Online Task 4 - Answered!

1. Think of at least 3 benefits of using speeches by famous figures, in the classroom.
                               
a. Students learn to use language creatively.
b. Students learn to become a better speaker.
c. Students can improve their competence in the language.

2. Go to www.youtube.com and find the audio-visual on the speech. In not less than 50 words, state would the audio-visual be of any use in helping understand the speech better? State your reasons.

 Speech using audio visual helps one to understand the subject matter better.The video above is a good example of speech using audio and visual aids to explain Dybetes in the Body. The explanations given along with the animation made the speech easier to be understood. Audio and visual aids (animation in this case) can be an essential part of giving speeches, and when used correctly it can enhance persuasive speaking.Visual aids can range from postcards to posters and even computer presentations like Power Point slides and animations. Many people are familiar with the overhead projector, an important device that helps presenters demonstrate a particular subject through enlarged text and pictures. Film clips can also be used as visual aids to stimulate thinking.Using such aids also benefit the audience and helps them retain more information.Futhermore we can't deny the fact that speech using audio visual aids would also be more comprehendible and entertaining.



3. Who is Martin Luther King?

Martin Luther King  was an American activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.


4. Based on the questions below, analyse the features of the given written speech:


a. What is the purpose of the speech?
To express that all men are equal and should be treated equal. The speech also relates how black citizens have been mistreated over the years and  still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.


b. What is the tone of the speech?


A very persuassive tone.

 c. What interesting major feature(s) can you see from the speech? (i.e.Repetition of phrases, emphasis on certain things said etc)
The anaphora, emphasizing phrases by repeating at the beginning of the sentences. Interesting allusions and contrasting metaphors like

 
"joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”

“the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”


 d. Any interesting facts that you can gather based on the background of the speech?

The 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were tremendously difficult times for African-Americans. They were not treated like white Americans simply because of their skin color. And the laws protected the bad treatment they got! Laws requiring "separate" hotels, restaurants, schools, and even drinking fountains were common in many states. The speech was given in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, the monument honoring President Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in the Southern states. By giving his speech there, it had called attention to how things were so terrible a century before  which was during the Civil War and how some things hadn't changed so very much in 100 years.

5. Suggest a while-reading activity that can be derived from this particular speech.

Analysing the speech for any one literary device would be a great activity as the speech is rich with literary devices.

                                                      Girija A/P Ramdas-J38853

Online Task 3 - Composed!!

Rolihlahla the African pride.

Many years of imprisonment,

Yet your spirit can never be confined.

Daggers and spears thrown to wound you, 

only made you more immortal.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela,

Now a soaring eagle with wings spread afar,

Flying high with pride,

A living symbol of freedom and victory!

                                                             Girija-J38853

Online Task 2 - Answered!

1.    Do we have a canon for Malaysian literary works? Let's say we do, who do you think are in it? Consider the fact that their works are well-known and most importantly included as part of the school syllabus- (both in BM and English)


 a.            A. Samad Said
 b.            Che Husna Azhari
 c.             Usman Awang
 d.            KS Maniam




2.      The poems by Erica Jong raises some feminist issues. What are they?


Adulthood, Sex and Risks.


3.      Do you think they are suitable to teach at the secondary school level? Explain.


Yes, as secondary students are teenagers as well and they will deal with issues that involves relationship and eventually deal with their transition to adulthood. So the poems would be a good way to open their mind to the issues mentioned.




4.      Is Hillary Tham's poem more suitable?


Both Hillary Tham and Erica Jong's poem are equally suitable. However Hillary Tham's poem would be a good warm up as it only deal with less complicated issues compared to Erica Jong's poem that involves more complicated issues such as sex and decision making.


5.      The short tale from the Native American group is about a girl who is unsatisfied with her life. How is this a universal experience? Can it teach our students anything?


The issues dealt in the short tale relate closely to those who are very quick at making judgement in which they often make a wrong one.This short tale however can teach one to have a reasonable judgement before making a conclusion about something. The short tale also reminds the readers  that one should think thoroughly in making decisions that involves a lifetime commitments and there would be consequences  if one have made the wrong decision.








6.      From internet sources find out more about Langston Hughes.
From your findings about his background, tell me about the dilemma he conveys through the poem CROSS.


This poem had a lot of meaning. Hughes is confused about his race but vowed  to take it as it comes. He is a child of multiracial decent. He  battled with his identity, blaming his parents but when he became more mature, he realized he was wrong to blame others and he was truly proud of his heritage, regardless of the complications he has to go through.



7.      I find "Dinner Guest: Me" laden with irony and sarcasm. Briefly state if you feel the same.
The irony is he got invited to a fancy restaurant, however, he was not feeling quite invited when the whites were throwing him 'the usual questions' , questions about his race. How would he feel? f i were him I would definitely be unhappy ....yes I see the tone in his poem. I do agree with you...both irony and sarcasm.




8.      The experience in the poem Harlem is one that is true for many people. Do you agree?


Yes I do..the poem relates closely to everybody. After analysing the poem, which is short yet condensed with meaningful messages, its mainly about dreams  in life that everybody has. However, the poems asked a question of what is the use of such dreams when they has not been realised.


9.      Langston Hughes fights for the voice of his people. What is the movement called?


'Harlem Renaissance.'

                                                    Girija A/P Ramdas-J38853

Online Task 1 - Answered!

List some of the well-known folktales from Malaysia.

Badang, Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, Sang Kancil, Mat Jenin, Pak Pandir and Si Tanggang.

List some of the possible issues found in The Son of the Turtle Spirit.

Adultery, Supernatural,Traits, Chinese believes and customs.

Are those issues universal in nature or are they only relevant in the Chinese culture?

Not entirely, only issues such place of burial relates to the Chinese believes and customs wherelse other issues that I stated above are quite universal.

What are the other morals that can be gotten from the other fables by Aesop? List at least two.

Like will draw like.-The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller

In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pains.-The Wolf and the Crane

Self-help is the best help.-Hercules and the Wagoner

The loiterer often blames delay on his more active friend.-The Traveler and His Dog

One well-known literary figure from the Elizabethan age used Ovid’s Pyramus and Thisbe as a model to one of his famous plays. Who is he and what is the play?

William Shakespeare  used Ovid’s Pyramus and Thisbe as a model in Romeo & Juliet.

List some of the popular legends we have in Malaysia.

 Puteri Gunung Ledang, Hang Tuah , Mahsuri and Si Tenggang.

Questions on  Le Morte d'Arthur. 

1. Who is Thomas Malory?

Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer and also the author of Le Morte d'Arthur.

2. When was Le Mort d’Arthur written?

While Thomas Malory in prison in early 1450's.

3. How many books/ parts are there in LMDA?

There are 21 books in LMDA.

4. What is book 8 about?

The Death of Arthur.

5. Who were the two people who had an affair?

Sir Lancelot and Guinevere.

6. Book 6 has a strong connection to a popular modern fiction which is now a movie. What is the title of the popular modern fiction?

a. King Arthur (2004) 

b. Merlin: Lancelot and Guinevere.

7. State three well-known facts about King Arthur/ his time as a King

i. King Arthur was often with his  Knights of the Round Table

ii. King Arthur's famous sword is called the Excalibur.

iii. Arthur killed Mordred, his nephew.

Think of 2 ways in which you can use folktales/fables/myths or legends in the classroom. Explain briefly.

Group presentation

1. Students can be assigned to look for folktales/fables/myths or legends the day before the lesson.

2. Students then get into groups. Each group list the stories they got for folktales/ fables /myths or legends.

Drama

1. Students carry out a drama on any one  folktales/fables/myths or legends in their groups.

2. For better management of time, students can be given a time period to prepare for the drama and present to their other classmates.

                                                  Girija A/P Ramdas-J38853

Robben Island: The Dark Years

This was written when Mandela was sentenced life imprisonment.  Prison is designed to break one's spirit and destroy one's resolve. However it never broke Nelson Mandela's spirit. He continues to fight for what he believes and stoof his ground firm. What a man he is...reading his autobiography bore a sence of admiration from my side as well as a litle frustration on the side of the "authorities".
Nelson Mandela was also a true friend who is capable to invoke inner strenght of a person. Kathy another inmate had trouble navigating the wheelbarrow resulting the warders of the prison to laugh at him. Watching was Nelson who immediately taught him how to navigate the wheelbarrow. Kathy managed to navigate it and the warders stopped laughing.
In another incident, Nelson Mandela requested for a long pants and he got it however his other inmates were refused to be given long pants and they were given short pants instead. Feeling unjust by it, he returned his long pants to the warder. It show that he maybe demanding as well as caring towards others.Although his decision were unpopular ones yet these actions gave impact in years to come and they mean a lot too.
If one continues to read his autobiography,one can learn so much as well as attain unmeassurable inner strength to cope with one life's struggles and harsh situations!

By Girija

Cross by Langston Hughes

This is a personal poem of Langston Hughes.Being of a mix between two races he is neither white nor black. He is not accepted by blacks because he is white, and so the same by the whites because he is black. In America during the 1920's the segregation of whites and blacks was very predominate.He is deprived of either race. Leaving him with the confusion of which race he can identify with. When he reaches his adulthood and maturity he  realizes that he can't blame his parents for who he is.No matter what he does that's still who he is going to be.
 Langton Hughes in his last stanza  he is saying that his father died wealth and his mother died poor and in the last two sentences he asks where he is going to die being neither black nor white. This shows that now its up to him how he is going to live his life and only he can choose his own path.This implies to our lives as well, no matter what the circumstances we have been born into, we should accept it. Just like Langston hughes put it, we can't help the situation we are born into but we can change the life we are living. It is up to us to make our life better. It is also up to to create our own identity and destiny.

Shooting an Elephant and save yourself..."Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell"

Can you recall a time in which you were goaded into doing something that you didn’t want to do under the influence of your friends then regret?The essay is about a young English policeman stationed in Burma. He called himself   a “puppet” to the desires and will of the natives.
After receiving a call regarding a normally tame elephant’s rampage the narrator, armed with a rifle heads to the bazaar. The young English policeman then sees a village woman chasing away children who are looking at the corpse of an Indian whom the elephant has trampled and killed. He sends an orderly to bring an elephant rifle and, followed by a crowd of roughly two thousand towards the paddy field where the elephant has stopped to graze. The gun was originally for his own protection, and when he sees that the elephant is obviously quite calm he felt that he don't have to kill it. However,at this moment he becomes aware that the crowd fully expects him to kill the elephant. He realizes that he is trapped by the crowd’s expectations. If he does not kill the elephant he would seem weak by them.
         “The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And it was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd-seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the “natives”, and so in every crisis he has got to do what the “natives” expect of him.”
In the end, he ends up shooting the elephant.

It goes the same in ones life when others usually make decisions based on others view. What happened to our principle, believe and courage to make a decision you believe? This question i ask, to everybody including myself....