“FrEeDom WRiTeRS”

Very inspiring I must say. The movie inspires me as a future English language teacher to make a difference. The students in the movie are racist and they demand equality for every citizen. I think the same scenario also happened in our country, though it is not so obvious. my experi

“ThE EnD”

As next week is the final week for this semester, I guess all of us have to come to the end of our road in EDU 3234, but it is not the end of our passion in literature. Throughout the course, I have learned many literature genres and variety of interesting literature texts that I have never expected to be -never think of letters and songs as literary texts. Other than that, I have a lot of valuable experiences for example, the trip to Malacca and the valuable experience working with the papers -position and research paper, and meeting with Mr. Kee Thuan Chye. All of the experiences and memories will be fresh in my mind and remain as the sweet memories. Besides, the course's requirements -position and research paper, have turned me to be critical thinker and a good reader as the papers provoke me to express my opinion and point of view which is difficult for me to do so. Thanks a lot to Dr. Edwin for his invaluable knowledge and inspirations.

“MeeTiNG Mr. Kee Thuan Chye”

I did not have the opportunity to meet Mr. Kee Thuan Chye because at that moment I need to rush back home as my sister and mother are admitted to hospital. It is so sad that I cannot get the opportunity. However, I listen to my friends experience meeting him. According to them, Mr Kee Thuan Chye talks a lot during the session which portrays his experiences. His interest is history and political issues. his writing stand on what he believes as truth. Mr Kee Thuan Chye respects others' opinion and perspectives. He believes that everyone has their own way in interpreting and perceiving an issue that we should not totally believe in what others' says or views. So, I guess, he is kind of person that holds tight to his principle, very imaginative and creative. though I did not have the chance, I really thanked Dr Edwin for always giving us the opportunity to meet writers, artists and etc which is the remarkable memory for us.

“BaTTLe FoR EvErYoNe”

With Dr. Edwin, we read the autobiography of Nelson Mandela in "The Long Walk To Freedom". He rose above the prison, the torture and the inequality and I believe it is worth for him. Nelson's story did inspire me, but sometimes I wonder, what if the end of his story ended the opposite? Through reading his autobiography, students will be able to identify and recognize Nelson's personality as strong-willed man in history. Imagine the psychological torture that he had to go through in order to break his spirit from fighting for equality. In fact, according to Dr Edwin, the treatment describe in the text is just like our country's ISA. It is tough when all your personal documents, your passion, your beliefs are wiped out in order to break your spirit. Indeed, Nelson Mandela is an extraordinary person and deserved to be respected because of his pure intention and fight.

Other than learning from the battle of Nelson Mandela, I think reading autobiography is also an interesting activity that can be adapted in language classroom. Students sometimes are easily to get bored with all the fact-to fact reading materials while autobiography will provide a new taste of passion in readings. In fact, through autobiography, students will be able to learn about others' beliefs, their personality and point of view over an issue. They will learn and make relevance out of the text to their life. I think reading this kind of text will make reading class as well as the language class more remarkable to students. they will develop not only in their language skills but also their personality by reading others' autobiography.

“FrEeDom WRiTeRS”

Very inspiring I must say. The movie inspires me as a future English language teacher to make a difference. The students in the movie are racist and they demand equality for every citizen. I think the same scenario also happened in our country, though it is not so obvious. My experience as a substitution teacher in one of the government secondary school, the headmaster comments that there are racial clicks in the school. Chinese students prefer to be with the same race as for them the Indians are too rough and the Malays are lazy. We have to accept that our students are also racist themselves, though the phenomenon is not crucial as in the movie. besides, it is also mentioned in the movie about the "Holocaust victims and survivors". Maybe he most horror incident -May 13th- will be a great lesson for the students.

Other than that, I truly agree with the idea of providing journal for students to write. The effectiveness is undeniable. however, I would like to suggest for English language teachers to fully manipulate the Internet as integration for language learning. Perhaps forum and blog can be more interesting in this technology era. In my opinion, the forum and blog are the revolution of using journal in classroom. Both, methods are a great way to encourage students to write, as they do not have the fear of being evaluated; plus it is good way for students to express themselves. hence, I'd like to thank Dr. Edwin for opening my eyes of the benefits on using forum and blog in the language classroom. Last but not least, I hope I can be like Erin Gruwell, inspiring students to be whatever they want to be.

“ThE DRaFT”

In completing the draft of the research paper, I have learned a lot. First and foremost, i have gain interest in poetry. Before this, to be honest, I did not favor studying poetry because I think it is difficult to interpret and ambiguous. Now, in the middle of completing the paper, I fall in love with poetry. It sounds funny but it is true. I have just discovered the passion of interpreting poetry through the poet's organization. through Dr. Edwin's lecture on stylistic analysis and the discussion on the poems in "Insights", I have learn 'how' to read and interpret poetry. I think that other people also have the same negative perception towards poetry -which is tough and challenging to interpret. Old sayings said that, "if you give a man a fish, he sill survive a day but, if you teach the man how to fish he will survive longer". Through my readings on how to write on poetry, I have learned how to read, to interpret and to write about poetry. I am glad that the assigment has not only taught me to write better, but also attract my interest in reading and analyzing poetry. indeed, the assigment has inplicitly increased my language and personal development.

“My OuTLiNES”

It is indeed plural as I hand in two outlines for Dr. Nooreen to check and has a glimpse of my ideas. why two outlines? The main reason is because I have two ideas and I find both ideas interesting to discuss. The first one is about feminist approach, on how Karim Raslan and Che Husna Azhari illustrate the unusual women's characterization in the short story, "Mariah" and "Sara and The Wedding". Another one is about the hardship in others' life in the poems, "Three Beserah Fishermen" by Muhammad Haji Salleh and "The Midnight Satay-Vendor" by Ghulam Sarwar Yousuf.

When Dr. Nooree returns my outlines, she wrote a note about my ideas. Basically she prefers that analysis on the poems as for her the elements are more worthy and powerful to discuss. Plus, she stated that the analysis on the poetry would be more remarkable as there are so many researches done based on the feminist approach. For me, though i am the one who came out with the idea, i feel a little bit nervous as this will be the first time I am writing about poetry and of course, I find the task quite challenging. however, as to develop my writing skill, I think it is fine to challenge myself a bit. Gambate (Japanese)

“ThE FiRsT MeeTiNG”

The first meeting with my supervisor; Dr Nooreen Noordin is meaningful. I am curious about the assignment -research paper. The first thing that she talks about is the format of the paper. According to Dr Nooreen, the paper should have introduction, author's background, the synopsis, the analysis as well as the conclusioin. My questions are; is there any list of the texts that we should work on? What if she is unfamiliar with the texts? And what should we focus on -characterization or language for example? Her answer is simple but convincing. She said that the paper should focus on our interest -work on characterization or setting if we find it interesting. If she is unfamiliar with the texts, she will find other ways to comprehend the texts first before evaluating our paper -that mean she will search for synopsis, or if possible read the text. Her expectation for the paper is that we need to analyze three aspects in the texts. For example, if the paper is about women in patriarchal society, we can study the eements of oppression, abuse and serach for independence in the texts. She is considerate that she shows us some samples of the analysis done by our senior which eable us to discuss more among ourselves about the analysis and the implication of the research on education. Indeed, I think it is great to have a glimpse of what Dr. Nooreen expects from us.

Apart from all these, I walk out of the room where we meent for the first time with pre-occupations. I keep thinking in mind the kind of texts that interest me and how my research will make a different from other as well as the implication on education or teaching. As I already work on feminist approach in my position paper, I think it would be interesting for my writing development to use another approach for the research paper. Jiayou! (Japanese)

I Am a PaIR oF SpEcTacLE

Last week Dr Edwin has asked on how we view ourselves as teacher during class. Everyone has different answer on how we view ourselves as teacher. Dr. Edwin comments that most of us view ourselves as the sources not enabler. He said that it is important for us to notice that teachers are the sources such as the encyclopedia and dictionary. They did not have all the knowledge in this world. the function of a teacher in fact, is an enabler; who inspire and help students to reach their path and motivator to students to discover their won talents and interest. An enabler is a tough task I think.

For me, I do think that teacher is like a pair of spectacle. A spectacle is a great help for people as they need them to 'see'. Watching and seeing is different for me. The former is just an action while the latter is more meaningful as it involves interpretation and observation. After all, I guess that it depends on how people define a teacher is. Right now, I know that there is a less that a year for me to prepare myself to be a teacher and to face the surreal reality. I just hope that I can be a good spectacle for my students.

“ThE FiRsT MeeTiNG”

The first meeting with my supervisor; Dr Noreen Noordin is meaningful. I am curious about the assignment –research paper. The first thing that she talks about is the format of the paper. According to Dr. Noreen, the paper should have introduction, author’s background, the synopsis, the analysis as well as the conclusion. My questions are; is there any list of the texts that we should work on? What if she is unfamiliar with the texts? And what should we focus on -characterization or language for example? Her answer is simple but convincing. She said that the paper should focus on our interest –work on characterization or setting if we find it interesting. If she is unfamiliar with the texts, she will find other ways to comprehend the texts first before evaluating our paper –that mean she will search for the synopsis, or if possible read the text. Her expectation for the paper is that we need to analyze three aspects in the texts. For example, if the paper is about women in patriarchal society, we can study the elements of oppression, abuse and search for independence in the texts. She is so considerate that she shows us some samples of the analysis done by our senior which enable us to discuss more among ourselves about the analysis and the implication of the research on education. Indeed, I think it is great to have a glimpse of what Dr Noreen expects from us.

Apart from all these, I walk out of the room where we meet for the first time with pre-occupations. I keep thinking in mind the kind of texts that interest me and how my research will make a different from other as well as the implication on education or teaching. As I already work on feminist approach in my position paper, I think it would be interesting for my writing development to use another approach for the research paper. Jiayou! (Japanese)

ViSiTiNG MaLaCCa

Just listening to the idea of integrating the art in literature classroom is just not enough for me. One day, Dr Edwin suggested a trip to Melaka, visiting Mr Tham Siew Inn’s gallery; an artist as well as a poet. My feelings? of course, I am so excited to know more about this person and curious about his experiences and development as an artist and poet.

My impression towards his gallery is small, cosy and rich with memories. I am so amused by his works -his paintings and his poems. His paintings vary from different themes -people and scenery. Mr Tham showed us around, explaining what his works were about and where in the world that he has been to -there are a picture of him drawing on Mount Everest. To my shock, he drew all those buildings scenery free-hand and without even sketching first. I agree with Amanda that it show how much experience he has. During the visit, he taught us on how to interpret certain paintings. according to him, the correct way to look into the paintings depending on the size of the paintings -if it is huge, you should look at a longer distant that the small one.

The most precious lesson that I have learn during the visit is that art is just like literature -in a way that it provide a space for ‘freedom’ interpretation. Through art and literature, people capture their observation as well as experiences using the words and brush in order to offer different perspective to others.

All in all, it is a very interesting and beneficial trip for me, as well as future teaching profession.

ThE DRaFT

In completing the draft of the research paper, I have learned a lot. First and foremost, I have gain interest in poetry. Before this, to be honest, I did not favor studying poetry because I think it is difficult to interpret and ambiguous. Now, in the middle of completing the paper, I fall in love with poetry. It sounds funny but it is true. I have just discovered the passion of interpreting poetry through the poet’s organization. Through Dr Edwin’s lecture on stylistic analysis and the discussion on the poetry in ‘Insights’, I have learn ‘how’ to read and interpret poetry. I think that other people also have the same negative perception towards poetry –which is tough and challenging to interpret. Old sayings said that, “if you give a man a fish, he will survive a day but, if you teach the man how to fish he will survive longer”. Through my readings on how to write on poetry, I have learned how to read, to interpret and to write about poetry. I am glad that the assignment has not only taught me to write better, but also attract my interest in reading and analyzing poetry. Indeed, the assignment has implicitly increased my language and personal development.

My OuTLiNES

It is indeed plural as I hand in two outlines for Dr Noreen to check and has a glimpse of my ideas. Why two outlines? The main reason is because I have two ideas and I find both ideas interesting to discuss. The first one is about feminist approach, on how Karim Raslan and Che Husna Azhari illustrate the unusual women’s characterization in the short story, “Mariah” and “Sara and the wedding”. Another one is about the hardship in others’ life in the poems, “Three Beserah Fishermen” by Muhammad Haji Salleh and “The Midnight Satay-Vendor” by Ghulam Sarwar Yousuf.

When Dr. Noreen returns my outlines, she wrote a note about my ideas. Basically she prefers the analysis on the poems as for her the elements are more worthy and powerful to discuss. Plus, she stated that the analysis on the poetry would be more remarkable as there are so many researches done based on the feminist approach. For me, though I am the one who came out with the idea, I feel a little bit nervous as this will be the first time I am writing about poetry and I find the task quite challenging. However, as to develop my writing skill, I think it is fine to challenge myself a bit. Gambate (Japanese)

ThE FiRsT MeeTiNG

The first meeting with my supervisor; Dr Noreen Noordin is meaningful. I am curious about the assignment –research paper. The first thing that she talks about is the format of the paper. According to Dr. Noreen, the paper should have introduction, author’s background, the synopsis, the analysis as well as the conclusion. My questions are; is there any list of the texts that we should work on? What if she is unfamiliar with the texts? And what should we focus on -characterization or language for example? Her answer is simple but convincing. She said that the paper should focus on our interest –work on characterization or setting if we find it interesting. If she is unfamiliar with the texts, she will find other ways to comprehend the texts first before evaluating our paper –that mean she will search for the synopsis, or if possible read the text. Her expectation for the paper is that we need to analyze three aspects in the texts. For example, if the paper is about women in patriarchal society, we can study the elements of oppression, abuse and search for independence in the texts. She is so considerate that she shows us some samples of the analysis done by our senior which enable us to discuss more among ourselves about the analysis and the implication of the research on education. Indeed, I think it is great to have a glimpse of what Dr Noreen expects from us.

Apart from all these, I walk out of the room where we meet for the first time with pre-occupations. I keep thinking in mind the kind of texts that interest me and how my research will make a different from other as well as the implication on education or teaching. As I already work on feminist approach in my position paper, I think it would be interesting for my writing development to use another approach for the research paper. Jiayou! (Japanese)

My PoSiTiON PaPeR

My position paper is about how the society indoctrinates the girl into adulthood with the paternalistic values. In the story Boys and Girls, I think that the society has a more powerful influence in initiating the girl into adulthood rather than the nature. Naturally, a child will experience self-discovery on their gender roles and initiated biologically into adulthood through a rigid process called puberty. However, I believe that the girl’s initiation is basically influenced by the society. Her freedom for self-concept is denied through the indoctrination process. The word ‘indoctrination’ simply suggests that the girl is trained to be the ‘girl’ as expected by the society –who is weak, dependent and timid to their male counterpart and timid. According to the girl, the word ‘girl’ is no longer as innocent as the word child which indicates the girl’s oppression of becoming a ‘woman’ as defined by the society.

The society in the story has many ways to implicitly instill the paternalistic values on gender roles in initiating 'the girl' into adulthood. First and foremost, I believe that the grandmother and the parents are the obvious agent for the society to implement and demonstrate the values. They have many ways to control children's personalities and directly denies for the freedom in developing own self-concept. Besides, the parents’ chores simply demonstrate that men’s job is outside the house while the women remain with the household chores. I believe the rigid boundaries between the gender roles allow the society to prejudice and discriminate women existence. In fact, the word ‘girl’ in the story has negative connotation as function to belittle the women. After all, I think that other than the story ‘Boys and Girls’, there are many other story which demonstrate how the society contribute in the initiation process.

"ThE LeARniNG PrOCeSS"

Today, in the tutorial, we have a discussion on how to make a good and arguable thesis statement. Each one of us write our thesis statement on the white board to be discussed as class activity. During the two hours; we learn to analyze others', we learn to adapt new way of reading a literary text, and we also learn to make a simple yet accurate thesis statement.

I am excited to submit my draft to Mr. Omid today. I have printed out the draft containing the thesis statement as well as the topic sentences and supporting details. I hope that it will be approved and I can work on it; the sooner the better. However, it does not turn out very well. Mine have been rejected. I am frustrated at the moment but I know that this is the process of learning. The comment given to my draft is that, my thesis statement is quite an appreciation rather than argument. Instead of highlighting my opinion and critic towards the text, I manipulate the author' statements in the text by talking about the narrator's point of view.

it is a very meaningful learning...no pain, no gain. From that moment, I try to rephrase the thesis statement for many times. It is quite difficult to discuss the statement with my friends; that they also didn't have the clue of what is necessary and required in a thesis statement. The same thing happened to them' that they must rephrase their's to be a better statement.

All in all, what I have learn is very beneficial for me but for some of my friends, they are tired of rephrasing their's as they said that Mr. Omid only asked to rephrase but not telling them on HOW to.....I hope that all of us can do well for the position paper.

"At LaST!!!"

At last, I am able to think of a thesis statement.....so grateful. The whole weekend was so dull that I can't do anything but spending my time to search and find out a text that I find interesting..... and at last I manage to find one. Actually at first, I am not so confidence in working on the text as the text for me is just a rite of oassage text. However, after some readings, I discover the clue and points that i can work with. So, hopefully in the next tutorial session, I will be able to refer my draft to Mr. Omid, in order to ensure that I am at the right track! oh....before I forgot.....For your information, I have change the text that I work on, not 30 Days in September, or A Doll House that I have mentioned on my previous post. But, I work on "Boys and Girls" by Alice Munroe. The reason is because I want to reserve those texts for the research paper as I think more it will be more interesting to talk and study about the text.....Last but not least, mid term break is coming soon, so I hope that my draft will be approved so that I can work on the position paper during the holiday.

"ThE LiST!!!"

during our first tutorial session with Mr. Omid, we have been practicing to make a thesis statement -first about UPM and next is about ourself. i made two -"democracy in UPM is a lie" and the other one, "self-confidence is depends on ones beliefs". during the session, Mr. Omid comments on some of my friends' thesis statements and provides some advices too. until after the discussion that i realize, it is easier to be said than done. i dont know why, it is just hard for me....maybe i dont have enough exposure and i think i need more examples. maybe i can get something on the internet that can guide me.

the shocking part during the tutorial part is when Mr. Omid told ud to wait for the list. the list that he means is actually a list of the texts that we can choose to work on for the position paper. contrary, Dr. edwin didn't say anything about 'list' and he even stress that we should pick any texts that we find interesting as it is much easier to work on. it is confusing..however, all of us want to wait for our second meeting to verify the instruction.

"The Requirements"

My advise...you should always expect the unexpected! you are required to work on two major papers -the position and research paper- in this course. it is so challenging and tough i must say. in fact, the familiarity that you will gain when finishing the papers will benefits you in the future as it determine your capability in order to continue your study further especially in Master and PhD- i know, it shocks my nerves too when i heard Dr. Edwin said that. The great things is that there is no exams in this course but, in order to score I must be very certain of what I am working with for the position paper as well as the research paper.

The position paper is quite interesting that all of us can very well elaborate our stand in any literary elements of a literary text. I plan to work on the characterization of Mala in 30 Days in September as I felt in love with the unique elaboration of the character by Mahesh Dattani, since the first time I read the play. other texts that capture my interest is Of Mice and Men and The Doll House. hope that i can decide the text that i will work on soon and came out with a fabuluos thesis statement that i am confidence with!