Reflecting on Media Truths

I began my professional life as a media practitioner, a journalist chasing ideals and dreams of freedom of expression. Influenced by my Editor then at Mediacorp, I took up Economics as a an academic pursuit to understand the forces of society and the groundings necessary for a Journalist (from god knows when till this day, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics seem to be the favourite course of study for budding journalists in Singapore). However, after a long, hard look at myself, I decided to choose Education as a career to influence and inspire a new generation of conscious Singaporeans. After 3 years as a teacher, I decided that I will take a, ahem, sabbatical, to reflect on my own fruitless life chasing fruitless dreams.

Anyway, this post is not for me to whine and cry over the futiliy of my existence, but as a primer to understand the contexts of worldviews. In lieu of the above, the following account might appear somewhat more coherent. I vividly remember my first experience covering an international story of interest for a news agency. The agency had just bought a photo-story from me in early 1998 on the issue of Migrants in Singapore, and they called me in one morning in May 1998 to cover another story which was gaining interest internationally. The beginning of the Reformasi riots, which eventually toppled Suharto's regime, was taking its toll on its regular correspondents and "stringers" there. The amount of stories generated on the riots was inadequate to fulfill the demands of the International Media, and some of the agency's writers refused to cover the story due to ideological conflicts, fear of violence and inability/refusal to understand the local context in the rioting areas. Bravely, I jetted in and wrote several long, well-researched articles on the riots, and was jetted out as soon as my services were not needed. Looking back, I reflected on the objectivity of the trip and the coverage of the riots by the media.

Prior to the riots, newpapers and media around the world paid scant coverage on the escalating discontent and the irregular development of the country. Analysing the "clicks", or use by the international media on the regional stories, it is estimated to be less than 20 stories per day by the agency's more than 200 subscribers, which would include the notable papers New York Times, The Times (England), The International Herald Tribune and our own beloved The Straits Times. With the onset of the street demonstration and violent crackdown by the authorities, thousands of "clicks" were noted each day, and hundreds of Journalists performed the "parachute" mode of journalism by entering the country to cover the riots for their own media.

However, Western or Northern media often ignored the ideological background of the riots in lieu of the gore and violence surrounding the riots. A discursive one-liner "the riots started after students from a local university were shot by the military", followed descriptions of gore worthy of an Anthony Burgess novel. Further emphasis were given to rape and looting of Chinese Indonesians, and did not reveal "fractured lines of societal differences", but a mere stereotype of racial discontent. Rape didn't occur along racial lines, as people were fond of believing, but at random outbursts. Native Indonesians were also victims, and rape-squads against Chinese were also rumoured to have developed. These remained rumours. The central issue in the Reformasi Riots of 1998 was against the oppression of social classes, rather than a racial one that we were led to believe. Disparity between the rich and poor was neglected by that Administration, and Suharto's crucial financial backing by the rich led to the promotion of capitalism and cronyism, which were forced onto the oppressed classes who struggled in a society of disparity. Looting against Chinese shops were overemphasised, as looting took place not along racial lines, but among geographical belts of wealth and the value of the shops. Indigenious Indonesian shops were not spared in the looting, which happens as a capitalization of riots anywhere.

Famous pictures of graffiti on shops and carcasses labelling the "Chinese pork consumers" were proliferated across news media. However, many and most other pictures of violence and shops in various states of destruction were of indigenious people and ownership. One photographer of a major Western newspaper was even observed coaxing rioters to scribble racist graffiti on a looted shop, car, and carcasses of dead men and women who were obviously non-Chinese. The official government denial on a "racial riot" was disparaged by the skeptical Western media who drew their conclusions too quickly that it was a government-backed riot to purge the Chinese race from its society. Distortion of the news by Western Agencies, censorship by the local press, rumours from the grapevine and false perception did lead to the migration of the richer, more mobile Chinese community, who read about threats to them from Chinese and English-medium newspapers, which in turn took many of their stories from Western Wire Services as well as major newspapers, even the Straits Times, whose influential columnists were condemning the oppression of the people and passing on the perception of racial attacks. However, many Chinese did not take heed to the "ethnic cleansing", or who were less mobile than their Upper class counterparts (there are lower-middle class Chinese Indonesians, you know, unlike the stereotypical filthy rich ones), and stayed in their own homes, cowering in fear as much as their indigenious neighbours who know that opportunistic rioters know no race.

An interview I did with Trisakti students, whose deaths led to the riots, indicated that most of the rioters were ideologically aware of the need for reform rather than senselessly manifesting their primal nature of violence as Western media are fond of believing, and that Indo-Chinese students were among the most vocal of supporters of reform. Ironically or aptly, the University has labelled itself as the Campus of the Reform Heroes, distancing itself from the violence and celebrating its ideologies. I was jetted in at the height of demand from Western and regional media for its violence, and axed after three days as the media gradually lost its attention towards the riots, or perhaps as I tried to provide a counter-perspective derailing the Western myths and stereotype on lesser, that is to say, Asian, cultures. My investigative reports averaged 20 clicks, way below the agency's average for the riot coverage, and they were heavily "scrubbed" by Western media before publication, at times merged into other stories as a cross-perspective, though usually at the rear of the article, where readers gradually lost interest. My Editor told me that my trip was a high-risk loss-making venture, but celebrates the achievement of "factual" journalism at its height and glory and meeting the ethos of news. However, it was pulled from the archives after 3 months, citing the need to create space for other stories. Hmm..

Anyway, the anecdote is not to portray any "holier than thou" criticism of the Western media, but a reflection on the everyday nature of news in media, which if I interprete rightly, will be a central feature of the study of written discourse, as the great proportion of authoritative discourse in written form today takes place in the media. Media selection, framing, its hidden ideology, the secret symbols in its discourse, and the hegemony between the North and South will allow us to reconsider what we see each day, and allow us a critical perspective on the "truths" media attempt to deliver, and the "truths" we reify in our minds.

The End of Adjectives and The Last Word

A rather famous literary advice was proposed by Ezra Pound, a semi-great critic and above-average poet, to the regardable yet quintessential genius of Ernest Hemingway, which became greatly influential to Hemingway's writings and the development of post-Hemingway writers, especially in the short story genre. Pound claimed famously that "the true poet is most easily distinguished from the false, when he trusts himself to the simplest expressions, and when he writes without adjectives". Hemingway himself rethought his writings, and was greatly hailed for his sparseness in prose to convey literary effects. A personal favourite story of mine was the aptly though strangely titled "A very short story", which used the sparseness of its prose and adjectives and its detached, perhaps even aloof, narrative style to convey the strength of the message. This does contrasts somewhat with the weightier perennial favourite and critically-acclaimed "Snows of Kilimanjaro", which applied somewhat greater style and premodifying adjectives in its language.

As Pound and his studio was deeply influential in his era, many modernist writers were indebted to his influence in assisting their publication. Though it would be foolish to generalize the thought, was Modernism reshaped, and the loss of the Adjective proliferated as a result of Pound's considerable influence and thoughts? In school, we taught and learnt that "beautifying" quality of the adjectives in textual production. Personally, I teach the disorganized use of adjectives, sparseness combined with proliferation to create a literary effect. However, does the economy of text result in the economy of thoughts? Will this short discourse and my intent or style lose its effect if I eliminated all the adjectives here?

Consider this extract from Samuel Beckett, a Modernist who obviously ignored Pound's advice against superfluous use of adjectives and adjectival phrases. Though Beckett's strength lies in his Minimalist and pessimistic interpretation of the human condition, his trilogy of Molloy, Malone Dies, and the Unnameable, as well as the superb novella "Murphy", demonstrated his indulgence in using adjectives, both superfluous and apt, to describe the human condition. James Joyce, somewhat more influenced by Pound, applied his streams of consciousness in his characters more economically. As an aside, I have experimented on the criticism on interpretation before analysis, which I totally agree with. I will place the extract after my opinions and perspectives on Beckett. Did your opinions on this text change after having read these "prederived notions"? Would it have been different if I omitted the adjectives "Minimalist", "Pessimistic", "Superfluous" and "Apt" and the Adverb "Obviously", as well as the prior information on Pound's economy and Beckett's rebellion?

"It is on my back, that is to say prostrate, no, supine, that I begin to feel best, bony. I lie on my back, but my cheek is on the pillow. I have to only to open my eyes to have them begin again, the sky and smoke of mankind. My sight and hearning are very bad, on the vast main no light but reflected gleams. All my senses are trained full on me, me. Dark and silent and stale, I am no prey for them. I am far from the sounds of blood and breath, immured. I shall not speak of my sufferings. Cowering deep down among them I feel nothing. It is there that I die, unbeknown to my stupid flesh. That which is seen, that which cries and writhes, my witless remains." Malone Dies, Samuel Beckett (1956).

Anyway, to end my confused discourse, just wanted to pose a few questions which carries predisposed notions on literature.

1) Modernist and Post-modernist writers, influenced by Pound, would create texts sparse and symptomatic of the human discourse, in contrast to the "richness" of the Renaissance and Enlightenment period, where hardly a sentence went by without an adjective thrown in for good measure, such as the writings of Shakespeare, Milton, Laurence Sterne (whose Tristram Shandy was famously described by Dr Samuel Johnson as a "period piece" and would not last), Cervantes, etc. Several literary critics lament the declining richness of literature, and blame the media (Film, TV) for creating "quickies" for the attention-deficit audience, resulting in textual construct in literature to follow Pound's advice and ditch adjectivals and adverbials to create fast-moving texts. Has quality in texts actually declined in the post-modern age with the "smoothness" emphasized? Is the avoidance of adjectives to create "Richness" and "Musicality" as purported by Pound actually successful in modern poetry and prose, or is it even possible to construct texts, musical and rich, while consciously avoiding superfluous adjectives?

2) The famous yet controversial Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of Linguistic Determinism causes one to reflect on the dearth of adjectives in text. While the English Lexicon is increasing daily (six words a day, some claim), the avoidance and gradually declining use of adjective may result in the craft of "functional" literature, bare-boned and audience-centered, realigned around a limited set of words. Language reflects reality, and as Sapir and Whorf claim that reality reflects language, the pertinent question is whether reality in the post-modern age is losing its richness. Classicists harp about the "good ol' days". Are they justified? Will we as a society decline further unless we return to 'richness'?

To sum up this long post, it is my opinion that we take a "long, hard look" at modern literature and analyze its content and descriptions. Is Modernity taking its toll on Literature, which is a reflection of society? Has society declined, or has only Literature declined? Are those who carry on the bastion of "richness" in description fools who live in a different age, detached from reality? Before we lose ourselves, perhaps we should ponder if the article's title, borrowed somewhat from Fukuyama, is actually true and happening.

Thanks for the patience to read this, do comment and argue, both reinforcing and rebutting.

Met Me Met Mad

Was feeling way out of my league (not in a positive sense) during today's lesson with my glaring technical weakness in linguistics creeping in. Sought reprieve through the reading of various madmen like Lacan, Saussure and Derrida. Set me thinking on the use of Metaphor and Metonyms in Discourse. Set me writing this short rant on it. May not be accurate, but does reflect present, mad thoughts.

Linguistic analysis requires its practitioners to possess assumptions that communication and its communicator is conscious. Lacan's development of Freudian Linguistics and interpretation on the unconscious slippages which constitute, to a large extent, the contents of daily discourse, causes one to pause and reflect on the adequacy of such assumptions. Therein lies the difficulties in a Pragmatic Analysis of Metonymy and Metaphors, as they are reflection on the unconscious, rather than conscious, speech.

The difficulties in understanding text belies a simplistic notion that every unit in language is able to be understood. A signifier attains meaning only in relation to its contrastive signifier, e.g. "pleasing" and "painful". This results in infinite chains of reference in the language, and with further chains within a single word developing, the tasks of mere perception and linkage of chains in understanding discourse may prove inadequate. Linkages may not be linear, i.e., they may have to create a net-like structure, in contrast to its various opposites, to create a full meaning of the signifier. Metaphors and Metonyms are reflection of a non-linear linkage.

The nature, function and the effects created by Metaphors and Metonyms create a far greater problem for Pragmatists as Metaphors are deliberately used to emphasize the separation of the real from the present state, and any analysis could only reflect the seperation, not the state. Metonyms, on the other hand, use symbols to elicit further qualities on the signified. Again, the problem lies in the description of the qualities: though it may create a mental picture of the signified, the signified is only seen through its qualities and loses its being, which is akin to the post-modern "I-Me" differentiation.

Communication and Linguistics has evolved to a present post-modern state where Centrality, Static States and Statements, and Objectivity has had to give way to a Diverse, Fluid, and Subjective Universe where traditional assumptions and notions have to be reconsidered. The use of Metaphors and Metonyms is but a small reflection of this new state, and "Me" in relation to reality may have to give way to the "I", which in turn may evolves into "-"?

Considerations in pragmatics

As JL Austin noted, it is amazing how few instances of miscommunication take place daily amidst the wondrously confusing and ambiguous use of "Standard" and "Non-Standard" language. In prescriptive grammar, there is an assumption that use of non-standard forms of language results in communicative ineffeciency and ineffectiveness, and the coherence of any text or utterance will be greatly diluted even with available context and co-text. In the Cambridge Grammar, an authoritative, or should I say Authoritarian, text on Grammar usage and errors, thousands of instances of miscommunication can take place hypothetically, and in some cases, realistically.

In the study of pragmatics, there is an assumption that communication is successful when speaker's intention and listener's interpretation are met. With that, it would require that reference, inference, denotations and connotations are successful to some degree. When we interpret and analyze these discourses, it may appear commonsensical to us, and with the assistance of theoretical understanding, we are able to apply labels such as "anaphora", "antecedents", "connotations", "denotations", "success", etc to them.

However, considering the commonsense in us is inadequate to apply an understanding into the functions of human communications and relations. We are able to see that context applies in communication, and the necessary background information and logical explanation allows us to fully understand such utterances. Our various "domains" in which text are formed and uttered is bound by several key factors in the understanding and genuine interpretation of such communicative subtleties. Consider the following and decide if these are legitimate considerations, and changes in each attribute might somehow alter our perception of communicative success, and the resulting implications on Connotations and Reference.

Power: Jenny Thomas states that Power alters our discourse pattern, i.e., we speak differently to people "in power" and to people with "lower power" than us. As in most sociological study of power, it remains true that the class in power tends to overpower and shape society, as do those without power either aspire to communicate in the norms of the powerful, or totally rebel against it. Examining this relationship, we can look at the X-Men dialogue with a differing point-of-view. Grey, being mutant, observed to an extent the positive connotations of "mutant" and "mutation". However, consider the overall success of her communication? Was she able to convince, or perform a perlocutionary act, or was she only able to inform, which is an illocutionary act? Consider then, the next speaker, Senator Kelly, who obviously was able to communicate his connotation more successfully than Grey. Did his audience understand him and were convinced as he possessed greater power, thus heightening his perlocutionary force in his connotations? Did the senators equate his connotation as they were all "alike" in power, status, humanity and "gender" as opposed to Grey's contrastive differences? Did real authority of listener over the speaker alter the communicative relationship? How then, can we ignore Tamir-Ghez's assumption of Speaker's Authority over Listener? Did the Forced encoding and resulting understanding of the connotation alter in relation to the speaker or the authority?

Ideology: Similarly, Ideology shapes the connotations and references of lexemes. Kelly's connotations were more agreeable to the audience as his, and perhaps the prevailing ideologies, were Right-wing and Classical, while Grey appeared to be sympathetically Left-leaning as well as Liberal. Similarly, connotations to us which may appear derogatory yet commonsensical such as "Normal", "EM3", might have different connotations to the more sympathetic and Liberal, or to those who reject the existence of connotations for the literal. Other ideological clashes such as Theism, Epistemology, Realism, Structuralism, etc. do result in differing connotations of words, both functional and descriptive, which I will not expound further lest it leads to a full 300000 words thesis.

Culture: Our interpretation of language, as clearly understood in the lectures on Sociolinguistics as well as pragmatics, is bound by Culture as well as Context, which I would simplistically list as Time, History and Heritage. Meanings are bounded by Time, as expressions of my generation such as "spastic" or the recent "SMS" could not be understood clearly in a different age. Furthermore, the sentence construct and syntax do differ across Time, with notable differences in Academic/Literary writings through the ages, leaving remnants of their culture and norms for the Modern Reader to determine. Again, this is a consideration more for sociolinguistics than Pragmatics, thus I will not continue. However, do consider the use of Vernacular language and dialect in informal discourse, as well as in politcal rallies (as in the recent elections), and its communicative effectiveness over the formal, standardized language in the Formal Parliamentary sessions. Did the semantical understanding of the audience or Speaker's intentions cause such alterations from their daily speech? Was the utterance better understood when informal speech is used in a formal context (rally), or did Hearer's comfort and alliance reshape our discourse pattern? Why did the examples from Yule, Lyons and Thomas, risk ambiguity and indirect difficulty to construct sentences in this manner?

Sylistics, Artistry and Aesthetiscism:- Written and Spoken Language: The prestige of written words and its natural tendencies to rely on antecedents and endophora rather than the spoken word that uses more exophora causes a necessary code-switching. Is speaker's intent and reader's intepretation better served with fullness in formal written text than an informal spoken text relying on exophora? Again, this is bound by power attributed to written discourse and its supposed aestheticism over the common spoken word, perhaps devoid of beauty. -Absence of signifiers: Eden, Eden, Eden, a disturbing book on child prostitution, caused a relook into the perspectives on language. There was no signifier, and the intensity of the language, the vulgarities, the narrative mood, the actions, the descriptions, leads to a text that celebrates not content, but the disintegration and the explosion of language. As in many Modernist/Post-Modern approach towards text, essential meaning in language is inessential, and words themselves never ever convey the intent of the speaker and the Hearer never fully understands the Speaker. How then, can pragmatics function as a discipline which endeavours to understand the functions of text in human discourse? Is there a greater problem in analyzing critical discourses such as philosophy, and Rhapsodic Texts such as poetry and literature, which produces texts for effect rather than to communicate any reality to its readers?
Furthermore, artistry raises more problems from pragmatics as frequently, literature has raised many issues into language such as the Indecision of the speaker, a deliberate misinterpretation of speakers' intent, Deception of the speaker, self-deception of the listener, notably in Marcel Proust's Remebrance of Things Past and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The indecision of Proust is elemental to his discourse, which means to us, was the speaker/writer successful in his communication, and does and can his reader understand Proust's prose? His sentences, even if many fulfill Grice's Maxims, can mislead his readers, and his prose stylistics which flouts many of Grice's Maxims, do allow the reader to understand (?) his intention.Further problems in Art for pragmatics would raise the problem of the Real and Implied Writer and Reader.

As it is, I shall neither bore nor confuse you no further with my rantings, except to note that
"There was a notable absence of patterns".

Creating cultural texts through Film and Literature

NOTE: You may disagree with the definition of some terms and theories. However, as an introductory lesson, its objectives is not to discuss theories nor terms, but to use them to demonstrate relevant examples.

What is film?
- motion picture or movies? recreational? banal?
- a cultural text? intellectual/sociological? profound?

Is film a cultural text?
-traditionally, cultural texts have been restricted to written works and paintings.
-high/classicist view (harold bloom) classifies literature only as "written works of high intellectual achievements".
-universal/modern view (allen bloom) classifies literature as cultural texts which reflects the everyday practices and everyday life.
-Taking the modern view, Film in its form is therefore a cultural text.

Film or cinema theory:
- We will consider four main theories in our study:
1) Auteur theory
2) Realism/Fantasy
3) Semiotics
4) Narrative theory

Auteur theory
In film, as in writing, the power of the film lies greatly in the vision of the author/s.
Looking at CITY OF GOD, the power comes from the author of the book, the director and the actors who understand the realness of the events in the film, and are able to deliver it to the audience with great impact.

In Miyazaki, his feminist and environmentalist attitude, and his view of bildungsroman, leads to his inclusion of these themes in his films.

Simple definitions
Feminism: belief that women are equal, extremely rare in Asian context, esp Japan.
Environmentalism: belief that human progress is bound by the environment, and that the
environment must be protected.
Bildungsroman: the coming of age, maturity and development of a person through time and experience. (eg. Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Narnia.)

Which parts of the film does Miyazaki demonstrate his
a) Feminism
b) Environmentalism
c) Bildungsroman

We move on from people in the auteur theory to the bigger picture, the world.
The world in which we as writers create can reflect reality, as in City of God, or Fantasy, as in Spirited Away.
In realism, it reflects "the world as it is to you". You may not identify with the streets
of Rio de Janiero. Can you identify with Jack Neo's I not Stupid?

What can and can you not identify with?
Consider this:
- Place
- Time
- Language
- Behavior
- Thoughts

In fantasy, it reflects another world beyond that we live in. Common themes include science fiction, horror, magic, fairy tales.
Another more important and perhaps, frightening theme, is the concept of Utopia and Dystopia.
Simple Definition:
Utopia: a perfect place where people are in harmony and free.
Dystopia: A supposed Utopia with major flaws.

Think about it for a minute, and write down a short paragraph describing your Utopia.

Now, write one flaw into your Utopia, which will cause the collapse of your world.

One of humanity's main considerations is the absence of crime, sadness and the presence of an intelligent world.

Three films portraying a Utopia gone wrong:

Intelligent world: The Matrix-perfectly artificial intelligent world. But the creators of the world had to write in suffering and pain to make the people alive, and later, the program tries to take over humanity.

Absence of pain: Equillibrium- no sadness, but society stops being able to feel. No "good" as well as "bad". Just equillibrium.

Absence of Crime: Minority Report.

Look at what happens when there is a possible world where there's no crime?

What's wrong with the world in Minority Report? What do you think will happen next? Do you think John will commit murder? Was it his choice to kill, or was he tricked into killing? Is there a difference?

We move on from the ideas or themes in a film to the elements which "decorate" a text and gives it greater meaning.

Semiotics: -The study of signs.

In semiotics, we attempt to link elements in the text to one of greater meaning than just a
sign itself. For example, a telephone booth, in the movie "Phone Booth". What does the telephone symbolize? It can be linked to communication, the need for love, loneliness,
truths and lies, etc.

Every element in a (well-made) film is thought out before its execution. The framing of the picture (why close-up?), language, props, names, time, place, etc are crucial parts of a film, and gives it greater meaning.

Using semiotics, what do these things symbolize to you?

Minority report could only be made in the 21st Century, as technology is far more advanced.
Steven Spielberg spent much time and effort getting the various props in the film to look right. Though the story was written about 50 years ago, it wouldn't have looked right without the special effects and gear.

Let's look at Hindi Cinema, one of the most important film industries today.

Kabhi Khushi Khabie Gham (Sometimes happy, sometimes sad) is one of the most popular Hindi Film ever.

Looking at the frozen screen, where is the place and time? Which symbols tell you that? What else do the symbols represent? Are you correct? (let's look at the actual excerpt)

There are lots of props and decoration in Hindi films. Why? What do they represent?

The movement of the people, the beats of the songs, the expression on their faces, what do they represent?

We move on from the content of a film to the styles which are closely related to writing.

The last section of the lecture deals with narrative styles. In literature, what narrative styles do we employ? What kind of narrator do we have? (Excerpts from Thomas Mann, Samuel Beckett, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, James Joyce, Thomas Lim, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rainer Rilke, Virginia Woolf: Western Canon?.)

Key narrative styles and moods:

1) Stream of Consciousness (Joyce and Woolf)
2) Omniscient Narrator (Lim, Borges)
3) First person Protagonist (Unreliable): (Camus, Dostoyevsky, Beckett)
4) Judgmental: (Mann, Rilke)
Films have a similar narrative style
1) Monty Python???
2) Amelie
3) Memento, Rashomon (multiple view), Fight Club
4) Rarely do films employ the judgmental, but they commonly use the invisible. There is no clear narrator. They story is carried through the actions/speeches/scenes. Most common film narrative.

Practice in Narrative Framing.
Practice in Writing a short paragraph detailing a character's Odyssey, with attention to the world, Symbols, Framing, embedding of personality and observable idiosyncracies.

Conclusion
Film and Literature attempt a converging path in the 21st Century with the proliferation of mass media. Is the creation of a mass culture necessarily bad? Is traditional qualities in literature "dumbed" and "watered" down to accomodate the masses? Or are the masses enriched through the availability of such mass cultural texts? These issues are greatly debatable, but as budding writers, these factors should influence you to maintain the integrity of your writing. Writing is a supreme art, and good writers are able to use the observations of the abstract in Texts, as well as embed their experiences, thoughts and feelings into their works. Owning a text is crucial to the development of your writings, and the various examples in the texts analyzed today allows you to see the quality in textual production which adheres to the presented principles. Read well, look well, think well, live well, write well.

A functional return to paradise lost

Am returning to this blog, long after it was abandoned. The function of the blog will no longer be a showcase of minor works for only one or two (if any) readers of my materials. This will be mainly used as a reflection on learning in the courses currently undertaken. Since there appears to be much overlap in the courses, I hope that the materials put up will "score points" in all the courses I am taking. Heh. Worry not for I will not crap about my horrible day, nor the dearth of good-looking girls in University campuses, etc. I will share some lesson plans as well and materials where possible to assist teachers and aspiring ones to consider. Caveat: Some of the lesson plans are not actually executed, as I don't teach Lit or English at Secondary level. However, I do have a keen interest in the subjects and will try to give my perspective as a non-Lit teacher in hope that teachers will find it useful. Anyway, first up will be a lesson to share on Literature, Film and Culture, which I will be conducting for the Gifted Education Branch in a workshop later this month. Do plough through it and use whatever is necessary. Resources available upon request (don't want to get sued for copyright infringement by putting the texts/clips here!).