My Chinese Name

My chinese name is 裴晟翔. I have no idea what what was the significance of my chinese name, but I will still try to figure out.
When I was young, my mother told me that she got my name after seeking advice from geomancer. I was very surprised that she spent her money just to get me a good name. From the pronounciation, 晟 sounds as " sheng", in chinese it means victory. I guess my parents probably want me to be successful and to try my very best and gain victory in life when i grow up.
Their is a chinese phrase callled 飞翔, which means soar and fly in the air. I guess my parents want me to held my head up high in life. She also hopes that I could actually be a successful man and push my limtis to the end.
Overall, I guess that my parents wants me to be successful in life and to held my head high. She hopes that I could achieve commendable results and a bright future.

Favourite memory of Chinese New Year

Every year when Chinese New Year is around the corner, i would felt excited. I get to wear new clothes and recieve money. I had alot of favourite memory of Chinese New Year, in terms of the five senses.

Sense of sight
My favourite memory is when I saw my relatives and cousins gathering around. The scene is rare as I was usually held up by school activities and exams. It was very rare to meet up with my cousins, and it was glad to see them all during Chinese New Year.

Sense of smell
My favourite memory is when I smell the fragrance of my grandmother's handmade-cookies. Every year without fail, my grandmother would certainly handmade delicious cookies for us to eat during Chinese New Year. It was sumptious and I like the fragrance especially.

Sense of taste
My favourite memory is when i taste all the different snacks available at my relatives house. They would prepare an array of candies and snacks and it was very delicious.

Sense of hearing
My favourite memory is when I hear the firecrackers cracking. Although it was loud, but I enjoyed hearing it as it symbolises the arrival of a new year and brand new start for me.

Sense of touch
My favourite memory is when i calculated and touch the money given by my aunties and uncles. It means that I had more money to scrimp and save for the rest of my year. I could also used these money for my future spendings too.

In -Class Online Lesson #2 (Q2)

1) I think my identity is that I'm a Buddhist, student and I love music. The fact that I worship Buddha and believe his views shows that I'm a Buddhist, as I prayed to him every few months. My parents are Buddhist and naturally, I become a Buddhist too. In Singapore, primary education is compulsory for everyone and currently, I'm still studying in school which makes me a student as I gain knowledge and go to school on weekdays. Lastly, the reason why I love music is because my sister influences me. She listens to music every day and I became curious as to what's so interesting about music. As I listen to the songs and music, I realise that they are a good way to relieve one's stress. Now, I listen to music every day in the car, bus and in school and one of my favourite genres is K-pop.

In -Class Online Lesson #2

In my opinion, I think the parents of the schoolchildren should be responsible for Margot's treatment. The boys had treated Margot harshly by bullying her and forcing her into a closet. I believe that the boys were treating Margot unfairly due to the fact that they were jealous about Margot who had come to Venus just 5 years ago and still have the privilege to remember the sun. The parents of the school children should have taught them well and not bully people when jealousy gets over them. They are just letting their children expressing their thoughts through their mean actions and I think they should have more parental control over them in terms of their principles and values. If a child behaves badly, his parents are at fault too for not giving their children proper teaching/guidance and manners. Hence, in this case, when the schoolchildren bully Margot and even lie to the teacher that everyone is here, I believe their parents should be responsible for not bringing them up well.

If I was one of the schoolchildren and I saw my friends bullying Margot, I would intervene them without hesitation. It's not right to bully people when we are jealous and we should have respect and spare a thought for them instead. We should put ourselves in Margot's shoes and I believe nobody likes the sensation and feeling of being bullied. If the schoolchildren continues to bully Margot despite my intervene, I would brought up the matter to teacher and let the school children receive punishment. Although they are my friends, I would not have tolerated these kind of bullying and prejudice. I would also try to bring Margot and other school children closer in terms of relationship so that Margot would not feel left out and the school children would no longer bully her again.

Cooperation and Discussion

For the previous year, I collaborated intensely and at length with my project members in Project Day. For our project work, we met up and discuss constantly with our mentor and also came up with a few ideas. At the start, we had a few ideas and we could not came to a solution. Our mentor then advise us saying that we should choose one that we think is feasible and we could do well in.
After we selected our idea, we went to propose a few ways to handle the problem and after a few elimination, we choose one that we think is the best and start working on it.

Throughout the working process, I learnt more about my ability to adapt to the problem and my ability to came up with some creative and cool ideas. I found out that I could get distracted easily too. However, I also realised that I tend to focus when the theme or project interest me as I wanted to find out more for my own interest. Thus, the project day that we did last year was quite interesting and I get to focus and contribute more to my group. Overall, I found out that I could focus if i was attracted to the subject, and I'm full of creative ideas too.

Reflection on Home-Learning

I find the assignment yesterday interesting and fun. It was something different and we made use of a comic strip to express our thoughts, theme through the narrative writing. I think the assignment is fun and enriching as we get to use our creativity to think up of any plot with unique characters. It also helps us to learn better in terms of the technique of plot, setting and conclusion. After I have done my assignment, I realised that the comic-drawing is a very good and efficient way to help us in our narrative writing, especially to help us to have a better understanding of what is plot, climax etc. We can imagine the first box to be our setting and introduction, whereas the second box to be the development and the climax, and lastly the third box to be our conclusion. We could also create interesting and unique characters by drawing out their significant features, their expression etc.

However, even though the comic-drawing is a very good platform for us to practise our narrative writing skills, the best way is still through writing. The comics could only show the picture of different interpretations whereas through writing, we could practise our vocabulary and grammar. But the comic-drawing is without doubt one of the best methods to actually practise our creativity and also the plotting of our theme, setting etc. Personally, I am quite surprised that this home-learning actually make use of comics-drawing to aid us in narrative writing. I expected it to just be some researching and assignments but it was better than I thought. If I have time at home, I would probably consider drawing out my theme and plot in a comic strip first so that I could actually have an overview at my entire story before writing.

I also get to know about this website: www.toondos.com that helps us creates comic strips and I would probably use this website in future for educational and leisure purposes. Overall, I enjoyed the home-learning lesson as we get to learn in a fun and interesting method of drawing comic. It not only entertains me, but also let me experience once again the different variations and choices of plots and characters we could come up with.

Comic Strip (Boxing Competition)

Brief introduction of my comic:

A burly, strong man and his small, confident opponent were getting ready for a boxing competition. The arrogant man on the right is showing off by insulting his opponent. However, the opponent on the left took up his challenge and was grinning from ear to ear, showing that he was confident.
When the match start, the burly boxer could not catch his fast and small opponent, who do a flick jump and karate kick the strong boxer. In the end, the proud and strong boxer lose the match miserably and regret his arrogant actions just now by shaking hands with his opponent and make friends with him.

1) I chose the background as a boxing stage as my characters are having a boxing competition. I drew the strong boxer with enormous size, strong and big muscles to show that he was mighty and have more chances to win. On the other hand, I drew his opponent with small-sized body and skinny body to emphasis on the fact that he was bound to lose in comparison of their strength and size.

In the first box, I drew the small opponent with a smile to show that he was confident while the strong boxer was enraged as he was arrogant and appeared fierce. On the second box, I drew the strong boxer with a surprised and appalled expression as he did not expected that his small opponent could escape his attack and do a counter-attack instead.

In the third box, I drew the strong boxer with his eyes half close which shows that he was getting weaker and injured by his small opponent's mighty kick. In the last box, the strong boxer had a smile on his face as he learnt something valuable in this match and his had made a new friend as well.

2) The first box shows the setting, with 2 characters getting ready for match start on a boxing stage where there were audiences in the background. The second box is the climax as the readers and the audiences did not expected the small opponent to counter-attack the strong boxer with ease.
The third and fourth box is the conclusion and the ending as the match ended with a lesson learnt and the theme displayed.

3) I made use of the fact that the arrogant boxer lost the match to emphasis to everyone that we should never be arrogant and underestimate our opponent. We should get ready at all times and not brag about our achievements or our strengths etc. I also made the small opponent smiled at the end of the match to show that even though he won the match, he was not proud about it and instead remain humble.

I purposely drew the difference in size of the two boxers and the result ending in the small boxer winning the match. This is to emphasise that we should not judge a book by its cover and made assumptions just by the appearance and our thoughts.

I also want to tell the readers that even though we are at a disadvantage situation compared to other people, such as in terms of size and strength in the comic strip, we should still give in our best and play the game with a positive mindset. Only when we believe in ourselves and determine till the end, we have a chance to win our opponent. We should not be disappointed and give up, instead we should face the challenge and be resilient, no matter how impossible the challenge is.

Lastly, I drew the boxer smiling and be friends with his small opponent as it's alright to make mistakes. Nobody is perfect and everyone is bound to commit mistakes. However, we should learnt from the strong boxer and reflect about our mistakes and action. As long as we turn over a new leaf and never commit the mistake again, people will still accept us like how the small opponent accept the strong boxer as his friend as he had already repent his mistakes.

Learning goals for this year

This year I wanted to learn more vocabulary and also to improve my understanding of a piece of poem/literature writing. I wanted to improve my vocabulary as I wanted to improve my narrative writing through using some profound words instead of those shallow words.
Through improving my vocabulary, I can also improve my understanding of a piece of poem or literature writing. Last year, I am very weak in the understanding of a poem thus I hope that I could improve this year so as to answer the questions correctly.

Reflections

Today, we go through a handout of reflective writing and I'm trying to apply what I have learnt in the lesson in this blogpost by reflecting on what I have learnt.

Today, I learnt about reflective writing and how to go about it. As I listen to Mr Lundberg's teaching, I felt that that reflective writing, in short, in actually your own experience, feelings and chain of thoughts. I felt that throughout this lesson, I understand more about reflective writing and even some tips or guidelines for us.

I disagree with Mr Lundberg when he said that the government did not actually ponder about their own mistakes. I believe everyone makes mistakes but the real leaders should actually take a further step to think about their mistakes, why they commit it and how to improve it. The government actually do reflect upon their mistakes, just that we do not see it in public. Through experiences, the government know their mistakes and try to amend it by organising more flawless activities. Do you actually realise that every year's activities and events are better than the previous? Why? It's because the governement actually ponder and not commit the same mistakes again!

For me, I reflect on my actions frequently, just that I do not know the proper way to pen down my thoughts and reflect upon myself. But, today I learnt how to write a piece of reflective writing and I believe it's going to help me in the future or even now. I felt that reflective writing is actually not as hard as i thought, as long as you put in some effort and your opinions in it, anyone could come up with a piece of reflective writing.

The most valuable thing I have learnt last year.

For me, the most valuable thing I have learnt last year was the figurative language in the poems. It’s the most valuable thing I learnt as I had the chance to learn more about the language in the poem, how it was written and why is it written this way. In fact, the language that I learnt could also be used in my narrative writing or any other piece of Language Arts essay. It’s very useful for me as when I gained the knowledge, I could understand other poems as well and the meaning behind it.
The figurative language helps me in my language use too and I could use variety choices of language such as onomatopoeia etc. After learning the figurative language, it really helps me in my language and understanding of the poems.

My favourite book

My favourite book of all times is the book named Inkheart. Here's the link to it: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28194.Inkheart

This book is my all-time favourite as I find the plot very interesting and it can really kept me going. The language used is also very profound and it can improve my vocabulary too. Every character in the story is very unique and special.
The author also wrote very well-written settings and mood description in the book. He also knew how to captivate the reader and made him continue reading as he kept the suspense without fail in every chapter of the book.

Reflections on Question 2

Question 2)

Disclaimer: I have never been in this situation, all of the following is pure fiction and its pure imagination.

When I was in Secondary 1, I joined a project group that consist of Tom, Jerry, Akiru and me. We worked very well among each other, with an exception of Akiru. Akiru is a brilliant boy with sparkling eyes and pointed nose. He came from Japan and he was being disliked by most of us due to the fact that he came from Japan. After we studied WW2, Tom and Jerry began to treat Akiru unfairly as they felt that his country has conquered Singapore and he don't deserve to work with Singaporeans. Upon seeing the treatment that Akiru received, I felt pitiful for him but at the same time, I can't disagree with the fact that Akiru came from the country that conquer and torture the lives of Singaporeans.

Tom and Jerry began to isolate him and called him names like “The Beast”, “The Betrayer" etc. They even shouted vulgarities at him, especially after History lesson. I saw every single unfair treatment with my own eyes and I chose to close an eye upon it. In the end, our project group did quite badly due to the fact that we had “one less member”. However, Tom and Jerry pushed all the blame to Akiru.

Now, whenever I saw Akiru along the corridors, I would feel very sorry and embarrassed for not doing anything to prevent Tom and Jerry from disturbing him. If I had a chance to turn back time, I would definitely stop all those nonsense and get everyone together to produce a better project work.

Yours sincerely,
Sheng Xiang

My favourite poem

My favourite poem is Messy Room by Shel Silverstein. Here's the lyrics:

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or --
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!


I chose this poem as when I first read the poem, I felt guilty as the poem describes my room. My room was just as messy and i did not bother to clear up the mess. After reading the poem, some of my classmates laughed at the poem and they are somewhat laughing indirectly at me as i'm doing the same thing.
Therefore, this poem has the greatest impact as since then, I learned to be responsible for my own actions and clean up the mess of my room to make it a suitable and comfortable place for studying.

Poems' answers

The Little Boy and the Old Man

1) The message is that everyone has the same experience in life and everyone undergoes it.
2) He used alliteration.

Messy Room

1) The poem is humorous. The poem is funny in the way that the writer is somehow critising himself and the lines rhythms with each other.
2) It highlighted the laziness of a human character.

Cloony The Clown
1) The folks laughed very hard at something that is not funny and did not laugh when the clown intended to be funny.
2) Yes, he manges to convey the fact that nowadays people are bullying and taunting wach other.
3) He used assonance, onomatopoeia and alliteration.

In the above poems, I think I can remember the last poem named" Cloony The Clown" the most. The poet uses assonance to make it rhythms and there;s also meaning conveyed behind the message. The blog is also funny during some lines and I remembered the poem the most because it convey the message of the society and reality now through a very funny and enriching way.

Big Fish's answers

1) The phrase " a big fish in a small pond " means that the habitat for the fish is too small and it probably suggests that the fish is too mighty and powerful compared to the other normal fishes in the " small " pond.
2) The purpose of the tale is to the audience in the wedding that the only way to attract or date a woman is to offer her a wedding ring and marry her.
3) As a boy, William Bloom feels that the tale is very interesting and it caused him to feel more and more curious about " The Beast " and wants to catch it. However, as he grows older, he felt that the tale is getting boring and he is feeling ashamed as he does not believe in the tale anymore when he grows more matured. He also feels that his father is showing off and embarassing himself.
4) Edward Bloom wanted to illustrate to everyone how he manage to date his wife at that time.
5) The tale reveals that the relationship between Edward and William Bloom is very close when they were young but it slowly became distant and far when they get older.
6) Fiction story. It catches the audience's attention and makes it sounds more fascinating and interesting.
7) No, bending or exaggerating the truth of a story does not undercut the believability of a story. A tall tale is as valid as a straight reportage of facts. An exaggerated story can still manage to catch the attention of the audiences, if not more, as compared to a straight reportage. Even though people do not believe the exaggerated story, some of them still treat it as a myth like the audiences at Edward's wedding.

A brand new life

As the title suggests, today is indeed the first lesson of year 2011, the year where exams and expectations are going up by a level. After the briefing by my LA teacher, i realised that this year i had to work doubly hard, as the assignments are harder.

This year, we are also going to learn more things like war etc which sounds interesting to me. Though I believed more is to be expected of us, I still look forward to the lesson with curiousness and also a passion to learn more things. I hope this year would be also as interesting and fulfilling as the previous's. Of course, I hope my Language Arts standard could improve as much as possible.

Yours sincerely,
Sheng Xiang