I value language and communication because we can learn how people interact with each other. Language helps us communicate with one another and it also allows us to learn about others and spread ideas quickly. The American culture has influenced my reading, writing, speaking and listening by being forced to attend college and have all my classes in English, where I have to read my books and do my homework. I also have to talk with my classmates which helps with my speaking skills. My weakness is talking in front of the whole class and trying to speak fluently. My strengths are that I memorize really fast and I like to learn about new cultures and languages. This class will help me in my academic and professional purpose by showing me the roots of English and set a base for me to build on. I am eager to learn everything that I need to in order to become fluent in English and be able to speak in front of the class. 

1) Before you read about How to Manage Stress, what did you already know about this topic?

I thought that if I was stressed I should either go for a walk or eat chocolate. But I found out that there are different ways to manage stress. I have to accept my needs, practice relaxation and exercise daily.

2) What were the three vocabulary words you wrote down as you read that you did not understand?   Please share with us the definition of the 3 vocabulary words you did not understand by looking them up in a dictionary and write the definition for your classmates to see and learn. 

Cortisol: A hormone that is produced  by your 2 adrenal glands that sit on top of the kidney. When you are stressed, cortisol is released.

Schizophrenia: is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. 

Bipolar disorder: a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood.

3) What do you do when you feel stressed? How do you manage stress? 

I usually take a shower, eat good food or go to sleep.

4) Which managing stress tips will you try from the reading that you have not tried yet?

Talk to someone and set aside time for myself.

The main cause that started the fire was a cigarette on lift over cloth material and the building caught on fire. In addition, the ladders were short and people couldn’t escape, and there was inadequate equipment for the firefighters, who didn’t have an axe to force open the doors and exits, which increased the fire.

The new laws require inspections of buildings, install fire detectors and water sprinkler systems on ceilings. Also, the doors should be unlocked and workers should not work more than 54 hours a week.

Poor conditions include tree cutting as it is very dangerous and workers might not be safe if done wrong. Electricity jobs are also dangerous as workers can get shocked. Firefighters are always in danger as they face fire all the time. Using a chainsaw at a job might result in a missing hand or foot if not handled right.

In the Triangle of fire tragedy, there were three causes that led to the fire. The first was a cigarette that was tossed into a big pail of scrapped cuttings and the flammable materials burst into fire. The second was that the ladders were short and people couldn’t escape. The third was having inadequate equipment for the firefighters, who didn’t have an axe to force open the doors and exits, which increased the fire. After the fire, new laws were set to prevent future fires like this one. For example, "it required automatic sprinklers in high rise buildings. Fire drills became mandatory in large shops. Factory doors had to be unlocked and had to swing outward." After knowing about this story now, I have to make sure that the sprinklers in our home work, as I cook a lot and God forbid fire can happen at any time. Also, when I get a job, if it was in a high building, I need to make sure there are ladders and fire escape exits that will be accessible just in case of a fire. 

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was an awful event that happened on March 25, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a garment factory where mostly young immigrant women worked long hours for low pay.  On that day, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the factory. The fire spread quickly because the building was overcrowded and unsafe. The workers tried to escape, but the doors were locked to prevent them from taking breaks or stealing. There were also not enough fire escapes, and the ones that were there were poorly maintained. As a result, 146 workers, mostly young women, lost their lives in the fire or by jumping from the building to escape the flames. It sparked important changes in workplace safety regulations and labor laws to protect worker’s rights and improve working conditions.

After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, big changes happened to make sure workers were safer. First, they made rules to inspect factories better to make sure they were safe places to work. They also made new laws about fire safety, like having enough fire escapes and fire extinguishers in case of emergencies. Second, they made important change was workers' compensation laws, which meant workers who got hurt on the job would get help with medical bills and lost pays. In addition, people also started joining together in unions to ask for better pay and conditions at work. The government also made stricter building codes to keep buildings safer. These changes helped make workplaces safer and protected workers' rights.

Finally, after reading the awful event of the Triangle Factory, I am always aware of the situations I’m in. Whether I’m in a closed building, or at a place with no sprinklers, anything can happen at any time. I will make sure that sprinklers at my house are working and when I graduate and work, my workplace has to have the necessary requirements in case of a fire. I will always have a fire extinguisher in my car. After this story I am way more awake and alarmed as fire is only one lighter or match away.

There are some strategies that union members used to seek justice and create change. The first strategy, was called “collective bargaining” this strategy is important for employees because it enable to have better working conditions, shorter hours, higher pay for them. The second strategy, was giving benefits to union members, workers benefit from unions because unions set pay standards and workplace protections. “The third strategy, was working with the government to pass more laws.” Union leaders set deals with politicians that helped the workers so they can feel that there is a justice and feel confident. In my opinion, unions are very successful till this day.

There are some reasons why we should have labor unions. Labor unions are very common today, they were the workers solution all the time. I think we should have them because they have stronger safety and better working conditions. They are powerful and always fight for workers’ rights and that make them successful and special. They also keep us healthier and able to join a higher quality of life. Finally, unions always make sure that workers are paid fair wages.

Pay:

Factory Worker: Low wages, lots of work and low pay

Coal Worker: Very low wages for too much work

Migrant Worker: A migrant worker gets the lowest wages

Work hours:

Factory Worker: Excessive hours, they try to make the factory worker work as much as possible

Coal Worker: Too many hours, workers' kids were forced to work 

Migrant Worker: Works the most for very little reward

Workplace:

Factory Worker: Works in the factory

Coal Worker: Works in the mine

Migrant Worker: Works on the farms or urban areas

Conditions:

Factory Worker: Unsafe working facility, no essential equipment and no escape routes in case of fire.

Coal Worker: Brutal working conditions and breathing poisonous gases. 

Migrant Worker: Bad areas to work in, tough work and no safe areas. 

We always hear about big inventions, discoveries and developments but what about the people who made it all happen? Factory workers and coal miners have had it really bad in the past. They were not treated fairly and were going through inhumane conditions. In this essay I’m going to write about and discuss the factory workers and coal miners conditions in the old times. 

Factory workers struggled a lot back then, they were not treated like humans. They had very little pay, less than a dollar. Also, they were working 72 hours a week in the triangle shift factory which was very exhausting for them. Moreover, the working conditions were not safe at all, for example, the doors were locked during working hours, there is no water sprinklers, no fire detectors and the elevator not working. In addition, there is no fireproofing materials, no fire extinguishers, and no alarm systems. 

On the other hand, the coal miners also had bad days and struggled very much. They were getting 2 dollars for every 12 hours, which was very unfair. Secondly, the workers spent all day deep underground in coal mines, it was very dark and cold, workers had to breathe coal dust and poisonous gases. Thirdly, children worked 6 days a week just like their parents while also going to school. Finally, workers faced rough conditions such as having to bend over all day.

In conclusion, both workers had to face very tough conditions. I hope that in the factory they put water sprinklers, have emergency exits and use the right equipment. In the coal mine I hope that they will give the workers a higher pay, filter the poisonous gases they breathe and not let the kids be in that environment. 

We always hear about big inventions, discoveries and developments but what about the people who made it all happen? Factory workers and coal miners have had it really bad in the past. They were not treated fairly and were going through inhumane conditions. In this essay I’m going to write about and discuss the factory workers and coal miners’ conditions in the old times. 

Factory workers struggled a lot back then, they were not treated like humans. They had very little pay, less than a dollar. Also, they were working 72 hours a week in the triangle shift factory which was very exhausting for them. Moreover, the working conditions were not safe at all, for example, the doors were locked during working hours, there is no water sprinklers, no fire detectors and the elevator not working. In addition, there is no fireproofing materials, no fire extinguishers, and no alarm systems. The treatment of workers in the past remained crucial for a long time.

On the other hand, the coal miners also had bad days and struggled very much. They were getting 2 dollars for every 12 hours, which was very unfair. Secondly, the workers spent all day deep underground in coal mines, it was very dark and cold, workers had to breathe coal dust and poisonous gases. Thirdly, children worked 6 days a week just like their parents while also going to school. Finally, workers faced rough conditions such as having to bend over all day.

In conclusion, after workers being treated unfairly, laws have improved. Wagner and smith realized that people can’t be treated that way anymore. In 1913, they succeeded to push 25 bills through the New York legislature. The laws required automatic sprinklers in tall buildings. Fire drills became mandatory in large shops. Factory doors had to be unlocked and had to swing outward. “Today’s risk of death in an American workplace is one-thirtieth of what it was before the triangle factory fire.” (Kubic 29)

There are many reasons why immigrants choose to come to the USA, here are some reasons:

A large numbers of immigrants come to the USA seeking for better opportunities . They may found higher paying jobs,  learning new culture and better education for their children.

Most of the immigrant come to the USA to escape war, poverty in their home countries, they also can be looking for protection and safty. Some people see that the USA is the place of freedom and opportunity. Also it has a high standard of living.

Some people like to see the nature in many places and enjoy traveling . For example, lot’s of Ukrainian people fled the war in their country to come to America, find a job and a better lifestyle.

I think America is more of a cultural mosaic/salad type of country. People come here from all over the world with different religions, morals and values. From the inside people are different and each one of them can offer a special trait. From the outside they all have to treat each other the same. For example, Kuwait is a small country with not much immigrants. People are very comfortable with each other, they have the same morals and values which makes them understand each other on a higher level, making them a soup. If they would joke around with each other their personalities align and they understand each other’s personalities. However, in America if I came to joke around the same joke with an American, he might get confused and not understand me. 

1-The way I demonstrated comprehension of multi-paragraph academic texts is by brainstorming ideas and gathering details about the subject that I wanted to describe, then I write a clear topic sentence that show the main idea of the paragraph. In the class we read a lot of assignments and topics like Mexican Migrant Workers in the 20th century, Worker’s Rights and the Tringle Shirtwaist Factory. In the Tringle Fire topic, we had written a lot of assignment about it and that makes me know how to write the sentences in organized way. Also, in the story I learned how to write an essay the proper way. It taught me how to write an introduction, thesis statements, body paragraphs and conclusion. Moreover, I started writing the supporting sentences by organizing the details logically and using transitions to connect the ideas smoothly. In addition, from applying feedback from peers, I revised the paragraph to better have descriptive language, improve sentence structure and strengthen the conclusion.

2-I employed the level of appropriate vocabulary building strategy by conversations in class about the readings. We talked about what we thought was interesting or confusing. We sometimes disagreed and that’s okay, it helped us see different sides of the topic. We learned about prefixes and suffixes. I think of prefixes as a small word part added to the beginning of a word like “un” in the word “unhappy.” Suffixes on the other hand, come at the end, like “ly” in “happily.” By learning these I was able to learn lots of new words. 

Imagine words as families, they might have the same root, or base but the same prefixes and suffixes. For example, the words “act”, from it you can get actor, acting or action.

3- I used common English sentence structure patterns by learning the simple, compound, and complex sentences, each one of them have his own meaning. First, the simple sentence has just one main idea. For example, I like ice-cream, this sentence is short and straightforward. It tells you one thing, that I enjoy eating ice-cream. Second, the compounded sentences, these sentences join two simple ideas together with a conjunction like (and, but, or so). For example, I like ice cream, but I don’t like cake. This sentence had two parts joined by “but”. Thirdly, the complex sentence has one main idea and one or more extra details or explanations like, I like ice-cream because it’s sweet and cold. This sentence has a main idea (I like ice-cream) and an extra detail (because it’s sweet and cold). It explains why I like ice-cream. 

4- I employed the writing process to complete writing assignments by making writing lists to organize the main ideas from the readings. This helped me see the big picture and remember the important stuff. It was like making a map of reading. After reading I tried to explain what I read in my own words, it was like talking to myself. This helped me make sure I really understood it. Plus, it was useful for studying later. If I was confused about something in the readings, I asked my professor for help.  My professor was always happy to explain things and give extra examples. In the Triangle of Fire, I had written a clear topic which is (The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was an awful event that happened on March 25, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a garment factory where mostly young immigrant women worked long hours for low pay). In here I write a topic that shows the story and what happened without going into many details. 

5- I demonstrated an emerging ability to make meaning of new information in writing by learning how to write the summary, analysis and synthesis properly, I will explain what I know about them. The summary writing is like putting the main points of a story in a short way, a quick overview without going into too much detail. The analysis writing is when looking deeper into what I read. Trying to understand why things happened, and what does it mean. Finally, the synthesis writing is when I take different ideas from what I read and put them together to make a new idea. I look at different parts and blend them to create something new. When I write I use all these types to help me understand and explain what I learned from the readings.