heterotopia

SPELIT08a möts i sal 0019, klockan 9.30

NVELIT09 möts i sal 0036, klockan 8.30

GOD JUL!

In the 70s the British economy entered into decline and was seen by many as being stuck in a rut. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister and she led the country through a tough period of economic reform. Her economic policies stressed reduction of state-intervention, entrepreneurialism and free markets. Before long she ended up in large-scale conflicts with the labour unions, especially the coal miners.

Her popularity grew as a result of the Falkland’s war, and she was re-elected and actually re-elected twice, which makes her unique as Prime Minister.

Her tough policies and her public persona earned her the nick name ‘the Iron Lady’. She now holds a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher.

The film
This is England (2006) is a film that gained critical acclaim. It tells the story about a troubled boy whose father served in the Falkland’s war. The boy is bullied but finds new friends in the skinhead community. The film is set in 1983, in Thatcher’s England.

Film analysis
1. Please make note of characters, their names, and the overall story. (If you missed the film, you can watch it here.)

Post notes as a comment. (This goes for both groups, both mine and Anders’.)

1. Read this text.

2. Answer these questions:

• Who? Who was involved?
• What? What happened (what’s the story)?
• When? When did it take place?
• Where? Where did it take place?
• Why? Why did it happen?
• How? How did it happen?

3. Read about linking.

and then do this exercise.

4. Finally, write a brief news article for an evening news paper. Post as a comment use the editing features available for posting a comment.

A preliminary plan for the course
Assessment criteria for the Text seminars
Assessment criteria for the News desk

Instruction for News desk

How-to for the News desk

Reading comprehension

A student requested some reading comprehension exercises. Here they are:

Advanced

Advanced

Advanced

Cloze

Cloze (basic)

The Victorians

Great Britain is the birthplace of  industrialism. The fact that they got industrialized first propelled them into a position of economic and industrial strength. Their position as the dominant world power, during the 19th century, was aided by their long standing dominance on the high seas.

Britain had for centuries been a major naval power but was undisputed in this capacity for over a hundred years (roughly from the Napoleonic wars up until the end of the Second World War [World War II, US English]).

Industrialism changed British society. It led to a class system with an affluent (or in some cases opulent) upper class and a quite poor working class. The wealth of Great Britain was also based on their colonies, colonies that in most cases were acquired by conquest or other similar means.

The 19th century is called The Victorian Era since the monarch of that time was Queen Victoria. She reigned almost throughout this century. The Victorians were industrious and hard-working. They also had strong opinions on morality, propriety and decorum. The stereotype of the somewhat stiff English gentleman can easily be said to have originated out of the Victorians.

Industrialism made some rich but was also very hard on many. Some parts of the country was so polluted with through massive use of coal in foundries and other industries that the country turned literally black from soot.

The division between workers and the upper classes is established in Victorian times. Dickens writes about it and the social injustice that it created in many of his novels (e.g. A Tale of Two Cities). This class system still, in some ways,  influence British society. Also the Victorian Era saw the birth of a new ideal for women, the Angel in the House. An ideal that stands in stark contrast to the large number of prostitues at this time (In 1857 Police reports state that there were 8,600 prostitutes in London alone). This apparent conflict of ideals has led to charges that the Victorians had a double standard of morality, in regard to women.

The Great War and the Second World War

Great Britain came into conflict with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Great War, where Britain was allied with the French and the Americans. The Great War had many reasons – chief among them were of course trade and influence on the world stage. The war was the last “chivalrous” war – where armies were pitted against each other on a battlefield with small civilian losses; for instance, armistices were kept during Christmas so that soldiers on both sides of the trenches could join in singing “Oh Holy Night”.

Ultimately Britain came out of that war victorious, insofar that Germany declared defeat, but 885,000 British soldiers and 100,000 civilians had died as a result of the conflict, making it the most costly of all Britain’s victories in history.

Second World War and beyond

The Empire remained but came under strong pressure during the Second World War. After 1945 it became clear that the power of the British Empire was broken. The Empire was, however, loosely stitched together again in the Commonwealth, but it was no longer an empire in the sense that the colonies obeyed the British Crown.

The era after the war is characterized by tremendous change. Although the UK was one of the winners, war had cost it dearly, and there would be many years before the economy was restored. In many ways the economical situation never returned to pre-war state, where British trade (alone) had accounted for roughly 40% of the world’s total trade (in shipping tonnes).

Most important among the many nations to form out of former British colonies were India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.  In 1949, these countries were the first in a long line of nations to claim their independence. Sometimes, this was a peaceful  affair, at other times, the struggle for independence was much more violent, see the Malayan and the Rhodesian Wars.  Either way, the UK became less of a world-spanning empire each year, and despite the fact that many of these newly formed countries remained within the new British Commonwealth the great economical gains that had been made from the colonies dissipated, dried up, or ceased completely.

In the last 65 years, Great Britain went from the most powerful country on earth, the only true Empire, to a modest economy among others within a European framework. This change had very far-reaching effects on all levels of society: the further loss of influence of the Royal family, the partial break-up of the very stiff class system, the rapid development of education, the gradual disbanding of a huge navy, air force and army needed to control and defend colonies.

Great Britain also made a difficult transition from the world’s industrial hub to a more of a service-oriented economy (although banks and other financial institutions remain to this day a strong part of the British economy – a testament to the strength of some of the institutions founded by the Victorians). Finally, Britain was also strongly influenced by the influx of large numbers of nationals from former British colonies thoughout the 60s and 70s up until this day.

To think about and discuss

• Why are empires created? Why are wars waged?
• Are there certain conditions under which empires are built? If so, what are they?
• Are there empires today? If so, is there something wrong with that? Why?

Notice
to – too
lose – loose
fun – funny
bad – badly
Letters are introduced: “Dear Mr Smith,” and they are ended with something like: “Best wishes,”
disease
Subject verb agreement
through, thorough, though
witch, which, *wich
myself, themselves
holistic, whole
I
allowed
Internet
spear, spare
beer, bear
English-speaking

English is the dominant international language. It is used as more or less the standard language in business, science and entertainment. The reason that English has spread across the world is the British Empire. Due to economic and military power Britain could invade other countries and make them colonies. Below you can see a world map that shows where English is a native, or very big, language.

English has the same background as Swedish if you look back in history. This is one of the reasons behind the fact that we understand English and speak it fairly well in Sweden. But compared to English, Swedish is a small language. For example: English has one of the largest vocabularies of any language. A recent English dictionary includes 600,000 words and their definitions (!).

English grammar is also quite peculiar. It is very rich and there are many exceptions to every rule. This makes it fun and a challenge to be a student of English – but it can also be very annoying.

History of English
The English language has undergone many changes over the years. It has developed by influence from different cultures and languages. Great Britain is an island and it has for this reason seen many visitors, and every visitor has left its mark on the language. But there are some events that were more significant than others.

English – a language of the world

English is spoken in many parts of the world. We have actually reached the point where English is spoken by more people outrside of the major English-speaking countries, like the UK and the US. For instance, 350 million people speak English on an everyday basis in India. This making it the largest English-speaking country in the world, at least according to some sources. According to perhaps more conservative estimates, the US is still the largest English-speaking country.

But more and more people use English every day. This development has actually changed our whole concept of what a language is. The Internet has also influenced this development. It was long ago when English ceased to be “the language spoken in England”. The current situation puts us in a position where we have to ask: who does the English language belong to?

Dialects and accents
English has many, many dialects or accents. Some are better known than others like Cockney, or Scottish, or Australian.

Assignment

Read the document on five important events in the English language. Re-tell the content to your friends (each in turn) and be prepared to tell the story to the class.

Discussion statements

• Everybody should speak at least two languages.
• In the future there won’t be so many different languages in the world.
• Tourists in my country should make an effort to speak my language.
• Life would be easier if all countries spoke the same language.
• I think learning languages is really important these days.
• Girls are normally better at learning foreign languages than boys!
• If languages disappear, different ways of thinking also disappear.
• I would like to know more foreign languages.
• Some languages are more important than others.
• English is an ‘international language’.
• Knowing foreign languages helps you to get a good job.

I have just received an e-mail which says that Prof. Montieth has been in an accident and that the lecture has been cancelled!

This means that we will have to cancel our trip to Uppsala on Monday 7th of December.

—
Please notice that you should go to your regular classes tomorrow.

Jag är på utflykt med Engelska C. Ni börjar på era tal så länge. Titta på den inbäddade instruktionen (nedan) och tänk på att vi ska på Moderna museet så ni får lära er mer om bildanalys på torsdag!

Så ägna tiden åt att göra research och leka med olika dispositioner för ert tal! Vi fortsätter på på Moderna på torsdag!

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Se upp med dessa:

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Exempel

Här finner ni ett talmanus som på nationellt prov som fick betyget Mycket väl godkänt. Läs hela. Läs även bedömningen.

Om du blir klar

Läs denna text. Gör uppgifterna på slutet. Posta som kommentar.

First third of The Collector completed by January 12th. Bring quotes and comments according to instruction to class that day.

You will be assessed using these assessment rubrics. Please notice that the assessment in the text seminars is formative. The assessment in the grand seminars, however, is more summative in character.