Personal Narrative

Personal Narrative Sherrick 1Kendall SherrickLaura NowocinEnglish 110012 September 2014The True Gift of LifeA little black hole in a wall as white as snow is the vivid picture I seem to remember. My view got cloudier by the second- as my eyes filled with salted tears. I could not believe that my biggest fear had just become my reality. My whole world had been flipped within a twenty minute phone call. As hours and hours had passed and I had regained my composure, I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening. As I looked at the wall I started to focus on the little black hole again. It is the smallest things that stand out. Even though the ratio of the size of the wall compared to the little hole did not even compare to one another, that little hole is what made the wall unique and stand out from the other three that surrounded me.A selection of 4 different felt cloths.Right then and there I realized that it is the most miniscule things that make life unique and that are why it is so precious.April 8, 2014: It was a normal Tuesday. I woke up got ready for school, spent my day wishing I was home, then as soon as I got home rushed to make sure I was to work on time. I have exactly thirty-five minutes from the time I get home from school to the time I need to be clocked in at work. That gives me enough time to change clothes and make a phone call or two. I knew my "adopted father" had a doctor's appointment earlier that morning, so I figured I'd call to check up on him. When I called his phone rang twice and then went to voicemail. So that... Personal Narrative Personal Narrative Even if there were a chance to change my life, I would ignore it. Now, I am at the point when I clearly understand that everything has a reason. Moreover, everything that happened with me, no matter pleasant or not, I perceive as a lesson. I am grateful to those people whom I met. All my experience is a part of me. Now, I lead a life of an average white middle class female. Until the age of eight, I happily lived with my parents; we spent time together, sometimes traveled a little bit. However, I cannot say that everything was fine. Once, I woke up in the morning and understood that there was no us anymore. For me, a little girl, it was important to be a part of something big. In this case, family was the most important thing for me. Of course, I had friends and classmates, but the family was the only thing I identified myself with being a part of the society. After my parents got divorced, I stayed with my mother; the farther emerged in my life only on weekends. We often moved to new places that helped my mom to hide her pain. I changed places as mittens and tried to find a place of my own like my mother. The time passed by. When I was twenty, in one of the clubs, I met Warren. He was from Britain. That night, we spent around two hours in the conversation. That was the beginning of our romantic relationships, and less than in two months, I packed my bags and moved to England. Later, we got married; however, I cannot say that we lived happily ever after. In terms of the culture, Britain is totally opposite to the USA. I felt not in my plate as everything was new for me starting from the language. The way people think, act, behave, and treat each other was often not clear. Nevertheless, I tried to stay positive. I had a job, but it did not help to make my living in Britain colorful and bright. With Warren, we tried to make our marriage work; however, nothing helped. After two and a half years, we decided to split up and have a chance to live the lives we wanted, but separately. Smashed and lost, I returned to the USA. From the perspective of the years, I can suggest that in the relationships I had, I inherited a model of behavior from my parents. The way I acted was quite similar to that I saw being a child. In my desire to run away, I forgot that no matter where I go, I would always take my self with me. With time and new experiences, I developed stronger personality and some useful psychological skills (Cherry, 2005). According to Ericson, people need to experience the conflict, which often becomes the turning point (Ibid). The first stage in the development of personality is Trust vs. Mistrust. According to Ericson, it is one of the fundamental periods in life of every person experienced during the first year of living. In case the attempts of developing trust fail, the person will experience fear. The last five years were the years of challenges and discoveries for me. I understood that the kind of a person I am now is the result of the previous decisions and choices. In the society of superstitions, I probably should be successful in everything that I start. However, we are the part of the society and, according to its laws, everyone plays his/her role. William Shakespeare mentioned this in the 16th century. For some people, you are a good friend; the others see only enemy in you. The only person ready to worship you for your being is mother; her love is unconditional. I cannot say that religion is a huge part of my life. In my opinion, there is a difference between belief and religion. Nevertheless, my parents and their generation were brought up with the beliefs of the recent times. Religion has few main functions that can be called 5T: transmission, translation, transaction, transformation, and transcendence (Campbell, 2010). Usually, people are lost in terms of religion and try to find substitution of it. Modern culture suggests a wide range of them. There is an opportunity to choose, but often, there is no opportunity to reject. Culture is a complex of beliefs and peculiarities of behavior of the ethnicity or a race (Zion Kozleski, 2005). Often, our culture causes misunderstanding, which was probably the main reason why we broke up with Warren. We were different and similar at the same time. Instead of concentrating on what we had, we were looking for something that was missing. For me, it was important to identify myself and learn to fight w ith confusion. After being misled, I tried to understand what I like and who I am. The answer to these two questions helped me to start my life from the new chapter and to find strength to develop and learn. I started working at Texas Department of Criminal Justice. I cannot say that my work is easy, but I really like it. My main job is held inside the prison. I work with inmates and try to help them to arrange their life before getting out. I know that often, it is a shock for people to start everything over again. Although I do not assume that I killed all my fears, I hope that my experience will help others to overcome their fears. Everyone around me appears in my life on time. In this situation, it is only my decision to get the message or stay aside. This is a psychological rule. If the persons development is under stagnation and despair, it is quite hard to turn to the starting point and find strength. The same can be said about my studying. This is a chance for me to understand my individual differences and learn my inner self. Only after this, I can help others.

Teaching to the Test in ESL Class

Teaching to the Test in ESL Class There are many issues surrounding the idea of teaching to the test. On the one hand, many feel that teaching makes it more difficult to test students knowledge because the focus is on the particular test at hand, not on holistic learning. Once learned, students can discard test-based knowledge and then begin to study for the next test. Obviously, this approach doesnt encourage language recycling, which is essential to acquisition. On the other hand, students who are thrown into a test without knowing exactly whats on the test might not know what to study. This presents a conundrum for many teachers: Do I pragmatically meet objectives or do I allow organic learning to take place?   For the English teacher, luckily, exam results wont lead to success or failure in life as is the case with the SAT, GSAT or other big examinations. For the most part, we can concentrate on producing and measuring the relative success or failure of each student. For example, I find giving students grades based on project work to be a highly accurate means of testing.   Unfortunately, many modern students have become accustomed to a test-based mode of study. In some cases, students expect us to give them clearly-defined tests. This is especially true when teaching grammar classes.   However, at times, students dont do very well on these tests. This in part is due to the fact that students are often not familiar with the importance of directions. Students are already nervous about their English and jump right into an exercise without clearly following the directions. Of course, understanding directions in English is part of the language acquisition process. However, it sometimes gets in the way.   For this reason, when giving any kind of standard assessment test, I like to teach to the test by providing a quick mock test in a review session leading up to a test. Especially at ​lower levels, this type of review will help students focus on their true abilities because theyll understand whats expected of them.   Example Review Quiz to Help Teach to the Test Here is an example review quiz I provided before a big grammar final. The test focuses on the present perfect, as well as difference in usage between past simple and the present perfect. Youll find notes and tips listed below the example quiz.   Part 1 – Circle the correct helping verb. 1.  Ã‚     Have / has he had lunch yet?2.  Ã‚     Have / has they played soccer today?3.  Ã‚     Have / has you eaten sushi? Part 2 – Fill in the blank with the PRESENT PERFECT verb. 1.  Ã‚     Fred (play / ) __________________ tennis many times.2.  Ã‚     She (have / -) __________________ breakfast this morning.3.  Ã‚     Peter and I (eat / ) _______________ fish this week.   Part 3 – Make a present perfect QUESTION with this answer. 1. Q ______________________________________________A: No, I haven’t seen Tom today.2. Q _______________________________________________A: Yes, they have flown to Chicago.3. Q ________________________________________________A: Yes, she’s worked for Google.   Part 4 – Write the correct V3 (past participle) in the blank. played  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     quit  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     driven  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     bought 1.  Ã‚     I haven’t ___________ a Lamborghini in my life.2.  Ã‚     She has _________ smoking cigarettes to be healthier.  3.  Ã‚     They’ve ____________ soccer two times this week.4.  Ã‚     I have _______________ three books today.   Part 5 – Verb forms: Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb.   Verb 1  Ã‚     Verb 2  Ã‚     Verb 3make  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     sang  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Forgotten   Part 6 – Write ‘for’ or ‘since’ to complete the sentences.   1.  Ã‚     I have lived in Portland _____ twenty years.2.  Ã‚     She’s studied piano _________ 2004.3.  Ã‚     They’ve cooked Italian food _______ they were teenagers.4.  Ã‚     My friends have worked in that company _________ a long, long time.  Part 7 – Answer each question with a complete sentence. 1. How long have you spoken English?A: _______________________ for _________. 2. How long have you played soccer?A: _______________________ since ___________. 3. How long have you known him?A: ____________________________ for ___________.   Part 8 – Write the correct form of the verb. Choose simple past or present perfect.   1.  Ã‚     She ___________(go) to New York three years ago.2.  Ã‚     I __________________ (smoke) cigarettes for ten years.3.  Ã‚     He _______________ (enjoy / -) the movie yesterday.4.  Ã‚     _________ you __________ (eat) sushi before?   Part 9. Circle the correct answer. 1. Fred _________ cake yesterday afternoon. a. has eatenb. eatedc. ated. was ate 2. I __________ at PELA for two months. a. studyb. am studyingc. have studyd. have studied   Part 10 – Fill in the blanks in these conversations. Use present perfect or simple past.   Peter: Have you ever ________ (buy) a car?Susan: Yes, I have.Peter: Cool! What car ___________ you _________ (buy)Susan: I _________ (buy) a Mercedes last year.   Teaching to the Test Tips Project each section onto a whiteboard to make sure that each student  actually sees whats expected.Ask students to come up and complete individual sections of the quiz. Have other students state whether they have completed the exercise correctly or not.  On the whiteboard, circle keywords in directions to make sure that students take notice of specific instructions.For the first question in each exercise, ask a student to complete the question on the whiteboard. Ask the student to explain why they answered in that manner.  Pay special attention to time expressions. Students tend to forget how important these are. For example, in exercise six students need to decide whether for or since should be used. Ask each student why they chose for or since.  On multiple choice questions, ask students why each incorrect answer is incorrect.  Dont worry about making a review quiz the same length as the actual test. Keep it short as the focus is on understanding how to take the test.

Knowing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Knowing - Essay Example There were some who doubted if he was really born in the United States of America. Going by our criteria, most reasonable people in society have no problem with President Obama’s proving that Donald Trump was wrong. This gives justification to President Obama’s birth certificate. Secondly, President Barack Obama released a copy of his birth certificate to prove the doubters wrong. The majority of people accept that his birth certificate is legitimate and that he was in fact born in Hawaii. Finally, we can accept the accounts of witnesses at the time, who verified that he was born in Hawaii. We believe that those doctors actually carried out the birth of Barack Obama and did not make anything up. On the other hand however, one example that does not meet these criteria was the claims of Harold Camping, who predicted that the world would end on the 21st of May, 2011. According to our definition of knowledge, Harold Camping was not justified in his conviction that the world would end. The reason for this is that not only did the event not happen, but many people did not trust his word before the supposed event. Subsequently, Camping’s claims were not proven true, so they cannot be accepted as the truth, no matter what anyone says. Lastly, many people do not believe in Camping’s worldview.

Novels and god Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Novels and god - Essay Example In this context, the author quotes and correlates the Bible by stating, â€Å"Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, â€Å"Who sees us? Who will know?† (Isaiah 29:15). This gives us a great understanding of God and morality that behind human actions, this itself is free will. I think one can sense the serenity of Susie and other authors on acceptance of faith even though they had the misfortune of this terrible crime such as Susie in Lovely Bones. However, some readers may feel angry and even frustrated about religion and morality. It almost seems that one can be mad about God not punishing these killers. On the contrary, nothing is ever hidden from God and this world is just an illusion. Some readers understand that everyone must give account to God and it may seem that they get away with their heinous crimes, but that is not the reality of the matter. "The Lovely Bones also known as "Lovely Bone," "Lovely Bones," "Desde mi cielo," "Amabili resti," "Cennetimden Bakarken," "Flickan frÃÆ' ¥n ovan," "In meinem Himmel," "Oma taivas," "PevnÃÆ' © pouto," "Um Olhar do ParaÃÆ' ­so," "V mojih nebesih," "Visto do CÃÆ' ©u"." The Lovely Bones (2009) ...review and/or viewer comments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Christian Spotlight on the Movies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ ChristianAnswers.Net. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June 2014.

Kants and Aristotles Ethics Essay -- Philosophy, Philosophers

To be good is good but it has to be done for the right reason. Aristotle and Kant are two famous philosophers who have different ethical theories. The theory’s of virtue and duties rest not only on laws and obligations but from what comes from the inside. Morality comes from inner strength, character and how we live our life to the best end. Aristole 384-322 b.c.e. Aristotle conceptualized the branches of philosophy and contributed to the theories in logic, metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy (book 237). Aristotle’s teleological ethics: the reason for being. Aristotle focused on the peoples actions whether good or bad, as well as their character, not there right or wrong actions. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) branches of philosophy included contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. Kant's deontological ethics, a duty based ethics. His focus is on rational will and a conception of self-governing reason, and not what kind of person one should be (Betzler 7). The bases of Aristotle’s and Kant’s theories are different. Aristotle believes when you do something it comes from the virtues you have, while Kant believes there is always a reason behind actions. However, both agree â€Å"that time and practice is required to develop virtues† (betzler 50). Another thing they have in common is that both of them focused on peoples actions and why people performed those actions. Whether, it is happiness or good will we are all completing an action to the end; in order to have a good life. Aristotle’s Strength is his belief in moderation (Book480). Aristotle believes the ultimate goal in life is to be happy and people will do what makes them happy. He defined the highest good as â€Å"eudaimonia† (Chaffee 477). To a... ...n different ways to achieve an end. However, I believe that Kant’s theory is most likely correct because it includes everyone and not just what makes an individual happy. Although, Kant’s views are a bit extreme when it comes to rules, we all have to have rules to live by we cannot just go out and do what makes us happy. I do like the â€Å"Golden Rule† better mainly because that is what my great-grandmother us to tell me all the time and it is a good rule to live by. â€Æ' Works Cited Betzler, Monika. Kant's Ethics of Virtue. Berlin, DEU: Walter de Gruyter, 2008. Broadie, Sarah. Ethics with Aristotle. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press, 1993. Chaffee, John. The Philosopher's Way Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2009. Kupperman, Joel. Ethics and Qualities of Life. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press, 2007.

A Performance Constraints of Thai Economy

It may be useful to put the discussion of performance constraints of the Thai economy briefly in perspective. Over the past 2 decades, the Thai economy has been one of the best performing economies in the world, characterized by sustained high growth rates, averaging 10. 3% 1985-90, and 8% in the years prior to the crisis (1990-96). This growth was accompanied by a dramatic decline in the incidence of absolute poverty, from 57% in 1962 to 14% in 1992, with per capita income increasing from $700 per annum in the late 1960s, to $2,700 in 1996. At the same time, rapid growth was accompanied by environmental degradation, resource depletion, and an increasingly unequal distribution of income and wealth. However, on balance a remarkable record of development. During this period of rapid growth and economic transformation, Thailand became increasingly integrated into the world economy through trade and investment flows, and production linkages. As the economy expanded rapidly and became more complex in structure, it posed more and new types of strains and challenges to economic management or â€Å"governance† systems at both the macro (i. . public policy) and micro (enterprise) levels. As the relative role of the private sector increased in the economy, the importance of enterprise management and performance correspondingly increased. Looking more deeply at Thailand†s performance, manufactured exports grew by about 23% per year between 1980 and 1995, almost doubling during 1992-1995. However, in 1996 export growth fell practically to 0 per cent, with labor-intensive exports usually identified as the main culprit. Certain factors are generally cited as responsible for this abrupt and dramatic decline: External factors cited included the emergence of new competitors, with the coming on stream of new production facilities in lower income/lower wage countries such as China, Indochina, Philippines, further complicated by the30% devaluation of the Chinese yen in 1994;  · Domestic factors cited generally relate to rising wage rates and overvalued exchange rates. Domestic wage rates during 1991-95 rose about 11%, on average or about 5% increase in real wages per year, cited as the key factor in the slowdown in growth of labor intensive exports. The real effective exchange rate of the baht is estimated to have appreciated by about 15% during 1995-97, primarily because of the linkage to the US$, which appreciated against the yen. While the above factors suggest that Thailand was losing its edge in low cost, labor intensive exports, these are at best partial explanations for the overall decline in export performance. The impact of rising wages should not have come this suddenly and pervasively, given that wages were rising for some time, with no significant impact on xport performance. For example, textiles, gems and jewelry, which are not particularly labor intensive declined significantly in the 1996 crunch, as did many technology intensive products. 5 Similarly, the timing and size of the real exchange rate appreciation is not sufficient to explain the sudden, dramatic drop in export performance. If the â€Å"usual suspects† are not sufficient to explain the export slowdown, then could this be primarily a â€Å"cyclical† downturn, e. g. the result of short-term, mainly external, adverse factors? There is some support for this being a factor. There was a global slowdown in world trade in 1996, with the growth rate of world manufactured exports dropping from 8. 6% p. a. during 1990-95, to 2. 1% in 1996 6 . All countries in Asia were hit, with Korea and Thailand the worst affected. If the basic problem of export performance could be seen as cyclical, then in terms of the main focus of this paper, the management of the economic crisis perhaps can indeed focus on the financial sector. That is, the â€Å"real sector† will realign itself, as the financial crisis begins to be resolved, and the â€Å"cycles† will at some point, begin their upswing though the global economic outlook looks less than optimistic at this time. Although cyclical demand factors seem to be relevant, they are only partly helpful in understanding the performance of the Thai (real) economy prior to the crisis. There seems to be more to the story. For example, industry-specific factors may have also been at work: a rapid rise in US sourcing of garments from Western Hemisphere producers such as Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, led to a relative loss of US market share by Asian exporters, including Thailand, among others. It is not clear whether this shift in sourcing is a â€Å"cyclical† factor, or a â€Å"structural† shift in the basis of competitive advantage (e. g. relating to NAFTA; relating to the increasing role of time or order cycle as a competitive actor, an issue touched on in section III). A fundamental question that emerges from the perspective of the present economic crisis relates to the performance of the corporate sector prior to the crisis, a performance which was then further aggravated by the financial devastation of corporates by the crisis. In particular, were there clear signs of deterioration in performance, especially at the micro (enterprise) level prior to mid-1997, masked by rapid (export) growth? If yes, then resolving the present crisis in terms of restoring the Thai economy†s performance is likely to require a focus on the â€Å"real sector† simultaneously with addressing the problems of the financial sector. This is likely to be especially important for Thailand†s economic renewal and sustainable growth, given expectations of a global economic environment over the medium term characterized by slow growth and increasing competition for both markets and capital.

To What Extent Was Pitts Repressive Policy the Main...

To what extent was Pitt’s repressive policy the main reason for his success in resisting the radical challenge to 1801? The growing threat of revolution by English radicals being influenced by Irish rebels and the French Revolution was the main thing William Pitt the younger was faced with during his time as Prime Minister. To deal with this, he reinforced a repressive policy of tough legislation strengthened through propaganda.It was not only these actions taken that managed to quell the revolutionaries from revolting. Other than the actions taken by Pitt, there was discordance between the radicals,also the loyalist reaction sparked by the war in France; these are only a few reasons amongst many. It was the contribution of factors that†¦show more content†¦This response to the war helped Pitt, as he was trying to prevent revolution from happening in Britain. There was a loyalist riot in 1794 in Manchester where chants about church and kings were to be heard, subsequently ‘Church and King’ clubs formed. The loyalists advertised their cause through pamphlets that supported the kin g. Suppport for the king spread, the government were extremely happy with the outcome, they even allowed and encourages a loyalist militia to form and by 1800 there were 100,000 members. This show of support for the king that followed the war with France was a strong opponent against the radicals. Problems within the radicals caused a divide in their goals and the path they thought was necessary to take to reach them. This could be seen when looking at some of the radical groups. Disunity in cause could be seen by looking at two figures that were part of the radical movement; Tom Paine focused solely on men’s rights, whilst Mary Wollstonecraft focused on rights for women. The London Corresponding Society believed in achieving their goals peacefully, however the Society for Constitutional Information’s leader (John Jebb) believed that ‘public agitation’ was the most effective way of reaching their goals. This lack of unity of cause and ways of achieving their aims considerably weakened the radical movement. Another factor that