MY COMMENTS

I have commented on İrem's and Neval's journal entries.

http://iremoyku.blogspot.com/2013/06/aricle-reflection-3.html

http://neval-ankara.blogspot.com/2013/06/ants-reflection3.html

I have commented on İnci's and Dilek's multi-media entries.

http://inci010911.blogspot.com/2013/05/journal-entry-3-multi-media-living-in.html

http://dilekfazlioglu.blogspot.com/2013/04/multi-media-entry-2-guerrilla-marketing.html

ARTICLE ENTRY 3 (MULTI-MEDIA) LET YOUR CHILDREN GO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0slEmIKyUJQ

The women in the video discuss whether children should live with their family or not. At the end of the video they conclude that parents should help their children to be prepared for life, and then they should let them go. I disagree with them because life is not like an exam. People cannot be prepared for the life. They just learn everything by experiencing them and living. For example, while a baby learns how to walk, parents can help him/her. However, he or she should fall down over and over in order to learn it.

One of the women in the video says that the children in their twenties are not mature enough. I disagree with her because the adults in their twenties are psychologically healthy and can make their own decision if they get their parents’ love when they are children. What makes them immature is their family in my opinion. If parents let their children make their decision and be free, this provides them to take responsibilities of their actions. For example, if a mother says to her children that you cannot do this, so let me do it, this discourages the children. Moreover, whenever they want to do it, they will need to their mother because they think they cannot do it even they are mature enough. A baby two years old wants to eat his meal by himself, and if you let him do it, at first he cannot do it perfectly, but when he is three years old, he can eat his meal on his own. However, if his parents do not let him to eat by himself, when even he is five years old, he wants his mother to help him.   

A baby or a child may always need their parents. However, the children who are their twenties generally do not need their mother or father. Therefore, so as to help the children in their twenties, parents let them leave home and live alone in my opinion. When their children need them, they can ask for help. The best help for children is to trust them. This will make them self-confident and successful.

ARTICLE ENRTY 3 : AT HOME WITH MAMMA

 In the article entitled, ‘At Home with Mamma’, Antonella Cappon states that the kids who leave home at early ages are ones who are missing something in terms of affection, and the problems come from a lack of affection. Moreover, she thinks that there are no people who are psychologically unbalanced because they got too much love or protection at home. I partially agree with Antonella Cappon because children should stay with their family until 20 not 30 ages for some reasons.

Firstly, Antonella Cappon is right because children need to be protected by their families and they need their parent’s love and affection, so they should stay with their families. A lack of parent’s love may affect the children psychologically. Therefore, people may make lots of mistakes and wrong decisions due to a lack of affection for their lives. Moreover, most of the children at early ages may start smoking, using alcohol and drugs. A lack of affection lies at the bottom of murders, suicides and crimes. In my opinion, in order to decrease the rate of suicides, crimes and using drugs, the children should live with their parents and get their love.

On the other hand, I disagree with her because the people in their twenties should learn how to stand on their own legs in my opinion. Both men and women need to learn certain things like cooking, ironing, earning money and solving their problems before they get married. In order to learn them, they should live alone after they get their parent’s affection. Living with family after 20 ages may make the people lazy and incompetent. When they face with a problem, they always trust their mother or father because they know that their family always helps them to solve the problems. Therefore, when they have to solve it alone, they cannot do it. Moreover, when they have a problem with their husband or wife, they do not try to solve it together, on the contrary, they always ask for advice from their parents even in a little family problem. This may cause great problem, further discussion and even divorce. People at their twenties should live without their family at least in order to learn how to solve their own problems alone.

In conclusion, children need their parent’s protection and affection until certain ages and then they should live alone because parent’s affection may not lead the children psychologically unbalanced, but it may cause them lazy and incompetent.   

ARTICLE ENTRY 2 (MULTI-MEDIA) ADVANTAGES OF INTERNET MARKETING

           The video is about the advantages of Internet marketing. I chose this video because I want to look at the internet from a different perspective. It claims that the internet marketing is easier, faster and cheaper. I want to focus on two advantages of internet marketing.

          The first one is that the internet marketing is easier to reach than television or radio advertising. Today, most of the people in world spend their time on the internet while they are working, studying, watching the news, reading books or even listening to music. Therefore, people are more likely to see the advertisements on the internet. While a person is searching anything or just surfing on the net, he/she encounters a lot of advertisement.  However, in order to reach the advertisements on the television, people need to watch the advertisements, but people generally do not want to watch ads and change the channel when they see the advertisements.

         The other one is that companies may have more potential customer thanks to internet marketing with less money because they do not need to papers. Taking out advertisements in newspaper increases the advertising costs for companies. Moreover, just the people who read the newspaper in which the ads took out can see the advertisements. Therefore, internet advertising is cheaper and more profitable for advertisement companies.

         In conclusion, the internet gives a lot of advantages to us and makes our lives easier.  

ARTICLE ENTRY 2 : I SURF, THEREFORE, I AM

In the article entitled, ‘I Surf, Therefore, I am ‘, the writer indicates that surfing on the internet is not beneficial, and it leads children to read fewer books. Moreover, he thinks that reading books and listening to the people who know what they are talking about are much more beneficial than surfing on the internet. I totally disagree with the writer because surfing on the internet enables people to reach more books, more information about a lot of subjects such as social and political issues.

Firstly, people cannot buy all books which they want to read, and they may not have enough time to read all of them. In this case, they can read electronic books, and if there is no time to read the whole book, they can read its summary. Moreover, they can read the ideas of people who read the books and can share their own ideas about the book. In addition to reading books and sharing ideas, especially students can reach a lot of online dictionaries while they are studying. Searching the meanings of the words in different dictionaries provides them with more reliable information. In my opinion, people easily exchange their information by reading people’s ideas and reach more reliable information by reading different books.

Secondly, people can reach lots of information in the internet faster. Today, most people in the world share their ideas especially about political and social issues on social networks like facebook and twitter or on their own blog. Thanks to the social networks and blogs, people can discuss the issues easily and millions of people participate in the discussion. Moreover, internet enables us to read articles in other languages, so people can find out the ideas of the people from different country.

In short, people can reach more books cheaply and more information easily thanks to internet. They also can share their ideas and find out other people’s ideas by reading blogs. In my opinion, reading the blogs to learn people’s ideas about an issue is easier and more useful than finding the people talking about the issue to listen contrary to the writer’s idea.  

REFLECTION JOURNAL 4 (MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY) -- STOP GUN CONTROL

This video has been shot by the proponents of gun control. These people want to ban guns. I chose this video because I want to look at the issue from the proponents’ perspective. In my opinion, most of the people in this video made their decision that gun must be banned with their emotions, and they want the citizens of America and their leaders to be emotional. However, this issue cannot be solved through emotion in my opinion.

In most of the places they have said in the video, using and carrying guns are illegal. What is an important fact about the prohibition is that there are a lot of massacres in the places especially in schools. One of them is at an elementary school in Connecticut, where twenty-six people most of whom are students are killed. The main reason of the massacre is that teachers cannot defend themselves and their students from murderers just because carrying guns is illegal in schools. Therefore, it is obvious that prohibition is not a solution for stopping the criminals. It just leaves the victims defenseless. Like inhibitive laws, restrictive ones will not be a solution for decreasing the use of guns and massacres.

Some may thinks that the safest way for self-defense is to trust the laws or call 911. In most of the dangerous cases, neither of them is a solution. For example, when a thief or a murderer comes to a home at midnight with a gun, the people who live there may have call 911, but the murderer most probably shoots them as soon as he realizes the situation. In most of the school shootings, people try to call 911 when they feel in dangerous, but they have already been shot before the help. If it were a solution, twenty six people would not die in Connecticut. In conclusion, trying to ban guns is not a logical solution, and it just provides an advantage for criminals.

REFLECTION JOURNAL 4 -- A SAFER COUNRTY WITH GUNS

At first sight, taking the measures to expand gun control or making the gun use illegal may be seen as a logical decision. The people whose children were killed in an attack may strictly want to abolish the right to have guns because they may express their thoughts based on their emotions. However, the opponents of the gun control in the Senate of America rejected the measures to expand the gun control. Although some proponents for the gun control are angry or sad about the decision, it is more logical for some reasons in my opinion.

First of all, restrictions for guns may make the use of the guns attractive. According to the research, when Americans learned that the government may take some measures to expand the gun control, the rate of gun sales reached at the record level. Unlike the popular belief, this obviously shows us that only the possibility of restrictions for guns made the sales of the guns increase. As for background checks, there are already some checks in America, but the criminals or insane people do not obey them. When the background checks are stricter than now, there will be no change for them at all. The strict checks will just lead to have guns harder for the victims. Any restrictions for gun just make victims vulnerable.

Secondly, people need to protect themselves, and they can do this thanks to guns like handguns and the possibility of carrying guns. When the criminals have a gun, the victims cannot protect themselves through anything else except for guns. If the victims have handguns, they can be in a better position. It is almost impossible to take all the guns from all the criminals back or prevent them from taking guns, so the best solution may be to help victims to take and carry guns. The possibility or suspect of carrying guns may also protect victims. If a criminal does not know whether the victim has a gun or not, then the criminal has to think twice before he attacks to the victim. For example, a woman who is outside at night for any reason may be comfortable thanks to her gun and the criminal who intends to attack or assault to her dare not to do this just because he is not sure about whether she can defend herself or not. Not only guns but also the possibility of carrying them may protect victims especially women better than anything else even laws.

All in all, instead of the expanding gun control, the government should encourage the citizens to have and carry concealed guns. Restrictions for guns do not decrease the crime rate. On the contrary, they just increase crimes and give advantages to criminals. The guns and the possibility of carrying guns are a better protector than laws in my opinion. Therefore, in order to protect ourselves, we need to carry guns regardless of the claims of the proponents of the gun control. 

  

REFLECTION JOURNAL 3 ( MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY) --- STOP PROCRASTINATING

This video is about university life, and it tells the night just before a final exam. I chose it because it reflects how the students delay their studies effectively. The boy in the video wants to study, but he does too many things before starting to study. He thinks that he can better concentrate on his work when he tidies his room. Therefore, he clears his table and makes his bed. After that, he feels hungry and eats. When he again decides to study, he tidies his lecture notes. Then, he decides to have a shower, so he thinks he may feel relieved and study better. In short, he does everything he can do in order not to study. The thing which the boy in the video does is exactly procrastination. He always delays something and thinks that he will do them later. However, as long as he does not stop procrastinating, he will do them at last night at every turn.

I chose another video which is about procrastination for you. Actually, it is a song and most of us may know it because we listened to it in our course ‘oral communication’. Still, I want to share it with you especially for those who may not know.

 I like most its rhythm and lyrics. Like the other video, it tells how we as students delay our tasks like writing essays or even starting a diet. After you watch these videos, you can be aware of your procrastination if you also do it. From now on, you should stop procrastinating and do your assignment. :)

REFLECTION JOURNAL 3 -- REASONS AND SOLUTIONS FOR PROCRASTINATION from my perspective

   

Procrastination is to avoid doing some stressful tasks by delaying them or replacing them with more enjoyable ones. Procrastination is a psychological issue, so it depends on us and our will to be able to overcome it. I chose this topic to write about because I am interested in psychology and I like trying to find reasons for psychological problems. I think the first step to solve a problem is to be aware of it and the most effective way is to find its reasons. In my opinion, there are three possible reasons for procrastination.

The first reason is to be afraid of starting or doing the task because it is a stressful, boring or difficult task. For example, students generally delay to study the exams until the last day or even the last night. In the last day, they realize that they have to study even if the subject is boring or difficult, and they start to study it.

 The second reason is just laziness in my opinion. For example, some student is too lazy to start their assignment.  When these students start to study or do their homework, they have the capability of finishing the task in a short time and they can do their task perfectly. However, their problem is just to start to do things.

 The last one is to desire to be perfect. These people really want to do their tasks, but they also want their task to be perfect. They may think it will be better when they finish it later. They do not do anything expect for delaying to do it.

In order to solve this problem, you need to determine which group you are in. If you are in the first group, do not be afraid of anything even if it is the hardest thing in the world. You will study or do your tasks sooner or later. Therefore, you should prefer doing it sooner not later because this provides you with much more time. You need to be just brave.

 If you are in the second group, it is enough for you to remember that you can do it in a short time, and then you will have time to watch TV serials or to play games like football, basketball or tennis and to do anything you like. Do not be lazy and just start to do it.

 If you are in the last group, I think this is the hardest one to solve; it depends on your degree of perfectionism. You need to expect that it is a problem. Even you do your task now or you wait until the end of the world to do it, it will be same just because humans are limited and nobody is perfect. The people who are not able to accept this fact need to psychological support because it may be worse than thought.

 In conclusion, what is important is to be aware of our problems and weaknesses and try to solve them.

REFLECTION JOURNAL 2 ( MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY)

STEREOTYPES IN ADVERTISEMENTS

This video is an advertisement and has a stereotype that blonde women are dumb. Commercial companies use stereotypes in order to make their advertisements more funny and effective. They do not create new stereotypes, but they reinforce the stereotypes which people have already known. In my opinion, there are two important points to be mentioned and emphasized in the video.

The first point is about effects of the stereotypes on advertisements. Think about the advertisement in the video. The stereotype which is used in it insults blonde women, but the people who watch this advertisement have fun like us involuntarily. In addition to make ads fun, using stereotypes affects consumers. And also, it may make the product which is introduced in the advertisement more attractive. In my opinion, the companies use stereotypes deliberately because people can find something which is familiar with them. When they watch advertisements in television or internet, finding a slice of their life makes the advertisements more reliable. For example, when a man watch an advertisement in which a woman speaks too much, he says she is just like my wife. This may make the advertisement more reliable and funny for him. In conclusion, because the stereotypes in advertisements affect and attract consumers, the commercial companies make profit thanks to the stereotypes.

The second point is about the opposite situation that is effects of the advertisement on stereotypes. As I mentioned before, commercial companies reinforce the stereotypes which is already known. Because stereotypes are generalization about a group of people or gender, they affect people’s thought about the group. They mostly affect people negatively, and they may make people give a bias to the members of the group. In order to overcome the stereotypes and their negative effects we should forget about them, but it is harder to ignore them because we can encounter with them again and again in a day due to advertisements.  

To sum up, because advertisements use and reinforce the stereotypes, advertisements have more effects on us and may prevent us from overcoming and forgetting about stereotypes. Stereotypes may increase the profits of the commercial companies, but the commercial companies negatively affect our lives and thoughts by using stereotypes in my opinion.

REFLECTION JOURNAL 2

EFFECTS OF THE STEREOTYPES

Stereotype is an oversimplified generalization about a group or a gender. For example, women are bad drivers, or blacks are good at basketball. It can be true in general but cannot be true for each member of the group which is stereotyped. It can be positive or negative. In both case, it affects the people who are exposed to it. This effect may decrease the performance of the members of the group and also may increase it.

In the first case, a negative stereotype may decrease people’s performance because they worry about confirming it, so they may feel pressure on them. As a result of this pressure, they realize the negative stereotypes which they exposed to. This is stereotype threat. For example, when a woman who is good at math or science but also knows the stereotype that women cannot do math has a math test, she feels pressure on her because of the fear of confirming this stereotype. Therefore, she may perform in this test badly just because of the stereotype and this pressure.

In the second case, people’s performance may increase just thanks to a stereotype. While the stereotype which I mentioned in the previous paragraph decreases the performance of women, it may increase the performance of the men because even if they are bad at math, they have self-confidence thanks to the stereotype. This is stereotype lift.

Both stereotype threat and stereotype lift affect life and performance of the people who are stereotyped. Now we know what stereotype, stereotype threat and stereotype lift are. The aspect of the topic which I am interested in is how we can overcome stereotypes especially stereotype threat because it is a problem to solve. I think there is just one way to solve this problem. It is ignoring the stereotypes.

In order to be able to ignore stereotypes you have to know your abilities and limits. That is, you need to know the subjects and areas which you are good or bad at. Knowing yourself makes you self-confident. This is the first and the most important step to solve this problem in my opinion. Then, you can ignore it just as you ignore the people’s thought about you or your act when you know you did well or you are right. To sum up, think stereotypes as the thoughts of the people who want to judge, limit and envy you and just ignore them.

In conclusion, stereotypes affect our lives, but the important point is the way of this effect. When their effect is positive, you can believe and adopt it, but you should ignore the stereotypes which may affect you or your performance badly and try to turn them into an advantage.

ARTICLE ENTRY 1 : RAPPORT-TALK AND REPORT-TALK

  COMMUNICATION DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Like the differences in their interests and lifestyles between men and women, they are also different in terms of conversational styles. In the article entitled, ‘Rapport-talk and Report-talk’, the writer indicates that men talk for information, whereas women talk for interaction. As a result of this, men do public speaking comfortably, while women feel comfortable doing private speaking. I agree with the writer because either women or men can speak more and comfortably, which changes according to the issue which they talk about and the person who they talk.  

         Firstly, women talk about their feelings much more than men because they are more hypercritical and even pretty details are worth to tell and discuss. On the other hand, men talk to give information or talk about news more than the details or the reasons of the situation because they are result-based instead of hypercritical. Even if a man is emotional, he do not like talk about his life, feelings or problems. For example, think about two people coming from a wedding. One of them is a man and the other one is a woman. When the man is asked how the wedding was, he just says that it was nice and he does not tell the details because just the result is important for him. When the woman is asked the same question, she tells and criticizes any details from bridal dress and groom’s suit to the design of their wedding rings. For another example, when a man read newspaper, he wants to share the news which is about the government and he can discuss it for minutes. In this case, his wife just says that she agrees with his husband. To sum up, both women and men may talk more. It changes according to the subject. In my opinion, the difference in conversation between men and women is the result of their interests and lifestyle.

Secondly, conversational styles of women and men also change with regard to person who they talk in my opinion. Women feel more comfortable and confident doing speaking with her friends and familiar people, while men can talk comfortably and confidently with anybody they do not know. I think its reason is that women need to have shared something with the person they will talk in order to express their feelings and thoughts, but men can talk about current news even if they did not share anything in advance.

In conclusion, not only women but also men can talk more with regard to the topic which they talk about and the people who they will speak with, but in my opinion the important thing is to respect and listen what is talked instead of complaining by saying that he does not speak or she speaks too much.

THE SECOND TERM- REFLECTION JOURNAL 1

THE MAIN REASONS OF THE CULTURE SHOCK

Culture shock is a stressful situation that most people may experience in any part of their lives. I think if the reasons of this problem are determined, it can be overcome. It may be encountered in the cases of going to another city in the same country and abroad. In the first case, the factors which cause culture shock may be food, climate, and unspoken rules. In addition to these elements, there is another factor called language which can lead to the shock in the other case. That is, its main reasons can be categorized under four headings: food, climate, unspoken rules and language.

First of all, food consumption has a really important effect on human’s physical and psychological health. In order to be healthy and happy, balanced nutrition is necessary, so you should be careful about the selection of food. The taste of the food varies from culture to culture, so it may be hard for you to find mouth-pleasing food in abroad especially if you are a discriminating person in terms of food. As a result of cultural differences, food can be one of the main factors of the culture shock.

Secondly, adapting to cold climates is challenging for those growing up in mild climates. For example, they can feel depressive in overcast weather or overdressing can be irritating for them. Some people may think that getting used to climate is easy, but it is as hard as at least adapting different tastes in my opinion.

Another factor of culture shock is about the rules of behavior in the society. Each society has the rules which are not spoken and written but known by those in that society in my opinion. For example, most people walk in the right side of the pavement in order not to collide with each other in Eskişehir. This is not a written rule, but people living there know and obey it.

Language is the last and the most powerful element of the culture shock in my opinion because it is really difficult for a foreign to learn a new language and use it in all areas of his life. Listening and speaking in a foreign language may make you feel tired and alone. 

In conclusion, as I said in the first paragraph, culture shock can be overcome when you are aware of its reasons. You can easily adapt to a new culture by not hesitating to try new tastes, trying winter sports in cold climates, trying to discover the unspoken rules of behavior in the society and making friends through your new language. You should benefit the advantages of discovering a new culture and meeting new people by overcoming culture shock.

JOURNAL SET 3 MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY (REVISED VERSION)

HUMAN GENETIC ENGINEERING

This video is about human genetic engineering and it states that genetic engineering may be beneficial for curing lifelong and deadly diseases, give a chance to parents to choose their babies' gender and people may live longer thanks to it. On the other hand, it may cause discrimination in a society, super diseases and new species of human. That is, its consequences may not be predicted, so what is ethically right and where we will draw the line should be thought before genes are modified.

I agree with the speaker in this video because genetic manipulation may be beneficial for curing some diseases, but it may cause socio-economic differences in the society. In addition, there are some unanswered questions about this manipulation. For example, ‘Which traits are good or bad? ‘Should people live longer?’ Firstly, the possibility of being able to cure deadly and lifelong diseases through genetic manipulation can be a hope for people especially parents having a child with the diseases. However, it may cause more dangerous diseases because of unpredictable consequences of genetic experimentation. Secondly, genetic manipulation may be expensive, so only rich people can reach it and just they can choose their children’s traits like intelligent, skilled in any areas. As a result of this, there may be discrimination between genetically modified people and the others in the society.

In conclusion, on one hand, genetic experimentation may provide better lives for people; on the other hand, it may have negative and unpredictable consequences. Therefore, especially its possible consequences must be thought seriously before genetic experimentation is applied.

JOURNAL SET 2 SOME EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENT (REVISED VERSION)

In my opinion, advertising is a double-edged sword. People may buy both the products they need and the things they do not need through advertisements, so they are both beneficial and harmful.

          Firstly, one of the most important advantages of advertisements is that they give information about products to us, so we can remember a product we need and we may have an idea about it thanks to them. However, the aims of the advertisers are to sell the product and make a profit, so they may misrepresent their products and present them as if they were ideal or they may introduce only the good aspects of their products.

Secondly,advertising establishes competition among companies. As a result of this competition, more quality and cheaper products are manufactured. Nonetheless, consumers prefer branded goods because of advertisements although there are the others which are cheaper and more quality. The reason of this is that they do not watch the advertisements of the others in televisions or internet.

   Finally, advertisements enable consumer to be more consciousness. Through advertisements, they may choose the best one for them, because they have already known their options for a product and the qualities of the options. However, advertisements affect people especially children negatively. The children under eight years of age cannot evaluate them critically, so they may easily believe the information which is presented in advertisements.

      In conclusion, advertisements have both advantages and disadvantages, so we should be aware of its benefits and harms, and we should watch them consciously.

MY COMMENTS ON MY FRIENDS' JOURNAL AND MULTI-MEDIA ENTRIES

           

I             I have commented on Gülçin's and Dilek's journal entries. The links:

I    

            >>http://gulcindudukcu.blogspot.com/2012/12/journal-set-1.html#comment-form

            >>http://dilekfazlioglu.blogspot.com/2013/01/journal-set-2-why-do-people-tell-lie.html#comment-form

              I have commented on Nur's and Osman's multi-media entries. The links: 

            >> http://gokdemirsddkanur.blogspot.com/2013/01/journal-set-1_10.html

            >>http://osmangulgun48.blogspot.com/2013/01/set-1-multimedia-entry-this-videois.html#comment-form

ı

     

GROUP WORK

OUR TEACHING DEVICE

ENGLISH LEARNER'S DICTIONARY WITH PRONUNCIATION AND PICTURES

           Our device aims at teaching English vocabularies and their pronunciations for beginner learners especially kids from the ages of 7 to 12. It looks like a notebook, but it is much smaller. It has letter buttons, so one can write anything s/he wants on its keyboard to learn its meaning in the other language. In addition, the pictures of the words can be seen on its screen, which provides children with associating the words with their pictures and learning the words more efficiently. As for its the most important feature, it pronounces the words when one clicks the ''pro'' (pronunciation) button and also by showing happy or sad face, it gives him/her a chance to control his/her pronunciation with ''verf'' ( verification) button. That is, when the ''pro'' button is clicked, it pronounces the word and when the ''verf'' button is clicked, s/he is supposed to pronounce the word correctly. If s/he pronounces it correctly, a happy face shows up on the screen. If not, a sad face shows up on the screen. Furthermore, its size enables people or children to carry it with them everywhere, and its feature of showing pictures of the words makes it entertaining. Besides, its visual and audial traits enable children to learn the words efficiently and permanently. Apart from this, it translates the words from Turkish to English and also English to Turkish.

ZAHİDE HAKAN

İNCİ DEMİR

SIDDIKA NUR GÖKDEMİR

JOURNAL SET 3 (MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY)

HUMAN GENETIC ENGINEERING

This video is about human genetic engineering and it states that genetic engineering may be beneficial for curing lifelong and deadly diseases, give a chance to parents to choose their babies gender and people may live longer thanks to it. On the other hand, it may cause discrimination in society, super diseases and new species of human. That is, its consequences may not be predicted, so what is ethically right and where we will draw the line should be thought before genes are modified.

I agree with the speaker in this video because genetic manipulation may be beneficial for curing the some diseases, but it may cause socio-economic differences in society. In addition, there are some unanswered questions about this manipulation. For example, ‘Which traits are good or bad? ‘Should people live longer?’ Firstly, the possibility of being able to cure deadly and lifelong diseases through genetic manipulation can be a hope for people especially parents having a child with the diseases. However, it may cause more dangerous diseases because of unpredictable consequences of genetic experimentation. Secondly, genetic manipulation may be expensive, so only rich people can reach it and just they can choose their children’s traits like intelligent, skilled in any areas. As a result of this, there may be discrimination between genetically modified people and others in society.

In conclusion, on one hand, genetic experimentation may provide better lives for people; on the other hand, it may have negative and unpredictable consequences. Therefore, especially its possible consequences must be thought seriously before genetic experimentation is applied.

JOURNAL SET 3 GENETIC EXPERIMENTATION

POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF GENETIC EXPERIMENTATION

Genetic experimentation may have both positive and negative consequences. It can provide people with better and healthier lives or destroy all their lives.

           Firstly, scientists will be able to create cures for the diseases that are not curable today by manipulating human DNA thanks to recent advances in technology. Moreover, even birth defects, structural and functional abnormalities could be almost totally eliminated if doctors were able to change a child’s genes before birth. However, an accident or an unknown result could cause several problems. An accident in manipulating the genetics of a virus or bacteria could result in a stronger type, if released, it may cause an epidemic. Even worse, accidents in human genetic experimentation could cause problems ranging from minor medical problem to death because the process cannot be reversed once an altered gene is placed in an organism.  

Secondly, curing hereditary diseases and preventing them from passing from future generation could be possible thanks to genetic manipulations, but an accident in this process affects even future generation. Even if it was successful, the release of the new genetically manipulated species may have the possibility of causing an imbalance in the ecology of a region. The changes that they cause on the environment are unpredictable.

Finally, if genetic experimentation was applied by terrorist groups or armies, it could be harmful for human beings. They could develop more powerful biological weapons by manipulating the genetics of viruses. Using these weapons will be more inviting for them because they cannot be noticed easily.

In conclusion, genetic experimentation affects not only a person but also all human being and even future generations, therefore it is much more important to be responsible for its consequences than to apply it.

JOURNAL SET 2 (MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY)

EFFECTS OF JUNK FOOD ADVERTISING ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY

This video focuses on one negative effect of advertising on children. It states that junk food advertising causes childhood obesity in America and there are almost no advertisements for nutritional food.  In addition, it indicates that some fast food companies deceive children by relating their unhealthy food with active lifestyles and persuade children by having playgrounds at their restaurants. Moreover, it claims that certain junk food products are placed at kids’ eye level in markets.

 I am off the opinion that children are interested in active lifestyles and advertising companies sometimes abuse this interest of children. Almost all advertisements targeting children have active characters especially cartoon characters in order to be more attractive. Children watching them think that they will be powerful and active if they consume the junk food in advertisements because they do not evaluate them critically and they can be persuaded more easily than adults. I think advertising companies should this interest of children by promoting healthy and nutritional food. As a result of this, not only they may still make a profit, but also children consume more healthy products and are protected from obesity and the other diseases it may cause. For example, there was an advertising introducing a milk brand, Sütaş. In the advertisement, cows were flying and it was interesting for children in my opinion. This type of advertisement both provides companies with profit and for children to consume healthy products.

In conclusion, advertising companies should be sensitive to children’s health apart from their profit.

JOURNAL SET 2 SOME EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENT

In my opinion, advertising is a double-edged sword. People may buy both the products they need and the things they do not need through advertisements, so they are both beneficial and harmful.

          Firstly, one of the most important advantages of advertisements is that they give information about products to us, so we can remember a product we need and we may have an idea about it thanks to them. However, the aims of the advertisers are to sell the product and make a profit, so they may misrepresent their products and present them as if they were ideal or they may introduce only the good aspects of their products.

Secondly,advertising establishes competition between companies. As a result of this competition, more quality and cheaper products are manufactured. Nonetheless, consumers prefer branded goods because of advertisements although there are the others which are cheaper and more quality. The reason of this is that they do not watch the advertisements of the others in televisions or internet.

   Finally, advertisements enable consumer to be more consciousness. Through advertisements, they may choose the best one for them, because they have already known their options for a product and the qualities of the options. However, advertisements affect people especially children negatively. The children under eight years of age cannot evaluate them critically, so they may easily believe the information which is presented in advertisements.

      In conclusion, advertisements have both advantages and disadvantages, so we should be aware of its benefits and harms, and we should watch them consciously.

JOURNAL SET 1 ( MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY)

SINGS OF A PERFECTIONIST

According to Christine Hassler, who speaks about sings of perfectionists in this video, there are ten signs of a perfectionist. These are all or nothing thinking, having a critical eye and ear, pushing too hard, setting unrealistic expectations, obsessing about results, being depressed or disappointed by unmet goals, fearing failure, procrastinating, being defensive and having low self-esteem. I especially agree with the idea that perfectionists may have all-or-none principle, may be depressed or disappointed by unmet goals and are likely to procrastinate their works.

Firstly, a perfectionist thinks that everything must be perfect and flawless. If it is not, it is not good at all. For example, a perfectionist student thinks he must get a full score of a paper or an exam. Otherwise, he supposes he is totally unsuccessful. Secondly, he is depressed and disappointed about unmet goals because he has unrealistic ones. His goals are unattainable because he wants to do everything perfectly, on time and in a very short time. Lastly, he may have a tendency to procrastinate his works because of fearing failure. Failure is unacceptable for a perfectionist, so he may wait too long to start doing anything.

In conclusion, if you have all-or-none principle, are depressed because of unmet aims and postpone your works, you are probably a perfectionist. In my opinion, desire to be perfect is like a virus. If not be taken precautions in time, it just keeps spreading and harming you psychologically, so try to get rid of it. 

JOURNAL SET 1 PERFECTIONISM

                Perfectionism is an attempt to make the best and to reach unrealistic goals.  The desire to be perfect has some possible negative effects on people in my opinion.

                Initially, loss of self-confident and failure may be among possible effects. One who is perfectionists is likely to set unattainable goals and feel pressure on him in order to reach the goals, and this pressure may lead to his constant failure. In addition, because of the constant failure, one blames himself persistently and this may lead to lose his self-confident.

                 Secondly, perfectionist attitudes may cause depression and prevent ones to improve themselves. Perfectionists try to achieve perfection and set unrealistic goals, so not being able to be perfect and reach the goals may make them go into depression. Moreover, perfectionists dare not to learn new things due to fear of failure or making mistakes, so they miss opportunities to improve themselves.

                Finally, perfectionism may cause nervousness. Perfectionists may realize even the smallest error in their work and they think they are unsuccessful because the work is not perfect. This thought may cause them to be nervous all their life. In addition, they cannot bear people who are not like them because they are flawed, irresponsible and frivolous, so living with them may cause them to be irritable.

               In conclusion, the desire to be perfect may make one’s life miserable, so trying to avoid being perfectionist may enable one to be self-confident, successful, happy, open-minded and calm.