1) The treatment of women's rights in Saudi Arabia is very unfair. It should allow women to drive, or vote, or simply have more freedom like the other countries in the world. Not letting women to have more rights is like looking down on them, thinking that they cannot take care of themselves. Women can not only take care of themselves, but also lead people too. A good exmple will be Angela Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany. Since men have rights, women should have equal rights too, and not be treated unfairly, thus I do not agree with the treatment of women's rights in Saudi Arabia.
2) I think the use of social media has been an advantage to the women in Saudi Arabia. It helped to gather women together and plan and prepare about the strikes that they want to hold. It can also help to garner the support of other people, such as human rights activists. The social media thus also becomes a platform for the women to voice their anger and their thoughts to the public.
3) The women's rights problem can be solved by making the religious leaders and the government meet together and reach a compromise regarding the rights of women. Both parties should give in to each other instead of being stubborn in their views. The men should be more open to change. In the end everyone will lose some, and both parties should be honorable enough to accept the change.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Reflection on Research
My impression of Shakespeare and his works is that he is someone who writes plays and acts in them just to entertain people and earn a living for himself. However, I must agree that he is very creative and full of imagination to be able to write such interesting plays, be it tragedy, romance or comedy plays. There must be a reason why he bacame so famous! His usage of English is also great, thus helping to standardize the English Language. He is so famous that his plays are still acted again and again long after his death. Even though I do not really understand what he is writing, some of the meaning of the words or descriptions he used are pretty obvious to me and I can comprehend them without the use of the guide (in the case of "The Merchant of Venice").
The Elizebethan era is very different from today. The most obvious difference may be the fact that we have modern technology and a general cleanliness in where we live today. Our standard of living is also much higher than the Elizebethans. Another difference is that now we are not governed by a single king or queen, instead we are governed by a group of people in the parliament. However, there are still similarities. Today, the society still consists of social classes which divides the society unfairly, in which the rich can live a luxurious life while the poor must work very hard to even earn enough to support themselves.
Shakespeare's works can be applied in the modern day context. The themes in his works are closely related to the modern day, themes such as love and racism. Love can be seen most prominently in "Romeo and Juliet" while racism can be seen in "The Merchant of Venice", between the Jew, Shylock and the Christian, Antonio.
The Elizebethan era is very different from today. The most obvious difference may be the fact that we have modern technology and a general cleanliness in where we live today. Our standard of living is also much higher than the Elizebethans. Another difference is that now we are not governed by a single king or queen, instead we are governed by a group of people in the parliament. However, there are still similarities. Today, the society still consists of social classes which divides the society unfairly, in which the rich can live a luxurious life while the poor must work very hard to even earn enough to support themselves.
Shakespeare's works can be applied in the modern day context. The themes in his works are closely related to the modern day, themes such as love and racism. Love can be seen most prominently in "Romeo and Juliet" while racism can be seen in "The Merchant of Venice", between the Jew, Shylock and the Christian, Antonio.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Flying the flag in Bosnia
Q1) The tone of the poem is sad. The poet makes the poem poignant to readers by showing the mother crying over the death of her son at his burial spot. The mother is offering food, drinks, clothes and his things to him.
Q2) The poet used personification. He wrote "unfurled by the wind". The poet also used simile. He wrote "like a flag". All these is used to show how sad the women is.
Q2) The poet used personification. He wrote "unfurled by the wind". The poet also used simile. He wrote "like a flag". All these is used to show how sad the women is.
Dulce et Decorum Est
Q1) The literal meaning is that the soldiers are bent very low and they look like beggars. The implied meaning is that the poet wants to show how horribly twisted and deformed the bodies of the soldiers have become. My impression of the soldiers is that they are crippled both mentally and physically and they are exhausted. "But limped on, bolld-shod. All went lame; all blind" suggest that they are crippled" and "bent double" show that the soldiers are crippled both physically and mentally. "Trudge", "men marched asleep" and "drunk with fatigue" show that the soldiers are exhausted.
Q2) The repetition of a frantic cry "Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling," draw the reader straight into the frenzy of action and show how frantic the soldiers were, thus contributing to the start of the mood increasing tension in the poem. The sound devices and imagery let us have a feeling of how the soldiers were feeling then.
Q3) The poet's message is to let the reader know there is nothing honorable or glorious about war. I agree with his views. War only causes people to die and suffer and it does no one good. War is also very cruel to both the soldiers and their families. The will be peace when there is no war and to me, having peace is more glorious than having war.
Q2) The repetition of a frantic cry "Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling," draw the reader straight into the frenzy of action and show how frantic the soldiers were, thus contributing to the start of the mood increasing tension in the poem. The sound devices and imagery let us have a feeling of how the soldiers were feeling then.
Q3) The poet's message is to let the reader know there is nothing honorable or glorious about war. I agree with his views. War only causes people to die and suffer and it does no one good. War is also very cruel to both the soldiers and their families. The will be peace when there is no war and to me, having peace is more glorious than having war.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Competitions -- Only Good Effects?
Competitions are events when people compete fairly against each other over something. There are mainly three kinds of competition, academic, aesthetic and sports-wise competitions. Competitions are very everywhere, in public, in schools, at home. These have both good and bad effects for students.
Firstly, there are good effects by taking part in competitions. One example will be the help in shaping the students' character. Through competitions, especially sports-wise competitions, students learn to have sportsmanship. Sometimes, the losers like to beat up the winners as they won instead of them. Once they learnt to have sportsmanship, they will accept defeat gracefully and leave a good impression for everyone. Another good effect of taking part in competitions is that students learn to have better time management. Before competitions, students will have to train very hard and therefore they have less time to study. After competitions, students tend to relax while they are supposed to catch up with their school work. By having better time management, students will learn to catch up with their work faster and learn that work comes before play.
However, there are also bad effects. One example will be that students will miss classes due to the competitions. Sometimes the students cannot catch up with lessons after their competitions and it affects their test results. This was what happened to my friend. He went for competition for three days straight and when he came back he was lost about what we were learning then. Some parents are worried for their child's studies too and even contact their child's teacher to know what the teacher is teaching then. Another bad effect will be that students will be very stressed, both before and after their competitions. Before their competitions, they will have to work very hard to win the competition so as to prevent themselves from letting the school down, especially when their co-curriculum activities (CCA) are elite CCAs and the school has high expectations of them. Other than preparing for the competition they still have to manage their school work and prevent themselves from losing out.
There can be ways to solve the bad effects. A way will be to provide extra lessons for the students after they have returned from their competitions. The students can stay back after school and meet up with their teachers so that the teachers and teach them what they have missed out on. Another way will be that the students can listen to music while doing their school work and while during training for their competitions. Some kinds of music, such as classical music, can help the students calm down and distress, letting them concentrate and do better at what they are doing.
In conclusion, they are both good and bad effects regarding students taking part in competitions. However there are solutions too. In my opinion time management plays the most important role.
Firstly, there are good effects by taking part in competitions. One example will be the help in shaping the students' character. Through competitions, especially sports-wise competitions, students learn to have sportsmanship. Sometimes, the losers like to beat up the winners as they won instead of them. Once they learnt to have sportsmanship, they will accept defeat gracefully and leave a good impression for everyone. Another good effect of taking part in competitions is that students learn to have better time management. Before competitions, students will have to train very hard and therefore they have less time to study. After competitions, students tend to relax while they are supposed to catch up with their school work. By having better time management, students will learn to catch up with their work faster and learn that work comes before play.
However, there are also bad effects. One example will be that students will miss classes due to the competitions. Sometimes the students cannot catch up with lessons after their competitions and it affects their test results. This was what happened to my friend. He went for competition for three days straight and when he came back he was lost about what we were learning then. Some parents are worried for their child's studies too and even contact their child's teacher to know what the teacher is teaching then. Another bad effect will be that students will be very stressed, both before and after their competitions. Before their competitions, they will have to work very hard to win the competition so as to prevent themselves from letting the school down, especially when their co-curriculum activities (CCA) are elite CCAs and the school has high expectations of them. Other than preparing for the competition they still have to manage their school work and prevent themselves from losing out.
There can be ways to solve the bad effects. A way will be to provide extra lessons for the students after they have returned from their competitions. The students can stay back after school and meet up with their teachers so that the teachers and teach them what they have missed out on. Another way will be that the students can listen to music while doing their school work and while during training for their competitions. Some kinds of music, such as classical music, can help the students calm down and distress, letting them concentrate and do better at what they are doing.
In conclusion, they are both good and bad effects regarding students taking part in competitions. However there are solutions too. In my opinion time management plays the most important role.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Letter to Survivor
Dear Mr. Doi,
I am a student from Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore. I am writing to you today to encourage you to move forward in life in the wake of the great earthquake and tsunami that struck North-eastern Japan on the eleventh of March. Even though I am only a student, I understand how you are feeling now. I sympathise with both you and Japan as a whole. Even though houses were smashed by the tsunami waves, properties were swept away, thousands of people, including your dearest wife and infant daughter were killed, you must not give up in life. You are so young, just twenty two years old, and you still have a long road to go ahead of you. What has been done cannot be undone, and you did not want this to happen to you and your family too. This a natural disaster and not caused by you, so you should not blame yourself for not taking good care of your family. Even though your family cannot be restored, your life can be restored. Currently, many countries around the world are sending aid to Japan. Personally, I donated some money to Red Cross too. Soon, the government will start rebuilding the cities and you will be able to go back home. Life has its low points, and this might be the low point for you. Life will not return to normal very soon, but eventually it will happen. Never give up! Everyone is rallying behind Japan!
With Regards,
Leow Wei Sheng
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