About books

I have recently read El club de la buena estrella (the title in English I think is The lucky star club) by Amy Tan, a writer from the United States but whose roots are in China.

Last Friday, my students and I met in my Adult School in order to comment the book. Before talking abaout the novel, we had some Chinese tea and cookies. In addition, a Chinese student tried to teach us how to play mahjong (one of the most popular games in China) but she didn´t succeed. Then we started to talk about the book.

It´s difficult to explain the plot because there are four different stories and four manin characters: four Chinese mothers and their four American daughters. The main topics are:

• The relationships between mothers and daughters.
• The tradition in front of the modernity.
• The migrations.
• The Chinese and American history in the twentieth century.
• How the background influences the present.

One of the most surprising things of the novel is its structure. You don´t read each story from the beginning to the end. The four stories are mixed and the reader has a total view of the book when he or she has finished the reading.

In my opinion, it´s an interesting book, if you want to think about what happens when two opposite cultures coexist in the same space (in this book, San Francisco, California). For many women who took part in the book club it was an interesting reading. So, I recommend it.

Maximiliano

The last book I´ve read is called ¨The Power Of
Now¨ by Eckhart Tolle.With this book,the author tries to
summarize the deepest principles and knowledge of the most
important spiritual leaders in the world along the history:
Jesus,Buda,Tao,Yoga,etc...He is considered one of the most
important spiritual teachers in the world,although he is not
fond of any particular religion or doctrine.

With his deep words he leads us into the essence of
our inner being,showing us the way back home.He thinks we
shouldn´t believe in our thoughts,and shows us how to get
out of our minds and get into our lifes.We spend most of our
time thinking,judging and evaluating things,and we are not
able to stop that stream of automatic thoughts.He points out
the need of paying attention to the present moment and being
aware of -here and now.For him,this is the best way to break
down all that stream of continuous thoughts and feelings and
get into a new state of consciousness.

I think we must look after our mind,as we do with
our body,in order to be more effective,more calm,and be able
to drop out all our heavy mental baggage that limits us. If
you are looking for a new perspective about how to manage
your daily life,this book could probably make a difference.

Héctor Manuel Lloret Pardo. NA1-MJ

About films

Sara Martinez Mares, M1

TSOTSI

“Tsotsi” is the name of a very interesting film. The title means “killer” and it is the main's character name. I can start, then, by saying that the film is about a boy who lives in a shanty town in the middle of Johannesburgo.

I have, first, to contextualize these lives: Tsotsi dind't use to work, but when he and friends spoke about “doing a job” it meant that they would go at the city and would mug someone using weapons. Once they killed a man with no purpose and here is where the drama beggins. Tsotsi had a fight with his best friend, the Teacher, who tried to make Tsotsi reflect about what they did. When he had asked him where his mother was – in order to get out of him if he once had loved someone –, Tsotsi knocked him out and run away.

Whenever he stopped running, he saw a rich woman parking her car and automatically he stole the car – taking for granted he would sell it – and shot the woman who desesperatly tried to stop him. Suddenly he noticed that a baby was crying in the backside of the car. He decided not to leave the baby there, so Tsotsi took him. In the next morning he found out he had to feed the baby, but found out too that he could take care of someone and could do something good for him. The shoking part is that he had no ideas of how doing it. And then, something brilliant came across his mind: he saw a woman who had a baby too, he followed her and getting into her house forced her (of course, using his gun) to feed Tsotsi's baby. Meanwhile, he started to know the beauty of things, the clean house, the lights and colors of the woman's craftwork and, furthermore... he dind't notice he was falling in love with her.

Concluding this rude, but tender, story, it comes to a surprising end: he obeyed the woman who told him to give back the baby to his real family; without forgetting a really touching condition Tsotsi gave her: if he returned him, she would let him to ser her again. She said yes.

Postreading Writing: Blog comment

Write three or four paragraphs on Kressman Taylor's Unknown Address.

Don't forget to mention the development of the two main characters and the sociohistorical context in which they find themselves.

In the last paragraph, give us your opinion of the story, and describe the way in which you responded when you first read it.

Task requirements for the debate

1. Interaction should be balanced. Show that you can inititate new aspects of the topic.
   
2. Try to integrate what others have said in what you say.
3. Rephrase parts of what you have said to make the message clearer.
4. Use organizers and linkers (besides, also, first, etc.).
5. Use idiomatic phrases whenever possible (I personally think; absolutely, etc.).
6. Try to be focused and avoid irrelevant discourse.
7. Be good-mannered and use polite sttraegies to interrupt.
8. Give reasons for your opinions and illustrate them with examples.
   

January 2010 First Book Club

Did you survive Christmas? Well, if you are still in one piece, let's see how to approach the incoming month.

First of all The Book Club, which will take place as soon as we are back from holidays. As you all know the title is Address Unknown by Kressman Taylor.

Have you found out anything about the writer? Well, if you haven't, go into the wikipedia (English) and read and take notes to show how much you know.

Then if you have read it a long time ago, go through it again and take notes of what happens at each stage of the book. Who are the main characters? What are they like? Is there any development of the main characters?

What secondary characters are there? What role do they play in the story as a whole?

Is there a passage you would like to comment? Which one? What are the best ideas in the book?

What is the plot about? How does it develop? What sections or aspects were more shocking?

Is there a pattern or style? Which is it? What kind of writing is it?

Why was the book written? What is the context?

What effect did the book have on you? How did you respond to it?

Use these reflexions for the book club.

Was the language difficult? Are there any expressions you wrote down? Which ones?

What is the main theme? Did you learn anything from the writer's approach to the material?

Use these thoughts to lead you through a second reading and comments in class.