ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT N°1

REBECA NAM

Changing ideas of beauty

1. Look at the photo and answer the questions. - Do you think she is beautiful? Why/why not? What
makes someone attractive? - Do you know why her skin looks like this?

I do think she is beautiful. Her subtle smile is adorable and her black hair suits her face as well as her
eyes. I believe that we can determine if someone is good-looking or not by their appearance, but for
me, what really makes someone attractive is their personality. For instance their sense of humor, their
taste, humility and compassion. I am not sure what the name of her skin condition is, but as far as I
can tell, it is related with pigment alterations.

2. Read an article about a well-known model, Chantelle Brown-Young, and write down five facts you learn about
her.

Chantelle Brown-Young was not born with vitiligo, but it has made her famous. She is the first supermodel
with the skin condition, which causes areas of skin to lose their color.

Chantelle was born in Toronto, Canada. At the age of four, she started to develop patches of white skin and
was diagnosed with vitiligo. No one really knows why one per cent of people have this skin condition, and
there is no real cure.

At school, Chantelle was bullied for being different. The other kids often called her a ‘cow’, because of the
way her skin looked. She moved school several times and finally left school at 16. From now on, she
decided, she would be proud of her skin.

She posted photos of herself on Facebook and was ‘spotted’ by a Canadian YouTube star, Shannon
Boodram, who asked her to be in a music video. It was while she was doing that that her really ‘big break’
happened. Tyra Banks asked her to be on America’s Next Top Model.

She didn’t win, but she had become famous. Her professional name now is Winnie Harlow, and she has
nearly three million followers on Instagram.

 Little by little, she is changing people’s ideas about what beauty is.

FACTS: ► she was not born with vitiligo ► she is Canadian ► she left school at 16 ► she became
famous after participating on America’s Next Top Model ► she has a professional name called Winnie
Harlow

3. Read the article again. Decide if the following statements are true or false.

a) Chantelle has always had vitiligo. False

b) People who have vitiligo usually get better. False

c) Chantelle tried to escape the bullies at school. True

d) Chantelle became America’s Next Top Model. False

e) She uses a different name for her work. True

4. Discussion: Why do people who look different often get bullied?

I believe that it is very likely to get bullied if you are unique because people are not used to it. Unique people consist
of the minority of us, and we are not educated enough to know how to include them. People should learn and
understand that not all the people are the same, and normalize the fact that there are several varieties of races,
skins, ethnicities and so on.

Questionnaire: Beliefs about bullying

5. Read the sentences 1–6 below. Decide if you agree or disagree with each one. In the space before each sentence
write A if you agree or D if you disagree. Practice orally giving opinions. Use the expressions in the box below to help
you.

1. D. People often spread rumors about each other or say mean things behind each other’s back. It’s normal.
It’s part of growing up.
2. A. Calling someone names or teasing them is not bullying. It’s just a bit of fun.
3. D. One day the bully will get bored and stop bullying.
4. D. People bully because they were born that way.
5. D. It’s best to stay friends with bullies so that they don’t pick on you.
6. D. Bullies are scary people. Bystanders should ignore them and stay safe.

Useful vocabulary
spread rumours – tell false stories about someone to other people

behind someone’s back – when the person is not there

tease – laugh at someone because you want to make them sad

pick on (someone) – identify a person to bully

bystander – someone who sees bullying and does nothing about it

ignore – pay no attention to someone