What have I learned?

Basically, this course has taught me how to write a good research paper. Although we have gone through many written assignments before, this course has taught me how to organize ideas in a correct way. For example, we learned how to come out with a good thesis statement and the supporting points. Based on my experience, to come out with a good thesis statement was not that easy...there are many dos and don'ts. This position paper is a good practice before we can start our research paper. Besides that, we learn about the use of tales, legend and myth and fables in learning English. One of the methods that I will implement in my future English classroom is to summarize a text so that it becomes short and simple. This is a great method to use especially when we teach low and some proficiency students. As we all know, most Malaysian students do not find literature as a fun and interesting subject…so by simplifying the text, students can comprehend it better. Apart from that, I learned about letter written by a few prominent figures such as John Keats and Vincent Van Gogh. The fun part was we learn about Andy Warhol’s diary and by reading his diary, we can know something or two about him. So, basically, this course has introduced me to many prominent figures related to literature and arts. Others…we learn about Nelson Mandela’s autobiography and how to use it a literature text. Personally, the text that I liked the most is Martin Luther’s speech. I knew about his speech before but I had not read it. So, learning about his speech was exciting and what I like about his speech is the repetition of ‘I have a dream…’ It is so dramatic and it gives the whole speech a strong impact. All in all…Dr. Edwin is a great educator that helps to open our eyes to appreciate literature.

Research Paper - Final Draft

When we received our first draft back, I realized that my discussion was not coherent with the topic. Hence, I decided to edit my topic and not the discussion as I felt that my discussion was fine. Besides that, I could not come out with ideas to make the discussion suited with the topic. At first, I had chosen to examine the writing styles of Heah Chwee Sian and Anjana Appachana in representing gender discrimination/women oppression in patriarchal society. But I was afraid that my discussion was not going to be depth as I need to critically analyze the writing styles of both authors and it was not easy. Then, I decided to change my topic to 'The Examination of Women Oppression in Patriarchal Society' but the problem started when I failed to relate the issue of women oppression with the patriarchal society in the stories. I could not prove how the societies presented in both stories are dominated by men. So, what I did was to ask my friend to read my assignment so that he could help me to overcome the problem. Then, he advised me focus on the issue of 'pregnancy out of wedlock' as both stories deal with the same issue presented through the female characters, Ah Nya and Amrita. I was interested as I have never written anything related to this issue before. Instead of discussing a common issue such as gender discrimination maybe I should write something I have never done before. It was not difficult and I chose to examine the issue through the conflicts portrayed in both stories.

The History Boys

Sincerely, I am not really into British movies as the English is more complicated, not straightforward and the thick British accent makes it more difficult. When, I heard that we were going to watch two movies, I was excited but when I knew that the second movie was a British movie, it took back my interest. However, after watching the movie, I found that it was not that bad although there were some troubles in understanding what’s happening in the movie. Generally, the movie is a mixture of tragedy and comedy. It was hard to determine the message of the movie. First, the movie is about a group of students in Cutlers’ Grammar School, Sheffield preparing themselves to sit for Oxford University entrance examination as they have passed their A-level examination with flying colours. It is different from the first movie as the students are selected students or elite students and they do not have trouble with their studies and apparently all of them are smart. In between, the story portrays the theme of homosexuality and various beliefs in teaching or educating. Truly, till now I am not sure whether Dakin is a gay of not. To me he is not a good looking man but this is a British movie so Dakin can be considered as a good looking man. Whatever it is, I was interested in the teaching styles used by the three different teachers, Hector, Irwin and Lintott. I prefer Hector as he allows the students to come out with their own interpretations. The class is more enjoyable and interesting. But he is a weird teacher as he has this ‘close’ bond with the students. He is actually misusing his students to fulfil his sexual desire but he is not a bad teacher as he cares about the students and he loves his career as a teacher. Meanwhile, Irwin, the new teacher has more reliable teaching style than Hector, he trained the students to learn by looking at facts…(that is what I understood). He lied to Dakin that he graduated from Corpus and this might be because he is a little bit jealous with the students’ intelligence as he claimed that he is not that smart. Here we can see how important it is to have solid education background to become a teacher. Lintott, the female teacher is a mixture of both. She is portrayed like other female teachers. Personally, the situation (preparing for university entrance examination) is in a way similar to what we are facing in Malaysia. Students are working hard to prepare themselves for examination and this shows that any education systems are not free from examination.

The Freedom Writers

This is a very interesting movie that can fascinate people who watch it. First of all, the actor and actress who play the roles in the movie are an A-class Hollywood actors like Hillary Swank and Patrick Damsey. The story itself that is based on true story is full with messages about education and teaching. Mrs. Gruwel acted by Hillary Swank is a great example or role model for teachers in the world that we should not give up teaching although there are many obstacles that we need to go through.
Sometimes, I wonder how one can be so strong in such situation. If I were her (Mrs. Gruwel), I would fail as a teacher or become like other de-motivate teachers that think those students are no better than trash. From, the story, I realize that teaching is just a job that we do to get monthly income but it is more like a responsibility. When you decide to become a teacher, you need to know that you are carrying a heavy duty as an educator. Educating is not an easy task even in Islam we believe that teaching is a noble job. This is proven through the story where Mrs. Gruwel did not give up on her students although her marriage failed due to her passion for teaching.
However, the question is how much you willing to scarify your life for your passion for teaching. For me, this is a sensitive issue as both are equally important. But to me whatever it is family comes first. Anyway, we should know our limit so that we are not trapped between both responsibilities. Here in ‘The Freedom Writers’, Mrs. Gruwel failed as a wife. But, I personally think that her failure in marriage is not just because of her devotion in educating those students but due to her husband’s failure in his career. He might not be able to share the joy of her success as a teacher. Apart from that, he might feel that he is losing her. Or simply he is not an understanding man.
Besides that, the issue on racial discrimination that is presented in this movie is wised to be study. To me, this is a typical American movie on education as it portrays how students are discriminated due to their skin colours and origins, i.e Blacks, Latinos and Asians. There were denied the equality to receive the same level of education as the whites as they were looked as troublemakers and gangsters. Overall, what I learned from this movie is that with hard works and dedications, one can achieve success in the field they involve in.

Our Outlines have been Approved by Dr. Jaya

Gladly, our topics and outlines have been approved by Dr. Jaya. Although he did not write any comment except 'OK Jaya', he gave us one week to complete our first draft and submit it to him by the end of the week 11. Unluckily, week 11 was a 'hell' week for all of us because they were three assignments including the first draft that need to be submitted as well. As far as I remembered, I did not have enough sleep for the whole week because they were too many tasks to be completed. Although I have completed one of the assignments on the previous week, there were still re-editing to be done. Anyway most of us survived excluding one or two people who are greatly know as the extremely last-minute workers. Back to the outline, the topic that I have chosen to work on is 'The Writing Styles in Representing Gender Discrimination in 'The Prophecy' by Anjana Appachana and 'A Great Injustice' by Heah Chwee Sian'. When, I tried to start writing the first draft, I realized that I was suffering from what is known as 'writer's block'. I cried once as I knew by hook or by crook I must finish it before Friday. Anyway, my friend advised me to refer to one of Dr. Jaya's books as there is an article on how to examine gender discrimination's in a literature text. It really helped me and I also decided to change my topic to 'The Examination of Women Oppression in a Patriarchal Society in 'The Prophecy' by Anjana Appachana and 'A Great Injustice' by Heah Hwee Sian as I found it easier. However, I choose to examine the issue through the conflicts presented in the stories as well as the writing styles used by both authors.

Dr. Jayakaran

At first when I was assigned under Dr. Jaya's supervision I was glad and relief as I know how linear he is with his students. And I know that he would be such a help for us in the process of writing this research paper. But somehow I'm quite regretting it because he is so busy for this whole semester that we found it was so difficult to set a meeting date with him. What I heard from my juniors is that he has his hand full with works related to his publication, MICELT and according to one of his staffs in the library, this year he is receiving an award for best- performing lecturer...this was what I heard. If it is true, I strongly believe he deserves it. Anyway back to the problem, I hope we would be able to discuss our research paper with him face-to-face so that we know what we should and should not do. Every time we bumped onto him, we would ask when we could meet him personally as we are tired of being in the waiting list. Although he has not rejected any of our topics yet, it does not mean that we get everything correct. Besides that, it would be nice if we could have a chance to listen to his views and ideas.

Reading Letters

Personally, I strongly believe that reading other people letters is an immoral action just like reading other people diaries. However it is different when we look at it as a part of literature. This week we learned about letters that were written by prominent and famous literature people, John Keats and Vincent Van Gogh. An interesting part about John Keat’s letter is that the letters were addressed to his lover that was also his neighbour. This letters were written on the year of 1819. Back then, men were more romantic and gentlemen compared to men nowadays. There might be the reason why he preferred to express his feelings through letter although they were neighbours. One of the lines that captured my attention when reading it was “You dazzled me – There is nothing in the world so bright and delicate –“. This is a beautiful line that will make any women’s hearts melt. It is nice when a man confesses that there is nothing more important than you although it is absolutely untrue. If John Keats was a trouble man, Vincent Van Gogh might be worse than him. I could actually feel how lonely he was as he only talked about painting and this undermined his health. Dr. Edwin told us that he cut one of his ear lobes to be given to the woman he loved. How crazy…? Anyway, through his letters to his brother we can actually see how depressed he was with his life. Mostly he talked about his passion for painting. Although it was quite difficult to understand the whole emotions in the letters at least I am able to appreciate their opinions, ideas and emotions about literature.