Jane Eyre, Eva Luna, Pride and Prejudice and Fairy-tales: Way more than stories allowing for identification.
Just like Jane Eyre, Eva Luna travels from town to town meeting new characters and their lifestyles. After each journey, a new stage in Jane and Eva's lives begins and their personalities evolve.
Along their lives they create life, their lives, and they create the world, guided by their inner force, that force which G. B. Shaw talked about. But they create two worlds which are miles apart, one of them is in the north hemisphere and the other one in the south. However, these characters grow up in a similar way, experiencing similar feelings and learning to fight and defend themselves from those who are prejudiced against them.
When talking about prejudice, we cannot help to allude to Elizabeth's clashes with Lady Catherine or Mr. Darcy and so we can infer that prejudice against women must be something taking place around the globe.
Although Isabel Allende must have read Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen's novels, I don't really think she was inspired in such stories when she wrote Eva Luna at all. Yet, the similarities among all the women in these works are there, quite explicitly displayed. This might indicate that women's experiences are basically quite the same regardless their age, nationality or ethnicity. We can even compare these characters to those from fairy tales and other short stories; all of them suffer from prejudice: the princess who loves whistling, Cinderella for being poor and an orphan, the little mermaid for being a day dreamer who will not settle for life under the sea, Desiree for being thought not to be purely white, the Wife of Bath for being considered a prostitute, etc. Now, talking about fairy tales and short stories, the difference between them is, basically, that one is aimed to allow for identification, and the other one is not.
But can we help feeling identified with these princesses at any extent? We might feel tempted to sort of force the similarities between our lives and these heroines' but somehow, those similarities are there and can be seen, identification inevitably takes place.
Reading all these works helped me appreciate this brunch of literary criticism which I was so prejudiced against: feminist criticism, and it now seems to me a most fascinating world, apart from a wonderful way of reading allowing for identification to take place.
Dear Editor,
I'm writing to share my feelings towards the place I live in.
I live in Rosario City, downtown, only a few blocks away from hectic Cordoba Street, but my block is actually pretty quiet. There are schools, cyber-cafés and enough shops to buy anything you need, but the great thing about them is that they all shut down early in the afternoon, helping the atmosphere to achieve a nice, pleasant siesta mood.
My street is full of tall tress and that's why it is specially cool in summer afternoons. It's quite a picturesque place, crowded with nice colonial houses inhabited by very sweet and kind people. Very "fairy-tale-like", in fact.
However, at night, it's a different story. Insecurity has affected the whole of the city and my beloved place in the world has been no exception. If when the day is bright and shiny you would expect bumping into Little Red Riding Hood, when the sun goes dow, you're most likely to meet the wolf. This is because the street lightening does not work well; and no one seems willing to fix it! This is terrible because it helps criminals rob and go without much trouble. In the last five years, my neighbours have been victims of all types of crimes: pick-pocketing, burglaries, car theft, etc.,etc.
I can't say I don't like my neighbourhood - apart from insecurity there's not much else I can complain about - but I kinda want to live a peaceful life, you know, free of worries and fears. This is mainly why in the future, I would like to leave the neighbourhood, even the city perhaps. These decisions are difficult to make, but I must admit that I wouldn't go on living here, not for the world. I would move far, far away to a quieter and safer place.
Unfortunately, I have the feeling I'm not the only one who feels this way, perhaps other will share my views.
I hope that I can read about my peers' experience in this subject too.
Yours faithfully,
...
TASK: YOU HAVE READ AN ARTICLE IN A GENERAL INTEREST MAGAZINE. THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE, WHICH GIVES ITS GIST IS: “Chilean miracle: a story of greed, a story of human greatness.”
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR RESPONDING TO THE POINTS RAISED IN THE ARTICLE AND EXPRESSING YOUR VIEWS.
Dear Sir,
I wish to congratulate you on your article “Chilean miracle: a story of greed, a story of human greatness” which was published last Sunday.
First of all, I would like to say that your analysis on the mine business in Chile was most thought-provoking. I speak as one of those millions of people watched the rescue of the 33 miners without realising that far from a miracle, what happened at Copiapó was not but the result of human greed. I was shocked to become aware of the wild precarious conditions under which miners have to work; and even more upset I became to find out that such conditions are not improved in order for companies to be able to tighten their belts and obtain higher profits than the ones they would receive if they sticked to mine safety and health conventions.
Nonetheless, it was a breath of fresh air to read about the huge efforts that the Chilean people and the international community have made in order to rescue the 33 lives on a completely disinterested and cooperative basis.
Before congratulating you once again, I only want to say that I hope that this letter will, provided they still haven’t done so, induce other readers to read your work and become aware, as well as I did last Sunday, of the whole story behind the Chilean miracle.
TASK: YOU HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING AUDIOVISUAL AIDS WITH YOUR PEDAGOGY LECTURER, SHE HAS ASSIGNED AN ESSAY ON THE BENEFITS OF MUSIC ON LANGUAGE 2 LEARNING. WRITE YOUR ESSAY.
Nowadays, the use of audiovisual aids in the English classroom has become naturalized. But although even the older generations of teachers have adapted their lesson plans to include this kind of didactic materials, there are still many educators who refuse to make use of some audiovisual aids in their lessons; especially music. However, the benefits of using this sort of input in lessons of English cannot be overlooked.
Recent resarch has shown that music patterns – and chanting in particular – resemble the underlying structures in our brains, thus making music naturally appealing to all human beings. Apart from this, it has been acknowledged that music helps people to calm down.
Furthermore, we should bear in mind that playing music at lessons of Englishc can be profitable in a number of ways. Firstly, musical support is a most valuable resource through which culture can beshared: playing typical American or British songs is a wonderful way to create positive feelings towards the target language. Secondly, using music to introduce an exercise, for example, is a good way to activate prior knowledge, since it helps students to make associations. Last but not least, including songs in the English classroom results in the creation of contexts for our teaching, which prove meaningful for students of all ages.
However, there is a common assumption among some people - older and more traditional teachers in general - that since auditory aids were not used in the past and students learnt all the same, music is a source of input that can be dispensed with.
There might be some truth in this argument, but it cannot be denied that working with music in the English classroom is a fruitful and motivating way of teaching, apart from a meaningful and enjoyable way of learning.
Tonight I'm very moved, I've enjoyed a wonderful day and been through a wonderful experience: today I went to Jerome Bruner's conference at Patio de la Madera. Not only I heard him say enlightening things about education, which I will soon write about, but I have also had the wonderful and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of talking to him in person, one on one. After his speech, the organizers allowed assistants to ask questions, but time had ran out and I lost the opportunity to participate. However, being cara rota as I am, when the conference finished and as Bruner got up and headed for the exit, I approached him and dared to talk to him. As politely as it was possible, I touched his shoulder to draw his attention and said: "Mr. Bruner, Mr. Bruner.." He turned around.
- "May I ask you a question?"
- "Of course."
He bowed his head and came closer to me so that I could ask my question in his ear. He answered. After his answer he told me and the people who had gathered around us a few anecdotes. He said that we had to start thinking about things in different ways, that he was pleased to see us approaching life in a different way, being open to new ideas, wanting to change things. When saying this, he held my hand and shook it. I was more than pleased, there's no need to say. A group of girls wanted to ask him a question as well, but didn't know how to speak English, so I translated. They wanted to know what he thought about how to approach education whith children whose basic needs cannot be satisfied, he talked about poverty. He talked about school and poverty in America, and then one more anecdote.
The tone of his voice, his grandpa look and the sweetness in his words, his appreciation for our being there at the conference, listening to him, I will never forget. How lucky I was today to speak to someone whom I admire so much I will never forget either. This experience was unbelievable and I want to thank my teachers at St. Bartholomew's Teaching Training Course for having introduced me to the ideas of this wonderful and kind man. I want to "thank" myself for having beaten my deeply rooted inhibitions as well. And I want to thank this man for having spoken his ideas out loud. On a more personal and emotional basis, I want to thank him for having being so kind and so nice to me. Finally, I want to say I only hope that in the future we will be able to apply his ideas and fight for what we all need, better education, no more, no less.
TASK: The oil industry is causing irreparable harm in the environment.
Do you agree with this view? Write your essay.
PETROLEUM, which is often referred to as “black gold”, is a natural resource that accounts for a very large percentage of energy consumption in the world. This is why its extraction, refining and marketing have become vital to many industries. In the last decades, several wars between nations have broken out over the dispute for this type of fuel; but far from being only a source of political worries among some countries, it also represents a critical concern for humanity as a whole.
Oil is toxic to almost all forms of life; therefore, it provokes a large number of environmental issues: it contributes to the production of acid rain and climactic changes and to make matters worse, when things go wrong in the extraction or the transportation of petroleum from one region to another, crude spills occur and petroleum is released into the ocean or coastal waters inflicting irreparable harm in the environment. Not only water itself, but also flora and fauna populations are deeply affected.
In first place, water is most of the times renderred undrinkable, but because oil floats on top of the water, and as less sunlight penetrates into it, the process of photosynthesis of marine plants and phytoplankton is limited as well. While photosynthesis is the main means by which organic compounds and oxygen are produced, phytoplankton is a producer component in the plankton community, i.e one of the first and most necessary elements in the food chain. Unfortunately and thanks to oil spills is that large numbers of plants and wildlife are killed.
Regrettably, most of the damages produced by the contact between oil and the environment are the result of human negligence, which means that they could be prevented, if proper action was taken. The accident that took place in the Gulf of Mexico last May accounts for evidence that it is easier and cheaper for companies to share the costs of environmental damage with society than to invest on preventive contingency planning and take security measures. There is also a common belief that the reason underlying the lack of responsibility shown by petroleum companies is that their only aim is to profit from oil activity, thus disregarding the damages that they might inflict in the environment. Personally, I am inclined to believe that companies should take the decision of assuming their social responsibility and take the measures needed to stop damaging our planet.
TASK: Describe the old man's bedroom from the "Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Alan Poe.
"It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! Would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously - oh, so cautiously."
From the position in which I laid I had studied the room, carefully scrutinized every single detail and ornament. If I lubricated the door's hinges, next time thy would not make a noise, I was not to be given away. The planks from the rich oak flooring were old and squeaky so I had to be most cautious in my moves. The bed, huge and cossy, laid outstandingly in the middle of the room, it was the only place in the whole house that could hold any warmth. The sheets were made of Eyptian cotton and the covers were full of white feathers, I could see some of them sneaking through little holes in the cloth when I made the bed. The springs in the mattress would clink if the old man moved; and I'd know then that I had to be more careful than ever. The walls were papered in dark, musky green. The shutters from the tall windows were closely fastened through fear of robbers; heavy crimson curtains hung from the top of the brownish ceiling. The light of my lantern could not be seen by the neighbours outside. To my delight, there was nothing to worry about. If I was careful enough, I would manage not to disturb the room's serene atmosphere, and thus, I would triumph.
TASK:Describe one of the characters from “A Rose for Emily.”
A ROSE for Emily is a story that revolves around the insanity that leads a most peculiar lady to kill the love of her life. The attractive and interesting Homer Barron is the terrible victim of Miss Emily’s passionate crime.
Homer Barron’s voice was big and attractive and his eyes lighter than his face; he was a big, dark, ready foreman yankee who had travalled together with niggers, mules and machinery all the way from the north of the USA to establish in Jefferson and work for a construction company.
Barron was an agreeable pretty person. He soon knew everybody in town - the little boys would follow in groups to hear him cuss the niggers and whenever a lot of laughing was heard anywhere about the square, Homer Barron would be there; in the center of the group.
Eventually he would start dating Miss Emily; the people in town could see them go out in a glittering yellow-wheeled buggy on Sunday afternoons. He, cigar in his teeth, reins and whip in yellow glove, a cocked hat in his head. She, with her head high, very high. They seemed happy.
The yankee and his couple were liked; everybody thought that they would marry some day. But Homer Barron was not a marrying man: he drank with younger men at the Elk’s club and there were also rumours that he liked them better than he liked women.
Task: You have applied for the position of researcher with a TV company that prepares docummentaries about problems in our country. In addition to submitting your letter of application and CV, you have been requested to produce an essay on one of the following issues: water shortage, insecurity, poverty, illegal substance abuse. Your essay has to include:
- an overview of the chosen issue
- its consequences
- your evaluation of the solutions that have been proposed so far or that should be proposed.
Write your essay.
10/09/2010
POVERTY has become one of the most burning issues in our country. About 30 per cent of the population is currently living under the poverty line. They suffer from hunger and they lack not only shelter but also access to education and job opportunities. To make matters worse, the consequences of poverty are felt in our society as a whole; it seems that over the last years this issue has lead to an increase on the abuse of illegal substances and also and consequently on crime rates.
As social tension in Argentina grows higher and higher, it also becomes more obvious that action to solve the problem of poverty should be immediately taken. This is why some people, who believe that marginality is the product of high income inequality levels and that it should be battled by means of a fairer distribution of wealth, have pronounced themselves in favor of a reorientation of government expenditure towards the provision of quality services for the community; they believe that a more inclusive society requires that everyone should have access to benefits such as adequate health care and education.
However, although this argument has a superficial logic to it, we must acknowledge that for people to access such benefits, they need to earn a reasonable minimum wage income; it is therefore clear that further action should be taken. Personally, I believe that it would be sensible for the State to ensure a higher minimum income for the population.
TASK: Imagine today it is 19th August 2060, you are in your 70s, your grandchildren need articles for their high-school magazine and they have asked you to produce one in which you take stock about the problem of pollution as it was when you were in your 20s, as it was addressed over the years and as it is now. Write you article.
KEEP IT UP
19/08/2010
NOWADAYS, our main concern regarding pollution revolves around how to solve the problem of litter. But this is so only because of the fact that environmental awareness has been rising throughout the years.
At the beginning of the century, the environmental situation was critical. The damage produced to the Earth, which had led to severe air, soil, and water contamination seemed irreversible. Fortunately, during the past sixty years people have become environmentally friendly and legislation has been enacted to regulate pollution. Little by little, both the purchase and the production of hazardous products has been replaced by that of recyclable, biodegradable and organic ones. At the same time, eco-friendly alternatives to waste disposal have arisen, as well as petrochemical spills and the release of poisonous chemicals by underground leakage have been banned.
Litter is a minor problem now which can be easily tackled, but so as to go on protecting our wolrd, it is most necessary to keep up the good work that has been done throughout the last decades.
When we look up “insecurity” in the dictionary we find definitions such as: “The condition or quality of being insecure; lack of safety; danger; hazard”; “The anxiety you experience when you feel vulnerable and insecure” or “The state of being subject to danger or injury.” However, when we talk about it, we refer simultaneously to two concepts: one of them is objective and linked to the criminal events that occur on a daily basis. These events are measured by crime statistics which inform us of the insecurity rate. For example, the UN analyzes insecurity according to the rate per 100,000 habitants of intentional homicides, figures provided by the Pan American Health Organization studying health situation in the Americas and Basic Indicators from 2008. According to this source, Argentina has a rate of 5.3 points, one of the lowest together with Peru (3.0), Bolivia (3.7) and Uruguay (4.7) and in comparison to Colombia with 45.5 points, Venezuela with 32.5 points and Brasil with 26.2 points. But we have to bear in mind that in Columbia the insecurity rate is high because of the high proportion of drug dealers. Similarly, Brasil also has an ever-increasing rate due to demographic reasons and criminal activity itself. So far we have talked about mere figures.
The other concept connected with insecurity, however, is subjective and has to do with what people feel about this predicament. This perception is the result of both what people experience and hear about how vulnerable we all are in the presence of attackers. In addition to this, People have the impression that we are not safe because the media constantly bombard us with alarming pieces of news.
All in all, insecurity is regarded in our country from two viewpoints. Same believe that it is objective and theefore real while others sustain that it is subjective and then just a sensation mainly created by the media.
CAUSES
In the past, crimes were commeted mainly because the downtrodden didn´t have Access to education. In addition to this, income inequality, that is the unfair distribution of wealth, led many people to perpetrate offenses against property and people´s lives.
At present, this situation hasn´t considerably changed. On the contrary, insecurity is on the rise. This is so as there are many unemployed people who resort to crime to live by and to feed their famalies. Another reason that contributes to the increase in criminal activity is linked with the onset of drug dealing. To make matters worse, some police officers are so corrupt that they accept bribes and help criminals to get away with their crimes, leaving society defenseless.
TYPES OF CRIMES
Regardless whether this is an objective statistic or a subjective perception, when we think about insecurity, we reckon different kinds of thefts. Related to vehicles, we can find three different kinds of crimes: Hijack, which is to use violence or threats to take control of a plane, vehicle, or ship and bicycles and car thefts. Car theft has considerably increased in Argentina. And this is so because of the illegal business of the spare parts. When in need to buy a spare part for a car, we have two options: the first one is to buy it in an authorized shop and the second one is to buy stolen spare parts in a clandestine shop. The main difference between such options is prices: the legal store is more expensive than the illegal one. Unfortunately, as a large number of people opt to buy spare parts in an unauthorized shop, the demand increases and the whole business thrives. For instance, junk yards, the places where cars are divided into parts, have multiplied across our country. Finally, the most serious consequence produced by this illegitimate commerce is the growing violence perpetrated by thieves. Such mindless violence is seen when thieves assault car owners to steal their vehicles. In doing so, criminals severely wound or, still worse, murder innocent drivers. Inevitably, car crimes are going to be on the rise if we carry on purchasing stolen car parts. Sadly, last week we heard on the news the case of Diego Deandreis. Diego was a 22-year-old Federal Police officer was shot dead when he resisted a robbery attempt outside his house in the Buenos Aires province town of Pilar, police said. The heist took place at 1am, when Diego Emanuel Deandreis was arriving home in his car. After shooting him twice, the two robbers snatched his weapon and fled. Later, two youths, aged 23 and 17, were arrested in connection with the case.
There are also property crimes, or robberies, when money or other things are stolen from a bank, shop, etc. Under this category we can find burglaries, which consist in illegally entering a house or office. This is one of the most usual crimes and one that has increased throughout the years, even in gated neighbourhoods where security should be assured. Shoplifting, for example, is the crime of taking things from shops without paying for them. The ones who commit this illegal act are sometimes kleptomaniacs, such as Winona Ryder, a famous actress who cannot control her mental illness of stealing things. Last but not least, there is lotting, stealing things from shops or other buildings, especially during a war or at a time when the police or army have lost control of an area. This is something that happened in Argentina as a consequence of the economic crisis of 2001.
Something that is alarmingly increasing is bank robbery. In the past only professionals dared to rob banks after years of careful study. That’s why they weren’t so usual. Today, it’s not strange to read in the newspaper that more and more ‘inexpert’ thieves break in banks. However, there are also ‘expert’ thieves who very carefully plan a bank robbery. For example, last March, in the Banco Macro robbery, about 218 safe deposit boxes were opened. In addition, criminals wrote on a wall that they were the architects of “the millennium theft”. The attackers wrote in the walls with broken bricks a phrase like “it’s not the robbery of the century, but that of the millennium”, referring to the Acasusso bank robbery in January 13th 2006. Although bank assaults, as well as robberies in general don’t involve threat or force against a victim, sometimes, victims are attacked, only that outside the building, after making banking transactions. Such is the recent case of Carolina Piparo, who was assaulted and the victim of a bank-exit hold-up. She was shot by two robbers who were on a motorbike. The woman was pregnant and had to undergo a Cesarean section to give birth to her baby, who died last Thursday.
People are also attacked in the streets. When a person’s money or things are stolen by someone else who uses threats or violence to do so, we say that he or she has been robbed or got mugged. Another kind of crime is snatching- we’ve heard many times of people whose bags or rucksacks were snatched. And then there are also pick-pocketters, people who are so well trained that their victims don’t even notice when their cell phones or wallets are being stolen.
SOLUTIONS
In Argentina, insecurity is one of the most controversial state of affairs, apart from an issue that worries the whole of the population. All these types of crime that we have been talking about are far from alien to us and have been part of our social reality for quite a long time now. Almost all of us have been “touched” by insecurity in one way or another and this is why this subject arouses such strong feelings. Everybody is talking about it, insecurity is a matter that has become vox populi. People who are more conservative, strongly believe that positive measures should be taken to battle crime, such as sending criminals to jail regardless their age. Some famous celebrities have made some strong declarations in this respect, asking for “mano dura”. Other people consider that preventive measures should be taken instead. These measures, such as providing employment, education and health care for the poorest people - who are who tend to commit crimes - are based on a better distribution of the nation’s wealth and consist in allowing for the satisfaction of people’s needs before they have to resort to commit crimes for satisfying their needs.
CONCLUSION
We’ve talked about what insecurity is, we have questioned whether it is a perception or mere reality, also of which types of crime it is related to, and we agree that this is a subject that worries us all and arouses strong feelings. Being aware of all of these issues related to insecurity and acknowledging which its causes are, we consider that we may attempt put forward our opinion in respect to how we think that insecurity should be fought. Personally, we believe that preventive measures should be taken, that money should be spent mostly in education, that job opportunities should be created for all the people and that drug dealing should be fought. We also consider crime should be strongly penalized after committed as well, only that criminals should be kept in better prisons where their integrity is not threatened and where their behaviour is corrected.
Techonological progress seems to be tearing our social relationships apart. An example of this is the fact that we tend not to meet our family members or friends as often as we used to in times when Facebook was far from being the most popular drug and when communication via e-mail, text messages and networking were unthinkable. For us to keep in touch with those we love, it is as if -instead of talking face-to-face - texting and emailing was becoming the new trendy way. Extra-hours at work or school are little by little being replaced by the use of Google Docs and instead of gossipping and spreading the latest news by word of mouth, we just resort to Facebook and chat or blog about them in the most beloved net.
WHEN we think about the typical family situation in Argentina, images from those Coca-Cola advertisements in red and yellow come to mind: always but always two parents - mum and dad - and two children. However, as a consequence of recent economic and socio-cultural changes in our country, new working tendencies and social life-styles which were formerly unusual, or even considered politically and morally incorrect, have become commonplace and have crafted new family bonds and prototypes that make us reconsider the nature and form of the picture-perfect family. If there exists any picture-perfect family at all, that is.
New Life-Styles and Working Trends
Especially after the economic crisis in 2001, with the consequent decline in the living standard for most of the population, some couples have had to financially support and look after their elderly parents, having no choice but to add them to their nuclear family. Moreover, possibly due to greater sexual liberty but combined with lack of information on birth control, many teenage couples that undergo unplanned pregnancies need to be joined to a nuclear family too; for they are still not economically ready to move out and they themselves and their babies need to be looked after for a little longer.
There are also people who are left alone without a partner and raise their offspring on their own; as well as there are widows or widowers and divorced parents that re-marry and start new families joining the children from former marriages to those who are fruit of a new relationship. Additionally, more and more women in modern society are thinking it twice before saying “Yes, I do” and - even if they do decide to marry - prefer to focus on their careers and put off or even forgo motherhood. At the other end of the spectrum, there are couples, as well as single women or men, who fervently desire to have children but are physically unable to do so and who resort to adoption, in vitro fertilization or less conventional methods such as surrogate mothers to start a family.
New Family Types
These changes in lifestyles are some of the reasons why we are witnessing the emergence of new family configurations: extended families; single mums, single dads; step families; live-in couples; dual-income-no-kids families; adoptive families, disfunctional families. Plus, a bill legalizing same-sex marriage with child adoption rights was signed into law on 26th Thursday, giving reason why further new family types will soon be part of our Argentinian reality. The marketing people at Coca-Cola should bear these changes in mind and rethink their branding strategy since our idea of the mum-dad-Tomi-and-Luli family as the typical family is most likely to change in the future.
Reconsidering the Concept of Family
Whether we like it or not, it is a fact that the “red and yellow” model has been agreed to be the very one that represents families only by convention, while it cannot really be said that there is one specific type that stands for them all. Experience shows that rather than be based on what it should be like, i.e its politically and morally correct form, a family’s configuration is based on its nature – what it is. Therefore, we should start to think about the concept of family in more private terms.
The Way Forward
Hopefully, when we think about the typical family situation in Argentina in the future, we will be able to think of a multicolour picture created by the ordinary people in which all family configurations will be included. For those of us who believe that conventionality is not morality, much less commonplace, it is comforting to know that family will no longer be Coke’s affair.
(TASK: “What is the typical family situation in your country today?
• Have there been any significant changes over the last decade? • What are the probable reasons? • How do you feel about these things?”)
Something that worries me is the widespread overuse of the Internet; resulting from the Technology Revolution which our world is undergoing. Thanks to instant messaging programmes - such as Windows Live Messenger - and to well-known social networks like Facebook or Twitter, we are losing the habit of talking face-to-face to other people. What's worse, we are losing the habit of hardly talking at all. Now, we can chat with anyone from anywhere in the world without having to pay fat phone bills, let alone writing letters or sending postcards! We can post a picture of us on the beach or write how our holidays are going in someone's wall on Facebook in only a few clicks. Also, even though we have to admit that websites like Wikipedia are wonderful tools for doing research, with their appearance we have lost all interest in flickring through the colourful papaer pages of actual encyclopedias, not to mention that we don't look up words in the dictionary anymore. Whenever we have some free time, instead of going to the park for a walk, we spend it reading the on-line newspapers and even the poor and forgotten television. I sometimes feel that, rather than shortening distances and facilitating our lives, the Internet is somehow threatening our communication and preventing us from doing things that used to be very healthy and pleasant.
TASK: Write a paragraph using vocabulary related to health The end of the term is almost here and most probably things are starting to get on top of you. You feel bad tempered and the tension growing inside you is making your body ache from head to foot. Some would recommend your going on a balanced diet or taking some nutritional supplement to strengthen your body and get rid of the stress. But man does not live by bread alone and we believe that there are other and easy-to-follow tricks that you can try to change your state of mind in only a few minutes. For example, doing breathing excercises. Do three short inhales through your nose without exhaling. On the first one, lift your arms from the sides straight out to the front and up to the height of your shoulder. On the second one, open your arms to the sides – at the shoulder height too – and on the third, lift your arms over your head. Then, exhale through your mouth and move back your arms to the sides in an arc. Repeat the sequence three or four times. This excercise helps your body open your mind and spirit in only 10 minutes. Something else you can try is taking a 15-minute walk around the campus or your neighbourhood at a quiet time of the day, say early in the morning or after dinner. Stretch a bit afterwards. Apart from relaxed you’ll feel that your mind is actually clearer. Last but not least, listen to music! Make a short playlist in your cellphone or computer including quiet songs and listen to them laying in bed. You can browse “Signs” by Bloc Party – the original version from the album “Intimacy”; “Satellite” by Dave Matthew’s Band and “Island of Wonder” or “Childhood Dreams” by Nelly Furtado – their calm and sweet notes will help you chill out.
Macrofunction: Mainly directive but also informative. Source: Seventeen Magazine. Intended addressee: School or college young girls. Register: Standard English: Common core with instances of colloquiality.
(TASK: Describe an issue with global impact that worries you.)
Once upon a time in the Caribbean, there was a pirate named Ronnie who hunted for treasures under the sea. Ronnie was great at hunting treasures; every year he found many chests full of gold and precious stones. One day, he found one particularly big treasure. It was huge! Ronnie was very excited! He couldn’t wait to open the chest. So, he pulled from a rope that was tied to the chest. He pulled and pulled, but the chest was too heavy... So he tried to pull harder once more, and he pulled and pulled but the chest didn’t move. He realized then that it was impossible for him to pull the chest on his own, so, he decided to call his many friends under the sea. First, he called the rainbowfish. Ronnie pulled the chest and the rainbowfish pulled Ronnie, together they pulled and pulled, but the chest didn’t move. The poor rainbowfish was too small and he wasn’t of much help, so Ronnie had an idea, he called the shark, who was very big and strong! They tried once again. Ronnie pulled the chest, the rainbowfish pulled Ronnie, the shark pulled the rainbowfish, together they pulled, pulled and pulled... But...the chest didn’t move. So they called another animal, the seahorse. Ronnie pulled the chest, the rainbowfish pulled Ronnie, the shark pulled the rainbowfish and the seahorse pulled the shark. Together they pulled, pulled and pulled...but the chest didn’t move. So they said, “Well now, we must call Octie, with his eight legs he WILL be able to help us.” So they called the octopus. Ronnie pulled the chest, the rainbowfish pulled Ronnie, the shark pulled the rainbowfish, the seahorse pulled the shark and the octopus pulled the shark. Together they pulled and pulled again, but the chest didn’t come out. So they called the whale, which was hugee! They said “Now yes, the chest WILL come out.” So the whale pulled the octopus, the octopus pulled the seahorse, the seahorse pulled the shark, the shark pulled the rainbowfish, the rainbowfish pulled Ronnie, Ronnie pulled the chest, together they pulled and pulled but the chest didn’t move. (+ the starfish; the jellyfish; the crab; the dolphin) (...) When they realized, all the seanimals had been called to help Ronnie the Pirate, and they were all there, ready to pull stronger than ever. The dolphin pulled the crab, the crab pulled the jellyfish, the jellyfish pulled the starfish, the starfish pulled the whale, the whale pulled the octopus, the octopus pulled the seahorse, the seahorse pulled the shark, the shark pulled the rainbowfish, the rainbowfish pulled Ronnie. Together they pulled, they pulled and they pulled and the chest... The chest come out of the sand and there it was! Together with all the sea animals Ronnie managed to pull the chest out of the ground. He was so excited!! He opened the chest and inside a great treasure was hidden, it was all shiny and golden, they were chocolate coins!! Ronnie was so proud of his treasure and his friends, and he was so thankful also to them that he decided to share his treasure with all of them.
Adaptation from "Winnie the Witch" by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
Winnie the Witch lived in a black black house in the forest. The house was black in the inside and black in the outside. The carpets were black. The chairs were black. The bed was black and the sheets and the covers were black as well. Even the bathroom was black!
Winnie lived in her black black house with her black cat Wilbur. Wilbur was also black. And then’s when the problem began.
When Wilbur sat on a chair with his green eyes open, Winnie could see him. Well, at least she could see his eyes. But when Wilbur closed his eyes and went to sleep, Winnie couldn’t see him at all! And so she’d sit on him. When Wilbur lay on the carpet with his green green eyes wide open, Winnie could see him. Well, at least she could see his eyes. But when Wilbur closed his eyes and went to sleep... Winnie couldn’t see him at all! And so she’d trip over him.
One day, after a nasty fall, Winnie decided that she had to do something about Wilbur.
She took her magic wand, she shook her once and.. Abrakadabra! Wilbur was no longer black. He was now a green green cat.
So, when Wilbur slept on a chair, Winnie could see him. And when Wilbur slept on the floor, Winnie could see him too. But when Wilbur slept on the bed....Winnie could see him too! And Wilbur wasn’t allowed to to sleep on the bed!
So Winnie took him outside and left him on the grass. But Winnie couldn’t see Wilbur anymore! Not even when his green eyes were wide open! Winnie was desperate because she couldn’t find her cat! So, she left the house heading for the garden and tripped over Wilbur again. She rolled down a hill and ended up in a bush of stinging roses.
This time Winnie was furious! She took her magic wand, she shook her FIVE times and.. Abrakadabra! Wilbur’s head was now red. His back and tummy were yellow, his tail was pink, his moustache were blue and his four legs were purple! But his eyes were still green...
So now yes! Winnie could see Wilbur wherever he was. Even if he sat on the chair, lay on the carpet or slept in the grass with his green green eyes closed.
And she could also see him when he climbed the tallest tree! But Wilbur hadn’t climbed that tree for fun...No, he had climbed it to hide! Wilbur looked ridiculous and he knew it... Even the birds laughed at him. Poor Wilbur felt very upset and so he stayed there, up in the tree, all day and all night. The next morning, Wilbur was still up there in the tree, and Winnie was beginning to worry. She loved him and she didn’t want him to feel upset.
So, she had a wonderful idea. She shook her wand once and Abrakadabra! Wilbur was all black again and he jumped from the top of the tree to the ground. He didn’t look ridiculous anymore! And then, Winnie shook her wand again, once, twice, three times... Abrakadabra! Now, instead of a black house, she had a yellow house with a red roof and red door too. The chairs were white and red, the pillows were red and the carpet was now green with beautiful pink roses. The bed was blue, the sheets were white and the covers were pink. The bathroom was glistening and white! And now Winnie could see Wilbur, wherever he was.
Man on a Park Bench By Peter Welch BBC ENGLISH BY RADIO, Short Stories Series
"Police Constable Brown trudged his lonely beat. He had been making the same circuit for more years than he cared to remember, and yet he would miss it when he retired. He regarded himself as the ‘last of the old time coppers’. No patrol car for him. Only his walkie-talkie radio set and his well-worn feet. Soon he would reach the park gate, where his old friend Charlie Simpson would be about to lock up. Always P.C. Brown timed his last part of his nightly vigil to coincide with Charlie’s gate-closing ceremony. They both had lonely jobs in many respects, although not without incident. Tonight, however, seemed especially quiet, except for the occasional howling in the nearby zoo. Charlie didn’t mind the wolves - kept him company he said, but Brown could find no comfort in this mournful sound. When he reached the gate, there was the usual badinage with Charlie. “Evening, Bert,” he said, as P.C. Brown loomed into view, “seen that little man muttering to himself?” “What little man?” asked Bert, puzzled. “He’s along there somewhere,” Charlie nodded in the direction of a wooden seat just outside the park railings. “Saw him wandering through when I was on my rounds.” “I shouldn’t worry about it,” said Bert. “I often have a chat to myself!” “Ah, but this chap seemed to have something on his mind.” “All right, Charlie. I’ll keep a look out for him. Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Bert.” A few paces further along, a small figure sat huddled on a wooden bench. Bert Brown could only see a blurred outline in the gathering gloom, so he switched on his torch. A startled face blinked up into the beam. “Who . . . who’s that?” The little man’s voice was shaky. “Are you all right, sir?” asked Bert. “Oh - yes, yes, I’m all right.” P.C. Brown regarded the forlorn figure, shabbily dressed. The man seemed miserable, homeless perhaps? “May I have your name, sir?” “Name? What for?” “Just routine, sir, checking whether you have means of identification - a place to live.” “Oh, I’ve got a place to live all right - if you can call it living.” The policeman glanced at the proffered envelope, and read aloud the name and address written on it. “Mr A. Ottenshawe, Flat 3, 29 Union Street, London, W.I.” H’m, he thought, “that would be one of those small side streets off the main bus route.” The name, however, intrigued him. “Ottenshawe - that’s a North country name, isn’t it?” “Yes, it is. I came to London, oh, about ten years ago.” The man lapsed into silence for a while, and then he said shyly, “would you mind sitting down and - well - having a talk?” “Oh dear, “ thought Brown. “It’s going to be one of those cosy chat sessions.” Nevertheless he sat beside Mr Ottenshawe. After all, it was not the first time that he had talked over somebody else’s problems. That was part of a policeman’s job. To be a friend as well as a guardian of the people. But the night was chilly and he wanted to get home after his long spell of duty. The little man relaxed somewhat, and began to tell of his early married life, when he and his wife were happy together. For a year or two she had shared his interests and hobbies and appeared to be satisfied with the close-knit life of a small Northern town. Then after a time she grew restless and wanted to move to a bigger city where there was more life and excitement. Wishing to please his wife, the man had agreed to come to London with her, although the prospect filled him with dread. Since his birth he had lived in the one small town, but he loved the woman he had married and he had sworn to make her happy. To show sympathy the policeman told of his own married life, and how the relationship had mellowed from ardent romance to an agreeable peaceful existence. He was well satisfied with his way of life. The children had grown up and left home, and he and Mrs. Brown enjoyed each other’s company. At the mention of children, Ottenshawe grew pensive and stated the opinion that a child or two might have made a difference in his own marriage. The policeman nodded in agreement. “Ah yes,” he said, “they can be a nuisance, but it’s worth it really, when you see them develop and take their place in life. Very gratifying.” “It was the butterflies,” the little man suddenly blurted out. “I beg you pardon, sir?” “I kept butterflies. I used to collect them - but I never killed them. I used to keep them alive - in a small hothouse.” “Butterflies - alive,” pondered the policeman, “but they don’t live long, do they?” “No, they don’t. It’s sad in a way. I used to watch the whole process - from caterpillar to chrysalis and then - to butterfly. They used to blossom forth in bright and lovely colours and then - just die.” “You should have kept bees, sir!” “Ugh! Can’t stand them. Horrible things. All buzzing and stinging. Butterflies are so silent - so gentle - they don’t harm anyone.”
P.C. Brown was bemused. Is that why you are sitting here - alone - worrying about butterflies?” “Not entirely. That’s something to do with it, but not entirely.” “Look here sir, it’s getting late. I think if you don’t mind I had better be going off duty. . .” The little man looked up pleadingly. “Please don’t go - not yet.” Resignedly the policeman sat down again. “All right sir, if you insist, ‘but make it short.” Ottenshawe took a deep breath and launched into an account of how his wife’s attitude had changed towards him. How, from a jolly, affectionate person, she had become a harridan, constantly nagging at him to improve himself. Not without a certain amount of cause. He was not ambitious, and was content with his hobbies, but he did try to please his wife. He had attempted to keep pace with her changing ideas, but it was no use. Nothing he did seemed right in her eyes. P.C. Brown yawned. He had heard similar tales before. Ideal marriages that had become nightmares. But what could he do about it? Only advise and make soothing comments - for what? For people to listen with apparent attention and then go back to the way they were before - solving nothing. He prepared to depart, when suddenly the man tugged at his sleeve. “She burned them all, you know.” “Burned them? What, sir?” “My butterflies. Smashed the hothouse and burned the chrysalis. . . burned them. . .” The little man buried his head in his hands and sobbed. Bert Brown hated to see a man cry. It embarrassed him. But he waited until Ottenshawe had regained his composure. He felt sorry for him, and the enormity of what his wife had done made him go cold inside. Eventually he cleared his throat and said: “That’s terrible, sir - terrible. What on earth did you say to her?” “Say?” the little man seemed surprised. “Why, nothing. Nothing at all.” “Good Lord! If my wife had done that to me I would have given her a piece of my mind and no mistake!” There was a pause, then the man said: “I hit her.” “You - hit her - sir?” “Yes. With an electric iron. Smashed her head in.”
Gently but very firmly, Police Constable Brown helped the little man to his feet. There was no resistance. Their footsteps echoed away into the night. A wolf howled mournfully ."
ACTIVITY: Ask your students to listen to the following song by the Arctic Monkeys and ask them to reflect upon the lyrics. Ask them if they find any relationship between the message in the song and the story they've just read.
Just like Jane Eyre, Eva Luna travels from town to town meeting new characters and their lifestyles. After each journey, a new stage in Jane and Eva's lives begins and their personalities evolve.
