Biological factors in criminality is a “deterministic approach” when a criminal behaviour has a psychological origin, meaning there can be inherited characteristics of person’s behaviour. There is a genotype which also has a low level of the enzyme that can cause violence in people. This gene and being exposed to abuse as a child connects together causing the violence to be present in person’s behaviour. A damage to the prefrontal cortex connects to antisocial behaviour. The damage usually happens because of the head injury.

An Italian army doctor, Cesare Lombroso collected the features and traits, which showed that the criminals were born with these features. According to Keith E Rice, The Biological Factors in Crime article states that “Based on the physical measurements he collected from Italian prisoners and non-criminal military personnel, Lombroso held that many criminals had been born with ‘atavistic’ features. Criminals had definite biological failings that prevented them from developing to a fully human level. They showed certain ape-like characteristics or sometimes just ‘savage’ features. Such physical anomalies included large jaws, high cheek bones, large ears, long arms, thick skulls and extra nipples, toes and fingers.” People with these features are seen as criminals in the society because these traits made them look like criminals in people’s minds. These features made people look bad and some people are judged because of it. It is not right to judge people based on how they look like.

William Sheldon argued that the person’s body shape describes what kind of person they are. People with mesomorph body shape are most likely to get involved with a crime. Mesomorph body shape is an aggressive and muscular frame so the question is why do people think that people with an aggressive body shape are criminals?

Sources:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09111601

http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/crime-biological_factors.html

http://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector/drivers-of-crime/publications-and-background-information/documents/spb-biological-risk-factors

http://euc.sagepub.com/content/2/3/287.abstract

Science:

Lung cancer is a tumor, in which cells keep growing in tissues of the lung. There are two types of cancer: small-cell lung carcinoma and non-small-cell lung carcinoma. Small-cell lung carcinoma is a malignant cancer and non-small-cell lung carcinoma is insensitive to chemotherapy. The main cause of lung cancer is due to tobacco smoking for a long time. Treatment depends on the cancer stage, which is a degree of spread. Stage I is cancer that did not spread to other organs and stage IV (the highest level) is cancer that spread to other organs. Non-small-cell lung carcinoma is usually treated with a surgery and small-cell lung carcinoma is treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Vaping is inhaling and exhaling the vapor. This vapor is produced by an electronic cigarette. According to Student Science website, Vaping May Threaten Brain, Immunity and More article states, “The scientists exposed pregnant mice to e-cig vapors. Then, once the pups were born, they too got exposed for a month. That is when mice reach young-adulthood. The animals breathed in vapors at concentrations scaled to be similar to what a vaping person might encounter. Then Zelikoff’s group tracked the activity of genes in the animals’ frontal cortex. This brain region is associated with planning and using inputs from the senses (like sight, smell and sound) to understand their environment.”Even though many people think vaping is better for them, it can still cause many damages to the body. Vaping can also cause a respiratory disease called a ‘popcorn lung’, which can destroy the airways of lungs, where the scar tissues gather and delay an airflow. The treatment for people with this disease, which just started developing, can use steroids, but people with a severe disease have a major treatment such as lung transplants.

Society:

Nowadays many people smoke cigarettes and vape. Many people know lung cancer can be one of the side effects of smoking, but many teens do not know many specifics about it. Smoking cigarettes is the main cause of lung cancer, which ends up being about 80-90% lung cancer deaths. Lung cancer also has a lower survival rate, than other type of cancer. People who smoke and vape are the most impacted, but people who are exposed to secondhand smoke somewhere else are impacted as well. People who do not smoke have about 20-30% of chance to develop lung cancer. Being exposed to different chemicals or gases, such as radon gas, can also cause lung cancer. Smoking cigarettes and vaping affects society in a negative manner because it causes lung cancer and people will not live healthy. People who vape can think of vaping as a way to help them quit smoking completely. There are levels of nicotine that they can control and lower its level to quit, but it is not easy. There is more research being done about vaping because scientists are not sure how bad it is for people, but they do know it contains chemicals, which harm the lungs.

Self:

I personally am interested in oncology. My grandfather was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in the winter of 2013 and was given six months to live. I always went back to Poland for the summer, which gave me an opportunity to take care of him, while my grandmother was still working. It was not easy to watch him go through it, but I am happy I got to take care of him. I saw how cancer changed his body and his brain/ thinking. He passed away while I was in Poland. In September of 2013 I had an internship at CHOP on cancer research, where I examined single nucleotide variations in germline patient DNA with neuroblastoma. In the summer of 2014 my uncle was also diagnosed with lung cancer. I went to Poland in the summer of 2014 and took care of him. He passed away while I was there as well. Seeing my grandfather and my uncle go through chemotherapy and radiation made me realize how important it is to know the side effects of smoking and its consequences. My sister used to smoke cigarettes, but then she switched to vaping, which I still disagree with. We have a lot of conversations about vaping and how it is still not healthy for her. She believes vaping will help her quit smoking and switching from smoking to vaping is better, but in my opinion smoking cigarettes or vaping will never be good for anyone, since it can have many side effects. I am definitely not interested in smoking because all of the experience above showed me the side effects I do not want to go through. I think people should quit smoking and vaping to live a healthier life.

Link to presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G4QkkQ8SIMDGJi9mOYE6WO9VXLZgirEAMzhFJPaw6bM/edit#slide=id.p

References:

Smoking hits all-time low, but not for these three groups. (2015, November 19). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151119112413.htm.

What are the effects of smoking on the lungs? (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.quit.org.au/about/frequently-asked-questions/how-does-smoking-affect-my-body/smoking-and-the-lungs.html.

Effects of Smoking on Your Health. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/smoking-health/.

Why Smoking Is Bad For You. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.freddyfit.co.uk/kids/articles/smoking.php.

Smoking: Do you really know the risks? (2015, March 27). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/QuitSmoking/QuittingSmoking/Smoking-Do-you-really-know-the-risks_UCM_322718_Article.jsp#.Vvk8ARIrKCQ.

Raloff, J. (2016, February 14). Vaping may threaten brain, immunity and more. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from https://student.societyforscience.org/article/vaping-may-threaten-brain-immunity-and-more.

Gravitz, L. (2016, February 10). Teen data find vapers often become smokers. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from https://student.societyforscience.org/article/teen-data-find-vapers-often-become-smokers.

Tuason, C. (2016, January 18). Chemicals Used For Vaping Causes Popcorn Lung, Experts Suggest. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.youthhealthmag.com/articles/32900/20160118/popcorn-lung-vaping.htm.

Roeder, A. (2015, December 08). Chemical flavorings found in e-cigarettes linked to lung disease. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/12/chemical-flavorings-found-in-e-cigarettes-linked-to-lung-disease/.

Lungs After Smoking For 2 Years Photo [Digital image]. (2014, October 31). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://javamed.info/cancer/lungs-after-smoking-for-2-years-photo.html.

D. (2015, March 23). Quit Smoking [Digital image]. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from https://l19941123.wordpress.com/author/d3anl/.

The passage below is what I think could be added to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road before the final edition on page 183 right after a dialogue.

In a murky weather, the man went looking for something to start a fire. All the branches soaked through. Nothing to use. Everything was futile. The man walked through dismaldingy ground that used to be a grassland. He kept searching for a while, but could not find anything. They did not have a lot of time until the sunrise. The man figured they will be fine by the morning. He came back to the shed where the boy was shivering and waiting for him.

Papa. What if you dont wake up?

Just like in your dream?

Yes.

I wont. I will always be here with you.

But what if you dont?

It is my responsibility to take care of you.

Will I find the good guys if you dont wake up someday?

Yes but you will need to be careful.

Why? Because there are bad guys?

Yes.

Who can I trust then?

You will know the good guys when you see them.

Okay. What are we doing here if we dont know if we will survive?

Faith.

Faith?

Yes. God will show us the way of the South.

Im scared.

Why?

I want to go with you wherever you go.

You need to believe me we will be okay.

Okay.

Okay.

I’m still cold. Can we go to sleep Papa?

Yes. Of course.

Okay.

Okay.

Here is the rationale to explain my decisions for the creative scene.

I decided that creative writing of this project will be added right after the dialogue between the boy and the father on page 183. Their dialogue ended when the boy was talking about his dream, where his father did not wake up. I wanted to continue their dialogue where the boy asks him what is the point of going down the road and what will happen to him if the man dies.

I wanted to focus on the boy and how he always asks questions when he is not sure and is scared. He asks a lot of questions about what will happen to him when his father does not wake up and if the good guys will take care of him. Since the scene happens at night, cold weather lets me use the motifs of what the boy says throughout the book for example, “I’m cold” “I’m scared”.  

The themes I picked were: faith, who can you trust?, God and safety vs. risk. Faith and God are important parts of the book that the man values. The man talked to God, which is why I thought it would be good to include God, when he tells the boy that God will show them the way. The theme about ‘who can you trust?’ and ‘safety vs. risk’ had to do with good and bad guys. This is why I had the boy ask his father if he will deal with the bad guys just in case the father will not wake up. Good and bad guys come up in the book all the time and they are also the people who they meet on the road.

The main motifs I included in the dialogue were “I’m scared” and “Okay”. These two motifs are repeated in the book most of the time when the boy and the father talk. “Okay” is usually what the boy says to his father’s answers. One of the essential questions was “What is the point of going down the road?”. The reason why I picked this question was to show what can happen at the end of the book. When the father answered that God will show them the way, the boy knows that place will be a better place comparing to where they were on page 183. I came up with ‘dismaldingy’ vocabulary word to describe where the man was walking to find something to start the fire. I used adjectives that both mean dark and gloomy, just like the road in the book.

Comparing "The Taming of the Shrew" to "While You Were Sleeping".

In the play  The Taming of the Shrew, Bianca is controlled by her father Baptista because her older sister needs to get married first in order for Bianca to get married. In the 1995 movie “While You Were Sleeping,” the main character Lucy does not have her family anymore until she saves a man that she fell in love with every time she saw him at the train station. His family believes they are engaged because the nurse at the hospital introduced her as his fiancé. She becomes a part of the family until the truth is revealed that she never met Peter.

          The Taming of the Shrew, has a viewpoint where the father decides who his daughter will marry, which will affect their relationship. The movie, “While You Were Sleeping,” shows a different way on how family acts to relationships, than the family from the “Shrew.” These two texts show that family involvement has changed over time because nowadays people pick who they are going to marry, and back then father or his/her parents decided for them instead.

Baptista:

"Gentlemen, importune me no farther, For how I firmly am resolved you know; That is, not bestow my youngest daughter. Before I have a husband for the elder: If either of you both love Katharina, Because I know you well and love you well, Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure"

(Act 1, Scene 1, 48-54)

         In the “Shrew” Baptista is the father of Bianca and Katharina. Both of the daughters want to get married although there has to be a certain order of who is going to be first. The eldest, Katherina, has to get married before Bianca. The play shows that the family is affecting the potential engagement of Bianca and a suitor because Baptista is controlling who is going to get married first. Katherina does not have any suitors for her bitter attitude, therefore for Bianca to get married, it seems as though it will be a while because nobody wants to marry a witch.

Similar but not exactly like the play, “While You Were Sleeping” also shows that family has an influence on relationships. Lucy, the main character does not want to deny that she is not going to marry Peter because Peter’s family thinks they are engaged, and in love and doesn’t want to upset the family.

  Lucy does not have her family anymore and she decides who she wants to be with. Every morning she works at the train station where she sees a man named Peter. He takes the train to his work and Lucy fell in love with him right away. She never met him, but in her opinion it was the love at first sight. He was just perfect. When he is pushed on the train tracks by other men, he is not at first aware and Lucy saves his life. When he gets to the hospital the nurse heard Lucy talking to herself about her wanting to marry Peter. When Lucy walked into his room they told her he was in the coma. His family came to the hospital and they did not know who Lucy was, but the nurse introduced her as his fiancé. Peter’s family did not know what was going on, but when they heard from the doctor that Lucy saved his life they were happy and approved of the “engagement” immediately.

         His family became like her family while Peter was in the coma, and they treated her like their daughter. Lucy did not know how to say “no” to being engaged to Peter so she just went along with it. This scenario shows that his family affected their “engagement” because they were inviting her for family gatherings and accepted her because she saved his life without knowing her before.

         This scene is similar to the “Shrew” because it shows how even Peter’s family controls their ‘engagement’ because they accepted Lucy for what she did. The family was so kind that Lucy didn’t want to break their hearts. The only difference between the movie and the play is that Lucy does not have a sister that affects if she has to wait for to get married or not.

Baptista:

"Content you, gentlemen. I will compound this strife. ‘Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both that can assure my daughter greatest dower shall have my Bianca’s love. Say, Signior Gremio, what can you assure her?"

(Act 2, Scene 1, 361-365)

         Baptista also wants to make sure his daughter in this situation finds someone who is good. He want the best for his kids and in the play, Baptista wants to make sure their daughter will have a good life and not worry about making sure they have things to survive. The play shows that the man should be able to provide for the family. In order for the father to agree on his daughter getting married he needs to make sure the suitor is the right man for her. 

          The movie is a little bit different because the play was written a lot of years ago. The movie was produced in 1995 and shows more of a modern relationship.

Analytical Essay:

Everyone is inspired by something and what they do with their inspiration makes them happy. Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried loves writing and he is passionate about his experiences in the war, so his book is about the war. He wants people to experience the same emotions he felt by reading his book and to see what it feels like to be in the war, and how scary it is. Writers express themselves by making the reader feel their emotions in the story in a way where readers know what happened in order, but also show how it changed their life and how readers are affected by it.

People look back at their experience to not make mistakes and make their future better. The past is important because people remember to go back to it and rethink what they did wrong, and want to try to do better in the present. In the book The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien says, “And sometimes remember it will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except that story” (pg. 38). Being in the war for Tim was not easy. Those kind of memories people do not forget because it’s a fear they face. This shows that events that happen to people in the past are connected to the future because there is something new in each situation where people learn something new. It gives a new perspective on things people do not think of, but also shows what life has for people, and that a lot of different stories stay in people’s mind and they remember it. They remember what happened and how it could affect them.

There are things people want to remember from their stories or from stories they’ve heard. It is hard for writers to not have an obsession about one topic because that topic is  something that inspires them, and it is something they look forward to share with the world to let  people know what is happening and how people are affected by things like wars. In the book Tim O’Brien says, “I feel guilty sometimes. Forty-three years old and I'm still writing war stories. My daughter Kathleen tells me it's an obsession...I guess, she's right: I should forget it. But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is your life, at the intersection of past and present… As a writer, all you can do is pick a street and go for the ride, putting things down as they come. That's the real obsession” (pg. 34). Here this quote talks about how no matter what people say people follow their conscience. That strong inner voice shows them what they can achieve and that it is something they want to do. A person’s inner voice can help them express themselves and what’s on their mind. Tim O’Brien listened to what his daughter had to say, but he still thought of being a writer as something that not only writing inspires him, but wars as well. He thinks about writing as his future because that’s what he likes to do even though some of the things are not true, for example in his book he had a daughter, but in the real world he does not have one.

As a person Tim O’Brien wants people to know what it means to go through something that stays with him his whole life. War is something people do not forget because these are feelings and emotions that will stay with a person even though they will move on. Tim says that even if the story is made up he wants people to know what he felt and show what it was like to go through something really hard and frightening. He did not think of what others thought about him writing and said, “But listen. Even that story is made up. I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening truth.” (pg. 179). Sometimes there are stories where when they are said and made up a little they come out as a better story, than a real story that happened. Tim O’Brien wanted to show how factual stories are not always the best way to explain an emotion one feels in a certain moment or situation.

From the interview “In the Name of Love” with Tim O’Brien, he expresses and answers the questions that are important for readers to know about because they can see what Tim meant and thought about writing his book. He wanted to let people know how it feels to be in the war even though it was not all the factual. In the article An Interview with Tim O'Brien Tim says, "Events, especially those that carry elements of trauma, tend to get scrambled in terms of chronology. And I try to present them that way as much as I can in my writing. I don't clearly sort out for the reader what happened first, second, third, and fourth in a causal chain. I take this approach because I think it's the way our memories often work.” When writers want to tell the story they want the reader know the order of what happened, but they also want the reader to feel what they went through. It is easy to just write a story and say what happened, but writing it in a way that the reader understands the feelings that are happening in the story is very important in literature. It means the writer achieves the goal in writing something that makes people feel everything they went through or even when a story was made up. Stories that are made up can be well written just like real stories, but it is in writer’s hands to see if it connects to a person and their feelings.

When it comes to feelings and emotions it is hard for people to feel what the writer is trying to portray with their writing. In order to feel their emotions the book needs to show situations where readers can imagine the place. It is not easy to do that, but Tim O’Brien did a good job by giving a lot of details so people connect to his story. He also showed people how it feels to be in the war so others can imagine it and realize how they work hard to be there.

Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

1. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

2. Sawyer, Scott. "An Interview with Tim O'Brien." In the Name of Love. Mars Hill Review 4, n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.leaderu.com/marshill/mhr04/tim1.html>

Narrative Essay:

“Oh no. I don’t know what to write about. What should I do?”

“Write about something that you usually don’t tell people because it’s hard to talk about it, ” said my friend Hannah.

Hannah and I became best friends during freshman year. The first time we met was asking each other “What class do you have?” and looking at our schedules, and realizing we have the same classes. Going to our first class was weird and we had that silent/awkward walk to the classroom because we had no idea what to say. I remember having Bio-chem as our first class.

Freshman year we wrote more analytical essays, than personal essays. That’s when we learned to write thesis and how to put all information together to form an essay. The first English class during sophomore year was different comparing to my classes in middle school and freshman year. When we went to the classroom Ms. Pahomov explained to us that we will focus on writing workshop. I had no idea what it was, but in my head I just thought, “Oh no I hate writing.” When we started writing our first essay I started with a personal essay because I thought it will be easy, but that was not true exactly. I did not know what to write about and I did not like writing in general. I started my personal essay with writing about me coming to the U.S. and my first years here. Then I wrote about my grandpa, which was something I did not tell people because it’s a really personal topic to me.

Writing personal essays showed me a way where I can tell people my stories, but also express my feelings. I am a shy person and do not share all my stories with everyone. I take my time to start trusting people because I had situations where people would talk and tell my personal things even though they said they wouldn’t. It is hard for me to start trusting from the beginning. Hannah’s thought about my essays made her emotional after she read them.

“When reading Malwina’s writing I was supposed to just edit it, but once I read the whole story I actually got very into it. I ended up learning more about her through her personal essays. It’s been a while since I read one, but there are still two stories that she wrote last year that I can recall. Her pieces were memorable allowing me to remember the ones she wrote last school year. They were about her grandfather and one about her dad. Malwina did a great job with details in her personal essay about grandpa that I felt emotional. I could imagine what happened and the story brought tears to my eyes.” said Hannah when I talked to her recently.

Usually when I talk to my family about things that happened most of them are emotional and do not like to share these stories. It is hard for them to say things like that because it is something they would want to keep between people in our family. Writing something and sharing how my grandpa was fighting with cancer was something completely different. I did not really tell my family that I wrote that essay because of the fact them not feeling comfortable to talk to people they do not know about personal emotions. From writing these essays I feel like there is another way to express my feelings to others. It is easier to write it and let people read it because if I were to talk to them in person I do not think I would be able because I would get really emotional.

Expressing my feelings through essays feels better because I do not have to face some of the situations that I would not feel comfortable to talk about. I was really surprised that Hannah after reading my personal essays was emotional because I would not think my writing would make someone feel what I felt at the same time. Expressing feelings is something challenging  because it is something you share with readers that you are not sure you can trust, but it is a way to show and make readers feel what you felt.

A lot of people do not realize that they could have done something harmful to their body until something happens or they have health problems. There is a lot of things and actions that can cause cancer and one of them is smoking cigarettes. Most of the people smoke cigarettes without thinking what is the effect after smoking for a while, but also it makes them look older, and feel less stressed.

Most of the people just start as if nothing to worry about, but then they get addicted to Nicotine and it is hard for them to quit. In the PDF called A Comprehensive Adult Basic Education Curriculum, “There are over 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes. 51 of them are known to be carcinogenic. A carcinogen is something that causes cancer. Cancer is a disease that often kills those who have it.” What people breathe in while smoking is pretty scary. When humans smoke, all the harmful chemicals end up in the lungs, which is a major organ, and damages them after a long period of time. Smoking for not a long time does not mean there will not be any effects. Smoking for a short time will always leave some changes in the lungs, but it does not have to cause cancer right away. Cigarettes are not good for people because they harm their lungs, and such a damage is not worth it.

Adults and even teens smoke, but they do not exactly know why. Some just smoke to be cool like their friends, and others because of their stress and their addiction to Nicotine. A lot of people have to deal with a lot of situations where they can not help it and just go for a cigarette because it makes them feel good and more relaxed, but while smoking they do not think about what is happening to their lungs. In the PDF called A Comprehensive Adult Basic Education Curriculum, “Three of the main reasons that young people smoke are to look mature, to be like their friends, and to experiment… If their friends or peers smoke, they may feel pressured into doing the same to be accepted. The last reason is the excitement of experimenting with something that is forbidden.” Teens do not realize how cigarettes can affect them because they just want to be cool like their peers. They should be the ones to change it and not let people go with it, and show that it is not okay to smoke, even if they are teenagers because it is harmful for their health and lungs. Most of them do not realize it. Most of the reasons why people smoke cigarettes it’s because of their mind set. Psychology has to do with this because people think about cigarettes as something that it will keep them relaxed and be cool.

Chemicals added to cigarettes could be imagined just like in the lab. All chemicals react with one another. Chemicals in cigarettes do not work well in order to keep a person healthy. K. H. Ginzel, M.D. tells us what’s in cigarettes,  “In contrast to other drugs, nicotine delivery from tobacco carries an ominous burden of chemical poisons and cancer-producing substances that boggle the mind. Many toxic agents are in a cigarette. However, additional toxicants are manufactured during the smoking process by the chemical reactions occurring in the glowing tip of the cigarette.” Smoking is not good for people. People just do not see how bad they can be to their health system. Smoking for a short or a long time is bad because no matter what people breathe in it is all the chemicals that cigarettes have. Cancer also spreads to other organs, but humans do not think about consequences of smoking.

In order to be healthy people need to look at the consequences some products might have if they choose to use them. Cigarettes are the ones that do have side effects. Usually they do not know that something is happening inside their body because it is not immediately visible while it is developing, but the symptoms do not appear until it is too late. Cigarettes can cause lung cancer. Cancer takes time to grow and it usually shows up out of nowhere. There are a lot of people that do not take care of their lungs because they think it will not affect them, or they will get lucky, but that is not promised. This behavior will continue as long as teens and adults let the psychological attraction of cigarettes outweigh the dangers. If smokers stopped to think about it, they would realize that cigarettes are not just about them or other smokers, but about kids and teens that do not smoke. Kids and teens that are not smoking, they see that their parents smoke and their parents show that it is okay to smoke, even though it is not. Just being around people who smoke is not good for their health systems.

Work Cited

1. "What's in a Cigarette." What's in a Cigarette. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

<http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Unit4/1whats_in.html>

2. "What's in a Cigarette? - American Lung Association." American Lung Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

<http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/about-smoking/facts-figures/whats-in-a-cigarette.html>

3. "Cigarette Ingredients - Chemicals in Cigarettes." Cigarette Ingredients - Chemicals in Cigarettes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. <http://www.tricountycessation.org/tobaccofacts/Cigarette-Ingredients.html>

4. "What's In a Cigarette, 599 Ingredients in a Cigarette." What's In a Cigarette, 599 Ingredients in a Cigarette. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

<http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm>

5. "Smoking: Do You Really Know the Risks?" Smoking: Do You Really Know the Risks? N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

<http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/QuitSmoking/QuittingSmoking/Sm

oking-Do-you-really-know-the-risks_UCM_322718_Article.jsp>

6. "Why Do People Try Smoking Even When They Know That It Is Bad for Them?" OxyGen. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.

<http://www.oxygen.org.au/smokefree/faqs/why-do-people-try-smoking.html>

Media and society have a lot of news reports and people usually believe them. Sometimes people do not have any proof if someone is guilty or not, but they still think they are. Whatever people in the media say, on television or even on the radio people believe it. It looks like what is happening it should be true in the world, but it does not always have to be true. The media encourages to be biased by judging people without knowing their life background, and also discriminates against people by assaulting them of doing something without any proof.  

In the documentary, “The Central Park Five”, people give their opinion about this case where a woman that was jogging was murdered and raped. There were also problems in society as well. According to historian, Craig Steven Wilder, "We were a city coming out of a series of crises and an enormous economic crisis. A school system that was in collapse; Political institutions that seemed to be failing the people  and not meeting their needs; Old, fashionable, beautiful, noble neighborhoods falling apart." People in New York City could see how their economy changed. Their school system and institutions changed for worse, and people did not get things they need. In other words everything started to fall apart. It was not a good thing because people did not care after a while what was happening around, if they already got used to it. Whenever we do not get our needs things change. People need to feel safe in their city and have something that is important to live.

Adults were not just the only ones that could be involved in the crime, teenagers could also have to do with it, but it all started when crack came to the city. According to Koch, "In about '84, crack came to New York City and that increased crime. No questions about it." After crack came to New York City people realized that crime was increasing. After using crack people’s mind change. They started to become angry and they could not control it because of the drugs.

Usually people can not stop themselves because the drug is kind of controlling them. Websites show what percent of people used crack back then versus now. According to a website about using drugs, “According to government surveys, eight percent of high school seniors reported using cocaine at least once during their lifetime. This is markedly lower than the peak of 17 percent for the senior class of 1985.” Now, people do not use crack as much as they did in 1985. It is actually a big difference. In ‘84 people used a lot of crack and that is why there was more crime. Most of teenagers used it, which shows how this affected their society, and also how their school systems changed.

After crack was in the city a lot of things changed. People were blamed for crime, and other things too. According to Wilder, "Most of the homicides were young, poor, working class black and brown kids. And the dominant social message was no one cared if you lived or died.” People believed that black and brown kids were the ones that were guilty, even though there was no proof. "When the crack wars happen, all of a sudden teenagers have lots of cash and guns. ... We were supposed to be afraid. It would have been irrational not to be afraid. But the people who suffered most with the rise of criminality, guns wars, drug wars, were actually the people we blamed." Crack was not a good thing for New York City. It made it look bad and people started to do things they never did before. It was really easy for people to change if they saw others use crack, especially teenagers. Teenagers are the ones that will have an impact on the future. If they use crack for a certain time, younger kids will follow them and use crack too. This is not what we want our future to be. We want our society to be safe.

When it comes to race discrimination there are a lot of people starting arguments, and all of society is kind of divides into different parts. They call each other names, and then blame each other for crime. According to Calvin Butts, "As far as I'm concerned, in the late eighties in New York City, the black community was under assault. "The most endangered species in America," that was a popular phrase, was the young black man." In the late eighties people mostly blamed  African American people for crime. They called them ‘the most endangered species in America’. I do not think people should call each other names because this is how everything starts. They blame each other and after that race discrimination starts, and people flight. This is not how our society should look like. We should respect each other. We can not just blame someone without any proof.

Back then there was a lot of murders  According to Jim Dwyer, "In those days, there were probably 6 murders a day." People did not pay attention to all of them, but this one was different.” Because back then they blamed African Americans for doing any crime, they assaulted black community for crime cases. They accused them because they were in a park at that time. They did not have any evidence that showed police they did it. They made them believe by saying the truth what happened that day, and then they will go home. They actually thought if they say the truth they will go home, but that did not happen. They actually were blamed for it and stayed in jail for a good few years. After they went through other papers and DNA they found a person who actually did it. He said he did it and after that happened, people wish they knew that before they made five other men blamed.

According to the news report called International Business Times, “In 2003, Richardson, Santana and McCray filed a lawsuit against the City of New York for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination and emotional distress, 27east.com said.” What media did back then was judging people, and discriminate them especially African Americans after crack came. It was not right to do that because everyone has rights, and just because crack came to New York people should not judge them. Also on the other website, news report they talked about after they came out of the jail, “On Facebook and Twitter, where Salaam said he communicated with the four men he still refers to as his "co-defendants" and with other friends on Friday, several expressed surprise, joy and something else. He said that some, including individuals who do not live in New York City, closed their tweets, retweets and Facebook posts with the words, "John Liu for Mayor." After the whole case finished a lot of people were happy. Their families believed them they are not guilty. People on different kinds of websites posted things about that case. Rumors start like that. People post things online and then change words around and it is totally different, then a statement was said before.

None of us wants media to change things around and make a different statement about us. We all should respect each other and not blame people around us without any proof. Everyone is different and just because something came to a city like crack back then, does not mean all African American community needs to be assaulted. Americans could use crack too and be guilty for crime too. There should be no discrimination around the world because it causes wars and fights. We all want our city and world to be safe, and feel safe.

Sources:

1. Documentary “The Central Park Five”

2. "Cocaine and Crack Facts." And Effects. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

<http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/cocaine-and-crack-facts>

3. "Central Park Five." NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

<http://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five>

4. "Central Park Five Lawsuit: New York City Mayor-Elect Bill De Blasio 

Agrees To Settle Decade-Long Case Over Wrongful Convictions." International Business Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

<http://www.ibtimes.com/central-park-five-lawsuit-new-york-city

mayor-elect- bill-de-blasio-agrees-settle-decade-long-case>

5. Ross, Janell. "John Liu Urges Central Park Five Settlement, Becoming First New York City Elected Official To Do So." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

So, I was cooking dinner for me and my friends, but the meat was burning a bit. Ughh I am not a good cook haha. Relaxing in the house at the lake is the best thing you could ask for. Having five friends with you, and cooking whatever you want. Not having parents around gave us more responsibilities, but this is how people start, right? My friend’s parents let us go because they trust us, and wanted us to have some fun. Being in Poland just visiting my family, and friends made me more excited. But all the rainy days were reallllyyy annoying. My shoes were always wet. Ugh. We had this little yard outside where we sat all the time haha. Omg the meat was so delicious though! I was so full after eating it. We stayed there for about 5 days. After a dinner like we always did, we went into a house at the lake and started cleaning up after dinner. We played cards. It was always fun and screaming at each other for cheating haha.

I was really tired and went to sleep at about 2 in the morning. I wanted to get a lot of sleep so I put my phone on silent, and not pick up. I rang in the morning, but I ignored it. I mean why would I pick up my phone at 5am? Like no one does that. I just kept sleeping. My phone called like two times. It was extremely annoying like I just wanted to throw it against a wall. I checked the time and it was after 7am. In my mind I thought ‘why would someone keep calling?’. Maybe I should pick it up finally. Like I can still go back to sleep, but on the other side my bed is sooooo warm and comfortable. Ughhh I picked up the phone. It was my uncle. You could hear that I was really tired. He asked if I was still sleeping. Like really? Of course I am sleeping. What  teenager would wake up at 7am in the summer. He asked me if I could get a ride right now or something. I am was realllyyyyy confused. I just started asking questions like why? What happened? When? Huh??? What’s going on???!?!?! After he told me my grandpa passed away my life just stopped. I got up really quick and went outside. My best friend came outside after me and hugged me. My whole body was shaking. And my hands omgggg (showing how my hands were shaking). I didn’t even know what I was doing at that time. I ran back into the house, and just grabbed my bag, and told my friend not to wake the others. I said I am really sorry, but I have to leave. She understood. I left as quickly as I could. It was raining that day. My shoes were soo wet. The street was bumpy. I was tripping on my way. I was almost at the bus stop, but then I saw the bus leaving. Like really?

There was this guy unpacking some things from his car. He looked kinda weird. I was crying on my way home. He asked me if I need a ride home. I was so in shock that I did not even think about caring about myself. I only cared to see my grandpa before they take him. He started asking me random questions about me. He was going in the same direction, kind of. I told him to drop me off at the next bus stop.

“Babciu boje sie troche.”, I said to my grandma.

“Nie boj sie. Wszystko bedzie dobrze. Mama bedzie z wami caly czas. Bede za wami tesknic ale wiedz ze zawsze bede tutaj dla was jak bedziecie mnie potrzebowac. Niezapomnij polskiego, bo twoj jezyk jest twoja osobowoscia.”

These were the last words I heard my grandma saying before we left. She told me my language is my identity and I should not forget it. My language is my identity. If I did not know it, then I would not be the same person as I am now.

I am unique because I am from a different country. I have an accent and I know about a different environment in a different country. I will always speak my language with my family, or friends because if I did not do that, I feel like I would lose something inside me. I would be empty inside. Everything that has to do with my language, which is Polish, reminds me with my memories when I was little. These were my best memories because I spent them with my close family that I really love.

I was thirteen years old when I moved to the U.S. I lived with my grandparents, and my mom was already in the U.S. working. She took us here so that we have a better future. In 7th grade I went to the Catholic school “Our Lady of Port Richmond”. A lot of people said it was a good school. My mom and I thought it would be a great school for me, and they also had an ESOL class, but I did not expect some other things to happen.

“Haha look at her. She does not know any English. She is so dumb.”

“I know hahaha. She is so stupid and ugly.”

That was my first day of school. These are the only words I remember coming out from some guys’ mouths. I was really shy and did not know what is going on around me. I did not know their language. I only knew a few words. Everyone used to laugh at me just because I did not know words in their language, or just because I could not pronounce words correctly yet. It was really hard for me to pronounce words at the beginning. I had to learn how to pronounce “r” because in Polish you roll “r”, just like in Spanish. After I talked with teachers, they apologized. They knew they made a mistake because I could see it on their faces.

“We are really sorry. I know we made a mistake by calling you names when we saw you or even after school. We will not do that anymore. I guess.”

It was still confusing that they said “I guess”. This made me think a lot, but I did not care if they talked about me after school. I only cared if they talked about me at school. After school I always went home to do my homework, and learn English. It was hard for me, but I tried my best.

After this experience with students laughing at me I got really shy. I was really closed and I did not want to talk to anyone from school because I thought the same thing would happen. Almost all students laughed at me because I did not understand, or could not pronounce words. I could not understand why they did that. If they were in my place they would feel like me. Looking back now I was a really scared/shy person. You could say I was even avoiding people just not to talk to them. Right now I feel actually confident with my language and my accent. Before if someone would ask me about my accent I stopped talking because I knew they are paying attention to it. Now, I feel good with talking in English and having my accent. It actually makes people to know more about me. In 8th grade I went to McCall school where I started talking more. I did not feel confident exactly, but I opened up more. When I got to SLA I started talking a lot. When I am with my friends now, I could talk and talk. Even right now, I am mixing Polish and English together when I talk to my mom in Polish. I keep getting confused which words are which ones.

A lot of people changed around me. My old friends left and I got to know new people. I kind of changed too. I am not as shy as I was three years ago. Now, I am confident about myself because of what I went through. I do not care what people think about me. If I worried, then I would just be depressed. People should be themselves and not care about what others think. We are different from each other, and that’s what matters because if we would be the same, our world would be boring.

My first day at SLA was different for me. I was really nervous because I did not know anyone besides one friend from my old school. I knew people will realize that I am not from here. I did not want to go through the same thing again. When I met my friends they realized it.

“ You have an accent? Wow, that’s so cool!”

I did not expect people to think and say they like my accent. I would think they will say I sound weird. They accepted me unlike others at my old school. My friends were surprised that I am from a different country, and thought that was really awesome. They wanted to know everything about me and how Poland looks like. I felt really good because someone accepted me the way I am. They did not make me change myself because I would not belong, or be the same as them. They wanted me to share with them my stories when I was in Poland. I also got to know them better too. I realized there are a lot more people from different countries at SLA. I did not feel left out. This school made me a better person, and I opened up to be a more confident person.

This quote is from a book called “How to Tame a Wid Tongue.” by Glona Anzaldin. “So if you want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language.” This quotes refers to my life too. I really do not like when people talk about my language, or my country in a bad way. It hurts me inside. A person that wrote this essay I could say wrote a little bit about my life. My story is really similar to this quote. Also there is this book called “Girl in Translation”. It is about a girl that is from Hong Kong. She also came to the U.S. without knowing a language. It kind of reminds me of me.

If I could compare school now and three years ago it could be completely different. Three years ago I felt really scared about it. Almost no language, and no friends here. If I had my friends with me it could be different, but I did not have them. All of them stayed and lived in Poland. I only had my sister and my mom. They were my closest friends here. Right now I feel like I am a new person. I know English and I can communicate with people. I have a lot of new friends that I can trust. My family is really helpful and they help me whenever they can. My feeling changed about it because I do not really care what people think about me. I know that even though they think I might be stupid, I am not. I worked really hard to have everything that I have now. New friends, new language, and a new environment. These were really hard three years, but right now I am really happy I live with my closest family.

Sources:

- Anzaldin, Glona “How to Tame a Wid Tongue.”

- interview with my mom and dad

- Kwok, Jean “Girl in Translation.”

La cocina:

La cocina es muy grande y moderna. Tiene dos sillas, una estufa, un fregadora, un refrigerador, un horno y unos ventanas. La cocina tiene una isla y un lavaplatos también.

Los cuartos:

Los cuartos tienen unas camas, unas ventanas, unas guardarropa y unos espejos. Los cuartos de chicos son muy grande. Tiene una silla, una mesa, una computadora, una cama y una alfombra. Los cuartos de chicas son uno sofá, unas sillas, una mesa, una cama, unas ventanas y una tele y un pórtico.

El comedor:

El comedor tiene la mesa grande, unas sillas, una alfombra, una tele, unas ventanas grande, una escaleras.

La sala:

La sala es muy enorme. Tiene unos sofás, unas sillas, una alfombra, un tele, unas sillas del brazo, unas ventanas grande. Tiene muy grande ventanas.

Los baños:

Todos baños son medianos y azules. Tiene una ducha, un lavamanos, un retrete, un espejo y una alfombra. ¡Tienen todo!

El jardín:

El Jardín es muy enorme y bonito. Tiene muchas flores, unos árboles y hierba. Tiene unas escaleras también. Hay una piscina y un Jacuzzi. Es muy moderna y divertida.

El garaje:

El garaje es muy grande y vibrante. Tiene dos carros y dos bicicletas.

El sótano:

El sótano tiene lavadora y secador y una barra también.