Juvenile delinquency

Over the recent years, the number of crimes committed by young people has dramatically grown. Although some citizens may claim that our area still remains a safe one, I personally believe that there are two main social issues that need to be addressed.
One of the biggest problems is vandalism. This may be because there is a high density of population, especially in shantytowns, and when people live too close together they can become angry and frustrated. As a consequence, young people may take this aggression out of vandalism. I would suggest that this problem could be solved through video surveillance. Cameras should be set up in affected areas, enabling the vandals to be identified.
Another serious issue is the quickness at which proliferation of crime among young people is spreading. Even schoolchildren are being lured into crime by older children. However, a great deal of crime is actually caused out of boredom. As there is little for young people to do in the evenings around here, I´d propose that money be set aside to provide leisure activities for teenagers .
In contrast, there are some people who claim that the problem of juvenile delinquency does not exist in our region. They point out that our area is not as affected by crime carried out by youngsters as others . In addition, they state that the percentage of idle teenagers does not surpass the 5 % and that the local government is keeping the situation under control.
Even though some may think that vandals are not prominent in our area, I believe that more and more youngsters are nowadays turning into crime. I am convinced that if the measures I proposed here or any other effective ones were to be implemented, there would be a noticeable reduction in crime across the whole community.

Poem: "maggie and milly and molly and may"

maggie and milly and molly and may by e.e cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
It’s always ourselves we find in the sea



I believe the four girls refer to only one person and that the trip to the beach symbolizes different life experiences from childhood to adulthood, either pleasant or not. The sea is a metaphor for life. Each girl experienced the beach in very distinctive ways, which represent the ways in which we go through different moments in our lives, how we experience them and how we feel about them. Similarly, we discover something new and challenging every day, no matter how bad or good that would be.

The message the writer wants to convey is that if we are lost in life we should reflect upon our experiences in order to have a picture of who we are. The last two lines constitute a violation of syntactic contiguity, realized by change of tense (from past simple to present simple) and voice. The voice is 3rd person except in the last two lines, in which the writer speaks. While the first part of the poem is quite childish, in the last stanza the writer’s attitude becomes serious and he makes us reflect upon the impact of life experiences on us.

Affective language teaching

Teaching and learning are based on communication and this involves much more tan the mere transmission and reception of a message. It implies connecting with the others through gestures, eye contact and body language as well as moving away form the self-centre to become aware there is much more than a student sitting in your class-there lies a human being, someone who has interests, needs, feelings and ideas to share with others. An affective language teaching approach generally produces an effective learning outcome basically because the teacher manages to go beyond the student and focuses on the human as a whole.
Knitting humanistic activities into the classroom allows teachers to create a relaxing and stress-free atmosphere. This is ideal for the teaching and learning process because it helps students to lower their affective filter and acquire language in a more relaxed way, since their self-confidence and self-esteem are enhanced in a non-threatening atmosphere. The flow of these positive emotions reduces anxiety and increases motivation and optimism.
Although nobody can deny the relevance of resorting to these activities from time to time, greater benefits will only be obtained if they were included in the annual plan. Some teachers are reluctant to include them in their classes due to lack of preparation time, the size of the classes or the lack of flexibility of their syllabi.
Whatever reason, a class will only become a teaching-learning community if members are educated and respected, decisions are shared and cooperation is favored over competition. Humanistic activities can only be carried out in non-threatening environments, where the concept of “team” outweighs that of “individual”. In these classes, communication flows naturally, values are respected and balance between reason and emotion are the stepping stones to reach a successful end.

Short story: “The revolt of the Evil fairies” by Ted Poston

The short story is about a young African American boy who attempts on, at least, two separate occasions to win the role of Prince Charming in the school's annual play. Each attempt to win the part brings him heart break since the role is awarded to "yarrlers," light-skinned African Americans. After Sarah Williams, his unrequited love since kindergarten, wins the part of Sleeping Beauty, the narrator goes all out to win the role of Prince Charming. Despite his efforts, Leonardius Wright, a "yarrler," wins the role of Prince Charming, and he once again assumed the role of the Head Evil Fairy.
On the night of the production, all proceeds as planned except for two instances. In the second act of the play, Leonardius raps the narrator over the head with his sword. Although the act was not in the script, Miss LaPrade quiets the narrator by telling him that it was a nice little touch. The second incident occurs in the third act when the vanquishing of the Head Evil Fairy is to occur. Just as Leonardius begins to take his sword to dismiss the Evil Fairy, the narrator cut loose with a right to the chin. Initially, the audience sees the fist fight as a new addition to the play until it fails to relent. Peace is finally restored after the curtains are closed, and when they are raised fifteen minutes later, the play continues as planned.
The theme of colour-based divisions within the black community itself is integral to Ted Poston’s “The revolt of the evil fairies”. The common held belief at that time was that lighter-skinned people were superior to the darker ones as the former group was thought to have some white features such as straight hair and white complexion. As a consequence of all this, lighter-skinned people had more opportunities in life and received a more favourable treatment.
At first sight, the Revolt of the Evil Fairies seemed to have a simple plot about a school annual play. However, after further reading, I came to realize that this short story is highly ideologically invested. Through the context of the play we learn that the colour based divisions within the black community itself are deeply engrained. The author in not merely narrating, but instead he is trying to raise consciousness about the harsh reality of the most disadvantaged members of the black community. He does all this through the use of rich vocabulary, wording of meanings, cohesive devices and humour.