Female Solidarity & Characters in A Bird in the House
Themes of Solidarity and Gender Roles
When Beth is pregnant with Roderick, she continues to work hard around the house despite warnings of a possible miscarriage. When Beth’s husband Ewen is dying, Beth does not need to tell Vanessa about the sad news, because “there is no need,” and they wordlessly hold each other. Vanessa, learning about caring and solidarity from the older women in her life, has the feeling that her mother needs her protection. After her death, Beth is buried in the Manawaka
Read MoreFuture Tenses and Conditionals Review
English Language Practice
Future Forms Exercises
Exercise 1
- Are you coming
- I’ll
- are going to visit
- will be
- is taking
- I’ll phone
Exercise 2
- is going to run
- will come
- ’ll lie
- is going to visit
- are driving
Exercise 3
Humans won’t travel outside the solar system for hundreds of years.
What time is Peter coming?
I’ll have a burger and chips, please.
Maria is going to buy a new moped next week.
I hope my boyfriend will remember my birthday.
Exercise 4
- ’ll have finished
- ’ll be playing
- ’ll be standing
- will have
English Language Exercise Fragments
English Practice Snippets
- A: Next vacation
- C: Dad_____
- A: We_____
- B: I____ my new
- C: We are staying at the
- A: What happened many
- C: Who did the person
- C: How is the pest
- B: What did the specialist do?
- A: What did the specialist say?
- B: If you heat water
- A: If you eat too much
- C: If you exercise regularly
- C: If it rains on a highway
- A: If Antony doesn’t cook
- C: If the dog doesn’t eat
- A: If I don’t have breakfast
- C: Orchard
- C: Piglet
- B: Wasp
- A: Opossum
- C: Set the table
- I can’t decide what to wear
- A: I_____ Mum after dinner
- B:
Recommended Longform Articles
Recommended Longreads
AI vs. Artists: Protecting Creativity
Kelley Engelbrecht | Chicago Magazine | March 4, 2025 | 6,193 words
What happens in a world where machines are trained on stolen creativity? In this story for Chicago Magazine, Kelley Engelbrecht introduces us to Kim Van Deun, a fantasy illustrator who, a few years ago, began searching for a way to protect her work from generative AI tools that could produce images of anything in seconds. Her search led her to Ben Zhao, a computer scientist
Read MoreEnglish Vocabulary and Grammar: Food, Weather, Comparisons
Unit 9: Food and Ordering
Food Vocabulary
- BREAD
- JAM
- HONEY
- YOGHURT
- BEEF
- MUSHROOMS
- RICE
- LEMONADE
- SALAD
- OLIVES
- PASTA
- PEARS
- CHICKEN
- SWEETCORN
- NOODLES
- LEMONS
Using Articles: A/An
- Use an before vowel sounds: an apple, an olive.
- Use a before consonant sounds: a bottle of lemonade, a cup.
- Do not use a or an with uncountable nouns.
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
| Plural Countable | Singular Countable | Uncountable |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Using
Read MoreNarrator, Characters, and Setting Analysis
Narrator Analysis
- Level of Knowledge: The narrator’s knowledge is relative, as they express doubts about the feelings of some characters, such as Mariangela. They are unsure if their departure caused pain.
- Relation to the Story: The narrator is a kind of protagonist, telling their own life story.
- Space-Time Position: The narrator is distant from the events, recalling their childhood rather than living it in the present.
- Perspective: The narration is personal, using the “I” perspective.
- Location in the