Internet Activity 23: TOEFL writing practice with movie reviews

Assignment: Watch this short video about how to practice TOEFL writing skills by watching movies, discussing the movie with friends, reading (professionally written) reviews, and then writing a TOEFL-style response that compares your friend's opinion with the film critic's review.

Internet Sites that source professionally written reviews.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Roger Ebert
http://www.filmcritic.com

Step 1: Ask a classmate to tell you his/her opinion about a movie that both of you have recently watched.
Step 2: Take notes during your partners response.
Step 3: Switch! Repeat STEPS 1 and 2
Step 4: Now you will work independently. Find a review of the movie using the above links. Take notes during your reading.
Step 5: Now prepare a 150-225 word response that addresses the following question:

How does your partner's review of the movie compare or contrast with the film critic's review?

Onomatopoeia

What is a whir? What is a whirring sound? Whir is an onomatopoeic word which mimics the sound of gears or a machine spinning around.

In class we will explore words that describe sound. Use the website below to look for sound words in our class activity.

http://www.writtensound.com/

Internet Activity 14: Female Saudi Journalist, interviewed.

In light of our discussion on Tuesday, watch this two-part interview with Suzan Zawawi, an English-speaking Saudi female journalist (one of few), who works from her home in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the video she gives a tour of her home, and speaks of her daily routines and the role of women in Saudi society. (Note: In video 2, time = 4:20, they interview a different woman, a gynecologist)

The black covering she wears is called an abaya.

Take notes as if you were writing a journalistic story based on this interview.

What would you ask the woman, and how would you follow up on some of her responses?

Think critically about her responses, and prepare to discuss the interview in class on Thursday.

Internet Activity 10: Mae West and Suggestive Language "Come up and see me some time."

Take a look at Hollywood legend Mae West delivering one of her most famous, of many, suggestive lines. Watch the video here.

Mae west was a Hollywood starlet and sex symbol. Her character shtik was witty, risque, and notoriously suggestive. What does she mean exactly when she says, "Come up and see me some time"? Think about the context of their conversation and the way she says it. As we start Pragmatic Understanding, in the Listening section, we see that it is important to pay attention to the unstated context of the speakers and the manner in which they are speaking.

We will go over some other examples in class. Perhaps, you can think of a few sentences whose meaning is completely dependent upon their context.

In Class: Pictures of Stats

Think about Chris Jordan's art and presentation in light of Thursday's discussion of the rhetorical appeals (Logos, Pathos, Ethos).

Activity: Get into small groups, make notes and discuss the following.

1.) How does Chris Jordan employ logos and pathos to affect the viewer?
2.) Write a TOEFL question based on your group's discussion. (Reading Skill 8:Infer Rhetorical Purpose p. 76)
3.) What is Jordan's primary purpose, i.e. what is he hoping to convince the audience? Use the interactive text to summarize the information into 3-4 bullet points.

Internet Activity 6: We Feel Fine

Take whatever time you have left in lab and explore this interactive website. We Feel Fine Be sure to click on "OPEN We Feel Fine" in the upper right-hand corner.

Jot down your questions or your impressions. We will look at it in class.

Consider the following:
How do you use the internet to share your life?
Do you feel connected to the world at large, or do you feel smaller, or less heard in all "the noise"?
Do you think there is a such a thing as sharing too much of yourself online?
What do you think of this project? Is it inspiring? Is it information art?
Be prepared to speak upon these topics.

WORDS IN CONTEXT GAME!

GO TO THE GAME!

English is full of words that have the same spelling but have different meanings, and even different pronunciations. They are sometimes called heteronyms (or homographs). In this game, you must choose the correct meaning of the word based on the way it is used in the sentence. (Note: both of the given definitions are true, but there is only one way to use it correctly)

context = the way the word is used in the sentence.

clue = a detail that can help explain something.

context clues = other words in the sentence that help explain the meaning of the word.

Example: The word "live" has multiple meanings:

as a verb ---> I would prefer to live a life with many challenges, rather than to die with many regrets.

clue = to live rather than to die. to die is the opposite of to live.

as an adjective ---> I went to see Madonna live in concert.

clue = in concert. How will you see Madonna? On a big TV? On a box of cereal? No, she will be performing live (she will actually be there).