Recently, my class has gone through the story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. I will now discuss the story's relevance to today.
Link to "The Lottery"-http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html
1) How is the story relevant to today?
Today, many people are selfish, self-centered and cruel to others, They do not care whether other people get hurt(physically or psychologically) or not, as long as they themselves don't get hurt. The villagers in the village stone Tessie Hutchinson for no apparent reason, only because she got a ticket. They killed her because they are not the ones to get killed. "Nancy and Bill. Jr. opened theirs at the same time, and both beamed and laughed, turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads." Even Tessie Hutchinson herself only showed anger and horror when she was chosen to be stoned. ""It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."
Another reason might be that the villagers follow a particular leader, i.e Old Man Warner. They only conduct the lottery because it is an ancient tradition, even if they did not know what that tradition was! Mr. Adams states that villages have quit the lottery out of fear of being chosen. He however, was rebuffed by Old Man Warner, saying that there is no good in doing that. Mr. Adams then stopped talking about it, in other words, accepting it.
2) Do we have our own form of 'lottery' as in the story?
Yes we do. Society always finds a scapegoat to blame for its own mistakes. For example, in a very minor case, Student A steals Student B's wallet but blames innocent Student C for doing it. Student A knows its wrong but does it anyway for fear of getting reprimanded. Here the lottery comes in. Student A chooses someone to blame for his own mistakes and stays safe while Student C probably gets punished. In fact, even Mrs. Hutchinson displays this trait. ""You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"" From blaming George Bush for the Iraq War and Hitler for WWII to choosing our small scapegoats for our petty thefts or just plain lying to get around our mistakes, "The Lottery" is present in our everyday lives.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
I got my results back for term 1. Although I'm not about to disclose them on my blog, I can tell you that i got an MSG of 2.5. Not so good. I did get a conduct grade of "A" though.
Truthfully, my LA, Chinese and Math pulled me down. Strangely, though not very unusual, my chinese grades are better than my LA ones. This usually happens every year. I only seem to pull up at the EOY examinations. For Math though, I've never been very good. I still can't understand how I scraped an A* for it in PSLE.
Moving on, I passed my Judo grading. It was an easy grading, with low standards though none of the HCI people did really well, at least according to the coach. Now I'm a yellow tip! Though it's nothing to celebrate about. My batch mates, myself included, are harbouring thoughts of a CCA transfer. It is tough. My foot has not had time to recover properly yet.
Experience in Sec 1 camp
It was almost a horrible experience. I sleep longer hours on one normal night than both nights at the Sarimbun Scouts camp added together. Alright, I stayed up willingly to listen to my classmate's "interesting" stories, but it was still very uncomfortable. I would like to see you squeezed up against four people on a bunk the size of a van's interior and sleeping on a threadbare sleeping bag, knowing that some of the lucky others (the other iSparks) have a bed with only two people on it.
The activities were of the normal kind, not a single high element at all. Though I still count myself lucky that my group did not have time to do the milo pond activity. I mean, sliding into it is not the best thing in the world.
Moving to the trainers, my group possibly got one of the best trainers, Jason. He was the youngest there and was rather kind and understanding. He even let some of us have extra food when he was dishing it out. Once, we got an area cleaning job at a place that was perfectly clean and he ignored it and pretended that we cleaned it, instead of getting us a new job.
Truthfully, my LA, Chinese and Math pulled me down. Strangely, though not very unusual, my chinese grades are better than my LA ones. This usually happens every year. I only seem to pull up at the EOY examinations. For Math though, I've never been very good. I still can't understand how I scraped an A* for it in PSLE.
Moving on, I passed my Judo grading. It was an easy grading, with low standards though none of the HCI people did really well, at least according to the coach. Now I'm a yellow tip! Though it's nothing to celebrate about. My batch mates, myself included, are harbouring thoughts of a CCA transfer. It is tough. My foot has not had time to recover properly yet.
Experience in Sec 1 camp
It was almost a horrible experience. I sleep longer hours on one normal night than both nights at the Sarimbun Scouts camp added together. Alright, I stayed up willingly to listen to my classmate's "interesting" stories, but it was still very uncomfortable. I would like to see you squeezed up against four people on a bunk the size of a van's interior and sleeping on a threadbare sleeping bag, knowing that some of the lucky others (the other iSparks) have a bed with only two people on it.
The activities were of the normal kind, not a single high element at all. Though I still count myself lucky that my group did not have time to do the milo pond activity. I mean, sliding into it is not the best thing in the world.
Moving to the trainers, my group possibly got one of the best trainers, Jason. He was the youngest there and was rather kind and understanding. He even let some of us have extra food when he was dishing it out. Once, we got an area cleaning job at a place that was perfectly clean and he ignored it and pretended that we cleaned it, instead of getting us a new job.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Fill up on recent events
This week was...exciting. I had a competition on Sunday. Judo. I lost under 5 seconds to an RI yellow belt Sec 2. I sprained my ankle on Wednesday so no complaints there. Furthermore, I am a white belt.
Wednesday was the first time I managed to sprain my ankle. It was a painful experience. Couldn't even walk properly back home. I hope it heals soon anyway.
Wednesday was the first time I managed to sprain my ankle. It was a painful experience. Couldn't even walk properly back home. I hope it heals soon anyway.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
BP #5
/*Singapore and Moscow are the two countries that got into the final round of the bid for the Youth Olympics 2010. You are the leader of the Singapore team, about to make a presentation to the committee considering your bid. Prepare a presentation.*/
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am here today to bid for Singapore to host the Youth Olympics 2010. As you all know, Singapore is a very small country and you might think it unfit to host somthing as big as the Youth Olympics. However, Singapore has many world-class facilities and equipment. It is more than fit to host the Youth Olympics 2010. Singapore is also one of the cleanest cities in the world with its well known nickname "The green city". Singapore also has a high connectivity to the world, and is one of the world's most youthful independant country. Singapore has a reputation for excellence globally and has a unique multiracial harmony. All in all, it would be the perfect city to host the youth olympics.
Thank you for your kind attention
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am here today to bid for Singapore to host the Youth Olympics 2010. As you all know, Singapore is a very small country and you might think it unfit to host somthing as big as the Youth Olympics. However, Singapore has many world-class facilities and equipment. It is more than fit to host the Youth Olympics 2010. Singapore is also one of the cleanest cities in the world with its well known nickname "The green city". Singapore also has a high connectivity to the world, and is one of the world's most youthful independant country. Singapore has a reputation for excellence globally and has a unique multiracial harmony. All in all, it would be the perfect city to host the youth olympics.
Thank you for your kind attention
Friday, February 20, 2009
BP #4
/*You are an Indian Politician who is very much against the sale of organs illegally, especially towards the unscupulous doctors who removed people's organs without their consent. You strongly believe that the government plays a crucial role in ensuring that such criminals be punished, which serves as a sever deterrence. Draft a speech you are going to make at the legislature meeting.*/
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I want to raise with you the issue of illegal organ sales now rampant in our country. The citizens living in the slums have begun to sell their organs illegally, in a bid to raise money to live. Almost everyone in certain villages have sold one of their kidneys. It is fine when the patient asked for it in the first place, no matter illegal or not, but some unscrupulous doctors have taken to taking patients organs out without their consent. The worst of them, Dr. Kumar, we have recently apprehended, but there are still others out there. We must ensure that these criminals would be severely punished in order to deter other doctors from following in their footsteps. I propose that we sentence these noxious doctors to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.
I know everyone of you thinks that this is a horrible sentence to give to anyone, even to these foul scum(if I may use the word), but we must deter people from participating in such deeds like this. Please consider my words.
Thank You for listening to my speech
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I want to raise with you the issue of illegal organ sales now rampant in our country. The citizens living in the slums have begun to sell their organs illegally, in a bid to raise money to live. Almost everyone in certain villages have sold one of their kidneys. It is fine when the patient asked for it in the first place, no matter illegal or not, but some unscrupulous doctors have taken to taking patients organs out without their consent. The worst of them, Dr. Kumar, we have recently apprehended, but there are still others out there. We must ensure that these criminals would be severely punished in order to deter other doctors from following in their footsteps. I propose that we sentence these noxious doctors to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.
I know everyone of you thinks that this is a horrible sentence to give to anyone, even to these foul scum(if I may use the word), but we must deter people from participating in such deeds like this. Please consider my words.
Thank You for listening to my speech
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