LA Expository Writing Exercise

Hello!

Since i've already done this and haven't got a chance to present this to the class, I might as well put it up here.

Basically, the question -- What makes a superhero?

Yup, so we were supposed to write a 150 ++ word essay on it. Unfortunately, although I tried to the best of my ability, I exceeded the word limit ):

Here goes!

What makes a superhero?

Forget all that rubbish about being invulnerable and being able to shoot electricity. Sure, super powers are one thing that most superheroes possess in order to enable them to carry out their duty, as the vigilante of their city, successfully. However, in reality, what superheroes really possess that distinguishes them from the average citizen is their exceptional character traits in the form of outstanding courage, their willingness to commit their live to maintaining law and order in a city and their sacrificial spirit.

Super powers do indeed assist the superhero in his/her duty. However, the traits of the superhero are what allows them to be superheroes and not villains. While superheroes commit to putting their powers towards a good cause, villains make use of whatever abilities they have to wreak havoc in cities and commit heinous crimes which the superhero has to attempt to successfully put a stop to.

Courage is an essential trait towards the development of a superhero. Sure, it seems so easy when you watch them defeat the villains on television. But what would you do if you were in their shoes? The probability of you turning and running away with your tail between your legs is exceedingly high. Now, do you think courage matters?

And how about the willingness to commit to upholding justice? To commit to completing any task is no piece of cake. And what’s more, with your life at stake everytime you attempted to foil the crafty schemes of the villains. Whatever the superhero is doing at the moment, he/she would have to throw it aside and rush to the scene of the crime whenever he/she receives an alert. As such, commitment is vital in defining a superhero.

Last but not least, the sacrificial spirit of the superhero. I reiterate the fact that risking your life to rush over and attempt to do battle with a villain (who in most cases, if not all, is probably more than 69 times stronger than you) is a severely uphill task for any mortal man. Like, who would want to give away their life in a matter of seconds?

After reading this, do you think superheroes are only built on the basis that they can fly, have prominent physical features, and have a large variety of superpowers/weapons? Certainly not.

That Time of The Year

Hello guys (:

it's that time of the year again, where exams arrive, various events take place, and people start mugging like crazy.

Cool.

The first event is the much-awaited Youth Olympic Games!

Here's a little bit of background information for those who don't read newspapers/watch news/have a general idea of what people around them are talking about.

Youth Olympic Games

Facts & Figures Country of host city: Singapore (YAY) Opening date: 14 August 2010 Closing date: 26 August 2010 3,600* young athletes between 14 and 18 years of age 5,000* young athletes and officials 205 National Olympic Committees 1,200* media representatives 20,000* local and international volunteers 370,000* spectators 26 sports and culture & education programmes yup. I think the sport which I paid the most attention to in the Youth Olympic Games was football. It was kinda funny when Zimbawe claimed that they would "sweep-aside Singapore 5-0" before the game. Why? Because Singapore took just 10 seconds to score their first goal, eventually outplaying, outmanoeuvring and outpacing a shocked Zimbawe. Following that was a 3-2 victory over Montenegro, and finally last night a match against Haiti. Haiti, the supposed underdogs in the match, played like champions, constantly pressuring Singapore for the ball. Hence, the match culminated in a 2-0 victory in Haiti's favour, a red card for Singapore and caused Singapore to miss out on a chance to win a gold medal once again. The sole consolation was that Singapore now have a chance to play for bronze in the third place play-off (idk when's that so don't ask me). The games aside, I think this time of the year was also the time where the best movies came out, although the movies due to be released at the end of the year look more than decent too. Inception was great, and so was Despicable Me/Step-Up. I guess Salt was the only disappointment, with too much violence and killings and no plot at all. Credit to the actors though. Heheheh. Though I shouldn't be watching movies now that the EOYs are coming! Ahhhh. Examination fever is currently running high too. With Secondary Two being the all important streaming year, coupled with Dr Hon's new Independent Studies/Oral Communication policy which prevents all failures from getting promoted to Sec3 IP, it would be impossible to say that any Hwa-Chongian didn't feel tense. I shall refrain from criticising the New IS/OC policy, furthermore when we had no knowledge of the consequences of failure in the system. I guess why I really posted this was really to just share my thoughts and feelings ... I think i'd be glad enough if i could get promoted to Sec3 IP next year.