A short essay-an example

SHOULD TEENAGERS HAVE A PART TIME JOB?

During adolescence, every person starts to feel the need to become independent and scrape some money at the same time.

Some teens want to help their families, others want to experience a working environment, but most of them want to earn some money to buy something or travel.

So, the reasons why teenagers want to work are different.It isn’t always easy for teens to get a job, because employers are really demanding and prefer employing people who have already experienced working before.

Surely, the benefits are more numerous than the drawbacks.

First of all, working gives confidence, sense of responsibility and independence in teens’ minds.Indeed, they understand what it means to earn money by sacrifice and they learn how to manage finances.

Furthermore, it’s useful to get marketable skills and to obtain valuable work experience.

The few drawbacks are related to the fact that working could interfere with teens’ studies, because working students may not have time to finish their homework.

What’s more, it could increase stress and tiredness and not everyone is able to balance work and school.

In my opinion summer employment is a good alternative, because teenagers take advantage of their spare time and it doesn’t interfere with their studies.

On the whole, teenagers should  have a part-time job, even if it is only a way to use up their time

Your room

MY ROOM 

My room

In my room there are two beds because I share it with my sister.

The walls are pink and violet, the colour of the ceiling is white.

The room is very big.

I have a huge wardrobe and a small desk with some books and dictionaries. The curtains are striped. They are pink and white.

In  my bedroom I mostly sleep but I also do other things. I stay in my bed all day with my mobile when I am bored or tired. In my bedroom I do my homework on my desk and I sometimes read some books. In the morning before going to school I get dresses in my room only if there’s someone in the bathroom.

My room is a  good place because it is very quiet.

My room

My bedroom is for me the most important room in the house. Here I feel relaxed because I am often alone and I can think, listen to music and do my homework quietly

In my room there are too many things, but the most important for me is my bed, because it is very comfortable.

My bedroom is very small but it is nice. The walls are of my favourite colours-green and yellow.

On the walls there are a lot of photos about me and my sister when we were children and some drawings made by me.

I love my bedroom and I don’t change it for nothing in the world.

My room

In my room I have got a lot of furniture.

When you enter my room you can see on the right and on the left two bookcases. One is used to put my school books and the other one for the books that I like reading in my free time.

There are two wardrobes and there is my desk, where I do my homework.

Behind there is my bed. Opposite the door there is a balcony. The colours of my room are white and black with some shelves, which are gray.

I love my room. I do lots of things there.

My room

 My room is the place where I spend a lot of my free time. Some years ago I didn’t like my room but then I changed the furniture and now I really love it. It has got pink and green walls, a white and grren wardrobe that is too big to keep my few clothes (actually it isn’t full enough).

Then there is a bedside table and a bedroom with a light pink duvet. My favourite furniture is the bookcase where I keep my school books, the copybooks, books to read, photos and a stereo.

But the desk is the most useful furniture, because I can do my homework there and I always see films and TV series from my computer. My room is very sunny, because there is a balcony with pink curtains, where I can see the countryside from. In addition, in my room I always listen to music, I get dressed and sometimes I spend time with my friends. I think that a bedroom is just a room but it’s even a place where you can seek refuge when you are sad.

THe UK geography

The UK 

The difference between since and for made by the students using a slide.

MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL! KING HENRY II AND THOMAS BECKET

Top 10 Notes: Gulliver's Travels

CHAUCER and BOCCACCIO

CHAUCER probably read Boccaccio’s Decameron, Although we have no proof of this.

Some biographers think that Chaucer met Boccaccio in Florence, during a staying in Italy in 1372.

There are some similarities between the two works. However, there are some differences, too.

DECAMERON                                        The CANTERBURY TALES

Completed around 1350                                                 Completed between 1387 and 1395

NARRATORS                                                                  NARRATORS

Seven young women and three young men                    Thirty pilgrims, including Chaucer

They come from the aristocracy                                     They come from different social classes

They tell stories in prose                                                  They tell verse tales

During the Black Death (1348)                                                                  In April

In a country house                                                                 During their journey to Canterbury

To escape the plague                                                               To visit Thomas Becket’s shrine

100 stories                                                                             120 stories (only 24 completed)

Each member of the group                              

will tell a story each day for 10 days                                                                                                           
DECAMERON              

In general, the storytellers choose a theme and   
all of them tell a story regarding that theme

                                                                            The Canterbury Tales
          

Each pilgrim will tell two stories while going 

to Canterbury and two stories while coming back from Canterbury 

                           Each tale reflects the personality of the  pilgrim telling it

It’s told in a style of language fitting the social class of the narrator

SIMILARITIES

Chaucer and Boccaccio implicitly criticize ecclesiastical corruption and their treatment of women is similar.

Colonialism and imperialism

MUST-MUSTN'T/SHOULD-SHOULDN'T

Students have written down their classroom rules........

Classroom rules

·       Students mustn’t shout

·       Students should pay attention

·       Students shouldn’t chat

·       Students mustn’t use their mobiles

·       Students should be honest

·       Students have to do their exercises

·       Students mustn’t sleep in the classroom

·       Students shouldn’t smoke in the school

·       Students have to follow the lesson

·       Students should be positive and creative

·       Students shouldn’t drop things on the floor

·       Students mustn’t steal things

·       Students shouldn’t copy from classmates,  especially during their written tests

·       Students should follow rules

·       Students should wear appropriate clothes for school

·       Students mustn’t eat during the lessons

Fenella's stories

Students have read the first part of a story"The voyage" by Katherine Mansfield.

They were asked to write the second part, trying to figure out the reason why Fenella (a little girl) and her grandmother say hello to Fenella's father and sets off on a boat.....writing a letter to someone....

FIRST STORY

September 1st, 1921

Dear Tom,

how are you? I hope you're fine.

I've got a lot of things to write you; Now I'm with my grandma and my dad at the port, because I'm going to Picton!

Unfortunately, dad isn't coming with us and I'm so sad.

He wants me to leave for Picton because in this city I'll have a job, lots of friends, and especially a future.

My future is an important thing for him, but for me too. Anyway, the Picton boat leaves at half past eleven; I'm very excited!

I'm really curious to discover what there will be in Picton: new friends, a new house for me and granny. A new life!

Now I'm looking at the sky: it's full of bright stars as lighthouses and it's a magic moment for me.

I miss you a lot,do you know? I hope you'll come to Picton to see us.

There are a lot of people at the port,and now they're walking on the gangway.

It's a beautiful night. Before going to go to the port, dad cried because he was little bit sad to leave us. We're his family.. but he says that one day he will come to Picton to visit us.

To my surprise, he has taken off his hat! He hugged me and his mother five minutes ago.

Now it's time to go into the boat, and I don't write anymore but I'll promise you that when I arrive in Picton I'll write you.

Write soon,

Fenella.

SECOND STORY

Dear Jack

I'm  on a  boat  to  go to  Australia,  my  grandmather  is  with me.

I'm  sad  because  I'm  frightened  not  to  see  my dad.

He  has  given me  a  shilling and I  think  that  we  want to come  back  home.

I  hope  that  I' ll  be able  to  see  you again and  to  see  my  dad  again.

Love, Fenelle.

THIRD STORY 

25/03/2017

Dear Fenella,

Currently, I am in XXXXXX with my family because I live with them. XXXXXX is my hometown.

My parents have understood that here for me and my brothers there

is not any way in the future,so we have decided to leave for Germany, this month.

My father has already found a job and has just taken it because when he was young he served the army in Gorizia .

My mother said that as soon as we got there we would start to look for a job.

My brothers and I will go to the same school and take the bus to go there,and surely I will take care of them.

After school I want to look for any job and then  I will try to get the job that I want.

Tell me a little about you,see you soon!

FOURTH STORY 

                                                                         Hogwarts 10/09/1921

Dear Allie

How are you? I'm fine but now it is the time  that I describe my current situation.

Three days ago my dad said that my grandmother had sent a letter where she said that I would go with her.

I have never been to her house and I don’t know why. She was with my father when he has taken me to the port I saw that they spoke and I also saw that my father was sad and tired. When I asked when I would come home, he didn't answer, my grandmother said to him "God bless you, my own brave son". After that, my dad hugged me and my grandmother and I went to the boat. On the boat my grandmother told the truth, she and I are witches!

The boat stopped at Hogwarts, a school of magic. I was scared, but after I saw what the magic can do, and I was happy!

My grandmother also said that my dad was scared because my

mother  was killed 4 years ago by a witch.

I want to stay here because it is my home........

and yesterday I met a beautiful boy, his name is Tom Riddle, but 

 he is "Serpeverde" and I'm "Grifondoro", but say nothing!

Write soon, Fenella.

                                                                     

                                     

Top 10 Notes: Robinson Crusoe

Main events in Chaucer's time

Geoffrey Chaucer: The Founder of Our Language

The Age of Chaucer | Features of the Age of Chaucer

THE MIDDLE AGES

THE MIDDLE AGES

THERE WERE THREE LANGUAGES

FRENCH was used by the Norman nobles (LAW;FOOD;ART;MEDICINE;LITERATURE)

LATIN was used by the CHURCH and as the language of learning

MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-1450) The language of COMMON PEOPLE

14^th century

THE GROWTH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS (NEW JOBS: shoemakers,carpenters,bakers,clothmakers,tradesmen)

They formed a new URBAN MIDDLE CLASS

They were SKILLED ARTISANS

·         They organized themselves into GUILDS ( da GELD-payment)

·         They controlled the quality of goods

·         They regulated prices and wages

·         They held fairs

·         On particular feast days, they performed scenes from the Bible

14^th century

THE GROWTH OF THE GENTRY(people of good social position, specifically the class of people next below the nobility in position and birth)

A class of landowners who was becoming rich

BALLADS

BALLAD form the LATIN “ BALLARE” to dance

Definition An oral narrative poem which was often sung, it belongs to the ORAL TRADITIION

What it is about? One single situation, one story

Origins? ENGLAND and SCOTLAND between the 13^th and the 15^th century

Authors?  Anonymous

Structure? Usually short stanzas of two or four lines

Narrative technique? Mixture of narration and dialogue (no detailed descriptions); rapid flashes; no continuous sequence of events

Narrator? impersonal,never intruding or moralizing

Language? concrete,simple, musical and repetitive; use of stock phrases and refrains

Refrain? some words or lines which are repeated at intervals, usually at the end of a stanza

Incremental repetition? a line or stanza is repeated but with some addition advancing the story

Rhyme Scheme?  usually ABCB

Themes?  love (unhappy love), death,jealousy,revenge,war betrayal, the magic and the supernatural

Characters? not described in detail; no psychological complexity

Interest in ballads? Ballads were written down in later periods; in 1765 Thomas Percy assembled and published the famous collection Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. In the Romantic period poets wrote literary ballads

BALLADS of MAGIC

BORDER BALLADS

BALLADS of LOVE and domestic tragedy

BALLADS of OUTLAWS with the cycle of ROBIN HOOD

( a great folk hero who probably lived in the 12^th century)

Traditionally depicted as being dressed in greenis often portrayed as "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor"alongside his band of Merry Men 

 THE RISE OF THE NOVEL  

WHEN  1st half of 18th century in England (Robinson Crusoe 1719)

An early example Aphra Behn’s Oronooko, or The Royal Slave (1688)

CAUSES

• ·                        emerging middle class with new tastes and interests, having  leisure time to read and money to buy books
•                             literacy rates increased
•                  public interest in the human character led to the popularity of autobiographies, biographies, journals, diaries 
•          the rise of newspapers (The Spectator, The Tatler, The Examiner….talking about morals, fashion, urban change and foreign affairs)
•          the spread of lending or circulating libraries . They were  libraries with books lent for a small fee to subscribers; the first circulating library was set up in Edinburgh in the early 18th century, and in the 18th and 19th centuries the system proved extremely popular. Usually they were out of stores that sold other items such as newspapers and books. Sometimes they were in stores that sold items completely unrelated to book.
  
  
  
  
  
•         the novelists wanted to satisfy the needs of the middle class (shopkeepers, tradesmen, successful farmers)

THE READERS Members of the middle and lower class. (Women were good readers… they had spare time….they were interested in a  short escape from the prison of  their house.)

STORIES they were not taken from history, legends or ancient myths. The novelists created their own stories. Credibility and probability are essential qualities

CHARACTERS realistic, having contemporary names, struggling for survival or success

THE NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE the narrator is omniscient and he is often intrusive. The narration is in the third or first person narrator. The story is told in chronological order. A logical cause-and-effect sequencing is followed

THE SETTING lots of references to time (particular times of the year or of the day) and place (detailed descriptions of things, interiors and places)

MESSAGE if you have faith in God, if you work hard, if you respect a strict code of values you’ll deserve to be saved and also to have your social and economic situation improved. You mustn’t ask god for salvation: You must rely upon your own work and have the gift of self-help. The sense of reward and punishment, which was the “message” of the novel itself, was related to the Puritan ethics of the middle classes.

VALUES temperance, economy, sobriety, modesty, hard work, self-reliance

LANGUAGE simple, realistic, concrete

Daniel Defoe is  generally   regarded  as the first true novelist and the creator  of realistic  fiction