FINAL EXAM

Final Exam

English Writing Final Exam
1st Semester, 2009-2010
Professor: Julian Dowling
Name: Camila Vera Falabella.

Instructions: Students must complete Parts I, II and III and email their answers to Julian before Friday Nov.27 at 5pm. Any exams received after Friday will be penalized at a rate of 10% per day late.

Part I

Name two websites which allow you to create your own blogs free of charge.

1. www.wordpress.com
2. www.blogspot.com


Name three important English-language newspapers we have read articles from this term and say where they are published.

1. The Guardian, England, Web version.
2. The Economist, England, Web version.
3. BBC News online newspaper, England.

Name three important English-language weekly or monthly magazines available online and say where they are published.

1. Business Chile, published in Chile by the Cámara Chileno Norteamericana de Comercio (AmCham).
2. Time Magazine, it is published in the United States.
3. Forbes Magazine, it is published in the United States.

Part II

1) What do authors Andrew Potter and Joseph Heath mean by the terms “Rebel Sell” and “Culture Jam”?

The term “Rebel sell” means that a person or group once was selling an ideology against something being “rebellious” still, they became popular as Nirvana for example, and the motifs of the fight move from a cause, to fighting the people that are making them popular, in other words they are rebels against the consumer society that manages to commercialize everything. That is why we get involved in this “Culture Jam” that has turned our entire society in a market place and everybody is a consumer, even rebellious punk rockers are sold out.

2) Who is Jared Diamond?

He is an American scientist and also a professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School. He is the author of the text “Easter Island’s End” in which he studies what has happened to Easter Island on the past and what it is going to happen in a future. Also he studies how the island could possibly come close to it’s end due to deforestation and contamination.

3) Where is The Economist published and what is its editorial line (right/left/center)?
The Economist is published in England but they distribute it to several countries, and it has a neo-conservative editorial line.

4) Which country produced the video about the dangers of driving and texting that we discussed in class?
It is from the United Kingdom, it was produced in Wales.

5) Name one country that has banned plastic bags in supermarkets and give one reason Chile should or should not do the same.
Belgium has banned plastic bags in supermarkets. I believe that Chile should do the same thing because there is a need to take care of the environment and the amount of contamination that these bags bring to our atmosphere. People indiscriminately use plastic bags and that is a risk for us because it is polluting, and worse, contributing to global warming.

6) Who is Rodrigo Jordán and what does he do?
He is a Civil Engineer from Universidad Católica and he is one of the founders of Vertical, a company that organizes outdoor expeditions and it’s main objective is to develop creative leadership. He has lead many expeditions to all sorts of mountains around the world with important multinational companies.

7) Name one tourist attraction on Easter Island.
The most important attraction on Easter Island are the Moais, the volcanoes and the caves. Although Moais are the number one attraction, they are amazingly popular because people are still intrigued by the fact that nobody knows with certainty how they got there.

8) What is the main reason that Easter Island’s society collapsed?
Easter Island society collapsed because there was a constant fight between the tribes that lived there. This conflict involved showing their power therefore the built Moais which required a lot of resources in order to be transported to the seaside. Also there is a theory that the society collapsed because they started running out of resources, such as plants, animals and even fish. There was an ecological crisis because the ecosystem collapsed.

9) What did the author of The Economist article “A Strange Chill in Chile” mean by the title?
The article mentions that the centre-left coalition that has governed Chile since the 1988 plebiscite now looks tired and divided, and that today there’s a chill in Chile because politics are going through a new era were Alianza the opposite coalition is gaining more popularity. Also the debilitation of Concertación was brought by ME-O independent campaign, polarizing the votes of the coalition.

10) Name one popular social networking website and discuss how it can be used as an advertising tool by companies or politicians.
Facebook. Worldwide it is the most popular social network, recently this website has added banner in order to promote certain companies, politicians and other institutions. The interesting thing about the publicity in this website is that it only shows publicity according to the individuals interests or his friend’s interests, with lowers the possibilities of spam. It is important that companies and politicians know which are the niches that they are aiming to, but if we take in consideration all of the other social networks, Facebook is the most popular one in Chile and in the world among people of all ages, and that broadens the amount of people that can see an ad.
It can be used to advertise absolutely anything, not only through the banners, but also through groups and fan pages. I believe that this is the most appropriate social network to promote anything you want. It can be used to convince people to vote for certain politicians by not only telling the but also showing them more information about them and creating profiles about them, and also showing images and a more personal side of the candidates, as well as showing also whom of the persons friends supports of follows that person.
Also Facebook can be used for advertising for companies, its ideologies and products. People can see the products they sell, can get to know further information about the company and the owners, and also they can see who likes that company, and there is an influence, a sort of “social pressure” to know about certain people and companies that make people interested in them.

Part III

Write a 500-word article for a newspaper about something that has happened in the world in the last 2 weeks. Your article should be written in newspaper style with a title, leads and quotes. Be sure to reference any sources you use for information. Marks are for style, grammar, content and relevance.


Susan Boyle: Almost on top

With tiny eyes, bushy eyebrows and a sympathetic smile Susan Boyle stands up on a stage looking awkwardly uncomfortable by the situation. The audience whispers while glancing at this view, the judges laugh and she just smiles. Nobody believes in her, she looks old and distant from what a singing star should look like. But as she sang the first note, everybody was silent.

Today, Susan Boyle (48) is a worldwide known star. Her debut album “I dreamed a dream” released on November 23rd 2009 has already sold almost 150 thousand copies in United Kingdom, including Internet pre-orders. Her record is about to become the most and fastest sold in 2009 in Britain. In only a week they are expecting to sell 300 thousand copies. On the other hand in United States they are expecting the same results by the end of this first week of sales.

The Scottish singer has already started touring around North America, and her recording label Sony Music, is expecting that by the end of this week a million copies of the album will be sold worldwide, topping the charts with Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert (winner of American Idol’s last season).

According to Billboard the expected figures indicate that Boyle will outsell the first week sales of Eminem’s latest album. Sony Music declared that they are “struggling to keep up with the demand” and stores are quickly running out of stock, even virtual ones and mainly Amazon.com.

Boyle became popular early this year when she attended Britain’s Got Talent auditions on April, where she got to the finale and was beaten by a dance group, Diversity. Despite of losing the competence and the critics about her physical appearance, the audience has admitted that there is something special about her voice.

Susan Boyle has slowly gained popularity, especially after the last episode of the British television show where the entire world was hoping her to win. She got a make over and has visited various television shows in North America where she is touring, among them NBC’s famous Today Show. These last events have raised her popularity considerably.

SuBo -as media calls her- has managed to top the charts in Britain and America even though societies in which she is popular are very image-obsessed and have enthusiastically criticized her looks, still her image was opposed by her beautiful voice and today her popularity can be compared to stars like Lady Gaga, Eminem, Adam Lambert, among others.

As an artist she has proved the entire world the power of music and perseverance, and mostly the importance of what she does over her looks, on the other hand that has been perceived by the spectators as a breath of fresh air. This artist has clearly become a star, and as soon a her album tops up the sells and the Billboard charts she is going to be consolidated as one of the most important artists of 2009.

Are we going to say YES this time?

People are running, screaming and chanting through the streets, the change is perhaps close for those who seem threatened by the military. YES and NO are the options to go for, is the dictatorship going to be over? Some people look up to the sky in hopes of a better future, the other scream that Pinochet must stay.

Chile has had a major political change in the last 26 years. Since Augusto Pinochet’s military regime ended in 1989 and Patricio Aylwin assumed the presidency post dictatorship. The change relies mainly in the ups and downs that our politics had before the plebiscite in December 1988, where almost the entire nation (92%) voted whether they wanted to continue with the military regime for another eight years (YES) or step towards a democratic election where people would be able to vote and elect freely a new president 16 years after the military imposed Pinochet’s government in 1973.

The results were favorable for the NO option (53%), which lead to democratic presidential elections where Aylwin was elected with a 55.2% of the votes. From there, the liberal coalition Concertación has been in the head of Chile’s government representing centre-left parties until today. The opposite coalition named Alianza represents conservative parties and the main opposition to the actual Socialist government.

These upcoming elections in December 13th 2009 are decisive for Chile’s political future. Piñera, the businessman candidate from the right, has gained important power over the last years, and today he is a threatening character to the omnipresent 21 year consecutive Concertación socialist government. The latest surveys show that Piñera is the country’s favorite with a 36.9% of support, against Frei the ex-president from Concertación (28.6%), Marco Enríquez-Ominami (19.3%) a dissident Socialist congressman, and Jorge Arrate (4.7%) the darkhorse candidate from the left.

The results are still blurry and Chilean population seems to be very pleased with the latest Concertación’s government leaded by the first female president Michelle Bachelet. Though the final results of this 4 year government have been more than pleasing, she would not be up for a reelection, tendency which prevails in Chilean politics. Eduardo Frei has been an exception to that rule; he is the first ex-president who is up for reelection.

Chile’s population is expectant these elections will also mark a change in politics and hopefully give a step forward to political alternance in the government, giving also a chance to the right wing of politics and to see which changes are going to come for our future. On December 13th 2009 Chilean population is going to decide whether they are ready to say yes to a radical change.