Describing festivals/ events/ ceremonies

3.3. Describing festivals/ events/ ceremonies:

1. 
   Introduction: Set the scene ( name,time/date, place of event, reason(s) for celebrating)
   
2. 
   Main body: Preparations( decorations, rehearse,etc.)
   

3. 
   Conclusion: feelings, comments, thoughts
   

When you describe annual events( a celebration/festival which takes place every year), present tenses are used and the style is formal. However, when giving a personal account of an event which you witnessed or took part in, past tenses are

used and the style may be less formal. The passive is frequently used to describe preparations/ activities which take place.

Eg: Pumpkins are carved and placed in windows and costumes are designed

The Milwaukee Native American Indian Festival is truly and amazing event. For three days in September every year, thousands gather in Milwaukee, USA, to celebrate Indian culture. Last year, I was lucky enough to attend the festival and experience it for myself.

The preparations take months. Dance teams from all over the country practise to compete in the tribal Pow Wow dance contest. Indian craftsmen work to produce the many traditional items on display. Then, in the week before the festival, the stalls are put up and the food is prepared, so that everything will be ready for the big day.

The celebrations began at 4pm and there was plenty to see and do. I visited a traditional Indian village, watched skilled craftsmen carve totem poles, and even learned how to do tribal Indian dancing. It was also a great opportunity to sample some traditional native dishes, like corn bread and buffalo burgers.

The festival was fun, entertaining and educational. It was a wonderful way to learn about Native American culture and celebrate the end of summer.

4. Narratives:

1. 
   Introduction: Set the scene ( Who/what/when/where)
   

2. 
   Main body: Develope the story ( Describe incidents leading up to the main events and the event itself in detail. Describe people/ place/ emotions/ actions/etc)
   
3. 
   Conclusion: End the story(complete the plot; describe feelings/ reactions; explain the conspuences)
   

• 
  Before writing, you must first think of a suitable story outline, the you should decide on a detail plot, including how the story will begin, who the characters will be, where the story will happen, the events in the order you will present them, and how the story will end.
  
• 
  Narratives are normally set in the past, and therefore use a variety of past tenses.For example, Past Continuous is often used to set the scene (eg: The wind was howling...); Past simple is used for the main events(eg: He entered the
  

• 
  The sequence of events is important: before, after, then, in the evening, later, in the end, until, while, during, finally, etc.
  

+ describing the weather, place, people, etc, using senses

+ using direct speech

+ asking a rhetorical question

+ creating mystery or suspense

+ referring to feelings or moods

+ addressing the reader directly

- You can end your story by:

+ using direct speech

+ referring to feelings or moods

+ describing people's reactions to the events developed in the main body.

+ creating mystery or suspense

+ asking a rhetorical question.

Past tenses and time words:

- Past habits are not described using Past Continuous. In stead, use Past Simple, "used to" or "would", with an appropriate adverb of frequency.

Eg: When I was child, my father often told me/ sometimes used to tell/ would always tell me stories to get me to fall asleep.

( Adverbs of frequency: always, usually, frequently/often, sometimes/occasionally, seldom/rarely, never)

Past continuous:

Eg: I was watching TV while he was trying to phone/when there was a knock on the door/ at 3 o'clock yesterday.

Time words/phrases: (at the same time) as , meanwhile, when, while

Past perfect:

Eg: By the time I arrived, my friends had already left.

Time words/phrases: after, as soon as, before, by the time, no sooner, not until, once,(only) when.

Inversion:

+ Some words, especially adverbs of frequency and time words/phrasals, are followed by inversion when they are used at the beginning of a sentence.

Eg: Never Tom had imagined that he would find himself in such a situation.

+ The words/ phrasals followed by inversion are negative in meaning:

Never(before/again), No sooner, No longer; Nowhere Not often, Not always; Not only(... but also) Seldom/Rarely = "not often"

Hardly ever/anywhere =" almost never/nowhere" Not until. Not before

Only when = "not until/before", Only if = "not unless"

Eg: No sooner had I stepped under the shower than the doorbell rang

Eg: Not until it grew dark did they stop searching for the missing dog.

Topic: Tell about the memories of your childhood?

The memories of childhood have their own kind of nostalgia. With the passage of time, one feels more attached to this childhood, the best period of a man’s life. A child has no worries, anxieties and no work. He is free from the dirty and filthy noises of the world. His motto of life remains: eat, drink and be merry. The charm of childhood cannot be forgotten. These memories have everlasting impression on one’s life.

When I recollect the days of my childhood, I feel very delighted over the pleasant period which I spent in my spirits. In my childhood I was carefree, having no worries at all. I used to wander like a deer in the open field and enjoyed the natural beauty in the gardens along with my other companions.

Certain incidents are still fresh in my mind. For instance, at the age of five, I got a severe attack of typhoid. In those days, medical science was not so advanced, so in the absence of a proper diagnosis, I was reduced to a skeleton. After taking medicine for a long period, I was cured. The doctor advised me to go to some hill-station. So my father took me to Da Lat. Due to this attack in my early age, I became very weak and I still had not been able to recover my health.

Another thing I still remember is my swimming accident. It was on a Sunday that I went with my friends for a picnic at Vung Tau beach. Some of us were expert swimmers but unfortunately I did not know much about swimming. My friends plunged into the sea in order to swim and persuaded me to do the

same. Soon I was caught by the swift current in the water and was carried away. My scream of panic was heard by my friends who rescued me from drowning. I was really very grateful to them for saving my life.

It is this period of childhood which has been described by poets and writers. To recollect the past is to plunge ourselves in a state of nostalgia. Wordsworth, the immortal poet of England, and a great worshipper of nature, describes in his poems his childhood period, which, to him, was full of pleasant memories. I too miss those good old days which had flown by so quickly.