Independent Writing Project: Sports Fiction

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

I hope you will enjoy reading my piece, but before that, here are a few things that I feel will help you understand and appreciate my piece better.

My piece is about two high schoolers, Darius and Jacob, and their journey to get along through the game of basketball. They are both very talented basketball players, arguably the two best players in the grade, but they just can’t get along. Their relationship has gotten off to the wrong start as Jacob has developed an erroneous impression of Darius and Darius isn’t interested in becoming friends with Jacob. This tension between them transfers to the basketball court during the regular season and playoffs. And the only way to win the championship is to work together.

Being a basketball player myself, I enjoy reading sports books. After reading numerous Mike Lupica stories, I’ve began to gain an interest in the genre of sports. I saw this unit, the Independent Writing Project, as an opportunity to write in the genre I loved to read.

One thing to note is that I wrote this piece in third person and payed special attention to the way I used dialogue. I wanted used dialogue to display the different characters and personalities and used the narrator’s voice to explain and connects the different perspectives. Finally, I set a goal for myself at the start of this unit: to use irony in my piece. I studied about irony in the Graphic Novel unit and wanted to include this element in my writing.

Finally, what is attached below is still a work in progress. This isn’t the final, completed product and I plan to add more chapters to this book.

Overall, I am pretty proud of my piece and I hope you enjoy!

Johan Chua

May 24 & 25, 2017

Flashback: School Hallways, August 20, 2017

“I loathe Darius. Period. There is no way I will ever like him.” Jacob grumbled to Ray as they were walking down the hallway.

“Why- and speaking of Darius, here he is,” Ray said, pointing to Darius who was the center of attention in his friend group. As Jacob and Ray passed by the Darius and his friends, they all suddenly started looking at Jacob while trying their best to stifle their laughter. Embarrassed and puzzled, Jacob, with his head down, walked as quickly as he could, evading the uproar. After turning the corner of the hallway and getting out of sight from Darius, Jacob expeditiously kicked the nearest locker.

“Woah there. Relax. Why are you so mad?” commented Ray.

“Him! Darius. He keeps on talking about me, making me look bad in front of all the popular kids.” Jacob replied.

“It’s fine. See, my mom told me this: What someone says about you says more about them than about yo-”

“I don’t care what your mom told you! I'm going to class.”

Darius isn’t as bad as Jacob thinks he is. What Jacob didn’t know was that Darius was actually laughing at his good friend, Charlie, behind Jacob. Charlie was trying to do the Moonwalk but was failing miserably, so bad even he himself was laughing. Darius pointed this out to all his friends and soon enough, everyone was dying of laughter. It had nothing to do with Jacob.

And it was because of instances like these, Jacob has gotten a negative impression of Darius, and Darius has developed a sense that Jacob doesn’t want to become friends and get along with him.

What?!: Coach’s office, February 15, 2017

“Congrats on making the playoffs Coach! With two players as talented as Jacob and Darius on the same team, Los Angeles High should easily win the championship,” the school’s principal told Coach Scott, the coach of the school’s varsity team, the one with Jacob and Darius.

“Well...We’ll see,” Coach replied.

Confused, the principal questioned, “Why do you seem unsure about that?”

“There’s a slight issue: they don’t work well together. And honestly...this lack of chemistry will be revealed when we play good teams later in the semis and finals. I mean, they carried the team to the playoffs, but it's very likely that they will fall apart when they play good teams.”

Coach was right. With the semifinals and finals coming up soon, Jacob and Darius better learn how to work together, because hogging the ball and doing everything one on one style will not work.

Darius...: School Hallways, February 15, 2017

“So how was your game yesterday?” Ray asked Jacob.

“Same as usual: Darius doesn’t pass whatsoever. Like, just before the first half ended, our team got the rebound and I sprinted down the floor, Darius had the ball and he saw that I was wide open, but instead of passing it, with the clock running down, he chucked it from halfcourt and it didn’t even come close. During the plays, whenever I cut and am wide open, he doesn’t pass. He chooses to shoot contested fadeaway shots instead of passing it to a wide open teammate for three.”

“Maybe he didn’t see you. Did you call for it?” Ray asked.

“Yep, so loud that people outside the gym could hear me. Plus, he has decent court vision”

“Well, that’s not good,” Ray commented.

“Obviously!”

First Round of Playoffs: Gym, February 20, 2017

“Let's go boys!!!” Darius yelled. It’s the semi-finals. Los Angeles High vs Lynbrook High.

In the huddle, Coach Scott told the team, “Lynbrook is a pretty easy team, but that doesn’t mean we don’t play our hardest. Let's go out there and get this W. LA High on 3. 1, 2, 3, LA High.” Bzzzzzz. The game began.

LA High started strong, going on a 10-0 run in the first half. This was their game to win. Buckets after buckets from Darius and Jacob. Jacob would get the ball, jab step, fake left, drive right, reverse layup finish, and one. Darius two dribble pull up from three. Jacob scores, then Darius scores, Jacob scores, and so on. Both of them would not pass to anyone. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 50-33, LA with a 17 point lead. This was their opportunity to advance to the finals, this was Jacob and Darius’ opportunity to compete for the championship. All they had to do was not blow this lead. Then came the fourth quarter.

Lynbrook High’s ball. They quickly inbounded the ball, pushed the ball down the court and drained a quick three. Down to a 14 point lead. Darius brings the ball down double behind the back crossover and is one step ahead of his defender. Jacob cuts backdoor and is wide open, wide open. Darius sees that and instead of passing it for a wide open layup, he shoots a contested mid-range shot that is very short. Lynbrook gets the rebound and gets a layup off of the fast break. Down to a 12 point lead. With five minutes left, Darius brings the ball down again. He calls for a screen from Jacob and the defenders double Darius, leaving Jacob open. Jacob rolls to the midrange corner and calls for the ball. However, as usual, Darius shoots the shot contested by two defenders instead of passing it to Jacob. Lynbrook pushes the ball again and gets a midrange catch and shoot. 10 point lead. Coach Scott calls timeout.

“Guys. Think! Use your brain! Darius! You out here chucking up absolutely terrible shots. Pass the stupid ball,” Coach yelled, “Let's go win this ball game. Pick it up. Let's go.” LA High’s ball. They inbound it to Jacob. He finds his teammate open for a layup, but it gets blocked. Lynbrook brings the ball down and runs Horns, which gets them an open weak side three. Splash. Lynbrook starts pressing and LA High turns the ball over. Off the sideline inbound, Lynbrook gets a layup from their play. Five point lead with one minute to play. Embarrassed by his team’s inability to maintain a 20 point lead, Coach Scott calls another timeout.

Jacob brings up the ball and calls for a double screen. After the big rolls, Jacob hit him with a sweet bounce pass, through the legs of a defender and landed perfectly right in his hands. This layup could seal the deal. He goes up strong and lays it up with good touch. But it goes in and out! He bricked the layup.

“Really?! You’re kidding me,” said Jacob.

“Wow, just wow,” said Darius. Coach, with his hands covering his face, couldn’t believe it either. Being the magical team they are, Lynbrook sprints down the floor, creating a three on two fast break. Their point guard passes it to the wing on the left side who then passes it to the third man who makes the layup. BLEEEP.

“WHAT?! NO,” Jacob shouted. It was an and-one. He nails the free throw. Two point game with 30 seconds to go. All LA High has to do is make a basket to make this game a two possession game. Darius has the ball. 20 seconds left in the game. He dribbles the ball to the left wing and fakes a handoff to Jacob. The defenders miscommunicated and were both guarding Darius. Jacob, once again wide open, immediately rolled to the basket. But Darius pulls up for a long two pointer. Oh no. Jacob thought to himself. He gets into position to grab the rebound. But Darius made the shot. The whole gym was in an uproar. Darius was celebrating like crazy. 52-48.18 seconds left. Lynbrook quickly inbounds the ball but it gets stolen. Jacob deflected the inbounds pass and it misdirected it to his teammate, who passed it back to a cutting Jacob for the layup. 56-48. Los Angeles High are advancing to the finals after barely winning their semifinal game.

After Semi Final Game: Coach Scott’s Office, February 21, 2017

“Hello gentlemen,” said Coach as he welcomed Darius and Jacob, “Take a seat. I called you here today because I wanted to talk with you about something. That something is chemistry. There were many occasions where you two displayed how you did not want to work togeth-”

“Well actually Coach, I pass the ball many times yesterday,” Darius interrupted.

Coach immediately disagreed, “You did not. Okay. So where was I?... Yes, we still won yesterday, and you can ignore this chemistry issue, but it will show up in the finals when we play Saratoga High. Let me show you something.” Coach Scott opened to his computer and navigated to a Youtube video tittled “The power of ball movement”. He played the video and explained to Darius and Jacob about how off the court many of these players hate each other, but on the court they set aside their differences and get business done. He preached that at any given time, passing and good ball movement is better than one on one style basketball.

“What separates the good teams from the bad is one thing: if that team is a team or not. What does that mean? Real teams are families, they work together. Those teams are way more successful. What I’m trying to say is that you two can make this team so much better just by simply passing the ball more, and making our group of boys that make up this team a team.”

With the finals just a week away, Darius and Jacob would have to change in order to be able to compete and even keep up with the very talented Saratogo team.

End-of-Year Reflection for Math

My new learning in Math 8+ this year included factoring and quadratics. More specifically, the different methods to factoring quadratics (such as the diamond problem method, the rectangle method, and factor by parts), and the different methods to solving quadratics (such as using Desmos, square root, factoring, and the quadratic equation). Before this school year, I didn't know anything about quadratics; however, now I am very comfortable with this concept.

I really understand the different types of functions, ranging from linear relationships to exponential relationships, to quadratic relationships. I know how to recognize which relationships are which and how to find the equation from a graph and/or table. I can use this knowledge to solve a variety of applied problems.

Over summer break, I should learn how to solve systems of equations with exponents and how to solve three equation systems of equations. I should review and practice quadratics, especially the special cases and the ways to find the solution because I feel that practicing these things will help me become less careless and a better learner in 9th grade.

Looking at all my tests and my mistakes from those worked well in preparing for the End-of-Year Test test. I felt that this method worked because I would know what to focus on so that I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. If I got a question correct on a previous test, I know that I understand that concept, which means that I wouldn't have to focus on it as much. I also just looked at all the notes I took throughout the whole year and compiled them into one sheet which made it easier to review. Overall, I feel that I did pretty well studying for the EOY test.

This year, I learned that taking notes is very very important. On top of studying the concepts I'm unfamiliar with more, to better prepare for tests in high school, I should continue taking notes on new information and continue analyzing my formative and summative tests, keeping in mind the concepts from the questions I got wrong. This would help me with EOY exams just like the one I took this year (8th grade).

The Learning Behaviors I will focus on improving is reflection because I feel that reflecting on my learning is a key to success. I will continue to ask questions and get help whenever I need help understanding a concept.

Grade 8 PE/Health Reflection

1. What did you enjoy most about PE this year? What did you enjoy least about PE this year? 
I enjoyed the games and the different sports we played in PE. I've become better at different sports that I wouldn't have played without PE. The thing I disliked the most about PE was the warm ups and the miles we had to run throughout the year.

2. What units did you enjoy most? What units would you add or change? 
I personally preferred team sports such as basketball, volleyball, and floor hockey. Those units were very fun. But if I had to choose my favorite unit, I would choose floor hockey. I think that we could change the space invaders unit, but I think that that was changed into rugby or football. I also want to change project adventure because that wasn't that fun. Building towers, for me, isn't very fun.

3. What did you enjoy most about Health this year? What did you enjoy least about health this year? 
I enjoyed the health lessons on our diet and health because I could really use that learning and apply it to my life. I didn't like how we had to do a lot of projects. I think you could lessen a number of projects and change that into more interactive activities. I think that would help us soak in more information compared to presentations.

4. What units would you add or change to Health for next year? 
I think that the balance between the different topics was good. I liked how later in the year we moved on from our health to more about our decision making and the dangers of different things such as social media and addictions.

5. What is something that you can improve as you pursue PE and Health classes in high school during the next four years?
I think that I could improve my stamina and my cardio fitness. I also think my leadership is strong but it could improve because nothing is perfect.

Drug Awareness Public Service Announcement

NNF Reflection

I felt that the Narrative Non Fiction unit was a unit that helped me grow a lot as a writer. A few things that I wanted to learn or needed to learn as we went into the Narrative NonFiction unit of study was how to do proper research and how to take my research and turn it into a narrative nonfiction piece.

Throughout the unit, I learned different skills and techniques, including how to research and write narrative nonfiction. Something interesting that I learned from Mr Riley about researching using a book was the technique of reading a page and then summarizing the page in your head without looking at it and turn those ideas into three to five bullet points. I showed this learning by using this strategy during my research. Also, I learned the process of researching about one individual and creating a story from that.

During this unit, I’ve hit many “roadblocks”. One specific “roadblock” I hit was when I couldn’t find any information online about my topic. I found 0 sources online. I overcame this “roadblock” by interviewing Mr Riley and using newspapers and books for my research. Another “roadblock” that I hit during the process of making my chapter was when I received feedback from Mr Arleth about how my chapter did not have much rising tension. From this, I added more rising tension to make my book flow more smoothly, making it sound like one story instead of a bunch of summaries of Hurkos’ visions.

After I learned what I wanted to learn, I applied this new knowledge to my chapter and research. A couple examples of this was when I used Mr Riley’s technique in my research and used Mr Arleth’s feedback to improve my writing. Overall, I felt that this was a very unique and interesting unit.

My Book: https://drive.google.com/a/sas.edu.sg/file/d/0B7oIUmWCW5wiZjdLcy1NVkxZckk/view?usp=sharing

NNF Chapter

https://drive.google.com/a/sas.edu.sg/file/d/0B7oIUmWCW5wiZjdLcy1NVkxZckk/view?usp=sharing

Modern-Day Slavery Reflection

Blog reflection: We are living in the midst of a tragic paradox: no longer is there an underground network to guide slaves to freedom, but rather, there is an underground criminal network to entrap people and sell them into slavery.

Slavery today, modern-day slavery, is more complicated, more immense, and more large-scale than ever before. The number of slaves now are greater than any other time in history. It has become so bad, in terms of the number of people involved, that there are more slaves now than in the 1800s, a time period that is known for slavery! Slavery is something that many thought was over, but not many realize it's not. The one difference between the 1800s slavery and modern-day slavery is how urgent people are to fix this issue. Back then, slavery was a very public thing and there were countless abolitionist trying to end it; now, not so much.

To me, the real problem is not awareness, it's doing something about it. People hear about these things and think "Oh no this is terrible" and that's where it ends. They move on with their lives doing nothing to help the situation. Today, people don't think of this forced labor as slavery, which is why people don't reach that sense of urgency. Many think it's not that bad and that this issue can be fixed simply. Nothing will change if no one does anything about it.

So what is the solution? The solution is in the people. People care about money so much these days that they don't care about how their workers feel. Just like the solution to the underground criminal network, people need to be aware and report suspicious situations. People need to start becoming aware of their surroundings and realize that you could be walking next to someone who has been trafficked. If people do that, then modern-day slavery can be fixed. I believe that it is the people who can make the most change.

But for now, us as individuals can make a change. We can stop purchasing products from companies that use slave labor. We can check the ingredients in food products and make sure the clothes you buy are coming from a place where workers are treated right. Individuals can do their part by spreading awareness to others, and that is how change happens.

Persuasive Speech

Here is a video of me giving a speech about making music mandatory at SAS. I wrote this speech after creating a podcast about music at SAS.

Nutrition Video

Getting On The Right Note - Music In Middle School

I am most proud of my soundbites in my podcast. I felt that I chose good soundbites from my interviews that represented all perspectives on my topic. I also felt that I did a good job with my bridges and transitions. One example that I am most proud of is when I added a bridge in the middle of my soundbite to connect the two ideas my interviewee talked about. 

My biggest challenge with this podcast would have to be putting research (quotes and statistics) into the podcast script. I felt that this was difficult as I had to find the right evidence that flowed with the ideas my interviewees talked about instead of evidence that was off track and would just make listeners confused. 

Something I wish I had more time to fine tune would be my research. There is always room for improvement and I feel that I could’ve worked on phrasing my research in a more efficient way that leaves less room for confusion. I feel that my evidence is already quite good, but I feel that if I had to fine tune something, it would be the way I phrased my evidence.

One piece of unintended learning I discovered during this unit was that you should always check your recordings before you leave the recording studio. This was because a couple of my recordings were started too late and I had to re-record using my computer microphone, which is very different in terms of sound quality compared to the microphone at the Note Pad.

My interviews went pretty well as I was able to get the sound bites I needed to represent the different perspectives the community had on my issue. I built rapport by asking them about background information on their musical history. For example, with Brian, I asked him if he plays a musical instrument (3:36 in the interview clip). This helps build rapport as this was a question that helped me get to know Brian better and it was also related to my topic, so it didn’t bring the interview off track.

I think I did a good job with my interviews, but something that I could improve on would be my follow up questions. Overall, I felt that I did a good job with my follow-up questions, but there is always room for growth. During Brian’s interview, I asked him, “If I am not mistaken, you play a musical instrument right? And what is that instrument? Why will you keep on playing and learning that instrument?” He told me he played the clarinet and the french horn and he likes the challenges that come with learning the instrument. Learning that Brian has been learning musical instruments for a long time and being a musician myself, I wanted to know his views on his ability to play the french horn impacting him. So I then asked three more follow-up questions: When did you start playing the french horn? And has the ability to play the french horn, does affect your feelings or emotions? How about stress levels. Do you think that a musical instrument helps with the amount of stress someone feels?

SMART Goal

Who: Myself

What: Getting my max push-ups in a minute to 40

When: By the end of the third quarter

Which: Using my routine I've created of slowly increasing the number of push-ups I do every day.

Why: To improve my upper body strength for sports.

Goal: I want to get my max push-ups in a minute to 40 by the end of the third quarter by using my routine I've made of slowly increasing the number of push-ups I do per day to improve my upper body strenght.

Fitness Plan

                DECIDE: My FITNESS Plan

D Define the Problem	Select the FITNESS COMPONENT or SKILL COMPONENT you’d most like to improve this year. (Fitness: Cardio, Muscular Strength, Muscular endurance, Flexibility, Body Composition.core strength) (Skill: Balance, Agility, Coordination, Power, Speed,  Reaction Time) Explain why you chose this component. Muscular Strength. I need to work on my muscular strength so that I can shoot and pass better in basketball and in other sports. Muscular strength also helps your ability to play sports for extended periods of time. Create and link a short video (10-15 seconds) that illustrates your chosen component. (using your laptop, iPad, iPhone, or other device). Upload to youtube and paste youtube link here: https://youtu.be/DlHESM-5OSs
E Explore the Alternatives	List 3 other Fitness/Skill Components that you could also improve and explain how they will benefit your overall fitness: 1. Endurance - Having a better endurance means that I can play sports and move around for longer periods of time. This also can help me run a quicker mile. 2. Reaction Time - Having a better reaction time can allow me to make decisions quickly and helps me with my reflexes. 3. Speed - This can help me play sports, especially sports where you have to evade defenders, that require sudden bursts of speed or are played in small areas.
C Consider the Consequences	Identify 2 positive and 2 negative possible outcomes as a result of your choice: (Ask yourself … how risky is each alternative? What are the chances of success? How would it affect my short term fitness? How would it affect my fitness long term?) Positive 1. Being stronger can help me play sports for extended periods of time because I won’t burn out as easily. For example, if you are a quarterback in football, if you are stronger, you can keep on passing the ball during the fourth quarter because you still have the energy and strength to do so. If you aren’t as strong, then you wouldn’t be able to throw the ball during the fourth quarter because you wouldn’t have enough strength due to fatigue and lack of strength.      2. Being stronger can also make you less prone to injuries because you wouldn’t be that fragile. You wouldn’t strain your muscles because they would be able to last longer due to their strength. If you weren’t as strong, you could get injured or strain your muscles if an activity requires you to exert a lot of energy. With that, you can play more sports for longer periods of time. Negative      1. Too much exercise can result in injuries, especially if you push yourself too much. I’m not saying that pushing yourself is bad, it’s what makes us better, what I’m saying is that you have to listen to your body and know when to call it a day when you exercise.     2. Also, muscular endurance can cause soreness. Sometimes when I go run during training, I feel sore when I finish. That is another thing that you can prevent from listening to your body.
I Identify Values	This decision is important to me because I want to become stronger so that I can play sports for extended periods of time and I can be less injury-prone. Also, exercise is important because it gives you so many benefits. In a way, it is your body’s natural medicine.
D Decide and Act	Create an action plan for improvement.  Outline a plan for a week of fitness activity that will improve your chosen component.  Create short video links  (10-15 seconds) of your chosen activities to help illustrate your plan. My plan to improve my muscular strength is to do simple, but effective exercises. Examples of such exercises are push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges. I will do these exercises daily.
E Evaluate the results	My goal was to improve a specific fitness component.  I will know that my decision and action plan has been effective when......... My goal is to improve my push-ups and sit-ups. I will start out by doing 15 push-ups and sit-ups and then increase the number by 2 each day. I will be able to track my progress by the number of push-ups and sit-ups I can do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkvuuJJwn5o

Application Essay Unit Reflection

Dear Mrs. Windust and Mr. Arleth,

During this unit, I learned so much about the interesting blend of narrative and reflective writing and the process of writing an application essay. I have learned so much that I can’t fit all of the learning in this one letter. From the high schoolers, I’ve learned that you should write the essay so that it reflects how you think, your personality, and how you communicate. At first, I tried adding all of this vocabulary in my essay which I later then found out was a bad idea because the essay started to not sound like me anymore.

On top of that, I also learned about the transitions and the basic structure of an application essay from you guys. There should be both reflection and narrative writing in the piece. In my opinion, the long hours of revising and editing my piece was all worth it, but If I could go back and do something differently, I would cut more fat, add more reflection, and get feedback from you in the mornings or after school.

Looking back at my On-Demand, I noticed how my On-Demand didn’t have much reflection while my application essay did. That was something I was really proud of. As I revised my essay, it watched it transform from a very narrative dominant voice to a mix that sounded more like Armpit Hair. The moment I took a step back and realized the difference between my first draft and my final essay was the best part about this unit for me.

Overall, this essay taught me so much about reflective writing and I am very thankful that I got to learn more about this new style of writing.

Your Dedicated RLA Student,

Johan Chua

_________________________________________________________________________

Here is an excerpt that comes from the middle of my essay:

"That day, it was finally time I accepted the fact that there are no shortcut around waiting and patience. It is inevitable that one would experience delays and the need to wait. You just have to learn to deal with it.

Climbing Reflection

One thing I thought I did well during my climb was that I used both my arms and legs to climb up the wall instead of only pulling myself up with my arm strength. However, I could improve my technique by using more leg power to get up the wall by pushing myself up with my legs and then reach higher with my arms. I felt that I kept my body close to the wall most of the time until the wall became steeper and I started hanging, which caused my arms to get strained. I could also work on saving my energy for the harder parts of the wall - the part where the wall gets really steep and I start to hang - so that I could get higher up the wall instead of falling quite low in the wall due to fatigue.

Overall, I feel that my climbing has improved in the short three days we've been in the climbing gym, and that it has significantly become better since the first time I've been in the gym in sixth grade. In sixth grade I only could climb up to the red line, now I can go way higher. This improvement is one thing I'm very proud of.

MS Fitness Card

Ellis Island Reflection

How do you think people felt upon their arrival to Ellis Island? 
I think that people felt excited and happy as they made it to the land of USA and completed the long journey from wherever they came from. For me, completing the journey is like being halfway to where you want to go; and the other half is getting through immigration. However, I also think that they felt fear and nervous as they could get deported at any time. One wrong action can get you deported and that is life-changing for someone.

What do you think the immigration hall screening was like? 
I think the immigration hall screening was stressful for everyone which created a stressful atmosphere and made others feel even more pressured. I also think that it was a scary place to be knowing that one mistake could end your hope. If I were in a stressful, scary environment and I had to answer an official's questions knowing that if I don't act in a calm manner, I can get deported, I would be scared to death.

How did you feel when you arrived at the classroom and learned about your fate?
I felt relieved and very thankful as I ended up getting US citizenship. I felt thankful because I knew I wouldn't have to go through all the trouble other people - people who got deported - would face. I felt safe knowing I was out of danger and trouble of getting deported and denied US citizenship.

Wellness Prezi

Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Eras

Letter to Bartolomé de las Casas

Instructions:
The year is 1501. You are a Taino servant named Juanico. You were recently taken away from Bartolomé by order of the Spanish Crown. Write a letter to him urging him to do something about the encomienda system in the Americas and the treatment of Tainos and other indigenous people.


Dear Barteolomé,
How are you? I hope things are going well over there.

The government just took me again and it's terrible. I have no idea what they are going to do to me. They might abuse me or even kill me. I'm taking a big risk by writing this letter to you and please, please, please take every word I tell you and spread it.

I need to talk with you about the encomienda system. I thought it would be a fair system that would help our society move forward. I thought my tribe would be protected. I thought peace would be brought. I thought us Tainos would have a better life. But we didn't get any of that. Instead, we were forced to convert to Christianity and become slaves.

They made us slaves! We work 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year doing all the dirty work that our "owners" are too lazy to do. We work in mines to collect gold, we raise livestock, we run the plantation and plant crops, and if we don't and rebel against them, we'll get killed. I've seen plenty of my friends and members of my tribe gxet killed because they didn't want to be slaves or convert into Christians.

They don't understand that we are humans, not animals. We have the same amount rights that an animal has. We are all equal. We should be treated better. Help us, do something.

You must change this.

From your friend,
Juanico

Reliability, Bias, Inferences

This advertisement shows that a bottle of Fanta Grape Soda is made out of all grapes. From background knowledge, I am 100% certain that Fanta is NOT made out of all grapes. In fact, after checking the ingredients list in a bottle of Fanta Grape, I found that the first few ingredient in this drink is carbonated water, sucrose, citric acid, and flavoring. Continue reading the list and you will find no signs of grape! Instead, there's Red 40 and Blue 1 food colouring to use "in small quantities to give products a vibrant and attractive color", according to the Coca-Cola Product website.

Just by comparing the advertisement to the actual product, you can already tell that this ad was created to be a biased advertisement. This ad is reliable but at the same time not reliable. The reason this ad is reliable is that it's from Fanta, a real company. However, this ad is giving a false impression to viewers as it shows how Fanta is 100% grape when it's really not, which makes it untrustworthy.

Reflecting on my findings, I infer that this Fanta advertisement is trying to attract people to buy Fanta's beverages by showing viewers how Fanta doesn't have all this sugar and junk in it and is all grape, when it's truly not.





Sources: http://www.coca-colaproductfacts.com/en/coca-cola-products/fanta-grape/
Image found on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272608583671892833/