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.