Category: Communication

Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,

On reading your article about teenagers and social media. I feel I had to share my views and thoughts with regard to this very important issue.

It is indeed very shocking to read about the amount of time spent by teenagers and young adults on social media. As a teenager myself I very often get carried away on Facebook and other on-line social sites or in sending and receiving text messages and forget time completely. But this is something that happens with face to face conversations. People in general, do not get together socially and think I will only talk with a friend or someone for two minutes but end up spending like 10 minutes every time they have to talk. People forget about time when socializing.

Technology and social media, i feel has just passed its pioneering stage, and is constantly being developed and improved. As a young person, living in a modern developed country, i need to keep up with these developments or i will end up being left behind by my peers and developing technology. This will affect my social life and my chance of getting job to do with ICT when i am older.

Also, I am growing up in a society where families sometimes live great distances apart. For example, my grandmothers, cousins and such live many thousands of miles away and the only other way is sending of a letter which will take a long time and may be very expensive.

The danger present to teenagers of disclosing too much information about themselves is a serious problem , but if children are taught about this at a pre-teenage, it may limit into risks. Jonathan Frazer despair of info technology and his concern is that teenagers are to become enslaved social inadequate’s has a little truth to it, but there are many people who are socially inadequate due to a variety of reasons not involving social media and its influences. That is just life.

Teenagers and children can be taught to differentiate between social media relationships and normal people to people in relationships, and therefore not became as the writer Susan Greenfield says, becoming detached from the real world. As for empathy, I feel this is a feeling that is cultivated through nurture and not nature and this empathise lies in a person early years and their development and upbringing

To conclude, I feel it is important that the young people understand the dangers of social media and the importance of developing social media friendships other than on social media sites. I also feel that if this technology is available, youth should be able to use it, not only for on-line socializing but for research, exchange of ideas and information. To be able to use the technology for study, to keep up to date with the world news and current affairs. It is quick and available at the press of a few buttons, and everyone should have the opportunity of using it .

Kind Regards

Harry Robinson

I am against capital punishment because once you do something wrong it may not always be on purpose and they may still get killed for what they have done for example, if someone was driving a car and there head lights at the front of the car was broken and someone walked in front of the car on a dark road and the driver of the car could not see them, hit and killed them and called the police of some type of emergency service then the person shouldn’t really get arrested and face a death penalty because it was really not their fault in a way, but if they done a hit and run and the police found out then they should face a death penalty because they did not have the decency to own up and say they did it but not on purpose.

Other people may disagree with being against capital punishment but may be for it and may be for it because they are religious and they may think that if you take someone’s life your life should be taken too. Capital punishment is not inflicted in all countries because some countries do not agree with it like the UK in the 21st century but before when the UK agreed with capital punishment there used to be little crime but now that law is not about no more, more crime has been committed in the UK.

Some countries even execute people who are under 18 years old when the crime was committed, others use the death penalty against people with mental issues too. The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading some countries sentence people to life in a prison where they spend the rest of their life in prison because of the crime they have committed, the most common and most known argument is that sooner or later, innocent people will get killed, because or mistakes or flaws in the justice system.

My conclusion to being against the death penalty is that no life should be taken because if you are supposed to die after life then we should just wait until we die of old age or sickness. But if you have committed a crime you should just be put in prison for life not executed or sentenced the death penalty because also some people may be against it because of their religion, but some people my be for it because they may think that if you take someones life from them then your life should be taken from you.

Mum decided to book three tickets and we were packed and off. Destination Yemen or The Wild West of Arabia as the media call it. The first plane took us to Dubai where we had to wait till early morning to board the second plane to Yemen. It was early evening and Mum rang her childhood friend but he was out of the country, so she rang my cousin Mo who picked us up and took us to diner.

The restaurant he took us to was a typical Yemeni restaurant, very different to any I had been to. Women and men are segregated so we were taken to a private room upstairs. There was only a carpet on the floor that was very distinctive with red and white stitching. So we sat down and Mo, my cousin, ordered the food. A large plastic mat was put on the carpet and masses of different dishes were put on the mat. I ate calamari till I nearly burst. As I walked into the restaurant, the scent in the air was a sour smell of petrol and I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Mo took us for a drive around town as my sister and I had never been to Dubai. It was all very modern and impressive, but all I wanted was to see the desert.

It was dawn, as I was on the plane en route to Yemen as I saw the sun rising it made me very tired as I was watching it. About fifteen minutes into the flight, Mum told me we were over the Empty Quarter. The sands were like an ocean, rippled with dunes. The sunlight and the shadows of the dune made the desert sands look like they were of every shade of yellow, orange and red. I could not turn away from the window, the sights were magical.

In about four hours, we landed in Sana’a airport. There were armed soldiers everywhere carrying machine guns. We walked from the plane to the terminal and the first I heard was a buzzing on the window panes as well as there were thousands of dead flies on the floor and it looked like sweets that was scattered. The taxi that took us to the hotel was a small mini bus, and the driver had a big lump of something he was chewing in his cheek. Mum said it was a plant called Gat and they chewed as a stimulant. The hotel was luxurious, with marble floors, coffee and cake shop, air conditioning and no flies. Actually I did not see many flies for the rest of the trip so maybe the flies at the terminal was the gathering point for Yemen’s flies. Our room was on the fourteenth floor and the view of the city was amazing. Sanaa is the capital of Yemen and it is built-in a massive crater.

We met with an uncle who showed us around the newer parts of town and them we met with his wives and their children. Two days later, we went to stay with an aunt in a town called Radha. The road to Rad-ah was through some very high mountains and they had no barriers on the edges of the roads, it felt unsafe because it felt like as soon as the car drove round the corner it felt like I was going to tip-off the mountain. My sister was absolutely petrified, and spent nearly the whole drive there, with her head down and her eyes firmly shut. Aden is has a big harbour and is the second biggest town in Yemen, and that was our next place to visit. We stayed in a hotel that had a private beach and all the rooms were chalets. It was wonderful. I made friends with the workers and they would take me out on their jet skis and their boats with the tourists. In the evening we would play football, volleyball and I taught them cricket. One of the guys, went snorkelling every morning and he took me with him. I caught a squid one time and he took it home and got his wife to make it into calamari and brought it back to me still hot at lunch time. My sisters, flip-flop kept falling of her foot and she kept complaining and it gave me a headache. She thought there were sharks waiting to eat her, and every time we went into the sea, she would get to about mid-thigh deep and then climb onto Mum’s shoulders.

I really enjoyed this holiday, met tons of family, saw many new and different things and except for the chicken business, would love to go again. I enjoyed the journey but at first I wasn’t really sure about the holiday but after I tried a few stuff it turned out to be my favourite holiday I have ever had.

Mum decided, booked three tickets and we were packed and off. Desination Yemen or the wild west of Arabia as the media call it. The first plane took us to Dubai where we had to wait till early morning to board the decond plane to Yemen. It was early evening and Mum rang her childhood friend but he was out of the country, so she rang my cousin Mo who picked us up and took us to diner. The restaurant he took us to was a typical Yemeny restraunt, very sifferent to any I had been to. Women and men are segregated so we were taqken to a private room upstairs. There was only a carpet on the floor so we sat down and Mo ordered the food. a large plastic mat was put on the carpet and masses of different dishes were put on the mat. I ate till i nearly burst. Mo took us for a drive around town as my sister and I had never been to Dubai. It was all very modern and impressive but all I wanted was to see the desert.

It was dawn when we on the plane, I had the window seat and we were flying south across Arabia. About fifteen minutes into the flight,  Mum tolf me we were over the Empty Quater. The sands were like an ocean, rippled with dunes. The sunlight and the shadowsof the dune made the desert sands look like the were of every shade of yellow, orange and red. I could not turn away from the window, the sights were magical.

In about four hours, we landed in Sanaa airport. There were armed soldiers everywhere carrying machine guns. We walked from the plane to the terminal and the forst thing i saw there were the flies. they were buzzing on the window panes and there were thousands dead on the floor. The taxi that took us to the hotel was a small mini bus, and the driver had a big lump of something he was chewing in his cheek. Mum said it was a plant called Qat and they chewed as a stimulant. The hotel was luxurious, with marble floors, coffee and cake shop, air conditioning and no flies. Actually i did not see many flies for the rest of the trip so maybe the flies at the terminal was the gathering point for Yemens flies. Our room was on the fouteenth floor and the view of the city was amazing. Sanaa is the capital of Yemen and it is built in a massive crator, surrounded by mountains, which are dotted with ancient forts on their hightest points.

We met with an uncle who showed us around the newer parts of town and them we met with his wives and their children. Two days later , we went to stay with an aunt in a town called Radaa. The road to Radaa was  through some very high mountains and they had no barriers on the edges of the roads. My sister was absolutely petrified, and spent nearly all  the three hour drive, with her head down and her eyes firmly shut.

Radaa is a small town, very old , with an ancient mosque and school, and an even more ancient fort on its highest mountain. The main industry in Radaa is silk weaving, and everything is done by hand, in a traditional way no using any modern tecnology or machinery.  The women wear long dress usually black and the men wear silk or cotton fabrics wrapped around their waists and held in place with a belt and dagger. The daggers and belts are very ornate with beautiful designs. Mum bought me a silk wrap and a dagger, with made me fit in with everyones dress style. The men and older boys also carry pistols and AK 47 rifles, but Mum drew the line with the dagger.

My greatuncle took us to see an active volcano in another town called Damt. We had to climb up its very steep side for about thirty five minutes and it was a rocky path worn smooth by rain and well trodden by people, and very slippery. At the top the cator was surrounded by a flimsy rail. It was very deep and at the bottom, there was a big pool of bright green water, and a strong smell of sulpher wafting up. What caught my attention most was the bright blue lizards the lived around the top of the volcano. My sister, who was wearing flipflops, nearly slipped on the way down and had to be held by greatuncle, who moved more like a mountain goat than an old man.

Our next stop, in Damt, was to a volanic water spa. Greatuncle got us a room that had a large bathlike tub, that could fit six people easily, and was filled with very hot volcanic water from a massive tap. It was too hot for me, Mum and my sister only manage to put their feet in. My cousin dived in when I dared him to.  He went in head and all, Mum was not too impress with me for daring him and as he went red all over, she had to find cool water to pour all over him.

We spent two more days in Radaa, then went to visit my uncle in a mountain village called Gharafa. My Dad’s family come from there and everyone in the village is related by blood or marriage. I saw my first camel close up. It was a bull, huge and very muscular, I never imagined they could by that big. My cousins problably seeing the shack in my face , started chucking pebbles at him to get a reaction from him. He started grumbling and pulling at his restaints, lucky he was restained or he would of had us all in one blow. While walking around, my sister, who was still in flipflops, saw something amost the stones on the ground and went to pock it up thinking it was a small lizard. One of the tens of cousins stopped her because it was a scorpion and not a lizard. She jumped back in fright, and landed on a very thick, long thorn, which ofcourse went right through her flipflops and stung her instead of the scorpion.

At my uncle’s house, I went out with my cousins to play. In the village everyone has their livestock and grow their own food. My cousins took me to show me their herds of cows, goats and sheep. They then took me to the chicen coop and got a chickenout for me. I had never been so close to these types of animals. I have seen them at city farms but never so close and it was quite uncomfortable for me, as i did not know what to expect from the animals. I did not want to handle the chicken so my cousin flicked it up in the air, and the chicken decided it want to land on me. I bolted in fright, and stumble on some logs, fell getting grazes on my legs and a cut to my neck. I was screaming and crying , my cousins must have thought me a big woos. To this day I don’t like being close to chickens.

Aden is has a big harbour and is  the second biggest town in Yemen, and that was our next place to visit. We stayed in a hotel that had a private beach and all the rooms were chalets. It was wonderful. I made friends with the workers and they would take me out on their jet skis and their boats with the tourists. In the evening we would play football, volleyball and I taught them cricket. One of the guys, went snorkelling every morning and he took me with him. I caught a squid one time and he took it home and got his wife to make it into calimari and brought it back to me still hot at lunch time. My sister, flipflop, thought there were sharks waiting to eat her, and every time we went into the sea, she would get to about mid thigh deep and then climb onto Mums shoulders. I really enjoyed this holiday, met tons of family, saw many new and different things and except for the chicken business, would love to go again.

1. Discuss one or more of the play’s comic scenes involving Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban. How do these scenes parallel and parody the main action of the play? Pay particular attention to Trinculo’s speech about Caliban in Act II, scene ii, lines 18–38. This is one of the longest speeches in the play. How does it relate to larger thematic issues in the play, such as the difference between “men” and “monsters,” or the relationship between colonizers and the colonized?

2. Look at a few of the many passages in the play in which there is mention of noises, sound, or music. Focusing on one or two characters, discuss the role of noise in The Tempest.

3. Virtually every character in the play expresses some desire to be lord of the island. Discuss two or three of these characters. How does each envision the island’s potential?