What have i gained?
After doing this blog, I found that there are a lot of advantages that i have gained, especially when we can share our information with our friends.
I think that this course, readings and project work has given me a lot of knowledge on how to write a research paper.
It is an advantage especially when we are going to further our study.
I have learnt a lot of things during this course. I was not only being taught on how to write research paper, i am also exposed to different kinds of writing. Now, i have realized that there are many types of writings and there are a lot of things that could be done research on.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Why did i choose Muhammad Haji Salleh among other Malaysian writers?
Here are a few reasons why I chose Muhammad Haji Salleh among other Malaysian writers. .
Muhammad Haji Salleh is the only prominent Malaysian writer who writes in two languages, English and Malay with equal finesse and quality. He is amazing as he is able to capture personal feelings, thoughts, emotions and experience. His good command in both languages gives him the opportunity to translate his works and some other people’s works. Translating poetry is not an easy task as it involves a thorough understanding of the possibilities of both linguistic mediums as well as the ability to mediate the transmission of cultural nuances, experiences, thoughts and emotions embodied in poetic structure given that alternative linguistic codes sometimes inhibit the ‘trans-coding’ of one culture. In his translations, he localizes the situation so that reader will get connected to his works easily. Muhammad Haji Salleh is one of the writers whose works are most published and read in Malaysia for over 30 years. One of his quite recent published works is Rowing Down Two Rivers, in 2000. Muhammad Haji Salleh has been writing for a long time that he has not only chart the progress and development of the poet as an individual but also characterizes the progress and development of the poet as an individual but also characterizes the progress of the Malay race and the Malaysian nation. His works provide representative caricatures of the fortunes, challenges, struggles, experiences, failures and victories of the race and the nation as both move across time into an uncharted space. We could see through his eyes and feel his senses of how knowledge and learning how to cope with adversities of colonialism, globalization and neo-colonialism through his experiences
Muhammad Haji Salleh is the only prominent Malaysian writer who writes in two languages, English and Malay with equal finesse and quality. He is amazing as he is able to capture personal feelings, thoughts, emotions and experience. His good command in both languages gives him the opportunity to translate his works and some other people’s works. Translating poetry is not an easy task as it involves a thorough understanding of the possibilities of both linguistic mediums as well as the ability to mediate the transmission of cultural nuances, experiences, thoughts and emotions embodied in poetic structure given that alternative linguistic codes sometimes inhibit the ‘trans-coding’ of one culture. In his translations, he localizes the situation so that reader will get connected to his works easily. Muhammad Haji Salleh is one of the writers whose works are most published and read in Malaysia for over 30 years. One of his quite recent published works is Rowing Down Two Rivers, in 2000. Muhammad Haji Salleh has been writing for a long time that he has not only chart the progress and development of the poet as an individual but also characterizes the progress and development of the poet as an individual but also characterizes the progress of the Malay race and the Malaysian nation. His works provide representative caricatures of the fortunes, challenges, struggles, experiences, failures and victories of the race and the nation as both move across time into an uncharted space. We could see through his eyes and feel his senses of how knowledge and learning how to cope with adversities of colonialism, globalization and neo-colonialism through his experiences
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes...the name that i was introduced by Dr Rosli Talif in my first semester..he is great poet and most of his works are about racism. he is in the searching of his roots. In his poem, mostly, he writes on being black. He is proud of bing black and he wants everyone to know that.
One of his poem that i like is I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed –
I, too, am America.
This is his biodata...
(February 1, 1902 - May 22, 1967)Born in Joplin, Missouri, James Langston Hughes was a member of an abolitionist family. He was the great-great-grandson of Charles Henry Langston, brother of John Mercer Langston, who was the first Black American to be elected to public office, in 1855. Hughes attended Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio, but began writing poetry in the eighth grade, and was selected as Class Poet. His father didn't think he would be able to make a living at writing, and encouraged him to pursue a more practical career. He paid his son's tuition to Columbia University on the grounds he study engineering. After a short time, Langston dropped out of the program with a B+ average; all the while he continued writing poetry. His first published poem was also one of his most famous, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", and it appeared in Brownie's Book. Later, his poems, short plays, essays and short stories appeared in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine and in Opportunity Magazine and other publications.
One of Hughes' finest essays appeared in the Nation in 1926, entitled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain". It spoke of Black writers and poets, "who would surrender racial pride in the name of a false integration," where a talented Black writer would prefer to be considered a poet, not a Black poet, which to Hughes meant he subconsciously wanted to write like a white poet. Hughes argued, "no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself." He wrote in this essay, "We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too... If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."
In 1923, Hughes traveled abroad on a freighter to the Senegal, Nigeria, the Cameroons, Belgium Congo, Angola, and Guinea in Africa, and later to Italy and France, Russia and Spain. One of his favorite pastimes whether abroad or in Washington, D.C. or Harlem, New York was sitting in the clubs listening to blues, jazz and writing poetry. Through these experiences a new rhythm emerged in his writing, and a series of poems such as "The Weary Blues" were penned. He returned to Harlem, in 1924, the period known as the Harlem Renaissance. During this period, his work was frequently published and his writing flourished. In 1925 he moved to Washington, D.C., still spending more time in blues and jazz clubs. He said, "I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street...(these songs) had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going." At this same time, Hughes accepted a job with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of Negro Life and History and founder of Black History Week in 1926. He returned to his beloved Harlem later that year.
Langston Hughes received a scholarship to Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. degree in 1929. In 1943, he was awarded an honorary Lit.D by his alma mater; a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935 and a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940. Based on a conversation with a man he knew in a Harlem bar, he created a character know as My Simple Minded Friend in a series of essays in the form of a dialogue. In 1950, he named this lovable character Jess B. Simple, and authored a series of books on him.
Langston Hughes was a prolific writer. In the forty-odd years between his first book in 1926 and his death in 1967, he devoted his life to writing and lecturing. He wrote sixteen books of poems, two novels, three collections of short stories, four volumes of "editorial" and "documentary" fiction, twenty plays, children's poetry, musicals and operas, three autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of magazine articles. In addition, he edited seven anthologies. The long and distinguished list of Hughes' works includes: Not Without Laughter (1930); The Big Sea (1940); I Wonder As I Wander" (1956), his autobiographies. His collections of poetry include: The Weary Blues (1926); The Negro Mother and other Dramatic Recitations (1931); The Dream Keeper (1932); Shakespeare In Harlem (1942); Fields of Wonder (1947); One Way Ticket (1947); The First Book of Jazz (1955); Tambourines To Glory (1958); and Selected Poems (1959); The Best of Simple (1961). He edited several anthologies in an attempt to popularize black authors and their works. Some of these are: An African Treasury (1960); Poems from Black Africa (1963); New Negro Poets: USA (1964) and The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers (1967).
Published posthumously were: Five Plays By Langston Hughes (1968); The Panther and The Lash: Poems of Our Times (1969) and Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Writings of Social Protest (1973); The Sweet Flypaper of Life with Roy DeCarava (1984).
Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22, 1967. His residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission. His block of East 127th Street was renamed "Langston Hughes Place" .
Research Paper..
I have changed my paper's topic..
the new topic is about...
Muhammad Haji Salleh and Langston Hughes..
The similarities between two great writers: Muhammad Haji Salleh and Langston Hughes in their searching of identity.
Langston Hughes and Muhammad Haji Salleh are both searching for their roots and identities..
The searching starts when they are seen different from who they really are.
Muhammad Haji Salleh and Langston Hughes use poetry as a vehicle to express their identity complexities. The poem ‘blood’, written by Muhammad is very similar to Hughes’ ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. For instance, compare these two lines, “the blood in me has traveled the centuries/flowed in unknown veins/crossed mangrove rivers and proud straits” in Muhammad’s blood with Hughes’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the/ flow of human blood in human veins.” In both poems, the words “blood” and “river” are used to symbolize the idea of origin and identity. For someone who has been living in the post-colonial era, Muhammad is in the confusion of his searching of identity, thus the idea or searching his origin is seen as very important and interesting to him as in a way that he could get closer to his cultural tradition. Aptly titled ‘blood’, the poem is about the blood ties between the persona and his ancestors which he believes that even though he is not able to determine who his ancestors were (‘flowed in unknown veins’), he should not be denying his blood kinship. Regardless of all the uncertainties, he claims in the last stanza, ‘ i am both branch/ and remote stalk of this tree’. Muhammad Haji Salleh’s use of “i” indicates a point of emphasis. The usage of first person pronoun closely mirrors Western individualism, focusing attention on the individuality. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is a celebration of racial roots and histories. The persona, whose “soul has grown deep like the rivers”, traces the origin of his origin of his African American self back to Africa with his reference to Congo and the Nile. It is important for African American to prove the worth of their blackness, that is to write themselves into existence. Being fair-skinned, Hughes was mistaken of being “white” by the first African that he met with. Both Muhammad and Hughes share the same problem of searching for their roots.
Muhammad and Hughes are both great poets and they have unique style in writy poetry.
the new topic is about...
Muhammad Haji Salleh and Langston Hughes..
The similarities between two great writers: Muhammad Haji Salleh and Langston Hughes in their searching of identity.
Langston Hughes and Muhammad Haji Salleh are both searching for their roots and identities..
The searching starts when they are seen different from who they really are.
Muhammad Haji Salleh and Langston Hughes use poetry as a vehicle to express their identity complexities. The poem ‘blood’, written by Muhammad is very similar to Hughes’ ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. For instance, compare these two lines, “the blood in me has traveled the centuries/flowed in unknown veins/crossed mangrove rivers and proud straits” in Muhammad’s blood with Hughes’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the/ flow of human blood in human veins.” In both poems, the words “blood” and “river” are used to symbolize the idea of origin and identity. For someone who has been living in the post-colonial era, Muhammad is in the confusion of his searching of identity, thus the idea or searching his origin is seen as very important and interesting to him as in a way that he could get closer to his cultural tradition. Aptly titled ‘blood’, the poem is about the blood ties between the persona and his ancestors which he believes that even though he is not able to determine who his ancestors were (‘flowed in unknown veins’), he should not be denying his blood kinship. Regardless of all the uncertainties, he claims in the last stanza, ‘ i am both branch/ and remote stalk of this tree’. Muhammad Haji Salleh’s use of “i” indicates a point of emphasis. The usage of first person pronoun closely mirrors Western individualism, focusing attention on the individuality. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is a celebration of racial roots and histories. The persona, whose “soul has grown deep like the rivers”, traces the origin of his origin of his African American self back to Africa with his reference to Congo and the Nile. It is important for African American to prove the worth of their blackness, that is to write themselves into existence. Being fair-skinned, Hughes was mistaken of being “white” by the first African that he met with. Both Muhammad and Hughes share the same problem of searching for their roots.
Muhammad and Hughes are both great poets and they have unique style in writy poetry.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Freedom Writers
In my opinion, freedom writers is a great story.
It gives me the inspiration of becoming a great teacher.
i believe that teachers can be very inspirational and that we can change the nation if we are willing to sacrifice lots of things. In that story, the sad thing is that the teacher's husband left her. The only one who is still there for her is her father.
We need to sacrifice a lot of things in order to get success. Freedom writers is a very touching story when a teacher had tried her very best to understand her students' situation and help the students to be better students.
Sacrifice is needed in order to get success. We gain something and we loose something...
It gives me the inspiration of becoming a great teacher.
i believe that teachers can be very inspirational and that we can change the nation if we are willing to sacrifice lots of things. In that story, the sad thing is that the teacher's husband left her. The only one who is still there for her is her father.
We need to sacrifice a lot of things in order to get success. Freedom writers is a very touching story when a teacher had tried her very best to understand her students' situation and help the students to be better students.
Sacrifice is needed in order to get success. We gain something and we loose something...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Diary and journal
A diary or journal is a book for writing discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Such logs play a role in many aspects of human civilization, including governmental, business ledgers, and military records. In more personal diaries, the writer may detail crushes or complaints.
The history of Diary
The word diary comes from the Latin diarium ("daily allowance", from dies, "day", more often in the plural form diaria). The word journal comes from the same root (diurnus, "of the day") through Old French jurnal (modern French for day is jour).
The oldest extant diaries come from East Asian cultures, pillowbooks of Japanese court ladies and Asian travel journals being some of the oldest surviving specimens of this genre of writing. The 9th century scholar Li Ao, for example, kept a diary of his journey through southern China.
Sales of "page a day" diaries go back hundreds of years (Letts, for example, is over 200 years old). At first, most of these books were used as ledgers, or business books. Samuel Pepys is the earliest diarist who is well-known today, although he had contemporaries who were also keeping diaries, such as John Evelyn. Pepys also was apparently at a turning point in diary history, for he took it beyond mere business transaction notation, into the realm of the personal.
Until, it seems, around the turn of the 20th century, with greater literacy and industrialization throughout the globe, particularly the Western world, diary writing was mostly limited to the members of the higher social classes. In the West, at least, a high proportion of historical and literary figures from the Renaissance to the 20th century seem to have kept a diary.
Tristine Rainer's 1978 The New Diary expanded awareness of diary-keeping as a literary genre, particularly among feminists. Acknowledging key figures in the resurgence of diary writing such as Carl Jung, Marion Milner, Ira Progoff and Anaïs Nin, she identified techniques that people use either spontaneously or have employed in their daily writing to explore themselves and their experience of the world. Rainer's idea, as expressed in the title, is that a diary is much more than a dry record of weather or daily events—it allows the writer to communicate deep and often spiritual realizations. Social historians were particularly interested in this, as it expanded greatly the number of historical texts available to them.
In the United States during the 1990s, various K-12 educators used a variety of journals across subject areas to encourage and document student progress, including pre-literate picture journals and "math journals" to aid in developing mathematical concepts in an individualized way, in accordance with Lev Vygotsky's concepts of instructional scaffolding. Another popular adaptation of the diary is the personal use of time management tools such as the Filofax or Franklin Planner.
My view on diary is that diary is something personal that is not meant for other people's reading..Dr Edwin has introduced to me some of the famous diaries that has been published. These diaries are quite interesting but as we are already informed, diaries are only meant for our own personal understanding. Some of the diaries are quite hard to understand as we are not familiar with the situation.
The history of Diary
The word diary comes from the Latin diarium ("daily allowance", from dies, "day", more often in the plural form diaria). The word journal comes from the same root (diurnus, "of the day") through Old French jurnal (modern French for day is jour).
The oldest extant diaries come from East Asian cultures, pillowbooks of Japanese court ladies and Asian travel journals being some of the oldest surviving specimens of this genre of writing. The 9th century scholar Li Ao, for example, kept a diary of his journey through southern China.
Sales of "page a day" diaries go back hundreds of years (Letts, for example, is over 200 years old). At first, most of these books were used as ledgers, or business books. Samuel Pepys is the earliest diarist who is well-known today, although he had contemporaries who were also keeping diaries, such as John Evelyn. Pepys also was apparently at a turning point in diary history, for he took it beyond mere business transaction notation, into the realm of the personal.
Until, it seems, around the turn of the 20th century, with greater literacy and industrialization throughout the globe, particularly the Western world, diary writing was mostly limited to the members of the higher social classes. In the West, at least, a high proportion of historical and literary figures from the Renaissance to the 20th century seem to have kept a diary.
Tristine Rainer's 1978 The New Diary expanded awareness of diary-keeping as a literary genre, particularly among feminists. Acknowledging key figures in the resurgence of diary writing such as Carl Jung, Marion Milner, Ira Progoff and Anaïs Nin, she identified techniques that people use either spontaneously or have employed in their daily writing to explore themselves and their experience of the world. Rainer's idea, as expressed in the title, is that a diary is much more than a dry record of weather or daily events—it allows the writer to communicate deep and often spiritual realizations. Social historians were particularly interested in this, as it expanded greatly the number of historical texts available to them.
In the United States during the 1990s, various K-12 educators used a variety of journals across subject areas to encourage and document student progress, including pre-literate picture journals and "math journals" to aid in developing mathematical concepts in an individualized way, in accordance with Lev Vygotsky's concepts of instructional scaffolding. Another popular adaptation of the diary is the personal use of time management tools such as the Filofax or Franklin Planner.
My view on diary is that diary is something personal that is not meant for other people's reading..Dr Edwin has introduced to me some of the famous diaries that has been published. These diaries are quite interesting but as we are already informed, diaries are only meant for our own personal understanding. Some of the diaries are quite hard to understand as we are not familiar with the situation.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing, usually from an author's personal point of view. Essays are non-fictional but often subjective; while expository, they can also include narrative. Essays can be literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author.
The definition of an essay is vague, overlapping with those of an article and a short story. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population provide counterexamples.
The essay as literary genre
The word essay derives from the French infinitive essayer, 'to try' or 'to attempt'. The first author to describe his works as essays was the Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). Inspired in particular by the works of Plutarch, a translation of whose Oeuvres morales (Moral works) into French had just been published by Jacques Amyot, Montaigne began to compose his essays in 1572; the first edition, entitled Essais, was published in two volumes in 1580. For the rest of his life he continued revising previously published essays and composing new ones.
Francis Bacon's essays, published in book form in 1597, 1612, and 1625, were the first works in English that described themselves as essays. Ben Jonson first used the word essayist in English in 1609, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Notable essayists are legion. They include Virginia Woolf, Voltaire, Adrienne Rich, Alamgir Hashmi, Joan Didion, Jean Baudrillard, Benjamin Disraeli, Susan Sontag, Natalia Ginzburg, Sara Suleri, Annie Dillard, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, Charles Lamb, Leo Tolstoy, William Hazlitt, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, Walter Bagehot, George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, John D'Agata, Gore Vidal, Marguerite Yourcenar, J.M. Coetzee, Gaston Waringhien and E.B. White.
It is very difficult to define the genre into which essays fall. The following remarks by Aldous Huxley, a leading essayist, may help:
"Like the novel, the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything. By tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece, and it is therefore impossible to give all things full play within the limits of a single essay. But a collection of essays can cover almost as much ground, and cover it almost as thoroughly, as can a long novel. Montaigne's Third Book is the equivalent, very nearly, of a good slice of the Comédie Humaine. Essays belong to a literary species whose extreme variability can be studied most effectively within a three-poled frame of reference. There is the pole of the personal and the autobiographical; there is the pole of the objective, the factual, the concrete-particular; and there is the pole of the abstract-universal. Most essayists are at home and at their best in the neighborhood of only one of the essay's three poles, or at the most only in the neighborhood of two of them. There are the predominantly personal essayists, who write fragments of reflective autobiography and who look at the world through the keyhole of anecdote and description. There are the predominantly objective essayists who do not speak directly of themselves, but turn their attention outward to some literary or scientific or political theme. … And how splendid, how truly oracular are the utterances of the great generalizers! … The most richly satisfying essays are those which make the best not of one, not of two, but of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist" (Collected Essays, "Preface").
[edit] The essay as a pedagogical tool
In recent times, essays have become a major part of a formal education. Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing skills, and essays are often used by universities in selecting applicants (see admissions essay). In both secondary and tertiary education, essays are used to judge the mastery and comprehension of material. Students are asked to explain, comment on, or assess a topic of study in the form of an essay.
Academic essays are usually more formal than literary ones. They may still allow the presentation of the writer's own views, but this is done in a logical and factual manner, with the use of the first person often discouraged.
[edit] The five-paragraph essay
Main article: Five paragraph essay
Many students' first exposure to the genre is the five paragraph essay, a highly structured form requiring an introduction presenting the thesis statement; three body paragraphs, each of which presents an idea to support the thesis together with supporting evidence and quotations; and a conclusion, which restates the thesis and summarizes the supporting points. The use of this format is controversial. Proponents argue that it teaches students how to organize their thoughts clearly in writing; opponents characterize its structure as rigid and repetitive.
[edit] Academic essays
Longer academic essays (often with a word limit of between 2,000 to 5,000 words) are often more discursive. They sometimes begin with a short summary analysis of what has previously been written on a topic, which is often called a literature review. Longer essays may also contain an introductory page in which words and phrases from the title are tightly defined. Most academic institutions will require that all substantial facts, quotations, and other supporting material used in an essay be referenced in a bibliography or works cited page at the end of the text. This scholarly convention allows others (whether teachers or fellow scholars) to understand the basis of the facts and quotations used to support the essay's argument, and thereby help to evaluate to what extent the argument is supported by evidence, and to evaluate the quality of that evidence. The academic essay tests the student's ability to present their thoughts in an organized way and tests their intellectual capabilities. Some types of essays are:
Descriptive essays
The aim of descriptive essays is to provide a vivid picture of a person, location, object, event, or debate. It will offer details that will enable the reader to imagine the item described.
Narrative essays
The aim of a narrative essay is to describe a course of events from a subjective vantage point, and may be written in first-person present or first person past tense. Though not always chronological, narrative essays do follow the development of a person through a series of experiences and reflections. The focus of the essay is often to more clearly identify the point of view of the narrator, and to express common features of subjectivity.
Compare and contrast essays
The aim of a compare and contrast essay is to develop the relationship between two or more things. Generally, the goal is to show that superficial differences or similarities are inadequate, and that closer examination reveals their unobvious, yet significant, relations or differences.
Persuasive essays
In a persuasive essay, the writer tries to persuade the reader to accept an idea or agree with an opinion. The writer's purpose is to convince the reader that her or his point of view is a reasonable one. The persuasive essay should be written in a style that grabs and holds the reader's attention, and the writer's opinion should be backed up by strong supporting details.
Argumentative essays
Argumentative essays are most often used to address controversial issues - i.e. serious issue over which there is some evident disagreement. An argument is a position combined with its supporting reasons. Argumentative papers thus set out a main claim and then provide reasons for thinking that the claim is true.
Reflective essay
This deals with topics of abstract nature, as habits,and ambitions. Social, political,philosophical and religious subjects also come under this head
[edit] Imitation
Imitation essays are essays in which the writer pulls out the main thesis and outline of a particular paper, and then writes an essay in his or her own style.
The definition of an essay is vague, overlapping with those of an article and a short story. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population provide counterexamples.
The essay as literary genre
The word essay derives from the French infinitive essayer, 'to try' or 'to attempt'. The first author to describe his works as essays was the Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). Inspired in particular by the works of Plutarch, a translation of whose Oeuvres morales (Moral works) into French had just been published by Jacques Amyot, Montaigne began to compose his essays in 1572; the first edition, entitled Essais, was published in two volumes in 1580. For the rest of his life he continued revising previously published essays and composing new ones.
Francis Bacon's essays, published in book form in 1597, 1612, and 1625, were the first works in English that described themselves as essays. Ben Jonson first used the word essayist in English in 1609, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Notable essayists are legion. They include Virginia Woolf, Voltaire, Adrienne Rich, Alamgir Hashmi, Joan Didion, Jean Baudrillard, Benjamin Disraeli, Susan Sontag, Natalia Ginzburg, Sara Suleri, Annie Dillard, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, Charles Lamb, Leo Tolstoy, William Hazlitt, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, Walter Bagehot, George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, John D'Agata, Gore Vidal, Marguerite Yourcenar, J.M. Coetzee, Gaston Waringhien and E.B. White.
It is very difficult to define the genre into which essays fall. The following remarks by Aldous Huxley, a leading essayist, may help:
"Like the novel, the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything. By tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece, and it is therefore impossible to give all things full play within the limits of a single essay. But a collection of essays can cover almost as much ground, and cover it almost as thoroughly, as can a long novel. Montaigne's Third Book is the equivalent, very nearly, of a good slice of the Comédie Humaine. Essays belong to a literary species whose extreme variability can be studied most effectively within a three-poled frame of reference. There is the pole of the personal and the autobiographical; there is the pole of the objective, the factual, the concrete-particular; and there is the pole of the abstract-universal. Most essayists are at home and at their best in the neighborhood of only one of the essay's three poles, or at the most only in the neighborhood of two of them. There are the predominantly personal essayists, who write fragments of reflective autobiography and who look at the world through the keyhole of anecdote and description. There are the predominantly objective essayists who do not speak directly of themselves, but turn their attention outward to some literary or scientific or political theme. … And how splendid, how truly oracular are the utterances of the great generalizers! … The most richly satisfying essays are those which make the best not of one, not of two, but of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist" (Collected Essays, "Preface").
[edit] The essay as a pedagogical tool
In recent times, essays have become a major part of a formal education. Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing skills, and essays are often used by universities in selecting applicants (see admissions essay). In both secondary and tertiary education, essays are used to judge the mastery and comprehension of material. Students are asked to explain, comment on, or assess a topic of study in the form of an essay.
Academic essays are usually more formal than literary ones. They may still allow the presentation of the writer's own views, but this is done in a logical and factual manner, with the use of the first person often discouraged.
[edit] The five-paragraph essay
Main article: Five paragraph essay
Many students' first exposure to the genre is the five paragraph essay, a highly structured form requiring an introduction presenting the thesis statement; three body paragraphs, each of which presents an idea to support the thesis together with supporting evidence and quotations; and a conclusion, which restates the thesis and summarizes the supporting points. The use of this format is controversial. Proponents argue that it teaches students how to organize their thoughts clearly in writing; opponents characterize its structure as rigid and repetitive.
[edit] Academic essays
Longer academic essays (often with a word limit of between 2,000 to 5,000 words) are often more discursive. They sometimes begin with a short summary analysis of what has previously been written on a topic, which is often called a literature review. Longer essays may also contain an introductory page in which words and phrases from the title are tightly defined. Most academic institutions will require that all substantial facts, quotations, and other supporting material used in an essay be referenced in a bibliography or works cited page at the end of the text. This scholarly convention allows others (whether teachers or fellow scholars) to understand the basis of the facts and quotations used to support the essay's argument, and thereby help to evaluate to what extent the argument is supported by evidence, and to evaluate the quality of that evidence. The academic essay tests the student's ability to present their thoughts in an organized way and tests their intellectual capabilities. Some types of essays are:
Descriptive essays
The aim of descriptive essays is to provide a vivid picture of a person, location, object, event, or debate. It will offer details that will enable the reader to imagine the item described.
Narrative essays
The aim of a narrative essay is to describe a course of events from a subjective vantage point, and may be written in first-person present or first person past tense. Though not always chronological, narrative essays do follow the development of a person through a series of experiences and reflections. The focus of the essay is often to more clearly identify the point of view of the narrator, and to express common features of subjectivity.
Compare and contrast essays
The aim of a compare and contrast essay is to develop the relationship between two or more things. Generally, the goal is to show that superficial differences or similarities are inadequate, and that closer examination reveals their unobvious, yet significant, relations or differences.
Persuasive essays
In a persuasive essay, the writer tries to persuade the reader to accept an idea or agree with an opinion. The writer's purpose is to convince the reader that her or his point of view is a reasonable one. The persuasive essay should be written in a style that grabs and holds the reader's attention, and the writer's opinion should be backed up by strong supporting details.
Argumentative essays
Argumentative essays are most often used to address controversial issues - i.e. serious issue over which there is some evident disagreement. An argument is a position combined with its supporting reasons. Argumentative papers thus set out a main claim and then provide reasons for thinking that the claim is true.
Reflective essay
This deals with topics of abstract nature, as habits,and ambitions. Social, political,philosophical and religious subjects also come under this head
[edit] Imitation
Imitation essays are essays in which the writer pulls out the main thesis and outline of a particular paper, and then writes an essay in his or her own style.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The search of Muhammad Haji Salleh's works..
As i was still searching for Muhammad Haji Salleh's works through the internet, i found a very interesting website on a book of compilation of Malaysian Poems.
http://edwinvethamani.com/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=201
In Sights is a compilation of Malaysian poems which has been introduced to me by Dr Edwin himself in our class. It is an interesting book whereby the poems are written by Malaysian writers either it is being translated into English or being written originally in English. The introduction has caught my eyes.
IN-SIGHTS: Malaysian Poems is a compilation of poems by Malaysians, which were either written or translated into the English language. It is probably the first volume of poetry that present work that has been translated from Bahasa Melayu into English poems that were originally written in English. The title of the volume, IN-SIGHTS, reflects the various pictures the poets paint of Malaysian life: its sights, sounds, smells and scenes.In a country where homogeneity is often extolled, IN-SIGHTS is a celebration in diversity. It is a celebration of the many voices that enrich Malaysian literature. These writers bring their cultures and individual beliefs into their poems and share them with us, and the rest of the world. These voices give us a variety of Malaysian perspectives and perceptions.
The publication of an anthology of poems are rare and infrequent in Malaysia. Though there are more opportunities today for poets these opportunities are still few and infrequent. Student in schools do read poems and literature students in universities, as part of their course requirements, also do the same.
IN-SIGHTS is a collection of poems for all readers. It is structured thematically: family, growing up, people, relationship, nature, conservation and landscape. The contributors for this volume of poems are both established and emerging poets. Their voices represent the differing generations, cultures, gender and perspectives.
Muhammad Haji Salleh's "words for father" open this volume of poems. In a culture where children are expected to be seen and not heard, a child has words for his father. It is the voice of a young man to an aging father: ... It is time to rest now / to close your voice on the world, to feel the luxury of the holidays / that u never took ... . Comforting words are they? In the section on "Family", poets portray relationship between the different generations and deal with number of family-related issues. The poems consider both celebrations and conflicts that family members encounter. This section closes with dialogue between a grandfather and a grandchild, both considering the other's world in M SHANmughalingam's "Heir Conditioning".
The section on "Growing up" presents various portraits of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Shirley Lim's "Hands" and Hilary Tham's "Becoming A Woman" highlight the receiving of maternal wisdom while Bernice Chauly's "Picking Fruit" deals with a child's response to the death of a parent. Muhammad Haji Salleh closes the section with the recollections of childhood in "on a dry bund".
A number of poems in the next section, "People", dwell on the arduous lives of Malaysian in relation to their occupations-the fishermen, the satay-vendor, the dulang-washer, the farmer and the maid. In many ways, the opening lines in Wong Phui Nam's "For My Amah", "To most your dying seems distant, / outsides the palings of our concern" reflect our relationship with these people. Yet, through these poems we get a glimpse of Malaysian lives as they are lived.
In the section on "Relationships", the poets present a range of relationships. Fadzildah Amin, in her poem "Dance", uses the Malay dance ronggeng as a metaphor to describe the nature of the relationship. Cecil Rajendra's "Untitled Poem" examines what love while Charlene Rajendran in "A Question of Rights" voices some of the concerns related to being single or marrying, for a woman.
The section entitled "Nature" presents both Malaysian fauna and flora. In "To a Shrub", Ee Tiang Hong celebrates the bougainvillaea and Shirley Lim considers a "Land-Turtle". Poems in this section also depict the forces of nature that is experienced in Malaysian. Muhammad Haji Salleh's "poem rain" presents the dependence of man nature for survival.
The last two sections present poems in these two sections bring to the readers' attention to the need to take charge of one's are visual poems, "cross-word poem" and "The Wall". These poems show us yet another way of capturing our experiences and the world. Omar Mohd. Noor's "three layers", closes this section and IN-SIGHTS, succinctly portraying the ever-changing Malaysian landscape.
IN-SIGHTS is structured thematically and it merely suggests one reading of the poems. Readers will find other ways of reading the poems and this only goes to ascertain the multiplicity in the reading of any good literary work. Adrian Mitchell (1964) wrote: Most people ignore most poetry, because, most poetry ignores most people.
IN-SIGHTS, a thematic anthology of Malaysian poetry, is an attempt to bring poetry to more readers and present poetry that considers a variety of people, their experience and concerns. In so doing, give les cause for ignoring poetry.
Malaysian poems are the poems that malaysians should read as we could connect them to our lives and experiences. I do agree that by reading malaysian poems, we get to know Malaysia better. We could even get to know Malaysian's culture.
There are a few poems written by Muhammad Haji Salleh in this book and after reading some of his other works, i think that his works are quite impressive and i love reading his poems.
http://edwinvethamani.com/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=201
In Sights is a compilation of Malaysian poems which has been introduced to me by Dr Edwin himself in our class. It is an interesting book whereby the poems are written by Malaysian writers either it is being translated into English or being written originally in English. The introduction has caught my eyes.
IN-SIGHTS: Malaysian Poems is a compilation of poems by Malaysians, which were either written or translated into the English language. It is probably the first volume of poetry that present work that has been translated from Bahasa Melayu into English poems that were originally written in English. The title of the volume, IN-SIGHTS, reflects the various pictures the poets paint of Malaysian life: its sights, sounds, smells and scenes.In a country where homogeneity is often extolled, IN-SIGHTS is a celebration in diversity. It is a celebration of the many voices that enrich Malaysian literature. These writers bring their cultures and individual beliefs into their poems and share them with us, and the rest of the world. These voices give us a variety of Malaysian perspectives and perceptions.
The publication of an anthology of poems are rare and infrequent in Malaysia. Though there are more opportunities today for poets these opportunities are still few and infrequent. Student in schools do read poems and literature students in universities, as part of their course requirements, also do the same.
IN-SIGHTS is a collection of poems for all readers. It is structured thematically: family, growing up, people, relationship, nature, conservation and landscape. The contributors for this volume of poems are both established and emerging poets. Their voices represent the differing generations, cultures, gender and perspectives.
Muhammad Haji Salleh's "words for father" open this volume of poems. In a culture where children are expected to be seen and not heard, a child has words for his father. It is the voice of a young man to an aging father: ... It is time to rest now / to close your voice on the world, to feel the luxury of the holidays / that u never took ... . Comforting words are they? In the section on "Family", poets portray relationship between the different generations and deal with number of family-related issues. The poems consider both celebrations and conflicts that family members encounter. This section closes with dialogue between a grandfather and a grandchild, both considering the other's world in M SHANmughalingam's "Heir Conditioning".
The section on "Growing up" presents various portraits of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Shirley Lim's "Hands" and Hilary Tham's "Becoming A Woman" highlight the receiving of maternal wisdom while Bernice Chauly's "Picking Fruit" deals with a child's response to the death of a parent. Muhammad Haji Salleh closes the section with the recollections of childhood in "on a dry bund".
A number of poems in the next section, "People", dwell on the arduous lives of Malaysian in relation to their occupations-the fishermen, the satay-vendor, the dulang-washer, the farmer and the maid. In many ways, the opening lines in Wong Phui Nam's "For My Amah", "To most your dying seems distant, / outsides the palings of our concern" reflect our relationship with these people. Yet, through these poems we get a glimpse of Malaysian lives as they are lived.
In the section on "Relationships", the poets present a range of relationships. Fadzildah Amin, in her poem "Dance", uses the Malay dance ronggeng as a metaphor to describe the nature of the relationship. Cecil Rajendra's "Untitled Poem" examines what love while Charlene Rajendran in "A Question of Rights" voices some of the concerns related to being single or marrying, for a woman.
The section entitled "Nature" presents both Malaysian fauna and flora. In "To a Shrub", Ee Tiang Hong celebrates the bougainvillaea and Shirley Lim considers a "Land-Turtle". Poems in this section also depict the forces of nature that is experienced in Malaysian. Muhammad Haji Salleh's "poem rain" presents the dependence of man nature for survival.
The last two sections present poems in these two sections bring to the readers' attention to the need to take charge of one's are visual poems, "cross-word poem" and "The Wall". These poems show us yet another way of capturing our experiences and the world. Omar Mohd. Noor's "three layers", closes this section and IN-SIGHTS, succinctly portraying the ever-changing Malaysian landscape.
IN-SIGHTS is structured thematically and it merely suggests one reading of the poems. Readers will find other ways of reading the poems and this only goes to ascertain the multiplicity in the reading of any good literary work. Adrian Mitchell (1964) wrote: Most people ignore most poetry, because, most poetry ignores most people.
IN-SIGHTS, a thematic anthology of Malaysian poetry, is an attempt to bring poetry to more readers and present poetry that considers a variety of people, their experience and concerns. In so doing, give les cause for ignoring poetry.
Malaysian poems are the poems that malaysians should read as we could connect them to our lives and experiences. I do agree that by reading malaysian poems, we get to know Malaysia better. We could even get to know Malaysian's culture.
There are a few poems written by Muhammad Haji Salleh in this book and after reading some of his other works, i think that his works are quite impressive and i love reading his poems.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tuesdays with Morrie...
Tuesdays with Morrie is a book filled with advices and lessons on how to appreciate life when death is approaching you...Mitch Albom is a great writer as his was of delivering the message gives impact to the readers...It took me 4 days to finish reading this book..it is quite dull at first as i could not connect myself with the story but towards the ending, i have learnt on so many things about appreciating life..
Tuesdays with Morrie is something that is not very relevant to me yet.Death is something that i know could happen any time...In my opinion,Tuesdays with Morrie is suitable for those who had already achieved something in their life. Me, in the other hand, has not achieved anything that could be proud of yet..
What ever it is, it is a great book/
Monday, September 10, 2007
Muhammad Haji Salleh...
Born on 26 March 1942, Muhammad Haji Salleh is one of Malaysian well-known authors. On a fine Friday dawn, Muhammad Haji Salleh came into this wonderful world. However, he moved away from his place of birth that is Temerlok, Trong, some times after his birth. Later, his moved to Sungai Aceh, and Bukit Mertajam, Penang, which is his mother’s hometown.
Muhammad began schooling in 1949 in Sungai Acheh School, Nibung Tebal, Penang. After he had accomplished his standard three education, he was chosen to continue his studies in an English medium Anglo-Chinese School, Nibung Tebal. A year later, his family moved to Bukit Mertajam. He entered High School Bukit Mertajam at standard six level. In 1957, finishing Form Three there. It was in 1958 when he entered the Malay College, Kuala Kangsar. While studying, he had won the Wise and Bulter Scholarship for Composition and Translation in two languages. Since then, he came to be aware his ability in these languages. While enrolling in formal education, he was sent to religious school too.
Muhammad taught for some times before he went to Brinsford Lodge, Wolverhampton to study. In 1960,he taught in Trade School, Teluk Air Tawar. He had been teaching in several schools in different states of Peninsular Malaysia before he became a tutor in University of Malaya in 1968. In 1970, he became a lecturer in National University of Malaysia. For many years, he was director and head of several departments in the university. In 1977, he was a Visiting Professor in North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1992-1993, he was a Fulbright Visiting Researcher in University of California, Berkeley. In 1993-1994 he was the Chair of Malay Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, Holland. In 1999-2000 he was a fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto Univerwsity. Since 2000, he has been a professor of the School of Humanities in Science University of Malaysia, Penang.
Muhammad began writing when he was a student in the Malayan Teachers College in Wolverhampton. His fluency in both English and Malay enables him to write simultaneously in both languages. He has published several collections of poems. His only collection of poems written originally in English is ‘Time and its People’, which is published in 1978. In 1977, his anthology of poems ‘Perjalanan Si Tenggang II’ won the Asean Literary Award. The book was translated into English in 1979 by himself and was called ‘The Travel Journals of Si Tenggang II’. The poem 'si tenggang's homecoming' has been selected to be one of the poems for Upper Secondary School English Literature since 2000. Another of his poem 'history' was also selected to be studied for the Upper Secondary School Malay Literature. Besides, he is much published journals. Among his more important works are ‘Tradition and Change in Contemporary Malay-Indonesian Poetry’, ‘Pengalaman Puisi’, ‘Cermin Diri’ Yang Empunya Ceritera: the Mind of the Malay Author, Beyond the Archipelago, Rowing Down Two Rivers, and Laughter and Romance in the Archipealgo.
Muhammad is also active in various literary activities. He was the Founder President of Translators’ Association of Malaysia (1978-1981). He was also member of the panel judges of variourecognition. In 1991, he received the sixth National Laureate Award. Before that, he has received several awards, including the Southeast Asian Literary Award (MASTERA) 2001, SEA Write Award, 1997, ASEAN Literary Award, 1977, Australian Cultural Award to Asian Artists (1975), Volkswagen Foundation Grant for Research on the Theory of Malay Literature (1986-1988).
Muhammad taught for some times before he went to Brinsford Lodge, Wolverhampton to study. In 1960,he taught in Trade School, Teluk Air Tawar. He had been teaching in several schools in different states of Peninsular Malaysia before he became a tutor in University of Malaya in 1968. In 1970, he became a lecturer in National University of Malaysia. For many years, he was director and head of several departments in the university. In 1977, he was a Visiting Professor in North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1992-1993, he was a Fulbright Visiting Researcher in University of California, Berkeley. In 1993-1994 he was the Chair of Malay Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, Holland. In 1999-2000 he was a fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto Univerwsity. Since 2000, he has been a professor of the School of Humanities in Science University of Malaysia, Penang.
Muhammad began writing when he was a student in the Malayan Teachers College in Wolverhampton. His fluency in both English and Malay enables him to write simultaneously in both languages. He has published several collections of poems. His only collection of poems written originally in English is ‘Time and its People’, which is published in 1978. In 1977, his anthology of poems ‘Perjalanan Si Tenggang II’ won the Asean Literary Award. The book was translated into English in 1979 by himself and was called ‘The Travel Journals of Si Tenggang II’. The poem 'si tenggang's homecoming' has been selected to be one of the poems for Upper Secondary School English Literature since 2000. Another of his poem 'history' was also selected to be studied for the Upper Secondary School Malay Literature. Besides, he is much published journals. Among his more important works are ‘Tradition and Change in Contemporary Malay-Indonesian Poetry’, ‘Pengalaman Puisi’, ‘Cermin Diri’ Yang Empunya Ceritera: the Mind of the Malay Author, Beyond the Archipelago, Rowing Down Two Rivers, and Laughter and Romance in the Archipealgo.
Muhammad is also active in various literary activities. He was the Founder President of Translators’ Association of Malaysia (1978-1981). He was also member of the panel judges of variourecognition. In 1991, he received the sixth National Laureate Award. Before that, he has received several awards, including the Southeast Asian Literary Award (MASTERA) 2001, SEA Write Award, 1997, ASEAN Literary Award, 1977, Australian Cultural Award to Asian Artists (1975), Volkswagen Foundation Grant for Research on the Theory of Malay Literature (1986-1988).
Taken from:
http://www.angelfire.com/me5/muhammadhs/page_1.htms literary competitions and awards. His contribution in literature gains wide
Muhammad Haji Salleh has changed the Malay melodramatic poetries into intellectual poetries...
The first time i heard his name was when i was in Form 4, through the poem, Si Tenggang's Homecoming...My teacher had made me believe that the poem was about Muhammad Haji Salleh himself as there is no way the poem has to do with Si Tenggang...
My first thought about malysian poetries is that they should rhyme...but after reading some of Muhammad Haji Salleh's works, he has changed my perspectives....
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Thesis Statement..
Currently, my thesis statement is...
Geok failed her husband and her marriage..
After rethinking...
I've decided that it was not Geok's fault that makes her husband look for another woman..
it's all because of her husband, Michael...it's all about lust...not love...
in my opinion, if we love someone, we should accept them for who they are..
Michael could not acept her wife whom he married at early age after he becomes someone...
before this, he was no one...
LUST vs LOVE
Geok failed her husband and her marriage..
After rethinking...
I've decided that it was not Geok's fault that makes her husband look for another woman..
it's all because of her husband, Michael...it's all about lust...not love...
in my opinion, if we love someone, we should accept them for who they are..
Michael could not acept her wife whom he married at early age after he becomes someone...
before this, he was no one...
LUST vs LOVE
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thesis Statement...
Dr Edwin had asked us to write a thesis statement for our paper..
Since i like Catherine Lim, so i want to write something on one of her writings..
i've selected one of her short stories, titled Change of Heart..
i wanted to write on how amazing catherine lim narrates and her style of writing, but i just didn't know how to write on it and i ended up with a thesis statement which is given by dr edwin, himself..well, it was quite an experience looking for the right and relevant thesis statement..
well, this is something that i found in the net and i think that it is quite useful as a guidance..
it is taken from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_thesis.html
Writing a Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is a sentence (or sentences) that expresses the main ideas of your paper and answers the question or questions posed by your paper. It offers your readers a quick and easy to follow summary of what the paper will be discussing and what you as a writer are setting out to tell them. The kind of thesis that your paper will have will depend on the purpose of your writing. This handout will cover general thesis statement tips, explain some of the different types of thesis statements, and provide some links to other resources about writing thesis statements.
General Thesis Statement Tips
A thesis statement generally consists of two parts: your topic, and then the analysis, explanation(s), or assertion(s) that you're making about the topic. The kind of thesis statement you write will depend on what kind of paper you're writing.
In some kinds of writing, such as narratives or descriptions, a thesis statement is less important, but you may still want to provide some kind of statement in your first paragraph that helps to guide your reader through your paper.
A thesis statement is a very specific statement -- it should cover only what you want to discuss in your paper, and be supported with specific evidence. The scope of your paper will be determined by the length of your paper and any other requirements that might be in place.
Generally, a thesis statement appears at the end of the first paragraph of an essay, so that readers will have a clear idea of what to expect as they read.
You can think of your thesis as a map or a guide both for yourself and your audience, so it might be helpful to draw a chart or picture of your ideas and how they're connected to help you get started.
As you write and revise your paper, it's okay to change your thesis statement -- sometimes you don't discover what you really want to say about a topic until you've started (or finished) writing! Just make sure that your "final" thesis statement accurately shows what will happen in your paper.
Analytical Thesis Statements
In an analytical paper, you are breaking down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluating the issue or idea, and presenting this breakdown and evaluation to your audience. An analytical thesis statement will explain:
what you are analyzing
the parts of your analysis
the order in which you will be presenting your analysis
Example: An analysis of barn owl flight behavior reveals two kinds of flight patterns: patterns related to hunting prey and patterns related to courtship.
A reader who encountered that thesis in a paper would expect an explanation of the analysis of barn owl flight behavior, and then an explanation of the two kinds of flight patterns.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an analytical thesis statement:
What did I analyze?
What did I discover in my analysis?
How can I categorize my discoveries?
In what order should I present my discoveries?
Expository (Explanatory) Thesis Statements
In an expository paper, you are explaining something to your audience. An expository thesis statement will tell your audience:
what you are going to explain to them
the categories you are using to organize your explanation
the order in which you will be presenting your categories
Example: The lifestyles of barn owls include hunting for insects and animals, building nests, and raising their young.
A reader who encountered that thesis would expect the paper to explain how barn owls hunt for insects, build nests, and raise young.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an expository thesis statement:
What am I trying to explain?
How can I categorize my explanation into different parts?
In what order should I present the different parts of my explanation?
Argumentative Thesis Statements
In an argumentative paper, you are making a claim about a topic and justifying this claim with reasons and evidence. This claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. However, this claim must be a statement that people could possibly disagree with, because the goal of your paper is to convince your audience that your claim is true based on your presentation of your reasons and evidence. An argumentative thesis statement will tell your audience:
your claim or assertion
the reasons/evidence that support this claim
the order in which you will be presenting your reasons and evidence
Example: Barn owls' nests should not be eliminated from barns because barn owls help farmers by eliminating insect and rodent pests.
A reader who encountered this thesis would expect to be presented with an argument and evidence that farmers should not get rid of barn owls when they find them nesting in their barns.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an argumentative thesis statement:
What is my claim or assertion?
What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion?
In what order should I present my reasons?
Since i like Catherine Lim, so i want to write something on one of her writings..
i've selected one of her short stories, titled Change of Heart..
i wanted to write on how amazing catherine lim narrates and her style of writing, but i just didn't know how to write on it and i ended up with a thesis statement which is given by dr edwin, himself..well, it was quite an experience looking for the right and relevant thesis statement..
well, this is something that i found in the net and i think that it is quite useful as a guidance..
it is taken from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_thesis.html
Writing a Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is a sentence (or sentences) that expresses the main ideas of your paper and answers the question or questions posed by your paper. It offers your readers a quick and easy to follow summary of what the paper will be discussing and what you as a writer are setting out to tell them. The kind of thesis that your paper will have will depend on the purpose of your writing. This handout will cover general thesis statement tips, explain some of the different types of thesis statements, and provide some links to other resources about writing thesis statements.
General Thesis Statement Tips
A thesis statement generally consists of two parts: your topic, and then the analysis, explanation(s), or assertion(s) that you're making about the topic. The kind of thesis statement you write will depend on what kind of paper you're writing.
In some kinds of writing, such as narratives or descriptions, a thesis statement is less important, but you may still want to provide some kind of statement in your first paragraph that helps to guide your reader through your paper.
A thesis statement is a very specific statement -- it should cover only what you want to discuss in your paper, and be supported with specific evidence. The scope of your paper will be determined by the length of your paper and any other requirements that might be in place.
Generally, a thesis statement appears at the end of the first paragraph of an essay, so that readers will have a clear idea of what to expect as they read.
You can think of your thesis as a map or a guide both for yourself and your audience, so it might be helpful to draw a chart or picture of your ideas and how they're connected to help you get started.
As you write and revise your paper, it's okay to change your thesis statement -- sometimes you don't discover what you really want to say about a topic until you've started (or finished) writing! Just make sure that your "final" thesis statement accurately shows what will happen in your paper.
Analytical Thesis Statements
In an analytical paper, you are breaking down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluating the issue or idea, and presenting this breakdown and evaluation to your audience. An analytical thesis statement will explain:
what you are analyzing
the parts of your analysis
the order in which you will be presenting your analysis
Example: An analysis of barn owl flight behavior reveals two kinds of flight patterns: patterns related to hunting prey and patterns related to courtship.
A reader who encountered that thesis in a paper would expect an explanation of the analysis of barn owl flight behavior, and then an explanation of the two kinds of flight patterns.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an analytical thesis statement:
What did I analyze?
What did I discover in my analysis?
How can I categorize my discoveries?
In what order should I present my discoveries?
Expository (Explanatory) Thesis Statements
In an expository paper, you are explaining something to your audience. An expository thesis statement will tell your audience:
what you are going to explain to them
the categories you are using to organize your explanation
the order in which you will be presenting your categories
Example: The lifestyles of barn owls include hunting for insects and animals, building nests, and raising their young.
A reader who encountered that thesis would expect the paper to explain how barn owls hunt for insects, build nests, and raise young.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an expository thesis statement:
What am I trying to explain?
How can I categorize my explanation into different parts?
In what order should I present the different parts of my explanation?
Argumentative Thesis Statements
In an argumentative paper, you are making a claim about a topic and justifying this claim with reasons and evidence. This claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. However, this claim must be a statement that people could possibly disagree with, because the goal of your paper is to convince your audience that your claim is true based on your presentation of your reasons and evidence. An argumentative thesis statement will tell your audience:
your claim or assertion
the reasons/evidence that support this claim
the order in which you will be presenting your reasons and evidence
Example: Barn owls' nests should not be eliminated from barns because barn owls help farmers by eliminating insect and rodent pests.
A reader who encountered this thesis would expect to be presented with an argument and evidence that farmers should not get rid of barn owls when they find them nesting in their barns.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an argumentative thesis statement:
What is my claim or assertion?
What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion?
In what order should I present my reasons?
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Catherine Lim....a great writer..
Biography
Catherine Lim grew up in Malaysia but resides and works in Singapore where she lectured in Applied Linguistics before turning to writing full time, speaking regularly on cruise ships and at International Seminars. Among her published works are eleven collections of short stories, (two of which have been used as GCSE texts by Cambridge University), four novels, a book of poems, and countless articles. She contributes social and political commentaries to local and foreign newspapers and magazines. Her latest novel is The Bond Maid, which was published in the UK in 1997 to critical acclaim.
Catherine Lim has a very interesting way of narrating...I love her stories as it reflects our real life situation, the reality that we are facing. I have read her collection of short stories and they are very interesting. Deadline for love and the shadow of a shadow of a dream, for example, are 2 of her collections of short stories that i had fallen in love with..the stories are mostly on women who are being cheated and how they are treated by men...these are all the things that are happening around us.
They Do Return, is one of her collection of short stories that is quite ok. Her horror stories are not very scary but because of her very unique way of narrating, makes me want to read all her works.
The conclusion is..she is just amazing..
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
the search for traditional stories...
I found that this is a very interesting website..do check it out..
http://www.writespirit.net
There are a few sections that i found interesting..they are: inspirational quotes, inspirational people,inspirational talks,spiritual poetry, and stories and tales.
There are many stories that you can find there and thjey are very interesting..
The one that i like the most is under stories and tales; under tales of wisdom, A well of wisdom..
A Well of Wisdom
There was a miserly man whose wife was very generous. But the wife did not have access to her husband's money. They had so much money that they could easily have helped their village. For months people suffered from drought and famine. Because of the drought there was not enough food and people were dying of starvation. The wife begged the husband to dig some wells so that at least their neighbors could have water. But the husband did not want to spend money to dig wells.
The wife said, "Who knows, by digging in the ground, perhaps even I can find water."
So she asked their one servant to help her dig a well at a particular place. The wife herself, a respectable lady, joined the servant in digging. Every day they dug, but they found no water. The husband laughed and laughed and said, "Yes, you can dig for a year and there will still be nothing. Only the well of your stupidity is getting deeper."
One day the servant had a clever idea. He said, "Mother, we are working hard, but your husband is being so unkind and cruel. Let us play a trick."
"What kind of trick?" the wife asked.
The servant said, "Every morning your husband comes to laugh at us. Let's put some oil on the ground where we are digging. When he sees the oil, he will get very excited. He will employ many workers and servants, thinking we have found oil here. They will dig and, who knows, perhaps there will be some water here."
The following day the husband came and saw the oil on the ground. He was excited and said to himself, "I want to take credit for discovering this oil." Then he said to his wife and servant, "Will you do me a favor today? Can you bring me something from the market? I'll give you anything you want if you do me this favor."
They went to the market to buy what he requested. The wife was totally innocent; she had forgotten about the oil trick. in the meantime, the husband brought 20 workers to continue digging at the same place so that he could take credit for discovering oil. They worked for a few hours and finally hit water.
The workers were thrilled to find water, but the owner of the house was disappointed. He said, "Who wants water? I wanted oil so I could sell it and become richer. How can I sell water? I can only give it to my neighbors."
The wife and the servant came back from the market and were delighted to see the water. The husband said to them, "How can it be? This morning I saw oil on the ground. I hired workers to dig for it. This morning there was oil, but now there's only water."
The wife said, "Money and power surrender to the well of wisdom."
"What are you talking about?" asked the husband.
"This is a result of our servant's wisdom. We tried so hard to find water but we failed. Then he had a brilliant idea. He knows how miserly you are. He knew that if you saw oil on the ground where we were digging, then you would start digging for oil. God wanted you to help the needy. God didn't want you to become richer by discovering oil."
There are many other stories that are interesting and there are values that we can learn for the stories..
http://www.writespirit.net
There are a few sections that i found interesting..they are: inspirational quotes, inspirational people,inspirational talks,spiritual poetry, and stories and tales.
There are many stories that you can find there and thjey are very interesting..
The one that i like the most is under stories and tales; under tales of wisdom, A well of wisdom..
A Well of Wisdom
There was a miserly man whose wife was very generous. But the wife did not have access to her husband's money. They had so much money that they could easily have helped their village. For months people suffered from drought and famine. Because of the drought there was not enough food and people were dying of starvation. The wife begged the husband to dig some wells so that at least their neighbors could have water. But the husband did not want to spend money to dig wells.
The wife said, "Who knows, by digging in the ground, perhaps even I can find water."
So she asked their one servant to help her dig a well at a particular place. The wife herself, a respectable lady, joined the servant in digging. Every day they dug, but they found no water. The husband laughed and laughed and said, "Yes, you can dig for a year and there will still be nothing. Only the well of your stupidity is getting deeper."
One day the servant had a clever idea. He said, "Mother, we are working hard, but your husband is being so unkind and cruel. Let us play a trick."
"What kind of trick?" the wife asked.
The servant said, "Every morning your husband comes to laugh at us. Let's put some oil on the ground where we are digging. When he sees the oil, he will get very excited. He will employ many workers and servants, thinking we have found oil here. They will dig and, who knows, perhaps there will be some water here."
The following day the husband came and saw the oil on the ground. He was excited and said to himself, "I want to take credit for discovering this oil." Then he said to his wife and servant, "Will you do me a favor today? Can you bring me something from the market? I'll give you anything you want if you do me this favor."
They went to the market to buy what he requested. The wife was totally innocent; she had forgotten about the oil trick. in the meantime, the husband brought 20 workers to continue digging at the same place so that he could take credit for discovering oil. They worked for a few hours and finally hit water.
The workers were thrilled to find water, but the owner of the house was disappointed. He said, "Who wants water? I wanted oil so I could sell it and become richer. How can I sell water? I can only give it to my neighbors."
The wife and the servant came back from the market and were delighted to see the water. The husband said to them, "How can it be? This morning I saw oil on the ground. I hired workers to dig for it. This morning there was oil, but now there's only water."
The wife said, "Money and power surrender to the well of wisdom."
"What are you talking about?" asked the husband.
"This is a result of our servant's wisdom. We tried so hard to find water but we failed. Then he had a brilliant idea. He knows how miserly you are. He knew that if you saw oil on the ground where we were digging, then you would start digging for oil. God wanted you to help the needy. God didn't want you to become richer by discovering oil."
There are many other stories that are interesting and there are values that we can learn for the stories..
traditional stories...
Dr. Edwin had asked us to read one of Mahabrata's story, King Shantanu..
the story was quite interesting...it was about the greed of a man for beautiful women who is willing to sacrifice almost everything to get them until one day, he refused to agree to accept the agreement because he doesn't want to sacrifice his beloved son...
In my opinion, it is our nature, the desire to like beautiful things...we usually will sacrifice a lot of things in order to get them..but whatever it is, we have to think rationally before we agrre with any thing.
i found an interesting website on this story, King Shantanu...it is quite different from what i've read, but, it does have a different ending...I think that you should visit this website..it is an interesting webpage...we can use the stories for teaching secondary school students...
Thursday, July 19, 2007
the fall of Icarus
This picture is very subjective to me...
At the first look, I was not aware of the legs in the sea...
Daedulus and Icarus is a story on a father and son relationship..the father who is trying to escape with his beloved son...
the moral is..listen to your father and do not get excited too easily..
Ovid-Metamorphoses
I went to this webpage to read on oved-metamorphoses..
http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/xeno.ovid1.htm
This webpage is quite interesting as it provide a lot of information.
this quotation is taken from there..
Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC - 18 AD). Ovid seems to have believed in art for pleasure's sake, having no ethical agenda for his writings, unlike his predecessor Virgil, who wrote for the betterment of Romans. Ovid's other works include: Medea (a tragedy, no longer extant), Heroides (letters to legendary heroes from their wives; read them here), The Art of Love (advice on how to seduce a woman; scandalous in Augustus' time, one possible reason for Ovid's banishment in 8 AD), the Fasti (a poetic calendar of religious festivals). Ovid offered something of an apology for his immoral reputation (Tristia 2:354): "My life is respectable, my Muse is full of jesting. A book is not evidence of one's soul."
"My life is respectable, my Muse is full of jesting. A book is not evidence of one's soul."
This line is the line that catches my eyes..a book is not evidence of one's soul..Before this, i have this belief that writers will be writing in what they belief in. this line makes me wonder...is that a statement or just something to cover himself?
http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/xeno.ovid1.htm
This webpage is quite interesting as it provide a lot of information.
this quotation is taken from there..
Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC - 18 AD). Ovid seems to have believed in art for pleasure's sake, having no ethical agenda for his writings, unlike his predecessor Virgil, who wrote for the betterment of Romans. Ovid's other works include: Medea (a tragedy, no longer extant), Heroides (letters to legendary heroes from their wives; read them here), The Art of Love (advice on how to seduce a woman; scandalous in Augustus' time, one possible reason for Ovid's banishment in 8 AD), the Fasti (a poetic calendar of religious festivals). Ovid offered something of an apology for his immoral reputation (Tristia 2:354): "My life is respectable, my Muse is full of jesting. A book is not evidence of one's soul."
"My life is respectable, my Muse is full of jesting. A book is not evidence of one's soul."
This line is the line that catches my eyes..a book is not evidence of one's soul..Before this, i have this belief that writers will be writing in what they belief in. this line makes me wonder...is that a statement or just something to cover himself?
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