1)Point of View(P.O.V.): This poem is depicted through a first person point of view who is the soldier. This soldier is currently going through war. This can be shown in parts of the poem like “My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins”, “I run as fast as I can through the lead rain” and “I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more”. These evidences clearly show that the soldier feels nervous and scared as he is trying to find cover from all the bullets fired. He is also trying to defend his own life by firing back at the enemies. This clearly demonstrates that the poem is written in the point of view of a soldier. Being a soldier who has once gone through war, the poet’s experiences would make this poem more reliable in depicting the life of a soldier and the horrors of war. By using this point of view, the readers would be able to picture the battlefield clearly in their minds and would understand the feelings of this soldier, at the same time making it more realistic.
2)Situation and Setting: This poem is set during a war and the emotional conflict in a soldier. The soldier and his platoon mates feel helpless and reluctant. They cannot back out as shown “We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not”. The only way for them to survive is to fight back as shown in this phrase, “I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more”. The soldier feels helpless and does not want to participate in the war, yet he has no way out. They are being “pushed into their graves”. The poet is trying to convey the message that war is bad and horrible as it messes with people’s lives and emotions.
3)Language and Diction: The poet uses a lot of army slang such as “the LZ is hot”, “Lock N Load and grab your shit” so that he can paint a clearer picture in the readers mind while reading or analysing the poem. American soldiers use a lot of army slang when they were soldiers as it is part of their culture.
4)Personal Response: Although I have not been recruited into the army(which I would be in 4 years or so), I can empathise and feel how it is to be a soldier in a battlefield. Picking up a gun and firing it can change the life of a person. You would not feel that guilt when you kill a person with a gun. People are forced to fight for their lives and humanity’s ugly side would be exposed. The common feeling of youngsters is that picking up a machine gun, being a sharpshooter is cool. But I guarantee you that once you have experienced something like what the soldier in the poem experienced, you would beg to differ. War is not good.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Home learning Task 1
We slept with our boots on by Steve Carlson
They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell
I found a brief biography of Steve Carlsen on the internet. Steve Carlsen was born and currently lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He was recruited the United States Army in October 2000 and went through Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. In November 2001, he was deployed to Kosovo as part of peace keeping operations. He was deployed to Afghanistan in December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins inspired him to write about his experiences when he was in the army. (Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html)
This poem is based on Steve Carlsen’s war experience in Afghanistan and his feelings. The poem also depicts the scenes and life of a solider during war time. The first 5 lines show the soldier getting ready to land for his operation. He feels clueless about where to land. He unwillingly lands in the middle of a battlefield and dashes for cover from the bullets. The soldier feels scared, terrified and fires back to defend his life. The poem continues to show how the soldier and his platoon mates fought in different terrains and their feelings of fear. They also make sure that they were prepared at all times. It also show that once a person takes up a gun to kill and witness deaths, he or she will be changed completely. That person would not possess any innocence and fear of death.
They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell
I found a brief biography of Steve Carlsen on the internet. Steve Carlsen was born and currently lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He was recruited the United States Army in October 2000 and went through Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. In November 2001, he was deployed to Kosovo as part of peace keeping operations. He was deployed to Afghanistan in December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins inspired him to write about his experiences when he was in the army. (Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html)
This poem is based on Steve Carlsen’s war experience in Afghanistan and his feelings. The poem also depicts the scenes and life of a solider during war time. The first 5 lines show the soldier getting ready to land for his operation. He feels clueless about where to land. He unwillingly lands in the middle of a battlefield and dashes for cover from the bullets. The soldier feels scared, terrified and fires back to defend his life. The poem continues to show how the soldier and his platoon mates fought in different terrains and their feelings of fear. They also make sure that they were prepared at all times. It also show that once a person takes up a gun to kill and witness deaths, he or she will be changed completely. That person would not possess any innocence and fear of death.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Reducing Chinese's weightage in PSLE
Recently, Ministry of Education(MOE) has revealed that they may reduce the weightage of Chinese in PSLE as part of their new plan to promote bilingualism and chinese. About sometime ago, Minister Mentor Lee said to the press that whatever they have done was wrong. Now, MOE is working to create a new plan such that Chinese would not be neglected in Singapore and Singapore students can reach the goal of bilingualism. Many citizens wrote in to the Straits Times to express their relief on Minister Mentor Lee's decision.
Personally, I feel that reducing the weightage of chinese in PSLE is a wrong decision. This would make them further from their goal. Students would interpret it as more emphasize is being put on English, Maths and Science and they would not study for Chinese or pay attention in class.
Students who were able to score well in chinese would be affected as they could be relying on chinese to pull up their grades. Students who do not score well in english would also be affected. This move is a bit selfish. Shouldn't students who do not score well in english have their weightage of english in PSLE be reduced? Those students who can score in chinese but not in english would have to worry about their grades being jeopardised. After that, we would have another problem from the crowd of students who just can't get good marks for english. Actually, I would fall under that category.
Parents who want their children to actually do well in chinese and english would be shocked to hear this piece of news. This is bringing their children further away from their goal. Education is supposed to be holistic. Students are to be exposed to all subjects of equal weightage to train them in different aspects. By doing this, students may not care about chinese at all.
In conclusion, I feel that reducing chinese's weightage in PSLE is a bad move.
Personally, I feel that reducing the weightage of chinese in PSLE is a wrong decision. This would make them further from their goal. Students would interpret it as more emphasize is being put on English, Maths and Science and they would not study for Chinese or pay attention in class.
Students who were able to score well in chinese would be affected as they could be relying on chinese to pull up their grades. Students who do not score well in english would also be affected. This move is a bit selfish. Shouldn't students who do not score well in english have their weightage of english in PSLE be reduced? Those students who can score in chinese but not in english would have to worry about their grades being jeopardised. After that, we would have another problem from the crowd of students who just can't get good marks for english. Actually, I would fall under that category.
Parents who want their children to actually do well in chinese and english would be shocked to hear this piece of news. This is bringing their children further away from their goal. Education is supposed to be holistic. Students are to be exposed to all subjects of equal weightage to train them in different aspects. By doing this, students may not care about chinese at all.
In conclusion, I feel that reducing chinese's weightage in PSLE is a bad move.
Should Dialect be taught in school?
Dialect is part of us, part of our culture. Our dialect originates from our hometown, where our ancestors came from before settling down in Singapore. There are about a number of different dialects in the world, among them the famous ones were Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew etc.
This topic was raised years ago during one of the Prime Ministers' National Day Rally. I remembered that it was mentioned if no further action was taken, dialect might be lost in Singapore. Ok, maybe only Hokkien would be left. But, this would also mean that we have forgotten our roots.
Singapore government, ironically, censors all hokkien dialogue on TV and only allows English and Chinese. Even songs on the radio must also only be English and Chinese. This promotes bilingualism but at the same time, people gets less exposure to dialect.
There is also a sterotypical view of people that anyone who speaks hokkien instead of english and chinese is a gangster, or "chao ah beng" in hokkien. These people are being viewed as uncultured, uneducated, rude and useless people who just gets involved in gang fights and being a bully. This is entirely not true. It could be the tone that the person uses to speak hokkien. This view also indirectly caused the downfall of dialect in Singapore as parents are instilling thoughts to their kids that you would be a good for nothing gangster if you start to speak hokkien or other dialects. Ironically, we often see our parents use dialect to communicate with out grandparents.
I feel that there should be a special programme for dialect, just like in our school we have BSP. It can be like a third language for students and they just learn for extra knowledge with no tests and exams. This can help promote dialect among the younger generation. Other than that, in this programme histories of the different hometown should also be taught to students such that they can understand their roots better. This also fufills our school's philosophy, 饮水思源。
As a 40% hainanese, 40% teochew and 20% hakka, I feel that I should also start to learn these dialects as it is part of who I am. At the same time, I can improve my hokkien and cantonese. Dialect should not be lost in Singapore. As much as you may disagree with me, it should be promoted like singlish as they are our culture.
This topic was raised years ago during one of the Prime Ministers' National Day Rally. I remembered that it was mentioned if no further action was taken, dialect might be lost in Singapore. Ok, maybe only Hokkien would be left. But, this would also mean that we have forgotten our roots.
Singapore government, ironically, censors all hokkien dialogue on TV and only allows English and Chinese. Even songs on the radio must also only be English and Chinese. This promotes bilingualism but at the same time, people gets less exposure to dialect.
There is also a sterotypical view of people that anyone who speaks hokkien instead of english and chinese is a gangster, or "chao ah beng" in hokkien. These people are being viewed as uncultured, uneducated, rude and useless people who just gets involved in gang fights and being a bully. This is entirely not true. It could be the tone that the person uses to speak hokkien. This view also indirectly caused the downfall of dialect in Singapore as parents are instilling thoughts to their kids that you would be a good for nothing gangster if you start to speak hokkien or other dialects. Ironically, we often see our parents use dialect to communicate with out grandparents.
I feel that there should be a special programme for dialect, just like in our school we have BSP. It can be like a third language for students and they just learn for extra knowledge with no tests and exams. This can help promote dialect among the younger generation. Other than that, in this programme histories of the different hometown should also be taught to students such that they can understand their roots better. This also fufills our school's philosophy, 饮水思源。
As a 40% hainanese, 40% teochew and 20% hakka, I feel that I should also start to learn these dialects as it is part of who I am. At the same time, I can improve my hokkien and cantonese. Dialect should not be lost in Singapore. As much as you may disagree with me, it should be promoted like singlish as they are our culture.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Financal Literacy for students
Finanacal Literacy is one of the most important life skills that everyone should have, including students. Although this is not taught in school, I feel that it should have been a subject taught in school.
These days, most students spend more than they can save, sometimes they even exceeded their pocket money. My parents use to tell me to always save for a rainy day, which is true since life is always unexpecting. But, I have to admit it is hard to have the determination to save money due to factors like peer pressure, temptations etc. I use to spend a lot of money when i was young, especially on toys. My thinking used to be like if something costs 100 dollars, it is only 2 50 dollar notes. Only when I grow up, then I realised things are not so simple.
Managing your money is one of the things we would all do in future as more and more burdens fall onto our shoulders. Nobody would want to be in debts, everyone wants to live a carefree life. However, due to lack of financal literacy and money management skills, more and more people are getting tied to debts after coming out for work. These people would spend money paying off endless debts.
Just like the saying goes, don't work for your money, let your money work for you. Never become a slave to debts.
Some countries like China started teaching their students about financal literacy. I feel that Singapore should also teach it to students. This is an important life skill, you would need it even till the day you die. It is the same thing like teaching moral values in school through moral education. If we can manage our money well, life would become more smoother for us.
Some people may disagree with me. If a person is rich, he or she may feel that why do I need to know financal literacy when I am loaded? Even if my parents are gone, I still have the inheritance. Sad to say, they will squander it all off even before they even know it. Ironically, even you are rich, you still need to know financal literacy and money management skills to get the most out of this huge amount of money.
It may seem boring but essential. Think about it. Nobody wants to hear a 1 hour lecture on moral values too. It is for life.
These days, most students spend more than they can save, sometimes they even exceeded their pocket money. My parents use to tell me to always save for a rainy day, which is true since life is always unexpecting. But, I have to admit it is hard to have the determination to save money due to factors like peer pressure, temptations etc. I use to spend a lot of money when i was young, especially on toys. My thinking used to be like if something costs 100 dollars, it is only 2 50 dollar notes. Only when I grow up, then I realised things are not so simple.
Managing your money is one of the things we would all do in future as more and more burdens fall onto our shoulders. Nobody would want to be in debts, everyone wants to live a carefree life. However, due to lack of financal literacy and money management skills, more and more people are getting tied to debts after coming out for work. These people would spend money paying off endless debts.
Just like the saying goes, don't work for your money, let your money work for you. Never become a slave to debts.
Some countries like China started teaching their students about financal literacy. I feel that Singapore should also teach it to students. This is an important life skill, you would need it even till the day you die. It is the same thing like teaching moral values in school through moral education. If we can manage our money well, life would become more smoother for us.
Some people may disagree with me. If a person is rich, he or she may feel that why do I need to know financal literacy when I am loaded? Even if my parents are gone, I still have the inheritance. Sad to say, they will squander it all off even before they even know it. Ironically, even you are rich, you still need to know financal literacy and money management skills to get the most out of this huge amount of money.
It may seem boring but essential. Think about it. Nobody wants to hear a 1 hour lecture on moral values too. It is for life.
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