Stereotyping

Advertisements tend to appear everywhere nowadays. You could spot an ad while driving down the road, waiting in line at a grocery store, or watching a video on youtube. Although these adverts may vary in promoted products, they are all produced for the same reason: to persuade the target audience. Yet, considering the relevance of these ads in our daily lives, we are subconsciously forced to absorb the ideals promoted in advertisements. For example, the majority of beauty advertisements tend to promote airbrushed models usually of caucasian ethnicity, leaving little possibilities for models of different races. When an African-american model were to appear in an advert, the ratio of white models to black models tends to be very high. These models are usually referred to as "exotic", insinuating that their race   is unusual. What does this promote to the audience? The preference of one race to another? How unfair would this be from the point of view of an African-american? Although this may not have been the intention of the advertisers, I believe they should have the moral duty to avoid stereotyping people, which could cause further racial issues. Since the media have the power to persuade us, they should also have the power to promote realistic and fair ideals. 

Print Ad Analysis: "Never Follow" by Hour Choice

Hour Choice chooses to communicate freedom of expression and choice in their ad. The product being promoted, a watch, is therefore meant to communicate this concept, making the audience affiliate this concept with the product. Judging by the young woman chosen to promote this product, the targeted audience should be similar in age, hobbies, and have similar beliefs or values. The line “Never follow”   is purposely situated at the same viewpoint as this young woman's face to identify with the reader’s personality and their potential willpower to go against conformity to society’s restrictions. Since all the text (except the logo and the terms and conditions) is technically only two words, these two words should have an impact on the reader and be easy enough to remember the overall message behind the ad. “Never follow” is meant to appeal to a progressive audience. The name of the brand "Hour Choice" can also be considered a pun for "Our choice" which would further substantiate this progressive and free ideology. 

Judging by the woman's appearance, the targeted young women would be of a Western cultural point of view, and would most likely feel strongly about their freedom of choice. While the woman in the ad is wearing a conservative white wedding dress, this is contradicted in the choice of converse sneakers and a pink watch as a jewellery. A more conservative audience would opt for more elegant shoes and jewellery yet the woman in this ad chooses converse sneakers and a pink watch as a symbol of freedom and choice. This should appeal to the Ethos of the targeted audience, by empowering these young women. As a result, men are ignored to communicate this concept and empower women in a way that may not have been culturally acceptable in previous decades. The focus of the advertisement is centred around women perhaps as a contribution to feminism, a movement that people are becoming more socially aware of. Consequently, the bandwagon appeal is communicated to the targeted audience to affiliate these concepts with the product, insinuating that without an Hour Choice watch, you do not support freedom of choice. 

The Pitch Reflection

To begin our new unit in Language and Literature class, we were prompted to present a Pitch intended to advertise and persuade our audience to choose our advertising methods to promote their product. 

Sheherazade and I were given the product "the Casio Keytar, 80s UK", allowing us to narrow down a very specific audience and to understand the overall context needed to present our product. Our targeted audience was therefore interested in 80s British pop music and all the trends and stereotypes that come along with that. This pop music was targeted towards a younger audience, which fits nicely with the audience of the product. We then needed to convince Casio to accept our advertising method. 

The Casio keytar is a product that we knew would immediately spark laughter throughout the audience due to the silliness of it. We decided to use this to our advantage by choosing humour to be the main appeal throughout the pitch. As a result, we chose to act very enthusiastic about the product, including many jokes and slang throughout the presentation. There was also 80s pop music played in the background to complement the nature of the Casio keytar and attract our targeted audience. The concept of bandwagon was also clearly evident throughout our presentation as this appeal proves to be very effective among young adults trying to fit in. Rational was the final main appeal we chose to use as this promotes the product as a beneficial, advantageous product. 

The fifteen basic appeals were also considered while preparing for this presentation as they were essential persuasive techniques for our presentation. Testimonials from normal people and celebrities were included throughout the presentation to increase interest from the audience, such as "Pop stars from all over the world send us their reviews and appreciations, congratulating us for our professional and admired engineering." The concept of the key tar being brand-new was also encouraged in our promoting presentation as this attracts the target audience to take part in the bandwagon appeal. The key tar is affiliated to British 80s pop (including the Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, etc) an interest that the target audience will most likely respond well to. Rhetorical questions like "Are you tired of being called a lame hoser and a music loob?" or "You want to impress your posse?", were also frequently used as this technique tends to make the audience feel as bad if they do not buy the product. 

A variety of images showcasing the brightly coloured keytars were chosen to attract the viewer to the product in a positive way. The audience should see the keytar as a enjoyable product, associating it with happy times. There were also some images of 80s UK pop bands that the audience should associate with the keytar. A short clip of Annie Lenox saying things like "brilliant product" or "I enjoy this" was also included for this reason. These bands are also intended for the music taste of this young audience, which incorporates an element of celebrity into the presentation. 

I feel as though the overall presentation effectively promoted our product in a positive humorous way. The use of relevant music in the background of our presentation allowed our audience to remain engaged throughout the length of our presentation as the song changed each slide and the audience anticipated the next catchy song. Humour was also another important element of our presentation as it allowed us to connect with the audience. The preparation needed to present this advertising pitch was minimal, yet the overall outcome of our presentation seem to be very effective to promote our product. I feel very confident that I have an overall understanding in the basic outline of an FOA. 

Fiji Water Commercial

Fiji Water has released a group of short commercials set to persuade. As soon as a commercial begins, a child's voice claims "nature has created the best water in history". This narration is also accompanied by classical music and incredibly beautiful scenic clips of natural landscapes. Immediately, an ideology is enforced by Fiji water onto its viewer, an ideology insinuating that their water holds the purest status. Their target audience is therefore assumed to care about the health impact of the purity of their water, perhaps targeting their pathos. The use of a young narrator, classical music as well as beautiful clips of nature further enforces this concept of purity. The concise sentences used such as "Bottled at the source, untouched by man" or "Earth's finest water" are purposely succinct in order for the audience to subconsciously retain the ideals enforced in the commercial. 

Letter to Laura Clark of "Twtr? It's majorly bad!"

Ms. Clark, Although I can sympathise with some of your negative opinions about text speak and the way English is taught in the UK in your article, I feel as though you have completely ignored the positive outcomes text speak has to offer! Is text messaging really that harsh on the English language? As long as children do not learn text speak as their first dialect, the majority should be able to distinguish between educational English and the English used while texting. The focus on the minor issues of abbreviations and grammatical errors seem to be ignoring the innovative development of the English language text speak has to offer. 

Have you ever considered it to be "the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adapt language to suit the demands of diverse settings"? (D. Crystal, 2003). This necessity to "protect standards of English from the influence of text message and social media slang" (Clark, 2014), seems to come from an elitist, Standard English point of view. This developmental medium of the English language allows for quicker communication between individuals or on a wider scale, due to the swiftness technology has enable us to write with. The linguist, David Crystal, ensures that "texters seem to be aware of the high information value of consonants as opposed to vowels (...) as well as the low information value of punctuation marks"(D. Crystal, 2003), illustrating people's ability to distinguish between standard and non-standard English. This ability to communicate using different mediums (or dialects, or languages) has actually proven to be beneficial for developing young minds. 

On the flip side, your article provides a productive argument towards the manner in which the English language is taught and enforced in the UK. It seems as though poor scores on English assessments leads those students to chose other subjects when given the ability to decide at GSCE or A levels. To be honest, this lack of enforcement of the English studies may have a bigger impact on students standard English as opposed to text speak. In an ideal world, individuals should be able to effectively communicate using different mediums and dialects of language, knowing when and how to adhere to the rules of standard English. However, I do not necessarily agree with the correlation between text speak and the way English is taught in the UK. 

Memoir: Beyonce's Communication of Feminist Views

I wanted Flawless to empower all of my girls that listen to my music. I wanted my fans to be inspired to speak out towards Feminism, and to pursue their dreams. My African American background influenced me to specifically reach out to the girls within our community. As a young girl I looked up to other African American artists like Diana Ross, Tina Turner or Whitney Houston, and still to this day admire the freedom in their lyrical choices. I feel as though I've achieved that in the lyrics I've written in Flawless, using a sense of attitude to convey my feminist ideals. "Don't think I'm just his little wife", a verse from the song, addresses an issue which is something most woman have struggled with for a while. Although I don't feel the need for competition between men and women, I want women to strive to be the best they can be. My choice of including  one of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech was particular as it specifically communicated these ideals in an intelligent, successful way. I completely agreed with the ideas expressed in her speech, as it addresses women as a whole, regardless of race, community or culture. This concept of including all women in Feminism, rather than specific races, really touches heart with me, and I have used my AAVE in my lyrics as a mean to communicate my ideals to the best of my abilities. 

Bilingual Mind: Understanding How The Brain Speaks Two Languages: a response

Jeffrey Kluger explores scientific reasoning behind bilingualism, explaining its many benefits and few disadvantages. He focuses on the importance childhood development and education, while providing research proving its advantages later on in life. Kluger states that bilinguals "seemed to show a greater facility with skills that relied on interpreting symbolic representations, such math or music."

Code switching is explored in Kluger text's taking a different stance on its importance to the one discussed in class. Kluger believes "that this is a short-term disadvantage of bilingualism", while I believe it does not interrupt the flow of a conversation, except the interchange of languages, as it keeps the same structure of conversation. In both cases though, bilingualism is seen as an advantage as it opens up doors for more communication through different cultures.