Because You Are Here With Me

I saw

Big waves came to approach

Being frightened

I was drowned

I saw

A ship of hope

You waved

You rescued

I see

The way back home

Reaching the final destination

Because you are here with me.

A point of view

The first semester is going to end soon. English studies is one of the subject that I enjoyed studying during this semester. This subject is special in its own way. With Mr. Camillus Ong, my lecturer who is unpredictable and knowledgeable who made the lectures very interesting.

During lectures we were supposed to analyse short stories. Almost all of the short stories has either a sad or a tragic ending. Death, sorrow and gloomy. A part of them, my knowledge of literature expanded. From my secondary school, I have learned a few literary devices. But this class opened my eyes. I thought I've learned everything back then but actually there are more than 20 literary devices. I am glad that I entered this class. The short story I like the most is "Lamb To The Slaughter". I love the way how the story line goes. It is very smooth and made me feel interested to finish the story. It is a very interesting story indeed.

Besides short stories, me and my course mates analysed poems too. But it is very sad for me because i could not join the class.

In a nut shell, English Studies is a subject for English lovers like me. I hope for the next semester i will learn this subject again with the same lecturer.

                                                                                                                                           -falakh zafrieyl-








                                                           What do you say, sir???

                After analysis 10 short story and 12 poems, I do find that a lot of literature input. From the story of an hour to the extra reading short story, the chrysanthemums. A lot of style and themes had been present by the author. A lot of hidden message had been inserted in the short story. Some of the writing is influence by the West and East culture.  To understand the writing, I had realised that a little knowledge on the background of the author and the time and situation during the writing is needed in order to understand the writing and the issue being press in it. My favourite short story is “ The Jade Bracelet” by Mary Frances Chong. Mary is an Malaysian writer. She project the culture of Chinese and the suffering of a typical Chinese women in her writing. As we proceed into the poems, we analysis 12 poems, I realised that there are only two main themes in it, love and death. I do find the joy in analysis all the poems as for me, it required me to do a lot of research on the poems, from background of the poem and purpose of writing. Most of the poems are difficult to understand but a lot of research will help in understanding the poems. Overall, this course had open my view on the field of English. Now I realised that literature is fun. We can express our self freely. Do enjoy literature.!! J  

                                                                                                                                        -Albinus Arbut- 

Overview of Course

Overview of the Course

By Angela Devung Dennis

The learning of literature during English Study class had taught me a lot. I had been presenting a few of poems and short stories in front of the class with my other group members. It was such a meaningful learning process. To be honest, I was not interested into literature. I love reading stories but I never have sense to learn them deeper. However, after undergone a have-to-learn months, I have been changed. I started to learn seeing from different perspectives. I learnt how the background of the writer may affect the writing. Now, English Study is my favorite subject. Moreover, Mr. Camillus is the best lecturer for this course.                                               

Standing in front of the class to present used to frighten me. I was a type of girl that lacked self-confidence. However, the experiences of presented for the past few months is enough to increase my level of self-confidence. My course mates are also very cooperative and did help a lot during the presentation. They learnt and responded to our slides. The background of our presentation was also being commented for several times. From the comments, I learnt on how the background of a presentation should be.

After done a lot of researches, I learnt that literature is a good way to express the feeling. Sometime, there is something in our heart that is cannot be expressed by words. This is the situation where literature should be the best tool to express those. I learnt to practice critical thinking in my daily life. For an example, I learnt that death is not something bad. I learnt this in a poem ‘Don’t Go Gentle into That Good Night.’

As a conclusion, literature is my best teacher. It taught me a lot about life. I hope I can improve myself in many aspects of life as time passing by.

Overview of the Course

            I have learnt a lot of things in the English Studies class. To be honest, it is such a hard lesson to learn but I have try my very best to understand it and love it since I am not interested in literature. Luckily, I have very cooperative yet playful group members and they help me a lot during our discussion and presentation. We had learnt about short stories and poems in the past three and a half month and for me it is very fun to learn literature. Mr. Camillus had explained a lot to us regarding all of the short stories and poems.

            Presentation is one of my enemy since I am lack of confident when it comes to talk in front of many people. Thank God, I have very supportive group members. They encourage me and I feel like I have changed a lot. I am more confident to come in front and present but I still do not speak a lot. I just read what was on the slide because most of the time Albinus will explain it. For now we have done three presentation and we manage to do it quite well. Honestly, there are some mistakes on our slide such as spelling error and wrong pronunciation, but Mr. Camillus reprimand and correcting our mistakes.

            I understand that every short stories and poems have it deeper meaning. Before, I just read short stories and poems without have the interest to know deeper about it, who wrote it, what it implies to and what it means to the writer. But, after i going through three and a half months learning lesson, I realize that different short stories and poems implies different meaning and moral values but some of it have the same theme such as death. During our lesson, A Rose for Family, The Story of an Hour, Lamb to the Slaughter, Suicide Notes and Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night brings the same theme which is death but it still have different meaning.

I hope that I can improve much better in English Studies next time and manage to make my own poem.  

                                                                                                      By,

                                                                                                         Kelly Katty Jameson

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE (task)

I’ve learnt many things through English Studies course. I never liked literature since high school, but now I developed a liking for it. However, I understand now why it is important to learn literature. Mr. Camillus is very nice. He often uses words that have a literal meaning which I had a hard time to understand. The way he teaches inspire me to be a better person .

                Literature for me is a very beautiful thing. It needs deep thinking but we are using it everyday in our daily lives without we even notice it. It can revolve on any aspect of our lives. For example, death, love and even the foods that we like.

                The short stories and poems that is in the book that we use throughout this course is all interesting. I’ve learnt many moral values from it. All the short stories is related to issue that may happen and is happening in our daily lives such as death, love and cultures. All the poem is very beautiful and have a very deep meaning. Now I know that everyone can write a poem if they have the story and feeling to share it with other people.

                I also learn how to present better in front from this course. Now I have the confidence to talk in front of people and watch out for my grammar when I am talking. It is important for a teacher to have a good communication skill and confidence so the message that they want to deliver to the students are clear and understandable.

                Overall, I am happy to be in this course and I hope I will become better in English Studies from time to time.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Overview by,

                                                                                                                                                                      Elfera

                

A story of 'Room 1'

First Day at School

I was a naive

As I entered ‘Room 1’,

I couldn't lift up my head

I sat down quietly

When a big girl came approach me

She admired my hair

I smiled proudly

Finally

 The class was crowded

She was still sat by me

Without a word

But hold my hair

Hot cheek was mine

Till a woman entered the ‘Room 1’..

The Garden Party (Task)

Date: 6/09/2011

Dear Diary,

Today we had held a garden party, where something unusual happened. For the first time, I give permission to my children to decorate and organised the party. It was a sunny day that I find a pleasant and suitable day for a garden party. Before the party could even start it's events, a bad news arrived. There was a death at the neighbourhood. A man was hit by a cart. Suddenly, my daughter, Laura which all this while I thought was still inmature suddenly turned out to be the other way, she spoke to me like an adult. She asked me to stop the party but I refused to hear it because invitation card had been sent. It going to be an insult for our family. It was not that I had no sensed of sympathies but it was about our family dignity. After the party done, I let Laura to go and pay a visit to the family.

Love,

Titania Titans 

The Interview... (The Disappearance)

Me        : Why you leave your husband, ma’am?

Her      : I don't love him like what I'm supposed to.That's the major reason of my decision to run away from him. I cannot live with someone that I don’t love.Love cannot be forced, right? People always describe him as a good husband. But the real him; I am the only one know.He is not as good as you all think.He even once forced me to do an intimate relationship and that makes me kind of phobia. I even cannot further my study even though that is the single thing that I can dream of. After quite some time struggling with all these inner pressure,I think I cannot withstand any longer. I finally plan to run away from him. For me it is such a harassment.Yes, which wife allow herself to be treated like a doll to her husband? I have my own feeling that need to take care of. Besides, America is such a new place for me. I just need some time to adapt with the environment. However, I am away now. It is such a relief. For being far away from those suffering.

Me         :  But ma'am, have you ever think about your son?

Her        : I know I am wrong for leaving my son. Even until now, I cannot get him out of my mind. I keep thinking about him all the time. He is the single reason for me to regret this decision of running away. However, it is also much better for him to stay with his father.His father can afford him better than I might can. His father has a good job. But, I am not. I am jobless.Yes,I miss my son but I just cannot give him a better life if he is with me.I do love him very much. But, what can I do? He deserves a better and luxurious life since he is our only son.

Me         :  So,what is your plan after this?

Her        : I want to go back to Calcutta and live my life there with my family. But then, I also promise to myself  that I will come back again for them some day.Perhaps I can ask for apologize with my son.I hope there will be some day that I can explain all these complicated situation.

 Me        :  Is that mean that you regret your decision?

Her       : Yes, I am.Especially when the thought of my son comes across my mind.But for now, being far away from my husband is still the best decision that I can think of. I just need some time. Perhaps I still can meeting them again someday. That is my desire.

The Disappearance (tasks)

1. Does the title hint at anything ominous? How?
   Yes. The title does hint on something ominous by giving the short story the title "The Disappearance", it give the hint of something missing and something disappear.
2. The father does not give any indication to the son that his mother is coming back. Why is that so? Do you think it is acceptable to tell a white lie?
   He didn't want to hurt his son feeling. Yes, it is acceptable to tell a white lie especially to kids. The reasons is that kids do not really understand what is going on if given such a complicated reasons. So it is better lying rather than explaining something complicated to the kids which at last will bring dissappointment
3. Do you think the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' summarises this short story? How?
   No. Eventhough the wife is out of the husband's sight , he never forget her for the rest of his life
4. Do Americans and Indians share the same values? Explain.
   No. American and  Indian do not share the same value especially when it comes to clothing. The American tend to wear sexy clothing but the Indian tend to wear the closed-clothing such as salwaar kameez.

Love For Family(task)

The theme of Love for family can be seen clearly in the ‘Jade Bracelet’ that was written by Mary Frances Chong. This theme can be seen in Mrs. Wong. She takes good care of her mother throughout her mother’s life. This shows that Mrs. Wong really loves her mother. She is an independent and strong person. She can managed her mother’s funeral at Sam Poh Tong very well without her husband at her side. This themes is also reflected in two short story that is, "A rose for Emily" and "Birthday".

 In the story "A Rose for Emily", the love for family is shown in Emily. When her father passed away, she did not want to let go of her father until she had been realised by other people. She only willing to let go her father corpse after three days pronounce dead. This show her strong love for her father.

Meanwhile, in the short story ‘Birthday’ that was written by Lee Kok Liang. It is seen in the anonymous character that is kept called ‘she’ in the story. She loves her grandmother very much. That’s why she always listen to her grandmother’s instructions. Her grandmother also show her love towards her granddaughter but in different ways. It can be seen when She made the match-making for her granddaughter.

                                                                                                                                                                  Written by all group members.                                                              

Possible Ending Of The Jade Bracelet (Task)

Today we are asked to discuss about the possible ending of The Jade Bracelet written by Mary Frances Chong. And this is what the possible ending our group has come up with :

Ah Kow was extremely happy when Mrs. Wong told that he would be the one that inherit the jade bracelet. He thought that it was the most appropriate decision because he was the one that  really in need of money.At the same time, he even thought about selling that jade bracelet. Siew May whined loudly for she did not get the single thing that she always wanted from her grandmother for all this while. Mrs. Wong consoled her and told that this was the best decision because she did not want Siew May to become a materialistic person in the future.

                                  Written by all group members except Falakh as he has his own opinion.


This is his opinion :


Ah Kow kept the jade bracelet in his old cupboard. It was forever forgotten. Dust became the best friend of the jade.

The JADE Bracelet (tasks)

1.What is the relationship between Mrs Wong and Mrs Lee?

        They are in-laws. Mrs Wong's husband is siblings with Mrs Lee. 

2.            Is Mrs Wong a filial daughter? Give three reasons.

         *For years she had been nursing her bed-ridden mother

         *She never permit any word of complaint to pass through her lips not a single word.

         *she prepared broth for her mother even though it was not consumed.

3.            What is Ah Kow's real name? How is he related to the dying woman in the short story?

          Ah Kow's real name is Fook Kee. He is the only son of the dying mother. We assumed that Ah Kow is husband to Mrs. Lee.

4.            Why is Sam Poh Tong mentioned in the short story?

         Sam Poh Tong is a Buddhist Temple. It was mentioned in the short story because they about to sent Grandmother to the temple because she is dying. They are going to perform praying ceremony for their mother.

5.            What do you think the jade bracelet symbolises? Give your reasons.

          It symbolises the life of the Grandmother. The jade bracelet will change colour when it is used for quite a while. The jade will help in in enhancing body system in which the Chinese believe.

          

6.            Do you think Siew May is naive? Cite your reasons with quotations.

          Yes. It is shown when her grandmother passed away. She 

        "i want to go home... Grandmother will be waiting alone!"

           

7.            Did Siew May get the jade bracelet in the end? Why?

          No. This is because Fook Kee is the only son of the family,and he has the right to take the bracelet. In Chinese culture, the son will have more right on the family wealth rather than a daughter. This is because long time ago, parent usually marry off their daughter

8.            Do you like the story? Why?

        Yes, it show how responsible a daughter take care of her mother. This acts should be follow by all child towards their's parent. The short story reveals a lot on Chines-Buddhist culture. It show a conflict happen among siblings on the rights on the family wealths and properties.

Birthday (Task)

On the 4th of August, we discussed about the short story entitled 'Birthday' that was written by Lee Kok Liang. At the end of class, our beloved English Studies lecturer ask us to do a recording task. These are the questions that he gave us:

Imagine you are Uncle Teng and you feel disappointed about the spilling incident. What will you tell your parents upon reaching home? You might include the following in your conversation with your parents:

• your initial perception of the girl
• your perception of the grandmother
• your perception of C.B
• your plans after the accidental spill

Make a recording of your conversation and post it in your blog. The recording should be about 4 minutes long. If you find it difficult to speak off-hand, you can write out the conversation first. Once you are happy with your recording, you can upload it here and embed it in your post.

  

We did the task. In this recording, Falakh becomes the voice of Uncle Teng, Albinus becomes the father while Elfera, Angela and Kelly becomes the script writer. We had a lot of fun doing this task. So, enjoy our recording :)

Birthday by Lee Kok Liang

Summary

The short story entitled ‘Birthday’ that was written by Lee Kok Liang is a story about a Chinese woman aged 25 years old that is living with her grandmother. Her grandmother is always controlling her life. Although she is already 25 years old, she is not married yet. According to her tradition, a girl should be married by the age of 18. It was her 25th birthday. But nobody remembers her birthday. Uncle Teng from the northern village came to have a look on her for the possibility of marriage. At dinner time, she clumsily spilled some curry on Uncle Teng's trousers. It was the cockroach that made her to spill the curry. Her grandmother scolded her for the simple mistake and says that she will be a spinster for the rest of her life.

                                           

                                                         Written by Elfera Achin.

The Chinese Culture

Today, we are having discussion on “Birthday” written by Lee Kok Liang. The protagonist in that story is not named but I know that she is from a Chinese family. In the story, her grandmother is getting really mad with her as she is prepared for an arranged married and yet she spoils the impression of the man, Uncle Teng toward her at the first meet by dropping the curry accidentally on his trousers.. Chinese culture mostly put stress on respecting elder and guest. Therefore, it is not a surprise to see her grandmother’s impression toward her for that. Besides, most Chinese also take things seriously when it comes to give hospitality to their guest. They always want to give their best so that people will not look down upon them
                                          Written by Angela Devung Denis.

Themes

The theme in the short story is social life. In the Chinese culture, it is important to respect the eldest. They also believe in arranged marriage. They also believed that a young girl must get marry as they reach the age 18. If they didn’t get marry by the age 18, they are believe that they miss their time and they have to marry to someone older. It is hard to marry off their young daughter.  In Chinese family, the girls must do all house works.
                                                       Written by Albinus Arbut.

Characteristic

Grandmother

• A very strict grandmother.
• But in the other side of her, there are caring values. She cares about her grand daughter's future. She wants her to have a soul mate.
• Very concerned about the Chinese Culture. She was trying to match the protagonist with Uncle Teng.

She

• The protagonist of the story
• Respect the elders and obedient.
• She wants to get married and have a family of her own.
• Clumsy and had a bad luck

Uncle Teng

• He was chosen by the protagonist's grandmother to be the protaganist's mate
• He does not speak much. A very quiet person.
• He is a good observer.                                                                                                                           

                                                                                            Written by Abdul Falakh Zafrieyl.

Style and Tone

1.            Visual Imagery – refer to descriptive language that evokes emotional responses.

“If she could only take care of him, she would keep him clean like a well-washed plate”

(Paragraph 1 line 6)

2.            Simile - a comparison of two things.

“..did not have such red lips as Grandmother’s”

(Page 26 line 1)

3.            Personification – make a thing, idea, or an animal do something only humans can do.

“..and the sharp rays of the sun caught the spinning particles of dust floating near the tiny skylight.”

(Page 24, last paragraph)

                                                 Written by Kelly Katty Jameson.

We Present, We Reflect

We Present, We Reflect…

         On the 27^th of July 2011, we were asked to present a scene from the short story ‘The Lamb To the Slaughter’. So, our group choose the scene where Mrs. Maloney killed her husband, Mr. Maloney with a frozen lamb leg, and the scene where she acts really sad in front of the officers that ask her questions about the murdering of Mr. Patrick Maloney. Elfera plays the role of Mrs. Maloney, Abdul Falakh played the role of Mr.Maloney , Albinus played the role of Sam, the grocer while Angela and Kelly played the role of police officers. It was a very fun and hilarious experience for our group because we act with our spontaneous dialogues and we were the first group that performed despite of our lack of practice for the performance. So, after all the groups had finished performing, our beloved English Studies lecturer, Mr. Camillus Ong ask us to reflect based on our performance. These are the questions that he asked us to reflect :

1.     What is the message that I’m trying to bring across in this short performance ?

2.      Are there any areas that I can work on after reviewing the whole scene?

3.       What values can I learn from putting up this short sketch?

So, the message that we are trying to bring across in this short performance is the irrational action of Mrs. Maloney towards her husband. She killed her own husband with a frozen lamb leg just because his husband wants a divorce with her. We also wanted to highlight the capability of acting in Mrs. Maloney as she acts really sad when the officers came to her house to investigate the murdering of her husband.

            The areas that we would like to work on, if we had another chance to perform some acting is our eye contact with the audience and having a proper dialogue when acting. These two elements are the major things to consider putting up a successful performance.

            The values that our group learn from putting up this sketch is the value of cooperation because as a one group, we have to be very cooperative to make this performance a success.

As a conclusion, we love this kind of activity in English Studies subject and we hoped that our group keep on improving each and every day.

Introducing group members

Scene where Mrs Maloney hit her husband, Mr Maloney

Ths scene where Mr Maloney fell and died, witness by his wife
(our actor, Elfera, made the scene look real)

                                          our videos.. do enjoy watching.. thank you!

And the story begins...

Today is the first time we created a blog for our group. We spend hours searching for the right name. At last we found the perfect group name. "Titania_Titans". Perhaps based on Latin Titanius meaning "of the Titans". This name was  used by Shakespeare in his comedy 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1595) where it is the name of queen of the fairies. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearian character. Our group member consists of Abdul Falakh Zafrieyl, Albinus Arbut, Angela Devung Dennis, Elfera Achin and Kelly Katty Jameson. We love English Studies subject and we are improving every day..