EDU 3217...a significant experience in my life...

Finally, we have come to the end of the semester. This shows that we have come to the end of this course too. After 14 weeks taking up this course, I felt that I have learned a lot and experienced a lot of what is called a drama and what is called a theater. It is not only about doing pure reading for this course but I have also gained a lot of real life experience from watching the play 4:48 Psychosis at KLPac. Through this course I get to watch this modern theater and get to be in a place named KLPac. If it is not because of this course, I would had not been in KLPac and get to watch a nice modern theater. Besides, the trip to KLPac taught me a lot about life.
In this course, we have studied five plays. First was the Antigone by Sophocles, second was Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw, third was Anike by Wong Pui Nam, fourth was King Lear by William Shakespeare and lastly was the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. All the five plays were interesting and fun to read. We were also exposed different types of plays as these five plays ranges from traditional theater to modern theater.
Besides that, in this course, we have watched a number of 4 movies in the class that are the movie of Pymalion, Shakespearewallah, Macbeth and A Streetcar Named Desire. Most of these movies were in black and white and although the colour of the movies made them dull but at least all of us gain a clearer view and idea on what the plays are about as watching movie provides us with visual aids.
In my opinion, Edu 3217, Teaching the Language of Drama is an interesting and exciting course as we are always exposed to new things and new elements of drama. Our lecturer, Dr Edwin is always there to help and guide us in our assignments, tests, exercises and simulated teaching to ensure that we understand his class and we can produce standard and good works for this course. Dr Edwin is also there to cracks jokes so that we won’t feel lost in his class.
Lastly, I am glad that I have taken this course for this semester and managed to finish this course for this semester. Truthfully, I have really gained a lot through this course, not only in education wise but also in real life. I learned that there are many different types of people in our lives from the plays, just like in real life. I feel that I have become more matured in the process of taking this course (it’s true, I am not joking!) as I learned about human life a lot through the assignments, tests and simulated teachings given by Dr Edwin.
As I have done a lot and learned a lot and also gone through a lot of things in this course, I could not have mentioned it all. Although these experiences could have not to be put into words and papers as they are truck load of them but they will be stored in my heart forever and grow old with me. What I have gone through in this course will not be forgotten as I cherish all of them. I would like to say thank you to my lecturer, Dr Edwin and all my friends that had helped me in this course and also provide me the scenario of learning and growing up in the class. Thank you!

Comment on Premalatha’s Pygmalion The Movie

Yes, Pygmalion is really an interesting story. I like the movie very much. Although the movie really does not suits today’s era like what Premalatha said but the movie was not bad as the language they used was really clear and easy to understand. One more surprising thing is that the dialogue of the actors and actresses in the movie is exactly what we have read from our texts! The director did not make adaptation to the text and therefore, we can understand the story very well. Undeniably, I agree with Premalatha that the acting and facial expression of the actors and actresses were absolutely excellent! They acted so well and can see that they had put effort in their acting. Although the story was simple, it is really hard work to bring out the wanted effect of the story. Most of course mates and I had an enjoyable evening watching Pygmalion, the movie, in the Bilik Tayangan.

Comment on Punitha’s Watching Shakespearewallah

It was really not an interesting experience to watch Shakespearewallah as I could not really catch what they were saying just like what said by Punitha. The restricted plot really made the movie seems boring and unorganized. Although many of us tried to pay attention to the movie but none of us could not really understand the whole story. What makes it worse is the colour of the movie. It was in black and white. Oh, black and white in the morning! What a way to start a new day! Compared to Pygmalion, although Pygmalion is in black and white also, I would prefer to watch Pygmalion as I can understand the movie well. Yes, I do agree with Punitha that the main attraction that keeps us watching the movie till the end is Sashi Kapoor, the well known and good looking Hindi star. Anyway, the movie was a good blend of Indian and English culture. It was worth watching as we can see the blend of culture in this movie.

It's very well done and....GOOD!

We had our second session on micro-teaching on Friday, 19th of October, 2007 in Dkap B2-06. As half of the class had presented their micro-teaching on last Wednesday, so the rest of the class was very anxious waiting for their names to be called out to present their micro-teaching on Friday. Everyone was attentive and fully prepared to present their presentation. And so, around 8 pairs presented on that day.
Those who presented on Friday did well in their micro-teaching, what and how they present are what wanted by the lecturer. Bravo to all of them! Their worksheets were good and appropriate for their target students. As the Friday class was only an hour class, only 8 pairs are managed to present their micro-teachings. There are still around 5 pairs who are yet to present their micro-teachings, including my partner and I. My partner and I will try our best to make our micro-teaching a perfect one although we know that nothing is perfect but since we were given more time to prepare (our names have not been called out yet), so we decided that we should make our micro-teaching a perfect one. Yes, we can do it! Just like the “Malaysia boleh!” spirit.

A Streetcar Named Desire is on the way!

On Friday, 19th of October, 2007, we started off the class by reading the last play that have been assigned to study in this course that is “The Streetcar Named Desire”. At first, I did not know what this play is all about, I thought this play was something about a car. Shame on me, it was not. After being briefed by Dr Edwin, only then did I realized that this play is about a woman named Blanche who had an affair with a younger man and had her reputation gone down in the society that she decided to move and stay with her sister, Stella and her brother-in-law, Stanley. Her decision turned her life into a disaster. As we read on further, we will know that Stanley will be the cause that turns her life into a disaster.
Dr Edwin started the class by giving us a brief introduction on this play. Several important elements in the play had been emphasized by Dr Edwin so that we can pay more attention or focus on the elements such as the animal imagery, the causes of Blanche’s reversal of fortune, the differences between Stella and Blanche, the men that are mentioned in this play and the men that appear in this play. Dr Edwin would like us to pay more attention on these several elements which was said to be potentially coming out in the final examination.
First and foremost, this play is a modern tragedy and revolves around the reversal of fortune from agricultural society to the industrial society. It is also about the relationship between men and women. At Scene 1, it exposed to us the atmosphere of the setting that included the five senses such as the sense of smell, taste, touch, sight and auditory. It sets to us an atmosphere that is so real to us. It makes us feel as if we were at the scene. This is very different compared to other play as in the other play the setting won’t be described as such like a scene play.
The beginning of the dialogue is also very much different compared to other play as in this play, the beginning of the play is like as if we have walk other people’s life as the actress is already talking before the play started. This makes the play looks and sounds real and not artificial.
Moreover, the minor characters are first shown in the play before the appearance of the major characters. There are also no references of what will happen in the play later. It is something so real in our daily lives.
When the major characters come in, the age, the way the characters dressed and the way they behave are introduced to us. This is to imply to us the social background of the major characters and play very important role later in the play.
From the Stanley’s way of dressing, we know that Stanley is from a lower social society where he behaves roughly, even towards his wife. He also indicates to us that his works are rough works as he dresses informally. The way he handles the meat also tells us that he is not a careful person. Very obvious to us that he is from the lower class of society, very different from his wife, Stella.
From this first few pages of Scene 1, we get to examine the different behavior of the characters in this play will further leads us to understand the development of the play.
Although we had only read three pages of this play on the Friday class, it attracts my interests to read the play further as it is very interesting to read as the descriptions are vivid and real. The way the characters speak in this play attracts my interest to read this play. I am hoping to read something different from what I have read in the other plays, hopefully it will be something more unique and exciting.

Micro Teaching begins on 17th of October,2007 , 3:00 pm in B1-03.

The micro-teaching for pre, while and post activity had just started on Wednesday, 17th of October, 2007, right after the Hari Raya’s break. Many of my course mates still have not come back from their hometown yet and therefore, those who could not make it to the class on Wednesday to present their micro-teaching will not be given the chance to present on Friday according to my lecturer. I saw many frustrated faces in the class as this micro-teaching is a pair work. Some of them who turned up lost their chance to present as their partner did not turn up on that day. Fortunately, Dr Edwin did not penalize them and gave them zero for their presentation as Dr Edwin said that they will still be given their marks based on their first micro-teaching. Thank god!
So, the micro-teaching started by the lecturer calling out names of presenters who are going to present their micro-teaching on that day. Micro-teaching started with the first pair- Harveen and Amri. As usual, our micro-teachings are not the perfect ones as everyone is just in the learning stage, so their micro-teaching was corrected by Dr Edwin many times and they are accepting and learning from their mistakes. And so do I. I tried to jot down what we are supposed to do in the micro-teaching as what request by the lecturer. Everyone was paying full attention to our friends’ micro-teaching as to absorb the right way to teach so that we can do better in our micro-teaching on Friday.
Lecturer also told us and gave us the example how a good worksheet should looks like so that we can get a clear view on how we should design a standard worksheet to teach. There are about 15 pairs who presented on Wednesday and most of them did well, at least they were not bad. I can see that they had put in a lot of effort in preparing their worksheets and their presentation. Most of them were nervous when they were presenting but this is common as everyone is afraid when they are being observed.
All the presenters accepted the lecturer’s comments with an open heart. Out of all the 15 micro-teachings, only 1 group did the teaching on the play “Pygmalion” while the rest did on “Antigone” and “King Lear”. Out of these 15 pairs also, only one pair taught the element of theme while the rest taught characters and traits.
There are varieties of exercises given to us as different groups designed different worksheets. One that was considered good by the lecturer is the one done by Syamimi’s group. Although Mimi could not present their micro-teaching as her partner could not make it to the class but their worksheets were distributed as lecturer wants us to have a copy of good worksheets. Luckily, we were managed to get an example of good worksheets.
According to Dr Edwin, those who are going to present the teaching on the play “Pygmalion” will be facing the most difficulties as they will have problem in reading the extract that they have chosen in pre activity as it is hard to pronoun and sound the words that are in the play.
Alex’s group was good too but Dr Edwin emphasized that play was meant to be read by advanced students, therefore, the exercises should not be too easy to be attempted. Technically, Alex’s group produced a good worksheet but it is not suitable for the advanced students as the exercises are too easy and direct.
Mei Hui and Eleen did and prepared the most number of worksheet for this session of micro-teaching. Somehow, according to the lecturer they were repeating their questions. So, we just learned that we should not repeat our questions, should put it together in the same part.
As for Diana and Alicia, they did very well in their pre activity, lecturer hardly comments anything on their pre activity but their while activity gave them problem. It is not so appropriate as the while activity asked the students to summarize the traits of the characters they did as it is too easy as students just need to rewrite what they did in their previous exercise. But after all, they taught very well in the class especially the pre activity part. They were very sure and confident in their teaching.
One of the most important things that Dr Edwin put into emphasis is that no one uses the technology in their teaching as no one uses the Over Head Projecter, Computer or any teaching aids in their teaching. Some group even did not use the white board in their teaching. Only Mei Hui and Eleen used the transparency for the while activity. From what Dr Edwin have said, I am sure those who have not presented on Wednesday will prepare themselves to use the technology in their teaching.
To put it in a nutshell, everyone did their best in their session of micro-teaching but they still can be improved as what said by Dr Edwin. Hopefully those who had not presented will get the idea on the best way to carry out their micro-teaching. I just keep my fingers crossed as I am going to present my micro-teaching on Friday alongside with my partner, Soon Mun. Good luck to everyone!

We were at the KLPac for 4.48 Psychosis...a memorable night!

From left to right : Soon Mun, Elizabeth and I, posing in front of the big banner of the Black Box Festival 2007

4.48: Psychosis's ticket

KLPac , here I come! I came, I saw, I conquered!

28^th of August, 2007 was a memorable day for the three of us-Elizabeth, Soon Mun and I, as we got the chance to view the play, 4.48 Psychosis at KLPac along with another friend, Patrick, who had kindly drove us to the theater. A big thank you to Patrick as he drove us all the way to the theater without complaining and fortunately he had, too, enjoyed the play.

At around 7pm, we started our journey from Serdang to KLPac as we want to be early for the play as the play will begins at 8.30pm. All of us were very excited and anxious to watch the play. It will be our first play to watch as we have never view any play before this. The whole journey was not a bored one as we were chatting all the way to KLPac-about the play, the director and the actors of the play.

Very soon, we reach the KLPac! Hurray! We were so happy and glad that we had reached our destination. We were almost brought to tears as we had reached KLPac successfully without getting lost! Impressive! (For your information, we were unable to watch the theater on our first attempt to KLPac as we got lost on the way to KLPac and ending up missing the chance to watch the play “The System of Cikgu Tuko” two weeks ago and we had a One-Night KL Tour instead on that night.) Straight away we headed to the ticket selling counter to purchase our tickets for the play. We were so happy as there are still empty seats available for the play. What is more interesting was that we saw the director of the play, Mr Gavin Yap!!! We quickly approached him and politely asked him to have a photo shot with us and he is so friendly in accepting our request. We were so happy that we had the chance to have a picture with the director of the play.

The moment that we have waited for finally arrived. It’s 8.30pm and this is the moment that we are going to watch the theater. We entered the theater which was covered with black curtain. In the middle of the room is the performance stage for the actors to act. It is similar to the Greek theater, in fact, I think the director is trying to make the play in the style of the Greek theater. I saw an actress sitting at the middle of the play. Soon, all the lights in the room were turned and the play began. I was very impressed with the lightings and the voice projection in the play. Every word that they had uttered was very clear and the pronunciation was prefect. The lighting makes the play more interesting as it brings up the right atmosphere of the play to the audience. Catharsis is achieved in this play. I can feel what the character is feeling in the play.

Basically, 4.48 Psychosis is about voice inside a woman who is under depression. The acting of the actor and actresses were great as they can really portray the depression woman and brings up the character. A big applause to the three actors of the play-Susan Lankester, Samantha Shubert and Malik Taufiq for their great performance! The stage management is prefect too as the audience from all the different sides of the theater can watch the play clearly and feel the play.

It was really a great experience of watching the play! I enjoyed the play very much and so did my friends! We had a great night and we went home happily and cheerfully after the play. I am looking forward to watch more plays after this with my friends. Only then I realized that drama and play are not something boring but they are full of the element of arts, hard work and professionalism. I love theater. I love drama. I love plays. I just simply love everything about THEATER.

Comment on Diana Ann Xavier’s blog entitled “ANIKE & The experience of reading it.

Anike is a very nice play written by Wong Pui Nam. The play was actually adapted both from the Sophocles’s Antigone and from the Hikayat Melayu on Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat. I also find it enjoyable in reading this play as the writer puts a lot of the Malay terms into the play that makes me feel that the play is so close to the heart. It is really true that the writer has instilled our culture in this play by placing a lot of Malay culture and lifestyle in this book as what said by Diana.

Yes, it is much easier to read Anike as we have already read Antigone which has the same story line as Anike. Basically, we know what to expect next in the play. We know what will happen next. It is also easier to comprehend as the writer used simply words and phrases in this play. We could understand what the dialogues in the play and this lowers our anxiety and indirectly increases our interest in reading the play.

Anike did die in the end and that was really the sad part in the story and this got to show us that Anike did not die in shame as she did no fault but the one who did not suffered much more than Anike. Maniaka suffered a lot from losing his son and wife and wished that his life could be taken away. It is not that easy. Those bad one will suffers a great more pain than to just die off easily. God is fair. You pay for what you did.

Comment on Elizabeth Anne Pereira’s blog entitled “Super Human Patience”.

I totally agree with what Elizabeth had written in her blog about the hardship and difficulties that Eliza had gone through in order to become a lady. To deal with Higgins was definitely not an easy task as Higgins is not as “gentle” as a gentleman. He always uses vulgar words when talking to Eliza and never treated her nice. He treated her as a flower with very little respect. Eliza is very patient and tolerable when she is dealing with Higgins. She bears with Higgins’s rudeness and harshness towards her. We can say that Eliza’s success in becoming a lady did not come easy. She has to go through a lot of hardship and sufferings in order to achieve what she has always wanted. Eliza is really a very determine and strong-willed girl as she did not give up half way in the process.

Frankly speaking, only Eliza can bear with all the sufferings that she had gone through. Like what Elizabeth had written, any girl for that matter that had been in Eliza’s shoes would had turn cuckoo long time ago. Eliza is really a strong girl. I admire her for her determination and patience.

Comment on Yogeswari’s blog entitled “Antigone”.

Yes, Antigone was the first play we read in this class and it left us with deep impression after we had finish reading this play. As it was the first play that we read in this class, most of us can remember the story very well as the lecturer had also stressed and emphasized to us the meaning and the literary elements in this play. Most of us can clearly remember that the theme of this play is about the god’s law and the human’s law. We had a lesson which the lecturer really focused on theme of this play and therefore, we can remember the theme of this play very well.

I agreed that most of us had the first impression that this class will be a boring class as this class will deals with many plays that the language is difficult to be understood but surprisingly, this class was very enjoyable and there is not one moment we feel tension for not comprehending the plays as Dr Edwin will go through with us all the plays that we are going to read. This helped us in gaining a better understanding in the plays that we have read.

Antigone is a play that tells the story of Antigone being sentenced to death for burying his brother which is forbidden by King Creon after he newly proclaimed the new edict. King Creon is going against the god’s law for proclaiming a new edict that forbids the people to bury the dead body of Antigone’s brother. Hence, Creon faces a tragic fall by losing his son and wife after Antigone died by the death sentence sentenced to her by Creon. This is the price Creon has to pay for going against the god’s law.

Comment on Diana Ann Xavier’s blog entitled “My experience in drama course”.

Actually, I do remember that some of my course mates got scolded by Dr Edwin for sitting behind the pillar but I just did not know that one of them is you, Diana! Anyway, we know that no one is going to sit behind the pillar anymore from that day onwards. Ya, most of us went to the class so early-as early as 30 minutes before the class started. Most of us were anxious and nervous as we did not what we will be learning in that class. All we know was that we are going to learn things about drama. It was really shocking to know that there are so many historical backgrounds to the origins of drama. But what was more shocking than that was that we have to memorize or study all the historical backgrounds in order to sit for our test 1. There were a lot to memorize if we were to memorize it but Dr Edwin indirectly had instill in our memory what he taught us in the classroom so it was not so hard anymore for us to study for test 1.

I was really glad that Dr Edwin went through with us the play Antigone and Pygmalion in the class as this makes me comprehend the plays better. I like reading Antigone as I find the language used in this play very interesting. Pygmalion was nice too but not because of the element of romance in this play but it is because I love the cute personality portrayed by the character, Eliza Doolittle. We really are having fun and enjoy attending this drama class.

Comment on Elizabeth Anne Pereira’s blog entitled “The Divine Law, Obey it or Pay a Heavy Price.

It really was not a good idea to challenge the god’s law as this will lands us to great misery and sufferings. God is the almighty and the creator to all the creations in the world. No one, no a single human being will be more superior than our god. In Antigone, we can see that Creon was challenging the god’s law by not giving burial to the death in his newly proclaimed edict. In order to make the public to obey his law, he proclaimed that anyone who goes against his law will be sentenced to death. Antigone broke the new edict and was sentenced to death by Creon by Antigone did not break the god’s law in burying her brother. She did the right thing, it is Creon who did the wrong this here. He broke the god’s law and sentenced Antigone to death. Therefore, Creon suffered great miseries for his actions. He did not listen to the seer and carry on his actions. Thus, he paid a high price for going against the god’s law. He lost his son and wife in the end. This is the consequences of not obeying the god’s law. He suffered a great and tragic fall from his actions. Hence, it greatly tells us that we must not go against the god’s law.

Text versus the movie...Oh, Pygmalion!

Right after our Test 1 on Friday, we rushed to the Bilik Tayangan to watch the much awaited movie, Pygmalion. We were excited at first as this was the first movie that we are going to watch for this course. As we had read the play “Pygmalion” with Dr Edwin in our class, we had already knew what the story is about and therefore, we get even more excited to watch it in the form of a movie. Pygmalion is a nice play and I like the character, Eliza, very much as she is funny, cute, humorous and innocent like a little girl.

To our disappointment, the movie did not turned up as interesting as the text itself. Although the movie used the verbatim dialogues from the text, the movie was a not as good as the text. It was interesting and fun when reading the text but the same experience did not appeal to the movie. The movie was boring and dull. The element of humor is not so humorous anymore when it is in the movie. I was not impressed with the acting neither. What makes it even duller was that the movie is in black and white. Most of us felt bored watching the movie and we were just waiting for the movie to end. Anyway, we watched the whole movie with full of attention although it was a bored one as we wanted to examine the play in the form of movie. It is surprising that the plot of the play did not change at all. Everything that was in the text was in the movie. The dialogues were all the same too. They did not miss even one single word. That was quite impressive as it was the first time I watch a movie which did not alter anything from the main story from the text. Usually, the director of the movie will adapt the story to make it different from the text but will keep the main idea of the whole story.

Although the movie did not turn up as well as to our expectation, it was still an educational experience as it helped us to understand the play “Pygmalion” better as we can store the play in the form of visual for the long term memory which will aids us in answering questions on Pygmalion in our final examination.

Ovid's Metamorphoses's Pygmalion and George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion....

As my class has started reading the play “Pygmalion”, I tried to surf on the Internet on the definition of Pygmalion. This word is very new to me as I have never heard this word before. So, I just try my luck to search the definition online. Then, I went to the google search and type the word “Pygmalion” and bundles of results show up with the word “Pygmalion” in it. As I was in no hurry, I checked and read most of it and one that had caught my attention was the one about the sculpture and its creator in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, it talks about a man who carved a sculpture and soon fell in love with his own sculpture. To him, everything about the sculpture is so perfect that he treated the sculpture like a real woman. He kisses the sculpture and treated it as his wife. This shows that the creator is in love with his own creation like such in the play “Pygmalion” as Mr Higgins fell in love with Eliza, a flower girl whom he made a lady. He molded her to become a lady, something that he himself had created and later he fell in love with it. But the differences it that, in Ovid’s metamorphoses, the sculpture is lifeless, therefore, it could not reject its creator’s love but in George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”, Eliza is very much human and she rejects Mr Higgins’s love to her and marry Freddy, a very common gentleman. In my opinion, the play “Pygmalion” was given its name as it is similar with the story of the sculpture and its creator in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Both of them fell in love with their own inventions. The differences are that in George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”, Eliza was a human and Mr Higgins’s love was not returned while in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the sculpture is lifeless and its creator’s love was not rejected as the sculpture could not speak. From the online search, I gain more information and knowledge about what “Pygmalion” is all about. Besides, I had also obtained a clearer idea of what “Pygmalion” is, which I think this is crucial in helping me to understand the play better. After gaining a closer view about this play, I felt that my interests in reading the play has grown as I wanted to know how would the story be presented in a play. Interesting! What a beautiful and unique story!

It is so ironic!

Today, Monday, August 13, 2007, we had our class as usual at FPP 211(A) and we continued reading the play “Pygmalion”. We continued reading from Act 2 up to the beginning of Act 3. In today’s lesson, once again, we identified a lot of irony used in the story. For example, Higgins are actually the one who is going to educate Eliza to be lady but he, himself had to be educated by Mrs Pearce on his way of behaving as a gentleman. Mrs Pearce also warned Higgins not to wipe his fingers on his shirt, the same way Higgins warned Eliza not to wipe her tears with her sleeves. It is ironic as Higgins is going to educate Eliza but he himself does not have the proper manners. Then, we also see the changes in Eliza in the way she speaks but she is still not a lady yet as she picks up from Higgins the way Higgins swears. From this lesson, we also get to see how rude or improper Higgins behaves himself although he is a gentleman. The humorous part is the ironic part of Higgins to educate Eliza as he himself needs to be educated.

It is really funny! Really!

It was Friday and we were having our class as usual from 3 pm to 4 pm at dkap B2-06. Today, our lecturer continued to read with us the play “Pygmalion”. Lecturer started reading from the last part of Act 1 and as usual, we will be busy jotting down notes and explanation from the lecturer. The play was really humorous and funny. Our lecturer tried to explain the play to us, just in case if there is anyone of us who could not understand the play will not miss the humorous part of the play. Thanks to our lecturer, we could understand the play better with his explanation. Our lecturer also asked us to take note of the terms used by Mr Higgins in referring to Eliza. While our lecturer was reading the play to us, we highlighted the important phrases in the play. As this lesson is only an hour class, our class ended very soon and we were assigned to read the play to identify the duration of the time taken for the play to take place. Again, the reading of “Pygmalion” was funny !! I love it!

The new has been discovered!

At the beginning of Wednesday class, we were taught about the theme of the play “Antigone”. Lecturer called out some of our names to go to the front of the class to write the theme of the play. Most of us have the chance to attempt this task and lecturer tried to explain to us what is a good theme and the appropriate theme for the play. Then, we were given the appropriate theme of the play by our lecturer. After that, we started the lesson by reading the new play “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw. The new play was totally different from “Antigone”. By reading this play, I get a new insight to a new play which is not so much about tragic but it is closer to our recent lives. The play is about a flower girl, Eliza, who speaks lousy or non-standard English. Then, this girl met with a linguistics professor, Mr Higgins who later will teach her about pronunciation and phonetics that make her a lady out of a flower girl. I found that the play was rather humorous as the girl speaks English that is hard to be comprehended. She also made a lot of awful sound such as “Ah-ah-ow-ow-oo-oo”. It is so funny. After reading for a while, soon, our lesson stopped at the last part of Act 1. Lecturer asked us to do some reading at home before our next class on Friday and we will start reading the rest of the play on the next class. I love reading this play as it is humorous and funny! Really. It is funny!

Antigone ended......

On Monday, 6th of August 2007, we continued reading “Antigone” with our lecturer. Our lecturer tried to explain to us all the main and important points of the play to us. While our lecturer was reading the play to us, we tried to highlight the important phrases in the play and we even jotted down the important points and notes given by our lecturer. Although most of us can barely understand this play, our lecturer had been very patient with us. He did not scold us for being dummies for this play, but he spent a lot of time explaining to us the whole idea of the play as for us to comprehend the play better. In this lesson, we learnt about the relationships between the different characters in the play and the way they communicate with each other in order to identify their terms of relationship. We also learnt about the element of irony in this lesson as we tried to identify that what Creon said in the play is very ironical from his acts. We learnt a lot about fate, God, and destiny. Finally, we finished reading “Antigone” by the time our class ended. To sum up the lesson, lecturer revised with us what we had learnt about the play, the literary element we identified in the play and the whole idea of the play. “Antigone” is really a very tragic play indeed. It is interesting to be read as this play stimulates my thinking skills. “Antigone” rules!

The story continues......

On Friday, we had a one-hour class at dkap b2-06. It was really a hot day and as usual, we entered the class and got ourselves ready for the lesson. Then, our lecturer continued to read the play “Antigone” with us. The lecturer provided us with a lot of explanations on the text as he read it with us. In this lesson, we examined the relationship between all the characters in the play. We tried to identify the tone used by each character when they are talking to each other. We tried to rationalize the way and the tone they used when they are talking to each other in the play. In this lesson, we really examined the dialogue between each character very closely in order to find out their terms of relationships and the way the characters are behaving towards each other. As this Friday class was a short one, we could not examine completely all the relationships and the dialogues spoken by all the characters in the play. We will continue examining all these elements in our next Monday class. I am really looking forward to attend the next Monday class as to obtain more information and to gain a better understanding on the text.

Antigone begins..........

On Wednesday, 1st of August 2007, we learned about the play “Antigone” in the class. It was so nice of our lecturer to do the reading of the play with us and explained to us line by line the implicit meaning of the dialogues. There were so many implicit that resides in the dialogues that we, students, could not identify until our lecturer pointed out to us the meaning of the certain dialogues. We learned about some literary devices such as foreshadowing and metaphors in the class. Besides that, we also learned to identify the characteristics of the characters in the play through their dialogues. Lecturer taught us the way to identify the characteristics of the characters in the play by giving some hints and clues to us. Lecturer kept on making us to think so that we, readers will be more involved with the text by asking us some questions of why the characters act like the way they did in the play. I felt that by asking questions, the lecturer did really managed to get us to be more involved with the text. I, personally like the way our lecturer tries to get our attention to the text as I felt that this will keep me on track with what we are doing in the class and indirectly I can gain better comprehension on the text.
But the one thing that caught my attention the most in reading the text is the usage of the word “wisdom”, “wise”, “folly”, “foolishness” and “fool” in the text. All these words were in used for so many times in the text. I did not notice this at first until our lecturer highlighted those words to us and asked us to think about the usage of those words in the text. Soon, I realized that this play revolved around foolishness versus wisdom. These two words are very contrasting in this play. Only then, I realized that all those five words have their own different meaning that connotes in them. Although wise and wisdom sound almost the same, but actually they are of different meanings. Only after the explanations given by our lecturer, I realized that words can be so sophisticated.
All in all, the lesson was interesting as I had indulged myself in a lot of deep thinking. I love to think as thinking brings me closer to the subject that I am studying. Finally, I realized that by thinking, I am actually learning!

To be, or not to be, that's a question.........

Yesterday, I learned about the soliloquy from the play “Hamlet”. It is a very famous and well-known soliloquy that is the soliloquy that started off with “to be, or not to be, that is the question….” by William Shakespeare. The soliloquy is very beautiful in language but I found it hard to be understood. The meaning in the soliloquy is very implicit. Soon, lecturer explained to us the meaning of the soliloquy. Only after the explanation by our lecturer, I have the clear of what the soliloquy is all about. It is about the argument whether to die or not to die. But the conflict in the soliloquy is that we do not know what will happen after death. The soliloquy is mainly about the undecided decision on whether to die or not to die.

I also read a speech that is almost a soliloquy by William Shakespeare that is “As You Like It”. This soliloquy talks about the seven ages in man’s life. We were asked to identify the seven ages in man’s life in the soliloquy and identify the words used by the author in the soliloquy that show the similarities of human life and the life of a stage actor. I like reading this soliloquy as I found that this soliloquy is more direct in conveying its meaning.

Besides that, we also read the big speech by Mark Antony to a crowd after the death of Julius Caesar. In this speech, we were introduced to use of irony. I love this big speech. It is full of sarcasm. The speaker, Antony, is very sarcastic towards Brutus, a character in the play. I enjoy reading this speech.

I have read more than 3 soliloquies in yesterday’s lesson but these 3 soliloquies left me with deep impressions. I love the language used in these soliloquies. They are so unique and beautiful. I think I am growing to love the language used in dramas and plays.

It was tough but I enjoyed it!

On Wednesday, 25^th of July 2007, we were instructed to do the exercises on Antigone and we were asked to submit the exercises on Friday to the tutor. The exercises were really difficult. We did the exercises in the class and did discussion on the exercises. I found the exercises were hard but I managed to finish the exercises as I had finish reading the play Antigone. Actually, I was not clear what the answers that I should response to the questions. I was afraid that my answers will be incorrect or out of the point. But at last, I managed to answer the questions in the exercises with confident. The exercises were hard and difficult, but I learned that I understand the play, “Antigone” more after attempting the exercises. Although the exercises were difficult, I enjoyed doing it as it stimulated my thinking skills and indirectly, I was given the opportunity to analyse the play.

Oh my god!! it's hip hop!!

I love hip hop dancing!! Yes, I love it! Although I could not dance hip hop, I just love to watch the dance. The first I watched this dance was when I was in Form 5 in Ipoh. So happen at that time Digi was having its road show and there was this hip hop dance performance performed by a group of youngsters which the called themselves “The Shadow”. It was fun! Not only the dancers were having fun, we, people on the floor were also having fun and were very excited. I started to move according to the beat of the hip hop music. I can feel that my adrenaline was rising. It was nothing but fun! Since that day, I have been very interested in knowing what exactly hip hop is. I have surfed on the internet to know more of this dance. And finally, I get to know that hip hop dance refers to dance styles, mainly street dance styles, primarily danced to hip hop music or that have evolved as a part of the hip hop culture. Hip hop dance involved a lot of stunts acts, that’s what I think. Only after I have surfed the internet, I realized that those were not stunt acts but those were the dance styles. My interest into hip hop dance grows as my brother joined the hip hop dance class. I started to indulge myself more into the hip hop stuffs under the influence of my brother. I saw him dancing in the garage, the garden, his room and even in the living room! I was full of admiration towards him! It is great seeing him dancing hip hop. All the dance styles were absolutely amazing! As the days go by, hip hop evolved and grew further away from funk, it became slower, heavier and more aggressive. Hip hop is better known for its floor-oriented move movements. Some of the dancing styles are krumping, harlem shake, snap dance, clown walk, crip walk, Chicken Noodle Soup, grinding, Spongebob dance, toe wop and lots more! I never feel bored watching the hip hop dance. In fact, I always surfed on the youtube.com to watch the dance whenever I am free. Although I can not dance, I am just no the material for dancing, I love watching the dance very much. I am fully satisfied although I am just a viewer and this will not stop me from loving hip hop dance. Long live the hip hop!

Do you know what is Mak Yong?

After reading the dramatic monologue on Mak Yong on page 111 of the book “Now Read On”, I obtained a better idea of what exactly Mak Yong is. I have even search on the internet to get more information on Mak Yong. From the information that I have obtained and from my reading on the dramatic monologue, I learned that Mak Yong is a Malay dancing that combines of ritual elements, acting and dancing. In the olden days, Mak Yong was very much likable by the people and was usually presented in the form of dance and drama after the paddy harvesting. But nowadays, Mak Yong will only be presented as stage performance for international events. Vocal and instrumental music is used together with singings, drama, story-telling and music. Mak Yong is very famous in Kelantan. This ancient classic court entertainment combines romantic stories, operatic singing and humor. Mak Yong is a kind of traditional dance which is popular in the past. Nowadays, Mak Yong is deemed as one of our cultural dance and it reflects to our heritage and culture. Although Mak Yong is no more very oftenly perform in the public for public viewing, the younger generation should be exposed to this Malay dancing as it is a part of their heritage and culture. The young should not neglect and ignore the roots and cultures. They much appreciate their heritage and roots.

Another enjoyable lesson!

In yesterday’s lesson, Wednesday, 18^th of July,2007, we were taught to identify the implicit meanings of each dialogue given in the book. First and foremost, we were made to read a dialogue between three witches. Next, we were made to read a dialogue from the first scene of Macbeth and a dialogue between Popova and Looka. Lastly our lecturer read to us a dialogue between a mother and a son.

All these dialogues were very implicit in meaning. Most of us did not understand the meaning of the dialogue at first but luckily, Dr Edwin explained to us the meaning resided in the dialogue. This helped me to understand each of the dialogue better.

It was interesting reading all these dialogues- extracted from various plays in this lesson as I found that it was very exciting to read dialogues. I get to know the various characters of human beings through the dialogues. I also get a clearer idea on how human expresses their feelings through their communication with other human beings. Through yesterday’s lesson, I learned that we should not judge a book by its cover as shown in the dialogue between Looka and Popova.

I enjoyed reading the dialogue between the mother and the son the most as I felt that this dialogue was very closely related to our daily lifestyle and it was very real. It was a conversation between an overly possessive mother to her only child-a son. It was enjoyable to read a conversation like this as I get to know how exactly a possessive mother will react when her son wanted to flee from her apron’s string. It was very funny as we can see that the mother were finding all kind of excuses to delay or to stop her son from going out and leaving her all alone in the house. I enjoyed reading this conversation as it is something so real and common in our daily lives.

All in all, yesterday’s class was an interesting and exciting one as I get to learn new things from this class. And once again, it was not boring or dull, it was fun and enjoyable!

It is fun reading plays!

On Monday, 16th of July 2007, I had attended the "Teaching the Language of Drama" class at FPP 211(A). In this class, we were instructed to identify the speakers involved in the dialogues and making wild guesses where all the dialogues should be taken place. Lecturer also asked some of us to act out the dialogues in front of the class. This was the part where we had the most fun. We were entertained by our friends with the creative and funny actings and this made the class livelier and interesting.
The lecturer also introduced to us the different types of texts such as the open text and closed text. We were introduced to the characteristics of each text and we were made to identify the different types of text from the extracts of certain plays given in the book. I found it very interesting in learning the different types of texts introduced in the lesson as the extracts of those plays were interesting. Lecturer was also trying to make the lesson interesting by explaining to us the meaning conveyed in each extract.
I found the Monday class very interesting and fun. Besides that, I was learning things taught in the class and at the same time having fun. I learned that learning literature (as drama is a part of literature) was not boring as it is fun!!! It is interesting as we were exposed to the different types of human communications.