Synthesis Exam
Wal-Mart
It is said that Wal-Mart will build its new supercenter in Jackson Country in the Carbondale-Murphysboro area. Although there is a Wal-Mart supercenter in Carbondale, Wal-Mart wants to expand its market in the surrounding area, so the situation above happens. Of course, it will bring extra benefits to Wal-Mart.

We should think that it is very good for most customers.

We should know how it will benefit local people. There are some features of Wal-Mart old stores; I think that will occur in its new store. First, Wal-Mart sells for less. It is the first choice for low- income families. Locke said, “Wal-Mart is especially popular among low-income shoppers who cannot afford the prices of the more upscale stores” (2004, par. 4). Second, Wal-Mart is huge big-box, so the customers can find almost everything in Wal-Mart. It is convenient and saves us lots of time. Third, the employees of Wal-Mart are patient and warm to everyone. There is a sign of the support desk saying “Can I help you?” which makes the customers comfortable.

We should consider that Wal-Mart’s quality of goods and services as “one of the most impressive success stories in history of business” (Locke, 2004, par. 2). Wal-Mart makes its goods clean, so the majority of its goods are fresh. On the other hand, some small shops sell some of these goods that are going bad. The new supercenter coming means more and more people can eat fresh food. Wal-Mart offers delivery service; when the new supercenter gets closed, the fee for delivery will go down, and the speed of it will be faster for locals. Wal-Mart creates some brands of its own. For example, equate vitamins, has been the “USA’s top sellers” (USA TODAY, 2003, par. 3).

We should imagine that the new Wal-Mart supercenter would raise the local economy. It would bring more job opportunities to locals as it used to. “Wal-Mart created 125,000 U.S jobs, and is continuously adding thousands each month” (Hoenig, 2004, par. 16). The employees of its new supercenter will pay the tax to increase the local economy. It is said that Wal-Mart and its employees have “pay million of taxes” (Hoenig, 2004). In addition, the new supercenter would increase the income of government. The customers who shop at the new Wal-Mart supercenter should pay the taxes either by cash or by card. Some small shops ask the customers to only pay cash to avoid paying taxes.

Wal-Mart never stops working to supply quality goods and services to people, making customers happy and benefiting the local economy. Why do we not welcome Wal-Mart new super center? But, everything has both sides. In the future, we can do research to see the disadvantage of expanding of Wal-Mart.

Reference

Hoenig, J. (2004, Feb. 10). Welcome Wal-Mart. Capitalism Magazine. Retrieved Feb.20, 2006, from http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4561

Hopkins, J. (2003, Jan. 29). Wal-Mart's influence grows. USA TODAY. Money. Retrieved Feb.20, 2006, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2003-01-28-walmartnation_x.htm

Locke, E. (2004, Feb. 22). Three Cheers for Wal-Mart. Capitalism Magazine. Retrieved Feb.20, 2006, from http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3534

Research Paper

Wal-Mart and small business

Abstract

Wal-Mart is one of the biggest retailers of American. It sells groceries in its super center. Recently, Wal-Mart went in to small business. It opened new supercenters in small towns. More and more people who usually shop at small shops went to Wal-Mart. Soon, thousands of small businessmen were out of jobs. We should take three strategies to keep small shops existing.


Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in America. Now it is trying to carry a full line of groceries along with clothing and other goods usually found in its supercenter (Kaiser, 2003). It sells the same goods as those in small shops and has taken a lot of customers from them. Wal-Mart has huge capital to support its development. After Wal-Mart came into small business, thousands of small businessmen ran out of business. For instance, Bonnie Neisious, a small businesswoman who owned a UPS franchise in Las Vegas, said that “surrounding businesses” that were near her shop folded and “her business was down 45 percent”(Goldman, A. & Cleeland, N. , 2003). The motto “We Sell for less” is very attractive; the small shop cannot match its price. “Wal-Mart is well liked”, said Larry Peterson (Kaiser, 2003, par. 4). It means that the public has recognized Wal-Mart and it is easy for Wal-Mart to get its position at the expense of small shops. If we do nothing about this, the small shops will be closed and thousands of people who work in this area cannot receive their income.

Although Wal-Mart has lots of advantages of going into small business, we also can do something to help the small business to accept the challenge of Wal-Mart. We should take three strategies to keep small shops existing.

We should use the government to stop Wal-Mart from going into small business. First, we get make the local businessmen to start an organization and complain about the situation about Wal-Mart to the government. Second, they should make the government know the damage to the local economy and ask them to pass a law to help them. Third, they should ask the government to create some small business support center to give them some ideas of raising their ability to accept the challenge of big-boxes.

Small businessmen need to join together to start an organization. “The trend of mega-mergers and huge chains is wiping out small business everywhere” (Lippman, 2004, par. 3). Wal-Mart affects small business anywhere, not only a few towns. It is powerful, so they should start an organization. The members of the organization can be “neighbors, clergy, educators, union members, retirees, former public officials, small business owners, etc.”(Norman, n.d.). We should think that there are several things that the small businessmen can report to the government. “Only a company of their size can buy direct from manufacturers, cutting out the distributor. They buy so cheaply they can resell to other stores at cheaper than wholesale. Thus they can ruin the competition through predatory pricing” (lippman, 2004, par. 2). Because Wal-Mart cut out the supplying of manufacturer, the small shops do not have a chance to exist. They have to buy goods from Wal-Mart. But Wal-Mart will raise the price. When the small shops sell the items, they have to make the price higher in order to get the benefits. As a result, so person wants to go shopping in a small shop.

The damage of the local economy is obvious. Wal-Mart “put their money in big banks, taking it far out of town” (Lippman, 2004, par. 5). When it takes money out of a town, the money of the town will be reduced. So the town will be lack of capital.

In addition, we should get the support of local residents. We can tell them the bad results of shopping at Wal-Mart. First, if the majority of residents only went to shop at Wal-Mart, the small businessmen would lose their jobs. Then the number of unemployed will rise, which means many families will live in a poverty state. They will not even have money to buy foods and necessary goods. Furthermore, many small businessmen will have to take a job in Wal-Mart, and then they will have little salary and be without adequate health care. They must take two or more part time jobs to earn a living. Finally, if there were only one shop, Wal-Mart, in the groceries area, could charge any price it wants. And locals would not have choices.

If the Wal-Mart appeared in towns and communities that wanted Wal-Mart, people might only shop at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart “never talks about the jobs” it “destroys”(Norman, n.d.). Many small businessmen would lose their jobs.

The local citizens should notices that Wal-Mart is not willing to give its employees enough heather care. “Wal-Mart’s Health Care Plan Fails to Cover Over 600,000 Employees. Wal-Mart reports that its health insurance only covers 48% of their employees. Wal-Mart has approximately 1.3 million US employees” (United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, 2005, par. 9). Many of the local workers of Wal-Mart do not have health care. Maybe some of the workers are the local’s relatives. If the workers were seriously sick, they could not afford the cost of seeing the doctors.

If the local small shops were closed, many of small businessmen would have to work for Wal-Mart. That means that with the salaries that they earn from Wal-Mart that cannot afford their families. “In 2001, the average pay of a Wal-Mart worker was $8.23 per hour, more than two dollars less per hour than the average supermarket employee wage of $10.35 per hour. Wal-Mart wages are so low that the average Wal-Mart worker’s annual salary in 2001 was almost $1,000 below the federal poverty line of $14,630 for a family of three” (Cram, n.d., par. 3).

If the two steps above are not practiced, we should help small businessmen change themselves. First, they can stock the goods that Wal-Mart cannot offer. For example, they can offer high-end goods or have a special shop only for certain people. Second, they can offer delivery service. Wal-Mart only offers delivery service on limited goods. If they offer delivery for all the goods under the requirement, many people will be willing to come to small stores. In the end, small businessmen can choose their goods from the Internet to find the lowest price to reduce the cost.

It would be good if the small shop offered good quality and services.”You can not compete with Wal-Mart on price…So you need to find a niche and have different product lines, services and retail goods that are not in competition” (Ronna, 2003, par. 7).

These above are three ways to accept the challenging from Wal-Mart. It is said that Wal-Mart is interested in fashionable dress and plans to purchase some medium brand like Tommy. This is obviously against its usual rule. Will it get benefits or not? This is another topic, which will be covered later.

Bibliography

Goldman, A.& Cleeland, N. (2003). An Empire Built on Bargains Remakes the Working World. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006 from
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/walmart1.html

Cram,J.(n.d.).Ten things that Wal-Mart don't want you know.
Campus Progress. Retrieved Mar. 1, 2006 from
http://www.campusprogress.org/features/279/ten-things-wal-mart-doesnt-want-you-to-know

Kaiser, E. (2003). Some Cities Resisting Wal-Mart Expansion. Common Dreams News Center. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006 from

http://www.commondreams.orgheadlines03/0712-06.htm

Kruchak, M. (2006). Proposed Small-Market Wal-Mart Good for
Kindersley: Merchants. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006 from
http://web.lexis-nexis.com

Lippman, D. (2004). Let's take about why I heat Wal-Mart.
Retrieved Feb.28, 2006 from
http://www.davelippman.com/walmart/whyihatewalmart.html

Norman, J. (n.d.). Eight Ways to beat Wal-Mart. Retrieved
Mar.1, 2006 from http://laplaza.org/~totem/eightways.html

Norman, J. (n.d.). Community First: Strategy Basics. Retrieved mar.1,
2006 from http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/community/strategy.html

Ronna, B. (2003). Friend of foe? How Wal-Mart will change urban Honolulu. Retrieved March.13, 2006 from
http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/639324-1.html

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (2005). Wal-Mart Health Care. The real fact of Wal-Mart. Retrieved Mar. 1, 2006 from http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#healthcare

WGBH Educational Foundation. (2004). We Do Not Need Your Supercenter. Is Wal-Mart good for America? Retrieved Feb.28, 2006 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/us/copyright.html

Research Paper Proposal

Wal-Mart and Small Business

I am interested in Wal-Mart and small business because Wal-Marts are everywhere in America. Although Wal-Mart earns a lot of money, it is not satisfied with the income from groceries. It is trying to get into small business. After Wal-Mart moves in, the small businessmen go out of business. In an article in the Los Angeles Times (Goldman,A. & Cleeland,N., 2003), Bonnie Neisius, a small businesswoman who owned a UPS franchise in Las Vegas, said that surrounding businesses which were near her shop ran over and her business was down 45 percent because of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart not only made them run out of businesses, but also got several thousands of Iowa businesses closed in ten years after it came according Dr.Stone’s study(1995). Dr.Stone is a professor retried from economy of Iowa State University. An author Mr.Kruchak published an article and mentioned the result of Dr.Stone’s study (Kruchak, 2006). Wal-Mart plans to open more stores to develop small business, which means the end of the small business.

I plan to write about three strategies that can help small businesses challenge Wal-Mart. If we did not do anything for small businesses, most of them would be closed. And thousands of small businessmen would be out of work. We must find some way to keep small business existing. First, we should think about how to restrict Wal-Mart by the government. Second, we should get small businessmen to change the methods by which they operate their stores. Finally, the small business can persuade local residents to avoid shopping in Wal-Mart.

I have found some background and the damages, which are related to Wal-Mart, and have discovered some articles on the Website. They should be helpful to solve the problems between Wal-Mart and small business. I need to continue to search for some useful options.

Reference

Goldman, A. & Cheeland, N. (2003). An Empire Built on Bargains Remarks the Working Work. Los Angeles times. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006 from www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/walmart1.html

Kruchak, M. (2006). Propose Small-Market Wal-Mart good for Kindersley: Merchants. Retrieved on Feb.07, 2006 from http://web.lexis-nexis.com

Stone, K. (1995). Retail trade and community development, effects of mass merchandisers on other businesses. Retrieved on Mar.1, 2006 from http://www.econ.iastate.edu/faculty/stone/

S/R 2
One,Two,Three,Four…We Do not Want Your Superstore

A person on a public broadcast published an article named “We Do not Want Your Superstore”. In his article, the author thought that Wal-Mart destroyed small business. Recently, the retailers have been endangered by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart attracted some of their customers.

Small businessmen wanted Wal-Mart to keep a distance from their areas. Because Wal-Mart would make most of them run out of business if there were a Wal-Mart superstore closed to them. The small businessmen’ wish actually is only a dream that cannot be reached. We should think that it is impossible for Wal-Mart stopping its steps on small business.

We should find that some new reflects that Wal-Mart brought in small business. It is said that Wal-Mart wanted to combine TOMMY to add its goods structure with fashionable dress. Wal-Mart want to sell not only bargains but also medium price goods. This means that some small businessmen who sell them will lose their job. Wal-Mart supplied eye-care and medicament. Wal-Mart’s coming will attract other “big-box” stores to come, such as Kroger, body and bathroom works and so on.

Wal-Mart has sorts of advantages that small business shops cannot match. It is a huge store and sells for less. Everybody likes bargains. It contains almost everything, so the customers do not have to go from one shop to another. So it is convenient and saves a lot of time. The quality of goods and services in Wal-Mart is better than that in other supercenters.

We think that the only way to let the small business to run is to let the government pay some money to help small business to keep their shops running. But it is only for a short time. There is no government to give money all the time. If the government passes an act, which protects the small business shops, they could survive. The market should be free in the end. If the market were free for big-box stores before the small business grew up, most of them would run out of business.

Wal-Mart is getting bigger and bigger. If the government did nothing about that, most of small business stores would be closed. Wal-Mart is not the only one, which can control the market. There are also some big-box stores also control the majority of their markets. In the future, we can do a research on what are the reflects that are brought from big-box stores.

Reference

Young,R.(2004, Nov. 16). One,Two,Three,four…We Do Not Want Your Superstore. Retrieved Jan.31, 2006 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/transform/protest.html

Argument Essay

Wal-Mart and Small Business

Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in America. Now it is trying to “carry a full line of groceries along with clothing and other goods usually found in its supercenter” (Kaiser, 2003). It sells the same goods as those in small shops and has taken a lot of customers from them. Wal-Mart has huge capital to support its development. After Wal-Mart came into small business, thousands of small businessmen ran out of business. For instance, Bonnie Neisious, a small businesswoman who owned a UPS franchise in Las Vegas, said that surrounding businesses that were near her shop ran over and her business “was down 45 percent”(Abigail Goldman and Nancy Cleeland Times staff writers, 2003).The motto “We Sell for less” is very attractive; the small shop cannot match its price. “Wal-Mart is well liked, said Larry Peterson” (Kaiser, 2003, par. 4). It means that the public has recognized Wal-Mart and it is easy for Wal-Mart to get its the position at the expense of small shops. If we do nothing about this, the small shops will be closed and thousands of people who work in this area cannot receive their income.

Although Wal-Mart has lots of advantages of going into small business, we also can do something to help the small business to accept the challenge of Wal-Mart. We should take three strategies to keep small shops existing.

We should use the government to stop Wal-Mart from going into small business.First, we can make the local businessmen to start an organization and complain about the situation about Wal-Mart to the government. Second, they should make the government know the damages of employment of small businessmen and ask them to pass a law to help them. Third, they should ask the government to create some small business support center to give them some ideas of raising their ability to accept the challenge of big-boxes.

In addition, we should get the support of local residents. We can tell those of the bad results of these shopping at Wal-Mart. First, if the majority of residents only went to shop at Wal-Mart, the small businessmen would lose their jobs. Then the number of employment will rise, which means many families will live in a poverty state. They will not even have money to buy foods and necessary goods. Furthermore, many small businessmen will have to take a job in Wal-Mart, and then they will have little salary and be without adequate healthy care. They must take two or more part time jobs to earn a living. Finally, if there were only one shop, Wal-Mart, in groceries area, it could charge any price it wants. And local would not have choices.

If the two steps above are not practiced, we should help small businessmen change themselves. First, they can stock the goods that Wal-Mart cannot offer. For example, they can offer high-end goods or have a special shop only for certain people. Second, they can offer delivery service. Wal-Mart only offers delivery service on limited goods. If they offer delivery for all the goods under the requirement, many people will be willing to come to small stores. In the end, small businessmen can choose their goods from the Internet to find the lowest price to reduce the cost.

These above are three ways to accept the challenge from Wal-Mart. It is said that Wal-Mart is interested in fashionable dress and plans to purchase some medium brand like Tommy. This is obviously against its usual rule. Will it get benefits or not? There is another topic, which be covered later.

Reference

Kaiser, E. (2003). Some Cities Resisting Wal-Mart Expansion. Common Dreams News Center. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006 from http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0712-06.htm

Kruchak, M. (2006). Proposed Small-Market Wal-Mart Good for Kindersley: Merchants. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006 from http://web.lexis-nexis.com

WGBH Educational Foundation. (2004, Nov. 16). We Do Not Need Your Super Center. Is Wal-Mart good for America? Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/transform/protest.html

Abigail Goldman and Nancy Cleeland Times staff writers (2003). An Empire Built on Bargains Remakes the Working World. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2006,
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/walmart1.html

S/R 1
Proposed Small-Market Wal-Mart Good for Kindersley: Merchants

Matt Kruchak published an article called “Proposed Small-Market Wal-Mart Good for Kindersley: Merchants”. The author said that Wal-Mart would go into a small town, in Saskatchewan, and gave different opinions from merchants. Wal-Mart is famous for low price, so it is impossible for small businesses to exist. But in this article, the merchants welcomed Wal-Mart and wanted it to bring new consumers.

Some merchants said they had operated their business in a different way. We should think that Wal-Mart coming may inflict a couple of small business owners, but it will bring more benefit to the majority of them.

We should find a way that small business can continue to run their business is to stock some goods and services that Wal-Mart cannot offer. First, Wal-Mart sells for less, so the small businessmen can offer high-end goods and services. Second, the small business can offer goods that Wal-Mart does not stock. Third, the small businessmen can deliver the goods for free, because Wal-Mart does not do this.

Small businessmen also can pay attention to certain groups. First, they can supply goods for the old people. They may not be the main customers, so they cannot find the right goods. If the small shops sell to them, they will get benefits. In addition, the shop can also be separated for gender. Some can be for males and the others for females. Finally, some people are overweight, too short or too tall, so they need extra goods. Small business owners can also sell them.

Small business owners can also hold some activities. They can create some atmospheres. For instance, if they sold flowers, they would have put some poster, which were related to it. Sending some newsletter is a bright choice. They can offer the students some free gift to ask them to write about the feeling on the web log. I think that it will attract some students.

In general, small business owners should stock goods and services that Wal-Mart cannot offer. So they can survive finally.

Reference

Kruchak, M. (2006, Jan. 19). Proposed Small-Market Wal-Mart Good for Kindersley: Merchants. The Star Phoenix. Retrieved January 25, 2006 from http://web.lexisnexis.com

Practice S/R
Some Cities Resisting Wal-Mart Expansion

Emily Kaiser wrote an article named “Some Cities Resisting Wal-Mart Expansion”. In her article, Wal-Mart wanted to expand its supercenter in a small town in Wisconsin, but the town resisted it. They thought if Wal-Mart got bigger, the town would be a regional shopping center. But they liked the small town feel. In addition, Wal-Mart going into small business may influence local small business. Not only did Dallas deny the requirement of Wal-Mart Expansion, but New Orleans did this also. On the other hand, Wal-Mart worked with other local citizens to cooperate the manner of their life. In addition, Wal-Mart had some problem in designing stores in crowded urban areas.

In this article, we think that Wal-Mart focused on its expansion, but many people disagreed with it. If Wal-Mart expanded and went into small business, the local citizens, such as pharmacists and eye-care providers, would lose their jobs. Because Wal-Mart is famous for low price, the small business worker cannot sell less than Wal-Mart. Some people say that it is a free market; so small businessmen should find a new way. Others said that Wal-Mart increases the difficulty of small business to exist. We should consider that Wal-Mart cannot end small business, and the market is open to everyone.

Does Wal-Mart expansion end small business? Maybe it doesn’t. First, the reason that Wal-Mart is so popular is that it sells for less. It is said that current economic situation is globalization, so Wal-Mart could buy the lowest products from the international provider and offered the cheap items. We can see if the small businessmen order their items from the international provider, so they can reduce their cost. Second, it is said that War-Mart has very strict rules to pick international providers. Although there are many good items from providers, Wal-Mart defines their entrance. If small businessmen got items from these providers, the products should be cheaper. Third, Wal-Mart expands its area to small business and others, but their knowledge cannot be as much in these areas. So small businessmen should find an advantage in their area.

If there were a Wal-Mart, people would continue to buy things from small businessmen. For example, Wal-Mart sells vegetables and small businessmen also sell them. The small businessmen continue to get profit from the goods. First, the vegetable is fresher in small shops. Second, businessmen can also offer some sheet of cooking and give it to the customer, so they can learn the way to cook when they are buying the vegetables. Third, they can put some poster about the time that the vegetable was grown, because the customer prefers fresh ones.

The competition will come sooner or later. First, other companies may not be satisfied with their profit that they have obtained and want to go into small business also. Second, the competition will become greater and greater. Maybe one of the small businessmen got 70% of the market and the other small businessmen will be out of work finally. Third, the expansion may be a good chance for small business to change the idea of managing, so they can get more benefits.

As we can see from above, Wal-Mart expansion makes the competition greater indeed. But not everything is bad. Small businessmen can use their knowledge to challenge Wal-Mart.

Reference

Kaiser, E. (2003). Some Cities Resisting Wal-Mart Expansion. Common Dreams News Center.
Retrieved on Jan. 17, 2006 from http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0712-06.htm

Impression of Wal-Mart

When I first went to Wal-Mart, I found that it was a huge store. It almost had everything, clothing, cooking tools, electric products and so on. I could get whatever I wanted. But it was a problem sometimes. Maybe it would take a long time to get a thing because there were too many things in this supercenter. The most striking thing was that Wal-Mart had self-check out machines. I had neither seen nor heard of them before in my country. Everything was very cheap. In addition, I saw a customer service desk with a sentence saying “Can I help you?” on its background. I saw a notice on the desk, which said that if you were not satisfied with the items, you could return them. I felt very surprised at it. I could not return anything in my country, but only exchange it. It was impossible in my country. Wal-Mart was a big and good store which made every customer comfortable.

http://www.walmart.com

Mini-Survey
Body Language
1.Introduction
Although verbal communication is very important in our
daily life, we cannot overlook nonverbal communication--body
language. People always use body language, for instance,
raising their eyebrows, shaking their hands.
We went to the Student Center, and observed body language of
American. The author of the book (Academic Encounters) said
that people have universals of body language (Seal, 2002).
Our group, W. Kinoshita and I, intended to observe what body
language American usually uses.

2. Methods and Procedure
Both of us observed the same ten people, but I observed
extra five people. I wanted to know whether American really
used a lot of body language or not. I supposed that mouth could
lie, but body could not. I observed fifteen people, four male
and eleven female, at lease ten Americans. There were three
White and one Hispanic in males, ten White and one Hispanic in
females. I thought that Hispanic people had more body language
than American.

3.Results
One hundred percent of people had body language. Males did
less behaviors of touching their hair than females. One out of
four of males (25%) touched their hair, while five out of
eleven females (45.5%) did this. Both of males and females
liked crossing their legs. Three males (75%) used this gesture,
and eight females (72.7%) did this one too. Two out of four
males (50%) lay to their girl friends with touching their
noses, ears and chins as the expert said on the video. Two out
of four males (50%) touched their partners!/s arms. But female
did not do this.
In general, Americans used lots of different body language.

4.Discussion and Conclusion
I found that Americans used lots of body language. When
some of them lay to others, their body language told the truth
as we can see through the two male above. Females used to touch
their hair more than males, and both of them crossed their
legs. They used these gestures because they felt comfortable
and relaxed. The male lovers touched their partners!/s arms to
express their love.
If we did this survey again, we would ask some question
about why they did this gesture, what was the relationship
about the action!/s sender and the recipient. Did they think
that the gesture would be helpful with their verbal
communication? If someone lay to others, but did not touch
nose, ears and chins, could we recognize it?

5.Reference
Seal,B. (2002). Body language. Academic Encounters.

6.Appendix
Touching hair Crossing legs
Male 25% 75%
Female 45.5% 72.7%
Touching mouth,ears and chin Touching arms
Male 50% 50%

The Only Interesting Thing
I will stay in the U.S.A. during the Thanksgiving break because I cannot go back to my motherland. The only interesting thing that I can do is making Chinese Dumplings with my friends. My friends and I will go to someone’s house and make the dumplings. I have learnt how to make dumpling before, yet I am not good at it. However, that is not important. The important thing is that we can get together and have fun.

The Difficult Life for International Students
Before I went abroad, I always thought that everything was so wonderful there. I could study English rapidly in an English-speaking country, walk in the breeze, and hear the fall leaves singing by my ears. After my arriving, I find that something is out of control and life is difficult.

First, I have trouble understanding English. I live in the U.S.A., so the majority of people around me are American. They speak very fast. For instance, when I was having my dinner, my friends were talking about something. Suddenly, all girls started to laugh except me. I was embarrassed and did not know what made them laugh. Furthermore, when I ask my teachers some questions, they give me the answers with words that I do not know. Although teachers are patient, I am still confused. In addition, I have some problem in shopping. I do not know the English names of goods, so it is difficult to search for them.

Second, transportation is hard. I do not have a car, but shops are far away. Some people do not have a car likewise, but they have boyfriends or girlfriends who have cars. I do not. Moreover, Saluki Express is inconvenient, for it will make a detour for a long time.

Third, food is another problem to me. American food is often cold, but all food is hot in my home country. I do not get used to American sweet food for too much sugar. American sauces make me uncomfortable, either too sour or too bitter.

In short, I think that life is difficult for me. To illustrate, the language, transportation and food are problems. Nevertheless, I have learned a lot of things and the life can be viewed as a good chance to challenge myself. I am excited to accept these challenges and make sure that I can overcome them finally.

Catch Me If You Can
Leonardo Dicaprio played the role of Frank W.Abagnale Jr. in the firm catch me if you can. He is an outstanding actor so I enjoy his acting. Frank was active, brave and resourceful. And he always did what he wanted. He pretended to a sub of his teacher in his high school. However, his father’s company failed and his parents divorced each other. He felt depressed and could not accept it. As a result, he left home and tried to raise a loan from banks. After his failure in loan, he became a fraud and made fake checks to steal money from banks. Occasionally, he made a decision to pretend a pilot and succeeded. Finally, he was tracked by FBI but escaped frequently under control of FBI agents. I anticipate that he will go to France and be extradited from there.

Movie:Catch me if you can

Types of love
Summary of “Types of Love"
Bernard Seal thinks that these are the types of love: ludus, storge, mania, pragma, and eros. Love is fun to the ludic lover. The ludic lover will end the relationship with the partner if he or she cannot find any interest from the partner. The storgic lovers have limited passion and strong emotions, but they can keep a longer relationship and endure the separation of long time without feeling that there are any troubles with the relationship. The emotions of manic lovers will be high and low. They love intensely after feeling the depression of life. The pragma lover is practical person. They often search the person on the Internet who matches the data that they think important. They consider social qualifications, family and background to be important. Beauty and attractiveness are the characteristics of the erotic lover.
Reaction
I agree with the author that there are different kinds of love. It seems that ludus is the most romantic. To begin with, the ludic lover has to have something interesting all the time. The reason why ludic lover seeks a partner is to find something interesting. If they cannot find anything interesting from the partner, they will end the relationship. The son of my father’s sibling is a ludic lover. He has fun with his partner all the time, so he is happy. Moreover, ludic lovers have more freedom than other lovers. They hope their partners will not be worried if they have other partners. They view love is a game, so the love is under control. If a ludic lover wants to change his or her partner, it is acceptable. Consequently, I consider ludus to be the most romantic love. We can see that from the summary above, storge lacks passion; mania goes up and down extremely, high and low; pragma is too practical; erotic lover always feels unfulfilled. Ludus is fun than these.

Reference

Seal, B. (1997) Types of love. In Academic encounters (pp.203-205). NY: Cambridge.

Interesting Halloween
According to Halloween, which can be called Halloween E'en in Ireland, means the night before the "All Saints", observed on November 1. In an old English the word “Halloween” meant "sanctify". Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherians used to observe All Halloween Day to honor all Saints in heaven. Participants made sacrifices, offered up prayers for the dead. During Halloween, children dress in special clothes to try to look frightening, for example, as ghosts or witches. People cut the pumpkins to make it look like faces and put a light inside. Children go to door to door and say "trick or treat". Then people will give them some candies.

Some Americans told me that they wore costumes on that day. If people want to give the children candies, they will put the light in front of their door. There are some "haunted houses", which are open on that day. People can walk in them, and some strange things will come out. Our hall will hold a Pumpkin Carving Party. We can enjoy apple cider, cookies, and see a Halloween Movie while carving pumpkins. The person who is good at carving will win a special prize. Our hall will hold a pumpkin chucking contest some days later. We can come throw pumpkins for distance. Ten years ago, if someone wanted to go to downtown by car, his or her car will be broken by stone or set on fire . People broke the windows and fought in the street. So bars are shut down since then. Now there is no violence any more.

I hope that everyone can have a good time in Halloween!

By Selina

Reference:History of Halloween Retrieved from:http://www.halloween.com

Hi, I'm Selina