Blog Prompt: News article on a freak accident

Man, aged 30, dies in freak accident

Vincent Tan was on his usual afternoon stroll at the Bukit Batok Nature Reserve yesterday. Nobody would believe that that would be his last walk. The afternoon was unusually hot, with temperatures soaring up to 32 degrees Celsius. Bush fires sprang up all over the island. According to eye-witnesses, the bush fire at Point B of Bukit Batok Reserve had started with a smouldering cigarette being thrown into the patch of dry grass. It happened all of a sudden and spread in a flash.

The people present were all able to walk briskly and out of the reserve. Mr Tan CK, a retiree in his 60s and also a neighbour of Vincent, noticed Vincent Tan trudging wearily and nudged him to quicken his steps but to no avail. Vincent who is overweight, could not keep up. That was the last time anyone saw him.

Two fire engines arrived and tried to put out the bush fire. Due to the unusually hot weather, it took 20 whole minutes to put it out. Another eye witness, Mrs Chin, was all hysterical as she tried to recount the series of events. “I kept telling the firemen that someone was still inside the reserve. I was so worried! I kept praying that nothing would happen to him.”

Finally, the firemen managed to get into the reserve but it was too late. They retrieved a charred body with shrivelled bones and a skull. “I almost fainted. It was very scary!” continued Mrs Chin. The body has been sent to the forensic laboratory for investigations.

Speaking to expert Mr John Whisley of the NUH, such freak accidents rarely occur. “It is hard to believe that a bush fire could lead to spontaneous human combustion. Usually, people escape safely or with minor injuries. It is likely that Vincent Tan died because he was not physically fit enough to get out of the situation.”

The National Park Board is conducting their own enquiries to avoid future mishap. They are also increasing their patrol on parks to ensure that all bush fires are kept at bay. This is certainly a very sad freak accident.

E-Learning- A Poet

Poet: John Keats
John Keats was apprenticed to be an apothecary-surgeon, but never practiced his profession. Why? He dedicated his life to poetry, and chose it over studying medicine. Keats is a name that is a must figure in any list of the greatest English poets.
Keats lost both his parents at a young age. He struggled against the obstacles of his lower-middle class social standing, limited education, early association with the "Cockney School" of poetry, and poor health, as he sought to develop his skills as a poet and advance his poetical theories. Keats also experienced many other setbacks in the early days. Initially his writing and poetry received many bad reviews and his works were frowned upon. However, he persevered and didn’t give up.
Writing some of his finest poetry between 1818 and 1819, Keats mainly worked on "Hyperion," a Miltonic blank-verse epic of the Greek creation myth, and later renaming it to “ The Fall of Hyperion” Unfortunately, he was struck by tuberculosis that same autumn. Under his doctor's orders to seek a warm climate for the winter, Keats went to Rome with his friend, the painter Joseph Severn. Unfortunately, he died at the age of twenty-five..
Keats poems and quotes provide food for the souls of the hopeless romantics everywhere. Though he only lived 25 years, the works he left behind provided him with somewhat of an immortality. Just imagine the wealth of literature that he might have created had he lived longer. Criticized in life, revered in death -- Keats was a true poet. Even his tombstone, with the words "Here lies one whose name was writ in water" is poetic genius.

Thesis : Critics on John Keats work
After his premature death, and well into the nineteenth century, Keats's poetry continued to be disparaged as overly sensitive, sensuous, and simplistic. By the twentieth century, however, his position within the romantic movement have been revalued by critics. Keats continues to draw scholarly, critical, and popular attention. Issues examined by modern critics include Keats's political leanings; his theories regarding poetic imagination and "negative capability"; the rapid development of his poetry and his treatment of women in his poetry.
One issue modern critics have studied is the discrepancy between the initial, often negative, reception of Keats and his poetry and the stellar literary reputation Keats enjoys today. Modern critics focuses their studies on the barrier posed by Keats's social standing, pointing out ways in which his lower-middle-class status affected his work and influenced the negative reviews offered by his former critics. They also maintained that Keats's potential political subversiveness was the reason his poetry was deprecated by contemporary critics and that Keats makes his revulsion for the politics of the day and his desire for social and political progress explicit themes in both his poetry and his letters.
To gain insight into his poetical theories, critics examines Keats's letters to his family and friends and discusses what the letters reveal about Keats's theories of "negative capability," the truth of Imagination, and "soul-making. They reveal his belief that human suffering is a necessary experience in the processes of personality development and soulmaking, and that what the imagination apprehends as beauty must be truth. Crtics noted that Keats poem reflected his imagination and beauty as an aesthetic ideal and beauty remained the focus of the ideal. His mixed emotions about his love life, Fanny Brawne was also portrayed, suggesting a difficult relationship where the male is seen as most vulnerable.
Most modern students and scholars appear to be interested in Keats as an individual and as a poet, noting that to fully appreciate the poetry, one must fully appreciate the man. As one critic argued, Keats must be approached historically, rather than in the strictest literary sense, if analysis of his poetry "is to achieve either precision or comprehensiveness."
Despite the various criticism and views regarding Keats work, his is one of my favourite poets. Keats is such an accomplished and flamboyant poet and a true romantic. I enjoyed reading his poem, written with much creativity and style. His thought-provoking poems gave me much depth and set me thinking line after line. His use of hyperboles and metaphors made his poem come into life. I seem to be transported into his world of poems, and could visualise the beauty of his works.

Poem 1: Addressed To Haydon


High-mindedness, a jealousy for good,
A loving-kindness for the great man's fame,
Dwells here and there with people of no name,
In noisome alley, and in pathless wood:
And where we think the truth least understood,
Oft may be found a "singleness of aim,"
That ought to frighten into hooded shame
A money-mongering, pitiable brood.
How glorious this affection for the cause
Of steadfast genius, toiling gallantly!
What when a stout unbending champion awes
Envy and malice to their native sty?
Unnumbered souls breathe out a still applause,
Proud to behold him in his country's eye.

Poem 2: Hyperion

(An extract as the poem is very long….)
DEEP in the shady sadness of a vale
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,
Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star,
Sat gray-hair'd Saturn, quiet as a stone,
Still as the silence round about his lair;
Forest on forest hung above his head
Like cloud on cloud. No stir of air was there,
Not so much life as on a summer's day
Robs not one light seed from the feather'd grass,
But where the dead leaf fell, there did it rest.
A stream went voiceless by, still deadened more
By reason of his fallen divinity
Spreading a shade: the Naiad 'mid her reeds
Press'd her cold finger closer to her lips.

Poem 3: Lines

UNFELT unheard, unseen,I've left my little queen,
Her languid arms in silver slumber lying
:Ah! through their nestling touch,
Who---who could tell how much
There is for madness---cruel, or complying?
Those faery lids how sleek!Those lips how moist!---they speak,
In ripest quiet, shadows of sweet sounds:
Into my fancy's ear
Melting a burden dear,
How "Love doth know no fulness, nor no bounds."True!---tender monitors!

http://www.enotes.com/nineteenth-century-criticism/keats-john
www.poemhunter.com

E-Learning: Poem Analysing

Hyperbole [exaggeration] , personification [taking in a human action] , metaphor [create an image in the mind] , similie [using words, like or as or than relating one thing to another] and symbolism [using a representing figure to carry additional meaning]

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Where the sidewalk ends by Shel Silverstein

-ANALYSIS-

Hyperbole:

"sun burns crimson bright" - This emphasises that the sun was hot and bright.

Metaphor:

"Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends."

The poet was painting a sad, gloomy street.

Symbolism

"cool in the peppermint wind"

Peppermint is cooling; the poet is describing the cool, refreshing breeze.

"moon-bird rests from his flight"

The term, moon-bird refers to a night bird resting near the calm sidewalk.

Personification

"walk with a walk that is measured and slow"

It means a person taking his time to walk and reflect/enjoy.

Similie

none. :(

English Blog: Term 2 Week 10: Energy efficient light bulbs

A very good morning to all of you. Thank you for taking time off your busy schedule to attend my talk today. On behalf of the Ministry of Environment, I would like to talk about energy efficient lighting, and hopefully convince you to switch to a more environmentally-friendly type of lighting.

What is energy efficiency? It means to use less energy to provide the same level of energy service. An example would be insulating a house with less heating and cooling energy to achieve the same temperature. Another example would be installing fluorescent lights and/or skylights instead of incandescent lights to attain the same level of illumination. Efficient energy use is achieved primarily by means of a more efficient technology or process rather than by changes in individual behaviour.

You may think, : “Energy efficient lights are expensive and doesn’t glow brighter.” Although energy efficient lights cost more than the standard lights, it will save you money in the long run! For example, for every Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs for short) you use, it can save you over $US30 in electricity costs over the light’s period of use. It is true that CFLs don’t glow brighter, but it will save you electricity! Compared to the common incandescent lights, which are neither energy efficient nor environmentally friendly, it is a total contrast. Imagine what you could do with the money you have saved! You will be totally amazed at what energy efficient lights can do!

You can also save the environment by changing to the more environmentally-friendly choice. If the demand for energy services remains constant, improving energy efficiency will reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. This will save our environment and Earth in the long run.

The government will give out tax rebates on Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs and other energy efficient light bulbs. So what are you waiting for? Switch to Energy Efficient Lighting now!
Thank you for your kind attention.

English Blog Term 2 Week 9

Blog Term 2 Week 9
Do you support stem cell research? Explain your view.

Stem cells are cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are able to renew themselves through mitotic cell differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Stem cells can be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Highly plastic adult stem cells come from a variety of sources, including Umbilical cord blood. Umbilical cord blood and bone marrow are routinely used in medical therapies.
Stem cell research is used for investigation of basic cells which develop organisms. The cells are grown in laboratories. The tests are carried out to investigate fundamental properties of the cells. There are pros and cons to carrying out stem cell research. Although it is a tremendous breakthrough in medical science and is something that we should cheer, there are some concerns.
There are many advantages of stem cell research. The most obvious being able to treat a host of medical problems such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Heart Diseases, Stroke and Diabetes, Birth Defects, Spinal Cord Injuries or even replace or repair damaged organs and the list goes on. This will revolutionise the world of medical treatments. It will ease the pain and suffering of the sick and injured. This research would give great insights about basics of the body.
However Stem Cell Research raises some issues, mostly ethical ones. For example, people are worried about how the knowledge will be used and we should not mess with human life. Stem cell research may lead to human cloning in the future. As with experience in other research which lead to adverse consequences, like the nuclear research, we have to be extra cautious.
Many critics are also concerned with the ethical issues relating to stem cell research. We should develop more ethical methods to extract the stem cell and also to research in a more ethical way. A life is a life and should not be compromised. A fertilized egg is a life even though it is only a few weeks old.
The benefits of stem cell research has such a great outcome that in my opinion it outweighs the ethical concerns. Strict guidelines should be in place to ensure that the research do not cross the tolerance range relating to ethical issues.
Thus for all obvious medical benefits and to lessen patient’s pain and improve the quality of people’s life, I totally support stem cell research. In fact, I aspire to be one of those researchers and to contribute positively to the research and medical arena.

Term 2 Blog Week 8: Social Network Bad Experience

Write a short story about a teenager who goes missing shortly after joining a social network site.

Opening his email, John found an email reading," Are you a fan of anime? Join this social network!” Not knowing that the email was spam, he clicked on the link below. He was led to their network on Ning. He joined and started looking around the site.

John found several members of the social network with the same interest. His addiction in the social network increased and he would go online for at least 2 hours a day to chat with the various people. Funnily enough, he did not realise that it was always the same four or five boys that he chatted to. He made many friends online, and even gave out personal information such as his real name and address and that his father was a professor in a university. John did not realise the consequences of doing this just then. Little did he foresee the unexpected.

The “good friends” persuaded John to officially join their exclusive club for die-hard anime fans. It would also enable him to meet friends of the same interest and widen his circle of friends . They sounded convincing enough. John, thinking that this club would benefit him, agreed to meet up with two of the committee members from the club. The meeting place was none other than McDonalds along Bukit Timah Road, which was a stone’s throw away from his house. The two boys looked decent and unbelievably friendly. John was sold! He readily agreed when they asked for a $200 membership fee to the club. John dug out every last dollar from his wallet, which was his allowance for that month.

Feeling glad that he had finally joined a club where he can belong to, John smiled as he walked home. He received an email, asking him to meet those “friends” the next week and was elated. A nasty surprise awaited him. This time, they requested to meet at a quite, dilapidated house near Holland Village. At first, John was puzzled. But soon, in his eagerness to meet his “friends”, he ditched all his sensibility. Upon arrival at the deserted place, his “friends” immediately got to their act and asked John for more money, a whopping $10000.

“Ten thousand dollars?” exclaimed a surprised John. The looks of malice and wickedness in his friends, which he had never noticed before, soon sank in. He could feel the blood drain off his limbs and tension amounting within. He felt his knees go wobbly and adrenaline rush through his veins.

Soon, the “friends” turned aggressive and menacing. They admitted that they are thugs out to cheat innocent, rich and lonely schoolboys like John. They were big bullies pounding on him! With evil looks, they demanded that he call his parents for money. Unfortunately, his parents were not contactable as they were in a rural part of China. John pleaded with them and tears streamed down. They showed him no mercy and locked him in one of the dirty, smelly rooms before leaving. They warned him that unless they get their money, he would be left there to starve and meet his death.

John prayed fervently that help would arrive soon. But how? His parents are overseas. John looked out of the tiny window and wished to breathe the fresh air. He wanted very much some water and food. How he wished that he had not been so gullible. His parents had warned him many times and he always turned a deaf ear. If only he had heeded their advice, he would not be in this predicament. “If only I could get out as soon as possible,” John prayed, “I will always be obedient to my parents and think before I leap.”

English Blog: Term 2 Week 6: Women Deserve Equal Standing and opportunities in workforce

Women deserve equal standing and opportunities in the workforce. Write and exposition of about 400 words of this title.

Women of today take on a wide array of roles in society ranging from being a wife, mother and a corporate high flier. More women gets higher education and that translate to more women entering the workforce and holding higher positions in the corporate ladder.

With globalisation and Singapore being more urbanised and industrialised, the need for intelligent ambitious and talented personnel, whether male or female is apparent. Every organisation should promote their personnel based on meritocracy and as long as a woman has the right qualifications, ability, aptitude and capability, she should have an equal chance of being promoted.

The modern Singapore women are well educated, well read and well travelled. These diversities in background and knowledge set them poise to demand equal or better opportunities in the workforce.
In the 21st century, brains count a lot more than brawn. Women’s achievements have a significant role in the workforce. They deserve equal standing and recognition so that they can realise their fullest potential and contribute to the prosperity and progress of our nation. Women should be given equal opportunities to nurture their unique capabilities and leadership strengths.

Singapore is a society which holds dear the ideal of meritocracy. In education and the workforce, equal opportunities exist for the best candidates, regardless of gender and race. In school, boys and girls are given equal opportunities to excel in sports, aesthetics, community and intellectual pursuits. Similarly, in the workforce, women should get equal access to all opportunities. Many women have gain credible positions in the workforce all thanks to the recognition by the government that men and women have equal rights in the work place. The Fair Employment Practices ensure that employers do not discriminate and they recruit, select and reward their employees based on merits.

All women deserve equal opportunities as men and enjoy a full range of human rights. There are many high flying women holding key positions in the political, public and arena. Members of parliament include Ms Grace Foo, Ms Lim Hwee Hua and private Madam Halimah Yacob, to name a few. The group CEO of the largest listed company in Singapore is Ms Chua Sock Koong while Dr Wong Ting Hway was the first Singaporean to work full-time with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

We must empower and enrich the lives of women who are assets and rich resources to our country. We must leverage Singapore women so that they could achieve success in the national and global arenas. Thus I conclude that women deserve equal standing and opportunities in the workforce.