PT3 POEM

                                        A FIGHTER'S LINES
                                          By Marzuki Ali



Synopsis of the poem
The persona in the poem is an old soldier. He is tired as he is old and weak. He and his people suffered in the past in their fight for freedom of their country and they made many sacrifices. People lost their lives and some remain nameless or unknown.

The persona, who believes that he will be in the wheelchair for the rest his life says he can only watch the happenings around him. Physically, he is helpless and he has no energy left. He was either seriously injured when he was a soldier or is very ill. He finds that times have changed and being a crippled man, it is too challenging for him to fight the injustice he sees around him. He is troubled by many lies being told everywhere.

Being highly spirited, he calls on the younger generation to wake up and fight on. They have to realise that they have to form lines or ranks irrespective of racial, religious and social differences to fight courageously for justice. He wants the young people who inherited the country's freedom to be united and denounce lies which may threaten the country.

The persona feels helpless that he is not heard. He urges the younger generation to fight or speak up for what is right because it is now their turn to do so.

The Setting
The poem is set after indenpence. The persona feels that the independence he has struggled for is now threatened by subversive elements.

Tone and mood
In the first stanza, the tone indicates that the persona is sad and weary because he is old and weak. The persona is also melancholic, reflecting on his past sacrifices he made for the country's independence.

In the second stanza, the persona voices his helplessness, anger and contempt because his country is facing threats.

The tone used in the third stanza is serious and demanding. The persona urges the present generation to form a united front to uphold the freedom that he and many others has fought for.

The persona ends by insisting that the younger generation continues to fight against injustice because he can no longer do so.

Themes
1. Patriotism
Patriotism is one of the themes of this poem. The people in this country have made a lot of sacrifices to fight for their freedom. They have achieved independence but now there are other threats such as deceit. This affects the country's safety. The persona calls on the younger generation to fight for justice and to speak up against deceit.

2. Being courageous
Another theme is being courageous. In the past, people made many sacrifices and fought bravely with the country's enemies for their freedom. Now, the persona urges the younger generation to be brave and fight against other threats in the country. He tells them to stand up and speak with courage.

3. Unity
In the past, people were united when they fought for independence. Now, the persona emphasises that the younger generation who has inherited a free country should unite to preserve their freedom. They should stand united by building a wall of people or forming ranks irrespective of racial, religious and other social differences. The "lines" in the poem, A Fighter's Lines refer to the persona's lines and the lines or ranks formed for unity. We have to be united and strong as in the saying, "United we stand, divided we fall".

Values
1. We must be brave to uphold justice.
The persona urges the younger generation to stand up against the widespread lies which are rampant in society today. This 'net of deceit' worries his as it can destroy the solidarity of the people. Therefore, he urges them to stand united and uphold justice to preserve the freedom and safety of the country.

2. We must be willing to make sacrifices to preserve our independence.
In the fight for independence, the persona and other soldiers sacrificed and risked their lives when they fought for independence. Now, he is wheelchair-bound because he was either crippled in the war or is now old and sick. Now, he wants the younger generation to make sacrifices too to preserve their freedom.

3. We must be united to preserve our freedom.
The persona wants the younger generation to stand united regardless of their differences to ensure their freedom.

FORMAL LETTER - LETTER OF COMPLAINT

QUESTION:
Your class is unhappy with your school canteen. As the monitor of your class, you have been asked to write to your principal, to complain about the following:
- food left uncovered - attract many flies
- food served is stale - food too expensive
- oily plates and cups - rude workers - workers not properly attired
- dustbins not cleared daily
- same menu daily

In your letter, you would also like to offer three suggestions from your classmates: - stringent checks - cheaper food - serve a variety of food

When writing the letter, you should remember:
- to set out the letter correctly
- to include all the points given
- to write in paragraphs. (30 marks)

Look at the model answer below to revise the format of a formal letter and see how the points are elaborated.

The Class Monitor,
Form 5 Amanah,
SMK Kayu Ara Pasong,
82010 Pontian,
Johore.
______________________________________________________________

Encik Juhair bin Jumaat,
The Principal,
SMK Kayu Ara Pasong,
82010 Pontian,
Johore.                                                                                 11 SEPTEMBER 2015


Dear Sir,

Unsatisfactory School Canteen

On behalf of the students of 5 Amanah, I would like to lodge a complaint about the school canteen.
2.        First and foremost, the food served is not covered and many flies can be seen hovering over the food. This may lead to food poisoning. Moreover, the canteen also serves stale food. The ‘nasi lemak’ turns bad by the time the upper forms have their recess. Last week, a few of us had diarrhoea after consuming food from the canteen.

3.       Apart from that, the food is also too expensive. A small plate of fried mee costs RM1.50 and many poor students cannot afford it. Besides that, the canteen serves the same menu daily. The students are bored with fried rice and fried mee every day.

4.      Another complaint is that the cups and plates are oily and not washed properly. The workers are also not appropriately attired although they have been told to wear aprons and caps. Moreover, these workers are rude to students. They shout at us and use foul language whenever they get angry. They also do not clear the dustbins and rubbish daily. This is very unhygienic. As a result, there is a foul stench whenever we eat in the canteen.

5.      Thus, we would like to suggest that the school authorities make stringent checks on the canteen daily or weekly. They should also ensure that the canteen serves a variety of food at a reasonable price. We would like to appeal to your sense of fairness and hope prompt action will be taken regarding these matters.

Thank You.

Yours faithfully,

    nora

(NORLISSA BT DUSUKI)
5 Amanah

PT3 POEM

                                              I WONDER

I WONDER WHY THE GRASS IS GREEN,
AND WHY THE WIND IS NEVER SEEN?

WHO TAUGHT THE BIRDS TO BUILD A NEST,
AND TOLD THE TREES TO TAKE A REST?

O, WHEN THE MOON IS NOT QUITE ROUND,
WHERE CAN THE MISSING BIT BE FOUND?

WHO LIGHTS THE STARS, WHEN THEY BLOW OUT,
AND MAKES THE LIGHTNING FLASH ABOUT?

WHO PAINTS THE RAINBOW IN THE SKY,
AND HANGS THE FLUFFY CLOUDS SO HIGH?

WHY IS IT NOW, DO YOU SUPPOSE,
THAT DAD WON'T TELL ME, IF HE KNOWS?

                                                                                  BY : JEANNIE KIRBY

SUMMARY

"Questions are the answers." Similarly, life is full questions that seek answers especially for a child.
The poem I Wonder is a poem about a rather intelligent and perceptive child who is curious about her surroundings.
In this poem, the child is curious about the elements of nature. Throughout the poem, the child's inquisitiveness is displayed through her questions about things which most of us have probably taken for granted.
She is keen to seek answers to questions such as 'why the grass is green' and 'why the wind is never seen?'. As she looks at the trees, she wonders who taught the birds to build their nests. She also intelligently deduces that when the wind stops, the trees can actually take a break.
As she looks up into the sky, she has more questions about the moon, stars, lightning and rainbow. She wonders why the shape of the moon is never the same and wonders what happens to the missing parts when the moon is half or crescent-shaped.
Next, she ponders over the twinkling stars and likens them to a candle that gives light and wonders who lights them up 'why they blow out?'.
She is further intrigued and wants to know who causes the lightning to flash.
Later, when she looks at the white clouds, she wonders why they are so soft and fluffy and who hangs them up so high.
The child is also curious to know that after a downpour, who paints the seven colors of the rainbow.
Since most of her questions have gone unanswered by adults, we see that towards the end of the poem, she shows her annoyance at her father because he fails to feed her curiosity and does not provide answers to her questions.

Background

It is natural that a child seeks answers to questions about their natural surroundings.
The poet believes that a child's curiosity should be encouraged and not ignored as that is when learning takes place.
In this poem, the poet has successfully portrayed how a child views nature and its elements. Even though some questions posed by children can be challenging for adults to answer, we as adults must seek to educate children to appreciate nature especially in making them realize that nature is created by our Creator--God.

Setting

The setting of the poem is outdoors. Most probably, the poet is in a park and nature has captured her imagination.
As the day progresses, she makes her observations. First, she notices the green grass and feels the soft wind blowing. When the wind blows, the trees sway and when the wind stops, the trees rest.
Next, she looks at the clear skies and the fluffy clouds. Later, when it rains, lightning flashes across the sky and soon after, she sees a beautiful rainbow.
When night time comes, the stars and the moon light up the night.sky.

Speaker

The speaker or persona in this poem is most probably a child.
The poem starts with the pronoun 'I' in the first sentence. Hence the poem is written in the first person.

Themes


Nature Does Not Work Alone

The poet wants us to know that there are many elements in nature that do not work alone.
In fact, these elements work together and that is why nature is beautiful and awesome. Some of these elements are found in the sky such as the moon, stars, clouds, rainbow and lightning.


Nature-God's Awesome Creation

The poet also wants us to realize that nature is simply awesome.
In fact, some aspects of how the elements of nature are created and their existence are beyond our knowledge and comprehension.
Even though we may have many questions and may not get answers to these questions, we should not stop questioning because we learn about nature by asking questions. However, the only one that has all the answers is God.


Nature is Beautiful

The poem clearly highlights the marvels of nature and shows that nature is beautiful.
Therefore, we should appreciate it and not take it for granted. In fact, we should take time to appreciate and enjoy its beauty.
The poet uses a variety of images to show the beauty of nature by drawing our attention to different elements such as the green grass, the fluffy white clouds, the shining twinkling stars, the multi-colored rainbow and the crescent-shaped moon.
All these elements of nature are a means of bringing awareness that nature is beautiful and should be appreciated.

Lessons Learnt

Nature Should be Appreciated

The poet successfully portrays nature through the eyes of a child. Since children are innocent, they look at nature as it is and appreciate it. It is this appreciation that the poet wants to highlight.
In short, the five stanzas are all about appreciating nature and its elements. More importantly, the poet does not want us to take nature for granted. She uses various images to bring out this appreciation and to show that there is a balance in the way nature has been created.

God is Our Creator

This poem shows that God is our Creator. God is responsible for creating this beautiful natural environment.
The poem, with its natural setting, shows many facets of nature and how the various elements interact with each other to bring out the beauty of nature.
The first five stanzas shows God's handiwork and power. This is evident because there are some aspects of nature which is just beyond our control.
In the last stanza, again we see God's power because as humans, we may not have answers to all the questions on the existence of nature.

Tone and Mood

The overall tone of this poem is of wonder, inquisitiveness and childhood innocence.
The mood that the speaker conveys is of being happy, captivated and child-like innocence as she explores the many elements in nature.
The child in the poem is awed by nature and ponders by asking questions. The many questions posed relate directly to her curiosity.
Both the tone and mood conveyed by the speaker is related to her questions about nature. For example: 'I wonder why the grass is green', 'And why the wind is never seen?', ' Who taught the birds to build a nest' etc.
Towards the end, the speaker shows her slight disappointed when her many questions are not answered by her father.

Structure and Style

There are six stanzas in the poem I Wonder.
Each stanza has two lines. Two lines in a poem are called a couplet. So this poem has six couplets.
The rhyme scheme used by the poet is aa, bb, cc, dd, ee and ff.
This means the last word in Line 1 rhymes with the last word in Line 2.

Example:
Stanza 1
The last word 'green' (Line 1- a) rhymes with the last word 'seen' (Line 2-a).
Stanza 2
The last word 'nest' (Line 1-b) rhymes with the last word 'rest' (Line 2-b).

The next interesting style used by the poet is the questioning. Every couplet ends with a question.
Example:

O, when the moon is not quite round, Where can the missing bit be found?
Who lights the stars, when they blow out, And makes the lightning flash about?
Who paints the rainbow in the sky, And hangs the fluffy clouds so high?

Literary Devices

Poets often use a number of literary devices to create a certain impact. In this poem, the following are some of the main literary devices employed by the poet.

Alliteration

When a poet repeatedly uses consonants, this is called alliteration.
In this poem, one example of alliteration was used
Example: Line 1-'green grass'

Metaphor

When one wants to make a comparison of things, we use metaphors.
Similarly, in this poem the poet used some metaphors to stress the meaning.
Example: The word 'fluffy clouds' is a metaphor. This metaphor shows that the clouds in the sky are soft and fluffy.

Imagery

The poet uses imagery to tell the readers about the different aspects of nature.
In this poem we see a number of visual imageries.
Example:
The image of trees resting (Line 4) - And told the trees to take a rest?
The image of the painted rainbow (Line 9) - Who paints the rainbow in the sky?
The image of flashing lightning (Line 8) - And makes the lightning flash about?
The image of stars being lit and blown out (Line 7) - Who lights the stars, when they blow out,
The image of someone hanging up the clouds so high (Line 10) - And hangs the fluffy clouds so high?