Section D [20 marks]
Question 33 [15 marks]
Based on the short story 'Tanjong Rhu', compare and contrast two characters. With close reference to the text, give reasons for your choice.
Based on the story Tanjong Rhu, I have chosen to compare and contrast the main characters Ah-Wa and Ah-Ma.
Ah-Wa is a successful businessman who is meticulous and organised. A prime example is when he used a pair of binoculars to count the ships at the jetty from his office daily. Ah-Ma, his mother, on the other hand prefers a simple and more relaxed life. She was shown feeding chickens in the compound of their home even though she could be lavishing in the riches earned by her son. Furthermore, Ah-Ma is very loyal to family traditions, she prayed to her husband everyday. She had even argued with her granddaughter, Ying, about the proper way of saying the prayers. Ah-Wa did not bother as much about the family traditions throughout the story. Although he does not pray a lot like his mother, he did not allow Ying to disrespect Ah-Ma's traditional routines. He was seen whispering to the framed photographs of his late parents on the altar after he could not find the joss sticks hidden by Ah-Ma.
Both of the characters show reluctance in different situations throughout the story. Ah-Ma did not want to have an eye operation to treat her cataracts whereas her son did not want to listen to her rambling about his childhood. Ah-Ma was taken to Ah-Wa's office to see Tanjong Rhu, she was told to look at the ships with the binoculars Ah-Wa had bought for her, but she only used the 'see far glasses' to look at the other directions. At one point, she did not even look through the binoculars until Ah-Wa turned her head with a bit of force. This shows that she was not quite willing as her true intention of seeing Tanjong Rhu was to relive the past. As the scene continued, she began talking about catching crabs with little Ah-Wa. Ah-Wa hesitated to listen to his mother's stories, then he decided that it was enough for her and took back the binoculars. Ah-Ma was also reluctant to use electric candles for the altar but she complied when the altar caught on fire. Near the end of the story, Ah-Wa displayed a sense of hesitation when he wanted to ask Ah-Ma his childhood when she was deathly ill in the hospital.
I chose these characters because all in all, they have an interesting relationship even though they misunderstand each other as they do not realize the kindness and concern they have for one another. For example, in my opinion Ah-Wa really wished that Ah-Ma could accept the eye operation because he wanted his mother to see again. However, Ah-Wa did not realize that his mother wanted to spend more time with him like when he was a child.
Ah-Wa is a successful businessman who is meticulous and organised. A prime example is when he used a pair of binoculars to count the ships at the jetty from his office daily. Ah-Ma, his mother, on the other hand prefers a simple and more relaxed life. She was shown feeding chickens in the compound of their home even though she could be lavishing in the riches earned by her son. Furthermore, Ah-Ma is very loyal to family traditions, she prayed to her husband everyday. She had even argued with her granddaughter, Ying, about the proper way of saying the prayers. Ah-Wa did not bother as much about the family traditions throughout the story. Although he does not pray a lot like his mother, he did not allow Ying to disrespect Ah-Ma's traditional routines. He was seen whispering to the framed photographs of his late parents on the altar after he could not find the joss sticks hidden by Ah-Ma.
Both of the characters show reluctance in different situations throughout the story. Ah-Ma did not want to have an eye operation to treat her cataracts whereas her son did not want to listen to her rambling about his childhood. Ah-Ma was taken to Ah-Wa's office to see Tanjong Rhu, she was told to look at the ships with the binoculars Ah-Wa had bought for her, but she only used the 'see far glasses' to look at the other directions. At one point, she did not even look through the binoculars until Ah-Wa turned her head with a bit of force. This shows that she was not quite willing as her true intention of seeing Tanjong Rhu was to relive the past. As the scene continued, she began talking about catching crabs with little Ah-Wa. Ah-Wa hesitated to listen to his mother's stories, then he decided that it was enough for her and took back the binoculars. Ah-Ma was also reluctant to use electric candles for the altar but she complied when the altar caught on fire. Near the end of the story, Ah-Wa displayed a sense of hesitation when he wanted to ask Ah-Ma his childhood when she was deathly ill in the hospital.
I chose these characters because all in all, they have an interesting relationship even though they misunderstand each other as they do not realize the kindness and concern they have for one another. For example, in my opinion Ah-Wa really wished that Ah-Ma could accept the eye operation because he wanted his mother to see again. However, Ah-Wa did not realize that his mother wanted to spend more time with him like when he was a child.
Notes:
Tanjong Rhu is from a collection of short stories titled Leaving No Footprints. The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen I am not sure if this book is included in the English curricular of every state, but this may be helpful to those who are basically forced to study the story. It was not very interesting to me, I find it quite dull and stale [cue "you don't like it because you don't understand it remark]. That's right, I don't understand the ending, 10 months into Form 4 and I still don't get the story, and the teacher would not tell us because it's not the point of the story. Don't get me started on the poems we had to read, I feel like those are for primary schoolers. *eye roll*
Giving your own opinions when writing for this kind of question may earn you content points. This is because when you look through English literature reference books, there is barely any content for you to fill a page, even though it is not necessary for you to write up to 2 pages. Our teacher advised us to put our feelings into it, like we were reviewing a book. She has a point, if you put your emotions into your writing, it would make it more convincing that you actually read the story. This is just my perspective, you can follow whatever your teacher said. And remember to spice up your work with some variety in your sentence structures.
Source: Exam Paper (Original Writing)
Graded? Yes
Corrected? Corrected for language/grammar only.
Format: SPM level
Marks (If given)
Content: 9/10
Language: 4/5
Overall: 13/15
Dividers: lithiumharddrive @ DeviantArt
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