Dilbert

Scrabble Dictionary

Separation Techniques

Online Separation Techniques

View more documents from Hwa Chong Institution.

Online Solutions

View more documents from Hwa Chong Institution.

Preparation For EOY

For the narrative and letter writing, there is not much to revise but perhaps the notes and memorising the format of letters and the conciseness of narrative writing. The phrasing of words in the letter of request/rejection is also quite important.

For the comprehension, I plan to read the old passages like "Grandma" and "Ambush" and the model answers. Reading some online comprehension passages would also be good for me to try and understand some of the passages.

For all the detailed analysis, I can only take out the notes and read them to refresh my memory. Rereading Animal Farm would not be a bad choice if I even have the time as my EP3 is NOT CANCELLED! @#$%&*Coach! But I will still try to squeeze out time.

Most importantly, I would try not to panic and remain calm. Worrying too much is definitely not an option but a little stress does no harm but actually pushes someone forth.

Before the exam day, I would try to get ample sleep even if I have yet to finish reading the notes, as a person with no sleep but lots of knowledge has a lower chance than someone with ample sleep but little knowledge of scoring well.

Major Blog Assignment

We Are The World











There comes a time

When we heed a certain call

When the world must come together as one

There are people dying

And it's time to lend a hand to life

The greatest gift of all



We can't go on

Pretending day by day

That someone, somewhere will soon make a change

We are all a part of God's great big family

And the truth, you know love is all we need



We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me



Send them your heart

So they'll know that someone cares

And their lives will be stronger and free

As God has shown us by turning stone to bread

So we all must lend a helping hand



We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me



When you're down and out

There seems no hope at all

But if you just believe

There's no way we can fall

Well, well, well, well, let us realize

That a change will only come

When we stand together as one



We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me

Analysis

In the first verse of the song, the alliteration of 'certain call' means how there is a beckoning for people to unite as one and help out others in need. There is also a comparison of Life to "The greatest gift of all", showing the importance of life and the need to treasure it.



In the second verse, the alliteration 'someone, somewhere' is used to show how we think there is some guy out there, wherever he is, who will help others when we don't even know whether he exists or not.



In the chorus, there are two metaphors used, "We are the world" and "We are its children", comparing us humans to the world and also its children, showing we are all a part of the world and also children born by Mother Earth.



In the fourth verse of the song, there is hyperbole ' As God has shown us by turning stone to bread' and alliteration 'helping hand' which are inter-related, where God cannot really transform stone into food but with a little help from the people it is possible that there is food for everyone.



In the sixth verse, there is repetition of 'Well, well, well, well' to emphasise the importance of the unity of people in order to solve the current situation in Africa.



All these points contribute to my character in one way or another as I am a peace-loving person who hates to see people being treated unequally and there are people who could help but do not. They often fail to recognise the fact that we are all humans and most importantly, the children of the world, who should help one another.


My response

12-9-6-5 9-19 16-18-5-3-9-15-21-19
12-9-11-5 1 4-18-15-16 15-6 23-1-20-5-18 9-14 20-8-5 4-5-19-5-18-20
12-9-6-5 19-8-15-21-12-4 2-5 3-8-5-18-9-19-8-5-4
12-9-11-5 15-14-5-19 12-15-22-5-4 15-14-5-19
15-21-18 12-9-22-5-19 1-18-5 14-15 4-9-6-6-5-18-5-14-20
6-18-15-13 15-20-8-5-18-19 12-9-22-5-19
20-8-5-25 19-8-15-21-12-4 2-5 3-8-5-18-9-19-8-5-4
10-21-19-20 12-9-11-5 25-15-21-18-19 1-14-4 13-9-14-5

(A=1, B=2, C=3, ...... , Z=26)
(If it is too long to decode, look below)























Life is precious
Like a drop of water in the desert.
Life should be cherished
Like one's loved ones.

Our lives are no different
From others' lives.
They should be cherished
Just like yours and mine.


Parent's response

Right, Jianda cherishes life and equality in the society.

A Poem Dedicated to Household Objects

Squarish, black and full of buttons,

It seemed to ring all day in my ears.

Odd it was to have just

One ear and one mouth.

When you are in doubt or feeling alone,

Just punch its belly to get to a friend.

It is quite a hassle though

When the snake gets all tangled up.

Reflections

The whole process of home learning was a fruitful but tough one. Overall, I personally feel that I put spent more time on home learning than on an average school day with homework and often the work may seem to take more than one hour to accomplish as the questions are of a higher level than ordinary homework.

The assignment I liked best was the one which involved creating a poem of my own. It was quite interesting to try to put some of our thoughts into stanzas.

The assignment I did not really like was the one which we had to do comparison of poems to short stories. It was not easy to come up with answers for that and we had to dig deep and make an analysis.

My suggestions for improvement is that a FAQ section is opened up so that some of the common doubts and questions and generally work can be smoother and there will be less doubts about the topic of the day.

I generally enjoyed the process as it was intriguing and thought-provoking and I truly hope that there would be another home learning session but maybe this time it would be a lot simpler.

Lotteries: Bad Or Worse

Toto and 4D are all quite familar to adults. Basically, you pay one dollar and hope that perhaps you can earn it big and maybe even enter retirement. Therefore people in Singapore can be often seen at these stations, buying pieces of paper, also known as "chances".

However, among these people, there are people with low income who cannot afford to buy the lotteries and may result in certain marital problems. The wife may complain about insufficient money and the children could also need some school supplies. But because of the man's addiction to gambling, there is serious shortage of money.

After searching on the internet, it is found that the odds of winning the first prize in Toto is actually 1 in 8,145,060! The odds of winning the first prize in 4D is actually one in 10000! What are the odds that you win? Even if you do get a small prize, it would not be able to cover the money you paid for all the tickets. It just shows all this gambling will only do harm.

"Often, the people who really suffer from the problem gambling aren't the gamblers."

Lesson 5

2. The tips can be applied to The Paper as in people share tips on which stocks are going to go up and which stocks would grow the most. the dry lips can be the kind of anticipation and anxiety before the stocks grow or fall. All that was spent in vain can be applied to how in the end all the stocks just crashed and all their money was lost.

3. One dollar is the money needed for one bet. The "blind man"is Ah Boh's mother, no. 13 is an unlucky no. like at the car road accidents. Ah boh will eventually have no money to bet as she will have no parts of her salary left to bet.

Lesson 4

2.Ah Boh is very desperate for numbers and believes that perhaps the winning numbers would be hinted to her through some mysterious way. She was trying to convince herself that she would be winning soon and she just needed to get the numbers out. She is highly addicted to gambling and when she barely wins, she needed some assurance that next round she will win by getting some weird numbers. So she begins looking everywhere for numbers, from vehicle numbers to weight of babies. When she thinks of all the money she can make, she would keep going with the superstitions.

3.I believe it was the parents’ fault. They do not have a high income yet they always attempt to live in style and buy the best toys for their children. They always have expensive tastes. They could all hear the need for more money all the time, which pushes the child to want to earn money for his parents and make himself lucky by riding the horse to a place where there is luck. The child started to lose but for the sake of his parents he rode with all his might despite his frail body and gained 80000 pounds for his parents.

Comparison Of Poems To Short Stories

The Green Clothes compared to The Paper

Basically the terms used in both texts are similar and can be related to each other. In the green clothes, there is a person who was at the casino and he was trying to win back his money instead of just giving up and leaving whereas in the paper, the couple whose stocks started to fall dramatically, did not give up and still tried to earn back the money despite many warnings that the stock market will crash. For both of the characters, everything was in vain and went down the drain. (that rhymes!)

Tom Beatty compared to The Rocking Horse Winner

Both are deeply addicited in gambling, one is gambling life while one is gambling on horses. However in tom beatty, he has seventy years of life to live and he pretty much loses. In the rocking horse winner, the boy is only able to live eight years of his life and gains a lot of money.
Both however lose their lives because of their desire to win money. Both keep trying to gamble again and again as they lose their money, trying desperately to make a comeback.

One Dollar Gambler compared to The Lottery

Both of them have the choice as to whether to use the money for a good purpose or to gamble it away. And both of them chose to gamble it away. In one dollar gambler case, he could spend on food and some other stuff but he decided to increase the value of his one dollar, and the end result was that he lost everything. In the lottery, the woman has a mother to keep alive but she loves to gamble and in the end loses her money and her mother

Old Memories

1. The poet's thoughts are of the old days at his primary school and every little interesting thing that happened to him or around him. He probably felt a bit of nostalgic and maybe just a tinge of sadness when he looked back at these happy memories.

2.
Old Memories

Tied my shoe laces,
Grabbed my schoolbag
And rushed off to school,
ready to face another day.

Stepped into the classroom
Only to see people rushing work.
Said hi to my friends before
Going down to the hall.

After singing the national anthem,
We went back and began class.

The bell rang and there was chaos,
as people rushed out of the classroom.
Teacher stepped in,
and we had to line up.

Finally freedom when the final bell rang,
We then walked home together
While ramming each other towards the walls.

So you see school is not easy
but you can bet it's memorable.

Favourite Poet

I picked a poet named Naomi Shihab Nye. She intrigues me because her poems are all related to heritage and peace which makes her quite noble. One interesting fact I learned about her was that she actually began writing poems as early as the age of six which shows her interest in poetry. I believe she is a kind woman who likes peace and harmony. I feel that her work is simple yet touching, something worth commendation.

Nye has received awards from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Carity Randall Prize, the International Poetry Forum, as well as four Pushcart Prizes. She has been a Lannan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Wittner Bynner Fellow. In 1988 she received The Academy of American Poets' Lavan Award, selected by W. S. Merwin.

Making A Fist
For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.
"How do you know if you are going to die?"
I begged my mother.
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
"When you can no longer make a fist."
Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand.

San Antonio
Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.

Two Countries
Skin remembers how long the years grow
when skin is not touched, a gray tunnel
of singleness, feather lost from the tail
of a bird, swirling onto a step,
swept away by someone who never saw
it was a feather. Skin ate, walked,
slept by itself, knew how to raise a
see-you-later hand. But skin felt
it was never seen, never known as
a land on the map, nose like a city,
hip like a city, gleaming dome of the mosque
and the hundred corridors of cinnamon and rope.
Skin had hope, that's what skin does.
Heals over the scarred place, makes a road.
Love means you breathe in two countries.
And skin remembers--silk, spiny grass,
deep in the pocket that is skin's secret own.
Even now, when skin is not alone,
it remembers being alone and thanks something larger
that there are travelers, that people go places
larger than themselves.

References:
http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/174
http://www.pifmagazine.com/SID/240/?page=1&

Once I saw mountains angry by Stephen Crane


Once I saw mountains angry,

And ranged in battle-front.

Against them stood a little man;

Aye, he was no bigger than my finger.

I laughed, and spoke to one near me,

"Will he prevail?"

"Surely," replied this other;

"His grandfathers beat them many times.

"Then did I see much virtue in grandfathers --

At least, for the little man

Who stood against the mountains.


There is little use of figurative language throughout the poem as it focuses on the content of the poem.

"Mountains angry" is a form of personification, in which the mountains are given a human emotion anger to show their fury and their desire for battle.

"the little man" is a form of symbolism, in which he symbolises courage to show that anyone, even if small, can possess it.

"he was no bigger than my finger" is a form of hyperbole, in which the little man's size is exaggerated to show how small the odds are of him defeating the mountains.

The reason I like this poem is how the story is simple yet captivating. There is a small person who is actually standing up against the tall mountains. The author ridicules him for his foolish act. But then, he realised something after hearing the story about the little man and his grandfathers, that the young man had something many lacked-courage. The young man actually was brave enough and peace-loving to try and stop the war and also continue the legacy of those who came before him. All with just his small size. It helps to reflect if people have the virtue in them or are just cowards.

History

The book I have reviewed is called "HISTORY". It is written by John Farndon and has over 500 pages. It is filled with interesting facts about key events in history of mankind. It is also easy to read as the facts are in bulleted form and there are many colourful illustrations. It is also written tight and concise.

One part I liked was when they talked about the ancient Egyptians and their culture.They first included the development of Egypt by River Nile. Next, they shared about the gods of Egypt they believed in and their beliefs of how the universe was created. Some of the gods are Ra-Atum, the sun god, Osiris, ruler of the underworld Kingdom of the Dead. Finally, there is the mystery of the pyramids. Experts are simply baffled even till this day as to how the pyramids are built. Theories have been tested out but none can explain satisfactorily how such vast quantities of stone could have been moved such huge distances and arranged with such incredible accuracy.

It is good to read this book to get a brief introduction on key events and people. It can also be used as reference or just reading pleasure.

Mercurial Tom

The tension was high.
The ninjas looked at each other with killer looks.
"I will revenge for my brother!"
"Yeah right!"
Jumping into the air, they fired shuriken at each other.
The avenger then used his technique: The Fireball Jutsu
The other ninja tried to counteract when suddenly,
"Tom, stop playing with your ninja toys!

A Deadly Night ( Micro-Fiction )

It was 12 midnight. I awoke and yawned tiredly, ready to begin. I went out to the dark valleys and waited for beautiful, young women to appear. They were the best targets to strike. Finally, one was coming. I took off my cloak and walked towards her. Then, I sank my fangs into her neck.

Father's comment on bookshelf

Wow! You read a lot.

Mother's Memorable Read

The title of the book is BAZI:THE DESTINY CODE REVEALED. It is a book written by Joey Yap, a famous Chinese astrology expert. It basically talks about the five elements and how it can affect life.

My mother likes the book as she has great interest in astrology and the study of life and that is what the book mainly talks about.It talks about the four pillars of destiny, the doing of the correct things at the correct times and the relationships between people of different zodiac signs.
The book then goes in depth about your luck, career,wealth and health.The book also talks about how furniture should be placed in such a way that aids you. They also clear certain misconceptions by practitioners.Basically, the book tells you how to know more about your life ,how to improve it ,discover disasters, and avoid them.My mother believes by studying the book, she can improve our lives.

Confessions of a playing of tricks on my friends

When I was in my primary school, I often tricked my friends. As I was one of the better students, classmates would ask me questions when in doubt.Some, however, just copied my work but I was not going to let him get the answer he wanted easily.

One particular case happened when I was in primary five, while we were doing work assigned to us, he stopped what he was doing.

I was puzzled.

Then I realized that he was waiting for me to move on to the next page, the page he was on.I knew what he was planning to do and purposely skipped that page but he made me do that page first.I have studied a bit of human thoughts before and I knew people did not believe you when you gave them the first answer.They only believed in the following answers.

I then decided to write the correct statement at first.He took the answer but he kept his eyes on me, watching for suspicious signs.I then turned over the page to answer other questions but kept trying to turn back to the previous page to change my answer as if it was wrong and I gave him the false information.

Furthermore, I tried to cover my paper when I returned to that page and made sure he noticed my move. It made him certain that my correct answer was "wrong".The more he tried to look over at the new answer, the more I stopped him from doing so.After a few minutes of that, I stopped and showed him the wrong answer.

Minutes passed before I told him what was the true answer.As expected, he would not believe me at all because of the act I put up for him.

He was truly, totally tricked.

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oral Diary From My Point Of View

Dear Diary,

It is three in the morning yet I simply cannot sleep.I keep getting pestered by memories of what has happened to me.I realise that my only chance of redemption and getting out of my new school is through explaining and apologising to Miss Narwin.

I was being all selfish and not really patriotic.I merely wanted to get into the track team but you giving me a failing grade prevented me from entering the team, furthermore I already had a grudge against Miss Narwin and her English lesson.Then I sort of saw my chance at getting a switch of homerooms and maybe a passing grade, so I seized it.I did not really want to blow the matter up to such a size.I was just hoping that the state would notice it and try to improve the situation for me.I did not mean for it to be spread across the entire country and get Miss Narwin fired.

I have realised my mistake now.It is wrong of me to actually implicate Miss Narwin who was innocent.I was wrong to pretend that I was patriotic when I barely knew the words to the national anthem.I am to be blamed for this entire incident.I promise not to be inconsiderate anymore.Instead, I will try to be selfless and a better person.

Miss Narwin, if you are listening to this, all I can say to you is I am sorry for everything that has happened to you. I sincerely hope you accept my apology.

Feedback For The Blogging Experience

The whole blogging process is quite enjoyable.It is quite fun to just sit down before the computer screen and type something out, regardless of what it is.

The Pros

1.When blogging, you get to express your own thoughts about things freely without much restriction.

2.You get to heighten your command of English through the constant usage of English.

3.You can find some wonderful pictures that go well with your blog and make it real colourful.

4.People who enjoyed reading my blog leave a comment which encourages me to blog better.

The Cons

1.It is often hard to come up with things to blog about.(blogger block)

2.Using the correct words to get your message across clearly without people misinterpreting it.

Improvements

There could be a variety of topics introduced to us and we can write about the one we like best instead of all writing about the same thing which makes reading blogs a bit of a bore.

The tie-in is good to allow people to view the books I have read and get some suggestions on what to read.

Bottomline:

Blogging is an enjoyable experience which everyone and anyone can try!

My Connection Between Graphic Novels And Narrative Texts

There are 2 different ways of telling a story.Graphic novels tell a story through bright and colourful pictures.Novels, however, use words to tell a story.BUT there is a connection between the two seemingly different yet similar forms of expressing a story.

Graphic novels have pictures of every sort but no words at all.Novels use only words with no pictures.They are different in the way they tell the story yet the content of the story remains unchanged.For example, a animal lover writes about the sad life of a tiger trying to survive in a forest that is shrinking and does not have many animals.The message the author tries to get across is still clear without changing.She would probably write"how the tiger starved,his bones visible through the skin"
A graphic novel probably shows through a drawing of the hungry tiger with a thought bubble showing a picture of animals and how the tiger salivated as he thought of food.
See the connection?

Then there is the point of view.Usually both novels and graphic novels uses the narrator's point of view so you can see everything that is happening clearly.In Zoom, there were many points of perspective until it reaches a point where it seen through the perspective of GOD.A novel can also do the same,letting you see everything using your understanding of the words to visualise the world in the novel and all its characters and their actions. A graphic novel lets you see the world directly with all the pictures there.

That is the connection between the two ways of telling a story.


Top Three Learning Preferences
1.Body Smart
2.Logical Smart
3.Myself Smart

Why Did I Do It?

Why Did I Do It?

It was the first day at my new school and it was not fun at all.What I thought out to be a great day turned into the worst day of my life when I was asked to lead the classroom in singing the national anthem. I did not know the words at all!I also found out that my new school did not even have a track team.It was only at this point of time when I start to regret my action of rebutting Miss Narwin by humming the national anthem when I was told twice not to do so..Miss Narwin was not that bad a teacher.She was just following the rules of the school.But I just had to defy her because of my worthless dignity and my "rights".I was about to ask for extra assignments to pass so I could join track but now, I do not even have a track team to join.I was even hoping to join the olympics and realise the dream my father never accomplished.I am such a disappointment to my parents.So what if I received letters of encouragement, and got changed to a new school where I was allowed to sing the national anthem when I did not even know the words to it?I still prefer my former school.Why did I have to tell the reporter and spread the news around?What was wrong with me?Diary, if I could reverse time,I would never have hummed the national anthem.

I HATE my life.It is completely RUINED.

My Reading Habits

I basically read everything that is/sounds interesting.There are the novels, bestseller books,comics,short stories,newspapers and a whole lot more.The very first book I read was a picture book filled with many pictures.I cannot remember the title of the book, but I recall that it described the life of a caterpillar, how it grew from a small caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.I borrowed it from a library when I was 4 years old.

From there, I began to read more and more books, from a huge variety.I also increased the number of visits to the library,hitting a record-high of five times a week during the school holidays.

My favourite type of book is an adventure story,in which the main character is born in a different world from our world and has to fight a villain and save the world.I also like non-fiction books which gives me information in an interesting and humourous way.(e.g.Horrible science, The cartoon guide to chemistry)Graphic novels are also what I like as not much reading is done and does not take too long to be finished.

Now, I start to be exposed to novels which does not have quite much of an adventure but more of a story with a good plot.It is quite intriguing and enjoyable.

All in all, reading is fun and helpful in many ways.Through reading, your standard of english will definitely rise, you will learn more vocabulary and of course new things.So what are you waiting for?

Pick up a book and READ!!!

p.s Need some recommendations on what to read? Check out my electronic bookshelf at weread.com.site

http://weread.com/profile/Jianda/18DE5E76-65F7-4569-813D-3A03E61789E6?refuid=18DE5E76-65F7-4569-813D-3A03E61789E6&src=&auri=

My first week as a secondary one

Heart beating fast, trembling slightly, I stepped into my new school.

With that step, I officially transform from a primary school student into a secondary school student.

At exactly seven twenty in the morning, the school band marched onto the school field and played the national anthem before playing the school song.Afterwards, a teacher gave us a welcome speech.When it ended, we were sent to our classrooms.

Our first lesson was geography, a new subject we began to study.We were then given our very first assignment.Then it was time for history where we understood the reason why we were to learn history(his story, get it?).

At nine twenty, it was recess time and I went down to the canteen only to be astonished by the variety of food sold in the canteen.After a long moment, I finally decided to get western food.

After recess, I had two periods of mathematics which our teacher used for the introduction of the mathematics materials in the library.There were many interesting books which I plan to borrow.

From the library, we went to the music room to learn how to sing the school song. Sad to say, even after the lesson I was unable to sing the school song from the beginning to the end without lyrics.

The last two periods were dedicated to the language arts.We gave a short introduction of ourselves after our teacher did so.

Finally, class was over. I lifted up my heavy bag and left for home.When I stepped onto the public bus, I was once again reminded of the fact that I was no longer a primary school student, but a secondary school student. I sighed uncontrollably all of a sudden.

Things had changed.