Today, when class began Ms. Lang began by going over a "little house cleaning" going over some of the policies in the "Course Policy Information Sheet" located here:
We then went onto talk about Curious Researcher Presentations. We went over that project and then got into groups of four for the project. After we got into groups we picked dates for the project due dates.The presentations will be divided by chapter and there are 5 chapters. The groups, along with the dates and names of the people in the groups are found here:
Note: The last group must have a workshop!
After we talked about the Rhetorical Analysis of Communities, Media and Stereotypes Project. Basically in the project we have to review some type of media and write a research report on it. We basically went over the description of the project which can be found here:
Following our discussion of the new project, we went on to discuss our readings in Beyond Words and online. To begin this discussion, we watched a clip of the television show Glee. This was the episode referenced in the article "Push(back) at Intersections: Me and Glee" called "Dream On". The clip we watched focused on "Artie", the character that is disabled. He has a dream to dance, but can't walk, therefore he can't dance. His love interest in the episode, Tina, encourages him to not give up on his dreams.
image found: http://www.thecollegetownlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/glee1.jpg
After viewing "most of the clip", we divided into 6 groups to go over the clip, the reading "Of Glee I Sing" in Beyond Words and the online reading "Push(back) at Intersections: Me and Glee" found here:
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/pushback-at-the-intersections-glee-and-me . Out of the 6 groups, 2 groups were assigned to each. We used part of the Rhetorical Analysis of Communities, Media and Stereotypes to analysis each form of media and how it can be analyzed. This is what we used to analyze the different forms:
“Read” the artifact rhetorically in order to analyze the following:
o The Purpose: What is the purpose of this TV series or episode? Are key terms used to lead viewers to this purpose? What problems or questions are identified? Does the episode offer a conclusion that defines the argument?
o The Cast or Subjects: How is the cast presented? Does the cast establish ethos?
o Audience: What kind of audience does this artifact cater to? What kind of language is used? What kinds of topics are mentioned? What does the show assume audiences know and what topics are elaborated upon?
o Organization & Presentation: How is the show put together? Is it chronological, thematic, etc.? How does the show use headings, key words, or other visual features to direct the organization? How does this organization serve or hinder the central argument? Demonstrate how the artifact portrays the community its representing. Compare the central argument of this text to the research you’ve done. Do they seem to follow the same trajectory? If so, how? If not, how do they differ? How does the research you’ve done help you contextualize the artifact?
When we were done analyzing each of the forms of media, we created a chart on Google, dividing each by Purpose, Cast/Subjects, Audience, and Organization/Presentation. First we Reviewed the clip, The second on "Of Glee I Sing" and third on "Glee and Me". After that we had a discussion of how the three forms of media relate, and then really went on to discuss a lot of what each form was trying to convey. After finishing our discussion cut short by the end of class, Ms. Lang told us that our Discovery Draft for Project 2 was due next class and asked us the question to think about:
"Is it ever just TV?"
Image found: http://blogs.cofc.edu/american-autobiography/files/2011/04/tv-static.jpeg
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