Which is more important – what you look like or what you are?
There’s a huge pressure on young people these days to look ‘cool’ and that’s not just girls, either. Guys also need to be wearing the right trainers, have the right hoodie. So what happens if you don’t think you are cool? What happens if your parents don’t think you are cool? In this next section we’ll look at these issues.
This lesson contains 7 steps and an evaluation. Work them through step by step.
Step
Activity
Introduction
Find out what you already know.
Step 1
Speaking
Discuss with classmate: how important is the way we look.
Step 2
Words
Pronounce the words. Exercise about adjectives.
Step 3
Reading
Read the text. Tick the calamities. Do the exercise.
Step 4
Writing
Make do & don'ts list about wrong body shape.
Step 5
Words
Suffixes and their meanings. Complete sentences.
Step 6
Grammar
Grammar desk and exercises about Present Continuous.
Speaking
How important is the way we look?
Some people say that first impressions are based on appearances.
Is that true? Does it matter what we wear?
Does it matter what we look like?
What do you think?
Watch the video about first impressions and discuss with a classmate:
Watch up to 0.56. What do you think will happen?
Watch the end. What did you think about the ending?
Did you like it? Why (not)?
What has the movie got to do with First Impressions?
How important are first impressions?
Think of an example when the first impression was not the right impression.
Step 2 - Words
Words
Think about words to describe people. Write down two appearance descriptions and two character descriptions to describe yourself.
Appearance
Character
....................
....................
....................
....................
Take a look at these words:
beautiful
big
elegant
fat
fit
pretty
skinny
short
tall
ugly
In the first exercise you will decide if these adjectives are generally positive or negative, or it depends.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
The Calamities of Beauty
You are going to read a text written by a teenager.
The title of her article is The calamities of beauty.
The Calamities of Beauty
“Look at your cousin. She’s so skinny and so pretty. Look at her; she’s so beautiful now but not before when she was fat. You should ask her for her dieting tips.” My mother cruelly says to me after we had just finished a conversation with my older cousin. I roll my eyes at her and pretend that I didn’t hear her. Although my mother thinks that she is actually helping me to a fit and healthy life, she does not realize that she is mentally bullying me with her sharp words and even sharper tongue. She does not realize that although I ignore her, those words still echo through my head as I consciously choose a salad instead of a pizza, or as I walk around in shorts in public.
However, I am not the only one affected by this, this dissatisfaction with my body, this doubt about whether I’m skinny enough, whether I’m pretty enough. Everyday millions of girls look into the mirror and are revolted by their reflections. Everyday millions of girls see fat on their skinny bodies and can’t think of food. Everyday millions of girls are constantly criticizing themselves about their weight, approximately 15 million girls to be exact, about five percent of the population in the United States . 15 million girls have anorexia and bulimia, 15 million girls.
With this in mind, think about why do so many girls have these mental illnesses? We are taught at a very young age that beauty is what is valued in society. I’m sure that in the fairy tales that we have heard always involved a beautiful princess, a handsome prince, and the ugly witch. We learn that beauty is good and ugliness is evil. And from that we learn that fat people are ugly, after all, we never see a fat princess do we? We are made to think that skinny is the only way to be beautiful. We see that the “Most Beautiful Woman of The Year,” is always skinny. And from the media we always see that the girls that are the most beautiful are slim and they are the famous ones, they are the ones that people like the most. We trick ourselves into thinking that maybe if we are skinny, we can be one step closer to what that celebrity is, what she represents. Fame. Fortune. Beauty. Many girls starve themselves; throw up after every meal to try to be beautiful.
Every day millions of girls search the media looking for the latest trends and style tips from celebrities. We consciously observe in magazines that for every picture of a “plus size” model, there are about forty “normal” size models. We watch “America’s Next Top Model” on television and notice how the plus size model is a size six and is always eliminated after the third round. The most curious thing is that the average American woman is a size fourteen and six is already “plus size” in the fashion industry. Actresses and singers are being defined as curvy when their thighs are not even the size of a celery stick. Is it no wonder that girls are having trouble defining what is “healthy?”
Although we see the “skinny” life as glamorous and fabulous, eating disorders are not the right way to achieve this. These eating disorders are mental illnesses that can cause more damage than good. You might look skinny and fit, but your teeth are eroding away from all the stomach acids you just hurled up, the walls of your stomach and oesophagus are tearing apart, you start fainting, you have an inability to concentrate, you start having blood pressure problems, and you can even develop depression.
The idea of beautiful doesn’t seem to be that appealing anymore does it? Even with this knowledge, it still doesn’t stop many from doing this anyway. What we know doesn’t change us; it’s what we do to ourselves that changes us. So next time instead of running to the bathroom to throw up all those calories you just ate, head for the gym instead. Participate in some sports; even doing some squats in your free time is healthier. This is the road to what is beautiful.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Writing
Your school has decided to address the problem of young people feeling that they have the wrong body shape.
You have been asked to make a do's and don’ts poster with some tips for young boys and girls.
e.g.:
Do some physical exercise.
Don't listen to people who talk about their weight.
Think about 3 do's and 3 don’ts to add to the poster.
Compare your list with your partners and choose your favourite dos and don’t’s.
Read the information below in the toolbox 'Poster maken'.
Then think about how you could illustrate your poster.
Op een informatieve poster kun je laten zien wat de belangrijkste delen van de lesstof zijn. Ook kun je weergeven hoe bepaalde delen zich tot elkaar verhouden.
Step 5 - Words
Word formation: suffixes
You can make new words by adding a suffix. Look at these suffixes and their meanings:
-able
able to, having the quality of
avail able
-less
without
flavour less
-ible
forming an adjective
terr ible
-ful
full of
beauti ful
-ness
a state or condition
kind ness
-al
relating to
annu al
-ous
characterized by
adventur ous
Do the exercise.
Step 6 - Grammar
Grammar
If you want to be able to do the assignments correctly you will need to know more about some grammar items.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Task
Design a class survey to find out how your classmates feel about their image.
Share your results.
Read the toolbox 'Enquête afnemen' below for tips how to design a class survey.
Write 5 to 7 statements about body.
Your classmates will give them a score (5 totally agree with /1 totally disagree with).
e.g.: I am 100% happy with my weight.
Ask your classmates to read and to score your statements.
Look at the results. What can you conclude? What can you not conclude? Why?
Think about some advice that you could give to someone who is not 100% happy with their body image.
Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding-GelijkDelen 4.0 Internationale licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding en publicatie onder dezelfde licentie vrij bent om:
het werk te delen - te kopiëren, te verspreiden en door te geven via elk medium of bestandsformaat
het werk te bewerken - te remixen, te veranderen en afgeleide werken te maken
voor alle doeleinden, inclusief commerciële doeleinden.
Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:
Toelichting
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor havo, leerjaar 4 en 5. Dit is thema 'Love, friendship and relationships'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Your image. In deze les staat centraal hoe je naar jezelf kijkt. Er wordt besproken hoe we vinden dat we er uit moeten zien en wat het belang ervan is. Eerste indruk komt aan bod en wat gevolgen kunnen zijn van negatieve oordelen over eigen lichaam of dat van een ander. De grammaticaopdracht gaat over Present Progressive/Continuous.
Leerniveau
HAVO 4;
HAVO 5;
Leerinhoud en doelen
Engels;
Eindgebruiker
leerling/student
Moeilijkheidsgraad
gemiddeld
Studiebelasting
4 uur en 0 minuten
Trefwoorden
arrangeerbaar, eerste indruk, engels, h45, negatieve oordelen, present progressive/continuous, stercollectie, uiterlijk, your image, zelfbeeld
Your image h45
nl
VO-content
2021-06-16 12:04:00
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor havo, leerjaar 4 en 5. Dit is thema 'Love, friendship and relationships'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Your image. In deze les staat centraal hoe je naar jezelf kijkt. Er wordt besproken hoe we vinden dat we er uit moeten zien en wat het belang ervan is. Eerste indruk komt aan bod en wat gevolgen kunnen zijn van negatieve oordelen over eigen lichaam of dat van een ander. De grammaticaopdracht gaat over Present Progressive/Continuous.
The subject of this lesson is 'Your image'.
Speaking
Words
The Calamities of Beauty
Writing
Word formation: suffixes
Grammar
Task
