My Antonia

If you consider My Antonia a realistic novel, mention the characteristics that enable you to categorize it as such. Give examples from the novel.

Having studied Realism as a literary movement and its most fundamental characteristics, I can now attempt to analyze a piece of art and be able to decide whether or not a novel such as My Antonia is realistic. Being a fan of Henry James (Wikipedia), Willa Cather wrote My Antonia with many realistic features all influenced by this Realism’s prominent figure. Thus, My Antonia has been considered a realistic novel and, in this essay, I will provide reasons and examples from the novel to demonstrate it.

Realism can be defined as the faithful representation of reality having as the central piece the singular and common individual (Campbell). Therefore, any realistic piece will present the day to day situations of life, social relationships and the protagonists will be characters with strong real roots and marked development: people with whom you can feel more or less identified.

One of realism’s most fundamental characteristics is the representation of middle-class family (Campbell). I can perceive this characteristic in My Antonia because Jim’s family belonged to this social class. Jim went to college and then to Harvard which denotes that he was not poor nor rich, but middle-class. It was very difficult for sons of farmers in Nebraska to stay at the university. In book 3: Lena Lingard, the narrator describes “Some of those boys came straight from the cornfields with only a summer’s wages in their pockets, hung on through the four years, shabby and underfed, and completed the course by really heroic self-sacrifice” (Cather). This description does not apply to Jim’s stay at Lincoln because his grandparents helped him economically to go and experience a pleasant stay.

Another major trait of realism is the importance of the characters’ development over the importance of the plot (Campbell). Willa Cather did her part in the novel by developing Antonia, Jim and Lena fully. For example, Lena grew in the course of the story as I can perceive it with the following statements: “Whenever we rode over in that direction we saw her out among her cattle, bareheaded and barefooted, scantily dressed in tattered clothing, always knitting as she watched her herd. Before I knew Lena, I thought of her as something wild that always lived on the prairie, because I had never seen her under a roof.” (Cather) And, “'I don't want to marry Nick, or any other man,' Lena murmured.’I've seen a good deal of married life, and I don't care for it. I want to be so I can help my mother and the children at home, and not have to ask life of anybody.'” (Cather). These two statements show how her life was and who she wanted to become. From her early youth, she was determined to be an independent woman and help her mother. However, she did experience rough life at the beginning of her arrival to the United States because she was a foreigner and there is always homesickness and obstacles to face when being abroad.

The last element being used for this analysis is that realistic novels render reality closely and in comprehensive detail. Apart from that Cather uses beautiful language in all her very detailed description which, at the same time, accounts for My Antonia as a work of art. This comprehensive detail is very clear specially when used to describe the landscape. It was interesting to see how simple grass became the most energetic and overwhelming grass I have ever read. In the following quotation we can see how nature is transmitted to the readers: “But the little buzzing things that lived in the grass were all dead—all but one. While we were lying there against the warm bank, a little insect of the palest, frailest green hopped painfully out of the buffalo grass and tried to leap into a bunch of bluestem.” (Cather). Her way of describing is particularly close to what has been defined as “imagery”, using words to produce an image in an instant of time. “We were so deep in the grass that we could see nothing but the blue sky over us and the gold tree in front of us.” (Cather) represents the image she produced and this took me there instantly almost feeling the touch of the grass in my body.

After analyzing My Antonia, I have realized the magnificence of realistic works, especially this novel. Its descriptions provide the readers with a sense of understanding, specifically because I felt as if I was there in Nebraska when reading it.

By using these three main features in realistic works: representation of middle-class family, importance of character development over the importance of the plot and rendering of reality and in comprehensive detail, I have given reasons and examples which determine that My Antonia by Willa Cather is a realistic novel. With other features mentioned, I have also expressed that My Antonia is a work of art in Literature.

2. Which of the characters is most attractive to you? Say why.

After reading My Antonia, which I liked very much, I can see how important characters are in any piece of art. My Antonia is not the exception since it is a realistic novel which is characterized by the development of characters. In order to answer this question I have three great characters to choose from: Antonia, Jim and Lena. Well, I feel very attracted to Lena Lingard for many different reasons: the most important one being her independence. She was also a very goal-oriented person which can be seen after she had accomplished her goals such as becoming a dress-maker and helping her mother.

Throughout the story, Lena Lingard grew up and matured extraordinarily. From being just one of the hired girls she walked a long path to becoming a respectable woman who accomplished her goals. I always feel really identified with this type of women because they simply inspire me.

Lena’s sense of independence was extremely important to her and in some of her first interactions with the other characters in Book II: The Hired Girls, she makes it even more prominent. In the following quotation she expresses her desire of being someone on her own, “'I don't want to marry Nick, or any other man,' Lena murmured.’I've seen a good deal of married life, and I don't care for it. I want to be so I can help my mother and the children at home, and not have to ask life of anybody.'” (Cather). The independent woman was portrayed in her character because she decided to move to Lincoln and start her own business as a dressmaker: “I live in Lincoln now, too, Jim. I'm in business for myself. I have a dressmaking shop in the Raleigh Block, out on O Street. I've made a real good start.'” This independency is what has called my attention the most. It is also this independence which makes her the most attractive character of all to me.

Lena Lingard’s autonomy has also led me to think about the concept of the “self-made man”. This concept describes the capacity of human beings of becoming who they decide without much help of others or the society. Lena is a good example of that concept as illustrated in the following quotation: “Certainly she (Lena) had no one but herself to thank for it”.

Her being a goal-oriented person is also very attractive to me. I could read that since she was young she had her mind focused on achieving her goals. She stopped working in the farm and started working for Mrs. Thomas. From this moment on, she knew she wanted to become a dressmaker as stated in this quotation: “She (Mrs. Thomas) is going to teach me to sew. She says I have quite a knack. I'm through with the farm. There ain't any end to the work on a farm, and always so much trouble happens. I'm going to be a dressmaker.'” (Cather). Despite all the obstacles a fine young foreign woman can encounter in her life, she achieved everything she dreamt about. That is inspiration to a young woman like me and she has taught me that I can achieve everything I want to. She also wanted to help her mother and build a house for her: “This summer I’m going to build the house for mother I’ve talked about so long” (Cather) and even until the end she usually went home every summer and help her mother so much (Cather).

Lena Lingard was a woman full of sacrifice and she accomplished her goals in life. She was also very independent and did not like having people helping her out. She has been a real inspiration to me, and she is to me the most attractive character in the novel. As Lena has inspired me, I would love that she inspires my students, especially the female students, so I would love to invite Lena to my classroom and share her testimony of how despite all the difficulties you can still achieve your objectives and make their dream come true.

Bibliography

• American Literature. Cather, Willa: My Antonia. September, 2009. <http://www.americanliterature.com/Cather/MyAntonia/MyAntonia.html>.
• Campbell, Donna. Realism in American Literature. Washington State University. <http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm>.
• Wikipedia. “Willa Cather”. 4 November, 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cather>.

Realism

1. So far we have studied several works of US Literature. Apply your concepts of “What is literature” to one of those works and discuss why you think it is a work of art.

I must begin by saying that, without disrespecting the scholars, I disagree with the definition shown in the class of considering only canonical literature as good literature. I believe literature is something very personal and subjective. In my opinion, good or bad literature does not exist. In short, what is good for me might be bad for you and that is perfectly right. One cannot give a concrete definition of literature, and probably of nothing at all as Virginia Woolf pointed out: “One cannot hope to tell the truth. One can only show how one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold” (Project Gutenberg). My opinion has its roots in the article “What is literature”. In this article, the author states that “’Literature’ and the ‘literary’ then are highly subjective categories” (Laga) and its definition is left to the personal background. However, in the article, there are some characteristics which define what a work of art is. Using those characteristics, I will analyze one of the pieces of literary work we have discussed in class.

“The masque of the Red Death” written by Edgar Allan Poe can absolutely be considered as a piece of canonical literature, I think. The first characteristic is the imaginative or fictive character of literature as opposed to factual information. Poe’s story is a work of art in the sense that he invented the pest, the context, the settings and the characters. “The masque of the Red Death” is art because it is an imaginative story and does not contain any factual nor historical information. Secondly, literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language. For example, in the story Poe writes: “There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution” (Literature Network). This is an intensification of the language since he uses exaggeration by using the word profuse. The use of language in the story is definitely not ordinary, but denotes mastery. Thirdly, literature is non-useful writing. Reading “The masque of the Red Death” is of no use for us. It does not contribute to do anything pragmatic. Literature in that sense is not practical; nevertheless, I do consider thinking as something pragmatic, and Poe invites us through his story to reflect upon our fears. Lastly, literature is what I like to read. I do enjoy reading Poe, and whenever I write something it has macabre features like his writings. I believe Poe is one of the best American authors because it moves me completely. I could say that, according to me, Poe is a canonical author and “The masque of the Red Death” is a work of art. The article also supports my opinion because of all the above mentioned characteristics of what makes a piece of writing in a literary piece of writing.

In conclusion, “The masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe is literature because it is imaginative, intensifies the language, is non-useful and I like reading it.

2. Romanticism is a very complex literary movement. Choose one work you consider romantic and explain what it is that makes it a romantic piece of literature.

Throughout history, artists have created and been part of different artistic movement. Literature is considered an art; therefore, writers are artists. They have also been part of various movements. In our American Literature class we have studied Romanticism which I think is one of the most complex artistic movement to understand. Anyhow, we have dealt with it in our classes and I can say I have some basic knowledge regarding its basic characteristics. When I say basic knowledge, I am implying that to deeply understand a literary movement we need to devote more time to comprehend its rationale and read quite a number of pieces.

Romanticism’s basic features are the representation of supernatural and occult dimensions, human psychology and sensibility of human beings. Apart from these characteristics, it has also been called as the Counter-Enlightenment movement since it disagreed with the rational dimension of the epoch. It highlighted the intuition, imagination and feeling which were not considered by the Enlightenment movement. Another feature present in the romantic works is symbolism. Based on the previous romantic features mentioned, I will analyze “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a completely imaginative work since it does not have any factual information. Poe’s imagination created this great story and he did not have any rational reason for creating it. It does not have any reference to place, time, or characters. In fact, it does not even mention names, which makes it a romantic piece. Human psychology is also present in this literary work. We can observe that when the killer talks to himself after he had committed the deed: “If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.” (Literature Network) and also when at the very end he confesses the crime because he felt the officers were listening to the dead man heart beats: "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! - tear up the planks! here, here! - It is the beating of his hideous heart!” (Literature Network). In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe also showed the feelings of the main character by writing: “TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” (Literature Network). Finally, Poe uses several symbols in this work such as the disease, the heart beat and the planks. All of these do not have any explicit meaning and are merely left to the reader’s mercy of definition. We can see how this is very romantic because it is connected to the more psychological and sensible aspect of human beings rather than the rational.

In conclusion, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a romantic piece of literature since it has all the features of basic Romanticism. As exemplified, romantic authors like Edgar Allan Poe must include imagination, feeling, symbols and human psychology in their works of art.

Sources

• · English Department Brooklyn College. “Romanticism”. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html
• · Laga, Barry. What is Literature? A Refusal to Define or Limit. Mesa State College. http://home.mesastate.edu/~blaga/theoryindex/literaturex.html
• · Literature Network. Edgar Allan Poe: The Masque of the Red Death. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/
• · Literature Network. Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/44/
• · Project Gutenberg. Virginia Woolf: A room of one’s own. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200791.txt
• · Wikipedia. “Romanticism”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

SEL in the classroom

Learning is definitely best developed socially. Thus, what others think about you is relevant and can help you build your own identity. Peer feedback should be included in all classes so that students become more aware of how they see themselves and how others do too. I will mainly discuss the importance of peer feedback with adolescents and its richness.

Being an adolescent implies the construction of yourself. As Marshall and Stern pointed out "they are forming a whole picture in their minds of who they are" (2004); consequently, the formation of that self image can be extraordinarily improved by receiving comments from one’s peers. When we realize that another student believes you are not kind with him or her that feedback can help us change the image we present to our peers.

Apart from helping students build their self image, you can aid the class create their own identity. If we know each other, we can respect opinions, care about others and grow together. Respectful environments can be extremely useful when teaching. Having worked with teenagers, I could see how they bullied and insulted each other. I believe that with the incorporation of emotional learning exercises of peer feedback all these situations could have been somewhat avoided. In addition, establishing trust inside the class will absolutely assist students solve their personal problems. Thus, we will avoid misunderstandings and bad energy within the classroom.

Having peer feedback incorporated in the class can aid students build their own identity. Also, it will help the class be more respectful to each other and be able to solve problems more easily. As a final conclusion, peer feedback can and must be included in our EFL classroom because everybody will be at ease when dealing with problems and developing social interaction.

Women Suffrage in Great Britain

Nowadays, voting has become of the utmost importance in basically all the countries in the world. However, we, women, had been left aside for far too long when it was time to choose the representatives of our people. It is amazing to think that Great Britain had two extremely relevant Queens, Elizabeth and Victoria because they never extended the suffrage to women.
Although women were not allowed to vote at a national scale in Britain, they were allowed to participate in local politics. It was not until John Stuart Mill, who publicly supported women’s suffrage, was elected as Member of Parliament that some changes were made at a national scale. The creation of the National Society for Women’s suffrage became the first step of discussion about this issue.

There were admirable women such as Millicent Fawcett, Emmeline Pankhurst, Elizabeth Anderson and many more that became activists in the topic. Because of their leadership as well as their demonstrations and fasting the movement grew. What is relevant to consider is that they took part in this process and, probably, without them the extension of Women’s suffrage would have been delayed in time.

There was also the First World War which made many women become workers; therefore, they started to believe they had the right to vote. As their husbands were soldiers and many times killed in battle, they felt unprotected along with their families. Expressing and voting was a need for them in order to have Members of Parliament that could protect them as well as represent them.

In 1918, the suffrage was extended to over 30 years old single women. Anyhow, this was still something very discriminating because married women could not vote. In their representation they had their husbands. Leone Levi clearly exemplifies this when she states that “by marriage, the personal identity of the woman is lost. Her person is completely sunk in that of her husband, and he acquires an absolute mastery over her person and effects” (quoted in Wikipedia). It was not until 1928 that women’s suffrage was equal to men’s suffrage which consisted of voting at the age of 21 whatever their marital status was in Britain.

Voting is extremely significant because it is an opportunity to raise our voices and express our opinions. Every citizen in the world must have the right to vote as they are being part of a society. However, there are still countries in which this is not true at least not for women. Due to these strong and determined women, we can have a place in society. Their example gives us the strength to always speak our minds and fight for what we think is right and for our beliefs. It is extremely important that we take advantage of our power to vote in the memory of all those people, not only women; that were not allowed to vote.

Marriage

Back in the 1800’s, females were supposed to get married with the finest and greatest gentleman. Income was of great importance; therefore, marriages were predominantly arranged by the amount of money the gentleman owned. However, in the books “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Emma” by Jane Austen we see that money has nothing to do with the main couples’ marriages.

Ms. Eyre fell in love with Mr. Rochester who was her master. After getting acquainted they started being really close to each other, and they were involved in a beautiful and rich relationship. “Jane, will you marry me, a poor blind man with one hand, twenty years older than you?” (Bronte, 100). This quote reflects that Mr. Rochester was not a good match due to his conditions, but love was greater and Jane accepted to marry him. Their love was great and powerful; they could be together overcoming all obstacles.

In “Emma”, Emma Woodhouse marries fine Mr. Knightley, whom she was acquainted to her entire life, without the need of money because she is rich from the beginning. She was happy to accept him although she never thought of him as the love of her life, or she never realized how much she loved him.

Although the stories are very similar, there is one really significant difference: the couples had different paths to fulfill love. In “Jane Eyre”, the main couple had to cope with many obstacles to finally be together. First, she was a governess at his house, Thornfield; therefore, they could not be together. Then, they finally admit they love each other, and they decide to get married. But, he was already married, and she ran away. After some time, she came back to Thornfield and saw the house was burnt. Mr. Rochester’s wife sat fire in Jane’s old room, and he was injured due to attempting to rescue his wife who jumped from the roof and died. Although he was an old blind man, Jane Eyre marries Mr. Rochester after inheriting 5.000 pounds which shows she did not need his money.

In “Emma”, Emma and Mr. Knightley were very good friends. “All her life, Emma had respected Mr. Knightley. Now she knew that she loved him too” (Austen, 100). Never did she realize he was the one she wanted to be with. And, he was feeling the same. One day he declared he loved her and she responded in the same way. “When Emma and Mr. Knightley returned to the house together their happiness was perfect” (Austen, 105). They got married and lived happily ever after.

In both stories, the main couples get married, although their paths to love are different. While in “Jane Eyre” they tried to be together overcoming all obstacles with their love as a weapon, in “Emma”, Emma and Mr. Knightley declared their love and got married within a month. These differences can be understood by investigating about the authors’ lives. Their lives can make their novels and plots indeed really different.

Applied Linguistics Journal

Chapter I
Language, Learning and Teaching


· As you start(ed) your foreign language class, what is your overall emotional feeling? Are you overwhelmed? Challenged? Unmotivated? Is the course too easy?

I have been studying English at the University for two years and a half so far. In my early experience—first two semesters—I was very disappointed with the level of the course. I thought that it was too basic and too easy for me. This opinion was made without even knowing my level of English because at the beginning I thought I was going to be completely lost. After being in several classes of Language 1, I understood that I really knew the language and that it was really easy for me to understand and learn it. These are the reasons why I thought that the contents were so easy and, maybe, the reasons why I felt so unmotivated. For me, being in those lessons was a waste of time because I already knew the contents and I felt could learn more things.

However, English has always been extremely interesting for me. It is definitely my favorite course at the university because I love it. That is why I am very happy when I am in my language classes now. Moreover, there are so many things to do and to learn that I consider English as really challenging. What I like about English is that you will never stop learning new things for it is a language and languages change all the time. Also, there are so many fields related to English teaching I would like to explore such as Literature.

In addition, it is amazing to see that in two years and a half I have been able to accomplish a good command of English. In so little time, I have learnt how to write, speak, read and listen in another language. If someone would have asked me when I was still at school if I thought I could ever perform in another language I probably would have said no, or at least not in so short time.

As a conclusion, I feel great when I enter my language class. It is so interesting and there are so many things I still need to learn. Being in my classes is not a waste of time anymore. At the moment, I am developing my writing skill and I love to write. Another thing that helps me is to know that I am good at English, so it is not something I need to struggle in order to acquire. I feel very confident in my English classes and with my classmates because, even though we are not close friends, we know, respect and help each other.

Chapter II
First Language Acquisition

· As you learn(ed) a foreign language, did you feel any of the learning was due to a “knack” you had for it? Think of some examples to illustrate either the presence or the absence of some ability to pick up the language.

It is so funny to imagine some examples related to this question because my learning has been full of “knacks”. I do not study for my language classes. What is more, I have never studied for an exam. And I imagine that would not have been possible if it was not for my own abilities in learning English. If I reflect about my English classes at school, they were normal lessons taught in Spanish. How did I acquire my pronunciation? I do not really know. Maybe—and this is what I truly believe—is because of my good ear. In my opinion, having a good ear is completely necessary in order to acquire second language skills. As I have a good ear, I have been able of correctly pronounce most of the words and also to gain fluency and accurate stress. Because of this ability, I feel really confident when speaking in front of my classmates or my teachers. If I think about it most of the times I just know something because it sounds right.

Another ability I feel I have to facilitate my acquisition of this foreign language is my memory. I have such a good memory that once I hear or read a word, I remember its context and how it can be used. The same happens when I look up for the meaning of a word. Even better, as I am a good reader I remember many words that come from my readings. This is a great ability I have so as to gain new vocabulary. I cannot really think of concrete examples, but what I can say is that I always guess the answers—most of the times correctly.

It is exposed in this chapter that sometimes your abilities are inherited from your parents. If I reflect on this, I cannot agree less. My parents have never been good at English. Furthermore, my mother had horrible grades at school and my father can only remember: open the door and close the window. Maybe inheritance is not my case.

Chapter III
Age and Acquisition

· Children might have some secrets of success: not monitoring themselves too much, not analyzing grammar, not being too worried about their egos, shedding inhibitions, not letting the native language interfere so much. In what way did you, or could you, put those secrets to use in your own learning?

Fortunately, I do not have problems in learning the language. Meditating about it and about the following: not monitoring themselves too much, not analyzing grammar, not being too worried about their egos, shedding inhibitions, not letting the native language interfere so much, I had reach to this conclusion: my learning English is similar to children learning their first language.

I do not monitor myself so much. I let myself go and be free in my language class. For example, I am not so aware of my grammar constructions; so many times I do not realize I am making a mistake. And if I do, I try to fix it right away. On the other hand, I do monitor myself in my speaking, especially after our phonetics course during this year’s first term. I am so conscious of my lacks in this skill that I am always aware if I am saying things accurately. This is really annoying for me because I think I am better than that, so I should not be paying so much attention in my pronunciation.

As I was saying in a previous entry, I have a really good ear. For this reason, sometimes I know things are right just because they sound right to me. For this reason, I am a student that makes guesses. Thus, I do not analyze grammar all the time. I am a more holistic type of learner. But, I have to admit that my lexico-grammar program has been really helpful for me.

About inhibitions and egos, I am sometimes afraid of making a mistake because I have always been a good student, so when I make a mistake my closest classmates make fun of me. I know it is only kidding, but it still makes me be afraid of making mistakes. I have some reputation to look after. Anyway, as I have a good command of English, I am not afraid of talking in the class, giving my opinions, arguing, discussing and so on. This has definitely increased my self-esteem and my confidence. It is amazing that English can make me feel so good about myself.

In other words, I believe I have put into practice all these secrets and they are undoubtedly working on my favor.


Chapter IV
Principles of Human Learning

· Rogers recommended “non-defensive” learning. Do you feel that you are learning to defend yourself against the teacher’s disapproval, or against your classmates, or against bad grades? Are your classmates your allies or competitors?

When I was in first year something very unfair happened. Two of my classmates were promoted to second year in language class only. I asked our headmaster why I could not have the same opportunity as my fellow classmates; she said they had special skills. In short, she said they were better than me. I suppose they were better, but I was very good as well. I could have taken so much advantage out of it. This has been something that undeniably has affected my learning and the way I feel about my classmates. Unfortunately, I believe that I am learning to defend myself against everybody. I need everybody to realize how good I am. I need to show myself that I am a good English speaker despite my headmaster opinion. I defend myself against my classmates as well. I need to prove that I am better than everybody in my generation.

Regarding grades, I also defend myself against them. My family does not have much money, so I need to have good grades so that I can study with scholarships. I have many plans for my future, but I need to get scholarships to fulfill them. Moreover, I am studying at this university with a scholarship and I want to study literature abroad. If I lose my scholarship, it would be really hard—if not impossible— for me and my family to pay for my studies.

Because of what happened, I believe my classmates to be my enemies. Unconsciously, I am fighting against them every day to be better. It would be a pity if I lose opportunities because other classmates gain them. But, believing they are my enemies does not imply that I do not help them or vice versa. I reflect that this is only on my mind; nevertheless my acts are not based on this feeling.

I believe that this should change. In my opinion, one should learn because he/she feels pleasure doing it. I think my learning would be so much better and pleasant if it was not for my resentful feelings about my previous bad experience.


Chapter V
Styles and Strategies

· Using the list of learning strategies (Table 5.2), describe examples of two or three of them that you have already used. Pick one or two that you don’t use very much and list them as your challenge for the near future.

Reflecting on my own learning there are several learning strategies I apply in different classes and contexts. Regarding my English learning strategies I have identified three that I frequently use. These are: self-evaluation, contextualization and cooperation.

Concerning self-evaluation, I am always evaluating my performance and the activities I am carrying out outside the classroom. Outside the classroom, I read books—especially Jane Austen’s novels and other writers such as the Brontë’s sisters and Patricia Cornwell—; I do exercises regarding grammar and vocabulary and I also speak by myself. When I execute these activities, I try to be very objective and evaluate if I am doing them right. Another thing I do is to read what I have written in previous semesters. Thus, I try to fix my own mistakes and I learn from them.

Secondly, I use contextualization. Contextualization is to use a word in a context. I use this strategy very much, principally with new words. So, whenever I learn a new word I use it as much as I can in all my classes. Consequently, I get every teacher to listen to it and if it is wrongly used they can correct me immediately. I think this is a very effective way of proving one’s understanding. For example, the other day I learnt the word somewhat. It was not completely new for me, but I did not use it so much. Therefore, I used it in my language class and even in an essay we were writing.

Finally, I really use cooperation. Nevertheless, I prefer to be helped by students that are better than me because many times my classmates do not see my mistakes so it is not really helpful for me. For example, we use cooperation very much in Sabrina’s class. When we write something she asks us to bring it before the deadline so that we can have one or two classmates correcting our paper. That way, they can see mistakes we—the writers—cannot see.

Although I use the described above strategies, I think I should start putting into practice the following strategies: note taking and self management. This would become a challenge for me, but I suppose I can make it.

I am horrible at note taking. I cannot get myself to take notes because I do not feel is necessary for me although sometimes I cannot really remember my classes or the explanations teachers give. I believe that note taking is really helpful so I will try to apply it to most of my courses.

I also need to apply some self management. I need to be conscious of the ways I learn to make my learning easier and more effective. I need to know myself in order to be aware of my learning processes. Otherwise, how am I supposed to understand my students’ learning processes if I do not know my own.

How do I learn?

Being in the university demands learning. Therefore, we must be really conscious of the majority of the processes that occur in our brain while learning. By knowing all the processes within learning, we will become more effective and better learners. We need to know what happens inside us whenever we learn something because it will help us notice when we are failing, and even better, it will help us decide what to do about it. Strategies, skill development, met cognitive skills are all possible if we reflect upon our learning. Otherwise, we will not be effective, conscious, critical and good learners. Throughout Applied Linguistics and other classes such as Ciclo Vital, we have been encouraged to get to know ourselves and realize how we learn. Thus, an attempt to know the processes within my own learning process will be made in this essay. Also, we will discuss other topics that are relevant in the learning of a foreign language such as useful strategies, language ego and identity issues, facilitative and debilitative anxiety and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Useful Strategies in Language Acquisition

“Strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information” (Brown 113, 2000). Firstly, I do not know if I can talk about strategies when I think about my foreign language acquisition because many times I do not realize what strategies I am using; although, I am able to notice when I am doing something that it is not working. Not knowing what strategies I use is mainly because of my “knacks”, these strange occasions when something just sounds right; although, you do not know why or how to explain, for language. But, looking back at the readings, I can say what strategies I have found useful in my process of learning English. First, I am responsible for my own learning; therefore, whenever a problem occurs, I do not blame my teachers or other learning conditions, but I reflect upon what I might have done wrong. Second, I have made opportunities to practice my language both inside and outside the class. In these three years studying I have known almost 20 American students to whom I have spoken to in English. Third, I self evaluate all the time. Grades cannot always show your progress, so you need to keep record of how much you have learnt and how have you done it. However, you need to be extremely critical and objective because otherwise you will evaluate yourself inappropriately. Lately, I have realized that I ask too many questions, but this is actually a strategy I use to learn more. So, I use the strategy of question for clarification. Whenever I am not so sure of what the teacher is saying or whenever I disagree with him/her, I need to be persuaded and convinced that what they are saying is right. For that, they need to provide strong arguments. If I am not convinced, I look it up on the Internet or ask another teacher. Taking charge of my own learning, practicing inside and outside the classroom, self-evaluation and asking for clarification are strategies I use, and they are really useful when you want to learn anything. If I say anything is because I do not only use them when learning English, but I use them in every class I have.

Language ego and identity issues

Another important topic seen in our classes that called my attention greatly was language ego and second identity issues. One reason why I like this topic so much is because it happens to me. I am a totally different person when I speak in English. Could this be dangerous? I do not think so, but as everything in life, it has advantages and disadvantages. According to Brown, “As human beings learn to use a second language, they also develop a new mode of thinking, feeling, and acting—a second identity. The new language ego, intertwined with the second language, can easily create within the learner a sense of fragility, defensiveness, and a raising of inhibitions” (61, 2001). However, it is important to say that the just mentioned extract refers to the second identity and language ego of people that feel or are weak in the command of the language. As I feel really confident with my English level, the opposite happens regarding my language ego. I feel confident and less inhibited because I believe that I communicate so much better in English. But, this can definitely become a disadvantage because in my reality I am a Chilean girl, my parents speak Spanish; thus, I need to learn to communicate in my first language. Both language ego and second identity are unavoidable because while acquiring the second or foreign language, you are learning a new set of functions, a new culture, styles, and so on. As Ogden states, “Broadly speaking, individuality has its roots in psychological dispositions, both inherited and acquired” (349), we acquire a second identity along our language acquisition. It is necessary for us to use these positively and not to let them impede our language learning process.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

“Motivation is one of the most important factors in your success in English. Motivation means having a real purpose in learning English, or really wanting to learn English for a reason” (Brown 17, 2002). However, there are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. According to Baquero and Limon, the intrinsically motivated conduct is the one made only for the interest and pleasure of making it; the extrinsic motivation is the one that leads the individual to making certain conduct in order to satisfy other motives which are not the activity or conduct itself[1] (114). Which is better? I would say that intrinsic motivation is much better for the person than extrinsic motivation because it involves one’s own desires. In my language learning, I have been both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated, especially in the case of grades. But, although I try to have good grades, this is only because I want to have opportunities latter in life that are only possible if I have good grades.

As teachers we can use extrinsic motivation, but we should not overuse it because it loses its power. Therefore, we must try to encourage and motivate our students intrinsically. In addition, we will not always have something to be given in exchange for doing an activity or behaving in a certain way. Many times, we have to do things without receiving anything back, so extrinsic motivation is not useful for life. We have to bring pleasure back to teaching and learning, so that every student feels motivated not because of grades, awards, or prizes, but because he/she really wants to learn.

Facilitative and debilitative anxiety

“Anxiety means that you are afraid of making mistakes because you feel your teacher will think you are stupid or your classmates will laugh at you” (Brown 26, 2002). As well as motivation, there are two types of anxiety: facilitative and debilitative. Facilitative anxiety is the one that allows people become more aware and do different things. In other words, it does not inhibit students and lets them take risks. Debilitative anxiety is the anxiety that makes people feel weak regarding their performance and inhibits students when risking. The previous quote describes this type of anxiety. Yet, another distinction must be made concerning anxiety: trait anxiety and state anxiety. Trait anxiety is always present in some people, and it is a predisposition to be anxious. State anxiety, is the one present in specific and momentary events.

Facilitative anxiety has been a key in my language learning process because it allows me to be more alert than usual in my classes. Furthermore, this facilitative anxiety is very like state anxiety because I do not consider myself as being predisposed to be anxious. Therefore, being stately anxious allows me to take risks, make guesses and make mistakes. Thus, I can become an active learner inside my classroom.

As well as any other aspect, we must make anxiety work for us and empower our learning experience. In some time from now, we must help our students accomplish the complex work of making anxiety work for them.

Throughout this paper, different aspects of any learning process such as useful strategies, language ego and second identity, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and facilitative and debilitative anxiety have been named, described and related to my own learning process. The extremely complex task of acquiring a target language involves these aspects and many others that are as relevant as the mentioned above. Being students, we must know how to understand these aspects. Being teachers, it is our job to encourage and help our students in this great task. Therefore, we need to know and understand every theory, concept and aspect to be considered in the task of acquiring a foreign language, so that we help our students. This applied linguistics course has been really helpful to learn about language acquisition.


[1] Translated by myself

Holocaust in “The Pianist”

"... in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again." - Anne Frank

Throughout history, several abominable events have happened. These historical episodes have shown us that humans are able to do the best and the worst. Just to mention one example, the bombs thrown by U.S planes in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War (1939-1945). In the same war, another cruel episode happened: the Holocaust. In the Holocaust almost 6 million Jews were killed in Concentration camps and ghettos. The most affected populations were in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. How the holocaust in Poland occurred as depicted in the movie The Pianist will be presented in this essay.
During the years 1939 to 1945 a Great War happened between The Allies: Great Britain (including the Commonwealth), Free France, URRS, the United States and China and Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Finland, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria (Fernandez, et all, 1996). There were several reasons why this war was developed. Some of them will be following stated. One of the reasons was the extreme nationalism present in Germany, Italy and Spain which would later become the Rome-Berlin Axis. Another was the breakage of the Treaty of Versailles by Germany because Adolf Hitler, ruler of Germany and member of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterparte) decided to rearm the army and buy new armament. Then, Nazis occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Finally, the Nazis invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939 which is another reason of the outbreak of the war because Great Britain protected Poland (Richard Fuller, 2006).

Because of the war, Hitler decided to replace all the workers who were being called to the war with many citizens from different of his occupied countries. This was at the beginning the reason of creating different concentration camps such as: Drancy (France); Auschwitz, Treblinka and Belzec (Poland) and Bergen- Belsen and Buchenwald (Germany) (Fernandez, 2004). It was not until he decided to kill the major enemy, Jews who were impure of race according to him, that these concentration camps were known as extermination camps.

This entire extermination is known as the Holocaust. According to historians from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community (2009).

This definition is close to the definition shown in the movie The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski in which he shows how the Jews were being selected to work for the Nazi Germany. In the movie, Jews were being discriminated against at the beginning by not allowing them enter some public buildings and parks. Then, by restricting their amount of money at only 2000 zlotich and later making them wear a star in their right arms. Another type of discrimination was having Jews walk in the street and not the sidewalk.

In this film, we see that Jews in Warsaw were removed to ghettos in which they lived in very poor conditions. After that, they were selected to work for Germany and Nazi soldiers would kill people from the ghetto everyday. That is how the extermination of the Jews began. Later in the movie, they were transported to other places, concentration camps, in which you had to do much work and receive poor portions of meals which made the sanitary conditions worsen. Once they could not continue working, they were mercilessly killed.

From an historical point of view, the movie portraits flawlessly what happened during the Second War World with the Jews in Poland because it follows the historical succession of the tragic episode. Almost all of the events previously described in this essay are also described in the book Polonia en Defensa de la Libertad 1939-1945. As it reads, “Los guetos supusieron una etapa de transición para la aniquilación completa de los judíos que vivían en el territorio del Tercer Reich y de los países ocupados por él.” (Krzysztof and Skalski, 2006).

In conclusion, every event is formed by its circumstances. In this essay we have seen how the Holocaust in Poland happened as depicted in the movie The Pianist, and what the context to that episode in history was like. However, this is a brief description since there are so many issues to discuss that are involved in the extermination of the Jews and the war itself that touching upon them would take far more than an essay. I would really like to see that what happened in that period is learnt by all of us humans so that it will never happen again.

Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek

We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future. We were going to be
lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers.
We had dreams, then we had no hope.
We were taken away in the dead of night
like cattle in cars, no air to breathe
smothering, crying, starving, dying.
Separated from the world to be no more.
From the ashes, hear our plea.
This atrocity to mankind cannot happen again.
Remember us, for we were the children
Whose dreams and lives were stolen away.
(Holocaust Poetry, 2008)

Finally, the debates (revised)

In the first debate we discussed about “Professional teaching in the school". I think this debate was incredibly well-prepared, because the group members really thought about the arguments and counterarguments that could be used in the debate. However, the team that was against professionals in schools should improve the use of logos because they did not show any statistics that could have given them a strong argument against the other team. Another important characteristic of the debate that should be improved is remembering all the facts that should be mentioned. I am quite sure both teams forgot to mention an important survey or fact they had researched. I think the team in favor won because they presented more facts than the other team. They also sounded more convincing. In addition, at the end I think one member of the against team made a huge mistake in answering the questions the in-favor team had presented.

In the second debate, which addressed the voluntary vote and automatic registration, I also think the group members lacked facts and statistics. They could have done an incredible job by doing some research about different decades and how the elections are presented nowadays. They also sounded nervous, so anxiety is something they must improve. I cannot define a winner because the debate did not finish. There was something I wanted to say, but I will probably express it tomorrow.

Finally, the debates

In the first debate we had the discussion of “Professional teaching in the school”. I think this debate was incredibly well prepared because they really thought of the arguments and counterarguments that could be shown in the debate. However, the team that was against professional in schools should improve the use of logos because they did not show any statistics that could have given them a strong argument against the other team. Another important characteristic of the debate that should be improved is remembering all the facts that should be mentioned. I am quite sure both teams forgot to mention an important survey or fact they had researched. I think the team in favor won because they presented more facts than the other team and they also sounded more convincing. In addition, at the end I think one member of the against team made a huge mistake in answering the questions the in favor team had presented.

In the second debate about the voluntary vote and automatic registration, I also think they lacked facts and statistics. They could have done an incredible work by doing some research about different decades and how that is presented nowadays. They also sounded nervous, so anxiety is something they must improve. I cannot define a winner because the debate did not finish. There was something I wanted to say, but probably I will express it tomorrow.