Advertisements and Culture

This advertisement is promoting a moisturizing product by Olay. It portrays a close up of a distinguishably happy woman with intentional text around her, identifying the roles she plays in life and how the facial cream can suit the needs of those roles. With he wide smile dominating the picture, the stress-free woman is described as a "shoe aficionado" "wife" and "mother." Overall, Olay makes an successful job in plugging in the product to suit this stereotypical woman's needs in the roles that she plays in her everyday life, thus objectifying the product to a universal audience. The use of gender stereotypes plays a significant role in this advertisement. In order to create a medium that is suitable, acceptable and understandable for a vast amount of targeted audience, advertisers often turn to stereotypical relations. It has been realized that the woman portrayed and the text surrounding her in the advertisement generalizes the female population in a certain way that is not necessarily true. 

Generally, women are seen to be low positioned workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising children and doing housework. In the ad, this stereotype in brought forward and communicates the woman as someone who is concerned with taking care of herself and meaningless concepts like shoes. It could therefore be argued that the ad values beauty and care-taking as most important for the female population. From this, it is clear that it also neglects the fact that women can have much more larger ambitions and goals. It ignores the ambitious women that are committed to making a change and impacting the world. Olay advertiser had the choice to transform the ad's theme into suiting their product in much more important aspects in a woman's life, including work.  This shows that their product was promoted by focusing the message of the ad to communicate that women should focus on feeble things (like their product) rather than real and important things in life. This is vital for the placement of their product in the story that they are trying to sell. Olay creates this image of an "ideal woman" and then emphasizes the importance of their product in this. 

School Uniforms: Logos, Pathos, Egos

Should schools carry out the school uniform policy? The idea of school uniforms seems like an antiquated concept for many. In some places throughout the world wearing school uniforms is a norm,  in others individualism is a fundamental value. Especially in the western society, people strongly believe in the right to express their own opinion without fear or punishment. However, This value has been placed under pressed recently and the issue of whether or not schools should incorporate a uniform policy has produced allot of discussion. Personally, it is thought that uniforms are a good idea and should be implemented throughout the 

Firstly, it has been proven that Students studying in schools requiring school uniforms generally perform very well academically and seem happy wearing the same outfit every day.This is based on the fact students spend less time looking at their mode of dressing, thus focusing more school work, as opposed to a new fashion trend. Students who wear uniforms do better in school as well. They are on task more because they aren't worrying about how they look. There is less distraction due to uniforms. "Uniforms set a more serious tone in the classroom that is conducive to learning and can improve student performance." School uniforms improve student attendance. Also, by getting of rid the extra time choosing clothes, students are able to sleep and study more. As a result, students' grades rise.

In addition to the aforementioned point, One of the biggest concerns in schools these days is bullying. Students are harassed physically, verbally, and socially. The latest trend in bullying is cyberbullying. Often, the cause of bullying stems from people being different for not wearing the “right” clothes. If someone looks richer, most people feel like they have a higher social status or more power. To the contrary, uniforms allow children to learn on a more level playing field, with less judgment about clothing choices, brands of clothing, or physical appearance. uniforms tend to close the socioeconomic gap that exists between students as it makes them students equal. Studies have shown that uniforms made for a safer learning environment, and 80% of girls and 62% of boys actually liked the uniforms

Additionally, a lot of students who wear uniforms claim that they feel more proud of their school. School colors gives students a feeling of being more connected to their school and classmates. If there is a sense of community and connectedness among the students, the use of foul language, gang behavior, and crimes like vandalism are largely eliminated. Wearing school uniforms can also help people gain more self-confidence because they know they are a part of something bigger. Students will not lose their personality but will merely learn new ways to express themselves.

One of the main concerns people have about wearing school uniforms is conformity. People fear that by making children look the same, their individuality will be suppressed. However, this is not the case. Accessories, such as bracelets and hair clips, can jazz up a school uniform. Besides, students can wear their own clothing after school and during weekends. An individual’s personality is not wholly expressed by fashion alone. Personality is determined by the way a person moves, feels, thinks, and talks. Wearing a school uniform neither defines a child’s personality nor erases it.

There are even more advantages to wearing school uniforms in public schools in addition to those previously mentioned. School uniforms also have a benefit on parents too as it means lower costs for them during back-to-school shopping and easier mornings. When there's no debate on what a student is allowed wear to school, then that makes mornings easier for parents and for kids. Everyone knows exactly what the kids need to wear, their regulated school uniform. This can lead to a decrease in morning arguments. 

In conclusion, there are many well-documented benefits to implementing mandatory school uniforms for students. Studies show that students act more responsibly, learn better and feel better when they wear uniforms. schools should require uniforms in order to benefit both the students and society as a whole.

Text 1: The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole

This article is an excerpt from the autobiography of “The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole".  It highlights and follows the common characteristics of a memoir. The nurse uses direct narration. The text is a reflection, of the nurse's life. Due to the speech used in first person, the dialogue provides her interpretation of struggles and her reflection of past events. There are specific instances where she offers her hindsight wisdom in context with the several personal encounters she has had- retelling stories that express her understanding about the perception of death. From this, it could be concluded that the text aims to review on the nurses past experiences and thus argue on the concept of death, based on the inclusions made in the experiences. It does not intend to persuade an audience or have any specific influences, but rather to be more of personal narrative.

The memoir initially talks about how Seacole was surrounded by people infected with yellow fever which was an epidemic in the 1850’s. The setting is the island of Jamaica. Seacole retells of her encounters as a caretaker of the sick. The death surrounding her; she explains as “dreadful”.  Among the other stories she stays on the topic of one young man Seacole was fond of and rather attached to. She retells of his passing and how it brought out and made her connect it with a mother- son relation. She then makes a statement saying that no one should be ashamed of the fear of death. The article is solely based the idea of; on one’s perception of death and how life revolves around how scared one is.

Relatively the tone of this article is sad due to the deaths Seacole talks of. The content and language are used to emphasize the sorrowful tone and serious mood. The audience is left with the heavy and intense feeling of death as Seacole begins the article with “still remembering an island for its suffering and gloom”. From the beginning the tone is set driving the rest of the article to follow the same tone and mood.

The story is not objective but rather bias since it is a memoir and offers a reflection of personal stories and conclusions. It follows a constrict structure of self-evaluation and her perspective therefore making it hard for any interpretation by the reader. The story uses personal pronouns such as “I” in order to ensure the story stays very personal. The use of imagery helps set the mood and tone also.