Task Two

Point of view
The poet is trying to tell us that in the war, children lose their childhood(Chalk and blackboards will not be)as they will be taught to fight at a young age, to become a soldier to defend their country(Who someone will teach to fight). The poet wants to tell us that the children's job is to study and not become a soldier to protect their country.(stanza 2)
He feels that we should give them a chance, to learn how to be a real child and not let the war ruin their childhood.(stanza 3)
If we do not help these children, the war will destroy their lives, ruin their childhood and there will be no more hope for them and they will never have a childhood.

Situation and Setting

The setting is in Vietnam. Children are being taught how to fight when they should be in school learning how to read. This is a social conflict. He portays that war is a place where children will not have the freedom of a child and will never have a childhood. The poet want to tell us that war is a cruel thing and children are the one's will will suffer alot.

Language and Diction
In this poem the poet use repetition to emphasize that someone could help this children to regain their childhood.(stanza 3)
The poet compared the war to darkness. He used darkness to show that in war, there is almost no hope at all for these children to live as children and not be involved in the war.

Personal response
Personally I agree with the author that the children are the ones who suffer a lot during the war. I feel that although the children are the innocent ones, they will still be dragged into the war to become children. Children should not be the ones fighting, they should be studying in schools. I also agree that in the war children will lose their childhood as in a war children cannot play and have fun. They will always be in the constant fear that they may be killed.
War is a cruel thing and children are the ones that are suffering alot. We must do something to help these children. War is extremely terrible and men must stop having war between themselves.

Task one

Background of Children in the Darkness
The author of this poem is Henry M Bechtold.
Henry M Bechtold was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon, just before the Christmas of 2009 and he was writing a poem about girls who work in the park and how men treated them badly. He was angry but could not write anything that did not sound trite or weak. He looked at the TV and the news was on. He could not understand the newsreader but in the background was a boy with a helmet and automatic rifle. Then the poem flowed out. The words just came to him and he started typing as fast as he could.

What Henry M Bechtold is trying to say is that during a war, the children are like living in darkness and they have not seen the real world out there. And while they are stuck in this darkness, someone will teach them how to fight in the war. The children are not having classes in the schools and they may never have school. They cannot escape from the life they are in now and they are not free men.
We should give this children a chance, and teach them how to read, teach them how to dance and teach them how to be children. But the war war will consume them, and the will lose all their childhood. They will be stuck in the war, where there is no hope for them.

Children in the Darkness
There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

Henry M Bechtold

Build up to Europa League Final

Fulham vs Atlético Madrid tonight 2:45am. Who will win the first ever Europa League final?

To me, Atlético Madrid are the favourites to win the title, but as the previous ties, Fulham were the underdogs. And in the previous ties, they knocked out the favourites for the title. First they knocked out the holders of the previously named Uefa Cup, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, who were the favourites to retain the title. Next they knocked out Italian giants roma and knocked out another Italian giant, Juventus in a dramtic match.

By knocking out so many of the favourites of this competition, Fulham should be the favourites and not the underdogs. But they have problems of their own. Their top scorer for this season, Bobby Zamora is a major doubt for the final and i do not expect him to be on the team sheet.

Atlético Madrid is not a force to be reckon with. They have a extremely strong squad, especially with strikers like Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan. These two players can destroy any team on their own within a blink of an eye. Fulham must watch out for these two players. Fulham must mark these two players tightly and not give them any chance to shoot.

I would say that both clubs have an equal chance at lifting the cup, but i think the team that is most disciplined during the match would triumph. The team that does not give away free-kicks easily and run out of position would be the first ever Europa League champions.

I would be rooting for Fulham as it is one of the other clubs i support other than Manchester United. I predict that Fulham would win the match 2-1 and i expect lots of drama. Fulham, all the way! Do England proud!

Player assessment

In this whole season, i feel that without any doubt, Rooney is Manchester United's player of the season. He is the heart and soul of this team. He is the main player now. And sooner or later, he would become the leader.

Rooney scored the most goals he has ever scored in a season, 34. This is a amazing feat as not many strikers are able to reach the 30 goal mark. I feel that Rooney has not reached his best, his peak yet. He is still a young footballer, improving every single match. Rooney is selfless, compared to Ronaldo who seldoms passess the ball and always tries to score a goal on his own. Rooney is nothing like Ronaldo. Rooney passes when he should pass, and shoots whenever he should shoots. This is why Rooney is now the best player in the England squad now. He does the right thing at the right time. Sadly, he was hit by a sprained ankle in the first leg of the champions league quarter finals, and since then, he has not scored.

The player that made the most improvement is Nani. When Ronaldo was still in the team, Nani tried to hard to be like Ronaldo. He wanted to live up to the fans expectations of him as the next Ronaldo, hence he tried to copy Ronaldo by doing unnecessary tricks. But this season, he has finally step out of Ronaldo's shadow and turned into a wonderful, selfless winger. For the last part of the season, he was absolutely brilliant. He was magnificent. Hopefully, next season he would show the same kind of form or even better.

Next season, United must take the title back from Chelsea. All the way united!

Game over for Manchester United?

With only a game left, has the champions of this season been decided?

Is the trophy going to Stamford Bridge?

I am not so sure, as with only one point separating Manchester United and Chelsea, anything can happen with one game left. The ball is round, anything can happen.
To me, this is a disastrous season for the red devils. They may just end this season with the "unimportant" league cup. But i think, in order to contest for more trophies next season, they need to go through a massive overhaul. They desperately need 3 to 4 more players.

I feel Manchester United need at least two world class mid-fielders in the team. Both Scholes and Giggs are reaching the twilight of their careers, the red devils need someone to fill the void left by them. United's midfield now lack creativity to create and provide goals for Rooney. Most of the goals are supplied by the wingers, which i feel is not enough. The red devils need a creative midfielder, to open the opponents defence up, and most importantly, create goals. To me, the only person in the team who can do this is Paul Scholes. But, Paul Scholes is most probably hanging up his boots in a years time. So who is capable of taking his place? There are many fantastic players that can fill Scholes shoes, but i feel the best candidate is Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur. Both he and Scholes are small in physique, but they can open up an opponent's defence up in a blink of an eye. But Luka Modric has a much better quality than Scholes, that is pace. Modric has much more pace than Scholes, which is very vital for a creative midfielder. This i feel, is what Manchester United is lacking for the last few seasons. It is rumoured that Man U are lining up a 25 million pound bid for Luka Modric. I feel that this is a way to hefty sum. Manchester United are already in a huge debt, are they able to make such signings?

Another candidate is James Milner. He is a extremely veratile player. He can play on the wings, at the front, in the centre, and at the back! He can play literally anywhere! The best thing about James Milner is that he creates and scores lots of goals! This is why James Milner is the most important player in the Aston Villa squad and one of the most sought after player in the world! James Milner improved tremendously after Martin O'Niel switched him from right wing to a centre midfielder. He has been banging in goals ever since. He is the sort of player that every manager wants in his team. Another reason why Manchester United need him, is that he is English! If Sepp Blatter plans to enforce the 6 + 5 rule(6 homegrown players + 5 foriegn players), James Milner would definitely be important!

Tottenham, can they do it?

Finally, a club has broken into the top four! Tottenham have qualified for the champions league next season after beating Manchester City 1-0.

It was a great season for Tottenham, being the first club to successfully break into the top four. Although i am very excited that a new english club is able to play in the champions league, i am quite skeptical about how far they can go in this top notched competition.

I feel that their team is not strong enough to play so many games in just one season. The team cannot take this kind of stress. The players may be overly stressed and not perform. This will jeopardise their chances on quailifying for the champions league for the second season in a row.

I am also not confident that they are able to get past a group stage. The champions league is where all the top european teams slug it out for the most prestigious title in Europe. No team should be underestimated. Tottenham may not be strong enough to successfully get past the group stage although their team has lots of world class players. They need to get use to playing European soccer. Most of their players have never played in an European club competition before, so the tottenham team is considered inexperienced.

But as i always say, the ball is round, anything can happen. Who knows, maybe Tottenham may be able to win the title in just their first season. Their team is capable of doing it, it is just that whether they are able to play 50 over matches in just one single season. All we can do now is wait and see...