Language and Thoughts

This is an outline of the arguments in the report by Derek Barry (2017) on the North West Star about Robert Carl Katter’s interview with Sky News, where Robert has objected on gays and said homosexuals people have “stolen” the word gay, ‘which used to mean happy’. The outlines listed here also signifies the relationship between language and thought which are exemplified within the words and the way they are used in this report.

 

1.     First of all, the report uses the word ‘gay’ in its title with the meaning which is under dispute in the article. Although the writer of the report has disagreed that the primary meaning of the word gay is ‘happy’, but he uses it intentionally and sarcastically, and this sarcasm reveals the relation of language and the position of the article at the very beginning.

2.     There is almost no word that is completely devoid of connotation meaning. The writer uses the word ‘angry’ to explain the state of Robert during the interview.  It is a negative description and shows that Robert does not feel comfortable discussing the issue. It implicitly says that he is angry as he cannot argue his idea.

3.     The relation between the language that Robert uses and his idea can be easily noticed when he talks about ‘gay’ and ‘beauty’. Referring to Alexander Pope’s poem, Robert argues that the word ‘gay’ “it was the most beautiful word in the English language.” It can easily be understood that in Robert’s thought the whole group of gay people are not beautiful. Otherwise, he should not have complained about the correct use of the word.

4.     Robert uses the words “marriage’ and ‘freedom’ in a provocative way to warn others of the spread of homosexuality. Although he not saying that literally, his language clearly reveals his thoughts. 

Reference:

Barry, D. (2017, August 24). Bob Katter is not gay about gays. The North West Star. Retrieved from https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/4878399/bob-katter-is-not-gay-about-gays/

Layout Analysis

The Brochure Drug Rape Brochure

The target audiences of the Drug Rape Brochure (n.d.) are young adult females who usually attend nightclubs for fun and are vulnerable to being exposed to drugs and sexual rape. This brochure warns about those young women about the ways that drugs are used to facilitate sexual assault.

The layout of this brochure is predominantly shaped up of a large number of images of women which show the states of drunkenness. These images show young girls and women unconscious and their defenceless situation enables the reader to understand and share the feelings of vulnerability and thus the brochure creates empathy. Therefore, it can be easily understood that the rhetorical device of pathos has been used for emotional appeal.  

Of the four principals by Robin Williams (2008) for visual elements in a layout, repetition is used more frequently throughout the brochure. The repetition of the images has led to a cohesive sense and emphasised the message visually. However, many of the similar images are aligned together which has led to weakened the contrast of the brochure.

The text background of this brochure is based on black colour which induces the feeling of darkness. The texts with its dark background are chosen to be surrounded by images of young ladies. This composition provides the layout design with informative value and visually connects the centre and margin to convey the message more effectively.

Reference:

Drug Rape Brochure. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2019, from https://vuws.westernsydney.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-4406630-dt-content-rid-30288213_1/courses/101929_2019_spr/drugrape.pdf

Scene Analysis

In Movie the American Beauty

The film American Beauty is one of the most important movies in the history of cinema. According to the online database of IMDb, this movie has won five Academy Awards in 1999 (IMDb, 1999). The awards are included the Oscar’s Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (for the main character).

The last scene is important in this movie because it is a shortened version of the overall theme of the movie. Mendes sets out to reveal some incidents in the movie. Nevertheless, he extends to create a more important knot right at the end of the movie, which begs a whole series of questions. The movie comes to the end, but we still may have the question that what American beauty is and is that really beautiful.

The outset of the scene establishes a totally terrifying event in the whole narrative of the movie. Lester Burnham is enjoying the comfort of his conscience for he abstained from raping Angela Hayes because she is a virgin girl. Lester is sitting at a table with no guilt at all but a gun approaches his head from behind. Lester looks at the photograph of his family in front of him and says with calmness to himself "man o man o man".  The black and white photograph of the family in Lester's hands symbolises the extent of his family's relationships with him. The movie starts when he introduces all his family members but that introduction and almost all of the relationships are one-sided, ineffective, and absurd. This way the scene is connected to the overall theme of the movie by representing the family in a single photograph. The family that lacks the ability to prevent a terrifying incident. Lester is killed inside his house right in front of this photograph.

After the initial terrifying shots, the camera moves from left to right with some long tracking shots. These following shots combine a sequence of events in the present and past times in accordance with Lester's monologue. The monologue and the last scene convey two messages: first not acknowledging the true self may lead to a false and disastrous life, and second, it is almost inconceivable to judge about our life before it finishes. This can be easily understood when the sequence of tracking shots of old and new events ends to the video images of a plastic bag wandering in the wind. Lester explains he could be angry if this was not for beauty in the world. However, he is dead now and does not exist in this world anymore. That makes as if his monologue being said from another world, where he can express upon his lived experiences in a way that we cannot. We do not have that facility because we are still alive and confined to the process of living. How can we judge something that is not over yet? Thus, for us in confronting the life the question about American beauty remains unanswered. What American beauty is, and is that really beautiful?

References:

IMDb. (1999, October 1). American Beauty (1999). Retrieved on 17 August 2019 from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/

Mendes, S. (2012, May 18). American Beauty Ending (1999) [Video file]. Retrieved on 17 August 2019 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtbbqjiFaGY