I am going to talk about the story 'Adeline Ng Ai Choo' from 'The Little Ironies- Stories Of Singapore' by Catherine Lim. I will blog about my feelings after reading this short story.

Just a summary of the chapter, Adeline Ng, aged fourteen, plunged twelve storeys to her death after being refused one mark by her English teacher.

The points I will be discussing about are:
1) Who is to blame?
2) Parental Pressure

The first point is 'Who is to blame?'
Most people who read the newspaper article will blame the teacher, Mrs Tan Cheng Kwee. However, she does not blame herself at all. We can only guess at her innermost feelings and wonder if her emphatic tone belies her inner convictions.
Towards the end of the teachers meeting, Mrs Tan suggested that Adeline should be blamed instead of the pratice of not amending borderline cases into clear passes and failures, or the practice of returning marked examination answers to students. She commented on Adeline's 'unstable' character, her nervousness and inability to concentrate, and the fact that she was often 'doing irrelevant things in class, such as scribbling in her diary'.
In the conversation between Adeline's parents, the father was very angry with his daughter. While not actually blaming her, he implied that she was very ungrateful and had repaid him badly for all the time and interest he took in her work. Adeline's mother keeps saying, 'you've got nothing to reproach yourself with'. The more she says this, the more we realise that she does blame themselves, perhaps her husband most of all.
Adeline's diary confirms where the blame should lie. It reveals her unhappiness and mounting despair, and it shows very clearly that this is caused by her parents, especially her father.

The second point is 'Parental pressure'.
Should parents take an interest in their children's schoolwork? The answer is probably 'Yes'. However, opinions will differ on how much interest parents should show and how much pressure.
We probably agree that Adeline's father was too strict with her but, again, opinions will vary on how strict a parent should be. We should bear in mind the age of the child, the character of the child and the ability of the child. Example: Adeline was probably trying her best and could not do any better. She might have passed the exam if her father had put less pressure on her.
Adeline's father said he did what few fathers would do. We have to consider whether in pushing children to do their best, are parents really doing what is best for their children, or whether they are really thinking of themselves, wanting to take pride in their children's achievements? It would seem that Adeline's parents were thinking more about themselves than their daughter.

I am done with my post. Thank you for your time. :D For the time being, if you want to comment please comment at the tag box.

This is my first post. I know long posts are very boring so i will try to make my posts short and interesting.

Let me introduce myself first. I am Zamen Lin, Index number 15. I am from class 1o3. I think you all know where to see for more information about me. You are more than welcome to tag on the chat box. I apologize as you all cannot comment on my blog currently. I will try my best to figure out a way. If you have a solution, please feel free to suggest it to me. Thank you. :]