Yihua+Gu

Sociocultural Learning [] Kalpana M. Iyengar/EN 1313

Chapter Presentations Your chapter presentations are due on April 24th and April 26th. Everyone must read all the chapters as listed below because I may quiz you on any day on any chapter! Please use the following guidelines when you present**. Please bring a draft of your presentation to my office on the 19th (anytime between 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.) or Wednesday, the 18th (anytime from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) (20 points)**
 * 1) Use technology (power point, prezi, and you tube) – List the salient points from the chapter and present the summary. Show part of a you-tube video that is relevant to your chapter **(20 points)**
 * 2) Develop about 5 questions to ask your classmates in class. The questions must be from the chapter and it should engage your classmates. I shall collect the responses in class **(20 points)**
 * 3) Make copies of the summaries for your classmates to read **(20 points)**
 * 4) Discuss the chapter with your classmates by eliciting questions **(20 points)**

April 24th presenters April 26th presenters Chapter Presentations
 * 1) Chao Ning - The Maker’s Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts (83)
 * 2) Ma - School versus Education (50)
 * 3) Shen - Growing up (56)
 * 4) Xi - Everything isn’t Racial Profiling (95)
 * 1) Yihua - My Father’s Life (113)
 * 2) Kim D - College Pressures (128)
 * 3) Kim Y - The story of the good boy (192)
 * 4) Jung - What is Intelligence Anyway? (43)


 * Yihua Gu (Nice picture!)**
 * 1 Camino Santa Maria CH#207**
 * 210 487 0879**

Summary 1

The driver said: “Occasionally the light seems like a strong, straight beam, and other times it’s very faded and drifty… There’s a whole mood, the way light is”. I think these sentences can be applied into our real lives. One has a firm and strong belief seems to be more powerful, confident and even energetic. However, once you lose your faith or pursuit, you become weaker. You will be easily depressed and unconfident confronting frustrations.

“We just hope. We have ideas. And we think we’re wise, but we’re not. We just want to be. The world is not your oyster” said by the driver. People always cannot carefully think of themselves. We are not fully aware of our merits and weaknesses. Just as what we did to the environment. We do not obey the rules and principles of nature and will harm ourselves in turn eventually.

Summary 2

Peace Pilgrim has walked across the whole United States many times. I do not believe that a woman can be able to do this without firm and strong beliefs. Similarly, there is definitely a way that is suitable for you to live brilliantly among various occupations. All we need to do is to believe and insist what we think is right. Just as Peace Pilgrim said: “Live the way you believe, do meaningful work, and find your own inner peace so you can work for world peace”.

In the last of this chapter, the writer talked about what she should do when a taxi is coming. This is just like a life trip. We meet kinds of people during the whole life. Some of them can be your most intimate friends and some are just visitors who come into your life occasionally. We should treat them with different and correct measures respectively.

Summary 3 In the begining of this chapter, author takes us back to her childhood and the shared memory with a neighbor boy, Roger. Then, she records some car accidents. Her father driven into a ditch. Her mother received a ticket because of speeding. And a woozy taxi driver almost hurt her neck. All of these accidents left author bad memories, but these don not change her will to travel as far as possible. And she thinks that all of these tiny interlud cannot change the way on which we can enrich our life. Don't need to consider too much when we are on the way, just go head and have a big life. Finally, she describes her little baggage to show us that even she did not have too much, she can still traveled around the world.

Summary 4 Different ridings the author tells in this chapter are memories of her childhood. When only three year old, the writer was taken by a thirteen year old boy on his bike, they pedaled wherever she want and had a lot fun. Also, the writer recalls stories that her father drove her into an accident, drove around with her mother’s friend Irma, a taxi ride when in second grad as well as after mother got a license they drove on the freeway and had a small accident. By telling these, the author shows her enthusiasm in travelling around. Not necessarily being rich, but have the passion and opportunity to go far away is the very important point of having a Big Life. In the journey of life, it seems similar; you don’t need many things, just the passion of going on. A large package can be a encumber, the process is the most important.

Summary 5 Author once kissed a man in a taxi driver’s backseat and made the driver awkward because it was in Arab. People think it is a kind of rude thing. However, author still remembered the uncomfortable driver more than the person she kissed at that time.

Summary 6 The writer portrayed several scenes of what happened in taxis in different places. The first one is in a taxi in Pittsburgh. The driver said he dreamed about staircases under the bed going down to other worlds. And the writer replied she agreed with his idea of writing his dream into a story or book. Second, during the trip in New Orleans, the writer knew from a driver that most Louisianans do not like Texas at all. In Jordan, the taxi would stop no matter what you said on the road side. Then, an experience in New York City terrified the writer and her friend. The driver was distracted by whatever he saw on the roads and braking at random moments in crowded streets. Finally, when she was in Philadelphia, the driver talked about the Star Trek and said his life had totally changed due to the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”. (p. 62) At the book signing, a woman was unsatisfied with the signature of “Hamilton” which was the writer’s cat’s name. And the writer was forced to sign again and promise to eat the chocolate the woman gave later.

Yihua Gu EN 1313 Iyengar 1/26/12

Name Game

Today I had an interview with Dr. Murray about her first and last names.

First of all, I’d like to introduce Dr. Murray. Dr. Murray’s full name is Mary Ann Murray. She is the professor of Quantitative Management in Bill Greehey School of Business. Her father was in the army, so she moved a lot with her father when she was a child. She studied in the Iran and Ethiopia for her high school degree. She got the BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) degree from University of California long beach. And got the MBA and PH.D degree in Texas tech university in 1992.

Dr. Murray told me that she got the first name and middle name from her two grandmothers. One of her grandmother’s name is Mary, and the other grandmother’s name is Ann. So they decided Dr. Murray’s first and middle’s name is Mary Ann. “Murray” is her husband’s last name. She changed her last name since she married with her husband. Her last name was Sumstad, the “Sumstad” comes from Norway. She said she don’t have any idea of her name. Therefore I did some research online. “Mary” as the first name means bitter, variant of Miriam, the biblical mother of Christ. “Murray” means one who came from moray. I find that the meaning of name is really interesting, some names reflect history, and some reflect cultural affiliations and connotations.

Yihua Gu En 1313 Iyengar 1/26/12

A Travel Experience (Wow! you are amazing!) Last Christmas break I had around 40 days, some of my friends decided to go back to China and stay with their family. However, I choose to travel in the United States.

Firstly, I flew from San Antonio to Minneapolis, which is in the Minnesota. Because one of my best friends study there. That was my second time to visit the Minneapolis. I learned that, actually the Minneapolis just the one part of the city, the other part is St. Paul. Therefore the city named for “ Twin Cities.” The weather in Minneapolis is totally different from San Antonio’s. The Minnesota is border on the Canada, and is a high latitudes area. (Closed to the North Pole) Therefore it was very cold there, when I was there the lowest temperature was -22 degree; the city covered by snow more than half a year there.

After couple of days, I flew from Minneapolis to San Francisco with my girlfriend; she flew from Canada to San Francisco, my friendand his girlfriend. Therefore we got two pairs of people, which was really good. I rent a car and stayed in the San Francisco three days. We visited many vista points, such as Golden Gate Bridge that was really great. I can believe how people can make it in 1937. It’s free whenI drove cross the Golden Gate Bridge, but when I came back you have to pay 6 dollars. We also visited Lombard Street, Alamo Square and Union Square. When we were at Union Square, the elevator in the parking building stuck my friend and his girlfriend. There were 14 people in the elevator, therefore I called 911, and they send a fire brigade team there. The fire man use the lever to break the door of the elevator and saved them.

Next city was Las Angeles. I drove from San Francisco to the LA on NO.1 California highway, which is one of the best 50 places to go on “National Geographic” magazine. There are some beaches there, and I proposed to my girlfriend on the beach. And she sai d “yes,” now she becoming my fiancé. It took us 8 hours drove to the LA. We were so tired when we arrive the hotel. Second day in LA we visit the Disneyland. My fiancé was so happy, I s trongly agree the advertising that “ Let the memories begin” even for a man, we were just like kids and have fun in the Disneyland. We also visited the Universal Studio; we not only g ot a great there, but also learned how to make a movie, such as how to scenery and how to use the high-tech to make the good effect. And we visited the Hollywood and I found Bruce Lee’s seal on the Hollywood Boulevard.

The last city was Las Vegas, that took us around 4 hours to drove from LA to Las Vegas. We visited a lot of hotels in Vegas. Such as New York-New York, MGM, Luxor, Treasure Island and Venice. On the New Year Eve, the police offer close the Las Vegas Boulevard, which is the main stem in the Vegas, so people can stand on the street. We enjoyed the New Year Countdown, after we shout “Zero” the fireworks covered the sky.

That was my best travel experience, not only because I got a lot of experience and vista points, but also I got my fiancé.

Yihua Gu EN 1313 Iyengar 02/07/12

A Foreigner A lot of people thought foreigners are outsiders, and people would have sense of distance in them. For example I have a sister; her name is Yuri. Her father is Japanese. He moved his work from Japan to China 12 years ago. And he married my aunt, and Yuri is their first child. Although, Yuri was born in China, her father changed her nationality back to Japan. Yuri was raised in China, and went to primary school in Japan. When she was in China, people would think she is a foreigner, a Japanese people. After she went back to Japan and studied there, Japanese people thought she is Chinese. She told me that she was sad about that. When she was a young kid in China, her father always took a walk with her after each dinner. Although Japanese people are similar with Chinese people, he gave people the first impact he is a Japanese. Because the way he talks and his face, all neighbors knew he is Japanese, so does Yuri. Also at that time, her father changed her nationality back to Japan. People thought my sister is a foreigner. When Yuri went to the kindergarten, the president and her teacher knew she is a foreigner firstly, because for the most Chinese people’s names, there are three words. However, the majority of Japanese people’s names, they have four words. Even the tuition for her was higher than Chinese students. After couple of weeks, the whole kindergarten knew Yuri is Japanese. And her classmates were wondered how a Japanese people can speak Chinese perfectly. Also she is the only foreign student in her kindergarten. Yuri’s grandmother missed Yuri a lot, so her family decided let Yuri go to the Japanese primary school. However Yuri’s Japanese was not good as her Chinese, therefore she had to go to the language school for one year, after that she could go to the primary school. “ Worst of all, Masako had to attend high school all over again. To learn her own language, her mother said. She could not make friends with any of the other students; they called her //gaijin// and laughed at her. //Gaijin// Means ‘ foreigner.’”(**Tea //with Milk//**, by Allen Say) After Yuri went to the primary school, all of her classmates thought she is a foreigner, even she speak Japanese as good as wheat. People said she had accents. She told some of her classmates, she is Japanese; however her classmates thought she was an immigrant. I think we cannot judge the book by its cover. No matter where are people come from, we need to respect the foreigner. We are all human being, and we all created by God, also we have the same rights. To respect foreigners is to respect ourselves.

Yihua Gu EN 1313 Iyengar 02/19/12

How to Survive in the Jungle The adventure trip is becoming more and more popular in these days. People prefer traveling jungles than traveling in cities. However traveling in jungles will be dangerous, and earlier be lost. Here I have some tips for people who are going to travel in jungles. How to survive in the jungle is more important than everything when you travel in the jungle.
 * Orientation in the jungle
 * First, you should figure out where you came from and trace it back to a recognizable travel trail. Of course a map, a compass and a GPS unit would probably solve your problem much easier. If you were not part of a group and making noise would only attract animals you'll have to pick a direction and stick to it. Head downhill to find a water stream, and then follow it until it becomes a river, which will lead you out of the jungle. Choose the direction of travel wisely and if it turns out to be bad, quickly come up with a new plan.
 * Second, with low visibility, you may need to rise above the canopy by heading partway up a hill or ridge to get your bearings. A slight depression in the jungle where one side is higher than the other suggests there could be a river so go ahead and follow it. The wider the river, the more chances you have to find civilization.
 * Food and water
 * Without food a man can survive up to three weeks, but without water it's just a matter of days. However, contaminated water could lead to problems like dysentery and sickness, which can be life threatening in the jungle. If you’ve forgotten to pack a few bottles of water, water purification gear or Iodine tablets you’re not totally screwed. Even in the jungle you can do something about it. Fast flowing water with creatures like fish swimming around, means that the water could be harmless, although it is better to boil it before hand. Another way is to let a plant produce water for you in the form of condensation, by putting it in a plastic bag. However, this can taste pretty foul.
 * Plants are the easiest source of food in the jungle because they don't run out. However, for an inexperienced adventurer it's not easy to tell the difference between poisonous plants from those that are healthy. The easiest way to tell if they'll harmful is to test the juice on your skin to see if how it reacts. This isn’t 100% effective however. Usually bright red berries and most of the time, plants with a milky sap should be avoided.
 * Dangers in the jungle
 * Falling trees and branches are the biggest killers of people in the jungle. Therefore you need to choose your night camp on clear grounds and away from trees. Stay alert, move slowly and steadily through the dense jungle and stop periodically to listen and take your bearings.
 * Keeping away from animals, set fire before you sleep.

Yihua Gu EN 1313 Iyengar 02/25/12

Business Majors Business Majors are classified into three major categories- finance, marketing, and accounting. The goal of business majors is to help people to find a job of business area, such as banker and accountant. Also there three major classifications are based on the method each object uses to achieve its purpose. I am a finance major student, and I really enjoy it. The finance major is for students who are aiming at a career in business and who enjoy number, analysis, and "real world" applications will appreciate this major. Student’s ability to analyze financial information, recommend sound financing and investment options, and manage the fiscal resources of successful organizations. Corporate financial management requires quantitative abilities, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work well with groups. Individuals who enjoy using analytical skills, making decisions, and explaining decision outcomes to others should consider the corporate financial management major. Additionally, students who enjoy working with people, are challenged by continuous learning requirements, and have a strong commitment to career advancement will enjoy a professional corporate financial management career path. Also this major requires strong mathematical and computer skills and interests. After you graduated with finance major, you have the ability to find a job such as finance officer, finance advisor and finance analyst. Chao is one of my friends, and her major is accounting. Accounting is the language of business. It involves the recognition, measurement, recording, reporting and analysis of economic events that affect decision-making processes. It is the way that companies keep score of how successful they are, whether this is measured by profit or growth. After you choose the accounting for you major, the computer will be your friend in your entire friend, because you need to do the Excel problem all the time. You have to stay in focus when you do the Excel, and clear agile. Finally, there are so many licenses you need to get; such as CPA (Certified Public Accountant), CMA (Certified Management Accountant). These licensed would be much more harder than you graduate from college. The Marketing major is excellent for individuals who enjoy working in teams and are creative in developing new ways to accomplish their company’s goals. Contemporary marketing managers must understand not only the traditional areas of marketing channels, sales management, advertising, and research, but must also be familiar with consumer and dealer motivation. The process requires an understanding of buyer and seller behavior within the context of the overall market environment. Marketing majors have hobbies that may include the use of computers and activities involving teamwork and problem solving. This major is totally different from the finance major and accounting major, because the marketer have to thinking about how I can get into this market, what kind marketing strategy should I use, however no matter what the marketer is going to do, that will spend money. The opposite is the accountant and finance people are thinking about how to cut down the company’s expenditures. These are brief summary about the categories of business majors.

Should parents pay for college? Most parents want to help their children out with college costs. Also some parents will pay towards tuition, books, housing costs, transportation, gas, insurance, food and clothing. Why not-For the parents part:
 * Some parents choose to delay the retirement by 5 years to help pay their kid’s college. As selfish as it may sound, is that worth? When people getting old, they should enjoy your rest of life, and not to working harder than ever. Or your children can get the education loans, since they graduate, they can use their salary to pay for the loans.
 * Higher grades result in more academic scholarship opportunities. Lower grades mean you pay more for college. If your kid takes school seriously, you know that they’ll do whatever it takes to get the grades that save them the most money.
 * Instead of turning 24 and realizing that it’s time to get “responsible” your kid will realize this at 18. There are too many stories of people in their mid-20s that still live at home and act like a teenager. You want your child to understand the value of actually working hard for something and what it feels like to pay the bills at an early age

Why not-For the college students: In my point of view, if parents pay for the college for their kids, they are going to live comfortable. That will satisfy your love your kids’ emotion. However, you “love” your kids right now, in the future, the “love” will change to “harmful.” Also for the kids, you can live very comfortable and cheesy in the next four years in college, but that will be harmful for your future. Or let’s strive for four years, and get a better future. Make your choice.
 * Once you’re done college and in the real world, you’re completely on your own. Nobody will ever hand you 20 grand a year (or any other astronomical number) a year, for 4 years straight. It’s just not going to happen.
 * When you finish your college, and your parents stop to support your fees, would you become a drug dealer, if you cannot find a job?
 * Say what you want about the actual process of working, but a job is an excellent opportunity to meet new people and get more social. By working you’ll have the chance to meet other college students in the same boat and you’ve got the potential of networking with older people.

Happiness Happiness is a kind of emotion of enjoyment and satisfaction, and it can be described in many ways. To me, happiness is to enjoy my life, overcome the difficulties I meet, and have the people I love around me. Enjoying my life is the source of my happiness. There are many ways for me to enjoy my life such as eating a big meal after the final exam, going to the baseball field to watch an exciting game, and the most important of all: having a positive attitude to every situation I am in. In the third year of junior high school, I was very sad because I was afraid that I could not pass the high school entrance exam, and I wanted to give up preparing for that exam. Fortunately, I met a good English teacher, and she told me that if I changed my negative attitude to a positive one, and seized every moment to prepare for that exam, I would pass it. Magically, I really became happier and passed that exam after I did what my English teacher had told me. From that time, I always take positive attitude toward every situation I am in, and seize every moment I have because it really helps me to enjoy my life. People may meet many difficulties in their whole lives, and overcoming these difficulties may be suffering to some people. On the contrary, overcoming these difficulties is a kind of happiness to me. To tell the truth, the process of overcoming the difficulties is tiring and weary, but I always find some small pleasures in the process. That is, I can learn more experiences and knowledge from overcoming the difficulties. In addition, the feeling of achievement is happiness. Every time when I finally conquer my difficulties, I will have a happy feeling that I can really accomplish something, and I can defeat myself once again. Overcoming the difficulties really brings me happiness because it can teach me a lot of things. Besides enjoying my life and overcoming difficulties, the greatest happiness to me is having the people I love around me. For example, my good friends and I always have a talk in our free time, and we always have the same feeling about what makes us happy and sad with each other. This kind of consensus gives me a lot of happiness because I can have such like-minded good friends. There is a saying that if a person chooses to be happy, then the world around him/her will be happy; if a person chooses to be sad, then he/she will be the only one who is sad. Happiness is everywhere, and it depends on everyone’s attitude toward life. Therefore, I will always try to pursue happiness by enjoying my own life, overcoming all the difficulties I meet, and having the people I love around me. If I can do these well, I will have happiness in my future life.

culture brochure

My Father's Life