Notes from Stephen Fry documentary - 'Planet word'

-The ability to speak is an innate human opetartion that's been around for 50,000 years.
-Writing allows us to speak to the past and listen to the future.
-Reading and writing is an optional extra.
-There have been hundreds of societies in the past that haven't felt the need to write things down.
-Writing lets us learn about cultures far away.
-Writing most likely started as a way to record accountancy - a record of monies in & out.
-Writing used to be a source of power as only trained scholars could do it.
-Writing allowed Rabbis and other religious figures to preserve their beliefs.
-Religion is a key influence on language change - it used to be a good example of instrumental power, though now it requires mostly influential power (I personally think due to the progress of education).
-Printing was technically invented in China, but William Caxton revolutionised it with his printing press.
-Geoffrey Chaucer,the first British printed poet wanted standardization because the English language was too diverse.
-Standardization is, to some degree evolutionary.
-Caxton's printing press made the English language more stable.
-Everyone has the right to the voices of the past.
-Technology has a colossal impact on our ability to learn new language.
-Technology nowadays has enabled the writer some scope: less pressure to be correct because they go back and change it whenever they want.
-Amazon are the biggest publisher.
-More books are printed each year.
-More people write now due to technology and wikipedia.
-Technology allows us to have immediacy, i.e blogs give us cutting-edge information.

'Drug addicts are not criminals - they're patients' AS coursework style model

Click here for a Guardian article on the concerning wage earned by Brixton's 'Ritzy cinema' workers.

Some notes & quotes on this article:

1. "both ironic and perverse" – First engagement made with the reader through use of light humour. Furthermore, regarding the context of the article this is important as it illustrates the incoherence of the opposition, and also immediately states the opinion of the writer as a fact.

2. "Hard-pressed workers" – This is a pre-modified emotive noun, and it immediately induces sympathy from the reader for the subjects of the article and offers introduces a theme.

3. Frequent use of the word "we". This demonstrates collaboration between the writer and the audience, thereby consolidating the idea that they are working together. This makes the writer’s point more agreeable with.

4. Use of statistics "5.2 million British workers are now trapped in low-paid jobs". Hard-hitting facts like this are an excellent persuasive technique because you cannot argue with facts, even though they are often a shock-factor for the reader.

5. Use of quote from a public figure "conservative writer and activist Tim Montgomerie". The quote was correctly sourced and by adding it into the article, it creates the illusion that an army of followers has already been built-up, therefore inclining the reader to agree with the writer more.

6. "Pinko-lefty commentator" – This humerous use of colloquial language softens the overall tone of the piece because it creates a change from a formal register to an informal register, to maintain a high level of engagement with the audience. No one wants to read big wordy paragraphs that drone on and on about the same thing!

7. Lots of emotive verbs: "Forced", "attack", etc. These are powerful words which provoke thought and strong imagery. The use of such potent lexis adds a touch of drama to the piece, and creates feelings in the reader.

8. Shorter sentences - "then you face the sack." – This is another powerful technique to add drama. By using shorter sentences after long, wordy ones, not only is a dramatic effect created but often it is used to sum up what has been said briefly for the reader, making an easier read.

9. "We should" – This use of deontic modal auxiliaries is a forceful way of stating an opinion. It offers no room for different opinions because it seems to the reader imperative that we do as we are told.

10. "Deficit-deniers" – More colloquial language, but what is significant about this in particular is the alliteration used. The writer has literally created a potential new slang term to label the objects of his anger – and what’s more is he has used alliteration to make it sound more catchy and to create a rhythmatic pattern for the reader, therefore making the phrase more memorable and convincing.

AS Coursework piece two - Drugs addicts are not criminals - they're patients

It is time to offer a more pragmatic approach to the growing drug problem in the UK – and here’s why

Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel has declared and that anyone found with a gram or less of any controlled substance should be exonerated

It’s no secret that drug-related incidents make up a large percentage of the crime in Britain (60% according to the office of national statistics). In fact, a large portion of that is actually only possession for personal use, rather than crimes perpetrated against others.

When the phrase “drug addict” is used, immediately images of criminals and thugs are drawn up; but what about the lonely teenager from the broken home? What about the struggling, single mother? The widowed-man? Surely they cannot be condemned as ‘criminals’?

Drug addiction is not a crime – it’s an illness. These ‘criminals’, as they are so often branded, have an unwavering and impenetrable need to consume illegal substances – they need to take drugs. These people are not criminals, they are patients. We wouldn’t place someone suffering from depression into a jail cell, so what warrants us instead throwing in addicts? Depression is one of the most common causes of drug addiction. These people generally have an emptiness inside of them which they discover can only be filled by ‘getting high’. To them, drugs are a necessity not only for the body, but for the mind.

Of course not all who suffer from depression will use drugs as their escape mechanism, but it is usually funded by external factors as well, like environmental and social influences beyond our control. Broken homes, rough neighbourhoods or hanging out with the ‘wrong crowd’ all constitute, and yet we seem to collectively ignore this when discussing the morals of a drug addict.

It is always easier to fight something you don’t understand, but criminalizing addicts only exacerbates the issue. Rather than attacking the social concerns at hand we are pushing innocent people into cells and lumping them together with murderers and child rapists. We are isolating them even more so than they already feel – how can we condone this kind of social exclusion? How is this ethical?

If we as a community really want to resolve this on-going issue, we must offer a more pragmatic solution. Instead of digging up any mildly incriminating piece of evidence we can find against them, we must help them uncover the roots of their issues and eliminate their disease. Better rehabilitation centres; more advertisement to illustrate the seriousness of drug addiction, advocating a different perspective in schools and putting a halt to these negative associations: there’s so much we can do to help, so why haven’t we yet?

We must stop arbitrarily locking these lost souls in jail; stop labelling them as thugs – stop criminalizing drug addicts. It truly is the people that make a society work: as a community, we fail to work when there is a minority being forgotten and left to die. As a community, it is imperative that we stop cowering behind social tradition and stand up to aid our members who have fallen over, so that we as a community can be functional again.

It is also important to empathize as a community rather than ostracize because then we are one step closer towards the core of this problem. We won’t learn any truth about the nature of a drug addict by sticking them in a cell until they go mad from withdrawal symptoms – we can only learn by understanding.

What also must be remembered is the fact that if we turn our backs on these individuals, it is very possible that they will become a ticking time bomb of hatred for the system: incentive, distrust and rage do not equal something pretty. When we as a community cast out one of our members to the nether regions of rejection and shame - when we create pure humiliation by labelling someone ‘scum’ – we really are acting immoral, and thus essentially manufacturing our own monsters.

In the year 2000, Portugal prevented an epic war on drugs by decriminalizing possession and use. As a result the Portuguese government were able to manage dependence on drugs under the ministry of health rather than the ministry of justice: in other words, as patients rather than criminals. More recently even, Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel has been fighting to instigate a movement on drugs – he has declared that the state laws should be more relaxed, and that anyone found with a gram or less of any controlled substance should be exonerated. He has rightly said that “reducing the penalties for minor drug possession would allow the city and state to focus their efforts on more violent crime”. It is clear that other parts of the world are moving forward and progressing in ideas, so surely it is about time we catch up with them.

Obviously, it is slightly more difficult to change the laws on drugs – but what we can do is evoke major social change. There is a pungent stench of stigma floating around drug users, which must be fought. Truthfully an idea worth spreading, imagine what life could be like in say five years time if we followed through? If we as a community just put that little bit more effort in, we can revive what we once were and rescue our long-lost members. By redesigning the boundaries of what once upon a time constituted as ‘sick’, we can finally start helping those who are suffering from what really is both a mental and physical illness.

I keep using the idea of community because I want to reinforce a truth that many of us appear to have forgotten: addicts are human, just like us. They eat and sleep and pray and have relationships, just like us. They want children and passions, just like us. They have secrets, doubts and fears, just like us. We are all the same and we all should share a sense of unity because we truly are a community. The only difference – the only thing that separates us is that they are sick. We need to help them. Drug addicts are not criminals – they are patients.

AS Coursework piece one - Two birds with one stone

The boy crumbles the perfect petals between his fingers and watches them flake down towards his feet. Everything around him is so serene, so unspoiled; as though all the resentment and hatred in the world had never existed.

Not a sound rises to disrupt the peace: the nirvana he has created. The boy picks up another flower and begins to rip and tear from its core structure, allowing the remains to float effortlessly through his fingers once more.

He calls this art.

The grass on which the boy lays feels warm and familiar: he has been here before.

The silence has lured him into a trap. It is here in his own personal Garden of Eden that he often ventures to escape.

As he turns his head away from the sun, the boy notices a small blue jay threading through the leaves of the tree he is sitting under. Its innocence unnerves him.

He reaches into his left pocket and pulls out a broken piece of mirror he had once obtained from a long forgotten family dispute. There has not been a time since the age of 11 that he has not carried this with him. The boy is now 17 – his smile has turned south for good and wrinkles of fear have been carved into his face by unwelcome thoughts.

He is focusing intently on the shard in his hand, hoping for a clue. All that answers back through the reflection is a pair of large, modest emerald eyes.

“You gonna save anyone today then, pal?”

The voice emits from the reflection like a ripple across a tranquil lake, immediately violating the solitude. The boy does not respond.

The blue jay has poised itself on a limp branch directly above him. Its sweet melody echoes through his mind like a persistent bell. How dangerous, he thinks, sitting there beautifully without a worry.

Despite his struggle, the boy’s attention is once again pulled back to the shard in his hand. He waits, composed and ready for whatever the ugly reflection wants to say next.

“You can’t hide from me. Not even here in the Garden of Eden.”

The boy shifts uneasily. Tiny beads of sweat begin racing each other down his palms: his eyelids force shut as he wrestles with the thoughts bombarding his mind.

The bird’s song is now heavier on his ears.

“You are so ugly on the inside.” is what the reflection says next.

The boy shakes his head in disagreement – although he knows what is true. He knows how ugly he is. He knows he can never be as beautiful as the blue jay or its impeccable melody. That is what he has been taught and that is what he believes.

It is not possible to look away from the mirror. Something warns him that it is a part of him and he craves the answers the reflection bears. Why won’t it deliver?

The sun is quiet and the grass is now cold. The song of the blue jay is piercing the boy’s thoughts just as a cruel word pierces a pleasant moment, ripping through the peace with its voice.

The boy is becoming desperate; he is cradling his precious piece of mirror between his knees and his hands suffocate his ears in a futile attempt to block out all noise. His sanctuary has been stained with unwanted commotion, though he is equally unprepared to give it up as he is to fight for it.

The frost is becoming overwhelming on his skin. There is no room for free movement anymore because everything is closing in: the vicious voice, the intrusive innocence of the blue jay.

His stomach feels as though it has been ignited and something solid is crawling up his throat. The pressure perverts every aspect of him as he grows smaller and smaller inside of himself, looking up only momentarily to see that the blue jay has become trapped between branches.

No matter how hard he tries he cannot seem to ignore his surroundings. His garden is turning sour and he feels weaker as it does. All is darkened when he dares to open his eyes, although he can’t work out why. The air is turning tempestuous as the light falls victim to an insidious oppression. Darkness pervades every inch of the boy’s haven, slowly dragging itself by the claws to where he cowers. He can feel it edging its way up his arms and into his hair, the noise banging on and on and on…

In a split moment, the boy forces his hand up through the murk towards the blue jay directly above him. Eyes still closed but masked behind tears, he pulls the bird back down close to his chest. He clasps his right hand around the sharp piece of mirror and brings it around to meet his torso. The boy’s eyes momentarily rest on the stomach of the blue jay, until one swift movement and –

Done.

Everything is calm again and the darkness is gone. The reflection has halted its words. No more invasion of his safe place to be detected.

The boy is staring down at his deed. His palms open to reveal his work. The body is cold against his fingertips, yet he is feeling a glowing warmth from within. He has rescued this naïve little product of nature from the harsh realities of living and restored the peace he so desperately craves – two birds with one stone.

The moment tastes bittersweet.

The boy peers down at his reflection once more almost invitingly. He knows he is untouchable. He is the higher power and he fully understands this now. No one can disturb him anymore. He gazes at the abrupt expression written across the bird’s blackened eyes, knowing that the beauty is dead and he is the one who has killed it. Looking carefully at the exposed gut of the creature, he swallows the lump sitting in his throat.

Nothing but blood escaping the bird, he now realizes that the blue jay is ugly on the inside too.