My first pole vault competition

On 14th August 2010, I had my first pole vault competition which was held at Cedar Girls Secondary. I was feeling butterflies in my stomach as I had never participated in any competition. Thus, I prayed very hard the night before and the morning of the day of the competition.

When, I arrived at Cedar Girls Secondary, I began to have stomach aches. soon, our opponents from Raffles Institution and Catholic High arrived. They were strong opponents and I was feeling more and more nervous. During the warm up session, my performance was already getting worse. During the competition,I was getting more and more nervous.

Although I had been training for quite a few months, I have not learnt how to cross the height yet. However, the starting height was only 2.4 metres. I told myself that I was going to cross it as it was not a very high height. To my disappointment, I did not. For the second try, I was very sure that after knowing the kind of feeling during the competition, and after getting used to the atmosphere, I was able to cross the height. However, again, I did not cross it. The third attempt and also the last attempt, I was really sure that I would certainly cross it. As expected, I did not cross! I was really disappointed in myself. As a punishment, It had to do 500 push ups! I was mental and physical torture!

Although I unheighted, I still enjoyed myself as there were many unexpected and funny cases. I remembered, one of my friends actually accidentally dropped the pole and catch it again, and then, the best part was that he managed to cross the height however, the way my seniors always say- flying pork!

There was also this competitor from RI who continuously bounce on the same spot for a very long time before his started running.

After the competition, I was still very upset with myself. In the later part of the day,my senior texted me saying that the competition was actually for the those in secondary 2 and above. However, they wanted us to have an exposure of how it feels to be in a pole vault competition. Only then, I felt better. Actually, I thought that some of the competitors, who were nerdy and short, were from secondary 1 and was thus very disappointed with myself as I thought that if they could cross the height, so could I.

After this competition, I have learnt how it feels to be in a competition and have seen how hard it was to win. So, I will definitely work very hard and win in the upcoming competitions!

The Cupcaked Crusader

The Cupcaked Crusader is a book by Lawrance David. The story started off with the Cupcaked crusader, Horace Splattly with his friends, always hunting for mysterious things and events which took place in their daily school lives and record them in their book of conspiracies. Once, they discovered a large foot print which the size of Horace himself. They recorded this in the book of conspiracies. However, nothing monstrous had happened despite the appearance of the foot print.

Horace sister, Melody was doing an experiment for a project and wanted Horace to go over to their neighbour's house to spy on her. She made four cupcakes and wanted Horace to eat them. After taking two bites from two different cupcakes, Horace gained some powers and he could suddenly breathe out fire and could also fly. Wearing a purple suit made by his sister, Horace was sent on a mission to spy on their neighbour's project as mentioned.

Instead of helping his sister, Horace went around the city helping others and had fun himself. Then, when it was around the evening, Horace went to the park and saw his school's principal. while he was talking to Horace, a monster suddenly appeared from behind the principal and swallowed both of them. In the beast's stomach,Horace and the principal struggled and finally, after blowing out some fire, Horace managed to make the beast cough and spit them out. Horace knew that the Principal's brother, a science teacher had given his pet guinea pig some medicine and the guinea pig grew to a size of an elephant! He did this, planning to kill his brother and taking over the school.

After all the action, Horace was left with no more power. When he returned home, he stole the cupcakes and secretly hid the cupcakes somewhere and when he needed the powers, he would use them without the control and consent of his sister.

In the story, I enjoyed the part where Horace visited his best friends, who were twins. Horace blew fire into the chimney of their house and gave them a great fright. They thought that it was a fire breathing dragon. Then, Horace appeared from their glass window and was welcomed by the brothers.

At the beginning of the story, I like the part where Horace ate the cupcakes and gained his supernatural powers. The interesting part was him slowly discovering how to use and control his powers and experimenting them out.

I enjoyed reading the book. If there would to be a book 2, I would surely purchase it!

Totto-chan

This book was written by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during world war II that combine learning with fun, love and freedom. This unusual school had old railway car for classrooms,and it was run by an extraordinary man_ its founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi_who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity. The writer had written the book in order to tell people about her great teacher, Mr Kobayashi. This book is actually the real life story of the writer.

My mother had been asking me to read this book since 2 years ago. However, I remained indifferent. So, since she knew that my English assignment was to read four book, she bought the book and forced me to read it! However, I was greatly amused by Totto-chan's innocence.The part where she opened and closed her desk flap and was expelled for irritating the teacher.

There was also a part when my brows knitted together as I read the part where Totto-chan dropped her purse into the toilet. and as the toilet had no flush, she scooped up the poo from the cesspool and goodness me, the headmaster asked what Totto-chan was doing and left. The headmaster, just asked her to return the poo to its original place. So she did it.I was laughing madly by then.

There was once, she played about the barbed wire. She got mum's favourite dress torn and made up a lie saying some children threw knives at her.However, mum did not scold her for lying but knew she lied as she felt bad. The mum was really compassionate.(85)

Curiosity kills the cat. Totto-chan ran and jumped onto some newspaper. But, unfortunately the newspaper was there to cover the hole of the cesspool and she fell into it.(90-91)

Takahashi was the shortest and hands were very short too. However, every year, in the Sports Day events, Takahashi would be first.(103)

During a field kitchen, Totto-chan chopped the food skillfully and even advised the older children.(139)

These are some interesting parts of the story. The story began with Totto-chan disrupting the class and being expelled. Then, her mother bought her to Tomoe Gakuen, which was this unusual school with old railway cars as classrooms. The pupils there were very few. This special school allows students to start with the subject of their choice and did not have a fixed curriculum. This story shows the different ways Mr Kobayashi helped and treated the children with affection. I admired Mr Kobayashi as he was really compassionate and the contribution for the children. At the end of the story, Tomoe was burnt down. The bombs fell on the railway cars which served to be classroom. I was sad. It was Mr Kobayashi's dream, however, he was still optimistic. On the whole, the story was interesting and I hope my friends would have a chance to enjoy this book. I still can't believe that this book with such a boring book cover and colour-pink,could be so interesting. So, do not judge a book by its cover.

To kill a mockingbird

This book is entitled To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This story is about the childhood of a girl named Scout. At the beginning, in Maycomb, the neighbours of Scout were introduced. Living with her, she had a father, Atticus, and a brother, Jem.

At the beginning of the story, Scout, Jem and Dill always played together and made fun of Boo Radley. It was said that Boo Radley had once stuck a scissors in his father's leg and soon, that became news in Maycomb. From that day on, Boo Radley was not to be seen and was being locked up in the attic.

Scout was a grade one student and Jem was a grade five student. Scout was introduced to her new teacher Miss Caroline. She had lots of problems with the student and the way to handle them as she was not from the country they were. She did not understand their culture.

One of the days on her way home, Scout passed by the Radley's place and found two oak trees at the side of the lot of the Radleys. She saw a shiny thing sticking out of the tree hole. It was a chewing gum. From that day on, she got a chewing gum from the tree hole.

Once, when Dill was with them, they made a play about the Radley and when they were playing, they put Scout into a tire and rolled her. Loosing control, Scout rolled into the Radleys' front porch to their steps. She heard someone laughing within the house.

At night, they sneaked into the backyard of the Radleys' place. They were almost shot by Mr Nathan Radley as they were thought to be Negroes. While escaping, Jem got his trousers caught in the fence. when he retrieve the pants, he turned white to see that the pants was being folded across the fence. In other words, the Radleys were expecting him to return.

In the hole in the oak tree, they realised that there were two images of Jem and Scout in it. The following days there were more stuff. But when they had decided to write the person a letter, the hole was being filled up.

Mrs Radley died in the winter. Once, Mrs Maudie's house was on fire and that Scout and Jem were to stay outside the Radleys' front porch and watch the adults put out The weather became colder, Scout was totally oblivious that Boo Radley had actually covered her with a jacket.

Scout was to grow up some day and their aunt, Alexandra was going to stay with them for a short period of time. Soon, Scout discovers the talents of her father.

Mrs Dubose was introduced and she was real nasty. Once, Jem had cut down all her plants in anger and as a sign to show apology, he had to read to her for a month.

I still clearly remembered. Scout stepped on something cold on her bedroom floor and felt something cold. She asked Jem over to see if it was a snake. However, to every one's surprise, that includes me, it was Dill. He explained how his horrible stepfather treated him and how he had escape from his home town to Maycomb.

Many other events followed nut were all not of significance. These events led to a court case of Tom Robinson. The children sneaked into the place without the acknowledgement of their father. They witnesses how their father had debated in the court case and that they had a high chance of winning the case. However, they lost due to a case of black and white. This case was about a nigger, Tom Robinson, raping Mr Bob Ewell's daughter. Actually, she was just trying to get rid of someone she could not so lied that Tom had raped her. But because the juries were all white, they chose to make Tom Robinson guilty. After the whole thing, Mr Bob Ewell spat in Atticus' face and said that he would get him.

One of the nights, Tom Robinson was killed by 17 gunshots. It was said that Tom decided to do the job himself, although he could have won the case. Mr Link Deas employed Helen, Tom's wife after his death and had finally managed to cease the Ewells from assaulting her.

Then, after the year, the country had decided to organise a pageant in the high school auditorium. That night after the whole event, Scout had forgotten to bring her shoes and thus when back. As the source of light was very little, they could hardly see a thing. Then, someone grabbed them and Jem got his arm broken and Scout felt that someone was trying to strangle her. Suddenly, the man fell and then there was silence for some time. Someone thought to be Atticus by scout had brought them home. Then, Jem was examined and Scout recounted the whole incident to them. It was actually Boo Radley who had saved them. After that night when Scout had sent Boo Radley home, he was not to be seen again. He had passed away. Then, they continued their lives in Maycomb happily ever after.

On the whole, I have enjoyed the story and at some parts of the story, it was quite amusing. Some parts like Jem saying that they could write a note to Boo Radley and say very politely ask him to go out so that they could see him. In return, they would treat him to ice cream. It is of a child's ignorance and innocence. I felt quite sad for Boo Radley. He was thought to be bad and some sort of a monster like a zombie. Actually, he was someone who had a kind heart and is an introvert. At some parts in the story, it was quite interesting. I believe my classmates would enjoy reading the book.

The Advantures of Sherlock Holmes, A case of Identity

Miss Mary Sutherland, a typewriter came to visit Sherlock Holmes in desperateness. She started mentioning Mr Hosmer Angel. Then, she carried on saying the character of her father, how much she earns in a month.... Then she said that she had met Mr Hosmer twice and they began to have a relationship. However, her father would not allow her to have a relationship with him and thus, they could only write letter to each other. They could only meet each other only when her father was not around.

When Mary's father was in France, Mr Hosmer visited Mary and wanted to arrange for a marriage before her father returns. He even made her swear that whatever would happen, she would only love him and be true to him. Mary was supported by her mother and she wrote to her father saying that she was going to be married with Mr Hosmer. However, the letter missed him and it came back to Mary.

Then on the day of the marriage, Mr Hosmer sent Mary and her mother into the a four-wheeler and got into another. Mary and her mother arrived at the church first and when the four-wheeler of Mr Hosmer arrived, no one stepped out and the cab man said that he had seen with his own eyes that Mr Hosmer had gotten into the carriage and was also confused. Then from that day on, Mr Hosmer was no where to be seen. Mary said that she believed that Mr Hosmer foresaw some danger and so wanted Mary to swear before anything happened to him.

The following day, Sherlock Holmes asked Mr James Windibank, the stepfather of Miss Mary Sutherland. Mr windibank did not believe that Sherlock Holmes would be able to find Mr Hosmer and looked down on him. However, Holmes said that in the typewriting of Mr Hosmer, there was slight slurring over the "e" and slight defect in the tail of the "r". He continued saying that with the help of the magnifying lens, he could see fourteen other characteristics. Then, Mr Windibank grew sarcastic and said that he would not carry on wasting time listening to the characteristics of the hand writing of Mr Hosmer. He only told Holmes to tell him when he had found and caught Mr Hosmer, which was thought to be impossible. However, Holmes answered, saying that he would tell him that he had already caught Mr Hosmer. Mr Windibank turned white.

Mr Windibank admitted that he was non other than Mr Hosmer. Sherlock Holmes explained that he said that the man married a woman much older than him and that he enjoyed the use of her money. Now, her marriage would mean and so as a clever stepfather, he took the obvious of keeping her at home and that forbid her to have company of her own age. So, he disguised himself as Mr Hosmer and covered the keen eyes with tinted spectacles, masked his face with a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sank the clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and appeared as Mr Hosmer and kept the other lovers as he makes love himself.

Mr Windibank tried to get away by saying that it was only a joke at the beginning.

Then Sherlock Holmes continued saying that on the day of marriage, Mr Windibank got into the the carriage and got out from the other side. Before, Holmes could do anything, Mr Windibank rushed off.

The Advantures of Sherlock Holmes, The Beryl Coronet

A man by the name of Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street, needed Sherlock Holmes help urgently and seemed to be in complete desperateness. When he got into Sherlock Holmes' house, he banged his head against the wall madly. When to man calmed down, Holmes started top interview Mr Holder.
Mr Holder recollected that the day before, a name card of the highest, noblest most exalted names of England was sent to him. The man immediately asked for fifty thousand pounds which he needed urgently on the following Monday. Not only so, this man left the beryl coronet with Mr Holder. The beryl coronet was a magnificent piece of jewellery with thirty-nine enormous beryls. Feeling unsafe about leaving the precious jewellery in the office, Mr Holder bought it home and locked it in the bureau of his dressing room.

That night after dinner, Mr Holder told his son Arthur, and his niece Mary about his experience about the coronet. That night, he being a light sleeper, was so than usual. About two in the moring, Mr Holder was being woken up by some sound in the house. The sound had stopped but it left an impression that a window had been gently closed somewhere. Then, suddenly, there was sound of footsteps moving in the next room. Mr Holder thus peeped into his dressing room and screamed in anger as he saw Arthur holding the coronet in his hand, one of the gold corners, with three beryls was missing. And so, Arthur was said to have stolen the beryls and thus Mr Holder dialed for the police. Hearing the commotion, Mary came out from her room and advanced to Arthur and Mr Holder. When she saw the coronet in Arthur's hand, she screamed in horror and fainted. Now, Mr Holder had gotten Arthur behind bars.

When being asked about the characters of the Arthur and Mary, Sherlock Holmes felt something amiss about the character of Mary, saying that girls of her age should be going out recently and staying at home all the time. Mr Holder also claimed that the beryl coronet was twisted.

Thus, Sherlock Holmes decided to inspect the crime scene, Mr Holder's house. And the first place he inspected was the stable lane outside of the house. Then,he proceeded and went upstairs to examine the dressing room. He requested Mr Holder to open the bureau in order for him to examine the beryl coronet. Seeing that there was a corner it lost, Holmes tried to bent the coronet, but to no avail. Thus, he concluded that no ordinary man could have broke off part of the coronet.

After spending some time at Mr Holder's house, Sherlock Holmes went back to Baker Street and then rushed off again, this time, without the company of Dr Waston. He returned when Dr Waston had just finished his tea, and before long, Holmes was out to the West End. He did not return till late into the midnight.

The next morning, their client, Mr Holder arrived at nine and announced a bad news to them. That was, Mary had abandoned him. She had written a note saying that she had brought upon him and that she would leave him forever, hoping he would not try and find her. This helped Holmes and proved his point. Holmes announced to Mr Holder saying that he had solved the whole mystery and that he had retrieved the three lost beryls.

Slowly, Holmes explained the whole process of him solving the mystery. He started saying that Sir George Burnwell and Marry had fled together, suggesting them to be the culprit. He said that the night of the crime, Mary slipped through into the dressing room and spoke to her lover which led to the stable lane. His footmarks showed him walking from the lane and stood there as talked. She told him of the coronet and his greed bent her to his will. As Arthur could not sleep, he heard a tread pass his door. So he rose, looking out was surprised to see his cousin walking very stealthily along the passage way, until she disappeared into the dressing room. He waited to see what had came to this strange affair. Then, Arthur saw her carrying the precious coronet in her hands. She passed down the stairs and passed the coronet to someone through the window in the gloom. Arthur ran into the snow and caught Sir George Burnwell and they both tugged at one side of the coronet. In the scuffle, Arthur cut him over the eye. Then, something snapped. Finding that he had got the coronet in his hand, he rushed back into the dressing room. He found the coronet bent and was intending to straightened it when Mr Holder came. When accused, Arthur took the more chivalrous view and preserved Mary's secret. So, when Mary saw the coronet, she shrieked and fainted. Then, when she regained her consciousness, she asked for five minutes to leave the house, in order to check if the missing piece was at the scene.

Holmes said that by judging the footprints, he could tell that a woman had stood talking to a man. Then near the stable lane, he saw many footmarks in a mass. He concluded that a struggled had happened and blood stains could be found near the struggle. Now the only problem was, who the thief was. It could not be the maids as there was not a need to cover the maids actions. However, if it would be Mary, and as Arthur loved her, there could be a reason why he wanted to cover his deed. Then, who would have the ability to make her betray her uncle, it was obviously a lover. Then, when Sherlock Holmes confronted the villain, however he denied everything. Then Holmes pointed a pistol at the head of him and so he became more true. Then Sherlock Holmes said that he would give him a thousand pounds a piece and the villain grew so angry saying that he sold them for six hundred a piece. So he manged to get the address of the receiver and thus bought them at a thousand pounds each. And as for Mary and Sir George Burnwell, they would soon receive their punishment.

The Advantures of Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia

One night, on 20th March, 1888, a European king came to visit Sherlock Holmes. The king was about to get married to a wife whose family's principles were very strict. Any shadow of a doubt to his conduct would bring the matter to an end. However, the king's mistress, Irene Adler, blackmailed him by saying that she would sent the king's future wife's family, a photo of the king and the mistress herself. So, Sherlock Holmes would have to get the photograph back.

The following day, Holmes went to Briony Lodge, in search of Irene Adler. He also got information about her from the people and found out that she had a good deal with a guy by the name of Mr Godfrey Norton, a dark, handsome and dashing man whose occupation was a lawyer. On this same day, Holmes caught sight of a man who fitted the description rushing out of the house of Irene and flagging a taxi. He was going to the church of St Monica. Then Irene Adler did the same. Thus Holmes followed them and headed to the church. When he reached the church, Mr Godfrey Norton grapped him and asked him to be the witness of his wedding with Irene Adler. However, after the wedding, both the bride and the groom separated but would meet at the park at five that day.

Holmes wanted Dr Waston to help him in the case. Holmes had instructed Dr not to interfere with what ever was happening and that to station himself close to the open window of the sitting room of the house of Irene Adler. He was asked to throw a smoke rocket when the window was opened.

Then on that night, seven o'clock, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Waston arrived at the street near the house of Irene Adler. At the scene, there was a group of men smoking, scissors-grinder with his wheel, two guardsmen flirting with a nurse girl and several well-dressed young men. Then after a while, Irene Adler came in a carriage. A man went forward and with hope of earning a copper wanted to open the door. However, was elbowed by another man with the same intention. Soon a fight broke out and more men joined in. Out of the blue, Sherlock Holmes ran into the fight to save Irene Adler who was caught in the fight but was being hit and blood flowed freely down his face. Then the fight stopped. The onlookers said that Holmes was brave and kind and should be help into Irene's house for a rest. When Holmes was carried in, he showed a sign of breathless, and the people rushed to the windows to open them. Seeing the window being opened, Dr Waston, threw the smoke rocket into the sitting room. After a while, Holmes assured them that it was only a false alarm and quickly slipped out from the crowd to be together with Dr Waston.

Then Holmes explained that all the people at then were just accomplices and that when he asked Dr to throw the rocket, he saw Irene rushing to somewhere in between the sitting room and her bedroom to retrieve the photograph of the king and her. Holmes explained that in times of emergency, women tend to grab the thing which was most valuable to them, so for Irene Adler, the thing that was most valuable to her was the photograph.

The next day, together with the king, Dr Waston and Sherlock Holmes went to Irene's house to retrieve the photograph. However, when they reached the destination, the maid told them that Irene Adler had already left the country. In other words, they would not be able to get the photograph. Shocked, they push their way in tore open a sliding shutter and to reveal the photograph. However, the photograph was of Irene herself in a evening dress and it was superscribed to Sherlock Holmes. inside was a letter.

In the letter. it was said that Irene soon suspected Sherlock Holmes and was being warned sometime ago of Sherlock Holmes. So Irene and Mr Norton had decided that flight before pursue was the best option. She also said she would not use the photograph to threaten the king anymore as she was being loved and loved a man better than the king. She would only use the photograph as to only safeguard herself from the king.

So this is just a rough summary of the story. I really enjoy reading Sherlock Holmes.

The Advantures of Sherlock Holmes, The Speckled Band

In early April in the 83', one early morning, Mrs Hudson, name Helen Stoner, came to visit Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, begging them to solve the mystery of her sister's death. She was living with her stepfather, name Dr Roylott,who married Helen Stoner's mother in India. Helen had a twin sister by the name of Julia. Their mother died in a railway accident in England some eight years ago. After the death of their beloved mother, Dr Roylott changed and soon became a unreasonable man who quarrels with anyone who gets in his path. He even got himself in the police court, for he was a man with immense strength and uncontrollable anger.Their stepfather kept a cheetah and baboon.

Time went by and when both Julia and Helen at the age of thirty, their hair had already began to whiten. Julia led to a mysterious end of her life. Before she died, she got engaged, however, Dr Roylott had no objections against the marriage. Unfortunately, a terrible event happened within a fortnight before the day fixed for the wedding. During when, they lived at THE manor house, a very very old, and now, only one wing is inhabited. The bedrooms where Julia, Helen and their father slept were along a same corridor.

That fatal night, Dr Roylott had got int o his room early, Julia was troubled by the smell of Indian Cigars, therefore went to Helen's room where she sat for some time chatting. At eleven o'clock when Julia was about to return to her own room, she turned back and shot Helen with a question,"Have you ever heard any one whistle in the dead of the night?" Upon hearing that she sister did do so she carried on saying that in the past few nights, she heard a low whistle. After that she returned to her own room. That night, Helen sensed that some misfortune was about to hit Julia when a wild scream of a terrified woman burst out. Then, Helen rushed over to her sister's room just to hear a low whistle and a clanging sound of metal.

As Helen approached her sister's room, she saw the door unlocked, and revolved around its hinges. Julia face was blanched with terror and was swaying through and fro like a drunkard.

When Helen bent over to Julia, Julia shrieked in a voice Helen would never forger,"OH MY GOD! HELEN! IT WAS THE BAND! THE SPECKLED BAND!" Then she pointed to the doctor's room.

Now it was Helen's turn to be married. She had to sleep on the bed which her sister mysteriously died. Same thing happened, the father did not object and the last night, she heard the low whistle. The following day, she came to Sherlock Holmes and reported. So, Holmes went over and inspected the manor house and found out strange things. Firstly, the bed was fastened to the

floor. Secondly, above the bed, there was a bell with a very long rope which was for ringing the bell, was a dummy. Thirdly above the bell, their was a ventilation when the room was already exposed to the atmospheric air outside. Then when Holmes went over to Dr's room, he found at the side of the bed very long slashes made by the claws of a cat.

Then on that night, Holmes asked Helen to give a signal by lighting the lamp. Then Holmes and Dr Watson got into Helen's room and waited until close midnight. Then something happened. The smoke could smelled and then not long later, the low whistle could be heard. Without hesitation, Holmes got up and stuck a long cane into the ventilation and poke and shook the cane violently, after a while he finally settled down. Then, together with Dr Waston and Helen, Holmes went over to Dr Roylott's room to find him dead, with a speckled band on his wrist, a long snake wrapping round him. Using the cane, Holmes got the snake away from Dr Roylott and shoved it into a iron box and dialed for the cops.

How Holmes solved the case was very simpled. When Holmes saw that the bed was peculiarly, fastened to the floor and that the rope and ventilation had a story to be told to, he smelt a rat. Then with evidence from Helen, he learnt that Dr Roylott had interest in Indian animals and thus came out with a conclusion that the Dr could have tried to put a trained serpent into the ventilation connected with the room Helen was sleeping in. Then the rope from the bell would allow it to glide down towards Helen and make her a victim. Thus, in order to chase the serpent away, Holmes poked and shook the cane wildly in the ventilation to force the snake to return. Snake's instinct is to bite its closest victim and thus bit Dr. Then the rest was up to the police. Actually we can say that Sherlock Holmes had indirectly killed Dr Roylott!

This story is really one of the most interesting mystery story I have ever read.

My Poem My School

My school, My school,
How big and beautiful are you.
My school is always there for me,
I am always there for my school.

My school clean,
My school is Green.
My school is old,
But my school holds.

In the school territories,
We have all the facilities.
Courts, Computer labs and Classroom,
And many more.

My school has done my proud,
I shall now do the school proud.

My understanding of the poem

My badge has a Latin motto,
Hope for the future,
The future is hope,
Or something.

At times black crows try to interrupt,
When we sing the National Anthem.

This stanza is actually personification. Which means that the crows were chirping during the National Anthem. It also shows that the writer does not like the crows.

It is difficult to maintain,
The whiteness of my shoes,
Especially on Wednesday.

This stanza is a free verse. From the above paragraph, we can tell that the writer might have some outdoor activity that would dirty his shoes, probably soccer.

I must admit there is something quite special,
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts.

The thighs of the scouts could be very dark and muscular as they were very hard working. The writer can be a scout or he would not have specifically mentioned scouts in his poem.

The Malay chauffeurs,
Who wait for my schoolmates,
Sit on the car park kerb,
Telling jokes to one another.

This is a free verse. The writer could be envious of his schoolmates' rich families, having the ability to hire a chauffeur. He could also be envious of the chauffeurs telling jokes to one another and did not need to study so hard and could just be free.

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable.

The writer probably did not find mathematics to be an easy subject and thus finds it unreasonable.

On Chinese New Year,
Mrs Lee dressed up,
In a Sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawang Solo.

This is a free verse. She seemed to have mixed up the occasions and thus wore a Sarong Kebaya and sang Bengawang Solo. This could have been one of the writers memories.

The capital of Singapore is Singapore.

This stanza, in quite a creative and funny, depicted that Singapore is a small country.

My best friend did a heroic thing once,
shaded all A's,
For his Chinese Language Paper 2,
MCQ paper.

The writers friend, he was not afraid of getting into trouble with the teachers or his parents.
He was probably hated and was very bad at Chinese.

In our annual yearbook,
There is a photograph of me.

Pushing a wheelchair and smiling,
They caught me,
At the exact moment.

When my eyes were actually closed.

This three paragraph are free verses.

In this poem, the writer has expressed his thoughts and feeling of the memories of his school days.

Comparisons of the story Village By the Sea

Functional vs Disfunctional

The De Selvas. Mr De Selva is a perfect head, he takes care of the family, takes them on tours, has a good salary, is a good and caring man.

Hari's family. He has a drunk father, invalid mother,he is struggling to make a living due to poverty.

Poverty vs Wealth

Hari's family. Wears poor clothes, has a useless father, poor fishing and only has a small land to plant seeds. No money and thus had to sell cow to pay debt. Could only afford to buy glass bangles.

Biju. He is rich and thus could built a motorised boat, buy a television. He and his family wear good quality made clothes. Wife wears jewellery and gold bangles.

Rural vs Urban

Rural. Peaceful, displays the beauty of nature. The people laze around doing nothing. The woman not given privilege and thus ill treated and not allowed to do anything.

Urban. Place is polluted and noisy. There are heavy traffics and high rise buildings. The people are always rushing for work. The women are the ones fighting for rights.

Characters

Hari-responsible,pessimistic,realistic and practical, cares for mother,hates father, not so dutiful and obedient, a good judge of character.

Lila-responsible, optimistic,realistic but hopeful, loves both parents, dutiful and obedient daughter, not a good judge of character.

Bela-likes sweets

-did not really helped Lila with house work

-did not really know what was going on at home

-scared of father

-still loves father
-immature

Kamal-knows that Pinto likes Bela better but was not jealous
-loves Lila and Hari equally and missed Hari when he went to Bombay.
-felt that Hari was doing most of the work
-feels that education is important

Mother-she could not do anything
-felt the medicine man was good
-felt the husband sucks

Father-cares about toddy
-don't know how to earn money
-does not love mother
-Hari does not love him
-feels that he is still worthy of love

Pinto-killed by Khanekar Brothers
-loves owner

Khanekar Brothers-likes toddy and finds it cool
-mother drink toddy and allow them to do so
-toddy releases stress
-like money
-they do not feel guilty for killing Pinto
-will continue to sell toddy when factories come up
-will like to just sell toddy even in factories
-will not just disturb father but whole family

Adarkar-wants to protest to stop government and goes round the village
-likes nature
-tries to stop factories
-thinks that they can stop the building of the factories
-believes in god

Sayyid Ali-an Orinthologist
-he is selfish and heartless
-feels that the factories would pollute Bombay

Jagu-responsible
-have ability to help
-feels that he is a good Samaritan
-brought Hari home although family was not happy and feels that he should do right although the wife feels that it is wrong
-has no time to clean the restaurant

Mr Paanwallah-feels that Hari was his son and want to pass on the watch making skills to someone interested
-sympathizes Hari
-did not ask for returns
-feels that all religion are alike

Hira lal-brought Hari to Jagu
-kind
-long working hours

Hira Bai-drinks toddy himself
-introduces the medicine man to them
-don't really care about sons

Biju-not humble
-feels proud and that he is of a higher class
-tried to save lives by telling the rest not to go out into the sea under rough weather conditions
-bought a television just to show off
-said that he is not a smuggler
-no kindness and does not help the poor

Bhola, Ramu, Mahesh-not very educated
-gave up studies because they did not like studies
-optimistic
-did not like farming and fishing
-cares for there own welfare rather then the village
-feels that Biju is arrogant
-will fish and farm if there is no job available in the factories
-if have chance will go to Bombay
-thinks that they are good and cool

Mrs De Selva-likes Thul
-felt that the villager were considered the same
-felt that everyone was worth helping
-did not want Lila to pay back the money for her mother's medicine fee

Watchman-felt that Thul is a horrible place
-felt that Biju was low class compared to the people in Bombay
-city dwellers felt themselves to be of a higher class compared to the village people

Medicine man-actually just wanted to con Lila's money and did not know how to help Lila's mother
-his way of live is cheating people
-not guilty for his actions
-using cow to earn money
-likes money
-con poor people as they are not educated

My Sabbaticals

After 5 days of hard work, it was finally over. Together with me, 5 other o3's, Zihan, Yu Xiang, Jack, Tiet Gan and Stanford signed up for the drums sabbatical. During these five days, we had learnt a lot of things and we gained new experiences and had lots of fun.
Beginning in the first day, we did nothing much but learning the different beats and the techniques of playing drums. We learnt the quarter note, eighth note and the sixteenth note. We were taught how to hold the drumsticks which looks like a pair of gigantic chopsticks. As expected, the first day was sure boring and when I went home that day, I even got giddy and a serious headache after that!

The following day, I add learnt my lesson and I brought my earpiece there.During that day we were taught how to read a drum score. Then when the instructor announced the news, I got the fright of my life. We were going to perform a song entitled 'Photograph' by Nickelback after the whole sabbatical in order to show that we had learnt something after the five days. To make things worse, we were not just going to perform for the friends that we had gotten more close to, but the group of guitarists as well.

During Wednesday and Thursday, we lots of practise and when it came to my turn to try on the drum set, I would sort of panic and start to fumble. Zihan and Yu Xiang looked very funny when they were playing.Althought we made a fool out of ourselves, we had lots of fun. On Thursday, something funny happened. The teacher in charged of the performance, Mr Ong came in and practice with us. He was great at not only the drums, but also the guitar. While our coach,Jonathan was talking, Mr Ong suddenly turned around and commented that a boy with no hair, who was sitting beside us looks like a monk. Yu Xiang, Zihan, Jack and me all laughed out loud.

The big day finally arrived! All of us were very nervous and our palms were icy cold,especially mine. However, when the music came on, we started to enjoy ourselves and all the fear were being shook out of our bodies by the rocking music. We all had fun.

After this whole sabbatical, I have greatly benefited and may consider picking up drums one day if only I have the time. It was indeed an unforgettable experience. Now I wish to go to other sabbaticals which teaches us how to play an instrument.

Books

Books are interesting and they are good for us. They widen our cupboard of vocabulary and give us knowledge. I love to read books but now I do not have the time to read books. How I wished I could read books?
What kind of books do you all like to read? Personally, I like to read all sorts of books. However, I especially like fantasy books and mystery books. Some of them that I had read before are 'His Dark Materials" , the movie titled' The Golden Compass', 'Tunnels". Some of the mystery book are 'Hardy Boys' which my mother bought when I was young.
Among all the books, my favourite is ' His Dark Materials.' Why? Well, because the book are very interesting and the author, Philip Pullman has described the settings, the scenes and the characters well. Every time I read the book, it never failed to capture my attention. Once I start reading, I would not be able to stop until hours had passed.
This book is a master award winning trilogy, 'northern lights', 'the subtle knife' and 'the amber spyglass'. This book is about two parallel universes. Beginning in Oxford, it takes Lyra and her animal-Daemon Pantalaimon on a dangerous rescue mission to the ice kingdoms of the far North, where she begins to learn about the mysterious particles they call Dust-a substance for which a terrible war between different worlds will be fought.
In the story, I like Pantalaimon the most as it is cool and can change into different animals. This book is very beautifully written. Commented by Terry Jones'' This trilogy is one of the great imaginative works in the English language. And it contains one of the best villains in all literature's. After sharing, I hope my friends will wish to buy it.

The comparison of Lamb to the Slaughter and The way up to heaven

Both the stories are about the wives killing their husbands. However, there are still differences in the stories. So, I am going to talk about the differences in these two stories.

Firstly, the difference in the character of the wives, Mary Maloney and Mrs Foster. Mary Maloney is a calm and whenever she get agitated, she can calm down very quickly after that. However, Mrs Foster gets agitated easily and whenever that happens, she will not be able to calm down even after a long time.

Secondly, the killing of their husbands. Mary Maloney killed her husband on impulse with the lamb chop. However, Mrs Foster had the intention to killed her husband.

Thirdly, the reason for killing their husbands. Petrick Maloney told Mary that he was going to divorce with her as he had an affair and he no longer loved her. Thus May Maloney killed her husband on impulse. However, Mr Foster always tortures Mrs Foster by purposely dragging time which would make Mrs Foster go wild and when he sees her in that state, he sort of feels contented. Thus, when Mr Foster got trapped in the lift one day, she took the opportunity to kill him. She did so by letting him die inside the lift. She was indirectly killing him.

Fourthly, Mary Maloney immediately prepared to escape from murder and went to call the police. However, Mrs Foster only did so after some time when she came back from her tour.

Fifthly, after the killing. Mary Maloney had no source of income and she would have to cope financially and with her unborn baby. However, for Mrs Foster all her husband's money would be hers and she would be rich.

Sixthly, Mr and Mrs Maloney are a young couple. However, Mr and Mrs Foster are a old couple.

Seventhly, Mary Maloney killed her husband almost immediately after her husband told her that he wanted to divorce with her. However, for Mrs Foster, she did not dare to murder her husband even when he mentally tortured her for so long. She did not kill her husband but rather leave him to die.

Eighthly, Mary Maloney's baby is not born yet, however, Mrs Foster already had a daughter and grandchildren.

Ninethly, Mary Maloney still loved her husband when he told her that he wanted to divorce with her. However, Mrs Foster no longer loved her husband, but sort of respect him.

These are the differences between LTTS and The way up to Heaven

I did badly

I can't believe this! I actually did so badly for my term 2 and I can't imagine what I will get for my MSG this term. I failed for my IH, my Chinese, I just past my maths I don't know what I will get! Well at least I scrape through an A1 for science. This term, I screwed up my own grades. I feel so lousy, hopefully I will be able to do better in term three.

Journal According to My Maloney.

I have been thinking of my relationship with Mary for the past few months. Mary has been very hardworking and a devoted wife. The house is always warm and clean and a good evening meal will be ready before I reach home after my work. Her demure and submissive nature make it even more difficult for me to bring the matter up to her. I have been contemplating for enough, holding on for one more day makes me less courageous.
She is getting impatient and threatens to pay Mary a visit if I sit on the problem for too long. Though I do not seem to feel much for Mary now, I am still apprehensive. Concentrating on my job is a serious problem. This is too much for me. Stress is building up day by day. I have to tell her today after work.
I will tell her not to worry as I will continue to support her financially. I will also look after the baby if she is willing. I hope she will be realistic and calm and not complicate things by kicking up a big fuss.

The similiarities of LTTS and The Way Up To Heaven

Below are some similarities and differences between the two stories, LTTS and The Way Up To Heaven.
Firstly, both the wives in the stories are very devoted to their husbands.Whenever their husbands ask them to do something they would do it with no complains.
Secondly, both the husbands in the stories were indifferent to their wives needs and problems and did not treat their wives well.
Thirdly, both the wives killed their husbands. In LTTS Mary Maloney Murdered her husband with a lamb stick and in The Way Up To Heaven, Mrs Foster killed her husband by not finding a solution to save him when he was trapped in the lift.
There was a twist in both the stories. In LTTS,at the beginning, Mary Maloney was very demure and would serve the husband eagerly. However at the end< id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">lift, she left him to die. These are some of the differences. Firstly, LTTS is about a young couple. However, The Way Up To Heaven is about a old couple. Secondly, In LTTS, Mary Maloney could calm down very easily. She could smile at the grocer even after she had killed her husband.However, in The Way Up To Heaven, Mrs Foster, could not calm down even after an hour or so. Her face turned white when she knew her husband was trapped in the lift.

Summary of the story, Male Child

Of the three stories, Lamb To The Slaughter, Male Child and Love., my favourite is the Male Child. This story is about a successful businessman, Chuan Poon. He had six daughters but prayed hard for a son. He had a devoted wife who stayed with him through thick and thin. He had always been a son, however, all his children were girls. He believed that he had been cursed with no son for all the transgression he had committed, and thus felt guilty.
However, after he visited the brothel, everything changed. He was so enamoured by the smiles and charms of a prostitute that he decided to marry her. Now, he needed an excuse to abandon his wife. Since his wife was not able to bear a son for him, he would take this as an excuse to get rid of her. So, now instead of praying to have a son, Chuan Poon prayed to have another daughter. So that he could take the prostitute as his wife openly.
My favourite part of the story is the ending. Chuan Poon instead of praying for a son, he desperately prayed for a daughter.My heart really went out to the wife who said that Chuan Poon could take in another wife if she gave birth to another girl. She promised to convince her old mother and would serve his new wife with no complaints.
I felt that Chuan Poon was really ungrateful and unfaithful. The story ended with Chuan Poon straining his ears to hear if the child was a girl or a boy. I hope it was a boy. The poor wife would then get some respect and recognition and hopefully Chuan Poon would come back to his senses.

Introduction of myself

Hi my friends,this is just a brief introduction of myself.
My name is Goh Arnold , but some people in my primary school call me Arnie. He! He! I am the kind of people that like to talk a lot. So, I like to dialogue with people. I like many friends and thus hope to be able to be good friends with everyone. I hope we can all work hard together and achieve good results and bring Ortus glory.

My main interest is actually playing the piano and basketball. However, I'm not really good at them. If you would to ask me one day, what is my favourite fruit? I will tell you I'm the fruit king.Ha!Ha! Well that is because I like practically every fruit! If you ask what is my favourite toy? I will tell you that I'm a Lego lover and I collect Lego. Which singer do you all like?Personally I like Jay Chou.

Ya, by the way have you all seen my blog page? Do you all think it is nice?

That's, all I hope all of you will reply quickly. Have a nice day.