Posts

Showing posts from February, 2011

Poem - The River (Form 1)

Image
The tranquility and beauty of Sedim River, Kedah. (Source of picture:  http://www.asiaexplorers.com/malaysia/sungai_sedim.htm ) Introduction The River is one of the new literature components for the English subject. The poem is written by Valerie Bloom . The Form One students in the year 2010 have started exploring and learning this new poem. Synopsis of the poem The River is about the many faces of a river.  The river is a wanderer where he moves all over the place.  He does not sit still and is always in motion.  He is also a winder where he twists and turns.  He meanders.  He  is  also a hoarder where  he  keeps  things  deep  down in  his  river bed.  Sometimes, he is a baby when he is happily flowing along. At times, he is a singer as seen through the happy sounds of the water.  Finally, he is also a monster and can devour trees (most probably referring to a flood). How I went about teaching the poem I remembered teaching this poem to my first formers las

Poem - Life's Brief Candle by William Shakespeare

Image
A flickering candle (Source of picture:  http://media.photobucket.com ) The origin of this poem In my humble opinion, in order to understand and appreciate this poem, we need to know the origin of this poem. The poem is actually a famous soliloquy made by Macbeth, the main fictional character in Shakepeare's play Macbeth. ( A soliloquy is a speech made by a character in a play when he is alone, speaking aloud to himself. Click to hear the pronunciation of soliloquy .) William Shakespeare (the "Flower Portrait") (Source of Picture:  http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/anglica/Chronology/16thC/Shakespeare/sha_intr.html ) The Brief Story of Macbeth Macbeth is one of the generals in the Scotland army. Macbeth is a relative to King Duncan of Scotland. One day, he receives three prophecies from three witches. One of the witches informs Macbeth that he will one day be the King of Scotland. The three witches inform Macbeth about the prophecies