Finally, 'There's Been a Death in the Opposite House' was tested in the English SPM paper after 10 years despite the subject matter it deals with- death. SPM2010 has created history! The view that because it deals with such a dark and gloomy subject therefore it should not be tested for fear of putting certain students at a disadvantage is nonsensical. It passed the selection process remember? Well, a point sorely missed is that literature deals with universal themes such as life and death. Literature IS about life and death! Hence, it's rather myopic to say a text can or cannot be tested simply because a text deals with death. I'm glad someone up there has decided to test this poem albeit the final year of this cycle of texts. What is literature if not to tickle the minds of our young? Let them discuss death as a natural phenomenon and let them see how every day people deal with this subject. TV images fool us everyday- we only view those touched by death- the bereaved, undertakers, morticians...not the images of death. We remove these images to insulate ourselves from the discomfort.
So let the text live even if it deals with death so our young may be wiser!
Hey Pn. Rahmah,
ReplyDeleteMay I know if The discovery of the great pearl is considered an incident??? Thank You
hi esther,
ReplyDeleteyes it's an incident/event but remember the reasons are also important. some students get caught up with explaining the event in great details but not so convincing with the reasons!
Thank you so much Pn. Rahmah. I'm relieve that I didn't lost my 15 marks.
ReplyDelete:D