Steed
by Seong Jin
Three sharp weapons to kill with,
Oh, how horrible!
Each time I stab and slash,
Blood oozes out,
And tarnishes my reputation.
It is not my fault,
How could I be when I live to serve?
How could I be when I serve to live?
I am driven,
By a force stronger than mine,
Stabbing and Slashing,
Three times a day.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Reflections on E-Learning
i) Overall did you put in more hours per day with E-Learning or a regular school day with homework?
Most people's typical answer would be "Aiya, of course not." However, for me, I reaally had problems on time management during the E-Learning. I wear glasses like most people but my degree is unusually high for my age. Hence, the greatest obstacle for me was eye management and I had to rest my eyes frequently during the E-Learning in between assignments, not subjects. This deprived me from my ususal speediness in doing homework at school and it sowed me down a great deal. In the end, the online lessons ended 3 hours late than a normal school day. To round up my reply, yes, I put in more hours on E-Learning than a regualr school day with homework.
ii) Were you able to complete the Language Arts assignments in about an hour each or did they take longer?
Well, as I have mentioned above, most of the lessons took a long time for me to accomplish. However, surprisingly, Language Arts assignments were the only subject I could sail through and complete it in time, or sometimes, so early that I had spare time left. Poetry was something new to me and I take an interest in learning new things. I guess this caused me to be absorbed in poetry and the interesting blog assignments by Mr Spelmer really intrigued me. They were meaningful and soon made time fast for me while doing them. Only once did I pass the time limit but in overall, every Language Arts lesson went on smoothly without prevail in about an hour or less.
iii)Which assignment(s) did you like the best and which one(s) did you like the least? Explain why.
For me, probably every assignment was interesting for me as it was all something enw to me, a new style of learning. However, I do have an order of likings. The assignment I liked the best was lesson 3, "Analysing & Composing Poem". I have multiple reasons for this "biasedness". The most powerful reason was that this assignment was the first assignment that enabled me to write my own poem which I have never done before. The instructions also enabled me to wander away from the busy school life and drift back to the good old days and express them into poems. While writing my own poem, I even smiled at the thought of my friends and hilarious things that have happened to me since Day 1 at Singapore and comment on how foolish I was back then. Analysing a poem was also a new topic for me and I was proud of myself upon completeing my very first analysis on my own. Since then on, I analysis in the coming assignments longer and more in depth, thanks to this assignment.
However, the assignment that is in the bottom of my list is lesson 1, "Figurative Language". Although it was a new topic for me, searching for all the hyperboles and other types of figurative language in a poem deprived me the chance to really absorb the meaning and lesson from the poem and also enjoy it in depth as all I was instructed to do was search for specific things in a poem. That is the main reason why I disliked lesson 1 the most. In overall, despite the setback, I liked all the lessons very much and it will never be erased from my memories for a lifetime.
iv)My suggestions to make E-Learning better are...
I guess one improvement that most of the students want are the timing of the E-Learning. As most students sleep late and wake up late too, they would not like to be deprived of their sleep by E-Learning. What I would suggest is to shift the time of E-Learning to the afternoon, instead of in the morning which makes it very inconvenient even if it takes place in our own homes.
Another improvement that can be made is more accessible communication. Email will take a much longer time than in the classrooms for teachers and students to communicate. For example, queries and questions that needs to be helped answered might be urgent but the teacher will not reply immediately due to email restrictions. Therefore, I suggest putting up a chat board in the ivle for various teachers for ease of communication and understanding.
v) A general reflection on how you feel the week went. Please share your honest opinion as ALL feedback is critical at this time.
In general, this whole E-Learning program was very meaningful for me, especially the Language Arts lessons and I reallt enjoyed them, all too much. However, I am worried that my eyes will worsen after this week. Let's hope it won't so. I have also the freedom of order of which lessons to do at what time unlike normal school days and also learn at my own pace as sometimes, lessons would be too slow or fast paced for me. Another thing I like is that we don't have to write, which does not waste our pen inks and various other accessories. Instead, we type. which makes it more convenient and fast for us to do our homework and lesons.
In overall, I would say that this week's E-Learning turned out great and I hope another of these would be executed soon.
Most people's typical answer would be "Aiya, of course not." However, for me, I reaally had problems on time management during the E-Learning. I wear glasses like most people but my degree is unusually high for my age. Hence, the greatest obstacle for me was eye management and I had to rest my eyes frequently during the E-Learning in between assignments, not subjects. This deprived me from my ususal speediness in doing homework at school and it sowed me down a great deal. In the end, the online lessons ended 3 hours late than a normal school day. To round up my reply, yes, I put in more hours on E-Learning than a regualr school day with homework.
ii) Were you able to complete the Language Arts assignments in about an hour each or did they take longer?
Well, as I have mentioned above, most of the lessons took a long time for me to accomplish. However, surprisingly, Language Arts assignments were the only subject I could sail through and complete it in time, or sometimes, so early that I had spare time left. Poetry was something new to me and I take an interest in learning new things. I guess this caused me to be absorbed in poetry and the interesting blog assignments by Mr Spelmer really intrigued me. They were meaningful and soon made time fast for me while doing them. Only once did I pass the time limit but in overall, every Language Arts lesson went on smoothly without prevail in about an hour or less.
iii)Which assignment(s) did you like the best and which one(s) did you like the least? Explain why.
For me, probably every assignment was interesting for me as it was all something enw to me, a new style of learning. However, I do have an order of likings. The assignment I liked the best was lesson 3, "Analysing & Composing Poem". I have multiple reasons for this "biasedness". The most powerful reason was that this assignment was the first assignment that enabled me to write my own poem which I have never done before. The instructions also enabled me to wander away from the busy school life and drift back to the good old days and express them into poems. While writing my own poem, I even smiled at the thought of my friends and hilarious things that have happened to me since Day 1 at Singapore and comment on how foolish I was back then. Analysing a poem was also a new topic for me and I was proud of myself upon completeing my very first analysis on my own. Since then on, I analysis in the coming assignments longer and more in depth, thanks to this assignment.
However, the assignment that is in the bottom of my list is lesson 1, "Figurative Language". Although it was a new topic for me, searching for all the hyperboles and other types of figurative language in a poem deprived me the chance to really absorb the meaning and lesson from the poem and also enjoy it in depth as all I was instructed to do was search for specific things in a poem. That is the main reason why I disliked lesson 1 the most. In overall, despite the setback, I liked all the lessons very much and it will never be erased from my memories for a lifetime.
iv)My suggestions to make E-Learning better are...
I guess one improvement that most of the students want are the timing of the E-Learning. As most students sleep late and wake up late too, they would not like to be deprived of their sleep by E-Learning. What I would suggest is to shift the time of E-Learning to the afternoon, instead of in the morning which makes it very inconvenient even if it takes place in our own homes.
Another improvement that can be made is more accessible communication. Email will take a much longer time than in the classrooms for teachers and students to communicate. For example, queries and questions that needs to be helped answered might be urgent but the teacher will not reply immediately due to email restrictions. Therefore, I suggest putting up a chat board in the ivle for various teachers for ease of communication and understanding.
v) A general reflection on how you feel the week went. Please share your honest opinion as ALL feedback is critical at this time.
In general, this whole E-Learning program was very meaningful for me, especially the Language Arts lessons and I reallt enjoyed them, all too much. However, I am worried that my eyes will worsen after this week. Let's hope it won't so. I have also the freedom of order of which lessons to do at what time unlike normal school days and also learn at my own pace as sometimes, lessons would be too slow or fast paced for me. Another thing I like is that we don't have to write, which does not waste our pen inks and various other accessories. Instead, we type. which makes it more convenient and fast for us to do our homework and lesons.
In overall, I would say that this week's E-Learning turned out great and I hope another of these would be executed soon.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Emergency IT Lesson 6: Compulsory Blog Entry
I have chosen Question 2.
Q2.The casino being built in Singapore is supposed to be a money-maker and job creator. However, many people have spoken against it. Talk to a parent or adult and get their view on the casino. Listen to the NPR and YouTube offerings and choose one that substantiates your viewpoint and include a quote from it as well. Your blog entry has to be at least 200 words and you must either support the casino or condemn its construction and ultimately the hardships it will cause in Singapore.
Well, first of all, before I answer this question, I must ask myself, is Casinos good or bad for the welfare of society? My mother believes that Casinos will not only spoil people's minds but also corrupt many families in Singapore. She thinks Casions should not be existing in this world at all. For one thing, I partly agree with her. Casinos are bad for people. Let me repeat: Bad. It disrupts a person's social welfare and community welfare too and eventually cause destruction in families.
Although the casino in Singapore is supposed to be a money-maker and a job creator but if the government tries to earn money from making people gamble, it will literally mean "stealing" away citizens' money. People pay money to gamble and they usually gain nothing out of it. And where does all those money go to? Other gamblers of course. However, in this process of winning and losing, the government gains money and from those who have lost their money. Just because of a Casino, many families in Singapore will go bankrupt and problems regarding Casinos would start to appear on newspapers. Social prolems will emerge and many people, especially workling adults, will get addicted and ditch jobs.
I would think that it's a double edged sword. I mean, a huge casino in Singapore would surely create many jobs, as advertised time and time again. it would certainly boost Singapore's economy.But then again, as Singapore government goes by, only those with acceptable standards of degree holders are able to get the jobs, meaning, in singaporean terms:those who have studied lo.no study, bo cert.bo cert, employer mai.and mostly, only those with no acceptable certs are those who are in the lower-range of income status, so again, it goes another round. Below is a video that explains why Casinos can be good for the citizens of singapore.
But building of the casino would create more gambling habits among people, even though one would need to pay a sum for entering, but those with huge gambling habits would just do the same once again, beg from family members, borrow from loan sharks,steal from people.But then again, it's people's actions and the government can't really do much about it. Although it's a wonderful idea to create more jobs, help the economy and etc.there's always a pro and a con to everything.
Emergency IT Lesson 5: Poetry on Gambling
Q1.Show how the poem Tom Beatty could be compared to The Rocking Horse Winner. In studying the poem, note that the opera house is really life and when He makes the rules it’s either the Lord or perhaps the devil. Beatty suggests that everyone has about 70 years, but Paul in The Rocking Horse Winner had much less time. Explain what Paul’s weakness was, how the cards were stacked against him and do you think Paul was lucky not to live to be an old man fumbling the cards, leaden-eyed and whining about his losses?
There are several connections to be made between these two literary works. In Tom Beatty, it is emphasised that a gambler's life is like in an opera where either the Devil or the Lord makes the rules and your life is decided by him. The poem also suggests that a gambler has about 70 years of life compared to Paul in The Rocking Horse Winner who is, in fact, most prominently a gambler too for horse race betting. Paul's life, had been a short one, even in a gambler's perspective. Paul had several weaknesses, which allowed the cards to stack against him. He believed in luck and his "abilities" when it was actually a mere coincidence. He believed too much in them, unable to stop, determined to rock on his horse until he get his answer, until his worn-out body finally gave way. His weakness is also his fear of the "There must be more money in the house" which caused him great downfall. Because of his fear of this, is when he began his gambling habits, and which indirectly lead him to death. The cards were stacked against him whenever he lost any horse race betting and also when his mother, the person he had been trying to help, asked him to stop gambling. Hence, we can say that the mother, without knowing it, were the cards stacked against her son. Paul died at an unfortunately early age, as young as 6 or 7 due to gambling. Because of this insignificant event in his early stages of life, he was corrupted and lost his life. It would have been better if he were to live till the age of 70 where he would be an old man whining about his losses. He could have enjoyed some quality time in his life even when gambling, but sadly, in this case, Paul could not enjoy the rest of his life due to gambling.
Q2. In The Green Clothes, green is the color of envy, greed and money! This poem is thematically similar to Paper. Even though the poem takes place at a roulette wheel the gamblers from the short story and the poem have similar experiences. Explain how tips, dry lips, and all that was spent in vain could apply to the short story Paper.
In the Green Clothes and Paper has gamblers who share similar experiences in life, gambling. The same insanity, vanity, unresourcefulness is found in both the literary works' gamblers. Their life wasted away through gambling, constantly focusing the the mind, the brain and the body on on tiny action that can win money, and not striving to do anything but wait, wait, rejoice or revenge. In Paper, Tay Soon's life depended on stock exchange and buying and selling of stocks, which is ultimately similar to gambling, and he constantly gained new "tips" to help him sell the shares at the highest price. He would wait effortlessly every price exchange and if he sells it at an lower price by chance, he got this determination to do it again, believing that he would get it right this time. In The Green Clothes, the gamblers in the casino, wait for a tiny ball which would determine their fate to show the results and is they lose, they take revenge by wanting another gambling round. There is connections in these two outcomes and it is quite obvious. The time spent on waiting for the stock price rise is all that was spent in vain, the tips were the "advice" given by his wife's jealous friend. The dry lips were Tay Soon's anxiety for the loss in money or the price share rise or it could be his extreme deformity after losing all his savings. But in either works, it is emphasised that gambling takes away your body, your soul, and your life, eventually.
Q3.Ah Boh in Lottery has about one dollar, there’s a “blind man,” the number 13 and ultimately zero dollars to bet. These last examples are taken from One-Dollar Gambler. Show how they also relate to Ah Boh.
In Lottery, the "blind man" could be Ah Boh herself, emphasising that she was blind as to where her life was going in the path of gambling and the ultimate consequence and impending dangers of gambling. She was blind to all these. The number 13 is the lottery number she always betted on and always lost on, and the number 13 also means bad luck, hence inferring that gambling is bad luck. The ultimately zero dollars to bet would be Ah Boh's future, her consequence, her punishment. After spending on the hopeless lottery for a certain time, she would eventually have no money left and hence have "zero" dollars to bet on.
There are several connections to be made between these two literary works. In Tom Beatty, it is emphasised that a gambler's life is like in an opera where either the Devil or the Lord makes the rules and your life is decided by him. The poem also suggests that a gambler has about 70 years of life compared to Paul in The Rocking Horse Winner who is, in fact, most prominently a gambler too for horse race betting. Paul's life, had been a short one, even in a gambler's perspective. Paul had several weaknesses, which allowed the cards to stack against him. He believed in luck and his "abilities" when it was actually a mere coincidence. He believed too much in them, unable to stop, determined to rock on his horse until he get his answer, until his worn-out body finally gave way. His weakness is also his fear of the "There must be more money in the house" which caused him great downfall. Because of his fear of this, is when he began his gambling habits, and which indirectly lead him to death. The cards were stacked against him whenever he lost any horse race betting and also when his mother, the person he had been trying to help, asked him to stop gambling. Hence, we can say that the mother, without knowing it, were the cards stacked against her son. Paul died at an unfortunately early age, as young as 6 or 7 due to gambling. Because of this insignificant event in his early stages of life, he was corrupted and lost his life. It would have been better if he were to live till the age of 70 where he would be an old man whining about his losses. He could have enjoyed some quality time in his life even when gambling, but sadly, in this case, Paul could not enjoy the rest of his life due to gambling.
Q2. In The Green Clothes, green is the color of envy, greed and money! This poem is thematically similar to Paper. Even though the poem takes place at a roulette wheel the gamblers from the short story and the poem have similar experiences. Explain how tips, dry lips, and all that was spent in vain could apply to the short story Paper.
In the Green Clothes and Paper has gamblers who share similar experiences in life, gambling. The same insanity, vanity, unresourcefulness is found in both the literary works' gamblers. Their life wasted away through gambling, constantly focusing the the mind, the brain and the body on on tiny action that can win money, and not striving to do anything but wait, wait, rejoice or revenge. In Paper, Tay Soon's life depended on stock exchange and buying and selling of stocks, which is ultimately similar to gambling, and he constantly gained new "tips" to help him sell the shares at the highest price. He would wait effortlessly every price exchange and if he sells it at an lower price by chance, he got this determination to do it again, believing that he would get it right this time. In The Green Clothes, the gamblers in the casino, wait for a tiny ball which would determine their fate to show the results and is they lose, they take revenge by wanting another gambling round. There is connections in these two outcomes and it is quite obvious. The time spent on waiting for the stock price rise is all that was spent in vain, the tips were the "advice" given by his wife's jealous friend. The dry lips were Tay Soon's anxiety for the loss in money or the price share rise or it could be his extreme deformity after losing all his savings. But in either works, it is emphasised that gambling takes away your body, your soul, and your life, eventually.
Q3.Ah Boh in Lottery has about one dollar, there’s a “blind man,” the number 13 and ultimately zero dollars to bet. These last examples are taken from One-Dollar Gambler. Show how they also relate to Ah Boh.
In Lottery, the "blind man" could be Ah Boh herself, emphasising that she was blind as to where her life was going in the path of gambling and the ultimate consequence and impending dangers of gambling. She was blind to all these. The number 13 is the lottery number she always betted on and always lost on, and the number 13 also means bad luck, hence inferring that gambling is bad luck. The ultimately zero dollars to bet would be Ah Boh's future, her consequence, her punishment. After spending on the hopeless lottery for a certain time, she would eventually have no money left and hence have "zero" dollars to bet on.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Emergency IT Lesson 4: Theme: Gambling
Q1. In relation to Paper, you should explain exactly what the title refers to and why it is so significant to gambling, gains on the stock market and ultimately the conclusion of the story.
The title can refer to many things. The most prominent fact is that lots of the term "paper" is referred to and used as significant contributions to the story. In "Paper", it is quite obvious that money is involved, hence, it can refer to the paper notes of money. The couple in the story have done a lot of paperwork in contribution to their savings, too. In the story, it is clearly emphasised that gambling can not only be in casinos but in business life, too. Gains in the stock market, buying and selling of shares, are all unstable rates which depends on luck, similarly to gambling. Hence, paper could be also trying to foreshadow the unstableness of the future of the couple, and the stocks and shares. The conclusion of the story has the most obvious example of symbolism to paper. When the sick Tay Soon was deceased, his mother bought a beautifully decorated paper house for Tay Soon's funeral and burnt it along with his death. This also implies the term "unstable as paper" as the house, made of paper, was the house of his dreams, only made in paper. It was so insignificant, so fragile compared to the reality of the house he had dreamt of. Together with Tay Soon's death, the paper house burnt away too, weakly and unstably.
Q2.For Lottery, do an analysis of 100 words in which you look at Ah Boh’s superstitions regarding gambling.
For a typical Ah Boh, gambling was all she could hope for, and that is what ruined her mind and state. She became more and more addicted each day, letting her sense drain away as she became undauntedly superstitious about the “tips” to winning. She would associate with every single things related to lottery numbers, from a cat’s weight, an infant’s coincidental behaviour to a license plate of a wrecked car in a car accident. She did extravagant things, including praying to the gods every morning and offering joysticks to her dead husband. She believed in foolish things like the “sign” that her husband gave to her. Ultimately, these were what caused her mother’s death indirectly, and things would have been better if she were a real fortune-teller, however. She is only a mere domestic helper addicted to gambling.
Q3.For The Rocking Horse Winner, write a paragraph of 100 words in which you point out who was responsible for Paul’s death.
For this case, its not just one person who is responsible for Paul's death. Several people were involved and they were the ones who caused Paul's death, and ultimately, also Paul himself. Paul was initially spurred on and inspires to ride to his "luck" no his horse when he heard the whispers in the house and his mother's replies. Paul's mother and father both should not have talked about money so loud in front of young children as those would corrupt the minds of youngsters, just like Paul. Also. when Paul asked his Mother about luck, his mother should not have mentioned anything about money, or defaming her husband. We can say that the whispers were the roots of his death and his Mother's response was the shoot of his death. Paul and Basett themselves are also greatly responsible for Paul's death. Paul should not have resorted to gambling even though he wanted to help his Mother and that cause the corruption of his mind and eventually lead to him being pre-occupied with gambling all day long. Basett should also not have encouraged and spurred the young child on just for money. He should have identified the problem and eliminated the corruption taking place in Paul's mind. Same goes for Oscar. Hence, we can conclude his death by saying that ultimately, the real cause of Paul's death was money.
The title can refer to many things. The most prominent fact is that lots of the term "paper" is referred to and used as significant contributions to the story. In "Paper", it is quite obvious that money is involved, hence, it can refer to the paper notes of money. The couple in the story have done a lot of paperwork in contribution to their savings, too. In the story, it is clearly emphasised that gambling can not only be in casinos but in business life, too. Gains in the stock market, buying and selling of shares, are all unstable rates which depends on luck, similarly to gambling. Hence, paper could be also trying to foreshadow the unstableness of the future of the couple, and the stocks and shares. The conclusion of the story has the most obvious example of symbolism to paper. When the sick Tay Soon was deceased, his mother bought a beautifully decorated paper house for Tay Soon's funeral and burnt it along with his death. This also implies the term "unstable as paper" as the house, made of paper, was the house of his dreams, only made in paper. It was so insignificant, so fragile compared to the reality of the house he had dreamt of. Together with Tay Soon's death, the paper house burnt away too, weakly and unstably.
Q2.For Lottery, do an analysis of 100 words in which you look at Ah Boh’s superstitions regarding gambling.
For a typical Ah Boh, gambling was all she could hope for, and that is what ruined her mind and state. She became more and more addicted each day, letting her sense drain away as she became undauntedly superstitious about the “tips” to winning. She would associate with every single things related to lottery numbers, from a cat’s weight, an infant’s coincidental behaviour to a license plate of a wrecked car in a car accident. She did extravagant things, including praying to the gods every morning and offering joysticks to her dead husband. She believed in foolish things like the “sign” that her husband gave to her. Ultimately, these were what caused her mother’s death indirectly, and things would have been better if she were a real fortune-teller, however. She is only a mere domestic helper addicted to gambling.
Q3.For The Rocking Horse Winner, write a paragraph of 100 words in which you point out who was responsible for Paul’s death.
For this case, its not just one person who is responsible for Paul's death. Several people were involved and they were the ones who caused Paul's death, and ultimately, also Paul himself. Paul was initially spurred on and inspires to ride to his "luck" no his horse when he heard the whispers in the house and his mother's replies. Paul's mother and father both should not have talked about money so loud in front of young children as those would corrupt the minds of youngsters, just like Paul. Also. when Paul asked his Mother about luck, his mother should not have mentioned anything about money, or defaming her husband. We can say that the whispers were the roots of his death and his Mother's response was the shoot of his death. Paul and Basett themselves are also greatly responsible for Paul's death. Paul should not have resorted to gambling even though he wanted to help his Mother and that cause the corruption of his mind and eventually lead to him being pre-occupied with gambling all day long. Basett should also not have encouraged and spurred the young child on just for money. He should have identified the problem and eliminated the corruption taking place in Paul's mind. Same goes for Oscar. Hence, we can conclude his death by saying that ultimately, the real cause of Paul's death was money.
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