Reflecting on the FOA

My Further Oral Activity was about how African-Americans are being stereotyped in the media through the use of advertisements. I showed how the languages of the advertisements are able to stereotype them as well as other key things such as images, facial expressions and colour.

I analyzed 3 advertisements, the first one being an ad from Maxwell House (famous coffee brand) produced in the 1950s, the second a Nivea ad produced in 2011 and the third being an ad from Elliots paint and tarnish promoting white paint which was produced in the 1930s.

In my presentation I feel like I did well in the criteria B which was analyzing how the language is used. As I was preparing for this presentation, I was always focused on this criteria and read the language of the ads word by word as I wanted to take away as much as possible from this criteria and score well in this category. Although overall aside from this criteria I feel pretty disappointed in my FOA performance as I feel like I did not do very well as I hoped for in criteria C and criteria D as I could have spoken with better usage of language and I could have definitely organized my work more, something which I should have done all this time preparing as I didn't structure my FOA much. I felt like my presentation was kind of rushed and I was a little bit nervous, I need to slow down my presentations a little bit more and just take it in easy overall.

I chose my 3 ads because I felt that all of the 3 ads enhanced the stereotyping of African-Americans effectively and they had a lot of little things which could be analyzed and that was something I felt that I did overall a good job in. I feel like I did my best and put in my full effort to analyze the language, advertising techniques, ethos pathos logos, colour, characters looks etc.

What I can take away from this FOA is that I need to spend more time rehearsing this presentation, focusing more on how to structure the presentation and use better quality words in order to improve my grades the next time I do an FOA or IOC. I have learned how to overall be a much better speaker and presenter to this class after this FOA experience.

Changes by Tupac Shakur

Tupac's song Changes really comes out with a very powerful but yet a truthful message to all of the rapper's fellow members in his black community. This song was released in 1998 and the lyrics of the song refer to how African-Americans are constantly harassed and treated badly by the police (even been sent to jail for crimes they have not ever committed) and also all of the negative things that has been occurring in the black community from drugs to murders to poverty.

The song's music video opens up with several different pictures of Tupac himself and then plays to a black man being arrested and harrassed by a white police officer showing how blacks in the United States are treated badly by the police. As the video continues, we continue to see several glimpses of Tupac, just his face alone. We see the man greet his fellow black friends and also see him deliver a quote in an interview from a news reporter. This is the look at the quote. The only way I've been practicing my whole life, to live my life is to be responsible for what I do. I don't know how to be responsible for what every black male did, I don't know. And yes, I am gonna say that I'm a thug, that's because I came from the gutter and I'm still here. Tupac here is showing how proud he is to be a black american and represent a very corrupt, dangerous environment and community and a thug is considered among the media to be one of the worst kinds of people to come across due to the fact that thugs consistently are involved in drugs, violence, gangs etc and Tupac is proud to call himself one despite being one of the biggest music stars in the world. As the music video continues, we constantly see glimpses of black people being thrown into a jail, sitting in a cell which are two stereotypes as it is always assumed in the media that black Americans are always the ones to be criminals and put into jail. We also see the black Americans being targeted by the police and pictures of Tupac growing up. Recapping the music video we see the negative side of black Americans all through the eyes of one man, Tupac Shakur. African Americans are just portrayed in a negative way as thugs and criminals and people always having involvement in violence and Tupac is trying to show the reality in his song on how his community is consistently undermined and how the media will always portray African-Americans in a negative away and times are never going to change.

Looking at the lyrics of the song and parts of the song such as "I see no changes. All I see is racist faces", "The penititiary is packed, and its filled with blacks" are two lines trying to show how whites the opposite ethnic group are continuing to be racist towards African-Americans and that jails are always going to be full of black people even for crimes they did not even commit. Sellin' crack to the kids. "I gotta get paid," is showing how Tupac is not proud of his community and the only way they can make a living is by selling drugs to younger aged people in his community.I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black.
My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.
Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.
Here are even more lines referring to how his people are poor and they are all criminals, you can see how in the last line he's referring to how cops continue to harass African Americans.

Overall what we see is how African-Americans are consistently portrayed in the media as poor criminals as we see in the music video that it a lot of the time consistently takes us to a moment where we see a black man being thrown into a jail or be chased or harassed by a cop. The story of his music video is to show us how this is never going to change and forever we will be seeing more and more blacks being thrown into jail and continue to be criminals and always be undermined by the media and be stereotyped by whites. They continue to be excluded and marginalized.

Army Advertisement

The advertisement my group analyzed was of an army company trying to promote the army and hoping that people will join the army. It is the American army and it is a picture of a US troop taking a risky jump from one point to another. The picture looks like it has been set in Iraq considering that is the place where Americans troops are currently in.

This ad was targeting US citizens and hoping for them to join the army, they promote the army by stating in the text at the bottom of the page how the army can develop qualities that can help you wherever you go and whatever you do later on with your life. They use the text to say that joining the army will give you an advantage for the rest of your life and that you will definitely become successful in whatever you do after joining the army. The advertisement is political as they are wanting t have more people fight for their country and there could be a chance that this ad was posted during a time when something important with war was happening so they really needed to get win people over to join the army (there isn't a publishing date written) and it is sociological because the ad is directed to the entire society of the country and they are really pushing hard at the people.

The ad uses ethos and is it is very ethical. They are trying to give the message "You are an American, do the right thing and fight for your country". They are trying to play with the people's feelings and want them to feel as if they need to do something right away and do the correct thing. There is also logos as there is a statistic saying 9 out 10 people prefer certain qualities. The ad creates this certain ambience of determination, bold, brave and striking. It gives the people the feeling that if you join the army, you will be like the soldier in the picture who is jumping in the sun with a facial expression showing determination and carrying a gun in a strange way.

NO SMOKING!

Can you believe in 2012, 1.8 million high school students attempted to smoke?. This is crazy, this is just insane...what is it that a bunch of chemical substances rolled into one attracts the youth and ruins a part of them?. 90 percent of smokers began smoking before they were 21 and smokers can die 13-15 years before non smokers and smoking is also a big cause of depression and it eventually can cause lung cancer which results in death. These students who are smoking at a teenage age are crazy, their lungs are not even fully developed yet and they are just absolutely ruining their lungs even before its full growth. Imagine how badly the growth of a not even fully developed lung would be stunted? and just because of one little cylinder that I can throw out of the window?.

Parents what are you thinking?. You must be able to stop this, you should set a great example for your kids and not tell them to smoke and let them know what smoking causes, we all here know what it can do! that's right it can kill you! which isn't a good thing if you didn't know!. This is not only them but great for you, if you are able to stop your kids from smoking you are able to save plenty of money from it as you will stop spending money on one of the most overrated things that exist on the face of this earth!. Smoking can ruin your hygiene, your kids will smell bad everywhere, it ruins their lungs and their health. Nobody wants their kids to encounter health problems a 70 year old person would encounter when they are 30 right?. All you parents, don't you even think about smoking, its setting a bad example for your children and children always pick up on their habits of their parents and this is extremely bad if they pick this habit up from you. Teenagers who smoke out there, you must STOP immediately and fast. Smoking ruins you physically and mentally, the increase in the amount of smoking can also lead to depression and we all know smoking can cause you lung cancer and thus you can die so stop immediately smoking as it can ruin you both ways big time and start to realize that the cigarette is nothing but a little piece of cylinder with the unhealthiest substances. You must stop right now or else it will be too late and you could be finding yourself on your death bed 50 years too early!. Think about it this way teenagers, you wouldn't eat poop right, its disgusting isn't it? So same way, don't smoke cigarettes because it's disgusting and on top of that eating poop doesn't kill you (it's been proven, believe it or not) but smoking does!. So think of it as in that smoking is worse than eating poop, I am sure you guys don't eat poop right? Then if you don't eat poop then why are you all smoking cigarettes! Stop smoking cigarettes because it's even worse than eating poop!. Some of you teenagers who smoke could even become better than Michael Jordan or Bill Gates in future so you might as well stop smoking right now because you may not ever even reach that point of possible "greatness" in your life.

Say no to smoking, don't even listen to what your friends say. Look at the very top of this page and see all the bad things that could happen if you smoke right, so don't. Just say no, it's that simple, you just have to say one word and that's it. If you all don't listen to me, take a look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVLtNgAhPRg , this could be you one day if you don't listen. This video makes me feel sad, really, I seriously feel like crying. It's absolutely heartbreaking. 

First Draft for Written Task One

Rationale

My written task one is going to be written in the form of an interview. My interview is going to be an interview with Snoop Dogg, one of hip-hops greatest artists. Throughout his music, Snoop Dogg frequently reflects on his personal experiences growing up in a poor African-American neighbourhood and his music reflects his early life and struggles basically and he uses another form of language (African-American Vernacular English/AAVE) to express his thoughts and his life. I decided to do an interview because I feel that it is the most effective way to enhance Snoop Dogg's use of another style of language while also I can direct questions relating to Snoop Dogg's life and experiences and how he relates his music and language style back to it. My interview will be about how Snoop Dogg uses his lyrics and relates his music and lyrics back to his own community and the affect it had.

The intended audience is the people of the poor African-American community (especially in California) as they are trying to gain inspiration from Snoop Dogg. I chose them as my intended audience because I want them to know how Snoop Dogg feels about his community, how his music represents and talks about his experience living in a black community and how his own style of lyrics he uses represents the community. Another intended audience in mind are fans of rap music as with this interview I hope they can understand Snoop Dogg's background and the cultural meanings his songs have. My purpose is to show how Snoop Dogg's experiences and rough childhood in a poor African-American community shape his style of language he uses in his music, his music overall and himself. I aim for Snoop Dogg to give a lot of background information and thoughts on his community. I will also be incorporating a lot of AAVE usage in the interview as Snoop Dogg is known for having an extreme use of AAVE. My response will be set in 2014 where Snoop Dogg is basically past the prime of his career and can reflect back on his music and meanings. I will be using a fictional magazine company called Listening Time, which is a music magazine that interviews musical artists and gets them to talk about their music and its meaning and their life.

An Interview with Snoop Dogg

With over 30 million albums sold worldwide, 16 Grammy award nominations and 3 number one hits, Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr or as we all know him as Snoop Dogg has already cemented his place as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Recently, Listening Time magazine caught up with the rapper in a very personal interview session regarding him, his life and all that is behind the curtains of his music.

Listening Time: First off Snoop, it's a great honour to have you here. Thank you for being able to take some time to sit with us.

Snoop Dogg: Ma pleasure, it's great to be sittin' here.

Listening Time: Lets take the beginning of this interview back to the beginning, I want to start with the very beginnings of your life, how was your life like during your childhood years? How was your connection with your family like?.

Snoop Dogg: I grew up in Long Beach, in Cali (California) during the 70s and the 80s and nuthin' came easy, everything was tough. Not havin' a dad since I was 3, the responsibilities were big and I had to take a big step up and be da man of ma family but I love ma family and they are a big part of where I am today. Where I came from in da hood, I was poor and a unpriviledged black kid, there was poverty, violence, drugs, gangs and shootings... It was real bad and I was always discriminated as a black kid.

Listening Time: As you started out your career in the beginning, you began to work with fellow rapper Dr Dre and members of one the greatest hip-hop groups in the NWA. How did these collaborations and relationships shape your music, personality and career and in general you?.

Snoop Dogg: Shout out to ma man Dre back in Cali, he's a big part of where I stand today. He brought me into the big bad world of hip-hop, showed me around and working with him has really made my music, ma kinda music. Also The D.O.C, he was da one who showed me how to structure my work and shaped ma free style abilities. Really, those guys really make me the man who I am today, they make me SNOOP D O DOUBLE G.

Listening Time: Your first major hit of your career was the song "Who am I?". Why do you think this song became such a major hit in your career?. What does this song reflect about you?. "Then I step through the fog and creep through the smog cuz i'm Snoop Doggy (who?) Doggy (what?) Doggy (Dog)". When I hear this part of the song, I feel like its the birth of the Snoop Dogg we all know, what do you think?..

Snoop Dogg: I put so much heart, soul and pride into makin' this song and writin' the lyrics. This reflects so much about me and my life growing up in the rural neighbourhoods of Long Beach and going into drugs at a young age as I had no choice. This song represents everything of da hood of Long Beach... money, drugs, poverty, violence, black on black shootings...everything. Dat part dat you jus stated, that represented myself steppin outta the shadows of the poor, black neighbourhoods of Cali and showin ma arrival into the real world from such a poor place, ma rise and thats how I felt like ma self today, Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Listening Time: Since your breakthrough song up until this point of your career, what and who has your music been representing?. Who do you dedicate your songs to? And also how does your music reflect you?.

Snoop Dogg: I basically shout out all my music to all ma peeps in Long Beach and in California who are going through the hardships that I once did. I want them to know that there's always hope and that you can get outta Compton and all dem places and live a better life, you ain't automatically gonna be forced into drugs like how I did or gangs and crimes. I don't want the people who live in the "hood" to make the same mistakes as I did by going into drugs. Ma peeps in Cali represent me and I represent them, they are a big part of my heart and every time im in da studio, I always think bout them and I involve them in ma music. I wanna set myself as a great example for them and a role model they can look up to. I want ma music and ma words to inspire them and motivate them. Ma music is all about ma life and what I have lived, ive gone thru all the bad and I want ma homies in Cali to learn from what I have been through and how I've got past that point in ma life. Ma music is who I am, ma music is me and I am ma music.

Listening Time: Do you feel like you have benefited your community with your music?.

Snoop Dogg: Course I have, I know dat they listen to it as I have met many of ma homies there and they can learn from it, work hard and reach their potential. I believe that anyone in ma community can overcome all the obstacles and the racial barriers and reach the top.

Listening Time: The type of language you use in your music is another style and form of English, one called by linguists African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), what are the thoughts on the style of English?.

Snoop Dogg: What da heck is AAVE?. I don't use no AAVE. My lyrics and my writing is Snoop Doggy Dogg writing, it's ma original and creative piece. I don't copy no one, I write ma own way and ma writing reflects me and the black community of Cali and it is what makes me unique and what makes me different from the other rappers out there. Ma writing is ma identity and its written in plain English, the language that rapping is meant for.

Listening Time: Well this concludes our interview Snoop, thank you so much for your time and do you have any last words to say, any to your fans maybe?.

Snoop Dogg: Pleasure to be here and shout out to all ma fans around the world and to people of ma area in Cali, stay humble, work hard and stick together always. You guys are all in this together and I believe in you. Peace out you all.

Texting by David Crystal and Txtng is killing language. JK!!! by John McWhorter

Texting has now become one of the world's biggest ways of communication as modern technology is continuing to make a big change in this world. The video "Txtng is killing language. JK!!!" by John McWhorter and the article "Texting" by David Crystal are about the 2 linguists talking about texting language AKA textspeak. The two linguists share their theories and opinions on how text speak is impacting language and there are several similarities and differences between their theories on the same topic.

John McWhorter

John McWhorter states that textspeak language is more similar to the way we speak and not the way we write. He feels that textspeak makes sense because the way your use language in text speak is the exact same way you would talk in real life. He talks about the history of language and how speech was the first form of communication to come and writing followed way later after speech as he said if humanity existed for 24 hours then writing would only be created by 11:07 pm. He states how text speak makes sense because people speak how they write so it is logical to write how you speak. He states in text speak that now days texting terms don't mean exactly what there are supposed to mean e.g. LOL means laughing out loud but when we use it we don't refer it to something funny or actually laughing out loud, "Did you do the maths homework?", "Lol no". McWhorter states how textspeak is like fingered language now. McWhorter says that language always evolves and says it doesn't affect language in any ways.

David Crystal

David Crystal shows the he is an avid supporter of textspeak and states that it doesn't affect grammar, spelling and literacy skills among young people. He says its a new medium for the English language, which is great and rare as a new medium for language will barely be created ever. Crystal talks about how there are so many different abbreviations but for the same meaning like good too see you could be said as, GTCY, GTSY, G2SY or G2CY. Crystal feels that language is starting to be more creative through the use of textspeak as it is bringing in expressions and abbreviations that we have never seen before.

Similarities

Both McWhorter and Crystal feel that text speak has a positive effect on our language. Both McWhorter and Crystal do point out some of the flaws and limitations in text speak and how it isn't perfect. They both consider it as a new dialect into this world and how it contributes to the evolution of language.

Differences

McWhorter brings up a lot about the history of language while Crystal does not. McWhorter talks more about how text speak is being used and why it is being used like the way it is, Crystal breaks down textspeak and how certain day to day words and phrases would translate into textspeak and how they would be abbreviated and which letters would be excluded etc. Crystal focused a lot more on the abbreviations while McWhorter doesn't. Crystal does recognize how the spelling and literacy skills of textspeak users are not affected and that they still have excellent grammar and literacy but McWhorter does not bring up on if text speak users grammar, spelling and literacy skills are affected by the use of textspeak.

Response to Cultural Appropriation Controversy

George Batra, October 6th 2014

Dear Editor,

I absolutely disagree with your statements and pretty much most of your article as you state that pop star Selena Gomez who is an American wearing a Bindi for her latest is song is a GOOD thing?. Do you even realize how much the bindi means to the Hindu culture?.

Firstly, the bindi is worn on the forehead of married Hindu women. The bindi represents female energy and is believed to protect the women and their husbands, its that precious to begin with. The bindi is a holy decoration, one that can only be worn under a certain condition and with Selena Gomez wearing it as "just a fashion piece", it's a flat out insult that a woman is just wearing it just for the sake of it and to make it look a lot better. Sure I hear her latest song has Indian dancing but that's just a dance, a dance requires you to just move your body not put something offensive on your forehead. This doesn't show her knowledge and understanding of the Hinduism culture (I have many friends from different countries around the world that know what the bindi is), it shows her stupidity for not knowing the meaning of it and not realizing how offensive it can be to use it just as a tool.

The only thing I agree with you in your article is how you say that ancient meanings are getting diluted but I don't like how think it's just a downside. It is absolutely sad if the bindi is later on in this world in foreign countries known to people to be some cool, trendy fashion accessory and with the people not even realizing where it's from or what it's spiritual meaning is and how much meaning it has to the Hindu and South Asian culture. You state that you don't have to be a Mexican-American to celebrate Cinco De Mayo or you can be South Asian and celebrate Christmas even though it's not a celebration in your culture so thus you can be a foreigner and wear a bindi all the time. Celebrations are meant to be celebrated by EVERYONE, you don't need to be a certain race or part of a certain culture to celebrate them because you are celebrating for something great, there is reason why you are celebrating it but when you wear a bindi as a foreigner, you are not wearing it for any positive reason and usually when it comes to wearing clothes from a foreign culture, you never realize how much meaning that accessory has or what really do the clothes mean. Wearing a bindi for no reason is not a good thing.

Your last paragraph, you stated that Americans wearing a bindi is a good sign as they at least know it and that they are very welcoming to people of the Hindu culture and the fact that there was no backlash from Indian-Americans after Selena Gomez's performance shows another ethnic group feels secure in America?. First off, it is no big deal knowing a bindi as the South Asian community is one of the largest and the bindi has for decades been known to be one of the most popular decoration pieces. Selena Gomez wearing a bindi doesn't further prove that South Asians feel safe in United States, it just offends the Hindu culture because she is using something very holy for a pointless use and already in United States, 2.8 million people of Indian origin reside there so it already shows they feel safe as none of them are trying escape America or protest daily on the streets or cause any violent harms. There is no need for backlash with this case as there has been no deaths or murders or any sort of violence to the Hindu culture such as the temple shooting in Wisconsin 2 years prior but it is still an insult and it doesn't sit well with me and it shouldn't sit well with any other member of the Hindu culture.

George Batra