FOR AND AGAINST ESSAYS

"Pros and Cons" or "For and Against" essays are one type of discurssive writing in which you discuss your advantages and disadvantages of a specific topic.
They should consist of:
a) an introduction  in which you present the topic, making a general remark without giving your opinion; b) a main body in which you present the points for( advantages)and the points against( disadvantages), in separate paragraphs, supporting your arguments with justifications/examples; c) a conclusion which includes your opinion (e.g. In my opinion/view, I belive/think,etc) or a balanced summary of the topic.
These essays are normally written in a formal style; therefore you should avoid using strong language(I know, I am sure,etc), short sentences, colloquial expressions or idioms.
This type of writing can be found in articles in newspapers, magazines,etc
In Sagaf you have  a set of topics which you can use to develop, but you can also think of others.
Students, this is the last blog you'll have to present in this course and the deadline is next Thursday midnight.
The teacher

DESCRIBING PLACES

Unit 6 deals with DESCRIBING A PLACE  - My Home town
Here you will have to use these linking structures called relative pronouns:
WHO for people,   WHICH or THAT for things,  WHERE for places.



A descriptive composition about  a place should consist of :a) an introduction in which  you give  the name and location and the reason for choosing it; b) a main body in which you describe the main aspects in detail; and c) a conclusion which includes your comments/feelings and/or recommendations.



Write a similar description about a place, similar to the one studied in class,  in about 200 words improving the mistakes that have been already corrected in other formative works .
To give the reader a more vivid picture of the place at the moment  you are describing, you can refer to the senses ( sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch): Visitors can watch the moonrise over the mountains, or hear the sound of church bells ringing, enjoy a fresly-ground cup of coffee,remember the aromas of exotic herbs and spices, or relax in the soothing warm waters of the river.

A Picture Story

Guidelines are not rules, but a formula that can be used to suit your creative imagination. Remember the sentence"a picture is worth a thousand words)and let your mind throw the ideas you need for your piece of writing.
A good story has characters in action with a beginning, middle, and an ending. On this ocassion you have to write a story of one of the picture sequences presented in class(unit 3:telling a story). Deadline: Tuesday 12:00 midnight)
Good luck in your creative thinking !

DESCRIBING PEOPLE

HELLO AGAIN.
 When describing someone you know you should use present tenses. When describing someone who is no longer alive or someone you knew a long time ago and you do not see anymore, you should use past tenses.

Well, dear students, now that you have studied the topic in class(See SAGAF, too) and the lesson about Describing Friends (Unit 1), use the features given in the physical appearance diagram and the model description from New Headway Pre intermediate and describe a person that could be your best friend or a person from your family. Then hand the writing to a partner for correction, show it to the teacher to upload it in the blog. Deadline: next Thursday, Aug 26th

Hello Students!!! =)

Writing is one of the abilities you have to develop in the process of learning a second language. We´ll be in constant practice in our classes and in your works for the blogs. You will have the feedback on time  to improve your work.

So, let´s begin!

An autobiography is the story of one’s life as written by oneself. Most autobiographies are told from a first person point of view. When writing an autobiography, you focus on three major things: who you are in life, what life means to you and what your outlook on the future is.

Following the example , write your own story.  Good luck!

The teacher

 AN EXAMPLE OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

.

I was born on a warm, sunny day in June in Sarasota, Florida. I still live in Sarasota, Florida, and I go to school at Booker High School. I live with my mom,Kate; my brother, Jake; and my Aunt Molly. When I was born, my bother was fifteen-months-old and hid under the table from me. Jake is a sweet kid and he would do anything for me, but like all brothers and sisters we fight like cats and dogs. Sometimes when no one was around, Jake would come up to me and bite my toes for no reason. I still love him but only because he is my brother.
Who I am in life.
My name is Sally Friday. I started school when I was six-years-old. I went to kindergarten through fifth grade at Booker Elementary and while I was there, I won an award for perfect attendance. I also won an award for honor roll all four terms. Then I attended Booker Middle School, and there I also won a couple of awards: one for perfect attendance and two for being named Student of the Year--one in sixth grade and the other in eighth grade. I am now a senior at Booker High School. I plan on finishing school and maybe going to a community college.
What life means to me.
Life to me means friends and family who you can trust and who trusts you. I am pretty much on the happy side of life, but like all teens I do I have my "days of." That means I do have some sad days or depressed days. I have a few frinds here that sort of look out for me and when I am having a bad day, I have someone here at school to talk to. I make my school days go by thinking of either the next hour or what I will do when I get home or on the weekend. I'm not seeing anyone now but when I did have a boyfriend, our favorite places to go were the movies and out to dinner. Sometimes we went to the beach. Only once we went to an amusement park: Universal Studios. We were together for twenty-nine days and then we broke-up; so no, I don't think it was forever.
What's my outlook on the future.

The year 2018 will make twenty years since I graduated from high school. I think I will probably be still living here in Sarasota. I will be quite comfortable with my living situation, meaning that I will be married to Paul Smith. We will have one child: Linda Treasa Smith, who at that point will be three-years-old and a little devil. Paul is a sweet guy; he will do anything for anyone. He is six feet tall and built well. He has baby blue eyes and blond hair. We will have been together for five years and will be happy together--this is forever.
Conclusion
As I said in the beginning, I was born here in Florida and I've lived here my whole life. I would like to see more of the USA but unfortunatly, I don't have any money to leave Florida to go anywhere right now. I hope you have enjoyed reading my life story as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you. Try to get as much as you can out of school; you're only there for twelve years and when you graduate, you're home free. Here's a tip for you to live or try to live by: If you think it, it can be done.

References
"Autobiography " The World Book Encyclopedia.
1992 ed. Volume A

Written by Erika Baker