Secondary School Literature

[6thisnthat9]

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6thisnthat9\" post_id=\"1963967\" time=\"1582069981\" user_id=\"145858:

My kids borrowed a few Shakespeare's stories books (in modern English)from the library just recently.
I asked them, why do you think Macbeth got himself killed like that? Why do you think the 3 witches shared those prophecies with Macbeth which led to his ending?

It is interesting how each interpreted or think/viewed. Try asking your kids such questions.
There shld not be a single fixed answer.

MacBeth
A synopsis:
A play that illustrates how listening to your wife drives you mad and gets you killed.

So if Macbeth did not have a wife then, what do you think his ending would be like? Would be have become the general he was and resist the witches temptation and continue to serve the king loyally?

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6thisnthat9\" post_id=\"1963974\" time=\"1582073455\" user_id=\"145858:

floppy\" post_id=\"1963971\" time=\"1582072297\" user_id=\"97579:

[quote=6thisnthat9 post_id=1963967 time=1582069981 user_id=145858]My kids borrowed a few Shakespeare's stories books (in modern English)from the library just recently.
I asked them, why do you think Macbeth got himself killed like that? Why do you think the 3 witches shared those prophecies with Macbeth which led to his ending?

It is interesting how each interpreted or think/viewed. Try asking your kids such questions.
There shld not be a single fixed answer.

MacBeth
A synopsis:
A play that illustrates how listening to your wife drives you mad and gets you killed.

So if Macbeth did not have a wife then, what do you think his ending would be like? Would be have become the general he was and resist the witches temptation and continue to serve the king loyally?[/quote]If MacBeth didn’t have a wife, he could be in the company of male partners / boys or in the bedroom of other people’s wife (likely not going to be approved literature material in such cases), who knows?

I think he would still be the valiant general that he was, and remain in the service of his king. The real MacBeth could end up being a footnote in history and Shakespeare won’t be writing a play about him. Thousands of students could be spared from reading MacBeth (although they could end up with something Worst given MacBeth is one of the better read).

[6thisnthat9]

Macbeth would have still met the 3 witches. He would still have the ambitious thought of being king himself.


The question is whether he would be able to carry out the murder of the king, if without lady Macbeth, if there no one to suggest to him.

I recall, the question about the role of lady macbeth was one of those qns likely asked in the exam long, long time ago.

[6thisnthat9]

floppy\" post_id=\"1964023\" time=\"1582087678\" user_id=\"97579:

6thisnthat9\" post_id=\"1963974\" time=\"1582073455\" user_id=\"145858:

[quote=floppy post_id=1963971 time=1582072297 user_id=97579]

MacBeth
A synopsis:
A play that illustrates how listening to your wife drives you mad and gets you killed.

So if Macbeth did not have a wife then, what do you think his ending would be like? Would be have become the general he was and resist the witches temptation and continue to serve the king loyally?

If MacBeth didn’t have a wife, he could be in the company of male partners / boys or in the bedroom of other people’s wife (likely not going to be approved literature material in such cases), who knows?

I think he would still be the valiant general that he was, and remain in the service of his king. The real MacBeth could end up being a footnote in history and Shakespeare won’t be writing a play about him. Thousands of students could be spared from reading MacBeth (although they could end up with something Worst given MacBeth is one of the better read).[/quote]Haha... this is the fun of E. Kit, Macbeth cannot be described as forced read. Most kids chose E Lit over other, shld be by preference i believe.

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6thisnthat9\" post_id=\"1964041\" time=\"1582092224\" user_id=\"145858:

Macbeth would have still met the 3 witches. He would still have the ambitious thought of being king himself.

The question is whether he would be able to carry out the murder of the king, if without lady Macbeth, if there no one to suggest to him.

I recall, the question about the role of lady macbeth was one of those qns likely asked in the exam long, long time ago.

Can’t comment on exam questions as I didn’t take Lit beyond Sec 2. Given that Lady MacBeth is a pivotal character in Becoming MacBeth, I’m not surprised if she is a favorite exam topic.

Most people who take Lit do so by choice. Unfortunately, perhaps that’s why Lit is so unpopular these days because fewer people want to choose it.

[6thisnthat9]

I was lucky, sch hired a teacher from the UK. Ms Boyle.

She asked us all sort of questions like the above, re arranged the seats in class, made us move around and she just recited out a few quotes at times, very inspiring like those scenes we saw in dead poets society robin williams. All of us said our views for discussion.
I am not sure if this is still the same in sec schools now? But the reading circles by Gep branch for p4, p5, are a bit like that. Kids seated around the teacher, teacher poses questions for discussion. I recall they even took videos of the class last year.
My dc enjoyed these classes very much

[6thisnthat9]

Our lit tr literally quoted the lines without the book, that was how versed she was on the book.


Somehow we all knew then, this waa the \"secret\" to getting a distinction for E. Lit. 😉

[6thisnthat9]

Sadly, compare w history and geography, it is easier to get A1 and A2 for H and G than E. Lit. My most fav subj even tho I didnt score A1 and had to use my Geo score.


For kids who love to read, parents shld consider for them to take E. Lit. Unless of course u know the sch has no good resource for it.

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6thisnthat9\" post_id=\"1964117\" time=\"1582155792\" user_id=\"145858:

Sadly, compare to history and geography, it is easier to get A1 and A2 for H and G than E. Lit. My most fav subj even tho I didnt score A1 and had to use my Geo score.

For kids who love to read, parents shld consider for them to take E. Lit. Unless of course u know the sch has no good resource for it.

That’s the perception of Lit: It’s tough to score an A1. People like me, who has a poor command of the language, will confirm / chop / guarantee struggle with the subject (as I did in sec 1 & 2). Furthermore, you need a certain level of maturity to understand and appreciate the various subject matter / theme present - maturity that youths in Singapore are unfortunately lacking (and getting worst with strawberries and strawberry farmers).

History and geography, on the other hand, are much more straightforward. There’s no need to over analyze motives / agendas / what went through XYZ mind etc. Eg In describing earth’s tectonics plate movements, we don’t analyze the “why’s” - why some plates move and some don’t, why they choose to move today and not tomorrow. Last but not least, history / geography aren’t particular about quoting word for word. So what if you have forgotten that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, and decide to quote “roses are red, violets are blue, the honey is sweet and so are you”. Maybe Shakespeare would have preferred the second one had he knew about it

[Imp75]

Think on the flipside for literature your content is finite while history/geog they are more content heavy? Having said that my gals will not choose lit as English cmi