“Be great in act, as you have been in thought.”
- William Shakespeare
My favorite poet is William Shakespeare, a distinguished poet and playwright. I was intrigued by his creativeness from the poems and stories he wrote during his life. For example, poems like Venus and Adonis, the Passionate Pilgrim are all very interesting poems he came up with. The poems are written in such a way that the feelings of the characters are clearly expressed which makes the poem very interesting and captivating. In one of his poem, All the World’s a Stage, it expressed his love for performing on a stage. The poem was mainly describing the life of a man, starting from which the man was still a baby, till the end whereby he was an old man. The poem caught my attention as it correctly describes a man when he is young, or old. For example, he wrote that the child did not dare go to school, since the child felt uncertain about feeling his protected environment. In the later stage, he wrote about the man, now middle aged, having gained wisdom through his experiences. That is true, as everyone of us, be it a scholar or a beggar, gains new experience as they live and experience new things. Furthermore, his poems were extremely expressive, as they showed his friendship for another man, as suggested in the poems he wrote.
William Shakespeare
Here, I’ll write about the history of William Shakespeare, a poet and a playwright, Shakespeare surviving works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two narrative poems and several other poems. Born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children. He began a successful career in London, as an actor, writer as well as a part owner of a playing company. He was well enough known in London by then to be attacked in print by the playwright Robert Greene:
...there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.
Scholars differ on the exact meaning of these words, but most agree that Greene is accusing Shakespeare of reaching above his rank in trying to match university-educated writers, such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and Greene himself. The italicised phrase parodying the line "Oh, tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide" from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 3, along with the pun "Shake-scene", identifies Shakespeare as Greene’s target.
Few evidence about his private life were left and thus, people speculated about his appearance, sexuality, etc. Most of his works were created between 1589 and 1613, mostly of the genre comedy and history. After which, he then wrote tragedies such as Macbeth, Hamlet, etc. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death. The stone slab covering his grave is inscribed with a curse against moving his bones:
Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.
Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
(Wikipedia)
The poems includes
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun by William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
The Blossom by William Shakespeare
ON a day--alack the day!--
Love, whose month is ever May,
Spied a blossom passing fair
Playing in the wanton air:
Through the velvet leaves the wind
All unseen 'gan passage find;
That the lover, sick to death,
Wish'd himself the heaven's breath.
Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow;
Air, would I might triumph so!
But, alack, my hand is sworn
Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn:
Vow, alack, for youth unmeet;
Youth so apt to pluck a sweet!
Do not call it sin in me
That I am forsworn for thee;
Thou for whom e'en Jove would swear
Juno but an Ethiop were;
And deny himself for Jove,
Turning mortal for thy love.

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind by William Shakespeare
Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As a friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

All the World's a Stage by William Shakespeare
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow.
Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth.
And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.
The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.
Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Figurative language refers to words, and groups of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words.
“All the world's a stage" A metaphor is used. The author compared the world to the stage.
“And all the men and women merely players;” A metaphor is used. Here, it compares Man and Women to players on the stage.
“Creeping like a snail” A simile is used. In this case, it is used to show that the boy is reluctant to go to school, and thus walked as slow as a snail.
“Bearded like the pard” A simile is used. A pard is a creature and here, the author used the simile to compare the solider’s beard with the pard’s.
“And then the justice,In fair round belly with good capon lined,With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;”
A metaphor is used. It shows the stage when the man has gained wisdom through experiences in life, as well as social status.
“And then the lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eyebrow.” A simile is used. The lover cannot sigh like a furnace, but figuratively, it is used to compare the lover’s sighing to that’s of a furnace.
In conclusion, this is an extremely interesting poem. It describes the journey of a man, from being an infant to an old man. The first stage was when he was a baby and the second stage being his childhood. In the poem, it states that he was reluctant to go to school, probably due to his anxiety and leave his house. The third stage shows him being a lover, sad and grieved due to loss of love. The next stage is the man being a solder. He aims to seek a reputation and wants to be recognized. After that, the stage is justice, when he acquired wisdom and have a social status. Then, it is the old man, when he loses his mental and physical charm. All in all, this poem is very meaningful and has taught me a lot of things.

Everyone should have goals, to allow us to feel motivated and work towards achieving them. Of course, the goals that we make should be achievable and not something that is impossible for us( Flying to the moon, etc) As for my goals this year, I do have a few
l Score well for the next Chinese test and get a high A1, that applies to other subjects as well
l Get an MSG of 1.9 or below
l Get to grand finals in Project’s competition
l Invent an addictive game known as “ Colouring Lionell”
l Get a nice book to read

Everyone has their most horrible day, accident and illness, etc. As for me, I had a serious accident which almost caused me to drown. It occurred ages ago, when I was around 4. My family and I went to Genting on a holiday and like any other kid, I was extremely excited. Immediately after we reached, I demanded to visit the hotel’s swimming pool, as I wanted to try out my diving skills which I learnt (They’re just some basic stuff). Much to my pleasure, my dad brought me and my sister down, after I changed to my swim suit. Before long, we arrived and I was told to wade around in the baby pool, which wasn’t really deep. However, my dad had to go back up to take something that I needed. It might not seem much, but that meant I could sneak into the adult pool and dive away! I left my sister as she was and leapt into the pool. To my surprise, it wasn’t really deep and thus I ventured further by kicking against the water. That was when disaster struck. As I went up for a fresh intake of air, I found myself to be unable to stand up, as my legs were unable to reach the floor. Gasping for air, I forced myself to swim to the corner, which was probably a step away. There, I tried to grip onto the drainage thing. However, I was unsuccessful. Everything I tried, I was “pulled down” once again. By then, I was almost suffocating and decided to make a final try. That was when a strong hand pulled me out of the water, as I gasped for air. Later on, I then realized that the floor of the pool go lower by the distance.
That’s my most serious accident. What’s yours?

Speaking of hobbies, I would say everyone has one, varying from playing computer games to cycling. As for me, I enjoy playing computer games and table tennis. Although many parents nowadays think that playing computer games is harmful to us, I beg to differ. On the contrary, playing computer games might be good for us. For example, as long as we are not too addicted to playing computer games, it can help us relieve our stress from homework and projects. Furthermore, playing games such as Join 4 might actually benefit our brain in a long run, helping us think more logically and improve our skills.
Other hobbies such as cycling, playing table tennis can also improve our physical health. Having such hobbies allow us to train our body on a daily basis, thus increasing our stamina and improve our grades as a healthier body allows us to better concentrate on our studies. Other than that, hobbies like playing board games are beneficial to our brain as it improves our logical think skills. For example, when playing a game against another opponent, we might need to think critically about our next move. By doing this, we’ll improve our thinking skills without ourselves knowing it.