My English Writing

STRANGER THAN FICTION ( Plot, Characters and Characterization)

2009-07-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

A. Synopsis

Stranger than fiction is a story about a man whose name Harold Crick (acted by Will Ferrell), his wristwatch, and a storywriter. He is an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whose routine lonely life guided by his wristwatch. He is a man with infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words. Thus, his life is so monotonous, boring, and repetitive.

One day, all changes when Harold Crick begins to hear a woman’s voice narrating about his innermost thought and life. She is Karen Eiffel (acted by Emma Thompson) who is a storywriter in which almost all of her stories end in the dead of the main characters. The voice that Harold hears which narrates about his life is just as a sign that he is the main character in her story. On the other hand, Harold has given a job to inspect an intentionally tax-delinquent baker whose name Ana Pascal (acted by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Then, he falls in love with her which at the same time he hears the voice narrates about him again, but he does not enable to communicate with that voice.

On the way home, Harold's watch stops working and when he resets it, what is being more unpredictable is the voice narrates that the innocuous event would result in his imminent death. He is so scared because what the narrator says always exact. In order to find a solution or at least a suggestion, Harold goes to the psychiatrist and follows her suggestion to go to the literary expert. Then, Harold goes to the Jules Hilbert (acted by Dustin Hoffman), a university professor. Jules first comes to the same conclusion as the psychiatrist, that is Harold's dull life is not something commonly seen in novels. Jules, then, encourages him to identify the author, firstly by determining if the work is a comedy or a tragedy. However, Harold determines that the story is tragedy. It can be seen when Ana angrily tells him to leave her when he refuses to accept the cookies for him. Besides, his house is broken by a wrecking crew which making mistake in demolishing the building. Harold, then, is aware that he cannot control the plot that has been set for him. In conclusion, he has to accept that he will die.

When he returns to Jules, Harold unintentionally identifies the voice he hears from a television interview. The woman in that television interview is Karen Eiffel. Jules reveals that in every book she has written, the main characters are always dead. Harold enables to find Karen through tax records, and has learned that she is presently struggling to kill off the character of Harold Crick in her latest book, "Death and Taxes", involving numerous ways includes a child on a bicycle and a city bus.

After Harold meets Eiffel, Eiffel is so horrified when she knows that Harold is the real man and experiencing what she has written. She thinks all of her previous books may also result in the deaths of real people. She tells Harold she has written a draft of the ending and his death, but has not typed it up yet. Penny suggests Harold reads the draft to get his opinion. Then, Harold asks Jules read it though finally he reads it by himself. At last, Harold returns it to Eiffel and tries to accept his fate.

The day after Harold spends one last night with Ana. Harold's watch is three minutes too fast. When he tries to save a child riding a bicycle from running over the bus, the bus hits him. However, he is safe because of his wristwatch. He just gets a serious fracture at his legs, head, and his arms.

B. Plot

1. Type of plot

The story of the movie involves revelation plot. Revelation plot is a plot in which a protagonist does not aware or ignorant to the essential facts of his situation. In the movie, firstly, Harold does not aware or ignorant that the voice narrates about his life and thought reveals that he is the main character in the story written by Karen Eiffel. Until one day he is aware about this. In revelation plot, the main character gradually or suddenly acquires the truth of the situation. The story then continues in exploring how he handles the shock of this discovery. This happens in the movie when finally Harold tries to accept his fate. His fate is being dead in the Eiffel’s story—and may be in his real world.

2. Plot structure

Based on the classic plot structure as devised by Aristotle, the story of stranger than fiction can be divided into three major parts; beginning, middle, and end.

a. Beginning

The beginning of a story provides an initiation and an introduction or description of the situation and characters exist in the story. In the movie of Stranger than Fiction, the story begins with the narration from Karen Eiffel as an introduction about Harold’s life which is lonely, monotonous, boring, repetitive, and countable.

b. Middle

The middle of a story tells about the complication that leads to the climax. In this case, the middle of a story has to present the background of circumstances that produces the complication and a series of efforts in which the protagonist attempts to solve the complication just to meet the failure.

The middle part of the movie Stranger than Fiction is indicated by the voice that Harold hear just by himself. Harold feels not comfortable with that voice and makes him not concentrate to do anything because the voice follows wherever he goes and says about whatever he is thinking about. Besides, although he can hear the voice, he cannot communicate with it. The complication is rising acutely when his wristwatch stops working and reset, the voice narrates that this innocuous event would result in his imminent death. The middle part has approached the climax when Harold goes to Jules Hilbert and try to determine whether the story which narrates about himself is a comedy or tragedy. After determining that the “story about his life” is a tragedy, Harold unintentionally sees Karen Eiffel in a television program and tries to meet her. Harold is aware that he has to die because the outline of his life story has been finished, but just not typed. The climax occurs when Harold let Eiffel to continue and make the ending of the story and the day after a bus hits him.

c. End

The ending of a story commonly serves about what happen after the complication. This is such kind of a falling action of the climax and events occur after that.

The end of the movie Stranger than Fiction is Harold is not dead. He is still alive though with serious bone fracture in his head, legs, and arms.

3. Character and Characterization

The characters presented in the movie Stranger than fiction that have big roles in the story are:

a. Harold Crick

Harold crick, the major character in this movie is a man that is so monotonous, repetitive, and boring. Every single activity in his life is calculated and he “cannot life” without his wristwatch. Harold in this movie is a round character in which everything about him is clearly and completely described both through direct and indirect characterization.

In the movie, Harold is described through direct and indirect characterization. The direct characterization can be seen from the narration of Karen Eiffel about Harold and his life. The narrator always begins her description about Harold by saying “every week day for twelve years” means that Harold’s life is repetitive and monotonous. This is an example of direct characterization of Harold.

This is a story about a man named Harold Crick and his wristwatch. Harold Crick was a man with infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words. Every week day for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his 32 teeth 75 times. 38 times back to forward. 38 times up and down. Every week day for twelve years..................

Besides, the direct characterization describes that Harold is as a man who calculate every single activity he does. It can be seen from the narration which tells that Harold brush his teeth 75 times, 38 times back to forward, 38 times up and down, runs 57 steps per block for 6 blocks, etc. Direct characterization also describes about his loneliness by narrating that he walks alone, eats alone, and goes to bed alone.

In the movie, Harold is also described by indirect characterization. It can be seen through his action like how he says something, how he puts the eating equipment after having dinner, and how his watch always stay with him and rings every morning.

b. Karen Eiffel

Karen Eiffel is a storywriter who is full of imagination. It is described indirectly through her action and her way of thinking. For example, when she is standing on the table as if she is standing on the top of a building and observes the situation below.

Besides, she is a woman who does not care about physical appearance and anything, except her imagination. It can be seen from her physical appearance that does not seem to be well taken care. Her office is also messy and she does not care enough to it.

c. Ana Pascal

She is a woman who firmly holds principles in her life. It can be seen through indirect characterization presented in the movie that is through her respond when Harold stares at her breast. Anna Pascal is also a kind woman in which she forgives that Harold’s impoliteness.

d. Penny Escher

In the movie Penny Escher is a woman who does not believe that imagination can mix with the real life. She does not believe that the Eiffel’s story happen in the real world that is in Harold’s life. It can be seen through indirect characterization that is when she says to Eiffel “They were fictional characters, now get up”.

TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION USING EXPLANATION AND REPETITION DRILLS FOR THE THIRD YEAR STUDENTS OF LANGUAGE PROGRAM OF SMU NEGERI TEJAKULA IN ACADE

2009-07-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

A. Title of the thesis : Improving Students’ Pronunciation Using Explanation and Repetition Drills for the Third Year Students of Language Program of SMU NEGERI TEJAKULA in Academic Year 1998/ 1999

B. The researcher : Ketut Sukarsa

C. About the technique

The technique used by the researcher in order to improve the students’ pronunciation was using explanation and repetition drills. This technique is viewed as an effective way to solve problems faced by the students in learning pronunciation. Learning pronunciation is commonly felt as the most difficult thing in learning English. Moreover, pronunciation often spooks the students by its complication. These conditions may complicate the students to reach the learning objectives. Whereas, in learning English, the students are expected to improve their pronunciation as earlier as possible because if they have developed false pronunciation, correcting it will be difficult and time consuming. Thus, repetition drills is one of the techniques which is effective and appropriate to solve the problems.

Repetition drills is a kind of drills in which the students repeat the teacher’s model as accurately and as soon as possible. In this case, this technique used in order to enable the students to use proper stress, rhythm and intonation which lead them to good pronunciation. It is very useful at the beginning stage of language learning to built up the “kinetic memory” that is for training the students’ perceptual motor skills.

According to the thesis, there are three kinds of repetition drills, they are verbatim repetition, open-ended repetition, and dialogue repetition drills.

a. Verbatim repetition

In verbatim repetition, the students repeat what the teacher says properly without any changes.

b. Open-ended repetition

In this drills, each student has to repeat all the responses from the students before him and adds his own information related to the topic. This drills requires the students to listen and pay attention to each other.

c. Dialogue repetition drills

In this drills, the sequence of specific pattern is repeated by the students with minor variation.

Repetition dills is one of the techniques in audio-lingual method. This technique emphasizes on how students learn a target language by repetition in order to enable the students to reproduce it automatically. The students will achieve this ability by forming new habits in the target language because learning is viewed as habit formation. Besides, the teacher, in this case, has an important role in leading and controlling. He also plays a part in being or providing a good model of imitation for the students. The learning materials are graded based on the level of complexity. Consequently, the beginners are only presented by the simple ones. Finally, the students’ errors are really avoided because it viewed as a formation of bad habits. Thus, when errors occur, the teacher immediately corrects the errors.

Although repetition drills is an old-fashioned technique, it has some advantages. It can:

1. Train the students’ accuracy and fluency.

2. Provide the students with intensive practice in hearing and saying particular words or phrases that different from their first language.

3. Help the students notice the correct form or pronunciation of a word or phrase.

4. Provide an opportunity for students to get immediate feedback on their accuracy.

5. Help memorisation and automatism of the students in term of pronouncing words or phrases.

According to the thesis, the researcher did not only use repetition drills purely, but it was also added by explanation. It was done in order to make the students understand more about how sounds are produced or how words are pronounced. Besides, there will be very little understanding if the teacher just use repetition drills without giving explanation.

D. Procedure

This is a procedure that must be obeyed by the teacher when applying the technique.

1. Before working with students, the teacher firstly have to do item selection in which he selects which items will be taught to the students.

2. After that, the items are displayed. The teacher gives models how to pronounce particular sounds, words, or more complex ones. The teacher repeats it three times or more. It must be clear, natural sounding, and consistent. The teacher should repeat the items with natural speed since slow or fast stimuli will affect the students’ pronunciation.

3. After the students have listened for several times, they are asked to repeat. The repetition should begin with chorus or mass drills. When it is successful, the teacher may ask the students to repeat individually.

4. Within the practice, the teacher judges the students’ responses.

5. The judgement did by the teacher, then, used as a basis for giving feedback to the students’ responses. During the practice, errors are really avoided. Thus, the teacher will give correction directly when he finds the students making errors. Drilling is firstly for showing to the students how to say something modelling or highlighting. Therefore, correction (after choral or individual repetition) can be seen as an opportunity to re-model or re-highlight.

Just One Kiss

2009-07-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

One kiss is all I want

To take away my tears

And to give me a healthy smile

One kiss is all I want

To give me hope

And take on life as it comes

One kiss is all I want

To show you I love you

And be there for eternity

(A poetry written by GAry R. Hess)

The wind blew the leaves remaining the sounds like a man whispering. Whispering a story about love and affection, about sadness and broken heart. Moon brightly reflected itself on the ripples of the sea remaining its lighted shadow. The moon’s light watered the sandy beach with its bright golden light making the night more romantic. Under the dark sky with twinkle stars, a dating couple were sitting on the sandy beach, having a date, but said nothing. Each of them busied enjoying the night, still said nothing. He stroked her hair gently, as if he wanted to say, “I love you”. She lay her head on his shoulder as she did not want to let him leave her. For her, he was as a comfortable place where she depended on, where she took shelter, and had a rest after a long tiring journey. That is why she would never want to leave. For her, He was a man who could protect and spoil her with too much love.

She stared at him. He is not handsome, she thought, making her anxious to ask why she loved him, and did not find the answer. He was not handsome. Once again, she said to herself. He was quite tall, has white skin, and some acnes on his face. He was a boring man, not much talking, and....nothing interesting from him. But...he was kind-hearted. That makes him different. She nodded as she agreed to her own thought. And, smile alone. She held his hand, looked for the last warmth in those hands which would leave her alone, and would remain some coldness. It was the last time she met her after her graduation. They were already adult, and had to choose their own dreams. That is why they had to be apart.

******

Emily woke up when hearing the phone rang. It must be Mike. She thought. She got up and took the phone reluctantly.

“Hello....” Emily said while yawning.

“Hi, dear. My boss sees my hard work. Now, I was promoted to be executive manager. It is great, isn’t it?”

“Oh, no” she said unconsciously.

“Why?” Mike said.

“Nothing” she said as if nothing happened.

“Please be honest!” Mike a little bit angry when hearing her responses.

“I don’t like you’re promoted. You would be so busy later. You know, we have talked about this several times. Do you think our relationship is not important?”

“Don’t be selfish. That’s my dream and you have to support it,” he said angrily.

“.............” Emily was silent.

“I never forbidden you to reach your dream, so do you,” he added.

Emily was so angry. It is the first time, her boyfriend angry with her. And, she would never let him do it again. She was confused. The situation would be more difficult if he was promoted. There would be no time again for her. Moreover, she did not want it happened. Distance may make them apart, but she did not want if the time also make him further.

******

For several days, Emily was so afraid. Mike had not called her. She take her mobile phone and sent a message for him.

“Dear, where are you?”

She waited for several time. But there was no reply. She tried to be patient. She took her mobile phone and tried to call him. No answer. Where is he? She asked to herself. He may not be like that. She thought again.

May be he still attended a meeting with his boss. No, may be he is still angry with me. Or, may be he don’t want to quarrel with me so he don’t reply my message. Or...may be.....

Many possibilities came to her mind. But, it just made her more depressed. She can do nothing. The phone rang waking her up from her own imagination. She quickly took the phone, hope that it was her boyfriend.

“Hello”

“............” No answer.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,” said a girl who called her.

“Oh, my God! I almost forget today is my birthday”

“You are the first one who says happy birthday to me” she added.

“What about Mike?”

“He does not call me yet. May be this afternoon” Emily said lightly.

“Yeah, I hope he does not forget your special day,” the girl said.

Emily took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, I hope so”

Along the day, Emily was so worried. She did not hope that Mike forgot her birthday. He had promised to back to his hometown and meet her. However, until this evening he did not call her yet. Emily was giving up. She was feeling sad. She never hoped he forgot her birthday. No one would never imagine someone she loved would forgot her special day. Emily had been tired to wait. Finally, she fell asleep.

When she woke up from his boring night, she looked at her mobile phone and saw many messages from her friends. But, all of them did not interest her. There was no messages from Mike, her beloved boyfriend. The day will run slowly without her boyfriend. The bell rang. Lazily, she opened the door and surprisingly found a big present covered by pink paper and roses on it. She opened the gift, and was disappointed, not because the present but because the giver was not here. She quickly dialled someone’s phone number and,

“Hello?” she said.

“Hi, dear. Happy birthday to you” Mike said.

“I don’t need your present”

“You must be kidding. I bought it special to you, and it is not cheap”

“No, I don’t need your present; I need you, not your luxurious present” She said.

“The present is useless without you. Now, you do not have enough time for me. I know you are very busy. But please try to call me or send a message. It won’t spend much time. I hesitate you still love me or not. It does not fair if you sacrificed me just for your career,” she added with anger.

“But, my job is also important. I cannot live without my job.”

“But, please try to manage your time....” she tried to be patient.

“It is not about time, but about you who are too selfish and spoiled”

“Well, now, up to you. Just do what you want! She said angrily.

“What I want??? The problem is not on what I want but what you want! Your desire is so troublous” he said.

“You do not love me”

“I just love a girl who understands me” Mike replied.

“So, why do we still maintain this relationship? For what? Just for status?”

“I don’t know”

“So, you love me or not?” she asked passionately.

“I don’t know,” he said.

His last word made her aware that her relationship with him must be ended.

She sat on the bench near the slide, looked at the children playing at the park. She does not know a man approached her and sat beside her. It was Mike.

“Why do you come here?”

“I don’t know” the word again, she thought.

“So?”

“I just want to say that I still love you”

“I don’t care.”

“Up to you”

“What do you want me to do?”

“For what?” she asked

“To prove my love”

“Nothing”

He stood up and kissed her forehead. She stood up, looked at him, and leaved him. That is enough for her.

One kiss is all I want

Not to take away my tears

And not to give me a healthy smile

One kiss is all I want

Not to give me hope

And not to take on life as it comes

One kiss is all I want

To show how much you love me

Small Research

2009-07-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

GENDER DIFFERENCES OF STUDENTS’ INTERESTS TOWARDS READING FICTION AND NON-FICTION IN ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT (EED), GANESHA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

Reading is an important activity which can broaden the reader’s knowledge and experience. Besides, reading can also be a good way to improve language skills and give pleasure. Of course, those benefits of reading really depend on what kind of literatures read by the readers called the readers’ reading interest. Reading interests often refer to the selection of subject matter or preference for a genre of literature being read (Rudman, 1957). Generally, those reading interests can be classified into two groups that are reading interest towards fiction and non-fiction. Fiction simply refers to a kind of literature describing imagery events and people. On the contrary, non-fiction deals with facts or not imagery stories. Related to those reading interest, there are gender-specific pattern towards fiction and non-fiction. Zainab (1977) found that there are gender differences in reading interests between students at the ages of 11-16 in a Cardiff school in Wales. It showed that boys read more non-fiction than girls. The World Book Day study (2002) in Abeyrathna & Zainab (2004) indicates that girls tend to spend more hours on reading for enjoyment than boys. Based on the theory, it is important to know how gender differences could also differentiate the literature choices for being read and whether or not this theory is applicable for the students of Ganesha University.

The study was done to investigate whether or not the theory is applicable in Ganesha University, especially for the students of English Education Department. The data was collected by interviewing six male and six female students of the fourth semester in EED who are almost homogeneous. It was done on Friday, May 22 2009 at campus of Undiksha. During the interview, those students were given the same questions about what kinds of literature between fiction and non-fiction they mostly like. Besides, they were also asked to give reasons related to their answers. The data obtained would be analysed to investigate whether gender differences also influence kinds of literature they read.

Based on the result of the interview, it can be seen that 33.33% (2 students) of the male students involved in this study like reading fiction and the rest that is 66.67% (4 students) of them like reading non-fiction. Meanwhile, 83.33% (5 students) of the female students interviewed like reading fiction and the rest (16.67% or only a student) likes reading non-fiction. It can be concluded from the chart above that male students prefer reading non-fiction to fiction. On the other hand, female students prefer reading fiction to non-fiction.

The result of the interview clearly reveals that there are gender differences of students’ interests towards reading fiction and non-fiction in EED. It means that the theory presented in this study is also applicable in EED. Most of the female students interviewed maintained that they enjoy reading fiction because they want to refresh their mind which has been busied by any tiring academic activity. On the other hand, most of the male students who prefer reading non-fiction said that they never read fiction for leisure. They did not really like reading any imaginative story and prefer to read other kind of literature related to their interest like, information about game, computer, and politics.

Theoretically, boys’ preference for non-fiction is assumed to be created by young boys modelling their genre preferences on the reading tastes of their fathers (assumed to be non-fiction) and against the reading tastes of their mothers (assumed to be fiction). Thus, narrative fiction stands for the (feminine) world of affect; non-fiction stands for a functional (and masculine) world of hard facts devoid of emotions (Gemma Moss: 2007). In the first chapter of Michael Smith's indispensable book Reading don't fix no Chevys is a quick review of a dozen major findings of that research related to boys (not just teens) and reading. He proposed that boys do not comprehend narrative (fiction) as well as girls. Boys are more inclined to read informational texts such as, magazine and newspaper articles, or to read about hobbies, sports and things they do or want to do. If reading is perceived as feminized, boys will go to great lengths to avoid it. Hall & Coles (1999) proposed that all of the 12-year-old boys interviewed tended to equate non-fiction with an excitement about finding out about “the real world”, whereas most of the 14-year-old girls said that they found it is boring, difficult to read and ‘does not acquire any imagination’.

The data obtained from the interview is equivalent with the theory in which it shows that males tend to read non-fiction rather than fiction. For males who do not really like reading imaginative stories, non-fiction is an appropriate literature to find their real world and support their interests in some cases. However, females tend to read fiction rather than non-fiction. Females tend to like reading imaginative stories, as they like to be imaginative. Reading non-fiction is too serious and boring reading for them. Besides, it seems that they cannot enjoy reading non-fiction as well as they enjoy reading fiction for leisure.

Comparison between English and Indonesian Inflections

2009-07-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

There are five signals of syntactic structures; word order, prosodic patterns, function words, inflections, and derivational contrast. In this case, the topic that is going to be presented is inflections particularly about comparison between English and Indonesian inflections. Inflection is a change of word by adding inflectional morphemes (atomic meaning units) to indicate grammatical function (i.e., case, number, person, grammatical gender, word class, mood, mode, and tense). The word inflection itself comes from traditional Latin grammar that is from the root “flect”. The meaning of “flect” is related with the meaning of “flex” in English that means “bend”. The meaning reflects the image of bending or changing a shape of a word so that it will fit in certain position within sentences.

There are some languages add inflectional morphemes to words. These languages is called inflectional languages. In addition, the inflectional morphemes can be added into words through several different ways, they are:

1. Affixing

First, inflectional morphemes can be added by affixing that is by simply adding the morphemes onto the words without any changes of the root.

Examples : dog → dogs

watch → watched

2. Reduplication

Second, inflection can be created by doubling all part of a word or a part of a word.

Examples : rumah → rumah-rumah

kuda → kuda-kuda

3. Alternation

Third, inflectional morphemes also can be added into words by alternation. It means that one sound in the root is exchanged for another sound.

Examples : sing → sang → sung

foot → feet

4. Stress, pitch, and tone

Fourth, in this case, there are no sounds or morphemes added or changed, but the stress, pitch, and tone is changed.

Examples : a record (noun, stressed on the first syllable) vs. to record (verb, stressed on the last)

This explanation below is an explanation of English inflections. The inflections presented here is just the common or regular form of inflections in English.

a. Inflection of Verbs

The inflection of English verbs are briefly presented in the table below.

Form	Affixes	Examples
Third person singular	-s	- She writes a letter - Andy talks to Jemmy
Past tense	-ed	- I walked to him and said “Good Morning”. - Suddenly, she approached her mother.
Past participle	-ed	- I had talked to him this morning. - She has walked for three hours.
Present participle	-ing	- She was sitting on the floor. - I am not smoking.

*the inflection of verbs presented here is just the common or regular form of inflection of English verbs.

b. Inflection of Plurals

The inflections of plural forms are usually ends in –s. For example, dog → dogs, cat → cats, lion → lions, and book → books. For some words, such as miss, mash, and match, they are ended with –es. Then for some words ending with consonant+y, the plural form ended with –ies because the –y changed into -i. In addition, there are some irregular forms of plurals, such as goose → geese, man → men, and mouse → mice.

c. Inflection of Possessive

The possessive is often indicated by attaching an apostrophe followed by an “s”. In American English, a singular noun that already ends in "s", just added by apostrophe. Possessive also can be expressed through possessive adjective (my, your, our, his, her, its, their) and possessive pronoun (mine, yours, ours, his, hers, its, theirs).

For example: This bag is Andy’s bag.

That book is Susie’s book.

d. Infection of Adjectives

The inflections of adjectives can be seen from comparative and superlative forms.

- Comparative form

a. Ending with –er.

For example: - Sita runs slower than Rini.

- Toni is taller than Budi.

b. Using more.

For example: - Komang is more beautiful than Atut.

- Going to Lovina is more interesting than going to City Park.

- Superlative form

a. Ending with –est.

For example: - Mount Himalaya is the highest mountain in the world.

- Doni is the tallest boy in class B.

b. Using most.

For example: - Ubud is the most attractive view in Bali.

- Sahayana is the most beautiful woman is that village.

All of the inflections presented above are the inflections of English. Now, the explanation below is about inflections of Indonesian.

a. Inflections of Verbs

In English, the inflections of verbs occur when the verbs follow the third person singular and to show tenses. In Indonesian, there is no inflections of verbs occur. In Indonesian, there is no rule to change the words by adding inflectional morphemes in order to indicate grammatical function. The comparison between English and Indonesian inflections of verbs are presented below.

- Third person singular, for example:

English : Budi writes a letter

Indonesian : Budi menulis surat (no inflection)

- Past tense, for example:

English : Budi wrote a letter yesterday

Indonesian : Budi menulis surat kemarin (There is no inflection. However, to indicate past tense, it is added by adverb of time).

- Past participles, for example:

English : Budi have walked for three hours

Indonesian : Budi telah berjalan selama tiga jam (There is no inflection in the verb “berjalan”. However, to indicate the tense, it uses “telah” and “selama”).

- Present participles, for example:

English : Budi was walking on the sidewalk

Indonesian : Budi sedang berjalan di trotoar (There is no inflection in the verb “berjalan”. However, to indicate the tense, it uses “sedang”).

b. Inflections of Plurals

Inflections of plural forms in Indonesian often occur through reduplication. For example:

- Rumah-rumah di Jalan Ahmad Yani itu terlihat begitu mewah dan tertata rapi.

- Kuda-kuda itu segera dilepaskan dari kandangnya.

The reduplication in ”rumah-rumah” and “kuda-kuda” indicate that the objects are more than one.

c. Inflections of Possessive

The inflections of possessive can be indicated by indicated by –ku, -mu, and –nya although sometime these form cannot be used.

Example:

- Tas di meja itu adalah tasku (aku → ku)

- Pencil yang tergeletak di lantai itu bukan pencilmu (kamu → mu)

- Bola itu adalah bolanya (dia→ nya)

- Bola itu adalah punya Tommy (In this case, -nya cannot be used because it mentions the name of the owner. However, in English, it is possible to say “The ball is Tommy’s).

d. Inflections of Adjectives

Indonesian has inflections of adjectives although it seems that it is rarely used in formal situation. For example:

English : smaller, bigger, taller, older.

Indonesian : kecilan, gedean, tinggian, tuaan.

e. Inflections to Show Gender

Like in English, Indonesian also has inflections that used to show gender. Commonly, the inflectional morphemes for male is –a, and for female is –i.

English : steward and stewardess

Indonesian : pramugara dan pramugari, pemuda dan pemudi

DEATH PENALTY

2009-07-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

Does severe punishment for a lawbreaker determine the strength of the law? Everybody must have different opinion related to that question. It must not be disputed that the severe punishment for the lawbreaker may affect the strength of the law but it is not the only one factor. The law can be called “strength” if people under the law regulation feel safe and be protected. The feeling of safety is something that must be questioned. Law executors may conclude that the more severe the punishment, the safer the community. This assumption can be a reason of implementation of death penalty or capital punishment in some countries. However, should death penalty implemented for that excuse?

Death penalty or capital punishment is the act of killing or executing somebody, who was found guilty of a serious crime, by the government. The reason is whether or not it is really need if there is a prison. In this case, prison has three purposes. First, it separates criminals for the safety of the general community. Second, it is a form of punishment. Is it not enough to punish someone just by imprisoning him? Third, prison is expected to rehabilitate the prisoners. Thus, it will give chance to the prisoners to do remorse. No one in this world does not ever make mistakes, right?

Death penalty is a violation of the person’s right to live. Death penalty is a cruel painful punishment. One thing that must be consider is that no one may judge whether something is black or white, or whether someone is right or wrong because everyone has his own judgement. Human’s judgement may wrong. Thus, some people may have proven too late to be wrongly executed of some crimes that they did not commit. The one who may do the execution is the God. Just let the God punish ones who have done the crimes. The God do not sleep, He is not blind. Thus, just let Him to decide the death of human because death must be natural. However, to murder and judge someone is not a part of nature.

It must be remembered that criminals are real people too who have life and have capacity to feel pain, fear, the loss of their loved ones, and other emotions that the rest of us are able to feel. How will you feel knowing that you or your beloved ones are going to die tomorrow morning? It often causes serious trauma for years afterwards. The suffering of the victim’s family is valid, but the suffering of the murderer’s family is valid too.

Death penalty is such punishment that must be considered wisely. A punishment must not have a purpose to revenge although ones believed that it is right to kill somebody who kills. The implementation of death penalty itself must consider some factors like the purpose of imprisoning the murderer, the violation of human’s right, and the suffering of the criminals and his family. Thus, capital punishment is not a wise punishment for the criminals.

ACID RAIN AND ITS TERRIFYING EFFECTS

2009-07-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Rain is very important not only for human life, but also for other living things. It falls onto the earth and gives lives for all living things in this planet. It absorbs into soil and helps plants to grow. Moreover, it can come to the surface of ground in a form of spring and become a place in which animals, even human rely on. Rain has become the source of life for all living things in the earth directly or indirectly. It has become one of the most important parts of nature. However, how is if the rain poisonous? It must affect the environment and must be dangerous for all living things in the earth. Thus, its importance does not only make rain essential, but also gives serious effects for all kinds of lives in the earth. This phenomenon is called acid rain.

Acid rain is rain which falls from the sky onto the earth which contains unnatural acid. The unnatural acid is formed by pollution gases that are sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) which are released into the atmosphere through emissions from factories and vehicles that burn fuel as their energy. In the air, those gases react with other chemicals, dissolve easily in water vapour, and fall in a form of rain that contains sulphuric acid and nitric acid. Though those gases do not fall down onto the earth in the form of rain, but they can be carried long distances by the wind, then, may come in a form of fog and snow. The rain, the fog and snow which has been contaminated by acid has pH less than normal water that is less than 5.6. Thus, acid rain has bad influences for the environment and all living things.

First of all, acid rain has bad effects on man-made objects. It has capability to dissolve sandstone, limestone, and marble. It causes many stone monuments and carvings are damaged easily if they are exposed to the acid rain. It can also corrode ceramic, textiles, paints, and metals. Thus, acid rain can also corrode modern buildings, cars, railroad tracks, airplanes, steel bridge, and pipes both above and below ground. Thus, the maintenance cost for the monuments, infrastructure, or other buildings will increase or be more expensive.

Moreover, acid rain is dangerous for environment which will affect plants and animals life. If the polluted rain falls on the land, it will take away soil nutrients and kills microorganism in the soil. The soil in which the plants rely on will damage the plant’s roots and leaves, stunt their growth, and finally make them died. If the plants die or poisoned by acid rain, animals will also die. Birds and other wildlife will lose their habitat because the forest is damaged. Besides, acid rain also drains into lakes, rivers, and ponds, then, affects aquatic life and other living things depending on them. Plankton, insects, crustaceans, and fish will die if the water is too acidic. If it happens, animals up the food chain will also die because they depend on the aquatic life. Acid rain has affected environment, plants and animals because they depend on one another. What about human?

Acid rain is not only dangerous for environment, plants, and animals, but also for human. Acid rain has polluted the environment, plants, and animals in which human rely on. It has contaminated the air human breathe, the water human drinks, and the food human eats. Of course, these things will affect human life. The pollutants—sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides—existing in the air can be inhaled deep into people’s lungs, then, cause respiratory problems (such as, irritation of nose, eye, and throat, headache, asthma, and dry cough), decrease lung function, and even premature death. In addition, acid rain affects human life through poisoned water and food. Water that has been contaminated by pollutants will be not safe to be drunk. The plants and animals as sources of human food which has been poisoned by acid rain will be also poisonous for human and cause brain damage, kidney problems, and Alzheimer’s disease. Even worse, the source of human food will be exhausted because plants and animals will have died. In short, acid rain has deep impact on human life.

Acid rain influences all aspects of life in the earth. It gives bad effects for the environment, animals, and humankind. Those effects are totally the result of human’s mistake. Human is blinded by technologies and industries, thus he is careless to keep the nature that has provided him by many things he needs for living. Nature has given him the food to eat, water to drink, and also the air to breathe. All those things which has given chances for human to continue his life, now, can be an unpredictable “killer” for human himself. Therefore, human must look for the solution and do something immediately to solve the problem before it has been late.

Human as one to be blamed for this condition must do something to restore the damaged environment because the effects of acid rain was so terrifying for the earth and all living things in the earth. Some actions must be done immediately because there are so many changes and it takes many years for ecosystems to recover from acid deposition, even after emissions are reduced and the rain becomes normal again. Thus, individual action is really expected. It seems that there is not much that individual can do to stop acid deposition. However, it must be remembered that acid deposition is caused by the cumulative actions of millions of individual people. Therefore, each individual can also reduce their contribution to the problem. As individuals, some actions can be done, like: turn off energy appliances when not using them, use energy efficient appliances, avoid to use public transportation, it is better to walk or use bicycle, and buy vehicles with low NOx emissions, and maintain all vehicles well.

My Narrative

2009-06-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

Don’t Judge What God Gives

Darkness was still covering the clouds which were hiding the light of the sky, adorned by the moon which had been tired to stay up along the night. Its brightness had grown pale. Even the stars gradually had been going home without saying good bye. However, crow of the cocks were not heard yet. Might be, they were still sleepy waking up too early.
The dawn was still too cold. No ones were willing to uncover their blankets and coincidentally abandoned their dreams. On the other hand, light of a dim lamp pointed to a very small simple house in that was so noisy. It was heard that Mr. Wayan was saying curses and obscenities. Conversely, Mrs. Nengah was quiet and patiently mopping the pee spilled on the floor. Then, she changed his son’s short which was wet by his pee.
“Stop cursing!” said Mrs. Nengah who had restrained her emotion and tears.
“It’s not his mistake” she added. Then, she pulled her husband’s hand and took him into the dining room.
“Let him hear!” said Mr. Wayan.
“No, only us,” answered Mrs. Nengah.
“Please try to love him.” she added.
“He is already 20. You can see, he is the cause of a lot of bother! It’s better for him to get out from here.”
“But, he is ours!” she argued while Mr. Wayan was leaving the room and closed the door violently.
Lanang had heard their conversation. He was standing weakly in front of the door and looking at his mother who was sitting on the bench with bad feeling. She was thinking about her son, the only son. Lanang approached her, then, hold her in silence. She stroked her son’s hair gently as she tried to give him a motivation. She restrained her tears which almost rolled down her cheek. She did not want to be weak because she had to teach how to be strength, because she had to teach how to be patient, not to be weak and easily give up to the situation.

* * * * *

Lanang, a man with a lot of unluckiness and imperfectness, was sitting on the bench at the bus stop, he was thinking about his parents’ conversation tonight. His brain never stopped thinking of how he could help his family and made his father proud of him. He imagined if he had had two strong and perfect legs instead of those lame weak legs. He imagined if he had had two strong and perfect hands for holding, he would have a bit proud. He wanted to protest the God, but how? It would not change his fate; it would not conjure his legs and his hands to be the perfect ones.
“He is already 20. You can see, he is the cause of a lot of bother!”
He went over his father’s words while trying to stand up slowly. He saw a young boy as a beggar with his mannered expression try to obtain money from the buyer on the supermarket near the bus stop. “No” he said to himself refusing his own willingness to do the same thing with the boy. Unintentionally, he glanced at a man sitting near to him who was concentrating to read the newspaper.

* * * * *

In the cloudy morning, Lanang went along the bus station. By a great difficulty, he tried to hold a few sheets of newspapers and lamely peddled them to the people there. Suddenly, the clouds dropped the rain and quickly wetted his clothes. As quickly as possible, he runs lamely to a place for taking shelter. But, it was too late. His slow movement made everything not easier. Though he had run as quickly as he could, fortune still did not side to him. He realized that the newspapers were already wet and no ones were willing to buy them. He was so sad and went home with disappointment.
His father was sitting on the bamboo couch when he arrived home. When he started to open the door,
“Where are you from?” asked his father.
“I tried to sell newspaper at the bus station” said Lanang.
“So, where is the money?”
“I.........” He began to continue his explanation while his father glared at him. Then, he continued:
“I got caught in rain, so the newspapers were wet and damaged. I have to pay for the indemnity. I am sorry....”
There was a change in his father’s expression.
“Stupid! Don’t you feel that you have given me a lot of troubles along my life? All you have are useless; your legs, your hands, and everything! You can’t do anything for me. And now, I should pay for your mistakes! Go out from here! You won’t be expected again here!” his father said angrily and it was not a joke.

* * * * *

The road was still quiet. There were just few vehicles pass through enlivened the road. Lanang found himself was lying on the sidewalk. His wet clothes were already dry because of the wind. But, he was still feeling the coldness and snuggled in such way. That day was the first time he was far from his family, especially his mother. He felt very sad. He would be far away from his mother who had taught him about patience. There was nothing else that he really needed in his life, except his mother. There was nothing that could encourage him from his burden, except his mother, the woman who had given him honest love.
He was doing nothing when an old man with plain appearance passed in front of him. Firstly, he did not want to pay attention on him, but there was something that interested him. The old man sat beside him. Lanang stared at the old man which unwillingly at the same time glanced at him. He was surprised when he realised how the old man’s eyes could calm him down. He found that the old man’s eyes sight revealed a bitter life which is sunk by a deep resignation.
“Hi, what’s your name?” asked the old man, shattered Lanang’s thinking.
“Hmm...?”
“What’s your name???” the old man repeated his question, in this time with louder voice.
“Oh, Lanang” he answered.
“Where is your home?”
“I.....”
“Let’s stay with me in my house” said the old man. Without asking for Lanang’s agreement, the old man stood up and walked leaving him. Then, Lanang walked slowly follow the old man.
“What should I call you?” asked Lanang.
“Just call me grandpa”

* * * * *

They arrived at a house which did not seem good, on the contrary, almost very poor. The wall was from a plaited bamboo which was already old because of its age, might be the age was as old as the man. Some sheets of newspapers were adhered on it as if they decorated the wall which was not fully beautiful. Indeed, they just remained its shabby and sleazy impression. The house only has one room which has a partition at the centre. There was no table, no chair, no bed, and no other furniture in the room. It revealed that the house was not more than a building with walls, floor, ceiling, and that was all. There was nothing interesting except a few paintings without frames hung on the wall. Those paintings were the only ones which seemed to be well taken care of.
“Whose paintings are those?” Lanang asked while pointing at those nice paintings.
“Those are mine” grandpa answered while trying to have a sit on the floor with a great difficulty.”
“Did you make them by yourself?”
“Yeah, of course. Wanna try?”
“But, how? You can see my legs and my hands......”
“Your legs may be lame, your hands may be imperfect, but not your imagination, your creativity and your dream.”
Grandpa took a paint brush and a canvas, then, threw them on the floor. Meanwhile, Lanang hardly tried to take them his hands when grandpa said:
“No! Take them by your mouth!”
Lanang was so angry and wanted to protest grandpa. But, he still tried to take the paint and the canvas again by his hands when suddenly grandpa trod his hands while repeat the previous instruction.
“You treated me like a servant! What do you want?”
“Just trust me” grandpa said seriously.
Lanang tried again. But now, he tried to take the brush and the canvas by his mouth. He tried to spread the paint on the canvas though it was so difficult for him. Although mouth and hands are similar in terms of they are parts of the body, but the functions cannot easily substitutes one another. That is what Lanang felt. Mouth is just a mouth. It cannot become hands. But, one thing that had to be remembered is that everything would be possible if someone tried. God would never create something with imperfectness. Imperfectness is just what someone thought and felt as a reason to excuse for giving up.
Lanang lived with grandpa now. Every day, he did all what grandpa told. He learned how to be grateful for all he had and never felt disappointed to what the God gave to him.

* * * * *

Lanang was looking at the canvas lying on the table, then, thinking for a moment and then, friskily took the paint brush by his mouth, and spread the paint on the canvas which gradually was fully covered by the paint. It was a painting that he would sell to his customer. A painting was about his life. He went over the man’s words in his mind.
“Your legs may be lame, your hands may be imperfect, but not your imagination, your creativity and your dream.”
He said to himself,
“If I don’t have any legs, I can use my hands as legs. If I don’t have hands, I can use my mouth. There’s nothing impossible in my life if I try and never give up. Thank God for the lame legs, for the imperfect hands, and for the most prefect mouth You give for me.”

My Descriptive Writing

2009-05-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. Please give comments on my writing.

UMEJERO, A SIMPLE AND PEACEFUL VILLAGE

Life in city is really different with life in village in which both of them serve different kinds of situation. In the city, the situation is so crowded, not like the situation in the village that is so peaceful and cool. However, that peaceful situation almost cannot be seen in the villages today. It is because almost all of the villages nowadays have been “conjured” to be more crowded because of some modernisation. So, the peaceful situation has gone though it still exists rarely in some villages. However, there is a village which still maintains its peaceful situation that is Umejero—a small village that is free from modernisation.

Umejero is a distant small village which belongs to Busungbiu subdistrict, Buleleng Regency. It is about 20 kilometres from Seririt as the nearest town. To reach the village from Seririt, you can take a public transportation or by riding your own vehicle. It needs about an hour by public transportation or 30 minutes by motorcycle. Within the journey, there are several villages that you will pass through like: Bubunan, Ringdikit, Rangdu, Mayong, Busungbiu, Kekeran, Pelapuan, and Bengkel. In addition, the roads passed through are surrounded by wide areas of plantations. Besides, the roads are rather complicated and steep.

When firstly stepping on the village, the view will guide you to simple thinking of a simple rural area which has not much changed by any modernisation. The slippery road is surrounded by many weeds and bushes. Moreover, the ground is damp and mossy like every day is watered by the rain and dew. The road might be just enlivened by one or two vehicles pass through within 30 minutes. Besides, the residences are far from one to another. They are usually separated by rice fields or plantation. Might be, it can be said that the area of rice fields and plantations are more than the area of residences. The plantations mostly produce cloves, avocados, and others which ordinarily grow in mountainous climate. Those rice fields and plantation are taken traditionally by the owners.

If it is seen from outside, Umejero is a “quiet” village. Just say, in the morning, though the day has begun, the village is still quiet. It is only heard the farmers shout to chase away the birds which want to eat the crops or some jokes from those who pick the cloves. On account of its quiet, you can hear sounds of the wind that blows the plants which leaves sounds like a man whispering. Besides, you can hear sounds of the leaves rustling as if it is whispering to you or sounds of river flowing in a small stream as if it invites you to feel the beautiful nature. On the other hand, in the night when the village darken, it must be quieter. Sometimes, it can just be heard dogs barking, a nongcret (a kind of insect), or a cricket breaks the quiet of the night. Nothing will jazz up the night except them. In short, both of those morning and night life are quiet and far from the city life which is so busy and crowded along the day.

Umejero is a peaceful village. It is one of the village in which you can still feel the wind blows gently and lightly. Moreover, it is a village where you can feel fresh air and situation which surrounded by many plantation. It is also a place where you can feel the quiet of the day. Moreover, it is far away from the city situation, from the crowd, from the noisy, and pollution. It could give us a peaceful feeling which could not be found in the city.