Underage Drinking Problem

Many people write about the underage drinking problem in their own countries and this is actually what I wanted to do for my research paper in English 1020. Since I am German and I am only studying in America till now, I was more interested in the problem at home. Well, I figured out that finding good source material for another country in another language can be kind of difficult. I really had issues to find anything about that topic; I could not find both, something that describes it and some pro and contra arguments. I started to re-think my problem and came to the conclusion that I also can write about the underage drinking habits in America and that it might be even more interesting because I am living here most of the time for the next 4 years.

Nevertheless, the underage drinking limit in Germany and America are different and I wanted to argue that the drinking age should be increased to 21 in Germany. First, I thought I have to change my viewpoint, but I still can argue that the limit in America should stay the way it is. Furthermore, this problem exists everywhere on the world and we can compare and contrast them to show what is better or worse. However, I found some really good sources about why the drinking age limit should be lowered in the U.S. (it actually has the highest limit of the world - just think about that) and I am not sure what my thesis is till now. With writing the rest of my research paper, the pro and contra arguments, I definitely will have a strong and justified opinion about my issue when I am done.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King Jr.]

I have just read this letter from Martin Luther King Jr. and it has many interesting topics in it. It is actually an answer to a critique of his protest act of the black population in Birmingham after he already got arrested for it. This critic states that his act was "unwise and untimely" but King gives us a lot reasons why it was not.

One good reason, why his act was satisfied, is that the “Negros” waited around 340 years now to get treated the same way as the white people. I really like the way how he gives us examples over and over again in one paragraph because these are really emotional and we immediately imagined them. This way of argumentation is called evaluative because it connects the reader more to the text; it feels like that King is including us. Additionally, when he is talking about being an extremist is not as bad as his critic describes him, he utilizes the factual class of argument. King is stating other people, who were extremists such as Jesus an extremist of love, Amos an extremist of justice and Paul an extremist of the Christian gospel. These examples affect the reader too because they are clarifying that extremists can be positive and negative and that his thoughts and actions might be extremist, but good and needed.

Another argument of Martin Luther King Jr. in this letter, which is stuck in my head, is the part when he is talking about the church. Even if he is the president of the southern Christian Leadership Conference, and his whole male family members in the past were preachers too, he is very disappointed with the church. King is telling us that the church in the past was much more active and had more influence and in his time it is weak and rather stays in silence than helping the people. It is not only him, but also young people, who turn their favor for the church into disgust because the white church is not doing his job how it is supposed to be because its leadership. It is true that the church lost his power and it is just said to see this happen in a world of injustice and poverty of one part of the population, which needs the help to become equal with the rest.

I believe that every argument Martin Luther King Jr. made in his answer is correct because it sounds right to help and if nothing else is working out with negotiations, it is justified to use nonviolent direct action.

Raise the Drinking Age in Germany!

Drinking alcohol is a troublesome issue all over the world. Sometimes I keep thinking why drinking is legal and drugs are actually illegal. Well, a small answer might be that drug are more intensive, but what if people drink too much alcohol. We see the outcome of such excessive drinking almost every day in the news or we can read about them on the internet or somewhere else. Most of the time, the people, who are drinking too much are teenagers.

Why do they drink so much? Why do they drink at all? These questions can be explained by the structure of our society. Everywhere in the world, the governments set up laws concerning when it is allowed for a human being to drink alcohol legally. These laws vary in age; for instance, teenagers in America are allowed to drink with turning 21 and in Germany the border is 16 with some exceptions. Would no limit make the actual drinking habits of teenagers better? I guess not because kids would even start earlier to get alcohol in supermarkets. These limitations are important and it is even more important to set them at an appropriate age. The earlier teenagers are allowed to drink, the earlier they try to get it before they reached this certain age. Parents and the government need to prevent the kids from too much drinking and show them what alcohol can damage and change in a less likely way than waking up in a hospital.

Many people already wrote about this topic and researches occurred. The result was that America, for example, changed the limitation of the age several times till they stopped at the age of 21. Looking at statistics, you can see that lower age borders are creating more damage. Articles over articles are published in Germany about a car accident here and there or anything related to consuming too much alcohol, to show the population that this is not the right why. These article and the families behind the people who died because of alcohol do everything they can against it, but it needs more. We all need to stay up, get together and bring the government to a change. Writing about it is just one way, but it is a good one.

Discussion About Communities

First of all, there are two different ways to define a community. A community can be a group of some people, which are living together in a house, apartment or anywhere else. This type is called "community of nuns" because you always try to help each other and live together in freedom. The second form is the so called "local community", where people live together in a specific area or place like a city, state or country. Communities often contain the same cultural and historical heritage, have similar social, religious or occupational interests, and/or share common characteristics.

 

All of us live in different communities at the same time. For example, I do not only live on campus in an apartment with three roommates, I also live with together with my boyfriend because I sometimes stay in my dorm and sometimes I am at the apartment of my boyfriend. Additionally, I live with my parents over the summer, when I am at home in Germany. These three communities are almost the same because they all belong to the same group ("community of nuns"). I try to live with my friends and family the whole year and I always have to make compromises, but I also have to right to say something if I do not want to live like that or if anything is going on my nerves as well as they are allowed, too. It is really good that I am living with some of my teammates in the apartment on campus because we have similar interests and we are all on scholarship, so that nobody has to be jealous. Living with my family or my boyfriend is good too because I love them and I want to live with them. We share common characteristics because I learned to live from my parents and I would not be with my boyfriend if we would not have anything in common.

Nevertheless, they are somehow different, too. I am more critical with my boyfriend than my parents or my teammates, but I do not care that much about housework when I am with my parents, instead of being with my boyfriend or teammates. All people are different and I do not act in the same way with all people because treating everyone the same is not the right thing to do. And of course, I do not want to share everything about me with my teammates, but my boyfriend receives the right about more privacy and my parents know me my whole live, what is something different, too.

 

            Furthermore, I am in some smaller local communities, such as my university and my sports team. Actually my team belongs to my university, but I am also practicing in a sports club in my home country, which is completely different. Over all, in both teams and in classes at colleges, I do always the same; I am learning. The difference is that I am learning mentally when I am in one of my courses, and I am learning physically when I am practicing with my team, but both are for my future. Also, the motivation of the people around me is different; most people at college are there because the somehow have too, but at practice we all are learning for the same goal, to become the best in our discipline. These are groups, which I have to deal with for a certain amount of hours every day and I am doing it because I like it, it makes me happy.

 

            Third, I am living in two different countries every year. Most of the time, I am here in America because I am studying here and I am a student-athlete, but over the summer, when we do not have any competitions here, I am going home because the outdoor season in Germany  just started a few weeks ago then. People would say different countries different morals/conventions and that is true. The first time I came here I missed the German food really bad, but I am getting more and more used to it. The difference is humongous, not only that we can buy different things, but also our eating habits are not equal. Chips, for instance, do not belong to a normal meal in Germany. The next big difference is that we work normally only five days a week; some people might work six days, but not all. We cannot go shopping on Sundays because the shops are closed, and the opening times on Saturday are shorter than from Monday to Friday; however; if you are used to it you do not think this is strange like you might think now.

The most common thing between Germany and America is, like for every country, we all try to live the best way we can or as we are shown. Germans complain about their president as well as Americans do, just about some different things.

 

To summarize, communities are different for all people because my teammates might look in a different way at our living community than I do, but still they try to live without fights. Therefore, communities are also the same because a community is always built up of people, which share some interests, beliefs or characteristics. There is no day when we are not a part of a community because also living alone in an apartment means that this person is living within a certain area, which is a community.

 

Introduction

Well, first of all I love choclate and all this other sweet stuff... I would rather eat this, instaed of a good meal. I am a little bit selfish, but I take care about others and like talk and listen to people.
My hobbies are dancing, swimming and somehow studying (ok, only the stuff I like...).
Now, studying and talking is actually the main point why I am here - I want to discuss some topics with you in the future. My first discussion will be about communities, to which we belong and how they differ or how similar they are.