It has been a great start to IB with our first term in English being an interesting and productive one.
To start off, it felt like most of us are proactive and initiative in terms of completing work and meeting deadlines but I believe that the confidence Ms. Abena had in trusting us made that happen too.
However, I still depend heavily on Edmodo as it really helps me to be efficient and be on top of my work at all times.
Just in this term, we've read "A Thousand Splendid Suns", performed our first oral presentation, wrote our first written task and explored many interesting topics such as power and language, gender roles, and vernacular english to name a few. The term has definitely felt productive for me and I feel like I'm on par with what is to done in English at the moment.
Moreover, I feel that I'm getting more practice in terms of writing through reflections and writing tasks which helps my rusty vocabulary bank to get working back again.
However, what I've enjoyed the most this term in English was definitely our exploration on African-American Vernacular English and having Socratic Circles as AAVE is an incredibly interesting topic and socratic circles help me widen my perspective on many topics through discussion. Socratic circles also allow me to practice my social skills in terms of being patient and being a good listener as opposed to being just a good analyst and speaker and I believe it is a skill that may seem easy but definitely requires practice to be good at.
Today, we discussed about literary criticism as we are starting on the Literature part of our IB English course.
At first glance, these term vaguely make sense to me but when some classmates raise their hands in confusion of the term, I realise that I myself don't really know the term well enough besides the rough idea of some sort of critical evaluation of literature (initially thought as anything that can simply be read).
So, as my circle went first, I suggested that we break down the term into their individual words: literary and criticism. We first discussed the definition of literary as literature, relating it to words such as text, art and written. Upon a quick clear up by Ms. Abena on the distinct difference between literature (work of written nature), text (any work for the means of communication) and art (an expression of creativity), we understood what sets "literature" apart. From there, we further discussed what qualifies as literature.
Before starting on what ideas we came up with, I would like to reiterate a few valuable points from the text to keep in mind:
In literary criticism, the three main points that catalyses the evaluation are:
interpretation: what was the message that the text was trying to convey to the reader? analysis: how does the author create the effect present in the text? evaluation: what makes this piece of literature good or bad?
I came up with ideas such as literature needing to contain a sense of extraordinary artistic value that is timeless however another circle member then argued that any text can be a form of literature as long as we have evidence to support the three main points of evaluation as artistic value varies in eyes of the beholder.
In terms of our strategy and techniques for the socratic circle today, it seems that some classmates did not speak up. It dawned to me that sometimes we could be overbearing and this may turn off other circle members from talking due to intimidation and it makes me realise the importance of the circle being a support group instead a fight for power. I realise on my part I had not taken the initiative to be more caring towards others in making them feel more comfortable about sharing their opinions as I was too busy voicing out my ideas.
However, I also recognise myself as being the 'shy' one in certain discussions and it simply shows me how I view the discussion as a competition hence the relenting effort of letting go and showing any signs of being 'lesser' in terms of knowledge. It makes me understand that I should view the circle as a safe zone of breaking down those walls of ego and to feed on the ideas of others as well hence the ability to question with confidence is something all of us should learn.
I've often realise a hierarchy since I started school at 7 in subjects. It's not uncommon to feel inadequate simply because when we measure ourselves to the standards of an academic world, there are only few who seem to be the creme de la creme while most of us are 'average'.
This, simply has to change. What a lot of us fail to realise is that school is apparently a field for those who are academically-minded, such as being advantaged at number/rational or writing. In an analogy by Sir Ken Robinson, he compares education of students almost like production of eggs where : "Students are educated in batches, according to age, as if the most important thing they have in common is their date of manufacture. They are given standardised tests at set points and compared with each other before being sent out onto the market. " Even with schools emerging with new systems to emphasise on the importance of other intelligences such as the arts and music, it will still take a while before the stereotypical mindset of being better in the maths and sciences is banished as I assume, they are possibly what the world needs the most at the moment. We are all encouraged to follow our dreams and passions but realistically, we will have to weigh in the possibilities and chances such as "will this job be steady career path?" or "is this field of study simply too popular?". I suppose I'm rather pessimistic when it comes to this matter but before these talks, I realise the importance of finding our own strengths too. I've recently been having a hard time simply thinking of a reply to, "what do you want to do in the future?" because honestly , I have no idea. How could you decide what you want to do for 2/3 of your life at this point? What if I made a wrong choice?
I guess the start is simply by observing myself and the way I am. I've always been more of an introvert and judging by the amount of MBTI tests i take, I had known that I was interpersonal but I never knew I was body smart too apparently.
By observing one self and not needing to confine our individuality to the standards of society, I think that is freedom. Intelligence is an always will be a concept, and it is up to us to define it for ourselves as Einstein had once said:
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Do you think that the media young children are exposed to affects their self-esteem or self-perception? Explain. Why might Disney be a relevant example when it comes to looking at language, identity, communities and power? Watch the video below - what is your reaction? What is your reaction? Does it lead you to change any of your previously-held beliefs?
Racism still plague many of us today and I'm ashamed to say that I fall into the habit from time to time as well. Not only racism but xenophobia, division among the classes are also some of these problems and sometimes I wonder why we do such awful acts. The thing that I recall the most in relation with racism was ironically humour, in which the usage of stereotypes on certain groups were nothing out of the norm in my everyday conversation with my family. We would stereotype these groups based on their occupation, their facial features and nonetheless, the colour of their skin. These were often said for the purpose of humour but this slowly degraded my sense of morality as I often reflect in shock after doing something like that nowadays.
Television is an article in most households nowadays and isn't much of a scarcity for children hence I would say that many children are exposed to at least some sort of media but specifically, television. Television, if I have to put it, would have to be the devil's advocate in engulfing on communal stereotypes as they are firstly, easy to understand and break down by many layers os society and as my point in the paragraph above states, could not only be humorous but even exciting, engaging, inspiring-for the sole purpose of entertainment.
I'm not saying that entertainment is bad and what people WANT is essentially bad for them but the best way I can put the situation in an analogy is that you give an intense exposure of broccoli to children until they get used to it or even, grow to like it.
The exposure of stereotyping in television media is strong, and we can see it already for example as Halloween draws close, girls would tend to dress as princesses or something feminine as that, would be a norm and if you dress as something UGLY as thematically set by Halloween standards, some would think it's wrong. Here is a video to illustrate the example (viewers' discretion advised):
Even as exaggerated as this video clip might portray, it does elicit a certain height of truth of the effects of media today have on youth today. Without seeing some links as the one below, I would be afraid that I would maintain similar ideals of confining to media-set stereotypes as well:
In the context of Disney, I'm afraid that's where ideas of wanting to be a princess (the ultimate sign of a damsel in distress), pretty and desirable sprouted from works such as Cinderella, Snow White and etc. It wasn't only until recently that they promoted works such as Princess and the Frog which promoted diversity and women empowerment. That, alongside Mulan, are the only works of Disney that I can with one hand that had elements of women empowerment but even neither escaped from romance and all the la-dee-da that makes the idea of women constantly related to aspects of love, revolting.
The video, hurts me as I watched the response of the children when they were asked "Which of these dolls look like you?". I saw a look that almost tells of a sudden revelation that all these negative factors that they associate with, were them and they simply feel confused as to their inferiority and I had share such experiences as well when I visited someplace of a caucasian-majority and the treatment I got from many, if not cold, were rather unfriendly and then it struck me after being oblivious for so long that, I'm a stereotype as well.
This is a rather pessimistic view maybe, that I see such a grim view of the world today but the more I experience the more I see about the media-shaped society and culture of today in the negative light. Of course, there are many benefits that comes along with media but we need to assert a different mindset- a mindset that opens itself and see itself as part of the world as opposed to the world of only theirs as we will constantly be codependent with society and we ALL play a part in making the world more open to different perspectives, everyday.
I would like to end my reflection with a quote from Gandhi, which says:
"whatever you do in life will be insignificant. but it is very important that you do it anyway."
Knowledge and Understanding of the texts and subject matter
-I felt that my understanding of my topic was superficial as I did not intrigue my audience with more than what was outlined on each slide of my powerpoint presentation. If I had more knowledge and ideas of my text, I would be able to go on much deeper to explain my points.
Understanding of how language is used
- As I presented on the topic of Manglish, I understood the colloquial "Manglish" however this did not go well with my idea of presenting in an Ellen Degeneres/talk show host style as I do not identify the speech style of a talk show host thoroughly and could not present it in that essence. I assume that my ideas were not fitting and was probably not focused as I felt that I had clumsily gone through one-third later into my presentation as I lost character while speaking.
However, I felt that my attempt on this idea was original and creative as recreating a specific style of a well-known talk show host would require familiarity with the style and simply a sense of spontaneity which always appear to be the basis of Ellen Degeneres' fun and friendly appeal.
Organisation
-My organisation of this oral presentation was rather simple as I followed a simple structure of background and main content. I also make sure my slides could relate to the next to ensure a continuous flow of thought.
Language
-I felt that I had good command in my English as I used a variety of lexicon and technical terms to explain the characteristics of "Manglish". Explaining these terms such a grammar, phonology, rhetoric and sarcasm allow me to understand them better as I teach as well.
My control in this area was something I was happy with as I was also able to capture Ellen's southern drawl and embody her sense of spontaneity in the beginning.
To what
extent has there always been a sexual double standard, and how is that double
standard encoded in texts?
In the excerpt from "The Scarlet Letter", what surprised me was how
the females ("midwives') were so harsh in judging Hester Prynne almost as
though they are sexist when viewing Hester Prynne's chastity. "This woman
has brought shame upon us all. " in the text show how they think the act
of one single woman contaminate the so called 'good image' of the women's
circle. However, why is the idea of Hester being unchaste a bigger source of
worry rather than the speculation ofhowshe became so? Why is it that they do
not worry about whether or not she had been violated or raped hence being seen
as a victim instead of a mere symbol of disgraced dignity as the embroidery
"A" on her bodice show?
This is then continued with the Op-Ed article which states how
society is still "perversely censorious of woman's sex life" showing
how people still view the chastity of a woman in such light, whereby their
sexual status is almost a complete representation of their dignity in the
public eye.
We see women getting humiliated and scorned, even being driven to
death because they get taunted for their sexual behavior such as Amanda Knox?
How does this compare to the case of Ariel Castro, a male who
later killed himself after bring found guilty of 937 counts of rape, kidnapping
and aggravated murder who kept 3 females for almost a decade as sex slaves to
satisfy his dissipated lust?
What I see is that men get away with higher degrees of promiscuity
whereas women get shunned just because the are no longer ‘virgins’ but society
has mixed the issue of sexual righteousness with aggression as well where on
this end, we unfairly and often stereotype males as aggressors instead of
women.
In the “Gender and Speech
Styles” booklet, it also mentions how language is not an innate skill, and as
mentioned by Dale Spender, language is a socially constructed system rather
than natural phenomenon hence language can be utilized by powerful groups to
encode meanings.
For example, the creation of lexical asymmetry
place "talking like a man"> "talking like a woman", as cultures-often practiced
by large powerful groups such as a society, still maintain a traditional
stereotype over gender status in language. This then leads to my next point
that was also highlighted in the booklet that women and men are two different
cultures, and that they have different aims in conversing e.g. men for power, women for solidarity,
intimacy.
Society also stereotypes gender with sexual implication. Women are
expected to be nice which is sexualized to mean as chaste but when reversed onto
men, "nice boys" "nice boys”- is an unusual collocation(
juxtaposition) which then shows then the norm for men is 'not nice' and when
sexualized, will presumably be unchaste and foul-mouthed.
In a modern context, the contemporary view is that both genders
can have different identities in different contexts. Rather than a single
notion for femininity or masculinity, there are so many femininities and masculinities
and can be seen as a pluralist framework instead hence these characteristics
simply become a set of gender-free adjectives, that are can apply to both men
and women on an individual level as awareness towards individualism rises but
this is also limited to the constrain of their situation.
I am a reader who likes to take it slow rather than skimming through texts. I can read about 4 non-fictional text pages in half an hour as I analyze and annotate as I read to ensure that I fully understand the text before moving on.
I make use of my different coloured highligters to highlight different points such as one regarding to females, one for males, and one for a general opinion/theory.
As soon as I come across a word I don't know, I like to find out its definition in a dictionary. I find that writing notes help as well, as I do it in History. Writing notes help to slow down my reading process and to reduce the information to something concise and understandable to me.
For a non-fictional text, I do a lot of annotations as it helps me analyze the text better. I would also prepare a big glass/bottle of water. Sometimes, eating sweets help as well because I tend to need to snack when I begin to lose my concentration.
I recognize that my environment plays a very important role as I get distracted very easily. I have to be in a quiet, conducive place, preferably with nobody around and is a comfortable lounge area. Lighting is also very important as when it is dim, I lose concentration easily. Strangely, when I read from my phone when all lights are out, I find that to be very good as I assume the light from the phone and nowhere else makes me concentrate on the text on my phone.
I also try to make connections in my reading from texts to texts or even texts to real life to help them to relate better hence understanding better.
Strategies that I would like to try over the next few weeks:
I would like to pay attention to punctuations in long sentences to help me break down sentences into easier sizes for comprehension.
Over the next week, I will try this strategy in particular:
I will pay more attention to punctuation and get most of my reading done during prep time (7:00-8:30 p.m.) as it is the most quiet time.
3. Use the last slide to write at least 2 generalisations about language - you can write more if you want to flex your conceptual thinking muscles!
A generalisation is a statement that is true across time and context. It is stated in the present as it should always be true, not just in one situation or at a particular time. If I choose the concepts LANGUAGE and LEARNING, I can produce the following generalisation: "Language allows us to discuss, explore and reflect on our learning." As you can see, this is true across all time and in all contexts. (Even if people don't do it, they still could if they chose to.)
After our discussion on "what is language?" on Monday, I pondered on my things. However, not before I thought on my own definition of "language" itself. I started out almost black and white with just a:
"Language is a mean of communicating through speech and writing"
Later on, I improvised and wrote:
"Language is a mean of communication through ubiquity commonality."
What made me change my idea? Well simply because there was so much debating going on that all these influx of ideas and debate from my peers simply made it clear- language is not JUST that.
Our discussions developed from language being ALL forms of communication as language also include body language and sign language hence we chucked that idea. We further refined language to as a mean of communication only by humans that is expressed through verbal and written form as humans do not only communicate like animals for survival means, but we also develop artistic expressions through speech and writing.
We assume that at the moment, animals have yet to develop these creative expressions through language as we humans do hence language is still limited to humans at the moment.
Generalizations
The more languages you speak, the more people you can communicate with.
Men interrupt more frequently than women. In 11 mixed-sex, two-party conversations, men were responsible for 96% of interruptions, whereas women were responsible for just 4%.
For the investigation on interactions in Gender, I worked with Jerry on the Zimmerman and West (1975) theory, where it states that men interrupt more frequently than women.
In our investigation, we found our results to be partially similar to the theory's result, whereby the male participants interrupted 61% (theory=96%) of the time while the female participants only interrupted 39%(theory=4%) of the time. Factors that could influence the difference in the ratio gap between the theory and our own investigation could be the number, depth of knowledge, personality and relationship of the participants.
In the Zimmerman experiment, there were 11 participants whereas we had an equal number of both genders- 2 boys and 2 girls, as opposed to 11 where it probably would not have been an equal ratio. Moreover, the depth of knowledge of each participant can also be a strong factor. We assume that their depth of knowledge correlates with the confidence to speak out but this may not be the case, leading to our next factor of personalities. Jerry and I discussed about how some participants may either be extroverted, introverted or even both, which may affect their preference on being vocal in a discussion or not. Personality is a very big idea to be reduced into a mere tangible idea as we noticed the two most talkative participants were as we identify, an extrovert(male) and an introvert(female) respectively based on our personal relationships with them.
We also think that the chemistry among the participants may also be an important factor. Let's say, if the 2 females and 2 males were siblings, they would be more comfortable with brisk interruptions from each other as they know the other party wouldn't mind but if the participants were all strangers to each other, they would be more reserved and hesitant in interrupting as this may be seen as rude and offensive. Among all the factors that we have observed, the one that is most relatable to our topic of language and gender is personality. Our finding of the extroverted male and introverted female being the most vocal participants was really mind boggling as it made me wonder if both genders with a similar personality would also react the same e.g. the reaction of an extroverted male and female participant in a discussion-will it be equal? This brings me back to the gender-specific cultural implications we have today in language as what limits either gender in terms of language? I am probably wandering way off topic at this moment but so far, our exploration in language and gender has definitely been an eye opening metamorphosis as we slowly learn more about the society we live in.
In today's Socratic Circle, we explored the Jogger's Song by Roger McGough and as I was one of the members of the first circle, we talked about the Jogger's point of view. I found that all my circle members had something to contribute and were very eager to do so too which shows that everyone had prepared well before coming to the circle.
However, most of us were hesitant to start off the conversation and I personally kept in mind not to be overbearing as highlighted by other members of the floor previously. I assume that the others also felt that way as being a dominating speaker often makes other uncomfortable to voice their opinions in fear of being 'lashed' back.
We also started off clumsily and hopped off from point to point, until Ms. Abena told us to follow a stanza arrangement and that greatly gave structure to our discussions. It was interesting as a female to hear the counterpart's view on sexual harassment as this poem was almost disturbing for me. The lack of remorse from the "Jogger" was inhumane in my perspective but as we discussed, we further develop ideas of the "Jogger"'s twisted personality that might be stemmed from being a psychopath.
The second circle was equally impressive in terms of the change of vocal speakers this time, were I noticed Jit really speaking out and making better efforts in engaging with others. I felt as though the ice in our classroom chemistry is slowly melting and everyone is beginning to get familiar with each other which is a good progress.
Overall, today had not been our best socratic circle performance but we could definitely see the impact of preparation before a discussion and others also realize the benefit it puts us at. I hope that everyone would do their part and be better prepared as well to be more confident and proactive when discussing the next time.
How are the character and attitudes of the jogger revealed in the language the poet uses?
In "The Jogger's Song", the egocentric jogger display immense vanity when as he exclaims that he "look after [himself]" and "keep [himself] fit" with terms such as "fit" and "good body" being repetitive as it shows that he strongly reaffirms himself of his own physical assets.
The jogger also crosses between a self-righteous individual and a psychopath as he acts hypocritically towards the woman's behavior while showing no capacity or remorse for her in her intoxicated situation. The jogger behaves as a hypocrite as he condemns the act of the woman for being"pissed", a derogative term for being intoxicated, and claims to know what a "nice girl" would be where the woman display acts that astray herself from that "nice girl" image in the jogger's perspective.
However, as the jogger appear to have expectations towards the moral standards of the woman, the jogger himself breaches ethical values when he rapes the woman and cements his own belief that consent was given as shown by her unconscious body language when intoxicated. The absence of sympathy and complete misinterpretation of the woman's plead ( "Cryin. Cryin.") as a sexual invitation clearly shows the lack of rationale in the jogger's character.
Moreover, the jogger alludes misogyny in the form of sexual discrimination and objectification towards to women by using gender-specific semantic field of slurs such as "slut"and "tart" (both carrying the meaning of being a promiscuous woman) on his victim. These terms degrade the women as lowly and seemingly having less morals than the jogger in his eyes.
Lastly, the most compelling phrase that display the depth of brutality of the jogger's character was when he questions "Why didn't she scream?" if the victim had not enjoyed the assault as it simply highlights the grotesque indignity the jogger is placing upon his victim as he claims that the woman had not stood up for herself hence rhetorically, the assault would then be her fault, and not his.
I found this satirical video relevant to my paragraph:
After we touched a little on Language and Gender this week. I used to only have clear examples of the implication of gender in profanity as demonstrated in our semantic fields activity on Wednesday. Many profanity words were specific to a gender and that was my first idea of the implication of gender in English.
However, I realize that it's not only profanity or certain words but whole sentences itself could be sexist as we did the activity on Thursday by 'neutralizing' gender specific terms and sentences such as postman to postal worker, housewife to homemaker and how making certain words plural such as "doctor" to "doctors" changes it to a noun hence not needing to specify a specific gender to associate it with.
I was surprised when we learnt various terminologies such as diminutive suffixes as I've always seen these words but have only seen them in a new light. For example, the usage of 'ess' and 'ette' at the end of words do add a feminine emphasis but I never knew it also make some lesser, smaller and more inferior in the the example we use which was "kitchenette". Generic terms such as 'man' use in 'mankind' to describe the race of humans including women also struck me as even the term "woman" has "man" in it hence I question the involvement of this gender-specific term ("man") in general terms such as mankind. This certainly made me feel disempowered as a female seeing terms such as described above not prioritizing the role in women and treated with a sense of disregard.
On the hand, I also came to realize lexis asymmetry serves as a concrete evidence that women and men need different ways of address as some words can't be generalized for both. For example, the word buff would be associated with positive values for males but when a female is called buff, it would seem live a derogative term.
Learning about language and gender is certainly interesting as we observe the cultural and societal implications towards genders in language as I feel like I am reading the 'in-between', subtle lines of communication and grow a sense of awareness towards gender biasses in language. I hope that through learning about language and gender, I would be more cautious in the way I think and speak as I believe this would lead to a sense of better respect towards others.
This week in English, I definitely saw an improvement on most of my classmates in our socratic circle discussing the Irish Language. Everyone definitely spoke up and contributed more which shows how we as a class is progressing towards a better conduct of the socratic circle.
The screening of Pygmalion was also extremely useful but I was only interested in Act 1 as I've only read that before the screening. However, now that I've completed Act 2, I regretted not catching the screening of Act 2 as well but I will try to download the play to watch. I would prefer watching the play only after I've read the acts as my mind would then force me to remember details from the text and combine it visually with the imagery from the screenplay. I found it really interesting to see the lines acted out and found some lines that made more sense when played out in the screenplay.
For the Further Oral Assessment, I felt that there wasn't enough preparation time this week. My thesis is still rather vague and my initial plans of wanting to do a duo performance cease to work out. Since our FOA proposals only started to get through the review process this weekend as well, I felt that I would need more time to get my FOA proposal to be better constructed time and more time for rehearsing.
Confounded to the rules of everyday dreariness, we become the de facto dictators in our routines.
The everyday blandness of the conventional hence numbs the astute eye for reflection.
Just a sense of deeper awakening towards the minuscule details; we let it slip through our fingers. But sometimes, the brain can only process so much at once and for people like me, I feel like my clarity is shrouded when time simply presses you to a routine and we become so oblivious to things that aren't in our field of focus.
The details enrich our lives incredibly and when you see it, you will realize the immense amount of life that constantly pass by you and just how much time you've let slip by. The more you observe, the bigger the image grows.
As an example, I often ponder on the characteristics of people. I would ask, why is she/he the way they are? What would have caused this? What does their body language tell me? Without them noticing you gawking like a freak, you'll learn so much more about others and eventually yourself by just observing the world around you as some vague saying goes, you get to see how green your grass is only when you've seen the grass on the other side or something.
I just try to make time whenever I can to observe the smallest details because there really is so much to an every day occurrence then we realize.
Monday: Today, we reflected on our Bal Gangadhar Tilak assignment and analyzed if we've chosen appropriate information from the text source. Most of my points were mentioned and fitted the answer. We also looked at Tilak more as he played an important role in the Indian Independence Movement and served as its first popular leader, according to Wikipedia.
We also looked upon factors that motivated the split and reunification of Bengal and its causes, particularly for divide and conquering purposes, suppressing uprisings and the allowance of concessions. We also touched upon the reactions from the British and Indian perspective regarding the Bengal partition.
Lastly, we also noted on the impact of the 1st World War on the Indians and the British Colony.
Reflection on Gandhi, "Person of the Century" for Time Magazine
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been known as a "Mahatma" (Sanskrit for 'greater soul') and also a "Bapuji" (respectful way of addressing elder men in India) in his life. A moral icon to many yet an icon of mere novelty to some.
Gandhi is known for is non-violent movements, his leadership in the Indian National Congress, religious tolerance and Swaraj( self -governing) but I can't help but to notice how these ideas were originally derived from Bal Gangadhar Tilak, whom is also a source of inspiration to Gandhi as he applies acts such as boycotting as practiced by Tilak before. This make Gandhi seem like the 'finisher' of a task instead of a pioneering leader like Tilak, whose ideas where shunned because of its 'extreme' value during his time.
Moreover, Gandhi's forceful "insistent on absolute regularity boldly appears as acts of novelty at times as he indulges in "faddish dietetic experiments" as if trying to show off or make a point, obvious. Through acts of defiance against British manufactured goods and sewing his own robes, bathing in ashes etc., Gandhi's "(Call) for a nation that would turn its back on technology to prosper through village self-sufficiency" simply appears as a "backward, romantic vision of a simple society" that may not be pragmatic.
However, these acts could be a symbolic way of showing a deeper meaning as Gandhi describes, "Action is my domain". Hence in this sense, his public acts aim to perhaps, ignite an epiphany for others and to allow them to ponder on the drastically and exaggerated acts. These simple acts, act as great symbolism and inspiration to others.
Reflection on Socratic Circles:- Vocabulary
half-a-crown (line 161, pg.13): (noun) A coin formerly used in Great Britain, worth two shillings and sixpence.
I've always heard this term when I watch British movies and always wondered if it meant the Queen's royal crown (really expensive). In the context of Pygmalion in the time of the Victorian Era (1837-1901) this would have worth a lot hence used as exaggeration when mentioned by the The Flower Girl as she was filthy poor.
liberties (line 282, pg.16): (noun) the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.
Even after knowing what liberties meant, I'm still unsure as to what it means in the context of "You take us for dirt under your feet, don't you? Catch you taking liberties with a gentleman!" (line 281-282, pg.16) :(
kerbstone (line 406, pg.20): [as adj. ] informal unqualified; amateur : curbstone commentators.
After knowing what kerbstone meant, it was easy to understand its usage in the context of the phrase "kerbstone english", portraying really basic English or unsophisticated English.
Strategies/Techniques for Comprehension and Analysis
Clarifying before changing topics- Gives other participants in the discussion a heads-up and to avoid confusion
Analyzing a topic completely before moving on- This is important to allow all participants in the discussion to thoroughly understand the context of the question and to make sure everybody is on the same level of understanding before leaping into another topic.
Being a proactive questioner- Being a proactive questioner helps to push dreary discussions forward and to constantly engage with members of the circle to produce fruitful discussions. Reflection on Performance
Today, I really saw most of my classmates putting in effort to improve the socratic circle than before.
Personally, I believe I was not prepare enough for today's Socratic Circle meet as I did not study the specific excerpt that was assigned to us. I have only read Act 1 hence I knew the gist of the story but I had not studied specific selection of texts to be brought forward in discussions. I unfortunately had not had the chance to speak in the circle today but I believe my commentary on the quality of the circle discussions would be helpful as I complimented my fellow classmates who made significant improvement and stated their strategies such as clarifying before changing topics, staying on topic and being a proactive questioner.
As we discussed about an example of a socratic circle conversation before starting our circle on Pygmalion Act 1, Ashraf noticed the importance of the "questioner" or simply, the initiative to ask questions when the discussion gets dull in efforts of sparking energy back into discussion. Not only did he observe but he impressively applied that method in his turn within the socratic circle and helped his circle to analyze finer details. Danial and Jit also steered discussions back into topic when discussions were going off which is commendable. Moreover, Shahirah also clarified before she moved into a new topic while discussing which I thought would be a great method to practice as this will prevent us from getting confused and engulfed in different topics.
Reflection on Content
Thesis: "Symbolism of gender hierarchy in Act 1."
First paragraph: In Act 1 of Pygmalion, I found it particularly interesting when I saw the contrast in hierarchy between the conversations of The Daughter and Freddy, and The Flower Girl and The Note Taker. In my imaginary essay, I would highlight the grammar of all 4 speakers, and identify which has the highest quality of sophistication as after today's analysis, the quality of their discourse reflects upon their status. Moreover, I would also investigate the weak points of each of their speech and determine what creates the aura of submissiveness as displayed by Freddy and The Flower Girl, who are the subservient characters when conversing with The Daughter and The Flower Girl respectively.
Second paragraph: The study of the symbolism of gender hierarchy in Act 1 could be relevant to the hierarchy of gender today as many assume that Men are usually the dominating figures but in retrospect, there also have been cases where women were also leading figures such as Cleopatra, who was the last pharaoh of Egypt for example. However in symbolism, the modern day has an array of them in the sense of household tasks and the task of "bringing back the bacon" usually associated with a specific gender.
'Ghetto' English
This video entitled "Priorities" is a parodical comparison of the Malaysian English accent with a British accent, demonstrated by Dennis (the specky Asian guy) and Joe (Joe Brooks, Caucasian).
The context of the conversation is preparing for an English exam hence the need to revise for it was belittled by Joe who sarcastically huffs and muttered, "Dude it's an English exam.... English, in "English" as a response to Dennis's grammatically poor probe, "Eh cue me, don't you have English exam tomorrow morning? Video game? Real-ly?"
Dennis' way of speaking also displayed very basic sentences and often lacking in vocabulary hence sounding unfinished or partial as shown when he said, "Don't you have English exam tomorrow morning?" where the usage of 'an' before "English" was absent. Hence the syntax of the typical Malaysian English accent is usually 'broken' as sentences are often incomplete with appropriate grammar.
As the discourse between Dennis as Joe is often initiated by Dennis and is short as well, merely exchanges of 1-2 sentences every time, this also displays the lexis of a Malaysian English accent whereby it's often informal, short and straight to the point.
However, pragmatics is also used often as implied when Dennis asks "Eh cue me, don't you have English exam tomorrow morning?" but is not too complicated to be perceived.
Even as Dennis tries harder than Joe and revises more, we could still see that Joe has a better lexis and syntax as his sentences are not grammatically incorrect while Dennis struggles with "was" and "were". This then places Dennis, who spoke with such 'broken' syntax, at a weaker spot as his speeches isn't as sophisticated as Joe's in terms of grammar, lexis and syntax.
Tuesday: Today in psych, we were assigned to prepare a presentation of behaviorism. It would be nice to not start off every class just based on the activities provided on the psych google site as I enjoy listening to teachers. So far, we've been doing some group tasks and I would need to self study as well to understand what exactly that we're doing. We're just doing activities but we have to on our own part read on the subject as we haven't learnt much about the subject.
Friday: We are now starting to give presentations on the topic of the Introduction to Psychology and the presentations made by my peers on Prezi were really helpful. Most of the information was not mention in the textbooks we have and that gave me a clearer idea on the Introduction. However, that was all we did this week.
The ultrastrucure of Cells HL SL
1.Draw and label the ultrastructure of a Prokaryotic cell (E.Coli) and Eukaryotic cells (animal and plant cell).
2.in a table outline the function of each organelle for Pro/Eukaryotic and include a picture of an Electron micrograph (where possible)
3. create a comparison table between; a) prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic cell, b) plant vs animal cell.
Use your textbook, study guide and other resources provided on the science website.
Remember to check the Assessment criteria to make sure that you have covered all that you need too.
Monday: In Biology last week, we started off with Cell Theory and Prokaryotic & Eukaryotic cells. It dawned to me of how much self study is to be initiated by the learner as cell theory at first glance, yeah we'd remember that it consist of 5 theories but it is important that we self-study the evidence that supports those theories. I made notes on the topic as soon as I got back on this.
The assignment above is homework for this Tuesday. I found referring to the Success Criteria helpful as it keeps me focused on what is to be achieved from the subtopic. The Click4Biology is also very helpful with images of the electron micrographs and notes however some were confusing such as its outline of the animal extracellular matrix(??) under the roles of the extracellular components. Are we suppose to learn all these hard words?
I also haven't revised and read the notes provided in the textbook which I should as I saw many fancy words that needs to be understood.
Tuesday: today, we examined slides of organic material underneath a microscope. We were briefed shortly and articulately on how to prepare specimen slides (e.g. not trapping air bubbles, removing excess liquid) and using the microscope again (which operates sharpness, lighting and placement of slide). Even though learning these fundamental things took a little bit of our time to analyze the microscopic images, I believe it was worth it as I had forgotten them. 3/4 of my slides shared with Angely were very obvious and interesting. The cheek cell did not turn out well and I couldn't see much but was clarified by Mr. Joel that it was normal.
Friday: We touched on calculating magnification yesterday and continued today while studying SA:VOL ratio s limiting factor for cell size. The experiment on the agar jelly helped to explain how the ratio is higher hence processes such as diffusion also increase in speed when the 'cell' is smaller. I am pleased with biology these two weeks as we've been doing experiments and getting sufficient homework. My own notes also help to keep track of the investigations but I need to revise more to understand our subtopics with more depth.
Tuesday: Today I felt frustrated in class. We started on Sequences and Series and as we started studying it, I got stuck on understanding the formula of the nth term. We were given video resources online to watch but I forgot to bring my headphones and my classmates complained about the noise. I tried the e-book and it didn't clarify me on it neither. I tried discussing but to no avail. It feels just like the last two years where I'm embarrassed and lost. I don't dare to speak out in front of the class. I don't want to be dependent all my life on a tutor for maths just to keep me afloat.
Wednesday: Today, I took a trial lesson in Math Studies. We also resumed on the topic of sequences and I found it at a level that I am comfortable with. This definitely kicked off my day on a great start. After a little discussion with Ms. Audra on whether or not if Maths SL was necessary for Business as I may be interested in learning it post-IB as I am not studying it now, she said that it would require basic and minimal maths, hence studies would suffice. This comforted my qualms a lot.
Monday: Last week in English, we were assigned to make notes on the introduction of Nationalist & Independence Movements. The task was lengthy as I made 4 pages full of notes. It also highlighted how often we take "introductions" for granted and not reading them as for History, it gave a clear overview and background information of the case studies that we will be diving into later. It makes me feel prepped and set for the learning that is to come later on.
As my choices for IB this year is HL History, English and Psychology with a side of SL Biology, maths and ab initio Spanish, I realize the importance of taking notes constantly especially for History, English, Biology and Spanish. Hence, the importance of actually taking the journal blogging as an important part of my 2-year journey in IB as I want the information as fresh as possible constantly in my mind to avoid cramming later on. Many of my subjects also require a lot of reading hence:
note-taking+revision+reflection is incredibly important.
I haven't seen much of the effect of my practice yet, but I do see that it works a little in Spanish as I remember most of my vocabulary.
Tuesday: Today, we talked about the case studies we are going to study which are India, Indochina, Algeria and Ghana. Mr. Andres has been very informative and interesting. We went through the common terms in the introduction of "Nationalist & Independence Movements" which clarified new and old terms such as colonialism, neo-colonialism and Marxism.
We also refreshed on OPVL as a strategy in answering source-based questions and learnt how learning about popular historians and their background would help in V which is value and L as we would know what factors are VALUABLE and what factors could be BIASED.
Wednesday: Today, we watched short documentaries on Queen Victoria's Empire and learnt reasons as to why Britons emigrated to different colonies especially India for reasons such as wealth and exploration. Mr. Andres again highlighted the importance of doing background research on famous historians such as Lawrence James to apply the knowledge to answering source-based questions.
Thursday: Today, we looked at the structure of a History Paper 1 which is divided to 4 parts. We learnt what usually appears in each section and tried to apply our Origin Purpose Value Limitation (OPVL) method in answering two source questions about British rule in India.
After studying the backgrounds of the Historians who quoted these sources, I realize the extra points that we could garner by adding the knowledge of their background e.g. career, nationality etc. to discover the value and limitation of their claims. We also learnt how the features of a quote source e.g. book title, page support in terms of figuring out what the focus is and the importance of that certain quote.
Learning to be creative with OPVL would help a lot in answering Paper 1 as I previously struggled in answering source-based questions creatively. I now know how to apply generous information to gain more marks while staying focused on the main idea of the question.
Monday: I started off in class still being hazy on the differences between instrumental power and influential power albeit reading a little on it in the guidebooks. Now, I understand instrumental power as being a power that is able to enforce authority whereas influential does not enforce, but is able to make you do something on your own initiative.
e.g: A Police has the instrumental power to make you stop your car, but only a sexy billboard ad has the influential power to make you stop your car.
Wednesday: Today in English, we read an excerpt from Robinson Crusoe to analyze power in the text. What was surprising was how racist it was in our modern day context but thinking of how it was a norm back when the book was originally written made us ponder. We finally found out how the meaning of the text comes from the reader, and not the vocabulary.
The next piece of writing that we had to analyze was an article entitled "Sickly immigrants add £1bn to NHS bill" in the Daily Mail. As it was a tabloid mail, we noticed how words work together to bring out stronger impacts e.g. complex+infectious+diseases. What I thought was that the combination stood as a much stronger value as opposed to just two or one of those words. This article was really interesting to analyze as at the end, I believed most of what it mentioned until we came to see that we have not read it with a "pinch of salt" as most of the 'facts' could have been misused for tabloid purposes.
Thursday: Today, we discussed two form of texts in the "Language & Power" textbook after analyzing them the night before. I've learnt a lot in terms of the usage of prosodic feature (volume, pitch, speed, tone), field-specific lexis (e.g. army= right parry, stripes, fall in, on guard), imperatives (commands, starts with a verb), interrogatives (conveyance of question to find faults) and taboo (e.g. arse, bloody, balls).
We also applied an extremely useful way to discuss, which is using a Socratic circle where half of the class listen and take notes while the other half discusses important points and changing places after a certain amount of time. This definitely gave people the chance to take a breather to absorb information and to be stimulated by the discussion to brainstorm ideas and also gave speakers a chance to speak comfortably within a smaller circle. This also gave us the opportunity to evaluate the quality of discussion as some speakers might be overbearing or some might simply avoid taking the initiative to be involved in active discussion.
I felt pitiful to some who tried hard in engaging with others. Some people did not bother trying to be proactive hence the workload is one-sided. I hope our class would break this barrier of shyness in the near future to encourage fruitful and better discussions.
Based on this example, I believe that it portrays an influential power instead of an instrumental power. An influential power is a power that does not have authorial right hence not being able to be forced upon a person but is able to affect people based on their own initiative.
An instrumental power on the hand is an authorial power supported by law or rules set by a certain community which often comes with subjection of penalty when the law or rules are offended.
Based on the sentence above, I would believe that the bully holds an influential power as the bullies are influencing intimidation upon the victims as the bullies would subject the victim to fear and the victim will have a choice to be afraid or not.
However, the bully could also hold instrumental power if he/she holds authorial power and subjects their victim to penalty e.g. the police.
