Word of the day ( Ambiguous )

hey guys i know it's been a very long time since i last posted a new word straight from a dictionary that actually has a meaning so i guess i owe you guys this one here goes the word that I've chosen for today is Ambiguous well i first learned about this word from my lecture but i got the definition of the word from dictionary.com though you can just Google the word and the first thing that pops up is the meaning. ok so this word is actually meant to mean doubtful or uncertain . Ambiguous can also mean capable of being understood in two or more possible senses or ways for example an ambiguous smile, an ambiguous term or even a deliberately ambiguous reply. It's noun is Ambitiousness and the verb is Ambiguously. In a sentence you can use it for example like this "We were confused by the ambiguous wording of the message" or "He looks at her with an ambiguous smile". The synonym for ambiguous is obscure, arcane, cryptic and e.c.t while the antonym for this word is accessible, clear, obvious and e.c.t  To know more about this word you guys can just open any physical dictionary or just simply Googling  the word .  

a super long word with a short meaning (supercalifragilisticexpialidocious)

hey guys I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the movie Mary Poppins but I've used to watch that movie almost all the time back when I was little and suddenly this word came to my mind supercalifragilisticexpialidocious if you search in the dictionary you wont find it's meaning although this word is popularly used inside that move so i decided to google the meaning thanks to MR GOOGLE it occurred to me that the word was actually first used in that movie to mean fantastic of supercalifragilistic well that's something new you learn from disney an extremely long word that means fantastic hehe

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Plot Overview)

PLOT OVERVIEW

The Secret Garden opens by introducing us to Mary Lennox, a sickly, foul-tempered, unsightly little girl who loves no one but herself and whom no one loves including her parents. At the outset of the story, she is living in India with her parents, a dashing army captain and his frivolous, beautiful wife. But, Mary is rarely permitted to see them. They have placed her under the constant care of a number of native servants ( her ayah ) , as they find her too hideous and tiresome to look after. Mary's circumstances are cast into complete upheaval when an outbreak of cholera devastates the Lennox household, leaving no one alive but herself.

She is later found by a group of soldiers and, after briefly living with an English clergyman and his family, Mary is sent to live in Yorkshire with her maternal uncle, Archibald Craven at Misselthwaite Manor. Misselthwaite Manor is a sprawling old estate with over one hundred rooms, all of which have been shut up by Archibald Craven. A man whom everyone describes as "a miserable hunchback," Master Craven has been in a state of inconsolable grief ever since the death of his wife Lilias Craven ten years before the novel begins. Shortly after arriving at Misselthwaite, Mary hears about a secret garden from Martha Sowerby, who is her good-natured Yorkshire maidservant. This garden belonged to the late Mistress Craven also known as Lilias Craven ; after her death, Archibald locked the garden door and buried the key beneath the earth where he taught that no one could ever find it.

 Mary becomes intensely curious about the secret garden, and is determined to find it. This curiosity, along with the vigorous exercise she takes on the moor, begins to have an extremely positive effect upon Mary. She almost immediately becomes less sickly, more engaged with the world, and less foul-tempered. This change is aided by Ben Weatherstaff, a brusque but kindly old gardener, and a robin redbreast who lives in the secret garden. She begins to count these two "people," along with Martha, Dickon Sowerby, and Susan Sowerby, as the friends she has had in her life. Her curiosity is whetted when she hears strange, far-off cries coming from one of the manor's distant rooms.

However, Mrs. Medlock, the head of the servants at Misselthwaite, absolutely forbids her to seek out the source of the cries. She is distracted from this mystery when she discovers, with the robin's help, the key to the secret garden. She immediately sets about working there, so that the neglected plants might thrive. Dickon, who brings her a set of gardening tools and promises to help her bring the secret garden back to life, vastly aids her in her endeavor. Dickon is a boy who can charm the animals of the moor "the way snake charmers charm snakes in India." He is only a common moor boy, but he is filled with so much uncanny wisdom that Mary comes to refer to him as "the Yorkshire angel.

One night, Mary hears the distant cries and, flagrantly disobeying Mrs. Medlock's prohibition, goes off in search of their source. She finds Colin Craven, Master Craven's invalid son, shut up in an opulent bedchamber. Colin was born shortly before his mother's death, and his father cannot bear to look at him because the boy painfully reminds him of his late wife. Colin has been bedridden since his birth, and it is believed that he will become a hunchback and die an early death. His servants have been commanded to obey his every whim, and Colin has become fantastically spoiled and imperious as a result. Colin and Mary strike up a friendship, but Colin becomes furious when she fails to visit him because she prefers to garden with Dickon. That night, Colin throws one of the infamous tantrums. Mary rushes to his room in a fury and commands him to stop crying. He tells her that his back is beginning to show a hunch; when Mary examines him, she finds nothing whatever the matter with him. Henceforth, she will maintain that Colin's illness is only in his mind: he will be well if only he makes up his mind to be.

Dickon and Mary secretly begin bringing Colin out into the secret garden. On the first of these outings, the children are discovered by Ben Weatherstaff, who has been covertly tending the secret garden once a year for ten years. Ben has done so out of love and loyalty for the late Mistress Craven: he was a favorite of hers. Weatherstaff refers to Colin as "the poor cripple," and asks if he has crooked legs and a crooked back. Colin, made furious by this question, forces himself to stand up on his own feet for the first time in his life. After this feat, Colin's health improves miraculously: the secret garden, the springtime, and Dickon's company have the same rejuvenating effect upon him that they did upon Mary. The children determine to keep Colin's improvement a secret, however, so that he can surprise his father with his recovery when Master Craven returns from his trip abroad.

The three children, along with Ben Weatherstaff, spend every day of the summer in the secret garden. Only one other person is admitted into the secret: Susan Sowerby, Dickon's saintly mother. Susan sends a letter to Master Craven, telling him to hurry home so that he might see his son; she does not, however, specify why, in deference to Colin's secret. Master Craven complies, and returns immediately to Misselthwaite. His first act is to go into the secret garden; he does so at the behest of a dream in which the voice of his late wife told him that he might find her there. Just as he lays his hand to the doorknob, Colin comes rushing out and falls into his arms. Father and son are reconciled, and the miracle of Colin's recovery becomes known to all.

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (summary of the book)

Summary

           Oliver Twist's mother dies after the birth of her child in a workhouse. The infant's father is unknown, and the orphan is placed in a private juvenile home. After nine years of mistreatment, the boy is returned to the workhouse for even more abuse. After representing his fellow sufferers in an attempt to get more food, Oliver is punished and is apprenticed to Sowerberry, an undertaker. Noah Claypole, a charity boy working for Oliver's master, goads Oliver to rebellion, for which Oliver is savagely flogged. Consequently, Oliver runs away and heads for London.

          Near London, Oliver joins company with John Dawkins, The Artful Dodger, a questionable character who brings the boy to Fagin, the ringleader of a gang of criminals. Instructed in the "art" of picking pockets, Oliver goes out with Charles Bates and the Dodger. His companions pick an old gentleman's pocket and flee, and Oliver is arrested for their offense. At the police station, the terrified boy is cleared by the testimony of the bookseller who witnessed the theft. Oliver collapses and is taken home by Mr. Brownlow, the victim of the crime.

        While Oliver recovers at his benefactor's home, Brownlow is puzzled by the resemblance between Oliver's features and the portrait of a young woman. Fagin is apprehensive and furious at Oliver's rescue. Nancy, one of his trusty retainers, is set on the boy's trail as the gang shifts headquarters.

Mr. Grimwig, Brownlow's friend, has no faith in Oliver, so Oliver is sent on an errand to test his honesty. The boy is recaptured by Nancy and her friend Bill Sikes, a vicious lawbreaker. Oliver is restored to Fagin, who holds him in strict captivity for a while. In the meantime, Bumble, a minor parish official from Oliver's birthplace, answers Brownlow's advertisement inquiring about Oliver. Bumble turns Oliver's benefactor against him by grossly misrepresenting the boy's history and character.

         Eager to get Oliver completely in his power by thoroughly involving the child in some crime, Fagin convinces Bill Sikes to use Oliver in a major burglary that is being planned. Sikes takes Oliver westward through the city to a rendezvous near Chertsey with Toby Crackit.

At the house that is to be burglarized, Oliver is hoisted through a small window. The occupants are aroused and in the resulting melee, Oliver is shot. The robbers run off with the wounded Oliver but abandon him in a ditch.

          In the workhouse, Sally, the old pauper who attended Oliver's mother, is dying. At her urgent request, Mrs. Corney, the matron, sees the old woman alone before she expires. Immediately thereafter Bumble and the matron agree to marry.

         Fagin is greatly upset when Toby Crackit returns alone. Fagin makes anxious inquiries about Sikes. He then has an ominous meeting with a person called Monks, who is angry with Fagin, who he claims has failed in his obligation to ruin Oliver by tricking him into a lawless life

       When Oliver regains consciousness in a ditch, he stumbles to the nearest house, which proves to be the site of the attempted burglary. The owner, Mrs. Maylie, takes the boy in and protects him with connivance of her doctor, Mr. Losberne. The boy is taken to a cottage in the country, where Mrs. Maylie's niece Rose suffers a near-fatal illness. In the town inn yard, Oliver encounters a repulsive stranger who later spies on him with Fagin. Rose rejects the proposal of Mrs. Maylie's son, Harry, but he does not accept her refusal as final.

      Monks meets the Bumbles and purchases a locket that Mrs. Bumble redeemed with a pawn ticket that she took away from the dead Sally, who had received the pledge from Oliver's dying mother. The trinket contains a ring inscribed with the name "Agnes"; Monks drops it into the river.

      Nancy, who sympathizes with Oliver, nurses Sikes until he regains his "natural" meanness. She drugs the man and slips away to Hyde Park for a secret meeting with Rose Maylie. Nancy tells Miss Maylie everything that she has learned by eavesdropping on Fagin and Monks on two occasions. The two rogues are plotting the destruction of the object of Monks's inveterate hatred — his brother Oliver. Mr. Brownlow, who has been absent from London, reappears and Rose tells him Nancy's story. Harry Maylie, Grimwig, and Mr. Losberne are also briefed on what Nancy has learned.

       Noah Claypole and Charlotte, Sowerberry's maidservant, hide out in London after she has plundered the undertaker's till. They are discovered by Fagin, and Noah is employed to visit the police station to bring back information about the Dodger's indictment as a pickpocket. Because of her suspicious behavior, Fagin then assigns the sneak to spy on her. Nancy has a midnight meeting with Rose and Brownlow on London Bridge. Nancy informs Brownlow how he can corner Monks. Noah hears everything and immediately reports his findings to Fagin.

       Fagin waits up for the marauding Sikes and provokingly discloses Nancy's double-dealing. Sikes promptly goes home and bludgeons her to death. After wandering in the country for a day, haunted by his evil deed, the murderer returns to London.

      Mr. Brownlow has seized Monks and taken him to his home. The resultant disclosures clear up many mysteries. Brownlow had been engaged to the sister of his friend Edwin Leeford, Monk's father. While yet a mere boy, Leeford was forced into a bad marriage. The couple had only one child — Monks — and separated. Leeford became attached to a retired naval officer's daughter, Agnes Fleming. But Leeford died suddenly in Rome while looking after an inheritance. His wife had come to him from Paris just before his death. At the time, Agnes was expecting a child — the future Oliver Twist. Before leaving for Italy, Leeford had left the girl's picture with his friend Brownlow.

     On account of the striking similarity between Oliver's face and Agnes Fleming's, Brownlow has been searching for Monks since the boy's disappearance. With the help of Nancy's discoveries, Brownlow has learned all about the destruction of Leeford's will, the disposal of the identifying trinket that Oliver's mother possessed, and Monks's vindictive conspiracy with Fagin to destroy the innocent boy. Faced with these revelations and a reminder of his complicity in the murder of Nancy, Monks comes to terms in return for immunity on the condition that Monks make restitution to his brother (Oliver) in accordance with the original will.

     Toby Crackit and Tom Chitling have taken refuge in a crumbling building amid the ruins of Jacob's Island, in an inlet on the south side of the Thames. Fagin has been arrested, along with Claypole, while Chitling and Bates escaped. An unwelcome addition to the group is Bill Sikes, who is being tracked down. Charley Bates turns against the killer and raises an alarm to guide the pursuers. Attempting to escape from the house top, Sikes falls and is hanged in his own noose.

     Oliver returns to the town of his birth with Mrs. Maylie, Rose, and Mr. Losberne. Brownlow follows with Monks. Monks confirms what he has already declared in writing. The past history of the two half-brothers is recapitulated. Their father's will left the bulk of his fortune to Agnes Fleming and her expected child. The Bumbles admit their part in the affair after being confronted with Monks's confession.

     A new disclosure concerns Rose, who is of uncertain origin, although recognized by Mrs. Maylie as her niece. Rose is in reality the younger sister of Agnes Fleming, hence Oliver's aunt. Harry Maylie has repudiated his station in life to become a village parson, so the way is cleared for the young couple's betrothal.

     Fagin is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. While in prison awaiting execution, he disintegrates into a state of unrepentant maliciousness, but on his last night, he is visited by Brownlow and Oliver. Regaining some semblance of humanity, he reveals the location of some papers relevant to Oliver's interests.

     For testifying against Fagin, Claypole is pardoned, and he and Charlotte live by disreputable means. Charles Bates reforms and becomes a herdsman. The other leading members of Fagin's gang are transported from England. In accordance with Mr. Brownlow's recommendation, Oliver shares his fortune with Monks, who nevertheless later dies in prison, destitute.

      Rose and Harry Maylie are married, and Mrs. Maylie lives with them. Brownlow adopts Oliver and they settle near the parsonage, as does Mr. Losberne.

     The Bumbles lose their positions and become inmates of the workhouse where Agnes Fleming died after giving birth to Oliver Twist.

my wining poem

hey guys i know i haven't really been posting anything on this blog lately but this month and also last month had been really hectic for me with assignments piling up and test to be done anyways I'm done with all of that and also my foundation studies now since i just finished my finals paper last week I'm on break now and I'm going to continue to degree in September so I'm going to try my best to make it up to you guys as much as i can OK so i know this post is sort of late but i had entered a poem recitation competition while I was still in my foundation program and entered with my own poem and guess what guys I won hehe :) well just felt like sharing the poem with you guys so here you go the poem's entitled my home, my heart, my family and tesl and for your information tesl stands for teaching english as a second language the foundation program that I had recently finished :)

MY HOME, MY HEART, MY FAMILY AND TESL

SMILES BRIGHTLY LIKE THE SUN,

JOYFUL AS A BIRD,

ALWAYS TOGETHER IN JOY – AND IN HURT,

A FAMILY IS A HOUSE SO PEACEFUL AT SIGHT,

WITH SOMEONE TO COME TO – AS THE WINDS CROSSED THE LIGHT,

WHILE IT AWAITS THE,

AS THE MOON SHINES ITS BRIGHT SHINING LIGHTS.

LIKE A BIRD FREE FROM ITS CAGE,

THAT NO ONE COULD HURT,

LIFE LIKE NO OTHER HAS ITS TWIST AND TURNS.

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN QUIET ON THE OUTSIDE,

BUT NOT FROM WITHIN,

FOR THOSE WHO KNOW ME,

THEY’LL KNOW HOW I’VE BEEN.

MY FAMILY IS MY SOUL,

MY OWN TRUE SELF,

THERE SHALL BE NO OTHER IN THIS WORLD NOBODY ELSE

AND – NOTHING COMPARES THE THAT I CALL A HOUSE.

AS I FOLLOW MY HEART THAT LEADS NO WHERE ELSE,

NOTHING COMPARES THE LESS THEN A HOUSE,

HOME SWEET HOME I WELCOME MY SELF,

TO THE BRIGHT FRIENDLY FACES THAT – I KNOW SOO SOO WELL.

TESL HAS MY HEART,

MY DREAMS AND MY SOUL,

NO WHERE TO GO ACCEPT - TESL C  MY HOME  SWEET HOME.

what do you guys think anyways fell free to use this poem if you can and stay tune for lots more new post from me  i guess :)

   

Hey guys

Hi I know I haven't been posting new things lately but I have magnificent news to share with ec101's viewer i've been kind of buzzy lately writing my very own play and pretty soon I'm going to launch my first web for a novel I've written. The novel is going to be posted by chapters and ec is going to be the once to get the first look on it. Here's a sort of a spoiler for you guys my first novel is titled "The Phantom Of The Top Star" I know the title is cheesy but the story is nothing like the phantom of the opera the setting is on a modern day time and just check out the first chapter and tell me what you think of it. As for the play I'm going to post it right here at ec once it's done. So there 2 things that I've been working on oh and one more thing ever heard of storylane check it out I'm posting some short stories there. Well I guess  that's all stay tune for the unveiling of my first novel and happy studying :D
Sincerely your admin ,
Mia.

suggested ideas on oral test presentation

ok recently i've been getting a few e-mails and also comments on english corner's fb page regarding oral test and also ideas on what to do so i've decided to post some links that would lead you directly to the materials that in my oppinion could be oral test materials mostly short stories and also some other materials that could also fit in the criteria of secondary school level oral test k .

individuals oral test :

1) short stories = )

http://academictips.org/blogs/positive-thinking/
http://academictips.org/blogs/keep-your-dream/
http://academictips.org/blogs/face-difficulties-positively/
http://academictips.org/blogs/moral-tale-the-story-of-a-blind-girl/
http://academictips.org/blogs/moral-tale-the-little-boy/
http://academictips.org/blogs/what-goes-around-comes-around/
http://academictips.org/blogs/how-the-poor-live/

p.s. for the short stories above you may also change that format to a dialogue for a group presentation and turn these short stories into a drama which you and your group may act the story out and might be given marks for your presentatian which will then add up to be a bonus .

2) poems = )

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/right-to-education-2/
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/joy.html
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/poems_dreams.html
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/short_poems_love.html
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/hope_poems.html
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/nature.html
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/world.html
http://www.shortpoems.org/poems/overcoming.html

ok so i would just like to inform those who intended to recite a poem for their oral test shold also at the very least understand the meaning of the poem and also the intonation of the chosen poem for when you do your oral presentation . here's the thing you see your teachers wont have much to evaluate on your oral presentation if you just blindly recite the poem but by incerting a few details such as the meaning of the poem might get you somemarks on contents and at the same time boost your oral test marks and also by analyzing your poem could help you during Q and A session if your tacher decides to do so .

anyways just a tip dont feel so nervous during your oral test presentation have fun during the presentation but maintaining your language at the same would be a big help for you anyways i hope my post this time would help those who are left puzzeled for your oral test and good luck :)

After Apple-picking by Robert Frost

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.

Acquainted with the night by Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right
I have been one acquainted with the night.

A Line-storm Song by Robert Fross

The line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift, 
  The road is forlorn all day, 
Where a myriad snowy quartz stones lift, 
  And the hoof-prints vanish away. 
The roadside flowers, too wet for the bee,
  Expend their bloom in vain. 
Come over the hills and far with me, 
  And be my love in the rain. 

The birds have less to say for themselves 
  In the wood-world’s torn despair
Than now these numberless years the elves, 
  Although they are no less there: 
All song of the woods is crushed like some 
  Wild, easily shattered rose. 
Come, be my love in the wet woods; come,
  Where the boughs rain when it blows. 
 
There is the gale to urge behind 
  And bruit our singing down, 
And the shallow waters aflutter with wind 
  From which to gather your gown.    
What matter if we go clear to the west, 
  And come not through dry-shod? 
For wilding brooch shall wet your breast 
  The rain-fresh goldenrod. 

Oh, never this whelming east wind swells   
  But it seems like the sea’s return 
To the ancient lands where it left the shells 
  Before the age of the fern; 
And it seems like the time when after doubt 
  Our love came back amain.      
Oh, come forth into the storm and rout 
  And be my love in the rain.

example of a long essay

 WHAT I DO DURING MY FREE TIME 

      There are 3 things that I usually do during my free time and that is blogging, reading story books and singing. These 3 things are what I mostly prefer to do and what I mostly love to do to fill up my spare time.  

       I usually update my blog during my free time. I’m currently managing 4 blogs of my own and one of my class blog which in totals to 5 blogs and this is also why I’m known as a super blogger amongst my friends . My blogs consist of fashion inputs, my own personal stories, best friends’ sayings, poems and lastly, an education blog. Actually to be exact my education blog is an English education blog that consists of poems, short stories, some writing examples and a lot more other articles that may improve your language skills. My most famous blog is the English education blog that goes by the name English Corner 101. It has had about 20 000 hits since I first made it live in Blogger on January 1st 2010. On the other hand, my other 3 blogs aren’t that bad as well. They are currently getting about 5 000 hits.

        I could lose track of time once I started updating my blogs. Once, I started to update my blog at about 7 in the morning and suddenly I only realised that it was already 3 in the afternoon.

       Other than blogging, I also love to read classical stories 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Tom Sawyer', and 'The Prisoner of Zenda' are among my favourites. I could go on for hours reading a classical story without ever feeling bored. I sometimes found myself completely immersed into a story. The stories were so simultaneously interesting and exciting. By reading a lot of classical stories I can improve my language skills and also get a lot of ideas for my own stories or essays.

       Finally, the last thing that I love to do during my spare time is to sing. I would turn on the music and sing to my heart’s content. Especially when my parents and my two siblings are out of the house, which is the time when I could release my stress and sing as loudly as I liked. I prefer pop music but I also love other genres such as rock and jazz. In my opinion singing is a very effective way of releasing one’s stress rather than shouting or venting one’s anger towards others. Actually I have a lot more things that I like to do during my spare time but these 3 things are what I would usually prefer to do. Other things such as eating junk food and sleeping are also things that I like to do during my free time, but I wouldn’t regard them as my hobby.


(475 words)