Task 1 – short answer
1A
The text “How You Can Save Western
Civilization by Reading True Grit”
displays a variety of language tools that has molded the text into a simple,
yet informative writing. It is clearly shown in the text the author has
followed the TRIT pattern. The topic is initially presented in the first
sentence where it says “Read a book.” The short sentence easily opens the text
and it is clear what we can expect from it. Secondly, the topic is restricted
when the author forwards the message by explaining what reading can do to our
western society. Followed by that, an incident appears: “You open yourself to
new ideas, new experiences, new perspectives”. At the end of the paragraph, the
topic is presented once again in the last sentence: “But read”. This pattern
links the text and makes it easy to read and pay attention to.
The author has targeted the text to
young people, by using simple, informal and youthful language explaining
relatable thoughts and occurrences. “Stop buying so much crap”, is an example of
that. Despite the informal language, the text contains a sharp message that
clearly comes through by the use of imperative sentences. The text conveys its purpose
by convincing you to do something, by using short, convenient and highly
persuasive add-ins like: “learn something.” And “Study paleontology.” The
effect that this has is that we are told to do something, which makes more
likely to do it.
Furthermore, the author gives the
reader his or her personal opinion through an I-narrator. This type of
perspective personalizes the writing and emphasizes the statements further. By
including short declarations such as “Racism will always exist” the writer
indirectly asks the reader a question which causes the reader to reflect on
that sentence, and eventually remember the text.
1B
Point No. 2 opens the second
paragraph with the sentence “learn something” followed by three other
imperative sentences. This method is in my opinion genius. Reading the second
paragraph makes me want to do what the text says. It makes me want to learn
something new, explore other languages and take in knowledge. The paragraph has
examples and solutions to problems, which gives me, as a reader, a list of
options on what to proceed with. I think the message of the paragraph is that
no matter how unwise you may feel; you can always engage yourself in something
new in order to educate yourself further, which I totally agree.
The third paragraph refers to an
issue that is common to most of us. The sentence, “idiocy dominates our
cultural landscape because it sells more Nike tennis shoes and Big Macs,” is in
my opinion a bold yet effective statement. Additionally, the author makes us
consider what we buy. If we buy less inept things we might, according to the
author, be able to fix the western civilization. This is another confident
statement, however I agree because if consumers consider more what they put their
money in, there would be fewer useless purchases which could lead to lower
production of the items.
Task 2D
International Social Media Influence
The world´s biggest audience is
located on social media. We like, share, comment and tweet about important
events to spread the word around. As commonly known, social media have taken
the world by storm. It is almost impossible to not know where your friends are
at all times and what they are up to. Social media platforms are immense
sources of information, education, delight causing people of all ages to log on
daily. Therefore, all of the above influences why social media has gained such
a huge power and impact over the world. International events are often
broadcasted online in order to gain a larger audience. This could be both
positive and negative.
An example of an event like this is
the presidential election in the USA in 2016. This was an international
happening that almost every country engaged in. Several people believe that
social media ruined the election. Citizens carelessly scattered their opinions
online and everyone seemed to disagree in some way. It is believed that social
media played a vital role in the election because the candidates used platforms
like Twitter and Facebook to promote
themselves and mock each other. Promises were also presented through social
media by the candidates. An example on mocking is when Mr. Trump tweeted: “Our great African American president hasn´t
exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly
destroying Baltimore!” this
was a confident tweet in some people´s opinions and others thought it was
outrageous and disrespectful. The tweets by the presidential candidates were
re-tweeted and “favorited” by their vast expanse of worldwide followers. That
caused the message to be broadcasted to almost everywhere.
There are numerous cases where social
media influences an event negatively. However, there are positive effects of
the use of media in important events as well. A while ago, a video emerged
online where a passenger on United Airlines was being viciously dragged out of
an airplane due to overbooking. The incident was filmed by one of the other
passengers and the clip went viral rapidly. People were utterly shocked when
they saw the treatment of travelers that had paid for the trip, were seated and
ready for their flight. That was when social media united, like they have done
before, and created a hashtag telling people to boycott United Airlines.
Occurrences like this are called “social media activism” and are known to be
very effective. Due to the scandal and the help from social media, Untied
Airlines ended up dropping $1.4 billion in stocks.
Outrageous tweets and social media
activism do not have a lot in common, however they are both caused by people
disagreeing online. Another similarity is that the Trump era has created a lot
of social media boycotts. The advantages in the first case are that the
candidates got to express themselves and share their messages to the people
voting for them. On the other hand, the tweets caused several people to argue
and disagree. The USA as also put in a bad position because of Trump´s
disgraceful tweets. The other case was only a disadvantage and embarrassment
for the United Airlines, but it was informative and helpful to travelers.
To conclude, social media influence
everything. The vast amount of sharing makes sure everybody knows what is going
on. The fact that social media affects nearly every being somehow only shows
what kind of power our use has given it. Everything from mocking presidential
candidates, to spreading a video of people committing crimes; social media has it
all.
Sources and citations
How You Can Save Western Civilization
by Reading True Grit (2015, March 18). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2015/03/how-you-can-save-western-civilization-by-reading-true-grit
Sanders, S. (2016). Retrieved
12.05.17, from npr.org
(1) Hickam, J. (2015).
Retrieved 12.05.17, from sheknows.com
Lee, E. (2016) Retrieved 12.05.17,
from thedarthmouth.com
Cox, J. (2017). Retrieved 12.05.17,
from independent.co.uk
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