Unit 6.

3
Blog
-CL r-<00,d • CAA.
Guiding que stio ns Learning objectives
• Wha t is a blog ? • Become fami liar with various form s of blog
• Wha t kind s of biog s are there ? writi ng.

• How do you write a blog ? • Develop the skills for writi ng a blog post that
others migh t find inter estin g to read.

is remarkably easy to start an onlin e blog and

Have you ever writt en a blog or a blog post? It
is difficult to define because so-ma ny peop le
Word bank
publish Y<?Ur ideas instantly. A 'blog ' as a text type
is a blog?
write them fo~ many diffe rent reasons. So what diary
'log'. A log is an accou nt of what happens, as it opini on colum n
The term 'blog ' come s from the word s 'web ' and
kept a logbo ok of all the events on board, such journ al
happens. In the past, the capta ins of sailing ships It
direction. A log is writt en for future reference. press release
as a sailor beco ming ill or the wind chan ging ned. Most blogs
t on some thing that has happe
allows you to keep a recor d, look back and reflec topic al
archiv es, using a tagging-and dating system.
allow you to searc h throu gh their voice
The conte nt ofblo gs can be abou t
almost anything. In this unit you will
explore two blog posts , one abou t
transgender right s and the other abou t
marriage. Take some time to explo re
the world ofblo gs and perha ps write a
blog post of your own!
EXTRA
As a long-term project
for your English B
course, you migh t wan t
Model te xt to write a blog. Be sure
you that your blog has focus
• a list • ·1ar to, but different from, blogs. Based on what
• of text types th at are s1rm and is relevant for a
3•1 Here 1s types.
• h ow blogs rmg
know, expla1n • ht be similar or different to each of these text particular audience.
Ask yourself a very
b essay
a diary impo rtant question:
d news repor t 'Why woul d anybody
C opinion column
f journal want to read my blog ?'
e review
h press release Keep it interesting,
g website
.I . Faceb ook post relevant and up to date.
tweet J If writin g a blog is part
of your coursework, _
r to.
, . from the list a-j in Activity 3.1 it is most simila then be sure you
3.2 Read Text 6.6 and say whic h text type understand wha t your
Give your reasons for your answer. teacher expects of you.

285
 .. . - .-
Text 6.6

Blog by Hadley Freen1an, 18 March 2017

Identity is the issue of our age: I
-l
l
so why can't we talk more 7 j,
I

TEXT AND CONTEXT honestly about trans women. 1

I

• A tautology kn dging differences

(paragraph 2) is As Adichie said, ac ow1e tually Hadley Freeman, columnist
and being supportive are not mu for The Guardian
a phrase which is
exclusive
says the same thing
twice. . .th a "ft idea for that special person
Tip _ 1 Should you be struggling wi_ . .few about a home DNA kit?
• Palindrome in your life here's a suggestio~.
(paragraph 2) is These are a'11 th e rage in Amenca,
k Ti es with 3m sold by ancestry.
a word or phrase Personal - I recently read in the New Yor ::; la~t Americans can find out
that reads the experience com alone in the past five years. '
same forwards or how Irish they actually are.
backwards. [...]
• Kumbaya
(paragraph 3) is a
word from a gospel
2 Nowhere is the discus~ion about
identity more passionately felt than
within the transgender movement.
-I
song with spiritual If you feel you are a woman, you
,f
are a woman is the rule, although
associations
Topical~
some women are g_uerying_this. Last Jal
• Hakuna matata week, the novelistChimamanda
(paragraph 3) is (J\JO. Ngozi Adichie was asked by Channel
a Swahili phrase, 4's Cathy Newman whe~~r trans.
popularised by the women are 'real women . My feeling ,
movie The Lion is trans women are trans women,
King, that translates Adichie replied, a response not
roughly as 'no so mucnl:autological as almost
worries'. palindromic. 'I don't think it's a good
thing to conflate everything into one.' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Cis gender
[ ] Lr<:)~\,\~ '
(paragraph 5) is ••• l \A ~h" l :
the gender you are Voice - 3 T~mbaya approadi is an increasingly popular one. Why
assigned at birth. ~~~n't we ladies all just get along? Hakuna matata! Yet no one
\;\ ':"~ is asking why more women than men are raising objections
• Transgender
'('(. .!,ii'- here. Perhaps people think this is just what women are like:
(paragraph 5) refers
oO ~ t t y . [...) But there are real ethical issues here, and they
to a gender identity
that is opposite of
,0 VL.. overwhelmingly affect women.
one's birth gender. --2:_ 4 Sport is one obvious example. Male-born bodies have had
Exampl~
different testosterone levels and muscle distribution from female
• The expression: 'To
?n:s. N~ one kno~s -~~at the solution is but pretending there
throw out the baby 1sn ta difference 1s ndiculous. Then there are prisons. It's easy to
with the bathwater' cheer on Chelsea Manning, but Ian Huntley - who now reportedly
(paragraph 5) me~ns wishes to be known as Lian Huntley and be transferred to a
to accidently get nd wo~en's pris?n - is a tougher sell. Should a man with a history
of something good of cnrnes agamst women and girls really be in a female prison?
when cleaning up [... ]
the bad.

286
 5 t
JuS as tbe fringe elements of the political world have taken
centre stage so the CONCEPT
Opinion - h. h . . ' more extreme end of the trans moveme
- w ic insists there are no differences between trans and cis
wome~- has moved to the frontline. Some will call this progress; Context
to me, i_t seems more a case of throwing out the commonsensical Text 6.6 is very much
baby with the transphobic bath water.[ ... ] (A),\~ '½ol...f relevant to the context
6 That ~rans people have long suffered from hideous prejudice in which the author,
an~ ~olen~e, and continue to do so, is without question. But as Hadley Freeman, writes.
Adichie said, acknowledging differences and being supportive Several people are
are not mutually exclusive. If anything, they go hand in hand, mentioned, including
because they allow women, trans and non-trans, to talk honestly a BBC journalist (Cathy
and ~ee each other as people, instead of reducing themselves to Newman), a novelist
manicures and menstruation. (Chimamanda Ngozi
The Guardian Adichie), a famous
prisoner (Che!sea
Manning), all of whom
had been in the news
at time of Freeman's
LEARNER PROFILE
piece. If you write a
Open minded blog make sure that it
makes sense in a certain
Text 6.6 raises an interesting question about transgender people. Should context. Writing about
men who want to be treated as women be treated as women or as men who something newsworthy
want to be treated as women? The author suggests that the latter can be will ensure that this is
respectable. Do you agree? Part of being an open-minded, 1B learner is about the case.
acknowledging and respecting people's differences.

Key features explained

Examples from Text 6.6
Key features
'Here's a suggestion: ... '
Tip: Biogs often offer advice or help, esp~cially
'how to' biogs. Use imperative verbs for th is•
.
'I recently read ...'
Personal experience: Biogs can be like public
diaries or journals. Anecdotes are common.

'Last week ..'

Topical: Popular biogs are often topical, about I
'In recent news ...
current affairs that are important to people.

'Why can't we ladies just get along?'

Voice: Popular bloggers have a style t~at
1 'Hakuna matata!'
followers recognise and like. It may be informa
and personal.
•s me will call this progress; to me it seems like
st te the writer's
Opinion: Many biogs clearIY a th~owing out the baby with the bathwater:'
opinion.
l 'Sport is one obvious example.'
. • rguments or
Examples: For any opinions, a · 'For example ... '
·11 ect to be given
suggestions, blog readers WI exp
real-life, supporting examples.

28
•

Exploring text types

3. 3 Does the cartoon

below reveal the truth [BLOG- BRE AKDOW___N_]__
about blogging? Do you
agree or disagree with [Link],,,. 'Bi' 'PL.,,,. •. ,,
this interpretation of
Ht v..t i''" ... Eise11t~owu...
't\i<. hUIW\~C r ...
what blogging is? Why do . +~t Mo.:, .. d ... ' •
people blog? . o.~l vet otily! .;
sroR1es A60"•
CRAP SoMUO DY CA,i l<t 1~< .•
CONSPIRACY
[Link](E'D, I<~ 1TT€ r,, CO•H•ed, ....s !,~/
tMEO~lfS
Ofl. SEWEt> .
.
. . .
I

3.4 Read Text 6.7, a post from a blog called Rachel's Ruminations. Identify examples of the six
key features of a blog:
• tip • personal experience
• topical • voice
• opm1on • examples.

You could use different colour highlighteJ pens and a copy of the text, or you might prefer to
complete a table.
Compare your answers to a classmate's.
Text 6.7

Five Keys to a Successful Marriage

As of today, my husband and I have been married I Stay independent

for 25 years. When people hear how long we've been
The n~mber o~e most important 'secret' to an
married, I get one of two possible responses:
~ndunng relationship, in my view, is to remain
nd
1. 'Congratulations! We're coming up on (fill in a ~ ependent p~ople. That may sound contradictory
number of years).' if you s~e mamage as implying that you have to do
. , everything together. It shouldn't. •
2. 'Wow! How do you do 1t?
My husband and I have 1 b .
This post is directed at the second group, who people. It's one of th th~ ways een independent
wonder how we've stayed together so long. (M each other th t e ings that attracted us to
V\0-f Q 04M. • a we were both people who could
..
I realize that personalities_ vary, anfthat my v\V) r/If-
ma~~ge ourselves, being able to make inde endent
P
husband and rare both fairly even-tempered people dec1s1ons and act on them with l'ttl d
• 1n • ht be a 1arge
• our 1·1ves. That m1g . Wie have s . 1 e rama ·
who avoid conflict
•
part of the secret to the lo~gevity of our •
mamage.. , . He loves both la interests
eparate ·n an d d.o separate things.
So in other words, your mileage may vary (no pun~ Sunday mo .P YI g and wa tch1ng soccer. His
game is· absolutely sacred·
' • h d • •
l·ntended) but if you're cunous ow we o it, it
I I wouldn't ming soccer
h'
. '
, • expect 1m to d0
comes down to these five pmnts: Sunday morning. anything else on

288
 Unit 6.3 Blog

r do none of those things: I like to write and 1 couples end up :fighting about money, and oft~n
social media. P ay on
that has to do with overdrawing because they re
We both enjoy reading and watching good dramas both using the same account. Instead, we have
on TV- We both lo:7e to travel, though he prefers separate accounts and separate payments that we're
acuve travel that includes things like long-distance each responsible for. My husband earns more, so
hikes, while I'm happier exploring cities and villages. he pays the mortgage, for example. I do the bigger
grocery shopping trip each·week, and I pay for that.
2 Maintain a balance And so on.
Being independent doesn't mean being alone all of For safety's sake in case something happens to
the time, though, just as marriage shouldn't mean on~ of us, some ;f the accounts are actually joint
being together all of the time. We've found a balance accounts, but we don't treat them that way. My
that works for both of us. We pursue our own husband's daily account, for example, has my name
interests but spend quality time together as well. on it too but I don't use it unless it's an emergency,
I

For us, that quality time tends to involve travel but and in that case I call him to let him know.
it could be anything you both enjoy: gardening,' or
attending a ball game or a carnival or going out to S Respect each other 'b
dinner together. Many couples have regular 'date You might have noticed that 1of the above ru es
nights'. When our kids were little, we went away come down to respect. Res ct is something I think
without them for a long weekend about once a year. a lot of people pay lip se ce to, but don't actuall~
We felt it was important to prevent us from losing feel. If you truly respect the other person, you don t
sight of each other. see him or her as a possession or a force to be
controlled, but honor the person as he or she is. So
3 Make deals that also means not trying to change the person, or
In order to accommodate each other's needs and expressing negativity if that person doesn't live up
wishes in this way, we often make deals. This can to your expectations.
be small things like, when our kids were li~tle, when
As an example, despite the fluctuations in my
one of us would say 'Can you stay home_with ,the weight over the years, my h:usband has never once
kids tonight so I can go to my club meeung? I 11 , made a negative comment about my appearance.
watch them tomorrow when you go to your game.
Another example:_ when I announced th~t I w~nted ..._
But it can also be big things. We first met i!1 Malawi to quit one of my Jobs and take a sabbaus,al, his
when I was on a two-year Peace Corps ass~gnment response was 'Do what you need to do.' That shows
and he worked for Memisa Medicus Mu ndi·on a an automatic respect for my feelings and my
four-year contract. I went home to th e US :Vhen my decisions.
contract ended and we carried on a long-distanc~
relationship. He decided he wanted to s!udy public So respect means a) viewing the other person as
health and planned to apply to schools in th e a valuable, independent individual. It means b)
nd and balancing your needs and wishes. It means c) give
UK, but since we were not married a tI
be able to move doto apply to and take: making deals. And it means d) avoiding
citizenship, I wouldn't
find work. So we made a deal: he agree · conflict over money. All of these together, at least in
. d to move to wherever 1n _ our case, have added up to a long, happy marriage.
schools 1n the US. I agree t h •gher costs for
the US he decided to study. It mean 1 d • b 1·n ·
him and for me it meant giving• • upa goo JO Marriage is easy
Ne;York. I often hear people say that 'marriage is hard
U • k you can live with work.' It isn't for us. This may just be because of
I think it's impoftant to ma e ~ure ectfully and our personalities. But in our experience, any little
your end of the bargain. Negotiate resp
--~----:,~~kr.:- : with what you are disagreements become insignificant and hardly
make_ sure that you re ay , I' s of resentment worth arguing about, since we feel valued for who
agreeing to, so you don t have 1 ee ing ·
we are.
later.
Are you in a long-term relationship? Is there
4 Keep money separate anything you'd add to this list?
• got when we
One of the best pieces of advice we ts Many [Link] .
.
mamed was to have sepa rate accoun
. • '

-f-o