This is a picture of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, where Steve Carlsen, the poet for we slept with our boots on, worked in. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He Deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003 due to a life long injury. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his past experiences, which was why he was inspired to write the poem. The regiment was created in 1942 in the Army of the United States, and his job as a parachute soldier was to take part in land operations to restore order in the countries in need. One of the battalion's operations was operation uphold democracy, Haiti 1994. The battalion was also known as the Red Devils. One of Steve Carlsen's other poems include Take your Pills.

In the poem We slept with our boots on, it was written in the point of view of a soldier, as it is evident from how he describes that his "heart is pumping adrenaline all through my veins" and how he always uses the pronoun "we", where all the soldiers were feeling the same during the intense moments of the operations. He offers a religious tone in the poem, by how he acknowledges that he would soon be punished for his misdeeds which included handling a gun and killing people. This is evident from how he believes that he would meet Saint Peter when he dies. The poem is fast paced until the end, where he believed that he his career as a soldier was over, which is similar to how he had a near death experience. This portrayal is relevant to all soldiers, and hence the poem is in the point of view of all soldiers. In writting the poem in his point of view, it gives readers an idea of how a war is fought and the tiredness and fear when the soldiers were resting. Through his point of view, I feel that he is very direct in his approach of telling us his experiences.

The situation in the poem is during a landing operation. This is evident from how he says "Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot". The LZ stands for Landing Zone, and he knows that it was another dangerous operation and he needed to be quick and agile to dodge the bullets. The poet uses many different settings in the poem, from how he says that he fought from mountains to valleys, from house to caves to cars to creeks. The climax of the poem is during his fights with the enemy, where he kept pulling the trigger and reloaded repeatedly. It is an intense moment where we are unsure when he would be the one who is shot. The resolution to the conflict is when he escapes and goes to safety near the mountains at the Hindu Kush. If the conflict was not resolved, he would not have told us how he had to sleep with his boots on and the fear the soldiers were experiencing even when they were asleep.

The Language of the poem is simple but fast paced, coupled with a few strong words to increase the momentum of the poem. This is evident from how he uses military language like Lock N Load, which refers to weapons, and how he had no time to descibe the equipments and substituted it with "s***". Also, words like "yelled", "tremendous" and "adrenaline" to describe the chaos and fast paced scene in a war. He uses the poppy as a symbol of death, where he believes that his deathbed would be at a place of "tears" and "mud", which refers to war. Also, he uses metaphors when he said that "Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink". This tells us that while he admire the scenery of where he was camping at i.e. Hindu Kush, terror also overwhelmed him inside. Also, he said that he "drank it like drunkards and had no time to think", which tells us that he could not risk his sleep to think about all the dangers and beauties which surrounded him. The simplicity of the poem helps to give readers a vivid portrayal of war, and the use of figurative language to describe his feelings is effective in portraying the common among the soldiers at war.

The poem makes me feel pity for the individual soldiers and their mothers, as the truth of the war really creeps me towards the end. It is really heartbreaking that the soldiers lose their innocence due to war, and how many people would be going up to see Saint Peter. Also, what hit me the hardest on the head was how the soldiers would sleep in constant fear of being sprung by the enemy during a surprise attack. However, the one thing good about war is that there is a sense of brotherhood, where unity is key in success, as how the poet says that "Blood is thicker than water, well but lead is thicker than blood", which tells us that they were all bonded together with the bullets and weaponary they were carrying, which was to become part of themselves. I believe that the reality of the poem is without question, as it could have happened less than 10 years ago. I am able to relate to what the poet sees through his eyes when writing the poem. This poem makes me feel a little more pessimistic about human nature because we realise that all the fear and intensity in the poem is because we are fighting against our own kind.

I have just finished reading That was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton. It is about two juvenile delinquents, Bryon and Mark, who were best friends from young and they started to grow apart as they got older. After several incidents, like the killing of one of their friends, Charlie, a bartender, made them changed their views. Also, with Bryon's girlfriends' brother going missing, Bryon starts spending more time searching for her brother than with Mark. This was when he discovered a shocking discovery about Mark. You may wish to read the whole book to discover the ending.

This book which was written in 1967, still seems very true to us, even if gang fights are not common in Singapore. There may be social segregation because of different social status. Also, because the poor people in society are left out, they turn out to crminial acts to obtain money. This book talks about friendship, priorities and growing up, which will definitely leave a lasting impression on your memory. Overall, this is a highly recommended book by me because you can really see the darkness and loneliness of a segregated society through the eyes of a gangster.

My interview with Jem Finch after the verdict for Tom Robinson's trial was out:

Q: Mr Jem, you were seen crying after the trial. Why?

A: I was too frustrated and too emotional when I realised that the all-white jury would choose to convict and innocent man. I am shocked to realise that the people in Maycomb are prejudice towards Negroes and would just convict a man based on his skin colour. I am still utterly stunned because I thought that the people of Maycomb were the best folks in the world. I was wrong.

Q: So Mr Jem, I can see that you detest injustice. May I ask you what is your stand towards racial prejudice?

A: I did not know that racial prejudice existed in this county because I have not seen anything like this before. Maybe I have, now that I come to realise, that the world sees what you are on the outside, not caring about the character of the person.

Q: Can you give me a few examples of racial prejudice in Maycomb County?

A: Yes, for example, I remember that during my visit to First Purchase Church, a woman came up to me and scolded Calpurnia, my cook, for bringing me to an all- black church. This is the first time I have experienced racial prejudice but I did not take note of it at all.

Q: Your father, Mr Finch, would be filing for an appeal for Tom Robinson. Do you think that his chances of success is high?

A: I am not too sure, now that I have seen how people can reject all evidence and base their verdict on their skin colour. I wish that someday this mentality about Negroes that they lie, cheat and are immoral, would change. I do know black people who present themselves better than white people.

Q: Do you know that this is the first time the jury took more than 15 minutes to come out with a verdict? In fact, it took around 6 hours. Do you see a positive outlook for fair trials for all, including Negroes?

A: This is an interesting question which I have not thought of. This is certainly something positive which I can take away from this trial, and I hope that there would be more people like my father who will have the moral courage to work towards fair trial for all.

Q: Your father displayed moral courage in this situation. Are your ready to take on his role to fight for fair trial for all?

A: That is a challenge I would definitely want to take on.

With that, I conclude my interview. Thank you Mr Jem for your cooperation.

This is my diary entry to Mayella Ewell:

Dear Ms Mayella,

How could you be wicked enough to frame someone else for your sin? You have broken the code of society by kissing a Negro, Tom Robinson, and you have to bear the consequences. Instead, you have cooked up a tale and attempted to win the sympathy of the jury by crying and potraying Atticus as a monster. You are a big girl, and you are cunning enough to potray yourself as weak and vulnerable.

What have come over you to lie about your sin? Is it to protect your father's image, or yours? Or it could be both, as you risk that the people of Maycomb will marginalise the Ewells and their generations further. However, if you were brave enough to frame Tom Robinson, you would be brave enough to admit to your mistake. By framing Tom Robinson, you are definitely going to win this case because you are White. I am utterly furious and frustrated with your behaviour and your lack of moral courage.

You did not only convict Tom Robinson, you also convicted his family and the Negroes. If you are still unaware of the trouble you are causing to so many people, then I will tell you: These people who are close to Tom Robinson, will suffer injustice together with him because of your ignorance of the consequences of his conviction. I urge you, Ms Mayella, to admit your mistake in the court of appeal, and free this man who has done no harm to you or the White society.

I just took my learning profile and I realised that I am best at kinestatic and logic. I think that it is quite accurate that my learning peek at both of these methods especially for logic. I enjoy doing puzzles and solving riddles. I prefer something which has a logic behind it and I like to experience things for myself. For being a kinestatic learner, I think that this is somewhat true because I am quite active and I cannot sit still to study or revise for more that 15 minutes. I need to walk around; I think I am hyperactive. This is a good way for me to revise my work and I have been revising my work in this way all the while. I just cannot be in a fixed position and study with materials in front of me.

I am the weakest at visual and musical. I am not surprised that I am weak at being a visual learner because I do not like to read with so many graph and chart representations, they just make things more complicated. I prefer large chunks of word documents where there is just words on it so there are no distractions. However, I am rather surprised that I am weak in being a musical learner becuase I actually took piano when I was young. I think that I am quite straightforward and I do not like to compose some music to aid in my learning. Or maybe I think that using music to teach is too distracting for me.

So there you have it, I am a hyperactive and a no-nonsense learner.

It seems to me that the CNY frenzy was on a smaller scale this year. This may not be so for you but it certainly is for me. It could partly be because I do not visit Chinatown at the stroke of midnight before CNY but the publicity for this year's CNY just did not get inside of me. Maybe its because people feel that CNY is more of a time for us to spend time with family and relatives. Or maybe its because we are still weary of the recent economic downturn. Whatever it is, I prefer to think of the former. CNY is more about continuing to forge that relationship with your closed ones, to keep in contact with people you care about. As a view from a student, I definitely looked forward to collecting the ang pow and eating loads of tidbits but on a serious note, it was a time to show respect to my elders and to bond with my cousins. Within all the shopping craze for preparations for CNY, I hope that the time we spend visiting our relatives will be treasured and a way to continue our Chinese tradition.

What is CNY to you?

My jumping wasn't that good today. I did not even jump over 11.5m. At least there is still 1+ more months to train before the big day. How can I even get a chance to be in the top 5 if I don't even jump over 11.5m? Makes me sound a little like Philip Malloy in Nothing but the Truth. Just that there isn't a Miss Narwin ruining my practice. At least I don't jump just to get a good athletic image.

Anyway, just to elaborate a little on my jumps today. It was drizzling a little, but the competition went on. I felt a little nervous because it was the first time I was in a triple jump competition. I was doing fine in training so I sort of expected myself to do quite well. However, I have learnt that this is not so. The first sign of my inexperience was when I measured my stepping. I kept on faulting until I got really fed up. I thought that it was just not my day. But it did not just stop there. When I did a practice jump, my legs were so stiff that I could not even jump up or run quickly. I panicked. Actually, I panicked throughout the competition so it will be something that I will take note of in the future. Honestly, I was not in my best form and my footsteps were always very heavy and it felt as if a 100kg weight was tied to my legs. The feeling was miserable. I cannot always have this kind of feeling during a competition. How can Usain Bolt run quickly even if pressure was pounding on him every second? How can Michael Phelps win 8 olympic gold medals when he knows that a slip up would make him fail. I wish I could have their calmness. I realised that confidence and calmness is key to winning but unfortunately it is not so easy to attain that kind of balance between over confidence and lacking confidence. I would rate myself 6 out of 10 today so it is essential that I be put under more stressful conditions (not to say I want more tests and homework) Anyway, I think that I have learnt much from today and I choose to take the bright side of today's time at Gombak stadium. Hope to jump better the next time :))