Sumários
Descriptive Writing Part 2
28 Setembro 2015, 08:00 • Hilda Alexandra Prazeres Eusebio
Descriptive Writing Part 2:
Vivid vs. Vague Language
The sensory details you select in your writing should create for your reader the same picture you have in your mind. Instead of using vague, general words, your sensory language should be concrete and sensory-packed. This makes the difference between vivid and and vague language.
Take a look at the comparison between vague and vivid sentences:
Vague
The food was unappetizing.
The sprinkler was refreshing.
The traffic was heavy.
Vivid
The pale turkey slices floated limply in a pool of murky fat.
The cool water from the sprinkler sprayed our hot faces.
Our old car puffed as Main Street became clogged with a line of clamoring motorists.
Vary Sentence Structure
•When using descriptive language, it is important to vary your sentence structure. Try to avoid using the same subject-verb pattern in all sentences. Embedding descriptive elements and combining sentences can help to avoid the routine subject-verb structure.- The hall was empty. She ran towards the classroom. She entered right after the bell rang.
- Racing down an empty hall, she skidded into the classroom, breathless, just as the bell clanged above her.
What to Avoid When Using Sensory Detail
•Too many adjectives—retain only the most powerful words in your writing, deleting any unnecessary words•Too many adverbs—verbs are stronger than adverbs- “She strolled into the room” is more powerful than “She walked casually into the room”.
•Clichéd figures of speech—overused language, such as 'green with envy', signals a lack of imagination. Use fresh, descriptive words that go against rote thinking.
Students went on to analyze extracts from the following descriptive texts:
The Magic Metal Tube by Maxine Hong Kingston;
Inside District School #7, Niagara County, New York by Joyce Carol Oates;
Barbara Willard's The Sprig of Bloom;
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol;
Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities;
T.S. Eliot's The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock;
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood.
The transformative power of music
23 Setembro 2015, 16:00 • Paula Alexandra Carvalho Alves Rodrigues Horta
Speaking and listening
Homework:
TP6 - Lesson 2
23 Setembro 2015, 14:00 • Katarzyna Dominika Karpowicz Osowska
- Review of tense forms - exercises (cont.)
- "Time management" - vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking
- "I'm going to let you in on a little secret.." - vocabulary + speaking
- "An office party" - mingling activity
- Homework: vocabulary exercises ("Time") + short story "The Time-Sweepers" by Ursula Wills-Jones (read)
Vocabulary from the class:
Time:
Time flies when you're having fun.
The early bird catches the worm.
Never put off what you can do today.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Keeping secrets:
to keep sth from sb
to get round
to confide in
to pick up
to fill sb in on
to let it out
to let sb in on a secret
to keep things to yourself
to hold sth back
Explanation of style and formats of writing an essay. Format of comprehension paper.
23 Setembro 2015, 14:00 • David Alan Prescott
INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY WRITING: THERE ARE MANY APPROACHES, AMONG WHCH ARE:
A THE CLASSIC
1. KEEP TO THE POINT
A common mistake made by students is that of simply writing. Anything.
2. ADEQUATE REGISTER AND STYLE
An essay is a formal piece of work, so expressions like "I guess", "I dunno", "the guy", "maybe" and others, or styles like the following: "What's a story, anyway?", "That's all for now, teacher.", or "I better finish now because it's nearly four o'clock", are unacceptable. Although there isn't anything particularly wrong with them as pieces of English, they simply do not fall into the category of English for essay writing. As is the case for contractions of words. Equally, dividing words at the end of lines is not an acceptable form of presenting work of this kind.
Also, please do not write essays in the form of conversation, interrogations, prose poems, stories about what happened to you on the bus the other day, etc.
3. STRUCTURE
There are many ways of structuring an essay. The one here suggested is perhaps that which allows the presentation of a very clear argument and conclusion -- and this is half the battle won.
a) INTRO -- announce what you intend to state
b) Points AGAINST what you will defend
c) Points IN FAVOUR of what you wish to defend
d) SUMMING up of the points, leading to a
e) CONCLUSION based on what you have written.
B. ADMINISTRATIVE CRITIQUE
1. QUOTE from reliable sources, such as:
“Aristotle, when asked what he thought about onions, stated …” OR
“Onions,” stated Aristotle, speaking in Palermo after a dinner party, “should be…”
2. BE OBJECTIVE about the same issue:
“It is not up to this author to present weighty arguments for or against eating onions, but there must be no doubt that the onion, as food, has always been…”
3. THE LINK
“This quality of having many skins brings me to mention the fact that --- NOW WE INTRODUCE OUR OPINION ON THE SUBJECT
C. AFFIRMATIVE-ISH ESSAY
a. Totally opinionated at first
b. Then tempered by consideration
c. Ending in doubt
Example:
The Last Rocky Horror Show, as a failed work, shows that when no one understands a film then no one can enjoy it. So no one will go to see it. That is, of course because we like things that…
But should it be that way? Is that ‘the way of the world’? Is it not rather true that…
Perhaps not, and after all, what this work presents us with is – NOW OUR DOUBTS AND OPINIONS
HOW TO DEAL WITH A COMPREHENSION EXERCISE
1. THE POINT
As for essays, but with an extra note. A very serious mistake made by students is that of answering all the questions in every question. So always read ALL the questions before you attempt to answer any one of them It is also wise to respond to the questions in the order that they are presented to you, as this may help you avoid certain mistakes.
Typical examples of answers:
Q1. Who is Mr Smith?
A. Mr Smith is a bank manager who lives in London and is
married to a woman called Irene. One day last summer they
went to America to visit her sister.
Q2. Where does Mr Smith live?
Q3. Is Mr Smith married?
Q4. Why did he go to America with his wife?
In this case, in my opinion, Answer 1 is wrong, because I have no evidence that the student understands the text. In fact, as can be seen by the following questions 2, 3, and 4, it is obvious that the student doesn't understand. Comprehension is about showing that you understand a text and can justify this.
2. BREVITY
Generally, the more synthetically you manage to show that you have understood the question and the text, the better. It is wise to write in English sentences, however, if only to show that you know how to do so.
3. STYLE & REGISTER
These are basically the same as for essay writing. Remember that this is also a formal situation.
Descriptive Writing Part 1
23 Setembro 2015, 12:00 • Hilda Alexandra Prazeres Eusebio
Descriptive Writing
Students were first taught the basics of Descriptive Writing:
- Descriptive writing has a unique power and appeal:
it evokes sights, smells, sounds, textures, and tastes
using description in your writing brings the world within your text to your reader.
Creating a Dominant Impression
The first step in using effective description is to focus on a dominant impression.
A dominant impression creates a mood or atmosphere in your paper. This mood can be conveyed through effective descriptive writing.
Sensory Details
Sensory description uses sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste to sketch an impression in writing. Consider a paragraph without sensory description.
My sister and I walked along the boardwalk each afternoon of our vacation. We watched the ocean and listened to the waves. Usually we stopped for a snack at one of the many stores that line the boardwalk. Afterwards, we walked along the beach and let our feet get wet.
Now, consider this paragraph with all five sensory descriptors: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch:
My sister and I walked along the boardwalk one afternoon on our vacation. The hot boards warmed our bare feet. We watched the foam-covered waves topple over each other and then slide back into the sea. The crashing water competed with the exuberant yells from the seagulls. We bought a perfectly oval fluff of pink cotton candy that dissolved sweetly in our mouths. Afterwards, we walked along the edge of the water, letting the warm salty air blow our hair away from our necks as the cool water lapped over our toes.
Students were then taken outsider to the back of the PN to write a descriptive piece based on observations made of the surrounding environment and view.