Impressions on Shakespeare’s Works and Life in England

Truth be told, I was not very keen on Shakespeareand his world of plays and the theatre, but I recently read a book, TheSorceress, it portrayed William Shakespeare has an apprentice under Nicholas Flameland Doctor John Dee, in a magical world of contemporary times, and I find hislife to be very interesting, as the author portrayed William Shakespeare as aman of inspiration and imagination.

In my opinion, William Shakespeare formed the veryfoundation of many of today’s modern plays. Today’s plays copied themes likelove and romance from his. William Shakespeare also received his inspirationfrom poems, legends, and even the bible. His plays also reflect the bigdifferences in the classes of people,

The Elizabethan Era is much different from ourtimes. In their era, even though their social levels are also divided, peopleare very likely to remain in that particular social level in their entirelives, whereas in our modern world, through good education, people can riseeasily through the social levels, because meritocracy is exercised. The peoplealso practically worshipped the monarchy, as they believed that theyrepresented the Gods. However, the sad thing is it is due to their beliefs ofgods and that they should obey themonarchy, that the people are trapped in the social levels they are in.However, the only exception was that John Shakespeare, so rose from a farmer’ssocial level to be a successful man, going against all odds.

William Shakespeare’s plays can definitely beapplied to modern context, because in his plays, there are themes and lessonsto be learnt. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, we can learn about thestrength of undying love and the strong bonds the people have, and that we canappreciated modern society and systems which are much fairer than those of theElizabethan Era, in which everything was decided by the monarchy.

Willliam Shakespeare

William shakespeare

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Flying the flag in Bosnia Analysis

1. The writer uses “Her face is hidden byher hands, but the hands are enough” to show us how sad the woman is over herson’s death, and that even the gravedigger showed sympathy by “a full cup ofcoffe, left by the grave digger” and that the woman is pitiful, as shown in herappearance, “An old woman Whose hair is parted Straight down the middle.” Thismakes the readers feel sorry for the mother as she mourns over her son’s death.

2. On her son’s grave, there was a shirt that was like a flag signifies deathon the person, so when the poem says “In a country which already has too many.”This means that many people had already died due to war, so the poet wants tosignify the country’s suffering and misery from the war, due to the many deaths, and the message is that war brings about sadness and death, so it is bad.

Dulce et Decorum Est Analysis

1. The literal meaning is that the soldiers were carrying bags so heavy that their backs were bent, similar to beggars with heavy sacks on their backs. However, the implied meaning of this is to destroy people’s mindset of young brave soldiers fighting for their country. The reality was that the soldiers were very weak and suffering a lot from the war.
2. The writer uses sound devices like “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!” to increase the tension as there is an element of danger. He uses similes like “And floundering like a man in fire or lime” to show us how horrifying war was, and the writer uses contrast between the phrases Quick, boys! , ecstasy of fumbling , and clumsy helmets recalls the young age of the inexperienced comrades, and the pitted landscape “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light.”
3. At the end of the poem, the writer says “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est’ in which the latin phrase means dying for your country is beautiful and sweet” but in reality, the writer wanted to warn against the so-called glories of war marketed to their paradoxically juvenile audience. The message he wanted to get across was War is not worth it, as Owen proves with the lie perpetuated across the world: Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country. I agree with it, because, war is meaningless because it only brings about death and suffering, therefore, dying for your country is not sweet, as shown in the poem, death can be inhumane and cruel.

Featured Article

• Topic 16: Stressed for success—students who are intent on achieving success, college entrance exams, etc.

Thereare many different types of students in the classroom. However, there is onecommon obstacle every student faces. That is, stress. What makes the studentsdifferent is how we treat this stress. But firstly, let us define stress forstudents. Stress, would then be defined as that mountainous pile of homework,those countless commitments to non-academic work, and the seeming insufficientamount of time: 24 hours a day is always not enough! However, what makes thestudents different is how they cope with the stress.

Onecommon method is sacrifice. While some sacrifice their academic work, otherssacrifice their other commitments, and this will be the main focus of our topictoday. Yes, the advantages of sacrificing other commitments are obvious andbeneficial, but have you considered the disadvantages?

Thecommon thinking is that other commitments are not as important as youracademics. In fact, it is goes hand in hand with Singaporeans’ “kiasu” mentality. When this choice is made, students, ofcourse will have more time to focus on their studies and ace their subjects.With this, they will rise to the top and supposedly have a “better job prospectand future”.

However,two major flaws in this choice. Firstly, it is selfish thinking, as the studentonly thinks of the benefits of himself while he neglects others. Innon-academic commitments, it most of the times involves many people in a teamor group, like projects or CCAs. By ignoring these, the team members of theteam will be affected because their burdens will be much heavier due to lack ofmanpower and thus you pull those around you down as well. Secondly, lessons donot just happen in the academic world. Non-academic worlds teach you otherimportant things like skills of a particular CCA or values like teamwork,unselfishness, and moral values. These skills are also important in the futureand in the job scope, because the academic skills can only take you so far.Without the right moral values and mentality, you will not go far and yourfuture will be bleak. This is because jobs in the future normally do not askyou for the formula of the area of a sphere, neither do they require theknowledge of the cross-section of a fish, what they do require is the abilityto manage a team of workers, the will and unselfishness to contribute tosociety and the workforce. On separate note, neglecting other areas, especiallyphysical health and fitness, you will suffer when you enter National Service.

Wellthen, now that we are faced with this problem, what do we do? Firstly, I thinkthat the evil cause of this stress is ill discipline. Many students complainedof the lack of time, but what do they spend their time on? Gaming-addiction.Television. These mindless activities are the major time-consumers in our dailylives. To some students, these are more important than their own future and jobprospects. Therefore, the one and most important solution is self-discipline.Students must be able to prioritize their work over play-time, then only comessuccess. This will increase efficiency by a lot and therefore we will have moretime to complete our work. Hence, stress is eradicated!

Personally,I am totally disgusted by the fact that such a choice exists in the minds ofpeople. In my opinion, we should at least think of the consequence of ouractions and be considerate to others in the group or team. Sadly, most of thepeople who made this choice already knew about their actions and yet they stillpersist in their selfish choice. What is worse is that sometimes they areinfluenced by none other than their parents. Hence the only way for them towake up their ideas is by teaching them a lesson the hard way. In truth, thegovernment has also realized the importance of non-academic work, and henceprojects and CCAs now are graded and very important. Hence by not picking themto be your group members, they will have to face the consequences, of their ownselfishness. The bottom-line is that academic level does not define your futurejob, neither is it more important than non-academic subjects or activities.

Informal Letter

Dear Mr Doi Syunsuke,

I am Lek Hong, a Singaporean. A saddened member of the public from the Japan earthquake. Your strong pillar of support. Your friend. On 11 March, we both lost something precious. You, your family, and me, another human in the world. I am appalled by the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami. I fear for the state of Japan due to its current nuclear disaster. I know that you are in a state of depression, as you probably felt like you lost your reason to live, but remember, we, the world, are behind you. Your sad fate has been retold numerous times over the world, and we would like to express our deepest condolences to you.

But don't give up.

I can imagine the despair and grief you must be feeling right now.Live goes on, whether you want it or not, so make the best out of it. You must pick yourself back up when you fall. Around the world, Japan is famous for its earthquake preparations. The people are calm, and do not panic. Currently, people around the world are donating funds to help in the reparation works, and hopefully, their help will reach you. Live, not just for the sake of yourself, but for the sake of your family. The last thing your family wants to see you is wasting your life just because of the earthquake. You have to look at the brighter side of things. Rebuild your life, don't live in anticipation. Things will turn out fine.

My heart follows you. May you , like Japan, be a rising sun!

Regards,

Lek Hong, just another silent supporter

Blended Learning: Article 1

Assumption

The author of the article assumes that the readers are unaware that more young people are going for plastic surgery. He/She also assumes that low costs, and media awareness are some of the causes of the youth going under the knife. The writer also assumes that childrens of this age are vain and care a lot about their looks.

Point of View

The author adopts the point of view of the narrator, or the main society, as he views the situations of young people going under plastic surgery without any personal views. With this point of view, anyone reading the article will agree with him/her and is able to comprehend the situation better. From this POV, the author can also convey his message and reasons for the plastic surgery for the youth to his audience better.

Consequences

The consequences of this article is that when the readers read it, they will be aware of the youths going under the knife, and that they may react differently, since they all possess different points of view, so parents may want to either let their children go for plastic surgery as well, or they may choose to prevent their children from. Youths who read this may choose to care more about their looks as well.

Data

The writer cites evidence in his article. Firstly, he says that a blogger who went under plastic surgery posted it on her blog, then she receives various feedback, and a general positive review on plastic surgery, which proves that the general public is okay with and supports the young people going for plastic surgery. The second piece of evidence is that the author relates to a pair of sisters who went under the knife, relating their experiences and feelings of it. Also, the evidence shows that the teenagers generally welcome plastic surgery to improve their appearances and are satisfied with it.