Practice IOC

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2pgsUlNJpejYmQteGwwbHF2VUU

Wallace and Munro analysis

David Foster Wallace's commencement speech "This Is Water" is an extremely powerful text, that I have had the pleasure of reading. Wallace's ideas about the way we think have caused many people to check how they interact with the world around them. In This Is Water, Wallace states, that we as humans tend to think in a very dull and monotone way. Our lives are ruled by our personal emotions, gain, causing us to become trapped with ourselves. As a result of this, we tend to view the world purely as we see it in our first glance around, our instant emotional reaction to the situations that we are in results in a narrow and dissociated view of the world. Consequently, he proposes the idea that we must relearn to think. We as human beings must learn to re-examine the things around us, and consider different viewpoints, however unlikely. We must inspect our initial emotional reaction to our surroundings and ask, “What if this isn't the way that life is?" Because almost nothing is impossible. Wallace supplements this thinking with the example of a tired person in a supermarket, showing how they don't care about anybody else, and their interactions with others are just in their way. This then leads to a lot more of a discussion, where you would consider the person in front of you, and how they were doing, ultimately changing your perspective. Writers have recognized the importance of the emotional connection with the world around us for centuries. Alice Munro being one of them, her stories are plainly based on emotion and the real life experiences of the character. Rich characterization, plot development, and an outstanding view into the inner thoughts of a human character. However, it's not just the content and characters of her stories that seeks to persuade the reader to look outside their own perspective, it’s the base of her as writer that allows for such impactful texts, which aids in her choices for setting, characters, plot etc. Flashbacks to the past, narratives and anecdotes can be found throughout her stories, having meaning and emotion that positively forces the reader to reconsider what they already about the individuals they read about within her texts. With this, Munro can share all of her messages and ideals, as well as show us that we should question the societal norms, similar to Wallace’s way to relearn, this show a real connection between different writers, with both having you relearn your thought patterns to understand where they are coming from. 

Language and Government

Welcome back

During my summer break, I encountered something that I had forgotten about, that being the advertisement of politicians for the role of the president within South Africa. I had immediately noticed all of the posters that had been place around the cities, townships and urban areas, with all of them promoting a specific party. I began to analyse them, sort of like we did in the beginning of the year with the advertisements in Language and Media, almost immediately recognising the similarities between the posters and advertisements. The use of bright colours to project the poster forward, use of language, both simple and different a lot of the time, due to the country having eleven official languages. After applying what I had learnt in the beginning of the year, to that current situation, I discovered how they used the bright colours that stood out to attract people, used very simple language so that those who had not gained  a full or no education could understand and feel as if they were being looked after by the politicians and the government. Through this I was able to grasp a firm understanding of how the parties worked, with most aiming at gather their votes from the uneducated masses of South Africa, however others either focusing on the middle class, or a mix of both.

Further Understanding of the media

Welcome back to my blog, so far its been a great summer and here is something new I have learnt.

Over this summer break, I had signed up for a photography course, the main reason being to gain new skills for my IB Art course. Through this experience I had learned quite a few things about photography and its huge connection to the media, which has a huge effect on society. In the beginning of the year, my class began our study on language and media, which had become the favoured topic within our Lang and Lit class, due to how relatable it was to the students, both male and female. Through media, social norms, stereotypes have been established, such as gender roles, or society’s visual expectations of the sexes. After my course I now understand that it has become so easy to edit the images, we as the public are presented each day through the media. I had gained the knowledge on how specific angles and stances changed the outcome of a photo. The use of programs such as Photoshop and lightroom, exploited for their accuracy and detail for editing the photos and images. With these false images created they are able to project the ideals form by society with ease, as there is now a visual stimulation in front of the reader’s eyes. However, a new respect was formed as well, the skill that is needed for this has to be admired, along with the dedication that these men and women have for their work. I have learnt how and why these people do this, and why a little edit can enhance an image, however the modern media may have taken it too far. 

Never fully trust the media, for there will always be lies, but I'm sure you already know that 

Practice IOC

https://ia801502.us.archive.org/34/items/IOCPractice/IOC%20practice.mp3

Another Practice Thesis

Thesis: The significance of Achebe’s past can be seen throughout the novel, with the use of characters,

events, and culture all connect to the author and his upbringing.

Topic sentence 1: Characters are the most important tools for an author, however Achebe uses them for 

more than developing the plot, and he places his past and emotions into the characters, giving them life 

and depth.

Topic sentence 2: Due to Achebe being brought up as a Christian and Igbo, the conflict between these 

two cultures that he would have faced, can be seen within his novel.

Topic sentence 3: However it is the events which take place, where Achebe applies his personal history, 

and show what he had experienced through these happenings of the novel. 

Genders Influence (practice plan)

Thesis: 

Achebe takes full advantage of the Igbo cultures gender roles to further develop his novel and characters, which may be perceived differently, due to cultural differences between the audience of Things Fall Apart. 

Topic Sentences:

1.  Those of a Western audience may find this novel hard to "digest", as the actions of the Igbo people towards gender, may be scene as controversial by those not of this culture. 

2. Many Nigerians love Achebe's novel, as it is a more realistic take on how men and women would interact within that time period, and would not act against the gender inequality which takes place. 

3. However, comparing it to modern standards, all can agree that the gender roles that are used within Things Fall Apart are old practices, adding another layer of discussion to this theme.