My Experience as a Sec 1 student

This is going to be the last blog of my year and i am going to relate the experience of my Secondary 1 life in Hwa Chong Institution. I started out not knowing any of my classmates, a total stranger to this school. I had felt lost when i first stepped into the gates of this school, uncertain of what was going to befall me. Then, after three days or so, I started to adapt to this life. I was told that this is different from my primary school and there won't be a big, major exam but instead, many little yet important tests. The following is a recall of how i faired for my tests.

At the start of the term, i took every thing easily as i couldn't adapt to the life in Hwa Chong and in primary school, I could easily top the school but in Hwa Chong, it was different. My Term 1 test was a total failure, and everything just went wrong. In Term 2, i had some encouragement and i decided to work for it and then, my results improve. Yet, Term 3 was another disappointment and i partically flung the test. As always, I just tought that there wil always be more time to study, I have already studied alot and wanted to take a break, etc. After this, I worked very hard for my final - year examinations but it was still a disappointment and still scored poorly. I was not too sad as i knew that i had tried, just that i studied for the exam abit too late. I just hope that i will be able to work harder and score better for Secondary 2 and not disappointment me or my parents anymore.

A Book Review On Eragon By Christopher Paolini

This is a book review of a book that i have once read. This book goes deep into a world of evil, magic and dragons. The main character, Eragon picked up an egg that appeared in the middle of the woods. He was curious about the egg and at that time, people had no money so Eragon went to find a trader, and offered to sell the egg. Months later, Eragon hatched the egg and found out that it was actually an egg of a dragon. The dragon was then named Sephira.

There was another villager who was a storyteller, named Brom. He was skilled in the arts of wizardry and slowly began to teach Eragon the way to control and execute spells. Meanwhile, Sephira was encountering a growth spurt and was much taller then 3 humans standing atop each other. Then, Eragon met up with elves who had supernatural strength, speed and skills. They are a very discreet race and have been in hiding from the outside world. Eragon and Brom are now wanted by the Emperor and his army of monster brutes named Urgals and Kulls are in a bloodlust, hunting for Eragon, Sephira and Brom.

In their battle against Durza, a formidable elfin foe, an ally elf was poisoned and needs to be sent to Farthen Dur, a city where darwfs live. The elves quickly brought along reinforcements for the great battle that is to be fought in Farthen Dur. By then, Sephiroth had already been a full-grown dragon and Eragon and Sephira spent many years learning from another Dragon rider, learning how to communicate properly with his dragon and all the air maneuvers. Soon, Eragon befriended the elves and once, by giving a very important gift to the elven Queen, a gift was given to Eragon, causing him to have the abilities of any elves and very skillful in magic.

Returning from Duweldenvarden, the elven city, he sought about for a blacksmith to craft him a rider blade, harnessing magial properties as the metal used to create the swords were obtained from an object that had once crashed and the fragments were the strongest metal, thus crafting and indestructible and indefinitely sharp edge on the blade. The war finally broke out and atop Sephira sat Eragon, wielding his blade and with each sweep of Sephira's wings, fire broke out from her maw, roasting every single enemy and yet, they still tired out, causing the enemy archers to have a clear shot of Sephira's weak spots and thus was very very close to falling Farthen Dur, destroying the entire Empire.

The war ended and yet, the journey did not and for Eragon and his dragon. They continued on their hunt to destroy the Emperor and his fellow servents, the Razac.



My reflections

I think that this is a very good and exciting book. The determination of Eragon at the start where he just started learning to cast spells teaches us never to give up easily. At the starting, it was really really very hard for Eragon but yet, he perceived. He did not give up easily and even thought of the hardship as "fun". His way of thinking is very appropriate and i admire his courage and his encouragement for all the readers. He failed many times but yet he always stood up on his ownself. He never ever thought of giving up and always thought that there were people that were in a worse situation than him.

Lesson 1b for Home Learning

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

This is a poem written by Shel Silverstein and he has written many other poems like Messy Room, Whatif, Bear in There, Picture Puzzle Piece, Cloony The Clown and many more. The poem exaggerates on the surrounding and that is a hyperbole as it expresses the calmness of the person that wrote the poem. There in no simile in this poem as it does not use words like 'like' or 'as'. the author used figurative language to show the peacefulness and calmness of the surroundings and lets one's heart settle down and rid all worries.

Personally i like this poem very much as it explains very clearly the peacefulness and the lack of noises and bustling of actions. It lets a person feel very relaxed and rid away all the worries in a person's heart

A Book Review

Recently, I read a book named The Arctic Incident. It is written by my favourite author, Eoin Colfer. The book's main character, Artemis Fowl, is a criminal mastermind. He is a mere 14 year-old boy but he thinks like a genius. He has a family bodyguard, Butler. Butler has been protecting the Fowl family for decades and he is experienced in every kind of gun or martial arts you could name. He could disable every single type of weapon within seconds. Artemis likes just one thing, Gold. He trades with the People, who in this book referred to fairies, pixies, gnomes, dwarfs and leprechauns. The People have been collecting Gold and Artemis goal was to 'rob' the People of their gold but strangely, hundreds of people have tried to take their gold but none succeeded. Artemis Fowl was determined to loot some of the gold. Years before, Artemis's father disappeared suddenly and Artemis ever since had only his mother to take care of him. Sadly, his mother was down with anemia. Artemis Fowl had been seeking formation on his father's whereabouts but to no avail. Recently somebody posted on the Internet that Senior Fowl was found in the Arctic Circle. He was kidnapped by a bunch of criminal who wanted a ransom.

Having no choice, Artemis Fowl visited the Commander of the People and asked for help. The People were reluctant to help Artemis as the bore a grudge against humankind as the humans in the past murdered many of their brothers and destroyed their hometown. The People lived underground but they had technology that was in front of the humankind by at least 546 years. Their 'houses' and buildings were all made of walls that were able to withstand hundreds of bombs and their weapons do not even need bullets. Their weapons shoot out lasers and it is nuclear-powered, causing the gun to be able to function much longer than what a fairy could live up to, which is forever. The fairies knew that Artemis was a mastermind and thus wanted to make a deal. So long as Artemis helps them to keep the goblin triads from messing with the LEP, which is the Lower Elementary Policy, they would help Artemis to find his father. With that in mind, Artemis brought along a squad of fairies, known as Recon and Retrieval. They stormed the goblin's hideout, their guns blazing in every single direction. Having sealed his end of the deal, Artemis was then brought to the Arctic Circle to rescue his father. He shot his father in the shoulder with a sniper rifle from 500 meters away, so that the criminals would think that his father was dead. The criminal returned fire and soon the whole place was in confusion. Meanwhile, Artemis's told a fairy to dive down into the ocean to save his father and give him a blast of healing magic.

Butler incapacitated the rest of the criminals and brought Artemis Fowl and his father back to their home safely.

My Reflections:

From my point of view, Artemis Fowl is a very talented boy as he was not even afraid when he first met the People. He cared a lot about his father and tried all kinds of way just to bring his father home. he never gave up the hope that his was still alive. He was only a teenage age but he meddled with guns, criminals, bombs and many more dangerous objects. I admire his courage and sheer determination that get back what he should have. This series is definitely the best series I have ever read.

A Book Review: Point Blanc

Once, a book entitled Point Blanc caught my attention. It is written by Anthony Horowitz, a famous writer. In this book, the main character, Alex Rider, has been sent by MI6 to investigate a school. MI6 suspects that the school that only takes in rich kids is conducting a very serious experiment on the kids. Thus, Alex Rider was given a false identity and parents. Alex's parents had died when he was young and Alex was sent to the school by his fake parents. As Alex reached the school, he relayed information to MI6 constantly. He discovered that the students in the school were too perfect. This was a school meant for kids who have done many crimes. Some stole diamonds, some drove when they were drunk, some smuggled drugs and many more.

All of them acted exactly like robots, doing the same action, saying the same words and even the way they ate. Alex was told by the headmaster that the upper levels were forbidden to access. Thinking that it was way too suspicious, Alex went to investigate. He saw that the upper level was an exact replica of the rooms on the lower level. Even the clothes that were strewn on his own room, the gadgets given by his gadget designer, Mr Smithers, were on the 'bed of his room'. He went deeper into the school, which was as big as a mansion and had guards who carried sub-machine guns. He found that the real kids were actually caged up like birds.

The conversation between Alex and the rest of the kids was overheard and the headmaster, Dr. Grief, sent assassins to kill Alex. Alex escaped and seeked help from MI6 who sent their best team to invade the mansion and destroy the mansion along with all the clones.

My Reflections

After reading this book, i felt that Alex had the determination to complete whatever he needs or wants to do.He stops at nothing to rid the world of evil and to help those who are in trouble. I am amazed by his bravery too as he is only 14 but he has to face criminals who were deadly and were armed. This is definitely a good book as it brings u on an adventure that is as wild as his.

A Book Review

Recently I read a book entitled Ark Angel. It was written by a famous author, Anthony Horowitz. In this book Ark Angel, that is a billionaire by the name of Nikolei Drevin. He built a space hotel to attract the attention of people but the hotel was gradually sucking up all his money. The project was insured so he wanted to destroy the hotel to get some of his money back. Drevin realized that the CIA had been building a case against him as he participated in countless illegal trades. The evidences and documents were kept in The Pentagon, Washington. He decided to bomb the hotel at an angle such that it would fall on Washington and The Pentagon would be destroyed.

To prevent any suspicions when he struck the hotel down, he decided to form a group of terrorist that 'hated' him and wanted to kill him. Drevin even ordered the terrorist' to kidnap his son and main his son terribly so that nobody would suspect him. The group was named 'Force Three'. In fact, the CIA had been alerted of Drevin's plan and the CIA spread the news to M16. M16 decided to send a spy of teenage age. The spy was Alex Rider, the main character in this book. Alex Rider kept in touch with M16 through a few gadgets invented by their gadgets designer, Mr Smithers. Alex stayed with Drevin as a guest while supplying information to M16. Despite being very careful, Alex's cover was soon blown and Drevin ordered Alex to be killed. Upon a near death accident of being drowned by one of Drevin's agent, Alex sought help from M16. M16 sent troops and stormed the island, arresting Drevin and sending Alex home once they diffused the bomb in the rocket.

My Reflections

I think that Alex Rider is a very intelligent boy as he was always able to find his way out of trouble and keep very calm despite the confusion in his head when he discovered that Drevin was a criminal. He did not give himself away and was careful in everything that he did. He was born an orphan but he did not give up on himself. Instead, he joined MI6 and tried his best to stop other's wrong doings. He is a very courageous boy and would always be determined to complete whatever task was give to him. I find him an admirable character and felt that this book is definitely worth reading.

Character analysis of 'Village by The Sea'

I am going to talk about some characters in the novel 'Village by The Sea'


Hari

1.He is the protagonist of the story and he is the only son of the family.

2.He has to assume the duty of taking care of his parents and his siblings.

3.He lives in a tough world and has to make decisions that adults have to make

Lila

1. She is the eldest daughter of the family and is the elder sister of Hari

2.She has given up school to help mantain the house to take care of her younger siblings, Bela and Kamal

Mother

1. She is the mother of Hari, Lila, Bela and Kamal

2.She fell ill with anemia and is not able to help Lila to mantain the house

3.She is not fit and cannot even get out of bed to help their children

Father

1. He is the father of Hari, Lila, Bela and Kamal

2. He is an irresponsible father who is always drunk and does not work and earn money to support the family

3. He turned over a new leaf and stopped spending money to buy toddy

Pinto

1. The pet dog of Hari's family

2. Faithful to the family especially Lila as she spent the most time with him

Biju

1. He is the richest man in Thul, the village where Hari and his family live

2. He owned the first diesel powered boat in the village

3. He is proud and arrogant and always look down on the other villagers

Ramu

1. He is a friend of Hari and knew that many factories were going to be bult in the village

2. He hoped he would be able to get jobs in the factories that were going to be built

Jagu

1. He is the owner of the Sri Krishna Eating House and gave Hari a job in the restaurant when he was in Bombay

2. He lived in a slum together with his wife and other people

Mr Panwallah

1. He is a watchmender and taught Hari the skill of watchmending

2. He is a very kind person and was popular among his neighbours

The De'Silvas family

1. They are a rich and generous family from Bombay and went to Thul during the holidays

2. He owns a bungalow in Thul and lent Lila's mother a helping hand upon knowing that she was sick

The Watchman

1. He was arrogant and often looked down on the people in Thul

Sayyid Ali

1. Supported the fact that factories should not be built in Thul as he tought that the land was rightfully theirs

2. Spent his leisure time drawing birds as he is fascinated by them

Adarkar

1. He is a member of the Maharashtra State Legislative assembly

2. Lead the villagers in their fishing boats to Bombay to protest against the building of factories in Thul

Hira Bai

1. She is an old woman who is interested in herbs and cures

2. Advised Bela and Kamal to find the Medicine Man to treat their mother

Jagu's wife

1. Cares very much about her family

2. Her family was very poor

3.She was unhappy when her husband brought Hari home as they already had enough mouths to feed and could not spare any food for Hari

Policeman

1.Guarded Hari when he slept in the park

The Khanekar Brothers

1.They were drunkards and were the son of Hira bai

2.They were wastrels

These are the characters in the novel 'Village By The Sea'