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Sunday 31 October 2010

Saturday 30 October 2010

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18 and the novel was published when she was 19. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France. Through research it can be determined the many influences the author was under during the creation of this novel. She had travelled the region in which the story takes place, and the topics of galvanism and such other occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions. Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. It was also a warning against the expansion of modern man in the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films.


Watch the video: a quick and easy plot summary of Frankenstein.




Click on this link and read the complete story: http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a "vulture eye". The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator's guilt manifests itself in the hallucination that the man's heart is still beating under the floorboards.

It is unclear what relationship, if any, the old man and his murderer share. It has been suggested that the old man is a father figure, or whether the narrator works for the old man as a servant, perhaps, that his vulture eye represents some sort of veiled secret, or power. The ambiguity and lack of details about the two main characters stand in stark contrast to the specific plot details leading up to the murder.

The story was first published in James Russell Lowell's The Pioneer in January 1843. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is widely considered a classic of the Gothic fiction genre and one of Poe's most famous short stories.


The film that you are about to see is based on a story told a hundred years ago by America's greatest master of drama and suspense ...

This story is told through the eyes of a madman ...






Thursday 28 October 2010

Halloween history
















How much do you know about the history of Halloween?
This video listening exercise about Hslloween will help you to practise your English listening skills.


Click on this link:
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/autumn-festivals/halloween/history-of-halloween-listening.html


Wednesday 27 October 2010

This is Halloween

"This is Halloween" is a song by composer Danny Elfman from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, performed by the residents of the fictional "Halloween Town", the film's main setting. The song is featured in both HalloWishes at the Magic Kingdom and at Disneyland's Halloween Screams. In Calaway Park, it is featured in the haunted mansion. It is also used as the background music for the Halloween Town world in the video game Kingdom Hearts.





[SHADOW]
Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

[SIAMESE SHADOW]
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween

[PUMPKIN PATCH CHORUS]
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

[GHOSTS]
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody screm
In this town of Halloween

[CREATURE UNDER THE BED]
I am the one hiding under your bed
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red

[MAN UNDER THE STAIRS]
I am the one hiding under yours stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair

[CORPSE CHORUS]
This is Halloween, this is Halloween

[VAMPIRES]
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

[MAYOR]
In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise

[CORPSE CHORUS]
Round that corner, man hiding in the trash cam
Something's waiting no to pounce, and how you'll...

[HARLEQUIN DEMON, WEREWOLF & MELTING MAN]
Scream! This is Halloween
Red 'n' black, slimy green

[WEREWOLF]
Aren't you scared?

[WITCHES]
Well, that's just fine
Say it once, say it twice
Take a chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night

[HANGING TREE]
Everybody scream, everbody scream

[HANGED MEN]
In our town of Halloween!

[CLOWN]
I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace

[SECOND GHOUL]
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair

[OOGIE BOOGIE SHADOW]
I am the shadow on the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright

[CORPSE CHORUS]
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween!

[CHILD CORPSE TRIO]
Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare

[PARENT CORPSES]
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween

[CORPSE CHORUS]
In this town

[MAYOR]
Don't we love it now?

[CORPSE CHORUS]
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
And scream like a banshee
Make you jump out of your skin
This is Halloween, everyone scream
Wont' ya please make way for a very special guy

Our man jack is King of the Pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King

[EVERYONE]
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[CORPSE CHILD TRIO]
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

[EVERYONE]
La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween! [Repeat]


Happy Halloween!

Tuesday 26 October 2010

You gotta be

This song was first recorded by Des'ree, one of the UK's most successful pop/soul singers of the 1990s.





Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
Stand up and be counted
Don't be ashamed to cry
You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Herald what your mother said
Readin' the books your father read
Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time
Some may have more cash than you
Others take a different view
My oh my heh, hey
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Don't ask no questions, it goes on without you
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace
The world keeps on spinning
You can't stop it, if you try to
This time it's danger staring you in the face
Oh oh oh Remember
Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
My oh my heh, hey, hey
You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day


Enjoy it!

Sunday 17 October 2010

Funetics

Do you want to enjoy learning phonetics? Have a look at this blog and you will have fun while you are learning phonetics and improving your pronunciation.

Blog: http://allphonetics.blogspot.com/

Enjoy it!

Phonetics in a flash

Hi folks,

Try this website to improve your pronunciation. It consists of 10 units:

UNIT 1. Alphabet action.
UNIT 2. The phonemic chart.
UNIT 3. Consonant sounds.
UNIT 4. More consonant sounds.
UNIT 5. Syllables.
UNIT 6. Voiced and unvoiced sounds.
UNIT 7. The Schwa.
UNIT 8. Prepositions.
UNIT 9. Linking sounds.
UNIT 10. Auxiliary verbs.

Link: http://www.go4english.com/media_file/flashs/996/index.swf

Sunday 3 October 2010