ENGLISH PORTAFOLIO EMILIA CALLE LUZURIAGA L6-002 DENNYS MONTAÑO
URCUQUÍ, 2016
YACHAY TECH UNIVERSITY.
Emilia Calle Luzuriaga Universidad Yachay Tech Imbabura, Ecuador July 12, 2016 Dear Portfolio Reader: Learning another language is always a challenging and rewarding adventure. English is the door opener in a universal way. Its proper use brings many benefits. Writing is one fundamental tool that provides the apprentice the facility to communicate and express ideas through words, which helps to translate mental images and thoughts and put them on paper. Having the opportunity to learn the best methods to write makes individuals aware of the power that language provides, so it provokes the willingness to improve. During this semester several essays were requested in order to develop the quality of writing. The different types of essays that were done helped me build a path, since they formed a road to the progress of my skills. All along the semester my biggest problem was the schedule. Since English was my first class of the day, waking up was a big trouble. It was very difficult to leave bed just for one class while all my other subjects were given as afternoon lectures and my days often ended after midnight. I am really satisfied after my journey, which signified effort and time. The reward is big. Now I know that my writing is way better than it was four months ago. In many respects every essay mirrored growth.
Leaving the English program at Yachay is not an impediment to keep learning. It is nothing but a motivation to expand my knowledge of English and study more languages because it enriches my realization as a world citizen. These essays are a little piece of my thoughts and I hope you can feel related and enjoy every line of them. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely, Emilia Calle Luzuriaga.
RESPONSE ESSAY
Emilia Calle Level 6-002 Dennys E. MontaĂąo Response Essay
Language: a builder of thought.
Identity is the construction of distinctive characteristics of an individual or a group of people. By saying it is distinctive, it is understandable that there exists a sense of belonging and a cultural factor of conception. Language is found to be one of the essential and intrinsic parts of the identity of human beings. Its importance resides in several features such as mother tongues, colonization, etc. Further, the evolution of language indicates that the compound of lexes and accents are nothing but an enricher of culture, becoming a dynamic clout of the idiosyncrasy of societies. Betty Birner, professor of Northern Illinois University and member of the Linguistic Society in America edited the article “Does the language I speak shapes the way I think?� where she states that speakers of a determined language see the world different to speakers of other one due to the differences that build their lingoes. In this sense, many theories and questions have been created in order to study what borders the subject. One of the most popular interrogations is, if individuals are powerless of thinking of things they cannot describe, or cannot describe them because they do not think about such things? This is not simple to solve. However, there exist various factors that shape a path to understand the problem. There are thousands of languages in the world; most of them come from similar ancestors, like English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, etc., which come from Latin. In this way, people who speak one Latin derived tongue, will have a lot in common
between them, even if their skin color and their continent is not the same. Yet, the differences will be bigger than the similarities. For example, Latin American people, who are Spanish speakers, will say “te amo” and German speakers will say “Ich liebe dich”. Both phrases are meant to express the same “I love you” but the accent turns it all. One “te amo” is warmer than one “Ich liebe dich”, because culturally, Latin American people are warmer than German people. Nevertheless they still mean exactly the same. Birner exposes three main points in her article to give an understanding of common questions about the way that we form language and how language structures a very significant part of us. The first one states that there are many ways to refer to emotions without words, for example, using the senses meaning that it is possible that people think in language, or not. In agreement with this, it can be said that language is shaped not only with our appreciations but also with a wide-ranging variety of outlooks and thoughts. As the editor says “It seems likely that language, thought, and culture form three strands of a braid, with each one affecting the others.” (Birner, 2012) The second idea she goes over is that our interpretation of reality is intimately related to our use of language. Nonetheless this can be taken by misconception. The fact that we, the human race, give a label to everything that surrounds us comes from the beginnings. Before humans start to speak with each other, they already learn to group things; this is what largely permits the creation of societies. Ignoratio elenchi, the idea that is defended misleads the fact that language varies from one to another because of diverse factors as habit or how individuals interact with their environment. The last argument Birner gives is that learning another language will not change the way a person thinks but will give him or her the possibility to construct a diversified life style and perception of the world. Despite that this is true in its most, sometimes it
is not. Individuals who speak different languages have the capacity of thinking in ways that mono-tongue people have not. For example, someone who speaks Spanish and French will react differently to the use of articles for gendering objects that one English and German speaker. Interchanging the example, an English speaker who was not familiarized with objects being a male or a female, will think of them as that after learning a language that does it, like in Spanish. Conclusively, it can be said that language is a fundamental key for the development of our thinking. Our experience as human beings is intensely influenced by the languages we speak and address. According to the article language shapes in just a portion the way people think. Yet it goes farer. It not only affects the way to see the world but the way of living. References: Birner, B., PhD. (2012). Does the Language I Speak Influence the Way I Think? Retrieved April, 2016, from http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/does-language-ispeak-influence-way-i-think
EXPLORATORY ESSAY
María E. Calle ELP Level 6-002 Dennys Montaño Exploratory Essay Does our sympathy helps others or just helps us to sleep in peace? The world is day-by-day getting sicker. Can you picture the planet feeling goosebumps? We hear the news and there are rarely good things that happened. Most of the tidings tell us about massacres in the Middle East or the decline of living in Africa. Even worse, they divulge the devaluation of currency, the fall of stocks, etc., as if they were much more shattering than any other human tragedy. Yet, we cannot blame the media for that. The way individual’s face global strains has left much to be desired and their participation in front of those situations has resumed to a mere act of fabricated sympathy, which is nothing more than a simple “I wish I could help” and a fail attempt to understand what others are going through. How people react to the mentioned situations varies depending on several aspects such as culture, context, territorial proximity or remoteness, etc., Saying this, it is fathomable that there are people who are touched or not, and those who feel destroyed and overwhelmed. These three types of spectators are not the victims of the catastrophes. For this reason, viewers are in the faculty and ethical commitment to indeed do something. They tend to stop and stare waiting the sufferers to solve their situation. Is it logical? Does that define the human condition? If the answer is yes then something is not just wrong, but monstrously wrong. Nowadays it is simple to grab a vast sight of how humans partake when it comes to world calamities. The one step guide is surfing the web. Social networks are people’s mirror. After the Gaza genocide what the world did is well known. Media transmitted
half the truth; governments took their side in the conflict and the common people, posted in Facebook or twitter how heartbreaking it was to see blameless children die holey and silently by the mouths of guns. That was people active involvement in such a social cataclysm. There are numerous reasons that caused this covered dehumanization which society is not willing to recognize. The first one that can be largely discussed is religion. Most of the individuals are sure that there is a god that will solve anything. This provokes a comfort zone where people rely on hopes and so on, they do not do anything. The second one is vanity. The excessive egocentrism makes people to feel impersonate with other’s misery while they are worrying about getting admiration and praises. Receiving the news of a family being killed is going to cause a shocking sensation that will last a few days as much because is not something of own belonging. The third one is media, which magnifies calamities making them appear like a never changing thing. As a consequence of this, individuals feel powerless to perform any difference. Matthew Beard, journalist for The Guardian, says, “Oftentimes we can’t do anything, try as we might.” in reference to people’s inability to make an impact in those who take the decisions. Faith returns thanks to altruistic and philanthropic movements, which cooperate to create environments where everyone is invited to help. Nevertheless, the feeling of consciousness seems to be still in a break. Humans have lost humanity. The modern world has resume to a putrid unlocked dungeon where some sleep, others cry, and where no one notice that they have the power to stand up and leave. Assuming a real compromise is not about feeling awareness and looking for a solution, is about creating the solution. As Michael Jackson wrote in one of his songs “Make a little space, make a better place” so the human race can live in a worth fighting world.
References M. B., PhD. (2014, July 22). The world is burning, but remember our sympathy goes only so far. The Guardian. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
INTERPRETATION ESSAY
María E. Calle ELP Level 6-002 Dennys Montaño Interpretation Essay My mommy spoils me, artwork by Apitatán. In the north of Ecuador, 30 years ago one of the most popular illustrators of Latin America was born. Apitatán, Juan Sebastián Aguirre is from Quito and has a strong background in art studies in different institutions and universities; one of them is the San Francisco University of Quito. During his career he has been painting not only the walls of the south but he has also expanded his colorful expositions to countries in Europe as the Netherlands and Germany. His art is mainly the graffiti. Yet, he draws and paints in canvas too. Back to the beginnings of the millennium there was no space for artists who wanted to paint outdoors, but luckily this situation changed. Nowadays walking through Quito it is easy to find many artwork that represents mainly the culture of the country; in some cases it can also be found paintings exposing international issues. Apitatán does the majority of this oeuvre. My mommy spoils me or “Mima máme mima” in its original rubric, is a mural that covers a wall in Cotacachi, a very touristic city of Ecuador, which rises in the middle of three volcanoes. It was painted in 2013 and it touches one of the topics that is humanity`s deep concern: the destruction of nature, representing nature with humans he tries to impress viewers with the damage they have done. In this painting JuanSe uses many explicit resources such as the image of a woman to represent Mother Nature, and a child to represent humans. It is common to found this representations but Apitatán goes farther that this. In the painting, the child is hanging in a branch, which is not precisely strong.
The image of Mother Nature consists in a beautiful woman with tough but loving face factions. From her head propagates a tree with many branches and leaves. This represents the green of the planet and the resources humans dispose of. The child is probably the weightier part of the work. He, hanging from the edge a branch, epitomizes metaphorically the fragile condition of humans in the planet. The fact that a baby boy characterizes individuals exposes the little amount of time that humans have been inhabiting the Earth. Nevertheless, they already took control of their mother. Apitatรกn usually uses categorical looks of Ecuadorian culture as language and daily similes to express his judgments. In this case the kid is a pestle and naughty boy that misbehaves with his mother, abusing her love. In other words: humans who mistreat nature. Nonetheless, the mother keeps showing affection and compassion in her eyes. Behind the woman there is a sun. It is done in the Pre-Hispanic representation, in a very geometrical way: triangles for the rays and a circle with a spiral for the center. This might signifies the location of the painting and the precedence of the author: Ecuador. The colors used in the body of the woman illustrate the presence of oceans, jungles and deserts. The way of creating cycles in her chest as nature itself creates gives the viewer a more open perspective of how the planet can survive independent of humans or any sort of destroyers. Instead, the child is painted in a very basic way, with crazy and deorbited eyes, which denotes the absence of rationality in his acts. Juan Sebastiรกn Aguirre, Apitatรกn how he named himself, recreates the reality of human condition in relation to Mother Nature, in one mural. His capacity to express
such a plentiful message with only three characters reflects the creativity of the painter as well as his commitment with society to express his voice through art.
Appendix:
Image taken from: www.apitatan.ec
References: 1. Aguirre, J. S. (n.d.). Outdoors. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://www.apitatan.ec/index.php/outdoor 2.
Barzallo, M. (2014, May 20). Apitatรกn y el Ecuador. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
3. Apitatรกn, el retorno del muralismo latinoamericano [Web log post]. (2016, January 25). Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://nalgasylibros.com/apitatan-el-retornodel-muralismo-latinoamericano/ 4. Dignos de una historia [Web log post]. (2013, May 13). Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://apitatan.blogspot.com/
RESEARCH: ABORTION ON ECUADOR
María Emilia Calle Luzuriaga ELP Level 6-002 Dennys Montaño July, 2016. Abortion in the Republic of Ecuador.
Legalizing abortion in Ecuador: Yachay citizens’ sight. Abstract This brief research aims to provide a view of Yachay citizens over the legalization of abortion in Ecuador. In the actuality, abortion is only practiced if the mother’s life sees threatened. Surveys and interviews were performed to collect data of people aged between 18- 25 years who are the directly affected by the situation. These citizens constitute a society deeply committed with science, most of them secular. Results were processed and displayed that most of the community is in favor of legalizing the procedure while a little percentage is in disagreement. Introduction Abortion is a concept that as soon as it is heard is related to murder, rights and cruelty. In the Republic of Ecuador, it is consider as a procedure that violates the law and it is only permitted when the life of the mother is endangered. In many other Latin American countries, abortion is legal and it is considered as a normal option for families who are not ready to have kids. During many years there has been an active participation of several groups pro feminism and pro abortion asking for the legalization of abortion, however, there has
barely presented results. The National Assembly, which years ago was the congress, is not in agreement with the procedure to be open to all as a c ommon option for familiar planning. The lack of education on sexual matter has caused that young Ecuadorians get pregnant. In 2013 was reported that over one hundred thousand women between twelve and nineteen years are single mothers. This represents a huge percentage of the Ecuadorian population. In Ecuador the doctor who practices the surgery for abortion gets more years in prison than the woman who authorizes it. Many people in agreement with this defend that the doctors should not be involved in unethical situations. The situation has to be rethink since it is a procedure that a human being with rights asked for. The penalization gives the doctor from eight to ten years while the woman six months to two years. It is clear that the doctor is doing an illegal process yet the penalty is excessive and unfair. In Latin America there are countries that approve abortion and the results are shown day by day. The criminality rates are lower as an effect of not raising “unwished� babies who normally grow up surrounded by a harming environment that make them society haters. Approximately the 33% of Ecuadorian women have been in any abortion situation according to the last census realized by the national institute of statistics and census INEC. In this sense, the remarkable of the problem is not that big number, but the fact that it is illegal. The State has to assume the abortion as a matter of public health and education. The ethical implications are taken from a religious point of view, while the Republic of Ecuador is a secular nation. Indeed, as a medical procedure it should be analyzed looking over the scientific allusions and ethics. In this way, abortion cannot be
classified as a murder but as a choice for people to culminate or continue a cycle of reproduction. Groups in favor of women’s rights and abortion have a proactive participation in a very continuous manner. However, the general assembly has no changes to do. After the petition of the United Nations to approve abortion in very specific situations, laws are still restricted with a big no to what could be called basic human rights. In this research it is aimed to estimate the percentage of people with an age interval of 18-25 years who are in favor to legalize the abortion in Ecuador. It was also conducted to express the opinion of Yachay citizens. Methods In order to get a first view of people’s opinion, interviews and surveys were realized to recollect data. This topic was discussed during the Yachay gender debate club activities, which is composed by feminist leaders from different countries such as Venezuela, Spain, etc. In this group there was also participation from Yachay LGBT community members. Surveys were answered by students of Yachay Tech, mainly atheistic to maintain an objective point of view. Research in online forums and scientific magazines was done to gather information about the procedure and the ethical implications. Results and discussion Information collected with the survey displayed attention-grabbing numbers. Graphics and tables process it. Three hundred twenty Yachay citizens, students in its majority, did the survey.
Fig.1: People’s opinion about legalizing abortion on Ecuador. The data in figure 1 shows that a big percentage of people are in favor to legalize abortion in any situation. Surveys revealed that male population are less in favor than women, yet the majority of them are in agreement. Open commentaries included answers that stated that it was the mother decisions as a woman responsible of her body. Others stated that it was a situation of common welfare since it affects the mother and the father. Melina Porro, Venezuelan painter and feminist leader, resident of Yachay, was interviewed and gave her opinion on the issue. When asked if she is in favor she replied positively. One remarkable line of her answer was “Women are empowered to decide over their bodies, but farther, women and men are empowered to decide if they are willing to educate a decent human being�. She also pointed to the importance of familiar planning and the abortion as a possibility that public health system should provide as a free service. It will help to reduce the number of illegal performances of
the procedure. In long term, it will reduce the rates of abandoned children, criminality, and dropouts of educational institutions. University students, randomly chosen, answered brief interviews of one question. It is exposed in the next figure:
Fig.2: Percentages of answers of Yachay Tech students over brief interview about abortion. Conclusion The research revealed that Yachay citizens consider abortion as a procedure that should be legalized in Ecuador and provided as a public service. The advantages of making abortion permissible can be reflected in both short and long term by the reduction of deaths caused by illegal abortions and the decrease of abandoned kids.
References
(n.d.). Retrieved June, 2016, from http://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/ Allen, R., MD, Jones, K., MD, & Marshall, S., MD. (2014, June). Abortion. Retrieved June, 2016. Jaramillo, A., & Rincรณn, D. (2015, June 14). Las leyes sobre el aborto se endurecen a escala regional. El Comercio. Retrieved June, 2016. La situaciรณn sobre el aborto en Ecuador. (2011). Retrieved 2016. ONU pide a Ecuador despenalizar el aborto en casos de violaciรณn. (2015, March 6). El Universo. Retrieved May, 2016. Should Abortion Be Legal? (n.d.). Retrieved June, 2016, from http://abortion.procon.org/ The Ethics of Abortion. (n.d.). Sacramento: California State University, Sacramento.
Thank-you words‌
I would like to express my gratitude to my teacher who was extremely patient with me. Also, I would like to thank my best friend who prepared coffee for me when I was up until very late in order to finish my essays.
Emilia Calle Luzuriaga.