Project website ( product outcome)

What a relief! Our project website is finally done! What has seemed like an impossible feat has now become possible. The website now consist of a main page, with our introductory video right in the middle of screen, followed by 4 links at the bottom. Namely :Quiz,Info, Blog, and credits.

I am quite satisfied with the outcome, as i have been working on this product for more than a month, and now, with every thing coming together, the website has truly become educational and interactive ( the main aim of our website) . However, despite me being in a temporary state of euphoria, i still have to get back to work, as the website still has some minor bloopers (eg. spelling error and FTP errors).

Here are some screen shots of our website :



that's all for now! Thank you

Task 2 Home Learning

1) Point of View

In this poem, the point of view is from an American soldier, presumably Hubert Wilson himself. Although we cannot fully conclude that Hubert Wilson was the one narrating the poem, we can safely assume that the poem was narrated by an American soldier.

This is because, by analyzing the background of this poem, we would know that the poem was set in Da Nang, a place in Vietnam, where American soldiers fought during the Vietnam war . Therefore, we know that American soldiers are involved.

However, as we read the poem, we realize that the person narrating the story, is actually criticizing his own country, America. This can be seen, in the poem , where it states " America did not foresee " , "Now thinking twice?" and Nefariously America was led astray ". These evidence suggest that the poet himself is critical about the effects that war brings. Whether or not he is on the winning side, or the losing side, he knows that the innocent lives would be loss on both sides.


(2) Situation and Setting
The setting of the poem is in Da Nang , part of vietnam.This poem was probably written during the 1970's period, during the vietnam war, where american soldiers attacked vietnam.

Da nang was a place that was highly contaminated with "agent Orange". Agent orange was an extremely harmful as death, birth defects, and genetic diseases. According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects

The situation in the poem is when the American soldiers are spraying agent orange onto their own soldiers unknowingly. This can be seen in "Execrable effects of agent orange spray" .


(3) Language/Diction

The poem does not contain much literary devices. But it has some descriptive vocabulary, and extended metaphors.

"potpourri" - description

in the 1st stanza the poet states "Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!"

potpourri refers to a collection of various things; an assortment, mixed bag or motley; An anthology of miscellaneous prose; A medley of songs or music; A mixture of .

In this poem the poet is trying to describe the colour of the agent orange spray, and the other gases. He describes them as a mix of a variety of colour, like a "rainbow"

However, it is quite ironic that the poet uses the word death, beside potpourri. As a potpourri is usually vibrant and diverse, something that is beautiful and perhaps elegant. Yet the author places the word potpourri together with the word "death", which is something gloomy and dull.

"rainbow Death" - extended metaphor, and irony

The title rainbow death, is an extended metaphor for the act of spraying agent orange. This is because the spraying of agent orange is usually very colourful and vibrant. Therefore the word "rainbow" refers to the colour of the agent orange, while the word death refers to the effects of agent orange.

However, the title is also ironic, as rainbow, is something that is colourful and vibrant. A rainbow is an intagible object that gives a very positive connotation. However the word death on the other hand, has a negative connotation.

(4) Personal Response
In conclusion i think that the poet is trying to spread the message of how innocent people, weather on the winning side or the losing side in a war, are affected. He is trying to say that everybody is affected by war, even on both sides. Sometimes, allies even hurt each other, due to their rash actions and bad decisions. And even though the innocent people suffer, and die, they are not remembered at all. They are just left to die in the middle of the battle field. Therefore i think that this poem is trying to paint the brutality of war and the effects of war.

Home learning assignment Task 1

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread!
Nefariously America was led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!



Hubert Wilson, USA

Hubert wilson was involved in the Vietnam War , he served in the USAF Security Service. He was then sent to Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. As Da Nang was regularly sprayed with agent orange , the environment was contaminated and it affected hubert wilson's health. His health problems eventually got worse, through out the war. At first it was only headaches and limb pains, then followed by the deterioration of his central nervous system ,and then he started to experience spasms and severe headaches. However, nobody could detect any specific medical conditions. Therefore, Hubert Wilson was not able to receive any medical assistance from the doctor.

In the poem, Rainbow death refers to the "Agent orange Spray" .Agent orange was a chemical substance used during the Vietnamese war against Vietnam. Agent orange was a herbicide and defoliant- contaminated with TCDD or Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin). Approximately 4.8million Vietnamese were affected by Agent Orange and which resulted in about 400,000 deaths among the Vietnamese people and many more babies deformed at birth.

Therefore, in conclusion, i think that Hubert Wilson was just trying to describe, the horrible effects of war the agent orange spray. As the agent orange spray, not just caused the innocent soldiers to suffer, but also the next generation of off springs to come.

Projects day

The preliminary rounds for Project's day is around the corner, and everyone is gearing up for work. This year, project's Day is going to be a though one for me because i am taking on a whole new category "resource development". I chose this category as I thought that it matched my skill, and also at the same time, I was being offered a group, an extremely hard working, efficient, group. Therefore I decided to give this category a try. Before we commence the project, we had a lot of dispute, over the content of the project, as resource is a category which has millions of possibilities. However we soon settled and decided on doing about the Mayan civilization.As our project must be kept a secret, I cannot reveal too much on our final product. However , what I can reveal is my role in this project. My role in the group, is to be a web and graphic designer. I personally like this role a lot as I think I am able to carry out the job.

From my experience, I know that in order to have a successful project, the key is to start early. Therefore, over the weekend, I have began to draw some pictures of mayan gods. To be honest, I find these gods/goddess, rather interesting, as each of them have a story behind their origins.

So, here are some pictures of work :



Kinich Ahau (the one above)
Kinich Ahau was the Sun god. He was the patron god of the city Itzamal. Supposedly, he visited the city at noon everday. He would descend as a macaw and consume prepared offerings. Kinich Ahau is usually shown with jaguar-like features (ex. filed teeth). Kinich Ahau also wears the symbol of Kin, a Mayan day. Kinich Ahau was also know by the name Ah Xoc Kin, who was associated with poetry and music.

Chac (the one below)
In Maya mythology, Chac (sometimes spelled "Chaac") was the god of rain and thunder, and important as a fertility and agriculture god. Like some other Maya gods, Chac was sometimes thought of as one god, and other times as 4 separate gods based in the four cardinal directions: "Chac Xib Chac", Red Chac of the East; "Sac Xib Chac", White North Chac; "Ek Xib Chac" Black West Chac", and "Kan Xib Chac", Yellow East Chac.

In art, he was sometimes depicted as an old man with some reptilian or amphibian features, with fangs and a long nose, sometimes tears coming from his eyes (symbolizing rain) and carrying an axe (which caused thunder). He was associated with the frog. Other Maya terms used to refer to Chac include Ah Tzenul, ("he who gives food away to other people"), Hopop Caan ("he who lights the sky"), and Ah Hoya ("he who urinates").Names for the Rain God in other Mesoamerican cultures include Cocijo (Zapotec) and Tlaloc (Aztec).

While most of the ancient Mesoamerican gods are long forgotten by the descendants of the original inhabitants today, prayers to the Chaacs, most generally as a routine and not in times of drought, are documented in Yucatán as continuing into the 21st century among nominal Christian Maya farmers. Anthropologists have documented other prayers still in use which are identical to pre-Columbian prayers to Chac except that the name Chac has been replaced by that of Saint Thomas.Chac should not be confused with the Maya-Toltec figure Chac Mool.

information taken from : http://www.crystalinks.com/mayangods.html

Task B Final part

I feel that maycomb is a fairly good place to live in.This is because ,although there seems to be a lot of prejudice going around,there are also people who are very brave and who are against racism.(eg. Atticus, Culpurnia).People like these, help make a difference and fight for justice, as they are able to help spread the word against racism and prejudice. I also feel that maycomb is a very good place for learning, children do not learn through the education system, but through their experiences and observation. This encourages children to develop their moral and physical courage, and thus allow them to form their own mindset on particular issues (eg. racism). Albeit many people may see maycomb as a uneducated, backwards, old fashioned, poor, dirty town, I do not agree with their views, as i feel that they are generalizing the entire town. Every town or country has its bad side and good side, and we should not only look from a negative perspective. Maycomb it self has a lot of brave, honest people. like Tom Robinson, Atticus, Ms maudie, calpurnia, and helpful people like Boo radley.

English task B part 2

Intrapersonal

a. Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain.
I would definitely want to be friends with Scout. I feel that scout has an interesting personality, and is naïve. She is straight forward and is very friendly. She is also very approachable, once you get to know her .To me, I feel that scout is extremely curious and smart, and loves to go on adventures. I would like to meet her as, I feel that she reminds me of myself when I was younger ( not the point about being a tomboy), because when I was younger, I would like to play games such as hide and seek, and go to places like pulau ubin , parks, and beaches. I feel extremely happy to be out in the open and experience Mother Nature. I feel that I will clique very well with scout, as our personalities are very similar.

English task B

Naturalist:

a. Do a research on the natural habitat of mockingbird. In your research, include the kind of flora and fauna you think exist in Maycomb and explain why the mockingbirds live in Maycomb.

A mocking bird best known for the habit of mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. The mockingbird is gray on top and white on its underside. It has white patches on its wings that look like bars; a long black tail with white outer feathers and a long, slender bill. Males and females look alike.

Habitat

Mockingbirds are one of the few birds found in every kind of habitat, from desert to forest to city. They live in open country with thickets, farmland and desert brush. Mockingbirds like open areas rather than dense woodlands. Found in suburban yards, orchards, parks. The northern mockingbird is distributed widely and it has extended its range much farther north in recent years. They range throughout North America from southern Canada south to Mexico. They even have been introduced and established in Hawaii. Mockingbirds live year-around across Texas.

Maycomb

According to the book I feel that Maycomb has a hot and humid climate, therefore I would infer that the types of flora in maycomb would include

Canna

Canna (or Canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of nineteen species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales that is the gingers, bananas, marantas, heliconias, strelitzias, etc. The species have large, attractive foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered, brash, bright and sometimes gaudy, garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant.

Azaleas

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognized as two of the eight subgenera of rhododendrons - Pentanthera (deciduous) and Tsutsuji (evergreen). Azaleas bloom in spring, in damp mountainous places, their flowers dying only a few weeks later. They do not need as much sun as other plants; they live near trees and sometimes under them. Azalea is also the flower of the astrology symbol Sagittarius

Camellias

Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Korea and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. Camellias have a fast growth rate. Typically they will grow about 30 centimetres a year until mature although this varies depending on variety and location.

Snow-on-the-mountain

Euphorbia marginata, snow-on-the-mountain, smoke-on-the-prairie, variegated spurge, whitemargined spurge, is a small shrub in the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family native to parts of temperate North America The plant has grey-green leaves along branches and smaller leaves in terminal whorls with edges trimmed with wide white bands, creating, together with the white flowers, the appearance that gives the plant its common names.

I feel that animals such deers , bobcat, beaver, muskrat, raccoon, rabbit, squirrel, inhabit maycomb, as maycomb is extremely suitable for these animals

Why do mocking birds live in maycomb?

· Maycomb has a lot of grassy areas for mocking birds to feed on

· thick, thorny shrubs for hiding the nest

· high perches where the male can sing and defend his territory.

· Gardens for mocking birds to dwell about