Draft for travel writing (500 words):


Kilimanjaro

I'm here. Home. Finally. After my deadly decent from Kilimanjaro. The air here is somewhat different, more fragrant, more cool, more...appealing and welcome from up in the lairs of the mountain of Kilimanjaro. It splashes at my face - calming my expression instead of lashing at my face, burning me with its bitter charm. But this positive aspect is rudely being interrupted by constant unwanted pondering of thoughts and shivers as I replay fragments of my journey...

It’s my first dreary day and it’s hammering down. The rain feels like glass bullets piercing my soul increasing my lack of reality. Time has no meaning. I feel disorientated, out of control, seeping power to the mountains. Each step I take – I feel instantly weaker, my passion for climbing getting ever more deflated as it gets drained from me and replaced by what feels like a chain of disbelief and a lock preventing me to succeed.  I try to trooper on despite the negativity the weather has unleashed onto me.  But all I can see into the distance are trees, trees and more trees plastered in every direction, gradually decreasing in size due to the mountain perspective. I feel trapped in a maze, each course of action I take I am bounded by the same surroundings – it’s boring, no longer scenic and it’s only the first day of my three day trek! The wind has picked up rapidly (to my honour); it sends strands of my soaking wet hair gushing around in the wind, slapping me in the face every once in a while – for good measure I'm sure… My clothes are steadily disintegrating to my horror; they are torn, muddy and drenched – all qualities you aspire for in clothing that is meant to prevent you from over grown brambles, dirty material and water, at a minimum.  I lower my head, look at the floor and start to ascend the mountain (distances can be deceiving) – I can do this, I know I can!

My necks starts to feel strained, so I lift my head with hesitation and slight pain of motion. However the pain is put aside, when my attention is thrown towards the time of day it is presently. Night. Last time I looked up it was light out – day. I suddenly feel lost, disorientated; I must have got into a strict pattern of thought and action. But how can you be that oblivious to the change in light intensity? I must be dehydrated. I rummage through my rucksack to search for my water bottle but to my dismay its remains unseen. I need to find a water source - anything: a lake, a river, a puddle. Quick. As I abruptly search for water, my newly adapted night vision focuses in on the sky. It’s a calming, tranquil sky, full of colour and hope. It somehow soothes me, I continue to stare at its beauty... Although the sun had already set, gorgeous washed out streaks of purples and pinks remain; however attractive they are they’re being over powered by the ebony black canvas coating the ceiling above, but over staking the colour of the sky are the stars - they shimmer like diamonds, bringing life to the sky and to me.

Draft for my Newspaper Article (500 words): I will add pictures and the correct format on my final piece.

Don’t let the BRIZZLE, drizzle dry out of our region!

‘The accent is degrading and looks like our fellow citizens have not been educated correctly – bringing down the status of the area.’ A private school English teacher strongly states.

Many disagree.

The Bristolian accent is being demolished. Claims that people are frowning upon the “common” words and pronunciations Bristolians today use, has gone viral and has influenced a vast range of people’s opinions on the matter.

Whereas some want to disown the accent others are rather sentimental about its presence, mainly as its origin floods back to our ancestors and our history.  Miss Smith, aged 87 gives us an insight to what she perceives: “I have been around for many years and all through my time, so far, I have been surrounded by the sounds of the Bristolian folk. Whenever I am away from home and hear the sweet sound of the bristolian accent I kindle in the joy – a sense of security and homeliness is created just from the words spoken – oh I do love the feeling of belonging in a community.” A lady of a similar age, who wishes to keep her identity hidden, is part of the opposition; she explains, “There are numerous negative aspects about being tied in to a group – for instance a Bristolian stereotype being that we are badly educated and common. Not everyone fits into the stereotypical category so points made could be offensive and harmful for those ‘seen’ to be part of it."

She continues… “I for one don’t want to be categorised. I'm an individual, not a clone!” Quotes like the previous have started off sparks of rivalry between citizens of Bristol and people from elsewhere.

A recent on-line survey has been completed by a wide sample of people regarding the on-going debate, 500 people took part. The results show - 80% of people believe that the Bristolian accent is an important part of their identity, 15% thought that the accent demoralises their intelligence and 5% say the accent quarrel is pity and pointless.

Apart from the statistics, merchandise shows how the Bristolian accent is ‘mint’ (gorgeous) to the residents of Bristol and for tourists who visit. A well known brand, named ‘Beast’ is a popular business which sells products with Bristolian words/phrases on them, for example – ‘gert lush’. This shows how the Bristolian accent is loved by large amounts of people, recognised and how the accent has become an icon for the city. However this could be seen with negative vision due to the fact that tourists arrive in Bristol probably with hope and false pretences that everyone in Bristol will have a strong accent but this is not the case (the Beast stock could be seen as misleading).

Phrases and words Bristolian’s are ‘seen’ to have, are some of the following: ‘All right me luvver’ (How are you?), Hark at ee (Listen to yourself) and ‘casn’t’ (Can’t you...). Although the definition was placed alongside them, many could have hazarded a guess at what they mean because of the simple structure and similarity to what’s known as ‘proper’ English.

theguardian

 

TECHNOLOGY BLOG

Twitter is twittering its way up to the top…

 

Above is the Twitter logo, which captures our hearts and controls our screens


There is a rise in the amount of Twitter users, more and more people are signing up to join the millions of people who like to post comments about random topics, including their thoughts and feelings. This is due to simple accessibility in which Twitter can be retrieved - through devices like phones or apps like Facebook.

But ‘tweeting’ has bad aspects like the possibility of anonymous viewings, by people who you don’t know because “this is asymmetric, unlike Facebook, which requires you to confirm a friends request before they can see your status updates”.

Although there are numerous bad points about using Twitter, the popularity is growing “There are 100 million active Twitter users.” besides the duration of time spent on Twitter – “50% of these 100 million users log in every day.” This continuous attention means that Twitters popularity and recognition is getting more superior, competing with big companies (for instance ‘Facebook’)  – creating competition between the social networking sites.

 

Travel Writing

Sun, sea, sand. Portugal.  I've just stepped off the plane and immediately I am rummaging through my bag to grab my sun glasses – the sun is scorching yet welcoming even though it’s just beginning to set. The vivid purples and deep pinks are captivating me - making my smile even wider! My ears zone in on the laughter and chatter of holiday goers, they breathe a happy sigh as they realise the crisp view plastered in every direction the eye can see.  I join them for another quick glance before stepping into the refreshingly cool interior of the airport, prior to trying to locate my suitcase (like a needle in a haystack), they must have known the weather would be great, I chuckle to myself, of course it is Portugal! By the time we get to our villa, it is late. The stars are out, shining as bright as ever, like glittering diamonds –even at night Portugal is scenic! As lovely as it is, I can’t wait for the morning, I have my first outfit planned and am ready to hit the beach for banana boating!

The water is cold. *Burr* freezing in fact – such a contrast to the temperature on shore. Swim, I suddenly conjure, that would warm me up but every stroke sends salty water splattering into my face and eyes, partially blinding me. As my blur vision comes to an abrupt end, my sight focuses in on what is upon me. The banana boat. DUN DUN DUN. After we hoist ourselves up onto the boat, the engine roars, sending shivers to my spine – or is that the bitter water... This is it! The boat starts to move in quite a tranquil matter (this banana boating lark is easy), oh its gathering speed... Suddenly we hit a sharp corner, frantically we hold on as the water tempts you to fall in.  

Banana boating is fun; tomorrow I'm thinking water tubing!

THE GUARDIAN

NOTHING IS SOMETHING WHEN IT HAS A DEFINITION!

Talking about nothing. It’s actually harder than one may think, because when are you talking about nothing, even nothing has connotations... empty, boring, plain. So practically speaking ‘nothing’ isn’t actually nothing, is it? See I see you thinking, your scratching your wise old' heads, bums perched on seats gazing at this article in amazement - 'oh yeah' (true) you all chorus together.

                       - that is a variation of the term 'nothing'. Clever. You like? Of course you do! Here’s another nothing - ‘nothing’. The thing is, although nothing isn’t the answer to many things it is a powerful word and has many different language variations, for instance ‘unknown’ – this is crazy as the word means nothing, so why do you have variations of nothings? It beats me.

I took an extract from a Roald Dahl story - 'The Witches'.

"I cannot permit mice in

my hotel, madam," he said to my grand-mother.

"How dare you say that when your rotten hotel is full of

rats anyway!" my grandmother cried.

"Rats!" cried Mr Stringer, going mauve in the face.

"There are no rats in this hotel!"

"I saw one this very morning," my grandmother said. "It

was running down the corridor into the kitchen!"

"That is not true!" cried Mr Stringer.

"You had better get the rat-catcher in at once," my

grandmother said, "before I report you to the Public

Health Authorities. I expect there's rats scuttling all over

the kitchen floor and stealing the food off the shelves

and jumping in and out of the soup!"

"Never!" cried Mr Stringer.

"No wonder my breakfast toast was all nibbled round

the edges this morning," my grandmother went on

relentlessly. "No wonder it had a nasty ratty taste. If

you're not careful, the Health people will be ordering the

entire hotel to be closed before everyone gets typhoid

fever."

"You are not being serious, madam," Mr Stringer said.48

"I was never more serious in my life," my grand-mother

said. "Are you or are you not going to allow my

grandson to keep his white mice in his room?"

The Manager knew when he was beaten. "May I

suggest a compromise, madam?" he said.

I found that unreliable techniques were shown through the use of a fake anecdote that the grandmother uses in this extract "I saw one this very morning," my grandmother said. "It

was running down the corridor into the kitchen!", so I incorporated this into my text. Also I discovered that punctuation was key, in showing deception - the grandmother uses exclamation marks frequently to show this. I used ellipsis to highlight the dishonesty instead. The 'Witches' includes a sentence 'The Manager knew when he was beaten.' this shows how despite the lies, he didn't have the energy or time to argue, this sentences meaning fits into my text so I added something similar...

(Talking to herself in the mirror) I can not believe I'm a millionaire, I'm living the dream... I'm so glad I bought that scratch card . I said to myself, Margaret that card has your name on it, by it girl (smiling ferociously) and I WON, I'm a winner, W, I, N, N, E,R what does that spell (ding-dong, the door bell rings) Winn...

(Margaret opens the door, in her old scruffy clothes before embarking on her proposed shopping spree  for this afternoon)

‘Oh... Hey Julie’

‘Hey Margaret – I was thinking today if your not busy, did you want to raid the charity shops and find some new clothing delights, like we did last week? Before you say no, have you seen that tea stained, threading top you are wearing...  I think its time you bought some new clothes and I know you're broke, so don't worry this shopping trip is on me!’

‘Oh I...’ (she ponders, wondering whether to tell Julie of her new found fortune)

‘Come on treat yourself! I want to help you, it will make me happy, come on you know you want to put a smile on this old girls face?’

I cant lie... but then if I just ‘forget’ to mention that’s not a lie, surely... I'm making her happy if I go (knowing she's beaten she agrees)

‘Sure that will be greeeeat... I'm in desperate need of new clothes’

‘Yay, so I was thinking how about we have a £10 spending cap between us, meddle up some bargains, my treat? I am answering before you can say no , yeah sounds great – you totally saved my savings for food this week’

‘Oh right, thanks... Yeah you totally did... I had a jar full of coppers just waiting to be spent on food, I was really worried that I might have spent it and not have had enough money for the essentials – oh its a hard life...’

‘Just call me your hero from now on!’ (she said beaming)