Eminem interview on Tupac's death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT2KNuxwDHE

General Mechanics of Writing

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h3fqefvqe8bjzvw/General%20Mechanics%20of%20Writing.docx?dl=0

 

This is a quick overview on general writing tips.  If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.

***A sample writing from previous class***

Cosmetic Surgery Trend

Korea is called the empire of cosmetic surgery. Many people are willing to do cosmetic surgery for the purpose of beauty, and it is even becoming one of the “graduation presents.” It is natural that people want a beautiful appearance and want to overcome their appearance complex, but the trend of cosmetic surgery is getting worse in Korea. People are so imprudent to have the surgery without thinking why they really want to do it. Some people even think that cosmetic surgery will change their whole lives and dream of turning their lives around. This kind of blind faith in cosmetic surgery may come from the appearance-oriented Korean society, the effect of mass media, or a westernized standard of beauty. There might be other reasons behind people’s faith in cosmetic surgery’s ability to create beauty, but the one certain thing is cosmetic surgery is not the only option to choose.

According to the survey by Trend Monitor, one in five women in Seoul have surgery, and we have to notice why especially Koreans are crazy about cosmetic surgery. The first reason might be related to the characteristics of Korea. Korea is one of the appearance-oriented societies. That means appearance is competitive, and people cannot ignore the importance of looks. Other countries might show this trend too, but the degree of obsession with appearance is too much in Korea. Many Koreans suffer from an inferiority complex and feel compelled to be beautiful. This obsession with cosmetic surgery is sometimes seen as an indicator of poor-esteem. Koreans’ view of cosmetic surgery, such as “it’s not such a big deal anymore,” can be very dangerous.

Since the opening of the twentieth century, as mass media started to develop, media naturally started to affect people’s lives in various ways. We can say that the effect of mass media is the second reason for Korean’s craze of cosmetic surgery. The media shows many celebrities who have good appearances, and people naturally think that their appearance is the standard of beauty. This makes people follow them and have the surgery. Psychologists say that media can affect people’s body esteem “by becoming a reference point against which unfavourable body shape comparisons are made.” This shows that people might use images projected by the media as standards for comparison. It is so natural that people who are exposed to media’s standard form a stereotype of beauty. That is to say, media makes people form an ideal of standardized beauty and makes them think that it is the only beauty, so they can justify themselves to have the surgery.

This bad influence of mass media might form a westernized standard of beauty because celebrities who have the western look appear in the media and make people think that their look is the standard of beauty. This is the third reason of Koreans’ cosmetic surgery trend. Now, many Koreans consider big eyes, a prominent nose, white skin and a small face as components of beauty, and the combination of these components clearly show the western look. It is totally different from Korean traditional beauty. In Korea, the most common type of surgery is double-eyelid surgery, which creates an upper eyelid with a crease from an eyelid that is naturally without a crease. Not only does this surgery explain the inferiority complex of traditional Asians’ eyes, but also proves the desires to have big eyes like western people. The selection criteria of Miss Korea is another example of a westernized standard of beauty. There is no definite criteria for Miss Korea’s appearance, but the elected Miss Korea shows that big eyes, a prominent nose and white skin is the standard of beauty. It is a clear contradiction that Miss Korea, who represents Korean traditional beauty, has to resemble western beauty. However, every culture has their own ways of pursuing standardized beauty like “Chinese women’s bound lotus feet, Padaung women’s elongated necks and western women’s constricted waists.” It implys that other cultures also have standards of beauty and want to follow them. It is a sad reality because this shows Koreans are not the only people who lack confidence in their appearance and their identity.

These three factors show why Koreans are becoming crazy about cosmetic surgery. There might be other various reasons other than the characteristics of appearance-oriented Korean society, effect of mass media, or westernized standard of beauty. However, whatever the reason is, having surgery without a clear reason is definitely a wrong choice and will result in a lifetime of regret. Some might still argue that they have surgery to overcome their appearance complex and gain confidence, but that is just an excuse because it is quite clear that surgery is not the only way to get over the complex. Cosmetic surgery cannot change the person by itself; it just gives a little bit of change in a person’s appearance. That means inner change is the only way to overcome one’s complex and way more important than outward appearance change. It is not just a truism, but it is true. People just deny this truth because they don’t have that much confidence to change their inner self. However, the real and right way to get over the complex is the change of one’s own mind, and this way will be the first step to change Korean society.

 

Posted with the permission from the writer.

First Writing Assignment

In Unit 1, we discussed having new perspectives on life. What kind of life-changing experience have you had and how did the experience change your perspective on life. This experience can be something small or big so feel free to share as much as you'd like in your paper.

Or you may write about any topic of your choice as long as it follows the same guidelines as listed below.  

Write a five-paragraph essay with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.  In the introduction, you should clearly state your thesis statement - a sentence that presents the topic and focus of the entire essay.

Remember to make sure your introduction appeals to the reader by including a hook sentence, question, or fact. Also, you should include a brief background of the subject. Don’t assume the reader knows anything when you write. And lastly, don’t forget to clearly state your thesis, the focus of your paper.

Use font sizes between 10-12. Do not italicize, bold, underline, or color your texts. Indent each paragraph. Refer to the writing technique sheet handed out in class. Review the feedback you received from your classmates and make necessary changes. Do not overly use “I” in your paper as it’s a turn-off to the reader. And do not use single or double quotation marks for emphasis as this is an incorrect use of quotation marks.

There’s no page limit to this writing assignment but you should at least try to write a page. It’s really difficult to defend your thesis in less than a page

Please bring a hard copy printed to class on the due date to complete a peer revision in class.  You will have two peers from class revise your paper to give you feedback in your writing. Remember, once you print your final draft, do not touch your paper with a pen or a highlighter.

***How to stress to create rhythm with correct intonation?***

Remember, we stress the CONTENT words, words in a sentence that carry most meaning.  In terms of fried chicken, content words are the meat of the chicken, both dark and white meat.

•nouns

•verbs

•adjectives

•adverbs

•question words

•demonstratives (these, that those)

•negatives

We do not stress the FUNCTION words, words that act as a skeleton to hold the sentence together. And these are the bones of the chicken that holds the meat together.

•Prepositions

•pronouns

•articles (a, an, the)

•the verb “to be”

•conjunctions (and, but)

•auxiliaries (do, can, will, have, etc.)

 

At C4 level, you should be fine tuning your speaking ability by practicing these as much as you can at home. In the class, I can only show you and it's up to you to practice them at home at your leisure. 

Remember, practice makes perfect!!  No pain no gain!!

Birds eat worms.
The birds eat worms.The birds eat the worms.The birds will eat the worms.
The birds will have eaten the worms.

***How to check your daily participation checks***

Checking participation is an honor system!

Hi everyone! Hope you all are having a great semester. Just as a reminder of how the participation scores will be collected at the end of the semester.

Each day, each student is eligible for one participation point if you volunteer for the following:

• To read in class
• To come up to the board to explain something
• Speaking up and sharing your thoughts and ideas
• Answering any questions asked in class

The one point does NOT include:

• Doing pair or group work as this is the minimum requirement and expectation in the class.

Bonus Points: You can earn an extra point, in addition to the dailly one point participation point when you answer the bonus point question in class or when you research and share the answer in class.

At the end of every class, it is the responsibility of the student to record their participation scoress on the attedance sheet. If for some reason you forget to check the participation point on the day, you CANNOT go back later to record your participatio points.

If you have any questions about how the pariticipation scores will be graded, please do not hesitate to ask me personally :)

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

Welcome back! I hope you all had a restful break and was able to get caught up on your rest and sleep. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and getting to know you better. Let's have a great semester!!!