Ethics - Case Study Reflection

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysian-couple-to-hang/1024102.html

Who is to blame for the death of the maid?

Ever since I could remember, I've been raised in a family where maids are part of the norm. However, they are not family exactly. Some of my maids had cleaned, fed, raised and taught me things just like any other mother could do, or even better.

Most of my maids were rather young, ranging from barely legal to 30. All these while, I treated them almost like my closest companion while I'm at home but my family had never treated our maids as family. They were always seen as a second class of people and despite my bond with some of them, that perspective sometimes influences me into thinking of them as lesser, hence I find the term of them being "modern-day slaves" rather apt.

I would assume that being a maid is not the first pick of a career option for most people hence most of these maids look as though there is no other choice of earning wages besides being maids. It is the last resort. With the mentality that maids are at our mercy of earning a living, I can easily imagine how some people can become twisted with the image of "owning" them as maids are full time helpers, ranging from a period of months to even years. These helpers live with us, yet we do not fully accept them into our lives, being shadows in the background.

Hence with these workers at the mercy of the agency and employer, the role and responsibility lays upon the latter two as the worker can be manipulated and mistreated when there aren't obvious enforcement of law and regulation towards the maids' safety and when the maids are gullible and at desperation, they will fall into the manipulation.

The maids would not be at wrong even if they are gullible as I believe that people would have the conscience to treat another being with respect and care and only those who choose to ignore them, will mistreat their maids, further concreting the responsibility of the employers ( if they are capable of employing the maid, I'm assuming they have means of making money which also means that they are fairly educated).

Reflecting on personal ethics - What does your response reveal about your notion of ethical decisions?

The story could be turned around where the maid could be a schemingly, manipulative person who takes advantage of an employer's empathy e.g. stealing money, lying.

But as employers and agency managers, the responsibility is high as they are in charge of the welfare of the maid. I think I may be bias towards the fault being of the employer and the maid agency as I feel like those in power should not use their power to manipulate others. The maids often being the less powerful one, should be protected.

Our ethical notion is constantly influenced by our society and as mentioned in sociocultural psychology, culture pretty much shapes us. However, we need to be active members of society that constantly reflects on the world we live in to make better and more ethical choices in life. The practice of ethics is simply not black and white and one must strive to read between the lines and learn what it means to be ethical or not based on knowledge and experience. That being said, theory always look better on paper and we can only try on our part to widen our perspectives to understand ethics better or let the rest of the world determine what kind of world we live in.

Reflection on note-taking

While doing our brief activity on note-taking today based on Jean Killbourne's speech, I learnt a new tip on improving my note-taking.

I noticed how another learner used indents and it is shown in this example:

kdfnskgdfh.gh;fkh;jkhgjgk;j;kjk

1. gmngkgnlkh
2. fkgkhfhlgjl
3. mgnfnh,fm,f

By allowing a little margin on the side to introduce subpoints of a point, it makes notes a lot clearer and readable.

Also, setting aside a column on the left allows us to 'group' up quick notes after as it helps to provide space for smaller headings and subheadings. A column on the left would also make the notes look less packed and 'dense' and helps in terms of visual and spacial view.

Reflection on "Sex in Ads"

What conclusions or generalisations or big ideas can you draw and what are these based on?

So far in our discussions and research into "Sex in Ads", it has been an eye-opening experience in seeing in person, the effects of

As if the video had not highlighted enough of the repulsive sexism and prejudice towards women today, in the comments section below the Youtube video  "How the Media Failed Women in 2013" showed an array of backlash, ranging from comments such as how the video was another "Feminazi act", "Feminist propaganda" or "Feminists have a tendency to portray Men as "The Bad guys"..." while nowhere in the video had they specifically mentioned that men were at fault of the objectification of women.

What we do not realise is, in today's society, it's not only men but women also are in the bandwagon of the objectification of women.

Feminism is not a battle of us (women) against everything and everyone else, but simply the spirit to uphold equality and freedom for women and to embrace the gender as a part of a diverse society not a separate entity. Sure women may be hormonally and physically different but women remain human just as any other men and any men or women are an individual worthy of a same respect and treatment.

Currently, feminism is viewed through a stereotypical lens where it encompasses all women as angry, aggressive sexists as argued by the obnoxious twat who yelled out "I hate feminists!" in the library the other day but after mortifying him and his nonsensical point of view that ALL feminist women aren't respective towards males in front of many innocent others,  I realise just how strong the influence of media could be in inseminating the idea of feminism as being a backwards and demeaning towards equalism while feminism, just like any other religion, is perceived differently by every individual and it is the individual that is ultimately responsible for their act and not their entire social group.

However, it isn't all bad. Society is making improvements in today's world and women everywhere are rising up to voice their opinions and are being embraced more in today's cultures and societies but a stereotype remains strong and will only change if a stronger value can exist to change it. Slowly but surely, women are progressing in achieving equality and I hope that with time, people could be more rational in perceiving what the media tells us and how we should interpret its messages.

Advertisment reflection

The key terms learnt from this lesson were prepositions, pronouns and tenses.

I have a clear understanding of tenses but not as much on preposition and pronouns but upon seeing Danial's Freyer model, it allowed me to understand the terms better as we discussed and cemented each other's definition. Understand the root of the words such as "pro" and illustrating my ideas also helped a lot. After discussing, I understood prepositions as 'connectors' of time and location between two topics and pronouns as the word that refers to and comes before a noun.

When we watched the Berlitz advertisement today, it struck me how short yet impactful it was as the whole class roared with laughter at the punchline. This ad was terrifically comedic and useful in  highlighting the embarrassingly common mispronunciation amongst German native speakers and the end was concluded with the clean, bold logo and it's slogan. I also found out the popular tune that everyone-hears-but-nobody-knows-of-the-title at the end of the ad was "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven and as this was composed by a German composer and was intended to celebrate "Joy", it made perfect sense to be fitted into the ad as well.

To revise new vocabulary terms, Quizlet.com is a great source to build a vocabulary bank and turning it into quizzes. Quizlet is user-friendly like Vocabulary.com and with lots of fun practice, would definitely help to retain our vocabulary banks fresh.

Media and Manipulation FOA reflection

Link to my FOA plan and google slideshow

In my second FOA, I presented on how Osama bin Laden is portrayed through the media and how this impacted on American media viewers.

The research process was very interesting and fulfilling as I have been fascinated with the cult of Osama for a while and the conspiracies that surrounded his death. Being a history student also allowed me to make make historical and political connections which further develop a bigger picture of the situations Osama had been involved in. Lastly, as a keen, everyday lurker of the cyberspace, I felt that this research would also help be become a more conscious viewer of the media that surrounds me.

Upon starting on our topic of media and manipulation, I was instantly drawn to "Reel Bad Arabs" which enlightened me about the stereotypes placed on middle-eastern people. Having read "A Thousand Splendid Suns", I have been curious about the so-called "Arab World" and have also been inspired by other sources such as the movie, "My Name is Khan."

The world today is at a state of perpetual political unrest and it is hard to not realise just how involved we are in those turbulent tides as it is impossible to escape it when you are living it. Being in Malaysia right now, the national politics alongside the neighbouring politics of Thailand, the ongoing bloodshed in Israel and Palestine - it is everywhere, everyday and I honestly feel guilty for not knowing more and I feel that I'mg growing more desensitised to such matters.

Thus, with this research, I realize the importance of knowing such politics and a need to be more proactive into reading analytically as my research has been a revelation of knowledge that has simply been ignored.

Since the announcement of Osama's death in 9/11, I had always pondered on the legitimacy but had never dived into further research. The research process has opened a sense of curiosity towards the stark manipulation in everyday media as I had only just realise the subtle tactics of media manipulation and the dire consequences of it.

We are growing more accustomed to these media to the point where being brainwashed is easier and more effective than ever before. The best way to describe the generation of today are simply carcasses that hear but not listen, and see without thinking. Media is affecting the old and the young, and it is important to know that we are being targeted for such manipulation for reasons such as profit, support and many more. Hence, we have to harness an analytical lens towards the media around us and take charge of our knowledge by being smarter viewers as opposed to taking in the media at first glance.

It may seem tiring to be at look for these signs of manipulation constantly, but with practice, I hope that it will benefit us and prepare us for the limitless world of media today.

Political Correctness Reflection

Checking Ideas:

1. Where did PC language come from?

Political Correctness language originated from American Liberals who initially used the term literally, as in to be in alignment with political thought. 

However, it is now used to describe the act of 'adjusting'  language, ideas, policies, or behaviour in order to  minimize offence towards minority groups.

1. Why might it be seen as a good thing?

Based on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, I agree in relation to its theory,  that words are important tools in giving meaning to abstract concepts, which further allow us to understand the world around us better as language affects the way we think and act.

In the argument for pro-pc language, I believe it helps us to further develop a wider knowledge of ethics as we live in a diverse society and the need to be adaptable is important in fostering intercultural understanding.

For example, the term "black" is a general term that can be applied or restricted in a spectrum of ways but PC language promotes an educated discretion amongst people as different societies uphold different ethical values.

1. Why might it be seen as a bad thing?

There are MANY arguments and conspiracies that denotes PC language and this may not appear strange as the main argument against it is that PC language brings upon connotations.

Connotations, or better known in a social setting as stereotypes, are what that is causing a stir among people as it could be misinterpreted as pejoratives on certain social customs and breaches cultural ethics.

Political Correctness language can also be argued as restricting, through how it implies a certain level of language in certain situations. This can be seen as a form of censorship which limits the freedom of speech.

1. What are your thoughts on the need for PC language to exist?

We cannot deny that we are ever present in a social society and system and would therefore need to adhere to societal rules and regulations as this allow order to be in place and promotes an intellectual and social progress. PC language today serves as not a restriction, but as an intellectual sensibility in today's ever-changing social society.

Discussion reflection

The flashcard prompts from today's discussions were really good.

In today's discussions, I highlighted areas of improvement for myself and in groups. I believe that we need to improve on allocating time for thought or better known as "fillers" to allow a slight breather from an idea to another. Asking for evidence or disagreeing is also another pointer to better improve discussion as it sparks productiveness amongst group members into digging deeper into the text.

However, some members simply would not put in the same amount of effort equally like others hence it would be our responsibility to help the learner by giving them space to voice out their opinions, allow them to follow up on ideas brought to the table or simply to give them a turn to contribute to the circle.

I also really enjoyed the prompts used for today's discussions as they further helped us explore other contexts of the novel that we had not thought of before and urges us to remember points from the novel which we may have overlooked before.

Term 1 English reflection

It has been a great start to IB with our first term in English being an interesting and productive one.

To start off, it felt like most of us are proactive and initiative in terms of completing work and meeting deadlines but I believe that the confidence Ms. Abena had in trusting us made that happen too.

However, I still depend heavily on Edmodo as it really helps me to be efficient and be on top of my work at all times.

Just in this term, we've read "A Thousand Splendid Suns", performed our first oral presentation, wrote our first written task and explored many interesting topics such as power and language, gender roles, and vernacular english to name a few. The term has definitely felt productive for me and I feel like I'm on par with what is to done in English at the moment. 

Moreover, I feel that I'm getting more practice in terms of writing through reflections and writing tasks which helps my rusty vocabulary bank to get working back again.

However, what I've enjoyed the most this term in English was definitely our exploration on African-American Vernacular English and having Socratic Circles as AAVE is an incredibly interesting topic and socratic circles help me widen my perspective on many topics through discussion. Socratic circles also allow me to practice my social skills in terms of being patient and being a good listener as opposed to being just a good analyst and speaker and I believe it is a skill that may seem easy but definitely requires practice to be good at.

Socratic Circle Reflection

Today, we discussed about literary criticism as we are starting on the Literature part of our IB English course.

At first glance, these term vaguely make sense to me but when some classmates raise their hands in confusion of the term, I realise that I myself don't really know the term well enough besides the rough idea of some sort of critical evaluation of literature (initially thought as anything that can simply be read).

So, as my circle went first, I suggested that we break down the term into their individual words: literary and criticism. We first discussed the definition of literary as literature, relating it to words such as text, art and written. Upon a quick clear up by Ms. Abena on the distinct difference between literature (work of written nature), text (any work for the means of communication) and art (an expression of creativity), we understood what sets "literature" apart. From there, we further discussed what qualifies as literature.

Before starting on what ideas we came up with, I would like to reiterate a few valuable points from the text to keep in mind:

In literary criticism, the three main points that catalyses the evaluation are:

interpretation: what was the message that the text was trying to convey to the reader?
analysis: how does the author create the effect present in the text?
evaluation: what makes this piece of literature good or bad?

I came up with ideas such as literature needing to contain a sense of extraordinary artistic value that is timeless however another circle member then argued that any text can be a form of literature as long as we have evidence to support the three main points of evaluation as artistic value varies in eyes of the beholder.

In terms of our strategy and techniques for the socratic circle today, it seems that some classmates did not speak up. It dawned to me that sometimes we could be overbearing and this may turn off other circle members from talking due to intimidation and it makes me realise the importance of the circle being a support group instead a fight for power. I realise on my part I had not taken the initiative to be more caring towards others in making them feel more comfortable about sharing their opinions as I was too busy voicing out my ideas.

However, I also recognise myself as being the 'shy' one in certain discussions and it simply shows me how I view the discussion as a competition hence the relenting effort of letting go and showing any signs of being 'lesser' in terms of knowledge. It makes me understand that I should view the circle as a safe zone of breaking down those walls of ego and to feed on the ideas of others as well hence the ability to question with confidence is something all of us should learn.

Reflection on multiple intelligences

I've often realise a hierarchy since I started school at 7 in subjects. It's not uncommon to feel inadequate simply because when we measure ourselves to the standards of an academic world, there are only few who seem to be the  creme de la creme  while most of us are 'average'.

This, simply has to change. What a lot of us fail to realise is that school is apparently a field for those who are academically-minded, such as being advantaged at number/rational or writing. In an analogy by Sir Ken Robinson, he compares  education of students almost like production of eggs where :

"Students are educated in batches, according to age, as if the most important thing they have in common is their date of manufacture. They are given standardised tests at set points and compared with each other before being sent out onto the market. "

Even with schools emerging with new systems to emphasise on the importance of other intelligences such as the arts and music, it will still take a while before the stereotypical mindset of being better in the maths and sciences is banished as I assume, they are possibly what the world needs the most at the moment.

We are all encouraged to follow our dreams and passions but realistically, we will have to weigh in the possibilities and chances such as "will this job be steady career path?" or "is this field of study simply too popular?". I suppose I'm rather pessimistic when it comes to this matter but before these talks, I realise the importance of finding our own strengths too.

I've recently been having a hard time simply thinking of a reply to, "what do you want to do in the future?" because honestly , I have no idea. How could you decide what you want to do for 2/3 of your life at this point? What if I made a wrong choice?

I guess the start is simply by observing myself and the way I am. I've always been more of an introvert and judging by the amount of MBTI tests i take, I had known that I was interpersonal but I never knew I was body smart too apparently.

By observing one self and not needing to confine our individuality to the standards of society, I think that is freedom. Intelligence is an always will be a concept, and it is up to us to define it for ourselves as Einstein had once said:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Language and Communities

Do you think that the media young children are exposed to affects their self-esteem or self-perception? Explain.
Why might Disney be a relevant example when it comes to looking at language, identity, communities and power?
Watch the video below - what is your reaction? What is your reaction? Does it lead you to change any of your previously-held beliefs?

 Racism still plague many of us today and I'm ashamed to say that I fall into the habit from time to time as well. Not only racism but xenophobia, division among the classes are also some of these problems and sometimes I wonder why we do such awful acts. The thing that I recall the most in relation with racism was ironically humour, in which the usage of stereotypes on certain groups were nothing out of the norm in my everyday conversation with my family. We would stereotype these groups based on their occupation, their facial features and nonetheless, the colour of their skin. These were often said for the purpose of humour but this slowly degraded my sense of morality as I often reflect in shock after doing something like that nowadays.

 Television is an article in most households nowadays and isn't much of a scarcity for children hence I would say that many children are exposed to at least some sort of media but specifically, television. Television, if I have to put it, would have to be the devil's advocate in engulfing on communal stereotypes as they are firstly, easy to understand and break down by many layers os society and as my point in the paragraph above states, could not only be humorous but even exciting, engaging, inspiring-for the sole purpose of entertainment.

I'm not saying that entertainment is bad and what people WANT is essentially bad for them but the best way I can put the situation in an analogy is that you give an intense exposure of broccoli to children until they get used to it or even, grow to like it.

The exposure of stereotyping in television media is strong, and we can see it already for example as Halloween draws close, girls would tend to dress as princesses or something feminine as that, would be a norm and if you dress as something UGLY as thematically set by Halloween standards, some would think it's wrong. Here is a video to illustrate the example (viewers' discretion advised):

Even as exaggerated as this video clip might portray, it does elicit a certain height of truth of the effects of media today have on youth today. Without seeing some links as the one below, I would be afraid that I would maintain similar ideals of confining to media-set stereotypes as well:

"Photographer Mother Shoots Daughter as Great Historical Women"

In the context of Disney, I'm afraid that's where ideas of wanting to be a princess (the ultimate sign of a damsel in distress), pretty and desirable sprouted from works such as Cinderella, Snow White and etc. It wasn't only until recently that they promoted works such as Princess and the Frog which promoted diversity and women empowerment. That, alongside Mulan, are the only works of Disney that I can with one hand that had elements of women empowerment but even neither escaped from romance and all the la-dee-da that makes the idea of women constantly related to aspects of love, revolting.

 The video, hurts me as I watched the response of the children when they were asked "Which of these dolls look like you?". I saw a look that almost tells of a sudden revelation that all these negative factors that they associate with, were them and they simply feel confused as to their inferiority and I had share such experiences as well when I visited someplace of a caucasian-majority and the treatment I got from many, if not cold, were rather unfriendly and then it struck me after being oblivious for so long that, I'm a stereotype as well.

This is a rather pessimistic view maybe, that I see such a grim view of the world today but the more I experience the more I see about the media-shaped society and culture of today in the negative light. Of course, there are many benefits that comes along with media  but we need to assert a different mindset- a mindset that opens itself and see itself as part of the world as opposed to the world of only theirs as we will constantly be codependent with society and we ALL play a part in making the world more open to different perspectives, everyday.

I would like to end my reflection with a quote from Gandhi, which says:

"whatever you do in life will be insignificant. but it is very important that you do it anyway." 

FOA reflection

Reflection on FOA

Knowledge and Understanding of the texts and subject matter

-I felt that my understanding of my topic was superficial as I did not intrigue my audience with more than what was outlined on each slide of my powerpoint presentation. If I had more knowledge and ideas of my text, I would be able to go on much deeper to explain my points.

Understanding of how language is used

- As I presented on the topic of Manglish, I understood the colloquial "Manglish" however this did not go well with my idea of presenting in an Ellen Degeneres/talk show host style as I do not identify the speech style of a talk show host thoroughly and could not present it in that essence. I assume that my ideas were not fitting and was probably not focused as I felt that I had clumsily gone through one-third later into my presentation as I lost character while speaking.

However, I felt that my attempt on this idea was original and creative as recreating a specific style of a well-known talk show host would require familiarity with the style and simply a sense of spontaneity which always appear to be the basis of Ellen Degeneres' fun and friendly appeal.

Organisation

-My organisation of this oral presentation was rather simple as I followed a simple structure of background and main content. I also make sure my slides could relate to the next to ensure a continuous flow of thought.

Language

-I felt that I had good command in my English as I used a variety of lexicon and technical terms to explain the characteristics of  "Manglish". Explaining these terms such a grammar, phonology, rhetoric and sarcasm allow me to understand them better as I teach as well.

My control in this area was something I was happy with as I was also able to capture Ellen's southern drawl and embody her sense of spontaneity in the beginning.

What type of a reader am I?

 Strategies that I currently use for reading:

I am a reader who likes to take it slow rather than skimming through texts. I can read about 4 non-fictional text pages in half an hour as I analyze and annotate as I read to ensure that I fully understand the text before moving on.

I make use of my different coloured highligters to highlight different points such as one regarding to females, one for males, and one for a general opinion/theory.

As soon as I come across a word I don't know, I like to find out its definition in a dictionary. I find that writing notes help as well, as I do it in History. Writing notes help to slow down my reading process and to reduce the information to something concise and understandable to me.

For a non-fictional text, I do a lot of annotations as it helps me analyze the text better. I would also prepare a big glass/bottle of water. Sometimes, eating sweets help as well because I tend to need to snack when I begin to lose my concentration.

I recognize that my environment plays a very important role as I get distracted very easily. I have to be in a quiet, conducive place, preferably with nobody around and is a comfortable lounge area. Lighting is also very important as when it is dim, I lose concentration easily. Strangely, when I read from my phone when all lights are out, I find that to be very good as I assume the light from the phone and nowhere else makes me concentrate on the text on my phone.

I also try to make connections in my reading from texts to texts or even texts to real life to help them to relate better hence understanding better.

Strategies that I would like to try over the next few weeks:

I would like to pay attention to punctuations in long sentences to help me break down sentences into easier sizes for comprehension.

Over the next week, I will try this strategy in particular:

I will pay more attention to punctuation and get most of my reading done during prep time (7:00-8:30 p.m.) as it is the most quiet time.

Interactions in Gender - Investigations (Zimmerman and West)

Zimmerman and West

1975

Men interrupt more frequently than women.  In 11 mixed-sex, two-party conversations, men were responsible for 96% of interruptions, whereas women were responsible for just 4%.

For the investigation on interactions in Gender, I worked with Jerry on the Zimmerman and West (1975) theory, where it states that men interrupt more frequently than women.

In our investigation, we found our results to be partially similar to the theory's result, whereby the male participants interrupted 61% (theory=96%) of the time while the female participants only interrupted 39%(theory=4%) of the time. Factors that could influence the difference in the ratio gap between the theory and our own investigation could be the number, depth of knowledge, personality and relationship of the participants.

In the Zimmerman experiment, there were 11 participants whereas we had an equal number of both genders- 2 boys and 2 girls, as opposed to 11 where it probably would not have been an equal ratio.

Moreover, the depth of knowledge of each participant can also be a strong factor. We assume that their depth of knowledge correlates with the confidence to speak out but this may not be the case, leading to our next factor of personalities.

Jerry and I discussed about how some participants may either be extroverted, introverted or even both, which may affect their preference on being vocal in a discussion or not. Personality is a very big idea to be reduced into a mere tangible idea as we noticed the two most talkative participants were as we identify, an extrovert(male) and an introvert(female) respectively based on our personal relationships with them.

We also think that the chemistry among the participants may also be an important factor. Let's say, if the 2 females and 2 males were siblings, they would be more comfortable with brisk interruptions from each other as they know the other party wouldn't mind but if the participants were all strangers to each other, they would be more reserved and hesitant in interrupting as this may be seen as rude and offensive.

Among all the factors that we have observed, the one that is most relatable to our topic of language and gender is personality. Our finding of the extroverted male and introverted female being the most vocal participants was really mind boggling as it made me wonder if both genders with a similar personality would also react the same e.g. the reaction of an extroverted male and female participant in a discussion-will it be equal? This brings me back to the gender-specific cultural implications we have today in language as what limits either gender in terms of language? I am probably wandering way off topic at this moment but so far, our exploration in language and gender has definitely been an eye opening metamorphosis as we slowly learn more about the society we live in.

Socratic circle reflection (30/9/13)

In today's Socratic Circle, we explored the Jogger's Song by Roger McGough and as I was one of the members of the first circle, we talked about the Jogger's point of view. I found that all my circle members had something to contribute and were very eager to do so too which shows that everyone had prepared well before coming to the circle. 

However, most of us were hesitant to start off the conversation and I personally kept in mind not to be overbearing as highlighted by other members of the floor previously. I assume that the others also felt that way as being a dominating speaker  often makes other uncomfortable to voice their opinions in fear of being 'lashed' back.

We also started off clumsily and hopped off from point to point, until Ms. Abena told us to follow a stanza arrangement and that greatly gave structure to our discussions. It was interesting as a female to hear the counterpart's view on sexual harassment as this poem was almost disturbing for me. The lack of remorse from the "Jogger" was inhumane in my perspective but as we discussed, we further develop ideas of the "Jogger"'s twisted personality that might be stemmed from being a psychopath.

The second circle was equally impressive in terms of the change of vocal speakers this time, were I noticed Jit really speaking out and making better efforts in engaging with others. I felt as though the ice in our classroom chemistry is slowly melting and everyone is beginning to get familiar with each other which is a good progress.

Overall, today had not been our best socratic circle performance but we could definitely see the impact of preparation before a discussion and others also realize the benefit it puts us at. I hope that everyone would do their part and be better prepared as well to be more confident and proactive when discussing the next time.

English reflection (23-27/9/13)

After we touched a little on Language and Gender this week. I used to only have clear examples of the implication of gender in profanity as demonstrated in our semantic fields activity on Wednesday. Many profanity words were specific to a gender and that was my first idea of the implication of gender in English.

However, I realize that it's not only profanity or certain words but whole sentences itself could be sexist as we did the activity on Thursday by 'neutralizing' gender specific terms and sentences such as postman to postal worker, housewife to homemaker and how making certain words plural such as "doctor" to "doctors" changes it to a noun hence not needing to specify a specific gender to associate it with.

I was surprised when we learnt various terminologies such as diminutive suffixes as I've always seen these words but have only seen them in a new light. For example, the usage of 'ess' and 'ette' at the end of words do add a feminine emphasis but I never knew it also make some lesser, smaller and more inferior in the the example we use which was "kitchenette". Generic terms such as 'man' use in 'mankind' to describe the race of humans including women also struck me as even the term "woman" has "man" in it hence I question the involvement of this gender-specific term ("man") in general terms such as mankind. This certainly made me feel disempowered as a female seeing terms such as described above not prioritizing the role in women and treated with a sense of disregard.

On the hand, I also came to realize lexis asymmetry serves as a concrete evidence that women and men  need different ways of address as some words can't be generalized for both. For example, the word buff would be associated with positive values for males but when a female is called buff, it would seem live a derogative term.

Learning about language and gender is certainly interesting as we observe the cultural and societal implications towards genders in language as I feel like I am reading the 'in-between', subtle lines of communication and grow a sense of awareness towards gender biasses in language. I hope that through learning about language and gender, I would be more cautious in the way I think and speak as I believe this would lead to a sense of better respect towards others.

English reflection (16-22/9/13)

This week in English, I definitely saw an improvement on most of my classmates in our socratic circle discussing the Irish Language. Everyone definitely spoke up and contributed more which shows how we as a class is progressing towards a better conduct of the socratic circle.

The screening of Pygmalion was also extremely useful but I was only interested in Act 1 as I've only read that before the screening. However, now that I've completed Act 2, I regretted not catching the screening of Act 2 as well but I will try to download the play to watch. I would prefer watching the play only after I've read the acts as my mind would then force me to remember details from the text and combine it visually with the imagery from the screenplay. I found it really interesting to see the lines acted out and found some lines that made more sense when played out in the screenplay.

For the Further Oral Assessment, I felt that there wasn't enough preparation time this week. My thesis is still rather vague and my initial plans of wanting to do a duo performance cease to work out. Since our FOA proposals only started to get through the review process this weekend as well, I felt that I would need more time to get my FOA proposal to be better constructed time and more time for rehearsing.

Reflection on "The Theory of Knowledge Journal"

Confounded to the rules of everyday dreariness, we become the de facto dictators in our routines.

The everyday blandness of the conventional hence numbs the astute eye for reflection.

 Just a sense of deeper awakening towards the minuscule details; we let it slip through our fingers. But sometimes, the brain can only process so much at once and for people like me, I feel like my clarity is shrouded when time simply presses you to a routine and we become so oblivious to things that aren't in our field of focus.

The details enrich our lives incredibly and when you see it, you will realize the immense amount of life that constantly pass by you and just how much time you've let slip by. The more you observe, the bigger the image grows.

As an example, I often ponder on the characteristics of people. I would ask, why is she/he the way they are? What would have caused this? What does their body language tell me? Without them noticing you gawking like a freak, you'll learn so much more about others and eventually yourself by just observing the world around you as some vague saying goes, you get to see how green your grass is only when you've seen the grass on the other side or something.

I just try to make time whenever I can to observe the smallest details because there really is so much to an every day occurrence then we realize.