Happy New Year! New Year Resolutions

2013 is here, and I wish you a very happy year!

And as every first day of the year happens, most of us are ready to change our life for the better, achieve new goals in the new year or simply make a list of New Year´s Resolutions. But everybody knows that sticking to these new plans, is difficult. So, our plans should be realistic, achievable and meangful if we want them  to become reality for us.

Toast  to the New Year and see what The Flatmates´ New Year´s Resolutions are. 

Then, watch Mr. Duncan explanation and understand how willpower will help you to carry out your plans.

Tasks:

1. Use the expressions below  to make your own New Year´s Resolution list for 2013.
1. quit
2. cut down
3. keep doing
4. try harder in / at
5. start

 (Remember the use of -ing form after these expressions)

2. Match the expressions above to their meaning:
a) continue
b) stop
c) reduce
d) begin
e) give more effort in / at
1 ____ / 2 ____/ 3 ____ / 4 ____ / 5 ____

3. Answer the questions and do the following activities.

Kidnapped

Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Key Facts:

Type of Work: Novel

Genre: Adventure

Language: English (Scots)

Time and Place written: Scotland. UK.

Date of 1st publication: 1886

Narrator: David Balfour (1st person narration)

Climax: the climax occurs when the friendship between David and Alan reaches its greatest point of crisis, and is resolved by David´s near-death fainting spell.

Protagonist(s): David Balfour.

Antagonist: Ebenezer Balfour.

Setting(time) 1751

Setting (place): Scotland

Point of view: First person narration.

Summary: When orphan David Balfour is betrayed by his uncle Ebenezer, he finds himself imprisoned on the Covenant  bound for the Carolinas. But the ship hits some rocks and is wrecked. David is thrown overboard and washed up on the shore of a Scottish island. Together with fellow survivor, the wanted rebel, Alan Breck. David sets off across the treacherous highlands on a quest for justice, and revenge!

Activities:
When David sets out for the House of Shaws in Chapter 1, Mr Campbell gives him a packet containing four things (Gifties) that he believes will be useful, not only for the duration of the journey, but in his life´s journey as well.
1. List  four things you would give someone who was setting out on a journey to seek his/her fortune and write downn a reason for choosing each item.
It can be something practical as well as something which may enrich their life in the long term.
2. If you like painting, you can colour in images from the graphic novel here.
3. You can also complete a puzzle or a word search game.

Enjoy your reading!

The Scarlet Letter

Here you are The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, your second reader for the second term.
Scarlet is the colour of sin, and the letter "A" stands for "Adultery".

In the 1600s, in Boston, Massachusetts, love was allowed only
between a husband and a wife. A child born outside marriage was
a child of sin.

Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. How can she ever escape from this public shame? What will happen to her child, growing up in the shadow of the scarlet letter? The future holds no joy for Hester Prynne.

And what will happen to her sinful lover, the father of her child?

Read the book and discover...

New England in the 1600s, the Puritans´customs and their religion, and how anyone who breaks the laws of the church and of God, must be punished.

Here you can listen to an Audio Book Review: The Scarlet Letter (Adaptation): Oxford Bookworms.



Here you are Nathaniel Hawthorne´s Scarlet Letter summary on video.

   

Enjoy your reading!

And  as an additional activity, you can try these tasks:

1. Fill in the gaps with the right word.
Prison door /Pearl / meteor / Black Man / Able
a. The Scarlet letter stands for adultery and ....
b. ....... is an euphemism for Satan.
c. ....... is a symbol for all Hester gave up.
d. ...... has never known a "youthful era".
e. A .......explodes in the form of an A.

2. Watch the trailer of "The Scarlet Letter", directed by Roland Joffé and featuring Demi Moore
as Hester Prynne, Gary Oldman as Dimmesdale and Robert Duvall as Chillingworth. (1995). And meet the characters.

The Unquiet Grave Short Stories

M.R.James (1862-1936) was born in Kent, and became the provost of King´s College, Cambridge and later of Eton School. He is famous for his ghost stories, which have been popular since the day they were first written. "The Unquiet Grave" is one of his books, the one you are going to read this New year.

"Do I believe in ghosts? I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me."This is what the author wrote in the introduction to one of his books?.

And what about you? Do you believe in ghosts?

If so, If you find a locked room in a lonely inn, don´t try to open it, even on a bright sunny day. If you find a strange whistle hidden among the stones of an old church, don´t blow it. If a mysterious man gives you a piece of paper with strange writing on it, give it back to him at once. And if you call a dead man from his grave, don´t expect to sleep peacefully ever again.

Read these five ghost stories by daylight, and make sure your door is locked.

Now, how about listening to a song . Does it have anything to do with the book? Listen to it and decide!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Christmas holidays, time to enjoy reading. This time the title chosen to have a good time is "The Five People you Meet in Heaven" written by Mitch Albom.

The Five People you Meet in Heaven, debuted at nº 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and sold nearly five  million copies in its first year.

First of all,  you can watch the the Book trailer...understand the plot, and read  some of the critics´opinions.

Next,  you can watch the author, Mitch Albom discussing his book...

Then, read the review by PapaMedia.com

The story of Eddie, an elderly man who dies in an amusement park accident. Unlike most books in which a
death ends a story line, Eddies death begins one. In heaven, Eddie learns that he must encounter five people who will teach him about the meaning of his life. He is a sceptic on the topic. His childhood dreams were never realized, his wife died young, and he was troubled by war injuries and depression throughout his adulthood. Eddies attitude is a bit reminiscent of Ebenezer Scrooge, but he is still open to learning from his spiritual helpers. Each of the five people Eddie meets teaches him something valuable about love, responsibility, and the passage of time. They help him find the meaning in what he did do in life, turning his focus away from the pain of missed opportunities and unlived dreams, and towards the joy of love. Its a touching tribute to anyone who feels that his or her life is unimportant. The book underlines how essential it is to have people who do hard, everyday work, and how important their often unseen contributions are to the happiness and well-being of all of us. Although this book teeters on the sugary-sweet at times, Albom deserves a lot of credit for asking the big questions, Why are we here? and Is life worthwhile? Furthermore, he comes up with some meaningful answers. The Five People You Meet in Heaven offers an enjoyable and heart-touching perspective on why we are here and how we can make the most of it

And finally, you can watch the film trailer. In 2004, Albom wrote the screenplay for the ABC TV movie starring Jon Woight and Ellen Burstyn.



And you can also enjoy the slides presentation below.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven 1 from Fernanda Gonzalez


After reading the book, it would be a good idea to check your understanding with this summary by chapters.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Xesteffan Salapang

Merry Christmas

Holidays are almost upon us and I´d like to wish you Merry Christmas with a beautiful carol by Pentatonic. Beautiful voices singing to one of the most keenly anticipated time of the year.

Ejoy the music and of course your Xmas holidays.