Song Selection

PASCHENDALE

In a foreign field he lay

lonely soldier unknown grave

on his dying words he prays

tell the world of Paschendale

Relive all that he's been through

last communion of his soul

rust your bullets with his tears

let me tell you 'bout his years

Laying low in a blood filled trench

killing time 'til my very own death

on my face I can feel the fallin' rain

never see my friends again

in the smoke in the mud and lead

the smell of fear and the feeling of dread

soon be time to go over the wall

rapid fire and the end of us all

Whistles, shouts and more gun-fire

lifeless bodies hang on barbed wire

battlefield nothing but a bloody tomb

be reunited with my dead friends soon

many soldiers eighteen years

drowned in mud, no more tears

surely a war no one can win

killing time about to begin

Home, far away. From the war, a chance to live again

Home, far away. But the war, no chance to live again

The bodies of ours and our foes

the sea of death it overflows

in no-man's land God only knows

into jaws of death we go...

Crucified as if on a cross

allied troops, they mourn their loss

German war propaganda machine

such before has never been seen

swear I heard the angels cry

pray to God no more may die

so that people know the truth

tell the tale of Paschendale

Cruelty has a human heart

every man does play his part

terror of the men we kill

the human heart is hungry still

I stand my ground for the very last time

gun is ready as I stand in line

nervous wait for the whistle to blow

rush of blood and over we go...

Blood is falling like the rain

its crimson cloak unveils again

the sound of guns can't hide their shame

and so we die in Paschendale

Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire

running straight at canon fire

running blind as I hold my breath

say a prayer symphony of death

as we charge the enemy lines

a burst of fire and we go down

I choke I cry but no one hears

feel the blood go down my throat

Home, far away. From the war, a chance to live again

Home, far away. But the war, no chance to live again

Home, far away. From the war, a chance to live again

Home, far away. But the war, no chance to live again

See my spirit on the wind

across the lines beyond the hill

friend and foe will meet again

those who died at Paschendale

"Paschendale" is a song by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden from their 2003 album Dance of Death. It is the eighth track on the album, following "New Frontier" and preceding "Face in the Sand".

The muddy conditions of the battle are reflected twice in the lyrics, with the lines, "In the smoke, in the mud and lead" and "Drown in mud, no more tears." The machine gun, a relatively new weapon on the battlefield, is referenced in the line "Rapid fire and the end of us all." The barbed wire that was used by both sides to impede the movements of the enemy is referenced twice, in the lines "Lifeless bodies hang on barbed wire" and "Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire." The line "Surely a war no one can win" recognizes the stalemate that was occurring on the Western Front of the war, where the battle took place.

The no man's land between the trenches is referenced in the line "In No Man's Land God only knows". The battle was one of the bloodiest of the entire war, as reflected in the line "Allied troops, they mourn their loss". The war was one of the first where propaganda was heavily used by both sides, partially reflected in the line "German war propaganda machine/Such before has never been seen". After the two guitar solos, the song becomes an account from the soldier's perspective of an unsuccessful charge on the enemy's trench. After a final chorus, the song ends as it began, slow and poignant, as the soldier describes his soul joining those of his fallen comrades and enemies, in peace.

Comparisons between TWO leaders' speech

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill and Adolf Hitler are world famous leader in a world war II. Their leadership has brought an enomous effect to this entire world, even in this modern century. Both of them are not friend, but they are enemies of each other in upholding their leadership in World War II.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill served as a Prime Minister of the Great Britain while Adolf Hitler lead the German Nazi's Army. Both of them are vital enemies during those days. However, both of them had common similarity which is, their speech, their courage, their leadership that led to the risen army in World War II.

Sir Winston Churchill in his speech, had given his courage to the army of the Great Britain to face the German army led by Adolf Hitler. Upon Churchill's very first entrance into the House of Commons as Britain's new Prime Minister on Monday, May 13, 1940, he only received a lukewarm reception from the assembly, while at his side, outgoing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was heartily cheered. Churchill then made this brief statement, which has become one of the finest call-to-arms yet uttered. It came at the beginning of World War II when the armies of Adolf Hitler were roaring across Europe, seemingly unstoppable, conquering country after country for Nazi Germany, and when the survival of Great Britain itself appeared rather uncertain.

While for Adolf Hitler, his speech are considered highly gifted and prolific even by his enemies. His leadership's speeches was very long  that largely spoke on issues pertaining to Winston Churchill. As one of the founders of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler made many speeches that was offensive to some but appealing to others.

Animal Farm --++==animated movie==++--

Animal Farm is a classic work by George Orwell and a noted piece of literature, which, of course, may help the reader to catapult the imagination beyond the horizons of dogmatic adherence to idealistic or Utopian thoughts. It however, represents human characteristics in an analogy of animal instincts. There are seven commandments are made in between the animals in animal farm.

The Seven Commandments are laws that were supposed to keep order and ensure elementary Animalism within Animal Farm. The Seven Commandments were designed to unite the animals together against the humans and prevent animals from following the humans' evil habits. Since not all of the animals can remember them, they are boiled down into one basic statement: "Four legs good, two legs bad!" (with wings counting as legs for this purpose, Snowball arguing that wings count as legs as they are objects of propulsion rather than manipulation), which the sheep constantly repeat, distracting the crowd from the lies of the pigs. The original commandments were:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

Eventually the laws are replaced with "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others", and "Four legs good, two legs better!" as the pigs become more human.

Mona Lisa's Smile

Set in 1953, Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson, a new young art history professor at Wellesley College, an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence.

Unfortunately for free-minded Berkeley grad Watson, her East Coast teaching stint comes during a less-progressive time that finds most of her students. Watson challenges her students and the Wellesley faculty to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success; meanwhile, she tries to come to terms with her own heart's desires.

Lean On Me

The movie "Lean On Me" is all about the dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school that he is determined to improve.

Lean On Me is based on a true story of a principal in a New Jersey high school, Eastside High. The Principal, Joe Clark, is hired in 1983 to run one of the worst schools in this state. His mission is to turn this crime, drug, and graffiti infested school around completely in one year’s time. Clark must bring order and peace to this school and must also bring up the learning level of the students so they can pass the state’s minimum basic skills test.

One of the first things Joe Clark did to reform this school was expelling 300 minority students who he claimed were "educationally hopeless and overage underachievers, parasites, hoodlums, and drug pushers". To make sure these now ex-students stayed out and could not return, Clark chained and locked the school doors from the inside. Clark demanded respect from not only his students but also with the faculty. If respect was not given Clark simply removed you from the school.

The reason of his action was only to get his students be well-mannered and discipline person. He said to himself that he is going to change the bad past to the good future. So, he said, just "LEAN ON ME"....

A great injustice vs The merry maid

 'The Great Injustice' and 'The Merry Maid' for me are two short stories worth read nowadays. Unintended pregnancy is a serious issue which is spread to the entire world. If that single mother can handle the situation and deliver tha baby to this world, then it is can be accepted. But, most of them seek an abortion. Why do they must kill the innocent baby??

In “A Great Injustice” by Heah Chwee Sian, the unintended pregnancy and abortion can be clearly seen through the main character, Ah Nya. Ah Nya is a teenager who had an abortion at the young age because of the society’s perception towards single mother who had an unintended pregnancy. Ah Nya was forced to do an abortion because she didn’t want her family get the shame from the sin that she have done. Although she know that abortion is sinful and not good for her health, he made that decision without thinking much, so that her family cannot be blamed and get the shame for what she have done.

In the other story, “The Merry Maids” written by Dr Jayakaran Mukundan, the issue is the same as in the story “A Great Injustice” by Heah Chwee Sian. It is all about a single mother who has been influenced by the society in making her decision to give her daughter to a family that has a good name in society. As a summary, the protagonist of the story, Lakshmi has a baby as a result from her relationsip with Shanmugam at school. She thinks she can’t raise her own daughter with her own hand. It is all because of the power of the society’s perception to a single mother with a big problem in her life when the baby’s father got caught in a robbery. She thinks she cannot raise her daughter in this kind of situation where her daughter will grow up in a bad influence and environment.

In conclusion, both stories have shows the reader a great value of life. Although in the story "The Merry Maids", the baby was passed to the other hand, it shouldn't be like that because, the mother herself should raise the baby with her own hand.

Everything’s Arranged and A Question of Dowry

        The dowry system has been in place since before the written record and it has been used by parents in every country imaginable, including America in older times. The point of the dowry system was to provide for the bride should something unfortunate occur with her husband such as death or divorce.  In “Everything’s Arranged” and “A Question of Dowry”, we can see how dowry is mistreated.

In “Everything’s Arranged”, the dowry is just a bribe. When Rukumani's father heard that his daughter has a relationship with a chinese boy, he increase the dowry. The dowry should not be treated or mistreated as a bribe, but in Everything's Arranged, the name of dowry in Indian culture has gone bad because of that situation.

While in “A Question of Dowry”, the situation of dowry is a bit different because, the grooms cannot be united just because Mr Ramachandran has money for dowry, so the marriage is cancelled. It shouldn't be like that because the use of dowry is not to separate the grooms, but to unite them and in the name of dowry they should unite and together last forever.

In conclusion, dowry should not be mistreated. It is an honor in Indian culture for dowry in one's marriage.

Akeelah and the Bee.

        "Today we are going to watch Akeelah and the Bee!". Said Dr Jaya in class for EDU 3234 lesson (^_^). Like other classmates, i thought the movie was about a bee, about akeelah and the bee...whether Akeelah got bitten by the bee or akeelah eat the bee or any other thoughts! LOL...(Back to the serious mood). After watching the movie, i just laughed at myself for that earlier thought about the movie. Because, the movie is about a young girl name Akeelah, with her spelling bee!

In this movie, Akeelah Anderson attends Crenshaw Middle School, a predominantly black school in South Los Angeles. Akeelah is a bright 11-year-old and never makes errors on her spelling tests and doesn't really seem to fit in.  Her headmaster, Mr. Welch, recommends that she sign up for the Crenshaw Schoolwide Spelling Bee, which she wins easily. After that, Dr. Joshua Larabee, a visiting English professor, tests her with some difficult words and finds that she has the potential to reach the National Spelling Bee.

This story has its own moral values that should be teached to the young generations such as students. The determination leads to success. That is what i've always repeat from my tongue after seeing the determination of Akeelah to reach the National Spelling Bee.

Own Bedtime Story

The Wolf and the Seven Young Gooslings

As far of my concern, i didn't remember any interesting stories that i've heard in childhood. But, the task given by Dr Jaya made me call back my mother at home and ask her to name any bedtime story that i've heard when i was small. There is but one, my mother said, "Musang dan tujuh anak itik!!!" that's it. Now i've recall the story and will share my childhood story to anyone who is willing to listen!^^

1. The reason/s you choose the story.

I chose this story because of an important moral values that contain in this story. The Wolf and The Seven Young Gooslings is all about seven young goosling whose left by their mother at home. The mother left the gooslings to be in wood searching for provender. But before the mother left her children alone at home, she warns her children not to deceive by any outsiders(wolf) that come and knock their door. However, the wolf is very clever and after trying and tricks gooslings several times, he can enter the house and get the young gooslings.

Here, i want to say that, be careful and not be easily tricked. That's why i chose this story.

2. What element(s) in the story that make you think that the story is interesting.

The element in the story that i think the story is interesting is the symbolism in it. We as human, are weak and easily be tricked and fooled by others, especially children who are new to this wild world. Appearance is deceptive is a good symbolism in the story that can be used to teach the readers or children about careless. That is what me think the story is interesting.

3.The portrayal of characters in the story.

In this story, there are three characters. The first character is the wolf, the second is the seven young gooslings and the third is the mother of young gooslings. 

The wolf                                :      A tricky wolf who is willing to do anything to get the young gooslings as his                                            food.                                                                         

The seven young gooslings     :       The seven young gooslings who were left by their mother at                                              home and struggling to escape from the wolf.

The mother                            :      A mother to the seven young gooslings who left her children to seek                              provender in the wood.

4. The plot of the story.

The plot of the story is very interesting to me. The reason why i said so because at the beginning and the middle of the story, the seven young gooslings face their problem with a starving wolf. But in the end of the story, although the readers know that the wolf got break into the house, only a goosling died and eaten by the wolf while others are safe. The readers may expect that all of the gooslings die but it is not the way it is. It is an unexpected story.

5.  The suitability of the story as children story.

For the readers who have read the story, we can say that is it very suitable as children story because it have lots of moral values and children can learn from it.

The Gruffalo!!!! Run!!!

Gruffalo..What on earth is Gruffalo?? I've never heard of the word before except for BUFFALO! I kept thinking on what Gruffalo is until Dr Jaya told me what it is.  Gruffalo is a character..Described as a dangerous animal in the story Gruffalo written by Julia Donaldson.
The protagonist of The Gruffalo is a mouse. The story of the mouse's walk through the woods unfolds in two phases; in both, the mouse uses cunning to evade danger. On his way the mouse encounters several dangerous animals.  Each of these animals, clearly intent on eating the mouse, invites him back to their home for a meal. To dissuade further advances, he tells each animal that he has plans to dine with his friend, a gruffalo, whose favorite food happens to be the relevant animal, and describes the features of the gruffalo's monstrous anatomy. Frightened that the gruffalo might eat it, each animal flees.
This story also is a very interesting story, like the Edwina the Emu, this story have lots of animated pictures and that makes the story suitable to be read by children and be used as a bedtime story for children.

Edwina the Emu

Edwina the Emu is a very interesting story. Written by Sheena Knowles, the story contains a lot of animated pictures and it is well illustrated and suitable for the children to read it. It is also good for the children as their next step in reading. The story Edwina the Emu is all about a pair of emu at the zoo. Edwin and Edwina are the name of two emus in this enjoyable bedtime story for children.
Edward and his mate Edwina are the proud parents of ten little emu eggs. "Don't get depressed. I'll find a job, you stay on the nest," says Edwina to her stunned mate. And so Edwina sets out to find a job in this lighthearted offering from down under. From this story, we can see the moral values that was conveyed by Sheena Knowles, this moral values however good to be used as an advice for the readers especially children about the happiness in a family. Rhythmic, rhyming verse by Sheena Knowles and hilarious illustrations by Rod Clement make this an entertaining picture book that is sure to find a place in the hearts of readers everywhere. One more thing that makes this story is very enjoyable for the children is because the use of an animal, an emu as the characters in the story which we already know and believe that children are really interested on it.