Teacher's Corner - December 2007

Choose the Correct Answer

A- Elige la respuesta correcta. "Feedback" significa:
1. alabanza
2. respuesta
3 crítica
4. rechaz

B- Elije la respuesta correcta. ¿Cual ciudad americana se refiere a "Big Apple"?
1. Seattle
2. New York
3 Houston
4. Detroit

C- Elije la respuesta correcta. ¿Qué es "simile"?

1. Dos palabras que quieren decir exactamente lo mismo
2. una frase utilizada para describir un día precioso
3 modo de habla en que dos cosas distintas son comparadas
4. una clase de palabras utilizada formalmente para describir lo bello de las cosas


**Answers will be given at the end of the month**
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Tips to improve your writing

1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren't necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Understatement is always best.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
22. Don't never use a double negation.
23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
30. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to the irantecedents.
32. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
33. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
35. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
36. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
37. Always pick on the correct idiom.
38. The adverb always follows the verb.
39. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They're old hat; seek viable alternatives.

From ABS International and Educational Management Online
www.abs-international.com.ar
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CliffsNotes: Major Symbols in Beowulf

Critical Essays
Major Symbols

A literary symbol is something, often an object, that stands for a significant concept or series of ideas. Often a symbol is emblematic of the values of the characters. In Beowulf, some of the most important symbols are Hrothgar’s mead-hall, Grendel’s cave, Grendel’s arm and head, and the dragon’s treasure-trove.

Heorot

Hrothgar’s great mead-hall, Heorot (“Hall of the Hart”), functions as both setting and symbol in the epic. It is much more than a place to drink. Symbolically, Heorot represents the achievements of the Scyldings, specifically Hrothgar, and their level of civilization. The hall is a home for the warriors who sleep there and functions as a seat of government. It is a place of light, warmth, and joy, contrasting with Grendel’s morbid swamp as well as the dark and cold of winters in Scandinavia. In Heorot, Hrothgar celebrates his victories and rewards his thanes (warriors) with various treasures. The building is like a palace. It towers high and is compared to a cliff. The gables are shaped like horns of the hart. People from neighboring tribes have respectfully contributed to the rich decorations and intricate designs. The hall is also symbolic in that it is the setting of Beowulf’s first great battle, the defeat of Grendel. When Grendel invades the hall, he knows that he strikes at the very heart of the Scyldings. That lends special meaning to his victories and to Beowulf’s eventual liberation of the hall from the ravages of the ogres.

The Cave

The cave where Grendel and his mother hide from the world is symbolic of their lives as outcasts. Hidden beneath a treacherous mere in the middle of a dark, forbidding swamp, the cave allows them a degree of safety and privacy in a world that they view as hostile. They certainly are not welcome at Heorot, and they know it.

The cave also represents their heritage. As descendants of Cain, they are associated with sorcery, black magic, demons, ancient runes, and hell itself. When Grendel’s mother is able to fight Beowulf in the cave, she has a distinct advantage; his victory is all the more significant. It is not clear whether he wins because of his own ability, the influence of magic (the giant sword), or God’s intervention. All are mentioned, probably because the poet borrowed from various influences in creating the poem. The cave itself represents a world alien to Heorot. One is high and bright and full of song and joy, towering as the Scyldings’ greatest achievement. The other is dark and dank and full of evil, beneath a mere in the middle of a fen and the symbolic home of resentful outcasts.

Grendel’s Claw and Head

Beowulf had hoped to have an entire Grendel body to present to King Hrothgar after his battle with the ogre in Heorot. He has to settle for the right arm or claw, ripped from its shoulder socket, when the mortally wounded adversary flees to the swamp. The claw is hung high beneath Heorot’s roof (most likely on the outside beneath the gables) as a symbol of Beowulf’s victory.

Grendel’s mother also sees it as a symbol, representing her personal loss and mankind’s macabre sense of what might be an appropriate trophy. Filled with grief and rage, she retrieves the arm from Heorot and kills another Scylding in the process. When Beowulf tracks her to the mere and ends up in her underwater cave, he has no more interest in the claw. Grendel’s head, which he is able to find after a strange, perhaps holy brilliance illuminates the dimly lighted cave, is much more impressive. He ignores the vast treasure in the cave, instead choosing to carry the magnificent, huge head as symbolic of his victory over both ogres.

The Dragon’s Treasure-Trove

The dragon’s treasure-trove poignantly represents the vanity of human wishes as well as the mutability of time. The dragon’s barrow holds wealth in abundance, yet the wealth is of no use to anyone. The ancient treasures in the hoard once belonged to a regional tribe of warriors who were killed in battle some 300 years previously. Only one survivor, who is called the “keeper of the rings” (2244), lived to hide the treasures in the barrow.

Just as the dead warriors cannot use the treasure, neither can the dragon. He devotes his life to guarding a treasure that he frankly has no use for. Beowulf gives his life defeating the dragon and gaining this impressive treasure for his people, but they won’t benefit from it either. The treasure is buried with the great warrior in his funeral barrow and, we are told, remains there still, a mighty horde of riches that is of absolutely no use to anybody.

www.cliffsnotes.com
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Resources for Teachers
Teaching Spanish as a Second Language

Following our success with Movie Guides for the ESL/EFL classroom, we are delighted to announce the release of our first Movie Guide to teach Spanish as a Second Language.
The first Movie Guide, based on the film "Elsa y Fred", was awarded by the University of Valladolid, Spain, in July 2006 (Primer Premio "Cristóbal de Villalón" a la Innovacion Educativa para el aula de Español como Lengua Extranjera).

Elsa & Fred - A film by Marcos Carnevale

Educational Movie Guide based on the film "Elsa & Fred"
Marco Común Europeo de Referen cia para las Lenguas
1 plan for level: A1 / 5 plans for level: A2 / 4 plans for level: B1
3 plans for level: B2 / 1 plan for level: C1
(View index of the Movie Guide)

We hope you enjoy this Movie Guide as much as our ESL/EFL ones.