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Showing posts from December, 2010

Black Beauty Movie (Part 1)

Synopsis of Black Beauty

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The story is narrated by a horse named Black Beauty, beginning with his carefree days as a colt on an English farm, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. As a colt Black Beauty lives on a farm with a large meadow with his mother, Duchess. his mother teaches him to always behave well and do his work willingly and to the best of his abilities. At age of four he is 'broken in'. Farmer Grey gently teaches him to get used to new thing such as bits, saddles, horseshoes and many others. He also teaches him not t be startled by loud noises. Then Black Beauty is sold to Squire Gordon of Birtwick Park.  At his new home, Black Beauty serves happily under the care of coachman, John Manly and groom. James Howard. Ginger and Merrylegs become his good friends. After three years at the park, Black Beauty and Merrylegs are sold to Earlshall Park. At Earlshall Park, Black Beauty suffers great pain when the Mistress uses the check rein. A drunk g

UPSR (Paper 2 - Section A)

To answer this section well, you need to really know three things. Firstly, you are advised to write in the present continuous tense. Therefore, you must know the meaning of the present continuous tense. PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE When we talk about tenses, we are referring to the verbs. In the present continuous tense, the verbs look like this: (singular case)        verb 'to be'      verb 'ing'                                      is               talking (plural case)           verb 'to be'      verb 'ing'                                     are              talking Example: (singular case)    A boy is talking to his friends. (plural case)       Two boys are talking to their friends. Apart from the tense, you must know about adjectives. There are certain adjectives that you will commonly use when answering t

Where to start?

To be able to write grammatically correct sentences in English, first of all, you need to know what is a noun and what is a verb. This is because, all sentences are build up from at least a noun and a verb. Basically, nouns mean the name of everything in this world (people, animals, things and places). Whereas verbs basically refer to actions. Nouns :   boy, cat, chair, school             Verbs :   eat, play, sleep                 Verb 'to be' : am, is, are          In an active sentence, you will start with a noun which is followed by a verb: Eg:          (noun)      (verb)                  [ A cat ]     [ eats ]    fish. Eg:             (noun)       (verb 'to be')                [ The chair ]        [ is ]           big.

Step by Wicked Step (The Text Book)

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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...introducing the new novel text book for form 5 students Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine.

Step by Wicked Step (by Anne Fine)

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Starting from 2011, the form 5 students will have to learn a new novel. The Pearl will be a history. For the students in Selangor, the novel that they have to learn is Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. Yesterday, I bought the Step by Wicked Step text book which has a different look from the one that I posted here. It is quite funny the way they use the illustration of people's feet stepping on stairs on the book cover, since it has nothing to do with the content of the story. I am going to finish reading the book first. Then only I could offer a further discussion on each aspect of the story, and think of the best approach to help students to understand the novel.

The Prisoner of Zenda

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An interesting scene from The Prisoner of Zenda movie.

Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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All you need is a little patience and watch this movie to the end. You will be able to relate everything to the story that you have read in the text book.

The Phantom of the Opera

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All you need is a little patience and watch this movie to the end. You will be able to relate everything to the story that you have read in the text book.

The River

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Mr. Nobody (recited)

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Mr. Nobody

I know a funny little man, As quiet as a mouse, Who does the mischief that is done In everybody’s house! There’s no one ever sees his face, And yet we all agree That every plate we break was cracked By Mr. Nobody. ‘Tis he who always tears out books, Who leaves the door ajar, He pulls the buttons from our shirts, And scatters pins afar; That squeaking door will always squeak, For prithee, don’t you see, We leave the oiling to be done By Mr. Nobody. He puts damp wood upon the fire, That kettles cannot boil; His are the feet that bring in mud, And all the carpets soil. The papers always are mislaid, Who had them last but he? There’s not one tosses them about But Mr. Nobody. The finger marks upon the door By none of us are made; We never leave the blinds unclosed, To let the curtains fade. The ink we never spill; the boots That lying round you see Are not our boots, – they all belong To Mr. Nobody. -Anonymous

The Boscombe Valley Mystery Movie

This is one of the scene in The Boscombe Valley Mystery, where we can see Holmes unique way of solving the case.

Summary of The Boscombe Valley Mystery

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Lestrade summons Holmes to a community in Herefordshire, where a local land owner has been murdered outdoors. The deceased's estranged son is strongly implicated. Holmes quickly determines that a mysterious third man may be responsible for the crime, unraveling a thread involving a secret criminal past, thwarted love, and blackmail. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson take a train to Boscombe Valley, in Herefordshire. On the way, Holmes reads the news and briefs Watson on their new case. Mr. John Turner, a widower and a major landowner who has a daughter named Alice, lives there with a fellow expatriate from Australia, Mr. Charles McCarthy, a widower who has a son named James. Charles has been found dead near Boscombe Pool. It was reported that he was there to meet someone. Two witnesses testify that they saw Charles walking into the woods followed by James, who was bearing a gun. Patience Moran, daughter of a lodge keeper, says she saw Charles and James arguing and, when James rais

Name Origins of Rumpelstiltskin

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The name Rumpelstilzchen in German means literally "little rattle stilt". (A stilt is a post or pole which provides support for a structure.) A rumpelstilt or rumpelstilz was the name of a type of goblin, also called a pophart or poppart that makes noises by rattling posts and rapping on planks. The meaning is similar to rumpelgeist ("rattle ghost") or poltergeist, a mischievous spirit that clatters and moves household objects. Translations of the original Grimm fairy tale into various languages have generally substituted different names for the dwarf, whose name is Rumpelstilzchen in the original. For some languages, a name was chosen that comes close in sound to the German name: Rumpelstiltskin in English, Repelsteeltje in Dutch, Rumpelstichen in Portuguese.

Synopsis of Rumpelstiltskin (Brothers Grimm Version)

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In order to make himself appear more important, a miller lied and said that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king heard of this and called for the girl, shut her in a tower room with straw and a spinning wheel, and demanded that she spin the straw into gold by morning, or be executed. She had given up all hope, when a dwarf appeared in the room and spun straw into gold for her in return for her necklace, then again the following night for her ring. On the third night, when she had nothing with which to reward him, the dwarf spun straw into gold for a promise that the girl's first-born child would become his. The king was so impressed that he married the miller's daughter, but when their first child was born, the dwarf returned to claim his payment: "Now give me what you promised". The queen was frightened and offered him all the wealth she had if she could keep the child. The dwarf refused but finally agreed to give up his claim to the child if the queen

Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin has become a part of literature component for Malaysian Lower Secondary School Students. Apart from reading the text, watching this cartoon might help you to understand the story better. Enjoy watching.