Most Interesting Thing I learned during HBL

The most interesting thing I learned during the home based learning was the maths home-learning module. The module allowed us to use a new program called GeoGebra. This programme allowed us to create polygons of any shape such as rectangles, hexagons and such. The programme basically allows us to draw lines on a grid to draw up these polygons. There are other features too such as the programme helps us draw perpendicular and parallel lines just with a click of a button. It can even help us draw circles. Although it has many features, the programme was still quite confusing in the beginning as I did not know which button was which; but still, I found this module very interesting and a fresh experience.

Home-Based Learning - Task 2

1. Whose Point of View

Statement: The poet is most probably writing from a war veteran point of view.

Evidence: Hubert Wilson has been a war veteran before, thus he is able to recount what happened into a poem.

Elaboration: Being a war veteran before, the poet surely has a vivid memory of the war. Thus, he would be able to write it out as a poem. The poet knows that many people has died due to this war.

2. Situation and Setting

Statement: The situation is that many people are dying from the Agent Orange and the setting is at Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.

Evidence: "Toll on the innocent and unborn." and "all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead."

Elaboration: After the US sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange on Vietnam, many Vietnamese were mutated or even killed. Many of the babies born were also dead or deformed.

3. Language/Diction

Statement: The last word in each line rhymes with the last word in the next line.

Evidence: "foresee" and "potpourri", "price" and "twice", "unborn" and "mourn", "dead" and "spread", "astray" and "pay" and "spray".

Elaboration: The last word in each line rhymes with the next to allow the poem to be more smooth.

4. Personal Response

Statement: I feel that war is inhuman and should never happen again.

Evidence: Countless of people die from wars and some of them even get mutated. Humans should live in peace and harmony where killing and maiming is not allowed.

Elaboration: With bullets and missiles flying everywhere, innocent people are sure to die. Destruction is the only outcome of war and neither parties would gain anything. Humans should learn to stop war and violence.

Home-Based Learning - Task 1

"Rainbow Death" by Hubert Wilson

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson was in the USAF Security service before he started writing. He fought in the Vietnam War and was sent to Shemya Island, Alaska. That area was contaminated with Agent Orange, a very poisonous and dangerous substance. Agent Orange was used by the US to chase the villagers in Vietnam to US-inhabited areas. The US sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange to destroy the villagers crops. Having no food to eat, the villagers are bound to flee to US-inhabited areas. After staying at the place for long, Hubert started having seve re headaches and muscles aches. The doctors could not diagnose the illness and Hubert had to bear with the pain. Hubert thus decided to write, since his brain was still working fine.

The poem, Rainbow Death, was written to remind everyone about the dangers of war. Agent Orange is just like nuclear energy, it doesn't go away easily and sticks to the water and ground. Upon drinking the contaminated water, humans would become mutated. Babies who were born might be mutated or even born dead. Even though a war might have ended, the affects of the war still lives on. Hubert wants to remind everyone to think twice before starting a war. The war will not only affect the current generation, but also the younger generation. It would be selfish to sacrifice the next generation, babies who wouldn't even born, to suffer for one's selfish decision.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Rainbow

Osama bin Laden

Was the decision to assassinate bin Laden rather than bring him to trial a justified one?

I feel that it was justified to assassinate bin Laden on the spot. Taking the Mas Selamat incident to account, if bin Laden managed to escape prison, he would continue his terrorism and might even cause more trouble than before. Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the 911 accident that happened quite some time ago in the United States. The accident occurred when two hijacked planes crashed onto the World Trade Center on the 11th of September. The accident killed thousands of people and completely destroyed the World Trade Center. If bin Laden managed to escape prison, he would be even more enraged at America and might plan something worse than the 911 accident to harm America. Thousands of lives are at stake and it would be unfair if these lives were lost for the sake of giving one heartless and notorious criminal another chance. Thus, I feel that he should not have another chance in trial.

Iraq Invasion

Iraq invasion

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Done by Lee Weng Khin and Richmond Xiao.

The Iraq war, also known as the Second Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, was a war against the Americans and the Iraqis. The war begun on March 20^th, 2003 and only ended on August 31^st, 2010.

I feel that this war has caused many people to be inspired to write poems on war. These people are usually directly or indirectly affected by the war, and they feel that the war has left scars on them, thus they would want to express theses feelings into poems. Such poems are: “SERGEANT!”, “Travel my Road”, “Ecetera” and “IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES”. The poem for “IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES” is:

Life is uncertain nowadays
And truly, I do not know how many days I have left
It may be today or it may be tomorrow
That I can be called to leave this place.
And so my dear, we have no time to waste
Come and hold me deep in your arms
Let me feel alive
And love me like tomorrow will never come.
We have no time for quarrels
There is no need to be apart;
We are of one another
We are the beats of each other hearts.
Love me, is all I ask of you
Tomorrow is not certain
But this moment is ours to keep
Lets not leave any words unsaid.
Love me, love me, and love me!
We can capture this day, is ours to keep.
My number may come at any moment
But this moment will always live.
Hold me; bring me into your bosoms
Let me know that you are mine
And in case that I do not return;
Know that yours is my heart.

These four poems were written by Michael Pilarte. Michael Pilarte is an army staff sergeant deployed in Iraq. He got directly affected by the war as he had to a high ranking and thus had to plan for the war. From his poems, I can tell that he was scarred by the war. In “IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES”, he mentioned that any day could be his last, any day he could have died in the war. This shows that war is a very scary thing and you could just be breathing your last breath any second. In another poem, “SERGEANT!”, says that war is a dirty job and there would be a lot of blood. This is another example to say that war is very scary and terrible.

The thing that is unique about this poem is that unlike what is expected of an American soldier (patriotism, nationalism) he actually goes against those values inculcated in him and disagrees with the war. This is one idea that we thought volunteer soldiers do not have. Therefore, this sheds new insight on the lives of soldiers.

One other work is “No Flowers, No Doves” by Leo Yankevic:

When we entered the burning city

charred corpses greeted us.

A child's hand dangled from a scorched tree

and the twisted wreckage of a bus

mocked the stillness of the sky.

Gunner gagged, Ski scratched his head,

neither understanding why

he had to liberate the dead.

Leo Yankevich

This poem depicts a scene where almost nothing lives. Everything was killed by the war, the people, trees and the buses. This poem is quite gory, as it says “charred corpses greeted us” and “A child’s hand dangled from a scorched tree”. I think that the poet is exaggerating but his message to the reader is that war is a terrible and an immoral thing. We should try to solve problems peacefully without causing conflict or violence.

Space Flight

The drive to explore the space and our solar system is still an important human endeavor. Do you agree?

I think that the drive to explore the space and our solar system is still an important human endeavor. It is in human nature to be curious and find out more about the world we live in. We should try and know more about the solar system we live in and try to unlock many other questions about the universe. For example, "Are we the only ones in the Universe", "Is there another planet we can live in when Earth 'dies'?" and many other puzzling questions that scientist cannot figure out. The Universe may contain many mysterious elements that scientist can use to build or even heal with. There might be an even stronger and lighter metal than titanium and an even harder material than diamond. We do not know. Thus we have to venture out to space to unlock the mysteries of space.

War: A Personal Response

This is a photo taken by Mr Don McCulin, a world renowned photographer, in Northern Ireland, 1970. This photo really caught my attention because there was panic and fear found in this photo. Firstly, from this photo, I think that it accurately depicts a scene of a war. The photographer changed the photo to black and white so that it better communicates the atmosphere of fear and death. The photo has an eerie The mood of this photo is mostly grave and sorrow as a war is going on and many people are going to die.

There is also smoke in the background and it supports that there is a war going on and the people are running away from it. People are jumping off a steep ledge and running for their lives. Although I cannot see their faces, I think that they are in fear and panicking. During a war, this is what usually happens. Pandemonium spreads throughout the streets are citizens are forced to escape or get killed. One man is carrying a backpack over his shoulder. He most probably heard about the war and quickly grabbed his important stuff and ran. Litter and rubber are also strewed all over the ground which shows that there is destruction and violence.

When you put this photo together, it feels just like a graveyard. Black and white together with the smoke in the background really makes the setting to the graveyard in the middle of the night. The people running away seem like they are running away from the graveyard, away from their grave. This photo really brings out the fear of war.

Examining the Posters

Which poster more effectively communicates a sense of teamwork?

I feel that the NSP poster is more effective in communicating a sense of teamwork. In the poster, all the members are depicted in the same size, thus it would show team work as all of them are equal and they work together. However, for the other poster, Goh Chok Tong is prominently in the front, and all the other members are at the back. This shows that Goh Chok Tong is the leader and that everyone else are members, thus it shows that there isn't much teamwork. In one glance, I would feel that the NSP is very equal and everyone has the same position; for the PAP, all my attention would go to Goh Chok Tong and not any of the other members. Thus, I would feel that the NSP poster is more effective in communicating a sense of teamwork.