e-Lit

The Curse of the Four Sisters

by Nurdiana Binte Rosidi

Family ties forgotten
In pursuit of one
Who stole the hearts of all
Led to the escape of the green-eyed monster.

Four sisters fought for the love of one
Devious, scheming, ruthless
Unknowingly, all sought for the Wicked Witch
To attain a magical wish, to capture his heart.

Who ever told them to trust that fiendish Witch
She was the most cunning of all
For she was already a thousand years old
With these four, she could envision a thousand more.

Procure the locks of your sisters
Leave the rest to me
For I will grant that wish
To be with one you need

Envy
Late night came
Snip
Snip
Snip
Snip

Family ties forgotten for the pursuit of one
Unknowingly, the wish came with a price
The Witch has her youth back
In the arms of her handsome lover.

They have a favourite haunt now
At the beach
Where they can view the beautiful sunset
And laugh at the dim-witted sisters.

Hi Pioneers,

We would like to pose a challenge for you. Inspiration comes in different shapes and sizes.

Since most of you have your fancy camera handphones, I want you to take a photo of something that catches your attention. Then, feel free to pen down a 4-line poem about the subject of your photo.

You can either submit your entry by posting directly to e-Lit or sending the entry through Pioneer Place E-Message. Entitle your post/entry as “2008 Poetry Challenge.”

This challenge is open till the EIGHTH week of Term 4 (Friday). The winner will be determined by Miss Wynnie Kwok and Miss Diana. The prize of this challenge will be a voucher of $20 from a bookstore of your choice – Kinokuniya, Borders, Times or Popular. Game on!

Hands

by Nurdiana Rosidi

As the saying goes, “You will never walk alone”

A truth that I hold so dear

I find my love I could call my own

No longer do I need to live in fear

As promised, I have posted the sample answers for the two question in the Like A Stone worksheet. Embedding for the youtube video has been disabled, so please click here to view directly on youtube.

On a cobweb afternoon
In a room full of emptiness
By a freeway I confess
I was lost in the pages
Of a book full of death
Reading how we’ll die alone
And if we’re good we’ll lay to rest
Anywhere we want to go

In your house I long to be
Room by room patiently
I’ll wait for you there
Like a stone
I’ll wait for you there
Alone

On my deathbed I will pray
To the gods and the angels
Like a pagan to anyone
Who will take me to heaven
To a place I recall
I was there so long ago
The sky was bruised
The wine was bled
And there you led me on

In your house I long to be
Room by room patiently
I’ll wait for you there
Like a stone
I’ll wait for you there
Alone

And on I read
Until the day was gone
And I sat in regret
Of all the things I’ve done
For all that I’ve blessed
And all that I’ve wronged
In dreams until my death
I will wander on

In your house I long to be
Room by room patiently
I’ll wait for you there
Like a stone
I’ll wait for you there
Alone
Alone

1) Who do you think the speaker in the poem is waiting for? Clearly explain the writer’s views about the person he is waiting for.

I believe that the speaker in the poem is waiting for someone who he is very close to, perhaps a woman whom he had a relationship with and is very obsessed about. This is evident from the fact that the speaker recalls a point of time where he was led on to believe in the strength and promise of their relationship and perhaps also the trust that they had in each other.

I believe that the speaker views the person he is waiting for as someone very special to him. This is evident from the fact that the speaker has been waiting for this person for a very long time for even cobwebs to form in the barren place that he is waiting at. Furthermore, he might be waiting at the empty house that might have belonged to the both of them. The repetition of the words “room” and “house” brings to mind a place of shelter and security, however, the emptiness of these places have instead brought about a sense of abandonment and desertion.

The overarching atmosphere of the poem is not one of hope, but one of despair as the house lays in disrepair. The physical manifestation of these conditions is symbolic of the inner state of the speaker of the poem; he too feels abandoned by his loved one. However, the speaker of the poem does not lament with a sense of bitterness or hatred, rather, he speaks from a place of regret as revealed in the poem. He seems to blame his sorry predicament on himself and the mistakes that he has committed; perhaps he has done his loved one injustice. Tormented by his guilt, I therefore believe that the speaker of the poem views the person he is awaiting not in hopeful anticipation but in an attempt to inflict punishment on himself.

2) Why do you think he compares himself to a stone? What poetic device is he using?

He compares himself to a stone by employing the poetic device of simile. A stone in the abandoned house alludes to derelict and decay. He therefore compares himself with a stone to associate with such neglect.

The grave and somber setting of the poem is engendered by the recurring mention of death and loneliness. The stone that the speaker of the poem likens himself to also resonates with the immobility and gravity of a tombstone. Stuck in a moment in time, the tombstone can only refer to the past and not point to the future.

Said to wander in his dreams till certain death, the speaker of the poem becomes less of a person, and more like a wraith haunting the house in nonfulfillment. The stone that he compared himself to is the only reference to a life he once had. He has become a shadow of his former self. Uncertain of where he should go next, he yearns for the restoration of a safe home in this now void and forsaken structure and a redemption that only a restoration to his loved one can achieve.

Please note that the length of an essay for the unseen play/prose/poetry question should be similar to the essays written for the set-text questions (example Fire Eaters CA2). Literature Questions should not be answered in just one or two sentences like you would have for the English Language Comprehension Questions. And similiar to how you answer set-text questions, your paragraphs should still have a discernable PEE structure (Point-Evidence-Explanation).

Perhaps after reading the sample answers and these pointers you might be more confident in attempting the questions in the Tattoo worksheet. Click here to view the Jordin Sparks video that your homework is based on.