Learning activity 4

Evidence: Consolidation activity

Stage 1: The person I admire the most

What to do?

Write a biography of the person you admire the most. This person can be, for example, a public figure, a celebrity,
a politician, a world leader or someone close to you, a relative.

Note: The person you choose cannot be the same chosen for Evidence 3
of this learning activity.

How to do it?

You need to carry out some research in order to collect the necessary information for writing the biography. If the
person chosen is a public figure, you can surf the web in order to get the details you are going to include. On
the contrary, if the person chose is someone you know personally, you can set up an interview in order to ask
the person the questions you may have about his / her life.

Here is an outline we suggest following for writing the biography. We have chosen Charles Darwin (public
figure), an influential scientist of the nineteenth century, as example for the outline.

Suggested outline
1. Early life and education.
2. Voyage of the Beagle.
3. Darwin's evolutionary theory.
4. Overwork, illness, and marriage.
5. Natural selection.
6. Geology books, barnacles, evolutionary research.
7. Publication of the theory of natural selection.
8. Responses to publication.
9. Descent of man, sexual selection, and botany.
10. Death and funeral.

One of the people I admire is the writer Gabriel García Marquez.

The writer Gabriel García Márquez was born in Arataca, Colombia, on March 6, 1927.
Among his greatest achievements is the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature.
He published his most successful work, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in 1967 and it
became one of the most important novels in 20th century literature.
He was born and spent his early years in a Caribbean area in northern Colombia, which
marked him especially because of its contrast with Bogotá and other areas of the country
where he later lived. In 1947 he began to study Law, a career he abandoned to dedicate
himself to journalism. His first articles were published in El Espectador and El Heraldo
and he became part of the so-called “Grupo de Barranquilla”, from whose hand he knew
the work of the authors who later influenced him: Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Hemingway
and Kafka, among others.

Here are five interesting facts about "Gabo".

1. He grew up in Aracataca listening to stories of his grandfather's military service

and fantastic tales of his grandmother. These narratives formed part of the fabric
of his writing. Aracataca served as a template for the fictional town of Macondo
in One Hundred Years of Solitude.

2. He was the oldest of 12 siblings and half siblings. He studied to be a lawyer at the
insistence of his father, but found work as a journalist and did not finish his
degree. He thought that "journalism [was] the best job in the world."

3. He drew on the stories of his parents' romance to write Love in the Time of
Cholera.

4. He was influenced by American writers: Ernest Hemingway fed his technique and
William Faulkner fed his soul.

5. He introduced readers from all over the world to the tradition of magical realism
where the real and the fantastic mix and is considered one of the greats of the
literature of the Spanish language.

Some of García Marquez's books are:

- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- The “hojarasca”
- News of a kidnapping
- The colonel has no one who writes to him
- Love and Other Demons
- The funerals of the big breast
- The bad hour
 Blue dog eyes
Autumn of the Patriarch
After works such as Del amor y otros demonios (1994) and Noticia de un kidnapping (1996), in
2002, he published Live to Tell It, where he narrates biographical aspects of his childhood and
youth. His latest published works are Memoria de mis putas tristes (2004) and I don't come to say
a speech (2010).

He died in Mexico D.F. on April 17, 2014. OnFebruary 24, 2015, the heirs of Gabriel García
Márquez deposited a legacy of the writer in memoriam in the “Caja de las Letras of the Instituto
Cervantes”.

Stage 2: My admiration for…

A. What to do?

In this section, you will record a tape or video in which you orally present the
person you chose in Section 1. For this part of the evidence you need to
present the biography as well as explain and illustrate the reasons why you
admire this person.
Hello I’m JOSE RAMOS the subjec of my talk is the write Marquez, I am going to
divide this presentation into 4 parts. First, I will tell you about who Gabo is, then, I
will tell a little about his life and his important works, I will explain why I admire
this writer and finally, I will share a conclusion.

First of all, let's start with… who is Gabriel García Marquez? He was a Colombian
writer and journalist. Recognized primarily for his novels and short stories, he also
wrote non-fiction narrative, speeches, reports, film reviews, and memoirs. He was
known as Gabo, and familiarly and by his friends as Gabito.

Well, we have already looked at who he is, now I will share some important aspects
about his biography, the writer Gabriel García Márquez was born in Arataca,
Colombia, on March 6, 1927. Among his greatest achievements is the 1982 Nobel
Prize in Literature.
He published his most successful work, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in 1967
and it became one of the most important novels in 20th century literature.
He was born and spent his early years in a Caribbean area in northern Colombia,
which marked him especially because of its contrast with Bogotá and other areas of
the country where he later lived. In 1947 he began to study Law, a career he
abandoned to dedicate himself to journalism. His first articles were published in El
Espectador and El Heraldo and he became part of the so-called “Grupo de
Barranquilla”, from whose hand he knew the work of the authors who later
influenced him: Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Hemingway and Kafka, among others.
Some of García Marquez's books are:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- The “hojarasca”
- News of a kidnapping
- The colonel has no one who writes to him
- Love and Other Demons
- The funerals of the big breast
- The bad hour
- Blue dog eyes
- Autumn of the Patriarch
He died in Mexico D.F. on April 17, 2014. On February 24, 2015, the heirs of
Gabriel García Márquez deposited a legacy of the writer in memoriam in the “Caja
de las Letras of the Instituto Cervantes”.
I admire this writer for being a living legend in history, he supported the Cuban guerrilla until its
triumph in 1959, along with his friend Fidel Castro, a friendship that has been controversial
throughout his career, although he has openly declared not to be a communist. Among other
important close friends throughout his life are Carlos Monsiváis, Octavio Paz, Carlos Barral and
Mario Vargas Llosa, with whom he led the boom in Latin American literature, however, with
Vargas Llosa he had a public fight that the led to a complete distancing.

Summing up "El Gabo", he has become a character of great global influence and without a doubt
he has not remained silent when defending his ideals. A good example was the very day he
received the Nobel Prize, in 1982, when he had all the attention in the world on him. During his
speech, which was titled the author was not very courteous when he mentioned the Europeans, his
hosts; He "accused" them of not knowing how to interpret Latin American literature, of not
knowing their own history, and of not supporting "original" Latin American political projects.
Thanks for listening.
References:
Gabriel García Márquez, a life to tell. (2014, April 17). EITB Basque Public
Television Radio.
https://www.eitb.eus/es/cultura/literatura/detalle/2172210/gabriel- garcia-marquez--
biografia-escritor-nobel-literatura/
5 interesting facts about Gabriel García Márquez. (2018). Lapl.org.
https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/5-datos- interesdamientos-sobre-
gabriel-garc%C3%ADa-m%C3%A1rquez
Grupo Expansión. (2013, March 6). Who. Who.
https://www.quien.com/espectaculos/2013/03/06/6-razones-por-las- que-amamos-a-
gabriel-garcia-marquez

B. How to do it?
 Record an audio or a video in the device of your preference. Before start the
recording, you need to organize the information you are going to introduce.
Your presentation has to include the following aspects:

1. An introduction.
2. A description of the biography.
3. Arguments and illustrations supporting your admiration for this person.
4. A conclusion.
5. Sources (In the event you consulted any articles, the web, journals, etc.)

Note: During the presentation you need to include the appropriate

signpost language for oral presentations and also some of the
vocabulary related to responsibility and leadership.

Stage 3: Submitting my evidence

When you finish your work, send the files to your instructor through the platform
as follows:

1. Click the title of this evidence.

2. Click Examinar mi equipo and look for the files in your computer. Make sure
the files are attached.
3. Leave a comment for the instructor (optional).
4. Click Enviar.

Important: The platform will only allow you to submit your files once. Please,
make sure you upload the two (2) files when submitting your evidence.
Note: This evidence is an individual activity. Remember to check the learning
guide in order to know if you have done all the assigned activities, know how to
develop them and deliver them correctly.

Criterios de evaluación
 Expresa ideas sobre productividad y responsabilidad usando el
vocabulario requerido.

 Prepara presentaciones orales haciendo uso del vocabulario y las

diferentes estructuras gramaticales requeridas.

 Expresa ideas sobre liderazgo y responsabilidad usando el vocabulario

requerido.

 Combina diferentes tiempos verbales para expresar ideas, usando la

estructura y el vocabulario requerido.

 Usa expresiones idiomáticas teniendo en cuenta el vocabulario y contexto

requerido.

 Expresa reflexiones críticas sobre el pasado en el contexto requerido.