Home Learning Term 2 Part 2

Task 2

Complete the template provided below (Annex A), focusing on (1) Point of View; (2) Situation and Setting; (3) Language/Diction; and (4) Personal Response, and post your response to Task 2 on your blog. This template is based on John Lye’s ‘Critical Analysis of Poetry’, and you can make reference to this in Annex B when in doubt.

Steps in Analysis
	Point	Evidence	Elaboration
1.	1) POV The POV of the poem is that of an American soldier who has experienced war and survived and lived to tell the tale. He is speaking from the first person perspective of a soldier in the battle itself	The poet uses words like "I" and "we" in the poem,	The poet uses "I" and "we", which shows that he is speaking from the direct first person perspective of the person fighting in the war, which is himself. "i" and "we" are pronouns which refer to oneself and thus it can be deduced that he is speaking from his personal point of view.
2.	2) Situation and Setting The setting is that of a furious battle, in which the persona is in. There is a war going on directly where the persona is and there are many deaths and bullets flying. The atmosphere is tense with fear.	This is evident from how the persona describes his "heart is pumping adrenaline through all his veins" and "Bullets are flying". He also depicts his fear as a "strong mixed drink".	This shows how tense the atmosphere was, as the persona's heart was pumping adrenaline. A person would only feel adrenaline if he felt extreme thrill or fear. Thus, if the persons's heart was pumping adrenaline, it can only attest to the fear that the persona was feeling from the atmosphere. THe poet also creates the tense atmosphere by describing how bullets were flying, which is a personification that the bullets were free and flying in the air, thus describing the danger in the air.
3	3) Language/ Diction The Poet uses straightforward and blunt language in this poem, to give a more realistic feel to the poem and add on to the first person perspective of the poem. He describes the situation very straightforwardly, so as to depict the situation from his point of view.	The poet directly takes whatever is said during his experience at war, such as "lock n load and grab your shit"	This shows his straightforwardness, as he does not change the words that are being said in the war, even though they may contain profanities. This is done in order to give the reader a greater impression that his experience that he is describing is coming straight from his real live experiences.
4	4) Personal Response After reading this poem, I have gained a better understanding of the harsh realities of war. I have learnt that war is not as easy as it seems and is actually affected by all the factors such as terrain, and is a long, weary process. i have also gained a better insight into a soldier's feelings during a war. I feel pity for the persona in the poem, as he has suffered greatly during the war, and had his "brothers" killed. At the same time, i feel a sense of relief for him, as he managed to survive the war. However, I cannot truly emphatize with the persona, as I have never been in his situation before.

Home Learning Term 2 Part 1

We Slept With Our Boots On They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew Where we would land we had not a clue Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not 30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit Get ready to go and make it quick My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins I run as fast as I can through the lead rain The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define The only reason I survived that day was divine I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks From house to cave, to car to creek Dirty and tired and hungry and scared We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod Who knew hell was so close to God Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire I will never forget those who were called higher They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell Steve Carlsen Task 1 1) Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report on your blog detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2. We Slept With our Boots On is a poem by Steve Carlsen, depicting the horrendous situation at war and his personal experiences when on the battlefield. Steve Carlsen is an American soldier who fought in the war against Afghanistan from 2000 to 2003, when he was honourably discharged. This poem depicts one of his battles during the war, in which he was parachuted straight in the middle of an ongoing battle, caught in the crossfire. He describes his experience of how he had to fight, tired and hungry in the different terrains in the battlefields. The fact that he was fighting in the Afghanistan war is evident, as he mentions the "Hindu Kush", which is somewhere in between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Chemistry Class

The topic says it all.

Well, some of you might be laughing your heads off at the thought of this particular subject.

Or are you laughing at the teacher?

Well, our Chemistry test is just two days away, and i am getting fed up over the attitude of the class during Chemistry lessons. Therefore, I have sacrificed my revision time to blog about this horrendous situation.

Sometimes I wonder what the class really wants. Do they go to class to learn? Or do they go there for the sake of it, or to make a fool out of themselves. I am confused.

Every Monday and Wednesday, we have Chemistry lessons with our chemistry teacher, Mr Kong. No doubt, he is an excellent teacher, although he is tasked with teaching a dryer subject than others.

But he has this problem which is the target of the class's many jokes and mockeries. His speech, or as some would put it, "accent"

Perhaps some would find this funny, that this teacher is weird and eccentric.

But then again, we all have our flaws, don't we?

Perhaps he grew up in a Chinese background? That might explain his inability to pronounce certain words, wouldn't it?

But I do not think that this is a justifiable reason for the incessant laughter and mocking in his classes. What does it matter to the class if he pronounces someone's name wrongly or in his weird "accent"? I am sure that we all fully comprehend his words right? And so what if he contradicts himself sometimes? Faced with a bunch of laughing children against you, the poor teacher at the front of the class, would you make mistakes? And in the first place are these even mistakes?

And some people just have to ruin my studying mood in class by repeating his "accent" in class. Leave him alone for goodness sake! A student goes to class to study, and one might find it hilarious, but I find it annoying. If you want to make yourself more prominent and stuff, do it during recess or lunch for goodness sake and don't affect those who really want to learn! And so what if others find you funny? I doubt many will remember a joke shouted in class after 2 minutes. And even if they do, so what? Do you really think you will become more popular and have more friends? Then again this goes back to my post on friends. Those people who find you funny definitely aren't your true friends anyway, so why bother?

So in conclusion, may I appeal to all who read this post to stop bothering the poor teacher? I can tell that he is really trying his best to impart his knowledge to us, but he is constantly interrupted by jokes and the irritating sounds in class. Why not just accept him as he is, and just absorb whatever he has to teach?

Perhaps you find his lessons dry, but then again, I believe that if you all had bothered to read his notes and attempt to understand them, you would not find what he says alien.

MX

Monitor

When you think of the post of monitor, what comes to your mind first?
a) Irritating "shhhh"s from a crazy guy which turns off the lights every morning halfway into your revision, and chases you out of class when you are just 2 minutes away from the horn?
b) An emo guy who constantly tells you what to do?
c) A nice guy who marked attendance in term 1?

Well, I would think that all 3 options are quite accurate representations of the basic job scope of a monitor. the first part of each option then reflects on how some students may see me in class. Some may find me insane, some think i'm "emo" and others may find me nice. Whatever, then. Thats a matter of opinion.

However, there are many people who are prejudiced against monitors.

Some find that i am a nusiance by turning off the lights at 7:20 every morning, which somehow makes them unable to read because they suddenly become blind when the classroom lights are turned off.

Some find me irritating by making them go for lessons on time, and incessantly asking (or pleading) them to go for the lesson in the next period which is in another venue.

However, do they actually realise that if they don't follow what I ask them to do, they will get it from the teachers? If they do not go for assembly on time, they will recieve demirit points.
If they go for lessons late, the teachers will give them scoldings. But what do I get in return?

If they manage to reach on time, its perfectly normal, and I am the irritating freak.
If they don't, most likely I will be late too, trying to persuade them to go, and I am also to blame for their tardiness. What an irony.

Also, there are times when the monitor, singled out from the rest of the class or cmc, recieves the blame for certain class issues, such as our camaraderie, our class tidiness and for not organising class outings during the march holidays.

Then I ask, why me? because i'm monitor? Or because you think that Tom, Dick or Harry would do a better job replacing me? In the first place, class tidiness goes to the Facility Secretary, (whoever he is right now) and class outings are mostly part of the Welfare Secretary's jobscope. And may I remind all readers that in this new Hwa Chong CMC system, the monitor, unlike in primary school, no longer holds the position at the top of the class. rather, he is under the Chairman, along with the other cmcs of other jobs. But that being said, I want to know how you feel about this too. Some people regard the monitor as the "vice-chairman" of the class. Is this true or justifiable?

Also, some might say that we are "1 cmc body" and we should help each other out in our duties. However, the system is such that cmc members are elected for individual posts by their classmates. We, the cmc, only had one vote out of more than 30 each to choose who we thought we would work better with. This results in some cmc members whom we find hard to work with, and sometimes even detest. How then, does this make us "1 cmc body"? And has the school ever considered forming "political parties" in classes so that the cmc would run smoothly? Would forming political parties improve the cmc system overall?

Tze Han once commented on a facebook post regarding this matter by saying that "sometimes what you want is not what you seek" Well, i don't agree. I wanted this position and I somewhat knew that it would be relatively tough. And so let me reveal the reason for the "last minute nomination". Difference. Yes, I wanted to be different from most of the students in Hwa Chong. This was also the main reason why I joined council. Tell me, what is life in Hwa Chong if you are a typical, average student who gets average grades, in a mundane uniform group (no offence meant) and go home at 1:30 everyday except on Fridays? To me, that is meaningless. I feel that to be able to fully enjoy life in a school, one must take all opportunites that are avaiable. No doubt it will be challenging, but it enriches your life and gives you more that what others normally get. At the end of the 4 years here in Hwa Chong High School, that will be what sets you differently from the rest. Difference.

Yes, I'm finally done with this long ranting post. Anybody would like to comment?

Cheers,
Lim MX