26 Mayıs 2013 Pazar

Entry 7-Second Term

                                           CAN MEN AND WOMEN BE FRIENDS?
 
    The writer-Camille Chatterjee- refers to a controversial issue which is about whether men and women can be real friends or not. S/he firstly mentions challenges to male-female friendships, reasons why males and females can not be real friends and s/he makes use of some research results and studies conducted on this issue.Afterwards, s/he explains how males and females can achieve becoming actual,true friends without sexual tension. The writer shows some ways to real friendships by overcoming problems that arise from men ,women or society.


In almost every society there is a wrong argument that a man and woman can not be real friends. This idea probably derives from mentality of past centuries since in old times there was a huge gap between men and women .Men were superior to women and women were regarded as second class people.They didn't come close to one another apart from having sex.As a result, today there is still a misknown remark that a man and woman can not be true friends. However, in our century men and women are so mingled with each other that  they do almost everything together like working,entertaining,traveling etc. They are like an inseparable whole.That's why people should get rid of their wrong opinions about male-female friendships.


When examining the article itself,it seemed too long and I thought it would be boring before reading it. However, as I read I understood that it was not as dull as I thought.The writer used small paragraphs and gave examples related to topic as many as possible, so it didn't bother me.It was a comprehensive and beneficial writing.I liked the way the writer  categorized topic which facilitated reading the article.The writer usually used known words and I could easily get what s/he meant.







25 Mayıs 2013 Cumartesi

Entry 6-Second Term

                                                   ' AT HOME WITH MAMMA '

 
     The article entitled 'At home with mamma' is another writing which mostly deals with the reasons why many Italian men stay in the family nest and shows us advantages and superiorities of staying with family. To be more realistic, writer benefits from some research results ,so(that) he succeeds becoming more persuasive          and keeps away making wrong judgements about topic. He says that there has been a rising number of men who prefer living with family recently and he explains men's inclination to staying at home instead of moving to a new house or apartment block. According to Burke,the most prominent reason is economic.When you remove a new house ,your expenses increase necessarily since you have to pay your house rent,electricity and water bills, you will also have extra expenses for food,drink etc. That's why many Italian men live with their family. However, there are some others who stay in family anyway even though they have enough money for all their expenses and they don't need their parents economically. This is because they like the easiness of life at home and they have also excellent relationship with their family.Particularly Italian mothers are really attached to their boys and Italian men do not want to be deprived of their mothers' affection. The case is similar to one in our society. Italian families are not authoritarian any longer. Therefore, men prefer staying at home ,this is another reason.The writer says the closeness between mother and son may be problem after marriage since some women may be jealous of this relationship and may be uncomfortable with it. I totally agree with writer ,this obsessive affection can cause troubles in marriages. Eventually,I liked this article.I found the examples great especially Federico example. It was an educatory writing and language was very fluent.










Entry 5-Second Term

                                             'SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME'

         The writer-Anastasia Toufexis- states that there is a misknown claim that children grow up and leave home and she tries to enlighten us about this wrong argument throughout her article. I want to say that as a whole I liked writing, it didn't bother me hardly ever except for the part in which the writer gave percentages of women and men in terms of tendency to leaving home in different years to prove her thesis. It would be worse if she had used more examples about percentages . Apart from this part, I liked the concrete,literal examples taken from real life.


  Just like many people, I also had thought that leaving home is more common  today than in the past especially during puberty since teens start to think that they can take decisions by themselves and they want to keep away parent control ,but I am mistaken. The idea of leaving home may not be so broad in our society because our family type is mostly conservative and people are used to living with their parents. Only under some obligatory circumstances such as military service or university people move away home ,but after having completed their missions, they come back home.Even after marriage some people prefer living with their family especially in rural areas. As a result of being used to living in such a culture, I thought that notion of moving away home may be more prevalent than in our society and I thought that most of the youth leave their home easily in foreign countries. I appreciate the writer for her informative and stimulating article .I believe that she changed minds of majority who think the same way as me due to her prospering writing.


20 Mayıs 2013 Pazartesi

Entry 4-Second Term

                                                           RAFAEL NADAL
  Regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Rafael Nadal was born on 3 June 1986 in Mallorca,Spain.His full name is Rafael Nadal Parera.His success on clay has earned him the nickname 'King of Clay' and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player in history.




                                                               HIS FAMILY
His father is Sebastián Nadal, a businessman who owns an insurance company, a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and manages his own restaurant, Sa Punta. His mother is Ana María Parera, a housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Angel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for Mallorca,Barcelona and the Spanish National Team. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.



                                                                    Tennis Career

In April 2002, at 15 years and 10 months, the world No. 762 Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado, and became the ninth player in the Open Era to do so before the age of 16. The following year, Nadal won two Challenger titles and finished the year in the top 50. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984.As of 11 years,he has succeeded many victories in tournamnets.A golden medal in Beijing Olympic Games is only one of them.
                       
                                                                    Playing Style

 
Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage, thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court
Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. Since 2005, he won seven times at Roland Garros, eight times at Monte Carlo and six at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label due to his success on other surfaces, including holding simultaneous Grand Slam tournament titles on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, winning five Masters series titles on hardcourt, and winning the Olympic gold medal on hardcourt.



























































































































































































Entry 3-Second Term

                                                   THE WALKING DEAD
   
In The Walking Dead, you are forced to decide. You also have precious little time to choose, and must live with the often terrible consequences.  It is based on a strip cartoon series with a same name and it deals life struggle of a small group after the advent of zombies.Most of the story takes place in rural areas between Atlanta metropolis region and Georgia.These are the only safe places far from zombies which eat everything alive and turn people into zombies by biting them.Throughout the three seasons,our characters put up a fight against both zombies and other hostile people groups.During these conflicts,some of the group members die and in the following episodes new members substitute them.


Rick Grimes(leading role) is a former Sheriff's deputy who has been in a coma for several months after being shot
 while he is on duty. When he wakes, he discovers that the world has been taken over by Zombies, and that he seems to be the only person still alive. Having returned home to discover his wife and son missing, he heads for Atlanta to search for his family. Narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Zombies on arrival in Atlanta, he is aided by another survivor Glenn who takes Rick to a camp outside the town. There Rick finds his wife Lori and son Carl. Along with his partner and best friend Shane, he founds a small group of survivors who struggle to fend off the zombie hordes, as well as competing with other survivor groups who are prepared to do whatever it takes to survive.Afterwards,our story starts and they always seek for a safe place to stay alive.

                                                              CHARACTERS
Rick Grimes is the series' central character.A former sheriff's deputy in a small Georgia town.Rick is an everyman- calm,smart,just,a good friend,husband and father- but flawed.He is a natural leader and his fellows trust him even when at times he doubts himself.
Lori Grimes is wife of Rick and mother of Carl and Judith.Although she had been sleeping with Shane when she thought Rick was dead she is loyal to Rick once he returns.
Shane Walsh was Rick's partner in sheriff's department and best friend since high school.Shane harbors feelings for Lori.Among the group of survivor,Shane acts as the de facto leader untill Rick is back.
Andrea is a former civil rights attorney.She is intelligent,cautious and protective of her younger sister(Amy).She undergoes a significant transmission following Amy's death.
Carl Grimes is Rick and Lori's son.He worships his father and is frequently confronted with the realities of harsh new world.
Daryl Dixon is a southern redneck with a tough background.He is one of the top experts with hunting weapons,killing deer and other animal for food.His weapon is a crossbow.He constantly struggles with his own insecurities.He becomes a faithful follower of Rick and Rick's right-hand man in process of time.
Carol Peletier has a kind heart and puts herself out for others within the group.However,she can also become meek and overly emotional at times.
Glenn Rhee used to deliver pizzas for living.He is keenly aware of danger of his missions on behalf of the  group,but because of his youth he is willing to take the risks.He is an excellent scavenger.Glenn thinks well on his feet and shows  great compassion and humanity.
 Despite all the horrors he's seen, he maintains an enthusiasm for life and its unexpected pleasures. He is an integral part of Rick's group, showing surprising depth and emotion when the group experiences devastating tragedy.



5 Nisan 2013 Cuma

Entry 2-Second Term

                                          JOURNAL ENTRY 1:PAPA THE PHILOSOPHER

              In his writing the author -Leo Buscoglio- tries to show us how an important and compelling role our  parents have in our life and how they guide us when we are stuck and when we can not think anything logically. As a whole I liked the writing very much. This writing is an anecdote and for this type of writing fluency is indispensable factor. I believe that the author succeeded in using a fluent language. From the moment I started reading to the last moment,I read writing with pleasure.I was never bored. Not to bother the readers. the author used many small paragraphs so that he kept the attention of readers alive throughout the writing. Instead of using a few paragraphs but really long ones, he preferred using small ones ,which is very wisely. When I first shot a glance at title, I wondered why Leo used the term philosopher and after I finished reading ,I found out the reason . The topic was quite suitable for such a subject. It transmits the message that during our most desperate and hopeless times, either of our parents can be our pioneer or savior and s/he can prevent us from doing something wrong. In this writing, the author faces some problems which are probably  derived from culture shock. Leo is an Italian-American and like many people coming from other countries to America, he encounters a number of hardships. While he was too young to understand what is going on around him it is okay for him to live in America. Nonetheless, as he gets older these difficulties become too huge to ignore. when he was at junior high school, he was attacked and humiliated by a group of boys. Afterwards, he was frustrated and helpless. He also hated being an Italian. He was about to drop out his school. However, after his conversation with his father, he changed his mind. The papa gave him reasonable directions and deterred him from making mistakes. Maybe papa could not solve his problem at that time ,but he instilled confidence and made Leo determinate and strong. All in all, I can say that being mature is not about age, it is about experiences in our life. In addition, parents are our most reliable                    
friends and leaders during our most gruelling moments. That's why the author call papa as a philosopher in other words as an advisory.