MY PERFECT BOYFRIEND,,

SOUL IN THE 60's: THE PRIDE OF BLACK IDENTITY (MY ORAL PRESENTATION)

Hi! My name is Ariadna Vilà and I’d like to show you my research project entitled “Soul in the sixties: the pride of black identity”. First of all, I will say that I’ve chosen this topic because I really love music. I like almost all music styles, especially jazz. I started searching some information in music books or in my computer and I learnt really useful things to me such as jazz origins or its sugenres. However, soul became the most fascinating style for me. I hardly knew anything about it or about jazz history so, I though that this project would be a good way to learn while I work on it. Furthermore, I have always felt admiration for black singers and for the way they are and I discovered that my favourite ones start succeeding in the sixties. My research project is aimed at explaining the features of soul music whereas its historical context and all the outstanding facts happened before and after its birth. So, I write some information about the history of the fifties and the sixties. I also talk about all the previous music styles which were known before soul’s birth. In addition, I chose two male and two female singers of the sixties and I wrote a short biography of them. Then, I talk about their music relating it to their lives and the time they lived in. Furthermore, I compare all of them to see the differences and similarities between each other and finally I draw my own conclusions. In short, my research project is focused in the soul era and its evolution during the sixties. On one hand, I picked up the information in books specializing in this topic and I summarized the most impotant facts in my own words. On the other hand, I searched the rest of the information in different web sites. Instead of carrying out an option poll I chose some songs from each singer and I worked on them: I explained their meaning, I relate the lyrics to an historical context and to the biography of the singer. Finally, I wrote the features of the soul music which were constant in them. As you can see and hear I’ve done my whole project in English. I chose this lenguage because I like it and I though that it would be a good way to improve my level while I’m learning useful things. Well, I will tell you some information about soul music: In the mid-fifties jazz music was in a tight spot so SOUL was one of its greatest hopes to recuperate its audience. Of course, it succeeded. Soul was a variety of jazz listened during the civil rights act so because of it “black power” appeared. Soul’s origins are in the United States, particularly in Chicago, in the late fifties. It was based on blues (without evoking his negativity), r&B and gospel. Catchy rhythms accompanied by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are typical features of soul music. There are also other common characteristics such as call and response between the singer and the chorus, tense vocal sounds, extemporized additions or twirls. It’s main instruments are guitar, bass, piano, organ, drums, horn section and keyboards. Ray Charles is known as the main inventor of the soul genre in the fifties with his great hit “I Got a Woman”. He did it mixing blues, gospel, rhythm and blues and a bit of country elements and adding especially his personal touches. Many famous soul singers such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles or James Brown supported the black identity with their music. It’s necessary to emphasize the fact that James Brown was the creator of new styles, as funk soul, through the original soul music. It happened by the early 70’s, when soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock. In short, soul represented the new importance of the black identity and its culture so black population feel very identified with this music. As jazz music, soul has its own subgenres and each one has different features. Soul influenced many artists during its most successful decades. For example, in churches organ players turned this instrument into a genre on its own: Organ’s sound transmitted optimism and it made the walls vibrate so people liked it because it reminded them of soul essence. Well, now I'm going to talk about ARETHA FRANKLIN and then I'm going to show you an example of the practical work I've done. Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee (1942). She’s known as “The Queen of Soul” and she is the female artist who has the most million-selling singles. Her father was a famous Baptist preacher and her mother was a gospel singer and pianist. Aretha was a prodigy child. She learned to play the piano on her own and she had a powerful voice. She recorded her first gospel album at the age of fourteen. In 1960, she travelled to New York with her father’s blessing. There she signed with some record companies but she didn’t get the absolutely fame until she recorded her feminist version of “Respect” After several years of failed recordings in the 70’s, Aretha’s success remerged with “Think” . Nowadays, she lives alone in Detroit, Michigan and she only sing esporadically as she did in Obama’s ceremony. “RESPECT” (1967) This song was originally written and sung by the famous soul singer Otis Redding. Aretha took this song and turned it into the anthem of the feminist movement in the sixties. Aretha get the absolutely fame with this song and she won many prizes as well. In 1966 was formed a feminist group called “National Organization for Women” and Aretha’s song was her way to back this initiative. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” (x8 at least) It’s one of the most repeated words. She wants equality. In her time women were considered an inferior being and racial segregation wasn’t still abolished at all. Respect was one of the commonest words in those times because the main objective of the black community, especially black women, was be respected for the others. “(just a little bit)” (x24) She doesn’t want a radical change right now, but she definitely wants to see a little change in men’s behaviour towards women. This time she is helped for a chorus: it is a common feature of soul music. While the singer is playing the song there are some people behind her who repeat the most outstanding sentences. In this case, it is useful to remark her request. Aretha and all women in her society wanted to be treated with the same rights that men had so “Respect” represents the protest of hundreds of women who wanted a change. Nowadays, Aretha is still an example to all the women: it means that in her way she won the battle against men. CONCLUSIONS: And as a conclusion… First of all, I have to say that from the first moment I thought that soul was a music style bigger than jazz. I only new a few things about it and, of course, I was completely wrong. To my great surprise, I found out that soul was just a little part of jazz history it represented the voice of hundreds of people who wanted to be heard. Soul singers supported black people with their music: they had enough influence to get to politicians and other important people’s ears. This was the main reason why they were so admired artists. They were true artists so they rose to the challenge in their live shows. Nowadays the situation is quite the opposite: Most of the famous singers have been known for their appearance: they use to look like a model. Unfortunately, not many people care about their talent for singing. Secondly, I’ve learnt much more than I thought both vocabulary and culture knowledge. For example, before doing this project I didn’t know the name of any instrument or technique of playing them. Now, I know what is drum, horn or <>. I also have learnt other new words and terms. I’ve written some words with its meaning in Spanish in the last pages as appendixes. I did it to show that this project has been really useful to me because I have improved a lot my English vocabulary. Moreover, I didn’t know anything about fifties and sixties history and I found it really interesting. I believe that everyone should know important things like these because we use to think that past facts aren’t useful but if we want to be intelligent adults in a future and be able to talk to anyone we have to get ourselves some culture. with my research project I realized that sixties music was wonderful. I do love it and all related to it. The point is that I’ve learnt a lot of things which were completely unknown to me before. So, I believe that I have carried out the most important objective of my work at least. Anyway, I began working on it quite late so I didn’t have as much time as I’d like to have. This lack of time has limited me a lot so I haven’t been able to talk about all the things which were due in my introduction. Even so, I have always been very motivated because I really feel like working this topic. There aren’t many differences between men. They are daring, cheerful and very professional. They both had a hard childhood: Even so, it couldn’t stop them.. Their beginnings weren’t easy: they played music in the streets or with different bands so they didn’t earn much money. Finally, they become famous and they could show what they worth. On the other hand they spent all his life fighting for black people’s right and supporting them. Apart from their drug addiction, they were considered a good influence because they could gave up their principles but they didn’t. They both suffered from cancer: Ray Charles died because of it but Brown recovered. On the contrary, I’ve seen a lot of differences between Aretha Franklin and Betty Harris. Aretha was an absolutely diva: she was self-confident, proud of being a woman and able of overcoming any obstacle. She had an amazing voice and her songs used to be the anthem of the feministic movement. She was a great example for black women. For her part, Betty was a typical submissive woman. She was a good singer but she always superimposed his role in the society to her job. The only similar things between them are that they were born into a family of preachers and they both travelled to New York City to get fame. They both transmitted different feeling throught their songs: Aretha’s ones sounded cheerful and catchy but Betty one’s has a slow rhythm because they use to be soul ballads. On the whole, Aretha is more comparable to male artists. She has a lot of common features with them: she’s proud of being black, she has social engagements with her race but she’s happy with this, she’s a free person and her music is a reflection of her personality and her principles: mainly she talks about true feelings and the fight for black people’s rights. For her part, feminism is a really common topic as well. They were people with overcoming capacity and any obstacle could never stop them. As a final conclusion, I must say that all the work I’ve done during these months will be always useful to me. I have known really important facts and from this moment I consider myself a sixties music lover. I’m proud of have chosen this topic because it has been more enjoyable than I thought. Finally, I can assure that my effort has been worth. MY OPINION: I really enjoyed working on this topic because I've been interested in music since I was a child. At first, I didn't spend much time on this. I just searched some information but days went by and my project wasn't still done. However, I love the topic I had chosen so I decided to make the most of the rest of my time. I must confess that I though I wouldn't be capable of finishing my project because I wanted to talk about a lot of songs, music styles, singers...but I was completely running out of time!! Anyway, I strived a lot to get great resoults, and I think with it I carried out my main objective. Regarding to my oral presentation I have some remarks. On the one hand, I studied my writting a lot. I did the same when I had to do the oral presentation of my research project so, it wasn't a difficult thing to me because I knew exactly what I was talking about and I still remembered a lot of parts of my summary. On the other hand, I have to say that nerves played a dirty trick on me! It is a common thing on me and I really hate it! Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid it for me! Despite this unfortunate fact, my main aim was show everyone my interest and my knowlege of everything I was talking about. If I just get this then I'll be very happy! What it really means is that I've enjoyed very much working on this topic and I hope my friends have enjoyed my oral presentation as much as I did.

THE OBESITY (MY ORAL PRESENTATION)

Do you remember "Shall we dance?"

-Hey JOHN! Do you remember the film we watch last night?

-Of course I remember it...it was wonderful!

-Would you like to replay the best scenes with me?

-Ok, I'll do it.

-OK. I have the dialogues right here. I will be Mrs Clark and you will be the private detective, right?

-Ok...So, you start talking.

<<-Dance lessons? My husband is taking dance lessons?

-Well…I saw worse things in these years. Consider you lucky!

-And who’s that beautiful girl, woman? Who’s she?

-Hmm…She’s his teacher.

-Anyway, why you think people get married?

-Passion!

-No…

-Oh, interesting! Because I was taking you for a romantic woman.

-People get married because we need a witness to our life. Because there’s million people on the world but we need someone to take care of us always, everyday…>>

-Let's do another scene, please!!

-OK, but do you promise it will be the last one?

-I promise.

-Ok...and who I am supposed to be now?

-You'll be Babi and Mr Clark and I'll be Babi's daughter Tina and Mrs Mitzzie. Let's start!

<<(Tina)-And it’s getting so boring mum…

(Babi)-Shut up Tina

(T)-No, you shut up. (To the others) She’s working 20 hours a day, cleaning, and buying her crazy costumes and at night she plays Cinderella in the theatre.When are you going to rest at home?

(B)-I don’t need to rest

(T)-Oh, and I know you Mr Clark. She talked me about you and about your sweet smell.

(B)-Oh, ok…kill me now!

(Mitzie)-No, it’s alright. I smelt him too and it’s no bad. I mean he don’t smell like flowers after spring rain but it’s ok.

(Clark)-I’ve never talked about this…>>

-Oh, thank you John! I had a lot of fun with you!!!

-Oh...you're welcome! We can repeat it another day if you want to.

-Really? I'd love to!!!

LITTLE JOHNNY'S JOKE

"Jesus Is In The Bathroom"

A Sunday School teacher of preschoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago, that He grew up, etc. So he asked his class, "Where is Jesus today?"

Steven raised his hand and said, "He's in heaven."
Mary was called on and answered, "He's in my heart."
Little Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, "I know! I know! He's in our bathroom!!!"
The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds. He finally gathered his wits and asked Little Johnny how he knew this. And Little Johnny said, "Well...every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells 'Jesus Christ, are you still in there?!'"

INFORMAL DIALOGUE

A usual day in Zara, while Ariadna was looking for new jeans…

-Ari? What are you doing here? I thought you were living in London!

-Hi Laura! Yes, I’m still living in London. But I’ve just finished my exams and I came here to stay some days with my family and friends.

-Wow!! Great…and are you OK? How is it in London? I haven’t seen you since last year!

-I’m fine! London is wonderful and I’ve met friendly people there. I know! I missed you so much! Is everything alright?

-I’m pleased to hear it! I missed you too! Do you remember our weekends together? Yes, everything is alright…many things have happened this year. I have to tell you!!

-What’s going on? I cannot wait anymore! Tell me it now, please! Ooh, of course I remember our weekends! How could I forget it? We have to go out together again! But first…tell me what has happened!

-Summarizing… Well, I don’t know how to tell you this!

-Oooh, please! I’m begging you!

-I’m…gooing…to…MARRY!

-Is it true? I can’t believe it…it’s gorgeous! Good on you! When is the wedding?

-Yes, yes! I’m really nervous! It’s going to be in summer…will you come? Oh, please!?

-Sure! I’d love it! And moreover, I will spend all my summer holidays here! It will be great! We will have fun together remembering good moments lived.

-Yes, great! What are you doing on Saturday? Would you like to go out with us?

-Yes, thank you! I’ll call you this evening to tell you something, right?

-Alright, see you! Bye honey!

-See you sweetie…and take care!

FASHION INTERVIEW,,

INTERVIEWER: Hi! Today we are on Cosmopolitan TV and we're going to interview Donatella Versace, Lily Donaldson and Gisele Bündchen about fashion style.So, hi Lily, you are one of the youngest models on the catwalk. What was your first impression when you started this job?

LILY: At the beginning I was really scared and nervous because I was very young and there were a lot of professional people, but then after a few photo shots and catwalks I felt better with they, because them were very nice to me.

INTERVIEWER: And you Gisele, you are one of the most profitable models, you are in the Guiness World Records book. How did you get it?

GISELE: Well...I was born in a poor family in Brasil and one day model hunter found me in Moderals buying a burger when I was fourteen. He told me that I had to be a model in his company.Now, I'm working with the great Donatella Versace.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah great thank you Gisele. Now to you Donatella. Today you're showing your new clothes collection for summer. Where did you get you're inspiration from?

DONATELLA: Well, at first Hello! My collection this year is one of the most glamorous because I got my inspiration from old films like Marilyn films.Everything in my collection is sophisticated and all the clothes are of the highest quality.

INTERVIEWER: Thank you Donatella! That's fantastic.Gisele, what do you think about Donatella's collection? Do you like dressing in this collection?

GISELE: I think that it's very different from other collections of this summer but it's a very special collection too. I love to wearing this collection because for me it's very original.Donatella's clothes are like a dream.

INTERVIEWER: Great! I agree with you.So...Lily do you think that one day you'll be working with Donatella? Would you fancy it?

LILY: Oh yes! I would love to. It would be one of my dreams because Donatella is very professional and she works with the best people.Her collections are amazing and if I could work with her I would be famous around the world.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, how interesting! What do you think about Lily? Could she work with you? Does she suit your type of clothes?DONATELLA: Mmmm...She has already started to work in that world. So, it's too soon to know it. But she's very beautiful and she wants to work. So it could be. I saw her on some catwalks and she's fine.INTERVIEWER: Well, thanks very much to everybody.Thanks for watching and now enjoy the catwalk!!

MY BEST FRIEND (podcast about a friend)

=)

OUR ORAL PRESENTATION: AUSTRALIA

MY TRANSCRIPTION:

Hi! We are Laura and Ariadna, and today we're going to talk about AUSTRALIA...

(HISTORY)Australia, also known as Commonwealth of Australia, is a country situated in the southern hemisphere comprising the Mainland of the Australian continent.
Australia is the sixth biggest country in the world. The name of its capital is Canberra.

Australia has been habituated by the Aboriginal since forty-two thousand years ago. It has been colonized by the United Kingdom in 1770 and in 1778.
[...]

(CULTURE)Australian people have for certain that Australia is absolutely a lucky country.
They are usually cheerful and with a smile on their face. They like to joke or say funny things. Respect is something basic in their life. They want to be well-treated, and if they get it they will do the same with the others.
In short, Australians are usually good people, friendly, and welcoming. They don’t care about colours or race. The magic words for them are: PLEASE and SORRY.

(RELIGION) Australia hasn’t got an official religion, most of the Australians are Christians, approximately the 60%, others are Roman Catholics and the rest are Anglicans or no-religious.
[...]

(FESTIVALS)Local festivals are very interesting, and because of it when people visit Australia look for them. The most known local festivals are:
-On the 26th January, it’s Australia’s National Day.

-In February there are also more celebrations, related especially with Carnival. Also, in this month is celebrated the “Festival of Perth” where there are different artists from other countries.

-In Sydney they celebrate “Mardi Gras” a party dedicated to all the gays and lesbian that visit Australia.

-And in June the most outstanding event is “Melbourne Film Festival”, where is preformed an exhibition of the best national and international films.

(MUSIC)Australian music includes:

-CLASSIC MUSIC

-JAZZ

-and many other POPULAR MUSIC GENRES.

One of the most famous Australian singers is: Kylie Minogue, she’s a pop singer.

(FOOD&DRINKS)The great majority of people buy fast-food from restaurants or ready meals from supermarkets. Some of them prefer to eat organic meals and other prefers to buy everything fresh and cook the food them selves, which results cheaper.

Typical Australian MEALS:

-Lamb with mint sauce or with apple sauce, all accompanied with chips, carrots and peas.

-Australian people like very much to cook with the “BARBIE”, barbecue for us. They usually cook different kinds of meat.

-They are crazy about “Fish&Chips”. They have it because of the English influence.

-Also it’s very typical there to eat “Meat Pies”. They are sold in butcheries.

-In Australia people drinks very quickly, and the most famous drink is beer.

(ACCENTS&DIALECTS)Australia hasn’t an official language. English is the most spoken language, but with a different accent and vocabulary. They speak Australian English. The next common languages are: Chinese, Italian, or Greek.
[...]

(ANIMALS)We want to talk about some animals of Australia because we haven’t them here. There are poisonous jellyfishes and octopus. There are also the most lethal spiders, usually in the cities. As well, there are different kinds of kangaroos, koalas and wombats.
But maybe the most scaring marsupial is “The Tasmanian Devil”. It seems a dog, but it’s really strong. It’s known by its disgusting smell and its loud and disturbing shouts.

And...that's all. HAVE YOU GOT ANY QUESTIONS?


MY REFLECTION:

I’m quite proud of our presentation. It seems better than my first oral presentation, but I still have many things to improve. On my first presentation, I hadn’t any paper, but I was looking all time to the PowerPoint, and in this presentation I decided to bring a paper but only with the most difficult words. On the video you can see that I’m all the time looking at the paper, but it’s quite silly because I wasn’t reading anything. I did it because I was too nervous. I haven’t improved my moves yet. I’m very nervous and I can’t stop moving all the time. I think that those are things to change in my next presentation. I have felt quite embarrassed when I have seen myself: while I was doing it, I thought that I wasn’t so nervous, but when I saw it I couldn’t believe it. I realize all my mistakes of the two oral presentations and I can say for sure that I want to it better.

My English pronunciation has still a low level, but it’s very difficult to me speak English in front of many people. I think that the vocabulary of the project is right, and some words were a little difficult to memorize but finally I got it.

It seems that I hadn’t study it, or that I’m reading all the time. But I can swear that I study very hard this presentation because it is a very important work to me. I like very much English, and our topic was very interesting. My brother is living in Australia right now, and I thought that if I chose it I would learn a lot of things about this beautiful country.

Maybe, after seeing the video, I can say that I’m disappointed with myself. I know that it doesn’t sound well but it’s the truth. I researched information, I read all and I chose the important things, I translated everything, I memorized my presentation all afternoon long, I tried to not be nervous and…what happened? I was more nervous than before, I moved hundred times more than before, I didn’t improved the pronunciation and especially I couldn’t do a good work.

I hope to improve it soon, and be able to do a nice third presentation. I hope it with all my own! I said all the negative things about our project, but perhaps if I had to say positive things about it I would say that…I learnt a lot with it, and I’m happy for it. I had fun with Laura while we were doing it, because we saw how different could be everything in Australia. Also, I’m fond of our hard work: we did a good PowerPoint, and we wrote there only the specific words, not the whole information as I did before. I think that we can improve it, and I will try it.

ALLIE & NOAH (1st PART)

"because with every great love comes a great story..."

ALLIE: Noah, we have to go…September is coming and I will start university soon. I love you and I promise you I will think of you everyday day.
NOAH: I won’t know how to smile if I can’t be with you…
ALLIE: Don’t worry my love, I will never leave you. We’ll see next summer..
NOAH: It’s a lot of time Allie…I will miss you so much. I won’t forget you; I promise I will write you everyday.
ALLIE: If you promise this, I will answer you all your letters. This was the best summer of my life,
NOAH: I know, I don’t have words to say how much I love you Allie.
But remember…our love is stronger than distance!
ALLIE: I think is stronger than everything…Goodbye Noah, I will miss you!
NOAH: Goodbye my love, I’m already missing you.

(Allie’s Mum hid all the letters from Noah, and Allie couldn’t read anything. She thought that Noah didn’t care about her, and Noah thought that Allie wanted to forget him)
Seven years later…

ALLIE: Noah? Wow you’re really changed...
NOAH: Allie! It’s been a long time and I didn’t know anything about you!
ALLIE: I was busy; I have been studying and working in a hospital.
NOAH: So, Why did you come?
ALLIE: Because I saw you on news and I wanted to see you again before I’ll get married...
NOAH: Oh, Allie things are not like this…you forgot me all this years…
ALLIE: I’m going to marry with a great man, my parents love him, they’re all happy…but I didn’t forget you!
NOAH: Well…I suppose your life is going on an easy way now…

ALLIE & NOAH (2nd part)

ALLIE: What easy way? There is no easy way! No matter what I do, somebody gets hurt!
NOAH: Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants?! Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do YOU want? What DO you want?
ALLIE: It's not that simple!
NOAH: What-do-you-want? What do you WANT?
ALLIE: I have to go now…
ALLIE: Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me! I waited for you for seven years… but it's too late now.
NOAH: I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you every day for a year.
ALLIE: You wrote me?
NOAH: Yes. It wasn't over…it still isn't over.