The first time looking at the play, I would sincerely say that I didn’t have the interest in reading it. It was all because the typical perception towards it. “aaa….Greek plays…ermmm…no doubt it going to be hard for my brain to digest it”.
Well I should admit that on the first day stepping into the prologue, I was lost while my lecturer went through it. However I gain interest in reading the play after sometime. There are few reasons that contributed to the changes of my perception.
First and foremost, I goggled for Oedipus Rex notes on the net. Those notes gave me an overall view of the characters and the play. In my view, those notes motivated me in exploring the original play. Searching and reading notes has also given me information of other historical things that I could not find in the play.
Next is the language of the play. As for me, I thought it would be a difficult play .The reason is that Macbeth, the first play that I ever read was challenging as my brain worked overtime to ponder on the meaning of each sentence of it. Oedipus is a total opposite from it. The language was not as difficult as I thought. They were comprehensible and interesting .I loved the dialogues of each of the characters because I found that there are a lot of the usages of irony.
Lastly, the story line itself has captured my interest in reading the play. The story was well developed. I read the whole play to get myself into the actual situation in the play. As I read finish the play, certain parts of the dialogues was still echoing in my head .I realized that the play has affected me in my ways especially in the way think. This play has made me to think in broader way. The theme blindness and sights is also applicable in our daily life as the writer has emphasized in the play of Oedipus the King.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Once a upon a time...
Simulated teaching. I don really remember how did my teachers taught me using this technique. They entered the class with a radio and role of posters .Then later we have to listen to it with a great look of “I-don’t -know-what-on- the- earth is -going on”. This was always a trend among the new teacher entries in my primary school. All I did was using my “already – in-my –head –knowledge” to answer the questions. The teachers were not as I expected .In my younger days, during my primary, I wished teacher who can really be a cat when she /he tells me about a cat and be a monster when there is a story about a monster. All I got was teachers whom concentrated more in the pupils score.
It was even worse when I entered the secondary school. The teacher enters with the unfriendly look and later informs the page and later my hands will be competing with my desk mate’s in completing the task given. That was nearly a routine in my English class rooms. I have never experienced any of my teachers teaching according to what I learnt in my simulated teaching.
Set induction? In my opinion, my teachers straight away entered the pre-reading and the while –reading stages. We were all considered as smart students, thus, these teachers skip the set induction (the interesting part of the lesson) and compensate it with extra exercises and homework. As I remember there were games and a lot of fun at the class with week students. As for me, it was a total unfair.
In my opinion, teachers should always find strategies to make their lesson interesting and meaningful .Teachers should not simply teach because they are obligated to do so, but they have to think ways to capture the students’ interest into the lesson. In other words, teachers should be creative in designing or planning their lesson.
It was even worse when I entered the secondary school. The teacher enters with the unfriendly look and later informs the page and later my hands will be competing with my desk mate’s in completing the task given. That was nearly a routine in my English class rooms. I have never experienced any of my teachers teaching according to what I learnt in my simulated teaching.
Set induction? In my opinion, my teachers straight away entered the pre-reading and the while –reading stages. We were all considered as smart students, thus, these teachers skip the set induction (the interesting part of the lesson) and compensate it with extra exercises and homework. As I remember there were games and a lot of fun at the class with week students. As for me, it was a total unfair.
In my opinion, teachers should always find strategies to make their lesson interesting and meaningful .Teachers should not simply teach because they are obligated to do so, but they have to think ways to capture the students’ interest into the lesson. In other words, teachers should be creative in designing or planning their lesson.
I am “Tiresias”
Searching about the Greek history is a wonderful experience. I have a very less understanding on Greek people’s believe and myth the only thing that I have watched is Hercules and Zina the warrior. These were the movies which attracted me so much during my lower secondary. Later entering the boarding school for my upper secondary has totally made me miss all those movies. Those movies introduced me with characters such as “Zeus”, “Hercules, the son of the God “and other magical stuffs. I miss those series now.
I remembered my entire pass during my search on the character of “Tiresias”. It is truly interesting. I was really attracted to the Greek drawings as well. Reading the myth and stories and looking at the pictures has created a wonderful imagination in my mind.
As I read the myth and the story regarding the “Tiresias” and his blindness, I realized that there are two main stories told about this person and his blindness. First, he was struck blind after he saw Athena, the Goddess bathing. This incident happened when he was still a boy.Later, Tiresias’ mother; nymph Chariclo who was close to the goddess pleaded to restore her son’s eye sight, Athena couldn’t full fill the request but gave him another magnificent power. She gave him the ability to understand the bird’s language, long life, and understanding among the dead after his death.Moreover, it is believed that Tiresias is a man who can walk and talk like a normal man although he has loose his sight. He is man who understands the underworld (land of the dead) and thus he tells prophecies .All these abilities in him made him to be one of the main characters in the play of Sophocles.
Next, it is told that Tiresias was cursed and transformed to be a woman when he killed a female snake which was mating. Later after seven years, he transformed to be a man again as he killed a male snake which was mating. Seems he has experienced being a man an woman, he was asked by the God Zeus and Goddess Hera to settle an argument (Which of the sexes enjoys love more ? ) between them. When Tiresias said that man gives more pleasure than he receives, Hera struck him blind as she was not satisfied with his answer. Then, Zeus who felt sorry for him gave him the ability to foresee the future and live an extraordinary live.
Well, don’t they sound interesting? All these myth and stories made me feel different in times. I wonder what would to happen if I am a person who can foresee the future and understand the language of animals. Isn’t it going to be amazing?
I remembered my entire pass during my search on the character of “Tiresias”. It is truly interesting. I was really attracted to the Greek drawings as well. Reading the myth and stories and looking at the pictures has created a wonderful imagination in my mind.
As I read the myth and the story regarding the “Tiresias” and his blindness, I realized that there are two main stories told about this person and his blindness. First, he was struck blind after he saw Athena, the Goddess bathing. This incident happened when he was still a boy.Later, Tiresias’ mother; nymph Chariclo who was close to the goddess pleaded to restore her son’s eye sight, Athena couldn’t full fill the request but gave him another magnificent power. She gave him the ability to understand the bird’s language, long life, and understanding among the dead after his death.Moreover, it is believed that Tiresias is a man who can walk and talk like a normal man although he has loose his sight. He is man who understands the underworld (land of the dead) and thus he tells prophecies .All these abilities in him made him to be one of the main characters in the play of Sophocles.
Next, it is told that Tiresias was cursed and transformed to be a woman when he killed a female snake which was mating. Later after seven years, he transformed to be a man again as he killed a male snake which was mating. Seems he has experienced being a man an woman, he was asked by the God Zeus and Goddess Hera to settle an argument (Which of the sexes enjoys love more ? ) between them. When Tiresias said that man gives more pleasure than he receives, Hera struck him blind as she was not satisfied with his answer. Then, Zeus who felt sorry for him gave him the ability to foresee the future and live an extraordinary live.
Well, don’t they sound interesting? All these myth and stories made me feel different in times. I wonder what would to happen if I am a person who can foresee the future and understand the language of animals. Isn’t it going to be amazing?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
PRINCESS LEDANG & TUAH
Wow…wonderful…and I love it. What a magnificent performance it was!!
This was the first theater performance I watched at Istana Budaya. First, I should thank my friend Ziham Fatimah and others who has made things easy as they help us to get the ticket in a cheapest price as well as have arranged our transportation on the day. Thank you, my friends.
I will again say it was golden chances for me.I has never known that it would be this good. May be, I am feeling so because I haven’t watch any other theater performances that I could compare with. However, I just liked it.
Now let me tell why it was a wonderful performance. First and foremost, it was a musical performance which means that most of their dialogues ware presented in a musical form. The whole performance was full of dance and songs.The first part of the dance performance revolved about Majapahit and its people while the second part revolved about Melaka and its people during that era. From the dance performance, the culture difference ware clearly seen. The differences ware mainly in the costumes and the movements.
Next, the ancient language they used. People in Majapahit used the Javanese language which was not easy for me to be understood. Although I was depending on the subtitles, I still enjoyed listening to that particular language. I am pretty sure that this group of people has really worked hard in learning the language. At the second part which the setting was in Melaka, the language was understandable.
Lastly, the story line. I have never known about Tuah and Princess Ledang love story. The only part I was familiar was the chapter after the meeting of the Puteri at the top of Gunung Ledang.
This play has taken me far to the era of Hang Tuah in Melaka and this was a way for me to appreciate the history of Melaka .
This was the first theater performance I watched at Istana Budaya. First, I should thank my friend Ziham Fatimah and others who has made things easy as they help us to get the ticket in a cheapest price as well as have arranged our transportation on the day. Thank you, my friends.
I will again say it was golden chances for me.I has never known that it would be this good. May be, I am feeling so because I haven’t watch any other theater performances that I could compare with. However, I just liked it.
Now let me tell why it was a wonderful performance. First and foremost, it was a musical performance which means that most of their dialogues ware presented in a musical form. The whole performance was full of dance and songs.The first part of the dance performance revolved about Majapahit and its people while the second part revolved about Melaka and its people during that era. From the dance performance, the culture difference ware clearly seen. The differences ware mainly in the costumes and the movements.
Next, the ancient language they used. People in Majapahit used the Javanese language which was not easy for me to be understood. Although I was depending on the subtitles, I still enjoyed listening to that particular language. I am pretty sure that this group of people has really worked hard in learning the language. At the second part which the setting was in Melaka, the language was understandable.
Lastly, the story line. I have never known about Tuah and Princess Ledang love story. The only part I was familiar was the chapter after the meeting of the Puteri at the top of Gunung Ledang.
This play has taken me far to the era of Hang Tuah in Melaka and this was a way for me to appreciate the history of Melaka .
“You, Me and Us”
Writing a play for the first time was a wonderful experience. It was an exciting and enjoyable activity too. In my opinion, it made us to think broader and matured.
As it was my first time creating a drama, I had no idea of the theme, the characters and the story line at the starting point of writing it. As we were assigned to create of a drama related to any theme which mainly focuses on the teenagers, I could not think other than the theme of “love” and “friendship” .Those were common issues among school students. I wanted to talk about something different; far away from the common love and friendship issues.
Then later my group members and I found an interesting issue, TOMBOYS. I have heard about tomboys. They are girls who present themselves as a boy in front of the society. We found it interesting as one of my group member had has a friend like that during her secondary school. Moreover, this phenomenon can be considered as a social illness among the teenagers.
After deciding the theme, we orally draw a story line and created a main character for our story. Later we begin to write after confirming with the scenes and other characters in each scene.
We experience difficulties when putting our ideas in dialogues as the way each of the group members express their feelings and response were different and sometimes contradicting. Thus, we separated each of the scenes to each of the group members so that our ideas were not disturb by each other. However, we made a peer checking on each others work so that our members do not move the dialogue away from the story line.
After finish drafting, we edited again on the characters and the scenes as well as the dialogues. Finally, we gathered and read it. There was a satisfaction in reading and working together .
As it was my first time creating a drama, I had no idea of the theme, the characters and the story line at the starting point of writing it. As we were assigned to create of a drama related to any theme which mainly focuses on the teenagers, I could not think other than the theme of “love” and “friendship” .Those were common issues among school students. I wanted to talk about something different; far away from the common love and friendship issues.
Then later my group members and I found an interesting issue, TOMBOYS. I have heard about tomboys. They are girls who present themselves as a boy in front of the society. We found it interesting as one of my group member had has a friend like that during her secondary school. Moreover, this phenomenon can be considered as a social illness among the teenagers.
After deciding the theme, we orally draw a story line and created a main character for our story. Later we begin to write after confirming with the scenes and other characters in each scene.
We experience difficulties when putting our ideas in dialogues as the way each of the group members express their feelings and response were different and sometimes contradicting. Thus, we separated each of the scenes to each of the group members so that our ideas were not disturb by each other. However, we made a peer checking on each others work so that our members do not move the dialogue away from the story line.
After finish drafting, we edited again on the characters and the scenes as well as the dialogues. Finally, we gathered and read it. There was a satisfaction in reading and working together .
Monday, February 2, 2009
Princess Kutty and Princess Hang Li Po
Being in this class sometimes reminds me of the time in my secondary English classrooms. I still remember these wonderful teachers. These people are the fantastic 3 I would like to mention about. These were the people who created the interest of English in me. I still remember this particular English teacher who was very strict yet when it comes to the story time I really enjoy it as she will read the text and explain it us. She made my life easy actually. The same goes to the other two teachers I mentioned earlier. They are simply excellent.
After my lower secondary, I continued my studies in a boarding school .This was a total different culture that had I experienced. Apart from the loneliness as my best friend here, there were other things that I would like to look into now. I mean the English learning culture.
Here in the boarding school there was many programme going on despite from the teachers’ afford in preparing the students for the examination, there were other programs such as English Drama competitions. This was something new for me at that time as I took the attempt to join them at first, but later my interest just got doomed as I need to skip my classes and so on. Yet it was the place where I heard the word “PROPS” for the first time .I has never heard of that word before. In weeks of I joining this English Drama group I learnt how they organize the props, how the actors and actresses got transformed into the characters found in the drama. Interesting right!
Then later during my foundation years in Maktab Perguruan Temenggong Ibrahim, we did a play as it was a task assigned by the lectures. ‘Pygmalion’ by Bernard Shaw is the play we did. Hard work and well preparations served us compliments from the lecturers.
Telling about the plays I did enjoy I should not forget the play we classmates presented during our TESL camp. This play was about the Melaka’s Sultan and his wonderful wives and Princess Hang Li Po. It was not the typical and historical story line we had but a twisted version. Sitting and watching a play and acting a play is totally a different task. There were many things going on the backstage such as the audio system, preparing props for the next scene, the curtain drivers and many more things while we were performing at the stage.
These are the amazing memories that are still vivid in my mind. The time I read the drama given ,I can simply imagine the actor actresses who can really get into the role of those characters .Isn’t it wonderful to have your own friends performing in your imaginary stage while you reading the dramas? I am sure it is. I hope those experience I gained will somehow help me in performing well in this course. And all these experience I will surely implement in my class later as to make sure my students never fall into boredom in learning this wonderful language.
After my lower secondary, I continued my studies in a boarding school .This was a total different culture that had I experienced. Apart from the loneliness as my best friend here, there were other things that I would like to look into now. I mean the English learning culture.
Here in the boarding school there was many programme going on despite from the teachers’ afford in preparing the students for the examination, there were other programs such as English Drama competitions. This was something new for me at that time as I took the attempt to join them at first, but later my interest just got doomed as I need to skip my classes and so on. Yet it was the place where I heard the word “PROPS” for the first time .I has never heard of that word before. In weeks of I joining this English Drama group I learnt how they organize the props, how the actors and actresses got transformed into the characters found in the drama. Interesting right!
Then later during my foundation years in Maktab Perguruan Temenggong Ibrahim, we did a play as it was a task assigned by the lectures. ‘Pygmalion’ by Bernard Shaw is the play we did. Hard work and well preparations served us compliments from the lecturers.
Telling about the plays I did enjoy I should not forget the play we classmates presented during our TESL camp. This play was about the Melaka’s Sultan and his wonderful wives and Princess Hang Li Po. It was not the typical and historical story line we had but a twisted version. Sitting and watching a play and acting a play is totally a different task. There were many things going on the backstage such as the audio system, preparing props for the next scene, the curtain drivers and many more things while we were performing at the stage.
These are the amazing memories that are still vivid in my mind. The time I read the drama given ,I can simply imagine the actor actresses who can really get into the role of those characters .Isn’t it wonderful to have your own friends performing in your imaginary stage while you reading the dramas? I am sure it is. I hope those experience I gained will somehow help me in performing well in this course. And all these experience I will surely implement in my class later as to make sure my students never fall into boredom in learning this wonderful language.
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