Written task News article

Raise of attacks against foreigners alarms public authorities

The increase of attacks and crimes against people from out of United States has made the national authorities worry, and opens up the discussion on the creation of a new law that protects the foreigners rights.

In the last few weeks, crimes and attacks centred on the people that come from outside the country have been rising in a critical amount. This seems to be caused by the recent notification of John Mohammed Kim`s participation in the president elections to be celebrated next year. Mister Kim is a citizen of the United States, but his ancestors clearly come from outside the country. Mister Kim has expressed his concern and preoccupation via his account on Twitter, saying: " Don`t be afraid because you or your ancestors come from outside. Together we will put down this crime wave against us. Stay safe." The increase of attacks has been marked by the death of Rosa Espinoza, a woman of thirty three years old born in Spain, that came to live in the United States four years ago. Miss Espinoza was killed by two men, who haven`t been identified yet, when she was coming back from her work late at night. Although the police does not want to provide much information, it is known that the attack was not random, and was planned to be on her for being an outsider. Her neighbours have expressed their concern about this raise of attacks and discrimination and feel very sorry about miss Espinoza`s death. One of her neighbours said: "She was a nice lady, killed by two idiots that seem to believe that being an outsider is a sin, or that believe in any stereotyping idea they hear". There were several witnesses on the moment of the attack, and one of them stated: "Clearly the killing had something to do with her being spanish, because the two men attacked without any provocation, they just instantly started beating her until she was dead. It was a really horrible crime and I hope they get punished for what they did to that lady, they don´t deserve to live."  

All the noise caused by this wave of crimes against the foreigners have started to be an important issue for the government. President Obama stated: "We will defeat this wall of injustice and discrimination, we will bring the guilty to face justice, and just as African Americans  made their fit in society, foreigners will do the sae".  President Obama has presented the proposal of a new law to protect foreigners rights, a law that is intended to be a hard punishment for those who create or incite segregation, discrimination or hate towards people from other countries. The proposal of this law has been well received by the public opinion, who think this law is necessary and will help on the decrease of the crimes against outsiders. The approve of this law is supposed to be almost unanimous, and it is expected to start functioning in the next few weeks. A lot of work it´s being put on the making of the law, and for it to be ready and functioning really quickly. Other politics have also shown their discontent on the recent attacks, like the senator Michael Kutner, who is also working on the making of this law, he stated the following:"I simply find nasty that people just kill or hurt others for being different, I want these attacks to be a way to show how disgusting discrimination is and what it causes."



Because of all these recent attacks, the famous singer of the band "A second before betrayal", Matt shinji Shinoda  asked to be interviewed. On the interview he stated the following "Discrimination and stereotyping here in the United States is not something new, it was something that  made our careers very difficult at the beggining, because some records labels and some concert places did not wanted us to be related to them because of the origins of some of the bands members, like me or our guitarrist Marko Ortiz". Also, the singer     accused the press of giving less importance to these attacks because of them being against foreigners and not citizens born on the United States. He stated the following, "The media and press had not put so much effort on the issue that´s happening now a days, and they do not give any importance on the problem, and I really think this happens because it is an issue that only affects foreigners. I truly believe that if these attacks were against born on United States citizens the media will be on it for days. Think about the news you have watched for the last couple of weeks, they have barely show any news or warnings of these attacks against outsiders, I mean they barely gave any information on the death of Rosa Espinoza, and if she was a United States born she would have got a lot of attention, much more than the attention she had on the news the past weeks." The government is being specially focused on the attacks, and they said they are ready to face any attacks coming.


Rationale

The task is particularly linked to two areas studied, mass communication and stereotypes. The structure of a newspaper article and the allusions of media on the text point out the link between it and mass communication. The media is described as something for the greater mass, being foreigners a minority group they don`t get enough attention on what is happening. As an example from the text: "think about the news you have watched for the last couple of weeks, they have barely show any news or warnings of these attacks against outsiders". Also, it could be a biased text, because it seems to describe the government in a good way, qualifying it with good adjectives due to their actions on the issue. For example: "The government is being specially focused on the attacks, and they said they are ready to face any attacks coming". The link with stereotypes is the main purpose of the text, to inform about how stereotypes and discrimination are being the reasons of multiple attacks in little time. On the course we learnt that stereotypes don`t reflect reality, and that they cause discrimination. An example: "...or that believe in any stereotyping idea they hear". I chose to do a news article, because it can give details, it answers to six main questions: What?, Why?, When?, How?, Who?, Where?. Also you can put opinions from people, and that`s very important to relate it with a real issue. The audience is people concerned on social issues, the purpose is to inform and try to give warning about a problem that`s been rising and the context in the attacks due to discrimination to a presidential candidate. I used formal language, and included quotes from people.

Idea planner for written task 1

Idea Planner for Written Task 1 on Language and Mass Communication

Idea One:	Text type: News article
	Topic: Stereotyping (about how it affects social behavior)
	Audience: People concerned about social issues.
	Why this text type is appropriate to topic: Because it is a text type that allows you to explain and show how stereotyping affects in society, it gives a real look, more than just an idea, it really shows how stereotypes affect in real life

Idea Two:	Text type: Opinion column
	Topic: Biased media
	Audience: People concerned about politics and honest information.
	Why this text type is appropriate to topic: Because it`s structure allows me to explain and express opinions or ideas about the problem, it gives the opinion of a normal person.

Idea Three:	Text type: Interview
	Topic: Persuasive techniques in ads
	Audience: Mainly people who are interested in learning about the making and the ideas behind ads
	Why this text type is appropriate to topic: Because it shows an interaction between a professional who can explain easily all techniques. The interaction gives us a chance to see several questions done by a journalist and answered by a professional.

Text analysis

The text "Why Antigua and Barbuda?" is a non-fictional informative and persuasive text, and the text obviously tries to convince you to go to this islands giving you certain information. We can support that statement by the type of words used in the text. To start, we can see that the text is not a fictional text, because it talks about an existing place, with real characteristics of it (although it includes opinions, such as "beautiful beaches"), and not a story created by someone. The informative part of the text is the information given, "the largest and most developed tourist destination...", "Antigua is the larger of the two islands at about 108 squares miles". These are some examples from the text that give us information about the Antigua and barbuda islands. The text also haves a persuasive intention, because it is intended and created to attract tourist and visitors to both of this islands. They use persuasive language, subjective ideas and give us examples on the good things that can be done or experienced in the islands. "Beautiful beaches...", "...fascinating, must see historical site called Nelson`s dockyard", "...the atmosphere is pure fun and local bands play infectious dance music",  and more. All these sentences include keywords like "beautiful", "must-see", "fascinating", "fun", and more, and the words and sentences are intended to have a persuasive effect on the reader, convince people to prefer the twin islands instead of another destination. The text uses mainly adjectives for this purpose. Another element of persuasion is the capital letters out the top of the text. These words are beaches, Antigua, Barbuda and luxury. These words represent things that are searched by people, things that people would find attractive and desirable, and obviously it include the name of the islands, because they want to say to you that they have all these desirable and attractive things, places and activities on the islands.

The audience targeted by the text is mainly people who are looking for vacations or that love to travel around the world. Evidently, it is a place for people who enjoy and like being in contact with nature and that love adventures outside the house, as well as relaxing on the beaches and meeting new people on social activities with other tourists. The text uses the persuasive elements named above because they represent what people look for when they want to go on vacations. Fun, luxury, beautiful, must see places and more. "...most developed tourist destination...", "...has much to offer visitors of many stripes", "...Antigua`s hotel choices are varied...". All these gives us the idea of tourist and foreigners being the audience of the text.

The use of language and words is formal, as it is trying to persuade and convince you to visit the islands, and it is probably more effective to use formal language, as it is more likely to be a visit payed by adults and not young people (who would maybe prefer an informal language) and also because it gives you the idea of being an organized company the one that offers you the chance to go, and that inspires trust, because if it was too messy maybe people would think that the company is not serious and professional, and they would not like taking their travel offers. "...Antigua is the larger of the two islands at about 108 square miles", "The  long reach of the British empire is still evident in both the formal demeanor of the local population...".  The sentences quoted above show us the formal language used, because they use specific words such as demeanor, British empire, and more, and also because they lack the use of abbreviations. Additionally, the language includes a mix of facts and opinions. "Beautiful beaches...", "most visitors arrive by propeller plane...", "...fascinating, must see historical sites...". these quotes have factual information, such as the way of traveling to Barbuda (by propeller plane), and opinions, such as the beautifulness of the beaches and the fascinating of a place. We already saw that the content is information and characteristics of the islands, in order to give us and idea of how the islands are, and convince us to go visit it and enjoy the activities. "Islanders claim their home boasts 365 beaches...", "the most popular attraction here is actually offshore- the Frigate bird Sanctuary". These extracts show information about the islands, and we know this information is mixed with subjective sentences and opinions, in order to be able to describe and highlight the distinctive activities and characteristics the islands has over other places in the world.

the rhetorical devices here try to make the islands look like a great place to go to.  The use of hyperbole, rule of three and more. "beautiful beaches...", "must see site", "...the smaller sister island is wild, woolly and barely inhabited." All these elements try to make the island look like a great place, with beautiful places and adventurous characteristics. the information and the use of images are an effective and succesful way to create an image of the different things that can be done. Relaxing in the pool, visiting places, see the wild animals, and more.

The use of language, content, idea and text type suggests that this text tries to convince people to visit the islands, and through the whole text we can see rhetorical devices, persuasive methods and interesting features that are highlighted to make a good impression of the islands.

Video analisis

1) This was one of the first communication models, is a lineal model, and it`s the process communication follows, it analyses each part of the chain
2)Sometimes it`s not important what is being said, but how. You can convince people that something that`s wrong is correct, by using a good convincing method, a good media display.

3) By knowing how people thinks is a general way, you can be more specific with the way you give the information so that I`ll have the understanding the way it is intended to be.

4) Normally, people love to be like their idols, or popular people, so if they can, they`ll try to look like them, use the same things, do the same things, etc.

http://youtu.be/wdtjnbcYB14

Image analisis

The image ironises with the power of the media to influence your thoughts. For example, in Chile, with the education issue, media often shows only the violence in the protest, a thing that is a minimal part of the protests. Media has the power to change your mind. The image pictures the mainstream devices of media, a newspaper, a T.V and a computer. Also, the words "relax" and "friendly" are ironic. Relax, we´ll think for you, we are your friends, so we hide information form you