My favourite poem

Messy Room by Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed! (Line 1)
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window, (Line 5)
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall. (Line 10)
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or--
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear, (Line 15)
I knew it looked familiar!

The poem uses mainly hyperbole and personification. Personification is less frequent, occurring only in Line 11, "A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed," This makes the reader think of a person in the bed, rather than a Lizard. This is also mainly due to the fact that the lizard has a name. 

Hyperbole is quite frequent, with it mainly referring to the messy room. Generally, it would be rare to find a room as messy as the above mentioned room. 

Also, the twist at the end makes the poem more enjoyable. The narrator has been "putting down" the room, and complaining about how messy it is. However, he finds out that it is his own room. "Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear, I knew it looked familiar!" (Line 15 & Line 16) This twist is also present in most of Shel Silverstein's poems, if you have read more of them. I have actually read quite a few of his poems, and his is one of my favourite poets. The others being Roger McGough and Kenn Nesbit.

I also like:

Food Fight
	by Kenn Nesbitt

We’d never seen the teachers in a state of such distress. The principal was yelling that the lunchroom was a mess. It started off so innocent when someone threw a bun, but all the other kids decided they should join the fun. It instantly turned into an enormous lunchroom feud, as students started hurling all their halfway-eaten food. A glob went whizzing through the air, impacting on the wall. Another chunk went sailing out the doorway to the hall. The food was splattered everywhere— the ceilings, walls, and doors. A sloppy, gloppy mess was on the tables and the floors. And so our good custodian ran out to grab his mop. It took him half the afternoon to clean up all the slop. The teachers even used some words we’re not supposed to mention. And that’s how all the kids and teachers wound up in detention.

AAP Camera Angles -- Anti Drink Driving Campaign

This was a assignment for AAP. We were meant to do a Advertisement review (print or video) and post it on our blogs and embed the video... The link to the video is here, but I'm not sure how to embed XD. I would appreciate some help.

Types of camera angles used in the Anti-drunk driving advertisement

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y250uqP3jA&feature=related)

(Anti Drink Drive Campaign - Singapore Traffic Police)

The angles used in this advertisement are stated below. The angles are used for certain reasons.

• ·Match cut – When the photograph of two of them changes to the scene of what happened that night.

• Head on shot – When the viewer sees both of them talking and laughing while they are driving. (0:26 and 0:27)

• Close up shot—When the narrator starts to cry after relating the story – (0:34 and 0:36)

• Zoom shot – When the camera zooms out to show the narrator in a wheelchair. (0:37)

These angles show the emotions and the pain that the narrator goes through after losing his friend. It serves to convince and remind road users of the danger of drunk driving. The zoom shot also emphasizes this, as the viewers can see the total extent of the narrator’s injury after the road accident.

The match cut is used to show the transition from picture to the actual scene. It serves to show the viewer that a flashback is going on. The photo montage at the start also shows the friendship of the narrator and Joe as well as the happiness they had together (In all the photos, they are smiling and laughing). It shows how their happy life was affected by one event and one bad choice. This further convinces viewers not to drink and drive.

The close-up shot allows viewers to see the pain and grief on the narrator’s face. We can also see that he suffered some sort of burn or scar on his face, apart from his other injuries. We are also able to understand that the injuries required him to amputate a leg, also implying that they were rather severe.

Me, My Learning Style and (Flowers for) Algernon

The First of March and the Second of March are two Home Learning days. We stay at home for the two days. Our schedule is: 8 am until 2 pm -- Work. But... We get a 30 min break between each subject. We have four subjects per day on the given schedule, although you can do it in any particular order.

For this LA assignment, I took a test on my learning style on this website--

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/ict/multiple_int/questions/choose_lang.cfm

I was able to see my results after entering a secret code at another area of the site. My (not so) secret code is: np28gwp68964. The place to enter the code is --http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/ict/multiple_int/results/results.cfm

Based on my results, I am intrapersonal, logical and visual spatial.

The test was interesting, but we (1I3) noticed that if you select "I am always like this" for all the questions you actually get, well, "Full Marks". You can use this code to retrieve it: wgv2vcr9b21803

Likewise, selecting "I am not like this at all" for all the questions gives you a empty graph.

Another interesting thing about the test is that it is based upon our perceptions of ourselves. E.g "I am good at mathematical problems and using numbers." Some people may interpret "good" differently, leading to somewhat biased results.

However, the test isn't meant to be exact, but it is a interesting benchmark to find out more about your intelligence type.

Jon

Flowers for Algernon (fictional) interview

We were meant to complete an assignment -- Issues in Flowers for Algernon and post it on our blogs. I chose the linguistic activity since I like writing. I had to write a fictional interview with Miss Kinnian, who was close to Charlie Gordon, the main subject of the story. For those who have not read the story, Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally challenged man who undergoes an experimental surgery to triple his IQ. The story focuses on Charlie's relationship with his co-workers and close friends. The story gets its name from a lab rat which underwent the same operation. The rat was called Algernon. The (fictional)interview transcript can be found below:

Interview transcript with Miss Kinnian regarding the Algernon-Gordon experiment

This interview was carried out with Miss Kinnian, who was Charlie Gordon’s teacher at a Adult Centre. She recommended him for the experiment to increase intelligence levels by almost three times. Charlie Gordon eventually reached the peak of his intelligence before regressing rapidly. At his peak, he had an IQ of roughly 185, much greater than his original IQ of 65. He wrote the famous thesis on the Algernon-Gordon Effect, when he reached the peak of his intelligence, (Refer to Page 56 ) which is now being studied all over the world in many prestigious universities. After he regressed, he disappeared. His current whereabouts are unknown.

How were you involved in the Algernon-Gordon experiment?

I was Charlie’s teacher at the adult centre. I was among the many teachers at various adult centres who were contacted to recommend someone from our class for the experiment. I decided to recommend Charlie Gordon as he fit the criteria; he was hardworking and he was very enthusiastic about learning to read and write.

I was told that the experiment could triple his intelligence, but it may be a temporary increase. I informed Charlie of this opportunity and after receiving his consent, I forwarded his personal details to the scientists in charge, Dr Strauss and Dr Nemur.

After the operation, I went to the laboratory to teach him personally. I started to teach him spelling, reading and punctuation. His progress was very quick after the operation. He started to learn the rules of punctuation and proper spelling quickly. He started to become a very quick reader and he developed a very accurate memory.

What can you tell us about how Charlie behaved before and after the operation?

As he started to progress in terms of intelligence, we could no longer relate to each other. During one such incident, he invited me to dinner, but we had nothing in common to talk about. I did not see him often after that, but I soon learnt from Dr Strauss that his intelligence was deteriorating quickly.

I went to visit him at the boarding house he stayed in, but he refused to talk to me. I was deeply saddened by his refusal to talk to me. I paid his rent, for he owed the landlady two months of rent, before leaving. I had gone back to the adult centre when Charlie walked in one night. On seeing him, I broke out into tears, because I did not realize the extent of his regression. I have not seen him since, and to this day, I do not know where he went.

Did you have any regrets about recommending Charlie for this experiment?

Well, Yes and No. I understood the risks of the experiment, and I was well aware that he might regress back to his original state. However, I ignored my doubts and I still recommended him for the experiment. Although I knew the risks of the experiment, I still felt very hurt and sorrowful when I saw how he had reverted back to his original state.

I am very motivated to try and enrich the lives of these mentally challenged adults. I feel disappointed that many people do not pay attention to them, or worse, laugh at them. These people are just like us, except that they do not possess the same mental capacity. They have feelings too.

I wished that Charlie could bring about a way to help these people, or even if he could not, he could at least raise awareness of the difficulties they face. I am glad that he managed to do so. Hopefully, maybe the surgical technique used by the doctors will be available to other mentally challenged people.

(Note: I used the novella for the interview, rather than the novel)

(The interview was also written as if a science journal was interviewing her.)