Literature Online Lesson 2 - Historical & Biographical background of my favourite poet and his poems

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

"We seem to always know where we are in a Billy Collins poem, but not necessarily where he is going. I love to arrive with him at his arrivals. He doesn't hide things from us, as I think lesser poets do. He allows us to overhear, clearly, what he himself has discovered." This was what a poet, Stephen Dunn once said about Billy Collins who is also a famous poet.


Being attracted to poetry, I knew several famous poets and some of their masterpieces. I had been enjoying peotry a lot and also impressed by how the poets express their feelings and mood in their poems so well. To me, peotry is the act of expressing one's thoughts in a short story or verses indirectly. Peotry really arouses my emotions as poets use figurative language and imagery to express their feelings or create an idea of the poem. Speaking of this, Billy Collins will be the one who is really capable of doing all the thing that I had mentioned earlier. He was one of my favourite poet(since I had to choose one) and this is proved by his masterpieces of poems.

Why is he my favourite poet?
Firstly, I am very impressed by his style of writing a poem which I had enjoyed a lot. All his poems have great fluency and are successfully able to bring out the mood and idea of the poems using imagery and some figurative language which include personification and metaphor. In addition, Collins can also express the idea, his feelings or a mental image of his poem well. In his poetry, Billy Collins wrote better than others mostly due to the unique style of writing he uses to create his poems. I especially like his way of using simplistic stanzas to try to create images or idea of the poems, pulling the reader away from real life and draw them into his "poetic world". I am also impressed by the number of awards he had recieved. In addition, Billy Collins also cherished American poetry and put a lot of effort into creating poems. Other than these, his poems also rarely follow a significant topic. Instead, they are just some thoughts and ideas that happen to come from his head. Since he loves poetry a lot, he also uses poetry sometimes to offer relief when he or the reader was troubled. Hence, I am also impressed by his great passion of creating poems.

In addition, Billy Collins is my favourite poet as he is already a talent when he was in grade school as at that time, he was able to express his feelings and thoughts on paper very well. Different from other poets who will be frustrated if they do not have any ideas to create poems, Billy Collins does not force himself to write if he does not have any inspration in order to produce great works. He usually does not force meter or rhyme into his poems to capture the readers' attention but he used clever and witty description and comedy which I enjoy very much. Billy Collins is really a writer with warmth and surreal humor which can be seen in his intersting and enjoyable poems.


Historical & Biographical background
Being a former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins was actually the author of several poetry books. He was born in New York City in 1941. Collins then completed fellowships at the New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and The Guggenheim Foundation. He was already a talent in poetry when he was in grade school. He was then educated at College of the Holy Cross where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1963 and at the University of California, he received his doctorate in English. He was a current teacher at Lehman College now.

Billy Collins has been very successful in creating six published poetry books and they are featured around his country. His poetry is in many periodicals and he also does a lot of public reading in which he draws a large crowd. In addition, his poetry has actually appeared in anthologies, textbooks and even a variety of periodicals which includes Poetry, American Poetry Review, American Scholar, Harper's, Paris Review, and The New Yorker. His work has been featured in the Pushcart Prize anthology and has been chosen several times for the annual Best American Poetry series. Billy Collins has also edited Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry (Random House, 2003) which is an anthology of contemporary poems for use in schools and was a guest editor for the 2006 edition of The Best American Poetry. In addition, Billy Collins has also earned many awards for his incredible explanations and description using words in his poems. He actually won Best American Poetry twice for two of his books, which were once in 1992 and the other one in 1993. He also won the Bess Hokin award in 1992 and most recently, he was then named US Poet Laureate in 2001. This award is one of the greatest and prestigious ever recieved by a poet. He was then joined by former poets laureate Robert Hass, Rita Dove, and Robert Pinsky at the 2002 Dodge Poetry Festival. After that, Billy Collins still continues to strive as an achieved poet as people continue to find his simplistic poetry great. When he became an author, he eventually wrote several famous books on poetry which include:



  • Ballistics (2008)

  • She Was Just Seventeen (2006)

  • The Trouble with Poetry (2005)

  • Nine Horses (2002)

  • Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001)

  • Picnic, Lightning (1998)

  • The Art of Drowning (1995), which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize

  • Questions About Angels (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National

  • Poetry Series

  • The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988)

  • Video Poems (1980)

  • Pokerface (1977)

Later, he then served two terms as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. In New York, he has also been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and was selected as the New York State Poet for 2004. He was recently appointed Claire Berman Artist in Residence at The Roxbury Latin School, in West Roxbury, MA. He is a distinguished professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York.

How do people and poets feel about Billy Collins?

“The most important thing to say about Collins is that he is a deliberately minor poet, even a rebelliously minor poet, a poet who would reject major status if it were thrust upon him. Billy Collins has excelled his way through poetry fairly easy with his light verse style poems. ” This was quoted by Richard Alleva in his article of "A major minor poet".

His masterpieces

The Golden Years


by Billy Collins

All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and last time I looked, no ridge.
I could drive over to Quail Falls
and spend the day there playing bridge,
but the lack of a falls and the absence of quail
would only remind me of Pheasant Ridge.
I know a widow at Fox Run
and another with a condo at Smokey Ledge.
One of them smokes, and neither can run,
so I’ll stick to the pledge I made to Midge.
Who frightened the fox and bulldozed the ledge?
I ask in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge.




Fishing on the Susquehanna in July

by Billy Collins
I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna
or on any river for that matter
to be perfectly honest.
Not in July or any month
have I had the pleasure--if it is a pleasure--
of fishing on the Susquehanna.
I am more likely to be found
in a quiet room like this one--
a painting of a woman on the wall,
a bowl of tangerines on the table--
trying to manufacture the sensation
of fishing on the Susquehanna.
There is little doubt
that others have been fishing
on the Susquehanna,
rowing upstream in a wooden boat,
sliding the oars under the water
then raising them to drip in the light.
But the nearest I have ever come to
fishing on the Susquehanna
was one afternoon in a museum in Philadelphia
when I balanced a little egg of time
in front of a painting
in which that river curled around a bend
under a blue cloud-ruffled sky,
dense trees along the banks,
and a fellow with a red bandanna
sitting in a small, green
flat-bottom boat
holding the thin whip of a pole.
That is something I am unlikely
ever to do, I remember
saying to myself and the person next to me.
Then I blinked and moved on
to other American scenes
of haystacks, water whitening over rocks,
even one of a brown hare
who seemed so wired with alertness
I imagined him springing right out of the frame.

Some Days

by Billy Collins
Some days I put the people in their places at the table,
bend their legs at the knees,
if they come with that feature,
and fix them into the tiny wooden chairs.
All afternoon they face one another,
the man in the brown suit,
the woman in the blue dress,
perfectly motionless, perfectly behaved.
But other days, I am the one
who is lifted up by the ribs,
then lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse
to sit with the others at the long table.
Very funny,
but how would you like it
if you never knew from one day to the next
if you were going to spend it
striding around like a vivid god,
your shoulders in the clouds,
or sitting down there amidst the wallpaper,
staring straight ahead with your little plastic face?

“But if something does flash before your eyes as you go under, it will probably be a fish, a quick blur of curved silver darting away, having nothing to do with your life or your death.” This states Billy Collins in one of his famous poem, “The Art of drowning”.
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Book review: One Singapore 3 More Singaporean Stories - A book every Singaporean should read

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Once again, I am writing to introduce another well-written book to you after Robinson Crusoe, Animal Farm and Pollyanna. This book is entitled "One Singapore 3 More Singaporean Stories" and it is written by a famous local writer, Goh Sin Tub. Different from the three novels, this book is actually a non-fiction book with compilation of Singaporean Stories in the early times when Singapore gained independence. It is actually a sequel to two another books, One Singapore and One Singapore 2 which are all about interesting and touching Singapore stories. These authetic Singaporean stories are all actually told by real Singaporeans about the problems, encounters or stories that are so memorable that they cannot forget in their lifes.

-Story background
This story is written in 2001 by Goh Sin Tub who is a well-known pioneer of Singapore literature. Besides being a reknowned writer, he was a teacher, civil servant, banker, builder, social worker and former chairman of the St. Joseph's Institution (SJI)'s Board of Governors. In addition, he is winner of several national short story writing competitions. This shows that Goh Sin Tub really loves writing and he is very good at literature. Besides that, he also has more than a dozen books to his name written over the past two decades, including a collection of short stories in Malay. His past bestsellers include Honour and Other Stories, The Nan-Mei-Su Girls of Emerald Hill, The Ghost Lover of Emerald Hill, Ghosts of Singapore, Loves of Sons and Daughters, 12 Women and their Stories, Moments in a Singapore Life, and his One Singapore trilogy.

-Story Summary
This book compiles many true Singaporean stories during the early times of Singapore. The book includes many stories in six sections which are Singaporean encounters, in light vein, inspirations, family gems, dixcoveries by Singaporeans and memories. The author had actually interviewed some Singaporeans of their stories in the early times. The stories are all authetic and brings out Singapore's History. These stories are wide-ranging, from Singapore Colonials times, the Japanese Occupations, the return of British rule to the merger with Malaya and Singapore's Independence. In this book, there are some very touching stories such as how Singaporeans suffered from the Japaneses Occupations. Other stories are inspiring as they motivate readers with important life values. At the same time, this book also teaches readers of early Singapore and how Singaporeans lived at that time. It also help young Singaporeans to better appreciate and understand Singapore's past.

In the book, there are also some stories of some important people in Singapore's society such as the story of first Singaporean, which was the Singapore's first President Yusof Ishak. The author had mentioned his great contributions to Singapore and wrote his remarkable story. One of the touching stories in the book is Big Brother which is a touching story about the author's brother. In this short story, the author wrote that his brother always took very good care of him and stood for him when the author was in trouble. There was also once when the author was bullied by a well-built boy and his brother stood up for him and fought with the bully. He also got scolded from his mother after having bruises all over his body. Although the author's brother did not really show his care and love to the author in a direct way, the author could still feel that his brother really loves him very much. At the end of the story, the author also mentioned how much he respected and admired his big brother.

-My reflection
After reading this non-fiction book, it greatly touched me of the hardships experienced by the Singaporeans in the early times. In addition, I had also learnt some important life values from the short stories of the Singaporeans. Being very interested in Singapore's History, I had also enjoyed reading this book a lot as it brings alive Singapore's past. This book also gives me a sense of a Singaporean as I had read quite many of their stories. I am really proud to be a Singaporean......
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Book review: Pollyanna - A amazing story about the power of optimism

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
While you may be amazed by the previous two novels, I had also read another famous novel entitled "Pollyanna" and this story is written by a quite reknowned author, Eleanor H. Porter. This novel had left me great impression as it is really one of the finest piece of literature works in the world. This novel is actually about a miraculous story of a girl, Pollyanna who transform the lives of everyone she meets with her optimism. She always looks on the bright side of her life and never bear a grudge. But one day, a terrible accident caused her to be in great despair and she did not know how to be optimistic about it. "Pollyanna" is also one of those popular stories of the turn of the Century.

-Story background
This story is a children's literature novel written in 1913 about a girl, Pollyanna who uses her extreme optimism for her life. In a fundamentally honest and straightforward way, the author brings out the trials of life such as poverty, loneliness, and illness in the story and tells us that a cheerful child's presence and encouragement can alleviate social and personal sadness. In the story, Pollyanna makes use of her optimism to help people see the positive side of life rather than the sad and negative one. In addition, this novel is also a solid adventure romance tale and it encourages readers to be optimistic towards life.

The positive vision taught by "Pollyanna" can be adopted into everyone’s life without age, race, geographical or any other difference. The author successfully uses Pollyanna to evoke the texture of life in small-town New England in the early 1900s. In the story, the author uses the country dialect and the rich regional flavor to mark the dialogue of such characters as Nancy and Old Tom. The author also skillfully employs imagery and symbolism such as Miss Polly's "tight hair" actually represents her tight and aloof personality. The characters show the different personalities of different characters and the changes of their personalities as the story moves on.

-Story Summary
This novel is about a eleven years old orphan girl, Pollyanna Whittier, who transforms the lives of the people around her with her extreme optimism towards her life. Being the main character of the story, Pollyanna was a young, innocent and kind girl. She liked to help one another and encourages people to be positive towards their life. At the introduction of the story, Pollyanna was said to have led a hard life since her mother passed away when she was still young and she has been impoverished her life. But her father brought her up and taught her many important values. When Pollyanna was a very young girl, she once hoped for a doll in the missionary barrel as Christmas present but she was very disappointed uopn seeing that it was only a pair of crutches in it. She was sobbing uncontrollably but her father who was a traveling minister then introduced the "Glad Game" to her to cheer her up since she was so disappointed. Her father also played the "Glad Game" and told her that they should be glad as they did not need it. It was actually a game to find something to be glad about in everything even if it is a bad thing. After learning to play the "Glad Game", Pollyanna eventually enjoyed playing it and this changed her life and others too. She then learnt to appreciate what she had.

But unfortunately, her father also passed away some time later when Pollyanna was still eleven years old. After her father's sudden death, Pollyanna was later sent to her maiden aunt, Aunt Polly's house to stay with her in Beldingsville, Vermon. Her aunt was a weathy but austere and humorless woman who always does her duty but not anything more. Her aunt then relegated Pollyanna to a hot, stuffy and small attic without carpets and pictures to live in as she hoped that Pollyanna would not disrupt her household routine. But luckily, Pollyanna remembered the "Glad Game" which was taught by her father and remained optimistic of she had been recieved from aunt even she was left with nothing as both her parents passed away. She played the "Glad Game" when she was living in Aunt Polly's house. When she was stuffed in a small, almost airless attic, she said that she should be glad as she actually had a high window to enjoy the beautiful view. When Aunt Polly punishes her for being late for dinner and gave her only a bread and milk to eat in the kitchen with her servant, Nancy, Pollyanna said that she was glad and loved to eat bread and milk and like Nancy to accompany her.

With her cheerful and optimistic personalities, Pollyanna eventually brought much gladness and transformed her aunt's dispirited New England Town to a pleasant place to live in. While living in her aunt's house, Pollyanna also met some Beldingsville's most troubled people such as Mrs Snow and Mr Pendleton who was a miserly bachelor. She had also taught the people how to play the "Glad Game" and transformed their lifes. In addition, Mrs Snow and Mr Pendleton had also showed a significant transformation of their characters. Pollyanna had taught them how to be glad for what they had as compared to those who experienced worse things. When Old Tom the gardener was bent over with arthritis, Pollyanna told him that he should be glad as since he was so close to the ground, he would not have to muster so much strength to stoop down to do his weeding. Aunt Polly was also taught by Pollyanna of the "Glad game" and she at first resisted the game but later she became another player. Pollyanna also could feel the love and care of Aunt Polly after teaching her to play the game. Althought Pollyanna had experienced poverty, deprivation and initial rejection of Aunt Polly, she still could be optimistic and never gave up.

But all these happy times soon past by and Pollyanna faced a huge problem. Her robust optimism was then tested when she was hit by a motorcar as she crossed the street. She was then severly injured and hospitalised. At first, she was not that sad as she did not really knew her situation but when she overheard the specialist saying that she might not be able to walk anymore, she was taken aback and was in great despair. She did not know what to be glad about it. At that time, her little thoughts become shaky and she was scared. But luckily, all others who experienced the encouragement from Pollyanna and played her "Glad Game" came and encourage her to be glad that she still had her legs. Pollyanna then regained her confidence and became optimsitic as before.

At the end of the story, it is said that Aunt Polly is getting married to her former lover and Pollyanna finally learnt to walk again after the treatments and appreciated the use of her legs more after the accident.

-My reflection
After reading this novel, I really impressed by Pollyanna's optimistic personalities. She was very positive towards life and never gave up. I really enjoyed reading this story. It is worth-reading and well-written. In addition, I am also amazed by the style of writing of the author as the whole story really captures my attention. A good book, absolutely.
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Book review: Animal Farm

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
After reading Robinson Crusoe, the novel, another novel entitled "Animal Farm" captured my attention. This novel, Animal Farm, is written by George Orwell in 1945 and this might be the most famous work of political allegory ever written. The author wrote this novel to bring out a historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism and using farmyard animals such as pigs, horses and dogs who overthrew the farmers in search of utopia to show that a state of equality is impossible to achieve due to the corruptive influence of the power required to necessitate it. This novel succesfully presents how mechanism of propaganda and brainwashing works in totalitarians regimes.

-Story background
Although the title of the novel suggests that the story is only about animals living in a farm, the story is actually a much more in depth analysis of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The farm animals are used to illustrate how the communist class system worked, and how the Russian citizens reacted to this, and how propaganda was used by early leaders of Russia, and the effect this type of leadership had on the behaviour of the people of Russia. The three pigs, Old Major, Snowball and Napoleon, are the main characters in the book and they are all used to be compared to different leaders in the Russian Revolution. In this novel, the author is trying to illustrate his own thoughts on Soviet Communism which is a hot topic.

-Story Summary
This story is about Old Major, the boar who was a much respected leader, started with a dream of taking over the running of a farm from the farmer by animals for animals. Old Major hoped that animals will form a rebellion and overthrew the human race and thought that there were liberty and equality for all in the farm. After since Old Major had passed away, the animals of Manor Farm were led by the two pigs who were also the protagonists, Napoleon and Snowball, and drove out Farmer Jones and his wife. After gaining power of the farm, the animals set up Animal Farm which their dream seemed to be coming true. After the revolution, the pigs became the leaders and gained power while taking over the running of the farm as they were the most intelligent animals. That was when the corruption started. The pigs started to control the animals of the farm and set down some rules which is the Seven Commandments to ensure equality and prosperity for all. The animals in the farm first agreed to these rules as they felt that they would get what they believe - equality and communism. It is written as follow:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

As the months and years past by, Napolean who was one of the leaders got the control of everyone and slowly exerted his influence. Napoleon began to twist what was once the truth but not now and used his trusty spindoctor to ensure the animals of equality and communism but eventually forgot what was agreed by all which was to be equal. As each passing day went by, this continued until eventually no animal could tell the difference between the man and the pig (Napoleon and Snowbell). Eventually, power corrupted and influenced the pigs. Hence, it appeared that the revolution was a failure from the beginning, even though it began in idealistic optimism. The pigs, however, being the leaders of the animals, managed to reverse the commandments, and through terror and propaganda established the rule of an elite of pigs, which was led by Napoleon which was the most revered and sinister pig.

In the story, Squealer, a pig "could turn black into white" was much responsible for propaganda caused. Squealer could speak very well and was persuasive as he could argue at some difficult points yet, he had a way of skipping from side to side. He managed to change the rule from "all animals are equal" to "all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others"which was presented in the story. In addition, he also managed to convince the animals that the pigs could eat more than the others as their roles were very important and they had heavy reponsiblities as they "helped the animals to run". As a result, this caused the gullible animals to believe what the pigs said and become thankful to Napoleon, for what they believed that Napoleon had "made their dream to reality".

A contributing factor to the propaganda showed in the story was that the pigs, which actually worked less but received more rations than other animals. This increased the confusion of the animals as they wondered why one species was receiving more than another in an equal society as the pigs promised. However, the other animals still respected and trusted their leaders and were willing to sacrifice to work harder for a better life. Here, the story brings out the situation in Russia which was more or less similar. In both the story and real life, greedy leaders took full advantage of the desperate commoners who were willing to sacrifice anything for them. The leaders were capable to turn matters upside down which were different from what they promised before. The commoners were then subjected to propaganda.

In "Animal Farm", Squealer and Napoleon which were he leaders decieve the animals that Snowball was a traitor and convinced them that he was a criminal through propaganda in order to gain more advantages for themselves. In the sotry, the horse, Boxer, actually represented the cruelty of how people are used for their skills and talents for others' advantages but as they turned powerless or useless, they were then disregarded as they were not needed anymore. Boxer which was the hardest worker on the farm as he contributed the most to the building of the windmill in the farm. But when Boxer was unable to continue work, Napoleon then got rid of him. This showed that the cruelty of human nature as man have the tendency to use other people to achieve their goals but disregarded them once they are useless or when man have found someone better. In the story, the author also presented the confusion of the animals as they all believed that Napoleon was right but they were confused by the better treatment which the pigs recieved.

-My reflection
After reading "Animal farm", I feel that this novel is more than a book but it can be seen as an analysis of the Soviet regime and shows the the situation of propaganda and totalitarianism in general. In my opinion, I feel that it is really well-written and might be the best book in the world to show the negative side of politics. In addition, I also like the ending of the story which was a warning to the society about propaganda which is written as follow:
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which".
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Book review: Robinson Crusoe - A wonderful classic of shipwreck and adventure

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Imagine yourself being stranded on an unhabited island alone. No food along with you, no money and no help. You are just the only human being on the island. How will you manage to survive and recover from desperation? Well, Robinson Crusoe could.

During the school holidays, my eyes are glued to the book entitled" Robinson Crusoe" written by Daniel Defoe. This novel is written in 1719 and the author was inspired to write this novel by a true story about a man, Alexander Selkirk who was rescued after spending about 3 years on a Pacific Island in 1709. This novel is about a magnificent classic of shipwreck and adventure.

-Story Background
The protagonist of this story is Robinson Crusoe who was born in 1632 and is his family's third child. Being not bred to any trade, Robinson Crusoe's mind started to fill with rambling thoughts and was very fond of sailing. But unfortunately, Crusoe's father determined that his son would become a lawyer. Undaunted, Crusoe once said in the novel that he "would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea." Still, his mother and father did not allow it. A year later, Robinson Crusoe decided to sneak away from his parents and accepted passage to London. He then left on September I, 1651. That was when a series of adventure and mishap began. To Crusoe's horror, the voyage started badly. His first ship was lost in a mighty storm, but he did not give up and tried again. Little did he know that his second attempt was even worse! To his utmost horror, he was abducted by pirates and sold into slavery. But he still eventually managed to escape and then travelled to Brazil, where he became a wealthy plantation owner. However, he could not resist himself from sailing again. Strong-willed, He decided to try another time. Once again, this voyage ended up in complete disaster. As a result, his ship was trapped in a great storm and it was lost in the sea. Being the only survivor of the shipwreck, Crusoe then found himself stranded on “The Island of Despair” which he called. To make matter worse, the island was not near any shipping routes. His adventure soon began as he was plunged into desperation without any help and support. He was alone to make a life for himself on the island.

-Story Summary
After Robinson Crusoe was left stranded on the island due to the shipwreck, he was in despair without any hope, but slowly as he was adapted to the island, he started to recover from desperation. To survive on the island, Robinson Crusoe began to gather food, such as grapes and melons. With patience and ingenuity, he constructed a fortress home and developed a farm. He domesticated animals and learnt to make the tools in order to continue living on the island. As the years past by, Crusoe improved his situation. However, he was lonely and he sought for companionship to no avail. He was alone on the island without human company for twenty-four years.

After more than 20 years on the island, Robinson Crusoe one day found a human foot print which he believed was not his, and he was scared to death by his discovery: he dicovered that he was actually surrounded by canibal barbarians living on the opposite shore of the island. Some time later, Crusoe witnessed a human sacrifice and saw one of the preys escaping from the barbarians. Eventually, he rescued the inhabitant of a nearby island from cannibals. Crusoe then named him "Friday" since he was rescued on a Friday. Since then, Friday became Crusoe's loyal companion. Friday was alos taught by Crusoe to speak English. In addition, he was also introduced to the Bible which was the only book Robinson found in his sunk and broken ship.
But for twenty-four years he has no human company - until one Friday, he rescues a prisoner from a boatload of cannibals.

Several years later, Friday once told Crusoe of the region where he used to live before. He mentioned that there were white bearded people, like Robinson Crusoe himself, that remains abandoned after another shipwreck. That was when Crusoe knew a mutiny on board left the captain of the ship marooned on the island. Crusoe and Friday then rendered aid to the Captain and his men to retrieve the vessel. Finally after 28 years stranded on the island, Crusoe was managed to return home to England with the help of the Captain and his men. In addition, Friday accompanied him home. When Crusoe was back in London again, Crusoe then learnt of the new life and the new civilization that had evolved since he was left stranded on an island for 28 years ago."

-My reflection
After reading this exciting, amazing novel, I had impressed by how the author written the novel. This whole novel is like a biography of Robinson Crusoe, telling his adventure in a diary format. I had been impressed by his style of writing. He could turn the story so exciting, amazing and unbelievable! From the novel, I had also learnt some important values such as perseverance. Despite Robinson Crusoe being left stranded alone on a deserted island, he could still survive and did not give up. This tells us that how he managed to cope with all the challenges and struggles. It also tells us how man cope with reality when they face challenges. Anyway, I really feel that this is a great, well-written novel and perhaps one of the finest literature works in the world. It is really worth-reading.

Check out my elctronic bookshelf for more updates!

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My Electronic Bookshelf (updated)

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
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