Hello Langerzzz! We are now talking about pop culture!
Watch the TED TALK above and take notes on how El Feki begins her speech, what she does in the middle of her speech, and how she ends her speech (think about rhetorical stratgies). Figure out her purpose or message and how she develops that purpose or message through her line of reasoning and rhetorical strategies. Finally, write three well-developed paragraphs of rhetorical analysis that follows her line of reasoning.
140 Comments
disclaimer: #3 needed a lot of context to get to the point so please keep that in mind :)
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Kennedy Draper
11/28/2022 04:38:05 am
For your answer to #1, I think El Feki bolsters her credibility through placing herself at the site of her reference, “In the Arab Region” as she uses personal examples of what she's experienced and seen. Although making herself a "normal person" for the audience, El Feki uses the Barbie's as a better opener which is something that you should have touched base on earlier in your writing rather than her first time at a TED talk.
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Kennedy Draper (continued)
11/28/2022 04:40:36 am
As you said "The second ad is in Arabic but it's very reminiscent of American drama shows/Grey's Anatomy.", does the speaker directly relate to Grey"s Anatomy?
Jackson Konzelmann
11/28/2022 10:30:56 am
I dont really agree with how you split up the shifts, I thought you made some very good points but i dont think that shifts are whefre the shifts should be. I think this is why your 3 paragraph is so long. You wrote the first paragh about literally that first two lines she said.
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Eva Qasim
11/28/2022 02:09:33 pm
Shereen El Faki first starts off her speech by conveying to the audience that this is her first time on TED Talk. By starting off sounding confident by having an assertive, loud speaking voice and referencing to Barbie as an “old friend to help break the ice…”, Faki creates an image for herself and to the audience as a comfortable, “like everyone else” person. This allows the audience to relate to Faki while also grabbing their attention.
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 01:47:20 pm
- You never state the point she is trying to make.
Ahtziry
11/28/2022 09:03:24 pm
I do agree with your points that you make a lot talking about the dolls and she continues with that. I do feel tho you just have a lot of information that may not be as needed.
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Ella Case
11/29/2022 04:35:00 am
I disagree where you split up your shifts.I don't think you needed to do a whole paragraph about her first sentence. You make some good points, but you start to ramble a little in the third paragraph. I think since you split up the shifts wrong, I think effects the way your post flows.
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Elshaday Ftsum Tekeste
11/29/2022 04:40:05 am
Although I agree with most of you said, I disagree about one part of your 3rd answer, or at-least the way it's worded. I wouldn't say that "Western media finding a balance and creating a mesh with the media in the Arab region.", as it is implying that western media is integrating itself into the Arab world and it's media. I would say that the Arab world has created their own version of the western media, which accommodated their culture, creating a sort of mesh of both cultures.
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Laksha
11/25/2022 05:00:32 pm
(This is the continuation of #3 because I ran out of space in the original submission)
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Dhruv Dudhat
11/28/2022 04:30:45 am
In your first paragraph, why does El Feki want to seem like a candid person that has never been on a TED talk before?
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Ethan Noel
11/28/2022 04:36:28 am
In your first paragraph you said that the candidness and humor made El Feki a fitting person to give this speech. Why do these things make her capable of giving this speech compared to somebody else?
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Andreea Duta
11/28/2022 06:40:42 pm
I would also like to point out that she states that those words of the quran she quotes are applicable "no matter your creed." Not only is she describing what makes Islamic nations so prone to intertwining their culture with others, she also hints that other countries of the world should follow the Quran's message, at least for this one excerpt of it: Learn from other cultures and groups.
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Taylor Martin
11/26/2022 11:19:23 am
Shereen El Feki speaks with confidence in order to convey her message that cultures can learn from each other without clashing. She displays the polarities of Western and Arab cultures and uses real-life examples of the cultures combining as a way to show the TED Talk crowd that two very different things can coexist.
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Rithik Ramkumar
11/28/2022 04:28:55 am
I think that overall, the message conveyed is accurate. However, for example in the first paragraph, I believe that you were a bit too vague. For instance, you stated that Feki speaks with confidence, but you didn't define what she does to sound confident.
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Jackson Konzelmann
11/28/2022 10:38:53 am
I agree with Rithik that the first paragraph was vague. I do however like the points you brought up and made.
Ahtziri Prestegui Loeza
11/28/2022 04:35:46 am
In the second paragraph, I really like how in depth you were about contrasting the differences of the U.S and Islamic culture and how it influences each culture differently. As well, bringing up a Quaran quote and how it backs up her message about how cultures can be influenced by each other but without having any negative influences bleeding into their culture.
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Hanna Laabid
11/28/2022 04:43:03 am
I agree with your idea that the Islamic world is using different mediums to communicate Muslim messages in a positive light. However, I think you could have explained how these mediums effectively connect the modern world with Islamic values a bit more. Yes, they catch the young audience's attention but you could have gone deeper and talk about how the 99 comics portray the different attributes of Allah as "the good guys" which would influence the young Arabs to embrace Muslim values.
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Emma Heard
11/28/2022 02:04:04 pm
I agree with your statement in paragraph 2 when you say it was "meant to be entertaining in order to catch young viewers and readers attention." I think that was the biggest use of Western culture in this example and effectively shows the combination of Western and Arab culture.
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ziry
11/28/2022 09:06:10 pm
I do agree with your message. I do feel as if there are certain parts where ore information could have been added like Rethik had said. More information on certain parts where the differences are would have been better but overall it was good.
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Nicole Vastis
11/29/2022 04:44:55 am
I agree with your overall argument, but I think you could have been a little more specific with your analysis of El Feki's use of the dolls. Why did she bring them back towards the end of her speech? What is their purpose? Do these dolls symbolize anything?
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Addison Carnow
11/26/2022 06:28:02 pm
1. El Feki begins her speech by including a popular toy, Barbie, and the Islamic version “Fulla”. El Feki details that these two dolls live in “completely separate spheres” and have “different interests”. El Feki is clearly conveying to the audience that these dolls represent the West and Islamic cultures. By doing so, El Feki can now describe how most believe these cultures when combined are “not going to be pretty.” This symbolism is needed because she has no way to hook the audience and make sure they understand the topic of her speech before stating the claim she is arguing against. Since most of the audience would agree with this assumption, especially looking at the contrast between the dolls, El Feki emphasizes to them what is the common assumption. Thus, when she then says “In my experience” the Islamic world is “very different”, she emphasizes her discredit of the assumption of vastly differing cultures. Furthermore, El Feki backs this up with a quick credibility boost by saying she works “In the Arab Region.” Using the dolls to represent the Western and Islamic cultures ultimately leads the audience to clearly understand El Feki’s message that those two cultures aren't that different.
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Jeremy Liu
11/28/2022 04:29:23 am
I agree with your statement on how she boosts her credibility in the first paragraph, and I didn't realize she didn't have a hook until you mentioned it.
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Dyuman Das
11/28/2022 04:32:37 am
I agree with your post, i also found many of the same reasons and choices she used. I like how you started talking about the assumptions she made, it was something i had not noticed.
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Morgan Furr
11/29/2022 04:37:17 am
I agree with you statement that El Feki shows her credibility in the first paragraph
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Ethan Noel
11/27/2022 09:50:35 am
El Feki commences her Ted talk by introducing and comparing “Fulla” and “Barbie,” Two well known toys found in two different cultures in order to reveal the flawed belief that cultures should not share ideals with one another. Before giving examples of meshing of Arab cultures and Western cultures, El Feki compares “Fulla” and “Barbie” as they “have different interests,” “different values,” and if they ever come in contact “it’s just not gonna be pretty.” Feki acknowledges these two toys and their differences because she wants to emphasize the faulty belief that’s coming with it, which is that cultures should not come in contact with one another as if they do “it’s not gonna be pretty.” Since many listeners believe that cultures need to be separated, Feki established that in reality society needs to share ideas with one another. El Feki is capable of saying these things because she has worked in “Arab regions” where she has seen first handedly Arab culture taking up western innovation and changing it to their own. This ultimately moves listeners to understand that culture diffusion can occur without conflict as Feki has seen it herself and that the belief that cultures cannot come in contact with another is flawed.
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Samuel Koul Biar
11/27/2022 09:53:19 am
In order for Feki to convey her message that cultural diffusion can occur without conflict, she first begins by comparing iconic toys in both arab and western culture and more specifically, the barbie doll and Fulla, the arab spinoff to barbie. Feki describes the 2 dolls as having “different interests” and if the 2 dolls were ever going to coexist together, “it’s just not going to be pretty”. Because Feki describes the 2 dolls of western and arab cultures and their differences, she establishes the idea that 2 opposite cultures can copy the same concept from each other but apply their own variations of the model to appropriately reach their desired effects on their own society such as the arab culture copying the barbie from America but applying their own spinoff in a way that the new barbie known as Fullah is a quran abiding woman. Thus, if 2 cultures can copy each other but make adjustments to represents their beliefs and ideals, they have the ability to learn and take inspiration from each other and by furthermore adding their own spinoffs and adjustments allow for conflict to be avoided since each country has their own version or model that specifically applies to its own desired society. All in all, this allowed the ted talk listeners to realize that countries can mimic each other without bad blood or conflict by making tweaks to the things they are mimicking to benefit their society specifically. The effect of Feki starting out with the comparison of barbie dolls in arab and western culture allowed ted talk listeners to see the blatant differences between arab and western culture in the simplest things such as the ways the barbie dolls are dressed.
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Arnav
11/28/2022 04:28:20 am
Hello Sammy,
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Addison Carnow
11/28/2022 04:32:28 am
I like how you always stated what the choice did to the audience, as well as using multiple lines of evidence per paragraph. I agree with many of your arguments, as most of yours were in mine as well.
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Jeremy Liu
11/28/2022 04:32:58 am
I agree with your use of the barbie and Fulla doll as a way to show how different culture can copy each other to benefit their people, and also like how it helps transition into the broader message of Fenki wanting to spread the idea of culture mesh.
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Dyuman Das
11/27/2022 10:12:44 am
At the very start of Shereen El Feki’s Ted talk, she contrasts Barbie, a doll from the Western tradition, and Fulla, a doll from the Arab tradition, in order to bring forth the idea to the audience that the dolls represent both Western and Arab cultures but not specifically one or the other but as a mesh of both. El Feki states that the Fulla is “Arabs world answer to the Baribie” and that the two dolls “have different interests. They have divergent values” and if combined or faced with each other it would not be pretty. Feki does so because she wants to give an example of the two cultures being together. And since she doesnt have a way of convincing the audience she is right, she uses an example proving that the Arab tradition have taken the aspects of Western tradtions and put it with their own but not fully making it traditional in the sense of the Arabs. Since the Arabs have been making their own twists of Western products such as music, comics and videos, the media has put forth that the two culture are able to coexist with each other rather than dividing, thus allowing Western traditions to be brought to Arab culture. Furthermore the Arabs “are busy taking up Western innovations and changing them into things which are neither conventionally Western, nor are they traditionally Islamic.” Ultimately allowing the media and audience to understand that the two culture are able to live together and they arent much different from each other.
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 01:48:24 pm
I do not agree that her point was that the two cultures are similar.
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Emma Collard
11/27/2022 01:27:23 pm
El Feki starts her speech off strong by quickly introducing two very different dolls that come from similar ideas: Barbie, which is popular in the U.S., and Fulla, an Arabic version of Barbie. By showing the audience two opposing ideas of the same doll, El Feki contemplates the idea that these differences in culture and appearance will clash by explaining, “Barbie and Fulla occupy these completely different spheres,” a statement meant to further separate the two cultures. El Feki continues to describe this clash in opposing cultures, describing a scenario where, “should they ever come in contact… it’s just not going to be pretty.” Such statements actually contradict El Feki’s message that it is a good idea to adopt different ideas and images in a combination of different cultures. By beginning her speech with a concrete example of these differences, El Feki takes a step back from her message and begins with a conflicting idea in order to move into why an unpleasant clash of cultures is not the reality. The audience, having possibly had similar ideas of combining cultures not being a good idea before, and clearly seeing the difference between Barbie and Fulla as a resemblance to the uncrossable differences in western and Arabic cultures, may see some truth in the contradicting opinion El Feki starts her speech with. Directly acknowledging this opposing idea that combining cultures is not smart gives El Feki some credibility with her audience for considering all points of view, and allows her to explain why adopting ideas from other cultures is what every culture should be doing.
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Nivedha
11/28/2022 04:34:20 am
Hi Emma! I really like how you connect the assumption El Feki makes of her audience having a prior mindset of clashing cultures not being a great idea to "uncrossable differences" when it comes to Fulla and Barbie. You make it very clear of why the audience of people from all over the world should believe El Feki and her message that clashing/fusing cultures together can be done without conflict. You connect that message back to the assumption El Feki makes about her audience and how the audience would be persuaded to acknowledge El Feki's message. I also love how you mention El Feki's discussion about the Quran as a "contemplative consideration," because El Feki does not force the idea upon her audience or give irrelevant examples... She gives very applicable examples and allows for the audience to make their own opinion about her message. Overall, great job Emma!
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Laksha
11/28/2022 04:38:12 am
I also talked about the way that El Feki cited the Quran towards the end of the speech. I like how you labeled it a ¨contemplative consideration¨ because that´s the best way to phrase her summary/reflection at the end. I did not consider adding the part about the quote influencing the audience´s opinions on Arabic culture, I thought of it as more so encouraging ¨cross cultural hybridization¨ within other cultures but I would have added that the quote also influenced the audience´s opinions on Arabic culture in my answer.
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Bella
11/29/2022 04:34:22 am
I love how you brought up how people could have existing beliefs about the clashing of cultures. Including Fulla and Barbie helps explain that it is however possible.
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Jackson Konzelmann
11/27/2022 02:01:20 pm
El Feki’s main purpose for doing this Ted Talk is to convey that different societies can mix together in an appropriate way that is beneficial to the society without washing away their culture and beliefs. El Feki commences her “Talk” by utilizing “Barbie” and “Fulla” as a vessel for the starting point of her argument. El Feki gives a prime example of a “mesh of civilization” with “Barbie” and “Fulla,” they both look similar to each other but they have “different ideas and beliefs.” However, El Feki wants the audience to see a “mask” or “clash” of societies where Islamic societies are copying western cultures, which would lead to erasing of those Islamic societies. El Feki then goes against the assumption she created by saying that they can both live together, establishing her central argument through an example of toys. El Feki utilizes the toys to give an example of western culture mixing with Islamic societies that the audience can connect with. El Feki knows that the audience knows Barbie and can connect with Barbie, so El Feki utilizes Barbie as the vessel for the more complex idea of mashing up cultures and globalization, kind of like when TV shows have talking animals to teach kids the alphabet. The Barbie example also gives El Feki a real-life situation that she can convey and grow on her argument with.
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11/28/2022 04:29:47 am
Like: I liked how you brought up globalization. I hadn't considered it from that POV.
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11/28/2022 04:40:37 am
(Okay. Need to be more specific)
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Max
11/29/2022 04:41:42 am
I agreed with where you put the shifts and how you believe that she conveyed her points. I agree that she starts with the comparison between Barbie and Fulla, shifts too talking about Islamic television, and then shifts to the overall mesh of civilization
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Elshaday Ftsum Tekeste
11/27/2022 03:34:11 pm
Shereen El Feki begins her speech by comparing and contrasting two dolls, one from western world (Babie) and one from the Arab world (Fulla). Doing so allows her to give her Ted-Talk audience a glimpse of how the Arab world has responded to the very much globalized western [pop] culture. After stating that she has “brought an old friend to break the ice a bit”, she proceeds to display a Barbie doll, who “is 50 years old, and [..] is looking as young as ever”, then she picks up another doll, this time one wearing an abaya, ‘a loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in parts of the Muslim world’ and a head covering, called Fulla, stating that “it’s the Arab World’s answer to Barbie''. Because most of the audience have never heard of , let alone seen Fulla before, it adds an element of surprise to the comparison. And since El Feki states that it is the Arab-Muslim version of Barbie, the audiences first instincts are to compare Fulla and Barbie. Thus, the audience would take note of how different the two dolls are, in terms of their clothes. Furthermore, the fact that Barbie is wearing a bikini, further amplifies the difference. All of which ultimately move the Ted-Talk listeners (and viewers) to recognize the hybridization of [pop] culture going on in the Arab World as the comparison is highlighting the dolls’ differences, but in such a way that it demonstrates how Fulla was created as a mix between the western pop-culture’s barbie and the Arab-world’s muslim culture.
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11/27/2022 05:32:42 pm
1) El Feki begins her speech about Arab culture meshing with Western pop culture, forming a new, hybrid culture that is both entertaining and Islamic, by sharing her experiences in the Arab world of Arabs taking parts of Western culture and integrating them into Islamic culture. While at her job, El Feki claims to have witnessed “people…busy [with] taking up Western innovations” and “changing them” by mixing them with Islamic values. By recollecting on her experiences at work, El Feki both introduces this idea of the mesh of civilizations and gives it the legs to stand on by providing proof that, yes indeed, Islamic and Western cultures are coming together into something new. Though her Ted Talk is broadcasted throughout the world, El Feki’s viewers are bound to be primarily people from Western cultures, ignorant of Islamic media. So by giving her story of this cultural melding, her audience of uneducated people on the subject of Islam can better understand and believe that Islamic and Western cultures are actually merging.
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 01:50:33 pm
You never bring up why she starts with the two dolls. It was significant to the point she was trying to make.
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Jeremy Liu
11/27/2022 05:42:49 pm
In the beginning of El Feki's speech, Feki bolsters her credibility by giving the audience her viewpoint as someone who worked in the Middle East. Before doing so, Feki shows and compares the two different cultural variants of the bikini wearing Barbie and the less revealing, hijab wearing Fulla to emphasize the big difference in interests and values of these barbies, and how if they ever did meet “it’s just not going to be pretty.” However, Feki then throws away that idea by giving her personal experience working in the Arab region and how people in this region are “busy taking up western innovations” and wanting to change them into “things which are neither conventionally Western nor are...traditionally Islamic." Since Feki worked in the Arab region, she truly knows and understands how the people in this region live and how they want to spread their culture to everyone. This ultimately drives the audience into believing her as she understands the viewpoints in both America and the Middle East, and she knows that both cultures want their nation's patriotism to live on in the people.
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Bella Norton
11/28/2022 04:31:07 am
I agree with all of your rhetorical strategies you picked. I liked how you picked she bolstered her credibility in the first half of her speech because I was between bolstering credibility and comparison.
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Jackson Konzelmann
11/28/2022 10:35:27 am
I really liked the stance you took on how she boltsered her credibilty. We were kinda thinking the same thing, you were able to word it better and you really were able to expand on it. I like that you brought up the mesh but you never mentioned that she called the mesh of civilization.
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Daniel Rodriguez
11/27/2022 05:58:43 pm
She begins her speech by presenting two Barbie dolls, one familiar and the other unknown, to break the ice. She does it this way to relieve stress or to start a dialogue at the beginning of her discussion. Because this is her first time at TED, she wants her audience to feel at ease and comprehend what she is saying.
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Gregory Park
11/28/2022 04:30:39 am
Overall I really enjoyed reading it, but one thing I want to ask is if the two dolls represent different cultures?
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Silas Leonard
11/28/2022 04:47:58 pm
Why would they not? Fulla represents Arabic and Islamic cultures with her traditional Chador dress, while Barbie represents western, specifically American, culture, with her bright colored outfits that are typically mass produced and sold in western countries.
Amy
11/28/2022 04:41:36 am
I had initially disagreed with your statement that the barbie comparison was something more than relieve stress, but to make a comparison of the misconception that there is with combining cultures together will get ¨pretty ugly.¨ following her sharing her experience with her work in the Arabic region to contrast that there is only negative effects in combining different cultures, while she contrast it to the ability for combination of cultures to inspire and teach in this example islamic values. but I agree that since it is her first Ted Talk it is a way to connect with the present audience that are assumed to know of Barbie dolls. I did not see the statement of underlining Arabic individualism by having English title in my own writing but researching the number 99 in Arabic culture represents the 99 names of Allah, in Islam bead string.
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Corrie
11/28/2022 12:31:43 pm
I agree with your statement about the barbies being used to break the ice and set the audience at ease! I had a similar thought!
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 01:52:25 pm
She began with the dolls to break the ice but they served another purpose which you missed.
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Gregory Park
11/27/2022 06:13:42 pm
Shereen El Feki powerfully introduces two unlikely dolls that generally come from the same concept. She describes one doll as Barbie which is mostly used in the U.S., and the other as Fulla which is an Arabic doll. By illustrating to the audience that the dolls have different interests and divergent values, El Feki expresses the idea that when they come in contact, they would clash together. For instance, El Feki explains, “Barbie and Fulla occupy these completely different spheres.” This assertion demonstrates the difference between the two cultures. In addition, she displays the clash as “it’s just not going to be pretty,” also saying that they should never “come to contact”. These statements refute El Feki’s claim that adopting different images and ideas in a combination of different civilizations is a good idea. At the beginning of El Feki’s speech, she provides instances of these differences, she drifts away from her message and starts using a conflicting idea in order to persuade the audience that it isn’t a reality about an “unpleasant clash of cultures.” Furthermore, the audience could’ve had very similar thoughts about how merging cultures is not a strong idea before, and also visualizing the difference between both the Barbie and Fulla as a simulation to the uncrossable dissimilarities in Arabic and western cultures, can sense a bit of truth in the contradicting opinion El Feki beings her speech with. Ultimately, El Feki gains credibility including her audience by directly understanding the opposing claim that combining different cultures is not a bright idea, which furthers her to explain why every culture should adopt other ideas from different cultures.
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Arnav Srivastava
11/27/2022 07:32:43 pm
In her TED Talk about the general stereotypes that have been falsely believed in world about Islamic culture, Shereen El Feki contends that Islamic culture has been falsely portrayed in many aspects of Western culture and that the civilizations shouldn’t “clash” but rather “mesh.” In support of this, El Feki begins her talk with a relatable contrast between two versions of a famous toy: the Barbie doll. El Feki shows the “normal” Barbie doll that everyone is familiar with, but then shows an “Arabic” Barbie doll that most don’t really know about. She then states the beliefs that can come along with those Barbies, saying that the “proponents of the clash of civilizations” believe in the separation of these dolls and therefore the cultures assumed to be associated with each. With this contrast, El Feki effectively introduces the idea of a “clash of civilizations” and how differences in the Islamic and Western cultrue could bring a sense of separation between the two sides. The audience of Western listeners most likely interested in this topic are now familiar with the idea of a separation of cultural identities, so when El Feki actually attempts to disprove the idea later, they can take that idea and keep it in perspective as they see why it shouldn’t ever be the case.
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Samuel Koul Biar
11/28/2022 04:38:13 am
You missed the word the in your first sentence, you should've said the world instead of world. The use of the word really isn't really needed in the sentence "but then shows an arabic barbie doll that most people really don't know about. Grammarly found 10 more mistakes but other than that, I love your adjectives you use to describe your ideas in your last paragraph such as a sharp quote or one tidy phrase. I agree with you that she disagrees with the idea that islamic culture is falsely portrayed in the west and esepcially resonates with me also having african/arabic origins.
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Bella Norton
11/27/2022 07:40:30 pm
1. El Feki begins her speech by comparing 2 Barbie dolls coming from different cultures. 1 Barbie doll comes from the western innovations or also known as the US. The other Barbie doll named Fulla comes from the Arbab culture. When comparing the 2 Barbie dolls, El Feki describes them as “separate spheres” and having “different interest [and] divergent values.” providing the idea that if they come together or meet they would clash together because they have different ideas. She illustrates that idea by saying if “they ever come in contact… it’s just not going to be pretty” contradicting her message that it is a good idea for cultures to get ideas from one another without the possibility of crashing against each other.
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corrie
11/28/2022 12:29:12 pm
I like how you quoted the ted talk alot and I agree with you that mixing of cultures and civilizations shouldnt be strided from.
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Eva Qasim
11/29/2022 04:35:25 am
I feel like the way you started your paragraphs didn't really grasp your main points and you should have added more information to support each claim. Other than that it's good!!!
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 02:03:01 pm
- Paragraph #2 does set up her line of reasoning. Missing the why.
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Elizabeth Garrity
11/27/2022 09:06:10 pm
1. El Feki begins her Ted Talk by comparing the classic American barbie to the Islamic version “Fulla.” She takes a popular American toy and compares it to the Islamic version revealing the beliefs that two cultures coming together “won't be pretty.” El Feki uses juxtaposition to compare the difference between the two cultures and how they have “different interests”, and “different values.” She recognizes the fact in the damaged belief that cultures shouldn’t mix, or it won't end well, when in reality her argument is emphasizing that countries should rely on each other, build one another up, and bounce ideas around. In her argument to grab the audience's attention, she mentions her own personal experience that she has had in the Arab regions. She reveals the things she has seen like Arab culture “taking up western innovation.” Her point is to show that she has seen that other cultures can share the same ideas, values, beliefs, and work ethics while still being “their own”, goes to prove that the belief in culture clash leading to a disruption is inaccurate.
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Noah M
11/29/2022 04:36:42 am
I agree with how you comment that she used the Quran to advance and further make a point out of her message, it makes a very important part of her ted talk.
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 02:05:30 pm
- Some commentary is vague.
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Kali Daniels
11/27/2022 09:30:39 pm
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Vanetta July
11/29/2022 02:08:47 pm
- Paragraph #2 needed more in depth commentary. You also needed to connect to her purpose/message.
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Hanna Laabid
11/27/2022 09:35:12 pm
At the beginning of her TED Talk, Shereen El Feki presents a skin-revealing Barbie doll from Western culture and Fulla, a fully-clothed Arab hijabi doll to convey how the Islamic world is adopting concepts from other cultures, specifically Western culture, and blending them with Muslim qualities to teach their youth of the values of Islam. By introducing these two different dolls, she highlights how they have “different interests” and “divergent values” and if they came together, “it’s just not going to be pretty.” This allows her to emphasize the widespread belief that cultures cannot come together and coexist due to their differences. Therefore, this assumption may lead people to believe that cultures are meant to be separated, not converged. She proceeds to counter this idea by speaking from her experience working “...in the Arab region.” 4Shbab, “...dubbed [the] Islamic MTV,” is one example of how El Feki says the Arab world is taking a “Western innovation” and adapting it to appeal to the younger generation of Arabs to inspire them to “...lead better lives” with Islamic values. This concept combines the well-known medium of music videos, for which American MTV was originally known, and the addition of elements from Islam, such as modesty, to create a kid-friendly way of exhibiting the essence of Islam.
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Taylor Martin
11/28/2022 04:32:55 am
I couldn't find anything that you need to improve on. You did an amazing job at presenting and explaining your points and quotes.
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Lauren Cheedle
11/28/2022 04:41:22 am
Hello!
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Sajni Patel
11/28/2022 02:52:33 pm
I also referenced and mentioned how she alluded to the Quran near the end of her speech. You did a wonderful job explaining how " the Islamic region is borrowing Western ideas and meshing them with Islamic standards." I liked how you mentioned the "widespread belief that cultures cannot come together and coexist due to their differences", and although society believes that, you effectively backed up your argument about how El Feki convinces the audience that Western and Islamic culture are able to "mesh" together without clashing.
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Lauren Cheedle
11/27/2022 10:04:50 pm
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Will McKean
11/28/2022 03:02:34 pm
Hi!
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Dhruv Dudhat
11/27/2022 10:17:04 pm
El Feki commences her speech by introducing Barbie, a well known children's toy, and Fulla, an Arab spinoff of Barbie. Doing so allows her to convey the message, that the assumption that cultural diffusion always ends badly for one or both cultures is false, and that different cultures can mix without one being mashed with one another. For instance, when discussing what would happen if the "sphere of influences" of Barbie and Fulla have would come in contact with each other, El Feki states that both Barbie and Fulla have “different interests and divergent values” and that “should they ever come in contact [...] its just not going to be pretty [...] my experience in the Islamic world is very different,” meaning that melding the two spheres of influence concerning Barbie and Fulla would lead to conflict. Because El Feki establishes a sphere of influence around both dolls, and the Barbie is a primarily Western doll while the Fulla as described by El Feki, is an Arabic spinoff of Barbie, the people present at her TED talk label one sphere of influence as Western and another sphere of influence as Islamic. El Feki’s message is, that the assumption that cultural diffusion always ends badly for one or both cultures is false, and that different cultures can mix without one being mashed with one another, and since she is addressing two different cultures here, Western and Islamic, through the use of the Western Barbie doll and the Islamic Fulla doll, El Feki points out the common assumption that interaction between cultures is “just not going to be pretty” in the minds of the people present at her TED talk. Thus, by contrasting the assumption of the audience, that cultural diffusion doesn’t end well, and how her “experience in the Islamic world is very different,” El Feki points out how the people present at her TED talk have the wrong assumption concerning cultural diffusion. Ultimately, El Feki begins to break the assumption concerning cultural diffusion, that cultural diffusion ends badly for one or both parties, in the minds of the people present at her TED talk.
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Dhruv Dudhat
11/28/2022 04:02:01 am
(continuation of #3)
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Rithik Ramkumar
11/28/2022 12:17:04 am
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:25:19 am
In paragraph two, I do not agree she is trying to speak to a younger audience.
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Rithik Ramkumar
11/28/2022 12:18:52 am
Feki’s claim that the goal of Islamic pop culture is not to fully copy or compete against western culture, but to take inspiration from it and improve. To further back up this claim, Feki utilizes a quote from the Quran that states “we made you into nations and tribes so you could learn from one another.” In doing so, Feki emphasizes how although this idea of creating a “mesh” of Islamic and Western traditions seems modern, ideas, roots and origins of taking inspiration and adapting one’s religion from another have been around since the writing of the Quran. Furthermore, because this supporting quote has been written in the Quran, Feki continues to bolster her credibility by persuading audience members who know what the Quran is, and its value to Islamic culture to support Feki’s claim, as it has been essentially endorsed by the Quran.
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Amy
11/28/2022 02:10:29 am
El Feki commences her Ted Talk by comparing a classical American Barbi doll to Fulla the Islamic version of Barbie to convey the difference in ¨interest and values¨ these Barbies have, and ¨should they ever come in contact… it's just not going to be pretty.¨ However Feki mentions the Islamic world is very different and in the Arab region ¨people are busy taking up Western innovations…¨ Feki gives her personal experience working in the region and the want to change not necessarily conventionally ¨western¨ nor ¨traditionally Islamic.¨ Feki not only removes the idea that culture meshing cannot be done but increases her credibility proving that Feki working in the Arab region herself allows for a better understanding of how people live and how they want to spread their Islamic values, leading the audience to believe both in her within her experience in the region and the innovations happening with other cultures.
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Amy Zeledon
11/28/2022 02:11:37 am
Amy Zeledon.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:27:12 am
I do not think you clearly understood or communicated her purpose. Your second paragraph sort of brings it up.
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Nivedha Prathap Chandran
11/28/2022 03:58:30 am
El Feki commences her passionate speech by utilizing comparison of the American “dream girl,” Barbie, and her foreign relative, Fulla, in order to determine her message that cultures with different values and morals can fuse together, with no conflict, as times are developing, to her audience of people from all different types of cultures and religions. El Feki describes Barbie as the “western” staple and Fulla as “the Arab world's answer to Barbie…” both with “different interests, divergent values…” By doing so, El Feki makes the accurate assumption that her audience is world wide and people from all different spheres and corners of the world will be watching and listening to her each and every word. El Feki makes this clever assumption because she has the prior knowledge that people understand that the Islamic culture is extremely different when compared to the western or American culture regardless of whether it’s religion, language, background, beliefs, etc… This will force El Feki’s audience of people with vast differences and contrasting backgrounds to comprehend the first half of her message, which is that cultures are different, and they all have different morals and values.
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Emma Collard
11/28/2022 04:31:25 am
It's interesting how you interpreted the beginning of the speech as supporting part of her message while I said it was a conflicting opinion that she acknowledges in order to make her actual message more believable. I still feel like you did a good job explaining why you think El Feki was doing this in the first part of the speech.
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Reyna Lee
11/29/2022 04:42:16 am
I agree with your message that cultures with different values and morals can fuse together with no conflict because El Feki speaks in the end about how the two cultures are able to mix together and peacefully mesh together. I liked all three rhetorical devices you found and I didn't notice the personal experience you wrote about so it's good you dug deep to find rhetorical strategies.
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Kennedy Draper
11/28/2022 04:28:56 am
1. El Feki begins her speech by including a popular toy, Barbie, and the Islamic version “Fulla”. El Feki describes that these two dolls live in “completely separate spheres” and have “different interests”. El Feki is clearly conveying to the audience that these dolls represent the West and Islamic cultures. By doing so, El Feki now describes how most of these cultures, when combined, are “not going to be pretty.” El Feki uses symbolism because she has no way to grasp the audience's attention and makes sure the audience understands before stating the claim she is arguing against. Since most of the audience would agree with this assumption, El Feki emphasizes to the people what is the common misunderstanding and stereotype. Thus, when El Feki then says “In my experience” the Islamic world is “very different”, she emphasizes her breakthrough of the stereotypes or assumptions of the differing cultures. Furthermore, El Feki backs this up with credibility by saying she works “In the Arab Region” essentially putting herself in the situation directly. Using the dolls to represent the Western and Islamic cultures, it leads the audience to clearly understand El Feki’s message that the two cultures aren’t as different as often believed.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:29:09 am
- Your first paragraph does not establish a line of reasoning which should include the WHAT and WHY.
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Corrie McArtbur
11/28/2022 12:26:35 pm
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Vanessa Muniz
11/28/2022 06:11:24 pm
I love how you kept on continuing using how Feki was targeting the young and teen audience for your evidence because it brings out what all the change in civilization and who they are effecting the most.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:32:48 am
How does mentioning Barbie establish her credibility? Credibility towards what?
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Emma
11/28/2022 01:59:19 pm
In the beginning of El Feki’s speech she introduces the Western and Islamic version of the Barbie toy. El Feki uses the classic American Barbie and compares it to the Muslim barbie to give her audience a visual example of there differences. Using the Barbies as a visual example leads her into the main topic that the world thinks that because of their “different interest” and “divergent boundaries” the Western and Islamic cultures can not mix and if they did it would not result in a good outcome. El Feki then gains credibility by giving examples of her personal life. She explains how people in everyday life are constantly combining Western and Islamic culture: “Taking up western innovations [...] changing them into [...] conventionally Western [...] traditionally Islamic.” This example goes toward her argument that it is possible for cultures to mix and can be done without a negative outcome.
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Silas Leonard
11/28/2022 04:41:36 pm
I agree with what you said in your first paragraph, about how she bolsters her argument with her own personal experiences that is contrasted with her opponents argument which is not based in any personal experience or data of any kind.
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Grayson Kerr
11/28/2022 02:06:04 pm
El Feki begins her speech by connecting with her audience through her introduction of the barbie doll. She talks in a jovial, lighthearted, and sort of casual tone. While talking about her barbie doll she states, “She's 50 years old. And she's looking as young as ever.” She then talks about her other barbie doll, Fulla. She says that “Fulla is the Arab world's answer to Barbie.” And while comparing her two barbie dolls she explains that “They have different interests. They have divergent values. And should they ever come in contact ... well, I've got to tell you, it's just not going to be pretty.” Explaining the differences between the two dolls allows El Feki to set the tone and message for her speech that while “according to proponents of the clash of civilizations,” the two dolls should never get along, the reality is different than often portrayed.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:35:08 am
- Explain the connection between the 99 and Islamic MTV to the point she is making.
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Sajni Patel
11/28/2022 02:48:08 pm
Shereen El Feki speaks in an assertive tone in her Ted Talk to the audience in order to convey her message that cultures are able to “borrow” aspects from each other's cultures. She does so by establishing her credibility and then using real life examples of how Western and Arab cultures have learned from each other. She begins her speech by stating it’s her “first time at TED”, which establishes to the audience that she has never given a TED Talk before. Directly after that, El Feki introduces the classic American Barbie to the audience and states that although “she’s 50 years old…, [she’s still] younger than ever.” Doing so allows her to connect with the audience through a classic childhood doll that almost everyone had, and makes her come off as “the same” as the audience, which ultimately moves the audience to trust her and become more comfortable, as they now have something in common. Therefore, doing this established her credibility even though it’s her “first time at TED.”
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Will T McKean
11/28/2022 02:58:45 pm
Shereen El Feki begins her TED talk by showing the listeners a Barbie Doll which is widely known to Western audiences, then introducing them to “The Arab worlds answer to Barbie.” By doing so, El Feki lays the groundwork for her argument that this “clash of civilizations” isn’t occurring. Instead, She depicts how one branches of another. She supports this by saying that in the Arab world “people are busy taking up Western innovations,” Defying the notion that the Arab world and the west are two separate systems but rather, Arab businesses are taking inspiration from established and successful Western innovations and adding a cultural twist.
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Daniela Betancourt Santibanez
11/28/2022 04:05:09 pm
El Feki begins her argument in her Ted Talk by comparing “Fulla” and “Barbie” , these are two toys that are very known but come from two different cultures. By demonstrating the two dolls Feki is revealing to the audience that two different cultures are able to mix together without washing away each other’s culture. El Feki compares “Fulla” and “Barbie” with the fact that they have “different interests” and “different values,” and that if they ever come in contact “its just not gonna be pretty.” By Feki acknowledging the difference between the two dolls, Feki hopes to emphasize the faulty between the belief that culture should not come in contact with each other because “it won’t be pretty.” Feki acknowledges that many listeners may believe that cultures should continue to be separated, but she is able to highlight her credibility by establishing that in reality society share ideas with one another. El Feki demonstrates the fact that she is credible and in fact allowed to say these things because she has worked in “Arab regions” this emphasizes the fact that she has first handedly seen Arab culture innovating western culture and changing it to fit their own culture and beliefs. By stating this it illustrates to the audience that culture diffusion can occur without conflict as Feki has seen it, and the fact that two different cultures can be able to come into contact without washing away each other’s culture.
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Kailin Marciniak
11/29/2022 04:44:56 am
Hey Daniela! My attention was caught when you mentioned that the two dolls were demonstrated in order to provide the idea that cultures can mix ¨without washing away each other’s culture.¨ I was thinking more of the opposite where the dolls went against El Feki´s argument that cultures can mesh together. I saw the dolls representing the clash that is assumed will happen when ideas from different regions join together.
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Ella Case
11/28/2022 04:26:56 pm
Shereen El Feki initiates her speech by comparing a popular American toy, “Barbie” and a popular Islamic toy, “Fulla”. El Feki expresses how these two dolls have “ different interest” and live in “completely different spheres.” By implementing how these two dolls live in different societies, El Feki is conveying to the audience how these dolls represent the two different cultures of the West and Islam. El Feki uses “Barbie” and “Fulla” as symbolism to hook her audience into understanding how each doll has “different values” and the misbelief that if these two dolls were to come in contact with each other it’s “not gonna be pretty.” El Feki proceeds to explain to the audience how its important for our cultures to interwind and the importance of societies sharing ideals. El Feki establishes her credibility by including her work “In the Arab Region,” this helps enhance her statement about how in the Islamic world its “very different” because El Feki has seen through personal experience, western innovations being used in an everyday occurrence. By using the two dolls as examples El Feki ultimately moves the audience to understand how different cultures can unite their ideas without bad blood and to change the audiences prior belief about different cultures coming into contact with each other.
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Silas Leonard
11/28/2022 04:38:54 pm
El Feki begins her TED Talk by holding a barbie doll, a toy likely everyone at the TED Talk is somewhat familiar with, before introducing Fulla, which few people likely were aware of beforehand. This bait-and-switch tactic acts as a hook to reel listeners into her speech detailing the diffusion of western culture into Arab cultures. El Feki continues by describing the argument posed by her ideological opponents, wherein she sprinkles in future tenses such as “should” and “going” that convey the idea that the people who believe western and Arabic cultures to be incompatible don’t have actual evidence to support their claim, a claim which is contradicted by her own lived experiences. Her experience was “very different” from the hypothetical she posed before, and acts as a cudgel to discredit opposing viewpoints.
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Jack Vuong
12/1/2022 05:22:17 am
While I agree with you, I think you could add a little more commentary to your analysis. In your last paragraph, how does the history of cultural diffusion in the Middle East add to her credibility? How does this change the audience's viewpoint? If El Feki did not establish the Middle East's history of cultural diffusion, then cultural diffusion may be supposed to be an oddity in modern society. But because El Feki did include this, it demonstrates that cultural diffusion has successfully been performed for over a thousand years, then addiing credbility to her assertions.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:36:12 am
I agree.
Lauren Ramos
11/28/2022 05:49:38 pm
In Shereen El Feki’s speech to her Ted-Talk audience, and to those watching through T.V, EL Feki utilizes the comparison of the westernized doll “Barbie” and “Fulla” an Arabic doll, to indicate that though culturally, morally different they can “mesh” together. Through the gradual “mesh” of these cultures the audience can understand that differences such as cultures, can mix without having it conclude in conflict. Into the beginning of El Feki’s speech she visually introduces the two dolls to the audience, Barbie being first wearing a bikini :“ she is 50 years old, and she is looking as young as ever,” which the audience can then compare to Fulla who is secondly introduced after Barbie wearing attire with full coverage. To these comparisons El Feki suggests that because of their “different interests” and “divergent boundaries” that if they were to meet “it's just not going to be pretty.” But to then further state that this is a surface view image when coming into the realization to the audience that through the creation of Fulla, it was a mix between the two cultures. Furthermore stating through her own experience in where she works in the Arab region there is a consistent amount of western innovations mixed in with being traditionally Islamic. Establishing to her audience that with the consistent amount of innovation mixed with each other cultures there is no clash of conflict, only further broadening all invitations to be more inclusive.
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Max Allen
11/28/2022 05:59:58 pm
In order to convey the message that cultures instead of clashing should mesh with one another, El Feki begins her speech by comparing the Barbie doll that the western audience is familiar with to the less familiar Islamic doll Fulla. El Fiki starts off by stating that these dolls “occupy completely separate spheres” and that because they have “different interests and divergent values,” if they ever come in contact, “it won’t be pretty”. Having stated this, El Feki introduces the idea of different cultures having confrontations. Having established this, she goes on to disprove this assumption she has assumed the audience will make by going into her own experience. By beginning with this, the audience is made to realize their own biases and this will be reflected later in the Ted Talk. Ultimately bringing validity to her concerns about prejudices against other cultures.
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Emerson Humphrey
11/28/2022 08:02:06 pm
Hi Max! I really liked your last paragraph. I didn't even notice her use of a metaphor with the intertwined quote. I think you had a really great analysis about how that connected back to her claim and the audience. Great job. (:
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:37:43 am
In paragraph three, you mention metaphor but you give no example of this metaphor or commentary about what purpose it serves.
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Vanessa Muniz
11/28/2022 06:08:06 pm
El Feki presents comparing and contrasting in order to explain how different societies and mixing different ideas together can help one another. El starts by speaking about the differences in “Barbie '' and “Fulla” how if they would be able to meet it would go horribly wrong supposedly since they don't have anything in common. They use “Barbie” and “Fulla” lives as a metaphor for the countries they have come from. She also points out how “Barbie” is 50 years old and looks better than ever, while she is wearing a bathing suit and has the ideal body type in the western culture. Then we have “Fulla” cover up in her Islam attire that is recommended in Arab for women to wear. She points out how similar they are towards each other which helps take back her claim about how different societies don't mash their beliefs or culture in their lives, but take portions of ideas and make it their own.. She explains by using her experience in the Arab region, “people are busy taking up Western innovations and changing them [...] neither conventionally western, nor [...] traditionally Islamic…” This proves a point about how different societies take others' ideas from each other but don’t add any culture or beliefs to it. She also gives another example to support her claim, she has by using an episode from an Arab tv channel called “For youth”. In the episode they demonstrate clips from the USA music video and an Arab world music video which have both of them talking about their religions but they use different situations, different point of views and different scenarios.
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Reece Donahue
11/28/2022 06:16:08 pm
To start off her speech, El Feki personifies the barbie doll and the Arab version, “Fulla,” in order to illustrate the perceived contrast between the Western and Arab worlds. She says that the barbie dolls have “different interests, they have divergent values” which uses the dolls to represent the differing ideas and values between the two cultures. She describes that her “experience in the Islamic world is very different,” and that the Islamic culture takes in Western innovations and changes them to fit both Islamic and Western Culture. She uses personification through the dolls in order to contrast the fact that Western culture and Arab culture don’t differ as much as we think. By using a pop culture item such as a Barbie doll, she is able to show the audience that while the two dolls differ in both looks and “interests,” that they are not that much different after all.
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Kali
11/29/2022 04:41:03 am
Hey Reece, i really liked your piece. Overall i agree except for one of your strategies. When you said the dolls were being used to personify the contrast between the west and arab culture, i disagree. I think that the dolls were meant to symbolize the west and east and how eastern countries, predominately arabic culture, and how the east can take something and adapt it to their own culture i.e Fulla.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:39:12 am
Personification?
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Bella
11/28/2022 06:59:38 pm
1.At the beginning of El Feki's speech, she establishes that this is her first ted talk she’s given by explaining that it is her "first time at TED". She then creates a bond with the audience while also stating, "she's 50 years old and she's looking as young as ever." She introduces herself as a normal person which allows the people listening to the TED talk to connect and feel more comfortable with her. This combined with her sense of humor bolsters her credibility as a whitty, candid, and qualified person to give the speech before she even starts discussing her point of view.
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Lauren Ramos
11/29/2022 04:40:14 am
I agree with what you had stated during your second paragraph, with the merging of cultures that are introduced through the "American Barbie" and "Fulla [...] the Arab version of Barbie." and through that, the audience can understand that with the merging of western and Islamic innovations, both can work together well.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:41:54 am
You misinterpreted her quote about being 50 and looking great. She is not talking about herself but Barbie.
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Kailin Marciniak
11/28/2022 07:20:22 pm
El Feki opens her speech with the introduction of Barbie and Fulla, two different takes on dolls which are both representative of their regions. Fulla is labelled as ¨The Arab answer to Barbie.¨ She compares the two as she mentions ¨They have different interest, they have divergent values and should they ever come in contact…it´s just not gonna be pretty.¨ This sets the stage for her topic of two separate worlds coming together. The dolls support the initial thought that Western and Islamic media cannot be intertwined. Feki then moves on to say ¨My experience in the Islamic world is very different.” This automatically contributes to her credibility towards acknowledging the conflicting views of mashing cultures together seeing as though she has first hand experience. She mentions the reality of what she´s noticed saying that alterations made due to Western innovations are ¨neither conventionally Western, nor are they traditionally Islamic.¨ This contributes to her argument that two cultures coming together can result in a happy medium instead of a muck of differing values.
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Andreea Duta
11/28/2022 07:24:47 pm
In the beginning of El Feki’s speech, she tries to “break the ice,” and ease both her and likely the audiences’s nerves, by introducing a popular figure from everyone’s childhoods. Barbie. The one, the only, the constant figure throughout all of the last 50 years’ worth of popular culture. She, by bringing up Barbie, opens up the audience to her image, her having been new to the Ted talk sphere, her “first time at Ted,” in order to try to be just like the audience, so they will put aside the fact that she is an unfamiliar face and listen to what she has to say. She also uses Barbie to bring attention to her meat and potatoes of her argument: by introducing a new figure to the audience: Muslim Barbie: Fulla. She uses this metaphor of Barbie and Fulla not being able to be in the same sphere, with their “divergent values,” coupled with the silent notion that Fulla is a stranger to the audience; they never seen her before- initially building it up and then subverting it with evidence. Fulla and other popular culture figures in the Arab region- like hit music video channel 4Shabab- being made as a mesh with Western and Islamic ideals. Islamic superheroes, embodying religious ideals. She provides examples of “Islamic cross-cultural hybridization” to strengthen her argument by backing up her assertions with logical evidence: Of course Western and Islamic cultures don’t have to clash, look at these instances where they actually build off of each other! This further advances her purpose of getting her audience to accept her message by appealing to her audience’s sense of logic.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:42:52 am
Metaphor or symbolism?
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Emerson Humphrey
11/28/2022 07:58:18 pm
By briefly introducing and describing two similar toys from both the Western and Eastern hemispheres, El Feki establishes her claim that countries with different cultures can adapt and learn from each other instead of their cultures clashing. She first introduces the toy from the Western Hemisphere; the popular doll “Barbie”. She then introduces the Arab version of the popular doll, going by the name “Fulla”. She describes how a precedent has been set, that because “They have different interests” and “They have divergent values,” if Barbie and Fulla were to ever meet, “it’s just not going to be pretty.” This description of what is thought to be the norm when cultures clash, sets up El Feki’s argument that it simply doesn’t happen that way in the real world. She goes on to explain that in her line of work in the Arab region, “people are busy taking up Western innovations and changing them into things which are neither conventionally Western nor traditionally Islamic.” This provides a strong counter argument to the precedent set that different cultures, when come into contact with one another, will not get along. By including her own personal experience of seeing cultures mesh, the audience is left feeling that Feki is someone they can trust and is going to present a valuable message about the adaptation of different cultures into the Arab region.
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Mallory Karrenstein
11/28/2022 09:00:34 pm
I really liked your analysis! I thought you had a very strong argument with good textual evidence and strong explanations. I completely agree with what you thought Feki's message was, I actually said something very similar.
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Reyna Lee
11/28/2022 08:38:17 pm
El Feki introduces comparisons of the two barbie dolls in her TED Talk in order to explain how the Arab barbie is seen in a much different light than the American barbie. By saying, “and should they ever come in contact [...] it’s just not gonna be pretty,” El Feki establishes the idea that these two dolls represent two very real, very different groups of people categorized by “traditionally Western,” and “traditionally Islamic” lifestyles and traditions. By highlighting the apparent differences between the two dolls, El Feki develops her argument that society sees these differences as too high of a hurdle to overcome, and instead of being led astray by this mentality the people in these two groups should make efforts to “mesh” their civilizations together to avoid conflicts and help intertwine the cultures.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:44:14 am
Paragraph 2 doesn't explain how the evidence develops her message.
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Mallory Karrenstein
11/28/2022 08:56:15 pm
Shereen El Feki commences her speech by utilizing comparison of the two different barbie dolls in order to help construe her message that different nations and cultures need to work together and learn from each other without clashing. In the speech Feki states, "According to proponents of the clash of civilizations, Barbie and Fulla occupy these completely separate spheres." In this quote Feki references the common assumption of society that Arabs and Americans have nothing in common. This helps the American people understand what idea Feki is disagreeing with, which helps them further understand her purpose. This quote helps further Feki's message by stating what the "clash" is between the cultures. Shereen El Feki also states, "They have different interests, they have divergent values, and should they ever come in contact, well I gotta tell you, it's not going to be pretty." This quote lists some of the actual differences people assume about the Arab and American cultures. This quote allows the people to become more aware of certain assumed differences, which allows them to consider how they are going to change the way they think about different cultures. This quote also helps further Feki's message by giving specific "clashes" that these two cultures have.
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Ava Williams
11/29/2022 04:40:03 am
I agree with how you're saying in the third paragaph that El Feki uses examples to help portray her point. I disagree with how you said in the first paragraph that the dolls will change the way they think about different culture, I just think it exposes them to some of the differences in the two cultures.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:45:44 am
You missed a shift. What you wrote in your 3rd paragraph is not how she rounds out her speech. It also misses the purpose for mentiong the Arab MTV.
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Ahtziry Perez
11/28/2022 09:00:20 pm
Shereen El Feki introduces herself by explaining how this is her first time at Ted, as well as introducing her audience to Barbie, a face at least every generation knows in America and beyond. Then showing an Islamic doll named Fulla. She then brings up that from her experience the Islamic world is “very different”. Explaining this to her audience allows them to understand the differences of America compared to Islam. Although these two countries have their differences they have a meeting point. A point where these countries coexist with one another realizing that there is really not much of a difference between them.Feki starts off her speech with these two dolls and how if they were to come in contact “it's just not gonna be pretty”. Understanding that these two dolls have a difference allows Feki to continue to her next point of representing the Western and Islamic cultures. Which allows the audience to deeply understand El Feki’s message that these two cultures truly are not that different.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:46:40 am
In paragraph one, you missed her message. How you ended paragraph two also misses her message.
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Ava Williams
11/28/2022 09:33:58 pm
Shereen El Feki begins her TED Talk by presenting the familiar doll Barbie and then comparing her to the not-so familiar doll Fulla, an Arab version of Barbie. Doing so highlights the differences between Arab and Western values and allows El Feki to segway into speaking about how, at least in her experience, in the Arab region many people reinvent Western ideas to create something new. When talking about Barbie and Fulla, El Feki says that the two are in “completely separate spheres” and have “different interests” as well as “divergent values.” By stating these differences El Feki means to say that Barbie and Fulla don’t have anything in common and are meant to portray completely different values, such as how Fulla is obviously meant to portray a more conservative woman. El Feki then goes on to talk about how where she works “people'' take “Western Innovations'' and make them “into things'' that “are neither…Western, nor…islamic,” meaning that where she is from, many Arab people take Western things and change them to create something that represents both Arab and Western culture. Since Barbie and Fulla are so different, it helps El Feki to convey how something from Western culture can be taken and made into something completely different. Thus, if an iconic figure such as Barbie can be changed into a whole different doll, there must be other popular Western items that have Arab counterparts. Furthermore, the fact that El Feki explains where she is from, people all over take bits of Western culture and put Arab spins on it, makes it apparent that this mix of Arab and Western culture is pretty common. Ultimately, these differing dolls provide El Feki’s listeners with an example of how the Arab region can take something from Western pop culture and alter it to fit their values, creating something with attributes from both Western and Arab culture.
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Ava Williams
11/28/2022 09:34:48 pm
because they are thought of as heroes. Ultimately, this emphasizes how the combining of Western and Islamic culture not only spreads information about Islam in a fun way, but also highlights how Western and Islamic culture can come together and make something with a mixture of Western and Arab representation.
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Finna Young
11/29/2022 05:07:16 am
El Fiki begins her speech by reuniting the audience with a toy most would recognize from their childhoods- Barbie. She then introduces them to the Arab counterpart named Fulla. Barbie wears western clothing - a pink bikini and represents western ideals of body and activity whereas Fulla represents Islamic values and presents herself attired in a full hijab. El Fiki shows these toys beside each other to introduce her audience to the idea of cultural mesh between Islam and the western population. El Fiki explains how these two figures are often seen as occupying “completely separate spheres,” as they “have different interests,” and “divergent values,” and therefore that were these two cultural representations to come in contact with each other would “not be pretty.” El Fiki refutes these conceptions by explaining that, based on her experience working in the Arab world, these ideas and cultures are already becoming intertwined as Islamic countries take pieces of western innovations and change them into something “neither conventionally western nor traditionally Islamic” in order to fit their needs. By illustrating to her audience how these dolls represent the ever-converging cultures of Islam and the western hemisphere, El Fiki launches her message that western and Islamic cultures are converging as some Arab organizations/groups are adapting pieces of western pop culture to fit Islamic values in order to reach their youths with the Islamic messages they wish to teach.
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Nicole Vastis
11/29/2022 04:42:28 pm
Speaker Shereen El Feki begins her honest speech by iterating the fact that it is her first time giving a TED talk. Then, El Feki introduces the audience to her “old friend,” a Barbie doll clad in a flowery pink bikini, saying that despite Barbie’s age, she “looks as young as ever.” These lighthearted jokes, as well as stating the fact that she is new to TED talks, make El Feki come off as approachable and friendly to the audience. They also make her argument that Islam and Western cultures aren’t as disconnected as one may think all the more convincing. El Feki then produces a second doll named Fulla, who wears a black hijab and matching abaya. Barbie and Fulla serve to represent the more open western culture and the conservative Islamic culture, respectively. By portraying broad ideas and beliefs as dolls, El Feki simplifies her argument and allows the audience to relate to it via a familiar and well-known toy. El Feki also mentions that “[her] experience…where [she] works” in the Islamic world isn’t completely closed off from Western influence.
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Koome!
12/1/2022 02:36:47 am
I thought your mentioning of the visual motion of Barbie and Fulla coming together was a very important aspect that I overlooked.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:47:50 am
Love how you brought the two dolls back up at the end looking into a mirror as a way of solidifying her point but visually.
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NOAH MICHAUD :D
11/29/2022 05:41:21 pm
As Shereen El Feki commences her TED Talk, she first starts off by contrasting two different Barbie Dolls, one a more stereotypical western barbie and another a fully covered Hijab Doll. The point of this is to emphasize how slowly over time the Arab world, which is so often associated with being more conservative, has begun to take on more of the ideals from other socio-cultural groups. More specifically the Arab world has begun to adopt even the Western Culture and has started molding it to push Islamic values. Sheeren El Feki goes on to remark that these two different dolls are of “diverging values” and that conflict will arise if they come together. This point overall stems from her intent to highlight the common idea of separating (and at times segregating) different cultures away from each other. After introducing the audience to the common idea, Sheeren El Feki continues by dismantling this idea of cultures being unable to mix through her own retelling of her time employed in Arabic nations. She converses on how 4Shbab, an Egyptian Television Network, “dubbed Islamic MTV” for the purpose of promoting Islamic values using the same methods that American MTV used. This overall reveals how cultures can intertwine without the end result of conflict being brought.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:48:39 am
You missed the shift from how she begins her speech to the middle of the speech.
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Swan Truong
11/29/2022 07:58:15 pm
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:50:35 am
- In paragraph one, you missed the purpose of showing the two dolls, and you misinterpret her audience.
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Ethan Blackmon
11/30/2022 05:30:04 am
To begin her speech, El Feki introduces a Barbie-like doll named “Fulla”, popular in the Arab world. She compares Fulla and Barbie and purposefully highlights the cultural and social incongruity demonstrated by both dolls, who serve essentially the same function. She then goes on to emphasize the fundamental conflict between the products and claims that if they were to ever “meet”, it “just wouldn’t be pretty.” She then uses this contrast however, in a much more broad comparison to discredit arguments concerning the differences in culture between the Western and Arab worlds using her own experience when claiming that, in her observations she notices many in the Arab world adopting Western products and ideas and altering them into something, “not conventionally Western, nor traditionally Islamic.” All of this serves to develop initial themes and ideas of cultural diffusion and cultural mesh between groups around the world. The development of these themes advances her message that the Arab cultures and Western cultures initially differ starkly, when closely examined the similarities begin to outweigh the differences.
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Vanetta July
12/1/2022 11:23:58 am
The end of your first paragrah misinterprets her point.
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Koome!
12/1/2022 02:34:13 am
Shereen El Feki initiates her speech with a remark that breaks the ice with the audience as she states, "Being my first time here, I decided to bring an old friend just to break the ice a bit.” In doing this she demonstrates that she is relatable and an average person with nerves as a way to disarm the audience from any preconceived notions. Feki follows this by introducing the so-called “old friend” the all-American classic Barbie doll. Feki quips about her age not impacting her looks at all as a way to further ease the audience through humor. This is followed by her comparison of a less familiar face which is “Fulla” the “Arab world's answer to Barbie.” She introduces these two characters at odds with each other as she gives the audience a glimpse of her message by stating that the predisposed widespread idea is that if the two ever clashed “it just not gonna be pretty” Feki cleverly gives context to her message which she hasn’t stated yet, through juxtaposing the widespread opinion which is that the melding of western and Arab culture would be catastrophic. After giving context and the opposing ideology; Feki transitions by saying that her “experience in the Arab world is very different” Feki advances her point that the Arab world is becoming more inclusive and that the West and the Arab world aren’t so different after all by bolstering her credibility through mentioning that she in fact works in the Arab sector. Shereen settles her point by stressing that the rapid meshing of the two cultures in the Arab world has created ideologies that aren’t “conventionally western” nor “traditionally Islamic” Which further backs her claim that the two cultures aren’t that different.
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Lilah Childers
12/7/2022 07:12:12 am
I really love that you mentioned El Feki's beginning comments as being meant to disarm the audience and dispel preconcieved notions, that didn't occur to me and you're so right! I really love that
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Jack Vuong
12/1/2022 03:45:05 am
El Feki begins her speech by transitioning from a comparison of the Barbie doll and Fulla – “the Arab world’s answer to Barbie” – to western and Arab culture to her central topic on cultural diffusion. Before El Feki delves into her topic about cultural diffusion between the western world and Arab countries, she begins by introducing Barbie and Fulla, two interpretations of the girl doll from western and Arab countries. El Feki then states how while “proponents of the clash of civilizations” claim that these two dolls represent a cultural dichotomy, she believes that they represent a “mesh of culture.” By doing so, El Feki effectively draws an analogy between the dolls and western Arab culture, and transitions to her central topic. Because the audience of TED talks usually consist of western listeners, El Feki introduces a “familiar” face to the audience. Because of her use of the Barbie doll – a pop culture icon of the western world – audience members are able to better recognize her comparison of the dolls and the interaction of western and Arab cultures. Moreover, by using this analogy to introduce how some people believe that the dolls represent entirely different cultural spheres, El Feki can minimize speech into her more specific point of cultural diffusion. In culmination, El Feki’s choice of using the dolls as an analogy of western and Arab cultures allows her to ease the audience members into her central topic of cultural diffusion between these two cultures.
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Morgan Furr
12/1/2022 07:31:22 am
El Feki begins her Speech by introducing “Fulla” and “Barbie” which are both popular toys in two different cultures. She compares the two common toys to reveal the fallacious belief that some people believe that different cultures should not mesh aspects of their separate cultures together. El Feki compares “Fulla” and “Barbie”’s “different interests,” and “different values,”.Feki acknowledges that both toys are very different from each other because she wants to emphasize the fallacious belief that comes with the dolls, which is that cultures should not come in contact with one another. Feki then continued to establish that in reality, different cultures need to share ideas with one another. In this situation, El Feki is credible enough to give her input about this situation because she has worked in “Arab regions” before . When she worked in these “Arab regions”, she explains how she has seen Arab culture being influenced by western culture. By doing this, the audience is encouraged to seek to understand that cultures meshing / culture diffusion is not a negative thing, as Feki has seen it herself when she worked in “Arab regions”.
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Ahtziri Prestegui Loeza
12/2/2022 09:59:36 am
El Feki commences her speech by bolstering her credibility that this is her first time doing a TED talk and starts off introducing two barbie dolls to get straight to her point. Introudicing a westernized american cultured doll and an Islamic doll named Fulla illustrating to her audience to acknowledge the two types of culture El Feki is going to juxtapose. “Barbie and Fulla occupy these completely separate spheres. They have different interests. They have divergent values”, emphasizing that both culture are different and have different values from each others than any similarities. El Feki also goes on to state about if both of these cultures interfered with eachother it would not be a good outcome for both of them. “should they ever come in contact ... well, I've got to tell you, it's just not going to be pretty”, emphasizing that these two cultures are widely different from each other and if they came into contact about their beliefs their would be a negative impact but then further explains that it is a perspectival view and goes on further in her speech that there may be a difference in both cultures but they can be influenced without any conflict.
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Lilah Childers
12/7/2022 07:10:23 am
1. In her TED talk, El Feki begins by establishing her credibility to the audience with a familiar tone and relatability. Her first sentence after hello is “Because this is my first time at TED”. This establishes her as more relatable to an audience, this talk isn’t old hat for her any more than it is for them, making it easier for the audience to trust her as one of their own. She then says she’s “decided to bring an old friend along to help break the ice a bit”, and by acknowledging the lack of familiarity with the audience while bringing them into a conversation about a topic everyone is familiar with- barbie dolls- El Feki begins creating a familiar tone with the audience by making herself appear less intimidating. This tone is created through casual terms like “old friend”, “breaking the ice”, and jokes about Barbie “looking young as ever”, all things you might come across in a casual conversation with a new person who has a good sense of humor. This allows the audience to trust her much more than if she had come over as pretentious or aloof.
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