Reflection on Writing Blogs
Hurray! I am going to finish my semester 4 soon! In the course “Teaching the Language of Drana” has helped to develop the habit of writing blog. It is undeniable that this is the first time I have written blog in my life. Previously, I have no idea what blog is. Through this course, I have learned that blog is the the place for me to voice out my opinion about things that connected with drama. I am free to express my opinion in the blog. In my opinion, writing blog is the best way to portray my feelings without fear of mistakes. Compared to writing an academic paper, I used to worry whether I am writing the relevant point with the instruction given. Besides that, it has helped me to think critically about the play which I read in this course. It is a good opportunity to share my opinion with my friends in the blog especially when I comment on other’s blog. I believe that we all have learned from each other in the blog. It is because we seldom discuss the view about the plays we have read personally unless it is in lecture. So, in the blog, I can know what other's view on the plays. In addition, there are times people agree and disagree with my opinion and I know other's reason why they agree and disagree with me. Through this type of interaction, I understand my friends better. Furthermore, I will introduce blog to my students in future because I realize that there are many benefits of writng blog. Last but not least, I would like to thank my lecturer,Dr.Edwin, who introduces us to write the blog! I learned a lot through writing in blog!

"A Poem becomes a poem when it is read!"

The quotation above is what I have learned from Mr.Wong Phui Nam on last Monday. Meeting him has enrich my knowledge about poem. In this blog, I would like to share what I have learned from him. Although we have just met him in a just a short moment, but there is lots of things that I have learnt from him. Previously, I have read poem but I did not know the skills how to read it. Mr.Wong Phui Nam makes me realized that poem is meant to read aloud so that readers can get the sense of it. Then, i learned that it is important to get rhythm of poem and the diction of the poem. Therefore, a poem is able to create a spelt. Furthermore, I have learned that the tone of the poem is the attitude of the poem to the subject. If the tone is right, it reflects what the poet feel about the subject. Besides that, through symbolism, people who have the knowledge will only know what the symbol is. When reader reads the poem, the images will create emotion because emotion comes from thought. In conclusion, meeting Mr. Wong Phui Nam has inspired me motivates me in learning literature.

PHOTOS

Night View of KL PAC

My course mate and I at KL Pac! Unforgettable moment!

Experiences Watching Theatre
Last Saturday, I went to watch theatre in KL Pac entitled "The Homecoming". It is a great experience watching theater because this is the first time I watch theater in my life.When I reached KL Pac, I saw that everyone was dressed up so well. I can feel that the people who watch the theater are mostly from higher class society. Once I entered the theater, I noticed that the stage is near to the audiences. The stage is not very big. Then, as the play started, I realized that lightning and background music play significant roles in the theatre. It is because it makes the play more lifely and meaningful. It is interesting to watch theatre with sound effect. Furthermore, I feel that the lightning shows the setting of the play more vividly. In my opinion, theater is special in its own way where I feel closer to the play because the play communicates directly to the audience. Meanwhile, "The Homecoming" is a serious play where there are many questions to think about after watching the theather. I am not sure what the message is in the play. After discussing the play with my friends, I notice that everyone has different views of the play. Everyone has different interpretation of the play. In addition, some enjoy watching the theater and some do not like to watch the theatre. In conclusion, watching theatre is the unforgettable moment in my life! I enjoy watching the theatre which I seldom have the chance to watch it!

The Film - Pygmalion

Last Thursday, I have watched the film- "Pygmalion". I enjoy watching the show because it helps me to comprehend the play better. Unfortunately, when I was watching the movie with my course mate, the sound effect of the movie was bad. The actors' voice are not clear at all. I think this is due to the reason that there is no speaker in the class. In this blog, I am going to comment about the film and my feelings' after watching the film. First of all, I feel that Eliza had played her role well. I enjoy watching her changes that she went through in her life. She becomes so charming when she has changed by Hinggins. Furthermore, Higgins is a good and dedicated teacher when he spends lots of time teaching Eliza how to speak.His commitment in teaching Eliza can be seen in the movie where he does not allow anybody to visit his house.Besides that, the movie is in black and white. This makes me feel the movie quite dull because there is no colour. I think the movie will be interesting if it is in colour. The characters that I like in the movie is Eliza. She is a hardworking person and she is willing to work hard to have a better living. In the movie, I can see her commitment in learning how to speak. She works very hard to change her life. Overall, the movie has clearly portray how Doolittle changes Eliza as in the play.

"My Fair Lady"

"My Fair Lady" is a film musical which won 8 academy awards, including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Musical score, Best Cinematography, Best Set Direction, and Best Costumes. It was directed by George Cukor. Screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner - based on George Bernard Shaw's stage play "Pygmalion". It is an interesting movie that I have watched in my life. This movie was introduced by my English tuition teacher when I was in Form five. I never think that I will have a chance to read the play again. Yes, it is extremely meaningful for me to watch the film and now read the play again. It is because I have an idea about what the play is all about. Besides that, this is the first musical film that I have watched in my life. I like the way the film was introduced when the fine musical begins, by showing the audience a London scene from a Victorian England in the 1800's, a meeting place of the very rich and the very poor. The well-to-do of English society were coming out of a theatre where poor women, known as flower girls were selling bouquets of flowers to these theatre patrons. Among these patrons were two distinguished gentleman, a well-known, top notch Professor of Phonetics, Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), and his good friend, Colonel Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White). It is because this scene has enhance me to imagine the setting of the play vividly. While was watching it, I was entertained by the movie at that time. The most memorable line for me is when Mr Higgins says ,"Why can't the English speak English?" I feel surprised over this statement that he said because all this while I have been thinking that all English can speak English well. I was surprised when he mentioned this statement. Surprisingly, when I read the play "Pygmalion", the voice of the actors came into my mind and I can imagine the whole situation of the play. After reading the play only I can understand the musical film better. Thus, the play,'Pygmalion' has enhanced my knowledge in a greater manner. Furthermore, I was impressed by Eliza's determination to learn to speak English. When I was watching the film, I can feel how hard she had tried to learn to speak English. It is really not easy to learn to speak English. She faces lots of difficulties before she can not speak English well. Moreover, I feel that the actors successfully play the roles well in the film. Last but not least, "My Fair Lady" is a good musical film that teachers should introduce to students in class. It is because students can visualise what the plot of the play better after watching the film.

"Antigone" or "Anike" ?
After writing about Creon and Tiresias in the blog previously, I would like to write about the different feelings after reading “Antigone” by Sophocles and “Anike” by Wong Phui Nam. I still remember when I first read about “Antigone”, I can roughly understand the plot of the story but I feel the language is difficult and I need to have some prior knowledge about Greek tragedy before I read this play. In contrast, I feel that reading “Anike” is not as complicated compared to “Antigone”. Even though the plots of the two plays are similar, the context of the language used shows the difference. The use of language in Antigone perhaps is difficult for me to understand once I read it. I need more time to comprehend the language used and what the language indicates. On the other hand, the language used in “Anike” is straightforward and I am familiar with the language used. I feel comfortable when I read “Anike”. I feel that I do not have to struggle much to read the play. In fact, I can comprehend the play better and even faster. Besides that, I enjoyed reading it. I also feel surprised that the author is able to put the characters in the play in local context which is much easier for me to understand. Surprisingly, after reading both the plays, I have the strange feeling that I still prefer “Antigone” the most. I realized that I like the language used in “Antigone” because it is so special and the first time I read Greek mythology. I am amazed with the language used after I am able to comprehend it. In short, I strongly feel that language used in “Antigone” is more powerful and it impressed me a lot.

Blind but Wise
There are many things for me to learn after reading through the article about Tiresias. He plays important role in Greek mythology as well as the events happening to the family of Thebes. Tiresias is blind yet one of the most famous soothsayers of his time. According to another myth, Tiresias saw two snakes mating when he was out on a walk. Tiresias took his walking stick and thrashed them badly. As a result, he was punished by God and was turned into a woman. Seven years later, he saw two snakes lying side by side, and this time he used his walking stick to make them come together. This time he is turned back into a man again. Another version of the story says that one day Tiresies was asked to judge the disagreement between Zues and Hera about the matter of either male or female experience the greatest pleasure when making love. It is because he has experienced both the man and woman. Tiresies replies that the woman experienced greater pleasure. This causes Hera anger and she blinded him. Meanwhile, Zeus gave him inner sight and extended his life with seven generations. Therefore, in the play “Antigone” Tiresias plays an important role. He tells Creon that he is bringing disaster upon Thebes, and Creon does not believe him eventually. Yet, Creon claims to trust Tiresias deeply at last. Even tough he is blind, he still advises Creon with his wisdom and ability to see the future. He was not afraid to criticize the King, Creon as he has the hope to change him. Tiresias warns Creon that the refusal to bury Polyneices will bring the curses of the Gods down on Thebes. After hearing this, Creon gets angry and accuses him as a false prophet. In my opinion, I feel that even though Tiresias is physically blind, he sees further than others. On the other hand, Creon is mentally blind who is unable to judge what is right and wrong. Thus, it clearly shows that Tiresies makes use of the wisdom which is gifted by Zues to help Creon. Furthermore, I also learn that although Tiresies is blind, he does not appear to give up things in life. In fact, he helps his country. Besides that, he is determined to live even though he lives in different condition. Thus, he is a strong character which can be a role model for us nowadays because there are many things we can learn from him.

Time will heal!
When I finished reading “Antigone” play, I sympathize towards Creon’s situation at the end of the play. I feel sad for him because he lost his family members at the end of the play. I feel that it is very hard for him to accept the lost of his family members due to his own mistake. He could hardly forgive himself for his wrong doings. This can be showed in line 1263-1265, where he says “I know not where to turn mine eyes. All my misdeeds before me rise. Lead I away, brought low, undone.” In addition, this clearly reveals that he will suffer for the rest of his life. In my opinion, I feel that Creon’s misjudgment of Antigone should not deserve such a big punishment from God. I feel that Creon’s decision of not burying Polyneices is due to his pride- common human nature. Most probably he wants to show his power towards his people so that his people will not go against him. Besides that, it is not him who killed Antigone, but Antigone hangs herself. If Antigone does not kill herself, Creon would have probably saved her and he would not go through the pain that he suffers later. Moreover, I feel that after he listens to the advice from Tiresies and the chorus, he has the intention to save Antigone. Unfortunately, it is too late when he realizes that Antigone and his son had died. It is not his fault when Antigone and his son died because he took the initiative to save her. It is Antigone and Haemon, who are very emotional that makes them to kill themselves. Thus, when Creon has to accept the death of Antigone, his son, and his wife, I feel that it is traumatizing for him to accept the fact as he is the head of the family and losing his family members one after the other would be a terrible punishment for a man to undergo. Lastly, Creon, as a king of a country would be definitely affected emotionally and mentally as losing all his family members is not a simple matter to be easily forgotten at once. Personally I do feel that it would also affect his duty of ruling the country and I believe that only time has the power to heal his pain!

Lizzie- A Role Model for women nowadays!

After writing about the review on “Shakespeare Wallah” in my previous blog, now is the time for me to comment about one of the characters in the movie who is Lizzie. I was impressed with what she does in the film. After finish watching the movie, I totally agree with Lizzie’s decision to leave Sanju. For me, she has made the right decision for her life and should be the role model for women nowadays. There are few reasons that I am going to share with you why Lizzie should leave Sanju. Firstly, Sanju is a wealthy young Indian who flirts with the famous Indian film star, Manjula. He is not the type of man who seems to be committed in the relationship. Secondly, Sanju is a dominated man. He wants Lizzie to leave her career to be with him. This shows that he wants to control Lizzie’s life. Thirdly, Sanju is not an understanding man. He does not respect what Lizzie does and also does not care about Lizzi’s feelings and love towards her career. In my opinion, I feel that Lizzie makes a right decision to continue her career in London. It is because she is doing something she loves in life that is acting in Shakespeare play. Even though she has to leave the man that she loves, but relationship is not everything. At least, in the career she can achieve a bright future and it is more secure. However, if she chooses to be with Sanju, she might lose something that is important in her life and she might not be happy with it. With all the reason above, I feel that Lizzie is a role model for women nowadays because she is able to make a wise decision. Love is not everything. A woman has to consider all factors before they accept man’s marriage proposal. Women should not be blinded by love and they should think rationally in whatever decision they make.

My Review on "Shakepeare Wallah"

Last week, I have watched “Shakespeare Wallah” in class and now is the time for me to comment about the movie in this blog. Firstly, I am surprised when I realized that the setting of the movie is in India. It is because I feel that the setting of the movie should be in England after looking at the title of the movie. In spite of that,I feel that the plot of the story moves very slow when I find the early part of the movie is quite boring. However, in the middle of the movie, the part when Sanja is involved with two women in the story, I only start to pay attention and get to understand the play better. Furthermore, I could not really understand the languages in the movie. There are two languages are used in the movie, and I could only understand English which is the main language used by the actors. That is the sad part of it. If I can understand another language which is Hindi Language in the movie, I think that would help me to comprehend the play better eventhough it is used in the minor part of the movie . Moreover, there are variety of culture in the movie which I find interesting that are English culture and Indian culture. These two different cultures represent by different characters in the movie. For example, Lizzie, who is professional in acting a play where she put in so many efforts acting out in the Shakespeare’s play. Meanwhile, Manjula, a glamorous film star, sings her Indian songs with world-weary professionalism. For her, being popularity is important than being professional in the career.Unlike Lizzie who appreciate Shakespeare's play very much. It is sad to see that Manjula does not interested in Shakespeare’s play at all. This can be showed when she left the show earlier before the Shakespeare’s play finish. In addition, although Lizzie and Manjula are actresses, but the way they act or perform in the show are different in many ways. It is influenced by the culture which they are brought up from. Therefore, Lizzie is brought up by English culture and Manjula is brought by Indian culture. Last but not least, there is one thing that I feel upset with the movie. The film is shot in black and white. I could not have the chance to see the beautiful scenery in India and the other setting as well. I feel it would be better and rather interesting if the movie is in colour. In conclusion, the movie is interesting as it brings out the issue of different cultures in a country.

Teaching Literature is not an easy job…

Simulated teaching is one of the tasks in this course. Last week, some of my friends had done their simulated teaching in the class. Guess what I found out from them? I realized that teaching literature is not an easy job. There are many skills and strategies to be learned. There are few things that I have learned from my friends and I would like to share it here. Firstly, I learned that the way teacher communicates in class is important. An English teacher must be able to speak fluently. I realized that to speak like a teacher is not easy. It is because an English teacher has to master the verbal language in the classroom. For example, “That’s a good answer”, “well done”. These are some of the examples of verbal language that teacher need to know. Furthermore, teacher should repeat what students say when teacher asks them questions. For example, teacher has to say like this “what she says is…” This is to let other students know what their friend’s answer is clearly. Teacher has to share student’s answer with everybody. Besides that, teacher needs to know how to ask students questions as well. Teacher must be able to construct the questions appropriately and asks students about it. For example, “why do you say so?”, “what do you think?”, “what does it cause?” In my opinion, I feel that it is important for teacher to ask this kind of questions to simulate students to think critically. Last but not least, I learned that set induction is significant for a teacher to encourage students in learning literature. In order to get students’ attention in class and enjoy learning literature, teacher should carry out activities that are fun and interesting. In conclusion, I gain a lot from my friends’ simulated teaching as it reminds me what should I do and what I should not do when teaching in class.

Learning and Teaching PLOT……

Dr.Edwin has discussed “Antigone” with us for few weeks already. Yesterday, Dr.Edwin taught us about the plot in “Antigone”. Before we starts analysing the play, Dr.Edwin teaches us about how to introduce plot in class. I learn that plot must be an event that had happened in a story. Besides that, Dr.Edwin introduces us to teach the plot of a story through a pyramid diagram. While we were discussing the plot of “Antigone”, I discover that it is rather easier for me to comprehend the play by using the pyramid diagram. Besides drawing the pyramid on the blackboard, I feel that presenting the pyramid in power point can be intreresting as well. It is because it would attract the students’ attention. Moreover, power point presentation can be colourful and not dull at all. The only thing that I need to do is to prepare the plot before go to class. So, I feel that it can also be an effective way to teach plot using power point presentation. Furthermore, to learn the plot we should understand the play well. Dr.Edwin advises that we must read the play more than one time. Sincerely, I could not really understand the play at first. Meanwhile, I felt that it is rather confusing because I could not understand some of the language in the play. As time goes by, I learn about the play in class and I can comprehend better after Dr.Edwin discussed the play with us.

I Have Learning Something……….
Learning the development of theatre has helped me to get a better understanding of theatre. First, I learned about what is meant by tragedy and comedy. After reading some of the plays, I realized that it is easy to identify a tragic play than a play which is a comedy. It is because a tragic play can identify through an action. For example, in Oedipus the King, Oedipus has blinded himself due to his guiltiness of killing his father. This involves actions in the play and creates emotions of the readers. Furthermore, reader can easily identify their action if it is a tragic event even if they do not really comprehend the whole play.Besides that, it also arouses emotion of the reader where the reader feel sad about the event that has happened.
Unlike a comedy, I need to really understand the language of the whole play in order to get the jokes of the play. I still remember few weeks ago, when Dr Edwin was reading the extract of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, he was surprised that we did not get the meaning of the play. After his long explanation of the play, only we can make sense out of the play and laugh at it. This is an ironical situation for me because I feel that actually we should get the jokes out of the play instead of a lecturer explaining the hidden meaning of the play. Consequently, I feel that reading a comedy requires a good command of English.
Through this lesson, something comes into my mind about teaching literature that is the importance of guiding students into the comprehending a literary work. I remembered when we did not understand the extract of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Dr.Edwin tried his best to give us explanation until we got the ideas of the play. As a result,I feel that teacher should enlighten student’s mind with simple language if students face difficulties in understanding a literary work.By that, students can only enjoy the lesson if they understand it well.

It has been three weeks of lecture since my forth semester start. This is the first time I wrote in this online journal. In this journal, I will mainly mention about my reflection in the course of “Teaching the Language of Drama” for the first two weeks.
In the first week of lecture, I was given the course outline. After I looked on the course outline, the mixed feeling came into my mind. I felt tension when I realized that there are two assignments, simulated teaching and e-journal. I began to wonder whether I can do it well for the assignments. It is because I have to read so many plays and also need to do so many assignments. It worries me a lot. On the other hand, I felt excited because this course enables me to read different types of play. Generally, I seldom read play compared to other literary genre. It is a good opportunity for me to learn about plays and how plays take place so that I can introduce to my students in the future.
In the second weeks of lecture, it opens up my mind when I know about the history and types of theatre. I feel that it is interesting to know how theatre changes throughout the time and this is really new to me. Previously, the only playwright that I know is Shakespeare. Now, I get to know many playwrights. Besides that, I also learned about how to identify types of drama. However, I afraid that I could not be able to remember all the facts about drama during the test because there are so many things that I have to learn by heart.
Finally, I still feel glad to be able to learn about plays in this semester. In addition, it broadens my knowledge and I learn to appreciate it. Furthermore, I feel that drama is an interesting activity to be held in the class.