A BRIEF NOTE....

I follow some of my classmates´ blogs.

 I chose them because their entries on the teacher´s blog made me curios. From the four ones I chose, I unfollowed one because I didn´t find it amusing. I kept a friki one ("welcome to my chibi world"), where the author talks about Asian food, Asian pop - for instance korean pop- , manga... Another interesant blog is "Musings of a guiri", who talks about anything that spring at its author´s mind, for instance its flatmates, the pros and cons of ignorance... Everything with a sarcastic tone. And last but not least I follow a blog called "Stop and stare", but it has only two entries. It´s a pity because it even uses stream of consciousness 

It has been a lot of fun!

PRACTICE 4

Opinion essay
     There are some people who do not care about the environment when they go trekking, sightseeing, are enjoying unspoiled places... I went to Cabo de Gata last weekend and, unfortunately, I could see such kind of environmentally disrecpectul people. Although we should be free to go anywhere, all of us must take care of our commom natural heritage, because there is a notable difference betwen spending your day on a touristic beach and enjoying an untouched one.

To begin with, touristic beaches offer a variaty of services and commodities like "chiringuitos", toilets, showers, first aid points, etc., but such amount of services and people generates huge piles of garbage; whereas a protected beach allows you to experience its unspoiled beauty (unless you find this kind of irresponsible people there), without the need to look for a place to fit your towel in. As for eating there, you can take your own food, and for sure it is healthier -and cheaper- than the food you can buy in a chiringuito

It is true that overcrowded beaches produce more benefits, but only for a few (builders, tourism, companies...even politicians-if they grant licenses to build in natural protected areas-). However, preserving this endangered spots will be beneficial, not only for us, but for the future generations too. Furthermore, economic profits of over-explotation last only for a short period of time.

Therefore, overcrowded beaches are damaging the environment, because of the building industry, rubbish, lack of environmental awareness...For this, we must be responsible and take care of the environment by using the common sense (if there is left any at all), before untouched beaches stop being wild too.

PRACTICE 3

Our current education system is based on a method developed over the 18 th century. That system seems to have reached its end, because it seems to reward those who reproduce better a memorised content. For instance, what is the point in remembering the Gothic Kings list?

One possible solution is that grades should be replaced by feedback and a real continuos assesment instead of just acquiring a qualification at the end of the course, since grades come from an archaic model. Although it is true that grades are used by teachers to categorize students´ knowledge Therefore, this solution could be criticised because it is necessary to know how good or bad stuents´ learning is. Another possible solution could be to encourage students to think by themselves, as each student learns in a different way, that is teachers must support students in discovering what they enjoy and are good  at, and what want to be to earn a living.

Probably, both solutions could be possible, but teachers must encourage and support young people in responding to their different needs; ans instead of learning a list, how about carrying out a research project into the Goth daily life? we need to move towards a new approach which motivates passion, iniciative and creativity and it is not behind de times.

PRACTICE 2

OUTLINE
I. The government should take new measures to reduce air pollution in urban areas, because cars emit gasses which contribute to global warming, air pollution from cars can make it harder for us to live and public transport are too expensive.

II. Cars emit gasses
    A. Cars are the largest contributor to air pollution
        - To restrict the older cars

III. Cars make it harder for us to live
     A. We will have many difficulties
        - Pollution from cars can affect our neurological, immune and reproductive system

IV. Public transport is too expensive
    A. To suggest alternatives
       - Why using a bicycle is better?

V. As this problem is more and more worrying nowadays, because those dangerous emissions increase the Spanish  government must take measures

RESPECT THE NATURE

As it seems that  I´m not only writing about cinema, there goes another eco-post:

There are too many people who lack environmental awareness, however keen they are on admiring breathtaking views. If we do not respect the nature, we will have less and less hair-raising scenery to enjoy.

In order to overcome this problem, governments could increase the control measures in unspoiled or threatened places to make sure that people leave these places the same or better than they found it.  Perhaps it is necessary to create campaigns in order to deter people from dumping rubbish, building anything anywhere, etc. The drawbacks of this is that governments do not mind respecting this kind of places; and it is the government itself who grants licenses to build in natural protected areas.

Another solution is that the thriving tourism companies –presumably concerned about being environmentally conscious- begin to sell real package deals advertising a sustainable tourism. However, tourism industry gives preference to its economic interests rather than ecological interests and finally it does not really care much. For instance, if tourists avoided overcrowded environments ant set off in small groups, it would be easier to preserve particularly endangered spots.

Another remedy is education: Children must be taught from school to be aware of how important is not to damage the environment, because we must keep on preserving it not only for us, but for the future generations too. We must know how to judge our actions and try to be responsible in order to feel good about ourselves.

As it seems that there are little alternatives to solve this problem, the final answer could be to use the common sense (if there is left any at all) together with education.  Thus, we would not feel guilty about visiting untouched regions if we respected them to guarantee in the long term that they can be enjoyed without getting damaged.

How green are you?

       In theory, the whole society –even young people- is concerned with the contamination problems; at least they know these problems exist, although it is true that everybody does not know what some of them -like greenhouse effect- involve exactly.  For instance, the greenhouse effect is based on how air pollution from different items makes the ozone layer´s hole bigger and bigger. If we ignore what the causes of air pollution are (vehicle exhaust fumes, the burning of fossil fuels, sprays, chemical waste, poisonous smoke from power stations...), we will not know what to do to prevent them.  

People around me try to be environmental friendly to avoid polluting our surroundings. At home we recycle the household waste; we switch off the lights and turn off the taps when we do not need them. In addition, we do not abuse air conditioning or heater and do not use the car to go shopping or go somewhere in the town, since Murcia is not a big city. However, some friends of mine seem to be a little selfish. They do not go to the bottle bank, or drive everywhere only for their own convenience. By the same token, they do not take seriously  this matter. As a result, we are harming the environment; that is why we should tackle this issue as soon as possible.

HITCHCOCK

  (I)  Everybody knows Hitchcock and recognize him as a good director nowadays. However, until the nouvelle vague directors vindicated him, he was considered just “an artisan”, not a proper author. Although most of his movies were blockbusters, he never got an Oscar. When I found out about this, I could not believe it. Hitchcock was one of the less recognized filmmakers in his time, although now he is considered as a classic due to his great technique, his mastering of suspense and his well-known use of "macguffin".

(II. Great technique)

In spite of the fact that Hitchcock made two films without almost editing (Rope and Under Capricorn), he believed in the power of montage as a visual medium to create an emotion in the mind of the audience. However, although “films must be cut”, montage is also quite useful to tell a story. The point is in the way images are put together. In fact, Hitchcock said in an interview with Emerson Batdorf: “Let me give you an example…We take a close up of a man and cut to what he sees. And what do we show? A woman nursering a baby. You cut back your face reaction and he smiles. Now what is he? He´s a benevolent nice gentleman. [BUT]. Take away the middle piece of film (the mother and the baby) and substitute a girl in bikini. Now he´s a dirty old man. That´s what I mean by the purity of montage control of film” (1970).

(III. The master of suspense)

Hitchcock’s command of suspense is another characteristic of his films. Suspense consists in giving the public as much information as possible.  Suspense must not be confused with surprise. “Let´s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us”, said Hitchcock. Imagine then there is a sudden explosion. If the public did not have known about the bomb, it would have been an ordinary scene, but if the public is aware the bomb is going to explode, the trivial conversation over the table becomes irritating and the audience feels the necessity of crying to the characters:  “there is a bomb about to explode!”. For instance, The man Who knew too much shows a suspense climax during a concert at Albert Hall, where the female protagonist suddenly realises what is about to occurs, although the spectator already knows.

(IV.Macguffin)

Hitchcock was not the only one to use Macguffin, but it will always be related to him. According to the Oxford dictionary “ macguffin” is  “an object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot”.  It is used to make the plot progress, but the object, person or device used as macguffin is not important itself.  The word comes from music-hall (according to F. Truffaut´s Le cinéma selon Hitchcock) : “There are two men in a train and one of them says to the other: `What´s that  packet above your head?’. And the other replays: ‘Ah, that´s a macguffin’. The first one insists: ‘What´s a macguffin?’ And his travel mate replays: ‘A Macguffin is a device for hunting lions in the Adirondacks`. ‘But in the Adirondacks there are no lions, springs the first man’.  ‘Then that isn´t a macguffin`, answer the other’ ” . In North by Northwest the macguffin is a government secret, or in Psicosis it is the 40, 000 $ that Marion Crane steals at the beginning of the film.

(V. )  Thanks to Nouvelle Vague, in spite of not being deservedly recognized for a long time, Alfred Hitchcock was in the end acknowledged. I do not think that Hitchcock not having won an Oscar was due to a lack of talent. In fact, his great mastery is highly appreciated now, and he is among the big ones. Have you ever wondered why some of the greatest (performers, directors, writers…) of all time have never been recognized?

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