Entry #9 (2nd part) Writing Project: How to write an Essay

How to write a 5-Paragraph Essay

Thesis Statements: Four Steps to a Great Essay.

Study Notes.

Group:

Bazán, María de las Nieves

Dattoli, Julieta

Giménez Foth, Mariana

Martínez, Florencia

Metacognitive Analysis.

 Firstly, I must admit I found this topic really interesting. Reading the poems about refugees as well as looking for information about it on my own, has broaden my mind. I would have never imagine how inspirational and moving this topic was. Although this topic involves much of political and economic factors, it has an emotional face which touches you somehow  while reading about it.

Secondly, analysing texts is something which I always find extremely difficult. I feel as if I had to make a big effort to enter on the writer's mind and see what he/she wanted to express on those lines. However, I consider this is something which I have to keep working on and as I always do, try to do my best.

Entry #9(1st part) Writing Project:Refugees (Poems)

We Refugees - by Benjamin Zephaniah.

 In this poem, the author expresses that everybody is likely to become a refugee at any time, no matter your age or your skin colour, it is only a question of luck. At first, the author describes his personal experience of being a refugee but then uses the pronoun “We”, involving the reader as well in this situation. This idea is reinforced in the verse “We can all be refugees”. He makes emphasis on how easily it is to be forced to leave your own country and how unfair society can be towards anyone; as described in the verses: “Where they hate my shade of skin/ They don’t like the way I pray/ And they ban free poetry”. Moreover, the description of the beautiful place expressed in the first verse of the stanzas contradicts the following verses in which the opposite is shown: “I come from a musical place/ Where they shoot me for my song”. This depicts the idea of how easily everything can change. As Zephaniah states “Sometimes it only takes a day/ Sometimes it only takes a handshake/ Or a paper that is signed”, we are all vulnerable and nobody is safe; it is all a question of luck.

Refugees - by Brian Bilston

Brian Bilston introduces two very opposite ideas of how we, as a society, have different points of view on the same matter. During the first reading, from top to bottom as the traditional one, the author expresses such a negative point of view that it is annoying. He refers to refugees as criminals “With bombs up their sleeves / Cut-throats and thieves”.  The author arises in the reader the idea that refugees should not be welcome and that they should be kept out. However, during the second reading, starting from the last stanza and reading backwards to the first one, a completely different story is told. The author’s attitude towards refugees seems to change. It is expressed a feeling of empathy and kindness towards refugees. The author challenges the reader to take part on this subject “It is not okay to say/ Build a wall to keep them out / Instead let us / Share our countries / Share our food”. These two ideas stated in the poem makes the reader reflect upon this matter and whether to choose one side or the other.

Entry #8 Oral Assignment : The Study of Language.

CHAPTER 1 : THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE.

There is not register that can indicate how language originated, but it is suspected that some spoken languages must have developed between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago. In most religions, there appears to be a divine source who provides humans with language. The hypothesis is that if infants grow up without hearing any language, they would spontaneously begin using the original God - given language. The Natural Sound Source set that primitive words may have been imitations of the natural sounds early humans heard around them. What supports this theory is that modern languages have many words that sound like their names. The Social Interaction Source states that humans must have lived in groups, so they needed some type of communication to be organized.The Tool Making Source expresses that the functions for object manipulation and vocalization are very close to each other in the left hemisphere of the brain, so there may be an evolutionary connection between tool using and language using. The physical adaptation source explains that in the study of evolutionary development there are certain physical features which appear to be relevant for speech. Finally, the genetic source states that humans are born with a special capacity for language, it is innate and it isn't tied to a specific variety of language.