Fashion Industry

What does fashion mean for you? How much importance do you give your clothes? Does it really express what you are? These are the usual questions that come to mind when talking about our way of dressing.

Fashion is part of our everyday lives. When you wake up in the morning and put on your clothes, your choice says a lot about you. The way of dressing reflects personal characteristics such us personality, lifestyle, social group, and even how you feel.

By reading some articles, we have gotten the conclusion that fashion is not just numbers and money. It is like an art which involves sensitivity, empathy and other feelings. At the same time, it can be consider as a language, a way of communication. You can express what you want or think by your clothes. Of course, there are others who feel and think similar to you, so they probably wear the same clothe, making you both members of the same style. That is the time when fashion groups appear. People’s styles separate them into different categories which are based on age, occupation, ways of thinking, interests, beliefs, etc. Such groups or trends have marked different periods in the fashion’s world.

Throughout the history, a lot of styles have been present in each decade or period. For example, short skirts, long dresses with big cleavage were special for people living in the 20s , and dressing rock and roller’s cloth was the most popular and cool trend in the 1950’s. That well known style changed later, giving way to one of the most remembered styles in the fashion history: the hippie movement in the 70s. At that time, black and grey clothes were changed by colorful and flowery ones.

Nowadays, fashion has been adapting itself to the different people’s likes which are more liberal, giving way to the formation of the well known urban tribes. We have been witnesses of how these tribes have changed almost totally the way of dressing, especially in teenagers. In the past, it seemed impossible to happen, but now, it is common to see teenagers with extravagant styles such as dyed hair, tattoos and piercings, wearing ripped and dirty trousers etc. Even, we dare say that those who do not belong to this new fashion trends are considered as old-fashioned people.

It is known that fashion comes and goes, so nobody can say what the correct style is to be followed. For example, today, we are able to find people whose styles were an unforgettable boom, and nowadays, they are being used again. And there are others that have not been so famous, but they have lasted throughout the years like hip hop, rap, and others.

The big power of fashion is so huge that it can even change completely our minds. It is increased when people we regard as icons follow this fashion. To make it clear, we can think of the famous pop singer Lady Gaga who has changed the lives of many people with her eccentric and extravagant style. She has made popular that strange and daring way of dressing. For example, one of the most controversial situations to be mentioned was when she wore a complete outfit made of meat during the last MTV Show in 2011, causing an unpleasant incident and creating a disgusting situation. Many people in favor of the protection of animals protested against this polemic event, but Gaga did not care about it and now, she continues using clothes made of different kinds of materials, all of them very unusual ones. Good or not, her fans around the world want to imitate such style. Together with this famous pop star, we can find another fashion’s icons such us Elvis Presley and his well known rock and roll style, Madonna, and the famous designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada whose styles have defined them as fashion’s icons.

Being conscious about how important the fashion world is for us, it is the time to think about who is behind of all this. Who are the responsible to please the whims of fashion and make the exact piece of clothe depending on our style?

There are many people in charge of dealing with our clothing likes, but it all boils down to two words: Fashion Industry. It is one of the biggest global industries and people who work for this kind business make millions dollars every year. All this is thanks to us: the consumers. It is generally agreed that many people do not worry about money when buying. There are some who are willing to pay any price to get a piece of clothe they think it is the only and perfect one, and for some of us, going shopping is one the favorite activities to do.

In one sense, businesspeople that work for this industry are responsible for this fashion’s fever, for influencing our choices through advertisements, advertising campaigns, etc., making us just accept the new trends. That is why it is said that fashion’s market is based on seduction and provocation. That is the trade secret of fashion. Clients are tempted not only by low prices, but also by the design, the use and kinds of materials, etc.

Going to the history of fashion, it is said in some documents that this industry is a product of the modern age. The first appearance of fashion industry was is Europe and America, but today, it covers all the places around the world, becoming an important international business.

Through a deep analysis of this industry, we have found some advantages and disadvantages that you, as a consumer, should know:

Some of the advantages are:

· Together with satisfying our fashion’s needs, it is an important source of employment which has been increasing as time has passed. Such fact does not seem to stop because of the great people’s demands.

· It adapts itself to the different people’s like, so nobody has to follow a style just because there are no others.

Thinking about the drawbacks, we can mention the following negative aspects that get fashion into a superficial and unfeeling industry:

· Together with all the fame, wealth and status related with this industry. There is a huge problem that had been always present. It is not just a significant business which earns an immense amount of money per year, but an industry that has been criticized because of the stereotypes that creates. In a sense, some industries promote a harmful model, the perfect woman dressing the ideal clothe with a wonderful figure, where the definition of perfection means to be a person with low weight. This has a cost in the health of many people, so healthy problems are attached to this stereotype. Eating disorders are the most common one. Many models try to be “perfect”, going as far as to suffer bulimia because of the pressure of feeling slim.

· The anorexia is other issue to consider. It is an eating and psychologist disorder by which the people lose the control of themselves and are incapable to recognize their health problems. Some symptoms of this are the distortion of the image and the wish of losing weight rapidly. It is important that the fashion industry implement models of woman more realist and consider how to prevent the health of its models and the possible people who can follow this stereotypes. Currently, the council of fashion has implemented some specifications related to be a model, pointing out various aspects, such as a minimal weight, a certificate of good health, a balance diet, etc.

· Since ever, the fashion industry has used eccentric material. One of the most controversial is the use of animal’s skins, such as fox´s or zebra’s skin. With the apparition of ecologist groups or defense animals groups like “Swiss Animals Protection East/International”, this problem has changed a bit. Nevertheless, the industry tries to continue using this way to create new pieces of clothe.

· Many animals are wounded or electrocuted repeatedly. Later, those ones are used to make coats, hats, scarves or sleeves. To confirm this, there are many videos on internet where we can appreciate these disgusting human acts. Fortunately, some dressmakers have eliminated this kind of material after seeing these videos. But, after all, there are some artists, like the well known Jenifer Lopez, that refuse to get rid of their collection of clothes made of animals’ skin.

Considering the pros and against of the fashion industry, we should think of how we can make a change in the fashion world. How can we make the big industries take a real commitment? Firstly, it has to be a general conscience. The pressure from the people can make a considerable difference. There must be more control and sanctions for those who break the law and a reconnaissance for the ones that take care of the nature and animals, the material they use to make their collections and the collaterals effects.

This is the amazing fashion’s world. As everything, it will always have a negative and a positive side. So in this case, the important thing is to be aware of what fashion means for you and to make a balance between your whims and your reality. So look at what you are wearing today, are you expressing what you are or are you a fashion’s victim?

The million Dollar Bond Robbery v/s The Gold Bug (definitive version)

It is said that Good writers are those who are able to make the readers feel as if they were living the story on their own, they can feel part of it, and they are even able to predict the events. A piece text well written and with a high quality does not allow the reader stop reading. Thinking about Agatha Christy’s story, The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, and Edgar Alan Poe’s, The Gold Bug, I dare say that the way they write can do this.

In The Million Dollar Bond Robbery we are told about a robbery that took place in a ship, the Olympia. Unfortunately, what was stolen was not a common thing, but a million dollars worth of Liberty Bonds which the London and Scottish Bank were sending to New York. Mr. Poirot, a kind of detective and Captain Hastings, his partner, are asked to solve the case by a lady called Esmeé Farquhar who was engaged to Philip Ridgeway (the man that was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York). After making some inquiries and interrogating many people, the great Mister Poirot was able to find out the robber, who was one of the most unexpected people, Mister Shaw, one of the two join general managers of the bank.

The Gold Bug basically tells the story of a man called Legrand who found a golden bug which, together with a parchment, let him discover the instructions to find a millionaire treasure that had been hidden by a not very known pirate, Captain Kidd. He was able to find it out thanks to a draft of the gold bug that he had made for a friend of him on a piece of parchment. The heat of the fire that was near them made a secret message appears on the piece of paper. After decoding the message, which had been written with special ink and was visible just when it was heat, Legrand, his old African servant Jupiter, and his friend, who was the narrator of the story, went for the treasure, following word by word the instructions of the found parchment. More than one hundred diamonds, pearls, stones and jewels were inside of he chest they found, which become them all very rich.

Thinking about the similarities that can be found comparing the two stories, it can be said that they had the same main topic. It was money. In Agatha Christie’s story, The million dollar bond robbery, we are able to see mister Shaw’s shrewd, the robber, to make everybody think that the bonds had been stolen by any other person but not him. In Agatha Christi’s, The Gold Bug, we were told about the finding of a golden insect which was the key to find a valuable hidden treasure. But there is one difference to take into account: in the first story, Mister Shaw tried to steal the money. On the other hand, in “The gold Bug”, Legrand found, unintentionally, the instructions to find the treasure.

Another similarity is that either of the two endings of the stories is solved just by the end. Poe’s piece of text is a detective one, which does not let us find the robber out till the complete story is read. Likewise, Agatha Christy’s acts in that way too because the readers are expectant all the time, waiting to discover if the secret hidden treasure is real or not. Such writing style gives us the nod to think of our own hypotheses and makes the stories more interesting to read.

Alike extension is another likeness that both pieces of text have. They are not so long, so it makes them advisable for those who do not like reading long stories. The structure and the way by which the stories are narrated are also similar. Both start with a matter that needs to be solved, both of them are looking for something. In Poe’s what needs to be found is the robber and the Liberty Bonds, and in Christy’s, the incognita of the secret message is what requires solution.

The kind of narrator in The Gold Bug can be defined as witness narrator because who tells the story is, at the same time, part of it and it is narrated is narrated in first person. We are never told about the identity of the narrator. He just participates and tells the events as they happen. Similarly, in The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, the events are told by a witness narrator from his point of view, who tells the story in first person.

Even though both pieces of text have some relevant similarities, they have some specifics characteristics which make them differ from each other. Semantically talking, The million dollar bond Robbery can be more difficult to understand because of the many words whose meaning the readers may not know. So it might need to be read more than once whereas The gold Bug can be considered easier to grasp since the vocabulary used by the author is more simple.

Context is another important difference to consider. Talking about the place where both stories are happened, we are able to realize that The Million Dollar Bond Robbery takes place in The UK, being the story a serious business matter while The gold bug’s facts are happened on a small island fourteen kilometers from Charleston in America, and, in such way, it is not so serious as the Million dollar Bond Robbery is.

The characters are also different in each story. Poe’s story main characters are business people and, in certain way, they belong to an upper social class while in Christy’s the characters do not have such high social level, minding that Legrand was even very poor when he found the gold bug.

There is another difference related to the quantity of characters in each story. There are more people in The Million Dollar Bond Robbery. For example, we can mention Mister Vavasour and Mister Shaw, who were the two joint general managers of the bank, Philip Ridgeway, the person in charge of carrying the bonds to New York, Miss Fhaquar who was Mister Ridgeway’s fiancé, Mister Poirot, the detective in charge of the case and his inseparable partner Captain Hastings, inspector McNeil, the other detective in charge of the case, to mention just some of them. In contrast, there are just three important characters in The gold bug story. They are Legrand, who found the bug, his old African servant, Jupiter, and Legrand’s friend, the narrator, whose name is never mentioned. The relationship between them is also closer as they were friends. On the other hand, in Poe’s story, the relationship between the characters is mainly the relation of people who work for the same company, in this case, the London and Scottish bank.

Looking for the differences yet, we can realize that in both stories, the characters are looking for something. But the difference is that what they look for is completely different in each story. One looks for the robber, and the other looks for a millionaire treasure. To make it more understandable, it can be said that in one story, the money has been stolen, involving bad values like dishonesty, wickedness and betrayal, that is why the robber is wanted. In the other one, the money has been hidden by a seaman, and it was more like a lucky strike and does not involve the bad values mentioned in Poe’s piece od text.

Now, personally talking about the two stories, I consider both of them interesting enough. Either The Million Dollar Bond Robbery or the Gold Bug casts the doubt on the ending of the story. They make the reader create their own hypotheses about the final events. That makes them more interesting to be read and special for those who enjoy reading stories with an exciting ending.

Referring to the writing style of both authors I can say that it is similar in certain way. Both are able to catch the reader’s attention and use an interesting topic. Although the topic used in both stories is different mainly because of the context, they both can be considered as excellent pieces of text.

The Gold Bug is aimed at every kind of readers, including children because it is easy to understand and read, and the vocabulary used is basic. On the other hand, the Million Dollar Bond Robbery is more recommended for adult people because the topic used is related to business, so somehow it can result a little boring to read. But as it was said at the beginning, it is a detective story, and that can become it more attractive.

In conclusion, either The Million Dollar Bond Robbery or The Gold Bug is a recommendable piece of text. They are all short, understandable and interesting. It is obvious the excellent writing style that Agatha Christy and Edgar Alan Poe have to write such high pieces of text. It is known that both of them have a great passion for literature, dedicating very much time of their lives, in which such great skill is reflected. I am pretty sure that they can be an example for us to become a good writer.

The million Dollar Bond Robbery v/s The Gold Bug

It is said that Good writers are those who are able to make the readers feel as if they were living the story on their own, they can feel part of it, and they are even able to predict the events. A piece text well written and with a high quality does not allow the reader stop reading. Thinking about Agatha Christy’s story, The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, and Edgar Alan Poe’s, The Gold Bug, I dare say that the way they write can do this.

In The Million Dollar Bond Robbery story we are told about a robbery that took place in a ship, the Olympia. Unfortunately, what was stolen was not a common thing, but a million dollars worth of Liberty Bonds which the London and Scottish Bank were sending to New York. Mr. Poirot, a kind of detective and Captain Hastings, his partner, are asked to solve the case by a lady called Esmeé Farquhar who was engaged to Philip Ridgeway (the man that was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York). After making some inquiries and interrogating many people, the great Mister Poirot was able to find out the robber, who was one of the most unexpected people, Mister Shaw, one of the two join general managers of the bank.

The Gold Bug basically tells the story of a man called Legrand who found a golden bug which, together with a parchment, let him discover the instructions to find a millionaire treasure that had been hidden by a not very known pirate, Captain Kidd. He was able to find it out thanks to a draft of the gold bug that he had made for a friend of him on a piece of parchment. The heat of the fire that was near them made a secret message appears on the piece of paper. After decoding the message, which had been written with special ink and was visible just when it was heat, Legrand, his old African servant Jupiter, and his friend, who was the narrator of the story, went for the treasure, following word by word the instructions of the found parchment. More than one hundred diamonds, pearls, stones and jewels were inside of he chest they found, which become them all very rich.

Thinking about the similarities, it can be said that they had the same main topic. It was money. In Agatha Christie’s story, The million dollar bond robbery, we are able to see the mister Shaw’s shrewd, the robber, to make everybody think that the bonds had been stolen by any other person but not him. In Agatha Christi’s, The Gold Bug, we were told about the finding of a golden insect which was the key to find a valuable hidden treasure. But there is one difference to take into account: in the first story, Mister Shaw tried to steal the money. On the other hand, in “The gold Bug”, Legrand found, unintentionally, the instructions to find the treasure.

Another similarity is that either of the two ending of the stories is solved just by the end. Poe’s piece of text is a detective one, which does not let us find the robber out till the complete story is read. Likewise, Agatha Christy’s acts in that way too because the readers are expectant all the time, waiting to discover if the secret hidden treasure is real or not. Such writing style gives us the nod to think of our own hypotheses and makes the stories more interesting to read.

Alike extension is another likeness that both pieces of text have. They are not so long, so it makes them advisable for those who do not like reading long stories. The structure and the way by which the stories are narrated are also similar. Both start with a matter that needs to be solved, both of them are looking for something. In Poe’s what needs to be found is the robber and the Liberty Bonds, and in Christy’s, the incognita of the secret message is what requires solution.

Even though both pieces of text have some relevant similarities, they have some specifics characteristics which make them differ from each other. Semantically talking, The million dollar bond Robbery can be more difficult to understand because of the many words whose meaning the readers may not know. So it might need to be read more than once whereas The gold Bug can be considered easier to grasp since the vocabulary used by the author is more simple.

Context is another important difference to consider. Talking about the place where both stories are happened, we are able to realize that The Million Dollar Bond Robbery takes place in The UK, being the story a serious business matter while The gold bug’s facts are happened on a small island fourteen kilometers from Charleston in America, and, in such way, it is not so serious as the Million dollar Bond Robbery is.

The characters are also different in each story. Poe’s story main characters are business people and, in certain way, they belong to an upper social class while in Christy’s the characters do not have such high social level, minding that Legrand was even very poor when he found the gold bug.

There is another difference related to the quantity of characters in each story. There are more people in The Million Dollar Bond Robbery. For example, we can mention Mister Vavasour and Mister Shaw, who were the two joint general managers of the bank, Philip Ridgeway, the person in charge of carrying the bonds to New York, Miss Fhaquar who was Mister Ridgeway’s fiancé, Mister Poirot, the detective in charge of the case and his inseparable partner Captain Hastings, inspector McNeil, the other detective in charge of the case, to mention just some of them. In contrast, there are just three important characters in The gold bug story. They are Legrand, who found the bug, his old African servant, Jupiter, and Legrand’s friend, the narrator, whose name is never mentioned. The relationship between them is also closer as they were friends. On the other hand, in Poe’s story, the relationship between the characters is mainly the relation of people who work for the same company, in this case, the London and Scottish bank.

Looking for the differences yet, we can realize that in both stories, the characters are looking for something. But the difference is that what they look for is completely different in each story. One looks for the robber, and the other looks for a millionaire treasure. To make it more understandable, it can be said that in one story, the money has been stolen, involving bad values like dishonesty, wickedness and betrayal, that is why the robber is wanted. In the other one, the money has been hidden by a seaman, and it was more like a lucky strike and does not involve the bad values mentioned in Poe’s piece od text.

Now, personally talking about the two stories, I consider both of them interesting enough. Either The Million Dollar Bond Robbery or the Gold Bug casts the doubt on the ending of the story . They make the reader create their own hypotheses about the final events. That makes them more interesting to be read and special for those who enjoy reading stories with an exciting ending.

Referring to the writing style of both authors I can say that it is similar in certain way. Both are able to catch the reader’s attention and use an interesting topic. Although the topic used in both stories is different mainly because of the context, they both can be considered as excellent pieces of text.

The kind of narrator in The Gold Bug can be defined as omniscient narrator because who tells the story is, at the same time, part of it and it is narrated is narrated in third person. We are never told about the identity of the narrator. He just participates and tells the events as they happen. In comparison, in The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, the events are told by a witness narrator from his point of view.

The Gold Bug is aimed at every kind of readers, including children because it easy to understand and read, and the vocabulary used is basic. On the other hand, the Million Dollar Bond Robbery is more recommended for adult people because the topic used is related to business, so it can result a little boring to read. But as it was said at the beginning, it is a detective story, and that can become it more attractive.

In conclusion, either The Million Dollar Bond Robbery or The Gold Bug is a recommendable piece of text. They are all short, understandable and interesting. It is obvious the excellent writing style that Agatha Christy and Edgar Alan Poe have to write such high pieces of text. It is known that both of them have a great passion for literature, dedicating very much time of his lives, in which such great skill is reflected. I am pretty sure that they can be an example to become a good writer.

Recognizing sentences

Miss Soto:

I was not able to copy the image of the piece of news I chose, so I just copied the text. At the botton, you can see the link of the page where I took it from. It is 20 lines long, but it seems longer in this format.

Italian club offers record price for Chilean soccer sensation(simple)

TUESDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2011 01:29

WRITTEN BY JOE HINCHLIFFE

Chelsea counters Napoli’s US$17.5 million offer to “La U” for Eduardo Vargas.(simple)

Chelsea and Napoli will face off against one another in the Champions League round of 16 in February 2012, but the most recent clash between the two soccer giants is being waged off the field and centers on 22-year-old Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas.(compound)

Photo courtesy of Eduardo Vargas / Facebook.

Napoli, currently fifth in the Italian league, made a US$17.5 million offer for the center-forward from Universidad de Chile to join the club at which Diego Maradona reached the peak of his playing career, during lengthy negotiations between club officials on Friday.(complex)

Of the figure offered, US$8.8 million would go directly to Universidad de Chile, while the Cobreloa soccer club, which has a 35 percent stake in Vargas, would collect US$4.7 million (complex). The player and his agents would receive the rest of the sum(simple). In addition, Vargas would receive an annual salary of nearly US$1.4 million over a four year period.(simple)

News of the proposal, which comes after weeks of speculation surrounding the future of a player being touted by many as one of the next big things in world soccer, sparked an immediate counter-offer from Chelsea, the English soccer club owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.(complex)

Chelsea and Napoli have been among a host of big-name clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Inter Milan and Valencia, that have reportedly been in the hunt for Vargas’s signature, while his current Santiago-based team has also stated its interest in retaining the lineup that made their 2011 season historic.(complex)

Vargas has been a central figure in “La U’s” campaign this year, in which they became the first Chilean side to take home the continent-wide Copa Sudamerica and have dominated the local league, winning the first of the season’s two championships and currently contesting the semi-finals of the second.(complex)

In the Copa Sudamerica Vargas finished not only as the highest goal scorer of 2011, but of all time(simple). He finished with 11 goals, many of them coming at key moments, including three of the four goals scored in the final, which was held over two matches.(compound).

The crucial role that Vargas played for La U in the Copa Sudamericana campaign was recognized when he was declared player of the tournament.(compound-complex)

Following news of the offer made by Napoli, Chelsea made a final effort to lure Vargas to England(simple). At US$12 million to be paid directly to La U, the Chelsea offer is lower than its Italian rivals, but it would allow the center forward to stay in Chile until June.(compound)

The extended timeline would enable Vargas to play in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s other continental club championships, and the older and more prestigious of the two(simple). La U’s Chilean rivals, Colo Colo, won the tournament 20 years ago, but La U has yet to clench it. (compound)

The proposal also includes an annual salary of nearly US$1.5 million over a four-year period.(simple)

Either deal would be a record signing for a Chilean club, superseding the US$11 million Bayer Leverkusen gave Colo Colo for Arturo Vidal in 2007 and the nearly US$9 million Villarreal paid for Matías Fernández, also to Colo Colo, in the same year.(compound)

Meanwhile Universidad de Chile officials are keeping their cards close to their chest.(simple)

“Nothing is signed(simple). We are not going to close the door on Eduardo Vargas until he signs the document(complex). We have advanced in the negotiations with Napoli, but Eduardo is still a La U player,”(compound) said club president, Federico Valdés.

By Joe Hinchliffe (editor@santiagotimes.cl)

Copyright 2011 – The Santiago Times

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/sports/soccer/23108-italian-club-offers-record-price-for-chilean-soccer-sensation

Let's stop global warming

Global warming is a matter which is becoming more familiar everyday (adjective c.) Unfortunately, it seems to be that nobody cares the environmental problems that we are having nowadays. Almost nobody understands how terrible it is. (noun c.) The problem is that we could all die if it continues (adv. c/ condition). It is important to understand that all the people who live in the planet can help to solve it (adjective c.) It is a matter that concerns all of us.

Generally, we are blaming the big factories, countries or cities while we are doing exactly the same (adv. c./time) It is thought that they are the only responsible for this because they pollute in higher proportions (adv. c./reason) But we should think about what we are doing before we blame them (adv. c./time)

People’s daily life, which is more comfortable than before (adjective c.), requires more comfort. For example, we cannot live without cars, electrical appliances, etc. Unfortunately, we are not willing to sacrifice our luxurious life in order to save the planet.

In view of what is going on, I do not understand why the authorities do not introduce stronger punishments (noun c.) for those who break environmental laws. (adjective c.).

I cannot imagine how life is going to be in the future (noun c.), but definitely, it will be worse if we do not do something now. (Adverb c. /condition).

According to that, we should understand that it will affect our future generations (noun c.) Our children and grandchildren, who are not guilty of this (adjective c.), will pay for our mistakes.

And thinking of he present, It is known that pollution affects not only the Earth, but also people who live in it. (adjective c.). Nobody likes living in a place where trash and pollution are the predominant factor. (adjective c.)

Although we are conscious of this problem, we have not started doing something (adverb c./contrast)

I have heard some people, who do not mind this problem (adjective c.), saying that personal contribute is not good at all or what we do does not help the planet (noun c.), and it would result if everybody helped (adverb c./condition). But I think that they are awfully wrong (noun c.).

Although our help is smaller, it is valuable too. (adverb c./contrast). So we can make a big help through different ways like recycling, saving electric power, preferring to transport ourselves by bicycle o walking, burning dry wood in winter , etc. Simple things, which can be done by everyone, help the earth in one way or another. (adjective c.). The idea is work as a team.

It would be perfect if everyone were aware and willing to help. (adverb c./condition). We are all different, so we can help through many different ways. The important thing is to feel like doing this. Perhaps, if we started taking these simple measures, more people would do the same (adverb c/ condition). So those who are not interested in it would be obligated to follow everyone’s attitude. (adjective c.).

I have never understood what we are waiting for (noun c.) and I do not know when we will start doing something (noun c.). Besides, I do not know if there is somebody willing to do it (noun c.). I just know that I want to live in a better world. (noun c.)

Why do we write?

Writing is something that some people love and unfortunately, others hate. It is because of different causes. For example, for some, it takes a lot of effort, time and dedication that they are not willing to do, or they do not have the ability to write correctly, so the easiest way is to say that they cannot do it. On the contrary, doing this is something exiting for many of us. The way how some people express their feelings on a piece of paper makes it almost a natural and unconscious activity.

Personally talking I would say that I really like writing. What is the reason? Simply, because when writing, I can express freely what I am feeling and thinking without looking directly at other people. I consider myself a shy person, so writing allows me to say certain things I am not always able to say in front of a group of many people. Even so, it is not my best skill. Nevertheless, whenever I have to write a piece of paper, I try to do my best in order to make it clear and entertaining, and make the readers interested in what they are reading. Unfortunately, not always I get that point.

If I talk about my preferences when writing a piece of paper like a blog, a story or an essay, I would say that I prefer to write about personal opinions, stories that I have lived, to give my point of view about certain problems or events that have happened, but I must say that I prefer to write from a text that I have already read. I think that I am awfully bad at creating or thinking of fun ideas. That is one of my defects that I would like to change. In addition, it is easier to continue an idea that is already done, or to give your opinion about a matter than creating a new one.

While writing this, it is impossible to forget about high school teacher who used to say that we are all intelligent human beings, and therefore we are able to do whatever we want. So if she were reading this blog, I am pretty sure she would rebuke me.

Returning to my preferences about writing, I would also say that I prefer writing by computer. Some time ago, it was almost impossible to listen to me saying this. I was a paper-pencil lover. It had more benefits. For example, if I wanted to get relaxed and transfer my thoughts on a paper, I could easily climb a tree and start writing what I felt. Sadly, it is not completely possible to do that using a computer because it needs electric power. So it can be said that nature and technology are not always compatible. Even so, I prefer to write long texts by computer for the reason that it is easier to correct them (the computer itself corrects the mistakes you have made) you can write faster and delete wrong written words easily, you do not need to rewrite it into your computer, etc. For me, this option is chosen just for comfort and convenience. However, when I have the opportunity or I feel like writing in a comfortable place and I need to be very concentrate, I take my pencil and paper and go to my younger sister’s tree-house. That is the best place to reflect upon many things without being bothered by others.

As I said at the beginning, not everybody is a good writer, so having into account that not many people (considering myself) are able to write a good piece of paper, I dare say that it is something that everybody can improve. It is known that some have the “magic capacity” of doing this naturally. It seems like if they were born with the gift to write almost perfectly. But not everything is lost for the ones less gifted. I remember me reading an interesting book which provided many strategies to become a good writer. I am sure that that book was not the only one for this purpose. In addition, there are many web sites that we can visit to become an excellent writer. So the tools are available, it depends on each of us to take them and become the best writers.

The Million Dollar bond Robbery

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is actually one of the best detective stories I have ever read. It is all well structured and recounted. The way how it is narrated makes the reader be curious and anxious during the whole story and it is just at the end when finally that complicated knot is undone.

If you, dear reader, are thinking of reading this short story let me tell you that you are not going to regret of that. Basically and as you can imagine, it is about a robbery that took place in a ship, the Olympia. Unfortunately, what was stolen was not a common thing, but a million dollars’ worth of Liberty Bonds which the London and Scottish Bank were sending to New York. As is it narrated, a lady called Esmeé Farquhar who was engaged to Philip Ridgeway (the man that was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York) asked for help to Mr. Poirot, a kind of detective and Captain Hastings, his partner, to solve the case. In spite of the fact that her boyfriend was the person who was carrying the bonds to New York, she was certain that no actual blame could attach to him because it had not been his fault in any way, so she told Mr. Poirot her version of the events in order to find the real thief. Principally, she told that the Bank wished to extend its credits in America and decided to send a million of dollars in Bonds, which were secretly enclosed in a portmanteau. The person who was in charge of bringing them was Mr. Ridgeway, the nephew of one of the two general manager of the bank, Mr. Vavasour (the other one was Mr. Shaw). A few hours before The Olympia arrived, the bonds were stolen and offered for sale. Apparently the lock had been forced but everything indicated that it had been unlocked with a key, which was almost impossible because the only three people who had a key to open it were Mr. Ridgeway, Mr. Vavasour and Mr. Shaw.

After listening to the lady, Mr. Poirot, made some inquires to Philip Ridgeway in order to see if his version agreed with Esmeé’s version and then, he interrogated the two general managers of he bank. After asking a few questions, Mr. Poirot had already discovered the guilty, but he did not want to accuse him still finding some evidence and the reason. So they decided to wait for the return of the Olympia and interrogate some more people in order to see what had happened exactly. Four stewards and a Poirot’s friend were asked, discovering that one of the last people who had disembarked was an old man, wearing glasses, who also was invalid. After that, two possibilities remained: the package had been hidden on board or thrown overboard. It was there, when they finally discovered that the bonds had not been packaged in the portmanteau, so they were not on board at all. Therefore, everything seemed to be that the bonds were never packaged and a substitution had been made in the office by one of the people who were there. Consequently, somebody, specifically the accomplice, had to travel on the Oplympia so that Philip could not discover it was a dummy (meanwhile the real packet with the bonds were travelling in a faster ship, The Gigantic). That accomplice was in charge of forcing the lock, but actually he unlocked it and thrown the package overboard and waited to be the last one to leave the ship. But who was behind of all of it? The answer was as simple as realizing that who was the person that had a duplicate key, who had ordered that childish plan: Mr. Shaw and his accomplice, who unlocked the portmanteau and thrown it overboard, had been the poor invalid man. As it is said in the text, “There are criminals in high places too”. Finally, it was another easy case solved by the great Mr. Poirot.

And the surprises continue, because for the ones who enjoy technology more than everything, there is also a digital version, a 50 minutes-video. That video, as it is expected, is not really similar with the text. There are some evident differences which make it almost completely different with the paper version. In the text for example, the robbery had been already done. On the other hand, in the video, it starts whit an attempt on Mr. Shaw’s life, because he was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York and not Mr. Ridgeway as it happened in the text. A second attack happened to him (he was poisoned) so now the work had to be made by Philip Ridegeway. As you have read, the thief’s accomplice was an invalid person but in the video, it was a beautiful woman, Miranda Brook, who also was travelling in the boat and was Mr. Shaw’s nurse and fiancé. While looking for the guilty, Mr. Vavasour and Ridgeway were put in prison. Everybody thought strongly that they were the thieves. But Mr. Poirot’s shrewdness let us know that Mr. Shaw together with his fiancé, Miranda, had planned the robbery.

In my opinion, both formats are able to make the reader curious during the whole story but, personally talking, I liked most the video. It does not agree with my common likes, because almost every time that I read a story and watch its movie, I prefer the paper version, because the facts are narrated in a better way. On the contrary, this time I preferred the video for many reasons, for example, the robbery had not happened yet, so we were able to see that and follow all the events. The thief’s accomplice was the nurse and at the same time it was a beautiful woman who stayed at the next room of Mr. Ridgeway’s, so it makes the story more attractive. Moreover, Mr. Vavasour and Ridgeway were took in prison thinking wrongly that one on them were the thief, so it made all the spectators completely confused and think that they were the guilty. Nevertheless, the text was interesting too, as I said at the beginning it has been one the best I have read.

So finally, both the video and the text are a very good option to read and watch. Any of them will make you interested in it. Now you can choose any, it is up to you…