Author: internationalenglishfagerlia

Gran Torino

Gran Torino is a film released in 2008, staring Clint Eastwood – a war veteran trying to comes to terms with the multicultural society his neighborhood is turning into.

Gran_Torino_poster

(Gran Torino movie poster, picture taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Torino)

It is an excellent film, with a 8,2 rating on IMDB, portraying multiculturalism, its challenges and its benefits.

Before watching the film you will be given the movie poster and some questions about the symbolism and importance of cars, and the city of Detroit, about American war veterans and Asian Americans in the USA.

Write a short blog post where you analyze the movie poster – what kind of impression does it give of the movie?

Also, try to answer the questions you have been given in this blog post. It should be posted on your blog today, as you will have about 45 minutes to work with it in class.

 

My Son the Fanatic and Free for All

“My Son the Fanatic” is a short story written in 1997 by Hanif Kureishi about a father and a son living in London, and struggling to adapt. The father left Pakistan and loves England, he wants to become as English as possible, because “you can do almost anything here.” The son has never been outside England, but still struggles to find his place in the English society, and is looking for something else, going back to the culture and faith of his ancestors, and becoming more and more angry with the society he sees around himself – the society his father is so in love with.

“Free for All” is a short story written by Moin Ashraf in 1999. This story too depicts a father and a son, this time in the US, the father doing everything “right” to become an upright and successful man in his new country, and being frustrated at seeing his son leaving the ideals of his own country and tradition. It is a culture clash, between a son who has grown up American, and a father who still looks back to and values of his Pakistani homeland.

Write a blog post where you EITHER compare these two stories in terms of father-son relationships and the question of identity and belonging, OR discuss what these two stories say about being an immigrant, and raising a family in a different culture. What are these two stories saying about multiculturalism?

Multiculturalism

multiculturalism

Many countries today are multicultural societies, consisting of several groups of people identified by ethnicity, language, values and ways of life. Many English-speaking countries are multicultural, and the ones we often identify as multicultural countries are the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and India.

India is a complex, diverse country that may not be recognized as a multicultural one. Still, it consists of various cultural and ethnic groups that make up the pluralism that forms Indian identity with its many challenges.

The movie Lion brings us to both Australia and India. After having watched the movie, we will work with questions you can access here. 

lion

 

Another film that deals with multicultural societies is Gran Torrino. This film takes place in the USA. You can find more information about and questions to the film here.

 

Bilderesultat for gran torino movie

Even the Rain

The film Even the Rain, or También la lluvia, is a Spanish film from 2010.

220px-EvenTheRain

The film is about a film crew travelling to Cochabamba, Bolivia to shoot a movie about Columbus and his conquest.

ciudad-de-cochabamba While there, the government decides to privatize the water in the Cochabamba area, and water prizes rise with about 300%  only a few months. People are even forbidden to collect and use rain water. This leads to the Bolivian water war, with huge protests and demonstrations, and clashes between the people and its army. The film depicts both these stories brilliantly.

As we watch this, we are going to make use of FN-sambandets teaching material for this film.  (http://www.fn.no/Undervisning/VGS/FN-film-fra-Soer-Even-the-rain?for=elever)

Start by watching this short film in pairs, and discuss why some countries are rich and some are poor.

After the film:

1. Find out more about the Bolivian water war – why was the water privatized? Why are the inhabitants protesting? What was the result after the protests?

bolivian-woman-confronts-police

2. See this film about sustainable development. The water war in Cochabamba  is a multilayered challenged for society. How does the water war affect the people, the environment and the economy in the communtiy? What does that mean for a sustainable development in Bolivia? Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals are relevant for the challenges Bolivia faces in this film?

3. Why are some countries poor? How is the world community, or economy, keeping these countries in poverty? What can we do to diminish the differences in the world?

Sources: Translated and adapted from FN-Sambandet. “Film fra Sør.” 27.10.2017.  http://www.fn.no/Undervisning/VGS/FN-film-fra-Soer-Even-the-rain?for=elever. Accessed 10.11.2017.

Water

Hanna’s class:

Goal no. 6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goal is “Clean Water and Sanitation.”

E_SDG-goals_Goal-06

This is the last goal we will look at.

Why is access to clean water and sanitation so important? Why can this issue cause conflicts, both between companies, ethnic groups and even nations?

Infographic-Facts-about-the-global-water-crisis

In pairs you will choose a water-related conflict and co-write a text about this conflict. You can do this by using Google Docs or Padlet – just remember that both of you need to have access to the document.

You will need to include:

  • what is the conflict about? Explain the issues, and what led to this conflict
  • where and for how long has this conflict taken place?
  • how is the conflict being handled? Protests, demonstrations, law suits, armed conflict, etc.
  • what kind of solution would you offer to this conflict?

On Wednesday, you will join another pair to talk about the conflict you have chosen, and to listen to the research they have done on another water-related conflict.

drought

You will find a good overview of the water crisis here.

2db280607d6c448285a23789e5729b95

(Pictures taken from: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/,  http://downtoearth.danone.com/2013/08/13/infographic-facts-about-the-global-water-crisis/, https://waterfilteranswers.com/water-shortages/ and https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/cape-towns-water-crisis-5-things-you-should-know-20171019)

 

 

Writing a Project Report

After having completed International Day, you will write a project report about your work in preparation for and conclusion of, this day.

How to do that?

Some of the report you can already start to write, while other parts you will have to postpone until after the International Day has been completed.

The report will be published as a blog post, and will be graded.

What to write:

  1. What is the goal of this project? Short introduction about your tasks and the goal of Operation Day’s Work.
  2. What did you do in the preparation process: choice of topic, the rooms you chose to be a part of/plan, the information your group made for teachers and students, the posters for rooms and awareness.
  3. How you solved 2.
  4. Why you chose to solve 2 in this manner
  5. How the process worked
  6. What was good and what could have been done better and why.
  7. Reflection: How did International Day turn out – what was good, what do we need to do differently next time. What did you learn, both from the planning process and from the activities you participated in on International Day. How will you evaluate your own effort and work in planning and executing this day?project

(Picture from: http://www.gccoe.com/eductraining/index.php/project)

International Day

Work with this task:

http://bibliotek.od.no/oppgaver/english-3/

Do option 2 as a post on your blog.

Below you find a link to a google docs document. Choose two rooms you want to participate in on International Day (one black and one red) and write your name in the corresponding box. No more than two students per class in each box!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lAKgK29sX-2MK4zPX_r74ktpOliVCcI8p90dcjT4aL8/edit

Now find more information about the rooms (human library and other rooms/activities) in the link below. Make an information poster to be put on the door and which can also be shared with teachers and students before International Day. E-mail this to your teacher no later than Friday, October 27 1 pm.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CGXPmGSyXDtOhNhUflYZl_TRZoSToVYWqGdMg6w7BLs/edit

 

Modern Slavery

Did you know that there are more slaves in the world today than it was back before slavery was “abolished?”

Did you know that slaves are much cheaper today than ever before?

Did you know that people are born into slavery, live their whole lives in slavery, without ever knowing that they are slaves?

Poverty, hunger, desperation are all things some people know to take advantage of. Every day, they manage to lure men, women and children into slavery. Slavery exists everywhere, even though it is forbidden everywhere.

We will look closer at modern slavery since it can be closely linked to poverty, and we will use photographer Lisa Kristine’s TED talk as an introduction. lisa_kristine_human_slavery_14

Photo: https://www.lisakristine.com/shop-image-collection/modern-day-slavery/

 

Poverty

  • What is poverty?
  • Try to make up your own definition of this term
  • Who are the poor?
  • Why does poverty exist?
  • Will we ever be able to eradicate poverty?

Take 15 minutes to write down your thoughts on these questions, and then discuss with a classmate.

Quotation-Nelson-Mandela-Like-slavery-and-apartheid-poverty-is-not-natural-It-is-54-63-43

We are going to read to hand-out texts today, and work with them (one factual and one fictional.) The short story “A Real Lady” is written by an Indian freelance journalist and blogger, Nita J. Kulkarni. If you want to check out her blog, you can find it here. Kulkarni writes about life, politics, different issues, movies, literature etc, with a main focus on India, but not just that. Her blog is definitely worth the visit.

 

Before the Flood – or After?

As we have been working with the film Before the Flood in class, it is interesting to note that not everyone is convinced that we will wake up in time to do something…

http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/klimatrusselen/klimaforsker-tror-ikke-lenger-verden-kan-reddes/a/23926305/#xtor=CS6-6-%5B23926305%20klimaforsker_tror_ikke_lenger_verden_kan_reddes%5D