Macbeth: Act 1

Differentiate between the direct and indirect characterisation Shakespeare uses in order to construct his characters

In the first couple of scenes, Macbeth is described by Duncan as “valour’s minion” and is generally expressed as a strong and fearless person who does not show any hesitation when it comes to killing. However, one we are introduced to Macbeth later on. From a direct characterisation, We can see his hesitation in killing Duncan to become king when Lady Macbeth proposes her maniacal plan to make her husband king. It shows that Macbeth’s attitude may just be a facade and that he is a doubtful person. Not only that, he is very feeble minded. This can be seen through how quickly he is pulled into the idea of murdering the king by Lady Macbeth doing little persuading. Clearly there is a major contrast between the direct and indirect characterisation of Macbeth.

Writer’s Fortnight – Chetan Bhagat

I had originally thought that Mr. Chetan Bhagat would just talk about being an author and what it means to be one. I kind of expected him to have just a mundane talk about ways to write and things like that.
However, after the talk wrapped it was actually much different than I had anticipated, which was a pleasant surprise. After the talk, I had to rethink my mindset that all authors can do is just write, write, write.As it actually turns out, they could have a huge power. They can influence and change the opinions of their audience with their very own literature. This ties in with what Mr. Bhagat said during his talk, “Literature is communication through the written word” With enough readers following the ideas of the book, you are more than an author, you are an influencer. With Bhagat’s huge audience in India, he is able to gain the attention of politic officials, this is a perfect example of using your platform for a positive cause and not just for earning money. What Chetan Bhagat is doing is very admirable and I think it is clever of him to use his platform to influence Indians rather than do it all for fame or money.

Writer’s Fortnight – Steve Dawson

Steve Dawson’s talk was very interesting, it was all about good interview techniques to make sure there could be a productive and worth-while conversation between interviewer and interviewee.It made me question how to make better connections with my learning by asking open-ended questions for better responses in such situations like an oral speaking exam or interviewing fellow peers in an activity. The talk actually taught me there is so much more to journalism and interviewing than just mindlessly asking questions. What I am still unsure about in terms of interviewing, does body language significantly affect the course of the interview? If the interviewer is slouching, does that make the conversation more boring?

Theft’s Dilemma

I could feel beads of sweat roll down my forehead, thank goodness I was wearing black today, otherwise, my shirt would be obviously adorned with sweat stains. I am so nervous, what if the shopkeeper notices that we are stealing? would I own up or would I run? So lost in my thoughts, I did not notice Marcus frantically whispering my name, “Eddie, Eddie!” he whispered, eyes wide with panic. I snapped out of my daze and hesitantly grabbed the cigarette pack he had just stolen from his hand. I cannot believe he did it, I am officially a shoplifter. Yes, it is wrong, but I would do anything so dad stops hurting my mum, even if it means having t steal cigarettes for the cruel man. I held the pack in my two hands, clenching so hard I was surprised it did not break open. “Hey! have you paid for those?” a gruff voice asked yelled, putting a screeching halt to the dilemma in my head. I looked up, heart pounding as I came to the realisation that we have practically been caught. I stared at Marcus, eyes silently pleading for help. He caught my gaze and pointed his fingers to the door, signalling for me to get out. “I’ll deal with it” he mouthed. I nodded, I was just desperate to leave I quickly sped to the door, leaving the shopowner’s question unanswered I slammed the door shut.

[241 words]

Six-Word Stories

a)

While the challenge was overall quite difficult, I actually found it really enjoyable. It was a new experience having to write as little words as possible compared to the usual as much as you can. I personally found the story-tweet easier compared to the 6-word story. I think one of the reasons that we were given this challenge was to teach us to summarize. I commonly make the mistake of doing run-on sentences. While I do like to write as much I can, I do not want it to be exhausting for others to read. To be honest, I think my story does not need any extra words. I feel that if I had done so, the story would have lost its flow due to the excessive detail.

b)

“A mask of confidence hides fear” by Arshia definitely peaked my interest. I think this is to express even how confident one may be, we are all fighting for acceptance and to be part of the crowd. Many people may see this from other perspectives based on their past experiences which can affect how they interpret it.

c)

I think Vedika’s story-tweet should be tweeted out

Identity – Fry’s Planet Word

How does language include/exclude; represent/misrepresent?

Through the video I found that language can misrepresent someone in terms of their reputation and image. This is seen through the clip where Stephen visits a call centre and finds that many of the employees have a Geordie accent and are successful in calls with customers.A survey had concluded that the Geordie accent gave a “feel good” factor to most customers.

However it was later found out that places like call centres are at a bit of a crossroads because trying to satisfy the customer can be difficult since they have no other aspect of the employee besides their voice on the telephone- hence why the accent can be an important factor.

There was also the surprising fact that when a customer wants to complain they redirect them to someone with a traditional English accent as it generally seen (well, heard) as a voice of authority compared to those with Geordie accents.

It is seemed to be wired into our brains to have this perspective – according to the man Stephen was talking to in that segment.

My Language World (Reprise)

Through the article I could tell that growing up, the journalist thought it was important to assimilate into the American culture and was embarrassed of her true Latino roots. But as she grew up she realised the strength that she held with looking up to her abuelita- who had learnt minimal English but was still able to go about her daily life in modern America.

In the end, what I gathered from the article was that to the journalist, as long as you are proud and confident in the uniqueness of your accent and your cultural identity. You have the ultimate power and I definitely agree with such a statement.

I noticed that the journalist used to find her language “ghetto” or less superior. While I do not agree with her views, I do understand where she is coming from. In some cases in the past, (and unfortunately, nowadays) social media and popular culture would portray Hispanics and Latinos as less superior to “the white man” and were usually shown in television programmes and films as less fortunate and unsuccessful. If I were the journalist, seeing all these negative things associated with being Latino, I would honestly be kind of ashamed too.

To end off this blog post, I would just like to share how much I stand for being in a country full of different cultures, language, accents and what have we. It is so important to be proud of culture and to share with generations to come. We cannot let people like Donald Trump tell us to let go of our history and fall prey into forced assimilation. Like the journalist said, Donald Trump knows the power we hold in our languages and it scares him. If people like him want to force non-english speaking cultures into assimilation so be it, but they are not going down without a fight.

 

 

 

My Language World

Growing up, I always felt like a bit of an outsider at family gatherings for both sides of my family- the Filipino side and the Scottish side. With the Filipino side, I was constantly getting confused since I had absolutely no clue what everyone was talking as I was never taught how to speak Tagalog except for a few random words like “blanket” and “soy sauce” (clearly not the best conversation starters). Not only was I puzzled hearing them speak Tagalog so quickly and trying to understand the several conversations going on, I was also anxious that they could possibly be talking about me in a negative manner. While the Filipino side was stressful enough, I still had the Scottish side of the family to cope with. Fortunately, that side of my family only speaks English and not Gaelic. I don’t even want to begin to imagine how much harder it would be if everyone exclusively spoke Gaelic.

While we all speak the same language back in Scotland, I do have trouble fitting in thanks to my accent.I have pretty strong American accent despite not having any American blood in me (that I know of, at least). This is due to being brought up in international schools with a large majority of teachers being American, since they were the main influence that taught me how to speak, I just kind of picked the accent up and it just stuck with me ever since. A lot of my family tend to tease me about how strong my accent is and always say how they wish I had a British or Scottish accent and it is a little bit discouraging for me. While that is the main reason why I tend to feel like an outsider with them, I also have no idea how Scottish slang works. I have lived in Asia my entire life, so I was never exposed to the slang culture in Scotland. While I do know a couple slang words, I am completely lost when it comes to phrases and things like such. Though I don’t have a huge problem with slang terms, I do sometimes feel quite left out when my friends use them knowing I won’t understand.