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Task 24: Write at least one full-length draft 

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Task 24: Write at least one full-length draft 

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What I did: I interviewed my subject and wrote a biography about her
Why I did this task: I did this task so that I would be able to apply my learnings into this piece of writing

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Task 18: Use the SuperSub Table to communicate learning of a Superordinate Expression (claim) and its Subordinate Evidence (23 July 2017)

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Task 18: Use the SuperSub Table to communicate learning of a Superordinate Expression (claim) and its Subordinate Evidence (23 July 2017)

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What I did: I chose a superordinate expression and find evidence to support it
Why I did this task: I did this task so that I would be able to learn more about superordinates and how I can include it in my writing

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Task 7: Conduct interview with Biographical Subject (8 July)

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Task 7: Conduct interview with Biographical Subject (8 July)

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Link to Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B4ifINWrdAmWZmpsVWtSVXlMUlE

What I did: I chose my biographical subject and interviewed her
Why I did this task: In order to write a biography about my subject, I would need to know more about her and her personal life so I conducted this interview

The linguistic feature I am going to explain is the language of chronology. In Reader 1, Excerpt 2, Biography of Marie Curie, the author writes about her life in chronological order. It means from the day she was born until the day she died. Her whole life is also recorded in chronological order as it tells us how she met her husband to how her work was recognised.

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Task 5: Analyse the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone in an excerpt from Reader 1 or Reader 2 (29 July 2017)

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Task 5: Analyse the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone in an excerpt from Reader 1 or Reader 2 (29 July 2017)

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What I did: I read the excerpt and underlined the words that I felt enhanced and impacted the storyline. After underlining the words, I searched up the meaning of the words and connected them to the context and the content to the excerpt to understand why the author used such words to express certain things.
Why I did this task: I felt that by understanding why the author uses such words, I am able to apply them to my future writings to make them more interesting. Also, I would be able learn more of the inside meanings of certain words and use them in the future.

Excerpt 17

dumb (line 5): using the word "dumb" compares the authors knowledge

at first and at the end

preyed (line 12): the word preyed means that it got hunted by and in this excerpt it shows that the anger and bitterness hunted on her even if she did not want it, it was unavoidable

groped (line 15): the word means to search blindly, by using this word, it shows that she was desperate to find her way through all the struggle

play (line 28): by using the word play, it shows that the author really enjoyed the process of writing and it was not a chore for her but instead it was fun and thus she "played" with it

still (line 45): the word "still" is usually associated with air and her world being "still" means that there is no activity inside, activity being emotions and sympathy

life (line 62): even though the object is a non-living thing, the author describes it with the word "life" as everything had a name and it was very valuable

vainly (line 64): using this word shows how desperate the author is to fix back the doll as she felt really remorseful

Excerpt 26A
·      seamless (line 13): to show that the stories were continuous and never ending

·      burnished (line 13): to show that the story has been talked about a lot like how you burnished something very smooth

·      fresh of the boat (line 30 -31): to show that the African student was very innocent, young and active just a fish fresh of the boat

·      fearsome vision of justice (line 48): to show that his way of justice was a fearful way that he would throw someone off the railings to teach them a lesson

·      semi-professional (line 78): to say that the singer was not professional as his father, even though he did not have a band to back him up, his performance was as good

·      prominent (line 99): to show that the trait of being prominent was passed down from generation to generation

·      bequeathed (line 112): to show that because he was so proud of himself and wanted to give his name to his son, he used the word ‘bequeathed’ instead of ‘passed on’ as it sounds more royal

·      survived the distance (line 116): it shows that even though they were long distances apart, their love never faded but stayed strong and lasted

·      terrain (line 121): it shows that he keeps his treasured items protectively in a place

·      explicitly (line 132):  to show that it really focused on the subject of race and it the word also means ‘bad’ in a way

·      expecting (line 139): this shows that Obama’s father was not the kind of person that the reader thought he would be so Obama used the word ‘expect’ to tell the readers that his father did it otherwise

·      lecture (line 140): it means more of a talk than a scolding thus showing that Obama’s father had good intentions of “scolding” him

·      veracity (line 145): uses this word instead of ‘truth’ as this word also means accuracy, so he talks about the truth and accuracy of the stories told

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Task 3: Identify and explain a linguistic or stylistic feature of an excerpt included in Reader 1 or Reader 2 (1 August 2017)

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Task 3: Identify and explain a linguistic or stylistic feature of an excerpt included in Reader 1 or Reader 2 (1 August 2017)

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What I did: I read through the passages and identified the linguistic features
Why I did the task: I did the task so that I would be exposed to more types of linguistic features and learn from it and apply it to future writing

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Task 2: Attempt Discussion Questions about Language use in Reader 1 or Reader 2 (25 July 2017)

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Task 2: Attempt Discussion Questions about Language use in Reader 1 or Reader 2 (25 July 2017)

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What I did: I read the excerpts and read the questions before going back to the text and re-reading it again before attempting the questions.
Why I did this task: I did this task as to understand the excerpt more and analyse it. Then by analysing and understanding the excerpt, I am able to answer the questions.

Excerpt 26A
Question 1: What is the picture that emerges for Obama's father? Using evidence from the excerpt, give three adjectives that accurately describe Obama senior.
Answer: The picture that emerges from Obama's father was that he was honest , stubborn (in a good way) and confident. This is evident as when his friend accidentally dropped his pipe that he got as a birthday present from his wife, down a ninety-degree incline. However, "he was "adamant about getting his pipe back" as said by Gramps and did not want to replace it as "it was a gift that could not be replaced". This shows that Obama's senior was determined to get his pipe back as he treasured it so much as it was a gift from his wife and it was irreplaceable. In addition, to get his pipe back, Obama's senior dangled his friend over the railing just to get his pipe back. When Anna(his wife) tried to tell others what happened, he would rebut by stating that he "only wanted to teach the chap a lesson about the proper care of other people's property". This shows that he is honest with his feelings and did no hesitate to teach his friends a lesson. But his honesty was for the good of other people. Another case that he had shown confidence was during the International Music Festival. Obama's senior was supposedly going to sing a African song at the festival however it turned out that the festival was a "big to-do" and the woman who performed just before him was a semi-professional singer who had a whole band with her. Normally, people in that situation would immediately back out and not dare to sing however, he went up to stage confidently and started singing as per normal in front of a huge crowd which is not an easy tasks considering that he did not have band to back him up. And though he was not that amazing, he was "so sure of himself" that he was getting as much applause as anybody. This experience displayed his commendable confidence as even though he was in an unexpected situation, he faced it calmly and also did a great job in pleasing the crowd.

Question 2: What are the possible reasons for Obama to use this style - use stories told by others - of presenting his subject?
Answer: I think the reason is so that he could get all the different points of view of his father from other people and from their points of views, he could evaluate his father and know what kind of person he was like. This could also allow Obama to know the different sides of his father and what he does whenever he hangs out with his friends or colleges.

Question 3: Next, read excerpt 26B. Does Obama use the same styles - use anecdote told by others - to characterise his subject?
Answer: No, I think he does not use the style of using anecdotes told by others to characterise his subject though the subject in Excerpt 26B is Lolo, his step-father whom he met while the subject in Excerpt 26A was about his own father whom he has never met before. Since Obama has never met his father before, he had to get stories by others how knew him personally to understadn and know what kind of person his father was. This excerpt was more about Obama’s view point of Lolo instead of Lolo himself as a character. This excerpt’s storyline was when Obama first met Lolo and his first impression about him, his experiences with him and how he felt after spending time. If he had used anecdotes told by others to characterise Lolo, the storyline would be different as it would not be from Obama’s point of view about Lolo.

Excerpt 26B
Question 1: What do you think Obama learnt from Lolo?
Answer: Obama learned how to protect himself from school bullies from Lolo. Lolo taught Obama how to box and defend himself like always moving but staying low, attacking with a punch.

Question 2: In this excerpt, do you think Obama has evaluated that period of his life that he writes about? Evidence?
Answer: No, Obama has evaluated that period of his life that he writes about. This is evident as seen in the whole excerpt, he was only describing what happened during that period of his life. He was stating down the events that happened and not evaluate it.

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Task 1: Look up words for meaning and/or usage, and show this learning in Reader1 or Reader 2 (22 July 2017)

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Task 1: Look up words for meaning and/or usage, and show this learning in Reader1 or Reader 2 (22 July 2017)

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What I did: I read the excerpts and underlined words that I was unfamiliar with or did not recognise. After collecting all the words, I looked up the words on the dictionary and linked the meaning of the word according to the context of the text.
Why I did this task: I did this task as I wanted to expand my knowledge and variety of vocabulary.

Excerpt 10B

renders - to furnish; provide

incessant - continuing without interruption; ceaseless; unending

corrugated - wrinkle

onslaught - an onset, assault, or attack, especially a vigorous one

abiding - continuing without change; enduring; steadfast

indomitable - that cannot be subdued or overcome, as persons, will, or courage;unconquerable

Excerpt 12B

confederation - a league or alliance

gawper - to stare with the mouth open in wonder or astonishment; gape

wan - showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness

spurt - to expel or force out suddenly in a stream or jet, as a liquid; spout

lament - to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret

riveted - to hold (the eye, attention, etc.) firmly

alas - (used as an exclamation to express sorrow, grief, pity, concern, or apprehension of evil.)

snigger - to laugh in a half-suppressed, indecorous or disrespectful manner

innkeepers - a person who owns or manages an inn or, sometimes, a hotel

impertinently - intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions; insolently, rude; uncivil

meager - deficient in quantity or quality; lacking fullness or richness; scanty;inadequate

per diem - a daily allowance, usually for living expenses while traveling in connection with one's work or being employed at a distance from one's home

Excerpt 17

tangible - real or actual, rather than imaginary or visionary

tussle - a rough physical contest or struggle; scuffle

repentance - deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing

Excerpt 18B

magistrates' - a minor judicial officer, as a justice of the peace or the judge of a police court, having jurisdiction to try minor criminal cases and to conduct preliminary examinations of persons charged with serious crimes

evicted - to expel (a person, especially a tenant) from land, a building, etc., by legal process, as for nonpayment of rent

recompense - a repayment or requital, as for favors, gifts

prodigious - extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force

kaffir - Disparaging and Offensive. (in South Africa) a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person: originally used of the Xhosa people only

shilling - 12 pence

debased - to lower in rank, dignity, or significance

enshrine - to enclose in

bureaucrat - an official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment

demurral - an act of objection

Excerpt 26A

seamless - smoothly continuous or uniform in quality; combined in an inconspicuous way

burnished - to make smooth and bright

adamant - utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals,urgings

aloft - in or into the air

baritone - a male voice or voice part intermediate between tenor and bass

domineering - inclined to rule arbitrarily or despotically; overbearing; tyrannical

apocryphal - of doubtful authorship or authenticity

prominent - leading, important, or well-known

legion - any great number of persons or things; multitude

bequeathed - to hand down; pass on

abridged - shortened

folly - a foolish action, practice, idea

bigotry -  the actions, beliefs, prejudices

veracity - habitually speaking the truth; truthful; honest

Excerpt 26B

wiry - lean and sinew

holsters - a sheath like carrying case for a firearm, attached to a belt, shoulder sling, or saddle

sentry - a soldier stationed at a place to stand guard and prevent the passage of unauthorized persons, watch for fires

tarmac - a road, airport runway, parking area, etc., paved withTarmac, tarmacadam, or a layer of tar

menacing - threatening

baleful - full of menacing or malign influences; pernicious

exorcisms - an act of expelling an evil spirit by adjuration or religious or solemn ceremonies

elusive - difficult to find

scurvy - a disease marked by swollen and bleeding gums, livid spots on the skin, prostration, etc., due to a diet lacking in vitamin C.

polio - an acute viral disease, usually affecting children and young adults,  inflammation of the motor neurons of the brain stem and spinal cord, and resulting in a motor paralysis, followed by muscular atrophy and often permanent deformities

leprosy - a chronic, mildly infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, affecting the peripheral nervous system, skin, and nasal mucosa and variously characterized by ulcerations, tubercular nodules, and loss of sensation that sometimes leads to traumatic amputation of the anesthetized part.

idiosyncrasies - a peculiarity of the physical or the mental constitution, especially susceptibility toward drugs, food

compunction - a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse