LA 2nd home

Today I am going to talk about my favourite poet, which is the 2nd language arts homework for me. My favourite poet is John Betjeman. I chose this poet because when I was browsing through the names of famous poets when I saw his name and then I clicked on his name. It was a reflex action. When I was going through his biography, I thought that his life was quite interesting, being bullied by bullies because his name sounded like a german. John Betjeman described himself as a "poet and a hack", a sentiment typical of the wry self-deprecating wit that has earned him an indelible place in the affections of the British public, as quoted from the BBC website. John Betjeman had both lonely times and happy times in his childhood. As he was the only son, and had a lonely childhood, with only his partner as a toy teddy bear, Archibald, and taking comfort from it. His happy times during childhood is going for holidays to Trebetherick in Cornwall, where his father

owned a number of properties. These were the happy times for Betjeman, and are remembered in his most of his works. He composed many poems in his life, and some of it includes "Christmas", "Business Girls" and "The Olympic Girl."

That's all for my post on my favourite poet today. This are the resources from my research:

http://johnbetjeman.com/biography.html

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/john_betjeman/poems

http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/poets/john_betjeman.shtml

Thank you.

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size.
But when I start to tell them,They think I'm telling lies.
I say,It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Qns.1
This is the poem that I will be talking about today. Ok, before I start, there are 5 most common usage of figurative languages are: hyperbole, personification, metaphor, simile and symbolism. The definition of hyperbole is, when used in poetry is used to invoke an emotion or an image. "I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me." is used at the end of every paragraph of the poem, to express the exaggerating emotions of Maya Angelou as a phenomenal wonman. This shows that she is an extraordinary woman and this is an exaggerating form of expressing that. The second usage of figurative language: personification. It means giving an element or an object or abstract the human traits or quality. In this poem, there is no personification as the poem expresses the feeling of a human, and not an animal or an object. The third usage of figurative language is metaphor. It means directly comparing seemingly unrelative subject with or without using the word like: a, as or then. I cannot find any metaphor in this poem. The 4th usage of figurative language is simile. The phrase" It's in the arch of my back" shows us that it is relating back to the inner beauty. The last usage of figurative language is symbolism. In this passage, the symbolism is hidden in the egoistic phrase such as the " the bend of my hair" and "the need of my care" to show that the author of the poem wants to be a woman like the person in the poem.
Qns. 2
I like this poem because this poem shows the charm and of an ideal woman, pretty and feminine. While I read this poem, I was fantasized by its words and the meaning. This is a very good poem to describe an extraordinary woman, such that man also will like it, not to mention how the girls will behave when they wake up in the morning to hear the poem. They will have the energy to face the challenges in their life and they will overcome it like how an extraordinary woman does. They will not be bothered by any obstacles for they will have the confidence to overcome it.

This is the end of my homework today, and thank you. Comments gladly welcomed.

Who are your friends? Are they just friends with you because you are rich or you have things that people envy? Or they are frie \nds who help you in times of need? Which one do you prefer? How do you know who your friends are? Dear readers, good day. Today I am going to touch up on this topic-How do you know who your friends are?
When you are down, who is the person who helps you to get back on your feet and face the reality. When you just quarrelled with your friend, does he/she call you up to make it up with you, let bygones be bygones? When your results are no good, do they call you up to comfort you and offer to help you in your studies. When all your friends push you aside claiming that you are different from them, does the friend stand by you, tell you that you are special in their eyes and he will not set you aside? When you are bullied by others, does your friend help you to get back at the bully? Well, I do have a friend like that. He cherishes friendship a lot, and when you have a fight with him, after a while, he will pretend that nothing had just happened, and make it up with you. You can feel the sense that he cherishes the friendship with you a lot in his eyes and then you will become friends with him again spontaneously again. When I got bad results for my test, he will come forward and spite me, giving me the motivation to work hard to beat him in it, but my results could not match up to his. He will call me first when there is a good news and the happiness in his voice, I can sense that he was trying to share his happiness with me. There was once when people did not like me, but he treated me the same as before. Although he does not tell me that I am special in his eyes, but I can sense that he likes me a lot as a friend this will cheer me up. Whenever I am bullied, he will gang up with me to get revenge. Although this behaviour is no good, but as a friend, I can feel that he helps me in times of need and my mood would be lifted.
Does your friends make friend with you because you have something that they do not have? When you are in trouble, do they help you, or they just stand at a side and watch as you get emotional without comforting you, and they will purposely raise up the matter just to see you in that kind of state again? I also have friends like that, as they do not have the things that I have and that is the reason for them getting together with me. At first I thought that they were really my friends, but as I grew up with them, I can see that they were not really friends with me, and the first thing that they will say when they see me is that they will ask me whether I brought the entertainment, and they will not ask whether I am fine or not.
My eyes allowed me to see whether who are my friends. How about yours? Which friend do you like most? The first type or the second type of friends? I have come to the end of my post today. Thank you.

What is beauty? What is true beauty? Which beauty do you like most? To most people, beauty can be easily seen as it is on the outer most part of our body. Facial expression, muscles, hair, are examples of that. However, no matter how beautiful a person is, the beauty will fade one day. No matter how pretty you are now, in years to come, wrinkles and pimples will form over your face and they will fade away. People may seem to like you now because of how handsome or pretty you are, but your beauty is only for a short while. It will not last long. It is of little significant, and it will disappear from you. During P.E. lesson, when we are changing, some people would show off how muscular they are and their six pack abs and people will hold them in envy, looking at the muscles they have and wondering how much they must train to have that kind of prized possession. However, have you ever thought that the muscles will become fats someday, and they will not be as fit as before. Thus, I would like to say that beauty does not determine one from the other as they will be the same old frail man and woman in years and days to come.
Another form of beauty-Your facial expression. Take, for example, my sister. She cares about her beauty and whenever a pimple is formed on her face, she will scream and apply medicine as though it is the end of the world and her beauty is ruined. She only cares about how she will look in other people's mind. Another example, Korean stars. My sister will hold them in awe as they are very handsome and pretty. However, has she ever thought that their fame only last for a short while and their looks will fade away when age overwhelms them.
True beauty lies in the inner-most part of your body. Athough it cannot be seen easily, it will earn you friends and trust. Although it will take very long to discover the beauty inside you, the beauty will never die. It is your nature, how you treat other people. It is the most important thing that you must have. Take, for example, if a girl that is very pretty but she treats other people like nobody, who will like her. Another girl with the mediocre look, but she has a kind heart, considering about the others, and treat them like they are somebody, everyone, or most people will like her. She will earn a lot of friends.
Thus, I would like to conclude that true beauty lies in the inner-most part of your body and it is the most important thing. Any comment? Thank you.

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruits are sweet." This is what I feel. You may think that life is miserable when you are studying now because the syllabus that they teach are far beyond your standards and the homework load and drive you crazy. However, when you think that you are doing this in exchange for a bright future and a better life, you will not feel as bad. You may ask yourself," Why are we studying? Why do we have to go through all these misery? Why suffer when we can enjoy?" Have you ever thought that you wanted to skip school in order to enjoy? Have you ever thought why your parents wanted to send you to a good school for a good education so that you can have a good job, and live in a big building when it seems like it cannot be feasible? You think that this only applies to a small percentage of people but have you ever thought that they went through almost the same things as you? Have you ever thought that this was the fruit of their perseverance to continue their education because they think that it is for their future? Look, but I am not saying that you should not play, but you should prioritise.
You can study, and then you can play. You should complete your homework before you know that playtime's begun and then you can play. Who does not hate studying? Who hates playing? You can sit back and enjoy after a long's day work. Only when you feel that you have achieved something then that you can play. That is what I tell myself very often. Try it, it will be useful. Thank you.

If I had the power to eliminate one emotion from the world, obviously, that would be sadness.
I was going through my friend’s blog when I saw that one of my friends posted that he would eliminate happiness if he had the power to do so. I am stunned. Why would a person want to eliminate happiness? Without happiness, the world would be very blunt. Without happiness, even if a person done something that is worth praising, he will not be happy as there is no happiness within every person. He would be celebrating it sadly, and think of it, wouldn’t it be pathetic? If we had happiness, it would be different. We will be celebrating our happiness with our friends and make it even more joyous. If we had happiness, our daily life would be filled with laughter and not sadness, worry about this, worry about that, just walk forward with a smile and take on anything cheerfully, why need to be sad? When I got my results in term 1, I would say that I did it badly but I did not spend the rest of the days “emoing” away like other peoples, and when I got my science paper with the score 16.5/40, I did not scream like some insane person as though it was the end of the world. Instead of screaming in agony, I talked to my friends and laughed. My science teacher thought I was out of my minds and said, “Why, Mark? Very proud of your results issit?” at that moment, glances were casted in my direction and people started asking about my results. I just told them about my grades and without any hesitation. Why should I be sad and tell them the lies? I should just tell them. There is not a need to be sad and we should pick ourselves up from where we fell. Instead of being sad, I thought about how should I improve my grades next term, and of course, my science teacher “helped” me by asking my questions that I did not know. Sometimes I was very pissed off with her but I thought that she was actually teaching me in a sense and I just went on with my classes. I mean, there is not a point to get agitated over a teacher and affect my mood for the rest of the days. I just studied hard for my science test in the second term and my efforts paid off. I got 30/40 for my test. My science teacher was like, “This one is very surprising…Mark, 30/40.” This time, my friends in my class were cheering out loud for me and I shut the mouth of my science teacher up with my grades. The change in attitude of my friends reactions towards me and no doubts, they went forward and praised me, “Wa…Mark seh….” Haha. The joy in me cannot be expressed with any words. It was like honey was scattered over my heart and I felt as though I was on cloud nine. Back to the topic. If there was no happiness, I would be celebrating my success in sadness, and it would be very pathetic. Thus, I think that my friend was wrong by saying that he would eliminate happiness if he had the power to do so.
Particularly during this current recession, where people are having a trouble in looking for jobs, sad face would be seen more on people. They always fret whether how they would continue with their life without and jobs and their rice bowl is dropped on the floor, broken. They always fret whether they would still have the money to pay their electricity bills and other things. They are always scared that they may go bankrupt soon. Thus, they face their daily lives with a sad face and always, a smile is scarcely seen on a person’s face. Even a smile on a person’s face and lift up a person’s day. This is what I learnt from a comprehension passage. Upon seeing people without a smile on a face, I feel pitiful for them. I think that they should carry out their daily activities with a smile and face them positively. Take my friend. Everytime when his results are bad, he would sit in his sit there quietly, not talking to anyone. Even when I took the initiative to cheer him up, he would just give me a smile and continue to “emo in his sit. I wonder, why should people get so worked up over just a test. it is not the end of the world. They should look on the bright side and work hard for the next term. I know it is not easy, but what can you do when what’s done is done. There is no use in crying over the spilt milk. Will “emoing” help you in anyway? Will it help you to get an A1? Why is there a need to be sad?
The comprehension passage also says that you can smile into the mirror and tell yourselves that you can do it everyday in the morning so that it can help to boost your confidence to carry out the daily activities in the days to come, and I think that this is very effective. Try this, to the emotionally affected friends who read this blog.
Thus I think that sadness should be eliminated if there is a need to do so and I would definitely eliminate it if I had the power to do so, since the cons of being sad are definitely more than the pros, if there was even any. With this I end my blog post. Thank you. Byeeeee!

Today after my training I was on my way home when I saw two hwa chong junior college students on the bus. They were sitting at the back and behaving very intimately, and I shall respect them by not telling you what they did, no matter how much they did not deserve it as firstly, they were destroying the school’s reputation, not to mention that is was hwa chong, the biggest secondary school in southeast asia. Wonder what will people react, especially the parents and they will not send their children to hwa chong. They will think that hwa chong produced this kind of students instead of nurturing them into the future leader of our country. Secondly, they are neglecting their studies if they have a relationship will each other. They are in junior college and if they don’t do well, they will not be able to go to a good university, particularly when competition is very fierce among every people in the society. If they don’t get a good certificate, their future will be ruined. Thirdly relationship will cause deviation from family. If you go out with your girlfriend all day and you go home very late your parents will be worried for you and what will they do if they are worried about you? They will express it by nagging at you. If your parents nag at you, what will you do? You will talk back and then what happens? A quarrel will break up between you and your parents. Your parents care about you, and you “repay” them by scolding them. This shows that you do not understand your parents at all. Who are the ones who brought you into this world? Your parents. Who are the ones who brought you up? Your parents. Who are the ones who stood up for you when you are bullied and scolded the bully? Your parents. All these are about your parents. But at the end of the day, what do they get? Your scolding them for being a busybody. You do not appreciate what your parents have done for you. When you have troubles, your girlfriend will at most just comfort you, but they do not do anything to help you. Your parents are the ones who helped you and comfort you to get up and carry on with life.
Thus, I would like to conclude that having relationships is detrimental for us, students, no matter in terms of your personal well being and the affection of the people around you. Thank you.

Today as I came back from my torturous training, I was on the bus when it passed my primary school, which was wrote on the wall, De La Salle School. Memories came back to me at that instant. I could remember the scene whereby I was playing soccer with my friends and scoring a goal, after that running up and down the field celebrating my goal( mind you, I am one of the best soccer player in my school). Life was so carefree at that time, I could do what I like. Every scene of my teacher teaching us, me and my friends walking around the school during recess and the scene of bullying girls and how they retaliated flashed back in my minds. However, today, in secondary school, it was different. Very different. Competitions was among everybody, no matter in terms of academics and our physical fitness. We treated it as though our life was on the line and fought till the end. In primary school, competition was not very important among the students and if they lose, they admit. In secondary school if we lost in something, we will fight hard to win in the other event to prove that we are no pushovers. It was no fun. I am primary school-sick. How I wished that time will go slower in primary six and let me enjoy the last feeling of being in a primary school, let time stop there, and never to go. Time is merciless. In the blink of an eye, I released myself to the outside world and took a look at how people are really like. I am frightened. When the exams are nearing, when you want to lend some notes from your friends, even when they are your best friends, they may not want to lend it to you. This is how humans hearts are. They are vicious. Soon, the bus came to a stop and I alighted from it. Nostalgia came back and caused me to think this much and post today. Ok. Gtg. Byeeee.