Children in the darkness

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

Henry M Bechtold

Task 1
Comment from the poet

I was in Vietnam in 1967 - 68 and again in 1969. I go back often because my soul lives in Vietnam and I go back to visit it from time to time.

was sitting in my hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009 and I was trying to write a poem about the girls who work in the park and how badly men treat them. I was angry but unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. I looked at the TV and the news was on. I did not know what the news reader was saying but in the background was a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out. The words just came to me and I typed as fast as I could to get it all down.

Henry M Bechtold

Task 2
Point of view

The poem is written from the point of view of an outsider, who reveals the poet's disgust about children being forced to war and laments about their sufferings and the cruel punishments of war. Throughout the poem, the poet repeats 'darkness' and 'no light' emphasizing on the gloomy and cold emotional environment these children are forced to survive in. The children are described to be unable to escape this harsh reality, and are not given the chance to do anything that they want to like a normal child. They will never learn how to read or dance, because war has trapped these innocent children in the cages of military.

Situation and setting

The situation is during a war period, where men are killed faster than they can be replaced, forcing countries to get even children to fight in war. It is a period where no child is free from war, and noone has the power to escape this nightmare. These children are consumed by the harshness of war, where they will fight until death. As explained in the poem, nobody will be able to save them, or at least even light their lives with any hope, for there is none.

Language and diction

Repetition is a key device used in this poem in order to draw attention towards the themes of the poem. For example, as highlighted before, 'darkness' represents isolation, uncertainty and ominousity. It evokes much feelings such as pity as the plight of the children are even more exposed. Also, the idea of being controlled and unable to escape is brought up in the poem, where these children cannot 'flee' from what they are commanded to do, that is to fight for the country.

Personal response

War has never been able to solve anything properly, and the issue brought up in this poem complements such injusice. If war can already bring so much suffering to the soldiers fighting it, how much of that suffering can a child endure?

Home learning - Rainbow death

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 led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson
Task 1:

Comment from the poet

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.

Hubert Wilson

This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.

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.

From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.”

Sources:
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Rainbow

Task 2
Point of view

From what I can deduce, the poem is from the point of view of an anti-war Vietnamese civilian, recounting the destruction and suffering which herbicidal warfare had brought upon the innocent. The speaker rants on the horrendous outcome of the herbicides used by America, and how barbaric it was to use such weapons.

Situation and setting

The setting is probably after the war, where everything else but the civilians' welfare is settled. American soil is left unscathed whereas the local Vietnam population is left with a destroyed wasteland. Crops and natural habitats were destroyed and the people were left with nothing to start over. Poverty dominates, and people starve. The only thing that was remembered was the cruel war which changed and ended many lives. Those who lived through the war hated America for punishing the innocent.

Language and diction

To emphasize on the horrors of herbicidal warfare and even war in general, the poet cleverly used words such as 'rainbow' and its colors in a context that twists its positive meaning into something completely negative. For example, the title itself, 'Rainbow death', stands out because of the contrast between the word 'rainbow' and 'death'. 'Rainbow' usually represents the elements of joy and fun, along with the idea of peace and harmony. However when juxtaposed with 'death', the 'rainbow' which we were all familiar with immediately becomes a death beacon, a weapon of war. The poet introduces a nightmare fuel to the reader, forming an image of a 'colorful death'. And since a rainbow is usually a metaphor of diversity, it shows exactly how one will suffer and die from the myriad of diseases that will result from herbicides.

Similarly, 'potpourri' also signifies diversity and variety. And it is also used in a similar context like the title. Also, in the line it is located, 'Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri', three colors, green, pink and purple were highlighted. Green represents nature, which was destroyed by war; Pink represents love, which was lost because of war; Purple represents royalty and nobility, which was what drove men into war. And these colors, along with others, formed the 'death potpourri'.

Next, the way the poet breaks up the sentences and uses punctuations creates a very dramatic speech. The short sentences build tension while the long sentences are full of rants, following the short sentences. Lastly, by breaking the last sentence into three parts, there is a build-up of tension as the poem reaches its climax, ending with an exclamation mark.

Personal Response

Nothing can hide the fact that war is cruel, and this poem is yet another that reminds the reader of the horrors of war. War is punishing and unfair. But let us not just look back at the wars and condemn them, instead these wars should serve as a lesson to us, a reminder to those who had lived through the war, and a warning for those who has never witnessed one.

Nobody wants a war.

Home learning assignment

I did my learning preference assesment last year and these were my results:

1. Logical
2. Intrapersonal
3. Visual/Spatial

These are the results when I did the test again: (Code: 2mjq8rtd89585s)

1. Logical
2. Visual/Spatial
3. Kinaesthetic

I'm not quite sure what this proves, but it seems that after one year, I'm still quite logical and possibly a bit more active. Also, logical learning actually tied with Visual. So does this mean I'm more observant?

I feel that taking this multiple intelligence test can help many students in their schoolwork as knowing how you learn the best is an effective way to craft your learning approach. For example, if your learning preference is Visual, you will probably find it easier to visualize the things that you learn than to memorize them by heart. Having said that, I will be approaching the question: "Is Maycomb a good place to live in ?" in reference to To Kill a Mockingbird according to my type of intelligence.

(Since there is no assignment for logical or kinaesthetic, I will be doing on intrapersonal instead)

Visual
Draw a map of Maycomb. Take into consideration the locations of the homes, the streets etc.

Here is the map that I made:


Intrapersonal
Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain.

If I could be friends with a character in the novel, I would choose Arthur Radley, nicknamed Boo Radley.

In the novel, Boo Radley was initially perceived as a mysterious individual who has little connections with the rest of the society and thus, many rumors about his condition and reasons for hiding surfaced, along with the idea that he was a bad person. However, as the story progresses, this image slowly changed, from the little actions that Boo Radley had done for the children, revealing the kind soul within him, contrary to the opinions of the others.
The reason why I would choose to be friends with Boo Radley is because he is brave to accept and the evils within the society. Through his decision to exile himself from the outside world, he has proved that he is willing to do anything that he believes is right, even at the expense of being misunderstood by the society. Though this decision shelved him away from society, Boo Radley was protected from the racial injustice ever-prevalent within Maycomb. Still, he tries to help others, especially Jem and Scout Finch, whenever possible. Being a friend with such a brave person would be a priceless learning journey.

Decisions resulting in an unknown possiblity

Fictional character John was walking around the neighbourhood until he chanced upon a button fixed on to a wall in a mysterious walkway. It was a big, red button marked with the warning: DO NOT PRESS.

What would you do?

If John was the curious or adventurous type, he would press the button without hesitation. But if he was the paranoid and cautious type, he would think twice before acting. These were the thoughts going through his mind.

"What's this? A big, red button on a wall. What could happen if I press it? An explosion? That's not really possible, but I'm still not sure about taking such an uncertain risk. Could it reveal a secret passage? Nah! But what else could this mean? Who is so ridiculously free to place a button so luminous and obvious? Wait, if it is so obvious, then I doubt I'm the first person to find this weird button. So what happened to the rest who did before me?" *Checks the floor for any trapdoors* "Okay, that was stupid...Maybe I should just ignore this tempting button and get on with my life. This could be a decision of life and death! If I press this button, I might save some lives...or die in an explosion or whatever. Or maybe this button has no purpose at all, designed to trick people to make a fool of themselves or for people like me to think so deeply. Or...this is part of a 'Just For Laughs' gag! If I press this button, something ridiculous will happen to me and exhibited as a slapstick gag in the show. Now that's quite possible. Lets see what happens when I press this button...from a distance." *Picks up a rock and throws at the button* A bucket of water drops on the floor, face down. "I better get outta here."

This little story shows an example of a decision that would result in an unknown possibility. However, does the mysteriousness of that situation affects how John might think? What if the button states: PRESS AND DIE. Would it deter people from pressing the button or instead, tempt more people to fall for it?

Seems fair enough

Sometimes, the more you don't want something to happen, the more probable it will happen. This applies the other way round too. This is how reverse psychology works. If I tell you to press this button, you will become paranoid and refuse to press it. If I tell you not to press this button, you will wonder why and press it.

In the case of this button, it has a vague warning of death. It does not state anything else and thus creates a questionable decision. It has a similar meaning to "Do not press" as both buttons have messages that try to prevent people from pressing them.

Tempting...

This is similar to offers that are "Too good to be true" in real life. We see advertisements everywhere, promoting schemes that offer fast cash, promoting products with huge discounts, promoting lucky draws with amazing prizes. Advertisements such as these are usually slanted towards our weakness. If you are greedy, you will fall for them.

Moral of the story: Ignore all big red buttons you see. Nothing not good will happen if you don't press the button.

Division by zero

Division by zero is when zero is the divisor of a numeric value. In such a case, result would usually be referred to infinity. However, if you work it out with a calculator, you would most likely get a "math error". Even if the equation seems perfectly logical. Here are a few examples.

x/0*0 should result with zero as the answer. And so should (x/0)-(x/0).

However, the most outrageously incorrect answer I feel would be towards the equation 0/0.

Here is my proof that 0/0 should result in a 1.

Proof

x/1=x

switch the divisor and the answer to get

x/x=1

Every number can satisfy these equations. If you replace x with 0, you can will be able to see that 0/1=0 is obviously correct and so should be 0/0=1.

About me

Oops, looks like I forgot to introduce myself in my first post :p.

My name is Kuan Wei Heng. My index is 13, and I'm from 2A1. My MSG was 2.33 last year, not too bad and my CCA is Robotics! In comparison with other people, I'm stronger at Mathematics and weak in Chinese. My thinking is also very logical and that's why I can learn different programming languages easily. Here are some other random facts about myself:

• I am a Windows user (Hurray :D)
• I own a Netbook (Yippee :D)
• I am a platforming champion (Nobody I know is better than me at that :D)
• I type very slow (Small keyboard :p)
• I am a Firefox 3.6 beta tester! (IE fail)
• I can run (Inside joke)
• I debate with myself (check the alt texts)
• I have a very good memory (I can remember pi to 20 digits)

That was quite random.

CCA Orientation

Today was CCA Orientation. What seemed like a very easy-to-control sec 1 batch turned out to be chaos. They played with the Legos. They rampaged the FLL playfield and messed with the truck. They destroyed a robot. They were horribly uncontrollable.

The first group was still okay. The second group was still tolerable. But soon, "Hwa Chong Oi!" had to be shouted to get their attention. The third group left and I found out that there were still a lot more groups to go. During all the visits, the presentations were all the same, as the time go by, the presentations got shorter and shorter while we got more and more bored.

Good thing that's over...