Introduction to the Study of Genre: Recounts Lesson 1 and 2

In today's lesson, you have learnt about the meaning of Genre, how and why genres are used, and more specifically, the use of Recounts. Since I was a journalist for a few years before I entered teaching, I began the lesson series with the News subgenre. News is frequently thought to be "true", "objective" or "perfect". However, News is produced by people, and there is a tendency for biases to creep in time and again. You have seen an example in today's exercise on the two reports about Singapore's victory in the ASEAN Cup. So, think carefully before you accept all the "News" that you get as true. I am not suggesting that Journalists are liars, no. However, they are also humans with their own beliefs, biases and preferences. Thus, what they write or show may not be the complete picture.

In the Second Lesson, or Part 2 of Factual Recounts, we proceeded to examine Genre-mixing, something that I enjoy and study very much. We heard how Orson Welles tried to use the News subgenre to tell a story. Some of you may find it creative and interesting, while others might find that he had done the wrong thing by confusing others. These are perfectly valid arguments. In fact, these views were brought up by many other people who experienced the original broadcast. If you would like to read more about it, do visit the Wikipedia site for more information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio%29.

Finally, your homework for these 2 lessons is a short reflection on a story you would or would not like to see presented in a News style. Do explain why you chose the text, and why you would or would not like to see the story being presented in this manner. Remember, these lessons are designed to allow you to think, imagine, and argue, so your answer is neither right nor wrong, but more importantly, these lessons should make you wonder "WHY" texts are written in certain ways. Post your reflection by clicking on the "comment" links below, do remember to leave your name in your post. ALL ANONYMOUS POSTS WILL BE EATEN UP, AND ALL ANONYMOUS POSTERS WILL BE BEATEN UP!!! Happy thinking!

Thomas Lim

Introduction to the Blog and Administration Matters

This blog was created for students of Primary 5C (2007), Nan Hua Primary School. In this blog, you will find additional readings to the lesson series, as well as texts for discussion, and things to think about in general. I will also put up some notes and hyperlinks if you would like to dwell deeper into the topic, and there will be some questions for you to think critically about. Post your reflection in the "comment" sections for each topic. You will not be able to see them right away as I would like everyone to contribute their ideas first before I reveal all the comments for each post. This is to prevent the "copying" of ideas or the posting of nasty remarks about your friends' comments. Do remember to sign off with your name on each comment that you post!

It is really my wish that you will learn to think critically, and be able to argue and justify your thoughts well. It would be great if we have fun during the lessons and online as well. Do send me your thoughts on the lesson, i.e. you found the lesson interesting, difficult, boring, etc., via email or in a comment on this post. Happy learning and thinking!

Thomas Lim