MY FINAL PROJECT AND THE REASON OF THIS BLOG: MY ESSAY

Ey guys!, I think you could learn many things about English grammar and composition reading my posts and productions. I hope you like it as well I enjoyed doing this blog. The process of creating an essay is to complicated and it spends a lot of time. However, the results bring me many satisfactions and I have to give thanks to the persons who support me in such process: my teacher, my classmates, you - my dear reader - and even my family who gave some ideas of what I had to write in my blog. Now, I am going to show my final project that is focused in comics. In that lecture, i took into account all the aspects that I learned during my process of General Composition. Finally, I have to say that this is not a "goodbye" but a "see you soon".

THE MARVELOUS WORLD OF COMICS

In the entire world, there are a lot of things that people can define as entertainment: music, games, art, movies and internet. But, there is a special, cheap and printed way to entertain people: comics. Many experts have said that comic is the ninth art, and it has influenced the society in many different ways. Scot MaCloud defines comic as a sequence of illustration with the purpose of transmitting feelings and information, in order to obtain an aesthetic answer by the reader. Moreover, comics use to be published in paper. But, with the fast advances of technology, comics are published in internet and e-books too. These are some of the reasons of its ease of acquisition; its capacity of giving emotional messages to the reader and – of course – its popularity. 

The comics were created a long time ago. The first comics appeared in the ancient Egypt. According to this information, many people say that hieroglyphics are the parents of the comics. In Rome there were comics too, but many of them consisted on slogans against the Roman Empire, in other words: there were just satires. In 1900 the comics began to be published in the kiosks with creations such as Krazy Kat, Bringing up father and Flash Gordon. But the comics were internationalized with very famous stories such as Le journal de Mickey and Tintín. USA, Japan and France lead the trade of comics with enterprises such as Marvel, Shonen Jump and Pilote. The evolution of comics is very interesting due to its relation with ancient cultures that have influenced the current comic.

Comic is not just cartoons due to they are an influential mean of communication that transmits feelings that catch the attention of readers. It is considered as a new kind of language, when most of the information is shown with facial and corporal expressions. Every story captured in comics is a graphic narrative; each vignette is related to the previous and the next one but no one is independent. For that reason, comics are considered as a perfect combination of corporal and spoken language. Besides, comics have a very wide offer because they have contents for all the genres and ages: since superheroes, adventures, kingdoms, romance and love until policy, sex, drugs, explicit violence, and so forth.  Comics cover all the likes and this is one of the reasons why comic is so wanted.

Comic is also a life style, many people adopt some features of their favorite comic characters because they feel identified with them. Even, many people in the world make and dress clothes of their favorite comic characters! These people use to be called Cosplay that is a combination of the words “Costume” and “Play”. Also, these people meets in cons around the world where they can do many things related with comics: to discuss; to learn more about how to draw comics; to watch videos about comics; to participate in contests and conferences; buy/sell comics, action figures; etc. This kind of events assembles the fans of comics of many countries and –at the same time - demonstrates the importance of comics for many people that see in comics a new way of interpreting the life.

In conclusion, comic is one of the most important and successful industries of entertainment that can be compared with music, literature, cinema, Internet and TV. It has influences in all the parts of the world because of its high popularity, its simplicity, the variety of contents for different readers that comics manage and its facility of showing feelings to the public. Otherwise, the evolution of technology and internet helped comics to increase its ease of access for readers because they can find a lot of them wherever they want. Finally, comic is a world phenomenon and is very important to be familiarized with it because it is not just a hobby but also a kind of worship for many readers who see in comics a mirror of their lives and beliefs, a way of dressing and a great opportunity to meet new people with their same likes.

PRACTICING WHAT I HAVE LEARNED: COFFEE

The best way of training our writing skills is dedicating time to write a lot. This kind of training is very fruitful because people can learn and ensure their acquired knowledge in a easy way. Moreover, when you write you can work out your brain and flourish your imagination. writing is the best way to keep in our mind many things. Finally, The invitation today is not stopping writing even if your final results are not that you want, the matter is enjoy the practice of writing about whatever you want. 

COFFEE: FROM THE BEAN TO THE EXQUISITENESS

Coffee is one of the most common drinks in the entire world. People usually share good moments and conversations with a cup of coffee in their hands. Besides, many people have tasted it and even there are many addicts to this grain that was discovered in Africa and that nowadays it is produced mainly in tropical countries such as Colombia, Brazil or India. Coffee also has many ways of preparation: as a drink, cake, ice-creams even as yogurt. But few people do not know what the procedure of this product is and this essay is for showing the process, what the properties of coffee are and how it is sold. The process could be very hard but, at the end, it is worth.

Coffee takes its name because of the seed of the coffee tree, a tree that grows naturally in Ethiopian territory that belongs to the Rubiaceae family. The coffee has between four and six meters high. Besides, it has greenish hue, opposite leaves, its flowers are white and berry fruits are displayed in red. The seed of this tree, i.e. coffee, usually measures about one centimeter, being flat on one side and convex on the other, with a longitudinal groove. Its color is yellow-green. Coffee grows well on the islands of Java and Sumatra, and in Arabia, India, Africa, the Caribbean and Central and South America, but in South America, Arabian crops produce about two-thirds of all coffee consumed in the world, and is for that reason that Colombia becomes a major exporter because it produces a coffee of the highest quality, with the best texture and flavor.

As a product of nature, the coffee is loaded with many chemical structures as it contains around 1500 chemicals that are mostly antioxidant properties, and hundreds of these structures are produced by chemical transformations during the process roasting at temperatures exceeding 200 °C and a pressure of 25 bars. For example, nutrients that are shown in the following table are constituted in coffee as a beverage, and this gives a large contribution of energy and great health benefits. Finally we must say that the coffee as one of the most consumed products in the world, and it has become one of the most important products too, as it is second after oil.

Every product has a process and each process has a technique, the way how to improve the final product seeking quality and efficiency is the production. Since the first plantations, Colombian farmers want to develop the best strategies and methods to increase their harvesting  taking into account that this country is one of the most important exporters of this grain around the world. FEDERACION NACIONAL DE CAFETEROS, founded in 1927, has been developing technological and scientific programs to achieve the best results.

For producing a coffee of a high quality the cultivators need to consider some important aspects related directly with this practice such as ground, climate, geographic position and pest control, always considering the environmental and workers protection. The adequate conditions of weather and ground can produce coffee of an excellent class. In very hot places the coffee’s plants have a development cycle shorter and the cultivation endures less time different from cold places where the plants have a better growth and their production is longer, why reason the coffee have to be planted into a temperature between 18 and 22°C, neither much nor few rain. The sun is an energy fountain for the plant and is the most important natural element to elaborate its own food, the trees should be enough separated to avoid that the plants end competing for the light among them.

The ground must be prepared before planting by the coffee farmers and this should be rich in minerals such as Nitrogen, Phosphorous and potassium, its color has to be dark  because of this kind of ground has a lot of organic  matter.The optimum region to cultivate coffee can be found between 1250 and 1600 of altitude above sea level, helped by good weather conditions. Commonly the coffee tree is victim of plagues and diseases that can kill an entire cultivate quickly if it is not treating early in a correct way. Finally it is not easy to produce good quality of coffee in any place, this product has been associated during some centuries to the international market, for that reason at the present time science and technology based in many investigations are supporting all the coffee production activities to provide tools and knowledge helping many people from several zones of underdeveloped countries like Colombia to find in the production of coffee another way to work decently.

The coffee bean process requires a long process and it is as important as the cultivation. This phase is related with the following parts:

·         Removing the seeds of the coffee plant.

For cherry seeds there are two processes:

o   Dry Way: cherries are dried in the sun or in drying machines, and then coats are removed carefully until remain just the seeds.

o   Wet Way: the cherries are soaked to remove the coats. After washing the grains. It is best known as washed coffee.

·         Coffee drying and Classification

Once collected the coffee beans, the top gets dried exposed to sunlight or in drying machines. The coffee bean is freed from its pulp, the pulp is exposed to the sunlight for 2-3 days until dry its cover. This type of drying "natural" is proper to get the "coffee parchment paper". Then, the beans are classified to be sent to the roasters, to proceed to coffee roasting. Impurities and stones are removed and grouped by categories. The grain is now green and soft. Some productive countries sell green coffee, and then each country roasts and sells coffee in various types of coffee: roasted, ground, instant, decaffeinated. The process of coffee is too delicate and it needs many cares but the final product is worth.

As we have seen, the process is too large and it costs many resources, machinery, manpower and money. This process consists on a lot of steps: since collecting the grain, removing the seeds, drying the coffee, until toasting and packing the final product. Also, this project showed how it is sold and distributed in the merchandise and what the importance of coffee is. At the end, all the efforts done in the production are with the objective of giving to everyone one of the most delicious drinks ever: the coffee.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST PARAGRAPH

Most of us need to compare things in our every day life, for example: when we are in the supermarket, we choose one trade because it "maybe" more advantages than others. Comparison and contrast paragraphs are useful to give arguments and characteristics about two facts, things, person, whatever you want. The only thing that writer have to take into account is the clarity and the impartiality of the ideas. The following example give you an idea of I want to say you:

COMICS VS MANGA

Comic is so popular and its trade is very wide nowadays because it covers the entire world. However, there are two countries that concentrate this kind of trade: Japan (with their manga) and USA (with their comics). Manga and Comics are equal in influence, many people have watched some stories related with them, for example: X-men, Dragon Ball, Superman, Saint Seiya and so on. The main difference between them is that manga manages more offer for public than comics due to the last one is aimed to show stories about superheroes such as Spider-man or Batman. Otherwise, Manga offer stories about adventures, epic battles, romance and crude violence too. Another clear difference is its way of communicating the message to the reader: manga tries to use the narrative using a deep story-line while comics spend more time focusing in corporal movements. Finally, it does not matter which is your favorite, the relevance here is to enjoy this form of the entertainment that is also considered as the ninth art.

CAPITALIZATION RULES

Most of the concerns in people about writing composition comes from capitalization. First of all, capitalization is the use of capital letters in sentences. I have to recognize that I have many problems to know when I have to put a capital letter in my written compositions. However, I found information about this problematic aspect and I hope that this new information could help you to overcome your difficulties.





a) The first word in a sentence:

•  When I comes back, I will visit us.
• An apple a day, keeps doctors away.

b) The pronoun "I" should be written in capital letter and it does not matter if it is located at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence:

• I Studied a lot but I could not pass the exam.

c) The first wor
d in quotations:

• Billy Crystal said, "Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place".

d) The names of books, poems, songs, movies, plays, etc. Prepositions or articles should not be written with a capital letter, for example "the", "a" or "an". Except if these words constitute the first word of a title. But prepositions that integrate a compound verb or phrasal verb, are usually capitalized.

• "The Old Man and the Sea" was written by Hemingway.
• Yesterday I saw the movie "Looking After a Baby".

e) The kin when they are used as proper nouns:

• I have just bought this tie for Father. Have you bought anything for your father?
• My sister wrote a letter to Uncle Philip, but not to her two other uncles.

f) The names of countries, nationalities, languages​​, days of the week, months of the year and holidays are capitalized. The station names are written without capital letter when they are used in general

• El Salvador / United States
• Salvadorean / American
• Spanish/ English
• Friday / September
• Halloween Day
• winter, spring

g) Names of God, certain deities or personifications (as Death), figures and religious books, except when they are mentioned on the board:

• God the Father / the Bible / the Death / Moses

h) The geographical names and the cardinal points, when they integrate the section of a country but not when they are used generalized. Observe:

• San Salvador de Jujuy / the Grand Canyon
• My parents have moved to the Northwest of Argentina.
• My parents live 10 miles north of Salta.

i) The periods and historical events but not the number of centuries.

• Medieval Era / Geeological Era / Great Depression
• eighteenth century

j) The trademarks.

• Google / Hewlett Packard / OM Personal

MY VACATION IN THE LAST HOLY WEEK

Our aim with this blog is to know how to write an essay correctly. But, writing essays is too demanding and we can not learn it quickly. Otherwise, one of the most important things that people can do in order to improve their knowledge in writing is "writing a lot". It is very important to test our previous knowledge because it could generate confidence in your writing productions later. The use of these recommendations, would help you to increase your manner of writing easier.

So, I will show you a little composition about my last holy week that was very boring. Despite these boring experiences, it was a great opportunity to express my ideas about my vacation and I could reinforce my  performance in writing.

MY VACATION IN THE HOLY WEEK

The people in Colombia celebrate because of many things; there are many beauty contests about rice, coconut, sugar cane, any saint that exists, and so on. But, in Colombia people celebrate the Holy Week as a tradition due to the religion that is applied in that country. This redaction is focused to show what kind of things I did in that week. But I consider I was not a faithful devotee of my religion in this year.

My vacation began on Friday before Holy week because my family celebrated my mother´s birthday. We asked a domicile in one of the most prestigious restaurant from Florencia and we invited to one friend of ours who is my classmates too, He is Wilfer. We ate cake and Hawaiian beefsteak. Besides, we drunk beers and talked about many things: the birthday, my mom, politics, education and even the university where I study. We were talking until midnight.

My father wanted to visit his family in Boyacá and he went with my sister. They started to travel on Saturday at 5 a.m. For this reason, the only person who accompanied me in holy week was my mother. This Saturday was very relaxing for me, I played video-games all the day but I helped to my mother in some chores. And it was the same the next day.

On Monday, we visited to my grandma and we ate a lot of fish that day. I remembered that I went to a friend´s house to talk about anything because it was being a very boring day. Finally, we came back to the house and we watched some movies, some of them related with the bible because they occupy almost all TV programming in Easter week.

This kind of activities began to be a routine all the days until the Holy Saturday when my mother and I went to a dinner to celebrate the 15^th birthday of a cousin. We ate very delicious food and desserts that day and I can say that, this dinner was the best thing that happened to me that holy week. On Sunday we went to my grandma again. That day, some cousins were playing football and I decided to play with them. It was very cool and I can show some of my skills as a footballer. This same day, my father and my sister come back from Boyacá and they brought many things: clothes, fruits, bread, steak and so on. They said that they had many exciting experiences there and I suppose that they had a better vacation than me.

It is difficult to say but I have to recognize that I did not spend time praying and it is an attitude that I have to change. This is all that I did in Holy Week and I can say briefly that I had better vacation in holy weeks that this that I had.

PERSUASIVE PARAGRAPH

A persuasive paragraph is an used to convince a reader about a particular idea, usually one that you believe in. Your persuasive paragraph could be based on anything about which you have an opinion. Whether you're arguing against the death penalty for school or arguing for a raise from your boss, the persuasive paragraph is a skill that everyone should know. Finally, if you want to learn how to write a good persuasive paragraph is important to give clear and truthful arguments in order to change reader´s idea.

ADOPTING A PET FROM THE POUND

Owning a pet from the pound has many advantages. First of all, a child feels good rescuing an abandoned or abused animal and giving it a whole new life. Besides, if the animals from the pound are not adopted right away, they might be "put to sleep". Having a pet also means lots of responsibilities. A child has to feed, clean up after, brush, and exercise the pet and it is important for his growing as an integral person . Another great advantage of having a pet from the pound is the price of these cute and cuddly animals because pets from the pound cost only a few dollars, but pets at a fancy pet store can cost hundreds of dollars. Once you adopt a pet from the pound, it will quickly become a part of your family. Please, consider adopting an animal. If you remember all of the advantages of adopting a pet from the pound, you might find the bird, mouse, hamster, dog, or cat of your choice.

EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH

Explanatory paragraph, also known as expository paragraphs, give an overall description of something that may be difficult to understand, for example: instruction for constructing a device or a recipe for a food. These paragraphs should have clear explanation of the process mentioned. An explanatory paragraph also present other people´s opinions or beliefs in detail without being overly analytic or critical. Finally, an explanatory paragraph is used to give clear instructions or description of an important fact.

A RECIPE FOR A DELICIOUS DESSERT: ABORRAJAOS

Aborrajao is one of the most typical foods in Colombia. It is commonly seen in Antíoquia. However, it is a very delicious dessert. The first thing that is necessary to do is to prepare all the ingredients and tools: bananas, cheese, guava jelly, oil, stove and the fryer. Then, bananas have to be split, taking into account the number of the people who are going to eat. After that, bananas should be put into the fryer. Additionally, the cheese and the guava jellies are split. After bananas are fried, you have to remove them from the fryer and add the cheese and guava jelly. If the people want to have a better experience, is recommendable to fry the bananas again for few minutes in order to melt the cheese and guava jelly. Finally, you can retire the aborrajaos from the fryer and you can serve them with a delicious drink and some of beef. In conclusion, Aborrajao seems a difficult food for cooking, but it could satisfy you a lot. Bon appetite!

OPINION PARAGRAPH

An opinion paragraph shows the writer’s own opinions about a specific topic. Persuasion is the key in an opinion paragraph because the writer should try to persuade the reader at the end of the reading process. A good opinion paragraph should persuade the reader at the end of the paragraph. Besides, to write a good opinion paragraph is important that the topic should be controversial. To convince the reader, the writer should give both sides of the topic. In an opinion paragraph, the writer should be one-sided. If not, it is difficult to convince the reader. 

An opinion paragraph shows the writer’s own opinions about a specific topic. Persuasion is the key in an opinion paragraph. The writer tries to persuade the reader at the end of the reading process. A good opinion paragraph should persuade the reader at the end of the paragraph. Besides, to write a good opinion paragraph is important that the topic should be controversial. To convince the reader, the writer should give both sides of the topic. In an opinion paragraph, the writer should be one-sided. If not, it is difficult to convince the reader. Finally, opinion paragraph is created for showing a point of view about a general topic that could generate new beliefs in readers because this kind of paragraph has this proposal: convince people.

THE 1^ST INTERNATIONAL EFL TEACHERS´CONGRESS: AN AWESOME OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW ABOUT OUR FUTURE PROFESSION

The 1st International EFL teachers’ congress celebrated in Florencia was a unique and unrepeatable event for the participants of this event. The congress counted with many important aspects that influenced in its success. One of them was the high quality of the expositors that showed new knowledge and experiences. The organization of the congress was good and effective. However, it is important to mention that there were some problems that have to be taken into account for other congress such as technical failures about internet connection and the sound quality. Another aspect to take into consideration is the classrooms infrastructure because many people could not attend to some conferences due to that these locations were not enough to accommodate more people to the conferences. Despite of these problems, the congress left a good impression among the attendees who expect that this kind of events can be performed more frequently

NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH

Narrative paragraphs tell a chain of events to create a story with a significant meaning.  The story told in a narrative paragraph usually depicts an event from the writer’s life. In the beginning of the paragraph the writer sets the background by using the four Ws -who, what, where, and when. Then the writer presents a beginning, middle, and an end in a clear and chronological order. Moreover, is important to say that this kind of paragraphs do not always begin with a typical phrase like "Once upon a time". Writer can begin with an attractive beginning that engages and catch the reader´s attention.

The following paragraph is a clear example of a narrative paragraph. It consisted on the First international EFL Teachers' Congress held in Florencia at Amazonia University. 

1^ST INTERNATIONAL EFL TEACHERS´ CONGRESS IN FLORENCIA

One of the most important events held at Amazonia University was the 1st EFL Teachers’ congress. This event was celebrated on May 9 and 10, 2013. Teachers and university students from different cities around the world participated in this great congress.  In this event, there was a variety of conferences consisted on workshops, lectures, plenaries and research reports that allowed the public to know more about their profession as English Language teachers. The congress began with a plenary in charge of Jaime Acajima who explained the importance of creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms in order to increase the enjoyment in students keeping a good rapport. The event was very good; however, there were some technical failures that did not permit the normal course of the planned activities. Despite these problems, the congress was a total success. At the end, the event counted with the participation of an artist who – with his great sense of humor - closed with a flourish the 1st International EFL teachers´ congress that will remain in the memories of participants.

In conclusion, narrative paragraph shows the reader the how were the events of an important fact for the writer. Besides, is necessary to mention the importance of using catchy phrase to increase reader's interest.

Info taken from: http://ydyo.izmir.edu.tr

  

INFORMATIVE PARAGRAPH

The fact of wanting to know more and more is natural in human beings. Everyday, many things happens and it is important to know and be updated about these events. For this kind of events, the use of informative paragraph is useful.

A information paragraph is a simple presentation of facts and information and it informs the reader about something such as science, health, business, sports, art, history, and so on. Is important to mention that personal opinions and thoughts should not be included. Besides, in this kind of paragraphs, investigating about the topic taken is necessary.

HOW TO WRITE AN INFORMATION PARAGRAPH?

The first thing that you have to do is to gather your points or pieces of information and then compile them in a large list. After that, you have to highlight four or five pieces of information that have something in common.

The first sentence of your paragraph must be your topic sentence, in other words, the subject of your paragraph. Then, you have to put four or six sentences that provide more details about your topic. At the end of your paragraph, you should put the concluding sentence that is used to restate the main idea. Finally, is necessary to re-read your final paragraph in order to check it for mistakes.

This is an example of an information paragraph

COMICS:  A GOOD WORLD TO EXPLORE

There are many means of entertainment: TV, Internet, video-games  However, comic is fashionable hobby because of their influence in people and the entertainment industry. For example, in 2011 comics earned more than US $ 700 million. Besides, the influence of comic is all over the world: Japan, USA and France form the trilogy of the most important sellers of comics with enterprises like Marvel, DC Comics, Shonen Jump and Pilote. Additionally, comics represent an important source for other industries also dedicated to entertainment such as Movies or TV series. A clear example of this fact is the movie The Avengers that was a great success.  In conclusion, comic is one of the most successful business of entertainment and their earnings can demonstrate it.

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH

As I said in another opportunity, paragraphs could be used for different purposes, for example: to explain or describe something, to inform about some important facts, to give an opinion about any topic, and so on.

Descriptive paragraph is used to make a description and give some characteristics about a person, thing or fact. Adjectives are the most important words in a descriptive paragraph. These are some of them that you can use in a descriptive paragraph

Shape and size: Large, small, wide, narrow, round and rectangular
Atmosphere: Cozy, comfortable, warm, cool, hot, cold
Felling: Surprised, happy, nostalgic, amazed, sad
Appearance: Beautiful, attractive, colorful, unforgettable

Now, I am going to give you some examples of a descriptive paragraph.

DESCRIBING MY HOUSE! 

My house is unique and i can say it is not very attractive but it has many things that can be useful for me. It is very wide and large, probably it is 40 meters large. For this reason, there is a lot of space among the rooms. Moreover, my house is very comfortable because it is not narrow and it is also very cool due to there are many trees in front of my house, it is an advantage and a reason why my house is very cozy. Additionally, my house is so beautiful because of its facade has a particular design. My house is not colorful but it does not mean that is not attractive or unforgettable. When I am in my house, I can find many feelings such as happiness. However, I also feel amazed because it is a peaceful place for living. Finally, I can say that my house is not the most beautiful place but it can offer me a lot of benefits not only physically but also spiritually.

DESCRIBING MY CLASSMATE

I have met many people in my life, but I have a strong relationship with a person who studied with me since the school, and he is Eduard Alexis Ortiz Romero, Eduard is was born in Tolima but he was raised in Caquetá. He is a very funny person and he likes to talk about whatever we want (football, English language, even policy). He is a clever man and he gives me some recommendations in order to overcome my difficulties. But, he is a very proud person and he rarely accepts his mistakes. Eduard practiced basketball at his high-school and, for this reason, he was slim. Although he was a good basketball player, he lost his lost his physical condition and gained weight since he entered to the university. However, he is still a good player in basketball and even in other games such as football, ping pong or volleyball. His hair is brown and curly and he frequently has a very short haircut. Besides, he has a round face and he often has facial hair. He suffered acne but there is not any scar in his face that can demonstrate it. He likes to study English and he is good speaking it. Finally, I can say Alexis is a very smart person who likes sports although his physical condition is not the best.