As Pain Subsides

Ainul and me was practising the scene of our play Aaron Shepard's "Mouse Deer and Tiger", Ainul as Tiger was stung by wasps, I was the human sound of wasps buzzing all over Tiger.

It was a painful moment throughout my life as a TESL student at this matured age, even greater pain than being stung by wasps (Really? I meant physical pain actually). Producing the play is one thing, performing in it is another. But as the the play ended and we heard a loud clap from Puan Juridah, it was a joyous moment that all pain was immediately gone!

This is to say also, one of my favourite photographs... the pain has subside.. will be gone when I am through with writing up the research paper this coming Sunday (hopefully). Until then, I need to rest for a while to make way for the preparation of final examination, 1 - 3 April 2005. Then, light out! Phew!

A Cup of Tea, Anyone?

What is other better way to unwind than to enjoy a play being performed, later sipping a freshly brewed cup of tea? Uma's group performing a 1902 William Butler Yeats' "Cathleen ni Houlihan".

Wow! How nice to be doing nothing and at the end of the day rest for a while. I can hardly wait to really complete my research paper and sleep all day.

The Smiles of Success

Puan Juridah Md Rashid, our lecturer for the course EDU 3202 Theatre in TESL, her smile, acknowledging our successness in producing and performing our first ever theatre. The accomplishment of this task last 12 March 2005 indeed brings huge relief to me for then only am I able to fully give my heart and soul in writing up my position and research papers. Though I have done a lot of researching and reading for my position and research papers but well I guess I worry too much of having to produce a play and worse even to act in it.

Anyway, that is the very reason I have Kathleen Norris at the upper right hand of my blog:
"Life is easier to take than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable and bear the intolerable".

Oh, this pink batik blouse I am wearing is temporarily my Saturday official batik dress to make way for the green effect forest of the green batik. Ha, ha, ha, I was only joking.

Stage Manager: Being Experienced

Che Rosli, the officer in charge of the Lecture Rooms commented our stage is too bared to give a forestry effect especially with Tiger in it. My husband, my son and me overnight we became very experienced “forest” scavengers, bringing the "dead" to "live" 12 hours before the performance. Even the ants came along with us through the journey from where we stay in Bandar Tun Hussien Onn, Cheras to the Lecture Room No. 2.9.

Stage Manager: Helping Hand Experience

The stage looked better as Yatinma brought in some of her plants all the way from her house in Serdang to the Lecture Room No. 2.9 in her loyal Kancil. How true the saying is, two heads are better than one, especially of great mind. Ha, ha, ha, never mind a praise to yourself is not a praise at all, it boost our self-esteem.

By the way, notice the green batik cloth? That is supposed to be sewn as my official batik dress which is compulsory to be worn every working Saturday, a government ruling. I have not got one just yet.

Stage Manager: 1st Experience

This is what our stage looked like at our first hand experience as Stage Manager towards the performance of Aaron Shepard's "Mouse Deer and Tiger".

The Amateur Theatre-Goers

Gabriel of "Little Violet and The Angel" smiling with Yatinma, Ainul and me sharing our triumph at being first ever theatre-goers (second for me actually, after "Rhinoceros"). I gained a lot of skills and knowledge in understanding the work of playwrights through these experiences of viewing life performances.

"SPS", "R' and "R": Writing For Its Own Sake

There are three types of thesis statements that I know in which one should decide on before proceeding to express one’s main ideas before writing on; analytical thesis statements, expository thesis statements and argumentative thesis statements. The kind of thesis statements that one’s paper will have will depend on the purpose of one’s writing. For position paper then I am supposed to be applying the argumentative thesis statements and for research paper the analytical thesis statements. I have chosen “Sir Patrick Spence” for my position paper, which I have completed (quite late) while “Rhinoceros” and “RUR” for my research paper, which is still under construction. Hopefully I will be able to submit my research paper the latest next Tuesday.

“Sir Patrick Spence” by Anonymous was one of the poems being questioned in the final examination of paper EDU 3216 Teaching the Language of Poetry. Walking back memory lane, I remembered very well as we came out from the examination hall many of us were sighing of the questions set for this particular poem. Somehow or rather this poem managed to win my heart prior to the examination and it was a great relief for me that day.

I guess I am more of expository organisation when I wrote my position paper which I titled it “Sir Patrick Spence as a Tragic Hero”. It is based on my reading and analysing the character of Sir Patrick Spence a well-known sailor who was sent to sea at a very dangerous time of the year by his King. Anyway as argumentative thesis statement, I had made my claim very clear with reasons and evidences supporting it and carefully organised it in the order suitable to present my reasons and evidences.

Excluding BB1 2417 Public Speaking’s assignments (I numbered them assignment 16, 17, 18 and 19, which is on speech presentations and debate on 9 April 2005) the research paper will be the final assignment (assignment 15 of 19 assignments) I need to complete within this weekend. Anyway you can only predict things after they have happened. And at this point of moment anything can happen to my research paper for things can be unpredictable at times. Who knows I might be writing entirely different work of literature. Then I have every reason for the extensive reading, capitalising at a timely nudge.

Taking the advice of the experts:

As for my writing process, I generally follow the advice I give newer writers - try not to polish up front. You have worked yourself to death. Keep going, keep going. If it's poorly written, too bad. Keep going. When you have an end, you've got something whole. Then rewrite, rewrite. Polished incomplete things wear you out. -- Alice Childress

I enjoyed the time I was writing. It was a fun, creative time. No one expected anything from me. I wasn't being strategic in any way. I wasn't trying to set up myself as a writer. I wasn't trying to leverage into a new career. I just wanted to write for its own sake. -- Margaret Edson

Truthfulness in Life

It is very typical of me to be reading exhaustively as well as making myself in full understanding before I can really begin to station myself to be pouring out my words, emerging on the screen as I typed them. It is so like of me as in one of the quotes that I have posted in this blog “Quotes That Ease Me”, Edward Albee’s, “I have just to feel like writing. I’m not one of these people who go to the desk every single day and writes. I wait until my head gets filled with stuff and I have to get it out of my head.” For that matter, I really am not the type who will be blinking, looking at each other, of the screen, with nothing to say on it. It will then be a real waste of time. I would rather be in a thinking mode so comfortable to my physical and mental tiredness (of having to complete 19 assignments) rather than be up straight straining my vertebrate.

And it took a timely nudge, skills and knowledge for me to be creative and critical in my writing. I wrote about Aristotle tragic hero in my blog “Man is Born to Live” which elaborates the essential qualities of the tragic hero; “goodness”, “appropriateness”, “lifelike” and “consistency”. I was inspired by Zaini to include a poem for this particular course EDU 3234 Reading and Project Work for Teaching Literature in ESL Contexts when I was trapped in an unexpected situation of having “Rhinoceros” to be presented both in my position and research papers, which is not allowed. As time is really not in my favour, pouring my heart out of my anxiety to Zaini gave me a better composure in overcoming my trying moment. The famous medieval ballad “Sir Patrick Spence” by Anonymous to me is very rich in becoming a source in the Teaching Literature in ESL classroom particularly in highlighting the essence of obedience to authority regardless of the nature of obedient. Hence I choose to portray the character of Sir Patrick Spence as Aristotle tragic hero with the four essential qualities above.

I am the reader of this ballad, I response based on my schemata, participating the convention of literature readers thus effectively bringing myself to another level of understanding critically. Whether then I am right or wrong, for the better or poor marks, it has now become immaterial. The most important part, as I submitted the assignment this morning, though quite late, I knew I have gain new skill, new knowledge, and new ways of looking at a literature work. I am breathing a fresh air of confidence about literature now. I know I am true to myself. I am indeed satisfied of my position paper taking the style of expository organisation in my writing.

Reaching The End of Road and Road Not Taken

This semester has been a very demanding semester in terms of the assignments that need to be completed by the end of this March, which is two weeks away. All in there are 19 assignments that each and everyone have to work on, of which 7 are group assignments. Frankly speaking I dreaded group assignment for reasons that time management would not come easy and it can be emotionally daunting. As human I can handle the mental and physical stress but not very well in handling my emotion when come to accomplishing the group work.

And for those reasons of this semester’s assignments for the first time, I enjoy very much of the literature courses that I am taking particularly this one EDU 3234 Reading and Project Work for Teaching Literature in ESL Contexts. I am autonomous of my researching with ease of communication of my findings, discussing them via telephone or sms with my friends, the way I like it done- self paced, self-directed, self-learning. I can do a lot of reading as time suits me which I always enjoy very much, getting myself very good understanding of what I should know and learn.

Since last Sunday after I managed to accomplish assignments 10 and 11 then submitting them to PPL, I began mentally planning to write on my position and research papers. I realised quite late that I am not supposed to write of the same work for position and research papers. I was planning to write on “Rhinoceros” for my position paper. And I knew very well I enjoyed racing my mind between “Rhinoceros” and “RUR” as I read “RUR” last week.

Speaking to Zaini over the phone yesterday however inspired me in a very motivating manner. Zaini is one very hardworking friend I have ever known throughout my life. Here I am going through poems that I enjoyed reading for the course EDU 3216 Teaching the Language of Poetry; “Sir Patrick Spein” (I love this poem), Robert Frost’s “Mending Walls”, “Desert Places”, “The Road Not Taken”, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” and Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” to name a few.

Well, to finalise I might be writing my research paper on “Rhinoceros” and “RUR” while my position paper on one of the poems that I have already analysed of the previous Semester.