The Needia for Media
Safura Bana's POV for 12th Grade Media Literacy
Understanding It // 6 January 2016
The Only Map I'll Ever Look At
The Media in Twenty-Five Words
Like, Comment, Like, Comment...
No Phone? No Problem!
The Run Down // 17 January 2016
Consumption
Slaves to what we Created
No Conversation? No Problem!
The Truth of Knowing the Truth
Just Consider This... // 6 March 2016
Check Where it's Coming From
Why Check One and not the Other?
Ew...
Party or Parole // 1984
Controlling the Uncontrollable // 9 March 2016
Fail or Holy Grail?
The Beer Hall Putsch // 20 March 2016
Beer Hall Putsch Fighters
Executing the Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Building Today
1984's Very Own Edward Snowden?
Is Winston a Fictional Edward Snow? // 27 March 2016
To understand how Winston is embodied in Edward Snowden, we must understand who Edward Snowden is. Snowden is a thirty-two year old former NSA employee who revealed classified government information to the public back in 2013. He unveiled this information because he believed the people had the right to know what their government was hiding. Sounds a little like Winston to me. Just like how Snowden worked in the NSA (National Security Agency), Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he too must keep secrets from the outer party. The Inner Party targets the Outer Party and surveillance’s them just like the NSA would surveillance us. Winston however has yet to reveal any major Inner Party secrets and information unlike Snowden who already did with his government. Both of them believe that things should not be kept from the citizens. It is the matter of having truthful connections where every member or citizen is kept in the loop. Even though they both have somewhat of a same motive of exposing the truth, they might have different approaches on how they disclose what they know. The only way to find out is to keep reading.
Victim or Villain?
The Vulnerability of Winston & O'Brien // 19 April 2016
To be a victim is to be a person who is harmed and to be a villain is to be the person that causes the harm. It comes down to this, is Winston the victim or O’Brien? In my opinion, Winston is the victim. Regardless of what he is being tried for, he was harmed and that even pretty badly. It was to the point where he was injured and received fatal wounds due to the actions O’Brien induced upon him. Speaking of O’Brien, I believe he is the villain. The pain he inflicted on Winston, from the beating to the shocks, was truly evil. I cannot call him a victim due to the fact that he knows what he is doing. He knows he has to cause harm to these people and basically ruin their lives when he catches them. O’Brien doesn't even stop to think that what he is doing is morally and ethically right. Winston on the other hand has some will power due to the fact that he stays true to the facts that he knows. O’Brien may have the upper hand now, but I’m hoping Winston will persevere and revolt! Plus, it would be kinda bad to kill him off with just a couple chapters left in the book, but hey, that would make me the victim.
Theme to Evidance
Abolishing Lust, Loyalty, & Love // 20 April 2016
We all long for someone. Whether it be a friend, significant other, or family member. Imagine living in a society where your government says you cannot have any of that. You cannot love anyone but your government, you cannot be loyal to anyone but your government, and as for lust? Why think about that when you can be thinking about your government? In 1984, the theme of “sex, love, and loyalty are eradicated by their government” is a moderate concept throughout the book. It says “Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves.” (256) ~ B3, C2. To have someone tell you, you must spend a majority of your time alone is not an ideal world I would want to live in. Social contact plays a huge impact on individuals, but the citizens of Oceania in 1984 will not know what true lust, love, and loyalty is unless it is towards their leader.
A Semester of Smores // Reflection
Reflecting Over Smore This Past Semester // 11 May 2016
I cannot believe that in two short weeks I will be graduating and starting a new chapter of my life in August. Looking back at this semester has made me realize that I have learned some valuable things that I am hopeful to remember, including this website (www.smore.com). At the beginning, I was told to reflect on how I felt about the media. In my first smore, “Understanding It” I said, “The media is one of the fastest ways to get information.” I still stand by that, because it is still true. However, I also said, “…it is difficult to determine whether or not the Intel we are receiving is true or false. From tweets to Facebook statuses to the five o’clock news, we have to decode and analyze what is what and what is right.” I also still stand by that. My initial idea on media has not changed drastically due to the fact I already had such a different grasp on it than others. I’ve acknowledged that social media can be detrimental and problematic. If anything, I’ve probably learned that social media is even worse than I thought. Even though it can solve problems, it can start them just as quick. This class has been so different to what I’m used to. I thought I would come in here and be learning about boring people and boring things in British Literature, but Ms. Gray switched up the game and told us this is Media Literacy which I thought was right up my alley. I honestly feel like I did learn some really interesting things in this class. I personally enjoyed the videos we watched and books we read. Even though they were items written and made years ago, they were still so relevant to todays issues. I titled this Smore Flyer as, “Media Shmedia” because of how we just brush of social media like it isn't consuming our lives or something, but I’ve decided to change the name to, “The Needia for Media” We have such a need for the media nowadays. We’re letting it take over our lives. The sooner we realize we don't “Needia the Media” the sooner we can go backing to needing personal connections that'll last longer than any tweet or status ever posted.
Good Luck Trying to Autocorrect Humanity // Reflection
Take a Minute from Technology // 11 May 2016
Social media has changed the way we look at human contact. Why meet up and get a cup of coffee when you can FaceTime from the comfort of your bedroom? Why go catch a movie at the theaters with friends when you could Skype and watch it through the screen of a computer? Is it okay to not have physical interaction with people anymore? The reason technology came to be was to make our lives easier, but has it made life too easy for us to live? Is there a need to even challenge us to get up and go live life? It’s apparently too hard to live in the moment. Nowadays, it’s imperative to snapchat every moment to let everyone know where you are. They [people] say, “Picture or it didn't happen!” but why do I have to prove to someone else I was doing something fun that I wanted to do? I did what I did for me, not to show anyone else. From concerts to weddings to vacations, we need to start keeping some moments and memories to ourselves because I know a majority of the time I’d rather hear the story in person than through Facebook or Instagram. Plus, I’m sure half of the time no one cares what you are doing or who you're doing it with. I know it’s hard to control what we post and how much of it we do, but it’s not impossible. We created social media, we can control it. Instead of using it to reply to people on an impulse, use it for something beneficial. Personally, when I need to get work done, I go on https://tap.unicefusa.org which allows me to stay off my phone, get my work done, and donate water to areas in need. We can harness the power of technology by using websites like these that require us to not use or move our mobile devices. We can make a difference and go back to having personal and physical interactions if we allow ourselves to. So look up from the screen you're staring down at and look at the scenery around you. Even though it might be a dark bedroom or the most beautiful sunset you've seen, look up and admire it, because I’m sure it’s better than straining your eyes from looking at this bright screen.
Me!
Email: safurabana@gmail.com
Website: instagram.com/safaribanana
Location: ATL really Duluth but ATL
Phone: 404-414-0957
Facebook: facebook.com/safurabana
Twitter: @safaribanana