Ruby's Online Journal

Define Each of these terms: Book- Wild pork and watercress

This is slang for proper words in New Zealand, a certain style of speech to do with generations, location and culture.

1. ‘Skinny old bag of bones’ My definition for this is someone being described as skinny, because this person is stated as old, maybe they don’t eat enough. What they look like to the outside eye is a ‘skinny old bag of bones.’ There is no meat (muscle) on their body. To some, this could look scary, but this short sentence is a good way to describe Uncle Hector in the novel.
2. ‘Got uncle Hec’s Back up’
3. ‘Stop for a breather’
4. ‘Let’s have a brew up’

Planning:

What would make a successful speech: The flow, strucutre of it when you’re presenting, the facts you talk about (If they are true or not) body language and voice control, presentation. 

Pathos, this is an appeal to emotion, when you are presenting your speech it brings emotion to the audience, and with what you are saying. 

Use of strong emotions: Love, Hate, Pity, Fear. Negative emotions are much easier to work with because it is way eaiser to feel these emotions. These are more common. Pathos can be a very extreem way to make your audience feel. If you can appeal to the audiences  emotions with backing this up by using some sort of authority or way, then you will get a bigger reaction and effect given from the audience. 

Speech structure:

The hook: All about creating an imediate impact with the audience, the first way you connect your audience with yourself, and your speech. The hook in your speech is only the first thing that is said. Different examples for the hook: Anecdote- This is a short, usually humerous or interesting thing about a real incedent or person. This has to be funny.  Controversial statement- This is a statement that is designed to elicit a strong and emotional response from your audience. It is controversial Audience conversation-This is about using conversational language, this encourages the audience to join in on your speech, using slang, using ways to make your audience feel as if they are included in your speech. , Audience command- This is about instructing your audience to do something, this makes the audience activley listen, participate in your speech. It makes your audience feel more engaged. Qoutation- Starting your speech off with a quote can add authority straight away. This will help your audience to believe that you are well informed with this topic. Retorical question- This is the type of question you start your speech off with that does not need an answer, it will highlight theme and make them think about the first thing you said and to think about your speech topic more. 

Introduction: After you have first prepeared your listeners/audience knowing to what you are going to dicuss, then you introduce them to the outline of your speech. Delivering the information, all of the W words as a base to build up your overview who, what, when, where, why and how, Back these up with a statement, facts, things that you know is true, and argue/convince your points of these to your audience. 

Is Killing justifiable?

Am I a killer? This was a question I sat and asked myself on repeat for several weeks. Will I regret it? That on going game played inside my head, deciding if what I did was right or wrong. Is killing Justifiable?!

Today I will be discussing the topic of abortion and weather it is justified as killing a human or not, I will be comparing my personal experiences with the film study “Fargo” and a character who decided to have her baby in it. I will be talking about the reasons why I think abortion should be justified, and why others think that it shouldn’t. Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to disclose the fact that the topic of death and abortion is very serious and has an affect on people all around us. I have taken this fact into consideration, and I feel that it is a topic people need to feel ok to talk about.

So, What is abortion? An abortion or termination is when a woman decides to have a medical procedure to end a pregnancy. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the law states that it is legal to have an abortion if two certifying doctors agree that continuing the pregnancy would result in serious danger to a womans mental or physical health. There are two different methods of abortion in New Zealand, one of which is the surgical abortion, for this the woman gets put to sleep under a local anesthetic and the fetus is removed by a small vacuum suction. The second procedure is when a woman takes two pills and the fetus is removed through a heavy bleeding, This pill is called the (EMA) and woman are only eligible if they are under 9 weeks pregnant.

Why Am I for abortion? Personally, this is a hard topic to talk about. At the age of 16 I got pregnant, in my circumstance, There are no words to begin to explain how hard the decision is between having a baby or not. For 9 weeks I was contemplating to give this world another gift of life or not. With my struggles on going at home and school I was covered under a dark grey cloud of distress and discomfort. Summer 2018, girls in bikinis, temperature at mid 20s and I was left with the constant anxiety that I fell pregnant.

Personally, I am not ashamed that I got an abortion as there were various things that would have been affected in a drastic way if I chose to have the baby. I do not see an abortion or termination as killing or a bad thing, I see it as an option to help with whatever the certain woman is struggling with in their life already. As I have talked about my personal experience within this speech I would like it if all listeners respect the fact that I talk about my story with courage and ask if everyone would keep what they have heard today to themselves.

The definition of killing is an act of causing ones death, especially when it is done deliberately. An abortion is a soon to be formed human, so the baby (in my belief) is not able to yet breath or live without the insides of its mother, therefore I strongly believe that an abortion is not justified as a killing. The woman will be choosing a life or death for what is growing inside her, however there has been various different opinions on this topic.  The majority of people who are against abortion have either religious beliefs or want to give more human life to this world. 

Another important concern relating to abortion is that we are all slowly killing off our environment and earth anyway, so to add to this sad subject, it seems to me as being wrong. The more people who join this world, then the faster we all die. Yes, humans were put on this earth to reproduce but if that is what half of our population is doing then we are adding to the sad circle of our society.  Having an abortion should not be classified as a killing. And here is why….

During this speech so far, you have learnt about my personal experience, what my opinion is, and what an abortion is. Now I am going to relate my speech topic “is killing justifiable” to woman around the world getting abortions and how it can be seen as killing a person. As stated before an abortion, or termination is the feticide of an unborn and early growing child, woman get abortions when it is dangerous for them to carry on the pregnancy in anyway. Is killing justifiable? in some cases, yes it is. A termination can be justified as it is now legal and a healthy way of helping someone in need. Nobody wants to live a hard driven life.

An abortion is a justified killing as it is guiding a woman in the right direction for their life. Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but the main reason why I believe an abortion should be justified is because children are hard work, I am hard work. With our teenage brains shutting down temporarily, it would be unfair to tell a woman that they need to continue their pregnancy. The child hasn’t had a breath of air, and is not living in our world. In some cases currently, I ask. Why would they want to? The people that are in belief that abortions are bad and that they shouldn’t be legal all have their own reasons, such as: Femanisim, religious beliefs, “babies should get a say” and so on. Their opinions are not wrong, and we need to respect the fact that maybe an abortion won’t always be justified.

In our classes film study this year we worked on the film called “Fargo”, this film is a thriller/comedy that is based in Calgary Alberta. During this film there are multiple murders along with a head detective who is heavily pregnant. I wanted to address this situation as my topic is on abortion, the character “Marge” has decided to have her child. There are numerous reasons why she would of decided to have her baby, 1. she is in a solid relationship with her partner, they both have exceptional jobs and see to be in their late 20s to early 30s. As a character “Marge” comes across as being a very caring person and she suggests that she has a good head on her shoulders. 2. As a couple they also show a lot of love toward each other, which when having a baby people should consider that it affects children when their parents have had past issues or, only one parent.

I can relate the topic of abortion to Marge as a character, because every woman that faces pregnancy now days, gets the choice between having an abortion and keeping the baby.  In Marges case, her relationship and income was good, and she seemed ready to be a parent. Where as, in other situations such as mine, I was not ready at 16, and It would of been very difficult for me to bring up a child alone. I should not be thought of as any less of a person that I have become today because of this, as I have stated multiple times during this speech that I think an abortion can be considered as a justified killing. 

Am I a killer? This is now a thought I can leave you all with today, as an abortion has played a huge part in my life, and is also (by some people) justified as a killing. Do I regret it? The decision to have abortions is among many woman around the world, I am pro choice, Not everyone is like that and in todays society we should all learn to respect peoples differences and opinions. Is killing justifiable? Killing an unborn featus can be justified a lot easier than actually murdering another person. However there are a lot of diverse opinions on this matter. So to close this speech, I would like to leave you all with a question. Male or female, if you were pregnant under any circumstance would you consider an abortion as a killing or not? Thankyou!

Creative Writing start:

It was a raw frosted winter night, cold, dark and wet up by the small housing estate of meadow stone. No cars on the near by highway, a still, restraining place. The tall lifeless trees caved around the building, like the way his body lay on the dusty timbered floors inside.

Listen, countless Gusty drafts whistled through the smashed windows ricocheting back like a boomerang. Crunching steps were faintly heard making their way toward the rotting, aged building, and the several juvenile children. Crying magpies crowd from their perched crest, this was throughout the gloomy night that created a paranoid atmosphere over the shadowed frosty paddock.

Early morning. 5:00am, checking at their radiant phones, glancing behind them as the snowy tips of the mountain were suddenly filled with a fiery red conceal. No unnatural lights were on, and a murky low fog slowly inched its way beneath their feet, spreading like a blanket around the edges of the building. Blood was as fast and as wet as a river. Running out of his body and through the holes in the floor, seeping onto the ground outside, aside the youth association. The glowing reflection allowed them to witness the laying lifeless soul.

Smell, Awful faint stenches began to fill the nostrils of the party with his dying oder, consciously comprehending the fact that they were fixed only five metres away from the bitter, hurt, pierced body. It was laying beside the rusted carving knife found inside the draws of the situated building. That fresh aroma loaded into their senses like it was another ordinary winters morning, comparable to arising on a commonly known “day up the mountain.” Almost collapsing against the aged walls of the chaffed house, demanding for just one breath of air. All gaining their balance. They watched mutely as flashes of white shone on the black, thin puffer jackets of the familiar, mischievous association. Freezing in place. They felt as if their insides were being everted, moving around and around like washing machines. Expressions move on their cold hearted faces as they howled like wolfs to a rising frost bitten morning. That area presented itself like it had stood still, inhaling in the aged scent. Crimson blood had alternated to maroon stains, so obvious, so clear, thirsty to the eyes of those juvenile fixed in place. Beside his carcass.

Eventually, you will approach the rough looking party. The damaged house, with a nervous look in your eyes.Your closed Nike sneakers will touch the frozen raw paddock and the only noise you will hear will be a constant thumping of your own heartbeat. Adrenaline hits. Vulnerable teens band around your defenceless body. Lurking over in- the dawn, twilight, shadowing over the frosty paddock. It was your turn to now witness the unthinkable. You were put into the same shoes as those broken children. The children who were trying to run from all that they have ever feared and lost. Causing themselves more dilemmas by attempting to feel better. You scan the lifeless body. The Dark turned blood stains, And the expressions on each individual. This was never a situation you wanted to be placed into, no choice but to run through the paddocks on that winters morning. Away from the dead body. Away from Those broken children and their horrifying antics. Heartbeat as fast as the speed of light. Streaked light followed your footsteps surrounded by bleached jack frosted grass, and an abandoned house carrying the soul of a lonely, dead boy. Your breath echoed into the next misty morning, you sat. Wet, panicked, deserted, In the grass roots awaiting continued on from that horrifying area with. A witnessed murder scene. 

It was different then.

As the yellow tinted light touched the tips of the grass when walking through, there was something magical about it. It’s as if I was one with nature, back then, I was young and vulnerable to its ways, my mind had made me see creatures that were of the unthinkable.

Nobody knew this, but I had a secret, a secret of which was only in my imagination. Every time I entered those flush green woods there would be a painted image of peculiar things. The elves danced up in their tree houses with a mystical waterfall thundering beneath their feet, as my friend (the gatekeeper) to this land Cupid was always awaiting my presence. We had become royals and would play all day long, until finally it was time to leave. We danced with the sun and threw leaves in the air it felt as if we were unstoppable.

As night grew upon the hundreds of trees that made up the magical land, and the moon spread across the glittery lake we would sit and think about the future, the unknown. It was a happy place, a Magical Land young and naive, when I saw what I chose to see, The Magical Land was so simple.

As I walk back through the gates of the Magical Land  the yellow light within the grass has turned to dark shadows, which appear to have hidden secrets running through them. it feels altered, no elves, no Qupid, no creatures or lakes or waterfalls. All I see is plane green and brown trees , theres not a single colour it feels like depression. What does depression feel like? Nothing, going back to the Magical Land, I feel nothing my imagination is tired, like I haven’t slept in a whole month. I was no longer Young and vulnerable so The way I saw everything changed (especially my imagination).

The Magical Land feels cold and empty, theres too much room, its hard seeing The Magical land go from something so lively and simple to something so dark and sad. To me, The Magical Land used to feel like a safe place to go, a place to make me happy and content where as now all the Magic has left to fill another child’s imagination. It was my own Narnia, my own Eragon. 

The secrete of this Magical Land is to always be kept safe within my heart, It was different now. 

The effect stereotyping has on individuals. Everybody thinks that equality comes from identifying people, and thats not where quality comes from. Equality comes from treating everybody the same regardless of who they are. Living in a world where us as humans choose to believe what labels say about a certain person.

The song changes written and sung by Tupac Shakur, as an outsider of the ‘black’ perspective, most readers of this text (or listeners) would struggle to understand how the colour of your skin can effect your everyday life. The song changes explains deep emotion of the writer and what he believed life was like growing up in the world being a ‘black’ person. Throughout reading/listening to this text the reader will develop a sense of understanding towards how being black affected whatever they chose to do, good or bad. An example of this is a quote in this song where Tupac states that “I see no changes, all I see is racist faces misplaced hate makes disgrace to the races.” When Tupac wrote this line of his song, its as if he was making a statement, trying to get out to the world that nobody is doing anything to help the fact that every black person is bad, or poor or is in a gang, he wants to break the stereotypes and stop the war between white and black. As a reader, when I hear and read these song lyrics, it tells a story, a story of what I have not experienced, a story of whom black people struggle with everyday.

Another important quote to address in the song changes, is “Im tired of being poor, and even worse im black.” As a reader of this sentence Instantly It goes straight back to the ‘black’ stereotype, as soon as a black baby is born they go into a box, a box where they are instantly called horrible person for what SOME people of the same skin colour have chosen to do. A baby didn’t come out of its mothers womb saying “hey everybody im black”, he was taught to be black, and we were all taught to call him that, along with whatever else we call ourselves. They are just LABELS!” And by this statement it links in to what the message was behind Tupac’s song changes. Changes teaches the reader about how society has put certain skin colours in a stereotypical box, that we all look down on if we are not that skin colour, as Tupac stated, we need to see changes.

Freedom writers. (movie) Written by Richard LaGravenese shows that even if you are ‘black’ you can still achieve great things, you don’t need to keep the stereotypes going. You CAN and WILL do great things in your life.

This was shown to the viewers when teacher Erin Gruwell shows a massive interest in her students lives. Mostly black, growing up, in and around gang violence and a war of who owned the ‘streets’, nobody even knew how it started, it was always just there. An example of this is when This was shown to the viewers when teacher Erin Gruwell shows a massive interest in her students lives. (Mostly black), growing up, in and around gang violence and a war of who owned the ‘streets’, nobody even knew how it started, it was always just there. An example of this is when student Eva goes to visit her farther of whom has been locked up since she was a young girl, he quotes “You got to take your victories when you can, because you are going to loose another day.” In the movie, this was when Eva came to a realisation that she didn’t need to follow the previous stereotypes, and with help of her teacher Ms Gruwell coaching her that life wasn’t always about following what you’ve been taught to know. Erin taught her students that if they believe in themselves, then they will go far in life without giving up. Eva went against the stereotypes to prove a point, to break the cycle, This teaches the reader that you should always do what you have to do if it is the right thing to do no matter what happens.

Another good example to support this statement is when Erin states “that you shouldn’t let the actions of a few determine the way you feel about an entire group.” In this case, this statement structures a good understanding for ‘black’ and any other raced stereotyping. The movie Freedom Writers is much like Changes by Tupac Shakur because of the relation between the people in both texts. With Freedom writers it was/is that the students came together to break the cycle of stereotyping, and like Tupac did. They both made a change to the way they saw life, they didn’t let being ‘black’ effect the choices they made anymore, The effects stereotyping has on individuals can have an end result of good or bad. It takes something bad to happen to realise what the good is in it, and this is what us as readers need to take away from both of these texts, they teach us that stereotyping is never going to fully stop. But we can all develop skills to help us push through, like Erin Gruwell taught her students to not be a sheep, to be their own person and never let that go.

Same Love (song) written and sung by Macklemore, shows that no matter what or who you love, no matter what colour or culture they are you are allowed to love and love deeply, the world that we live in can not tell you that you can’t!

They way Macklemore chose to express his feelings on paper toward the ‘gay’ stereotype, really does have a huge impact on all the readers/listeners who heard it. Same Love, was the first rap song to be about ‘gay’ stereotypes. A quote from this song is when Macklemore states a question “Have you read the youtube comments lately?!, ‘Man thats gay’ gets dropped  on the daily we’ve become so numb to what we’re saying.” This quote relates back to the topic of stereotypes, and how they effect people who are classified under one of them. An example of this is within that quote, Macklemore mentions about the gay stereotype getting used in a different way, in an offensive manor and how society has gotten so used to saying it in that way, that we don’t think about how much it can effect the person that it is actually about. Stereotypes can kill! this is not an understatement, many people who can’t change who or what they are fall into the line of depression, which is a serious illness that will lead to suicide if not dealt with or fixed properly. 

Another important quote to address within this song, is when Macklemore quotes “A world so hateful, some would rather die than be who they are.” As a reader of this quote, this comes under the bar as being ‘strong emotive language’ if someone read this line it could easily be a reminder of their past, future or present, (something that is happening now) it shows to the audience how judgemental our world/society is, that we can’t let love, work or do something because of their culture or skin colour. One of the main reasons why the quotes Macklemore has used in his song Same Love has an effect on he individuals whom are under the gay ‘stereotype’ or not (in a good way) is because of how strong of a point he follows with, how Macklemore knows what is wrong, and how he wants people to know that they have to change they way they/we address every situation. This is how “Same Love” is like “Changes”, because Macklemore wants everyone to know that tey/we should see a huge change in the made up stereotypes and labels of todays society, they both connect together because of how both artists state that there needs to be something new, that our world needs to pick up its game and make sure everyone feels as if they belong, because nobody is different, and everybody has something to share with the rest of the world.  

We Real Cool. (poem) written by Gwendolyn Brooks We real cool, we left school, we lurk late, we strike straight, we sing sin, we thin gin, we jazz June, we die soon.

We Real cool is a poem about a teengage gang, the tone that is set for when reading this poem is defiance against all odds, its stubborness. This is a group of outsiders who would choose pool over school, they would rather drop out than do study, and late alcoholic nights on the streets. (these people are black) the first quote relating to this text is stereotypically- “Im a drop out, I hate science, maths, english, love p.e, music, dance and drama. I will probably never graduate, and if I do then I will be the first. I will always blame the governtment and everyone around me… but never myself because I am brown, and whenever someone trys to breach my comfort zone, or whenever I dont have anything else to say in defense in an argument, im just gonna say… You’re racist! That your words are a mockery to my skin tone.” This quote written by a 16 year old boy named Joshua Losefo, he was trying to prove to his audience that whatever the other stereotypes are in the world, we can’t always define them. This relates to this poem because the gang of teenagers want to define society, they feel as if the don’t belong because of their skin colour, because they don’t believe they have to work for what they want.

Another quotation which links to We Real Cool is “when you let an artifical label define yourself, then my friend you have chosen smallness over greatness, and minimized yourself.” This quote relates to We Real Cool because of the poem being about ‘black’ teenagers who are going against society because of the label this world has given them. Who would you be if the world never gave you a label? The teenagers in this poem represent an excellent example for this statement in this poem, this also links back to the overall statement ‘the effects stereotyping has on indivduals’ In this case, stereotypes had a bad effect on the teenagers that this poem was about. There is a connection with this text (which works oppositly) to “Changes” by Tupac because the teenagers did not want to change themselves for the better. Instead they brought out they stereotype that had once been created because of someone (like them) who had once done something bad. These teenagers didn’t feel a need to change they way they were because of how they were brought up in this world believing that because they are placed under a stereotype, or a label, then they are allowed to defy what was said.

Throughout the overall statement the effects stereotyping has on individuals, the four texts show us (as readers) that in this world, there are always going to be different stereotypes, and peoples opinions/generalisations but as the people in the majority of the texts above, but we are always able to get through it, and stop letting things that happened in the past effect their/our choices of what happens in our lives today. It shows the readers that if you want to see something change or if you want to do something you can do it, it helps us understand that the people under these specific stereotypes have been through a lot being able to explain their stories through a movie, writing a song or even a book. These people all have courage. These people are strong willed and know why they were put on this earth. This is what they have in common, this is why I have chosen to connect them together, they had something to say and it was published in the correct way, through fame. These people show us that its important to make the most of every memory because they didn’t know in their life when there was going to be another good or even bad one.

Finally don’t be defined by the ‘label’ you have been stereotypically placed under, we are all better than that, and it is an undeniable fact that where there is division there will be conflict, and conflict starts wars therefore, every war has started over the use of labels, its always US vs THEM so the answer to war, sexisim, racisim and every other ism is so simple that every politition has missed it. Its the labels.

Truth is, the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide. The texts above all have very powerful messages on the effects stereotyping has on individuals and how all these individuals have explained it in their own way that connects these stories together. It is power. And power teaches people a stronger message then words ever will.

Who would you be if the world never gave you a label?

By Ruby Armstrong