Sample of Exercises for LC

8/10/2019 Sample of Exercises for LC

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Below are the texts to be learnt in the Upper Secondary level;

Form 4

Poems 1) In The Midst of Hardship - Latiff Mohidin
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( a translated version of the original poem in Malay)~ Here, the poet presented a whole new idea of poverty and contentment, of how the

poor react with mishaps in life. I told my students that this poem probably stemmedup from the simplicity of the life of a farmer and his family, they probably camefrom the East Coast of Malaysia or the Northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. We

could derive on the fact that these states are prone to floods and there are still farmersworking on their paddy fields using buffalos albeit the machines i.e the line found inthe poem " they desperately looking for their son's albino buffalo that was never

found". 2) He Had Such Quiet Eyes - Bibsy Soenharjo ( an Indonesian poet)

~ This poem is quite tricky as well. It brings about the issue of not trusting theopposite gender. It is a good poem, considering the moral and social issues of today'syouths. There are lines such as " And to render him paradise" and "With pleasure-

seeking guys" . Apparently, the poem is an advice to the young women out there, thatthere are certainly men or guys who are ready to take advantages on theirvulnerabilities.

Note; These poems are to be tested in the SPM 1119 English Language paper.

Short Stories 1) QWERTYUIOP - Vivien Alcock

~ The haunted typewriter and the deceased ex-secretary, Miss Broome are thehighlights of this short story. Lucy Beck, the unlucky new secretary is determined to

beat all odds to hold on to the job at the solicitors' office- Ross and Bannisters.Anybody who uses the typewriter, will end up having the word QWERTYUIOP

being typed up on the paper. Hence, the title of the short story.

2) The Fruit Cake Special - Frank Brennan ~ Anna, the chemist in this story accidentally created a perfume with the smell of a

Fruitcake. She wore the perfume and suddenly found herself being the centre ofattraction as the men in this story fought over her. We learn that a love potion-- in thiscase " the perfume" will not last long in terms of attracting people, it is the heart thatmatters...

Drama 1) Gulp and Gasp - John Townsend

~ The melodrama about life, love and destiny. Who would have thought that Percy,the hero was actually the lost heir of the Gatsby Gold. The drama unfolded as thekey he was wearing since birth was the actual answer to the hidden treasure. This isa good drama to be dramatized as we have Lord Septic, the villain, Rose, the blindheroine and Crouch, the cunning and unsrupulous servant of Lord Septic.

Notes; Drama and short stories are not to be tested in the SPM English 1119 Paper. Form 5

Poems


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1) Nature- H.D Carberry ~ The poem is a beautiful recollection of Carberry's appreciation of his home

country, the island nation of Jamaica. It tells about the rich nature of Jamaica, being inthe Carribean, despite the occasional heavy rain storms or desruptive weather or thenon-existence of four seasons climate as found in temperate countries. Jamaica, on

the other hand, is definitely a beautiful country with its own beauty . The poem isrich in language and style as seen from the lines "When the tall grass sways andshivers to the slightest breath of air" , "When the buttercups have pavedthe earth with yellow stars". These lines are definitely imagery examples as theyuse vivid, clear descriptive language that appeal to one or more of the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste). In my lessons, I have made the fifth formersread out the poem with actions and movements. They were a bit apprehensive at first

but readily to admit that they understood the poem better, at last.

2) Are You Still Playing Your Flute- Zurinah Hassan ( A translated version of the Malay poem- Masihkah Kau Bermain Seruling)

~ At a first glance it seemed like a romantic poem, as the poet is longing to the onewho is still playing the bamboo flute in her village. However, the poem is not reallya love poem- it is discussing on the need to prioritize what is important in one's lifeand the whole world. The poet feels that is is unwise to think about her love of thearts, her selfishness- where else the Muslims at the other side of theworld are fighting for their country such in Bosnia and Palestine. I would have saidthat this poem is written circa 1990s (as the Bosnians were fighting for their lives

back in 1992-1995).

Novel

1)Step by Wicked Step- Anne Fine Set in the UK, this is actually a novel which has been shorlisted for Sheffield

Children's Book Award in 1996. It also received the same billing for LancashireChildren's Book Award in 1996. Therefore, there is a need to clarify to the fifthformers that they are reading a book meant for children. The characters in this storyare children who suffer from the complexities of different family arrangements. Eachcharacter has his or her own step mother or father, all of them have step siblings. Themissing elements of natural, real parents i.e fathers and mothers are quite rampant inthe six stories of the novel. My former students used to tell me that there are justtoo many stories to remember. I told them to forget the stories, there were actuallysix characters with one main theme- DIVORCE AND SEPARATION . RichardClayton Harwick, may come from the past but he has one common similarity with theother five characters- Pixie, Claudia, Colin, Ralph and Robbo - all of them comefrom Broken Family set-ups. You can read more on this by going to (click ) AnneFine's Notes .
http://www.annefine.co.uk/books/step.phphttp://www.annefine.co.uk/books/step.phphttp://www.annefine.co.uk/books/step.phphttp://www.annefine.co.uk/books/step.phphttp://www.annefine.co.uk/books/step.php


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To conclude, the New Literature Component for Form 4 and 5 has a wide range ofliterary works to be covered. However, in our quest to prepare students for their SPM,I truly hope that the purposes of learning literature in the first place- to enrich our

students minds and make them think critically on life issues- are not to be reckonedwith. Literature is not about giving hand-outs and synopsis to students, it is about

delving and discussing issues and themes, and not forgetting to digest the richness ofwords and sentences found in the text. Therefore, it is wise to say that it isIMPORTANT that students read the text i.e the novel, drama and short stories- so thatthey would have better understanding on the literary works. As said by Carl Sagan ,"Frederick Douglass taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. Thereare many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom. But reading is still the path ".

Sample Answer (Step by Wicked Step)Sample Question:

What is the most important moral value that you have learnt from the novelyou havestudied? With close reference to the text, give reasons to supportyour answer.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The most importantmoral value that I have learnt from this novel is honesty. There are many exampleswhich show the importance of honesty throughout this novel. First of all, we can seethat in this novel, parents are not being honest to their children. They do not tell theirchildren what is happening between them. This causes the children a lot of stress andworry. For example, Lilith Harwick does not tell her children that their father isdying. We see how distressed Richard is when guessing the truth about his father'scondition. When Colin'smother decides to leave Colin's dad and move up north, shedoes not explainthe reason to Colin. Colin does not like his new life and misses hisdad a lot,but his mother does not seem to be aware of how he felt.Apart from that, the

parents' lack of honesty makes the children keep theirthoughts and feelings tothemselves. This is bad because it may cause thechildren to take the wrong action. Forexample, Colin stops talking about hisdad to his mother, but plans to run away to findhim one day. However, whenparents are honest about their feelings and open up totheir children, theirrelationship will get better. This can be seen in the case of Lucyand Pixie.After they burst out and tell each other their true feelings, theirrelationshipimproves a lot. Pixie respects Lucy and Lucy gives Pixie time and spacetoadapt to her new family.

In a nutshell, honesty is the most important moral value that can be learntfrom thisnovel because it helps to heal and rebuild relationships in thefamily. I hope everyonecan practice honesty in their lives.

Choose a character that you admire from a novel that you have learned inForm 5.With close reference to the text, give reasons to support youranswer.I choose thenovel Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine. The characterthat I admire isClaudia. There are many reasons why I admire her verymuch.First of all, I admireClaudia because she is a gentle person. Listening toRichard's sad story, makes her

weep. Besides, she is loyal to her mother. Shetries not to sound too happy whenspeaking to her father because she doesnot want to hurt her mother's feeling. She


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rejects Stella and refuses to enjoyher time with her father out of loyalty to her mother.She knows that herparents break-up is serious even though her mother soundedcheerful.Apart from that, I really admire Claudia because she is a fair andsensibleperson. She does not blame Stella for her parents' break-up. At thedinnerparty, she thinks that the guests are rude for not appreciating Stella's hardwork.

She realizes that ignoring Stella would not help solving mattersbetween her parents.Feeling sorry for Stella who is being ignored by theguests, she decides to help her getaccepted by showing off the greenpyjamas which Stella gave her.In a nutshell, thecharacter that I admire from Step by Wicked Step is Claudiabecause she is gentle,loyal, fair and sensible. I think we could learn a lotfrom her character.

Analysing the Characters in Step by Wicked StepClaudiaClaudia is a gentle person.Listening to Richard's sad story, makes her weep.She is loyal to her mother. She triesnot to sound too happy when speaking toher father because she does not want to hurther mother's feeling. Sherejects Stella and refuses to enjoy her time with her father outof loyalty toher mother. She knows that her parents break-up is serious even thoughhermother sounded cheerful .http://images.search.yahoo.com Claudia is a fair andsensible person. She does not blame Stella for herparents' break-up. At the dinner

party, she thinks that the guests are rude fornot appreciating Stella's hard work. Sherealizes that ignoring Stella wouldnot help solving matters between her parents.Feeling sorry for Stella who isbeing ignored by the guests, she decides to help her getaccepted byshowing off the green pyjamas which Stella gave her.
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Sample of Exercises for LC