Web assignments

January 2002



ASSIGNMENT 1

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The Lord of the Rings

ICT
Scanning
Note taking
Writing a short report
Individual/Pair work

180 minutes

In the January edition of Alquin magazine you read the article Rowling vs Tolkien. Among other facts, you discovered that both J K Rowling and J R R Tolkien are considered as the greatest children's fiction writers of their time. Both authors are masters at creating an extraordinary fantasy world for their devoted readers. Fans have developed a very loyal following with many websites about the secret fantasy societies created by the authors.

Perhaps you have already seen the films or read the books, but you will need more information for this web assignment. You will need to break into these secret societies and web sites of Harry Potter and/or The Lord of the Rings. You will use the web sites as a research tool to write your own well-informed short report about the movie.

Part 1: Choose one of the films:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The Lord of the Rings
Visit different websites to find out what well-read, devoted fans believe about the film-version of the book. Take notes and be sure you write down all the names and addresses of the sites you have visited for evidence of your research. The following websites are a good place to start your research and will help you make further links:

The Lord of the Rings
http://www.lordoftherings.net
http://www.tolkiensociety.org


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
http://www.harrypotter.com
http://www.harrypotternet.co.uk/
http://www.mugglenet.com/
http://www.hogwartsonline.net/ukharrypotter/


Part 2: It is possible to read many reviews of the film, however, the assignment is to find out what the real fantasy fans think. Take notes, using the following focus questions to help guide your research.


  1. What do the fans like about the film? What positive aspects about the film do they mention?
  2. What do fans dislike about the film? What negative aspects about the film do they mention?
  3. In what respects does the film differ from the book?
Part 3: After you have gathered your research information, you need to organize your ideas and evidence. Your movie review will be written in a short report format with the following headings:


TIP: Remember if you can find it on the Internet, then so can your teacher. Don't use someone else's words without giving him/her proper credit. The reference section is your chance to show how much hard work and research you have done.





ASSIGNMENT 2

Muhammad Ali

ICT
Scanning
Note taking
Writing
Individual/Pair work

180 minutes

In the January edition of Alquin magazine you read about boxing legend Muhammad Ali. The articles featured in Alquin focus largely on Ali's conversion to Nation of Islam in the 1960's and his controversial refusal to participate in the Vietnam War.

For this assignment you will have to use your Internet skills to find information about Ali's entire life, from his youth until today. You will look at various web sites and take notes about relevant information. You will use this information to write a brief biography about Ali.

Part 1: Get on the Internet and start searching. You can use the websites mentioned here on the Alquin website as well as some of your own. Remember to be economical with your time: be selective and try not to take notes about everything you come across. Keep a record of the websites you take notes from, as you need to include a list of these at the end of your biography. DO NOT print out excessive pages of information and DO NOT cut and paste information directly from websites. Your teacher will recognise written work that is not your own!

Part 2: Now that you have your information you must organise it. Sketching a time-line of Ali's life, highlighting important dates, will help you get started. Draw up a plan of what you want to include in your biography.

Part 3: Once you have drawn up a plan of what you want to include in your biography, you can concentrate on how you want to write it. Your opinion of Ali will influence the style and content of your biography. You must include an introduction and conclusion in which you describe and explain your opinion of Ali. If you want to include pictures remember that 'less is more'. In other words, don't use too many. Your biography must be approximately 400 words long (one A4 sheet of paper).

Part 4: After proofreading your own work, give it to a friend to read. Having someone else check your work is a great way of finding spelling and grammar mistakes. Make any necessary corrections. When you hand the biography in, include a list of the websites you used when gathering your information.





ASSIGNMENT 3

Defining 'beautiful'

ICT
Note taking
Discussion
Group work

60 minutes

The article 'eat, eat, eat...if you want to be loved' describes the way in which some people in southern Nigeria perceive beauty in women: the fatter they are the better. The article 'model of a modern Briton' describes changing attitudes in the British fashion industry towards beauty: the 'English rose' of the past is giving way to a 'bronzed sunflower'. Both articles illustrate the fact that ideas about physical beauty differ throughout the world and also change with time.

The purpose of the assignment is to work together in a group of four to create a comprehensive definition of the word 'beautiful'. You will consider your own (cultural) perceptions of physical beauty and, after doing some research, will compare these with attitudes from other parts of the world.

Part 1: look back over your notes from the 'eat, eat, eat...' pre-reading activity (page 20 of the Alquin assignment book). You should also consider factors such as length, skin colour, facial characteristics and personality traits which, in your opinion, make a person (male and female) beautiful.

Part 2: In your group, discuss your opinions. Do you all have similar ideas about what makes a person beautiful? How many of your shared perceptions of beauty do you think are international? How many are culturally bound?

Part 3: Allocate a different world region to each group member (for example, Asia, Africa, South America and Europe). Use the Internet to find some information about different perceptions of beauty in these different parts of the world. The following websites will be useful but you will probably have to do some searching of your own:

http://www.jolique.com/
http://www.anthroarcheart.org/people.htm
http://www.frigatezine.com/essay/eyecandy/eec02pen.html

Don't just focus on body shape: you could, for example, consider tattooing, scarring, hair/eye colour, skin colour, decoration and demeanour. Try to find information about men and women.

Take notes as you find your information, and print any pictures that might be useful in your discussion. Your group will need to hand in a summary of your work so be sure to write down the websites you use.

Part 4: Once everyone has collected enough information, discuss what you have found with your group. Do you still have the same ideas about 'beauty' as you did before the research activity? Together you must write a comprehensive definition of the word 'beautiful'. That means that you may use examples and explain why one person might describe someone as beautiful whereas another might not. You should use between 150-200 words.

Part 5: When your group hands in the definition, include each group member's research notes and pictures. Be sure to include a list of the websites you used when researching your world region. Remember that your teacher knows how to use dictionaries too, so make sure you use your own words and don't copy from a dictionary!





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