Kompetenzerweiterung I (Tuesday/Thursday Group), Homework in Week Six (November 9th-12th)

In preparation of next Tuesday's session (11/16), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-I) for Unit 21 and read the grammar details for Unit 21 (pp. 170-171). Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding rules/these solutions with you to next Tuesday's session.

Please do the remaining exercises for Unit 23 on verbal complements, i.e. exercises D-J on pp. 189-191 (then self-check your answers). Bring any questions you have with you to next Tuesday's session. 

In preparation of this Thursday's session (11/11! Feel free to come in costume to our Zoom session!) please do the following (I recommend you complete these exercises during "study hall", i.e. Thursday 9:45-11:15): 

- read 2-3 of the essays featured here What I'm really thinking | Lifeandstyle | The Guardian and do the following: 

1) be able to pinpoint what compelled you to click on the article in the first place (of the hundreds of articles on the site, what made that person's perspective interesting enough to read?)

2) did the articles live up to you expectation (i.e. what you had in mind when you clicked)? Explain.

3) take notes regarding the paragraph organization of the article

4) bring a sketch of an essay with you to class (the key here is narrowing down the perspective of the person and how you are going to contextualize this person's experience) 

- visit this website Home (thisamericanlife.org) and do the following (most stories are about one hour in length, so schedule enough time for this):

1) decide on a story to listen to (the "archive" and "recommended" tabs at the top right-hand corner of the page can be helpful in picking from the hundreds of stories available)

2) determine if the story was well-structured (some stories are broken down into "acts" on their respective webpages) and lived up to the expectations you felt when you read the story's description. If you feel compelled to stop listening at any point, identify what specifically caused this.

3) answer the question: could any of the material in the story you listened to inspire a great "what I'm really thinking" essay? If so, how and for what kind of essay? If not, why not?

Optional essay assignment: In 250-350 words, write a "what I'm really thinking" essay of your own. Make sure that your essay a) doesn't exceed the word limit, b) is sent as an MS Word document, and c) is submitted to my email address by Thursday, November 11th at midnight. Submissions that do not abide by these guidelines will not be read. 

Student questions/links of interest:

PREFECT | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary (scroll down for the Harry Potter connotation mentioned in class)

A nice handout on prepositions targeted to advanced learners/users: Grammar: Using Prepositions (uvic.ca)

To my Dan Brown and Avatar fans, you might enjoy these parodies from SNL: 

Book Ad - Saturday Night Live - YouTube

Papyrus - SNL - YouTube 

Kulturraumstudien USA, Homework for November 15th

For homework, please: 

- watch the following video, which features author Francisco Cantú, a former member of the US Border Patrol (2008-2012, i.e. the first Obama administration) and published a memoir about his experiences in 2017: How this former Border Patrol agent learned to see through the eyes of those trying to cross - YouTube

As you watch the video, take notes on any comments, information and/or sights presented therein that surprise you.

- after watching the video, read an excerpt from Cantú's book The Line Becomes a River posted under the "Week Six Reading" folder on Ilias Inhalt (you'll find it at the bottom of the page between weeks one and three). The excerpt is written in the voice of José, an undocumented immigrant to the US Cantú befriends in the course of the memoir's events. In this scene he is in Mexico tending to his dying mother. (The "you" in this scene refers to Cantú, but is obviously also a stylistic choice used to pull the reader in.) As you read the excerpt, jot down notes/highlight passages that capture the complexities of José's situation. 

- finally, do some research concerning the US visa options available to a Mexican citizen (you can look up other countries as well, but make sure you investigate Mexico). Keep notes tracking the sources and websites you use to obtain this information.

Kompetenzerweiterung I (Monday/Wednesday Group), Homework in Week Six (November 8th-12th)

 In preparation of next Monday's session (11/15), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-I) for Unit 21 and read the grammar details for Unit 21 (pp. 170-171). Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding rules/these solutions with you to next Monday's session.

Please do the remaining exercises for Unit 23 on verbal complements, i.e. exercises D-J on pp. 189-191 (then self-check your answers). Bring any questions you have with you to next Monday's session. 

In preparation of this Wednesday's session (11/10) please do the following (I recommend you complete these exercises during "study hall", i.e. Monday 11:30-13:00): 

- read 2-3 of the essays featured here What I'm really thinking | Lifeandstyle | The Guardian and do the following: 

1) be able to pinpoint what compelled you to click on the article in the first place (of the hundreds of articles on the site, what made that person's perspective interesting enough to read?)

2) did the articles live up to you expectation (i.e. what you had in mind when you clicked)? Explain.

3) take notes regarding the paragraph organization of the article

4) bring a sketch of an essay with you to class (the key here is narrowing down the perspective of the person and how you are going to contextualize this person's experience) 

- visit this website Home (thisamericanlife.org) and do the following (most stories are about one hour in length, so schedule enough time for this):

1) decide on a story to listen to (the "archive" and "recommended" tabs at the top right-hand corner of the page can be helpful in picking from the hundreds of stories available)

2) determine if the story was well-structured (some stories are broken down into "acts" on their respective webpages) and lived up to the expectations you felt when you read the story's description. If you feel compelled to stop listening at any point, identify what specifically caused this.

3) answer the question: could any of the material in the story you listened to inspire a great "what I'm really thinking" essay? If so, how and for what kind of essay? If not, why not?

Optional essay assignment: In 250-350 words, write a "what I'm really thinking" essay of your own. Make sure that your essay a) doesn't exceed the word limit, b) is sent as an MS Word document, and c) is submitted to my email address by Wednesday, November 10th at midnight. Submissions that do not abide by these guidelines will not be read. 

Kompetenzerweiterung I (Monday/Wednesday Group), Homework in Week Five (November 2nd-5th)

Answers to exercise 4: 1. on, 2. correct, 3. now, 4 zone, 5 the, 6 correct, 7 been, 8 course, 9 correct, 10 the, 11 and, 12 correct, 13 will, 14 correct

In preparation of next Monday's session (11/8), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-J) for Unit 17 and read the grammar details for Unit 17 (pp. 138-139). Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding rules/these solutions with you to next Monday's session.

Please read pp. 186-187 of Unit 23 and do exercises A-C on pg. 188 (then self-check your answers). Bring any questions you have with you to next Monday's session. 

Kompetenzerweiterung III (Wednesday Group), Homework for November 10th

 For homework, please prepare the following: 

- read the long-read featured under the file "Cohousing" on Ilias and identify what you consider to be the author's best arguments in favor of co-housing/co-living. Imagine how you would counter these points were you to have a debate with her. 

- read the file "Stress in compound adjs and abbreviations" and do exercise 17.2 from the "Stress in compound adjs and abbreviations exercises" file.

- read the file "Should seasonal clock changes be abolished" and come up with details from your own experience with daylight saving to support BOTH arguments.

- watch this 1-minute video from the Brooklyn Public Library about their new policy on fines: Say Goodbye to Late Fines! | Brooklyn Public Library - YouTube  Would you favor such a change to your local library's fine policy? Why or why not?

Make sure you're prepared to debate the following questions in next week's class:

1. Are co-housing/co-living the future?

2. Should seasonal clock changes be abolished?

3. Should more libraries adopt the Brooklyn Public Library's approach to fines? (Watch the quick video above.)

Kompetenzerweiterung III (Tuesday Group), Homework for November 9th

  For homework, please prepare the following: 

- read the long-read featured under the file "Cohousing" on Ilias and identify what you consider to be the author's best arguments in favor of co-housing/co-living. Imagine how you would counter these points were you to have a debate with her. 

- read the file "Stress in compound adjs and abbreviations" and do exercise 17.2 from the "Stress in compound adjs and abbreviations exercises" file.

- read the file "Should seasonal clock changes be abolished" and come up with details from your own experience with daylight saving to support BOTH arguments.

- watch this 1-minute video from the Brooklyn Public Library about their new policy on fines: Say Goodbye to Late Fines! | Brooklyn Public Library - YouTube  Would you favor such a change to your local library's fine policy? Why or why not?

Make sure you're prepared to debate the following questions in next week's class:

1. Are co-housing/co-living the future?

2. Should seasonal clock changes be abolished?

3. Should more libraries adopt the Brooklyn Public Library's approach to fines? (Watch the quick video above.)

Kompetenzerweiterung I (Tuesday/Thursday Group), Homework in Week Five (November 2nd-5th)

In preparation of next Tuesday's session (11/9), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-J) for Unit 17 and read the grammar details for Unit 17 (pp. 138-139). Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding rules/these solutions with you to next Tuesday's session.

Please read pp. 186-187 of Unit 23 and do exercises A-C on pg. 188 (then self-check your answers). Bring any questions you have with you to next Tuesday's session. 

In preparation of this Thursday's session (11/4) please do the following (I recommend you complete these exercises during "study hall", i.e. Thursday 9:45-11:30): 

- read a review of a film, album or book (you can find reviews on Culture | The Guardian and on the NY Times (the TH has a subscription, but you need to be logged into the VPN in order to access it)) and assess the review using the following categories: 1) word choice, 2) details/examples, 3) sentence structure, 4) paragraph structure/essay organization, 5) thesis statement (is there a main "take-away" from the review?). Bring this review with you to class (save the URL to it as you will be sharing it with your partners via the chat window/sharing your screen.

- watch at least one of the videos from Amoeba Records "What's in my bag?" series Amoeba - YouTube and observe/take notes on how they present their picks. Then, select 3-5 books/films/albums that you will present to your group in a similar fashion (i.e. hopefully being so convincing that your group will want to check that media out) in your breakout sessions on Thursday. (Don't worry if you don't have the physical object; links/copying-pasting the cover work into a document to share will suffice.)

Optional essay assignment: In an essay of 250-350 words, write a review of a film, album, or book. (Please stick to one of these three types of media.) Make sure that your essay a) doesn't exceed the word limit, b) is sent as a MS Word document, and c) is submitted to my email address by Thursday, November 4th at midnight. Submissions that do not abide by these guidelines will not be read. 

Questions: a follow-up link to the question about the expression "dare not speak its name": The saying 'The love that dare not speak its name' - meaning and origin. (phrases.org.uk)