Single-sex schools vs Co-educational schools.

In Singapore, single-sex schools are associated with academic excellence, strength in ccas, and even prestige. Therefore, many parents are anxious for their children to fain admission into a single-sex schools. But we must wonder, can a single-sex school help students, or would a co-educational school be better. In fact, they are both good, but in different ways. Single-sex schools are able to cater to the different needs of the different genders, thus allowing a better and more fixed curriculum for each gender. Furthermore, students would be less distracted by students of the opposite sex in a single-sex school. This increased concentration could improve oneself academically.

On the other hand, some say that single-sex schools fail to prepare one for the real world. Due to a lack of coexisting between the two sexes, there is a disadvantage to the students of the single sex schools. This could lead to problems in romantic relationships and working with people of the other sex in the workplace. An example would be that many say that RI boys are generally considered as socially awkward, not to say some hwachongians are not. Studying at single-sex schools could thus hinder development socially.

Ultimately, single-sex schools could have advantages and disadvantages in different aspects when compared to co-educational schools. Moreover, there are many other factors that might affect quality of education, such as availability of resources. Furthermore, since single-sex schools in Singapore are independent, they could have a better curriculum. Although the single-sex-schools do have an impact, more research needs to be done before we can see its severity. Until then, gender policy should not be a primary factor for student to make their choices in schools.

Meritocracy- The way to go?

Meritocracy can find the most intelligent people. The “cream of the crops”, but, I feel that more than academic results are needed to enable the best to rise to the top. The brightest maybe, but the best should rise to the top with other factors such as leadership and moral qualities. Mr. Lee says, “I am a beneficiary of that meritocratic system.” Similarly, we are beneficiaries of this system, but we must think from another point of view; if we were to have this system, would that mean that the others who are not intelligent enough will be left behind? Will this mean they will not be successful? Let me answer that question. Yes. Lee Kuan Yew focuses on the positive impacts of the meritocracy system, to the people who would benefit from it. He himself benefits from it and thus would feel it is helpful. But he does not consider the negative impacts, on those that are not like him, those that are less intelligent. Mr. Lee speaks from the egoist point of view, so as to achieve the short term and long term goals for Singapore, thus, not looking and seeing that those who would suffer. Though one must admit that meritocracy would bring the top people out to lead the country, one must also admit that the smartest people would not necessarily be the best to drive the country. On the other hand, meritocracy can help those who are intelligent, and have the capabilities to help the country, but are in financial aid. This system would grant them scholarships to give them the education they would need, even without the social or money to do so.

Susan Lim case

When I heard of the Susan Lim case and heard about the astronomical price of 25 million, I was absolutely shocked. She has been with the patient, the Brunei princess for 6 years and in those 6 years charged around 14 million, already a huge amount. But even more shocking was that in the last 7 months, 25 million was asked to be paid to Dr. Lim. The price of around 25 million for just 7 months for treatment, it was just shocking. If I had tried to get cured at this rate, I would have been broke in just 2 days…. If this was the price of life, only rich people can be alive. That is just unfair to the poor. Everyone deserves to have their life saved, and it is more important than money.

Susan Lim unfairly charged her patient and claimed the prices to be the result of 3^rd party specialists that she had hired. But one specialist that only charged her 400 dollars she charged the patient 200 thousand. This is unfair. Susan Lim cared too much for money than to heal her patient. She left on July 16 as she felt that there was no chance to save the patient anymore. This shows how much she did not care for the patient’s well-being, but more for the money that she would have received from this operation. Instead of showing benevolence, she only cared for the money that she would receive, and not of the patient, which should always come first. She was money oriented instead of being oriented to help the patient. This is wrong and not how doctors should act. I think that benevolence should be before the fees she would receive.

Moreover, I feel that the government should fund these associations so that the doctors that work in these associations can manage to have enough money to have the right equipment and maybe have some money as income. This could be a training center for the new doctors to have experience and also a place where experienced mentors could guide these new doctors. This would kill two birds with one stone, teaching our next generation doctors and also to help the poor cancer victims.

Book Review- Catcher in the Rye

On the day that we were going through the R and R exercise, where the censored books were mentioned, The Catcher in the Rye was among them. I had recently borrowed the book, recommended by my sister. Curious to why it was banned, I began to read it. Slowly I understood the novel. It was about teenage rebellion! No wonder it was banned in some countries. It was about how a boy, Holden, flunked out of school, and had to deal with living in hotels and motels as he was afraid to go home. He goes out with girls, partied, got drunk and met up with old friends. In the end, he could not resist not seeing his little sister, his favourite person in the world, to tell her he was running away forever. His sister, also loving him very much, wants to go with him, but he does not allow her to go with him. Finally, the little sister manages to persuade Holden not to run away from home.

Holden’s attitude maintains from the beginning to the end of the novel showing no signs of maturation. He feels that he is smarter and more mature than adults, but in my opinion, he is much less mature. He is very emotional and sensitive, and is easily able to see through a person, and that person’s motives. Holden admires kids’ attributes that he struggles to find in adults, like innocence, kindness, spontaneity, and generosity. Overall, I really enjoy the book, though I admit it did spark some form of rebellion from me. It was interesting, and gave a new perspective of adults to me from a rebellious teenagers view.

Merchant of Venice- Character(Shylock)

The way that Shylock is crafted by Shakespeare is very complicated, probably the most complicated among the characters according to my opinion. We see him as the antagonist mostly, wanting to use justice in his favour to get revenge on someone. On the other hand we also get to see the world through Shakespeare's empathy of the Jewish society, of how alien it must have been to working in a Christian community. It also showed how he was abused and prejudiced against in the Christian community. Although we see that he is very bad to the Christian community himself, giving them stereotypes and having such a bad opinion of them, we must admit that the way the Christians treat him could have a part for that. On the other hand, we cannot blame the Christian community for their actions, Shylock's actions of money loaning and his thinking is completely different from the Christians, thus gaining the bullying.

In the end though, Shakespeare brought out sympathy for Shylock in the last few scenes. It showed his bitterness at the Christian community. How much he was bullied, and how much he had wanted revenge. He also showed his bitterness for losing his daughter, but more than that, his money and honour.

Overall, I disliked Shylock's character but at the same time, felt sympathy for his loss and his bitterness. He shows how much he has feelings and how he had been hurt by the Christians. He also highlights the anti-Semitism that was found in those times.

Merchant of Venice- Character(Portia)

Portia is a witty, strong-willed,resourceful, resolute and romantic. But she is also someone who has biasses for others that she does not like. This is most evidently shown in her suitors, where she finds faults in everyone, and even judges the Moroccan by his skin colour. She sees through and summarises all her suitors and from there she chooses which one she likes and which she doesnt. This shows how much she looks at first impressions, and how she draws conclusions from those first impressions.

Her most important words are from her speech on mercy. She shows how much she thinks, as a Christian, that mercy is important, and how it should season justice. On the contrary though, she did not give Shylock the mercy that she talked to him about. Instead, she shows him no mercy and the speech is a bait for him to be tricked. This shows that she might have meant what she talked about in mercy, but she is so prejudiced, that she dislikes Shylock as Bassanio dislikes him, thus not giving Shylock any mercy. Though, another way to look at it is that she cares for Bassanio and knows that Shylock would get in the way of his happiness.

Overall, I enjoyed her character. The irony of how she is a boy acting as a girl acting as a boy in the court is a great addition to the comedy that is MOV. Furthermore, her character is so intelligent and witty, and how she tricks other to get what she wants is also something that I found fascinating. Again, like all other characters, she might not be a perfect character, but someone with flaws, but her attitudes and actions are a good addition to the play which I enjoyed.

Merchant of Venice- Character(Bassanio)

Bassanio is a character who is a spendthrift and also cares a lot about worth. He married Portia partly out of her wealth, but at the same time, we must admit he does have feelings for her. He saw Portia as a prize, a magnificent prize he wanted to win. He also has a very strong friendship with Antonio, and knows to repay him due to Antonio's kindness towards him. He defends Antonio dearly when Shylock wants to kill Antonio, claiming he was more important than Portia.

But he is also seen as a brave and handsome person, somewhat the hero of the story, and is also seen very romantic as he tries to court Portia. He is also someone humble, modest and respectful. We see this in the casket scene, where he used his intelligence to pick the right casket. Instead of showing arrogance of winning Portia, he instead shows modesty.

Overall, he is someone that i enjoyed in the book. Although he does not have very good traits, he is someone who is very active and carefree, as opposed to Antonio. He is a risk taker, as he would with Antonio's money, which shows his adventurous attitude. He also cares too much about worth and wealth, thinking that he would only be good if he had wealth. He cares too much about worth and too little on what lies under. He feels that without money, he would not be important, thus he spends money so extravagantly. His bright attitude towards everything is very appealing to the viewer, and since MOV is a comedy, fits it very well.

Merchant of Venice- Character(Antonio)

Antonio is a moody, serious, and sad man, yet very helpful, especially to his best friend, Bassanio. Throughout Merchant of Venice, he is seen as the very sad man who is troubled, as seen in the first scene, "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad" and also how he is the one that is always in trouble, how his ships sink and how he has to pay the bond to Shylock. The first scene, where he is troubled, also shows how much Bassanio means to him, and how their friendship is very close.

The fact that Antonio agrees to help Bassanio with the bond, also shows his devotion and unselfishness, a very generous man who would help those who could not pay Shylock's heavy interest. Furthermore, he is also prejudiced. This is shown when the normally composed Antonio loses patience with Shylock, and expresses his racism. Shylock also shows that Antonio is not actually the kind man we thought at the start, but actually a racist bully.

Antonio is one of the characters that i enjoyed more. Not only is he the merchant of Venice, hence the play's name, but i also like his calm attitude towards everything. When the trial is happening and Shylock wants to kill him, he does not defend himself, while letting his friends try to defend him. Some might feel that he does not fight for his rights, but I feel that he is actually one that believes that justice is right, and it is important. This is a trait of him I quite admire.

Self Experimenters

Self-experimentation is a scientific method used to test and do experiments on oneself. It is a method that has been used since the start of Science. In current times, these self-experimenters are portrayed as mad scientists, trying to give themselves evil super powers. But in reality, they have a great contribution to the scientific world!

Self-experimentation has been long accepted as a form of science. Even famous scientists such as Isaac Newton have used this method. He nearly burned his cornea as he stared at the sun, thinking it was the only way to understanding illusions.

Self-experimentation is also being seen on the internet. Ad hoc scientist would buy the newest pills or any form of products publicized, and then log into forums and compare their findings with other investigators. This would help to let others know of the effectiveness of these products.

Honestly, I find that this is a good way to lead the future. Although one must admit that this self-experimentation is dangerous to the person that is self-experimenting, it is also seen that there are a lot of advantages.

This method is indeed very dangerous. We can see this as Walter Reed, and a few of his junior doctors, tried to prove that yellow fever was transmitted through mosquitoes. They allowed mosquitoes to feast on their bodies, and in the end, 2 of them died in a week, while most of the rest had serious illnesses.

On the other hand, this can have advantages as it could come to prove things that people would not have believed. Using the same example as above, the people then did not believe that mosquitoes were the result of yellow fever, and rejected Dr Reed's idea. Only after the experiment, did the people believed it, which might have led to many saved lives. This method could be used as a form of persuasion, where no scientific evidence is actually present. Sort of like the method of "trial and error" in math.

Bassanio:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002848380680&sk=wall

Shylock:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002824710767

Antonio:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002877660607

Types of Expository Essays

We recently learnt about Expository Essays and these are the different types of essay. Samples of expository essays include:

Analogy Essay

An analogy compares two unlike things to illustrate common elements of both, it is a figure of language that expresses a set of like relationships among two sets of terms. An analogy essay is an extended analogy, uses an analogy to explain something more clearly by showing comparisons. Analogy essays can be used to discuss nearly anything, as long as the writer can find a comparison that fits.

Causal analysis Essay

Causal essay describes the reasons and the results of a particular action. Cause-and-effect writing gives reasons and explanations for events, conditions, or behavior. It answers the need most of us have to understand the world around us. It can be used in science papers on chemistry or physics as it describes the cause and effect of doing something to the experiment. There are 3 subdivisions of this essay: multiple causes for one effect, one cause for multiple effects or a domino chain. The first describes the causes of one effect; the second describes the effects of one problem; and the last is a chain of events that are caused due to the previous event.

Classification Essay

In a classification essay, we organize things into categories and provide examples under each category. The writer most of the time classifies the factors according to factors of each category.

Compare and Contrast Essay

Two writing strategies are usually found together. To compare is to examine to show similarities. To contrast is to set into opposition in order to show differences. But in ordinary usage a comparison may include not only similarities but also differences. In comparing and contrasting, a writer is trying to list similarities or differences and also to reveal something clearly, by its similarities to something we might not think it is related to, or by its differences from something we might think it does relate to.

Definition Essay

The writer usually explains a word, something, a concept, or a phenomenon. He does this to let you understand it more clearly and have a deeper understanding to it.

Processing Essay

It explains step by step how something is done or how to do something. Used to give instructions.

Example Essay

The example essay is an essay that explains something with facts, as opposed to opinion.

Japan crisis

The tragedy of Japan, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by a tsunami and complicated by a nuclear accident at a tremor and tidal wave damaged power plant, brought the remarkable resilience of the Japanese. Japan's resilience is not the reason for the country's current state. Complex tsunami an earthquake early-warning systems that Japan has in place saved tens of thousands of lives. Now as Japan struggles to overcome one of the worst natural disasters in human history, it will need much more hardship to go through to remake the nation. Japan is a country that lives on the brink of danger. Earthquakes come and go in this earthquake prone area with the one of the most unstable tectonic plates in the world.

Expressions of grief have been restrained in the worst effected zones. Instead of the wails of despair heard in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake last year, thje Japanese survivors are responding with expressions like 'shoganai' translated, "there is nothing you can do".

The earthquake and tsunami was very costly to its economy, the total damages to be about 300 billion US dollars. But the death-toll was not nearly as high as expected of a disaster of this scale. Japan is the only country on the planet with an earthquake early-warning system in place. It is also the only one with a truly successful tsunami-alert scheme- 300 sensors in the ocean that detect a tsunami in minutes. Tsunami escape routes are posted up and down the coast for easy evacuation.

The spirit of the Japanese nation is truly impressive and leads people to wonder, is there something special about the Japanese people, are they different in some way. The preparation of their government is also something to think about, their readiness for disaster. Countries should learn form this incident in Japan, not just in nuclear wise, but also how Japan reacted.

Nuclear Reactors- what can we learn

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in 1986 at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, par of the then Soviet Union. A test of the reactor's system went out of control, resulting in a series of explosions which released a large plume of radioactive smoke into the atmosphere. The radioactive particles drifted over large parts of Eastern Europe, necessitating the permanent relocation of over 350,000 people from the most severely contaminated areas in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. A 30km exclusion zone has been maintained around the power plan to this date because radioactive substances can remain in the environment for a long time, up to 200 million years. It is difficult to determine the exact human cost of the disaster but it is believed to have contributed to thousands of cancer cases throughout Eastern Europe. Many children that were born from people with the radiation were born with deformities. Japan's nuclear reactor problem is not the first time they have felt the deadly effects of radiation. Atomic bombs were detonated over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of WW 2 to force the Japanese to surrender. 200,000 Japanese died within months of the attack from the lethal effects of radiation, leaving deep psychological scars on the nation. The ongoing nuclear crisis has raised many concerns about the safety of nuclear power generation around the world. Government leaders in the US, Germany and China are facing public pressure to shut down existing power plants and stop the construction of new ones. The Singapore has not ruled out the use of nuclear power in the near future. Considering the lack of space and the new risks shown by the Japan disaster, the decision will definitely require careful thinking and much discussion.

Tennis Tournament

Hwachong tennis team has never had any trophies since it began 20 years ago. But this year, my tennis team and i made history and managed to get 4th place in the national inter-school tournament. I was vice-captain of the team and playing doubles most of the way with our captain, we managed to get this magnificent result. We had gotten a new coach this year that just happened to be my private coach. We knew that we had a chance to get a trophy, so the whole team worked very hard to try and get the top 4 position. In the group stages, we had Powerhouses RI, Catholic High and SJI in our groups. RI had been runners-up for the past 2 years and catholic High had been 3rd place in the last 2 years. SJI had beaten us 5-0 last year as well. We were anxious but were excited to play as well. Knowing RI would be out of our reach, we aimed to get 2nd place. Our first match was against St Patrick's where we beat them 5-0. This really boosted our moral and we went in less nervous to play SJI. We took the first 2 matches with the second being a hard fought battle where we won 9-8. It was my turn to play doubles with my partner. We knew that we were vunerable as the last 2 matches would probably be lost so my doubles partner and i went into the courts with pressure building up. It turned out relieving in the end as we easily won a 9-0 victory over our opponents and celebrated our win which had brought us one step closer to getting in the top 4. Against RI, we lost 4-1 fairly quickly with my doubles grabbing the only win with a 9-8 victory. We knew that we would lose but we suffered a blow, one of our players had sprained his ankle. We were very anxious as the deciding match against Catholic High was the following day. To our relief, the next day he came ready to play. Shockingly, something surprising happened. It rained continuously for the next 4 days and we had to postpone the match. On the 5th day, we managed to play 3 matches, where we took a 2-1 lead, with my doubles win 9-1 and a singles win 9-7. We needed one more win the next day to ensure victory.

The match had been postponed to Saturday and we came back on the weekend to participate. About 20 parents of the Catholic High team arrived with none of ours. We were pressured by the audience but in the end we pulled through winning both the singles 9-4 and the doubles 9-7. We had a 4-1 win over Catholic high and made it to our first semi-final!!

Facebook good or bad?

Does Facebook have a positive or negative effect on students? This issue is very mixed and inconclusive.Recently, OnlineEducation.net, an online database designed to inform current and prospective students about education opportunities in the U.S., compiled a mound of research data on college students and their use of social media. After analysis,

Key survey findings include:

96 percent of college students use Facebook; Grades of students who checked Facebook while studying were 20% lower than grades of those who didn’t check Facebook while studying; 79 percent of students did not believe that multitasking in the way mentioned above negatively affected their grades; 20 percent of students that use social media reported feeling connected to their institution; 75 percent of college students reported wanting to collaborate online.

Nobody would deny that everyone that checks Facebook every few minutes would be distracted and be less engaged in learning, absorb less knowledge and thus get lower results for their exams.

However, if the student is using Facebook to improve his or her knowledge, for example, by participating in a Facebook group created by a professor for students of a particular class, than the social network may have a positive influence on education and spark the student’s interest in learning certain subject matter. For example, lectures could be posted on these networking sites and students could respond and it would become an interactive environment to improve one's education. This is thus a positive effect through Facebook. But this is rarely the case for many users of Facebook who mostly just use it to talk to their to their friends.

An important benefit seen in the statistics is the ability of Facebook to make students feel socially connected with one another, with a greater sense of community. This can be beneficial in boosting students’ self-esteem. This is another positive effect of Facebook.

But, as we have also seen in the news, social media can also have a negative effect on emotional health when abused by cyberbullies who harass and torment peers. Social networkings like Facebook easily allow someone to cyber bully someone else without getting into trouble or having to confront them face to face. This causes high stress and would impact negatively.

Ultimately, how social media affects students may come down to how it is used and the frequency with which it is used.

General Election Day!!

On Saturday, it was election day, one that would be passed down through history. My parents woke up early in the morning and proceeded to the polling station and went for the votes. Even with my sister and my incessant speeches for them to vote for the opposition, they remained loyal to the PAP and thought 2 votes for the opposition would not make a difference. I agreed that the West Coast GRC would definitely won by the opposition and stopped arguing. When it was night, my family invited our friends and we crowded around the television to watch the results. Although everyone was laughing and joking about how Yam Ah Mee needed to go for toilet breaks and could not, or the fact that he paused for 10 whole seconds after reading a mistake, we were serious when it came to the results. It was not that shocking of a result. The PAP had deproved in almost every single constituency, but what struck me was that Ang Mo Kio, led by PM Lee, managed to improve to 69%. This was important to see how much support the PAP actually had. My sister and I were all rooting for the opposition and were glad when Hougang and Aljunied were won claiming 6 seats in parliment. We were glad that there was some opposition in the parliment to keep the PAP "in order". This was a much improved number of people compared to previous year's of 2. But we felt pity as a gentleman such as George Yeo had to leave the parliament and made jokes about replacing Tin Pei Ling with him. There was some sadness though as Joo Chiat and Potong Pasir lost so closely, by ~1%. Overall, i felt it was worth it to stay up 2am in the morning to watch the results, with its ups and downs. I hoped the Government will really improve this results and this atmosphere really made me keen to the elections that i can vote in 10 years time.

PAP rally

The PAP rally was much different from the SDP rally. For one there were seats. At first my family were surprised but happy to see them. We soon realised what was the use for them. As the field slowly started to fill, we realised a trend. It was mostly populated by elderly. It showed how the young people these days were so much for change but the elderly still have their hearts at the PAP. The PAP was not that full with an estimate of only around 10,000 much less than their SDP counterparts. The PAP also carried out their speeches differently. Unlike the SDP, there was less rousing of the crowds than just claiming the improvements that would be made to their lives. This gave me an insight of what ideas the PAP had and also showed me the different audience the SDP and the PAP aimed their ideas at. This was also an interesting experience and taught me more than just the youths thinking of voting the opposition.

GE Rally - Holland Bukit Timah, (SDP)

With the closest fought elections with 82 of 87 seats of parliament being contested in this GE elections, my family and i were very interested in this year's elections. We went for 2 rallies, watching a SDP rally and a PAP rally. The SDP rally really caught my attention. It was held in a huge field beside a HDB flat and about 20,000 people turned up to watch the rally. The whole place was completely packed. The HDB flat's overlooking the field had 20 people per level lining up beside the railings to have a good look at the rally going on. It was certainly a very interesting atmosphere. When we first arrived, we had to drive around for 15 minutes, to get a parking space 6 blocks away! It was that packed. We had no clear direction on how to get there but the sounds of the gramaphone and the cheering crowd led us to easily find the position. My sister and I squeezed through the crowds to get to the booths first. The booths were filled with SDP supporting goodies and my favourite was a sticker saying "say no to 10% GST " with the 0 a PAP sign. 2 speakers really caught my attention. Ms Michelle Lee and Vincent Wijeysingha. Ms Michelle Lee was an RGS student and her points were most clear and silenced the cheering crowd when she spoke. Whenever something good was said the whole crowd would cheer. Vincent Wijeysingha was the most anticipated the speaker and thus spoke last. He made many jokes to rouse the crowd and soon it was clear everyone was interested in what he had to say. When i left, it really affected me and i saw how the opposition was thinking of the Elections. It was a very interesting experience and i their words made a great impact on my decision for electing 10 years in the future.

Descriptive Paragraph

The place was in ruins, the house that once lay was in crumbles. The trees were leafless, the ground was littered with debris, with brick and metal. The men in their heavy armour and camouflaged helmets carried their guns and ran to bring help to the areas of war. Their boots clanged on the metal as they made their way to the war zone. Looks of fear were in their eyes but determination kept them going. The air was acrid, from the fires and grenades that had gone off nearby. It stung the eyes and made tears well up. Gunshots sounded, "pop, pop, pop". Screams would signal a target being hit, and once in a while explosions sounded to cover the screams. Death was in the air and fear clung to everyone.

Favourite poem Where the sidewalk ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows goTo the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

The poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein is a poem about a place where things are better than the real world. It's where the sidewalk ends (end of the world) where Silverstein says that "And there the grass grows soft and white, And there the sun glows crimson bright" . In this place the sun is much brighter and the grass much softer and it seems to be a better place than earth. It also shows Silverstein's discontent with our current world.

"Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark street winds and bends. "

This shows that Shel Silverstein wants to free ourselves from this world of pollution and darkness, and instead go to the place where the sidewalk ends. Silverstein acknowledges that it may not be so easy to get beyond the sidewalk, because the walk may be "measured and slow"; however, the speaker is certain that he will meet the challenge with success, because definite "chalk-white" arrows lead the way, giving him a sense of direction.

first and third person narrative

First-person and third-person are the most used narrative viewpoints. These narrative viewpoints help the writer describe characters more detailed. It also can help show thoughts of certain characters in a story while hiding the thoughts of others.

I would use a first person narrative in the case where I want the reader to look through the eyes of this single character. I would also use it when I want to describe only one character. The world is seen through his eyes and the thoughts would be of his own. Therefore, there might be some biasness in the thoughts when using first person narratives. You can also directly feel the feelings of the single character, which allows you to feel everything it feels, the pain, happiness, etc. This way, the reader will feel closer with the character and thus feel closer to the story itself. However, the story plot will be confined as the situation can only be seen from one person. Also, some expressions would turn out weird as the narrator cannot see and feel everything.

In a third person narrative, the reader is like god, seeing everything, every detail, every thought and hearing all the dialogue. This allows the reader to understand the situation from multiple perspectives thus creating a non-bias situation. Using third person narrative will remove some limitations such as description of the setting, characters’ looks and expressions. Also, using third person will allow the reader to be able to have more feelings to each character, knowing which the good is and bad, which should triumph over which, which makes it more dramatic. This perspective helps to develop the essay more than first person so it is more helpful in a descriptive essay.

Found Poetry(Jem Finch)

Found poetry
Jem Finch
Nearly thirteen, Jem broke his
Elbow, being able to play foot ball, he
Was seldom self-conscious about it,
Left arm shorter than right,
Thumb parallel to his high, he
Did not care as long as he could pass and punt.

“Mad dog’s coming!”
Jem stayed in the house, watching
Through the windows.
Tim Johnson arrived at snail’s pace.
Atticus’s hand yanked and the rifle cracked,
Tim Johnson leaped, flopped on the sidewalk,
“I wanna be like Atticus, a gentleman!”

Jem was scarlet, he
Broke the bonds of “a gentleman”
He snatched the baton and
Ran flailing wildly up the steps, not
Calming down after he cut every single,
Camellia bush, and afterwards, bent my baton and broke it in two.

“He’s got a bump on his head, and
A broken arm, like somebody tried to
Wring his elbow.
He’ll be as good as new, boys
Always bounce at his age”
Jem was not dead.

Comprimise

A compromise is a agreement reached by mutual concessions. It requires one to bend the law to make both parties happy. A compromise is reached when two people have different opinions on one matter and they have to make adjustments to make both parties happy. In the compromise, both parties will have to sacrifice a little bit of what they want, but still enough for them to be happy with the agreement. But compromises will not always be able to be reached. Sometimes, one of the two parties might be unhappy with whatever proposal the other has to give. In these kinds of situation, there is the option to either have no choice but to go with the opposite parties wishes, or to drop the idea of the compromise completely. I feel that compromises are better and more helpful to the people. Without compromise, no one will be really happy with anything they have. These compromises can prevent clashes and riots from happening between the two parties. For example, there was an issue about using the word 'Allah" by non-Muslims. Allah actually refers to all the gods and therefore can be used by anyone. But the high-court judge, decided to not let non-Muslims use the word 'Allah' to prevent any religious riots from occurring. This way, the judge is actually not following rules but for the sake of not having riots, decided to come to a compromise that made the parties happy. Therefore i feel compromise is essential to prevent too many fights, and it is the right thing to do, even if breaking rules is involved.

To kill a mocking bird, Reflection

I was surprised by the fact that Mr Ewell would attack the children of the Finch family. I was also surprised by the fact that Boo Radley was the one the killed him. If i was the writer i would also put Boo Radley in the end, and make Mr Ewell do something bad. But i was pleasantly surprised by the way it happened and the fact that it linked together well. If i was the writer, i might have ended with Boo Radley coming out because Dill and Scout caused some kind of trouble and Boo Radley comes and solves the problem or help them.

Empathize with characters in courtroom (to kill a mockingbird)

I empathized with Mayella Ewell the most during the action of the courtroom. I empathize with her most as she is told very detailedly. Also, her story is very sad as you can see how sad she is, due to her lonliness. I feel sympathy towards her so i can feel sad and thus this makes me feel close to her and empathize with her more.

I empathize least with Mr Ewell. The story obviously shows that Mr Ewell is the one that beat Mayella. Thus you would feel a slight hatred to him. He is also very rude and accussed a innocent man of a crime he commited so that he could escape the punishments. Therefore i empathize least with Mr Ewell.

1. Some folks from the city come and want to hurt Atticus for wanting to protect Tom Robinson. They also want to hurt Tom Robinson at the jail. Scout tells the men about how entailment is bad and how it hurt people. This led to the men realizing their mistake, especially being told by a small girl. They feel guilty and decide to leave in the end.

2. Atticus shows it by tricking the Ewells to tell them that it was Mayella right eye that was hit. Only a left-handed person could punch someone like that and Tom Robinson had a limp left hand and could only use his right. This shows that he was not the one to attack Mayella, showing his innocence

Memories of childhood

When i was a young boy, 5 and 6 years old, i was in love with a girl. At kindergarten, we would be going around holding hands, and i told her i would marry her. But when we were 5, she had a sister that was 6, and always told on us. Therefore i did not like the sister. Whenever the sister was not around i would sneak and give the girl a kiss. The girl and i would always try methods to get back on the sister if she told on us. It was very interesting and fun but i dont keep in touch with the girl anymore. I feel that i was very young and naive to think i could be with her forever. This is similar to Dill and Scout's experience where Scout and Dill like each other and sneak around when Jem is not around.

1. In relation to Boo Radley and his house, how to Scout, Jew and Dill try to test their courage? What feelings do they have about Boo?

They dared Jem to touch the Radley house and followed him. They were scared of him, thinking he was a kind of monster, but at the same time curious about him. They think that he was very scary and would kill them if they bothered him.

2. What do Scout and Jem find in the knothole of the Radley tree? What other signs suggest that Boo may not be the monster the children imagine him to be?

Chewing gum. Indian head coins from the 1900s. A ball of grey twine. Two images carved in soap, a boy and a girl in a dress, that was Scout and Jem. A spelling medal. A pocketwatch that would not run, on a chain with an aluminium knife.
When the trio of Scout, Jew and Dill decided to enter the Radley place, they were nearly caught but managed to escape. But Jem ripped his pants and they were left in the Radley place. Afterwards when he went to get them, they had been sewn together and hung neatly on the fence, awaiting Jem to retrieve them. It had been Boo who had sewn them and left them there.

Describing a beach

A bright blue day, the sky dotted with patches of white. The sea reflected the sky, with varying colours to deep blue in the deeper seas, and a light green nearer to the shore. The waves in the deep were high and foamy, but when it reached the shore, they lapped almost lazily, with not a single splash. The corals in the sea gave the sea a dark portion here, and another one there, as if on a moldy piece of bread. A little bit of the beach jutted out, yellow, with it turning whiter and whiter each timethe water passed over it.

Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

This is a short but it contains images about the cycle of life. The title shows that many things are born beautirful but they don't always stay this was. they will change.

It starts by saying that "Nature's first green is gold". It is probably the start of spring, where naturs blooms, with beauty of green, leaves and plants. "Her hardest hue to hold" It cannot last as wnter will once again come and take away tthe beauty of nature, but it will come once again, a cycle of life for the plants. It also mentions "Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour". Again the speaker repeats the limited time nature has to display its beauty and perfection. It continues to describe that leaf subsides to leaf, as a cycle of life, when one leaf falls, another will soon replace it, a cycle of life.the fall of eden, which is to reference to the bible where the perfect garden that Adam and Eve live in never lasted, unable to remain its gold. "So dawn goes down to day," it shows that something as beautiful as dawn has to go, and let day enter, but it will return, to show its beauty again the next day, a cycle. It emphasises on the fact about the cycle of life that occurs naturally. The last line, "Nothing gold can stay." a repetition of the title, seems negative and seems as if there is no hope, that perfection will never last. It emphasises the title that nothing perfect will remain.
David Hu (04) 2i2

By davidhu | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

By davidhu | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

kwl 1st lesson prejudice

PREJUDICE
Know: What I already know about prejudice
Jane Eyre wrote a book called pride and prejudice
Want: I want to know what prejudice means
-how it was used in the book pride and prejudice
-how it is used in a sentence
-how does prejudice affect us
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Learn: prejudice is discrimination against a type of person that is different