Technology Blog

The Guardian
Technology Blog
Jemma Stewart
{pic of me here}  

               IS TWITTER TAKING OVER OUR LIVES?

"21% Of The Global Internet Population Now Use Twitter Actively"- (source from http://digitalmarketingshow.co.uk/industry-news/21-of-the-global-internet-population-now-use-twitter-actively ) 

 The latest statistics show that Twitter has been a very important part of the global growing population’s lives. The impressive, staggering statics show a massive increase as Twitter is being used frequently by millions over the world.

 

 Facebook who?  The impressive figures show that companys such as Facebook, which was once popular are now being left behind. Figures from Prdaily.com 2012, There are over 500 million registered profiles. This is an incredible figure than anyone would be impressed by. Jack Dorse, creater of Twitter must be very chuffed with himself and the recent figures. How amazing is it that you can follow every single tweet about your celebrity on a daily basis to find out what they are doing at every breathing moment. Many of these celebrities people such as Stephen Fry, Bill Gates, Tim O'Reilly and many more.

Travel Writing to entertain

My Egyptian Holiday
17th August 2012. 

Walking through the Egyptian desert in the blistering heat. Supposedly having a relaxing holiday but no, instead I have been dragged by my parents away from the pool to visit some pyramids, typical.

If the sun ray hitting my back like piercing daggers in the 40 degree heat wasn’t bad enough I am exhausted and fed up and want to go back to the plush hotel. To make things worse I have exasperate Egyptian men in my face trying to crowd me like hungry birds, attempting to sell their junk jewellery. 

To top things off did I mention Egyptian men keep hassling me? For example just earlier some man appeared out of the blue querying my Mother to see if he could buy me for camels. Terrified, I stepped back and hoped he was joking. My Mother then joked about giving me away for free. I felt a rush of panic and nervously laughed. The man then approached me and went to pick me up but I didn’t find this very entertaining, more awkward.

 Swiftly moving on I keep getting asked if I want to purchase a camel ride. I mean seriously… yes I would love the get on to this dribbling, dirty camel that is spitting everywhere, and not even know where it would take me, NOT. I would much rather be led out by the pool on a sunbed, watching the pool water glisten, whilst getting served refreshing drinks. Maybe to Egyptian adventures are not for me.

Egypt Persuasive Travel Writing

Geoffrey's Monologue

The Vicar's Life
Geoffrey is the Vicar of the local church. He spends his free time reciting the bible and practicing chess. It’s Sunday morning and Geoffrey is lying in bed.

I have been blessed waking up to my winsome wife Susan. Christ is that the time 8:58? Why I am late for the Sermon, God will not be happy with me, hopefully he can forgive my sin of having a lie in. Susan is very quiet today, bless her. As a matter of fact, Susan has been quite, well.. very detached from me recently, I will try consoling her later.

My sermon is much rehearsed, I’ve been preparing my speech about marriage and the old birds and the bees speech. I ruffle my hair and head to the church. Surrounded by the local families, I smile cheerfully, “Not too late am I?” I apologise and swiftly unlock the church doors.

Figurative Language

Figurative Language is not literally true. Four common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. I have been reading the Hunger Games and have found many examples of Figurative Language. 
 
Simile: A Simile is a comparison between two unlikely things by using the words “like” or “as”.
Example in the book: “But it’s lovely, deep down under the water, like being in a different world.” Page 253. This compares the underwater as being so spectacular it is like living in another world because it is so different. The use of simile shows how amazing it is and how it is not the same, it’s comparing it to something unreal. 

Metaphor: A Metaphor is similar to a Simile, yet it states something as something not just like it. It describes something as “It is” or “I am”.
In the book, Katniss is referred to as “Katniss, the Girl on Fire”. She isn’t really on fire. The metaphor shows her as being on fire to show how rebellious she is and she is the spark that is willing to set the district alight with the idea of change. The use of this metaphor shows her character as very courageous and brave, giving her this nick name.

Personification: Personification is a technique of giving a non-human thing a human quality such as hearing feelings, talking, and making decisions.
 …"still nights when we go to bed with our stomachs growling." Page 9. This personification is showing the stomach as growling like what a bear does when it sees its prey. The use of personification is representing them as being extremely hungry as their stomach has powers that are not human.


Hyperbole: Hyperbole is an exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe that the statement is true. Hyperboles can be used to exaggerate something so much that it is humorous.
  “The laughter drains from those eyes, and they are staring so intensely into mine." Page 254. The use of hyperbole is shown when it says “so intensely”. This exaggerates the fact that they are staring; it is very intense which makes it more interesting as the hyperbole create a scarier and more interesting mood. The use of hyperbole is very effective at setting the mood to be very dark and mysterious.

Lesson Overview

This week I have learnt many new language features and terms that I didn't know previously. The term "GRAMPS" Is very helpful as it helps analyse text. This is due to G standing for genre, R for Register, A for audience, M for mode, P for purpose and S for subject. This is very helpful and I will remember this for the future as I analyse texts.
 
I was reminded of Lexical fields which are a group of words that share meanings. Also that Connotation is what a word symbolises such as an apple representing temptation from Adam & Eve story, and the denotation is the exact meaning of the word such as apple = small, round, fruit, red. Semantics is the meaning of the word.