LA E-Learning

Poem: Rainbow Death **

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

TASK 1

I think the conflict of the poem lies in the last line of the poem stating the use of Agent Orange spray. ("Execrable effects of agent orange spray!") Some research was done by me, of course, and I found out that Agent Orange is actually the code name for a highly toxic herbicide and defoliant, a substance sprayed over plants and crops to cause its leave to fall. Agent Orange was used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. An estimated 4.8 million people were exposed to Agent Orange and this led to the deaths and disabilities of around 400,000 people and 500,000 birth defects. Agent Orange was used during the herbicidal program during the Vietnam War which also include the use of Agent Purple, Pink and Green, which were less toxic. I think this is why the poet entitled the poem Rainbow Death. Perhaps it is because of the different colours of toxic sprays used during the war that caused the deaths of the people.

What the lines mean:
1. Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Potpourri means a mixture of things. This lines probably means that the mixture of the various toxic sprays used have led to a mixture of deaths during the war.
2.Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Generations untold WILL pay -
These four lines mean that the effect of Agent Orange and the other agents on the victims of its usage would suffer terribly, including its future generations as there would be genetic birth deforms and illnesses. And such genetic problems can be carried down to many generations ahead.
3.Execrable effects of agent orange spray!
The poet re-establishes how deadly the use of Agent Orange on people can be.

TASK 2

Point Of View: The poet adopts the point of view of the victims who suffered the wrath of the horrific Agent Orange during the Vietnam war. The poet must have had some experience about the Vietnam Warfare involving the usage of the toxic agents, or perhaps he could have interviewed a victim suffering from the effects of Agent Orange to be able to compose the poem from the victims' perspectives.

Situation And Setting: The setting of the poem is set after the use of Agent Orange. Only then would the poet be able to write in the victims' point of views, what happened to their future generations and their feelings towards the Vietnam War. It is also said that "America did not foresee" the deadly effects of the use of Agent Orange. Thus, the poet probably wrote this line after he himself witnessed the terrible after effects of Agent Orange.

Language And Diction: The poet entitled his poem "Rainbow Death". Usually, when we think of rainbows, good memories or things come to our minds. However, the poet uses rainbows to signify the deaths in the Vietnam War. Also, the use of the word "potpourri". This word is rather interesting. Like I have said in TASK 1, "potpourri" means a mixture of things, in this case, a mixture of the different agents used in the Vietnam War - Agent Orange, Agent Green, Agent Pink and Agent Purple. The use of the word "deceit" in "All the deceit continues to spread." probably suggests that the Vietnamese people had not been told of the use of Agent Orange in their country, therefore they could not escape and in turn had to suffer from it.

Personal Response: This poem is rather disturbing. The poet tells the readers about the terrible effects of the usage of Agent Orange and images of the descriptions would be depicted in the mind. The poet adopts a solemn and rather furious tone, taking pity of the Vietnamese as well as to ask the U.S. government if they think what they had done was the right thing to do. This poem gives readers an greater understanding of how devastating Agent Orange usage can be. However, the person who reads this poem should have some knowledge about Agent Orange, of he would not be able not comprehend the poem.

Bye.

Posted on Term 2 Week 10

Worst Birthday?

Three days have passed since my birthday. Since it was a normal school day, I could not possibly celebrate my birthday at night; my parents and I were far too tired to do so. I was then thinking of how would this year's birthday be celebrated. But the actual celebration was not as great as expected. Could this really be the worst birthday celebration ever?

The first thing I received from my father as a so-called birthday present: a new pair of spectacles. I went to choose the frames and do all the necessary stuff yesterday. Finally, I picked a frame which I liked, and we added in prices of the lenses, with Transitions and the ending price was like three hundred over dollars. Quite a reasonable price since the lenses are special. This could have been more expensive, I initially picked the Emporio Armani spectacle frame which was like two hundred and thirty dollars already. Too bad my head width was too small so I could not pick that frame. So I saved money for my father. This was practically the only thing I got as a present.

Subsequently, I celebrated the rest of my birthday today. The day started with bad event. My grandmother tripped and fell in her room and slammed her face onto the ground and bled. My parents then had to spend like five long hours at the hospital with my grandmother. Fortunately, my grandmother did not sustain any major injuries, but with just a few bruises here and there and a swollen eye. The moment finally arrived, my parents brought me out for a feast of Japanese cuisine. The food was just exquisitely served and tasted awesome. Thumbs up! This may seem very good for a birthday celebration, but compared to my previous years, this was the worst. Perhaps my expectations were a little too high. Presents in the previous years were much more, like four to five and red packets. Could it be because of the economic situation nowadays?

Comment and speculate. Bye.

Posted on Term 2 Week 6

Blog Updates And Changes 2

Just an update of my blog for the term. Clearly, there are certain obvious changes to my blog. What's the point of updating a blog? Updating and sometimes changing the blog makes its become more interesting and unique for a some time after change, and not remain the same old themes as before. That's basically the main aim. So here are the changes.

Change 1: New blog skin
Specific details: This new blog skin is called the Memory Book skin. It simply means collections of personal memories. This suits my blog well as this blog is about my life -- personal and school.

Change 2: Clear and concise layout
Specific details: I always think that words are better read on brighter backgrounds. I have always maintained this personal requirement whenever I pick a new blog skin. The light beige background colour gives a more relaxed feeling I guess? I have also enlarged the font sizes of the text for better reading without straining eyes.

Change 3: Removal of irrelevant gadgets in the sidebar
Specific details: I feel that some gadgets in the sidebar can distract a reader from reading a post. Music is certainly a problem. Can you visualise it? It's like when you are reading the words in your head, you start hearing other words from the lyrics of the song and you would not be able to make sense out of the words. Other gadgets like the "tree frog feeding" and "fish" can make one losing concentration while reading a post.

Change 4: Followers, profile photo and hit counter
Specific details: The number of followers for my blog has increased. So thanks to those who followed my blog. My profile photo has been blank for some time. I finally came up with a picture somewhat like Justin's. Hit counter -- number of visitors to my blog has increased from around eight hundred to about a little over a thousand now.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for my blog? Feel free to give the suggestions. They will be greatly appreciated. Bye.

Posted on Term 2 Week 6

Clay Madness

Talking about clay, it is somewhat like shit, dried up ones with a little moisture. So, have you ever made anything out of clay. I made several different objects for the past two Fridays ... at Art Club. Some people think of Art Club as very slack, but actually we do many varieties of artwork with different media.

Back to clay, we were supposedly required to make either a cup or building out of clay. Then the long-winded introduction to what clay was started. (We shall skip that part.) First thing I made was a cup, out of the "pinching" method. It looks kind of like the cups used by cavemen, totally unlike the seemingly perfect ones we have at home. Since my task was already accomplished, Martin and I started to shape out random things. Initially I had no ideas, so it was like I shaped out something, then destroyed it, shaped out something, then destroyed it. This went on until I realized there was a tool, which I do not remember what it is called, that could make noodles out of the clay. It was like a thing which you force the clay through the small little holes. Then the noodle ball mission started. Martin and I took turns to make the noodles, then compress them into a ball. Subsequently Dylan also joined in the fun.

My hands really hurt, but they were not injured. This was all thanks to Martin. Do you know what he did? Go ask him yourself. Reply on his blog or something. Find out how he actually "injured" my hand. Making the noodle ball soon became boring, since the procedure was repeated on and on. We finally stopped at the size of a mini soccer ball. The ball may seem normal, but it can be made a "bomb". You center of the noodle ball just had to be sealed up and made hollow and it will be a "bomb". Why so? I shall not really elaborate, it's got to do with air. Find out on your own.

We ended our two hours at Art Club with sports. Let me think. We have not been having our sports as it should have been since Secondary One. Our Art Club teacher-in-charge Mr Quek always can help us and himself come up with excuses to skip sports, like "The skies are so dark today" or maybe "The sports secretary is not here". In the end, we had sports, in fact for the second time. We played soccer for fifteen minutes. Not really actually. I should say we watch other people play soccer for fifteen minutes before we went home.

So how is your day at CCA? Other comments are also appreciated. Bye.

Posted on Term 2 Week 6