Saturday, May 26, 2012

Online Task TWO

1.       Do we have a canon for Malaysian literary works? Let’s say we do, who do you think are in it? Consider the fact that their works are well-known and most importantly included as pasrt of the school syllabus-(both in BM and English)
  • KS Maniam
  • Usman Awang
  • Muhammad Haji Salleh
  • Dina Zaman
  • Shirley Lim Geok-Lin
2.       The poems by Erica Jong raise some feminist issues. What are they?
        Love, sex, and affection
3.       Do you think they are suitable to teach at the secondary school level? Explain.
Yes. Secondary school students, who are in their teens, are also in the process of learning how to be an adult. They eventually have to deal with love and conflict in life while they are moving into their adulthood. Therefore, works written by Erica Jong can be one of the ways to open their minds. However, the teacher has to choose carefully which poems to use because not all her poems are suitable.
4.       Is Hillary Tham’s poem more suitable?
I would say that both Hilary Tham and Erica Jong’s are suitable for our secondary school students. Erica Jong’s writings are probably a little more complicated compare to Hilary Tham’s poems.  For an example, ‘Becoming women’, is a good piece of work as a teaching material, which talks and describes about women experiences in puberty.
5.       The short tale from the Native American group is about a girl who is unsatisfied with her life. How is this a universal experience? Can it teach our students anything?
The short tale is a universal experience because it is always a human nature to be dissatisfied with things in life. No matter how much we have, or how good is life, human can never get enough, and would ask for more. The story is mirror to the reality in this world, and provides good moral values.
6.       From internet source find out more about Langston Hughes. From your findings about his background, tell me about the dilemma he conveys through the poem CROSS.
Langston Hughes is a mix of a black and a white, and that makes him in dilemma due to the uncertainty of himself. He is confused for being a child of multiracial decent, and for that, he struggled with his identity, until he realized to be proud of his heritage, regardless he had gone through so much in between.
7.       I find “Dinner Guest: Me” laden with irony and sarcasm. Briefly state if you feel the same.
Yes, I do. The irony of this poem is when he was invited by a white to a fancy restaurant, where he thought that was not a place he belonged to.  It is certainly a very bad feeling for him when he was questioned about his race with the tones of sarcasm by the white people. In the poem, he did mention about his unhappiness and dissatisfaction. 
8.       The experience in the poem Harlem is one that is true for many people. Do you agree?
Yes, the poem is closely relates to many people by bringing meaningful messages in it. 
9.       Langston Hughes fights for the voice of his people. What is the movement called?
Harlem Renaissance.

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