How to read out loud

Check this

Short story writing

The idea here is to use the notes you have on one of the characters from the movie, and put that character into a short story. You can write about anything, but make sure that I can recognize the character you use. For example, if you've chosen someone who is mean & strong in the movie, he should be mean & strong in your story as well. Lenght of story should be 1-5 pages, maybe more.

Online English

To practice your listening comprehension skills, your pronunciation, your grammar and more, go to http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/. Look left for appropriate links.

English B so far

Here's your chance to tell me what you think of this course so far; highs & lows, ups & downs, good & bad, more of this, less of that, and so on. Give me some feedback on our performance up until now (I say 'our', because we're in this together...). Anything you want to share, simply post it in your blogs and I'll read it. Make no mistake - this is a required task, but if you still have work to do on Am literature history, I fully understand. If that's the case, just save this for a little later.

Laters, Daniel

News on Friday

Pernilla & Gilvile, Olivia & Tina, Calle & Josefin will do their news presentations on Friday, first thing. After that it's Sweden is fantastic all the way...

American literature history, pt1

Cotton Mather:

Biography

The Education of Children

James Fenimore Cooper:

Biography

The Last of the Mohicans (Read chapter 1)

Edgar Allan Poe:

Biography

Annabel Lee

1. Read and understand (might not be that easy in itself...)
2. Take (and save!) notes on biographies
3. Try to categorize the different texts. What type of texts are they? Describe them in as much detail as you can. Include basic facts (when written, published etc.). Save these notes as well!

News presentations

UPDATED!

40 Pernilla & Gilvile; Olivia & Tina; Calle & Josefin
41 Alexander & Johanna G
42 Stefan & Malin
43 Gustaf & Marcus
44 NO LESSON
45 Tobias & Madde
46 Simon J-S & Sara
47 Daniel & Erik
48 Pontus & Isabell
49 Matilda & Alexandra
50 Stephanie, Linus AND Simon H

SP09 - music video presentations

Due to force majeure (however you spell it...) your presentations will take place Tue w39 (28/9). Come prepared! If anyone wants to present in front of the whole class, please let me know and I'll bring the appropriate equipment.

Sweden is fantastic!

Assignment - oral presentation

1. Brainstorm Sweden - from isolated phenomena to country as a whole. (Skip this step if you already have a great idea).

2. Choose topic(s).

3. Collect and structure material.

4. Create your oral presentation, f ex in Powerpoint. There are other ways as well; make sure it's visual! Keywords: creativity, imagination, FUN AND INTERESTING!

5. Practice. A lot.

6. Present.

Start today (17/9), and work with during w38. Discipline!

SP 09 news presentations

Please check your FC for who does it when. Can be found under liljastud SP09.

ENGLISH LITERATURE QUIZ

This is basic stuff. Make sure to get EVERY answer right...

1 - Who was the author of the famous storybook 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'?

a) Rudyard Kipling b) John Keats c) Lewis Carroll d) H. G. Wells

2 - How many lines does a sonnet have?

a) 10 b) 12 c)14 d) they vary

3 - Who said 'A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.' ?

a) Browning b) Marx c) Shakespeare d) Kipling

4 - Name the book which opens with the line 'All children, except one grew up'?

a) The Railway Children b) Winnie the Poo c) Jungle Book d) Peter Pan

5 - Which is the first Harry Potter book?

a) HP and the Goblet of Fire b) HP and the Philospher's Stone c) HP and the Chamber of Secrets

6 - In which century were Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales written?

a) fourteenth b) fifteenth c) sixteenth d) seventeenth

7 - What nationality was Robert Louis Stevenson, writer of 'Treasure Island'?

a) Scottish b) Welsh c) English d) Irish e) French

8 - 'Jane Eyre' was written by which Bronte sister?

a) Anne b) Charlotte c)Emily

9 - What is the book 'Lord of the Flies' about?

a) a road trip around the USA b) a swarm of killer flies c) schoolboys on a desert island

10 - In the book' The Lord of the Rings', who or what is Bilbo?

a) dwarf b) wizard c) troll c) hobbit d) man e) castle

11 - The following taboo phrases were used by which writer?
"I fart at thee", "shit on your head', "dirty bastard"

a) Ben Jonson b) William Shakespeare c) Henry James d) Ernest Hemingway

12 - Who wrote the crime novel "Death On The Nile"?

a) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle b) Irvine Welsh c) Agatha Christie d) Emile Zola

Music video analysis

1. Look up the words 'denotation' and 'connotation'. Use dictionary.com.
2. Check instructions for how to work with your analysis here.
3. Work. Think, discuss, ask - get help and inspiration wherever necessary.
4. Prepare to present orally, in smaller groups, using keywords if needed. Deadline friday 17/9.

Music video suggestions can be found on FC, liljastud sp09.

English online links

http://eleaston.com/english.html

http://www.english-online.org.uk/

Debate topics

http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/search.php?junior=yes

Welcome to En B

Hi all! This is a blog. Shouldn't be new to you, since you're young and all. Apart from giving tips on fashion and other (imo) rather unimportant stuff, you can use blogs for teacher-student communication. We will do just that, which means that your first assignment here is to create a new blog, each and every one of you. Don't use an old one, since I'm not interested in reading things in Swedish. When that's done (won't tell you how, figure it out...), I want you to email me the web address to your blog. Use FC to do so. Do it right away. Your next step is to take a look at the goals and grading criteria for this course. You can find it here. It's in English, but hopefully it'll still work. Still, it's really important that you understand what we're doing, so if you get totally stuck, there is a Swedish version as well. Last but not least, when you've finished reading, I want you to think about what you've read and write down your own, personal, beautiful, ground-breaking ideas for what YOU want to do during our time together. Write it in your blogs so I have easy access. Also, make sure to CHECK THIS BLOG regularly to keep up with what's going on. Feel free to comment as well, but make sure I know who's commenting.

To sum things up:

1. Make a blog and email me the address.
2. Read goals and grading criteria for English B, preferably in English (use f ex dictionary.com if you need to look up words), but if all else fails, in Swedish.
3. Go back to your blogs and write down suggestions & ideas for this course. Argue your cause, ie tell me why we should use your particular ideas.

PLEASE NOTE that this blog represents an extraordinary chance for you to show off and improve on your writing skills. The least you have to do is (of course) to complete the assignments you're given, but feel free to use this blog to write about more or less everything. As long as you do it in English, it can only work to your advantage.

Peace out for now.

/Daniel

What keeps us in check

Every night at 6, Sir Samuel Vimes reads 'Where's my cow?' to his infant son. Every. Night. At. Six. No excuses, not even good ones. Because if you start making good excuses, the bad ones aren't far away. At least that's what Vimes thinks. Throughout the book, this father-son connection acts as an important factor in keeping Vimes from crossing the moral boundaries he's made himself abide by, and thus suggests that forming your own set of rules for yourself sometimes just isn't enough. You also need something to remind you of what's really important, and why you made those rules up in the first place. Especially if you live in a world where corruption, violence, lies & temptation are all a part of everyday life. What better reminder then, than the future and safety of your child?

On a more corny note, you might suggest that love is all that makes the difference. Vimes loves his son, and that alone holds him in check, whatever the world throws at him. A little cheesy perhaps, but there you go...

The Battle within

The Summoning Dark has entered the Discworld and chosen Sir Samuel Vimes as its vessel. Thus begins the Battle within....

As a representative of 'the Dark side', the Summoning Dark strives to push Sir Samuel to take that fatal step and cross the boundaries of his own morality, ie doing things that he normally wouldn't do. Evil things. Percieved injustices, acts of malice, stupitidy and ignorance, that come with the brewing unrest in Ankh-Morpork and its surroundings only serve as fuel for the fire that the Summoning Dark is trying to light in Sir Samuel's brain, heart & soul. The only thing that stands in the way of moral corruption are the restrictions he's made himself abide by. Or is there more?

Stay tuned...

/D

Oral assignment #2

Hi again! Here comes your next assignment. Plz read carefully:

Poetry reading/storytelling:

This one is kind of simple.... What I want you to do is prepare to read a shorter text (shouldn't take more than 5 min) in front of the group. The text has to be of dramatic nature, so a poem or a short story will work just fine. Choose freely. That's it.

A couple of things to think about:

• Flow. Prepare carefully so there are no 'hiccups'
• Tempo. Don't rush it. Give the audience time to digest. Make pauses to let the story sink in and keep the listeners on the edge of their seats.
• Pronunciation. Check the pronunciation of difficult words. www.dictionary.com might help you out here.
• Intonation. Use your voice for dramatic effect.
• Body language. Live the story while you tell it. You can even use props if you want.

This assignment, along with the other one (job interview presentation), will be presented on Thursday w.16. This time I'm sure. 100%. Don't miss it!

/Daniel

I messed up!

Seems I'm going senile. The idea was to have two oral assignments, one for w.15 and one for w.16. And then and went and wrote w.16 for the first one....silly me. Sorry!

So, what we'll do is this: On Thursday w.16 there will be TWO oral presentations by each and every one of you. The first one will be the job interview presentation, and the second one will deal with the assignment described in my next post. I'll write that one later today, so please stay tuned.

Assignment w.16

Job interview presentation.

Imagine yourself 5, or maybe 10, years from now. Then imagine yourself applying for a job you really want; teacher, janitor, lead in a Hollywood blockbuster. Whatever. Your (hopefully) future employer has asked you to present yourself and your qualities to him orally. Basically, he/she wants you to explain why you’re prefect for the gig. You’ve got 5 minutes.

REMEMBER!
Ø Structure; make sure that you’ve structured your presentation so it’s easy to keep up and understand just why you’re fit for the task.
Ø Accuracy; make sure to present qualities that are relevant for the job you’re applying for.
Ø Confidence; be (or at least act) confident. Make sure that you know exactly what to say, and of course what you’re saying. Tempo, tone of voice, choice of words etc. This is perhaps what’s most important here, so prepare and rehearse carefully.

Please note that it’s perfectly fine to look into the future with eyes wide open. You don’t know exactly what kind of education, experience or qualities you’ll possess down the road, so a little bit of dreaming is not necessarily a bad thing here. Just start from the person you are today and go from there.

Presentation Thursday w.16

Good luck!

/Daniel

Questions for Life Of Brian

Questions for Life of Brian

1. What is the name of Brian's mother?

2. How long was the 'ex-leper' behind the bell?

3. What fish did the 'Blasphemer' say was good enough for Jehovah himself?

4. Who did Brian's mother say was his father?

5. Reg was the leader of the ..?

6. Who did Stan want to be known as?

7. When Reg said 'What have the Romans ever given us?', what was the first thing mentioned?

8. For how long had Simon the Holy Man been completely silent?

9. What is the name of the girl Brian takes to bed?

10. Who did the crowd first ask Pilate to release?


Discuss: Life of Brian is obviously a parody on religion (Christianity). Choose one or more scenes, or a minor detail, or the whole movie, and discuss how this becomes evident.

Filmtajm Tuesday + Thursday

Life Of Brian pt.1 tomorrow 8.25, same place as always. You'll get your assignment then. Be there!

Weeks 11-13, instructions all in one place

Well, here we go:

w11 (Tue & Thu): Project introduction & project aim. If you haven't done already, do! If you have, start working. Regardless, use your blogs or email me what you've written. Also, please update the book reading part of your blogs.

w12 (Tue & Thu): Keep working with your projects. Once again, use blogs or email to keep me up to date.

w13 (Tue & Thu): Film week. See separate (upcoming) post for instructions.

IMPORTANT! Since I'll be gone until w 17, it's imperative that I can keep track of what you're doing somehow. Therefore I want you to write at least 2 blog posts per week from now on. Just write down what you've been working with since last time. I've you've been reading your book, just write about that the same way you've done before. If you don't write these posts, I'll have to put you down as absent from one or two lessons respectively. Just do it and everything will be OK.

As for weeks 15-16, I'll post suggestions for what to do during that time later on, I'm guessing sometime next week. Just check back.

Last but not least; when (if?) i get back we'll make an effort to sum these weeks up somehow. Haven't got a plan for that yet, but I'm sure it'll come to me.

Over 'n out for now. For questions and whatever, use your blogs or email/phone me.

Laters /Daniel

Lessons w 12

Hi guys!

Sorry about yesterday. Seems this twin business takes a lot of time :) Just wanted to let you know that I'll be there for our lesson tomorrow, and that it's REALLY important that you show up too. Otherwise, I fear that this won't work out, which in turn would unleash a shitstorm on us all.

So, BE THERE!

Assignment w.11

Greetings underlings!

Some serious business went down Sunday eve, so we might not be seeing too much of each other for a couple of weeks. You WON'T be getting a sub though, so we'll have to keep things afloat ourselves somehow. We'll start off with me giving you instructions through this (my own, my precious...) blog. Try to check in at least twice/week (Mon+Wed is a good idea) to see what's going on. I'll also try to turn up once in a while, but everything we'd normally do face to face, we'll have to do this way instead. Just post comments if you have questions, and I'll try to answer ASAP.

Work for Tuesday, March 16

- Project introduction & project aim. If you haven't done already, do! If you have, start working. Regardless, use your blogs or email me what you've written. Also, please update the book reading part of your blogs.

Work for Thursday, March 18

See above. I'll try to turn up for this one, so be there! Keep sending me copies of what you're doing.

The Summoning Dark

A dark entity. Lurking. Waiting. Biding its time.

Eons old, the Summoning Dark is a powerful, evil force that enters the Discworld as the first dwarf is murdered in the mines beneath Ankh-Morpork. Powerful as it is, it still needs a vessel, a body, to break through and wreak havoc in the physical dimension. Thriving on aggression and hate, it finds Sir Samuel Vimes. Vimes is a man of strong emotions, whatever those emotions may be, which makes him suitable in this aspect. Now it's only a matter of breaking down his inner resistance. Should be a piece of cake, no?

The Summoning Dark can be found more or less everywhere in literature and movies; compare for instance with 'the Dark Side of the Force' in Star Wars and the influence of the One Ring in Lord of the Rings. What this represents (at least if you ask me) is of course the dark side of being human - evil thoughts, sometimes transformed into actions, that we carry with us, threatening to come out at more or less any time, but especially when we find ourselves in scary or unfamiliar situations. Doing what Pratchett does, namely putting a name to it and turning it into a one-on-one battle, serves to remind us of and clarify this struggle that we all face, on different levels, every day, as long as we live.

Coming up.

• The Summoning Dark
• The Battle within
• What keeps us in check
• The Watchman

Cliffhangers ftw. I'll be back.

Teaching an old dog new tricks...

...isn't that easy! I've finished reading now, but there's still a whole lot of blogging to do. Alas, I'll try my best to fulfill my promises, even if it means re-reading certain parts of the book.

Sir Samuel Vimes of the city watch is a simple man. Starting at the very bottom as a nobody, a drunk (sober now though..) and a pushover, he's made his way up the social ladder, ending up as Commander of the City Watch, Duke of Ankh, and married to one of the wealthiest women in the world. Still, as he despises more or less everything having to to with privilege, and constantly questions the actions of people in positions of power, you can only describe him as a working class hero. He's also honest, as he realises that the only way of upholding the law is to abide by it himself, and to make sure that all members of the City Watch do the same. And even if there's a tendency for mild violence, unhealthy food and cheap cigars, Sam Vimes, when push really comes to shove, is a very well-disciplined man. An ordinary man, despite the riches and the titles, but a man of action, and first and foremost, a man who does the right thing in the end. So, there you go, a perfect but yet imperfect example of morality.

Regarding the plot, there's (as mentioned before) a conflict brewing. Trolls and dwarves are about to go head to head - big time - thus leaving Ankh Morpork, nowadays sporting the biggest troll/dwarf population anywhere, on the brink of war. Reactionary forces (ie leaders) are fanning the flames, while Vimes and certian elements of both the dwarf and troll communities are trying to make the hotheads see reason, in one way or another. Here there's a clear difference in how the leaders choose to try and influence the masses. While the reactionaries stay separated (aloof) from the average citizen, and use history, legend and tradition as arguments to make others do their bidding, the others (the most obvious example would be Mr. Shine, the troll king-in-hiding) work together with both trolls and dwarves on a 'grass root' level in order to change people's attitudes. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to realise that this is Pratchett making his political point of view known to the reader.

Well, that's it for now. Next time I'll discuss why morality is the main focal point in Thud. Interesting huh?

/D

Halfway through

Ok, so halfway through the book now. Seems I'm faster at reading than blogging. Put that down to inexperience shall I? We've had a murder (a dead dwarf in a dwarf mine, underneath Ankh-Morpork, which is the New York or whatever big city of Discworld), a theft (a giant painting of the Battle of Koom Valley, the famous troll vs. dwarf slug-out) and also some sort of supernatural, presumably 'evil', force lurking around in the background. With the anniversary of Koom Valley around the corner there's also a bit of civil unrest brewing, with trolls and dwarves just waiting to turn the city into an urban battleground. In other words, the watch is busy.

First of all, finding similar situations in our world isn't that difficult. Compare for instance with your standard football derby, the situation in Gaza or Northern Ireland, where lifelong enemies live side by side and unrest flares at the drop of a hat. Using Commander Vimes as an imperfect but yet perfect (I'll explain later) beacon of morality, Pratchett gives his views on the matter. Basically, blame is laid not on the average citizen, who are treated quite decently by Vimes and his Watch, but on the leaders or politicians (and the ideas they represent) controlling the masses.

Furthermore, in using trolls and dwarves (who really are different; trolls are huge and made of rock, while dwarves are, well...dwarves, and make a living chopping through rock) as the adversaries, Pratchett also sets the stage for his all-but-obligatory dig at global, national and local politics of present-day Tellus.

Religion is also present, in part represented by the dwarf leaders, to whom exposure to the above world is a 'sin', and purity only can be found underground. Only by following rigorous rules can an individual stay 'clean' from the influences or the world above. The comparisons with our world are obvious, but I'll get back to that later.

Enough for now

/D

Let's go then!

So, I've chosen which book to read now. Thud is one of Pratchett's latest novels, once again starring Commander Vimes of the City Watch. As always, someone's been killed, and it's up to Vimes and his underlings to solve it. It won't be easy, and being surrounded by trolls and dwarves ready to do battle isn't going to help one bit. Well, time to start reading now. Please note that this won't be my first time experiencing this novel, so don't expect me to go 'ooooo, didn't see that one coming', 'cause I won't... What I will do is try to cover as many of the themes we spoke about in class as possible, and hopefully even inspire and teach some of you something.

Laters /D

This is my first time...

Blogging, that is. Here you'll find more or less anything that pops out of my head during this EnC course. My main focus will be exactly the same that you guys are doing, namely blogging about a Terry Pratchett book. Haven't chosen one yet, but stay tuned and you'll see. Actually supposed to be teaching a class now, so that's all for now.

Cya

/D