Khaled Seaydoun: Death of a salesman

Arthur Miller in his play “the Death of a Salesman” aimed to discuss what is known as the American Dream. The writer seems to focus on the failure of the American Dream. Willy Loman and his family, his wife Linda and his two sons Happy and Biff, are the main characters of the play. They represent an example of a family that failed to turn that American Dream into reality. The remaining characters are relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers. We can find Ben, Willy’s brother, their neighbors, Charley and his son Bernard, His boss Howard, and few secondary characters. Most of the characters are successful in their life due to different reasons, mainly hard work, determination, and luck sometimes. The play focuses on the main reasons for which Willy’s family failed to realize the American Dream. In fact, we can find many reasons related to social conditions, materialistic behavior, and an exerting overall situation. Willy’s downfall took place for some reasons.

First of all, he has some wrong beliefs about the American Dream. Willy thinks that just appearance traits are enough to assure success. He thinks that being physically strong and handsome are essential and sufficient traits to be successful. For example, he thought that many Universities will run behind his son Biff and admit him just because he was a good sport player. Although he was not admitted by the university because he failed the Math test, Willy did not get rid of that illusion. Another example is when Willy was always stressing on the fact that his son Biff should not have to worry because he is handsome to get that job. While his sons have blown up every job they had ever been working at, Willy was still considering that his sons can enjoy a successful business only if they could just manage to acquire the appropriate start-up capital.

Second, Willy has high expectations about people and life. He never admitted low profile jobs or moderate career targets. When he used to talk with his sons about their future job, he was stressing always on having very successful businesses. The examples he used to give to them were about the most successful and well known businesses like Lehman Brothers. Another example is concerning the people he chose as prototypes of success for himself and his sons. He was always giving examples about people who were able to make huge amount of monies or those famous players. In addition, Willy had kind of illusions about his relationship with people. He mixes personal and business interests. For example, when Howard denied his request for an office job, he just tried to put kind of emotional pressure on him when he reminded him about his father and their relations. Furthermore, when Charley offered him a job that he was badly in need of he refused. This refusal was purely for personal reasons, for the offer was for a comfortable and well paid job. His jealousy of Charley and his son Bernard were the main reasons behind rejecting the job offer.

Third, another major reason for Willy’s downfall is that he was greedy and unrealistic. Although he is considered to have an acceptable personal financial standing, he was not satisfied with that. For example, he almost has his mortgage totally paid, but he never looked for that as a positive point. Instead, he argued about being surrounded by high rise apartment buildings, which could be considered as a positive factor that may lead to the increase of his property value. As another example, he had his car in a period of time when few people had their cars, yet he looked to his car as scrap. In addition, he had his refrigerator, but he argued why he did not buy a better trade mark. Furthermore, Willy was untruthful towards himself, his sons, and his friends. For example, Willy deeply knows both his potential and that of his sons; however, he continues planning for unrealistic projects. While both Happy and Biff were declaring their failure in the several jobs they had, Willy was still suggesting huge and sophisticated projects for his sons to realize. Another example is when he told Charley that although he was borrowing some money, this was because he did not want his wife Linda to know that he withdrawn from the saving account that did not exist in reality.

In conclusion, the Death of a Salesman is a realistic play, which has dealt with the American Dream from different perspectives. Although this dream is realizable for some people, definitely it is not for all of them. While America is not an easy fortune for everybody, people who have the appropriate characteristics could make it. Willy failed to achieve that dream for many reasons, mainly because he had wrong beliefs about that dream, he had unrealistic expectations about people and circumstances, and he was untruthful and greedy. I think that any person has the right to dream and to find the niche on earth to achieve his dreams. However, to be able to achieve our dreams or to cope with failure, we should be truthful, realistic, determined and adaptable. In addition, we should know ourselves deeply and try to plan for our life plan accordingly.

NADEZDA FADEEVA: Work

There are many ways in the world to earn money. The best way to do it is to find not only the field which one is good but also the way which is right for you. I know many people who would like to set up their own businesses, and there are lots of benefits for them. Nevertheless, I prefer to work for others for some reasons.

First of all, working for others gives me more freedom. I can choose any direction I want. Moreover, if I recognize that I do not want to do it anymore, I can both change occupation and quit without big losses. My new working area depends on what I enjoy and not on the consumers’ demands strongly. Finally, I can take a long-term rest, if I feel I need it. I will be able neither worry nor care how the business is going while I am absent.

Furthermore working for others is safer. I cannot be sure in advance whether my business will go through economic crises or not. If I work in somebody’s big company, I have more chance to keep the job. Therefore, I will keep my income too. Moreover, stable financial position in the live directly affects anybody’s health. There are enough responsibilities and stressful situations in the life to add it by yourself.

And eventually I do not need initial investment. If I am going to work for others, I do not need starting capital. I cannot only spend all earned money right away whenever I want, but also do not apprehend whether I find investors or not. And, of cause, I do not need analytic capability to figure out what will be successful in real economic condition because my creativity does not work at this direction, it would be impossible for me to predict future pitfalls.

So, I am sure that earning money by working for others is the only right way for me. First of all, because it gives me more freedom to change occupation according to my mood. Second, I do not want to be responsible for all people whom I hire, because it would be sad for me to look at their eyes if I should lay them off in crises time. Third, it is almost impossible for me to accumulate my analytic capability and saving opportunity to gather even initial investment. Finally, I prefer to trust my life stability to somebody who is more educated for it. In conclusion, working for others satisfies my requirement and is convenient to my capabilities.

Tariq Batto: Modern Technology

During the last century, the technology was sophisticated through which the human being travelled to the Moon. Many approaches were pursued by researchers to achieve their goals. The two main pole countries (U.S.A and the previous U.S.S.R.) performed a lot of researches. In addition, gadgets, such as computers, cell-phone, vehicles for transportation, and other devices, are blessing, but some times they are curses. Modern technology prompts people to explore the world well, and it brings people together easily.

Modern technology has helped us to explore the world and other galaxies have taken place during the last five decades. For example, exploring the space and other planets by sending unmanned or manned space-craft or spaceships to identify the atmosphere or to be landed on the surface of planets. For instance the U.S. has a project to explore Mars. In 1960’s, the U.S.S.R sent a manned spaceship landed on the surface of the Moon and came back home safely. Other new technology was the invention of apparatuses and equipments to be used for predicting the weather which are very important to obtain information which are essential for the air and sea navigations, on the other hand, such apparatuses are also of value to predict disasters such as hurricanes, volcanoes. The sophisticated technology leads to the invention of atomic energy, which is very useful in many aspects, for instance, the production of electricity, for medical purposes in investigations and diagnosis diseases, or the treatment of certain cases such as cancer. All these uses of atomic energy are for peaceful applications.

Modern technology is also a blessing tool to bring people together, for example, people can communicate easily between them when they use the modern gadgets such as cell-phone, computers. Cell-phone is valuable, firstly, people speak between them all over the world; besides, mobiles could be used from any place not like the ordinary telephone. Secondly, the cell-phone is sort of entertainment ones can amuse himself. Thirdly, cell-phone could be used as a mini computer. Through the internet by using computers, people are chatting together instead of using the telephone. Moreover internet nowadays is very essential in out life, because people can contact the world to follow the researches and the progression in any field. The invention and manufacturing of planes, trains, cars, enabled people to be closer. These inventions were very developed during the he last hundred years. Air planes transport people form on continent to another during a numerous hours, while people before spent months in ships to reach their destinations. Trains and cars nowadays are the most vehicles used to transport people inside or outside the cities. People use trains and buses to reach their work places especially in large cities, others employ their cars to travel on vacations to spend an interesting period of time with their families. Finally, new technology evokes people to investigate the earth and other galaxies by inventing many inventions which allowed them to reach their successes, and also to facilitate people’s transportation to be closer than before.

Inventions from the first ancient human being till now were always in progress especially during the last century. Modern technology helped people to discover other planets in addition to our earth. In future, we will use a lot of new technologies to understand and explore the space. Modern technology could be blessing or curse. In my opinion it’s a mixed blessing, especially if it is used in a proper way for the humanity.

Tariq Batto: The Kite Runner

Tariq Batto – The Kite Runner.

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini (San Francisco, Riverhead, 2003) is said to be the first novel written in English by an afghan writer. The story talks about the situation in Afghanistan from the late 1970’s to 1981, during the Soviet Union, the afghan community in Fremont, San Francisco, and finally the events, in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. The writer describes the tragedy, sufferance in Afghanistan, and ethnic differentiation between the afghan people during the last decades. The character of Hassan reveals the pain and suffering of the Afghanistan citizens.

The Kit Runner is a novel of strained family relationships between a son and Baba, his father, and between two brothers Amir and Hassan (Hassan was illegitimate half brother from his mother Sanabur and Baba). How they deal with guilt, forgiveness, and redemption. Amir is the main character in the story, Hassan was his friend / servant, a Hazaras living together in the same house. Baba was a successful businessman, well known as an anti-communist. On the other hand, Amir was very jealous of Hassan, because Baba admired Hassan more. Rahim Khan, Baba’s business partner he was real friend to Baba and Amir. Kite Running, in which children attempt to cut down each others kite strings. Amir won the local tournaments, Hassan shouted: “for you a thousand time times over … (86), ran for a mile to retrieve the kite. Assef a Pashtun teenager boy with his two friends attempt to take the kite from Hassan, who refused to give them the kite, finally he was assaulted sexually by Assef. Amir searched for Hassan, and hided when he heard Assef’s voice. He witnessed the rape but he was scared to help him. After words, Hassan and Amir kept a distance from each ither for some time. Amir forced Hassan to leave the house by framing him as a thief, and Hassan falsely confesses. After the Russians invades Afghanistan, Amir and Baba escaped to Pakistan, and then to the USA. Later Baba died from lung cancer, Amir married an Afghan girl Soraya, they couldn’t have children. Amir received a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying from an illness, asking him to come to Pakistan, and told him: “come, there is a way to be good again” … (247). He also told Amir that Hassan and his wife were killed by Taliban, and their son Sohrab was put in am orphanage in Kabul. Lastly Rahim Khan told Amir that he called him to Pakistan for going to Kabul to recuperate Sohrab, and put him in a save orphanage in Pakistan. Finally, Amir went to Kabul and brought Sohrab with him to the USA. At the end of the novel, Amire flew the kite again with Sohrab, saying to Sorhab the same phrase Hassan said to Amir in the Past: “for you a thousand times over” … (476).

The Kite Runner illustrates the ethnic discrimination in Afghanistan, between Hazaras and Pashtun. The former are not educated, their children didn’t go to school; as a good example Hassan who was illitrae. While the Latter ,os of them were weel informed either by sending their children to the Mulla, or to schools as Amir when his father sent him to the Mulla, before going to school. Also there is a difference between the social status, for instance, the Hazaras were poor, the Pashtuns people called Hazaras mice-eating, flat-nosed, load carrying donkeys, and Amir heard some kids in his neighborhood those names to Hassan. From Hazaras history, the Hassan people tried to rise against the Pashtuns in the nineteenth century, but the Pashtuns quelled them with extreme violence, many people were killed or driven from their lands, burned their homes, and sold their women. Further more, the Pashtuns were the majority and were Sunni Muslims, where as the Hasara were uneducated, most of their jobs were as servants or farmers serving the Pashtun people.

The Afghan people felt pain and distress during the last decades. In July 1973, a military coup took place to dismiss the King Zahir Shah who was on vacation. It was still a frightening time for the people of Kabul who always heard about the violent public disorders, and shooting in the streets. For six years, Mohammad Daovud Khan was the president and prime minister of Afghanistan. Then on April, 1978, he was violently over thorn by the people’s democratic party of Afghanistan, which was a communist party and held close relationship with the Soviet Union. In this coup Mohammad Daoud Khan was killed with his family, the country was governed by this party, which started to change many political and social laws in Afghanistan, including abolishing religious and traditional customs. These changes incensed many of afghan who believed and adhered to the traditional and religious laws. The Mujahedins (men engaged in war in the side of Islam) challenged the government to ask the help of the Soviet Union which occupied later Afghanistan in 1979. The occupation lasted a decade, during which the Afghan people suffered vigorously from the Russian Army. For example, Baba faced an event during his escaping with Amir from Kabul to Pakistan at the boarders. He lost his temper with a Russian solder when the solder asked a women traveling in the same truck, to take off her shawl. This behavior is not accepted among the Afghan people, and it is a shame and against the Islamic culture. After the withdrawal of Soviet Union troops form Taliban (Islamic mujahedins) converted Afghanistan into extreme Islamic state. They applied the Islamic rules on the people with exaggeration. Their cruel behaviors were against the real Islam. Hassan and his wife were victims of Taliban officials when Hassan refused to quit the house of Baba, where he lived with Rahim Khan. Taliban, being Sunni massacred Shiites including the Hazara people. They enacted laws of which those banning music and dance, restricting women’s rights. The most tragic plays were the frequent execution in Ghazi Stadium Theater. The Taliban used fear and violence to control the people of Afghanistan.

Khalid Hosseini, in this novel wanted to point the suffering of the afghan people during the last thirty years through the character of Hassan, who suffered a lot from his birth day till his murder with his wife in by in the hands of Taliban. If one reads between the lines, he/she can conclude that the novel contains a lot of melancholy moments and one can not ignore the propaganda that was injected between the story, a negative propaganda which sent through a message, to show the rape and violence in Afghanistan, which degrade the Afghan people. This message can propel people into thinking that Afghanistan is a country of wretchedness and filthiness. In my opinion there is a great exaggeration in describing the events in Afghanistan and the discrimination between the Hazaras and Pashtun. The propaganda which was infused in the novel might reveal the pro-American personality of writer to justify the invasion of the US to Afghanistan in September 2002.

Peggy Chen: Communication

Why do women always complain that men don’t talk or listen to them? Why do men always complain that they’re puzzled about women’s talking? There is not only a difference of appearance between a man and a woman, but there is also a difference in communication rituals between them. Making talk between women and men is just like cross-cultural communication says D.Tannen. Women regard communication as the cornerstone of relationship; they care about the sense of closeness “of a like shared”. However, men don’t treat communication as the cement that binds a relationship, they think that relationship is based more on doing things together. According to Deborah Tannen, these communication woes that resulte in communication between men and women are different in many ways, such as interpretation and response, listening to body language.

The communication between men and women are different in the way of interpretation and response. Men and women can walk away from the same conversation with totally different interpretation because women literalize the subject differently from men. For example, Susan felt dreadful that she had put on some weight after the vacation; Brain tried to cheer her up by saying, “It is good because you will not feel cold anymore during the winter time, and you can always have the leather clothes on.” She was freaked out. She just wanted him to tell her that she didn’t look fat. For women, they usually take a tease too literally. They don’t have enough sense of humor sometimes, and they are always too sensitive about teasing. In contrast, men feel that flint teasing is a way they show affection. They would not talk that way to someone they didn’t feel close to. In addition, men and women are also confused by “trouble talk”. For women, talking about troubles is simply trying to establish a kind of intimacy. They are not looking for man to give them advice or fix their problems; all they wanted were men understanding how they feel and show their empathy. Women feel that a man offers advice as if he is trying to reduce her problem or cut her off. However, men treat “trouble talk” as a request for advice, so they consider give response with a solution as being supportive, because men do not talk to each other about their troubles unless they really want a solution.

The way of listening to body language is also quite different between men and women. The linguist Lynette Hirschmand found that women make more listener noise than men. When women talk to each other, they are used to making listener noise, such as “mhm,” “uhuh,” and “yeah,” to show “I am with you.” They also overlap, repeat each other’s sentences and expect what the other is about to say. On the other hand, men often give silent attention. They feel the listener noise an overreaction and impatience as well as lack of attention. Furthermore, the impression of not listening results from the difference of physical position “eye contact” between men and women. Girls in all ages face each other directly when they talk. The direct gaze cues are a sign of the amount of attention and respect. But for men, the process is different from women. Men tend to sit at angles or parallel and look at anything except each other. The direct gaze signal aggression, and they are likely to stare their opponents down. It feels just like a challenge.

In short, men use “agonistic” format to do almost anything; thus they view a conversation as a kind of competitive sport. In contrast, women see conversation as a ritual means of establishing rapport. However, communication is needed for both genders to be able to understand each other well. Having a deeper awareness of how differently men and women communicate is essential to prevent arguments and misunderstanding. Always think about the way you communicate to others and pay attention to your body language with will help you communicate better.

Ardeshir Nowzari: Communicatio

According to psychologist research, children’s development is most influenced by social structure of peer interaction. Communication between girls and boys takes place differently. Girls build and maintain friendship by exchanging secrets, but boys are interested in doing tasks together instead of verbal interaction. That is why men do not know what kind of talk women want and misunderstand them. While in term of mechanism of conversation there are another opposite trends. For example men prefer to sit in angels to each other and look else while they talking, but women try to face each other and look directly into the eyes of speaker. So in communications between men and women, the female side doesn’t receive the needed feedback from the male side and find herself unimportant.

Another aspect of communication differences between men and women is body language, men usually show a different habit toward their female counterparts. They are often among them men switching the topic toward themselves which offends the women. In other hand boys dismiss problems which reflecting another obstacle for the girls as they are in favor of sharing and finding a common understand of them. women receive lack of attention in term of linguist Lynette as the men do not eager to have a lot of listener-noise, such as “mhm,” “uhuh,” and “yeah” which show being with speaker. Men are more often giving silent attention and get upset to receive a stream of female listener noise. In term of conversational hobbits, women talk to each other in a close, comfortable setting and overlap each other’s speeches, but men expect silent attention and interpret a listener noise as impatience or overreaction.

There are many differences between men and women in their communicational style, but The most important terms of communicational differences are linguistic and body language. The very best way to improve the communication obstacles is helping both sexes to get familiar with each other’s interpretation of a good communication style.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (New York: Riverhead books, 2003) is a unique novel written in English as second language of the author. The author’s experience may be one of the most important motives of this story. It is set against a background of events, from communist coup d’état and Russian military occupation to the escape of refugees to Pakistan and America and the Taliban regime. In this story, there are many themes, such as conflicts among family, refracted friendship, love and jealousy, secret and betrayal, guilt and redemption, and even ethnic, religion and sex discriminations. In my opinion, this is a beautiful story because it has lots of good points, even if there are some criticizable weaknesses in the construction of fiction.

The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from Kabul, who is troubled by the remorse of betraying Hassan, his devoted childhood friend who is the son of Ali, a servant. On the day of kite fighting, Amir witnesses Hassan be raped but not helps him cowardly. He goes so far as to drive his servants out of house. When the Russians invade Afghanistan, Amir and Baba, his father, escape to Pakistan and then to America. In America, Amir gets married to Soraya, Baba dies of cancer, and Amir becomes a successful writer. After many long years, Rahim Khan, Baba’s business partner and his confidant, asks Amir to go to Pakistan, for "there is a way to be good again."(1) Amir agree to go to Pakistan to redeem his sin, and returns to Taliban-controlled Kabul, rescues Hassan's son, Sohrab, and adopts and takes him back to America. In the vortex of adoption, the Sohrap commits suicide, that’s why he is emotionally hurt and only keeps silence. In the end, Sohrab begins to interact with Amir again through the kite. Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times over,"(417) like Hassan said him.

The Kite Runner, first of all, is a piece of successful work because of some literal merits. In general, an outstanding literary work needs the writer’s power of description. For instance, for me, the expressions such as “The sky is seamless and blue, the snow so white my eyes burn.”(45) sound like a poem. Another characteristic in booming works is the originality or specialty of writing ideas. The author illustrated the particular life of Afghan including the kite tournament, racism to Hazara, and even traditional wedding clothes vividly. I could comparatively improve my comprehension of Afghanistan through this novel. In addition to, a good novel means the pleasure of reading. The writer realistically showed the passing history and actual state of the strange land to me. That is why this novel is worthy of my notice. Before I read this story, I did not know about the tragedy of Afghan and Afghanistan. Fortunately, reading the Kite Runner was a wonderful experience for me.

The Kite Runner, however, has some defects of its qualities in the fictitious construction. These plots are too artificial due to a curious coincidence. For example, as a teenager, Assef, a Nazi sympathizer, rapes Hassan, and as an adult he sexually assaults Sohrab, after he becomes a Talib-executioner. I cannot believe a father and a son, both of them can be violated by one person. Besides, Sohrab severely damages one of Assef's eyes by a slingshot. This action scene is not a real situation like James Bond style movies. Likewise, Sohrab’s suicide also is not a rational scene. Usually, children around that age would not even think of suicide at all. Moreover, the author tends to forcibly tell his story through a logical leap. Especially, it is hard for me to approve the story flow a typical coward can become a brave fighter abruptly. It may be not necessary to configure the plot to reveal suddenly the secret of Hassan’s birth, even though it is to lay writer’s intention to show Baba’s lie and make Amir decide to rescue Hassan’s son. Accordingly, I felt the flows of this story were too common and unprofessional.

The Kite Runner, absolutely, is a remarkable and extraordinary story. That’s why this novel had not only become a New York Times bestseller, but also translated in many languages. In addition, it even adapted into the movie of the same name. In spite of the fame, this story might be a patronizing Afghan-American hero’s epic at the slightest slip. This pro-American book, personally I think, timely justified the America’s attack against Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban. To conclude, this novel will be a great book just as long as we disregard some weak points in the flows and watch carefully the hidden propaganda.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (New York: Riverhead books, 2003) is a unique novel written in English as second language of the author. The author’s experience may be one of the most important motives of this story. It is set against a background of events, from communist coup d’état and Russian military occupation to the escape of refugees to Pakistan and America and the Taliban regime. In this story, there are many themes, such as conflicts among family, refracted friendship, love and jealousy, secret and betrayal, guilt and redemption, and even ethnic, religion and sex discriminations. In my opinion, this is a beautiful story because it has lots of good points, even if there are some criticizable weaknesses in the construction of fiction.

The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from Kabul, who is troubled by the remorse of betraying Hassan, his devoted childhood friend who is the son of Ali, a servant. On the day of kite fighting, Amir witnesses Hassan be raped but not helps him cowardly. He goes so far as to drive his servants out of house. When the Russians invade Afghanistan, Amir and Baba, his father, escape to Pakistan and then to America. In America, Amir gets married to Soraya, Baba dies of cancer, and Amir becomes a successful writer. After many long years, Rahim Khan, Baba’s business partner and his confidant, asks Amir to go to Pakistan, for "there is a way to be good again."(1) Amir agree to go to Pakistan to redeem his sin, and returns to Taliban-controlled Kabul, rescues Hassan's son, Sohrab, and adopts and takes him back to America. In the vortex of adoption, the Sohrap commits suicide, that’s why he is emotionally hurt and only keeps silence. In the end, Sohrab begins to interact with Amir again through the kite. Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times over,"(417) like Hassan said him.

The Kite Runner, first of all, is a piece of successful work because of some literal merits. In general, an outstanding literary work needs the writer’s power of description. For instance, for me, the expressions such as “The sky is seamless and blue, the snow so white my eyes burn.”(45) sound like a poem. Another characteristic in booming works is the originality or specialty of writing ideas. The author illustrated the particular life of Afghan including the kite tournament, racism to Hazara, and even traditional wedding clothes vividly. I could comparatively improve my comprehension of Afghanistan through this novel. In addition to, a good novel means the pleasure of reading. The writer realistically showed the passing history and actual state of the strange land to me. That is why this novel is worthy of my notice. Before I read this story, I did not know about the tragedy of Afghan and Afghanistan. Fortunately, reading the Kite Runner was a wonderful experience for me.

The Kite Runner, however, has some defects of its qualities in the fictitious construction. These plots are too artificial due to a curious coincidence. For example, as a teenager, Assef, a Nazi sympathizer, rapes Hassan, and as an adult he sexually assaults Sohrab, after he becomes a Talib-executioner. I cannot believe a father and a son, both of them can be violated by one person. Besides, Sohrab severely damages one of Assef's eyes by a slingshot. This action scene is not a real situation like James Bond style movies. Likewise, Sohrab’s suicide also is not a rational scene. Usually, children around that age would not even think of suicide at all. Moreover, the author tends to forcibly tell his story through a logical leap. Especially, it is hard for me to approve the story flow a typical coward can become a brave fighter abruptly. It may be not necessary to configure the plot to reveal suddenly the secret of Hassan’s birth, even though it is to lay writer’s intention to show Baba’s lie and make Amir decide to rescue Hassan’s son. Accordingly, I felt the flows of this story were too common and unprofessional.

The Kite Runner, absolutely, is a remarkable and extraordinary story. That’s why this novel had not only become a New York Times bestseller, but also translated in many languages. In addition, it even adapted into the movie of the same name. In spite of the fame, this story might be a patronizing Afghan-American hero’s epic at the slightest slip. This pro-American book, personally I think, timely justified the America’s attack against Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban. To conclude, this novel will be a great book just as long as we disregard some weak points in the flows and watch carefully the hidden propaganda.

Hoo S. Pai: Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (New York: Riverhead books, 2003) is a unique novel written in English as second language of the author. The author’s experience may be one of the most important motives of this story. It is set against a background of events, from communist coup d’état and Russian military occupation to the escape of refugees to Pakistan and America and the Taliban regime. In this story, there are many themes, such as conflicts among family, refracted friendship, love and jealousy, secret and betrayal, guilt and redemption, and even ethnic, religion and sex discriminations. In my opinion, this is a beautiful story because it has lots of good points, even if there are some criticizable weaknesses in the construction of fiction.

The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from Kabul, who is troubled by the remorse of betraying Hassan, his devoted childhood friend who is the son of Ali, a servant. On the day of kite fighting, Amir witnesses Hassan be raped but not helps him cowardly. He goes so far as to drive his servants out of house. When the Russians invade Afghanistan, Amir and Baba, his father, escape to Pakistan and then to America. In America, Amir gets married to Soraya, Baba dies of cancer, and Amir becomes a successful writer. After many long years, Rahim Khan, Baba’s business partner and his confidant, asks Amir to go to Pakistan, for "there is a way to be good again."(1) Amir agree to go to Pakistan to redeem his sin, and returns to Taliban-controlled Kabul, rescues Hassan's son, Sohrab, and adopts and takes him back to America. In the vortex of adoption, the Sohrap commits suicide, that’s why he is emotionally hurt and only keeps silence. In the end, Sohrab begins to interact with Amir again through the kite. Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times over,"(417) like Hassan said him.

The Kite Runner, first of all, is a piece of successful work because of some literal merits. In general, an outstanding literary work needs the writer’s power of description. For instance, for me, the expressions such as “The sky is seamless and blue, the snow so white my eyes burn.”(45) sound like a poem. Another characteristic in booming works is the originality or specialty of writing ideas. The author illustrated the particular life of Afghan including the kite tournament, racism to Hazara, and even traditional wedding clothes vividly. I could comparatively improve my comprehension of Afghanistan through this novel. In addition to, a good novel means the pleasure of reading. The writer realistically showed the passing history and actual state of the strange land to me. That is why this novel is worthy of my notice. Before I read this story, I did not know about the tragedy of Afghan and Afghanistan. Fortunately, reading the Kite Runner was a wonderful experience for me.

The Kite Runner, however, has some defects of its qualities in the fictitious construction. These plots are too artificial due to a curious coincidence. For example, as a teenager, Assef, a Nazi sympathizer, rapes Hassan, and as an adult he sexually assaults Sohrab, after he becomes a Talib-executioner. I cannot believe a father and a son, both of them can be violated by one person. Besides, Sohrab severely damages one of Assef's eyes by a slingshot. This action scene is not a real situation like James Bond style movies. Likewise, Sohrab’s suicide also is not a rational scene. Usually, children around that age would not even think of suicide at all. Moreover, the author tends to forcibly tell his story through a logical leap. Especially, it is hard for me to approve the story flow a typical coward can become a brave fighter abruptly. It may be not necessary to configure the plot to reveal suddenly the secret of Hassan’s birth, even though it is to lay writer’s intention to show Baba’s lie and make Amir decide to rescue Hassan’s son. Accordingly, I felt the flows of this story were too common and unprofessional.

The Kite Runner, absolutely, is a remarkable and extraordinary story. That’s why this novel had not only become a New York Times bestseller, but also translated in many languages. In addition, it even adapted into the movie of the same name. In spite of the fame, this story might be a patronizing Afghan-American hero’s epic at the slightest slip. This pro-American book, personally I think, timely justified the America’s attack against Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban. To conclude, this novel will be a great book just as long as we disregard some weak points in the flows and watch carefully the hidden propaganda.

Hoo S. Pai: Communication

Why is it so hard for women and men to talk to each other?

Hoo S. Pai

According to “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” written by John Gray, relationships between women and men can be improved by understanding the communication style and emotional needs of the opposite gender. Some researchers agree with Gray's ideas about inter-gender communications differences. Especially, Deborah Tannen's studies of female and male communication find that "for women, talk creates intimacy... But men live in a hierarchical world, where talk maintains independence and status." Accordingly, it is so hard for women and men to communicate each other, because women and men are intrinsically different in their manner of expression and attitude to listening.

First of all, women and men are intrinsically different in the way they express themselves. For instance, the man usually tends to think little of his slips and not to say sorry to the woman for these mistakes. To the woman, his “no apology” means he looks down on her. Because women are sensitive to being disregarded, they insist that men should apologize. In contrast, because men are sensitive to being criticized, the more she compels him to apologize, the more he feels humiliated. On the other hand, the woman is often apt not to talk about her predicament, but to complain to have reassurance that someone understands what she feels. To the man, her “trouble talks” mean she wants advice. Because the man is not familiar with the nature of women’s complaints, he takes them literally and tries to find solutions to quandaries. In fact, because she is not looking for him to fix her problem, his effort aggravates her.

Next, women and men are intrinsically different in their attitude to listening. Sometimes, a man looks like he does not listen to what a woman says. This impression of not listening results from physical misalignments in the mechanics of conversation. Women have a tendency to face each other head-on when they talk, while men sit at angles—or even parallel—to a person. Because the direct gaze means the signal of listening for women but the eye contact the gesture of challenge for men. Likewise, analogous to the physical alignment that women and men take in conversation is their topical alignment. Generally, women tend to talk at length about on topic, but men jump from topic to topic. Switching topics is another habit that gives women the impression men are not listening. In addition, there are even simpler reasons for women’s impression that men do not listen. For example, women make more listener noise to show their concern, but men more often give silent concentration. Therefore, women who expect the so-called “participatory listenership” misinterpret men’s silence as no attention. On the other hand, men are likely to perceive the participatory listenership as interruption, intrusion and lack of attention.

In short, there are so many pitfalls in communication due to differences in the approaches of conversation between both genders. Men’s no apology and women’s trouble talks are examples of the problem of expression, physical misalignments, switching topics, and no participatory listenership illustrates the problem of listening as well. To conclude, the solution is understanding the differences. Moreover, women and men have to consider these communication traps as “neutral gender differences” and both make adjustments, so then they will achieve success in the communication to each other.

Hoo S. Pai: Television

Do governments have right to censor television programs?

Hoo S. Pai

Generally, most governments regulate television broadcasting and control what will be shown to the public. In fact, we implicitly agree to the idea of a control of information and expect to keep our society’s soundness by blocking out nudity and violence through government interference. Therefore, it seems as if the government’s right to censor television programs is reasonable. For many people, this censorship in the media, however, symbolizes a serious violation of free speech. In addition, some people are even skeptical whether the censorship to block out violence is actually effective. Basically, I agree government’s right should be restricted to censor television programs in terms of two issues: freedom of expression and the findings of scientific studies.

Firstly, governments’ right to censor ought to be constrained because freedom of expression is one of the most important civil liberties. Free speech means that all people can say whatever they want. Therefore, any limit to freedom of expression could fall under the category of censorship. TV producers believe it damages their creativity when they have to follow censorship rules. Civil libertarians also point once the government begins to limit free speech, the limitations will increase. The less the limitation to free speech rights is, the more freedom of expression is. It is the reason why governments have to control media to a minimum.

Secondly, governments’ censorship need not to be exercised or should be partly because there is no solid evidence about the correlation between media and violence. Usually, people are likely to think media causes violence, and most parents want to protect their children from viewing violent programs. There, however, have been over 1,000 empirical researches that showed media do not cause violence. Moreover, according to a TV survey, 20% of violent teenagers were affected from media, while 43% of them from parents. This result means parents’ responsibility for violent children is even larger than TV’s. Therefore, it is not a rational attitude to accept totally the notion of media violence.
The phrase “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” is frequently quoted to emphasize the importance of free speech. Of course, it is not desirable to insist that every limitation to free speech rights is not good. For instance, we couldn’t accept the neo-Nazi propaganda as the free speech right, and their instigation must be controlled. That’s why governments do have right to censor influential media. The right, nevertheless, should be exercised limitedly and partly. In order to do that, governments had better participate, as a member, in the neutral commission comprised of a government agency, the parliament, TV stations, and civil organizations.

Hoo S. Pai: Music Education

Should music be incorporated in school curricula? Why?

Hoo S. Pai

People listen to different kinds of music for different purposes. Some listen to pop music for entertainment, while others even listen to classical music for psychological cure. In addition, a set of research results indicate that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks. So far, there have been many studies concerning the positive relationship between music and certain areas. Music, therefore, should be incorporated in school curricula because it has educational effects on the linguistic and mathematical achievement on the one hand and the intelligence improvement on the other hand.

Firstly, the linguistic and mathematical achievement by music is one of the most significant effects on the education for children. Some studies were conducted with regard to the effect of music on math and language skills. Maria Spychiger and Jean-Luc Patry investigated the effect of music on math and language learning ability through an experimental study whose subjects were seven to fifteen-year-old children. Likewise, Martin Gardiner examined that of music and art on math and language ability through an experimental study in which the age of research subjects was six to seven years old. Both studies are similar to each other in that results of study showed math and language skills improved. These findings imply more abundant music lessons have to be included in school curricula for the synergistic effect with math and foreign language lessons.

Secondly, the intelligence improvement by music is also one of the most significant effects on the education for children. Frances Rauscher conducted an experiment which was designed one group in two control sessions and one experimental session to find out if listening to the music would affect the students’ scores on tests of spatial reasoning. In next study, Frances Rauscher with her colleague, Gordon Shaw, verified the effect of music, singing, and piano on spatial reasoning abilities through an experiment in which they used one control group and two experimental groups. According to those two studies, abstract and spatial reasoning skills improved. In contrast, Christopher Chabris’ study was different from Frances Rauscher’s studies in that spatial reasoning skills did not significantly improve. No matter what statistical significances are, a lot of researches in connection with effects of music on intelligence exposed a certain correlation of both factors clearly. These findings also imply more various music lessons have to be included in school curricula for students’ intellectual achievement

In short, the implication of empirical studies in regard to the effects on the linguistic and mathematical achievement on the one hand and the intelligence improvement on the other hand is that math and language skills or abstract and spatial reasoning abilities can be improved by any kinds of music lessons. Undoubtedly, in all senses music affects on children’s education, especially math, language, and IQ. To conclude, music should be properly incorporated in school curricula because it has a clear and positive effect on our children’s academic achievement.

Hoo S. Pai: EQ

Among the EQ skills, which ones do you find
contribute the most to success?

Hoo S. Pai

According to the theory of emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman, understanding our emotions has a major impact on how successfully we live our lives. Psychologists agree that IQ contributes only about 20 percent to the factors that determine success, but a full 80 percent comes from other factor, as it is called emotional intelligence. The skills of this emotional intelligence include self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy and people skills. Self-awareness means the ability of understanding ourselves. Self-control relates to the skill of handling emotions. Self-motivation is how to use emotions productivity. Empathy is the understanding of other's emotions. People skills mean the approaches to relating well to people. Especially, self-motivation and people skills are the greatest contributors to success.

Self-motivation is one of the most important EQ skills. According to literal meaning, one's motivation for doing something is what causes one to want to do it. Self-motivation, therefore, means incentive, inspiration or stimulus by oneself. Daniel Goleman said that positive motivation is paramount for achievement, and that is why the ability to motivate ourselves is highly needed in our successful lives. He also pointed that self-motivation for success requires clear goals and a can-do attitude. Most behavioral scientists frequently assert that goals can do their function as inducements if only they are clear, and Martin Seligman declared that people who have optimistic attitude tend to obtain higher results even though they have no aptitude. It is beyond dispute that self-motivation through the establishment of concrete goals in life and the maintenance of optimism positively affects our prominent accomplishment.

People skills are other important set of EQ skills. Those skills are some kinds of approaches to build up good relationships among people. The capacity to know how another feels is important on the job and in other relations. Daniel Goleman emphasized that the more we have insight into the feelings behind other people's signals, the better we control the signals we send. Robert Kelly and Janet Caplan demonstrated the importance of these good interpersonal skills in their study, for good people skills result in networks. In addition, they observed that the standout performer had a network with a wide range of people. There is no doubt that people skills such as networking have a great deal of influence upon our successful lives obviously.

In short, no matter what our IQ, once again it was EQ that separates the excellent performer from the average performers. All components of EQ skills, of course, must be significant contributors to our high performance. Self-motivation and people skills, however, are more meaningful factors to success because those elements have a direct and prompt effect on our successful achievement in life.

Dorna Shekouh: Communication

In recent years, the communication styles of men and women have been studied scientifically. The primary purpose of these intensive investigations is to identify differences for the purpose of understanding and adoption. As men and women better recognize differences in communicative styles, they can work to improve their own communication with members of the opposite sex. Different interpretations of a message and body language usage cause differences in communication styles between men and women.

Differences in conversational styles of men and women result from different interpretation of a message. It states that they sometimes communicate so differently that they must come from different planets, especially when it comes to problem approaching. Women often deal with problems (like emotional concerns) by talking about them, sharing their feelings, and matching experiences with others. This can be frustrating to men, who more typically deal with problems by focusing on the facts and seeking an immediate solution. Occasionally, men perceive women to be ungrateful for the advice and solutions they offer and ponder in frustration why women do not want to resolve their problems. Similarly, when men offer a solution, rather than talking about a problem, women may feel hurt, dissatisfied and suppressed by the lack of empathy that men show. As a result, this kind of misinterpretation leads both men and women to walk away from the same conversation.

Men and women apply a variety of body languages in their communication. In non-verbal behavior, women nod their head to show they are listening. Men think that a head nod means agreement and will be surprised to find out that the woman did not agree at all. When a woman is speaking to a man and he does not say anything and stays in neutral body language to show that he is listening, a woman will interpret that as the man being bored or not understanding what sheʼs saying. This can lead the woman to become very uncomfortable, and repeat what she is saying or ask the man each time if he understands what sheʼs saying. The man, then, interprets that as talking too much and leads him to think she is not confident to be a leader. Women often approach a man from the front while men often approach from the side at an angle, which is how each of them tends to stand or sit when talking to others. Men interpret the face to face position as too personal, or aggressive and women will interpret the talking side to side as though he is not being honest or even hiding something from her.

In conclusion, women to a greater extent than men are sensitive in the messages they exchange with their mates. They are concerned with conveying information and building connections. In contrast, when men communicate, they are more concerned with conveying information and establishing status. Men and women expect different things when speaking or listening to each other.

Tariq Batto: Music

Studying Music In Schools
Music might be incorporated in school because it was powered by researches done that listening to classical music may increase and improve the ability to perform certain tasks; for examples, listening to Mozart compositions may help some painters improve their skills and abilities of drawing pictures; while investigations on school children revealed that listening such music ameliorated and enhanced their capabilities of understanding academic subjects, especially mathematics.
On the other hand, music creates a sense of community among students. Therefore, teaching music in schools with the other subjects is important both students and community.

Scientists and psychologists in many parts of the world are conducting experiments on students to explore the relationship between music and solving mathematic problems. Further studies done on spatial reasoning; which is the ability of understanding how things fit together in space and time, for example putting together a puzzle. They founded that listening to Mozart’s music enhances their talents resolving mathematic exercises and spatial reasoning tests. Other studies about the sequential skills through doing activities such as counting and putting the events of a story in order, showed that children can develop and boost their natural sequence by listening to music. Works on students and children of different ages during various periods of time has been done in the University of California Irvine, U.S.A. by Frances Rauscher and Gordan show, and the same researches were carried on in Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. by Christopher Chabis. They studied the effect of music on intelligence; the task demonstrates that music registered higher scores in IQ tests in the research subjects.


Through music students can understand others and share feelings.
Interventions of music between students contribute to wiring in their feeling and melt in one pot. For instance, during birthday parties, children enjoy themselves by listening to music and songs, or playing some musical instruments. These activities sooth their minds and fortifies their proficiency to work harder in the school. Furthermore, construction of a successful and balanced relationship between friends in the school is required from the elementary school till the graduation from university. Continuation of these relations and feelings, will lead to an opportunity to be concluded by marriage and to enjoy a pleasant and fascinating life. Also this affinity is important to build self-esteem, which helps them in their practical life.


To summarize, one can say that music has a great influence on the performance of students in school, their skills and intelligences during studying period, and then in their logical and practical life. Many articles have been published concerning music and proficiency of school children. I guess studies on the effect of music on the workers in their factories ( if doesn’t done till nowadays) could be performed. If these positive results were applied on the workers, it could play a role in the progression of the country, by increasing and improving the production.

Pooneh Okhravi: Music Education

MUSIC AND EDUCATION
In the whole world people speak in different languages,but all of them have a common music language. Music allows people to share emotions and feeling that are common to all of us. When we listen to music, we feel happy, sad, and depressed so it means music affects our mind and body. One of the most important effects of music is on our intelligence. Every one born with different levels of IQ, but we can improve it. Music can help children learn more by increasing IQ and teaching them how to learn new things.

Music can help children learn more by increasing their IQ. Children who have music classes can learn math and reading better than others.IQ scores in these children increase five to seven points. Also, children who were in lower level of reading caught up average group of students during the time they learned music. Scientists showed if we think our brain is just like a muscle, it needs exercise to be strong. If our brain dose not get exercise, just like our muscles it will lose mass. We can train our brain with music.

Music can help children improve their ability by teaching them how to learn new things. Children who play music, listen to concerts, or sing together learn how pay attention to teachers because they practice it. They can improve their ability by concentration too. University of Rhod Island looked at grade –one and grade-two children who went to concerts, listened to music, or played music twice a week. The result of study showed spatial reasoning skills improved. Scientists examined the effects of music on math in those children. They have more ability, especially on fraction than others. Maria Spychiger from university of Austria studied the effect of music on math and language ability on seven to fifteen-year-olds during three years. Result of study was that math and language skills improved.

The scientists have shown how music is important to improve our children’s IQ and increase their capacity of brain. Music appears to stimulate certain brain cells involved in logical thinking and spatial reasoning .Likewise, mathematics seems to activate these same brain cells.

Peggy Chen: Music

Name: Peggy Chen

Essay: Should music cooperate in school?

Nowadays, most parents are only focusing on their children’s academic education and thinking music is less important in the overall school curriculum. Some schools are even cutting back on the budget in the music curriculum and emphasizing other curriculum much more than music. People always think that intelligence only comes with plug away at their academic. However, why music should be incorporated in school curricula?

Music is really important to our children. According to the scientists, the brain circuits may be stimulated in a way that nerve pathways are strengthened when in musical training. These pathways appear to be the same ones when spatial reasoning tasks are performed. Scientists also have discovered that music training has significant influences on the brain development. Learning or listening to music is highly advantageous for children. Moreover, music may enhance children’s mathematical skills, spatial ability, and analytical skill as well as learning how to learn new things. Listening to classical music, particularly music composed by Mozart, may improve children’s ability to perform certain tasks. More than that, music may also increase children’s self-esteem that is a great impact on children’s growth in physical, emotional and spiritual. The research found that a child with low self-esteem may be afraid to try new things or meet new people.

Music is an essential lesson to be included in school curriculum. Scientists have revealed that music and mathematic are in the same part of the brain right next to each other. Taking music lessons show grater improvement in IQ scores, particularly in mathematics and language. In Providence, Rhode Island, USA, Martin Gardiner conducted experiment to investigate the impact of music on mathematic and language ability. Children who were six to seven years old received music lessons for 7 months. At the end of the test period, the results showed that children’s mathematic and language competence had improved. In addition, learning and understanding music affects much in children’s personality development. The studies have shown that listening to classical music helps children enhance their concentration and patience, as well as develop team work skills and efficient communications. Music is not only a tool, but it also provides a break for children from academic instruction. Children always feel joyful when they play or listen to music. Music really has a great power to soothe and inspire children, also release their pressure.

It’s clear that music is good for children’s development. School is a significant place in the lives of all children; therefore, a comprehensive school curriculum should not only emphasize academic but also music. Without doubt, it is essential that music should be taught throughout the school curriculum, and not just in separate areas such as orchestra.

Peggy Chen: EQ

Will high IQ lead to success in life? Is high IQ the necessity to be successful in life? According to statistics, high IQ contributes only 20% to the factors that determine success. The rest of 80% comes from other factors and EQ is a major impact on how successfully you live your life. The most important EQ skills include self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy and people skills. I believe among them, self-awareness and people skills are the biggest contributors to success.

Self-awareness is one of the important contributors to success. Highly successful people always possess excellent mood management. They understand their emotions very well and never let them get out of control. Once people know what they are feeling then they are able to decide how the best for themselves. Moreover, they are good in tackling with their stressful situation. They have the ability to find a solution to release them and don’t let them get in the way of their life. They even treat stress as a pusher that makes them always keep moving along. In addition, they also don’t hesitate to look at themselves. They assess their strengths and weaknesses, so that they know how to minimize their weaknesses and how to maximize their strengths. Hence, they can perform better. They also clearly understand what they want and why they want it. Thus, they can make a proper decision and boost their motivation to make things become a reality.

People skill is another important contributor to success. The ability to communicate with others is a great people skill. First of all, people should speak up to ensure meet their needs, and have clarity and purpose when they talk. In this way, you can easily break the barriers between people and you. Not only care about yourself; likewise, it’s important to care for others. When we listen to another person, we can interact with each other and develop a relationship. Secondly, to relate to other people is important in every situation. The better we know the feeling behind other people’s signals, the better we control the signal we respond. Moreover, people come with different temperament, competence and so on. Don’t feel resentful when they own the ability or assets and you don’t. Collaboration with them will benefit you to go beyond what you can do on your own.

There are many EQ skills, all of them are important and are the factors to success. Self-awareness deals with understanding, controlling and adjusting to people’s actions. Without self-awareness, people will not be able to control and improve their behavior as well as pilot their lives. People all live in society so great people skills can help communication, relationship and interaction with others, and then achieve effectiveness. Hence, self-awareness and people skills are the most crucial EQ skills to success.

Ardeshir Nowzari: Emotional intelligence and its role‏

According to psychologists, emotional intelligence plays a very important role in a person success. Some of the major characteristics which represent emotional intelligence are mood-management, self-motivation, impulse control, self awareness and people skills. They are interpersonal like self management and impulse control or intrapersonal such as people skills. People skills and self-awareness are the most important tasks which contribute major role in a person success.

People skills is one of the most important EQ skills which contributes to a person success. Building relationship is a crucial way to involve us in the society and if we were social person it would be easier to be know by others, so the ability which makes us more connected to friends and family is a key skill. Each person should be aware of other people’s feelings to be able to treat them in an optimum and proper manner and, this wisely treatment return a positive feedback which reflects appreciations. Thus knowing other’s feelings and respecting them is just finding the correct way to be successful among them.

Self-awareness is another important EQ skills which tends to make people successful. Knowing and controlling your emotions is another building block of emotional intelligence which helps us to have acceptable reaction in different situations. Being aware of gut feelings is important as, it is not practical to control your reaction without being aware of gut feeling, so knowing your internal gut feeling is the very first step which sustains the ability to control it. For example reinterpretation fear or sadness, you need knowing your body reactions to be able to control them in different situations and that gives the chance to keep progressing in the intrapersonal relationships.

There are some important emotional characteristics which are key to a person’s success. Among them, people skills and self awareness play the major role in building relationship and affecting the others as well as, knowing and controlling intrapersonal emotions. In conclusion, knowing and boosting people skills and self awareness will lead us to be successful.

Tariq Batto: Emotional Intelligence

More than 200 years ago, people used to measure intelligence by measuring the size and shape of a person’s head; later test was developed into a more modern test known as IQ (intelligence quotient). Researchers found that IQ tests did not accurately predict the success of a person in his life. Recent researches and theories of intelligence comprise emotional intelligence, EQ. David Goleman an American Psychologist considered that EQ includes skills concerning how a person empathizes with others and relate well to other people. Among the EQ skills, the most important ones are: self-control, and people skills.

In fact, living in the same house with a wife and children, one should not blow up directly whenever there is something wrong happening in the house, so he has to take the things easily and solve the problems by negotiations. Some times problems take place between neighbors; self-control is important in such situation to handle the anger by wisdom and good wiring between them leads to living together with respect. Self-control with surrounding environment plays a role in the success of a person; people with different personalities meet daily in the street, subway, schools, and work. We have to meet them with politeness and proficiency. At work, for example if the boss speaks with you roughly because of your imperfect performance in doing your job, you should hold up your upset and annoyance with an open mind, and not to make a fuss during the discussion between the both of you. On the other hand, the boss has to begin his note by encouraging and describing your positive task that you had done. In brief the success of a person in his life depends on his daily behaviors.

How well people communication important to built a good relation to empathize and to recognize the feeling of each others. Further more people have to respect the customs and traditions of the other community feelings, without any discrimination, in religion, race, and color. In addition, building a solid block of respect between people and countries will enhance the relationship and strengthen the feeling of living in peace all over the world. All in all, the relating well to people is important to built success.

In summery, although many researchers and psychologists have conducted research on intelligence during the last two centuries, I predict that there will be more and more studies concerning this field which could be contradictory with the EQ results.

Pooneh Okhravi: Emotional Intelligence

Scientists measure intelligence using a test known as the IQ test which predicts how well children would do in school. After many years, American psychologist Daniel Golman invented another test that measured emotional intelligence or EQ.EQ includes skills such as understanding ones own emotions and relating well to other people. When children are born, they have a basic level of EQ , but they can learn and increase their EQ. The EQ helps us to achieve our golden dreams .Among EQ skills, self awareness and impulse control are the greatest contribute to success.

Self awareness is one of the important EQ skills which contribute to success. First of all ,we have to learn the basic knowledge of our different feelings and their effects on our bodies .The keystone of emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize a feeling as it happens. For example, when people who fear snakes are shown a picture of a snake, different parts of their bodies respond to that feeling of fear .The sweat glands, nervous system, muscles and among others respond to anxiety even though they said they do not feel fear. To developing self awareness which contributes to success, it is better we evaluate our feelings and stop the negative parts of it .

Impulse control is another important EQ skills which tend to lead people to success. The essence of emotional self regulation is the ability to delay impulse. The results of a study in Stanford University show four –year-old children were told they could have a single treat, such as a marshmallow, right away. However, if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand, they could have two marshmallows immediately. Some of the children were able to wait, and sustain themselves in their struggle, they used different methods. In adolescent, the children who as four –years-old had been able to wait for marshmallows were more socially competent and self assertive, and better able to cope with life’s frustration .Those adolescent reached their goals and were more successful in their life. The ability to resist impulse can be developed with practice. We, therefore, have to think about our long term goals such as a medical degree or losing weight. Then, we can find it easier to keep from settling for the single marshmallow.

In conclusion, about eighty percent of the factors that determine success are EQ skills. Then we have to know the major factors and develop them. One of the most important one is that we should practice to reach the best result. Because we have a basic level of emotional intelligence at birth practice is the only way of developing it.

Pedram Sahba: A Court Case

Hermansons were Christian Scientists who refused to take their seven-year-old daughter who was suffering from diabetes to hospital due to their religious. The state court gave them four years suspend sentence. I strongly believe that Hermansons are guilty due their negligence in Amy's severe illness, and they deserve to receive higher sentence than the four year suspend sentence.

Children have the right to live and parents have strong responsibility about their life. Parents, no matter what religion they have, most pay special attention to their children's health. Some people under their prejudicial religious beliefs believe in non-conventional methods to heal their illnesses. They may prefer to praying rather than visiting a doctor when they are ill. However, parents have no right to prioritize their religious beliefs over their children's life Refusing conventional treatments as Hermansons did. There is some anecdotal evidence that praying or reading holy books makes some improvement in healing. But, as we saw, unfortunately for little Amy it did not work. Although taking conventional treatment could save her life.

In the end, I believe that Hermansons are guilty in death of their daughter. They should be sentenced to a higher punishment than what the state court sentenced them to.

Elham Shaafi Kabiri: Mind-Body Interaction

Mind- body interaction
In serious health conditions, a physician and a patient both try to increase the chance of survival. When the physician is not very hopeful for patient’s life, Laugh Therapy can be another choice to consider. Norman Cousins’s Laugh Therapy is a good example of the interaction between mind and body. Although the chance of his survival was a 1 in 500, Norman used Laugh Therapy techniques besides conventional treatments to increase this chance. He was motivated to be positive and hopeful to live. His body reacted positively, and in a short period of time many symptoms faded away. Norman Cousins’s Laugh Therapy demonstrates the efficiency of positive thinking. There is scientific and anecdotal evidence which has proved the mind-body interaction.

A great deal of scientific evidence demonstrates a strong relationship between emotions and hormones. Firstly, the connection between emotions and hormones is noticeable in the body. Happiness and sadness produce different hormones. Positive attitude and emotions are beneficial as they produce Serotonin and Melatonin. On the other hand, emotional stress and negative attitudes harm health due to the fact that they produce Norepinephrine, which is clearly responsible for depression. In addition, hormones control the chemical reactions in the body; this fact shows every emotion finally affects the reaction; even the symptoms of an ailment are the results of some changes in normal body reactions. Laugh Therapy introduces different remedies to heal at least the symptoms of disease by positive changes. Hope, faith, laughter and confidence give one health. It also can be an alternative treatment, beside conventional one, for recovery. Not only laugh therapy but also any kind of positive thinking is a part of mind-body interaction and can be very effective on health.

Anecdotal evidence shows people have used mind-body interaction for many years. They have applied its techniques unconsciously. They may have followed beliefs. The results were noticeably positive, even for those who prefer home remedies and prayer instead of conventional treatments in majority of cases. The fact is that they feel better and positive when they do what they believe in. It helps them to recover more easily and faster. They concentrate on positive thinking of cure that gives them hope and confidence and enable them to improve their health conditions. Positive thinking has the most important role in unconventional treatments even Norman did the same thing as a remedy. Positive thinking and emotions helped Norman to improve his body chemistry that proves mind and body interaction.

Being positive, even after getting critically ill, was a key in Norman Cousins’s Laugh Therapy. Norman took advantage of modern studies about body chemistry, and finally he could save his life by applying Laugh Therapy methods. Many people before him recovered by positive thinking and emotions. They used positive attitudes as an alternative treatment, but they did it unconsciously. There are many scientific studies and articles that show health is completely affected by emotions and attitudes. For instance, people who are emotionally under pressure catch cold more easily and more often than others. The mind-body interaction has been used not only as a treatment but also as a prevention.

Galina Kazakova : Comparison of Eva and Elizabeth

“Lost in Translation” by Eva Hoffman is the same as “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” by Elizabeth Wong: the story of difficulties which teenagers meet in immigration. Eva came to Canada from Poland at the age of thirteen. Her parents were Holocaust survivors. In contrast, Elizabeth was not an immigrant herself; she was born in the USA to an immigrant family. Even though Eva and Elizabeth had different backgrounds, both of them experienced hard time during their adolescence. A comparison between Eva and Elizabeth reveals some differences.

Firstly, Eva and Elizabeth have different attitudes towards their native cultures. Eva appreciated and tried to preserve her homeland culture. She wanted to protect the close and warm relationship in her family. She wanted to keep even the sadness that symbolized the memory of the past. She did not want to exchange all these values for “hygienic smiles and equally hygienic feelings” (p. 106). In contrast, Elizabeth did not want to be associated with Chinese culture, which she found embarrassing. She did not understand why she had to spend a lot of time studying what she viewed as a difficult, useless language instead of playing with her friends.

Secondly, Eva and Elizabeth had different circumstances in their family lives. They had different relationships with their parents. Eva’s mother felt lost and confused by life in new country. She was unable “to tighten the reins” (p. 105), so Eva wanted to protect her. At the same time she suffered because of misunderstanding when her mother calls her English, for she needed support not criticism during that hard period of life. In contrast, Elizabeth did not need to sympathize with her authoritarian mother; she kept a passive struggle with her mother until she was allowed to drop out of the Chinese school. Besides, parents’ authority was challenged in both Eva’s and Elisabeth’s families. However, the difference was that Eva , feeling her mother’s weakness, tried to protect her, while Elizabeth tried to win in the struggle with her mother about Chinese language. In addition, both Eva and Elizabeth had younger siblings, but Eva influenced her sister to respect their parents, while Elizabeth used her brother’s protest for her own purpose.
Finally, the girls had different attitude towards the host cultures. Eva experienced culture shock because communication skills in her home country were quite different from those in Canada. She had to learn new social behavior, often feeling embarrassed and misunderstood. However, step by step, she adapted to new culture and accepted it. She even made a successful career in linguistic sphere. Elizabeth experienced so called reverse culture shock when she refused to accept the Chinese culture and protested against being involved in it. On the other hand, she did not need to adapt to the host culture for she was born in the US. She enjoyed the English language and the American lifestyle. Nevertheless, even though she made successful career as a writer too, at the end of her story she said that she was sorry about the loss of her identity.

Therefore, their stories have some differences despite the fact that both Eva and Elizabeth were teenagers growing in immigrant families. They had different backgrounds and different attitudes towards their native cultures. Also they had different situations in their families and different views on new cultures. However, their examples give us hope to overcome all obstacles on the way to success.

Pedram Sahba: Comparison of Eva and Elizabeth

Living in and adopting a different culture is a major challenge for immigrant children. The story "Lost in Translation" by Eva Hoffman is about a Polish family who immigrated to Canada after World War II. They passed the hard days of war and Holocaust and landed in the new country, facing cultural differences. The mother is worried about losing familial bonds in the new society. Their two kids Eva and Elinka gradually learn more about the new culture and try to adapt to it. This adaptation makes them seem emotionally colder in the eyes of their mother. The second story "The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl" by Elizabeth Wong is also about the struggle of an American born Chinese girl to emulate Americans in every way. The writer talks about a Chinese family living in US. The parents, especially the mother, try to raise their kids under Chinese culture while the kids prefer to be more American rather than Chinese. Both of the stories are about the challenges that immigrant people face in host cultures. Comparing two stories reveals us three main differences between the two girls in facing new culture in a new society.

These two characters have different attitudes towards their original culture. Eva was born in Poland and was raise as her parents. Therefore, there is no cultural gap between kids and parents in her family. She does not want to unravel the fabric of loyalty in her family. In contrast, Elizabeth was born in target country. She talks English fluently while her mother speaks English mixed up with some scattered Chinese words. Eve feels hurt hearing her mother say she has become "English", while Elizabeth is unhappy to go to Chinese school every evening under her mother pressure.

Also, they have different family lives. Their relationships with their parents are not similar. Eve`s mother has always been gentle with her two daughters and doesn't want to" tighten the reins"; in contrast, Elizabeth's mother is solidly determined to have her kids learn Chinese language. In addition the authority of both mothers is challenged. Both mothers care about familial bonds that seem "to be dangerously loose" in the hosting country. The siblings of two girls pose similar challenges to their parents. Elinka and Liz's brother are both the second born children of their families. Similarly, they challenge their families more evidently than their older sisters. Elinka does not care about her mother's worries when she comes late at the night; likewise, Elizabeth's brother criticizes her mother's pidgin speech often cruelly.

Finally, their attitudes towards host culture are different. Eva should learn more and more about this new culture. She faces culture shock when she realizes that shaking her friends arm in excitement is a gesture of aggression not friendliness in the hosting culture. Unlike Eva, Elizabeth faces a reverse culture shock. She has a strong tendency towards the hosting culture. She prefers to speak English rather than Chinese. She hated Chinese medicine like smell of the old Chinese school while she favours crisp new scents like the soft French perfume that her American teacher wore in public school. She doesn't need to adapt to American culture.

Consequently, living in new society and facing new culture is a common challenge for most of immigrant. Children in immigrant families feel culture shock very noticeably and need to learn and know more about the hosting society. Adapting a new culture takes time, and in this period of time their relationship with their parents is one of the most important factors to help them in their way to live in new society. In addition, their root culture as a main element of their character should be kept and appreciated. They should have a chance to know and learn both cultures and criticize both of them as well.

Galina Kazakova: Success

All people want to be successful, but not all of them achieve their goals. Many philosophers have tried to understand the secret of success. Many writers have discussed this topic in their books. The story “Gotta Dance” by Jackson Jodie Daviss made me reflect on the meaning of success and the ways to obtain it. This is the story of a talented girl who overcame obstacles and followed her dream to dance. Obviously, there are two main reasons that make people like Katie successful.

At first, people have to believe in their destiny in order to be successful, which is the most difficult step. We often hesitate about the right way in our lives and spend our time and emotions in vain. Katie in the story was sure that her fate was to dance, nothing else appealed to her, and it was her strength. People have to be so confident and independent in making decisions that nobody can stop them. Usually they have to go against their families’ or friends’ opinions. Nobody in Katie’s family supported her in her goal except her brother. Possibly his death became the last straw that made her leave home and follow her dream. Also, often fear of an unknown future is the obstacle on the way to success. But Katie was not afraid of new audience, new towns, and new circumstances, so I think she will succeed.

The second key to success is that people have to be devoted to their dream. Persistence is a typical feature of all successful people. Katie spent a lot of time practicing dancing. She was never tired of it; she not only enjoyed it but also persistently worked on it. She didn’t give up regardless of all obstacles. Success rarely comes quickly, so people need to be patient and wait for it. They have to grow their dream like a mother grows a child. I think Katie felt she was ready to perform her art in that time when she left home. Also, I think ambition is an important quality to succeed. The desire to be the best in their field is like engine of success. Katie really enjoyed the fact that people who were waiting for the performance in the theatre forgot everything, watching her dancing.

This story, like all talented samples of literature, influences on our souls and minds. It makes us sympathize with the personages and ponder about their lives. Was Katie a successful person or not? If she was, what made her successful? Her example shows us that belief in their destiny and devotion to their goal makes people successful.

Pedram Sahaba: Success

In my idea, the first important factor to make people successful is having a clear and well defined goal in mind. After that, they should follow up patiently and remain in the way of their goals. In the story Gotta Dance by J.D.Daviss, the main character is a young girl who is obsessed with dancing as a way of self expression. She dances from deep inside her although her family does not support of it. She has her main goal in life: To be a perfect dancer. Having a main, clear goal in mind and following it up patiently to achieve the goal make people successful. These are qualities which make Katie successful.

Having a clearly-defined goal in mind helps one to manage his/her time by putting mile stones in the way. These mile stones show people where exactly they are and how much time they need to arrive at the target. It also helps them to focus their energy and ability on the main goal and prevent them from waisting it in wrong way. For Katie, the defined goal was being a dancer. In this way she had worn out sets of tapes and VCRs. She focused most of her energy and ability on practicing and learning dance. She danced where and when she could to improve her dancing skills.

After having ones goal in mind, the next step is following it up. People should be patient because usually great goals take time to achieve. They should stay on the track as Katie was. She took a bus as a symbol for sailing away trough the way. The way to her goal and her dreams to be a perfectionist dancer. Following up a goal also encourages people to do their best to achieve their goals. It helps them to find the small steps that lead them to their aims. Katie makes a very impressive performance for the theatre patron in the street. Her performance was very attractive and the theatre patrons preferred to stand and watch it while the curtains were up.

Consequently, Katie had the both qualities. She had a main goal in her mind. In spite of all the problems, she decided to be a perfect dancer whether her family accepted it or not. She did exercises and watched videos and listened to the music. She left her childhood home and city in the way of her aim. She put her energy and abilities in the way of her main goal. She stayed on the track to the target and didn't gave up. And she did her best in front of audience in the street. Therefore, I believe she was a successful person, And this success will bring her happiness also.