Presentation of Introductory Paragraph

 Today, all the groups must present their introductory paragraph. For me, all the groups doing a great job instead there are many mistakes. It’s okay because we can learn from mistakes. My group which is Nabila, Amirah, Edlina and me has presented one of the types of hook which is ‘current event’. After we have survey on the internet, we choose ‘Baby Dumping’ to write an essay. As a result, this is our introductory paragraph and the other from class A as well as doing the same thing:

According to New Straits Times, the latest case was a dead baby girl found floating in a sewage tank behind a girls' college hostel in remote Kelantan two days ago. The decomposed body was found by a group of boys playing nearby. Two more abandoned baby cases were reported that day in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. This situation can be caused by many factors which surround us. Thus, baby dumping is caused by negative social relationship, peer pressure, modern technology and lack of knowledge in individual self.

In 2007, the Star newspaper reported that an IPTS student in Segamat has dumped a baby in a plastic bag into a big drain. The baby which his umbilical cord is still intact was found by a good Samaritan. Two years later, Malaysia was shocked again by the same news: A fisherman had accidently fished a black plastic bag which he taught it was an ordinary plastic bag that had been littered by the irresponsible persons. He then opened the plastic bag out of curiosity and then was horrified for what he saw. A decayed baby!. This news proved that the statistics of social problems are increasing up until now. Thus, to ace these social problems, one should have a strong moral value, parents should play their roles effectively and one should use media wisely.

Then, Miss Zu summarize about non- linear text to linear text. Some of us understand and not about that. She will explain more about it on Tuesday.

Making inferences and Prediction

On night class, Miss Zu was teaches about making inferences and prediction.

Making inferences:

·         Is a logical conclusion based on what has been stated in the text.

·      Information which is provided must be analysed in order to understand what is not directly stated or hidden between the lines.

·        Use experience, knowledge, common sense and power of reasoning to draw logical conclusion.

Making prediction

Ø  Can enhance to understand of the text by anticipating what will happen next.

Ø  Using what you know about the plot, setting, characters, issues, to figure out possible outcomes.

As customary, Miss Zu gives order to form a group to do some activity. This activity required full of concentration because she will show the clip video and we must think about inferences and prediction. Finally, our group won for that activity. Alhamdulillah…

Introductory Paragraph

Today’s class is about writing part which is introductory paragraph. After Miss Zu teaches about this topic, now I know there are lots of introductory parts.  She told the whole class to write a variety on introductory paragraph. This is because:

Ø      To get the reader’s attention.

Ø      To set tone for the rest of the essay.

Ø      To make a contrast with the reader- what will be covered in this piece.

Here are the important parts to write an excellent introduction of paragraph:

§      The Hook: designed to grab attention immediately and give some indication about the          essay’s topic.

§         The transition: moves the reader from the hook to the driving force of the essay.

§   The thesis: makes the contrast with the reader what will be discussed without a blatant announcement.

In what order do I write the introductory paragraph:

·         Write the thesis statement

·         Generate a hook that will grab the reader’s attention

·         Finally, transition to the thesis and recopy the thesis statement as the last sentence in the paragraph.

Types of hook:

  Personal examples: expressing thoughts and feelings of the experience what has been              through.

v      Quotations: the content should dramatic, emotionally appealing, surprising and humorous. This is related like our principle but must be relevant what we are writing.

v        Facts or statistics: must be from a credible resource.

v       Rhetorical questions: usually ask question to the reader.

v       Current events: must be current issues and recent.

v      Contrast to the thesis statement: direct contrast and proves an expert wrong.

v      Definition: gives a meaning.

After Miss Zu has explained about this syllabus in details, she gives a task to form a group to write an introductory paragraph based on the types of hook. She gives an optional to choose a current issue and present on Thursday. My group which is Nabila, Mirah, Edlina got current events.   

Adjective

On the same day, Iffah, Syifa and Zira have presented a grammar part which is ‘adjective’.

Definition:

·   An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words.

Adjective before noun:

·   Describe the noun.

·   Example: the careless boy lost his money.

·   Sometimes noun are use as adjective to describe the other nouns.

·   Example: he went to the university library.

·   Nouns used as adjective are not in the plural form.

Adjectives after be verb and a linking verb:

·         Be verb (am, is, was, were, been, being)

·         Linking verb (smell, feel, taste, look, etc)

Mother Teresa was kind	Kind describes the noun Mother Teresa
The cakes are delicious	Delicious describes the noun cakes

Adjective pairs:

·         Adjectives ending –ing often describe a situation.

·         Adjectives ending –ed often describe how a person feels.

·         Example: Malaysian Fest attracted many tourists. The events      were exciting.

Comparative form of adjective:

·         Used when one noun is compared to another noun.

·         Do not use –er and more together.

·         Example: Sue is older than Kathy.

Superlative form of adjective:

·         Used to compare three or more nouns.

·         Example: Aishwarya is the most beautiful movie star.

·         When use superlative or comparative, they must be placed in front of other adjective in a noun group.

·         Example: some of better UiTM students have gone to pursue their studies overseas.

Then, Miss Zu ordered us to create a poem about friend according the alphabet of name using adjective words. So, I decided to choose Siti Hazirah to write a poem. But unfortunately, I don't know where I put her poem. Arghhh. Miss Zu, I'm really sorry because of my carelessness. But, I have sent a poem about my friend  to you.   

Verb

Verb is one of the parts of speech. The presenter which is Amalina, Alissa and Fadzilah has presented a verb. What is verb?

v Shows action or state of being.

v One of the important things is about their relationship to time.

v Can be divided into two category which is:

                                 i.            Action

Regular: end in ‘ed’ when the past tense and past participle forms are used.

jog	jogged	Jogged
walk	walked	walked

Irregular: end in other ways when the past tense and past participle forms are used.

read	read	read
buy	bought	bought

v Differentiation between transitive and intransitive

Transitive	Intransitive
Definition: Required an object in the sentences, and object comes after the verb	Definition: Does not required an object
Example: Adam often buys present for his family.	Example: The beautiful actress smiled

                               ii.            Non-action verb

Be verb	Linking verb
Ø Usually comes immediately after the subject in statements. Ø Am, is, are, was being	Ø Use to link the subject of sentences with more about information about the subject. Ø Can be divided into three of expression: (i)feeling and thought (ii)possession (iii)sensory perception

v Auxiliary verb

·        Support and give meaning to the main verb

Functions	Example
To express ability – can, could	Puan Maimunah can cook curry chicken carry as well.
To express possibility – may, might	The price of cooking oil may increase next month.
To express permission – may, can	We can conduct the aerobic class at the multipurpose hall.
To express advice – should, ought to, had better	You have been coughing all week. You had better consult a doctor.
To express necessity – must, have to	Don’t be workaholic. You have to spend some time with your family.

Facts and Opinions

On night, our class has combined with JAC1102A. This is replacement class. The topic Miss Zu wants to discuss is ‘Fact and Opinion’.

1)    What is fact?

·         Objective information that can be proved to be true.

·         Not a statement about the future.

·         The clues to determine:

Particulars	Examples
Use of dates and year	Walt Disney was born on 5th December 1901 and died on 15th December 1966
Use of statistics/ figures/ precise numbers or quantities	Since Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, more than 1600 climbers from 20 countries have also conquered the 8848 metre mountain
Use of definitions	Adolescence can be defined as the stage in a person’s life when one develops from a child into an adult
Stating a geographical or scientific fact	Water is made up of two parts hydrogen and one parts oxygen

2)   What is opinion?

·         One’s personal belief, idea, or feeling about a subject.

·         Can be a statement about future.

·         The clues to identify:

Particulars	Examples
Use of adjectives to show point of view	The climb up Gunung Ledang was exciting
Use of comparison words	Siti Nurhaliza is the most talented singer in Malaysia
Use of another words to show frequency, possibility, advisability	Sheela is probably still angry with her boyfriend for not remembering her birthday
Us of phrases to show a belief, suggestion, feeling or opinion	In my opinion, heavy metal music is not music but a lot of noise that gets on many people’s nerves

As usually, after Miss Zu has discussed about this topic, she has give a task to us. The task is to promote our product using facts and opinion. The representative of each group must in front of class to take the stuff. My group has taken skin care product which is ‘Ultra Violet Skin Solution’. We must create 5 sentences consists of this topic. On that night, all the groups shrieked to answer the questions. Finally, my group got the highest mark of going this activity.

My reflection is we must think creatively and innovatively to attract the customers to buy our product. In addition, the product that we sold must be trusted by customer.

Listening

Today, our activity is listening. Test listening is around the corner. We do this activity before the test begins. How we can to be a good listener?  Here are the tips to help you to score listening test:

1.       Listening for main ideas

Ø  Means that we must find out the general idea or the gist of a listening.

Ø  Determines the main idea to listen for key words.

2.       Listening for specific information

Ø  Requires listening for specific details related to certain situations.

Ø  It does require focus on the part that is important to obtain the relevant details and to disregard irrelevant ones.

We can refer in the text book page 4-6. These are the guidelines before we do a real test. After that, we need to be in the group. Each group must consist of five members. One group must send a representative to guess a something in the front. The others are giving specific information to help their friend to guess. All the groups can guess it in a short time. Our class ends early because we are allowed to go to vote Jawatankuasa Perwakilan Pelajar (JPP).