This link was created to praise students' effort to write different kinds of compositions, some proposed in their coursebooks and others proposed by the teacher to enhance students' writing techniques. Some corrections like spelling, structures and paragraphing were made, but keeping the entire content. Hope you enjoy them and feel compelled to write one yourself. If you do it, please e-mail it to me and I'll be able to give you a feedback on your writing skills.
1) Essay: Travelling Abroad (by Daniela Nascimento – 15 years-old / level: Upper-Intermediate/ Book: Passages I - 2005)
2) Essay: Vacation Places (by Fernanda Dal Mas – 15 years-old / level: Upper-Intermediate/ Book: Passages I - 2005)
3) Essay: Guess what it is: it can see you but you cannot see it! (by Renata Veit – 14 years-old / level: Upper-Intermediate/ Book: Passages I - 2005)
4) My Pet Peeve (by Fernanda Coelho – 19 years-old / level: Intermediate/ Material: diverse range - 2005)
5) Essay: A Visit to an Art Exhibition (by Fernanda Coelho – 19 years-old / level: Intermediate/ Material: diverse range - 2005)
6) Essay: My Pet Peeve (by Antonio Carlos Militão – 48 years-old / level: Advanced/ Material: diverse range - 2005)
1) Essay: Travelling Abroad (by Daniela Nascimento – 15 years-old / level: Upper-Intermediate/ Book: Passages I - 2005)
If you are going to travel abroad, what are the steps you are supposed to follow?
First, you have to arrive at the place. But how? By plane, it is a good suggestion because it is fast and comfortable, depending, however, on the travelling time. It is undoubtedly the best way to travel to a different country or far places.
When you arrive in the country, you must look for a place to stay. Maybe you can choose a Bed and Breakfast, which is simple, cheap, and fast to accomodate. However, if you want a place with more options and more comfort, the hotels are the best places, in spite of being expensive.
Finally, you are going to explore the place. It is important to know about some of the customs of the country; speak the language, if possible; the time adaptability; the food; if people look like the same as in your country, or what they are like. In addition to that, you should see the different landscapes.
All of these steps are important to make a good travel. And the most important, to have fun
2) Essay: Vacation Places (by Fernanda Dal Mas – 15 years-old / level: Upper-Intermediate/ Book: Passages I - 2005)
Where to go next vacation? That is a question that lots of people are asking. So here go some suggestions: if you like cold weather, São Paulo, Campos do Jordão and Bariloche are good options; if you enjoy hot weather, Rio de Janeiro, Disney and Los Angeles are some alternatives.
In São Paulo and Campos, you can go to dance clubs every night, eat in very nice restaurants like Fasano and Valter Mancini in São Paulo, and visit very good shopping malls like Higienópois and Iguatemi. In Bariloche, you can do the same things, but the best thing to do is to go skiing or snowboarding in one of their nicest ski-resorts.
On the other hand, if you enjoy hot places, you can go to Rio de Janeiro where there are lots of wonderful beaches and places to visit. Similar to LA, which also has nice beaches, but different because if you are lucky, you can also see a famous movie, pop or rock star. If you are looking for a different thing to do, you can travel to Disney, where you are going to find the best amusement parks of the world, like “ The Magic Kingdom”, “MGM”, “Universal”, and others.
There are lots of great places to go to on your vacation. The only thing you have to do is to decide the kind of place you want and have fun.
3) Essay: Guess what it is: it can see you but you cannot see it ! (by Renata Veit – 14 years-old / level: Upper-Intermediate/ Book: Passages I - 2005)
Well, if you read the title at first, you will probably think that it’s some kind of animal or something like it. But unfortunately, it is not. I am talking about cameras in London.
In London, citizens complain because they do not have privacy anymore, they do not even have the right of committing suicide without these hidden cameras filming them. The problem is that they are not even warned that this camera is there. Other citizens, however, think it is good London being full of cameras to make them feel safer, and they do not think their privacy is being invaded, but protected.
Here in Brazil, we don’t share the same problem. In London, they compain because of the abundance o cameras in the streets. Here, we compalin about their lack. There, they must feel that they are in reality shows with their privacy being exposed to someone they do not know.
My opinion is that they should be warned about the presence of the camera in some places, so they will not do anything stupid like shoplifting, hijacking, and things like that. Nevertheless, the president of Brazil should be more worried about buying more cameras than about investing all Brazil’s money in Fome Zero project.
4) My Pet Peeve (by Fernanda Coelho – 19 years-old / level: Intermediate/ Material: diverse range - 2005)
(Comments on Michael Jacobs’ article of the same name, published on NewRoutes magazine of Jan.03)
In my opinion, Michael Jacobs is right to complain about the excessive noise made by barking dogs. Who chooses to have a dog, can not forget that this act will bring much responsibility, such as to feed it, to take it to a vet, to take it for a walk, and to give attention and care to it.
Barking is natural, and Michael Jacobs can not complain about this natural barking process. However, when the dog barks excessevily and continually, it has a special meaning, such as hunger, sickness, or calling attention.
Taking a dog for a walk is a job that owners always need to do every day, because the dogs need to pend their energy. If they do that, the dogs will bark less because the will be more tired.
Pet owners should be more conscious of their neighborhood too. After all, everybody deserves to be happy : people and animals.
5) Essay: A Visit to an Art Exhibition (by Fernanda Coelho – 19 years-old / level: Intermediate/ Material: diverse range - 2005)
(this writing piece was asked, having in mind the practice of the following grammar point: adjective + preposition + _ing verb-form)
This Friday, Deb and I went to an art exhibition covering past and present paintings. It has one hundred fifty paintings of different famous painters.
We were bored of seeing classic art, because this kink has rigid forms and the colors are not beautiful. I was interested in seeing impressionism art, because the colors show the effects of light and the forms are not so rigid as classic paintings. Monet was good at doing impressionism art, but Deb preferred Cezanne pictures.
I was crazy about expressionism, because the paintings have wonderful colors and incredible forms. This kind of art expresses feelings and emotions. Van Gogh was brilliant at doing that, and in my opinion he is the best. Deb was fed up with that, because she did not understand.
In the museum, there was a little exhibition of symbolism and realism, and we were fond of the first, but sick of observing realist paintings. We were also scared of contemporary art, as this kind is aggressive and crazy. In the museum, this part was separated in Brazilian and European works of art, since Brazilian art was significantly different from European one, in the 20th century.
Deb and I were proud of going to this exhibition, in spite of being really tired in the end.
6) Essay: My Pet Peeve (by Antonio Carlos Militão – 48 years-old / level: Advanced/ Material: diverse range - 2005)
(Based on Michael Jacobs’ article of the same name, published on NewRoutes magazine of Jan.03)
There are a lot of ways to show insecure behavior and this kind of people take hold of different tools to do it.When people put others down pointing out their mistakes in front of other ones, when they show off by disregarding people’s opinions , or even overestimating themselves are all examples of insecurity. People who underestimate others are my pet peeve.
How can I put up with people who behave like that ? Sometime ago I worked with a person who used to highlight other’s mistakes to show her off. For example , once she was analyzing a commercial agreement ant noticed that the right procedure was a stand-by guarantee instead of a commercial letter of credit , which she severely criticized the person who made the mistake to other co-workers.
A lot of people’s intention to get professional growth is put off by not having the opportunity to study in a renowned college (which sometimes is not what the market advertises). In addition to that , people who have poor origin or live in suburbs are stereotyped as poor and less capable to learn. They don’t even go to the same beach , same club, or traveled to Europe or New York . In relation to sports , they can not play soccer but, instead , they have to play tennis.
When people are respected and praised , their self-steem increases, their working capacity improves , and they accomplish more successfully .
