Saturday, May 8, 2010

Goodbye

Dear all classmates and our teacher,
Time is flying so fast, so it is already near the end of the spring semester. Looking back at 16 weeks, I realize that this semester, especially our composition class helped me improved my English a lot. When I came to America six months ago, I had to spend a lot of time to write a 300 words essay. However, I can write my English essay much better than before. I feel more confident when I write down a sentence with a correct structure. But I am still confused about using the article sometimes, so i will try my best to use it right. I also need to improve my pronunciation to make my life here more comfortable. Even though a lot of assignment made me feel so tired, I learnt how to deal with it under pressure of due dates. It will help me when studying in University or working for a company.
I am very happy to have a chance to meet and be friend with you guys. Keep in touch. Wish you guys the best in your life. Hope all of you guys have a wonderful summer break.
I read Wendy and Tara's posts.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Reaction to Film

Baraka is the touching and special documentary film. It tells about our life by showing distinct and constant scenes and sequences. The audience have a chance to visit many countries when they watching this movie. In my opinion, the most impressive scene is the one in which everybody living in a big city are moving so fast and can not stop.

I feel that the dwellers have been living in a modern and crowded places, so they do not have time to relax. They need to live and work continuously with a high speed. If they stop for a short moment, they may stay behind others and have to start again. This scene reminds me of how our busy life is. Maybe the scene exaggerates a little bit, but it impresses and a lot. The scene makes me think about the forgotten things in the modern life and it is sad. Sometimes our life is so busy and tired, we may forget about small things that may hurt other people's feelings. For example, parents may forget about their own children's birthdays even though they work hard to support children. Besides that, the scene makes me feel worried. We need to work hard and move fast all the time, so it is very hard to find spare time to enjoy our life. You have to follow the rules that everyone does. If you want to reach your objectives, try your best. However, you should know how to relax to after doing your best as well. We should try to balance our work time and free time to achieve goals and enjoy life too.

The movie have so many touching and impressive scenes like the beautiful scenarios and unique worship custom scenes. Nevertheless, the scene where the citizen are moving so fast and continuous still impresses me the most.



I read Michelle and Minh's posts.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Confucius Quote

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

Confucius has many famous quote, and each of these has deep meanings. However, in my opinion the quote: "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." is a very valid and encouraging one. Confucius quote encourages people needs to believe in themselves and never give up. In your life, you always want to achieve your goals. You try your best to reach your goals, but you need to overcome many obstacles as well. You may feel tired and depress when you have a hard time. Nevertheless, you should stay positive and keep moving forward. Besides that, you may make mistakes which make your goals stay far away. You want to stop at that time, and reaching your objectives becomes harder and slower. But the most important thing is you learn from your own mistakes and you do not stop.

In addition, this quote is very similar to an old story about racing between a Turtle and a Rabbit. Rabbit is arrogant because he thinks he can run very fast. He does not try his best in the racing. On the other hand, Turtle knows his weakness, so he works hard in the racing, As a result, Turtle is a winner. I think Confucius quote also encourages people that they should not feel depress about their weaknesses. They should face the weakness and try to overcome it.

I read Michelle and Quynh'posts.


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Analyzing an Argument

Judson,O ( April 20,2010). Brain Damage. The New York Time. Retrieved April 20, 2010 from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/brain-damage/?ref=opinion

Judson stated that being obese will damage your brain. According to a study, scientists find the evidences which show that the brain of obese people being affected negatively. (par. 2) the article also provides the reader statistics. The author gives main reasons: genes, fat tissue, obesity exacerbates and diet that cause harmful for human brain. The article the claim of reason which is appeal to logos and value. Genes are the first reason that Judson provides us. The gene, FTO takes a part in both body weight and brain function. (par. 4). Second, Judson talks about obesity exacerbates problems like: sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. All of these healthy problems are harmful for human health, especially for our brain. (par. 5). Then, the author states that fat tissue is one of the reason that may damage human brain. (par.6) Finally, the author points out that unhealthy high-fat diet can lead to increase . increases brain inflammation and disrupts brain function. (par.7) In my opinion, it is very convincing article when it shows all statistic, study result and scientific statements.


I read Wendy and Vivian's posts.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Anticipating Your Parents' Objections

Dear Mom and Dad:
How are you? I am doing fine here. I feel I become more independent now, so you don't have to worry so much about me. I know you do not say that often, but you worry about me all the time. You know that I have been living with home stay family for six months. However, I want to move out and live with my friend in an apartment near school. You have several concerns that I should stay with my host until I come back home. As a concern parents you are, you worry about my safety. It is true that living with American family is safer than living in an apartment. However, my apartment is located in nice neighborhood and near my university's police office. Furthermore, you worry about inconvenience that my new apartment does not have furniture. But I can buy some used furniture with cheap price. Besides that, some of my friends finished their degrees and they want to come back to their home country. Therefore, they promise to give me their used furniture for free. In addition, you also state that living with my home stay, I have a chance to practice speaking English all days. It is the truth that everyone will agree. When I talk with my hosts, they help me improve my English. However, my hosts and I have different schedules, so we usually talk with each other at the weekend. Perhaps the answer is I will visit them frequently at the weekend after I move out. I appreciate all your valuable advises, but whether you could consider this matter once again. Thank you for your understanding.
Love you,
Your daughter

I read Vivian and Sherry's posts.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Summarize/Paraphrase Practice

In this articles, Davey mentions that Nebraska state has a new rule about abortion, and it creates a controversial topic. The new law will take effect on October 15, 2010. The law will ban most abortions 20 weeks after conception or later based on the theory that fetus feel pain around that time. Nebrasha new law receives the opposite feedback from community. Abortion opponents supported the law and claims it was the right thing to do based on the medical evident about fetal pain. However, abortion rights advocates said that it was "unconstitutional" ( Pra. 2) Nebraska abortion law also have exceptions only in emergency like: the pregnant woman’s imminent death or a serious risk of “substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function,” ( Pra. 8) Besides that, Nebraska is the first state of the United State to have the law based on the fetal pain. The other states usually have the rule to tell women should consider abortion again. Because a fetus may feel pain, they should rethink abortion one more time. Nevertheless, no states has cited the fetal pain as a main reason why we should restrict abortions. ( Pra 11) In conclusion, the new abortion law should be follow by other states to protect the fetal rights.

Monica Davey (2010, April 13). Nebraska Law Sets Limits on Abortion. New York Time. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/us/14abortion.html

I read Tara and Quynh's posts.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Research

PRESTON, I. (2010). Interaction of Law and Ethics in Matters of Advertisers' Responsibility for Protecting Consumers. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(1), 259-264. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01166.x.

Preston stated that law and business ethics have a close relationship, so advertisers should follow ad regulations and business ethics at the same time. When you violate the regulations, you can be punished. But if you do nor follow the ethics, you just receive the social disapproval. Because of that, advertisers usually just follow the law and forget about ethics. The ad law cannot cover all fields of advertising, so lacking ethics can help advertisers take advantage of customers. Business ethics can cover more fields than regulations, so teaching ethics to advertisers is necessary. But it will require a long time to change people's behaviours and opinions. Therefore, strengthening the ad law can be an efficient solution in the short time. I want to prove that we should make a stronger ad law to prevent the false advertising is an efficient way.
I read Quynh and Sireesha's posts.