milli hermida's folder oct 20th

8/15/2019 Milli Hermida's folder Oct 20th

1/7

FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH

Coursework portfolio

Hermida Adrogu, Mara Milagros

AR512

0067

Assignment 1 Informative, analytical and/or argumentative

Self-defense should be allowed

Insecurity, nowadays, is a common topic of conversation among Argentine citizens.People are always afraid and careful in every move they make. Daily, people aremurdered in the streets just because they refuse to be robbed. What is more,sometimes law is very unfair. Although law allows self-defense to a charge in a criminalcase, it may imprison an innocent person and set the guilty one free.Many times Ive asked myself what I would do if I was robbed. Thank God Ive neverexperienced a moment like this and I hope I do not in my whole life, but it is certainly adebate.What is a person being attacked supposed to do? I would say that he/she shoulddefend him/herself. But what is passing through his mind at that exact moment? Bytrying to take care of his possessions the victim is risking his own life. Supposedly lawprotects the right of individuals over their private property, as well as their physical andmoral integrity if they become victims of an attack. If the attacked person counted witha weapon to keep himself safe, would he be sure that if he killed the thief law would beon his side?

From my point of view, self-defense is about the protection of yourself and yourproperty, and you are supposed to take care of that. Is a criminal who invades a privateproperty to steal from it supposed to be treated well? I think that self-defense should beallowed but with reasonable limits. No one would choose to fight potentially violentcriminals, they would rather wait for the police to be able to respond swiftly to a crime inprogress, but the police may take a while to arrive. So, the person might be forced toreact, and do something before. Furthermore, if thieves know that they will be punishedfor committing a crime, they will think it twice before doing anything, law is discouragingcrime. Law shows what it is correct and what is not, so this law is supporting those wholive properly without bothering others.On the other hand, sometimes people think that victims value property over a personslife, and that this also moves away from the basic sense of proportion. Not only this, but

they say, what if the householder attacked an innocent person by mistake because hethought that was a burglar? From my point of view, what should an innocent person bedoing in private property? They are not supposed to be there, so it is not common thatpeople attacked the wrong person by accident.To conclude, I think that laws should be well-known by every citizen, so that thieves areconscious of what they are doing. In this way, they would know what they can expectfrom victims. Everybody should defend him/herself and be sure that law will protecthim/her. The world would be a much more peaceful place if this law was respected.

This is a rather messy essay. It is not quite clear in the end whether thecandidate is for or against self-defense, despite the title. Vocabulary and

structures are quite clear, but ideas are not well organized for a betterunderstanding. 22 out of 40 point should be OK.

1


2/7




AR512

0067

Assignment 2 Imaginative, descriptive and/or narrative

Lost without you

Im lostDont know what to doToo confused to thinkWish I could sleep

Full of questionstoo lost,too resigned,

My mind is just blankNo ideas coming back

Wish to have a solutionSomehow I dont,Somehow Im lost.

Wish you would come backSomehow you wontSomehow Im lost.

Dreaming awake,Wish someoneWouldnt bring me back to earth.

Making an effortWish this would end.My mind is just blank,No ideas coming back.

The end

2


3/7




AR512

0067

Thoughts of a desperate Mother

In the year 1994, Argentina suffered and Islamic attempt to the building of the AMIA(Association Mutual Israelite Argentine) in Buenos Aires, where 85 people died andmore that 200 people were injured. This had a big impact on our society, becausemany innocent people that were just working lost their lives there.I was only 5 years old when this happened, but I remember my mother desperatelycalling her aunt because she lived only 2 blocks away from the devastated place.Imagining the whole situation among the debris, I tried to reflect a victims motherfeelings in the poem written above. A person who feels totally lost, and does not knowhow to go on, wants to keep the hope of finding her daughter. Thats why I looked upfor a photo that could reflect this tense situation. When I look at the picture I feel a holeinside. And thats what I am trying to reflect in the poem, to understand and assisteveryone who has lost someone there. Someone who wonders why didnt her little girlgo to buy something at that moment, and save her lifeWe can see that shed already assumed what had happened when she says:

Wish to have a solutionSomehow I dont

But, although she knows that she cant turn time back, she wants to know why, shewants someone to explain to her and give her a solution, even though she knows shecant have her daughter back, so there is no solution. The same occurs when we read:

Wish you would come backSomehow she wont

The mother imagines what would be like if that had never happened. How old wouldher daughter be nowadays, would she still be working there? And many questions thatwill never be answered. And although she knows that she is dreaming, that it is nottrue, she prefers to keep on living in a dream where she can be happy, either thanliving true life where shes without her daughter:

Dreaming awake,Wish someone

Wouldnt bring me back to earth.

Finally, the woman, as she knows that nothing will ever be as before again, prays for

violence to finish. Although she knows she cant have her girl back, she prays for everymothers daughter, for them not to suffer as much as she has:

Making an effortWish this would end

To conclude, I have tried to write a very effective poem, to reflect the feelings of peopleinvolved in this attempt. By reading this poem, I attempt to make a person who did notknow anything about this tragedy, understand perfectly what occurred.

This poem is quite effective in describing both, the devastating picture as well asthe devastating moments lived that day in Argentina, which is clearly portrayed

3


4/7




AR512

0067

in the explanation written by this candidate. I allot this 28 points.

4


5/7

Assignment 3 Reading and writing

Refugee mother and child by Chinua Achebe

No Madonna and Child could touchThat picture of a mother's tendernessFor a son she soon would have to forget.

The air was heavy with odoursOf diarrhoea of unwashed childrenWith washed-out ribs and dried-upBottoms struggling in labouredSteps behind blown empty bellies. MostMothers there had long ceasedTo care but not this one; she held

A ghost smile between her teethAnd in her eyes the ghost of a mother'sPride as she combed the rust-colouredHair left on his skull and then -Singing in her eyes - began carefullyTo part it...In another life thisMust have been a little dailyAct of no consequence before hisBreakfast and school; now sheDid it like putting flowersOn a tiny grave.

A discussion over the poem

There has always been poverty in the world. Maybe, a wealthy person does notvalue what he has, while a poor person is grateful when he has a little money tofeed his family.Just by reading the title Refugee mother and Child we have an idea of whatthis poem will deal with: refugees. The poet conveys the way of life of refugeechildren, their mothers, and their emotions. How they deal daily with death, andthey have to simply accept it. The tone is pessimistic, hopeless and gloomy,

since it makes us realize what is happening in the poor countries in the world.The sad truth is presented harshly, though we may not want to accept it and wetry to act indifferently to it many times.Achebe portrays how an African mother suffers because she knows her son isdying and she can do nothing to stop it,

[] a mother's tendernessfor a son she soon would have to forget.

It compares the situation of Africa, where there is too much poverty, and peopledie of hunger, with a common life in any common country, where children havean education, and can have a meal everyday,

[] In another life thismust have been a little daily


6/7

act of no consequence before hisbreakfast and school; now she

did it like putting flowerson a tiny grave.

This is a very shocking stanza because we get to know that this occurseveryday, lots of children die daily, and apparently, there isnt much we can doabout it..The author was born in Ogidi, Nigeria, so he perfectly understands the wholesituation, and from my point of view, in this poem he wants to make everybodyaware of his peoples suffering in his country, and make us value and thankevery little belonging that we have. The mother in the composition knows thatshe can not do anything, but she still keeps taking care of his son until his lastminute. Achebe relates perfectly this image with the idea of Mary and her child,Jesus. The ideal image of motherhood,

No Madonna and Child could touch

that picture []

I agree with the author, because many times we forget to thank everything wehave, everything our parents do for us, but when I read this poem, and I seepictures of kids who dont even have something to eat, it makes me thank everylittle part of my life.I also think that what the poet intends to do by writing this poem was to help hiscountry. All around the world, people know about the poverty that Africa suffers,and as this poem is so shocking, it makes us want to help. Nowadays, there aremany organisations that help, and take food for children and their mothers, soChinua Achebe may have completed his desire.To conclude, I believe this is a very impressive and shocking poem, since it isvery realistic, and tells the bare truth. Also the fact that, as the author is African,he perfectly understands his peoples situation, and can describe it better thananyone else.

This candidate has analysed and evaluated the ideas expressed in the poem quite at

length. She has also included her own, relating them to the text. So, I allot this

reading 9 points out of 10.


7/7

Draft

I'm lostI don't know what to do

Too lazy to thinkWish I could sleepI'm full of ideassomehow I'm lost,somehow Im bored,

my mind is just blank...no ideas coming back

This was my first piece. I wrote this because I didnt know what to

write, so I just started writing how I felt, and that is what now, withsome modifications, turned to be Assignment 2.

milli hermida's folder oct 20th

Documents