They and Us: bridging the gap of cultures

1. Have you ever heard that:

ü Buckingham Palace, as the official London residence of the Queen, is the fourth building on that place and it started life as a small house, lived in by the Duke of Buckingham, who later sold it in 1761 (long before Queen Victoria was born) to George III for his wife Charlotte. The house had been rebuilt and redecorated many times since then. Besides, another myth about the house is its front gate. In fact, the real front of the Palace faced into its private park, not the square with the Victoria Memorial. It so happened that when Queen Victoria moved to Buckingham Palace the public role of the monarchy had grown, and that meant that the monarchy had to show its face to the world. Hence a decision was taken to turn Buckingham Palace around so that instead of facing into its private park it would face down the Mall and St James’ park so that everybody could see it. This is why what we think of as the front of the palace is actually the back.

ü Parliamentary conventions are really weird. Firstly, the debating chamber is designed so the main parties are facing each other, which leads to the confrontational style. Members can not call other members by name; they must refer to other MPs as the “Honourable Member” or “Right Honourable Member” for more senior figures. All discussions must go through the Speaker, rather than to each other. MPs are not allowed to applaud in the chamber, as in other states, although they have occasionally by accident. They are however allowed to shout at one another and provoke the other side by waving their order papers. If you have ever watched a debate of the House of Commons, it seems quite like an aggressive debate. They must use “parliamentary language”- words such as liar and hypocrite are not allowed. Women can not wear hats in the chamber except on the day of the Queen’s speech to the Parliament or if they want to raise a “point of order”. Perhaps the most eccentric tradition is that people are forbidden from dying in Parliament, under any circumstances. This is because Parliament is a royal Palace and only members of the Royal Family can die on their property. If a “commoner” was to die on the premises, they would be rushed to St Thomas’ Hospital, conveniently located near Parliament, and they would pretend that they died there.

What other weird English traditions do you know? What does it say about the English as the people? Can you think of any similarly weird traditions in Russia? Can we say that Russia is a country of traditions too?

2. Act out a well-known English and Russian tradition. Think of and prepare with your partner a short but convincing acting out (it can be a role-play, a dialogue, a drama, a pantomime, etc.). Let your group mates guess which traditions you mean.

Penning an essay

All the ideas considered, plan and write an essay entitled “What it takes to be a real monarch: abiding to royal duties or one’s personal values?”. Follow the tips below.

Ø Think and decide on your position.

Ø Paragraph 1. Write the introductory paragraph (no less than 3 sentences) where you explain what are you going to write about, introduce the problem, say that because it is controversial topic there are different opinions about it.

Ø Paragraph 2. Write a good paragraph which defends your position. Make sure you start with a general sentence showing what this paragraph is about. Then you enlist, one by one, all the arguments FOR your position. Each argument should have examples (you should convince people that you are right) and be expressed in 1-2 sentences. Give no less than 3 arguments.

Ø Paragraph 3. Write a good paragraph which presents the opposite point of view. Make sure you start with a general sentence showing what this paragraph is about. Then you enlist, one by one, all the arguments AGAINST your position. Each argument should have examples (you should convince people that you are right) and be expressed in 1-2 sentences. Give no less than 2 arguments.

Ø Paragraph 4. Write a paragraph which presents your arguments to those arguments AGAINST your position which you give in Paragraph 3. So you give CONTRA-arguments. Give no less than 2 contra-arguments (to those exactly which you used in Paragraph 3).

Ø Paragraph 5. Write a conclusion, sum everything you said up. Mind, that you should try not to give any exact decision, but it looks like you give the reader to decide what is better.

ADDENDA

Making a summary

Making a summary you might use this vocabulary:

1.

Ø At the beginning of the story the author describes / dwells upon / explain/ introduces / mentions / recalls / characterizes / analyses / comments on / enumerates / points out / generalizes / criticizes / makes a few critical remarks on / reveals / exposes / accuses / blames / condemns / mocks at / ridicules / praises / sympathizes with / gives a summary of / gives an account of / makes an excursion into / digresses from the subject to describe the scenery / etc.

Ø The story (the author) begins with the description of / the introduction of / mentioning of / analysis of / comment of / a review of / an account of / summary of / characterization of / one’s opinion on / one’s recollection of / enumeration of / some (a few) critical remarks on (about, concerning) / accusation of / exposure of / praises of / ridicule of / generalization of / an excursion into / etc.

Ø The story opens with…

Ø The story is laid in …

Ø The opening scene shows / reveals / introduces…

2. Then (after that, further on, next)

Ø the author passes on to / goes on from…to / goes on to say that / gives a detailed (thorough) analysis of / presents the development / digresses from the subject / etc

Ø it so happens that… / as it turns out…

3. In conclusion the author… / the author concludes with… / the story ends with… / the finish with the author describes… / at the end of the story the author draws the conclusion that… (comes to the conclusion that)…/ the author sums it all up (by saying that…) / the concluding words are…

The reporting verbs to use in the summary:

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 967