10R Reading Response | News Article | English

 Newspaper Article

Summary of the text (4 sentences)

WIth the Covid-19 Delta variant now in New Zealand, the country has been brought to a halt. A ‘lockdown’ has been set for the past 2 months for the whole of the North Island to protect the safety of everyone and prevent the spread of the virus. On 17 October, located in the North Shore region of Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland), a party was held with over 200 guests. Now the entire country is questioning, “What the everloving f*** were they thinking?”

A key idea/message in the text

Where? When? Who? What? Why?

On 17 October, a number of ‘influencers’ gathered in the North Shore region of Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) to attend a party. A party in fact that was arranged during the alert level 3 lockdown set due to the pandemic. Footage of this restriction-breaking get together was recently posted on social media. This event caused a stir in the country, and has brought forth harsh opinions, rumors, and annoyance. The country now questions, “What the everloving f*** were are they thinking?” Something I found most prominent whilst analyzing their behaviour is the phrase: “I have not much to lose.” This highlights how each of them reacted once notified of the party but were fully aware of the restrictions already in place. They chose otherwise and risked being infected with covid and potentially infecting more. This statement almost perfectly portrays their character. They display impulsiveness with little to no forethought, reflection, or consideration of the consequences. They’ve normalised this ideology within their friend group, which impairs their ability to differentiate right from wrong. In addition to that, this trait becomes more infectious and unhealthy the more we make careless decisions. Digging ourselves into a deep pit we’re no longer able to get out of. Plain carelessness. Although we all experience impulsivity on many accords, we must learn to overcome the instinct to make decisions motivated by fear, but rather by intuition. The contrast between the two is drastic and can have a major impact on our daily lives; as these folks need to understand. I too in the past have made impulsive decisions on many occasions and have tried to cover up my thoughtless behaviour. This behaviour was later accompanied by guilt, regret, self hatred and so on. As mentioned earlier, the contrast between the two is drastic and being able to balance these two very different ways of processing information, can give you the upper hand in various lines of thinking. Redirecting back to the incident, if I was to place myself in the shoes of one of these individuals, I sense I would blindly retrace their steps and make the same mistake. The temptation would get the better of me and would cost me my social status, reputation and possibly life. Yet another trap I would fall victim to. 

Something the text made me think about/realise/appreciate/rethink my understanding of etc…

This article made me realise, “It is what it is.” There’s no way to alter the past. There’s also no point in dwelling on it. In comparison to a book, you cannot read a chapter twice and expect two different endings. It’s always going to end the same. People perceive everything differently, and at the end of the day, it’s their choice which side they choose to support. It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day and a new chapter. The power of “It is what it is.”