It's been almost three months since I'm away from school, nursing my injury. Hence, it is no surprise that I only knew about the latest novels for Form Five English Literature Component about a few days ago. You might have heard about this from other blogs. Nonetheless, I'd like to share the information in this blog as well. Thanks Darsh for the info :) I'm looking forward to reading the three books and posting my reviews on them soon. Check it out!
-The Curse by Lee Su Ann
(will be read by Pahang,Terengganu, Johor,Sabah,Sarawak and Labuan)
-Step by Wicked Step by Ann Fine
(will be read by Selangor,Kuala Lumpur,Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca)
-Catch Us If You Can by Catherine McPhail
(will be read by Perlis,Kelantan,Kedah, Penang and Perak)
13 comments:
This is unfortunate for me who's living in KL, I really want to learn The Curse, I mean its rare to see any local novels in both Literature Component in English 1119 and Literature in English 2251. The novel Catch Us If You Can seems unusual and does not suit our country's environment. We don't really have that kind of system where one will be force to go to Foster Home and Old Folks Home, this is most likely to happen in US and Mexico. Step by Wicked Step, though provide some major issues regarding children that were affected by parental divorce, we cannot neglected the fact that this is categorised as Children's book. This to me, seems to proof that our government tend to not focus so much in literature in English. They also neglected the recent issue on teenagers' social problem, in contrast, the novel talks about the PARENT's problems. However, The Curse is rally interesting and unique. A thrilling/horror/mystery novel seems enjoyable compare to the other two. The novel is also a great reference to the Mahsuri's Curse, which, undeniably would be a great medium for those Chinese and Indians (even Malays) that ignore this prominent Malay legends. I'm a Malay, 16 years old, interested in both Malay and English Literature, am quite disappointed with the other two novels.
Thanks for the insightful feedback and it's always heartening to know someone who has keen interest in English Lit. The Curse is indeed a great read and I'm glad that they've decided to incorporate a local work in the recent English Lit Component. In regards to the other two books, I believe some of students may not be able to relate directly to the physical settings but can relate to the issues embedded in the books. Issue of interest is a rather subjective matter as different book appeals to different people. Thanks for voicing out your opinion, the opinion matters. I do hope the disappointment would not stun your interest in exploring the realm of English Literature.
I'm an English Teacher who has read the book The Curse also and am quite disappointed with the choice of textbook used for the next 5-10 years. It's a book about the negativeness of the Malays. the story tells about how a young woman who was killed by her father. She was forced to marry an old man (cF Melayu suka anak kahwin orang kaya yang tua...dapat harta!) but she wanted to elope with the young lover, got caught and was killed by the father herself(cf: orang Melayu jahat..bunuh orang je! ade 2 scenes pembunuhan)the killing was set in a rubber estate(cf..so Malays...,are we that poor that they still use a rubber estate in a story book?) And the first wive of the old man went to see a bomoh to make her husband love her more (cf: so Malays,see the bomoh for love? I don't see any good moral values to discuss in the classroom. What is Su Ann getting at? If Interlock can be taken of the shelf, i think this book should have a second revision on its plot and sensitivity of the Malays. thank you.
Hello there Fadzleen!
Very nicely presented! Your post on the Lit Component is very well done. Congrats on the initiative. As for now,assessment for the Lit Components will be following the old format i.e. the Multiple Choice Questions and Short essay for the PMR and Structured Questions as well as Essay for the SPM. Do keep your ears and eyes peeled for more info regarding assessment on the Lit Component. There has been talk that they MIGHT use School Based Assessment but since there is nothing in black and white, we cannot be too sure about this.
To the young sixteen year old who is disappointed in the texts provided, you could sit for the Literature In English paper for your SPM which offers more varied and interesting texts that could cater to your interests. However, in all honesty the texts are brilliant if you read them carefully. As Fadzleen pointed out, Issue of interest is a rather subjective matter as different book appeals to different people. The trick is to look at bot sides of the coin. Literature is after all, about how you feel and how you perceive the unseen. Good luck!
Dear Anonymous
I do not think at all that The Curse portrays the negativeness of Malays. It's about the fallability of human being - whether or not they're Malay. Each character is portrayed as vulnerable and flawed - and yet if you look closely, you will also see the "positiveness" that shines through.
The lead character Azreen is intelligent, faithful, cares for her Mum and the old lady. (And she's obviously a Malay!) Other characters like Siti and the Datin are also "good and bermoral". Even the community of the old village is a perfect example of the closeknit traditional Malay kampung.
So why concentrate on the evil when the good can be found everywhere in the book?
The ethnicity of the characters in the story is just incidental, not definitive.
By the way, I found a good revision book that gave a pretty accurate summary of the novel -- including the moral values from the book. :)
Axis KBSM 2011 English 1119 Form 5Kamala Ganehsan
J.Wee
Sasbadi Sdn.Bhd.
Thanks to those who commented. Sorry it took me awhile to respond to yours.
Thanks Anonymous 'cikgu' and Siti for your views on The Curse. We need to thread carefully on the issue of race sensitivity. Personally, I believe that the writer did not focus on Malay negativity in the novel. Sure, there are lot of cliches but we can not deny that some of the elements occur in real life. At the same time, not all characters are painted in bad shades. The question is, should we dismiss a literary work because it touches on unfavoured areas of life?
Thanks Darsh for your valuable info. I'm glad that you are willing to share with me and the rest of the readers. Will keep my eyes peeled for the upcoming news on the lit assessment.
Thanks Siti for the info. I am sure it would be helpful for others :)
Dear "anonymous" teacher,
I am an SPM leaver, mixed parentage of chinese, indian and malay. I have parents who are both English teachers. firstly, i would like to express my disappointment towards the way you view The Curse. It is logical that if an educator already has a pre-conceived negative perspective towards the book, he/she will be bound to potray a lack of enthusiasm and an increased criticism towards the text, through the lessons. this will then affect the mind set of the students and even stir racial tension.If you say this story potrays a negative image of malays, what about the dramas we constantly watch in TV? the settings are usually also kampungs, and scenes of murder and marriage of convenience is very common. but we still worship those dramas and watch them faithfully. all in all, if we want to realise the 1Malaysia spirit our country is fighting for, we ourselves have to learn to be more open minded. After all, literature and fictions are merely creations of the author and we should not "terasa" if we feel there is nothing wrong with our race, culture and lifestyle. "siapa makan cili dia yg rase pedasnye" so if Malays, Indians and Chinese are well established now, morally and socially, there is nothing we should feel insulted about. Instead, we should just be proud of how far we've come,gracefully, especially the malays who have broken the boundaries of 'kampungs' and have moved on to becoming successful individuals.
lastly, anonymous cikgu, i apologise if i have said anything offensive, i was only trying to voice my take on this issue. Thanks to the blog owner too, for maximising the technology's(blog) potential in providing a medium to discuss interesting issues as such.
Thanks & Take Care :)
May i knw what are the novels for literature in english. The other subject in spm. Not the one included in english
May I know why did Azreen want to make a quick exit?
hahaha.. stop arguing for nothing guys... just left three days more for spm candidates to sit for english paper... and myself, as spm candidate, who have learnt about 'step by wicked step'... to me, the book was very bored, Anne Fine try to make whole of form 5 class which is use the book as english literature, sleeping in the class.. lol
wish me luck for my spm yeah...
regards,
-ezxu
I'm a Form 4 student so next year i'll be in Form 5 obviously. I've read my senior's Step by Wicked Step and i don't think that i like it. Frankly saying, i think that it's a book for children. I'm really dissapointed as i think that the previous novel,The Pearl and even Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are much better than this book. Even my teacher aked us to buy Catch Us If You Can as the story has more points to write about. On the other hand, i've read The Curse when i was Fom 2 - found int in my old school's library- and i think that the book would be more fun to study.
In my opinion, the literature books should be thicker and suits the teenagers more than children. I was also very sad to see the literature component for Form 4 and 5 -the one with the poems and short stories. C'mon, the old one - i read my sister's- have more than three short stories and they are way more interesting.
Hi everyone, may I know where will I be able to obtain literature text books from Form 1-5?
Thank You
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