My Study Plan for the English Exams

The examinations are just round the corner, only twenty days away! I have to do some planning to make sure I am well prepared for the examinations.

The first paper is ‘Writing’ where I am given only 105 minutes to complete an essay and a letter. For this, I will need to read some narrative essays for ideas on plots and characterization. If I read three essays a day, I would have read sixty essays! (If I keep to the plan that is) I must practise writing some essays and memorise good phrases that I can use too.

Paper 2 is the ‘Comprehension’ paper. It is difficult to revise for this paper. I will go through the previous comprehensions done and practise writing some summaries. I will also read more to widen my vocabulary.

The last paper, ‘Literature Strand 1, Unseen prose, Unseen poetry and Animal Farm essay’ will be challenging, I think. For this, I will read all my handouts including the ‘Animal Farm’ notes. I will memorise the story and take note of points that I had previously missed during tests.

One day or two before the examinations, I will review to make sure I remember all that I have studied.

Good luck to everyone!

The Jungle Book - The Bare Necessities

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
I couldn't be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin' in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue ?

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!

So just try and relax, yeah cool it
Fall apart in my backyard
'Cause let me tell you something little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh uh
You're working too hard

And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you

Introduction

Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s "Mowgli" story, The Jungle Book follows the ups and downs of the man-cub Mowgli as he makes his way back to the human village with wise panther Bagheera to escape ruthless tiger Shere Khan.

Along the way, he meets unforgettable friends and foes including mad King Louie of the Apes, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the loveable, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, who teaches Mowgli “The Bare Necessities” of life and the true meaning of friendship

"The Bare Necessities" is a song, written by Terry Gilkyson, from the animated 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book sung by Phil Harris as Baloo.

Analysis

This song is about the basic things we need to survive that is the bare necessities in life. The first stanza is a summary of the whole song and tells us that we should forget all our worries and problems and just enjoy life.

In the second stanza, the writer tells us that wherever he goes, he misses his home: ‘I couldn't be fonder of my big home’ where food is available: ‘To make some honey just for me’. If one is not fussy, there are other things that can be eaten too like the fancy ants

In the fifth stanza, the writer tells us that we must learn from our past mistakes in life and learn to change the way we do things: ‘Next time beware / Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw / When you pick a pear / Try to use the claw’.

In the seventh stanza, the writer thinks that if we work like the bees, we are working too hard. I do not quite agree with this part. I think it is important to work hard and play hard and learn to relax as well.

The repetition: ‘The simple bare necessities / Forget about your worries and your strife’ constantly reminds us that we should not worry too much and the bare necessities are enough for us. This is also emphasized by ‘That's why a bear can rest at ease / With just the bare necessities of life’. If a bear can enjoy life so easily, why can’t we? A bear is not really better than us!

In the eighth stanza, I think what the writer says here is interesting: ’And don't spend your time lookin' around / For something you want that can't be found / When you find out you can live without it / And go along not thinkin' about it’. We should be realistic and not waste our effort on things we do not really need.

Relation to learning style: Linguistic

The composer of this song cleverly uses rhyming words to help us remember the song easily: ‘pawpaw, prickly pear, prick a raw paw, beware, prickly pear by the paw, pick a pear, claw, claw, pear of the big pawpaw’.

Also: ‘roam, home, tree, me, plants, ants’.

My Response:

A simple poem to share with you simple pleasures of life

Life’s Simple Pleasures

French toast and syrup on waffles
Happy Meal and Fish ball noodles
Fish & Chips and Chicken Rice
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner nice

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Witches and BFG
Tintin and Asterix
Roald Dahl, Comics and many more

Fur Elise and Flight of the Bumble Bee
Air in G string and Marche Slave
Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev and Stravinsky
Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky

Everyday food, library books and soothing sounds
They are everywhere to be found
Forget your worries and your strife
Let simple pleasures brighten up your life

Parent’s View:

Ethan was introduced (so were we) to this song when he was in nursery school. It has a catchy tune and the chorus was easy to sing. Nursery school was fun, little homework and lots of play. Ten years on, secondary school is challenging, lots of tough homework (like this one) and little play. But Ethan is very much the same (for now). There may be sad and unpleasant moments but he picks himself up quickly after that. Simple pleasures like food, reading and playing the piano make his day.

Courtesy of: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/thebareneccesities.htm

Metaphor Poem (Household Item)

Standing in a corner and looking bored,
Once in a while, I take him for a walk.

Round and round the house we will go,
Passing every room, every corner high and low.

My friend is tall and skinny just like me
Has lots of hair, as straight as can be.

My house is now fresh and clean,
For you and I cannot do without him.

IT lesson 7: Reflection on E-learning

The five days of IT Home Learning were very hectic!

IT Home Learning is useful in case of school closure. This way we can still carry on learning new topics. It is also an eye-opener as there is a lot of information on the internet.

Many powerpoint presentations and websites were also put up for viewing. However sometimes instructions given were not clear or we were not sure if we were accessing the correct websites. My eyes are going groggy. (Spectacles, here I come!)

I was stuck to the computer for almost 8 hours daily. Looks like the electricity bills is going to shoot up. (Anyone remember Earth Hour?) Not to mention, slow response. Sigh.

After this experience, I think most of us miss school and the teachers. Can’t wait to see the teachers on Monday. Oops, Monday’s a holiday. Have to wait another day.

IT lesson 6: Compulsory Blog-Q1

Yes, I condemn the lotteries. It is already a well-known fact that many people are addicted to gambling and gambling has caused many family problems. People have committed suicide over money loses, heavy debts and pressure from loan sharks. Family problems are created when the gamblers start to borrow money from their family members.

From the YouTube video, one can see that addiction to gambling can create many family problems. The man was addicted to gambling went to the extent of borrowing his daughter’s savings just to gamble. He promised her that it will be his last gamble and that he will definitely strike a big one.

People gamble because of greed, no matter how little there is. When one gambles, you either win or lose. When you win, you would think that luck is on your side and you will want to win more. If you lose, you are annoyed and think that you could win back what you lose. So, you continue to gamble. Thus, no matter you win or lose, you are unlikely to stop. That is why some people became addicted to gambling

It is sad to know that there are so many gambling opportunities in Singapore. On Monday and Thursday, it is the Toto draws; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, 4D draws; first Wednesday of the month, the Big Sweep draw. And all other days, if not soccer then it's car racing. Practically every day one is gambling, and that is bad!

P.S. Mr. RS, sorry for the late entries.

IT lesson 5: Poetry on Gambling

Tom Beatty
I was a lawyer like Harmon Whitney
Or Kinsey Keene or Garrison Standard,
For I tried the rights of property,
Although by lamp-light, for thirty years,
In that poker room in the opera house.
And I say to you that Life’s a gambler
Head and shoulders above us all.
No mayor alive can close the house.
And if you lose, you can squeal as you will;
You’ll not get back your money.
He makes the percentage hard to conquer;
He stacks the cards to catch your weakness
And not to meet your strength.
And he gives you seventy years to play:
For if you cannot win in seventy
You cannot win at all.
So, if you lose, get out of the room—
Get out of the room when your time is up.
It’s mean to sit and fumble the cards,
And curse your losses, leaden-eyed,
Whining to try and try.

The Green Clothes
The colourful tips,
The smoke,
The dry lips,
The tired voice, “No more bets”
The hands,
Erratic sights,
Constrained tones,
Mesmerizing lights,
Twenty eight seconds of roulette’s spin
Nervously jigging ball
The clothes are green
Somewhere, in another world,
The ringing of falling coins
and obtrusive melody: “Tu-ru-ru-ruuuu”….
These are very, very far.
His body, glance, nerves,
Brain, space and time are
Condensed in the small ball,
Which is trembling in the circle.
Dryness in the throat.
That is all:Morning, 4:48, emptiness … .
The blazing desire to win back,
To take revenge, to bring back
The nerves, the time, the brain
And all that was spent in vain.
by Gulnara Karimova

One-Dollar Gambler
I have one dollar to bet on number 13
One dollar for a loaf of bread
With a piece of ham, sandwiched between two slices of tomato.
One dollar for a hot milk tea
Before work time starts.
One dollar for some paper and ink
And some knowledge for a blind man.
One dollar each morning,
One dollar each night and for each brick I laid.
But, I bet one dollar. The counter closed
The next day number 13 appeared
In the middle of my drowsy eyes
On top of my nose
Or somewhere in between the hollowness
Of my empty hands.
I now have zero dollars to bet
Zero dollars for bread, tea, paper, ink and bricks!
Zero dollars, again, for number 13.
by Phan Thi Nam Mai

Tom Beatty

It seems that the place is too ‘important’ that even the mayor cannot close it down. In gambling, the odds will always be against the player. But if the gambler loses, the place will always be there if he wants to take another gamble. But the author advised that it is better to stop and get over the loss than continue to try your luck.


The Green Clothes

Gambling sometimes has a brainwashing effect on the gambler. It can be nerve-racking, energy-zapping and yet eventually all money can be lost. ‘Dry lips’, ‘erratic sights’, ‘mesmerizing lights’, ‘constrained tones’ shows that there is a lot of tension, fear and anxiety, just like Tay Soon in the Paper, and all that was spent was in vain.


One-Dollar Gambler

Although the gambler sees the importance of a dollar, it can buy him a proper breakfast (and food is important to the body), he still tries his luck with the one dollar he has. Now he has no money to even buy some food after the one dollar is gambled away. This poem seemed to imply that gambling can lead to poverty.

IT lesson 4: Gambling

Paper

1. In the story, ‘Paper’ refers to the paper gains in the stock market. The paper house which was burnt at the grave. Although, the couple in the story had made a profit after the shares they bought had increased in value, it was only paper gains.

Tay Soon wanted a big beautiful house all his life that he directed all his energies and devotion towards his goal. He used his savings to buy stocks hoping to gain more money to achieve his dream house. In the end, he did achieve his dream house, but it was only made of paper and it was burnt at his grave.

The paper gains were of no use to the living just like the paper house which was of no use to the dead. If the couple had not been greedy perhaps they would have become millionaires. They could have sold the shares to get the money to build their dream house.

One should never be too greedy and take high risks as things can be very unpredictable. Many people become addicted to gambling and are unable to get themselves out. He went on hoping that the situation may become better but it did not. Anxiety and depression eventually killed him.

Lottery

2. Ah Boh was obsessed with gambling.. She would try to recall any dream of the previous night and work out what it meant. For her, every object or event signified some number, for example, a spider meant the number 3 and an act of defecation meant the number 10. She believed that objects or scenes in her dreams indicated the prize-winning numbers.

Ah Boh once weighed a cat just to get a number for the draw. She had also written some numbers on pieces of paper and placed them on a baby. She then waited eagerly for the first piece to roll off the baby. She even went to the extent of taking down the license plate numbers of vehicles involved in accidents and used these numbers to buy lottery.

Ah Boh was also very superstitious. Every morning, she prayed for good luck She had obsessive interest for new-born babies, children celebrating birthdays and newly-weds, as she believed they were supposed to bring luck.

The Rocking Horse Winner

3 I feel Paul’s mother was responsible for his death. His mother was incapable of showing love and was obsessed with status and material wealth. He sought for her love and wanted to silence the voice that whispered “There must be more money!” Paul found that he could predict the winner of the horse race by rocking his wooden horse so he gambled to earn money hoping to please his mother. Once Paul won and sent 5000 pounds to his mother, she merely remarked ‘quite moderately nice’. Sadly, the strain and the stress killed him, yet he thought he was lucky to have the special power.