Providing a caption for this cartoon

We have for the last 2 classes been analyzing the techniques of summarizing, paraphrazing and responding to articles. Last class we started working with cartoons. As you all know some cartoons have captions others are blank (no captions). This cartoon is taken from The New Yorker. Each week there is a contest and readers are asked to provide a caption for a blank cartoon. We cannot, unfortunately, take part in the contest but we can still have fun trying to provide a caption. Don't forget to check who the winner was! This week's winner will be announced on the 12th November.



For those of you who did not come to the last class there is homework. Pages 12 and 13 (unit 1).

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

Thursday November 8th at 4pm in room T11 with American writer Bruce Holland Rogers.


It's just after our class. Please take notes as you'll be asked to post about this workshop in the blog.

Bruce Holland Rogers has been writing fiction full-time since 1991. His stories range from literary and experimental to SF, fantasy, and mystery. Rogers is married to psychologist Holly Arrow and has long been interested in what psychology might teach writers. That interest was the foundation of Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer. He is the author of four or six story collections, depending on whether or not you count e-books. His stories have won a Pushcart Prize, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, and half a dozen assorted nominations. Rogers’s fiction appears regularly in a wide range of magazines and anthologies. He recently began teaching fiction writing for the Whidbey Writers MFA program in Washington state. He also teaches writing seminars in Greece, Italy, and other locations in Europe.

Check this site:

http://www.shortshortshort.com/



Have a nice holiday!

Just a suggestion...

As Joana already recommended, you should use a Thesaurus when paraphrasing a text.
Well, personally I don't have one. But "God bless the internet".

http://thesaurus.reference.com/

Take my word for it, it can be really helpful. :)

Cheers!

Research Project

Hi everybody :3

Well, Joana as a part of the research project to come I want to say that I wont register myself to the links given by you, at this time...I don't know what will happen in the future.
Instead I'll give you some links of the foruns I participate.

Silent Hill foruns - Survival horror videogames and life in general.

Imdb - Movies. series and more movies, I met an actor/producer here :3

Hello!Online - General japanese culture and other stuff

Final Fantasy Shrine - It's a shrine for Final Fantasy, a famous videogame.

Gamefaqs - stuck on a game? Try gamefaqs

These are all foreign forums, although they are biased to some things, like videogames, I usually participate in the Offtopic part where books/movie/random things about life are discussed. Met some people that proves that the US is not so dumb as the rest of the world says.
Well, it's my hobbies, so...I'll write something about these foruns, the rest of the class can check them out and learn something new.

P.S: I can see the videos, I stupidly didn't scroll up to see them...
See you Monday.

The Handsome One

Errr -_- Sorry about the title

It's quite hard to this for the third time and not reapeat myself but let's give it a try :

My name is João (everyone calls me Ferry though) and I like to think that i'm an alien.

I was born in planet Ireland but have a Portuguese father and came to Amadora/Lisbon/Portugal/Earth at the age of 5, so despite my origins i'm probably more portuguese than many of you who actually grew up abroad.

The thing I most enjoy in the world is being silly and saying things that make absolutely no sense at all (the ones of you who are close to me have allready noticed that part), but when I'm not being pathetic I find pleasure in simples things such as Music (I also make Rap music, you can check it out on www.myspace.com/serialskillers), beer (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee), hanging out with my friends, reading, Playstation and any type of food with onion in it.

I'm disorganized, lazy and even quite irresponsible at times but my looks make up for all of that =D.

I did have a brain at one stage of my life, but it fell in love with my conscience and they eventually ran away together. I reckon they must be somewhere in Guatemala sipping on expensive wine while they laugh at me at the moment.

I think I better save the rest for the next semester otherwise i'll end up editing profiles that just say things like "Hi, I'm João and I have two earrings".

See you in classes


P.S - This photo was taken while I was travelling in time

Profile v.03

As usual, I’m posting after hours.

Hi there! My name’s Hugo and I’m twenty years old. I really don’t know what else I can write on these profiles for it’s the third time I’m writing one. Oh well, I was born and raised in Lisbon, where I’ve always been living with my parents and my grandmother. A month ago I became the uncle of a sweet baby called Mafalda.

In my spare time I like to listen to some music (Metal, Folk, 70’s Disco, Industrial, Lounge, Hindustani, and all that jazz), go to some gigs, surf on the internet (this has taken too much vital time from me), read, write (sometimes – I’m losing that habit and can’t manage to find a solution), trying to get my driver’s license (an epic quest, it seems), and to think about how clumsy I am.

I have an irritating habit of buying books, pilling them up and reading them much later.

I think I have a gargantuan nose.

I’d love to go on Erasmus to an English-speaking country but it seems rather impossible due to its cost. Anyway, I need to manage to practice my English with native speakers, as well as the other languages I am learning. Working with four languages simultaneously (Portuguese included) isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

I’m sure there are a lot of more interesting profiles than mine. Now go read them. :P

Farewell.

Another Profile

Hi everyone!
I’m Zé, student of LLC, English/Spanish, once again trying to post a profile, a problem which the majority of you have already complained about. Lets pretend I like this very much.
I’m twenty and I live in Lisbon, in Av de Roma – one of the best places to live – Everything is next to you, in the very geographical centre of the city, fifteen minutes walking from FCSH, this pearl of Architecture and modern design, shelter of so many young students expecting for unemployment – I mean – Job. Lets just not think about it…
Reading is one of my preferred hobbies, but if you ask me about my favourite book I won’t give you an objective answer; there are so many books I like that it would be unfair to choose just one. I love Russian classics like War and Peace of Leo Tolstoi or Dostoievski’s Crime and Punishment, also Dickens’ David Copperfield or Sound and Fury of William Faulkner and the unforgettable D. Quixote. And lets stop here – otherwise I would go on and on.
Before coming to FCSH I completed a tree year course, in Cascais, studying drama. So I am, or I should be, an actor. “To be or not to be [an actor]” has been my darling question throughout last year: should I drop this dream and stick to my new course? Or should I drop my new course and stick to my dream – Error! Unsolved Question! – I’m not a very decided guy – as you can see I continue attending to classes in FCSH and working as an actor. I’m looking for one good decision maker to solve my problem and to orient me in my personal and professional life – I don’t want to choose or to make any kind of decisions anymore! Last week I started a new work on a soap opera, a small but funny part, and I’m very happy with that (I hope no one notices that I’m a terrible actor; I’ll act like I am not).
This summer I did an inter-rail, something everyone should do! I went to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Vienna, Budapest, Pula and Ljubljana and it was great in each one of these places. One whole month travelling, visiting new places, meeting different people and cultures – just ourselves… and Europe! Be ready to eat lots of bread a cheese, have always a bottle of water in you backpack, make sandwiches with the hotel breakfast – and make sure no one is seeing you! – But the most important of all is to HAVE FUN!
I think this is enough for you to know something more about me… see you!

Links to Cloning

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/

Cloning in Focus
The predictions and realities of cloning living beings.


http://science.howstuffworks.com/cloning.htm

How Cloning works

Myann's profile ^__^

Hi there!

I've finally managed to post my profile! Yay!

Well, my name's Sara (what a surprise...) and I'm 19 years old. I'm in a translation course (my second year, now) and enjoying it (ok, there are some classes that... hmmm... well... never mind...).

I live in the south bank of the river (Tejo, obviously), in a little town called Amora. It's a pretty quiet area (not that I spend that much time around there, at the moment, to know). I spend most of my time in Lisbon (all of my friends are in Lisbon, so...).

I'm easy going, very talkative (maybe too much, sometimes) and a little bit crazy (in a good way!). I love to read (it's one of my favourite things), I truly enjoy singing (addicted to Singstar yeah!!) and I just love spending time with my friends (boyfriend included)!

Since I don't know what to tell you more about me, I'll explain you my nickname. Why Myann? Well, when I was little (ok ok smaller...), I couldn't pronounce my surname correctly. I'd always say "Sara ***** dos Santos Myann" instead of "Sara ***** dos Santos Eichman" (and no, I don't like my second name. At least not next to Sara). A friend of mine found it funny and started calling me Myann. I kinda liked it, so Myann it is!

Hmm... now I really don't know what to add to this, so... I guess it's bye bye!!

See you all in classes!!

Links on cloninig

www.humancloning.org
This site is pro cloning. It explains the benefits according to people like Sam Smith and Linda Rader. It belongs to an official non-profit foundation.


www.nocloning.org
This link is against cloning. Although it doesn't explain how cloning works, it shows you why missourians want to ban human cloning from their state.


www.sustainabletable.org/issues/cloning
Sustainabletable helps the consumers by explaining what animal cloning is all about and shows us that it probably should not be part of our diet. It has useful tips and curiosities. A very friendly site.

Hello everyone!!!

Well, we know a little about each other, so I'll just shorten my lifestory.

I was born in South Africa, Jo'burg, and lived there until I was twelve. Then I came to Portugal, Maia where I studied til I finished highschool in 1998. A couple of years after, I took my course in the Air Force and have been working there ever since.

Last year, I started this degree in translation and I´m loving it. It's always good to learn new things and in this course you really do learn a little of everything.

See you at class.

Okay, another one of these...


Hi everyone! I'm Patricia Bordeira, 19 years old, and I'm in my second year in Translation. I'm quiet by nature, so you won't be hearing that much of me in class. =P

I live in Montijo, in the other side of the river, and I've lived there all my life. Not much to talk about the place. It's a nice town, quiet when you compare it to Lisbon and other big cities. I live there with my parents, brothers and pets. Big happy family.

My hobbies include listening to music (almost every genre), playing the piano (I started playing it when I was 5 so that makes around... 15 years now), watching TV, going to the cinema, playing videogames (RPGs are my favourite), and of course just hanging out with my friends.

As I've said I'm quiet by nature but that doesn't mean I don't talk when a nice topic comes up. I'm friendly but I have a hard time trusting people. And I'm kind of a tomboy because I get along better with guys than girls and prefer guys' talk over girls'. XD

I think I'm missing one or two points, but that's all I can remember for an intro right now. See you all in class. Cheers!

Me....

Hi there. Well it's not easy to write a new profile again,although I have somethings new to say,but here it goes...

My name is Tânia Parracho and I'm 19 years old. I've lived in Benavente all my life until I came to the university..Now I'm staying in Lisbon during the week and I only go to Benavente at the weekend. It's a little difficult spend all week far from my family.

I have a sister and there's where something new comes up. I already had a niece and now I have a nephew too. :D They are Bianca e Matias. She has 4 years old and he has almost one month. I love them and they are the most important thing in my life. They're the little ones in the photo with me.

I'm studying Translation and I'm liking it a lot..

When I'm not at university I like to be with my friends, listen to music or go to the cinema.. I love going out the weekend at night and go some place where I can dance and have a good time with my friends and boyfriend.

Well,see you in class!!!

Cloning

I'd like to post the biggest link about cloning


Cloning

Taran! Lots of info and pretty clear!

My intro.

Well, if you are expecting some kinda of formal introduction, turn around. Because I've written two intros before and to come up with something new it's hard, well..not really.
I got prettier and single :3
The name's André Pereira and I'm 20 years old, I was born in Viseu, lived there, moved to Montijo (In the south bank of the river) and then moved to Azores, Terceira where I lived among Americans in the Military Air Force Base (Lajes).
Thus started my English know-how.
I like to cook and believe me I kick ass in the kitchen, atheist by option and Scout by love.
Have and had several pets, being Snake my remaining one, Snake is a cat :3
Hobbies...I'm a movie buff, like to read, listen to music and play videogames and like my friend João said, videogames are not for kids but pieces of art nowadays. Don't judge yet. I'm a jack of all trades so, if you need any help, gimme a ring.
Cya in classes!
Now... a photo of myself? :<

P.S: I have a blog, so stay tuned to Blário.

Preparing for the debate

Hi everyone!

As you have noticed, Blogger has a new feature which is the video bar. In preparation for your debate I strongly recommend you watch the videos.

See you tomorrow!

Profile-Cátia Ildefonso

I've noticed that I'm probably the only one or at least one of the few that has never posted a profile like this on the English blog, meaning that I'm going to be the only that is not going to complain about having to write a profile again.

So

Hello everyone, my name is Cátia and I'm 21 years old .

I study L.L.C , English/North American with a minor in Translation and so far I´m loving it, particularly the subjects related to Culture and History.

When I'm not at school, my free time is spent mainly with my friends, playing cards (I'm a kick a** player!!) going out, to the cinema, to concerts etc...but I also enjoy spending time on my own doing stuff like listening to music, watching movies, series and also reading . My favourite book is 1984 by George Orwell and my favourite movies are Apocalypse Now and American History X. When it comes to music I listen to a lot of diferent genres, as long as the music is good.

I live in Setúbal, the best town in Portugal ;P Oh well, the town itself is not that extraordinary, in fact it has some really hideous things , but as far as quality of life, surroundings and landscapes are concerned It is really exquisite, resulting from the combination of the Arrábida with the Sado river and the Atlantic ocean, AH! and don't forget about our dolphins, which are actually bottled-nosed dolphins, the biggest european group of these specie that still lives in their natural habitat .

I´m a very easy going and nice person that loves to laugh and to have nice conversations (once I start talking nothing can stop me!)

Well, I think I've told you all a bit about me

See you in class

COURSE DESCRIPTION

João - hello :)

“Oh no!!, not again!!, I don't have anything new to write about myself”!! (This was my first thought when I heard we had to write a brand new profile about ourselves) I don’t mind writing it, but since this is the third one I write it’s getting really hard come up with something knew about me to tell you all. But don’t worry, I’ll think about something :) , so, here it goes :

.

By the way, that's me and my "lady" dog in the picture... :)

.

My name is João, I’m twenty four years old (Oh my god!! I didn’t realise how old I was until I wrote the number 24…) I live in Lisbon, right in front of the “Assembleia da Republica”, so, as you can see, I’m really close to our university, but somehow I always manage to arrive late at classes… don’t ask me why or how, it simply happens… it’s like something from the “twilight zone”, well… either that, or I’m a really lazy guy (my parents would go with the last one).
I have a very beautiful home which I share with my partner (We’ve known each other for 12 years now, and have been living together since last year) and my lovely “lady” dog. She is a really pretty “German Braco” who loves to sleep, eat our food and rest in our human beds (What can I say… she has delusions of grandeur). She also loves to hunt down birds and other animals, especially cats, her mortal nemesis (hide the cats Blaze ;) ). In spite of being a crazy cat hater, she is really friendly, especially with children, and other dogs, even if they’re females. Although she may look big and scary, she is such a docile dog that you could spend an entire afternoon pulling her tail and ears that she would simply sit still until you grew tired of it… I know that this may sound silly to some of you, but I love her as much as I love my human family, she is like a human being to me… What can I say…, I simply love animals, especially dogs, which are without a shadow of a doubt my favourite animal!
Beside dogs, music and films are another of my interests (how original, I know). I simply adore everything related with films, and I can watch almost everything. My favourite directors are David Lynch, Tim Burton and Brian De Palma, and my favourite movies are “Mulholland Drive”, Edward Scissorhands, DogVille and all of the “alien” movies. I also enjoy watching good TV shows like “24”, “Twin Peaks”, “Lost”, “six feet under”, “Ugly Betty” and the extremely corny “The simple life” (there’s nothing better to cheer you up than to watch Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie acting stupi… errr I mean, acting naturally). As for music, well I’m quite “picky”, I hardly listen to commercial music. (Except when I’m with friends, which may result in a car crash thanks to me trying to sing along). I simply love classical and orchestrated soundtracks.
Another of my favourite interests is videogames. Nowadays they are no longer “toys” or “kids stuff”, some of them are pure works of art, with magnificent storylines, mature themes and exquisite soundtracks. Some of them are so well done that they can make you cry with an emotional scene, or be in shock with an unexpected plot twist.
My friends are another important part of my life. They mean everything to me and I would do anything for them. It’s really hard for me to make friends or find someone with whom I really like to talk with, so I guess that is why they mean the world to me. Me and my closest group of friends have known each other for at least 12 years now and our friendship is growing stronger by the day. In fact it is really good to look back at our old pictures and remember everything that we have been through together, since childhood to adulthood, and imagine what fate still has in store for us.
Well, I guess there isn’t much more to say for now, except that for what I have seen of our class, everyone seemed really, really nice, which is something that doesn’t happen very often, so I’m really glad to be there with all of you!

Well, quoting a very lovely cartoon pig: “that’s all folks” ;)

Cloning Fact Sheet

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml

Everything you need to know about cloning is on this site. It is quite interesting. Have a look for yourselves.

My Profile

Hello to everyone!

As you all know my name is Maria João Troia, I am 20 years old and I am studying LLC in the English and North American area. What I love most is Literature and Art in every form and shape. I really am enjoying my course but I am conscience that after I finish, I will most likely not get a job in my area. But I would love to work in a museum or anywhere where I can be in contact with Art everyday. I was born in Lisbon, and when I was one moved with my parents to Toronto, Canada where I grew and lived until the age of 18. I made the decision to come to Portugal just so I could have some sort of change in my life, and up until now I am loving my stay. I have met many interesting people who have taught my a lot about who I am and who I want to become. One of my dreams is to open up a book store with English and American literature that is also a cultural space where people can see plays ans listen to music without having to spend a lot of money. However, Portugal might not be the best place for this. I like living one day at a time, so who knows where I´ll be in 5 years. I am also a vegeterian but not an extremist. I hope this helped you all to get to know me a little more. I believe that the human being is such a complex being that it is impossible to fully understand or know. So if any of you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am a very approchable person!

I would like to end my profile with a citation by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Laugh a lot and always, win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, receive the consideration of the honest critics and resist the betrayal of false friends, appreciate the beauty, discover the best in others, leave this world better than you found it, be it by a healthy child, a piece of a garden or a fairer social condition. Know that at least someone was able to breathe easier because you existed. This is what being successful is."

Welcome!

Hi there!

I hope you had great vacations and are now ready to work hard!

As I decided to move again I did not really have vacations. For those who don't know me yet, I was born in the USA in Roslyn Heights (Long Island), same place as Richard Zimler, author of the short story 'The Slow Mirror' and of another short story you will read this year.

I live with my son and 2 pets ( a dog called Chucky and a cat called Blue). I used to have 2 dogs, but Bart unfortunately 'left us' this summer at 14, which is quite a long life for a dog.

See you in class!

Links on cloning

A brief definition of the term: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cloning.html

You can find a lot of information on this suject here:

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml#organsQ
(I didn't read it all yet...)

Cheers!

Profile - David Ildefonso

I didn't want to be the first one to post, but since no one else stepped forward... (and also because I have a couple of links on cloning I'd like to share with you)

Hello there.
As some of you already know, I'm David Ildefonso.
For those of you who didn't, I'm afraid you know it now... :(

Anyhow, I study unemployme... *COUGH* ... Translation. The languages I currently study are English and German (and let me stress this, AUSTRIAN German, also known as Österreichisch. Later on I also plan on learning the dialect. And I already found a teacher willing to... teach me. :D

What else can I say. I'm 19 years old, I'm ca. 1,70 m tall (or 5 ft 6 , should you prefer the American way), my eyecolour is brownish. Interested? Then please dial... err... better not.
And I definitely need to get a decent haircut.

I live in Lisbon (in the outskirts, actually). I have a lot'a pets. A god... ups, dog named T(h)or, two cockatoos, two canaries, and several fishes. Ah, and a blue budgie who loves to peck my finger.

I hope to do whatever a translator/interpreter does, but it's highly unlikely (sorry for the rhyme) that I stay here in Portugal. But these are just my plans for the future.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you to death. Just trying to be creative. Not that I'm very good at it.

And I hope the profiles don't have to be formal... Otherwise, dear colleagues, and teacher, I deeply regret to be the bearer of such ill news, but... down goes my mark. Aside from the fact that I just wrote 238292901 meaningless words which prove I have serious mental issues. Not to mention my haircut. Oh wait, already did.

A good semester for all!


Mordred


P.S.: regarding the photo - 'twas a couple of years ago. My 'haircut' was longer. :)