Lost Tongues Podcast

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B94uV1cqM09MOUJHV3Zpbjc5T1U/view?usp=sharing

What did medieval linguist Antonio de Nebrija mean when he told Queen Isabella that: “language is the perfect instrument of empire?” How has language contributed to colonial power? Focus on a specific example.



In my opinion what Antonio De Nebrija meant, in this example is that language is almost like a leash, which keeps all of (in this case) its colonies in check. Language has significantly contributed to colonial power in various manners, some more obvious than others. In order to best prove this, take the evidence of the British Empire.

Britain was considered to be the largest empire that ever existed, meaning that they left an everlasting mark on all their colonies. Language, according to me is the vehicle of communication. In order to communicate with their colonies, British forced around 89% of them to learn English. Now, colonies such as the Red Indians, the Indians themselves and even the Europeans have faced the backlash of this decision. Imagine this situation, you are trying to teach a class full of students who speak Mandarin, a science lesson in French. This just doesn't equate because, the students will have absolutely no idea what you are saying, meaning no orders will be followed, and penultimately there will be chaos. Enter Antonio de Nebrija, who perfectly summarizes the importance of a uniform language being equated with a successful empire. 

Moreover, if there isn't a uniform language the Britishers wouldn't be able to understand what the colonist populations were up to and had a risk of being usurped. Rewind back to your classroom, now imagine that the Chinese students start gossiping about how to find a substitute teacher to replace you, and you are none the wiser. This is exactly the same case.

Thus, in conclusion a language helps in empowering a colonial power significantly by allowing them to communicate efficiently with their subjects, whilst staying aware of the "devious" plans the people in the colonies might be up to.

YouTube Stars - Empowered or Exploited?

YouTube Blog Post

Do you believe that today's YouTube stars are being exploited or empowered? Write a short persuasive piece that shares your opinion.


In a world where virtual Facebook likes and Instagram followers make a a person rejoice and dictate "popularity", a world in which newspapers have become almost non existent -pushed aside by Facebook news feeds - and a world where 80% of the world's population has access to the internet : technology is key. A video sharing website called YouTube, has arisen to be one of the most popular choices for the youth of today where almost half a million YouTube videos are posted daily and 100 million people a day view a YouTube video. As like any industry in the world, there have been some people which have entertained the audience better than others - YouTube stars.


YouTube stars such as KSI, Pewdie Pie and Superwoman rake several million "subscribers" and each respectively have a net billion views to their names. Some would argue that due to the severely pessimistic society we live in today, the negative comments received by these YouTube stars, somehow exploit them and have a negative effect on them, but I am here to argue otherwise. YouTube stars are in fact empowered by the marvelous platform o and the video sharing website is a huge blessing for every single one of them. I say this because of three reasons : like minded fans,YouTube being an equalizer (may sound confusing now, but just hold on) and career possibilities.

Point numéro uno - like minded fans. For all my YouTube whiz's I'll just mention one name and I'll rest my case : "Tyler Oakley". (Stubborn YouTube haters continue reading) Tyler Oakley, is a homosexual gay individual who used to get bullied ten years back due to his sexuality, along comes YouTube and now you find the man has a fan following of 8 million subscribers and gets mobbed for autographs as soon as he walks into the mall! Magic? Nope, well sort off. At the mere age of 16 ( when Tyler was getting bullied) he decided to try out the mystical world of YouTube and started posting about his homosexuality and made humorous videos around it. Unlike his local high school, instead of receiving hate from the local goons , Tyler received massive support from like minded individuals which felt they had a real connection with him, often leaving positive comments. Thus, not only does YouTube provide viewers but it also provides people who can connect and support the Youtube stars.

Point numero dos - YouTube being an equalizer. In countries such as USA and India, with almost every second teen wanting to be the next Brad Pitt or Sharukh Khan, entry into overbanged entertainment industry is close to impossible. From personal stories and experience in India i can tell you that to even get an audition in India, you need to be the son/daughter of an actor/director or you need to know somebody that knows somebody and get in through personal/political influence. The average aspiring Indian has no place to showcase their talent and get a shot at the big leagues, however YouTube has a fix for that as well. YouTube, is accessible to the anybody and everybody meaning that every aspiring entertainer has a place to showcase their talent regardless of their wealth or status. (Hopefully the entertainer has access to Wifi). Thus, YouTube also serves to be an equaliser for your average income entertainer and creates a level playing ground, with no scope for any political or income influence being exercised since every YouTube account has the same prowess.

Point numéro très - Career possibilities. If, the average joe from the paragraph above, manages to make it big, his/her life may be on the verge of flipping 360 degrees. In order to give you an  example let introduce you to Jayjay Oblitumze aka KSI - to his 13 million YouTube subscribers. JJ's family started in a two bedroom shack in the suburbs of London, but after YouTube, JJ has bought a 6 bed mansion in London for himself and his family and even added a Lamborghini to his collection of cars. (His brother also a YouTube star recently purchased one). No, this isn't some fraud google ad, this is in fact the power of YouTube. After starting his channel,  Rule Em Sports decide to sign him as their brand ambassador, Redbull/Nike/FIFA and Xbox all hired him to promote their brands in his videos and most recently he walked the red carpet at the premiere of his new film. Oh and don't forget he makes money of YouTube every time you watch one of his videos. JJ managed to achieve his dream of being an entertainer and managed to switch his family's life around as well. However this is just the story of one actor, there are thousands of stories of sports stars, cooking whizzes and endless talented individuals who have been scouted through YouTube (Freestyle Brothers and even the "much loved" Justin Bieber). Thus not only does Youtube provide emotional empowerment it provide financial empowerment as well.


In conclusion, the several pros's of being a YouTube star such as the emotional and financial empowerment (who doesn't want a lambo) it provides certainly outweigh the cons. Couple this with the fact, it acts as an equalizer for your average Joe with big aspirations , the benefits of YouTube are tremendous for the people which make it big. Like everything else in life, there will always be anomalies like people who comment negatively on the stars videos but remember ...

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

(or just disable comments on the video)

Advertisement Reflection

Do you think that advertisers have a moral duty to avoid stereotyping people?

No, I don't think that advertisers have a moral duty to avoid stereotyping people because it defies the whole purpose of its own existence. Advertising, is said to be a method of persuasion, usually with the end goal of convincing a person to buy a good or a service; it is supposed to help companies, events and etc., be known to the people and the sole purpose is to sell their product. In this day and age, sometimes by inculcating stereotypes, that is how the product gets sold. Stereotypes are just another type of appeal to the consumers! A moral duty occurs in the instance of differentiating the right choice from the wrong one, however in this case advertising is what puts the food on the plate for many individuals that partake in it, since that is how their product will get known. From their point of view, stereotyping may be the correct way to approach creating the advert because it will reach out the "majority" of the target audience, thus maximizing revenue and if a few "minorities" are offended, that is of no matter since their end goal is to sell as much of the product as possible. Stereotypes help in doing this because it helps the target audience with something they are familiar with, for example in India the ads may showcase women as the house-makers with the inherent responsibility of taking care of the cooking and cleaning. This may seem very wrong to a western culture such as U.S, but they don't realize that in India 80% of the bread earners of families are males, so the advertisers are just doing their duty to capture and relate to as large of a target audience as they can. In an American Society, 50% of the bread earners of the families are Women, and since this is the case adverts over there seem to be more "liberal" and "modern". Thus, stereotyping is just the reflection of the society the advertisers are in, and is bound to receive some negative flak from the minorities.

Moreover, nowadays anything shown on T.V has some sort of negative connotation and as hard as it is to accept it, us millennia generation humans somehow manage to find some racism or some minority being exploited in each advertisement. Thus, meaning that whatever the advertisers do to avoid negative connotations is fruitless. Like the saying goes "You can't please everyone". For example, recently in India Pakistani actors and actresses were banned from acting in India. This meant all the ads they featured in had to be taken down. Some people in India, said that this move was fantastic and it serves the Pakistani's right for the constant trouble they cause at the border, whereas other argued it was unrighteous to ban the actors on behalf of the wrongdoings of a country. Like everything in life, people will always have their opinions so it is better for advertisers to do what is in their benefit, because whatever they do will unduly receive some sort of criticism.

Moreover, stereotypes can also be positive . For example, the fact that Asians are always stereotyped as being smart could mean a positive thing, Black People are associated with eating chicken, Indians are associated with becoming Engineers/Doctors and British people are associated with being sophisticated and liking tea. This proves that not all stereotyping is "negative" and in most cases even harmless.

In conclusion, going all the way to say that advertisers have a "moral" duty, is highly appalling and unrealistic in this day and age. The argument against young children, being influenced by the stereotypical ads they see is valid, however as mentioned not all stereotypes are derogatory. The advertisers have no real "moral" duty as they are trying to capture the greatest target audience they can, and instead the better sense of the humans should influence their thoughts.  Instead of giving corporates a sense of morality, instead we should combat stereotyping by the values that we humans have ourselves, The education and values we receive should give us the better sense that not all

Asians like noodles and Indians speak in a funny accent.

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What does the ad reveal about the cultural/ social/ or historical context of its production?

According to the ad, what values or characteristics are the most important?

Who is empowered in this commercial? Who is ignored or marginalized? For what reason?

The Lucky Strike Cigarette advertisement that we analysed in class reveals significant amounts about the historical and social context of its production. Firstly, it is possible to deduce that the advertisement was published in the 1940-50's. Evidence, to suggest this is present on the bottom right of the advertisement, where the sign says "Buy Lucky Strike, Buy U.S Government Bonds!". Usually, the government encourages its citizens to buy bonds during the time of wars so that they can receive additional funding for it. This evidence, combined with the fact that the advertisement is an animated cartoon style, further prods towards the mid 1900's era because camera photo technology hadn't developed or become very popular in that era. The fact that the era is the 1950's, causes for several different social issues being addressed in the advert itself. For example, by the 1950's women had earned the right to vote and during the war the government had done several women empowerment advertising campaigns such as "Rosie the Riveter", aimed at encouraging women to break stereotypes and help out with the war.  Thus, it was at this time women had started partaking in jobs which were previously only "meant" for men. This is reflected in the advertisement when a young man is seen offering a lady a cigarette.  The fact that both the man and lady are smoking "Lucky Strike" cigarettes put them in a position of equality, thus empowering women. In addition to this, the ad takes place on the beach in which, the lady in the advertisement seems to be wearing quite skimpy clothes. This, could also portray that the American society back then was not very conservative and indeed quite liberal. The advertisement also reveals that marine guards at that time, were associated with smoking. Evidence to support this is seen, when a marine guard is seen pointing at the Lucky Strike symbol, with a cigarette in his mouth. Nowadays, it is seen as disgraceful when a marine decides to engage in such an activity as it shows he/she is unfocused and impulsive judgments on the Marine's "crude" personality are made. However, if this sort of behavior was viewed as the standard back at the time of this ad, the society must have been more liberal to such activities, when partaken by a military official

According to the ad, the value of smoking cigarettes is seen as almost a healthy hobby. Evidence of this is the text in the advert which says "Be Happy - Go Lucky". The ad, is portraying the act of smoking cigarettes is something which makes a person happy. This is highly typical of the mid 1900's, where scientific research hadn't yet been conducted to find the harmful effects of smoking on the human body. The values of society at this clearly seem to be centered around having a great time and being in a relaxed mood.

Pitch Reflection Blog Post

Kyuweon, Hassan and I were handed the role of making a pitch for New York University. The pitch, was delivered to the great CEO shark Mr.Micheal.

The audience for our advert was global teens aged 16-19 and the Parents of these teens. The purpose of our advert was to portray New York University in the best light possible, thus attracting lots of students to the university.

In order to best reflect over my pitch I will answer these questions :-

 

If you were to complete this presentation again, what would you do differently in terms of content and preparation?

1. What main appeals did you use in your pitch? Why did you decide they would be the most effective?

The main appeals, used in our pitch was the appeal to adventure, bandwagon appeal and humor appeal. We decided to use the adventure appeal, because we thought that a university is a place where people go to enjoy, while gathering information as well. A university serves to deliver more than education and is said to provide invaluable life experiences. Thus, would you want to go to a university where everything is based of bookish knowledge? I hope No, would be your answer! Thus, our group wants to portray NYU as the most exciting campus of all time. We wanted the learning at NYU to appear like a thrilling adventure, one which students would want to embark upon. Next, we used the bandwagon appeal, by deciding to cast Adam Sandler in our advert.  Adam Sandler is an alumni of NYU and a very well known actor, so we knew we couldn't let this opportunity slip and decided to cast him. This decision was made for two major reasons. Firstly, Adam Sandler is very successful - a delicate mix of Ethos and Pathos. There is Ethos, because Adam Sandler is a credible walking, living example of how great NYU is and there is a bit of Pathos, because people will associate NYU with being a machine which spurns successful celebrities and if they don't go to NYU, they won't be successful.  The Need for Attention is touched here, because the audience would all want to be the next Adam Sandler. The next reason, why Adam Sandler was chosen, is the humor appeal. Adam Sandler, is probably Hollywood's best known comedian, and he is associated with having a good laugh and a great time. Having him, give a tour around NYU in his jovial mood is ideal, because it portrays NYU as the "fun" place to be, whilst giving it a feel good touch.

What were some specific persuasive techniques you used (include examples) why did you believe these would be effective?

1. Humor - In the ad, we are keen on Adam Sandler narrating a few jokes and hopefully cracking a few laughs from the audience. Thus, the audience will associate the product (NYU), with fun and humorous, thus hopefully attracting them to the university.

2. Statistics - We have decided to Implement Statistics, to give the advert some aspects of Logos as well. NYU has some very attractive percentages such as after graduation employment, the average salary's for graduates, internships they offer and many more. Our team felt by using these stats, the audience would be impressed and it would provide a balance from the comedic nature of the ad, so that people don't take NYU to be a joke and understand it a serious university as well.

3. Rhetorical Questions - Our group decided to ask rhetorical questions in the advert, such as "Who doesn't want to be as cool as Adam Sandler? By asking rhetorical questions, not only is the audience engaged with the ad, they are also persuaded by the bias we are providing them.

4. Testimonial - Adam Sandler (NYU Alumni) will give a testimony in our advert about how great NYU is and since he is a credible source, we are heavily relying on this method of persuasion.

How did an awareness of audience and context influence your overall approach to this activity?

The awareness of audience and context influenced our overall approach to this activity significantly. Our audience was 16-19 year old's and Parents, thus the utilization of Statistics. Logos, had to be a key factor in our advert because sending a child to university is a huge investment for a parent, and for them to spend this money, there must be some rationality behind it, just like any other investment. Our context, was a global one thus we decided to use Adam Sandler because, he is not just an alumni of NYU, he is also very globally recognized and for a bandwagon appeal to take place, the audience must first know the celebrity himself and we felt with Adam, there is a very high chance of recognition on a global scale. Also, the modern context has led to us making a video because we felt it is the best way to reach out to the audience of today. A video can be shared on social media, T.V and several different media outlets, which is highly suitable for our target audience which is 16-19 year old and working parents, because they are constantly exposed to this type of media as compared to newspapers and radio ads which have now faded "out of fashion".

If you were to complete this presentation again, what would you do differently in terms of preparation?

If I was to complete this presentation again, I feel I would prepare more in terms of delivering the pitch itself. Our group had some very good points and appeals to bring to the table, however we ran fast our slides and didn't stop to explain each of them more. Especially, I feel our first two slides on the target audience and the script itself, should have been dwelled upon more. This might have been because, we had no clear idea of what our script for the advert was going to be thus, we couldn't articulate it clearly - certainly an area for improvement. Moreover, I felt we could have employed more persuasive techniques in the advert such as call to action, because this could make our advert better. Lastly, I felt that if we made chronological explanation of our advert this would be helpful. This was done by one of our competitors, where for each time frame (0-30 sec, 1 min to 1:30) they explained exactly what would be going on in the ad.

However, in conclusion this activity was enjoyed thoroughly by all group members! GO NYU!

Footlocker Ad Analysis

The Advert, I decided to analyse was in fact the Footlocker Ad, made in 2015 starring Kyrie Irving and young 10 year old boy. 

Here is the link to the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcvC7f1_DOE

The audience and purpose of this ad, is very specific. 

In terms of the audience, since both Kyrie Irving (Renowned Point Guard for Cleveland Cavaliers) and the young boy are of a black race it would seem the target audience, would also be of a black ethnicity. Moreover, Kyrie plays basketball and "stereo typically", populations of black people are interested in basketball, thus the audience may also be basketball lovers. In terms of Age, it is very clear that the ad is targeted towards younger audiences between 9-14 years old. This is because, firstly the ad says "Kids Footlocker" and in addition to this, a 10 year old boy himself is used in the advert. I think the gender of the ad would overall be unisex, however I personally feel it leans more towards the male target audience, due to the fact there is no female representative in the ad.

In terms of purpose, the ad is very clever. The ad depicts Kyrie Irving going up to a child and taking a selfie with him because he looks like a "pro", with the new footlocker gear. However, when using Snapchat's face swap feature, their faces get permanently swapped. Thus, the purpose of the ad is clearly to show that if you wear "Footlocker gear", then you will literally end up "looking like a pro".

Ethos, Pathos and Logos Analysis 

Ethos - The use of ethos in this advert, is probably the most prominent. This is because, of the use of Kyrie Irving himself. Kyrie, is a 3 Time MVP, First Pick in the Drafts and current superstar point guard for the time that just won the NBA. By getting Kyrie Irving in their ad, they are going for the credibility factor and affiliating his amazing performance, with Footlocker gear. 

Pathos - The use of Pathos in this advert is quite slight. Pathos is used in the advert by striking the audience with the fear that if they do not use Footlocker gear, they will not look like a pro. The use of Pathos can be best seen when Kyrie Irving himself asks the kid to take a selfie with him. But why? Because the kid stood out to him due to his Footlocker gear and looked like a pro. 

Logos - In this advert, the use of logos is minimal because of the fact the target audience is Kids, so they won't have to logically reason with kids, but instead use the bandwagon appeal, as it is more effective.