Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for English

Analysis of the Heart and the Salamander

Fahrenheit 451 is currently Bradbury's most famous written work of social criticism. It deals with serious problems of control of the masses by the media, the banning of books, and the suppression of the mind (with censorship). The novel examines a few pivotal days of a man's life, a man who is a burner of books and, therefore, an instrument of suppression. This man (Montag) lives in a world where the past has been destroyed by kerosene-spewing hoses and government brainwashing methods. In a few short days, this man is transformed from a narrow-minded and prejudiced conformist into a dynamic individual committed to social change and to a life of saving books rather than destroying them.

Before you begin... Continue reading "Analysis of Fahrenheit 451: Themes and Characters" »

Cry Freedom is a story based on the life of the black people who lived in South Africa. The story begins with a journalist named Donald Woods, from the Daily Dispatch, who often writes about the hard life of the blacks. Moments later, a black doctor, named Mamphela (a woman), enters his office to talk to him about an article he had published about Biko's Black Consciousness. She tells Woods to go talk to Biko (a black boy who wanted to end race inequality), since he is confined. Then Donald Woods goes to talk to Biko, and they agree that Biko will show him how black people live. One of the places that Biko shows Woods is a poor area of South Africa where life is not life, and makes a comparison with the lives of white people. Woods decides... Continue reading "Cry Freedom: The Story of Black Struggle in South Africa" »

Aolverbs of manner

slowly, clearly, carefully, easyly,teribly. 

Goog-well, foot-fast,Hand-hard, earl-eanly.Late-late 

 Present continous 

mai es fica: 

sensacion/presepcions  

to feel  to hear 

to hear  to see

to smell

Emociones/Deseos 

to envy, to fear, to dislike. To hate .To hope. To like. To love. To mind. 

to prefer. To regret. To want. To wish.

opinion 

to assume, to believe, to consider. To doubt, to feel (= pensar). To find (= considerar), to suppose, to think

Medidas

to contain to cost to hold to measure to weight

Estados mentales   

to forget, to imagine, to know, to mean, to notice, to recognise. To remember, to understand

Thursday the 4th of August

was the last working day for Inspector Salahadin El Nur in the heat of Cairo. Leila will take over his place when he is in London for three weeks. Salahadin’s job is to stop people who want to take ancient things along to another country.

Saturday at 15:00

he arrived at a small hotel in Gower Street, nearby a British museum. A friend of Salahadin works in that museum, and Salahadin was going to help his friend during his vacation. He was walking when it was still raining. He arrived at a bookshop and he bought a card for Leila and a book about Queen Axtarte. He went to a snackbar and after that he went to the cinema. Back in the hotel he went to sleep when it was late.

The following morning at breakfast

he was called... Continue reading "Mystery of Queen Axtarte: Cairo Adventure" »

The Debate on Video Games and Adolescent Development

Many people think that video games have negative effects on adolescents and they should be limited. They say that video games are a distraction from their chores. However, others think they are necessary. The question is, should parents limit the time of play video games or ban it?

Positive Effects of Video Games

On the one hand, others believe that video games are essential in this time, as they help develop qualities such as improving English skills, playing in other languages, and increasing mental speed. Video games also act as a communication bridge with other countries and cultures, as well as a form of entertainment.

Negative Effects of Video Games

On the other hand, video games also have... Continue reading "The Debate on Video Games and Sexual Education" »

Dear Editor,

I have just read your article about the problems with spelling. This article talks about the auto-correct generation, from my point of view I think that nowadays it is very important to spell correctly, language is a reflection about you.

In our language, Spanish, we have a similar problem

More and more people write with autocorrect and it is a problem for the future. When I am going to write, if I have a doubt, I use the spell-check but I think that many people just let the computer adjust the text without looking at it.

Thank you for your time.

The Impact of Social Media on Relationships

Nowadays, a lot of teenagers spend too much time on social networks, above all Facebook. It is a problem for their relationships with people.

The Illusion

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1r paragraph

Dear sir or Madam,

I am writing to complain about  that the last announcements have been a bit unpleasant because of the possibility that they stop me from being superior to men and women have it as an object.

2n paragraph

When I first saw the announcement of this company, I was very surprised because the advertisement represents a man making a perfume and after a few seconds several women made it

MasterChef starts in July 1990 and was created by Franc Roddam. In this TV program, contestants need to cook different types of food because later, a tribunal will judge the results. The winner of the program will receive a substantial cash prize.

At the start, we meet the participants, their jobs, and their lives. Depending on the day, they have different types of ingredients to work with. As the program progresses, we can see contestants cooking various dishes within a limited time frame. If they don't finish on time, they are disqualified. When the time is up, the chefs present their cooked dishes to a tribunal, who manage the results.

Currently, MasterChef has other formats such as MasterChef: The Professionals for professional working chefs,... Continue reading "MasterChef: A Review of the Famous Cooking Program" »

Etymology

The origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning:

Example: ‘the etymology of the word ‘devil’’

Coinage

Coinage is the word formation process in which a new word is created either deliberately or accidentally.

Examples: Kleenex, Aspirin, Xerox

Borrowing

Process by which a word from one language is adapted for use in another.

Examples: croissant (French), yogurt (Turkish), piano (Italian)

Blending

Join two words together by taking parts of both words and combining them into a new whole.

Examples: Breakfast + lunch = brunch, Smoke + fog = smog, Motor + hotel = motel

Clipping

The process of cutting the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving a part to stand for the whole.

Examples: Prof (professor), Photo (photograph)... Continue reading "Word Formation Processes in English: A Comprehensive Guide" »