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| Nature at its bests Source: Google |
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| Poetry captures our spirits as we see the inner beauty of our surroundings |
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| The novel to be learnt in Form 5- Selangor |
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| Students should be encouraged to take up reading- all sorts of reading materials are good as long as they broaden up our minds and made us think critically... (Source of picture: Google) |
It is heartening to be able to outline the New Literature Component for Form 4 and 5. I found it to be encouraging that some teachers and students out there have been referring to my humble blog, just to enquire on the texts to be learnt in Form 1, 2 and 3. Previously, I have written a post on the New Literature Component for the Lower Secondary level. The latest news is that there is a novel to be learnt in Form 3- I will update on the post later on....
All right, there are several poems and short stories to be learnt in Form 4 and 5. A drama to be practised in Form 4 and there is definitely a novel to learn in the Form 5 level. Based on my experience, students refused to read the novel "Step by Wicked Step", they would only refer to the synopsis and a whole range of reference books. Teachers on the other hand, succumbed to the pressure of finishing the syllabus by June and keep giving out handouts to students - making sure that these students read the "papers" given and paste them in their Literature books. I am telling you this, these students do not really learn the hard way. They have been spoon fed by their poor teachers- thus, they end up not reading the novel at all. Therefore, what is the purpose of learning literature any way if we do not digest the words and sentences in the novel? I will touch on this issue on my next post.
Below are the texts to be learnt in the Upper Secondary level;
Form 4
Poems
1) In The Midst of Hardship - Latiff Mohidin
( a translated version of the original poem in Malay)
~ Here, the poet presented a whole new idea of poverty and contentment, of how the poor react with mishaps in life. I told my students that this poem probably stemmed up from the simplicity of the life of a farmer and his family, they probably came from the East Coast of Malaysia or the Northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. We could derive on the fact that these states are prone to floods and there are still farmers working on their paddy fields using buffalos albeit the machines i.e the line found in the poem " they desperately looking for their son's albino buffalo that was never found".
2) He Had Such Quiet Eyes - Bibsy Soenharjo ( an Indonesian poet)
~ This poem is quite tricky as well. It brings about the issue of not trusting the opposite gender. It is a good poem, considering the moral and social issues of today's youths. There are lines such as " And to render him paradise" and "With pleasure-seeking guys". Apparently, the poem is an advice to the young women out there, that there are certainly men or guys who are ready to take advantages on their vulnerabilities.
Note; These poems are to be tested in the SPM 1119 English Language paper.
Short Stories
1) QWERTYUIOP - Vivien Alcock
~ The haunted typewriter and the deceased ex-secretary, Miss Broome are the highlights of this short story. Lucy Beck, the unlucky new secretary is determined to beat all odds to hold on to the job at the solicitors' office- Ross and Bannisters. Anybody who uses the typewriter, will end up having the word QWERTYUIOP being typed up on the paper. Hence, the title of the short story.
2) The Fruit Cake Special - Frank Brennan
~ Anna, the chemist in this story accidentally created a perfume with the smell of a Fruitcake. She wore the perfume and suddenly found herself being the centre of attraction as the men in this story fought over her. We learn that a love potion-- in this case " the perfume" will not last long in terms of attracting people, it is the heart that matters...
Drama
1) Gulp and Gasp - John Townsend
~ The melodrama about life, love and destiny. Who would have thought that Percy, the hero was actually the lost heir of the Gatsby Gold. The drama unfolded as the key he was wearing since birth was the actual answer to the hidden treasure. This is a good drama to be dramatized as we have Lord Septic, the villain, Rose, the blind heroine and Crouch, the cunning and unsrupulous servant of Lord Septic.
Notes; Drama and short stories are not to be tested in the SPM English 1119 Paper.
Form 5
Poems
1) Nature- H.D Carberry
~ The poem is a beautiful recollection of Carberry's appreciation of his home country, the island nation of Jamaica. It tells about the rich nature of Jamaica, being in the Carribean, despite the occasional heavy rain storms or desruptive weather or the non-existence of four seasons climate as found in temperate countries. Jamaica, on the other hand, is definitely a beautiful country with its own beauty . The poem is rich in language and style as seen from the lines "When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air", "When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars". These lines are definitely imagery examples as they use vivid, clear descriptive language that appeal to one or more of the senses ( sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste). In my lessons, I have made the fifth formers read out the poem with actions and movements. They were a bit apprehensive at first but readily to admit that they understood the poem better, at last.
2) Are You Still Playing Your Flute- Zurinah Hassan
( A translated version of the Malay poem- Masihkah Kau Bermain Seruling)
~ At a first glance it seemed like a romantic poem, as the poet is longing to the one who is still playing the bamboo flute in her village. However, the poem is not really a love poem- it is discussing on the need to prioritize what is important in one's life and the whole world. The poet feels that is is unwise to think about her love of the arts, her selfishness- where else the Muslims at the other side of the world are fighting for their country such in Bosnia and Palestine. I would have said that this poem is written circa 1990s (as the Bosnians were fighting for their lives back in 1992-1995).
Novel
1)Step by Wicked Step- Anne Fine
Set in the UK, this is actually a novel which has been shorlisted for Sheffield Children's Book Award in 1996. It also received the same billing for Lancashire Children's Book Award in 1996. Therefore, there is a need to clarify to the fifth formers that they are reading a book meant for children. The characters in this story are children who suffer from the complexities of different family arrangements. Each character has his or her own step mother or father, all of them have step siblings. The missing elements of natural, real parents i.e fathers and mothers are quite rampant in the six stories of the novel. My former students used to tell me that there were just too many stories to remember. I told them to forget the stories, there were actually six characters with one main theme- DIVORCE AND SEPARATION. Richard Clayton Harwick, may come from the past but he has one common similarity with the other five characters- Pixie, Claudia, Colin, Ralph and Robbo - all of them come from Broken Family set-ups. You can read more on this by going to (click ) Anne Fine's Notes.
To conclude, the New Literature Component for Form 4 and 5 has a wide range of literary works to be covered. However, in our quest to prepare students for their SPM, I truly hope that the purposes of learning literature in the first place- to enrich our students minds and make them think critically on life issues- are not to be reckoned with. Literature is not about giving hand-outs and synopsis to students, it is about delving and discussing issues and themes, and not forgetting to digest the richness of words and sentences found in the text. Therefore, it is wise to say that it is IMPORTANT that students read the text i.e the novel, drama and short stories- so that they would have better understanding on the literary works. As said by Carl Sagan, "Frederick Douglass taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom. But reading is still the path".
