Bibliographical review of five classmates.

1. Bingzhe Xu wrote about the book called “The Rise of MODERN CHINA”. He explained in his blog why he picked this book "I am interested in my country history." 

         The reference of his book: Immauel, C.Y. (1970). The Rise of MODERN CHINA,  New York, USA: The Oxford University Press Inc.

2. Brittany Hofstater  wrote about the book called "South African Tragedy". The reason why she picked this book she explained in her blog: "I chose the book South African Tragedy becasue I studied abroad in South Africa and lived there for nearly 5 and a half months and I learned about the history and it is very interesting to me. I think not many people know about it, and how it is still happening today, and how it affected the lives of millions and still affects them everyday."   

         The reference of her book: Paton, A. (1965). South African Tragedy; the Life and times of Jan Hofmeyr, New York, USA: Scribner.

3. Yang Qu  wrote about the book called "CHINA IN THE Post-Deng Era".  The reason why he picked this book he explained in his blog: "The reason for me to select this book is that I like history and policy among in China. To me, I am very interested in how Americans people think of leaders in China, and I want find some differences between this book and what I learned in China."   

         The reference of his book: Cheng Y.S. (1998). CHINA IN THE Post-Deng Era,  Hong Kong, China: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

4. Zhang, Enli  wrote about the book called "Admiral of the pacific".   The reason why he picked this book he explained in his blog: "The book that I select is called The Life of Yamamoto. The reason of I select this book is that I have interested in the history of Second Word War. Yamamoto is a famous man during the Second World War history, so I select the history about him. I believe that I can study more information and details about Second World War from this book."

             The reference of his book: Potter, J.D. (1965). Admiral of the pacific, London, England: Cox & Wyman Ltd.

5. Nick C-A  wrote about the book called "The Secret of Wilhelm Storitz".  The reason why he picked this book he explained in his blog: "I selected the book I brought back from the library because I like thrillers. Also this book was in a section dedicated to being of interest to students."

                The reference of his book: Verne, J.(2011). The Secret of Wilhelm Storitz, Nebraska, USA: Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.  

              All five have in common that they picked their books which they were interesting in. I hope these books helped them to get some information about the topics that they like!

The name of my book is "Loud and Clear"

Step 1.  Please answer the following questions in full sentences:

1.     I selected the book “Loud and Clear: How to prepare and deliver effective business and technical presentations” because, I think, it could be really helpful for me to learn some basic tips which I can use in the business life in the future

2.   There are three authors of this book. Their names are: George L. Morrisey, Thomas L. Sechrest and Wendy B. Warman.

3.     The title is “Loud and Clear: How to prepare and deliver effective business and technical presentations”

4.      The book was published by Addison-Westly Publishing, Inc.       

5.     The book was printed in New York, Massachusetts and others. It is fourth edition April 1997.

Step 2. Providing the same information as asked above, write a coherent paragraph about the book you selected. Pick a quote from the book and incorporate it into your text. Provide full bibliographical information at the end in a "Works cited" portion of your post.

             

                The name of the book that i picked is  “Loud and Clear: How to prepare and deliver effective business and technical presentations” by George L. Morrisey, Thomas L. Sechrest and Wendy B. Warman. It was printed in New York, Massachusetts and others. And it was published by  Addison-Westly Publishing, Inc. on April 1997, fourth edition.

              

                   I am studying International Business now, and if i want to be a successful businesswoman i have to learn how to give a good presentation. That's why, I selected the book called “Loud and Clear: How to prepare and deliver effective business and technical presentations”. I think, it could be really helpful for me to learn some basic tips which I can use in the business life in the future. This book discusses the best use of audiovisual aids and explains the basics of set-up and delivery. And this book also explains: "The key to effective presentations is preparation, so Loud and Clear shows your six steps for planning any technical or business presentation" ( Morrisey.G, p.2). Moreover, "Loud and Clear’s practical, step-by-step advice has helped more than 300,000 technical experts become expert presenters as well. Whether you present proposals to new clients or a weekly status report, Loud and Clear will help you deliver your message clearly and confidently".( Morrisey.G, p.3)

Works cited.

Morrisey, G. (April 1997, fourth ed.). Loud and Clear: How to prepare and deliver effective business and technical presentations, New York, USA: Addison-Westly Publishing, Inc. 

Trying your hand at improvement: the editing process

The 500-word description by group 4.

As a group (Helen Galkina, Jonathan Ouedraogo and Yiming Zhang), we got assignment to pick one grammar topic and present it. Unfortunately, all of us had different topics and it was hard decision to choose one. After checking all topics, we decided to present “Writing a business letter or memo". We thought that it could be helpful for students to learn something from this topic because we believed that students should know how business letter and memo look like and how to write them.

            We divided our topic on three different sections. First section was about “Business letter” and it was presented by me (Helen Galkina). I used two internet resources for that:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_letter and http://www.ehow.com/how_8662903_write-business-letter-sample-consultant.html.  

Second section was about “Memo” and it was presented by Jonathan Ouedraogo. He also used two internet resources for that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorandum and http://www.ehow.com/how_4827518_write-formal-business-memo.html.

And the last section was about “The difference between the Business letter and Memo” and it was presented by Yiming Zhang. He used two Internet resources as well for that: http://www.blurtit.com/q391547.html and http://www.ehow.com/info_8520853_difference-letter-format-memo-format.html.

Later on, when we found all information about our topic “Business letter and memo” Jonathan Ouedraogo and I (Helen Galkina) decided to present it in new program which called PREZI. “It is a new and impressive "zooming" presentation editor that currently is making the rounds at numerous design blogs and online press. Presenting with Prezi enables one to follow non-linear storylines, embed movies, show meta relations between topics, zoom into the finest details, and have transitions that pan, zoom and rotate.” (http://infosthetics.com/archives/2009/04/prezi_online_zooming_presentation_editor.html).

If you are interesting in this program you can check this video out:

         

 

Also, you can go on this website www.prezi.com to find some more information and register for free if you want.

            When we were done with editing all information in Prezi we faced difficulty that someone of us wasn’t really familiar with the program. That was one of our bad parts of the presentation. The second bad part was that not everyone was prepared to present the topic. That’s why some of us had to read. In fact, when we were presenting our topic we had some kind of problems.

              Therefore, we have to practice more if we want to give a good presentation. I think the best ways to present topic are:

• To make outline in your presentation which helps you to get an idea and follow that idea step by step;
• The information should be short and clear;
• Think about your audience that they won't fell asleep;
• Give examples from your personal or someones life experience;
• Be prepared for the presentation;
• Avoid plagiarism. (Don't forget to use quotation marks when you are using someone else's work and always cite it as reference)
• Also, we have to remember that our presentation should always has introduction, body and conclusion.

All in all, I think our presentation was good. Thank you my partners for help and my classmates for attention! I believe that we learned our mistakes and hope we will improve them next time. 

From words to sentences to story: The neon-skirt story

           One lovely day, a hippie girl whose name is Moon got invited to the neon party. Unfortunately, she didn't have any neon clothes to wear. So she went to the mall to look for a new skirt but she was running late because the shops were about to close.

            Moon was passing by a shop and a skirt caught her attention; the shop was still open. So she went into the shop and she saw another customer looking at the same skirt; it was exactly the neon skirt she wanted. Moon was so excited that she found the skirt but she didn't have enough time to try it on. Since she had the money in her pocket, a hole was burning in her pocket. She took the skirt and went to the cashier. She was waiting in a big line but unfortunately, the cashier closed the register just in front of her, as she was so excited and hoping to pay. Bummer! She decided to go against it. She started asking for a store manager but there was no manager there at that time. In fact she got all upset about it and she left the boutique. She was trying not to think about the skirt any more but she couldn't help it; restlessness. She was so impatient for the next day to go back to the store and get the skirt.

           The next day when Moon woke up her mind was all about that skirt. She rushed to the store to buy the skirt. As soon as she got there she picked the neon skirt right away and went to try it on. The skirt fitted perfectly and finally, she went to buy it. That felt so good. Elation! She couldn't wait to get home to find the perfect match for her skirt. So, she brought it home and tried it on again with her other clothes. Bummer! She found out that it didn't fit any of her tops. What now? She got so sad because she really liked the skirt but she could find the right match. Therefore, Moon decided to go back to the mall to find the matching top for her skirt. When she got there she went to the same shop where she bought her skirt. After spending some time looking around, she found the right top. So, she went to the register to pay for it. Guess what? The same story happened with the cashier. But, at this time the cashier was nice to her and decided to let her pay for the top.

          Happy hippie girl went to the neon party and had a blast there. As a result, she learned a lesson: "you should always organize your time and carefully think about what you are buying if you don't want to get upset later".

 Group work: Jonathan Ouedraogo and Elena Galkina

Group work on chosen LEO topic: Writting a business letter or memo

Topic 4: A business letter and memo
Members: Helen Galkina, Jonathan Ouedraogo, Yiming Zhang

BUSINESS LETTER       

  A business letter is a letter which written in a formal language.

It's usually used:

• when writing from one business organization to another;
• or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties.

The overall style of letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned.

There are many reasons to write a business letter. It could be:

• to request direct information or action from another party,
• to order supplies from a supplier,
• to identify a mistake that was committed,
• to reply directly to a request,
• to apologize for a wrong, 
• simply to convey goodwill.

Instructions:

1. Start with basic company or formal letterhead. Make sure your address is included at the top, along with your contact details and company logo if applicable.
2. Write the date. Place the recipient's address two lines below the date, above the salutation. Include name, formal title, company name and the office address.
3. Type the salutation two lines below the recipient's address. Address the recipient using "Dear," followed by the individual's title and last name. Remember to add a colon rather than a comma after the last name. Use "To Whom it May Concern" or "Dear Sir/Madam" if you do not know the recipient's name or gender.                                                                                                       (Note!: Mrs /misses/ - married; Ms /miz/ - married or unmarried; Miss /mis/ - unmarried)
4. Begin your intro paragraph. Talk about why you are writing the business letter and what you would like to request from the recipient. State your position if presenting an argument. Reference events, meetings or individuals that are familiar or relevant to the reader.
5. Elaborate on the purpose or main topic of your letter in the body. Provide examples supporting your argument, request or proposal. Give details on product features and benefits, as well as customer testimonials if selling to a client or prospect.
6. Follow the body with your conclusion. Reiterate your initial request or position. Thank the reader for her time and consideration, and tell her how she can contact you for further questions or information.
7. End with a complimentary close two lines down from the last sentence of the body. Allot four spaces for your signature and printed name.

Even today, the business letter is still very useful because it produces a permanent record, is confidential, formal and delivers persuasive, well-considered messages

MEMO

A memo is a note, document or other communication that helps the memory by recording events or observations on a topic, such as may be used in a business office.

A business memo is widely used by organizations to communicate to its member's pertinent information in an effective and efficient manner. The information communicated reflects policy changes, new products being introduced or new developments in solving new or current business problems.

The typical structure for a briefing note includes:

• Fill out the header information.State clearly who the memo is to, from, the date, and what the memo is regarding. Begin with why the recipient is receiving the memo (the subject).
• The first paragraph should be a purpose statement that can be as simple as, "The purpose of this memo is to..."
• Include a brief summary of the problem or need you are writing about. The body of the memo should expand on these themes.    
•  State any actions you need the recipient to perform and when you need them performed by.

Close with any follow up items required from the recipients. Also, make sure the ending is courteous and respectful to the readers. Even if you are communicating difficult news remember to do so in a poised and dignified manner.

A business memo also may be a call for action for all team members to become involved in. Writing a business memo is a great tool for leadership teams. Make it short, one page if possible. Bulleted lists are an easy way for the reader to understand the key points of the memo immediately.

 The Difference between Business memos and Business letters 

Business memos are usually internal, that is between employees within a business, company or organization. Memos use short sentences, less formal language, and bullet points to convey important information. Memos always contain a header that tells who it is from, who it is to, the date, and the subject.

On the other hand, business letters are usually between two businesses or a business and its clients. Because of this, business letters tend to be longer and use more formal language    

About the format:
Heading 

• Business letter include an address block and an inside address. Omit your name from the address block, spell out street and state names, and end with the date. Skip two spaces and begin the inside address. Start with the recipient's name, title, and address. For memos, headings include the following: to, from, date, and subject, with a colon and one blank space after each. Senders should initial their names.

Greetings 

• In business letter, place the greetings two lines below the heading. Greet a person and add a colon. Unlike a letter, salutations are not used in memos, which begin by directly stating the purpose of the document instead.

Body Paragraphs   

• When writing a business letter, body paragraphs begin two spaces below the heading. Use single spacing within the paragraph and add two blank spaces between paragraphs. Memos often contain headings and lists, which may use numbers or bullets to summarize main points.

  Closing and Signature Block

• Close with the words sincerely yours. Leave four blank lines, and then include your name and honorifics. Memos do not contain a closing or signature.

work cited:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_letter. 9/11/2012
2. http://www.ehow.com/how_8662903_write-business-letter-sample-consultant.html. 9/11/2012

Leo Topic Assignment: The writing doesn't flow. It's choppy

           The writing is one of the most important skill which has to be learned and practiced. I picked the topic "The writing doesn't flow. It's choppy"  because i found it necessary to elaborate. We should remember that when we check our writing we have to make sure that each sentences and paragraphs flow. Here is some tips for that:              
         Cohesion is the glue that holds a piece of writing together. In other words, if a paper is cohesive, it sticks together from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph. 

          Cohesive devices certainly include transitional words and phrases, such as, therefore, furthermore, or for instance, that clarify for readers the relationships among ideas in a piece of writing. 

          Transitions aren't enough to make writing cohesive. Repetition of key words and use of reference words are also needed for cohesion.

Repetition of Key Words

We can tie sentences or paragraphs together by repeating certain key words from one sentence to the next or from one paragraph to the next. This repetition of key words also helps to emphasize the main idea of a piece of writing.
For example, in the following paragraph, notice how many times the words owned and ownership are repeated:

Nobody owned any part of the land. Sotopo's father owned many cattle, and if the cows continued to produce calves, he might as well become the next chief. Old Grandmother owned the beautifully tanned animal skins she used as coverlets in winter. And Sotopo owned his polished hard-wood assegais. But the land belonged to the spirits who governed life; it existed forever, for everyone, and was apportioned temporarily according to the dictates of the tribal chief and senior headman. Sotopo's father occupied the hillside for the time being, and when he died the older son could inherit the loan -- land, but no person or family every acquired ownership.

By repeating the words owned and ownership throughout the paragraph, the writer has tied each sentence to each other and has clearly indicated what the main idea of the paragraph is. In this case, the main idea is ownership of something. And what exactly is being (or not being) owned? By repeating the word land, the author shows us that the entire main idea is ownership of land.

Use of Reference Words

Another way of tying sentences and paragraphs together involves using reference words that point back to an idea mentioned previously. Among the many reference words that can be used to tie one sentence to another or one paragraph to another are words like this, these, those, such, and that.

These reference words should not be used by themselves but should be combined with the important words and phrases from previous sentences or paragraphs. In the following paragraphs, we can see how reference words are used not only to tie sentences and paragraphs together, but also to emphasize the main idea.

Writing a paper is often difficult and many times rewarding. First, I don't always know what to write about, so I often need to research, talk to people, and think about what I know before I come up with a strong topic. In addition, writing a paper takes time and energy. Time is needed to select and narrow a topic, to generate information and structure ideas, to knock out draft after draft, and to edit for my usual typos and mechanical errors. Besides the time involved, energy (and lots of food to produce it) is needed so I can produce my best work. Although writing a paper is sometimes difficult, it can be very rewarding. I enjoy seeing words which say exactly what I want them to. l also feel proud when everything "clicks." Finally, knowing that I've done my best work and earned a good grade too are strong personal rewards.

Many words are repeated from one sentence to the next and from one paragraph to the next as well. Can you identify the main ideas of each paragraph based on the words that are often repeated?

It is choppy

Simple sentences . . .

contain only one independent clause.


Compound sentences . . .

join two or more independent clauses (simple sentences) but no dependent clauses. Compound sentences join ideas of equal importance.


Complex sentences . . .

join one or more dependent clauses (sometimes called subordinate or embedded clauses) to the independent clause. Complex sentences are useful when your writing includes some ideas that are more important than others. The independent clause contains the main idea, and the dependent clauses convey minor or subordinate ideas.

Review of Story-in-a-Box

The class received the assignment to read all story-in-a-Box entries, rate them online and write a critique of the worst and the best story-in-a-box.

One of the stories that I rated was a zero out of ten, because it seemed to be problems with the structure: (1) “Chinese people are very friendly and sitting next to me on the train” it is one example. There are also a lot of  grammatical mistakes that have to be corrected: (2) “I think is very delicious. His body covered with a blanket, he tell me this blanket has 200 years history”.  
(1) http://yifuchen.blogspot.com/. September 4, 2012
(2)same

Another story that I rated was ten out of ten, because it seemed to me very interesting from the beginning (title): (3)“Once upon a time..” Also, i really liked how he included items in his story: (4) "Once upon a time in a far away land, there was a ruler named King Dina Salifou" or "these three chestnuts symbolizes “Equality” “Justice” and “Wisdom”".
(3)http://en191fl12s28mohamedto.blogspot.com/.  September 4, 2012
(4)same

Story-in-a-Box: Dream of happiness......

There once lived a Kenyan woman, named Pendo who always dreamt about traveling the world someday. A store clerk by profession, Pendo thought that she never had an exciting life as her job offered no adventures. So, one day she thought of leaving everything and fulfilling her lifelong dream of traveling the world and finding true happiness.

Pendo quit her job, booked a flight to Spain, packed her stuffs and left. She packed all her things she needed, including her favorite old blanket with flowers which her mother gave her when she was a kid. Spain was a fascinating place for Pendo. She saw small traditional farms with beautiful flowers. She was so excited to see people living simple lives, yet being happy and satisfied. One of the families she met had nothing except a small house. Yet, they were so welcoming and offered her food that was serving in old traditional plates and housing. She was completely amazed by the fact that these people had nothing and were still trying to help others. Next day, the family gave her three chestnuts for good luck and then she went to Germany for new adventures.

Next her stop was Germany. Pendo was so amused by Germany as she was visiting different museums to get a chance to know their culture better. During her visit to an art store, a peculiar piece of art grabbed her attention. A wooden sculpture of a bald woman stunned her as this sculpture trying to say something with its eyes. All of a sudden. Pendo felt like the sculpture was talking to her. She was thinking if this head could tell her about her future, it would be a blessing. She felt that woman head had some kind of power that could make her happy. At the same time, one man who was standing next to her bought that bald head to make her happy. She was so surprised that some people were so kind and could buy gifts for strangers. She thanked the man and left.

After, she went to Italy. There was a beautiful exhibition of ceramic pots and glass. She was walking around looking at the beautiful pots. Suddenly, she saw the guy playing drums. She was looking at his happy face and wondered if he could help her. She got closer to him and started talking. He noticed that Pendo was sad. She looked for him a little bit lost and disappointed. He told her: “our life is like canoe in the river which goes just a forward and never go back. If you have your dream go for it even if you need to fight for that, but never be sad.” She said “But, I don’t what happiness is. How can I be happy?”. He gave her one of his lucky coins which symbolized “the year of the dog” in Chinese calendar. And then he said: “Keep this coin with you all the time and think about positive things. It can be any anything that made you smile. if you smile it means you are happy!  You are not running for something unreal everything comes in its own time. We cannot measure our life with the ruler anything can happen and never know what’s going to be next”. Pendo was so thankful to that man. She kept the coin in her leather wallet and she started realizing what he said.

Each item that she got from people struck in her heart like a stamp. She understood that even small things can make a person happy. She got 3 items from different people who made her smile. Where there is smile, there is happiness!