VS 2A 2009 English Language Blog

hi all,

As I may have mentioned to some of you, it does look like you are going to be stuck with me for another year!

Your timetable is out and I will try to post it online as soon as possible for you guys to download.

Just to let you know, for English, we will be starting with blogs. There is quite an active blogging community within 2A, so this is a good chance for you to share your knowledge and experience and for the others to learn a new skill and another variation of the recount text type.

More will be revealed in class.

A happy new year to one and all.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,



Here are the answer schemes for the 2 summaries.

hi all,

The words for the summary being as follows:

The next six rapids were difficult and they paddled hard...

My scanner is out of action. Will post the answers on Monday.

regards,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Some comments and some other information about formal letters for you.

Format

Generally your format is fine. Some of you mixed up some of the items though. It should be as follows:

Your Address
Your Contact Information
Date
Addressee's name and address
Salutation
Subject Line

Having decided with the other teachers, we have decided to standardise the practice for the subject line to be the same as the one used for upper sec to minimise confusion. The RE: is to be removed and the subject line should look like this:

Complaint against Crazy Man Bar

It should be underlined and the first word should start with a capital letter and all proper nouns (i.e. names, places, objects) should start with capital letters.

You should only start a letter with 'Dear Sir' if you do not have the name of the subject who is receiving this letter. Hence, if the name is given as Mr Daryl Tan, you should start the letter to 'Dear Mr Tan'.

There should also be NO IDENTATIONS to denote your paragraphs. Hence everything should be justified to the left. For example:

I am writing this letter to lodge a complaint.......... [CORRECT]


Also, a lot of you did not write a paragraph to indicate the purpose of your letter. Make very sure you write a paragraph that tells the reader why you wrote this letter to them.

For your tone and register, please ensure that you understand the context of your letter and apply the correct tone and register. For some formal letters like a complaint letter, whilst you should convey that your are annoyed, you shouldn't be trying to start the 3rd World War with the Crazy Man Bar either! For others, you might need to sound cordial. So please bear in mind the purpose of your letter and think about how you want your recipient to react upon reading your letter!

Finally, use paragraphs! There is nothing more annoying to any reader to see a mass of text without any break between the text. So if you have a new point to make, use a new paragraph! It helps to better understand what you are trying to talk about.

Hope this helps.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

Guys,

Some changes to the timetable, so here's the amended copy.

Please use this instead.

hi all,

Here is the answer scheme for the summary from practice paper 1.

hi all,

Here are more summary tips for you.

Dear all,

You should know by now you need 15 points.

When doing summaries please bear the following in mind for the language element worth 10 marks.

1)Meet or be as close to the summary word limit as possible, the less words you have the lower the base mark. This means that if you have 126 words to 145 words, you will only have a base mark of 9 as opposed to 10 and it gets lower and lower with fewer words used.
2)Rephrase the text for every point that you have identified - As far as possible DO NOT LIFT! To meet the top band descriptor, you need to have paraphrased 12 or more points.
3)The only time you are allowed to lift is if the text is very complex or technical.
4)Ensure that your language is accurate
5) Vary your sentence structure - Do not just use simple sentences all the time. Remember the lesson on complex and compound sentences, it will help you shorten the word count!
6) Watch your punctuation and spelling!
7) Utilise appropriate and wide range of vocabulary.
8) Ensure your writing is legible.

Dear all,

Here are the answers:

1) Six tourists in minibus
2) Remote Road
3) Ambushed by a branch that looked like a snake
4) Two gunmen forced them to stop
5) Two more gunmen appeared
6) One got in beside driver
7) Ordered him off road into jungle
8) Bumpy road, other men following
9) Tourists hands in air- had to stay seated
10) After five kilometres - stopped by fifth man
11) Forced to lie on ground
12) Faces pressed into leaves
13) Men demanded money
14) Two tourists permitted back on bus to fetch cash
15) Tourists searched - the minibus
16) Two Americans roughly treated
17) Held hostage for over one hour
18) Men drove off in minibus
19) Warned tourists not to move.

hi all,

Here are the answers for Worksheet 2

Passage A
The author visited some of the places best known for longevity. In Vilcabamba, one of the distant and mountainous areas, the baptismal records testified to the claim of 9 centenarians living there. Furthermore, a 1971 census also confirmed their ages.

Passage B
A geophysicist who had studied earthquakes finally experienced one himself. It was caused by the pressure building up in the underground rocks for years. The pressure which became too great to contain, broke loose. Its force was equivalent to 100 atomic bombs of Hiroshima. The geophysicist felt as though the world was a carpet which was given a double shake and dropped – and the people on it, mere dust.

Dear all,

Thanks for the timely submission of your storyboards! I will be returning them to you sometime this week.

The next few components for CA2 are as follows:

Summary (25 marks)
Reading Programme (30 marks)

Summary - The English CA on 12 Aug 2008 will be on summary. Hence, we will be wrapping up the summary unit by this week and I will give you guys some practice over the next few lessons.

Reading Programme - Unless you have been otherwise informed, the due date is this Friday, 1 Aug 2008. For the others, it will be on Monday 4 Aug 2008.

I will not be entertaining any late submissions as RP is a component in CA2 and all marks have to be keyed in very soon.

Thank you.

Regards,
Mr Tan

hi all,

The due date for your storyboards has been changed to Mon, 28 Jul 2008.

Please pass your storyboards to Darius at the end of the English lesson.

Thank you.

Regards,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Here are the slides on complex and compound sentences.

The film review test will take place on Wed.

See you on Monday.

For this year's Youth Day, VS is taking on the Care with a Can Project where we are appealing to all students and teachers to donate a can of food to help those in need. We are working with Marine Parade Family Service Centre to contribute food supplies to needy households that have an income of less than $300 per month.

All are encouraged to bring a can of food and drop it at the collection point at the foyer (between the Heritage Room & the General Office) from 9 to 11 July (Wed - Fri). With the recent rising food prices, their contribution will mean a lot to the needy.

On a side note, please choose canned food wisely and remember to keep it practical! You should be thinking along the lines of luncheon meat, canned sausages, canned curry, sardines, baked beans, canned vegetables etc rather than the can of cranberry sauce you didn't manage to open during Christmas!

Look forward to your contributions!

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

The assessment for the film review will take place next Monday, 14 Jul 2008.

Once I receive your film review drafts, I will review them and return them to you by Thursday so you have Friday and the weekend to prepare for the CA.

In the meantime, I will be moving onto storyboarding.

See you on Wednesday.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

Gentlemen,

As we continue with our film studies module, we will continue to learn to write a film review. Upon completion of the practice of the various components of a film review, we will then proceed to write our film reviews in class next Monday 7 Jul 2008. This component will be worth 30% of CA2.

Thereafter we will spend the remaining lessons of week 3 focusing on storyboarding and the storyboards that you put up will be worth 10% of CA2.

For the remainder of Term 3, this is what you can expect:

1) Summary Module (30% of CA2)
2) Reading Aloud (10% of SA2)
3) Complete final RP task (30% of CA2)
4) Practice paper 1 and paper 2 until SA2.

As you can see, there isn't alot of time left for the year, so remember, be consistent!

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Here's your timetable for Semester 2 fresh off the press.

Please download it at this link.

Thanks and see you next week!

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

Ok people, I don't know about you guys, but I think enough is enough. Unfortunately, the Chat Box allows the cowardly to hide behind the veil anonymity to abuse people and waste all of our time. So, it is time to remove the c-box.

Until such time that the 1A Blog is set up, you guys can post on the class forum on the VS portal. It's a bit of a hassle but at least there is accountability to what people can post. Just login to the VS portal and go to forums and go to Sec 1 Discussion and set up discussions with the relevant discussion threads.

Thank you.

hi all,

Thanks for all the queries. My apologies, have not been checking the blog. The narrative that you have to type out and e-mail to me anytime during the hols is the narrative that you did as part of your CA. I just need the final product and not the plot summary or introduction. In addition, you need to iron out the grammatical errors.

It seems we have a shape-shifting alien in our midst, is Francis really Francis or is Francis really someone else? In all honesty and seriousness, one of the hazards associated with having a chat box is the possibility of abuse by parties unknown. I will leave it on the blog for a while longer as it still seems to be more beneficial than hazardous for the time being. However if there is anymore unnecessary silliness, such as impersonation, abuse etc, I will remove the chat box.

I'm also not very keen regarding the posting of other subject information on the English Blog, so please do refrain from doing this in future unless it is very important or urgent such as Art Day. I will speak to Miss Shyamira about the possibility of a class blog for posting of important information.

Thanks and I hope the holidays are going well.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

Hi 1A -ians

Enjoy your June holiday break. You have to send in your narratives anytime during the hols and also to do 1 RP entry. For HCL students, you have to do a ppt presentation on the Ai Xin De Xi Yue and one of the Zuo Wen topics. Not sure for Tamil, Malay and Cl, though! ( hehe)

El Rep.

hi all,

It's Arts Day tomorrow, so there will be no formal lessons tomorrow.

hi all,

Here's the holiday homework.

1) Complete 1 Reading Programme Task

2) Find one movie review from either the newspapers, magazines or the internet. Read the review and try to identify the different components of the movie review.

That's all for the moment. Have a good break!

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

Dear all,

Here are the overall results for the semester. Generally, most of you did quite well. Provisionally, there are 18 distinctions, 20 Bs and 4 Cs. The trick as I told you guys earlier this semester is consistency as all your daily work adds up to the final total. Many of those who got distinctions were the ones who put in alot of effort for their CCP reflections.

Kudos to those who scored well, but to everyone, this is only the half-way mark of the year and there is one more semester to go. So remember, be consistent!

Nil Sine Labore.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

folks,

There will be a Comprehension CA next Thursday afternoon, 8 May 2008 worth 25% of CA1.

You will need to go through the comprehension notes that we discussed in class over the last week.

Thank you.

Regards,
Mr Tan

hi all

Task 3 for your RP should be completed and submitted on Monday, 28 Apr 2008. Please note that your grades for tasks 1-3 will be included for your grades for semester 1.

Thank you.

Regards,
Mr Tan

Dear all,

There will be a CCP make-up session on 5 May 2008 from 0820hrs to 0930hrs. I will advise on the location closer to the date.

For those of you who have yet to perform, please make sure that you bring in your props on that day.

For everyone, please make sure your CCP entries are up to date.

Thank you.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

As discussed in class, these are our assessment components for Sec 1 English:

CA1/SA1 (40%)
1. Letters (30%)
2. Narratives (30%)
3. Comprehension (25%)
4. CCP Reflection (15%)

CA2 (20%)
1. Film Study (40%)
2. Summary (30%)
3. RP Assignments (30%)

SA2 (40%)
1. Composition (40%)
2. Comprehension (40%)
3. Reading Aloud (10%)
4. CCP Dramatisation (10%)

Remember the trick is to be consistent!

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Here are the slides on how to improve your narratives.

hi all,

The slides for the narrative introductions can be downloaded at this link.

http://home.vs.moe.edu.sg/daryl/1A/el.narratives.introductions.pdf

Thanks!

Regards,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Our unit on narratives will continue to run for the next 3 weeks, so this is what you can expect:

Wed, 26 Mar 2008:

• Plot Summary Exercise - You will need to come up with an original narrative plot in class. Thereafter, we will do some peer marking and comments to see how you can further improve your narratives.
• Introductions and Dialogue - We will also continue our study of what goes into a good introduction and how to infuse good dialogue into your narratives.
  
• Homework - You will need to individually work on the introduction for your plot summary and submit it to me by Wed, 2 Apr 2008.
  

Mon, 31 Mar 2008:

• Plot Summary Test - Utilising what you have prepared previously (or coming up with a fresh plot altogether), you need to complete a plot summary test, which is worth 5% of your marks.

Wed, 2 Apr 2008:

• Review of introductions: We will be taking some time to examine your introductions.
• We will also look at how to work on infusing dialogue and how to work a twist into your narrative.

Mon, 7 Apr 2008:

• Introduction Test: This is another assessment portion for this unit whereby you are required to write an introduction using what you have come up with in your plot summary. This is worth 5% of your marks.
  

Wed, 9 Apr 2008:

• Final Performance of Understanding: You will be required to write a narrative utilising whatever you have done for your plot summary, this is worth 20% of your marks.

Thanks.

hi all,

We are continuing with improving our group writing pieces, so our lesson will involve the following:

• A role play
• Writing introductions
• Incorporating dialogue into narratives
  

In order for the lesson to run smoothly, each group needs to bring 1 dictionary and 1 thesaurus.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Mr Tan

Gentlemen

Sorry to use the English Blog for CE matters, but I understand from Hadi that there is some confusion about the CE project.

You are expected to submit your CE project by 31 Mar 2008 and your presentation will be the next or following week after submission.

We will clarify queries on the grouping during Monday's Form Teacher time.

Thanks.

Regards,
Mr Tan

Hey all,
please be reminded to hand up your CCP [ creative comms programme] books to me by monday. You are required to do until session 8. If you were absent, please indicate with [NA- MC.. or any other reason]. Please note that there will be severe consequences as stated by Mr Tan to those who do not submit on time. Thanks! =)

Cheers,
Tristen.

hi all,

As you would already know, the use of adjectives within your narratives is extremely important. Watch and enjoy!

Best wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

As you would know, we've moved on to narratives.

So, what is a narrative? It can be defined as a narrated account; a story. It can also be defined as a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.

To re-cap, this is the text structure of a narrative:

Introduction: The introduction sets the scene by introducing the characters, time, place and mood for the events that follow.

Complication: The complication consists of some form of problem experienced by the central character or characters. The complication makes the story more interesting to the readers.

Sequence of events: The sequence of events develops the situation and relationship among the different characters. It also elaborates on the steps taken to solve the problem. It could be a series of events, situations or even tate of mind.

Climax: The climax is the most exciting part or high point of the story. It changes the course of events or the way the reader understands the story. From this point on, events lead to the outcome of the story as seen in the resolution.

Resolution The resolution gives the story a sense of completion and closure. It gives an account to the reader about how the problem is resolved. Some stories might have a moral message (coda)

In the lessons that follow, we will explore the various elements that make a good narrative and we will learn how to write a good narrative.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Please remember to submit your Reading Programme Book with 2 completed tasks to my by Thursday, 6 Mar 2008.

Thank you.

Hello all,

For those of you who are very interested in reading the full version of The Verger, you can find it here:

http://www.miguelmllop.com/stories/stories/theverger.pdf

Happy reading!

Regards,
Mr Tan

hi all,

As I have mentioned in class on quite a few occasions already, please be reminded that the next portion of your CA will take place on Monday, 25 Feb 2008. The test will be on formal letters.

Please use the samples on this blog and the handouts in class to help in your preparation.

Thanks!

hi all,

I would like to call all EL files for checking on Wed, 27 Mar 2008.

Tristen, please make a copy of your content page (draw payment from class fund) and put up on the notice board for students to check the contents of their files.

For everyone else, for all group essays:
1) Group Construction - Informal Letter
Please photocopy your informal letters among group members and file accordingly.
2) Group Construction - Formal Letter
Please print out copy from blog and file accordingly

If anything has gone missing, please approach someone who has the document and make a photocopy of the document.

For RP, please submit your books with 2 completed tasks by week 10. If you already have 2 completed tasks, please do submit it to me before week 10.

Thank you.

hi all,

Please see sample formal letter below. Please note format, tone and register for the letter.

Blk 13
Tampines street 13
#01-03
Singapore 131313

Tel: 66131313
Fax: 4131313
Email: unluckynumber@karma.com

13 January 2008

Ms Zhang Li
Personnel
Singapore International Airlines
5055 Changi Road
Singapore 123456

Dear Ms Li,

RE: Request for Character Reference – Cephas Wong

Please refer to your request/ for a character reference for Cephas Wong.

I have known Cephas Wong for a period of ten years, having been his classmate in Junior College and his platoon mate whilst we were serving our National Service in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Cephas has proved his ability to deal consistently with members of the public in his current job as a car salesman at a Star Motors. He consistently deals with members of the public and has consistently topped the sales lists at Star Motors. In addition, Cephas has also won a number of service-related awards for good pre and post sale service.

Whilst we were in Junior College, Cephas was a member of the student council and worked tirelessly to help to organize a number of important events for the school, showing his ability to perform a variety of tasks.

During the course of our friendship, Cephas has proven his ability to learn new skills and has consistently attended courses to upgrade his knowledge and skills. I understand that Cephas has just completed a Diploma in Information Technology.

Cephas is also a proven team player. He has been involved in a number of successful projects, such as car sales roadshows over the past few years which require him to work in a team. He also has a track record for being involved in team sports such as being a member of the school soccer team whilst in Junior College.

Cephas is also known to be calm in a range of circumstances, his ability to respond coolly to crises was demonstrated whilst we were in National Service. One of our platoon mates was badly injured during a field exercise, Cephas remained calm and helped administer first aid before helping to evacuate our platoon mate from the scene.

With his personal qualities, I strongly believe that Cephas is extremely well suited to the job of an air steward. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require further details about Cephas.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

John Tan

hi all,

The auditions for the VS Drama Fest will be held on Thursday, 28 Feb 2008. Tristen and team, please be prepared.

Thank you.

hi all,

This is a sample of an informal letter, please note the informal nature of the tone and register and the use of tenses.

Blk 123 Rivervale Lane
#13-99
Singapore 123456


17 February 2008


Dear Mark,

Hello there! I hope this letter finds you well. It has been quite some time since we last met. I bumped into Andrew at Suntec City the other day and I was very surprised when he told me that you and your family have moved to Canada late last year. Andrew also gave me your address and told me that you had asked about what I was doing. Just to let you know, I have been posted to Victoria School, which as you know is located at Siglap Link and I am in class 1A and I have been there for the past 7 weeks. [Note: Introduction and Background information]

Life at Victoria School has been quite exciting! As part of our orientation programme, we had to attend a Secondary 1 camp which was very challenging, we had to run, kayak and even roll around in the mud. It really helped me to find out alot more about myself and my new classmates. [Note: Information and Personal Opinion]

After the camp, we had to settle down into our regular classes, I am finding that secondary school is a big jump in standard from our primary school days. We have so many new subjects to deal with, Geography, Design and Technology. We are currently having our continual assessments and that has meant studying late into the night on quite a few occasions.

My classmates are really nice and friendly! We have alot of fun during our lessons and after school. I thought that I would have adjustment problems after spending the past 6 years at ABC Primary School, but my new classmates have really helped me adjust quickly to my new environment. Sometimes, I do reminisce about our primary school days and all the fun that we had back then, when things were far simpler.

On that wistful note, I have to end my letter here, I still have lots of homework to do. How are you finding Canada? Have you adjusted to your new life? How is the weather? I heard it's a very cold winter in Canada, hang in there, it is already February and the onset of spring is not that far away. I hope you are adapting well in your new school and that your family is well. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Till next time, take care! [Note: Concluding Paragraph]

Best Wishes,
[Sign off here]

hi all,

Please post your informal letters as a comment to this post.

Thanks!

hi all,

This is Daniel Kong's essay.

“The Environment: Our Future”

Discuss the likely impact of climate change on life as you know it. What is to be done?

Everyone has heard of global warming and climate change. Is it really an issue of grave importance? What are higher temperatures likely to do to us? Isn’t nature big and powerful enough to clean up after us? Wouldn’t our trees keep our air nice and clean?

Environmentalists warn us that the future looks bleak. Our planet is dying and some say that climate change poses a bigger threat to the world than terrorism. Nature’s balancing forces have been drastically altered. We can no longer rely on our oceans and forests to clean up after us. Man’s drive to invent and build has led to extraordinary advances and great technological revolution. It’s also had grave and unintended consequences. Man is the main cause of the problems and yet, governments currently lack any viable solution.

The warning signs are plain to see. Global warming is occurring because human activities, particularly burning fossil fuels, have released into the atmosphere, huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” that are trapping more heat in the Earth’s lower atmosphere. Another important addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is deforestation and other land-use changes. As a result of the build-up of gases, the temperature is rising. Average global temperatures are predicted to increase by between 1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees over the next century. Mountain glaciers are fading on every continent and the sea ice is melting. The seas have begun a slow but menacing rise.

Climate change will pose serious threats and impact the way we live. There will be increased droughts and incidence of wildfires. Droughts have caused big crop failures and lowered global food production, leading to higher food prices. The vast sheets of bright white ice reflect nearly 80% of sunlight that falls on them. But as the ice sheets melt, they reveal dark waters or soils beneath that absorb sunlight, warm up and cause yet more melting. The risk of floods rises due to the rise in sea levels. Millions of people are at risk from coastal flooding. Climate change has also reduced the availability of fresh water. Experts have been warning that if global warming continued, it would trigger regional conflicts, poverty, famine and migration, as a result of climate change.

Climate change may also be damaging to health. It is expected to lead to diarrhoea and spread infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, as a result of water shortages and poor quality. Climate change will also drive up the number of cardio-respiratory diseases. There may be more deaths from strokes and heart attacks because of the heat. The death toll in all parts of the world as a result of climate change will rise sharply.

Addressing climate change is not easy. However, we can and must act urgently if we are to limit and eventually halt the impact of global warming on human communities and natural ecosystems. We must drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We need to develop more efficient and renewable sources of energy. Since everyone uses energy, everyone can help stop global warming by using less energy and improving energy efficiency. We can take personal action to solve the climate crisis by reducing our own carbon dioxide pollution as much as we can.

Reducing our dependence on cars will help to keep emissions down. We can rely more on public transport, or better still walk and cycle. This change can help lead to a fall in obesity levels, while increasing the general health of the public. Switching to fuel efficient cars and making sure our car tyres are full of air can help to reduce wastage of fuel.

We can turn things off when we are not using them. We can use energy saver settings on our home appliances, computers and office equipment. We can switch to using more energy efficient products. Whenever we can, we must reduce, reuse and recycle. Buying a used product means avoiding the production and distribution of goods that would require energy and emit global warming gases. Before throwing something in the trash, check if it can be recycled. These are but a few of the many measures we each can adopt to contain the growing crisis.

There is a chance to save our world if we act together, NOW!

Daniel Kong Wei Ming

Secondary 1A, Victoria School

30 January 2008

hi all,

Please see Tristen's essay. This essay shows an excellent understanding of the narrative text structure and is very well constructed with the use of varied vocabulary.

“Now, when I was your age, there were obviously no computers or hi-tech gadgets for play, so we entertained ourselves by catching spiders,” the old man said. “And we would bring our prized catch to the village square to challenge our rivals. Obviously, the larger spider had an edge over the smaller species. The winner would be crowned King of Spiders. The honour was his to keep till he was defeated or when his spider died. You had to go deep into the forest to get larger spiders. Not many boys would dare venture into the forest, frightened by the horror stories that their mothers bombarded them with constantly. Obviously, their mothers did not want their sons’ clothes to be dirtied.” Alex listened with mixed feelings; half irritated as the old man kept using the word ‘obviously’ and half longing for the old man to continue.

Alex had volunteered together with nine other classmates to visit a nursing home for a community project. While Alex was serving tea to the patients, he noticed an old man sitting by the window, without the company of the other folks. He felt a flare of commiseration and walked towards the old man and offered him a cup of freshly brewed tea. From a simple introduction, Alex soon found himself engaged in a scintillating conversation, totally immersed in the old man’s adolescent reminisces.

“As for me,” the old man continued while sipping tea, “I was the champion. I was invincible.” His eyes sparkled and the corner of his lip lifted with pride. “But I paid a high price. Once I ventured deep into the forest to hunt for my spider, I snagged my leg on a hunter’s snare. From then on, I never walked the same again…” the old man drifted off with a tinge of poignancy as he massaged his right knee.

The old man shifted his gazed back to Alex and heaved a deep breath before suggesting a walk in the garden. Alex helped the old man up and winced when his skin met slack flesh. While the pair was perambulating the orchid garden, the old man suddenly said, “You look exactly like my son when he was younger.” Intrigued, Alex prodded the old man to elaborate.

The old man gave an anguished expression before pouring his heart out. Alex eyes watered after he heard the old man’s story. The old man was actually abandoned by his son. “I have scrimped and saved all my life just to provide him with the best… and what do I get? Dumped like litter into this dilapidated… this ...” the old man broke off bitterly. “I have not had a real conversation with anyone since I have been here,” the old man said lugubriously. “Thank you, young man, for bearing with me.” Alex felt enraptured to have helped the old man relieve his excruciating pain.

The two were about to return to the main hall when the old man suddenly clutched his chest and started to gasp. Intense consternation drenched Alex like rain as he sprinted back to alert his teacher and the nurses. The nurse called for the ambulance at once.

But it was too late. The old man’s mouth was flecked with foam and his face was pale-blue. Alex watched lachrymosely as the paramedics pulled a white cloth over the old man.

If only Alex could see the old man now, laughing and drinking with his old friends, looking happily down at him, telling him that a felicitous life awaited him in Paradise; he would not have been overcome with grief. Earlier, as the paramedics were wheeling the gurney to the ambulance, Alex’s classmates had to restrain him as he tugged at the old man, as though trying to wake him up from his perpetual slumber.

Done by: Tristen Ng (41)

Class: 1A

School: Victoria School, Singapore

Hi all,

This is Francis' essay. I think this is a very good piece of work with excellent text structure and varied use of vocabulary. It is also very creative in the way that it has been written and the conclusion is also very well done.

“Now, when I was your age…” seems to be a perennial phrase adopted by elders, for reasons rather ambiguous to persons other than themselves. However, one roughly can, from the sentence and the way the person relates whatever comes after it, deduce that the person seeks a comparison between his time, and ours. For better or for worse is not known, and as such, we listen to such tales of their youth with a slight interest, in the hope of gleaning a measure of their thoughts, be it their optimism for the future, or their favour for the old.

It was with such an interest, thus, that in my tender age that I listened attentively to these tales, though it was noticed that, with the elder, or my grandfather, he invariably never had an acute aversion to the old, or a particular fondness for the new. His tales were spun around his life in the village, or kampong, as it is called in Malay, his pastimes and his beliefs, which is expected from such an opening to the tale.

As I grew older, my interest in those tales slowly diminished, having been spoon-fed the same thing from time immemorial. However, today, on a routine visit, the steady glint in my grandfather’s eyes promised something other than the ordinary, allowing me to label the fervor in his eyes, extraordinary. His sun-burned hands slowly started coming alive as his lips started moving, much related to a dancer moving gracefully to gentle music, and the room too, started coming alive as he slowly spun his words into the wonderful fabric of a story…

“Now, when I was your age, we did not have the peace that you enjoy now. Unfortunately, I was born shortly before the Second World War, which sadly deprived me of the ample joys of childhood. Japanese soldiers went around bayoneting everything that moved, and bombings soon became a daily occurrence. There was an aura of fear permitted by the Japanese, with the spreaders being common Chinese such as me, and fear flitted around and through our hearts. Once, there was a sudden search of our homes, and my family and I evacuated in time to our Malay neighbour’s home. They dressed us in their clothes and quickly taught us a few simple words of Malay, thus saving us, as the Japanese were mostly only after the Chinese…”

At this point, I smiled to myself. The stream of words was dammed up by my thoughts, which were, at the time, focusing on the act of one neighbor helping another. To think, that even in those times, compassion and sympathy existed in the breast of man, when to this day, acts of cruelty are found on a daily basis.

As I was contemplating these thoughts, my grandfather came to a close. “It seems that though my memories seem to be failing, it still has room for this one unforgettable act of kindness.” I found myself thinking, I could not agree more.

Written by: Francis Neo

Class: 1A

hi all,

Here are the announcements.

CA - Please note that your CA will take place over 2 dates:

• 20 Feb 2008 [During English Class] - Informal Letter (15% of CA)
• 25 Feb 2008 [During CA slot] - Formal Letter (15% of CA)

Edusave Forms - Those of you who have not checked your balance, please do so immediately and submit the forms as soon as possible.

hi all,

Please take note of the following:

1. Submission of Edu-Save Forms - Please submit all edu-save forms for CCP to Tristen by Wed, 13 Feb 2008.
2. CCP Reflections - Please complete all CCP reflections and submit to me by Mon, 18 Feb 2008. In the event that you have not attended the CCP session or have had to leave early for various reasons, please indicate your absence and the reason for your absence or why you had to leave early. For those of you who have had to leave early, please complete the reflections to the point that you left.
   
3. Reading Programme - Please submit 2 completed RP tasks to me by Week 10, Mon, 3 Mar 2008.
4. CA - Please note that CA for English will take place over 2 dates, the confirmed date is Week 9, 25 Feb 2008. You will be informed about the other date in due course. You will be tested on both formal and informal letters. Please do take some time to go through the format of both letter types.

That's about it for the moment. See you in class.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

Welcome to the VS 1A 2008 blog!

This is a forum for everyone to exchange ideas, learn from each other and to help each other out. So let me get the ball rolling with the first post!

So, we are almost done with informal letters, so we are going to move on to formal letters over the next few lessons.

With regard to your Commonwealth Essay Competition entries, I would like everyone to post your essay on the blog and each of you can read and comment on any of the entries! As a rule, I would like all comments to be purely constructive and must relate to the essay. There are alot of very interesting entries, so this provides a wonderful learning opportunity for all of you.

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan