Immigration.....such a challenging issue!

Let’s talk about a  current  topic: IMMIGRATION.

What is immigration?   

According to Wikipedia “immigration is the movement of people into a destination country to which they are not native or do not possess its citizenship in order to settle or reside there, especially as permanent residents or naturalized citizens, or to take-up employment as a migrant worker or temporarily as a foreign worker”

In Italy the situation has been getting difficult lately and, in my opinion, we can’t help dealing with it.

Anyway, what we are considering in our programme is the early 20th century immigration to the U.S.A.

Ellis Island was considered a gate to the country.

It opened in 1892 as a federal immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60 years.

It is said that at least 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens have their ancestors to Ellis Island.

Here is a video about arrivals in Ellis Island from the website History

When Ellis Island opened, a great change was taking place in immigration to the United States. Arrivals from northern and western Europe slowed and more and more immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe. Among this new generation were Jews escaping from political and economic oppression and Italians escaping poverty in their country. Everybody  had hopes for greater opportunity in the New World.

After an arduous sea voyage, immigrants passed through long lines for medical and legal inspections to determine if they  were fit for the United States. From 1900 to 1914 from 5,000 to 10,000 people passed through the immigration station every day.  80 percent successfully passed , but others were detained for days or weeks.

Passage of the Immigrant Quota Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924, which limited the number and nationality of immigrants allowed into the United States, effectively ended the era of mass immigration into New York.

Ellis Island opened to the public in 1976. Today, visitors can tour the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in the restored Main Arrivals Hall and trace their ancestors through millions of immmigrants.

Task: Find out the main current Italian  immigration rules and make a comparison with American and British ones. Report them into a talk which we are going to discuss when in class, giving your opinion about this challenging topic.

See you soon!

Prof

Monday 7th December : HARD ROCK CAFE' at last!!!

It has been a long time since we went to the “Hard Rock Café” with my 5D and 5H, I know! But unfortunately it has been a very difficult period for me, as I’ve already said!

It was the 7th December and we took part to an involving lesson about the history of rock’n’roll.

We met there at 10.00 a.m.

We were all excited. 

It was an engaging occasion. 

A different way of studying.

This school year I have included music topics and artists  in the last year programme: I think it is a way to talk about social changes because music has always been meaningful in the way of the world!

And students live with music….so…..why don’t we deal with this topic so important to them????

That’s why when I found out that Hard Rock Café organizes such lessons, I immediately booked one for my students….I was sure they would love it…..and me, too!

Here below you’ll find the videos the two classes have prepared about the day…..watch and enjoy both of them!

Prof

5D

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O3HN99MSO9LV90ZWNPRjdxNms/view

5H

Are we living in an orwellian world?

Our programme is  approaching to the present days and the following writer is one who really  deals with themes so common to us.

Eric Blair, best known by his pen name George Orwell.

His Big Brother is one of the most famous characters of his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , really well-known nowadays, for different reasons!

In 1949, when Nineteen Eighty-Four first appeared the New York Times book reviewer wrote that though it was “not impressive as a novel about particular human beings”, it was “superb” as a “prophecy and a warning”.

Most of you should know the story, as I suggested to read the book in the summer. Anyway, you will  have heard it for sure, since it is mentioned everytime newspapers talk about “privacy “.

That’s why I’d like you to learn something  more about the word “orwellian” and what it really means.

Watch the following video from TED, a helpful educational website. It explains the origin of the word and gives information about Orwell and his novel.

 1st TASK : get ready to answer the following questions about the video during the lesson:

1. What sense  is “orwellian” commonly used for?.  
2. What is the sense Orwell used it for actually?
3. What about Orwell’s political ideas?
4. What’s his opinion about language?
5.  What is Oceania? What do they try to do there?
6.  What forms of control are present in the novel?
7.  What is “propaganda” for?
8.  What is “doublespeak” and why is it ironical?
9.  How does the regime control language?
10.  What is Newspeak? What’s the effect created on the mind?
11.  What’s the connection with totalitarianism ?
12.  What was Orwell warning democratic societies against?
13.  What is “political language” according to Orwell?
14.  What’s the aim of media  language nowadays?
15.  Finally, what’s the real sense for “orwellian” then….?

Let’s give a definition for totalitarianism

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism

The historical background for Nineteen Eighty-Four is two totalitarian dictatorships, the Nazy Germany and the Soviet Russia.

Dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union inspired Owell for  his novel.  Stalin himself may have suggested the famous character of Big Brother.

Like Stalin, Adolph Hitler denied his subjects access to the truth. His Third Reich “can be read as a war against memory_ an orwellian falsification of reality…” (Primo Levi)

Nineteen Eighty-Four has a particular geopolitical situation.

The novel opens with the main character Winston Smith commiting thoughtcrime by keeping an illegal diary which describes his nightmarish life and his hatred of The Party. He falls in love with Julia who also hates The Party. Eventually they both join an anty-Party group called The Brotherhood but this leads to major problems for Winston and Julia.

2nd TASK:

1.  Why keping a diary?
2.   Can you make examples of people keeping a diary?
3.    What do you think  about writing to keep memories ? Have you ever done that? 

Some of the main themes dealt with in the novel are:

ü  The deprivation of privacy

ü  The prohibition of sex

ü  The destruction of history

ü  The essential nature of memory

ü  The appreciation of history

ü  The ultimate fallibility of human mind

ü   

3rd TASK:  For the ones who have read the book , look for examples of these themes.

In this website 

http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/0.html%20/  

you will find the entire novel. Have a look if you like!

Well, let’s give a conclusion to this topic…..

Can we define “1984” a novel of despair?

NO!

George Orwell offers a political choice, between the protection of truth and a slide into expedient falsehood for the benefit of rulers and the exploitation of the ruled. It’s a protest against immoral rulers, the authoritarian in every personality and unquestioning conformism.

After the information above and after defining the word “orwellian” a question…..

DO WE LIVE IN AN ORWELLIAN WORLD?  Waiting for your opinions!

Now I want you to watch a very particular and viral video: it’s the famous “1984” Apple Macintosh commercial which ran during that year’s Super Bowl. It pioneered the idea of big-concept, big-budget spots created especially for the occasion.

Do you think at present we can give it the same meaning? Or do you think it may have something in common with Big Brother?

To give a perfect ending to this post, I ‘d like to give a tribute to the greatest Thin White Duke, David Bowie.

 “1984” is a 1974 single from his album Diamond Dogs.  Written in 1973, it was inspired by George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and, like much of its parent album, originally intended for a stage musical based on the novel, which was never produced because permission was refused by Orwell's wife.

Let’s enjoy the video with scenes from the movie “1984”directed by Michael Radford, starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, and Cyril Cusack.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Prof

Final exam 2016: Second Written Test

Here we are , my dear students!

After the “breaking news”, that is “English language as the second written test”, let’s start working!

Here attached you’ll find a ppt which will be useful to practise for making proper compositions.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sx6221ta5rbcc5/GUIDE%20TO%20COMPOSITION.pdf?dl=0

In addition  to that, the following link is last year written exam: I suggest you to read it carefully and work on it. 

You may need a long time: try and work it out in different moments. I will correct your essays as soon  as I can.

So….get ready!

http://www.istruzione.it/esame_di_stato/Secondo_Ciclo/tracce_prove_scritte/2015/allegati/INGL.pdf

The time has come!  And I am Coming too......J 

Prof