A book review

Our assistant Naomi has made a book review presentation so that you can get an idea of how it's done. It's about a biography of actor River Phoenix.



Also, I found a cool website if you are looking for nice templates for your presentations: https://slidesgo.com/

A guideline for the book presentations in 1º de Bachillerato.

"eugenio-mazzone-190204" by Worlds Direction is licensed under CC0 1.0

Here's a basic guideline for your book presentations. Ideally each section should cover one or two slides, no more. The entire presentation should last  around 10-15 minutes. It's always a good idea to practice with friends or record yourself to ensure you are within the time limits.

Also, remember the project will be part of your marks for the third term and that you can contact me via e-mail or in the comments for help, suggestions and questions.

BOOK REPORT 1º BACHILLERATO 1.      INTRODUCTION Include a brief context about how the book was written, i.e. historical period and some biographical aspects of the author that are relevant to the story. 2.      CHARACTERS Give an overview of the main characters in the book. If your project is about a poetry or non-fiction book, give details about what subject it deals with. 3.      PLOT Give an overview of the plot of the book.  --If you are going to include spoilers, please warn that you are doing so in advance.  --If you are doing a non-fiction book, give an overview of the thesis of the author and what you can learn in the book.  --If you are working on a poetry book, give an overview of what topics it deals with and highlight a couple of examples of the kind of literary tropes and style it uses (how the language is used i.e. adjectives, metaphors, long/short sentences, sophisticated or colloquial words, capitalization, etc.). 4.      IMPACT a) Give an overview of your impression of the book. You must explain if you think the book is successful in engaging the reader, if you liked its prose/language or if the points it makes are convincing or interesting. b) You can also talk here about what impact it had in the general public and specialized critics if you can do research on such things (that includes if the book became a bestseller, received any nominations or awards, or if it has been adapted to film, theatre or TV). 5.      RECOMMENDATION Would you recommend it to others? Why? Try to be specific about the type of target reader you think should read this book: age, gender, interests, etc.

The Devil's Dictionary

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was a famous journalist from the 19th and 20th centuries. He is better known for his work, The Devil's Dictionary, where he compiled funny definitions of thousands of terms.

Here are a few of the most celebrated. Which one is your favourite?

You can try to come up with your own Devil´s Dictionary. If you are out of ideas, you can try an online list like https://www.randomlists.com/things and see how many things can you define... badly (it also works with people and places!).

Also, Bierce's original dictionary is available, like many other classics, from http://www.gutenberg.org

The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart is one of the most famous short stories by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. In 1953, Columbia Pictures adapted the story into a very scary animated film. There are many versions on Youtube, but I chose this one because it is subtitled in Spanish :-)

I think it is a great way to celebrate Halloween!

Be precise!

Back to school!

Ok, we returned a couple of weeks ago, but I really didn't have much to post about.

This year I want to start with a video that's slightly harder than usual, but I think it's a great poem and it definitely stresses a good point --it's important to speak your mind clearly, and be precise!

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Ps. If you want the full text of the poem, you can find it here

So, what is English made of?

The video below is a poem by the young poet Dizraeli. It is a bit difficult to follow if you don't have a good level, so concentrate only on the written words and on the rhythm of the poem.



In the poem, Dizraeli talks about how English is a language that is used by many different people around the world, in different media, spoken by a lot of people from different countries, and which borrows terms from many different sources.

(a special thanks to the Macmillan Youtube channel!) Ps. You can see the full text of the poem on pdf here

Class pictures

Dawoud Bey is an American photographer and a professor of photography at Columbia College, Chicago. He was born in Queens (New York City). One of his specialities is making photographies of teenagers. On his site, http://www.dawoudbey.net/, you can find many examples of his work. Today we are going to focus on his most recent work, Class Pictures, which was reviewed by Time Magazine. Each of the picture has a few sentences about what the subjects think that defines them -- their personality, interests, family or everyday life. Follow the link to answer these questions. You can work in groups and use the dictionary:

Teens in America:Class Pictures

GROUP A

1. Why does Simone think she's part of a minority?
2. Why does Kevin think his father's death had a positive side?
3. What does Ziarra want to study when she's older? Why?
4. What is Austin's favourite sport?

GROUP B

1. Is Danny always outgoing and outspoken?
2. What did Marieke do at dinner when she liked a book?
3. What does Omar think people notice first when they look at him?
4. How has Christopher's cancer changed his personality?

GROUP C

1. Does Sarah think being "Normal" is important?
2. What's special about Jordan's family?
3. What attitude does Isabel hate?
4. What motivates Rasec?

GROUP D

1. How many languages does Usha speak?
2. Does Alejandro want to have a brother or a sister?
3. When is Robert getting married?
4. What does Shalanta want to study when she's older? Why?

As an extra work, you can take a picture of yourself and write a text about it.

A science fiction book about the early days of American history

Jamestown -a Novel

Check it out at Amazon.com. You can also read the interview with the author, Matthew Sharpe: