auTEObots

on top of the world

2007-10-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

first thing first, i am glad when i counted my blog entries, this is the 15 entries, and will be my closing entry.. it means now is towards the end of the semester and i am really glad that i have finally made it through another semester..

as a whole, reading and project work for teaching literature in esl context really put all of us into a terrible ride of life.. frankly speaking, even there is no written test but this course really put our cognitive and affective into a real test..

above all, it is not about doing researches and reading, but what we have become towards the end of the semester.. how have we appreciate and take literature to make our life into betterment..

this is the course that all of us should take granted for our own benefit.. and for others as well.. it is a good course t prepared us to become an educator to educate the next generation

the freedom writers

2007-10-21T00:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when we are not into reading, watching a movie can be a fantastic substitution.. some movies are worth watching anyway.. because it strikes our emotion directly..
Last Friday we have watched a movie entitled The Freedom Writers.. I have noticed many of my classmates shedding tears unconsciously.. some even went out from the class just to keep their tears from falling with the excuses that they are bored or the nature is calling them.. well, when ego is too thick, we are good in making excuses just to keep our ego boundary protected.. that what makes us human..
At first, watching a movie simply means watching a movie to me.. nothing more than a movie.. but what strikes me in the end is the movie is based on a true story.. never thought such things would happen in reality, it’s just a movie stuff.. or maybe things doesn’t really turn out to be exactly that way, it is based on the director’s creativity to keep all of us awake and aware of our surrounding, and the director deserved a credit because he/she really made it..
Apart from considering essay as an literary genre, why don’t we make filming as another literary genre.. other than academy awards, directors can also stands an opportunity to earn themselves Pulitzer Prize or even Nobel Literary Prize..
Who know one day movie can be introduced into our classroom as part of our syllabuss.. what a vision..

Of research paper

2007-10-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

Raya break doesn’t seem to ba a break at all.. can anyone give me a break? Thinking back of doing the position paper in a night, it is tough enough to climb up K2 Mountain, and now is the attempt to conquer the Everest.. à the research paper..
Would it be another terrible experience for me to settle it in a night? Or should I start it now? People just never learned.. I never.. laziness has become one of my best friend, my best buddy, my companion all this while, just couldn’t afford be apart with it..
After all these years, mind seems to get narrow each passing days..
Anyway, thinking of research paper, i find myself confronted with confusion, resentment, panic, and a touch . . . but still, I am lazy..
Sarah Hamid once describe a research paper as True research papers are more than a loose collection of anecdotal memories or a patchwork of data pulled from several books. (taken from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/genre.html)
Really cannot squeeze my brain anymore into typing, should take a break for the moment and continue my writing another day and time.. till then, may luck be with me..

essay as literary genre

2007-09-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

apart from poems, novels, short story and drama, essay never been taught as an literary genre in schools.. in fact, students are taught to write essay only as a writing skills, never put emphasis on the content itself.. why? Yup, it’s true that essay also consists of many valuable values worth reflected.. no any less than other literary genre.. perhaps even easier than poems itself.. even easier than novels.. anyway, I am not going to waste my time arguing about the importance of essay as literary genre because I am sure every one has know the importance of literature by now..
having lack of ideas to write anything about essay, as usual I wil tend to take the easiest way out.. here’s what I got from the web..

An essay is a written exposition or elaboration of your view on a particular topic, subject or issue. Within a stipulated length, usually 1200 to 3500 words, your essay will consist of a clear statement of what you think about a particular issue or topic followed by a logical argument supported by strong, well documented evidence. The essay is also an important learning process and assessment instrument, since when you begin your research on a selected topic you often have no idea of what your view or argument will be. The process of research, planning and writing of your essay helps you shape, clarify and finally expound your thinking or analysis. Many notes and several drafts of your essay might have to be written before your argument or perspective on a particular topic falls into place. This is why it is imperative to allocate enough time in your study programme for writing preliminary drafts. Students often lament that they discovered what they really wanted to say at the end of a hastily written essay, when they had no time for a rewrite.

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/fine-art/arttheoryessaywritingguide/essaywritingguide.html

climbing the mountain..

2007-09-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

It is quite a tiring journey to climb up to the K2 mountain just in a night.. well, that is what I have been doing all this while, taking things for granted and take it too easy..
The due date for the position paper has been extended but still I did it the very last minute.. in a night.. yet I never learned or changed.. never regretted my own behavior.. just proud of being my lazy self..
But fancy doing my position paper by looking into the character of blanche, as I mentioned before, for what reason should we explain others’ irrational behavior when we cannot understand ourselves? Why should I judge her behavior as irrational in the first place? Her act is consider as irrational in the society view.. but in terms of herself, by having an insight into the character, showing empathy towards her, may be it is the right way for her to behave as such under her circumstances…
Why? It is not an easy task to put into words to explain it.. but each one of us do have the time when we didn’t even realize we are behaving irrationally in the view of the society.. but we always have got our own excuses on why we behave in such a manner.. but contrary, when other acts irrationally, we will try our best to put the person into damnation.. why? It is unexplainable but we can feel the meaning as it is circulating within us..
To put my position into conclusion, I finally realize that up to some extent, illusion is a useful tool, or in other words, a vital force in our day to day life experiences. Illusions give us a picture of a perfect world inside us where the impossible can become possible, a world where we sometime seeks for protection and comfort, as well as a world where we can achieve what we could not get in the reality.

the example of useless art of writing a letter..

2007-09-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

Bac. Ed. TESL, UPM
18th September 2007

Dear myself,
I just have no idea on what I have been doing or thinking lately.. Don’t know what else I can do to get my story across.. perhaps by writing a letter to you is the best way to convey meaning.. I am writing a letter to myself, an e-letter, address to myself.. perhaps I have got nothing better to do..
Why do people write letter? In the older days, letter is the only mean of communication for two people in the different places. How to get the letter across is quite different from nowadays’ life.. in those days, people use pigeon to send their letters to the respective receiver.. or by sending a messenger.. but as the technology develop in a drastic yet consistent manner, letters are getting less important in our life.. letters are being replace by telegrams, telephone, or the widely known world wide web..
Letters exist in many forms.. from the hand written form to the typed written form.. the formats of letter changes as well.. no address, sometimes no addressing to the receiver.. letter has lost its originality.. email and chatting or even short message services have replaced the used of letters because of the speed of delivering.. and it is much more convenient.. as the result, our hand writing skills are getting worst and people wearing spectacles all the time.. the radioactive wave effected our brain and health.. people just forgot how you have help them in the past.. sometimes, we have to learn to go back to the basic, it is the nature cycle anyway..
Letters, I am looking forward for your re-emergence in our day to day life..
Till then, hope to hear from myself soon..

Yours sincerely,
Me, myself and I

Dear Diaries...

2007-09-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

September 8, 2007

Dear diaries,
Many of us wonder just what you are.. what are your functions and purposes? What is diary all about? Diary, diary, you got your name upon what you are.. people take you as a mean to express their own thought and feelings.. to some, you are the best and most trusted friend to share their story with..
But you can also be the best medium to teach languages and your body (content) can be very meaningful.. you are rich with ideologies and moral values perhaps.. sometimes you are dull, sometimes you are quite humorous, and sometimes you make people cries.. you style and mood change depends on the circumstances and the way people put you into words.. when a professional writers write, even a simple line can makes us laugh or cry.. when an idiot like me writes, even the most meaningful experience can turn out to be the most meaningless experience and full of dullness..
Diary, you can somehow upgrade yourself as time goes by.. the latest technology put you into an ‘electronical’ form of writing.. some called it e-journal while most of us are more familiar with name blogging.. but sometimes, you are even sharper then the blade of glory..
Till then, hope I can learn something else from you.. you can prove to be valuable in your own way..

autobiography.. all about being ourselves..

2007-09-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

What can we learn from an autobiography? I have been wandering in the bookshop looking for the autobiography of Nelson Mandela because what we have got in our handbook is just a chapter from the autobiography.. much to my surprise, the book is thicker than my blood that I cannot afford to have it circulate inside me.. the circulation might as well kill me.. as usual, money would be my excuse of not buying it.. but the fact that I wanna share is, I have actually been into the bookshop to look for a book.. it is a sign of Armageddon.. it is really a self improvement for me to have the intention to get a book.. I may be no difference from those who are in the shop.. but let’s see things this way.. of my intention and determination.. a lousy person trying to ‘upgrade’ himself.. to set myself free from ‘laziness’.. such determination and intention are quite similar to Mandela’s.. the only difference is, he is fighting for others.. while I am struggling for other than others, which is myself.. for me, it is really a long walk to the bookshop.. should I write an autobiography of my own for this? What makes them a public figure? A well known international figure? Because they didn’t strive for their own good.. and they made their effort known to others? No.. it is the others that made their effort known to others.. it is what they deserved.. of their courageous and genius in their own way.. and of their sincerity to sacrifice and fight for others.. not just merely of smelling all the fame and proud.. their stories are written because of who they are, just be ourselves..

a step higher

2007-08-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

Position paper really put all of us into a test.. a test of our mind and maturity.. a test to show the way we think and see things.. upon finishing the paper, it’s not the marks that matter.. but it is the how well we see thing even clearer.. it teaches us how to analyze things and explain it in a more proper manner, not just by looking things at the surface, but what beneath the surface.. the example of iceberg proposed by Freud can be the best example of the final product of our position papers.. position papers tend to explore the hidden part of our mind.. to use the another 98% of our brain to look into things.. to improve our own life towards betterment, or towards damnation.. depends on the purposes and our intentions.. stop talking about all the craps, how can we explain the irrational behavior of blanche? As for my own way to interpret her, first I will look into her family background.. secondly look into her past.. thirdly to get into her speeches and statements.. fourthly to explore her acts and behavior and finally will attempt to explain her behavior at the end of the story to make it as the conclusion to reassert my thesis statement.. but how well can I explain and interpret all these really had proved my thinking skills are lousy as it always be.. apart from striving to my goal to finish the paper, I am wondering just how can I dive deeper to explore the hidden iceberg? It’s what anyone of us should worry more than the position paper..

cultures and beliefs in writing..

2007-08-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Mahabhrata is an epic from the Indian Myths and beliefs.. but to attempt to look for another myth with similar theme may be tough.. each and every cultures have their own story.. may it be a legend or remain as a myth.. what is the different between the two anyway? Legend can be considered as history and proven to be true.. while myth, as the word suggests, remains a mystery..
Sometimes, there is a cross cultures and the cultures may share quite a similar legend and myths.. take for example the Monkey God in Hindu’s belief, Hanuman, the story may be quite different from Journey to the West, of Chinese’s belief about Wukong, the Monkey God.. But as a whole, we can interpret the two as the same character.. Even the Christian and Islam share a lot of similar legends about the messengers..
Meanwhile, looking into Malaysian folktales is not a tough job.. just simply type it at the any search engine and you can get countless of tales in any languages, it’s just at your fingertips.. but having thought of a legend or a myth, why bother to look for one when we can create a story ourselves? We can as well become a legend.. or a myth perhaps in another century.. people will talk about us.. but why people still look for ancient myth when we don’t even know how real the story is? What are we looking at when reading or listening to a myth? What makes legend a legend and what makes myth a myth? The answer may lead u of finding the truth about what makes human a human.. perhaps….

the position of my position paper

2007-08-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

What is the position of my position paper now? where is my standing? perhaps at the lowest i have ever been.. before we even started with our own position paper, anyone got any idea on what a position paper is? we cannot do what we don't even know.. that's the foundation before doing anything, to know the base.. what is the different of a position paper from an essay? or from a speech? well, so far i have known, position paper is an essay that presents an arguable opinion about an issue.. It organizes ideas in order to convince its audience of a certain set of point of view..
how well my position paper goes so far? im looking the text A Streetcar Named Desire in a psychological way, which i think is the best way to get into the text.. what are the points to be argued? really can get my mind working.. something is happening inside my mind.. anyway, how to look into the text psychologically? first thing first, we are looking into someone else's mind when we cannot even get into our own mind.. yet i am attempting to explain the irrationale behavior of others when i can hardly know myself.. perhaps i should review on my own background, my family, my status, all about me if i am going to look into others the very same way, which are the aspects i am going to look into Blanche.. somehow, someway, i think everyone of us are no different from Blanche.. Each one of us has a side of us that we are trying so hard to keep it only to us.. to hide it from others.. yet the fact is, we don't even know what and why we are hiding it..

the most idiot genious..

2007-08-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well.. another day in class.. to come out with our own theses statement.. never tought my thesis statement was approved during the last lecture class and all i did was making fool of myself and came out with another silly thesis statement.. life has getting harder and tougher each coming day.. While this semester seems so easy and relaxing, but we still keep on taking things for granted and keep ourselves busy for nothing.. that makes our mind and thought get lousier and blunt.. we keep ourselves busy for things that we thought are important in our life yet the final product is the simplest thing became the hardest thing.. even 1 plus 1 can turn out to be 3 ( what a stupid answer).. but people will think that you are a genious if you think that 1 plus 1 is 11.. thinking back of things we have done in the class, things should not be so tough for us to create a thesis statement, yet it seems so impossible to create one.. why?? we always take things so easy.. and vice versa, things will take us easily.. think.. think.. don't get our mind shrink.. but mind will get shrink if we think of things that will make us sink..

Of fables and Myths...

2007-08-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

What is a fable and what is a myth? Everybody can comes out with their own definitions because nowadays people tend to be a constuctivist and become an active person who involves in the active process of meaning making. Whatever lah.. I'm not good in constructing meaning to describe what are fables and myths. But cognitively, based on Bloom's taonomy of the Levels of Thought Processors, how can we evaluate myths and fables? What constitutes a fable and myth other than the content itself? Fables and myths usually implying moral values which can be proved to be valuable in our day to day life; besides, fables and myths are one of the way to spread the truth. Take the story of sang kelembai for instance (I ain't gonna append it here, it's the era of the ICT, go and search it yourself, just trying to encourage learners autonomy learning styles and strategies, so make good use of the internet, it's something you should take for granted anyway), what can you learn from the story? I'm adapting a phrase from the movie Spiderman to summarize my opininon, "Great power comes with great responsibilty".. Why do i say so? Again, analyze it yourself.
On the other hand, let's consider it affectively, based on Barrett's taxonomy pulak, how can we judge sang kelembai's action and in what way can you appreciate the story? I have never known sang kelembai and don't know whether whatever she did is on any purpose or she just did it out of her own control. But in reality and logically, it's kinda nonsense in nowadays beliefs. In terms of appreciation, why don't you tell me in what way would you appreciate the story? it's time for you to express your own feelings freely, do feel free for this free writing sessions.. Thanks..
Till then, hope to hear from anyone of you out there.

Thesis Statement

2007-07-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

Recalling the class on the first week, all of us have been taught about thesis statement. At first, we have been asked to come out with a thesis statement, which is quite difficult for us as a first timer. In fact, to think the thesis statement is considered as the most difficult part as it is the whole idea of our research paper. Fancy thinking of what story, which aspect and what issues to talk about. But now, in that very time and space, we are expected to think of one thesis statement in just few minutes time.

But the lecturer has made it easier for us. He asked us to choose one story and what aspect we want to analyze. At that very instance, the notion of reality and fantasy just pop up my mind; maybe because of me myself are having slightly problem with it. By God’s will, I suddenly heard of the name of Blanche which directed my mind to a play entitled A Streetcar Named Desire. But how am I going to analyze the topic? At last, I have decided to look at it from the psychoanalytical point of view, from the Freudian theory of the subconscious mind. If anyone of you does have any ideas for me to add in, please don’t be hesitated to share with me. Thanks..

Ohh.. This is what I got from the web… hope it can help you all…

What is a thesis?
A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove. A good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful research project and a simple retelling of facts.
A good tentative thesis will help you focus your search for information. But don't rush! You must do a lot of background reading before you know enough about a subject to identify key or essential questions. You may not know how you stand on an issue until you have examined the evidence. You will likely begin your research with a working, preliminary or tentative thesis which you will continue to refine until you are certain of where the evidence leads.

Simple equations for a thesis might look something like this:
Specific topic + Attitude/Angle/Argument = Thesis
What you plan to argue + How you plan to argue it = Thesis

http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/thesis.html

Tuesdays With Morrie

2007-07-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

Well.... 9 weeks of holidays just slipped through silently without realizing that i have actually fooling around and wasting my precious time.. how i wish i can be here in UPM during those terrible 9 weeks.. now i am here, and how i wish i can go back home cos i have to go through another terrible 14 weeks.. many things occurs around yet my brain is getting smaller each passing days.. Somehow, i didn't really wasted my holidays cos i have read the novel - Tuesday With Morrie during the semester break.. some people can finished the novel in a day, some in a night.. for me, as the title suggests me, i only read it every tuesday, and i really spend every of my Tuesdays with Morrie... and it took me 8 Tuesdays to be with Morrie before he died, ohh, to put in a proper manner, before he passed away.. I don't know how to say it, yup, so sad he had passed away, but maybe it's a good thing anyway, if he lives any longer, the book will get any thicker because there will be more Tuesdays, and i have to spent more tuesdays with him just to finish my reading.. anyway, death is an unavoided part in our life circle.. i do feel that his death is a great loss, but i just couldn't help it.. I don't have AllSpark (the cube - source of energy) to keep his life any longer.. indeed, Tuesdays with Morrie is life's greatest lesson because through the reading, we can widen our perspective on life, on how should we live our life to the fullest.. it can broaden the meaning of life, on how we perceived our life during our living days and how the paradigm will shift when we are dying.. to put it easier, it is the meaning of life from a wise dying man.. Morrie and Mitch touched on a lot of issues, from a single penny to a single note.. well, of the cultures and the values that we are buying in our day to day life isn't what we really want, but we re still buying it because of the society that controlling our narrow mind, especially when a person like me who have a small brain.. anyway, anyhow, one thing i like about Morrie, all of the issues he touched on will eventually lead to a single answers - LOVE ALWAYS WINS.. it's not all about his determination and patience or sense of humor or empathy or what so ever, it's just all about Love, a loving heart, because Love conquers all..When u can get hold of a Love, then you can get all the determination and bla bla bla in a package.. all of it comes as one.. after crapping for a while, i suddenly realize that i just have no idea what i am writing about.. but you will eventually understand it yourself when you have spent your Tuesdays with Morrie.. enjoy ya... till then, hope u all will drop by and read all my craps again..