This year, the seminar took place at Temasek Junior College and NYGH was represented by teams from the Sec 3 and 4 Advanced Literature (HP) as well as one student from Sec 3Advanced Lit class.

Believing that the value of literature is greatly understated, I was delighted to find out about and quickly signed up for the Literature Seminar – a yearly daylong event with the aim of stimulating interest in literature by exposing students to literary issues beyond the normal curriculum.

There, we got to participate in enthralling workshops facilitated by academics and literary practitioners, ranging from “The Poetry of Prose” to “Staging Hell: Performing Dante’s Inferno, Then and Now”. In the afternoon, there were concurrent presentations by secondary school students. It was fascinating to hear about forms of literature such as graphic novels that are rarely explored in school!

The Literature Seminar was definitely a rewarding experience, and one that has allowed me to deepen my engagement with a subject that I love – outside the classroom.

Sonia Teo Xhyn, 311

Literature Seminar was an experience both humbling and emboldening. Humbling because interacting with academics who are far more experienced than you really puts into perspective your understanding of literature. Emboldening, because the rare opportunity that you get to present about something that is close to your heart gives you more confidence to wade further into the depths of literature.

I first decided to present on the Chinese Identity because I was drawn to David Henry Hwang and wanted to base my presentation off his works. Initially I was still debating between M. Butterfly and FOB, the latter in which I eventually chose, and it had allowed me greater insight into my heritage. Despite the sleepless nights, frustration and self-doubt, to see everything culminate in the presentation was very rewarding.

Ng Bei Le, 414

From beginning our journey with a short 20 minute recess discussion when we first agreed to explore the genre of Japanese literature, to the moments the words “We have come to the end of our presentation, thank you!” left our lips, the 4 months leading up to Literature Seminar 2018 saw a huge learning curve for all three of us.

When we first decided to research something obscure and a little terrifying, it felt a little like throwing caution to the wind as we decided to just embrace our interests. “Let’s just have fun!” This was the mentality we had as we went into this research project, and somehow, it paid off. It took a lot of grit, a lot of frustration, and a little courage as we scrambled to find as many works of Edogawa Ranpo as we could, analysing and re-analysing the limited works we had access to as we tried to come up with the best presentation possible.

Ultimately, its completion required skill sets beyond the average literary response essay, and the yardstick for standard was higher than usual. As an amalgamation of the several years exploring the subject that is “Literature”, this project served as a milestone in our journeys as Literature students. After all, this is just the beginning of discovering the vast world of knowledge, perspectives and cultures that makes up Literature, and never bound by the restraints of language.

We are honoured and grateful to have received this opportunity that really pushed us beyond what we know to be our limits and helping us grow.

Ashley How, Luo Wen and Wang Yi En, 414

I truly enjoyed presenting at this year’s Literary Seminar. Literature brings words to life – and sharing my love for reading with other passionate bookworms was a genuine joy. We had two fabulous and tough critics, with an engaged audience, creating a winning repartee that pushed us to read deeper and wider. I am proud I had the honor to attend and present.

Happy Rogers, 314

The literature seminar was very meaningful and engaging in allowing us to explore literature and poetry at a much greater depth than in the current syllabus. Beyond attending lectures pertaining to the literary world, we were also given the opportunity to present our literary project on our comparison of literary texts on social mobility. This seminar truly helped us to explore the beauty and meaning of literature, and piqued an even greater interest in literature in us.

Zheng Zhixin, 314

The seminar was an eye opening experience, from learning more about the books we studied this year to presenting in the seminar, I have gained several new insights. In addition, I have also learnt more through the other presentations, which exposed me to different literature books and analysis.

Jolin Chua, 314

The Seminar gave me an opportunity to delve deeper into various literary texts under the theme of social class and mobility, an issue that plagues our society. I had learnt how to analyse and write a literary research presentation, something I had never been able to do in a literary field before. From the sharing of other groups, I had realised just how massive the literary world is, how much of it I have yet (and do look forward!) to explore.

Lee Jie Yu, 314