New syllabus, new schedule

I am not quite used to the condition in Secondary two. From teachers to assignments, and from assignments to schedule. Our schedule is very full, a new schedule system is created with thirty minutes as one period. There are especially more lessons and enrichments for scholars as we have to strengthen our English basics, maintain our Malay standards and enhance our Chinese standard to be even better.
This year, we have an extra subject called thinking. I think this subject is to replace our art lessons which we missed very much. We were told to draw a mind map in our first lesson, which I think it was not interesting.
Of course, the first picture on the right is surely not my mind map (mine is black and white and not attractive), but I am trying to show how a mind map looks like. If I put my work here, it will destroy the fun part of drawing a mind map.
Our second lesson was fun, we were given small papers and we had to label it under different words, and as we flipped over, we saw a message for us. The message given to us was said by the teacher to be right. I hope that I can have fun lessons for the rest of my thinking lessons.

Significant post 2: New year, new syllabus

It was already one week after the start of school. We all have many new syllabus which gave us stress but some subjects are quite fun. The subject I feared the most is English Literature.
We had read and been tested on Village By The Sea by Anita Desai during secondary one. I can still remember that it was about a dysfunctional family, with Hari and Lila, the eldest boy and girl in the family, replacing the role of their parents. The father was a drunkard after being jobless and the mother was always ill and needed constant care and nursing. After many thicks and thins, they eventually earned some money and the father had turned over a new leaf as he stopped drinking. On the other hand, the mother had also recovered from her long-term illness and both the parents had taken up their role as parents again.
However, this time our secondary two English Literature is on To Kill A Mockingbird. This book is far more difficult to read compared to Village By The Sea. The words are small and there are about 287 pages altogether, I could only cope with the story with the help of some of the To Kill A Mokingbird summaries in the Internet.
Besides, we also have Emily Of The Emerald Hill. It is a small book and it is quite interesting, but it is only tested in the second-half of the year while To Kill A Mockingbird is tested in the first-half of the year. It is very tough for us. All these three books actually can't compare with the storybooks that I read in free times. They are really much more boring and dull than my personal books, I wonder why they are also award-winning books which I think that it is because of the content that are very much alike as the situation in the past and present society. But for lower secondary students like me, I don't think we can appreciate these books. In fact, we like books that are more in the illogical and funny. But no matter what, I can only comment and we all must study for result's sake anyway.

A new year: 2010

It has been a long time since the last time I post my latest post. After my secondary one end-of-year examination, I had forgotten about my blog and every thing in school. It was my happiest moment in my life.

Now that school has started, I have to resume everything and continue this blog. I had a bad start, for I was ill just three days before school starts. I was admitted for five days and I missed school for two days.
The year 2010 is a new year, nobody knows about things that are going to happen in the future. But there is an event that interest me this year, which is the South Africa Fifa World Cup. I support Brazil, the country which has the most World Cup trophies in all these years.
Last but not least, I wish to have a better result in my studies in school and not be as bad as my result in the previous year. I hope to do well in my both sports and academic in this year.

1. Lotteries have been called a tax on the poor. Ultimately at only a dollar or two a ticket, anyone can play the lotteries. However, many people become addicted to buying tickets and they can cause family/marital problems. Discuss this topic with a parent and get their view on lotteries and specifically lotteries in Singapore . Include at least one quote from an adult, one quote or reference from either an NPR presentation or YouTube video in your discussion. Your blog entry has to be at least 200 words in length and you must either support lotteries or condemn them.

This is the answer:

Lotteries to a lot of people especially the poor is hope. By paying a dollar or two, one gets the hope to have big dreams eg. big houses and cars. Of course, in reality lottery buying is a form of gambling, in a legal way

Lotteries come in different names such as Singapore Pool, 4-Digits, Toto, etc. In whatever name, it's still gambling and it is done on a few times a week basis. On numerous occasions, grandma mentioned to me that her friends during her young days used a big chunk of money to pay off their lottery debts when they received their monthly pay as most of them purchased through illegal bookies. That was easily 40 years ago and this it is still happening to this very day. It may not be the same people (as all her friend are old and retired) but the scenario is still the same.

During drawing days, all the lottery outlets are packed with people rushing to put in their bet. Most of the time, these punters have a long list for the counter clerks and these punters pay by the hundreds of dollars. Surely, this type of addiction put a toll on their family members as they have less to spend on their essential items. This is especially true in a poor family as the family members are the one compromising.

My grandmother had once stroked a six-digit number of money. But then, she bought no properties. Still, until now, we are just living normally, no more, no less. But still, I believe that we got to put our nose to the grindstone in order to get success.

Favourite poet and poems

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor€”
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Langston Hughes was a dark skin American, his life in America was not as good as the whites. His poems perfectly described his poor life in America. He wanted to commit suicide for many reasons, but ended up not dying. His relationship with his father was bad, Hughes once convinced his father to provide money for his study in Columbia University. Hughes later said that, prior to arriving in Mexico again: “I had been thinking about my father and his strange dislike of his own people. I didn't understand it, because I was a Negro, and I liked Negroes very much.”

Hughes worked various odd jobs, such as poet, columnist, dramatist, essayist, writer and so on. Langston Hughes was a great American writer. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best-known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes stressed the importance of a racial consciousness and cultural nationalism devoid of self-hate that united people of African descent and Africa across the globe and encouraged pride in their own diverse black folk culture and black aesthetic.

While in grammar school in Lincoln, Illinois, Hughes was elected class poet. Hughes stated in retrospect he thought it was because of the stereotype that African Americans have rhythm. "I was a victim of a stereotype. There were only two of us Negro kids in the whole class and our English teacher was always stressing the importance of rhythm in poetry. Well, everyone knows — except us — that all Negroes have rhythm, so they elected me as class poet." During high school in Cleveland, Ohio, he wrote for the school newspaper, edited the yearbook, and began to write his first short stories, poetry, and dramatic plays. His first piece of jazz poetry, "'When Sue Wears Red", was written while he was still in high school. It was during this time that he discovered his love of books. From this early period in his life, Hughes would cite as influences on his poetry the American poets Paul Laurence Dunbar and Carl Sandburg.

Langston Hughes was a very straightforward man who spoke his mind when needed to. He could express himself, his life very clearly onto his poems. He did not regard other people’s views towards him. He wanted to speak blatantly.
Langston Hughes’s poems always had a meaning behind a poem; he always had a reason for writing it. His poems went beyond just plain writing; he wrote poems to show his opinion towards a particular subject.
Langston Hughes was a brave and great man that influenced others to follow his footsteps. His contributions to poetry would never be forgotten.

cited from:http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes

Figurative Language in Poetry

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.


1. How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?
Hyperbole: I rise
Simile: like hopes springing high
2. Tell us why you like this poem in no less than 100 words.
I like the poem because it is wonderfully structured. The poem rhymes very well and it is very meaningful, it shows us the strong persistence of the author and that is where it is somewhat touching. Besides, although the poem is long, it is very easy to be understood. She also tells us that even though she may be defamed by someone, she will also remain persistent. The surrounding gives her the courage as said in the poem “Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides, just like hopes springing high, still I'll rise.” The poem is indeed good, it teaches us to be persistent as well as describing to us the beauty of nature.

Confessions of a game addict

I am a game addict. I love to play video games, computer games and even phone games. I always spend my time playing games and let time passes meaninglessly. My mother always scolds me but I never listen to her. For me, time passes really fast. My studies are bad and I never change. I cannot resist from playing games and always rush to finish my homework and assignments the last minute. As a result, my works are never acceptable. My teachers always have a bad impression in me.

When test period is coming, I will be sitting motionlessly, holding a book, pretending to study. Actually, I am thinking of games and cannot focus well. Whenever I receive my test paper, I will look at it, totally blank, do not know how to answer. I do not dare to look at my test marks, I will hide it somewhere that my parents could not find.

I do know that this a bad habit, I hope I can turn over a new leaf.