So recently we did a personality profile which I'm pleased to say that I got two marks off a first for, but I can't post it as the interviewee wishes to remain anonymous, however what I can post is my travel writing piece on Whitby's Goth Weekend. It needs a little refinement and isn't my best work but considering it was my first time trying it I don't think I did bad. Here it is:
It is late November and still a hot topic of
conversation is the autumnal Whitby Goth Weekend where people dressed up in
various costumes and gothic attire for a weekend of music, shopping and
cultural convergence.
The Goth Weekend runs twice a year in spring and autumn and is widely known for
sending Whitby’s tourism sales through the roof. Held in Whitby’s Pavilion
visitors can attend live music concerts before shopping at the bizarre bazaar –
a market specialising in gothic clothing, trinkets and jewellery. Whitby isn’t
only known for its Goth Weekend for most of us it is known as a popular day out
on the coast, here’s why…
Upon your arrival at Whitby you will find yourself on the West Coast and as you
pass the Captain Cook statue and step through the whalebone arch you will feel
as if you have transcended into a whole new realm filled with magic and beauty.
As you walk down the steps you find yourself gazing across a silvered sea the
colour of which can only be described as duck egg blue. The traditional cry of
seagulls mark your destination as a seaside coast and the air is thick with the
smell of fresh air tinged with sea salt.
You drift along and slip into the back streets where several shops await you.
The Gothic shops are filled with leather and lace and are teeming with student
bracelets and exquisite pewter pendants set with a range of gems.
As you return to the promenade the tantalising combination of ice cream, baked
waffles and freshly battered fish and chips fills the air.
Children’s cries can be heard as they thrust penny after penny into the slot
machines with the hopes of winning a new toy. A large man is hollering over the
ruckus in an attempt to convince people to board one of the picturesque boats
for a tour past the cliffs. There’s a loud scream followed by bone chilling
music marking the Dracula experience, reminding every local and tourist alike
that this is the town which inspired Bram Stoker to write “Dracula.” You are
surrounded by excitement, joy and hustle and bustle.
You reach the large swing bridge and marvel as the entire structure splits in
half and moves allowing boats to pass through to the harbour.
A staircase draws your attention and you brave the long climb up to Whitby
Abbey, but it’s worth it because when you turn you are entranced by the sight
of traditional shops with their faded signs and people milling around carrying
sticks of rock, ice cream cones and polystyrene boxes of fish and chips.
You turn and stroll forward towards the elaborate structure of Whitby Abbey.
You drink in the sight of the hand crafted arches, the multi-tonal bricks and
the ornate detail then stop off at the visitors centre to learn about the
history of the monks who once inhabited the abbey.
As you descend back down the steps and continue across the cobbled paths you
find yourself in the true heart of Whitby surrounded by old-fashioned shops
flogging their wares it’s like you’ve stepped back through history.
You purchase a traditional lucky duck exclusive only to Whitby and admire the jewellery
set with jet mined from Whitby before drifting into a sweet shop and feeling
nostalgic as you struggle to decide between handmade fudge and pear drops.
You visit one of many gift shops and purchase a postcard and a fridge magnet to
remind you of your visit before heading off towards the beach.
The sand is not golden and the sea is not turquoise but there’s still a
distinct serenity. Smoke coloured waves ripple and churn and you smile as you
see fishermen yell excitedly as they cast their lines and reel in their latest
catch.
The beach is adorned with coloured towels, sunbathers hoping to top up their
tan and children building sandcastles. A row of brightly coloured beach huts
line the upper path in colours of red, blue, emerald and yellow and in the distance
you spy a lighthouse stretching proudly into the sky.
You amble along and reach the end of the beach then take the winding path back
up to where you started. It’s been a lovely day and you will be visiting again.
Additional Information:
The Magpie Café is one of the highest rated places to eat.
Whitby’s Goth Festival was on November the 2nd this year.
Whitby Abbey inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula.
There is a Gothic hotel in Whitby named Bats and Broomsticks.
The inscription on the statue of Captain James Cook reads “To strive, to seek,
to find and not to yield” in commemoration of the men who built Whitby’s ships
and those who travelled with him.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Journalism Principles and Practice - Feature Writing
For the Journalism Principles and Practice we had to write a feature piece based on hobbies. I decided that seeing as I love spending time playing video games it made sense to do a feature on it. Here's my piece:
In 2012 The Huffington Post produced an article on different hobbies that women may enjoy from knitting to origami and despite it being the 21st century nearly all of the hobbies related to beauty or crafts suggesting that there are only certain hobbies that are suitable for women.
For some women their hobbies are feminine, but for others shooting zombies on their favourite video game is much more preferable.
Today, Georgina Anders and Lori Jones speak out about why they love playing video-games despite it being described as a “male-centric” hobby on the psxextreme website.
Georgina Anders aged 18 from Doncaster has been an avid video gamer for years, here she tells us about why she why she enjoys gaming, her favourite games to play and why certain game companies such as Capcom can be described as sexist.
“For me gaming is one of my favourite things to do, it keeps my mind occupied and helps me escape from reality for a few hours. I’m a huge Xbox fan I love the online video gaming experience where I can play with gamers across the world and a lot of my friends play Xbox so it’s fun to combine socialising and gaming.”
“I play all sorts of games from a variety of genres. I like strategy games such as Portal and X-Com and role playing games such as Skyrim and Fallout but my favourite genre to play is action games such as “Assassins Creed”, although I do love classics such as “Super Mario Brothers” and Legend of Zelda.
Georgina frowns as she talks about the difference in games designed for a female demographic in comparison the games designed for a male demographic.
“There’s a big difference in games designed for males and games designed for females. Games designed for women such as Fashion Designer Style Icon, are made for a stereotypical woman who is interested in fashion and make-up and there isn’t much story to them at all. Society hasn’t caught up with the modern woman and people seem to think that our physical attributes are so different from men that we can’t play certain games.
“I’ve faced abuse due to being a female gamer particularly when I play games such as Battlefield. I was called names by one male when he realised that I was female. Some game companies are a little sexist too, Capcom is well known for the way it displays women in their games with big busts and little clothing, but the consumers can be just as sexist.”
Lori Jones, 19, from Bradford who has always been surrounded by male gamers has a slightly different opinion on gaming.
“I really enjoy platform games such as Rayman but I also love Assassins Creed. I’m a huge fan of the Xbox as it has a lot of games I like and the controller is more comfortable to use. For me gaming allows you to forget about worries and escape into a different world. I like being able to choose games that match my mood for example a first person shooter game if I’m feeling angry.”
“I think it’s unfair that video-gaming isn’t seen as a unisex hobby, I love games aimed at both men and women not just fashion games, but I don’t think that gaming will be perceived as a unisex hobby any time soon.”
She pauses as she considers the difference in games designed for male consumers and games designed for female consumers.
“There is a difference in games designed for men and women. I think that some game designers are still stuck in the rut of stereotypes and want to appeal to certain customers, although games are not as stereotyped as they used to be now many combat games feature female characters too.”
“I wouldn’t describe game companies as being sexist because that’s a strong remark but I do believe that stereotyping has been around for many years and it can be difficult to get out of the rut.”
Hobbies can be taken up by anyone, if there are female athletes shouldn’t females be able to play video games as well?
In 2012 The Huffington Post produced an article on different hobbies that women may enjoy from knitting to origami and despite it being the 21st century nearly all of the hobbies related to beauty or crafts suggesting that there are only certain hobbies that are suitable for women.
For some women their hobbies are feminine, but for others shooting zombies on their favourite video game is much more preferable.
Today, Georgina Anders and Lori Jones speak out about why they love playing video-games despite it being described as a “male-centric” hobby on the psxextreme website.
Georgina Anders aged 18 from Doncaster has been an avid video gamer for years, here she tells us about why she why she enjoys gaming, her favourite games to play and why certain game companies such as Capcom can be described as sexist.
“For me gaming is one of my favourite things to do, it keeps my mind occupied and helps me escape from reality for a few hours. I’m a huge Xbox fan I love the online video gaming experience where I can play with gamers across the world and a lot of my friends play Xbox so it’s fun to combine socialising and gaming.”
“I play all sorts of games from a variety of genres. I like strategy games such as Portal and X-Com and role playing games such as Skyrim and Fallout but my favourite genre to play is action games such as “Assassins Creed”, although I do love classics such as “Super Mario Brothers” and Legend of Zelda.
Georgina frowns as she talks about the difference in games designed for a female demographic in comparison the games designed for a male demographic.
“There’s a big difference in games designed for males and games designed for females. Games designed for women such as Fashion Designer Style Icon, are made for a stereotypical woman who is interested in fashion and make-up and there isn’t much story to them at all. Society hasn’t caught up with the modern woman and people seem to think that our physical attributes are so different from men that we can’t play certain games.
“I’ve faced abuse due to being a female gamer particularly when I play games such as Battlefield. I was called names by one male when he realised that I was female. Some game companies are a little sexist too, Capcom is well known for the way it displays women in their games with big busts and little clothing, but the consumers can be just as sexist.”
Lori Jones, 19, from Bradford who has always been surrounded by male gamers has a slightly different opinion on gaming.
“I really enjoy platform games such as Rayman but I also love Assassins Creed. I’m a huge fan of the Xbox as it has a lot of games I like and the controller is more comfortable to use. For me gaming allows you to forget about worries and escape into a different world. I like being able to choose games that match my mood for example a first person shooter game if I’m feeling angry.”
“I think it’s unfair that video-gaming isn’t seen as a unisex hobby, I love games aimed at both men and women not just fashion games, but I don’t think that gaming will be perceived as a unisex hobby any time soon.”
She pauses as she considers the difference in games designed for male consumers and games designed for female consumers.
“There is a difference in games designed for men and women. I think that some game designers are still stuck in the rut of stereotypes and want to appeal to certain customers, although games are not as stereotyped as they used to be now many combat games feature female characters too.”
“I wouldn’t describe game companies as being sexist because that’s a strong remark but I do believe that stereotyping has been around for many years and it can be difficult to get out of the rut.”
Hobbies can be taken up by anyone, if there are female athletes shouldn’t females be able to play video games as well?
Magazine Journalism - Thinking up article ideas
So today we were challenged to think up ideas for magazine articles. It's really strange but most magazines work in advance so even though it's only February now most magazines will be working on their May addition which sounds strange but makes sense if you think about it.
The trouble is that working ahead it's difficult to think up what ideas to use for articles so we were all given a month (mine was August) and challenged to come up with three ideas based on awareness days, here's my three ideas.
World's Weirdest Awareness Days
It sounds like a strange article but I found some of the strangest event days from "Play In The Sand Day" to "Left-Handers day" to "Fresh Breath Day" this article would be suitable for a buzz-feed and would be a written piece about the top ten strangest awareness days in August.
Be An Angel Day
On the 22nd of August it is "Be an angel day" which is all about random acts of kindness towards strangers day. I truly love this idea because in my opinion there isn't enough kindness in the world and a lot of people who are part of my generation tend to think selfishly. For this article I would do a voxpop asking people on the street what the kindest thing a stranger has done for them is. This article is inspired by the good deed feed in "The Metro" which is made up of thank you notes from people.
Lighthouse Day
August the 7th marks Lighthouse day, part of my article would be picture based with images of lighthouses around the world, I would also create a kind of travel piece and would challenge people to visit as many lighthouses as possible and to send their images into the magazine.
Overall I found this assignment very helpful, at first I was a little uncertain about being out of my comfort zone but I'm grateful for the opportunity to try something new, and I learnt a lot too!
On a side note for anyone who is interested in beauty I have started a beauty blog on word press which you can visit here: www.ninarossbeauty.wordpress.com feel free to take a look also my written piece "The ten commandments of being a Student" has been published on www.studentwire.co.uk (take a look!)
The trouble is that working ahead it's difficult to think up what ideas to use for articles so we were all given a month (mine was August) and challenged to come up with three ideas based on awareness days, here's my three ideas.
World's Weirdest Awareness Days
It sounds like a strange article but I found some of the strangest event days from "Play In The Sand Day" to "Left-Handers day" to "Fresh Breath Day" this article would be suitable for a buzz-feed and would be a written piece about the top ten strangest awareness days in August.
Be An Angel Day
On the 22nd of August it is "Be an angel day" which is all about random acts of kindness towards strangers day. I truly love this idea because in my opinion there isn't enough kindness in the world and a lot of people who are part of my generation tend to think selfishly. For this article I would do a voxpop asking people on the street what the kindest thing a stranger has done for them is. This article is inspired by the good deed feed in "The Metro" which is made up of thank you notes from people.
Lighthouse Day
August the 7th marks Lighthouse day, part of my article would be picture based with images of lighthouses around the world, I would also create a kind of travel piece and would challenge people to visit as many lighthouses as possible and to send their images into the magazine.
Overall I found this assignment very helpful, at first I was a little uncertain about being out of my comfort zone but I'm grateful for the opportunity to try something new, and I learnt a lot too!
On a side note for anyone who is interested in beauty I have started a beauty blog on word press which you can visit here: www.ninarossbeauty.wordpress.com feel free to take a look also my written piece "The ten commandments of being a Student" has been published on www.studentwire.co.uk (take a look!)
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