UNIT 8 - SOCIAL MEDIA

In this Unit  we are dealing with Social Media, which are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of content, ideas, interests and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. Social media refers to new forms of Media that involve interactive participation. 

The excess use of Social Media has brought up critisism. Criticisms of social media range from criticisms of the ease of use of specific platforms and their capabilities, disparity of information available, issues with trustworthiness and reliability of information presented, the impact of social media use on an individual's concentration, ownership of media content and the meaning of interactions created by social media.

EXCESSIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA - VIDEO

👉👉WRITING TASK

UNIT 7 - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Pride and Prejudice is the second novel by English author Jane Austen published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.

SUMMARY

                                    👉WRITING TASK

"I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine ."

UNIT 6 FAST FASHION

Fast Fashion means inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass market retailers in response to the latest trends. It is the bussiness model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs at low cost, driving high turnover of inexpensive seasonal and trendy clothing that appeals to fashion-conscious consumers.

The environmental costs of fast fashion

Water pollution, toxic chemical use and textile waste: 

fast fashion comes at a huge cost to the environment

text coursebook p. 69

👉the true cost of fast fashion VIDEO

WHAT CAN WE DO?

👉writing task 

UNIT 5 - ANIMAL RIGHTS

Animal rights means that  animals deserve certain kinds of consideration- consideration of what is in their best interests, regardless of whether they are “cute,” useful to humans or an endangered species.

👉 HISTORY OF ANIMAL RIGHTS VIDEO

student's paintings of animals

👉COURSEBOOK p. 51 ARTICLE

COURSEBOOK p. 56 Animals on Factory Farms

More than 9.5 billion chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows are slaughtered every year for food in the United States. The vast majority of these animals are raised on “factory farms,” where they are confined in huge numbers in barren, industrial settings. These facilities are not just inhumane, they are also environmentally unsound and dangerous for public health. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The ASPCA is calling for increased transparency in animal agriculture, an end to the cruelest factory farming practices, and adequate funding for a more humane food system.

relevant VIDEO "THE CASE FOR THE BETTER CHICKEN COMMITMENT"

COURSEBOOK p. 58-59: 

KEEPING ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY  video

endangered animals VIDEO

useful vocabulary Unit 5

   WRITING TASK FOR UNIT 5

UNIT 4 - VINCENT VAN GOGH

 

Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853 – 1890) was a Dutch Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. 

They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits and are characterised by bold, symbolic colours and dramatic, impulsive and highly expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. 

Only one of his paintings was known by name to have been sold during his lifetime (The Red Wines, 1888). Van Gogh became famous after his suicide, aged 37, which followed years of poverty and mental illness.

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Vincent van Gogh decided to become an artist at the age of 27. 

That decision would change his life and art history forever. 

VIDEO BIOGRAPHY

🧩DO THE PUZZLE OF VAN GOGH'S BIOGRAPHY

VAN GOGH brought to Life (video)

Van Gogh - In his own words (video)

One of his most famous paintings is Starry Night (1889).

🧩DO THE PUZZLE OF STARRY NIGHT

SONG STARRY STARRY NIGHT by Don Mac Lean McLean, 

who wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh.

It's a sad song about how no one understood his work while he was alive. 

He struggled to sell any of his own works. 

For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you

The message of this painting: Van Gogh was seeking respite (rest, relaxation) from plaguing (torturing) depression at an asylum in southern France when he painted The Starry Night. It reflects his direct observations of his view of the countryside from his window as well as the memories and emotions this view evoked in him.

⭐Find out more : VAN GOGH MUSEUM HERE

👉SELF - PORTRAITS

👉LANDSCAPES

👉FLOWERS

10 things you should know about Van Gogh

🎨Vincent Van Gogh visits the Gallery - Dr Who🎨

WRITING TASK ABOUT VAN GOGH

STUDENTS' WORK

THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN VAN GOGH AND DR GACHET

  

                                           

UNIT 3 - ON DUTY

 

How will you choose your occupation/ career in the future? 
On the basis of money, social status, skills and talents needed or other? 
Which are the most important factors for your choice? Why?

ON DUTY (coursebook page 26-27)

ARTICLE

DUTY = ΚΑΘΗΚΟΝ

The way Kavafis treats the issue of duty in his famous poem Thermopile. 

 

ΑΠΟΔΟΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΙΗΜΑΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΒΑΦΗ ΣΤΑ ΑΓΓΛΙΚΑ

Honor to those who in the life they lead

define and guard a Thermopylae.

Never betraying what is right,

consistent and just in all they do

but showing pity also, and compassion;

generous when they are rich, and when they are poor,

still generous in small ways,

still helping as much as they can;

always speaking the truth,

yet without hating those who lie.

 

And even more honor is due to them

when they foresee (as many do foresee)

that in the end Ephialtis will make his appearance,

that the Medes will break through after all. 

Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

* Greek pilots died on duty during wildfires : VIDEO 

WRITING TASK (coursebook p.33)

Have you ever heard or read stories about people who died in the line of duty?

Have you ever heard or read stories about ordinary people who sacrificed their lives to save others? You can search for such stories on the internet, in the newspaper headlines etc. and write a short narrative HERE

👆Different ways to end your narration 👆

UNIT 2 - A REFUGEE'S DREAMLAND

 Island of goats and dreams - Tilos, in the Aegean, has welcomed refugees with open arms.

Tilos has earned a new distinction, as a place that has actively welcomed refugees fleeing the war in Syria. Islanders say their decision to embrace a dozen refugee families – around 70 people in total – offers an example to the rest of Greece.

“We think that the arrangement we have here could be a model that could be exported to the rest of Greece and the whole of Europe".

This island could be an example of how to deal with the refugee problem and integrate them into communities. There is a genuine feeling of compassion here.

Tilos island is part of the Dodecanese and lies close to the coast of Turkey

Write a short paragraph
Ηow would you feel if you were a refugee and you had to leave your country OR
What would you do to improve the living conditions of refugees?

👉Writing Task