Media
Literacy
Media literacy
The media is the tool used to connect your home to the outside world. Without the media you would never know about outside events. It would almost be like the old times where it would be impossible to know what’s going on more than 10 feet in front of you. The media is a great tool that has blown up so much and grown into different forms and outlets.
Media outlets store and deliver information worldwide. Newspapers are everywhere, Media outlets telling us the news on our televisions. We can even access any media outlet on our smartphones now with apps and the internet. Media is a beautiful tool that ultimately bring the world together, but it can also be used for not so good reasons. Some sources may be biased and spitting out information that is one sided, others may simply have false information. You have to learn to filter out the garbage, this is being media literate.
Being media literate is being able analyze and understand all the messages we receive through media. Media literacy is a skill that we all need to acquire. It is important that all the media that we receive through TV, radio, Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, video games, music, and more are worth our time and attention and not just useless information that will not benefit us. Luckily media literacy skills are taught in every state.
In conclusion the media is a great and insightful tool the world has greatly benefited from. But if you’re not careful you can be led to the wrong direction if you’re not media literate.
Social pledge
Super Bowl 50 Precis
Kahmari Porch
Ms. Danley
12th Lang
8 February 2016
Super Bowl Commercial Précis
In the Toyota commercial for the Toyota Prius 4, aired on Feb 7 marketed the new and improved Prius 4 to the average middle aged car buyer, and explains how the Prius is more “cool” to drive, still fuel efficient and is much faster, it even gets mocked by an officer that says (“This thing is actually pretty fast”). Toyota develops they idea by conveying the image that Toyota Prius is a viable vehicle to escape a high speed chase with police, also showing the world reacting to the car in a positive way making the car more attractive to buyers that want a stylish car, performance, and gas mileage in the same package which wasn’t the case before with the first two descriptions. Using imagery such as a boy getting a scale model Prius for his birthday and a Television show host interviewing a woman about the chase and the attractiveness of the drivers drives home the point that the Prius is an overall better car but also holds a better image for itself and the driver. Toyota ends the ad with addressing car-buyers about their brand by showing their name and logo.
Women in advertisments
Kahmari Porch
Ms. Danley
12th Lang
10 February 2016
Advertising has a sort of representation of society but I feel that it can also affect society in a number of ways. First of all advertisers have to make sure that their ads don’t offend anyone, this limits the advertisements to being just representations and not real portrayal of society. This being said affects society by portraying women as the more dominant and men as more submissive. Many ads portray a women getting their way in a relationship or the man just looking plain stupid. In real life we might see just the opposite, men being more dominate in a relationship, but if an ad portrayed a man being too dominant the advertisement might send the wrong message and offend viewers. Of course it’s ok for a women to be more dominant because it the opposite of the social norm. Now that this has been portrayed in advertisements and television so much it has actually dictated the social normal. Now more than ever you see women being the more dominate person in a relationship. There’s nothing wrong with a stay at home dad, now because of adverting portraying the idea it gets more and more acceptable and exhibited in the light of day.
Smore 5
Kahmari Porch
Ms. Danley
12th Lang
12 February 2016
S’more 5
In today’s market there are so many different target profiles that ads will basically say anything to get you to buy their product. They manipulate the consumer into buying products by trying to convince them that they need the product to avoid or ward off an unrealistic situation that has a very low chance of happening in the first place. The tablet commercial depicts a couple arguing about who’s going to take the dog out for a walk, and the commercial ends with the couple back on good terms because the dog used the tablet to display videos of better times in the couple’s relationship. This is good marketing and advertising but in reality, a strong couple wouldn’t be caught arguing about something as insignificant as whose turn it is to walk the dog. This type of manipulation while clever is very unfeasible. Another commercial that has dine the opposite of what was expected are beer and alcohol commercials. Every single one tells to drink responsibly but at the same time depict social groups and individuals drinking in excess. This is the hypocrisy in advertising and America in part is mostly falling for it.
Smore 6 apple
Kahmari Porch
Ms.Danley
12th Lang
22 February 2016
Smore 6
I feel that apple should be more willing to help the government solve a very horrible crime which is the San Bernardino shooting in December 2015. The shooters took the lives of fourteen and injured 22 more. Apple makes the phones and the software inside them, they already have access to the data and other personals on your phone. According to apple if they unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s phones then all other iPhones are at a security risk, this statement purposely gives iPhone users a false sense of security because if apple wants to get into any iPhone they sure can. Regular people with an above average knowledge of phones, computers, and software can get into any phone, why is it such a big problem for apple to unlock a few of their own phones so they government can further their investigation? Apple should be more sensitive and remorseful for the fourteen lives taken and the fourteen families that were affected, the least apple could do is cooperative and help the law do their job and bring justice or even bring more knowledge to the persons affected in the tragedy.
Smore 8
Kahmari Porch
Ms. Danley
12th Lang
21 March 2016
Politifact
“Under the Iran nuclear deal, "we give them $150 billion, we get nothing." (Trump)
Trump made this claim at one of his rallies in Palm Beach Florida on Tuesday March 15th. The real story is a little bit different, the 150 billion actually already belongs to Iran. The large amount of money just isn’t accessible to them right now because of economic sanctions against the country. The only thing accurate about the claim is the name of the country. You must know the facts about the situation in Iran to make an informed decision. I feel that Trump always reached for things that he can’t catch and this is another example.
"The Clean Power Plan is something that Sen. Sanders has said he would delay implementing." (Clinton)
Hillary Clinton made this claim on March 9th at a democratic debate in Florida. This turned an out to be false because Bernie Sanders himself did not say he would delay implementation, in fact he wants a more ambitious plan and has proposed one. To make an informed decision you must know something about both parties because these are opposite parties clashing and if you don’t know the other side you might be making a bad decision even thought their your presidential candidate and involved with your preferred party.
"A couple of debates ago, (Donald Trump) said if you don’t support socialized health care, you’re heartless." (Cruz)
Ted Cruz made this statement on February 16 at a republican debate in Houston Texas. The meter for this statement reads “pants on fire” because Donald trump said no such thing. You must know when a politic is lying and check your facts on both candidates. I feel that two candidates colliding together will cause some problems but being completely dishonest is not ok to me and it shouldn’t be allowed in politics.
Smore 8
In my research I found something very interesting. I didn’t know there were different levels to lying in politics. The website included a truth-o-meter, this has different levels from Pants on fire to mostly false and all the way up to true and there are more levels in-between. This surprised me because there must be a lot of lying and flipping going on if you need a meter to measure the strength of the lies. This is crazy to me and it shouldn’t be allowed with the people that are being chosen to run the country. This is why it’s so important to research the legitimacy of a candidate because none of them even have to be truthful and most aren’t. I feel like most people don’t fact check their political candidate or the other candidates. They vote blindly and make uneducated decisions because of their family tells them to or they get drawn in and caught by one of the politicians lies. The problem with not looking up the truth is a problem for Americans and also a problem for you. If the candidate you choose wins and doesn’t go thought with a promise or flip flops and does something you don’t want or like, the only person to blame is you.
smore 12
Kahmari Porch
Ms.Danley
12th Lang
19 April 2016
Smore 12
Happiness and freedom are two different values that everyone mostly takes for granted. Happiness is largely taken for granted because it’s different for everyone but for everyone it is what you make it. Weather you believe it or not you have a choice to be happy or not in any situation. Even if the situation is sad or not going in your favor the decision to let the situation make you sad, or be happy is your. Freedom is a little bit different the fact that you’re born with freedom mean you can make choices, making the wrong choice can affect these freedoms. Make a choice to steal a car and get caught, your freedom will be taken away for a certain time decided by your governing body. Everything is all about choices, being happy is a choice you can make with doing a single thing. You already have freedom, but if you abuse this freedom, it’ll have to be taken away to teach a lesson.
The worst part of it all is the fact most take it for granted. They don’t realize they are free to do anything in this world. The logical thing to do is something productive for yourself or the world, but people either abuse the freedom or waste time. Happiness might be a little harder for some people because everyone has a story, but when you are faced with adversity you can make a choice, make it the right one.
smore 11 "Tech sent from heaven?"
Kahmari Porch
Ms.Danley
12th Lang
19 April 2016
Smore 11
Technology in this day in age is one the biggest parts of humans everyday life’s. We walk around with a computer, camera, gps, watch and a music player all wrapped in one. We now drive cars with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It almost seems as it was meant for us to have these things, like they were sent from heaven. The question is technology sent from heaven is a hard one to answer. It of course has been the center of numerous operations that help aid people in need. But there are also people who use this good and pervert it for evil things. Technology has helped people live longer when joined with medicine, it has also helped people in need in the form of the internet in many ways. Weather pointing attention toward Joseph Kony and child soldiers, or helping hungry children in Africa this form of technology seems heaven sent. The same technology is used to spread ignorant ideas and believes, money scams and worse. How could something like this be heaven sent? I believe that technology in its own right and used by the right people is sent from heaven. Corrupt humans will twist it and use it for their own ways.
Smore #13
smore 14
Kahmari Porch
Ms.Danley
12th Lit
May 6, 2016
Smore 14
Human innovation has created technology that we could have never imagined. Technology so revolutionary that it slowly and smoothly made their way into the deepest parts of our life’s and changed them forever. This includes computers, mp3, and cell phones. The technology gets bigger, better, faster and more powerful every year, getting so excellent at its intended purpose that we wonder how anyone could live without them. Cell phones are possessed by so many people in today’s society it’s almost unbelievable. The craziest part is inside of the technology’s hardware there is software such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. People are just as addicted to the social media software apps just as much as their cell phone or it is the cause of the attachment. This type of technology wasn’t designed for people to simply disconnect form reality and dive into their own world, but with the emergence of new technology almost constantly and the human nature, it’s no wonder that millions of people has created an unhealthy relationship with their phones. Some addicts are just too far gone, but there is something we can do to ensure this isn’t our permanent reality. Start small with just your friends, invite them to dinner and let everyone know to leave their phone in the car. At the end of the function you’ll be captivated by your friend’s conversation and simply enjoy their company instead of checking twitter and messages at the table all night. It’s a small start but once your friends experience what you’ve set up, they’ll introduce it to their friends and we’ll be closer to breaking the attachment. Diving deeper than just our phone, on of humanity’s strongest addictions is to social media. Cell phone technology and social media emergence was so strong and they are so closely tied together that people create unhealthy relationships with it as well, but this is another addiction we can slowly let go of if we take the initiative. The simple way to control a phone/social media addiction is to set up certain times to use social media and don’t go over the time. You can start this trend of not using social media between certain times on social media, therefore using social media’s power to lessen the addiction. The real key is self-control, how hard is it for you to put your phone down?
Smore 14 Pt2
Senior language arts has been a great experience and I’m glad I’m ending the year and my high school career with the class. I’ve written many papers, smores and précis that have deepened my thought about issues and improved my writing and critical thinking. My thought on political issues have deepened considerably. I realized that I will be off voting age when election time rolls around and I need to be an educated voter, not a blind one. I learned that writing is really an art and takes time and attention. Writing these smores in this class changed my view on writing for that good and taught me how to write better. It also taught me a very important that I knew but just never followed, read over your paper twice! I never realized how much of a difference in my writing it would make. This class was honestly the best language class of high school, it was entertaining, fun, easy, and most of all knowledgeable. The only thing I would change about the class is the way we read our books, the books should be read all at home so that people have more incentive to actually read them. Overall this class was a great experience and I learned a lot.