Ying Ying’s Movie Review:

Stills from the movie Love and War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiSu3YCDEuw



I have placed Ying Ying's review
http://yingchen89.blogspot.com/2009/01/love-and-war.html#comments
on my blog because I want all of you to better understand the movie review writing assignment:

Saturday, January 24, 2009
LOVE AND WAR
“Love and War” is the world’s first animated opera film. It is a romance film. Bunny, a nurse, met with Bear on one day. They got married after falling in love. Bear went to the war with his duty. Unfortunatly, his plane was crashed down by the enemy rocket. He tried to escape. But he was shot to death by the enemy. Bunny was missing him seriously. He left her with a baby. It ended with despair. The soundtrack is very good in it. It is a astounding animation film.

Time 14:25
From youtube
Posted by Ying Ying at 7:46 PM 0 comments

First off, I’m happy that you wrote a review that’s based on a short film from the internet, and you picked a great film. You did give me enough information to find it, but I wish that you had given us the address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiSu3YCDEuw


CONTENT
You summarized the main things in the plot, but that is not a movie review. A movie review gives us the author’s opinion of the movie, and it helps the reader decide if they want to watch the movie. You did give us your opinion of the movie (“It is a[n] astounding animat[ed] film.”), but you didn’t tell us why you hold that opinion. And by telling the reader everything that happens in the movie, you spoil the movie.


COHESIVENESS
Your movie review is supposed to have an introduction, a body (supporting sentences — examples, explanations, or details that support the topic sentence), and a conclusion. In a paragraph, the introduction is often a topic sentence. Topic sentences contain both a topic (what you are going to write about) and a controlling idea (“what you want to say about the topic”):

http://www.eslbee.com/topic_sentences.htm
http://eslbee.com/topic_sentences2.htm

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/para.html


GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY
All of the grammar and the vocabulary in the following “paragraph” are correct, but it is not a good paragraph because of the aforementioned problems with content and cohesiveness:

“Love and War” is the world’s first animated opera. It is a romance. Bunny, a nurse, met Bear, a soldier, one day. They got married after falling in love. Bear went to war. Unfortunately, his plane was shot down by an enemy rocket. He tried to escape, but he was shot to death by the enemy. Bunny missed him terribly. He left her with a baby. The movie ended tragically. The soundtrack was very good. It is an astounding animated film.

THE TEACHER’S VERSION
“Love and War” (14:25 on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiSu3YCDEuw) is an animated opera that will captivate the audience with its music, its animation, and its story. The movie begins with a operatic soundtrack that seems both ridiculous and wonderfully appropriate as animal puppets in human clothes sing and act out the story. Through wonderful stop motion animation, you soon believe that these animals are not puppets but living creatures that live, love, and long for one another. The main characters are a bunny, who is a nurse, and a bear, an air force pilot. They fall in love, get married, and he goes off to fight while she stays home and cares for wounded soldiers. Will he come back safely? Will they be reunited? Will the story have a happy ending? The amazing thing is that you will have to learn the answers to these questions. You will forget that these are puppets. The music, animation, and the story will grab your interest, and they won’t let you go until the final credits roll.

HOMEWORK
Please choose another short movie from YouTube, and write a paragraph that has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Read, reread, and reread your writing again. Each time you reread your writing, remove any sentence that doesn't plays an important role, and add anything that's missing.

Kick Butt Comments

This was Pirata's comment on Mihoko's banana cake recipe. There are some small mistakes, but this is perfect! This is exactly how I want you to comment on the writing assignments:

-------------------------------------------------------------
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CONTENT
I think, it's easy and clear to understand.

COHESIVENESS
I liked the order that you wrote the recipe,
because it's easy to read.

GRAMMAR
The way you wrote 338F, it lacks the Farenheit symbol.

Add the eggs little by little and THE banana,
I think you forgot THE.

3 walnuts..... plural, not singular

And the last n.6, whipped cream, not whipp cream
-------------------------------------------------------------
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Well done, Pirata. Well done.

How’dja Do Dat?

This picture was created on http://coraline.com/
The original picture is from a book called Monkey Portraits by Jill Greenberg (Author) and Paul Weitz (Contributer).

A few students have asked how I made the picture in the post below: “Today's Question” (Monday, January 19, 2009). That’s easy (because an internet site does most of the work for you), and it’s difficult (because you can’t get there quickly, but don’t worry because the trip is fun, even if you get lost). First, go to this site: http://coraline.com/
It is going to take a long time for the image to load if you have high-speed internet access. (If you have dial-up access, it will probably take a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy loooooooooong time.) You need to enter the white three-story house on the left-hand side (look at the picture below). I’m serious! If you want to do this, you really need to enter the white three-story house (look at the picture below) on the left-hand side — not the right. When your cursor is by the left-side of the building, you will see an arrow-shaped sign with red lights (look at the picture below). Click on the sign. After you do that, it will reload again. It will take a long time again. (If you have a dial-up connection, take a potty break. What do you mean you don’t have to go potty? C’mon, it’s a long trip. Don’t argue. Go. Now!)

Now you see two posters in front of you, red curtains to your right, red curtains to your left, and an odd picture to the left of the red curtains on your left. Click on that odd picture. And, yes, you will have to wait for it to reload again. (If you have dial up, go make a sandwich. And don’t forget to wash your hands. What do you mean, “Why?” You just went potty, didn’t you? What do you mean you didn’t — oh, forget it!) After the animation stops, you should see an empty picture frame with the following inside:

ADD YOUR PHOTO
IMAGE FROM COMPUTER
UPLOAD IMAGE
IMAGE FROM WEBCAM
CAM CAPTURE

I don’t what happens if you click on “CAM CAPTURE.” If you find out, tell me. Click on … oh, wait! Hold on! I forgot something. You need a picture of a person. What? What did you say? Oh, you need to find one? OK. Go ahead. I’ll wait (♪♬ Oh, whistle while you work. ♪ Hitler was a jerk. ♬ He picked his nose and picked his toes ♪♪♬ … and uh ….) Got your picture? Good. Click on “UPLOAD IMAGE.” Then you will see, “I agree to blah, blah, blah.” Click “AGREE.” After that, you will have to find the image on your computer. On my computer (a Mac) I click “Select.” If you own a Windows computer, it says … well, actually, I dunno. Look below the picture. If you click on one of the arrows under “CHANGE FRAME,” it changes the frame. If you click on one of the curving arrows under “ROTATE PHOTO,” the photo will rotate to the left or the right. If you click on the “–“ or the “+” under “ZOOM PHOTO,” the photo will get smaller or bigger, accordingly. And if you click on “REMOVE PHOTO,” what happens? You can’t guess?! Yes, that right it – removes – the – photo. Duh! Now let’s talk about the buttons.

In the movie that this site is based on (Coraline), some strange creatures have buttons sewn onto their eyes. (Creepy, huh?) So you are supposed to put the buttons over your eyes, and you can if you want to, but you can put buttons anywhere. When you “hover” over the buttons with your mouse, you’ll see “ADJUST BUTTON.” You can use “ZOOM” to make a button bigger or smaller, and you can click on “REMOVE” to remove a button. OK. Go decorate your picture. Don’t worry about me. I’ll just take a quick nap. Wake me when you’re done. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzz! Huch hu- Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Huch-ch-ch-ch Zzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzz! Please ladies! One at a time! One at a time! Yes, that right. Give it to me. Yeh! You give that hamburger. You give me those fries. You give me that milkshake. OK. You can leave, ladies. I have my food. Zzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzz! Zzzzz! Huh?! Wha-?! Oh, it’s you. Are you finished with your picture? Do you want to save it? Yeh? Then click “SAVE.” Now you download it and/or print it. What happens if you click on “FACEBOOK” or “MYSPACE”? I dunno.

The End

The top picture is the white three-story house that I mention above in "How’dja Do Dat?" The bottom picture is the same house, and you can see the arrow-shaped sign with red lights that appears when you are on the left-hand side.
PICTURE CREDIT: http://coraline.com/

Wendy Wants to Know

Wendy (http://pinkberry778.blogspot.com/) asked me a question about one of my posts (“One Perspective on Spending”: http://monkey4cec2see.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-perspective-on-spending.html)
ORIGINAL:
Maybe I am wrong to ask why, but I dare ask you. Is that magic that you tried to withdraw $700 from the ATM; and it worked ? I still can not under stand why it was possible to do it.
EDITED VERSION:
Maybe I am wrong to ask, but, dare I ask you, when you tried to withdraw $700 from the ATM, did it work? I still cannot understand how it was possible to do it.

Yes, it worked. I was surprised, too! And here’s the background on the story. People think that I’m joking when I say that I’m poor, but I’m not. I really am poor. Of course, I’m not dirt poor. I have some wonderful luxury items. I have an almost new iMac (which I bought with a new credit card because my eMac “died” — well, it didn’t “die,” but it was very sick). I have a cell phone, a 2002 car (which was purchased when my ex-wife was my wife ☺), and an iPod. I use all of them for work, but I’m still very lucky to have such things. However, my job at CEC only covers my rent ($1,070/month) and some of my bills: e.g., credit card debt, utilities, and my phone). (By the way, I do not have “vacations” during the session breaks at CEC; I’m unemployed during those periods.) In addition, I have to buy some things to support my bad habits: e.g., food, gas, drugs (prescription drugs that is — see * below), toiletries, and coffee. So in order to pay for these things, I have to have more than one job.

I have two other classes now. I have a private ESL class with one gentleman, and I teach a group ESL class at a factory on Wednesday nights. (I used to have another private ESL class, but the student — a rich, lazy, spoiled young man who got all of his money from Mom and Dad — didn’t want to continue studying. Actually he never did any studying while we were together anyways, so his parents were actually wasting their money. Oh, well.) I am very happy with the students that I have now, but the class at the factory (my second major source of income) has not been held since mid November. (The factory’s owner said that they are too busy from mid November to mid January.) That class resumes tomorrow night (1/21/’09), but that didn’t help me last month.

Last month, I had to pay my rent and support the aforementioned bad habits, but I only had $100 in the bank, and I wasn’t going to get paid for two weeks. I told my private student I would give him a 30% discount if he paid for 12 lessons in advance. He did. I, also, borrowed $300 from my credit cards, and that maxed them out. However, I was still about $350 shy of my rent, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think it would help, but I went by my bank (Bank of America).

The guy at the bank said that he would not recommend it, but he had heard that customers could withdraw up to $700 from the ATM — even if they did not have $700 in the bank. (If you withdraw more money than you have, you have to pay a $35 overdraft fee.) I had $350 in the bank. I crossed my fingers, closed my eyes, and I said, “Please, God. Please let it work.” God said, “I thought you didn’t believe in me!” “Well … ummmmm, yeh. That’s true, but ummmm … why don’t you prove that I’m wrong?” God said, “You’re on your own, kid.” I put my card in the ATM, and I tried to withdraw $700. On the screen, it said, “You may be subject to penalties blah, blah, blah.” I pushed a button next to “I accept” — or something like that. I waited about 15 seconds, but it felt like 15 minutes, 15 hours. And then the ATM gave me $700! I went inside with the $700 from the ATM and $400 in cash, and I opened a new bank account with all the money I had in the world: $1,100. The next day, I gave the apartment manager a check for $1,070 from the new checking account. I made it. Phew!


*I had a stroke about four years ago, so I have to take eight medicines every day. Because I’m poor, I only have to pay $160 a month. If I didn’t get any financial aid, I’m not sure, but I think that they would cost approximately $500 a month.

Today's Question:

¿¿¿Writing Teacher???

Today's Word:

teach
v. tr.

1. To impart knowledge or skill to: teaches children.
2. To provide knowledge of; instruct in: teaches French.
3. To condition to a certain action or frame of mind: teaching youngsters to be self-reliant.
4. To cause to learn by example or experience: an accident that taught me a valuable lesson.
5. To advocate or preach: teaches racial and religious tolerance.
6. To carry on instruction on a regular basis in: taught high school for many years.

v. intr.

1. To give instruction, especially as an occupation.

Synonyms: teach, instruct, educate, train, school, discipline, drill These verbs mean to impart knowledge or skill. Teach is the most widely applicable: taught the child to draw; taught literature at the college. Instruct usually suggests methodical teaching: instructed the undergraduates in music theory. Educate often implies formal instruction but especially stresses the development of innate capacities: "We are educated by others ... and this cultivation, mingling with our innate disposition, is the soil in which our desires, passions, and motives grow" (Mary Shelley). Train suggests concentration on particular skills intended to fit a person for a desired role: trained the vocational students to be computer technicians. School often implies an arduous learning process: schooled the youngster to play the viola. Discipline usually refers to the teaching of control, especially self-control: disciplined myself to exercise every day. Drill implies rigorous instruction or training, often by repetition of a routine: drilled the students by having them recite the multiplication tables.

American Heritage® Dictionary, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2002