If you could go back to some time and place in the past, where and when would you go ? Why ?
One of the biggest mankind’s obsession is probably the one that includes being able to go back to the past. More than two thousand years ago, people were already trying to go back to a past time and nowadays, lots of movies deal with this issue.
If I were given the opportunity to go back to a special time and a special place, I would definitely choose to go back to Paris in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Paris was still ruined by World War II and shocked by the discovery of the massacres committed by the Nazis, but there was a friendly atmosphere there. It was a great time for literature because it was possible to meet important writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett (who lived in France) or Boris Vian in bars or cafés. The books published in the 50’s were “intelligent” books, not just some words without meaning written one after another.
The 50’s were also the era of Jazz music : in every Paris’ bars, music written by Miles Davis or Louis Armstrong were played. Music still had a meaning at this time : musicians recorded songs because of their love for music, not because of the money they could earn. Some of the most famous movies were also shot in the 50’s : Hitchcock’s movies (in the USA) and French movies such as “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo”.
Then I would like to live in Paris in the 50’s because, during this period called “the Glorious Thirty”, the French society was discovering modern inventions using electricity (television, micro-wave…) and its level of life was increasing. Besides, thanks to the support of the USA, the economy was growing better, after years of problems due to the war.
Even though France had problems with its colonies in the 50’s, I would like to live there if I could because this era was a great time for culture, art and economy.
If you could go back to some time and place in the past, where and when would you go ? Why ?
One of the biggest/ mankind’s obsession/OBSESSION’S OF MANKIND/ is probably the one that includes being able to go back to the past. More than two thousand years ago, people were already trying to go back to a past time and nowadays, lots of movies deal with this issue.
If I were given the opportunity to go back to a special time and a special place, I would definitely choose to go back to Paris in the late 40’s and early 50’s.
Paris was still ruined by World War II and shocked by the discovery of the massacres committed by the Nazis, but there was a friendly atmosphere there.
It was a great time for literature because it was possible to meet important writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett (who lived in France) or Boris Vian in bars or cafés.
The books published in the 50’s were “intelligent” books, not just some words without meaning written one after another.
The 50’s were also the era of Jazz music : in every ONE OF Paris’ bars, music written by Miles Davis or Louis Armstrong /were/WAS BEING/ played.
Music still had a meaning at this time : musicians recorded songs because of their love for music, not because of the money they could earn.
Some of the most famous movies were also shot in the 50’s : Hitchcock’s movies (in the USA) and French movies such as “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo”.
Then I would like to live in Paris in the 50’s because, during this period called “the Glorious ThirtIES”, the French society was discovering modern inventions using electricity (television, micro-wave…) and its /level/STANDARD/ of life was increasing. Besides, thanks to the support of the USA, the economy was growing /better/STRONGER/, after years of problems due to the war.
Even though France had problems with its colonies in the 50’s, I would like to live there if I could because this era was a great time for culture, art and economy.
Hi Suspensi0n,
In this essay, your writing in my opinion is great, the way you use to describe your thoughts is admirable, but the thing is about your ideas. You know, you told that you like to have a flash back to late 40’s, that’s ok. Then in your second body paragraph (third one here) you are talking about the history of music between 40 and 50 in your country. The question is asking you why do you want to have a flash back?
And, about the third reason my friend, I think it not satisfiable!
Hi Kitos,
I have a punctuational question; Which one is correct:
“… of Jazz music : in every ONE …”
“… of Jazz music: in every ONE …”
Good morning Mix. A full stop at that point would have sufficed, but it is clear from the text that the writer wished to convey his train of thought, so : was used to indicate this. (In my opinion.)
If I’m talking about jazz music, literature and all this stuff and my other paragraphs, it’s because these are the things that make me want to have a “flashback”. You see ? I would like to live in Paris in the 40’s-50’s because there were lots of interesting cultural things.
To me, “why” meant “why would you like to go back to THIS special time and THIS special place ?”. I don’t know what other reasons I could have given…
But, thanks for saying your opinion, maybe my essay wasn 't clear enough
Thank you Kitos for rating my essay. I know it is a bit short but this topic didn’t really inspiring me… I chose it to train to write about things that don’t inspire me a lot
Good morning Bill,
I know that a full stop is more appropriate in this cases, my question is about : punctuation. How we use these :, without a space like commas or with a space like what sus did. For example:
“… of Jazz music(space) : in every ONE …”
“… of Jazz music(without space): in every ONE …”
Dear Suspensi0n,
I know what you meant on your essay, but the way you used to say it, in my opinion was not related to the subject. In that paragraph you’ve used to describe the way that music was look like on those times. That’s good but it’s only about the history of music I think. Anyway, I just wanted to help you, please accept my apology if I discomfort you. I think I have to be more careful about telling my opinions, next time.
No you didn’t discomfort me Mixmixi !! Please, keep telling your opinions because it is really helpfull and usefull !
To me, my example about jazz music was clear but appearently, it is not for those who read my essay. I’ll have to improve this and try to make everything clear for the readers and the examinator, who are obviously not in my thoughts
Thank you my friend, you know Sus, you are so far so good in English, just a little tips can make you brilliant, I want to ask you to read a TOEFL book like “Delta’s” or “ETS officail guide” just for their guidelines in writing, It will help you greatly in reaching to what you want.
