Final Fantasy IX

Sec 2 Home-learning 2010 Term 2

2010-05-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

Sec 2 Home-learning 2010 Term 2

Task 1: I will be doing my web research and report based on the conflict represented in Hubert Wilson’s Rainbow Death. Below is the poem:

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

By: Hubert Wilson

But before we embark on this poem, let me introduce the author of this poem to you. Hubert Wilson is a Vietnam War veteran (as are his four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. Him, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeast Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!

Sadly, his health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian(Parkinson's Disease) type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate( Agent Orange) toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure. Luckily, apart from some movement problems, he is still well and has been writing in his spare time.

You might be wondering what Agent Orange is, so let me give you a brief outlook of it. Agent Orange is the code name for an herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam War.During the Vietnam war, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed 12,000,000 US gallons (45,000,000 l; 10,000,000 imp gal) of chemical defoliants in South Vietnam as part of the aerial defoliation program known as Operation Ranch Hand. 20 percent of South Vietnam's jungles were sprayed over a nine year period. The first objective was to reduce the dense jungle foliage so that Communist forces might not use it for cover and to deny them use of crops needed for sustenance. In 1965, 42 percent of all herbicide spraying was dedicated to food crops. The second objective was spot clearing in sensitive areas such as around base perimeters. It was also used to drive civilians into RVN-controlled areas.

In 1963, the United States (suspecting the negative effects) initiated a study on the health effects of Agent Orange that by 1967 confirmed that the chemical caused cancer, birth defects and other serious health problems. The outcome of the study had no effect whatsoever on the use of Agent Orange. This chemical was horrifyingly strong, resulting in the genetic problems of unborn children, causing them to be mutated.

Now, a quote:

“From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.” -- Wikipedia

Thus, we can see from this quote why Hubert Wilson had written a poem entitled Rainbow Death. This poem, Rainbow Death, may remind us that wars actually are not over when the wars are over.

Misc Stuff

2010-05-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hope I don't screw up this term, last term was really screwed up. Really hope this term i do not screw up. AHH!!! Anyway, I am really concerned about the current situation in Greece. Even though I am not affected by it, still, it is actually quite worrying to see Greece suffering like that. Can only hope the European situation improves........

Musical Song

2010-03-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

Why is the life so unfair?
Why is Tom Robinson so prejudiced?
Shall I tell you this story from the song?
About the trial of Tom Robinson?

Do you know what Atiicus is fighting for?
Do you know what we are aiming for?
Does it take your breath away?
When you feel Tom Robinson suffering?

It was obvious when he was trialed,
but why everyone went up against him?
Is it true that they are racists?
And we feel that the trial was unfair.

Now I hope that we realise this.
I hope that the people will realise that they were wrong.
And seek forgivness from the soul....

Mutliple Intel Test

2010-03-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

I feel that this test is quite accurate in stating which intelligences are my strengths, but I think they could improve by providing more specific questions.By providing the people who will do the quiz understand themselves better. Although this test is quite accurate indeed, I still feel that there can still be more detailed questions to confirm what are their strengths. As a whole, I would like to say that this test has helped me to know what are my core strengths and thus how I should use them in the future and I have also found out which are my weaker intelligence and I plan to improve them. For an example, my core strength is music, I could use this skill in my daily life as pianist/violinist.However, I feel that the naturalist test is too unfair as they keep asking whether i have pets or not and unfortunately, I do not have anyzzzz.....

Article Review

2009-08-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

I feel that what the hijackers did was extremely wrong as the ship, carrying a cargo of timber worth US$2 million (S$2.9 million) and a crew of 15. Others who need the timber might be affected badly as they need it and the families of the people who were hostages will be very worried, too.'These hijackers boarded the Arctic Sea and, using the threat of arms, demanded that the crew follow all of their orders without condition,' news agencies quoted Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as telling President Dmitry Medvedev.
Thankfully, the crew of 15, was rescued without a shot fired, Mr Serdyukov said, adding that the crew were safe and had been taken aboard the naval vessel Ladny for questioning. The masked hijackers had boarded the freighter on the night of July 24 under the pretext that there was a problem with their inflatable craft. The armed hijackers then forced the crew to change course and turned off the freighter's navigation equipment.

My favourite food

2009-08-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

My favourite food is the Chicken Steak. Whenever I have the opportunity to order western food, regardless at food courts or hawker centres, I will always order chicken steak if I can. Before I can even see the food, I can already smell the aroma of the food coming. I can also hear the sizzle of the oil on the hotplate before I tuck into my food. The taste is simply wonderful.
Let me describe the origins of chicken steak first. The precise origins of the dish are unclear, but many sources attribute its development to German and Austrian immigrants to Texas in the nineteenth century who brought recipes for Wiener Schnitzel from Europe to the USA. Lamesa, the seat of Dawson County on the Texas South Plains, claims to be the birthplace of chicken fried steak, as does Bandera, Texas.
However, chicken steak can be eaten and cooked in more than one way. Typically, in Texas, chicken fried steak is deep fried in a pan and served with traditional peppered milk gravy. The same dish is sometimes known as "country fried steak" in other parts of the United States, where it is subject to some regional variations. Often there is brown gravy, and occasionally the meat is either pan fried with little oil, or simmered in the gravy. In some areas, "country steak" may refer to Salisbury steak, a chopped or minced beef patty in brown gravy.
Other meats may be used, with chicken fried chicken having appeared on many menus substituting a boneless chicken breast for the steak. The dish known as "chicken fried chicken" differs from the dish known as "fried chicken" because the meat is removed from the bones, and cooked in the fashion of chicken fried steak. Another term is steak fried chicken. Boneless pork chops, usually center cut, are served in this manner, as well as beef cutlet (tenderized round steak), buffalo, or boneless chicken breasts.
Chicken steak is defined as tenderized cube steak coated with seasoned flour and pan fried. It is associated with Southern U.S. cuisine and hospitality. Its name is likely due to chicken fried steak's similarity in preparation to fried chicken, though the dish is also similar to the classic Viennese dish Wiener Schnitzel (known in Latin American cuisine as milanesa), a tenderized veal or beef cutlet, coated with flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs and fried.
Now, my friends, you can finally see why I like chicken so much!!

2009-07-13T02:35:00.001-07:00

Third DAy

2009-07-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Son is in Secondary School by Affran Sa'at
My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something

At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem

It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes
Especially on Wednesdays

I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

On Chinese New Year
Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A's
For his Chinese Language
Multiple-choice paper

In our annual yearbook
There is a photograph of me

Pushing a wheelchair and smiling
They caught me
At the exact moment

When my eyes were actually closed

1) What are the poet’s thoughts? What were his feelings as he think back on these ?

This poem is actually a recount on the narrator's life in his secondary school. It seems to show his nostalgia about his past.

Stanza 1

Firstly the writer begins talking about his badge but ends off with "or something". This shows his does not really understand what his school badge symbolises to a certain extent. He uses rhythm in the 1st two lines perhaps to stress the importance of his badge. He uses the badge as a symbol for the future.

Stanza 2

The narrator uses the "Free Verse" technique which is used throughout the poem to convey his mood at that time. I think this is because it is a recount and these memories are going through his mind and thoughts are not bounded by periods or full stops. We think continuously.

Stanza 3

The narrator is trying to tell us that his shoes are dirty on wednesdays, perhaps due to playing or having his physical education lesson.

Stanza 4

The narrator is describing his thoughts about the scouts as he admires them for their muscular thighs. However there is a hit of dislike by the narrator as he "must admit", showing that there was reluctance in praising them.

Stanza 5

The narrator shows his envy for his school mates who have chauffeurs to fetch them home from school everyday. It also tells us that the chauffeurs were free as they were telling jokes to each other.

Stanza 6

This shows his love for Chinese New Year as he elebarates on the humourous incident when Mrs Lee dressed up in a Malay costume and dancing a Malay dance.

Stanza 7

This shows the author recounting his friend doing all sorts of things to pass the exams.

Stanza 8

This is the finale of the poem when the narrator reveals that he is wheelchair bound but also show his happiness when his photograph was taken and was in the yearbook.

Think back on our days in Primary School. Do you share the same sentiments? What were your memories of those days? Write a poem of no less than 4 stanzas.

2) Think back on our days in Primary School. Do you share the same sentiments? What were your memories of those days? Write a poem of no less than 4 stanzas.

Memories of the past:

My school has a strange shaped hall

But prncipal Lee says that it is in the shape the hat of Confucius

I could remember the days we had back then

Where there were no troubles at all

But all of us knew

Our paths will diverge soon

I remember an incident,

Which happened when I was twelve

My friend tried to act cool while playing soccer

And the ball ended up outside the school

I still remember the times we shared when it was our final year
After the exams
When we all celebrated, playing all day long
But then the results were released
Some thought that we would never see each other again
Our paths diverged once more

My favourite poet

2009-06-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

R. S. Thomas: The old men ask for more time; the young waste it. And the philosopher simply smiles, knowing there is none there.

R. S. Thomas was born in Cardiff, the only child of Thomas Hubert and Margaret (née Davis). The family moved to Holyhead in 1918 because of his father's work in the merchant navy. He was awarded a bursary in 1932 to study at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, where he read Classics. In 1936, having completed his theological training at St. Michael's College, Llandaff, he was ordained as a priest in the Church in Wales. From 1936 to 1940 he was the curate of Chirk, Denbighshire, where he met his future wife, Mildred (Elsi) Eldridge, an English artist. He subsequently became curate at Tallarn Green, Flintshire.

For twelve years, from 1942 to 1954, Thomas was rector at Manafon, in rural Montgomeryshire. It was during his time at Manafon that he first began to study Welsh and that he published his first three volumes of poetry, The Stones of the Field, An Acre of Land and The Minister.

Thomas' poetry achieved a breakthrough with the publication of his fourth book Song at the Year's Turning, in effect a collected edition of his first three volumes, which was critically very well received and opened with Betjeman's famous introduction. His position was also helped by winning the Royal Society of Literature's Heinemann Award.

He learnt the Welsh language at age 30,[1] too late in life, he said, to be able to write poetry in it. The 1960s saw him working in a predominantly Welsh speaking community and he later wrote two prose works in Welsh, Neb (English: Nobody), an ironic and revealing autobiography written in the third person, and Blwyddyn yn Llŷn, (English: A Year in Llŷn). In 1964 he won the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

In 1996 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature [2] (the winner that year was Seamus Heaney). After his death at age 87,[3] an event celebrating his life and poetry was held in Westminster Abbey with readings from Heaney, Andrew Motion, Gillian Clarke and John Burnside. R S Thomas's ashes are buried close to the door of St. John's Church, Porthmadog, Gwynedd.

The reason why I like this poet is because of the way he is able to add the mentality of the character of the poem. Take the Children's song as an example. It sounds like a real child's mentality: Playful,teasing,mischievous and there isn't any rhyme schyeme as children do not have any rigidity in thinking and are all free-spirited. The poem is also formed by one verse paragraphs and run-on lines which show that there are no breaks in children's thinking.

Now for the 3 poems:

Children's Song by R. S. Thomas

We live in our own world,
A world that is too small
For you to stoop and enter
Even on hands and knees,
The adult subterfuge.
And though you probe and pry
With analytic eye,
And eavesdrop all our talk
With an amused look,
You cannot find the centre
Where we dance, where we play,
Where life is still asleep
Under the closed flower,
Under the smooth shell
Of eggs in the cupped nest
That mock the faded blue
Of your remoter heaven.

Poetry For Supper by R. S. Thomas

'Listen, now, verse should be as natural
As the small tuber that feeds on muck
And grows slowly from obtuse soil
To the white flower of immortal beauty.'

'Natural, hell! What was it Chaucer
Said once about the long toil
That goes like blood to the poem's making?
Leave it to nature and the verse sprawls,
Limp as bindweed, if it break at all
Life's iron crust. Man, you must sweat
And rhyme your guts taut, if you'd build
Your verse a ladder.'
'You speak as though
No sunlight ever surprised the mind
Groping on its cloudy path.'

'Sunlight's a thing that needs a window
Before it enter a dark room.
Windows don't happen.'
So two old poets,
Hunched at their beer in the low haze
Of an inn parlour, while the talk ran
Noisily by them, glib with prose.

Welsh Landscape by R. S. Thomas

To live in Wales is to be conscious
At dusk of the spilled blood
That went into the making of the wild sky,
Dyeing the immaculate rivers
In all their courses.
It is to be aware,
Above the noisy tractor
And hum of the machine
Of strife in the strung woods,
Vibrant with sped arrows.
You cannot live in the present,
At least not in Wales.
There is the language for instance,
The soft consonants
Strange to the ear.
There are cries in the dark at night
As owls answer the moon,
And thick ambush of shadows,
Hushed at the fields' corners.
There is no present in Wales,
And no future;
There is only the past,
Brittle with relics,
Wind-bitten towers and castles
With sham ghosts;
Mouldering quarries and mines;
And an impotent people,
Sick with inbreeding,
Worrying the carcase of an old song. To live in Wales is to be conscious
At dusk of the spilled blood
That went into the making of the wild sky,
Dyeing the immaculate rivers
In all their courses.
It is to be aware,
Above the noisy tractor
And hum of the machine
Of strife in the strung woods,
Vibrant with sped arrows.
You cannot live in the present,
At least not in Wales.
There is the language for instance,
The soft consonants
Strange to the ear.
There are cries in the dark at night
As owls answer the moon,
And thick ambush of shadows,
Hushed at the fields' corners.
There is no present in Wales,
And no future;
There is only the past,
Brittle with relics,
Wind-bitten towers and castles
With sham ghosts;
Mouldering quarries and mines;
And an impotent people,
Sick with inbreeding,
Worrying the carcase of an old song.

2009-06-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Children's Song

1)Where life is still asleep is actually referring to children's hidden potential.Under the closed flower, Under the smooth shell means that children are well protected by their parents from the outside world and have not gone through rough patches in life.Of your remoter heaven suggests that the children's world is actually closer to heaven than the adults' as people aren't as greedy they were wheb they were children as compared to when they were adults.

2)The reason why I like this poem is because it is very interesting and since us teenagers are in a stsge of life between being children and adults at the same time and it will actually be easier for us to understand this poem.The poem is quite mischievous, teasing and playful and it actually shows us that it is possible to find happiness in simplicity like the way children do.It also shows us that knowledge does not necessarily come with age and I feel that adults should be able to find more happiness in reading this poem

Alternate ending to "Nothing But The Truth" By AVI

2009-02-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

After leaving Harrison High, Philip Malloy went on to join Washington Academy. There, students were allowed to sing the national anthem freely. Let’s review the first lesson at Washington Academy:
Teacher: Class, this is Philip Malloy, he will be joining us this year. Anyway, Philip, do take a seat over there. Philip, we, along with essentially the whole nation, had heard a lot about what you did over at Harrison High and we are quite proud to have such a patriotic student like you joining us. Would you like to tell us more about yourself? Philip? Philip, what’s wrong? Why are you crying like that?
Philip: I think I just saw Miss Narwin.
Meanwhile, before Philip Malloy cried, let’s take a look at what happened to Miss Narwin………
Phone conversation between Dr Gertrude Doane and Miss Narwin…
Dr Gertrude Doane: Hello?
Miss Narwin: Dr Gertrude, I am Narwin and I think that I should resign.
Dr Gertrude Doane: Hmmm…. Maybe what happened at our school stressed you out too much. You should have a cup of coffee now to calm yourself down.
Miss Narwin: My nerves are bunched together too tightly to have coffee.
Dr Gertrude Doane: Ah, I see. I hope that you would reconsider what you had said just now.
Miss Narwin: I do not thing that I will regret my choice.
Dr Gertrude Doane: Oh. However, I would like to tell you that we think you are our best teacher in our school and we will never forget the contributions you made to the school.
Miss Narwin : Thank you.
A few days later, Mrs Narwin found a job as a replacement teacher in Washington Academy.
Principal: We are very proud to have you at our school, Miss Narwin. However, I hope that you would be more relaxed with our students here. Your face is very pale, what happened?
Miss Narwin: I think I just saw Philip Malloy.

Test Week

2009-02-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

Wow..................

What a week!It is now test week and there are sooooooo many subjects.We have tons of subject including geography,english, science,computer studies and much,much more.Any way,happy post valentine day!

Samuel

2009-01-15T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! My name is Lee Si En ! I am 13 this year and I am studying at Hwa Chong institution. I used to study in Nan Hua Primary School and it is located in Jalan Lempeng. There are 4 people in my family. They are : My father, my mother,my brother and me. My brother is 19 this year and is currently addicted to Wii Zelda.Got to go now !

Welcome to my blog!!

2009-01-13T03:16:00.000-08:00