Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for English for Baccalaureate

The Samsa Family and Gregor's Metamorphosis

Gregor Samsa: The Protagonist

Gregor Samsa is the protagonist of this story. He lives with his parents and his sister, Grete. He has been working for five years at the same company since his father's business went bankrupt. Gregor had to start working to pay his parents' debts to his current boss. He began as a simple clerk and quickly became a traveling salesman, earning high commissions. He gave almost all of his earnings to his family because he was the sole provider.

The Transformation

When one morning he wakes up and sees that he has become a huge, nasty bug (presumably a cockroach), he initially thinks he is dreaming. Even when convinced that it is real, his overwhelming sense of duty to his family...

The Aesthetic Depth of Lizardi's Poetry

Lizardi's poetry is deeply personal and aesthetic, making it difficult to believe that anyone could fail to perceive its effects. It is not merely a product of preconceived notions; however, critics emphasize the influence of French Symbolists. Baudelaire's correspondences, the evolution of symbols indicating knowledge and desire, and Verlaine's lyrical musicality are central to his work.

Linguistic Innovation and Poetic Flexibility

Lizardi's significance in Basque literature is evident for several reasons:

• Poetic Language: He created new opportunities for expression, remarkable for his flexibility in using the language.
• Stylistic Devices: He masterfully employed hyperbaton, zangalatraua (enjambment), and

Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War

Story 1: If the Heart Would Stop Beating

Captain Carlos Alegría, weary of the war's cruelty, decides to desert. Imprisoned by the pro-Franco side, he is shot but only wounded. Wandering for days, disoriented and alone, he eventually encounters a guard, seizes the guard's gun, and takes his own life.

Story 2: The Minuteman's Diary

A young poet, fleeing with his eight-months-pregnant girlfriend, Elena, chronicles their desperate journey. Elena gives birth on the road and dies in childbirth. The poet survives for a few weeks, hiding in a field and sharing what little sustenance he can find with his newborn child. Both eventually perish, their skeletons discovered together.

Story 3: The Language of the Dead

A convict,...

Verb Tense and Mood Functions

Present Tense Applications

• Current State: “I have twenty years.”
• Habitual Action: “Every Friday goes amiss.”
• Gnomic Present (General Truth): “Butterflies are animals.”
• Historical Present: “In 1993, Miguel was born.”
• Future Reference: “Tomorrow I'm going to Cangas.”
• Mandate/Command: “Now go to your room and do your duties.”

Imperfect Past (Copreterite)

• Description of Past State: “Before, they were chapels.”
• Conditional Use: “But if you had money, you would travel abroad.”
• Courtesy: “Good, they wanted to?” (Polite request)

Pluperfect (Antepreterite)

• Counterfactual Past: “I wish I had been in Lobeira.”

Future Tense

• Prediction: “The concert will take place on the sixth.”
• Uncertainty/Estimation:

Are Young People Fashion Victims?

The statement suggests that young people are all fashion victims. It is true that young people generally like fashionable clothes and sometimes spend a lot of money on them. But does that make us fashion victims?

Arguments for Following Fashion Trends

On the one hand, many of us like to look stylish and fashionable. Consequently, many people buy clothes which they have seen advertised in magazines or on TV. Furthermore, many of us like to wear the same things as our friends. This means that we sometimes feel under pressure to spend lots of money on all the latest trends.

Arguments for Individual Style

On the other hand, a lot of young people want to be different. For this reason, many young people have a unique...

Let let let-let, let lie lay lain lie
- Lie lie lied lied turn light lit lit
The lose-lose lost make made made making, manufacture
- Mean mean meant meant meet met met met, meet
Paid Paid-pay paid put put put put
- Read read read read ride rode ridden mount
Call-ring rang rung rise rose risen rise, rise
"Run run run ran say say said said
See-see saw seen sell sold sold sold
Send sent sent set set set place in September
Sew-sew sewed sewn shaken shake shake shook
- Shave shaved shaven shaving shine shone shone shine
Shoot-shoot shot shot show show shown
- Shut shut shut shut, shut sing sang sung sing
Sink-sink sank sunk sit sat sat sat
- Sleep slept slept sleeping smell smelt smelt
Talk-speak spoke spoken speed sped sped faster
Spelled-spell...

Journalistic Genres: A Comprehensive Classification

Journalistic genres are categorized by their dominant purpose. They are divided into three primary groups:

1. Information Genres

These genres focus primarily on the transmission of facts.

• The News: Reports on recent, interesting facts. It emphasizes brevity and objectivity, aiming to inform without analysis or commentary. Its structure follows the inverted pyramid, starting with the most important information. It typically includes a headline, an introductory paragraph (the lead) containing the essential facts, and a body that develops the story.
• The Report: Broader, fuller, and deeper than news. It involves investigation by the journalist, utilizes flexible structures, and maintains an objective

Examining Societal Injustice

Now, everyone is talking about injustice. The concept needs to be studied. What do you mean by that? Is killing a friend over 5 € wrong? Is it not unfair to martyr someone who is not part of your style, world, or role?

Now you speak of injustice, right? Surely, you resolve matters with knives, imposing your justice. But what happens when the knife is unfair, and you receive one in return? What if you switch places with the person you decide to confront because they looked at your ex-girlfriend's boyfriend's sister's friend, who happens to know your best friend's cousin's girlfriend?

Do not speak of injustice if you are the first to be unjust. Just give me the courage to ask for revenge, and let events—both personal...

Sentence Types and Clause Relationships

Simple sentences: a single finite verb.
Compound sentences: two or more finite verbs (two or more independent clauses).
Compound sentence (coordination): two or more independent clauses are combined without establishing a relationship of dependency. These independent clauses stand alone but can be linked with a coordinating conjunction. When they are joined without an explicit link, compound sentences can be formed by juxtaposition (commas, colons, semicolons, etc.). If the compound sentence is formed by two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, it is a sentence composed by coordination.
Types of coordinating conjunctions: copulative (y, e, ni / and, nor), disjunctive (o, u...

Understanding Dark Tourism: Beyond the Beach

Dreaming of taking off for a leisurely holiday? Before setting out, you may want to try something completely different.

Some people choose to spend their holidays lying on the beach, taking a well-earned break from their hectic workplace. Others might prefer an educational holiday, taking in historical sites and museums. Yet for a growing number of people, neither of these holidays would be of interest. They would probably prefer a trip to the site of a major disaster, such as Ground Zero in New York or the site of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in Ukraine.

Dark tourism – the tourism of sites of tragedy – is a phenomenon in the tourist industry which is attracting more and more "holidaymakers"...