Overall, I am very pleased with how my English mock exam went. I usually set high standards for myself in English, and was pleasantly surprised to find I had exceeded my expectations this time around. It was my first time writing to Paper 1s back-to-back in exam conditions and I can’t really say I prepared […]
What conceptual links can you identify between The Handmaid’s Tale and Human Acts? The two concepts that stand out to me with the texts Human Acts and The Handmaid’s Tale are the concepts of culture and identity. Fundamentally, both Human Acts and The Handmaid’s Tale are explorations into a particular culture at a particular time (one fictional and one non-fictional), and how […]
What is a memory? What is the point of exploring memories? Why do we hold on to memories? These were just some of the questions we explored in our introductory lessons to Human Acts by Han Kang, the next novel we will be studying in English class. Human Acts revolves around the death of a […]
Never Let Me Go A tale of dystopia & cloning, love & loss, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Gois set in a world in which clones are raised with the sole intent of harvesting and donating their organs, and follows the journey of clone Kathy H. from her days at premier clone boarding school Hailsham […]
Nosedive Finding purpose in a purposeless world Those who conform to the superficialities and inauthenticity of society prosper (Naomi), while those who don’t partake in the masquerade and see the world for what it actually is languish at the bottom of the societal hierarchy (Susan, Lacie towards the end) However, the fake people live in […]
Following our talk with Hanna Alkaf, a Malaysian author, the concept that stuck with me was that of ‘greatness vs diversity’. I have often felt that diversity within literature and within the media in general has been given a bit too much importance as of late, and that the merit of a story should be […]
Over the course of the past 4-5 months, we have been exploring the concept of representation by studying works such as the poems of Carol Ann Duffy, satires of Saint Hoax, past and present ads, political cartoons, song lyrics, movies, and many more. The central idea behind the unit was the question, “Can you truly […]
I’ll be looking at stereotypes in car advertising through this clip from Top Gear, where Jeremy Clarkson and James May attempt to create ads for the Volkswagen Scirocco by utilizing stereotypes and plenty of classic Top Gear humour. This is not a real ad but is one that by virtue of being a parody, exposes […]
Stereotypical Car Ad Stereotypical Beer Ad Stereotypical Necklace Ad The above texts are all examples of advertising that plays upon stereotypes to get its message across, being a car ad, beer ad, and necklace ad respectively. They rely on advertising conventions and are safe in their approach, all playing upon standard industry tricks to sell. […]
If I were to analyse the above advertisement, the main things I would consider would be the image itself and the copy. When we look at this ad, the very first thing we see is the woman and her gaping, pleading eyes, which would make it hard for us to ignore when analysing it. As […]