A friend of the earth (Nr. 7

Der Ich-Erzähler, Ty Tierwater, war den größten Teil seines Lebens ein Umweltsünder wie der durchschnittliche Mensch der westlichen Welt. Neben dem verschwenderischen Verbrauch von Brennstoffen und der Orientierung am Konsumstreben der heutigen Gesellschaft, häufte der wohlhabende Sohn eines Bauunternehmers unnütze Dinge an. Seine Rücksichtslosigkeit zeigt sich vor allem in bewusster Umweltverschmutzung. Die Wende in seinem Verhalten kam durch die Freundschaft zu  Mitgliedern der Umweltorganisation „Earth Forever“. Durch deren Einfluss verkaufte Ty sein Haus, sein Auto, das Shopping Center seines Vaters und entwickelte sich zu einem Freund der Erde.

Eine unbequeme Wahrheit

Dear Sue,

To give you an impression of the German’s opinion of Gore’s documentary I want to tell you something about a film journal review by Thomas Arbeitshauser.

The author likes the way the director documents Al Gore’s speeches especially that the film is focused on Al Gore himself. Gore seems to fight for his ideas very enthusiastically, even though the use of tragic fates is sometimes inappropriate. The special thing about Gore’s work is the fact that he manages to inform his audience about the climate change in a very entertaining and comprehensible way.

In comparison to America, Germany is more progressive concerning environmental protection and so the topic of Gore’s speeches isn’t as new for Germans as for Americans. Gore’s work just can make the people conscious of the climate change because there is still a lot of work to be done.

I hope I could help you.

See you,

Bianca

Red alert! Climate change takes its toll on Scotland

Nr. 9

·         Rising temperatures and sea temperatures

Because of the release of greenhouse gases the rays of the sunlight can’t leave the atmosphere and so there was a rise in temperature in Scotland of 1 degree Celsius for every season except autumn in the past 40 years.

·         Decline of Biodiversity

Coastal erosion and flooding lead to habit loss and non-native species can replace the native ones, also because of the rising temperatures.

·         Rise in sea levels

The sea off Aberdeen has risen by an average of 0.66 mm a year since 1862.

·         Rising levels of winter rain

Up to 60 per cent more rain in the north and west of the country since 1961

Nr. 10 The author names the research of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency as a serious source. The results of this organization have to be true.                                                                                             Apart from this there are quotations of Dr Campbell Gemmell and Professor Colin Galbraith who are scientist. So this text is based on credible, current information. The quotation at the end especially emphasized the urgency of changing our lifestyle.

Let`s not worry about climate change!

The tone of this text isn’t objective because it just consists of the author’s opinion. In contrast it is insulting, aggressive and vulgar and also ironic for example when he says that man proved his dominance over nature, when he conquered the skies” (l. 3). 

The President of SPURT has no real arguments why there is no climate change. He just claims in a superior tone that there is no change. Because of this the advertisement seems ridiculous.

I think this advertisement isn’t serious because nobody could think that 150000 lives each year can be risked just for the aviation industry. It is also unusually to use such a vulgar language to advertise flying. This wouldn’t create confidence.

The fact that the text appeared in the Observer could lead to the conclusion that it criticizes the real aviation industry for being so disrespectful and irresponsible. There is also a critic about the Government’s policy because it supports the interests of the aviation industry and works against the environmental protection. The text is a call for the people to realize the dangers for the environment and to force the politicians to change their policy.

Träume in Pink, Gold, Orange

At first Christiane Grefe mentions the high security standards of the film studios of Bollywood. On the streets there are a lot of people, that have different kinds of jobs, who would do a lot to visit the Bollywood film factory. The actors seem to be superstars in India and are admired by the Indians for entertaining them and also for the fact that the workers can forget their life in Mumbai for a while. The singers manage to do this by singing, dancing and performing dramatic love stories that can touch hearts.

But the everyday life in the dream factory consists, apart from tailors that make the costumes, of bored guys and girls and of course of waiting. In the film business there are also some famous choreographers like Vaibhavi Merchant whose biography is performed on the stage. She received a lot of prizes and has worked for 16 productions of films in 2004.

Choreography plays an important part in such films because the dances can connect the different parts like love, comedy and gangster elements or tell their own story. The choreographies also combine different dance styles and unit them.  All together about 800 Bollywood films are released every year.

The Gateway of India

3 a) Dwight Huntsinger is a bold and cheeky lawyer from Boston who has to negotiate with manufacturers because his firm wants to find outsourcing deals to move their production to India. He is frustrated because of his divorce and wants to risk something new. When Dwight spends his time in India he doesn’t want to try food from India or visit traditional sights, so he is very intolerant and disrespectful.

b) Dwight uses negative comparisons like grief (l. 39), ordeal (l. 28) and captivity (l. 55) to express his attitude towards India. He feels like he is caught in Mumbai and he just came there for the money, not for culture. He only sees the Indian potential for outsourcing deals but doesn’t want to get to know the Indian culture. There’s a metaphor in line 35 when Dwight compares his trip to India to the hell. This also symbolizes his attitude to see just the bad things and not to give up the comfort he is used to from the western world. The food stands for Dwight’s not existing will to give up old habits and to try something new. 

Shall I compare thee to...

Shall I compare thee to a lovely flower
I wouldn't find words and had no power
to discover a bit you have in common with it.
I even have to admit you're the opposite.
I could characterize you now, but I won't do
just guess on your own what symbol belongs to you.