Title: LESSON: Review writing
Course: PULS - Englisch Vertiefungskurs

Pirates of the Caribbean

Set in the Caribbean Sea in the 17th century, Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) is a brilliant mix of action, adventure and crime. It tells the story of the gentleman pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who together with the daughter of a governor (Keira Knightley) tries to stop the evil plan of a ship of dangerous pirates.

The opening scenes are truly memorable. The story begins on the deck of a British royal navy ship under the command of the young Captain Norrington and the Governor of Jamaica (Jonathan Pryce). His young daughter Elizabeth sees a half-dead boy in the water (Orlando Bloom as William Turner) and discovers in his possession a gold piece with a pirate sign. She takes it, believing him to be a pirate and not wanting her father to arrest him.

The story continues years later when grown-up Elizabeth wears the gold piece at a party. Her heart belongs to Will Turner, now an apprentice to a blacksmith, and an expert sword maker. He, too, seems to like her but has never found the courage to speak of his love. They meet mysterious Captain Jack Sparrow, who is in search of the legendary pirate ship The Black Pearl. His appearance causes quite an uproar, particularly after he saves Elizabeth's life… and then threatens it.

In fact, Jack Sparrow seems to be the only one who Will can turn to when his beloved Elizabeth is kidnapped by a dangerous crew of pirates under the command of the infamous Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Unfortunately, he has just been captured and sentenced to hang for his crimes. The piece of gold Elizabeth possesses is the only link which will free the pirates from a terrible curse. Will it be lifted, and will Elizabeth and William declare their love for each other?

Though the plot may seem fairly conventional, the script is actually far more complex than in all other adventure films before. Full of surprising plot twists, witty dialogue, excellent swordplay, and some truly astonishing computer-generated battles, “Pirates of the Caribbean” deserves high praise.

Actor Johnny Depp plays the character of Jack Sparrow and fully convinces with his interpretation of a pirate captain. His gold-toothed smile, his half-slurred speech, and his funny way of walking never fail to make the audience laugh. His entrance to the film is particularly memorable, one of the movie's best comic moments.

Visually, Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the best movies I've ever seen. The costumes are beautiful, the settings impressive and some of the images, like a pirate ship sailing under a full moon, outstanding. This film deserves a number of Oscar nominations, including the excellent performances by Orlando Bloom, and British beauty Keira Knightley.

Pirates of the Caribbean is intended for teens and adults, not younger children. Many scenes are intense and violent, with explosions destroying city streets and setting other ships on fire. However, the violence itself isn't overly emphasized and there's very little blood. Women in one scene are obviously prostitutes, but their presence is part of a running gag. However, the half-dead pirates are very creepy and sometimes horrifying, and only older children should be allowed to see the film.

It's been years since a pirate has sailed into the box office and made movie-making history. But the applause must go to Disney for this great achievement. Not only are the sword fights great, the escapes breathtaking and the cast first-class, but the plot is truly brilliant. You will more than enjoy this film.

Tasks on a review of the film “Pirates of the Caribbean”:

a) What do the paragraphs deal with? Find the topic sentences.

b) Give a catchy title to this review.

c) Which questions are not answered by the review?

d) What devices does the reviewer use? (cf. glossary)

e) At which points in the review does the author`s opinion about the film become clear?

f) What rating on a scale of zero to ten do you think the reviewer would give this film?

Can you handle reviews?

Did you have difficulties answering the tasks?
Are you fit to write a review or do you need some more help?

Writing a comment on the review "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Read the review again and comment on it.
- Repeat the author's opinion on the film.
- Then express your support and give arguments/reasons.
- Or express your criticism, give arguments/reasons, but also make concessions.
- Finally give your conclusion.

Use the worksheet "language box: writing a comment" for help.

Writing a review

Produce your personal suggestion for a film we might like to watch in class.

Choose a film you know well and that you like.

Write a film review which includes a summary and your comment. Use the strategy page "How to structure a film review" to do this.

Write the review in the moodle workshop.

Writing mini comments (1)

Task 1: “Do you agree with the author`s opinion that a stay in Britain is the ideal way to learn English? Why, why not?”

To answer this question, connect these five sentences into a “pros and cons”- mini-comment. The connectorsin bold print will help you to find the five steps of the comment. Copy the table to answer this task.

· There are students, however, who develop their command of English to a high level without ever visiting an English-speaking country.

· In the text, the author argues that it is worth going to Britain to study English.

· Undoubtedly , some students learn a lot about language and culture when studying in Britain.

· To sum up , the success of a stay abroad depends very much on the individual student.

· To my mind , progress in a foreign language is strongly influenced by talent, interest and learning opportunities outside school.

The five steps of the line of argument | 5-sentence mini-comment
1. Repeating the author`s statement |
2. Argument in favour of the statement |
3. Argument against the statement |
4. Your own opinion |
5. Conclusion |

Writing mini comments (2)

Task 2: “In the author`s opinion, for today’s teenagers stars personify everything they wish for. From your perspective, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of stardom.”

Write your own five-sentence mini-comment in response to this question.

(1) In this article, the author claims that many young people dream of becoming stars.

(2) Surely, stars can earn ______________, they also lead _______________________ and can travel _______________________________________________.

(3) At the same time, it is true that stars become public property, and lose __________________________________________ with their fame.

(4) My own view of this matter is that most teenagers ___________________________________________________________________

(5) In sum, young people should ____________________________________________ but at the same time (not )

___________________________________________

Note : Instead of “At the same time” you can also write “On the other hand”. What other connectors could you use in the comment without changing its meaning? For help, look at workshop 1.

Don't forget to collect useful phrases and structures in your writing log.

Writing mini comments (3)

Task 3:“According to the statistics, books are still very important in modern society. In your opinion, what could be the reasons for this?”

In a “first-second-third”-comment, you have to list up reasons or arguments for a thesis. Again, you can do this in five steps in a mini-comment:

1. The results of the opinion poll are clear: Most people believe that there are many reasons why books will always be an important part of modern society, and 60 per cent even expect that books will never really be replaced by other media.

2. The first reason for this strong support for books is that this medium ____________________________________________________________________

3. Secondly, people ______________________________________________________

4. Thirdly, and most importantly, books ______________________________________

5. In conclusion, books will ________________________________________________

A mini-comment expresses and summarizes the whole line of argument in five sentences. A longer comment uses these five sentences as topic sentences to begin five paragraphs which develop these ideas in more detail with supporting ideas and/or examples.

Are you unsure how to write paragraphs?

► Work on paragraph writing in WorkshopII!

A comment may be part of your next written exam or written classroom task?

► Work on one or more of the other exercises in Workshops I and II, e.g.

- Collecting and organizing ideas
- Transitions
- Using quotations

You would like to learn phrases which you can use in almost any type of comment?

► Collect useful vocabulary in your writing log.