Category Archives: English 8

Made Like No Other

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For our assignment, we took slogans from companies and put them together into a poem. We had to put them in an order so that they made sense and sounded good. Then we read it out loud to the class with our partner.

MADE LIKE NO OTHER

You aren’t you when you’re hungry
Where the clothes last for 21 hours
When there is no tomorrow
Look, smell, listen, feel and taste, that’s what Godiva chocolate is all about
As safe as in mother’s hands
You don’t just eat ‘em
Buy it, sell it, love it
Buy it, make it, mix it, rock it
Made like no other
See the world, feed the world, share with the world

©Snickers – You aren’t you when you’re hungry
©FOREVER 21 – Where the clothes last for 21 hours
©FedEx – When there is no tomorrow
©Godiva – Look, smell, listen, feel and taste, that’s what Godiva chocolate is all about
©FedEx – As safe as in mother’s hands
©Pringles – You don’t just eat ‘em
©eBay – Buy it, sell it, love it
©FOREVER 21 – Buy it, make it, mix it, rock it
©Häagen-Dazs – Made like no other
©Pringles – See the world, feed the world, share with the world

Figurative Language Video

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Here is our Figurative Language Video. 🙂

I’ve learned about how poetic devices such as similes and metaphors make the song much more fun and cool to listen or sing to. It also makes it sound better. It shows instead of tells, which makes it much more enjoyable and less boring. Music isn’t all about the melody, the lyrics are supposed to say something too, and poetic devices helps make music have a secret meaning.

Bias in Media BLINDS You

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Short Books
The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
This book is kind of saying how girls don’t have what it takes to survive, even back then. There were absolutely no girls mentioned in the entire book except for that weeping mother with ten thousand kids. That was a bit of gender stereotyping since the mom is taking care of the kids and the dad isn’t. But this story takes place in 1906 and the author was probably just trying to be realistic.
Also, the soldier didn’t help the mom, didn’t even comfort her, just patted her back and left. That’s stereotyping that soldiers back then didn’t care much about someone not in immediate danger.
There is a stereotype that little boys can’t keep secrets. Morris blurted out Leo’s secret about Leo’s gold nugget just so that he could make friends.
Propaganda that you can survive earthquakes if you’re smart. You can’t only have intelligence, sometimes you do need some strength, help, and luck.
Propaganda that there is only one bully that’s truly bad. A lot of books and movies are like that. The leader is the one that’s truly evil. Like Zira from the Lion King, Regina from Mean Girls, and like Fletch from this book.

Ms. Krup Cracks Me Up
There is a stereotype that girls are scared of bugs and dead things. There are a ton of boys who are scared of those things and girls who aren’t in the world, but in the book all the boys wanted to kill the cockroach, and all the girls were screaming and trying to get away from it.
Stereotype that kids like to eat candy. AJ and all his classmates went crazy when they found the boxes of candy beside the candy machine.
Stereotype that boys like Batman and dinosaurs. They boys got really excited when they found out there was a missing T. Rex in the museum, and AJ had a Batman sleeping bag.
Stereotype that adults snore loud. Adults the only one that snore loud. You should hear my younger brother snore, it’s almost like he’s a human tuba.
A stereotype that girls who are smart are nosy, follow rules, and like impressing people. Not all smart people are like Andrea Young in this book or Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series.
Gender stereotype that girls cry a lot and are easily scared. Emily totally freaked out when she was pinned to the ground by a dead bear.
Stereotype that boys hate school and museums, and like field trips.
Stereotype that everyone thinks Monday is the worst day.
Stereotype that adults like to drink coffee and talk about the weather.

Songs
Aqua – Barbie Girl
“Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!” Since this song is comparing girls to the toy Barbie, “life in plastic,” can also refer to plastic surgery. This is saying that girls like doing plastic surgery and think it’s fantastic. I’m sure not all people think that.
“I’m a blond, bimbo girl.” This is supporting the dumb blonde stereotype, since bimbo means pretty but unintelligent.
“Dress me up, make it tight.” This is saying that girls like wearing clothes that a very tight and fit perfectly.
“You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere.” This part of the song is saying that girls like making their hair look nice and change clothes a lot
“Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please, I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees.” I’m not really sure about this one, but I’m pretty sure it’s saying that boys are the ones who are in control and can manipulate the girl a lot.

Demi Lovato – Heart Attack
“Putting my defenses up, ‘Cause I don’t wanna fall in love. If I ever did that, I think I’d have a heart attack.” This is saying that when people are hurt, they never want to fall in love again out of fear of being hurt another time.
“But when it comes to you, I’m never good enough.” In relationships, it’s saying that girls always want to impress the guys, and never think they’re good enough for them, and always try to be better and better.
“When I don’t care, I can play ‘em like a Ken doll” This is saying that when girls don’t care about a guy, she manipulates him for fun.
“Won’t wash my hair, then make ’em bounce like a basketball.” “Bounce like a basketball,” can mean going away. Like how people say, “I gotta bounce.” Demi Lovato means that if she doesn’t wash her hair, the guy won’t be interested in her anymore. This is a gender stereotype because it’s saying guys are only interested in looks and not anything else.
“But you make me wanna act like a girl, paint my nails and wear high heels.” Demi Lovato is saying that there’s a boy that makes her so nervous she wants to look good. But, she says, “make me wanna act like a girl,” which makes it a gender stereotype because not all girls paint their nails and wear high heels.
“You make me glow, but I cover up. Won’t let it show.” I think this is saying that when girls who don’t want to fall in love “glow,” as in “blushing.” It can be referring to how she feels when she is around him. But she says she, “covers up,” which is saying she doesn’t let them show because she is afraid to. But that can also mean using makeup to hide her true self. That’s stereotyping that girls use a lot of makeup, and end up hiding who they really are.

Commercials
Walt Disney World Resort – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPYUo0awFOc
Propaganda that Disney World is a place where people of all ages can have fun, relax, and be happy. Disney World is more like a place for kids and teenagers than adults, but they always show adults laughing with their kids. When I go to an amusement park it’s always only my brother and I going on rides, since my mom’s too scared of everything and my dad gets sick easily.
There is also a stereotype that everyone likes fireworks. Everyone in the commercial was cheering and smiling while watching the fireworks.
Stereotype that boys like Buzz Lightyear and Star Wars
Stereotype that girls like princesses and dressing up like them.

Car Commercial – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYWHsOeDf3M
Saying that boys care more about cars than girls
Propaganda that the car is so good it can get you a lot of attention and that the car has a ton of energy. Made it look like it was made by super smart scientists.
Since all of the hamsters who made the car were male, it’s a gender stereotype that only boys can be smart like those hamsters and make that car.
Also stereotyping that females dress in heels and designer clothes
Stereotyping that smart people dress with suspenders and round glasses.

Similarities
There are a lot of gender stereotypes and age stereotypes in all of these bias examples. They all portray girls as weak beings that are afraid of both tangible things and being themselves. They all portray girls as girls that are pretty or want to be pretty. But they all depict boys as people who are capable of doing a lot of cool things, like making a car or surviving earthquakes. I’ve noticed that whether it’s a boy or girl singing the song, writing the book, or appearing in a commercial, it seems to portray girls in a negative way, even though it’s a little bit. All the examples I have don’t have any kind of black vs white prejudice, just the fact that there aren’t any black people in any of the examples. That’s implying that black people can’t survive fires or don’t go to elementary. Even though they don’t really say anything bad about black people, not saying anything about them could also be and example of bias.

Differences
There are also examples that say boys as bad people to be around, since they break people’s hearts and don’t care about girls. I think songs are the ones that usually show this, since a lot of singers are girls and singer usually sing out their thoughts. Commercials and books tend to have much more stereotypes in them than the songs. Commercials always use stereotypes or other bias because they think the audience believes in those biases and will agree with them. Books also shouldn’t have so many unpopular opinions readers won’t even read them. Songs are usually just liked because of the melody, and you can’t fit so much bias in a song anyway. For the bias in books, I don’t think most of them are really intentional. Lots of authors just write and provide small details that just happen to have stereotypes in them. When they do have a lot and really big ones, most of the time it’s just being realistic.

Product
This is my product to make people aware of the bias in the world around them. For my product, I made a poster. This poster contains an outline of a man wearing headphones and having a phone, a book, a newspaper, and a print ad across his eyes, like a blindfold. This represents how bias can lead you on blindly, making you deaf and blind to the real world.
Bias Poster

Chinese Chess

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Playing Chinese Chess

Playing Chinese Chess

This is a picture of my brother and I playing Chinese chess. I usually don’t play things like these, but my brother loves playing it so I decided to just give it a try. I thought it was really, really fun, mostly because I kept saying how the soldiers only took one step at a time, even when they’re about to get killed, and how the cars are running over everything on the board and driving through the river. And my brother kept trying to tell me to be serious and think more about my moves more, since I was just moving them randomly. After that I thought a bit more of my moves, but my brother still ended up winning in the end.

Nearly Done!

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On February 6, I memorized the song Somebody To You. Even though it repeats a lot, it’s hard to remember how the song goes. I think I should memorize this because I think it’s a bit unprofessional to have to keep glancing at the screen all the time to know the lyrics and who sings what. Real singers don’t keep a piece of paper with the lyrics on them to their concerts. I also think it will be easier with this song because Teresa and I aren’t alternating parts as much as the others.

On February 8, I went to Teresa’s house to practice singing Somebody To You by The Vamps. We used this karaoke => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjO6_uc__A. Teresa already got the parts split on February 6, so we didn’t need to use any time at her house to split the parts. We had two hours to practice and we used that time well.

We plan for Teresa to come to my house on Sunday, February 15, so that we can do the Somebody To You cover.
We never got the time to go to each other’s house. Again, since we had to finish our homework. We knew it was likely that would happen, so we agreed to stay until 4:30 on Friday today, so we could practice and maybe film.

The conference room was being used, and everywhere else was way too noisy. We weren’t able to film the cover at school, so we just practiced on the bleachers near the construction site.
Singing Practice

We plan to get at least two songs done before school starts again. We think that it shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish, since we now have a lot of time to go to each other’s house. I want to get our Somebody To You cover done as soon as possible, so maybe Teresa can come to my house on Wednesday.

Bias In Print Ads

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mcdonalds-bear-260-56901-1

“Bear – Mcdonald’s Print Ad.” Bear – Mcdonald’s Print Ad. Web. 2 Feb. 2015. .

This is stereotyping the fact that bears like to eat humans. Many people believe that bears eat humans, and that’s where McDonalds got the idea to use getting eaten by bear in their advert. People won’t think it’s weird, even though bears won’t eat us. The propaganda is that McDonald’s food will still taste good no matter what.

pizza-hut-delivery-just-parking-260-66761

“Just Parking – Pizza Hut Delivery Service Print Ad.” Just Parking – Pizza Hut Delivery Service Print Ad. Web. 2 Feb. 2015. .

This is stereotyping the fact that when people are late for something they always make up excuses. The propaganda is that the pizza from Pizza Hut will not be late and has fast delivery, and will also not make up excuses.

greenwich-pizzas-sign-260-67849-1

“Sign – Greenwich Pizzas Print Ad.” Sign – Greenwich Pizzas Print Ad. Web. 2 Feb. 2015. .

This is a stereotype that everyone loves pizza and think it’s valuable. It makes you think that you are supposed to think that it’s valuable. This pizza store wants you to think that they spent a lot of time on the pizzas, so much time that they would be valuable. Also, putting all those words into a pizza makes it look like a ton of cheese can be stuffed inside.

julia-full-page

“Pretty Flowers and Makeup.” Theadvertisingeye. 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. .

The propaganda is that the makeup advertised in the ad will be very effective and is totally worth it. It also doesn’t say the price, because maybe it’s really expensive. Then when people go buy it, they usually don’t turn back.

story-animated-ads-uniqlo

“Gallery For Uniqlo Ad.” Gallery For Uniqlo Ad. Web. 3 Feb. 2015. .

Want you to think that there’s a lot of variety in UniQlo clothes for any kind of person. Since most of the clothes in the advert can be for both girls and boys, they both genders would come buy the clothes. The girl with short hair also makes both boys and girls want to come instead of only girls. If it was a girl with longer hair, people will think that the clothes at UniQlo will appeal mostly to girls. So UniQlo chose a girl with a more tomboyish look.

roots

Morris, Avigayil. “Roots Canada: Free Shipping Save 30 – $60 Off Your Purchase | BargainMoose Canada.” BargainMoose Canada RSS. 6 Oct. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2015. .

This is stereotyping the fact that Canadians like being out in the wild. They make you want to think that making Roots clothing is good for the environment and maybe to be Canadian you would have to buy their clothes. With the signs showing the discounts, it also looks like Roots stores are everywhere, even in the forest.

mcdonalds-angus

Spoon, Ryan. “20% of McDonald’s Facebook Ad Is Hamburger Legalese.”RyanSpooncom RSS. 12 July 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. .

Uses the word, “Awesome,” which is usually something younger people say. That means that this ad is directed toward younger viewers. Using that word will make younger people really pay more attention to it. If McDonalds makes an ad with the word, “DELECTABLE” is giant letters. Obviously teenagers don’t usually use words like that, and mostly older people will pay more attention to posters like that. Teenagers are also prone to do things without thinking much. This poster encourages teens to eat this ginormous and unhealthy burger.

Apple-iphone-ad-228x300

Hoblak, Paige. “Guest Column: Consumer Culture.” – Langley Today. 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2015. .

People only want to get stared at if they are looking awesome or cool. If it’s OK to stare at this iPhone, than that makes people think that it really is awesome. People don’t like being stared at if they think they’re going to fail or if they look embarrassing. That makes people think that the iPhone is never going to fail, and won’t be an embarrassment to the makers.

starbucks

Dellinger, Elicia. “Magazine Ad Analysis.” An EYE for Business. 13 May 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2015. .

Starbucks want you to believe that Starbucks coffee will be perfect. And want to make you believe that other coffee shops will not make coffee as perfect, even on the second try, meaning that other coffee shops won’t try as hard. Also want you to think that if your coffee isn’t good enough at Starbucks, the people working there will be kind enough to give you a second cup.

La Da Dee

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Teresa and I are planning to go to film our new cover, La Da Dee by Cody Simpson sometime this Sunday (1/25) or the Sunday after that (2/1). We are going to use this karaoke that I made.
Unfortunately, because of the Individuals and Societies Summative Assessment, it is unlikely that we’d be able to do anything together over the weekend, since I’m sure we both would need the time to finish the Summative and prepare for the presentation.

We have both learned that we should probably use the time we have in school to do our Valient Ventures. For example, we could have used lunch time or the time when we finish our work in Spanish class to select our next song, so that we don’t use up 30 minutes every time choosing a song at each other’s houses.

We really didn’t get to meet up this weekend (1/25). We were both busy working on our Summative Assessment. We had finished splitting the parts though. The document is here.

On Sunday (2/1), I went to Teresa’s house. She was meant to come to my house, but my mom had to clean the house, so I went to hers instead. This is the cover we made–> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2SR3jQSf-k.

On our song ideas document we deleted a few songs that we were unlikely to do, which made the list much shorter. That made it easier to decide what our next song would be.

Bias in News

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A Man Takes 17 Hostage in Sydney Cafe
After a man took 17 people hostages in a cafe, commandos came to put a stop to him.
Two of the hostages died, along with the man. The two hostages were Katrina Dawson, 38, and Tori Johnson, 34. Many other people were also injured. The man was identified as Man Haron Monis. He was described as an unshaven man in a white shirt wearing a black cap. He is also said to be well-known to the authorities.
Monis took over the building on 10 a.m. on Monday, December 15. He asked for a phone call to the Australian Prime Minister and an Isis flag. He was pacing back and forth in the cafe. The hostages had to press their hands and face against the windows, and hold up a black flag with Arabic writing on it. The writing said, “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God”. After six hours, three men managed to escape, and an hour later, two women did as well. Once Monis realized five people had fled, he began screaming orders at the rest of the hostages.
After one night, early the next day police began throwing flash-bang grenades into the cafe. The police and Monis opened fire, and Monis was killed.

Pearson, Michael, Jethro Mullen, and Anna Coren. “With Two Hostages and Gunman Dead, Grim Investigation Starts in Sydney – CNN.com.” CNN. Cable News Network, 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. .

Finished With Another Video!

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Over Winter Vacation, we never got to meet together due to me being in Japan and Taipei, and Teresa being in many other places. That was probably our own fault that we didn’t meet, because I could have simply called her mom, and I could have asked my mom for the times as well as the date. Maybe we could have found a time when we weren’t in different places.
Over the vacation, I did find a good camera we can use, so the video quality would be better. I also cleaned up the place around our Christmas tree for our filming.

From now on, I’m thinking that we should meet every weekend, one day practicing, and another day filming. We should also practice sometime together over the two weeks, at school. We would get things done faster if we actually have a better plan. On Sunday I want Teresa to come to my house to film the Mistletoe cover, and also practice out next song while we’re at it. Sometime today (Jan 9), I want to choose another song with Teresa, or make sure we can sing the song we’re thinking of, which is Everytime, by Britney Spears. I want to finish at least three more videos before March.

I’ve learned that you really need to be responsible to get this project going to way you want it to.

On January 11, Teresa went to my house and we filmed our Mistletoe video! I used a camera instead of our computer this time, so the video was more clear. We took a while to set up: putting the camera at the right angle, making the camera work, and arranging the chairs. After two tries, we finished right before Teresa had to leave. Teresa also posted it on our Facebook page.

On Sunday, December 18, Teresa and I chose our song at her house. We tried doing Everytime and La Da Dee together. We couldn’t find a karaoke version for La Da Dee, so I made one by combining an intrumental without the lyrics with one with lyrics and took away the sound. It’s here. We have also split the parts for Everytime and La Da Dee.