Paper 1 HL Practice

Text 1

From 'Cranes'

Jennifer Ackerman 

National Geographic 

2004

From a blind overlooking the wetlands of central Wisconsin, I can see a long-legged bird in the distance, a stroke of white curled at the top, like a bright question mark against the emerald green grasses. Then up pops another from the screen of reeds. The birds are yearlings, five feet tall, with snow-white plumage and elegant black wing tips that spread like fingers when they fly. They’re quiet now, but from the long trachea coiled in their breastbones may come a wild, singing whoop, harsh and thrilling, that gives their tribe its name.

This would be a primordial scene – big sky, undulations of tall marsh grasses, wild whooping cranes – were it not for a penned area nearby, where several whooper chicks, well camouflaged in tawny feathers, forage in the shallows. In a whisper, crane biologist Richard Urbanek explains that these chicks have been raised in captivity but have never heard a human voice nor seen a human form, except in crane costume. As part of an experimental program to reintroduce a wild migratory population of whooping cranes to the eastern half of North America, these chicks have been fed and tended by crane-costumed people for two months. Now, before they are released to the wild, they are being taught the habits of their ancestors with modern techniques pioneered by Operation Migration, an organization devoted to helping endangered birds learn their traditional migratory routes. Near the pen is a long stretch of open grass, a runway, where the chicks are learning to fly behind an ultralight plane flown by a pilot in crane costume who will guide them from this refuge 1,200 miles south across seven states to wintering grounds in Florida.

Two cohorts have already made such trips – and returned on their own, the first whooping cranes in perhaps more than a century to fly freely over the eastern United States. After three years of ultralight-led migrations, the new eastern migratory population numbers 36 birds, including the yearlings and the chicks. The success of this effort is leading the way for a more ambitious project half a world away in the northern reaches of Russia. In the fall of next year an international migratory route, from Russia to Iran, will restore the birds’ knowledge of the ancient flyway – not with ultralights but with hang gliders that will soar a difficult path extending more than 3,000 miles over four different countries.

Hang glider pilot Angelo d’Arrigo leads a trio of young captive-bred Siberian cranes on a trial flight over the Arctic Circle in Siberia – part of an ambitious effort to teach the endangered birds the migration route of their ancestors from Russia to Iran.

Text 2

'To a Waterfowl' 

William Cullen Bryant 

1815

Whither, 'midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,

Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue

          Thy solitary way?

          Vainly the fowler’s eye

Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong,

As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,

          Thy figure floats along.

          Seek’st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,

Or where the rocking billows rise and sink

          On the chaféd ocean side?

          There is a Power, whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,—

The desert and illimitable air

          Lone wandering, but not lost.

          All day thy wings have fanned,

At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;

Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,

          Though the dark night is near.

          And soon that toil shall end,

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,

And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,

          Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.

          Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart

Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,

          And shall not soon depart.

          He, who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

In the long way that I must trace alone,

          Will lead my steps aright.

Text	Audience	Purpose
1	Text 1 is very characteristic of a journalistic article for National Geographic, which targets nature-minded readers.In the second paragraph she then moves on to inform the reader of the organization that the text is about. Her diction here suggests that the intended audience is a more than average educated audience. “As part of an experimental program to reintroduce a wild migratory population of whooping cranes…” The words such as “reintroduce” and “migratory population” are not colloquial words used in every day speech implying that the audience that is expected to read this must be highly educated and interested in birds as they are somewhat specific words to birds and their habits.	The article, however, is more centered on the idea of informing the reader. It’s starts off as very descriptive to catch the readers attention, “I can see a long-legged bird in the distance, a stroke of white curled at the top, like a bright question mark against the emerald green grasses”. Ackerman continues to describe this scene she sees with riveting detail to peak the interest of the reader. In the second paragraph she then moves on to inform the reader of the organization that the text is about.
2	Text 2, on the other hand is characteristic of Romantic poetry from the 19th century, read by literary enthusiasts. We know that it is an ode through the use of poetic language, the title ‘To a Waterfowl’, the use of rhyming quatrains and apostrophe, (when a poet asks an object a question). These qualities require readers to hear the spoken word, and therefore the audience is most likely interested in its literary qualities. The title of the poem suggests that the poet, Bryant, is talking to the bird in his poem rather than addressing his actual audience, “All day thy wings have fanned”. This is backed up by how the poem is written in second person, Bryant continues to directly talk to the bird addressing it as “you”.	Whereas birds learn from people in remarkable ways in Text 1, the poet, William Cullen Bryant learns a life ‘lesson’ (line 26) from one bird in Text 2. The poet has written an ode to this waterfowl, who has taught him about the importance of solitude and steadfastness.  The author expresses his feelings to the reader through the flight of a crane. This allegory supports the underlyng theme.
Compare & Contrast	Both texts are very different in their purpose, as they come from different centuries and target different audiences.

Text	Content	Theme
1	In the article the writer explains how they are teaching the cranes , “… they are being taught the habits of there ancestors with modern techniques pioneered by Operation Migration, an organization devoted to helping endangered birds learns their traditional migratory routes.” An organization is dedicated to teaching birds about their traditional habits as displayed in this article.	Text 1 is built on the assumption that nature and the whooping crane must be preserved. Lines 24-27 describe a plan to “restore the birds’ knowledge of the ancient flyway.” The extreme measures that are taken to help these birds migrate, including the costumes, the reserves and the gliders, are never questioned in this article.
2	In the poem, however, it is the poet who feels as though he is taught a lesson, ” Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given,”. He expresses how he believes the waterfowl has taught him about God. He feels this way as the bird is following a migration route that it has never gone on before believing that it is a higher power showing the bird the way.	The message of Text 2 is also built on the premise that nature is important. The poet asks the crane why it pursues its solitary ways (line 4). Eventually he claims that the bird’s purpose is to guide him on his lonely path in life, as stated in the final stanza: “He who, from zone to zone, / Guides through the boundless sky they certain flight, / In the long way that I must tread alone, / Will lead my steps aright.” Its message is very characteristic of Romantic poetry: We can learn how to live through observing nature.
Compare & Contrast	Although the purposes and contexts of these texts are different, they comment on a similar theme: the importance of nature, the migration of birds and the lessons being taught to either the birds or the people on this subject. The article is about the people teaching the birds whereas the poem is about the bird teaching the person.

Text	Tone	Mood
1	As the whooping cranes in North America, it uses diction that is descriptive. The narrator seems to be hiding in the reeds or ‘emerald green grasses’ (line 3). This colorful choice of words indicates that she is enthralled by the natural elements around her. Words like ‘snow-white plumage’ and ‘elegant black wingtips that spread like fingertips’ are rather poetic. The effect of this descriptive language on the reader is both intriguing and sympathetic. As the interviewee whispers to the reporter, the reader becomes drawn in and concerned about the fate of the whooping crane.	The poetic language sketches an image in the reader’s mind that is quite romantic, rural and rustic. The journalistic nature of the article is almost sensationalist. There is something extraordinary about people wearing ‘crane costumes’ (line 11) who teach young cranes how to fly and migrate from an ‘ultralight plane’ (line 16). What’s more, the journalist explains that this practice is happening in Siberia as well.
2	Bryant makes use of descriptive language that engages the reader. Phrases like the ‘crimson sky’, the ‘abyss of heaven’ and the ‘chafed ocean side’,	The descriptive language paints an image in the reader’s mind and makes the text come to life.
Compare & Contrast	As the texts have a common theme, there are also similarities in their use of tone and mood.

Text	Style	Structure
1	Text 1 plays a clever trick on the reader. After a colorful attention grabber, in which the journalist describes the whooping crane in its habitat, the second paragraph explains that this ‘would be’ a primordial scene. She explains that the cranes are in fact in pens, which surprises the reader. Like the use of imagery, this structural device also has the effect of intriguing the reader. The reader wants to learn more about why the chicks have never heard a human voice (line10), why the humans wear crane costumes (line 11) and there is a runway for an ultralight plane (line 17). The facts follow, including the number of miles they fly, the number of birds that participate and the similar project in Siberia. This kind of structure is characteristic of a feature article. The stylistic devices in the article are not that broadly used, except for the beginning. This is quite common in scientific articles.
2	The structure of the poem is very different, but equally effective in its aim of creating sympathy for nature and birds. As mentioned the poem is an ode, where the poet praises the qualities of an object and finds inspiration in it. Furthermore there is a rhyming scheme and rhythm that are aesthetically appealing to the reader. The rhyming scheme in each quatrain is ABAB. For example the final word of line 1, ‘dew’, rhymes with the final word of line 3, ‘pursue’. Line 2, ‘day’, rhymes with line 4 ‘way’. This creates a sense of harmony and perfection that relates to the poet’s understanding of the waterfowl. Each line contains loose iambic feet, meaning there are unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables. There are three iambic feet in the first and last lines of each quatrain and five feet in the second and third lines of each quatrain, creating short-long-long-short pattern to each stanza. The effect of this pattern is that the reader feels a rocking sensation, which may relate to the steady flap of the bird’s wings or the poet’s pondering mood. This to adds to the aesthetic harmony and sense of perfection that the poet wants us to associate with nature.  The poem however starts off easy and slowly increases the dramatic flow as the hunter gets more and more dramatic until the crane’s death which then leads to this fade-out effect in the outro
Compare & Contrast	Both authors use structural devices to convince the reader of their cause.

Paper 1 HL Practice: Perfect Paper

Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for the cruise liner, "The Great White Fleet”. Coinciding with the age of colonialism, the advert attempts to persuade the American middle class to take an exotic trip to the Caribbean with their steamship company. Text 2, “Squatters Take On Developers”, is an article written in 2007 for the Miami Herald outlining how developers are exploiting the Caribbean for future tourism development and displacing squatters in the process. Using a post-colonial lens, the article attempts to persuade the audience to stand beside the squatters. While Text 1 and Text 2 do target common audiences and comment on similar themes, they differ in specific purpose and content due to their contrasting temporal setting and cultural values. This provides the reader with a colonial and post-colonial lens, respectively. As a result of this, both texts use stylistic features and literary devices differently, in order to achieve their purpose.

Both Text 1 and Text 2 target the literate and middle and upper class audience, despite being temporally disconnected. This is seen in Text 1, with the statement "Only First Class Passengers Carried" and the continuous tone of exclusivity. In Text 2, the article is placed in the "Business Monday" section of the "Miami Herald", a news agency. This indicates that the audience would have to be literate. The lower class would be uninterested in these matters, and it is most likely the the upper class would be the developers seeking to take over the Caribbean island. Contrary to their common audience, Text 1 and Text 2 differ in their specific purpose. The purpose of Text 1 is to persuade the target audience to buy their product, their summer cruise. This is seen through the various advertisement techniques used such as the 'bandwagon' technique, repetition of establishing Ethos and the selective omission of detailed facts such as the exact, numerical price. Using these techniques, they associate the product with exoticness, affluence and social status which becomes their main selling points. By extension, this Text reflects the cultural values held in America in the 1920s. Set in the peak age of Colonialism, this text reveals that Americans at this time exploited colonized land for consumerism. Colonized land was meant for entertainment rather than being an actual home. Furthermore, this was the social norm and something expected of the higher class. In contrast, the purpose of Text 2 is to raise awareness to their audience, on the issue of squatters vs. developers. This is achieved with use of graphic language and the extended imagery of colonialism in order to create an atmosphere of sympathy towards the squatters. By extension, this Text reflects the cultural values held in America in 2007. Viewed through a post-colonial lens, this texts reveals that Americans were more liberal and regarded colonialism as ethically wrong. Thus, although they differ in specific purposes, both Text 1 and Text 2 try to sell or reinforce an ideology that reflects the cultural values of their time. 

Text 1 and Text 2 are in opposition, in terms of content and due to their temporal setting and their cultural values. However, both texts comment on a similar theme. Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for the cruise liner, "The Great White Fleet". The advert compromises of both visual and literary elements. It includes a map portraying the cruise's trajectory and destinations, a list of all the exotic destinations such as "Jamaica, Cuba, Panama Canal, etc.". The main written body is a persuasive description on the reasonable cost, the cool temperatures and the luxurious lifestyle provided. It concludes with a list of 3 addresses of their branches for bookings and a drawn illustration of wealthy people enjoying a cruise. The significance of all these elements will be further discussed in style and structure. On the other hand, Text 2 is an article written in 2007 for the Miami Herald describing how developers are coming to these Caribbean islands to purchase the beach front for future tourism development. The article specifically focuses on the squatters living there and the eviction they are facing. While they do differ in content, they comment on a similar theme. Both texts are placed in the Caribbean and both address the opportunities there, particularly tourism. Text 1 brands these places as exotic in order to sell their product. Conversely, Text 2 persuades that these homes should not be considered as holiday spots. Subsequently, Text 1 glorifies the lifestyle resulting from colonialism for economic gain while Text 2 unveils the injustice squatters face as a result of developers placing economic cost of future tourism over the human cost of exploiting the fringes of our society. They share a common topic but are oppositional in regards to perspective with Text 1 seen through a colonial lens and Text 2 seen from a post-colonial lens.

As a result of their distinctive purposes, Text 1 and Text 2 use tone to create contrasting moods in order to sell or reinforce their ideology. In Text 1, the author uses descriptive and persuasive language in order to create a mood of exclusivity and exoticness. With the statement "Only First Class Passengers Carried". The tone of this phrase alludes to a certain exclusivity to the product being sold. In doing so, it becomes more effective in its persuasion using the 'bandwagon' technique. In targeting the social elite, the advert marginalizes and excludes the middle class. Consequently, the product becomes associated with social standing and makes the excluded group crave the product in order to achieve this social status. This is further enforced through the bold and enlarged subtitle "Reduced Rates For Summer Cruises" and the use of language such as "The Coolest Ships Afloat". The reasonable prices makes the product more attractive to the target audience and the middle class lingo makes it more relatable. In Text 2, the author uses graphic language in order to create an atmosphere of pity and sympathy for the squatters and cultivates a dislike towards the developers using language that stirs up imagery of colonization. The author starts by using very descriptive and graphic language to create an image for the audience that moves us to empathize with the squatters. The author associates the developers with imagery of colonization with language such as "Indigenous, displace, charges of "colonialism" and "Developers and speculators will use any means necessary to get the land from the people."". This implied bias by spin where the reporter's selective manipulation of the facts and tone, makes one side's perspective look better. In this case, it further gains empathy for the squatters. Hence, Text 1 and Text 2 oppose each other in terms of tone and mood. 

Due to their contrast in purposes, the stylistic and structural features differ greatly between Text 1 and Text 2. Despite this, there are similarities due to the fact that both texts aim to persuade their common target audience. For instance, both texts largely rely on imagery, diction and exploit their text type to the brim. Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for a cruise. It compromises of a large and bold title,”The Great White Fleet” with a subheading in italics “Only First Class Passengers Carried”. As mentioned previously, the phrase below the title exudes an atmosphere of exclusivity to the product. “The Great White Fleet” is a popular nickname for a US Navy Battle Fleet. Using this name, established Ethos and a sense of patriotism. This is further enforced by the word “White” being in white in contrast to the black background. We can assume that the intended audience is Caucasian. Furthermore, if we look at this from a post-colonial lens, we see that this advert informs us about the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer in the Caribbean. The use of a parallel name that alludes to the militia emphasizes the colonizer’s victory in conquering the Caribbean. Furthermore, the emphasis on the “White” informs us that superiority was determined by skin color. Anything other than white was deemed inferior and as “Other”, consequently, marginalizing and oppressing this group. The advert compromises of both visual and literary elements. It includes a map portraying the cruise's trajectory and destinations.” This map suggests that the audience may not be familiar with the geography. Through this, we see that the advert further emphasizes the ‘exoticness’ as it suggests to the audience that this cruise will go somewhere different, a place not like home. This aspect of the advert is both informative and used as a means of selling the product. The main written body is framed using the map above and the picture below, thereby giving it more focus and an overall balance to the composition. It compromises of a persuasive description on the reasonable cost, the cool temperatures and the luxurious lifestyle provided.  The bold and enlarged subtitle "Reduced Rates For Summer Cruises” makes the product more appealing to the targeted audience through reasonable prices. Below, is a list of all the exotic destinations such as "Jamaica, Cuba, Panama Canal, etc. In bold, they reinforce the product’s selling point of exoticness. “Sailings, every week, from New York, Boston and New Orleans”. This highlights the accessibility of the cruise ships. Furthermore, serving from top capitals only, emphasizes the exclusivity of this cruise. “It is cool in… much cooler than”. This use of language puts themselves in a position of superiority over any other holiday destinations. Using an empty claim such as “Official temperature records prove this”, established ethos. The author also uses manipulation of facts through word choice. This is seen for instance in “The thermometer at Jamaica…seldom touches 88 degrees” where the author manipulates one fact to persuade the audience. The author then goes on to describe the luxurious lifestyle provided through glittering generalities such as “Built especially for tropic travel…Extra large staterooms…Cuisine noteworthy for its excellence”. This luxurious lifestyle is used as a selling point. The ambiguity of the description uses the audience’s subjectivity by allowing the individual to paint their own image in their head of their own desires and associate this with the product. It concludes with their company name in bold, a list of 3 addresses of their branches for bookings and a drawn illustration of wealthy people enjoying a cruise. By stating the company name and the addresses, it uses ethos to give it credibility. The illustration below puts women and men as very elegant and highlights their status using fashionable clothing. Using this illustration, allows the audience to visualize themselves in this position, thereby making the product more enticing and giving the advert an effective conclusion. 

Text 2 is a newspaper article in the Miami Herald in the Business Monday section. First of all, the bold title “SQUATTERS TAKE ON DEVELOPERS” immediately introduces the audience to the content of the article and pits the two groups against each other. This diction portrays the squatters not as aggressors, but rather as if they’re talking on a challenge and depicts them as courageous. In the “Author” section, it states “BENJAMIN SHORS Special to The Miami Herald”. By stating his status in the newspaper, the author establishes ethos and gives himself the credibility to talk about this issue. The first line, in capitals, sets the setting of the article immediately in “ISLA CARENERO, PANAMA”. Shors begins the article by describing the setting and the squatter group in this setting. He heavily relies on diction that has negative connotation such as “shacks”, “scavenged tin”, “rough floor planks” and “cracks”. This immediately paints a selective image in the reader’s mind and builds empathy for the squatters. The article uses a particular case study, Nicasio Jimenez, to further establish ethos and give support to the author’s argument. Shors emphasizes the fact Jimenez earns specifically. $1 an hour, a despicable minimum wage. This punctuates the overall atmosphere of poverty. The alliteration in “Panamas poorest residents” makes it more memorable and the assonance provides weight and intensity to the phrase with its harsh p’s and o’s. While creating an atmosphere of sympathy for the squatters, Shors also highlights the Caribbean’s natural beauty with phrases such as “Caribbean breezes” and “stunning archipelago”. He then states that “foreign investment transforms these languid islands”. Consequently, he portrays the developers as not only colonizers to the people but also to the land itself. Shors uses testimony to appeal to the audience’s sense of pathos by eliciting empathy for a man losing his rights and his family facing eviction. In contrast to this, he casts doubt on the developers by his ambiguous diction with “developer who claims he bought the property from a third party”. He also uses direct quotes from one of the squatters in order to further establish ethos. In the next few paragraphs, Shors informs the audience more on the issue with historical context. While this may seem objective at first, Shors uses diction to view the issue from a post-colonial lens. In doing so, Shors is able to sway the audience to the side of the squatters by aligning himself in the morally right stance and the majority’s opinion. This diction is used throughout the article such as “Afro-Caribbean and indigenous Indians who occupy these once-isolated isles”, “threaten to displace hundreds”, “charges of “colonialism” ” and “Homes have mysteriously burned and been torn to the ground”. This is even seen with the facts. For instance, the statistic of $1 billion dollars the developers have, greatly contrasts the $1 wage of the squatter, cited earlier in the article. Shors ends the article with an endorsement from Osvaldo Jordan, an expert on the issue and part of “a Panamanian nonprofit” which contrasts with the ending sentence “developers and speculators will use any means necessary to get land from the people” which embodies a Machiavellian sense of the ends justify the means, where the ends mostly consist of profit. A strong distinction is seen in terms of the stylistic and structural features used in order to communicate their oppositional messages. Where Text 1 uses a combination of visual and literary elements, Text 2 relies on literary elements alone. Yet, both Texts use imagery, diction and the advantages of their text type in order to sell or reinforce their ideology. 

Both Text 1 and Text 2 target the literate, American middle and upper class and common on the Caribbean and its opportunities. Yet, they differ in content and purpose due to they contrasting temporal setting and cultural values. As a result of this, Text 1 is viewed with a colonial lens where it glorifies and sells the lifestyle resulting from colonialism for economic gain. On the other hand, Text 2 is viewed with a post-colonial lens, commenting on developers essentially ‘colonizing’ the Caribbean and displacing the squatters. Due to this contrast, both texts use use stylistic features and literary devices differently. However, since they both try to persuade their audience there are some similarities such as diction, imagery and using the advantages of their text type. 

Paper 1 Practice: Comparative

• 
  
  Introduction:
  
  
  1st Point: Audience and Purpose
  
  
  • Topic Sentence: 
  • Both Text 1 and Text 2 target the literate and middle class audience, despite being temporally separated. 
  • This is seen in Text 1, with the persuasive language and the use of the 'bandwagon' technique.
  • In Text 2, the article is placed in the "Business Monday" section of the "Miami Herald", a news agency. This indicates that the audience would have to be literate. The lower class would be uninterested in these matters, and it is most likely the the upper class would be the developers seeking to take over the Caribbean island. 
  • However, Text 1 and Text 2 contrast in their purposes.
  • The purpose of Text 1 is to persuade the target audience to buy their product, their summer cruise. This is seen through the various advertisement techniques used such as the 'bandwagon' technique, repetition of establishing Ethos and the selective omission of detailed facts such as the exact, numerical price. Using these techniques, they associate the product with exoticness, affluence and social status which becomes their main selling point.
  • The purpose of Text 2 is to raise awareness to their audience, on the issue of squatters vs. developers. This is seen throughout the entire article. 
  • However, they both try to sell and reinforce an ideology. 
  
  
  
  
  2nd Point: Content and Theme
  
  
  • Topic Sentence:
  • Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for the cruise liner, "The Great White Fleet". The advert compromises of both visual and literary elements. It includes a map portraying the cruise's trajectory and destinations, a list of all the exotic destinations such as "Jamaica, Cuba, Panama Canal, etc.". The main written body is a persuasive description on the reasonable cost, the cool temperatures and the luxurious lifestyle provided. It concludes with a list of 3 addresses of their branches for bookings and a drawn illustration of wealthy people enjoying a cruise. The significance of all these elements will be further discussed in style and structure. 
  • Text 2 is an article written in 2007 for the Miami Herald describing how developers are coming to these Caribbean islands to purchase the beach front for future tourism development. The article specifically focuses on the squatters living there and the eviction they are facing. 
  • In terms of content and temporal, they are disconnected. However, when placed parallel to each other, they reveal a common  theme. 
  • Both texts are placed in the Caribbean and both address the opportunities there. Text 1 brands these places as exotic in order to sell their product. On the other hand, Text 2 persuades that these homes should not be considered as holiday spots.  In brief, Text 2 talks about the exploitation by tourists while Text 1 offers tourism in the Caribbean. 
  • These texts are viewed with a colonial and a post-colonial lens respectively. They share a common topic but are oppositional in regards to perspective. 
  
  
  3rd Point: Tone and Mood
  
  
  • Topic Sentence:
  • In Text 1, the author uses descriptive and persuasive language in order to create a mood of exclusivity and exoticness.
  • With the statement "Only First Class Passengers Carried". The tone of this phrase alludes to a certain exclusivity to the product being sold. In doing so, it becomes more effective in its persuasion using the 'bandwagon' technique. In targeting the social elite, the advert marginalizes and excludes the middle class. Consequently, the product becomes associated with social standing and makes the excluded group crave the product in order to achieve this social status. This is further enforced through the bold and enlarged subtitle "Reduced Rates For Summer Cruises" and the use of language such as "The Coolest Ships Afloat". The reasonable prices makes the product more attractive to the target audience and the middle class lingo makes it more relatable. 
  • In Text 2, the author uses graphic language in order to create an atmosphere of pity and sympathy for the squatters and cultivates a dislike towards the developers using language that stirs up imagery of colonization.
  • The author starts by using very descriptive and graphic language to create an image for the audience that moves us to empathize with the squatters. The author associates the developers with imagery of colonization with language such as "Indigenous, displace, charges of "colonialism" and "Developers and speculators will use any means necessary to get the land from the people."". This implied bias by spin where the reporter's selective manipulation of the facts and tone, makes one side's perspective look better. In this case, it further gains empathy for the squatters.
  
  
  4th Point: Style and Structure 
  
  
  • Topic Sentence:
  • Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for a cruise. It compromises of a large and bold title,”The Great White Fleet” with a subheading in italics “Only First Class Passengers Carried”. As mentioned previously, the phrase below the title exudes an atmosphere of exclusivity to the product. “The Great White Fleet” is a popular nickname for a US Navy Battle Fleet. Using this name, established Ethos and a sense of patriotism. This is further enforced by the word “White” being in white in contrast to the black background. We can assume that the intended audience is Caucasian. Furthermore, if we look at this from a post-colonial lens, we see that this advert informs us about the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer in the Caribbean. The use of a parallel name that alludes to the militia emphasizes the colonizer’s victory in conquering the Caribbean. Furthermore, the emphasis on the “White” informs us that superiority was determined by skin color. Anything other than white was deemed inferior and as “Other”, consequently, marginalizing and oppressing this group. The advert compromises of both visual and literary elements. It includes a map portraying the cruise's trajectory and destinations.” This map suggests that the audience may not be familiar with the geography. Through this, we see that the advert further emphasizes the ‘exoticness’ as it suggests to the audience that this cruise will go somewhere different, a place not like home. This aspect of the advert is both informative and used as a means of selling the product. The main written body is framed using the map above and the picture below, thereby giving it more focus and an overall balance to the composition. It compromises of a persuasive description on the reasonable cost, the cool temperatures and the luxurious lifestyle provided.  The bold and enlarged subtitle "Reduced Rates For Summer Cruises” makes the product more appealing to the targeted audience through reasonable prices. Below, is a list of all the exotic destinations such as "Jamaica, Cuba, Panama Canal, etc. In bold, they reinforce the product’s selling point of exoticness. “Sailings, every week, from New York, Boston and New Orleans”. This highlights the accessibility of the cruise ships. Furthermore, serving from top capitals only, emphasizes the exclusivity of this cruise. “It is cool in… much cooler than”. This use of language puts themselves in a position of superiority over any other holiday destinations. Using an empty claim such as “Official temperature records prove this”, established ethos. The author also uses manipulation of facts through word choice. This is seen for instance in “The thermometer at Jamaica…seldom touches 88 degrees” where the author manipulates one fact to persuade the audience. The author then goes on to describe the luxurious lifestyle provided through glittering generalities such as “Built especially for tropic travel…Extra large staterooms…Cuisine noteworthy for its excellence”. This luxurious lifestyle is used to 
  
  
  
  
   It concludes with a list of 3 addresses of their branches for bookings and a drawn illustration of wealthy people enjoying a cruise.
  
  
  
  
  Conclusion:
  
  
  
  
  
  

Rationale:

The Yin Yang in traditional and ancient Chinese medicine, good health is directly related to the balance between yin and yang in oneself. The Yin Yang is a universal symbol of balance nowadays. Using this as the central and lone icon for the poster puts emphasis on it. The use of the Yin Yang further emphasizes the importance of balance in life as it is a symbol and ideology that has been passed down and survived through generations/centuries. The background is white and simple. It does not distract the audience and it keeps the focus on the slogan and the Yin Yang. The white background and the black font parallels the Yin and Yang, consequently, emphasizing it yet again. The slogan “They knew it was the key. Why don’t we?” directly asks and interacts with the audience, making them question themselves and acting as a call to action. The slogan uses rhyme to further imprint itself in the audience’s mind.  

Rationale:

The tall cliff juxtaposed with the long and empty gap gives a sense of ‘nothing or all’ for the audience. It gives visual weight to the words “Rise High, Don’t Fall”. Mountains have long been a common visualization of the path to success. Juxtaposing the highest point with the potential for the long fall emphasizes the value of the words. It instills fear in the audience as it only allows space for two polarizing options. The top phrase "Balance enables Independence" uses rhyme and short length to further imprint itself in the audience's mind. 

Reflection on "Control Room: Propaganda of the Iraq War"

Prompt: It is acceptable for a government to try to shape public opinion through information campaigns.

Position: Disagree

The Iraq war is an appropriate example of how the same news can be reported with bias based on the different cultural and political ideologies of different media institutions. In my opinion, it is not acceptable for a government to try to shape public opinion through information campaigns. The government aims to shape the public opinion in order to gain public support by justifying their actions. However, it is something commonly done today, especially during the Iraq war. This is demonstrated in the documentary Control Room: Propaganda of the Iraq War. For instance, American media during the Iraq War almost never showed images of Iraqi civilian casualties, of American prisoners of war, or of American dead. Al Jazeera showed all of these things. Control Room might have raised questions about American media policies, how they have changed, what forces were at work in changing them, and what the consequences of such changes have been.
 The director highlights the controversy the film raises on the role of propaganda during the 2003 Iraq war. There is no narrator to provide an argument about the war. Rather, Control Room relies on the arguments made by its subjects and constructing the film by integrating behind-the-scenes of the media sources such as CentCom, the US central military command and the media hub in Doha, Qatar. This perspective reveals the struggle for power and control over creating and controlling the narrative of the war.

The film itself promotes an ethos by grounding in reasonableness and balance in opposition to bias with this didactic perspective. However, no matter how objective the director tries to be, there is still bias. Control Room repeatedly emphasizes how small Al Jazeera is compared to the might of the U.S. military. It sets up its audience to “root for the little guy.” The Al Jazeera staff members are hardworking and ordinary. They are overweight, balding, chain smoking, unglamorous. They seem particularly vulnerable as well. Thus, Control Room dramatizes the work of journalists in a war environment, thus framing them as heroes too.

Media Bias Pastiche

For this exercise, we were to identify a news article that contains bias towards a social or political issue and as a result displays a specific ideology. Then rewrite the article demonstrating the use of bias techniques from a different ideology. This is the article I have chosen to re-write: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/23/451208663/why-hurricane-patricia-cant-be-blamed-on-climate-change

Hurricane Patricia Undeniably Made Worse By Climate Change

Hurricane Patricia—now the strongest hurricane ever measured—is expected to make landfall in Mexico late Friday. According to the latest official forecast from the National Hurricane Center, Manzanillo, a city of 100,000 people, appears to be in Patricia’s direct path.

After seeing the incredible data gathered by hurricane hunter aircraft overnight, a few meteorologists have argued that Patricia could be thought of as a Category 7 hurricane—though the official Saffir-Simpson scale only goes up to 5. Here’s the official description of likely damage from a Category 5 hurricane—like 1992’s Andrew in Florida, and 2013’s Haiyan in the Philippines—suitable for your nightmares.
The original justification for cutting off the scale at 5 is that no human-built structure could withstand winds above its 155 mph threshold. So essentially there was no point in differentiating between storms once the winds were above 155. Right now, Patricia’s core winds are estimated to be 200 mph—with gusts to 250 mph—as strong as the tornado that destroyed Joplin, Missouri, in 2011, but at least 15 times larger in area. Patricia, at its current strength, is close to the theoretical maximum strength for a tropical cyclone on planet Earth. In fact, at one point on Friday morning, Patricia actually went above its maximum potential intensity.

How did Patricia get to be so strong? The answer, quite simply, involves human-caused climate change. Hurricane Patricia is exactly the kind of terrifying storm we can expect to see more frequently in the decades to come. Although there’s no way to know exactly how much climate change is a factor in Patricia’s explosive strengthening, it’s irresponsible, at this point, not to discuss it.

Scientists who study the link between hurricanes and climate change have long predicted, and debated, the trend of stronger tropical cyclones. The latest science seems to have settled on climate change boosting the frequency of the strongest hurricanes, even as total hurricane numbers may remain flat. Basically, storms like Patricia fit closely with these predictions, though they happen so infrequently that it’s almost impossible to definitively prove.

Even though it may not make sense from a wind speed perspective to create new hurricane categories, the fact that super hurricanes like Patricia may be becoming more common and that storm surge is a far deadlier threat anyway means that, from a public warning perspective, it may be time to revise the Saffir-Simpson scale. Patricia has made it clear: Climate change means we need a Category 6.

Practice IOC 2: Munro, Moons Of Jupiter

https://sites.google.com/site/eruditemedia/mp3

Practice IOC: Alice Munro, Boys and Girls

https://sites.google.com/site/eruditemedia/mp3?pli=1

Alice Munro and Women's Literature

These first few lessons of our senior year, reminded me why we study literature. Literature gives an insight into anything, it allows us to obtain a bigger and richer experience with the world. To me, it was always an act of empathy. Whenever I read, I've always imagined what it's like to be someone else. You suddenly have a fuller understanding of lives other than your own. We learn more about those around us, those who come before us and we learn more about ourselves. A quote that's always resonated with me and perfectly captured this is: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”― George R.R. Martin.

While discussing this with our peers, it proved to be a little more difficult than anticipated. There is no strict definition. There were questions such as: Is WL only for woman? Can men write WL? Does WL need to convey feminist messages? Firstly, we looked at how women should be classified as a social group since they've been marginalized and oppressed. For example, it wasn't until the 19th century that female authors were able to publish and even then, it was under a pen name. A lot of their works seemed to share their own personal experiences and struggles from the perspective of being a female specifically. This in turn relates to consciousness-raising, turning the personal into political. This created a new language of theory, one that had been previously been defined by the oppressors. So no, WL is not only for woman, but rather for anyone who reads it. Through immersing the readers into their memories, they are better able to understand their oppression and empathize with woman. In this light, you could argue that women's literature was a tool for feminism. However, Alice Munro herself does not identify as a feminist writer and yet she provides insight into life as a women. With the simplicity of raw truthfulness and subtle symbols, Munro has managed to create a story that allows the reader to converse with the characters and find a new viewpoint on the female identity. So no, WL does not need to convey feminist messages. 

Analytical Exercise

Commentary on Let It Go

Lyrics:

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight

Not a footprint to be seen

A kingdom of isolation,

And it looks like I'm the queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside

Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried!

Don't let them in, don't let them see

Be the good girl you always have to be

Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know

Well, now they know!

Let it go, let it go

Can't hold it back anymore

Let it go, let it go

Turn away and slam the door!

I don't care

What they're going to say

Let the storm rage on,

The cold never bothered me anyway!

It's funny how some distance

Makes everything seem small

And the fears that once controlled me

Can't get to me at all!

It's time to see what I can do

To test the limits and break through

No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm free!

Let it go, let it go

I am one with the wind and sky

Let it go, let it go

You'll never see me cry!

Here I stand

And here I'll stay

Let the storm rage on!

My power flurries through the air into the ground

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast

I'm never going back,

The past is in the past!

Let it go, let it go

When I'll rise like the break of dawn

Let it go, let it go

That perfect girl is gone!

Here I stand

In the light of day

Let the storm rage on,

The cold never bothered me anyway!

Let It Go is everywhere, and it’s not disappearing without a fight. It’s the main reason why the Frozen soundtrack has been the No 1 album in the US for nine weeks and counting – Beyoncé only managed three – and a significant reason why the film became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. It’s no mystery that Let It Go has become a sensation among our generation now.

Now although this song can be interpreted in many different ways, even as an LGBTQ anthem, I’ll be arguing why this song deserves to be in an anthology of the greatest songs of this century.

Let It Go mainly serves as an aperitif for adolescence. It’s a moment of transition and upheaval which conveys the giddy, reckless buzz of expressing yourself without considering the consequences.

The line "Let the storm rage on" is followed by "The cold never bothered me anyway" - a line worth remembering, as it's said twice, sung in a different style, and is the last line of the song. Now the “cold” could be applied to any problem an individual could be facing. It is a time where feelings are raw, unpredictable, terrifying and new. Elsa however was afraid of her lack of control of her powers and the resulting isolation from other people.

Note, how she turns around and slams shut the doors. This is her way of dealing with her problems. It is also similar to how a lot of adolescents shut people out and bottle their emotions in difficult situations, especially with their loved ones.

Another line in the song that's a self deception is when she says "You'll never see me cry". Both this line and "the cold never bothered me anyway" are the kind of things said by people who are trying to convince themselves. It is studded with the language of refusal: “not”, “couldn’t”, “can’t” (twice), “no” (three times), “never” (four) and “don’t” (five).

Lastly in the matter of lyrics, consider the title of the song itself, "Let It Go", which is sung repeatedly. What is she letting go of? It is obvious, that Elsa lets go all of her restraints, especially with her powers. This is the positive element in the song, and what most listeners unfortunately latch on to, to the exclusion of other elements. It is a jubilant celebration of release for those who have been living in fear or bondage.

But personal empowerment, though good, is fraught with danger, as indicated by the next line: "No right, no wrong, no rules for me” (an ode to moral relativism). She lets go of her sense of right and wrong, of the rules and restrictions that being a "good girl" imposed on her. Now obviously some of the rules may have been constraining but they were also for the safety of her and others. How much of that is she letting go? Only some specific rules? All of it? The entire concept of goodness?

Honestly, anyone could relate to this. In adolescence, it is inevitable when exploring and discovering oneself to have to question everything and take risks and to be confronted with such choices.Who hasn't felt that they could become more powerful if only they let go of other people and their restrictions and morality? Who hasn't felt that there is nothing they could do in certain helpless situations, powerless despite their abilities? And who hasn't felt their soul imperiled by these feelings?

Although I’ve interpreted as more of an aperitif to adolescence, I do believe that it applies to the entire human population, despite age. In the end, this song expresses the uncertainty we have with human nature. It expresses the confusing array of emotions that we’ve all felt when confronted, especially with power.Yes, the song is about empowerment, but there is also tragedy, anger, bitterness, and self-deception in it, in even greater measure. Even though it doesn’t convey an utopian ideal, it does something more. It expresses a phase which many of us have experienced since the beginning of our time, and it teaches us a lesson.