Term 3 Week 10

Monday: Its the last week of the term. We're gonna start revising for the last exam of the year. We did not have any lecture lessons today as it was a full dress rehearsal for our Shakespeare performance. Speaking of full dress... No one brought any costumes and props. I guess that everyone have not prepared all their costumes and props yet. Mr Chua told us to take our Lit files and we proceed to the music room. After getting into our groups, Mr Chua looked around and found that no one brought costumes and props today. 

He

and          

  Mr Chua then began scolding us. We made him reaaaally angry. It was one of the fiercest lecture he gave us this year.

  

Mr Chua highlighted that we were the first class he had ever seen that has brought nothing to the full dress rehearsal during the past 4 years. After the scolding, we became more efficient in fulfilling Mr Chua's instruction. When my group went out to practice, the other group went in to start recording down their performance. Unfortunately, when we came out, a teacher came out and scolded us for being noisy. I guess the previous group was the one who was making a ruckus. When it was our turn, we went in. Everyone was nervous though, but they went on with their performance. Our director recorded our play. I was quite satisfied with my group for not forgetting their lines, only to refer to the lit files at little times. Though, we have to practice more on expressing ourselves and getting into character. The set decorator have to create the atmosphere to allow the actors to sink into the atmosphere. I realised that it was really difficult to get into character, as I was playing a male character which was much more difficult for me to play as. So, I think that I still have to improve on my acting skills. 

Thursday: Mr Chua came in and scolded the same students that went out the class again. They never learn their lessons do they? It's pretty tiring for teachers to scold students repeatedly. So, I think the students should spare a thought for the teachers. We had lesson this time, and Mr Chua gave out pur Literature test. I was really nervous about it. And whenI received the paper, I got 17. 

I was quite disappointed as many people did better than me. Mr Chua did not waste anytime and went through the test paper. In no time, he finished going through the paper. He showed us the Romeo And Juliet movie. 

Everyone focused intently on the movie itself, observing how the actors act and the costumes and props they used. So, this lesson was really essential for us. Mr Chua went through the movie, explaining the details. He told the set decorators, costume designers and actors to stand as he explained the details to each of them. When it was my turn to stand, I realised that I was the only one playing a male character. I think that it is going to be a real challenge for me. Noting how the way Tybalt acts, I will try my best to get into that kind of character during the play. I think that each of everyone of us need to have perseverance in what we do. I think that everyone did persevere in their lives. Without it, we can achieve nothing.

All pictures by deviantart.

When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~Author Unknown


Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.  ~Newt Gingrich

Term 3 Week 9

Monday: Mr Chua and Ms Chala came in to conduct our Literature test. Ms Chala came in to take over and Mr Chua went out. Everyone took the exam seriously except for a few students who have to be told to keep quiet for a few times by Ms Chala. The test was not very difficult, and I hope that I could score better this time. 




  I think that some of the students have to be more disciplined in their studies. They should not create such a ruckus to the teachers. It wastes everybody's time. 


  Thursday:  It was Literature lesson. Many students went out of the classroom to check if Mr Chua was coming. When Mr Chua came, everyone rushed back to their seats. Mr Chua then scolded the class for being so ridiculous. He then told us to hand up our work. Mr Chua had to waste another 15 minutes to scold the same students for not handing up their work. I wonder why they don't they cooperate and stop making teachers to lecture them? It doesn't benefit both of them. Mr Chua moved on. He gave us a worksheet. A picture was printed out on the first page. There was some questions on the back page. The picture shows a vulture and a African child lying on the ground. 




Pulitzer Prize in 1994 by Kevin Carter


Mr Chua then told us to write down what we see in the picture. I wrote two inscriptions: "Vulture waiting for the child to die, so that it could eat him/her." and "People in Africa suffering from famine as the grass around dried up" .
Mr Chua then explained the picture and talk about famine. 



He said that the picture was taken by a photographer called Kevin Carter. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994, where a famine took place in Africa. One student asked, "Did Kevin died later on?" Mr Chua told him that he would answer his question later. Mr Chua told us that the UN (United Nations) provided food aid stations. The female child was crawling to the food aid station more than 1km away. The child was too weak to walk, and was dying. the vulture at the back was waiting for its prey to die. Kevin couldn't do anything, so he took a picture and walked off. He was criticized for not helping the little girl. 3 months later, he committed suicide. Some students were laughing at the picture. Mr Chua told us that he understood the reason why they found it so funny as they have not experienced famine before. Kevin's suicide note: "I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners...."  I think that he was suffering from depression due to the things that he experienced. I feel sad for him. I think that famine is really has a big impact to describe something really devastating. Victims can really do something extreme that we can't imagine. Such things causes much sorrow, and I think that all of us should feel grateful. The students who laughed are so immature. I think that they did not suffered from things before. They should learn more about the world and get send to less developed countries to experience the people's misery. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter