Sunday 30 November 2008

The Tell-Tale Heart short movie

This is a movie version of "The Tell-Tale Heart"

It's really frightening, isn't it?

Write down your impressions.

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Answers of the listening on "Cloning"

Ok! Here we are..! Hi guys! I’ve been working for hours to do this homework but finally I’ve done it! =)



  1. What are the main types of cloning? The main types of cloning are: reproductive cloning, where a new baby will be created and therapeutic cloning, where only some of the cells will be copied.

  2. What is the aim of stem cells into the body? Stem cells regenerate tissue: they replace cells that are lost through natural processes.

  3. What are scientists actually studying? Scientists are studying the possibility of treating certain diseases such as Parkinson, hearth disease or disease of the brain by introducing new stem cells into the body; embryo cells are the centre of much of the current research.

  4. How was the sheep Dolly created? The sheep Dolly was created trough cloning: a nucleus taken from an adult sheep cell was inserted into an empty egg.

  5. Why would therapeutic cloning be useful? Therapeutic cloning can solve reject problems in organ transplants.

  6. What does Professor Gardner think would be possible in the future? Professor Gardner thinks it may be possible to extract the nucleus of a cell from the patient to briefly clone an embryo of him and then to use the embryo stem cell to treat him. In future this method could even be used to create a personalized bank of stem cells that can be stored and used when the patient needs them.

  7. What kind of ethical dilemmas are the governments facing? The governments are facing such ethical dilemmas: should scientist be allowed to harvest stem cells from embryos? Should the cloning of human embryos be permitted?

  8. In Britain what is the limit of time research? In Britain the research is permitted on embryos up to fourteen days old.

  9. What is Professor Donaldson’s opinion on the cloning research? Professor Donaldson thinks that the creation of a human being through cloning should not be permitted under any circumstances. It’s illegal at the moment and should remain illegal.

  10. Why is not possible in certain states to make research of embryos? In certain states the research on embryos is not possible because an embryo, however young, is considered a human being. Embryo has the potential to become a human being.


"the sheep Dolly"


Lorenzo Quercioli

trak listening 25-11-08

Hewre's the listening on "Cloning"

is

Monday 17 November 2008

Edgar Alla Poe: Tales of Imagination


E.A. Poe, besiodes being the creator of the Detective Story, is considered the master of the short story in general.


Here you can find the links to two of his most famous short stories:
a) The Tell-Tale Heart
b) The Black Cat

Thursday 6 November 2008

The female figure in Jane Austen's novels

At long last I'am able to write this topic. I hope this is ok, so I only wish good reading.

Bye,bye Semox

Wednesday 5 November 2008

I really apologise for being late but my adsl connection was broken ...:)..
hope u enjoy the reading, and sorry for the grammar mistakes!
The main theme of Jane Austin's novels is the countrygentry life, especially linked to the theme of marriage: the role and the social position of the English women in the 17th century is the principal aspect of Austin's novels.
The most important thing for a woman of that time was to get married. There aren't any characters describing better this concept than the two mothers of the novels, Ms Bennet and Ms Dashwood; their principal interest was to see their daughter married, and this desicion was such important to be taken fom all the family. But at the end, we see that the heroines manage to marry their real love who isn't always the man choosen by the family; there is always the happyendig.
The detailed description of the females figure is used by J. Austin to describe better all the different aspects of the female mind and all the different points of view of the women.
For example Elizabeth, the heroine of "Pride & Prejudice",is a very strong and instincive woman and she' s a very proud of herself girl. When she meet Darcy, she refuses to submit to his ideas, showing her proud personality. In the novel there is a journey towards selfknoledge and selfawareness of the two characters that ends with a changing of their personality.
On the other side Elinor, one of the heroines of "Sense & Sensibility" rapresents the way a thypical 17th c. woman had to be. She's sensitive but prudent in showing her feelings. She's very self-control and she's got an inner balance during all the developement of the novel.
And completely different is the personality of Elinor's sister, Marianne, that is irrational, istintive and she doesn't have problems to show her feelings and her thoughts to the men she's in love with.
The heroine that is more similar to Jane Austin's personality is in my opinion Elinor, because of her big control on herself ond on her feelings.
marty s.





Monday 3 November 2008

THE FEMALE FIGURE IN JANE AUSTEN'S NOVELS

Jane Austen was the master of the Novel of Manner. She had a short and uneventful life: she was the daugther of a rector of a church, she received a complete learning and she was very linked to her sister Cassandra. After this short description we can understand how her style would be. The character that represents her attitude is Elinor in "Sense and Sensibility": she's a reflective woman, she has a lot of different qualities, but well balanced (reason and passion, sense and sensibility....). Marianne, that is the second heroine of the novel, instead, is more an impulsive and sensible character but she's an intelligent woman and along the novel she gradually acquires sense.
Also in "Pride and Prejudice" female characters have important roles. Elizabeth, the heroine, is a very clever woman capable of complex ideas and impressions. She has a really strong personality, she refuses the roles imposed on her by her family. We can see her attitude and strong personality when she accuses Darcy of pride and when she refuses his proposal of marriage: she is a really uncommon girl, expecially for the period in which she lives. Elizabeth's strong personality is in contrast with her sister's. Jane (this was her name), in fact, isn't a round character with her own personality, she is more a type, a flat character.
In these two works the female figures have a central role maybe because of the life and the education received by Jane Austen. But all these women are different from each others because the English author wanted to investigate and to show every different facet of the human mind, expecially the female mind.
Jane Austen succeeded in doing it introducing her characters in amorous weaves that usually ended with an happy ending (one or more weddings).

Francesco Poggi

Sunday 2 November 2008

the origin of the vampire stories

For those who are interested in the Gothic genre I propose the reading of the first "vampire" story: "The Vampire" by John William POLIDORI, published in 1819...

For the Italian version click here.

We have to wait until 1897 for the pubblication of DRACULA by Bram Stoker, the most representative novel of the sub-genre.

Enjoy it!