Nature

This poem reflects the persona’s pride in his country’s natural beauty. It celebrates the natural beauty of Jamaica in a joyous and exultant mood. The many aspects of Jamaican nature are beautifully described.

Despite not having the seasonal changes of winter, spring, summer and autumn, Jamaica has its own cycle of changes. This is vividly described in the different days that Jamaica experiences; bright hot sunny days to rainy days when the earth lies fallow until it bursts with activity and beauty again.

We are shown images of tropical rainstorms and strong winds that threaten to uproot trees as well as the scorching heat from the sun that shines down on green cane fields

We are taken to the next change of season when leaves fade and fall off from trees, only to have our senses waken once again when the logwood blossoms and the bushes come alive with the sound of buzzing bees and the smell of honey.

The final, almost breath-taking, image is of the earth being paved with yellow stars.

Adapted from : STAR-NIE 19 September 2012

He Had Such Quiet Eyes - Questions

In the first stanza, what other words can you use to replace the word ‘quiet’ in the phrase ‘quiet eyes’ without changing the intended meaning?

Deceptive/Dishonest/Pretending/Devious/Misleading/False

What do these lines mean?

They were two pools of lies

Layered with thinnest eyes

Danger lurked beneath the seemingly calm and sincere demeanour of the boy/man

She’d be free from the ‘hows and the whys’. Write 2 possible questions that could have been asked by the girl.

How could I have been so trusting?

Why did he leave me?

How could he have done this to me?

Why was I so blind?

What do you think the line ‘Be sure that nice really means nice’ from the poem means?

Being friendly and cordial with a man is fine as long as there are no hidden motives or expectations on his part for casual, physical intimacy.

Adapted from : STAR-NIE, 19 September 2012

He Had Such Quiet Eyes

The poem describes how a girl is deceived by the appearance of a seemingly sincere man. She eventually succumbs to his desires for physical intimacy. She does this despite warnings and advice from others about the possible dangers and consequences of being too trusting and naive.

She regrets later when she realises how she has been taken in by his false expressions of yearning for her. The poem ends with advice given to women; fleeting heartbreaks when relationships fall apart are better options in comparison to the folly of naivety.

Adapted from : STAR-NIE, 19 September 2012

Are You Still Playing Your Flute?

In the first stanza, the persona feels guilt in longing for the song of the flautist. The persona continues to pen about a conscience that is disturbed, in the third stanza.

What do you think is the reason behind the persona’s feelings of guilt and a disturbed conscience?

The reason she feels guilty in the first stanza could be because it is she who has distanced herself from her beloved. She therefore feels that she should not be longing for the melody of the flute nor the flautist himself. In the third stanza, her conscience is possibly troubled because her thoughts keep returning to the flautist despite the knowledge that there are more pressing and urgent matters that demand her attention.

The last line of the poem states: This world is too old and bleeding

This line makes reference to a world that seems ‘wounded’ and depleted. It has aged and lost its prime and freshness. There is only heartache and trouble now. In the lines before this, the persona also mentions violence, unemployment and political disunity.

Adapted from: STAR-NIE 19 September 2012

Modern Day Frog Prince

“Helen dear, why is there a frog on the chair next to you?” the king, who had just sat down for the midday meal, asked his beautiful daughter.

With downcast eyes, the princess shifted uncomfortably in her seat and kept quiet. The little batrachian creature with shiny eyes and a green mottled coat explained, “This morning, the princess lost her golden ball when it rolled into the pond, dimpled its surface and disappeared completely.

Diving into a pond to recover things is my strong point, and I was delighted when the princess gave me her word of honour that I could live with her if I retrieved the plaything for her. But she reneged on her promise, Your Majesty. She said to me, “ Buzz off – I have other fish to fry.”

“Is that true?” the king asked the princess. She nodded and said, “ I wouldn’t be seen dead with a frog.” Placing an arthritic arm over her shoulder, the king said, “Promises should never be broken.”

With a grim expression, the princess invited the frog to jump onto the table. “What’s this in the golden bowl?” the frog asked, as glutinous saliva dribbled from his mouth. “Vegetable soup,” said the king. “For an amphibian, it could be an acquired taste.”

As the frog slurped his food, making swishing sounds like water purling between rocks, the princess said to her father, “ For crying out loud, our tablemate doesn’t care that it is bad manners to break your bread or roll in your soup!”

After lunch, the princess reluctantly invited her guest to her room. When he hopped onto her bed, she couldn’t control herself anymore. Gritting her teeth, she picked him up and deposited him on the floor. And the frog turned into a wispy cloud of smoke, which instantly metamorphosed into a handsome prince dressed in his best bib and tucker!

The princess smiled in relief when the prince told her that a wicked witch had cast a spell on him that could only be broken by the touch of a princess. Her brow corrugating, she asked, “Will you turn into a frog again?” “ Definitely not!” said the prince. “What is more, I intend to ask a beautiful princess to marry me!”

One’s strong point – something at which one excels

word of honour – a sincere promise

buzz off – go away

have other/bigger fish to fry – to have more important matters to attend to

wouldn’t be seen dead – would have nothing to do with; strongly dislike

acquired taste – something one learns to like over time

for crying out loud – an exclamation of irritation or exasperation

one’s best bib and tucker – one’s finest clothes

what’s more – also/furthermore

(459 words)

Adapted from: Idiomania Star2 Tuesday 28 August 2012

Ways To Improve English

Dimitar Berbatov, the handsome Bulgarian football player worked on improving his English by watching the Godfather films again and again, especially Godfather III.

We are told that there are four skills to be developed in the teaching of a language: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. Let me try and suggest certain ways in which we can improve our understanding and command of the language.

Reading

Read books whose subjects interest you, and try if possible to get some advice on whether the books you have chosen are written well. Also, choose books whose language provides some challenge to you, but not too much, because that might discourage you. If there are 10 or more words on every page that you don’t know the meaning of, find a simpler book.

Sometimes you may hear of a good classic English novel, like Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and you can’t find it in a bookshop. There is also no library near you. You can go to the  Project Gutenberg  website. Here you can find lots and lots of good books. You can read them online or print them, all for free. But if you have some money to spare, you are encouraged to donate any sum you like to the project. The books have been made available by people who have lovingly typed every word in so that these treasures can be read by everyone.

Dictionaries

Reading alone is not enough, of course. I really do think that Malaysians have to develop the dictionary habit. I have observed how reluctant so many Malaysians are to look up a word in a dictionary to find out its exact meaning or meanings.

This is such a pity because never before we had so many free dictionaries available, on the Internet. So please take advantage of that. Some of them even pronounce the words for you if you click on the right icons.

Writing

How about improving your writing? If you have no tutor or a friend to help you, just write a diary. You don’t need to write every day. But whenever you feel happy or upset or angry about something, try to write how you feel in your diary.

Never mind if it is somewhat ungrammatical at first: you will get better as you read more and write more. And if you feel upset or angry, writing it all down may actually help you feel less upset or angry.

Speaking

Speaking may be the skill that is hardest to improve. Having a friend who is proficient in English would be helpful. If you don’t have such a friend, try getting a tutor, if you can afford it.

If you have neither friend of that description, nor cash to pay for a tutor, don’t despair. If you listen to the language often enough, you can try to speak it on your own. Try reading aloud in the privacy of your home or room. It can be enjoyable. Finally, what about grammar? The BBC website has a grammar section and you can also try to get a grammar book from a big bookshop. Browse around and find one that you think is at your level and also affordable.

(536 words)

Adapted from: Fadzilah Amin Mind Our English Star2 Tuesday 28 August 2012

Stress

Stress is not an alien term to anyone. As teenagers, we often put up with stress on a daily basis. I remembered how my mum used to tell me without hesitating to repeat it over and over again: “Those days, we could not even afford a hand phone. Even if we did, they would not fit into our pockets. You are so lucky nowadays.”

I do not give two hoots about my mother’s rants as much as the next teenager, but what she said does apply. Being born into a fortunate era has made most of us more vulnerable and easily threatened by obstacles.

Just think about it, every little thing in our daily lives appears stressful to us. Woke up 30 minutes late on a Chemistry quiz day? Stress. Got to school and realised you did not study section 3.5 on page 154? Stress. Could not find a single 2B pencil in your bag during the PMR objective test? Stress. Had a public fight with your girlfriend in the hall right after your test without knowing what you were fighting about afterwards? STRESS,

It is simply too easy to trigger that little stress button at the back of our minds. It all builds up to form stressors, and stressors, of course, cause stress that encourages people to act out in unfavourable ways.

The first step to overcome stress is to learn more about it. Things would be more manageable when we realise what we are actually dealing with.  Prioritising and time management helps as well , as it helps us determine what is most important, and what we should avoid fussing over.

For example, realising that the Chemistry quiz tomorrow is vital to your studies will steer you towards making the right decision to turn down the outing to town with your friends. By doing so, you’d have ample time to go through section 3.5 on page 154 at least three times, wake up 30 minutes earlier on the test day and packed extra 2B pencils, all nicely sharpened; finish your test 10 minutes earlier and not bump into your girlfriend in the hall. What seemed to be a strenuous and hectic day would simply turn stress-free without us having to completely reconstruct our lives.

Stress is born in the brain and it wounds the brain. Therefore, another effective option to combat stress is to stay positive. You may be thinking, “easier said than done”. I agree. But by mentally convincing ourselves that there are some things that we cannot control, we can minimise potential heartache when it comes to dealing with dissatisfying outcomes.

We have to also understand that stress isn’t always the enemy. Positive stress helps us strive, and can act as motivation. But as we all know, too much of a good thing gives an opposite effect. We should never let stress conquer our minds or be the excuse to bring out the worst in us.

As entrepreneur and lifestyle author Bill Phillips said, ‘stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle”. Don’t let stress dominate you; be its master instead. Have a happy stress-free life!

(522 words)

Writer: Carmen Khor, Sunway University

Adapted from : R.AGE Star 2 Friday 14 September 2012