Six months ago I started this Blog without knowing even how to use it!... now, I cannot finish writing on it.
When I read my first essay, I can realize the way I improved. I cannot know how I could write those kind of things!, with a lot of mistakes!..
I really enjoyed this class and my teacher.
What I did not like was that I just have like 4 comments in the whole semester!!! where are my peers???.. I would like to share my ideas and feeling with the rest of my classmates, but I think nobody is interested in writing as I am.
I want to thank my teacher Armando and dedicate this Blogg to him.
Thanks for your comments, feedback and tips!!
With love...
Pily
Thursday, December 10, 2009
SIXTH ESSAY: POEM
To Who I Love Most
"What unspoken words jealously shield the secrets of your soul?"
Pilar García Olivar
Pilar García Olivar
Do not go... your absence hurts me.
There are many unknown things that an instant between your arms would be enough
to know them all.
Do not go... the night is dark and furious, and even everything is hidden in the shadows, a secret wonder lays in wait for you: my love.
That other shade that covers guilty, that other sea that calms desire, that other flame that reduces to ashes my anxiety.
Do not go, you were since eternity and I knew you then.
God gave me this moment between moments so, trough my body, He could know his creation.
Do not go... do not leave me.
What you are taking from me is not even the smallest part of myself.
You cannot understand universe just looking at it, nor from distance desires are satisfied.
Stay my love, and let your body be calmed in my lips, as the dawn calms its ardor in the whiteness.
The night has involved us in its darkness and everything is vanished and nothing else matter besides the nudity that wait for us.
Do not go... stay here in my place.
Let me discover the mysteries of beauty,
let me conquer Paradise,
let me paint your body with delights of poetry,
let me comfort your dreams and touch your wishes.
Night is silent and rumors of sins are forgiven.
Do not go... my madness consumes me.
I do not know if it is my body or ours what I am feeling.
Your touch is a great wind that shakes my skin and loses it.
Your lips are the altar in which I raise my prayers.
Your eyes are the firebrand that provokes my weaknesses.
Your legs are the prisons that enchain my defeats and exalt my victories.
night is distant... love me, before the last petal falls.
There are many unknown things that an instant between your arms would be enough
to know them all.
Do not go... the night is dark and furious, and even everything is hidden in the shadows, a secret wonder lays in wait for you: my love.
That other shade that covers guilty, that other sea that calms desire, that other flame that reduces to ashes my anxiety.
Do not go, you were since eternity and I knew you then.
God gave me this moment between moments so, trough my body, He could know his creation.
Do not go... do not leave me.
What you are taking from me is not even the smallest part of myself.
You cannot understand universe just looking at it, nor from distance desires are satisfied.
Stay my love, and let your body be calmed in my lips, as the dawn calms its ardor in the whiteness.
The night has involved us in its darkness and everything is vanished and nothing else matter besides the nudity that wait for us.
Do not go... stay here in my place.
Let me discover the mysteries of beauty,
let me conquer Paradise,
let me paint your body with delights of poetry,
let me comfort your dreams and touch your wishes.
Night is silent and rumors of sins are forgiven.
Do not go... my madness consumes me.
I do not know if it is my body or ours what I am feeling.
Your touch is a great wind that shakes my skin and loses it.
Your lips are the altar in which I raise my prayers.
Your eyes are the firebrand that provokes my weaknesses.
Your legs are the prisons that enchain my defeats and exalt my victories.
night is distant... love me, before the last petal falls.
SIXTH ESSAY: CREATIVE ESSAY
Long time ago, my soul was roaming through the barriers of time; lonely and somnambulist was lamenting her horrible fortune of all the adversities that were hunting her.
One of those lonely and cold nights, her voice was raised, resounding all above the starry sky. She asked to her Lord to see inside her heart; she did not know herself white nor pure, but she believed in Paradise´s redemption. Her tears were like bitter drops of bile, that made her remember her past and condemn her for her sins; her face, hidden in darkness, could not be recognize by those who once loved her; the whispers in her lips had a melody of anguish and pain; however, she believed in redemption of Paradise.
That was long time ago... now, there is someone who takes the best part of me and shows it as a beautiful flag pierced on his heart; that is why I wrote this poem for him, because he is whom I love most and care about.
The entire poem was written by me. Each word expresses how I am feeling about him, how I see him and how much I want him. Let me tell you in mortal words what I want to confess him.
In the first verse I want him to know that there is long Life to be lived, the path is long and still unwalked, there are too many secrets unrevealed, many things that I still do not know, but just a moment into his existence would be enough for me to discover and live those wonderful mysteries of Life.
The third verse reveals the essence of the poem.
Since my lover was in God´s mind, before the Creation, I knew him, I loved him; we were since eternity and from that moment on, our Creator delights with our love.
What he knows about me, what he sees, is nothing yet. There are many things inside me that I can offer him. Here I am, opened-heart, dedicating him my entire soul. I ask him to know me, to discover me, to accept me. On the other hand, I want him to let me enter into his world, be part of his life. I wrote how I see him and want him: These things are written in the fourth and fifth verses.
In the last verse I need to tell him that all I feed from him is making me crazy, I want to start a life time by his side right now! I tell him how I feel about my love and desires without care what people think.
I cannot say anymore now; words, do not know how to express my emotions, they are not enough.
I just know that I still believe in Paradise´s redemption and I am thankful, because my Lord heard my prayers.
Sixth Essay: Outline
OUTLINE
I.- INTRODUCTION: How this poem was born.
II.- What do I mean in the first and second verse.
III.- The essence of the poem (third verse).
IV.- What do I mean in the fourth, fifth and sisth verse.
V.- CONCLUSION
II.- What do I mean in the first and second verse.
III.- The essence of the poem (third verse).
IV.- What do I mean in the fourth, fifth and sisth verse.
V.- CONCLUSION
Sunday, November 22, 2009
FIFTH ESSAY: COMPARE AND CONSTRAST ESSAY
Animals vs. Human
Language
Language
“There is a language that goes beyond words”
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
Throughout life, many claims about the greatness and superiority of man over other animals have been proved. For centuries, science has
tried to unravel the 
mystery surrounding the human language: is it an exclusive gift for mankind?
In the recent decades, many scientists have dedicated their lives to research about this controversial topic, some supporting the belief that humans are the only animals capable of producing language, such as: Noam Chomsky, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Hockett, et al.; but on the other hand, we have those who claim that other animals are also capable of producing such language, even are able to understand human language, they are: Allen and Beatrice Gardner, David Premack, Duane Rumbaugh, etc.
To have a better understanding of these positions, we should first define what is that what they call language and how it differs from other forms of communication; but this is precisely from this point when the dispute between the two motions begins. From the point of view of the first position, language can be defined as a complex system composed of abstract symbols which aim to promote or reach communication. However, for the second view, language is seen as "an infinitely open system of communication"(Rumbaugh, 1977).
In the subsequent paragraphs there is a briefly explanation about which the characteristics of both views are.
All animals possess the appropriate physiological structure to articulate sounds in order to transmit certain messages. According to Karen McComb, a specialist of mammal communication, animals have the talent to manipulate humans to get what they want or need. McComb has done several experiments with her own cat Pepo, making her sure that cats, which have at least nineteen different meows, use their vocal ability to attract their master´s attention. “We believe that cats have learned to modulate their vocalizations dramatically, exaggerating the meows and purrs as they had been observing can generate a positive response in humans.” (McComb, K. 2009). Just as cats, other vertebrates have the innate capacity to manipulate their own mouth structure to produce different types of sounds in order to communicate their needs.
Humans, as the most evolved animals, have the same skill; How many times we have softened our tone of voice because we want our daddy to buy us that delicious candy or thickened our voice in order to pretend being someone else and make a joke by telephone?. The point here is not to show who is more manipulative, but to show that both, animals and humans, employ language to manage it at their convenience. However, the distinction between them is that, although both born with the physical structure, the only ones who transmit the knowledge of how to use language are mankind. People teach to their children about the language: words, meanings, grammar, syntax, etc. this is what Saussure calls Cultural Transmission. For individuals take a long time to speak or write; Trough interaction they develop language and teach it to others. Humans pass the language, animals not.
If we are more flexible and accept that language is not only verbal, apes tend to have a great possibility to be considered creators of language just as humans are, because for some unknown reason apes´ vocal chords are not skilled for speaking; Nevertheless they have another surprising faculty.
In 1970 at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center a female chimpanzee was born: Lana. According to the Yerkes Center, Lana´s name derives from LANguage Analogue project that consisting in a research to measure the chimpanzee´s capacity to develop language. This project was based on the creation of a keyboard with symbols on it, each symbol represented certain meaning; The keyboard was called: Lexigram. Lana was the first chimpanzee taught how to use the Lexigram. The outcome of the project surprised more than one since Lana demonstrated herself of being capable of understanding the symbols and associate them with new ideas. Her progress was more visible when she began to create novel utterances with grammatical sequence applied to her life, even she could understand her trainers´ language. On the other hand, the creator of the “Innatist Theory”, Noam Chosmky, says that language is something innate and unique of human beings, “trying to teach linguistic skills to animals is irracional, like trying to teach people to flap their arms and fly” […] “whatever the chimps are doing is not even homologous as far as we know” (Chomsky, N. 1995). Chomsky believes that just human brain has this Language Acquisition Device which is from here where humans have the skill of producing language.
Ferdinand de Saussure mentioned that other of the Properties of Language is the ability to produce new words, sentences, ideas, structures, with new meaning: Creativity/Productivity. Would Lana had this ability to produce new concepts and was able to give them new meanings?
In 1970 the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) was founded by the Dr. Louis Herman, who was interested in dolphin cognition and communication. Since its creation the KBMML has been researching about water mammals´ language; Its most known research about dolphin communication is Akeakamai´s project. In order to prove that animals are also able to produce and understand language, Louis Herman built a machine with gesture symbols which function was to ask Akeakamai, a female dolphin, about absent objects; The dolphin had the opportunity to press whether the “yes or no” button to report the absence or presence of those objects; Besides of being demonstrated that Akeakamai understood perfectly the relation between the symbols and the asked objects, was shown that she was competent to make an association of time. In other words, she could identify if the objects were missing or not.
Linguistics considers that Displacement, is the most important property that language has to have. Displacement makes reference to the faculty of making reference of things trough time and space, this means be able to mention the past and future, things that are not present in the moment. Our mother can tell us about her wedding day: how her wedding dress was, how the cake tasted, what was the scent of the flowers, how many guests were there, was she nervous or not?, etc. And we can imagine her story even without pictures. We can remember our first date of love, how the first kiss felt or imagine us traveling in Europe. Can Pepo, Lana or Akeakamai remember what happened to them one month ago or imagine where will they be in three years? Maybe their memory can be activated because of a smell, but nothing more than that.
Maybe the problem here is not that humans believe they are superior to other species, but we do not agree. Perhaps the concept of language is not well defined or we do not understand it; The confusion between language and communication might be what is causing the debate. It is important to differentiate between the two. In few words, we can say that communication is the exchange of information between s sender and a receiver, through this, ideas, emotions, thoughts, feeling, etc can be transmitted; on the other hand, language is a tool which leads to communication, not strictly spoken, because we have different types of language, such as: body language, by symbols, written, etc. What is for sure is that spoken language differs from animals to humans; Just as they can not use written words with our complex signs (morphemes), we can not meow or bark in order to communicate.
mystery surrounding the human language: is it an exclusive gift for mankind?In the recent decades, many scientists have dedicated their lives to research about this controversial topic, some supporting the belief that humans are the only animals capable of producing language, such as: Noam Chomsky, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Hockett, et al.; but on the other hand, we have those who claim that other animals are also capable of producing such language, even are able to understand human language, they are: Allen and Beatrice Gardner, David Premack, Duane Rumbaugh, etc.
To have a better understanding of these positions, we should first define what is that what they call language and how it differs from other forms of communication; but this is precisely from this point when the dispute between the two motions begins. From the point of view of the first position, language can be defined as a complex system composed of abstract symbols which aim to promote or reach communication. However, for the second view, language is seen as "an infinitely open system of communication"(Rumbaugh, 1977).
In the subsequent paragraphs there is a briefly explanation about which the characteristics of both views are.
All animals possess the appropriate physiological structure to articulate sounds in order to transmit certain messages. According to Karen McComb, a specialist of mammal communication, animals have the talent to manipulate humans to get what they want or need. McComb has done several experiments with her own cat Pepo, making her sure that cats, which have at least nineteen different meows, use their vocal ability to attract their master´s attention. “We believe that cats have learned to modulate their vocalizations dramatically, exaggerating the meows and purrs as they had been observing can generate a positive response in humans.” (McComb, K. 2009). Just as cats, other vertebrates have the innate capacity to manipulate their own mouth structure to produce different types of sounds in order to communicate their needs.
Humans, as the most evolved animals, have the same skill; How many times we have softened our tone of voice because we want our daddy to buy us that delicious candy or thickened our voice in order to pretend being someone else and make a joke by telephone?. The point here is not to show who is more manipulative, but to show that both, animals and humans, employ language to manage it at their convenience. However, the distinction between them is that, although both born with the physical structure, the only ones who transmit the knowledge of how to use language are mankind. People teach to their children about the language: words, meanings, grammar, syntax, etc. this is what Saussure calls Cultural Transmission. For individuals take a long time to speak or write; Trough interaction they develop language and teach it to others. Humans pass the language, animals not.
If we are more flexible and accept that language is not only verbal, apes tend to have a great possibility to be considered creators of language just as humans are, because for some unknown reason apes´ vocal chords are not skilled for speaking; Nevertheless they have another surprising faculty.
In 1970 at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center a female chimpanzee was born: Lana. According to the Yerkes Center, Lana´s name derives from LANguage Analogue project that consisting in a research to measure the chimpanzee´s capacity to develop language. This project was based on the creation of a keyboard with symbols on it, each symbol represented certain meaning; The keyboard was called: Lexigram. Lana was the first chimpanzee taught how to use the Lexigram. The outcome of the project surprised more than one since Lana demonstrated herself of being capable of understanding the symbols and associate them with new ideas. Her progress was more visible when she began to create novel utterances with grammatical sequence applied to her life, even she could understand her trainers´ language. On the other hand, the creator of the “Innatist Theory”, Noam Chosmky, says that language is something innate and unique of human beings, “trying to teach linguistic skills to animals is irracional, like trying to teach people to flap their arms and fly” […] “whatever the chimps are doing is not even homologous as far as we know” (Chomsky, N. 1995). Chomsky believes that just human brain has this Language Acquisition Device which is from here where humans have the skill of producing language.
Ferdinand de Saussure mentioned that other of the Properties of Language is the ability to produce new words, sentences, ideas, structures, with new meaning: Creativity/Productivity. Would Lana had this ability to produce new concepts and was able to give them new meanings?
In 1970 the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) was founded by the Dr. Louis Herman, who was interested in dolphin cognition and communication. Since its creation the KBMML has been researching about water mammals´ language; Its most known research about dolphin communication is Akeakamai´s project. In order to prove that animals are also able to produce and understand language, Louis Herman built a machine with gesture symbols which function was to ask Akeakamai, a female dolphin, about absent objects; The dolphin had the opportunity to press whether the “yes or no” button to report the absence or presence of those objects; Besides of being demonstrated that Akeakamai understood perfectly the relation between the symbols and the asked objects, was shown that she was competent to make an association of time. In other words, she could identify if the objects were missing or not.
Linguistics considers that Displacement, is the most important property that language has to have. Displacement makes reference to the faculty of making reference of things trough time and space, this means be able to mention the past and future, things that are not present in the moment. Our mother can tell us about her wedding day: how her wedding dress was, how the cake tasted, what was the scent of the flowers, how many guests were there, was she nervous or not?, etc. And we can imagine her story even without pictures. We can remember our first date of love, how the first kiss felt or imagine us traveling in Europe. Can Pepo, Lana or Akeakamai remember what happened to them one month ago or imagine where will they be in three years? Maybe their memory can be activated because of a smell, but nothing more than that.
Maybe the problem here is not that humans believe they are superior to other species, but we do not agree. Perhaps the concept of language is not well defined or we do not understand it; The confusion between language and communication might be what is causing the debate. It is important to differentiate between the two. In few words, we can say that communication is the exchange of information between s sender and a receiver, through this, ideas, emotions, thoughts, feeling, etc can be transmitted; on the other hand, language is a tool which leads to communication, not strictly spoken, because we have different types of language, such as: body language, by symbols, written, etc. What is for sure is that spoken language differs from animals to humans; Just as they can not use written words with our complex signs (morphemes), we can not meow or bark in order to communicate.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Fifth Essay Outline
Animals vs Humans
Language
I.-Introduction: What is language?
II.-Cultural Transmition
III.-Creativity/Productivity
IV.-Displacement
V.-Conclusion
Followed pattern: Point-by-point
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
FOURTH ESSAY: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Playing God´s game or Giving chances?
Have you ever wished you could be in two different places at the same time?, or could have a twin who answers your exams instead of you while you are on a love date?
In the Universe there are a lot of different livings, each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, abilities and characteristics. There is no possibility of having two equal. This balance, where ones have and the others do not, is presicely what has drawn the attention of the scientists. How can we provide benefits to the weakest?, how can we create an equality between individuals?
Cloning means to create two identical bodies with all their unique characteristics and genetic dotation. There are two types of Cloning: the "natural" process in which identic twins are created when, at thebeginning of the embryonic process, the zygote gives rise to two identic embryos, also called twins; and the other process in which, from the somatic cells of an adult, an exact copy of the individual is obtained. This process is more difficult than it looks, but imagine that scientists could clone almost anything: animals, plants, organs and even human beings. Would this be beneficial?, or it could bring alarming disadvantages?
The suffering of a child with a burnt face, the endless waiting for an organ transplant and the pain of losing one member of the body can be simply eradicated with a DNA sample in order to create a new organ or tissue that subsequently will replace the damaged one. The famous actor Christopher Reeve, who died on October 10th, 2004, suffered of a spinal cord injury because of a horse accident that left him totally immobile. After years of teatment and recovery, the actor created the "Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation", in which scientists do researches about stem cells as a solution for the affected patients. Reeve died waiting to walk again, but he left behind, as a legacy, a solution that is hosted on cloning human cells. But, in the other hand, how fast in the Earth is human population growing? Some experts expect that, by the end of this 2009, the world population will be of 6.795 billion (USA Census Bureau). Imagine how many people that means!! Death is part of the natural Cycle of Life, but some people do not accept it and try to pospone that moment. Terminal illnesses are probably a mesure to control overpopulation, but people still clinging to live forever and this is exactly what cloning offers to them, it contributes to increase the overpopulation on Earth.
According to the World Wildlife Found there are around 200 Siberian Tigers in our planet, as it ranks first on the list of endangered animals. As tigers, Gigant Pandas and Gorillas are examples of animals that we are losing! but, could Cloning be able to return them to us? Some people think that Cloning can bring to life those extinct animals in order to preserve Nature! In November 2000, a baby gaur bull was born and was called Noah (ACT, October 2000). The gaur is a large wild ox with a hump on its back and white or yellow kind of stockings on the legs. These animals are on the list of the endangered species because they are hunted as a sport in Asia.
Although animal cloning can restore those losts or contribute to the preservation of the few that remain, the real problem is not the extinction of animals, but people´s education. Those who are against cloning believe that the root of the problem is the lack of care and respect for other living being by humans. "Instead to try cloning animals, she should try to change our thinking and really care about our environment" (Greenpeace, 2008). People who are in favor of cloning, as a tool of animals´preservation, will be the first to think that there is no reason to worry if the elephants are being killed for their tusks and tigers for their skin, after all science can create more.
Although animal cloning can restore those losts or contribute to the preservation of the few that remain, the real problem is not the extinction of animals, but people´s education. Those who are against cloning believe that the root of the problem is the lack of care and respect for other living being by humans. "Instead to try cloning animals, she should try to change our thinking and really care about our environment" (Greenpeace, 2008). People who are in favor of cloning, as a tool of animals´preservation, will be the first to think that there is no reason to worry if the elephants are being killed for their tusks and tigers for their skin, after all science can create more.
At last, but not least, we have the most controversial part of the Cloning issue.
If we could genetically manipulate the embryos it would help to equip them with skills and abilities that will improve their adaptation to the environment and provide them a better future, what kind of parents would not like that for their children?. From the beginning the gender of the human could be chosen by the parents; if the baby, because of his genetics, is prone to diabetes, myopia, heart problems, etc, all this can be avoided!! In 1997 a movie called Gattaca , produced by Andrew Niccol, demonstrated us exactly these advantages. Besides of doting humans with more skills, Cloning can provide a solution for infertility couples and people who have lost loved people."When all moral criteria are removed, scientific research involving th sources of life becomes a denial of the being and the dignity of the person" (Pope John Paul II, 2003). Would laboratory humans have soul such as natual ones?. According to the Bible God is who gives spirit to the man, "...the Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of the life, and so man became a living being." From this point of veiw, people against Cloning say that clones would not have that divine touch like "natural" does.
It seems that Cloning can provide us a lot of advantages and give chances to the humanity, heal illnesses, avoid genetic problems, return being from death or extinction, but will we be capable to handle the comsecuences of these "benefits"?, are we willing to be governed by a superior human race?, but are we really sure about defying God and take his place as the creator of life?... because I do not.
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