Benjamin Zephaniah

Here's Benjamin's official website! You can read more about Benjamin Zephaniah, his life, his views, and even poems other people have sent him here:

http://www.benjaminzephaniah.com/content/biography.php

T7 Carnival Homework

Homework for the Carnival Break for T7 (Friday night class).

First of all, make sure you keep up-to-date with the Benjamin Zephaniah book!

I'd also like you to write one of the following two choices of composition. 220-260 words, to be handed in on the first lesson back after carnival.

EITHER

1. Write a letter of complaint about a bad experience you have had. (It can, of course, be made up). State clearly what the problem(s) was/were, what action was or was not taken at the time, and what action you expect the person or company you are writing to to take. Look at the notes on pages 62-63 of the student's book to help you with this.

Remember, a common mistake when writing a letter of complaint is to be too forceful. For example, 'If you do not give me all my money back, I will call the police and take you to court!' is too strong, especially for a first letter. 'In view of the circumstances, I expect to receive substantial financial compensation' or 'Should your company not take prompt action to resolve the situation, I shall be forced to seek legal advice' are more suitable.

OR

2. Write a letter to a government or a company or their representative, such as a politician or a CEO, protesting about something they have done which you disagree with. For example, you could write to a member of the Chinese government protesting about recent crackdowns in Tibet (or you could write to the monks asking them to stop self-imolating), you could write to Florida Governor Rick Scott protesting about the recent execution of Robert Walters, you could write to the Israeli government protesting about Palestinian children being tortured in Israeli jails etc. These are just examples of recent news stories, and you should feel free to choose an issue or story to write about that you find emotive or interesting.

You can do this in much the same way as the letter of complaint (see pages 62-63 of the student's book) - state clearly what the action is that you disagree with, say why you disagree with it, and say what action you hope is taken on the issue.

Remember, you are NOT writing an essay about a general issue, you are writing a letter objecting to a specific action taken by a government or company. And make sure you know the facts - no argument is one-sided, and you should look at both sides of the story to argue your case effectively! Who know, you might even change your mind...

From the Himalaya to Long Beach

Here are some links to do with 'Himalaya' and related themes.

First, do check out Michael Palin's excellent travel site, Palin's Travels. Here, you can read all of Michael's books online, including 'Himalaya'!
http://palinstravels.co.uk/static-187

To know more about Tibet and the situation there, here are some site to look at:

This BBC page gives an overview of the history of the conflict between China and Tibet:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/4152353.stm

The Guardian has a page dedicated to up-to-date news stories about Tibet:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/tibet

Free Tibet campaigns 'for an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and for the fundamental human rights of Tibetans to be respected.'
http://www.freetibet.org/

People who would like to know more about John Bruna, read on!

John Bruna has a new blog, which seems to be up to date:
http://johnbruna.blogspot.com/

A recent interview with John Bruna is here:
http://www.plumtv.com/videos/the-compassion-festival/index.html