Depressed.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Do It Or Else....
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Task 2
Point of View
Point: The poem is written in the point of view of a person who has had first-hand experience with Agent Orange.
Evidence: He knew about the “Execrable effects of agent orange spray!” and the “ deceit that continues to spread” about Agent Orange.
Elaboration: The poet exhibits a profound understanding towards the consequences and effects of Agent Orange. He knew about the “birth defects” and “prematurely dead”, both of which are the dire consequences of Agent Orange. His knowledge was most likely gained through first-had experience. We know this to be true as he was in fact exposed to this toxin during his time as a soldier.
Situation and Setting
Point: The setting of the poem is after the Vietnam war.
Evidence: The whole poem is in the past tense, such as “America did not foresee” and “now thinking twice”, which means the event (Vietnam war) happened in the past.
Elaboration
Since the setting is after the war, some of the victims of Agent Orange would have surfaced and the poet would know about the actual consequences of Agent Orange. He realizes that war is dangerous not only for soldiers, but also innocent civilians, and even babies not even born! The poet is also able to discern the :deceit” spread by the government, and provide the truth to those who read his poem.
Language and Diction
Point: The poet uses oxymorons and some other interesting words.
Evidence: “Rainbow Death”
“potpourri”
“Nefariously”
“Execrable”
Elaboration: “Rainbow Death” is an oxymoron. Rainbows are commonly associated with happiness, hope and the light after the rain. However, death is sinister, bad and sorrowful. This oxymoron emphasizes the harmful effects of using Agent Orange.
“Potpourri” is a metaphor. It means: a mixture of dried petals and leaves from various flowers and plants that is used to give a room a pleasant smell. However, the context of the poem, I think that it just means dried (or dead) petals and leaves. The killing leaves and petals are actually one of the goals for using Agent Orange. However, just like the flora, many other people were killed by Agent Orange. Also, potpourri also mean an unusual mixture of things. The effects of Agent orange were many, from disabilities to babies with two faces, or missing limbs etc.
“Nefariously” is an interesting word that means evil. The poet is indicating that Agent Orange was just evil, and covering it up was even more so. From here, we can infer that he is strongly anti-war.
“Execrable” also means evil or bad. Again, the poet suggests that war is bad.
Personal Response
The poet is able to make me change my perspective of war. His ominous descriptions of the numerous evils as well as the plight of the victims makes me pity the victims of this horrible weapon. Vietnam is known to still feel the effects of this chemical weapon. Many of the villagers were born with birth defects, although they did nothing wrong. The poet describes this groups of people as the “unborn” and “prematurely dead”. The line “Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn” suggests that America, being powerful both militarily and politically, was bullying a weaker nation, or rather a weaker group of people. America is portrayed as selfish through the line ;expecting others to pay a high price”. Hence, the poet is able to evoke my sympathy for the victims of Agent Orange.
IT Home Learning Assignment: Task 1
Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!
by Hubert Wilson
This poem speaks of a chemical weapon, called “Agent Orange”, used during the Vietnam war. This chemical weapon was supposed to kill forests such that the Viet-cong could be driven out of hiding. However, this chemical also affected humans. As a result, millions of people were infected, with over 400,000 deaths and disabilities. Subsequent generations of children had many birth defects.
During the war, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the range of “Rainbow Herbicides” employed in the herbicidal warfare program. This groups of chemical weapons not only infected the Vietnamese, but also some Americans. Hubert Wilson was one such victim.
Some of its effects include:
- Prostrate Cancer
- Respiratory cancers
- Chloracne
- Leukemia
As evident, Agent Orange has many detrimental effects to its victims, as well as future generations of children. Furthermore, some of its effects can only be felt 20 to 30 years after exposure. Hubert Wilson suddenly came down with some symptoms associated with Agent Orange. He thus wrote this poem to condemn war and the usage of chemical weapons.
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html
http://bhopal.net/oldsite/oldwebsite/agentorange.html
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Lack of Camaraderie- A Pressing Issue Indeed
Hi guys,
Browsing through the pages of 2O1's history, I have come to a conclusion. Our class lacks camaraderie. Short, seemingly harmless, yet pressing and fatal.
The first sign of a un-bonded class is the unwillingness to help out each other in schoolwork. I would like to express my appreciation to those who really help me as well as the other classmates in the class. Yes, that means Martin, Jonathan, Hui Ming, Zhi Xin, Dexter etc. However, I feel that sometimes we are unwilling to help others, including me. Although help is still rendered in the end, I occasionally get a little frustrated or irritated. It is just human nature to be selfish and self-protecting. I promise that I will help everyone to the best of my ability.
The second sign is the flaming of classmates on blogs. From the posts that I have read, many involve unreasonable and often fictional descriptions of another classmate. It is extremely saddening to see fissures forming in the class. I hope that there will not be anymore hatred in the class, especially unjustified ones.
The third sign is the many “social circles” formed in the class. Well, it might not be bad if it was an open social circle, however in the class it is an extremely closed social circle. Somehow I feel as if the whole class has been divided into a few factions opposing each other in subtle ways. There is no sense of belonging to the class.
So how did the lack of camaraderie affect us, you may ask. Well, for one we got into a lot of trouble with our results. Our MSG ranking dropped 10 positions. That is one great “accomplishment”. However, I think this could have been averted if the class had enough teamwork to help each other out. Though it might seem troublesome, you never know when that person might help you in return. Furthermore, by repeating your knowledge to others, you are actually learning yourself! As the Chinese saying goes, revise the old and learn the new, you are able to gain knowledge just by thinking about it again. It is not a disadvantage to you to be helpful to others, in fact it is beneficial to you.
To solve the problem of the lack of camaraderie or the lack of class-spirit, I propose that we have more outings/CIP activities. Having fun is the best way to develop teamwork and camaraderie (unless you prefer the more painful solution-going through very hard times together). It will not be easy, but it is possible. For a better class, it must be done.
Whether you are a member of “fearsome four____” or the “waterpolo brothers” or the “mighty muggers”, I sincerely hope that everyone will be able to put aside their personal feuds and start anew, to rediscover the class in a whole new way.
Thank You
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Popularity VS Profit
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Aftermath of TKAM
WOOHOO!!! To Kill a Mockingbird literature test is finally over! Here's a song I want to dedicate to TKAM:
(sung to the tune of What a friend I have in Jesus)
When this test is gone and over,
Oh, how happy I will be!
No more boring annotations,
No more literature for me.
No more TKAM essay writing,
No more studying prejudice.
When this test is gone and over,
How I'll sleep and how I'll dream!
Well, that song pretty much sums up what I have to think about TKAM. Personally, I feel that TKAM is not very suitable to teach in Hwa Chong at a sec 2 level. Here is what happened what I first took out the book:
- "WOW! So thick! I don't fell like reading it already"
- I look at the synopsis and think, "I don’t know what will happen in the story at all!"
- “Why is the first two pages about the history of some weird old guy from some fictional American town?"
- “Hey, I think I’ll just leave this book alone until my teacher instructs me to read it.”
Even after analyzing the book in class, I still am not able to appreciate the book. If you ask me, Animal Farm is so much more interesting and captivating than TKAM. As people who have just reached teen-hood, I feel that we do not really find much importance in knowing about prejudice or moral courage, let alone take interest in it. Adults might think that it is of utmost importance to educate teenagers on the proper kinds of courage so that teenagers would not get into fights or start arguments, but instead have the courage to walk away. However, how effective can a literature book be in educating teenagers?
Yes, it is one of the greatest novels of all time. Yes, it has won the praise of many critics. However, I feel that it has not won over us teenagers. It is common to hear a swear word associated with the boredom of studying TKAM in class every morning, and sometimes on Facebook. This 'phenomenal' is not only confined to HC. There are many people from other schools such as RI or NY who post complains about the book on facebook.
The most compelling reason why this book is not suitable to be taught is because it not only did not serve its purpose of eradicating prejudice, it in fact made many of us more prejudiced. Many of the racist and ostracizing terms from the book were introduced into our vocabulary. Was TKAM counter-productive?
Personally, I think that Lord of the Flies would be more suitable to be taught in school. Although it has a violent nature, it is still acceptable to teenagers nowadays, who think nothing of playing violent video games that involve killing innocent people. Furthermore, its theme of savagery will prove to us that violence will get us nowhere. Its plentiful and varied vocabulary will serve to improve our english language skills (based on the first chapter. I am not sure whether the rest of the book is as such).
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Intrapersonal Intelligence Assignment
Which character would you like to play in the movie version of the novel? Explain.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Visual/Spatial Intelligence Assignment
LA IT Home Learning Assignment
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Changes to My Blog
Hi guys,
- the font is not too small
- The picture is not behind the words, thus it does not cause difficulty in reading
- There is a clear colour contrast--Black background and white words
- there is a large enough sidebar to fit my widgets