Pre-University: Lab 12 (This I Believe)

Radio listening and writing – This I Believe

This I Believe is a project on NPR in which listeners can submit essays about their personal beliefs.

“[Host] Allison and [producer] Gediman say their goal is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, they hope to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”

These are good examples of personal essays.

A. Listening

Listen to the following essays once before you read them.

There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Barbecue (5:25)

“Jason Sheehan heard our series on his car radio and told us he liked the concept because for many people, belief is just a nebulous clutter of half-held convictions, but the process of putting them down on paper helps cement those few things a person truly believes: the core of a principled life.

“He also noted that the subject of his belief was sitting on the seat next to him in two plastic bags.”

Vocabulary:

• soul food
• comfort food
• barbecue
• civil rights
• putting on airs
• sides
• portions

How does Jason Sheehan believe that barbecue helped change culture in the Deep South, which was racist against African Americans?

The Connection Between Strangers (4:36)

“[Sometimes the most important events in our life are just short moments.] These moments may seem insignificant at the time, but they reverberate afterwards, and even become the basis of a life’s credo. This is what happened to Miles Goodwin.”

Vocabulary

• tour of duty
• wept
• compassion

Why was Miles Goodwin nervous on the airplane?

What happened that “touched” him (gave him a good feeling in his heart)?

B. Writing

Read the details about the rules these writers were using when they wrote their essays.

• Tell a story.
• Be brief.
• Name your belief.
• Be positive.
• Be personal.

What would you say? Write a short essay about a belief you have. Try to be personal and specific. (More personal and specific than, for instance, “I believe in God” or “I believe in my country.”) Try to follow all of the rules above. Don’t forget to illustrate your belief with a story!

You may write or type your short essay, but please be legible!

Intermediate: Lab 7 (Science fiction and the future)

In “There Will Come Soft Rains,” written in 1950, Ray Bradbury imagined the Earth 76 years in his future.

A. Can you think of other science fiction books or movies that imagine the future?
Name of book or movie __________________________________________________

What is different about humans’ lives in this future story? Categories of different things might include …

• communication technology
• home technology
• how we work
• transportation
• medicine
• entertainment
• government
• family life

Some science fiction futures are dystopian (technology has brought a bad future) or post-apocalyptic (manmade or natural disasters have destroyed modern society).

List at least three things about the future in your book or movie that are different from our lives now. Try to be specific. Example: “People communicate directly through their minds. They do not have to use telephones.

1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________

B. Now imagine your idea of humans’ lives in the future. Will our lives be better or worse?
Choose three of the categories above. How will these things be different 200 year in the future?

• Be specific with details.
• Use future tense verbs.
• You should have at least 9 sentences total (3 sentences per paragraph).

Write your ideas on the back of your lab page. If you need more space, use another piece of paper or type your paragraphs.

Two hundred years in the future, __________________ will be different. ________ (…)

In the future, _________________________ will also be different. ________ (…)

Even _____________________________ will be different in the future. ________ (…)

C. Bonus (1 point)
Include a picture of what you think our future will look like in 200 years. It can be a picture you find or a picture you draw. It should match what you have written about in part B.

Intermediate: Lab 6 (Movie reviews)

Think of your favorite movie, or a movie you have seen recently.

Title of movie: _____________________________________

Your opinion of the movie (use adjectives from chapter 13 or otherse):

Now think about the answers to these questions. You will use this information to write a review of the movie. (If you don’t know some of the information about the movie, search in www.imdb.com .)

1.The movie stars _______ as _______, (name all the important actors and characters). The acting by _______ (name of actor or actress) was especially good. (describe why it was good)
2.Plot synopsis: [Summarize what happens in a few sentences, but try not to give away the ending]
3.The part of the movie I liked best was _____________ because ________.
4.I (liked / didn’t like) this movie because _____.
5.I ( would / would not ) recommend this movie to my friends because _____. [even if you didn't like the movie it might be very well done and others might like it.]

Now write a review of the movie in three paragraphs.

Here is an example written by Shayna. You may use this as a model. Please do not copy reviews from the internet.

Joe versus the Volcano is a silly but touching movie directed by John Patrick Shanley. It tells the story of Joe Banks, a man who is afraid of many things in life. But when Joe finds out he is going to die soon, he stops being afraid. He quits his horrible job and takes an offer to go on exciting voyage. At the end of the trip, he must save an island by jumping into a volcano. During the movie, Joe meets several women who help him along.

The main character, Joe, is played by Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks. Hanks does a good job. He makes Joe amusing and likeable. The three women in the movie are all played by actress Meg Ryan. Ryan is versatile, and she makes the three different characters feel like different, interesting people.

My favorite part of the movie was near the end when Joe thought about his past and said, “I’ve come a long way, on a crooked road.” This was interesting because of a visual theme in the movie: a crooked line that appears in several different places, including a company logo, a bolt of lightning, and the road to the top of the volcano. In fact, the movie was full of thoughtful symbolism. It’s like a modern fairy tale. I would recommend this movie to fans of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, as well as people who like simple stories with lots of symbolism.

Please type your review, print it, and bring it to class on Friday.

Intermediate: Lab 5 (Travel brochures)

For this lab, you will make an advertisement for a tourist attraction.

1. Choose a monument or other tourist attraction that you have visited.

2. Answer these questions about the attraction:

• Where is it located? (Country, nearest city)
• When was it built, erected, or established as a monument?
• Who built it or opened it to the public?
• Why is it interesting or special? Why would people want to visit it?

3. Look at these examples of a tourism website. What language is used to attract tourists?  Can you find examples of passive constructions?

Crater of Diamonds State Park
Crater of Diamonds – History

Try to find the following words on the first page:

abundance
unique
explore, enjoy
all colors of the rainbow
delight
well preserved
diversity
interesting
thrill

4. Using the information from the questions above, write one paragraph about the attraction.

• You should write in the style of a tourism advertisement or brochure.
• You should use at least three sentences with passive construction, using passives with “by” and passives without “by.”
• Type the paragraph in a Word document.
• Give your paragraph an attractive title!

5. Find one or more photographs of the attraction. If you took the photographs, that is great! If not, try to find a photo that is not copyrighted. Add the photo(s) to the document with your paragraph.

Try to make it look nice! You want to attract people to visit your attraction.

6. Save your Word document as a Word 97-2003 (.doc) document (not .docx) and email it to Shayna or print it out and give it to Shayna.

Here is an example of a paragraph for this assignment:

(photo from arkansas.com)

Find your own diamonds!

Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only place in the country where you can dig for your own diamonds, and it is located in Arkansas! The first diamonds in the area were discovered in 1906 by John Wesley Huddleston. For awhile, the land was run as a private tourist attraction, and it was purchased by the State of Arkansas in 1972 . Today, it is a unique place to visit for the excitement of digging for precious stones. In 2006, a six-carat diamond was discovered in the park!

Intermediate: pre-writing example

Here is an example of the pre-writing (thinking of ideas, planning) for a five-paragraph essay. Your homework for Thursday is to do the pre-writing for an essay.

Topic: Advantages of Owning a Pet

Brainstorming: Pets

• Dogs
• Cats
• Fish
• Birds
• Mice
• Fun
• Play
• Helpers
• Do work
• Feed them
• Exercise
• Good health
• Love,  family

Planning (outline)

Paragraph #

1. Introduction: Pets can be good for people.
2. Support: many kinds to choose from
3. Support: fun, pleasure
4. Support: help, health
5. Conclusion: More people should have pets.

Pre-university: Lab 9 (This I Believe)

I. Listen to Jon Carroll’s essay “Failure is a Good Thing” located here

1. What is the essayist’s job/career?

2. What does he believe in?

3. Which is more natural, first-time success or first-time failure?

4. What does he say is good about failure?

a.

b.

c.

5. What did the essayist’s daughter do that he uses as an example?

6. What would he like to tell his granddaughter?

II. Browse other essays on the NPR site or the This I Believe site.

Choose one other essay to listen to.

1. Name of essay:______________________________

Author of essay: _________________________________

2. Briefly summarize the essay.

The author’s belief is _________________________________

He or she supports this main idea in the essay by…

III. Think of a core (personal) belief that you have. Briefly (in one paragraph) summarize this belief. What is your belief and why do you personally believe this? Use reasons and examples from your own life, not general statements, to support your belief.

Pre-University: Lab 5 (Six Word Stories)

Look at the article “My Six Word Memoir” by Michael Sean Symonds.

(memoir: noun - an account of the author’s personal experiences)

Symonds gives a famous example of a story the author Ernest Hemmingway wrote in only six words. Could you write a story in six words? Symonds challenges readers to summarize their lives in a six-word memoir:

“If YOU had to write the story of your life as it was, is and as you hope it to be, in six words or less what would you say?”

This is the ultimate challenge in summarizing!

For examples, read the comments in the Ode Magazine article page. On another site, you can find examples of six-word stories about love & heartbreak, motherhood, and food. (Be aware that the language in these stories is not edited.)

Examples of six-word Presidential inauguration speeches are in the audio of the NPR story here.

Assignment: write a story using six words only. The grammar does not have to be formal grammar, but it needs to form an understandable message. The story can be about your life, or a fictional story like the one Hemmingway wrote.

Post your stories by following the instructions on the class Wiki here.

Writing resources: Personal Statements

If you apply for a U.S. graduate school in the future, you may be asked to write a personal statement. In this specific type of essay, you will need to write a comprehensive description of yourself and your goals and/or answer some specific questions about yourself. Here are some resources for writing personal statements:

The OWL at Purdue

General advice – what questions should you ask yourself before you write?
Examples of personal statement essays – good personal statements.
Advice from admissions representatives – these are the types of people who will read your essay. What are they looking for?
Top 10 rules and pitfalls – things you should do and not do when writing a personal statment.

About.com: Graduate School

Questions to ask about yourself, your goals, your experience, and who will be reading your essay.
How to organize your essay – what should you put in the introduction, body and conclusion?
Do’s and don’t’s – more things you should do and not do when writing a personal statement.

Foundations: Lab 2 (Jobs)

In class, I will give you a sample job application. (Note: you may need to download it from the bottom of the Wiki page here.)

1. Imagine you are applying for a job in a library.

2. Fill out the job application. Do as much as you can. Remember to write neatly.

You do not have to use real information (you can make up some information), but you should use information that makes sense.

3. Bring your completed job application to class on Friday.

4. In class, you will interview another student. You will be the employer (boss). You need to ask questions to find out information about the applicant (person who wants the job).

What questions should you ask? Look at the application and prepare at least three questions.

a. ___________________________________________

b. ___________________________________________

c. ___________________________________________

Pre-University: Writing Fairy Tales

Resources on fairy tales:

Elements of a Fairy Tale

Examples of fairy tales:

• Grimm’s
• Hans Christian Andersen’s

Assignment:

• Think of something that happened in your life. (If you want to make up an event, that is okay.) You should be able to tell about this story as a series of chronological events.
• Look at the elements of a fairy tale. Decide how you can turn your story into a fairy tale.
• The fairy tale should have YOU as the main (good) character. It should also have an evil character/force, a magical element, and a traditional beginning and ending for a fairy tale.
• Write your fairy tale in 3rd person (he/she, not “I”) in the past tense, using time markers and appropriate verbs for chronologies (as soon as, while, after that, etc.). Your fairy tale should be at least three paragraphs long.
• Find or make some art to illustrate your fairy tale. This can be (non-copyrighted) photographs or pictures, or you can draw something yourself. If you draw, give me the drawing so I can scan it for you.
• Post your fairy tale and art on the class Wiki page Wiki Work > Fairy Tales – Summer 2008.
• There is an example here: The Princess and the Bicycle.