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Online Task 4

Speech

 
1. Think of at least 3 benefits of using speeches by famous figures, in the classroom.

• It has less grammatical error. So, students can make use of the speech to learn grammar and sentence structure.
• The language used is standard. 
• It can be a sample for students to write persuasive essay. They can learn many persuasive words and techniques which can make their essay more interesting. 
• It provides higher level of critical thinking skill. 
• It usually provides a lot of useful historical events, discussing global issues and inculcate moral values.

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.

    

     The audio-visual is definitely a useful device in helping understand the speech better. This is because 75% to 90% of all a human learns comes to him via the visual pathways. By using the audio-visual aid, students can see a lot of things that give extra information. For example, the speaker’s body language, eye contact, facial expressions, emotions and articulation. Thus, students can understand better the purpose of the speech. Furthermore, the audio-visual can attract the students’ attention to listen and focus. It also trains students to be active listeners through various responding.  

3. Who is Martin Luther King?
   

    Martin Luther King (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) was the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was also a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. In 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. Besides, he is the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

4. Based on the questions below, analyse the features of the given written speech:
a. What is the purpose of the speech?
    The purpose of the speech is to fight for black man's freedom and equality. He wanted to stop the racial discrimination in United States.

b. What is the tone of the speech?

    The tone of the speech is full of motivational, influential and passionate. It was delivery in a natural rhythm which can easily caught the intention of audiences.

c. What interesting major feature(s) can you see from the speech? (i.e.Repetition of 
    phrases, emphasis on certain things said etc)

    The interesting feature that I can see from the speech is anaphora, the repetition of phrases. Martin Luther King had repeated eight times "I have a dream" in his speech. Futhermore, he also repeated the phrases such as "One hundred years later", "Let freedom ring", "free at last", "Now is the time", " We can never be satisfied," and "With this faith". The repetition phrases also show emphasis. It makes the speech more memorable and more persuasive.

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

• Martin Luther King drew his references from a wide variety of sources, including the Bible, the US Declaration of Independence and Shakespeare.  
• As a result of the speech, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• His teacher, Miss Lemon inspired him to fight for freedom and equality. 

5. Suggest a while-reading activity that can be derived from this particular speech. 
    Mind-mapping. Students list down the main ideas of the speech in chronological order using mind-map.

Online Task 3

Bio-Poem: Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Brave, wise, generous and highly respected

Black leader in South Africa

Who loved equality, freedom and peaceful

Who hated discrimination, apartheid and racism

Who wanted to see equality for all, freedom for all and justice for all

Who changed history as he became the president of South Africa

Resident of Qunu, Transkei

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Online Task 2

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. Jungle of Hope by Kamaluddin Mahmud (Keris Mas)

b. The Dead Crow by Datuk A.Samad Said

c. Si Tenggang's Homecoming by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Haji Salleh

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

Feminist issues that found in Erica Jong's poems are  female role, gender bias and sexual abuse.

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

I think Erica Jong's poems are not suitable to teach at the secondary school level. It is because her poem contains sex and love issues which are improper to teach to our teenagers. This will give them bad impact. Furthermore, her poems talk about gender issues which may provoke our youngsters to quarrel. It is not suitable to let our students feel that one gender is better than another. It should be treated equally.

Is Hillary Tham's poem more suitable?
Yes. Hilary Tham's poem is more suitable than Erica Jong's. Since Hilary Tham is a local writer, his works are related to our social life. It is more connected to our students life too. Some more, his poems are more liberal. His poems let us feel fun, loving and meaningful. Thus, students can easily relate themselves to the poems.

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?
It is human nature to feel unsatisfied with simple things. That's why we have cars, aeroplane, iphone and so many advance technologies. These are all the human nature who encourage us to invent and create more. But, unsatisfied with simple things sometimes do get us disadvantages too. For example, you just bought an iphone 4 but after few months iphone 4S is launched. Now, you think to buy it too. Well, this is actually normal. But, we need to control our desire. We must live within our budget of living. It is not worth, if we keep on increasing our debts because of those luxury items. So, this short tale could actually teach our students to think wisely, there is no specific answer to say unsatisfied with simple things is incorrect or correct. Just depends on matter.
 

Langston Hughes

 From your findings about his background, tell me about the dilemma he conveys through the poem CROSS.

Langston Hughes has a white man father but an African American mother. In the poem CROSS, he had written his entire dilemma. He is sad and dissatisfied with his parents and he cursed them. Another dilemma is he does not know how he wants to die, like his father - the white man, or his mother - the African America woman. The dilemma here is that the white is rich while the African American is poor and being oppressed.

 

I find "Dinner Guest: Me" laden with irony and sarcasm. Briefly state if you feel the same.

This poem is full of irony and sarcasm. From the lines, "I know I am, The Negro Problem"  show that racial issues between the African American and the white. African American are treated as slave and uneducated people whereas the white man are considered highly educated and rich people.

The experience in the poem Harlem is one that is true for many people. Do you agree?
I agree. The poem Harlem is full of racist issues. Although the blacks are freed from slavery after the civil war, they were still regarded as second class citizens. The African American was segregated in many forms like busses, restrooms and even schools.

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

Civil rights movement

 

Online Task 1

Folktale

List some of the well-known folktales from Malaysia.

 a. Unlucky Si Belang
 b. Paddy that turns to Gold
 c. Greed does not pay
 d. The Clever Servant 
 e. The Disobedient Boy 
  f. The Stingy Rich Man 
 g. Awang’s Large Hand
 h.  How Malacca got its name 
  i.  The Curse of Batu Gajah 
  j.  Mosquitoes from the Swamp
 k. The Owl Misses the Moon
  l.  The Cursed Princess 

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

a. Super nature power. Turtle can transform into human. 

b. Obeying. The young girl  in the story obeys what ever her parents have decided. Her son  

    also obeys what she tells him to do.

c. Morality. It is not suitable to fall in love with someone you don't know where he comes from. 

    This will make our parents feel anxiety.

d. Honesty. The young girl does not lie to her parents. She does not run away after knowing she 

    is pregnant. She admits to her parents.

e. Dreams. Chinese believe that who ever get  dream of the ancestors wanting something or  
    move their remains, they must do so. Or else bad luck will fall upon to the family. 


Are those issues universal in nature or are they only relevant in the Chinese culture?
Only 'e' is relevant in the Chinese culture. Others are all universal in nature. 

Fables

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

The dog and the hare - No one can be a friend if you know not whether to trust or distrust him.

The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass - Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others.

The Crow and the Raven -  Those who assume a character which does not belong to them, only make themselves ridiculous.

The Crab and the Fox -  Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness.

 

Myths

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? 

 He is William Shakespeare. The play is 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Legends
List some of the popular legends we have in Malaysia.

a. The Legend of Mahsuri

b. The Legend of Princess Sa'adong

c. Magic lake of Pregnant Maiden

d. Legend of Perhentian Island

e. Langakawi ‘s Legendary Brawl

The Legend of Le Mort d'Arthur by Thomas Malory

1. Who is Thomas Malory?

    Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur.  

2. When was Le Mort d’Arthur written?

     It was written in the early 1450s and completed it by 1470. 

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

    There are 8 parts in LMDA. 

4. What is book 8 about?

     Book 8 is about death of King Arthur. 

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

     The two people who had an affair are Sir Launcelot Lancelot and Queen 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?

     The title of the popular modern fiction is 'The Noble Tale of the Sangreal'. 

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

    a. King Arthur was betrayed by his greatest knight, Sir Lancelot.

    b. King Arthur was a legendary leader.

    c. King Arthur was the son of Uther and Igraine.

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

            I will choose role-play and  graphic presentations.

         Role-playing is the easiest way to help students to understand better the story. Since students have to act, they will need to learn and prepare a scripts. Thus, they will be encouraged to analyze the characters, plot and theme indirectly. Furthermore, students can learn to be cooperative as they need to work in group.

         Graphic presentations can be mind-mapping and comic drawings. With this method, students will feel more interesting and easily memorize all the important elements in the story. For example, students can design a mind-map which includes characteristics of each character in any shape they preferred. As for comic drawings, students who preferred visual learning can draw out the plot story using their own style. When they do revision, they just need to go through the comics. By using this method, teacher can also motivate low proficiency level students to learn and love literature indirectly.

Half Black, Half White

                The poem "Cross" by Langston Hughes shows the speaker was angry at his/her parents in the beginning. During the middle of the poem, the speaker apologized.  At the end of the poem, the speaker was in a state of confusion, wondering whether he/she is black or white.

                 This poem shows that a half black and white person struggling to accept and understand their ethnic identity in a world where black people and white people are considered polar opposites. I think this scenario not only happen in America, it is all over the world. Most of the people around us will not able to accept a mix races marriage. Even though it does exist nowadays, but they are still considered as "odd", they will receive harsh glares from the society. It seems like they are not being approved.

                So, I think this poem should be introduced to our students. Let them think if they are the child with half black and white blood, what they will feel. Is it necessary to judge people with their skin colour? Let them understand that a good people or bad people is nothing to do with their skin colour. As long as we are human, we have the rights to be respected.

The Dark Years

           After reading "The Dark Years" by Nelson Mandela, I realized that a political prisoner not only lost their freedom, they were also abused by the warders. They were forced to work in utter silence. Moreover, they were given short trousers to wear, signifying that they were “boys” and not men. Furthermore, they were given distasteful, nearly inedible food to eat once every day. They were treated like animals. These show that the white man was so cruel at that time.

           Quoted from Mandela's line “the racial divide on Robben Island was absolute: there were no black warders, and no white prisoners”. This was so unfair.  Racism does exist even though inside the prison. Thus, the black man are forced to fight for injustice in every aspect of his life.

          In my opinion,  this autobiography should be introduced to our students. Let them understand that we have no right to judge or discriminate people with their races, religions or skin colours.  Although they were political prisoners, they did not deserve to be treated the way they were, they were just strive for equal rights. We, human beings have equal rights to be respected. A peaceful society starts from respecting each other equally.

Respect and Equality

             In the essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, the narrator describes himself as “oppressed,” “a poor shot,” and “ill-educated.” This shows that he has a low self-esteem. This also tell me that he is beaten down and confused in his personal beliefs. Thus, he has killed the elephant. Instinctively, he does not want to shoot the elephant. But, he momentarily feels a sense of power and respect which is what he wanted from the villagers all along. As a result, he decides to shoot the elephant to avoid looking like a fool in front of them.

               I wonder what will I do if I was in his situation. Probably I will do the same thing.

 

            After reading this essay, I feel that respect to each other is the most important moral value which I will teach my students if I used this text in my lesson. I will ask my students to think what are the possible actions the narrator will do if he is being respected. I will also get students to understand the importance to respect each other. When people are not treated respectively, there will always be complaints and conflict between them. Confucius said, "He who respects others will be respected himself, and he who loves others will be loved by them." Equality among people can never be attained through the use of force. No matter what skin colour you are, you should be treated equally and respectively. When there is full, mutual respect among people, then we will be able to create a peaceful and harmony world.

The Girl Who Was Not Satisfied With Simple Things

          After I read "The Girl Who Was Not Satisfied With Simple Things" more than twice. I found that I have different views from my first reading. At first, I think people should satisfy with simple things and things they have. So that, we can have happy life. This remind me of the phrase "be content with what you have". But, if we always satisfy with simple things, I don't think we will have aeroplanes today. We live on land, we can walk or run. So why we need to fly since we don't have wings too. If we are satisfied with simple things, we would not be able to enjoy the good things that we have today like concrete house, handphone, computer and etc.

        We are human being. We definitely looking for better life. We want good house, nice car, beautiful spouse, good and cute children, better income...

       In my opinion, to be satisfied with simple things is just a way to prevent anxiety. We may feel depress or jealous when we don't have such and such thing that our friends or relatives have. So, if you can't afford those luxury items, then it is better to be satisfied with simple things. As a result, I don't think people who are not satisfied with simple things are against the good moral value. It all depends on how a person end up with his demands. Success or fail.

Becoming a Woman by Hilary Tham

            "Becoming a Woman" a poem by Hilary Tham. This poem talks about the changes in the life of a girl when she reaches puberty and is believed to be the writer own experience.

        Personally, I don't think this poem is suitable to use as literary text in secondary school in Malaysia. First, the text only target on girl's puberty only. This will probably make the girls feel embarrass in front of other boys in their class. Even though the boys already knew this before reading this poem, they still will make fun about it. Second, if male teacher is conducting this lesson, it will challenge him to deliver the text in a proper way too.

            However, I do agree if this poem is used at home from a mother to her daughter. Mother can use this poem to teach her daughter about the changes that she will face. It also tells how to overcome the menstruation problems with ease. With the help of this poem parents could tell their daughters about the changes that they will have when they reached puberty easily.

Reflection: Always look from other angles

           I have chosen the 'QWERTYUIOP' by Vivien Alcock as my position paper topic.

         This short story is about a young graduate named Lucy Beck who has just finished her 'O' levels at Belmont Secretarial College. Being a slow learner herself, she has no confidence that she will find a job. Fortunately, she is offered a job by Mr. Ross, the Manager of Ross and Bannister’s. During her first day, she encounters many peculiar incidents. Later, she finds out that there is a spirit lingering around the office who is adamant in holding on to her position as the company’s secretary. Towards the end of the story, Lucy tries to get rid of the spirit that has been haunting that place for many years by putting the spirit at peace.

         After reading this short story, I began to think what people will think after reading this short story. Prejudice? Brave? Super natural? Well, a position paper is not what generally people know. That is basically what I learned after the face to face. So, I tried to read again and again the story. Finally, I have found different view about this story and it is arguable.

          By learning to get position, I have learned that every matter can be viewed from different angle. For example, almost every teacher in Malaysia blames that the new KSSR curriculum is a burden to teachers. It provides a lot of paper works to teachers. Some even said that the changes in the textbooks is not suitable to our students. But, after I start to do my position paper, I found that actually teachers is used to the life and teaching methods they have been used for ages. They do not dare to change, so they give excuses. For me, the new textbook is better than the old textbook. It provides more opportunities to our students to think, speak and do rather than teacher who only spoon feed the students and using the boring talk and chalk method. Our society has changed, so education must also change to be better and better.

             Always look from other angles. What have you seen from the picture below?

You will see two old folks' head. But, if you look carefully, you will see a man is playing guitar and the women is listening. For sure, you still can see a big vase between them.

A Useful Fable

 

            All most everyone like to be flattered. "The Fox and the Crow" is a really good fable that we can let our children learn the consequences if they trust flatterers easily.

         Some more, from this fable, we can tell our children that taking others people belonging without permission is consider stealing and definitely wrong. Our children should learn to be hardworking in order to get things they want.

            Furthermore, we can let our students share their thought about the fox and bring out that cunning is  a bad attitude that everyone must avoid and give examples of the consequences of being cunning.

            Besides moral value, this fable is short and simple which also can be use as a listening material. We can let our students listen to this fable and retell the fable in their own words. Other than these, they can have a text completion exercise as below too.

Child Obedience

               "The Son of the Turtle-Spirit" is a Chinese folktale which has superstitious element.

               From this folktale I learned that people in olden day are very obedient. They will follow what ever their parents told them to do. For example, the maiden sewed the thread onto the young man's coat as she was told by her mother. Besides, the son of the turtle spirit too was an obedient child. He put his father's bones in the dragon's mouth and hang the rich man's grandfather's bone on the dragon's horn which his mother told him to do so.

             But, nowadays, I found that our children are less obedient if compare to the olden day's. I have seen many parents are easily give in to their children which make them become more demanding and disobedient when their demand are not fulfilled. We should teach our children like olden days but child obedience should be achieved the right way and for the right reasons. If a parent’s goal is just to get the child to obey and do whatever he tells him to, then he is missing the point. He may only be after convenience.

Teachers do make differences

            This film is based on a true story. The teacher's name was Mrs. Thompson and a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. I feel very touching while watching it and I am eager to share it to my friend.

            After watching the short film, I feel guilty of lying to my students too. I told my Year 1 class that I love each of them and willing to teach them. But, actually I am not happy with a boy name Jason in my Year 1 class. He can't pay any attention in the class, he always busy with his own works, drawing or reading other books. No matter how hard I try to persuade him to join my lesson, he will refuse too. For sure, I met his class teacher and others subject teachers to discuss about this. All I got was the same answer.

            Now, I have a different view. Every child arrives like a mystery box with puzzles pieces inside. Some of the pieces are broken and missing and others just seem to hide. This afternoon, I found out Jason was actually staying with his grandmother only. He has parents, but none of his parents is taking care of him. When I asked about his parents, he will look on the floor. His eyes told me that he missed that. Then, I asked about his grandmother, his eyes seem to have sparkles, he had broad smile, he talks a lot about his grandmother to me. From here, I know Jason is just like Teddy who lack of love.

         This film has actually reminded me of Kafka, 1910 Diaries, he keeps on repeating this line in his diary, "my education has done me great harm in some respects." He indirectly tells us that most of his teachers have ruined his life. If Kafka could have teacher like Mrs. Thompson in this film, his life would be totally different.

         As a result, an inspirational teacher can make a difference to a student, providing guidance and support at a crucial moment in a young person's life. These films also remind me how important an educator can be in forming young minds. Sometimes the process is slow at times, some need more helps than others, each child is a work in progress, with assorted shapes and colours. So, I will try my very best to help Jason no matter how long it should take.

The secret of great relationship

            Yesterday, I watched a video titled "Boy slaps his brother with ipad" in my Facebook.  I really could not stop laughing when I first watched it. The first thing I said was "Wow, ipad also have another function!" But, when I watched the second time, I felt bad about it. Is this the right way to treat your brother when he did things that really annoying? Definitely NO.

            This video remind me of E.M. Foster's essay "What I Believe", he states,

"Tolerance, good temper and sympathy - they are what matter really, and if the human race is not to collapse they must come to the front before long." (75)

           I strongly agree with this statement. We have teach our student tolerance, good temper and sympathy in every day school life. But, what have happened to our children nowadays? Why they behaved like this? What were missing among them?

        According to a parenting consultant, Kenny Toh,  the secret ingredient that is vital to having great relationships is R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Yes, I strongly agree with him. These boys do not know how to respect each other. From this incident, I am going to let my students learn how to respect. As Kenny Toh said, just remember the first letter in ‘relationship’ … ‘R’ for R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  Put in another way, without mutual respect, relationship won't work. To respect another is to honor his or her dignity and choices. And when you genuinely respect a person, you will also avoid behaving in disrespectful manners such as criticizing, blaming, complaining, irritating, making fun of, shaming, threatening, and inflicting physical, psychological, or emotional harm.

Never give up!

         After reading the myth "Prymus and Thisbe", I think this myth is not suitable to teach to our children nowadays. This myth talks about forbidden love and how they actually suicide when they think they lost their loves one. In my opinion, this myth will give more bad impact for teenagers. They will think suicide is the best solution when they face relationship problem. Just like the previous year, our Malaysia's  teenagers were willing to suicide just because they failed in their relationship. As a result, I have found another myth which I think is more suitable for our students.

         "The Glass Knight" is a myth from Saffron Walden, Essex, England. It is about a basilisk. The basilisk is about a foot in length, of colour between black and yellow, having very red eyes, a sharp head and a white spot hereon like a crown. It goes not winding like other serpents but upright on its breast. If a man touch it though with a long pole it kills him, and if it sees a man far off it destroys him with its looks. Furthermore, it breaks stones, blasts all plants with his breath, it burns everything it goes over, no herb can grow near the place of his abode. The story continues to say that the basilisk killed so many people and so many fled that the little market town had hardly anyone left in it. Then a wandering knight covers his armour in crystal glass. When the basilisk sees its reflection it dies instantly.

       When I came across this myth, I realized that we all face difficult challenges from time to time. Sometimes we may even feel a task is too hard, even impossible, for us to do. Like the knight in the myth was feeling just as hopeless when he faced the basilisk which was so powerful and could kill with a single glance. But, at last he still managed to kill the evil basilisk. I would definitely introduce this myth to my students in school. Throughout this myth, I would like them to know no matter how hard it is, we all can succeed in the future if we never give up trying. Some more, the wording in the text is not difficult for most of the year six students to understand. I like this myth very much. It creates mysterious atmosphere for the readers too. When I first read this myth, I kept on imagine how the basilisk looks like. Finally, I went online to search for it and learned that the word basilisk comes from the Greek word basileus, meaning king. So they thought of it as the king of snakes and the most poisonous creature on the earth.