Portfolio entry # 15 - Poem: "I build walls"

The construction of walls are not always made of brick, stone, or any other material. Sometimes we create imaginary barriers as a way to hide who we are or how we feel or to protect ourselves.

Why would someone build "walls"aruond his or her feelings?

     Walls create the feeling of being protected. In some cases, people might build walls around their feelings because they do not trust on others and fear being hurt. Sometimes, they could be more introverted and repress their emotions because they do not know how to demonstrate what they feel or they do not want to look like a fool. And still in some instatnces, they might prefer to hide their feelings in order not to share what they really are or feel as a safer way to cope with life.

Do you, or others you know, ever build such "walls"?

    I used to be a person who built walls around me (and sometimes it is still difficult for me to demonstrate what I feel). I considered that if I kept that shell around me, I would be protected of everything and I would show that I was self-sufficient. However I realised that while nobody could go into my boundaries, I could not go out either. It was a long and difficult process until I assumed that I need the contact with my family, my friends or other people to protect each other, to enjoy life, or to overcome difficult situations.

Do you think that there are times that we need to uild walls?

    I think that there are times it is necessary to build these barriers to prevent that certain emotions, attitudes, words or actions affect our lives but mainly our health. Sometimes it is necessary to use these walls as temporary and protective shields without allowing them to become our prisons.

Portfolio entry #14 "Across the Great Divide"

The title of the article "Across the Great divide" refers to the division that still exists between East Germany and West Germany, despite the fact that the Belin Wall had been blown down many years ago. The fall of physical barrier seems not to have knocked down the social, economical, cultural and political ones. The differences between the two sides are still of notable consideration.

As regards the macroestructure, the article is made up of twelve paragraphs.
The first two paragraphs deal with Berliners' personal experiences: these paragraphs are devoted to explain what the daily lives of an Ossi ans a Wessi are like.
The third paragraph illustrates the current physical condition of the Wall.
From the fourth to the tenth paragraph, the social, cultural, political and enocomical situation after the Fall of the Wall. More precicely, paragraphs number four and five give an explanation of the political division; paragraph number six and ten deal with a sociocultural analysis; the following three paragraphs depict the socioeconomical situation; the eleventh, states the invesment of money on reunification; and the last paragraph reveals the similar attitudes that the western and easter Berliners share.

Source: Wallace, Ch. (1999). "Across the Great Divide" in Time. Nov. 15. pp 22-26.

Portfolio entry # 13 - Argumentative Essay: Death Penalty

Death Penalty

The death penalty has always been an issue of controversial debate. It is a practice that has been used all over the world and consists of executing someone because of the crime which the accused has committed. In the last two years, one hundred and forty countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice, while the number of retentionist countries ascend to fifty-eight being China, India,Indonesia and the United States some of the countries that conform the latter group. The question would be: Can we teach a child not to hit by hitting him? The abolition of capital punishment has to be adopted by all the countries since it is unethical, irreversible, and it does not deter crime.

According to the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights, every human being has the right to life. Sentencing a person to death would be violating this basic human right and taking a life back would be revenge not justice. Of course the victim has also been deprived from this inalienable right, but capital punishment is an extreme and unique measure that applies to all, killers, rapists, and every criminal. It is a primitive and cruel punishment that tortures the condemned, not only for the practice itself but for the waiting of the death. Alternative measures such as imprisonment for life with no option for parole or community work should be taken into consideration as the death penalty has no turning back and the offenders should be given the possibility of restoring their bad behaviour. Besides, the death penalty is a discriminatory practice that takes primarily, the life of black and poor people. In the southern states of the United States, eight per cent of the black criminals get the death penalty while only one per cent of white criminals get capital punishment. In addition, a study released by researchers from the University of North Carolina demonstrated that the race of the victim was a crucial factor in who received the death penalty. As regards the social class, people who can afford expensive and experienced lawyers have better opportunities to avoid capital punishment than those who cannot have access to a good legal assistance.

Irreversibility is another key aspect in favour of the abolition of the death penalty. Nobody deserves to die, nor those who have killed for fun neither those who have killed for self profit; and under no circumstances those who have committed no crime. Mistakes or failures in the judicial system may kill innocent people. For instance, imprisonment is the only way to partial compensations for those who can prove their innocence. It can be argued that  the chance of making a mistake is quite low; However once the death penalty is put into practice, there is nothing that can be done to repair the punishment if the alleged perpetrator turns out to be innocent.

Still Capitall punishment will not prevent criminals from murdering, raping, or having any kind of condemnable behaviour. Offenders do not always think or act rationally, or they do not fear being caught or punished. A research released in 1988 and updated in 1996, failed to prove that executions were more effective than life imprisonment to control crimes. Imprisonment is the only chance to deter crime and to offer the offenders the possibility to make up for their crimes.

To conclude, the death penalty do not ensure the safety of the society. The threat of an extreme punishment is not the solution to decrease the crime rate and nobody should be dispossessed from his right to life. Violence should not be counter with violence. Resurrection is not possible, so the abolition of capital punishment is the guarantee that innocent people have to continue enjoying their lives once their innocence has been proved. 

Sources

“Abolitionist and retentionist countries” (2016). Retrieved from Death penalty information center website: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

BBC (2014). Ethics: Capital Punishment. Retrieved from BBC website: http:// www. bbc. co.uk/ethics/ capitalpunishment/

“Capital Punishment Essay: Benefits of the Death Penalty.” (2016). Retrieved from 123HelpMe website: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=3686

McCann, E. B. (2016),”Death penalty.” Retrieved from Amnesty International website: https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/

Michael, F. (n.d) “The Death Penalty.” Retrieved from Teen Ink website: http: //www.teenink.com/opinion/all/article/11085/The-Death-Penalty/

Mohanty, S. P., (n.d.) “Advantages and disadvantages of the Death Penalty.” Retrieved from: http://www.finanacecareonline.com/2013/07/advantages - and- disadvantages-of-death.html

“Should the death penalty be restored in the UK” (2016). Retrieved from English for university.com website: http://englishforuniversity.com/academic-writing/example-academicessay/

Portfolio entry # 12 A video - Death penalty

Key words: death penalty; crime; crime rate; criminal chaos; abolish; capital punishment; irreversible; execution; horror; human right; torture; equality; human being.

Key phrases: "When a country abolishes death penalty they are not plunged into criminal chaos. " "Every one has the right to live and no one should be subjected to torture." "The death penalty is irreversible." "They crossed the line but we do really want to join them?"

In the following video, Jeremy Irons talks about death penalty and outlines his arguments against it saying that:

- Death penalty does not guarantee a lower crime rate. Even if it did, it would not be acceptable.
- Irreversibility is an important point to consider since you cannot bring back the dead. 

- Inadequate legal representation means capital punishment.

- The abuse of a basic human right is evident: the right to live.

- The panic of waiting for your death implies a psychological and physical torture.

- Equality means human rights are applied to all human beings. Equality is not social discrimination. Equality is not arbitrariness.

- People and the judicial system should be able to differentiate imprisonment and execution.

Portfolio entry # 11 A letter

After Mark Chapman, the man who shot and killed John Lennon, had been up for parole, Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, wrote a letter to the Parole Board opposing to his release. In that letter she expressed that:
1) if the subject were to be released, many people would feel betrayed.
2) herself and John's sons would feel unsafe for the rest of their lives.
3) other people who would like to receive world attention could do the same as Chapman, bringing back the chaos and confussion again.
4) it would not be fair that Chapman enjoyed a normal life when Lennon had lost his life.
5) it would not be safe for Chapman since Lennon's fans might decide to take justice into their own hands.

Portfolio entry # 10 A podcast

Jennifer Gonzalez was a writing teacher for seven years. She was certified as an English language arts teacher but she was always interested in teaching children how to write.

In her podcast on " A step-by-step plan for teaching argumentative writing", she describes the process she uses for teaching argumentative writing and the strategies to improve it.

The first step would be watching how it is done. Learners should start reading mentor texts in order to be exposed to samples of  real writings in the genre they will be required to write. Teacher should ask learners to read  and compare two pieces of writing to study the way the writers have used the strategies and evidence to back up their points of view and persuade the reader to think in a certain way.

Secondly, the teacher should use an interesting topic as an icebreaker and start a verbal arguing so that each student can defend his position.

In a third instance, a second debate is be set up but in this occassion, students should be supplied with a few articles that can give them arguments or evidence to support their assertions. Once the verbal argument is finished, students are asked to write what their position is and give three reasons to back up it. In sum, they are asked to write the thesis statement.

Next, teachers should introduce the peformance assessment, describe the task and the score that will be used. It would be a good idea to give students separate topics and provide reliable research material.

As a fifth step, it is necessary to build the base. Students should spend time in pre-writng work and outline the main points in a graphic organizer. For that, the teacher can write a model in class, on a different topic, to show how the process is and in this way, help students to start moving at their own pace.

Another instance is workshop. It would be a good idea to provide students with teacher created-samples of argumentative essays to show the kind of writing the teacher expects from them and they can appreciate how the writing skills are implemented. The teacher should monitor the students' performance and give feedback at all stages of the assignment as well as encourage collaborative work among students and benefit from each other.
Finally, students are ready to submit. In case they have not been able to meet the basic requirements, they should be given the opportunity to revise their assignment and resubmit.

Source: 

Retrieved from: http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/persuasive-writing/

Portfolio entry 9 # How to write an effective essay

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