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Wednesday 24 April 2013

Poetry


Yesterday during class we talked about what is poetry? and how it different to a prose?. The discussion was very interesting and many points and factors were bought up about the differences. One of the main things I was able to take away about poetry, is that poetry can mean different things to different people, and it is a form of writing that can express deeper emotions such as love, depression or joy. 

When we begin to analyse poetry I would find very useful if we were given a fair bit of time just to get our thoughts out on the paper. I will probably find the most difficult part, being that if the poem seems to have no meaning and I am not able to find anything through my analysis I will either become bored of the poem or will simply not understand it and will never find the meaning. 

To me the poetic nature of life allows us to express more than what we are able to show in a prose or essay. Also when comes to righting about life in poems, you are able not just have simple meanings to every sentence, however a really strong and meaningful sentence.

Poem
Not a red rose or a satin heart. I give you an onion.  
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.  It promises light like the careful undressing of love.  

Here.  
It will blind you with tears like a lover.  
It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief.  
I am trying to be truthful.  
Not a cute card or a kissogram.  I give you an onion.  Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring, if you like.  
Lethal.  
Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife.


After analyzing this poem it seemed a lot more understandable, then I was expecting. I found it a very enjoyable and I was able to express what I thought the poem was about and what the writer was trying to express. One thing that I found that would help the poem, was more description.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

What is The What Opinion

My opinion on Dave Eggers "What is The What" has been mixed with both positive and negatives. There is a certain line where I find the book to be interesting and where I find it to be dry. I belive that when Valentino is describing his journey across sudan and his arrival in Ethiopia and life in the refugee camp, that has me hooked. To me it is a very interesting subject, mostly because prior to this book I had not heard much about the lost boys or the walk across sudan, and it is very interesting to learn about it. For example throughout the book when he is describing his journey, there is a mix of facts about the was and the journey of Valentino  This keeps me reading the book because there always seem to problems and different situations that are very interesting. An example of this is between pages 131 - 134 it talks about, how Valentino and his friend are worried about the war and saying that they dont understand what is happening. At that moment Dut begins to explain how the war began and who's said they where on. This kept me hooked and I wanted to read more. Parts of the story that find dry are when he is in america explaining how all the refugees have settled into america, the basketball game and there journey from there empty house to the hospital waiting room. I really find these parts boring  and I struggle to read on. If I was to use a metaphor, I would considers these dry parts as the adds before a movie, and the movie being his journey from sudan to ethiopia. I find it that I am finally getting my head around everything that is happening in sudan and that things are slowly getting better, and then it will jump back to a long 15 page scene in America. I find this very hard to understand and I consider these the dry parts. In conclusion, my opinion on What is the What is both positive and negative.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Blog or No Blog

Blogging is a space where some people expreses there journeys and thoughts on every day life, however for me it is not a useful tool in a english classroom. Our english classroom is a very open area and everyone shares there thoughts and we discusses many things, however blogging outside of the classroom is less inviting and harder to develop things to write about. "Clue: a space is a place where students will extend our classroom community by meeting each other online, sharing ideas, and extending our learning". A piece of text taken from Mr.Raisdana blog "Clue a Space" explains that his blog is to share ideas and meet others online. However, I find it hard to express my thoughts online because I don't feel as comfortable compared to when I am at the round table, where I feel much  ore comfortable. The text try's to help explain why we have a blog, however for me it shows that blogging for me will not be an easy topic. During classes we are told a lot that we can blog about anything at that we have this freedom to write about whatever we like. For me, it is very hard to think of new ideas and strong ideas that I am capable of writing about in a bog post. On one occasion, we where told to blog about stereotypes about our home country, which was very interesting and that was a positive about blogging for me. However, we only received that idea once, and by having this freedom of writting, for me it makes it a lot harder to blog, because I never know what subject to blog about. In conclusion  a blog is a great sharing place for writers  however I believe that in a english classroom it is not a useful learning tool.

Saturday 2 February 2013

How to Write About Australia


Make sure to be always including words such as "down under or "Mate". Make sure never to talk about skyscraper or cars or any moderne civilization for that matter. Also throw in typical words like "Mate" or “Barbie” or even “Far-out”. Note that "Australians" are no real australians they are just tourists who claim they are, however "Aussies" or "Bogans" are true australians. If you where to include a picture, don't have a picture of a city or a wharf surrounded by nice houses. Simply have a desert landscape, with a dry surface and a couple of kids throwing around a boomerang with only cloth made underwear on. If you where to describe australia, make sure to include that it is one very large country and most people there are aboriginals and criminals who were put there by the british. There are only two landscapes in the entire of australia, there is the dry barren desert and there are the beaches. If you are going to talk about beaches make sure to talk about how australians swim and surf with crocodiles and if the beach is too full they go to the lake and ride crocodiles. Staying on the topic of animals, talk about how australians don't have dogs or cats as pets they have koalas and kangaroos. And there typically name them “Roo” Also, mention in some cases that when we out of petrol in our cars we ride our kangaroo to school.  In your text, when you talk about food make sure to inform your readers that Australians only eat: vegimite, kangaroo, crocodiles, seafood, meat and Anzac biscuits. Note that if people do not have this typical diet that they are automatically not australian. Throughout the book make sure that all your characters have these three things. Firstly, that they play sport every saturday and are very competitive. Secondly, give a boy the name “clayton” and the girl a name like “chantelle”. Thirdly, adopt a personality for your characters that has them ask question that don't need to be answered, such as “ Oi mate, how heavy the rain today?”. Also, you must make sure that you mention the only person that australians idolize Steve Irwin. Make sure you don't talk about any other celebrity, unless to compare how bad they are compared to steve irwin. Note that your characters are not formal, for example a sentence such as “Hey Jimmy, can you pass the TV remote” in your book it must be like “ Oi Jimbo, chuck us the remote would ya mate”. Readers will be put off if you don't refer to the fact that australians have a large grudge for New Zealanders and that you will never find a new zealander in within 100 meters of a group of australians alone. If you follow these things you will be able to write a book on australia that people will understand.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Tomorrow When The War Began Reflection

   a) What is one thing you learned about yourself after reading today? Was there a character or an event in your reading that led you to this new understanding? Tell us about it. 

Today, I did realize I big thing about the books I read. I noticed that I like books that have a very large un solved conflict. For example, Tomorrow when the war the began, shows that australia is being taken over however the details build up over the period of the book which is very interesting. 


   b)  Find a passage you felt was especially well written and describe what you found interesting about the writer's craft. 

" We slipped across the road like shadows and moved around the corner". This is very interesting because you are able to paint that picture of how quiet they have to be in the streets and the pressure that they are under which is very interesting.



  c)  Write about anything else you feel like sharing at this point in your book: predictions, excitement, disappointment, etc....

Throughout the book I was mostly very happy however I am getting very excited  I say this because they are starting to cause a bit of trouble and the army is slowly starting noticing, therefore  dont know what  is gonna happen. Which is actually very exciting because they are moving from house to house and I never know what is going to happen.

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Single Story Speech Reflection

Today during class, we watched a video of an african women speaking to an audience about her childhood at what single story meant to her. To summarize the speech, she said that

  • Literure creates a single story 
  • Stereotype makes a trend that may people follow and however breaks that trend is considered "different"
  • Single Story never tells the entire story, it only shows people one thing many times.
I found this class very interesting and it made me realize that I have believed a single story. However, I found it so interesting how when she went to university and her roommate was so surprised that she wasn't scary or different listen to african music. At this time she was so amazed by how the world saw africa and she thought to her self that this is ridiculous. Also, the fact that what she was saying was so simple however really spread the message  In conclusion, I believe today was a very eye opening class that taught me what the meaning of single story is.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Tomorrow, When the War Began

Today during english class, we went to the library and borrowed a book of our choice.
        The book that I choose was Tomorrow, "When the War Began" by John Marsden. I choose this book because, the librarian had recommended the book, also my older sister had read the book and said it was great. The librarian had said that it was a 6 book series and that it was full of action and was a great read.

         My expectations for the book are relatively high and I am hoping for it to be a great read. I believe this because I have heard nothing but great rating about the book and everything that has been said was positive  Secondly I am only 10 or so pages into the book and it is already sounding great.

        What I am enjoying about the book so far is the mood that has been set. The mood that has been set is more of a slow a sad mood. This is good because it has already got me hooked. Also we know there is a conflict and some pont, because the narrotor of the story keeps referring to an event, however it is unknown at this stage of the book.

       The problem about the book is that in some book I tend to get board and stop reading. This s a real negative factor because I always would like to finish every book that I read, however if I am not hooked to the book the entire time I tend to not want to read the book.