FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH

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Assignment 1: Informative, analytical and argumentative

Is TV harmful?

I’m not in favour or against the use of television. My opinion or position towards this
topic is neutral because I find some positive and negative aspects to the use of
television. I’m in favour of television because it a is good source of recreation and
information, and an excellent way of staying update with everyday news. Therefore,
I’m in favour of television even though I must admit there are many programs that are
showed or displayed on television that I do not approve. Nowadays television plays an
important role not only in social life for spreading information but also in every day
life of a person. It plays a significant role in many lives and can affect our mind easy.
To star with, television is a good way of relaxing and entertainment. Its offer you a
variety of programs that appeal to people of all ages, that you can use dependant on
your preferences. There is nothing better than coming back from school an lay down
in your bed to watch a beat of TV. There are some cartoons programs for kids, soup
operas for old people, quizzes programs for middle aged, music channels for teenagers
like the famous MTV that not only have music but also reality shows films for all
ages. These entertain and relax too.
Also, television is a good source of education and information. For instance there are
plenty of educative shows or programs, such as Discovery Channel and Animal Planet
that are appealing not only to growing up but also kids that are entertained while being
educated. As for information there many channels such as CNN, that keeps you in
contact with international news all day long and also local news as well.
One the other hand, there are also programs that can be consider bad influence,
especially for young ones. For instance there is plenty of sex and violence in daily
shows that may portrait an image of behaviour that is far for being the normal one.
This is because the mentality of young people is still in the process of information and
so they are very vulnerable to the violence and stereotypes promoted by TV. Also
other problem clearly shown is that Television is mostly directed to films and shows
that have commercial purposes but little cultural value. We can also say that as the

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result from people abusing of television it has affect many families relationship by
reducing conversation and also have an impact in the health. People spend more time
watching TV than being outside doing exercise or just having a good time in open
areas.
Also many people abuse their time in front of the TV, specially kids and teenagers and
because of this they leave aside their obligations and outdoors time.
To conclude, in my opinion television is not good or bad. It’s just TV. It depends on
the use that each one gives to their time in front of the TV.

This argumentative piece provides a wide array of ideas, which are portrayed
quite well through simple vocabulary and structures. Language errors do not
affect meaning greatly. I allot it 20 out of 40 points.

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Assignment 2: Imaginative, descriptive and/or narrative

TRANSPARENT
Why can't we mix two colors and get one?

Why can't we all have the same color in our mind?

We should enjoy life with the same sound,

No differences in love, be all connected

Be one people all blind,

Feel feelings fully without discrimination.

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Why do we compare ourselves with others?

We are all different without differences.

Why do we discriminate colors?

God wanted to create a funny world,

Mixing colors, sounds, SO...

Why do we undermine his work?

Who do we think we are?

We should think transparent, why not?

Let's make Transparent a verb..

Transparent your mind,

Transparent your heart,

Transparent your life,

Give your life a good transparent smile

Analysis of the poem

To start with, when I wrote this poem I was going through an awful moment in my life.
I was dizzy about the discrimination I was feeling it not only in my country but also in
the whole world.
I was inspired in the picture of two little babies that were holding their hands, one of
them was a black skin baby and the other one was a white skin baby. What I realized in
that photograph was that the only ones that do not discriminate are the babies. I start
thinking a lot why this could be like that. I think that babies don’t differentiate the
differences between colors. They don’t live in the world of colors. But when we start
growing it seems to be a human trait to dislike and distrust anyone we perceive as being
"different”. It is also said that people think that what they believe and how they live or
they are it is the only way of living a enjoying life and others way are strange or not
good.
Children’s start discriminating because they copy what adults says, think or act. It’s
normally for a kid to try to imitate a model for their life. So if an adult acts in a different
way in front of others religion, skin color, language, etc., f course they will think that is
normal and they will do it.

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My poem is called TRANSPARENT. I named it like that because this word for me was
full of meanings. TRANPARENT means no differences. That is also the color the babies
have in the picture.
What I try to transmit in my poem is that it would be a better world if we could live
without colors for discrimination. I talk about God also, because when he creates the
world I think he didn’t want to create the word discrimination.
I define my poem as a picture, as an image that I want to show to the world. Every word
I used in my poem I think it a lot. And I believe that I could get the results I wanted. I
reflect the ways we can avoid discrimination, repeating constantly the word transparent
that gives the idea of connection, colors, love, creation, no differences, etc.
The phrase I most like in my poem is “Be one people all blind” this can be hard to
understand maybe, but for me is ironic. “People” means more than one person, but I
used “Be ONE people all blind”, without identifying colors for discrimination. Then I
asked a question to my self... “Why do we discriminate colors?” Who says that green is
better than red, or that white is better than black? ... Who?
To conclude, I think that if we could learn to appreciate others by what they are as
individuals, I believe the world would be a much better place.

This is a very nice poem, with creative techniques put to good use. The explanation of
these devices employed is extensive, though blurred, at times, by inconsistent
paragraphing and sentence structure. 24 out of 40 points.

Assignment 3: Reading and writing

Love Letter to the Earth

“Love Letter to the Earth” is an amazingly deep reply written by the Indian chief of
USA which mainly deals with the importance of land and every single creature that
lives in it. The offer was made by “the great chief” in Washington in which the white
man wants to buy the red man’s land.

Throughout the letter many important and significant ideas can be seen. These ideas
conveyed by the writer in this letter clearly show the close connection that the natives
have with whole environment. So much so that we get to know some principles that
rules their philosophy such as considering the land “sacred”.

The sensational images “Every shinning pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in
the dark woods, every cleaning and humming insect is holy in the memory and
experience of my people” support the way of thinking and living of the Indian people
where their culture obviously conserves and protects nature as their own home.

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Another important consideration that should be taken into account is the place their
ancestors occupy in their lives. We can infer that previous generations are considered to
be extremely important. To depict this, the author resorts to simple but deep
expressions: “the shinning water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water,
but the blood of our ancestors”. The red men respect their ancestors and admire their
wisdom and experience.

However, the letter also deals with the way the white man interacts with nature which is
clearly the most important part of this letter. The white man does not behave like the red
man at all as regards this matter. The author makes some descriptions that show how
careless the white man is. In the image “The sights of your cities pains eyes of the red
man” we can see that the white man destroys and mistreats the land when building
blocks of flats where perhaps there used to be a beautiful forest or the home of many
wild animals.

Finally, the writer wants to give some pieces of advice so as to make the white man
aware of the importance of nature and every living thing in it. The white man violently
destroys and kills as if he were the owner of the land but he should understand that he is
only another simple creature on it.

In conclusion, I think the message given by this letter is extremely simple but absolutely
important. The letter successfully transmits the red man’s ideas about nature due to the
use of symbolic metaphors that reinforce the profound respect towards the land and
their ancestors. Besides it shows his urge to change the white man’s attitude not only
regarding the land but also the way they teach to their children its respects and
preservation.

The candidate has analysed many ideas expressed in the letter, with clarity and
precision, though she has not related them to her own. 6 points out of 10.