If you have any questions or queries about your revision (or indeed recipes for the perfect Christmas turkey), you can post them as comments and I'll get back to you ASAP.
Today's revision idea: Grab a copy of the Metro (other newspapers allowed!), choose any article which interests you and answer the following 8 mark question in 15 minutes:
How does the writer show his thoughts and feelings in the article?
Post your response as a comment and I'll mark it and give you feedback.
One more thought for today which is taken from Steve Jobs' (founder of Apple) biography. In 2011, Jobs was dying of cancer and met with Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft) to talk about their careers. They got to talking about learning and discussed the following:
"Jobs asked some questions about education and Gates sketched out his vision of what schools of the future would be like, with students watching video lessons on their own then using class time for discussion and problem solving."
If two of the greatest and most creative minds in our lifetime think it's a good idea, who am I to argue! Feel free to also post any of your thoughts on this quote...
Happy holidays!
Q1: What do you learn from Geoffrey Lean’s article about the issues of rainfall and flooding in Britain?
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the extract you learn that Britain is starting to have a big problem with water. It is fairly worrying as Britain is being compared to “desert nations” such as the “Middle East”. Yet, Britain does have a small amount of green land which is more than any desert has.
Towards the middle of the extract you learn that the North and the West get a lot of rain- far more than the South and the East (sometimes even less than “parts of the Mediterranean”). The South and the East are the parts of the country which are heavily populated; it is not very good on the environment.
In the middle of the extract you learn that one and a half million homes are being planned on the overcrowded region of Britain for the next 15 years. It’s “only going to get worse” with global warming becoming more of a problem- rainfall is going to increase drastically.
Towards the end of the extract you learn that since the Second World War, half of the housing in Britain has been built on land “prone to flooding”. The South East will still be lacking rainfall whereas the North West will get wetter due to increasing rainfall. Predictions suggest that flooding will increase tenfold over the coming decades.
At the end of the extract you learn that companies are finally starting to see the seriousness of flooding and are trying to now prevent the likelihood of it. Water companies are trying to “conserve supplies” and local councils are now “planning decisions” for the floods that are predicted to come.
Q2: Explain how the headline, sub-headline and picture are effective and how they link to the text?
ReplyDeleteThe picture shows a limbless man battling through the treacherous English Channel tides. The man has only the protection of a mask, snorkel and a wetsuit to save him from the bitter cold water that is all around him. This links to the text as it says that “he learnt to swim using a snorkel and prosthetic legs with built in flippers”. This clearly indicates to the audience that swimming the English Channel is extremely difficult, but more so for a man who has no limbs.
The headline is bold and larger than the rest of the text as it wants to capture the audience’s attention; it gives the reader a short opener to what the article is going to be about. The main headline gives three bits of information (“Four amputations, 13 hours- one extraordinary swim”) which gives an extremely brief summary of the article. The main headline links to the text when it says “Quadruple amputee... completed the crossing in 13 and half hours”. It shows the determination that this guy had to have to swim the English Channel.
The sub-headline is slightly bigger than the text, therefore showing that it is more ‘important’ than the rest of the text and gives you a bit more of an insight to what the whole text is going to be about. This sub-headline (“16 years after losing all his limbs, Philippe Croizon crosses Channel”) links to the text when it says “becomes the first limbless person to swim the English Channel”. Again, it outlines the significance and the guts that this man had to overcome this challenge; he is also an inspiration for any other person who is limbless, showing that you must not give up and to take the opportunities in life.
Q3: Explain some of the thoughts and feelings Christopher Ondaatje has about his experience of Lake Victoria?
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the extract, Christopher thinks that the scenery around him is extraordinary:
“Water hyacinths floated in front of us... a vibrant African city that seemed to grow even as we watched it”.
Christopher knows that you don’t get this experience in many other places and is grasping every sight by the hand- longing for it to last forever. “Vibrant” suggests that the city is busy and bustling and there are too many sights for Christopher to see at once. “Water hyacinths” are also beautiful flowers that suggest peace and love. These contrast as Christopher describes thing which are tranquil and things that are very active. Which is true?
In the middle of the extract, Christopher describes himself as being very flustered:
“The crowds were so thick...the day got hotter and hotter by each minute”.
As people were starting to cram in around, the intensity was almost getting too much for him. “Thick” is like an extra coat of paint- extra gaggles of people spread in to small alcoves on the boat, did not do much for the rising temperature, which was occurring anyway from it getting later in to the day. The day got “hotter and hotter” only made things worse for poor Christopher who was down in the dumps from the conditions he was living on through from before. This shows some of the feelings that Christopher felt whilst he was on the boat to Lake Victoria.
At the end of the extract, Christopher feels some relief:
“We felt a bit of breeze at last as we chugged in to a little bay”.
As much as Christopher enjoyed his experience to the Lake Victoria, he was relieved to finally feel some cool air on his face which he had been longing for for hours. “Chugged” suggests a slow, steady movement which is how Christopher describes the boat moving in to the bay. He makes it clear that he was hoping for the boat to be faster due to his willingness for cool air on his face. This outlines that Christopher overall loved his trip to Lake Victoria, but wished for a future trip that he had certain necessities like a fan for instance- so he could cope with the journey better.
Q3 took a little longer (about 3 mins over). These are the articles you gave in the english revision pack for the christmas. Thank you :)