What are superstitions?
Superstitions can be defined as, "irrational beliefs, especially with regard to the unknown"
(Collins English Dictionary)
Examples of superstitions:
Bad luck:
Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder.
Seven years bad luck to break a mirror. The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods.
Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
Good luck:
Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
Lucky to touch wood. We touch; knock on wood, to make something come true.
Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.
White heather is lucky.
A horseshoe over the door brings good luck. But the horseshoe needs to be the right way up. The luck runs out of the horseshoe if it is upside down.
Horseshoes are generally a sign of good luck and feature on many good luck cards.
On the first day of the month it is lucky to say "white rabbits, white rabbits white rabbits," before uttering your first word of the day.
Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you will have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year.
Cut your hair when the moon is waxing and you will have good luck.
Putting money in the pocket of new clothes brings good luck.
Experiencing a superstition:
I remembered 3 years ago, when we my family and I were in China, we came to a spot full of clovers. I was told from my father that I would be lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves. I did not know understand the rational behind this, but outof curiousty, I started searching for one anyway. Not too long later, I found a four leaf clover. I was fascinated; Ii had never seen a four leaf clover until now. On the rest of the tour, I held it close to me, despite my parents persuasion to throw it away.The day before we left China, there was this lucky draw, and with my amazing luck, I won a thumbdrive. This was one of the better prizes, worth (S$20) then, instead of pens pencils etc.
From that incident, I regarded my clover luck charm as my hero. I kept it in the cupboard until it rotted away..and now my luck seemed to melt away too..
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Focus activity: Putting Yourself in Another Person's Shoes
1) What does it mean to "put yourself in another person's shoes"? What personal qualities are necessary to be able to see things as someone else does?
To me, "putting yourself in another person's shoes" means to be empathetic. This quality enables a person to understand and feel concern for others situation or feelings and to identify with the problems or situations of people, together with understanding their thoughts and feelings. Also, when there is conflict, empathetic people will always look for the best solution for both parties, and do not like to impose his or her own opinion as he can comprehend and understand other people from their perspective on the view of the matter. Besides the basic of being empathetic, one must also be respectful and caring. If a person does not even respect or care for other people, how is he ever suppose to understand him as he will never even be bothered to think about other people.
2) What makes it possible to adopt a different perspective? What is difficult about the experience?
It is possible to adopt a different perspective if you have ever experienced it for yourself. After experiencing it for yourself, feel the pain personally, then you will be qualified to be able to empathise with another person facing the same problem as you had. You can never fully understand anything without experiencing it for yourself. For example, when we see handicapped people with casts or broken or fractured legs, we would normally express our condolences to that person, but we never really understand actually how pain he feels because we never experienced it for yourself. Therefore this makes empathy hard as we are unable to experience so many things for ourselves and are therefore unable to fully put ourselves from other people's perspective.
To me, "putting yourself in another person's shoes" means to be empathetic. This quality enables a person to understand and feel concern for others situation or feelings and to identify with the problems or situations of people, together with understanding their thoughts and feelings. Also, when there is conflict, empathetic people will always look for the best solution for both parties, and do not like to impose his or her own opinion as he can comprehend and understand other people from their perspective on the view of the matter. Besides the basic of being empathetic, one must also be respectful and caring. If a person does not even respect or care for other people, how is he ever suppose to understand him as he will never even be bothered to think about other people.
2) What makes it possible to adopt a different perspective? What is difficult about the experience?
It is possible to adopt a different perspective if you have ever experienced it for yourself. After experiencing it for yourself, feel the pain personally, then you will be qualified to be able to empathise with another person facing the same problem as you had. You can never fully understand anything without experiencing it for yourself. For example, when we see handicapped people with casts or broken or fractured legs, we would normally express our condolences to that person, but we never really understand actually how pain he feels because we never experienced it for yourself. Therefore this makes empathy hard as we are unable to experience so many things for ourselves and are therefore unable to fully put ourselves from other people's perspective.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Personal Response: Childhood Memories and Court Case
1) What memories of your own childhood come to mind as you read about Scout's experiences?
When I was small, Scout reminded me of how picky and calculative I was. I was easily agitated and rash. I remembered when I was in Kindergarten, I would not even let my brother exceed even half a minute on the computer. One time, I remembered he refused to budge, and asked me to give him half an hour more. Half an hour? That was way too long according to my books. I continued pestering him and nudging him away from the computer, but to no avail. Soon, I started losing my patience, with all my might, I pushed him of the chair.
Shocked at my sudden use of violence, he fell like a sack of potatoes. As he fell, he scratched his leg, and it started to bleed. However, as naive and ignorant I was, I could not care less about his injury. I continued sitting there playing the computer.
With relation to Scout, she gets picky and agitated when her sibling Francis calls her father a nigger - lover, and would lose no time to punch people in the nose should they agitate her. I think as kids, we all have the same behaviour, but we must grow quickly out of it, less it be stuck with us for the rest of our lives.
2) As you followed the action in the courtroom, which character did you empathize with most? least? Explain.
I empathized most with tom Robinson. He was a good, decent, hard-working black man with a family to take care of, and has been falsely accused of raping a white woman. In addition, the writer sets the tone of Tom Robinson to that of innocence. It is very hard to believe that Tom Robinson would have lied during the court case. An example would be "I's scared I'd be in court...scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do." He was stuttering, which further portrays that he is genuinely scared.
According to him, he helped her all this while without even accepting a penny. Not only was he not thanked, but he was now facing a charge which would most likely end him up in prison. This seriously makes us empathise with her, and if we were in that courtroom, we probably would have tried to help him too.
He was in court because of the colour of his skin and the impudent ego of Bob Ewell's wounded pride. It was completely unfair, and he seemed to have little chance of winning this trial although all evidence pointed otherwise. The whole county was against him and was ready to convict him of a crime he never did just because he was discriminated, something that we can really empathise and feel for.
I could not empathize with Bob Ewell at all. The false accusation Tom can all be traced back to him. Although Mayella Ewell started it by even letting him come into the house, I can safely say that Mayella at least hat somewhat of a conscience. Even though she did a despicable thing in going along with accusing Tom of raping her, I think that Mayella Ewell is a character that people can at least feel sorry for.
From the court case, first of all, we can learn that Mayella got beaten by her father. Next, although they were given relief funds, her father used it to buy whisky, and can occasionally beat his children. Bob Ewell, which I would not even consider as a human, was terribly selfish and self centred. He could not even the least bit of affection for his children, let alone his wrongdoings of discriminating people according to their skin when he is actually much worst of than them.
When I was small, Scout reminded me of how picky and calculative I was. I was easily agitated and rash. I remembered when I was in Kindergarten, I would not even let my brother exceed even half a minute on the computer. One time, I remembered he refused to budge, and asked me to give him half an hour more. Half an hour? That was way too long according to my books. I continued pestering him and nudging him away from the computer, but to no avail. Soon, I started losing my patience, with all my might, I pushed him of the chair.
Shocked at my sudden use of violence, he fell like a sack of potatoes. As he fell, he scratched his leg, and it started to bleed. However, as naive and ignorant I was, I could not care less about his injury. I continued sitting there playing the computer.
With relation to Scout, she gets picky and agitated when her sibling Francis calls her father a nigger - lover, and would lose no time to punch people in the nose should they agitate her. I think as kids, we all have the same behaviour, but we must grow quickly out of it, less it be stuck with us for the rest of our lives.
2) As you followed the action in the courtroom, which character did you empathize with most? least? Explain.
I empathized most with tom Robinson. He was a good, decent, hard-working black man with a family to take care of, and has been falsely accused of raping a white woman. In addition, the writer sets the tone of Tom Robinson to that of innocence. It is very hard to believe that Tom Robinson would have lied during the court case. An example would be "I's scared I'd be in court...scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do." He was stuttering, which further portrays that he is genuinely scared.
According to him, he helped her all this while without even accepting a penny. Not only was he not thanked, but he was now facing a charge which would most likely end him up in prison. This seriously makes us empathise with her, and if we were in that courtroom, we probably would have tried to help him too.
He was in court because of the colour of his skin and the impudent ego of Bob Ewell's wounded pride. It was completely unfair, and he seemed to have little chance of winning this trial although all evidence pointed otherwise. The whole county was against him and was ready to convict him of a crime he never did just because he was discriminated, something that we can really empathise and feel for.
I could not empathize with Bob Ewell at all. The false accusation Tom can all be traced back to him. Although Mayella Ewell started it by even letting him come into the house, I can safely say that Mayella at least hat somewhat of a conscience. Even though she did a despicable thing in going along with accusing Tom of raping her, I think that Mayella Ewell is a character that people can at least feel sorry for.
From the court case, first of all, we can learn that Mayella got beaten by her father. Next, although they were given relief funds, her father used it to buy whisky, and can occasionally beat his children. Bob Ewell, which I would not even consider as a human, was terribly selfish and self centred. He could not even the least bit of affection for his children, let alone his wrongdoings of discriminating people according to their skin when he is actually much worst of than them.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
1st person narrative vs 3rd person narrative
Today our LA teacher taught us about the difference of 1st person narratives and and 3rd person narratives.
What are 1st and 3rd person narratives?
1st person:
A narrative written in first person is a first-hand account of events told or narrated through the eyes of a single character, typically the main character. Books written in first person are easily identified by the use of the pronoun “I” rather than “he or she.”
3rd person:
The third person point of view occurs when an author allows the narrator to tell the story using third person pronouns. Third-person narrative can be identified by looking at the pronouns used in the narrative. Third-person narrative uses "he," "she," "it" "they."
Differences:
She stated that both types of narratives have their own pros and cons, however recommended us to use 3rd person as she said it would be easier for beginners of writing like us. However, she did not put down 1st person as well. They both have their own pros and cons. Let us take a closer look into this.
1st person pros:
First person makes the narrator close up and personal. The reader can identify with the character and experience their deepest, innermost thoughts and feelings which 3rd person is unable to do.
1st person cons:
When writing in first person, the author is restricted to a single point of view. First person therefore becomes the narrowest, most restrictive point of view because everything is seen and processed through the mind of the narrator. Therefore, it is very hard for authors because the narrator could not possibly be at all the important places at one time.
3rd person pros:
From the third person point of view, it allows the author the flexibility of using more than one viewpoint character without confusing the reader. In such cases, it is common for authors to change from one viewpoint character to another. There could also be one main character per scene.
3rd person cons:
Omniscient points of view in third person means that there are many more main characters. Therefore, together with the lack of the ability to write about the feelings of the character, and the lack of details for each main characters, 3rd person narratives are usually more detached from the readers.
Conclusion:
So, to write a successful essay, we must first understand for what purpose we are writing for and how does choosing that particular style help in fulfilling that purpose.
What are 1st and 3rd person narratives?
1st person:
A narrative written in first person is a first-hand account of events told or narrated through the eyes of a single character, typically the main character. Books written in first person are easily identified by the use of the pronoun “I” rather than “he or she.”
3rd person:
The third person point of view occurs when an author allows the narrator to tell the story using third person pronouns. Third-person narrative can be identified by looking at the pronouns used in the narrative. Third-person narrative uses "he," "she," "it" "they."
Differences:
She stated that both types of narratives have their own pros and cons, however recommended us to use 3rd person as she said it would be easier for beginners of writing like us. However, she did not put down 1st person as well. They both have their own pros and cons. Let us take a closer look into this.
1st person pros:
First person makes the narrator close up and personal. The reader can identify with the character and experience their deepest, innermost thoughts and feelings which 3rd person is unable to do.
1st person cons:
When writing in first person, the author is restricted to a single point of view. First person therefore becomes the narrowest, most restrictive point of view because everything is seen and processed through the mind of the narrator. Therefore, it is very hard for authors because the narrator could not possibly be at all the important places at one time.
3rd person pros:
From the third person point of view, it allows the author the flexibility of using more than one viewpoint character without confusing the reader. In such cases, it is common for authors to change from one viewpoint character to another. There could also be one main character per scene.
3rd person cons:
Omniscient points of view in third person means that there are many more main characters. Therefore, together with the lack of the ability to write about the feelings of the character, and the lack of details for each main characters, 3rd person narratives are usually more detached from the readers.
Conclusion:
So, to write a successful essay, we must first understand for what purpose we are writing for and how does choosing that particular style help in fulfilling that purpose.
Descriptive language
Today in out LA class, I was asked to described a photo of a beach, so here it is:
It was a hot and windy afternoon. The clouds in the bule sky swayed to the beat of the crisp wind and the sand on the beach sparkled as white as crystals. Snowy white beach chairs stood on the sand, a perfect sight to see. In the distance, I heard a faint sound of splashing. I later realised it was from the ocean. The waves contracted, followed shortly by a soft lapping of water against the shore. It was such a change from the lush green forest that i had just comeout from. What a perfect day for a swim, I thought as I sprinted towards the water as the warmth of the sand heated my feet. It was so tranquil that I thought it was a dream. The water felt nice and cool as I felt as if all the stress and unhappiness had washed out of me, for all I could think of now was nothing but joy.
It was a hot and windy afternoon. The clouds in the bule sky swayed to the beat of the crisp wind and the sand on the beach sparkled as white as crystals. Snowy white beach chairs stood on the sand, a perfect sight to see. In the distance, I heard a faint sound of splashing. I later realised it was from the ocean. The waves contracted, followed shortly by a soft lapping of water against the shore. It was such a change from the lush green forest that i had just comeout from. What a perfect day for a swim, I thought as I sprinted towards the water as the warmth of the sand heated my feet. It was so tranquil that I thought it was a dream. The water felt nice and cool as I felt as if all the stress and unhappiness had washed out of me, for all I could think of now was nothing but joy.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Blog prompt: Perpertrators and victims of prejudice
Have you ever been in the company of a group of which you clearly were not included? Describe the circumstances. How did you act? How did the situation / event affect you?
Yes, I have been in a group which I was clearly not included. When I was in P5, I had an art project that we were supposed to do, and the groups were assigned to us. I remember that time that I was in a group of people that I was not very familiar with, as they were from the GEP class of P5K and L.
At that time, we were supposed to make a decision on what we were going to make, what types of design our final product should be. The decision was made and agreed by everyone. However, only one person could work on the project at any one time, as such, I was the fourth in line. After buying the materials I needed to use for the project, I waited for my turn to do it. To my horror, I discovered only on the day they passed the work to me that the made an anonymous decision to change the design of the product, and hence wanted me to do a different part of it.
I was shocked as I was not informed of anything until then. They never told me anything about this. The materials I bought earlier were of no use. What I did was a waste of time and money. I was frustrated, but I could do nothing, the work has already progressed thus far, I could not abort it and say that I wanted it my way. There was nothing to do but do as I was told.
After that incident, I learnt that leaders as well as all members of the group, must be responsible and respectful. What they showed in this project was nothing but disrespect for me. They did not even bother to ask for my opinion, they just thrust the work at me. As humans, we deserve the same amount of respect. We all should be treated equally. That would be Utopia. However as we know it, this world is everything but fair, and I am sure that this was just a trivial matter in this unfair world.
Yes, I have been in a group which I was clearly not included. When I was in P5, I had an art project that we were supposed to do, and the groups were assigned to us. I remember that time that I was in a group of people that I was not very familiar with, as they were from the GEP class of P5K and L.
At that time, we were supposed to make a decision on what we were going to make, what types of design our final product should be. The decision was made and agreed by everyone. However, only one person could work on the project at any one time, as such, I was the fourth in line. After buying the materials I needed to use for the project, I waited for my turn to do it. To my horror, I discovered only on the day they passed the work to me that the made an anonymous decision to change the design of the product, and hence wanted me to do a different part of it.
I was shocked as I was not informed of anything until then. They never told me anything about this. The materials I bought earlier were of no use. What I did was a waste of time and money. I was frustrated, but I could do nothing, the work has already progressed thus far, I could not abort it and say that I wanted it my way. There was nothing to do but do as I was told.
After that incident, I learnt that leaders as well as all members of the group, must be responsible and respectful. What they showed in this project was nothing but disrespect for me. They did not even bother to ask for my opinion, they just thrust the work at me. As humans, we deserve the same amount of respect. We all should be treated equally. That would be Utopia. However as we know it, this world is everything but fair, and I am sure that this was just a trivial matter in this unfair world.
Monday, 24 January 2011
Comic strip assignment
Today I did a comic strip based on the theme "Do not judge a book by its cover", here is it:
Why did I choose the different pictures or background(s)?
In the first four panels, it shows a dull background, showing the unhappiness and distrust of Bala from Charles. In the fifth panel, Charles finally found out the truth, and finally understood that he was in the wrong. So, I chose a white background to show how stunned and shocked he was. For the final panel, I chose a calm and beautiful background to show how everything was resolved, and there were no longer any hard feelings between Bala and Charles.
How do they contribute to the elements (plot, setting, characterisation) of your narrative?
I feel that my background has contributed to the characterisation of my narrative. With these backgrounds, I am able to show the feelings of the characters. In panels 1 to 4, both characters are not too happy, in chapter 5 Charles gets a shock of his life and in panel 6, the characters have made up. This is reflected by the dull background of panel 1 to 4, the white background of chapter 5 and the bright background of panel 3.
How did I make use of the different elements to contribute to the theme you have chosen?
I did not really use very many elements, the main one is the character's expressions. I used a variety of expressions to show how the character felt. Also, I made some dialogues in caps because I wanted to tell the reader that that character was shouting too. Finally, in panel 3, I also used the books, papers and pens to show how messy Charles' place is, which can let the reader interpret that Charles' had been ransacking all over the place for his phone.
Why did I choose the different pictures or background(s)?
In the first four panels, it shows a dull background, showing the unhappiness and distrust of Bala from Charles. In the fifth panel, Charles finally found out the truth, and finally understood that he was in the wrong. So, I chose a white background to show how stunned and shocked he was. For the final panel, I chose a calm and beautiful background to show how everything was resolved, and there were no longer any hard feelings between Bala and Charles.
How do they contribute to the elements (plot, setting, characterisation) of your narrative?
I feel that my background has contributed to the characterisation of my narrative. With these backgrounds, I am able to show the feelings of the characters. In panels 1 to 4, both characters are not too happy, in chapter 5 Charles gets a shock of his life and in panel 6, the characters have made up. This is reflected by the dull background of panel 1 to 4, the white background of chapter 5 and the bright background of panel 3.
How did I make use of the different elements to contribute to the theme you have chosen?
I did not really use very many elements, the main one is the character's expressions. I used a variety of expressions to show how the character felt. Also, I made some dialogues in caps because I wanted to tell the reader that that character was shouting too. Finally, in panel 3, I also used the books, papers and pens to show how messy Charles' place is, which can let the reader interpret that Charles' had been ransacking all over the place for his phone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
