2007/2008 Sem 1 Examination for ARTS HONOURS.

Name : LAREMY LEE
Matric No : U04XXXXX

2007/2008 Sem 1 Examination for ARTS HONOURS

Module Code Module Title Grade
EL3253 CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS A-
EN3269 SOUTHEAST ASIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH B+
EN4271 RESEARCH WORKSHOP B
EN4660 INDEPENDENT STUDY B
UBZ3001 CONFLICT RESOLUTION: NEGOTIATION AND MEDIATION A
UIS4912 INDEPENDENT STUDY MODULE A-

CAP: 3.93
(CAP computed is accurate based on progress & declaration made as at time of printing.)

~

Wow. Am I glad this sem is done and over with. It was one of the worst semesters ever – not academically, of course – the honour for that is wholly reserved for this sem, with all its various random nonsense and whatnot.

Anyway, I think this semester was just plain bad because of the six modules worth of stress that I had to cope with, among other things.

I seriously thought I was going to screw up very badly but I think these results are a pleasant surprise (a 4.17 CAP for this semester alone is still very nice, no? 🙂 , and I’m quite happy with how things turned out, because it could seriously have been much worse. I envisioned major Bs everywhere but thankfully the damage was only inflicted on the modules I knew in my heart of hearts were terribly done.

Having said that, I think the only surprise for me came from both the modules I did with Prof Holden – EN3269 and UIS4912. I expected an A- from the former and a B from the latter because I really didn’t know what I was saying at the end when I submitted the ISM.

But I’m happy with the A- and I’m going to ask for a review on the EN3269 paper because I was scoring a solid A- all the way before the exam, which only accounts for 30 – 35% (can’t remember which) of the grade.

Nevertheless, I am looking very much forward to the next semester though, because I think it is going to be slightly less stressful as I am going back to doing five modules.

Plus I think my module choices next sem are very interesting, or rather, things that I will be really interested in – I’m hoping to do a Masters-level module called Politics and Literature, along with Advanced Playwriting.

Most importantly, I am gunning for that second-upper now because I think it is very much within my reach – I just need an A- average, which I have gotten before, and I know I can do it again.

Let’s go lah, next sem. I cannot wait to graduate 🙂

P.S. check out the movement of my CAP over the last seven semesters:

04/05, Sem 1: 3.75
04/05, Sem 2: 3.78 (3.88)
05/06, Sem 1: 3.75 (3.7)
05/06, Sem 2: 3.66 (3.4)
06/07, Sem 1: 3.75 (4.1)
06/07, Sem 2: 3.88 (4.5)
07/08, Sem 1: 3.93 (4.17)

Can see the marked fluctuations hor. I can give you a sem-by-sem analysis even with reasons why and how the CAP fluctuated. Anyway, what I want to see at the end is this:

07/08, Sem 2: 4.00 (4.5)

At the end of the day…

…I think I have learnt the following from the play readings:

1. Art, or the arts, is not as easy as many people think it is.

Just watching these people really work the lines during rehearsals and mould the voices of the characters from the texts so that they could get into them was really amazing, impressed me beyond compare.

But most importantly, it only reiterated to me how far I have to go with any art of mine.

2. Life, and friendship, is very transient.

It was a good four months hanging out, laughing and learning along with these people, but in another four months, I wonder how many of us will still be in contact, for reasons other than professional ones.

Call me cynical (for those of you who stalk my blog) but I think I am being realistic.

3. You can’t polish shit.

Adrian Pang said this at the end of the night when we were all at some Vietnamese restaurant at The Arts House, in reference to the quality of our scripts.

Not that our scripts were shite – they weren’t Broadway material, definitely, but he and the other practitioners agreed that the voices for each character (in all our scripts) were quite distinct, so the practitioners had an easier time doing what they did.

As compared to other crappier scripts from plays past, of course, where even the best practitioner cannot do anything about it, hence the quote.

I hope he wasn’t being polite (lol), and he really meant it, but I think what matters most is that it applies to many situations in life as well – if you’re in a pile of shit, sometimes it doesn’t matter if you try and polish it up, cos it’s still gonna be shit, anyways.

Whatever the case, a very big thank you to the people who came down to watch/listen/support. I hope you had fun 🙂

VOICES CLEAR AND TRUE: New Works by Young Playwrights.

From: NUS Playwriting
Date: 01 May 2007 AM 01:06:33
Subject: VOICES CLEAR AND TRUE: New Works by Young Playwrights.

The Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore, presents VOICES CLEAR AND TRUE: New Works by Young Playwrights.

At The Living Room, The Arts House, Old Parliament Lane, on 4th and 5th May 2007, at 7pm.

Join us as the students of Huzir Sulaiman’s playwriting class at NUS have their one-act plays read by some of Singapore’s most acclaimed actors and actresses.

Readers: Gerald Chew, Claire Devine, Esen Diaz, Brendon Fernandez, Koey Foo, Ivan Heng, Huzir Sulaiman, Lim Yu Beng, Noorlinah Mohamed, Pam Oei, Adrian Pang, Remesh Panicker, James Shubert, Karen Tan, Claire Wong, and Yeo Yann Yann.

Friday 4th May
A NEW BEGINNING by Yeung Xintian
WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU by Melissa Zhuo
AWAY FROM HOME by Christine Chong
CIRCA by Lucas Ho

Saturday 5th May
RADIO SILENCE by Laremy Lee
LIGHTS OFF by Valerie Yeo
EXISTENTIAL MATTERS by Tessie Tan
S.W.C. by Joyce Lin
FRAMED by Cheryl Lee

This is a free event. Seats are very limited. To reserve a place, please email nus.playwriting@gmail.com.