The end of simulated teaching......

After finished doing microteaching for set induction as well as for pre, while and post reading, lots of useful tips and teaching techniques that I have acquired. To start, for the set induction, we can played them a music (must be those that they are familiar with), a video clip or a movie clip in order to get their attention. As for pre reading, it is advisable for teachers to put an extract that only fit in one page. We need to read the extract for the students while they are underlining or circling and must remember that that the words must be pronounced correctly with the right intonation. We surely don’t want our students to look down at us right?
Besides that, Dr. Edwin also advised that we need to use the projector to display the extract to easy for students to see which lines where the words or sentence that they’re asking to search.
In addition, he also told us that if we want our students to write an essay, there must be an outline provides for them. This will make them easy to get the idea that they are asking for which directly easy for them to write the essay.
During the microteaching, we are corrected by Dr. Edwin and being commented on the spot. He pointed out our mistakes and asked us to do it again. Even though sometimes it is a bit disturbing and made us lost our direction and forgot the words that we want to say (sorry Dr. Edwin) but I do feel that it is more effective and helpful rather than if he give the comment after the microteaching. It is because I am sure we will feel uncertain which part that he is talking about. From of all our coursemates, I think Amadifilzah have did well in her microteaching. She has a loud, clear voice which manage to attract the students' attention. She do have a personality of a teacher inside of her.

Human Desire

When I first get a hold of “A Streetcar Named Desire” book, I cannot help myself to explore its content and read the story. This is actually a 1947 play written by Tennessee Williams, an American playwright. That explains the language which is easy to understand and makes me finished reading it within 2 days (called me a slow reader, but as a student I’ve got other things to do, right).
The title at first makes me wondering. Why William named the play as “A Streetcar Named Desire”? Notice that between all that plays that we’ve studied, this is the only play where the title have more than one word (compare it with Antigone, Anike, Pygmalion and King Lear). It did not take me so long to have the answer as I encountered this line in Scene One,
“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at – Elysian Fields!” (Scene 1,page 4)
This line is said by Blanche Dubois, the protagonist in return to Eunice and the Negro woman upon arriving at the Kowalski apartment in Elysian Field. The streetcar is named Desire is after the Desire Street in New Orleans.
I think desire is the central theme of the play as it is the reasons why all the conflicts in this play are exist. Here from this line we can see that what a big coincidence it is as Blanche had already ‘put’ herself in Desire before her arrival. Blanche’s desire causes her job as a teacher and also the reason why she’s doing all the immoral actions. The strong and passionate relationship between Stella with her husband Stanley, the antagonist is also because of desire.
The play starts with a conversation of 2 minor characters and this kind of entrance actually resembles with the play King Lear where Gloucester and Kent the first two minor characters are introduced.
I think it is entirely unfair for Blanche to be taken away to asylum and Stanley is got away with it because he is obviously one of the reasons she lost of sanity. I feel sympathize with her because she is just feels lonely and all she ever wanted is companionship in the arm of her sister. After facing the bitter truth about her husband who later committed suicide, who will blame her for her bad attitude? The ending however, didn’t stop me to put it in my list as one of my favourite play.

Macbeth

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
(taken from the poem Life’s Brief Candle)

Thanks to literature class for introduce me to this poem before I have the chance to watch Macbeth. It helps me a bit to understand the story. Lots of emotions and feelings that arise inside of me when I’m watching this movie and believe me joyful and happy is not one of them. This movie has a lot of cruel, violent, brutal and merciless scene which always makes me gasping and unsettled stomach. The way all the soldiers celebrate the killings of Macbeth by piercing his head that have been cut off from his body with wood and move it through the air is absolutely barbarous. But that makes this movie is interesting to watch, isn’t that?
I would say that Lady Macbeth is the one who should be blamed and received all the punishment and sentences and not Macbeth himself. Obviously, she is the actual reason why all these things are happened. She keeps persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland and transfers all the crime to his servants instead. Only then Macbeth have changed in his attitude and enjoyed with all the killings. The suicide of Lady Macbeth surely serves her right with all her evil deeds.
One who could not thought that the meaning of the prophecy saying that Macbeth cannot be killed by any man born of woman is actually suggests he can be killed by a baby boy who is not born by actual delivery but by Caesarean section (a baby born before actual time by taking it from the mother’s womb). Of course, during that time, this term is not existed yet. Macbeth is finally been killed by Macduff who apparently the man who is not a born of woman.

FOOL

There is this one character in King Lear which who at first puzzled me makes me wondering who is this person? The Fool. He is suddenly appeared, rather close with Lear, they both seems to be friends, he tease him, mocks him but going away with it without being punished. Then, I finally realize who the Fool is. The image of a joker wearing a funny looking hat with a wide big smile in playing cards comes into my mind. In the court of England, a fool or also been called as jester was a comic figure who entertained the king, the queen and their guests. He was allowed to and even expected to criticize anyone without ever being penalized.
The word fool also carries the meaning of a person who acts unwisely. Ironically, in King Lear the fool is the wisest character among others. He understands the motivations of Lear, Cordelia and Kent and also the true intentions of Lear’s two evil daughters. He is very forthright in speaking and talks in a cynical way but every words that he uttered out is very honest and exactly the truth. When Lear gone mad, the Fool remains sane and helps Lear to keep dressed. But, as what he is already being present of, this character is not taking seriously. Moreover, one could have realized that the Fool only appeared when the character of Cordelia is not in the scene. There is no scene in this play where both characters are appeared together.

4.48 Psychosis

On 16th September 2007, I had the opportunity to watch a play in KL Pac entitled 4.48 Psychosis with my other coursemates. Actually, this is my first experience to watch a play and I’m so excited about it. I try to find some information about the play in the internet because I don’t want to be puzzled and look stupid during the play and guess what I’ve found. 4.48 Psychosis is a 1999 play by British playwright named Sarah Kane and this is her last work (that makes this play another reason to watch, isn’t it?). The play is written from the point of view of someone with bipolar disorder, a disorder from which Kane suffered. The title of the play refers to the exact time of night around which suffering people report feeling very clear and sane.
Do all these information help me when I watched the play? It does but not much really. There are 3 actors in this play, 2 women and a man and I failed to guess which one of them is the patient as they are taking turn to be the patient and the therapist. However, with limited actors and only a few of props, this play is not a disappointment. The management of the lighting is great as it helps the audience to better understand with the play. Sometimes there is no light at all, it is totally dark and I am afraid that when the light is on the actor is standing next to me (sounds very foolish for a first timer). I am amazed with their performance because they really taken up their role very well. Their facial expressions really portray their feelings and to perform in front of live audience and at the same time memorize such a long script really fascinates me a lot. At first I thought this play is carried on a stage but in contrast the sitting for the audience is surround the play. The actors are in the middle hence the eye contact between them and the audience is there. In the end I am satisfied and I think I became addicted with it. So guys, tell me what play we are going to watch next?

Goneril + Regan = cuckoo + kite

In the play King Lear, Shakespeare had used a lot of animal imageries. This type of figure of speech is to compare Goneril, Regan and other characters with the negative qualities of animals. All these imageries are used to show that human are greed for power as well as other bad qualities such as being ungrateful or disobedient to others. Bird imagery consists a great deal in this play and one of them is cuckoo. This type of bird is used to refer to ungrateful children because they laying their eggs in the nests of other bird. This parasitic cuckoo’s egg hatches earlier than the host’s and the cuckoo chick grows faster and sometimes in most cases the chick forces the young of the host species to leave the nest. The mother still feeds the cuckoo chick as if it were her own. In my opinion, cuckoo totally shows the truly image of ungrateful children because we can see nowadays that there are many cases that children disown their parent by sending them to the foster house and even worse did not taking care of them at all. Goneril and Regan really go well with this imagery as they treat their father, Lear cruelly after get a hold of shares of his kingdom.
Other animal imagery in this play is kite, a bird prey which feeds on small land animals, fish, garbage and carrion. In Act I, Scene IV, we can see this line as King Lear speak to Goneril,
"Detested kite! thou liest." (line261).

BASTARD

The word bastard is considered as a taboo word in our culture. It is also being labeled as a foul word. The meaning of bastard is a person born of an unmarried parents and long time ago, the law of England states that the baby who is born of unmarried parents must be called as bastard. But now it is not practiced anymore. In King Lear by Shakespeare, Edmund the illegitimate son of Gloucester is called as bastard and in some scene of the play, he is referred as bastard without name being mentioned. The idea of illegitimate or unnatural which differs from natural is considered as evil. All these showing that how women were being downgraded during the Elizabethan period because the word bastard is not insulting that person but obviously the mother. The role of woman during that period is so limited or nearly come to nothing at all. They are not allowed to take a part in a play but their roles are acted out by a boy or a young man. The list of characters for example in King Lear also the same as the hierarchy showing that the three daughters of King Lear are put last after the maid. All these prove that women are not being taken very seriously at that time.