English blog

This is England

2009-03-24T12:50:00.004+01:00

This movie takes up a lot of issues like racism and the Falklands War. The Falklands War was between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lasted from April 2. 1982 to June 14. 1982. “This is England” deals with the effects of the war on the Skinhead culture in England. It is set in July 1983, and we meet 12-year old Shaun who becomes friends with a group of skinheads. His father died in the Falklands War, and we see how this influences him.

OneNote

2009-03-24T10:43:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago we got the program OneNote, which is a part of the Microsoft Office Package. I am very pleased with it. It is easy to keep my documents in order, and I can easily copy and paste pictures and articles from the internet into OneNote. Another fantastic thing about OneNote is that you never have to save. It is a program that is always running, and you don’t have to search through your document map to find what you are looking for. I highly recommend it to everyone!

Change of plans!

2009-03-18T21:20:00.000+01:00

I started working with the In Depth project today, and i found out that is was really hard to find enough information about how the Vietnam War was presented in the media and how it really was. Therefore, I decided to write about the book The Secret Life of Bees instead. I will write about how the black people where treated in the book, "The Secret Life of Bees", and connect it to the situation in the southern states in America in the 1960s and what caused this situation.

In Depth Project

2009-03-17T13:59:00.002+01:00

Today, we have been working with our In depth project. I am going to write about the Vietnam War. It lasted from 1959 until 1975. I am going to write about how the media presented the war, and how it really was. I haven't come up with a thesis yet, but i will soon let you know! Looking forward to work more with this project!

Different text types

2009-03-17T13:44:00.002+01:00

News reportage

A news report informs readers of recent or current events. The journalists, who write news reportages, should not express their personal opinions but stay neutral. See example here.

The purpose of advertisements is to make the readers, watchers or listeners change their mind about something, buy products or join campaigns etc. Advertisements are often informal and personal, and words such as “you” and “I” are much used. They do this to make you interested in what they are promoting. See example under:

Instructions

An instruction is something that tells you how to do something. It can be a cooking recipe, safety instructions, manuals etc. See example here.

Argumentative writing

In argumentative writing the writer argues for or against an issue or a question. The writer tries to convince the reader what he thinks is correct. See example here.

Report

A report is a text that is based on facts and not on value judgments, but in many cases it does contain he reporter’s own opinion. This influences whatever decision is to me made on the basis of the report. A report is often presented in simple language. See example here.

Creative writing – fiction

Fiction is an imaginary text. The main types of fictional writing are novels and short stories. Fiction often consists of characterization, setting, plot and a point of view. See example here.

Timeline

2009-01-27T13:53:00.004+01:00

Vilde Gullaksen V. on Dipity

This is a timeline of mostly happenings between The First World War to the Present where Britain was involved. There are also some facts from american history after the Revolutionary War. I will put more on the timeline later!

MY HOMETOWN

2009-01-27T13:21:00.002+01:00

Well, today we got the assignment to write something about our hometown on our blog. First of all, I don’t live in a town. I live about 20 minutes from Norway’s capital Oslo, in a remote place called Rykkinn. For those who haven’t been here think that there are only apartment buildings close together all over the place, and lots of criminality and foreign people. Well yes you could say so, but that would be an exaggeration because I find it a great (but as mentioned remote) place to live in. Rykkinn again lies in a county called Bærum. Bærum is known in Norway to be a place where the rich people live, and a lot of people call Rykkinn for Bærum’s ghetto. So when people ask me where I come from I really have a problem. If I say Rykkinn the ghetto and poor people thing always comes up, if I say Bærum people look at me as the biggest snob… so my answer is always “about 20 minutes outside Oslo”. It works great until someone wants me to be more specific.

But anyway: for those who haven’t been here, don’t be afraid. Not everyone are either dangerous or snobby.

INTO THE WILD

2009-01-26T16:46:00.001+01:00

How does the war have an impact on young people?

2008-10-20T19:23:00.005+02:00

Last English class we watched the movie “In the Valley of Elah”, which is about a father trying to find his 18 year old son who just came home from the war in Iraq and is missing from his base. War can do a lot of horrible tings to young people, and this movie shows signs of this. Even though they survive in the war, the war can mess things up in many other ways. Young people are more easily influenced by others, than older people are, and they usually take more risks. They are open for a lot, and in a situation like a war they can do a lot they shouldn’t. Get involved with drugs, or gangs they shouldn’t hang out with. They can get alcohol problems, problems with anger and so on. It is easy to get in the wrong or bad social settings.

They can also get psychic problems, which can stay with then for the rest of their lives. The things they see in war can be too much for only a young person. Or actually for any person!

Is making money, or making a difference in the world the most important?

2008-10-10T22:59:00.003+02:00

Last week we watched the movie Lions for Lambs, which is about the war in Iraq, and the different sides of it. The “lions” in the movie are those who stand up and go to Iraq to fight. And the “lambs” are the cowards who just talk about making things better, but don’t do anything. There are a lot of issues in this movie and one ting I think is important is if making money or making a difference in the world the most important.

Yes, what really is the most important? Money is necessary in a certain amount so you can get food and a roof over your head. I do agree with that. But would you rather live a life with heaps of money without helping people or making a difference? Many people may think that as long as you have enough money you will be happy. But I think it goes beyond than that. I think that making a difference; whether it's working in Africa helping children with Aids, joining the army, or just tutoring children at school, is the most important cause you then do something for others and not only for you. Doing things for others IS like doing something for you as well. It does make you feel better about yourself, doesn’t it?