VS 2A 2009 English Language Blog

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)

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.