Wk 5 Blog Prompt

This 'zzz' blog is based on Merchant of Venice Act 4 Scene 1.

1) Is there true justice? Frankly speaking I don't think so. Portia purposely twisted the law so that the law backfires to Shylock, which is not actually the intended result or true justice.

2) Is there true mercy in the scene? It may seem so at the first glance when Portia and Antonio give Shylock a chance to evade death by taking his properties and convert him to Christianity, but actually it's highly debatable. During Shakespeare's times, Christians and Jews are potential enemies and converting to another religion means betraying their original religion and to think of converting to a religion you discriminate really gives you a guilty and uncomfortable feeling doesn't it? Antonio and Portia and other Christians in the court may view Shylock's conversion to Christianity as an act of mercy, but to Shylock is it really so? I think not. Shylock even propose to die rather than be converted to Christianity in the trial scene.

3) Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power? Well, let's view this issue from two sides. On one side, justice and law are just and fair, and every people who disobey the law will get the same punishment for every people regardless of rank or power. On the other side, however, these punishments are usually imposed by the judge, and a person with a higher rank or greater power will try to force the judge to lighten the punishment or even judge them not guilty in exchange for some benefits. This is obviously a second against-the-law-and-justice act(for the judge, first for the client).

Let's relate this topic to the MOV trial scene again. Notice that the intended justice of Shylock of getting a pound of Antonio's flesh (meaning sentencing Antonio to death) was entirely manipulated and now the arrow, first facing Antonio, faces Shylock as Portia(the people in power?) twisted the law against him, thus making this entirely going the wrong way, achieving the wrong result. While it may seem that Portia is an intelligent girl, her aim is to save Antonio's life and thus she has to do this since she could not beg for Shylock's mercy of sparing his life.

As a Malaysian who knows a bit of Malaysia's politics, as far as I know the judge as well as the police (and most of the Malays?) supports the current ruling party, the Barisan Nasional. They gave a lot of incentives to Malays and the natives, however biased against the Chinese and the Indians. In courts, such cases happen A LOT. As what I said, a lot of people with power accused of committing a crime-and at rare times even confirmed'-turned out to be innocent instead! This is totally going against law and justice. Some things which I feel that is too bizarre is that former prime ministers, the so-called "Tuns", will not be sentenced to prison or death no matter what crime or how many crimes he committed unless he commits a very serious crime.

In conclusion, to solve this issue largely depends on the person, notably the judges. If a judge are fair and just, justice and law will not be manipulated no matter how much power his client holds. Likewise if the judge is afraid of the client for the power he/she holds, justice and law will surely be manipulated.

Wk 4 Blog Prompt

The recent news show a S4 student writing a letter to our MoE here. You can read her letter through here (YES SHE IS A GIRL!!!).

To a certain extent, I find some points raised are in fact true about education systems in Singapore. For example, she raised an issue about students not often taught to ask ‘Why?’ What she means is that why aren't children answered with questions of reasoning like "Why is the grass green?" or "Why is the sky blue?" In fact "Children are curious and inquisitive, asking their parents questions many parents themselves are not able to answer."

I realised in Singapore (since I'm Malaysian) competition is frequent among students. Parents always ask their children to do well in their studies without even learning the true stuff!!! It seems like the aim of learning for us students is only to get good grades rather than learning stuff we are suppose to learn. Or in general, our learning is a dead learning, meaning we only memorise stuff from textbooks and pour it all out during tests. In this modern world where creativeness is one of the most important factors of success, the education here seem to go off the right track.

Notice the language she uses. How does it reflect the girl's attitude? From what I see, she seems to have been unsatisfied by the education system for a long time. Although she is complaining in the letter, she minds her language and remains her manners while writing to the minister. Still from the tone I think she is still quite concerned about it and I can see how she wants this matter to be solved as soon as possible. Quite well-crafted, and the tone is appropriate too.

If I really were to write such letter I would just explain the current system and the desired system. Frankly speaking I have no opinions too. However, some important issues I would raise may include something like teachers blame students straight away without finding the truth, or like what the girl has raised about educating moral values, or maybe uncreative education. I would also give suggestions after raising these issues.

Week 3 Blog Prompt

Third random post...

In my opinion, I feel that money is important in a relationship to a certain extent. Money is of course needed to survive but it is not a factor that I look for in a relationship. I do not be with someone just because she is rich. I believe in true love. Being in a relationship with someone because of money is not love. It is love for the person’s money instead. I feel that this kind of relationship will not be a romantic one, and the love is a fake one. Loving someone is to be willing to go through hard times for that someone and you have a special affection for that someone. True couples should be working towards a blissful life and this is when they work hard to earn enough money to support a family. Money should not be a criteria for a relationship but something that couples work for. Sometimes there are cases whereby people use money to make someone they like but does not like him/her to go in a relationship with him/her. Will this kind of relationship last? I seriously think we should not play with other people’s feelings. If we do not like that person for who that person is, we should not start a relationship with that person just for money. I do think there is an upward trend of relationships and marriages valuing money over other qualities. Other than liking someone for money, there are also cases where couples lose interest in each other and continued to be together for the sake of money. People are getting more materialistic nowadays. They do not care about love anymore. All they want is to live well and love does not matter to them anymore. I really feel disappointed that love is being cast off and money is now the most important in life. Love is actually something very wonderful. It can change a person’s character. It can spark off a person to work even harder. Life without love is really boring and meaningless.

Week 2 Blog Prompt

A random post again...

"A country cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war."

- Albert Einstein

Indeed. In fact, even though war had ceased in most places, or seemed like that, war is always ongoing even for this second. Just matters that it now differs in purpose and its way compared from the past to now. It's obvious from Einstein's quote that war is still ongoing but because of present conditions we usually do not prepare for a war that many.

War has evolved, in general, a traditional war to a modern war. War has a very long history of up to thousands of years, yet many people are still fighting it. From traditionally using only simple tools and weapons to compete for food, to using troops of thousands to conquer land using basic weapons, eventually to guns and cannons and ships and aircrafts for war, and even nuclear weapons which could turn a huge area of metropolis to a pile of scrap heaps in just a short time!

From how in ancient China the famous Chinese generals like Yue Fei and Sun Tzu leading several troops consisting of tens of thousands of armies, winning battles and conquering lands, to the Civil Wars in America, to World War I and World War II, where the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which raided thousands of people dying either directly from the bomb or the radiation aftereffect, to the recent death of the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, we know that war is always ongoing non-stop.

Although the ways of fighting a war is not the same throughout the years and that their purpose is not the same, war to me is just a fight, mostly an unnecessary fight between a huge number of people, that usually leads into bloodshed, and can be avoided at all costs. As what Albert Einstein had said, a country cannot possibly take too many wars at once, so why fight the unnecessary fight?

"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure."

- Jacques Chirac

Book review - Merchant of Venice

I've read this book before school holidays, and it is a wonderful book. It features Antonio, the merchant of Venice, along with Bassanio, Gratiano, Salerio, Solanio, Lorenzo and more. There is also Shylock, a Jew who drives himself into hatred, and Portia, an heiress of Belmont who is also a wise maiden.

Ironically the main character is not Antonio, the merchant of Venice. Rather, it is Shylock, the Jewish money lender. While I think there is no way one would consider Shylock a nice fellow. I came away believing that he was more wronged than anyone in the play whom he harmed. He is presented as a nasty and greedy money lender. No doubt that portrait played well in a time of rampant anti-Semitism, but I came away with great sympathy for him. Even Antonio, the merchant, is just horrible in his judgment of Shylock, much more based on his race and religion than his money-lending practices.

The play is a mixture of romance, tragedy, mostly comedy, and has a happy ending. It also tells us, from Shylock and Antonio, that Christians then hold much prejudice towards the Jews. We also see romance between Lorenzo and Jessica, and Bassanio and Portia. The way of how Portia finds a suitable husband is seemingly interesting, and of which Portia already predicts her future husband, which is Bassanio.

The twist comes in when Shylock, having arrested Antonio, demanded a pound of flesh from Antonio's body rather than three thousand ducats. This trial, judged by the Duke, becomes very interesting when Portia, disguised as a lawyer defending Antonio, though pretending to agree with Shylock to cut off a pound of flesh near Antonio's bosom, suddenly says that no blood should be dripped while cutting the flesh, or Shylock will lose his fortune. In the end Shylock chose to pay instead.

The Merchant of Venice is a wonderful read. Touching, challenging, insightful and fascinating; just a delightful read.

Reflection on the Middle East riots

The recent riots going on in the Middle East has it's news spread worldwide. Over the last few weeks we have heard about riots in Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia, Algeria, Bahrain and more, mostly powered by the disruptive role of social media like Twitter and Facebook, to the point that in many cases governments have been forced to block Internet access.

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

The spirit of the narrator possesses a strong essence of patriotism towards England. In Malaysia, there also lies a potential power of patriotism under every people, but buried deep due to the recent political affairs. This is because our fore fathers are willing to negotiate with the British to achieve independence. If they were to sit there and do nothing, we would not have life as it is today. I also think I have some patriotism in Malaysia because of the comfortable lives in Malaysia, but partly none because of the government.

About being a Hwa Chongian, I'm actually proud of it. This is because to enter Hwa Chong Institution from Malaysia requires a number of challenges, and among thousands of candidates, I was one of the few who are eligible to study in Hwa Chong Institution. With such a good oppurtunity, I felt proud to be in this school and shall study hard to prove it.

T2 HBL

Does feeling ironic that a lot of tragedy happens more on this blog. Regardless, I still have SOOOOOOO much more homework to do. Now let's see......

Rainbow Death

America did not foreseeGreen, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!Expecting others to pay a high price.Now thinking twice?Toll on the innocent and unborn.Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.All the deceit continues to spread.Nefariously America led astray -Generations untold WILL pay -Execrable effects of agent orange spray!Hubert Wilson

Okay so if we have to know about the whole poem, we will have to know the author first. It's Hubert Wilson, but who is he? He is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF security service. Together with a dozen or so intelligence school graduates, they prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas. They were sent to Vietnam or other places in Southeast Asia in 1970. He was assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska along with the 6984th Security Squadron, which was a severely contaminated environment. After staying there for about 18 years, he started to have unexplained headaches and limb pains. No doctors have been able to diagnose the illness. Since his brain is still functioning moderately well although he has mobility issues, he has decided to turn to writing. (credits from http://mon-aime.blogspot.com/2010/05/analysis-of-rainbow-death.html)

Let's now turn to analysing the whole poem, and since we already have the background of the author, we should be able to know that this is a war poem

War - A Personal Response

At the first glance at the picture we see two soldiers tending to their injured squad mate. The whole atmosphere is very tense with war going on and we can sense it when we see the chaos in the picture, buildings fallen apart, masses of people dying or injured in the war and soldiers carrying rifles and guns, dressed in army suits, to battle and risk their life for the sake of a better future and safety for their country and nation.

In fact, this picture is taken in a war in Hue, Vietnam in 1968. The war is going on and the photographer managed to take a picture of such situation when two soldiers tend their squad mate who looks seriously injured at a hiding place. This picture manages to evoke pity towards men who sacrificed themselves in the war. It also manages to evoke a person’s dread and horror towards the effects of war that claimed many lives in the past.

The effects of war also seem like what the photographer is trying to convey through this photo. War actually also means that the nation is wasting manpower for the sake of the piece of land. In the end what is left is a series of blood bath and massacres of dying people and resulting in a mass area of wasteland, with buildings razed and destroyed through all the bombings in the war.

Through this picture, I've learnt the dreadful effects of war and the consequences of the loss of lives and the loss of economics due to the destroyed buildings which were once carefully built by people in the past. I also learnt that if a war is to be stopped, people must unite and not develop misunderstandings so that there will be peace and harmony among the people and the country.

Letter for Japan victim

Just read an article about how Japanese victims, and felt like writing a letter to them. So I wrote one to David, an American working in Tokyo.

661 Bt Timah Rd
Singapore 269735
Dear David,

How are you? This is Charles from Singapore writing a letter to you. From what you posted in the article, I can see that how fearful it is to think of the earthquake in Japan and actually experiencing it. To be frank, I sympathize for you, much as the others who suffered from the wrath of Mother Nature, attempting to rip Japan apart.

You might have known how much damage did this earthquake deal to Japan. And I know it is not really good to wander hopelessly after the quake, searching for possible hopes but not finding any. But in fact, you were being very lucky indeed compared to other victims who are nearer to the epicenter, and so I believe there is still hope for you and the others to find a way out of this chaotic disaster.

With the town destructed by the cruel force, people running crazily around, the sky looking apocalyptic and helicopters and police sirens going off randomly, even I will be uneasy about the environment and the atmosphere and feeling hopeless. However, bear in mind that there is always hope. You will soon find out that Tokyo will recover its busy metropolis of the past quicker than you imagine!

Actually I admire you for being grateful towards yourself for surviving the disaster comparing the others who are more unlucky than you. You also cared about the others by asking, in heart, how are your colleagues, how are the other victims. It also shows thatyou are not the one caring for only his own self, but also the others.

If you have trouble living in your current place, you could try to evacuate to safer areas. And do not worry about Japan’s economies because the world is working very hard collecting funds to save Japan. Have faith in your heart. I’m sure you will find hope of surviving and living.

Regards,
Charles

The Frozen Fire

By zc970520 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

This comic has a humorous and an exaggerating theme. As you can see, this story has an exaggerating scene where two explorers at the North Pole were frozen after setting up a fire, unfortunately because of the weather too harshly cold, the fire was frozen as well!!! Basically I made this to express exaggeration which can be randomly expressed out when one is writing a piece of novel.

The setting of this image

It was a very nice and beautiful afternoon, but over here it looked as if it was evening. The fire was roaring madly of domination and devouring everything that's left of the forest. There are even signs of flames on the road tar, and it seemed difficult for him to escape alive, even with his car.

The World War II in Germany

Suppose everyone know about the World War II in Germany where a lot of Jews were murdered in mass numbers by the Nazis. But what is the real reason for that?

The main reason the Germany started the WWII is to apply the ideology of the "Ubermensch" or super race. -to eradicate democracy. -to eliminate physically,in first instance the Jews. -to eliminate physically, all parties who did not think like them. -to eliminate physically,if they had won the war, all people of Slavic origin (old east European countries). -to eliminate physically,in third instance the protestant and catholics, because the origin of the new testament,is found in the old. Endly to be the masters of the world, and use other people-country, religion as slave. Thanks to the allies and all the Jewish fighters (Jewish Brigades in free French army,in Britain armies, etc...) it never happened. "ideologically" if you call this thoughts an ideology, the purpose was that only, the survival of the fittest, the law of nature,would be established. The law as a tool, to allow human beings to live together, had to be eradicated. Another is the religious discrimination where the Nazis despised the Jews.

What are concentration camps? Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (in German Konzentrationslager, or KZ) throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps were greatly expanded in Germany after the Reichstag fire in 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime. The number of camps quadrupled between 1939 and 1942 as Jews, political prisoners, criminals, homosexuals, gypsies, the mentally ill and others were incarcerated, generally without trial or judicial process.

The term was borrowed from the British concentration camps of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Holocaust scholars draw a distinction between concentration camps (described in this article) and extermination camps, which were established for the industrial-scale murder of the predominantly Jewish ghetto and concentration camp populations. Extermination camps included Belzec, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Do you know about the Mein Kampf? Mein Kampf (English: My Struggle) is a book written by Nazi politician Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited by the former Hieronymite friar Bernhard Stempfle who later perished during the Night of the Long Knives.

Hitler began the dictation of the book while imprisoned for what he considered to be "political crimes" after his failed Putsch in Munich in November 1923. Though Hitler received many visitors earlier on, he soon devoted himself entirely to the book. As he continued, Hitler realized that it would have to be a two-volume work, with the first volume scheduled for release in early 1925. The prison governor of Landsberg noted at the time that "he [Hitler] hopes the book will run into many editions, thus enabling him to fulfill his financial obligations and to defray the expenses incurred at the time of his trial."

Final draft of story (Terms of Life)

Terms of Life - Life of a Malaysian in Singapore

'But what's life meant to be anyway?' asked the five-year-old kid, tugging himself comfortably under his father's arms.

'Well son, sad to say but life's complicated. Sometimes you just can't understand your destiny, whatever lies on your path, or what's on your path stopping you, pushing you forward, you just can't expect what you will meet in your life. Life is like a crooked path wandering off, craggy, uneven and risky. But to me life depends on how you look at it. Some can live well and happy in a poor family, while others live miserably in a rich family. But listen son, you can actually pave your own path of your life. You can change your destiny, just depending whether you want to live happily or unhappily. Depends, son, it sure does...'

I remembered that conversation well enough although it had been some 8 or 9 years. I always remembered how Dad explains what's life meant to be, how did he say about all these, though at that time I did not fully understand what Dad was trying to say. Somehow with the starngest reason, I suddenly understood Dad's words. Way too much it was that I was apart from both of my dearest parents in this land, of what the natives called Singapore. Most unexpected. Had it not been the letter of summons, had it not been the interview, had it not been the test, had it not been the opportunity to even come in here to study.... Dad's right, you just can't expect what you will meet in your life.

Life in the boarding school of Hwa Chong Institution may seem interesting at first and relaxing without the nagging of parents, but eventually gets boring, with tight schedules and mass loads of homework, you can hardly squeeze out even a second to do what you want. It also feels boring to even do the same things you do everyday during free times. Soon I realised life at home is much better in any way.

The first year shot off with a series of lucky and unlucky cases. Lucky when I get to be, or unlucky when I get to be. Lucky when I achieved prizes, when I found something lost, when I almost fell down. Unlucky when I lost something, when I fell down, or when once my phone rang in class caused by my mother accidentally calling me! Same for this year, same scenario, same unchanged. Like what Dad said, Life is like a crooked path wandering off, craggy, uneven and risky.

What is most unluckiest is that I chose an undesired CCA, so called the abbreviation of co-curricular activities. It started when we were asked to choose a CCA, with six choices and at least a sports and uniform group among two. I started off choosing........ and the results came. Scouts??!! I did not want Scouts and thought I just put there for fun only. Therefore I approached the teacher-in-charge for help. Turns out I made a huge mistakes: the selection is according to your most and least desired CCA!! As a result, I managed to appealed to St John Ambulance Brigade. At least it was not bad, or I might die to it.

At least all seem well throughout these years, except for just one thing that quite pissed me off and bothered me a little, troublesome, and for just with one person solving it, it was actually a little bit bone-chilling. When Ms Yap distributed the Annual St John Walkathon Fund-raising card to us, we were required to collect $40 publicly. I collected, with a lot of effort put in and managed to get that seemingly large amount of money in two weeks. Then I put the donation in my wallet and the card somewhere among my files.

Then came the day before when we had to submit the card and the donation. I flipped through my files but............THE CARD IS GONE!!!!!! Searched throughout my whole room. Nothing. Oh god how could I submit the donation without the card? I told this to Ms Yap and 'Really?' she says, 'oh then you will have to make a police report as stated at the back of the card. Submit the report to me by tomorrow.'

The real trouble came. I lived alone, although I had friends, and I don't believe any of them want to come with me to accompany my trip to the police station. Hence, I made my time available for me to go to the police station, and embarked on my journey. To be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable on my journey, and since its relatively close to the boarding school, I walked, past the whole school compound, past the nearby Coronation Plaza...... Inconfidence continuously strikes me as I stood before the Bukit Timah Neighbourhood Police Station and since this is my first time making a report, I felt a little afraid, chilling and unsuitable.

After hesitating for some time, I walked myself into the police station, pushing open the swinging door and entering the air-conditioned lounge. I approached the officers there and told them my reason for coming here, anxiously. The police (Mr Razid as I saw his name tag) said to me, 'Oh you want to make a report for the loss of your donation card. Now you see that notice over there?' I turned and saw the notice saying List of items not required for police reports, and in the list I saw the two words. Donation Cards. 'So donation cards no longer require police reports?' I asked. Mr Razid nodded. I suddenly had a complex mixture of feelings in me: part of me is relieved of not having to spend a lot of time in there, and another part pissed off for coming a long way to the police station in vain. I thanked the officer and headed back to the boarding school, part of me hating Ms Yap for sending me to the police station and wasted my 1 hour period in walking to and fro the police station. Like Dad said, you won't know what strikes you next.

This year came 2011. Right before the prophecy of 2012. The Secondary 1 students entering the school compound, completely new to them, completely unfamiliar to them. Our duty is to try to keep them company , show them around, and make friends with them. They are quite nice persons and some a little more mature. They had been 'good' this year and what I know is that none of them come from where I come from. I actually predicted it because our teacher-mentor, Mr Jeffrey Lim said to us they are not recruiting students from JB ever again, since they always had the tendency to go home during the weekends. In fact, I wonder how would they feel when they are not with their parents.

For me, even though I felt a little depressed not being at home and unable to see my parents, I still felt glad having able to live here, study here, and possibly play with my good friends here. No matter how hard would life be, there's always a motivation somewhere around the corner motivating you to continue with your life. Like Dad said, Some can live well and happy in a poor family, while others live miserably in a rich family. The terms of life.

Q1)The first story was set in the stairwell, the second story was set in watson's house while the third story was set in a neighbourhood of a town.

Q2)The first story was set during the night of the 9th century, the second story was set in the morning in early April of 1883 while the third story was set in the early 19th century.

Q3)The setting of the first story tells us that the story is going to be moody and sad. The setting of the second story tells us that the story was going to be mysterious and suspicious. The setting of the third story gives us an amiable feeling and a warm and loving effect.

Q4)The setting of to kill a mockingbird is set in Maycomb county the town where the Finchs’ live. Maycomb, some twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing, was the county seat of Maycomb County。 The story states that Mr. Finch works in the area. Maycomb is repeated many times in the story and there is a vivid description of it “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day”. Maycomb is also a white town as there are description of the Finch’s neighbours. “It was customary for every circle hostess to invite her neighbors in for refreshments, be they Baptists or Presbyterians, which accounted for the presence of Miss Rachel (sober as a judge), Miss Maudie and Miss Stephanie Crawford.” It describes the fine ladies in town and how they live their lives in Maycomb County.

Telephone Conversation

The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. "Madam," I warned,
"I hate a wasted journey—I am African."
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was foully.

"HOW DARK?" . . . I had not misheard . . . "ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?" Button B, Button A.* Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the emphasis--

"ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?" Revelation came.
"You mean--like plain or milk chocolate?"
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,
I chose. "West African sepia"--and as afterthought,
"Down in my passport." Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. "WHAT'S THAT?" conceding
"DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS." "Like brunette."

"THAT'S DARK, ISN'T IT?" "Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blond. Friction, caused--
Foolishly, madam--by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black--One moment, madam!"--sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears--"Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn't you rather
See for yourself?"

Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka uses irony to depict the absurdity of racism in his poem, "Telephone Conversation.

1. These colours in the poem signify the racism that whites have for black. It is clear that the author knows how whites look down on blacks so in the first line he states that he is black and "hates a wasted trip" obvilously whites have rejected him for his skin colour which enrages him. When the landlord land hear that he was a black, she asked how black. the man said "West African sepia," citing his passport . She claims not to know what that means. She wants a quantifiable expression of his darkness. plain or milk chocolate would be a better description. His response, feigning simplicity is that his face is "brunette," his hands and feet "peroxide blonde" and his bottom "raven black". He knows that she just wants a measure of his overall skin-color so that she can categorize him, but he refuses to give it to her. Instead he details the different colors of different parts of his body. So at last he said. "i plead, wouldn't you rather see for yourself?"

2. The dialogue in this poem reveals that the white women has prejudices against blacks. The question "HOW DARK" shows alot. This very question shows that probably the was not going to accept a black man living in her apartment. She also seems to not understand what west sepia means as she thinks that there are only a few kind of blacks. light skinned and dark skinned. She asked him to describe clearly but all she wants to is to categorize him into a group.

Whereas for the men. He is a very calm man. he seems to know that white landlords has prejudices towards black men, so he states in the call that he is African and he hates wasted journeys. probably he has gone to rental apartments before just to find out that they dont accept blacks. He does not seem to be enraged at how naive the women is when she just wants a general colour of his skin when it was very difficult to categorize him into any group. He finally gives in by saying wouln't you rather see me?

3. In this poem. The landlord seems to win. The men was unable to explain to her his situation so he finally says wouldn't you rather see for yourself, even at the fact that he might be rejected again due to his race and skin colour

Slavery in America

Slavery

a. The first English colony in North America, Virginia, first imported Africans in 1619, a practice established in the Spanish colonies as early as the 1560s, beginning the era of slavery.

b. Africa

c. The Spanish

d. The Jim Crow Laws

e. It helps us to understand why the white men despised the blacks, and why were maids often blacks.

The Civil Wars

a. Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia

b. Abraham Lincoln

c. It was fought because The Northern territory wanted to free the slaves while the Southern territory did not.

d. 1861 – 1865

e. Slavery for the Confederacy's 3.5 million blacks effectively ended when Union armies arrived; they were nearly all freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.

f. It is related from the case of Tom Robinson.

Jim Crow Laws

a. Jim Crow is not actually a person, but the subject of a song performed by Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice, a white man who performed in blackface.

b. The Jim Crow Laws separated black from white men in doing activities.

c. The Blacks were not satisfied as they expected equal rights between all the people in America.

d. The Jim Crow Laws are seen in the novel as the black and white men used different churches in Maycomb County.

The way of Shel Silverstein - the poem of humors

Probably some of you know this particular poet, Shel Silverstein (or call him Mr. Shell if you like) who writes poems, lines of poems, more lines, bla bla bla ..............

So today our English teacher taught us about this poet and his poems. Considerably, the poems were just as funny as a joke, called the tongue-in-cheek humor. Ok, maybe I can show you how it's funny.......

The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, 'Sometimes I drop my spoon.'
Said the old man, 'I do that too.' (lolz)
The little boy whispered, 'I wet my pants.'
'I do that too,' said the old man. (rofl)
Said the little boy, 'I often cry.'
The old man nodded, 'So do I.' (hahaz)
'But worst of all,' said the boy, 'it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me.'
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
'I know what you mean,' said the little old man. (Guess what he means!!)

Ok, if you think this isn't funny, then look at this one:

Messy Room

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp. (XD)
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? (Oops :P) Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

OK, seems funny and ironic all right, like how badly he describes the room which turned out to be his!!! Maybe he will have to keep his room clean for the rest of his life.

Now let's see what's in this messy room of his.........a considerable mess in the room, mess of ironies, rhymes, personification, messages... Ok, now what's the real deal with this poem? Why, it does have a match with yourself if you think harder.

And I mean there's a match, which is the human nature. Consider what has the poet Mr. Shell done. Notice that he diverts the blame of the messy room to others before he found out that it was HIS room. Well, all I can say is that all humans have this nature of diverting our own blame to others. Mr. Shell probably has a point writing this poem, else it would be embarassing if it really happened and it was published WORLDWIDE!!!

And well that kind of human nature was further described. If you had noticed the chair in the room was said to be mucky, fungus-growing and damp. How long hasn't Mr. Shell got his chair washed? And even the lizard, Ed, asleep on top of his bed, if it were us we would have screamed! Lizard with a name? Asleep on top of the bed without knowing any harm? WOW!!!

Yup, and irony is in there, and OBVIOUS!! Ironic that Mr. Shell blamed his messy room, ironic that he said the owner should be ASHAMED!!