B1, WRITING ASSESSMENT 1 Let me tell you about Chuck Communicative goals: Use limited discourse devices to link sentences smoothly into connected discourse. Write short, simple biographies about real or imaginary people. Clearly signal chronological sequence in narrative text. 1. Think about… 1. Who’s your favorite singer? 2. What instrument does he/she play? 3. Why is he/she outstanding in the music industry? Outstanding: Important, distinguished 2. Words matter! To do well in this lesson it is necessary to learn a number of words. Please complete the following exercise. At the end you will have increased your vocabulary. 2.1. Underline the expression that best matches the idea of the boldfaced word or phrase. Have a dictionary at hand! a. Tesla was a pioneer in studying electric fields. - An innovative person - An intelligent person b. Tonight there is a gig. My friend Liam is playing. -A big concert. - An informal concert I&D Team 2018 c. I heard on the news he was convicted for murder. - Having a strong conviction. -Being guilty for a crime. d. An armed robbery happened at the convenience store last night. -Steal something using a fire gun. -Hit someone with your arms. 2.2. Match the word on the left with the meaning on the right. Write in the parenthesis the corresponding letter. 1 2 3 4 Word Assembly ( ) Iconic ( ) Part ways ( ) Underage ( ) a b c d Meaning A person who is less than 21 (U.S.) or 18 (Col). Really remarkable. Put something together. Separate 3. Read a bit! Read the following text “Let me tell you about Chuck”, a short biography about the well-known American musician. Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18th, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a song writer and a guitar composer. He is considered by many as the pioneer of rock and roll because of his distinctive sound and his particular performance on stage. At early age, “Chuck”, showed great interest in music, being his first gig a public presentation at Sumner High School. However, being still in high school, he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to a reformatory until 1947. After his release, he got married and was hired in a car assembly plant. During this time, he was heavily influenced by the blues guitar player and singer TBone Walker, encouraging him to join the Johnnie Johnson Trio. When touring with them, Chuck met the iconic Muddy Waters, who suggested him to part ways with the trio and contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records where he got his first hit: “Maybellene”. I&D Team 2018 While, by 1950, Berry had reached fame and fortune with several hit singles, motion picture appearances, and numerous tours that launched his career to the top, he was involved in different illegal acts, like transporting an underage girl across different state lines; crime for which he was sentenced to 3 years in prison. As well as his tax evasion in 1972, that led to a four-month jail and community service sentence. Finally, he was found dead on March 18th, 2017 inside his St. Charles Missouri house by the police. 4. Tips for composition: In this session you find grammar elements and composition strategies that help you with your writing production. Read the explanation; this is important for the next step! Writing biographies: To write a biography you need to take into account the following recommendations: Select a person you are interested in. Find out the basic facts of the person’s life. Start with the encyclopedia and almanac. Think about what else you would like to know about the person and what part of his/her life you would like to write the most about. Some questions you might want to think about include: o What makes this person special or interesting? o What kind of effect did he or she have on the other people? o What are the adjectives you would mostly use to describe the person? o What examples from their life illustrate those qualities? o What events shaped or changed this person’s life? o Did he or she overcome obstacles? Take risks? Get lucky? o Would the world be better or worse if this person hadn’t lived? How and why? Do additional research at your library or on the internet to find information that helps you answer these questions and tell an interesting story. Source: https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/homework-center-how-write-biography 4.1. What is a biography? A biography is a story of a life. It can be short (Three or four paragraphs) or long (A whole book). For the purpose of this exercise we are going to learn how to write a short one. Let’s start taking some notes about the questions in the tip for composition: I&D Team 2018 What person are you interested in for the biography? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________. What makes this person special or interesting? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________. What kind of effect did he or she have on the other people? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________. What are the adjectives you would mostly use to describe the person? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________. What examples from their life illustrate those qualities? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________. What events shaped or changed this person’s life? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________. I&D Team 2018 Did he or she overcome obstacles? Take risks? Get lucky? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________. Would the world be better or worse if this person hadn’t lived? How and why? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________. Time order words In biographies the order of the events is very important; that’s why you need to use some words that will help you organize your ideas to give the composition a sequence, all this taking into account whether you are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the story. Take a look to the following chart: Source: https://i1.wp.com/englishstudyhere.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/time-order-words.jpg?fit=1280%2C720 Look at the following example of a paragraph in a biography using the “time order words” shown boldfaced in the chart: “Prior to the creation of his project, Chester dreamt with having a very famous band. To begin, he was a very talented singer, he wrote many songs because it was easy for him to be a songwriter. Soon after he created “Linkin Park”, they became very famous. After a long time of being working with his band creating rock music, they decided to create more pop-like songs; this eventually made many of their fans dislike their new style of music. I&D Team 2018 4.2. Let’s now organize the ideas you wrote in part 4.1. Write the sentences in the corresponding column. Add the time order word you consider appropriate. Look at the example in each column. Before / First Next Sometimes / Last “Prior to the creation of his project, Chester dreamt with having a very famous band” “Soon after he created “Linkin Park”, they became very famous” "After a long time of being working with his band creating rock music, they decided to create more pop-like songs…” Use a separate sheet of paper if more space is needed. Common conjunctions Along with the “Time order words” you learnt, there are some other words that will help you create an organized text. Take a look to the following chart containing the most common conjunctions used in English language. I&D Team 2018 4.3. Complete the sentences with the right conjunction from the previous tip for composition. Pay attention to the example: Example: “To begin, he was a very talented singer, he wrote many songs because it was easy for him to be a songwriter”. a. b. c. d. e. _____________ I like pop music, I don’t like the way Lady Gaga sings. You cannot go to the concert _______________ you end your chores at home. I could not go to my band rehearsal _______________ I didn’t do my homework. I have no idea _____________ he bought that guitar! You should listen to classical music ____________ it makes one feel relaxed. Now you are ready for your composition. Let’s write something! I&D Team 2018
