These are in no particular order:
1) The Giver by Louis Lowry
As soon as I finish it, I could turn it around and start again. I am amazed by this different, monotone world described in "The Giver". It pointed out to me how special individual feelings and emotions are, something I used to see as a given.
2) The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The "His Dark Materials" series by Pullman (of which "The Amber Spyglass" is the third and final book) has accompanied me through my childhood. Lyra, the main character, used to be my role model when I was younger, and I wanted nothing more than to be like her.
3) Taking Woodstock by Elliot Tiber & Tom Monte
I was given this book for my 16th birthday just last year from my mom's cousin (32 year old Daniel, who I have always somewhat admired), and it opened the world of the 60s hippies to me. Inspired by this book, I wrote my Extended Essay on the 1960s alternative/hippy culture.
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The Harry Potter series have always been my favourite books. Especially this one, the fourth one in the series, sticks out in my mind as the most exciting one, and the one in which the characters were developed the best. It was after this book, that I became a real Harry Potter fan.
5) Tintenherz (in English: Inkheart) by Cornelia Funke
This book, and the following two in the series, shaped my imagination. Reading this book is what made me fascinated by fantasy.
6) The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
I read this in my 9th grade English class, yet I am glad that I was "forced" to read it. Something about Holden's normality and stereotypical behaviour and emotion of a teenager spoke to me.
7) Mein Schiff war die Taube (in English: Dove) by Robin Lee Graham
My mom gave this to me this summer and told me this was her favourite book as a teenager. I have to agree with her, as it made me dream of letting everything go and living completely free without any obligations. "Dove" is the story of a young man/boy who leaves everything behind to travel around the world with his sailing boat.
8) Eragon by Christopher Paolini
I read this a few winters ago, soon followed by me anxiously waiting for the next two novels of the series to be published. One of the best fantasy stories of all time, I find; the books are even better than The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
9) 1984 by George Orwell
The fact that Orwell wrote this story as set in the future, but the date which he set it at is now in the past, really fascinated me, as it shows me how fast time passes and yet humans are still worried about the same things. We are still worried about what will become of our society in the future. Although quite difficult and long, I enjoyed reading about this possible dystopia.
10) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
The book caught my attention in a store in Grand Bend, Canada because the female main character has the same name as me. This is not why I love this book though. The love story is so perfect but also reasonable and achievable for normal people (which is not always the case for love stories in novels).
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Can't Buy My Love Precis
The modern-day advertisements make people feel like they have an intimate relationship with the products. However, once these products are purchased, in the hope of receiving the love and intimacy that was advertised, people remain hungry for more, and are never satisfied, simply because the products that people have begun to love do not and cannot love back. Can’t Buy My Love is primarily about how aggressive marketing degrades the quality of a culture. Kilbourne explains how we have become the product that is sold. This means that an image of a “normal” person is broadcasted through advertisements of all possible industries (even though this normalcy is far from the average human being), and we feel we need to become that image by purchasing all sorts of products (diet programs, expensive cars, cigarettes, etc.). Advertisers sell specific products to different focus groups, by targeting different audiences and their leaders. MTV, which presents itself publicly as a place for rebels and nonconformists tells advertisers, however, that its viewers are lemmings who will buy whatever they are told to buy.
The average American is exposed to an average of 3,000 advertisements a day and watches three years’ of television ads in one lifetime. Young people, and especially teenage girls, are affected the most since they are in their most weak and influential phase. Advertisements offer false representations of control, connection, and rebellion. Not only do they make promises they cannot hold, but they purposefully aim advertisements for addictive products at young people, so that their addictive mentality is developed early and therefore the addictions remain throughout adulthood. There are actual tactics that advertisers use to manipulate the innermost fantasies and desires of women and especially teenage girls to turn them into addictive longing, which, they claim, only their products can satisfy. An ad for sneakers asks: “When was the last time you felt this comfortable in a relationship?” which is aimed at touching the vulnerable topic for women considering happy and successful relationships. An ad for a car claims that “you can love it without getting your heart broken”. Advertising goes as far as a woman saying “until I find a real man, I’ll settle for a real smoke” in an ad for cigarettes. Kilbourne does not question the capitalistic economy, which includes the competition amongst companies to market a more successful product, but attacks the methods that advertiser use which affect the way we interact negatively. She claims that personal human contact has diminished since advertisements have negatively changed the way people view themselves, their peers, and material goods. This devalues the importance of human interaction, as it now seems enough to interact with a product.
Advertising has become our environment, and even though advertisers tell parents that they can turn off the TV to protect their kids from the negative impact of advertising, it is clear that this suggestion is ridiculous as kids are bombarded with more advertisements as soon as they step out of the house. Rance Crain (editor of Advertising Age): “only 8% of an ad’s message is received by the conscious mind; the rest is worked… deep within the recesses of the brain, where the product’s positioning and repositions takes shape”. Some companies use the approach of advertising their products with an anti-advertisement approach. An ad for Easy jeans: “we don’t use sex to sell our jeans. We don’t even screw you when you buy them”.
Kilbourne states that “advertising encourages us not only to objectify each other but also to feel that our most significant relationships are with the products we buy”. Because of its influence, advertisement is the most important aspect of the mass media. With it, women especially are objectified and therefore made insecure about themselves and their present lives. In women’s magazines images of high-calorie foods such as cheesecakes on the cover are juxtaposed to images of skinny models and weight loss tips. After all, advertisers know that people who feel empty make great consumers. An ad for Charmin with a smiling old couple in their kitchen says: “Bath tissue is like marriage. The longer it lasts, the better it is.” Advertising makes consumers believe that they can recreate themselves by purchasing a product. When people buy a product, values, images, and concepts of normalcy, romance, sexuality, success, and love are also sold. The thousands of messages that are forced into people’s minds every day, link products to deep emotions, turn people into objects that must follow a certain criteria, and question people’s heartfelt moments and relationships at being good enough. An ad for a car: “Can an engine pump the valves in your heart?” and “Rekindle the romance”. It says “If anyone should ask, go ahead and show them your pride and joy” under a picture of a wallet showing two photographs, one of children and the family dog, the other of a Honda. Other examples include: “We don’t sell cars, we merely facilitate love connections”, “stylish, responsive, fun – if it were a man you’d marry it”, “Drive the new Paseo, fall in love”, “She loves her new Mustang. Oh, and whatshisname too.”
For women the equivalent to car’s replacing actual love and relationships for men is food. “Skip the Zip (brand of mayonnaise) on my little girl’s sandwich and give up one of her bear hugs? Not in her lifetime.” This implies that the child won’t hug her mother unless she gets the right kind of mayonnaise on her sandwich. A Burger Kind ad says: “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. Stop crying and start eating”. This is just one example of how food is related to comforting. Often food is associated with romance and sexuality, which all women aspire to achieve; an ad for a frozen mousse dessert: “achieving mutual satisfaction is easy. Just share some Mousse du Jour”. It has become as extreme that “we are not only offered connection via the product, we are offered connection with the product. Food becomes the lover. ‘Rich, impeccable taste and not an ounce of fat. Wow, if only I could find a guy like that,’ says a woman holding a candy bar”. The culture, reinforced by advertising, urges girls to adopt a false self, to become “feminine”. An ad for Seventeen magazine: “She’s the one you want. She pursues beauty and fashion at every turn. It’s more than a magazine. It’s her life.” Girls are told that their perfume, clothing, bodies, and beauty are their most important traits. An ad for jeans: “He says the first thing he noticed about you is your personality. He lies.” Most importantly, they are told that they must be thin.
Even alcohol is promoted through ads: “Forget the rules! Enjoy the wine!” Advertising also has a strong influence on children. Young children can’t differentiate between the actual show and the advertisements that interrupt it. Children are constantly “forced” to watch something supernatural happening as soon as a product is purchased or used. For example, a man opens a soda and a marching band explodes out of his TV into his room, the interior of an SUV becomes a landscape with waterfalls, or when wearing a certain brand of jeans the world shifts into a nighttime city scene. “Advertising and religion share a belief in transformation and transcendence… but in the world of advertising, enlightenment is achieved instantly by buying material goods”.
The average American is exposed to an average of 3,000 advertisements a day and watches three years’ of television ads in one lifetime. Young people, and especially teenage girls, are affected the most since they are in their most weak and influential phase. Advertisements offer false representations of control, connection, and rebellion. Not only do they make promises they cannot hold, but they purposefully aim advertisements for addictive products at young people, so that their addictive mentality is developed early and therefore the addictions remain throughout adulthood. There are actual tactics that advertisers use to manipulate the innermost fantasies and desires of women and especially teenage girls to turn them into addictive longing, which, they claim, only their products can satisfy. An ad for sneakers asks: “When was the last time you felt this comfortable in a relationship?” which is aimed at touching the vulnerable topic for women considering happy and successful relationships. An ad for a car claims that “you can love it without getting your heart broken”. Advertising goes as far as a woman saying “until I find a real man, I’ll settle for a real smoke” in an ad for cigarettes. Kilbourne does not question the capitalistic economy, which includes the competition amongst companies to market a more successful product, but attacks the methods that advertiser use which affect the way we interact negatively. She claims that personal human contact has diminished since advertisements have negatively changed the way people view themselves, their peers, and material goods. This devalues the importance of human interaction, as it now seems enough to interact with a product.
Advertising has become our environment, and even though advertisers tell parents that they can turn off the TV to protect their kids from the negative impact of advertising, it is clear that this suggestion is ridiculous as kids are bombarded with more advertisements as soon as they step out of the house. Rance Crain (editor of Advertising Age): “only 8% of an ad’s message is received by the conscious mind; the rest is worked… deep within the recesses of the brain, where the product’s positioning and repositions takes shape”. Some companies use the approach of advertising their products with an anti-advertisement approach. An ad for Easy jeans: “we don’t use sex to sell our jeans. We don’t even screw you when you buy them”.
Kilbourne states that “advertising encourages us not only to objectify each other but also to feel that our most significant relationships are with the products we buy”. Because of its influence, advertisement is the most important aspect of the mass media. With it, women especially are objectified and therefore made insecure about themselves and their present lives. In women’s magazines images of high-calorie foods such as cheesecakes on the cover are juxtaposed to images of skinny models and weight loss tips. After all, advertisers know that people who feel empty make great consumers. An ad for Charmin with a smiling old couple in their kitchen says: “Bath tissue is like marriage. The longer it lasts, the better it is.” Advertising makes consumers believe that they can recreate themselves by purchasing a product. When people buy a product, values, images, and concepts of normalcy, romance, sexuality, success, and love are also sold. The thousands of messages that are forced into people’s minds every day, link products to deep emotions, turn people into objects that must follow a certain criteria, and question people’s heartfelt moments and relationships at being good enough. An ad for a car: “Can an engine pump the valves in your heart?” and “Rekindle the romance”. It says “If anyone should ask, go ahead and show them your pride and joy” under a picture of a wallet showing two photographs, one of children and the family dog, the other of a Honda. Other examples include: “We don’t sell cars, we merely facilitate love connections”, “stylish, responsive, fun – if it were a man you’d marry it”, “Drive the new Paseo, fall in love”, “She loves her new Mustang. Oh, and whatshisname too.”
For women the equivalent to car’s replacing actual love and relationships for men is food. “Skip the Zip (brand of mayonnaise) on my little girl’s sandwich and give up one of her bear hugs? Not in her lifetime.” This implies that the child won’t hug her mother unless she gets the right kind of mayonnaise on her sandwich. A Burger Kind ad says: “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. Stop crying and start eating”. This is just one example of how food is related to comforting. Often food is associated with romance and sexuality, which all women aspire to achieve; an ad for a frozen mousse dessert: “achieving mutual satisfaction is easy. Just share some Mousse du Jour”. It has become as extreme that “we are not only offered connection via the product, we are offered connection with the product. Food becomes the lover. ‘Rich, impeccable taste and not an ounce of fat. Wow, if only I could find a guy like that,’ says a woman holding a candy bar”. The culture, reinforced by advertising, urges girls to adopt a false self, to become “feminine”. An ad for Seventeen magazine: “She’s the one you want. She pursues beauty and fashion at every turn. It’s more than a magazine. It’s her life.” Girls are told that their perfume, clothing, bodies, and beauty are their most important traits. An ad for jeans: “He says the first thing he noticed about you is your personality. He lies.” Most importantly, they are told that they must be thin.
Even alcohol is promoted through ads: “Forget the rules! Enjoy the wine!” Advertising also has a strong influence on children. Young children can’t differentiate between the actual show and the advertisements that interrupt it. Children are constantly “forced” to watch something supernatural happening as soon as a product is purchased or used. For example, a man opens a soda and a marching band explodes out of his TV into his room, the interior of an SUV becomes a landscape with waterfalls, or when wearing a certain brand of jeans the world shifts into a nighttime city scene. “Advertising and religion share a belief in transformation and transcendence… but in the world of advertising, enlightenment is achieved instantly by buying material goods”.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
That Meeting - Broadsheet
Children of Zurich's elite litter excessively - Headmaster calls for action
Emergency meeting called to broadcast plan for action against the Zurich International School resembling a rubbish dump
On Monday morning, the students of the Zurich International School were called into an assembly lead by Headmaster McCloud, announcing the complaint of potential customers as they visited the school campus. Littering on school grounds must be discontinued.
In advisory groups, students will have a designated time period, cutting at their lunch time, in which it is their responsibility to clear the grounds of any waste. Should students not adhere to this action plan against, the school's reputation will be damaged and students will suffer consequences.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Broadsheets/ Black Banner Tabloids
Example: The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/03/james-bulger-killer-venables-prison
Headline
- naming
- does not use brevity
Deck
Justice secretary says it would be against the public interest for him to say why James Bulger killer has been sent back to jail
- loaded language
- fear
- answers "why"
Intro
The justice secretary, Jack Straw, apologised today for failing to disclose the reason why Jon Venables, one of the two killers of James Bulger, has been sent back to prison, but he said it would not be in the public interest for him to do so.
- answers "who": Jack Straw and Jon Venables
- answers "what":
2nd Paragraph
Venables, now 27 and living under a new identity, was put back in jail last week after breaching parole, the Ministry of Justice confirmed earlier.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/03/james-bulger-killer-venables-prison
Headline
Jack Straw refuses to explain Jon Venables reincarceration
- loaded language- naming
- does not use brevity
Deck
Justice secretary says it would be against the public interest for him to say why James Bulger killer has been sent back to jail
- loaded language
- fear
- answers "why"
Intro
The justice secretary, Jack Straw, apologised today for failing to disclose the reason why Jon Venables, one of the two killers of James Bulger, has been sent back to prison, but he said it would not be in the public interest for him to do so.
- answers "who": Jack Straw and Jon Venables
- answers "what":
2nd Paragraph
Venables, now 27 and living under a new identity, was put back in jail last week after breaching parole, the Ministry of Justice confirmed earlier.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
That Meeting - Tabloid
Rich brats trash school
Students of the Zurich International School are trashing their own school grounds, for which their parents pay excessively high fees. This must stop now.
In groups, students will now have to clean up designated areas of the grounds, a job usually way below their "standards".
Tabloid
The Sun
Memory loss man is named
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2873829/Memory-loss-man-is-named.html
Headline
loaded language - memory loss
alliteration - man is named
brevity - 5 words
Deck
First paragraph
The 26-year-old was identified by his fiancée after The Sun published his photo.
-Grabs readers attention
-Intertextuality to an earlier story in The Sun
-Into
Second paragraph
She dashed from London for an emotional reunion with Yousuf, who was found on Brighton seafront three weeks ago.
-Emotion (desire)
Memory loss man is named
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2873829/Memory-loss-man-is-named.html
Headline
loaded language - memory loss
alliteration - man is named
brevity - 5 words
Deck
A MYSTERY man found unconscious on a beach with no memory can be named today as office clerk Yousuf Ali Roomi.
loaded language - unconsciousFirst paragraph
The 26-year-old was identified by his fiancée after The Sun published his photo.
-Grabs readers attention
-Intertextuality to an earlier story in The Sun
-Into
Second paragraph
She dashed from London for an emotional reunion with Yousuf, who was found on Brighton seafront three weeks ago.
-Emotion (desire)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Extended Essay Book List
Berkeley: The New Student Revolt: Introduction by Mario Savio
o By Hal Draper
o ISBN – 10: 0916695170
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 0916695170
Berkeley at War: The 1960s
o By W.J. Rorabaugh
o ISBN – 10: 0195066678
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 0195066678
The Free Speech Movement: Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s
o By Robert Cohen, Reginald E. Zelnik
o ISBN – 10: 0520233549
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 0520233546
Children of Privilege: Student Revolt in the Sixties: A Study of Student Movements in Canada, the United States, and West Germany
o By Cyril Levitt
o ISBN – 10: 0802065376
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 0802065377
Urban Revolt: Ethnic Politics in the Nineteenth-Century Chicago Labor Movement
o By Eric L. Hirsch
o ISBN – 10: 0520065857
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 0520065857
The Social Role of the University Student
o By Florian Znaniecki
o ISBN – 10: 8385060707
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 8385060703
The Conflict of Generations: the character and significance of student movements
o By Lewis Samuel Feuer
o ASIN: B0006BWI6C
Rebellion in the University
o By Seymour Lipset
o ISBN – 10: 1560005963
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 1560005964
America in Transition: Social Movements in Berkeley in the Early Sixties
o By Gergely Janko
o ISBN – 10: 3639116960
o ISBN – 13: 978 – 3639116960
American Social Movements – The Free Speech Movement
o By Bradley Steffens
o ISBN – 10: 0737711566
o ISBN – 13: 978 - 0737711561
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