Monday, October 25, 2010

WR_3. The art fo summarising. WR 3.1. Decoding Columbus

WR 3. The art fo summarising

WR 3.1. Decoding Columbus 3-4-5 level 30-40 m.

GOAL. To learn how not to bias a text on one direction while summarising its content.
WARMING-UP
TASK 1. According to what you know of the historical character, answer the questions below.
Q1. Most people would agree with this sentence: “The man who gave the world another world: Columbus”. Do you? Explain. ………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………
Q2. Do you think tha sentence “Hardly another august character in the world's record has made so little of its opportunities” is suitable to him? Why? Why not? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
LANGUAGE PRACTICE with wikipedia
TASK 2. Explore the content of Wikipedia, the popular online enciclopaedia on him. To familiarise with this enciclopaedia will dive in five of its rich interactive pages. For 6 minutes:
Q1. Click on main article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
Q2. Visit these pages and give your mark (1 least > 5 most) on the quality of the information:
A/ article Columbus day, > …….. B/ wikiQUOTE section > ….. C/ One external link> ……..
This Christopher_Columbus page is in English .. and it is also offered in a score of languages on the left of the page. Click on català / español / français /or italiano. My mark > ……..
Now you will learn something about the NorthAmerican reception of Columbus.
TASK 3. Use your brain cells to skim the main Wikipedia page and answer these questions:
Regardless the Hispanic legacy in LatinAmerica he is also present in local names:
a) one state in Canada: ……………………………………
b) Washington D.C. where D.C. stands for ……………… of ………………………
capital cities of two USA states: Colombus, in O…… & Columbia in S…… C……………………
TASK 4. Go to webpages inside the main article Christopher_Columbus. Answer these questions:
Q1. Click on Columbus day article (click there):
a) Which year was Columbus day (click there) held for first time in the US? ………
b) Who made it a US institution? In which year? ……………………………………
c) When is it celebrated today? ……………………………………
Q2. Can you find who wrote the second quotation in task 1: “Hardly another character …” (go to wikiQUOTE at the end of the page)? ………………………………………………………
Q3. Browse one external link at the bottom of the page: ‘The Eclipse That Saved Columbus’ in Science News, Ivars Peterson, 7 October 2006. How did he save himself?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
TASK 5. Visit the article ‘Origin_theories_of_Christopher_Columbus’ found in the link in
section 1. Life. (It is a new stem that has not been replicated in other languages yet.)

He adapted his name wherever he stayed. In that way he camouflaged his origins. His Latin signatura said XTO FERENS (Christ’s bearer =portador de Crist) as seen on the left. Can you write Columbus’ name in Portuguese, Italian and Latin?
P……………………………………
I……..………………………
L ………………………………………

PRODUCTION STAGE.
TASK 6. Find lexical items that deal with his origins in the article (check afterwards with task 7).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
As you need to work with a language bank it is a good idea if you collect specimens in your notebook.
TASK 7. Notice the expressions below to express certain ideas and language functions:

uncertainty > It was (widely) accepted that Columbus was Italian. / some actual sources hinted to the possibility ..

statements > he maintained his Italian ethnicity throughout his life. / His true identity is unknown /

The question of Columbus's nationality was scarcely raised until 1892 celebrations

factual information from documents written by his contemporaries / many existing legal documents demonstrate his .............. origin / his handwriting, the words Columbus used, and the linguistic mistakes he made, …

contradiction > although it is generally accepted that / However, several theories exist .. / Other accounts claimed that his ................. / A historian has put forward documents … while another scholar has noted that ….

topicalisation > The question of….. / Signs of his ...................... heritage were also searched for. / regarding his national origin, …. / On the issue of … / analysis of his language suggested that .............

adverbs: scarcely - (most) widely – firmly – unconsistently -

TASK 8. Write a first version (60 words) with your summary on “Columbusuncertain origins”.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
TASK9. Read now Rosella Lorenzi’s text. Underline how she presents the sources and contradictions
Columbus is widely thought to have been born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy, the son of wool trader Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa.
Other theories, however, argue that the explorer was born in Spain, his real name being Cristóbal Colón. Various versions of the story have Columbus as a pirate born in Catalonia, a Catalan Jew who fled to Genoa to hide from the Spanish Inquisition, and the illegitimate son, born in Majorca, of Spain's prince of Viana. (Written in Discovery News on the 25 Jan 2006)

Would you say her text is more distant/impartial/unbaised than yours? …………………..

TASK 10. Write your summary (70-80 words) on “Columbusuncertain origins”.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


Wr 3.1. Decoding Columbus KEY
TASK 1. According to what you know of the historical character, answer the questions below.
Q1. Do you agree? (open, probably you will. We still use the metaphor “New world” to America.)
Q2. “Hardly another character in the world's record has made so little of its opportunities” is suitable to him? (Open. Point out thet the continent is nemed after some other character Americo Vespucio). But he was not forgotten, And perhaps someone will remember he came back to Seville with chains and spent some time in prison).
TASK 3. Q2. Give your mark (1 least > 5 most) on the quality of the information: (open: my marks>)
A/ article Columbus day, > 4or 5. B/ wikiQUOTE section > 1 or 2 C/ One external link> 2 or 3.
TASK 3. Use your wits to browse the page and answer these questions:
Q1. Regardless the Hispanic legacy in LatinAmerica he is also present in (a) one state in Canada, in (b) Wahsington D.C. and (c,d) a couple of capital cities of two USA states.
Canada: BRITISH COLUMBIA. D. C. stands for DISTRICT of COLUMBIA
Colombus, capital of OHIO Columbia, capital of SOUTH CAROLINA
TASK 4. Q1. CULTURAL NOTE. You have to click on Columbus Day in the introduction! We read here:
Columbus Day was first celebrated by Italians in San Francisco in 1869, following on the heels of 1866 Italian celebrations in New York City. The first state celebration was in Colorado in 1905, and in 1937, at the behest of the Knights of Columbus (a Catholic fraternal service organization named for the voyager), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set aside Columbus Day as a holiday in the United States. Since 1971, the holiday has been commemorated in the U.S. on the second Monday in October, the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada.
a) Which year was Columbus day held for first time? 1866 IN NEW YORK
b) Who made it a US institution? FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT IN 1937
c) When is it celebrated today? ON THE SECOND MONDAY IN OCTOBer
Q2. Can you find who wrote the quotation (go to wikimediacommon at the end of the page)?
JUSTIN WINSTON –AMERICAN HISTORIAN
Q3. Do yo think “Hardly a name in profane history is more august than his. Hardly another character in the world's record has made so little of its opportunities.” is suitable to him? Why?
Quite. The continent name went after Americo Vespuccio and he died poor and dishonored (in prison)

TASK 4. Q1. He adapted his spelling wherever he stayed. His Latin signatura said XTO FERENS (Christ’s bearer =portador de Crist).
Port. Cristóvão Colombo Italian Cristoforo Colombo Latin Christophorus Columbus

TASK 6. Find lexical items that deal with his origins in the article (check afterwards with task 7).
(compare yours with those in task below)
TASK 7. Notice the expressions below to express certain ideas and language functions:

uncertainty > It was (widely) accepted that Columbus was Italian. / some actual sources hinted to the possibility

statements > he maintained his Italian ethnicity throughout his life. / His true identity is unknown /

The question of Columbus's nationality was scarcely raised until 1892 celebrations

factual information from documents written by his contemporaries / many existing legal documents demonstrate his .............. origin / his handwriting, the words Columbus used, and the linguistic mistakes he made, …

contradiction > although it is generally accepted that / However, several theories exist .. / Other accounts claimed that his ................. / A historian has put forward documents … while another scholar has noted that ….

topicalisation > The question of….. / Signs of his ...................... heritage were also searched for. / regarding his national origin, …. / On the issue of … / analysis of his language suggested that .............

adverbs: scarcely - (most) widely – firmly – unconsistently –

TASK9. Read now Rosella Lorenzi’s text. Underline how she presents the sources and contradictions

More probable (according to accepted history):

Columbus is widely thought to have been born in Genoa

Other theories, however, argue that the explorer was born (…somewhere else)

Various versions of the story have Columbus as (1) a pirate born in Catalonia,

(2) a Catalan Jew who fled to Genoa to hide from the Spanish Inquisition, and

(3) the illegitimate son, born in Majorca, of Spain's prince of Viana.

Would you say her text is more distant/impartial/unbaised than yours?

(Open, But probably it is, as Lorenzi’s text is quite unbiased)

PS: To balance the nationalism of languages, we Clicked on several pages: (also used in Writing3.2)

español, italiano. français & portugues:

“También hay quienes sostienen que es posible que fuese portugués, castellano, catalán, mallorquín, gallego o ibicenco. La historia más fidedigna y documentada de Cristóbal Colón comienza..”

“In ogni caso, ... Di sicuro non si sa quasi niente di lui in data anteriore al 1470 ... In genere tali versioni tendono al nazionalismo”

« Actuellement, divers historiens étudient l'hypothèse selon laquelle il aurait été portugais, catalan, basque, galicien, même grec, et très probablement d'ascendance judaïque »

„Columb s-a născut în Genova, Italia, în jurul anului 1451. Informaţii despre începutul carierei sale de navigator sunt nesigure”.


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