English+B

=**English B**= = = =Welcome to the wiki for Grade 12 English B. Below is a copy of the guide.= = = ==

** Language A: Language and Literature Assessment Criteria ** - understand, analyse and respond to a range of written and spoken texts - understand and use works of literature written in the target language of study - poor understanding, analysis and response to the text(s) - poor understanding and use of literary texts || - adequate understanding, analysis and response to the text(s) - adequate understanding and use of literary texts || - good understanding, analysis and response to the text(s) - good understanding and use of literary texts || - excellent understanding, analysis and response to the text(s) - excellent understanding and use of literary texts || - organize ideas on a range of topics, in a clear, coherent and convincing manner - poor organization of ideas || - adequate organization of ideas || - good organization of ideas || - excellent organization of ideas || - communicate clearly and effectively in a range of situations, demonstrating linguistic competence and intercultural understanding - use language appropriate to a range of interpersonal and/or cultural contexts - understand and use language to express and respond to a range of ideas with accuracy and fluency - poor communication skills, little linguistic competence and minimal intercultural understanding - occasional use of accurate and appropriate language - poor understanding and use of language in expressing and responding to ideas || - adequate communication skills, basic linguistic competence and some intercultural understanding - adequate use of accurate and appropriate language - adequate understanding and use of language in expressing and responding to ideas || - good communication skills, linguistic competence and intercultural understanding - good use of accurate and appropriate language - good understanding and use of language in expressing and responding to ideas || - excellent communication skills, linguistic competence and intercultural understanding - excellent use of accurate and appropriate language - excellent understanding and use of language in expressing and responding to ideas || = = =Here are the grade boundaries for English B:= = =
 * A: Knowledge and understanding **
 * ** Grade ** || ** Descriptor ** ||
 * ** 1 – 2 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 3 – 4 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 5 – 6 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 7 - 8 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * B: Organization **
 * ** Grade ** || ** Descriptor ** ||
 * ** 1 – 2 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 3 – 4 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 5 – 6 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 7 - 8 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * C: Language Use **
 * ** Grade ** || ** Descriptor ** ||
 * ** 1 – 2 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 3 – 4 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 5 – 6 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * ** 7 - 8 ** || The student demonstrates:
 * Grade ||  Internal Range  ||  MEN  ||
 * 1 ||  0 - 3  ||  Bajo  ||
 * 2 ||  4 - 7  ||  Bajo  ||
 * 3 ||  8 - 12  ||  Bajo  ||
 * 4 ||  13 - 16  ||  Básico  ||
 * 5 ||  17 - 19  ||  Alto  ||
 * 6 ||  20 - 22  ||  Superior  ||
 * 7 ||  23 - 24  ||  Superior  ||

To be awarded a 4, a student would need 4, 4 and 5. To be awarded a 5, a student would need 6, 6 and 5. To be awarded a 6, a student would need 7, 7 and 6. To be awarded a 7, a student would need 8, 8 and 7.

And here are the achievement indicators for each term:



=**Unit 2: Cultural Diversity - Food** = = = =The aim of this unit is to show that, although other people may have very different customs and behaviours to do with food - some of which we may find strange or even disgusting - they have reasons for what they do.= = = =We have looked, for example, at stack cakes - cakes used at weddings by poor people in the Appalachian mountains who can't afford to buy a wedding cake at a shop. The idea is that friends and family of the happy couple supply layers of the cale, which are then stuck togather with apple butter, apple jam or dried applles: the more layers, the more popular the bride and groom.= = = ==

=Looking at food like this is an aspect of anthropology. Similarly, one can look at "Jamie Oliver does Marrakech" and consider how the way the people there make bread, or the way that single men make their lunch shows us a little about the culture:=

media type="youtube" key="VTj8o8I-D4o" height="360" width="640"

=We followed this up by looking at other dishes that are consumed on special occasions: challah, the ortolan bunting and so on. The task was to imagine that you are a food writer who is producing a short piece on the history and cultural importance of the food in question, together with the recipe.= = = =We then moved on to thinking about taboo foods, and the reasons for the taboos. This article gives some helpful background:=



=We have now moved on to national dishes, starting with an attempt to match the dish to the country:=

=Ir's interesting to consider how and why a particular dish has come to be seen as a national dish, and what that tells about the country concerned. Here is my theory about how roast beef came to be the national dish of England:=
 * Goulash || New Zealand  ||
 * Pot-au-feu || Peru  ||
 * Red beans and rice || Venezuela  ||
 * Haggis || Japan  ||
 * Pizza || Brazil  ||
 * Roast beef || Barbados  ||
 * Pad Thai || Greece  ||
 * Ackee and saltfish || Burundi  ||
 * Couscous || Jamaica  ||
 * Feijoada || England  ||
 * Kimchi || Haiti  ||
 * Moussaka || France  ||
 * Coo-coo and flying fish || Mexico  ||
 * Ceviche || Hungary  ||
 * Mole poblano || Scotland  ||
 * Sushi || Russia  ||
 * Elephant soup || Italy  ||
 * Pabellón criollo || Thailand  ||
 * Lamb || Morocco  ||
 * Pirogi || South Korea  ||



=**Unit 1: Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.**= =The second literary text we are looking at in this course is Vonnegut's novel "Galapagos", narrated from a million years in the future, after human beings have evolved into something completely different. Here's a copy of the text:= = = == = = =One reason for choosing this novel is that it challenges many of the assumptions we make about ourselves as human beings. This extract from "The Matrix", for example, proposes that human beings are not really mammals:=

media type="youtube" key="_9g2r0SdEZc" height="360" width="640"

=More seriously, a sceptical scientist questions whether we should see human beings as in any way "special":=

media type="youtube" key="pkNNuYRzC0Y" height="360" width="640"

=Similarly, this video explains the Gaia hypothesis, the view that the Earth behaves like a self-regulating organism which has been disrupted by human activity:=

media type="youtube" key="dQIqo6CIhGM" height="360" width="640"

=Another assumption questioned in the novel is that human society has progressed; is this true?=









= = =The following article raises the same question:= = = == = = =Ambrose Bierce was very sceptical about human superiority, as can be seen in his Devil's Dictionary:= = = =www.thedevilsdictionary.com/= = = =These videos show how precarious life - especially intelligent life - is:media type="youtube" key="_jkRiDmVq8M" height="360" width="640"=

media type="youtube" key="Q3jvfvho3CE" height="360" width="640"

=This last video suggests that the universe has been fine-tuned so as to support life. It's worth saying, however, that this claim is debatable:=

media type="youtube" key="Z9O5wXsgqrc" height="360" width="640"

=A famous experiment by Benjamin Libet, seems to show that human beings do not have free will. If true, this is a worrying discovery:=

media type="youtube" key="OjCt-L0Ph5o" height="360" width="640"

=Sam Harris argues that there is no such thing as free will - and that that's a good thing:=

media type="youtube" key="t5ebjk319Wg" height="360" width="640"

=We tend to think of ourselves as being more sophisticated than technologically "primitive" people like the Kanka-bonos in the novel: but is this true?=

media type="youtube" key="_XJ20tt5nPQ" height="360" width="640"

= =