What did George Orwell want to tell us? (Writing in English: Advanced Writing. Class 13/12/2012. Teacher: Mel0dy Lyric)

Task:
Animal Farm at a Glance


Book Summary:Animal Farm is George Orwell's satire on equality, where all barnyard animals live free from their human masters' tyranny. Inspired to rebel by Major, an old boar, animals on Mr. Jones' Manor Farm embrace Animalism and stage a revolution to achieve an idealistic state of justice and progress. A power-hungry pig, Napoleon, becomes a totalitarian dictator who leads the Animal Farm into "All Animals Are Equal / But Some Are More Equal Than Others" oppression.

Written by: George Orwell
Type of Work: novel
Genres: political satire; allegory
First Published: August 17, 1945
Setting: Mr. Jones' Manor Farm

Main Characters: Old Major; Snowball; Napoleon; Squealer; Boxer; Mollie; Benjamin; Moses; Jones; Frederick; Pilkington
Major Thematic Topics: animalism; mob rule; virtue; religion as a drug; distortion of reality; death; false allegiance; political corruption

Motifs: rebellion; power; communism

Major Symbols: Cold War; the barn; the windmill

The three most important aspects of Animal Farm:

•    Animal Farm is an allegory, which is a story in which concrete and specific characters and situations stand for other characters and situations so as to make a point about them. The main action of Animal Farm stands for the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union. Animalism is really communism. Manor Farm is allegorical of Russia, and the farmer Mr. Jones is the Russian Czar. Old Major stands for either Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin, and the pig named Snowball represents the intellectual revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Napoleon stands for Stalin, while the dogs are his secret police. The horse Boxer stands in for the proletariat, or working class.

•    far worse than our own, as opposed to a utopia, which is an ideal place or state. Other dystopian novels include Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Orwell's own 1984.
   
•    The most famous line from the book is "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." This line is emblematic of the changes that George Orwell believed followed the 1917 Communist Revolution in Russia. Rather than eliminating the capitalist class system it was intended to overthrow, the revolution merely replaced it with another hierarchy. The line is also typical of Orwell's belief that those in power usually manipulate language to their own benefit.

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/animal-farm.html

Essay-writing questions:
•    Who are the main characters of the story?
•    What are the main events of the story?
•    What roles do the main characters play in the main events of the story?
•    Is there a moral to the story? If yes, what do you think it is?
•    What did you learn from the story?

My story

What is the main idea of Orwell’s story? I know the answer to this question because I was born when socialism was occurring within my country.

All of the characters within this novel are recognizable people from my country (Russia). And, I am not going to describe the history of previous centuries in Russia only in “black colors.” No, I grew up in that kind of society, and we believed in equity.

Now, I understand that there is only one way for societal development to occur, which is in the form of democracy. But, the opposite of that kind of authoritative leadership, including dictatorship, possibly can be used in certain kinds of situations. For example, during the Cold War, natural cataclysms, and injustice did occur. Furthermore, the last statement I made can be referred to as the “Occupy Wall-Street” movement.

But, coming back to Orwell’s story, I do understand his use of satiric humor. I love the way he described some of the heroes within his fictitious world. His choice to use animal characters is a great writing method because it allows us to laugh. at ourselves. Just imagine a dog as being a secret service officer. Or, a horse as being a presenter of the proletariat, etc. He did a wonderful and profound job of creating a work, which can be used by everyone who cares about the future of mankind.

Anatoly

Unknown feature of IMDb site

I discovered that an interesting possibilities of The Internet Movie Database (IMDb, imdb.com ) some times ago. It’s likely that this feature could be interesting for people who like cinema and, especially, for students who study English.This internet-page http://www.imdb.com/lists/  allows us to observe somebody’s collections of his/her favorite movies. The page is refreshing constantly. We can see there how many minutes agothe last list was created. We can read in English a short description (and comments) about any film from the database and comments. After quick registration, we can create our own list of our favorite movies (this is my list http://www.imdb.com/list/Fim34541UKs/ ).We only need to write there the title of our favorite movies.  The picture and the description appear automatically (they are taken from the database).What kind of movies do you like? An answer for this question from people with similar preferences might help you to choose the next movie to watch. By using this site we can find people with the similar "taste in movies" and take their recommendations for ourselves. And we are involved in the process of the movies assessment. Somebody might say thanks for your rating.

Anatoly

Dream about Australia

Dream about Australia

(Writing in English: Advanced Writing. Class 09/12/2012.  Teacher: DeliaBrown Resident)

Tasks:
I.
Match the lists of words with the correct definitions.
CULTURE
1. The habits, traditions and beliefs of a group of people.
CANCEL
2. To decide that an organised event will not happen.
TRIP
3.  A journey when you visit a place for a short time and come back again.
SIGHTSEEING
4. The activity of visiting places which are interesting.
TOURIST
5. Someone who visits a place for pleasure and does not live there.
ACCOMMODATION
6. The place where you stay.
BOOK  
7. To arrange to use or do something at a particular time in the future.  
BROCHURE
8. A thin book with pictures and information, usually advertising something.
GUIDE
9. A book that gives information about the place you are visiting
LUGGAGE
1. Bags and cases that you carry with you when you are travelling.
TERMINAL
2. A building where you can get onto an aircraft, bus, or ship.
TOUR
3. A visit to and around a place, area, or country.
CHECKIN
4. The area at an airport where they check your ticket and take your luggage.
RECEPTION
5. The place in a hotel where people go when they arrive.
COACH
6. A comfortable bus used to take groups of people on journeys.
MUSEUM
7. A building where you can look at important objects.
SUNBATHE
8. To sit or lie in the sun so that your skin becomes brown.  
HIRE/RENT
\9. To pay to use something for a short time.

II.  Now use some of this vocabulary to write about a trip you have made, or a trip you would like to make.  Try to use a variety of different grammar tenses, and remember that the typical word sequence in English is:  Subject + verb+ object + place + time.  

Example:  If I could travel anywhere, I'd go to the Amazon.  After checking in at the airport, I'd text all my friends, and tell them I was on my way.  Before doing anything else, I'd find a guide to take me on the most exciting adventure of my life.  I wouldn't visit museums, or spend time by the pool sunbathing.....

III.  When you finish writing, check to make sure you have used the correct form for plurals and singulars, third person, past tense, and continuous forms.  Make sure you use 'a' before singular nouns and 's' for plurals.  If sentences are very long, break them into to separate sentences.  Make sure the word order is correct.  Read it very carefully and try to catch your typical mistakes before sending it to the teacher.

Dream about Australia (writing exercise)

What do I think the most interesting destination would be? I should answer this question in Delia’s class, which is dedicated to advance writing.  Okay, I think the second conditional could be suitable for describing my dream.  If I had enough time and money, I’d visit Australia. I’d travel when it was wintertime in my country, and go to a place where it was summertime.  I always read a guide before visiting a new destination.  I can imagine what I’d do after landing in Melbourne.  The first thing would be to use my English to talk to a taxi driver, and then to the hotel manager when I arrived at my accommodation.  I know the receptionists speak English, even in non English speaking countries.  I know that the Australian accent

What is the most interesting destination for me which I’d want to visit?
I should answer for(without for) this question in the( without ‘the’) Delia’s class which was (is) dedicated to advanced writing.
Ok. I think the second conditional could be suitable for describing my dream.
If I could time and money enough I’d visit Australia.  If I had enough time and money, I’d visit Australia.

I’d buy a ticket for time when the winter in my country and fly to summer’s time. I’d travel when it was wintertime in my country, and go to a place where it was summertime.

Always when I’m going to visit new place I read some books about this destination. I always read a guide before visiting a new place. And it is necessary to bye a guide.

I can imagine now what I should do when I’ll be landed to Melbourne. The first one I’ll try use my English and speak with taxi-driver, with hotel’s manager when I’ll arrive to hotel. I know that even in not English speakers countries all people who serve on reception speak in English. I know that Australian’s accent is different from American and British English. I wonder if I can understand Australian people.

Ok. Now I can look around and choose sightseeings which I should observe. What is the cheapest and fastest way to know places around us? Yes, I can ride on the coach. Or I could hire a car.

I interested in a nature and culture that fabulous country. And I keep this dream to visit that place in the future.

Anatoly