10c 2011 12

Englisch

2. Schulaufgabe 23. April 2012 Topics: Civil Rights Movement (p.28), Multiculturalism in the UK and Schools (to p. 55) Only the texts we read in class are relevant Vocabulary: Corresponding with the texts we read (you can use your DICTIONARY)

WICHTIG!

Der Termin der Schulaufgabe bleibt vorerst wie gehabt (Ich versuche allerdings die Schulaufgabe auf Ende der Woche zu verschieben). Damit Ihr Euch vorbereiten könnt, werde ich immer wieder Übungen ins WIKI setzten. Schaut also immer wieder mal auf die RMGwiki Seite, um Euch auf die Schulaufgabe vorzubereiten.

Essay writing (see composition!)

Questions on the text.

Read the first FOUR paragraphs of this article USA Todayand answer the following questions.

• What is the author's attitude towards boarding schools. Present ONE example to illustrate your point.

The author has a very positive attitude towards boarding schools as she herself has made positive experiences when she went to a boarding school as a student. This feeling is based on the possibilities the school offered for her. For one, the school's curriculum demanded more of her in terms of complex topics like Locke's influence on the Declaration of Independence, which "stretched her brain" (l.13) but also offered much more than her former school in terms of homogeneous groups of students who made boarding school a wonderful experience.

• Describe the reasons the author believes to be responsible for American parents to NOT send their kids to boarding schools.

Laura Vanderkam thinks that many Americans do not send their kids to boarding schools despite the positive image of these,which have been portrayed by the Harry Potter mania, because they are simply to expensive. Those parents who could however afford to send their children to expensive boarding schools don't do this either because they are overprotective and have problems to part with their children.

I will provide you with example answers within the the week but if you would like your answers to be looked at by me than send it to the e-mail address provided to you with the correct essay which you handed in before the Easter holidays. You can use this e-mail also to ask questions. I will try to answer as soon as possible.

Composition

When writing an essay its sensible to create a writing plan prior to actually writing the essay. WRITING PLAN Topic: Things you learn in school are often useless in later life. Discuss

(1) Brainstorming in the topic to find arguments (everything you can think of) PROS

• learn things which I don't need for the job I want to do (e.g. probability calculations)
• things bore students => not motivated for school

CONS

• general education => impresses employers, master life
• learn about variety of subjects => find our strenghts and weaknesses/ helps you to find a profession which fits your interests and abilities

(2) Choose the arguments which you consider the best ones (the ones you can explain and have a good example for) For practise essays: Explain your argument to a friend (if they understand your reasoning, you know the argument is good. If they don't understand your train of thought and have many questions you will have to rethink your strategy)

(3) Find an introductions which leads up to your arguments

• Personal experience: Last week we had to calculate the probabilities of winning the lottery in Maths. My classmates and I really did not see the sense in being able to calculate whether or not we can win millions of Euros. It's useless knowledge. It appears that in school students learn a lot of this useless knowledge which they will certainly not need in their later lives.
• Reference to statistics
• Reference to newspaper article
• Provocative statement

etc.

(4) Write the main body of your essay As German grammar school provide a general education they also include aspects into their schools' curriculum which some students might consider useless.(=thesis). Their applicability to their life is not given and so the knowledge seems indeed not worth spending many lessons on it. Especially in the sciences there are some aspects which really won't help a person to master their lives better later on (=explanation of thesis). Certain auxiliary equations in Maths, for example, are rarely needed in later life unless you want to have a job that includes higher maths. Even then, you will learn the relevant information at university (=example). Even though some of the things we learn at school seem rather irrelevant they have their use. A person should have a good general education (0thesis). Not only can people use this knowledge to rule trivia games like "Trivial Pursuit" but it makes life easier if you have an understanding of how the world works (= explanation). One might be a doctor and only need scientific knowledge but when you want to go on vacation a basic knowledge of geography might help to choose the perfect destination and the languages you learned at school help you to make yourself understood (=example).

(5) Write a conclusion

• Compromise
• Outlook to the future
• Summary of arguments

Although learning about certain math problems in school seems useless, it is certainly useful. You might find out that knowing the probability of winning the lottery of 1:14 million is saving you some money because there is no sense in wasting money on a lottery ticket. So despite the saying "ignorance is bliss" I rather go with Bertrand Russell who said "There is much pleasure gained from useless knowledge.

Here are some websites which will help you with writing essays/ questions on the text (include grammar exercises)

www.ego4u.de

Connectives and other useful things

Regarding the language you use in your essays: Do NOT us colloquialisms (e.g. guys, stuff etc.)

Exercises

Here you can find a variety of exercises regarding participle constructions [1]

Here you are presented with the different preposition in English. There are examples and exercises which you can do Prepositions

Inversion [2]

Cartoon

Cartoon April 25, 2012

The cartoon by John Cole is about the money people spend on their children's back to school shopping. This topic is shown by the cartoon which is divided into three parts. On the left hand side you can see a girl who is wearing a shirt with a flower on it, a skirt and she has pigtails and is carrying a book and a backpack. Next to her we can see a boy who is wearing a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt and baseball hat and he is also carrying a book and a backpack. Below this boy you can read "Boys!" and below the girl it says "Girls!" which means that both represent their respective gender and the fact that they are pupils. Another thing they have in common is that everything they wear or carry has price tags with dollar signs on it. This means that all these things have just been bought, which is supported by the headline which says "2008 back-to-school- fashions". Next to the pupils you can see a male adult who is wearing a barrel under which he is naked except for his shoes. In his hands he is holding a pen and a checkbook from which little dollar signs are rising while the man looks very confused. This man represents all parents and the money they spend on their children's back to school shopping. With this cartoon the cartoonist wants to criticize the hype of back to school shopping which has become a tradition for many families. Just before school starts the kids expect their parents to buy new clothes and school supplies for them. The reason for this often unnecessary shopping is the competition regarding clothes in schools and the clothes companies who target teens as customers. Therefore the cartoonist seems to demand less waste of money in times of an economic crisis.

Here is the analysis of the cartoon we talked about in class:

The cartoon from the website “ashpolitics“ deals with the success of the Civil Rights Movement. This is shown through the two parts into which the cartoon is divided. In the left picture you can see a woman wearing glasses, a skirt and a coat who holds on to her purse and a bag while looking out of the window of a bus. In the right corner of this part of the cartoon one can read “1955”. The picture next to it is almost identical in its composition. The only difference is that a man in a suit and with a tie is sitting in a limousine with his suitcase next to him and the year “2008” written in the top right corner. [= detailed description] The woman is supposed to represent Rosa Parks, the woman who inspired the Civil Rights Movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery/Alabama in 1955. The man in the other picture shows Barack Obama, the current president of the United States, who was elected in 2008. [= explain the meaning of the things described and present context/ background knowledge] The cartoonist wants to show with his cartoon the development of the rights of African Americans in the United States. He presents both the starting point of the Civil Rights Movement with Rosa Parks and the ending with the election of an African American into the highest office in the country. Proudly, the cartoon shows that Ms Park’s brave act has achieved a lot within the society of the United States. [Describe the cartoonist's intention]

If you would like more information on writing a cartoon look at the rmgwiki sites Q11/ Q12 English

Jahrgangsstufentest

Jahrgangsstufentests aus den letzten Jahren mit Aufgaben und Lösungen

ISB Bayern

Lösungen zum Abschlusstest

is (Signal word: now), was woken up (Hinweis: by- agent => Passiv; Signal word: ago), had taken, went, were waiting, came in, sang, have drawn (resultative present perfect: result of action in the past is still of importance), had bought, unwrapped, have wanted, haven't bought, are, needn't, says, Isn't, have phoned, do you think, have forgotten, Don't worry, are leaving, are you going