10 possible titles for my feature story:
I tried to end off with the last short scene of the documentary that I am referring to in my article, and to echo a note that I struck at the beginning.
This time, the boy is holding the gun. Pow. He goes on the boat with the man and they get closer to their prey. The boy is now 13 years old and he is a hunter in his own right. The seal’s blood colors the snow. As we see him surrounded by the icy landscape, the narrator says, “It’s time for a new model of animal activism. And I hope the world will see that we as Inuit should be a part of it.”
I expanded on the point about Bell employees and tried to add powerful examples of the stress that they face.
Speaking of Instagram, it is most likely that your feed has once been invaded by reposts of Bell’s famous mental health campaign Let’s Talk. According to Kyle Dewsnap, the campaign successfully raises funds for mental health initiatives, but does not reduces the prejudice regarding those affected by mental illnesses. He makes another interesting remark in his article by saying that “Unfortunately, being ‘aware’ of this issue isn’t going to stop the discrimination that people with mental illness face.” Yet, this isn’t the only problem that Bell faces with the campaign. As someone who uses social media daily, this made me reflect on the utility of the posts that I see. I kept wondering if the people behind campaigns like this one actually support the cause that they present. An article by CBC gave me what I was looking for, and the doubt that I had only grew bigger. Bell employees would face anxiety because of high sales targets imposed by managers. The allegations made by more than 600 people are disturbing and include medical interventions. Fearing that speaking out could affect their employment, some still revealed their identity to CBC like Jessica Beliveau, who said that she was “on the verge of panic attacks.” Dan Breffitt, who was sent to the hospital due to anxiety, said that “there wasn’t an hour in the day where I wasn’t worrying about how I was going to meet all the expectations at work.” Even worse, another employee shared that the stress was so overwhelming that he was throwing up blood. Although these allegations only comprise a minority of workers, they are worth looking at and raise another question; do awareness campaigns actually make a difference?
Instead of writing about me watching a scene from a documentary, I described the scene.
Pieces of ice float in the water as if they were little boats traveling in the ocean. With a gun in hand, a man patiently waits along with a young boy. The man lies flat on the snow and gets ready. Pow. The young boy seems excited and the man slowly gets up. In a small boat, he comes closer to his prey. He then takes a heavy grey seal out of the water with his bare hands. Back on the snow, the man cuts the skin with a knife and eats a little piece of raw meat. A bloody process. His hands covered in red, he can now leave with the boy, satisfied.
Using Research Effectively
One problem associated with awareness campaigns is the manipulation of the visual content to force an emotional reaction. It is as if the image was programmed to make the viewers feel a certain way while orienting their perception of the content. It was not until watching Angry Inuk by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril that I realized how this strategy worked. An article by CBC reported that since 1960, animal activists have been trying to shut down the sealskin trade, a tradition that has become a way of life for the Inuit. The activists’ campaigns definitely had an impact as the reputation of seal hunting was ruined. But who can resist to a fluffy baby seal’s pitiful eyes? Almost no one. And the worst part is that those fluffy baby seals depicted on the campaigns’ posters are actually never hunt by Inuit, it is illegal since 1987. After the ban of products targeting only one type of sealskin, the Inuit’s economy fell and their communities’ suicide rates escaladed becoming the highest in the world! I am still shocked to see that all of this happened with a cute animal’s picture. Alethea Arnaqua-Baril, the creator of the documentary Angry Inuk, said that “When you totally erase Inuit from the picture, it can appear as a black and white issue.” I agree with her point, and I think that the anti-sealing campaigns are a great example to show the impact that a simple image can have, especially when it comes to the general public’s opinion.
Have you ever noticed the difference between seeing with the mind and seeing with the heart? Fairly easy to distinguish, the nuance is key to analyse how a person approaches visual content. For example, you could perceive stars as a diamond dust sparkling the sky, or, as luminous balls of gas held by their own gravity. However, this difference isn’t so important anymore when the visual content is shaped to direct the viewers’ perception in a single direction. The red bold letters on the COVID-19 posters are meant to make you feel a sense of danger and urgency just like the rainbow depicted in several social media images can make you feel hopeful. From the font of the text to the colors used, everything part of what we see daily has been thought out by a team working in a big building to produce a specific emotional response from the viewers. Commonly used in marketing, visual communication strategies reinforce the message presented and aim to tingle your mind leading emotions to guide you towards the desired action, whether it is to donate funds or share the post on your Instagram story.
Imagine that you are living in a vast territory. The sun rays reflected on the snow make your eyes squint during this glacial morning. You are hungry. A cycle has been interrupted; a lack of balance is settling. Your daily routine has changed, and your people’s economy is tumbling down. You go back inside the house and hear your little sister’s stomach growling. A soft kiss on the cheek is enough to make her smile, but her hunger will last for a while. She waves you goodbye as you watch her through the frosted window, reflecting about how it all started with a simple image. An image that had the power to transform what you believe is right into a horrid act.
1- Imagine you are sitting at your desk besides very large windows. It is sunny, there aren’t any clouds covering the sky, and you hear birds singing. You desperately want to go outside, but you can’t. You have to stay seated until you finish that long essay, another written assignment and those three other projects for the end of the semester.
2- The student feels as if she will never finish her paper. She is overwhelmed, desperate, and has lost motivation to continue writing.
3-Your baby sister wants to play with you, but you have to refuse to finish schoolwork
What does stress feel like?
-It feels like it has no end
-It feels like a big mountain, impossible to climb
-It feels like you are stuck
-It feels like carrying a very heavy backpack
Invented word/sound : aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
“We are bombard with information throughout the day, and it can be quite difficult to process.”
Step 1 : “I was comfortably seated eating my chocolate muffin when I first saw a seal having its skin cut by a knife just after being taken out of the water.”
Step 2 : I was seated when watching a scene from the documentary.
Step 3 : -I was seated when watching a horrid scene from the documentary.
-I was seated when watching a horrid scene from this informative documentary.
-While eating, I was comfortably seated when watching the horrid scene of an informative documentary.
-I was seated when watching the documentary.
-Provocative
-Thought provocative
– upsetting, maddening
For this writing activity, I chose to write about my first-time water skiing. This experience may seem “banal”, but I feel like my brain had 10372917392729 things to process during that very short period of time. My uncle and aunt, who own a cottage along the lake, have always wanted me to try water skiing, but I never got the chance to do it until this summer when all of the family was invited to spend the weekend at their place. I had been told that this aquatic sport was very different from skiing in the snow which I am already used to. They also told me that it could be difficult to fully stand up the first time trying it, and that I would probably fall many times before succeeding. Dominated by my competitive spirit, I accepted the challenge. Accompanied by my uncle, aunt, sister and five of my cousins, I get on the boat excited and nervous. As soon as we arrive towards the middle of the lake, I automatically regret my decision fearing failure. My younger sister goes first. She puts on the long skis and jumps into the water. Everybody on the boat is watching her as my aunt gives her a rope which she will need to hold tightly. The engine starts and one of my sister’s skis has already slipped out of her foot. A while later, another issue arises; the rope is tangled. Discouraged, I want to jump off the boat and swim back to the cottage because my turn approaches. My sister finally gives it a try and falls immediately after standing up for approximatively 0.02 seconds. At this point, I just want to disappear, but my uncle calls me. “Alexandra, let’s see if YOU can do it!” I would like to specify that the emphasis on the word “you” is very important here as it gave me even more pressure. While everyone is watching me, I put on the long skis and jump into the water. Cold water. I hold on to the rope and hope that I will not look ridiculous. I feel everyone’s eyes on me when the engine starts, and I adjust my position on the skis. Miraculously, I am able to stand up and stay for quite a long time! I ended up doing a couple other times, and it just made me realize that taking small risks like this is fun because you never know what to expect. No matter what happens you will be breaking self-imposed limits.
This summer, I attempted to water ski for the first time at my uncle and aunt’s cottage along the lake. Considering that my younger sister is pretty good at sports, I watched her going first to see how she would do. My level of stress drastically increased as I saw her struggle in the water. After a couple of tries, my sister could not get up on the skis, and it was my turn to attempt it in front of everyone on the boat. Feeling nervous and agitated, I put on the skis and hold on to the rope as the engine starts. I surpassed all of my expectations when I was able to stand up and feel the glassy smooth water under me. This sensation of freedom ended shortly after waves made it more difficult to hold my position, but still… it’s funny how small accomplishments like this can make you feel happy, even if it’s just for a short amount of time.
On a blistering, cloudless and delightful day, I participated in an extremely difficult aquatic sport which consists of wearing a pair of particularized skis which enables you to skim the surface of the water when towed by a motorboat. Before commencing my journey on this enriching experience, I began paying close attention to my talented younger sister, who unfortunately, did not succeed her attempt at water skiing. Despite severe symptoms of stress invading my mind, I was perfectly aligned and centered with the two long platforms attached to my feet which made this moment particularly impressive and monumental. After that notable achievement, I felt victorious and triumphant for accomplishing such discipline on a liquid surface.
Voilà!
Alexandra's Nonfiction Writing Blog 