Analyzing my texts cultural setting

In the following blog post I analyze the cultural setting of my text.

Quentin Tarantino's comments in his interview were replicated at the Cannes film festival. This is the largest film festival in the world so it couldn't have bene on a bigger stage.

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/30/2015 "Cannes Logo" Public Domain Usage

1. What values, ideas, norms or beliefs play an important role in the text?

• Cannes is the biggest festival in the world. It is the pinnacle of film festivals, so people expect it to be a well run and highly prestigious event. These comments were shocking and especially in the setting where digital filmmaking is bring celebrated as the way of the future. Nostalgia and change are being challenged and some people agree, however some agree that they should move with the times. 

2. Does this text address these cultural values, beliefs, etc directly or indirectly?

• It addresses them both directly and indirectly. The film industry is rapidly changing, the old school way of making and distributing is vanishing, therefore change is coming and a lot of people don't like that. However it deals directly with the film and digital debate by addressing it by name and commenting directly on it. 

3. Is the text critical or supportive of the values and beliefs?

• The text is critical of the value of change. Tarantino does not want the movie industry to change and neither do a lot of people. That means from what you shoot the movie on, to how it is projected, to how to movie is distributed to people. Tarantino is critical of those who believe that this change is for the better. 

Cultural Analysis of Film vs Digital

In the following blog post I evaluate Quentin Tarantino's comments on this issue based on cultural significance

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/30/2015 Film vs Digital Public Domain Usage

1. The argument of film vs digital has been heating up over the last couple of years. Arguments have been made for and against both of these methods. Some keywords for this argument are "revolution" "resolution" and "generation".
2. The main idea behind this argument is that filmmakers grew up making films on film. It has been part of their back story and why they fell in love with film. So why fix it if it isn't broken?

Freewrite:

To a movie goer, it is nearly impossible to tell if a movie is shot on digital or film, some don't even known what that means. If you were to walk into downtown Tucson movie theatre and ask everyone in there if their film was shot on film or digital, I would be willing to bet that less than 10% get it correct.

Film and digital have only minor differences in post production however during production it limits and changes how you make the movie. This is such an irrelevant issue to most however to those who are interested and care about this field it makes a world of difference.

Evaluation of Rhetorical sources

In the following blog post I examen three sources about the film industry's switch from film to digital

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/25/2015 "digital vs film" Public Domain Usage

Quentin Tarantino's comments 

Quentin Tarantino is an outspoken, I don't care what you think of me, filmmaker. And, true to his form, he has not been shy on his opinion of the switching from film to a digital recording system. He even goes so far as to call it the "death of filmmaking" as an acclaimed director having worked for years, his opinion is clearly valued. The audience are those who understand the difference between the two so their opinions are also valued.


Advantages and disadvantages

This website does a great job as comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of both film and digital. This website's audience is those people who have heard of this debate but who want to get their facts more solidified and add validity to their arguments. This website does a good job at staying out of the belly of the demon and doesn't offer and opinion on the matter one way or the other, even saying the decision is completely up to you.

Reddit thread 

This reddit thread has an entire mix of people, both experts in cameras and novices to film. So this audience has everyone in it and represents everyone. This is a great site and post because these people are not paid to respond or offer their opinions, they are simply doing it of their own free will which adds validity to their comments and makes all questions relevant.

Reflection:

I read and commented on Alyssa and Kelly's blog posts on this same topic. They both did very solid jobs at picking great, reliable and credible articles that support their stances on issues. Kelly's topic is on the benefits of running so I warned her to be careful about conflicting research and also corporate sponsored clinical trials. But both of their arguments are in good shape, and I think I matched their credibly with my links above

Developing a research question

In the following blog post I explore some more debates within the theatre major.

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/25/2015 "Debate" Public Domain Usage

There isn't many debates and arguments going on in the theatre field however there are a few arguments and debates going on in debates related to this field.

1. Digital or film?

This has more to do with movies but actors want to get employed by producers for working in movies so it is relevant. The movie industry is considering the switch from 35mm film to a digital age. Some big name people such as Quentin Tarantino have chimed in on the issue, and it is worth exploring the differences. I am interested in movies so I would like to have a valid opinion on this.

2. The casting of white actors in ethnic roles.

Casting controversies are nothing new. However, when Exodus (a movie about Egyptian kings) cast Joel Edgerton and Christian Bale to play people from Africa, people questioned why studio's were employing these actors instead of an ethnically correct cast, people began to heavily debate this. I really want to know why people cast who they cast so this could be particularly interesting.

3. More Racial controversies

There will always be race controversies in the movie industry. It is a brutal and nasty industry that can destroy a person. So racial controversies on the percentage of black members in the academy and number of black nominee's aren't going away anytime soon.

Reflection on Project 1

In the Following blog post I reflect on my creating of my QRG for project one.

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/25/2015 "Reflection" Public Domain Usage

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge I faced was actually turning it in, I was worried I would make a dumb mistake that would cost me points. I was so paranoid that I kept going back to the rubric every 10 minutes to make sure I didn't forget anything, eventually I had to trust myself and turn it in.

What Successes did you experience?

I found a lot of really good social media and general media coverage sources, I found the most success here because this is were a lot of the major outcry came from the general population. I was especially pleased when I would find informative tweets and news reports. 

What kind of design choices did you find most effective?

My controversy was very hard to argue for, I sort of felt like if you put 100 people in a room and asked them if rape is a good thing, no one will actually say yes. So i felt the same about this, and because of that it was vey hard to put together arguments for and against it, basically the writing style was just to use and present as much information as possible. 

What kind of design choices were least effective?

As I said above, trying to frame an argument for the academy was hard because of the implication that if you were to argue for the academy you were labeled a racist, so no one wanted to speak out for the Academy. So I had to put aside my judge-mental or opinionated hat and look at just the facts. 

How was this writing process similar to other projects in the past that you have done?

The only real part of this process that was similar was gathering sources and information. Other than that the actual writing of the blog post I had never done. So the gathering of scholarly sources and other sources I was most familiar with. Everything else was a new experience.

How was this project different to other projects you have done in the past?

In the past I have only ever written essays or research papers, I have never done a blog post. So learning the conventions of a blog post, all the way down to hyperlinking was all new for me. This was a much different writing process and I am not sure if I liked it yet. Not having to do an annotated bibliography was a great relief, however citing pictures can be a real pain and somewhere that you can easily lose points on. 

Would any of these skills be useful in other coursework?

As of yet, these skills have not shown themselves in other course work, however I believe that for other papers and research projects the skill of citing social media sources and using the internet to your full advantage and not to just find sources off of JSTOR will be very useful I do not doubt. 

Final draft of Quick Reference Guide

Here is my Final draft of my Quick Reference Guide on the controversy surrounding the 2015 Oscar controversy

You can find the QRG here
Enjoy!!!!

Clarity pt. 2

In the following blog post I revisit the earlier blog post however I chose to write on four different topics this time.

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/24/2015 "Editing"Public Domain usage

Active Verbs:

This section in the book explains how to use how to effectively use action verbs. It also explains what a "passive voice" is. This section does a very good job at differentiating between when to use these active or action verbs and when to use a more passive or more impartial voice. However, the book uses the word "weak" when describing the passive voice which I didn't agree with.

Example: You could almost count the entire twitter universe, all of the media coverage and every article written from January to today as credible sources against the Academy

Revision: The entire Twitter universe, all of the world's media coverage and every magazine article that came out after the Oscar nominations absolutely tore the academy apart.

Shifts:

The book also addresses shift in writing and how to avoid them. Shifts are when your writing seems to verge off in a strange direction that the reader didn't really need or see coming. However, sometimes these can be a good thing. The book says that it is a good idea to maintain constant emotional tone and verb tense and perspective.

Parallel ideas:

The book stresses the importance of staying with your train of thought throughout the writing piece. But it is also important to balance ideas. Using function words like then and also can string together two ideas and make them feel like one. I feel that this is something I already include in my writing style.

Example: Recent racial issues spiked in the United States in the last five years, including but not limited to the killing of Trayvon Martin and the acquitting of multiple white cops for shooting of unarmed black men.

Revision: Recent racial issues spiked in the United States with the killing of Trayvon Martin 3 years ago, then with the acquitting of multiple white police officers on brutality claims and also the presidents remarks on the Trayvon Martin killing.

Add Needed words:

This section of the book says that when you finish your writing, you should go back and add needed words like 'and' or 'also' in order to make your essay make sense. But also, adding in phrases like in addition to is better than saying just plain old 'and'.

Identifying basic grammar patterns

In the following blog post I analyze my longest paragraph in my QRG for grammatical patterns and reoccurrence.

Reflection:

This exercise was a lot more challenging than I thought. I never really think about grammar when writing, the sentence either sounds right or it doesn't. however if I payed a little more attention i think I could employ a little more variety in my writing style. Using different sentence structures and sentence patterns, but also different kinds of patterns sentences and statements, and I know it isn't a grammar thing, but I could spell a little better.

Here is my paragraph analysis 

Reflection on Project one draft

In the following blog post I reflect on the process of drafting a QRG. I also read and peer edited Morgan and Mehruba's QRGs. While they both did widely different topics than each other and me, everyone can learn from everyone's QRGs. Morgan used personal and familiar responses with connects with the reader, she included pictures of the University of Arizona which makes it more relevant to the reader. Mehruba included graphs and easy to read paragraphs. It is good and concise information. Both of these strategies I will try to employ in my writing. Here are their QRG drafts with my comments Morgan Mehruba

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/19/2015 Audience Public Domain Usage

Audience:

1. Who am I trying to reach? Who will be reading this?

Mainly my english 109H classmates will be reading this along with my professor. However the QRG is written in a way that everyone should be able to read this and understand what is happening with my controversy.

2. What are their values/expectation? Are you meeting them?

People expect to get their information when they go to a QRG. People want to understand why something happened and then understand deeper. They expect information quickly and accurately. I believe I am meeting their expectations because I use the PIE structure for paragraphs so the answer to the question in the sub header is answered within the first few sentences.

3. How much information should I provide/ How much background?

Because it is a QRG it requires a certain amount of background information, however, people are searching for a QRG because they want to learn about something further, so therefore they already know a certain amount. Also since it isn't an academic paper people don't want to be reading for ever so information should be concise.

4. What Kind of tone?

The tone should be informational but also not looking down on those reading. A friendly but informative tone that doesn't turn people off the topic or blog. this ties into the choosing appropriate language topic in clarity part 1

5. What kind of language?

A QRG is open to all the internet to read, so swearing (unless in a quote) is most likely not a good idea, also sounding like you're talking down to someone will not win you any fans.

Context

1. What are the formatting requirements?

The QRG conventions include, paragraph form, subheadings, images, and a title, and yes I do have all of those.

2. What are the content requirements?

QRG's are designed to inform on a single topic. So people reading my blog will want to know what happened with the 2015 Oscar nominations. I believe I meet these requirements but I will look at the rubric again.

3. Does my draft acknowledge skills I learned in class along with my own ideas.

Yes I believe it does one I never did write a blog before so it is a new writing style and also I've never hyperlinked before so I learned how to do that.

4. Have I addressed grammatical issues?

Yes, I preformed revisions and fixed a lot of the grammatical issues.

Clarity Part 1

In the following blog post I reflect on what I read in Rules for Writers

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/19/2015 Keep Calm & follow the rules, Public Domain Usage

1. Emphasize key ideas

According to the book, emphasizing key ideas can be accomplished by putting key ideas in the subject and verb of the words that readers will pay the most attention to. I found that the book gave some useful tools to help coordinate the main idea and continually reinforcing it. I like to combine these with my own use of emotional words to add a 'shock value' to the article.

2. Tighten Wordy sentences and Paragraphs

This is something that I definitely need to work on. I tend to ramble on with complex adjectives and smart sounding words, however these are unneeded. The book points out that getting rid of phrases such as "i think that" or "i believe that" will give your sentences more of a compounded feel and will state them like fact an not an opinion.

3. Using Variety

The book states that most writers use similar sentence openings and similar sentence structures, they get stuck in a loop of sorts. Providing some variety in sentence structure and vernacular used can keep the reader engaged and on their toes. I feel like I do a mostly good job at not getting stuck in a routine, however, I think everyone can benefit from changing up their style every now and again.

4. Choosing appropriate language

This section was the most fun to me because it finally had a little bit of humor in it. The purpose of choosing correct language is to not turn people off your paper and enrage people. The book tries to steer people away from using sexist, racial, offensive language including swearing an slang. Since a QRG is intended to be for all audiences, so you can't limit yourself with bad language. This will be something that I intend to watch, but i laugh because I jus
t imagine someone writing "and so the oscars controversy is of course a f**king race thing you idiot!"


Reflection

I reviewed Morgan and Nick's blog and I found that she wrote about Trigger warnings.

I wrote about variety above and Morgan does a great job with it, she varies her writing style so that it is always engaging. I don't believe she ever uses the same sentence starters twice and switches from informal to formal so that the reader is given the information they desired. Then the informal style satisfies the readers need to hear from others what they are thinking.

Morgan also is a great example of the wordy sentences that I wrote about. "The people who are in favor of trigger warnings are worried about protecting students who may have been victims of abuse from being triggered by any material in their classes." Is an example of a longer sentence in her QRG, however the sentence is packed with information and also needs to be that long. I need to learn how to do this.

Nick's blog is a highly debated topic, one that if you had heard of it you would automatically have an opinion on it. Nick's blog is perfectly suited to have opinion and his own values thrust into it. So his blog is an excellent example of picking appropriate language. "Overall, the debate questions the ethics of these Chinese scientists and their actions to alter the human genome" This is a perfect tap sentence but nick does a good job at removing himself from the trap.

Paragraph analysis

In the following blog post I analyze the strength of my paragraphs in my QRG.

I immediately see that my paragraphs do a good job at sticking to that PIE format. It gets the point across and the information to the people quickly. Then they can read on into the paragraph if they want more information of context. However, a general weakness is that they tend to get a little wordy, in some of the paragraphs it is needed however in others it is not. I will work on that in the revision process to see if I can consolidate the information and better get it accross to people reading it.

Here is the link to my paragraph analysis

thoughts on drafting

In the following blog post I reflect to the drafting reading.

Section 1: Which parts where helpful?

• The thesis statement section of this reading was unneeded, however, if you apply the same guidelines to the title/ headline that you need in blogging, then it becomes relevant. The reading says that your "thesis" should be specific and purposeful, which is what your title should be, and also interesting or no one will want to read it.
• The PIE section is very helpful. PIE stands for Point, Illustration, Explanation. This is how you should structure your paragraphs and it is especially true with blogging. People want information fast and then can read in if they want more. 
• People click on blogs in order to get information, and so if you promise information and don't deliver, you won't get many more viewers. So meeting the expectations of the audience, like the audience expects and the reading highlights, is huge. 

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter "blogging" 9/17/2015 Public Domain Usage

Section 2: Which parts are useless?

• The use of a traditional thesis statement is unneeded and infant doesn't really ever come up in blogging. So you do not need to pay attention because your purpose is delivering information, not creating an argument. 
• The amount of content per page is subjective. If the particular topic you are covering can be summarized quickly, then do that. It makes it a lot more reader friendly. 
• The revision section of the reading is so driven towards essays that it is hard to find a strategy to apply to blogging. For example, scrambling up your paragraphs doesn't work in blogging, especially in QRG's because your paragraphs are already scrambled. So this is an unhelpful part. 

Reflection:

I read Nick and Morgan's blogs and here is what I noticed. The main difference between our views is that they both considered the PIE format to be un-helpful and I considered it to be helpful. I though it was a good idea because of the way it gets information across quickly. However they argued that it was unhelpful and you could get information across better. Everyone has their own opinion I guess

Cluster of my controversy

Here is a link to a google drawing of my controversy.

On the left of the screen are the major events for those who believe that actors and directors and those involved in the movie Selma were overlooked because of race. Attached to the two squares are circles that show examples of what is said in the squares. For example the fact that people assumed racial bias (square one on the left) is exemplified by the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite on twitter. Then on the right there is the group that is defending the Academy's nominations saying that art is subjective and has to be treated as such.

Cluster

Reflection:

After reading Alyssa and Isabel's blogs, I realize that most clusters are organized similarly. The two sides are split into the two groups that are normally involved in the controversy, then quotes and sample information is included to outline what the final product will look like. Looking at the two blogs, I want to try out Coggle, which is what Isabel used, for the next one of these we will do.

Draft of QRG

The following link will take you to a first draft of my Quick Reference Guide.

Dear Peer reviewers,

I am aware that it does not have an image in it yet. I am also aware that the answers to the subheadings aren't as long as can be yet but the information to answer to question is there and will be expanded upon. Please let me know if you want me to add anymore subheadings and also if you think that the writing is to formal or informal, if you would like to see more of my personal opinion or keep it as objective as possible.

Draft 1 of QRG

Practicing Quoting

The following link will take you to my dress rehearsal of implying quotes .

Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/12/15 quote 2 Public Domain usage

Screen Shot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/12/2015 quote 1 Public Domain Usage 

The Yellow is establishing the authors credibility
The Green are my brackets
The Red is my signal phrases
The Blue is putting the quote in context

Practicing Quotes

QRG: The Genre

In the following blog post I analyze the genre of writing known as the quick reference guide.


1. Conventions of this genre-

The Quick Reference Guide is exactly what it sounds like. A quick, reference, and a guide. The conventions of this genre are as follows.

- Subheadings
This genre is flooded with subheadings. Used as a fast guide to get you to the information you need and care about, subheadings are incredibly useful, almost like a table of contents, the subheadings are always in bold, a larger font, sometimes a different color, and often posed as a question. This is a technique employed by the writer to mimic what the reader is thinking. The reader looks up an article or a QRG, and is thinking "well I wonder how this started?". The use of questions and bold subheadings allow the reader to quickly skim through and immediately see the subheading "How this started" and then they are right there at the information they want to be at.

- Informative writing
People will read articles and QRG in order to find something out about something, however they are not as dedicated to it as to spend hours reading a scholarly journal that uses words that take up half a line to describe something. So the writers of QRG, knowing this, get straight to the point, within the first few sentences you can find the answer you are looking of and if you read on, then the writer will start to employ his/her opinions and thoughts on the issue.

- Pictures, Graphs, Information Condensers

Like I previously mentioned, people reading QRG want to know what they want to know about the topic, but don't want to spend 3 hours reading a PhD's thesis on the pros and cons of E-cigs, so they go to QRG's. Even then though, people still don't want to read lists of numbers and estimations, so the authors include graphs and charts and images as a way to condense information into a comprehensible concise list, as humans we respond to images better than descriptions of things, so images and charts help us do that.

Example of a pole quote. Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/9/2015 Public Domain Usage

2. How are those conventions defined by the formatting and design conventions?

The authors of QRG have to know that people who are reading their work moist likely heard about something on twitter and want to learn more about it. So they have to grab people attention and give them the information quickly. Some use images and graph other uses pole quotes (see image), It is totally up to the writer and what he or she likes or thinks will be effective in grabbing their attention and this is an area that the writers' personality can shine through.

3. What is the purpose of the QRG?

QRG are incredibly useful if you know how to use them. QRG are kind of like trickle down reading. If you want to know about some topic, you can read a scholarly journal about it and know as much as possible. If you don't have the time or don't want to read something for 4 hours, then you can read newspaper articles. If you don't want to read through the whole article hoping to find the answer to the question you have in your head, then you can go to QRG who will show you what questions it answers using the subheadings. So again, it is in the name, quick, reference (sends you to exterior links for more info), guide.

4. Who is the intended audience?

Outside of the demographic of people who the QRG is written for (i.e.: gamers are interested in this while not so interested in this) then the main audience for QRG are just simply people who don't want to be experts in things, but people who heard about something interesting, want to find out more information about it, and get their questions answered quickly. So they are all similar in their intentions, but obviously different in what topics they want to investigate.

5. Why do QRGs use imagery?

As human we respond to images better than words. As Mr. Bottai said in class, people did cave paintings before they could speak. Picture books come before chapter books. Images are just easier for us. And as I mentioned in the conventions of a Quick Reference Guide, images, graphs and charts are image condensers. They help the writer get understandable information across quickly.

Annotated Bibliography in MLA format

In the following blog post I post my annotated bibliography for my controversy.

Please click on the following link to see the properly formatted bibliography

Annotated bibliography

The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences Oscar trophy. Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/5/2015. Public Domain usage. 

Example of MLA format annoyed Bibliography 

Reflection:

After reading Savannah and Isabel's blogs, I realized that they both did different styles than i did, however the differences are minuscule. Our annotations were similar in the information that they provided, especially Isabel's and mine. we seemed to methodically go through the checks and include all of the information necessary and then some. These blogs were very similar and all of them were very good. 

Ideology in my controversy

In the following blog post I evaluate my controversy as a whole.

Who is involved in the controversy?

The controversy has to do mainly with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They didn't nominate anyone who isn't white for any award. People were outraged in a time when the first black-female director was expected to be nominated for Selma, a time when 12 years a slave won best picture one year ago. People were very upset when the nomination came out. So there is the group who believes that this isn't an accident since the academy is only 2% black members, then there are those who believe that this was simply a decision based on the merits of the art.

Who are some of the major speakers/ writers in your field?

The Academy president has released many statements on this (she is an African-American women) saying that it was in no way intended to be a racially motivated decision, but simply based on the merits of the art of acting itself. Most of the general public have said this is a sham and just a statement to cover up their mishap.

What kind of social/ political/ cultural/ economic power does this have?

Movies are a central part of todays cultural fabric and the academy awards are such a huge award show that it has massive cultural impact. Its showing all the world that there wasn't a black actor or director that was worthy of a nomination. So it has massive implications on society, and the fact that it got such attention in social media and it brought so much recognition to this mistake, intentional or not, that the academy made.

What resources are available to different positions?

The academy has released official statement which are available on their website and all over social media, for those who believe this was something more than an accident, there is an entire tweet thread of #oscarssowhite and also, in the irony of all ironies, the video of Common and John Legend performing their song Glory from the movie Selma after all the nominee controversy, shows a powerful image of Chris Pine crying at the performance, which has become the face of this controversy.

The academy of motion picture arts and sciences. Screenshot by Dylan Cotter 9/4/2015 Public domain usage

What does each group value?

In this case it is pretty straight forward what each group wants. The academy wants to save face and make sure people don't view them as a racist organization with that much power in the world. Social media just wants equality and things like this to be erased from society.

What counts as evidence for each position?

For the academy, evidence is that they have a black president, other than that, it is just word of mouth that they are not racist. For the opposition, the evidence is the controversy, there was no Black actors nominated for the academy awards.

Who holds the power?

They both hold the power, the Academy has the power in the fact that it is one of the most powerful organizations in the entertainment industry. But social media holds the power because it is a mass group of people that represent the popular opinion of the people.

Is there and acknowledged/ unacknowledged ground between the two sides?

The acknowledged ground is that there wasn't any black actors nominated this year, the unacknowledged ground is why it happened. some say it was a reflection of the only 2% black members of the academy. Some say it has to do with the recent rise in unpunished white on black crime. It obviously won't become clear ever but its just speculation.

Do the various groups listen to each other?

I would say yes they do, however it won't do anything to resolve the issue. The academy is promising that they are not racist and the popular opinion is that they are. Along with police and the government and everyone else according to twitter. But this isn't an issue that goes away in a day, its buried much deeper than that, in the social fabric of the society.

Evaluation of Social Media Sources

In the following blog post I evaluate some social media sources talking about the lack of black recognition at the 2015 Academy Awards.

After going on storify and searching up on the controversy of the 2015 Academy Awards, I found there was a hashtag thread of #oscarssowhite on twitter, so I looked into it and found a user @thetrudz (trudy) who tweeted the following

@thetrudz tweet. Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter Public Domain Usage

By BW she means black women. Trudy is a writer at gradientliar.com, this is a self titled womanist blog about black women in modern day society. She is also a film critic, she boasts 39,000 followers on twitter and has been active for over two years. She seems to be more than a credible source.

I also found a tweet by @EdgeofSports

@edgeofsports tweet. Screenshot taken by Dylan Cotter Public Domain Usage

Dave Zirn is a sports editor of @thenation and a radio host for Sirius XM. He is known for having a controversial timeline but also boasts 50,000 twitter followers and has been active both on twitter and on the radio for over 5 years, making his comments about the oscars relevant cause it went out to a wide audience. His tweet is dripping with sarcasm and mockery, Exodus was a movie directed by Riddley Scott with Joel Egerton and Christian Bale that was criticized because it was the story of the leaders of Egypt but had an all white cast. He isn't a movie critic or a journalist but his celebrity status and the fact that he knows that he is in the public eye and felt the need to say this anyway gives it validity. 

Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

In the following blog post I evaluate two different academic journals dealign with the repression of black culture and recognition.

I found two articles dealing with or somewhat related to my controversy of the lack of black recognition in a modern world. The first one was from JSTOR.

Envisioning Freedom: Cinema and the Building of Modern Black Life

What is the purpose?

The purpose of this article is to chronicle how cinema helped bring the idea of a modern african american culture and person. Starting from the very first release of cinema with a black actor in it. This article is very good at taking an objective look at the rise of African Americans within the entertainment industry.

How and where was it published?

This article was published in Film Quarterly Journal, owned by the University of California Press, in the spring of 2014.

What kinds of sources does it cite?

Longo, Regina, ScreenShot taken by Dylan Cotter 9/3/2015, Public Domain Usage.

This article sources other academic journals such as The negro in American Film but also exhibits like “The Two Public Spaces of a Moviegoing Capital: Race and the History of Film Exhibition in Washington, D.C.,”.

Who is the author?

The author is Regina Longo, a PhD professor at the University of California Santa Barbara. She specializes in history of film and even works at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Who is it's intended audience?

Since the date of publication is very recent, the intended audience would most likely be people who are looking into the history of black oppression in areas other than slavery. Also those who are interested in film history as the inclusion of black actors in film was a hugely debated topic, even to go as far as to be banned since the lighting changes to accommodate darker skin would cost to much.

How did I find it?

I found this article by searching JSTOR with the keywords "black" "oppression" and "cinema"

Article 2:

The Idea of Black Culture

What is the purpose?
The purpose of this article is to examine the idea of there being a "black culture" in america and around the world. The article examines peoples idea of black culture and also if there actually is such a thing as a black culture or if it is just made up by the media and black peoples portrayal in the media.

How and where was it published?

This article was published by Michigan State university press in the winter of 2006.

What Kind of sources does it cite?

This source cites other sources such as The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois, and Black Skin White Masks, by Fanon F.

Who is the author?

Hortense J. Spillers is a professor in the english department at Vanderbilt University. She has taught in the US for over three decades now. She lists that her current research interests are the idea of black culture and also women in early Republican formations/

Who is the intended audience?

This paper discusses the idea of a "black culture" and examines its roots through history and the modern era. So the intended audience would be one that is interested in the history of a black culture and how the idea of a stereotype of a black culture has come up.

How did I find it?

I found this by searching JSTOR with the keywords "black" "culture"

Evaluation of General Sources

La Times 
Steven Zeitchick and Lorraine Ali
Last Updated January 15th 2015
Purpose: to Highlight the lack of racial diversity at this years Oscars
Pictures of all the nominated actors (all white faces) and a graph showing the number of black nominations and wins through the years
Their position is much more general and informative than the other article, however there is still a disapproving tone to it.

Lorraine Ali
Steven Zeitchick

Telegraph.co.uk

Written by Nick Allen
Last Updated September 2nd 2015
Purpose: to inform the public about the lack of Black actors nominated
Pictures of Ava DuVernay (director of "Selma") and Spike Lee
His position seems to be more alarmed at the contrast from last year when a black actress (Lupita Nyong'o) won best supporting actress and 12 years a slave won best picture.

Nick Allen

These two sources are talking about the outrage over the lack of black acting nominations at the 2015 academy awards.

My Profession

I am currently a double major, so instead of doing this twice I am going to talk about the more interesting one to me. I am majoring in theatre arts.

What drew you to this profession?
Ever since I was a child I have adored being on stage and playing charades and pretending. Now that has grown into a way of coping with fear and making sure that I experience the most amount of life that I possibly can, with all the good and the bad tied in and creating an entire person who lives and breathes and has a past, present and future. Its a magical feeling that is difficult to describe. Its amazing because it really makes you interested in what is it like to be other people.

What do people in your class learn? In the classes for theatre majors, you will learn tricks to memorize blocking for stage and lines from a script. Also you will practice learning about human nature and how to connect to people through different moments in their lives and yours. It isn't like math where you just learn the quadratic formula and now you know it. This is based on feedback and connecting between people. There is no one set way to do it and maybe that is what I like about it so much.

Where do people in your field normally find work?People doing this usually become actors or acting teachers. Ideally on broadway or the westend if you can dance and sing as well or film and television, however that is a different skill set.

Who are some leaders/ exciting people in your field right now? Some leaders in this field are most of the people you see in the tabloids everyday. I would say that a Benedict Cumberbatch, Jennifer Lawrence and Miles Teller are some exciting new faces within the industry. Some leaders are the classics Robert DeNiro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio etc.

What are the leading academic journals in your field right now? As far as journals go, there aren't many as acting is nothing close to a science or a direct step by step thing, but after a google search the David Mamet review came up and he looks to be fairly credible. Also Theatre Journal looks like it could be a good one.

Reflection:

I read Alyssa  and Isabel's blog posts. Curiously, both had dreams of being in the medical field. As I said to both the medical field is a deep and fascinating one that I have always had great respect and admiration for. Their professions are noble and deal with helping people survive and live to see another day, it is people like them that go into when I am creating character, because just as they are healing people and helping them to live another day, I am trying to help this person, whom a writer has dreamt up, live and tell their story.