Reflections on what I have learnt so far

After about 8 months of language arts lesson, I found out that I had slightly improved on my grammar and vocabulary.As the saying goes,"Practice makes Perfect", I think that I have improved my grammar and vocabulary as I had practiced while writing and doing comprehension assignments.

I had also found out that I had read more books such as Village by the sea, Little ironies and Ten Short Stories.After reading these books and analysing them with the help of my teacher,I had also learnt more on how to describe or write a good setting and plot.This will also help me in my compositon.

Lastly,I had learnt about the poems,their figurative languages and how to analysis them using the ten-step process.

Overall,I felt that I had learnt alot and improved.

Poem Analysis-Snapshotland

Step 2
Things that the title suggests to me:
-An island
-Involving guns
-Cameras
-Photo-taking
-Catapult
-Killing

Step 4
The poem focuses on the happy atmosphere in the beach,and that the people in the photos are enjoying themselves tremendously.
Interesting phrases:permanent delight of passengers,pleasure-boat,promised land,nobody dies,happy all the time,buckets in crisp,gingham pinafores,bonnets on the sea-shore,smile and smile and smile.

Step 5
Metaphors:NIL
Similes:NIL
Personification:smooth sand,pleasure boat,old-fashioned gardens
Alliteration:The and Time,Smooth and sand,Sun and Shine,Stop and Smiling,sandboys and sandgirls and sepia.
Assonance:Lavender and Ever,Right and Sight.
Onomatopoeia:NIL
Symbolism:The vacation at the beach symbolises happiness and relaxing mood.The sepia photo symbolises aging and also tradition.

Step 6
"Smooth sand","sun shines all day long","sandboys and sandgirls","on the sea-shore" and "on the beach" all suggest that the location is on a beach.

Step 7
They all describe the settings of the location.

Step 8
The poem may be talking about photos that are taken at a beach as proved by the dolphins and boat at the sea.It proves that the poet is writing about photos as everything freezes,does not move and never dies.
Step 9
a)An unidentified speaker.
b)It's for those people that appreciate photos and understand the importance of them.
c)It's very carefree,relaxing and soothing.
d)He is being very friendly and open to the audiences.
e)The poem is organised in this way such that a stanza describes and focus on one theme,for example the third stanza is describing about delightment of lovers.
f)It is to help in the description of the importance and the characteristic of photos.

Step 10
The poet is trying to encourage people to appreciate photos that are taken as they can bring to us happiness when we look at the photos.It also encourage people to take good care of our photos as they could bring us fond memories and it can last forever.

Limericks

There was once a man from Boston
whose mind was being flatten
he went into a stable
and told the horses a fable
and end up being beaten

By:Sheng Xiang ^^

Sound-poem

I heard the owls hooting in the dark.
I heard the sheep bleating beyond the hill.
I heard the wolves howl in the jungle.
I heard the dogs barking when I came home.
I heard the cats purring when she received food from me.
I heard the frogs croaking in the night.
I heard the bees buzzing among the flowers.
I heard the ducks quack in the pond.
I heard the roosters crowed in the morning.
I heard the pigs oink in the farm.
I heard the cows moo in the farm.
I heard the pigeons cooing on the trees.

By :Sheng Xiang

Poem on Life

Life is a wrestling match,
tiring and hard.
You strive for all you could,
but the results never show.
Your body wanted to give up,
but your mind refuses.

Again and again your opponent knocks you down,
again and again you recovered.
It was when it struck you,
your efforts,sweat,blood and pain,
forever stained.
You persevered all the way,
summoning all your strength of the day.

With determination and the courage,
you became the winner
once again.
Thinking back now and then,
your face covered
with the tears.
You told yourself that you had done your best,
Looking towards the future.

The day you died,
the story ends.
You gave a pat
on your shoulders,
telling yourself
that's a wonderful match.

By :Sheng Xiang :)

Book Review (A Series of unfortunate events)

The book that I'm going to recommend is "A Series of Unfortunate Events".This story has a total of 13 books,each continuing from the last.This story,I'm sad to say,is very devastating and has very few happy events.

It a story about the three Baudelaire,Violet,Klaus,and Sunny.Their parents died in a tragic fire when they were young and left a huge sum of money with them.In all the 13 books,it depicts the lives of them escaping from the hands of Count Olaf.Count Olaf is a wicked man who would do anything just to get his hands on the money left behind by the Baudelaire.He would disguise himself and had tricks up to his sleeves.

I would recommend this book because it will explain the difficult words to us in a very detailed manner.The story is also very exciting and we can learn about the differents ways the Baudelaire used to escape and to break Count Olaf's disguise.The writer also uses some very good vocabulary words which we can use in our composition.It also reflect the fact that the reality world is dangerous and we need to be on our guard against crooks.It's a wonderful book with unexpected events and I would recommend it to everyone.

Book Review (Inkheart)

The book that I am going to recommend is "Inkheart".It's a really good book with detailed description and can let your imagination run wild.it's a book about Mo,Meggie's father.Mo had this special ability-when he reads aloud,words come alive,and dangerous characters step out of the pages.Mo and Meggie then lives the kind of adventure that they has only read about in books,but this will change her life forever.

I chose this book because this book uses a variety of vocabulary and the writer also uses some very good phrases too.The book is very interesting too and has alot of twist in the story.

After reading this book,I felt that I had widen my vocabulary.The events in this book are also very exciting and full of surprises and awe.The writer uses difficult words which will encourage us to look for the meaning in the dictionary and learn more vocabulary.I love this book because of the detailed description too.It let our imagination run wild and we can really imagine ourselves in the magical world.It's definitely a wonderful book and I would recommend your to read this book in your leisure time.

My school days

My School Days

Those were the times I never forget
It was when I met
all my friends
and my friendship begins

The morning
time for flag rising
all the latecomers running
and the sight made all laughing

The afternoon
time for the teacher to moan
all the students
playing underneath the table
deceiving the gullible

The late afternoon
time for playing
and to relax
from all the stress

The dismissal
our favourite
for we no longer need to hear the teacher's word
and the funtime begins

We all
meet together
find a place
and play

We run here and there
screaming and laughters filled the air
some injuries happen
but we don't care

we continue playing
till noon
when our parents spotted us
no choice but to get home

Another day dawn
same thing happen
no work
but play

until our grades drop
playtime has to stop
and now I have grown up
no longer were the moments

Some friends went to east
some to west
we were separated
sad and hopeless

Where are the moments
that we used to have
hopping mad
that they were no longer there

But most of all
I missed everyone
call my friends
every month

If I had three wishes
no doubt I will call everyone back
come on let's play
please come back

By:Sheng Xiang :)

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Lesson reflections

Today, we managed to cover the summary of the first 8 chapters of "Village By The Sea
".I think the handout is useful and detailed.It points out the significant events that happen in the chapter and briefly describe the other non-significant events that happen too.

The teacher also choose some volunteered pupils to read the summary and I think that's very useful.Through this activity, not only will we get a rough idea of the story, we also can practise to speak up and build our confidence.

Speaking of summary,we learnt the format to write a summary question a few lessons ago.Basically, we needed to find out what is the question asking for first.Next, we highlight the points in the passage before paraphrasing them.Lastly,we wrote the points into one paragraph and count the number of words written.

Our teacher also gave us some summary questions to practice.It is useful and as the saying goes,"Practice makes perfect",through the practice exercise,I more confidence in answering the summary questions now.

Urbanisation

Today, we split into groups and have a group discussion on Urbanisation. I feel that after thie meaningful lesson, I had more understanding and knowledge of what exactly is urbanisation about. Actually, the previous lesson, when we had a quiz about urbanisation,it also helps me to understand what is urbanisation.

To conclude,I think that the activity today is fun and interesting as I can see that we had learnt something out of the group discussion.I hope that we can have more of this kind of group activities so that we can learnt from each other.

Basically, urbanisation is actually the change of a rural place/location to a more urban district.The changes can involved mainly the buildings, the pace and also the atmosphere, which is caused by the two factors listed above. In a rural place, there will probably be slums and wooden houses all around. When it's being changed to a urban place, the buildinds will probably be changed to skyscrapers, factories. There will also be vehicles like cars around too.

When you arrived at a rural place, you will most probably feel very carefree as you will be surrounded by the flowers and trees.You will also be able to enjoyed the natural beauties, like the seawater, the mountains etc.However when urbanisation arrives, the pace will become much faster and hectic. You will feel that the atmosphere becomes very fast-paced, as if there are no time for you to even breathe!With noises produced by the factories, the sounds of the engine of the fast cars accelerating, you will definitely feel the differences between rural and urban cities.

Therefore, the atmosphere is totally different in urban and rural places. You will feel the major differences in the paces and the differences between the appearance,like the buildings etc.

For me, I would actually prefer rural places. I liked to be carefree and free of worries unlike the hectic life in city. I would also like to admire and enjoyed the beautiful,natural scenery.However, there are also good points about urban cities too. They are more organised and neater in the appearance.

newspaper article -"Urbanisation Arrives in Thul."

Urbanisation arrives in Thul
Recently,government has arrived at the decision to built factories at a sleepy fishing rural village-Thul.The elders are apparently opposing to the idea but the young are supporting this idea instead.The elders disagree with this idea as they believed that that will mess up their normal life and also source of food.Why would that happened?It all relates back to the factories and the toxic waste they produced.The factories,as everyone knows,will produced poisonous and toxic waste,substances.To dispose of those waste,the factories will probably threw them into the sea along the shore of Thul.

After that happens,the fishes in the sea will also get poisoned and get killed due to water pollution.Fishermans are therefore not able to catch fishes which are all poisoned.Even if they catch a poisoned fish,they themselves will get poisoned if they consumed the fish.

Now,let's look at the young's views instead.They think that they will get jobs opportunities if the factories are built up.They can earn money then and can also help to make ends meet.They are also bored and sick of the normal everyday life-catch fish,eat,sleep.They wanted to do something new and interesting like having a job instead of wandering around uselessly.

However,will the government give jobs opportunities to those villagers who had exactly no idea of the machines and mechanics?Will they?In the end,we shall see if the elder's words or the young's words are wise...

Research on the preparation of chapathi and jalebi.

Differences between chapathi and roti prata
Chapathi is actually made of whole wheat flour, mixed with water and salt.It's rolled out, dry heated on a skillet,and then puffed up on a rack.It is a type of roti or Indian bread eaten in South Asia and East Africa and is the staple food for Southeast asia people.Roti is also made from wheat flour,except that it's cooked on a flat or slightly concave iron griddle called a tawa. Like chapathi, roti is a staple accompaniment to other foods, maybe spread with ghee (clarified butter) or yoghurt, used as a scoop, or rolled up with a filling.

Differences between jalebi and you tiao
Jalebi is actually a dipped fried and pretzel shaped dessert that is soaked in syrup.It has a very chewy texture and sometimes, sugars get partly fermented which adds flavor to the dish.It also has a crystallized sugary exterior coating and can be served warm or cold.However,youtiao is a deep-fried strip of long,golden brown dough.It's normally eaten in breakfast by the Chinese,East or Southeast Asian cuisines.Youtiao are normally lightly salted and act as an accompaniment for rice congee or soy milk.

Recipe for Chapathi
1)Put your in a large bowl with half the water.
2)Blend the two wheat flour together until it holds.
3)Beat and knead well until it forms a compact ball.
4)Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic.
5)Set aside the dough for 30 minutes.
6)Knead and divide dough into 4 to 6 parts.
7)Roll each ball into a circle about 1/2 cm thick.
8)Heat an ungreased skillet(tava)and put chapati on it,let it cook for about 1 minute.
9) Turn and cook the second side for 2 3 minutes until small bubbles form.
10)Turn again and cook the rst side pressed lightly with a towel.
11) Serve warm.

Recipe for Jalebi
1)Mix the flour, semolina or rice flour, baking powder, curd and 3/4th cup of the water in a bowl (preferably a ceramic bowl).
2)Mix well with a whisk.
3)Mix well and then add remaining water and 1/8th tsp. of saffron powder, and whisk until smooth.
4)Set aside for about 2 hours to ferment.
5)Whisk thoroughly before use.
6)Prepare string syrup by dissolving sugar in the water. Just before the syrup is ready add saffron and cardamom powder.
7)Heat oil in a kadhai.
8)Pour the batter in a steady stream (or coconut shell with a hole) into the kadhai to form coils. Make a few at a time.
9)Deep fry them until they are golden and crisp all over but not brown.
10)Remove from the kadhai and drain on kitchen paper and immerse in the syrup.
11)Leave for at least 4-5 minutes so that they soak the syrup.
12)Take them out of syrup and serve hot.

Poses of Lila ( The Village by the sea )

When Lila offered flowers to the sacred rock in the sea:


In the picture above,there's a woman who looked very serious.When Lila offered the flowers, she must have looked very serious too and also very firm.

When the medicine-man arrived to help Lila's mother:

In the picture above,the girl is wiping off her cold sweat and feeling relieved. When the medicine man come to help Lila's mother, Lila must also be feeling relieved that help had arrived and her mother could be rescued after all.
When Pinto is poisoned:

In the picture above, the girl showed a very horrified look and also a sense of sadness in it as you can see that she's about to cry. When Pinto was poisoned and was about to die, Lila must be feeling despondent and also horrified because she did not predicted this to happen. Therefore, this picture best represents the pose of Lila when Pinto is poisoned.

Diary of Hari ( The Village by the sea )

God...I need money desperately,really desperately.Father addicted to beer,mother sick,sisters need to go to school-all these are a burden to me when I thought of it.As a man,I must get a job to earn money to make ends meet.Ramu said that factories are going to be built up in our village and we can get job then.

However,now I think of it,we are just normal villagers who don't know anything about machines,mechanics etc.Would the people hired us?would they?Even if they would,when will the factory be built?When?By the time the factories are built up and we get our jobs,we will starved by then.I could not afford to wait till then.I decided to go to Bombay to look for jobs.There will sure to be jobs available for me and nobody is to stop me this time.I am going to get a job and bring my hard-earned money back,to cure my mother's illness and to buy rice and meat for us to eat.However,how am I able to go to Bombay?I did not have any money for my transportation.I think I need to wait for Biju and go to Bombay by his boat.Even if his is boastful,but he sometimes can really came into good use.

Now.let's hope that all will go smoothly according to my plan.Please...

Why the tiger?

The princess should be extremely jealous if the man was to be married to another woman,especially a woman that she hated so much.In fact,it would be kind of a torture to her.However if the man were to be eaten by the tiger,the man would receive the pain and torture.He would also wonder why the princess would betray him.

The princess,who is very demanding,would definitely prefer the man to be eaten by the tiger as she would rather that than to see her lover with another woman she disliked.After that,she would kill herself in order to meet with her lover in the afterlife.This way the princess need not to suffer by the fact of her lover with another woman,and also she could be with her lover together forever in the afterlife,assuming that she believed in it.

The lady,or the tiger?

The answer:The tiger

Without the slightest hesitation,he went to the door on the right,and opened it.At that heart-stopping moment everyone hold their breath,some even muttered a silent prayer for the handsome man to be alive.The door opened,and the shadows of the living thing in the room shone on the ground.The man dared not looked up,instead looking at the shadow.The shadow of the living thing shows a small body and head.

"A woman,yes!"The man shouted but his happiness only lasted for a while.For what greeted him when he looked up confidently was not a pretty lady.It was a tiger to his surprise and fear.The tiger was small compared to those adult tiger.Even so,its fangs was longer and much much more sharper than any tiger's.It's hostile eyes glared at the man,who was now beyond description.The man's fear,horror,disappointment was not able to be described by words alone.His heart palpitated at such at amazing speed that he would not have been surprised if he would die of heart attack first.The cold and clammy hands of him trembled tremendously.

With a swift and powerful plunge,the man was pinned down to the ground with immense force.The tiger was too agile,fast and strong despite his size.With a few painful bites by the ferocious tiger,the man finished his last breath.The audience closed their eyes,too afraid and demoralized to watch the violent scene.Everyone leaved the amphitheatre after minutes,with heavy steps.And that's the end of the princess's lover,died in a gruesome way.

The princess returned to the palace and closed herself up in her room.She took out the knife from the elegant drawer and pointed it to her wrist.Without second thoughts,she cut it through her wrist,blood dripping from it.She muttered her last words,"I'm coming to you,my lover..."

The End

Conversation between two liars

Peter-Hi Jake!Long time no see!
Jake-Ah,I'm quite busy nowadays you know.
Peter-Busy with what?You are always doing nothing.
Jake-Come on,how dare you looked down on me?To tell you the truth,i'm in a big business now,earning big bucks!
Peter-Really?Then why are your clothes so torn and tattered?
Jake-I'm living in a mansion,driving a Ferrari,you have not seen my wealth yet.
Peter-All right,speaking of rich,actually i just won lottery a few hours ago.Few millions in a go!Come on tell me where you lived,maybe i will move to the mansion besides yours.
Jake-Better not,because my adress is confidential.
Peter-Oh really?That's so unusual of you.
Jake-I'm hungry now,you just said you won lottery?
Peter-Ya why?
Jake-Treat me to a sumptuous meal la,I'm famished.
Peter-maybe next time,i had just deposit my money in the bank nearby.
Jake-There's no bank here!
Peter-Oh i forgot,it's a few streets away.I got to go.Happy New Year,maybe i will visit your mansion one day.
Jake-All right,but please call me first before visiting,I need to be informed.

Descriptive Writing(describe a place where people wait for something)

The MRT platform was packed like sardines.As I went up the fast and convenient escalator,a round and huge white clock greeted me.It showed 2:30pm and the sun's rays shone on the platform.The floor smelt like rubbish as litter were thrown on the hard,brown floor.
Cries of babies,conversations of passengers and even the ticking of the clocks pierced through my ears.Two old and short men were chatting in the corner,laughing and revealing their white teeth.The whole MRT platform was in a chaos.I closed my eyes and waited patiently for the train."My god,"I mumbled under my heavy breath.

Journal according to the police(lamb to the slaughter)

Dear diary,
Today is another tiring yet interesting day for me.I am in charge of investigating a new case that is not as simple as you think.A man was killed,but there was no relevant weapons found and we could not assumed his wife to be the killer as she had an alibi.We confirmed that the man was killed due to a heavy blow on his head,probably by a baseball bat or even some big stick.
The whole house,place where the man was killed,was in a chaos.The newspapers was flung all over the place,the table was overturned and it looked like an intruder messing up the house.He was maybe looking for money.At first,it seemed quite a normal murder case but as time passed,i sensed something amiss.
The wife,named Mary Maloney,behaved very weird.Maybe she was too shocked,but i don't think that was the case.She did not seem like telling me everything she knew and i felt that there was still something she was trying to hide from me.For a period of time,i suspected that she was the killer.Unfortunately i do not have any evidence and somemore she was a pregnant woman,which minimise the chances that she was the murderer.
At last, she even treated us to a lamb!I was famished and gobbled down the delicious food.Hold on.Speaking of the lamp now,it might be the weapon!It was huge and enough to cause a injury to someone!I must get back to the case now,as i had new evidence to say that Mary Maloney was the murderer.
Yours sincerely,
Sheng Xiang

Journal according to Madam Maloney(lamb to the slaughter)

Dear Diary,
Today,i had committed a serious crime-murdering of my husband.I don't intend to commit the crime but because i cannot control myself at the moment of the crime,i killed my husband with the leg of a lamb.The reason for killing him is because he wanted to divorce me as he is having an affair out there!Imagine that!
I totally lost my mind when he told me that he had another woman he intended to married.He was so irresponsible!Dumping a pregnant woman and saying that he had another woman he loved?Did he care about my feelings?
However,on second thoughts,i really regretted killing him.We can sit down and talk about other alternatives than divorcing.Now whenever someone knocks the door,my heart will palpitate at such an amazing speed,fearing that it might be the police who have cracked the case.I have tried my best to put up a good show in front of the police when they arrived to gather evidence.Now i am all alone.
When i daydream,i dream about the consequences of my act.Of course,i will be executed.If that happens,i will have to wait till my baby is born.Fancy having seen your new born baby and you will going to be executed.I dreaded the day to come.Oh how i wish i had not commit the crime...
Yours sincerely,
Mary Maloney

Reflection of diagnostic test results

In my test results,i found out that actually i am best in kinaesthetic learning which is body smart.I guess that means that i learn best when i am moving around instead of sitting in class and listening to the teacher explaining things or facts.In the past,examples of my kinaesthetic learning was usually during science lessons.I can experiment with those science equipments and learn while experimenting.In this way,i think it is also not so bored as we get to have some hands-on.We can also prove those science facts to ourselves instead of just believing everything that the teacher tells us.Another example of my kinaesthetic learning is during maths lesson where we learn at the same time we play some maths game.The teaching is more lively and we get to have some fun while learning too.