Paper 1 Practice

Paper 1 “Why Fight For Russia”

The following extract that I have received is a leaflet, or one could see it as a brochure. This is decided due to the structure of the extract as well as the heading of the extract, which seems to be advertising the author’s point of view. On the bottom of the page, certain information was given to us about the extract received indicating that the following extract is a leaflet made by a British pacifist in 1914. Since the extract talks about fighting and due to the date given to us, we can now understand that this leaflet revolves around the First World War. This essay is an attempt to analyze this extract identifying the author’s purpose and intended audience as well as different persuasive language and also differ literary features that the author has used in the leaflet provided to us.

As we already understand from reading the text, the extract is a leaflet given to British soldiers as well as the British general public, persuading them to not fight with Russia and not fight the war in the first place. It also attempts to persuade the people to protest against thee war. From this we can then go to understand the purpose of this leaflet is to inform the general public as well as the soldiers about the author’s true opinions on Russia, as well as to persuade the people that fighting in this war would be against British morals. The leaflet talks about Russia’s unethical values so this then helps us understand the purpose of the extract. We can also learn who the authors intended audience are, which from what we already know, are the British general public as well as British soldiers. We can see this from the authors attempt to inform and educate the public and the British army as well as the general public, and the due to the author explaining to the army to not fight with Russia and to not fight the war if they can, and to protest against the war.

As we have learnt from the previous paragraph as well as from the information given to us on from the extract, we come to understand the extract is a leaflet or a brochure which acts as an advertisement used to advertise the authors ideas and point of views about Russia and why he believes that fighting with Russia and fighting in this war is unethical and goes against British morals. He also talks about how the Russians go against all of the British ideologies about liberty and justice, due to the fact that he talks about how the Russians treat their soldiers and how they don’t match the British ideologies of the western world. The leaflet goes on to explain how the country they should side with if they are forced to fight , are the Germans due to their similarities  and how the Russians are different to the Germans and they they are slaves of a corrupt autocracy and they are just violent people in genera and they again go against British ideologies of liberty and justice. The author goes on to explain how he is against the what and actually persuading the general public to take part in protests against England taking part in the war.

As we can see from reading the extract that the author uses a persuasive as well as an informative tone. This is a sort of tone that a teacher would use with their students. The author uses a type of vocabulary that most people would understand and doesn’t use any complicated words, thus we can understand that he is attempting to communicate with everyone in the general public from all different educational levels. The author also uses a large, bold font to catch the readers eye and to grab their attention as he uses sentences such as “A WAR for Russia is a War Against Civilization”, as well as “British Stand Clear”. These types of phrases draw the reader into reading the leaflet and make the leaflet seem more interesting that it actually is. It also shows and acts as if the leaflet is trying to inform the people of a really important situation and a crucial piece of information. The author uses a interesting title that say simply “Why fight for Russia?”, Which then makes the audience curious as to find out what the answer of this rhetorical question is as it has been on peoples minds as thy observe the leaflet to read the authors point of views. It also makes then curious as they want to see if the authors point of view might change their opinion about the war or not.  This then sets an educational mood and it seems as if the audience are learning something and gaining information about Russia’s true colors. It also sets an opinionated tone, which then causes the audience to change their point of view on the war itself.

The author uses many literary devices as well as persuasive language to aid in his persuasion of the British public and the soldiers in not fighting the war as well as not fighting with Russia. The author uses logos as he explains and talks about the amount of money they spent. They also use logos later on as the author explains the amount of Germans compared to the amount of Russians to show they if they ere to fight the war, they had to fight with Germany as they are outnumbered. The author also uses pathos as he explains the audience about the similarities between them and the Germans and how that the Germans are outnumbered thus persuading them to , if they had to fight the war, to side with Germany. The author uses Rhetorical questions to keep the audience thinking and interested to find the answer. The author uses rhetorical questions such as “ What is Russia”, and “Why fight for Russia”. The author uses persuasive language to help in shaping the audience’s opinion about Russia. The author also uses persuasive language as he explains how Russia are cruel not only to others, but also to their own people and how that goes against the British ideologies of justice and liberty. The author then uses ethos as he identifies how the Russians are unethical thus instigating an ethical appeal.

The author uses and unorganised structure of different paragraphs which shows unprofessionalism in the leaflet. He also uses bold and large font titles to help catch the reader’s attention as they receive the leaflet or walk past the leaflet on the street.  The author uses a simple, easily read sized font that is easy to read so that the general public could read the information with no constraints and helps connect with the audience in an easier way. The author also doesn’t use too many words and keeps his information simple and goes straight to the point so that the audience doesn’t get bored whilst reading the leaflet.

In conclusion, we have reviewed the audience and purpose and that the author used this leaflet to help persuade the audience and help shape the audience’s opinion in order to match his. The authors use of literary devices as well as persuasive language has been explained and how the author used the persuasive language in order to persuade the audience that his point of views and ideas about the war and about Russia are the right ideas and the better opinion.  

Media bias post

The prompt that I have chosen to write about is if it is acceptable for a government to try to shape public opinion through information campaigns. I disagree with this statement for many reasons. I don't strongly disagree either due to the fact that there could be a reason for the government to try to shape the publics opinion for a positive reason. After reading the article about the friendly fire that occurred and was covered up by the government to help maintain the positive image of the US military, and watching the documentary as well as analysing the leaflet, I then formed my true opinion on the matter as well as the statement, and in this blogpost I will be discussing these reasons thoroughly.

The article shows how stubborn the government were in this situation due to the fact that friendly fire occurs in wars, it is a normal thing and is seen as a mistake. After the incident occurred where Pat Tillman was shot down by his own troops in a friendly fire situation, the U.S government should have informed the Pat's mother about the incident exactly as it occurred as the mother and the family had an absolute right to know how her son died, especially in an incident like this. The mother had every reason to rant and write a book about the situation. The way that the media manipulated the public and shaping its opinion the U.S army shows the negative aspect of the statement. If the government told the public as well as the family the truth as it is, the publics opinion about the army would have completely changed.

We then watched a documentary called "Control Room", I realised how the media as well as the government would go so far to be able to shape the publics opinions in a certain way. In the documentary, I observed how Al Jazeera were being accused of siding the Arab public and were accused of "lying" as well as "shaping" their news so that the public only get one side of the story. The were also said to falsely accuse the Americans of performing in acts that they were predominantly not a part of. This caused the Arab public to grow hate towards Americans as well as the army. The Americans were wrong to an extent, not the extent to which Al Jazeera were reporting.

I then read a leaflet that was given to the British army during world war 1 as an attempt to help convince the soldiers to not help fight with Russia during the war. The truth is that the government should not give the people one side of the story and ask them to choose sides when they have no information or any clue about the other side. The government as well as the media, should give the people both sides of the story, and then ask them to choose sides so at least they are aware and would be able to choose according to what they believe to be true.

Media Biased Article

ISIS and the Lonely Young American

This pastiche is about an article written in the New York times about a girl who, on internet, started communicating with a man name Faisal who was apparently 51 and married. From the article we understand that Faisal was trying to convert this girl named Alex to islam. He eventually succeeded and from the article we can see that the girl doesn't seem to be that old. From the heading we can see how this article is going to regard the Islamic State in a certain way, even though that the man himself might be and extremist, but does not seem to meet the criteria of an ISIS member. He is considered to be an extremist due to the fact that the article mentions how the man used to experiment with bombs.

"For months, she had been growing closer to a new group of friends online — the most attentive she had ever had — who were teaching her what it meant to be a Muslim. Increasingly, they were telling her about the Islamic State and how the group was building a homeland in Syria and Iraq where the holy could live according to God’s law.

One in particular, Faisal, had become her nearly constant companion, spending hours each day with her on Twitter, Skype and email, painstakingly guiding her through the fundamentals of the faith.

But when she excitedly told him that she had found a mosque just five miles from the home she shared with her grandparents in rural Washington State, he suddenly became cold."

 The man started to drop off presents at her house which included head scarfs and other islamic gifts such as books and prayer mats. He also started sending her link on how to properly wear a head scarf and how to pray. Bare in mind that Alex has never met a muslim in person in her life. She then agrees to convert to Islam and publicly announces it on twitter.

This then cause many complications due to the fact that the man was able to change her belief into thinking that ISIS was a good organization and that all of her other christian followers on twitter and all her non muslim friends were are infidels and they were people that she shouldnt be around.

She was then accused of being a spy which cause many complications for her and her family.

The language being used in the article is seen to be as negative as the author uses a negative tone to explain the situation. I and most people would agree that the situation is wrong, but the way that the situation is expressed is seen as over exaggerated and that the whole situation is held out of proportion.

IOC practice 2

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IOC practice

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This is Water response.

In the essay This is Water, David Foster suggests that true freedom acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious and sympathetic. He uses this thesis statement in his essay and helps develop this thesis statement by using everyday examples which one would be able to relate to whilst reading this essay. He uses these examples in an attempt to make what he is trying to say much simpler, due to the fact that the point that he is trying to shed light on might not get across to all people who are reading this essay. He also uses metaphors to make it easier for the reader to relate to. 

As i have mentioned before, David tries to shed light on his statement by using metaphors and examples which are crucial in the understanding of the essay. More importantly, David is trying to send an important message across to his readers, that there is more to life than yourself. He tries to explain that one must understand that life isn't only about you and that your life doesn't just revolve around your own experiences. He tries to explain that in order to be happy, one must put himself in other people's shoes, to know that there is another world that you must enter that revolves around another individual. A person must learn that he must look at both sides of the road before crossing the road of judgment. Meaning that a person must think twice before judging someone due to the fact that you are incapable off reading other people's minds thus you cannot make a judgment about how tough their lives are and the daily hardships that they have to put up with. Before you start complaining about how long the line at the store is, realise that you are not the only person waiting in line and that there are other people waiting in line too just like you are. David uses plenty of metaphors and examples in order to further explain to the audience his statement. One example he uses in the beginning of the story is the fish example, where two young fish meet an older fish who asks them "how is the water", the two young fish then go on to reply by saying "what the hell is water?". After reading through the story, one realises that what the author means by 'water' is that in this scene, water is the representation of life. Thus you can think of it as the older fish asking the younger fish "hows life". The fact that the two young fish seemed quite confused by this question, proves just how complicated life really is, and the daily issues one must go through without even knowing what is the real purpose of life and how complex and mis understood life really is. Literature in a sense, helps readers deal with real life situations which might seem confusing and complex, through reading enough literature, one starts to learn strategies and ways of how to deal with daily life situations and complications. This shows that literature is truly one of the most beneficial aspects of education.        

Munro Literature Reflection

The study of literature teaches people many different skills which they can use daily or in the future such as how they can react to different situations. Literature also allows readers to deal with situations indirectly and they tend to think what would the character do if they were in the readers position or vice versa. Literature allows students to use their minds as they analyse characters thus strengthening their thinking skills just like other subjects like maths or physics. Literature helps students think critically and they don't only analyse characters but they analyse the characters surroundings and the authors surroundings and how the book could relate to the author's life. This sort of analysis requires tools such as rhetorical devices and other literary devices which one must memorise to help them in analysing the book in more depth. Studying literature also helps broaden ones imagination as it helps them create images in their head of what for example a character looks like and what the place the story took place looks like. The study of literature also helps in the improvement of reading , composition and vocabulary skills, which one must acquire for the future for things such as applying for a job or writing a personal statement for uni. The study of literature may also be a great way to study and learn about other cultures and societies. Literature students gain a positive and better perception of life. They could read something in a book that might change their life forever thus acquiring better skills in navigating the world. Just like studying normal literature is viewed and being quite important. The study of women's literature is just as important or even more important, due to the fact that one might gain a greater insight in the world in the point of view of women, and how women feel whilst being discriminated against. This is beneficial to not only men but women too. You may think of it as a bit of a history lesson as well, due to the fact that today, one might not come across discrimination against women to the extent that women used to be exposed to during the 1920's or 60's. This, again, gives readers especially men, an insight into the world of women and life in there perspective and how they feel during certain situations. This helps students learn more about women and even increase their skill in dealing with certain type of women. Munro's work was so significant during the 1950's-1980's due to the fact that it was the best time to release such books as it was the time of the women empowerment movement, which motivated women at this era to write about their life and how they feel and life through their perspectives and how the have felt in the past and how they would like to feel in the future. I like Munro due to the fact that I feel like her writing is of very high standards and she creates outstanding short stories which contain very entertaining characters.