Zhuoyue Zhu
Professor Martin
English 114B
6 May 2011
                                                           Gun Control
              United States is a developed, and economic superpower country. It plays a very important role in all over the world that cannot be neglected. Two years ago, before I came to U.S, my parents were worried about my safety because they knew Americans have a right to keep and bear arms, and they saw a lot of cases which was all about people being killed by shooting in the U.S. They were shocked when they saw the news, because in my country, China, it is illegal to have a gun. Yet at first, everything seemed so great after I came here, no guns, no killings, everyone is so nice and there is no racial discrimination here, at least I never saw someone take a gun with her or him until now. But last week, everything changed when I heard the news which was about two Chinese international sweethearts students who were killed by shooting, and it is only thirty minutes away from here. Two people were dead with fear and pain, and they could not see their parents, friends, hometown, and their future baby anymore. They are dead for no reason. Although it is legal to keep and bear arms in U.S, actually, this would cause more innocent killings, unrest, suicide, and unsafety, so I think it is more safe to take guns away from people.
               Having guns can result in more killing. For instance, more and more shooting cases make schools are unsafe in U.S. Psychiatrists claim that the reason why there are more and more gun killing happening in school is that shooters do not know how to relieve their feelings and at the same time, they have a gun in their hands, and then tragedy happens. For example, There is a case about gun killing in school. Seven people were dead and three others injured after a gunman called Goh opened fire at a small Korean Christian school. Goh killed seven people that he even did not know them before. Obviously, he had mental disorders that time and he could not control himself; he just used the gun to kill innocent people. If he did not have a gun, everything would be different. However, after such a long time, school shootings still keep happening in U.S. The latest news is two Chinese international students was killed by a shooting last week. There were graduate students, and studied in USC. As we all know, USC is a very good university in the world and many students are look forward to going there and its tuition is high as well. The news showed that those two students were very hardworking students, they studied at school until midnight everyday. To cut down their expenses, they lived in the cheapest place near USC, and they rode a bicycle for two years day and night. Two months ago, they finally bought a second-hand car. They would never know that last week would be the end of the world for them. They lost their dreams, friends, and family, ironically, they were murdered by a stranger who even did not know them before. Obviously, a gun is not a weapon to protect themselves with any more, but instead becomes a weapon to kill other people. Until now, police still cannot find out who killed them. It is the deadly leak of the gun management system. Each gun and bullet should have it own tracking number, so when it be sold, government need to know where is goes and by who. But on account of illegal gun dealers in U.S, it is so hard for police to control gun facilities. It make people's life unsafety.
                    Back in history when it was allowed to have a gun in U.S, "The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights"(wikipedia). "As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" (wikipedia). I do not think that people need a gun to object to government, U.S. is a democratic state, not a force and violent state. In fact, The United Stated leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths, which are murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns, "according to a study published April 17, 1998 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The U.S. was first at 14.24 gun deaths per 100,000 people. The United States accounted for 45 percent of the 88,649 deaths reported in the study“（medicinenet). In 2004, there were 29,569 gun deaths in the U.S, "16,750 suicides(56% of all U.S gun deaths), 11,624 homicides(40% of all U.S gun deaths), 649 unintentional shooting, 311 from legal intervention and 235 from undetermined intent (4% of all U.S gun deaths combined)"(answers). Having guns are not safe for Americans, but dangerous. For people's safety, U.S. needs gun control. A gun is a deadly weapon; it can aim at people, and no matter how far people run, it can find them and shoot them. If someone wants to kill other people by a gun, then that person probably would be dead. I think government should not give gun rights to people, because sometimes it is hard for people to control their emotion. When their emotions are out of control and they have a gun on hand, then tragedy can happen. Because people are feeling nothing but angry when they are in extreme rage and they cannot be controlled. Gun control can also reduce suicides. This is a world with a variety of pressures. Most of the people would feel despair when they have been through some tough things. Some of them just cannot go through it for a while, and when they see the gun, they might think maybe it is more easy to be dead than alive in the world. Data shows that "among Americans of all ages, more than half of all suicides are gun suicides"(nejm). "guns are common in the United States and are lethal. A suicide attempt with a firearm rarely affords a second chance. Attempts involving drugs or cutting, which account for more than 90% of all suicide acts, prove fatal far less often"(nejm). The presence of a gun in the home, no matter how the gun is stored, is a risk factor for completed suicide. The government should take guns away from people. It is more safe for people.
                      It is hard to take back gun from people at once, so it might takes some times. There are three steps can help doing it very well. The first step is tell people that gun have become illegal, and if they can voluntarily bring it back, government would reward them back for money, and for those who do not, government would take them to jail once they find it. And government can tell people that if they can turn those people who do not hand in their guns in, they would get 5,000 per person. Second step is that government should mandatory close gun shops and hard hit underground dealers. They should treat gun like drugs, once police find who have gun, confiscation it, give them 10,000 dollars amerce, and one year jail life. Third step is police should do some tough thing force people to hand out their concealed gun. It always works great when the punitive measure is cruel.
                    To sum up, I do think that gun should not be such this common in the United States, it cannot keep people's safe here, otherwise, it would destroy people's life. The potential danger is so deadly. If the United States can revise amendment about gun, or at least have gun control, I believe that there are will have less people dead under gun shooting, less suicide, and less innocent victims. Gun cannot give people second chance, it is like a evil weapon which can lead marginal offenders to the death. The United States is a democracy state, in here, people can say anything they want to say about their government. They can opposite their government, they can demonstration, and they can do everything they want which is really good, but I do think that gun can not show their democracy.



                                                      Work Cited
"MedicineNet.com." MedicineNet. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. . "How Many People Are Killed Every Year in the US by Guns?" Yahoo! Answers. Yaho! Web. 23 Apr. 2012. . "Gun Violence in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Apr. 2012. web. 23 Apr. 2012. . Ortiz, Jorge. "Students Hid during Shooting at California School." USA Today. Gannett, 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. . Miller, Matthew, and David Hemenway. "Guns and Suicide in the United States." Guns and Suicide in the United States. 2008. Web. .

Homework~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Generate a Topic for Your Proposal Argument Answer the questions below.
 Consider how you would explain each problem you identify.

1. A problem facing my country is:
Rich people are too rich, and poor people are too poor.

2. A problem I frequently encounter on campus is:
    My bicycle and my friends bicycle are keep being stolen by someone.

3. A problem I hear my classmates discussing quite a bit is:
     Homelessness. I can hear this word on every class.

4. A problem people have been trying to solve for years is:
    Unemployment problem.

5. A problem that I heard about in the news is:
    Two Chineses international USC students were kill by shooting.

6. A law that I object to:
     In China, one of the city called Haerbing, they have a new law which is that big breed dog like     golden reterviers are not allowed to be kept in familiy. This is really ridiculous and unhuman!!

7. A misguided school policy is:
    International students should pay much more tuition than local students.

8. A public policy that makes my life or other people’s lives more difficult:
    people are allowed to have a gun, this causes a lot of people are killed by shooting.

9. A public policy or law that could be improved is:
    people should not have their own gun.

essay 2 Battered Women

Zhuoyue Zhu
Professor Martin
English 114B
10 April 2012
                                                         Domestic Abuse
          Our life is becoming perfect, but it will never be. In fact, in every country, every city, they all have some inrooted social problems which is so hard to be solved, but we all still need to do our best to improve these problems. We each have something important we can be and do in the world, something can make one feel that he or she is really doing useful things. In the film Pay it Forward, I learned a simple way to change the world from a young boy in the film, which is do a needed favor for three different people without being asked, and then ask them to do the same for three others. In my own opinion, I think it is also useful for domestic abuse. Although it seems like Trevor's idea does not work at the beginning of the film and it is unclear whether it works at the end, actually, his idea is useful for every social problem including battered woman, because people are linked to each other anyway and if someone has been helped by other people, then he or she will help someone else who needs help, and in fact, battered women is becoming a big group and it is so hard to thoroughly solve this social problem.
           Domestic abuses are forms of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and economic abuse.To be specific, abuse include name-calling or putdowns, keeping a partner from contacting their family or friends, withholding money, stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job actual or threatened physical harm, sexual assault, stalking, intimidation, etc. There is much information online about the domestic abuser. The data shows the total number of domestic abusers in U.S which are horrendous. "Approximately 33 million or 15% of all U.S. Adults, admit that they were a victim of domestic violence. Furthermore, 6 in 10 adults claim that they know someone personally who has experienced domestic violence"(Thehotline). In fact, there are still some people who feel ashamed to admit that they were a victim of domestic violence, so this data is not quite accurate. One other data that is shocking is that domestic violence is much more awful than one thinks. This data shows "Each year, intimate partner violence results in an estimated 1,200 deaths and 2 million injuries among women and nearly 600,000 injuries among men. On the average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day"(Theholine). It is hard to imagine that there are more than three women who are killed by their husbands or boyfriends everyday. In women's life, husbands or boyfriends are the people most close to them, they rely on their husband or boyfriend to live and they regard their husband or boyfriend as their everything. But many have been found to be the ones who murdered their girlfriend or wife.
              The causes of domestic violence are consist of culture, family history, alchohol and substance abuse, ignorance and ego. Some cultures support wife battering, especially in Africa. In fact, in old China, a woman were junior than a man, they need to do everything what their husband told them to do, they could not revolt their husband and if their husband cheats on them, they could do nothing but face it and do not say anything about it. It is really unfair, and women did not have any power at that period. About family history, which is means a male child who grew up watching their mother being hit by their father, when they grow up, they think it is normal to hit their wife, and this is called long term environmental effect. A lot of men has no control over their emotions after they abuses substances and achohol. Some of abusers choose to behave violently to get what they want and gain control. "Their behaviour often originates from a sense of entitlement which is often supported by sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory attitudes"(womensaid).
                When the reverse is true, women could cause tragedies as well. A lot of examples can prove that some women went too far at first. I knew a woman in my hometown who was having an affair, and was found by her friends, and then her friends reminded her husband to keep a watchful eye on her, but her husband just did not believe she would cheat on him. By the way, her husband was a multimillionaire in my hometown and he was respected by everyone because he was a man of honour. One day, when his wife thought he was on a business trip and took her cicisbeo back to her house, her husband suddenly came back home because his meeting was canceled, and then tragedy happened; a gentleman suddenly became crazy and killed his wife and her cicisbeo, and at the end, he committed suicide. They had a six year old boy and millions of dollars in family property, but almost one night, they became a tragic topic, everybody was discussing about what happened to them and why he did this, because he was pretty rich and a lot of girls wanted to be his mistress. He could choose a hundred ways to solve this problem but he had chosen the worst way. On the other hand, if someone can help him instead of telling him the cruel truth at first, I believe he would not do that at the end. Forced to accept the truth, he chose to believe his wife when his friends told him that his wife was having an affair but he totally was wrong. His wife was the one who had been with him for over 15 years, they had a cute child, and they had everything they needed, so maybe this was the reason why he got so angry and became out of control. People would get crazy when they hear the cruel truth. I think his friends should be responsible for it as well. As we can see that they never tried to help but watch, and they admitted that they were jealous of them too much and wanted to see their life would not be perfect anymore.This is a combination of ugly human natures which can be seen everywhere in reality. If they could tell him that his wife was not that good to him and could let him accept the truth slow, I think this tragedy would not be happen. Differently, in the film Pay it Forward, the young boy both helped his mother and his teacher to be together because they all needed each other. His mother was battered by his father all the time, and his teacher was disfigured because of what his father did to him. If the young boy did not want their partents to be separated and did not help his mother and his teacher, they would never be together without the young boy. So he reduced two tragedies. But the most important reason give rise to domestic abuse is still because of man. Male privilege operates on an individual and societal level to maintain a situation of male dominance, where men have power over what they want and gain control. Their behaviour often originates from a sense of entitlement which is often supported by sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory attitudes. In this way, domestic violence by men against women can be seen as a consequence of the inequalities between men and women, rooted in patriarchal traditions that encourage men to believe they are entitled to power and control over their partners(womensaid). The reasons women stay in abusive relationships typically fall into three categories, which are lack of resources, responses by services and authorities and traditional thinking. Lack of resources means "most abused women have at lease one minor child and many abused women are not employed outside the home"(womensweb). Responses by services and authorities are including "clergy and social workers are trained to "save the family" rather than to stop violence"(womensweb). And the most important reason is traditional thinking, which is "many women do not view divorce as a viable alternative, many abused women do not accept the notion of single parenting. They believe a bad father is better than none at all"(womensweb). "Many victims externalize or rationalize the reasons for their abuser's behavior, casting blame of circumstances such as stress, financial hardship, job stress. Chemical dependency, etc"(womensweb). Everyone in the world is not perfect, but we still need do our best to each other, like to parents, to friends, even to strangers. Domestic abuse is a serious social problem and it is getting worse. In current society, everyone has their own pressure, like students worry about their academic achievement, adults are worry about work, salary, rent fee, living expenses, etc. Some men release their pressure by hitting their wife and their child. Even we have nothing to do with society, we still need try our best to decline battered women and child abuse. Everyone is human being, they all have soft heart. About those abusers, society has a responsibility to teach them how to release pressure, and how to be nice to their wife, and if they make no rectification after criticism, then they should be break the law to justice.
                                                     Work Cited
"Hotline." Abuse In America. Web. . "Articles: Domestic Violence." - Women's Aid. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. .Pay It Forward. Dir. Mimi Leder. By Leslie Dixon. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. Warner Bros., 2000. "Violence against Women." Women's Web. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. .     
    
Zhuoyue Zhu
Professor Martin
English 114B
10 April 2012                                              
                                     Battered Women Research: An Annotated Bibliography
"Hotline." Abuse In America. Web. . This website shows the data about how many battered women are there in America. "Articles: Domestic Violence." - Women's Aid. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. This website tells a specific definition about what is domestic abuse. "Violence against Women." Women's Web. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. . This page tells that the reason why women do not leave, and the reasons why women may not immediately leave an abusive relationship. The reasons women stay in abusive relationships typically fall into three categories, which is lack of resources, Responses by services and authorities, and traditional thinking.

Journal Entry

The last time I saw a homeless person was stading on the Blv which is near my house; I can see him everyday standing there with a board which shows "need some change". When I see him, I just ingore him and think why he just stand there and doing nothing but beg for money and help? To be honest, I never help him and I will not help him the day afterwards. Because he has ability to work and he doesn't. I know it is hard to get a fat salary, but it is easy to get a easy but hard work. He can find a lot of works that can help him afford his meal, but he did nothing but standing there beg for money, so why should I help him? On the other hands, if I see someone that are disabled people, I would help them, because they are unabled to work.

Final Draft.

Parents “The Glass Castle” is a reminder that parents affect their children on everything, like the way they talk, the values they have, the food they eat, etc. Each family situation is different, some are rich, some are poor, some are affective, and some are loveless. Parents indirectly affect what their children will be in the future. If parents overly spoil their children, their children will become snooty. If parents overly protect their children, their children will become mouselike, and they will be afraid to do anything alone. What parents do, say, and behave affects their children's behavior directly. Although Jeannette Walls worked her way to become a successful woman, actually, without her hardships and experiences she had as a child, she could not be successful, because her experience taught her how to be tolerant and strong in the real world, how to work hard to get what she wants, and how to see the world optimistically. Each experience she has been through directly influenced what kind of woman she would be in the future. I have to say that those with inner strength are the ones with real strength. In the part of the novel called, "I Was On Fire", It shows that Jeannette was a tolerant and strong girl when she was only three years old. She was on fire because her pink tutu caught fire while she was cooking hot dogs by herself. Meantime, her mom was painting in another room. Even though she was in a dangerous situation, she did not show that she was afraid of it. The doctors said she was lucky to be alive. On the one hand, she was optimistic, because she made fun of the nurse, and said "Look, I'm a half-mummy"(Walls 10), this was really valuable of her because not all children can handle this like her. On the other hand, her parents, Rex and Mary, gave her power too. When she was on fire and she did not know what to do, her mom used an unnaturally calm voice, explained what had happened to their neighbor, and asked if they could please have a ride to the hospital. The way her mom acted made Jeannette feel that it was not a big deal, she did not need to be afraid of it and she would get over of it. Her dad, Rex, cracked a joke to her as well. Jeannette was a strong girl. To be honest, if this accident happened to me, I would cry all the time and think of those scars on my face and to be sure that my mom would cry as well and she would not stop until I felt better. Also my father would smoke all the day and night, because he did this when I was in the hospital at the time I was keeping a high fever, and I was only four years old at that time. My father was so worried about me, and my mother told me that he even could not sleep in those days. Jeannette's father and my father are obviously different. I cannot say which one is better, because they used their own way to show their concern. On the other hand, western fathers and eastern fathers are obviously different. As I know, in my country, parents are concerned with everything with their child, even if they are grown already, and if their child does not do well in school, they would be angry with their children, and keep telling their kids how useless they are. But in western families, parents always tell their children how smart and how pretty they are, and they allow their children to do everything they want. I knew some Americans, they stop using their parents's money after eighteen years old. I do not know is it usual in U.S, but it is unusual in my country. I mean, I know a lot of people who keep using their parents' money even if they are forty years old. Jeannette was a powerful and irreplaceable kid , no matter in China or America. The way that Jeannette's parents treated their children is unique and a little bit cruel but useful. In Jeannette's memoir, she mentioned that "Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you're young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encourages them, she told us. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior"(Walls 28). This is the way Mary taught her children. I think it works. In my own experience, different parents treat their children in different ways which will change the children's behavior in their future life. My cousin, Yikai, is a good and mature boy, even if he is only eight years old. To be honest, I believe that every child should be obedient just like my cousin, but the truth is definitely wrong. My cousin lived with me after he was born. He did every right thing that we told him. For instance, if he wanted to buy a new toy, he would ask his mom, but if his mom refused, he would say"ok, that's fine, but can I buy it next time?". He listened to my aunt because my aunt told him that "money is not that easy to get, you cannot have each toy that you want, it is a waste of money." She also told him that "act like a man! Be mature, do not cry when you still can handle it!" I do think this works. My other cousin, called Yanyan, she is really a naive girl, and I would say that it is because she never listens to adults. If she wants something and my uncle does not buy it for her, she would keep crying and laying on the floor, she will not stop until she gets it. My uncle overspoils his daughter. Speaking of toy, Jeannette got a "star" as her Christmas gift from her dad, and she loved it. She was really a sweet girl. For Jeannette's father, Rex, he was open-minded and unique too. In the novel, Jeannette was attacked by four Mexican girls and she got hurt. When her father saw it, he just asked,"Looks to me like you got in a fight"(45). And after that he just asked if she was ok, and then he encouraged her "That's my girl" after he heard Jeannette was fighting with six Mexicans. He made Jeannette feel that it was not a big deal to be hit. But as for my father, if I was hit, maybe he would be angry with the man who hit me. I cannot say her father was doing the right thing because he did not help his daughter to fix the problem, and he even did not know why she was hit. But on the other hands, Rex gave her the ability to fix problems by herself. Her father was one of the keys that made Jeannette become a strong woman. A family is the building block of a society and good family life is necessary for the well being of any society. In "Two Kinds" Woo's mother wanted her daughter to become perfect, at least better than her friends' daughter. At the beginning of the novel, she mentioned "My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America"(Tan 132). This is what her mother told her all the time when she was a child. At first, Woo did everything her mother wanted her to do, but at the end, she was bored and started revolting against what her mother wanted her to do. She wanted her own life, and she did not want her mother to bother her any more. However, her mother wanted control of her life. At the end, she said, "I didn't get As. I didn't become class president. I didn't get into Stanford. I dropped out of college"(Tan 142). Finally, she became the opposite woman that her mother dreamed of. I do think that her mother controlled her life too much. Her mother was extremely strict and expected nothing but the best from her child. Her mother wanted her to play piano, to go to a good college, and it was all because she wanted her daughter to become the woman that she dreamed she could be. But obviously she failed. In my own opinion, I think parents can teach their children what they know and what is the right thing, but not control their children's life and their mind. The power of decision still should be in their children's hands, because this is their own life. In my impression, eastern parents always tell their children how unpromising they were and how great other people's children were doing. Just like my parents, my father keeps telling me that how he disappointed in me while he was calling me. On the other hand, in western families, parents always encourage their children like how great they were and how pretty they were. To be honest, I always feel upset after my father called me; it is like I mean nothing and I can do nothing. That really hurts me inside of my heart. I did some research online and found the information shows the relationship between children and their parents. First, it is important to stress that parenting has its own intrinsic pleasures, privileges, and profits. Parenting is not all giving. According to a recent nation-wide survey by Zero-to-Three, the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, more than 90% of parents say that when they had their first child, they not only felt "in love" with their baby, but were personally happier than ever before in their lives. Parents can find interest and can derive considerable and continuing pleasure in their relationships and activities with their children. Evolutionary theory asserts that adults are motivated by strong self-interest to be good parents: According to this sociobiology"(parenthood library). To sum up, I think Jeannette Walls owes her success to the hardships she had as a child, and she became the woman she is because of the kind of parents she had as a child. Jeannette is a smart, strong and tolerant woman. She had an amazing and long trip when she was young which changed her life completely, but also decided what kind of woman she will be. Parents are the most important teachers in their children's life. Parents have the ability to inspire their kids and to teach them moral values. Work Cited Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print. "Refocusing on Parenting." Parenthood in America. 15 Oct. 1998. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. . Tan, Amy. Two Kinds." The Joy Luck Club. 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. .

paying it forward.

Blog Post for February 27: After watching the first half of Pay it Forward, you are already introduced the 

concept of “paying it forward”. What do you think of this concept? Do you think it works? Discuss a time 

where you feel like you “paid it forward”. How did it make you feel? 

Remember, no short answers, please write at least 250 words. This is on your blog and it will really look 

better to take the time to expound like so many of you are already doing.

Thanks, Professor Martin

The end of the movie is really tragic. I think "paid it forward" is works in the movie, but it cost a little boy's life. Is it worth? It's really hard to say it. In my own opinion, I think "paying it forward" is really a good idea, people influence people, so love can move on. In my own experience, I have a story about me,  it influence my afterwards. When I was seven years old, I was in elementary school that time. In that time, my parents didn't have enough time to be with me, because they were too busy in business. They could not be able to cook for me. I was too young that time, and I could not cook by myself. Oh, I know I was different with Jeannette, she did really great when she was young, but I didn't. So one of my classmate's mother, who I felt grateful with, cooked for me and his son everyday. She was really friendly and her son, my best friend in my elementary school, was nice to me as well. It made me feel that I need to help the person who need be help. And until now, we are still friends and his mom is getting more and more beautify, because her nice heart.

LOVE

L listen
O obligate
V valued
E excuse
LOVE!