After having traveled a day's journey by coach from Moscow, my wife Belle, and I finally arrived Suzdal, where we stayed overnight at an inn. The next morning after breakfast, we began our journey uphill to where our friends live.
The walk took two hours before we were near our destination. The small village town was covered entirely by snow, and the rooftops of the residential houses were totally white. All the surrounding trees were barren and without leaves. Belle and I hurried towards the houses on the snow-covered pathway as it was extremely cold even with heavy winter clothing. It was an hour past noon and the air was pleasantly sweet as the breeze gently blew at our faces. Belle and I were feeling excited, as we have been looking forward to meeting our friends for tea.
A short distance before we reach our friend's house, we heard the sound of tinkling bells and steps of some animals rushing towards the pathway, from a side road hidden from our view. Belle and I froze for a moment, and before I knew what I was doing, I have pushed Belle away from the pathway to avoid direct confrontation from whatever was coming.
A three-horse troika carriage suddenly appeared and came rushing towards me, and in that moment of shock, my mind flashed back memories of my past, then blank. I was no longer conscious.
"Honey, are you alright?" I heard my wife cried in my sub-consciousness.
"Adam, can you hear me?" a familiar voice spoke.
I tried moving my body, but was unable to. Then I tried to open my eyes, but it stayed shut.
"Adam, wake up! You've been unconscious for a week and your wife needs you," the familiar voice continued.
In my sub-consciousness, I knew I must wake up, because it hurts me to know my wife is hurting. I struggled and prayed, and in the next few moments, I felt my eyes blinked.
Journalism n Writing ... editorial discourses, commentaries, and thoughts
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Nice Work - A Critical Book Review
The book being reviewed for this exercise is Nice Work, by David Lodge (1998). Most of you would have read it as part of the text prescribed by Monash for one of the units.
Nice Work essentially uses a comparison of the different thinking in academia and the industry to connect and form a balance perception of what is ideal and what is the ‘real’ world as a response to the outside world in contemporary life and society.
The purpose of Lodge’s writing in his book appears to advocate two points: the academia’s ability over industry expertise, and the subjection of man to woman. The book suggests that knowledge of businesses is not enough, and working smart is better. This may be seen in the fact that the lead male character in the book, Victor Wilcox, eventually has to ‘bow’ to Robyn for money in order to startup a new business and to keep his family alive.
This connotation in the theme is what I dislike about the book. It portrays the man as easily subdued by the opposite sex because of sensual desires. Victor is seen almost begging to be accepted by Robyn who is the ‘third’ party breaking up his family. Even though the story ends with Victor patching up with his wife, it essentially implies that Robyn still holds the key to his life (Lodge 1988:380).
‘I’m afraid I’ve been a bit foolish.’
‘I’ve been living in a dream. This business has woken me up. I must have been out of my mind, imagining you would see anything in a middle-aged dwarf engineer.’
‘You’re a very special person, Robyn,’ Victor says solemnly. ‘One day you’ll meet a man who deserves to marry you.’
The above quotes demean man in general, and as a theme of the story, this is disconcerting because it ‘attacks’ not only character, but also a particular gender. To be fair however, it must be said that the book is quite successful in the use of language, narrative structure and style, as it is highly readable and without complexity. The characters portrayed of the other supporting people in the story are believable, with some not at all likeable, such as, Charles and Brian Everthorpe.
From the way the narrative has been structured in Nice Work, together with the simple language and alluring easy-to-read style, David Lodge has successfully given sufficient reasons why readers will want to read his work, demonstrating the many facets of good writing, which include a believable plot, a sense of humour and irony, and the identification with ‘real’ characters in the academia and industry.
Reference
Lodge, D (1988), Nice Work. London: Penguin Books.
Nice Work essentially uses a comparison of the different thinking in academia and the industry to connect and form a balance perception of what is ideal and what is the ‘real’ world as a response to the outside world in contemporary life and society.
The purpose of Lodge’s writing in his book appears to advocate two points: the academia’s ability over industry expertise, and the subjection of man to woman. The book suggests that knowledge of businesses is not enough, and working smart is better. This may be seen in the fact that the lead male character in the book, Victor Wilcox, eventually has to ‘bow’ to Robyn for money in order to startup a new business and to keep his family alive.
This connotation in the theme is what I dislike about the book. It portrays the man as easily subdued by the opposite sex because of sensual desires. Victor is seen almost begging to be accepted by Robyn who is the ‘third’ party breaking up his family. Even though the story ends with Victor patching up with his wife, it essentially implies that Robyn still holds the key to his life (Lodge 1988:380).
‘I’m afraid I’ve been a bit foolish.’
‘I’ve been living in a dream. This business has woken me up. I must have been out of my mind, imagining you would see anything in a middle-aged dwarf engineer.’
‘You’re a very special person, Robyn,’ Victor says solemnly. ‘One day you’ll meet a man who deserves to marry you.’
The above quotes demean man in general, and as a theme of the story, this is disconcerting because it ‘attacks’ not only character, but also a particular gender. To be fair however, it must be said that the book is quite successful in the use of language, narrative structure and style, as it is highly readable and without complexity. The characters portrayed of the other supporting people in the story are believable, with some not at all likeable, such as, Charles and Brian Everthorpe.
From the way the narrative has been structured in Nice Work, together with the simple language and alluring easy-to-read style, David Lodge has successfully given sufficient reasons why readers will want to read his work, demonstrating the many facets of good writing, which include a believable plot, a sense of humour and irony, and the identification with ‘real’ characters in the academia and industry.
Reference
Lodge, D (1988), Nice Work. London: Penguin Books.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Writing Techniques
The content of the notes are still relevant for writing practices today, and in this article, I will summarize some of the significant details to share the key points by which we can improve our writing.
First of all, we will take a look at the various genres of writing. We have the descriptive, argumentative and discursive, reflective, imaginative, and story writing.
Descriptive writing talks about a definite point of view, where feelings are described. For example, the description of mixed feelings at a place, and the reasons for the mixed feelings. Descriptive writing also talks about the surrounding’s color and atmosphere, the vivid details, and the significant characteristics. For example, an observation of a place may be described as dull to capture the reader, so he can have the same opinion as the writer. Vivid details entail striking description of a person, his character, and his feelings, whether he is nervous or otherwise. Significant characteristics reflect a state of mind, the mood of a person reflected by the details of the scene of nature, imaginary or real.
Argumentative and discursive writing reinforce an argument, rather than raise the voice. The objective is to show contrast and write in such a way that the reader may be won over, to make him ‘see’ our point of view. In this case, there is no straightforward narrative, and the writer must not only present convincing arguments, but also be convinced and have his own stand on the matter. The objective is not to prove the reader wrong, but to make the reader come round to seeing things in the writer’s way. A method of doing this is to have a well-presented case by illustrating examples, facts, sound arguments, and not sounding statements.
Reflective writing limits the scope of what is been written, so as to be specific, and gives adequate treatment to the introduction, development and conclusion of the story. The writer must begin and select something interesting and develop the story at some length, writing with conviction and ending with a summary.
Imaginative writing is about originality and plausibility, a distinguishing mark of good imagination juxtaposed with ‘real’ circumstances, situations, and environment. The writer must plan carefully and consider how to create the mood, atmosphere, humor and the intensity of stirring up feelings, to make the content interesting. It can be an ordinary description of events or a depiction from a given topic.
Story writing encompasses the introduction, development, suspense, climax, and conclusion of the story. It introduces the situation or background, arouse curiosity of the reader or promise the worth of further reading. Development extends the story with details and complication, providing a sense of suspense, such as a crisis or a solution in doubt, and banks on the climax of the deciding factor. It concludes with a brief round off with few words of comment, a reflection or a poser for the reader. It does not moralize, but provides satisfactory ending that gives the episode a sense of completeness, and independence of its own.
Some pointers for good writing include the right choice and economy of words, originality of expression, using action in verbs, variety of words, proper emphasis, and a personal style of writing. For example, use familiar words rather than far-fetched, concrete words to abstract, simple to jargon, straightforward to flowery, specific to general, short words to long, saxon to romance, active to passive. Other examples are, omission of anticipatory constructions, elimination of idle words, avoidance of redundancy, variety in positioning of ideas and sentence structure, variation in length of sentences, order of word, visual emphasis, humor, conviction, and sense of occasion in writing.
Good writing begins with good writing techniques. Learning to write well is not an easy task. Over the years of writing, I consider myself still an amateur. If you are an accomplished writer, feel free to share your experience here. If you are aspiring to be one, tell me how you plan to achieve your goal. If you, like me, are a learner attempting to grasp the intricacies of writing and its techniques, let me know your thoughts and share your knowledge at my blog.
NOTE:
A major part of the content in this article is from the compilation of notes by various authors and from different sources. The writer and compiler of this article acknowledge all credits due to the relevant authors and parties. References and bibliography, however, is not included here because information of originating source is no longer available.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Writing Simple
Writing for the mass audience means writing simple, and writing simple means writing for anyone who has at least a basic understanding of the language with some reading skills and certain level of education. To write simply allows me not only to reach people with basic education, but also those with higher education. Easy reading is what attracts the audience, whether moderately or highly educated.
When we first learn the language, we are always taught the parts of speech and the sentence: noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection, subject, predicate, and more. Writing simple is not all about understanding the structure and use of the sentence nor about the way it is written. It is about writing simply, without grammatical mistake. People who write good articles do not normally attempt to understand which part of a sentence is using which parts of speech rigidly. In fact, to understand specific structures in writing often destroy the flow and inspiration. It is a matter of flair in writing. If a person loves writing, he or she will, without much effort, find words coming to mind as he or she writes. It is like magic accompanied by extensive reading or inspirational recalling. It is nature taking its course.
Writing simple therefore means using basic words in the language to write, accompanied by the natural flow of ideas during writing.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Unsocialable or Thinking Alone
Many people think I am unsocialable because I usually lunch out alone, but the truth is, lunch time is the time my mind is set free to think, relax, and rest, in order to do a better job later.
As a writer, I work better using the mind and writes better creatively when my mind is relaxed. Many time when I rush with time, I lose focus and in the end accomplish nothing. There are of course days when I have to gather all the information I need to write an article or a presentation instead when there is a creative block or a lack of inspiration. In such cases, I often do not achieve my goals and fail to get angle of the story through to my audience. Readers and audiences read a story only because there are points or a point to be made, rather than being flooded by tonnes of information.
On days when my mind is clear and ideas start falling together, I often accomplish the task much faster, usually half the time I spend on compiling information for writing, yet with the article or presentation standing out better than all the hours of pressured compiling and writing, reaching out to the audiences further than ever before. Such is the power of inspiration!
So, you who are reading this blog, the next time you encounter someone like me, don't just jump to conclusion that the person is being unsocialable. You'll never know the real reason why he or she declines lunching with you. Maybe, like me, the person is merely thinking of the next move.
As a writer, I work better using the mind and writes better creatively when my mind is relaxed. Many time when I rush with time, I lose focus and in the end accomplish nothing. There are of course days when I have to gather all the information I need to write an article or a presentation instead when there is a creative block or a lack of inspiration. In such cases, I often do not achieve my goals and fail to get angle of the story through to my audience. Readers and audiences read a story only because there are points or a point to be made, rather than being flooded by tonnes of information.
On days when my mind is clear and ideas start falling together, I often accomplish the task much faster, usually half the time I spend on compiling information for writing, yet with the article or presentation standing out better than all the hours of pressured compiling and writing, reaching out to the audiences further than ever before. Such is the power of inspiration!
So, you who are reading this blog, the next time you encounter someone like me, don't just jump to conclusion that the person is being unsocialable. You'll never know the real reason why he or she declines lunching with you. Maybe, like me, the person is merely thinking of the next move.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Deviance versus Defiance
Social normality and societal expectations are often a construct, created to control the behavior of individuals within a society, bearing different codes in different cultures. What is ethical code of conduct in one country may be unethical in another, and what is expected of us as members of the society is constraint within the social construct.
In a society where freedom of expression and speech is prevalent, the culture frequently breeds complacency and people demand their rights to information among other things. In a less privileged society, the culture breeds obedience and people conform to a kind of self regulation in adhering to pre-defined social norms. Neither of the two extremes is ideal, hence a balance is always sought.
Where freedom is restricted, people who question the authorities are often seen as deviants. Prolonged restrictions however beget defiance at every opportunity available, especially when a rule is in the gray. For example, when the news tell of a magazine or a book that is banned because of inappropriate content, citizens rushed to find ways to obtain the material so they can know what has been restricted or what is hot and juicy. Human behavior is such that the more one is told not to commit a wrong, the more likely the person will choose to defy, if not in front of authorities, will be committed underground.
This is simply the force of nature at work, where unlike poles attract and like poles repel. Many governing systems using authoritarian or socially responsible do not seem to realize that restrictions and constrains breed contempt and opposition, thus increasing defiance. People who defy are not totally to be blamed and variations from norms need not necessary become deviancy. All of us differ in opinions and each of us interprets things differently, yet not of our own, but of a framework within a constructed way of thinking, what is known as hegemony. While we choose to believe we are the ones making up our own minds on issues, we are in truth making decisions based on our upbringing, and our upbringing is based on the education we received, taught by the same people who construct the culture and beliefs.
There is in fact only a thin line differentiating deviancy and defiance, and the people of the new generation knows this very well. What parents and society think of children who disobey and do things their own way are a result of too much constrains and restrictions, and without freedom, people cracked under the yoke, resulting in defiance. This is essentially the state of the society today.
In a society where freedom of expression and speech is prevalent, the culture frequently breeds complacency and people demand their rights to information among other things. In a less privileged society, the culture breeds obedience and people conform to a kind of self regulation in adhering to pre-defined social norms. Neither of the two extremes is ideal, hence a balance is always sought.
Where freedom is restricted, people who question the authorities are often seen as deviants. Prolonged restrictions however beget defiance at every opportunity available, especially when a rule is in the gray. For example, when the news tell of a magazine or a book that is banned because of inappropriate content, citizens rushed to find ways to obtain the material so they can know what has been restricted or what is hot and juicy. Human behavior is such that the more one is told not to commit a wrong, the more likely the person will choose to defy, if not in front of authorities, will be committed underground.
This is simply the force of nature at work, where unlike poles attract and like poles repel. Many governing systems using authoritarian or socially responsible do not seem to realize that restrictions and constrains breed contempt and opposition, thus increasing defiance. People who defy are not totally to be blamed and variations from norms need not necessary become deviancy. All of us differ in opinions and each of us interprets things differently, yet not of our own, but of a framework within a constructed way of thinking, what is known as hegemony. While we choose to believe we are the ones making up our own minds on issues, we are in truth making decisions based on our upbringing, and our upbringing is based on the education we received, taught by the same people who construct the culture and beliefs.
There is in fact only a thin line differentiating deviancy and defiance, and the people of the new generation knows this very well. What parents and society think of children who disobey and do things their own way are a result of too much constrains and restrictions, and without freedom, people cracked under the yoke, resulting in defiance. This is essentially the state of the society today.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Effects of Negative Publicity
Negative publicity about blogging recently has affected many people, including the non-bloggers.
News pertaining to the jailing and punishment of bloggers over offences of sedition and porn has raised considerable concerns in the public community, resulting in negative effects and pseudo-perceptions of blogging and online activities as a dangerous affair.
In a blog created by a student less than a month ago, the blogger wrote about how she has secretly started her blog and how her parents would 'kill' her if they found out. A few days after she wrote that blog, she has ceased blogging completely, leaving her last words as having been found out.
The news is not without having an effect on me too. Don't get me wrong, I am not against blogging. I have been blogging for sometime, and I have found it extremely helpful for sharing, educating, and getting to know new friends. What I am saying here is its effect on me resulting from the daily hounding of my better half who reminds me constantly of the dangers I may be in, getting upset over my 'addiction' to online activities. The truth is, I barely spend more than five per cent of my available time in Net activities, even though I do communicate in online communities and blogs. I suspect the real reason is probably because I have not been spending enough time with my companion, but considering the fact I am a worker and a student at the same time, I am in actuality already barely grasping with time.
The way news is presented can affect the way views are perceived. If presented negatively, its effects may result in unfair perception of blogging and online activities as totally bad. In reality, however, blogging is a useful way of communicating and sharing, and online activities have helped build a unique sense of closeness in a global world, which have never before been possible prior to the introduction of cyberspace.
News pertaining to the jailing and punishment of bloggers over offences of sedition and porn has raised considerable concerns in the public community, resulting in negative effects and pseudo-perceptions of blogging and online activities as a dangerous affair.
In a blog created by a student less than a month ago, the blogger wrote about how she has secretly started her blog and how her parents would 'kill' her if they found out. A few days after she wrote that blog, she has ceased blogging completely, leaving her last words as having been found out.
The news is not without having an effect on me too. Don't get me wrong, I am not against blogging. I have been blogging for sometime, and I have found it extremely helpful for sharing, educating, and getting to know new friends. What I am saying here is its effect on me resulting from the daily hounding of my better half who reminds me constantly of the dangers I may be in, getting upset over my 'addiction' to online activities. The truth is, I barely spend more than five per cent of my available time in Net activities, even though I do communicate in online communities and blogs. I suspect the real reason is probably because I have not been spending enough time with my companion, but considering the fact I am a worker and a student at the same time, I am in actuality already barely grasping with time.
The way news is presented can affect the way views are perceived. If presented negatively, its effects may result in unfair perception of blogging and online activities as totally bad. In reality, however, blogging is a useful way of communicating and sharing, and online activities have helped build a unique sense of closeness in a global world, which have never before been possible prior to the introduction of cyberspace.
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