**A note to my Wed. 12-14 class: We will not be meeting on Dies Academicus (Dec. 7th). Our next class is the Week 9 class on Dec. 14th. Make sure you have consulted both this blog post and the post entitled "Homework for Week 9" in preparing for the Dec. 14th session.**
For homework, please:
1. Have a look at the podcasts that major anglophone universities offer, such as Yale, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and the Open University. (If you have iTunes, these can be accessed through "iTunesU".) Alternatively, you can investigate the TED talks on YouTube. Listen to a full podcast in a subject that interests you and to at least 10 minutes of a subject that you otherwise wouldn't normally gravitate towards. Write down language from these lectures that you want to incorporate into your presentation speech.
2. Read the article I distributed in class today and complete the following: 1) the front page features blanks in which you need to decide if a definite, indefinite or no article should go and 2) four multiple-choice vocab questions I'd like you to answer. The second half of the article goes in depth into defining empathy. I'd like you to highlight/underline all of the relevant passages pertaining to this definition and to paraphrase/summarize that content in your own words.
3. Complete the following online exercises, which review a number of the grammatical concepts we've had in the first half of the semester:
http://usefulenglish.ru/grammar/subjunctive-mood-exercise-five
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/gerinf1.htm
http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/advanced/cae-002-multiple-choice-cloze-exercise.php
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/if_clauses/mix3.htm
http://www.michigan-test.com/cloze-exercises/
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Writing Skills II, Homework for Week 8
For homework:
1. If you received feedback on an essay from me today, carefully read through my comments, especially in light of the high-scoring essay distributed in class today and the corrections we made to specific sentences from student work. How can you improve the essay you wrote in terms of its organization, content (including specific examples and range of detail), language (lexical and sentential level), and analysis? Just because I didn't correct something on your paper, doesn't mean that it is in its ideal form. Also consider how you could have used the techniques of direct quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing in your analysis.
2. Read through and annotate the essay on pgs. 80-81 of the reader, completing the questions accompanying it. Sketch an outline for a rhetorical analysis of the essay (make sure that you are organizing it around the thesis and main claims and assessing how that thesis and those claims are defended) and time yourself for how long it takes you to complete both the reading and the outline (definitely needs to be under 30 minutes).
3. Read through pgs. 82-84 in the reader.
4. Have a look at the sentences that I distributed to you on the handout for editing and bring your suggestions to next class.
5. The following search engines can be useful in terms of researching potential jobs (including internships):
http://www.indeed.de
http://www.indeed.com
http://www.indeed.co.uk
This website is the hub for linguists worldwide and features search engines for conference calls, internships, and scholarship opportunities: http://www.linguistlist.org/
Language Skills I, Homework for Week 8
**A note to my Wed. 14-16 class: We will not be meeting on Dies Academicus (Dec. 7th). Our next class is the Week 9 class on Dec. 14th. Make sure you have consulted both this blog post and the post entitled "Homework for Week 9" in preparing for the Dec. 14th session.**
Concerning what types of questions will be on the exam, ONLY the types of exercises represented in your reader will be on the exam. Other types of practice we do in class is purely supplementary.
For homework, please complete:
1. exercise 5 on pg. 35.
2. exercise 4 on pgs. 55-57.
3. read through the article on pgs. 39-41 and bring questions about the use of tense and aspect here.
4. the exercise on pg. 168 and the IPA transcriptions in regular English on pgs. 155-157.
5. read through the rules for definitive articles on pgs. 62-70 and complete exercises 4 and 5 on pgs. 74-75.
Check your answers to exercise 2 on pg. 82 below (bring questions about other alternatives with you to class next week):
1. can, 2. can, 3. couldn't, 4. could, 5. What you say might/may (in fact) be true. 6. Would you/Could you please open the window? 7. "would you like" is the more polite variant of "do you want to," which you might say to someone with whom you are on more familiar terms, 8. The sentence in the reader should read "got into the habit" in order to be replaced with a modal, as only past habits can be replaced with modals. Only as a past habit can I say "Grandpa would/used to ..." 9. I used to..., 10. You needn't/don't have to/mustn't
Concerning the placements of adverbs, here's a nice breakdown (notice the exception with the verb "to be"): https://staff.washington.edu/marynell/grammar/AdverbPl.html
For exercise 14 on pg. 48, the following sentences can read as follows:
3. (past perfect context) By 3 o'clock I had been waiting here/there for two hours. My brother is never on time, but this was the longest I had ever had to wait for him. I hoped that nothing (had) happened to him.
(future perfect context) By 3 o'clock I will have been waiting here for two hours. My brother is never on time, but this is the longest I have ever had to wait for him. I hope that nothing has happened to him.
4. The royal couple just arrived for their state visit in Canada's capital city. Large crowds turned out at the airport to welcome them. Earlier this year the royal plane was freshly painted/had been freshly painted for the occasion of this visit. Right now the couple is visiting Niagara Falls.
The last sentence of the context indicates that the arrival of the royal couple and the Niagara Falls visit are two separate events. If the couple is immediately escorted from Ottawa to Niagara Falls the context could read:
The royal couple just arrived for their state visit in Canada's capital city. Large crowds have turned out at the airport to welcome them. Earlier this year the royal plane was freshly painted/had been freshly painted for the occasion of this visit. Right now the couple is visiting Niagara Falls.
The fact that the adverbials "just" and "right now" are used for two separate contexts makes #4 particularly confusing (examples like this won't be on the exam).
Concerning what types of questions will be on the exam, ONLY the types of exercises represented in your reader will be on the exam. Other types of practice we do in class is purely supplementary.
For homework, please complete:
1. exercise 5 on pg. 35.
2. exercise 4 on pgs. 55-57.
3. read through the article on pgs. 39-41 and bring questions about the use of tense and aspect here.
4. the exercise on pg. 168 and the IPA transcriptions in regular English on pgs. 155-157.
5. read through the rules for definitive articles on pgs. 62-70 and complete exercises 4 and 5 on pgs. 74-75.
Check your answers to exercise 2 on pg. 82 below (bring questions about other alternatives with you to class next week):
1. can, 2. can, 3. couldn't, 4. could, 5. What you say might/may (in fact) be true. 6. Would you/Could you please open the window? 7. "would you like" is the more polite variant of "do you want to," which you might say to someone with whom you are on more familiar terms, 8. The sentence in the reader should read "got into the habit" in order to be replaced with a modal, as only past habits can be replaced with modals. Only as a past habit can I say "Grandpa would/used to ..." 9. I used to..., 10. You needn't/don't have to/mustn't
Concerning the placements of adverbs, here's a nice breakdown (notice the exception with the verb "to be"): https://staff.washington.edu/marynell/grammar/AdverbPl.html
For exercise 14 on pg. 48, the following sentences can read as follows:
3. (past perfect context) By 3 o'clock I had been waiting here/there for two hours. My brother is never on time, but this was the longest I had ever had to wait for him. I hoped that nothing (had) happened to him.
(future perfect context) By 3 o'clock I will have been waiting here for two hours. My brother is never on time, but this is the longest I have ever had to wait for him. I hope that nothing has happened to him.
4. The royal couple just arrived for their state visit in Canada's capital city. Large crowds turned out at the airport to welcome them. Earlier this year the royal plane was freshly painted/had been freshly painted for the occasion of this visit. Right now the couple is visiting Niagara Falls.
The last sentence of the context indicates that the arrival of the royal couple and the Niagara Falls visit are two separate events. If the couple is immediately escorted from Ottawa to Niagara Falls the context could read:
The royal couple just arrived for their state visit in Canada's capital city. Large crowds have turned out at the airport to welcome them. Earlier this year the royal plane was freshly painted/had been freshly painted for the occasion of this visit. Right now the couple is visiting Niagara Falls.
The fact that the adverbials "just" and "right now" are used for two separate contexts makes #4 particularly confusing (examples like this won't be on the exam).
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Regional Studies USA Übung, Homework for Week 7
Chapter 10: The Other Civil War
1. What was the cause of the economic crisis of 1837 (cited on pg. 212)?
2. Identify the link between the beginning of this chapter and the information on New York's aristocracy on pg. 48 (Chapter 3).
3. What context does Zinn assess with the analysis that "racist hostility became an easy substitute for class frustration" (pg. 227)? To what other historical contexts in US history might we be able to apply this analysis?
4. Marx' Communist Manifesto was first published in 1848. What effects did it have in the US shortly after its publication?
Chapter 12: The Empire and the People
1. Zinn references the Monroe Doctrine on the first page of this chapter. What was the context in which it was written and delivered? How has it informed US foreign policy?
2. What events brought about the US-Spanish War (pgs. 301-309)?
3. (pg. 317) Why did some unions supported the war in the Philippines?
Investigate your own family's or your home region's immigration history to the US. These links might help:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2110801
http://libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger
You might be interested in these documentary films produced by PBS (U.S. Public Broadcasting Service), many of which cover topics and periods we have addressed in class: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/
1. What was the cause of the economic crisis of 1837 (cited on pg. 212)?
2. Identify the link between the beginning of this chapter and the information on New York's aristocracy on pg. 48 (Chapter 3).
3. What context does Zinn assess with the analysis that "racist hostility became an easy substitute for class frustration" (pg. 227)? To what other historical contexts in US history might we be able to apply this analysis?
4. Marx' Communist Manifesto was first published in 1848. What effects did it have in the US shortly after its publication?
Chapter 12: The Empire and the People
1. Zinn references the Monroe Doctrine on the first page of this chapter. What was the context in which it was written and delivered? How has it informed US foreign policy?
2. What events brought about the US-Spanish War (pgs. 301-309)?
3. (pg. 317) Why did some unions supported the war in the Philippines?
Investigate your own family's or your home region's immigration history to the US. These links might help:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2110801
http://libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger
You might be interested in these documentary films produced by PBS (U.S. Public Broadcasting Service), many of which cover topics and periods we have addressed in class: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Language Skills II, Homework for Week 7
For homework, please:
1. Read about adverbs and adverbials here:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/about-adjectives-and-adverbs/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position
http://owl.excelsior.edu/grammar-essentials/parts-of-speech/adverbs/order-of-adverbs/
and complete the following exercises:
https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/213.html
http://www.ihbristol.com/node/1396/take/1
https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/211.html
2. Watch this clip from the Economist and complete the accompanying questions:
3. Watch this clip from the BBC and complete the accompanying questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk-pGA19bAs
4. Read through this article: https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/Top-10-Interview-Questions-Prep
and find two sample job adverts from this website that would interest you: http://www.indeed.co.uk
1. Read about adverbs and adverbials here:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/about-adjectives-and-adverbs/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position
http://owl.excelsior.edu/grammar-essentials/parts-of-speech/adverbs/order-of-adverbs/
and complete the following exercises:
https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/213.html
http://www.ihbristol.com/node/1396/take/1
https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/211.html
2. Watch this clip from the Economist and complete the accompanying questions:
1. How does the monarchist define the
word apolitical?
2. According to the republican, how
does the monarchy instill elitism in British society?
3. How does the monarchist counter this
claim?
4. What does the republican say has
been perpetuated by “one family in the service of the politicians”? What does
this informal British expression mean?
3. Watch this clip from the BBC and complete the accompanying questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk-pGA19bAs
1. What does the word evict mean?
2. Who are the most likely to receive
help?
3. What does the expression
“council-run” mean?
4. How is the “face of homelessness”
changing?
5. Why are Lucy Surridge and her
children in the hostel?
6. What is London’s poorest borough?
This borough has been overwhelmed by what three factors?
7. How does the situation in England
compare with Scotland and Wales?
4. Read through this article: https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/Top-10-Interview-Questions-Prep
and find two sample job adverts from this website that would interest you: http://www.indeed.co.uk
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Writing Skills II, Homework for Week 7
For homework, please:
1. Read through and annotate the articles on pgs. 73-77 in terms of a rhetorical analysis for both and jot down notes to the questions featured on pgs. 77-78 (basic notes suffice, you do not need to write out full sentences).
2. Consider how you would reorganize the letter of motivation distributed in class today (you might use this example as a model: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20061113033354_639.pdf). Using that organization, think of details from your own biography that would make a future letter of motivation of yours stand out. Remember: this is a space for creativity as well! This, for example, is my favorite cover letter of all time: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-like-words.html
3. The next deadline for written assignments is class meetings in Week 9 (December 12th-16th). The next assignment is a rhetorical analysis of one of your argumentation essays from Writing Skills I. If you did not complete the first assignment (the rhetorical analysis of an article of your choice), you can also turn it in in your respective class meeting in Week 9.
1. Read through and annotate the articles on pgs. 73-77 in terms of a rhetorical analysis for both and jot down notes to the questions featured on pgs. 77-78 (basic notes suffice, you do not need to write out full sentences).
2. Consider how you would reorganize the letter of motivation distributed in class today (you might use this example as a model: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20061113033354_639.pdf). Using that organization, think of details from your own biography that would make a future letter of motivation of yours stand out. Remember: this is a space for creativity as well! This, for example, is my favorite cover letter of all time: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-like-words.html
3. The next deadline for written assignments is class meetings in Week 9 (December 12th-16th). The next assignment is a rhetorical analysis of one of your argumentation essays from Writing Skills I. If you did not complete the first assignment (the rhetorical analysis of an article of your choice), you can also turn it in in your respective class meeting in Week 9.
Language Skills I, Homework for Week 7
For homework, please the following exercises from the reader:
1. Exercise 2 on pg. 82
2. Read pgs. 22-26 and complete exercise 4 on pgs. 34-35
3. Exercises 1-3 on pgs. 53-54
4. Make sure you have completed both IPA exercises on pgs. 143-144. I want to discuss the rest of these answers (and variations between varieties) with you in class next week.
Check your answers to the following exercises below (and bring any questions you have with you to class):
pgs. 101-102 (Exercise 6)
1. Some employees want their employers to emphasize reducing stress on the job.
2. Correct
3. We have to find ways to use mobile data selectively.
4. Fred didn't look forward to going through more than a hundred emails after his off-site meeting.
5. It's worth considering how to use/considering using mobile technology humanely.
6. Correct
7. The staff understood the importance of being available and ready to work.
8. We would like to have more time for work, and if we spent les time using mobile technology, we would.
9. Employers are often responsible for their employees having so much stress/for their employees' stress.
pgs. 51-52 (Exercise 5 and 6)
1. justify/embarrassment/historically
2. desparately/irresistable
3. to adjust
4. medical diagnosis
presidential, aggressive, involvement, resistance, specific, emissions, polluters
Question concerning number 6 from the exercise on pg. 42
"For years he refused to disclose where the money had come/had been coming from" and "For years he had refused to disclose where the money came from". The first sentence is correct and although you will hear the second sentence, there is a nicer option for it (many thanks to the student comment about this in class). Both sentences have a different aspect (a term you will come across when we are discussing tense and semantic nuance). The first sentence implies a distinct order: suspicious funds appeared in an account in, say, 1999 and for, say, a decade thereafter he refused to provide information concerning its origins. The second sentence should actually read "For years he had refused to disclose where the money had come/had been coming from" and implies that his refusal to disclosure and the appearance of the funds worked hand-in-hand. The variation "For years he refused to disclose where the money came from" is of course also acceptable.
1. Exercise 2 on pg. 82
2. Read pgs. 22-26 and complete exercise 4 on pgs. 34-35
3. Exercises 1-3 on pgs. 53-54
4. Make sure you have completed both IPA exercises on pgs. 143-144. I want to discuss the rest of these answers (and variations between varieties) with you in class next week.
Check your answers to the following exercises below (and bring any questions you have with you to class):
pgs. 101-102 (Exercise 6)
1. Some employees want their employers to emphasize reducing stress on the job.
2. Correct
3. We have to find ways to use mobile data selectively.
4. Fred didn't look forward to going through more than a hundred emails after his off-site meeting.
5. It's worth considering how to use/considering using mobile technology humanely.
6. Correct
7. The staff understood the importance of being available and ready to work.
8. We would like to have more time for work, and if we spent les time using mobile technology, we would.
9. Employers are often responsible for their employees having so much stress/for their employees' stress.
pgs. 51-52 (Exercise 5 and 6)
1. justify/embarrassment/historically
2. desparately/irresistable
3. to adjust
4. medical diagnosis
presidential, aggressive, involvement, resistance, specific, emissions, polluters
Question concerning number 6 from the exercise on pg. 42
"For years he refused to disclose where the money had come/had been coming from" and "For years he had refused to disclose where the money came from". The first sentence is correct and although you will hear the second sentence, there is a nicer option for it (many thanks to the student comment about this in class). Both sentences have a different aspect (a term you will come across when we are discussing tense and semantic nuance). The first sentence implies a distinct order: suspicious funds appeared in an account in, say, 1999 and for, say, a decade thereafter he refused to provide information concerning its origins. The second sentence should actually read "For years he had refused to disclose where the money had come/had been coming from" and implies that his refusal to disclosure and the appearance of the funds worked hand-in-hand. The variation "For years he refused to disclose where the money came from" is of course also acceptable.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Regional Studies USA Übung, Homework for Week 6
**Chapter 7 will be covered in the lecture as well as in brief overview in our class on Thursday. In order for us to complete an overview of US history this semester, please continue on to Chapters 8 and 9.**
Questions for next week's class:
Chapter 8: We Take Nothing By Conquest, Thank God
1. (pg. 151-155) Out of what context does the expression "manifest destiny" emerge?
2. Many people believe that Texas has the right to secede from the Union. Is this true?
3. Who instigated the US-Mexican War and who opposed it?
Chapter 9: Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom
4. (pgs. 173-175) What effect(s) did slave rebellions have?
5. Investigate Canada's role in the Underground Railroad. What Canadian laws protected former slaves and what was abolitionist culture like in Canada?
6. (pgs. 187-192) Was Lincoln an abolitionist?
7. What would be the implications in 20th century of the 1896 decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson (mentioned on pg. 205)?
In class today, we reviewed the following terms and dates. Make sure that you illustrate the terms with specific examples in your notes. For dates, make sure that you can identify both the event associated with the date and its significance in terms of US history (I highly recommend that you start to make a running timeline for key dates covered in the lecture and the Übung, inserting other dates that will assist you in contextualizing the respective periods):
cognitive blend, Gestalt, prototypes, populism, propaganda, intertextuality, memes (Dawkins), intersectionality, bigotry, myths and contextualizations for the US/"America"
significance of the Bill of Rights, 13th-15th Amendments, 19th Amendment
1492, 1607, (1620, Plymouth; 1621 "First Thanksgiving"), 1629, 1676, 1775-1783, 1776, 1787, 1920, 1940, 1968
Feminist/womanist writers cited today included Abigail Adams ("Remember the ladies"), Sojourner Truth ("Ain't I a Woman?"), Elizabeth Cady Stanton ("Solitude of Self"), Virginia Woolf ("A Room of One's Own"), Germaine Greer (The Female Eunuch), bell hooks (Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center), Alice Walker (In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose), and Teju Cole ("Black Body").
Notes from class:
1. Since Slavoj Zizek was mentioned in the discussion today, you might be interested in his analysis of the US election (short video at the bottom of the page): https://www.rt.com/usa/367065-zizek-interview-trump-awakening/
2. In line with the question from last week concerning the role of Facebook in this election, here is a recent article from Wired Magazine: https://www.wired.com/2016/11/facebook-won-trump-election-not-just-fake-news/
3. Here's a good summary of the Federalist Party (Britannica is a good online alternative to Wikipedia for encyclopedic information and definitions): https://www.britannica.com/topic/Federalist-Party
And speaking of the Federalists, this video on the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton" might interest you as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAiEVjW-GNA
4. Britannica entry on the colonies with some very useful maps: https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/The-New-England-colonies#ref612316
Questions for next week's class:
Chapter 8: We Take Nothing By Conquest, Thank God
1. (pg. 151-155) Out of what context does the expression "manifest destiny" emerge?
2. Many people believe that Texas has the right to secede from the Union. Is this true?
3. Who instigated the US-Mexican War and who opposed it?
Chapter 9: Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom
4. (pgs. 173-175) What effect(s) did slave rebellions have?
5. Investigate Canada's role in the Underground Railroad. What Canadian laws protected former slaves and what was abolitionist culture like in Canada?
6. (pgs. 187-192) Was Lincoln an abolitionist?
7. What would be the implications in 20th century of the 1896 decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson (mentioned on pg. 205)?
In class today, we reviewed the following terms and dates. Make sure that you illustrate the terms with specific examples in your notes. For dates, make sure that you can identify both the event associated with the date and its significance in terms of US history (I highly recommend that you start to make a running timeline for key dates covered in the lecture and the Übung, inserting other dates that will assist you in contextualizing the respective periods):
cognitive blend, Gestalt, prototypes, populism, propaganda, intertextuality, memes (Dawkins), intersectionality, bigotry, myths and contextualizations for the US/"America"
significance of the Bill of Rights, 13th-15th Amendments, 19th Amendment
1492, 1607, (1620, Plymouth; 1621 "First Thanksgiving"), 1629, 1676, 1775-1783, 1776, 1787, 1920, 1940, 1968
Feminist/womanist writers cited today included Abigail Adams ("Remember the ladies"), Sojourner Truth ("Ain't I a Woman?"), Elizabeth Cady Stanton ("Solitude of Self"), Virginia Woolf ("A Room of One's Own"), Germaine Greer (The Female Eunuch), bell hooks (Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center), Alice Walker (In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose), and Teju Cole ("Black Body").
Notes from class:
1. Since Slavoj Zizek was mentioned in the discussion today, you might be interested in his analysis of the US election (short video at the bottom of the page): https://www.rt.com/usa/367065-zizek-interview-trump-awakening/
2. In line with the question from last week concerning the role of Facebook in this election, here is a recent article from Wired Magazine: https://www.wired.com/2016/11/facebook-won-trump-election-not-just-fake-news/
3. Here's a good summary of the Federalist Party (Britannica is a good online alternative to Wikipedia for encyclopedic information and definitions): https://www.britannica.com/topic/Federalist-Party
And speaking of the Federalists, this video on the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton" might interest you as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAiEVjW-GNA
4. Britannica entry on the colonies with some very useful maps: https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/The-New-England-colonies#ref612316
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Language Skills II, Homework for Week 6
For homework, please:
1. Complete the worksheet distributed in class today.
2. Review irrgeular past participles and simple past forms here: http://www.myenglishteacher.net/irregular_verbs.html
3. Read up on the subjunctive here http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/subjunctive.html and complete this exercise: https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-subjunctive_quiz.htm
4. Review gerund and infinitive content from your Language Skills I reader.
5. Take this prepositions quiz: http://speakspeak.com/english-grammar-exercises/upper-intermediate/prepositions
1. Complete the worksheet distributed in class today.
2. Review irrgeular past participles and simple past forms here: http://www.myenglishteacher.net/irregular_verbs.html
3. Read up on the subjunctive here http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/subjunctive.html and complete this exercise: https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-subjunctive_quiz.htm
4. Review gerund and infinitive content from your Language Skills I reader.
5. Take this prepositions quiz: http://speakspeak.com/english-grammar-exercises/upper-intermediate/prepositions
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Writing Skils II, Homework for Week 6
For homework, please:
1. Read pgs. 95-96 and paraphrase the paragraphs on pg. 97 OR five paragraphs of your choice.
2. Read pgs. 63-64 and pgs. 69-71 of the reader.
3. Have a read through this list of commonly misused words: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-58-most-commonly-misused-words-and-phrases-a6754551.html
Info on m- and n-dashes: http://www.punctuationmatters.com/hyphen-dash-n-dash-and-m-dash/
Cool writing tips blog: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
1. Read pgs. 95-96 and paraphrase the paragraphs on pg. 97 OR five paragraphs of your choice.
2. Read pgs. 63-64 and pgs. 69-71 of the reader.
3. Have a read through this list of commonly misused words: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-58-most-commonly-misused-words-and-phrases-a6754551.html
Info on m- and n-dashes: http://www.punctuationmatters.com/hyphen-dash-n-dash-and-m-dash/
Cool writing tips blog: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
Language Skills I, Homework for Week 6
For homework, please: 1. Read pgs. 31-32 of the reader and complete exercise a) on pgs. 42-43.
2. Check your answers for exercises 1-4 from pgs. 99-100 below:
exercise 1: of subsidizing, enforcing, on drawing, to stop, to sustain, of buying, of watching, booking, of travelling, from using, to cover, to save
exercise 2: using up, polluting, to set, using, to treat, regarding, to become, slowing down, introducing, to conserve, to be, re-thinking
exercise 3: buying, to buy, to visit, working, giving, to win, working
exercise 4: working, to do, writing, to do, to read, asking, to cheat, to see, copying, to believe, writing
3. Complete exercise 6 on pgs. 101-102 and continue to review the gerund and infinitive rules and tables on pgs. 93-98 throughout the semester.
4. Check your answers from exercise 4 from pg. 51 below:
intelligence, enforcement, leadership, security, Relations, resilience, disruption, resilience, ability, deformity, damage, terrorists, objective, terrorism
**My apologies for the confusion with resilience! The spelling is of course resilience**
5. Complete exercise 5 on pgs. 51-52.
6. Read the information on modal verbs from pgs. 76-80 and complete exercise 1 on pg. 81. (You will notice that even the verbs that take the infinitival "to" are categorized as modals on pgs. 76-80. Bear in mind that some grammars classify modals that take "to" as semi-modals. More information can be found here: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/modals-and-modality/modality-forms )
7. Please have a read through the material on this page concerning how the -ed past participle ending manifests in IPA (the standard for both GA and RP is featured here; please learn these rules for the exam): http://www.grammar.cl/english/pronunciation-ed.htm
8. IPA chart for GA: http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-and-app/interactive-phonemic-chart-american-english/
My translation of our translation text from class (compare with your own ideas):
Marginal notes: Drinking cocoa with two hands
Is it OK to...?
By Maren Keller
When the world turns cold and the winds rough, droves of women lapse into the same pose: they stretch the sleeves of the (cashmere!) cardigans far past their wrists and clasp their cups of hot cocoa (with whipped cream!) with both hands. Were there an international symbol for coziness, then it would most likely be a cup clasped by two hands. Because holding cups this way is a magic spell that, for a moment, has the power to transform the loneliest and most sterile of airport waiting areas into a French cafe with antique-market porcellan and homemade tartes.
But beware: we're talking about black magic here. Because women often don't notice that this magic changes not only the world, but also them: namely, into little girls. You needn't have been to Hogwarts to know that the single transformation spell similar in power is posing knock-kneed for photos, by which every woman looks like a spindly doe.
From strong to fragile and weak in seconds. Abracadabra.
Lookie here, the gesture says. I'm so weak, I need two hands to lift up my cup. Lookie here -- I'm so cold that I have to warm myself with the steam from a ginger tea.
So for the fiery ones among us: no, it's not at all OK to lift our drink with both hands. Unless we're slamming back a beer and chaser with the boys.
2. Check your answers for exercises 1-4 from pgs. 99-100 below:
exercise 1: of subsidizing, enforcing, on drawing, to stop, to sustain, of buying, of watching, booking, of travelling, from using, to cover, to save
exercise 2: using up, polluting, to set, using, to treat, regarding, to become, slowing down, introducing, to conserve, to be, re-thinking
exercise 3: buying, to buy, to visit, working, giving, to win, working
exercise 4: working, to do, writing, to do, to read, asking, to cheat, to see, copying, to believe, writing
3. Complete exercise 6 on pgs. 101-102 and continue to review the gerund and infinitive rules and tables on pgs. 93-98 throughout the semester.
4. Check your answers from exercise 4 from pg. 51 below:
intelligence, enforcement, leadership, security, Relations, resilience, disruption, resilience, ability, deformity, damage, terrorists, objective, terrorism
**My apologies for the confusion with resilience! The spelling is of course resilience**
5. Complete exercise 5 on pgs. 51-52.
6. Read the information on modal verbs from pgs. 76-80 and complete exercise 1 on pg. 81. (You will notice that even the verbs that take the infinitival "to" are categorized as modals on pgs. 76-80. Bear in mind that some grammars classify modals that take "to" as semi-modals. More information can be found here: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/modals-and-modality/modality-forms )
7. Please have a read through the material on this page concerning how the -ed past participle ending manifests in IPA (the standard for both GA and RP is featured here; please learn these rules for the exam): http://www.grammar.cl/english/pronunciation-ed.htm
8. IPA chart for GA: http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-and-app/interactive-phonemic-chart-american-english/
My translation of our translation text from class (compare with your own ideas):
Marginal notes: Drinking cocoa with two hands
Is it OK to...?
By Maren Keller
When the world turns cold and the winds rough, droves of women lapse into the same pose: they stretch the sleeves of the (cashmere!) cardigans far past their wrists and clasp their cups of hot cocoa (with whipped cream!) with both hands. Were there an international symbol for coziness, then it would most likely be a cup clasped by two hands. Because holding cups this way is a magic spell that, for a moment, has the power to transform the loneliest and most sterile of airport waiting areas into a French cafe with antique-market porcellan and homemade tartes.
But beware: we're talking about black magic here. Because women often don't notice that this magic changes not only the world, but also them: namely, into little girls. You needn't have been to Hogwarts to know that the single transformation spell similar in power is posing knock-kneed for photos, by which every woman looks like a spindly doe.
From strong to fragile and weak in seconds. Abracadabra.
Lookie here, the gesture says. I'm so weak, I need two hands to lift up my cup. Lookie here -- I'm so cold that I have to warm myself with the steam from a ginger tea.
So for the fiery ones among us: no, it's not at all OK to lift our drink with both hands. Unless we're slamming back a beer and chaser with the boys.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Regional Studies USA Übung, Homework for Week 5
Since this week's election results shook up most of our curricula, I'd like to do some catch-up in next week's class concerning topics and study questions from previous weeks. This means there is no new Zinn reading for this week, but I would like you to play catch-up if you are behind on the readings/questions and to review your notes from previous sessions.
Additionally, I would like you to follow news developments and analysis concerning the election results this coming week and to contemplate the following question:
We've been hearing from people from all over the political spectrum that "the US has never been more divided." What are the various factors that have contributed to this political climate?
Notes and clarifications from class:
1. The President appoints members of the executive branch such as members of his/her cabinet and ambassadors. He/she nominates members of the Supreme Court to be voted on by Congress. The Speaker of the House is a member of the House of Representatives in the Congress (legislative branch) who is voted on by the other representatives of the party that controls the House. He/she is often a seasoned member of the House.
2. The Vietnam War spans in history books from 1954-1975, beginning with the defeat of the French colonial powers by North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) in 1954 (negotiations in the Geneva Agreements that year grant Laos and Cambodia independence and Vietnam is divided at the 17th parallel). 1955 is a crucial year in that South Vietnam becomes a republic and is the US's ally in the Vietnam War. The War escaltes and anti-war protest is particularly strong from the period towards the end of the 60s with to the beginning of the 70s, with 1969 being a crucial year. We will look in depth at Vietnam in January.
3. Concerning the control algorithms have on our media intake, this might interest you: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/can-facebook-trending-fight-off-fake-news?utm_term=.lyd1WPAxb#.sp4426Em7
4. You might also be interested in this Freakonomics podcast "How much does the president really matter?" in light of the questions on checks and balances today: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/freakonomics-radio-how-much-does-the-president-really-matter/
5. With the electoral college, a candidate can win a mere 23% of the popular vote and still be the president-elect. Check out the NPR article for details: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500112248/how-to-win-the-presidency-with-27-percent-of-the-popular-vote
6. Check out the electoral maps here: http://www.270towin.com/historical-presidential-elections/
and the interactive maps here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/how-trump-pushed-the-election-map-to-the-right.html
7. Very interesting infographic from the Wall Street Journal (published in March 2016!) suggesting that Trump could win the election by succeeding in Rust Belt (states centered around the Great Lakes region incl. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, but also parts of Wisconsin and Illinois) https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-CJ325A_BLUEC_9U_20160306171820.jpg
Additionally, I would like you to follow news developments and analysis concerning the election results this coming week and to contemplate the following question:
We've been hearing from people from all over the political spectrum that "the US has never been more divided." What are the various factors that have contributed to this political climate?
Notes and clarifications from class:
1. The President appoints members of the executive branch such as members of his/her cabinet and ambassadors. He/she nominates members of the Supreme Court to be voted on by Congress. The Speaker of the House is a member of the House of Representatives in the Congress (legislative branch) who is voted on by the other representatives of the party that controls the House. He/she is often a seasoned member of the House.
2. The Vietnam War spans in history books from 1954-1975, beginning with the defeat of the French colonial powers by North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) in 1954 (negotiations in the Geneva Agreements that year grant Laos and Cambodia independence and Vietnam is divided at the 17th parallel). 1955 is a crucial year in that South Vietnam becomes a republic and is the US's ally in the Vietnam War. The War escaltes and anti-war protest is particularly strong from the period towards the end of the 60s with to the beginning of the 70s, with 1969 being a crucial year. We will look in depth at Vietnam in January.
3. Concerning the control algorithms have on our media intake, this might interest you: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/can-facebook-trending-fight-off-fake-news?utm_term=.lyd1WPAxb#.sp4426Em7
4. You might also be interested in this Freakonomics podcast "How much does the president really matter?" in light of the questions on checks and balances today: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/freakonomics-radio-how-much-does-the-president-really-matter/
5. With the electoral college, a candidate can win a mere 23% of the popular vote and still be the president-elect. Check out the NPR article for details: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500112248/how-to-win-the-presidency-with-27-percent-of-the-popular-vote
6. Check out the electoral maps here: http://www.270towin.com/historical-presidential-elections/
and the interactive maps here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/how-trump-pushed-the-election-map-to-the-right.html
7. Very interesting infographic from the Wall Street Journal (published in March 2016!) suggesting that Trump could win the election by succeeding in Rust Belt (states centered around the Great Lakes region incl. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, but also parts of Wisconsin and Illinois) https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-CJ325A_BLUEC_9U_20160306171820.jpg
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