A Thousand Words

Summary:

In this project you will

1. choose a photograph that means something to you

2. write a composition/essay inspired by the photograph you chose

3. write a summary about the setting of the photograph

4. learn about plagiarism (you will make up comprehension questions for an

unseen text about plagiarism)

5. present your photograph orally to the rest of the class

6. hand in your work to your teacher

7. Create an online photo album (optional)

PART I:

  • Write these details about the photograph you chose. Answer in full

  • sentences in one paragraph. Check your spelling and sentence structure.

  • Write your name, class and school at the top of the page

  • Give your photograph a title.

  • What is the name of the photographer?

  • Where was the photograph taken?

  • When was the photograph taken?

  • PART II:

  • Write a descriptive essay or a story inspired by your photograph:

  • See Gallery of Photographs

  • Click here to see an example of a photograph and a descriptive essay:

  • PART III:

  • Write a summary (200 words) of the setting of the photograph you chose.

  • The setting can be historical, social, political, personal, geographical.

  • Learn how to summarize a text - click here.

  • Use your own words. Points will be taken off for plagiarising.

  • PART IV:

  • Read the text about "Plagiarism".

  • Times Online August 02, 2005

  • University cheats on the rise

  • Thousands of students were found guilty last year of plagiarising their

  • university coursework and almost 100 were permanently excluded for

  • cheating.

  • Under a Freedom of Information request, almost half of Britain’s universities

  • yesterday revealed that there were 6,672 incidents of plagiarism and

  • collusion in the 2003/4 academic year. The figures have been released

  • after universities expressed concern about the incidence of plagiarism, as

  • students turn to the internet to buy essays and dissertations and pass them

  • off as their own.

  • At Westminster University last year, 707 students were found to have

  • copied original work without declaring it, in the highest incidence of

  • plagiarism, in the survey of 64 higher education institutions.

  • There were no incidents reported at either Oxford or Cambridge. At

  • Coventry University, five students were permanently excluded for

  • cheating. All were graduates studying for masters degrees in sciences. Last

  • year, a student at the University of Kent, who admitted plagiarising,

  • threatened to sue his institution for lack of information and negligence.

  • Think of 10 questions for the text. Use different kinds of questions (use your

  • Module book as a reference)

  • Part V:

  • Present your work orally to the rest of the class.

  • Part VI:

  • Putting it all together and handing your work in to your teacher.

  • Assessment:

  • -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Descriptive Essay:

  • Write an essay that shows the readers, rather than tells. Use enough detail

  • to help the reader form a picture of what is being written about. Use lots of

  • descriptive language and details. Descriptive writing can be done as an

  • essay (3-4 paragraphs), or as a story or a poem.

  • Your essay should have this form:

  • Title: "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"

  • Paragraph 1:

  • Think of an interesting opening sentence. Here are ideas for opening

  • sentences:

  • Give some details about the background, time, place, person. How are

  • you connected to this background?

  • Paragraphs 2 and 3

  • The body of your essay. This can include descriptions, behavior, events,

  • feelings

  • Paragraph 4

  • This is a concluding paragraph. Tell how everything ended or what effect

  • this had on you.

  • While you are writing, try to answer these questions:

  1. Why is this picture important?

  2. What was the person/people in the photograph doing?

  3. What other things were happening?

  4. Is there anything specific that stands out in your mind?

  5. What sights, smells, sounds, and tastes were in the air?

  6. What do you want the reader to feel after reading the essay?

  7. What types of words and images can create this feeling?

  8. Can you think of another situation that was similar to the one you are

  9. writing about?

  10. How can it help explain what you are writing about?

  • Example descriptive essay:

  • Caravan 104, Hulda, by Hilla Krausz

  • Arriving at a new place is always exciting, but arriving in an unknown area,

  • which is supposed to be your home for a whole year is both emotionally

  • exciting and frightening.

  • I came to Hulda, a caravan site, where I would live and work as teacher-

  • soldier in October 1994. My caravan, Caravan 104, was small, brown, shaky

  • and dilapidated. It was situated in an area, which looked like a big field

  • where someone had planted many caravans. The entire site was

  • surrounded by beautiful green and yellow fields. there were no houses or

  • buildings in sigh and I felt as if I were miles away from urban life.

  • The caravans were divided into two sections, each with its own separate

  • entrance and wooden, shaky staircase. I resided in the left part of the

  • caravan with two other soldiers. Our caravan consisted of two rooms, one

  • of which you stepped into when you entered. This room was both a living

  • room and a kitchen. Across from the kitchen was a small bathroom and to

  • the left of the living room was a tiny, miniature bedroom with two beds. My

  • friend and I shared this room which was so small that we couldn't even

  • stand together in the space between our beds.

  • It was a very hot day when we arrived in Hulda, and coming into the

  • caravan felt like entering a sauna. Although we turned on a fan and

  • opened the windows for some air, it didn't help much. Upon opening the

  • kitchen cupboards, a hoard of cockroaches that had been living there in

  • the past months, some dead and some alive, welcomed us.

  • Although the conditions didn't seem great, we felt happy and excited. It

  • was the excitement of starting something new, of a fresh beginning. While

  • we were having lunch on that first day, I couldn't put anything into my

  • mouth. I was too busy looking outside the window of the caravan at the

  • people passing by, seeing their traditional clothing, hearing their language

  • that I had never heard before and watching the little kids coming home

  • from kindergarten staring at us - the new inhabitants.

  • Seeing and hearing these new sights and sounds made my friends and me

  • want to get up and start our new lives there immediately.

  • Assessment:

  • Part I: Writing details about the photograph (10 points)

  • Part II: Writing a descriptive essay (30 points)

  • Part III: Creating questions for the Unseen passage (15 points)

  • Part IV: Writing a summary about the setting (30 points)

  • Part V: Presenting your photograph orally (5 points)

  • Part VI: Putting it all together (10 points)

  • Cover page (title of project, your name, class, date) (1 point)

  • Introduction (3 points)

  • Table of contents (1 point)

  • All the stages of the project, written by you* either by hand or on the

  • computer. (1 point)

  • Conclusion (3 points)

  • Reflection (4 points)

  • Bibliography (names of books, encyclopedias and internet sites you used)

  • (1 point)