Today, The Newtons and The Grandma have been playing Monopoly, the multi-player economics-themed board game and they have bought some interesting places of New York City.
Before playing, they have been studying the Imperative, some modal verbs (Should and Must),and also Countable and Uncountable nouns.
It has been an intensive day.
Monopoly is a multi-player economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties, and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents, with the goal being to drive them into bankruptcy.
Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards, and tax squares. Players receive a stipend every time they pass Go, and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions.
The game has numerous house rules, and hundreds of different editions exist, as well as many spin-offs and related media.
Monopoly has become a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages.
Monopoly is derived from The Landlord's Game created by Lizzie Magie in the United States in 1903 as a way to demonstrate that an economy that rewards individuals is better than one where monopolies hold all the wealth, and to promote the economic theories of Henry George -in particular his ideas about taxation.
The Landlord's Game had two sets of rules originally, one with taxation and another on which the current rules are mainly based. When Monopoly was first published by Parker Brothers in 1935, it did not include the less capitalistic taxation rule, which resulted in a more aggressive game.
Parker Brothers bought the game's copyrights from Darrow. When the company learned Darrow was not the sole inventor of the game, it bought the rights to Magie's patent for $500.
Parker Brothers began marketing the game on November 5, 1935.Cartoonist F. O. Alexander contributed the design. U. S. patent number US 2026082 A was issued to Charles Darrow on December 31, 1935, for the game board design and was assigned to Parker Brothers Inc.
The original version of the game in this format was based on the streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Parker Brothers was eventually absorbed into Hasbro in 1991. The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly -the domination of a market by a single entity.
Today, The Stones and The Grandma have continued with their English classes.
Firstly, they have learnt how to create question tags using Present Simple and where and how to use the Adverbs of Frequency.They have also reviewed modal verbs with Should and Shouldn't.
Next, they have started to read TheCantervilleGhost, an amazing short story written by OscarWilde that represents a great criticism of the American way of life during the last decades of the 19th C. Ghost
stories are anything but a contemporary phenomenon. They have been
passed down from generation to generation for centuries, either orally
or through the written word.
Later, The Grandma has been talking about the importance of trade and commerce in Sant Boi along the history and its connections withOccitan merchants, especially when Sant Boi was opened to the sea and the Llobregat River was navigable. Nowadays, the influence of these cultural ties is seen in the names of the streets (Alou, Raurich...) in the architecture and with the recognition of great figures in the history of the city. Names like the Santboian Baldiri Aleu, the founder of U.E. Santboiana, the local rugby team, or Frederic Mistral, the Occitan poet and a great admirer of the city, are two good examples.
Finally, with the arrival of the last of the members of the family, they have returned to their normal life, then travelling, enjoying and learning more English. They have decided to prepare a new travel, a long travel with different stops: Manchester-Hawaii-Buenos Aires and Tierra del Fuego to start.
Prepare your baggage Stones. We are going to enjoy together of this new experience. Next stop: Manchester.
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes aghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts orcharacters' belief in them. The ghost may appear of its own accord or be summoned by magic. Linked to the ghost is the idea of hauntings, where a supernatural entity is tied to a place, object or person. Ghost stories are commonly examples of ghostlore.
Colloquially, the term ghost story can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has been developed as a short story format, within genre fiction. It is a form of supernatural fiction and specifically of weird fiction, and is often a horror story.
While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to be scary, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to morality tales. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or prophets of things to come. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form.
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
What we understand as a ghost today has its roots in the myths and beliefs of ancient cultures. Ghosts were and sometimes still are believed to be the spirit of a person that exists after the body has died.
It is because of these beliefs that funeral rituals initially took place and were practised as a passage of rights to the next world, a way to say goodbye, and to prevent the spirit from remaining on Earth and haunting the living.
Further to this, the existence of ghosts is believed because of the human experience of feeling haunted or being in the presence of a spirit. This can range from hearing, seeing or other unexplainable spooky happenings.
The Canterville Ghostis a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in The Court and Society Review, 23 February and 2 March 1887.
The story is about an American family who move to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead English nobleman, who killed his wife and was then walled in and starved to death by his wife's brothers. It has been adapted for the stage and screen several times.
The home of the Canterville Ghost was the ancient Canterville Chase, which has all the accoutrements of a traditional haunted house. Descriptions of the wainscoting, the library panelled in black oak, and the armour in the hallway characterise the setting. Wilde mixes the macabre with comedy, juxtaposing devices from traditional English ghost stories such as creaking floorboards, clanking chains, and ancient prophecies.
Loli Stone, Homer & Juan Stone, Triangle in Ithaca
Today, The
Stones have spent their last day in Ithaca. It has been an amazing short Greek
travel that has helped them to meet each other better and to share beautiful
unforgettable experiences in Ulysses'shomebirth.
It has been
a special travel for Loli and Juan Stone because they have decided to take some days
to think about their future together. Whatever it happened, Juan is going to
remember Loli every day because she was as united to him as a shadow, although he is an adventurous brave man and he trusts on love.
The family
has been shocked with this news and they have tried to convince Loli using some
English grammar (Imperative & Should) but it has been impossible. Carlos Stone has said that Ithaca remembers him AgathaChristie's And then there were none, but The Grandma has thought about another Christie's novel, Triangle at Rhodes.
The Grandma
has explained some stories to try to cheer the family up but they were
astonished with Loli's departure. She has been talking a little about King
Arthur and about the figure of the Sibyl trying to search a relation between
Ancient Greek and Sant Boi de Llobregat with the Romans as a nexus.
The sibyls
were oracles in Ancient Greece. The earliest sibyls, according to legend,
prophesied at holy sites. Their prophecies were influenced by divine
inspiration from a deity; originally at Delphi and Pessinos. In Late Antiquity,
various writers attested to the existence of sibyls in Greece, Italy, the
Levant, and Asia Minor.
She has
talked about the presence of some ancient caves in Sant Boi and their possible
relation with ancient hermits who also lived in caves, as the ancient Greek
Sibyls and finally, she has explained some facts about TheSong of the Sibyl, a
liturgical drama and a Gregorian chant, the lyrics of which comprise a prophecy
describing the Apocalypse, which has been performed in some Mediterranean
churches, on Christmas Eve nearly uninterruptedly since medieval times. It was
declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by
UNESCO on 16 November, 2010.
Paying
attention to the Sibyl -or to random-, the family has chosen to prepare their
next travel to London. The social situation with a health crisis can do that
this new travel was an Odyssey, because of this; The Grandma has decided to
offer some rules and advice:
-Don't be
panic
-Follow the
official channels
-Trust in
the British government
-Take your
passport always with you
-Don't go
alone (we are a family)
-You
shouldn't be worried, you should enjoy the travel
-You should
use your credit card (unfinished credit) to avoid touching notes and coins
-You should
talk to everyone to practice English (it is a fantastic opportunity)
-You should
use your new IPhone11, if you have any kind of trouble (911)
-Take a lot
of photos and share with the family by Signal
The Odyssey, in Greek Ὀδύσσεια, is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other Homeric epic. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon; it is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature, while the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.
The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus, known as Ulysses in Roman myths, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy.
It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres, in Greek Μνηστῆρες or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.
Carlos, And then there were none & The Odyssey
The Odyssey continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The details of the ancient oral performance and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars.
The Odyssey was written in a poetic dialect of Greek -a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects- and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and slaves, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.
The Odyssey has a lost sequel, The Telegony, which was not attributed to Homer. It was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source, the Telegony was said to have been stolen from Musaeus of Athens by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene.
Odysseus' name means troubl" in Greek, referring to both the giving and receiving of trouble -as is often the case in his wanderings. An early example of this is the boar hunt that gave Odysseus the scar by which Eurycleia recognizes him; Odysseus is injured by the boar and responds by killing it. Odysseus' heroic trait is his mētis, or cunning intelligence. He is often described as the Peer of Zeus in Counsel. This intelligence is most often manifested by his use of disguise and deceptive speech.
As he sails away from the island of the Cyclopes, he shouts his name and boasts that nobody can defeat the Great Odysseus. The Cyclops then throws the top half of a mountain at him and prays to his father, Poseidon, saying that Odysseus has blinded him. This enrages Poseidon, causing the god to thwart Odysseus' homecoming for a very long time.
The Odyssey is written in dactylic hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks or storytelling.
The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey, excluding Odysseus'embedded narrative of his wanderings, take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithakē (Ιθάκη).
The wanderings of Odysseus as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacians' own island of Scheria, pose more fundamental problems, if geography is to be applied: scholars, both ancient and modern, are divided as to whether or not any of the places visited by Odysseus, after Ismaros and before his return to Ithaca, are real
The Watsons are still in Copenhagen. They have suffered a terrible day. A real tragedy has hit their hearts and they are absolutely destroyed.
On the one hand, YolandaWatson has injured her leg and she has stayed at hotel without visiting the city, on the other hand NeusWatson has disappeared in the middle of the Nyhavn canal.
Nyhavn is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. The canal harbours many historical wooden ships.
The Watsons were sailing by boat when they have realized that Neus Watson was not with them. Quickly, they have asked for help and they have phone the police that has arrived in five minutes.
After hours and hours of intense searching, Neus Watson has not appeared and the family has started to think the worst things and to live the hardest feelings. They do not want to lose their hope but they must admit news is not as good as they liked.
The Watsons are a strong talk-active family. They have not got secrets, or at least they think it. They have been exposing some theories knowing that Neus is a great fan of Hans Christian Andersen's tale, The Little Mermaid.
While The Watsons were worried about Neus, Yolanda was at hotel studying some English grammar without knowing anything about this tragic disappearance. First, she has read two chapters of her new book The Secret of Oldstone Hall.Later, she has reviewed some modals verbs (Must & Should)and finally, she has been reading about the origin of European surnames and the Saxon genitive.
The Grandma is sad with Yolanda and Neus's news and she has thought in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet because her situation is a real tragedy, it is a question of to be or not to be.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play with 30,557 words.
Neus Watson
Set in Denmark, the play depicts PrinceHamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.
Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others.
It was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most performed, topping the performance list of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its predecessors in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1879. It has inspired many other writers -from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and Iris Murdoch- and has been described as the world's most filmed story afterCinderella.
The story of Shakespeare's Hamlet was derived from the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum, as subsequently retold by the 16th-century scholar François deBelleforest.
Shakespeare may also
have drawn on an earlier Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet,
though some scholars believe Shakespeare wrote the Ur-Hamlet, later
revising it to create the version of Hamlet we now have. He almost
certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor,
Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time.
In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by numerous highly acclaimed actors in each successive century.
Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The play's structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny.
One
such example is the centuries-old debate about Hamlet's hesitation to
kill his uncle, which some see as merely a plot device to prolong the
action but which others argue is a dramatisation of the complex
philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder,
calculated revenge, and thwarted desire.
More recently,
psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires, while
feminist critics have re-evaluated and attempted to rehabilitate the
often-maligned characters of Ophelia and Gertrude.
Hamlet
Any dating of Hamlet must be tentative, cautions the New Cambridge editor, Phillip Edwards. The earliest date estimate relies on Hamlet'sfrequent allusions to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, itself dated to mid-1599. The latest date estimate is based on an entry, of 26 July 1602, in the Register of the Stationers' Company, indicating that Hamlet was latelie Acted by the Lo: Chamberleyne his servantes.
From the early 17th century, the play was famous for its ghost and vivid dramatisation of melancholy and insanity, leading to a procession of mad courtiers and ladies in Jacobean and Caroline drama.
Much of Hamlet's language is courtly: elaborate, witty discourse, as recommended by Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 etiquette guide, The Courtier.This work specifically advises royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language.
Written at a time of religious upheaval and in the wake of the English Reformation, the play is alternately Catholic or piously medieval and Protestant or consciously modern.
Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as relativist, existentialist, and sceptical. For example, he expresses a subjectivistic idea when he says to Rosencrantz: there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Sigmund Freud's thoughts regarding Hamlet were first published in his book The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), as a footnote to a discussion of Sophocles'tragedy, Oedipus Rex, all of which is part of his consideration of the causes of neurosis.
Freud does not offer over-all interpretations of the plays, but uses the two tragedies to illustrate and corroborate his psychological theories, which are based on his treatments of his patients and on his studies.
Hamlet is one of the most quoted works in the English language, and is often included on lists of the world's greatest literature.
Today, The Jones have spent their last day in Scotland. In the morning, the family has revised some English Grammar with the Modal Verbs (Need, Must & Should) and some Social English. They have also received some presents from MJ and M. In that case, a fantastic Grammar English book.
Show must go on. The family has received medical assistant and following medical advice, the family has continued with the originals plans. The doctors have recommended them that they should travel to Paris, they need to trust in the Scottish Emergency Services and they must be strong because they have suffered a terrible experience.
This afternoon, following the advice of the local authorities, The Jones are flying to Paris where the staff of the Mandarin Hotel are waiting for them. During the flight, the family has chosen some furniture to redecorate and refurbish S'Estaca in Majorca and Urquhart Castle in Loch Ness and The Grandma has recommended them a masterpiece: The Color Purple, the Alice Walker's best seller that Steven Spielberg adapted in 1985.
The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Menno Meyjes, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker.
It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director, and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous. The film was also the first feature-length film directed by Spielberg for which John Williams did not compose the music.
The film starred Danny Glover, Desreta Jackson, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, in her film debut, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, and featured Whoopi Goldberg, also in her film debut, as Celie Harris-Johnson.
Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young African American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African American women faced during the early 20th century, including domestic violence, incest, pedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions.
Noelia Jones and her English book
Set in rural Georgia during the first forty years of the twentieth century, the filmcenters on the life of a fictional character named Celie, an oppressed black woman. In the film, Celie endures rape, sexism, the loss of her children at birth, a tyrannical husband, domestic violence, chauvinism, the loss of her sister, and the demoralization of her friend, Sofia, who also loses her freedom to the law.
Celie and the other characters tell a story of overcoming racism and misogyny in the rural South during this time period, depicting a struggle for equality. Celie maintains her resolve throughout the story. By the end of the film, the characters have undergone remarkable changes and relationships have begun to heal.
The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for both Avery and Winfrey. It failed to win any of them, tying the record set by 1977's The Turning Point for the most Oscar nominations without a single win.
The Jones have spent another wonderful day in Hogwarts. Today, they have talked about SocialEnglish and they have revised some aspects of grammar like Too-Enough, Questions Tags and Modals Verbs (Should and Must).
The family is working hard enough to reach their objectives and they don't hesitate in her effort to learn every day. After the grammar explanations, The Grandma has talked about the possible origins of Sant Boi de Llobregat a beautiful and historic town near Barcelona.
This city has been very important during all the history, since the Prehistorical ages to recent ones although its inhabitants are too shy to talk about how important and wonderful the town is. The city is blessed by a beautiful natural environment which must be protected; important industry, which should be improved and nice inhabitants, who must be well-known around the world.
The Llobregat river, the Montbaig range, the agricultural lands, the Capuccins, the Romans, the Via Augusta, the thermes, The Succession War, Antoni Pujadas, Antoni Gaudí, the fight against the dictatorship in the 20 century, Manel Esteller, the Gasol brothers, the Marquis of Samà or the mental hospitals are some examples of a historical place, which doesn't invest enough efforts in being an important cultural and natural reclaim for visitors.
Finally, The Jones have played The Goose Game in an oral way in an attempt to join leisure and stories. The Jones have also talked about Saint George and the Black Virgins, two concepts that hide incredible stories that come from Egypt.
Tomorrow, the family is going to spend a free day and visit the outskirts of Hogwarts. It will be a beautiful trip to enjoy and play without limits before Easter arrives.
Last Thursday, 21, The Beans continued with their English classes. The class started a bit late because The Grandma had been attending some important business in Barcelona. She must vote.
That day, they talked about modal verbs: Must and Should. They also discussed about So and Such.
It's important to know when you have to choose one kind of verb or another because it demonstrates the power of the emitter over the receiver.
The Beans prepared the last details to travel to TheUSA at Christmas and thought about which places they wanted to visit and they were discussing about their new home. The Grandma accepted all their proposals and now they have an enormous work to refurbish all of them.
Today, The Bonds are still staying in New York City. They are meeting
Richard Castle, the famous writer, and his team formed by Captain Gates;
Detectives Beckett, Esposito and Ryan, and Dr. Parish. The Bonds are helping
this fabulous team to solve the latest crimes of the city.
Before visiting Castle's team, the family has reviewed some aspects of
Social English and Modal Verbs. They have talked about Should and advice and
they have written a postcard to MJ who is still in Sant Boi organizing new
adventures.
The Grandma is a little melancholic after Barbra Streisand's concert and
she is remembering one of her best friends, Charlie Rivel, the universal clown
who was born in Cubelles, in El Garraf and became one of the most famous and
acclaimed clowns of the history. The Grandma is old and she starts to repeat
things without stopping and today she is a little obsessed with Charlie, the
clown.
After talking about the importance of animals and the respect we must
give to them, the family has been talking about the Hobos, the American figure
of a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, who is impoverished and lived near
the railway during the last decades of the 19th century and live near the
containers in dark streets nowadays.
First, they are trying to help
Juanjo and Irene Bond who are involved in a crime scene and they have been accused
wrongly.
Next, they're visiting TheMetropolitan Museum.
Finally, they're
meeting Iris Apfel another Grandma's friend.
Memories light the corners of my mind misty water-colored memories of the way we were. Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behinds smiles we gave to one another for the way we were.
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