English is Fun!: Students Learn Through....

Perfect Summer

(A Shakespearean Sonnet)

Alessandro Grech

We wait for summer all the year,

And forget the days in winter's cold,

And we take away our winter’s tears

And it will be this way until we're old.

A refreshing wind blowing gently through the trees,

Walking along the beach during sunrise,

Sitting on the terrace to feel the stunning breeze,

Seeing many creatures but mostly butterflies.

Lying under a tree, picking clovers,

Watching the films I like all day,

Watching the clouds over and over,

Thinking what type of game I am going to play.

If life were perfect summer would never end

And all our days in sunny climes we'd spend.

Acrostic Poetry

An acrostic poem uses the letters in a word to begin each line of the poem. All lines of the poem relate to or describe the main topic word. The topic word Steven Abela wrote his acrostic poem about, was Walkabout. Walkabout, a novel written by James Vance Marshall, is about two children who got stranded in the Australian outback, and who are helped by an Aborigine on his walkabout. The walkabout is the custom of some aborigine tribes to send their thirteen-year-old boys in the wilderness for six months, to prove their manhood.

Waking up, in the northern territory
After a good night’s sleep, we were
Looking at the
Kangaroos, hopping
Around us while the
Bush boy was
Out looking for food for
Us
To survive.

The Dwarf and the Troll

Once long ago an evil wizard wanted a servant to take care of him. So at night he planned it all out. He would kidnap a person and change him into a little dwarf so he would be powerless against the wizard. The next day he went to the market intending to snatch a boy or a man to take home with him. After a while he saw a small boy. This was his chance!

He went up to him and snatched him. When he arrived home with the boy, he changed him immediately. Then the wizard but a shield round the house and went to sleep, but when he woke up, the boy wasn’t there! He had escaped. The wizard was distressed. He searched and searched but couldn’t find the boy. He didn’t worry but set out to find another servant. But how did he escape, he puzzled? The wizard had shielded everywhere. But in fact the boy was so small as a dwarf that he had passed through the drain pipes.

After he had escaped, he found a cave to sleep in and stayed there for the night. In the morning he heard a scream from outside the cave, it was a princess who was trying to go over the bridge. The princess wanted to go over the bridge because he was going to visit her father who had divorced his wife and had gone to live alone. But something was in her way. It was a bridge troll, the most ferocious troll in the land. He was standing right in front of the bridge so the princess couldn’t pass.

The dwarf had an idea. He would distract the troll long enough for the princess to cross. So the dwarf ran up in front of the troll and started jumping around him and making faces at him. The princess hurriedly crossed the bridge. The troll noticed and went running after her but slipped and fell off the cliff. The bridge troll landed with a thud on the ground and died. Then the dwarf jumped as well and landed on the troll’s soft body. He stayed there for many years, eating troll meat and drinking from a stream close by. He led a perfect life.

Ian Stillon

The War and the Saviours

The moon was full. The Night Elves all gathered to join the hunters, mages, rogues, druids and warriors. The reason for their gathering was that of going hunting for Saberteeth and the Dragons so that they could sacrifice them in honour of their Night Elf Elders. It was the only night of the week when the Elders joined their beloved Night Elves. When ever they met, their people organized great feasts which they were known for, feasts with plenty of food, beer, folklore music, singing and dancing. There always had been an old Night Elf narrating the unforgettable history of the final battle for life and glory to the young ones.

Foolish Night Elves, they thought that just because they had the Elders’ power, nobody could ever threaten or defeat them. They believed that by winning that final battle they had won the war. How wrong were they... The Blood Elves, Trolls and the Hordes of Chaos formed an alliance and a real war began!
On that night, one of the Elders was found dead. His beers and wines were all contaminated. It was not the usual poison. It was the spit of green acid from the Death Country. Since one of their Elders was dead, the Night Elves suddenly started doubting on how invincible they actually were. They were peaceful creatures, but a war had to take place so that their people could live peacefully and freely. There was not much to do and all were terrified. They had all lost hope, but one of them, an Elder, believed that there was a ray of hope and that hope was in the arms of Samural and the chosen twenty. The people were all confused as they thought that Samural was dead!

The same Elder wrote a letter to him, asking his help and any other help he could get.

Dear Samural,

Our village is in great trouble. My son, we need your help. I am sending this letter asking you to join me in this very final war. We will need all the help we can get, so please get as many men as you can, along with the chosen twenty.

Please come.

Sarmurus,
Your Elder Father.

As soon as Samural received the letter he prepared his noble beasts, the chosen twenty and another four hundred men who joined him on his journey and to battle. There he was, flying on his Green Dragon; and the four hundred men, riding on Lions, Cheetahs, Great Grey Wolves; as well as the Chosen Twenty, riding on Flying Horses, Gigantic Eagles, Element Dragons, and all the greatest creatures one can ever imagine. Samural and the Chosen Twenty jumped off their beasts as soon as they arrived at the Elders’ village and found that all were awaiting their arrival. Samural approached his father and they both felt that it was time to announce who they were. Everyone was surprised and most questioned how he was still alive after the battle against the master of the Whords of Chaos. So he decided to tell his story...

“With the little strength and energy that was left in me, I drank some water from the nearest lake, but what I didn’t realize was that the lake was the Lake of Eternity! I got up from the ground and in just a few seconds my wounds were healed!”

After five months of training he found out that he had grown even more powerful, so he decided to take part in a tournament for the Dragon Soul and the Demon Soul. He won the tournament. As a reward, he received the abilities of listening and talking to beasts. He became the best of warriors; be it with swords, arrows, bows, daggers, close combat and five to one combat. It was there where he became Samural the mighty, Samural the brave, Samural the unleashed.

Samural’s wish was to have a feast with all the Night Elves; and so that night they enjoyed themselves with plenty of beer and food and folklore music. Then in the morning they all prepared for battle.

The archers shot deadly arrows from their Dragons and Gigantic Eagles, and then they rampaged the city with their savage beasts. They fought inside the city and killed everyone. They destroyed the Trolls, the Blood Elves but finally, the Final War began... They suddenly changed their tactics. They attacked from the air and also from the ground. They set explosives on the ground… one flaming arrow, and... BOOM! The Night Elves won! They had destroyed their enemies one by one; well, with Samural by their side it was quite easy... The Night Elves won the Final War!

Samural had been the saviour for the Night Elves. About one hundred brave Night Elf allies died that day, but a thousand survived. Samural’s genius plan had been a plan for victory. Samural and the men returned home to lots and lots of beer, food, folklore music, singing and dancing, and yet a new story to be told by the old Night Elf when surrounded by young ones during feasts...

Brandon George Vella

British Culture

Part of the syllabus in the lower forms deals with British culture, where the British political system is discussed. Following is an imaginary conversation one student had with the present queen of England, about her life and likes.

J: Good morning your Majesty. My name is Glenn and I am a young journalist from Malta. May I please ask you a few questiuons?
Q: Yes of course you may. Ask away.
J: I understand you are a lover of animals. Which is your favourite?
Q: I love many kinds of animals, mostly horses and dogs, but my favourites are Maltese dogs.
J: Do you have any hobbies?
Q: Yes I have many hobbies. I like to ride horses, take my dogs for long walks and watch my son Prince Charles play Polo.
J: Where do you like to go on holiday?
Q: My favourite place is my estate at Balmoral in Scotland, as it is very peaceful and quiet.
J: As head of the Commonwealth, which is the country you like to visit most?
Q: I like all the countries in the Commonwealth, but my favourite is Malta, which I have visited many times and so have a lot of happy memories there.
J: Your Majesty, thank you for the interview. It has been an honour.

GLENN FARRUGIA

Copy Change

This writing technique involves utilizing the structures of previous poems to create one's own poems. This is done by changing some of the key words and phrases of the original poems. Attached is a copy change of the poem "The Caged Bird in Springtime" written by James Kirkups.

The Prisoner in the West

What can it be,
This curious anxiety?
It is as if I wanted
To escape away from here.
But how absurd!
I have never escaped in my life,
And I do not know
What sea and earth mean,
Though I have heard,
Of course, something about them.

Why do I try to climb up the wall of my prison cell?
It is the only room I have ever known.
But I will try to escape on my own
Out in the Wild West.
I cannot quite remember how I entered here,
But I know that I want to escape.
I have all that I need - food, water, air and light.
Why, then, do I weep with anguish
And try to climb up the walls,
Even, though, police laugh at the futility of it?

GARRY FENECH

Below is another example of Copy Change. This time the theme is the environment

Our Environment

Only when all the ponds have run dry,
And all the turtles in rivers have died.
Only when all the trees have been cut down,
And there is little food for people.
Only when the white clouds have been filled with acid,
And the cities of the world have choked.
Will the white man understand
That it’s too late to rescue the world.

Ryan Farrugia

English is Fun!

Students Learn Through....

Perfect Summer

Acrostic Poetry

Personification

The Dwarf and the Troll

The War and the Saviours

British Culture

Hyperbole

Copy Change

Shape Poetry!