Lydia chai yee xuan individual report

1 LYDIA CHAI YEE XUAN 2014 SEMESTER 8 UPSI

1

1.0 Introduction

English literature is a compulsory component in Malaysia’s curriculum for English subject from

Form One to Form Five. According to Nor Hashimah & Che Ton (2012), the purpose of studying

literature is to “enable learners to engage in wider reading of good literary works for enjoyment

and self development” (p. 76). A variety of literary text ranging from poem, short story and

novel will be taught and evaluated in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) public examination.

The selected literary text in students’ curriculum may be too easy or difficult for different

levels of students. Therefore, the teacher may use other literary text as pre or post exercise in the

teaching of Literature. Gagen (2008) supported that students are advised to read level appropriate

material. The appropriateness and suitability of the literary text should be determined by the

teacher.

2.0 Discussion of the Assigned Literary Text

The chosen literary text is a poem entitled Mirror, Mirror written by Lisa King.

Refer Appendix (a).

The poet composes this poem in such a way that it consists of the voices from two

entities. The first voice is the narrative ‘I’ in the first five stanzas of which believed to be a

female. As a result, it makes this poem a first person point of view written poem. It gives a

strong and obvious urge of “I want something” desire as readers recite the poem. The second

voice is the mirror’s voice starting from the last three stanzas. The mirror plays the role as an

advisor who advises the female.

2.1 Theme: Pledging women to stop self-abuse

This poem portrays a strong feminism theme of pledging women to stop self-abuse. The

term “self-abuse” is known as self-harm or self-mutilation whereby it signifies an act wherein

someone deliberately hurts or injures themselves (Tracy, 2013). It is being further described as a

practice which is not limited to only teens but also adults. In relation to this poem, the poet

probably wants to direct this poem to female readers of age ranging from 12 to 35 – the female

teenagers and young adults.


2

To understand the poem better, it is important to understand the reasons why people

self- injure. This is well explained by Dombeck (2008) that, “people self- injure in order to:

release tension associated with strong emotions or overwhelming thoughts, feel something

physical when they are otherwise dissociated and numb, and punish themselves” (para. 7).

In stanza one, the narrator “I” desires to change her physical appearance according to the

standard beauty criteria. She chooses to follow the bandwagon of saying that only thin, pretty

and tall women are classified as attractive. In stanza two, she starts to question if changing her

hairstyle is able to make a significant highlight so that “someone” will start to notice her

existence. The “someone” is likely to refer to a special male whom the girl is affectionately

attracted to. At this point, she is actually releasing her tension of feeling inferior and low

confident in gaining something. Her condition gets worse as she continues to question if she

makes herself hungry deliberately is able to make her look stunning. She is expecting huge

transformation change of herself. To her, changing a hairstyle only is not sufficient to make her

look beautiful. She continues questioning again if cutting her wrist is able to make her feel

existing. This is a serious question asked by the girl which clearly indicates that she no long

knows how to judge what is right and wrong anymore. To gain the “beauty” title, she is willing

to die. She is clearly experiencing a high level of tension of which she does not know what to do

other than to “punish” herself for being not excellent enough in her appearance. It could be her

extreme low level of self esteem which makes her feel so unsatisfied with her own physical

appearance.

In the poem, the female is abusing herself physically, mentally and psychologically in

order to find relieve in expressing her desire to own the standard beauty and a crush’s attention.

Another way of understanding the concept of committing suicide in stanza four is taking death as

a way to punish herself from failing to achieve the standard. In other words, self abuse can

actually lead one to commit suicide as a result of self punish.

In addition, she could be a lonely person who wants to seek for attention. With good

appearance, people will notice her. Unfortunately she perceives herself as imperfect and is

depressed over her appearance. To make people notice is to create a chaos in the crowd –

creating her own death. Then, she can be famous and people will finally know who she is. This is

a result of an act of seeking attention from helpless depression. As agreed by Lickerman (2010),

people who commit suicide usually do not want to die but they just wanted to alert those around


3

them that something is seriously wrong. As seen in the poem, the female chooses to cut her wrist

as the method to end her life. If she really wants to die so badly, then she could have chosen to

jump down from a tall building which is a definitely no-return suicide. Cutting the wrist is a

slower form of dying method. In her sub-consciousness, she probably knows that there is still a

thin possibility of people saving her from dying. She actually pathetically puts in a little hope in

anticipating for people’s notice to save her.

On the other hand, Kashdan (2014) argued that in general, people do not commit suicide

because they are in pain but it is due to their disbelief that there is a reason to live and the world

will be better off without them. This is an interesting point of view which counters Lickerman’s

saying. This can also be used to explain one of the possibilities of the female wanting to commit

suicide. Her unexplainable urge to own better good physical traits are making her feeling non-

existing. To her, she may feel that she is too ugly to fit into the community whereby it could be

due to her friends’ cycle. They probably own better physical appearance as compared relatively

to her. As a result, it causes her to have such low self esteem of herself.

There is also a possibility that this can be diagnosed into a kind of illness called Body

Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America

(2014), patients with BDD think about their real or perceived flaws for hours each day. As this

poem is written by a Western poet, it can be perceived that the poem is targeting Western

females. Therefore, the notion that physical attractiveness is a valued and even revered quality in

Western society – it is a form of obsession for many people (Covin, 2012).

Being a female at the age of a teenager or perhaps a young adult, having a crush on a

male is extremely normal. However, it hurts when knowing the admired person is not showing

similar interest. Some females are too irrational when it comes to relationship aspect. Their

desire to make the other person to fall in love with themselves could be so great until it affects

their rationality in decision making of how to be who they really are. True love always requires

one to be their true self. As agreed by K (2014), real love allows one to be who you really are. In

this poem, the female is likely to assert a lot of unnecessary pressure onto her own appearance in

order to gain the admirer’s love. She probably presumes that having good appearance is the first

step in making a male to fall in love. Therefore, this explains why she is so obsessed with the

need of looking thin, pretty and tall in order to feel “existing”.


4

3.0 Discussion of Adaption

This poem is selected as a teaching material for a class of intermediate level proficiency convent

school Form 4 students. These students stay in the urban area and are generally open-minded.

There are a few reasons why this poem is selected. It can be taught under the theme

values as this poem contains an obvious moral value which can be highlighted among convent

female students – love yourself before you can love others or others can love you. These convent

students should be familiar with the context of the poem as the narrator “I” is a female. Since

they are all females, it is highly possible that they might face a situation similar to the narrator.

Besides, this poem can be done as a follow-up exercise for the curriculum selected poem, He

Had Such Quiet Eyes by Bibsy Soenharjo. This poem also advises females to be wise in

choosing their partner. Both poems can be linked as the content are more a less of the same niche.

However, necessary adaptations are done in order to suite students’ level and purpose of

the lesson. This is very true as supported by Olinghouse (2008) that, every student will get

benefits when suitable accommodation is done. Thus, the original poem is adapted accordingly

based on the students’ demographic details and knowledge. Refer Appendix (b).

There are several reasons why adaptations are done. Firstly, the original stanza four is

deleted. This is because it contains the idea of committing suicide which is an extremely negative

input to students. Though it can be taught positively as a warning or moral value of prevention, it

is possible too for students to perceive it as a solution for their depression. After all, the teacher

may not know what every student is thinking inside. Rather than trying to prevent, it is better to

omit it all. Inversely, teacher should be asserting positive solutions to students.

Secondly, some words from the original poem are substituted with more challenging

diction. This is due to the reason that the original words used in the poem are too simple for this

group of students. It will be less challenging and interesting to them if it is too simple. This is

agreed by Kingaore (2002) who claimed that the lack of challenging materials is one of the

factors that discourages the desire to continue reading for advanced readers. Specific words are

chosen to be substituted as these words are the key words in the poem as well as the focus of the

learning of vocabulary in the lesson. These words are the adjectives such as substituting “thin”

with “slender” and “pretty” with “appealing”. Another reason for doing so is to have students to


5

learn something extra from the skirt of their knowledge, like as stated in the theory of acquiring

second language by Stephen Krashen, the input hypothesis of ‘i+1’.The poem is overall easy to

understand but having the diction slightly more difficult, it allows students to learn a little more

extra apart from what they already knew.

Thirdly, stanzas six to eight are deleted from the original poem. This is because these

stanzas are too straight forward in telling what is happening to the female “I”. It is better to give

a half-hanging conclusion to the readers so that teacher can ask open ended questions to

challenge students’ higher order thinking of making conclusion and provide rationales. This

makes the literary text more challenging and fun to be explored as countless possibilities are

possible as long as logic reasons are provided. This can also be a passage to encourage students

to analyze poem critically using reader response theory.

The last adaptation done to the poem is the addition of one stanza after deleting four

stanzas from the original poem. The newly added stanza is stanza five in the adapted poem. From

the way the stanzas are arranged, students are “guided” in their understanding as the poem first

three stanzas are like monologue and the last three stanzas are like a conversation with the mirror

but with no reply. This adaptation allows readers to see clearer the situation that is being

described in the original poem, a conversation between a girl and the mirror; but unanswered

until the end. However, the conversation of the mirror from the original poem is not included

because it will make the whole poem too direct to understand and less challenging for this group

of students. They should be given slightly tougher reading material but not too advanced until it

affects their ability to understand.


6

4.0 Discussion of Classroom Materials

The lesson is a single period lesson. The focus of the lesson is on the learning of vocabulary. The

main skill involved is the speaking skill. Below is the flow of lesson:

STAGE ACTIVITY

INDUCTION Teacher asks students to guess a riddle of which the answer is ‘mirror’.

LESSON DEVELOPMENT

STAGE 1:

EXPLANATION Teacher recites the poem with expressions and feelings.

Teacher shows some pictures [refer Appendix (c)] which depict the

adjectives and their antonyms in the poem.

Teacher asks students to sort out words from the poem which describe

the picture shown and explain their preference between each antonym pictures.

Teacher asks students to guess the overall meaning of the poem.

STAGE 2:

PRACTICE

Teacher asks students to look at a mirror and draw an ideal image of

themselves using their right hands (writing hand) [refer Appendix (d)].

Teacher asks students to look at a mirror and draw another ideal image

of themselves using their left hands (non-writing hand) [refer Appendix (e)].

Teacher asks students to list down as many adjectives as possible for both images.

STAGE 3:

PRODUCTION Teacher asks students to paste the two images on both sides of an

artificial mirror frame [refer Appendix (f)].

By mirroring themselves, teacher asks students to talk for 1 minute regarding which image they prefer to have and provide reasons using the

adjectives – the one drawn with the right hand or left hand.

Teacher explains the rationale of the activity – you are the person who decides how you want to see yourself.

CLOSURE Teacher asks students questions pertaining the values learnt from the poem.


7

As seen from above, the teaching materials involved in the lesson are the following:

o Adapted poem handout [Refer Appendix (b)]

o Pictures describing adjectives in the adapted poem [refer Appendix (c)]

o Mirror image drawing template (using right hand) [Refer Appendix (d)]

o Mirror image drawing template (using left hand) [Refer Appendix (e)]

o Artificial mirror with empty frame [Refer Appendix (f)]

These materials are sufficient to facilitate the teaching which aims to encourage students

to speak based on what they think, see and feel. This is a good activity with the use of basic

teaching materials to boost students’ self esteem and drawing creativity skill. As they draw, they

do not only have to imagine their own appearances, they have to think how to il lustrate

themselves in the best way. Everybody certainly wants a nice drawing of themselves but students

have to know that the drawing must be real and not too imaginatively fantasy from their ideal

self. Therefore, this activity actually requires students to use all the three domains – cognitive,

psychomotor and affective.

At the end of the lesson, students ought to know that the image on the mirror whether is

appealing or not depends on the viewer’s point of view and decision. Both are drawn using their

own hands. Whether it is drawn with a left hand or right hand, the objective is to draw an ideal

portrait of themselves. In other words, both portraits should be ideal. This connotes the idea of

the lesson that, nobody is ugly as beauty lies in the eyes of beholder.

5.0 Conclusion

The teaching of literature to secondary school students should be made fun and interesting to

attract their passion and interest in literature. Therefore, teachers are encouraged to use various

creative and innovative techniques to teach the language art. In conjunction to that, Davies (n.d.)

stated that students are encouraged to ponder for themselves, and apply their creative

imaginations when learning literature.


8

References

Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (2014). Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

Retrieved from http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-

related-conditions/body-dysmorphic-disorder-bdd

Covin, R. (2012). Science says you’re more attractive than you think. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/roger-covin/physical-attractiveness_b_1705663.html

Davies, R. (n.d.). New ways of teaching literature. Centre for Languages Linguistics & Area

Studies, Advance online publication. Retrieved from

https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/2593

Dombeck, M. (2008). Six reasons why people self-injure. Retrieved from

http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=16218

Gagen, M. (2008). A discussion on reading materials: Finding appropriate level books to help

students improve reading skills. How to select books to match your child/student’s

reading level?. Retrieved from http://www.righttrackreading.com/selectbooks.html

K, D. (2014). No matter how much love hurts, these 5 things are always true. Retrieved from

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-12672/no-matter-how-much- love-hurts-these-5-

things-are-always-true.html

Kashdan, T. B. (2014). Why do people kill themselves? New warning signs. Retrieved from

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/curious/201405/why-do-people-kill-themselves-

new-warning-signs

Kingore, B. (2002). Reading instruction for the Primary Gifted Learner. Understanding Our

Gifted, 15(1), 12-15. Retrieved from

http://www.bertiekingore.com/readinginstruction.htm

Lickerman, A. (2010). 6 reasons why people commit suicide. Retrieved from

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/06/6-reasons-people-commit-suicide.html


9

Nor Hashimah, I., & Che Ton, M. (2012). Literary texts for Malaysian secondary schools: Needs

versus policy. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(7), 76-86.

Retrieved from http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_7_April_2012/9.pdf

Olinghouse, N. (2008). Design lessons for diverse learners. Retrieved from

http://education.msu.edu/te/secondary/pdf/Designing-Lessons-for-Diverse-Learners.pdf

Tracy, N. (2013). What is self-injury, self-harm, self mutilation?. Retrieved from

http://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/self- injury/what- is-self- injury-self-harm-self-

mutilation/


10

Appendix (a) – Original poem written by Lisa King

Mirror, Mirror, on my wall,

I just want to be thin, pretty and tall.

Mirror, Mirror, if I change my hair,

maybe someone will start to care?

Mirror, Mirror, if I starve myself,

at least I’ll be beautiful, forget my health.

Mirror, Mirror, if I cut my wrist

will I feel like I exist?

Mirror, Mirror, don’t you see?

What you show, is ruining me.

For far too long it had watched her cry,

so the mirror decided to reply:

"What you think you see? It isn't true.

This misery is found inside of you.

Don't lock yourself in a broken soul,

or I promise you one day, you'll lose all control."


11

Appendix (b) – Adapted poem

Mirror, Mirror, on my wall,

I just want to be slender, appealing and tall.

Mirror, Mirror, if I change my hair,

maybe someone will start to care?

Mirror, Mirror, if I starve myself,

at least I’ll be beautiful, forget my health.

Mirror, Mirror, don’t you see?

What you show is ruining me.

Mirror, Mirror, I am who I see,

what you show in front of me.

Mirror, Mirror, please stop it!

I’m hiding at a corner with no heartbeat.


12

Appendix (c) – Pictures describing adjectives and their antonyms in the adapted poem

Unappealing

Appealing


13

Slender

Fat


14

Tall

Short


15

Appendix (d) – Mirror image drawing template (using right hand)

Instruction: Draw an ideal portrait of yourself

using your right hand.

Appendix (e) – Mirror image drawing template (using left hand)


16

Instruction: Draw an ideal portrait of yourself

using your left hand.

Appendix (f) – Artificial mirror with empty frame

Instru

Instru


17

Front Back

Documents

Lydia chai yee xuan individual report