Chris L. Portfolio. Take his English course at http://discoverenglish.mynaparrot.com/

1. Work Samples

2. Essay question sample
Discursive essay
Is training animals to work for humans cruel and
unnecessary?
(First Language English for Cambridge IGCSE: 39)

3. Student’s essay sample (edited)

4. Sample of lecture notes
• Characteristics of the narrative style
– Flair for imagination
– Interesting tone throughout the story
– Well-paced (rhythmic)
– Descriptive
– Dynamic plotline
– Effective word choice
– Cohesive: flow of ideas
– Well-organised, e.g. chronological order

5. Types of Text
Text type You’ll need
Descriptive •Mood, tone & texture
•A good vocabulary
•A sharp eye for details
Discursive/argumentative •To see 2 sides of an issue
•To set out your thoughts clearly and
logically
Narrative •Ability to tell a good story
•The writer’s craft
Informational •General knowledge
•Organisational skills

6. Sample of a text analysis
Structuring a newspaper report
• The article you’ve read is an example of
journalistic writing.
• Study the characteristics of this report in The
Guardian, in terms of
Structure
Organisation
Language
Writer’s craft
Logic

7. Sample of practice exercise
1 Vocabulary
Select what you think is the most appropriate word
or phrase to fit the context of the sentence. Each
part makes up a story.
• Part 1
1 Americans think of themselves as (mobile,
nomadic, wandering) people, pulling up stakes
for new jobs, moving often.
2 But Americans tend not to (try to go, venture,
proceed) far – 2 out of 3 moves end in the same
county; only 16% cross a state line.

8. Sample of grammar notes
• Past tense used dominantly in a sentence
• It’s easy to use just the past tense to tell a story.
But we need to arrange the events from the first
time it happened to the last. We call this sequence
of events or chronology of events, e.g.,
 Eric
1.returned the novel to me,
2.thanked me for letting him read it and
3.said that he enjoyed it.

9. Vocabulary
• She stood transfixed.
• The helicopter blades
start to rotate.
• devastated: destroyed
• enormous, massive, large
• grind
• tectonic plates
• aftershocks
• European Union
• Eurail
• gypsies
• pickpocket
• depressed
• rural
• urban
• illegal immigrants
• malaria scare
• materialise

10. Vocabulary
• She stood transfixed.
• The helicopter blades
start to rotate.
• devastated: destroyed
• enormous, massive, large
• grind
• tectonic plates
• aftershocks
• European Union
• Eurail
• gypsies
• pickpocket
• depressed
• rural
• urban
• illegal immigrants
• malaria scare
• materialise