Rhet 101 Portfolio

American University in Cairo

Dr. Michael Gibson


Dr. Michael Gibson


Dr. Michael Gibson

American Unverisity in Cairo

Dr. Michael Gibson


Dr. Michael Gibson


Dr. Michael Gibson


Dr. Michael Gibson

Americian University in Cairo

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Rhet 101 PortfolioShorouk Kandil

Summer 2012

Section 02

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Table of Contents

Cover letter 3

Free Writing 4-12

Collage 13-15

Summary of article quoted in Analysis 1 16

My comments- Analysis 1 17-20

Draft1- Analysis 1 21-23


Final Draft – Analysis 1 27-33



Additional draft- Analysis 2 41-43

Final Draft- Analysis 2 44-46



Final Draft- Analysis 3 52-54

My Comments before editing 55-56

First changes in Analysis 3 57-59

Final changes in Analysis 3 60-63

Class Notes and Work 64-69

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Cover Letter

19 July 2012

The following portfolio includes the contents of my Rhet 101 class for summer

2012 at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

I have decided to organize my work according to my progress from the

beginning of this course until the end. Firstly, I put my free writings that I did during

the course in order to show the new process that I only learned from the first day of

this course and I ended them up with the collage that was a collection of sentences

from my free writings. Secondly, I ordered the three analyses that I did with their

drafts and how I improved till I reached the final drafts and then I put my best

analysis that I edited. And finally, I put the notes that I took in the class to show the

processes that I learned like citations and so on .

Regarding this class, I really spent a good time. This class taught me how to

love writing and how to be creative. My instructor, Michael Gibson is very hard

worker which encouraged me to be focus on doing my drafts and work so hard. About

the processes I learned (Free writing and Analysis), they are very useful as they are

the first steps of a professional writing .

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Free writing 1

Now I am trying to apply free writing in my way and I decide that I will explore

to you my life. This is Shorouk Kandil, 18 years old. It is my first year at AUC. I am

planning for being declared in Engineering. Today was my first class in Rhet 101 in

the summer semester. As usual, all students go to the first class with fear from

meeting new friends and new teacher also, but from the first second I spent in this

class, I felt comfortable as I met a wonderful teacher really. It seems that I will have a

lot of fun in this class. Actually, I am taking summer semester as I want to finish

Engineering’s requirements and English’s levels. I really like my university as it

exposes me to several fields as I have to take a major and minor. I think Business will

be a suitable minor with Engineering, but I am still thinking. All my ambitions are

beginning to be achieved because of the encouragement from my old sister, Sally. She

really is a perfect role model to me also as I want to achieve her success in life. No

one can live without friends, so stability with friends is a crucial factor that I want to

achieve during my life. Shopping, Listening to music, and hanging out with friends

are interesting activities that I love to do regularly. Getting an A grade is my goal in

this university and I am trying to achieve it, so I will do my best and strive in all

courses. Finally, I gave to me 15 minutes to write what in my mind and they will

finish now, so I will end them with a smile on my face as I am really happy because I

wrote anything that came in my mind and I have an optimistic outlook as I feel that I

will spend good time during this semester in Rhet 101. Thanks Mr. Michael because

you gave me today an effective impression about this class and I really loved it from

the first second .

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Free writing 2

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Free writing 3

Politics

Really, I am very depressed because of the current events in Egypt. From few days,

there were elections for the new president, but really I am ashamed of what happened.

Also, I think there is still corruption in Egypt as Shafiq and Morsy topped the results

although a lot of Egyptians want Hamdeen and Abou el Fottoh. And now on the

facebook, people make me confused because of their discussions about Hamdeen that

he betrayed all of us and he doesnot care about us. Only his ambition is to reach the

presidency. Nowadays, Shafiq is trying to persuade us that he is a trusted man, but I

cannot believe him because what happened when he was the prime minister and the

camel event. Also, I am against muslims brotherhood as they took islamic religion as

a way to reach power and they use the ignorance of people in order to win. Politics is

really a controversial topic as there are a lot of perspectives. And now I am really

disappointed and I begin to lose the hope as the problem is with Egyptians not with

the presidential candidates .

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Free writing 4&5

Request

Dad, will you hang out this weekend? I know you will not as usual. Dad, as you know

I am taking summer semester and it is so hard and I want to take a break. My friends

suggest going to the beach this weekend to be able to continue this semester with fun,

but we need a car and I know that you will not refuse my demand because you know I

am really tired and I need this break. Would you please give me your car and I swear I

will keep it, do not worry, please, please !

Response

Shorouk, how are you very tired and you went yesterday a birthday and you came

late? I think you do not need to take a break, but if I accept this time, this will be

because of your grades last semester, so I will give you the car as a gift, but I have

one condition, you will take it only one day and take care of it. And ask your mother

to give you her confirmation .

Free writing 6

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Analysis of myself

I know I have some good and bad qualities. Sometimes I hurt people by my hard

words. I am over honest and I do not know that is good or bad? With my friends, I

always tell them when they do anything that makes me angry even if it is a trivial

thing and with fool manner. But I have some good also, I appreciate friendship and

family and I cannot imagine that I can live without anyone of them. I am good in

caring about others and I am very loyal. I am ambitious but I am not doing the enough

efforts to achieve my goals and this exposes me to confusion sometimes .

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Free writing 7

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Free writing 8

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Free writing 9

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F

Collage

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e when this word crosses my mind. Free writing makes me feel stupid because I write

anything that comes in my mind which is always related to a trivial topic, but this is

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the enjoyment of free writing. It expresses my thoughts and feelings including my

inner desires like when I feel thirsty, I can write "I am thirsty, wait a second as I am

going to drink ". Nothing can stop my unlimited thoughts and no one can correct me.

It is so interesting to collect my previous garbage of free writing and play with them

in order to relate the topics with each other and put them in a nice order to get a

collage .

I am Shorouk, 18 years old. It is my first year at AUC.

My only ambition in life is getting declared in a major that has been my dream for a

long time which is engineering.

I am ambitious but I am not doing enough efforts to achieve my goals and this makes

me confused.

I am still confused about which specialization in engineering I should go for

architecture or petroleum.

Petroleum engineering is unacceptable for girls in Egypt.

There are many problems which we face in Egypt. Discrimination is a huge one of

them. Here in Egypt there is a difference between boys and girls.

But I want to prove myself.

And I am ambitious!

An A grade is my goal in this university and I am trying to achieve it.

And as you know I am taking summer course and it is so hard.

But I want to finish Engineering's requirements and English's levels.

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*********************

I have some good qualities in my personality; I appreciate friendship and I cannot

imagine my life without it.

Stability with friends is a crucial factor that I want to achieve during my life.

Unfortunately, people do not care about others. What are these horrible people?

No one can live without friends

And every day, one of flower's friends dies because of the neglecting from their

owners.

***********************

Every day, we are exposed to situations, discussions and feelings that have an

effective impact on us.

Now on facebook, people make me confused because of their discussions about

Hamdeen that he betrayed all of us and he does not care about us.

Politics is really a controversial topic as there are a lot of perspectives.

Everyone has the right to express his opinion even flowers.

Flower is a thing; I surely cannot know its feeling and thinking. It cannot speak, but

the most important thing I know that being as a flower will expose me to horrible

oppression.

************************

Many people here do not care about their education's degree as they feel that they will

not find a good job which suits their education's level after graduation.

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In Egypt, many people take perfect opportunities in work labor while they do not

deserve them because of corruption.

Also, I think there is corruption in Egypt as Shafiq and Morsy topped the presidential

race although a lot of Egyptians voted for Hamdeen and Abou el Fottoh.

************************

And now I cannot find other related words or sentences, so I will end up this collage

and that is it.

Summary

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Article Name: In their Own words: Egyptian presidential candidates

Morsi and Shafiq.

We do not know how everyone will govern if he elected, so we will observe every

candidate's statements about the crucial issues.

Regional peace:

Morsi: he did not agree with the treaty between Sadat and Israel in 1979, but now as a

party president, he will respect the relation between Israel and Egypt, but by reducing

violence and he will teach Israel that peace is action and in reality.

Shafiq: he objects Israel's current actions, but he honors all past agreements and he

does not matter if he visits Israel like Sadat.

Status of women and religious minorities:

Morsi: Women have a right to freely choose the attire that suits them.

There will be no rebirth for Egypt except through Islamic sharia.

Shafiq: the president will be a team not an individual, and the president will have

deputies from various Egyptian communities (Christian deputy and woman deputy).

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My comments

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Draft 1

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Draft 2

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Draft 3

Shorouk kandil

Rhet 101-02

Instructor: Gibson

Assignment 2

26 June 2012

Finally, Egyptians have a Word!

“To whom did you give your vote?” this is a question that everyone has been

asking in the Egyptian streets during the last 5 days, but now we got the results and

Morsi topped them, so this is the time to come to people’s reactions. Some people are

depressed because they are afraid of Muslim brotherhood and others are very happy

and are celebrating in Tahrir square. And there are another number of people who do

not care about the results as they thought even if Shafiq or Morsi won, they would not

be satisfied. Although there are different perspectives, there is a consensus that Egypt

is changing! We spent 30 years ruled by one person under oppression, restriction, and

lack of freedom. And now we used our personal identification and we chose among

many different presidential candidates and we elected. This is incredible! In

Mubarak’s regime, there were no options; Mubarak was the only person in the

presidential race and even if you did not go to vote for him, they would vote for you

as they cared about your comfort .

From 4 days, I read two articles about the presidential elections. The first one

was “In their words: Egyptian presidential candidates Morsi and Shafiq” from

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Washington institute made by Katie Kiraly and it outlines statements from the 2

candidates about their opinions about some crucial topics. The second article was

“Egypt: Muslim brotherhood supporters rejoice in election victory” from Telegraph

article and it covers the Egyptians streets now and how some people are very happy

because of the results. It is so important to analyze the two articles and discover the

reasons and the outcomes of the elections results.

Morsi and Shafiq gave us their opinions when they were asked about women

status and religious minorities which are essential topics.

Morsi: "Women have a right to freely choose the attire that suits them." (Associated Press,

May 29, 2012) (Kiraly)

The reason why Morsi said this statement is that he wants to gain women's votes

and wants to persuade women that what some people say about his restriction is wrong.

However, some women did not believe this statement because they get convinced from all

discussions they heard that Morsi will force them to be veiled and will limit their attire and

so on. The problem is politics, not our attire! Many people over concentrate in this topic

although it is not the main point that we have to discuss. Politics in this case is not related to

attire. A successful president is that person who is able to control and represent us and can

protect 25 January revolution and continue its demands, not who will limit or not our attire.

Unfortunately, the media is the reason of this negative thinking as every interview with any

candidate from Muslim brotherhood, this topic is opened in order to brainwashing people's

minds and to persuade people that Muslim brotherhood is bad and will control our freedom,

so people will hate them and that what SCAF want because Muslim brotherhood are against

them and against the old regime.

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Morsi: "There will be no rebirth for Egypt except through Islamic sharia." (Egypt TV

25, May 13, 2012) (Kiraly)

Morsi said this statement because he totally respects Islamic sharia and he is

convinced that we have to apply it as it is also stated in the Egyptian constitution. And

according to him, Islamic sharia is God's right on earth and absolutely, all people

want to apply God's right. Many Christians may disagree with this statement as they

think if we apply Islamic sharia, they will be limited and will not be able to express

their opinions in their country, but Muslims replied by why Christians said that; this

will never happen as if the president sincerely applies Islamic sharia, he will never

manipulate them as Islam is the religion of tolerance. On the other hand, some

Christians are not afraid from this statement because they are convinced that all

religions are sent from God, so it will not be different applying Islamic sharia or

another one.

Shafiq: "The president will be a team and not an individual, and the president will

have deputies from various Egyptian [communities], and I will attempt to appoint a

Christian deputy and a woman deputy." (Official campaign statement, May 20, 2012)

(Kiraly)

Shafiq said this statement as he wanted to show people that he appreciates

Christians and wants to give them their opportunity in this country. And as a result of

this statement, many Christians voted for Shafiq because he would respect them and

because they also think that Morsi is not a good president as he takes his religion as a

way to reach power, so they said that they would never stand for one betrayed people

and used their ignorance to win. When I was following TV during the last elections,

many Christians admitted that they voted for the same candidate they voted for in the

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first round, so many people got sure that many Christians voted for Shafiq as they

think the same candidate would never be Morsi as many Christians are afraid of him

because he may be strict in applying Islamic beliefs. Also, in the first round of

elections, there were a lot of different candidates (Hamdeen and Amr Mosa) who are

not that strict, so many Christians would never vote for Morsi and this is evidence that

many Christians voted for Shafiq. Also, the decision of appointing a woman deputy

gives Shafiq a lot of women's votes as they feel that he will break down the block of

discrimination and give them their rights. And women who are afraid of Morsi and his

limits that people said about him gave Shafiq their votes in the second round.

Shafiq: "It is a Christian's right to gain his opportunity in society based upon his

efficiency and not be subjected to persecution and ineligibility based on his religion.

This must apply to all Egyptians." (Official campaign statement, May 19, 2012)

(Kiraly)

Shafiq said this statement as he is convinced that all Egyptians even Muslims

or Christians are equal and most of them respect this equality. And this statement puts

Shafiq in a good position among Muslims and Christians. Some Muslims respected

Shafiq and voted for him as they think that Shafiq would bring down discrimination

between Muslims and Christians and that will influence effectively on the country as

it will have an effective impact socially; it will reduce sectarian strife and this will

improve the economic system as our country will be safe, so all business men will not

be afraid to come Egypt and participate their work and safety will affect effectively on

the stock market, so we will prosper economically.

Other statements that have an influence on people is that when I was watching

Egypt elects the president program on CBC with Khairy Ramdan during the

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presidential race, there was an interview with Shafiq and he told Ramdan in the

program that he is able to return security within 24 hours if he wins and then Ramdan

asked him why he did not do this when he was a prime minister, he surprisingly

replied without any hesitation "I took this position for only one month". As if the

month does not include 24 hours! Some people thought that Shafiq cannot represent

them as he does not grasp what he is saying! Others neglect these statements and

voted for Shafiq as they are convinced that he sincerely can return safety within 24

hours as he is a part of the old regime and knows the keys of safety and he is a

military man who can co-operate with SCAF to secure this country.

After we are exposed to discussions with our friends and families and we

listen and read about each candidate's program, the votes for each of them were equal

until the SCAF took their decision to dissolve the parliament. This decision forced

people who decided to boycott the elections to go and vote for Morsi as SCAF proved

that they want Shafiq president and many people do not want SCAF manipulate them.

And another reason why Morsi topped the results is that people who did not want to

give their vote to Morsi as Muslim brotherhood would take the parliament and the

presidency, they voted for Morsi after dissolving the parliament as Muslim

brotherhood would take only the presidency. And now many people are happy.

Mohamed Al-zikki, one of Morsi supporters, expressed his happiness when he was in

Tahrir square celebrating and said that;

"Thank God, today, with the election of Dr Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian

people, with popular support as the first civilian president, we are now saying that we

have escaped military rule". (Egypt: Muslim brotherhood supporters rejoice in

election victory)

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It is right that it is the first time for Egyptians to elect the candidate that they

want and to have a word. And many people are very happy as there was no forgery in

the last elections as if there was a forgery, Shafiq would win as SCAF wanted one

from the old regime to protect their authority. The sentence from Al-zikki "we have

escaped military rule" may some people disagree with it as the SCAF put laws which

give them power to manipulate us. And although some people are not fully satisfied

with Morsi, they are not angry because they feel that there was no counterfeit in the

elections and they saw many people like Al-zikki happy and celebrating owing to the

results. And now the majority of people hope that Morsi shows his responsibility and

honesty and proves that he really cares about this country.

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Works Cited

- Kiraly, Katie. "In their words: Egyptian presidential candidates Morsi and Shafiq".

) Washington institute .(15 June 2012.

- A writer. "Egypt: Muslim brotherhood supporters rejoice in election victory".

(The Telegraph). 18 June 2012.

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Draft 1

Shorouk Kandil

Rhet 101-02

Instructor: Gibson

Assignment 3

27 June 2012

Who are you?

No one is perfect! But everyone should search for perfection. We can

reach it by our success in work, studies, or stability with friends and family, so try to

find your available steps to perfection. Look at yourself and see it as a glass;

everything in it is obvious. Try to tell yourself what your truth is. See you are good or

bad. You are the best one who knows what your inner feelings, passions, and defects

are. You are the best one to introduce yourself and tell people who are you?

I am trying to search for my good and bad qualities in myself to tell

you who I am. I am not good in expressing myself to public and tell people I am good

in this and bad in this! But my ego always does this to my mind. If I do something

wrong, it becomes my enemy and on the other hand when I do something good, it

becomes my first motivator. All people know that their ego in their bodies, but I am

more special as I have ego in and out my body. And now, you are asking how this

person has two egos. Do not be worried, I will tell you. I have a normal ego in my

body, but also I have two egos not one outside my body which are my sister and my

best friend. I think they tell me my truth before my normal ego. They always

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encourage me when I do anything good and punish me if I do any mistake. You

know! The first thing I did when Mr. Michael told us analyze yourselves, I asked my

three egos "analyze me, tell me my good and bad ."

About social life, it is so normal. I over appreciate friendship because I

feel it is the only appetizer for life. Your friends motivate you to achieve your dreams

and they hold your hands and take you to happiness when you are in problem.

However, I cannot deny that sometimes they become displeased because of me as I

am over honest but with the wrong way. When I become annoyed from them or when

I feel that they do something wrong, I tell them but with the wrong manner that hurts

people! Why I do this! I do not know. May in this time I feel stressed that I may lose

them! Or may I did not use to talk to people with a good behavior or May because

they are very close to me, I do not make limits between us and concentrate on my

behavior because they will surely understand me and my anger. And about my

relationship with family, it is so good nowadays. I did not use to talk with my mother

about my problems and my life, but now I do. I think this is because I feel that I am

not doing anything wrong now that I am afraid to tell her about or may with every

year I grow up, I begin to know the importance of family, or during the last three

years, I was teenager, and I wanted to be more independent in my life, but now I am

not. However, I feel sorry for my mother; I should have been close to her from my

childhood .

And about the academic life, it is balanced between good and bad. I

am ambitious, but I am not doing enough efforts. Fortunately, I get what I want with

little efforts like my last semester GPA. I got high GBA, but I think it is because I

loved the subjects that I was taking and they have been my favorite subjects for a long

time. And I am planning to get declared in Engineering because of those subjects. I

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am still confused about which specialization in engineering I should go for

architecture or petroleum. May I do not decide yet because I have a problem in each

specialization; I am not good in drawing, so architecture will be so hard for me and

petroleum because of its work after graduation and many people advised me to avoid

petroleum. However, I want to do something special that is unacceptable for many

people like petroleum for girls in Egypt because this will help me in my career in the

future as the number of girls in petroleum field will be rare. Now I am changing! I

begin to do a lot of efforts to reach my goals and this may be because of my GPA that

becomes my motivator and I want to keep it high .

And there are a lot of other qualities that I do not know why I have

them. I always expect the best from my friends and that sometimes has a negative

influence on me because when I imagine that something will happen, and nothing

occurs, I become depressed and that damages me more like when I imagine that one

of my friends will surprise me in my birthday and she does not come, it hurts me more

as I was waiting for this action. May I do this because I am a person that hopes to get

the appreciation from people who I appreciate? Or may I over imagine; I do not know.

Also, I love doing things in the last minutes and sometimes I regret because I may

forget something, but it also happens again and again and I cannot stop this habit. I

think this occurs because I am convinced that the best paper, style, or anything else

occurs in the last minute or may it occur because it becomes a routine that I can never

get rid of it.

At the beginning of this paper, I imagined that I would not be able to

recognize habits, feelings, and actions that I do them spontaneously without knowing

why I do these! But now I discover that there are a lot of things that I can analyze in

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my life. Every minute we spent in our life in doing anything can be analyzed, but

unfortunately there will not be enough paper to do this !

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Draft 2

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Additional draft

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Final draft

Shorouk Kandil

Rhet 101-02

Instructor: Gibson

Assignment 3

3 July 2012

Relationships Complete Me!

Let me try to explain my social life to you. I deeply appreciate friendship

because I feel it gives flavor to my life. My friends motivate me to fulfill my

ambitions and they hold my hands and make me laugh when I feel down. However, I

cannot deny that sometimes they become disappointed because of me as I am very

honest. When they exasperate me, I tell them but in a harsh manner that might hurt

them. The reason for this harsh behavior is that at this instant, I start imagining why

they do this to me. And these imaginings are always negative, so I cannot talk to them

as usual! Why am I doing this? I do not know. Maybe because I feel stressed at that

time; I fear losing them. I cannot handle the situation with my worry and manipulate

my negative thoughts. Or maybe because they are very close to me, I cannot be

formal with them. And I want to be honest and tell them about my real feelings. I

assume that they will surely understand me. However, I should stop using this harsh

manner as I may lose my best friends because of it. Thus, I will try to control my over

imaginations and my anger .

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Also, I always expect the best from my friends. In other words, I keep waiting

for things to happen, and when nothing occurs, I feel depressed and that damages me.

For example, when I expect that one of my friends will surprise me on my birthday

and she does not come, it hurts me more as she did not meet my expectation. Is that

because I am a person that hopes to get the appreciation from people whom I value?

But I must change this habit if I have it. I must not wait for the feelings that I gave as

when I appreciate someone, it is because I love him/her not because I want the

appreciation back. Another possible reason is that I am an over demanding person that

always wants more. Maybe nothing can make me satisfied as I want everything to be

perfect. I think when everything becomes perfect; I will not face any problem or fear

anything. And to avoid this habit, I should feel satisfied with what I am having now

and never think in the past and tell myself "I wish that happened and that also

happened". When I do this and only live for the present, I will feel that my life is

perfect .

I easily forgive my friends, but tolerance sometimes is good and sometimes is

bad. Maybe I do this because it is a quality in my personality that I was born with. I

remember everything good they did for me and that makes me appreciate and forgive

them. For example, when one of my friends asks me to accept his/her apology or

excuse, I tell myself "it is just one mistake and they did a lot for me". However, this

may have negative influence. When they do not receive any strong reaction from me,

they might repeat the mistake again and again and that hurts me. On the other hand,

this may have an effective influence also. If I forgive them, they will appreciate me as

they will know that they are very special to me, so they will not repeat the mistake

again.

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Regarding my relationship with my family, it is very stable nowadays. I wasn't

used to talk with my mother about my life, but now I am. I assume this is because

now I feel that I am responsible enough to do what I want correctly, so my mother

trusts me. Before going to college, she used to treat me as a child that cannot do

anything on my own, but now she is sure that I am mature enough. Another reason

why I was not close to my mother that during the last three years, I was a teenager,

and I wanted to be more independent in my life, but now I am not and I begin to know

my mother's importance and value. However, I feel sorry as I should have been close

to her since my childhood .

"Treat people the way you want to be treated" is a quotation that sums up a

good relationship! I must apply it. If I want to be appreciated, I have to appreciate

others, but I should remember that if I am waiting for the appreciation back, I will not

get exactly what I want. Everyone has a different reaction that will never meet my

imagination, so I do not have to wait; I will make his/her appreciation a surprise for

me. I also should accept everyone from my friends or family as he/she is because no

one is perfect. No one is perfect! As a result, I will not look for perfection; I will look

for improvement that will help me to reach perfection step by step. I will improve

myself and will help my friends and family to meet this improvement too .

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Draft 1

Shorouk Kandil

Rhet 101-02

Instructor: Gibson

Assignment 4

4 July 2012

Codes under Dress!

Appearance stereotyping becomes a hazardous problem that all of us are

facing. Many people are guessing your personality from your clothing or your

appearance. If you are a girl and you are wearing cramped jeans or body, so you are

not a good girl! You are wearing this because you will meet your boy friend and do

something wrong or maybe their imaginations reach that you are a prostitute. If you

are bearded, so you are a terrorist and you are a violent man that wants to destroy

everything against his religion. Maybe the media is the reason why people stereotype!

Media persuades people that artists wearing cramped jeans are unethical and

prostitutes. Also, when any church is burned or there is any turbulence, the

interviewer asked the witness if the criminals are bearded or not? And he changes the

issue to religions. This makes a lot of people are convinced that all bearded men are

terrorists and so on. In addition, if you wear Nike or Adidas clothing, so you are very

rich and handsome as they are expensive brands. This idea makes a lot of people buy

these brands in order to attract people around not because they want to buy them. Also

stereotypes are applied to every boy wearing jewels. People think he is a gay and they

underestimate of him. However, this boy is free to do what he wants! No one has a

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right to storm his privacy. The reason why some people do these is that they are born

in a closed society that refuses any difference. A lot of people criticize any one

different as they were not taught that acceptance is a crucial quality that we have to

have. Our society also forces us to accept some ideas that are wrong but because we

used to apply them, we become believers in. Also, many people stereotype in order to

satisfy themselves. If they tell themselves "everyone does not like us is bad", they will

increase their ego because they are the best. There is another reason why people

stereotype. People stereotype because of their experience. For example, I know a

veiled girl that is wearing veil in her normal life with family, but she takes it off when

she hangs out with her friends and she meets boys and so on. This may make me

convinced that all veiled women are unethical and they wear this veil because they

want to do something wrong not because they want to satisfy God.

Tolerance is the only solution for this issue. Many people think that when they

accept other appearances, opinions, or differences, the world will become safer. There

will not be violence against every difference. And every religion tells us to accept, so

why we do not follow? And the quote of "treat people the way you want to be

treated" teaches us acceptance because when we apply it, we will appreciate and

respect all people as we will take this appreciation and respect back to ourselves .

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Draft 2

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Final draft

Shorouk Kandil

Rhet 101-02

Instructor: Gibson

Assignment 4

10 July 2012

Do not Judge a Book by its Cover!

Why do people stereotype others by their appearance? Maybe the

reason is that they live in a strict society that limits them with confirmative

ideas. Every boy or girl has the same attire or appearance and any one

different should be criticized. Is the reason our society or ourselves? Yes,

Egypt is a strict society, but many Egyptians accept it and accept its

manipulations in appearance. Maybe they accept it as it will serve their

psychological needs. They stereotype as they want to satisfy themselves. If

they criticize other people that differ from them, they will feel that they are

superior. This superiority will help in increasing their egos and self-

confidence. And most people want to be more self confident. It is a natural

passion. And another possible need that makes them stereotype is that

stereotyping hides their admirations. When they like unusual style of a boy or

a girl, but they cannot take the step to imitate them, they begin to stereotype.

This is because they want to hate this style as they are not capable to do it.

Why they are not capable! The reason is that they are afraid of difference.

They know that difference in Egypt is a bad quality that all people criticize.

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And this is out of ignorance! Unfortunately, many Egyptians are likely

dependent on Egyptian Media and they only build their knowledge according

to it. They believe anything from it as they are ignorant. And this Media

distorts the picture of any difference. For example, it shows that any boy with

earrings is gay. And the reason why Media does this is that people involved in

its field think anything different will negatively affect Egyptian traditions and

manners. And this difference will make Egyptians forget their original

standards and make them with bad qualities and thinking. Thus, they think that

difference is deviation and they try to show Egyptians this by their ways.

Also, there are other reasons for appearance stereotyping that are not related to

our society or our psychological needs. For example, when people see a

bearded man, they think that he is a terrorist. Sincerely, there are some

bearded men that are terrorists, but unfortunately people generalize. Maybe

people stereotype in this previous example because of Media. Unfortunately,

Media distorts the picture of bearded men. Media persuades people that these

men are terrible. Any bearded man is making a terrorist role in cinema. "El

Erhabi" or "The terrorist" movie by the actor "Adel Emam" is a good example

of this point as Emam was a bearded man who was a terrorist. Why does

Media do this? Maybe it just takes orders from the government to make people

afraid. And when people become afraid, they will not concentrate on the

governmental regime and so on and this is good for the government as there is

a corruption in its regime. I do not know the reason why media does this

exactly as it is still vague. Another example is when people see a woman

wearing a Nekab, they think that she is unethical and she wears this Nekab

because she wants to do something wrong in secret not because she wants to

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satisfy God or follow her religion. The reason why people stereotype these

types of appearance is their experience. For example, I know a girl wearing a

Nekab in her normal life with family, but she takes it off when she hangs out

with her friends and she meets boys and so on. That might make me convinced

that all women wearing a Nekab are the same. Our experience plays a big role

in stereotyping as we use it to guess who is good and who is bad. And there is

no reason for this as we do it spontaneously. We are exposed to a lot of

situations to make an experience that will help us in our life, but in appearance

stereotyping, our experience may help us and may not as it might be wrong.

Why do not we go and discover people around? And know their personality by

their actions not by their appearance. We have to take time to talk to all people

and discover them exactly. We must not stereotype them by their appearance

and take an opinion about them by our first impression. At the end, we might

know that our first impression was wrong and led us to painful ending. The

reason is that appearance or clothing cannot show people’s altitudes! They are

only covers for people’s bodies. The person that you trust from his appearance

might not meet your expectation. Also, we have to apply the quote of “Treat

people the way you want to be treated” as it teaches all of us acceptance.

When we apply it, we will appreciate and respect all different people as we

will take this appreciation and respect back .

My comments before editing

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First changes in analysis 3

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Final Changes in analysis 3

Shorouk Kandil

Rhet 101-02

Instructor: Gibson

Editing for assignment 4

17 July 2012

Sometimes it is not How I Look!

Why do people stereotype others by their appearance? Maybe the

reason is that they live in a conservative society that limits them with closed

minded ideas. Here in Egypt, we have been raised to see all boys have the

same attire while all girls have the same attire and we criticize anyone

different. Whose fault is it? Is it our fault or our society's fault? Yes, Egypt is a

conservative society, but many Egyptians accept it. Maybe they accept it as it

might serve their psychological needs. When they stereotype, they might

satisfy themselves. If they criticize other people who are different, they might

feel that they are superior. This superiority might help them satisfy their egos

and self-confidence. And most people want to be more self confident because

it is a natural passion. And another possible need that makes them stereotype

is that stereotyping hides their weakness. When they like a unique style of

clothing of a boy or a girl, but they cannot take the step to imitate them, they

begin to stereotype. This is because they want to reject this style as they are

not capable of copying it. Why are not they capable? The reason is that they

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are afraid of being different. They know that being different in Egypt is being

weird .

Also, media has a big role in promoting stereotyping. Unfortunately,

many Egyptians are dependent on Egyptian media and they use it as a tool to

build their knowledge. As a result, they believe anything shown in it. This is

done out of ignorance because they have lack of information about other

cultures. Thus, they only open their minds for their local media. Truly, most

Egyptian media’s sources shows that any difference is wrong. For example,

they might show that any boy with earrings is gay. And the reason why media

does this is that media people think that anything different will negatively

affect Egyptian traditions and manners. And this difference will make

Egyptians forget their origins and make them acquire bad qualities and

thoughts. Thus, they think that difference is deviation and they try to show this

in the movies, the soap operas, the ads, and so on .

Also, media might misrepresent some real types of Egyptians for

political reasons. For example, it might show that any bearded man is a

terrorist. As a result, many Egyptians are sure that all bearded men are terrible,

nowadays. Lots of bearded men play terrorists’ roles in cinema. "El Erhabi" or

"The Terrorist" movie by the actor Adel Emam is a good example of this point

as Emam was a bearded man who was a terrorist. And why is the reason

related to politics? This is maybe because media just takes orders from the

government. The government might want to make people afraid because when

people become afraid, they will not concentrate on the governmental regime

and so on. And this is good for the government because there is a corruption in

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its regime, so this corruption will not be discovered because Egyptians are

very busy in discovering other dangerous issues like terrorism and so on.

On the other hand, stereotyping may meet our expectations and it may

be correct. Although I am against stereotyping, it may be based on facts. In

some cases, stereotyping depends on a real experience. Our experience plays a

big role in stereotyping as we use it to understand who we think is good and

who is bad. And there may be no reason for this, as we do it spontaneously.

For example, I know a girl wearing a Niqab in her normal life with family, but

she takes it off when she hangs out with her friends and she meets boys and so

on. That might make me convinced that all women wearing a Niqab are the

same. Also, some media misrepresent certain types of people as these people

are parts of reality and they exist. Thus, media people think that their roles are

to show people these examples. However, we should make a balance. We

should ask ourselves when we see anyone different “Is this person like the one

we know before or is this person like the one shown by the media”. We should

not stereotype without any thinking .

Why do we not go and discover people for ourselves? And know their

personality by their actions not by their appearance. We have to take time to

talk to all people and get to know them and their personalities exactly. We

must not stereotype them by their appearance and form an opinion about them

by our first impression. At the end, we might know that our first impression

was wrong and led us to painful ending. The reason is that appearance or

clothing cannot show people’s attitudes! They are only covers of people’s

bodies. The person that you trust because of his appearance might not meet

your expectation. Also, we have to apply the quote of “Treat people the way

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you want to be treated” as it teaches all of us acceptance. When we apply it,

we will appreciate and respect all different people as this appreciation and

respect will be returned .

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Class Notes and Work

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Boat

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Documents

Rhet 101 Portfolio