Fair or not fair

Saat bertanya apa adil itu ada,
Semua pasti menjawab,
“ada, adil itu ada pada saatnya nanti,”
Kapan?
Saat dikatakan bahwa adil itu bukan sama rata sama rasa,
Tapi adil itu adalah dapat apa yang kita butuhkan,
Lalu bagaimana adil dalam cinta?
Disaat satu orang mencintai, apakah dia juga pati akan dicintai?
Adilkah itu namanya?
Semua bilang bahwa semua orang pernah mencintai,
Tapi apakah semua orang pernah dicintai?
Disaat yang satu teluh beribu kali beda mencintai dan dicintai,
Orang yang lain belum sekalipun mencintai apalagi dicintai,
Tapi telah disuratkan bahwa setiap manusia telah miliki jodohnya,
Jodoh hidupnya, jodoh matinya,
Memang haruskah ku menunggu adil itu datang?

what I got from "The Lottery"

The Tradition Shirley Jackson through “The Lottery” gives a description of how life could be so confusing or maybe we can say so mean and immoral. This story tells about one of the activities usually done by the people in one village, there is the lottery. The lottery in this village had been done in June 27th. It seems to be a tradition for the people in that village, because they could not avoid the lottery and each family must have their draw. The situation happened in the story is one of the implementation of the lottery activities. In the morning of June 27th, everybody gathered in the square, and they were all ready for the lottery. After did some steps, one of the families is chosen, there was the Hutchinsons. And from five members of the family, the mother, Tessie Hutchinson is chosen to face the tradition. And finally, everybody in the village; included her husband and children, took some stones and were starting to throw her with the stones, did not care to Tessie’s scream. Before we read the whole story, we would not know that the story is so scary and will end like that. It all because the setting described by Shirley which shows fun and cheerful situation. There are at least three kinds of setting found in this story; place, time, and situation. Shirley described the cheerful situation which is possible in the day of June 27th. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green…” From this first sentence, we could possibly imagine that the story would tell about some cheerful and fun story. Then Shirley continued to describe the place where the story took place. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank…” Maybe there will be some confusion about the choice of place setting where the lottery took place. Usually, when there were some events or activities where people gather together in one place, it could be done in place like saloon bar, but Shirley chose the square between the post office and the bank. And after we read the whole story, we know why Shirley chose that place, it is because that was not a usual lottery, there would be needed a large place. The time setting chosen is “around ten o’clock…” In the usual situation, in summer day around that time, people are usually still preparing for their activities that day. But in this story, the people are already prepared for the lottery. “The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them…” In this situation, it is described that the children were very happy because the school was over and they were in holiday. It is also shown from the describing in the next sentence, “The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys…”, the situations above clearly show a very relaxed and fun condition. The relaxed situation was not only described around the children, but also the adults, “Soon the men began to gather… They stood together… and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed.” Also the women, “The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters… They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands.” But the relaxed and fun summer situation changed when the lottery was starting to begin, it is when Mr. Summers came out with the lottery black box. “When he arrived in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers…” This setting of situation shows us how they really did not like the situation when the lottery was starting, there were a feeling of anxiety among the people there. And it kept continue, “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool…” It makes sure that no one in the village likes in doing the lottery, but they had to.

symbolism in "The Rocking Horse Winner" based on my interpretation

Search of Luck Generally, in The Rocking-Horse Winner, D.H. Lawrence brought a describing of how some people can not satisfy of what they already have. They always want more and more which sometimes they do not know when they have to stop until at the end they have to face some consequences. The story tells about how a boy, named Paul, tried to prove to his mother that he is a lucky boy. It is started when Paul asked his mother about luck, and when the mother answered that they were an unlucky family. His desire to prove that he is lucky is actually because he felt that his mother did not believe of what he said that he is a lucky person. Paul’s family is a family who lives in style, but that is actually the problem in the family. The first symbol appeared in the story is “eye” in sentence, “Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.” From this sentence, the “eyes” can symbolize of unspeakable words and the distance in Paul’s family members. If we have something to say, we can directly say it, moreover to people who is close to us, we will not find it difficult to say anything. But in Paul’s family, it seems to be very difficult in saying something, but they seem already knew about what each person wants to say just by looking in each eye. The second symbol found is “whispering” in the house. In the story, the children could hear things in their house whispered, “There must be more money! There must be more money! There must be more money!” In fact, it is very impossible for non-living things could whisper something, but the children heard it. This actually symbolizes the feeling of how they were in pressure to think about getting more money to keep their life in style. The pressure and responsibility to get money are actually the parents’ job, but the situation affects the children inside their minds and feelings. The other symbol is the “rocking horse”. Ii is only a usual rocking horse, a toy, made from wood with its champing head. But the thing that makes it interesting is that how Paul could communicate with the rocking horse. In his effort to prove that he is a lucky boy, he was riding his horse, once he said to the rocking horse, “Now take me to where there is luck!” then he always rode his rocking horse as it is a real horse, in a very furious ride. This may symbolize how the pressure of getting more money which is shown in the parents got into Paul. Paul was the only one who could speak to the rocking horse, by riding it, he could guess which horse would win the horse racing then he can win the money. And finally, because he was too much in pushing himself, he died when he was riding his rocking horse at the end.

comentary writing of prose "The Rocking Horse Winner"

The Boy and the Unspoken Phrase How is it possible for a rocking-horse to be a winner? It is possible in the short story entitle The Rocking-Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence. The title of this story brings out readers’ imagination to picture a rocking-horse; a toy made from wood, looks like a mini horse, and usually boys can ride on its saddle. When we read The Rocking-Horse Winner, we can straightly think about the characters that would be introduced in the story, there might be character of children in it. As the family in general, there are father, mother, children, sometimes other member of the family, and the housekeeper. In The Rocking-Horse Winner, we are introduced to at least five characters in the story; there are Paul the boy, Uncle Oscar, Bassett the young gardener, the mother, and Joan the sister. The major character is Paul the boy, while the others are minor characters. The interesting thing from Lawrence’s way to describe the characters is not focus in the physical appearance, but he describes the characters from their inner thought, actions, and dialogue. When the story begins, Lawrence introduced the readers to a life that characters are going through. Lawrence describes the life of Paul’s family. This family lives in an expensive lifestyle but there was never enough money to support all things. The thing that becomes the focus of this story starts when Paul asks his mother about what is happening in the family, and the mother rises a word “unlucky” as the thing which is caused that situations. This is the part where Paul comes as the center of the story. Paul is the major character in the story. The story follows all his thought, actions, and every word he says. Lawrence does not describe the character of Paul physically, but he describes Paul from his dialogue with other characters, his thought, and other characters’ thought about him. From Paul’s first dialogue with his mother, he appears as a boy who is smart and wants to know a lot. It is shown by question after question given by Paul to her mother which are questioning about a thing that disturb him in his mind. He seems as a smart boy because he can think of problem that his family is going through and he also thinks about what he can do to solve the problem. The problem in his family is about luck and money. The parents are not gain a lot of money to support their expensive tastes and they also need more money to support their children who are growing up and have to go to school. It is described in the story that the relationship between the mother and her children are not too close as the relationship of mother and children which is supposed to. It is shown from the words used by Paul to his mother, which seem cold and brief, like in these dialogue, “Where did you get to?” asked the mother. “Where I wanted to go,” Paul flared back at her. The mother feels that the children look at her coldly, as if they blame her for every unlucky thing that happens in the family. The mother herself was a beautiful woman; at least that is what she thinks. From what Lawrence describes, we can see that she is a hard-working woman because she tried and tried so much things even she could not find anything successful and she believes in herself that she can do something right. But in the other hand, she can not manage what she has because she still has expensive tastes of lifestyle. Paul looks like has closer relationship with his uncle instead of his mother. It is shown from the dialogue between the uncle and Paul which seem very intimate which can be seen when in one time, Uncle Oscar greets Paul, “Hello, you young jockey! Riding a winner?”. It also can be seen from the choice of words which look more relax and the dialogue is longer, which conclude that Paul is open to his uncle, as is shown in these dialogue, “Yes I am. But it’s between you and me, uncle. Honour bright?” said Paul. “Honour bright all right, son!” said Uncle Oscar. Uncle Oscar himself seems as a nice person because he knows how to place himself in different situations. When he is with Paul’s mother, he acts like the adult is supposed to, but when he is with his nephew; he seems to be more friendly and fun. The other relationship is that between Paul and the gardener, Bassett. Paul seems to trust Bassett so much, Basset looks like a friend instead of a gardener. It is shown from how Paul who partners with Bassett in betting for horse racing and Paul also trusts Bassett of keeping the money. From the story, Bassett looks like a young man that has spirit because he always says his words spiritedly, and he also a polite young man. It is shown when he speaks to Uncle Oscar, “If Master Paul offers you to be partners, sir, I would, if I were you: if you’ll excuse me.” The last two relationships are between Paul and his elder sister, Joan, and his nurse. Actually, the relationships here are not described too much because of a few dialogues are existed between the characters. But from the describing, we can see that Paul and Joan are close, but not too close. It is shown from the words of Joan, which seem very understand Paul’s behavior, “He’s always riding like that! I wish he’d leave off!” D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner is a very unique short story which offers us, the readers, about a life that can be happened in everywhere and to anybody. The describing of characters gives us a new view of how the author can describe the characters not only in the physical appearance, but also in their thought, actions, even from other characters’ thought.

The Prince from the Future

THE PRINCE FROM THE FUTURE

Yesterday, shine of the sun woke me up in my new day. The cold night was gone when I saw the sun brightened the blue sky. I let my step brought me to walk on my day. Strolling around the park where the leaves were falling down onto the road, the birds were singing on the trees and the wind touched me smoothly, all that made me forget my loneliness. I am Rose, an imaginative and loner girl. I never did any relationship with any man ever in my 18 years of life, until I saw him. There was a man who I do not know, the man who always there wherever I be, haunted me for over few weeks, looked after me like I was a criminal, but every time I turn around him, he always disappeared. At last, in that day, I found him, the man who I was waiting for along this time.

He sat there, on the porch above the tree, looked down the fishpond with his sharp brown eyes that were always watching me, and his hands crossed in front of his chest. I came close and took a sit next to him, he just stayed where he stay. The wind blew up and he made a move as something surprised him, but he was still calm. He pointed up his head and faced me, “Hi Rose!” he know me?! How could he know my name?! I myself never know this man! “How could you…”, but he took my hands and took me a walk. I still did not believe that, that was the first time I met him but he knew my name, it did not make sense. I just followed him with his hand grasped mine without said anything, then in time, I was stand in the edge of a cliff.

The sound of sea waves broke the cliff; we were still stand on the edge of it. I still did not remember how I could be there. I turned around my body, faced that mysterious icy man. “Tell me, tell me everything. Who are you? How did you know my name?” I still bent my head down when I asked him. “You know me Rose, I always around you.” He said that while came close to me. “I know you? I even never see you.” I started looked into his eyes. “You lie to me Rose; you have ever seen me, all days yesterday. I know if you tell lies, so do not do that. I know everything about you.” I felt myself freeze; all of my body trembled. He kept came close to me, but I stepped behind, avoided him. Almost felt down from the sea cliff, immediately, he caught my hands, grasped it hardly.

I saw the land full of flowers; I was right in the middle of it. I felt freeze again no more. He was stand beside me, I did not know since when, but it made me felt peaceful. In the other side of the land, I saw a girl, but it could not be; that girl was I myself! “Yes, she is you. You and me, we will be together in the time.” That man told me like he can read my mind. “Where are we? What is this place?” but just a wink, the land disappeared, I heard the roar of the sea again and my body started cold again. I walked away from the edge, came close to the tree near that and had a sit. I tried to made myself calm, but it kept shudder and I started be afraid.

“I want you to explain about everything, what was that? Where were we? Why I…I just moved over place to place without walking?” I could hold it no more, there was such a crazy thing for me, but I did not see any anxiety in his eyes, he was as calm as first. He took a sit right beside me, covered me from the wind. “You are not alone in this life; I will always beside you but you have to trust me.” He look into my eyes and I knew I could deny it, there I knew that he was right. “You do not believe of God’s plan. You feel that no one love you so you decide to walk on your life alone, never let anybody know you; even you do not believe that you have someone beloved to. You just pass your life with one thing, imagination…. And do not ask why I know about all this.”

I just sat there, my mind did not think about all of the oddities that the man brought, I thought about what he said, there were all-true. I never cared about my around, I just walked away with my own life. I did not know why I could be so trusted him, but heard all what he said to me before, it was just enough to make me believe him. His sight made me felt so peaceful, warm, and save. I kept replied his sight, there came a feeling about do not want to losing him, feeling about do not want he disappeared.

“Now, you trust me. My work is finished. I have to go.” He said to me while standing up. I held his hand tightly, “Wait! What do you mean you have to go? What do you mean with work?” he turned around, “I have made you trust me and made you awake from your loneliness, so I have to go.” then he let my clutches away. I felt sick, I did not want he passed away, “Wait!” I shouted. Once again, he turned around. “Can I trust you again?” I asked him and wished he could read my mind just like before. He smiled at me and said, “I have told you that I always beside you and I promised that I will come to you in the time, like I said, we will be together at the time.” He said that, he answered all of the questions in my mind. I smiled to him and he hugged me tightly, whispered me tenderly, “I am Leon. Now, close your eyes.” I felt fly in the sky, suddenly I did not feel his embrace again and I opened my eyes. I was lying on my bed with my note beside me where I wrote my story about Leon, “The Prince from the Future”. I smiled to it and fell asleep again.

By Meyza Pritama

Sulitnya Menulis

MENGAPA SAYA SULIT MENULIS?

Apa sulitnya menulis? Pertanyaan itu bisa saja terucap dari mulut seseorang yang pandai menulis yang tertuju pada orang-orang yang menganggap bahwa menulis itu sulit. Bagi saya menulis adalah bagaimana saya menuangkan hal-hal yang ada dalam pikiran saya dalam bentuk tulisan. Tapi pada faktanya kesulitan tidak hanya dirasakan oleh orang-orang yang jarang menulis tapi juga bagi orang-orang yang sering menulispun mungkin.

Saya memang belum bisa dikatakan sebagai seorang penulis apalagi penulis handal karena belum ada satupun tulisan saya yang dipublikasikan, tapi saya sedang berusaha untuk itu. Saya melakukan latihan-latihan menulis sejak dulu sampai saat ini, saya lakukan itu untuk mengetahui perkembangan cara menulis saya, yang juga membakar semangat saya untuk menjadi penulis yang baik. Banyak kesulitan yang saya temukan ketika saya sedang menulis, seperti sulitnya menentukan topik, judul, sampai sulitnya melanjutkan kalimat sebelumnya.

Setelah saya memasuki dunia perkuliahan dan belajar lebih banyak lagi tentang menulis, ternyata pandangan saya tentang menulis itu masih belum tepat. Menulis ternyata tidak sekedar bagaimana kita menuangkan hal-hal yang ada dalam pikiran kita ke dalam bentuk tulisan, tapi juga bagaimana kita membuat pembaca yang membaca tulisan kita mengerti maksud yang terkandung dalam tulisan kita tanpa harus kita sampaikan secara ulang kepada mereka.

Salah satu mata kuliah saya adalah menulis. Saya sering diberi tugas untuk membuat tulisan dalam bentuk karangan dengan tema yang sudah ditentukan. Setelah saya mengerjakan dan mengumpulkan hasil tulisannya, dosenpun memeriksanya. Setelah tulisan dikembalikan, saya menemukan beberapa coretan yang menandakan bahwa masih ada kesalahan-kesalahan yang saya lakukan, baik pada penempatan tanda baca, pengejaan kata, dan yang paling banyak adalah penggunaan kata berimbuhan. Jika dipikir-pikir, pelajaran bahasa Indonesia sejak sekolah dasar dulu telah mengajarkan tentang hal-hal tersebut, bahkan saat sekolah menengahpun materi ini diajarkan kembali dan lebih diperdalam, tapi pada kenyataannya teori saja tidak dapat memberikan jaminan bahwa kita dapat mempraktekkannya secara tepat.

Jadi pada intinya, teori-teori yang saya dapatkan ketika saya masih sekolah tidak akan berarti banyak apabila saya tidak berlatih. Latihan adalah hal utama yang akan menentukan bagaimana perbaikan kita dalam menulis. Jadi, lebih sering kita melakukan latihan dalam menulis lebih bagus kualitas tulisan yang kita hasilkan, dan sebaliknya, lebih jarang kita berlatih menulis, semakin tidak berkembang dan tidak berkualitas tulisan yang kita hasilkan.

Mengomentari Tulisan

Wacana 1

Judul : Membangun Mesin Reproduksi Pengetahuan

Penulis : A. Chaedar Alwasilah

· Pada kalimat ke-2 yang terdapat di paragraf 1.

“ Sepuluh yang terhebat adalah Harvard University, University of California Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University, dan ETH Zurich (Swiss).”

Pendapat:

Menurut saya sudah pasti universitas-universitas tersebut menjadi urutan teratas karena mereka adalah perwakilan universitas terbaik di masing-masing negaranya, selain itu mereka pun banyak melahirkan orang-orang yang terbaik di bidangnya. Tak dapat disangkal bahwa banyak orang yang ingin melanjutkan sekolah mereka di salah satu universitas di atas.

· Pada kalimat pertama yang terdapat di paragraf 2.

“ Yang mengagumkan adalah masuknya empat universitas tetangga terdekat kita, yaitu National University of Singapore (ke-18), Nanyang University (ke-50), Malaya University (ke-89), dan Sains Malaya University (ke-111).”

Pendapat:

Yang pertama kali terlintas dalam pikiran saya adalah, “ aduh, kok dari Indonesia gak ada ya??”. Saya sempat berpikir bahwa UI akan masuk dalam salah satu dari urutan tersebut, ternyata tidak, sedikit ada perasaan kaget dan heran juga.

· Pada kalimat ke-3 yang terdapat di paragraf 3

“ Sementara itu PT kita cenderung mengangkat dosen dari lulusannya sendiri, sesuatu yang sangat dihindari di AS.”

Pendapat:

Jika dipikir-pikir lagi, kebanyakan dari mahasiswa yang belajar di universitas sekarang ini bertujuan untuk menjadi pengajar, baik di sekolah-sekolah ataupun universitas itu sendiri, karena banyak yang mengalami kesulitan untuk bekerja di luar negeri, bahkan di negeri sendiri pun banyak yang akhirnya menganggur. Tapi, akan sangat bagus juga apabila universitas-universitas di Indonesia menggunakan pengajar asing, mungkin saja akan membawa perubahan besar untuk perkembangan pendidikan di Indonesia, tapi jika bisa, lulusan-lulusan Indonesia pun harus diberikan lapangan kerja, misalnya saja dengan pertukaran pengajar antar negara.

· Pada kalimat pertama yang terdapat di paragraf 15

“ kelima, penguasaan bahasa Inggris.”

Pendapat:

Sangat penting! Itu kalimat yang terpikir pertama kali oleh saya, karena sekarang bahasa Inggris sudah menjadi bahasa dunia, bagaimana kita dapat berbicara pada dunia bila kita tidak bisa menguasai bahasa dunia, kita mungkin saja akan dibodohi oleh dunia. Saya masih sering mengalami hal-hal yang menurut saya sangat “kampungan”, misalnya saya sedang melatih bahasa Inggris saya dengan teman saya yang juga punya maksud yang sama, tapi teman saya yang lain yang mendengarnya malah mengatakan bahwa kami ini sombong lah, belagu lah, “ mentang-mentang jago bahasa Inggrisnya”, begitu kata mereka, benar-benar “kampungan” kan?! Orang mau belajar kok!

· Pada kalimat ke-2 yang terdapat pada paragraf 19

“ PT dinilai lewat prestasi yang dicapai oleh lulusannya dan kontribusinya terhadap perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi, atau perannya dalam membangun masyarakat.”

Pendapat:

Sangat setuju dengan kalimat tersebut, karena jika dinilai dari banyaknya peminat terhadap universitas tersebut bukan berarti itu yang terbaik, dapat dikatakan hanya terfavorit saja. Karena jika kita melihat lulusan-lulusan universitas tersebut banyak yang berhasil pada bidangnya, barulah kita dikatakan berpendidikan.

· Pada kalimat pertama yang terdapat pada paragraf terakhir.

“ Fakta bahwa mayoritas ilmuwan linguistik dan sastra tidak mampu berkarya tulis menunjukkan bahwa: (1) penguasaan teori bahasa tidak menjamin produktivitas menulis, dan (2) keterampilan menulis tidak mesti diajarkan oleh ilmuwan linguistik dan sastra, tetapi oleh seorang penulis.

Pendapat:

Fakta pertama membuktikan bahwa teori saja tidak menjamin orang tersebut hebat di prakteknya, yang terpenting bagi saya adalah latihan dan latihan! Karena teori tidak didukung oleh prakteknya, bagaimana kita dapat menerapkan dalam kehidupan nyata. Fakta kedua juga benar, karena pada kenyataannya banyak ilmuwan-ilmuwan linguistik dan sastra yang tidak dapat menulis dengan baik, bahkan ada yang tulisannya belum pernah dibenarkan oleh masyarakat. Tapi seorang penulis adalah orang yang telah melahirkan sebuah tulisan ataupun karya tulis yang sudah diakui oleh masyarakat banyak, jadi seorang penulis tidak dapat diragukan lagi.