My favourite poet is Charles Simic. He was born on May 9, 1938, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where he had a traumatic childhood. He was born during world war 2, whereby the German and the Allies took turn to drop bombs after bombs at his country. He immigrated to the United States in 1953, at the age of 15 and it was then that he spoke English for the first time. He has lived in New York, Chicago, the San Francisco area, and for many years in New Hampshire.
He was an immigrant who didn't speak until he was 15 and yet he managed to be recognised in poetry, winning several awards in writing and poetry. This could not have been achieved without hard work and determination to strive. His memories of his childhood in a war-torn country did not prevent him from striving to the best, but an inspiration to motivate him.
Despite his childhood, he is a very humorous person. This is evident from one of his interview when he reflected on his childhood, "Germans and the Allies took turns dropping bombs on my head while I played with my collection of lead soldiers on the floor. I would go boom, boom, and then they would go boom, boom". His first impulse to write was actually when he saw his friends writing a poem to attract the best-looking girls and that was what he said in the interview. He knew that sobbing and crying in his pillow won't help anything. Therefore, he maintained his humor and carry on with life.
The following is 3 of his poems:
Against Winter
The truth is dark under your eyelids.
What are you going to do about it?
The birds are silent; there's no one to ask.
All day long you'll squint at the gray sky.
When the wind blows you'll shiver like straw.
A meek little lamb you grew your wool
Till they came after you with huge shears.
Flies hovered over open mouth,
Then they, too, flew off like the leaves,
The bare branches reached after them in vain.
Winter coming. Like the last heroic soldier
Of a defeated army, you'll stay at your post,
Head bared to the first snow flake.
Till a neighbor comes to yell at you,
You're crazier than the weather, Charlie.
Clouds Gathering
It seemed the kind of life we wanted.
Wild strawberries and cream in the morning.
Sunlight in every room.
The two of us walking by the sea naked.
Some evenings, however, we found ourselves
Unsure of what comes next.
Like tragic actors in a theater on fire,
With birds circling over our heads,
The dark pines strangely still,
Each rock we stepped on bloodied by the sunset.
We were back on our terrace sipping wine.
Why always this hint of an unhappy ending?
Clouds of almost human appearance
Gathering on the horizon, but the rest lovely
With the air so mild and the sea untroubled.
The night suddenly upon us, a starless night.
You lighting a candle, carrying it naked
Into our bedroom and blowing it out quickly.
The dark pines and grasses strangely still.
Read Your Fate
Little street,
You were too narrow,
Too much in the shade already.
You had only one dog,
One lone child.
You hid your biggest mirror,
Your undressed lovers.
Someone carted them off
In an open truck.
They were still naked, travelling
On their sofa
Over a darkening plain,
Some unknown Kansas or Nebraska
With a storm brewing.
The woman opening a red umbrella
In the truck. The boy
And the dog running after them,
As if after a rooster
With its head chopped off.
Sources: http://www.cortlandreview.com/issuefour/interview4.htm
http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/27
http://www.poemhunter.com/charles-simic/
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Figurative language
I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
1) The figurative language used are simile, personification and metaphor. Simile is used in the title of the poem, as well as at the start of the poem, 'I wandered lonely as a cloud '.It is used to picture how she was wandering, alone, like clouds in the sky, no one to accompany them and drifting aimlessly as the wind blows. There is also metaphor, 'I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils'. The daffodils are compared as a crowd of people. Another example of metaphor Personification is used as well, 'golden daffodils' 'fluttering and dancing in the breeze'. Imagine a yellow flower fluttering and dancing as the breeze caressed the the daffodils.
2) I like this poem because it depicts the nature, the daffodils by the lake. I also like the way the poet describes the 'crowd' of daffodils. Due to the number of them, they remind the poet the milky way and the endless line of shiny stars. The fluttering of the daffodils was humanized as them engaging in a dance. In their fluttering and dancing, the daffodils outdo the waves of the lake while the poet enjoys the show and appreciated the nature.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
1) The figurative language used are simile, personification and metaphor. Simile is used in the title of the poem, as well as at the start of the poem, 'I wandered lonely as a cloud '.It is used to picture how she was wandering, alone, like clouds in the sky, no one to accompany them and drifting aimlessly as the wind blows. There is also metaphor, 'I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils'. The daffodils are compared as a crowd of people. Another example of metaphor Personification is used as well, 'golden daffodils' 'fluttering and dancing in the breeze'. Imagine a yellow flower fluttering and dancing as the breeze caressed the the daffodils.
2) I like this poem because it depicts the nature, the daffodils by the lake. I also like the way the poet describes the 'crowd' of daffodils. Due to the number of them, they remind the poet the milky way and the endless line of shiny stars. The fluttering of the daffodils was humanized as them engaging in a dance. In their fluttering and dancing, the daffodils outdo the waves of the lake while the poet enjoys the show and appreciated the nature.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Is progress beneficial for the society?
Well, I agree with this statement. If you have read my previous posts, someone of you may conclude that I prefer urban to rural. It's the same for this post. I could use this as one of my reasons to support my argument on urban vs rural. Firstly, let me define progress.
The government wants progress for the society, for the nation. So, what is progress?Slide 6 Progress means different things to different people. People evaluate progress in their own opinion, some people thinks that progress is one step further to their own ideal world. Many believed that America is the most progressive country, so what constitutes America to be the most progressive country. Well, progress is an advancement in a positive way, not necessarily a monotonically increasing advance. Sustainability... Well-being ... Quality of Life, these are the things that constitutes progress. The progress for society means changing of society toward the ideal. With that, let us analyse progress for the society, in my own opinion.
Yes, progress is beneficial for the society only. With progress, technology and improvement to our daily areas occurs. A simple thing like changing your old normal phone to an i-phone or any phone with 3G services is a progress, with improvement to any area, personal or global. Throughout the past, technological innovations have helped humankind improve their standards of living, beginning with the simple invention of bone tools in prehistoric times, continuing on to and beyond modern air conditioners, computers, internet, etc. These are examples of progress and benefitted the society.
In the past, people are troubled with communicating in a distance. That's why phones are invented to solve the problem. Imagine that you are in grave danger and needed help immediately. That's when phones are used. Doesn't it benefit you and the society? Because of progress, modernisation occurs and we have lights, which creates the artificial day in the night and therefore we can study at night. We also have computers whereby important documents are made everyday and we have little worries about losing them.
However, there are also disadvantages as well. With handphones, radiation given off them and other hi-tech gadgets might have caused the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. With technology, there are global warming, pollution of the water, land and the air. A geography essay might follow this. Therefore, progress also causes environmental problems in terms of technology and modernisation.
With the above points, I conclude that progress is beneficial for the society but not at all beneficial for the environment.
The government wants progress for the society, for the nation. So, what is progress?
Yes, progress is beneficial for the society only. With progress, technology and improvement to our daily areas occurs. A simple thing like changing your old normal phone to an i-phone or any phone with 3G services is a progress, with improvement to any area, personal or global. Throughout the past, technological innovations have helped humankind improve their standards of living, beginning with the simple invention of bone tools in prehistoric times, continuing on to and beyond modern air conditioners, computers, internet, etc. These are examples of progress and benefitted the society.
In the past, people are troubled with communicating in a distance. That's why phones are invented to solve the problem. Imagine that you are in grave danger and needed help immediately. That's when phones are used. Doesn't it benefit you and the society? Because of progress, modernisation occurs and we have lights, which creates the artificial day in the night and therefore we can study at night. We also have computers whereby important documents are made everyday and we have little worries about losing them.
However, there are also disadvantages as well. With handphones, radiation given off them and other hi-tech gadgets might have caused the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. With technology, there are global warming, pollution of the water, land and the air. A geography essay might follow this. Therefore, progress also causes environmental problems in terms of technology and modernisation.
With the above points, I conclude that progress is beneficial for the society but not at all beneficial for the environment.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Favourite character in VBTS
My favourite character in VBTS is Lila. This is because of the fact that she sacrifices a lot for her family. Due to the sick mother and perpetually drunk father, Hari and her had to take on the parental role with four people to take care of. Hari's leaving for Bombay without a notice makes matters worse for Lila. She had to take care of everyone in the family but she is only a child. She was deprived of her childhood, and could not enjoy education while the younger children, Bela and Kamal could.
Though not mentioned in the story, she must be bothered with a lot of problems that her family is facing. She had to worry about the financial problems and where do she get the income to maintain the family? What should she do with her mother whose illness is getting worse everyday? How is she going to take care of her? How are Bela and Kamal doing in their studies and the demand for sweets, etc? How is she going to provide enough food for the whole family? All these are examples of the problems. Most of these problems are solved by the De Slivas who are the fairy god- parents for Lila.
Though the circumstances, Lila could still take care fo her family well. This is evident from Bela and Kamal being spoilt and still having a happy childhood. She also takes very good care of her mother both before Hari leaves for Bombay and after. She also sacrifices for the family without any complains as she scrimps and saves for her family while working in the mansion.
From the above points, it is obvious that Lila is an admirable character in VBTS and that causes Lila to be my favourite character in VBTS.
Though not mentioned in the story, she must be bothered with a lot of problems that her family is facing. She had to worry about the financial problems and where do she get the income to maintain the family? What should she do with her mother whose illness is getting worse everyday? How is she going to take care of her? How are Bela and Kamal doing in their studies and the demand for sweets, etc? How is she going to provide enough food for the whole family? All these are examples of the problems. Most of these problems are solved by the De Slivas who are the fairy god- parents for Lila.
Though the circumstances, Lila could still take care fo her family well. This is evident from Bela and Kamal being spoilt and still having a happy childhood. She also takes very good care of her mother both before Hari leaves for Bombay and after. She also sacrifices for the family without any complains as she scrimps and saves for her family while working in the mansion.
From the above points, it is obvious that Lila is an admirable character in VBTS and that causes Lila to be my favourite character in VBTS.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
City rat or Country rat?
Would you rather be the city rat or the country rat? The theme would be urban vs rural. I would rather be the city rat than the country one. Some of you may differ from me especially after reading Village by the Sea. So, the following are my reasons.
When living in an urban place or living as a city rat, we have modern-day facilities like the Internet, telephone, television etc for communication and entertainment purposes. Can we live without them? People living in urban areas lead a luxurious and economically stable life as compared to those living in rural areas. We have greater availability of modern facilities due to the advancement in technology in the city.
Furthermore, if we are living in the villages, would you be looking at what I am typing to know about my opinion for urban and rural areas? If we are living in rural areas would we be able to browse others' blogs to acquire knowledge? There are a lot more educational facilities in urban areas than in rural areas. There are also a lot more career opportunities in urban than rural areas. There are also change in the city whereas there is little in villages. Would not it be boring if there are little change in your life?
Villagers in rural areas had to worry for their financial difficulty, causing them not to have enough food, leading to the fact that they are more prone to diseases due to malnutrition. Even if they have enough, how can they ensure that they are nutritional. Whereas in city areas, people are more conscious about their health and have a wide variety of food to choose from, because of the imports of resources from many different places. However, some may argue that we will be dependent on others for resources rather than being independent whereby we will grow food for ourselves in villages. My take would be that country rats have to work in the field to get food, just food or perhaps some money. However, city rats work to get money and the company would have economic development by developing in their respective field.
Not convinced? Beg to differ? Share your views!
When living in an urban place or living as a city rat, we have modern-day facilities like the Internet, telephone, television etc for communication and entertainment purposes. Can we live without them? People living in urban areas lead a luxurious and economically stable life as compared to those living in rural areas. We have greater availability of modern facilities due to the advancement in technology in the city.
Furthermore, if we are living in the villages, would you be looking at what I am typing to know about my opinion for urban and rural areas? If we are living in rural areas would we be able to browse others' blogs to acquire knowledge? There are a lot more educational facilities in urban areas than in rural areas. There are also a lot more career opportunities in urban than rural areas. There are also change in the city whereas there is little in villages. Would not it be boring if there are little change in your life?
Villagers in rural areas had to worry for their financial difficulty, causing them not to have enough food, leading to the fact that they are more prone to diseases due to malnutrition. Even if they have enough, how can they ensure that they are nutritional. Whereas in city areas, people are more conscious about their health and have a wide variety of food to choose from, because of the imports of resources from many different places. However, some may argue that we will be dependent on others for resources rather than being independent whereby we will grow food for ourselves in villages. My take would be that country rats have to work in the field to get food, just food or perhaps some money. However, city rats work to get money and the company would have economic development by developing in their respective field.
Not convinced? Beg to differ? Share your views!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Favourite part in Village by the Sea
For me, my favourite part in Village by the Sea is in chapter 6 and 7, where he first came to Bombay.
-Why?
His first impression of Bombay was rather interesting and it relates to us, while living in a similiar urban town as Bombay. The hill glittered like a great mount of jewels and the roads were lined with double rowed electric lights. These show how bright the electric lights is and the difference between his village Thul and Bombay. It shows the theme of modernisation and the debatable topic of the pros and cons of modernisation. He also described the elevator as a tiny cell which shows his lack of sophistication.
Bombay's pace of life is faster as compared to Thul's. This is evident from he pushing and shoving while they hurried to the Black Horse. Isn't this similiar to our pace of life in our city? There were reports about Singapore being the 'fastest city' with a time of 10.55s to cover 0.02km, if I had remembered correctly.
I also liked the speech made by Sayyid Ali and others. Sayyid Ali talked about the negative impacts of modernisation which I agreed. Factories pump deadly chemicals into the air and this pollutes the air for miles. There would also be water pollution whereby the fishes would be poisoned by the pollution and the fishes would poison the people who consume them.
Since the factories would be built at the villages, many of the villagers would have to move somewhere else but where could they move to? Bombay which is so crammed that people have to push and shove? There would also be not enough of jobs and many would be reduced to beggars on the pavements of the city instead of their life in green paddy fields and coconut groves.
I shall end here. Any comments?
-Why?
His first impression of Bombay was rather interesting and it relates to us, while living in a similiar urban town as Bombay. The hill glittered like a great mount of jewels and the roads were lined with double rowed electric lights. These show how bright the electric lights is and the difference between his village Thul and Bombay. It shows the theme of modernisation and the debatable topic of the pros and cons of modernisation. He also described the elevator as a tiny cell which shows his lack of sophistication.
Bombay's pace of life is faster as compared to Thul's. This is evident from he pushing and shoving while they hurried to the Black Horse. Isn't this similiar to our pace of life in our city? There were reports about Singapore being the 'fastest city' with a time of 10.55s to cover 0.02km, if I had remembered correctly.
I also liked the speech made by Sayyid Ali and others. Sayyid Ali talked about the negative impacts of modernisation which I agreed. Factories pump deadly chemicals into the air and this pollutes the air for miles. There would also be water pollution whereby the fishes would be poisoned by the pollution and the fishes would poison the people who consume them.
Since the factories would be built at the villages, many of the villagers would have to move somewhere else but where could they move to? Bombay which is so crammed that people have to push and shove? There would also be not enough of jobs and many would be reduced to beggars on the pavements of the city instead of their life in green paddy fields and coconut groves.
I shall end here. Any comments?
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