GARCIA+LINARES,+MARIBEL

SECOND TERM READING **The sense of an ending, Julian Barnes 2011** I found this amazing book in a Barcelona’s bookshop during a short trip last winter. I was glancing among the English literature shelves when the bookseller came to help me. I told him the sort of reading I was looking forward to get: a recent novel, a gripping story, if possible and also an easy-going work. He told me that the one we had in front of us it was a jewel. One of the best from J. Barnes, an author that I have never heard it before, although he is well-known, has millions of followers and he is considered one of the most brilliant authors between the contemporary writers in English. He recommended it to me and expressly told me that I would not regret it! In this context, after reading the novel I have revised some reviews of it. For instance, Jane Juska of the //San Francisco Chronicle,// describes the story as a page-turner one, as well as those that provoke the need to return to the beginning or revisit some episodes. That it really happened to me when I was almost at the end. It is as if the reader wonders about the meaning of what was said here and there or if he or she hesitates about the precise consequences of each character contribution. Furthermore, Heller McAlpin offered on the npr (national public radio) some details about the story like life’s losses, mistakes and disappointments. She even categorizes it as a bleak tale but also as a courageous one. I am in favour with these critics. I am also very glad because of the bookseller advice about reading this novel, I found it absolutely intense, very human and touchy. Told in first person, the narrator is a middle-aged man who deals with some events happened back in his youth and they seem to return to make him to reconsider his certainties.


 * SECOND PRESENTATION(7)
 * register (stress on the 1st, not 2nd syllable)
 * Good pronunciation
 * extremely (/tri:/, not /tre/)
 * very anger (angry)
 * occidental (western)
 * careful speech; well presented;less fluent than at other times

Dear Maribel, I apologise for the delay in the corrections and I beg you to write every new composition above the previous one, as they do in blogs. That makes it easy to find and correct it.

**Diary of a Wimpy Kid **
 * A review **

This novel has been written by Jeff Kinney, an American writer and illustrator. It is the first one of a series of 5 more parts and they have become very popular in the United States. The plot revolves around the daily life of 11 years old kid. Tricks, fears and adventures are shown by Greg, while he deals with some family issues and his school mates relationships. Given that the story is a diary told by a very young child it is not surprising that the style is fresh and direct. Despite colloquial expressions and slang are fully spread through the text, nevertheless it doesn’t mean that the novel is difficult or boring. On the other hand, I would like to highlight that the whole book content is very funny and furthermore some episodes become incredibly hilarious. The cheese touch, the haunted house and Halloween night chapters won’t leave readers careless. In conclusion, the way is told and ordinary topics reflected, are what in my opinion make people enjoy the book the most. Both aspects lead the book to be considered as a page-turner one. For all these reasons I highly recommend this reading to my class mates. MARKING AND ASSESSMENT

**Diary of a Wimpy Kid **
 * A review **

This novel has been written by Jeff Kinney, an American writer and illustrator. It is the first one of a series of 5 more parts and they have become very popular in the United States. The plot revolves around the daily life of 11 year old kid. Tricks, fears and adventures are shown by Greg, while he deals with some family issues and his school mates relationships. Given that the story is a diary told by a very young child it is not surprising that the style is fresh and direct. The colloquial expressions that pepper the text don´t make the novel difficult or boring. On the other hand, I would like to highlight that the whole book is very funny and furthermore some episodes become incredibly hilarious. The cheese touch, the haunted house and Halloween night chapters won’t leave readers indifferent. In conclusion, the way it is told and the ordinary topics reflected, are what in my opinion make people enjoy the book the most. Both aspects make the book a page-turner. For all these reasons I highly recommend this reading to my classmates.
 * Letter of Complaint**

Writing Unit 6

Dear Sr or Madam,

I am writing to you to complaint about the accommodation service received during our five days holiday at Wien Htl. We are totally dissatisfied with some details we had not arranged previously when we were booking the staying. For instance, we expressly told you to have a double bed and appliances for cooking there. I remember that we decided to choose your hotel because of those facilities. As we noticed it, we desperately tried to talk with the hotel staff, but we couldn’t. Frankly, I think you must give us our money back and be sure that this situation is not happening again. Indeed, I have already sent a letter of complaint to the City Hall Customer Service in order to let them take legal actions, if it was necessary. I would finally say that these facts ruined completely our holidays and we will keep aware so that we could restore our rights. =**MARKING KEY AND ASSESSMENT**=

**Letter of Complaint**

Writing Unit 6

Dear Sr or Madam,

I am writing to you to complain about the accommodation service received during our five day holiday at Wien Htl. We are totally dissatisfied with some details we had not arranged previously when we were booking the stay. For instance, we expressly told you to have a double bed and cooking facilities there. I remember that we decided to choose your hotel because of those facilities. As we noticed there were none, we desperately tried to talk with the hotel staff, but we couldn’t. Frankly, I think you must give us our money back and be sure that this situation does not happen again. Indeed, I have already sent a letter of complaint to the City Hall Customer Service in order to let them take legal actions, if it was necessary. I would finally say that these facts ruined our holidays completely and we will pursue the matter so that we can restore our rights. =** OK **= **Diary of a Wimpy Kid ** **A review **

This novel has been written by Jeff Kinney, an American writer and illustrator. It is the first one of a series of 5 more parts and they have become very popular in the United States. The plot revolves around the daily life of 11 years old kid. Tricks, fears and adventures are shown by Greg, while he deals with some family issues and his school mates relationships. Given that the story is a diary told by a very young child it is not surprising that the style is fresh and direct. Despite colloquial expressions and slang are fully spread through the text, nevertheless it doesn’t mean that the novel is difficult or boring. On the other hand, I would like to highlight that the whole book content is very funny and furthermore some episodes become incredibly hilarious. The cheese touch, the haunted house and Halloween night chapters won’t leave readers careless. In conclusion, the way is told and ordinary topics reflected, are what in my opinion make people enjoy the book the most. Both aspects lead the book to be considered as a page-turner one. For all these reasons I highly recommend this reading to my class mates. MARKING AND ASSESSMENT

**Diary of a Wimpy Kid ** **A review **

This novel has been written by Jeff Kinney, an American writer and illustrator. It is the first one of a series of 5 more parts and they have become very popular in the United States. The plot revolves around the daily life of 11 years old kid. Tricks, fears and adventures are shown by Greg, while he deals with some family issues and his school mates relationships. Given that the story is a diary told by a very young child it is not surprising that the style is fresh and direct. Despite colloquial expressions and slang are fully spread through the text, nevertheless it doesn’t mean that the novel is difficult or boring. On the other hand, I would like to highlight that the whole book content is very funny and furthermore some episodes become incredibly hilarious. The cheese touch, the haunted house and Halloween night chapters won’t leave readers careless. In conclusion, the way is told and ordinary topics reflected, are what in my opinion make people enjoy the book the most. Both aspects lead the book to be considered as a page-turner one. For all these reasons I highly recommend this reading to my class mates. * Oral presentation Hand in my pocket by Alanis Morisette: [] Space Oddity an Emilie Simon version (David Bowie): [] Sugar by Tori Amos: [] *
 * []**
 * SONGS:**

Voting in 2001 UK parliamentary elections (writing unit 4)
The chart shows the amount of people who voted in 2001 and 1983 UK parliamentary elections. The figures are ranged by age, from 18-24 to 65 or more years old. As can be seen the percentage of people who voted in 1983 was significantly higher than in 2001, showing at least a 10% of difference for the voters between 18 and 64 years old.In each period young voters, aged up to 34, are who show the higher grade of abstention compared with the other groups of age. Although they share a similar voting pattern, the inter-year group difference is high, about 15 %.Middle- aged people, between 35 and 64 years old, data indicates a steady tendency of voting behavior in 1983. In contrast in 2001 voters with similar age than the 1983 period, show leaps forward from one to another group of age, with increases of 10 % for the voters between 45 and 54 years old.On the other hand, the older voters show a break in data tendency on both periods. In 2001 the percentage of votes is higher than in 1983. Although it is a tiny percentage of difference, around 3%.These figures illustrate the tendency of voting in UK parliamentary elections. In general, young people who voted in 1983 keep their votes steady, if not higher, more than 20 years later in 2001 elections. The differences found could be related to a generational change, being young people in 2001 less interested in elections or in politics in general than people at the same age in 1983.


 * CORRECTIONS AND ASSESSMENT**

Voting in 2001 UK parliamentary elections (writing unit 4)**

The chart shows the amount of people who voted in 2001 and 1983 UK parliamentary elections. The figures are ranged by age, from 18-24 to 65 or more years old. As can be seen, the percentage of people who voted in 1983 was significantly higher than in 2001, showing at least a 10% difference for the voters between 18 and 64 years old. In each period young voters, aged up to 34, are the ones who show the highest grade of abstention compared with the other age groups. Although they share a similar voting pattern, the inter-year group difference is high, about 15 %. Middle- aged people, between 35 and 64 years old, data indicates a steady tendency of voting behavior in 1983. In contrast, in 2001 voters with similar age to the 1983 period, show leaps forward from one to another group of age, with increases of 10 % for the voters between 45 and 54 years old. On the other hand, the older voters show a break in data tendency in both periods. In 2001 the percentage of votes is higher than in 1983. Although it is a tiny percentage of difference, around 3%. These figures illustrate the tendency of voting in UK parliamentary elections. In general, young people who voted in 1983 keep their votes steady, if not higher, more than 20 years later in 2001 elections. The differences found could be related to a generational change, young people in 2001 being less interested in elections or in politics in general than people at the same age in 1983.

=** Very impressive formal language, well done- perhaps you could write about something that could have been different if the circumstances had not been what they were. It would be a starting point to reinforce your conditionals, which you asked me about in class. Some examples are "If this graph had been made about Spanish votes...", "If I had (or hadn´t) met the man of my dreams...", "If I had been born in Nigeria...", "If my friend had behaved differently...", etc. **=