What is this?

Hi! My name is Ulrik, and this is my student blog. My posts will be based on tasks and subjects given to the class by my English teacher Ann. I am currently in my third year at Sandvika High School, Norway.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Unexpected ending, typical Roald Dahl

I have now both read and watched The Landlady, which was written by Roald Dahl and published in The New York timer, 1959. The dramatized version was made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1961, and aired as a part of his show "Alfred Hitchcock presents".

The greatness of Roald Dahl

I have always liked Roald Dahls's books and short stories. Ever since elementary school, we have been reading his books and short stories, or been listening to the teacher. Everything from "Matilda", to "The Landlady", I don't think I have ever had a bad experience with his writings.
Here is the two versions of The Landlady:
The dramatized version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSgNs8CvSVI
The short storie: http://annmic.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/the-landlady2.pdf


WARNING! SPOILERS!(lots of them, don't read unless you want to know everything that happens):

 The short story

The story is about a man who rents a room in the house of a old lady. He finds the old woman a bit peculiar, but still only think good thoughts of her. After a while he finds it odd that he is the only one there, and two names in the guest book sounds familiar. His starts to be a bit skeptical, but i guess he still finds it hard to doubt the nice old lady. His skepticism grows bigger when the woman explains that they are still living there, even though the guest book signatures were two years old. At the end of the story, the man comes down to drink tee, and as he drinks it he gets more and more dizzy. It is mentioned that it tasted bitter, like almonds, this probably means that it contains arsenic. He then notice the stuffed animals, and he says how great they are made. In the finale he asks if there really hasn't been any other guests there for two years, and she answers: “No, my dear, only you."

The dramatized version

There are some few differences from the short story, but not many. In the end, you understand whats happening much faster than in the short story. I think they makes it to obvious what's happening in the film. But i do understand that it may be difficult to dramatize this type of story in a good way. I would say they made it good, but not as good as the short story.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Cultural and social values in Jamaica

Today we were working with social, cultural conditions and values in English speaking countries. My group chose to find information about Jamaica!
We have made questions that we will try to answer, and if you are able to answer the questions better than we are, please do!


Which religion is the largest in Jamaica, and is it important in the daily life?

64% of the Jamaican population are Christians(62% protestants). There are many different Christian movements ands cults, Rastafarian being one of them. Christianity is for many people very important in the daily life, and has been a part of the culture since the 1700s, when the Europeans brought slaves over from Africa. Since the Europeans were Christians, the slaves soon became to. On Jamaica they celebrate the Christian holidays, just like in other Christian nations. Exactly how religion affects peoples personal life isn't the easiest task to find out. If you know, please write a comment!

What's politics like in Jamaica?

The biggest political party in Jamaica is the PNP, or the People's National Party. They are a left-wing, labour party(like Arbeiderpartiet in Norway), but must not be confused with the second biggest party, the Jamaican Labour party ,Which is a conservative party(like Høyre in Norway). 

In Jamaica people are very active in the political questions, and they have a parliamentary government, based on the United Kingdom model. If any of the readers knows in what way people are active in politics, please write a comment!

What languages do they speak at Jamaica?

The official language is English, because Jamaica once was a British colony. Now, they are a part of the Commonwealth of Nations, which is an organization that cooperate with values and goals, such as promoting democracy and human rights. But, they do not speak the same English there as in England and USA. Most of the population consists of descendants of former African slaves, and immigrants from Asia and Europe. Therefor the English they speak at Jamaica contains many words from other languages, especially African languages. Another language that is used is called “patois”, which is a mix of English, African and slang words from many different languages. This can also be called “Jamaican creole”, and is the languages that is mostly used among friends, and in not formal occasions.
Does anyone in here know anything else about the languages they use at Jamaica? Are there any other languages than those I have written about?

What is a typical Jamaican teenager’s life like?

I believe being a teen in Jamaica is not that different form in Norway, or in USA. Being a teenager is mostly the same, no matter where in the world you are living, I guess is depends a bit of how wealthy you are. However, it seems that rules are a bit stricter in Jamaica than in Norway. We do not have to wear uniforms, which they do there. They are not allowed to bring cell phones to school, and may be beaten if they don’t obey the rules. But, this may vary from school to school, so I may not be right. How is the school system in Jamaica? I have read a bit about it on the internet, but I don’t really understand it. It seem sto me that they first have preparatory school, from 1. to 6. grade. Then they go to lower school and upper school, which is 7. to 11. grade. Then they graduate. I don’t know anything about how a normal day at school is, so if would be nice if anyone knew something about that.
I don’t really know much about how it is like being a teenager in Jamaica, so it would have been wonderful if anyone could help me out? If anyone from Jamaica is reading this, how is your daily life?

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Tempest

Today, while sitting in front of my computer screen, I was listening to Bob Dylan's new album Tempest on Spotify. I am a big fan of Dylan, but I didn't know about this album until today. I guess that doesn't matter since it was released yesterday, on September the 8th. While listening to the album, I thought about writing a short post about it, which I did.

Tempest, by Bob Dylan

The first song on Tempest is called Duquesne Whistle. The intro to this song gave a sort of "Hawaiian" feeling, which I guess is the point. Anyway, like all the other songs on the album, it did not disappoint at all.
 Bob Dylan's texts are as always good, and even though he's getting older, his voice still got what only Bob Dylan's voice got. These songs are a bit more slow, and "elderly" than his previous songs, but I believe that's a good thing. They got great rhythm, and they makes you want to keep listening. The songs are absolutely beautiful, and I will be listening to them for a long time. My favorite song on the album must be Tin Angel. Exactly why I don't know, but I do love it. I do recommend this album to every Bob Dylan fan, but also to everyone who likes something bit slow, and awesome!

Here's a link to the first song on the album, Duquesne Whistle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vANZ-GGaOC0&feature=related