My bedroom

Denotations of my room:

• Light blue walls.
• Wood flooring
• White furniture
• Floral Cath Kidson print duvet covers.
• Pictures in frames of beaches.
• Speakers.
• TV
• Perfume bottles on a shelf
• Shells

Analysis:

My room communicates that I am a female, due to the accents of feminine colours. It also communicates that the person of who's room it is, is a calm natured person. In which is not true, I am often very lively, and excited. But I think I chose my room to be like this as I want to have personality traits and   identity like the one connected to the room.

It holds value to me, as items In my room are from beach holiday destinations that I've been to, so it holds sentimental value as it reminds me of many memories.

Key concepts

Communication: is a way of sending a message to someone else.


Culture: Is a way of life, and the ideas and behaviours of society.


Identity:  what makes you, you.



Power: The ability to do something a certain way.



Codes: rules that you need to follow/ and norms.



Value: Importance placed on something.


Context: the background or setting of an event.






Celebrity culture: Celebrities often communicate their wealth and status, through purchases. Celebrities are very much part of popular culture, as people often use part of celebrities identities, and mould their selves to it. They hold power in society, due to status and they are seen as more important. There are codes, and norms of behaviours that we choose for celebrities, and if they diverge from these rules it has a backlash for them, usually in the media. We place value on celebrities, due to them being the ideology for us. E.g. their body shape, hair etc.

Tattoo's: They communicate part of our identity (aspects of it) They have power to do so, by putting emphasis on part of someone's life. People put value on these markings.

• Group identity- negative as it can contribute to gang culture
• They can represent life experiences, and loved ones etc.

Classical music:
It communicates status and wealth, and is part of high culture, and holds culture capital (Pierre Bordeau). It links to people's identity, if it is part of what they enjoy e.g. hobbies. It gives people power, as it is less accessible, and usually only the elite that enjoy this part of culture. Going to a classical music concert has norms and codes, such as how you behave (polite) and what you wear (formal wear). It holds financial value, as well as the experience.


Subculture: A subculture is a subcategory within a larger group. They can communicate many messages about their group identity through clothing choices, behaviours and norms.
They often hold little power in society, as they are not part of mainstream society. They place value on interests, and common ideas amongst their peers.

Text speak: This is a way of communicating faster, but is influenced by technology, as there is a maximum number of characters within a text, so it allows people to get as much information within the text as they can-  this is part of its context.

Marriage: communicates that a couple is committed to each other, this holds value for many- in terms of the ceremony due to financial value as the average wedding is £20,000, and it is still very much part of our culture in the UK to get married, as many elders still look down on couples who are not married or engaged, but over the last few years this ideology has started to fade, but not drastically. It is part of peoples identity to be married, as it comes with roles that people define their selves by. In the ceremony of marriage there is power held by the pastor as he reads the vows to them and pronounces them husband and wife.


Supporting a football team: It is part of peoples identity, as it allows them to be part of a group. This group identity is due to a common focus or interest, and likeminded people. It allows people to add to their identity through things such as team clothing. It holds value as it makes people believe they are part of something bigger.

Response

How do you, as a Comms student, react to this text? What key concepts are relevant here?  Write a detailed blog post analysing the video.

Some areas / starting points for your analysis:
What does the location of the clip suggest to you?
What is he wearing? What does this suggest about his identity?
What is the importance of cookery shows as a cultural practice?  How has he exploited this?
What are his political views? How might they conflict with the content of this clip?
What does this clip say about the importance of food and group/personal identity?
Who are the audience for this clip?  What message might Nick Griffin want them to receive?

Use these questions as the basis for your response, but feel free to explore other areas also.


The genre of this text is a YouTube video, with an informal register, an audience of older males, a spoken mode, and a purpose to inform and persuade the audience to form a view. The subject being cooking.

The location of the text suggests that Nick is homely, and features within the room seem to give off masculine energy. As there isn't many things within the room that resemble women. It also seems very dark.

He seems to be wearing a rugby top, this suggests that he is proud, and patriotic. And see's being part of a group (supporters) part of his identity. It also suggests he thinks of himself as very masculine, as sports such as rugby have male connotations to it dominantly.

Cookery shows are very much part of British Culture. As people are always seeking to learn new skills such as cooking, and its very much both genders within Britain, as there isn't such a dominant ideology on just female cooks. As in Britain most know chefs are males. This is important as Nick makes a comment about how many women cannot cook, and put food on the table for their family.

This clip puts a huge amount of importance on food, and seems to link it to family ( a group) and being able to keep the family unit close. 

The audience will be predominantly males, with an androcentric view. Around the age of 40/50. And Nick (the sender) wants the audience of males (receiver) to receive the message that males can provide their family, more than financially as women are incapable. [process approach].

Barbie

The image shown in terms of the process approach- the sender being facebook (Cancer and alopechia page), with the message being that all people are beautiful including cancer patients, and the reciever being all who come into contact with it- facebook users.

This image of a bold barbie is the signifier, it signifies beauty amongst all people, and it communicates with us as an audience, the importance of self-esteem, confidence and support in which these ill patients should have. The index of the bow/cancer sign, has meaning to us. It represents unity, and support and ties it all into one, this is now used by many to show their support by displaying it visibly. It also adds to their identity, and makes them feel part of a group.

The acronym used 'Bald And Really Beautiful Is Extraordinary' sentisises us as an audience, and makes us want to see more support for these types of illnesses.

The icon of barbie has many connotations to it such as skinny, beautiful, blonde, perfect. This is the myth and dominant ideology that is accepted. But this text is aimed to shock the reader and show cancer patients can be just as beautiful as a 'normal' barbie.

Popular Culture.

Popular culture activities.

• Football- positive effects on society- brings people together. Negative- fights, outbreaks e.g. Hillsborough
• shopping- positive- builds self esteem.
• Soaps- gratification, 
• Karaoke- builds self esteem

A) One of the great things about popular culture is that it allows people to express their individulality.

B) Popular cultural activities often encourage controversial, potentially damaging behaviour.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7992845.stm

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/exposing-negative-effects-technology-kids-14909.html

C) Popular cultural activities are worthy of study because they give insights into the beliefs and values associated with our culture.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9685205/Is-the-traditional-Sunday-roast-a-thing-of-the-past.html

http://uk-foods.co.uk/history-of-the-english-sunday-roast/

Reading an image

This is the British actress Tilda Swinton, she is in Russia supporting gay rights, many celebrities have done this recently, especially due to the upcoming Olympics.  This is because it seems to be very few countries still that discriminate against the gay community, whereas many countries have came to accept it, and have hate crime laws to stop any further discrimination that may arise. This act by Tilda was named "Gay propoganda" by the president of Russia. 


This text is a picture of a woman holding the gay flag in Russia with police following closely behind.
This is so significant as in Russia it is against the law to publicly display same sex relationships.
This is part of their culture, it is not widely accepted to be gay, and there are rules to when and if you can show your affection to the same sex. In this relationship the police and higher authority hold the power, but this woman is not only representing the gay community in Russia, she is supporting all gay rights across the globe.

Being gay is part of your identity, it makes you who you are, it can influence the way you express yourself among other things. By this woman holding the gay flag it communicates to us the pride she holds to be gay or the support that she wants to share with others. It is so significant as it shows a clear set of codes- you aren't supposed to show support especially in front of the palace and the police.

Task 1- question 2 exam paper

Self concept can be defined as the idea we have of ourselves as individuals. Explore one of the following statements about self-concept, using examples from your studies and experiences.

• Our self concept relies heavily on the feedback we receive from others.

Feedback can often affect someone's way of thinking about their-self, it can boost self esteem, or knock it. If someone speaks badly of you, you would assume it could have an affect on the way you think about yourself and your confidence- especially if you already thought bad of yourself and someone confirmed it. Rogers spoke about our ideal-self (the person we would like to be) and our self-image (how we see ourselves) if someone confirms our self image is far from our ideal self it may mean our gap between self image and ideal self is very big, making our self esteem very low. For example if you would like to think that you are smart, and you get a result back which in reality is not so good, it confirms the reality, therefore lowering that persons self esteem.

If my friends give me good feedback and confirm my self concept or give me complements, it boosts my self esteem, and allows me to higher my expectations and feel better about myself, but if they dismiss me or give me negative feedback my self esteem would lower, I would feel less confident in myself and overall not feel myself. Because of this I would usually keep quiet and let people not see my 'Hidden self' and try to downplay my 'Open self' (Johari Window) because generally I have a very loud, bubbly personality and it does not always work in my favour. This would also happen if someone was to say a face threatening act to me (Ervin Goffman). Ervin Goffman speaks about how we have 2 faces, a positive and negative face and when people are intentionally trying to offend they may say something more bluntly- 'I don't like you'. This will knock your self esteem and may then change your self concept.

Jewelry- My watch

My watch is a Michael Kors, silver and gold watch.

To me my watch represents me working hard, I had to work to get the money to pay for it, and it was the first expensive thing I brought myself out of my wages.


Representation: My watch represents money and work.



Piercings
I get a new piercing every year or so whenever i'm on holiday, it's almost like a tradition and my culture. Holiday's are when you are care free and I suppose a piercing to me shows fun and happiness. Also my mum doesn't like them, so it seems like I do it to spit her or rebel against her because of how much she hates me having them, and when she gives in and says I can have another one- I find it funny. It is part of my identity, because it modifies my body, it allows me to communicate messages about myself non verbally, and it sends messages about my personality.

My response

"Perhaps I'm getting too old to understand but it seems to me that most young people today go out of their way to look ridiculous. Perhaps they just don't like themselves. How else can you explain the tattoos and body piercings? Why else would they dress in the style of convicts, hardened criminals or extras from a horror film? As for music, the most popular types seem to celebrate negative or anti-social behaviour: violence, drug abuse, suicide, selfharm and anti-materialism. Is it all the fault of the older generation for bringing up youths who just reject society's values"


This person is clearly cannot except subcultures, and changes in society. I can assume the writer fully supports the society's ideology mainly held by the older generation.

Just because you are a youth and have tattoos does not mean that you will then display anti-social behaviour, and support violence and drugs. I have a few piercings but I don't take drugs, i'm not anti social, nor do I self harm, or condon suicide. Nor do I display violent behaviour.

GCSE grades to change to help bosses select brightest pupils

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/gcse-grades-to-change-to-help-bosses-select-brightest-pupils-8916476.html

 

The article is about how the gcse grading scheme is changing, as you get marked from 1 to 9 so that employers can spot the 'high-flying pupils'. This means that the exams will be changed to make them harder and seen as more respectable. The students will be expected to take the English bacculaureate - science, english, maths, history and a language. This will broaden their choices. They expect to see a "greater differentiation” between students.

 "The change comes in the wake of up to 40 per cent of pupils in some exams, notably in science, achieving top grade A* or A grade passes, " - By changing this it brings out more competition between students, and may cause them to be upset or disappointed by their grade.

 

 

Should children have best friends at school?

An article about how children shouldn't have best friends because it causes them to fall out with people, and feel ganged up and disappinted.


(from the article- '
A south London school has recommended that younger pupils try not to have best friends, and should have lots of good friends instead. Ben Thomas, headmaster of Thomas's school, Battersea, London, explained that cultivating a wide range of good friends can be healthier than becoming too possessive over just one and avoid painful episodes of falling out.
Did you have a best friend at school? Did you spend all your time with just one pal, only to be devastated when they teamed up with somebody else? Do you keep in touch with your first best friend, or did your lives drift apart? Can you ever match that first childhood bond? Tell us all about your first BFF (best friend forever).

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/02/best-friend-at-school



Schools must take account of girls' precarious friendships

'. These little girls, soon to face the crucial rite of passage to big school, seem bewildered by the reality of having friends. Asked about the positives of friendship, they have talked instead about the unhappiness it can bring. "Friends can be bullies to your other friends because they don't want you to be with them," says Naomi.'

'The dynamics change with greater maturity at secondary school, George notes. "One of the girls said that when she got to her new school she looked around and saw who the noisy group were, and kept away. Girls are better able to assess what's going on as they get older, they can see the potential for destructive situations, so they develop skills to make sure the painful things don't happen. They're more careful about who they make friends with.'

This article is about how girls friendship groups can be very nasty, and people gang up on others and often make them excluded, but as they grow up they mature and pick wisely who their friends are.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/mar/22/schools-beware-girls-friendships-precarious

Drama improves pupils' self-esteem.
 This article is about how drama boosts self-esteem, and how it teaches skills, and valuable lessons such as team work as they are able to listen and speak publically. It talks about how it makes people have an intrest in the arts. 'Researcher Helen Turner said: "Our research highlights several key educational issues: how to make school more enjoyable, how to provide learning environments where different talents are recognised and valued, how to make literacy more exciting, how to encourage and promote creativity, and how to ensure cultural entitlement. '
 

 

 http://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/oct/06/schools.primaryeducationhttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/oct/06/schools.primaryeducation

Education: all I learnt at school.

Education: all I learnt at school.

·        The happiest days of my life?  School and me. 

·        A hidden curriculum? What school taught me to be.

-Take some notes on the kinds of ideas you could include in the essay.

Was it the happiest days? How did it start, and end?

  Dimbleby+Barton - self esteem, how we compare ourselves, identification,  roles. (Friendship group, how they make you feel? how you compare yourself academically to people and physically. how you connect/identify with someone and what role you played in school within a class, and friendship group)

Ervin Goffman- with friends you may feel the need to 'perform'. 

How was self esteem built, and knocked. Why was it built-whom influenced this? Why was it knocked- Cooley's looking glass theory (reaction of others) and Myers + Myers ( behaviour that confirms and rejects). Who's opinion did you value? How did this change your behaviour?- Cooper and Smith- compliments. How did this build self esteem.

Lessons you learned, rogers- core self, how much you disclose and the gap of self esteem. How it relates to you and why?

Brimsham Green Secondary School. 2008-2013.

Tutor group-M

Yr 7- Everyone was close, friendship groups we're a lot bigger, groups of about 30.

Yr 11- Groups split, everyone had smaller friendship groups; 10 to a group.
It taught me to be aware, and not naive in this aspect. Everyone can change or not reveal their true self (Jo hari window). As you get older you see faults in peoples personalities or what they say, and it causes you to question it.

In lessons I learnt that to achieve higher, there was a form of competition and you had to strive to beat the person next to you. You felt the need to get higher than those around you or you would be put in a position where you felt bad about it or knew you could of done better. This taught me many lessons as in the work world you have to be prepaired to be disappointed.
 

School teaches you to be aware and independent as you have to take on your own load of work and complete it, it prepares you for later life and gives you access to learn new skills.

 

I am who I am

I am my family who support me,
And the pets I've had through my life.
I am that first A grade in chemistry.
I am that 'never gets the job'.
I am my friends who support me.
I am my nan who always believed in me.

I am who I am because of everyone.

Comms this week

This week in comms we looked at theorist who supported our ideas that we came up with in class.

Blumer and Katz- Uses and gratification theory.
They explore the gratification of popular culture. They say we use popular culture for..
Escapism
Person relationships
Person identity
Surveillance.

Dead white guys theory- Negative approach to high culture. It challenges it by the fact that it is classed as high culture and valued by white European men.

Umberto eco
"I speak through my clothes" he said fashion is part of someones identity.

We also spoke in more detail about Sub cultures or alternative cultures and why many people have negative things to say about it. Possibly because it is not the 'norm' or because of their rituals etc. They all have codes and practices and different greetings/language.

what culture is to me

Culture


I think culture is everything from art to food to music, but to an individual i believe it will only be certain things which they value, and what they are brought up around or made to think is culture, and that is what defines you.

Culture is what defines you, what interests you, and what makes you the person you are, whether it be high or popular culture.

This week in comms & culture

This week we discussed high culture, we learnt about the nineteenth century writer and critic Matthew Arnold, Arnold was famous for writing many series of essays about culture called  'Culture and Anarchy'. Arnold believed by educating the public it would stop Anarchy from appearing, he also said by having an appreciation for high culture it would stop social disorder.

We also looked at the 'Arts Canon' including the likes of Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Mozart, Beethoven and many others, we discussed what makes them 'High culture'. We came up with the fact that they are so exclusive, they transcend beyond their time and because they are so inspirational that makes them this as only the 'elite' decides who is in this canon and how exclusive it is, as it is so hard to get your hands on this type of Art. Other people such as F R Levis, and Storey agreed with this concept, Storey even said "For something to be culturally worth while it has to be difficult". While F R Levis developed the literature canon, he believed difficult texts were humanising as you can engage with them.

Then we went on to think about popular culture as we thought about it's cultural practices and what makes it popular. Popular culture is 'popular' because it is easy to access and everyone can value it and be entertained by it and not at a high price.

Communication & culture (AS)

This week in communication and culture we learnt about meanings of key words and how they could have many different meanings such as culture (how you live), context (an explanation of text), representation ( speaking on behalf of someone), value (the cost of something), identity (to recognise someone), power (being in a stronger position than someone else), code (a system of words/figures), idiolect (the way you speak), sociolect (groups you belong to), dialect (structure of language you use) all of these can be interpreted differently by everyone. As things like these make up a person, everyone has different things that hold value to them, and different things represent them.


We also learnt about the process approach, and we realised how many ways you can communicate, as something as simple as an alarm clock communicates with you even though it is a one way communication. We saw within the process which was the sender, what was the message and who was the receiver. For example using an interpersonal communication (between 2 or more people): sender: Me, message:To meet someone (context: deciding to meet outside reception. Form: Verbal), Receiver: Friend.