Try this mindfulness exercise! Find a comfortable seat, keeping your
back straight. Set a timer for one minute. Close your eyes and focus
on inhaling and exhaling, until the timer goes off. Then answer the
following questions
Describe your general mood. Do you feel any different from how you felt before?
How did you respond to wandering thoughts?
What was the most challenging part of the exercise?

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

the answer to the question is a

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).

pre-writing

why we feel good, or better, when we laugh?

is there a scientific explanation for this to happen?

which are the sources?

rough draft

laughter has a way of instantly connecting people and is one of the most basic and fundamental ways in which we communicate as human beings.

newport academy: endorphins reduce stress and strength social connections.

they combat anxiety and depression.

final draft

we know that when we laugh we feel better; when something is making us laugh it means we thought it was funny at some point, even if it was not meant that way. what we know is that it made us feel good. that is something we all can realize easily, but is it a chemical explanation for it to happen? of course there

according to joe bluett, laughter has a way of instantly connecting people and is one of the most basic and fundamental ways in which we communicate as human beings. also, he says that laughter can increase confidence, self-esteem, creativity, positivity and resilience, bringing positive changes to all aspects of our lives.

the newport academy says that, when we laugh, we release endorphins and that makes our body feel instantly relieved from tension and worry. endorphins also reduce stress and strength social connections.

therefor, laughter is the best to combat anxiety and depression.