Fall Out Boy
This Aint a Scene, It's an Arms Race Video
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
ABORTION SHOULD BE LEGALIZED IN VENEZUELA
Gladymar Romero
CI: 16.553.564
English V
Secc: 802
Reading and Writing II
CI: 16.553.564
English V
Secc: 802
Reading and Writing II
Abortion Should Be Legalized in Venezuela
Abortion is an important issue concerning women, for years the media, the church and the government had been said that abortion should not be legal in this country. The Larousse dictionary defines Abortion as: “The termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or a fetus that is incapable of survival by its own”. This simply means inducing birth to kill the fetus before it is carried to full term. Abortion can save thousands of lives of women who have terrible diseases cause for a risky pregnancy or can just save women of carry a baby that they do not want because it was product of a violently raped; the Venezuelan legal system does not allow women to abort in these situations. However, Venezuelan women need to have the right of choose if they want to carry an unwanted child or not, for that reason, abortion should be legalized in Venezuela.
“Pro-choice” and “Pro-life”, these are the two faces of the coin, a pro-choicer would hold that the decision to abort an embryo or a fetus is to be made only by the woman; the government and the catholic church have no right to interfere. A pro-lifer would hold that, from the moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is alive; that this life imposes on us a moral obligation to preserve it; and that abortion is practically the same as murder.
A pro-lifer use the Bible to support their doctrine that abortion is wrong, however, the Bible clearly states that unwanted children are problematic in society. In the chapter of Ecclesiastes 6:3-5, it states that, "If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, Better the miscarriage than he, for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he.” According to the verse, King Solomon has stated above, that the life of a newborn fetus is less valuable than a man who has a satisfying life. King Solomon makes the point that much of life is futile. Over and over he wrote that if life is pleasing, then we should be thankful. But when life is not gratifying, he says that it is sometimes better to end a pregnancy prematurely than to allow it to continue into a miserable life. It is not saying that we shouldn't bring new life into this world, but rather it is asserting that a miserable life is no life at all. Thus, abortion should be available to women who do not want to bring an abandoned life into the world. Many pro-choicer states that if an unwanted child is going to be born from a mother who wished to have an abortion, then the life of that child would have no meaning and purpose.
Pro-life people are in a contradiction, they say "at conception, each of us is unique”. If it is murder to destroy a fertilized egg, is it murder to destroy a sperm or an egg? Is it not true that each living sperm and egg are distinguishable from each other, anti-abortionists state that "at conception, each of us is unique," then, isn't every sperm produced during masturbation unique and therefore a mass murder? And when women menstruate each month, has someone died? It is obvious that the anti-abortionist argument is groundless and unsupported. If anti-abortionists can not deliver a rational argument, then abortion in Venezuela should remain as an alternative from which women can choose.
A woman who is forced to carry out an unwanted pregnancy is at risk. She has a greater possibility of depression because she is less possible to look for early prenatal care and is more likely to use such harmful substances as tobacco and alcohol. Also, her relationship with a partner is at greater risk of dissolution. Furthermore, the mother and her partner are more likely to suffer through economic distress and fail to raise the child successfully.
Women who are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term; the result would be an unwanted children. Abortion should remain legal in Venezuela because it may destine an unwanted child to live a dreadful life. Everyone knows that unwanted children are among society's most tragic cases, often uncared for, unloved, brutalized, and abandoned. When these children grow up, they live disadvantaged lives and could possibly live a life inclined towards brutal behavior to others. This is not good for the family, the children, and the nation. Why should a child who is not wanted and loved be brought into this world? The life of an unwanted child is not fulfilling. First, the child of an unwanted conception tends to be at a greater risk of being born at low birth weight, dying in the first year of life. Second, an unwanted pregnancy seems to cause impairment of social development and psychological health. All we need to do is to let abortion remain legal.
“Pro-choice” and “Pro-life”, these are the two faces of the coin, a pro-choicer would hold that the decision to abort an embryo or a fetus is to be made only by the woman; the government and the catholic church have no right to interfere. A pro-lifer would hold that, from the moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is alive; that this life imposes on us a moral obligation to preserve it; and that abortion is practically the same as murder.
A pro-lifer use the Bible to support their doctrine that abortion is wrong, however, the Bible clearly states that unwanted children are problematic in society. In the chapter of Ecclesiastes 6:3-5, it states that, "If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, Better the miscarriage than he, for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he.” According to the verse, King Solomon has stated above, that the life of a newborn fetus is less valuable than a man who has a satisfying life. King Solomon makes the point that much of life is futile. Over and over he wrote that if life is pleasing, then we should be thankful. But when life is not gratifying, he says that it is sometimes better to end a pregnancy prematurely than to allow it to continue into a miserable life. It is not saying that we shouldn't bring new life into this world, but rather it is asserting that a miserable life is no life at all. Thus, abortion should be available to women who do not want to bring an abandoned life into the world. Many pro-choicer states that if an unwanted child is going to be born from a mother who wished to have an abortion, then the life of that child would have no meaning and purpose.
Pro-life people are in a contradiction, they say "at conception, each of us is unique”. If it is murder to destroy a fertilized egg, is it murder to destroy a sperm or an egg? Is it not true that each living sperm and egg are distinguishable from each other, anti-abortionists state that "at conception, each of us is unique," then, isn't every sperm produced during masturbation unique and therefore a mass murder? And when women menstruate each month, has someone died? It is obvious that the anti-abortionist argument is groundless and unsupported. If anti-abortionists can not deliver a rational argument, then abortion in Venezuela should remain as an alternative from which women can choose.
A woman who is forced to carry out an unwanted pregnancy is at risk. She has a greater possibility of depression because she is less possible to look for early prenatal care and is more likely to use such harmful substances as tobacco and alcohol. Also, her relationship with a partner is at greater risk of dissolution. Furthermore, the mother and her partner are more likely to suffer through economic distress and fail to raise the child successfully.
Women who are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term; the result would be an unwanted children. Abortion should remain legal in Venezuela because it may destine an unwanted child to live a dreadful life. Everyone knows that unwanted children are among society's most tragic cases, often uncared for, unloved, brutalized, and abandoned. When these children grow up, they live disadvantaged lives and could possibly live a life inclined towards brutal behavior to others. This is not good for the family, the children, and the nation. Why should a child who is not wanted and loved be brought into this world? The life of an unwanted child is not fulfilling. First, the child of an unwanted conception tends to be at a greater risk of being born at low birth weight, dying in the first year of life. Second, an unwanted pregnancy seems to cause impairment of social development and psychological health. All we need to do is to let abortion remain legal.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
MY ON LINE QUIZ
GLADYMAR ROMERO
802
INGLES 4
Complete the sentences with appropriate verbs from the box
Gap-fill exercise
Correct! Well done.
Your score is 100%.
accused admitted assured be having complained confirmed do explained had had asked hadn't have left having might have persuaded suggested would
1. Michael suggested going to see a movie.
2. Dan explained how to send an e-mail.
3. I wasn't that interested, but Ruth eventually persuaded me to go with her.
4. We assured him that everything would be fine.
5. Kay complained that the food was cold.
6. The travel agent confirmed that we had seats.
7. Penny admitted that she had made a mistake.
8. She accused him of telling a lie.
9. If you were having the opportunity to go on a blind date, would you do it?
10. Supposing that your old girlfriend/or boyfriend had wanted you back, would you have left your current one?
11. Just imagine that you hadn't spent all your money last night; think what a good time you could be having now.
12. I might have agreed to go out with you if you had asked me more politely.
Check
Have something done
Gap-fill exercise
Your score is 90%.
Some of your answers are incorrect. Incorrect answers have been left in place for you to change.
1. My hair's getting far too long. I need to have it cut.
2. Noah hates having his photo taken
3. I've lost my key so I'd better have another one made
4. My watch isn't working properly. I ought to have it repaired
5. I'm going to have my suit washed as there's a coffee stain on the sleeve.
6. It's time we had our car fixed.
7. Katie can't find a wedding dress she likes so she's considering having one made.
8. As this summer is expected to be really hot we're planning on having air-conditioning .
9. Jenny's worried she may have a high cholesterol level, so she wants to have it checked.
10. The police suspected the fugitive was hiding somewhere in the building, so they had it .
Check
Which Conditional Should I Use?
Quiz
Your score is 100%.
Questions answered correctly first time: 6/6
Show questions one by one
1. He stepped on the mine, and it exploded.
A. :-) If he hadn't stepped on the mine, it wouldn't have exploded.
B. ? If he doesn't step on the mine, it doesn't explode.
C. ? If he didn't step on the mine, it wouldn't explode.
D. ? If he doesn't step on the mine, it won't explode.
2. Unfortunately, I don't know Philosophy, so I can't answer your question.
A. ? If I know Philosophy, I can answer your question.
B. ? If I had known Philosophy, I would have been able to answer your question
C. ? If I know Philosophy, I will be able to answer your question.
D. :-) If I knew Philosophy, I would be able to answer your question.
3. In my experiments, the liquid is cooled to 32 degrees. It always freezes.
A. ? If you had cooled the liquid to 32 degrees, it would have frozen.
B. ? If you cool the liquid to 32 degrees, it freezes.
C. :-) If you cool the liquid to 32 degrees, it will freeze.
D. ? If you cooled the liquid to 32 degrees, it would freeze.
4. It may rain this afternoon. I hope it doesn't because I don't want the match to be cancelled.
A. ? If it had rained, the match would have been cancelled.
B. :-) If it rains, the match will be cancelled.
C. ? If it rained, the match would be cancelled.
D. ? If it rains, the match is cancelled.
5. I want to buy a Porsche, but I don't have enough money.
A. ? If I have enough money, I buy a Porsche.
B. ? If I have enough money, I will buy a Porsche.
C. :-) If I had enough money, I would buy a Porsche.
D. ? If I had had enough money, I would have bought a Porsche.
6. You ignored my advice, so you got into trouble!
A. ? If you didn't ignore my advice, you wouldn't get into trouble.
B. :-) If you hadn't ignored my advice, you wouldn't have got into trouble.
C. ? If you don't ignore my advice, you won't get into trouble.
D. ? If you don't ignore my advice, you don't get into trouble.
Crossword
Correct! Well done.
Your score is 100%.
Across:WE, 18: "Don't drive too quickly. The streets are very icy."He warned him about the ice. Enter
1C
O N G R 2A
T U L A T E D
P 3F
4O
R
5C
O M P L A I N E D F
L F
6E
N C O U R A G E D 7D
E N I E D
G R
I 8A
D M I T T E D
Z N D
9T
H R E A T E N E D
D O
10A
11S
U G G E S T E D
S N
K C
12E
X 13P
L A I N E D
D R D
O
14R
E M I N D E D
I
15A
C C U S E D
G E
R 16A
D V 17I
S E D
E N
E V
D I
T
18W
A R N E D
D
Check
Across:WE,
1. "Well done!" That teacher _______ them on passing their exams.
3. "It was your fault."The cyclist blamed the bus driver ___ causing the accident.
5. "The electrician said he was coming at ten o'clock so I took time off work and waited in all morning...."She ____ about the electrician.
6. "It's a really good idea. You'll meet lots of people."New students are always _____ to join social clubs when they first go to university.
7. "It most certainly wasn't me that left the front door open."He _____ leaving the front door open.
8. "OK, it was me. I ate your chocolate"Elvira _____ eating the chocolate.
9. "You won't see him alive again."The kidnapper ___ to kill their son if they informed the police.
11. "Why don't you go to the dentist if your tooth hurts?"She ____ that he should go to the dentist.
12. "Sorry I'm late. The traffic was bad and then I couldn't find a parking space."He ____ why he was late.
14. "Remember you have to go to the bank. You forgot yesterday."She____ me to go to the bank.
15. "You caused it."The cyclist accused the bus driver of causing the accident.
16. "You should see a solicitor."The landlord of my neighbour's flat wanted to double the rent, so I ____ her to see a solicitor.
18. "Don't drive too quickly. The streets are very icy."He warned him about the ice.
Down:
2. "I'm sorry I didn't get to the meeting."He ____ for not going to the meeting.
4. "Those bags must be heavy, John. Shall I take one?"She ____ to carry a bag for him.
8. "We're getting engaged."Christine and Harry ____ at the party that they were getting engaged.
10. "It's very hot in here. Would you mind opening the window?"She ____ him to open the window.
13. "Yes, honest, I'll be there on time. I won't be late."He ____ not to be late.
15. "OK."The union ____ to call off the strike if safety measures were introduced.
17. "Would you like to come to our house for dinner on Friday?He ____ them to come to dinner on Friday.
802
INGLES 4
Complete the sentences with appropriate verbs from the box
Gap-fill exercise
Correct! Well done.
Your score is 100%.
accused admitted assured be having complained confirmed do explained had had asked hadn't have left having might have persuaded suggested would
1. Michael suggested going to see a movie.
2. Dan explained how to send an e-mail.
3. I wasn't that interested, but Ruth eventually persuaded me to go with her.
4. We assured him that everything would be fine.
5. Kay complained that the food was cold.
6. The travel agent confirmed that we had seats.
7. Penny admitted that she had made a mistake.
8. She accused him of telling a lie.
9. If you were having the opportunity to go on a blind date, would you do it?
10. Supposing that your old girlfriend/or boyfriend had wanted you back, would you have left your current one?
11. Just imagine that you hadn't spent all your money last night; think what a good time you could be having now.
12. I might have agreed to go out with you if you had asked me more politely.
Check
Have something done
Gap-fill exercise
Your score is 90%.
Some of your answers are incorrect. Incorrect answers have been left in place for you to change.
1. My hair's getting far too long. I need to have it cut.
2. Noah hates having his photo taken
3. I've lost my key so I'd better have another one made
4. My watch isn't working properly. I ought to have it repaired
5. I'm going to have my suit washed as there's a coffee stain on the sleeve.
6. It's time we had our car fixed.
7. Katie can't find a wedding dress she likes so she's considering having one made.
8. As this summer is expected to be really hot we're planning on having air-conditioning .
9. Jenny's worried she may have a high cholesterol level, so she wants to have it checked.
10. The police suspected the fugitive was hiding somewhere in the building, so they had it .
Check
Which Conditional Should I Use?
Quiz
Your score is 100%.
Questions answered correctly first time: 6/6
Show questions one by one
1. He stepped on the mine, and it exploded.
A. :-) If he hadn't stepped on the mine, it wouldn't have exploded.
B. ? If he doesn't step on the mine, it doesn't explode.
C. ? If he didn't step on the mine, it wouldn't explode.
D. ? If he doesn't step on the mine, it won't explode.
2. Unfortunately, I don't know Philosophy, so I can't answer your question.
A. ? If I know Philosophy, I can answer your question.
B. ? If I had known Philosophy, I would have been able to answer your question
C. ? If I know Philosophy, I will be able to answer your question.
D. :-) If I knew Philosophy, I would be able to answer your question.
3. In my experiments, the liquid is cooled to 32 degrees. It always freezes.
A. ? If you had cooled the liquid to 32 degrees, it would have frozen.
B. ? If you cool the liquid to 32 degrees, it freezes.
C. :-) If you cool the liquid to 32 degrees, it will freeze.
D. ? If you cooled the liquid to 32 degrees, it would freeze.
4. It may rain this afternoon. I hope it doesn't because I don't want the match to be cancelled.
A. ? If it had rained, the match would have been cancelled.
B. :-) If it rains, the match will be cancelled.
C. ? If it rained, the match would be cancelled.
D. ? If it rains, the match is cancelled.
5. I want to buy a Porsche, but I don't have enough money.
A. ? If I have enough money, I buy a Porsche.
B. ? If I have enough money, I will buy a Porsche.
C. :-) If I had enough money, I would buy a Porsche.
D. ? If I had had enough money, I would have bought a Porsche.
6. You ignored my advice, so you got into trouble!
A. ? If you didn't ignore my advice, you wouldn't get into trouble.
B. :-) If you hadn't ignored my advice, you wouldn't have got into trouble.
C. ? If you don't ignore my advice, you won't get into trouble.
D. ? If you don't ignore my advice, you don't get into trouble.
Crossword
Correct! Well done.
Your score is 100%.
Across:WE, 18: "Don't drive too quickly. The streets are very icy."He warned him about the ice. Enter
1C
O N G R 2A
T U L A T E D
P 3F
4O
R
5C
O M P L A I N E D F
L F
6E
N C O U R A G E D 7D
E N I E D
G R
I 8A
D M I T T E D
Z N D
9T
H R E A T E N E D
D O
10A
11S
U G G E S T E D
S N
K C
12E
X 13P
L A I N E D
D R D
O
14R
E M I N D E D
I
15A
C C U S E D
G E
R 16A
D V 17I
S E D
E N
E V
D I
T
18W
A R N E D
D
Check
Across:WE,
1. "Well done!" That teacher _______ them on passing their exams.
3. "It was your fault."The cyclist blamed the bus driver ___ causing the accident.
5. "The electrician said he was coming at ten o'clock so I took time off work and waited in all morning...."She ____ about the electrician.
6. "It's a really good idea. You'll meet lots of people."New students are always _____ to join social clubs when they first go to university.
7. "It most certainly wasn't me that left the front door open."He _____ leaving the front door open.
8. "OK, it was me. I ate your chocolate"Elvira _____ eating the chocolate.
9. "You won't see him alive again."The kidnapper ___ to kill their son if they informed the police.
11. "Why don't you go to the dentist if your tooth hurts?"She ____ that he should go to the dentist.
12. "Sorry I'm late. The traffic was bad and then I couldn't find a parking space."He ____ why he was late.
14. "Remember you have to go to the bank. You forgot yesterday."She____ me to go to the bank.
15. "You caused it."The cyclist accused the bus driver of causing the accident.
16. "You should see a solicitor."The landlord of my neighbour's flat wanted to double the rent, so I ____ her to see a solicitor.
18. "Don't drive too quickly. The streets are very icy."He warned him about the ice.
Down:
2. "I'm sorry I didn't get to the meeting."He ____ for not going to the meeting.
4. "Those bags must be heavy, John. Shall I take one?"She ____ to carry a bag for him.
8. "We're getting engaged."Christine and Harry ____ at the party that they were getting engaged.
10. "It's very hot in here. Would you mind opening the window?"She ____ him to open the window.
13. "Yes, honest, I'll be there on time. I won't be late."He ____ not to be late.
15. "OK."The union ____ to call off the strike if safety measures were introduced.
17. "Would you like to come to our house for dinner on Friday?He ____ them to come to dinner on Friday.
Friday, March 02, 2007
LE CHORISTES
SUMARY
LES CHORISTES
Les choristes is a wonderful story about the power of music; this is about a school for orphans and problematic boys. A former musician named clement Mathieu and a group of kids.
On January, 15º, 1949, Mr. Mathieu arrived to “fond de l`etang” to work as a teacher, he didn’t imagine what kind of school was that. At the edge of the principal entrance, Mr. Mathieu just saw a dirty little kid with a sad face, who was alone, the kids seems as he was waiting for someone, Mr. Mathieu asked him what he was doing there and the little boy answered that he was waiting for his parents, because on Saturdays parents used to go visit their kids there. Mr. Mathieu continued his way, when he came in to the school, he met a nice man called “old maxence” who was a janitor that had been working there for many years, old maxence explained to Mr. Mathieu what kind of school was that, he also met other teachers, all of them warning about the problematic kids.
The headmaster of the school was an ambitious, bad and cruel guy named Mr. rachin, he used to treated the kids as animals, he always used a method of teaching called “action-reaction” that consist in suppress by punishments kids’ pranks, this method was completely awful because kids always were afraid of Mr. rachin presence.
Mr. Mathieu started giving class at the beginning, this class was so outgoing, the kids didn’t respect anybody unless Mr. rachin, they were screaming and playing around the classroom, everything was a mess, but thanks to Mr. Mathieu patience, perseverance and goodness he won the confidence of this little boys, he just realized that deep inside they were good kids.
Mr. Mathieu started to compose music and he thought about to create a chorus with the kids. He put all the kids together and started a pre-selection, he selected baritones and sopranos, the little pepinot the lonely kid was selected to be the teacher’s assistant.
The new chorus practiced and practiced every day, one of the chorister a kid named Pierre morhange was outstanding, he was very a talented singer, his voice sounds like a celestial angel. This boy was always in troubles and Mr. Mathieu had to punish him all the time. During the classes Mr. Mathieu tried to change his student’s minds, by using new methods of teaching, listening to their problems, knowing more about what they want to do in the future and their personal life.
The headmaster felt that Mr. Mathieu was a treat for him and the school and tried to eliminated the chorus, the ladies who supported the school wanted to listen the chorus, thy did the presentation and was amazing, the little morhange sang as never he did it and everybody were delight by them.
the headmaster was going to received a promotion for the idea of create a chorus, but when he wasn’t in the school a dangerous boy named Monday took revenge of him, he fired a part of the school, Mr. Mathieu was accused as the responsible of that act and was fired without say goodbye to his wonderful students, he was devastated, but in the exactly moment when hen he was leaving the school, all the kids were upstairs singing so loud, so wonderful for Mr. Mathieu, they were just throwing little pieces of paper trough the windows, this paper had write wonderful massages, it was a very touching moment. Mr. Mathieu left the school with a feeling of happiness and the little pepinot joined him in his travel.
QUESTIONS
What does the school predict about the students who attend there?
The school predicts that the kids were a lost case, I mean, that they don’t have any future in their lives.
Where did most of the students come from?
More of the students came from poor families, orphans and kids that used to be vulgar, some of them were come from to this school for bad behavior.
Why do you think they were there?
They were there because some of these kids’ families don’t have any money for pay a good school or they just were kids without family.
What expressions about education did you hear in the movie?
I listened about a method called action-reaction
What qualities did you see in the teacher that shows the qualities of a good teacher?
He was patient, perseverance, humane, helpful, disciplined, and respectful and he loved to work in teams.
Why didn’t Mathieu want to touch his music?
Because he thought that he was a bad musician and he didn’t have success in his career.
What is Pierre morhange’s (child) conflict?
He was a problematic boy, his principal conflict was that his mother had to work everyday in a restaurant, she was a single mother and she doesn’t have any time to take care of him, Pierre missed her a lot and he escaped to the school only for see her, he was jealous of Mr. Mathieu because he thought that thy had an affair.
What does rachin think about Mathieu’s manners to teach?
He thinks that the way of Mr. Mathieu teaches his classes are wrong, because he needs to be dad, and cruel.
Does action-reaction method actually pay off?
Actually no, because anyway the kids always were doing pranks.
Do you know the term “gray teacher”? Is it applicable to rachin? State your reasons.
Yes, well I think that a grey teacher is a person who doesn’t have any feelings for his students, only thinks about him and his future, that doesn’t care about other people.
What values did Mathieu show to his students?
Be helpful, disciplined and that they don’t have to lose the faith
Mathieu’s last words were “noone even knew I was alive” why did he mean by that?
I think he said that because he felt that he was a looser, and nobody knows him, but inside he doesn’t care that because he was so proud of the job that he did with those wonderful children.
Does music represent a mere leisure activity for the kids in fond de l’etang?
I don’t think so because they learned a lot through the music, and they really enjoyed doing that.
Do you think Mathieu to be a failed teacher or person? Why?
No, I don’t because he was a marvelous teacher, with good feelings
According to pepinot, “does Mathieu keeps everything to himself”?
No he doesn’t because he shred his journal where hi describe the life in the school with Morhange and Pepinot,
Why do you think music is chosen as a vital subject to change the kids’ life and not math or physics instead? What does music mean to you?
Because the other subjects were kind of boring for them instead music and through music you can transmit feelings and hopes.
Can music be a useful tool to teach English?
Of course, music could be an useful tool to teach English because is entertainment, relaxing, and pleasure way to learn something.
GLADYMAR ROMERO
ENGLISH 4
802
LES CHORISTES
Les choristes is a wonderful story about the power of music; this is about a school for orphans and problematic boys. A former musician named clement Mathieu and a group of kids.
On January, 15º, 1949, Mr. Mathieu arrived to “fond de l`etang” to work as a teacher, he didn’t imagine what kind of school was that. At the edge of the principal entrance, Mr. Mathieu just saw a dirty little kid with a sad face, who was alone, the kids seems as he was waiting for someone, Mr. Mathieu asked him what he was doing there and the little boy answered that he was waiting for his parents, because on Saturdays parents used to go visit their kids there. Mr. Mathieu continued his way, when he came in to the school, he met a nice man called “old maxence” who was a janitor that had been working there for many years, old maxence explained to Mr. Mathieu what kind of school was that, he also met other teachers, all of them warning about the problematic kids.
The headmaster of the school was an ambitious, bad and cruel guy named Mr. rachin, he used to treated the kids as animals, he always used a method of teaching called “action-reaction” that consist in suppress by punishments kids’ pranks, this method was completely awful because kids always were afraid of Mr. rachin presence.
Mr. Mathieu started giving class at the beginning, this class was so outgoing, the kids didn’t respect anybody unless Mr. rachin, they were screaming and playing around the classroom, everything was a mess, but thanks to Mr. Mathieu patience, perseverance and goodness he won the confidence of this little boys, he just realized that deep inside they were good kids.
Mr. Mathieu started to compose music and he thought about to create a chorus with the kids. He put all the kids together and started a pre-selection, he selected baritones and sopranos, the little pepinot the lonely kid was selected to be the teacher’s assistant.
The new chorus practiced and practiced every day, one of the chorister a kid named Pierre morhange was outstanding, he was very a talented singer, his voice sounds like a celestial angel. This boy was always in troubles and Mr. Mathieu had to punish him all the time. During the classes Mr. Mathieu tried to change his student’s minds, by using new methods of teaching, listening to their problems, knowing more about what they want to do in the future and their personal life.
The headmaster felt that Mr. Mathieu was a treat for him and the school and tried to eliminated the chorus, the ladies who supported the school wanted to listen the chorus, thy did the presentation and was amazing, the little morhange sang as never he did it and everybody were delight by them.
the headmaster was going to received a promotion for the idea of create a chorus, but when he wasn’t in the school a dangerous boy named Monday took revenge of him, he fired a part of the school, Mr. Mathieu was accused as the responsible of that act and was fired without say goodbye to his wonderful students, he was devastated, but in the exactly moment when hen he was leaving the school, all the kids were upstairs singing so loud, so wonderful for Mr. Mathieu, they were just throwing little pieces of paper trough the windows, this paper had write wonderful massages, it was a very touching moment. Mr. Mathieu left the school with a feeling of happiness and the little pepinot joined him in his travel.
QUESTIONS
What does the school predict about the students who attend there?
The school predicts that the kids were a lost case, I mean, that they don’t have any future in their lives.
Where did most of the students come from?
More of the students came from poor families, orphans and kids that used to be vulgar, some of them were come from to this school for bad behavior.
Why do you think they were there?
They were there because some of these kids’ families don’t have any money for pay a good school or they just were kids without family.
What expressions about education did you hear in the movie?
I listened about a method called action-reaction
What qualities did you see in the teacher that shows the qualities of a good teacher?
He was patient, perseverance, humane, helpful, disciplined, and respectful and he loved to work in teams.
Why didn’t Mathieu want to touch his music?
Because he thought that he was a bad musician and he didn’t have success in his career.
What is Pierre morhange’s (child) conflict?
He was a problematic boy, his principal conflict was that his mother had to work everyday in a restaurant, she was a single mother and she doesn’t have any time to take care of him, Pierre missed her a lot and he escaped to the school only for see her, he was jealous of Mr. Mathieu because he thought that thy had an affair.
What does rachin think about Mathieu’s manners to teach?
He thinks that the way of Mr. Mathieu teaches his classes are wrong, because he needs to be dad, and cruel.
Does action-reaction method actually pay off?
Actually no, because anyway the kids always were doing pranks.
Do you know the term “gray teacher”? Is it applicable to rachin? State your reasons.
Yes, well I think that a grey teacher is a person who doesn’t have any feelings for his students, only thinks about him and his future, that doesn’t care about other people.
What values did Mathieu show to his students?
Be helpful, disciplined and that they don’t have to lose the faith
Mathieu’s last words were “noone even knew I was alive” why did he mean by that?
I think he said that because he felt that he was a looser, and nobody knows him, but inside he doesn’t care that because he was so proud of the job that he did with those wonderful children.
Does music represent a mere leisure activity for the kids in fond de l’etang?
I don’t think so because they learned a lot through the music, and they really enjoyed doing that.
Do you think Mathieu to be a failed teacher or person? Why?
No, I don’t because he was a marvelous teacher, with good feelings
According to pepinot, “does Mathieu keeps everything to himself”?
No he doesn’t because he shred his journal where hi describe the life in the school with Morhange and Pepinot,
Why do you think music is chosen as a vital subject to change the kids’ life and not math or physics instead? What does music mean to you?
Because the other subjects were kind of boring for them instead music and through music you can transmit feelings and hopes.
Can music be a useful tool to teach English?
Of course, music could be an useful tool to teach English because is entertainment, relaxing, and pleasure way to learn something.
GLADYMAR ROMERO
ENGLISH 4
802
Friday, January 12, 2007
Monday, December 11, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
READING
The Winepress
"You don't have to be French to enjoy a decent red wine," Charles Jousselin de Gruse used to tell his foreign guests whenever he entertained them in Paris. "But you do have to be French to recognize one," he would add with a laugh.
After a lifetime in the French diplomatic corps, the Count de Gruse lived with his wife in an elegant townhouse on Quai Voltaire. He was a likeable man, cultivated of course, with a well deserved reputation as a generous host and an amusing raconteur.
This evening's guests were all European and all equally convinced that immigration was at the root of Europe's problems. Charles de Gruse said nothing. He had always concealed his contempt for such ideas. And, in any case, he had never much cared for these particular guests.
The first of the red Bordeaux was being served with the veal, and one of the guests turned to de Gruse.
"Come on, Charles, it's simple arithmetic. Nothing to do with race or colour. You must've had bags of experience of this sort of thing. What d'you say?"
"Yes, General. Bags!"
Without another word, de Gruse picked up his glass and introduced his bulbous, winey nose. After a moment he looked up with watery eyes.
"A truly full-bodied Bordeaux," he said warmly, "a wine among wines."
The four guests held their glasses to the light and studied their blood-red contents. They all agreed that it was the best wine they had ever tasted.
One by one the little white lights along the Seine were coming on, and from the first-floor windows you could see the brightly lit bateaux-mouches passing through the arches of the Pont du Carrousel. The party moved on to a dish of game served with a more vigorous claret.
"Can you imagine," asked de Gruse, as the claret was poured, "that there are people who actually serve wines they know nothing about?"
"Really?" said one of the guests, a German politician.
"Personally, before I uncork a bottle I like to know what's in it."
"But how? How can anyone be sure?"
"I like to hunt around the vineyards. Take this place I used to visit in Bordeaux. I got to know the winegrower there personally. That's the way to know what you're drinking."
"A matter of pedigree, Charles," said the other politician.
"This fellow," continued de Gruse as though the Dutchman had not spoken, "always gave you the story behind his wines. One of them was the most extraordinary story I ever heard. We were tasting, in his winery, and we came to a cask that made him frown. He asked if I agreed with him that red Bordeaux was the best wine in the world. Of course, I agreed. Then he made the strangest statement.
"'The wine in this cask,' he said, and there were tears in his eyes, 'is the best vintage in the world. But it started its life far from the country where it was grown.'"
De Gruse paused to check that his guests were being served.
"Well?" said the Dutchman.
De Gruse and his wife exchanged glances.
"Do tell them, mon chéri," she said.
De Gruse leaned forwards, took another sip of wine, and dabbed his lips with the corner of his napkin. This is the story he told them.
At the age of twenty-one, Pierre - that was the name he gave the winegrower - had been sent by his father to spend some time with his uncle in Madagascar. Within two weeks he had fallen for a local girl called Faniry, or "Desire" in Malagasy. You could not blame him. At seventeen she was ravishing. In the Malagasy sunlight her skin was golden. Her black, waist-length hair, which hung straight beside her cheeks, framed large, fathomless eyes. It was a genuine coup de foudre, for both of them. Within five months they were married. Faniry had no family, but Pierre's parents came out from France for the wedding, even though they did not strictly approve of it, and for three years the young couple lived very happily on the island of Madagascar. Then, one day, a telegram came from France. Pierre's parents and his only brother had been killed in a car crash. Pierre took the next flight home to attend the funeral and manage the vineyard left by his father.
Faniry followed two weeks later. Pierre was grief-stricken, but with Faniry he settled down to running the vineyard. His family, and the lazy, idyllic days under a tropical sun, were gone forever. But he was very happily married, and he was very well-off. Perhaps, he reasoned, life in Bordeaux would not be so bad.
But he was wrong. It soon became obvious that Faniry was jealous. In Madagascar she had no match. In France she was jealous of everyone. Of the maids. Of the secretary. Even of the peasant girls who picked the grapes and giggled at her funny accent. She convinced herself that Pierre made love to each of them in turn.
She started with insinuations, simple, artless ones that Pierre hardly even recognized. Then she tried blunt accusation in the privacy of their bedroom. When he denied that, she resorted to violent, humiliating denouncements in the kitchens, the winery, the plantations. The angel that Pierre had married in Madagascar had become a termagant, blinded by jealousy. Nothing he did or said could help. Often, she would refuse to speak for a week or more, and when at last she spoke it would only be to scream yet more abuse or swear again her intention to leave him. By the third vine-harvest it was obvious to everyone that they loathed each other.
One Friday evening, Pierre was down in the winery, working on a new electric winepress. He was alone. The grape-pickers had left. Suddenly the door opened and Faniry entered, excessively made up. She walked straight up to Pierre, flung her arms around his neck, and pressed herself against him. Even above the fumes from the pressed grapes he could smell that she had been drinking.
"Darling," she sighed, "what shall we do?"
He badly wanted her, but all the past insults and humiliating scenes welled up inside him. He pushed her away.
"But, darling, I'm going to have a baby."
"Don't be absurd. Go to bed! You're drunk. And take that paint off. It makes you look like a tart."
Faniry's face blackened, and she threw herself at him with new accusations. He had never cared for her. He cared only about sex. He was obsessed with it. And with white women. But the women in France, the white women, they were the tarts, and he was welcome to them. She snatched a knife from the wall and lunged at him with it. She was in tears, but it took all his strength to keep the knife from his throat. Eventually he pushed her off, and she stumbled towards the winepress. Pierre stood, breathing heavily, as the screw of the press caught at her hair and dragged her in. She screamed, struggling to free herself. The screw bit slowly into her shoulder and she screamed again. Then she fainted, though whether from the pain or the fumes he was not sure. He looked away until a sickening sound told him it was over. Then he raised his arm and switched the current off.
The guests shuddered visibly and de Gruse paused in his story.
"Well, I won't go into the details at table," he said. "Pierre fed the rest of the body into the press and tidied up. Then he went up to the house, had a bath, ate a meal, and went to bed. The next day, he told everyone Faniry had finally left him and gone back to Madagascar. No-one was surprised."
He paused again. His guests sat motionless, their eyes turned towards him.
"Of course," he continued, "Sixty-five was a bad year for red Bordeaux. Except for Pierre's. That was the extraordinary thing. It won award after award, and nobody could understand why."
The general's wife cleared her throat.
"But, surely," she said, "you didn't taste it?"
"No, I didn't taste it, though Pierre did assure me his wife had lent the wine an incomparable aroma."
"And you didn't, er, buy any?" asked the general.
"How could I refuse? It isn't every day that one finds such a pedigree."
There was a long silence. The Dutchman shifted awkwardly in his seat, his glass poised midway between the table and his open lips. The other guests looked around uneasily at each other. They did not understand.
"But look here, Gruse," said the general at last, "you don't mean to tell me we're drinking this damned woman now, d'you?"
De Gruse gazed impassively at the Englishman.
"Heaven forbid, General," he said slowly. "Everyone knows that the best vintage should always come first."
© Josef Essberger 2002
"You don't have to be French to enjoy a decent red wine," Charles Jousselin de Gruse used to tell his foreign guests whenever he entertained them in Paris. "But you do have to be French to recognize one," he would add with a laugh.
After a lifetime in the French diplomatic corps, the Count de Gruse lived with his wife in an elegant townhouse on Quai Voltaire. He was a likeable man, cultivated of course, with a well deserved reputation as a generous host and an amusing raconteur.
This evening's guests were all European and all equally convinced that immigration was at the root of Europe's problems. Charles de Gruse said nothing. He had always concealed his contempt for such ideas. And, in any case, he had never much cared for these particular guests.
The first of the red Bordeaux was being served with the veal, and one of the guests turned to de Gruse.
"Come on, Charles, it's simple arithmetic. Nothing to do with race or colour. You must've had bags of experience of this sort of thing. What d'you say?"
"Yes, General. Bags!"
Without another word, de Gruse picked up his glass and introduced his bulbous, winey nose. After a moment he looked up with watery eyes.
"A truly full-bodied Bordeaux," he said warmly, "a wine among wines."
The four guests held their glasses to the light and studied their blood-red contents. They all agreed that it was the best wine they had ever tasted.
One by one the little white lights along the Seine were coming on, and from the first-floor windows you could see the brightly lit bateaux-mouches passing through the arches of the Pont du Carrousel. The party moved on to a dish of game served with a more vigorous claret.
"Can you imagine," asked de Gruse, as the claret was poured, "that there are people who actually serve wines they know nothing about?"
"Really?" said one of the guests, a German politician.
"Personally, before I uncork a bottle I like to know what's in it."
"But how? How can anyone be sure?"
"I like to hunt around the vineyards. Take this place I used to visit in Bordeaux. I got to know the winegrower there personally. That's the way to know what you're drinking."
"A matter of pedigree, Charles," said the other politician.
"This fellow," continued de Gruse as though the Dutchman had not spoken, "always gave you the story behind his wines. One of them was the most extraordinary story I ever heard. We were tasting, in his winery, and we came to a cask that made him frown. He asked if I agreed with him that red Bordeaux was the best wine in the world. Of course, I agreed. Then he made the strangest statement.
"'The wine in this cask,' he said, and there were tears in his eyes, 'is the best vintage in the world. But it started its life far from the country where it was grown.'"
De Gruse paused to check that his guests were being served.
"Well?" said the Dutchman.
De Gruse and his wife exchanged glances.
"Do tell them, mon chéri," she said.
De Gruse leaned forwards, took another sip of wine, and dabbed his lips with the corner of his napkin. This is the story he told them.
At the age of twenty-one, Pierre - that was the name he gave the winegrower - had been sent by his father to spend some time with his uncle in Madagascar. Within two weeks he had fallen for a local girl called Faniry, or "Desire" in Malagasy. You could not blame him. At seventeen she was ravishing. In the Malagasy sunlight her skin was golden. Her black, waist-length hair, which hung straight beside her cheeks, framed large, fathomless eyes. It was a genuine coup de foudre, for both of them. Within five months they were married. Faniry had no family, but Pierre's parents came out from France for the wedding, even though they did not strictly approve of it, and for three years the young couple lived very happily on the island of Madagascar. Then, one day, a telegram came from France. Pierre's parents and his only brother had been killed in a car crash. Pierre took the next flight home to attend the funeral and manage the vineyard left by his father.
Faniry followed two weeks later. Pierre was grief-stricken, but with Faniry he settled down to running the vineyard. His family, and the lazy, idyllic days under a tropical sun, were gone forever. But he was very happily married, and he was very well-off. Perhaps, he reasoned, life in Bordeaux would not be so bad.
But he was wrong. It soon became obvious that Faniry was jealous. In Madagascar she had no match. In France she was jealous of everyone. Of the maids. Of the secretary. Even of the peasant girls who picked the grapes and giggled at her funny accent. She convinced herself that Pierre made love to each of them in turn.
She started with insinuations, simple, artless ones that Pierre hardly even recognized. Then she tried blunt accusation in the privacy of their bedroom. When he denied that, she resorted to violent, humiliating denouncements in the kitchens, the winery, the plantations. The angel that Pierre had married in Madagascar had become a termagant, blinded by jealousy. Nothing he did or said could help. Often, she would refuse to speak for a week or more, and when at last she spoke it would only be to scream yet more abuse or swear again her intention to leave him. By the third vine-harvest it was obvious to everyone that they loathed each other.
One Friday evening, Pierre was down in the winery, working on a new electric winepress. He was alone. The grape-pickers had left. Suddenly the door opened and Faniry entered, excessively made up. She walked straight up to Pierre, flung her arms around his neck, and pressed herself against him. Even above the fumes from the pressed grapes he could smell that she had been drinking.
"Darling," she sighed, "what shall we do?"
He badly wanted her, but all the past insults and humiliating scenes welled up inside him. He pushed her away.
"But, darling, I'm going to have a baby."
"Don't be absurd. Go to bed! You're drunk. And take that paint off. It makes you look like a tart."
Faniry's face blackened, and she threw herself at him with new accusations. He had never cared for her. He cared only about sex. He was obsessed with it. And with white women. But the women in France, the white women, they were the tarts, and he was welcome to them. She snatched a knife from the wall and lunged at him with it. She was in tears, but it took all his strength to keep the knife from his throat. Eventually he pushed her off, and she stumbled towards the winepress. Pierre stood, breathing heavily, as the screw of the press caught at her hair and dragged her in. She screamed, struggling to free herself. The screw bit slowly into her shoulder and she screamed again. Then she fainted, though whether from the pain or the fumes he was not sure. He looked away until a sickening sound told him it was over. Then he raised his arm and switched the current off.
The guests shuddered visibly and de Gruse paused in his story.
"Well, I won't go into the details at table," he said. "Pierre fed the rest of the body into the press and tidied up. Then he went up to the house, had a bath, ate a meal, and went to bed. The next day, he told everyone Faniry had finally left him and gone back to Madagascar. No-one was surprised."
He paused again. His guests sat motionless, their eyes turned towards him.
"Of course," he continued, "Sixty-five was a bad year for red Bordeaux. Except for Pierre's. That was the extraordinary thing. It won award after award, and nobody could understand why."
The general's wife cleared her throat.
"But, surely," she said, "you didn't taste it?"
"No, I didn't taste it, though Pierre did assure me his wife had lent the wine an incomparable aroma."
"And you didn't, er, buy any?" asked the general.
"How could I refuse? It isn't every day that one finds such a pedigree."
There was a long silence. The Dutchman shifted awkwardly in his seat, his glass poised midway between the table and his open lips. The other guests looked around uneasily at each other. They did not understand.
"But look here, Gruse," said the general at last, "you don't mean to tell me we're drinking this damned woman now, d'you?"
De Gruse gazed impassively at the Englishman.
"Heaven forbid, General," he said slowly. "Everyone knows that the best vintage should always come first."
© Josef Essberger 2002
I´M AN OTAKU!!!!!!!!
Do you want to know what an otaku is???
Etymology
The word otaku is derived from an honorific Japanese term for another's house or family (お宅, 御宅 otaku) that is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun (roughly equivalent to vos/usted in Spanish). The modern slang form, which is distinguished from the older usage by being written only in hiragana (おたく) or katakana (オタク), appeared in the 1980s. It appears to have been coined by the humorist and essayist Akio Nakamori in his 1983 series An Investigation of Otaku (おたくの研究, Otaku no Kenkyū?), printed in the lolicon magazine Manga Burikko,[1] who observed that this form of address was unusually common among geeks and nerds. It was apparently a reference to someone who communicates with their equals using the distant and formal pronoun, and spends most of their time at home.[1]
The term entered general use in Japan around 1989, and may have been popularized by Nakamori's publication in that year of The Age of M (Mの時代, M no Jidai?). It applied the term to the (then) recently caught serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, who turned out to be a recluse obsessed with pornographic anime and manga and who lived out his rape fantasies on young girls, thus attaching a huge taboo to a formerly innocuous term.
Another potential etymology for the term comes from the May 2006 issue of EX Taishuu Magazine, which claims that use of the term originally started among the fanbase of the 1982–1983 TV series Super Dimension Fortress Macross as the main character of the show had a habit of addressing others as "otaku", a habit that fans started to emulate.
Yet another source for the term comes from the works of science fiction author Moto Arai. In his book Wrong About Japan, Peter Carey interviews the novelist, artist and Gundam chronicler Yuka Minakawa. She reveals t
hat Arai used the word to refer to her readers, who adopted the term for themselves.In Japan
In modern Japanese slang, an otaku refers to an overtly obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby. Common uses are anime otaku (one who sometimes enjoys many days of excessive anime watching with no rest) and manga otaku (a fan of Japanese graphic novels), pasokon otaku (personal computer geeks), gēmu otaku (playing video games), and otaku that are extreme fans of idols, heavily promoted singing girls. There are also tetsudō otaku (metrophiles) or gunji otaku (military geeks).
While these are the most common uses of otaku, the word can be applied to anything (music otaku, martial arts otaku, cooking otaku, etc).
The loan-words maniakku or mania (from English "maniac") are sometimes used in relation to specialist hobbies and interests. They can indicate someone with otaku leanings, (for example- Gundam Mania would describe a person who is very interested in the anime series Gundam). They can also describe the focus of such interests (a maniakku ge-mu would be a particularly underground or eccentric game appealing primarily to otaku). The nuance of maniakku in Japanese is softer and less likely to cause offence than otaku.
Amongst Japan's otaku themselves, some use the term to describe themselves and their friends semi-humorously, accepting their position as obsessive fans, and some even use the term proudly, attempting to reclaim it from its negative connotations. In general colloquial usage however, most Japanese would consider it undesirable to be described in a serious fashion as "otaku".
Although stereotypically male, there are also many female Otaku. A small alleyway of Tokyo's Higashi Ikebukuro district is known as "Otome Road" ("Maiden's road"). Otome Road's otome are a cross-section of Japanese womanhood, with ages ranging from teenage junior high school girls to housewives in their late 40s. A feat
ure of the area is that there are so many bookstores devoted to comics and books filled with stories about homosexual men, in a genre called Boys' Love or BL. Dōjinshi, manga produced by amateur fans, dominate the shelves along Otome Road, with a significant chunk of the comics' stories about more famous anime that imitate, parody or develop on characters who are usually household names in Japan.
The Akihabara neighborhood of Tokyo is a popular gathering place for otaku.
An interesting, modern look into the otaku culture has surfaced with an allegedly true story surfacing on the famous internet bulletin board 2ch.net: "Train Man", a love story about a geek and a beautiful woman who meet on the train. The story has enjoyed a compilation in novel form, several comic book adaptions, a movie film released on June 2005 and a television series which aired on Fuji TV from June to September 2005. The drama has become another hot topic in Japan, and the novel, film and television series give a closer look into the otaku culture. In Japan its popularity and positive portayal of the main character has helped to reduce negative stereotypes about otaku, and increase the acceptability of some otaku hobbies. Perhaps encouraged by this reduction in stigma, a few famous Japanese celebrities, actors and models have come out about their otaku hobbies.
A subset of otaku are the Akiba-kei, men who spend a lot of time in Akihabara in Tokyo and who are mainly obsessive about anime, idols and games.
Sometimes the term is used to describe something pertaining to the subculture that surrounds anime, idols and games in Japan. This subculture places an emphasis on certain services (see fanservice) and has its own system for judgment of anime, dating simulations ("dating sim") and/or role-playing games and some manga (often dōjinshi) based upon the level of fanservice in the work. Another popula
r criterion—how ideal the female protagonist of the show is—is often characterized by a level of stylized cuteness and child-like behavior (see moé). In addition, this subculture places great emphasis on knowledge of individual key animators and directors and of minute details within works. The international subculture is influenced by the Japanese one, but differs in many areas often based upon region. (See also: Superflat, Hiroki Azuma.)In Japan anime is not as widely accepted and mainstreamed as manga. Because of this the otaku subculture has much influence over the mainstream anime industry in Japan. The area where otaku have the most influence in manga tends to be with dōjinshi. Manga published in the United States are more influenced by their respective otaku subculture than they are in Japan. This is because most people who read manga have some ties to the subculture in the US, whereas in Japan manga reading is more widespread.
POSTCARD
HELLO FROM JAPAN!!!!!!
Hi my friend, how are you??, well let me tell you that i´m having a terrific time here in tokio, japan is a beautiful country, i have been traveling around the country, visiting differents places and tasting differents kind of japanesse food, you can´t imagine how i´m enjoying this vacations!!!!
i´ll see you soon, i´ll send you some pictures then you can see the rest...
with love
Gladymar
note: this is the jocker postcard
Hi my friend, how are you??, well let me tell you that i´m having a terrific time here in tokio, japan is a beautiful country, i have been traveling around the country, visiting differents places and tasting differents kind of japanesse food, you can´t imagine how i´m enjoying this vacations!!!!
i´ll see you soon, i´ll send you some pictures then you can see the rest...
with love
Gladymar
note: this is the jocker postcard
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