Be body confident as you are!

A film review (sample)

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)

Title: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, year: 1990, length:105 MIN
it has every genre: drama, comedy, romance, horror, fantasy, action, everything.

Director: TIM BURTON, screenwriter: Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson

Main actors: JHONNY DEPP, WYNONA RIDER, VINCENT PRICE.

Filming locations: cities in FLORIDA AND CALIFORNIA, USA

Plot: the action takes place in the 70's, in a suburban American town near a hill with a gloomy mansion at the top. The neighbourhood is based on Tim Burton's hometown of Burbank and his memories when he was a teenager.

It begins when a 96-year-old woman describes to her great-granddaughter where snow comes from by telling her the story of a young man named Edward, who has scissors for hands. He was the creation of an inventor. The inventor's final result was a young boy who had everything except for hands, but the inventor had a heart attack and died before giving Edward a pair of real hands, leaving him "unfinished" forever.

Many years after Edward was created, local Avon saleswoman Peg Boggs visits the Gothic mansion on the hill where Edward lives. There, she finds Edward alone and decides to take him to her home. Peg brings him down from the mountain and introduces him to her normal, suburban life- and that's when it all begins. Edward becomes friends with Peg's young son Kevin and her husband Bill. He later falls in love with the Boggs' teenage daughter, Kim.


Main character:
Edward is just a young man misunderstood for his appearance. He is slightly dark on the outside, but sweet as a kitten on the inside. Johnny Depp plays a lost, frightened Edward so well that it seems real.

Opinion (told message): It's a bittersweet and lovely fable about trying to be accepted, a romance about trying to fit in and being yourself. It's a dark, romantic and moving lesson about accepting differences.
All in all, the movie has equal amounts of witty, romantic, and depressing moments, making it a really wonderful film that you'll want to watch over and over again.

I've loved it since I first watched it. It's beautiful. A must see for EVERYONE!

Edward Scissorhands is a magical modern fairy tale.

I absolutely love this masterpiece 
by dark director Tim Burton.

Presentation useful tips!

1

This is a list of phrases to help you make a professional presentation in English.

Good presenters always use language (sometimes single words, sometimes phrases) which shows where they are in their presentation. These ‘signposts’ make it easier for the audience to:

• follow the structure of the presentation
• understand the speaker more easily
• get an idea of the length and content of the presentation.

The sentences and phrases below follow the logical progression of a well-balanced presentation.

Welcoming

• Good morning and welcome to [name ....].
• Thank you all very much for coming today.
• I hope you all had a pleasant journey here today.

Introducing yourself

• My name is …... and I am … .
• My name is …………... from [name of school, company,...], where I am responsible for … .
• Let me introduce myself; my name is Mark Watson and I am …..

Introducing your presentation

• The purpose of today’s presentation is to … .
• The purpose of my presentation today is to … .

• In today’s presentation we’d like to … show you … . / explain to you how … .
• In today’s presentation we’re hoping to … give you an update on… / give you an overview of … .
• In today’s presentation we're planning to … look at … . / explain … .

You can also outline your presentation to give the audience a clear overview of what they can expect:

• In today’s presentation I’m hoping to cover three points:
• firstly, … , after that we will look at … , and finally I’ll … .
• In today’s presentation I’d like to cover three points:
• firstly, … , secondly … , and finally … .

Explaining that there will be time for questions at the end

• If you have any questions you’d like to ask, please leave them until the end, when I’ll be happy to answer them / when I’ll do my best to answer them.

---

2
some of the points you should cover in your introduction

• A greeting
• Your name and position
• The title of your presentation/your objective
• The purpose of your presentation
• The length of time it will take
• The main parts or points to be covered
• When your audience may ask questions
• A reference to the present situation...the human touch

A sample introduction: (see if you can identify the various points mentioned above)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you on behalf of the Technical University of Berlin. My name is Fritz Fratz, and I'm the Manager of Student Affairs here. My objective this afternoon is to let you know about the recent changes in our organization and how they will affect you. By the end of my presentation I hope you will all have a better idea of how these changes can be used to your company's benefit.

My presentation will last twenty-five minutes. It is split into three key areas. First, a general outline of recent changes. Secondly, a more detailed study of those changes relevant to you. And thirdly, how you will be able to make use of these changes. There will be time at the end of each key area for questions. But please feel free to interrupt me as we go along. At the end of my presentation I am sure you will all be hungry, so we have prepared a buffet-lunch.

Right then, if there aren't any questions, perhaps I could begin?

Signaling a start

• Right, ladies and gentlemen. Shall we begin?
• OK, I'd like to begin by...
• Right then, everybody ...
• Are we ready to begin?
• Right. Is everybody ready?
• OK. Can we make a start?
• Is everybody here?

Introducing yourself/others

• I'd like to introduce ...
• May I introduce ... John Peters from …...
• I'd like to introduce myself ... My name is …...
• Let me introduce myself ...

A clear structure
Any presentation must be clearly structured. There should be a strong introduction and clear, logical links between the parts. The presentation should be full of information that is both relevant to the audience and meets your objective.

Structuring

• First ... Second ... Third ...
• To start with ... Next ...
• At the outset (beginning)... Then ...
• To begin with ... After this ... Finally ...

Introducing topics

• I'd like to review ...
• I want to discuss ...
• I'm going to analyze ...
• I shall go over ...
• consider ...
• cover ...
• talk about ...

Moving on

• Let's now move on to ...
• I'd like to go on to ...´
• I now want to...
• This brings me to ...

Looking back

• Let's look back for a moment ...
• To go back to ...
• As I said before ..

Adding

• In addition ...
• I might add that ...
• Furthermore ...
• Moreover ...
• Not only ... but also ...
• As well as ... there is also ...

Introducing visuals

• I'd like you to look at this graph...
• Let me show you this pie chart...
• Let's have a look at this model...
• Let's turn to this map...
• To illustrate my point let's look at some diagrams...
• As you can see from these figures...
• If you look at these photographs you'll see...
• If you look at this bar chart you'll notice...
• If you look at this histogram you'll appreciate...
• If you look at this flow chart you'll understand ...
• If you look at this matrix...

Rehearsal
Rehearsal is a vital but often neglected part of a presentation. There are many ways you can rehearse, but the best is in front of friends or family, and preferably in the room in which you will be holding your presentation.

I am a feminist and I believe you should!

Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. 

A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.

*********************************************************************************

examining Pop Culture nowadays

The Smurfette Principle:

A girl explaining what sexual objectification is.

The Bechdel Test:

The Merchant's Tale

                           - treacherous (dangerous) - tire (become bored)

maiden (unmarried girl) - dotard (senile elderly person) - feeble (weak) - cuckold (be unfaithful to) - flatter (compliment) 

A marriage between a decrepit old man and a young maiden is commonly referred to as a January-May wedding, taken of course from this tale. 

While this tale is the most original of Chaucer's, the trick played at the end on the old dotard — often referred to as the "Pear-Tree episode" — was found in many popular tales of the time. 

In fact, the figure of the aged or feeble lover is frequent in literature of all ages. 

In this tale, as in others, the reader assumes that the older man will be cuckolded by a younger, handsomer, more virile man, especially because the older man has difficulty coping with his young wife in bed.

The Merchant's Tale is the second tale handling the cuckolding of an old husband by a young bride (the first was The Miller's Tale). 

The choice of names supports the Merchant's point-of-view: January (old with white hair like snow) marries May (young and beautiful like the May flowers) after rejecting the good advice of Justinius (the just or righteous man) and following the advice of Placebo (the flattering man).

Similar tales are Boccaccio's Story of Lydia and Pyrrhus and The Simpleton Husband from One Thousand and One Nights. Book IV of the The Masnavi (Persian poem) of Rumi contains another pear tree story.

                          A tale from the Decameron (1916) by John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) 

Svalbard and two Global Seed Banks

Svalbard, a natural paradise?

WHAT IS THIS CONSTRUCTION?
A VAULT, WHAT FOR?? FIND IT OUT!!!!

If you control the oil, you control the country; 

if you control food, you control the population.                 - Henry Kissinger

Inaugurated in February 2008, this is "frozen Noah’s Ark" . 

watch the Svalbard Seed Vault in  Futurama 06-13 

On this God-forsaken island Bill Gates is investing tens of his millions along with the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto Corporation, Syngenta Foundation
and the Government of Norway, among others, in what is called the ‘doomsday seed bank.’ Officially the project is named the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard island group. 

"Doomsday Seed Vault" in the Arctic
Retrieved 21st  July, 2013, from

http://www.voltairenet.org/article162545.html

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, launched in year 2000, 
is the largest ex situ plant conservation project in the world. 
Its focus is on global plant life faced with the threat of extinction and plants of most use for the future. 
The seeds we save are conserved outside their native habitat.

Svalbard

Irregular verbs rap

The microphone I 

TAKE (took, TAKen). You SHAKE (shook, SHAken). 

WAKE (woke, WOken) to the STYLE Im creAting. 

THINK (thought, THOUGHT). SEEK (sought, SOUGHT).

LISten to the LESson that I TEACH (taught, TAUGHT).

Dont SLEEP (slept, SLEPT). I CREEP (crept, CREPT). 

I SNEAK (snuck, SNUCK UP). You LEAP (leapt, LEAPT).

I KEEP (kept, KEPT) HAVing FUN. 

Im never BEAT (beat, BEAten); I WIN (won, WON).

DO (did, DONE). BeGIN (began, beGUN).

SHOOT (shot, SHOT)—no, I DONT own a GUN. 

I LEAD (led, LED) so I can FEED (fed, FED). 

the KNOWledge you NEED, STRAIGHT to your HEAD. 

When I BRING (brought, BROUGHT) it, you CATCH (caught, CAUGHT) it.

Sit BACKreLAX. Dont FIGHT (fought, FOUGHT) it.

Please don't

FREEZE (froze, FROzen) when I SPEAK (spoke, SPOken). 

Its REAL. You can FEEL I dont STEAL (stole, STOlen). 

I CHOOSE (chose, CHOsen) the VERy best RHYMES and

WRITE (wrote, WRITten) them INto my LINES and

INto your MIND. When we MEET (met, MET)

Ill BET (bet, BET) I wont LET you forGET 

(forGOTforGOTten). I GET (got, GOTten)

EVery head NODding. Dont THINK about STOPping

just COME (came, COME). 

THIS is hip hop. I dont SING (sang, SUNG).

I STING (stung, STUNG). I CLING (clung, CLUNG).

On EACH and every WORD, you HANG (hung, HUNG).

It's not enough to

DREAM (dreamt, DREAMT); youve got to SPEND (spent, SPENT)

TIME on your GOALS. Please LEND (lent, LENT) me your

EAR. Come NEAR and Ill LAY (laid, LAID)

DOWN this new SOUND that I MAKE (made, MADE). 

I HOPE you dont SAY that you THINK its JUNK.

I HOPE you dont THINK that I STINK (stank, STUNK).

If youre THIRSty for ENGlish, come DRINK (drank, DRUNK).

because I SINK (sank, SUNK) ALL compeTItion when they 

HEAR (heard, HEARD) that I GIVE (gave, GIVen)

encouragement when I SPIT (spat, SPAT).

Never QUIT (quit, QUIT); dont SIT (sat, SAT).

Yeah, I LIKE it like THAT. Ill even KNEEL (knelt, KNELT).

and BEG you to exPRESS what you FEEL (felt, FELT).

I RISE (rose, RISen) when I DRIVE (drove, DRIVen) through 

the BEAT; tap your FEET as you RIDE (rode, RIDden). 

Those that HIDE (hid, HIDden) I FIND (found, FOUND).

If you FLEE (fled, FLED) then Ill TRACK you DOWN.

Now you SEE (saw, SEEN) that I MEAN (meant, MEANT) 

every WORD of the MESsage that I SEND (sent, SENT). 

I SHOW (showed, SHOWN) I can FLY (flew, FLOWN).

Now you KNOW (knew, KNOWN) I SHINE (shone, SHONE).

Ill THROW (threw, THROWN) you the BALL. Its your TURN. 

GROW (grew, GROWN) with the VERBS that youve LEARNED. 

GRAMmar through LYRics I DRAW (drew, DRAWN). 

PEACE to elLS, now I GO (went, GONE)!

Black Gold-Little fly Esperanza Spalding

Hold your head as high as you can
High enough to see who you are, little man
Life sometimes is cold and cruel
Baby no one else will tell you so remember that
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold
Now maybe no one else has ever told you so
But you're golden, baby
Black Gold with a diamond soul
Think of all the strength you have in you
From the blood you carry within you
Ancient men, powerful men
Builders of civilization
They'll be folks hell-bent on putting you down
Don't get burned
'Cause not necessarily everyone will know your worth
Think of all the strength you have in you
From the blood you carry within you
Ancient men, powerful men
Builders of civilization
Think of all the strength you have in you
Powerful, powerful men
Builders of civilization

Hold your head as high as you can
High enough to see who you are, little man
Life sometimes is cold and cruel
Baby no one else will tell you so remember that
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold
There'll be folks hell-bent on putting you down
Don't get burned
Not necessarily everyone will know your worth
Think of all the strength you have in you
From the blood you carry within you
Ancient men, powerful men
Builders of civilization
Think of all the strength you have in you
Powerful, powerful men
Builders of civilization

Hold your head as high as you can
High enough to see who you are, little man
Life sometimes is cold and cruel
Baby no one else will tell you so remember that
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold
Think of all the strength you have in you
From the blood you carry within you
Ancient men, powerful men
Builders of civilization
All the strength
All the blood
That you carry
Ancient men
Powerful men
In you
Builders of civilization

Hold your head as high as you can
High enough to see who you are, little man
Life sometimes is cold and cruel
Baby no one else will tell you so remember that
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold
You are Black Gold, Black Gold
You are Black Gold

Hold your head as high as you can
High enough to see who you are, little man
Life sometimes is cold and cruel
Baby no one else will tell you so remember that
You are Black Gold
You are Black Gold
You are
You are
You are
Hold your head up
Don't give up
You are Black Gold
You are
You are
Black Gold
Black Gold, Black Gold, Black Gold

Little fly

The summer's play

My thoughtless hand

Has brushed away

Am not I

A fly like thee

Or art not thou

A man like me

Little fly

For I dance

And drink and sing

Till some blind hand

Shall brush my wing

I thought is life

And strength and breath

And the want

Of thought is death

Little fly

Then am I

A happy fly

If I live

Or if I die