Tales… every one of us must have listened to tales, myths or legends when we are young, either in the house, elementary school or primary schools. Since young, we are exposed to the story telling by our parents, grandparents or teachers. Many of us believe that tales, myths or legends are merely made up stories. However, we can’t deny the fact that there are moral values that can be derived from them. In addition, students are more interested in listening stories because of their childhood habit and this makes them to be imaginative. I would strongly recommend that teachers may use tales, myths or legends as a teaching tool in literature lesson or even language lesson. For example, if a teacher wants to teach moral values to the students, they won’t listen and learn. Therefore, if the teacher uses tales, myths or legends as a medium to convey the messages/moral values, students indirectly perceived the value especially beginner students who face difficulties with language. Thus, it would indirectly contribute to the students’ language learning.
In EDU3234, I have read few tales like Ovid’s ‘Daedalus and Icarus’ and ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’, and Aesop’s Fables like The Fox and The Crow. From these tales, one example is the teacher may use ‘The Fox and The Crow’ as a set induction in their lesson to teach literary devices such as plot, setting, characterization, theme and moral values/messages. In conclusion, student will be more interested if the teacher use visual aids to support their stories.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
‘I Have A Dream’
If you were asked to give a speech in any occasion, what would you do? How do you prepare yourself before you give speech? Well, I would probably write my points on what am I suppose to talk and know who my audiences are. However, we can’t say that our speech is effective so that it may affect many people but I can say one person whose speech is powerful and effective. He is none other than Martin Luther King Jr. He led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream". I had the opportunity to read the text courtesy of Miss Dzeelfa who discussed the speech and thanks to Jasmine’s group who downloaded the video of his speech. I was amazed to see the crowd and power that he possessed in order to not just attract but sustain their attention….Wow…
Furthermore, he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. Well, this man deserved all the honors because I can see the enthusiasm, vision and fire in him for his people while him delivering the speech. In Malaysia, our ex-prime minister Tun Dr.Mahathir can be said as a good speaker, as he has been invited to PBB to convey speech in PBB conferences. Students in ESL classroom should be exposed to famous speeches as it would encourage them to speak.
Furthermore, he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. Well, this man deserved all the honors because I can see the enthusiasm, vision and fire in him for his people while him delivering the speech. In Malaysia, our ex-prime minister Tun Dr.Mahathir can be said as a good speaker, as he has been invited to PBB to convey speech in PBB conferences. Students in ESL classroom should be exposed to famous speeches as it would encourage them to speak.
Alternatives: Jigsaw Reading using Newspapers
Newspaper articles have long been a staple item in both reading and conversation classes because they are generally short, predictable in style, timely in content, and easy to find and use. However, the traditional method of having students read silently, answer comprehension questions, and then discuss an article can become boring to both students and teachers. An alternative to this traditional approach is turning articles into jigsaw activities, in which any one student only has a portion of the information needed to complete a task.
The advantage of jigsaw activities is that students must depend on each other for their information, so they must interact to accomplish a given task. The technique described below for making jigsaw activities from newspaper articles structures activities so that students read the text, hear the text, master new vocabulary, paraphrase, and interact at all stages of the activity (not at just the discussion stage, as in the traditional approach). In my experience, pre-intermediate to advanced students have almost all preferred using jigsaw newspaper articles to the traditional approach. The general procedure described below can be used with other types of texts as well as with newspaper articles. The description below is for a discussion class, but I have also used it with introductory sections of chapters in books as a warm-up activity for long texts.
Select a newspaper article to suit your teaching purpose and student level. Decide how many sections into which you will divide all or part of it If possible, enlarge it on a photocopying machine to make it easier for students to read and for you to cut and paste. Generally you will want to omit the first paragraph of an average article because it contains all the key information. Also omit any other sections which give away too much information. The goal is to select sections that 1) have just enough information to arouse the student’s interest in the rest of the story, 2) contain some information that overlaps with other sections but also 3) contain important information not found in other sections. Dividing the article up according to these criteria presents information in a way that forces students to develop and share hypotheses and to depend on others for information. Thus, the task of reading becomes an interactive problem-solving activity.
The advantage of jigsaw activities is that students must depend on each other for their information, so they must interact to accomplish a given task. The technique described below for making jigsaw activities from newspaper articles structures activities so that students read the text, hear the text, master new vocabulary, paraphrase, and interact at all stages of the activity (not at just the discussion stage, as in the traditional approach). In my experience, pre-intermediate to advanced students have almost all preferred using jigsaw newspaper articles to the traditional approach. The general procedure described below can be used with other types of texts as well as with newspaper articles. The description below is for a discussion class, but I have also used it with introductory sections of chapters in books as a warm-up activity for long texts.
Select a newspaper article to suit your teaching purpose and student level. Decide how many sections into which you will divide all or part of it If possible, enlarge it on a photocopying machine to make it easier for students to read and for you to cut and paste. Generally you will want to omit the first paragraph of an average article because it contains all the key information. Also omit any other sections which give away too much information. The goal is to select sections that 1) have just enough information to arouse the student’s interest in the rest of the story, 2) contain some information that overlaps with other sections but also 3) contain important information not found in other sections. Dividing the article up according to these criteria presents information in a way that forces students to develop and share hypotheses and to depend on others for information. Thus, the task of reading becomes an interactive problem-solving activity.
‘The Ballot or the Bullet’
"I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million Black people who are the victims of Americanism.”
These are words from Malcom X from his speech ‘The Ballot or the Bullet’. Even reading it at this point today gives some sort of shiver in me. Just imagine listening to his speech live back in the 60’s and what impact would it create.
Miss Dzeelfa has informed us that we would be doing jig-saw reading on a speech by Malcom X. Although the name Malcom X seems to be familiar, I had no idea who is he. So I did a little research on his background before I went to the class. He seems to be an interesting person. Born as a Black Muslim, he propagates the idea of equality in human kind.
"The Ballot or the Bullet" is the name of a public speech by human rights activist Malcolm X. In the speech, which was delivered on April 3, 1964, at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, Malcolm advised African-Americans to judiciously exercise their right to vote, but he cautioned that if the government continued to prevent African-Americans from attaining full equality, it might be necessary for them to take up arms. It was ranked 7th in the top 100 American speeches of the 20th century by 137 leading scholars of American public address. Wow...That’s really cool…
"The Ballot or the Bullet" served several purposes at a critical point in Malcolm X's life. It was part of his effort to distance himself from the Nation of Islam. It was also intended to reach out to moderate civil rights leaders. At the same time, the speech indicated that Malcolm still supported Black nationalism and self-defense and thus had not made a complete break with his past.
Malcolm X began his speech by acknowledging that he was still a Muslim, but he quickly added that he didn't intend to discuss religion or any other issues that divide African-Americans. Instead, he was going to emphasize the common experience of African-Americans of all faiths:
It's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem — a problem that will make you catch hell whether you're a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether you're educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you're going to catch hell just like I am.
Puteri Bukit Serdang a.k.a. Puteri Gunung Ledang...
After having somewhat knowledge about what parodies are, we were assigned to come up with our own parody. It was indeed an exciting experience as we were supposed to come up with our own version of a fable or fairytale. At once, all of us agreed on doing a Malaysian tale... So we were practical squeezing our brains to find an interesting fable to be made fun of...And believe it or not we as a whole group agreed on doing Puteri Gunung Ledang. So what would our title be then?
We wanted to name our parody with something that is relative to us and we came up with the title; Puteri Bukit Serdang”. The main highlight of the original version of Puteri Gunung Ledang would be the seven demands proposed by Puteri Gunung Ledang to the Sultan of Malacca. So we used a little imagination of what would a princess demand in this era. Obviously seven trays of mosquito’s heart would not be enough. Thus, we came up with crazy demands such as Victoria’s Secret lifelong membership in the excerpt below;
Thus, Hang Tuah makes a video conference to the Sultan using his 3G phone...At once, Nenek Kebayan proposes her 7 demands...
Nenek Kebayan: (takes out a lengthy paper) First, I would like to be included in the
London Weight Management Programme...you know, since I still
have some weight to lose before my marriage... Second, a set of
collagen for face lifting only by LOREAL PARIS...Third, Victoria’s
Secret lifelong membership and TGV club membership with VIP
pass...Hmm...Next would be the most important thing- a Gold
Class credit card and also not to forget BMW 5 series with a husky
driver. Wait..Wait I forgot...there’s one more-the last but not the
least Tiffany jewellery set. Let me know once you are ready my
dear, Majesty.
We made it a must that technology must be made notice in our parody. Thus, we included sms, mms and video conferencing as means of communications. Yes, it was indeed fun! Thanks for the wonderful experience Miss Dzeelfa.
Position Paper: A Review
Firstly, this is my pioneer venture in writing a position paper. Although I have done different types of papers namely; Theme Paper, Explication Paper, Research Paper, and Project Paper, but this type of writing has somewhat brought the other side of me onto paper. The reason as to why I say so is because rarely do we write something that we believe in. Thus, position paper has indeed provided the privilege in doing so. The text that worked on was the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Oedipus the King is an ironic play where Oedipus who once was a man of power and wealth who suddenly falls destitute. From much great position, he was blinded and expelled from the land that he once ruled. Thus, there was the issue of who is to be blamed; Oedipus or his Fate that is predestined.
The first thing that I had to do is to choose a stand and turn it into a thesis statement. My thesis statement sounded like this; ‘Oedipus is solely responsible for his downfall.’ And in order to counter claim it I came up with something like this; ‘Oedipus is not solely responsible for his downfall.’ This is due to the reasons;
· fate has control over Oedipus’ life.
· the context of man being free, but at the same time, fated. (predestination to one’s life)
· Oedipus is free to run, but ultimately he cannot run away from himself.
In order to support my thesis statement, Miss Dzeelfa asked me to come up with supporting details. So those three supporting details are;
1) Oedipus chooses to blindfold himself in perceiving his own fate.
· Inability to see the truth
· Ignorance leads to unawareness
2) Oedipus’ impatience leads to the discovery of his origins.
· eagerness in wanting to solve the murder
3) Oedipus’ arrogance leads him to belittle other’s advices and opinions.
· role of hubris
· the act of neglecting of Teiresias’s advices
These supporting details are drawn from his three main his destructive character traits namely; ignorance, impatience and arrogance. Hopefully, everything goes well during the presentation…. Good luck everyone!
The first thing that I had to do is to choose a stand and turn it into a thesis statement. My thesis statement sounded like this; ‘Oedipus is solely responsible for his downfall.’ And in order to counter claim it I came up with something like this; ‘Oedipus is not solely responsible for his downfall.’ This is due to the reasons;
· fate has control over Oedipus’ life.
· the context of man being free, but at the same time, fated. (predestination to one’s life)
· Oedipus is free to run, but ultimately he cannot run away from himself.
In order to support my thesis statement, Miss Dzeelfa asked me to come up with supporting details. So those three supporting details are;
1) Oedipus chooses to blindfold himself in perceiving his own fate.
· Inability to see the truth
· Ignorance leads to unawareness
2) Oedipus’ impatience leads to the discovery of his origins.
· eagerness in wanting to solve the murder
3) Oedipus’ arrogance leads him to belittle other’s advices and opinions.
· role of hubris
· the act of neglecting of Teiresias’s advices
These supporting details are drawn from his three main his destructive character traits namely; ignorance, impatience and arrogance. Hopefully, everything goes well during the presentation…. Good luck everyone!
The Zoo Story...
Again and again I have to be thankful to Miss Dzeelfa and whoever that designed this course because it has and still is giving me a strong platform in understanding literary text. I must say that the ‘Zoo Story’ by Edward Albee has surely stunned me. Although Albee deserves credits in many aspects of his story but I truly appreciate the way he portrays his characters. Having experienced in writing script for my play for our theatre with Madam Juridah and also some of my own short stories, one of the most difficult things that I experience is to present the characters exactly how I want them to be read. And I believe that a successful writer or narrator is the person who able to create an imaginary character that ‘lives’ in the minds and hearts of the readers. Even though the text was quite lengthy (I was extremely sleepy due to lack of sleep for the past two days) but I managed to finish the story in a single reading with no pauses. I believe that even though there are only two characters, but they are well presented and sufficient for the development of the story. Jerry and Peter who are of two extremes seem to complement each other. Thus, these two ironically contrasting character seems to oppose each other and creates “friction” to the storyline. Albee had used a trifle object-the bench to expose the characteristics of Jerry and Peter. The dispossession of the bench has made the reversal of roles in the story. Reading this story has truly given another perspective for me into reading literary texts and would be very helpful in my future writings.
Colours do matter….
Nelson Mandela… when I heard this name, automatically I remember about ‘Apartheid’. He is the one who went against the system that discriminates the black Africans. Apartheid is a situation where a minority race controls the majority race and these majorities they have to live under the influence of minorities. When, I read his autobiography of “Long Walk to Freedom” makes me realize that black prisoners were mistreated in the prison during those days of apartheid. I found out in Wikipedia that he spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid. He became a symbol of freedom and equality. In this island, prisoners were segregated by race, with black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. Political prisoners were kept separate from ordinary criminals and received fewer privileges. He wrote his life journey in a secret way. Another legend who come to my mind is Mahatma Gandhi, he is well-known for his the philosophy of non-violence and for facing adversity with dignity. Although, he suffered in the prison at last he managed to win over his dream against apartheid. He becomes the first President of Africa. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Even, in Africa the apartheid no longer in practice, but unfortunately classifying people according to their colour or origins do exist. If we take look at current situation, not only black people are being deprived of their rights but people with fairer skin colour also share the same fate. Muslims are being regarded as terrorists and Asians are viewed as ‘coloured’ and are treated as second class citizens in their own country. Such is the destiny of most of us...When will this situation change?
A Great Fall….Icarus
One of the most prominent highlights in this class would be the texts that we study. They consist of various genres and deals with a spectrum of issues. Such was (and still is) the stories in Metamorphosis by Ovid. We had the opportunity to not only read two of his stories but also sort of performed them. It was quite amazing how much of creativity could be tapped from the entire class of TESL 7 (thanks to Puan Juridah).
Icarus, when I heard this name I could remember few famous companies have been named after him. However, I don’t understand why people look up for a person who had a great fall. At first, I also don’t understand what all this about but when I look and study the painting of Icarus, then only I get the point. If we have a first glance at the painting, we are unable to notice Icarus’s leg at the one end of painting. I found out that even though he had fell into the sea but the people around the place go through the life as if nothing is happening and nobody cares about the scenario at the sea. As for me, Icarus paid for his action, he disobeys his father’s advice where the desire of flying high took over reminder from his father. The moral value that we can derive from the tale is always obeying the advices given by elders and we must go on with our life no matter what happens. This is because time will not wait for us, we have to fulfil every seconds that we have by doing something useful for us.
We were assigned to perform "Daedalus and Icarus" where we were supposed to re-act it according to our understanding of the storyline. At first, most of my group members were not as enthusiast as they were supposed to be when it comes to acting. Most of them had difficulties in understanding the text due to its linguistic difficulties. After some brief discussions, we were able to write down the script. This retelling of story has a unique highlight since it applies the narratorial technique in revealing the gist of the story. The narrator is a neutral figure as we purposely did not include her as a character in the story. This is done in order to give more perspective to the story. And this attempt was indeed successful when Miss Dzeelfa praised our presentation and she personally liked our narratorial technique. One of the groups that personally attracted me would be Iskandar’s group because they took the story; "Pyramus and Thisbe" into a different dimension by acting as gay couples. The whole class had good laugh with their acting.
Icarus, when I heard this name I could remember few famous companies have been named after him. However, I don’t understand why people look up for a person who had a great fall. At first, I also don’t understand what all this about but when I look and study the painting of Icarus, then only I get the point. If we have a first glance at the painting, we are unable to notice Icarus’s leg at the one end of painting. I found out that even though he had fell into the sea but the people around the place go through the life as if nothing is happening and nobody cares about the scenario at the sea. As for me, Icarus paid for his action, he disobeys his father’s advice where the desire of flying high took over reminder from his father. The moral value that we can derive from the tale is always obeying the advices given by elders and we must go on with our life no matter what happens. This is because time will not wait for us, we have to fulfil every seconds that we have by doing something useful for us.
We were assigned to perform "Daedalus and Icarus" where we were supposed to re-act it according to our understanding of the storyline. At first, most of my group members were not as enthusiast as they were supposed to be when it comes to acting. Most of them had difficulties in understanding the text due to its linguistic difficulties. After some brief discussions, we were able to write down the script. This retelling of story has a unique highlight since it applies the narratorial technique in revealing the gist of the story. The narrator is a neutral figure as we purposely did not include her as a character in the story. This is done in order to give more perspective to the story. And this attempt was indeed successful when Miss Dzeelfa praised our presentation and she personally liked our narratorial technique. One of the groups that personally attracted me would be Iskandar’s group because they took the story; "Pyramus and Thisbe" into a different dimension by acting as gay couples. The whole class had good laugh with their acting.
A Historical Journey...From John Keats to Fanny Brown
When I read the letters of John Keats to Fanny Brown, a scene in the movie Sex and the City immediately strike me. In that particular scene, the heroine would ask her boyfriend to write love letters to her and he would simply say that he is not a letter-person. Such is the scenario these days. Although letters used to be an important means of communication, but it is losing popularity and can even be considered no more among youngsters. Personally, it is such a waste that these technique is no more in practise as it has a lot to offer. I consider letter writing as an interesting technique in order to motivate students especially when you want integrate the writing skills.
These are some of the interesting facts that I found about John Keats during my extra readings; the letters of the poet John Keats to Fanny Brown are among the most affecting the world has seen. The one printed here was written on October 13, 1819. Just over a year later Keats died from tuberculosis and Fanny began a six year period of mourning. Unfortunately, in September 1820, the couple destroyed Fanny's letters to him, just before Keats left for Italy in a last bid to regain his health. No one know why the letters were destroyed; it may have been that neither wished Fanny to be compromised in later life by written evidence of her powerful feelings as a young unmarried woman. They were deeply in love, but well-meaning people around them did not approve of the match. The couple met in November 1818 in Hampstead (now a district of London). Keats was living with his friend Charles Brown, in one half of a large house, Wentworth Place, and their friends Charles Dilke and his wife lived in the other half. Brown rented out his part of the house each summer, and in 1818 Mrs. Brown and her family were his tenants. Fanny became friends with the Dilkes and continued to visit after the Browns had taken another house in Hampstead. Keats met her at Wentworth Place, and in the summer of 1819 they began to sit together in the garden reading poetry. Keats, writing to his brother shortly after the meeting, though Fanny,
"beautiful and elegant, graceful, silly, fashionable and strange."
Keats remembered his meeting with Fanny as love at first sight. He would have told her so but thought she disliked him. In a letter to Fanny on July 25, eight months after their first meeting, Keats wrote,
"the very first week I knew you I wrote myself your vassal; but burnt the Letter as the very next time I saw you I thought you manifested some dislike to me."
Fanny was 18, blue-eyed, fashion-conscious, witty, and fond of dancing and plays. She was given, Keats wrote, to "acting stylishly". She was also very small; Keats was only five feet tall and sensitive about it. Fanny's widowed mother was anxious that her two daughters should marry well. She did not view Keats, who in the months that followed their meeting seemed to occupy Fanny's thoughts more and more, as an ideal candidate. In July 1816 he passed the examinations that would allow him to practice as an apothecary-surgeon as soon as he turned 21 years old in October. But before taking up the profession he abandoned the idea and turned his energies to writing poetry full-time. (Earlier works written while he was an apprentice date from 1814.) His first collection of poems, published in 1817, flopped. Fanny's aunt thought the poetry a "mad craze". And Keats's health was not good. In addition, Keats's literary friends disapproved of Fanny: John Reynolds was later to write to Keats's publisher, John Taylor, about the poet's departure for Italy,
"absence from the poor idle Thing of woman-kind, to whom he [Keats] has so unaccountable attached himself, will not be an ill thing."
In spite of their deep feelings for each other, Keats had no financial prospects that would let him marry. He resolved to concentrate on writing to make money and a name; but to do this; he decided he must move away in order to live cheaply and without distraction. In June he travelled to the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, seeking sufficient peace and quiet to write a play. He wrote of his worries in letters to Fanny. His "outguessed fate...spread as a veil" between them. Returning briefly to London to sort out a family problem, he did not allow himself to travel the few extra miles to see Fanny explaining in a letter to her,
"I love you too much to venture to Hampstead. I feel it is not paying a visit, but venturing into a fire."
But on October 10 he saw her again and was overwhelmed. Three days later he wrote the letter printed here, and moved back to Wentworth Place. The winter of 1819-20 was hard. On February 3, 1820, Keats came home from London, feverish and desperately ill. He went to bed, coughed, and saw blood on the sheet. Charles Brown brought candles. Together they looked at the blood. Keats said,
"I know the colour of that blood; it is arterial blood...That drop of blood is my death warrant."
That night he suffered a second huge haemorrhage. Absolute rest was necessary to postpone death. Excitement could kill him, so Fanny communicated by notes and small gifts, a vision beyond the window, a visitor who could not stay. Poignantly he wrote,
"I shall follow you with my eyes over the Heath."
As the disease took deeper hold, his moods became more extreme. He worried about Fanny.
"Do not I see a heart naturally furnished with wings imprison itself with me?"
When she was away he felt jealous, but his jealousies were "agonies of love".
"I am sickened at the brute world which you are smiling with."
Cutting short a brief, chaotic stay with his friend, the poet and essayist Leigh Hunt, in nearby Mortimer Terrace, he walked back to Hampstead, arriving exhausted and in tears. Mrs Brown took him in, and for his last month in England, she and Fanny nursed him in their home and helped him prepare to go to Italy, where warm skies and dry air might save him. With death on the horizon, the love between Keats and Fanny was at its most powerful, enough to "occupy the wildest heart" as Keats had written. During the voyage to Italy, he wrote to Brown,
"The thought of leaving Miss Brown is beyond everything horrible...Some of the phrases she was in the habit of using during my last nursing at Wentworth Place ring in my ears..."
Throughout his last days, he held a large white carnelian, a precious stone, that Fanny had given him to cool his fever. On February 23, 1821, Keats died, in the arms of his painter-friend, Joseph Severn. Unopened letters, one from Fanny and one from his sister, were buried with him.
These are some of the interesting facts that I found about John Keats during my extra readings; the letters of the poet John Keats to Fanny Brown are among the most affecting the world has seen. The one printed here was written on October 13, 1819. Just over a year later Keats died from tuberculosis and Fanny began a six year period of mourning. Unfortunately, in September 1820, the couple destroyed Fanny's letters to him, just before Keats left for Italy in a last bid to regain his health. No one know why the letters were destroyed; it may have been that neither wished Fanny to be compromised in later life by written evidence of her powerful feelings as a young unmarried woman. They were deeply in love, but well-meaning people around them did not approve of the match. The couple met in November 1818 in Hampstead (now a district of London). Keats was living with his friend Charles Brown, in one half of a large house, Wentworth Place, and their friends Charles Dilke and his wife lived in the other half. Brown rented out his part of the house each summer, and in 1818 Mrs. Brown and her family were his tenants. Fanny became friends with the Dilkes and continued to visit after the Browns had taken another house in Hampstead. Keats met her at Wentworth Place, and in the summer of 1819 they began to sit together in the garden reading poetry. Keats, writing to his brother shortly after the meeting, though Fanny,
"beautiful and elegant, graceful, silly, fashionable and strange."
Keats remembered his meeting with Fanny as love at first sight. He would have told her so but thought she disliked him. In a letter to Fanny on July 25, eight months after their first meeting, Keats wrote,
"the very first week I knew you I wrote myself your vassal; but burnt the Letter as the very next time I saw you I thought you manifested some dislike to me."
Fanny was 18, blue-eyed, fashion-conscious, witty, and fond of dancing and plays. She was given, Keats wrote, to "acting stylishly". She was also very small; Keats was only five feet tall and sensitive about it. Fanny's widowed mother was anxious that her two daughters should marry well. She did not view Keats, who in the months that followed their meeting seemed to occupy Fanny's thoughts more and more, as an ideal candidate. In July 1816 he passed the examinations that would allow him to practice as an apothecary-surgeon as soon as he turned 21 years old in October. But before taking up the profession he abandoned the idea and turned his energies to writing poetry full-time. (Earlier works written while he was an apprentice date from 1814.) His first collection of poems, published in 1817, flopped. Fanny's aunt thought the poetry a "mad craze". And Keats's health was not good. In addition, Keats's literary friends disapproved of Fanny: John Reynolds was later to write to Keats's publisher, John Taylor, about the poet's departure for Italy,
"absence from the poor idle Thing of woman-kind, to whom he [Keats] has so unaccountable attached himself, will not be an ill thing."
In spite of their deep feelings for each other, Keats had no financial prospects that would let him marry. He resolved to concentrate on writing to make money and a name; but to do this; he decided he must move away in order to live cheaply and without distraction. In June he travelled to the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, seeking sufficient peace and quiet to write a play. He wrote of his worries in letters to Fanny. His "outguessed fate...spread as a veil" between them. Returning briefly to London to sort out a family problem, he did not allow himself to travel the few extra miles to see Fanny explaining in a letter to her,
"I love you too much to venture to Hampstead. I feel it is not paying a visit, but venturing into a fire."
But on October 10 he saw her again and was overwhelmed. Three days later he wrote the letter printed here, and moved back to Wentworth Place. The winter of 1819-20 was hard. On February 3, 1820, Keats came home from London, feverish and desperately ill. He went to bed, coughed, and saw blood on the sheet. Charles Brown brought candles. Together they looked at the blood. Keats said,
"I know the colour of that blood; it is arterial blood...That drop of blood is my death warrant."
That night he suffered a second huge haemorrhage. Absolute rest was necessary to postpone death. Excitement could kill him, so Fanny communicated by notes and small gifts, a vision beyond the window, a visitor who could not stay. Poignantly he wrote,
"I shall follow you with my eyes over the Heath."
As the disease took deeper hold, his moods became more extreme. He worried about Fanny.
"Do not I see a heart naturally furnished with wings imprison itself with me?"
When she was away he felt jealous, but his jealousies were "agonies of love".
"I am sickened at the brute world which you are smiling with."
Cutting short a brief, chaotic stay with his friend, the poet and essayist Leigh Hunt, in nearby Mortimer Terrace, he walked back to Hampstead, arriving exhausted and in tears. Mrs Brown took him in, and for his last month in England, she and Fanny nursed him in their home and helped him prepare to go to Italy, where warm skies and dry air might save him. With death on the horizon, the love between Keats and Fanny was at its most powerful, enough to "occupy the wildest heart" as Keats had written. During the voyage to Italy, he wrote to Brown,
"The thought of leaving Miss Brown is beyond everything horrible...Some of the phrases she was in the habit of using during my last nursing at Wentworth Place ring in my ears..."
Throughout his last days, he held a large white carnelian, a precious stone, that Fanny had given him to cool his fever. On February 23, 1821, Keats died, in the arms of his painter-friend, Joseph Severn. Unopened letters, one from Fanny and one from his sister, were buried with him.
10 speeches....
Today is the day I think we have had the greatest privilege of learning literature. This is because through literature, have I become closer to great human beings. Personally, reading and listening to speeches given by great individual is beyond inspiring. There could be no word yet to describe this feeling but it’s simply superb. Among the speakers were Queen Elizabeth I, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, Earl of Spencer and also Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Our group was assigned to work on the speech by Queen Elizabeth I. Personally; I was disappointed to get that particular text. Of all those persons that I admire, I end up doing some one that I’m not interested at all. So you could imagine how the reading session would have been. During the discussions, I notice that my group members were also in the same boat as me. Thus, we stopped Miss Dzeelfa during her walks around the class (her supervision sessions) and asked her about the background of the speech. Miss Dzeelfa gave us a somewhat long explanation and we began to relate to the story much better. We successfully came up with explication of the speech in terms of language and purpose plus creative while- and post-reading activities. Not bad… I actual began to admire the Queen as a leader. I believe that using rhetoric and speech by famous people is a great classroom activity but it should be done with proper guidance in order to avoid misinterpretations.
Our group was assigned to work on the speech by Queen Elizabeth I. Personally; I was disappointed to get that particular text. Of all those persons that I admire, I end up doing some one that I’m not interested at all. So you could imagine how the reading session would have been. During the discussions, I notice that my group members were also in the same boat as me. Thus, we stopped Miss Dzeelfa during her walks around the class (her supervision sessions) and asked her about the background of the speech. Miss Dzeelfa gave us a somewhat long explanation and we began to relate to the story much better. We successfully came up with explication of the speech in terms of language and purpose plus creative while- and post-reading activities. Not bad… I actual began to admire the Queen as a leader. I believe that using rhetoric and speech by famous people is a great classroom activity but it should be done with proper guidance in order to avoid misinterpretations.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Songs Songs Songs.....
This week seems to be quite hectic... With all our assignments reaching their due dates and loads of work to begin, continue and end with. Yet, we were somewhat relieved and even excited when Miss Dzeelfa announced that we are going to use songs in our classrooms a week earlier.
Songs... Wow something of our interest as Jumi says... So we spent the whole week thinking of how would she devise the lesson and what type of activities are we supposed to come up with. The day finally came when Iskandar showed us the transparency containing Miss Dzeelfa’s instructions. We were assigned to come up with at least 2 activities using songs in classroom. So, at that moment itself (it’s a rare case), we managed to discuss the song and four activities to be carried out in classroom. Jumi seem to be more excited than the others due to her interest in songs and singing. She played a few songs using her mobile phone and we unanimously chose Hillary Swift’s “Love Story”. The reason was quite simple as the lyrics were simple and the song is quite current and catchy.
We planned to use the song to teach theme and plot of the play; “Romeo and Juliet” as supplementary text for Form 5 higher-intermediate proficiency level. The activities were done according to the four co sequel stages; set induction, pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading. During our presentation, Miss Dzeelfa gave good remarks about our work and she was pleasantly happy with our work. Well, I guess all’s well ends well...
Songs... Wow something of our interest as Jumi says... So we spent the whole week thinking of how would she devise the lesson and what type of activities are we supposed to come up with. The day finally came when Iskandar showed us the transparency containing Miss Dzeelfa’s instructions. We were assigned to come up with at least 2 activities using songs in classroom. So, at that moment itself (it’s a rare case), we managed to discuss the song and four activities to be carried out in classroom. Jumi seem to be more excited than the others due to her interest in songs and singing. She played a few songs using her mobile phone and we unanimously chose Hillary Swift’s “Love Story”. The reason was quite simple as the lyrics were simple and the song is quite current and catchy.
We planned to use the song to teach theme and plot of the play; “Romeo and Juliet” as supplementary text for Form 5 higher-intermediate proficiency level. The activities were done according to the four co sequel stages; set induction, pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading. During our presentation, Miss Dzeelfa gave good remarks about our work and she was pleasantly happy with our work. Well, I guess all’s well ends well...
Sara and the Wedding: A Retrospective
When Ms. Dzeelfa introduced us to the story, “Sara and the Wedding” by Karim Roslan, I was excited to read a Malaysian-ized text by a local writer...been some time you know. But I was thrown into a very uncomfortable position in judging the main character-Sara. Man, she is one of a kind.
I would never imagine to what extent a woman would go in order to prove herself... and I went ‘OMG’ when she actually accused Karim for raping her. Can circumstances be so cruel that it actually forced her to do so or did the author purposely created this character in order to reflect the resemblances of women out there?
There are many questions that are bound to be answered or at least given more emphasis. Issues such as unmarried woman are desperate in terms of sexual needs and the author seems to be suggesting that marriage is the other half of women... Without it women seems incomplete.
At the begging, the author seems to highlight divergent perspectives on women, men and marriage but towards the end of the story, there are a lot stereotypical perspectives and actions being presented. Scepticism towards marriage institution and negative perception towards men seem to hog the story inside-out. Easily put, it all boils down to two things: Women need social security and men need sexual satisfaction and marriage seems to be the remedy.
I found out that this text was not really that Malaysian in terms of the values and messages that the author tries to put across... It’s universal and does not condone to the Malay culture alone. And this text is surely a must to be studied if I intended to do research on Malaysian Literature...
I would never imagine to what extent a woman would go in order to prove herself... and I went ‘OMG’ when she actually accused Karim for raping her. Can circumstances be so cruel that it actually forced her to do so or did the author purposely created this character in order to reflect the resemblances of women out there?
There are many questions that are bound to be answered or at least given more emphasis. Issues such as unmarried woman are desperate in terms of sexual needs and the author seems to be suggesting that marriage is the other half of women... Without it women seems incomplete.
At the begging, the author seems to highlight divergent perspectives on women, men and marriage but towards the end of the story, there are a lot stereotypical perspectives and actions being presented. Scepticism towards marriage institution and negative perception towards men seem to hog the story inside-out. Easily put, it all boils down to two things: Women need social security and men need sexual satisfaction and marriage seems to be the remedy.
I found out that this text was not really that Malaysian in terms of the values and messages that the author tries to put across... It’s universal and does not condone to the Malay culture alone. And this text is surely a must to be studied if I intended to do research on Malaysian Literature...
First day....
Today’s the first day of our Reading and Project Works class...and by just reading the title of the course gives me a chill. We were told that the classes were previously conducted by Dr. Edwin and Miss Dzeelfa would be taking over. Personally, I was wondering how Ms. Dzeelfa would be because going back my schemata, it only struck one thing: haiku. I still remember one of her haikus that we did in Dr.Jaya’s class. So there she was as stunning as her haikus... Running through the pages of our course outlines... Very energetic indeed...
One thing that was obvious about her is that she is very passionate about literature and she lectures as if she is narrating a story-this I believe is her plus point. She gave us a brief explanation of how the class would be conducted for throughout the semester. Although I am excited that we are going to be exposed to different genres of text but I am a bit worried about the project paper as not only the proportion of the marks is quite big but also of whom my supervisor would be. Let’s pray for the best...Good luck to all EDU 3234 students!
One thing that was obvious about her is that she is very passionate about literature and she lectures as if she is narrating a story-this I believe is her plus point. She gave us a brief explanation of how the class would be conducted for throughout the semester. Although I am excited that we are going to be exposed to different genres of text but I am a bit worried about the project paper as not only the proportion of the marks is quite big but also of whom my supervisor would be. Let’s pray for the best...Good luck to all EDU 3234 students!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
These two weeks have been a total mess and everything has not quite settled yet ...the classes, timetable or even my room... 6 boxes waiting to be unpacked and list goes on... In the midst of these chaoses, I happen to come across something beautiful by one of my all time favourites Barathi;
“O Mind, be firm in your principles
and Speech be pleasant and refined;
Cherish noble thoughts;
and may your cherished desires be attained;
May your dreams come true
and may you achieve your goals quickly;
Seek Wealth, Happiness,
and Fame in this World.
Awaken the eye of wisdom
and pursue your goals with determination;
Let Women attain liberation
and let God protect us all;
Let the land be bountiful and
let us gaze upon heaven;
Let Truth alone be Victorious
and lasting forever;”
This poem was created more than 2000 years ago (If I’m not mistaken) and I grew up listening to it in radios, in television and in motivational camps...But whenever I read this whether it is in the translated version (English), in its original version (Tamil) or even in the song version, it gives me shiver and strength from nowhere. And each reading is like the first reading-a new encounter to life and all that it stores in it.
So today, I would like to share the magic of literature with you guys... Literature... Literature...Literature (sounds like “Cinema Cinema Cinema” pulak). Well back to the story, Literature varies in difference according to perceptions. For me it’s simply finite words that produce infinite meanings... With a bunch of words, we are able to come up with utmost possible degree of meaning with the aid of our experience in the issues raised by the author. Thus, Literature is the lens that shapes our view of the world and the worldly things in it.
Although I’m 22 now and have been exposed to quite a number of literary readings, I still believe that I’m no more than a novice in this field...With a long list of literary canon hidden to be discovered, I am excited to take up this course: “Readings And Project Works For Teaching Literature In ESL Contexts” (PS: I only like the first word of the title-Readings)
Am looking forward for this course...Till then sayonara...
“O Mind, be firm in your principles
and Speech be pleasant and refined;
Cherish noble thoughts;
and may your cherished desires be attained;
May your dreams come true
and may you achieve your goals quickly;
Seek Wealth, Happiness,
and Fame in this World.
Awaken the eye of wisdom
and pursue your goals with determination;
Let Women attain liberation
and let God protect us all;
Let the land be bountiful and
let us gaze upon heaven;
Let Truth alone be Victorious
and lasting forever;”
This poem was created more than 2000 years ago (If I’m not mistaken) and I grew up listening to it in radios, in television and in motivational camps...But whenever I read this whether it is in the translated version (English), in its original version (Tamil) or even in the song version, it gives me shiver and strength from nowhere. And each reading is like the first reading-a new encounter to life and all that it stores in it.
So today, I would like to share the magic of literature with you guys... Literature... Literature...Literature (sounds like “Cinema Cinema Cinema” pulak). Well back to the story, Literature varies in difference according to perceptions. For me it’s simply finite words that produce infinite meanings... With a bunch of words, we are able to come up with utmost possible degree of meaning with the aid of our experience in the issues raised by the author. Thus, Literature is the lens that shapes our view of the world and the worldly things in it.
Although I’m 22 now and have been exposed to quite a number of literary readings, I still believe that I’m no more than a novice in this field...With a long list of literary canon hidden to be discovered, I am excited to take up this course: “Readings And Project Works For Teaching Literature In ESL Contexts” (PS: I only like the first word of the title-Readings)
Am looking forward for this course...Till then sayonara...
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