Correction

In my opinion prejudices and discrimination are dangerous for society and the individual. We can’t go on like this. Therefore we must find measures against it. I will discuss this by looking at society first, then the individual and finally the measures.

First, there are the negative effects on society, especially when we look at history. During history of humanity there have been and there still are prejudices and discrimination which have let to violence and riots. For example in the US minorities, especially blacks, have the feeling of injustice and hatred because of prejudices and discrimination during several hundreds of years. Also there are limited freedom and fear. Because of prejudices there are different groups of minorities, but there’s no interaction between nearly each group which leads to mistrust.

Second, the negative effect on individuals is even more obvious. Because of prejudices and discriminations worldwide there is the hopelessness because especially foreigners or minorities can’t escape them. This hopelessness also causes limited freedom and people give up. Also in the movie “Boyz n the Hood” Tre’s friend Ricky tries to rise up in society with sports. He is a good football player who gets admitted to a better college, before he is shot. In Ricky’s community there are many gangs and alcoholics especially caused by discrimination. So I think there are not only disadvantages for the individual, but there can also be a real danger for his life because like in the movie minorities can try to discriminate their own community because of all the anger they keep inside.

Finally, as prejudice and discrimination has such a negative effect, it is crucial that we fight against it. There are various measures we can take. For example people should be informed about prejudices and discrimination and what could happen if others are treated wrong. Also people should be taught about the minorities’ culture to prevent discrimination, prejudices and the negative effects that could be caused. Moreover there have been many people like Martin Luther King or Malcolm X who tried to fight against prejudices and discrimination, but usually without violence. In my opinion this would be the right way to prevent problems. Otherwise violence just leads to more violence and would be like a vicious circle.

To conclude, I hope that prejudices and discrimination can be prevented. To achieve this people should be informed about minorities or other cultures. But I think something already has changed during the past years because in the USA a black man became president and was elected by blacks and whites which is a great leap forward.

Opinion Essay

Why is it important to stay informed? (Newspaper, TV...)

News is a very important part of our daily life, but as important news is, as quickly it changes. Because of this it is very difficult to know the most important and latest news in politics, society, culture… Because of these changes is it really important to stay informed? Yes, it really is and in the following three reasons I want to explain why.

My first reason why it’s important to stay informed is that having conversations is much easier with a good knowledge about what’s going on in our world. When you are up-to-date you can make your own opinion for example about the shutdown of Guantanamo and you are able to discuss this topic with other people. Without this knowledge you couldn’t really join the conversation and the people around you could think that you’ve got no interests in the society or that you are not intelligent. Moreover I would say that staying informed is an advantage in job interviews.

The second advantage is that staying informed can save lives. Last week there was much fresh snow and the danger of avalanches rose up, sometimes even to the highest level. Many skiers and people who love alpine touring like this fresh snow and also like skiing next to the slopes which often causes avalanches. But if the danger of avalanches is reported in the news and the sportsmen stay informed they get to know the level of the danger. Even if there are still too many avalanches I think there would be more if so many sportsmen wouldn’t stay informed.

The third point of why it is so important to stay informed is that we live in a democracy and I would say at least we should be informed about the changes and news in our country. Like adults teenagers should try to know the latest news in our country. Because especially when they are entitled to vote they should know which party they want to support and what this party stands for. Otherwise another shift to the right could be possible as it was after the last elections in Austria.

To conclude, I would say that it isn’t difficult to stay informed because of all the newspapers, TV and especially the internet. You just have to try it. Of course you won’t be able to follow all the news and updates, but you should find out which news are important for you and then you try to stay informed because it can make your life easier during interviews, conversations and it also can save your life.

Graph Description

This graph shows a comparison of the Euro-quotation in October 2008. 22 days of October 2008 are indicated on the x axis, on the quote of the Euro is indicated on the y axis. You can see that there was a downward trend over the period. From October 6th – 8th there’s a steady hold, but from October 9th -11th it drops. Until October 14th the quote climbs up and stabilizes with a downward trend.

Letter of application

Ruth Cupcake
201 Kings Road Arches
Brighton BN1
Great Britain

February 1st, 2009

Archaeologically Headquarters China
XYZ Archaeology
87 Pyramids Road
Xi’an, CA 08065
(909) 555-5555

Dear Sir/Madame,

Application for the archaeological excavations in China

I would like to apply for the job advertised in the magazine "as." . As requested I am enclosing a completed job application, my certification, my resume and four references.
The opportunity presented in this listing. I believe that my strong and early experiences with excavations and the following education and my knowledge of China will make me a very competitive candidate for this position. The key strengths that I possess for success in this position include:

• I have successfully worked at excavations in Vorarlberg for five years.
• With these experiences and the ECDL I have experiences in learning and working with universal surveying instruments.
• I strive for continued excellence and patience.
• I have been four times in China and learned much about their culture and language and I am interested in learning more.
  
  
  Please see my resume for additional information on my experience
  I can be reached Monday - Friday, 07:00am-10:00pm, via my cell phone111-111-1111. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my application with you. I look forward to hearing from you.
  
  Sincerely yours,
  Ruth Cupcake

Encl.: CV, References,...

Boyz n the Hood

Group 3:

Describe the socio-economic situation that those African – Americans live in! What is meant with “Gentrification”? (Styles explains it to his son)

• Poverty is related to drinking and drugs; which is also one reason why there are many unemployed blacks.
• Many people there are uneducated, poor, but not everyone (--> e.g. Furious Styles: he's got money, could move away and live a life like Tre's mother --> but doesn't want to because he wanted to show that he's black and belongs to them)
• Rage: is very common --> like vicious circle (Tre's friend is killed --> his brother kills the murderers --> 2 weeks later he dead too; and so this goes on and never stops); because it's so common no one is really sad when somebody is murdered (except family and friends)
  --> emotional blunting
• Many women become children and don’t know who the father is or have children from different fathers
• In the movie there are different career options --> e.g. sport, crime… (with sport you could rise up in society, but many just want to be good at something, but don't want to learn how to do it)
• Some people live in welfare because of children
• Aspect of crime: crime, violence, guns… are important
• Drugs tent to be everywhere
• Because of guns --> gang wars (gangs are huge and very powerful --> like mafia) --> always black gangs against black gangs or blacks;
  Furious says that the government wants all the guns and liquor in the hood --> that's the way blacks are not able to repoduce themselves.
• Religion: Furious Styles is a Muslim --> everything he is eating, doing, saying is indicated by his religion (he is a Black Muslim; Black Muslims say that blacks don't know how to live in a family because of the slavery)
  
  


• Gentrification:
  1. white, expensive, middle class
  2. black middle class
  3. richer people move out
  When blacks in neighbourhood: less demand on houses --> white people move away, poor people move in --> becomes a place no one wants to live in; blacks kill blacks; area where you get drugs, poor area --> poor education --> neighbourhood becomes horrible.
  Now: rich, white companies “estate developers” move in this area, buy the houses and build expensive houses --> blacks can’t afford it --> back at stage #1
  
  (like in Austria: a house with Turkish people is cheaper because Austrians don’t want to live there)
  

Correction of the 1st exam

The Struggle for Beauty

Nowadays beauty and how you can achieve it is an often discussed topic. Especially because of the rising number of people who want to change or achieve beauty by dieting, wearing the latest fashion or getting plastic or cosmetic surgery, I want to write about the pros and cons and my own attitude to the topic.

There are many people who think in a good way of the struggle for beauty.
Everybody looks different. Some are more beautiful, others are less. So there are many people who don’t feel comfortable or don’t have much self-confidence especially after an accident or because of an inborn disease like a cleft lip. Fortunately nowadays there are many ways to achieve the ideal of beauty even for those people and so they are able to live a normal life after plastic surgery and become more self-confident, but there are also several other ways to feel beautiful and not like an outsider. Even the latest fashion or a diet can change your self-esteem so you don’t have to get surgery to look beautiful.

On the other hand to become more self-confident because of plastic surgery, diets… many people often take a chance of terrible pain and risks. One big venture is that many girls who are still growing want to undergo surgery to look better and more beautiful, but when they grow the scars can cause terrible pain. Another risk is that there are way too many plastic surgeons who often do a botched job. But not only plastic or cosmetic surgeries are dangerous, also many women become anorexic because of the ideal of beauty that is shown in the media.

In my opinion the struggle for beauty isn’t necessary because I oppose to change my body just to fit the ideal of beauty. I’d say it is important how your character is and not your looks, but because of the struggle the real beauty is gone nowadays.

To conclude, on the one hand it’s good to change your body to have a normal life, but on the other it’s bad if you just do it to fit the ideal of beauty or society. Maybe the ideal of beauty should be changed by society because to change a society doesn’t have as many risks as the struggle for beauty. It just would make all the people feel better and they would have more self-esteem. So they would all be really beautiful because real beauty comes from within.

Letter of complaint

Ruth Cupcake
201 Kings Road Arches
Brighton BN1
Great Britain

4th December 2008

RTL Television GmbH
Bachweg. 10a
50858 Köln

Dear Anke Schäferkordt,

Complaint about women in RTL adverts

Since some weeks I am noticing a negative trend of showing a wrong ideal of women in your commercials which is the reason for my letter. I think that you show women in your adverts whereby the audience becomes a wrong ideal of women.

Because of my job there isn’t much time left for watching TV, but when I turn it on I notice that your channel has many adverts in which the wrong kind of women are presented. Those women who are allowed to appear in your commercials look like the often discussed models in the fashion industry. They all are young, often look anorexic, and their look is perfect, even if they are cleaning a house in the adverts. In my opinion the society is influenced by such commercials and that’s one reason why especially men, but also women, think that a woman should look anorexic and should wear high-heels while doing the laundry.

Therefore I hope that these commercials, which are very sexist, are banned because that could be a way to put the ideal of women in perspective. The real woman or housewife should be shown.

Sincerely yours,
R. Cupcake

Group 1: "Cosmetic (plastic) surgery"

Pro:
-when you’ve got an accident and are disfigured you could try to get back (nearly) your look before it back.
-when you’re inborn with something (e.g. a hair let): with a surgery you could have a more normal life
-when you’re ill (e.g. breast cancer) you’re able to rebuild parts of the body
-If you’ve got mental or physical problems with your look or get bullied because of it a surgery could help
-when you’re very unhappy with your looking, get discriminated and can’t live longer with your body surgeries could help.

Con:
-when you’re too young and still growing a plastic surgery could destroy your body or cause pain
-it’s becoming normal to have a plastic/cosmetic surgery, but you don’t think about the risks
-it’s dangerous too because there are too many incompetent surgeons who do a botched job
-often it’s just a waste of money (money could be used e.g. for poor people…)
-after a plastic surgery most of the patients have an unnatural look
-young people with surgeries might change their opinion about this decision when they’re older

Additional thoughts:
-plastic surgeries shouldn’t be that usual as nowadays
-people who consider a plastic/cosmetic surgery should be more sceptical
-society should change the meaning of beauty  old age should be accepted
-especially teenagers shouldn’t try to imitate their idols
-more working places, more hospitals are built


Anna, Larissa, Ruth

City- or Country-Life?

During your life you get to know many people with different origin, but there’s something all of them have in common: either they live in a city or in the countryside. I think there are many townspeople who are prejudiced against those people who are living in the country and vice versa. Everyone also has his own opinion about each living situation.

In my opinion city- and country life have assets and drawbacks. One important aspect for living in a city is that it’s never boring. You have much more possibilities for example to go out with your friends because there is more public transport, you are very central and there are stores right round the corner. Also you’ve got more chances for a well-paid job in a city than in the country. On one hand it’s more exciting and you can be more flexible, but on the other hand, just to name two aspects, the exhaust fumes and the pollution are always present. In my opinion the light pollution and the traffic noise are as big problems as the safety, especially for children on their way to school.

In the country this danger isn’t as present because of less traffic. Also because of this it’s calmer. There are more beautiful landscapes, too. In a city the skyline can also be very nice, but in the country there’s more nature around you, not just a park or some green space. Even if this aspects sound very good there are also many negatives. Especially for young people the lack of entertainment in the country is much bigger than in a city. To go out or meet your friends you have to get there by public transport, which often is just driving hourly. But not only young people also the grown-ups sometimes have their problems with living in the countryside because of the great distance between their home and stores or the workstation.

Finally I have to admit that I prefer living in the country especially because of the nature nearby and the calmness. The life in the country isn’t that hectic and anonymous than in the city, but I think that’s just a habit because when people move in a city all the noises and the hectic becomes a habit, but right now, I like living in the country.

MY OWN STYLE

I want to tell something about my own style, especially about the clothes I wear, which kind of music I prefer listening to, my outlook on life and last but not least I want to say what I am influenced by.

When I think about my own style, it’s very difficult to describe because I’d say that I don’t belong to a youth group. Some people may think that my look is boring because I look nearly the same all the time, but despite many other teenagers I have my very own style. I’m proud that I’ve found my own style, even if I know that it will change sometime, but now I like wearing trousers, especially jeans, T-shirts and sweaters because I feel comfortable when I wear them, but it’s important that it isn’t that much expensive because in my opinion there isn’t a real difference in wearing expensive trousers or cheap ones. I like wearing nearly every kind of colour, except the ones which are too screaming. Usually my hair is curled and I like wearing a ponytail, especially in school because then they are out of sight during writing. Also I like getting dressed up a little bit, but I don’t do it very often. It’s also very important to me that I wear clothes because I like them and not all the others except me.

My taste in music also doesn’t fit in anywhere because I like several types of music, but this depends on how I feel. For example when I’m happy I want to listen to something which makes me even happier. It’s difficult to tell all the types I like because there are so many, but for example I like rock (also alternative rock) and especially soundtracks of movies like “Amélie” or “Girl with a Perl Earring”. Although I like so many kinds of music I dislike the ones like techno.

My outlook of life is, when I am old, that I am happy about my life and how I lived it and I hope that there isn’t much to regret. I also wish that I will be able to have my own style when I’ve got a job because then people often have to change and to dress like someone who they aren’t.

Until now there were many people, like family and friends, who had an influence over me and my style, but I would say in a positive way. Also many things happened during my life which made me to the person I am.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Review

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a popular coming-of-age story from the 1990s and was written by Steven Chbosky. The author was born in 1970 and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is his only novel.

In the book the main character Charlie is an inconspicuous boy who starts to write letters to an unknown person after a friend committed suicide. In this letters he writes about everything that happens in his life whereby he becomes a kind of an observer and you notice that he’s really for many people a “wallflower”, but not for his friends. During the time he has many ups and downs. His character and behaviour changes especially because of his surroundings, but at the end you discover that most of his behaviour is caused by something which happened in his childhood.

During the book there are many themes discussed, like smoking, drinking, taking drugs, love, homosexuality, removing from the family and friendship. Also abortion, abusiveness and violence of children are a big topic.
The book is very emotional because of the letters which are written privately. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” deals with problems which many teenagers have to experience.
I liked reading the book because it was about an interesting topic and wasn’t hard to understand. At first the book reminded of “The Sorrows of Young Werther” because of the letters, but after some pages I noticed that I was wrong and that the book is different.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Character description

In the book there is one main character, Charlie, who’s a very interesting person with a special character. There isn’t much information about his look, but he was doing sports some years ago. He also made a haircut by himself which looked quite unusual.

At the beginning Charlie is a boy who is inconspicuous and seems to be normal, but often a bit too emotional. After a friend of him commits suicide he starts to write letters to another person. He’s also musingly what Sam and Patrick, brothers and sisters whom he meets, notice, but unlike other people they don’t think he’s strange. After a short time they make friends and aren’t ashamed when he’s crying. Charlie gets to know many other persons and becomes more self-confident. He even stops thinking that much, feels better and happier. Because of them he also experiences a new part of life, learns about love, homosexuality, how to behave during a date, and friendship.
But Charlie’s character also changes and so he starts to drink, smoke, take drugs and lie to his parents. When he hurts his friends because of being too honest they split up, but when he stands up for Patrick who is beaten up, they become friends again. During all that time Charlie has to talk to a psychiatrist because of many problems in the past, but after a mental breakdown they discover that most of his behaviour is caused by his aunt Helen who abused him. Many weeks later his therapy was successful and he becomes happy again.

Correction of the 2nd exam

Violence and violence in the media are heatedly discussed topics. In such discussions it’s often claimed that especially children learn about violence on TV.
I totally agree with Michael Medved when he explains the four lies of the media. First of all Medved’s fist mentioned lie by directors is that violence is a part of our life and so it is not bad when it’s shown on TV. Similarly to Medved’s opinion I think that (thank God) hardly ever someone get’s threatened by a rapist or someone else, so to the majority of the people violence like shoot-outs is just fiction. In addition to that directors also claim that violence in movies like “Kill Bill” wouldn’t influence people because it’s made unrealistic which is true, but like Medved I think there‘s still a part of people who get influenced or become copycat killers. Likewise I’m also sure that you know much about a movie even if you haven’t watched it because of the media. Finally, the 4th lie Medved explained and I agree with is that non-violent movies aren’t successful because for example “Finding Nemo” is very popular and I think there’s a way especially for children not to become influenced so much.
Violence and violence in the media are a real problem, like a theory says, but there are also other ways how you can become violent. First of all I think it can be learned by watching TV or by grown-ups. I also think that violence can be inborn, but in my opinion in most cases violence is the result of frustration because frustration often leads to aggressive behaviour.
I believe that violence caused by these three arguments can be reduced especially among children. First, a child should grow up in a non-violent family where the parents have a good relationship to the child. Second, a child shouldn’t be punished physically because violence leads to more violence. Finally I’d say that children shouldn’t watch TV because there’s too much violence on it.
Concluding I would say that especially children are impressed by Idols or TV, but if the violence and the length of time a child is allowed to watch TV is reduced, maybe there wouldn’t be so much violence.

Essay

Violence is a common part in the world, but you also can watch it in several films, even in children’s films you can see violence and I wonder if such films can influence our society.
To start with I want to recur and say that there’s even violence in many children’s films. Indeed there are also other non-violent films which are very successful, but there are more violent films. Many people say that these violent films may influence people, especially children and teenagers. Examples are that some pupils or students who want to copy a film get disabled or a violent movie is an impulse for gun rampages.

But in contrast most of these violent movies, like “Kill Bill”, are so unrealistic that a normal person wouldn’t try to copy it. The majority of people don’t get violent just because they had watched a movie. What I also think is that we don’t turn into a non-violent society just because people can’t watch violence in films because there is so much of real violence in the world which isn’t caused by movies.
At least I would say we shouldn’t ban these movies, but we should think about the age limit because children who watch violent films mostly don’t understand that a movie is just a fictitious story and they don’t know how to cope with. But even if we raise the age limit we wouldn’t turn the society into a non-violent society.

words: 242

Snow Falling on Cedars

In the novel we notice similarities and differences between the love of Ishmael and Hatsue and how they change during life.
That’s why I want to discuss their relationship. Both, the Japanese Hatsue and the American Ishmael grow up on an island and are friends since a long time. Ishmael starts to love her and kisses her, but it seems as if she doesn’t feel the same. Some days later, when they are at their secret place in a cedar he wants to apologize, but she shows him that it wasn’t a mistake. They become a couple and are happy together, but both never show their love in public. They behave in a different way because Hatsue’s family wants her to be a Japanese girl. So she’s not allowed to have a white boyfriend while Ishmael’s father isn’t that strict.
However, their relationship lasts for a long time, until Hatsue’s mother realizes Hatsue’s secret when they are in a Japan camp. She doesn’t want Hatsue to see him again and tells her to marry a Japanese man.
During Hatsue has to stay in the camp, Ishmael is fighting for America in the Second World War and looses one arm. Because of that he starts to hate all the Japans. While Ishmael even hates her she isn’t allowed to love him anymore. After some time in the camp she gets to know the Japanese Kabuo. Although she doesn’t really love Kabuo she marries him because of her family. Some years later when Ishmael is a journalist, his hate is almost gone. He doesn’t think anymore about Hatsue until Kabuo is taken to court as a murderer where he notices that Kabuo isn’t guilty and wants to help him, when he meets Hatsue and recognizes that he has still feelings for her. Nevertheless he helps Kabuo who wins the trial. After this Ishmael feels good by helping Kabuo.
In contrast to the beginning of the story she doesn’t love him anymore, but he still loves here and just wants her to be happy.

Correction of the first written exam

Task 1:
Dear John,
Yesterday I was at an exhibition where I saw the painting “The problem we all live with” by Norman Rockwell and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That’s why I write to you.
On the left and right side you can see two white men walking next to each other, wearing brown suits, black shoes, identity badges and yellow arm bands on which is written “Deputy US Marshall”. The men on the left side wear golden rings and the man in the foreground has a piece of paper in his pocket.
Between the four men there’s a black girl walking in white clothes, carrying school books. Everyone is walking on a pavement from the right to the left side. In the background there’s a beige wall.
At the top of the artwork it says “NIGGER” in capital letters and tomato spatters are on it. I can’t forget that work because I think it depicts the 1950s in America. In my opinion it depicts that the black people are innocent because of the white clothes, but the white are guilty because they feel like better people.
This painting made me think about racist people and I realized that it’s still a current topic. I think, when you see the painting yourself you’ll agree with me.

Yours, Ruth



Task 2:
When I look at the photo I would say nowadays you can call it art. It just has to be taken by a famous artist or to be exhibited at the right place and time, but in my opinion this isn’t art because everyone can take this photo. Real art has to be unique and should be expressive. I think when you look at real art you will get to know what the artist wanted to say after a few minutes, but I think when you look at this photo you won’t get to know the reason for it.
However, I don’t want to say that no photo is art because on the one hand they really can be expressive, but on the other they are often just taken baseless I would say like this photo. That’s why I don’t think it is art.

Life after death

Death is one part in our life, namely the last part of our earthly life. During life we often are confronted with the death of beloved people. Also I had to undergo that, but so I realized that death is inevitable for everyone. Because of these experiences I thought about death, if there is a life after death and how it looks like. I haven’t got answers for all my questions yet, but the biggest part of them will never be responded. Even if I don’t really have an imagination about the hereafter I don’t believe that there is a hell, reincarnation, rebirth... In short I don’t really agree with the Christians, Buddhists etc, but I often wonder if the descriptions of NDE* are true. In my opinion our souls go to a peaceful place after death.
I hope so, but how long will they stay there?


words: 147
*near-death-experiences

Letter to the editor

Dear editor,

Yesterday I read your article “Giuliani forced into climbdown” in your magazine and I was really shocked about Mayor Giuliani’s behaviour especially because of Ofili’s Virgin Mary and I’m glad that the Brooklyn museum won the battle against him.
I mean art is often controversial, but it also can have expressions even if it is “shock art”. In my opinion everyone should be able to have his own opinion about art, but I think no one should have the right to fight against an exhibition in a legal battle. Giuliani wasn’t allowed to withhold money and to go to law against art because with that action he damaged the Brooklyn museum’s reputation and especially the right of free speech. What I want to say is that your article opened my eyes and showed me that art really can split up the public opinion.

Yours,
Ruth

words:147

My own summary

Giuliani forced into climbdown

A row over the art exhibition in NY because of Ofili’s painting, which showed the Virgin Mary adorned with dung, has ended after six-month legal battle with the major Giuliani who withheld money from the Brooklyn museum and damaged NY’s reputation. He has been forced to restore the withheld funding.

words:50

Giuliani forced into climbdown

There has been a legal battle between Mayor Giuliani and Brooklyn museum about Ofili’s Virgin Mary in the Sensation Exhibition. He threatened to withhold funding and to evict them. The museum won because of the right to free speech after 6 months and he gave in.

words:46