Portfolio Planning

Most of my previous blogs have either been me analyzing a specific topic or speaking my mind on something; however, this time, it’ll be a little different. For this post, I’ll be writing a more informative piece explaining my plans for my English summative.

My task for this summative is to make a portfolio that includes four different media outlets we’ve used throughout the course. Each of these media texts should work together to bring light to something interesting or significant I noticed throughout the novel.

My portfolios thesis will be: The infamous view that all men in our society are dominant while women are inferior is explored vigorously and unfairly throughout Lullabies for Little Criminals. The novel depicts women in a negative, stereotypical manner, ultimately degrading them as a whole. Through the perspective of a feminist lens, it becomes evident how men have cultivated the power to restrict and make decisions for a woman in both this novel and in today’s society.

Below, is a brief description of what media texts I plan to use and why I think that specific outlet is best to explain my thesis.

Persuasive Essay

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For the first part of my portfolio, I have decided to write a persuasive essay on the different ways women are negatively portrayed through society. I will be exploring how men devalue women in ways that make them look absurd. I think that writing a persuasive essay will be a good idea for me because I believe it’s one of my most potent forms of writing. I also think this types of essay is suitable for my topic because it allows me to use logic as well as emotion to draw from. This topic is very controversial and heavily talked about in today’s society, so I believe using passion, rhetorical questions and imagery will enhance my writing in a way that will display my points in an effective manor.

Blog Post

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I will be exploring how men have cultivated power to make decision for women in the novels society and today’s society through a blog post. The reason I choose to do a blog post, is because it’s a great way to get a few but important points across without being very formal. I can talk informally and use specific words styles that other mediums will not let me. Through a blog post, I will be using a conversational tone to make my readers really understand what I’m trying to say while allowing for feedback and comments. This medium will also allow me to use parenthetical citations and detailed images to prove my ideas further. Since i’ll be including a portion about our society today, hyperlinks will enhance my points and backup my observations.

Concept map

I will use the features of a concept map to dive in deeper into how the idea of how patriarchy is used within the novel. (Patriarchy is simply the exploration of how women are inferior to men). I will be using examples and different scenarios to showcase how men and women are not seen to be on the same level. I will also be showing examples of how women are seen to be inferior, as well as showing examples of how men are seen to be dominant. The reason I choose a concept map is that it can get an essential idea across without using long sentences. It’s also very visual so it can be easier to understand and will allow the readers to see a physical connection between two things rather than just thinking about it.

Remix

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For my last media text, I’ve decided to create a remix in terms of creating something new from 5-6 original posts. I will rearrange certain elements and use pictures to explain some major points seen in the novel and will display them as a whole. Since I’m doing a digital portfolio, I will post both the original cover and my cover and discuss the differences and what each picture means. I think that a remix will fit into my portfolio well, as I will be able to show and prove my thesis in a different way other than just using words. It will add another dimension to my portfolio and keep readers more interested as it won’t be a block of text, but rather something visual that they can interpret in their own way. I’m also very excited about this media outlets as I’ve never created my own remix before so I’m looking forward to facing a new challenge. I do believe, that this portion will be the trickiest part of my portfolio as I will be attempting to use many different software like illustrator and Photoshop to create my new image. On top of that, I will also be making that imagine into a mosaic so it will be a lot harder to cite those images and make it in a way that will be effective to my portfolio thesis.

Skills Learned

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Throughout this course, I’ve learned so much and developed many skills that I didn’t have coming into this class. Starting from the beginning of unit 1 all the way to this post I’m writing right now, I’ve learned how to properly analyzing a text through literary theories as well as learn how important it is to infer something and make connections etc. Over the course of this semester, I’ve learned more about remix’s, blogs and literary theories more than I ever have, including how to properly give credit. I feel like looking from an overview, a major skill that I’ve acquired is time management as well as looking through different lens to see what a text could mean in different ways.

-ZK

Providing the Most Insights

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Now that I’ve finished all three sections of my book and analyzed them through 3 different literary lenses, I believe that the most insightful lens was the feminist lens as it revealed a lot about the cruel and unfair society Baby resides in. Throughout the book, we are constantly seeing the differences between men and woman and are being reminded of how women are treated very differently as if they’re on a whole different level of less and insecure. In this novel, the author sets up particular distinctions between male and female in a way that I believe looking through a feminist lens could only reveal.

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While examining the book through this theory, I feel like I finally understood what everyone means my feminism. By definition, according to Google, Feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” Although this is straight and to the point, through the novel, the idea of feminism was made clear through descriptions, emotions and scenarios. All that gave me a better overall understanding.

What I found very interesting was how easily the idea of Patriarchy was used. What is that you may ask? Well, basically it’s when Men are way up there, and woman are way down there, in other words,

Women were portrayed to be inferior, weak, naive and easy to take advantage off. All the while,

men were seen to be dominant, strong-minded, independent and people who never seemed to need a woman.

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Male dominance is mostly shown through both, Baby’s father and Alphonse. Both these men create specific rules for Baby restricting her in many different ways. If Baby decided not to follow these rules, they would resort to physical or verbal abuse in terms of using sexist terms to teach her a lesson. By doing this, they created an environment where violence is portrayed as the only solution to defiance, which in reality is definitely not true.

Alphonse shows his dominance over Baby when he tells her who she can and can’t have sex with. He makes all these decisions for her without her opinion, yet she is expected to confine to them since defying a strong man was known to be wrong. As Baby mentions, Alphonse tells her, “Get into that Brown car” (218) without any explanation. Only when she gets into the car and the driver starts talking to her, does she realize that she’s in there to have sex with a random man. Alphonse controlled everything Baby did, including her earning and her decisions.

The feminist lens also reveals how men only needed women for their body and their appearance rather than for what they truly are. Alphonse is a clear example of this. Without any regards to Baby’s age, personality, or what she might want, Alphonse took advantage of her by making her have sex with him so fulfill his pleasure. Baby mentions, “There was just a weight. I was making love to the Invisible Man. It felt like something terrible had happened to me… I felt as if my insides were cold” (209-210). Not only did he not ask her if she was comfortable with having sex, but he also paid little attention to the fact that she was a 13 year old virgin who had never had sex before.

These are only a few examples of how the use of Patriarchy occurred throughout the novel. In almost every chapter, I noticed something new and horribly inaccurate about the way women were represented and how they were treated at the hands of men. They were continually seen as losers and people who were only there to satisfy a man’s “needs”.

The use of patriarchy is not only limited to this novel, as we also experience this idea throughout our society as well. Since the beginning of time, the idea of men being dominant had been circulating around and was accepted for centuries. However, up until very recently, the world decided to make a change. Why should someone be seen as dominant, when equality is an option? Isn’t equality the fairest aspect out of everything?

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Now that I’m entirely done this novel, I can finally see how hard Baby’s life has been. Especially at such a young age, she was exposed to the dark world of drugs and sex making her life 10x harder then anyone I personally know. For me, this book was an eye opener. At the back of my head I knew that there were kids who were exposed to bad living conditions, however by reading this novel, it felt as if I was Baby’s shadow, experiencing and seeing everything she had.

-Z.K

Not an Object, Not an attention seeker, and Definitely not Inferior

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This week I’ve finished reading the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals and wow! Was this book an experience. For those who’ve been following up with my recent posts will know how this novel mainly focuses on drugs, bad parenting, sex and prostitution. All topics that are controversial and not common to young kids. This novel was definitely a chilling experience that taught me many life lessons and made me realize how our society is not at it’s finest.

Looking from a feminist point of view, this novel definitely had some ups and down when it came to gender roles and how they were perceived. The men in this novel were regularly shown to be dominant, and the woman were seen to be inferior.

One thing I found especially interesting was that women weren’t women and men weren’t men.

Confusing right?

What I mean is, women were seen as sexual objects and nothing more, while most men were seen as monsters, abusers, sex-driven maniacs and even manipulators.

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When it came to woman, the men in these societies did not see them for who they were, let alone their personalities, but for their image. A girl could look as beautiful as a flower and have the nastiest personally, yet men would still approach her to satisfy their own obsessive pleasure solely based on appearance. This idea is mostly explored through the eyes of the local pimp, Alphonse.

One of the biggest evils in Baby’s lives was, without a doubt, Alphonse. He manipulated pretty girls with affection and sexual gifts to use them for his own benefit. Unfortunately, Baby walks right into his trap and begins to look for his attention, eventually getting swayed by his gifts and sweet commentary.

Alphonse is literally THE perfect example of how men saw women as nothing more than sexual objects, as he begins to show interest in Baby only after she dresses more daringly. When Baby first saw Alphonse, she mentioned, “Although Alphonse was terribly interested in women, he never seemed to notice me. But that’s because I wasn’t really a woman” (O’Neill, 149). By saying this, we see how Alphonse had little to no interest in Baby as she wasn’t “really a woman” implementing that she didn’t have the looks or features of a typical female.

Yet, when Baby started wearing more exposing and “foxier” cloths like Zoe and some of the other prostitutes, Alphonse interest developed faster than a cheetahs run. Suddenly he had his eyes on her, and even went as far as calling her a “hot tamale” (155) and sending her things he thought would look good on her.

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Another example of how men saw women as sexual objects were with the idea of prostitutes. When Alphonse forced Baby into prostitution, he would make her sit outside on a bench looking all pretty and dolled up, waiting for men to have a look at her and decide if they wanted to have sex. Alphonse put her on display as if she was a trophy, not in a proud way, but in a bragging way. They would wait all day for “offers” to come in, and once they did, he would make her have sex, no questions asked.

He never had her best interests in mind; he only thought of her as an outlet for making money. He convinced her of becoming a prostitute and encouraged her to sell her body. To him, she was an object that could be tucked away on a far shelf and pulled out whenever he needed. And if that object ever faltered or got stuck on the shelf, he would abuse it out with anger until he got what he wanted.

Male dominance is another aspect we see through Alphonse and even Baby’s own father, Jules. When Baby decides to go back to school, she meets an odd boy named Xavier. Unlike most men in society, he was portrayed as kind, innocent and someone who didn’t want to take advantage of her. Eventually, they started dating and decided to have sex. The only place Baby could think of was Alphonse’s apartment as she expected he wouldn’t be there.

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However, as I suspected, Alphonse walked in and saw what was happening. He took hold of Xavier and beat him up. I was taken by surprise when Baby yelled: “Let him go!” (306). She took control of the situation and mustered the courage to go against his wishes. She used her power as a woman and used her voice to say what was only right. Yet for her act of courage, she was rewarded with a slap. After finally doing what needed to be done, she didn’t get a courageous pat on the back but instead got a red mark on her face. “I didn’t feel any pain when Alphonse slapped me on both sides of my face. I could feel both my cheeks getting all warm and tingly” (O’Neill 306). All because she finally did something for herself and on her own will. No one should ever lay a hand on someone else, but because men were accustomed to being better, this type of behaviour was allowed and acceptable. No questions asked. After all, he was the mighty man, and she was a lifeless stripper.

Jules, on the other hand, also shows dominance over Baby as he decides what she should or shouldn’t do. He continuously restricts her in all sorts of ways. As Baby mentioned, “I couldn’t dress like that or Jules would throw a fit. He didn’t even let me braid my hair. He thought that Bobby pins were invented solely for attracting black men” (150). Not only does this show that Baby couldn’t do some of the simplest things, but it also shows how men could restrict women in what they wear and who they can and can’t hang out with.

A Not so Calming Lullaby

Welcome back!

For this week’s blog, I’m going to share a little more about Heather O’Neill novel Lullabies For Little Criminals through another literary theory. This time I’m going to analyze the two chunks I’ve read through an archetypal lens to bring light to some of the archetypal characters and symbols observed.

This blog will have a slightly different format than some of my previous blogs. That’s because I’ve decided to split my blog up into two sections: Archetypal characters and Archetypal symbols.

Below, is a video on what and where an Archetype comes from. Feel free to watch it for more insight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvYM4GIbYKg

Archetypal Characters

The motherly figure

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As we’ve explored, Baby doesn’t have a mother as she passed away when Baby was very young. All her life she has grown up with her Father Jules, who’d I’d say is a little too irresponsible when it comes to taking care of a child. Although she doesn’t have an actual mother who looks after her and cares for her, we can see the motherly figure archetype through the character Isabelle, the head of the foster home Baby stayed at while Jules was in the hospital. Isabelle went out of her way to always make sure the kids were enjoying their time and made sure to bring them plenty of toys to play with. After bringing Baby a new toy, Baby states, “I sat next to her on the bed and leaned on her as I played with the pony’s hair. I loved the way that Isabelle could make you feel so lazy” (O’Neill 46). Like any mother, she was caring towards Baby and everyone else. She always looked out for her and was her shoulder to cry on. Baby never seemed to have a woman figure in her life so she took comfort when Isabelle was around.

The trickster

I’m betting that Alphonse is nothing more than a sneaky, sly trickster who wants to get Baby to do what he wants. When Alphonse is first introduced, he seems perfect to Baby, he has the looks and even dresses nicely. One day when Zoe and Baby were sliding on an old plastic bag, Alphonse came by and “chucked the remains of a bottle of water on us ‘Get your shit together. Jesus Christ, what a fucking sap'” (149). Alphonse thought they were lame, yet later on, when Baby starts dancing like a stripper, he’s caught staring at her and even sends her a pair of knee high socks to encourage her behaviour.

This tells me that he definitely has an ulterior motive; no one would randomly pretend they were interested in someone if they weren’t planning to do something else. He thought she was lame and stupid but then when he saw her dancing he was drawn in. While reading this, I predicted that this meant he wanted her to be a stripper or have sex with him,

And guess what? I was right.

Upon returning from the Juvenile facility Baby’s father sent her at, Alphonse uses her vulnerability and clouded judgement to manipulate her into having sex with him: “He turned off the light before making love to me. His room was dark like a grave. When I closed my eyes, it wasn’t as if he was on top of me…I was making love to the invisible man” (O’Neil 215), Alphonse, did everything he could to get her to hang out with him and “play” with him even though he knew she was just 13. Using her desires, he took advantage of her and didn’t even care what this could mean for her in terms of her losing her virginity, he just did what he wanted without a second thought.

Archetypal Symbols

The doll

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Just by reading the first two-quarters of the novel, I can already begin to understand Baby’s upbringing. She hasn’t grown up with an ideal childhood in which children play with toys and worry about nothing but just having fun. Instead, she faces a sense of poverty and has no proper parental figures from which she can learn from. Her distraught and unfair childhood is represented through the old ragged doll that her mother gave her. I feel like the doll is the only healthy thing in her life that doesn’t seem to be unusual or odd for a 12-year-old to possess. The doll represents her last shred of childhood and what it means to have something to come back to. She never had any siblings or even a mother, so the doll kind of plays the support role. However, in the second chunk, we see Jules rip the doll and cast it aside.

The doll ripping is when I began to realize that Baby’s life will now be different. It felt as if a veil was being removed and now she’s exposed. Not only does this doll help fill in the missing blanks of friendship and companionship, but it’s also a pretty accurate representation of her and Jules relationship. Although the doll is ripped, crummy and old, she loves it with all her heart since that’s the only meaningful thing she has. It’s no different when it comes to Jules. Even though he becomes harsher and on edge, Baby she still loves him as he’s all she knows and the only family she’s got.

Baby’s innocence

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From time to time while reading, I’m reminded of Baby’s innocent mind. It seems to be stuck in an adult world, forcing her to grow up quicker than she needs to. Although Baby doesn’t have the best uprising and the best parent, her life wasn’t always tragic and spontaneous. Before she got any ideas of dressing up like the other girls around town, Baby qualified to have an innocent mindset because she still acted immaturely and didn’t know any better between right and wrong, partially because she grew up in an environment where most wrongs were normal.

She didn’t smoke, do drugs, and when told about sex, she stated, “I was still uncomfortable with the idea of sex. When I first heard of French kissing, I thought it was something that only mental patients and the kids who failed grade four would do when they grew up” (O’Neil 16). This shows how she never thought about doing anything against what she believed. At this time, she wasn’t yet exposed to the idea of having sex or becoming a prostitute. Although Baby’s circumstances weren’t like an ideal child’s, her innocent mind helped her stay on the better sides of things. However, Alphonse the trickster, played a very large role in her losing that innocence as he exposed her to adult reality.

Throughout the novel, we see Baby on this long and hard journey. Although her journey is not like that of a hero, Baby still learns new things about herself and the people around her. She goes through many setbacks and hardships with her father and her friends, but even then she continues on.

I’m looking forward to reading the last quarter of the novel and hopefully her journey will end happily.

-Z.K

Predictions, Thoughts and More!

“Childhood is the most valuable thing that’s taken away from you in life, if you think about it.” – Heather O’Neill

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Hey guys!

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted, but I’m glad to announce that I’ll be writing a lot more in the next few weeks. While I’ve been away, I started reading the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals by the wonderful author Heather O’Neill. As you can probably guess, I’ll be informing you about my thoughts on what I’ve read so far and some interesting/odd parts that I’ve encountered.

I decided to split my reading into three large chunks, and for each, I’ll be analyzing the novel under different literary theories to bring light to some interesting and mysterious things.

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While growing up, I was continually being told that drugs were wrong, that smoking made your lungs die, that swearing was rude and that sex is something you should always stay far away from. I was told this at a very young age, by Health teachers, my parents, my aunts and any other adult I was close with, so naturally, as I was growing up, these topics were something I didn’t pay much attention to. Just like how I was taught this at a young age, I assumed every child would be taught the same.

Yet, in Lullabies for Little Criminals the children who are only 12 years old, are out buying magic mushrooms and doing Heroine, having sex, and are using curse words every few seconds. To me, this is very much not normal, in fact it’s kind of scary, yet to Baby and those living in Montreal, this is as natural as the rain that drizzles down.

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Lullabies for Little Criminals follows the main character, Baby and her father Jules, through their journey of life. Motherless, Baby lives with her 27-year-old father Jules, who is continuously having to move from place to place in areas that are not so child-friendly. The novel starts with Jules and Baby moving into a new apartment, which we later see is not a permanent home as they continue to move again. Although moving can be hard, Baby never complains about it and is just grateful that she’s with Jules.

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When I was around Baby’s age, I had to move schools as my family, and I were moving to another part of the city. It was incredibly hard to leave everything behind and start fresh, yet Baby was completely fine with it. Her reaction to moving takes me by surprise as I firmly remember being that young and upset over leaving my old life and starting a new somewhere else.

I guess not every child thinks alike or faces the same circumstances.

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Already by just reading the first few chapters, I can see how Jules isn’t the best person for Baby to be around with. For one, he treats her with no respect and minimal kindness when it comes to him and his drugs. When the book starts, Jules and Baby’s relationship unveils as a sweet relationship between one friend to another. Not father to daughter. Although it was nice to see how they were more open with each other, Jules attitude changed whenever he went after drugs. On his way to buy Heroin one day, he mentions “Baby! Quit following us. Go play with your doll! Get lost, okay?” (O’Neil 11). He was desperate to get his “Chocolate milk” (9), (aka Heroine) and because of that, he spoke very harshly to a 12-year-old girl and left her alone on the streets. He was blinded by the thought of his happiness that he forget about her safety. I feel like this will cause long term problems in both their lives as having drug-addicted parents can have a significant toll on one’s life. I predict that Baby will start looking elsewhere for the attention that her father doesn’t give her, which will only lead her into doing more drug-related things and place her in bad situations.

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Through my research for my previous essay and the knowledge I’ve acquired in Biology and human studies, I’ve learned that for most of the time, having drug-addicted parents can have a significant effect on their children. It can influence them from a young age and put them at higher risks of facing psychological problems and substance addiction in their future. As I was reading the part where Baby wanted to try drugs for the sake of getting attention from her father, I felt conflicted as I firmly believe the mushrooms won’t be the end of it.

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As the story unveils, Baby and Jules’ relationship falters continuously and is no longer what it used to be. After getting arrested and sent to rehab, he actually stopped doing drugs and was on the right path. However Baby wasn’t happy about that because, after his release he seemed different. “‘Don’t lie to me. You’re sitting there stoned you’re eyes are popping out of your fucking head…I just fucking can’t stand it. You’ve got those fucking junky ways’ “(92). He began to start accusing her of being on drugs and talked to her through a tone of disgust and hate. He would never leave her alone and constantly swear at her for no apparent reason.

Seeing Jules act out like this randomly makes me wonder what triggers it? Whenever I think of his past, I get sent through a spiral of puzzlement. Why is he living like this? Why does Baby have to live like this? Why does he regularly talk bad about his birthplace? Was he a high school dropout? Is that why he doesn’t have a job? Or maybe he’s too focused on drugs that no one will hire him? Or perhaps he’s not interested in earning money from himself and Baby?

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Whenever Baby speaks, or someone mentions her, I think of her as a tall 17-year-old girl with blonde/ brown hair and big brown eyes. We were never provided with much information on her appearance. However, I can’t help but see her as a 17-year-old girl when she’s actually 12. I think that’s partly because with all the things she knows and has done, I feel weird imaging her as 12. It seems impossible for my brain to comprehend that she’s still a child, who is unfairly and dangerously exposed to a dark world.

This has been one hell of a start, and I’m very much interested in what happens next. Speaking from a reader’s point of view, I feel like the author intended this book for any adolescents as a reminder that stuff like this is real. Falling into drugs, prostitution and being influenced to do horrible thing is possible, it’s not something your parents or teachers are making up. Personally, reading about this stuff made me sympathize with Baby, she’s still so young, yet is caught up with something no kid should have to go through.

Keep checking my blog for more updates on my reading!

-Z.k

Sources:

O’Neill, Heather. Lullabies for Little Criminals.. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.

Innocent until proven guilty?

Anyone who is accused of committing a crime should have a fair trial with an equivalent examination of all evidence, as well as being perceived as innocent until officially proven guilty. This is a joint statement that applies to almost everyone as many countries have these rights outlined in their legal documents. However, why was Adnan Syed not given these rights?

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In 2000, a jury had found Adnan Syed, a 17-year-old boy at the time, guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee out of spite and jealousy. He was charged with first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison based on evidence shown at trial. Nonetheless, I believe Adnan Syed is innocent for the reasons listed below.

Based on “Serial,” my reasons begin with…

Asia McClain

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While listening carefully to the first couple episodes of “Serial,” it was brought to my attention that a student named Asia McClain, had written a letter to Adnan explaining a significant fact. This letter fell into Adnan’s favour as it pointed towards his innocence. However, it was not processed as evidence. On January 13th, 1999, around 2:36 pm Hae Min Lee, Adnan’s ex-girlfriend was found dead. Adnan was arrested for her murder and sent to jail. However, according to Asia’s letter, it would’ve been highly unlikely for him to have murdered her as Asia saw him at the library around 2:30 pm. As she mentioned in her letters “I am not sure if you remember talking to me in the library on Jan 13th, but I remember chatting with you. Throughout your actions that day I believe in your innocence” (McClain). Not only did Asia see and talk to him at the library, but she also spoke about his character. According to her, he did not seem like a jealous, rage-filled person who wanted to kill Hae, but instead a person who wished her all the happiness. I don’t think it’s possible to kill someone and hide their body all within 6 minutes. Asia’s letter was very crucial to Adnan’s case but wasn’t used, making me believe that someone is screwing him over.

Jay’s Irregularity

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Is it just me or does Jay’s story change a little every time he gets interviewed? While doing some research, I saw that Jay, one of Adnan’s many friends, had an inconsistent story. According to Jay, Adnan mentioned that “he was going to kill that bitch” because “Hae made him mad” (Serial episode 1). Based on this testimony the state built their case and illustrated Adnan as a crazy guy who became a murder over rage. However later on, Jay mentioned that Adnan jokingly said “I think I’m going to kill her, yeah, I think I’m going to kill her” (Serial episode 2) contradicting what he said previously. On the night of Hae’s death, Jay mentioned that Adnan called Jenna’s landline whom he was with, around 3:21 pm asking for a ride. Then later on, Jay changed his story and says Adnan wasn’t the one who called, it was actually himself who called her landline. However, this doesn’t make any sense because why would Jay call her when they were already together at her house? This also doesn’t make sense because Jenna clearly stated that Adnan was the one who called and not Jay. To make things worse, when the call was traced back, it pinged a tower that was nowhere near Jenna’s house showing me that the phone call wasn’t from Jay. I believe there was no substantial evidence pointing towards Adnan’s guilt, but only loose ends created by Jay’s lies.

Adnan’s Personality

https://images.complex.com/complex/images/c
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Almost everyone portrayed Adnan as an average guy who did whatever everyone else did. Nothing about him was out of the ordinary, weird or even creepy. According to many peers, he was the definition of a golden child. “He was an honour roll student, volunteer EMT. He was on the football team. He was a star runner on the track team. He was the homecoming king. He led prayers at the mosque. Everybody knew Adnan to be somebody who was going to do something really big” (Rabia Chaudry). Adnan excelled in many things and did not have any prior arrests or any run-in with the laws yet he was painted to be a rage filled monster. Although he had no recollection of what happened that night, I believe that this type of personality would not have murdered someone.

Why choose this medium?

https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/content-marketing2.jpg

This medium allows me to express my own opinion, thoughts, and ideas in a way without having to be formal, which creates a conversational environment. Writing a blog is typically done in an informal tone and creates a platform where I can speak my mind and show my ideas in an insightful way. There is no right or wrong when it comes to blogging as there are no restrictions on what you can discuss. I can freehand a post and speak what’s on my mind without having to worry about what people say, as it’s an opinion based medium. Unlike a podcast or a video, I don’t have to create a script of what I want to say, nor do I have to edit the video or podcast to make sure no external sounds are being heard that can distract the reader. Blogs over other mediums allow me to show visual content as well. I can use pictures, videos and links in a post to enhance the understanding of my audience since some might be visual learners, whereas in a podcast I can’t do that. One thing blogs have that podcasts or videos don’t have is text. Some people may find it easier to understand concepts better when they’re written down because it allows the readers to go back and re-read what they don’t understand.

Other external sources used

https://serialpodcast.org/

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-06-07-0006070134-story.html By: Caitlin Francke

Lines between originality and Rip-offs

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/led-zeppelin-inside-debut-album-jimmy-page-robert-plant-775226/

For those who may not know, Led Zeppelin is a rock group that was formed in 1968 consisting of a singer, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer. As they were becoming more and more popular, many people began to question the originality and creativity behind their songs.

After watching Kirby Ferguson’s video series “Everything is a remix”, I realized that the beat to Led Zeppelin’s song “Stairway to Heaven”, released in 1971, was oddly similar to “Taurus”, a song composed by the band Spirit 3 years before.

https://www.google.com/kirby_ferguson_embrace_the_remix&psig=AOvVaw0ZqzaXZVuHkWnz2pL4jUKN&ust=1551564081378671

While listening to these songs back to back, you can easily see how the chords and pitch of the music sound similar. Zeppelin sampled off of “Taurus” as they used similar instruments, mainly a specific key on the acoustic guitar, creating a very similar tone and sound. By using this distinct key, many believed that Led Zeppelin initially copied off of Spirit and was not original as the background music sounded too similar. The song was not completely creative as they did not come up with it themselves and copied others work, however, Zeppelins song was dramatically transformed creating a whole different song. They added in new chords and a new backline beat. They slowed down the speed of the song while using softer keys that created less of the bass sound heard in “Taurus”. They also transformed the song by adding their own lyrics as well as the melody to go along with it. Zeppelin recombined elements of the two songs as he took parts of the beat from “Taurus” and added them on top of his own music ultimately creating the “similar” sound.

Listen to the two songs below, and let me know what you think!

Since the songs had some similarities throughout, I believe that Led Zeppelin should have mentioned, that they used some sounds from Spirit and should have properly given credit. Although the song was remixed, it was clearly not for an educational purpose or non-commercial purpose, but instead for a profitable purpose as it was sold to millions. Due to this fact, they should’ve properly given credit where it belonged. Since they didn’t do what was required, they faced many copyright issues leading to larger problems.

In terms of copyright infringement, as I mentioned earlier, I believe that “Stairway to Heaven” was significantly different from the song “Taurus” as it had different musical components and different melodies in all areas of the song. If you listen closely to Spirits song, you will see it has more of an ominous, low pitched melody with more bass whereas “Stairway to Heaven” has more of a higher, adventures melody with higher pitch ranges. I believe that Led Zeppelin and Spirits songs were more different than they were similar. The specific instruments used in both songs do not have any specific copyright laws surrounding them either, making me believe Zeppelin did not infringe on the copyright of the original work since it was not the exact same nor a rip-off but significantly different in all aspects.

To avoid ripping something off, creators should always add their own spin to their work. Whether you get inspiration off of others or straight out copy others ideas, giving ethical attribution will always change the outcome of your product. Using others work exactly as it is without changing a lot, is when I believe it becomes a rip-off. By using your own creativity to produce a remix or something original, you’re transforming your inspirations into something never seen before. I encourage this as long as its significantly different and not the same. To make sure your work is not a rip-off I suggest you let a few people hear or see your product before its released, so you can get a few more opinions on it. Nothing is worse than thinking something is great only to find out it wasn’t original.

What are your thoughts about this whole situation? Was it similar enough to be infringing copyright or different enough to not be considered an “exact” copy? Let me know!

Sources that I used:

https://vimeo.com/14912890

https://vimeo.com/19447662

https://vimeo.com/25380454

https://www.nme.com/news/music/led-zeppelin-194-1349199

Serial: 15 years later

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I just finished listening to the “Serial” podcast series hosted by Sarah Koenig and all I’ve got to say is “wow that’s a lot”. Speaking honestly, I had no idea what this series was about until only a little while ago. I hopped online and looked at a brief overview, to my surprise, I found the story very interesting. I wanted to know what happened and what came next. As I started to go through the series I felt a lot of different emotions, like being confused and intrigued.

https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03
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For starters, I liked this podcast because it’s attention-grabbing and it lets me visualize the events as they unfold. I was not able to physically see the people but just listen to their story so it was very refreshing to hear the emotion from another voice. I also liked this podcast because it had many different perspectives, aside from the main narrator. It was interesting to see the story from the accused himself, as well as those close to him. It not only gave me a larger aspect to form my opinion but gave me more detail about the case.

https://serialpodcast.org/sites/all/mo dules/custom/serial/img/serial-itunes-logo.png

As many of you know, this podcast was created based on a true story and like always, whenever something is based on a true story it makes the actual story 10x scarier since you know it actually happened. As I was researching more about Serial, I realized just how popular it is. While listening to the story, some parts got me shivering, which got me thinking about the victims family. They might feel uneasy or even frighten since a private matter has become so public. People have already started to form opinions, which could be damaging to the family. I hope they take this opportunity to share their experience with others and show people how important it is to know all the details regarding any type of case.

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default/files/maps/asia-mcclain-letter-handwritten-1_0.jpg

Speaking of details, one thing I realized was that the court system seemed flawed as they didn’t have all the details to this case. They didn’t do a proper check of what happened nor did they bring up anything related to Asia’s letter. Even after it was revealed who she was, the court said not to contact her even though she was with him at the time of the crime which could’ve ultimately proven his innocence. Questions like “Why was she not presented at the trail? Did the court purposely try covering it up? were the type that kept coming to mind.

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Serial has actually been my first podcast ever. I was always the type to read since reading the words help me understand better. On a personal level, one of the drawbacks towards the podcast was that there was no text. There were times where I couldn’t understand what was being said since it was either badly recorded or wasn’t clearly spoken. I would try listening to the part again but even then, I still couldn’t understand it. There were also times where I missed a few words so I would try to go back, but it was very hard to find the exact spot. I would either skip too far back or too ahead. While reading, it is unlikely to miss pages and easier to go back since there are page numbers. You can also access a book any time whereas, your phone might die and you won’t be able to listen to a podcast.

Overall, for my first podcast, I think it was a pretty good experience. Although I prefer reading, podcasts allow emotion to be shown and allows readers to see the story in another perspective which can be very cool. I don’t know if I’ll continue listening, but so far it was interesting and well put together as it showed all the side to the story.

-Z.K

The Road To University

http://www.rosedaleacademy.com/online-high-school/online-courses/english-eng4u-university-preparation/

Should grade 12 University level English be a requirement for entry into all university programs?

This is a very debatable question. Some people may say yes whereas others may say no. Majority of people believe that you need to take grade 12 English only if you are planning to do something related to it in the future, but in my opinion, I believe the exact opposite. I think that taking English is essential for entry into any university program because English teaches the basis of almost everything we do. Whether that’s speaking, writing, texting or creating an email, the use of English is always present. English teaches us proper grammar, punctuation, formatting and structure. These are the type of skills you will use in university despite what program or field you go in.

https://www.marketing91.com/five-types-of-communication/

With grade 12 English you will learn basic skills like how to effectively communicate with others. Throughout your university program, you will be required to discuss ideas with your peers or professors to prove a point or explain your opinion. If this is the case, you will want to seem credible and seem like you know what you’re doing. By taking grade 12 English it shows that you know how to communicate through various links and will help you prepare for the discussion in your future. Being able to communicate effectively will make you stand out and will allow you to do your job well. During grade 12 English you will do many assignments that involve reading, writing speaking and will teach you how to communicate with others in different forms using the right way to portray yourself.

http://cetking.com/introduction-grammar-cat/

In any program, you will be required to express yourself. Expressing yourself if very important as it will be a large part of your future. In order to relay a message, you will need to know how to express what you want to say in an understandable manner so that it’s easy to grasp. Taking grade 12 English will help you learn how to properly express yourself as it will teach you how to use proper grammar and sentence structure. This course will allow you to gain more knowledge on how to proofread and make sure what you are trying to say is structured properly. Let’s think of it this way. If you don’t know the basic sentence structure or proper grammar you will seem less credible and your message won’t be relayed properly since your grammar may not be correct. These are all the skills that will definitely be used in university and the only place you learn them is in English. Once you get to university you won’t be taught basic skills since you will be expected to already know them from previous English courses.

http://zlatan.fontanacountryinn.com/writting-essay/

Analyzing data and learning to take down important notes is very important for any U level course. Most University courses have a lot of textbook reading and reflection pieces. In order to fully understand the concepts, you need to be able to know how to differentiate between important and unimportant facts. Since university will have have a heavier workload and many assignments, you will need to know how to effectively take notes and think critically as well. In grade 12 English, you will look at different perspectives and practice how to analyze a piece from a new point of view. Without taking English in grade 12 you won’t have an effective understanding as someone else who has. University programs want to make sure their students are well prepared when it comes to English as it is used in almost everything.

This is why I believe that grade 12 University English should be required for any program. It will help you tremendously in the future.