Narrative Viewpoints

Hi guys! Today, i shall talk about when i would use the first-person narrative as well as the third-person narrative.

In a nutshell, I would use the first-person narrative when I want to let the reader feel closer to the main character. I would be able to do this as I can express the feelings of the main character easily, as all actions and events are typically seen through his eyes. This also allows me to share the view points and thoughts of the main character to the reader. By writing in a first-person narrative, I am also able to try and create suspense, as the feelings and thoughts of the other characters such as the protagonist, are not expressed. Also, by using the first-person narrative, I am able to express clearly and describe clearly how each event or happening has affected the character, thus allowing the character to easily connect with the reader.

In a nutshell, I would use the third-person narrative when I want to express the views of most characters and to describe all events as if the reader could see them all at once. Next, I would use this narrative where I want to let the reader understand a bit of each different characters, and thus, allowing the reader to know the story better. This narrative should be used when there is no need for suspense, as this narrative will tend to spoil the suspense. This narrative is also easier to use, as one does not need to be very talented as one can express the views of everything easily as compared to the first-person narrative, where all feelings and thoughts of other characters must be written carefully so as to not spoil the first person narrative effect.

~Gordon (:

Description of a beach.

Hi guys, today i shall share about my description of a beach.

It was a cooling and windy evening. The Sun was just setting and it gave the sky a cast of bright orange light. I was enjoying the wonderful sunset as well as the cooling wind. I could feel the wind blowing strongly against my face, and it felt cooling and refreshing at the same time. The coconut trees rustled their fronds wildly, as if the fronds were about to fly off with the wind. The sand on the beach was light brown in colour, but had turned slightly orange due to the orange rays of the setting Sun. The waves too were moving in unison, and splashing against the shore, as if the wind was pushing them. The soft splash of the waves created a soothing atmosphere. The colour of the waves seemed brightened up as they reflected the orange rays of the Sun. There were houses nearby, near the beach, and they were brown in colour, as if trying to match the colour of the sand on the beach. The scenery of the beach was breathtaking and enjoyable.

~Gordon (:

Home Learning Lesson 24/01/2011

Hi guys, i have done my comic strips. Please do look through them.

The reason i chose the background for the first panel of the comic strip is due to the fact that i wanted to show that this story has taken place in Singapore, as the background is a typical Singapore HDB flat.

For the second panel, i have chosen the background of a typical home in Singapore, and i have chosen to use the elderly to tell his grandchild about his own discrimination against indians, due to the fact that i have heard many of these cases, and i too have also experienced it before.

As for the next four backgrounds from panel three to six, i decided to use the playground background. Playgrounds can be found all over singapore, and children tend to play there. This also shows a case of whereby, the elderly's discrimination affecting the younger generation, whose minds are not yet mature. While for the last panel, i decided to use the same background again to show that the children have learnt from their mistake and they are playing together with other races.

In this story, the main characters are basically the grandson, the grandfather,the adult, and the indian child. The grandson is affected by his grandfather's view towards indians and so were the other children in the playground. I have seen many cases of indians being discriminated and thus,i have decided to use an indian child. Also, the adult plays a role, in a sense whereby he teaches the children the right thing, which is to not discriminate against other races. The main point of this story is to tell everyone that we should not be prejudiced against other races and we should all coexist peacefully in Singapore, so as to allow Singapore to progress.

Done by: Gordon Koh 2i115

(:

Curriculum of identity

Well, i still remember clearly when i was in the company of a group which i was clearly not included in. It happened roughly when i was in secondary one, whereby i tried to make friends with another group of people who were also secondary ones. We were chatting with each other about mousehunt, which is a very popular facebook game, and they just kind of like ignore me, in a sense whereby, i was always interrupted when i was speaking, and they tend to push aside a point which i make, no matter how logical it was. I was also left aside from their chat, as they ignore me and not bother about me.

At that point of time, i was feeling quite upset as they did not want to make friends with me, i was also feeling irritated as they ignore me, and thus i got quite pissed off. In the end, since i realise that they did not want to be friends with me at all, i decided to feel the same way as what i thought they felt about me, and made up an excuse to leave the group. In the end, i just walked off and went straight home, feeling slightly upset, but nonetheless still happy as i had a great day.

In the end, this situation has taught me, not to just join and hang around with any groups easily, but to think first, which is to think before i act. This has also given me an experience, where in this case i was not accepted in a sense, unlike in primary school where i could hang around in any company of groups. This has also affected me in a sense, whereby i was sort of shy to approach other groups for the next day as i was afraid of history repeating itself, but other then that, it did not really have a very negative impact on me.

Lastly, always try to be optimistic, and be cheerful, when being faced with this situation.

~Gordon (:

Prejudice

Know: What do i already know about prejudice?

Prejudice means a certain sense of unfairness to a certain person, who is deemed by the society to be of a lower standard than a normal person. It also means a unfavorable feeling formed towards a certain group of people or person without any knowledge about them, or without any evidence beforehand.

Want: What do i want to learn/know about prejudice?

I want to learn how does prejudice work in this society and also how prejudice can be shown or analysed from texts. I also want to know about how it actually affects people, as well as the effects of prejudice.

Learn: What have i learnt about prejudice?

I have learnt that prejudice is not only about skin colours and races, but it is also between nationality, and also the fact that prejudice cannot be seen or felt unless it is in the form of discrimination, whereby there is a biased view against a certain person. Prejudice can also affect people in many ways, such as them having mental abuse, whereby a certain group of people may discriminate against a person and tease him or her. Prejudice also affects many things, such as people's thoughts against a person who is being discriminated. I have also learnt that prejudice is caused by differences from person to person and it also comes in many forms such as bigotry,stereotyping and also discrimination. Lastly, i have learnt that prejudice tends to lead to prejudice which is a vicious cycle, and that prejudice cannot be removed from society totally.

Please note that most of what i have actually learnt is actually in the mindmap done by our group, which consists of Leonard Goh, Kenneth Pay, Eliel and myself. (: Have fun looking at the mindmap.

~Gordon (:

About a poem that left a deep impression on me

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Memorializing Events in the Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
Written 1854

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Today, I would like to share about this poem, which has remained embedded in my mind after reading it. I would firstly give a slight analysis of the poem, followed by my feelings and finally, what I have learnt from this poem.

Now I shall give a short analysis about the poem. The Charge of the Light Brigade basically talks of 600 soldiers in the light brigade, who have been ordered to charge to attack their enemies who are half a league away, in the valley of Death. However, the enemies have already setup an ambush for them. Despite knowing this, an order to charge was given, but it was a mistake made by the messenger. However, the soldiers charged on bravely, despite knowing that there was a mistake which was made. On their way to reach their enemies, they were ambushed in a sense, whereby their enemies fired cannons at them from the sides. In the end, they managed to reach their enemies, and the soldiers used their sword to kill their enemies, who are the Cossack and Russians. After that, they rode back, but they were once again attacked by the enemies’ cannons. However, this time, they had lesser than 600 soldiers as some of them had already died in the charge before. In the end, they managed to break out of the valley of Death, but few of them managed to survive. Up till now, people still do honour them, and they feel that they are noble.

Now, I shall talk about my feelings after reading the Charge of The Light Brigade. After reading this poem, I felt that the soldiers are actually very courageous, due to the fact that despite knowing that an ambush was set up, they still charged ahead. To some, they may seem reckless or stupid, but to me they seem courageous. This is so, as they knew that they could not defy the order of the commander, but yet instead of running away, they charged ahead. I also feel very sad for the soldiers, due to the fact that, despite being so courageous, they were killed just due to the fact that they were given a wrong order by the messenger.

Lastly, I shall talk about what I have learnt. In the third and fourth sentence of the second stanza, I learnt that due to the mistake of a messenger, the soldiers had to pay the price for it. From this, I have learnt that one should not be too careless in what they do as this would negatively affect others just like the scenario in the poem as well as in the battle. I have also learnt that one should not be too reckless, and also to question if they find something wrong. This is evident from the fourth to the sixth sentence of the second stanza and also the third stanza. If the soldiers had questioned the messenger, they would not have died for nothing. This has also taught me to think first before we act, as this would have a great impact on our actions. From this, I have also learnt to honor soldiers, as they have made lots of sacrifices for us, and we should not take them for granted. The soldiers have scarified their lives in order to aid us, and thus, may have died, which is the main reason why we should always honor them. I have learnt this from the last stanza of this poem.

If you have read this post, and felt that there is room for improvement, please do comment. (:

~Gordon (:

Secondary 2

Hi guys, i am now currently in secondary 2, and all previous posts were posted in secondary 1 (: Do keep a lookout for more posts :) Thus it is also a rivival of this blog! :D

School has started gotta start working hard (:

~Gordon