Setting and Mood

A Noisy Classroom

As I entered my classroom, I was greeted by a bustling sound of noise and chatter. I strolled to my desk before lowering my bag. Classmates gathered at a corner, furiously copying homework, lamenting on how they could not finish it last night due to some soccer match they could not miss, so they snatched the class nerd's research paper before taking down the factors affecting the star's position on different days, while the nerd sat at a corner, unable to do anything or risk losing his friendship. Another group of students gathered, around a laptop, updating their profiles on social networking sites, or playing the latest version of Call of Duty, with plugged in speakers, I could hear the sounds of machine guns ricocheting madly, before blood splatters and moaning droned, followed by a few "woots" and "high-fives", as the class gaming addicts took down enemies, ranging from the FIB to Islamic terrorists mercilessly. I sighed, as I wondered how drastically the scene would changed only if a teacher came in...

Setting and Mood

Your Home During a Family Gathering

As more and more people entered, seasons greetings were exchanged and presents were passed around, closely followed by many "Oh you shouldn't have" and "Let's give it a shake shall we?" As Dad led a group of friends hung their coats on the hanger, they gratefully accepted mugs of piping cocoa served. As I returned to the kitchen with an empty tray, I stared at the dining table. I gaped. It was truly a feast for the kings. With golden plates placed neatly alongside, with throne-like chairs arranged along the table. A sharp scent of mint and raspberries pierced my nostrils, while the delicious smell of roasted turkey and baked ham wafted into my nose. As Mum called me in to try the stew, I was more than delighted as I eagerly grabbed a ladle, while Mum frowned at my weapon of choice. I excitedly scooped up the stew and ladled it on a porcelain bowl. I could even taste the richness of the gravy even before it entered my mouth. It was heavenly. The smooth boiled potatoes, the sweetness of the carrots, and the succulent tender chicken thigh, and not to mention the various herbs and spices used in the gravy. As I smacked my lips, eager for another bowl, Mum stopped me before sending me to serve another round of drinks. I arrived just in time to see Dad and his merry men help set up the Christmas tree. He certainly picked a fine pine tree, as they carefully wrapped the lights around it, before hooking the baubles and placing the huge star at the very top. As Dad switched on the lights, I momentarily squinted and blasts of red, green, yellow and blue filled the entire living room. We stared in awe, before bursting into a round of applause. This truly was the spirit of christmas...

Movie Review: 13 Going on 30

Plot

Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen), is a young girl who does not fit with society, wishes to be 30 on her 13th birthday as she strongly desired to escape from reality as she was very unpopular in school. Jenna's best friend, Matt Flamhaff (Sean Marquette), gives her a doll dream house he built for her and a packet of "magic wishing dust" for her birthday, which is sprinkled on the roof of the house. Then, when a prank was pulled on her, she thought that Matt was responsible and she locked herself in a cupboard, wishing desperately that she would turn 30. Then, the magical dust falls on her and her wishes come true.

When she opens her eyes, Jenna finds herself in the future 17 years from then. She found out that she was an editor in her favourite fashion agency, Poise. She thought that she had everything she wanted, she found out that her best friend, Matt, had been engaged and that she was just a shadow of herself in the past. She has lost almost all contact with her parents, and she is having an affair with the husband of Tracy from the art department. Not only is she generally despised by her co-workers, she is suspected of giving her magazine's ideas to a rival publication, Sparkle. She found out that she was untrustworthy and unlikeable as well. How will she feel about her new life? Will she continue to be the person everyone dislikes?

Review

I feel that this movie is very fascinating, as it gives us a perspective of a child's personality in a 30 year old body viewing adult-life, its difficulties and problems and how she sees these problems, and I have learnt that actions lead to consequences, and I feel that this movie is very good-natured and heart-warming, and we should be responsible for our actions.

LA ACE Person Descriptions

A Person who is Unsatisfied with his looks

As he looked into the mirror, his eyebrows arched and as he pulled a long face. He hated his eyes. He hated his hair. He hated his lips. He hated his figure. He rubbed his eyes. Why couldn't they be bigger and rounder, instead of being like slits of a snake? He brushed his hair. Was dyeing his hair blond the wrong choice? Should it have been brown. His Justin Bieber hairstyle did not match him, didn't it? He should have got a rooster-hairstyle shouldn't he? He stared at his lips. He loathed them. Why does cleft lips look so ugly? He jsut wanted round and perfect lips, was that hard to ask for? His figure, his figure, his figure. he hated it the most. Why were his biceps still so puny? Had the dumbbells training been worthless? Why, he could see a spare tyre emerging deep beneath his baggy shirt! He wanted slim and slender legs, not short and stubby ones! He desperately needed a make-over! He put on his running shoes while dialing the hair-dresser the fifth time this month...

LA ACE Person Descriptions

A Housewife

After a whole day of sweeping, cleaning and dusting, she settled down on a the leather sofa, with a cup of coffee in her hands. She had her hair tied in a ponytail, while dressed in a plain shirt and shorts. While the leather sofa was shining and speckless, she was covered in dust, dirt and sweat, as her shirt sticked to her sweaty figure, looking out of place, compared to the dustless-looking living room. As she laid down her coffee, she glanced at her old hands. They resembled earthy-paper, wrinkled at the corners, yet blisters formed at her fingers, the result of mopping the five-hundred square-metres bungalow, while also causing a backache as well. The fatigue was overwhelming, but her joy and desire to see her husband kept her awake as she sipped her coffee while glancing at the mahogany grandfather clock. She glanced at the clock, not because she was impatient, but she was cheering herself with the fact that every second that passed brought her closer to her husband. Just as she was about to take another sip, she heard footsteps. That alone was enough to set her rushing to the door, awaiting the moment to greet her man...

Language ACE: Describing A Scene

Source: http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2655510

A Scene in The MRT

At Paya Lebar Interchange, passengers from a walks of life swarmed in to the train carriage. As I squeezed my way in, there was barely enough room for me to even turn my head. A typical scene greeted me. Office workers and teenagers occupied the seats, even the ones reserved for the elderly or the handicapped. They were either "preoccupied" with their latest iPhones or had ear-phones jammed up their ears music so loud that these "noise-cancelling" earphones were producing the latest hits of 2010. These people were either deaf or really desperate to distract themselves from the elderly, or those who had been glaring at them. In another corner, a group of students stood at the door entrance, chatting merrily about teachers, homework, while another group of "aunties" stood in front of the seats, hunting out of empty seats. The moment anyone left their seats, they would rush to take it. Meanwhile, they would chat about the latest gossip, about Mr A's daughter breaking up with Mr B's son. Then, another group who occupied the seats were dozing off, "miraculously" waking up just as they were approaching their stops. I sighed, as I heaved my heavy schoolbag, waiting for what seemed an eternity for the train to approach my stop...

Language ACE: Describing A Scene

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Creative-Writing:-How-to-Write-Fight-Scenes&id=332408

A Fight Scene

Mr Tan frowned upon seeing Mr Lim and clenched his fists, blue veins protruding out, like rivers on a map. Uttering a mad roar, he charged towards him like a horse on steroids, fists tucked under his chest. Mr Lim was no gentleman himself, leapt on a table and performed a jumping-front kick. His skills in his days as a taekwondo master had not faltered after all these years, as his foot landed squarely in Mr Tan's face. Mr Tan growled like a Rottweiler with rabis and threw himself onto Mr Lim, punching wildly at him. Mr Lim sniggered menacingly as he dodged his punches as though they were slowed down and swept Mr Tan of his feet and slammed him down with his hundred-pound frame. Before Mr Tan could even get on his feet, Mr Lim performed a flawless three-hundred and sixty degrees turning kick followed swiftly by a back-hook, before finishing off with a punch to his groin. Mr Tan spat into his hand what seemed like crimson blood as he staggered to a table tried to support himself. He heard bells ringing madly in his ears as world was slowly engulfed with darkness...

Mr Lim let out a triumphant roar of victory and spat venom at the eagled-spread body of Tan Choo Meng.

(216 words)

Language Arts Comic Strip: The Three Short Stories

Extract from "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Page 48, Line 15 to 29

"She loved everything that grew in God's earth, even the weeds. With one exception. If she found a blade of nut-grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin rub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it'd kill us all if we didn't stand out of the way.

'Why can't you just pull it up?' I asked, after witnessing a prolonged campaign against a blade not three inches high.

'Pull it up, child, pull it up?' She picked up the limp sprout and squeezed her thumb up its tiny stalk. Microscopic grains oozed out. 'Why, one sprig of nut-grass can ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!' Miss Maudie's face likened such an occurrence unto an Old Testament pestilence."

Questions

1. From this extract, what can you infer about Miss Maudie's view on prejudice?
   
2. How is nut-grass related to prejudice?

Presentation on Black History

Black history

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Reflections of Prejudice

Firstly, I used the prejudice of Singapore schools, mostly about pupils in top schools such as Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Institution. I find it very interesting because it is quite controversial, and I am investigating the cause of the prejudiced. It is also a local topic I believe everyone is very familiar with since we ARE from Hwa Chong Institution. Through this, the message I want to convey is that we should understand the cause of all these prejudice to help us to better clear some misunderstanding about us.

Next, I find the lesson on prejudice very fascinating, as Mrs Raj helped us to differentiate stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. Stereotypes are the generalisation of a group of people, prejudice is the thought of opinion on people without evidence and discrimination is the treatment given to a group of people, and it is caused by prejudice. I found it useful when she asked us to cite examples of the different category to give us a better understanding of the three words. I understood better when we used examples from "To Kill a Mockingbird" as we had already understood the context, so we could make reference and thus can comprehend the use of prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes on the characters like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.

In my own opinion, I find that prejudice should be unacceptable in society, as prejudice and stereotypes are like an unseen criteria used to judge people on, even though they might not even be as bad as you think they are. The use of stereotypes will be a burden to many. For example, an ex-offender released from prison will immediately give people a bad impression, so they already have a disadvantage. In my opinion, we should only trust what we see and hear from these people. This way, we will be able to create better judgments and help give the person a chance to prove him/herself. We will also benefit from it, like the ex-offender is more skillful than an ordinary person in that line of job, so you will benefit from his skills as well. So choose to believe your own senses, and not let others do the thinking for you.