VIP Class Notes (Jacob) [W]

Homework

Watch another one of his documentaries and write a more positive article 😉


Vocabulary

Put your foot in your mouth – to say something that might cause dispute and you regret.
eg. I need to be careful what I say in China about the government and not put my foot in my mouth.

Lucid – Not at 100% thinking capacity but not completely able to think without difficulty (awake barely)

Got myself into a bit of a pickle – got into a bit of trouble or a bad situation

Extortion – to be put in a bad situation and then have to pay to get out of trouble
Extort – to pay to get out of a bad situation or get in trouble
Extorted
(past tense of Extort)
eg. He tried to extort me by making me pay money or arresting me for a fake crime.


Writing exercise

Original 

Armenia, a small, landlocked Christian nation surrounded by mostly non-Christian neighbors, which shares its borders with Turkey. The latter has refused to recognize the mass killing of Armenians as genocide during World War One. This dispute also makes incredibly complex diplomatic relations between these countries. Ever since the genocide, it’s been a long existential struggle for Armenians for survival. A lot of people left their homeland and they call themselves “diaspora”. The original meaning of diaspora is the movement of the Jewish people away from ancient Palestine to settle in other countries. In this documentary, Armenians use this word to describe their movement. They feel they are forced to leave their homeland like Jews. According to the documentary, there are 3 million Armenians live in Armenia while there are 8 million live abroad. However, as the guest of this documentary said, Armenians never forgot about the past and who and what had pushed them from their homeland. Maybe because the strong feelings of nationalism and injustice for what happened to them, Armenians live abroad usually can form a united and closely connected group.

However, the historical tragedy does not mean that all Armenians will immerse themselves in history and treat themselves as victims. They also need to go beyond victimization and take more pride in survival. That’s why now Armenia tries to normalize relations with Turkey. There are more Armenians decide to go back Armenia to make contribution to their homeland.

Edited 

Armenia, a small, landlocked Christian nation surrounded by mostly non-Christian neighbors. It shares a border with Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. The latter has refused to recognize the mass killing of Armenians as genocide during World War One. This dispute also makes/creates incredibly complex diplomatic relations between these countries. Ever since the genocide, it’s been a long struggle for the survival of Armenians. A lot of people left their homeland and they call themselves “diaspora”. The original meaning of diaspora is the movement of the Jewish people away from ancient Palestine to settle in other countries. In this documentary, Armenians use this word to describe their movement. They feel they are forced to leave their homeland like Jews. According to the documentary, there are 3 million Armenians living in Armenia while there are 8 million that live abroad. However, as the co-star , Surg, of this documentary said, Armenians never forgot about the past and who and what has pushed them from their homeland. Maybe because the strong feelings of nationalism and injustice for what happened to them, Armenians that live abroad usually can form a united and closely connected group.

However, the historical tragedy does not mean that all Armenians will immerse themselves in history and treat themselves as victims. They also need to go beyond victimization and take more pride in survival. That’s why now Armenia is trying to normalize relations with Turkey. There are more Armenians deciding to go back Armenia to make a contribution to their homeland.