Introduction to Public Speaking | Coursera

Below is a blurb for what seems like a really interesting course offered by Coursera, one of the MOOCs we talked about in our last class.
Who's interested?

Also:
Who hasn't sent your blurb???  Who hasn't done the surveymonkey feedback?
(Here's the link again to the surveymonkey:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VBH6Y5Y )
Three of you are MIA!)

have a good summer!
james
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Introduction to Public Speaking | Coursera:
A report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that employers want job candidates with strong communication skills. Similarly, educational success also requires the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly. In this class, we will study the principles of public speaking; critically examine our own and others’ speeches through interactive practice.

Blurbs:

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

Plot: *Do not read if you don't want the book spoiled*
This is a short novel about a man who discovered how to become invisible and progressively becomes a criminal. Being invisible and unable to turn back into a visible human, he cannot actually survive in the open or fit into society and becomes a recluse. In the end, he plans on using his invisibility to instore a reign of terror as he calls it, but he is finally brought down by policemen.

My Opinion: 
I really enjoyed this novel, as I am keen on fantastic literature (not Fantasy). The language the author uses is quite ancient but it is interesting to see how they spoke English a century ago. There is a lot of vocabulary too. The story is really well constructed. It is a very gripping book if you are into this kind of literature and it is funny because Wells explains his theory for becoming invisible. With our optics and chemistry knowledge, I was amused to get to know the ideas they had at that time.

Doctor Jeckyll and Mister Hyde by R.L. Stevenson

Plot: Doctor Jeckyll is obsessed with his two personalities, he wants to become a being of pure good. He thus mixes a drug to separate his good side from his bad self. But as a result, when he takes it, he becomes a being of pure evil for a short period of time, stripped from all laws and rules of society. But he becomes addicted to this drug as it makes him feel free and he feels much better than when he is torn between his good and his bad self.

My Opinion:
The language used is a bit more modern than in the Invisible Man. I really loved the story for its suspense but also for its philosophical aspects and concepts. I highly recommend it, especially since some people tend to think Mister Hyde is the same as the Hulk. The real story is not well known and reading this novel is really worth your time.

Blurb : The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (2002)

The story…

The Lovely Bones is the story of a young teenager called Susie Salmon, with a typical American life : a warm and happy family life (parents,  sister and brother, grandma, etc.), good level at school, nice friends, and so on. 

The book starts with her murder by a man called Mr. Harvey : their weirdo neighbor who lives alone and gains his living by making and selling doll houses. From then on, Susie lives in her heaven with friends she finds over there and watches the world, mainly her own family and friends on Earth from above.

There is a series of events going on, starting by the rush of the parents to find their beloved daughter, not believing she was dead at first, and struggling to deny the proofs. Little by little, as time goes by, they are “forced” to accept the truth. At the same time, Susie’s dad who was particularly close to her, begins to expect Mr. Harvey and becomes almost convinced (after some short conversations with him) that he is Susie’s murderer. Her daughter Lindsey, Susie’s beloved sister, has got the same feeling and tries, one day, to spy on Harvey’s house when he’s away. But the killer returns before Lindsey can find anything more than the map of the underground den where Harvey had murdered Susie. Before the police can catch him, Harvey manages to leave the city. Later on, the police discover that Harvey has murdered a whole bunch of young girls after having harassed them just as he had done with Susie…

Time goes on:  Abigail, Susie’s mother cheats on her husband Jack, Lindsey marries Samuel, and has a daughter, and Harvey dies accidentally, falling off a snowy slope, while harassing a potential victim…

Susie finds the occasion once, to change bodies with Ruth, a weird girl of her school who had sensed Susie’s spirit pass by her the night of the murder. Changing bodies with Ruth, Susie can be with Ray (a boy who was in love with her at school) for a while, and then she turns back to her heaven.

What I thought about it

On the whole, the story is rather interesting and original. But the progression is sometimes a bit too slow, which makes some passages seem too long and even a bit boring.  

Another fact is that there is no particular literary style. The story is neither totally focused on Harvey being sued by the police, nor on Susie’s feelings towards her family and friends. It’s a little of all and nothing in particular. It’s not necessarily a negative point but I think it’s important to consider for those who might think that it’s a police novel, which is not the case at all.

In a  nutshell, I think that the best adjective to describe this novel would be “original”, not only the plot, but also the mixture of styles and feelings, and the presence of weird and unusual events (switching bodies, making contact with Earth via objects, etc.) But for those who are not fond of (science) fiction it might be a bit boring and too unrealistic sometimes.

Valeh

Susan McConnell (Stanford): The Importance of Giving a Good Talk with English Subtitles - YouTube

Susan McConnell (Stanford): The Importance of Giving a Good Talk with English Subtitles - YouTube:

Interesting tips about good presentations!

"From group meeting to lectures to job talks, scientists need to give clear, effective talks. McConnell presents a compelling list of reasons why you should take advantage of available resources to improve your oral presentation skills. To learn more about organizing an effective scientific talk and PowerPoint presentation, see McConnell's iBioSeminar: http://www.ibioseminars.org/lectures/..."

Aurore's minutes are on the shared google document as are the links to the videos we recorded last class. Have a look!

See you all on Thursday, in F703.

James
ps... Aurore 'll be a little late.

The Making of English, by Henry Bradley

Blurb: The Making of English, by Henry Bradley

This book, The Making of English, explains many changes the English language has undergone, from before the year 1,000 to nowadays. It deals with grammar, word-making, what English owes to foreign tongues and changes of meaning in the language.

For instance, an important part of the book aims at showing the link between Old English and German (generally) and thus, explains the origins of a lot of words in Modern English.

On the one hand, I’ve found the book very interesting, pointing out some subtle aspects of the English language and providing a historical overview. But on the other hand, this book has of course nothing to do with a novel. Some parts were much too detailed and a bit boring.

The author was eager to give many Old English words, which definitely look more like odd German than English. So, unless the reader wanted to learn Old English, he would skip a few paragraphs before getting a headache.

Newly Unemployed Woman Enjoys Equal Pay For First Time In Career

Newly Unemployed Woman Enjoys Equal Pay For First Time In Career:

"In a historic development for gender parity in the American workplace, recently laid-off consultant Paula Saunders, 32, is at last earning an income identical to that of her unemployed male counterparts."

Do you all know the Onion News Network...  It's very tongue in cheek... Have a look! They do a spoof of the CNN too!

see you all tomorrow!  Bravo to our actresses in Fiddler!

james

Epic Meals

They have been doing this show for quite a while now, and a lot of people watch it. They basically just cook up gigantic meals with lots of grease and calories and crack a few jokes while showing us the cooking process. Do you think it's scandalous that they waste food and actually pretty much play with food and some people enjoy watching this while in some regions of the world people starve to death? Do you think this is morally acceptable? Do you think this should be banned?
I think they can do whatever they want and I find their videos quite entertaining, as far as their attitude about it is pretty sarcastic and they don't really take it too seriously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TtFugIqMrs