My Works in English Class Martha Galรกrraga Yachay Tech University English Language program Yachay, Ecuador
Credits My Works in English Class Martha Galรกrraga English Language program Yachay Tech University Level 6-003 Teacher: Daniel Beall January 08, 2017 Imbabura, Ecuador
Contents Portfolio Letter Response Essay Literary Analysis Interpretation Essay Final Research Project Essay Reflections Tank you letter
Martha Galárraga Universidad Yachay Tech Imbabura, Ecuador
January, 2017
Dear portfolio reader:
Hello, my name is Martha and now I am in the level 6 of English Course. Thank you for read my portfolio letter. I like to think that you can do anything if you try. This letter is to demonstrate how I improve my skills as an English language learner at Yachay with some of my works in this class and how I achieved it. My portfolio consists of three essays that I did during this course, a research project, and my creativity. At the beginning of this semester I didn’t pay much attention to this subject since the rest of my classes were also in English. But over time, I realized that this subject is very important since it will not only serve me for my academic life, but also for the future. Not only in my career, but also, to achieve all my goals. The first essay that I did this semester was argumentative essay that was terrible, I didn’t understand how to have a good structure or join my ideas. But, with the practice and help of my teacher and classmates I improve my writing and now is a lot of better than in the beginnings of this semester. One of my best essays was the interpretation essay, where I write my opinion and ideas about the tale “The Tell-tale” by Edgar Allan Poe that is one of my favorites tale that I read in this semester. With the experience of other essays and paragraphs that I did in class I achieved to improve my writing skills. Now I understand how to do a good hook and introduction, what don’t put in a conclusion and how to join my ideas. To improve my writing was difficult, but the most difficult for me were the presentations. I felt nervous all the times that I expose something in front of the class and
when pass to the front I forgot all about the theme and I start to improvise. During my midterm that was a multimodal presentation I tried to be more confident and practice many times before to the presentation, and when I finished these I felt a little nervous, but now I understand that the most important is demonstrate confident and that the most important to do is practice and practice to have a good presentation and pronunciation. It was my favorite experience in this semester and I know that I need to practice more to improve in my speaking. Because It is not important only to my classes, but also my future. This semester was hard, but with my effort I achieved to improve the most important skills to be a good English language learner, not only in my studies on Yachay, but also for my professional and personal future. The hard work and practice are the best tools to improve not only academically but also as a person.
Sincerely,
Martha Galรกrraga
Running head: RESPONSE ESSAY “THE ETHICAL DILEMMA OF SELF-DRIVING CARS”
Response Essay “The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars” Martha Galárraga Yachay Tech
RESPONSE ESSAY Response Essay “The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars” What kind of problems could have, if humanity begins to use self-driving cars? The different problems that could be caused using this kind of car are economics, social and others, but the principal problem is ethical. In the Ted talk, “The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars”, Patrick Lin explains the different ethical problems that could have the use of self-driving cars in the attempt to eliminate human error and how it is seen by society when it choosing the better reaction or decision in the case of occur an accident. Lin is right to a certain degree, but I believe that this video could have more impact in the audience if he had explained more about the advantages and disadvantages of use this kind of cars with more examples. The video is clear with the objective to explain how to be use a self-driving car and his impact in the accidents with a thought experiment. Lin explains that normally when occur an accident the drivers can react of different ways affecting to other drivers, but with the selfdriving cars they can reduce the bad impact in this. Although, a study realized by the MIT about the use of self-driving cars revels that this kind of cars "at some point, be faced with decisions that will result in fatalities – regardless of their actions" (Myers,2016). For example, A person goes in his car on the road and is surrounded by different types of transport, in the front part of a truck, on the left side another car and on the right, side a motorcycle. If the truck suddenly stops, the choice of the self-driving car will be turned to the left because the risk of death is lower than the right-hand turn where it is almost certain that the motorcycle driver is going to die. For the humans, it is not a choice, but a simple reaction, but for the self-driving car it is a choice about what is less dangerous to the driver in the car and the others drivers. In this case the society could have the wrong idea about the choices that the car does, they would think in this choose as a premeditated murder and not to reduce the risks.
RESPONSE ESSAY
The thought experiment of Lin is a good way to explain the ethical problems because he asks the audience to think about their reactions in the different scenarios and what would be your reaction in these cases. But I believe that is necessary that he explains more advantages or disadvantages with more examples because this video is to explain the ethical problems, because in some cases the reaction of the people about the security of this kind of car could not be right and people can forget the purpose of the use of this kind of cars, that is ensure that "these cars will be safer, cleaner, and more fuel-efficient than the manual counterparts" (Emerging Technology, 2015). Some people can blame the car, but there will always be someone who says it is not just the fault of the car but also the driver by not to be careful and be aware of what happens around them. The public opinion is one of the most important aspects that the selfdriving car needs to control before to be used, "a study, based on surveys of U.S. residents, found that most respondents would not want to ride in these vehicles themselves" (Gent, 2016), for the risks to which they could be exposed. This article is efficient because explains all different aspects necessaries for study in the use of a self-driving cars and his ethical problems. The purpose of the author is clearly and concise, and he focus in that the audience can understand the explanation of a dynamic way through of a thought experiment. The language used is easy to understand for any kind of audience such as children, young and old people. The principal problem of this theme is that is many controversial for this reason is difficult explain a point of view clearly, but the author used a video where the people can watch representations of each main idea that need to be explained for a better comprehension. For this reason, this article is one of the best about this theme and best explained.
RESPONSE ESSAY
In conclusion, I agree with the explanations of Lin in the video but I think that it is necessary to put more examples about ethical problems and not only focus on the decisions, but also the reaction of the society about this kind of cars. Ethical problems in self-driving cars are a controversial theme that need to be studied from different points of view such as of drivers and pedestrians. This kind of problems need to be studied with deeper and a critical reasoning.
RESPONSE ESSAY
References Emerging Technology. (2017). Why Self-Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 4 January 2017, from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/542626/why-self-driving-cars-must-beprogrammed-to-kill/ Gent, E. (2016). Moral Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars: Which Lives to Save in a Crash. Live Science. Retrieved 4 January 2017, from http://www.livescience.com/55175-self-drivingcars-moral-dilemma.html Myers, J. (2016). The ethics of self-driving cars – what would you do? World Economic Forum. Retrieved 4 January 2017, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/08/the-ethics-ofself-driving-cars-what-would-you-do/ T. & Lin. (2015). The ethical dilemma of self-driving cars - Patrick Lin. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixIoDYVfKA0
Literary Analysis
Running head: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYMBOLISM AND TONE/STYLE
Relationship Between Symbolism and Tone/Style Martha Galรกrraga Yachay Tech
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYMBOLISM AND TONE/STYLE Relationship between symbolism and tone/style In “The Tell-Tale Heart� by Allan Poe the combination between a dark environment and rare objects create the perfect scenery to the development of the tale, that may be hook the attention of the reader. The mysterious and horror tales are very difficult to crate, because it is need more than only some characters and a happy end. Some of the essential components of a tale are the symbolism and tone/style, which have a strong relationship to create a good environment in the tale. For this reason, it is necessary to understand what is the definition of each one and how this combination and how this combination can help the development of tale. First, it is necessary to know that the tone/style describes the environment where the tale is developed and how it is can affect the course of the tale. Allan Poe in "The Tell-Tale Heart" used an environment of suspense and intrigue for the reader doing themselves the questions why, how or what is happen in the tale, and thus attracting more the attention of the reader. It element is one of the most important in a tale because without it the tale does not have a good theme or it does not make sense what it says. Other of the important components of a tale is the symbolism. This describes some things or places that are representatives in a tale which give a meaning to what is happening and in this way, is coherent. For example, in "The Tell-Tale Heart" one of the representative things is an old's man eye which represent the scare that main character must be observed, the author use this phrase to describes the old's man eye: "whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so, by degrees-very gradually" (Poe, 1843). The combination of these two components can create the better environment to the development of the tale, but is necessary understand the strong relationship that these two have.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYMBOLISM AND TONE/STYLE While the tone/style describes the environment where develop the tale and the symbolism describe the things that create the environment of the tale. When these two come together in the right way they create the best scenario for tale development. In conclusion, the strong relationship between the tone/style and symbolism are important, and in the "The Tell-Tale Heart" this combination is one of the most important aspects necessaries to the develop of the tale or story, and hook the attention of the reader. For this reason, symbolism and tone/style should have similar characteristics, and be the most realistic that they can be.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYMBOLISM AND TONE/STYLE References Poe, A. (1843). The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Xroads.virginia.edu. Retrieved 6 January 2017, from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/poe/telltale.html
Running head: “THE LOVERS II” INTERPRETATION ESSAY
“The Lovers II” Interpretation Essay Martha Galárraga Yachay Tech
INTERPRETATION ESSAY “The Lovers II” Interpretation Essay “Mystery means nothing, it is unknowable." Rene Magritte. The Lovers II is a painting done by Rene Magritte in 1928 which shows a woman and a man kissing each other but with a coat in their faces. So, what does that mean? To understand this masterwork, we must know who is Rene Magritte. This painter was a recognized artist who born in Belgium in 1898 in a wealthy family. In 1912 when he was 14 years old his mother had committed suicide and she was found drowned in the River Samberg. Since 1916 to 1918 he studied in the Beaux-Arts academy in Brucella. During his painter career, he was influenced by the work of artists like Picasso (founder of cubism), Andre Breton (founder of surrealism), Joan Miro, and Salvador Dali. His life was marked by several key stages like the suicide of his mother, his great failure in the exposition at the Galerie la Centauries’ in Brussels, his trip to Paris where he adopted new styles to his paintings, his return to Brucella where he enriched his painting techniques ("Rene Magritte Biography", 2009). Most his works were done following the surrealist style and included in the most of his paintings scenes which contain human figures, inanimate objects, floating rocks, and even several of his works kept paintings within paintings. One of his iconic works is the painting called The Lovers II, this masterpiece was done on oil canvas following the features the surrealist chef-d’oeuvre’s have. But, why this work is so special? Because in this work we can see expressed a mixture of senses and emotions at the same time enclosed in an action among a couple of people. Since an inexpert point of view, the painting could be a forbidden love where the couple cannot show their faces to society and they must keep their love hidden among sheets or as the couple does not want to implicate any senses in their relationship and they prefer to be separate by a coat between both.
INTERPRETATION ESSAY When we see this painting, is inevitable see two people kissing with two veils occulting their faces. As the cloaks are glued to the faces and the clothes that each one carries can be known who the man is and who is the woman. The man is wearing a very formal suit, with shirt and a black tie, by another side, the woman is wearing a short-sleeved blouse. We assume the both are a couple because they are kissing. It gives a feeling of suffocation. The painting of a kissing couple with their faces covered by smooth textured mantles and cream or white color which makes it stand out very quickly when one looks at the painting. The kiss it gives the sensation of being a passionate kiss but at the same time as they are covered by the mantle they could not feel the skin each one. This situation express that they do not want to involved their feelings. They are in a room of two walls one of red that is a warm color and the color of the other wall is blue that is a cold color. It has the three lines that are height, width and depth. The bottom wall does not look like a wall, if it does not look like a sky because, the texture of it which is as if you were out in the open, the blue wall is not uniform. Additionally, in this painting we can appreciate an awesome surrealist work which can be interpreted as the forbidden love between two lovers that for fear of society they hide. At first glance the emotions that are generated when seeing this painting can be of intrigue and melancholy, as if of a tragic scene, it was. In the painting, it can be distinguished certain features in their bodies, the affection is evident in the positions of the character who are apparently embraced and in the position of their heads to be able to kiss each other, you can appreciate a clear romantic and loving gesture. In addition, the contrast of the colors found in the background can be interpreted as red for closeness, love and passion and on the other hand the dark blue behind them could mean remoteness and sadness. This in turn can relate to not feeling, because despite the kiss they are given which seems passionate about the proximity of the faces, they
INTERPRETATION ESSAY cannot touch the skin, they cannot be together. So, that we can interpret all this as the impossibility of amorous fusion, the absolute union of the couple is a utopia and as its name indicates they are two lovers. For this reason, their relationship is frowned upon by society and they need to hide. The interpretation of the author is not the one that defines the work of art, the interpretation that the audience or the spectators give to the work is the one that defines it. These opinions may vary depending of the person who do this. The article of " The Lovers of Rene Magritte: A Bitter kiss" by Esther Bengoechea is a good example of the varieties of interpretations. Bengochea (2010) says that " It's identities are secret after two humid veils that cover the face" in our interpretation we can't aceturate that the veils are humid because do not anything that can ensure this as water. Other interpretations are about the meaning of the kiss some people says that it represents the blind love between both, our interpretation is similar but for us it not only represents this, but also the innocence of two lovers that do not care about beauty but about feelings. In conclusion, to make an interpretation of this masterpiece we just can base our work on assumptions. At the same time this painting could represent a feeling of suffocation, a limitation of feelings between both, that the absolute union of the couple is a utopia, or also it might give a sensation that they are kissing passionately each other. We cannot ignore the fact that this surrealist work involves many factors that provides itself of a deeper meaning. These factors as the color used to elaborate it may be related with depression, sadness, intrigue, and melancholy, but we can also can interpret this mixture of color as a mixture of feeling which ends in an expression of love. However, the whole of this work has a remarkably ambiguous meaning and this just depends on the point of view which a person will see the painting. The truth is that we
INTERPRETATION ESSAY will never know that due to that when Rene Magritte was interrogated by public for the meaning of his paintings he always avoided to answer the question saying “It does not mean anything because mystery means nothing, it is unknowable�.
INTERPRETATION ESSAY References Bengoechea, E. (2010, March). The Lovers of René Magritte: a bitter kiss. Magazine Atticus. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from http://revistaatticus.es/en/2010/03/23/los-amantesde-rene-magritte-un-amargo-beso/ Cumming, L. (2011). René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle – review. the Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/26/magritte-pleasure-principle-tatereview Kitto, M. (2010, June). René Magritte’s The Lovers. Knowledge Lost. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.knowledgelost.org/art/rene-magrittes-the-lovers/ MoMa. René Magritte. The Lovers. Le Perreux-sur-Marne, 1928. MoMA. (2016). The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79933 Rene Magritte. (2009). René Magritte Biography. Renemagritte.org. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.renemagritte.org/biography.jsp Rene Magritte. (2009). The Lovers, 1928 by Rene Magritte. Renemagritte.org. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.renemagritte.org/the-lovers-2.jsp
Running head: SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
Security and Privacy in Social Networking Martha Galรกrraga Yachay Tech
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
Abstract
Social networks have become very popular in the last decade with more than one billion users who share their experiences and tastes day by day. These are used as a way of communicating with people around the world without many restrictions, and is now known as one of the best and most sophisticated means of communication. But not everything is good with these social networks since they also have their disadvantages, while their popularity has been increasing problems have also been growing. Many users have recognized many of the problems that these websites have and how to prevent them, so that they do not reduce their advantages either with new applications or with simple tips in the configuration of privacy and security. However, the lack of information on the part of the media towards society has not allowed most users to realize these problems and prevent possible consequences not only in their profiles but also in real life such as identity theft.
Keywords: social network, privacy, security, information, users
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
Problems with Security and Privacy in Social Networking Social networks have become popular in the last decade, with almost two billion worldwide users. These web sites are used by the users to communicate and share experiences with other people around the world, but what happens when you share your personal information? Sometimes people do not know that their personal information could be used by the administrators of these web sites and other users. The privacy and security of personal information in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is very important, because often these can be seen by all people and they can use this information without your consent. Each user needs to know about the risks that can occur if they do not have good privacy and security in social networks. For this reason, it is necessary that users know about why privacy and security are important, how to prevent risks, and what are the benefits of a solid privacy strategy. First, before creating an account in a social network, one must understand the importance of privacy and security in social networks. These are the principal aspects that all users need to know, because normally the users put their personal information in these accounts. When a person creates a profile in a social network such as Facebook or Twitter, normally the first step is to give their personal information. However, there are some things that are not necessary to publish or share in the profile as the phone number or other identification. In a recent article by The Guardian called “Your virtual friendships come with privacy risks, campaigners warn” the author tells us that “many people are not aware that sharing information over services such as Facebook hands ownership of their data to organizations. The article “Your virtual friendships come with privacy risks, campaigners warn” by Gayle said that these websites are not transparent about the ways that they use (Gayle, 2016). Personal information need to be private for each user and not shared with any person without their consent because this can be stolen and
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
used in fraudulent activities. Social networks have many problems related to the security and privacy of users, but these problems are often not considered because they are confused with benefits. One of the most common of these problems could be the connection with strangers that can expose much information. There exist many cases of people that met others by social networks but in the moment of meeting with them, they are different to their profile or information. Other example of these problems is the traffic of information by hackers that create false websites to redirect from the original page to a fake. There are few cases in which users received Facebook security emails asking them to update their data to redirect them to fake pages, where at the time people entered their email and password they were stolen by hackers that after used by them to find more information about the owners of these accounts and thus commit crimes without be punished. There are many problems with social networks referents to the security and privacy, for this reason is necessary to know about the most common problems, and how to prevent these. Other people that can stole the user´s information are the owners of these social networks. It is necessary remember that "social networking sites are owned by private businesses, and that they make their money by collecting data about individuals and selling that data on, particularly to third party advertisers" (Xynou & Walker, 2016). The owners can sell the information about the users, but not only the basic but also information that reveals the preferences that each person has. These websites are not used only to communication but also as source of information to marketing. Other thing that is necessary understand is that the security and privacy configuration only protect the user of other user's, but not of the owners of these websites. All I like in a publication or photo of places that offer their products is relevant information for these companies and that helps them to know the supply and demand of these
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
products. One of the reason why people think of this way is because there isn’t much information about this in internet, the lack of information does not allow society to account for these small leaks of information that can have serious consequences on users in many ways. For a good security and privacy, it is necessary to know how to prevent these different problems, from the use of applications to simple configuration changes these problems can be solved if we have present some necessary tips to prevent these. Respect to the advertisement for the article by LoveToKnow the author says that "viruses and malware often find their way onto their computer through annoying, but sometimes enticing ads" (Claywell, 2014), when this page is closed the users are redirected to a new page where viruses are downloaded themselves. For this reason, it is better not to accept any kind of advertisement in these social networks. In regards to talking with strangers is necessary to "be careful of who you accept invitations from when building your online network. Connecting and sharing information with people you do not know can be dangerous. "(Claywell, 2014). Sometimes the person on the other side of the computer could be a fake. There exist many cellphone apps and computer that has objective to protect users of any problem referent to security and privacy, such as LogDog that protect accounts such as Facebook, Dropbox, Gmail, Evernote, Yahoo!, and Twitter, "technically the way the app works is that you give it permission to log in on your To the accounts that you wish to monitor and from there it continually monitors those accounts via their own activity logs for anything suspicious "(O'Hear, 2015). With these tips, you can prevent be stolen in social networks not only by the promoters of these but also to other users. If we prevent these problems we may have some benefits of these social networks. When the users have a solid security in their accounts they can have some benefits or advantages. One example of this, it is users can configure their privacy to hide their personal
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
information of other users, and only show them the necessary information as their name to prevent their identity stolen. In this way, you can “protect your content from potential employers. Protect you from cybercrime. Allow you to come across as a professional individual� (Khurshid, 2014). Preventing the stolen information and ensuring the security of a user is all the benefits a social network need to ensure, but it does not depend on these websites but also to the users. The connection and communication with other people going to be more secure if users be careful with the friend request and the configuration about who can see their profile or personal information. According the article "What is more important: our privacy or national security?" where explain that in a survey realized to US citizens, they "most showed little concern about their own Internet activities or phone calls being monitored" (Gonchar, 2013). On the other hand, some users think that privacy is not necessary on the internet because all users can put false information in their profiles and of this way the privacy is not important. They think that a social network is a tool to communication and nothing more, that these websites are not important and do not affect the de daily life of users. It is right that the national security is most important that our privacy, but at the same time the users are exposed to different kinds of fraudulent activities. The lack of information about these problems causes that people do not care about their information and how it is used by the owners or other users of these websites. Privacy and security are the main aspects that all users need to know about the social network, because the users usually put their personal information in these accounts. For this reason, it is necessary to know the principal problems that can affect to users of these and verify the uses that the owners of websites give to this personal information. In conclusion, we can say
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
that social networks are not one hundred percent secure. The lack of information and carelessness of the users can cause serious problems for the users for this it is necessary to first understand that it is to have an assured account and not to share understanding information with the world only for an attempt to be more popular in these networks.
SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN SOCIAL NETWORKING
References Claywell, C. (2013). Advantages and disadvantages of social networking. LoveToKnow. Retrieved 2 December 2016, from http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Social_Net working Claywell, C. (2014). Security issues with social networking sites. LoveToKnow. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Security_Issues_With_Social_Networking_Sites Gayle, D. (2016). Your virtual friendships come with privacy risks, campaigners warn. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/socialmedia--privacy-surveillance-fraud-risks-campaigners-warn Gonchar, M. (2013). What is more important: our privacy or national security? The Learning Network. Retrieved 6 January 2017, from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/what-is-more-important-our-privacy-ornational-security/?_r=0 Khurshid, Z. (2014). Advantages and disadvantages of using privacy settings on social media. Es.slideshare.net. Retrieved 2 December 2016, from http://es.slideshare.net/ZenaibKhurshid/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-using-privacysettings O'Hear, S. (2015). LogDog is a mobile app that helps protect your online accounts From Being Hacked. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/16/logdog/ Xynou, M. & Walker, C. (2016). Stay safe on social networking platforms | security in-abox. Securityinabox.org. Retrieved 6 January 2017, from https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/social-networking
Reflections
Thank you for reading my portfolio. I hope you liked it and I would like to say that it was one of my favorites work in the class. Sincerely, Martha Galรกrraga