Renungan Indah karya W.S. Rendra (alm)

Ketika semua orang memuji milik-ku
Bahwa sesungguhnya ini hanyalah titipan
Bahwa mobilku hanyalah titipan-Nya
Bahwa rumahku hanyalah titipan-Nya
Bahwa hartaku hanyalah titipan-Nya
Bahwa putraku hanyalah titipan-Nya

Tetapi, mengapa aku tak pernah bertanya:
Mengapa Dia menitipkan padaku ?
Untuk apa Dia menitipkan ini padaku ?
Dan kalau bukan milikku, apa yang harus kulakukan untuk milik-Nya itu ?
Adakah aku memiliki hak atas sesuatu yang bukan milikku ?

Mengapa hatiku justru terasa berat, ketika titipan itu diminta kembali oleh-Nya ?
Ketika diminta kembali, kusebut itu sebagai musibah,
Kusebut itu sebagai ujian, kusebut itu sebagai petaka,
Kusebut itu sebagai panggilan apa saja untuk melukiskan kalau itu adalah derita.
Ketika aku berdoa, kuminta titipan yang cocok dengan hawa nafsuku

Aku ingin lebih banyak harta,
ingin lebih banyak mobil,
lebih banyak popularitas, dan
kutolak sakit,
kutolak kemiskinan,
seolah semua “derita” adalah hukum bagiku

Seolah keadilan dan kasih-Nya harus berjalan seperti matematika:
Aku rajin beribadah, maka selayaknyalah derita menjauh dariku, dan nikmat dunia kerap menghampiriku.

Kuperlakukan Dia seolah mitra dagang, dan bukan kekasih
Kuminta Dia membalas “perlakuan baikku”,
Dan menolak keputusan-Nya yang tak sesuai keinginanku
Gusti,
Padahal tiap hari kuucapkan, hidup dan matiku hanya untuk beribadah.
“Ketika langit dan bumi bersatu, bencana dan keberuntungan sama saja”….

The Sweetest Dream in a Nearly-Winter-Slumber

Taken from www.balloonplanet.com

He was crying, but then I caressed and embraced him tenderly, warmly and tightly. He smiled and continued his slumber. I knew he was everything for me, like my world; he rules my thoughts, my heart, my feelings. Suddenly, he disappeared. He's gone. My dream son is not yet to be mine. Maybe someday we'll meet, we'll gaze each other's eyes, we'll hear one another's heart beat. I love you, son, long long before we actually meet; before we eventually belong together, only us. 
*P.S. Whether it is a baby girl or a baby boy, mom's extremely gigantic love remains the same...

Get to Know SECRET GARDEN

Recently, I'm attempting to memorize the lyrics of an awesome song entitled Na Ta Na, besides the fact I start to fond of this movie, I also need to improve my Korean language skill :) Best luck to me then...최고의 행운...정신!!!

JILBAB = Identitas Wanita Muslim

Jilbab itu tanda ketaatan seorang muslimah 

"What is in name?" ujar Shakespeare. Apalah arti sebuah nama? Yang pasti nama itu sangat penting eksistensi dan fungsinya. Tanpa nama sesuatu dan seseorang akan menjadi tak berarti. Sesuatu menjadi mudah dikenali karena namanya. Jika kita ingin menabung uang, misalnya, kita tahu bahwa tempat yang tepat yang akan kita tuju itu bernama Bank bukanlah Restoran. Itu sebabnya nama merupakan identitas awal yang paling penting dan utama dimanapun kita berada. Coba kita ingat-ingat setiap kita mengisi formulir entah formulir masuk sekolah, formulir nasabah baru, atau formulir surat pengantar nikah, kolom pertama selalu diisi dengan nama.

Pun ketika kita belajar bahasa asing, perkenalan atau introduction selalu diajarkan paling awal: Maa ismuka? 당신의 이름은 무엇입니까? Comment t'appelles tu? Wie heißen Sie? Apka shubh nam kya hai? Come ti chiami? Anata no onamae wa? Kak tebya zavut? Namina saha? Siapa nama kamu? What is your name?

Bayangkan jika kita tidak mempunyai nama. Mungkin orang akan memanggil kita dengan "Hey", "Woi", atau mungkin "Cuy", bisa juga "Ciiinnnn".

Selain itu nama juga merupakan jelmaan dari do'a kdua orang tua yang memberikan nama tersebut. Ada hal yang sangat menggelikan tentang nama ketika pamanku melakukan sensus bagian pelosok tanah air kita, ada seseorang yang bernama (maaf) Tai Satumpuk. Semoga saja berita itu hanya guyonan. What a creepy name, right?! 

Lalu apa hubungannya dengan judul celotehan ini yaitu JILBAB. Yups sangat berhubungan erat, kawan. Jilbab itu fungsinya sama seperti nama: identitas pertama, utama, penting sekaligus wajib, bagi siapa? Bagi kaum perempuan yang beragama Islam atau biasa dipanggil Muslimah atau wanita Muslim.

Dalam surat Al-Ahzab ayat 59 diatas jelas disebutkan kata-kata imperative atau perintah bagi kita, wanita Muslim, untuk menutup aurat kecuali wajah dan telapak tangan yaitu dengan kain yang menutupi dada atau jilbab.

Jika ada seorang muslimah yang belum berjilbab karena mempunyai alasan ingin menJILBABI HATI dahulu, sepertinya alasan itu sangat tidak berlandaskan pasa syariah Islam. Kata-kata itu seperti senjata melawan perintahNya yang jelas-jelas menganugerahi tubuh kita yang sehat wal 'afiat dan indah ini secara gratis. Allah SWT menganugerahi kita dengan fisik yang sempurna, namun kita malah melawan perintahNya untuk menjaga tubuh yang Ia titipkan ini untuk kita. Sebenarnya, malah dalam istilah Islam saja kalimat menJILBABI HATI itu TIDAK DITEMUKAN sama sekali. Jilbab itu dipakai di fisik bukan psikis. Masalah hati lain lagi pembahasannya. 

Jika ada lagi alasan lain untuk menolak Jilbab dengan "lebih baik tidak suka bergosip membicarakan keburukan orang lain tapi tak berjilbab" daripada "berjilbab tapi masih suka bergosip", hal itu lebih ironis lagi. Perlu diingat bahwa menutup aurat dengan jilbab itu hukumnya WAJIB, sedangkan hukum meninggalkan yang wajib itu berdosa. Apa seseorang yang tak berjilbab bisa dibilang luput dari dosa bergunjing sedangkan kewajiban menutup aurat saja belum dilaksanakan? Kalau pun iya tidak pernah bergunjing (walaupun rasanya tidak mungkin..) dan berarti lepas dari dosa gibah, bagaimana dengan kewajiban menutup aurat yang belum terpenuhi? Apa dosa tersebut terhapus dengan tidak bergunjing? Wallahu'allam

Allah SWT berfirman:

"Dan tidaklah patut bagi laki-laki yang mukmin dan tidak (pula) bagi perempuan yang mukmin, apabila Allah dan Rasul-Nya telah menetapkan suatu ketetapan, akan ada bagi mereka pilihan (yang lain) tentang urusan mereka. Dan barangsiapa mendurhakai Allah dan Rasul-Nya maka sungguhlah dia telah sesat, sesat yang nyata." Q.S.Al-Ahzab: 36

Berbicara tentang jilbab diluar konteks hukumnya yang wajib, kita mungkin bisa membahas tentang keuntungan berjilbab.

1. Sebagai identitas. Muslimah yang berjilbab bisa dengan mudah dikenali dari pada muslimah yang belum berjilbab. Dengan ini kita tidak akan disamakan dengan wanita yang beragama lain. Jilbab juga bisa menjadi indikator keimanan seorang muslimah, hal ini sebagai tanda awal dari ketaatannya pada Allah SWT dan RasulNya.
2. Sebagai pelindung. Terlepas dari kabar sekitar tahun 2004 di Bandung dimana sekelompok muslimah berjilbab yang, maaf, diperkosa sepulang dari mengaji di DT, Geger Kalong (asuhan Aa Gym) (hal ini mungkin terjadi karena kondisinya yang pulang larut malam), menutup aurat jelas akan melindungi kita dari bahaya tatapan dan nafsu birahi laki-laki. jelas sekali bagi kaum muslim untuk menjaga pandangannya sedang bagi muslimah untuk menutup auratnya yang mengundang syahwat. Sungguh Islam sangatlah seimbang dalam menyikapi segala sesuatunya.
3. Sebagai penjaga izzah atau kehormatan. Muslimah berjilbab biasanya lebih dihormati dalam pergaulannya, misalnya laki-laki tidak seenaknya memegang tangan, merangkul atau mungkin berkata-kata yang tidak sopan. Terlepas dari fenomena saat ini dimana banyak muslimah berjilbab tapi masih berpegangan tangan dengan yang bukan muhrim, apalagi pacaran, berjilbab tapi tidak menutupi sampai dada, berjilbab tapi jenis pakaian transparan dan atau ketat, jilbab tetaplah mulia adanya namun menjadi disfungsi dan menciptakan salah kaprah karena perilaku salah dan menyimpang yang keluar dari syariat Islam tersebut. Jadi yang mungkin dipersalahkan adalah pelakunya bukan jilbab bahkan menyalahkan muslimah lain yang berjilbab sesuai dengan syariah, menutup aurat kecuali wajah dan telapak tangan, pakaian longgar dan tidak transparan.
4. Sebagai dakwah. Meski kita tidak memiliki talenta seperti Mamah Dedeh yang lantang menyuarakan ayat Allah, mungkin hal yang paling sederhana yang bisa kita lakukan dalam menyebarkan kalam Illahi yaitu dengan jilbab yang kita pakai ini. Kita dengan tidak langsung menyeru, memberikan model kepada saudara muslimah kita yang lain agar mau segera menutup auratnya. Jika ada muslimah lain yang tertarik memakai jilbab karena keanggunan penampilan juga perilaku serta ucapan kita, insyaalloh dakwah ini akan berganjar pahalaNya. 
5. Penampilan yang lebih anggun, cantik dan feminin. Coba sekarang bandingkan Marshanda sebelum dan sesudah ia berjilbab. Mana yang lebih anggun? Atau Inneke Koesherawati yang wajah indah berjilbabnya hilir mudik di iklan maupun program tv. Lebih anggun, cantik, feminin dan terhormat kan?
6. Silahkan kawan-kawan sebutkan keuntungan lainnya dari menutup aurat...pasti masih sangat banyak ya.

Semoga makin banyak saudara muslimah kita yang segera menutup auratnya dengan berjilbab, karena menjadi muslim apalagi kita sejak lahir dan dibesarkan di keluarga muslim adalah nikmat yang seharusnya tidak kita sia-siakan dengan mengabaikan perintahNya ketika kita bernafas dan diberi kesempatan untuk meperbaiki diri, sebelum tiba saatnya sudah tidak bermanfaat lagi penyesalan dan permintaan ampun kita pada Allah SWT.

Wallohu'allam bishowwab.

"Pada hari ini telah Kusempurnakan untuk kamu agamamu, dan telah Ku-cukupkan kepadamu nikmat-Ku, dan telah Ku-ridhai Islam itu jadi agama bagimu." Q.S. Al-Maidah: 3

PAPERMAN: A Movie Review

Witty!

Exposition:
Richard Dunn is regarded an unsuccessful author of literature books. In his around 50s of age, he decides to move to  Long Island to cope with his writing setbacks. Having a brainy, prominent, charming wife Clair Dunn, whose career is a surgery doctor, does not make him happier with his life. Even he finds out often time that they cannot get along with each other either in making points of view about certain thing, such as he considers a Lobster is a creature that must be protected not being eaten or consumed, while his wife as many people do, sees it as an edible animal, or in doing particular activities, like he is so old fashioned in living his life like he does not like driving cars but he feels like riding his bike anywhere instead. To worsen the high tension grown between them, they do not have any children, which is actually one another's regret. 

In the process of getting back his passion in generating a book, he has got a company, like a super hero, written in his outfit a letter E stands for Excellent, to be precise Captain Excellent. Anytime Richard is in trouble, he will always be there helping him or even only listening to his grouch and sometimes giving him an advice. Not to mention that their marriage relationship also needs repairing. 

Rising action:
Richard, himself, is an ignorant, silent, clumsy, careless, tense, yet kind, and attentive man finds something in common with Abby, a 17 year-old-girl whom he meets in the neighborhood accidentally and asks her about babysitter he needs, she finally willing to do it. In her first day working as his babysitter, Abby fascinated him by making a soup. He is truly thankful of her so that he asks her to do the same thing the following weeks. While waiting for Richard to come home, Abby is surprised by the presence of her secret admirer, Christopher, who follows her anywhere she goes though she keeps disregarding him and looking him down.

Climax:
It has been weeks Richard tries to start writing his ideas onto the paper through a typing machine, which he prefers to use rather than the iMac laptop his wife rewards him as a motivational action towards his productiveness of generating a book of literature. However, it has been a couple of weeks he is still incapable to produce even any single words. Every time he commences to write, the captain Excellent is always there to disturb him that causes him cease to write a story. Meanwhile, his companionship with Abby is undoubtedly getting closer so that they are bewildered themselves what they feel one another. Are they purely friends or is there something must be read between the line. It seems that they are comforting each other's presence. Until one day his wife catches them getting up from sleep together on a couch in their house. But really there is nothing happens between them. Since then, they decide to draw away for goodness.
Falling action:
Ricard finally buries the hatches with his wife. They get together again and try to continue their nearly wrecked marriage. As a last goodbye, he sees Abby in her house and gives her a Swan origami paper to her.
Resolution:
Feeling in a blue, Abby reads a letter inside the Swan origami. It is written an introductory paragraph of his piece of a story writing. Right after she finishes reading, she finds her secret admirer committing a suicide by hanging up himself on her bedroom roof.
Meanwhile, at last Richard unwillingly says goodbye to captain Excellent, who always been around accompanying him. He decides to move on his life without the captain's assistance nor his company.
Conclusion:
This movie actually depicts the condition where two people with something in common, in this case a solitude, will inevitably attract one another and share their feelings, thoughts, and imagination together. In order to remove the despair of being lonely, they create their own imaginary companion, Richard with captain Excellent and Abby with her secret admirer. Nonetheless, when finally they can discover the way how to kill the solitude by talking to each other, by understanding one another's feeling, by putting oneself to another's shoes, they are able to discard their imaginary friends. They bury all their devastating memories by carrying on their lives though separately. By meeting and separating they actually find their lives make sense and worth living. 
The casts:

• Jeff Daniels as Richard Dunn
• Lisa Kudrow as Clair Dunn
• Ryan Reynold as Captain Excellent
• Emma Stone as Abby
• Kieran Culkin as Christopher 

Rate: For me especially, I rate this movie 4 stars since there are lots of moral lessons and virtues we can learn, not to mention that the ending is not that easy to predict. This movie is kinda something else. So, why not watching it,pals?!

Ied Adha 1432 H

Waktu menunjukkan pukul 5.00 pagi bagian Korea Selatan, tepatnya di wilayah Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do. Aku bergegas bangun sambil masih terkantuk-kantuk. Langsung mandi, bangunin dia, sambil nunggu dia mandi aku masak-masak untuk sarapan, ada goreng ubi, nasi dan lauk pauknya. Juga jus jeruk. Lalu kami sholat subuh berjamaah sekitar pukul 5.30, karena itu lah waktu masuk fajar untuk wilayah Cheongju. Setelah itu kami sarapan sambil santai sampai tak terasa waktu sudah menunjukkan pukul 5.55. Akhirnya dengan nekat kami tetap pergi walau kami tahu nampaknya sulit untuk mengejar bis pertama yang pergi tepat pukul 6.25. Tepat pukul 6.00 kami keluar kontrakan. Berjalan sambil lari, seperti atlet jalan cepat, *sighing, panting. Hah heh hoh aku dibuatnya, ternyata jarak dari kontrakan ke halte bis lamanya sekitar 20 menit. Yah alhamdulillah kami sampai di halte 5 menit sebelum bis datang. Di dalam bis 2 teman kami sudah menunggu.
Selama perjalanan, embun menutupi seluruh kaca bis. Aku makin dibuat ngantuk jadinya. Tak terasa satu jam berlalu dan bis mengantarkan kami ke tempat bernama Daejon. Kami sampai di tempat tujuan kami untuk sholat Ied Adha yakni di KAIST.

Disambut Soang eh Angsa

Kami langsung menuju tempat sholat. Ehem..bayanganku akan sholat dilapangan yang penuh dengan sajadah yang berwarna-warni nan indah seperti di Bandung, namun imajinasiku tersebut tergantikan oleh pemandangan lapangan badminton yang dihiasi bapa-bapa dan adek-adek yang main badminton. Mereka main seruuuuu banget sampai tidak ngeh kalau kami di kursi penonton bukan lah menonton mereka melainkan menanti mereka nyingkah alias pergi dari lapangan secepatnya dan memberikan kami kesempatan untuk ibadah sunnat yang satu tahun sekali ini.

Atosan heula ah, emang na bade uih!

Alhamdulillah, setelah sekitar 20 menit menunggu, kami bersiap-siap sholat ied. Diawali dengan Takbir:
Allahu akbar Allohu akbar Allohu akbar
Laailaahaillallohu wallohu akbar 
Allohu akbar walillahilham
Allaahu akbar kabiiraa walhamdulillaahi katsiiraa

wasubhaanallaahi bukrataw wa ashillaa

Laa ilaaha illallallahu walaa na'budu illaa iyyaahu mukhlishiina lahuddiin walau karihal kaafiruun, walau karihal munafiqun, walau karihal musyrikun. Laa ilaaha illallaahu wahdah, shadaqa wa'dah, wanashara 'abdah, wa a'azza jundah, wahazamal ahzaaba wahdah. Laa ilaaha illallaahu wallaahu akbar. Allaahu akbar walillaahil hamd.

Ini kali pertama dalam hidupku sholat ied Adha, menghabiskan hari raya, tanpa ibu bapa dan keluargaku di dekatku. Kini aku berada di tengah muslim dan muslimah dari beberapa negara lain, seperti Pakistan, Filipina dan Bangladesh.

Selesai sholat ied kami lalu menuju gedung lain untuk menyantap makanan. Kami disuguhi nasi kuning ala timur tengah, nggak tau apa namanya. Rasa kunyitna sangat terasa, potongan dagingnya empuk, kacang polong dan jagung manisnya juga enak, namun sayang nasinya bercampur beras alias belum matang.

Di bawah pohon merah

Setelah makan, kami berunding akan langsung pulang atau pergi ke tujuan selanjutnya untuk menyantap sate gratis di Mushola Annur. Kami sepakat untuk mengambil kesempatan langka ini, sate gratis gitu loks..

Kami menuju Mushola Annur dengan bis selama sekitar 40 menit. Setibanya disana waktu menunjukkan pukul 11.00. Namun sate mentah masih buanyakkk. Kami dengan sabar dan manis menunggu para bapak-bapak mengipasi sate yang nampaknya sih tidak kegerahan. Oh salah itu cara menyate, dikipasin, dibakar diatas arang. 

Cup cup cup, cepat mateng ya sateku sayang!

Tik tok tik tok. The clock is ticking. The time is flying. Sampai waktunya sholat Dzuhur, si sate belum juga beres bibakar. Cacing di perut kami mulai gelisah seperti majikannya.

Resah dan gelisah, menunggu disini...

Waktu menunjukkan pukul 13.30 setelah selesai solat Dzuhur berjamaah, para bapa langsung duduk melingkar dan mengadakan sebuah forum yang membuat para cacing kami berdemo makin hebat. Forum itu membicarakan tentang kebijakan pemerintah tentang para TKI kita, ya things like that lah. Aku sudah tidak bisa mendengar dengan jelas lagi karena mataku yang agak kunang-kunang seperti melihat kambing, ayam dan sapi yang montok-montok tepat di depan mukaku.

Oh ternyata itu sate, iya kan?!

Para bapa masih bercuap-cuap tentang entah apa, dengan muka pengen a.k.a mupeng kami memperhatikan sate seperti melihat Afgan Syah Reza sedang menyanyikan lagu Bawalah Pergi Cintaku di atas panggung. Lalu tiba-tiba saja ada laki-laki yang memperhatikan kami, kalau tidak salah dia yang juga ikut membakar si sate. Ia mengijinkan kami untuk mengambil satu piring dan mempersilahkan kami juga untuk langsung makan.

Yippieee, at last after all these torturing hours waiting for satay, we ate them greedily. *grin :D

Setelah itu kami SMP (Sudah Makan Pulang), pamit pulang kepada teman-teman muslim setanah air, berterima kasih dan dadah dadah. 

Kami lalu bertolak ke terminal bis naik taksi, gaya, padahal kami tidak tahu kalau jaraknya ternyata dekat. 

Kami lalu membeli tiket dan ketika waktunya tiba bis kami datang kami naik dan waktunya tidur lagi di bis.

Tiket bis dari Daejon ke Cheongju

Praise be to Alloh The Al Mighty, ied Adha tahun ini indah dan berkesan. Seindah jalanan yang terselimuti daun berguguran.

Sesyahdu hari rayaMu

Pintaku ya Alloh, agar aku, kami bisa menjadi hambaMu yang patuh laiknya Nabi Ibrahim as yang taat pada ta'wil mimpiMu dan Nabi Ismail yang taat pada perintah ayahnya.

Agar Ied Adha tahun depan Kau masih pertemukan kami, dan kami mampu memenuhi janji kami untuk berkurban. Berkurban dari harta yang telah Kau anugerahkan pada kami. Mudahkanlah hati kami, semudah jika kami membelanjakan harta itu untuk kepentingan dan kesenangan kami semata.

Perkenankanlah ya Alloh ya Mujibuddu'aa...

My First K-Job

If our teenagers are crazily familiar with K-Pop, which stands for Korean Pop, I'll tell you another thing related to K-Job also-known-as Korean Job. 

Shinee (and other K Boysbands) is not my cup of tea :p

What the heaven is that thing? Have you ever heard that before? Nope, well let me tell you that K-Job refers to the occupation that certainly earns some money, and to tell you proudly I was thrilled to have my first job in Korea. Yeah, working in this country considering my inability to speak Korean and being a non-native speaker of English limit my probability to work. 
Anyway, my first K-Job (hopefully there will be upcoming jobs toward me afterwards..) was way too distinctive from my prior job as teacher. 
Precisely two weeks ago on Saturday night, right after I intentionally visited a Hanbok boutique because it was someone in Indonesia that asked a favor of mine to check the price of it and intended to buy it yet finally she decided not to buy it due to the very expensive price (what a disappointing result, huh?), I had the job offer from someone who actually works in the Foreign Ministry and he is here to carry out a duty. He advertised the job vacancy in the email group. Seeing this as a good chance, my husband responded. But no direct reply from him. We were disappointed again, we thought the job has been placed by another applicant. 

my first won, yay!

In the following morning, when it came to the time for my husband to take TOEIC test, I heard a notification sound from the email. I opened it then there it was the email from him. I was surprised that he gave me the job description right away along with the payment description would be paid to me shortly after I finish the job! and it was 90 thousand won. What a huge amount of money when it is converted to our rupiahs: You wonder? Check this out, fellas
Compared to the job that must be accomplished, that payment was highly beyond expectation. What I must do was searching for names of companies in three categories then put them in the list. It took me around a day to do it, not to mention that I had to take care of my husband and the house, cook, clean up, wash the dish and so on. I was gratefully thankful to Allah SWT for giving me this opportunity. 
By having accomplish this job, we could afford a new hp, food, snacks, and even a new pair of used but neat shoes for me! I just wanted to make it as a memorable thing from my first K-Job.

neat!

Akibat Tak Bercermin

Cermin adalah alat untuk kita merapihkan penampilan diri kita agar lebih indah

Aku banyak belajar dari kisah ini, kisah dimana seorang wanita selama kurang lebih tiga tahun menjalin hubungan serius dengan laki-laki yang telah memiliki pekerjaan yang lumayan, dan sejak awal katanya mengaku memiliki visi dan misi ke depan untuk mengikat cinta mereka di depan bapa penghulu, tidak menjamin kebahagiaan. Aku dengar sendiri cerita memilukan dari mulutnya.

Aku sering mendengar kabar tidak mengenakkan dari kisah cintanya itu. Wanita itu selalu mengaku selama kurang lebih tiga tahun perjalanan cinta dengan pangeran pujaannya itu, ia diperlakukan dzalim oleh keluarga calon suaminya. Orangtuanya yang feodal, mengaku Islam tapi tak pernah solat fardu apalagi ibadah wajib dan sunnat yang lainnya, keras, angkuh, pencaci maki, mengancam akan bunuh diri jika ia bersih kukuh menerima lamaran sang anak laki-laki yang juga semata wayangnya, apalagi sampai ke pelaminan. 

Para tante serta rombongan anggota keluarga pihak laki-laki juga tidak kalah kalapnya. Mereka meneror si wanita melalui telepon, mengancam akan mendatanginya jika hubungan asmara mereka terus berlangsung. Mencapnya bukan wanita baik-baik dan bla bla bla.

Begitulah, selalu kabar yang bikin aku mengelus dada setiap kali ia curhat. Kasian dalam hatiku. Kenapa ia begitu malang? Tapi bukankah Allah SWT tidak akan menguji hambaNya diluar kemampuan. Namun di lain pihak aku juga sering herat bertanya apa sih yang jadi pemicu amarah mereka padanya. Kenapa sih keluarga si laki-laki begitu membencinya? Karena tidak mungkin ada asap kalau tidak ada api, kan? Ditanya seperti itu ia juga tidak tahu. Sounds extremely awkward, doesn't it?

"Iya, mas ini aku sekarang lagi di rumah saudara di Bandung. Ia udah dulu ya, assalamu'alaikum..Nah gitu tih kalau pacaran itu komunikasi harus di jaga, ya minimal sehari sekali telepon laporan apa aja kegiatan yang dikerjain hari itu."

Aku cuma bengong. Maklum aku amateur dalam masalah pacaran. Aku bukan tidak mau pacaran, tapi kepalang tau kalau pacaran cepat atau lambat pasti pegangan tangan dan kemungkinan bisa jadi lebih dari itu. Jika pacaran memeang seperti itu, jelas Allah SWT melarang hambaNya untuk mendekati apalagi melakukan zina. Aku juga kepalang tau kalau Rasul Saw lebih menyukai memegang bara api dari pada bersentuhan dengan yang bukan muhrim. Tadinya aku mau sampaikan hadist tersebut kepada wanita itu. Tapi tiap dia cerita yang menggebu tentang pacarnya dan betapa dzalimnya dan tertidasnya ia oleh orangtua sang pacar dan keluarganya, aku belum berani menyampaikannya. Padahal jelas kebenaran harus disampaikan meski satu ayat.

Sering aku melihat mereka layaknya orang pacaran yang tidak kenal agama (dalam hal ini Islam tentu saja) padahal si wanita bilang "Dia (pacarnya) tuh punya misi pingin punya keluarga yang berpedoman dengan AL - Quran & Hadis. Dia selalu belajar agama. Koleksi bukunya tuh buku - buku islam, peperangan jaman Islam, Hadist Buhkori & muslim, akidah islam, Al - quran" 

Lalu aku beranikan diri bertanya meski sebenarnya aku tahu jawabannya, apakah mereka suka pegangan tangan. Dia bilang suka. Aku lalu menjelaskan hadist Rasul tadi. Alih-alih menuruti perintah Nabi Saw itu, ia malah berdalih ia bukan manusia sempurna yang belum menjalankan perintah agama dengan sempurna. Aku jadi geli sendiri. Ia juga menjadikan alasan menikah untuk menhindari hal yang seperti itu. Dengan kata lain, selama tiga tahun menghindari zina dengan pacaran berduaan dan pegangan tangan. Astaghfirullahal'adzim. Na'udzubillahimindzalik.

Diingatkan lagi seperti itu, ia malah menuduhku menyerangnya. Menyerang? Loh kalau dia merasa diserang harusnya bukan olehku kan, tapi oleh Rasululloh Saw, sang manusia terbaik pilihan Allah SWT dan dijaminNya masuk surga. karena itu semua adalah ucapan belia bukan semata-mata aku ingin menyindirnya. Aku makin geli dibuatnya.

Aku makin cinta sama kekasih Allah SWT, Nabi Muhammad Saw yang sangat sangat berat ujiannya dalam menyampaikan risalah Illahi. Bukan lagi cacian yang diterima, tapi sampai darahnya sendiri dikorbankan demi menegakkan kalam Allah di muka bumi ini. 

Aku, baru menyampaikan satu ayatNya saja lalu ditolak mentah-mentah seperti itu, aku naik pitam. Lebih-lebih ketika dia mulai bercerita tentang kisah suami istri yang bercerai karena dahulu mereka hanya ta'aruf. Aku saja mungkin yang terlalu emosional yang mengartikan ucapannya itu tidak lain dengan "hati-hati" kamu juga dulu lewat proses ta'aruf kan? Dengan sedikit amarah aku juga menyatakan banyak yang mencibirku dulu ketika aku memutuskan menerima lamaran seorang laki-laki tanpa bertemu dahulu dengannya. Dengan eksplisit aku menyatakan bahwa dia juga pasti akan mencibirku seperti kebanyakan orang sepeti ia dulu menuduhku menodong seorang laki-laki untuk menikah. Lalu dengan polos aku bertanya apa dia takut bercerai dengan statementnya itu? Aku mencoba mengalihkan pembicarannya yang sangat terkesan menyindirku.
Jujur, baru kali ini aku benar-benar adu mulut dan sedikit bertengkar dengan seseorang yang tak lain masih kerabatku. Dengan teman atau orang lain saja aku tidak pernah, aku selalu menghindari perdebatan yang lebih akan menimbulkan konflik. Lagi pula pikirku buat apa sih kita bertengkar dengan oranglain hanya karena berbeda pendapat? Tiap orang di dunia ini, meski orang tua dan anak, adik dan kakak, nenek dan cucu, paman dan keponakan, suami dan istri, mustahil punya pemikiran yang sama persis, jangankan otak yang berbeda, sidik jadi saja dijamin tidak ada yang serupa. 

Aku tahu, diam-diam aku meragukan perbaikan dari hubungan kami ini. Entah apa pemicunya. Yang jelas aku kini sadar kenapa ia dulu sering bercerita tentang perlakuan semena-mena teman-temannya, atau ketika ia sering merasa dijauhi oleh teman-temannya. Kini aku tahu, saat aku terbakar amarah, aku hanya pantulan dari cerminan perilakunya padaku. 

Kini aku benar-benar merasa iba padanya, iba karena sampai ia menikah hari Jum'at kemarin, ia mungkin masih belum melihat cerminan perilaku dirinya yang dipantulkan oleh tindakan orang lain di sekitarnya. Ia mungkin masih menyalahkan pihak diluar dirinya yang menurutnya semena-mena, masih menyalahkan orang tua yang tidak merestuinya, padahal ia yang tidak mampu membuat orang lain merasa nyaman ketika ia berada di sekitar mereka. Membuatnya susah mendapatkan do'a dari orang lain. Aku sarankan ia segera bercermin, bercermin sangat lama.

Semoga kita selalu bisa melihat, membaca pantulan diri kita di cermin perilaku dan tindakan orang lain. Sehingga jika pantulan kita buram, gelap, berdebu, kita akan segera mengelapnya, membersihkannya. 

Cermin itu adalah hati. Ketika hati kita bersih, maka bersih pula mata, telinga, tangan, kaki, dan mulut kita.

Kata-kata Tersulit Diucapkan

"Maaf" & "Terima Kasih"

Kisah Inspiratif Menjelang Ied Adha/Qurban

RENUNGAN DZULHIJJAH :

QURBAN BU SUMI

Setelah melayani pembeli, saya 
melihat seorang ibu sdg memperhatikan dagangan kami, 
Dilihat dari penampilannya sepertinya gak akan beli.Namun saya coba hampiri dan menawarkan. “Silahkan bu. Ibu itu menunjuk, “Kalau yg itu berapa bang?” Ibu itu menunjuk hewan yg paling murah. 

Kalau yg itu harganya  600rb bu, jawab saya. Harga pasnya berapa?,  500rb deh. harga segitu untung saya kecil, tapi biarlah.. “Uang saya Cuma ada 450rb, boleh gak”. Waduh..saya bingung, karena itu harga modal kami, akhirnya saya berembug. “Biarlah..”

Sayapun mengantar hewan ibu,
Ketika sampai di rumah ibu tersebut. Astaghfirullaah.. Allahu Akbar, terasa mengigil seluruh badan demi melihat keadaan rumah ibu tersebut.

Ibu itu hanya tinggal bertiga dgn ibu dan satu orang anaknya di rumah gubuk berlantai tanah. Saya tidak melihat tempat tidur/ kasur, yang ada hanya dipan kayu beralas tikar lusuh.

Diatas dipan sdg tertidur seorang nenek tua kurus. “Mak..bangun mak, nih liat Sumi bawa apa", perempuan tua itu terbangun. “Mak Sumi udah beliin kambing buat emak qurban, ntar kita bawa ke Masjid ya mak. 

Orang tua itu kaget namun bahagia, sambil mengelus-elus kambing orang tua itu berucap, Alhamdulillah, akhirnya kesampaian juga emak qurban.

“Nih bang duitnya, maaf ya kalau saya nawarnya ke murahan, saya hanya kuli cuci, saya sengaja kumpulkan uang untuk beli kambing yg mau saya 
niatkan buat qurban ibu saya. 

duh GUSTI...Ampuni dosa hamba, hamba malu berhadapan dengan hambaMU yg satu ini. HambaMU yg Miskin Harta tapi dia kaya Iman. Seperti bergetar bumi ini setelah mendengar niat dari ibu ini. 

“Bang nih ongkos bajajnya.!, panggil si Ibu, “sudah bu, biar ongkos bajaj saya yg bayar. Saya cepat pergi sblm ibu itu tahu kalau mata ini sudah basah krn tak sanggup mendapat teguran dari Allah yg sudah mempertemukan dgn hambaNYA yg dgn kesabaran, ketabahan dan penuh keimanan ingin memuliakan orang tuanya...


*cerita ini dibagikan di milis Moslem Korea, nama penulis tidak diketahui.
Semoga bermanfaat bagi kita semua

Jadi Dae Janggeum 30 Menit

Dae Janggeum atau juga dikenal Jewel in the Palace adalah serial drama tahun 2003 yang diproduksi oleh saluran TV MBC Korea Selatan.

Ceritanya didasarkan pada tokoh sejarah yang diceritakan dalam Catatan Sejarah Dinasti Joseon, yang berpusat pada Jang-geum (diperankan oleh Lee Young-Ae), dokter kerajaan perempuan pertama dari Dinasti Joseon di Korea. Tema utamanya adalah kegigihiannya, serta gambaran tentang budaya Korea yang tradisional, termasuk makanan serta obat-obatan istana kerajaan Korea. http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dae_Jang_Geum

Dulu, waktu jamannya si drama Janggeum ini happening, aku mencoba berkali-kali menontonnya hanya ingin merasakan sensasi kehebohan, keramaian, kesenangan dan kekaguman yang terjadi pada kebanyakan orang. Tapi berkali-kali aku nonton,gagal terus. Aku tidak merasakan rasa suka yang membuncah seperti teman-teman pecinta drama Korea lainnya, terutama bibiku, bi Lanny Sehrofi beserta ibu dan kakaknya bi Gilang. Haduh, puyeng juga maksain diri supaya kaya orang lain. Satu-satunya drama Korea yang aku suka cuma My Girl, nggak ada yang lain. Akhirnya aku berhenti berusaha menyamakan kesukaan dengan orang lain kebanyakan, aku ingat petuah sunda yang bagus "tong kabawa ku sakaba-kaba" artinya "jangan suka terbawa arus"

Namun, hari itu, kemarin hari Selasa 2 November 2011 di Bokdae (i) Dong, merupakan salah satu hari yang akan susah aku lupakan. Beserta sahabatku di Cheongju, mba Shinta, teman kecilku Api, dan adik kecilku yang lucu Queen, kami berniat jalan-jalan untuk refreshing, aku memang niat akan kembali ke Butik Hanbok yang waktu itu sempat tertunda. Tas ransel berisi dua botol minuman kosong 2 literan aku simpan di dalamny agar pulangnya bisa melewati kran-kran air minum gratis.

Tidak lupa aku bawa kamera, kalau-kalau nanti ada moment bahagia yang tidak boleh dilewatkan begitu saja.

Setibanya di Butik Hanbok itu, aku tanya kepada pegawainya tentang keberadaan Miss Sim, seorang pegawai yang bisa berbahasa Inggris yang waktu itu aku janjikan akan kembali ke Butik itu jika ada pesanan Hanbok dari teman-temanku di Indonesia. Namun Miss Sim sedang tidak bekerja, aku tidak tahu kenapa, orang dia jawab pakai Hangul, ya mana ngerti diriku.

Aku lalu minta ijin untuk mengambil beberapa gambar Hanbok, ternyata diperbolehkan. Lalu iseng-iseng dengan bahasa Tarzan, kami minta ijin untuk mencoba Hanbok. Tidak disangka mereka memperbolehkan. Kami yang kalap dari tadi karena melihat "lautan" Hanbok, jadi kegirangan sangat bak anak kecil dapat balon. Aku mendapat giliran pertama mencoba. Salah seorang karyawannya memilihkan Hanbok yang berwarna senada dengan kerudung yang aku kenakan. Lalu aku memperhatikan tiap helai bahan yang disematkan di badanku. Kini aku mengeri kenapa bagian bawahnya bisa begitu mengmbang bak balon. Nanti semoga aku bisa buat sendiri yang sebagus Hanbok asli buatan orang Korea ini. 

Hanbok wanita ternyata terdiri dari:

1. pakaian dalamnya long dress kain putih bahan biasa, sepertinya katun
2. pakaian lapis kedua yang berwarna dan jenis kain bisa berbeda-beda ada sutra, satin, dll. bentuknya kemben dengan tali yang diikatkan ke atas dada, talinya dipitakan seperti bow tie
3. rompi lengan panjang atau pendek, lalu ditalikan pita yang menempel di bagian dada kanan sampai salah satu pitanya menjuntai
4. sepatu Kko Ssin, tradisional korea

Ketika aku bercermin, wow! I was exquisitely elegant, charming and incredible (memujidirisnediri.com), so was mba Shinta.
Langsung berasa jadi Dae Janggeum selama 30 menit.

Jualan yuks!

"Better late than never" kayanya cocok buat ku yang nampaknya telat menyadari kalau berwirausaha atau berjualan itu sunnah Rasulullah SAW kita tercinta.
Hari ini aku bertekad akan serius jualan dengan menawarkan barang-barang jualan via internet. Ada yang beli atau nggak aku serahkan semuanya sama Alloh SWT. Karena aku tahu tugasku hanya ikhtiar dan berdoa. Serta positive thinking. 
Yuks ah kita jualan seperti kata teman ku, aku kini mengikuti jejak Siti Khadijah ra, istri tercinta Rasulullah SAW, seorang pengusaha handal. Semoga kita selalu memiliki jiwa berwirausaha seperti yang dicontohkan Uswah Hasanah kita. Amiinn.

Bumbu C

"Bu, naha sih pasakan ibu mah enak wae?" 
"Teteh hoyong terang rahasiana?" 
"Muhun."
"Masakna kedah ngangge cinta."
"Maksadna kumaha, bu? emang aya bumbu cinta ciga bumbu penyedap?"
"Maksadnya, upami masak kedah aya kahoyong nyenengkeun, ngabahagiakeun orang-orang nu kita cintai anu nuang pasakan urang. dijamin sok, pasti enak."
"Ah teteh ge ieu pami masak ngangge cinta, perasaan, tapi nahanya rasana asa teu paruguh wae. mun teu hambar kaasinan atau kaamisan.huhhh mending ngajar da daripada masak.cuapeeee dehhhhh"
Ibu ku yang solehah, cantik, anggun, lembut, elegan, berwibawa, angelic dan lucu itu hanya tersenyum sambil geleng-geleng. Mungkin geli lihat anak perempuan sekaligus anak pertamanya yang "gapsak" a.k.a gagap masak (halah maksa pisan nya..wios lah!)
Berdasarkan pemantauanku selama ini terhadap ibu-ibu muda,alias para wanita yang baru menikah, kebanyakan memang tidak bisa masak. Dapur menjadi area angker seperti kuburan yang menyuguhkan peralatan masak yang menakutkan yang akan membawa mimpi buruk, cibiran atau selera makan yang hilang dari orang yang paling dicintai. Ya apalagi kalau bukan karena masakan kita yang enak, enak buat disingkirkan (kalau tidak mau dibilang "dibuang", so sarcastic ah!). 
Begitulah kenyataannya, seperti pengalamku mengamati saudariku yang sering menelepon ibunya untuk menanyakan resep berbagai masakan.
Atau aku merasakan langsung masakan teman perempuanku yang baru menikah, waktu itu soto ayam kalau tidak salah, yang sangattttttttt ditolak oleh mata dan lidah ini. Padahal setauku dia memakai bumbu instant! Bayangkan, bumbu instant itu harusnya bisa membantu seseorang memasak dengan rasa katakanlah at least setandar lidah kita pada umumnya. Belum lagi instruksi memasak jelas tertera di belakang kemasan. Tapi ini, haduhhhhhh, rasanya pengen dijadiin sesajen aja tuh makanan. hehehe, tinggal dilempar ke laut.
Atau dengan tidak sengaja aku mendengar curhatan teman wanitaku yang bilang masakannya selalu tidak enak. Maaf ya dia sendiri loh yang menghina masakannya. Ya aku diam saja sambil nganggung-ngangguk tanda mengiyakan.
Jujur, sebelum menikah, aku hanya bisa masak enak kalau bahan makanannya itu Kepiting atau Kerang. Kenapa? Karena mereka adalah binatang eh makanan favoritku. Kata ibu "Nya enak atuh masak eta mah da gampang, terus kan eta teh karesep teteh, nya pasti weh atuh enak." Kebanyakan selalu benar memang ucapan ibuku itu. Hanya karena makanan itu kesukaannku aku jadi pandai memasaknya, dan lebih lagi cara masaknya yang gampang tinggal di rebus tuh binatang trus tumis bawang bombay dan tomat sampai jadi saus tomat, crot crot saus sambal instant, tambah gula dan garam, jadi deh Kepiting dan Kerang asam manis. Tapi bagaimana kalau nanti aku menikah dan suamiku tidak suka masakan seafoodku yang sangat sangat sederhana?
Karena pengalaman orang lain, aku jadi waspada. Aku antisipasi hal tersebut dengan mencoba menuliskan resep-resep masakan ibuku yang selalu super enak. Tapi ternyata buku itu tidak rampung, keburu sibuk ngurus undangan dll. 
Lalu waktu cepat berlalu, tiba-tiba aku ada disini, di dapur dimana aku adalah kokinya. Aku yang dulu hanya menjabat sebagai asisten koki, koki benerannya ibuku, harus berhadapan langsung dengan wajan, talenan, panci, kompor sendirian. Aku dikeroyok nih. Tapi aku tidak mau kalah, aku ingat perkataan dan petuah ibuku. Aku ingat rahasianya. Bismillah...
"Enak, mantap, pas rasanya."
Aku langsung menjelma menjadi Sandra Bullock yang memenangi Ocsar untuk filmnya yang keren dan menyentuh, The Blind Side. Atau seperti Beyonce yang terpilih menjadi Best Female Artist yang menyabet Grammy Award. Aku sangat bahagia karena dapat penghargaan kata-kata simple namun bermakna dalam itu. 
Perkataan ibu ku benar, aku bahagia lebih karena bisa melihat orang yang paling aku cintai terpuaskan hasrat makannya karena makanan yang aku buat sendiri memakai bumbu rahasia.
"Udah tahu ya bumbu rahasianya?"
Aku mengangguk pasti. Bumbu C. C.I.N.T.A. 
Terima kasih ya Alloh, Kau beri aku kemampuan memasak makanan enak. Membuatnya senang dan kenyang.

Kenang-kenangan di LIA Bubat BANDUNG

Assisting Students to Write an Introductory Paragraph of an Argumentative Essay Using Bloom’s Taxonomy’s Based Questions

     Name &Institution: Titih Ratih Safitri Ridwan, S.Pd / LBPP LIA Buah Batu Bandung

Ø Abstract

Writing is considered a somewhat tricky language skill since it forces the students to produce a piece of work that shows their thinking pattern. As a matter of fact, writing output equals students’ reading input; it means if they read a lot, they will write effortlessly. Meanwhile it seems that reading is still not students’ cup of tea which inevitably affects their ability as well as quality of writing.

Argumentative essay is the highest level of writing piece because students must persuade readers to believe in their thought. This kind of writing obliges them to expose and compile facts and formulate them into their belief written as a thesis statement. Besides, they also have to be able to state their mind clearly in an attempt of grabbing powerful opinions of the issue. In order to help them to construct a good introductory paragraph consisting general statements and a thesis statement, the writer uses leading questions based on Bloom taxonomy’s level of thinking.

This classroom action research applied three stages in data analysis, namely pre treatment; while first of all, students were assigned to write an introductory paragraph without the help of the leading questions. Then it came to the second assignment to write by the guidance of the leading questions until four times. In the final treatment students were given a questionnaire as a feed back to the writer.

Based on the findings, it shows that the comparisons between the students writing piece in the beginning without the guidance of the leading questions and those which are with the guidance are somewhat different. Before the treatment, students thinking pattern was tangle and unstructured. They simply stated what came to their mind without any consideration of putting the statements into a correct order. Meantime, having answered the leading questions for four times, the students began to show their ability to write smoothly. Their pieces of writing were written in a good order, narrowing down from the general statements to a specific one which is the thesis statement. Moreover, the result of the questionnaire showed that most of the students thought that the questions based on Bloom taxonomy were helpful.

To sum up, every teacher is supposed to be able to find a solution to each problem faced by students. Formulating and adapting Bloom taxonomy level of thinking is one of the solutions to help students construct an orderly introductory paragraph of an argumentative essay. It indicates that students are able to achieve certain level of language skill if they are guided from the lower stages to the higher ones.    

Ø Background

One of the language skills should be mastered by the students in our institution is writing. The students are expected to be able to do a writing piece well. They are demanded to apply the theory about writing they have learnt .However, the students find it uninteresting compared to other skills. They are reluctant to perform this assignment.   Furthermore this task requires the mastery language elements such as mastery of vocabulary, grammar and many more. They cannot write ideas systematically, narrowing down general ideas into specific ones. This condition results in unclear and hard to understand piece of the writing. As a result to be able to write well the students need to work hard and so do the teachers who should teach them how to write well. That is why, the writers decided to conduct a simple research, a classroom action research, by adapting Bloom’s taxonomy’s  question based  for assisting students in performing writing task.  We use the revised Bloom’s taxonomy because, according to, it provides an even more powerful tool to fit today’s teacher’s need. The structure of the Revised Taxonomy Table matrix "provides a clear, concise visual representation" (Krathwohl, 2002) of the alignment between standards and educational goals, objectives, products, and activities.

This study chooses students of LIA at level Intermediate three, which consists of 17 students during term three that started from early July until late September in 2010.. It looks a small sample, though; a large sample tends not to be as necessary apparently because linguistic behavior is more homogenous than any other types of behavior studied by surveys (Sankoff, 1980 cited in Rismanto, 1997: 8).

The technique of Bloom’s taxonomy’s question based was given before the students do the assignment. Hopefully, it would benefit the students in doing the assignment so they can produce a good piece of writing. This study was undertaken to find out whether the technique of bloom’s taxonomy’s questions’ based into assisting students to write an introductory paragraph works well. Research into one of language skills, especially writing, is worth doing since it will help students figure out the appropriate technique to write well. Specifically, this study narrows its scope into an argumentative essay, which requires more critical thinking from the students.  Last of all, this study is looked ahead to give an additional implication to English pedagogy and to enrich the reference of foreign language study too.

Ø Theoretical Framework

The most important factor in writing exercises is that students need to be personally involved in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implementation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning. With both the target area and means of production, clear in the teachers mind, the teacher can begin to consider how to involve the students by considering what type of activities are interesting to the students; Are they preparing for something specific such as a holiday or test?, Will they need any of the skills pragmatically? What has been effective in the past? A good way to approach this is by class feedback, or brainstorming sessions. By choosing a topic that involves the students the teacher is providing a context within which effective learning on the target area can be undertaken. 

Finally, the question of which type of correction will facilitate a useful writing exercise is of utmost importance. Here the teacher needs to once again think about the overall target area of the exercise. If there is an immediate task at hand, such as taking a test, perhaps teacher guided correction is the most effective solution. However, if the task is more general (for example developing informal letter writing skills), maybe the best approach would be to have the students work in groups thereby learning from each other. Most importantly, by choosing the correct means of correction the teacher can encourage rather discourage students.

The language skill investigated in this research is writing, in which the purpose of writing itself is argumentative essay. There are three core elements in an essay, namely first is an introductory paragraph, second is a body paragraph, and third is a concluding paragraph. The writers will merely focus on an introductory paragraph, which contains of two main components: general statements and a thesis statement.

In order to analyze the issue of this study, it will adept and modify Bloom’s taxonomy. According to Benjamin Bloom, and his colleagues, there are six levels of cognition:

1. Knowledge: rote memorization, recognition, or recall of facts
2. Comprehension: understanding what the facts mean
3. Application: correct use of the facts, rules, or ideas
4. Analysis: breaking down information into component parts
5. Synthesis: combination of facts, ideas, or information to make a new whole
6. Evaluation: judging or forming an opinion about the information or situation

Ideally, each of these levels should be covered in each course and, thus, at least one objective should be written for each level. Depending on the nature of the course, a few of these levels may need to be given more emphasis than the others.

Moreover, Bloom’s Taxonomy divides the way people learn into three domains. One of these is the cognitive domain, which emphasizes intellectual outcomes. This domain is further divided into categories or levels. The key words used and the type of questions asked may aid in the establishment and encouragement of critical thinking, especially in the higher levels.

In the writing process, Bloom’s Taxonomy may be viewed at two levels: Evidence and Argument. The first three objectives (Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application) correlate to evidence, while the last three educational objectives (Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation) correlate to argument. Therefore, the writer should be careful to pay attention to the action verbs in an assignment that signal each of the higher thinking skills associated with Bloom’s Taxonomy:

   Analysis: analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer.

   Synthesis: combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite

   Evaluation: assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize

Analysis refers to the ability “to break down material into its component parts” so that its “organizational structure” may be understood. This may include the “identification of parts, analysis of the relationship between parts”, and recognition of the “organizational principles involved”. Learning outcomes here represent a higher intellectual level than comprehension and application because they require an understanding of both the “content” and the “structural form” of the material. (K.Prabhakar: 2006).

 Synthesis refers to the “ability to put parts together to form a new whole”. This may involve the production of a unique communication (theme or speech), a plan of operations (research proposal), or a set of abstract relations (scheme for classifying information). In this area, creative behavior, with major emphasize on the formulation of new patterns or structure. write a well organized theme, gives a well organized speech writes a creative short story (or poem or music), propose a plan for an experiment, integrate learning from different areas into a plan for solving a problem, formulates a new scheme for classifying objects (or events, or ideas). (K.Prabhakar: 2006)

Evaluation is concerned with the ability to judge the value of material (statement, novel, poem, research report) for a given purpose. The judgments are to be based on definite criteria. The criteria may be internal criteria or external criteria. Learning outcomes in this area are highest in the cognitive hierarchy because they contain elements of all the other categories, plus conscious value judgments based on clearly defined criteria. judge the logical consistency of written material, judge the adequacy with which conclusions are supported by data, judge the value of a work (art, music, writing) by the use of internal criteria, judge the value of a work (art, music, writing) by use of external standards of excellence. (K.Prabhakar: 2006)

In accordance with the three chosen level of thinking skills namely analysis, synthesis, and evaluation; the writer has formulated approximately eight leading questions as follow:

1.    What is the topic of your essay?

2.    What are the ideas that you will include to support your topic?

3.    Which ideas will you choose to support your topic?

4.    Can you explain each of your chosen ideas into a sentence?

Those four preliminary questions are intended to lead the students to form the general statements. While the rest four questions are for the students to figure out the thesis statement, and they are the following:

5.    Is the topic arguable?

6.    What is your opinion about the topic?

7.    What is the thesis statement you can possibly draw from the topic?

8.    What alternatives can you propose to the issue of the topic? 

Therefore, this research is purposed to answer the following questions: 

·         Can the students write a good introductory paragraph with a good thesis statement?

·         Is giving Bloom’s taxonomy questions based before writing the introductory paragraph effective?

Ø Data Analysis

a. Pre Treatment

In gathering primary data, the writers will distribute a list of Bloom’s taxonomy’s questions’ based to the object of this study. This stage will endure at least five times.

Before I began the treatment, I actually conducted a trial. After explaining about introductory paragraph of an argumentative essay, I assigned the students to write an introductory paragraph with a free topic that they like the purpose was of course in order that they did it effortlessly as well as wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, the result showed that most of them did not write smoothly; they found it difficult ordering their ideas to general statements to the thesis statement. Their sentences were often are not related to one another and not represented the topic and the title itself. The thesis statement was not specific and not in full sentence and not written as the main idea of the paragraph.

The first treatment was conducted on August 18^th 2010 wherein there were only four students coming. Actually, I did not question why the rest of them were absent that day. I then just focused on them in giving instructions what to do. I distributed a piece of leading questions to each pupil and I had them listen to my explanation. I exposed the first question which is about the topic that they would have. In the first two treatments, I was the one who decided the topic with the aim of easing students to construct their ideas to the writing; to make them not too long deciding the topic they are into.

The second treatment was on August 23^rd 2010. There were eleven students attending the class and were assigned to follow the previous instruction in order to fill out the piece of leading questions. They seemed understand that they would put their answers of the questions to the introductory paragraph, exactly the same as they answered. But somehow there were a few of them still not able to follow the instruction precisely.

The third treatment was carried out on August 25^th 2010. There were thirteen students coming and did the assignment.

The four and last treatment was given on September 1^st 2010. There were fourteen students conducting the same treatment as the former ones. And this time, they did not need any more explanation about how to answer and put the answers into the paragraph. To sum up, they were getting used to the procedure.  

b. Whilst Treatment

After the students answer the questions, they were assigned to write an introductory paragraph.

In the first treatment, in which there were only four students attending, they seemed bewildered since they had to answer the questions first right before they were allowed to write the paragraph. They still had no idea how to answer the questions which actually would lead them to write the paragraph that they want to. In other words, answering the questions is quite similar to building an outline before writing, yet it is more specific since they have to answers that would be written in their paragraph later on.

In the second treatment, eleven students followed the instruction of how to answer the leading questions and exposed to the purpose of the techniques as well so that they were motivated to do so.

Twelve students attended the third treatment; as the previous activity, they had to answer the leading questions systematically. They were free to choose the topic they were interested at.

In the last treatment, fourteen students followed the former instruction. They were getting used to do all the procedure; answering the questions began from the lowest number to the highest one systematically.   

c. Post Treatment

            The last stage is the data analysis. The data gained is in the form of students’ writing pieces focused merely on an introductory paragraph.

Ø Result and Discussion

1.    Comparison between the guided piece of writing and non guided piece of writing

As mentioned previously, the initial treatment given to the students was that they had to write an introductory paragraph conventionally or after being taught about how to write well they were assigned right away. And the result was quite disappointing since it shows students’ lack ability in arranging and narrow-downing the general statements into a thesis statement in a good order. They were also found perplexed to decide their position in one problematic and intriguing topic, even this nuisance was found in topic they were into.

When it comes to the first treatment, students were found slightly surprised to fill out the form of leading questions. They made some mistakes because of their misunderstanding; they did not utilize the answers in order to build the introductory paragraph. It seemed that the leading questions were futile and clueless for them. Nevertheless, I explained the procedure over and over again until they found it meaningful and they were consistent to write their answers in the whole paragraph. In the second time they were getting used to the technique; they were busy answering entire questions. And they did the same way in the third and last treatment.

From their writing pieces of the first treatment, there was half of the students’ result show that they were new to the technique. Compared to the proceeding results indicated that they were quite accustomed to the procedure and they were familiar with the type of questions. In the last two treatments, they were able to be plunged to do it by themselves.

In term of the ability to arrange their idea into a good order to construct an introductory paragraph, the students’ before treatment writing pieces were found too many flaws and mistakes in determining the general statements and deciding the thesis statement. They were not able to put their idea into a good structure. In the meantime, the treatment writing results show that they grab the understanding and comprehension regarding the process of building a good introductory paragraph. It can be seen that they took the procedure of answering the leading questions into consideration; in other words, they found it was a fruitful attempt.   

2.    Implication of students’ view of the technique from the questionnaire

Right after the last treatment given to the students, they were asked to answer the questionnaire regarding the technique. At that time, there were fourteen students coming. The questionnaire itself consisted of five questions, the first one is are all the questions understandable?. Thirteen students answered yes. The second question is are there difficult questions? (what number?). Eight students answered yes. One of them chose question number one and eight as difficult ones. Two students thought number seven and eight as difficult questions, the other two students preferred only number eight. Question number three is Do the questions help you to write an introductory paragraph? Thirteen students answered yes. The fourth question is After answering the questions so far, do you think you can construct a thesis statement easily? Twelve students answered yes. The last question is Do you think you can write an introductory paragraph without the help of the questions? Eight out of fourteen students answered yes.

According to the result of questionnaire, it indicates that most of the students have found the technique of answering the leading questions based on Bloom taxonomy is helpful. They were helped by their answers of the questions in order to form a well-arranged introductory paragraph. 

  

Ø Conclusion

          In every assignment, students need to be led by the teacher in order to achieve the goal that has been determined. The teacher’s help will inevitably release them from ambiguity and shackle to understand certain task and execute particular language skill performance. Writing argumentative essay is one of the most complicated skills to obtain since it comprises the thinking process and the determining position of belief. The process of treatment was aimed to meet students’ need to revise their writing pieces. Writing thesis statements that are clear and precise requires this kind of careful revision. The revision process should be continued until the student has no further ideas of how to make the thesis statement more detailed. This research has achieved what it desires to gain, which is helping students at level Intermediate three to write introductory paragraph of an argumentative essay effortlessly. As a matter of fact, the list of leading questions formulated and adapted from Bloom taxonomy is effective for students to construct general statements as well as a thesis statement in a good order of thinking.

Ø References

Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. Copyright (c) 1984 by Pearson Education.
Adapted by permission of the publisher.

Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives, Handbook I: The cognitive domain. New York: David McKay.

Bloom B. S. Taxonomy of educational objectives.

Paul, R. W. (1985a). Bloom's taxonomy and critical thinking instruction, Educational Leadership (Vol. 42, pp. 36): Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Rismanto. (1997). Students’ Communicative Competence in Classroom-Activities: An Ethnographic Study of The Fourth Grade Students of English Education Department of IKIP Bandung.  English Education Department, UPI: Unpublished Paper.

http://learners.ncu.edu/writingprogram/writing_center.aspx?menu_id=84

http://www.odu.edu/educ/llschult/blooms_taxonomy.htm

South Carolina State Department of Education (2005). Myscschools.com: South Carolina State Department of Education: Taxonomy for teaching, learning, and assessing: (A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives). Retrieved March 12, 2005 from http://www.myscschools.com/offices/cso/enhance/Taxonomy_Table.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/15/us/benjamin-bloom-86-a-leader-in-the-creation-of-head-start.html?pagewanted=1

Ø  APPENDIX

No.		Leading Questions	Your Answers
1	G E N E R A L S T A T E M E N T S	What is the topic of your essay?
2		What are the ideas that you will include to support your topic?
3		Which ideas will you choose to support your topic?
4		Can you explain each of your chosen ideas into a sentence? (write them into sentences)
5	T H E S I S S T A T E M E N T	Is the topic arguable?
6		What is your opinion about the topic?
7		What is the thesis statement you can draw from the topic?
8		What alternatives can you propose to the issue of the topic? (e.g. I believe there are two ways to …)

No	Questionnaire	Answers
		Yes	No
1	Are all the questions understandable?
2	Are there difficult questions? (what number?)
3	Do the questions help you to write an introductory paragraph?
4	After answering the questions so far, do you think you can construct a thesis statement easily?
5	Do you think you can write an introductory paragraph without the help of the questions?

  *Special huge thanks delivered to Bunda Bu Sri Wahyuni Sachria for the help, guidance and inspiration. I love you...