All about dowry & arranged marriage

Hello! Last week, people in my class busy talking about dowry and arranged marriage. Sound serious, right? Hmm, were they start planning to get married? Whoa, seemed like it's not time yet..hehe..

Actually, we were discussing two stories that brought about dowry and arranged marriage in Indian tradition as the highlighted issues. A Question of Dowry and Everything's Arranged were stories that we had to attend to in order to come out with a viewpoint that those stories tried to convey. We had to support our viewpoint with the evidences found in the two stories. It was like writing a position paper or participating in debate. We worked in groups of five. By the way, my group members were Guhan, Kumutha, Fonyi and Husna. My group harmoniously labeled as 1 Malaysia as all races were there.

Each group came out with different viewpoints based on how they perceived the issues. My group agreed that society expectation on Indian arranged marriage and its implication was the subject that matter in the two stories. In the story A question of Dowry, Sivasothie, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ramachandran did not have any right to voice out her opinion regarding her marriage. Both her parents did the talking about the arrangement of the marriage even on dowry. The future husband of Sivasothie, Thiruchelvam was so demanding that he asked for pricey dowry. Mrs. Ramachandran who was very concerned about society's view agreed with Thiruchelvam and wanted to continue the marriage. However, Mr. Ramachandran had told Thiruchelvam about the soggy land that they wished to be the dowry caused Thiruchelvam to call off the marriage.

In the story Everything's Arranged, it dealt with face value. Rukumani's mother who really concerned about society's view had destroyed her own daughter happiness. She wanted Rukumani to be married to her chosen future son-in-law, Deva, but she later found out that Rukumani had going out with the boy before the marriage. Therefore, Deva's mother asked for an unreasonable dowry so that Rukumani could not afford to provide the dowry. In order to save their family's face value, high valued dowry became an obstacle for the marriage.

Thus, from the stories we could see that many fixation were to derive. For example, the choice was not in the bride's and the bridegroom's hands, there was no love affair allowed before marriage and the importance of dowry in Indian tradition.

Film Review-Akeelah and the Bee

Watching the movie Akeelah and the Bee really motivates me as this movie infuses determination and interest especially in the main character, Akeelah. At first, when I look at the title of the movie, I know roughly that there will be scenes about spelling words but I do not have any idea whether the movie is about a competition or just about a situation in a classroom as a whole. Later on, I discover that this movie is actually focuses on special Akeelah who has talent in spelling vocabularies correctly. Wow! What a wonderful girl this Akeelah! Also, this movie reminds me about Spell-it-Right (SIR) competition organized by The New Straits Time in Malaysia. Anyway, let us unveil this movie further through several questions below.

1) What do you think of the movie in term of entertainment value?
Every single movie has its entertainment value or else the story would not be interesting. As for this movie, Akeelah and the Bee, its entertainment value is conveyed through the portrayal of the characters involved. Akeelah, the main protagonist is a brilliant girl but humble as she does not show off her ability. Javier, a friend that she meets during the first level of Spelling Bee competition shows his loyalty to their friendship. His action is encouraging, and at the final competition he touches audience's heart by delay his turn artfully in order to help Akeelah as that moment she is having problem with her mother. On the other hand, Dylan the boy whose father is a Chinese acts snobbishly at first but later on befriended Akeelah. The element of suspense, love, and determination give colours to the movie.

2) How does it affect you as you are taking B. Ed TESL course now?

Well, it affects me in terms of language proficiency. Vocabularies are vital in order to speak or write in any language. Anyway, we do not need to have a wide range of vocabularies to be a competent language user, but I admit that it is an advantage for us if we have wide range of words at our fngertips. It helps you to be creative especially when you are fond of writing. Also, knowing more words helps us to advance our general knowledge not only in our field but also other field such as science, chemistry, religion and agriculture. Therefore, I think it is essential for me to read more and more and acquire as much new words as possible.

3) How does it affect you if you relate the story in the movie to the teachers whom you know 

in the pass?

When I watch this movie, I remember my former Form 5 English teacher, Pn. Hjh. Nik Ishah as she was the one who exposed me to Spelling Bee. At that point of time, I was a member of English Language Society in my school. One day, she organized Spelling Bee Competition during our weekly meeting. From that day onwards, it makes me realize that referring words to dictionary is important.

4) What kind of practical/theoretical lesson that you learned after viewing this movie?
This movie teaches me that teachers must have skills to teach students. Teachers should know each student's ability and approach them accordingly. Teachers should encourage students and try to maintain their interests so that they are able to achieve their ambitions. Not to forget, parents play a vital role in their children's development. Parents' support are crucial as it provides motivation for them.            

My childhood story Cinderella

Hello guys! Well, looked back to our childhood memories, all of us definitely had at least 1 story that we remembered most. Stories such as Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White were very familiar to us those days. As for me, I loved Cinderella the most.

1) The reason(s) I choose the story
The reason I choose Cinderella as my favourite story because of the elements the athor infuses to the story like magic element and fantasy. Cinderella is a story that captures my interests as beautiful princess and her prince charming really brings me into another world. The fairy godmother that has the power to change everything like she easily turns Cinderella to become a princess beautifully dressed with gown and a pair of glass shoes makes me enjoys reading. Other than that, the lesson that i get after reading the story teaches me not to treat others badly and not to look down upon others. When we respect others, they will respect us in turn.

2) What element(s) in the story that make you think that the story is interesting?
The elements of magic, suspense and fantasy are the major aspects that makes the story interesting. As we all know, children are attracted to magic and fantasy. When I read this story, the elements mentioned above encourage me to read this story more and more. The part when the clock strucks at 12 where the magic spell loses its power makes my heart beats so fast, curious what will happen to Cinderella and what is the consequence if the prince finds Cinderella wearing old clothes? Moreover, the story ends with happy ending makes me feel relieved.

3) The portrayal of characters in the story.
The protagonist of the story who is Cinderella is portrayed as pretty, soft, hardworking and kind-hearted. These traits gives the chance to readers to love Cinderella and feel pity for her. However, Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters are portrayed as disrespectful, lazy, nasty and not good looking. The readers will dislike these characters, thus, these traits brings the idea that we should not act like one. The prince is only a minor character but is portrayed as having good quality such as good looking and kind.

4) The plot of the story
The plot of the story follows traditional plot sequence. It starts with the exposition where the stepmother and the stepsisters are excited with the ballroom dance invitation from the palace. The climax comes when the clock strucks at 12 and the king finds one of Cinderella's glass shoes. The resolution is when the story ends with Cinderella happily married to the prince.

5) The suitability of the story as children story
The story Cinderella is very suitable to be categorized as children story as the moral values found in the story help children to develop their characters in real life. They learn to respect others and always be kind. Furthermore, the magic and fantasy elements can attract children to enjoy reading.

The Gruffalo-A Review

Now, here is another story that will capture your interest!

The Gruffalo is a children story where a tiny, little mouse protects itself from being eaten by his predator with his intelligence. The story begins with the little mouse wandering alone in the jungle. At first, the mouse encounters a fox. Knowing that the fox wants to eat him, the mouse starts creating a trick by inventing a story about an animal called gruffalo. The mouse described the gruffalo as big animal having scary look and sharp teeth, and likes to eat fox. Frightened by the mouse's anecdote, the fox runs away hastily. Then, the mouse bumps into an owl and later on comes across a snake. The mouse also frighten those two animals with the gruffalo story. However, when the mouse continue walking, suddenly, the gruffalo really appear! The smart, little mouse then tells the gruffalo that all animals in the jungle are afraid of him. The gruffalo does not believe the mouse, thus the mouse asks the gruffalo to follow him. Like the mouse has said, all the animals that they come across dashes away when  they see the mouse. The gruffalo is surprised by the situation, but he does not know that all the animals are afraid of him, not the mouse.

From this story, we learn that size does not matter. The underlying message that this story wants the reader to grab is small does not mean that we are weak but we can be even stronger if we act smartly. This kind of story will motivate your kids and burst their confidence. Moreover, the colourful and beautiful pictures which is artistically done makes the story more attractive for children. Furthermore, words that rhyme in the story enable children to enjoy reading it. So, be a story teller tonight by telling this story to your little toddlers!    

Edwina the Emu- A Review

Edwina the Emu is a children story by Sheena Knowles that will capture your child's interest! Believe me! By the way, some points below will explain further the reason why parents, teachers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, and grandpa and grandma should bring in this story to your sweet toddlers.
But, before that, Edwina the Emu is a story about an Emu named Edwina. Edwina has just laid her eggs, thus, she decides her Emu husband to take good care of the eggs while she looks for a job in the town. Well, the husband agrees and she starts her journey searching for the job. Unfortunately, Edwina encounters several circumstances during the job searching. At last, when she tries her luck as a waitress in a restaurant, she is so shocked that a customer orders Emu eggs as his meal. Immediately, Edwina thinks of her Eggs at home. Now, she realizes that her role is not to be a breadwinner for the family but to be at home with her little Emu.
As I mentioned earlier, parents, teachers and anyone should introduce this story to their kids. First, definitely the story Edwina the Emu is interesting, with colourful illustration. Second, this story actually infuses sex education indirectly and in a very delicate way. Of course, this story can be a medium for adults to give some clear picture for kids of how a baby is formed, for instance, without lying to your child. Third, this story also provides view about gender roles. For example, a mother should raise up children while a father work.
Therefore, Edwina the Emu is a right choice as bedtime story to your kids!