Reflection (22/4/13-26/413)

Rereading Never Let Me Go this week has given me a better insight. This phase allowed me to zoom in on words and I could see things I've never noticed previously such as the characteristics of the main protagonist- Kathy and the importance of her narrating within the novel.

The test practice on Tuesday was also very helpful after we finished and looked at each other's work. For example, I compared my work with Wi Kiat and saw the weaknesses in my writing such as not being able to provide enough contextual evidence.

In preparation for next week's exams, I believe we'd still need to practice on more writing exercises. I am starting to get the hang of analyzing poetry better yet I believe we could benefit from a class session of discussion together with Ms. Abena to talk about tips and advices.

Reflection (25/3/13-29/3/13)

We further discussed Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence". Discussing about the lyrics this week in a circle on the carpet felt good as we simply exchanged more ideas and we gained a better insight. The key is that there is never a right answer but a logical analysis. Sometimes while analyzing, it seems that we truly forget to consider how we felt and instead get too caught up with what the author is trying to imply or how it affects the reader. I believe that we have to keep a balance of our personal response too.

We also analyzed "Anthem for Doomed Youth" which I personally found, very challenging. However, through this exercise, I realize the importance of a strong vocabulary bank. Certain words, even though archaic, carries great analytical value. Even when these difficult words have their definition given, I would not take the risk to depend on it and by practicing often on vocabulary.com, this will put me in good stead for those challenges.

I cannot mention enough that vocabulary.com has been incredibly helpful. I've been learning a lot of words and I feel great when I spot them in daily usage. I hope that we are pushed to continue the practices on the website as even when I hesitated at first, it has turned out to be incredibly useful.

Reflection (18/3/13-22/3/13)

This week in English, we learnt more figurative language terms. I was astounded by the number of techniques that are apparently common yet I've no knowledge of until recently such as pathetic fallacy, iambic pentameter and many more. To fully apply these terms in my writing, I still need to practice using it as through my unseen poetry practices.

While we listened to Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", it was really fun to spot the techniques they use to convey subtle meanings such as anarchy. I've often searched up meanings of songs that I like and am appalled that this could also be a technique to improve my writing. Like poetry,  the top review of "The Sound of Silence" gave me a vivid and creative look towards the lyrics of the song which makes me see how important it is to master these techniques and to be able to use it creatively.

While analyzing the song, I could see that I'm starting to identify parts of the lyrics by seeing which parts fit into a certain technique. From there, I would carry on investigating it's meaning. I find that this is very helpful if we've learnt those techniques as it makes analysis much easier.

Reflection (11/3/13-15/3/13)

This week in English, it was all about vocabulary! It's been ages since I've updated my language record but Vocabulary.com has since become incredibly useful in replacing my record. I love using the website to practice my usage of words as you are able to "learn" a word until we are familiar with it. I find this incredibly useful! Outside, I use a word learning application called Anki to learn Chinese and this strategic way of 'remembering' words that we aren't familiar with and drilling us until so makes learning really effective.

The "Orpheus the Lyrical" game however was rather hard for me as the examples are sometimes hard to understand and I have to juggle playing while recording the examples and their figurative language style. I would get too distracted with the game or with recording resulting in a chaos.

I would definitely keep using Vocabulary to enhance and widen my vocabulary skills and hopefully apply my new knowledge of words to my writing.

reflection (26/2/13-1/3/13)

This week, we reflected on the mock papers that we had sat for last week. Being asked to predict what band our work would be in is a great move in really making us students to really look back on the marking schemes. By recognizing what we need to aim for ( such as criteria in a higher band) and how we are able to add what's missing in our work, this will lead to the gradual process of simply getting better at writing for the exams.

Moreover, breaking down the Assessment Objectives helped a lot as well. Most of the time, what I find excruciating is to differentiate the tiny actions that separates bands apart and breaking down the main ideas of the AOs. Simply put, I had no idea what I'm expected of as the AOs can sometimes be too general. By breaking down the AOs into understandable levels, we see what it is that examiners want to see.

Reflection (28/1/13-1/2/13)

This week, we decided to analyze Never Let Me Go and make poster boards out of the analysis. In my group, we focused on analyzing the characters in the book and decided to produce a Venn diagram of the three main characters, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy.

The Venn diagram helped us in differentiating their characteristics but also to unite similar characteristics as well such as how they were all related through their upbringing in Hailsham. I also see others starting on the timeline for the storyline which I believe is the most challenging task as one has to be familiar of all the flashbacks and place them in an orderly manner. I think as the weeks progress, the timeline would be extremely helpful for us in grasping important events and how the build up to other events, like a wave.

Reflection (21/1/13-25/1/13)

 This week, we utilised acronyms in helping us to write better analysis for poems. While working on them, I realise that were other factors to consider in analysing a piece of poetry as well such as rhyme, audience and speaker. 

However, I found it hard to remember these acronyms unless they are short. Hence, I believe S.M.I.L.E. ( structure, meaning, imagery, language, evidence) was the most memorable and effective acronym as each alphabet covers a range of things that needs to be considered. 

Our literature circles had been great so far with members trying to come up with new ways to spice up our meetings. This week, Victoria made a jumbled up piece synopsis cut out of paper and we had to rearrange it. We also had fun using Zondle for our vocabulary.

Reflection (14/1/13-18/1/13)

This week, we reviewed each other's work on the chapters of the novels assigned to us. I believe we gave each other constructive feedback and gave a thorough analysis of the quality of work. Overall, I think some groups did a great job in creating illustrations and slideshows for the chapters' synopsis. After we collected the pros and cons of each chapter, we were able to understand what needed to be improved. I also believe this method was very productive! If we do this for the next chapters (11-20) we will be done with this project in another week!

Ms. Abena's example chapter also taught us about how to make use of Wallwisher  and to include more embedded exercises. The group discussion proved to be useful when we head over to the library to discuss about Sex and Sexuality. We were open and matured while discussing hence producing a fruitful discussion on issues about sex and sexuality. I found it refreshing to discuss about something that really matters to us teens but were always considered taboo.

We also got back our poem analysis essays and compared it with Miran's outstanding piece. I was impressed at her interpretation of solder as I did not understand the symbolism behind it. I think the practice essays really help us in preparing for the upcoming exams.

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Brain's numb. Numb from all the noise that infringes my space.

There's not enough space.

Shut up, just. Shut up.

Pathetic yelps. I smile a lot less. 

Is this what they call as "growing up"?

A nice long sleep on my bed. That's all I want.

Overcoming the trauma of metamorphosis. 

The slow transition into an ugly brew. A lifelong battle with oneself.

I want this but I should do this. Blergh.

"Yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do. Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute."

Reflection (7/1/13-11/1/13)

 discussion study guide

This week in English, we did a lot of poetry and kicked off the week with a nice game of 1 truth two false. I had been given an interesting word, "diction", and I had no idea what the theme of the game was as there was even "Kalashnikov" in it until we read the poems in our anthology. I had a newfound appreciation for some poems such as "Fatima" and "Clearance" as I analyzed the backgrounds of the poems (e.g: "Fatima" had a background of the Sarajevo war and ethnic segregation in it) and I learnt so much about "Clearances", the poem which I was most unfamiliar about, until Ms. Abena told us about the culture of Irish cuisine and its familiarity with potatoes. I found the poem really heartwarming after I  found the key behind the symbolism of potatoes within it and I could almost vividly imagine the poem inside my head. Out of all the poems, "Fatima" and "Clearances" have to be my favourite.

I chose to write on "Clearances" for my analysis essay as I felt that it was a breakthrough revelation after understanding its symbolism with potatoes. However, besides the symbolism, I also learnt to compare the writer's perspective and talk about the emotions that the poem carries in my essay as I feel that I could imagine the poem in my view.

We also played out the poems, which I initially thought it wouldn't be helpful but at the end, had indeed helped me in understanding the poems better. While acting out "For Rita With Love", I learnt that "Rita" could possible have Down's Syndrome and when I tried embracing my classmates, their genuine reactions of being freaked out was unfortunately real. I would not be able the situation of the poem ever  if I hadn't seen the faces of my classmates. This gave me an appreciation for the poem as I really learnt more of it's subtle significance. I saw how by being kind, people actually think of it as an odd manner because it's uncommon to be nice and kind. To hug other at random. To say, "I like you" to strangers.

Lastly, we discussed about our Study Guide project and I felt that questionnaire helped us all to see how we REALLY felt about working on the project. I was glad that we were all honest about how we weren't putting enough effort into the project but at the same time, we were not going to give up as we knew it would be beneficial at the end. We had a productive discussion and concluded that each chapter will be worked on among pairs. I think that as soon as we finish the project and put it aside, we will be able to focus on preparing for the exam.

reflection (2/1/13-4/1/13)

Another year unfolds and what better way to celebrate(for us students) than to hand in our first coursework! Apologies to Ms. Abena who has to mark a mountain pile of it though. :( The week kicked off great with us organizing ourselves to collaboratively work on the study guide and we've to play our part as everyone has a role. Our discussions resulted in a productive timeline and a division of tasks for the study guide. However, some did not participate in the discussion and were insensitive towards others such as Afifah who has too many tasks for herself to do.

I really hope that we could care for others and not wander off during important discussions as the study guide is for the benefit of all of us. I'm looking forward to the weeks to come where I could finalize my second essay and count the time ticking away to my secondary school graduation. May this be a start to another productive year in English class!