Marionette's Mute Musings V2

Hello and Allah’u'Abha,

It has been a long time.

Some people may wonder if I had stopped writing alltogether. The answer is no. I couldn’t shift the priorities and shuffle the tasks fast and efficient enough. Research papers, assignments. Every passing semesters only seeks to bring more and more workload, and I’m feeling the pressure.

http://yeetzyypirng2.blogspot.com

Go to here. This was my internet blogging assignment. You should see that the my style doesn’t stray too far. Sorry for not copy-pasting here. I don’t think its good.

However, it is really a bad attempt trying to look into things (especially issues pertaining selecting, choosing and teaching literature materials in classroom) with depth and maturity. The real issue with me is that I don’t see what is maturity, what is depth. I need to develop these two qualities, and I will certainly be delighted in people giving advices. But I think that’s about it.

Oh, speaking about advices, meet my good friend; Matthew Wong.
http://mattaiwong.blogspot.com/

I knew him since I was in Form 4 (I think that is Grade 9/10 I think for the US standards. Someone please enlighten me about it). So he’s open up a blog; it talks about how he deals with Christianity. Please pay him a visit, drop a word if you wish to. He will be happy.

You can see what kind of character he is by peering into his writing. Unfortunately, the truth may be concealed as to how his mind works, because people will have some form of self-consciousness when they write in online, public blogs. Likewise, I am the same. But allow me to weave a string a words.

Matthew Wong. He is a devout Christian. And still is. His character has developed much spiritual depth. What I mean to see is that he has begin to harness his ability as a “spiritual radar” and detect people. He isn’t an Inquisitor-like character, far from it. He does not bother himself with trvilialities. Every time I meet him; he changes. He evolves, he changes. He is like a book, with many sub chapters, hyperlinks, and the more you read about him (or technically, the more you know him) the more there is to him that yet remains undiscovered / unknown to you. But I know his basic self. He is, after all, a meek, kind soul.

I call him Wongey. I know he won’t like it when I say it out here, but I can’t help it. It isn’t his pet name, you see. But I have the tendency to call him that. You, as my readers, I trust that you’ll keep this to yourself, and you don’t have to mention a word about it. I just want to show you, that he and I, our stories goes way back. Way back. Perhaps if he writes about me, maybe you’ll know more about me.

Oops, I’m straying off again. Well, Matthew is a on-site manager. He specializes in one thing; estimating and managing resources and materials on-site (construction). This goal of his, strayed off his original intention to be an internal design specialist, but I guess he may have a change of heart. But as far as I’m concerned, he likes it. He likes what he is now. He has time to serve God, and he has the time to serve the people. God bless his soul. Halleluyah, Amen. May God bestow the bounties of this world and the world thereafter to him.

Wongey may not seem like it, but in him there’s ingeniuty. A pure genius. You see, his ingeniuty does not come from pure cognitive processing capabilities. It is reinforced, enhanced with his vision and his soul’s purity. What sort of purity? His intent. His intent, is always, questionably good. I use the word “questionably” because some people will misconstrue his gestures, but he has everyone in his heart.

I remember my father once said that people like Matthew can be dangerous. They can remain pure, and then suddenly, if something can go wrong, they’ll snap. And be very wicked people they be. But Matthew, has always (and I pray that he will always be) the idealistic Matthew who aims for the sky while literally flying on a rocket. I am sure that you can work out the drift. I’m not trying to be cryptic nor metaphorical. I’m just being.. me.

Oh well, I guess that is about Matthew, with lack of depth, and lack of maturity. I mean, my writing piece of course. But I think it is more than sufficient for you to see Wongey in the same way I do. Perhaps. We shall see.

Well, I’m off. I want to play. =)

See you all soon.

I just realize that I am 1 short of the required 15 blog posts.

So I’ll sum one up with my work on “Naw Ruz”, a Malaysian celebration.

Now, I know that I’ll be drawing some stares, but “Naw Ruz” is an integral part of the Baha’i Holy days.

It is basically the new year for the Baha’i community all around the world.

To learn more about the Baha’is, visit www.bahai.org

But this isn’t a blog to promote the Baha’is. It is a written statement to record my weekly activities.

I started out to work on a 2 page long introductory note about “Naw Ruz”. Originally, Naw Ruz is a unique celebration (it is a new year celebration for the Persians and Iranians) for certain people in the Middle East.

What I made is an article compressed for “I don’t know what Naw Ruz is all about” fit enough for a Standard 5-6 student to read and gain a substantial understanding on the nature of the celebration.

I feel honored as I am one to write such on a celebration. I hope I have done Naw Ruz and the Baha’i community some intellectual justice.

So what I wrote? Simple stuffs. I need to keep it informative, yet not to omit relevant information. I need to pass this assignment off as a “two sheet of paper that you can read and know kit” sort of thing. It is a mind bogling challenge. But I’ve passed it. Dr. Edwin now holds a copy of it.

And I am just one happy soul who is more than happy to write about a special occasion.

I wonder what are the thoughts of cultural historians when they record cultural phenomenons and festivals? I’m sure they struggle alot to keep a neutral ground, while trying to make their articles as exciteable and readable. Now I can begin to see in an another perspective.

Nice!

It is already the final week. So many things have passed, some are good, some are bad.

I must admit that towards the last few weeks, the tempo has increased alot that I find myself needing to squeeze time to watch comedies just to allow myself to unwind. The act of unwinding itself is not an issue, but the workload is.

Still, there is one more required blog post, and I do not know what to make of it. Isn’t there something memorable that I could write of?

I don’t know. But to take this to an intellectual plane, I feel that I’ve somewhat missed the boat. There were so many things, so many questions that I wanted to learn but I’ve didn’t. I wanted to ask Dr. Edwin so many things, but other students are equally wanting of his attention. I wish to satisfy my intellectual thirst for certain knowledge.

But it is alright.

What I’ve learnt is good enough. In time I’ll be able to learn what I’ve missed, or what I might have overlooked. After all, in life learning achievements are all about measuring the intellectual progress that we have made as a student.

That is something worth as a thought for developing a teacher persona, and a scholar persona. Even if they’re just of a low quality for now. They will, and they can, develop.

But this course is definitely one course that people can enjoy. And it should be enjoyable. I enjoyed every session in class. I hope my classmates feel the same.

Interestingly, a classmate of mine, Chan Kuo Wei, was able to sum it up nicely in his blog

http://kuowei85.blogspot.com with this.

What I have learned in this course:
1. various literary texts can be exploited for teaching purposes in the literature classroom. For example, a simple poem about teenage pregnancy can serve as a introduction into a text deals with similar issues
2. different genres of text provide insights into the author, cultural and societal background, creative usage of language and different styles of writing.
3. not all texts are written to be read by the eyes of the general public, which goes to show that literature may not be deliberate.
4. text interpretation is in the eyes of the reader, not the writer.
5. any form of literary argument can stand provided there is textual evidence to support it.
6. literature is meant to be enjoyed and experienced; and you cannot enjoy literature learning if you are late to class.
7. a teacher has to read, widely and extensively, to provide a wider perspective on literature and life. The reading habit has to cultivated among teachers before it can be among students.

Class life in EDU3234 with Dr. Edwin is good.