A Christmas Carol: Read and listen to it.

A Christmas Carol (simplified) from Maria Markaki School of Foreign Languages


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After you have read the story, answer this question by leaving a comment:

What is the central message of the story? (Focus on the final paragraphs.) 

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Well done, guys! Your posts about the film show that you have made progress. Your thoughts on the film were incredibly interesting, as well! Keep blogging- it will surely help you improve your writing and critical thinking skills. 

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Hotel Transylvania

The main difference is that in reality, we are afraid of monsters and we think them as dangerous creatures that want to hurt us.But in the film the opposite happens. Monsters are very scared of people and they think that they are a kind of aliens who want to kill monsters.Moreover, we see that parents warn their children not to approach people, as they can get hurt, and they tell frightening stories about them.I believe that protagonists act a little bit strange, but that isn't as unusual as it looks,since we would also act odd if those creatures existed.

 

Hotel Transylvania

How is difference shown in the film and what is so unexpected about it? Is the protagonists' behaviour logical?

The film instead of showing "black" people and "white" people, etc. it shows monsters and humans. In the film, though, it is shown a good side of the monsters is shown and not the bad one that we all thought they had. It also shows humans from their bad side trying to kill the supposedly bad monsters.

Dracula's behaviour can be characterized as normal and strange at the same time.That's because in the first place he is trying to protect his daughter from the humans, as he thought they where still bad and uncaring (not forgetting they killed his wife), but on the other hand he is acting fairly strangely as he sees that Jonathan is a good person and he doesn't let him do anything.He also hasn't seen the world for over 100 years, so he has no proof that the people will be as bad as they were so many years ago.

In conclusion, I think that Dracula's behaviour is logical, but out of date.

 

Hotel Transylvania

How is difference shown in the film and what is so unexpected about it?Is the protagonists' behaviour logical?

The difference in the film is that the people and monsters are so different but the weird in this is the thing that a person and a vampire can be together.The protagonists' behavior is weird because they want to be together even though they are from different worlds and have a relationship which in the beginning was unexpected from all the monsters and Dracula.But in the end they are all happy and grateful that they met each other.

Hotel Transylvania

How is difference shown in the film and what is so unexpected about it? Is the protagonists' behaviour logical?

The monsters don't want humans and especially Dracula because humans have killed his wife, by fire, so he doesn't want his daughter to have any relationship with humans and he protects her for 118 years. But humans in these days love monsters and this is shown when they help Dracula reach the plane in order not to be burned. The thing that I didn't expect is that Dracula wants to bring Jonathan back to his daughter Mavis, because (at the beginning) he didn't want humans in his castle near his daughter.

In my opinion, Dracula's behaviour isn't logical because as we know vampires suck blood from humans, but he didn't want to. Jonathan's behaviour isn't logical, too, because he is among monsters and he isn't afraid of them, and finally these two became friends.

''Hotel transylvania''

How is difference shown in the film and what is so unexpested about it? is the protagonists' behaviour logical?

There are many differences in the film, but the main difference is that the monsters are afraid of people.In the reality this is different because the people are afraid of the monsters. The most unexpected thing happens at the end when a human marries a monster.This is not reality, but maybe the director wants to show that the people fall in love regardless of their type.
The behaviour of the protagonists is not logical expect (except?) Dracula's but in the end he changes. I think that Dracoula is afraid of the people because they have killed his wife.I think that Dracula fears people far more people than his daughter because he has been in danger because of them.Also, I believe that the behavior of his daughter was logical because she just fell in love.Finally,the boy was confused and did not know what to do.At the end of the film,everything went all right.The daughter and the doy married and Dracula was very happy.

How is difference shown in the film and what is so unexpected about it? Is the protagonist' behaviour logical?

Film VS Reality

There are many differences between the film "Hotel Transylvania" and the reality. Firstly, in the film we see that monsters are afraid of people because some of them killed Dracula's wife many years ago . However, when Dracula became friends with Jonathan who is a real person, he believed that people weren't as bad as he thought and when people helped him to find Jonathan he understood that they loved him, (comma) whereas in reality people are frightened of monsters who don't exist.
In my point of view, the whole film isn't logical due to the protagonist' behaviour. All the monsters are scared of people, but in reality people are terrified of monsters . However, the lead roles, which are Dracula and Jonathan in particular, regardless of their difference, finally became finally friends and helped each other in a difficult situation.

Hotel Transylvania

The unexpected thing about the characters in the movie is that  in reality humans are afraid of monsters, but in the movie monsters are afraid of humans.The protagonists' behaviour is logical only if it was a fact that monsters are afraid of humans.Otherwise it is completely mad. 

Halloween links you can explore

The Visual History of Halloween

A short text with compehension questions

Video: In 1 minute 20 seconds you can turn the word bat into just that!

Photos of this celebration on The New York Times.

Test your knowledge with a quiz!

Late-night laughter

Late-night laughter in a city street always made her nervous.Lucy was a 9-year-old girl living in a big city.Her parents were always working, (comma) so she had to stay at home alone all day.In the beginning, she liked being home alone, but when her parents had to work at night she didn't like the idea.

She begged her parents not to leave her alone at home at night because she was afraid of the dark,but her parents said that it was going to be OK and that there was nothing to be afraid of.The first days she was sleeping without any problems and nothing scared her because she had her windows closed.

However, she forgot to close the window and left it wide open one night, and as she was sleeping, she heard some creepy noises coming from outside.She was so afraid from that night, so she told her parents not to let her home alone again, (comma) but they answered that maybe it was happening in her dreams and that nothing was real.One night she heard those creepy noises again and decided to go and see what caused them.She saw from her window and it was a dog which was barking.That day she realised that she should never be afraid again.

A story

Even though the aromas of the little house were overwhelmingly wonderful,she still felt amazing.There were lots of people into the house and outside.

It all started,when Mary had her birthday!She was so sad because nobody wished her "Happy Birthday".She was feeling alone.Then she decided to go to the countryside and have a pic nic.She explored animals and planets.It was amazing but she felt alone again.Minutes later,she came across a friend who didn't wish her "Happy Birthday" and that made her sad.

Soon after,when she went at home,she couldn't believe that.She saw a very big sign that said "Happy Birthday Mary".All the house smelt wonderful!There were all her friends and relatives.The table in the house had different foods on it.

She felt fantastically happy!Finally,that day was incredible for her.

Shopping

1. I don't really enjoy shopping, even though I sometimes go shopping for a video game or something else I am interested in such as a basketball ball.

2. When I go shopping I go to buy a basket ball, a video game or something to eat.

3. I don't tend to go shopping I go about twice or three times a month.

4. There is a supermarket, a bakery, a kiosk, a fast food and a butchery.

5. I usually get something to eat, a video game or something that has to do with sports.

6. I like plaisio and public, but nothing else.