REVIEW ORAL PRESENTATION

This week we had to do an oral presentation about our research project, mine called ''The most influential bands of the 90's in the United Stes'', in the Englsih class. In the presentation we had to talk about how we did our project, where did we find the information that we used, what was the part that we had more trouble with, etc. 

I think that I did it pretty well because, as I wasn't as nervous as other times, I've been more able to explain better what I was saying and look comfortable while doing it. Also, I included some songs and explained a little bit of their story so that people could be more interested in what I was saying. 

Basically, I talked about why did I choose that specific topic; the methodolgy that I used, mainly magazines; the objectives that I wanted to achieve; the parts that I divided my project, explaining what I did in each one; conclusions, where I commented If I've reached my goals and all the things that I learnt.

THE BLACK DEATH

The black death affected horribly in the medieval ages population. I wanted to learn more about this epidemic and I found an interesting article about it.

The most dreadful epidemic

The Black Death, The Most Deadly Epidemic was written by an anonymous author and published on August 17, 2012 in the National Geography. It explains the origin and spread of the epidemic, the first hypotheses about its origin, the final hypothesis, the symptoms and consequences and sequelae left by the plague.

To begin with, the author tells us that the Black Death began to spread in the middle of the fourteenth century, between 1346 and 1347, and was present until 1361. At that time, there were other chronic diseases such as dysentery, leprosy and measles. But the plague was the most feared because it affected both the poor people and the royalty, such as kings.

The author reveals that the first explanations about the origin of these contagious diseases indicated that they had an astrological origin by the eclipses or the passage of comets, Toxic gases emitted by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and also indicated the evil to decaying organic matter, since they released gases that were present in the air that humans breathed.

Later on, he clarifies that in the nineteenth century two bacteriologists discovered that the origin of the plague was due to a bacterium that affected black rats and other rodents and was transmitted through the parasites that lived in those animals .

Then he explains the symptoms of the disease. The bacteria was prowling around the homes for about 20 days before the onset of symptoms and then three to five days before the first deaths. The plague affected the armpits, the neck and caused high fevers. There were different ways of manifesting the disease: bubonic plague (when the lymph node became inflamed), pneumonic plague (when it affected the respiratory system and caused a very strong cough) and septicemia (when contagion passed into the blood and was manifested with dark patches on the skin).

Afterwards it is revealed that the starting point of the plague was in the Crimean peninsula, on the shores of the Black Sea. Later he says that some historians say that the pneumonic plague was the most propagated since the patients through the cough contaminated the air and they contagious to others. But he warns that indications indicate that bubonic plague was the most common and that transmission occurred through ships carrying infected people, rats and fleas between the goods. And that, therefore, spread the plague without realizing it by all the cities by where they stopped.

To conclude the author focuses on the death figures left by the epidemic. The black plague reduced 50 million of Europeans and the demographic recovery did not take place until the middle of century XV. In Catalonia the plague affected between 50 and 70 percent of the population.

IF ONLY THE LIVING LIVED

I wanted to comment this article that talks about young people and their cultural knowledge.

Javier Marías, the author of the article, wants to state that more and more individuals do not have an acceptable knowledge in the general culture of history or religion.

In the article, he talks about the general inculturation, more and more young people who do not have the acceptable level of general culture that should have and the author is 100% sure that if they show some historical fact, or the photograph of a historian or Someone important in history a young man will not know how to answer or have a confusion, so he wants to make an appeal not to leave those important data to oblivion, because it can be a great loss for the study of history.

Javier Marías then comments that not only has the general culture of history and religion in today's people been lost, but the same thing is happening in the art of cinema. The students do not know a movie like "Pulp Fiction" of the 1994 and they comment that those films in black and white seem a boring to them and they consider that it is to be wasting the time. Not only people, today's translators also do not correctly translate certain names from English into Spanish.

Finally the author announces that many workers of the amusement parks observe how when entering the tunnel of the terror they do not know the personages hidden inside, for example they confuse Dracula with Batman, only by the fact that the two they wear a cape. What today is a fashion, in five years no one will remember that fashion.

In con- junction today, we seem to want to erase everything lived in the past, forget what you once knew and learned at an increasing rate and just focus on the latest trends.

DIALOGUE

SCENARIO: TWO GIRLS AFTER WATCHING A MOVIE IN THE CINEMA
CHARACTERS: LORENA, PAULA

LORENA: Wow! I was so shocked about the movie!

PAULA: Yeah I know right? How can they put botox on their body?!

LORENA: I think that it's not necessary wasting so much money in this kind of stuff to look beautiful.

PAULA: I agree, Instead of going through a bunch of expensive surgeries, you could start doing sport and eat more healthy.

LORENA: Think about the canons of beauty in previous centuries, they preferred a woman with curves and a pale face and now people are obsessed with being skinny and tanned.

PAULA: That's true! People also waste a lot of money in X-rays to become tanned and that, eventually, can be harmful for us.

LORENA: Well, In fact I think we look hotter being natural than with all this surgeries. We don't want to look like some reality star...

PAULA: Yeah, I know right? I also prefer being natural and decide what I want to wear and how do I want to look without being pressured by strangers who don't even know me at all.

LORENA: You're right! Because all these adds and reality TV shows only show us some people who are too concerned about their body and this kind of things. We shouldn't follow what some stupid people say what's cool or not.

PAULA: The only thing that it causes is that we want to be like them and waste money in silly stuff.

LORENA: Yes, that's a big business!

PAULA: And also, this business release adds that make young people mainly to be insecure about themselves and that led them to want to change their appearance.

LORENA: I agree, I also think that It gives them phsychological issues and develope illness like anorexy and bulimia.

PAULA: Basically, nowadays they make business on everything but playing with our health... That's not good.

LORENA: I think the same.

PAULA: Well, It was nice talking about this and see that you have the same opinion. I'll call you, bye!

LORENA: Ok! See you later!