Words Go Round 2011 (Reflections)

Questions:
1) Which speaker did you find the most engaging, informative, or enjoyable? Why?
2) Elaborate on 2 insights about poetry and Singaporean literature you have gleaned from the panel discussion.
3) In your opinion, how do writers make "words come alive"? Based in what you've heard during the panel discussion, how would you make "words come alive!" for you and your friends?

Responses
1. I felt that the speaker Lee Sui was the most engaging, and I enjoyed his speech thoroughly. He was witty and humorous. He was also interactive with the audience, asking questions directly to the audience and having a show of hands to show how many agreed or disagreed. He also cracked jokes along the way. He recounted his experiences, for example, him getting a fail grade in High School but eventually got and A in Literature. However, I feel the Jeffery was the most informative. He talk about the uses of literature, its placing in society nowadays and also explaining about what is literature.

2. I have learnt from the panel discussion that Singaporean literature comprises of a collection of literary works by Singaporeans. Singaporen literature is a significant part of Singapore's culture and tells us a lot about the society in Singapore; how people live, their language, etc. Poetry is the idea of expressing yourself; a small amount of Singapore's literature is poetry, but nevertheless it is still important. It shows the expressions of the people, and carves out the lives of people in Singapore. Literature shows the world and builds up our ability to communicate better.

3. In order for writers to make "words come alive"(in my opinion), they must come up with fresh and inspiring ideas, and it also must be realistic, to allow the reacer to relate his own experience to the piece of work. The work must also be paired with good description, but not exaggeration. As mentioned by speaker Jeffery Lim, he said that "Literature is life", which I free very much to. It is amzing how literature can spark the interest of readers, and how simple words can be woven into amzing tales and stories. Literature is about appreciating, unlike how Math and Science is, where they have a practical use. Literature is about knowing more, and gaining new experiences, gaining access to a world other than your own. Literature is not just about great English (or any other language the book is in) and talent. Literature is about ideas and more ideas. It is innovation. A good writer's work should be able to catch the reader's attention with an innovative work, a new idea. Incoporating emotions and feelings would also help to make a greater impact on the reader. I believe that in order to make "words come alive", the author must know life, and be creative. The speakers were very motivational, and helped me to understand deeply the improtance of literature. Being able to allow words to "come alive", one is already starting to become a good writer. Impactful phrases and words allows the reader to be more affected by the piece of writing, and allows to reader to relate to the writing, which is required for a good piece of work. Having a clear view of what you are writing is also important, as it will allow the piece of writing to be more understandable. The writing style of a literature work is also important. Most writers have a different style in writing. A good writer would pick a writing style which he/she deems suitable for the piece of writing. Entertaining and lively words would probably fit for a happy experience, while gloomy words would fit for a sad experience. Other emotions would help as well, to give a mix of emotions through the story. A good introduction would help give the story a boost and keep the reader reading on. In all, I feel the best way to improve literature is to start reading the works of famous and good writers to get inspired and learn to write great literature just like them.

Sabbatical (Science Fiction Scenario Writing)

This sabbatical was about writing a Science Fiction short story with a given topic. I feel that this sabbatical has helped me gained more interest in Science Fiction. Originally, I did not have much interest in Science Fiction and I barely read any Science Ficiton books. However, through this sabbatical, I gained interest in this topic and even learnt how to write Science Fiction. They gave a few Science Fiction short stories to read on. I feel that "Skittles for Callisto" was the best out of all. It talked about cultural prejudice between Martian-humans and Earth-humans, however, they eventually made up. I initially thought Science Ficiton was just about new and advanced technologies, about super suits and speedy robots. However, this story has changed my view on Science Fiction.

I also learnt about various mistakes made in Science Fiction. One of the major ones is the "info dump", where all the information is dumped right into the story and the author expects the reader to read all of that yet make no progress into the story. It is one of the main things that makes the story boring, and makes the reader not want to read on. Also, another mistake that is common is fuzz, where the author uses "Somehow" to cover up things he finds troublesome to explain.

One of the main things to take note of in Science Fiction writing is worldbuilding, building an imaginery world, the future world. It MUST be believable. The climate, geology and physics must be consistent with what we know of the universe [no super flying humans or shooting lasers from eyes, unless there is a scientific explanation, e.g mutation of genes, etc.] Also, there must be a theme, a broad idea of what the story is about. In "Skittles for Callisto", the theme is cultural prejudice. Themes can be a message about life, society or human relations and nature.

We were supposed to write a short story on a future scene on a given topic. In this case, I got "Healthy Living".

I'm eager to see if my story turns out good :)

Blog Prompt

Is it possible to send a moral message condemning racial prejudice by portraying both the positive and negative sides of both racial groups?

Yes, it definitely is, although it will be difficult. With such an approach, both racial groups will then be able to understand their own negative points and the other party's positive points. This will condemn racial prejudice. Eventually, they will be able to make peace and there will not be anymore racial prejudice.

To protray both sides, the author is required to look at different perspective and not have a biased view, which is why it is difficult. As mentioned in one of the previous blog posts, to judge a situation fairly, one must look at different perspectives of the situation. If the author was a white and he is trying to potray the positive and negative sides of the whites and the blacks, then he would naturally be biased against the blacks. However, to be be fair to the situation, he must put away any prejudice he has to give the clear moral message, condemning racial prejudice, and eventually both sides will be able to make peace.

Comparison between Mississippi Burning and To Kill a Mockingbird

Both film and novel closely revolves around prejudice and discrimination.

The film, Mississipi Burning, is about three civil rights activist, two whites and one black, who were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The FBI agents were then called in to help with the investigation. Throughout the whole movie, there are many displays of racism (a form of prejudice and discrimination). The black people are terrorised by the KKK, by the burning of churches, beating up and bombing houses. Also, blacks drink the leftover water from the water cooler of the whites, use different toilets and tables. When the FBI agents tried to find out the truth behind the three civil rights activist murder, they were threatened and the KKK sent warning messages to them, such as bombing their room.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are also many examples of prejudice and discrimination. The most significant example is Tom Robinson's trial. Tom Robinson, a black, was charged for the rape of a white girl, Mayella Ewell. He was eventually sent to prison where he tried to escape and died. Despite all evidence in favour of Tom Robinson, he was still found guilty (the culprit was hinted to be Bob Ewell, Mayella's father). Atticus, Tom Robinson's lawyer, was threatened by Bob Ewell, after the trial, who spat on him. While Atticus was Tom Robinson's lawyer, Scout (Atticus's daugther and the narrator of the novel) heard her father being called a "nigger lover" by the other children, most notably her cousin.

We can see a clear case of prejudice and discrimination in both the film and the novel. The FBI agents can be compared to Atticus (the defenders of the blacks), while Bob Ewell can be compared to the KKK (the ones who terrorize the blacks).

My Favourite Poem

My Favourite Poem is Mid Term Break by Seamus Heaney.

I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying -
He had always taken funerals in his stride
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed our angry tearless signs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
Withe the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

Reflections
This poem is about the death of a sibling, something which I have not experienced. It allows me to understand what it feels like to have a sibling dying and cherish my siblings more. I think Mid Term Break is a very good and realistic poem.

This poem retells an event which left a lasting impression on the poet; the death of his brother when he was fourteen. He retells it in such a way that expressed the detachment and confusion tthat he feels.

While his parents are sad and angry, and the baby, probably his other sibling, is clueless about what is happening, the persona is caught in the middle, neither too young to understand nor old enough to understand enough. We can see his confusion in the fact that he refers to his relatives as "old men" and "strangers".

Poem Analysis

• The usage of enjambment helps invoke a lack of control in the persona, probably distraught and confused over his sibling's death
• Creating the mood also helped, with the bells "knelling" classes to a close, creates a sad mood to the poem.
• The neighbours driving the persona home also leads the reader to thinking why are they doing so instead of the parents.
• The usage of extra details, in the fact the the father "had always taken funerals in his stride", him crying shows that it was a great blow.
• Personification: "Whispers informed the strangers that I was the eldest", "Snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside"
• The contrast, as mentioned earlier also helps with describing the emotions of the persona. The mother and father are sad and angry, the baby is clueless, while the persona is stuck in the middle of both age groups, confused.
• There is no clear rhyme scheme throughout the poem, except the last two lines, to show that the persona has cleared his head and has calmed down. It also gives the poem a complete ending.

Blog Prompt: Discrimination

Reflect on the phrase, 'Anyone is guilty who watches this and does nothing'. What have you done when you have seen people being discriminated against? What more can you do the next time you witness discrimination taking place?


The phrase "Anyone is guilty who watches this and does nothing" has closely linked with racism. In the film, "Mississippi Burning", we can see that the whites are discriminating the blacks (the burning of churches, different tables, water coolers and toilets), and most simply ignore the blacks entirely. Although, ignoring the blacks might not seem to be a problem, but they are still guilty for not standing up for what is right (when then blacks are beaten up or lynched, some whites simply close an eye and acted as though nothing happened). Even the police force, supposed to uphold justice in town, acted as though nothing happened when they saw a black being beaten up.

Although I say that they are guilty, when I see others being discriminated against, I will avoid trouble and act as though nothing happen. Even though that is a very selfish thought, but I am afraid to offend the person who is discriminating the victim, as I might also be discriminated against. Even if I were to tell a teacher, the teacher will let the person off with a scolding but the person might continue with his mistake. However, in future, I will try to stop discrimination when I see it happening. After watching "Mississippi Burning", I feel there is a need for someone to stand up for what is right, and initiate to defend thse poor people who are discriminated against.