Learning Log 7

After five hundred million years of sharpening my axe for my play, i have executed the play efficiently. It was fun. Many of you will be thinking, what play is is? Well, its my romeo and juliet play. It was very very challenging, as we had to overcome a lot of challenging and tough obstacles to get to the destination. Also, we had a great deal of fun. Firstly, I shall hereby start with my group's overall performance during the play. We had practised it tons and tons of time and the amount of time we practised could add up to be an infinite number. It was tiring and from nothing, we became everything during the actual performance. My role was romeo for romeo and juliet and I found it stupid as it is so difficult to kiss. But thanks to it, i learnt how to fake kiss which will definitely be of great use in the future. Basically, my group did very well and i would tell you the reason for this successful story. My groups had a lot of different type of people, ranging for people who are quiet like melissa, and amanda, to noisy ones like shun hui. Also, we had shaun, whose hand will tremble so badly like there is no tomorrow(even if there is) if heavy weight if applied to him. So, narutally, my first priority would be getting his problem fixed, as it would definitely ruin of play if the drinks he carried( by the way his role is a serving man if you do not know) would spill, it will be embarassing. So, we tried tons of different ways but to no avail. Then, on the actual day, I told him to breath in and out and relax, and he did. And during the performance he did not shiver, and i was so proud of him. I was as proud as a mother who has a kid with the brain as big as Albert Einstein. For other people like Melissa and etc, i did not worry too much about them, as they did great during the performance, just that more expression needed to be touched up. Also, the director(Dawn) was really good, as she managed to get everyone to get together to rehearse, and did whatever stuff we needed to do for our play. And, amazingly, we managed a great job during the play.

There is always a lot of reasons behind each successful story, and i am going to share with you mine. Firstly, during the june holidays, we didn't even cared and carried on with out life. Until the middle of term 3, only we started to rehearse and do stuff. At first, it was very very hard to get everyone to do or gather everyone to meet as each of us has our different commitments, but thank god, our group was good, and everyone tried to find time to do stuffs. Even if they did not come, they will try the best to find out from other group mates what was going on on the day they were absent. Then, first we started practising part by part, then a major problem arose, i was not able to get the perfect angle for kissing. So, i can't possibly to get Vanessa(juliet) to rehearse with me. Therefore, i decided to change target. This time i prey on Qi Hernq, also, when i set my eyes on that target, it never gets away, until i am done with my target. Therefore, with this, i went to practise my angle of kissing with Qi Hernq, i kissed, and kissed, and kissed, and after 2 hours, he could'nt take it and went to rest. And, unfortunately, i still did not perfected it. I pity Qi Hernq as he had to undergo tough trainings of kissing another guy. He, then, as expected, got really depressed about kissing another guy, and went to sit at one corner, feeling lonely. I bet he will have a nightmare when he sleeps the next few days. Then, as days passed, unexpectedly, during one of the performance, I naturally emerge success by learning how to kiss narutally. I was very happy, as i finally got the hang of it. Therefore, we continued to practised and as days passed, we got really good at it. The few days before the performance was crucial. I had severe butterflies flying around my stomach like it its made up of flowers. Therefore, we rehearsed quite a few times before the actual day. Like they always day, before the actualy day, we should all sharpen our axes. However, on the performance day everyone was tense, and was nervous, therefore, i got a little scared and fortunately, we did not panic or blurt our line during our play. Also, while watching other groups, our backdrop fell, and we had to paste it back. It was definitely not an easy job, as it has a height of at least 2.2m. It was as high as my parents when i was 3. It look very big and it dropping out before the play, was not a good idea. So, before our play, we tape it here and there, tape it everywhere, and luckily for that 10 minutes of performance it did not dropped, and we were so happy. We really did great and I was proud of everyone.

Lastly, I would strongly reccomend this play to the juniors as this play really exposed them to new environments like acting and memorising lines. I believe most of them will never expect this to happen. Therefore, it will definitely be very fun trying something new. Also, it will bond them towards one another as they get to work with one another. You can also, experience new things like public speaking and stuffs like that. They will learn a lot of good stuffs through this play, which will help them in the future.

Sharpening my axe before the play was really an important role in helping me achieve higher marks. It is definitely way better than going to the actual performance without any idea or rehearsals to tell us what to do.Was my group perfomance great? Without a doubt, great. Why?  We did not do very badly, and our performance during the actualy day was better than expected. When you eliminate all the imposibilties, whatever remains, however impropable, must be the truth.The truth is that, we did exceptionally well, and this play is something that will always be remembered.

Learning Log 6

Poems may be fun to read, but, most of them, are definitely hard to understand. That's why with the help of literary devices, we can now understand poems more easily. Interested? So, let us get started. Firstly, comes the basicl iterary devices, which includes imagery and figurative languages. We have basically 10 devices here. First, is the simile, it is basically comparing two distinctly different things by using 'as' and 'like'. Examples include:'as playful as a kitten'. Next, comes metaphor, it means qualities of something that is applied to another. Example:The teacher thundered at the class. Personification is definitely something not to miss, it means applying attribution of human beings to inanimate objects. Next, will be symbol. As it's name suggest, it means an object which symbolises something. Then, we move on to Visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, Kinestethic and tactile. Basically, they mean description on what you see, hear, smell, texture, flavour in the mouth, movement and touch, respectively. Do, you think that's all? Definitely not!

Next, will be the sound devices of the basic literary devices. It is basically, devices used to describe sentences that suggest, feelings or emotions through sound. First is definitely the famous device, rhyme. It is the sound of both endings of the words and you join them up together. For example, May Day. This definitely helps readers to remember the particular word more. Next is rhythm, it is the beat or the pattern of stresses that you read a passage. Thus, it ensures a smooth flow of words as you read through, thus making it easy to remember. Next , is alliteration, this means the repetition of initial consonant sounds to produce a effect that will captivate the readers. Then, comes onomatopoeia, which means the formation of words through the echo of their sounds, and the tone. Tone basically, means how you speak. For example, if you type the sentence or in BIG FORM, it will suggest that the persona or writer is angry.

You think we have finished? NO! Next, comes the advanced literary devices. First is the connotation, it means what a word implies. Than the oxymoron, which is two words of different join together to produce a contradictory images. For example, 'probably true'. Following which is the hyperbole, it means a deliberate exaggeration to stress on a emotion or feeling. Then, comes paradox which is a self-contradictory statement but it will result in a good sense. Then, comes three types of sentence, simple sentence, which means a sentence with only basically one main point, complex statement which means one or more main ideas join together with minor phrases and clauses, and incomplete statement, those are basically, truncated sentences which reflects exscitement, action and many more. Exclamation is basically a strong statement which shows feelings or emphasis on something. And, people will also like to ask rhetorical question, which is a question ask only for the effect and not actually for the answer. Following which, comes the repetition, it is basically the usage of a word or a phrase for multiple times to show emphasis or strong feelings about something.

Basically, I have come to the end of what I would like to say. However, if you think you have master literature after reading this??? Think again, because, there are definitely a lot more literary devices that are out that waiting for you to find out. Literature, is definitely a fun subject as you are like a detective, trying to decipher what is the meaning of the poem.

Learning Log 5

Unseem poem that is one big problem that I might face in the future, while tackling my literature exams. So, basically, Mrs Woo asked us to read the booklet on unseem poem and after reading it, i felt so much better as i now have a brief idea on unseem poem and how to tackle it. So, basically a unseem poem, as the name states, is basically a poem you might have never read before, and even if you do, you might not have read it in detail. Basically, there is a way to approach it. Firstly, when you read it, try to read it swiftly, do not make certain stops at certain words, after you have finished reading, it is reccomended that you jot down your thoughts somewhere. Secondly, read it the second time, this time try to figure out the meanings of the difficult words that you might not know. Then, you must understand that the poem might not be trying to conveyed its message through himself, as if he use the term 'persona' the persona might be writing in terms of other people rather than itself. Also, in answering questions regarding poems, quotations are one of the main features in that. This is to show evidence from the text in answering the question. Next, there are also two ways in answering questions, the IBC method, which is introduction, body and conclusion, and the PEEL method which is Point(what are you trying to say), Explain/Elaborate (why do you say your point), Evidence(what are some proves on saying that), Link(the connection). Also, for quotations methods, and ABC method will be usable. Attention , Brief and context. Next, to do well in unseen, an essay is also needed for students to express their ideas coherently and persuasively. Practical critism is also one major point in essay. The two main aims of practical critism is firstly, the ability to critique and analyse the text while displaying keen sensitivity to the technique used, and secondly, the abillity to communicate your arguement coherently to the person reading it through effective organization and clear and descriptive writing. A good literature student must show this to qualities, a close engagement with the text and an abillity to communicate a coherent argument. Analysis of text requires four levels in analytical skills, firstly you must have a clear awareness of the text's meaning, a logical intepretation of the text, a detailed analysis and evaluation of the text and an insightful response to the text. So basically, after reading the booklet, i feel so enlightened to tackle the unseem poem as i have a great feeling that it would be a fun and enjoyable experience.

Suggestion for improvement:
it is to have some group activities to demonstrate unseem poem.

Learning Log 4

Macbeth witches, was one tough job to act. This witches were in act 1 scene 1 and me along with my group mates, jia yi(quiet one) and sanjna(Justin bieber freak) had to act it out. Also, we had no time to make the props and no time at all to rehearse as all of us were heavily involved in something else. Also, even though we had no time, but we still try to meet up to make the props. On the day itself, I was amazed by the other groups performance and were stunningly great. Especially Justin and Phania group where the did something spectacular. For my group, we use umbrella as walking stick, so in order to add more colour, I painted my whole face white and drew lip stick all over my face to make my fact more stand out. We also use witch voices and try to make it more humorous. Also, we had little time to do our props so, we just had to whatever we can with the props.

           Points for improvement, I think we could add more colours to the umbrella. We should also have time to practice to perfect our lines and actions, but not last minute ones as they tend to tense us up.

          Honestly, I think that it would be better if Mrs Woo were able to get a triple period together and not split them up as it would be more convenient. Overall, I found this lesson very interesting and enjoyable and I hope for more enjoyable lessons to come! :D

Learning Log 3

The lesson about the prediction was one that was very funny. So, we got divided into teams of 4. So, after that we shared our ideas and after that we chose Phania’s idea as it is more easy to explain and more realistic as all of our other ideas were not easy to explain. Then, when Mrs. Woo opened her number selector, I saw yellow, red, green, and blue on each of the numbers. So, I got bored and I said that why not we do not use numbers that have been assigned to us earlier and instead use colours, and my group mates all agreed. So, each of us chose a colour.  One of my group members, Mui Siew said since she wore blue for Chinese New Year, she will choose blue and she did chose blue. I, seeing that she was so eager to choose blue, so I sort of ‘predicted’ that she will be chosen to explain to the whole class and after the number selector selected the colour, blue was chosen to present and my little ‘prediction’ was correct. Then, one classmate from each group went up stage to explain what their story is.  There were a total of 10 stories and some were funny but some were very scary like the old lady which Hui Min said to be able to predict the future. But still, like I was before the lesson, I still do not believe in predictions even though I predicted which colour would be played on the number selector. Overall, the lesson was very exciting and fun and I wished that in the future, we would continue having such fun and exciting lessons.

Learning Log 2

I found it interesting to hear and comment about some of the funny superstition that our classmate have found. We were split into groups and then we had to share the superstitions we found after checking the Internet and we laughed at one another’s work. I found a superstition saying that if you eat a Pao and a dumpling in the correct order, you will get your target. And when my classmates went to the front and discuss about the superstitions they found, I couldn’t help but to laugh out heartily.  Some of the superstitions were so funny.  To me, I do not really believe in superstitions but sometimes we are forced by the elderlies to believe in superstition. Next, I will move on to the part about the Macbeth. It was really a joy to see some of our classmate go up to act in front of the classes about the Macbeth Part 1 Scene 1 which is really funny as it trains our speaking skills. At first, when I heard the word Macbeth, I wasn’t actually expecting witches to be in the play as the word Macbeth doesn’t seem to have any link with three witches, but even though the witches did came out in surprise to me and I need to go up to act as one of the witches, I still enjoyed the lesson.

Basically, I have no comments about the lessons as it was really fun, I just hope lesson keep being like this as it is fun and enjoyable while being able to learn something from it.

I just hope that the teacher could use more of the number selector as it really is fun keeping us in suspense to see if which lucky person will go out and present on their work. It is really a joy to have the number selector selecting about our index number.

Learning Log 1

I have learn that cinquain is a poem which is made up of five lines and each line can only have a specific word capacity. The first line is the title which is the title of your cinquain then followed by the second line which is to describe the title which two words. The rule of the third line is to have three verb ending with a -ing at the back. The rule of the fourth line is to discuss about the feelings you shared for the title which four words only and finally the last word is to have an overall reaction about the title.  Cinquain is really a very fun and exciting thing to do as when you are bored you can just create your own cinquain easily.

It was very exciting and it was a group work so we can all share different views and have fun joining and creating words to form lines after lines. It was a really great experience for me.

 I think that the teachers should give us more examples as the one on skateboard is quite little as it’s the only one and I also encourage more time given so that we can make our cinquain more perfect .