Saturday, February 29, 2020

A Shakespearean Prep

Diversity can it be defined? Shouldn’t every person be a living example of it? I am as different as night and day. I am probably the only Mexican in existence who dislikes Mexican food. My main contradiction, though, is my personality and my love for theater. I am a Dallasite through and through. From going to private school to shopping at Marcus to driving a BMW, I am the embodiment of a teenager living a privileged life. There is a side of me, however, that goes much deeper a more artistic side. Though my body may be devoted to the prep lifestyle, my soul has one passion theater. I have always felt comfortable on stage. It’s actually more than comfort, it’s a sense of belonging. Acting is the essence of my being and I often use my craft to define myself. Yet, how can I explain to my friends the beauty of a Shakespearean couplet when the only rhymes they care about are in the latest hip-hop hit? Here I find myself at the ultimate contradiction: the theater kid who conforms to the expectations of her seemingly homogeneous friends. But as the boisterous theater kid, I am unable to be stifled even by my best friends. Through my own diversity, I have overcome this obstacle. I embrace my individuality around my friends and believe that it is because of this that they love me as they do. Instead of listening to rap, I hum tunes from â€Å"Rent† in school and randomly quote Shakespeare during car rides or dinner parties. This path to individuality has not been easy. I was not always accepted for my theatrical tendencies. In fact, I lost many a friend because I am, well, a drama queen. Also, my life is not filled with others who, like me, love the spotlight (an actual spotlight, that is) and the Bard. Yet, in high school I began to find a few like me three. But this was all I needed. Once I found this small group, I could easily go back to my other friends feeling more comfortable in my own skin. Thus, all my contradictions (my inability to memorize chemical equations while easily learning lines of Shakespeare), are what make me quirky. I’m the loud theater freak whose friends are quiet and non-confrontational. I’m that actress who spends time with girls â€Å"who lunch.† But most important, I am myself.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Rhetorical and cultural analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Rhetorical and cultural analysis - Essay Example Rhetoric and cultural/critical analysis will emphasize on the study of culture, public discourse and texts, and its analysis processes of the influence to the society in multiple media, including essays, books, mass-mediated, speeches and online public discourse. Different authors in multiple media use texts, videos, films, images and other sets of objects in media in order to express and bring out a message that will be interpreted differently with regard to culture. Context One message that has incorporated several sets of objects was the campaign advert of Ron Paul in 2012 when he was campaigning for GOP nomination. He made use of visual aid to pass on a message that would boost his polls in the presidential election. The visual aid made use of texts and video to create an impression in the minds of people. This advert was run on national television in the different media companies. Running the advert using television media achieved a lot compared to media’s like newspaper that many do not read in depth but are interested in the overview of the message. Using television to convey the message meant that the message would capture a large audience. In America, 98% of the households own a television set hence airing the advert would lead to lots of views (McDonough). Compared to the number of people who read text in newspaper the use of video was best suited to deliver the message. In America the people who read the printed newspaper are estimated to be at 23%. Main aim of using media is to pass on information and thus there is need to choose the best method (PewResearchCenter). The presidential aspirant also made use of newspaper to pass on his message in the campaign but the video is what created impact in the rise of his poll. The text and video are connected in that they both are being used to convey a similar message. Rhetoric Analysis The rhetoric devices identifiable in the set of objects used in the television and newspaper was the use of Enumerat ion. Ron Paul makes a details summary of the troops in the Middle East and gives a vivid description of the kind of lifestyle in the Middle East with the presence of foreign troops in the land. This vividness helps great a clear picture in the mind of the viewer. He has also made use of metaphors where he tries to compare the situation in the Middle East with the hypothetical situation in Texas. The metaphor is seen where foreign troops have come and positioned themselves in Texas and he says that the same situation in the Middle East. He has also used allusion to make reference of the promise made by President Obama during campaigns that he would get the troops of America out of the Middle East but he has not done that hence he has not kept his promise and thus he should not be chosen (O’Donnell). These are the noticeable rhetorical devices you will find in the video. There was also amplification or the use of the word revolution. His campaign was based on revolution and fre edom rhetoric to capture the audience through their patriotism. The similarity between the video and the text is that they are conveying the same message using the same rhetoric devices. The video and the text however have very different impacts to the society that the message is intended for. The Video was aired in

Saturday, February 1, 2020

The effect friendships have on a child's development Essay

The effect friendships have on a child's development - Essay Example However, like Roald Dahl writes beautifully in his renowned book Matilda, friendship is not really confined to one or more persons. Children are affected easily by the totality of their external environments and this also thus concludes the various kinds of interactions that they undergo in everyday life. In Matilda, the young girl befriends her books due to the lack of people that she is able to communicate with. Her brother does not prove to be a good friend and neither do her parents, thus she takes to her books and finds that those books turn her into a very gifted individual full of faith and belief in the better things in life. He writes, â€Å"Sometimes Matilda longed for a friend, somebody like the kind, courageous people in her books. But it occurred to her that talking dragons and princesses with hair long enough to climb, such people would only exist in storybooks.† (Dahl, Roald) this goes to show the kind of need that the young girl had in her life for someone that would talk back to her and give her advice and listen to her little whims and fancies as well. Children usually imitate whatever happens around them and so if a parent sees his child overdoing something or doing things that are unusual of him, they may come to the conclusion that he must have picked it up from somewhere. At the young ages between three to about ten, the kind of friends that a child has makes a great amount of difference on his mind and health. These friends help to shape the child’s character when the parents are not around and help to build a sense and level of confidence within the child. No child is able to communicate everything he or she wants to their parents, and thus, they sometimes find the comfort in doing so with their friends. Most friends even listen and try to help if someone is in some kind of trouble, but of course this stage comes in later after further development of the child’s mind. Roald Dahl wrote a book called Matilda which was about a young girl born into the wrong family in the sense that she had nothing in common with her parents or brother. Matilda was very curious about the world and loved to read and know more. She wanted to go to school and get educated and make friends. "Both Matilda and Lavender were enthralled. It was quite clear to them that they were at this moment standing in the presence of a master. Here was somebody who had brought the art of skulduggery to the highest point of perfection, somebody, moreover, who was willing to risk life and limb in pursuit of her calling. They gazed in wonder at this goddess, and suddenly even the boil on her nose was no longer a blemish but a badge of courage."  (Dahl, Roald) From these lines it is clear that Matilda had found a friend and confidante in Lavender and in doing so, they were comfortable in carrying out tasks that even they felt were wrong, however they did it anyway because of a kind of backing that they had from each other. She could conf ide in Lavender and was sure that the latter would keep her secrets. This is how children get affected by their friends and are able to do things together with a better sense of confidence. Just by having someone around them helping them, they