English Portfolio Pamela Suรกrez English Level 6 Yachay Tech University
English Portfolio
Pamela Suรกrez English Level 6 L6-011 Teacher: Jossie Javens
January 10, 2016
Yachay Tech University
Imbabura, Ecuador
Table of Contents
Portfolio Letter
Literary Analysis
Interpretation Essay
Argumentative Essay
Research Paper
Pamela Suárez Yachay Tech University Imbabura, Ecuador
December 08, 2016
Dear Portfolio Reader, At the beginning of this semester, I was very afraid because I had taken semester off and, although I continued receiving English classes, it was not the same. So, I thought that I was not prepared for Level 6. However, I have been able to see that every day you learn something new and everything is possible if you do not give up. I really wanted to improve my English. Through this letter, I want to show you the reasons why I prepared a portfolio. This is a valuable collection of all my effort and work. It is a way to show you my progress as a language user and to give you a brief idea about my learning in English classes. The portfolio consist of four essays, a research paper and some things relevant for me. In my letter, I write about my main advances in writing and speaking. First of all, I want to tell you about my writing improvements. You can notice a progressive advance from my first essay to the last. For example, in my essay about literary analysis, I had trouble establishing a clear thesis; my teacher Josie wrote about my thesis "Thesis does not clarify a theme and state which literary elements are used to develop / convey that theme, and because you lack this kind of thesis, you also do not address the prompt ", and she was right because I wrote: “I think Mr. Mallard was not living her own life”. Clearly you can see that this thesis is not well made because it is not clear and it is too specific. I learned to write a thesis in a correct way; you can check this if you read my argumentative essay. My teacher commented "Effective support and
clear thesis". My thesis was: Technology is making people less smart because it causes dependence, loss of memory and loss of analytical capacity. The difference between the first and second theses is significant. I am very happy to have learned to do this because it is very important to perform my future work in my professional life. In my speaking improvements, I can say that before I could not structure sentences clearly in my mind. I also used to be very nervous about speaking. An example of this is the conversation of the Response Essay project. In this conversation, I had a hard time enduring my ideas with clear arguments and an effective summary. I was very nervous and I could not convey my ideas. My teacher said about this "No effective summary but recalled some details. Seemed to understand the main idea of the text although it could not succinctly explain it ...� I learned to organize my ideas and to have impromptu conversations. I struggled to improve and communicate with people. An example is the midterm presentation, my teacher commented "clear thesis, clear explanations, a few grammatical errors, pronunciation is good, cohesive devices are used, good vocabulary and presence is strong". I was very proud to have made improvements because I had a hard time controlling my nerves. Although I have learned a lot about English, I want to continue learning. I want to learn new vocabulary and improve my pronunciation. I am very grateful to my English teacher, Josie Javens, for all the patience and effort that she put forward to teach us, and with you dear reader, thank you for reading my portfolio; I hope you have liked it and it has been inspiring for you and that you enjoyed it as well as I enjoyed doing it. I appreciate your attention to this matter. Gratefully, Pamela Suårez
Literary analysis
(in class)
Live your own life Pamela Suรกrez Yachay Tech University October 7, 2016
Live your own life “The story of an hour” is a story written by Kate Chopin in 1894. This story is about a wife who has a heart trouble. One day, her sister Josephine tells her that her husband, Mr. Mallard, has died. First, Mrs. Mallard fells sad, but these sad feelings become feelings of freedom. Finally, her husband appears alive and she dies of a heart attack. The really shocking thing is that everybody think she died because she was happy when she saw her husband alive; however the readers know that she was very surprised and maybe disappointment. I think that this disappointment has relation with her style of life. She was not a happy wife, she lived in repression. This is the reason why I think Mrs. Mallard was not living her own life. According to Chopin (1894) “[Mrs. Mallard] was young, with a fair calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (p.1). Mrs. Mallard was a wife who lived for her husband; she lived in repression. This is the reason why her sad feelings become feelings freedom. She had lived a lot of time for her husband and when he died she was “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin, 1894, p.2). Mr. Mallard had loved her husband “sometimes”, but when she recognized that she can life for herself now, the sadness disappeared. Another important detail is the sudden happiness of Mrs. Mallard. When Mr. Mallard died; she thought she had to be sad but a sudden happiness surprised her. She started to felt freedom. Freedom was an unknown feeling for her; that is because she died when saw her husband alive; disappointment killed her, not joy. In conclusion, Mrs. Mallard was a woman who put a lot of effort in her marriage, so she forgot to live for herself. She was tired and when her husband died, she saw an escape from her routine life. I think that to live for ourselves, has not
comparison with anything and I am able to say that everybody deserve to live a life based on freedom and love. That is the real meaning of life!
Reference Chopin, K. (1894). The story of an hour.
Interpretation Essay
Interpretation of Winter Pamela Suรกrez and Alejandro Valencia Yachay Tech University November 17, 2016
Interpretation of Winter
This is winter, but it brings joy (Anonymous, 1723) Each piece of art has many different meanings which depends on both the spectator point of view and author's viewpoint. Certainly the music that allows more interpretations is classical music. This kind of musical art began as a religious music and with the pass of time it was separated of the religion to create a new independent genre of music (Naxos, 2016). One of the more important composer of this musical gender was Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi was a man who loved life (Saavedra, 2010), so he shaped his emotions in the Four Seasons. He found the inspiration to compose his masterpiece in the changes of nature. An important aspect was the time in which Vivaldi lived since the music, specifically the concerts, represented the nature, so the concerts were very revolutionary (Mind power mp3.com). He composed around 700 concerts; four of them correspond to the Four Seasons. Winter is a concert of the Four Seasons and contains symbolisms that represent the difficult stages that a person faces throughout his life to learn and grow as a better person. Winter has different movements (Saavedra, 2010) which together make up a work of ups and downs that are associated with the human life. These movements are: Allegro non molto, largo, allegro; each with a different interpretation. For example, Allegro non molto lead us to feel the cold of winter, the fear of the arrival of the storm and chaos. The cold of the coming of winter with the unleashed storm symbolizes the difficult moments in a person's life; those moments that test the character and the courage, those moments that we all go through in life. Largo move us to the calm of the winter; the one that arrives when the storm passes. In life, certain circumstances can lead us to a deep sadness and uneasiness, even to depression. Largo give us an idea of
the peace that can be felt even in a state of anguish. Even in the storm there is calm because there is hope. Finally, Allegro represents the transition state from winter to spring, when water thaws and everything moves. Allegro represents the transformation of nature, which at the end of winter reborn. In life, the difficulties we face transform us; we never remain the same, and in the end we become new people, learning from our difficulties and growing as people, rebounding. The particularities both in symbolism and in the structure of the song reflects the difficulties that a person faces. Among the song exists a great variation of times and tones that combined each other create different variations and evoke different emotions. For example, in some parts the song mixes a slow time with a high tone to evoke the feeling of sadness. On the other hand, the song contains parts which are mixtures of fast times with low tones to evoke feelings of restlessness, or a sensation to be alert all the time. Through this composition of times and tones Winter transmits opposite feelings that try to represent the mixture of emotions that a person live in difficult moments. Winter is related with cold, sadness and hard moments in comparison with the rest of the seasons. Also, it could be related with the heat of a chimney and a comfortable home. Winter is a mixture of many kinds of feelings at the same time; for this reason the interpretation is very broad. This song varies unexpectedly, for example the song passes from calm and soft to fast and stormy trying to represent the unpredictable nature. We can compare it with a complicated and difficult situation that is unpredictable too, or with abrupt changes that could be good or bad. The particularity of the song is the end of it because it is slow and comfortable announcing the end of the winter, and it can be interpreted like the end of the person's problems. In conclusion, Winter is a composition that has relationship with the ups and downs of life since its composition, structure and content. The different movements of
the piece create a unique composition which leads us to interpret life itself as an opportunity for learning and growing as a better person. So, this is the reason why Winter represents the difficult stages that a person faces throughout in the life. It is important to know about the different interpretations of a piece of art, in this case Winter, and the many symbolism that it has to understand important things.
References Naxos. (2016). History Of classic Music Retrieved from http://www.naxos.com/education/brief_history.asp Saavedra, A. (2010). Antonio Vivaldi and the "Four Seasons" explained. Revista Vinculando. Retrieved from http://vinculando.org/en/antonio_vivaldi_the_four_seasons_explained.html Mind power mp3.com. Why is the Four Seasons Vivaldi So Popular? Retrieved from http://www.mindpowermp3.com/Why-is-the-Four-Seasons-Vivaldi-SoPopular.html Poets' Corner. (1723). Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons). (pag 5). Retrieved from http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/part2/vivaldi01.html
Argumentative Essay (in class)
Smarter technology makes us dumber Pamela Suรกrez Yachay Tech University November 29, 2016
Smarter technology makes us dumber Have you ever thought about where ends technology to help human life and starts dependence? There is no doubt technology is one of the most important advances in human history. However, there is a point where technology becomes something unnecessary and it can generate less smart people. Before continue, it is necessary to know that smartness is the capacity to perceive information and memorize it. Also, it has relationship with the capacity to analyze. Commonly, people used to think that there are just one kind of smartness, but really exist a lot such as: musical, interpersonal, mathematic, kinesthetic, etc. However, when technology becomes unnecessary, it is easier to lose any kind of this smartness. In less words, technology is making people less smart because it causes dependence, loss of memory and loss of the analytical capacity. First, technology causes dependence because it “has made us able to do more while understand less about what we are doing, and has increased our dependence in others” (Coopersmith, 2016, pag. 2). Everybody is dependent in a certain way, but it is bad when we do not know what we are doing; we just do it in a mechanical way reasoning obviously if we do not understand what we are doing and make things in a mechanical way, we would be less smart. For example, thinking about an eight year old boy whose parents give him a smartphone in his birthday. The boy needs to do his mathematic task, but now he used the smartphone to do mathematic calculus. He can do it without using the smartphone; however, now it is easier to finish and go out to play. The boy is more susceptible to generate dependence and every time he needs to do a task, he won’t care about it and he will use his smartphone. Second, technology makes people less smart because it causes loss of memory. According to Roberts, “more than 70 per cent of people do not know their children’s phone numbers by heart, and 49 per cent have not memorized their partner’s number” (2015). This fact is known as the “google effect”. This causes loss of memory because we know that all our questions has a response on internet. We do not do the effort to learn, to search information and memorize it. We just remember where to find information, but we do not remember about it is. Consume of technology, as the internet, is making us dumber instead to help us to think by ourselves. (Roberts, 2015, p.4).
Third, technology is making us less smart because it causes loss of analytical capacity. An important fact about it is that we put our trust in the internet. All of we know that internet is not a safe place, however, we have put all our personal information, from personal telephone number to our address. We have lost our capacity to analyze the consequences of it. With the technology we make things, but we do not know why. We think that something is good or bad because we see it on internet and do not make us the question of why. We are acting like robots. Finally, we have seen how technology is making us dumber. However, Dr. Bell thinks that the reason why we are less smart is the anxiety and preoccupations about technology, but it has no sense because the real reason of why technology is making less smart is the bad use that we give technology. Now we are living in a world where technological developments are created every day and our only escape is the innovation and creativity.
References Coopersmith, J. (2016). Is technology making us dumber or smarter? Yes. The conversation. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/u-technology-makingus-dumber-or-smarter-yes-58124 Roberts, G. (2015). Google effect: is technology making us stupid? The independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-andtech/features/google-effect-is-technology-making-us-stupid-10391564.html
Research Paper
Regulating of the use of stem cells in unethical techniques for assisted human reproduction and scientific research Pamela Suรกrez Yachay Tech Univesity December, 2016
Regulating of the use of stem cells in unethical techniques for assisted human reproduction and scientific research Would you practice assisted human reproduction treatments if you knew that some techniques allowed on purpose embryos to die? A lot of people have to ask themselves these questions every day and they have to choose what to do. They face a very difficult decision because they have to think what is more important: their desire to be parents or the death of an embryo. Technology has advanced a lot in these times and it has solved many problems that previously affected humanity. Science has been pending to cover human needs ranging from health to a better lifestyle. So, it is no surprise that medicine and technology have already sought a solution to health problems such as infertility. One of these medicinal developments is the treatment of assisted human reproduction (Murnaghan, 2016). Assisted human reproduction (AHR) is a process that assists the conception of a child by using technology and medical techniques. There are a lot of these kind of procedures such as in vitro fecundation, artificial insemination, egg donation, etc. Actually, these techniques are submitted to ethical and moral debates because the methods that are used. One of these methods is the use of stem cells. These cells have an important abilities such as to self-renew and to differentiate into specialized cells. These properties make them of great value for scientific research and medical development. Despite all the scientific research that scientist intend to achieve with stem cells, these techniques that use stem cells to perform AHR treatments and scientific research have questionable ethics and therefore have to be regulated because it causes on purpose dead of embryos. Merrian-Webster (2016) defines science as “knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as
obtained and tested through scientific method�, so it has to solve doubts and problems and not to create more controversies. In this case, some methods to obtain stem cells are not agree to accepted ethical standards because these generate more unresolved ethical issues. A lot of debates have been generated from these techniques. Embryonic stem cells research make people choose between the duty to prevent and alleviate suffering, and in words of Hug (2015), “the duty to respect the value of human life�. It is a really difficult decision for people who hope to become parents. A clear example of this kind of debates generated from this type of techniques are the discussions between different religions. The Roman Catholic religion, Orthodox and conservative Protestant Churches see the embryo as a human being from its conception. On the other hand, Judaism and Islam think that it is important to provide help to other people, and therefore they argue that an embryo is a human being from 40 days of being conceived, so stem cells of an embryo can be used for scientific research (Hug, 2015). Another example of debate is the Proposition 71. It was an electoral proposal which appeared on the electoral ballot in California for the presidential elections of the United States in November 2004. The objective of Proposition 71 was to obtain the public expense of the citizens in order to carry out scientific research by cloning of embryonic stem cells. Proposition 71 won despite numerous protests by women's rights groups and other societies, including the California Nurses Association, the Boston Women's Health Book Collective / Our Bodies Ourselves and the National Women's Health Network. This points out the attention of Canadian groups who joined with the groups against Proposition 71. Certain governments accept assisted reproduction treatments but regularize them as much as possible. Currently, Canada has a legislation which was approved in March 2004. The Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction and Related Research Act
prohibits the creation of embryos for research and the cloning techniques to obtain stem cells. This legislation has the power to regulate the management of the embryos created in in vitro fertilization which have not been implanted. However, the legislation allows the use of stem cells derived from embryos for research if sperm and egg donors have consented. This regularization seeks to protect the rights of women and children and the majority of activist groups who were against Proposition 71 have accepted it (Lippman, 2005). Another reason why techniques that use stem cells to perform AHR treatments have questionable ethics is that this kind of procedures allow unsafe experimentation with embryos, it even allows their dead. Experimenting with embryos means use them as objects of study and not seeing them as living beings in development. Specifically, a method which allows this fact is cloning. Cloning uses a technique called nuclear somatic cell transfer. Through this technique embryos are produced in order to extract the embryonic stem cells for treatments of AHR or scientific research. An example of this kind of cloning was the cloning of Dolly, the sheep. This was a praised experiment in its time. Currently, it has not been perfected and it is not certain that Dolly will remain healthy and begin to develop serious diseases progressively. Therefore, applying these techniques to humans is unsafe and unethical. Science has to provide safety to everybody. Another method that implies the destruction of the embryo is In vitro fertilization. Embryos created in IVF that not used are discarded. In addition, the practice of extracting stem cells involves the death of the embryo. Patients who have given their own sex cells to create embryos through IVF have to face the decision of disposing of their unused embryos. Some scientists and ethicists believe that the embryo will end up dying and therefore it is better to donate it for research, which will help to find a cure
for diseases. Other people against this kind of methods argue that the embryo deserves respect. Based on this, some protection programs have been created. These consist of the donation of embryos created by IVF to other infertile parents (The Witherspoon council, 2012). Techniques that use stem cells to perform AHR treatments are not 100% effective because they have unexpected consequences and risks. To allow a treatment that is not completely safe and involve certain risks, even allows the death of embryos, is unethical. Evidence of this is the technique of In vitro fertilization. This method has like consequence multiple pregnancy, danger for mother and fetuses and discarded embryos. For example: To achieve egg production, women are medicated with certain drugs. A dangerous reaction to fertility drugs can occurs. It is known as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Another consequence is multiple pregnancies. This case carries a risk to the health of mother and child. The risk is the birth of premature and sick children. Likewise, the risk of cerebral palsy is 5 times greater in twins than in a single baby. Ectopic pregnancy is another risk to women who undergo IVF. It consists of an embryo implanted outside the uterus, more commonly in the fallopian tubes and it causes severe internal bleeding. Consequently, a treatment with a lot of consequences and risks has to be regularized (Human fertilization & embryology authority, 2014). Some people who are in favor of the treatments argue that embryos created from stem cells do not feel pain until before week 20, therefore it procedures with embryos until before that period are considered ethical (Miller, 2016). Advocates of embryo argue that the suffering of the embryo is offset by relieving the suffering of a large number of people suffering from infertility or other diseases. The same advocates also argue that if in some countries abortion is legal, embryo research should also be allowed. Even though an embryo cannot feel pain, it will die. Thus, it is to deny to
embryos any possibility of developing to grow and having a life; at the same time people who practice this treatment would be in a difficult position when they choose which embryo will die and which won’t. Also, a lot of people will say that is inhuman to allow suffering of millions of people who yearn to become in parents or the possibility to relieve suffering of people due to some diseases, but there are other ways to solve these issues. For example, adoption is a good way to provide protection and love to a child who needs a family to grow and develop a good mental health. On the other hand, there are other methods for the treatment of incurable diseases; science has advanced a lot and it can get another way to fight diseases without using stem cells. Therefore, no matter what arguments are used to justify stem cell procedures that can lead to the death of embryos, humans do not have the faculty to decide who lives and who does not. Assisted human reproduction uses unethical techniques because it generates more ethical problems instead of solving them. The science that is used in this branch should solve the problem of infertile people, but do it by creating treatments that involve unethical methods is not the solution. AHR also allows experimentation with embryos which are not used in techniques such as IVF. These techniques lead to the death of the embryo. In addition, the AHR uses ineffective and dangerous methods whose consequences affect the health of woman and the future baby. Apart from the above, people who have undergone AHR treatment must face the question of what to do with their surplus embryos. Due to these methods and their questionable ethics, techniques that use stem cells to perform AHR treatments have to be regulated and their infringement must be punished by law. On the other hand, it should be remembered that there are other ways to have a child, such as adoption, which does not carry risks to the health of the mother and child, and ensures a future with the love of a family. Also, it
must be taken into account that embryos are developing human beings with no faculties to defend themselves, and it is the duty of everybody to offer them respect and protection. Finally, it is good to think that with the passing of time science will find another way to solve the problems of infertility and supplant techniques with stem cells.
References Hug, K. (2015). Embryonic stem cell research: an ethical dilemma. Euro stem cell. Retrieved
from
http://www.eurostemcell.org/factsheet/embyronic-stem-cell-
research-ethical-dilemma Human fertilization & embryology authority. (2014). Risks of fertility treatment. Retrieved from http://www.hfea.gov.uk/fertility-treatment-risks.html Lippman, A. (2005). Commercializing embryos and commodifying women's bodies: Why women should be concerned about stem cell research. Canadian Women’s Health Network. Retrieved from http://www.cwhn.ca/en/node/39502 Merrian Webster. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/science Miller, S. (2016). Do Fetuses Feel Pain? What the Science Says. Live science. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/54774-fetal-pain-anesthesia.html Murnaghan, I. (2016). Why are stem cells important? Explore stem cells. Retrieved from http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/whyarestemcellsimportant.html The Witherspoon Council on Ethics and the Integrity of Science. (2012). Appendix C: Ethical Considerations Regarding Stem Cell Research. The New Atlantis, 34, 98113. Retrieved from http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/appendix-cethical-considerations-regarding-stem-cell-research#organismically_dead
Thank you for reading my portfolio.