Secondary School Literature

[lovejoypeacce]

My dd in Sec 1 are using Romeo & Juliet, Chinese Cinderella and another book that I am not sure of the title at this moment. Why so many different books and genre at Sec 1. Do most Sec 1 find it hard to cope?

[mrswongtuition]

When I was schooling in S1, I did ‘Rice without Rain’, same author as ‘Sing to the Dawn’ - Minfong Ho. Very good book, simple and direct. I got to understand poverty and desperation to survive through this book. We are all so sheltered and never go to see poverty in our faces. This book inspired me to take on mission work, travelling to Thailand to help poor families and many children.


Then in S2 we did ‘Red Sky in the Morning’. Can’t remember the author but I feel that it’s a great book about a family’s struggle with society’s rejection because the youngest in the family has a birth defect (hydrocephelis, enlarged and swollen brain, causing the head to be extremely big). The baby died eventually but the story continued on how that experienced impacted the main character into caring for another child with disabilities (down syndrome). This book changed my perspective of children with special needs. Maybe this is why I chose to be trained in special needs.

S3 was Mockingbird (talks about racial discrimination which is very apt for Singapore because we got to learn how the African Americans were bullied and my teacher pulled in alot of National Education during lessons).
The other book was Julius Caesar, I WANTED TO DIE. The language was confusing for me but I liked the plot (got a ‘translated’ study guide and read it from cover to cover). My class even did a mini skit on it for Teacher’s Day.

I feel that even if your child’s school is not using ‘Rice without Rain’ or ‘Red Sky in the Morning’, they should read it in their free time. Parents can also read with them and discuss about the story. Very good for moral education and personal development.

If they are not taking Lit at upper sec, then Mockingbird is a good read. If they don’t understand the show, there’s a B&W movie on it. Not exactly following the book, but the main gist of the story is there.

Now that I’m typing out all these, I’m starting to think that my teachers chose those books for a reason. To inculcate values and morals at the same time.

[autumnbronze]

mrswongtuition:

Now that I'm typing out all these, I'm starting to think that my teachers chose those books for a reason. To inculcate values and morals at the same time.

True, mrswongtuition ... one of the reasons ...

They also want to ensure that pupils can relate to the themes eg, bullying, sense of identity, angst etc.. in the stories that they are teaching.

[autumnbronze]

lovejoypeacce:

My dd in Sec 1 are using Romeo & Juliet, Chinese Cinderella and another book that I am not sure of the title at this moment. Why so many different books and genre at Sec 1. Do most Sec 1 find it hard to cope?

Hi lovejoypeacce,

Is the Lit teacher going thru all the books concurrently?? Perhaps they are focusing a book at a time ie on a termly basis??

[csc]

autumnbronze:

Thank you Fairy,


They don't look familiar to me. Nonetheless, will go and check it out during the wkend.

But I don't think your DD's teacher will be going through all the stories rite?? Correct me if I am wrong :?

I don't think it's possible to do all the stories. Think my son only did 2 - the two more interesting ones, Samphire and Flowers for Algernon.

Afterwhich, he decided to call his pet hamster, Algernon. :lol:

[Fairy]

csc:

I don't think it's possible to do all the stories. Think my son only did 2 - the two more interesting ones, Samphire and Flowers for Algernon.

Afterwhich, he decided to call his pet hamster, Algernon. :lol:

Hi csc,

Did your son find Samphire interesting? :?

I found it quite boring, though not as bad as some of the other stories.

Flowers of Algernon is a very good read. I borrowed the original book from the library more than a year ago.

[daisyt]

mrswongtuition:

S3 was Mockingbird (talks about racial discrimination which is very apt for Singapore because we got to learn how the African Americans were bullied and my teacher pulled in alot of National Education during lessons).


If they are not taking Lit at upper sec, then Mockingbird is a good read. If they don't understand the show, there's a B&W movie on it. Not exactly following the book, but the main gist of the story is there.

Mockingbird was on theatre last year or the previous year (cannot rem) and we went to watch it, at Jubilee Raffles Hotel. Saw many students there at that time and I understand was part of the \"O\" level. Before watching, I get dd to read the book but it was too chim for her. After watching, she read the book again and get to understand better. The morale is good ....

I am waiting if any theatre group would stage \"Emily of Emerald Hill\", a monologue which sounds interesting to me.

Went to watch \"Bedroom\" last year, also about penarakan culture like \"Emily\". Nice ....

[csc]

Fairy:

Hi csc,


Did your son find Samphire interesting? :?

I found it quite boring, though not as bad as some of the other stories.

Flowers of Algernon is a very good read. I borrowed the original book from the library more than a year ago.

I did not hear him complain about Samphire , so I think it should be okay. He had to do a project and a short presentation on the story. I did not read the story myself but I did glance through his powerpoint slides. I thought the story line was not too bad.

Agree with you . Flowers of Algernon is a marvellous and powerful story. It brought tears to my eyes while reading it.

He's doing To Kill a Mocking bird and Midsummers' Night Dream this year.
Literature is one of his favourite subjects, other than PE !:lol:

[mrswongtuition]

My current school is using ‘Freak the Might’ for S1. Not too sure what’s the book about cos haven’t had a chance to grab a copy to read.

[autumnbronze]

daisyt:

Mockingbird was on theatre last year or the previous year (cannot rem) and we went to watch it, at Jubilee Raffles Hotel. Saw many students there at that time and I understand was part of the \"O\" level. Before watching, I get dd to read the book but it was too chim for her. After watching, she read the book again and get to understand better. The morale is good ....


I am waiting if any theatre group would stage \"Emily of Emerald Hill\", a monologue which sounds interesting to me.

Went to watch \"Bedroom\" last year, also about penarakan culture like \"Emily\". Nice ....

Hi Daisyt,

Yes, TKAM was staged last year.

In fact, there is a perfomance of it as well this year. For those who are interested, you may want to refer to http://www.sistic.com.sg/portal/dt?dt.isPortletRequest=true&dt.action=process&dt.provider=PortletWindowProcessChannel&dt.windowProvider.targetPortletChannel=JSPTabContainer/sEventsCalendar/Event&dt.containerName=JSPTabContainer/sEventsCalendar&dt.windowProvider.currentChannelMode=VIEW&dt.window.portletAction=RENDER&contentCode=kill0310 for details.

Will update if there are any more productions this year based on Lit texts.