degree Celsius (ask shop staff which jackets meet this criterion: at night it could get cold)
1 cardigan for layering
1 handbag/small haversack + 1 foldable bag
1 sports sandal
1 sturdy walking shoe: converse may not be sturdy enough: cobbled stones in Paris are very hard on the feet. Sports shoes are better than coverse shoes
some bags to pack dirty clothes
personal medication
at least 4 pairs of socks
sunblock
Hat
MOST 3 impt things:
1. proper footwear: shoes are very expensive in Europe: you don't want your shoes to conk out on you
2. jacket
3. sleepwear
If they are bringing Mobile phones, bring International Adapter: can buy from electronic/travel shops
YOU should have a packing list YOU should check against BEFORE they leave hotel everyday.
Liquids: get the travel pack in pharmacies so that it's less than 100ml
Just bring facial wash, basic makeup, comb and shampoo--small, lip balm
ALL SHOULD NOT wear belts To BOARD plane.
They should have ONLY one bag with them. If bringing belt, put in check in luggage.
Bring backpack, NOT luggage, if possible
True test of light packing: only 1/2 of backpacker's backpack is filled up.
Tag the backpacks: make sure it's easily identifiable.
Pack the foldable bag into handcarry for emergencies.
Check that YOU don't leave valuables in safe when they finally leave Hotel
If your parents can make it, they are most welcome to come as the travel agent, Mr Raymond Wong, will be there to help answer ALL the questions they may have.
In fact, I will highly encourage them to attend if they can make it so that we will not have questions too near the trip.
Start packing and buying anything necessary NOW:
Check out the info on the New Packing regulations on Liquids and Aerosols
Reminder of following group rules: anyone compromises their safety or someone else's safety, it is going to be very unhappy after that. We want to have fun, NOT have people pickpocketed, mugged or worse.
2 weeks before trip don't eat anything strange, GET ENOUGH REST.
--you need time to acclimatise
--if you are the kind to get cold easily, you may wear thermal....
Below is a sample packing list from a friend who had gone to Europe 3 times
Rule no. 1: Pack LIGHT. You'll be moving around and we'll have to use the Eurostar. You won't want to lug heavy trunk luggage up steps, trust me.
1 backpacker's backpack: preferred to luggage due to mobility: but if you don't already have one and don't plan on getting one, it's ok.
3 Basic tops
1 black pants
1 pair of loosely comfortable jeans because of pockets and durability
2 set of sleepwear
1 Jacket: make sure can withstand 10-12 degree Celsius (ask shop staff which jackets meet this criterion: at night it could get cold)
1 cardigan for layering
1 handbag/small haversack + 1 foldable bag
1 sports sandal
1 sturdy walking shoe: converse may not be sturdy enough: cobbled stones in Paris are very hard on the feet. Sports shoes are better than coverse shoes
some bags to pack dirty clothes
personal medication
at least 4 pairs of socks
sunblock
Hat
MOST 3 impt things:
1. proper footwear: shoes are very expensive in Europe: you don't want your shoes to conk out on you
2. jacket
3. sleepwear
If they are bringing Mobile phones, bring International Adapter: can buy from electronic/travel shops
YOU should have a packing list YOU should check against BEFORE they leave hotel everyday.
Liquids: get the travel pack in pharmacies so that it's less than 100ml
Just bring facial wash, basic makeup, comb and shampoo--small, lip balm
ALL SHOULD NOT wear belts To BOARD plane.
They should have ONLY one bag with them. If bringing belt, put in check in luggage.
Bring backpack, NOT luggage, if possible
True test of light packing: only 1/2 of backpacker's backpack is filled up.
Tag the backpacks: make sure it's easily identifiable.
Pack the foldable bag into handcarry for emergencies.
Check that YOU don't leave valuables in safe when they finally leave Hotel
Blogarians
This site is very graphics heavy. The posters are all artists of some sort and they do cool stuff like CD covers, Rolling Stone illustrations. Check it out on the right under "Cool and tangentially related"
Sunday, May 6, 2007
The Seagull
Lit Trip people, we are going to see what might be one of the great performances of The Seagull.
However, before we can get the full effect of Chekhov's play, we have to READ the play first.
You can get the play in the NLB (for sure) and probably the VJC library. Or if you are a fan of e-texts, just click on the right.
For TSD students, the synergistic working relationship between Chekhov and Stanislavsky is something to chew over...
Check out the links on the right!
And pls add new relevant links. You know the password.... :)
However, before we can get the full effect of Chekhov's play, we have to READ the play first.
You can get the play in the NLB (for sure) and probably the VJC library. Or if you are a fan of e-texts, just click on the right.
For TSD students, the synergistic working relationship between Chekhov and Stanislavsky is something to chew over...
Check out the links on the right!
And pls add new relevant links. You know the password.... :)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Musee D'Orsay
Just wanted Lit trip people to check out the Musee D'Orsay. It's a gem of a museum. Of course, there's the Louvre but the D'Orsay has one of the most unbeatable collections of Modernist art.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
lit trip prep: salivate.haha
Well, since we are going to the fair land of France, I think some gourmandising is in order. haha.
Check out Chocolate and Zucchini--a French foodie's blog. The food and pictures are swoonsome. Ok, I'm planning to eat till I'm quite silly in France. haha.
Under the Lit trip section, I will be adding links by and by till we leave on 30 May.
All Lit students, even those NOT going for the trip, pls feel free to recommend good links that will help the Lit trip people have a fun, safe and educational trip. :)
Check out Chocolate and Zucchini--a French foodie's blog. The food and pictures are swoonsome. Ok, I'm planning to eat till I'm quite silly in France. haha.
Under the Lit trip section, I will be adding links by and by till we leave on 30 May.
All Lit students, even those NOT going for the trip, pls feel free to recommend good links that will help the Lit trip people have a fun, safe and educational trip. :)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Dear 07A12 and 07A15
Lit lesson tomorrow 26 April 2007 will be in V30 for both classes.
Your goal:
There is a play production of Great Expectations coming up for Drama Nite 2008. You are auditioning for a role in the production.
To make all things equal, the audition piece for EVERYONE is:
Chapter VII, from p. 44, "One night I was sitting in the chimney corner with my slate" to end of Chapter VIII, on p. 64.
YOU can only play one character in that scene. Choose your character well.
Everyone MUST play one character, with the exception of:
1. Christine, Dir 1, another TSD student, Dir 2 07A15
2. Nadia (Dir 1), another TSD student, Dir 2 07A12
Because they are the student directors. Other than Christine and Nadia, everyone must prepare a role tonight.
EXPECTED RESULTS:
1. 0800-0830 hours: 2-3 students auditioning for each role that's up for grabs. ONLY one actor for each role will make it to first team.
2. 0830-0900: student director 1 works with the first team cast
3. 0830-0900: student director 2 works with the understudy team (those not in the first team)
4. 0900-0910: First team presents
5. 0910-0915: Understudy team presents
If actors, directors are INEXPLICABLY sub-par, Ms Chia will query all involved. It will not be a pleasant experience.
Advice:
1. Read VERY CAREFULLY Chapter VII, from p. 44, "One night I was sitting in the chimney corner with my slate" to end of Chapter VIII, on p. 64.
2. Choose ONE character
3. Know the lines spoken by the character, understand their motivation
4. Act out the lines at home one through, paying attention to mannerisms etc
5. Anticipate the other actor's action. Be aware of them too. Factor that in.
Additional Advice:
Click on the select links on Characterisation and Family theory on the right, and of course, the Overview Page.
Regards,
Ms Chia
Your goal:
There is a play production of Great Expectations coming up for Drama Nite 2008. You are auditioning for a role in the production.
To make all things equal, the audition piece for EVERYONE is:
Chapter VII, from p. 44, "One night I was sitting in the chimney corner with my slate" to end of Chapter VIII, on p. 64.
YOU can only play one character in that scene. Choose your character well.
Everyone MUST play one character, with the exception of:
1. Christine, Dir 1, another TSD student, Dir 2 07A15
2. Nadia (Dir 1), another TSD student, Dir 2 07A12
Because they are the student directors. Other than Christine and Nadia, everyone must prepare a role tonight.
EXPECTED RESULTS:
1. 0800-0830 hours: 2-3 students auditioning for each role that's up for grabs. ONLY one actor for each role will make it to first team.
2. 0830-0900: student director 1 works with the first team cast
3. 0830-0900: student director 2 works with the understudy team (those not in the first team)
4. 0900-0910: First team presents
5. 0910-0915: Understudy team presents
If actors, directors are INEXPLICABLY sub-par, Ms Chia will query all involved. It will not be a pleasant experience.
Advice:
1. Read VERY CAREFULLY Chapter VII, from p. 44, "One night I was sitting in the chimney corner with my slate" to end of Chapter VIII, on p. 64.
2. Choose ONE character
3. Know the lines spoken by the character, understand their motivation
4. Act out the lines at home one through, paying attention to mannerisms etc
5. Anticipate the other actor's action. Be aware of them too. Factor that in.
Additional Advice:
Click on the select links on Characterisation and Family theory on the right, and of course, the Overview Page.
Regards,
Ms Chia
Sunday, April 22, 2007
no shame in PTSD
Doing the research for this lecture is pretty depressing, I must admit. It saddens me to see people die because they were too proud or macho to admit that they are suffering from PTSD caused by the war.
We were never meant to endure modern warfare for sustained periods. Anyone could go mad if there were fighting for long enough. If only people were as alert to mental wounds as they are to physical ones.
At times, I think we are all capable of being calloused by the rigours of daily living. I know of a friend's friend who attempted suicide. We knew she was quite depressed but we never thought she would take such a drastic step. Like the war veterans always say, civilians can't really understand the war. Similarly, in some ways, those of us who are fortunate to be not depressed may not truly understand how the depressed feel, especially if they don't tell us. But thank God she did not die.
So, please, if you are ever feeling down, please say something now. Don't wait till it's too late.
We were never meant to endure modern warfare for sustained periods. Anyone could go mad if there were fighting for long enough. If only people were as alert to mental wounds as they are to physical ones.
At times, I think we are all capable of being calloused by the rigours of daily living. I know of a friend's friend who attempted suicide. We knew she was quite depressed but we never thought she would take such a drastic step. Like the war veterans always say, civilians can't really understand the war. Similarly, in some ways, those of us who are fortunate to be not depressed may not truly understand how the depressed feel, especially if they don't tell us. But thank God she did not die.
So, please, if you are ever feeling down, please say something now. Don't wait till it's too late.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
the muse in arms: WW1 poetry collection published in 1917
The title is quaint to us now. The Muse in Arms. And quite revealing of the ideology and mindset of the editors....
The link is on the right. Some of the poems are unreadable now, but it's a really good sample of the glorification of the war that was going on.
The link is on the right. Some of the poems are unreadable now, but it's a really good sample of the glorification of the war that was going on.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
WWI propaganda poster link up
Awesome website link. Loads on other stuff other than propaganda posters on that site too. Check out the link on the right.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
cyril wong reading
good job on the part of the artery students. cyril was candid, explained his poems well and the students who were there fed him good questions. i forgot how magical some of his images were. ask those who were there. if you want more local/otherwise poetry, check out this poetry magazine set up by cyril and jason, SOFTBLOW. some really good stuff there. and the layout is super clean.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
comedy, tragedy or farce: what say you?
The CliffsNotes of The Scarlet Letter outsells the real book more than three to one. - Seth Godin
the real Scarlet Letter
the super watered down, dumbed down version
tom stoppard for the nobel prize
really. he rocks big time. i substituted for mr lim for A12 (the week i wasn't supposed to take them) when he had to go NS and it was worth it though i was hacking away with cough because they gave a rocking reading of The Real Inspector Hound.
but seriously, if you thought The Real Inspector Hound rocked, wait till you read Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. The music of the ideas, dialogue and play of pathos is just heady. And I heard Stoppard recently came up with more champion plays. And guess what, one of them is called "RocknRoll". haha. Nobel got it right recently with J.M. Coetzee and they better get it right soon with Tom Stoppard. In fact, I thought Stoppard already got the Nobel before. It's quite a travesty that he hasn't gotten it...
but seriously, if you thought The Real Inspector Hound rocked, wait till you read Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. The music of the ideas, dialogue and play of pathos is just heady. And I heard Stoppard recently came up with more champion plays. And guess what, one of them is called "RocknRoll". haha. Nobel got it right recently with J.M. Coetzee and they better get it right soon with Tom Stoppard. In fact, I thought Stoppard already got the Nobel before. It's quite a travesty that he hasn't gotten it...
Thursday, March 1, 2007
My response.
A Salute to the Servicewomen. Hands down.
So, why do I choose this poem, you may ask. Well, simply put, I believe that it possesses a certain endearing quality to it – a bumbling, unintentional charm that makes it far more accessible in comparison to The Convergence of the Twain.
It may come across as a surprise to many that I would hail this piece to be the better of the two, especially when one considers the fact that The Convergence of the Twain is, at first glance, a lot more polished than the former.
Yet poetry is, to me, not about beauty in complexity but rather, beauty of the English language as a whole. Yes, The Convergence of Twain possesses some lovely imagery, but unfortunately, the poet has gone utterly overboard in his/her attempt to garnish the poem with an influx of seemingly lovely words; words one might associate with poetry, in all its flowery, and at times loquacious nature (and while we are on that topic, I would like to say once and for all that poetry is definitely not all about that). Yes, I can appreciate the usage of vocabulary such as “opulent”, “gilded”, “grotesque” and “sensuous” – just to name a few. However, I would appreciate the language a lot more so had the poet chosen to limit the extravagance in his/her writing to, perhaps, three different points in the poem, and kept it at that. The key to good poetry has never been to toss in a whole smorgasbord of fanciful words into what feels like every other verse. It makes the writing comes across as – dare I say it – a tad amateurish, as though the poet had merely been relying on these literary-sounding words to impress his readers – or, more specifically, the portion of his readers who do think of poetry to be flowery and loquacious and the like. Worse still – the overemphasis on the splendour of the wording makes the whole poem come across as being flat, and hopelessly lacking in any real emotions. It is such that the seventh and eighth stanzas – both detailing the imminent collision of the ship, and the untimely deaths of those aboard it – are utterly bereft of the horror one would expect the poet to feel when penning them down in a poem.
On the other hand, A Salute to the Servicewomen is, contrived as it may sound, something which I find strikes close to my heart. It is straightforward in execution, but painfully honest and poignant. The repetition of the word “sleep” – in “which made you sleep forever”, and later, “so that we could sleep soundly at night” – is a glaring flaw in the poem which contrasts wildly with the meticulously constructed verses of The Convergence of the Twain, and yet it fits in so well with the mood of the poem – that the persona is so overcome with passion for the brave young women who sacrificed themselves for their nation and its citizens – something which is described very aptly in the aforementioned verse, “so that we could sleep soundly at night” – all in the name of duty, that, for that very moment in time, perfection no longer matters. The significance lies in the tragedy of the event, and for a brief moment, we realise how impossible it is to try to maintain an air of faultlessness in the face of such disaster, when lives are being lost.
:D
- Cassandra
So, why do I choose this poem, you may ask. Well, simply put, I believe that it possesses a certain endearing quality to it – a bumbling, unintentional charm that makes it far more accessible in comparison to The Convergence of the Twain.
It may come across as a surprise to many that I would hail this piece to be the better of the two, especially when one considers the fact that The Convergence of the Twain is, at first glance, a lot more polished than the former.
Yet poetry is, to me, not about beauty in complexity but rather, beauty of the English language as a whole. Yes, The Convergence of Twain possesses some lovely imagery, but unfortunately, the poet has gone utterly overboard in his/her attempt to garnish the poem with an influx of seemingly lovely words; words one might associate with poetry, in all its flowery, and at times loquacious nature (and while we are on that topic, I would like to say once and for all that poetry is definitely not all about that). Yes, I can appreciate the usage of vocabulary such as “opulent”, “gilded”, “grotesque” and “sensuous” – just to name a few. However, I would appreciate the language a lot more so had the poet chosen to limit the extravagance in his/her writing to, perhaps, three different points in the poem, and kept it at that. The key to good poetry has never been to toss in a whole smorgasbord of fanciful words into what feels like every other verse. It makes the writing comes across as – dare I say it – a tad amateurish, as though the poet had merely been relying on these literary-sounding words to impress his readers – or, more specifically, the portion of his readers who do think of poetry to be flowery and loquacious and the like. Worse still – the overemphasis on the splendour of the wording makes the whole poem come across as being flat, and hopelessly lacking in any real emotions. It is such that the seventh and eighth stanzas – both detailing the imminent collision of the ship, and the untimely deaths of those aboard it – are utterly bereft of the horror one would expect the poet to feel when penning them down in a poem.
On the other hand, A Salute to the Servicewomen is, contrived as it may sound, something which I find strikes close to my heart. It is straightforward in execution, but painfully honest and poignant. The repetition of the word “sleep” – in “which made you sleep forever”, and later, “so that we could sleep soundly at night” – is a glaring flaw in the poem which contrasts wildly with the meticulously constructed verses of The Convergence of the Twain, and yet it fits in so well with the mood of the poem – that the persona is so overcome with passion for the brave young women who sacrificed themselves for their nation and its citizens – something which is described very aptly in the aforementioned verse, “so that we could sleep soundly at night” – all in the name of duty, that, for that very moment in time, perfection no longer matters. The significance lies in the tragedy of the event, and for a brief moment, we realise how impossible it is to try to maintain an air of faultlessness in the face of such disaster, when lives are being lost.
:D
- Cassandra
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Leanne and Desmond
The poem "The Convergence of the Twain" is literarily superior because it requires a significant amount of intellectual dexterity to discover the beauty within. The vocabulary engaged in this piece is more profound with a touch of elegance. This is evident when juxtaposed with "A Salute to the Servicewomen ". The images conjured are much more abstract in nature as compared to the mere narration of events in "Salute".
Moreover, while the events in "Salute" unfold in a chronological fashion, the stanzas of "Convergence" show themselves to be flashes of elaborately crafted scenes with the flashback technique deftly employed in stanzas VI to IX.
Cumulatively, the bravery depicted in "Salute" is not as striking an impact as the magnificence portrayed in "Convergence". In essence, the lines in "The Convergence of the Twain" prove to be much shorter, sharper and sweeter.
Moreover, while the events in "Salute" unfold in a chronological fashion, the stanzas of "Convergence" show themselves to be flashes of elaborately crafted scenes with the flashback technique deftly employed in stanzas VI to IX.
Cumulatively, the bravery depicted in "Salute" is not as striking an impact as the magnificence portrayed in "Convergence". In essence, the lines in "The Convergence of the Twain" prove to be much shorter, sharper and sweeter.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
07S53
We feel that “The Convergence of the Twain” is the better of the two poems because it paints a more vivid picture of the actual sinking of titanic. The words used in the poem are more effective in expressing the message of the poet. The second poem is comparatively shallower because it explicitly states the poet's message, leaving little room for readers' response to the poem. The poet achieves this effect by merely describing the chain of events without much use of any metaphors, or literary devices for that matter. This reduces the impact of the poem. This lack of impact is also due to the prose-like form of the poem. This, results in the poem losing the forcefulness in which it conveys its message as the images presented are no longer compacted with the use of concise diction, and delivered with one forceful go. On the other hand, the use of le mot juste, pertinent in “The Convergence of the Twain”, allows room for interpretation on the reader’s part. The rich meaning of the poem is not bluntly put across but the poet allows the reader to slowly collect and form the grand image in his or her mind with very appropriate use of words. The idea of suspense is also present in the poem, through the gradual input of imagery. The rhyme scheme is also very appropriate, such that the rhyme scheme enhances the emotions evoked at the stanza. For instance, the half rhyme used at stanza 8 adds to the atmosphere of the looming Iceberg, suggest that a catastrophe is about to occur. The full rhyme used later when the Titanic sinks also gives a closure to the event, such that there is no way of reversing what has happened. The archaic diction of the poem seems to suggest the idea of timelessness, presenting the notion of fate. Perhaps then, this refers to how pride, no matter which era of time, would also be brought down. The idea of timelessness is also present throughout the poem such that certain stanzas of the poem are presented as a flashback. Such in depth notions apparent in the first poems are certainly not present in the second one. “Twain” may appear a little overly adorned with grandiloquent phrases but it does not come across as exaggerated but rather, brings out the magnificence of the ship itself and also the drama of the incident itself. On the other hand the “Salute” is monotonous and mechanical, making the poem rather dry and at the end of the poem, it barely succeeds in evoking respect and like feelings in the reader for the ‘servicewomen’ even though that is most probably what the poet set out to accomplish.
welcome and your first mission
Here are some links that are very useful for H1 and H2 students.
Feel free to recommend relevant sites for everyone's benefit!
Your first mission (individual or pair) is a performance task. You are an editor of a poetry volume and you have been given 2 submissions. You have to decide on which poem is better. Have fun justifying your decision! Please post your responses in this blog
Poem 1: "The Convergence of the Twain"
I
In a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity,
And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.
II
Steel chambers, late the pyres
Of her salamandrine fires,
Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.
III
Over the mirrors meant
To glass the opulent
The sea-worm crawls-grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.
IV
Jewels in joy designed
To ravish the sensuous mind
Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind.
V
Dim moon-eyed fishes near
Gaze at the gilded gear
And query: "What does this vaingloriousness down here?" . . .
VI
Well: while was fashioning
This creature of cleaving wing,
The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything
VII
Prepared a sinister mate
For her - so gaily great -
A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate.
VIII
And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.
IX
Alien they seemed to be:
No mortal eye could see
The intimate welding of their later history,
X
Or sign that they were bent
by paths coincident
On being anon twin halves of one august event,
XI
Till the Spinner of the Years
Said "Now!" And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.
Poem 2: "A Salute to the Servicewomen
You laid down your life for the country.
You braved the high seas in RSS Courageous
Defying the angry waves, duty bound.
Dressed in white and blue
With service star strapped
And with buckles on.
Unaware of the looming collision
Which made you sleep forever.
You were patrolling the shores
So that we could sleep soundly at night.
What can you do for the country? So asked John Kennedy
You have answered the question.
You put the country before self.
Your services will be written in golden book;
Among the first navy officers in uniform
To die for national cause.
The country counted on you for services
In the years to come.
Destiny has charted otherwise
and you were nipped in the bud,
The born dies.
We take pride in your death.
You have full military honours,
The bugler sounding The Last Post.
Family and friends shed tears for you.
Our sympathies go to them; for, it is said,
Sorrow shared is sorrow halved.
Have fun!
Ms Chia
Feel free to recommend relevant sites for everyone's benefit!
Your first mission (individual or pair) is a performance task. You are an editor of a poetry volume and you have been given 2 submissions. You have to decide on which poem is better. Have fun justifying your decision! Please post your responses in this blog
Poem 1: "The Convergence of the Twain"
I
In a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity,
And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.
II
Steel chambers, late the pyres
Of her salamandrine fires,
Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.
III
Over the mirrors meant
To glass the opulent
The sea-worm crawls-grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.
IV
Jewels in joy designed
To ravish the sensuous mind
Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind.
V
Dim moon-eyed fishes near
Gaze at the gilded gear
And query: "What does this vaingloriousness down here?" . . .
VI
Well: while was fashioning
This creature of cleaving wing,
The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything
VII
Prepared a sinister mate
For her - so gaily great -
A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate.
VIII
And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.
IX
Alien they seemed to be:
No mortal eye could see
The intimate welding of their later history,
X
Or sign that they were bent
by paths coincident
On being anon twin halves of one august event,
XI
Till the Spinner of the Years
Said "Now!" And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.
Poem 2: "A Salute to the Servicewomen
You laid down your life for the country.
You braved the high seas in RSS Courageous
Defying the angry waves, duty bound.
Dressed in white and blue
With service star strapped
And with buckles on.
Unaware of the looming collision
Which made you sleep forever.
You were patrolling the shores
So that we could sleep soundly at night.
What can you do for the country? So asked John Kennedy
You have answered the question.
You put the country before self.
Your services will be written in golden book;
Among the first navy officers in uniform
To die for national cause.
The country counted on you for services
In the years to come.
Destiny has charted otherwise
and you were nipped in the bud,
The born dies.
We take pride in your death.
You have full military honours,
The bugler sounding The Last Post.
Family and friends shed tears for you.
Our sympathies go to them; for, it is said,
Sorrow shared is sorrow halved.
Have fun!
Ms Chia
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