Tag Archives: English

English Learner Profile (ELP)

Textual Representation

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Can texts ever be truly representative of groups of people?

I believe that different texts aim to represent certain groups of people, however they can never be truly accurate, as an artist would be using personal experiences to base their writing off of. Despite saying that, these representations do give an insight into a group of people, and help to inform readers about different ideas and beliefs. Yet, some texts do tend to exaggerate on certain aspects in order to appear more engaging. Whilst other texts might attempt to represent a group of people without much knowledge of them, and can therefore misrepresent them, and receive critiques.

Who gets to represent a group and who doesn’t? (Who gets to tell what?)

I believe that all artists should be able to express what they would like, however it must be done respectfully and with no harsh intention. Some artists might choose to represent those that they can relate to, which seems like the most logical way. However, artists might also choose to explore something new and express their ideas about it.

Is the act of representation problematic?

Many people represent others all the time, or at least attempt to. I feel that representation is important for those who would like to be expressed but do not know how. It can often be a way for people to come together and be seen as a group and a community. I think that representation can become problematic when it is taken to the extreme, as in it is used as a way to mock others or to make harsh generalisations of others.

Academic

Writer’s Fortnight: TWC2

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Today we heard out last speaker for Writer’s Fortnight, Seema Punwani from Transient Workers Count Too. TWC2 works towards educating migrant workers on their rights and helping them to come forward about any issues they face. Prior to the speech I already had a basic understanding about the issue, however my knowledge grew further, and I learnt much more about how these men are treated and how unaware some people are about it. However, what I did realise afterwards was that the speaker was taking a very slight bias approach to the whole topic. I mean she was not taking into account both sides, like how sometimes migrant workers might try to cheat the system into getting what they want. I am not generalising these workers but I would not be surprised if a case like this did come up and it turned into a bunch of excuses why someone would try to cheat their insurance to get money (for example), even if it was to send back home. I feel like both sides need to be considered to empathise with the workers but also to maintain order and structure in the system. I feel like to get an angle from this, I would need to research more into this topic and look at if the entire system is unfair, and letting migrants being treated this way, or if it is fair, and just wanting to maintain order.

Academic

Writer’s Fortnight: Deborah Emmanuel

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Yesterday’s guest speaker for Writer’s Fortnight was Deborah Emmanuel, a Singaporean poet and performer. Throughout the course of the speech, Emmanuel read 3 of her poems that she felt most deeply to. I thought that all the poems she read to us were greatly expressing her thoughts and feelings that she had once experienced and felt, and I felt a connection to her and her life through the power and emotion of her poetry. What I found quite striking was that close to the beginning of her speech, she recited a poem about heritage and culture, and how she never felt like she belonged to a culture. This arose thoughts about how culture doesn’t really identify us and we can never really know if we are completely apart of one – almost like the cultural norms mentioned in Robyne Hayes speech. Emmanuel went on to talk about the CMI system and how it is so unnecessary to categorise individuals into three broad groups. This system also creates a weight for one to follow the norms and lifestyle of the culture. She was categorised into ‘I’ (Indian) – however, she never felt like she was one as the culture was not passed onto her.

Emmanuel later talked about her struggles as a 19 year-old through the violence of her family and the loneliness that was created. However what I took back from this was that the idea of not feeling like she belonged to a culture or society is what caused the trauma she faced. She never felt accepted anywhere and that left with long-lasting emotions. Deborah Emmanuel turned to meditation and spiritual practices to overcome her trauma and the constant fear of never thinking that she will find love – or the right love, after experiencing the difficulty that her parents had.

Academic

Writer’s Fortnight: Chetan Bhagat

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Today we heard the second guest speaker for Writer’s Fortnight, Chetan Bhagat. From the moment he walked onto the stage till the time he left, the audience was fully engaged. Chetan initially started off with a little information about himself and his previous professions and then later went on to talk about his goal and how it is demonstrated in his writing, and ultimately, in his life. His goal is to change, and to make change happen in India and to influence a progressive society. Chetan wanted to be able to connect with Indians, and he did it the best way he could, through entertainment. This is how he captivated the audience from the start, with humour, then with passion and inspiration. Chetan connected to Indians through his books and movies, and his strategy was to reinvent; he wanted to change the game. He started writing in newspapers, however it was all in English, and he knew he would not be able to create a connection, so he started writing in a local newspaper, in Hindi. In 2004, Chetan wrote his first book whilst working in banking, called, “Five Point Someone”. Since then, all his books have had an aspect of a social issue, with the means to educate his readers but also to entertain. He was writing stories for them.

I found this segment of the speech very insightful and interesting. I got an idea of what it is like to be a writer, which was fascinating. Chetan writes books because he has a goal he wants to achieve and he wants to use his expertise to achieve them. Stories have a purpose, much more than just to entertain, but to educate, and to show meaning and to bring out empathy, and he used entertainment for get his reader’s to be able to be interested and to think deeply about the issues presented in the story.

Chetan later went on to talk about success and what actually is it. Personally, I believe that success is when you are content with yourself and where you are in life. He believes that success is when you have reached “true accomplishment”, which is kind of the umbrella to all sorts of personal definitions of what success is. Chetan believes that motivation is what pushes you to achieve long-effort goals. He also believes that winners are the ones who “change the game.” Chetan quoted Charles Darwin to represent what is means to change the game, “It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most adaptive.” Winners are people who can adapt and change to fit comfortably in their current situation.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Chetan Bhagat, and I found it extremely meaningful and engaging and my ears were wide open the whole time. I got an insight into the minds of writers and how they captivate their readers to acknowledge their work and most importantly, to understand it and to be interested and invested in it. Not only did I got the writer’s perspective, but I also got a great picture of his story and why he does what he does.