Portfolio #9 News, News

• Postergaron la inyección letal a un afroamericano que esperó 20 años

Los clamores llegados de todo el mundo no lograron sensibilizar al Tribunal de Perdones y Libertad de Georgia. Durante el juicio jamás se pudo mostrar el “arma homicida” que mató a un policía blanco. Nunca fue encontrada.

Extraido de http://tiempo.infonews.com/nota/65003

What arguments does this piece of news support?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/argentinian-mother-pope-francis-son-texas-death-row

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/08/27/argentine-mother-asks-pope-francis-to-help-free-her-son-saldano-from-texas-death-row/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTn5Yu0cWIM

"Saldaño, el sueño dorado", de Raul Viarruel- Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TL0vHKzwzY
Victor Hugo Saldaño, condenado a muerte argentino

 

 

Portfolio #8 Capital Punishment

KEY CONCEPTS AND PHRASES

Capital punishment
Criminal caos
Legal council
Death penalty is irreversible 
Death penalty is never acceptable
Everybody has the right to live
Nobody has to suffer torture
Human rights belong to us equally
An attack to the human rights is an attack to all of us
The right to life is deniable
They´re still human beings
They croosed the line
But do you really want to join them?




ARGUMENTS AND COUNTER-ARGUMENTS that Jeremy Irons poses in the video against Death Penalty. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVMho2cP1NE


Death Penalty can prolong suffering for victims´ families

Inadequate Legal Representation

Racial Discrimination

Arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty

Execution of inocents and child offenders

Death penalty abuses to of our most basic human rights: Everyone has the right to live and no one should be subject to torture

Counter Arguments:

It is not the solution against the crimes

The death penalty implies an economical advantage

The person who kills crosses the ethic line. The person in favour of this punishment crosses the ethic line too 

Comfort Women

Women and the World War II

Comfort Women: History and Testimony

              

                It is estimated that between one and two hundred thousand female sex slaves were forced to deliver sexual services to Japanese soldiers, both before and during World War II. These women were known as comfort women and the Imperial Conference, which was composed of the emperor, representatives from the armed forces and the main Cabinet ministers, approved their use by Japanese soldiers. The term "comfort women" refers to the victims of a "premeditated systematic plan originated and implemented by the government of Japan to enslave women considered inferior and subject them to repeated mass rapes," said Michael D. Hausefeld, one of over 35 lawyers in his firm representing the former sexual prisoners in a class action lawsuit currently pending against the Japanese government. The testimonies of former comfort women have changed the interpretive framework for research on the issue and for what counts as truth. As a result, a much richer, detailed, and more critical understanding of the events and processes that defined the comfort women system becomes possible.

               Since ancient times, prostitutes in Japan chose to sell their bodies either for family, poverty, or for saving her husband and her children. More or less, their sacrifices were seen as positive. But, being forced to become comfort woman by Japanese is seen as negative. The difference between the Japanese prostitutes and comfort women is that the comfort women did not choose to be trapped as a sex slave and they were not paid for what they did. However, The United States Office of War Information report of interviews with 20 comfort women in Burma found that the girls were induced by the offer of plenty of money, an opportunity to pay off family debts, easy work, and the prospect of a new life in a new land, Singapore. On the basis of these false representations many girls enlisted for overseas duty and were rewarded with an advance of a few hundred yen. In 1931, when the Japanese army invaded Manchuria, “comfort houses” made their first appearances. These comfort houses were created to provide the Japanese soldiers with outlets for their sexual needs. In the beginning, there were only a few comfort houses but after the Nanjin Massacre occurred in 1937, many more were added, basically to every place that the Japanese were stationed.

               The testimony of the comfort women, where it can be verified and reinforced, is among the most compelling and important kinds of evidence available for documenting the women’s experience and the interplay between official policies and the peoples of colonized and occupied territories under wartime conditions. In 1984, a Japanese journalist and feminist Matsui Yayori (1934-2003) published a short article in Asahi Shinbun, which marked the first time for any major newspaper to address the issue. Matsui’s interviewee, a former comfort woman whose name was not disclosed, was a Korean living in Thailand. She spoke of her experience this way:

“The life of comfort women was this--during the day doing laundry of soldiers’ clothes, cleaning the barracks, and some heavy labour such as carrying ammunition, and at night being the plaything for the soldiers. There were days when I was made to serve scores of men beginning in the morning. When I resisted--even just a little--I was beaten by the supervisor, pulled by my hair, and dragged around half-naked. It was a subhuman life.”

               In the fall of 1991, after the Japanese government denied the involvement of the wartime state and its military in the matter, Kim Hak-soon testified before the Japanese public. Her testimony, translated, recorded, and later published, began with her half century of silence and the decision eventually to break that silence:

“For these fifty years, I have lived, by bearing and again bearing the unbearable. For fifty years, I have had a heavy, painful feeling, but kept thinking in my heart about telling my experience some day. . . As I try to speak now, my heart pounds against my chest, because what happened in the past was something extremely unconscionable . . . Why does the Japanese government tell such a lie (to deny its knowledge of comfort women system)? Actually, I was made into a comfort woman, and I’m here alive.”

               How should historians and educators use the voices and testimonies of comfort women, as well as those of other marginalized groups? It seems to me that we should strive for a sensitive, sensible, and critical approach to them. It is urgent to educate students and the public about the complex issues involved in the relationship between history and testimony, so that they can meet the intellectual and moral challenges that the history of comfort women and other sensitive historical issues pose for later generations. Postmodern debates can help to sensitize students and the public to become informed listeners and readers of testimonies and to effectively engage the controversies surrounding them. Those who hold classic, notions of historical objectivity, and who emphasize teaching only “the facts”, may remain vulnerable in contemporary debates over history and testimony, if only because they are less equipped to deal with attacks employing postmodern language as in the case of “history as story.” Today’s effective citizenship requires understanding of the nature, power, and limits of testimonies in constructing historical knowledge, as such knowledge is a major source of national identity.

What is Academic Writing?

ISFD 41- Language and Written Expression IV - Saubidet Stella
Andrada Gustavo - Areco Yesica
July 2014

What is "Academic" Writing? by L. Lennie Irvin

Summary

Introduction

Having the right idea of what a writing task is expected to be like is the main basis to be successful with academic writing.

Myths about writing

Some concepts to clarify this kind of activity are:

-Writing is recursive; it is not a linear process.

-Many of the ideas come up while writing.

-Many drafts and revisions are needed to reach a good writing.

-The five paragraph essay is useful, but it is not a must.

-Using an objective "I" should be avoided in some cases, but it depends on the writing situation.

The Academic Writing Situation

At the moment of writing, it must be taken into account the separation in time and place from the reader, and the impossibility to see him and be aware of his reactions and feelings.

Some of the skills required for writing tasks in college's level are:

-Knowledge of research, to find information and be able to choose from it.

-The ability to read complex texts, and to think critically while reading.

-Understanding concepts and language appropriate to the Discipline.

-The skill to synthesizes, analyze and criticize new information.

Decoding College Writing Assignments

An academic writing is basically the presentation of an argument (thesis), which is actually only a viewpoint, and the evidence that supports it.

At the moment of getting a writing task, the student must be aware of the professor's expectations (surely it is not going to be a summary unless specific indications.)

Out of doubt, a keen reading, adequate research, and the presentation of an argument properly backed up.

To analyze a writing task, it is necessary to identify the meaningful parts of the subject, examine them as separate units, and then to realize how they relate each other as a whole coherent body. This interpretation of the text will constitute the thesis of the task, which will have to be supported by adequate evidence.

Types of College Writing Assignments

-Closed writing assignment: It presents two opposed claims and the analysis will have to choose one of them and justified this position.

-Semi-open writing assignment: There is a subject matter to write upon, but the extension of possibilities is fenced.

-Open writing assignment: there is freedom to decide what topic to write about and what claim will be supported.

Picking and Limiting a Writing Topic

Looking for interesting things as reading the text that has to be worked with is a way to limit the topic. It is easier and preferable to write about such kind of issues. The chosen topic has to be stated as a clear and interesting question, and the paper will be developed as a restricted answer to that question. The work should be limited to a size able to be handled and well supported.

Characteristics of Academic Writing

An academic writing is expected to show:

-Persistence, open-mind and discipline of the writer.

-Reason over feelings.

-A rational objective reader interested in information and reasoned comprehension.

Characteristics of the Critical Essay

-It is an argument that makes a point and supports it.

-The point is debatable and open to interpretation.

-It should have introduction, body and conclusion.

-The original text is the main source for claims' support. No assertion should be left without support.

-Sources have to be documented.

-Transition sentences have to be linked back to the thesis.

-The format has to be one of academic essays, such as MLA or APA.

-It has to lack of grammatical mistakes.

Bibliography

Irving, Lennie L. What is "Academic" Writing? Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing, Parlor Press, 2010

Metacognitive Reflection- Students´ failure

ISFD 41 - Language and Written Expression IV - Saubidet Stella

Areco Yesica - Perez Stefania  

June 2014

       Our assignment was not up to standard the first time because we omit important characteristics of a paragraph. First of all, we did not realize the fact that a paragraph cannot have a full stop. Also, the topic sentence was divided in two, something that contributed to miss the real point of the sentece and also made our work even more difficult because, while writing, there was no real topic to develop in the supporting sentences. In addition, cohesion was not attained at all, since some of the connectors were found in the wrong places. Another aspect has to do with the fact that many time we repeated sentences but did not clarify any idea, and so we turned around the same concept. Last but not least, we had to change some words and phrases not only to add coherence but also to add cohesion to the text. We recognized that the material we have is necessary in order to get cohesion and coherence and to develop a good paragraph. Writing a paragraph it is not as simple as it looks like.

New version of Student´s failure

ISFD 41 – Language and Written Expression IV – Saubidet Stella                                                 

Areco Yesica – Perez Stefania                                                          

June 2014              

Students´ failure at Primary School

Students´ lack of success when they are young may be attributed to external factors concerning their life at home and at school. One of the causes is the misuse of computers because, most of the time, children use the device as game consoles but not to study or look for information. Generally, these children are not controlled by any adult. Thus a second factor recalls to parent´s absence from home, since they need to go to work and, consequently, cannot help their children to accomplish their assignments. Hence, what constitutes a third prompt of unsuccessful learning is related to students´ teachers, taking into account that if they were excessively demanding, they would give students low marks for not doing their tasks. All in all, students’ failure at school involves outer factors rather than students’ capacity of learning.

Causes that make students fail vs. causes that help students learn

All throughout Primary education, children are affected by several factors that influence their learning; some of them are concerned with their life at home and others to the role of teachers. Difficulties come to light in children who regularly spend long hours doing useless activities in the computers as they have the possibility to play online or to chat with their friends. Closely related are the figures of parents who insufficiently control their children. If a student's family is experiencing violence, unemployment, alcohol or drug use by a family member, problems with the law, or any other upsetting experience, it can be difficult to concentrate on schoolwork. Many students who are having family problems might have trouble controlling their anger and frustration at school, and they may end up in trouble because of their behaviour. Also the performance of teachers plays a considerably role. Teaching students good learning strategies would ensure that they know how to acquire new knowledge, which leads to improved learning outcomes. Learning must connect to something that the student already knows or feels. If not, it won't be absorbed. Yet, it is imperative the presence of the family during the learning process. Parents who spend vital time with their children encourage them to follow a profitable routine and make them feel safe and confident. Knowing that they have a framework when studying, they will be able to consider the computer as a tool to study and use it accordingly, not only to play or chat but also to carry out tasks or look for information. Students at risk of school failure need to be identified as early as possible in their school to receive the help they need. This task usually falls to the teacher or parents, because many students are hostile to or disconnected from the educational system and will not or do not know how to ask for help. Parents and teachers must work together to bring failing students back to school and help them to achieve goals, the reasons for school failure need to be recognized and treated.