The Jungle Book : Synopsis.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Hi everyone, good morning. In the last entry, *well, a few back actually, I did write a little bit about The Jungle Book, the Contemporary English Literature For Primary School Year 4. CLICK HERE. As for this entry, I will write more on the same book but more to the Synopsis.

There are 5 chapters in the book.

Chapter One    :  Mowgli's Brothers

Chapter Two    :  Kaa's Hunting

Chapter Three :  The Red Flower

Chapter Four   :  Tiger, Tiger

Chapter Five   :   Red Dog

Now, we will go by chapter.

As for Chapter One : Mowgli's Brother, the author told about the characters and the author showed that how Mowgli's ended up with Akeela (Wolf). The author also showed how Mowgli was saved from Shere Khan (Tiger), who also has killed Mowgli's parents. Here the author already showed the reader about the conflict, even though it is the beginning of the story but as we all know,*after reading the book, the first conflict started when Shere Khan killed the human's cow. So, it showed that Shere Khan was no satistified with cows, he started killing human and they were Mowgli's parents.

For Chapter Two : Kaa's Hunting. Mowgli has become a teenage boy who have been equipped with many skills. He was taught by Bagheera, Baloo and also Akela. They also taught Mowgli about the laws of the jungle. In the second chapter, Mowgli was snatched by a group of bad monkeys. Then, Bagheera (Panther) and Baloo (Big Bear) asked a rock snake called Kaa. The monkeys were terrified with Kaa, maybe because the monkeys were Kaa's meals for breakfast, lunch and also dinner.

For Chapter Three : The Red Flower. As for the chapter three, it started with a sad beginning when the Father Wolf died and Akela is getting old. Mowgli is now hunting for Akela's meals. Shere Khan is still wants to kill Mowgli. He has influenced the younger wolves to follow him and also questioned the existence of Mowgli in the pack. Shere said that Mowgli is a human and not wolf. Bagheera urged Mowgli to save his life and go away from the forest, but Mowgli declined. He wanted to stay, then, Bagheera told him about the Red Flower (fire). He said that it can be used to scare off Shere Khan. Mowgli went to the border of the village and saw a young girl carrying the 'red flower'. He took the 'red flower' and scared Shere Khan off with that, then he asked the pack about Akela should lead the pack. Unfortunately, the younger wolves were too influenced by Shere Khan's ideology. Mowgli existence was declined and he with broken-hearted went a new village.

As for Chapter Four : Tiger, Tiger. a woman named Messua recognised Mowgli and he was her lost son. She thought that he was killed by the tiger a long with his husband. She cleaned him up and put on clean clothes. Mowgli tried to fit in with his new life but he had trouble trying to find the rhythm. One day, he was given a job which was to bring the buffalo out to graze the grass. Then, the met with his old family, the wolves. Little did they know that Shere Khan was already at the village and he wanted to kill Mowgli. But then, Mowgli and the wolves has planned to trapped Shere Khan and he was killed but the trampled of the buffaloes. Then Mowgli skinned Shere and he brought the hides to show the villagers about the news and he thought that they would be very happy to see him, little did he know that they did not want Mowgli to live with them. Then Messua asked Mowgli to run away, if not he will be killed by the villagers. He went back to the forest. 

The last chapter was the climax of the book. Chapter Five : Red Dog. Mowgli was not living with the wolves pack but then he was living alone. Sometimes, he hunted with his wolf-brothers, Bagheera, and Baloo. After a few years, Mowgli has grown into a strong young man. Then, the jungle was threatened by a pack of red dogs. Won-tola, a wounded wolf, was attacked by dholes, the red dogs. They were known as the bad dogs. They worse compared to Shere Khan. Kaa helped Mowgli with a great idea but it involved the Little People (Wasps). The Little People can easily kill anybody who came to threat them. After a few days, Mowgli lured the dholes to the little people's place. The place of death. He taunted the dholes and in one incident, he cut the leader's tail as a warning to not to come to their jungle. As planned, Mowglie brought the dholes to a place where the wolves, Bagheera, Baloo, and Akela have been waiting, then, they stroked. They fought all night long and then all of the dholes were killed. Akela, the old wolf was terribly hurt. After a few words said to Mowgli, he died. They were mourning by howling to the sky. Before the chapter ends, Mowgli had a little though about what Akela has said to him, "You will leave the jungle, You will drive yourself out". Mowgli might have thought such thought, but today was not the day. He will stay as long as his pack needs him.

So, that is all for the synopsis. It might be too long but since, the story was beautifully animated, the pictures really helped the readers to think creatively.

Happy reading guy.

I will write more, okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: This was quite simple compared the animate Mowgli we saw on film.

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Student's Edition.

Assalamualaikum wbt,

How do you do my dear readers?

Hi everyone, I would love to share with you about this book entitled The Jungle Book, Student's Edition by Rudyard Kipling. This book is the textbook for Year 4 Contemporary English Literature For Primary School. 

I just read this book and to be honest, the illustration by Gerardo Sandoval is amazing. It really helps the pupils to read and be creative. The illustration is amazing. I love it. It helps the learning process. Lovely.

Now, it is mentioned by the Ministry of Education that the pupils need to have Higher Order Thinking Skills ( HOTS ). Well, these pupils need to learn more on how to think like that. To  be honest, the expectation is quite high for rural area students. We need to have more classes to help these pupils. We need to work more on that.

As for now, I will write on Literature elements.

Characters:

Shere Khan

A matured old tiger who have killed Mowgli's parents and left Mowgli alone in the jungle. Trying to kill Mowgli but saved by Akela.

Mowgli

A boy who parents killed by Shere Khan. Saved by Akela, a wolves-pack leader and raised him to be a good man. 

Akela

A matured old wolf. A wolves-pack leader, who raised Mowgli as his own and saved him from Shere Khan the Tiger. Love Mowgli very much.

Bagheera

A black panther, friend of Akela and also helped Mowgli to be a good man.

Kaa

A grown snake who always helped Mowgli in helping other animals.

Balbo

A full grown grizzly bear, who loved Mowgli very much. 

Setting:

In a jungle in India, near to a village.

Next time, I will write more on other things such as how to explain the answers, and there are several questions that I would love to ask and explain them too. 

So, that is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: It is a good story, though.

MUET 800/2 : SPEAKING TEST.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you folks? It has been a rough week for me last week. It was tiring and I am drained to my last energy. All the hectic schedule really affecting my performance. Tiring indeed.

Now, I am going to write about the incident happened to me last week *obviously.

Here is the chronology.

12/02/2017 (SUNDAY)

In the morning of 12 February, it was great day but unfortunately, my feet were not. As you all already knew that I have gout. It stroked me for quite good hours. I really thought I would recover after taking painkillers, but it really did not. I had to suffer from it for the next day.

13/02/2017 (MONDAY)

The morning of my Speaking 800/2 MUET examination. I studied the night before the exam and I had several points remembered to make the test smooth sailing. Now, due the fact that I did not be able to walk to the school *not really walking, but I need to drive myself to the school, I was ready to move on from the exam. Meaning, I was ready to move on and take it again on May session. 

14/02/2017 (TUESDAY)

I tweeted English Jer on Twitter because he is good English moderator and he knows things too. So, I asked him and he said that I need to ring the Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia to ask about it. I rang them and got answered by the person in-charged. He said that I need to email to the MPM using, tukartarikh@mpm.edu.my along with FORMAL LETTER with concrete reason for not be able to attend the exam. Now, I wrote that I have gout and alhamdulillah, praise Allah, they accepted my email and they gave me a new date for the speaking test.

15/02/2017 (WEDNESDAY)

I studied more on Speaking with pointers given by my teacher. Thank you teacher Junaidah. You helped me a lot.

16/02/2017 (THURSDAY)

The day of exam. Before that, I went to my Uncle's house in Bentong *because the exam was in Bentong, SMK Sulaiman. I had a sleepover. In that morning, after (LAST NIGHT) I went to do hijama aka cupping (bekam) at Janda Baik, my gout got a lot better. At 10.00 am, I went to SMK Sulaiman and waited at the Quarantine Room. There were two more people who had trouble like me. They too had trouble attending the examination. One was from Rawang and another was from Shah Alam, originally from Perak. YES! PERAK and SELANGOR. And I am just an English tuition teacher from Raub. WOW. 

Now, at first, we were asked to put our signature on a three-piece of paper. Then, my name was not there. My number was 3028 and line up started at 3030. How 's that? Later, I asked the head of examiner and he took the letter that we have to bring along to the examination room. They accepted the letter and we were able to take the exam. *fuh! thanked God for that opportunity.

The two late comers and I were placed at the last session. Meaning, we had to wait for the non late comers to finish their session then us. Now, did I mention that it was like 5 years ago, I practiced my English language? YES. Fully. Fullstop. Haha... 

This is analysis of the 800/2 SPEAKING TEST.

The question was to explain about THE MOST INTERESTING job.

CANDIDATE :

A: a career in music

B: a career in sports and recreational

C: a career in art and design

D: a career in Multimedia

For the task A, I was the Candidate B, so, I was assigned to give my opinion on a career in sports and recreational. It was quite tough to talk about something that you know nothing about. But, anyhow, the two minutes given used by me quite well. 

Then, the task B, where we need to interact with each other and give our opinions on the given topic. I let candidate A and C first because obviously, they agreed on my points which, I did not interested in agreeing.  Now, after they talk about agreeing with my points, well, I refused to agree with my point and I change my stance by agreeing with having a career in art and design. Art and Design to me have vast paths. Everything with art nowadays sells. Yes. So, I talk about quite a good amount of time and I really hope that I could score good marks for it.

So, that is all for last incident.

Moral of the story :

1. Do not give up.

2. Study hard.

3. Be natural.

4. Speak with ease (good choice of words)

5. Study hard to score for the next 3 other papers. *Listening, Reading Comprehension, and Writing *nervouse!!!)

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Waaahhhh

MUET My Way. Thanks Madam Audrey.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Good afternoon everyone,

Today, since this morning the SPM candidates were facing the English papers. *see, I used FACING, why? Because its a war. Hahaha.. but the real war is after you got your SPM result. Where you want to go and what path you choose to walk. Whatever it is, you have to walk your path, you cannot walk others because they too have to walk theirs

Now, you might read this blog or the other might read this blog too, know this, all the knowledge that I have written here, you may use it to your own good. I really do not mind.

Now, I have been reading this one blog, which to me is very helpful indeed.

MUET MY WAY

This blog really has done a lot good deed to its reader, Including ME!

Madam Audrey Wiles is the author and she is a MUET teacher is Sabah. I do not need to know her because I know she is on amazing person. By looking at her blog and her relationships she had/has with her students, well, her students are very luck to have her as their MUET teacher, I could say that. Amazingness.

Keep it up Madam Audrey, you have done a lot and I know, your students are actually all around Malaysia and the world. Keep on writing teacher.

That is all from me and to SPM candidates, good luck for your remaining subjects and go nuts over the answers. Haha, go nut to me means, you have to write smart, just do not waste your time thinking too much about the answers, ok?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Best of luck dears.

TIPS : Writing in English.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

A reader emailed me and asked me about writing in English.

Well, as far as I am concerned, if you are a good reader, you will remember the sentence structures of the piece that you have read. Imagine that you've read several books already and that would be amazing, because, you will be familiarised with the sentence structure. 

But then, in the email, it said that he wanted to know about how I get the ideas to write in English.

Now, writing in English is just the same as writing in other languages. You need to have the knowledge because having enough is not enough nowadays. You need to have more knowledge to become a knowledgeable person.

Let say the question in SPM is about pollution in general. Now, what you need to do is, first, define what pollution is, since pollution has three elements which are air, water and sound, you can write about these three in three different paragraphs. So, plus introduction, you now have four paragraphs. Then, put another paragraph for Hope or Recommendation and now you have five paragraph and add another for the conclusion. Voila, you have a passage worth marking. Haha... seriously. 

See, writing is all about planning. You need to spend at least 5 - 10 minutes for each question to find the points you need to write your passage. How to get solid and strong points? Through reading. Yes, it does not have to be textbooks, but any kind of writing materials. It could be a newspapers, a simple passage or even through you own rational thinking. Who knows right? Even television would be a helping hand in triggering the ideas for you writing but make sure that you watch something that really helpful and informative, not Keeping Up With The Kardashians, okay?

Good luck dear readers for your exam on Monday, right?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I will write more tips for your sake. Ok?

SPM Literature Component : Short Story : Tanjung Rhu by MinFong Ho.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

In the previous post, I did write about another short story written by Minfong Ho. Now, I will write more on the other elements that you as students need to analyse and also write during the exam.

Setting

As for setting, we divided it into three parts, Physical Setting, Social Setting and Time. For the physical setting, as you read this short story, the physical setting was in Tanjung Rhu, Singapore. Mr.Li had big house and he had big office because he was the owner of a shipyard company. When he was younger, he was living in a hut at Tanjung Rhu with his parents.

Social Setting.

As for the social setting, after read this piece, we can easily say that Mr. Li was living in a rich neighbourhood. The reason why I said that is because Mrs. Li was shown as a woman who happened to have lots of activities including tea parties. Another character mentioned in the story was Mr.Li's son who were studying in Cambrige and his daughter, Ying, who are going to New York soon. And yet, his mum's altar , the big house and their lifestyle reflects their wealth and position in the society.

Time

The time set in the recent past and could be applied to the present times too.

Characters :

As for the characters, they were four people in this story and one was mentioned by the characters but did not appear in this short story. Let us see one by one.

1. Mr. Li

63 years old man who is very rich and owned a shipyard and he just lost his mother. Loves to count the ships at the shipyard. A caring man because he bought  binoculars to his lat mother just because he wanted her mother to see as far as she can. He loved his mother very dearly and she even scolded her daughter Ying for being rough with her. He was torn between traditions and modern ways. Even tough he was a successful man, he still believed in the parents' blessings in finding comfort and strength.

2. Li's mother

A very gentle lady, who has lived so many years and had gone through so many things in her life and now is old and frail. She loved her son very dearly and she did not need anything but loves and cares. She too loved her granddaughter, who is very proud that she can do lots of things. Li's mother was a very well-mannered woman and she hold to the traditions very strong. She strongly believed that custom and traditions need to be hold carefully and respectfully.

3. Helen

Mr.Li's wife and she really enjoys tea parties with her friends which it was very displeasure to Mr. Li.

4. Ying

The daughter of Mr.Li and Helen. A young and modern girl but very kind and understanding. She was very sensitive and she too was trying to build a bridge between her father and mother. 

Themes

1.Traditions and rituals count in life.

2. Love is a wonderful element in live.

3. Material things do not really count.

Moral Values

1.Respect

2. Traditions should be maintained

3. Kindness and consideration matter

Point of View

This story was written in the third person point of view. The whole story was from Mr.Li's eyes.

That is all for now, I will be back with Tone and Mood, Language and Style.

Thank you for reading my writings.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Keep on reading.

SPM Literature Component : Short Story : Tanjung Rhu by MinFong Ho.

Assalmualaikum WBT,

Have you read about Tanjung Rhu by MinFong Ho?

If you haven't, please do. Why? It was one of the short stories in the Literature Component for SPM and one most important thing is, that short story was amazing. I read it and I admit that it took me quite a few readings to understand it, but I managed, so, please, you still have time to read it before the SPM. Hihu...

But then, since I have read the story, I will write about it here, through my understanding of the short story. Tanjung Rhu was written by MinFong Ho and the version that we are using is the retold version by Clare West. Tanjung Rhu is about a family lived in Tanjung Rhu, Singapore. The main character is Mr. Li, who own a big shipyard and he was very rich man. Mr. Li had a mother and his mother died at the beginning of the story. Helen was Mr.Li's wife and Ying is Mr.Li and Helen's daughter. There were on four characters in the short story. 

If you read the story, it was quite intense but you really need to understand what is the gist of the short story. You have to read to understand the story, do not just read the synopsis, no. You have to read all the way. 

I will write more on the about all the things that you need to know about elaborating a short story. Okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I am so sorry, I was too busy with things. 

SPM Literature Component : Leaving by M.G. Vassanji. Read more.

Assalamualaikum WBT and hello everyone.

I noticed that my writings were read by many people who came from various backgrounds. Thank you very much. 

Now, as promised, I will write on Moral Values, Point of View, Tone and Mood, Language and Style and last but not least, Literary Devices.

As you all know that Leaving by M.G. Vassanji is from the book Changing their Skies. Stories from Africa. We are going to jump straight at the topic.

Moral Values : 

1. Thinking rationally.

Rational thinking is important because in this story, Aloo's mother needs to stop being emotional because she needs to put her emotions aside, just to let her mind do all the thinking. Remember when Aloo said that he wanted to go abroad because he wanted to study differently from what his mum has planned for him? Medicine instead of agriculture. But then, after have a deep thought of it, his mother decided to talk to the school officer, Mr. Velji before making the decision. She is shown as a very humble, balanced and yet emotional mother. Well, who does not want the best for their children, right?

2. Paying attention to important things is what bring success to Aloo.

As told in the story, Aloo is a very hard-working and smart student. He passed all the exams with flying colours. Why? It is because he is talented, gifted and yet very hard-working student. He listened to his teachers. He too read all the brochures about the university that he wanted to go, in America. The land where dream comes true.

3. Be a responsible person

The moral values of responsibility can be found anywhere in the short story IF you read it carefully understood the story and you can relate it to your lives. Trust me, it would make a lot better. Let say, you take the example of Aloo's mother of being responsible to her children or Aloo being responsible of being a student at school. You can elaborate simple based on that. Connect the dots, okay?

Point of View :

Leaving was told by Aloo's sister, remember that right? It was in first person point of view. It is the family relationships through her eyes.

Tone and Mood :

Heartwarming is the tone for this story and it generally reflects the love and care the family members have for each other. The mood is positive and optimistic. The main character also hopes to have better future and one day he will comeback to his hometown and take care of his mother. Now, usually in the SPM question, it needs you to put some examples and do not hesitate to put some example from you point of view, okay?

Language and Style :

After you read Leaving by M.G. Vassanji, you will find that the author was using basically simple and direct language. Easy to understand.

Literary Devices :

The famous Literary Devices used by authors are Imagery, Simile and also Symbolism, but you can choose any from many Literary Devices that you know but you have to put the example. Find it for yourself but here I will write a few for your reference.

1. Imagery

Descriptive words create interesting and vivid images in the reader's mind.

E.G.

"Wild land, with tall trees and at night it felt lonely, frightening place." (Page 32)

"An exciting new world was waiting or him." (Page 33)

Simile

A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind.

E.G.

"He had a large head, which looked like an egg". (Page 36)

"He walked in like a soldier...". (Page 36)

IronyThe expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect or in other words, sarcasm.

E.G.

Aloo's mother refers to Aloo's uncles in America who will pay for the university fees. (Page 32,34)

Now, Aloo's mother was being sarcastic and Aloo did not have uncles or relatives in the USA and the reason why she said that because, she was trying to cover her sadness because she does not have money to pay for the college.

Tips for SPM in answering the questions.

1. You need to read and understand the story and also the gist of the story. Do not neglect that.

2. You need to understand the pages, well, at least a few of it.

3. You CANNOT LEAVE blank answer sheet. PLEASE, write anything that related to the questions. Anything.

4. Be prepared.

5. Read.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Good luck for your SPM dear readers.

p/s: Keep reading and understand the concept then you will be able to answer the questions.

1st Year BEN UniSZA 2008/2009

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my dear readers?

Now, while I was driving later this afternoon, I was thinking about my first year in UniSZA. It was in 2008. 7 years ago. Time really flew. Huhuhu... I can not catch it. Ever.

But, I still remember the people who I first met during my first day. I was alone. In a land where things were so different. They were. Very different. I still remember how awkward the situation was when I was given the wrong key to the temporary room. They gave me the female dorm's key. Stupid they were indeed, but I cannot blame them for being confused with me. Hahaha... No, I was not even confusing to others, no.

Then, we were moved from the temporary rooms to the real ones. NOW, I was thinking, what it they were just trying to make us bring out baggage just to see us suffer from carrying all those bags. Hahaha... 

Then, I entered the class and in the class, we came from every sort of lives, trust me but the majority of the students were the ex-TESL students from the same faculty. Well, now you know. To be honest, the class was divided to several groups, the Ex-Tesl students, the STPM students, the 2nd intake, the 3rd intake and the pulled-in students. No bad people or terms and I will explain later.

1. Ex-TESL students

These students were the ex-TESL from the same faculty, Faculty of Languages and Communication but before UniSZA became UniSZA, it was Pusat Bahasa during KUSZA time. Diploma in TESL was offered for the students and that was where ex-TESL students came from. They were nice, yes. Some of them were good.

2. The STPM students

This was my group. Haha, I was too a STPM student who came just because I managed to get Band 2 (Upper) and my SPM was A2. Haha, my STPM result was not that good but I managed to get to university, talking about rezeki. I am grateful. Grateful indeed. We were the STPM students who happened to have potential but most of us not really know what English was. Haha, awkward. To be honest, I was not a good student before and I did not know how to speak using English language, but I learned. Now, alhamdulillah, we at least after 4 years, I am able to know some rules and grammar in English language, well, at least the simple ones. 

3.  The 2nd, 3rd and so one intakes

Even though they were 2nd or 3rd intakes, now, they ware scattered around Malaysia doing amazingly. For example, Dean, he is now a full time lecturer in UNIMAS and he has finished studying for his Master's Degree. Another is Fauzan, he is now in Terengganu and he was doing amazingly. I could not be proud with them. Amazing.

4.  The pulled-in students

As far as I am concerned, there were three pulled-ins, they were the late Shirazi, Nadhirah and also Fauzan. Why the heck, I called them the pulled-in, right? Now, the Dean at time was Madam Azizah Endut, I really heard rumours that she pulled some guns to get my friends in and to be honest, she really made a great choice because now, Nadhirah was not only the best student in the Batch, she is now a Master's Degree holder and a businesswoman. Beat that peaches. Haha, and Fauzan. I cannot be proud of him anymore. He is one of my bestfriends, he is amazingly great. Great human being, great person. Enuff said.

During my first year, I did quite okay, I managed to get 3.00 and 2.99 respectively for the two terms. At first, to be honest, my English structure was like, "What the heck" level, then I managed to get it fixed by learning more from friends and my own initiative. Love it. Haha.... 

My first was great and I managed to get along with great friends. Love it.

My innocence year.

1st year BEN UniSZA 2008/2009.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I will write on my years more later on.

Writing in English Language.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I actually have one question to asked to all my readers,

"When you started writing, what did you do first?"

Well, now, when I started writing, I will think about the ending of my writing. Why? It is because, the ending is the best part. That is why you need to think about the ending first. But, the first thing ever, you need to jot down all of the possibilities of your passage.

You need to think about the points that you want to put in your passage. Let say, you passage is about Your Dream. Therefore, you need to write about your dream and also you need to think what inspires your dream. Let say, you want to be a soldier, then, you have to identify the person/situation/spirit that inspires you in becoming a soldier. You need think about all the points and in the end, the ending must be amazing.

But if it is quite different when you write something formal. You need to at least draft the format. Let say, you were given a task on writing a formal letter to your classroom teacher because you need to take a day off. Now, what you need to think about the appropriate reasons that would support your writing. Then you need to think about the date, days and explanation on the reason that you wrote. 

So, it is the same with Bahasa, you need to think about the format that suitable for your writing. 

Now, is that all clear? I think yes for now, I do not want to put your mind into something that too far for your thoughts. Later on in my next entries, I will write more on this okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: hope you get something from my writings.

Stop Spreading Fault News, Morons.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

What are doing people? Have you heard about the incident happened in Makkah? It was a very sad event. My dad is there to perform his Hajj and we were worried about his safety. On the night the incident happened, we did not call him yet, but early the next day, we rang him and just to know that he picked up the phone and said that he is safe from the incident, we were so very happy. So happy, more to relief, I guess.

Now, as we all know, there were several Malaysian pilgrims involved in the incident and if I am not mistaken, five of them were dead. Innalillahi wa innailahiroji'un, may Allah graces your existences in Earth and keep you all by His side till forever. Amen. 

As I read through several blogs on the internet, I cam across this blog telling that the family of Cikgu Nuroshlizan were disappointed with the news circling in the social media. There were people editing and telling people that the late Cikgu was found in sujud position. And the family has confirmed with the Tabung Haji and also the responsible people, it was not. They denied the news. To me, it was a faulty. A faulty mistake made by fools.

Stop spreading news that is not even a news. Do not hurt the family. What happened if the children of Cikgu Nuroshlizan see those stupid news? What would they feel? Happy? Excited? To those people who happened to have shared this news, please. Stop it. Ok?

That is all from me, May Allah protect that pilgrims and grace them with provision and support and help them complete the Hajj and 'umrah that You have made incumbent upon them. Amin.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Need to gather my strength to write about SPM English paper.

SPM English Literature : Short Story : Leaving by M.G. Vassanji.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do my dear readers? I really hope that you have read my previous entries because I really do believe that when you have read something, things will be played on your mind for quite some times.

Now, for this entry, I will write about another short stories for the SPM Literature Component Form 4 which is Leaving by M.G. Vassanji.

For those who have read Leaving, you will know what it is all about but for those who have not read yet, you need to know this. Read it with open mind and heart because once you have opened your mind and heart, then, you will able to extract all the information that you will need in answering the questions.

Now, Leaving is a short story about a teen boy named Aloo. He is a very bright young boy who happened to have this ambition of studying abroad. Leaving took place in Tanzania, Africa. But then, Aloo's mother is reluctant to let his son go. Why? It is because his mother is afraid to lose her son. She have seen a few people got back from abroad and lost their culture. She does not want that to happen to her son. Aloo is offered by the local university to study agriculture but he refused. He wants more, he wants to go abroad and study medicine in America, to be exact. 

Aloo's mother refuses to let him go and she also does not have money to buy the air ticket. She also feels hurt because its like, Aloo wants to go away from her and that makes her heart dismayed and she feels betrayed by Aloo's consideration for not considering her feeling as a mother. 

But then mother's heart is the best ever. Seeing Aloo's eagerness, she decides to talk to Aloo's school officer ; where he studies. Mr. Velji tells her that Aloo will get good education abroad but he is afraid that Aloo might lose his identity but Aloo states firmly that he will not get lost.

Aloo's mother advises him that not to give up on his values and beliefs before she allow Aloo to go. Aloo is excited and he also write to his mother who is wondering if he is going to comeback home or not. 

Well, that was a little bit about the synopsis about Leaving. To me, it was a wonderful yet inspiring short story. It was about family conflict but in a good way. To us Malaysians, if its about studying, everything is ok. We really put education ahead of everything. Yes, we are. That is why sometimes, we happened to overseen the important of politeness and respect in our everyday lives. How that?

Now, tha is all from me, I will write about the Characters, Plot, Setting, Time, Theme, Moral Values, Point of View, Tone and Mood, Language and Style and also Literary Devices. 

But, you have to read this story first, in order to understand what I will write here. You have to read it. It is not that hard to understand because, the language used in the short story is quite easy understand. No bombastic words used. So! Read on.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: One by one.  

SPM English Literature : Poem : The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

As promised, for this entry, I want to write about Themes, Moral Values and also, Language and Style for the poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade. 

Themes :

1. Heroism and courage

According to the poem by Tennyson, the soldiers knew that they were up against a better armed enemy (Russians), yet they charged into battle with great courage. Now, this is where everything come across very doubtful in the modern days where we have lots of opinions and ideas. Logically, we were NOT going to charge at any battle, IF we know enemy has better guns and bombs, right? But, that was not modern days, they were not asked to think about them but the country. That was the vow that they took. But, what can do, right? Some were just bluntly followed the ruler WITHOUT analysing anything. Too bad.

2. Patriotism

This poem was written in the heyday of extreme nationalism and patriotism. As mentioned above, people during the war were thinking 'the other way'. Meaning, they were always agreed with their ruler without having 'the other thoughts'. In modern days, people are more questioning and critical in their concept of patriotism. 

3. Duty

From the poem, even though the soldiers knew that 'someone has blundered', still they had a strong sense of duty. It almost like, its their duty to protect the country of their own. They had this thought of they need to protect their families, their friends, their parents and they had to. Why? because they obeyed the order given to them. 

4. The tragedy of war

As we all know, war is not the best thing ever created by Man. We tend to think that by having war, we could solve many problems, but do really think that Iran has Nuclear powerplant? What has happened to those Middle East countries? And yet, those people believe in war? The same concept can be applied in this poem. How many loved ones had been sacrificed just for the sake of war? Yes, Tennyson wrote about the six hundred soldiers who involved in the charge, but with a little bit of common sense, we could just easily think about the counterpart, the Russians. They too must have been suffered from loss, didn't they? Tragedy indeed.

5. Leadership failure

Now, my friend once said, if we want to kill the snake, we need to smack the head first. So, in the failure of the charge by the 600 British soldiers, from what we understood from the poem, that 'someone' needed to be blamed. Why? because he was the caused of the unfortunate ambush. Now, the poem tells us that leadership is a serious responsibility which should be exercised with care and sensitivity. 

Moral Values

1. Patriotism

We nowadays lack of patriotism. Why? I do no know what made the cause of lack of patriotism, but we really need to change the attitude on that. We need to love our country like we love ourselves. The poem tells us that the spirit of self-sacrifice shown by the soldier even though they knew they might not survive the battle. 

2. Duty

We need to be responsible person at all time. Why? because we are our own responsibility. We need to have a sense of duty and obligation in our work. By doing the best at any time, we have a step closer to a better person. As the soldiers in the poem, they had to go the battle because its their duty. That came from the sense of obedience that those soldiers had. 

3. Anti-war Sentiment

This is actually one of the moral values. Anti-war sentiment, have you ever heard of the war in Vietnam? Thailand? Iraq? Syria? Iran? What would be benefits for BOTH parties? Answer? Nothing. It only brought benefits to one party. We as human, who happened to have great minds need to think about our environment. Wars did not just effect the Man but also the nature and wars killed humans. The poem can also be seen as subtle attack on the wastage of lives in war.

Language and Style

When we talk about language and style, we need to refer to the literary items that I believed you have learned from your teachers at school. If you have trouble understanding it, please, refer to your teachers, ask them about the literary items.

Repetition

The poet makes intensive use of repetition (refrains) to create a hypnotic effect. Examples of such refrains are half a league (repeated thrice) and Rode the six hundred (repeated four times). The refrains also give us the impression of an army marching forward.

Anaphora and Rhyme

Anaphora means 'backward reference'. There was one stand out example is the repeated use of 'Theirs' in the opening lines.

" Theirs not to make reply,

  Theirs not to reason why,

  Theirs but to do and die. "

Imagery

Now, imagery means giving adjective to the situation. For examples, 

'the mouth of Hell', 'jaws of Death' and also 'the valley of Death'.

With these images, we sense the poet's underlying unease about war even though he glorifies the heroism of the soldiers. The equation of war with the 'jaws of Death' suggests that war is a predator that feeds on human lives.

So, that is all on the explanation on the selected sub topics.

I really hope that you could understand a few points I have written. If you were to have any question, do not hesitate to email me at akmall_kiut@yahoo.com

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Know the concept then apply it with your own sense but do not astray from the original topic. *that's my advise.

Learning English Grammar : Conditionals - 'if"

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my dear readers? How do you do? I am so very sorry for not updating many as much entries as I could for these past few months. Too busy, I just cannot cope with two blogs, I could only update just one blog, plus, I am using my hand phone as my medium to update my blog. I am so very sorry.

Therefore, on that note, I want to update a little bit on English grammar.

Have you ever heard of Conditionals - 'if'?

Well, you haven't, I will explain it to you what Conditionals - 'if' is. The 'if' clause is used to talk about events that have not happened and what will be the results if they happen. The 'if'' clauses are used in the following ways:

Type 1 Conditional

1. To talk about a real or possible situation

'if' clause (The Simple Present Tense) + Main clause (The Simple Future Tense)
                                                             - will + main verb
                                                             - will be + adjective

Examples :

If you read more books, you will improve you English.
If it rains, I will not go out.
If you do not eat now, you will be hungry.

Note : Instead of  will, we can use auxiliary verbs like may/might (probability), may (permission), can (permission or ability) or must/should/ought to (obligation or duty).

Type 2 Conditional

2. To talk about an unreal or impossible situation

'if' clause (The Simple Past Tense) + Main clause
                                                       - would + main verb
                                                       - would be + adjective

Examples :

If Liza went out with them, she would regret it.
If she received the present, she would send it back.
If they were singers, they would be famous.

Type 3 Conditional

3. To talk about a situation which is impossible because it refers to the past.

'if' clause (The Past Perfect Tense) + Main clause
                                                      - would have + past participle
                                                      - would have been + objective

Examples :

If Kanye had taken the test, he would have passed.
If I had known that she was coming, I would not have joined this trip.
If he had planned this carefully, the outcome would not have been disappointing.

That is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I can't promise. Haha...

SPM English Literature : Poem : The Living Photograph

Assalamualaikum WBT,

This is the first poem that I want to share with you all.

Poem 1 : The Living Photograph

The Living Photograph

My small grandmother is tall there, 

Straight back, white, broderie anglaise shirt,

pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,

a kind, old smile round her eyes.

Her big hand holds mine,

white hand in the black hand.

Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.

It was true, after all, that look.

My tall grandmother became small.

Her back round and hunched.

Her soup forgot to boil.

She went to the awful place grandmothers go.

Somewhere unknown, unthinkable

But there she is still,

In the photo with me at three,

The crinkled smile is still living, breathing.

Jackie Kay

Now, interpreting other's poem, we need to study the poet background first, then we can relate with what he or she was trying to convey. 

Poet

As you can see there, the poet's name is Jackie Kay which was born  November 9 1961 in Edinburgh, Scotland to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father. Her parents gave her away for adoption to white Scottish parents (John and Helen Kay) who brought her up in Glasgow with great affection. The grandmother in the poem above was her adoptive grandmother who also loved her as much as her biological parents. Thus, from an early age, Jackie Kay was often baffled by her ethnic identity as she looked "coloured" compared to her adoptive "white" grandmother and adoptive parents. This poem, like many other by Jackie Kay, reflects her generally happy, childhood, as well as her concerns about her true 'biracial' ethnic identity.

About the poem

The persona captured two images of her adoptive grandmother -one seen in the photograph when the persona was three years old and another image of her grandmother as the lady became older and finally passed away. The persona resonates with the memories of many young people who have lost their beloved grandparents. 

Theme

1. Appreciation and affection for a grandparent

2. Search for the persona's identity

3. The mystery of ageing and death

4. Filial piety ( Virtue respect for one's ancestor )

Moral Value

1. Filial piety

2. Inter-racial harmony

Tone/Mood of Poem

The poet used childlike voice but with confident and optimistic despite her reference to the grandmother's death.

Persona or Speaker

The persona in the poem is a child who grows from the age of three in the photograph to a more mature age.

Point of View

It was narrated by the persona in the first person

Language and Style

Persona and Child Talk

Contrasting Imagery

Descriptive Details.

Now, that is all for now, I will include more information from time to time and this is not the last entry you see from me. Yes. I have the Charge of the Light Brigade that I need to tell you more on.

Yes,

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Hope you could find something here, love.

SPM : English Literature Components.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my avid/loyal readers. *is there's any? hahaha

Now, firstly, I would love to apologise for not being such a good blogger cause, I have been neglecting this blog with no English Grammar Entries. I am so sorry, please, forgive me for being such a jerk, okay?

Therefore, for today, because of I have been teaching my students, form 4 students a few things on Literature Components. I want to share with you one of two poems that I taught them.

But before that, I want to let you know what poetry is.

Poetry is a creative literary piece made up of specially-arranged words in metre or free verse. It is often written with rhyme and rhythm in a group of lines called stanza or verse.

What are the key elements of poetry?

Theme, Moral Value, Persona or Speaker, Setting, Tone and Mood, Point of View, Language and Style

Now, I will explain briefly on each of these.

Theme : The theme is the idea, point of view or perception expanded upon in the poem. It expresses a message, issue or feeling that the poet wishes to highlight. In simple words, theme is about how the author wants to convey. The idea that the author or poet want us to know.

Moral Value : These are lessons that can be learnt from the poem. Meaning, the goods and the bads that you can identify from the literature piece that you studied and you relate that with the moral value that you know. This is more like you understanding towards the piece itself.

Persona or Speaker :  The persona is the speaker or 'voice' in the poem. This is a person created by the poet to convey his message. Well, sometimes, the poet used "I, or We" as the pronoun, but there are poets chose to use names other than theirs just to tell the story.

Setting : The place where the poem takes place and the time when it is written.  It is also denotes the social environment of the poem.

Tone and mood : The tone is the poet's/speaker's attitude towards the subject, audience, or towards himself/herself. Mood refers to the general feeling created in the poem. It is connected with inner feelings and state of mind.

Points of view : This relates to theme a bit, but it more to the person who speaking in the poem. It may mean the persona or someone else. It can be conveyed in the first person point of view where the words 'I' or 'We' are used. This means that the persona and poet are the same person. It can also be written in the third person point of view where the words 'she', 'he', 'it' or 'they' are used. This persona is someone else other than the poet.

Language and Styles : Styles refers to the way a poet uses language to express his ideas. These are the commonly used styles in literature.

Imagery
Metaphor
Simile
Personafication
Sound Device
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Symbolism
Repetition

These are the literature devices that usually used by the poets.

So, that is all for now, in the next entry, I will tell a bit on a poem entitled The Living Photograph.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: It is actually fun learning literature. Yes.


source : Modul Menguasai SPM Form 4 ( Kamala Ganehsan and Louis Rozario Doss ) from SASBADI. ISBN 978-983-59-7349-9

Little Laugh.

Assalamualaikum WBT

I have this cute joke that I want you to know, hahaha..

What is the answer?

Well, you got the punch line right? GUMMY BEAR. Gummy... hahaha...

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Little laugh wont hurt.

Be You.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Be you. Be yourself.

Sometimes, being ourselves is not what people want to see and they prefer we being someone else. How weird, they said to be yourself but then when we showed our true colours, they defied it.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: What is your colour?

Be Creative!!

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Our education is not creative, so! we have to be creative in order for us to fit into the education.

Be creative.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: your needs, your creativity, broaden your mind and accept the possibilities and apply it.

Treasure.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Do not ever give up when doing something because we do not know the hidden treasure.

Dont ever!

Assalamualaikum wbt

p/s: sometimes you just need to push a little bit more.