Written task 5

Rationale
The assignment was to make a type of text: mass or professional communication. So I've chosen for an advertisement. Harpo's bar is never largely crowded, so he asked the jazzsinger Shug Avery to come and sing in his bar. So I've made this advertisement so that everyone in the town knows there is a jazzsinger coming to town. So that his bar would be more popular!
I used the word "juke joint", because this is an establishement featuring music, dancing, etc. operated by African American people in the United States.
Also I used the word shugness, referring to the combination: Shug and snugness.

Written Task 4

Recipe for overpopulation
















Ingredients
8 billion inhabitants
1,2 cubic kilometre clean water
1 billion kilograms of food (think of: meat, vegetables, potatoes, fruits, etc.)
Room temperature: 30°C filled with clean air
Patience(!)

Directions
It’s not easy to create overpopulation. That’s why one of the most important ingredients is patience. It can take years until there is a noticeable result .
Many people think the recipe is easy. They think overpopulation depends on how many people or how much space you have. The Black Death in 1350 and the Industrial and Green Revolution led to a rapid population growth. But in those days there was no overpopulation.

It’s a lot more difficult than that!
Overpopulation can only be formed if the ratio of resources to the population is low. But also if the resources are distributed inaccurataly throughout the population.

1. The first step is to create an increase in the population. This can be done by an increase in births and a decline of deaths. All women need to become pregnant as soon as possible and we have to take care for the older people so they live as long as possible.

2. Secondly form a huge world population, for example 8 billion inhabitants. The chance of overpopulation will arise if the number of inhabitants is very high.

3. Then cause a decline of resources. Overpopulation, as I’ve already said, can only be formed if the ratio of resources to the population is low. Resources are: clean water, food, warmth and clean air.

4. After many years of waiting the earth will be too small and will offer too minimal resources for the large number of inhabitants. Then the recipe created OVERPOPULATION successfully.

Rationale
The assignment was to write a text in which I have to address a subject discussed in the Interactive Orals about Future Issues. The subjects were: food shortage, water shortage and fuel shortage. I’ve chosen for my own Interactive Oral about overpopulation. I’ve got most knowledge about that particular Future Issue.

The assignment was quite open it was allowed to write any sort of text. I’ve chosen to make a recipe. I thought this would be more original and creative than for example a newspaper article. I tried to make it funny and also interesting to read. The fun part is that it’s a recipe and it’s of course impossible to create overpopulation with a simple recipe like this. But I’ve also tried to use my knowledge about overpopulation by giving information about this Future Issue.

I used the style and register as in an ordinary recipe. First mention the ingredients, than explain step by step how to make it.

Written Task 3

An entry in Banquo's logbook

"Today my dear friend Macbeth and I were on our way to Forres. All of a sudden we saw three creatures, they were withered-looking and crazily dressed. They looked like women, but the beards kept me from believing they really were. I think they don’t even belong to us, they probably don’t belong to this planet. But they were alive!

They started talking. I was astonished. The first ‘woman’ said: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!”, the next said: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!” and the last one: “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”. Macbeth asked for more information, but then they started talking to me. They told me I will never become king, but my children shall be king.

Macbeth stood there startled and afraid. I thought this was very remarkable. Their provisions were so honourable and glorious. But he was speechless.

My mind couldn’t stop thinking about the future! How could Macbeth become Thane of Cowdor? The Thane of Cowdor is still alive and yet so powerful and rich. Macbeth being the king is completely impossible!

Macbeth is acting so bizarre ever since. The first prophecy has already been accomplished. Does he think that the second and third prophecy will become true as well? What about my descendant, Fleance? Macbeth will see him has a threat. I hope he won’t get too hopeful after those prophecies. Those three strange creatures brought me a lot of confusion and insecurity!"

Rationale
This week’s assignment was to write an entry in Banquo’s logbook in which he expresses his concerns about the prophecy of the three witches. Banquo is a brave and noble general. Banquo is, just like Macbeth, very ambitious. The three witches predict that Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor and will be king hereafter. So Banquo is very astonished. He is astonished and afraid of his own success! I tried to use those feelings in my written task.

Written Task 2

NEW ORLEANS, LA LOCAL NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, SPORTS & WEATHER

Man kills himself near a casino in New Orleans
New Orleans - The man found near a lake last night, Allan Grey, shot himself once in the head, according to detectives investigating the killing. This took place at about 02:00h. He was a young man probably about seventeen or eighteen years old.

He was in the casino with his wife, Blanche DuBois. They were dancing. All of a sudden he ran out of the casino. She had no clue and all of a sudden she heard a shot. She later told to the detectives.

She ran to the lake, but everyone tried to keep her away from her dead husband. A witness saw everything, she said that he'd stuck a revolver into his mouth and fired. The back of his head blew away. The witness said she has never seen something like that, she was very shocked.

Rationale
For this week the assigment was to write a news report about the death of Blanche's young lover, Allan Grey, in "A Streetcar named Desire". So I imagined myself being a journalist writing for the New Orleans' newspaper. I used my knowledge about the incident to write the newspaper report. The register of a newspaper is academic language and to inform the reader. So I told what really happened, who were involved, etc.

Written Task 1

Dear diary, Rosings, 1st November

Today could have been a delightful day, however it was a huge disappointment. I made plans for visiting Longbourn to have an important conversation with Elizabeth Bennet. I have heard a rumour about a marriage between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. I was scandalized. Elizabeth is ruining all my plans! I’ve already made an appointment with my dear sister, that once our children are going to get married. Mr. Darcy may never make a promise of marriage to Elizabeth, instead he has to marry my daughter.

So I went to the Bennet’s place to convince Elizabeth. I asked her to join me to the garden. I told her that her plans of marrying Mr. Darcy, are ridiculous! The Bennet’s have such low connections, and when Darcy’s marrying Elizabeth, would ruin him in the opinion of all his friends and family. Elizabeth reacted in a terrible way, telling me that marrying Mr. Darcy would constitute her happiness and that she had no reference to me! How could she think of something like that, the egoist! She has nothing to offer Mr. Darcy. How could such a handsome, rich, high-classed nobleman marry to a terrible, low-classed and unfriendly girl? I was so furious and frustrated, that I left the Bennet’s place immediately!
I hope that today’s conversation is having a great influence on Elizabeth. I hope, eventually, she would turn the marrying plans down. She doesn’t deserve Mr. Darcy!

Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.
Coral is far more red than her lips red.
If snow be white, why, then her breasts are dun.
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks,
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

1. Summary
This poem isn’t very lovely or romantic it’s the other way around: Shakespeare gives a negative image on the personal appearance of a woman. These are three examples: ‘My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun’, ‘Coral is far more red than her lips' red’ and ‘And in some perfumes is there more delight, than in the breath that from my mistress reeks’.
The last two lines give a twist to the poem, those lines make ‘Sonnet 130’ in to a love poem. Despite all the negative personal appearances, he still loved her. As people always say : love is blind.

2. Why did you choose this text?
Sonnet 130 is also used in the Poetry Project. Of all poems I liked Sonnet 130 the most, because the impression changes at the end. Then it becomes a totally different poem. This surprised me.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
In this poem there is rhyme used: sun-dun, cheeks-reeks, sound-ground, etc. Of course a sonnet consists out 14 lines, so also this poem does. The last two lines are the heroic couplet. They give a twist to the whole poem, they make the poem really into a love poem. Rhyme scheme: ababcdcdefefgh

4. Type of text
This is a poem, written by Shakespeare. It belongs to poetic communication.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~fmlekens/Q1609/130.htm

Skater Kramer cries tears of golden anguish after disqualification

(CNN) -- Dutch speed skating star Sven Kramer was left in tears after confused communication with his coach cost him a gold medal at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old was hot favorite to add the 10,000-meter title to his 5,000m victory earlier in the Vancouver Games, and he completed the grueling circuit in what would have been an Olympic record time.
However, his dreams of a double gold crumbled when he was disqualified for an incorrect change of lanes, meaning that the man he was paired with -- Russia's Ivan Skobrev -- won the silver medal and South Korea's Lee Seung-Hoon was promoted to first place.
Kramer, the world champion and record-holder at both distances, blamed his coach Gerard Kemkers for the mistake, the Vancouver Sun reported.
"Usually, I don't want to blame anyone else, I take responsibility as the skater on the ice. But this time I can't do anything else,'' the son of two-time Olympic speed skater Yep Kramer told reporters after the race.
"I wanted to go on the outer lane, then just before the cone Gerard shouted, 'Inner lane!' I thought he was probably right. At first I thought my skates passed the cone on the wrong side, and I will be disqualified. Then I noticed in the stadium, something was wrong.
"You have to decide in a split second. I should have gone with my own thoughts but I was brought into doubt. This really sucks. This is a real expensive mistake. This really sucks.''
Kemkers, a former speed skater who won a bronze medal in the 5,000m at Calgary in 1988, was also devastated by the turn of events, the Vancouver Sun reported.
"My world collapsed. This is a disaster. This is the worst moment in my career. Sven was right, I was wrong,'' he said.
Kramer will have the chance to bounce back and try to claim a second gold in the team pursuit event on Saturday -- and erase another embarrassing Olympic memory.
At the 2006 Turin Games, Kramer stepped on a block and fell during the team pursuit semifinals and meant the Dutch ended up with only a bronze medal.
In such speed skating events, also known as long-track, the athletes race to set the fastest times in staggered starts.
In short-track speed skating, the competitors race against each other, with passing the finish line first after a set number of laps taking precedent over elapsed times.

1. Summary
Sven Kramer, a 23-year old skater, was favourite to win the 10,000 km speed skating. He completed the circuit in an Olympic record time. But unfortunately he made a mistake in the change of lanes. Sven Kramer was disqualified and the South Korea’s Lee won the golden medal. Sven Kramer blames his coach, Kemkes, for this mistake. Sven says he never blames someone else, but in this case he does. Kemkes told Sven at the last moment that he had to take the inner lane. Kemkes admits it was his mistake, not Sven’s.

2. Why did you choose this text?
I was watching the Olympic Games, yesterday. I saw the race between Sven Kramer and Ivan Skobrev, as I watched this race I was convinced that Sven Kramer was going to win the golden medal. He was skating a very good race. Then the moment came that Kemkes sent Kramer in the wrong lane. I felt so bad for Sven Kramer! So that’s why I’ve chosen this article.

3. Typical examples of style and vocabulary
This is a news article, based on the speed skater Sven Kramer. There are a lot of quotations made by Sven Kramer, what he said a few minutes after the lost race. Of course there are a lot of quotations, because no one knows what happened at the moment of the change of lanes. What did Kemkes say to Kramer, the only ones who know are Kramer and Kemkes.

4. Type of text
This is a news article, about sports, namely speed skating. This is mass communication, because CNN reaches a lot of people all over the world.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/24/olympics.sven.kramer.skating/

Did you hear about the Morgans?

A decent romcom with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. By Peter Bradshaw.

I know, I know. Some movies – most movies – get a bigging up before they are released and this one has had an awful littling down. No one has had a civil word to say on the subject of Did You Hear About the Morgans? The word of mouth, in this case, appears to begin with S. I spoke to some people who had seen this romcom, before settling down to watch it myself, and they had the shocked, glassy-eyed expression of people who have witnessed two buses, full of children from two separate orphanages, involved in a head-on collision. And the littling down process hasn't been helped, particularly, by the film's star, Hugh Grant, who gave a cheerfully detached performance on television with Jonathan Ross, indicating that he wasn't exactly pinning Oscar hopes on it. His pairing with Sarah Jessica Parker doesn't look promising either, given their expressions of cod dismay, or possibly real dismay, on the poster. And yet, and yet … in a silly way, it is entertaining, the mismatch is actually weirdly plausible, and try as I might, I couldn't be grumpy about it.
Grant and Parker play the eponymous Morgans, Paul and Meryl, a super high-flying couple in Manhattan: he's a top lawyer and she's a top estate agent. But they are separated, due to Paul's infidelity, which he now desperately regrets. Walking away from a restaurant after a stilted would-be romantic dinner, which Paul has staged in the hope of a reconciliation, they witness a mob hit in a back alley. As state witnesses, they now have to be relocated to rural Wyoming under an assumed identity – and forced to share quarters as a couple – under the benign protection of local married cops, amiably played by Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen. And so the time-honoured procedure of troubled city slickers learning hometown values gets underway. SJP even learns to milk a cow, like Harrison Ford in Witness.
It's silly and zany and, as so often, Grant gives the impression that he could give slightly less than a monkey's about the whole business. But that never stops him being a very watchable comic actor, and there's a very funny joke about the respective sizes of the cops assigned to the couple's personal protection. There's also an excellent sight gag about a wealthy family in a nearby block silently suspending their breakfast to watch Meryl escaping her assassin by climbing out of her window on to her neighbour's balcony.
Grant also has a very funny mannerism of walking self-consciously along while goofily rolling his shoulders, as if he is miming "walking" in some street theatre play. So what can I say? SJP and Hugh aren't going to be taking home any statuettes for this one: but it's amiable and good natured. There are plenty of ostensible comedies that are neither.

1. Summary
This is a review about the film: Did you hear about the Morgans? The film is about two people: Paul Morgan (Hugh Grant) and Meryl Morgan (Sarah Jessica Parker) who are getting divorced, because of Paul’s infidelity. They’re together when they witness a murder and become targets of a killer. Together they have to go to a village: Wyoming, where they are put in custody by the Wheelers family. They go on a date, where Paul is alienated when he hears that Meryl had an affair while they were separated. After six months they are married and have adopted a Chinese child, so they lived happily ever after. The reviewer thinks that Hugh Grant is a very watchable comic actor. And he thinks that they aren’t taking home any statuettes. I totally agree on this. It’s a nice film, with some really funny scenes. But that’s is it. But I don’t agree on the fact that the reviewer thought Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant are a mismatch, they are both good actors. So I thought they’d made a good match.

2. Why did you choose this text?
A few weeks ago I went to the cinema with friends, we watched the film: “Did you hear about the Morgans?” I really enjoyed watching it, but it isn’t the best film I’ve ever watched. So I was very curious what a reviewer thinks of the film, because it’s his or her job to look in a critical way to a film.

3. Typical examples of style and vocabulary
A review is of course based on an opinion, so the reviewer uses words like: ‘cheerfully’, ‘entertaining’, ‘weirdly’, ‘silly’ and so on. Also the reviewer used a abbreviation I had never heard of before, namely romcom: romantic comedy.

4. Type of text
This is a review, a film review, written by Peter Bradshaw. It’s an evaluation of a publication, in this case of a film. It is published on the website of the Guardian, so many people will read it. This text belongs to mass communication.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/dec/31/did-you-hear-about-the-morgans-review

"Thank you, we love you daddy"

MICHAEL JACKSON's children gave an emotional tribute to their father at the Grammys as they collected his Lifetime Achievement award and revealed he was due to perform at the show.

PRINCE, 12, and PARIS, 11, both looked like little stars as they collected the gong and told the world how they missed their father.
Paris said: "Daddy was supposed to be here. Daddy was going to perform this year but couldn't.

"Thank you, we love you daddy."

Prince also thanked fans, telling them their father's message was simply love.
He said: "We will continue to spread his message and help the world. We love you daddy."

Legendary SMOKEY ROBINSON joined forces with CELINE DION, JENNIFER HUDSON, USHER and CARRIE UNDERWOOD to perform a touching tribute in honour of the King of Pop.

As the stars belted out No1 hit Earth Song, a 3-D video was also played to the audience. The footage, produced by Michael before he died, was intended to be used during his This Is It tour.

There were several rumours Michael's father JOE JACKSON was not happy his grandchildren were accepting the Grammy, but he released a statement to the contrary to CNN.

Joe said: "There has been some recent rumours that I am displeased with the idea that Michael's children are accepting the award on my son's behalf.

"On the contrary, I am very proud of my grandchildren. KATHERINE (his wife) and I are the ones who initiated their participation."

Elsewhere at the top music show BEYONCE won six awards but young country star TAYLOR SWIFT walked away with the best album prize for Fearless.

1. Summary
On the 31st of January 2010 the Grammy Awards took place. Michael Jackson won the Lifetime Achievement award. His children: Prince (12) and Paris (11) gave a tribute to their father at those Grammys. They’d both ended their tribute with the words; “Thank you, we love you daddy”.
During the Grammys several artists performed a tribute also in honour of Michael Jackson. Also 3-D video was played, the footage was intended to be used during the This is it but of course couldn’t because he died.

2. Why did you choose this text?
I’ve chosen this text, because Michael Jackson is a legend. The Grammys took place one day before I read this article. I read the title: “Thank you, we love you daddy” and I was very curious, because I remembered his children during the memorial service speaking emotional words to the audience and their daddy. So I wondered what they said during their tribute during the Grammys

3. Typical examples of style and vocabulary
This is an article from the Sun, which means that there is an easy use of language, namely; colloquial. This difference is seen when you should compare it to an article from the Times or the Guardian. This article includes a lot of statements, done by the children of Michael Jackson.

4. Type of text
This is an news article from The Sun. The Sun is a daily tabloid newspaper, this means that the size of the newspaper is smaller than for example the Times. In a tabloid are articles with local-stories and entertainment, it also includes gossip columns about for example celebrities or sport stars. The Sun is probably read by a lot of people, so this article belongs to mass communication.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2833634/Michael-Jacksons-children-gave-an-emotional-tribute-to-their-father-at-the-Grammys-as-they-collected-his-Lifetime-Achievement-award-and-revealed-he-was-due-to-perform-at-the-show.html

Horoscope Scorpio

Horoscope for the week ending January 30, 2010.

Unfair as certain situations seem, each is forcing you to adopt an unaccustomed perspective. This offers potential solutions and, better yet, personal insights that could revolutionise your approach to life itself. The actual circumstances you’re dealing with are in transition, which means you’re making changes that, only recently, you’d have regarded as completely unacceptable. Soon, in fact, they’ll rather intrigue you.

1. Summary
This is a horoscope for a Scorpio, a Scorpio’s anniversary is between the 23rd of October and the 20th of November. My birthday is on the 13th of November, so I’m a Scorpio too. So for this week ending on the 30th of January the astrologer predicts that I’m offered potential solutions and personal insights.

2. Why did you choose this text?
I’ve chosen this text, because a horoscope is different than just a regular news article. Actually I don’t believe in horoscopes, they aren’t based on facts so you never know if these are reliable. I’ve chosen the horoscope of a Scorpio, because as I’ve allready said I’m a Scorpio.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
Horoscopes are looking into the future. They predict what is going to happen in your life. So the future and present tenses are used. Horoscopes include personal problems, so words like: solutions, personal insights, dealing with, changes, etc. are used in a horoscope.

4. Type of text
This is a horoscope, a horoscope is a prediction of someone's future based on the relative positions of the planets. I think a horoscope is a form of mass communication, because a horoscope reaches a lot of people. Horoscopes can be read in magazines, internet and in newspapers.

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/ horoscopes/article6998779.ece

P!nk - Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President, come take a walk with me
(Take a walk with me)
Let's pretend we're just two people and you're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror? Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye? And tell me why?

Dear Mr.President, were you a lonely boy?
(Were you a lonely boy?)
Are you a lonely boy?
(Are you a lonely boy?)

How can you say, no child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind
(We're not blind)
They're all sitting in your cells while you pave the road to hell

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work, hard work, hard work
You don't know nothin' 'bout hard work, hard work, hard work

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President, you'd never take a walk with me, would you?

1. Summary
This is a song by P!nk featuring the Indigo Girls, they released this song in december 2006. Pink said that the song is an open letter to the then President of the United States, George Bush. Also she says that this song is one of the most important songs she has ever written. She also said it would never be released as a single in the United States because it was too important to be seen as a publicity stunt.

With this song she critices George Bush. It starts for example in the first stanza she says: Let's pretend we're just two people and you're not better than me, so she states that Bush thinks his status makes him a better person and more important than other people.
In the next stanza she asks to Bush: What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?, I think she wants to let him know how he has let people down, did nothing to homelessness, does he feel guilty when he looks in the mirror? In the refrain she asks: How do you walk with your head held high? She wonders probably how he can be so proud on the United States while there are so many problems.
I think in the sixth stanza P!nk wants to show how he thinks about abortion and gays. Would he also be against gays if his own daughters were gay?
In the seventh stanza she probably wants to say that most people in the US are working so hard for some money, while he’s doing nothing to national problems and gets paid a lot.
She ends with: Dear Mr. President, you'd never take a walk with me, would you? He probably never wants to take a walk with P!nk, because all the things P!nk said made him open his eyes.

2. Why did you chose this text?
Well, I’ve chosen for a song lyric, because it’s something different than a news article or a recipe. A song lyric has mostly a message. I’ve heard this song a lot so I was very interested to the message of these lyrics, why P!nk wrote this song, etc.

3. Typical examples of style and vocabulary
Rhyme is used in this song lyric, just a few examples: cry-goodbye, high-why, away-gay, etc. She also uses repetition, for example: take a walk with me, were you a lonely boy, we’re not blind, let me tell you ‘bout hard work.

4. Type of text
This is a song lyric written by P!nk, a song lyric belongs to poetic communication.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oegoI80t6WE&feature=related

Obituary Miep Gies

Gies was the last of the few non-Jews who supplied food, books and good cheer to the secret annex behind the canal warehouse where Anne, her parents, sister and four other Jews hid for 25 months during World War II.

After the apartment was raided by the German police, Gies gathered up Anne's scattered notebooks and papers and locked them in a drawer for her return after the war. The diary, which Anne Frank was given on her 13th birthday, chronicles her life in hiding from June 12, 1942 until August 1, 1944.

Anne Frank died of typhus at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated. Gies gave the diary to Anne's father Otto, the only survivor, who published it in 1947.

After the diary was published, Gies tirelessly promoted causes of tolerance.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" was the first popular book about the Holocaust, and has been read by millions of children and adults around the world in some 65 languages.

For her courage, Gies was bestowed with the "Righteous Gentile" title by the Israeli Holocaust museum Yad Vashem. She has also been honoured by the German Government, Dutch monarchy and educational institutions.

Nevertheless, Gies resisted being made a character study of heroism for the young.

"I don't want to be considered a hero," she said in a 1997 online chat with schoolchildren.

"Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary."

Born Hermine Santrouschitz on Feb. 15, 1909 in Vienna, Gies moved to Amsterdam in 1922 to escape food shortages in Austria. She lived with a host family who gave her the nickname Miep.

In 1933, Gies took a job as an office assistant in the spice business of Otto Frank. After refusing to join a Nazi organization in 1941, she avoided deportation to Austria by marrying her Dutch boyfriend, Jan Gies.

As the Nazis ramped up their arrests and deportations of Dutch Jews, Otto Frank asked Gies in July 1942 to help hide his family in the annex above the company's canal-side warehouse on Prinsengracht 263 and to bring them food and supplies.

"I answered, 'Yes, of course.' It seemed perfectly natural to me. I could help these people. They were powerless, they didn't know where to turn," she said years later.

Jan and Miep Gies worked with four other employees in the firm to sustain the Franks and four other Jews sharing the annex. Jan secured extra food ration cards from the underground resistance. Miep cycled around the city, alternating grocers to ward off suspicions from this highly dangerous activity.

Touched by Anne's precocious intelligence and loneliness, she also brought Anne books and newspapers while remembering everybody's birthdays and special days with gifts.

"It seems as if we are never far from Miep's thoughts," Anne wrote.

In her own book, "Anne Frank Remembered," Gies recalled being in the office when the German police, acting on a tip that historians have failed to trace, raided the hide-out in August 1944.

A policeman opened the door to the main office and pointed a revolver at the three employees, telling them to sit quietly. "Bep, we've had it," Gies whispered to Bep Voskuijl.

After the arrests, she went to the police station to offer a bribe for the Franks' release, but it was too late. On Aug. 8, they were sent to Westerbork, a concentration camp in eastern Holland from where they were later packed into cattle cars and deported to Auschwitz. A few months later, Anne and her sister Margot were transported to Bergen-Belsen.

Two of the helpers, Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman, were sent to labor camps, but survived the war.

Around 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands before the 1940-45 Nazi occupation. Of those, 107,000 were deported to Germany and only 5,200 survived. Some 24,000 Jews went into hiding, of which 8,000 were hunted down or turned in.

After the war, Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam and lived with the Gies family until he remarried in 1952. Miep worked for him as he compiled the diary, then devoted herself to talking about the diary and answering piles of letters with questions from around the world.

After Otto Frank's death in 1980, Gies continued to campaign against Holocaust-deniers and to refute allegations that the diary was a forgery.

She suffered a stroke in 1997 which slightly affected her speech, but she remained generally in good health as she approached her 100th birthday.

Her son Paul Gies said last year she was still receiving "a sizable amount of mail" which she handled with the help of a family friend. She spent her days at the apartment where she lived since 2000 reading two daily newspapers and following television news and talk shows.

Her husband died in 1993. She is survived by her son and three grandchildren.

1. Summary
This is an obituary for Miep Gies, a woman born in 1909 in Vienna. She moved to Amsterdam in 1922 to escape from food shortages in Austria. In 1933 she took a job as an office assistant in the business of Otto Frank. In July 1942 Otto asked Miep to help his family with hiding above in a canal-side warehouse. Miep had to bring food and supplies to the family. In those days Anna wrote down everything in her diary.
On one day the German police raided the house of the family. They were sent to a terrible concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen. Miep Gies gathered up all Anna’s notebooks and papers and put them in a locker, to save for Anna’s return. But Anna never came back, she died of typhus at the age of 15. Gies gave all her saved papers to Otto, the only one of the family who survived, and he published the diary. So Miep Gies is seen as a hero, although she doesn’t think so.

2. Why did you choose this text?
Well, I’ve chosen this text because this is something I’ve never analysed before. I heard Miep Gies had died, so I wanted to know more of her life. For example why she was so special for Anne Frank, why she is seen as a hero, etc. Now I know she is a hero, because the diary of Anne Frank has been sold in so many different countries and languages. This because Miep Gies was the one who saved all the papers and notebooks of Anne Frank. I think she can be seen a hero too

3. Typical examples of Vocabulary and Style
An obituary says for example, date of birth (Miep Gies: 15 February 1909), what that particular person has done in his/her life (Miep Gies: worked as an office assistant in Amsterdam, she had one son and three grandchildren, etc.), why that person is so special (Miep Gies: is seen as a hero, because she saved all the notebooks and papers from Anne Frank). This obituary includes phrases Gies had once said, for example: "I don't want to be considered a hero," she said in a 1997 online chat with schoolchildren. This is probably her reaction about everyone seeing her as a hero.

4. Type of text
This is an obituary. An obituary is a published notice of someone who has recently died, which includes a biography. This an obituary of Miep Gies, she died on the eleventh of January this year. This is Professional Communication.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/6970925/Obituary- Miep-Gies.html

Dan Lepard's chocolate brandy layer cake recipe

Dan Lepard's chocolate brandy layer cake: get your festive mouth round this little beauty over the holiday period.
A chocolate layer cake for Christmas with a doubly rich gianduja filling.
75g unsalted butter
50g cocoa
125g plain flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature
375g caster sugar
300ml milk
25g cornflour
300g Nutella
100g good milk chocolate, chopped
50ml brandy
150g double cream
100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Line the base and sides of a 30cm x 40cm Swiss roll tin with nonstick baking paper, and heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted)/350F/gas mark 4. Melt the butter in a pan, then set aside. Sift half the cocoa and the flour into a bowl. In a clean bowl, beat the eggs until frothy (use an electric whisk). Slowly beat in 175g of sugar, a third at a time, until the mix is thick and the sugar dissolved, then fold in the flour. Fold in the butter, spoon into the tin and bake for 25 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.

Over medium heat, whisk the milk, 25g cocoa, cornflour and 50g sugar in a pan, and bring to a boil. Off the heat, beat in the Nutella and chocolate, and leave to cool. Boil 150g sugar and 50ml water, then add the brandy. Trim the edges off the cake, cut horizontally into three and spoon syrup on each layer. Beat the custard and cream till thick, spread on each layer, sprinkle with nuts, then stack.

1. Summary
This is a recipe, from Dan Lepard, to make a chocolate brandy layer cake. You need a lot of ingredients, including: cocao, milk, Nutella and chopped hazelnuts. The oven has to be at 180C/350F or a gas mark 4. There are two recipes: one for the chocolate cake and one for the chocolate layers. At the end you have to spread the chocolate over the chocolate cake and sprinkle it with the chopped hazelnuts.

2. Why did you choose this text?
I’ve chosen for this text, because at first I really love chocolate! Also I’ve chosen this text, because before I’ve done a lot of news reports so I thought a recipe is something new and different. I love baking too, so that’s why I’ve chosen for this recipe. Maybe I’m going to try this recipe, cause it looks very nice on the picture.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style?
If you read these words: ‘heat the oven’, ‘melt the butter’, ‘beat the eggs’, ‘whisk the milk’, etc. you can see this is a recipe. Step-by-step is told how to come to this beautiful chocolate brandy layer cake. So this recipe is in chronological order and is told in a present tense.

4. Type of text
This is a recipe, which belongs to; mass communication. On the site of guardian, everyone can read this recipe and bake this cake.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/19/chocolate-brandy-layer-cake-recipe

Humiliation for a seven-year-old who was playing with her hair, as teacher cuts it off...

Seven year old Lamya Cammon seems to be a confused, and not very happy little girl. According to the Message from Montie blog at Chicago Now, and in the report you can see above from the US, the little girl was playing with her hair in class, and that apparently frustrated her teacher. Fair enough, I suppose, as fidgeting and fiddling about can be irritating. Not so fair is what happened next - the teacher picked up a pair of classroom scissors and cut off one of Lamya's braids.
"I went to my desk and cried", the first grader tells the reporter in the news item above, and now the story has grown and grown. It's being loudly tweeted on Twitter, and has even been investigated by Milwaukee Police, who went into the school, Congress Elementary, to see if they should bring charges of physical or mental abuse of a child against the teacher (they decided not to).
The teacher in question, who's not been named, has, however, been issued with an $175 ticket for "disorderly conduct" and the school is said to be taking action as well. Lamya's mother, is, unsurprisingly, furious, and I have to say that I am siding with her. I realise that teachers are under a lot of pressure, but that doesn't excuse this behaviour. You can't wield scissors around with a seven-year-old and you certainly can't go around cutting off her hair. It's madness. Don't you think?

1. Summary
A 7-year old girl, Lamya Cammon, was playing with her hair at school. The next thing a teacher did was cut one of Lamya’s braids off, because it frustrated her. Now this story is spread on Twitter and has been investigated by Milwaukee Police. This story is also lengthy talked about on the news. Lamya’s mother is furious and the teacher has to pay $175 for treating Lamya in a disorganized way.

2. Why did you choose this text?
Of course Lamya’s mother’s reaction is understandable, but I think it’s a bit exaggerated to speak about this story on the news, on Twitter, etc. It’s abnormal to cut the hair off from a child, but teachers can get frustrated too.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
Vocabulary
It’s an easy use of vocabulary. Nothing that really got my attention.
Style
This text, I think, is informal because the writer gives obvious his or her opinion, mainly in the last paragraph. The feelings of the writer are expressed there. The writer leaves you with the question: ‘Don’t you think?’ to get to know if the readers are sharing the same opinion. Well, I don’t agree with the writer. I think it’s madness to read these things lengthy on the internet.

4. Type of text
This text belongs to mass communication. It’s an news article, it’s read by many people on the website of the Times. In this article is partly factual information given, for example: the $175 ticket for the teacher. But in the last paragraph it’s mainly the opinion of the writer: ‘Lamya's mother, is, unsurprisingly, furious, and I have to say that I am siding with her. I realise that teachers are under a lot of pressure, but that doesn't excuse this behaviour. You can't wield scissors around with a seven-year-old and you certainly can't go around cutting off her hair. It's madness. Don't you think?’

http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2009/12/humiliation-for-a-sevenyearold-who-was-playing-with-her-hair-as-teacher-cuts-it-off-.html

Polar bear is joined by Santa as another orphan of Global Warming

1. Summary

Santa Claus and a polar bear are seen on this cartoon, drifting on a piece of ice on the North Pole. This is a consequence of global warming as the title, Polar bear is joined by Santa as another orphan of Global Warming, says. Through the Global Warming, the ice is melting on the Poles.

2. Why did you choose this cartoon?

I've chosen this cartoon, because a cartoon is different than an article from a newspaper. Global warming is since a few years a lot in the newspapers, on the radio and on the internet. It's a world problem, so everyone has to help to reduce the global warming.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style

This is a cartoon where only an image is seen. There is no text, so no vocabulary, etc.

4. Type of text

As I've said several times, this is a cartoon. It belongs to poetic communication.

The Ugly Truth

Philip French, The Observer, Sunday 9 August 2009 Article history
Produced by its female star (and involving as much personal embarrassment for her as Sandra Bullock provided for herself as producer-star of last month's The Proposal), this is an old-fashioned battle-of-the-sexes comedy refurbished with the kind of language (mostly about oral sex) that would once have made a maiden blush, though blushing maidens are now rarer than flame-snorting dragons.
Katherine Heigl plays a workaholic daytime TV producer in Sacramento who's forced by a ratings crisis to employ charmless, shock-jock, male chauvinist Gerard Butler on her programme. His slobbish counselling turns her into a sex-hungry slut, he discovers a more considerate, sensitive inner gentleman and they pass each other going in different directions before getting together on a hot-air balloon. The most shy-making scene in a distasteful film occurs when Heigl tries on a pair of vibrating panties, is suddenly whisked off to a smart restaurant and has a loud, long-drawn-out orgasm while making a pitch to network executives. Where are Harry and Sally when we need them?

1. Summary
This is a review written by Philip French about the movie: The Ugly Truth. He finds it an old-fashioned battle-of-the-sexes comedy. He thinks there’s a sexual use of language, mainly about oral sex. He thinks the scene where Katherine Heigl is wearing a pair of vibrating underwear and is having a loud orgasm, is the most shy-making scene. He ends with the sentence: ‘where are Harry and Sally when we need them?’ This sentence is probably referring to the movie: ‘When Harry met Sally’ where Sally is also having a loud orgasm in a lunchroom.

I don't agree with the reviewer. The review is set with a negative tone. But I don't agree, because there is tension in the movie: if she's going to stay with Gerard Butler or not. I thought this film kept fascinating me. Of course I agree with the reviewer about the distasteful scene where she's wearing a vibrating panties. But at the other hand the audience, when I watched the film, was laughing quite loud at this scene.

2. Why did you choose this text?
I’ve chosen for this film review, because yesterday I went to the cinema to watch this film, The Ugly Truth. I was curious what other people, in this case a reviewer, think of this film.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
Vocabulary
For me it was a difficult use of language. First because he uses very long sentences. The first paragraph is only one sentence and the whole review consists out of only three sentences! Also he has a difficult use of words. For example: flame-snorting and shock-jock.
Style
The reviewer uses a lot of hyphenation, which is used to join words: battle-of-the-sexes, shock-jock, sexy-hungry, shy-making and long-drawn-out.

4. Type of text
A review belongs to mass communication. It’s an evaluation of a publication, in this case of a film. It is meant for a wide audience. It can be read by people who would like to watch the film, but don’t know if it’s good enough. Or by people, like me, who would like to know what other people, reviewers, think of the film.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/09/ugly-truth-film-review

Baby's voice 'saved coma mother'

Karen Morrisroe-Clutton, her husband Paul and their son, Ollie
A woman who was in an induced coma after contracting E. coli says the sound of her baby's voice helped to pull her through her ordeal.
Karen Morrisroe-Clutton, aged 32, a librarian from Wrexham, was affected by the bug at the end of July when her son Oliver was 10 weeks old. During her five-week coma her husband Paul played tapes of their baby. She said she had "wanted to die", but after hearing Oliver's voice she decided: "I need to live". At the time, The Llay Fish Bar in the town was named as the likely source of infection in four people. Ms Morrisroe-Clutton is now recovering after her 67-day stay at the Wrexham Maelor hospital. Though she has made a near full recovery, she has been desperately ill, suffering seizures, kidney failure and being put into a medically induced coma. She said: "I did know that I was dying at one point. In fact because I was having all this treatment I knew it wasn't working; at least something wasn't working quite well.
"I gave up. I wanted to die. But I heard Ollie. "I heard his voice because Paul was playing the tapes and I turned around and said I can't do this. I need to live. I heard him and thankfully I pulled through."
'Massive smile'
She was not able to see Oliver for eight weeks while she was in intensive care because of the risk of infection but she said she had pictures and video and she knew he was being well looked after.
Once she was on an ordinary ward, they were reunited. She said: "He did remember me... sort of gave me a look and then this massive smile came... it was just wonderful." She added that her consultant, Stuart Robertson, had been desperate to get her back with her baby to speed up her recovery. She said: "He hoped it would help... it did... I had something to live for." Ms Morrisroe-Clutton said she was now "almost" back to normal, apart from some slight liver damage which will eventually repair itself. She is also suffering from muscle weakness after being so long in a hospital bed. She praised hospital staff, particularly Dr Robertson, who she said never gave up and fought tooth and nail. In a statement on the fish bar, Wrexham Council said an investigation at the site was continuing. Toni Slater, from the council's public protection department, said: "The Llay Fish Bar has been inspected on numerous occasions. The council is still satisfied the fish bar is still complying with the legal standard."

1. Summary
This article is about a mother, who was in a coma. She says that her 10-week old baby helped her through her hard period. Her husband played tapes of their baby and his voice made her decide she didn’t want to die. She probably became ill after eating at the Llay Fish Bar in town. She couldn’t see her son for eight weeks.

2. Why did you chose this text?
I’ve chosen this text, because when I saw the head: Baby’s voice ‘saved coma mother’, I was very curious to the story of the mother. I think it’s a very special story, but not worth the BBC News. I think that all mothers, if they hear the voice of their child, want to live again.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
Vocabulary
This was an article, which was easy to understand. Not a difficult use of language and no long sentences.
Style
The only thing that shows off to me is that the writer of the article uses a lot of statements of the mother in the article. It doesn’t contain a lot of information and facts. It’s a nice story, but as I already said, not worth the BBC News.

4. Type of text
It is a news article from the BBC, so it’s mass communication. It will be read by a lot of people, who read the BBC News.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8295061.stm

Visitors find Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile wider than ever in Wrexham

The world’s biggest Mona Lisa has been unveiled at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre in Wrexham. It is 50 times bigger than the 16th-century original by Leonardo da Vinci and covers 240 sq m (2,580 sq ft) — the equivalent area of 22 London buses. It is also double the size of a version painted by Rolf Harris in Edinburgh in 2005, which was the previous largest Mona Lisa. Visitors are allowed to touch the painting and can also get a bird’s eye view from a balcony above the artwork.
Katy Webster, an artist, was in charge of the community project which took 245 people, using 86 litres of paint, 987 hours to complete. She said: “It’s mind-blowing, but the smile is still as enigmatic as ever. It took over a week to do her face — everybody knows what it looks like so we had to make sure it was exactly right.
“Our version has a different style to the original because the paint is acrylic but I think it works well. This has been the best bit today — putting her together so we can see the Mona Lisa in all her glory. Because there’s a balcony overlooking our Mona Lisa people will have a spectacular view of her.
“It is really great that this project by Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre has brought art to the community with so many members of the local community involved in creating this amazing piece of art. It is really important for me that art is accessible and adorns public spaces, like this wonderful centre, instead of locked away in galleries.” Fine art graduate Jude Davies did 200 hours of work on the project and was barely able to contain her excitement. She said: “People see different things — the more you look, the more you see. I didn’t realise that she hasn’t got any eyebrows. On her face everything is blended in. Her smile changes depending on how and when you look at it. Her eyes seem to follow you wherever you’re standing.” Sections of the painting are being sold in aid of Hope House Children’s Hospice but it will be on display for two years before being broken up. Kevin Critchley, manager of the shopping centre, had the original idea for the giant painting. He said: “Our Mona Lisa has a lot of advantages over the original. It’s a lot bigger so she is much easier to see, admirers will not have to queue to make her acquaintance, there isn’t any entry charge to Eagles Meadow, and unlike the version in Paris you will be able to touch her.”
This week, scientists at the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Spain, claimed to have solved the secret of the Mona Lisa’s smile. They discovered that the subject, Lisa Gherardini, is both smiling and not smiling — depending on which cells in the retina pick up the image and through which channel the image is transmitted in the brain. A member of the team, Luis Martinez Otero, said: “Sometimes one channel wins over the other and you see the smile, sometimes others take over and you don’t see the smile.”

1. Summary
In the Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre in Wrexham is the largest Mona Lisa painted on the floor. It’s made by 245 people and there are 86 litres of paint used on an area of 240 squared metres. Visitors can have an overview from a balcony. They are even allowed to touch the painting, comparing to the real piece in the Louvre in Paris where visitors are not allowed to touch it.

2. Why did you choose this text?
I’ve chosen this text because this autumn holiday I went to Paris. In Paris we’ve visited the Louvre. The largest national museum in France. Where I saw the Mona Lisa (also known as: La Gioconda). When I saw the head of the article, I was curious to the rest of the article. That’s why I’ve chosen this text.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
Vocabulary
There is no difficult language used in the article. Of course there were words that I didn’t understand, for example: enigmatic, retina, acquaintance. But overall this was a text that I could understand well.

4. Type of text
This is a type of mass communication, namely a news report. It’s meant for a wide audience, namely all the readers of the Times. The writer of this text gives factual information about this large Mona Lisa.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6894525.ece

Belgium daylight Magritte robbery

A painting by surrealist Rene Magritte worth 750,000 euros (£675,000) has been stolen in broad daylight from a Belgian museum, curators say.
The 1948 nude entitled Olympia was stolen by two unidentified men, one of whom was armed, police said. It was stolen from a gallery dedicated to Magritte's life and work at his former home in northern Brussels. Magritte died in 1967 and is recognised as one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century.
The painting depicts the surrealist's wife, Georgette, lying on her back with a shell on her stomach.
It was part of a permanent exhibition in a house in Jette where the artist worked for nearly 24 years, and is separate from the city's Magritte museum which opened in June.

Appointment only
The theft happened shortly after the museum opened on Thursday, officials said. "Two people, one Asian-type, one speaking English and one French, broke in, armed with a gun," Andre Garitte, the museum's curator told AFP. The thieves forced museum staff to lie down on the grass as the robbery took place and then fled, he added. Two visitors were reportedly in the museum at the time of the robbery. No shots were fired and no injuries were reported. Entry to the museum is by appointment only.
Magritte's work has inspired pop and conceptual art, the cover of a Rolling Stones record, a video by Oasis, and songs by Paul Simon and John Cale. He was influenced by popular art - from the slapstick of Laurel and Hardy to the detective novels of Dashiell Hammett - and started as a commercial artist, designing covers for sheet-music, posters and even wallpaper. But in his paintings, he wanted to make people think about what he called "the mystery without which the world would not exist," by showing familiar objects in shocking or dream-like surroundings.

1. Summary
A painting by Rene Magritte has been stolen from a Belgian museum, by two unidentified men of which one armed. Fortunately nobody was hurt because no shots were fired. It was a painting of a woman lying on her back with a shell on her stomach, worth €750.000.

2. Why did you choose this text?
It happened in Belgium, that’s very close to us so I was interested in what really happened. I was even more interested when I read that he was influenced by popular art. That’s because we have an assignment at arts now about popular art.

3. Typical examples of vocabulary and style
Vocabulary
It isn’t really difficult, but it’s not childish either. I found the article on the site of BBC News, one expects a difficult language but it was really easy to understand. Ofcourse there were words I didn’t understand, like; curators and depicts.
Style
Almost the whole text is written in the same style, the editor only used the function bold for the title, the introduction and the head: Appointment only.

4. Type of text
I think it belongs to; Mass Communication. This is because it’s meant for a wide audience, namely all the readers of BBC News. Because many people read this newspaper it must be understandable for a wide audience. Within Mass Communication it belongs to; News Report. I think this is because the writer gives factual information about a painting that has been stolen from a Belgian museum.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8272787.stm