Gorgona Island

Context: We are in a channel radio, to talk about the paranormal things wich took place in the
Gorgona island.
Interviewer.
Scientific:
The esceptic:
Hernán Plaza Rodriguéz: Psycologist who was in the prison in1963: (Hubo un guerrillero quien mató)
Libardo Medina, profesor que vivió en Guatpi y visitó la prisión. He said that he heard strange
sounds, and he believed they were Ghosts around the prison. Although, he realized it was a monkey.

a. Exposition: A general description of the issue under discussion. (What are we

talking about?) Javier Monsalve
1. Gorgona is a Colombian island situated in the Pacific Ocean.
This Island is part of Guapi in the Cauca Department. First, it
was called “San Felipe” and after this island was renamed
“Gorgona” in honor of the Greek mythological creatures whose
hair was made of poisoned snakes. From 1950 until 1984, it
was a maximum-security prison to house dangerous criminals.
There were a lot of paranormal situations there. Ghosts,
prisioners spirits, mythical creatures in the sea and around the
prison. People said that prisoners even after their daths they
must live there to serve their sentences. Also, the lizards are
considered as a representation of the dinausaurs which lived
there at the beggining.

b. Culture: Explain how the issue relates or responds to Colombian culture. (Why
did this belief appear?) (Juan C)
c. Influence: Discuss how it influences our behavior, how it has an impact on
Colombians’ daily reality. (Javier Monsalve)
1. The influence of this place, considered a magic place is that, this
prison represented a way to replace the death penalty. This caused a
impact in colombian people during 1950 until 1984. They created
mysterious and paranormal stories about monsters. And it was a
lesson to criminals to avoid doing crimes. Even now, the Gorgona
Islan has a big influence and curiosity to know the place that a horror
prison. People still think that there are ghosts around this island.

2. Skeptical answer: Explain how science debunks this kind of beliefs.

Here, if useful, I encourage you to use the information from the text
“The truth about the paranormal” read in class. (How can we explain
scientifically what people believe supernaturally?) (Sebastián)

TASK 2 – EXPLAINING THE UNEXPLAINABLE

ICC/PE: Cultural mysteries around the world that have influenced our beliefs and behaviors / Colombian myths
and legends
For this task you are going to record a fictitious interview with one or two members of the group
representing a scientist that explains beliefs from a skeptical point of view. You can work in groups
of 2 or 3 people.
To complete this task, consider the following:
1. Choose a topic: The topic of the interview is going to be one Colombian legend, myth,
belief, or superstition (or a couple of them, if you wish). It may be related to paranormal
phenomena such as ghosts, magic, monsters, spirits, etc., or related to superstitious beliefs
around luck, health, love, people, etc.

2. Write a script: Write a script of the interview. In the interview the expert should talk
about the topic following the host’s questions and commentaries (remember to equilibrate
the interventions so that every member of the group speaks enough, avoid having an
interviewer that only asks simple questions). To develop the topic, you must cover the
following items:

b. Exposition: A general description of the issue under discussion. (What are we

talking about?)
c. Culture: Explain how the issue relates or responds to Colombian culture. (Why
did this belief appear?)
d. Influence: Discuss how it influences our behavior, how it has an impact on
Colombians’ daily reality.
d. Skeptical answer: Explain how science debunks this kind of beliefs. Here, if
useful, I encourage you to use the information from the text “The truth about the
paranormal” read in class. (How can we explain scientifically what people
believe supernaturally?)

3. Record: Find a quiet space to record the interview. The audio shouldn’t be longer than 5
minutes. Remember to sound natural, doing your best to simulate the situation. The more
elaborated it is, the higher it will be graded in that criterion.

4. Language: You must use from time to time the grammar topic of this unit: modal verbs
and past modals, mainly those associated to deduction and hypothesis.

Evaluation criteria on the next page

Here I present the evaluation criteria. I’m going to give two grades for this task:

❖ Grade 1. Oral expression:

➢ Fluency, 35%: Remember that here you need to watch your rhythm, not your speed. The
idea is just to sound fluent, without unnatural pauses or fillers.
➢ Pronunciation, 35%: Remember to check the phonetic transcription of words you don’t
know well, look at its phonemes and its stress.
 ➢ Intonation, 30%: This criterion evaluates your intonation and expressivity when you
speak in English, how natural you sound.
❖ Grade 2. Content:
➢ Subject, 40%: Here I evaluate the relevance and pertinence of the information presented.
Be sure you aim at the objective of the task and comply with the instructions I gave.
➢ Language, 35%: Here I evaluate your use of general grammar and modals.
➢ Production, 25%: This criterion has to do with the quality and production of your
interview: anything you do to make it nicer as a product.