Sunday, August 26, 2012

STEP BY WICKED STEP answering technique for SPM 2012


FRAMEWORK for answering literature component/
Outline/personal response (for Question 33 of Paper 2, SPM English 1119)

1)      Introductory paragraph (paragraph 1)
-  State your novel (plus a very brief synopsis of the novel)
- State your chosen element( plot/characteristics/ setting/themes/moral values)
-  State in brief the reasons of your choice.

2)      Content paragraphs
-  Reason 1 + elaborations (paragraph 2)
R1 + E1+E1+E1

-  Reason 2 + elaborations (paragraph 3)
R2 + E2+E2+E2

-  Reason 3 + elaborations (paragraph 4)
R3 + E3+E3+E3

3)      Concluding paragraph (paragraph 5)
- Summarize/ restate the reasons on why you have chosen the part/ character/ place/etc
-  State a lesson you have learnt from the element
-  Provide any personel experiences (if any) which is closely related to the chosen element.


.........................................................................................................................
 (Question from Paper 2 /SPM 2011):

33        The following arethe novels studied in the literature component in English Language.



Catch Us If You Can   -  Catherine MacPhail
Step By Wicked Step  -  Anne Fine
The Curse                     -   Lee Su Ann


Choose any one of the novels above and answer the question below.


Which part of the story do you like the most?
Give reasons for your choice with close reference to the text.
 [15 marks]


……………………………………………………………………………

(Question from Peperiksaan Percubaan SPM 2011/SBP):

33        The following arethe novels studied in the literature component in English Language.



Catch Us If You Can   -  Catherine MacPhail
Step By Wicked Step  -  Anne Fine
The Curse                     -   Lee Su Ann


Choose any one of the novels above and answer the question below.


Using details from the novel that you have studied, write about:


amemorable event
how the event affects one of the characters in the story


Support your answer with close reference to the text.


[15 marks]



…………………………………………………………………………………………
 (Question from Peperiksaan Percubaan SPM 2012/SBP):

33        The following arethe novels studied in the literature component in English Language.



Catch Us If You Can   -  Catherine MacPhail
Step By Wicked Step  -  Anne Fine
The Curse                     -   Lee Su Ann


Choose any one of the novels above and answer the question below.


Using details from the novel that you have studied, write about:


a character who portrays a moral value in the novel you have studied
using the details from the novel, show instances that describe this value


Support your answer with close reference to the text.


[15 marks]



Other possible questions:


·        which incident did you find interesting?
·        which part of the story did you find interesting?
·        write about a character who shows determination.
·        write on a character who is honourable.
·        write about how a character has influenced another character’s actions.
·        write about a turning point in the story that changed the life of one of the characters.
·        write about an incident that changed the life of a character.
·       an event-great impact – on the characters
·        character whom sacrifices a lot for the family-explain
·       admirable actions of one of the characters-explain
·       event- you feel should not have happened, why?
·        “Being supportive keeps a family together”- describe how one of the characters shows this support.
·        Important decision made by one of the characters in showing how his decision changed his life
·         Lesson that you have learnt from one of the characters

The Character you admire the most in David A. Hill’s novel,“How I met myself”


The  following are the novels studied in the literature component in English language.
1)      The Railway Children - Edith Nesbit
2)      Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne
3)      How I Met Myself - David A. Hill
Based on one of the novels above,choose one character that you admire the most. Write about the character that you have chosen and give reasons why you admire the character.
Selected personal responses from my Form 3 tuition students on The Character you admire the most  in  David A. Hill’s novel,“How I met myself”written based on a précised  framework outline according to the PMR requirements for the latest literature component 2012. Hope all the shared materials will benefit, ease  your understanding and help you score by God’s will.
Question : The Character you admire the most. (John Taylor)
                Based on the novel  “How I Met Myself” written by David A. Hill, the person I admire the most is John Taylor.
He is a computer programmer in England and he was sent to Budapest to teach programming. He met Andrea in a language school. They fell in love and got married and had a baby girl named Kati Taylor. He is very persistence because no matter bad the situation became he never stopped looking for information on his doppelganger. He even went to the number 7 Felka Utca to look for answer about his mysterious doppelganger. Besides that, he is also a determined person. After analyzing the situation, he realized his doppelganger appeared for an important reason, so he was determined to find out. He went to the Budapest City Library to find out what had happened on the 18th of January. Furthermore, he has a strong will-power when he wants to find out the reason. Even though his search made his life difficult and strained his relationship with his wife, he did not give up and kept pursuing the subject. He went to the Public Record Office without Andrea’s permission to find out the dates of his doppelganger’s birth and death. For the conclusion, the reason why I admire John Taylor the most is because of his good personality traits. Finally he understands that the doppelganger wants to save him and his family.
(249 words)
Written by: Faiz Hilmi Bin Muhammad Azam
School : SMK Saujana Impian

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Question : The Character you admire the most. (John Taylor)
                Based on the novel ‘How I Met Myself’ by David A. Hill, the character that I admire the most is John Taylor. He is a persistent person. He never stopped looking for further information about his doppelganger no matter how bad the situation is even when Andrea don’t want to help him anymore. Furthermore, John Taylor is a determined person. He realized that his doppelganger appeared for an important reason, so he made a research about his nightmare recurrence by searching for the information in the library and questioning Mrs. Fischer at 7 Felka Utca. Lastly, I admire John Taylor because of his strong will power. Eventhough his search made his life difficult and miserable, with a strained relationship with his wife, he never give up. John always came home late at night and Andrea has some negative thoughts on his husband which made their relationship strained, but he kept pursing the subject and never gave up. Because of his good personality traits, he finally understands that the doppelganger wants to save him and his family. Based on the reasons above, John’s good traits made me admire him the most.
(180 words)
Written by : Aisyah Nur Hannan Bt. Sufian
School : SMK Saujana Impian
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Question : The Character you admire the most. (John Taylor)
                Based on the novel ‘How I Met Myself’ written by David A. Hill, the character I admire the most is John Taylor. The reason why I admire him is because he is persistent. As evidence, no matter how bad the situation became, he never stopped looking for information on his doppelganger even when he had troubled with his doppelganger and recurrence of dreams. Eventually, the second reason I admire him is he is determination. He realized that his doppelganger appeared for an important reason, so he was determined to find out by making a research of his dream and nightmare of his doppelganger by searching for the information in the library and questioning Mrs. Fischer at 7 Felka Utca. Furthermore, I admire him because of his strong will power. Even though his search made his life difficult and strained his relationship with his wife, he did not give up and kept pursing the subject because he feels like he has to protect his family from harm, Because of his good personality traits, he finally understands that the doppelganger wants to save him and his family.
(186 words)
Written by:  Ika Suraya Bt Mohd Nasir
School : SMK Saujana Impian
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Question : The Character you admire the most. (John Taylor)
                Based on the novel How I Met Myself, written by David A. Hill the character I admire the most is John Taylor. He is a 34 years old computer programmer Englishman. He moved to Hungarian to lead a young Hungarian team in an important new place of work. While staying there, He met Andres, his Hungarian language teacher and fell in love with her and after eighteen months they got married. They named their first-born Kati. The reason why I like John Taylor is because of his first personality trait which is persistence. No matter how bad the situation became, he never stopped looking for the information on his doppelganger. He stayed late at the library sacrificing his time with his family. The second trait is outstanding determination which inspire me. He realized that his doppelganger appeared for a important reason, so he was determined to find out the shadow behind the curtain. He took all the trouble to do some research by interviewing some people such as Mrs. Fischer at 7 Felka Utca. Another trait that is valuable in John Taylor is his strong will power. Even though his search made his life difficult and strained his relationship with his wife, he did not give up and kept pursuing the subject. His wife Andrea was suspicious of John’s behavior such as coming home late, so she made a conclusion of John assuming he was seeing someone else. Because of his good personality traits, he finally understands that the doppelganger wants to save him and his family.
(226 words)
Written by: Muhammad Elmy Nazrin B. Morad
School : SMK SAAS Kajang

Monday, July 30, 2012

al-Ghazali on reading the Quran

The respected Persian Islamic scholar, al-Ghazali (1058-1111, born and died in Iran), wrote a prominent book series called the Revival of Religious Sciences (Ihya'a 'ulum al-din). In the book, al-Ghazali integrates the principles of Sufi into the Islamic teachings and Shari'a. In one of this series' books, he talks about the etiquette for reading the Quran. Here's an extra brief point summary based on the book(provided by Sunni Path) :
  1. One should understand the magnificent nature of the Qur'an. This is a divine gift from Allah, and a tremendous favor. One should bring to mind the favor of Allah and be thankful.
  2. Magnification of the Speaker. Bring to mind the magnification of the One who is addressing us. The reciter will then remain conscious of the fact that this Book is the speech of Allah. So when one recites, it is not like reading any book, rather the very speech of Allah. Allah is speaking to the reciter through his recitation.
  3. Paying attention to the Qur'an: One may avoid whisperings of the self. "Oh Yahya, take the book firmly," which may be understood as ... take the words contained in it with seriousness and sincerity.
  4. Pondering over the verses. How? Recite it according to the Sunna with tarteel, a slow, measured, distinct manner. Tajweed helps in inward reflection. There's a hadith from Nasai and ibn Majah that the Prophet, peace be upon him, prayed at night reciting one ayah repeatedly: "in tuaddhibhum fa 'innahum 'ibaaduk." If You punish them, then they are Your servants, and if You forgive them, surely You are the Mighty, the Wise. (5:118)
  5. Seek to understand the meanings. 1) in the linguistic sense - study a translation if you do not know Arabic, 2) and the deeper meanings found in tafsirs, 3) and with reflection. Studying 'aqida helps, for example, reading verses about the power of Allah, and about His qadr. Don't interpret it with your own opinion; go look it up in a tafsir.
  6. Remove obstacles to understanding the Qur'an. There are four veils according to Imam Ghazali:
    • Being overly concerned with outward recitation (this is one of the tricks of Shaytan to turn you away from reflecting on meanings). Find a middle path.
    • Superimposing one's ideas/perspectives/beliefs on the guidance of the Qur'an (ex: someone is a feminist, socialist, economist - reading the Qur'an according to his or her own perspective - preventing true spiritual benefit from the Qur'an.) Take guidance from the Qur'an itself with an open mind.
    • Sin, both outward and inward. Sin creates darkness in the soul and clouds the mirror of the heart, so it doesn't reflect the light of Divine guidance. How to polish the heart? With sincere and consistent repentance, and leaving sin. Keep doing this and striving until you leave those sins. This is a process: cleaning the heart and approaching Allah Most High.
    • One finds sufficiency on finding how meanings relate to you from tafsir. However, this is an interpretation; these tafsirs shouldn't take the place of personal reflection and application.
  7. Take everything in the Qur'an as guidance for yourself because it is for all creation. When it talks about the oppressors, sinners, etc. look at your life, act on what's implied relative to your life. "Fastaqim kama umirta," be steadfast as you were commanded. Imagine how the Prophet, peace be upon him, applied the Qur'an to his life - his hair turned gray! His companions asked why his hair had turned white. He, peace be upon him, said, "Sura Hud and its sisters made my hair white." He was upright and truthful in following the Qur'an. He took every address to apply to himself personally.
  8. Feel the Qur'an when talking about Paradise, Hell, or anything, put yourself in tune with the Qur'an.
  9. Rise in degrees of recitation. There are three grades of recitation. Any recitation is a tremendous grade.
    • The lowest grade: one supposes one is reading the Qur'an to Allah, as if one is standing before Allah, in His Divine Presence, and Allah is listening to one's recitation. This is an inward state of begging, entreating, and supplicating.
    • The middle grade: When one beholds Allah and sees for themself that Allah is addressing us with His favor. He is bestowing His gifts, His mercy through the Qur'an. There is a sense of shame, modesty (haya) and magnification (ta'dhim). One seeks to understand and be more serious. Now it is from Allah to you! There's also a feeling of ecstasy, thankfulness, and joy! One piece of dust like you is being addressed by the Lord of every speck of dust!
    • The highest grade: When one beholds the Speaker Himself and His Attributes. One does not see his own actions, but completely engrosses himself in beholding Allah Most High Himself. Then next, he sees the address of Allah Most High, then sees his own recitation.

  10. Recite the Qur'an while knowing that there is no might or power except with Allah. Qul bifaDlillahi wa biraHmatihi... say by the Grace of Allah and His Mercy; in that let them rejoice - better than what they amass - whether (worldly or spiritual amassing). Thank Allah upon good deeds. In addition, one always beholds one's shortcoming in reciting it. And reminding ourselves that we are not being thankful enough, look even the Prophet's hair turned gray...The soul is what turns to Allah.the body is just dust. We have infinite fear, and infinite hope in Allah... so turn to Allah and hope for His Pleasure.

And those who strive in Our (cause),- We will certainly guide them to our Paths(29:69)

Monday, May 14, 2012

seeking springs of life

A true, inspiring story of a young revert sister seeking springs of life in the seasons of trials and tribulations...
As I was walking out of the lecture hall of the CERDAS (Center for Human Development and Human Sciences) in IIUM , a young lady came running after me..."Sister, please wait, sister, can I talk to you?" I stopped, turned and smiled at her….and she said “Sister, how did you manage to save your iman?”  As she approached me slowly, I noticed through her shining bright eyes...her love for Allah,  ( she is wearing the niqab) her hopes to be heard and her wishes for pieces of advice in her moments of desperation.  She asked me again, “sister, how did you go through all these years facing the challenges and how did you endured the ordeals when you first reverted to Islam?  Then, I told her that Allah is sufficient for us…. And we should always place our deep trust in Him…

Friday, May 11, 2012

“The heart in which love and compassion for all living beings resides, can have no room for seeking after personal pleasures.”

"A fakir once set out on a long journey, carrying with him a bundle filled with bread to eat on the way. At the end of the first day on the road he came to a small mosque, and there he rested for the night. Resuming his journey early the next morning, he walked at a brisk pace for about ten miles and then decided to have a bite to eat. But when he opened his bundle, he found that his bread was full of ants. “Ah, that is too bad,” he thought. “For I have taken these poor ants a long way away from their home in that mosque. How they must be longing to see their parents, children and friends." Filled with solicitude for the welfare of the ants, the fakir retraced his steps and took the ants back to their home in the little mosque. “The heart in which love and compassion for all living beings resides, can have no room for seeking after personal pleasures.” ~taken from the tales of the Mystic East, 1977, page 135

Monday, April 16, 2012

have nothing but warmth and light for everyone

To all my former law, accounts & medic students & my recent science tech students  batch 2010/2011 & 2011/2012 at tamhidi center, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia,...all the best for your future endeavors , lets strive to live in a life filled with barakah by seeking Allah's love, mercy & redha...inshaAllah & remember... 
"When your heart is immersed in this blissful love, you can easily endure any bitter face around." ~ Maulana Rumi , 
so let us keep on smiling and be the sun that warms hearts, be the rainbow that colours souls & be the stars that empowers minds...love u all for the sake of Allah……….  
“If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved, love everyone. Whether in their presence or absence, see only their good. If you want to be as clear and refreshing as the breath of the morning breeze, like the sun, have nothing but warmth and light for everyone."~Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I am a farmer of the heart…

fresh from our own farm.....

My twin daughters harvested green veggies again…and cooked them for lunch today,,.Alhamdulillah watching the seeds sprout and growing from day to day , taking good care of their growth while reciting the Quran until the day of harvest is truly amazing….it’s like taking care of human souls, truly in nurturing them with  warmness and gentleness…..needs true passion and patience…
 
With every breath I plant the seeds of devotion- I am a farmer of the heart. ~ Maulana Rumi
after harvest
“ Then let man look at his food, That We pour forth water in abundance, And We split the earth in clefts, And We cause therein the grain to grow, And grapes and clover plants (i.e. green fodder for the cattle), And olives and date-palms, And gardens, dense with many trees, And fruits and Abba (herbage, etc.),  (To be) a provision and benefit for you and your cattle.”  (Surah Abasa: 24-32)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Just follow your heart…

uum

On the 25th of February…
driving back from IIUM  (accompanied by my lil darling) after a productive muslim seminar by Muhammad Faris  from Productive Muslim.com….was truly an amazing experience for me….we were both recalling his gestures and expressions..and suddenly I noticed that  I missed the Seremban highway and was caught in the heart of Kuala Lumpur !!!!!...i  did not know where to head to…looking bluntly at the signboards which at many times can be truly deceiving….  suddenly my lil darling who was smiling said the words that  really slice deep into my heart…   “UMI JUST FOLLOW YOUR HEART………YOU”LL FIND THE WAY…INSHAALLAH..”

Then, I just followed where my heart wants to go…yes…into the comfort zone of Allah’s Love & Light..putting deep faith and feel that I will find my way in His Love and Light…was  truly an amazing experience…finally we reached our home sweet home…

Just follow your heart....and be adapted in any situations....
When we find ourselves tangled in decision making…
facing people without hearts and souls..we have a reason to smile in tears 
as when we put  our trust in Him and follow our heart…
we have room to be patient and draw ourselves closer to Him…
If others forsake us, Allah will not forsake us , He is Most Merciful….

♥ Each moment contains a hundred messages from ALLAH: To every cry of "Oh Lord," He answers a hundred times, "I am here." ♥ ~ Mevlana Rumi
May Allah grant us patience and taqwa as they conditions for Allah’s help and support...MashaAllah..:“Yes, if you remain patient and conscious of Allah and the enemy come upon you [attacking] in rage, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels having marks [of distinction] “ [Al 'Imran 3:125].
 There is no situation that would cause grief to a
believer, or cause his distress, because he has grasped this secret
and attained pure faith. God explains the spiritual state of the
believer in these words:
Those who say, "Our Lord is God," and then go straight will feel no
fear and will know no sorrow. (Translation Surah Al-Ahqaf:13)

Comfort zone in Allah's & Rasul’s LOVE

upm

Reflecting on the incidents that happened yesterday….
still in fever plus severe sore throat
In the morning….
Encountering with really insensitive people ....
after tutoring my amazing beloved TST students in USIM 
As a teacher...my reflection:  Continue to teach the language of LOVE………….
As a servant of Allah:  Remind ourselves that we are Allah’s slaves…. not the slaves of men

Encountering with heartless people…
In the evening…
after attending a lecture in UPM, the rain was pouring heavily, I was running to cross the road, then suddenly a car from a far distance speed up and splashed muddy water on me!!..ya Allah ..it’s so difficult to be heartful ( be warm~ taken from urban dictionary) when people are so heartless...in the midst of the drenched situation....as i was driving back...a warm light filled my heart when I reflected on the amazing characteristics…of beloved prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings be upon him).
As a student....my reflection: Let our love for Allah and Rasul bloom in testing moments…….
Lau Kana Bainana Al-Habib
Thank you Allah for Your Endless Blessings……….
Alhamdulillah....I found my remedies.......

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The sunshine of my life made me smile again..


Photo captured by my lil darling in her school at dawn..
Being a mum, a motivator, an educator and also a post graduate student... I always remind myself, my children, students and friends to  have good thoughts and go beyond positive thinking ..as it can motivate us to move on smoothly and calmly to achieve our dreams in life….but there are times we need to put extra strength to have good thoughts and  need to take great effort to crawl beyond positive thinking…..it truly  hurts but believe that it really heals  if  we put our love for God greater than our problems , and believe that it’s a valuable lesson to test our faith and reveal our true personality……