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Response:
Lifehacker
and
Watching
Me
Text
A,
a
post
by
Thorin
Klosowski
on
the
Lifehacker
Web
in
2013,
and
Text
B,
the
lyrics
of
the
song
“Watching
Me”,
co-‐written
and
performed
by
Jill
Scott
in
2000
deal
with
the
idea
of
being
watched.
However,
they
differ
completely
in
The
title
of
text
A
“What
kind
of
Stuff
do
Employers
Search
for
When
I
apply
for
a
job?”
immediately
presents
the
topic
of
the
post,
who
is
the
watcher,
who
is
”being
watched”
and
for
what
reasons:
employers
do
online
searches
to
find
information
on
potential
employees
that
might
influence
the
hiring
process.
The
text
is
presented
in
the
form
of
a
letter
written
to
“Lifehacker”,
the
expert,
by
a
“Worried
Searcher”
and
a
couple
more
questions
along
those
lines
posted
by
other
people.
The
answer
provided
by
Lifehacker
seeks
to
reply
to
these
questions
by
providing
information
to
the
readers
and
advising
them
in
relation
to
the
tracks
people
leave
on
Internet
and
how
they
might
affect
them.
We
could
say
that
the
purpose
of
the
text
is
clearly
informative
and
it
targets
an
audience
of
people
presumably
in
the
20-‐30
age
range,
who
are
looking
for
jobs
and
are
active
on
social
media
and
on
the
Internet.
Text
B,
the
lyrics
of
the
song
“Watching
Me”
by
Jill
Scott,
present
the
opinions
and
feelings
of
the
writer
in
relation
to
being
spied
upon
and
watched
by
a
“you”
who
could
be
the
state
or
the
police
or
a
government
agency.
We
could
say
it
is
a
form
of
protest
against
an
oppressive
entity
that
spies
upon
citizens
with
“satellites”
over
their
heads,
“Transmitters”
in
their
dollars
and
requires
personal
information
from
them
with
any
excuse,
like
when
they
buy
“double
or
triple
A
batteries”.
The
audience
for
this
text
would
be
followers
of
the
singer
Jill
Scott
and
people
who
listen
her
genre
of
music.
The
idea
of
being
watched
is
very
different
in
both
texts.
Lifehacker
presents
it
as
something
that
is
quite
ordinary
for
employers
to
do
(“background
checks
are
common
in
some
industries
and
a
general
search
online
is
almost
guaranteed
for
every
job
these
days”);
he
doesn´t
seem
to
consider
it
a
problem
or
a
threat,
but
something
that
can
be
easily
solved;
so
he
sets
out
to
empower
the
“Worried
Searcher”
by
teaching
him
to
“manipulate
the
information
that
pops
up
on
Google”
so
that
it
will
be
“all
positive.”
Contrastingly,
the
song
“Watching
Me”
presents
a
much
more
sinister
idea
of
being
watched:
the
government
or
one
or
more
of
its
agencies
spy
on
citizens
to
control
them
“(how
and
where
and
with
whom
I
make
my
money”)
and
the
first
person
narrator
has
no
control
or
power
over
this
situation.
The
song
is
very
subjective
and
we
could
say
that
the
writer
feels
quite
paranoid
about
the
topic,
as
can
be
seen
by
the
repetition
of
the
chorus
“watching
me”
and
the
references
to
satellites
and
transmitters.
Here´s
the
interesting
thing,
though:
there
is
really
no
objective
evidence
about
the
spying
or
any
sinister
purposes
in
the
watching
except
“sa-‐cure-‐at-‐ty”:
cameras
in
stores
and
dressing-‐rooms
which
are
quite
ordinary
and
prevent
stealing,
and
a
salesperson
asking
her
for
“her
phone
number
and
social
security”
which
could
be
a
form
of
establishing
identity
when
paying.
So
evidently,
the
idea
of
being
watched,
for
Jill
Scott
is
much
more
personal;
from
the
way
she
writes
© David McIntyre, InThinking
http://www.thinkib.net/englishalanglit 1
(“I
ain´t
got
no
bars
to
this
cage”,
“keep
them
satellites
out”
“watchin’”
)
she
might
be
African
American
or
belong
to
a
minority
which
feels
oppressed
(“dirty
cops
in
my
community”)
and
at
a
disadvantage
(can
I
get
that
democracy
and
equality
and
privacy?)
and
is
protesting
against
this
perceived
“scrutinizing”
by
the
police
or
the
government
who
at
the
same
time
“Keep
saying”
that
she
is
free.
It
becomes
clear,
then,
that
the
idea
of
being
watched
is
very
different
in
both
texts,
both
in
the
purpose
of
the
watching
as
in
the
perspective
of
the
narrative
voice.
Structure
is
very
different
in
both
texts,
in
accordance
with
their
context
and
purpose.
Text
A
conforms
to
the
layout
of
online
informative
texts
and
manages
to
provide
information
in
an
attractive
layout,
with
some
images.
The
magnifying
glass
augmenting
the
size
of
the
mask
of
a
horse
alludes
to
the
themes
f
searching
and
of
separating
identities,
as
it
seems
to
be
a
man
with
the
mask
of
a
horse.
This
idea
is
also
emphasized
in
another
small
illustration
of
a
businessman
and
a
man
dressed
in
casual
clothes
.The
text
itself
is
laid
out
as
an
“Agony
Aunt”
letter
and
the
reply.
The
information
is
provided
in
paragraphs
with
headings
for
the
different
sections
on
what
employers
will
be
looking
for:
“They’ll
Search
for
you
on
Google,”
“They’ll
run
a
background
check
on
you.”
Sections
consist
of
short
paragraphs
with
clear
information
and
hyperlinks
such
as
“list
of
details
about
you”
which
link
to
other
sites.
Text
B,
on
the
other
hand,
at
first
sight
looks
like
a
poem,
always
happen
with
songs,
but
contains
instructions
which
are
characteristics
of
songs
such
as
“(repeat”)
and
(x7)
which
means
that
a
line
should
be
repeated
7
times.
It
could
be
said,
then,
that
both
texts
conform
to
the
typical
layout
of
their
genre.
Tone
and
language
are
also
very
different
in
both
texts
due
to
the
purpose
they
have.
Text
A
is
informal,
and
friendly
and
the
narrative
voice
situates
itself
as
a
friend
to
the
reader,
who
gives
both
information
and
advice
(“Here’s
what
you
can
expect
employers
to
look
for
and
how
you
can
clean
up
what
they’ll
find,”)
empowering
the
reader
to
be
the
one
who
does
the
cleaning
up
or
makes
the
necessary
changes.
As
I
mentioned
before,
the
narrative
voice
doesn´t
seem
too
concerned
with
the
issue
of
online
information
being
researched
as
can
be
seen
in
the
phrase
“you
can
ensure
that
if
nothing
else,
the
bad
news
is
buried
pretty
deep.”
He
seems
to
think
it
is
quite
easy
to
modify
or
delete
any
negative
information.
Text
B,
on
the
other
hand,
has
a
highly
paranoid
and
accusatory
tone,
present
in
the
repetition
of
“Watching
me”
and
when
she
says
that
“first
thing”
when
she
wakes
up
and
right
before
she
goes
to
sleep
she
thinks,
senses,
feel
like
she´s
under
“some
kind
of
microscope.”
The
watching
never
ends,
in
her
perspective,
which
is
emphasized
in
the
“ing”
endings
of
the
actions
“hawking,
watching
scooping,
scrutinizing,
tracking,
finding
out”.
She
feels
watched
and
controlled
and
suspected
by
everybody
“in
every
dressing
room,
on
every
floor,
in
every
store,”
practically
persecuted.
She
also
accuses
the
oppressive
“you”
of
being
“blind”
because
they
neglect
to
see
“the
drugs
coming
into
my
community,
weapons
coming
into
my
community.”
We
can
infer
she
is
accusing
the
watchers
of
a
hypocritical
attitude
towards
her
minority
or
community,
suspecting
and
watching
ordinary
people
but
not
being
protective
towards
them.
To
conclude,
it’s
interesting
to
see
how
Text
A
and
B
present
the
idea
of
being
watched
from
two
completely
different
perspectives
and
with
different
purposes,
which
in
turn
affect
their
structure
and
stylistic
devices.
In
my
opinion
both
texts
are
effective
in
achieving
their
purpose.
© David McIntyre, InThinking
http://www.thinkib.net/englishalanglit 2