E learning lesson 2

A Blessing
by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
Have you ever read 'tuesdays with morrie"? I came across a very interesting and wonderful quote."Have love or perish."And in this poem,it is perfectly displayed.It's about him and his friend on a trip ,when they were warmly welcomed by two indian ponies.James was very touched for their tremendous love for each other.After doing research on james wright, i found out that he witnessed poverty and human suffering.That's why he used his poetry as a mode to discuss the social and political issues of his concerns.He modeled his work after Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost whose engagement with human issues and emotions that he admired.I think that james wrote this poem to show that he wanted society to be as loving as those two ponies, like what we should really do.It's because love is extremely important,loved ones care for you,sacrifice for you, without love,'you'll perish.'To make the society a better place, it isn't really essential for money,medical advances, it all starts with love.When you have love, then you'll be happy.I chose this poet because it reveals the emotion of the author perfectly,which is loving and touched by the love and loneliness of the ponies.I also chosed this poem because it summarises my lesson. The author uses personification,like"And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear" Also there is  presence of symbolism in this poem."That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom."This symbolises that he was so moved by the atmosphere of peace and love,he would have 'broken in to blossom'.I have also read another poem by James Wright, called"Northern Pike".This poem was to establish his guilt about killing a fish in order to survive.He feels that he did a bad thing which is killing a living thing for him to survive.Now how many of us actually feels guilty when eating a sashimi?Three other poems by James wright are:Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry,Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota and On the Skeleton of a Hound

Home learning:LA poetry

There is another sky by Emily Dickinson

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!

This is the poem i chose.This poem uses figurative language like metaphor,personification,hyperbole,simile and symbolism.Metaphor is used to directly compare or relate an semingly unrelated object,for example,"Here IS A brighter garden."In this case it is relating a unrelated object(garden),showing her optimistic emotion.Personification is taking a non-emotional object and so called ' bringing it to life', giving it emotions and actions.For instance,"i hear the bright bee hum."The writer is showing that she is happy or gleeful by relating it to an unanimated object(bee)humming.Hyperbole is sort of like an exaggeration,showing the reader the extend of her emotions,"bright bee, bright garden" are all examples of her emotions which in this case is joyful.Simile is a little like metaphor except that it uses words like "like", to relate an object reveal the authors emotion.Though i can't find any examples in this poem.Symbolism is taking an object and relating it to somebody,creating an image in the mind.I too can't find any examples,sorry.Well that's the end.I like this poem as it brings out the feelings of the author really well,how she feels and what she likes.In this poem, she's feeling very optimistic, with words like" bright",this reveals the emotions of the author.She's sociable,gleeful,though there could be difficulties in her life,she would find an alternative to solve it and stay hopeful,"there is another sky" prompts me to think this way.

Ace blog entry 6:Favourite and least favourite in Village by the sea

Hey guys!Firstly,my favourite character in Village by the sea is Mr Panwallah.He's knowlegable,wise and most importantly, he made the story complete! He taught Hari watchmending, the importance of learning,change the outlook and also certainly gave him the correct direction in life.With Mr Panwallah, Hari managed to survive the cruelty and harshness of Bombay(with the help of Jagu), earn some extra income and became a optimist.He was able to change, adapt and embrace industialisation.My least favourite character was Lila's or Hari's father.He was a drunkard and a good for nothing father.He spents his waking hours in the toddy shop, thus not able to provide for the family.He even sold his family's buffalo and his fishing boat due to his fondness for toddy.As a reslut ,his debts kept pilling larger and larger, and even cause the Khanekar brothers to come knocking on their door.Also, this caused Hari's family to live in poverty and thus unable to buy medicines for their bed-ridden mother.I do kind of feel sorry for him, probably because he might have drowned himself in toddy to numb his pain of watching his wife suffer,whhile he could do nothing to help.In the end,father turns over a new leaf and actually felt sorry for what he did.

Ace blog entry 5: Favourite part of Village by the sea

Hi guys,my favourite part of village by the sea(my literature book) is the part when Hari ,an Indian boy, escapes from his village,Thul, in desperation after his dog's deat,Pinto.It was also because of the fact that his family was constantly plagued with poverty and his hatred towards his drunkard father that led to the decision to leave and run away to bombay, the city he always have dreamt of going, in search for jobs.In his journey,he met some benefactors like Sayyid Ali(a watchman at sea birdz0,mr panwallahz (watchmender) and Jagu (owner of a restaurant),that turned his life around and taught him some important lessons and skills, especially Mr Panwallah.I do, learnt some important things too.From Mr Panwallah, he taught Hari and me that change is inevitable,and from his 'famous' speech "the wheel turns and turns and turns:But never stops or standstill", Hari realized that in order to  embrace industrialization , he has to always learn. This really symbolises reality,we too have to constantly learn and change, to adapt the upcoming changes. Like the economic downturn, we have to learn to save money, think twice before buying things in the supermarket,"Do i really need this?"Question yourself.Global warming has become a world crisis , melting of glaciers, extinction of animals and plants, in order to deal with this changes ,we have to learn,learn and learn!This is why i like this part of the chapter, as it taught me so much.In the end, Hari returns as a more confident boy, able to embrace changes.He began to see things at a different perspective , a positive one, for the first time, he looks at the future with hope and dreams.With his watchmending skills imparted by Mr Panwallah,he intends to open a watchmending shop.

Ace blog entry 4:I'd rather be a country rat than a city rat

Hi guys, today i will be talking about my feelings about this topic.I've seen a movie related to this before.I couldn't recall the name of that movie but i do recall the contents of it.It's about a country rat that was tired of his own village and moved on to a city instead. Where he mets a city rat and started showing him around.It was great, nice food luxury and other things that you'll find in a city.But it wasn't all perfect, soon they encounter cats that started attacking them and trying to eat them,well that's what cats would do.And in the end the country mouse felt that his village was better and went home.I do agree with the country rat's decision. I would rather live in peace and free of dangers that constantly worrying of the dangers that lurk in every corners like predators that are out to kill you.It's a little like , unable to sleep peacefully or walking in a dark alley. Being a country rat has less chance of being attacked by city 'monsters' and living in an urban area involves heavy traffic ,which means countless  vehicles,and being a tiny rat,this is definitely not a place for me to live.Therefore i conclude that i do prefer to be a country rat than a city rat.Bye~

Ace blog entry 3:Confessions of a ......

Confessions of a studious , sporty and gleeful boy!I tell you what guys, i love to study, not that i'm a nerd or something, but studying actually make me feel ...well...kind of a sense of achievement.Weird right?But i'm not lying, when i study i feel more secure and relax!I believe knowledge is important but nothing beats sports that brings smiles and health to me.Playing softball, the game i love,and soccer with my friends give me great pleasure.That feeling of hitting the ball with a bat and hitting a homerun ,brings that undercribable feeling to me although i don't show much.Smacking that soccer ball into the back of the net and seeing the ball swiftly going pass the keeper ,hitting the top bar and hearing the 'ping' sound, these little, little unperfect things make my life so perfect.Going to school ,stepping into my rowdy class, gives me smiles.Seeing my friends, my great friends and telling and sharing so much to them, gives me smiles.Everything about my class gives me smiles:Tan jun and others (including me)playing soccer in class, kicking the white board.My chairman,yong rui coming up to speak ,his voice makes the whole class laugh their heads off.Especially changze!He is the most hilarious student in our class.His sense of humour, his jokes and his actions(walking like some monkey) bring smiles to the whole class.When he returns to China, the whole class actually miss him,although he was bullied by others, changze was emotionally tough and though i thought the whole class looked down on him,but i found out they treat him as a friend, we really miss him ,his jokes..his evrything!Like i said,it's the little things in life that make my life so perfect.