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.