Friday, April 29, 2011

Friday, April 22, 2011

Evening (film)




Evening is a deeply emotional film that illuminates the timeless love which binds mother and daughter -- seen through the prism of one mother's life as it crests with optimism, navigates a turning point, and ebbs to its close. Two pairs of real-life mothers and daughters -- Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha Richardson, and Meryl Streep and Mamie Gummer -- portray, respectively, a mother and her daughter and the mother's best friend at different stages in life.

Overcome by the power of memory, Ann Lord (Ms. Redgrave) reveals a long-held secret to her concerned daughters; Constance (Ms. Richardson), a content wife and mother, and Nina (Toni Collette), a restless single woman. Both are bedside when Ann calls out for the man she loved more than any other.

But who is this "Harris," wonder her daughters, and what is he to our mother? While Constance and Nina try to take stock of Ann's life and their own lives, their mother is tended to by a night nurse (Eileen Atkins) as she journeys in her mind back to a summer weekend some fifty years ago, when she was Ann Grant (Claire Danes)...

Some questions that arose after I watched that film: 


Does happiness lie in small, daily, seemingly insignificant moments or in the chances we missed in life, commonly referred to as the 'road not taken'? Is happiness easily feasible? Who does it depend on: us or people who surround us?

(a little something for all of us to contemplate on :-)

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Learn words through... politics!




Great learning tip, especially for adult learners: Since reading comics and cartoons helps digest complex vocabulary, why not visit Jeffrey Hill's blog, indulge in the (politically oriented, but hilarious) cartoon section and read the explanation of words used? For instance, by keeping the above cartoon in mind, you will never forget the meaning of the phrasal verb 'clamp down on'! 

Sunday, April 3, 2011

It's raining... idioms!!!

Rolls off the Tongue: Great Facebook page including illustrations of idioms and an explanation of their meaning. That is exactly what we always say to students: form mental images if you want to retain all these idiomatic expressions!!! Comic strips or cartoons are also said to be one of the top strategies to enhance lexical uptake. Don't forget to check out the respective blog: rollsoffthetongue.tumblr.com