Figurative Language

The poem I have chosen is Fast rode the knight by Stephen Crane.It is "Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,Ever waving an eager sword,"To save my lady!"Fast rode the knIght,And leaped from saddle to war.Men of steel flickered and gleamedLike riot of silver lights,And the gold of the knight's good bannerStill waved on a castle wall.. . . . .A horse,Blowing, staggering, bloody thing,Forgotten at foot of castle wall.A horseDead at foot of castle wall."

Firstly,the phrase "And leaped from saddle to war" is a hyperbole as it is exaggerated and used by the author to bring about an element of excitement.As for simile,the author uses the phrase "Like riot of silver lights" to represent the men of steel flickering and gleamering.The phrase "Blowing, staggering, bloody thing" is used for personification as it adds human traits to the poem to describe the horse making it more realistic as the phrase are usually used to describe humans. "Ever waving an eager sword" is a metaphor as waving a sword and preparing for battle should bring fear and dread not eagerness. "Forgotten at foot of castle wall" is a symbolism representing a lost battle.The author used figurative language as he wanted to compare the scenarios in the peom with things to make it more creative and realistic.

First semester being a secondary one student

I enjoyed the school life here in hwa chong.Although I had to cope with my homework,to complete them on time and the tests that never seemed to end, I still managed to find joy by making new friends. I loved playing soccer with them every recess.About my msg,4.33,I feel that I had to put in extra effort to improve and had to buckle up to make the cut.I sensed a serious need to pull up my socks,if not I might be "relegated"out of the top three percent of the nation.One main reason I did not get a good grade for LA,C6,is because I did not understand the literature part that well,"PEE"structure and stuff like that.On how to improve my grades,I planned to do more practices and pay closer attention in class.I would also have the habit of reading 30 minutes of storybook everyday to increase my vocabulary word bank.An ideal msg for term three would be from 2.5 to 3.

Famous speeches(Q9 Animal Farm)

Martin Luther King,Jr had famously gave a public speech which is known to many as " I have a dream". He spoke of his desire for a future where black and white, among others, would coexist harmoniously as equals. King's delivery of the speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement,in relation to human rights issues. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most notable speeches in history and was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.After listening to his speech, I thought that what he said was indeed very true and meaningful and I feel that something should be done to ensure that both the blacks and the whites should be treated the same,equally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZLvSnr6s50

Martin Luther King,Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King is recognized as a Saint in many Christian Churches.A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president.King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective.King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.
I admire him for his courage and charisma.He has the courage the speak out his thoughts about the mistreatment of the black community at that time.It was him who freed the blacks from the yoke of segregation, whites may owe him the greatest debt, for liberating them from the burden of America's centuries-old hypocrisy about race.He also possesses the charisma and the ability to give rousing speeches that drive millions of people to come forward and follow his footsteps to fight against racism.
However, one of his minus points was his inability to control the rash actions of his supporters as shown on the "Bloody Sunday" , March 7 1965. It was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement, the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King's nonviolence strategy. King, however, was not present. After meeting with President Lyndon B.Johnsen, he decided not to endorse the march, but it was carried out against his wishes and without his presence by local civil rights leaders. Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.

The Lottery

We learnt about the ugly nature of men in the story"The Lottery".The two undesirable characteristics displayed in the story were the selfishness ,ruthlessnessand supertition in men.In the story,the lottery is performed to pick out a "winner" to be stoned be stoned at in the belief of a better harvest.I think that picking out someone to be stoned at for a better harvest is indeed very selfish and cruel, furthermore,the belief is based on the supertition of men ,which may not be true.It is very relevant to our society as the supertition of men could be reflected in the society.One example is,people praying to all sorts of god for 4D numbers on the belief that god would without a doubt answer their prayers and turn them into overnight millionaires.Another example,is a popular Chinese supertition, that is staying on the 4th storey would bring bad luck as the number 4 in Cantonese is "sei" which sounds like the word "death".Some people also do not like the number 13 as they think that it brings bad luck.As for selfishness,it could be easily be seen in the MRT.Once an elderly enters the MRT train,very few people if not none,would give up the seat to them.This is the selfishness of man.

The Taximan's story

Q1.The irony in the story is about the taximan commenting about the young people today.He says that they do not want to study,but run away, and go to nightclubs and take drugs and make love.He felt that they are just troubles to their parents.
Q2The theme raised is about young girls going to school in the morning in their school uniforms but after that they tell their mother they got school meeting,sports and games,but they really come out and play a fool.
Q3.This story is very realistic in Singapore, where young schoolgirls loiter around after school,spending money,smoking,wearing latest fashion.
Q4.The taximan know a lot about the young people nowadays,their habits.I sympathizes with him for having a daughter who mixes around with Europeans, playing a fool and performing monkey tricks.
Q5.I agree with his lamenting about young people nowadays,he drive taxi all day just to save moneyfor her University and there she was making herself so cheap.
Q6.I do not sympathizes with Lay Choo and the young school girls in the story as I feel that they are letting down their parents who work so hard just for them to have a proper education.

should science be used to artificially improve someone's intelligence?

Q5.Science should indeed be used to artificially improve someone's intelligence .However the person must be of a low intelligence,if not it is an abuse of science.By artificially improving people of low intelligence,we are helping them to be smarter ,to blend in with the society.If not they will be isolated or neglected by the rest of the society.With higher intelligence , they will also be able to find a better job to survive.Since it is a benefit of science, I feel that science should be used to artificially improve someone's intelligence.
Science should not be used artificially to improve someone's external appearance as our body is from god , we should treasure it.Besides it is against the law of nature to artificially improve our appearance.It is an abuse of science if we artificially improve our external appearance.However, if someone is disfigured in a fire for an example,it is approprate for them undergo operation to artificially improve their external appearrance.