IT Home Learning: Lesson 1

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Q1)The figurative language used in this poem is simile, hyperbole and symbolism. The words used for simile are " as just as fair" ,the words used for hyperbole are "ages and ages" as a hyperbole is an exaggeration and the words used for symbolism are "Two roads diverged".

The poet chose to use hyperbole as by using hyperbole, it is an exaggeration and unrealistic. The poet chose to use symbolism as it symbolises the difficulty to choose his decisions during life and his desire to make a decision in life. The poet chose to use simile as he is trying to make a comparision.

Q2) I like this poem as this is a description of what he wanted to happen and not what really happened, a bit of fiction. In the last stanza, the word "sigh" can be used to express a regret or relief which makes me wonder which is it and the word "difference" makes us think is it a positive or negative difference in life did the poet make. "I took the one less travelled by" This makes me wonder if this particular decision he made was a decision that made a positive or negative impact on his life. Another reason I like this poem as it creates a kind of mysterious feeling, making you wanting to ask more questions.

Book review 1

Book read: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Application
Q1:What would the main character be likely to do if s/he visited your classroom?

Firstly, the main character of this book,Angels and Demons,is a Harvard professor named Robert Langdon. He is a professor of religious iconology and symbology at Harvard University. He has actually written over a dozen books, all about religious iconology and symbology. Examples are The Art of Illuminati, The Symbology of Secret Sects, The Lost Language of Ideograms and the renowned textbook, Religious Iconology.

According to the book, he can be seen discussing computer graphics and religious history with his students on weekends or lecturing at museum openings.

If Mr Robert Langdon really visited my classroom, he would most likely discuss with all of us about religious iconology and symbology. But first, I am sure he is clear that we are only secondary school students who know nothing about these two subjects.

So, this is the sequence of things he is going to do are:
1) Briefly introduce to us what is symbology about
2) Discuss with us about simple symbology
3) Share with us about his experience with symbology
4) Lastly, encourage us to take up symbology and give us our best wishes

Analysis
Q2:If your story occured long ago, compare that time with today in a good paragraph.If it was a modern story, compare it with a long time ago and tell what would be different

Angels and Demons is a modern story. In comparison with a long time ago, somethings indeed would be different.Firstly, in the story, the illuminati used an antimatter canister to threaten to wipe out the Vatican. Once the antimatter comes in contact with the matter, it would explode. Such advanced technology would not be possible to be found long time ago. The terrorists would most probably use normal bombs to wipe out the Vatican. Secondly, professors at that time did not know that much information as information was not that easily able to obtain. So, professional help may not be able to be obtained. Lastly, at that time, the Vatican archives were not yet open to the public, no one, except important people like the pope, was allowed to enter. Therefore, the quest to find the churches would not be able to solve.

Synthesis
Q3 :Make a radio announcement to advertise the book
Love to read thrillers? Are you a fan of Dan Brown's books and Robert Langdon? Then you got to read "Angels and Demons". It is a Robert Langdon thriller that will leave you at the edge of your seat. Buy it now at any bookstore nearby.

Evaluation
Q4:What did you think was the most interesting part of the book? Why?
To me, I think the most interesting part of the book is when Robert Langdon tries to figure out the next church so that he can, together with the police, to catch the abductor and murderer of the cardinals that were kidnapped. I find this part most interesting as it gives the reader a little mystery to solve before Robert Langdon solves and find the church. Much information about the history of these church and symbols comes in which makes the story more interesting. IT makes the reader wanting to know more.

Should we be rewarded for our efforts in school?

Being rewarded, is it a yes or no? Many students like me will of course shout out a big yes. But is it a good thing actually? Rewarding has both a positive and negative side to it.

How did rewarding started? Well, it all started when a student could not get what he wants but he comes into a deal with his parents that they promised to get him what he wants as a reward if he is able to achieve good results. Then, the idea of rewarding spread throughout and more and more students adopt this idea.

Well, the positive side of this particular idea is that students would work and strive even harder each time to achieve their goals and get what they always wanted. Although this may seem materialistic, but the students get good results and becomes smarter. It also serves as an encouragement.

The negative side is that the students have no motivation other than the reward offered. Without the reward, the students would not study at all as they find it meaningless. This way, their grades would deprove and no knowledge is obtained. Another negative side is that if their parents discovered the present they requested is very expensive and they cannot afford it, the students would lose motivation to study and the same negative outcome would happen.

Under what conditions can parents reward students? Well, if it serves as an encouragement for the student to work harder. Parents must also test if the students can study willingly without the reward given to them. The present must also be affordable and not to grand like a pen or something. Never give a present like a car.

To reward or not, is your choice, but do it in the right time with the right conditions.

If you could eliminate one emotion from the world, which one would you eliminate?

There are so many emotions in the world that I would wish to eliminate, but I know that I can only eliminate one.After a few days of pondering, I finally arrived at a decision. I decided to eliminate jealousy.

Why? Jealousy can lead to many other emotions like pain, anger and sadness. In other words, due to this emotion, we would be experiencing torture. Although sometimes, people may be jealous of you and you may be happy about it, it causes more pain than happiness.

Jealousy can lead to negative thinking and even thoughts of commiting suicide. Anger will play a part and you will feel the strong urge to kill this particular person. Most of the time, it is uncontrollable and this would cause you to do something stupid. It may even have a strong negative impact on your life. For example, if you really went to beat this person because he or she is better than you, you may even end up in jail.

The only positive impact jealousy would have on you is that you would work even harder to get better results to win your compatitor.

A compatitive environment would involve lots of jealousy and many people would be very stressed. I wish to remove this emotion so that lesser people's health would be affected and a compatitve environment would be removed.

What is the right way to live?

What is the right way to live?

Many people nowadays are completely clueless about the right way to live.There are a few things we have to do such that we can live our lives to its fullest.

Firstly, we have to be brave enough to face challenges, difficulties, failures and fears. These things are part and parcel of life. If we do not even have the courage to face them, how are we going to move on in life?

Secondly, we have to be optimistic in life. Never be pessimistic and give up hope. Look on the bright side of life. Things would always somehow work out. Treat everything you meet in life as a learning experience to you, including failures and challenges. If you are pessimistic, you would start thinking it is the end of the world for you.

Thirdly, we need to exercise to ensure a healthy life and a healthy mind. Without a healthy body and a healthy mind, we would not be able to think properly and make the important decisions in life. Never stay at home and become a couch potato.

Next, we must be decisive. Have our own decisions so that everything we do is on our own will. Do not just follow with what other people say and end up regretting your decision. That is when it is too late.

Furthermore, we must cherish the time we have as life is short and we do not know what is going to happen next. That is why we must make use of this time to accomplish something and do whatever you want to do. This way, you would reduce the number of regrets in life.

Lastly, we should learn at least a new thing everyday. In this way, we would gradually increase our knowledge and be aware of what is going on now.

There are actually many other things we should do to live life the right way. To live it the right way or not, its your choice.But I would encourage you to go for it.

So we control technology or does technology controls us?

About a million years ago, our ancestors aka cavemen had nothing but stones and other natural resources with them. However, they managed to use these resources to build tools that aid them. Though it was simple and serves only a function,that was how technology started.

Currently, we live in the age of technology where many useful things have been invented. These things have indeed improved the quality of our lives drastically. Work can be done with lesser effort. Traveling great distances is now never a problem to us, thanks to the invention of cars and air planes.

From the surface, it may seem that we, humans, are the ones who control technology. However, technology does control us sometimes and these lead to negative consequences.

One case is that parents nowadays complain that their children are constantly addicted to computer games. This affected their results and performance at school. It is understandable that they need to play to relax but if they constantly play too much at a longer duration, they would get addicted and controlled by the game.

Another case is that when our mobile phones' battery go flat, we cannot contact the people we need to contact and what if we are lost? Not everywhere has a public phone and there is nothing we can do to help ourselves.

It is no doubt that technology has improved our lives in the modern age. However, as technology gradually improves in the future, we must also be able to rely on ourselves and not let technology control us. If there is a day when technology fails to do the work for us, there would be nothing we can do if we let technology controls us.

Do not let technology control you.

How do you know who your friends are?

Almost everyone feels that friends are those who are the next closest people around you, those who care for you, those whom you share all your joy and unhappiness and vice versa. They are also those who can teach you and those whom you will remember for the rest of your entire life.

To me, I actually agree with what they say. They are the special people whom would help you in your life regardless of the huge amount of difficulty you face. However, we must also remember to help them too.

I still remembered the times I had with all my best friends in primary school. On chinese new year eve, all 18 of us went back to our primary school to visit our teachers and juniors. After the celebration, we all went to secret receipe opposite our school and had a great lunch together. In the afternoon, we all went back to school again and used the street soccer court to play games like soccer, captain's ball etc. During soccer, I accidentally passed to the wrong person and he scored a goal. My friends did not scold me or anything but they encouraged me and asked me to play more carefully.

Of course, everything has 2 sides, including friends. Friends can be both good and bad. Good friends would lead by example, teach you the correct values and morales in life, support you all the way, share his or her joy or sorrow with you, be your listening ear and not watch you do the wrong things without stopping you. Bad friends would lead you astray, watch you suffer and do nothing. They are those people whom we should never mix with them.

We can tell who are our true friends through their actions. If that person does not care about you, influences you to do the wrong things, threatens you, they are the people you should not make friends with.

Be careful while making friends as a wrong one would destroy your life. I hope that my friendship with my best friends would last forever.