Essay structure

INTRODUCTION

What goes into an introduction.
1. Topic (cop21, India)
2. Context -------> what will be discussed and analysed

How + using what tools/sources  it will be analysed.


Eg.
MTV GLOBAL WARMING ADVERT

TEXT- video commercial
Purpose- raise awareness and cause action

All media texts aim to- Inform, Entertain and Persuade

The MTV add is informative and it aims to persuade however it is also entertaining in order to raise awareness(to inform) and cause action (to persuade).

When analyzing this advertisement we will use: -AIDA
                                                                              -Language



What goes into the introduction?
- We mention that the advertisement was not a success because it does not reach its demographic..

Only 2 types of stories

-comedy (happy ending)
-tragedy (sad ending). Tragedy often falls upon the main character because of hubris.

Hubris- Hubris, Greek hybris,  in ancient Athens, the intentional use of violence to humiliate or degrade. The word’s connotation changed over time, and hubris came to be defined as overweening presumption that leads a person to disregard the divinely fixed limits on human action in an ordered cosmos. 

Critical thinking

Independent- is independent of bias (mostly)
Telegraph- Conservative (big c) newspaper
The Guardian-  Labor, Unions, Environment (left wing)
Economist- free trade (only newspaper arguing that Europe's borders should be open)
The NY times- for Americans this newspaper counts as left wing. Because Americans are in general very conservative. However for Europeans it is somewhere in the middle.
The economist was also the first paper which was concerned with the environment and global warning. It was skeptical until all the other sources proved that it was a real thing

How it all ends: global warming video (1-3)
PART 1
Pascals Wager- Risk management
National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
The Royal Society- The English scientific association (you have to be invited to become a part of it)

All these scientific organisations have said that the likelihood of Global warming to be true is much much higher than it not being true. Therefore the consequences if we do not take any actions will be much higher.

Even a lot of oil companies nowadays are admitting to global warming.
Do we even know enough to be debating the validity of climate change? (eg like the Manhattan project)


Key words;
-> risk management
-> Running the experiment
->Tipping point-  the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place
-> Global climate Destabilisation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People are prone to conformation bias. Confirmation bias is our Achilles heel.
Conformation bias- when you have an idea in your head and later go search for the evidence. This is bad because your brain will always negate the things you do not want to believe.
However we must be aware of it and we must avoid it!

Scientific thinking and critical thinking are the same thing.
Don't firstly look at what you believe and try to find evidence for it. Look at the evidence and then form your belief.

Where do we get the evidence? 
From a reliable source.

How do we find a reliable source?
All newspapers speak to their audience. Newspapers are reliable if you understand the bias or the stance of that newspaper.

Whatever you have been taught has a cultural bias. If they do not teach you what cultural bias is, you walk out of the classroom always believing that what they have taught you is completely true.

Evidence needs expertise to interpret it.

PART 2

Every idea or belief has uncertainties
If it its given for criticism it can be analysed which will either:
- make it stronger and more truthful
or
- it will be disavowed


PART 3- a summary

-Science is never 100% accurate.
- Every person is sometimes wrong. It is inevitable. Fallibility is a part of our DNA.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The more you know the more you realize how little you know.

Rhetoric- Is the language of persuasion. There are 3 types of rhetoric. Pathos.logos and ethos
Pathos- is emotion
Logos- is reason (eg listing, repetition)
Ethos-  Appealing to the deeds and words of great people, whether real or legendary. The following of great successful people.
Eg. transference back and forth of someone who has been successful.

Sarcasm is the tool of the weak and the dammed.

How is Raymond, as a key character, portrayed in the novel The Outsider?

How is Raymond, as a key character, portrayed in the novel The Outsider?

We see each character in the novel The Outsider through the narration of Meursault’s eyes. However we as the audience do not paint a picture of each character based only on what Meursault says. The whole description is built of stories, other people’s opinions, the characters actions, reactions and their habits. Raymond is one of the most important characters who happen to turn the whole novel around.  His characteristics might just be key to the whole novel. Therefore I look at how his character is displayed throughout the story.

Meursault’s description of Raymond’s physical appearance is quite short compared to the other factors, which Meursault takes into account. From the physical description we are already pointed towards Raymond’s self confident and presumptuous character. He is described as being ''fairly short, with broad shoulders and a nose like a boxer.'' Although Meursault never takes notice, or describes, Raymond’s characteristics, the reader is bound to make conclusions based on the descriptions given by Meursault. In this case when Meursault describes Raymond as ''fairly short, with broad shoulders''. The reader can assume that even though Raymond is at a disadvantage (being short) he stands true for what he believes in, which is portrayed by the broad shoulders. The '' nose like a boxer'' stands to back that up because the comparison to a boxer can be associated with the fearless behaviour of one in the ring. Hence we come to the conclusion that Raymond will always fight for who he is or what he believes in, despite any disadvantages he might have or be in. From the short description, which is provided by Meursault we also come to the conclusion that he does not judge, people based on their looks.

Secondly we can understand more of Raymond’s character from what others deem of him. Meursault does not pin what others think of Raymond to him, it doesn't change his opinion in any way. ''Local people say he lives off of women.''  This is a conclusion, which Meursault would have never thought of, therefore Camus presents it in the book as something the local people think of Raymond, to help the reader understand more about him.  The reader can therefore understand that Raymond takes no consideration with the feelings of others and has no remorse. This is later on reassured when Raymond openly admits that he knows what other people think. ''He immediately added that he knew what local people said.'' He mentions it to turn down such a conclusion but the mere action of bringing it up portrays that he simply doesn't care what others say. This is because we later find out that the local sayings about Raymond are correct, he disagrees with them yet he doesn't do anything to change their assumptions. Showing that he simply doesn't care.

Furthermore, as I have mentioned earlier Meursault does not take any notice of characteristics. Therefore Camus has included Raymond’s characteristics into the novel through Raymond’s own words.  ''It's not that I'm a troublemaker, but I am no coward.'' Again Raymond talks about himself not only to reassure Meursault but also to give a better idea of who he is to the reader. Referring back to my first paragraph Raymond’s description of himself proves that he stands strong for what he believes in and that he never underestimates himself. As conveyed by ''I am no coward.''  On top of that Camus has Raymond explain his own story so that the reader can make conclusions about him more easily, mainly because he is less narrow minded than Meursault.  ''He went for me first.'' Through Raymond’s description of the event, not only can the reader tell that Raymond never carries the blame himself, we can also relate back to Meursault’s visual description of him as our conclusion of his presumptuous character is bolstered.

Lastly as Meursault describes the physical condition of Raymond’s room, we can make assumptions of his character through objects. ''His room was dirty and the bed unmade.'' As Meursault is a very literal observer the reader only receives a limited amount of knowledge on Raymond’s character from Meursault. However from literal descriptions such as ones of his room we as the reader can conclude quite a lot about him. The fact that his room was left in a poor condition points to Raymond’s lack of the primary principle of order and hygiene. From him leaving the room, he spends most of his time in, untidy also conveys that he is unable to organise himself to find the time where he could clean it up for the sake of his well being. Otherwise it simply shows that Raymond does not care.  ''Some photos of famous sportsmen and two or three pin ups.'' The vague description of his room decor shows that he just doesn't care. Using words such as ''some'' and ''two or three'' portrays the random placement of the objects in his room and links back to Raymond’s untidy nature.

In conclusion if the novel was to be written primarily from Meursault’s mind, without any quotations, stories or thoughts of other people, it would be very hard for the reader to paint a picture of each character. This is because Meursault as a narrator is very honest however at the same time he can focus on something completely unimportant and as a result can come across as narrow minded. What we also learn is that Raymond is a very universal character, one which is typically confident and full of self esteem, someone who is bound to start a conflict and turn the novel around.

Meursault change in character

The Development of Meursaults Character Throughout the Novel The Outsider

The novel The Outsider itself is split into two parts. In the first part we see the world through Meursaults eyes before he kills the Arab, and the second part that is also seen through Meursaults eyes however it is after the incident. We can identify small individual changes, which lead to a completely different Meursault as a whole. Noticing that he learns how to make a choice, he gradually begins to understand peoples behaviours, his own behaviour also changes from a passive to active one and finally he also begins to understand the significance of his own life.

Gradually towards the end of the novel Meursault realises that he can act past his immediate feelings to best fit the situation, as he grasps the presence of a choice.  In the first half of the novel Meursault is not capable of measuring the pro's and cons of his decisions but uses intuition for all the actions he takes. ''(She) asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said I didn't mind.'' A great example of how Meursault sees only one way out of each situation that he is in. He is convinced that whatever happens is right, because in the end it all won't matter anyway, therefore he makes no choices in his life. When Marie confronts him about a life-changing event like marriage one could say he reacts indifferently, forcing her to make the decision. However after the incident Meursault slowly learns to act against his beliefs to achieve something he wants. ''I gave the impression that I was agreeing with him. To my surprise he was exultant.'' Here Meursault actively makes the choice of going against his beliefs to make the examining magistrate go away. We can see the development of Meursaults character because he uses reason to determine his reaction. The reader can actively see him making a choice which benefits his situation, something he was unable to do beforehand.

Secondly Meursault moves from feeling clueless about people’s emotions to understanding what others feel about him. In the first part of the novel he describes others with great detail yet he fails to understand them. After following a lady who he met at Celestes restaurant he says ''I thought how peculiar she was, but I fairly soon forgot about her.'' Mersault follows her in the hope of understanding her further however after he fails to do so he goes back to what he was doing earlier without thinking about it in greater detail. He just accepts the fact that he doesn’t understand. However upon being locked away and questioned about his relationship with others, he learns to analyse and understand what people think of him. ''I think I recognised the expression that I could see on every face. I'm quite sure it was one of respect.'' Right after being sentenced to death Meursault claims to understand that the people in court show signs of respect. Something he would never have been able to point out before, as he would only see the physical aspects of ones behaviour. We know this because respect would not be the first expression one would expect to see after committing a murder.

Another distinct change we see in Meursault is, his behaviour becomes much more active rather than passive. We can see this in the last chapter of the novel once Meursault chooses to yell at the Chaplain. ''I started shouting at the top of my voice and I insulted him.'' It is clear that during the last few hours of his life, Meursault disagrees with the Chaplains opinion and is mostly annoyed with his wish to lecture him. Meursault does not accept the chaplain’s intentions and actively protests to show his disagreement. Something Meursault would never have done at the start of the novel. ''He asked me if I'd mind doing it right away and I said no.'' In contrast when Raymond asks him to write a letter to his girlfriend at the start of the novel so that Raymond can beat her up later, Meursault simply agrees. He agrees to write the letter for the sole purpose of having no reason not to. He accepts Raymond’s plans letting Raymond make the decision.  Showing that he will allow anyone to take the decision for his even if it is not morally correct, because again to him it makes no difference.

Finally, Meursault realises that his life is not indifferent to one of others. We can see that Meursault looks upon his life in a different manner right before his death, he realises that his life is of some importance to him yet he does not view it with complete enthusiasm. ''There was nothing to permit me such a luxury.'' The day before his execution Meursault ponders upon the option of escaping his own execution, after thinking about it he comes to the terms that there is no way. He thinks whether there have been instances where prisoners managed to escape their death, and in the end he looses all hope and labels such an event as 'luxury'. This lets the reader know that Meursault has experienced recognition for his life. The implausible chance of him continuing to live sounds astounding, he however knows that there is no chance of that happening and the fact that he labels the opportunity to live as a ''luxury'' we know that he has come to appreciate all the small things he has had in his life.  We also know that Meursault regrets his lack of personal interest in his own actions, especially his crime. ''the very second it was taken, its consequences became just as certain, just as serious, as the fact that I was lying there flat against the wall.'' When he speaks of the decision made to sentence his to death he labels the actions followed by such a decision as 'consequences'. This leads us to believe that he knows it is his own fault that he is in such a situation and that he does regret it. Linking back to the passion he now feels towards his own life.

In conclusion, the crime Meursault committed forced him to think over his fundamental values and contributed to his change in character. At the end of the novel he comprehends the ability to make a choice for which he uses reason to determine it. He is also capable of observing people and understands what they feel, he becomes more active rather than passive and finally he understands there is meaning to his own life.

Mersaulting

Incident 2 – After a dog foolishly approaches mine and Kelly snaps at it, the owner calls it back hysterically. Apologising to me for the inconvenience.

The sky was lit by a dim orange light that rested on the clouds and the smell of the winter air I knew so well rolled around me. Kelly was walking happily on a leash beside me, tugging on it occasionally in the hopes that I would set her free.  Our path was crossed by a round, lady and what seemed like her meddling, old poodle. The mutt jolted towards us and I stepped in front of Kelly in the hopes of stopping her from injuring the dog.  I just really didn’t want to hear the lady complain to me about Kelly’s behaviour. Despite my obvious annoyance and Kelly’s distressed stance the poodle kept pushing and the lady didn’t seem bothered by it. So I stepped aside and continued walking in a calm manner. Not to my surprise, Kelly snapped at the poodles wagging tail and whilst whimpering it scurried back to the old lady. She inspected the poodle in worry and I felt the need to apologise, but I changed my mind because after all it wasn’t my fault. The lady should have seen that it was an uncomfortable situation and should have called the poodle back to protect it, so in reality it didn’t matter to me. The poodle seemed fine.

Incident 3- someone getting mad at a child for not looking left and right before crossing the road

I walked to the bus station to wait for the number 5 bus.  I do so whenever I need to go to the grocery store for my mum to be able to cook the lunch I desire. I wasn’t in a hurry but I turned the corner just to see the bus approaching the station. At that moment a child made a break for it and darted across the main road without checking the street for oncoming traffic.  I watched the mother squeal in despair as the kid barely made it across without getting hit. Not only did he not manage to catch the bus, the mother seemed furious as she herself reached the other side of the road.  At the top of her voice she screamed at her child, lecturing him about road safety and repeating the same question over and over again. ‘’How many times have I told you Todd?! Always look left and right before crossing the street!’’ Upon being done with her lecture she threatened him about the consequences that were to follow if he did that one more time. The child looked up at her with teary eyes as she finally stopped shouting at him. Something changed and she embraced him, telling him all was to be fine. Just then the next bus came and we all got on board.

Climate Change

India Unveils Climate Change Plan - The Guardian 
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/02/india-pledges-40-percent-electricity-renewables-2030

''World’s third biggest greenhouse gas emitter says it will source 40% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources, ahead of Paris climate summit''
A few months before the Paris climate conference India has come up with a goal which they wish to achieve by the year 2030. They wish to decrease their dependance upon the use of fossil fuels by 40%. They wish to replace this use of fossil fuels with natural energy and methods which do not release CO2. Therefore as their population is expected to rise from 1.2 million to 1.5 million by the year of 2030, their gas emissions do not increase drastically with that. Hence they will help lower the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

''It is the last major economy, following 140 other countries including China, the US and the EU, to submit a climate change plan to the UN before international talks to reach a deal on tackling global warming in Paris this December.'' Being the last country to come up with their plan for the future, we can assume that India was in fact having a hard time trying to come up with a deal which would benefit their country as well as the whole planet. We can assume that India heavily depends on the use of fossil fuels to drive their economy forward, hence coming up with a way to give up the use of fossil fuels and at the same time move forward as an economy was hard for them.

'' Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), focuses on clean energy, including solar power, which the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has already strongly backed. It also promised to plant more forests by 2030 to absorb carbon emissions.''  India has recognized the fact that just decreasing their use of fossil fuels will only postpone the speed at which our planet is warming up, therefore they have presented their plan of planting trees to not only help decrease the rise of greenhouse gasses but to try and decrease their levels overall.

COP21: India signals willingness to cut coal for climate cash- BBC news http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34989719

''Dr Ajay Mathur said coal would be restricted if there was help to pay for "more expensive" green energy.''

India has made their wishes very clear at the cop21, they are more than willing to contribute to the global warming crisis, decrease their fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions, provided that they are given sufficient capital to drive their economy forward. With the large increase in their population they count on the development of their country. 

''India's need for coal is driven by the huge numbers who do not have electricity, estimated to be around 300 million people.'' As I have mentioned earlier, India's main reason behind the use of material such as coal is the need for development. Even though the price of solar energy had decreased by a large amount, it is still believed to be twice as expensive as coal. Therefore India has proposed to stop the burning of coal if they get sufficient funds for renewable energy. They say that if they had the money, they would rely much more on wind and sola power than on cheap resources such a s coal.