OIB essay practice “examens blancs”

Choose 2 of the 4. Write one essay today, and the other you will write tomorrow. You must use 2 works for each essay (and 4 works in total — different works for each essay). For poets and short stories, you may use 1-3 as one “work”

Reminder:

term: min 5-6 sides

should really try to get to 8

 

  1. Vivid and striking imagery can be an essential feature of literature. Referring to two works on your OIB syllabus, discuss how the writers use imagery in particularly effective ways, and to what ends
  2. “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”  –Albert Einstein.  Discuss the ways in which knowledge may or may not be dangerous in two works you have read in your OIB curriculum.
  3. Literature often explores “the battle of the sexes.”  Paying close attention to the causes and consequences of gender conflict, discuss this theme in two works you have read.
  4. Many works of literature revolve around a journey, literal, figurative, or both—for example, from one place to another, from ignorance to knowledge, from self-centeredness to altruism.  Discuss how the journey theme enhances two works you have studied.

Send essay back for around 16h. 16h30 at the latest.

PREM OIB essays feedback

Capucine’s stellar OIB essay

Check out Capucine’s essay for an incredible example!!!

Thel Mina O

Thel Mina does a really great job of always linking what is happening in the language/devices/style/what the author is “doing” to her thematic argument (how the language choices enhance a point, develop a theme — she always links language to meaning).

 

General comments:

Make sure your thesis and your essay refer to the main concepts asked of you in the question (and reguarly link back to these concepts/ remind us of the the main goal + point of  your argument)

Try to lengthen your essays a little more 🙂

 

Geography and Maps

Creating Maps in Geography

 

When producing maps make sure there are no more than 10-15 symbols used in the legend (ideally 12).

Legends should be hierarchically categorized (through use of colour and size of symbols) using all four types of representation (areas, lines, arrows, points). Places and names must also be correctly labelled on the map.

The 4 basic types of symbols that can be included on your map in order to represent information are:

Areas (e.g. state at the heart of globalization)

Lines (e.g. a communication route such as a railway)

Arrows (e.g. merchandise flows)

Points (e.g. the location of a city)

This document explains how to construct a map and organize the legend in a hierarchical sense:

Summary Sheet for Maps

Example Maps on the topic Seas and Oceans at the core of globalization:

Seas and Ocean MAP 1

Seas and Oceans Map2

Seas and Oceans Map3

OIB fond de la carte Europe

fond de la carte Etats-Unis

fond de la carte pour le monde Briesemeister

There are many different types of map projections that exist, some that you may come across in lessons  include:

– the familiar Mercator projection which is less accurate with distance from the equator:

One of the most common criticisms of the Mercator map is that it exaggerates the size of countries nearer the poles (US, Russia, Europe), while downplaying the size of those near the equator (the African Continent). On the Mercator projection Greenland appears to be roughly the same size as Africa. In reality, Greenland is 0.8 million sq. miles and Africa is 11.6 million sq. miles, nearly 14 and a half times larger.

– the Lambert projection which projects the surface onto a cone:

– and the Breisemeister projection developed in 1953 which presents land masses more centrally and with less distortion:

Each has advantages and disadvantages, watch the video below for more explanation:

 

Geography Themes 1, 2 and 3

Theme 1

PowerPoint Introduction: Importance of cities

The concept of settlement hierarchy: Settlement Hierarchy

Urban Growth Models: (Burgess Concentric Zone Model – 1920s Chicago, Hoyt Sector  Model – based on 1939 Chicago, Multiple Nuclei Model – 1949)

urban_development_models

Introductory video for globalization:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKnAJCSGSdk&t=47s

Follow up video on why cities are where they are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWWtqfwacQ

Formative Evaluation with grading grid:

Urbanization Formative Ev

New York City: DBQ resources on urban segregation

NYC DBQ Exercise

POWERPOINT TO HELP PLAN YOUR DBQ ESSAY:

DBQ NYC

NYC dbq intro and plan

Mumbai

The megacity Mumbai is located in the state of Maharashtra in India on the west coast of India with an extended metropolitan population of around of 20.4 million inhabitants. It used to be known as Bombay until its name was officially changed in 1995.

It accounts for 1/3 of India’s tax revenue and is experiencing massive urbanisation due the growth of its economy in manufacturing. An increase in tertiary sector jobs such as IT and financial services means it has become a major centre for out-sourced work. It also has one of the largest film industries in the world located there, ‘Bollywood’. Despite this 42% of its population live in slums. One major slum or squatter settlement is Dharavi, which is home to 1 million people. Dharavi is located between two railway lines on a low-lying land once a garbage dump. A highway that divides the formal city from the informal city determines which areas are slums and which areas are not. A slum is a term that people use to identify unauthorized and illegal residents. Slums often lack basic amenities, including safety measures.

Resources for this case study:

Map to show location and expansion of the city:

Growth of Mumbai

Mumbai – Case Study of a LIC (Low Income Country) PowerPoint Lesson video:

 

 

An excellent website including maps and video about this settlement:

http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/A-level/AQA/Year%2013/World%20Cities/Mumbai/Mumbai.htm

The Vision Mumbai Project:

https://borgenproject.org/tag/the-vision-mumbai-project/

Map and exercise:

Mumbai Case Study of a LEDC Megalopolis

Complete_Summary_sheets_paper_1

 

Theme 2

This chapter is about how, at the global scale, the principal places and actors involved in the production of wealth are undergoing change, becoming more numerous and interconnected in addition to being concentrated in metropolises and along the coasts.

Learning Objectives 

  • Identify the different types of production areas
  • To be able to define the role of different actors in the supply chain
  • Understand how production areas constitute networks
  • Understand the New International Division of Labor
  • Understand how the digital economy influences production area

Key Questions

  1. What are the different types of production areas?
  2. How are production areas changing in the context of globalization?
  3. What are the major actors of production at different scales?
  4. To what extent do flows drive global production?
  5. What is the impact of the digital economy on production area?
  6. How do metropolises and coastal areas fit into production networks?

 

1° OIB Geography Theme 2 Outline

Production Spaces and Global Case Studies

Explanation of globalization and how it affects economy, politics and culture (8m):

Globalisation involves widening and deepening global connections, interdependence and flows (commodities, capital, information, migrants and tourists).

This means increases in flows of:

  • goods and services (including commodities) products and commodities, that can be bought, and are often made or grown in other countries
  • capital: flows of money between people, banks, businesses and governments
  • people (including migrants and tourists)
  • information e.g. data transferred between businesses and people, often using the internet

Principal PPT support for first part of theme:

Geog Ch4 Overview

Links:

Map showing global trade flows:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210701110921/https://blueshift.io/international-trade.html

Useful for 1°BFI and T°BFI

Overview of Key Concepts:

Offshoring/Outsourcing/Post-Fordism/Multiplier Effect/Special Economic Zones/ Free Trade Zones/Export Processing Zones/Just-in-time Delivery/Agglomeration/Growth Poles

 

Article about the Digital Economy:

www.forbes.com/sites/koshagada/2016/06/16/what-is-the-digital-economy/?sh=5a24e0947628#416e96ae7628

Video: outsourcing explained in a comedy sketch:

 

Video on Outsourcing in Bangalore:

 

Example of a supply chain:

DNL Vocabulary

Supply Chain: a connected system of organizations, activities, information and resources designed to source, produce and move goods from origin to a final destination.

Value added: amount by which value of a product increased at each stage of the production process.

Video (12mins) on the Apple Supply Chain:

 

An article on the Apple Supply Chain:

https://www.supplychainopz.com/2013/01/is-apple-supply-chain-really-no-1-case.html

Case Study of Singapore

1° Gg chp4 Singapore

 

How to organize the short essay on Singapore: introduction – thesis statement – development and conclusion.

Essay Plan

See below for the introduction and thesis statement example to copy.

Development paragraphs: this will likely consist of several paragraphs in which your describe and analyse how Singapore is connected first to the local region and then the wider world (docs 1, 3 and 5 can be specifically used for the local region). Remember your paragraphs all contribute evidence to the argument identified in the thesis statement.

Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence in the first line (which shows what the paragraph will prove), followed by explanation sentences, then evidence sentences and finally a clincher or summary which restates your point

Conclusion: Summarize the evidence you have analyzed and restate your argument which you could do by reformulating your topic sentences. Do not introduce any new information in the conclusion or open up a new issue (Elvis has left the building or drop the mic ending).

Remember BFI American Section Geography essays are written in the present tense, do not use first person personal pronouns and they generally have shorter paragraphs compared to French HG compositions.

 

Title: To what extent is Singapore firmly connected to the regional and wider world economy?

 

The city-state of Singapore is located at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula on one of the most frequented shipping lanes and operates the world’s second busiest container port. Heavily urbanized, with a population of just under 6 million inhabitants, it also hosts the planet’s sixth larget stock market. The presence of significant numbers of multinational firms provides further clear indication of the extent to the ways in which Singapore is intricately weaved into both the regional and wider world economy.

 

___________________________________________________________________

Coastal Production Zones

Principal PPT for second part of the theme:

Geog Ch5 Overview

Silicon Valley Case Study:

1°Gg chp5 Silicon Valley resources

Silicon Valley Exercises and Map

Article about Silicon Valley:

INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDY: San Francisco and Silicon Valley

 

Link to the atlas of the future article and maps:

7 ways to map optimism

Geog Ch5 PPT worksheet

Productive Spaces in France

Geog Chp6 PPT Overview

Geog ch6 PPT worksheet

French Industrial Spaces

WORKSHEET:

Brittany case study work

Theme 3: Rural Spaces – Texas

The reconfiguration of rural spaces is characterized by the paradox of closer links between rural and urban areas whilst some rural areas at the same time are excluded and remain peripheral. The state of Texas presents dramatic contrasts between urban and rural spaces. The state is experiencing impressive population growth and immigration along the Mexican border while rural communities struggle to maintain public services.

Introduction PowerPoint for Theme 3

This is a useful starting point for key ideas in this theme including the differing importance of rural areas in national economies, the concept of the urban-rural continuum and an understanding of rural fragmentation and rural gentrification:

Geog Theme 3 Overview

PowerPoint for the Texas Case Study:

The cornerstone of this theme is a case study of rural Texas, here is the PowerPoint:

Texas Overview

Resource booklet for Rural Areas in Texas:

Corpus of documents – Case Study TEXAS

Annotated Map Question (AMQ) for this chapter – this is the major piece of work for this theme:

Texas AMQ

Copy of blank map to print out and draw your own annotated map on to answer question7:

Texas Base Map

An example Map of Rural Change and Challenges in Texas which you can use to create your own map (with around 12 symbols in the legend) – don’t try and copy it all that is not the objective of the exercise!

Map of Texas – Change and Challenge Rural Areas

HELP FOR TEXAS AMQ METHODOLOGY (use colouring pencils please). This document is really important preparation for AMQs in the OIB Bac exam:

Methodology for TEXAS AMQ

 

Theme 4: China

Video on China’s Geography Problem (10m):

 

Geog Theme 4 China

China and several of its neighbours have been involved in a decades-long dispute over who controls the South China Sea. China claims most of the sea as its territory, but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan say parts of the sea belong to them. Tensions have risen over the years and resulted in several confrontations as well as US involvement. The South China Morning Post looks at the origins of the dispute, what these countries are fighting over and what they’re doing to assert their territorial claims.

Link to site and video:

https://www.scmp.com/video/asia/2158598/south-china-sea-dispute-explained

CNN report on this disputed area: