Observation in Humanities

    The lesson I observed was humanities. It started at four o’clock on Monday. The classroom was large enough for sixteen students. The colour of walls was light blue. There was a picture of Atatürk above a white board. What is more, there was a projector in the middle of the ceiling. After each student had settled in their places, the teacher took the attendance at first. He was wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans. His hair was black, and he had blue eyes. Then, he put his laptop on his desk and opened a film of which name was “The Name of the Rose”. He announced that he was going to ask some significant points in the exam. Due to this, he wanted us to watch it carefully. The subject of the film was Renaissance. In other words, we learned about the life styles of ancient civilizations, and the importance of church on humanbeings before the eighteenth century. The film lasted about an hour. After we had watched it, the teacher asked a few questions about it. The answers of those questions clarified the most vital parts of the film. When we have come to the end of our lesson, the teacher wrote four questions on the board as homework.

    What I think is, most students learned about the ancient times clearly since the teacher preferred to show a film instead of just telling. The subject and the characters were gripping. I did not get bored while watching the film. Finally, the questions that the teacher asked after the film helped us to understand the details in a better way.

The Musicians (Description)

    The picture shows the class distinction between the poor and the rich. There is a poor musician group, which is formed by both adults and children, in a narrow street of London. They are all wearing poor-looking clothes. Their main target is to earn money to survive. While the musicians are passing in front of an ancient building that is made of stone, an old man, whose name is John, appears through a window. He has gray hair which looks like a wig. We can easily understand that he is not satisfied with the performance of the musicians since he closes his ears with his hands in order not to hear any sound. John’s clothes reflect his wealth. He is wearing a white shirt under a jacket. When the head of the musicians realizes the rude behaviour of John, she feels sad and lets her fellows know this situation. Then, all faces are covered with the feeling of sorrow.

    Apart from that, there is an old lady holding a baby in her arms as if she never leaves him alone at the corner of the street. She is wearing a white and a long dress that reflects pureness. She cannot hide his hopelessness, although she is wearing a big and a dark hat. She also holds a music paper for the musicians. At the same time, she sings a song so that her little crying baby can sleep. To conclude, I can definitely say that this is the picture of discrimination among humans. In other words, the poor try to earn money to survive. Yet, John, who is a rich man, belittles their performance and expresses his feeling in a rude way.

An Adventure in England

    It was a hot July day. My friend, whose name is Cansu, was staying with us since it was holiday. We almost could not sleep until the midnight, for we had a lot of things to talk about. However, me and Cansu were going to England the next day. For this reason, my mother woke us up early in the morning. Although we were so sleepy, we both got ready to go to the airport to catch our plane. As soon as we had breakfast, Cansu and I took our luggage to the car. My father helped us carry the luggage.

    It was about 8 a.m. My father gave us a ride. I was both exicited and agitated, since it would be my first holiday away from my family. Yet, I felt confident, because my best friend was by my side. After a long ride, we arrived airport. I gave my father a big hug before I got on the plane. Once I got on the plane I felt that I missed my family. To resist my tears, I listened some musics to become cheerful.

    After two hours, we landed London in a safe way. Immediately, I called my parents to inform them about this situation. Then, Cansu and I took a taxi to go to our dormitory. When we came to the dormitory, we went our room and settled our clothes into the wardrobe. Then, we went out to go to school. When we came to the classroom, a blond and a tall woman smiled and showed us some places where we could sit. That day, we met a large number of people who came from different countries. We had lunch with our new friends and took some photographs as a souvenir.

    At the end of the first day of the school, Cansu suggested going for shopping to Oxford Street. Although I was rather tired, I could not resist her suggestion. The weather was so nice that it seemed like all people were on the street. Due to this, we had difficulty in finding a free taxi cab. Then, we decided to get on the bus. We asked the driver where the Oxford Street was. He said that he would let us know when he got closed there. Then, the bus started to get crowded. Afterwards, I realized that the driver forgot to inform us about the address.
   We decided to get off the bus. While we were walking down the street, Cansu realized that she had forgotten her bag in the bus. When I heard that bad news, I felt miserable since I had put my purse into her bag either. Since we did not have any money, we could not know what to do at that time. We even did not know where we were. We were completely lost. Cansu started to be panic. However, I kept being calm. In the end, we saw a Turkish restaurant after we walked a lot. We both felt quite happy and confident to see some men who were Turkish like us. We told them our situation and they burst into laugh. After we drank some coffee there, we set off for dormitory with a man who was the head of the restaurant. It was both funny and terrible journey for us.


 

  

OUTLINE 3

• Why do we need to learn a foreign laguage before puberty?

INTRODUCTION:

Thesis: Since knowing a foreign language is important, many people spend their time and money for their children in terms of learning a foreign language before puberty.

BODY PARAGRAPH 1:

Opening Sentence: Children are born with universal language capabilities.

Detail 1: Before the period of puberty, linguistic windows are open, and brain selects what it hears.     

Detail 2: Therefore, children’s brain is compared to a sponge that absorbs every kind of information.

Detail 3: According to some statics, the best time to learn a foreign language without difficulty and an accent is before seven years old.

BODY PARAGRAPH 2:

Transition/Opening Sentence: Furthermore, children’s first language must be acquired before the age of twelve.

Detail 1: After puberty, neurological changes in the brain make it impossible to learn a foreign language fully.

Detail 2: For instance, when children who lived in abroad until puberty, come to their hometown, they have difficulty in acquiring their mother tongue.

Detail 3: Such children keep making basic grammar mistakes even if they try hard to learn.

CONCLUSION:

Reconfirmed Thesis: If people do not acquire a foreign language before puberty, they will always have problems with accent and grammar.

OUTLINE 2

• Why is art education necessary in the kindergarten?

INTRODUCTION:

Thesis: Art education is necessary in the kindergarten since it enables children to develop some basic skills including exploring their skills and interests, developing self-confidence and gaining positive responses to learning.

BODY PARAGRAPH 1:

Opening Sentence: Children have a chance to explore their different skills and interests via art education.

Detail 1: Teachers have to provide activities that encourage students to make images to explore their thoughts and ideas.

Detail 2: A good curriculum including art education can assist students to find logical connections through their artistic play. 

Detail 3: Students, who have problems with expressing themselves verbally, may be succesful in painting or drawing.

BODY PARAGRAPH 2:

Transition/Opening Sentence: In addition to exploring themselves, children gain possitive responses to learning.

Detail 1: They have fun while they are learning.

Detail 2: They promote imagination and work freely.

Detail 3: They forget their problems for a while, and focus on their works in a happy mood.

BODY PARAGRAPH 3:

Transition/Opening Sentence: Art education helps children develop self-confidence.

Detail 1: When they see that they are good at drawing or painting, they build self- esteem, and can concentrate on their works in a happy mood.

Detail 2: Because children felt confidence, they manage to communicate with other people effectively.

Detail 3: Students  may even choose drawing, singing or dancing as a career in the future if they believe themselves.

CONCLUSION:

Reconfirmed Thesis: Art education enables children to explore their skills amd interests as well as developing their own creativity and imagination. It also enables children to develop self-confidence.

OUTLINE 1

• Choose a particular person that you admire. Write the reasons of admiring her/him.

INTRODUCTION:

Thesis: I definitely say that Rahşan Tan, who is a well-educated, knowledgeable and reliable teacher, is the one who I admire most in my life.

BODY PARAGRAPH 1: 

Opening Sentence: To begin with, Rahşan Tan is one of the most well-educated people I have ever known so far.

Detail 1: That is, she is a very sophisticated person who graduated from Bosphorus University.

Detail 2: She has a unique teaching style.

Detail 3: Besides English, she is good at history, literature and mathematics.

BODY PARAGRAPH 2:

Transition/Opening Sentence: Furthermore, Rahşan Tan is eager to learn new information.

Detail 1: She likes reading informative books and magazines.

Detail 2: She goes to museums and gains various information.

Detail 3: She visits different countries to learn about their history.

BODY PARAGRAPH 3:

Transition/Opening Sentence: In addition to being eager to learn, Rahşan Tan is a reliable person.

Detail 1: I can trust and confide in her without any hesitation.

Detail 2: Whenever I face a critical problem, she consoles me and gives me a beneficial advice which leads me the right way.

Detail 3: As a consequence, I find reasonable solutions to my problems easily thanks to her.

CONCLUSION: 

Reconfirmed Thesis: Besides being a well-educated and knowledgeable teacher, Rahşan Tan is a reliable person.