How do you Learn a Dead Language? ACTS

How do you learn a dead language is an article. Likely it is a news article as it is not opinionated and merely informs as opposed to persuading as magazine articles tend to.
The audience and purpose are also rather easy to discern. The audience is likely comprised of those over the age of twenty, as they are more likely to read the news than those of a younger age. Additionally, the target audience is probably more cultured and has a higher education. As those with a greater education are the ones who can help to rectify the problem. The purpose is to inform and warn. The article does take a stance on the issue, saying, by its mere existence, that the loss of a language is abhorrent. However it does not proceed to argue why, which is why it is not a persuasive piece. One of the first lines of the text is "Linguists fear that 19 more will soon follow the same fate". This a clear warning that other languages may laps into extinction. This warning is furthered by mentioning that those 19 languages are specific to the Native Alaskan tongues.
The content and theme of the piece is fairly straight forward. It begins by mentioning the loss of chief Marie Smith Jones. She is the last native Eyak speaker. Then it explains how 19 similar languages will laps in the same way. But it does mention that the language was well preserved in the event of its extinction. Though it does not mention if the 19 others are being preserved as well. Then it proceeds to explain the qualifications for a well-preserved language. As it happens, to be well preserved there must be a dictionary (hopefully with pronunciation), grammar book, as well as some religious or cultural texts. If it is poorly preserved, then linguists have to use what remains, and borrow the rest.
Usually they borrow from related languages. It also explains the definition of extinct. In this case it means that the language is not used in common place settings but is used for one particular reason. One example of this is Latin, which is taught in schools and used in religious ceremonies. It then proceeds to explain how Hebrew was brought back. During an outbreak of Jewish nationalism, they decided to revive Hebrew. Couples reverted to Hebrew, with what was missing filled in, and used it at home with their kids. Their kids were then sent to Hebrew only schools. Their children were the first native Hebrew speakers in a long time. Cornish, it mentions,was only revived from a few passion plays and a lot of borrowing from Welsh and Breton, the two most similar Celtic languages. It also mentions a language made usable by actors on only 500 words of vocabulary. There are a few central ideas to the text. Primarily it is about the loss and revivification of languages. It also goes over in great detail what is necessary in order to recreate a language to a usable state.
The tone of the piece is very formal. It mentions quite a few statistics and generally uses neutral words such as documentation, primary means of communication, and Celtic. All of these examples are more likely to be used in an academic paper. The mood is very solemn and aloof.
Several literary devices are used as well. There is the anecdote of the recreation of Virginia Algonquian with only a 500 word documentation for a movie. Also the anecdote of the revival of Cornish using two similar languages. There is quite a bit of appealing to logos, as there are facts throughout, such as the dates of decisions to revive languages, number of speakers etc.
The structure is fairly standard for a news article. It contains one picture, of the deceased chief Marie Smith Jones. then normally formatted paragraphs. It contains a variety of statistics. The title is very provocative mentioning the ever feared death, but in regards to language.
Thus, i believe that how do you learn a dead language is a news article. We have looked at the article through the lens of logic and through a more penetrating light.

Native Advertisements

Native advertisement is when news companies agree to “sneak” advertisements into their reports disguised as actual news. This takes many forms though primarily is found in print advertisements. Below is a link to one such native advert.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/abagg/kid-rave

The audience seems to be adults, as the title grabs the attention of the viewer effectively, be it parents or children. The audience then finds that there is a company, CrizKiz, which plans fun and adventurous parties for little kids (6-12 years old). As we can see from the first few lines, it attempts to persuade the reader that this kind of party is superior to other young childrens’ parties.

The text is made of a lot of pictures attempting to show the different party style and also the reaction of the kids as better when compared to the norm. The tone is excited yet laid back. In that, the kids are very clearly having a great deal of fun and the parents in the pictures are completely okay with what is happening around them.

Like many other native advertisements, it blatantly advertises CrizKiz, but tries to conceal its own bias, which it does not do very well. It uses personal pronouns in order to appeal to a wide range of people, hence creating a bandwagon effect. The engagement comes in the title when it mentions a group of elementary school students raving like adults. It is high developed through the pictures and sentences to seem like a real news article. However, it is not diverse in structure or word choice. It uses very few literary devices, trying to seem normal and spontaneous. 

Generation like

Empowerment was a word heard often in the video Generation Like and in social media at large. But how much empowerment if any does social media provide? Firstly it is necessary to analyse where this empowerment comes from. The empowerment comes from as sense of achievement tied to the number of likes you have, erday the number of people think you are right. The thing is, the empowerment happens at the expense of others. When some people say something 1000 may like/agree, for other the number could be less then 10. It empowers at the expense of others. That said, yes it can indeed provide the kind of empowerment that having a roomful of people say you are right did in the past but on a larger scale. So the answer to the above question is sometimes.

Odd Videos

For my video, I choose to do Empty Walls by Serj Tankian. Link is displayed below for those who have not seen it as well as a transcript.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSBj4XxYd7k

"Empty Walls"

Your empty walls...
Your empty walls...
Pretentious attention
Dismissive apprehension
Don't waste your time, on coffins today
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins today

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

I want you
To be
Left behind those empty walls
Taunt you
To see
From behind those empty walls

Those empty walls
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins today

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

I want you
To be
Left behind those empty walls
Taunt you
To see
From behind those empty walls
Want you to be
Left behind those empty walls
I taunt you
To see
From behind those empty walls

From behind those empty walls
From behind those empty walls
The walls
From behind those empty walls

I loved you
Yesterday, before
You killed my family.

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

I want you
To be
Left behind those empty walls
Taunt you
To see
From behind those empty walls
Want you to be, left behind those empty walls
Taunt you
To see
From behind those empty walls
From behind those empty walls
From behind those fucking walls
From behind those goddamn walls
Those walls...
Those walls...

In the video, we see a large group of children playing war. Normally this is not of much note, as it is something done in ignorance of what is implied within the word and the actions behind the word. The loss, permanence, pain, change, and fear are largely unseen to children. They act as though they were shot stay down for a minute then jump right back up as if nothing had happened. This case however, shows us children playing war with full knowledge of its toll. This fact is evident in the way they play. Some are shown being executed before their implied families. Others are shown piloting the famed 9/11 plan. Still more are shown in the bouncy house, acting as though it is a prison. This is, as it is intended, appalling. The implication is one no being with the ability process emotion wants to have. It says that, those represented, are malicious killers with no regard for the sanctity of life. And all that from those who are represented as our future, the most pure form that we can be. What is the purpose behind it? It serves as a means to rebel against the increased tensions between America and Iraq/Iran. But who was marginalized (not represented) in that video? Everyone was marginalized. In the video we see kids of both genders and many different ethnicities all partaking of the violence. This is intentional. And it is one of the primary reasons it bothers us. It shows humanity as a completely evil and warmonger thing. That is what makes it an effective form of protest. 

Written Task #2 question

I chose to do the first two ads I showed, links attached
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oapOBX_qGWQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFA0xYbFY0I

The ads I choose involve quite a bit of marginalization. The ads depict those of Asian descent as having one personality. This marginalization is common to both ads.
The first ad tries to sell a cereal known as rice krinkles. Doubtless, the mascot for this cereal, the small man, was chosen because the primary ingredient is rice. Additionally the man is very impatient in regards to the education of the child. Specifically he yells when the child cannot remember the word 'krinkles'. After that, the ad proceeds to misrepresent the culture it steals from.

There are several problems with the image above. To start, the lamp depicted is the stereotypical chinese lantern. This kind of lantern, most closely resembling the sort used in temples and shrines, is one of only five kinds of chinese paper lanterns. The tree in the background is now considered Japanese not Chinese. Though the art started in China, the people of Japan were the ones to continue and refine the process known as Bonsai. Additionally, the costume the boy is wearing only represents part of the truth. It is known as Hanfu, a style of clothing popularized in the time just before the foundation of the Chinese republic. A rickshaw, mentioned throughout the commercial, is a form of sedan chair. Sedan chairs were used to move nobility from place to place so they would not need to walk.
Both ads have a similar take on language. In both cases, the narrator has trouble pronouncing "R" and "L" any differently. For that matter, he also has trouble pronouncing most of the words he says in a border line comical way. He speaks them with a very heavy accent. His word choice is poor, almost at a child's level. His grammar is just as poor. These are all stereotypes of people of asian descent. Everyone of these stereotypes reflects the thoughts of the past.

Convincing you not to smoke

In the particular ad I presented on, many different things were portrayed. There was a certain serenity provided by the lake and the act of fishing. This is to show that patience and calm are required for something as delicate as an addictive problem. The people fishing are seemingly portrayed as father and daughter due to their relative size. This promotes the ideal of family before all, since no other people are present. In the text, the word help is emphasized over the rest of the words. This is done by making it larger, bold, and red instead of black. This is done to promote the ideal of compassion. Additionally the text at the bottom says "talk to your kids, they will listen". This is to encourage parents to take a greater role in their kids' lives by assuring them that their kids will be receptive to the parents' advice on problems.It focuses particularly the problem of youths smoking.  Teens and adults alike are empowered. Additionally no one is marginalized or excluded. In order for the ad to be effective it must apply to all. In order to do so this ad must not show the faces of the people present. Thus it does not, only showing their profile partaking in a common family activity. The point of this ad is to stop teenage smoking. This is a true problem in the United States of America. That fact makes this identifiable to many adults and teens in the country where drug abuse is rampant.

Why WW2 was not Germany's fault

Many are quick to pin the blame for WW2 on Germany. People use their starting of WW1 as proof. they say that the germans were unhappy after their defeat and humiliation. But, odd as it may seem, the people to blame are the Entente of WW1.
While nearing the end of WW1, the german spirit had been broken. The people were malnourished and over worked. The autocracy fell and they needed a new government.
So the Entente established the Weimar Republic. However, the european portion of the entente, meaning France and Britain at the time, were not content with only defeating the Germans. They imposed reparations, or large fees due to the losers of a war as an apology and to pay for damages. the brand new, nearly unaided, and complete priha that was the Weimar Republic had no money. So they began to print and print in order to pay off the Entente. Unfortunately, the only real effect of all the money printing was rapid inflation. No one saw an increase in pay. So a loaf of bread costed about a wheel barrel full of marks, the form of money at the time. This increased the ill feelings in Germany. Why was no one helping? What could the people to to feed their families? There were no answers to be found in germany.
Until a man name Hitler used his rhetoric to persuade a nation. He told them that he had the solutions, that he could fix germany and feed her families. So the people did the only thing they thought they could. They followed that man i to war again. To prove german superiority (no one is superior based on race) and reclaim what had been stole from them. They wanted their old lives back, and we forced them into following one of the most evil men of all time.