Media
Don't Believe Everything You Hear
SMORE #1
The media has had a very powerful impact on today’s society. Because of the media, news can be found out minutes after an event has occurred. There’s not just media on the internet, it’s on tv and newspapers. The media is so important and vital to this world because without it barely anyone would know what is going on in the world around them. Media is a way to keep everyone involved in their society or to at least let them hear or read about what’s going on. I think the Media is something people look at to stay updated on current news on people or places.To be “Media Literate” means to understand how the media works and how to interpret it. There are so many stories that can be read or heard in the media and if you don’t understand it then what’s the point of focusing on it. Being media literate helps to teach people many different lessons from wrong or maybe even right decisions made by people. Understanding the media will help one gain knowledge on so many different topics and change the way the think about things. A lot of people don’t see the importance of paying attention to the media but it can help them be successful in a ton of ways. For example, if they have to make a business decision and they reflect on something they have seen in the media about a company making a horrible mistake, then they will not make the same decision. The media is very important and being media literate is even more important.
CNN
Description
Newspaper
Smore #2- What can I do?
ISIS is a serious terrorist threat to the world and its people. I might be a little to young to fight ISIS and stop them physically. ISIS is on social media, so am I and millions of other people as well. A way I can help is to notifying law enforcement if I see anything that is suspicious and may involve ISIS. I may not take down all of ISIS myself but if I can help get one person put away, that will make a difference. To get others involved with me, I can let all my friends to look out for anything that they think is ISIS communicating. Like, I said before, catching one person at a time will put a big dent in ISIS' operations. If everyone works together and helps the law enforcement to capture these criminals, then maybe we can put an end to ISIS. In the future when I am old enough, if ISIS is still around, I will join one of the federal agencies work take down the leaders of this jihadist group. There’s not a lot of ways that I can help now but I can keep doing the little things that will one day lead me to working on bigger things involving taking down ISIS.
Smore #3- Super Bowl
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
08 February, 2016
Super Bowl Commercial Précis
In Hyundai’s commercial for the Genesis, broadcasted Feb. 7, they marketed their car to caring parents because of its tracking capabilities. Hyundai used actor and comedian Kevin Hart in this commercial to connect with consumers, by telling a story that shows Kevin following his daughter around while on a date, which is an over exaggeration of what most parents do. By taking situations that most parents can relate to, Hyundai was able to connect to their target market in order to lure parents into buying the car. This commercial’s target market was for parents who are strict and care about their children so much, that they feel the constant need to check up on and know the location of their children, which is done so with a humorous tone.
Smore #4 - Advertising
In society today advertisements, all genders are portrayed to be something that they’re not. Males are now made to look weak and sort of inferior to females. Females are objectified and looked at like sexual objects. Society views these commercials and think that they have to be what they see. Just because someone on television has the “perfect” body or face does not mean that you have to be just like them. That has to be the biggest problem with advertisements. One of the bigger problems advertisements is the degradation of genders and their roles. When the television shows a man chasing a cute woman, it makes males look like dogs and all we care about is sex. On the other hand, when commercials show women, most of the time they are made out to be sexual and using their body to lure men. Advertising is having a big effect on society in the way that we view the genders and how we act towards them. Society has a way of portraying genders in a bad way and will continue to shape the future, more negatively than in a good way. One day maybe advertisements will not downgrade one specific gender but make both genders seem “equal”.
Smore #5
In this day and age, so many companies and businesses will say anything to sell their product. They know that they are telling lies and selling products that are harmful to people but have no regard for the well-being of the consumers. Commercials will lie and say that their product is the healthiest and most beneficial product out there, which is a total lie. One of the biggest industries that is a good example for hypocrisy, is the adult beverage industry. Their commercials show people drinking several drinks and partying with friends in a bar. Then at the end of the commercial, it says to drink responsibly. These commercials encourage you to go out and drink a substantial amount of drinks to have fun. Another culprit of hypocrisy is, Coca-Cola when they portray their drink as a wonderful beverage, when it is really unhealthy and the cause of so many people becoming obese. Coke destroys teeth, and a possible cause for diabetes, but Coke gives now warning of that on the bottle. Kellogg’s did the same thing with their commercial when they would back campaigns against obesity but sell a cereal with 32 grams of sugar for every 100 grams of cereal. I think that is not morally acceptable because they were selling this cereal to children. There are way too many business and companies being hypocritical and selling products that are very harmful to people, especially children.
Smore #6
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
22 February 2016
Smore #6
I think that Apple should help the government with hacking into criminal’s phones. Law enforcement is trying to catch criminals involved with the committers of the San Bernardino shooting. Apple can be a big part in aiding federal law enforcement to catch others involved with the shooting. All of the information that can be received from the people, from contacts to maybe even relations with ISIS. On the other hand, if they help the government, then Apple will be putting every iPhone user at risk to be hacked. If somehow the information on how to hack iPhones get released the Apple will be in a lot of trouble and maybe lose all potential customers. There are great consequences that can come along with Apple hacking into this one iPhone. The government is only thinking about opening this one phone, but millions of iPhone users will be susceptible to being hacked. This can cause great problems in the future for both the government and Apple. In the end I think that Apple should assist the government in hacking the iPhone. To prevent the software for hacking the iPhone, Apple should find a way to make it extremely secure. The hacking of this one phone can lead to law enforcement catching dozens of more criminals.
Smore #7
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
28 February, 2016
Smore #7
The statement I agree with is, Torture of a person who is a threat to our country’s freedom is acceptable as long as the person does not die. Since there has been war on this earth, prisoners of an opposing side were always take. This was and is done to extract information on the threat and future threats. If there is someone who is seriously trying to terrorize a country, they will not give up information just because you ask nicely. In order to get vital information from terrorist, pain has to be inflicted to force them to speak. Throughout the entire war between U.S and Afghanistan, the U.S took over 900 p.o.w’s. Without these prisoners, the United States Military would not have been able to capture/kill the big leaders of the enemy forces. The war would’ve gone on longer, lives of Americans would’ve been lost, and America might have faced more threats than ever. To eliminate Usama Bin Laden, our government had to torture people linked with Al-Queda to find the location of him.For the people who don’t believe in torture, what if ISIS was planning an attack in your city and the only way to get answers from a captured suspect would be to torture them. Would torture be acceptable then? I 100% agree with this statement as long as the government isn’t just torturing people without adequate evidence. Of course there has to be circumstances before we can just torture threats to our county. But if we didn’t torture terrorists, more attacks would have happened in the past and more will continue to happen.
Smore #8
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
04 May, 2016
Smore #8: Politifact
Says Ted Cruz’s father "was with Lee Harvey Oswald" before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Trump said this quote on May 3rd on Fox and Friends, the same morning as the Indiana primary. There is a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald, and an unidentified man, said to be Rafael Cruz, which is Ted’s father. This report was made by the National Enquirer, who are known for telling and spreading rumors. The owner of this company is a good friend of Trump, so Trump probably influenced them to write this story. In order to have position in this topic would be to know a lot about the assassination of JFK and the motive behind Trumps actions. I think that Trump should not be making such crazy accusations about people when there is not evidence to back it up. I believe Trump did this to turn people against Cruz so that he can win votes.
"GDP was zero essentially for the last two quarters." The candidate who said this quote was Donald Trump on March 10, 2016 at the Miami GOP debate. His reasoning for saying this was that our GDP has lowered in the past 2 years. Trump was thinking about the growth in the GDP and not the real gross domestic product. Our RGDP was a little more than $18 trillion last year. Even though our GDP was low it was still raising at a rate of 1%. I think Trump was saying this to make the current president look bad, and claim that he can make our economy better. To be able to understand what is being said, one has to know about economics and mainly GDP so you know what accounts for that. Donald Trump has the tendency to say things that he has no clue about and whatever sounds good, he’ll say it.
Donald Trump has "described Hillary Clinton as one of the best secretaries of state in history." On Feb. 28, 2016 during an interview with CNN, Senator Cruz made this comment. He was making this comment when he was saying if Donald got nominated then Hillary would beat him, and Donald has implied that when he said Hillary was one of the best secretaries. Trump has been heard before praising Clinton about how much of a good job she does being secretary. When Cruz said this statement it was not completely true because those exact words never came straight from Trump. To have a full position on this topic, you have to know how Trump feels about Hillary being the Secretary of State. I think Cruz was saying this make it look as if Trump is going to automatically lose the election.
"I'm the only candidate in the Democratic primary, or actually on either side, who Wall Street financiers and hedge fund managers are actually running ads against." Clinton said this while she was doing an interview with Meet the Press. Clinton believed that Wall Street was only running negative ads about her. That is not true because some financiers and hedge fund managers have been seen supporting her and even sending donations to her campaign. Half of her donations account for half of Hillary’s campaign funds. I believe that Clinton said this as an effort to receive empathy from voters, and look as if she is being discriminated against. I don’t see how she could make up that lie when she knows that most of her funds for her campaign come from Wall Street.
Smore #9 The Uprising
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
23 March 2016
The Uprising
During the times of slavery there were points where slaves got tired of being suppressed and stood up. These rebellions were so important because they showed the white slave owners that a lot of slaves were fed up. Rebellions also gave slaves more courage to stand up and fight for their rights. In 1739, the largest slave rebellion staged in in the history. 20 slaves who were led by a man named Jemmy. The participants of this rebellion were soldiers form their home country in Angola. Their actions were pretty gruesome as they raided a warehouse and cut off the owners’ heads and placed them on the front steps of the store. They also traveled to houses along the Stono River and killed whit homeowners at the same time burning homes and buildings. This rebellion lasted for over a week before the whites rallied and kill nearly all of the participants. Rebellions like this one sends a message to the enslavers that they cant just do what they’re doing with without any consequences. The slaves will eventually stand up and fight back against the abuse. In todays society the uprising that I see is the one between African Americans against the police. In the past 2/3 years a, large number of blacks have been murdered by police. Many of the police officers involved in these killings get off without spending anytime in jail and still remain working. All over the country there have been protests by majority of African Americans trying to get justice for the ones killed. The protests that have happened have not been the most friendly. During some of the protests, cars have been set on fire, stores were raided and some even burnt down. There were even instances where police were fighting with protestors because of the wild behavior. It became so bad in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, that the state government had to set a curfew because of the dangerous protests occurring. I think that until more justice is served for the ones that have been killed, the uprising of African Americans and white activists as well against police and the government will still continue; maybe even get more extreme.
Smore #10 Snowden & Surveillance
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
28 March 2016
Snowden & Surveillance
Both Winston and O’Brien are rebels against their government. They are trying to do anything they can to dismantle The Party. They are getting tired of the government telling lies and falsifying information in order to look good. Snowden wanted to do the same by thing by releasing classified information on government. He didn’t like that the government was spying on people without any permission. All three of these people dislike something that their government is doing, so they decide to rebel and expose them for them wrong doing. The difference between Winston and O’Brien from Snowden, is that Snowden didn’t want the U.S government to crumble, he just wanted to force them to quit spying. On the other hand, Winston and O’Brien wanted to destroy The Party and end their horrible rule. Another big difference was that Winston and O’Brien did not recognition for what they’re about to do. They knew that if they were discovered and found guilty for throwing a coup, they would die. Snowden most likely knew he would spend time in jail but there was a strong possibility that he wouldn’t. He could not be found guilty of any crimes so he spent no time in jail, and things were the same Winston and O’Brien. The idea that the government shouldn’t be doing that the people do not like, and if they are, they should pay a price, is something that all three people share. A dystopian society is a place that no one wants to live but every country has some characteristics of one. The United States “spies” on normal citizens, just like The Party does to their citizens. Eventually someone will stand up just like Snowden did, and Winston and O’Brien will.
Smore #11
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
05 May 2016
Is Technology Sent From Heaven
In the past few years, technology has began to, what some would say "take over". Every thing we do now is primarily focused around technology and the advancement of technology. People have become so consumed with computers and cell phones, that when they don't have them, they go insane. Orwell is talking about science and technology, and how they go hand in hand. Without technology, I don't think that our advances in science would have never happened. The same goes for how far we've gotten with technology because of science. Because of science and technology, human beings are able to go to space and reach heights that would have never been thought of. Human beings as a whole, I don't think could function like we do, if we did not have the amount of technology we have . Technology and science are both from heaven and hell. There has been many downsides to technology, such as people losing their life or ruined. At the same time there are upsides, to how it has benefited everyone in the world.
Smore 12
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
19 April 2016
Smore #12
There is only one thing in life that makes it worth living. That one thing is happiness which is what most strive for. Many people go through life, just going with the flow, trying to do what everyone else does. Nine times out of ten, people are not happy with what they’re doing in life. In America, everyone is considered to be free. Even though we are free, I’d rather be happy and enjoy my life. In today’s society, you hear a lot about people taking so many risks and trying to do the impossible. They do these things because they want to be happy, so they risk freedom for happiness. Snowden was happy with what he did because he felt as if he helped people in America. He knew that he was risking his freedom and could end up in jail for what he did. Snowden chose happiness over freedom which is what most people would do. I completely agree with Winston and his belief that happiness is more desirable and wanted by more over freedom. Throughout the whole book, Winston is just trying to be happy, by loving Julia and not listening to the Party.
Smore #13
Nicholas Hill
Mrs. Danley
Senior Lit
26 April 2016
Smore #13
Politicians and many famous or powerful people tell lies to the public and then try to change what they said in the future. They do this so that they don’t gain a bad image and look bad in the eyes of the public. This so called technique is called, gaslighting. Politicians are a lot of times, the main people that do this just to look good. Even though people know the truth, they still believe that person because they have a liking to them. All the politician has to do is be very charismatic and trick the citizens into believing whatever they say. Recently, you can see gaslighting being used all the time and it almost become the “norm” people in positions of power. One person besides Trump that I see doing this is Hillary Clinton. She tends to say a lot of vague things then later say something that is different from what she said before. A way that we can try and stop this from happening is to record everything that is said, electronically and handwritten. Gaslighting is something serious and shouldn’t be happening as much as it does. People should just always tell the truth and gaslighting wouldn’t be a problem.
Smore #14
Nicholas Hill
Danley
Senior Lit
06 May 2016
Smore #14: Can We Autocorrect Humanity
Technology has slowly been taking over the world, one person at a time. So many people, even kids as young as 10 are constantly on their phone or an iPad. It is the normal now for kids to not be playing outside with their friends but yet they sit inside all day playing little games on computers and phones. The same can be said for people of an older age. They’re more addicted about social media, than actually being social with one another. One thing that I know will ensure that this doesn’t become permanent is to limit internet use in the country. For maybe one hour a day, internet is cut off and people are forced to find something else to do. They will go out with friends and spend time with their family, and for once actually socialize. This most likely will never happen but if it did, it would help people to stop being so obsessed with the internet. If this is truly an addiction, I don’t think there is any way to combat it. Everywhere people go, they have access to a computer or some type of technology. Even stores have built in iPads and tablets as recreation for customers. If people have constant access to technology then their addiction will continue. I also see an abundant number of schools, implementing iPads and computers into the classrooms. That is only making this addiction worse, because these students get so used to being on iPads and computers, that they have no idea how to work on their “own”. The addiction to technology and social media will only continue to get worse until people do something about it. It is very hard to make a change, but one way is to do what Prince Ea is doing. Continuing to spread the word of how technology is negatively affecting us, will make people think about their choices. Because of technology humans have become more knowledgeable and smart, but at the same time it has destroyed us in so many ways.
Smore #14 part 2
Nicholas Hill
Danley
Senior Lit
06 May 2016
Smore #14 Part 2
When I first started this class, I didn’t really have a good understanding of media literacy was. I thought it was just being able to read media and know what is being talked about. There’s actually a lot more to it than just that. Media literacy is the ability to take different types of media, such as poetry, television, and newspapers, and interpreting them into what most cannot see. Taking difficult readings like, V for Vandetta or 1984 and making them more understandable to less advanced readers. In this class I learned how to form my own evaluated opinion on something that I have no background knowledge on but once I read one source, I can formulate a well thought out opinion. I also learned how to annotate which I never did before, and I still have trouble doing it but I will continue to work on it so that I can become better at it. This language arts course was more about thinking for your self and interpreting had pieces of literature. Most other courses would just have you read then answer questions on the reading. I was forced to think a lot more and come up with my own ideas, which makes the class a little more challenging. To make this class better in the future, I would suggest that there be more Socratic seminars which help students learn how to debate and communicate with others.