Wednesday, 24 March 2010

"Invictus" - The movie

Opinion text

I really liked the movie " Invictus " because it has many good actors like Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, etc.
They performed very well the story of Nelson Mandela and his effort to unite the nation through a game called rugby, after the apartheid.
This movie shows that a single game can join different persons who have different opinions, tastes, and still live in peace and harmony supporting the same team.
I recomend it.

By: Carla

"Invictus" - The movie

Opinion text about the movie "Invictus"
I liked the movie "Invictus" because it shows a different side of South Africa and makes us  have a different point of view about the country, their people and their history. The movie shows us a new and original way to make Mandela's government be accepted and taken seriously by all. It had a good message against the discrimination and the apartheid and had a happy ending, proving that one man can make a difference and showing the importance and the globalization of sports.

By: Vânia

Monday, 15 March 2010

Here are some older texts!

Gay Marriage - January

This past Friday, January 8th, the Portuguese parliament allowed the marriage of gay people (people of the same sex). This was a very polemic theme and it brought about many controversies among the politicians (and among the population), so they spent weeks making a decision about the issue.
The approval was celebrated right away with a marriage between two women in front of the Parliament. I think it was a good decision for the evolution of our society and it is a good improvement to end the discrimination against gay people and gay marriage.
People of the same sex don’t always marry because they are homosexual; sometimes two girl friends marry just to help one of them to stay on the country, for example. But if two people of the same sex love each other, I don’t see the reason why they shouldn’t be together and enjoy the same rights as the heterosexual couples.
The next issue will be if they should or not be allowed to adopt. I think that it should be allowed because they could help a lot of orphans and poor children.

By: Vânia

Here are some older texts!

Global Warming - January

Since the last decade it is possible to see the consequences of Human actions. The human beings don’t think much about the problems of our world, they just care about technological advances, richness or fame.

Global warming isn’t a recent thing; it is a problem that has progressed along the years.
Nowadays big catastrophes are happening around the world like earthquakes, tsunamis, insufficiency of water, as well as extreme high temperatures or extreme cold.
This problem even causes health problems like, for example, in China, people have to wear masks because of the air pollution or when we go to the beach we must put a lot of sunscreen because of the UV rays that cause more and more skin cancers.
One of the biggest issues of  global warming is that many animals are in extinction, for example, in the Arctic, or even animals that don’t resist the extreme temperatures they aren’t accustomed to.
Now I can say that people are becoming more realistic about the consequences of our actions, and are paying more attention to what they do. Even politicians are concerned about this issue and are making many conferences where they establish goals to reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere.
This is our problem, and the salvation of all next generations lies in our hands, so think twice before putting trash on the ground and spending money on things that you don’t need, that way we will save our planet.

By: Carla Sofia

Here are some older texts!

Mobile phone radiations ‘protect’ brain against Alzheimer - January

A study from the Investigation Center of the University of Florida proves that the radiations from cell phones can help protect and even reverse Alzheimer. For this investigation rats were used, which were exposed for long periods of time to the electromagnetic waves that are emitted by the terminals and antennas of cell phones.
The application of the experience in younger rats protected their cognitive capabilities, while older rats, already with memory problems, recovered their capabilities of memorisation. After a few months of exposure to radiations, the memory of rats has improved above the normal level.
A study from the Environmental Working Group discovered that Motorola and BlackBerry cell phones emit more radiations and Samsung cell phones are those that emit the lower radiation.
After that we think that people, especially teenagers, will have an excuse to use cell phones all the time. Some will prefer Motorola or BlackBerry to prevent or reverse Alzheimer, but most of the people choose Samsung and other cell phones that emit fewer radiations because of the studies that say that these types of radiations can cause cancer.
In the end, what should we believe in? Even if the two studies are true, you will not have Alzheimer, but you can have cancer.

Carla &Vânia

Here are some older texts!

Green School - December

The Staff and Students of Escola Secundária de Odivelas are bringing plants to the classrooms, since October 2009, to make the school a better place, more “green” and ecological.

This project started in the English class by initiative of the teacher. There are already many plants, for example : Polly, Peace, Broomstick, Harmony, Ebony and Ivory and we even have a new one, Carlota Joaquina.
The Plant adopted by 12ºE is Polly, she likes the sun and needs water 2 times per week
Join this project for a more ecological school, because you don’t have to be green to be “ green”.

Carla & Vânia.
Alice Kingsley while assisting a Victorian party learns that is an engagement party for her to wed Hamish Ascot. During the proposal Alice runs away and follows a white rabbit and falls in to a hole. A crazy world that she has previous visited when she was a child but doesn’t remember of being there. After that she meets the white rabbit, Nivens Mctwisp, the march hare, Thackery Earwicket, Tweedledum and tweedledee and Absolem the caterpillar. She learns that she must kill the Jabberwocky with the vorpal sword on the Frabous Day but she refuses because she can’t kill anyone even if her life was on the line making her the wrong Alice that the prophecy said to be. The Red Queen forces attack and capture Mctwisp, Ulileam the dodo and Tweedledum and tweedledee, while Alice runs away. The Knave of Hearts, Ilsovic Stayne informs the Red Queen of Alice’s return and the Red Queen orders her capture.


In the forest Alice meets Chessur a griming cat who leads her to Terrant Hightopp, The Hatter. There to runway form Stayne, the Hatter takes her to the White Queen castle but on their way to the castle the Hatter is captured and taken to the Red Queen castle. A lice decides to save him with the help of Bayard, a bloddhoud, inside the castle Mctwisp who now is a servant of the Red Queen gives Alice food to grow to a large size and fools the Red Queen into believing she is Um from Umbridge, thanks to her the Hatter is made into the official Hat maker of the Red Queen. Alice learns that the vorpal sword is inside The Bandersnatch den, to recover the sword she gives back Bandersnatch eye which he lost in a previous battle making him side with Alice. With the sword, she frees the Hatter and they all run away to the White Queen castle, on the castle she returns to her normal size but she remains unsure about whether she can kill the jabberwocky. Alice speaks with to Absolem who tells her about her first visit to underland and gives her the courage and belief to fight the jabberwocky. On the battlefield she fights the jabberwocky, in the fight Alice is saved by the Hatter, she climbs onto the jabberwocky back and she’s thrown in to the air and she slashes jabberwocky head, with his death the Red Queen forces turn against her and the White queen is crowned queen of underland, and banishes the Red Queen and Stayne to the outlands, to return home Alice drinks the jabberwocky blood. Back to her world she refuses to marry Hamish and decides to became an apprentice for Hamish’s father with the idea of beginning trade routes with China.



Leandra Neto
Ivo Santos

Alice in Wonderland - Scenery, Wardrobe and Visual Effects

In the movie we can observe a real scenery at the beginning, in Alice’s real world life, on the other hand in Underworld everything is fictional and full of colour and visual special effects, mainly in the movements of nature things, like rocks, mushrooms and butterflies. In this unreal world, there are a lot of virtual things that are impossible to exist, like animals that talk, cats that fly, caterpillars that smoke, playing cards that fight, flowers with faces and expressions, and so on, and so on…
Here, there are two courts: a red one that bellows to the Queen of Hearts and where everything is red and with a heart shape; a white one where everything is white and where there is an atmosphere of peace and harmony.
Except in these two spaces, where Alice is dressed according to these colours, she is always wearing blue dresses. We also notice a beautiful dress that hatter makes for her when she is very, very, little. Joana e Vanessa.

Alice in Wonderland – Language

In Alice in Wonderland we have British English that sometimes presents an Irish or Welsh accent that shows us some varieties of English.
Are used ancient words and words that don't exist, in a more formal structure.


There are moments in which the hatter speaks very fast and says many words, where he changes his accent and stays very angry.

In other situation, the twin brothers speak English in a way that only makes sense for them.

Tânia e Mário.

Alice in Wonderland - Characters

Alice
She is a 19-year-old young lady "who doesn't quite fit into Victorian society and structure." Her return to Wonderland "becomes a rite of passage as she discovers her voice and herself." Although facing pressures to conform to society's expectations, Alice grows into a more strong-willed and empowered heroine who chooses her own path. Alice changes size throughout the story, ranging from a height of merely six inches to a maximum of 20 feet tall.

Tarrant Hightopp, the Mad Hatter
The orange hair is an allusion to the mercury poisoning suffered by many hatters who used mercury to cure felt. The Mad Hatter is Alice's ally. They have an understanding about each other. They both feel like outsiders and feel alone in their separate worlds, and have a special bond and friendship. Mad Hatter is like a mood ring, his emotions are very close to the surface". Mad Hatter's clothes, skin, hair, personality and accent change throughout the film to reflect his emotions.

Iracebeth of Crims, the Red Queen
The Red Queen is the older sister of the White Queen. She also hates animals, and she proves this by using animals as furniture. The Red Queen is just like a toddler, because she’s got a big head and she’s a tyrant. Toddlers have no sympathy for any living creature, just bosses us around with no please or thank yous.

Mirana of Marmoreal, the White Queen
She’s a caption on a magnet of Happy Bunny holding a knife; cute but psycho. She is very eccentric and dramatic. She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. She really likes the dark side, but she's so scared of going too far into it that she's made everything appear very light and happy. But she's living in that place out of fear that she won't be able to control herself.

Chessur, the Cheshire Cat
He is a dapper tabby with the ability to appear and disappear. He is all calm, casual sensuality with a seductive grin that masks his cowardice. It's the cat's disembodied head that first appears to Alice in Tulgey Wood after she has been attacked by the vicious Bandersnatch. He offers to purify the gashes on her arm by licking them. Alice declines, although she allows him to lead her to the Hatter's Tea Party where the Hatter blames him for deserting them on the day the Red Queen seized control of Wonderland. Using his skills and the Hatter's coveted top hat, the Cheshire Cat later finds a way to redeem himself.

Nivens McTwisp, the White Rabbit
The White Rabbit works for the Red Queen, but is also a secret member of the Underland Underground Resistance. He was sent (by the Hatter) to search for Alice. The White Rabbit is an iconic character.

Carla e Vânia.

Hi!

We are from 12ºE English Class in Escola Secundária de Odivelas. In order to share our texts we have decided to create our Monday Afternoon blog. We chose this title because most of them are either written or edited in our Monday afternoon classes.
We hope you enjoy them and are looking foward to your comments!

Please notice the date and author at the end of each post. According to the nature of our work, it is impossible to post them in the order we wrote them.

Since we write mostly according to some subjects, tags will help you.
Thanx. :-)