Peer Evaluation 2 (Veysel Akka)

     In this evaluation, I am goint to comment on Veysel's free reflection about beauty concept in his blog. I have chosen this because I really appreciate his thoughts and what I think about this concept is nearly the same as the Veysel's. In his reflection, he wrote about the media's effect on how the beauty is conceived by the Turkish parents. Media really affects the thoughts of Turkish families' about the beauty. They always show physically beautiful people on TV, on advertisements and on the Internet. That's why, they think that beauty is just connected with physical apperance.

    The content of his reflection is really good. He clearly wrote the ideas he is supporting and what media emposes to the community. His reflection is easy to understand. Just like Semih, Veysel has also written one solid paragraph in his reflection. I think this contruction is making it harder for readers to identify different ideas. It would be better if he divided this one into two or three paragraphs.
 
    To talk about organization, all the ideas presented in his reflection are coherent in between. They are all parallel with the main idea. He perfectly transferred the ideas in his mind to the reflection he wrote. I really enjoyed his writing. Sentences that he used are well organized and I did not see any grammatical mistakes in them. He used correct conjuctors in correct places.

    To sum up, Veysel's paragraph has a very good content, it is well-organized and it just has small grammar mistakes. I really enjoyed while reading it. My question for Veysel is that he briefly described what is not beauty for him. I want to know what is beauty for Veysel.
     
                                                                                                              to Veysel Akka                                                                                    http://veyselakka.blogspot.com.tr/2016/01/free-task_25.html   
   
 

Peer Evaluation 1 (Semih Can Aktepe)

     As a peer evaluation, I have dediced to make it on Semih Can's blog. The reason why I have chosen his blog is we both commented on the same thing, Breaking Bad. I really love Breking Bad an d I wanted to see what Semih thinks about this TV serial.
     In his reflection, he briefly described what Breaking Bad is. He mentioned the story about the birth of such TV serial. I really enjoyed his reflection and I realized that I have a lot of things to learn about the backstage of Breaking Bad. For example, I did not know how this TV serial created by his director. This story made me feel excited about this serial a lot more than before.
    Semih has written one solid paragraph in his reflection. I think it would be better if he had divided this one solid paragraph into two or three minor paragraphs. Apart from that, ideas in his paragraphs are really clear and coherent. They are linked in between. Thanks to this coherence, you can fully understand what he is talking about and his thought about Breaking Bad. Apart from the number of paragraphs, organization of his paragraph is really good.
    To talk about the language use in his reflection, I think Semih has done a good job because I could not find any mistakes related to this topic. He obeyed all the grammer rules and all of the sentences was well organized. Also, he did not use any repetitive words and this makes is easier for us to read his reflection fluently.
    In conclusion, he written a good reflection about Breaking Bad. My question for Semih is what did he thought about Walter White when he learnt that he was going to cook cristal meth?

                                                                                                                      to Semih Can Aktepe
                                                             
                                          http://secanakt.blogspot.com.tr/2016/01/reflection-2b-breaking-bad.html

Free Reflection (State school or Private school)

                                               Comparison-Contrast: Private or State

            

          Even if they serve as an educational institution, there are some differences between private secondary schools and state secondary schools in terms of education quality, foreign language education, and social facilities.

          First of all, most of the private schools offer better education than state schools. Unlike state schools, they are more interested in students and they take good care of them individually. While state schools’ education systems are more strict and limited, students have more freedom in private schools than they do in state schools. This enables them to focus on their school activities instead of problematic issues that they may encounter in state schools. 

        Second, although students can learn foreign language in both schools, private schools offer students more effective and productive learning. Also, students can learn more than one foreign language in private schools while this number is limited to one in state schools. On the other hand, private schools provide better teachers in foreign language classes than state schools. 

       Finally, while private schools have more social activities for their students such as arts, sports, or cultural activities,  state schools cannot usually offer these activities due to monetary issues. This difference is really important for working parents. As they rarely have time for their children in a week time, they may want to send their children to these private schools to contribute to their social development. Nevertheless, it is rather unusual for state schools to offer this kind of facilities and so, they focus on academic development rather than social. 

     To sum up, state schools and private schools differ from each other in points of education quality, foreign language education and social activities.

Reflection Task 2-B (Breaking Bad)

                                                                 Breaking Bad

             Breaking bad is an American crime and drama TV series created by Vince Gilligan. This television serial tell us the story of a chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer, Walter White. His boring life turns into a crime scene when he meets his former student Jesse Pinkman in a drug operation in which Jesse and his friend are cooking methamphetamine. Walter thinks that he is going to die. So, he wants to cook metamphetamine with Jesse and make money for the rest of his family in order for them to live without thinking about monetary issues.

Jesse Pinkman & Walter White

       

           The show title is based on a Southern colloquialism meaning, among other things, "raising hell" and was chosen by the director to describe Walter's transformation. He once was just a straight human but he turned into a criminal. When you start watching this serial, you will start to feel sympaty for the Walter White. But the director had such an impact that after watching 3 season, you are starting to hate Walter White because of the thing he is doing and the decisions he is making. As a fan of Breaking Bad, I really appreciate directors impact on the serial, because he just managed what he intented. 

   

       , Breaking Bad, along with the Game of Thrones, has the highest point in IMDB. It is among the most watched TV serials. It has received many awards, including sixteen Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satallite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critic's Choice Awards and four Television Critics Association Awards. Its cast has also won many awards. For his leading perfomance Bryan Cranston (Walter White) won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, while Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama series three times. In 2013, this TV serial entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time. 

       I have chosen Breaking Bad because is the most exciting TV serial I have ever watched. It give a lot message to the viewer. These messagges can change from person to another. For me the message is that sometimes you can do bad things for the sake of good people. 

Reflection task 3 (Didier Drogba)

                                                            Person of the Year

               If I were a jury member of the committe chosing the person of the year, I would candidate Didier Drogba who is football player and charitable.

             When you hear the name of the Drogba, you will probably think of his career as a football player. It is true that he is considered as a legend among football fans. He had a great career up to now starting from Le Mans F.C. to Montreal F.C. As every other person do, he also got older. He is not playing like he was doing when he was young. When the name of the Drogba is said, Chelsea F.C. comes to one's mind. This is where he had a zenith of his career. He won many titles with Chelsea including UEFA Champions League Cup in which he scored two goals; one from header, one from penalty. 

          

            Apart from his magnificent football career, he is the one who has brought a peace to his country, Ivory Coast. After the Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup, he made a desperate plea to the combatants and he asked them to lay down their arms. The combanants had heard about his call and they ceased fire after 5 years of civil war. On 24 January 2007, Drogba was appointed by the United Nations Development as a Godwill Ambassador. This association thought that Drogba!s charity work and his high profile would help raise awareness on African issues.

           In September 2011, Drogba joined the Truth; Reconciliation and Dialogue Commision as a representative to help return peace to his home country. His hard work in this area made him got in to the list of 100 most influential people by Times magazine in 2010.In late 2009, he announced that he would be donating $3 million for the construction of a hospital in his hometown. He created his own associaton named as "Didier Drogba Foundation" and his club Chelsea announced that they would donate the fee for the deal toward the Foundation's project. In November 2014, he was asked to join in FIFA's 11 against Ebola. All the revenue from this project was donated to Africa and the people having troubles with Ebola.

          

         To sum up, I would candidate Didier Drogba for the person of the year because he is more then just a football player with that he has done for his county and for the sake of humanity.

          

Reflection Task 2-A (Football and Turkey)

                                                     Why we love football?

            In Turkey, football is the most watched and most liked sports branch. Turkish people really have passion for football. They tend to go evey single match of the team that they support. As a teenager and as a Galatasaray fan, I wanted to write something about why we love football this much.
 
           There are two reasons for Turkish people to play and watch football. First of all, from the very early ages, Turkish children are forced to support a team which their parents or relatives are supporting. This causes these children to be engaged in football from the very early ages. Their fathers buy them a lot of gifts in order for them to support what their fathers support. Their relatives, also, try to convince them to support what they support. By this way, children are becoming engaged in football and they gradually develop a sense of being a fan of some football club.It sounds weird when a teenager says "I'm not supporting any club".
       
          Secondy, Turkish people are really glowing. They love competitions. They really enjoy things which include competiton, ambition and rivalry. Football gives them what they need. Football excites them more than anything in their lifes. When they go to watch these games, they are in the zenith of their excitement. In matches, a drummer sparks all the crowd watching them. They sing songs, decorate every single corner of their stadium with banners. They even compose some songs themselves for the team that they support. This passion is like medicine for Turkish people. To give example from myself, I feel really happy when Galatasaray wins a match or a tropy. The exact reason for this joy is unknown. But Turkish people are really enthusiastic about football.
     
        Football in Turkey is really fun to watch but I want to point out some bad sides of Football. In all competitive sports, the rivalry in included. Sometimes this concept is confused with hostily. All the people can support any team that they want. This is called rivalry. Some people sees their rivals as their enemies. That's why, they apply violence. They develop a sense of fanaticism.They both harm their own teams and the opposite. Football is not football when people try to include fanatism in it.
   
       To sum up, Turkish people really love football because of the traditional associations and the joy that it gives to them. But sometimes, especially when violence is included in it, the football goes out of being a sport. It is really fun to play and watch but it's dirty sides can not be ignored.
                                                             
                                                               Football and respect

Reflection Task 1-A (Me and METU)

                                                       Being a METU Student

     

      After years of hard work,I was finally able to get into Middle East Tecnical University.The conception of being a METU student,can excite every person.I also got really excited when I had learned that I was able to get through METU.In METU,there are so many opportunities for every student.It is the place in which we can follow our dreams,improve ourselves as a human being and improve our academic skills.There are so many social facilities in METU which allows you to enjoy yourself and gives you opportunity to try new things.I am studying on FLE deparment in METU.My passion for learning English was the main motivation for my choice of this department.I saw METU FLE department as a place where I can get the most accurate informations and the most suitable education.Apart from my passion for English,some of my teachers also played an important role in my decision.They encouraged me to select METU FLE department and this made things easier for me.For now,I have no regrets in my decision and I am really thankful to my teachers who encouraged me in this way.Unfortunately,I didn't get a good education while learning English in my high school.That's why,my expectation from my department is just getting a good education.I really want to use English perfectly in my daily life and I want to speak like native people after I graduated from METU.I have an ambition and faith in me.I think my department will have great influence in my education life along with my faith and ambition.I don't think that I will have any difficulties in my department.There will be intense schedule and busy working hours for me.But I wll be able to overcome them through good planning.For now,I want to stay in METU as an academician.I really want to become a part of my department.But as the time and life goes too fast,my future plans are likely change in 5 years' time.

                      

                                                                                                            Salih Can Ateş

                                                                                                                FLE 133

                                                                                                                2087179