Analysis of our oral presentations

   In order to explain the four skills (speaking-writing-listening and reading) the class was divided into four teams and each of those teams explained a skill. I belong to the group of "reading". We could make a good group-work as we get on really well, but we lack of time to get together, so we often organize via internet. Apart from the fellowship, I respect my partner's knowledge and ability to think and speak, so I am satisfied with the final product. We explained the topic with a power point presentation, but we didn't have a big screen, so it was not as usefull as it would have been with that kind of screen.
   I must admit that even being fluentng,providi new examples and being clear with the concepts, I still have a lot of pronunciation mistakes, which might make difficult to understand my message. However, I think in general terms, my speech was clear. My classmates seemed to be interested in what I said, I was also interested in their speeches and took notes as it will make the preparation for my final exam easier.
It was a profitable experience not only because of the topic itself, but also because it helped me to talk in front of an audience and explain things clearly.

red Spain

Francisco Franco's most powerful weapon to win the Spanish civil war was terror. Tortures, murders and other atrocities occured during the sad episode Spain lived when Franco's troops took the power in  July1936 (only six months after the popular goverment was established),so spanish citizens lived a daily horror which paralized them or made them act against their convictions. It was not through the most imporant fascist movement in spain "la falange" that Franco reached his objective, but through the church and the old monarchy, later this movement helped in the development of Franco's regime.

Republicans (red) and Nationalists "Fascist"(1) had to look for external help during the war. The republicans were supported by the URSS but not very openly.  France with its new popular socialist government elected, supported only the idea of the republic, as it was forced not to participate. Germany and Italy of course sent help to the nationalists"It is right to criticise the communist conviction that the only revolution that counted was one that brought the party a monopoly of power. And yet these considerations are not central to the problem of the civil war. Marx would have had to confront Bakunin even if all on the republican side had been angels. (2)" Franco's troops killed thousands of republicans but the red power also killed men. The only possitive effect of the belic confrontation was that republicans were not "extinguish"due to those men who went to support and defend the republic. When a "red" was executed their last words were always "viva la república" (3) More than 40 thousand volunteers fought for the republic mainly fromThe communist international, the anti fascist italian movement Giustizia e Liberta (4). IN April 1, 1939, Franco's forces reached the victory.

Fear pushed artists and other citizens outside Spain, a huge migratory wave came to Argentina and other American countries during the civil war. Not everyone wanted to give their lives for the republic. Federico García Lorca was not only a left-thinker, but also a communist, so he was executed by the nationalist forces on August 19, 1936. Some other great thinkers and artists remainded silent or used methaphors to alude to the reality they were living, the most importan pieces of art from the period belong to anti-falangists (Dalí, Miró, Bardem, among others)

Spanish civil war, even not having been able to overthrow the dictatorship, set the foundings to the strategies in the second world war: aliance in national fronts, revolutionaries or conservatives. This fighting experience also gave the basis to defeat Francisco Franco's followers later.ranco died in 1975, Spain became to be ruled bya parliamentary democracy. The working class realized how powerful they were, and went on general strike in 1951, and a decade later a huge labour movement started all over the country. When terror was not a daily reality, when workers could participate in politics, fear dissapear and they became stronger and organized themselves as a polical and social class: the owners of the working strenght.




thesis stament: fear was the strongest weapon franco's men used to opress working class and submit them to his cruel regime  Analytic thesis statement, as the paper explains the logical of fear as paralizing weapon and also the characteristics of terror during franco's dictatorship.

working class in spain against franco, but also against popular government elected in february 1936 (but not very organized) external help

without fear, workers are organized and they go on strike, general strike in 1951 in barcelona, great workers movement started in the 60's

conclusion: fear is a strong weapon every dictatorship has used, once people realize their own power and loose fear, they can organize themselves and fight








(1) there is a theoretical discussion about Franco as a fascist, as some historians argue he doesn't belong to this movement. I still support he is a fascist.
(2)War of Ideas' Eric Hobsbawm, The Guardian 17 February 2007.
(3) Long live the republic!
(4) Justice and freedom

Chacon, Dulce, the sleeping voice, Harvill Secker (February 28, 2006)

Commentary magazine, online version http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2007/02/20/hobsbawms-
spanish-civil-war/ last visited on September 27 2013

Cuerda, José Luis. Butterfly tongues(La lengua de las mariposas) (1999)

Haimovich, Perla, Spanish labour movement (1914-1936) , In labour movement's history, centro editor de América Latina, 1973

Hobsbawm, Eric, "War of ideas", The guardian, online version
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/feb/17/historybooks.featuresreviews last visited on September 27
2013

Hobsbawm, Eric,Historia del Siglo XX,Título original: Extremes. The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991
Traducción castellana de Juan Faci, Jordi Ainaud y Carme Castells, capítulo 5 "contra el enemigo común"

Radical History network http://radicalhistorynetwork.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/spain-and-world-aspects-of-spanish_16.html last visited on September 24 2013

my writing process

Writing essays implies following established rules and has some particularities that are indispensable to take into account. I used to be a very creative but strongly unstructured writer. Seeg that those characteristics, if really desirable for narratives, are unthinkable for propper accademic writing, I had to change my way of writing.
 To organize the process of writing in the "5 steps model" has been decidedly profitable. The five steps model implies: prewriting (think),drafting,revising, proof reading and publishing. As a consequence of following all those steps, thoughts are organized more clearly, furthermore, I think carefully which linker is more suitable to connect my ideas.

 As a whole, academic writing implies following rules and bearing in mind characteristics which I used to ignore at the commencemet of this course, But I am learning to follow now.
To conclude, I am in the process of thinking and organizing my thoughts with less creativity but more organization to fit the expectations of an academic piece of writing.

outline:
 topic sentence: Academic writing: the importance of following its rules and particularities
 Body: 5 steps, going back to topic sentence, vocabulary.
 Conclusion: Academic writing has some particularities I don't take into account in other genres, I am learning to follow them.

vocabulary
 Indispensable: essential unthinkable: impossible to imagine commencement: Sense: A beginning genesis, starting, itiation, origin, beginningin. decidedly: unmistakable

What an essay is

What is an essay from Caridad Canelón

"El sistema" Venezuelan youth orchestras

          Venezuela's government founded the national System of Venezuelan Youth and Children's Orchestras thirty five years ago. Since them, half a million youths and children, most of them from low class neighborhoods, have performed there advocating their lives to music, and not to organized crime or drugs traffic, wich were more common in their environment. In 1975 the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (SBYOV) was founded by maestro José Antonio Abreu. Gustavo Dudamel is the living proof of selfsuperation, he has started as a violinist and currently he is one of the most important orchestra directors in the world, showing that no matter which one's origin is, as far as there are  talent and dedication, not only integration, but also success is possible

     Gustavo Dudamel was born in 1981, son of a couple of musicians, in Barquisimeto, a  neighbourhood, 500 kilometres from Caracas. Charismatic, moving, and curious, has shown from a very young age his wishes to be a director. "He used to direct an imaginary orchestra with a pencil at school" a school mate narrates. HIs modest origins were not a challenge, as his parents completely supported him from the very beginning and the Simón Bolivar orchestra gave him the chance to be, firt a violinist, and in a couple of years the director who took the orchestra around the world. His curly hair appears in giant posters announcing his performances as if he were a rock star, undoubtly he is changing the way classical concerts used to be. 

     "el sistema" has two main objectives, on one hand, obviously, to create marvelous music, on the other hand, to integrate youths to society.  "As a Venezuelan musician, I proposed to make my art an instrument of authentic social development, an instrument to build citizens, a powerful vehicle to achieve an integral education for children, compensating in this way the traditional deficiencies of the continent's education system.” Maestro Abreu expla. Edgar Monrroy lives in a poor Caracas neighborhood; "In my neighborhood, lots of things can happen to you. Every day you see crime, drugs. Music moves you away from that. The program moves you away. It changes your life, your vision of life." Edgar's vision of life changed when he was 15 and started taking lessons with the orchestra, since then, his objectives in life are different from what they were before, and he has improved his house and his neighbourhood, apart from encouraging children to take part in one of the orchestras. Antonio Mayorca narrates his own experience: "When I started to study classical music, when people saw me with my violin, it was like I was a strange person.’Look Antonio with a violin? What is this?'... Now it isn't strange to see a child here with a violin. It's something natural. I go to classes here and I see rivers of children with violins." He is currently one of the main violinists in the SImón Bolivar orchestra. These testimonies express how prejuice towards humble people in symphonic orchestras are little by little dissapearing.

     This system avoids competition, every player in the orchestra is equal, and they enjoy learning. It is difficult to assure these initiatives actually reduce drug addiction, crime or violence, but many teachers have reported increased levels of concentration, discipline, motivation and attendance. In addition to what the participants of the orchestras describe. Success in an orchestra does not only mean personal achievement, but also the achievement of a group aim. Therefore musicians in “el sistema” know how to cooperate and how to take others into account. This group consciousness also bring changes to life, as selfish attitudes begin to disappear and more gestures of solidarity could be seen among those youths.

    The aim of "el sistema" has always been to integrate youth to society taking them away from crime or ilegal actions. This modest aim has widely been achieved, and not only that, classical music has started to be enjoyed by a wider audience. Gustavo Dudamel has a singular personality, and the neccesary charisma to move huge supporters, but it is not only charisma, or a singular musician what makes this orchestras stay alive, it is a passion. Passion musicians feel while playing; passion for music, for life, and for self superation. As integration does not mean to give away things we don't need. Integration does not mean giving the poor or the less able a place of missericordy, it means giving everyone the same opportunities in life, and when a gifted person is gave the chance, no matter where she or he comes from, they will rock us with that gift. 

Sources

Cobelo, LuisGustavo Dudamel: maestro con fama de rockstar in La Nación (2012 August 19)http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1502236-gustavo-dudamel-maestro-con-fama-de-rockstar (las accessed July 8th)
Ilden Imogdel  Why Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra have a lot to prove in The guardian (2012 June 22)http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/jun/22/dudamel-simon-bolivar-symphony-orchestra (last accessed July 8th)
http://www.fesnojiv.gob.ve/en/el-sistema.html (last accessed July 8th)

http://www.simonbolivarorchestra.com/ (last accessed July 8th)

http://www.gustavodudamel.com/

His facebook fan page

The youth orchestra of Venezuela playing with "calle 13"

conclusion paragraph

Reasons to stop using a a cellphone while driving  have been widely exposed, not only public opinion, but also scientific research have shown the danger of this driving behaviour. Laws seem to go a step backwards. There is no strong punishment against this habit, even when the driver who uses the cell phone may cause a fatal accident. States must legislate the regulation of this kind of behaviour and solidify the punishments in order to avoid future accidents. 

inmigration

Migratory movements are complex social issues including several aspects, stereotypes of the newcomers is one of its ingredients. During the twenties there was a huge movement of Spanish escaping the war, many of them came to Argentina, and their stereotype was built around their lack of intelligence. Eighty years later, those Spanish descendents had to escape from the economic crisis in Argentina, and they suffered from predjuice to, as from a Spanish point of view, Argentinas are: "either dentist, or Psycologist, or plain "chantas*". The ones who stayed in Argentina received a new migration wave from neighbour countries, and there new predjudices arose, but now with nearly racist thoughts, as if Peruvian, Bolivian or Paraguayan were despective words and not only a gentilic. Tagging people according to their place of birth is as dangerous as tagging them on the colour of the skin or religion. Inmigration force people to live around others, with different cultures and values, stereotypes only make the process more difficult, acceptance of the differences and peaceful integration seem a better choice.

Entry 7

Argentina Offers a great choice of cultural activities to enjoy the leisure time. For those people interested in music, the variety is enormous, from local little bands in a small pub, to international artists that play mainly in Buenos Aires. For those who want painting exhibitions, the number of museums has been multiplied lately, and there are also street muralists, such as Florencia Melendez, who are making the cities look prettier. For the theatre lovers, "cafe concerts" can be found all over the country, no to talk about Corrientes street, where the main plays are presented. And for the Film buffs, there are different festivals along the year, and the "malba" museum presents classics and non massive films. This wide variety of cultural activities is increasing every time, therefore, different expectations about enjoying the free time can be fulfilled.

In my country, cultural development has made it possible for everyone to be able to enjoy its different manifestations without having to go far. For those people interested in music, the variety is enormous, from local little bands in a small pub, to international artists that play mainly in Buenos Aires. For those who want painting exhibitions, the number of museums has been multiplied lately, and there are also street muralists, such as Florencia Melendez, who are making the cities look prettier. For the theatre lovers, "cafe concerts" can be found all over the country, no to talk about Corrientes street, where the main plays are presented. And for the Film buffs, there are different festivals along the year, and the "malba" museum presents classics and non massive films. No matter where one lives or one likes or enjoys the most, there is always something to do or somewhere to go.


The meaning doesn't vary in both paragraphs, but I preffer my partner's topic sentence, as it presents better the idea. I tried to be carefull about the balance, and I can see I have improved in that field, as I read carefully the topic sentence, took into account whether all the elements where developed or not, and tried to close the paragraph including the main ideas, and with lexical cohesion.

successfull academic writing

Parts of a paragraph:

• Topic sentence (what are you writing about) it should be interesting and not very long.
• Body ; it should follow the order of importance or a chronological order. 
• Closing sentence; it should restate the main idea and  add something to think about. 

Source: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cCuExRE6N-4 last visited on may 30 2013. 

Structure of paragraphs in academic writting 

• what a paragraph is: a distinct section in a piece of writing
• Types of paragraphs: persuasive, narrative, descriptive and explanatory. 
• qualities of a successful paragraph: unity, coherence and development. controlling idea answers to the "wh" questions. 
• tee rule: topic, explanation, example, evaluation. 
• concluding paragraph:  should summarize the main point, state main conclutions and answer to the presented questions, it shouldn't introduce new material, end with a generalization or end with a quotation. 

source: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w183qB0KDFg last visited on may 30 2013. 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a thirty five year-old Nigerian writer. She is the author of three novels and many short stories, she has received numerous awards, and she has testified her own experience in several public speeches. Adichie described in one of those speeches the way in wich she first enjoyed literature: with the traditional  way of western  life, which also changed her own consciousness of being, as people like her could not exist in the stories she read, and later started to write. It was only when she became aware of her identity and traveled abroad, studying in philadelphia and not fullfilling other people's expectations about what an African would be like opened her eyes. She rejects being treated as a stadistic, she explains people know a lot about how africans die, but not much about how they live. A book, a powerfull object in the writer's words, can change the way people think about the others, and even about themselves.



"I write because I have to, I love its sound, I love characters, I touch other people with my work."

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Her web page: http://chimamanda.com/

Nelson mandela described the book "things fall apart"by the Nigerian  author Chinua Achebe, as the book in whose presence the prison walls came down.

Apa citation rules

APA citation style refers to the rules and conventions established by the American Psychological Association for documenting sources used in a research paper.

Books

References to an entire book must include the following elements: author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, title, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

Audio-visual media

References to audio-visual media must include the following elements: name and function of the primary contributors (e.g., producer, director), date, title, the medium in brackets, location or place of production, and name of the distributor. If the medium is indicated as part of the retrieval ID, brackets are not needed.

web site
When citing an entire Web site the address for the site is cited in the text of your paper with the URL if a speciffic entry of the web site is cited, date is needed, as well as the specific URL.

Essays or chapters in edited books

References to an essay or chapter in an edited book must include the following elements: essay or chapter authors, date of publication, essay or chapter title, book editor(s), book title, essay or chapter page numbers, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

Articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers

References to periodical articles must include the following elements: author(s), date of publication, article title, journal title, volume number, issue number (if applicable), and page numbers.

source:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/apa

Prepared by Cornell University Library PSEC Documentation Committee
November 2002; Revised April 2011

context and metacognitive analysis

Most of the argentinian population is composed by Spanish descendents. And many argentinian-born travelled back to Spain in 2001. Both migration movements were due to the same  pushing factor: crisis. Spanish crisis is pushing its inhabitants from the country, education is still way behind the rest of Europe, and the health service has became a chaos, as for the economy, there is no immediate sign of an end to the recession. Accordingly Aegentinians had traveled before due to almost the same causes. Hence, these migration movements do not seem to be changing in the near future. 

This paragraph gives context to a quite formal sentence, I tried to go on with the formal style avoiding common links, using apropriate vocabulary, as to fit this paragraph in the "essay" gendre.

am a writer (analysis and improved version)

-The teacher said clearly she hated the technique of just saying a topic and making students write, then she said "but today I wil do it" and I was not smart enough to notice it was tricky.
-I just started writting what came to my mind without a plan, structure, different drafts or corrections.
-I didn't take into account the steps of writting
-I didn't have a dictionary.

I am  not a writer

   Postmodern culture is making each of use believe we are artists, and we deserve social recognition,  I don't agree with that widely spread idea. Even when the great writer Jorge Luis Borges said once he was much more proud of what he had read than of what he had writen, there is still a tendency to show off about artistic activities such as writing. we all sing in the shower, and we are not singers, we speak to an audiece, and we are not radio speakers. So writting doesn't mean we are writers.
   There are a few bright persons who have the gift, the others, us, the simple mortals, can play to  Construct new realities, give life to interesting creatures, and enjoy the process, however, we wont still be writers, we are persons that write. I love using the social networks to make my friends laugh, and I have been writing jokes since I learnt how to write. I also write some short stories, and desordered "out of any gender" notes. I do enjoy it. Unluckily, I am not gifted, so this writings are not of outstanding quality.
 To read and to write, two sides of the same communicative process. both of them are really enjoyable, and helps us to increase our cosmovision. As writers need a lot of reading. There are different ways of scaping from realitty, literature is far much better than drugs. So, give books a try.

I am a writer

     Doesn't it sound funny when someone introduces themselves as "I am an artist" In a sense it could be even petulant. The great Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges said once he was much more proud of what he had read than of what he had writen. So saying "I am a writer" doesn't fit me.
     I am attending the last year of the teacher trainee collegue, and I am completely consious about the fact that my level of English has to be improved, unluckily there is no magic spell for that, so I will have to make a huge effort to achieve that improvement; and writting is one of the skills to work on. From an academic point of view I am a "developing writer"
     There is, however, another aspect of writing strongly attached to my life, and that is humour: when I was a school girl, I used to write jokes in pieces of paper which passed round over the classroom. Some of my classmates had to put their hands on their mouth in order to soften their laughter, and I was very happy of being the cause of that.
     Nowadays with the development of social networks, my jokes are almost a must, My five siblings, twenty some cousins, friends, mates and old mates wait for my "daily vision of reality" on the net. ANd even during sad episodes of my life, making others laugh, make me happy.

Welcome to my sea of words

Welcome whoever comes here. I am a primary teacher of English, and if everything goes well, this year I will get my degree to teach in secondary schools. This blog is the web site where I will upload task from Writen expression 4. 

About me:

Name: Costanza Marcela Macía
City: Temperley (born in Mar de Ajó)
Age: 32
Occupation: Student, teacher, mother
previous occupations: park ranger assistant, journalist, craftwoman. 
loves: books, bikes, children, music, food, freedom, laughter. 
hates: unjustice, t.v., puberty, protocol 
favourite books: A hundred years of solitude (Gabriel García Marquez), Hopscotch (julio Cortazar), 1984 (George Orwell), The portrait of dorian grey (Oscar Wilde), Crime and punishment (Fedor Dostoievsky), The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (José Saramago) Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)