My favourite poet

My favourite poet is none other than Williams Wordsworth. His poems are full of figurativelanguage and they appeal very much to me. Some of his poems are : Resolution and independence, I wandered lonely as a cloud and london 1802.

Born on 7th april, 1770, was the secong among his other 4 siblings. He was very close with his sister, who was a poet too. Wordsworth's father, although rarely present, did teach him poetry, in addition to allowing his son to rely on his father's library. Wordsworth made his debut as a writer in 1787 when he published a sonnet in The European Magazine. That year, he also began attending college, and received his degree in 1791. He returned to Hawkshead(village in england) for his first two summer holidays, and often spent later holidays on walking tours, visiting places famous for the beauty of their landscape. In November 1791, Wordsworth visited France and became enthralled with the Republican movement. He fell in love with a French woman, Annette Vallon, who in 1792 gave birth to their child, Caroline. Because of lack of money, returned alone to England the following year

Wordsworth received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in 1838 from Durham University, and the same honor from Oxford University the next year. He also became the Poet Laureate(poet appointed by government and compose poems for special occasions). When his daughter, Dora, died in 1847, his production of poetry came to a standstill.


Refences:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth#The_Poet_Laureate_and_other_honors
-http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/william_wordsworth/poems

Day 1 - IT Lesson 1: Figurative Language

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The author has used figurative language to write his poem. Here is how i feel he used them:

• Hyperbole: "A poet could not be but gay, In such a jocund company!" We can tell that the poet is elated as he exaggerated on his happy mood by adding an exclamation mark and he used words like gay and jocund instead of happy which expresses his feelings.
• Personification: The poet used many personifications:

1. "When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze." The poet described the daffodils as fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
2. "Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance."The poet describes the star by writing that many of them glanced at him while tossing their heads, changing the stars to a human.
3. "The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee"The poet described the waves as dancing.
   
4. He, a cloud, personifies himself gazing and ''my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.''

• Symbolism: "Ten thousand saw I at a glance," The poet used a large number(ten thousand) of stars as a contrast of his loneliness.

Why do i like this poem?
The poem describes a lonely cloud wandering alone. It shows a large contrast between the cloud and other things around it. Unlike other poems, this one has a lot of personification used. Therefore, i like this poem.

H1N1

As you all should know, the H1N1 virus (influenza A) has been spreading very swiftly for the past weeks. Our country has about 450 confirmed cases of this new virus. People were afraid that this virus will mutate and cause much more harm to us. Although it might not seem as harmful as the quite recent dengue fever, there have already been death cases and hence, the goverment has taken measures to fight the virus, we should play a part too.

My school has stopped for an extra week after the holidays and we have e-learning at home. Also, even when I return to school for CCA, I have to take my temperature before enteing the school. Some activities have also been cancelled as a precaution. The govenment had initially thought of xtending the school holidays for all schools but only some schools have the 'luxury' of an extended one. People who return from affected countries also have to quaratine themselves for 7 days.

Many measures have been taken , but we should also play apart in stopping this virus. We should have a hygine lifestyle and try to avoid crowded places. If only everyone were to do this, we will be able to put a stop to this virus.

Is progress necessarily benificial for society?

In my opinion, progress is definitely not necessarily benificial for society. Although it might benifit society, it is not necessary.

For example, vehicles that emit harmful gases were built to convenince people. However, this change is not necessary. In the past, people use horses as means of transport which does not harm the earth. If people from the past can live life without this progress, why can't we?

Another reason why t is not necessarily benificial is that it has harm other innocent victms. When factories are built, forest are burnt to make way for it. Animals living there will lose their homes and have nowhere to live. People living near by will get affected by the haze around. Tal buildings are also built by clearing land. Farmers will lose their jobs and there will be less food produce. So we humans put chemicals into chickens so that they can reproduce faster, which is bad for our health.

Our society is already damaged so harshly, do we still have to let it continue? Therefore, i feel that progress is not necessarily benificial for our society.

Which part of Village By The Sea do you like best?

I like the part where Hari first arrived in Bombay. When he first arrive, he was lost and helpless. Subsequently, after a futile effort in finding the De Silva family, Hari found some help from a night watchman. Before he got help, he met a coconut seller who gave a insparational speech. That is my favourite part when Hari first arrived in Bombay.

Hari went to Bombay with the procession and on the way, he met this coconut seller. Hari told the coconut seller the reason he went to Bombay and the coconut seller had some negative comments.

The coconut seller felt that it is best to be free and independent. He also said," Take my advice and keep clear from the government." It is clear that he was trying to desuade Hari from going to the procesion. He advised Hari to be independent instead of being spoon-fed by the government. The coconut seller advised Hari on this as he felt that the government only takes advantage of the people. Moreover, the coconut seller also was independent since young when his parents "threw him out ...earn my own living". Hence, he felt that independence is of much importance. Hari also felt that his speech was "wise, strong and admirable". After his speech, Hari was inspired and felt that he had to do something else instead of following the others to the procession.

This speech has also left me with a great impression. I learnt that we should not always depend on the help of others. Only if we fall will we know how to stand back up again. Being dependent will give you more courage to go through difficult times on your own. Therefore, we shouldlearn to "Be a man, be independent."

I rather be a city rat than the country rat

For this statement, i decide to sit on the fence as each side has its own disadvantages. Here are the reasons that led to my dcision:

If i were a country rat:

• As a country rat, there will be very little or no technology at all. Imagine live without technology entertainment, we can only use hand-made toys like five stones as sources of entertainment. Also, without technology, we will have problems communicating as we will not have phones like what we experience in the city. The only way of communicating will be a verbal face-to-face communication.
• For a country rat, due to the lack of resources, people could only live in short houses unlike the towering buildings we commonly see in the city. This migth result in a lack of homes as more people occupy the same amount of space compared to the city.
• Unlike the city, a country rat will have less facilities. We will not have schools and other necessary facilities perhaps due to the low-educated government which will lead to a low literacy level for the country. The government will also not be well-educated which will result in a cycle.

As a city rat:

• The air in the city will be very polluted, due to the harmful gases emited from cars. It is also polluted because of incosiderate smokers and the burning of wastes. The burning down of trees (deforestation) also add up to the harmful air we breath in.
• It is mostly quite warm in the city due to too much technology, leading to globalwarming. For example, in the past, people use ccarriages as means of transportation but now, people use cars for transportation. Such unefficient change swill only bring more harm to earth and not benifit us in the long run.
• Due to the fact that we have communication tools such as th internet, people in the city usually have lack of face-to-face communication, resulting in poor relationship. Also, with such uncertain means of communication, people get cheated by these means of communications too.

Therefore, with the points stated, i am neutral against this statement.

My favourite/ least favourite character in "Village by The Sea"

My favourite chracter in this touching novel is Jagu. Hari was brought to the restaurant to work for Jagu by the watchman. Jagu accepted Hari despite knowing that Hari might be a burden to him as he had to pay him for working. He even gave Hari food to eat instead of forcing him to find his own food. He also took in two other homeless children out of kindness. Futhermore, Jagu allowed the three helpless children to stay in the shop during night time. The considerate Jagu brought Hari back to his house when he was ill, despite knowing that it will anger his wife. At his house, Jagu also gave Hari some food, although he had insufficient food for his family. When fiercely questioned by his wife why he brought "one more to be fed" (pg189), Jagu threatened her that he would go "to the toddy shop and have a drink instead of this rotten food you prepare for me". This caused much complication but Jagu still insisted on getting Hari some medicine. Jagu, together with Mr Panwallah, bought him a bus ticket and gave him advices like "don't let anyone see you have so much money with you" ( pg219). Jagu has a heart of gold. He went to great lengths to aid Hari in many various ways despite putting himself into much inconvenience. He willingly helped Hari but did not really benifited much. I really respect such people, who do such selfless acts. If only the world would follow Jagu's ways, our society would be a much better place.

Holidays

The school holidays are finally here! After another long term of hard work, a long-awaited break has finally arrived. Of course, there is much more to be expected in the next terms. In this long break, i still have to actively participate in my CCA activities. Such a big commitment for my CCA has occassionally brought me some inconvenience. Unexpectedly, the band camp is cancelled due to the H1N1 flu, which just "arrived" in Singapore. I believe many other activities has been affected due to this virus.
Other than the holidays, I also received my results. Well, i did quite OK for it. I got ninth in class, same as some others. I would like to thank Yong Rui for helping the class soooooo much to bring our grades up. I would also like to congratulate Xiao Qi for topping the class! And, I would also like to congratulate the rest of 1o3 for making such a great improvement.

Finally all the tests are over, except the approaching Japanese test. I feel less stress after the tests. I improved from the results i got from term 1. I feel quite happy for this achievement. I have to improve these subjects : history, literature, infocomm. I hope to get a msg of 2.3 this term. I hope that i can improve my results. The finishing of tests also marks the nearing of the holidays. I am so elated! How i wish that the june holidays will arrive sooner, so that i can meet my old friends, so that i can relax, so that i can...

My clarinet

Hello. Today i will be posting about my CCA: band. I am elated as i got new reeds for my clarinet. Finally, something that truly belonged to me. I am still slowly learning how to play the many notes. I have already started learning the first 5 notes. I wonder when i will be able to play my first piece... Well, frankly speaking, i detested having to play the clarinet initially. The flute, bassoon, brasses, they all seemed more suited for me. Slowly, I have 'bond' with this new instrument of mine.
Band is requires active participation, generally speaking. My instructor says that we have to come thrice a week in the future( currently twice). Oh yah, my insturtor is Mr Kiang, who is teaching the sec 1s. Though strict, he is still a very good in structor. Perhaps it is because we will have to take part in the SYF competition in sec 2.
I have made a lot of friends in band. There are about 28 pupils in band, many from Aphelion. My section(clarinet) has about 7 sec 1s. It is the biggest section. I made friends mostly from my section.
Band is fun!

Project's Day Competition

Last week, we had a Project's Day Competition organised by my school. Both Secondary 1 and 2 pupils have to compete i this challenging competition. Each pupils are to form a group and do research on the specific title that they have chosen. Me and my group did a project on "Hydrogen, the perfect fuel". We stayed back almost once a week to discuss on how to further improve our findings. We worked hard for this project and had high hopes on winning. On the day, we were so anxious as it was our first time and we were the first group to present! We were unexeperienced but we were certainy ready.
During our presentation, our leader, also our first speaker, had took the initiative to print out scripts for us to refer. Unfortunately, due to his ceaseless anxiety, our group leader spoke at a very slow rate and even forgotten that he was speaking our part of the script. This case our group to have a relatively low point. We also had some negative resposes from the judges.
Though sad, we hope to improve on our project and strive harder for the next round.

Sad April Fool's Day

Today is April Fool's Day. I was expecting a somewhat joyful day at school. Unfortunately, things did not turned out as expected. I fell ill and had to stay at home. I had already visited a doctor the previous night. It was quite sad that i did not manage to go to school and instead rest at home all day. I also missed a few events due to this terrible illness.
This includes:

• Exchange for new e-z link card
• 2.4km run

My whole day is ruined. I did not have the fun to trick my friends today. well, on the bright side, I was not tricked. Today just can't get any worse.

Sarimbun Scout Camp

On the 11th of march, I had a camp at Sarimbun campsite. It is a 3-day 2-night camp. I had a hard time gathering the essential items for the camp. At the camp, under the sweltering sun, I got a sunburn on my shoulders. We slept in the tents for the two nights.
On the first day, we waited for a very long time for our meals. We had to cheer a lot before could fill our stomachs. The first day had little activities, including campfire preparations, Problem Solving activities etc. I could not sleep well on that night well firstly because I was not very tired, secondly, there was much noise outside the tents. Some inconsiderate pupils were the culprits.
On the second day, we had a longer string of activities, including fitness games, team-building games, rafting etc. In these activities, we learnt to work as a team by working out solutions for the different problems we face. We also cheered enthusiastically whenever possible, to both practice for the campfire and to earn more bonus points. It was a long day. I inevitably slept the very moment i lied down on my sleeping bag.
On the last day, we stike down the tents and cleaned the messy campsite up. We also packed our items before we had our prize presenttion and debrief. Fortunately for our entire group's (pony league) effort, we managed to stand out amongst the 24 groups and won ourselfs a prize (yeah). The best part was when we left the campsite. Home sweet home.

A new term

Without much notice, another term has ended. After this first term in my new school, I have gained new knowledge. This term has been fruitful. I have learnt many new skills through the various activities organised for the pupils which includes the FPSP workshop and the science research modules. These programs has benefited me in one way or another. I have acquired useful tips to aid me in both academic and my everyday life. I am also settled down in my new school already. New friends, new CCAs, new subjects and new teachers. This new beginning has already turned into an old start. I am coping well. will strive harder for term 2. Not to forget, there are much more challenges up ahead. I better get well-prepared to face the perhaps stressful activities in the upcoming new term.

Nuisance callers dial up a 999 logjam.

I was reading today’s newspaper (Home section) and noticed a captivating article on people who abuse the use of emergency calls to the police.
In the recent years, there have been many cases of pranksters swamping police hotline while some others treat it as a phone directory or complain bureau.

One irate man called after midnight to rant about a group creating a din at a coffe shop. Another caller queried the officers on how she could claim the arrears in her salary. From this incident, we can see how Singaporeans abuse these resources.

K. Shanmugam Second Minister of Home Affairs said that last year, amongst the 1.5 million calls received, 6 out of 10 calls were nuisance calls. Most of this calls were about complains of noisy neighbours or disrupting work sites.

I feel that this article is an event-driven one. There is no obvious sign of any shocking happenings in the first few paragraphs. It has great emphasis on the subject of nuisance calls and it shows how we abuse the use of these resources. It also tells us the thoughts of the police officers regarding this issue and how this will affect them in their job. Furthermore, we can gain more information on how to be a good citizen by abiding by the rule including dialling 999 only for emergencies. It also inform us on what grave danger can our seemingly minor mistake cause. It also gives examples on how some inconsiderate citizens misuse this resource.

Bullying

Today, we had a talk about bullying during assembly session. Intrigued by this topic, I have decided to write a short post about it. There are many types of bullying, including physical bullying, verbal bullying, cyber bullying. These are the common few of the many various types. The most typical one is of course the physical bullying. It is when you use brutal force against someone you think is weaker. Verbal bullying includes hurling abusive words or taunting and teasing someone. Cyber bullying includes writing offensive words to others or critisising someone and this is becoming increasingly popular due to the fact that a computer has become quite a necessity for everyone in a competitive country like Singapore.
Someone also raised a very relevant point that bullies do not always bully to intimidate others or extort(money, items etc.). Some bullies bully to attract attention not only from their peers, but sometimes also from their parents and teachers. Some want their peers to think highly of them or regard them as a brave, but there always be this minority who wants attention from parents or teachers. They usually feel neglected or inferior to others usually in terms of academics. They want more attention so that they will fell less inferior or neglected as they will be getting the same amount of attention as compared to their more notable peers or siblings. Perhaps this is just a natural reaction os some children when they face this problem. Therefore, I think that it is not entirely the child's fault. Parents, teachers, they play an important part too. They, as adults, should be more aware of how children feel towards the lack of attention. I think adults should treat children equally to avoid this from happening. This is what i feel about this special topic.

Tests!

The tests are coming! Chinese, Math, Science< geography... It is driving me crazy! In order to do well for these test, i am trying my best to revise my work. I have less play time and my mind is going crazy! Were you as flustered as i am during the tests period? Despite my busy schedule, I will still find time for some relaxation so that I would not go crazy, but during my 15 minute breaks, I will still be concered about my work. There are just too many things to revise that I can only go through them once. I wonder how my classmates are doing. I will try to be persistent and hope that my hard work wil pay off. Oops, i got to go revise now.

The eclipse

This Chinese New Year was arrived together with a very special and unusual occurrence. There was an eclipse. This happens when the moon is between earth and the Sun, and some light from the Sun will be blocked. it was the first solar eclipse tat happened this year. It was also said that it was the clearest seen in a decade, where about 80% of the fiery ball was not seen. About 6400 people gathered at the Singapore' Science Centre to witness this rare sight. I was there, too. The staff and some volunteers from the Singapore' Science Centre gave out some glasses to protect our eyes from the harmful rays given out by the sun. It was only with this equipment that we could look at the Sun without harming our eyes. I was lucky enough to get one of these glasses as there were limited glasses . There were also pinhole cameras to get a clearer view of the solar eclipse. The solar eclipse became alittle more obvious at 4.30p.m. in the afternoon. I was astounded at first. Part of the Sun seemed to be eaten up. Then, after a while, i managed to get a clearer view of the phenomenon. Then, at about 5.4p.m., the visibility dipped due to thick clouds. Despite squinting my eyes, I was unable to catch a view of the Sun. Many people were disappointed as the eclipse was clearest then, but it was impossible to see it. I also left together with some of the crestfallen crowd. Still, this was definitely a unique, incredible way of ushering the new year.

Chinese New Year

For the Chinese, this year is the year of the ox. Yet another new year has arrived. all families, not excluding mine, have prepared much decorations for the new year. We managed to do a facelift for our house. We filled the house with red as red symbolise luck and prosperity. Other ways of bringing good luck is to open windows and/or doors. Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it is believed to sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
Chinese New Year has had influence to many countries, including Macau, Indonesia, Philippines, and even Thailand. This special occasion is commonly celebrated by reunion dinners. Family members will fly back to their countries to celebrate this festive season. My relatives from overseas also travelled back to Singapore to celebrate. We ate reunion dinners and also did the 'lou hei'. Lou Hei’ is the tossing of ‘Yu Sheng’, a colourful salad platter of raw fish and crunchy vegetables, to symbolize luck and prosperity. It is believed that the higher you toss the salad, the more luck you will have in the coming year. We also received many 'hangbaos' (red packets) as it represents good luck. I had a enjoyable time tasting new year snacks and meeting up with my relatives. Though this year's celebration seemed shorter than last time's, i was really thrilled. I had a magnificent time visiting my relatives and chatting with them. I really had a ball of a time. I hope you enjoyed your Chinese New Year as much.

Welcome to my new blog!

I am very excited owning this first blog of mine. I will be sharing about various interesting stuffs on my blog. I hope to attract more readers (you) and make my blog lively. Comments are encouraged. I will be posting soon.