Monday, September 22, 2014

Purpose of Plot

Purpose of Plot
1.    To make the story more interesting
Readers like to be kept in suspense; they may not like to be told everything from the beginning. Therefore, withholding some information form the readers may keep them guessing and therefore keep them involved in the story.
2.    To make the story more dramatic
Sometimes the more exciting event is placed at the beginning so that the reader is immediately captivated by the story. On the other hand, writers sometimes keep the most exciting incidents until last, so that the story ends dramatically and leaves an impression in the minds of the readers.
3.    To bring out the message or issue more strongly
Writers may rearrange events or include subplot elements so that at the end of the novel, the major and minor strand support each other and emphasise the message of the text more strongly.
4.    To create a strong emotional response
Writers may also reorganise the events that occurred to build up a sense of anticipation or develop a more compelling and intense mood at the end. The effect of this would be to create a deeper emotional response within the reader.
In addition to reorganising the story, it is important for writers to include descriptive language so that the events depicted become clearer. Therefore, a good story cannot just consist of a narration of events, it must also include more emotive and descriptive language.
Text A
Text B
Conrad was in love with Lucy and he tried to talk to her one Sunday.

The coffee shop was filled with the usual Sunday crowd. A thick oppressive heat pressed down on the crowd and flies buzzed around like airplanes. Conrad saw her at a distance and tried to make his way past the magnificent fat man who was in front of him. He was within ten feet of her and saw that she was dressed in a pink blouse, which fell softly over her shoulders and covered the upper half of her arms.

She is beautiful. I love her.
O she doth teach the torches to burn bright.
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear –
Beauty too rich for use, for each too dear.
(Extract from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare)

Types of plot structure


Text A
A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest. As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down moaning and groaning. At first, he turned to flee, but finding that the Lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing the pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who was soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the Lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat from which to live. But shortly afterwards, both Androcles and the Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days. The Emperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. Soon the Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles, he recognised his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog. The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole story. Wherupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the Lion let loose to his native forest. Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.
                                                                                           Androcles and the Lion from Aesop’s Fables by Aesop 

What is a plot? Plot vs Story

Definition : What is a plot?
Plot versus story – What’s the difference?
1.    I woke up at 7 a.m., brushed my teeth, got dressed and rushed out of the house to catch the bus. By the time I reached the bus-stop at 8 a.m., there was already a crowd of people gathering around. When I drew nearer, I saw a lifeless body on the ground.

2.    The first thing I saw when I reached the bus-stop was the crowd of people gathering around. I was still panting, having woken up at 7 a.m. and rushed out of the house. When I drew nearer, I saw a lifeless body on the ground.

Types of plot structure
1.    The Triangle Structure – Most common type. Here the plot begins with a conflict which involves a problem or a dilemma. This is usually given in the introduction. The problem builds up until it reaches its point of greatest intensity known as the climax. Finally, the problem is resolved in the conclusion of the story.

E.g. In Animal Farm by George Orwell, the first chapter begins with the conflict between humans and animals. The animals are unhappy with the humans. The conflict develops to the point where the animals revolt against the humans and the pigs take on the leadership of the farm. The climax occurs when the animals begin to realise how the pigs have abused their power over the other animals.

2.   The fishbone structure – involves one main storyline. However, during the course of the plot, the writer may digress to relate other minor incidents or events that have happened. These minor incidents or events may be unrelated to the main plot and serve to give us a better idea of the characters involved or they may simply be intended to entertain the readers.
E.g. In the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, the main plot revolves around the protagonist, Christopher, who searches for the murderer of his neighbour’s dog. However, along the way, the writer also includes snippets of Christopher’s life and his relationship with his parents, teacher and neighbours. These are unrelated to the main plot of investigating the murder of the dog, but are important because they give readers a clear idea of Christopher’s character.


3.  The flashback- flashforward structure – involves one main storyline. However, during the course of the plot, the writer may employ a flashback technique, which is a technique used to narrate an incident which occurred before the time of the story. The opposite of flashback is known as flashforward, which is used the writer provides a glimpse of a future event.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Describing Places (1)

My Stay at Sentosa

During the June holidays, I stayed at Sentosa for two days. We parked our car at the World Trade Centre and took a cable car to Sentosa. Our cable car was green in colour. The ride was shaky and we saw a cruise ship with a swimming pool. We checked into the Rasa Sentosa hotel and put our things in the room. I locked my teddy bear in the safe because it was special to me. The first place we visited was the dolphin lagoon. My sister took photos of the dolphins. The dolphin show was interesting and the dolphins could jump through the hula hoops. Next, we went to Underwater World. We saw torpedo rays, sharks and electric eels. We had dinner and watched the musical fountain. The next morning, we swam in the pool. I liked the slide very much. We played with sand on the beach and walked across the bridge back to Singapore. I was very happy. I hope I can stay at Sentosa again.

At the Beach

I like going to the beach. I had a wonderful time last week. There were miles of golden sand. I waded in the cool water along the shore. My friend and I collected a bag of shells. Many of the shells had different shapes.

When I put a shell to my ear, I could hear the sound of the sea. The sea looked blue and cool. My friend and I built a sandcastle and decorated it with shells. I dug the sand with my spade. We saw some fishermen spreading their nets on the sand to dry. We also saw them going to the sea to catch fish.

I watched the white-topped waves rush up the beach. They left behind seaweed and more shells. The seagulls circled above in the blue sky. The coconut trees swayed in the gentle breeze. It was delightful.

As I walked, I left my footprints behind on the sand. I drank cool coconut water to quench my thirst. When it was hot, I rested under the shade of a bench umbrella. Soon it was time to go home. I made up my mind to come back another day.

My Holidays

During the school holidays, my family visited Taman Negara Endau-Rompin in Johore, Malaysia. We drove to Mersing and parked our car there. With our tour guide, we later hired a van which took us to Rompin.

Taman Negara Endau-Rompin is the second largest national park in Malaysia. We stayed in a wooden chalet surrounded by tall trees, all kinds of insects and strange noises. There were many wooden huts and farm animals nearby which belonged to the Orang Asli people. Orang Asli are the aborigines or natives of the jungle. Although they could not speak our language, they were very friendly towards us.

Very late at night, we went for a night jungle walk. It was scary because there were many unusual insects such as the goggle-eyes crawlers, some giant ants and a few fireflies.

The next morning, we spent four hours jungle-trekking to a spot called Blue Lagoon. We had to cross three fast-flowing rivers and beat the rapids by holding on to a thick and strong rope. Throughout the journey, we saw leeches everywhere and I was bitten by them. I was not frightened at all although my blood was oozing out. After a few days of exciting adventure, we left Rompin and headed towards Mersing.

We then visited Pulau Besar, a tropical island off eastern Johore, and a half hour boat ride from Mersing. It had white sandy beaches and lots of colourful fishes. My father taught me how to snorkel and canoe. We then hopped to another island called Pulau Rawa on a chartered boat. We had an enjoyable time feeding the colourful fishes and swimming in the deep blue sea. We took a speedboat back to Mersing and after having our delicious nasi lemak lunch, we drove back to Singapore.

I enjoyed my trip to Malaysia very much and had a wonderful time.


The Enchanted Flowers

It was a humid Sunday afternoon. The air was still. The sun was shining brightly up in the clear blue sky. Birds were chirping melodiously in the branches outside my window. However I was feeling very gloomy and bored at home. Longing for some activities, I went to the woods nearby to pick some wild berries.

I was walking alone in the quiet woods, shuffling my feet on the dried leaves. After a while, I caught sight of some unusual but beautiful flowers. There were hundreds of them. Their petals were of rainbow colours, their stems were orange and their leaves were sparkling white. The stigmas were little heads of fairies. They fluttered their petals and flew around the flowerbed, sprinkling sweet smelling pollen grains. Some were walking about, chatting in a peculiar language that I did not understand. Others were dancing and singing merrily. I could not believe my eyes. It was indeed an amazing sight.

Suddenly, I felt a pinch on my shoulder. OUCH! A fat, juicy bee had stung me and everything vanished before my eyes.

Useful Phrases for Composition Writing

Useful Phrases For Composition Writing

They congregated at the void deck every morning.
Trudging home wearily,
It whizzed past my astonished eyes…..
It was a distressing sight…
He was on the floor, wincing in pain….
With her stick brandished in the air,….
He hobbled forward awkwardly…
Feeling remorseful,
He apologized profusely to the ….
With thunderous applause…..
My curiosity was aroused….
He was heaving a sigh of relief…
She shrieked excitedly…
We wormed our way through the crowd.
There were cloying smells of cheap perfume and sweat…
Excitement was building up…
The bewildered audience…
Sweat trickled down my face…
Screams of delirious laughter could be heard…
He stood there, making derogatory remarks…
A shrill voice pierced through the darkness…
The gangster hurled vulgarities and expletives like molten rock spewing from an angry volcano….
With a penetrating voice…
It was giving me shivers down my spine…
It droned another voice…
I was wondering at the juxtaposition of fear…
A ghostly apparition appeared in front of me…
Mist swirling away from the choppy waters of the sea…
Paroxysms of fear and agony…
With renewed vigour,….
The crowd dispersed…
the tranquil moonlight…
he muttered with utmost conviction..
hurled abuses…
gasped in surprise…
The room reverberated with the noise of the shot.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Synonyms for BIG

Big
1.
mas·sive
 /ˈmæs ɪv / adjective

1. consisting of or forming a large mass; bulky and heavy: massive columns.
2. large and heavy-looking: a massive forehead.
3. large in scale, amount, or degree: a massive breakdown in communications; massive reductions in spending.
4. solid or substantial; great or imposing: massive erudition.

2
bump·er /ˈbʌm pər/  noun
1. a person or thing that bumps.
2. a metal guard, usually horizontal, for protecting the front or rear of an automobile, truck, etc.
3. any protective rim, guard, pad, or disk for absorbing shock and preventing damage from bumping, as a rubber-tipped doorstop or an old tire on the side of a boat.
4. a cup or glass filled to the brim, as with beer.
5. Informal. something unusually large.

3
co·los·sal /kəˈlɒs əl/  adjective
1. extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge.
2. of or resembling a colossus.
3. ( initial capital letter  ) Architecture . noting or pertaining to a classical order whose columns or pilasters span two or more stories of a building.

4
in·fi·nite /ˈɪn nɪt/   adjective
1. immeasurably great: an infinite capacity for forgiveness.
2. indefinitely or exceedingly great: infinite sums of money.
3. unlimited or unmeasurable in extent of space, duration of time, etc.: the infinite nature of outer space.
4. unbounded or unlimited; boundless; endless: God's infinite mercy.
5. Mathematics . a. not finite.
b. (of a set) having elements that can be put into one-to-one correspondence with a subset that is not the given set.

5
large-scale /ˈlɑrdʒˈskeɪl/  adjective
1. very extensive or encompassing; of great scope: a large-scale business plan.
2. made to a large scale: a large-scale map.

6
gar·gan·tu·an /gɑrˈgæn tʃu ən/  adjective
gigantic; enormous; colossal: a gargantuan task.
Usage: Some people think that gargantuan  should only be used to describe things connected with food: a gargantuan meal ; his gargantuan appetite
7
pro·di·gious /prəˈdɪdʒ əs/  adjective
1. extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.: a prodigious research grant.
2. wonderful or marvellous: a prodigious feat.
3. abnormal; monstrous.
4. Obsolete , ominous.

8
tow·er·ing /ˈtaʊ ər ɪŋ/  adjective
1. very high or tall; lofty: a towering oak.
2. surpassing others; very great: a towering figure in American poetry.
3. rising to an extreme degree of violence or intensity: a towering rage.
4. beyond the proper or usual limits; inordinate; excessive: towering pride; towering ambitions.

9
ca·pa·cious /kəˈpeɪ ʃəs/  adjective
capable of holding much; spacious or roomy: a capacious storage bin.
10
as·tro·nom·i·cal /ˌæs trəˈnɒm ɪ kəl/  adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or connected with astronomy.
2. extremely large; exceedingly great; enormous: It takes an astronomical amount of money to build a car factory.

11
im·mense /ɪˈmɛns/  adjective
1. vast; huge; very great: an immense territory.
2. immeasurable; boundless.
3. Informal. splendid: You did an immense job getting the project started.

12
mam·moth /ˈmæm əθ/  noun
1. any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus,  from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.
2. immensely large; huge; enormous: a mammoth organization.

13
ep·ic/ˈɛp ɪk/  adjective Also, ep·i·cal.
1. noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style: Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.
2. resembling or suggesting such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country.

3. heroic; majestic; impressively great: the epic events of the war.
4. of unusually great size or extent: a crime wave of epic proportions.
noun
5. an epic poem.
6. epic poetry.
7. any composition resembling an epic.
8. something worthy to form the subject of an epic: The defence of the Alamo is an American epic.
9. ( initial capital letter  ) . Also called Old Ionic. the Greek dialect represented in the Iliad  and the Odyssey,  apparently Aeolic modified by Ionic.

14
com·pre·hen·sive /ˌkɒm prɪˈhɛn sɪv/  adjective
1. of large scope; covering or involving much; inclusive: a comprehensive study of world affairs.
2. comprehending mentally; having an extensive mental range or grasp.
3. Insurance. covering or providing broad protection against loss.
noun
4. Often, comprehensives. Also called comprehensive examination. an examination of extensive coverage given to measure a student's general progress, proficiency in his or her major field of study, or the like.

15
vo·lu·mi·nous /vəˈlu nəs / adjective
1. forming, filling, or writing a large volume or many volumes: a voluminous edition.
2. sufficient to fill a volume or volumes: a voluminous correspondence.
3. of great volume, size, or extent: voluminous flow of lava.
4. of ample size, extent, or fullness: voluminous petticoats.
5. having many coils, convolutions, or windings.