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Parcial 1 RECUPERATORIO
INSTITUTO DE FORMACIÓN DOCENTE CONTINUA
LENGUAS VIVAS BARILOCHE (A-052)
Profesorado de Inglés - Modalidad a distancia
EXAMEN PARCIAL RECUPERATORIO
Junio de 2012
MATERIA: Lengua Inglesa y su Didáctica IV
Nombre del alumno: Puig, Solange Muriel
Dirección de correo electrónico: solangemuriel@hotmail.com
Ciudad: Ushuaia
Provincia: Tierra del Fuego
Fecha: 11-06-2012
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Instructions
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Make sure you save this file to your hard drive before you start working.
Complete your exam on the same file you saved.
Make sure you save changes every 10 - 15 minutes.
After completing all the tasks, check for spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. Then save
the file again.
 When you finish, upload the file to the campus using the “Presentar trabajos/parcial” option.
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1. Social criticism is represented in different ways in the stories and plays we read. How does
social criticism appear in our texts? What’s the intended effect on the reader? (around 350-400
words). Your answer should only contain your own words and ideas.
In “Neighbors”, there is a social hypocrisy clearly shown among the neighbours who gossip about
the possible reasons why Johnny has committed suicide. “Johnny tried to commit suicide this
morning...”; “because Veronica ran up all those gambling debts!...” Mr. and Mrs Koh said to the
others. However, when they realized that most of the things they had said were wrong, they all
go separate ways avoiding facing the wife and daughter so as not to tell them what has happened
to him, claiming “it is none of my business”.
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In “A good man is hard to find” the social criticism is shown in a different way. On the one side,
there is lack of respect for the elderly. Even worse if “the elderly” in question refers to a close
relative such as the parents or the grandmother. In many opportunities the grandchildren ignore
or make fun of her: “If you don´t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?”, both
grandchildren said; “She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day.” June Star said referring to
her grandmother. On the other side, there is a conversation between the grandmother and Red
Sam in which they criticize their contemporary society. They said that people used to be different
years before; there used to be good and trustworthy people. “a good man is hard to find,...”;
”Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door
unlatched. Not no more.” Said Red Sam. In this case, I believe the writer is trying to create an
atmosphere of doubt and suspicion, where the reader may think there is danger everywhere.
In “A sound of thunder” we can see that the actions of one of the members of a group of wealthy
hunters change the course of the whole world. Their hunt goes beyond the imaginable, they want
power, a feeling of superiority, uniqueness. “Think, said Eckels. Every hunter that ever lived would
envy us today. This makes Africa seem like Illinois.”
In “the man who liked Dickens”, the reader is shown that respect and obedience can also be
obtained through threats and violence: “...Most of the men and women living in this savannah are
my children. That is why they obey – for that reason and because I have a gun.”
2. IN YOUR OWN WORDS, is it important to distinguish between (a) types of claims, and (b) proofs
and fallacies when we read or listen to politics-related issues? (around 350-400 words).
Of course it is important. We have to consider that politicians use rhetorical language to convince
their audiences of what they believe is true, or what they want us to believe it is true. In order to
do that, they make use of all the language skills and tools they have. It is their main job to
persuade us with their skilful ability to speak or write.
Firstly, we have to consider that a claim is what the arguer (or in this case a politician) states to be
true and, according to the Toulmin Model, there are five types of claims: claims of cause, of
definition, of facts, of policy and of value. However, we have to be aware that an argument can
have more than one claim.
Secondly, it is important to differentiate claims from proofs because the proofs are the ones that
support the claims. According to Wood, they can be classified into logical proofs, proofs that build
credibility and proofs based on emotions. Since in each type of proof different language styles are
used, and the effect caused by them is different, we have to distinguish them from each other so
as to be able to understand and evaluate them clearly.
Thirdly, it is very common for politicians to resort to other kind of proofs, proofs that lack validity,
invalid proofs meant to deceive and cheat. Those proofs are called fallacies. In politics-related
issues it is crucial to distinguish between proofs and fallacies because politicians are the ones who
lead different spheres of our social, economical and political life. If we are to let anyone guide
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our, let’s say, “country”, we should clearly distinguish between valid or invalid proofs when a
politician is giving a rhetorical speech, or when we read about political proposals or reasons for
voting one or another candidate.
3. To what extent do you agree with Diestler’s text (Chapter 7)? (around 250 words).
I completely agree with Diestler’s text and ideas in chapter 7. To begin with, Diestler shows that
words have an amazing power. They transmit information as well as negative and positive emotions.
She also differentiates between denotation and connotation in words. Emphasis in is placed in the
difference between personal and cultural connotation which may have different meanings of the
same word according to personal past experiences or cultural facts. I have personally witnessed an
embarrassing situation in which I used a word I considered completely inoffensive, but turned out to
be of great offense to the people I was talking to. This was because of the cultural connotation the
word had in that particular place. (“correr” in Spain has another meaning apart from “run”, which I
did not know).
Moreover, I also agree when she states that “the meaning of words lies in people and not in the
words themselves”, and this is in my point of view, linked to the definition of connotation.
Furthermore, it is important to take into account her examination of the common problems in
language communication: “vagueness, ambiguity, doublespeak and weasel words”. And this is
important because when speeches are not clear enough, the message is confusing or even worse,
deceiving. However, a message can be confusing with or without intention, due to cultural
differences.
This is the end of the exam