Learning Log 7

I feel that the Romeo and Juliet project was fun and exciting, getting together to rehearse and acting out our roles in our respective costumes.

The process of getting together to rehearse and planning out all the props and costumes, as well as the play itself, was tedious. We had to arrange rehearsals on tight schedules and holidays too as well as plan our budget in order to avoid exceeding the budget limit. My group felt that it was quite hectic with all the rehearsals colliding with our school activities.

Problems kept on arising. My group almost exceeded the budget limit and we had problems planning out the rest of the budget when we realized that we spent too much on some items. Some of us were unable to go for the rehearsals due to our time constraint and school activities. We had to sacrifice our time and energy and put in effort to be able to rehearse at least thrice.

We had a few full-dress rehearsals, the last one being right before the performance. All of us felt nervous and anxious, but we stayed calm and did our best in the performance. It was exciting to see the other groups perform the play in different styles. I was glad to not have messed up my part nor the play itself.

Overall, I think that the Romeo and Juliet project is definitely one thing worth remembering. I also feel that it was a good idea to get us know more about each other.

Learning Log 6

I have learnt that devices can help in enhancing descriptions and creating imagery. By understanding devices, one can discover the meanings of a piece of literature work. Devices help one to be able to capture the image of the conveyed message.

Identifying devices is an important element of understanding the unknown, which may be full of complicated devices. Repetition is one of the various devices used in works. By repeating words, perhaps consecutively, this gives emphasis to the word that is repeated, therefore attracting the reader's attention to show emphasis on the idea. It can also show emotion, such as frustration or panic.

Some devices are not literal, which is why it is essential to be able to understand figurative devices. These devices contain words which do not describe the literal idea, but rather show a descriptive meaning of the device. Personification is an example of a figurative device, which means giving human qualities to an inanimate object. This does not necessarily mean that the object indeed becomes like a human. It means that the object is described as something similar to human qualities, such as "leaves dancing in the wind". The leaves do not actually dance, but move in such a way that they seem to be dancing in the wind, usually in a graceful manner.

Learning Log 5

I have learnt that the unseen are literature works that one may not be familiar with. To have a full understanding of the text, one must analyze the passage and get an idea of what it is about.

To approach an unseen prose passage, one must read it three times to fully understand the text. The first reading should be swift to get the main idea of the text. The second reading requires one to have a better understanding of the text. The third reading involves annotation and jotting down notes of possible answers.

I have also learnt two techniques in organizing answers in an essay. They are IBC and PEEL. IBC stands for Introduction, Body and Conclusion. The introduction is a brief context of points one is going to make. The body includes all the points stated and evidence from the passage to support it as well as elaboration on the answers. The conclusion summarizes all the points and gives a judgement. PEEL stands for Point, Explain/Elaborate, Evidence Example, and Link. One has to make a point and explain why one has chosen it. One has to support this with evidence from the passage and link it with the questions.

Learning Log 5

The unseen are works that one may not be familiar with. One may not recognize the work or have read a little of it. One has to study the work closely and thoroughly to understand most or all of it.

By learning and understanding literary devices, one can understand more of the unfamiliar literary work, such as imagery and figurative language, found in prose and poetry. If one does not try to learn such devices, one will misunderstand some phrases that one may consider literal. If one does not understand the phrase "whining like a kitten", one will think that a baby, for instance, will whine like a kitten. It is written in a way that the baby whines or makes a sound similar to a kitten's whine.

Sound devices are another type of common devices found in the unseen. Onomatopoeia is an interesting device mainly and commonly used in literature works. Onomatopoeia is the formation of words which echo the sounds that they describe, such as quack (sound of a duck), gobble (describes a way of eating) and cackle (a noise or laugh). It allows the reader to be able to imagine the sound easily as one reads the onomatopoeia.

Sentence structures are important elements of literature. If used in the correct way, they can thoroughly describe and emphasize the main idea of the sentence. Oxymora are images or ideas, consisting of two contradicting and opposing ideas, like "open secret", which means that the secret is no longer secret and is already exposed. "Stop motion" is another example - the use of "stopped" images to create motion.

Learning Log 4

I have learnt that backgrounds serve an important role in plays as it gives a suitable atmosphere for the plays. They enhance the mood and make it more realistic. I think that an animated background makes it as if the play was real. I also learnt that one can use cosmetics or make-up to give a person certain looks to portray the character they are playing and the audience can see that clearly just by looking.

One of our good practices is that my friends and I update one another on the Macbeth performance often so as to avoid possible future conflicts. This is also to check and confirm our decisions to prevent unnecessary problems. We also brought some of our props to discuss and check whether they are suitable for the play or not. Our play would have been a disaster, or rather much worse, if we had not even bothered to meet up and discuss.

I feel that my friends had done a good job creating the props for the play as they have cut them out from cardboard and coloured them well. I could see that the colours were smooth and not uneven and I was impressed. Their shapes were also nicely cut out and not bumpy, which I thought they had put in effort.

I think that my group could have done a better job. We should have used materials resembling witches' outfit to give us the appearance of typical witches. Hand gestures could also have made the play more interesting. I should have considered the speed of the video as well as the speed of my friends' delivery in speech to create a smooth flow. Hats and old rags could have also helped us give the audience the impression of witches instead of three ordinary students with "dandruff" and black outfits.

Learning Log 3

The lesson on Act 1 Scene 2 is a lot more complicated and tougher than I thought. Some of the phrases in the original text of the Macbeth script seem almost completely different than the modern text. To me, it is difficult figuring out some words and phrases. I think this may also be the reason why the original text was used for the exam. This is probably to test our skills of interpreting the text. In some parts of the text, objects are used to express certain things. For example, "spring" is used to show success or victory of a war while "shipwracking storms" and "direful thunders" describe the dreadful problems they would face. "Two spent swimmers that do cling and choke their art..." literally means two exhausted swimmers trying to hold onto each other for survival to avoid drowning. This can also be used to describe the armies fighting in such a way it was impossible to tell which side was winning.

The class of 40 (39 were present), was divided into groups of three. The problem was that one of us had to do a one-man play, or rather a monologue. I don't think I can wait to see it. He would have to switch voices each time he plays a different role. I hope that he can do a good job on this one. Anyway, in a group of three, each of us would have to be one of the witches, speaking with whatever tone or pitch we would like to use. My idea is that the witches' voices would be high-, medium- and low-pitched - never mind its simplicity. It would be funny if some of the boys spoke in a high-pitched voice and the girls in a low-pitched voice.

We discussed about the 5 sentences each of us came up with. My group of 4 exchanged one another's comic strips with the sentences and decided to choose Chung Seng's sentences, since they were neatly written and had a good summary of Act 1 Scene 2. Drawing out the scenes described by the sentences is the hardest part but few of us can draw well. I would still like to see all of the different drawings and sentences in the comic grids each of us made. I think that this lesson was very interesting and I look forward to doing something like this again.

Literature Learning Log 2

So far, I have learnt interesting things. For example, I have learnt interesting things. For example, I have learnt how to voice characters with the appropriate tone to give more feeling in the speech. It also helps people to be able to differentiate between characters or roles when watching an act. However, there are many different kinds of voices suitable for certain characters. For example, witches do not necessarily need to have high-pitched voices, but can have old croaky voices, which also sound like an old woman.

One of my favourite topics is superstition. There are various types of superstitions, each with strange but interesting facts. In some cases, events are caused by a certain deed, such as a can of paint falling on one's head when one walks under a ladder. To some people, they think the superstition they believe in is true just because of coincidences.

I think the actors of Act 1 Scene 1 have to try to speak loud and clear for everyone to be able to hear. They should also be able to use the right tone of voice for the characters. For the superstition topic, the top 5 superstitions should be summarised into short sentences so that everyone can understand easily without having to listen to the long tedious explanation. They can save time and allow more groups to present their top 5 superstitions.

Literature Learning Log 1

I have now learnt what a cinquain is and how to create one. A cinquain is a poem made up of 5 lines, each one describing the subject. I think that making a cinquain is fun because of its simplicity. However, it can get difficult when our vocabulary runs short on certain words. I think it also helps in developing one's creativity. Overall, I feel the cinquains are important to Literature because they may help in some topics of Literature.