e-Lit

Y.O! is a blog by the librarians & volunteers from the Young People’s Services. From time to time they highlight interesting reading material that would appeal to youths who will then share the appeal with other youths like yourselves.

It happens that e-Lit is has been given that notable mention!

Do continue to contribute your literary masterpieces this e-Lit and visit Y.O! for other notable mentions.

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.

It is the final sprint for the examinations.  All of you should not forget that you are tested on both poems and The Fire-Eaters.

Here is the overview of the book.  I encourage you to focus on the themes.  What you can do it is to find quotes and evidence for each theme.  This is to prepare yourself for the Lit paper, Fire-Eaters component.

Please click on the image to view the larger version of the map. Feel free to print for your reference.

Miss Diana

For those you have signed for a goodreads.com account, you would have received their monthly newsletter. Incidentally, my favourite author of all time is featured. He is none other than Neil Gaiman.

Best known for his Sandman graphic novels, he tells goodreads.com that he is really proud of it and it really did take 10 years of his life.

I started reading his Sandman graphic novels in junior college when a classmate of mine circulated all 10 parts of the complete series. These original publications are out of print. Instead, they can be bought in 2 volumes. Neil Gaiman says, ‘It’s collected in The Absolute Sandmans, which together weigh about 30 pounds, and if you drop them on somebody you will do serious damage. It definitely didn’t leave me thinking, “I need to write more giant things.”‘

I have the first volume. In a matter of time, I’ll acquire the remaining volume.

Another of his books that I’ve read is Good Omens – a hilarious collaboration with Terry Pratchett

I’m really glad that I can access Neil Gaiman’s virtual bookshelf on goodreads.com to see what books inspires him.

Read Neil Gaiman’s full interview here.

Miss Wynnie Kwok

Exam Preparation

Dear Lit students,

If you could listen intently, you can hear the sounds of imminent doom as the examination period looms out of darkness.  Most of you are concerned with Lit paper’s Poetry section.  I will be posting some poems online with tips and strategies that you can use to analyse poems soon.

However, we would like to remind you that you have to revise Fire-Eaters as well.  Let me nudge you further – you MUST read the whole book.

Till next time!

Miss Diana

P.S: Do check out my blog –> Follow the link at the side bar under Literati and see how I teach my EL students to dissect Comprehension passages and Composition questions.

Once you have created an edublogs account, email Miss Diana or MIss Kwok your username.

When we have added you as a contributor at e-Lit, you can create a post and post directly to e-Lit.

Useful tools include inserting picture and hyperlinks.

Click “Submit for Review” when you are done with your post.

Easy!

Love Birds

By Miss Wynnie Kwok

Ambling by a park one day I once saw two black swans

beak to beak, gliding smoothly over the unbroken surface.

No words were exchanged, no promised made across the lawn

cheek to cheek, the other love birds sauntered along with an unhurried pace.

Growing Girls

By Miss Wynnie Kwok

Giggly, Gusty, Gorgerous Girls

Growing up so fast they can’t wait to be

Women, wishing, wanting, whirlwind

Changes but still patience is the key

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
As much as we do not want to judge people by the colour of the skin, we are deeply entrenched in the stereotypical world. We cannot help but to categorise people in groups. That is how our brain works! However, it takes the heart to make us see that we are all the same.

This book hits a nerve as the protagonist, Scout faces her biggest challenge. Her worldly knowledge of the recluse, Boo Radley, is shaped by the opinions of others. These include stories about how Boo is a ‘monster’. However, it all changes when she is rescued by Boo in a struggle during Halloween. Amidst this, her father, Atticus, did all he could to defend a black man who is accused of raping a young white woman.

All these notions of colour and how skewed the justice system prove to shake Scout’s foundation of truth.

It is a difficult read to some of us who are unfamiliar with the US history of lynching. Read about the historical background first and you can appreciate ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ better.

View all my reviews.

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