Article of the Week

In order to practice identifying literary techniques and structural elements from text types you may encounter on the IB exam, as well as to become more aware of current events, you will be reading an article each cycle.

Your group will be given 3-5 articles to choose from, and then each group member will choose one article to read and analyze. *Group members cannot analyze the same article.

You’ll need to annotate your article (I’m trying to get a chrome app approved to make this easier for you), and then respond to the article on Flipgrid. Your analysis should discuss the source of the text, text type (elements of the text type), audience, purpose, and any techniques you noticed that helped the author achieve their purpose. If you do not think the author was effective in his/her/their goals, explain why they failed and what would have been more effective. You can also share ideas you found remarkable (as in interesting, concerning, alarming, offensive, etc.) or any questions you have after reading.

Then, watch the videos your group members posted, and write a 120 character summary of the article (like a tweet) as a comment.

Timeline: Read, analyze, and post to Flipgrid by the 3rd day of the cycle. Then watch and respond to your group member’s videos by the 7^th day of the cycle.

A graphic organizer follows to help you with your response.

Olivia:

It is a complete analysis with good background information. The analysis of the literary techniques used is good!

https://theconversation.com/women-are-more-competitive-when-theyre-given-an-option-to-share-winnings-a-research-finding-that-may-help-close-the-gender-pay-gap-170622

Damn and a speech of Malcolm X:

Global Issue: Systemic racism and inequalities against black people.

How do the authors denounce systemic racism against people of color and inequalities using literary techniques?

Plan:

Intro: 1 minute.

The album DAMN came out in 2017, while Malcolm X’s speech was given in 1963 in Detroit. Both Kendrick Lamar and Malcolm X are black American men standing up for their rights. They face systemic racism and inequalities, and throughout their art and speeches, they can denounce these inequalities and this racism. Systemic racism is racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of society. How do the authors denounce systemic racism against people of color and inequalities using literary techniques? First, I will analyze an extract from Lamar’s song XXX, then the album DAMN as a whole. After, I will analyze an extract from Malcolm X’s speech Message to the grassroots and then, the speech as a whole. More generally how it relates to the global issue of systemic racism and inequalities against people of color.

Song extract: 2 minutes

The song XXX is the eleventh song of the album Damn. The extract has been chosen because of the plurality of figures of speech and the direct link to the global issue. Firstly, Kendrick Lamar uses a generality with “Johnny”, johnny represents the black community, in particular black youth. He denounces the portrayal of black youth that makes the inequalities even bigger. As the system is not supporting black kids to stay in school and it relates to the systemic racism faced by people of color in America.

Then, Kendrick Lamar uses irony with “God bless America”, when just before he was criticizing it. He uses irony to express the opposite and to denounce that America has a problem. This creates an effect of humor and the words “God Bless” used in an ironic way can shock the audience.

In the extract, Lamar receives a call from his friend saying that his son has been killed. Kendrick and his friend are conflicted because getting revenge would mean going against their religion. Kendrick states clearly that if anyone hurts his family, he will murder them and be proud. He has no shame in that and is not afraid to go against the law. Then he uses repetition to prove his love for his family “Touch my”. The repetition emphasizes the importance of his loved ones. It makes the audience relate to Kendrick Lamar.

Album as a whole: 2 minutes

Kendrick Lamar has many recurring themes in his album DAMN, one of them is the racism that he faces and that black people in America face every day. He alludes to or mentions racism in most of his songs. The first song of the album, BLOOD, has a quote from a news reporter quoting Lamar about police brutality against people of color. This quote comes from the media Fox News, a very conservative American news organization. Lamar uses this extract to prove that he is not going to stop defending his rights and he is not going to stop denouncing the problems in America.

In the song FEAR, Kendrick talks about the fear of being misjudged because of who he is as a black man. The inequalities he may face as a black man in America in the justice system. He uses the word Fear a lot throughout the song and a lot of words with similar meanings. This appeals to pathos, Kendrick Lamar shares his deep feelings and denounces big issues in his society too.

As Damn is a rap album, Kendrick Lamar uses assonances and rhymes all throughout the album. It makes the lyrics more poetic, and his message is more easily assimilated by the audience.

Speech extract: 2 minutes

This extract is the first few minutes of the speech that he gave. In it, he specifically emphasizes the systemic racism and the inequalities that African Americans experience regardless of their personal beliefs. Malcolm X uses simple language to address the problem as well as short sentences. He goes straight to the point, which makes him clear and understandable for the reader. He even says it. This is to create a link with the audience and for his message to be understood. He also uses an inclusive way of talking “WE”. The audience feels included and his speech gives a feeling of inclusion, solidarity, fraternity.

Malcolm X uses the personification of America. He uses the pronoun “She” to describe her and says that she has a problem like America is a person that has a problem. He means that America is racist and that her problem is black people. He uses personification to show that black people face systemic racism. That it’s an issue bigger than what we can imagine.

Malcolm X uses repetitions, “you don’t catch hell ‘cause” it is also an anaphora. This emphasizes the problem of systemic racism. As Malcolm X says that the problem is only because of the skin color because they are black people. Not because of their religion, their political ideas, their nationality. That for America, they are only black people. This is a powerful repetition as he expresses the problem in a few sentences. The figures of speech used in this extract are present all throughout the speech.

Speech as a whole: 2 minutes

Malcolm X wrote this speech to unify the black community and to persuade them to fight a common enemy through a revolution. As mentioned earlier, Malcolm X speaks in short sentences to make the speech more accessible to anyone. Throughout the speech, he uses Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. The combination of all of these creates a really powerful speech.

He references historical facts, different revolutions that occurred in the past to prove that it is possible to gain freedom against a powerful enemy. The historical facts back up what Malcolm X is saying, it makes him more reliable, and the crowd believes more what he says. Malcolm X also use the violence of these revolutions to prove his point that a revolution cannot be peaceful.

The author uses a metaphor, he compares black people to coffee too strong, which is diluted with cream. This metaphor is a way of saying that the white man wants to make black people silent. And Malcolm X denounces that. In this extract he also uses antithesis. Using words that have opposite meanings in the same sentence is to create contrast and show the strong difference between the two.

Conclusion: 1 minute

Systemic racism and inequalities against people of color are a big problem in America and in the world. Malcolm X, in the ’60s, was very popular and he had lots of influence. In XXX, Kendrick Lamar says to his friends that he should be violent against the people that killed his son, this is similar to Malcolm X who thinks that violence is the only way to freedom. This issue matters because every human has rights.

Message to the Grassroots:

And during the few moments that we have left, we want to have just an off-the-cuff chat between you and me — us. We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand. We all agree tonight, all of the speakers have agreed, that America has a very serious problem. Not only does America have a very serious problem, but our people have a very serious problem. America’s problem is us. We’re her problem. The only reason she has a problem is she doesn’t want us here. And every time you look at yourself, be you black, brown, red, or yellow — a so-called Negro — you represent a person who poses such a serious problem for America because you’re not wanted. Once you face this as a fact, then you can start plotting a course that will make you appear intelligent, instead of unintelligent. What you and I need to do is learn to forget our differences. When we come together, we don’t come together as Baptists or Methodists. You don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a Baptist, and you don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a Methodist. You don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a Methodist or Baptist. You don’t catch hell because you’re a Democrat or a Republican. You don’t catch hell because you’re a Mason or an Elk. And you sure don’t catch hell ’cause you’re an American; ’cause if you was an American, you wouldn’t catch no hell. You catch hell ’cause you’re a black man. You catch hell, all of us catch hell, for the same reason.

1. Johnny don’t wanna go to school no mo’, no mo’
2. Johnny said books ain’t cool no mo’ (no mo’)
3. Johnny wanna be a rapper like his big cousin
4. Johnny caught a body yesterday out hustlin’
5. God bless America, you know we all love him
6. Yesterday I got a call like from my dog like 101
7. Said they killed his only son because of insufficient funds
8. He was sobbin’, he was mobbin’, way belligerent and drunk
9. Talkin’ out his head, philosphin’ on what the Lord had done
10. He said: “K-Dot, can you pray for me?
11. It’s been a fucked up day for me
12. I know that you anointed, show me how to overcome.”
13. He was lookin’ for some closure
14. Hopin’ I could bring him closer
15. To the spiritual, my spirit do no better, but I told him
16. “I can’t sugarcoat the answer for you, this is how I feel:
17. If somebody kill my son, that mean somebody gettin’ killed.”
18. Tell me what you do for love, loyalty, and passion of
19. All the memories collected, moments you could never touch
20. I’ll wait in front a niggas spot and watch him hit his block
21. I’ll catch a nigga leavin’ service if that’s all I got
22. I’ll chip a nigga, then throw the blower in his lap
23. Walk myself to the court like, “Bitch, I did that!”
24. Ain’t no Black Power when your baby killed by a coward
25. I can’t even keep the peace, don’t you fuck with one of ours
26. It be murder in the street, it be bodies in the hour
27. Ghetto bird be on the street, paramedics on the dial
28. Let somebody touch my mama
29. Touch my sister, touch my woman
30. Touch my daddy, touch my niece
31. Touch my nephew, touch my brother
32. You should chip a nigga, then throw the blower in his lap
33. Matter fact, I’m ’bout to speak at this convention
34. Call you back-
35. Alright, kids, we’re gonna talk about gun control
36. (Pray for me) Damn!

• Damn 2017, Malcolm X 1963, 2 men. How do the authors denounce systemic racism and inequalities against people of color using literary techniques? XXX, Message to the grassroots.
• XXX=> Johnny represents black youth, generality, system not supporting them. Irony is used with “God bless America”, before criticizing. Can shock. Call, they are conflicted about revenge. Religious reasons.
• Repetitions “touch my” prove his love. The audience relates to Kendrick.
• Album as a whole=> Many themes, inequalities and racism a lot. Blood, Fox news, police brutality, Lamar denounces. FEAR, fear of being judged because of his skin color. Injustice.
• Just because he is a black man. Assonances and rhymes throughout the album. Poetic, assimilation easier.
• The extract=> Short sentences, use of WE. Repetitions “America… Serious problem” inclusion, solidarity, fraternity. Personification of America, as if she is a person that has a problem.
• You don’t catch hell cause, repetition, and anaphora. Emphasize systemic racism. Not religion, political ideas… Figures of speech everywhere in the whole speech.
• Speech as a whole=> Unify the black community, call to revolution. Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Historical facts, back up what Malcolm X is saying. Use the violence of the revolution to prove point.
• Metaphor of the coffee and black people, Antithesis. Contrast, shock, using words with opposite meanings.
• Conclusion: Authors are using Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to provoke an emotional response. Why is the global issue important?

NOTES:

It isn’t that time is running out — time has run out!

Using a change in tenses.

A lot of repetition, usually two times, sometimes more. To make the message clear.

I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy

Changing the adjective

Your vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote

The main theme of the speech is repeated a lot.

the ballot or the bullet

Talking about the right to vote for black people, the way the white man is blocking black people from having political power.

This government has failed the Negro. This so-called democracy has failed the Negro. And all these white liberals have definitely failed the Negro.

A rich country, with a lot of poor people, here are black people who work hard and used to work even harder because of racism and slavery. Sacrifice for the white man.

segregation is against the law / A segregationist is a criminal

A lot of violence,

kill that dog, kill him, I’m telling you, kill that dog

Brothers and sisters, friends and family… friend…We’re all in the same boat: Building credibility (ethos), and establishing a more familiar and intimate relationship with the audience

Ballot or the Bullet: Symbolic of the two paths Malcolm believes that African Americans can go on, and also utilizes alliteration with words beginning with ‘b’ to make it capture

White men: Malcolm reiterates his point that white men are the oppressors, the enemy, and that ‘we’ should unite in order to fight back

If we have differences, let us differ in the closet: Keep conflicts contained and face the common enemy

Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on that plate: draws an analogy to being an American and being black—though on the surface everyone is accepted, African Americans are treated differently to the “blue eyed things”

Spends the majority of the time in pages 1-4 scorning the corrupted systems and Americanism. Pathos is used to emphasize the unjust treatments to African Americans. “camouflage, that’s trickery, that’s treachery, window-dressing”

Presents the voting system and democrats as sly and ridiculous, reinforcing the fact that African Americans should stand up against this political exclusion

Page 8 to 12:

Repetition of

nothing but Africans

He says that the white man is scared, frightened.

Talking about other wars where the white man was scared.

Mixing religion and politics is not what he wants, he is Muslim but

A simile, the ballot is like a bullet. A ballot is a weapon.

A ballot is like a bullet. You don’t throw your ballots until you see a target, and if that target is not within your reach, keep your ballot in your pocket.

He talks a lot about

black nationalism

Black people

you and I are supposed to have civil rights

He doesn’t want to be violent as long as:

nonviolently as long as the enemy is nonviolent

Talking about segregation:

So we will work with you against the segregated school system because it’s criminal, because it is absolutely destructive, in every way imaginable, to the minds of the children who have to be exposed to that type of crippling education.

A powerful sentence:

No, if you never see me another time in your life, if I die in the morning, I’ll die saying one thing: the ballot or the bullet, the ballot or the bullet.

The end of the speech

In 1964, it’s the ballot or the bullet.

Baby IO:

The extract:

American-born Chinese, written by Gene Luen Yang. Pages 30 and 31.

The global issue:

Anti-Asian racism in school.

Introduction:

The extract I will be analyzing today is pages thirty and thirty-one of the graphic novel American Born Chinese. In the novel, the theme of Anti-Asian racism is recuring and many extracts could have been used for this global issue, but I wanted to focus on how Anti-Asian racism in school. How is this extract of American Born Chinese denouncing Anti-Asian racism in school using language and techniques? Firstly, I will be analyzing the work as a whole, then I will be looking at the extract and analyzing it.

Analysis work as a whole:

American Born Chinese is a book that has three storylines that are all linked together. The Monkey King, Jin Wang’s story, and Danny’s story. Throughout the book, there are different ways anti-Asian racism is expressed and not only in school. The character of Chink-Kee is portraying the stereotypes of Chinese people in America and in many western countries. He is the representation of almost every stereotype against Asian people, and through him, the other sensibilize the audience to see how many see Asian people. There are also many different moments where Jin Wang and his friends get bullied and mocked for being Asian. One of the problem that is resurfacing because of Racism is the non-acceptation of ourselves. Because The Monkey King and Jin Wang are rejected, they deny their own identity. They are going to change the way they might act and dress to be accepted by their peers and the people they want to impress.

Analysis extract:

In this extract, Jin Wang, the main character of his storyline is getting introduced to the class by the teacher, but she is using the wrong name “Jing Jang”. When the teacher explains where Jin comes from, she says he comes from China, she assumes that shows that she is biased.

Narration blocks are used four times on the two pages. The first narration block is in the first panel. The main character explains the situation, he arrives in a new classroom with a new teacher. In the last three narration blocks that are on the last two panels, Jin Wang explains how there is another Asian girl in his class and that both were victims of bullying. The narration blocks give us information about what happened and what will happen.

The speech bubble close together when the teacher introduces Jin creates an effect of fast reply and automatism. Jin Wang is almost used to these types of comments, or people mispronouncing his name.

On the panel where the boy is asking the teacher, the atmosphere feels heavy and the fact that there isn’t anything apart from the drawing. The situation is awkward it is like people do not know what to do with him. The last two panels with the same size and the same arrangement with only the facial expression of Suzy Nakamura. This creates a feeling of awkwardness and foreshadowing that she might be an important character later in the novel, which she somewhat will be.

Conclusion:

This extract is a small part of the racism and stereotypes that Asian kids can face at school. As Jin Wang arrives at a new school, he faces racism from his peers and the teacher.

Why does this issue matter?

Fighting against racism is really important to live in a peaceful society, as the author wrote a book child-appropriate, this book might be able to sensibilize people, even the younger ones, to this problem.

Context “A doll’s house”

Topic 1: The author

Author: Henrik Ibsen

Born in 1828 in Norway, died in 1906.

Ibsen is often referred to as “the father of realism”

The three historical plays, or dramatic poems, Brand, Emperor and Galilean, and Peer Gynt, written between 1866 and 1873, from a monumental epic

Henrik Ibsen is considered the father of realism in theater because he focused on realistic settings, realistic dialogue, and, most of all, the creation of psychologically realistic characters in his plays.

His distinct literary style, with a blend of satire, irony, and realism separates him from other writers. The recurring thematic strands in most of the writings are poverty, hardships of life, feminism, religious intolerance, self-realization, and the clash between individual and societal pressures.

Topic 2: Norway

– Find and include a map of Norway and its location in Europe.

– Describe Norway’s climate.

Western Norway has a marine climate, with comparatively cool summers, mild winters, and nearly 90 inches (2,250 mm) of mean annual precipitation. Eastern Norway, sheltered by the mountains, has an inland climate with warm summers, cold winters, and less than 30 inches (760 mm) of mean annual precipitation.

– Briefly explain Norway’s government and economy.

Government: Norway is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The country is governed by a prime minister, a cabinet, and a 169-seat parliament (Storting) that is elected every four years and cannot be dissolved.

Economy: Norway’s economic freedom score is 76.9, making its economy the 14th freest in the 2022 Index. Norway is ranked 10th among 45 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the regional and world averages. Norway’s economy slowed from 2017 through 2019 before growth turned negative in 2020.

– Include information about Norway’s traditional culture.

Norwegians tend to have a strong sense of history and civic engagement and on special occasions, many Norwegians wear traditional clothing, or brands. In Norwegian culture, some of the most important values are tolerance, respect, and equality.

Topic 3: Gender roles and social class in the Victorian Era.

The Victorian Era was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from June 1837 to January 1901. This period was a golden era for England, it expanded to become the first global power, industrialization.

The society at the time was a class-based society as well as patriarchal. Men were still the center of society while women couldn’t work and have a

In the Victorian era, women were considered inferior to men and their only role was to get married and serve their husbands. The ideal woman was cooking, sewing, innocent, and pretty. She was an angel.

Upper-middle-class women were expected to be ideal women.

Upper-middle-class men were expected to work a normal job.

A suffragette was a woman that was defending her rights! Women did not have the right to vote, divorce or sue.

The new woman=> Demanded social equality, economic, independence, and education.

The current feminist movement is more advanced. In developed countries, women have rights but there are still inequalities persisting.

Topic 4: Marriage in the Victorian Era

Families had a big say into the marriage of two people. In the upper-class marriages, the wife often brought a generous Dowery and enticement for the marriage.

Marriages were considered business deals very few started with love but in some situations, years may have passed, and a couple cold grow tolerable to each other or even find love in the process.

Back then divorce was very look down upon. When someone was to get engaged there was a very deep background that went into it as regarding the families with financial history and political connections.

Topic 5: Realism

Realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations.