Definig Terrorrism and Victims of Terrorism - Assignment Example

? Post-Positivist Exercise Post-Positivist Exercise Introduction A dis analysis is an evaluation of a logical flow of words in a text or narrative. This discourse analysis in particular was covered on a story that ran on “The Vancouver Sun” about a teenage girl who committed suicide following a case of cyber bullying that led to a school yard attack. This discourse tries to analyze the issues that are brought forth by the writer of the story and the coherency, information value, acceptability and its application in the real world are also brought into focus. The event that I analyzed was on a teenage girl, Amanda Todd, who fell victim of cyber bullying by committing suicide five weeks after posting a video detailing her heart wrenching harassment on YouTube. The discourse analysis was successful because the message of the text was clearly analyzed and questions like to whom and by who was the message addressed to, well analyzed and answered. Discourse Analysis A discourse analysis involves a close engagement with a text or transcript and the clarification of its significance and meaning through sophisticated and insightful work. This story was written by Gillian Shaw and Lori Culbert for the Vancouver Sun a newspaper with an online correspondent. The aim for this story is for the reader to consider how the issue of cyber bullying can impact on the victim’s life. Therefore, the text tries to create an awareness on the consequences of bullying in the life of a victim and as a result condemning the act altogether. The orientation of the story shows how the writer creates a visual picture to a reader by describing the events. The narrator states, “The mother of a teenager who died Wednesday of suspected suicide wants her daughter’s anti-cyber-bullying video to be used to help other young people. Fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd was found dead in a Port Coquitlam home at 6 p.m. Wednesday, five weeks after she posted a heartbreaking video on YouTube detailing how she was harassed online and bullied.” This gives a visual picture of the time, place and circumstance that resulted in the girl committing suicide. The narrator also introduces the characters in the story by describing their characteristic features. For Amanda Todd, the writer describes how she was harassed and bullied online, a fact that forms a fundamental basis for the whole story by showing the source of Amanda’s woes. Carol Todd, the mother of the deceased girl, is also introduced by the narrator describing her motherly and caring nature towards her daughter. The writer of the story foreshadows a problem that largely affects the progress of the story in its orientation. The narrator states that, “The mother of a teenager who died Wednesday of suspected suicide wants her daughter’s anti-cyber-bullying video to be used to help other young people.” This signals that the teenager was cyber bullied to an extent that she made a video about it. This information is not expressly stated by the writer but it is rather implied thus this foreshadow captures the reader earlier on in the story. From the orientation, the narrator heads on to complicate the story by introducing a problem and uncertainty as to what might happen is created. The writer tells us why Amanda posted a video in which she documents her painful story of how an embarrassing photo of her was circulated and she was bullied about it and later beaten up. This forced her to change schools and make an attempt on her life by drinking bleach, which was another source for her misery. Her harassers continued to torment her on her suicide attempt which complicates the story. This part of the story creates a bit of tension as it is unclear as to what might happen to Amanda. The writer later on states that, “In a message accompanying the video post, Amanda added: “I’m not doing this (video) for attention. I’m doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong.”” This somehow shows that the problem is heading for a possible solution as it looks as if Amanda has found a voice and she could probably soldier on through this dark period. The narrator provides a possible answer to the problem hence relieving the created tension earlier on in the story. However, the complication is yet to be resolved. The narrator reveals that the problem is yet to be resolved by stating that, “Students and staff at Amanda’s school were grieving her death Thursday.” This reveals that the complication has reappeared and that it was not fully resolved in the first place. By posting the video, Amanda had tried to help others by being an inspiration to them. Even though this had shown her courage and zeal to overcome the hardships she had undergone, eventually it proved to be too much for her and she took her own life. A resolution is ultimately achieved when the narrator seeks to solve the problem and documents the lessons learnt from the events. Solutions to those who feel the need to commit suicide are outlined as well as the various ways to help those who are depressed and are harassed by bullies. This story is written in the context of a society in which teenagers face cases of bullying from their peers. Most of the victims of bullying result in self-blame, depression, alienation and some even turn to self-harm. The story relates to the whole society and it addresses everyone to be involved in making the situation better. Fellow teenagers to stop bullying and for those being bullied, the story of Amanda Todd should be an inspiration to them to not wallow in self-pity and depression but to know that they can seek and find help. Other members of the society should also be involved in stopping bullying since it can affect even those close to them. The interest of the author of this story is to address the distress that victims of bullying go through and to show that the eventuality of it all can be suicide. The writer also seeks to inform the readers that there are options for those in such situations and that help is within their reach. They should therefore not despair in distress but seek audience from those who can help them. The story is also meant to speak out to the perpetrators of bullying and to inform them how their actions can be detrimental to others. Therefore, this story is meant for everyone in the society, and since it was published in a newspaper, the demographic is mostly adults in general. This story was published in the Vancouver Sun, a local newspaper in Vancouver with an online platform. The story must have been well researched on before writing; hence information from the Internet like the Facebook comments, the posted video on YouTube and the circulated photo, must have all been obtained prior to jotting the story. Interviews from the victim’s mother and data from the suicide hotlines and psychiatrist obtained. The effect of this story is to initiate a change to the whole society regarding the ills of bullying. The victims of bullying are offered a lifeline and a glimmer of hope is given to them as they are shown the options available to them for help. Parents and guardians of the victims are shown how to discover the symptoms of a teenager undergoing depression and the solutions available to them. For the bullies, their deeds are shown to have a fatal effect on their victims and a change of actions is warranted. This discourse aims to demonstrate and analyze the coherent and continuous story with regard to its purpose and meaning and its social practice defined by the environment’s social structures. This analysis brought about the issue of cyber bullying and the effects it had on a teenage girl who took her own life. This story is purposeful to the society as it affects all members of the society since everyone could be the victim, related to a victim, a perpetrator or even the savior of a victim. This story aims to analyze the options available to everyone in society regarding this issue. This is a post-positivist exercise since it is against positivism. For positivists, the researcher and the researched person are independent of each other. On the other hand, post-positivists argue that theories, knowledge and background of the researcher can influence what is observed. Post-positivists are of the belief that, rock-solid unchallengeable knowledge is not enough but human conjectures must also be included. This is a post-positivist exercise because the facts of the story are not enough for one to draw a certain conclusion. There are a number of words or phrases that are used within the text that sought to illicit a certain impact on a reader. The words at the beginning stating, “The mother of a teenager who died Wednesday of suspected suicide…” grab an audience as to what the article is all about. These words form the basis of the whole story since one is able to speculate what to expect as one continues to read the article. “But not all the chatter is positive.” This phrase is used by the writer to interchange a line of thought to show that not all Facebook users who commented on Amanda’s Facebook page connected with the issue. The use of this phrase is a technique used by the author of the piece to keep all the aspects of the story flowing and creating a sense of suspense to whoever is ready. Suspense creates an urge for the audience to keep reading a story so as to eventually know what will happen. There are a number of subjects in the article. First and foremost, we have Amanda Todd. The teenager who posted a video on YouTube documenting how she was bullied and she eventually took her own life. The video was made so as she could tell her story and hopefully reach out to others who needed help on the same issue. Amanda is the main subject of this story and whatever she did accounts for the bulk of the article, therefore outlining her importance in the transmission of the story to the reader. Amanda’s mother, Carol Todd, is also featured in the article as she shows her willingness for Amanda’s video to be an inspiration to other young people by being used as an anti-bullying tool. Other subjects who also account in the story are the supporters of Amanda in her memorial Facebook page and YouTube, namely; Jennifer Fincher, Amber Garofano, Ashley Soucy, Christy Clark and Molly Doyle. All of them supported and were touched by Amanda’s story in one way or another and therefore partly account in the coming together of the whole article. Those who bullied Amanda Todd are also subject who largely account in the narration of the story. These bullies form the root cause of the problem facing Amanda since they tormented and beat her up. This was to eventually result in the death of Amanda, a fundamental concept that is part of the blueprint of the whole story. There were also those who did not approve of the support being shown on Amanda’s Facebook page, like Mike Mace, who suggested that it was not the bully’s fault that Amanda had shown her breasts and gave out her information on the Internet. This showed the different angle that others like Mike Mace viewed the whole issue. The backlash that he received form Amanda’s supporters accounted to the story’s build up. Use of such rollercoaster emotional angles is a great technique that the author of the story uses to narrate and capture the readers. This story is produced in an environment where the cases of teenage suicide are on the rise. Teenage suicide could be due to various reasons all leading up to depression and a feeling of self-unworthiness. For this story to make an impact in the society that it is intended for, that society must be aware of this social issue and the members of that society will also be informed of ways to discourage this problem. The society will be notified of the on goings in the lives of teenagers and hopefully lend a hand in the reduction or eradication of this problem in that society. The story would be of great significance to those who have relations with teenagers since they could evaluate their state of mind in regard to bullying and hopefully motivate those who are in need of assistance. The interest of the author of the story is to spark an initiative among the readers of the article to help out in helping out in the addressing of the problem facing their society. The narrator of the story creates awareness on the issue by giving Amanda’s story and what led to her demise. It is worth noting that the writer is probably a member of the society of Vancouver and that the issue of teenage suicide could be a matter close to the author’s heart. Such an article involves a lot of research on the issue at hand for it to be well read. The writer must conduct interviews with the specific people mentioned in the article so as to find out information regarding Amanda, cyber bullying and any other information relevant in this story. The writing of the article must be approved by the editor of the newspaper and the go ahead given for it to be published. The creative part of narrating the story incorporates a lot of detail and it might take time to put together the article. The story might be handwritten then typed for it to be published in the newspaper or straight away typed using a typewriter or computer. Therefore, for the story to reach its intended readers, a lot of effort goes into the creative process, research bit, and the eventual publishing side of things. This story analyses a specific issue; teenage suicide from bullying. This story in form of text has been analyzed through the above discourse analysis to elaborate and examine the sources of cohesion, in-formativeness, situational circumstance and its reference to the actual world. The discourse produced recognized the social order in the Vancouver area and their social practices. This post-positivist exercise is therefore well expounded upon through the use of well-structured arguments and pointers. References Shaw, Gillian. Culbert, Lori. “Port Coquitlam Teen Driven to Death by Cyber Bullying (with video).” Vancouver Sun. Web. 12 Oct. 2012 Read More