Distinctively Visual

I’m most likely going to choose “Lady Feeding the Cats” and “Nesting Time”  because I know these poems very well, including the meaning behind each poem and the textual features used. Both these texts are effective examples that represent different perceptions on the world.

“Lady Feeding the Cats” challenges the responders to reassess their way of thinking towards people and places. Stewart does this by firstly describing the preconceptions made about the lady by using visual imagery, “broken shoes”,”slums”,”weather stains” to allow the readers to understand that this lady was of a lower social and economical status. However later on in the poem, the lady is portrayed as a respectable individuals by the cats, as they treat her as a “princess out of tower… trembling with love and power”, a juxtaposition from the description of her from the first stanza. Through the vivid image Stewart has painted, the responders perceptions are challenged as they develop a better understanding of the hidden beauties that can be found in everyday life.

The subjects of “Nesting Time” are the man, his daughter and the bird. Stewart uses onomatopoeia to portray a realistic image of the bird, helping the readers visualize it clearer. This poem is distinctively visual as it also portrays the preconceptions of the man towards the bird as he saw it as dangerous. However the shift of diction used in this poem allowed the responders to understand that preconceptions can be challenged as they develop a better understanding of human, nature and the connection between them.

 

Thoughts on Trials

The most difficult part of the trial exam was the prompt for “Close Study of Text: Merchant of Venice”, in my opinion, because it was a closed study of text, meaning that the prompt/question was very specific and direct. It also required me to select some characters in the play and elaborate on them while relating to the prompt.

I’ve done some adequate amount of studying for trials – rereading the prescribed and related texts, memorizing a few important quotes that could be used broadly and going through some past papers (only skimming through the questions, with no attempts). For HSC, I’m going to try to procrastinate a lot less because I know HSC is a big chunk of my ATAR. It’s very important. I will try to do some past papers, and also memorize a few more quotes and try to understand the characters/meaning in my prescribed and related texts well enough to elaborate and create a good essay.

If I could go back in time, I would have told myself to “Study earlier. Start at the beginning of July, because writing essays aren’t as easy as you think. Don’t think you’ve got a lot of time – remember you still have to prepare for other subjects as well. That’s not easy to do in one and a half weeks.” I always tell myself to stop procrastinating, since it’ll do me no good. Yet, I still do it anyways. For HSC preparations though, I will most likely put my mind into it because I’m determined to do my best for all my subjects.

 

 

Feed Response: Parts 1-3

In Feed, the main character, Titus, tells the story through his point of view. It is because of this that the readers are able to understand the true nature of his transformation through interactions throughout the book.

Titus seemed like an average teenager at first. He was at first portrayed as a ‘product’ of the Feed – he was surrounded by consumerism, partying, and of course, the Feed. Even so, Titus is a little different than his friends. He is a little more observant, more aware, smarter too, as he was the only one of his friends to ever to metaphors. Titus’ transformation begins the moment he started to know Violet and understand her perception on reality. His relationship with Violet allowed him to experience emotions he had never experience before – love, heartbreak, guilt, shame. We see that Titus cannot fully comprehend the true meaning behind certain emotions – when he deleted Violet’s memories and messages, guilt took over, and he ended up going with her to the mountains. Because he couldn’t understand the emotions he was feeling, he let it out on Violet at the end and disconnected himself with her for real. That was when his transformation really took place. At home, he ordered pants after pants, as this was his way of rejecting the consumerism. He finally learned that the pain he felt could not be subsided by the Feed. The transformation of Titus’ identity was complete by the end of the book – when he admitted “For the first time, I cried.” He had accepted the overwhelming emotions as he retold the story of “us” to Violet. It was a story of the complex love of two teenagers, a love that was constantly battling against the Feed. At the end, Titus was portrayed as a teenager who have learned to accept the nature of emotions due to the him “learn[ing] an important lesson about love.”

 

Social Interactions in Feed

Social interaction is essential between human beings as it is a way of building bonds and relationships. Communication is the medium of interaction. Before the modern era, individuals only communicate face to face, but ever since the development of technology, people tend to prefer social media as a form of communication. Feed highlights how technology can block the social interactions of individuals and how it affects them.

In Feed, we see that in a dystopian world, people have ‘feeds’ in their brains that allow them to get access to chats and the internet in a blink of an eye. It is shown that there are less authority in this world and that there are almost no barriers between a teenager and a parent based on the way Titus communicated with his dad. His dad used words such as, “Dude” and ” Shit”, in which nowadays, we rarely hear a parent cuss in front of their children. It made them seem like friends rather than father and son. His dad also relied heavily on the m-chat, as he was talking to someone else through the feed and not fully engaging with the conversation he was having with Titus. In this context, it seems like the feed was acting as a barrier between the interactions between Titus and his dad. Because of the common use of technology in the modern world, many people are unable to engage in a face to face conversation, because they rely too much on technology.

There are many factors that lead to individuals’ social interactions. Ever since Titus started dating Violet, we can tell that he has changed. He had become more observant and self aware of himself, his friends and the feed. He and Violet’s relationship is based on love and affection, which leads to a mutual understanding and care for each others. This way, they can communicate better because of the way they feel towards one another. But the others don’t feel that way about Violet. Violet is ‘unique’, because she does not rely on the feed as much as the others and also because she had a wide vocabulary. Because she is different, Loga and Calista make fun of her. The background of one person also affects interaction between people. Violet’s unfamiliar background disconnects her from the rest of the group, but Titus thinks differently, which is why he was able to get close to Violet and form a relationship with her.

 

Intro to Exploring Interactions

Like Discovery, this module is very broad. At first, I didn’t get what I was supposed to do when I was asked to analyse the two texts in class. Looking at the graphical representation, I understand that attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and identities shape an individual’s way of interacting with others. I understand that ways of interacting can be challenging or open based on different contexts. What I didn’t really understand was how to put this into words while analysing. I really hope to understand this better as I practice analysing images and texts, or else I would be behind. I expect to discover how a person’s social contexts are able to act as an invitation or a barrier to interaction with others, how they can change your behaviour and how other people and the media are able to influence one’s way of interacting.

I believe that the Super Bowl ad was better in representing the ideas presented in the syllabus, because not only it reveals the interaction between son and father but also the features of the car. In Super bowl, the dad doesn’t want to have the ‘sex talk’ with his kid, while the kid just wants a straight answer. The kid has two different contexts – from his peers and from his family. In this ad, we learn that a person’s social context can vary – it can be open (peers’ context) or closed off (family context). At the same time, the ad also displays the features of the car, such as voice-activation, as the father said, “Play ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ to cut off interaction with the kid.

One of the questions I wrote was along the lines of ‘How does social context shape or challenge interaction with one individual to another?’ In the Super Bowl ad, from the kid’s point of view, he has two social contexts on the topic of where babies came from – the information from his peers and the information from his dad. His peers, of course, are probably more open to ‘sex talk’ and talking about it with them would be less awkward than talking about it with his dad. His dad too, was aware of this awkward situation, and to avoid it, he made up a story of ‘babytopia’, and by not telling the truth, he was in a way, cutting off interaction with his kid. At the end, he even commanded the car to play ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ to avoid the awkwardness and at the same time, to further cut off the interaction between he and his kid.

 

Reflection: Mid Yearlies

In my opinion, the most difficult part of the mid-year exam was the time-limit that was barely enough for me to complete my paper. At the start of the exam, as I read all the questions, I sighed in relief when I saw that the prompt wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. ‘It’s fine, I got this.’ I repeated in my head, in attempt to convince myself. I felt myself growing more confident by the second, but once reading time was over, I grabbed my pen frantically as I started to write. But then I stopped. ‘What was I gonna write again?’ I asked myself, panic growing in my chest. ‘What am I doing?’ ‘I can’t think. What was that quote again?’ This always happens every time I am doing an assessment – my heart starts racing, my palms start sweating, my hand shaking – I can’t help it. Fortunately, I snapped out of my trance and started to answer the first question. I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that it was the pressure that made me act this way – the clock ticking, the turning of pages, the silent room. I struggled to find words to start and end my sentences. ‘There isn’t enough time, I’m not going to finish this.’ A little voice in my head said. ‘The others are probably done with this section.’ The thought of being left behind and the only one with an uncompleted paper made me uncomfortable. But I think that was what kept me writing furiously – the thought of not completing something and getting a terrible grade for not trying. I just wanted to get it over with, time limit or not. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the pressure was still on and that the clock was ticking. I’m glad it’s over.

The fact that I only had one somewhat broad related text could act as a disadvantage in the exam since it might not fit the prompt, but I took my chances and thankfully, the prompt wasn’t unpleasant. The day of the exam I realized I should have at least done some practice on past papers so I would get used to the format, the time I would take for each section and the prompts given. I immediately panicked, and asked myself why I didn’t. The answer? Procrastination. This, too, always happens right before the exam. Days before I would somehow convince myself that I was ready, then the day of the exam, I’d convince myself that I wasn’t. Then I tell myself ‘Next time, actually try hard.’ It’s an continuous cycle. But I actually did prepare for the exam – I memorized quotes from different scenes to fit different contexts so that I would have supporting evidence, and I also had the chance to write a practice essay on the types of discoveries made in Go Back. This, I think, helped quite a bit because it acted as a ‘warm up’ before the exam.

I know trial exams are hard, and I know they require more effort, which is why I’m going to actually try harder by doing past papers, finding more than one related texts and not procrastinating. Sometimes I place some snacks – like chocolate, in front of me to reward myself after I’ve successfully memorized something. But most of the time, I end up finishing the snack before I’ve done any work, so I don’t think this is a very suitable method. I would probably try to time myself while doing past papers, so that I would learn to be calm while doing it in the trials and not panic. Hopefully, I’ll be able to not be lazy and get work done.

Go Back: A Significant Discovery

In Go Back To Where You Came From, the responders discover along with the participants on the continuous journey. In the first episode of the season, I was led to have a negative perception of the refugees because of the opinions of the participants. For example, when Adam said, “We’re spending billions… on these criminals.” I started to ponder whether or not that amount of money were really worth spending on the refugees. Another example would be when Raye said, “When the boat crashed on Christmas island… I thought, serve you bastards right.” I was quite taken back by her words, but it also made me think – maybe these refugees were actually the ‘bad guys’. Why would anyone hate the refugees so much if they weren’t?  I soon realised that my opinion on refugees were greatly influenced by the participants’ and others’ opinions because I myself, didn’t know much about refugees until I watched the series.

I’ve discovered that it is not possible for someone to fully understand the whole refugee experience until they’ve gone through it themselves. I’ve discovered that as I embarked on the journey along with the participants in Go Back, refugees are so misjudged based on false conceptions. From the start, I knew that refugees lived in bad conditions, but it was worse than I thought. Everyday, they face difficulties, they struggle to survive. The reason they come by boat and other transportations illegally was only because they have very less to no choice in every matter. They have to take a risk, because there was a shimmer of hope that if they took the risk, they’d survive another day. I’ve made discoveries mostly based on the stories conveyed by the refugees. For example, when Maisara opened up to Raye and Raquel and the Masudi house, she told them of how her family were struggling, how her sisters were raped at very young ages and how her baby died because she didn’t have enough money to take care of it. Her statements have caused Raye and Raquel to reach out to her. Raye even shed some tears in the process, and later said that it was unfair for the refugees. The background music and the playing of camera angles also extend the invitation to discover because the music sets up the situation and triggers the responders’ sympathy. The camera angles make it seem like the responders are in the conversation, as the camera shifts from one person to another, occasionally getting close up shots of faces. And of course, after watching all four episodes of Go Back, I have discovered that no one should ever have prejudice against refugees when they don’t actually know what those refugees face every day and the fear they have to live with.

 

Response: Go Back… Episode 1

If I was asked ‘What have you discovered in episode 1 of Go Back?’, the first thing that popped into my mind would be the experiences Maisara faced as a refugee. I discovered about her past through her words, as she told Raquel and Raye about the things she and her family experienced. I felt a pang of sympathy immediately, especially when Maisara looked away, her head in her head, silently tearing up. I came to realise how strong this woman was. It was clear that she was still affected by her past greatly, but the way she talked about it showed how accustomed she was to it because she knew there was no use in dwelling. There was nothing she could do to change anything. I believe this scene impacted me the most. It wasn’t only her words and the reactions of Raye and Raquel that made a large impact, but it was also the gloomy background music that triggered my empathy towards her.

Another thing that had a big impact on the engagement between the audience and the participants were the camera angles moving from one person to another, particularly the angles taken of Roderick and Bahati, while they were talking about the Bahati’s past experiences. The cameraman switched between a close up, then a wide shot of both of them to highlight the contrast between two different people while focusing on their emotions. With the camera moving back and forth between the two of them, it allows the audience to be more engaged in their conversation, almost as if we were experiencing it first hand. In this scene, Roderick asked if Bahati was comfortable talking about what they did to him. Bahati replied with a no, and it is immediately shown that the things he had gone through were so terrible that he was still traumatised emotionally up to this very day.

The first step of the journey impacted the participants in emotionally different ways. For example, the impact on Raquel after meeting with the Masudi family was limited, as she said “ I guess this family is nice but that doesn’t mean that every other African or refugee is gonna be as nice as this family…” whereas Raye had developed some empathy and was starting to understand the refugees, as she said, “I needed a lot of answers… They are the true refugees. They are the ones we should be supporting…” I learned, along with the participants, of the experiences that the refugees had to endure through them directly telling us about their experiences.

On the second phase of the journey, the participants are genuinely angry and afraid when they learned that they would be going on a ‘refugee’ boat. I was too, as I tried to put myself in their shoes. I would be shocked, upset and most definitely scared. The nature of the experiment was having a desired effect. I believe that the first episode of Go Back was intended to impact the participants and the audience emotionally rather than physically – as the experience was going to be in reverse. So far, I’ve learned that no one could actually understand anything unless they’ve gone through it themselves. That’s how a true and actual discovery is made.

 

So how can we discover through the text? That is the question I believe would fit this episode, because mostly, we listen to the stories told by the refugees about their experiences, and in result this caused us to not only be emotionally impacted but also have a better knowledge of the terrible things they have been through. For example, as Raquel and Raye absorb Maisara’s story, we do too. In the first episode of Go Back, we discover what kind of things the refugees have gone through based on their own words. We, the responders discover along with the participants as the stories were told. Our engagement with the text was also made by the sad, sorrowful background music that brings out the empathy we have for the refugees.

Different Perspectives on Refugees

Perspectives on viewing refugees can differ based on influents of others or cultural differences. People react in prejudice and fear of the things they don’t know about, including the experiences the refugees have been through. Fear can stand in new friendships. In class, we’ve talked about refugees in two main perspectives – God’s and various countries and how they are different.

In the Bible, refugees are better known as ‘foreigners.’ It clearly states that God wants us all to treat everyone the same. In the Old Testament, it repeatedly tells us: “do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Even though God wants us every human in the world to be treated equally, some people just refuses to acknowledge and accept the fact that refugees are harmless and approachable because of their prejudice. In result of this selfish behaviour, in one of the verses, God gets angry when the humans didn’t listen to His word. Christians should follow the word of God and follow in His footsteps, but our human nature prevents us from doing so. Humans are too caught up with judgements and a closed off mind that they cannot see refugees in a different way. The issue of refugees/foreigners is important in the Bible, because there are multiple verses about it scattered around different verses.

Refugees are being treated similarly and face similar obstacles in many parts of the world, including Europe, Canada and Australia. While playing as a refugee on the journey to escape war and famine on theguardian.com and playagainstallodds.ca, I felt many corresponding emotions – frustration, annoyance, impatience, defeat. From the start of both games, I, playing as a refugee, was in a sticky situation. I had always little to no choice in any matter. There were always two or three choices provided for me, but they weren’t all that favorable. Usually, I had to choose between staying behind in a country and be content or to risk many things to get to a better place. Of course, while doing so, I needed to take money and other people into account, because if I chose the wrong option, I might find myself in a horrible situation with no way out. In one of the games, I had two little kids whom I have to take good care of, which meant I had to take their safety and needs into account as well. In the games, I felt so restricted – given limited options, giving up many things including my right to vote, speak or write in my own language. I, as a refugee, was forced to agree to things I didn’t agree on. I had to lie so I could be safe. I had no right, no position to bargain, no choice but to sacrifice other people for the sake of me and my family’s safety. After getting past the border to a new country, I had a chance at a new life in a new place with new people speaking new languages. It was hard to fit in a completely different environment, but all I could do was try. After all, I had no other choice but to endure. As I went to the mall, many angry people here and there judged me, saying things like “How can they afford to buy so much… They are too lazy to work.” and “If you turn your face for a second, those foreign guys will steal half the shop”. They talked about me as if I were an unappreciative person, or a criminal even. The police stopped me just to check the contents of my bag, as if they were expecting me to have stolen something. I have never felt so mistrusted and alone. Thankfully, there was at least one person who defended me by replying, “No it’s not like that at all. But we watch the ones who steal. Just like we watch our people who setal. There’s no difference.” I was glad to hear that person say “no difference”, because it implied that we were all one and the same – humans. We make mistakes, we cry, we feel happy, we smile. So why did refugees have to be treated so badly? But despite all those judgements, refugees are strong.Refugees are strong because they don’t give up their hope and faith.

 I felt content with my new life. I finally had freedom. I had successfully escaped and I was safe and sound. But again, it made me wonder how hard refugees have it for them out there. I had a restart button but it all felt so intense, so scary. It struck me that refugees out there are making those limited choices with their lives on the line. They don’t have a restart button. They don’t have a second chance.

These activities give me an insight of what “Go back to where you came from” will be about, and that is the lives of refugees in Australia and the experiences they face. I’m sure that when I watch “Go back…” I’ll feel the emotions I felt today all over again. My thoughts on refugees have been affirmed by the games and in-class discussions. Refugees are misjudged and treated harshly. They are people who are vulnerable, weak, powerless, have limited choices in all matters and have to cope up with the situations they are in, no matter how bad it is. It is really heartbreaking to picture the people who have to fight and struggle to survive every day, while we, in this country have it so much better. It’s hard to even picture yourself in their shoes, to picture what obstacles you will face day after day, and not knowing when the struggle is going to end. This is why we should have an open heart and open mind, and with that, learn to accept everyone, not based on who they are labeled as, but based on the fact that they are human, just like us. We should put aside and stop the negative judgements and unfair treatments refugees receive and start to love them in the way we would love ourselves. It is what God wants and it is what all humans deserve – peace, love and kindness.

 

My Discovery

When I was 12, I went through a rough time. It made such a big impact that I can still remember all the details like it was just yesterday. Was it something I want to keep remembering? Yes and no.

I went to school one day, just like any other day and walked down the halls up to my locker. To my surprise, a group of kids were scattered around it. That was odd, I thought. They weren’t just any group of kids; they were the popular kids, the kids people would fawn over either because of their looks, their wealth or both. One of the girls in the group, Jade, with a fake smile plastered on her face, suddenly came up to me and insisted I sit with them at lunch, and every other lunch for the rest of the semester. I, of course, nodded my head a little too vigorously and smiled a little too big. I agreed. That lunch time, I could tell that I wasn’t fully welcome. I felt so uninvited, but I kept telling myself that I was just nervous and shook it off.

The next day, everyone was sharing a few snacks. Another girl, Rain, had a pack full of cookies that she was giving out to everyone. I was about to ask her for one when she pulled her hand back sharply and gave me a cold glare. “Don’t even bother asking, you’re not getting any,” she said. I was a bit taken back by this but I managed to choke out a small “okay”. Maybe it would take a while for her to be comfortable around me. Things will change, I kept telling myself.

A month and a half later, I’ve started to question myself. Was I hanging out with the wrong people? Part of me told me I was, but the other part convinced me that I wasn’t, and that this was all in the process of being accepted. I wish I knew how wrong I was. That day at lunch, I felt everyone’s stare on me, and I knew something bad was coming my way. I looked down and tried to avoid eye contact. I felt my heart beating faster. “Take off your glasses. It’s horrid and it makes you look ugly.” There it was. The words. “If we’re making comments, you should lose weight too.” Someone chimed in. Laughter followed. I kept staring at the ground, and at my lunch beside me. “I like my glasses.” I finally replied after what seemed like forever. I wish I hadn’t said anything. “If you’re not going to listen, why are you even here?” I took off my glasses immediately, gulped and blinked rapidly, trying not to cry or do anything embarrassing in front of my friends. Friends. Were we even friends? That wasn’t the first time I was attacked with words. That wasn’t the first time they made me feel insecure. That wasn’t what friends do, was it?

The next few days made me question the situation even further – Who was I to them? Was I just some tagalong? Someone who does things for them? Why do I still bear them? Why do I listen to everything they say?  Unfortunately, those were all questions I didn’t have the answers to. I sat with them again that lunch time, and I remember my body tensing as we all exchanged eye contact. I was not wearing glasses at the time, but I didn’t feel more confident with them, I didn’t feel less ugly. I just couldn’t see clearly. Then, my clumsiness took over. As I reached out to grab my bag, my hand hit Jade’s iced tea and the bottle toppled over, spilling its contents everywhere. Someone squealed. “Oh my gosh. Why can’t you do anything right? Gosh, you’re the stupidest person I’ve ever met. Ugh! You’re so useless.” I opened my mouth to apologise, then stopped myself. No. I wasn’t going to. That was the last straw. I’m not useless, I wanted to scream. How could anyone say that about another person? I remembering gritting my teeth and balling my hands into fists. I felt a rush of emotions all at once – anger, betrayal, sadness, disappointment. I remembering my eyes stinging and my vision blurring. That was when I discovered how willing I was to be treated that way for so long, all to be accepted in a group of popular kids. And right there and then, I knew it wasn’t worth it. So I stood up, stuttered as I defended myself, cursed at them and walked away. But there was something in me that made me want to take back all my words. It made me feel guilty, like I had done something wrong when in fact, I haven’t.

I’m not proud of what I felt back then, but It was because of them I started to dress up nicer, gave a little more thought on how I looked and it was because of them I got rid of my ‘horrid’ glasses and used contacts, and it was because of them that I made a change.Even though this experience was not something good nor pleasant, it definitely made a huge impact on my life, up to this day. Do I wish I discovered myself in a different way? Yes. But do I regret having this experience? No. It has shaped me to be who I am and it made me discover many things about myself that I wouldn’t want to forget.

Discovery can have both positive and negative connotations. For some people, it might be be frightening and terrifying, but for others, it might be exciting and something to look forward to. I think it conjures up the images of adventure and a thrilling experience. For me it was both. I felt a rush of excitement as I stood up for myself, but I also felt a pool of guilt forming in my stomach the moment I did it. I was shaking, I was terrified of what they would do to me, and I was terrified that my life would end if they didn’t like me. But I was wrong. I know that now. Discovery is a process, I believe, whether it is expected or unexpected. It is a process that contains three main stages: the trigger, which in my case were the verbal insults, the experimental process where I started to have second thoughts and tried to look at the bigger picture, and the resulting consequences, where I discovered and realised that where I was and who I was was not something I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I didn’t like being treated like dirt, and I have the right to be myself, no matter what a few people might say about it. The rubric states that there are five main types of discovery – physical, emotional, spiritual, creative and intellectual. In my case, I think it was mostly emotional. I would be lying if I said I wished I didn’t go through that experience, because honestly, I’m grateful. Even though it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, I’m glad that I’ve discovered things about myself through that, things I didn’t realise before. I lost myself for a while when I was with those people, but because of them, I’ve rediscovered myself, I could see myself in a different perspective. If anything like this ever happens again, I could think back to this experience and avoid the same mistake. Because I’m not a tagalong, nor someone just there. We, as people, matter, and should not tolerate to be treated in a way we don’t deserve to be treated.