english-blog

5 sentences about a diagram

2009-02-23T18:42:00.002Z

5 sentences about a diagram

This is a bar chart combined with a graph, which tells you about the top 10 servers. The number of connections per servers are indicated on the vertical axis and the cities are indicated on the horizontal axes. The city with the most connections per server is Rio de Janeiro and the city with the least connections per server in the top ten is Natal. The graph decreases from left to right, because the top ten is arranged that way. Remarkable is the crash from the number of connections per server between the third city Brasilia and the fourth city Belo Horizonte.

opinion essay

2009-02-23T18:41:00.002Z

Nowadays there are lots of different ways for people to stay informed. You see news on television, you hear it in the radio or you can read it in the newspapers or in the internet. It is almost impossible to escape any kind of news, but is it really important that people stay informed?
I see this issue two-sided. On the one hand I do think it is important to stay informed, but on the other hand I think some people exaggerate too much.
I start with the importance of staying informed for oneself. If you are a person who is interested in sports, gossip, the happenings in the world etc. then you are able to get information about this aspects quickly by consuming news. Furthermore lots of people like reading the newspapers while they are having their breakfast, or they like listening to the news on the radio on their way to their work station. So news can be a hobby too for those people.
Another aspect, why staying informed is important, is society. It is very important to have certain knowledge about important changes in the world or fashion trends. Being informed means that you have some topics to talk about and so you appear smartly. People talk much about information which they gained from news and if you’re informed, you can easily join a conversation and find friends.
The last aspect, which shows the importance of being informed, is the importance of general education. It is part of general education to know what is going on in the world. I think the political news is the most important part of news, because we live in a democratic state. Everybody should be informed about politicians, political parties and political changes, because of the elections. Everybody has the right to vote and if most people don’t know anything about politics, it could be that a party, which is not good for the state, gets too much influence in the legislature. You should also know something about laws and their changes, because you should know how to behave in your own state.
To conclude, in my opinion it is important to stay informed, but you don’t need to know every detail of what is happening in the world. Even if you miss important information, it is not that bad, because you will hear it anywhere you go, from other people or in the television by channel-surfing. So, I think it’s enough to know the news which are important for yourself and directly influence your daily business.

426 words

correction

2008-12-23T17:22:00.001Z

CORRECTION

„Struggle for Beauty“

Nowadays the topic „Struggle for Beauty“ is widely discussed. The idea of the perfect beauty idol is not 100 percent human anymore, e.g. the unhealthy-looking skinny models. Nevertheless, there are positive and negative aspects to “The Struggle for Beauty” which I’m going to discuss now and additionally tell you my attitude to this topic.
First I’ll start with the positive aspects of keeping one’s beauty. There are a lot of different possibilities to look more attractive. An important point is fashion. Your looks depend on what clothes, accessories and jewellery you wear, so it’s very important to be always dressed fashionably to look good. That’s not all; you also have to keep your body in form. It’s important to do a lot of sport, live on healthy food and to go on a healthy diet. Another aspect is hygiene. If you look well-groomed, you look more beautiful. That includes shaving, taking showers regularly, washing the face etc. The last positive aspect which I can think of is the use of make up, but don’t make your face up too colourfully.
Now I’m going to list up some negative aspects. I think the most important issue here is plastic surgery. I think it’s only okay when you’re disfigured, e.g. by an accident. Otherwise I think to have a plastic surgery only to look better is stupid, because it’s an operation. It’s very expensive, you get hurt and you may get disfigured. Another very important aspect is the unhealthy diet of mainly female teenagers. Lots of fat people just stop eating and think it’s the right decision to get more slender, but they forget, that this is very unhealthy. Lots of people suffer from anorexia or bulimia, because of the distorted ideal of beauty. So, I think that you should never overdo anything, because that turns even a positive aspect into a negative one.
Finally I come to my own attitude to this topic. I think the positive aspects would be easily to realize for everyone and I also think it is necessary to fulfil these aspects like hygiene, fashion etc, but do not exaggerate. In my opinion nature is the best artist in creating beauty, so I’m against plastic surgery. Above all it’s very important to love yourself the way you are and to be self-confident, because you’ll never reach perfection. Your character plus how you present yourself influences your effect on other people, too and that’s very important, because if you appear well you look better than if you appear badly. To conclude, I think everybody should decide for himself how far he or she would go to reach perfection in beauty.

446 words

GROUP 3 beauty discrimination / prejudice

2008-12-02T18:14:00.000Z

PRO
(discrimination / prejudice because of beauty is okay…)

• when you earn your money with your appearance (model)
• when you have to represent your company
• if you are ugly AND disgusting AND unkempt (run like stink)
• if you are beautiful, you are able to show it
• more advantages for men

CON
(discrimination / prejudice because of beauty is NOT okay…)

• when you’re ugly, but the beautiful, stupid one gets the job, even when you’re better
• when your appearance is not related to the job
• it’s not your fault when you are ugly, so it is not okay if you get hassled
• pretty women get often discriminated because of jealousy
• beautiful ones are more arrogant than ugly ones (most time)

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

• skills should be more important than beauty
• you should be dressed suitable
• you shouldn’t have an untidy-looking
• beautiful persons are more self-confident

Essay about City Life and Country Life

2008-11-21T19:12:00.000Z

Is it more advantageous to live in the country or to live in a city? Now I’m going to list the pros and contras of each point and then it’s up to you which lifestyle fits better into your life.

So, I start with the city life. There are lots of advantages, for example multifaceted nightlife. Other positive points are the good public transports, so you can go anywhere easily and quickly without taking car. There are aswell a lot of different important things, for instance museums, cinemas, clubs etc. Cities are cosmopolitan, very multifarious in many kinds of things, there are lots of shopping possibilities, and you can find there everything what you need. There are also some disadvantages, for example the noise. There are also expensive apartments, the air is polluted and there are lots of people and very much traffic. People who like to live in a calm area will get easily stressed when they live in a city.

Now I come to the pros and contras of the country life. A big advantage here is that it’s very quiet at the country. You have some peace and quiet, mainly because there are not so much people and less traffic. The little traffic is also a reason, why there’s such a fresh air which means there is no pollution. The life in the country could be the right thing for you if you’re a gregarious person, because everybody knows everybody in small villages, which also could be annoying. That takes me to the negative aspects of the city life. The public transports are very bad developed, because it’s not profitable for metros or busses to drive for only one person or something. If you live there you almost have to have a car because of that. Other points are the little possibilities in various things, less shops, less clubs, etc. So I’d say if you’re always out to make party almost every day and like shopping, the city life would fit better into your lifestyle.

To conclude I’d say that I prefer the country life, because you can have some peace and quiet but also go into a little city to have fun, or in one of the few clubs. I think I’m a real country bumpkin.

my style

2008-10-24T18:49:00.001Z

I try to tell you about my style, my outlook on life, the kind of music I listen to, and about what influences me.
I start with the first point. My style includes two different style-types. Mostly I wear some jeans or black trousers and a one-coloured shirt, shoes without heels and I’m not or only unobtrusive rouged. It’s something that the most people describe as a normal style. In my free time, when I go out with my friends, I wear tinsel, sometimes skirts and high heels, I put my face on and I do my hair. I never do that when I go to school, because I don’t care how I look like when I go there. So sometimes I primp myself, but I’m often too lazy to do that, too.
Now I go to the next point about my lifestyle. My outlook on life is quite positive. Life’s not always easy, but it’s fun. I’m a very spontaneous person and I really have no future visions yet. The only thing I know is that I want a good education to find a good job. I’m curious about how my life looks like in future. I don’t want to plan everything exactly, because I like it, when something unexpected happens. For example when I plan to make a movie night with my friends, and then unexpectedly we’re not up to it and we go to a disco, the planning has had no reason. Nobody knows what’ll be in the future and that’s that what I like.
The next thing I want to talk about is music. I listen to almost all kinds of music, it depends on my mood. When I’m in a disco I like to hear party music and techno, but when I want to chill, I listen to unhurried music. Music is very important for me, because it helps me to shutdown all my thoughts and it’s also possible to change my mood when I hear music which I like respectively dislike. I hate it for example when someone in the classroom listens to music loudly, then I’m very upset about that.
Now I come to the last point, it’s about what influences me. I think everybody of us gets influenced by almost everything, me too. The people around me, the TV, the advertisement, the internet, the music even the weather are only a few examples of what influences me. We’re all influenced by everyone and everything and that every second of our life. I think the important thing is, to make a clear border between the influences and your own thoughts and wishes, because it’s more important to listen to yourself than to listen to anybody else.

455 words
Maria Bertsch

conflict map

2008-05-15T18:51:00.004Z

Conflict Map

+++++Charlie has no friends, because his best friend died, so he is an outsider.

He cries a lot because of this. He finds new friends and he gets a nominal member to be accepted.

I think it’s good that he found new friends, but in my opinion he never should get a nominal member, because they should like him how he is and not only because of the things that he does or not does.

+++++He falls in love with Sam, but she doesn’t want a relationship, although she gave him his first kiss.

He’s sad and cries. He’s in a relationship with Mary Elizabeth, but he still loves Sam.

Maybe he should distance himself from her and then, when he’ll have concluded this chapter of his life, they could be friends again.

+++++Charlie’s sister quarrels with her boyfriend and he hit her, because he lost his temper.

He apologizes for that and claims that it’d never happen again. She believes him and forgives him.

Maybe she should brake up with him. It depends on the relationship.

+++++Charlie tells his teacher the incident with his sister’s boyfriend. She hates him for that, because she said that it’s a secret.

She forgives Charlie.

In my opinion this was a good solution.

+++++Charlie watched a guy who raped a girl and then his sister came in and said he’s pervert. He didn’t know that the boy raped her till he tells it Sam.

He does nothing. Everybody knows it afterwards.

Maybe he ought to have kept this secret.

+++++Charlie’s sister gets pregnant from her boyfriend, but he doesn’t believe that it’s his baby.

She decides to abort the baby. She doesn’t say anything to her parents, only Charlie knows the secret.

It may be better, if she discusses it with her parents, before she makes her decision.

+++++Brad and Patrick make out sometimes, but they keep it secret. Brad’s father finds them making out and then Brad breaks up with Patrick.

Brad called Patrick a “faggot” and then they started an affray.

Patrick could take Brad to task. Violence is not a good solution.

+++++Charlie has to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room, but instead of kissing his girlfriend Mary Elizabeth, he kisses Sam.

Charlie said sorry to Mary Elizabeth, but it was too late.

He could talk to her earlier that he still loves Sam.

+++++Craig cheated on Sam.

She broke up.

Maybe they could find another solution. If there are no problems in a relationship, then you’d not break up I think. They could talk about their problems earlier.

+++++Charlie finds out that his aunt raped him when he was younger.

There’s nothing he can do anymore.

451 words

book review

2008-05-15T16:55:00.008Z

Book Review

The epistolary novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was written by Stephen Chbosky in the 1990s. The book consists of a series of letters, which are written to a friend by the personal-narrator, a 15 years old teenager named Charlie. The story takes place in Pittsburgh. The book gives you an insight of a teenager’s life. It’s about introversion, abuse, teenage sexuality, the difficulties of adolescence and experiences with alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.

Charlie has no friends, both most important persons of him died. His sister has a boyfriend and his brother is on a college. Bill, his teacher, gets important to him, because Bill always gives him good new books to read, but Charlie’s still alone. At a football match he gets new friends and so everything changes. He starts to go to parties, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and take drugs. He falls in love with his friend Sam, but she doesn’t want to have a relationship with him. Charlie is very different from the others, he observes lots of things, many people entrust him secrets, he gives special presents, he is very sensitive and he cries a lot. At the end of the novel he has totally changed.

The book is very simple to read and in my opinion it’s really funny, how Charlie describes everything what he observes. The author made me feel like I’m in this fictional world and if Charlie had written these letters to me. I really liked the novel, because it’s something different from the other books and it makes fun to read it.

265 words

description: charlie

2008-05-15T16:48:00.001Z

Description: Charlie

The book is about Charlie, who is a 15 year old boy and writes letters to a stranger. He is a very sensitive and lonely person at the beginning, because his two most important attachment persons died. His best friend Michael committed suicide and his aunt Helen died a few months ago. Charlie is a person, that everybody would call wallflower. He reads a lot, loves music, is withdrawn and he cries a lot. He sees the world through the eyes of a child. His family is very important to him. He loves his parents, his brother and his sister, although there are some conflicts to deal with. Bill, Charlie’s teacher, gets important by and by to Charlie, because Bill gives him lots of books to read and writing exercises to do. Bill teaches him and Charlie’s spelling style gets better. At a football game he finds new friends, Sam and Patrick. Sam is very beautiful and he falls in love with her soon, but she doesn’t want to have a relationship with him, she only wants to be friends. With his new friends he starts to drink alcohol, do drugs and go on parties, because he thinks, he has to do that to be cool and accepted by the others. He is afraid of losing his friends or being alone and he cries a lot, but all in all he is happier than he was before. You can follow his psychological changing process during reading the book. At the end he becomes another person.

257 words

character map charlie

2008-05-15T16:37:00.004Z

Character Map Charlie

How does he look like?

like a 15 year old teenager (at the end: like a 16 year old teenager)
no information about his aspect

How does he act?

Charlie is very sensitive and he cries a lot (e.g. about his sister, after the fight with a bully etc.)
In my opinion he acts like a nominal member, because he does drugs, drinks alcohol etc. to be cool. He tries to be popular and hopes that everybody likes him.
I’d say he hasn’t much self-confidence.
He is also nice, makes special presents and his friends entrust him secrets.

How do other people react to him?

I think most people don’t think about him, because he’s a quiet and introverted person, a wallflower. Later in the book they might think he’s a strange person or a freak, because he’s weird.
He quarrels a lot with his sister at the beginning, but after some time he is the only person who she can trust.
His friend Sam is his unreachable dream girl. Charlie gets his first kiss from her.
Sam and Patrick are his friends and they changed his life, they took him to parties and showed him how to act with girls.
His parents don’t want to see his psychological and drug problems. He and his mother have a good friendship. His father is very strict, but he never beats his kids, because he’d been beaten in his childhood.

243 words

exam correction

2008-05-14T19:37:00.000Z

exam correction

Nowadays there’s a lot of violence in the whole world and in the media. In this text I’ll try to explain why there’s so much violence and I’ll make proposals how the violence among children can be reduced. Finally, I want to talk about my opinion about this topic.

I start with some theories about the causes of the increasing violence in the world. The first theory is that violence is an instinct which everybody has. That means it’s natural to have aggressions and we have to find a way to get a grip of our aggressions. The second theory says that violence is the result of an on-going learning process. In other words it is possible to make a aggressive or a moderate person out of every person. The last theory is that aggressiveness and consequently violence is the result of frustration. Every person gets frustrated sometimes, so we have to deduce our aggressiveness by doing sports or something else. For me all of these theories are plausible, so I do not really know the real reason for the violence in the world. I’d say that all of these theories are true and partly explain the cause for the increasing violence.

Now I’m going to tell you my proposals for reducing violence among children. In my opinion the most important point is the education. Parents should be a good role model for their kids and they should tell them that violence never can be a good solution. I think it’s also important that parents don’t let their kids watch violent movies of play violent video games, it’d be better if the children can go into nature and play. Another important point is the environment and the school. Every school should have a contact person for children to help them solving their problems without using violence.

I admit that Medved has a good point when he claims that violent films don’t mirror the reality of the average viewer. Like him I doubt that violent movies – especially if watched frequently – don’t have a mark on us. However, we live in a free country and we cannot forbid everything that may or may not be dangerous for some. Of course, non-violent films make lots of money too, but this is not an argument against violence in films. Finally, in contrast to him I think that it’s possible to escape this violence and reading about such films in magazines is quite different to watch them.

Finally I have to say that these different theories and opinions won’t ever disappear. So I think people will discuss this topic still in hundreds of years.

pro/con essay

2008-02-21T16:40:00.002Z

Essay about a ban on violence in movies

Nowadays there is a huge range of violent movies and that brings up the question „Should we impose a ban on violence in movies or not? “ Now I show you some good arguments pro and contra that ban.

Many people think that the film directors produce violent movies to make a lot of money, because folks want to watch violent films. But non-violent movies are successful, too, and some of them bring in much more money than other violent films do. Another argument pro the ban is that there are people who imitate their harrowing film-idols. Some of them turn into a copycat killer for example and that’s something incredible horrible.

In contrast, there are many points which could convince you from the contrary. The violence which is shown is mostly so unrealistic that a normal person doesn’t copy it. Many a person argues with the point that our society won’t get more non-violently by watching violent films, but we don’t turn into a non-violent society just because we don’t show violence. What I find most important is that you should regard that the majority of people doesn’t get violent or becomes insane and copies cruel leading parts of such films.

In my opinion the ban should not be imposed, because the arguments pro the ban are a bit ridiculous. A ban on violence in movies is against the human rights, too and I think everybody has the right to watch what he or she likes.

255 words

„Snow falling on cedars“, by David Guterson

2007-12-13T20:51:00.000Z

Task 1

The book is placed in 1954 on the island San Piedro, in a fishing village with many cedars. It is about the Japanese American Kabuo Miyamoto, who is charged for murder. The trial is the most important aspect in this story.
Kabuo is accused for killing Carl Heine. a fisherman who gets found being caught in his salmon net. Carl has a severe head injury, a cut in the hand, and the coroner finds out that he has died of drowning. His boat has been found with its lights on and a D-6 battery in it, the same as Kabuo needs for his boat, although Carl’s boat needs D-8 batteries. The night is very foggy, and everybody knows that Kabuo is the last man who has seen Carl at the harbour.
Kabuo has wanted to buy Carl’s mother’s strawberry farm, but because of 2 missing payments she has sold it to someone else. A few years later, Carl has bought the land back, but Kabuo still wants the land.
Kabuo’s wife, Hatsue, says that when Kabuo returned from fishing in the morning of the 16th of September, he was very excited, because Carl had admitted to sell the land to him.
Kabuo also says that he was fishing in this night, and then he recognized Carl who needed help, because his batteries were dead. Kabuo gave him one of his D-6. Then he returned to his boat to continue fishing. Hardly anyone believes this story, because he is Japanese, and does not seem to be faithful.
The twist of the people’s meaning comes when Ishmael takes new facts to court. He finds out that in that night a big ship came through these fishing areas which caused a huge wave which could throw anybody off a fishing boat. Carl might have climbed up the mast to save his lamp when he suddenly saw the ship passing by, then he might have not seen that a huge wave came and so he hit his head on the wooden side of the boat. Then he might have fallen into the salmon net and drowned.
Kabuo’s lawyer tells the jurors not to look at Kabuo with preconception, because he looks like an enemy soldier, but see him as an American man. After this he gets discharged.

Correction of the 1st written exam

2007-12-02T18:15:00.000Z

Task 1: Describing a picture in a letter

Dear Teddy,
I want to tell you about a particular picture by Norman Rockwell. The picture depicts five people on a sidewalk and in front of an empty wall there is a little black girl in a shining white dress with school stuff in her left hand. She walks on a sidewalk and at the wall in the background you can see that someone sprayed the word “Nigga” onto it and smashed a tomato against the wall. On the left and on the right side there are two white Deputy US Marshalls with a yellow arm band round the upper arm, but their heads are not shown. These men all wear grey suits. I think it’s ironic that the white men wear black shoes and the black girl wears white ones. At the bottom you can see the signature of the artist Norman Rockwell. The picture seems monochrome, because the painter used a lot of grey shades and in my opinion it looks like a photo. I think Norman Rockwell wanted the painting to look as realistic as possible. The picture has a dreary effect on me and it seems a little bit hopeless to me, too. I can’t imagine if the painter wanted to express something with this picture. I don’t really like it because there is nothing exciting or beautiful in this picture. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.spell.gif
Yours, Maria

Task 2: Is it art?

In my opinion this photo isn’t art at all. I think there’s nothing special about this picture. It’s just a photo, which depicts legs of an unknown woman, a shovel and a green garden in the background. I believe that art is in the eye of the beholder, so maybe this photo can be art for some people. I think art is a possibility to see things differently, so everything can be art. A flower can be art, too, apart from not knowing who designed it. Many people don’t see nature as a kind of art, because there’s no designer. If someone wanted to pay only to see an ordinary picture, he should do so, but I think it’s stupid. I think that an artist should have skill to make good art or something shocking or critical.

18.11.07 english homework LIFE AFTER DEATH

2007-11-18T21:35:00.003Z

Is there some kind of life after death?

Many people believe that there’s a life after death. I don’t want to waste much time by thinking about this topic, because nobody is able to know what will happen until he or she is dead. I think it could be, that there is some kind of life after death and I would appreciate that, but I think it’s more realistic, that there’s nothing after death. There are no evidences for a life after death and I think many people have to look at this a little bit more critically. They should not believe everything what anybody says just because it’s the belief of any religion. A lot of people need something to believe in that makes their life reasonable. That is in my opinion the main reason for believing in a life after death.

143 words

homework 26 september

2007-09-26T19:00:00.001Z

Dear editor!

Yesterday I read the article „Giuliani forced into climbdown“ about the row between the mayor of New York and the Brooklyn museum. It was about a shocking picture which depicted a Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung. I think it was a little bit exaggerated. In my opinion Giuliani overreacted when he threat to withhold funding. I agree with the opinion of the museum, because I think art has to be free and everybody has the right of free speech. I can’t understand why Giuliani wanted to forbid the picture just because it’s shocking. My opinion about art that shocks is that this kind of art is much more conspicuous. I think only if a painting is shocking it doesn’t have to be art, but it can be. Actually it can be good art.

Yours, Maria

138 words

Bericht: Oliver Twist

2007-04-15T18:38:00.000Z

Is there a children pick pocketing gang in London?

By Maria and Maria

Yesterday happened something terrible in front of the bookstore “THE BOOK” in the London Avenue. A young boy was taken to court because a customer of the bookstore accused the boy Sam Waters of stealing his handkerchief.

It was the 5^thof April, a totally normal day, when this wicked delict took place. George Smith, a big rich man, visited the bookstore to buy some new books for his collection. The owner of the bookstore Mr. Miller saw some little boys hanging around at “THE BOOK”, like the other customers. After a few minutes Mr. Miller noticed that 2 boys stole an expensive beautiful handkerchief from George Smith’s pocket. The boys ran away and at this moment Mr. Smith descried that someone has stolen his beloved handkerchief. He looked around and saw a little boy who was standing behind him and then suddenly ran away. All people on the street chased this little boy and after he was caught, he was taken to court. The judge wanted to punish the boy, who was called Sam Waters, badly, but suddenly Mr. Miller arrived at the court. He explained, that it had not been Sam Waters, who had stolen that handkerchief, and that he had seen, that two other boys had stolen it out of Mr. Smith’s pocket. Mr. Miller told us, “How could I permit, that a little boy should come into jail, if he didn’t do anything wrong?” So, the little boy got free, but the real committer of this crime has not been found yet. The question, if there’s a pick pocketing gang of young boys in London is not resolved yet too. If something new happens we’re going to inform you as fast as it’s possible.

304 words

Interview

2007-03-22T17:53:00.000Z

A: Hello Mr. Greenwich, I’m Amanda Thompson from the Wall Street Journal and I need some information about the Victorian time, because I’m going to write an informatial article about it. Would you, as an expert in this topic, be as kind as to tell me something about it and answer a few questions about the Victorian time?

B: Oh yes of course. What do you want to know about it?

A: First tell me the most fundamental aspects of the Victorian time.

B: Okay, let me think… The phrase “Victorian” describes things and what all happened between the years 1837 and 1901. This was the time of queen Victoria’s reign. The economic system boomed, mainly because of the ascent of the industrial revolution. There are some innovations, which the Victorian time created, for example democracy, feminism, Marxism and socialism. In this time also appeared first doubts in religion.

A: Could you tell me about the child labour in the Victorian time? I want to set the main focus of my article on this aspect.

B: The dispersal of child labour was very wide. Most of the kids had to work very hard and they had to work under extremely iniquitous terms. Many of them got ill or had bad accidents, but for the people in this time, it was ordinary to let the children work so hard, and to let them do the nasty jobs and to exploit them. Some Christian people thought it was wrong to treat children so badly, and they wanted new laws, which would ban the exploitation of children. Queen Victoria legislated, that it was illegal to employ children, but when she died in 1901, there were still a lot of children over the age of nine, which had to work. That’s indeed unhappy, but first appendages of the human rights were set and that’s of course a good thing.

A: Yes, I think so too. Thanks a lot Mr. Greenwich! You helped me a lot!

B: You’re welcome. I’m glad that I could help you. Goodbye!

A: Bye!

345 words