Pictures of New York-- Where would you like to go and why?

There are three very important bridges that connect Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. You can remember them with the acronym, BMW (Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge). Each bridge is over a mile long and features both pedestrian and vehicle cross-ways. This means you can drive or walk across each bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest bridge in New York City and is in the front in this picture. Behind it is the Manhattan Bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge is further behind.

This is Madison Square Park. It is home to some beautiful fields of grass and great views of the Empire State Building, one of the famous landmarks of the United States. Unlike in France, people are allowed to sit on the grass in almost every park! Madison Square Park also is home to the first Shake Shack, a delicious burger and milkshake stand.

The Freedom Tower is now completed. I took this picture while it was still being built. It is now the tallest building in the United States, beating out the Chicago skyscraper known as the Sears Tower. Because the Freedom Tower's spire is a permanent part of the architecture and the Sears Tower only has a point, the Freedom Tower is considered taller. 

This picture is of Brooklyn. Taken from the Williamsburg Bridge this summer, Brooklyn is currently one of the most fashionable places to live in the world! It is filled with young artsy people with dreams of making it big. This bohemia is also home to many different immigrant communities, such as the Polish, the Irish, the Italian, the Hasidim, and many more. I live about 5 blocks away from the entrance to this bridge, which spans about 1.2 miles and is very steep.

This is a neighborhood in Brooklyn called Williamsburg. It is known for its hipster population, but is also the hometown of Jay-Z. Featured in this picture is the J train. Jay-Z gets his name from the J and Z trains that run through his old neighborhood. In the distance is Peter Luger Steakhouse, supposedly one of the best steakhouses in the world. You can see it right in front of the Williamsburg Bridge.

This is a picture of Park Slope, Brooklyn. A traditionally Italian and Middle-Eastern neighborhood, Park Slope has become a very wealthy area in Brooklyn. It is home to Prospect Park, the second-largest park in New York City. Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect who built Central Park, built Prospect Park after and corrected all the mistakes he made in Central Park. Prospect Park is Central Park 2.0! There are many Victorian-influenced buildings in this neighborhood. There are also bigger streets. In Brooklyn, residents are more likely to have a car than in Manhattan.

This is Union Square, a neighborhood in Manhattan. The park in the center of the square was known for being extremely dangerous in the 1970s and the 1980's. Now it is one of the most posh areas in the city! The park is a meeting point for almost every teenager in New York City. "You want to meet at noon at 'Union?" a teenager might ask a friend.

Union Square also has a huge farmer's market! Here is a mini-pumpkin I bought there.

This is the view of Manhattan's skyline from my neighborhood in Brooklyn. It's in a park called East River State Park on the waterfront in Williamsburg Brooklyn.

ENJOY

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMQ_52_c54A

From Sweden

POEMS

To what extent can different forms of arts influence our ideas of freedom and equality?

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Extracurricular activities

Should extracurricular activities be mandatory at high schools?

BOOKS TO READ (classes de terminale L /Euro)

Here is a list of books that you need to buy and read : "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, edition : Penguin Books  "The White Witch of Rosehall" by Herbert G. De Lisser, edition : Macmillan Caribbean.
For literature classes : "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, edition: Penguin Books and "Emma" by Jane Austen, Penguin Classics.

"The Help" must be read before September.

"Dreams From My Father" Barack Obama

Are your dreams the same as those of your parents?

What do you like to read?

If you had to choose a text which you feel represents your generation and your culture, what would it be? Is there a specific genre or author you like to read? Many of my students of English enjoy reading Science-Fiction. This year, we studied some Gothic Literature, which included a mix of Stoker, Poe and The Simpsons!  Do you think it's important that students study literary texts such as those by Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde? Or is it better to keep up with modern trends? Do you read comics or manga?

How have your reading tastes changed as you have become older?  Do you still have fond memories of any particular stories, legends or tales? 

My favourite texts from my childhood: Marita Conlon-McKenna's Under the Hawthorn Tree, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori.

Favourites as I've gotten older: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, anything by Ian McEwan, the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, and, most recently, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin.

Do you have a favourite author or text?