Week in Review and Information Sheets

Hello everyone. Last week we:

1. Read and wrote fables and morals to go with them.
2. Studied past tenses (past simple, past continuous) and the present perfect, p. 84-85.
3. Worked through Exam Folder 6, p. 86-7, discussing strategies for reading themed texts.
4. Worked through Writing Folder 5, p. 80-1, discussing information sheets and how to read and write them.

HOMEWORK FOR SATURDAY:  Ex. 5, p. 81. Write a contribution to the brochure introduced in task D on the same page. Don't forget that how you organize the information is crucially important for this activity. Make sure it is clear, and that it communicates everything that it needs to.

If you are unsure about how to write for a brochure, here is an example. It's a brochure for the Melanoma International Foundation:

I think this brochure does some things well, and some others not so well.

Given what you already know about information sheets:

What do you like about this brochure? 

What do you think could be improved?

See you Saturday!

Short Story Assignment

Last week we:

1. Completed the speaking activity on p. 73, and discussed strategies for making the exam's speaking tasks less daunting. 
2. Completed the listening activity on p. 78, and discussed strategies for approaching listening for specific information. 
3. Completed the grammar on p. 78 concerning the use of -ing forms, and discussed their typical usage patterns. 
4. Completed the reading and listening activity on p. 82-83. We discussed the meaning of the short story, and ways to interpret fiction. We then wrote our own short stories in groups. 

This Saturday we'll do some more work with short stories. With that in mind, your homework is to read and react to this story, by the American author Mark Twain. The title of the story, which was first published in 1891, is "Luck." It is supposedly based on a real, though unknown, British general. 

I would like you to read the story and then respond to it in the comment section of this blog. This is your only homework for the week, and it is obligatory. 

In your response avoid simple and obvious reactions ("I liked it," "It was boring," etc.) and try to be as specific as possible.Compare it with the story we read and listened to in class last week. If you weren't in class last week, focus on an aspect of the story that you find particularly interesting or problematic.  I would like at least one or two good paragraphs from you. 

Here are some topics to get you started:

• How is luck presented in the story? That is, is luck something a person is born with, is it a product of other people's behavior, or is it an expression of resentment against the successful?
  
• How is the soldier's luck in this story similar to the woman's dream in the story we read and listened to in class last week? 

• How are these stories different in style? Which style do you prefer? 

I'm publishing this post earlier than normal in order to give you time to read the story, post a response, then read the responses of your classmates throughout the week. Feel free to respond to other people's thoughts; there's no limit to the number of comments you can make. I want to see everyone post something, and not just the diligent few. If you enjoy reading fiction and would like me to include more of it in the future, demonstrate your enthusiasm by knocking this out of the park. 

Looking forward to your comments!