~A Streetcar Named Desire...how touching~

My first impression when I watch the movie is how the director has implemented every little tiny details that appears in the original play by Tennessee Williams into the movie. Incredible, is it? I am fascinated by the character of the tragic hero Blanche Dubois. The actress has done a very good job in playing her role in the movie. She looks very fragile throughout the movie and finally ended up broken and shattered into pieces. The apartment is as exactly as I have imagined. Shabby, old and have the symbolism of the working class community. The friendly neighbourhood is pretty much inviting and the time setting is so vivid. Unfortunately, for me, the characters speak too fast and their words seem to be lost although I have put my fullest attention to their speech. Nonetheless, the pulling factor to why I say the movie is so extraordinarily heart touching is the characteristics of Blanche. I am so sorry for her pain and sufferings that she had perplexed through her gestures and speech. She has lost all of the people who has been close to her once and for me the sole reason to why she has ended up in New Orleans (I strongly believe that it is the last place on earth she would rather step foot on but in her conditions, she has no other choices) is because of Stella, her sister. All that she has wanted is to find shelter, her sanctuary...but it turns out to be her final blow towards her self-destruction. For me, Stella has failed to be a genuine sister. She knew about the rape but keeps it to herself only, not able to go against Stanley and scared of him leaving her and their baby. In my opinion, a strong character like Stella should not feel insecure because she can actually be independent and take care of herself. This is a social dilemma which does not faced by Stella only, but there is a lot of woman out there who is lost and in desperate need of help. Let us all be gentle and lend a helping hand to these unfortunate women.

~A Streetcar Nameed Desire~

My first impression when I watch the movie is how the director has implemented every little tiny details that appears in the original play by Tennessee Williams into the movie. Incredible, is it? I am fascinated by the character of the tragic hero Blanche Dubois. The actress has done a very good job in playing her role in the movie. She looks very fragile throughout the movie and finally ended up broken and shattered into pieces. The apartment is as exactly as I have imagined. Shabby, old and have the symbolism of the working class community. The friendly neighbourhood is pretty much inviting and the time setting is so vivid. Unfortunately, for me, the characters speak too fast and their words seem to be lost although I have put my fullest attention to their speech. Nonetheless, the pulling factor to why I say the movie is so extraordinarily heart touching is the characteristics of Blanche. I am so sorry for her pain and sufferings that she had perplexed through her gestures and speech. She has lost all of the people who has been close to her once and for me the sole reason to why she has ended up in New Orleans (I strongly believe that it is the last place on earth she would rather step foot on but in her conditions, she has no other choices) is because of Stella, her sister. All that she has wanted is to find shelter, her sanctuary...but it turns out to be her final blow towards her self-destruction. For me, Stella has failed to be a genuine sister. She knew about the rape but keeps it to herself only, not able to go against Stanley and scared of him leaving her and their baby. In my opinion, a strong character like Stella should not feel insecure because she can actually be independent and take care of herself. This is a social dilemma which does not faced by Stella only, but there is a lot of woman out there who is lost and in desperate need of help. Let us all be gentle and lend a helping hand to these unfortunate women.

~as you like it~ blush!

I have to admit, I am very much pulled to say that this particular comedy-play-based movie originally written by the great Shakespeare is incredibly fascinating. I don’t quite know how others might perceive it, but for me the acting is beautiful. Being a comedy play, the story starts with turmoil here and there. The place setting is in Japan and the time is as I remembered during the samurai ages in Japan, or I might say, Nippon. Conflicts build and tension rises after the exile of Rosalind’s father. Nonetheless, there is still a chance for love to bloom between Rosalind and Orlando. Sigh~~~ Their eyes have met after the sumo dwell that Orlando had won. It is a wonderfully magical moment, as I am a big fan of romance movie. How both of them met is pretty sweet too, I can still remembered Rosalind holding her fan up to hide her face (I am not so sure of why she did that but I assume that she must be shy like most woman do when they meet the love of their life) and she placed her necklace around Orlando’s neck (I assume this as the token of winning the duel and her heart). Orlando was extremely delighted because afterwards she has not think of anyone else except for the beautiful Rosalind. Comical for me because a little man like Orlando could knock out a huge sumo wrestler. There is a resemblance to The Midsummer Night’s Dream, I suppose, because there have been some changing in role-play later. The story is unique and simply humorous because Rosalind has to impersonate as a boy (a pretty boy who has mistakenly captured the heart of a native Japanese woman) and being a friend to Orlando without his realisation. In short, the comedy is very uplifting and filled with emotions and confusions but later, as the story unfolds, the theme of love can conquer all has shown up the most. By the way, the famous quotation from the play is also acted by the characters; the seven ages of man. I’ve enjoyed this movie a lot and I dearly hope so do you....

~am i passionless? - review on the play PASSION~

This was my first trip to KLPAC and to watch a musical play. I have high hopes in that, which is for sure. I dearly hoped that the play would be very enjoyable and somehow can change my view on the issue that emerged, despite the not-so-encouraging comments I have heard from Dr. Edwin himself. But here I am, admitting to every single word that Dr. Edwin has said. Ironic, isn’t it? Clearly, the play was a mass of complicated unfathomable body movements that was suppose to create meaning and a horrific display of affection and emotions; which is clearly not passion. Harsh comments from an inexperienced audience, right? Well, I’m just pouring my piece of mind... the presentation is weak, I mean the main character, or should I say, the hero, he is unable to inject the feeling of pity towards him. But somehow, the performance by Judimar Hernandez is spectacular. Luckily, her movements and simple gestures had made me stick to my chair for the whole play, craving to see her dance the story to the end. I do not say that I am totally against dancing. Well, to be frank, I am a big fan of watching people dancing in passion and beautiful outfits. The duration of some of the scenes is way too long. Short, simple and sweet would be much preferred by me especially in the not so important scenes. I mean, the hero can mourn in grief alone in the middle of the stage, but it should not take too long. Emphasizes should be stressed on much more important scenes, such as when he is torn between two and pushed to make a decision. Lighting throughout the whole play was fantastic. It helps a lot in decoding the dancers’ (characters’) emotions and feelings. Fiery red when they are dancing in passion and desiring each other and deep blue when the character is sad and anxious of decision making. In short, I am glad for this experience and honestly I do not think that I will go to any musical theatre (unless it is highly recommended by my peers and friends) in the nearest future.

~Out! out brief candle!..Macbeth~

I was so excited to be given the chance to watch this movie since I had heard so much of this famous character of Macbeth since I was in form 5. Although the movie was technicoloured, I am very much amazed by the spoken words of the actors and actresses. Dear, dear...it is in the original Shakespearean’s text. I find it very hard to listen (the actors seems to mumbled a lot maybe because of they have spoken too fast), very impossible to fathom (because I still can’t master the form of language) and very difficult to digest (because the scenes shift rather quickly from one to another). There you have it, all three of my major conflicts while watching the movie. I believe the pictures and the character’s actions and gestures have helped me so much in comprehending this legendary famous play. Violence and murders is seen a lot in this particular play. It starts with the murder of the late King by Macbeth himself and ended with the beheading of Macbeth. Blood spattered everywhere and the scene is pretty gross, to be honest. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this movie for how it has been an experience in working with a new form of language and had been a big helped for me to understand of the famous Shakespeare poem, Out Out Brief Candle! Seriously, as I am watching the movie, I could definitely make sense of what I have been memorising for previous literature class in my secondary school amazing as it is, I will definitely show this movie to my future students if I were to become an English teacher who teaches poems one day. They will find it very helpful as I do.... God’s willing....

~being evaluated by others...sigh!~

Honestly, I am getting the hang of being evaluated by others each time I performed my microteaching. I can still remembered the first time I was to be ask to conduct my microteaching up front, to tell you the truth, it was horrible. I was so uptight, panic and scared, for the reason of being evaluated and judge. By now, my 4th semester in TESL, I have to admit that I am getting more comfortable up front. No more sweated palms and jellied knees. Less stuttering, less mumbling and less swallowing up my words. Much more relaxed and matured at handling criticism (building and non-building ones) and at managing questions to be asked to my students. I might not be able to escape some grammatical errors while talking. Well, 100% accuracy in grammar is almost impossible even for native speaker (quoting Dr. Fauziah’s lecture) and what we should be most concern of is conveying our meaning with passion and enthusiasm (quoting Mdm. Juridah’s lecture) so that the students will not go rebellious against us (quoting Dr. Edwin’s lecture). I’ve learnt a lot through microteaching and I am proud of my positive progresses. These 3 awesome lecturers have given me a lot of tips of what to do and not do during teaching practice. I wholeheartedly say here that my peers’ critical comments are very much needed. At that particular time, we must help to correct and improve each other’s teaching skills. Thank you..=P

~shakespeare wallah~

I am truly excited to know the fact that I’ll be watching a movie that has something to do with Shakespeare during this course. My expectation is that the movie might be hard to understand and to cope with. I was surprised to know that the movie is actually in black and white, interesting as it maybe, I was again surprised to know that the main character is Sashi Kapoor, a star legend in the Hisdustani film industry. Obviously, he can carry the characteristics of Sanju, a wealthy young man who is deeply in love with a Shakespearean theatre actress English woman, Lizzie, who is played by an English actress, Felicity. Heart moving and somehow lined up with numerous act of humour, the story takes place in India. I am fond by the idea of two very different culture clashes and set up a lot of dramatic situations such as the failure to understand the language and the acceptations of a new experience and culture among the society. Shakespeare Wallah is indeed a beautiful adult love story that carries out the message that loving someone does not mean having he/she, sometimes we have to learn to let go because of love itself.

~teiresias the seer~

This is my first encounter with the character of Teiresias, the blind prophet with the ability to tell the future. I was surprised to know that this supporting character in Oedipus Rex has been widely known and discussed because of his history. He is often seen and told in ancient Greek Mythologies and the cause of his blindness is quite a mystery. In a story he was blinded by the goddess Athena because he has accidently stumbled into Athena while she is taking a bath. Athena, feeling sorry for him, had gifted him with the ability to understand the birds’ songs and foresee the future. His gift has landed him with the title the blind seeing prophet who is so important in the progressing of the story by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. His disability to see but sightful in knowing has somehow help to solve the mystery of the breaking disastrous plague in Thebes. I am truly impressed by Teiresias capability because he is certainly not an ordinary human being. He is the medium or the middle of God and human. He is also blinded but he can see the truth. He has experience the lives of becoming a man and a woman (after being turned by the goddess Hera as a woman for 7 years). In short, Teiresias is a character like no other, full of surprises but his appearance has left a great impact in the terms of dramatic irony.

~evaluating others..how do i do it?~

This feeling suddenly strucks me; panic...yes, PANIC! It was at that particular time, i felt so lost, surely i need a guide in evaluating others. Thankfully, Dr.Edwin had given us all a guide to do so. and to my great surprise,it is very helpful, not only in evaluating my peers but also in my future teaching carrier on how to evaluate my students. indeed, I start my evaluation at the teachers (my peers) appereance. First impression is the easiest aspect to look at when they are standing up front. their way of carrying themselves and how they greet us. nervousness is undeniable since we are so keen in making sure that everything fall into place. Next, is the the begining of te lesson; the crucial part of all, the set induction. Some has came up with a very interesting and unique game and activity, like what the pair Rachel Anne and Manesha did. Describing characteristics of friends and later on, guess who they are. they had managed to get the students attention and allowed everyone to participate. if they were my teachers in class, I will surely pay my fulest attention throughout their lessons. the flow of teaching is also a major factor in making the lesson meaningfu. everyting must be in chronological order. Beginning at the pre-reading task to the post-reading task. Every task must be related to the previous ones. the level of difficulty should gradually increase by every task. This would enable students to cultivate their thinking method and not to depend solely on the answers given by teachers...

Last but not least, is the voice projection. I believe that most of my peers do not have any problems in getting heard clearly but some of them need to be more attentive in how their students behave. It is because it shows the teacher's ablity to control the class. I think, I have to agree with Dr. Fauziah comments, grammartically right phrases is a must especially because we are teachers to be, but somehow, getting the message across is much more important...I don't know what you may think, but it's only in my opinion... =) overall, I believe that evaluating others requires a lot of concentration and particularly undivided attention. The floor is open for your comments...

~it is not always as it is seems,in this case heard~

I was introduced to a new term in the teaching of drama, EDU 3217 class today; implicature. Implicature is actually an underlying discourse that is often used by characters to say something which is implied with another underlying meaning. At first, I stumbled a lot in recognizing the lines which is implied with this literary feature but after I was given the examples from the respected Assoc. Prof. Dr Edwin himself, I think I can distinguish an implied line from the non-implied line. Dr. Edwin has given us some text to work on during class and this has resulted in a better understanding of what it really means. The extracts of text are from Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Harold Pinter’s A Night’s Out. In short, the class today has made us more aware of what the actors are saying because implied words are bound to happen anytime and anywhere during the play.

Today’s lecture is quite interesting than always because for the first time we are ask to work in pairs and perform a text of drama in front of the class. What has made the activity much more exciting is the fact that we can create our own characters and situation in which the character is in. Some pairs had come up with a lot of unique ideas in performing and a team has also performed with three persons instead of two but still their performance is good and understandable. I believe that the fewer stage directions in the text have given more room for the actor to form their own characteristics based on their comprehension regarding the line itself. It is such a surprise that we can do a lot of experimentations with a simple text even. We as the actors can interpret the text with our view regarding the matter but it is crucial for the actors to consider and follow the stage directions stated in it.

~what a literature minor student should know~

Today’s class taught us all about the differentiation of certain types of dramas. There are several types of drama such as tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy and farce; all types of dramas hold their specific characteristics like the name they bear. For example tragedy dwells with the falling from high respect to the depth of humiliation and comedy revolves around the aspect of a group of people sharing the same social value. Tragicomedy in the other hand brings out the nature of tragedy but it ended up with a happy ending whereas farce is all about extreme comic situation. I was taught about the details of each drama should hold and they are the details that distinguish each type from the other. Later in this class I was given a simple explanation on the conventions of theatre; the text, the acts, the scenes, the stage directions and so much more. Thus enlighten me about drama; it is certainly not an easy task because a lot of team work is crucial in performing a good and sensational play.

~first impression~

The literary component of drama has always captivated me the most because of its way of delivering is much different than the other literary components there is; drama is performed and not read. During the teaching of drama class, EDU 3217 I was informed the basics knowledge of drama itself. What is drama and how it is actually cultivated in the society all over the world. Every place has its own significant history of drama as I was taught and the earliest sort of drama is developed in the Aristotelian age by the philosopher himself, thus embarking the glorious age of the Greek Theatre. The names that have made Greek Theatre a great mark in the history of theatre are such as Aristotle, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. I was also taught about how different kind of drama resolves in their own characteristics and identity. For instance, the Roman Theatre rose after the emergence of Christianity and their concept of entertainment is more to the violent side of life. Gladiators are an example of the Roman entertainment. Medieval theatre in the other hand starts with the era of Queen Elizabeth the first. Restoration drama came next followed by the 18th-19th century drama. Modern drama came after that and it also known as the 20th century drama and it dwells with Freudian interpretation of life. I am astonished by the development of drama and theatre because it took a great deal of efforts and restoration just to make sure the essence of traditional drama is preserved.