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Young Adult

How to Make Comparisons

Date: Jan 24 2012

Themes: School

Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

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Intro

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Most people are happy to leave high school behind and begin their adult lives. But in the new movie Young Adult, the main character is a woman whose grown up life hasn’t yet started, even though she’s been out of high school for years.

In the film, Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, an author of young adult novels, who acts more like the teenagers in her books than a mature woman. When Mavis decides that her high school sweetheart was really her soul mate, she returns to her hometown to try to win him back—even though he’s already happily married and the proud father of a baby daughter. Hear Amy and Jason talk about Young Adult, and their own experiences in high school.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Amy

Jason: Young adult novels seem to be popular now with people who aren’t even young adults.

Amy: It’s true, I mean, Twilight, that definitely has crossed over.

Jason: Yeah. Why is that? I mean, what’s with the young adult scene?

Amy: I don’t know. Maybe there are a lot of people out there who just haven’t grown up.

Jason: Huh.

Amy: Yeah, it’s like that new movie Young Adult.

Jason: What’s that about?

Amy: Well, it’s about a writer of young adult novels who kind of hasn’t grown up herself. She still wishes she were back in high school. And she’s kind of this mean girl who was really popular in high school, and just hasn’t done very much with her life. So she ends up going back to her hometown and trying to win back her high school boyfriend, who’s now married with a baby.

Jason: Oh. It’s interesting to me that she idealizes high school, because I always suspected that writers of young adult novels actually had a really bad high school experience, and that they were sort of compensating for it by writing about it in their adulthood.

Amy: Right.

Jason: Because it seems like the heroes of those books are often awkward outcasts.

Amy: I agree that it’s weird. Like, she is not a character who I could identify with, because I was definitely happy to be done with high school, and would never look back on those years as the best years of my life. You know, I feel like it’s so much easier to be out of high school.

Jason: Wow. Yeah.

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Discussion

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Jason talks about the popularity of young adult novels, or novels written for and about teenagers. He says that many adults enjoy these novels, as well as younger people. Amy thinks these books might be popular with adults who haven’t fully grown up, like the main character in the new movie Young Adult.

In the film, an author of young adult novels who was popular but mean in high school returns to her hometown. She feels that high school was the best time of her life, and she wants to win back her high school boyfriend, who is now married to someone else.

Amy says she couldn’t identify with the main character in Young Adult, because she was happy to be done with high school. She doesn’t think she would ever want to return to that time in her life.
What was your high school experience like? Would you ever want to go back to high school? If you’re in high school now, are you looking forward to leaving high school?

Comments

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kotlesya

Belarus

Exactly, Snoopyboy!! I start to recollect where I met you. You were with black unicorn and I was with purple unicorn :))) Our “paths were about to cross” :)

snoopyboy

Antarctica

We’ve met in Lala land,Kotlesya where people bestride unicorns and hop over rainbows : )

Julito, please!. I hope to become a father before I’m a husband, so if the woman is getting under my skin, I’ll have my kids…

I’ve had my share of woman who didn’t care for me, I can survive through that..

kotlesya

Belarus

I’m glad to see three of us here right now. Anja????? Dear, Anja, please come here. Join us!!!!

julito

Argentina

Snoop, I can see you playing out the part of an unhappy and vulnerable husband in need of a woman that really cares for you. :))))

kotlesya

Belarus

Snoopyboy, we have agreed about your experience. :) I’m intrigued already. It will be sensation!!!

You will never believe me, but I have a feeling that I have met you somewhere in virtual world before ( deja vu does not leave me alone) :)

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Yeah,Kotlesya :)

the idea of posing as a married man around women has been stalling my mind for quite some times now, I think it’s time for me to finally try it, not this evening…but definitely in the near future.

I ‘ll will report to you the number of lipstick stains I got on my neck, and how many phone numbers I had scored

: ), we live in the world of deja vu friend…

kotlesya

Belarus

Deja vu visit you (and me) quite often don’t you agree? ;)

kotlesya

Belarus

Dearest, Snoopyboy, are you going to check the reaction of women towards “married man”this evening??? Let me know about your experience (if you don’t mind). OK? I will write down the statistics of it :)

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Hey back! : ) Kotlesya what you suggest is for me to wait until my ring around my finger and find out.

Good! I’ll do it this evening … I’ll buy me a ring and wear it.

I think Jason’s Wedding is in Limbo ( deja vu ? )

: )

kotlesya

Belarus

snoopyboy, don’t ask about the attraction of the theory you mentioned in the last part of your first post here. Just compare the amount of women, approaching you now (beling single) to the amount of women, approaching you when you will get a status “married man” ;) You will easy make a conclusion, based on the experience of life. :)

By the way, I also like to know the continuing of the “Soap opera” – “Jason’s wedding” Did they find a compromise?

Sir_pouria_H

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

One of the writers ,who I can’t remember his name, says:

“The time you should consider is NOW.

The person you should consider is the one who you encounter NOW.

And doing that person a favor is the work you should consider NOW.”

I prefer to follow this saying and not to wish I was in the past time.But again sometimes thinking and talking about past can be fascinating.

emi0808

Philippines

Hmm… very interesting topic. I had a lot of memorable, fun and crazy experiences in high school, especially with my classmates friends. Being in highschool thought me a lot of things such as group study, team building, make a circle of friends, sharing answers with my classmates during exams, cuttinng classes when Me and My friends doesn’t like the teacher’s topic of the day, spending our breaktime in the garden and talking about our subjects, doing our projects in each classmates house, dealing with strict teachers and getting inspired to go to school and everything I had experience in highschool taught me a lot of lessons to grow and learned. though I don’t want to go back in high school hehe coz I hate solving problems in Algebra haha. :)

selvgali

Honduras

I was in high school 20 years ago, so by this time I have had too much good moments living my adult life that I don’t even think of things I usually did when I was a teenager, so I wouldn’t go back to high school!!

zqmn

Turkey

i am in high school now and i dont want to leave cuz i like my friends so much :) they are so important for me :)

Gobsmacker

Germany

Well, I still go to school but all I can say is that I don’t enjoy school at all. Though at the moment I think it’s getting a bit better. I’m okay at school-at some of the subjects I totally suck and at others I’m quite talented…which is quite an unusual mixture.

I just finished my work experience at an occupational therapy place. It was great and so much better than school! I could really enjoy the weekends cos I knew there was no school after it and I could just work. So I am definitely looking forward to leaving school but I can imagine that maybe a few years from now I might wish I could go back to my school years. Who knows!? But at the moment high school just seems as my prime suffering time to me…

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Did she use to have lunch with you during recess time, while your friends are huddled up having juicy conversation?

: )

Fernandinha

Brazil

As if! She wasn’t lenient. Absolutely no. She was the opposite. She was very very demanding on me. I couldn’t make any mistake. And I had to take high grades in all matters.

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Julito, refresh the page, hit “home” and you should be able to see it popped up…

English,baby needs our support, like your system needs “mate”

: )

julito

Argentina

I missed out on it, otherwise I would have had hitting the “yes” button ”.Please ask me again”

snoopyboy

Antarctica

hey fellow English,Baby members,

I just noticedthis note here : ” vote for English,baby if you love it, on top of today’s lesson photo… I already cast my vote…I think this site needs a trophy