#we needed to have a secondary text that has relevant themes to what the essay is about

[waku-waku-week]

Girl why the hell am i analysing a bob dylan song for a grade. i hate bob dylan

[reportingfordigitalmedia]

Task 2 Reporting for digital media idea generation and research

Task 2 Idea Generation: Kathryn Morrison and Daniel Tihn

The question: How is COVID-19 changing daily life?

IDEA 1: Interviewing media companies for an insight in Coronavirus’ effect in the creative sector.

Since our course is Creative Media Production, it would be interesting to discuss how media companies are dealing with the current situation. We could find local companies like Maka Visuals, TVM, Lovin Malta or FreeHour. Additionally, we could ask foreign companies if they would be willing to provide a statement or sit for an interview. This way we would hit all demographics but also every facet: news, entertainment and informational pieces.

Some questions to ask potential interviewees:

Has it impacted creativity negatively or positively? Would projects be postponed, or would an alternative solution be found to keep clients happy? What problems would it pose for future projects? How would the company move forward to maintain momentum?

IDEA 2: How are teachers and students coping with the current situation? An insight into the current educational change.

We would interview teachers and students both locally and abroad with a series of questions designed to be applicable for all, as the situation hits close to home and therefore everyone has an opinion.

We can interview two areas of life: primary and secondary teachers, as well as students from sixth form, primary, and secondary. If possible, a foreign teacher or students from different countries would be beneficial for an insight into how coronavirus is affecting the rest of the world.

Education is a vital building block for society, an essential, which renders these questions important and relevant for all those who watch the feature.

Perhaps getting rid of the typical ‘question and answer’ format, when it comes to those, we can interview who live in our household: we could have parts of the video with the interviewer and interviewee to be across a long table. This way, the visual presence of social distancing is upheld as it permeates into the essence of the video: how can education move forward in this situation? It is the question on everyone’s mind.

Idea Justification

After discussing it as a team, Daniel and I (Kathryn) have come to the conclusion of doing a news report following the struggles teachers and students are having at continuing their teaching/education. This decision was not made out of whim yet have a few justifiable reasons.

Firstly, as students, this topic is near and dear to us as not only do we find the theme interesting, but we are living through it as we speak. This news feature will not only tell a story, but it will indirectly tell our story as students and the struggles that have been thrown at us. Secondly, this feature will tick a few boxes when it comes to CINNPUT: the story shows conflict between the students, the teachers, the system, and the situation; will hopefully shed some new light on the current situation; centres around Malta and the troubles happening here; and now is the time to write and film pieces centred around COVID-19.

Finally, a major point that helped us choose this topic is that we, as a team, personally know many teachers and students which enables us to perform first-hand research without the use of online conferences and, when it comes to Task 3, the interview can be done face to face. By knowing these teachers of different levels (including a headmaster and an English teacher who lives in America which can bring some foreign context), we will be able to have multiple sources from which to quote and gain knowledge from a multitude of angles. Even when it comes to the gathering of photographs and b-roll, it may be possible to capture some ourselves instead of finding all our sources digitally (with the proper consents in place).

Article Research

Below is a list of articles we examined as a team and used to construct our idea, the flow of our writing, and the pacing of the story. They also helped inform us on what to include vs exclude in our story. With that said, most of our research will be first hand through interviews.

· https://www.bbc.com/news/education-52145351

· https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/06/education-ministers-to-discuss-how-to-ensure-year-12-students-finish-school-this-year-coronavirus

· https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/mar/20/what-should-uk-students-do-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

· https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/05/us/us-coronavirus-teachers-school-closures/index.html

· https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/03/28/conoravirus-kentucky-school-closures-stop-usual-student-teaching/2906646001/

· https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/26/how-coronavirus-changed-college-for-over-14-million-students.html

· https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/stress-anxiety-and-depression-associated-with-the-coronavirus-covid-19-disease/

Article Medium

Before writing an article, a publishing medium first needs to be chosen. Where a piece will be viewed changes the style of writing, language, format, and content drastically as each medium has its own audiences. For our piece, we chose Facebook.

As a social media platform, Facebook has the farthest outreach as a lot of people from all demo- and psychographics use it on a daily basis. When compared to other social media platforms (such as Instagram), there are more users to target and hit with content on Facebook than anywhere else. When it comes to the actual targeting of the content, Facebook’s algorithm for sponsored posts and how it reaches new audiences is very efficient and easy to track those statistics. Although we will not be posting the article and sponsoring it, we are very familiar with Facebook’s system and the business side of the website, making it an obvious choice for us as a team.

Facebook’s wide net is a major advantage for our piece as we are targeting multiple audiences across multiple ages and interests, making the platform perfect.

Writing for Facebook changes the content of the piece, especially when it comes to the flow. When writing for a newspaper, one needs to more informative and direct whereas Facebook is a post, meaning the writing leans towards a style that flows from one paragraph to another. The register of the piece is also affected by the medium, with ours going to lean towards a more casual approach than references us (the writers) and the audience (this feels natural as social media is based on interactions between individuals instead of a third person writing style).

Most Facebook posts have some form of visual media accompanying the post (photos or videos). For our post, we will include an image to accompany the writing (although the text is the main focus), but if this piece were to be released in conjunction with the video in task 3, then they would be released together with the video at the bottom of the article.

Generally, posts on social media platforms would include hashtags to help spread the piece around but since Facebook has its own sponsoring system and algorithm, we wouldn’t include any hashtags. By being able to target the interests of our audience, we wouldn’t need to use hashtags which have the possibility of making the article look ‘tacky’ (the same effect applies to emojis).

Meeting: 2nd April

BASE IDEA: To Interview multiple teachers and students of different levels to see what the situation is at their schools and how they are continuing their education

Students Levels:

2 x Primary (1 going to secondary)

2 x1 Secondary

2 x 6th Form

Bala Uni/MCAST students

Teachers Levels

1 Kindergarden

1 Primary

1 Secondary

2 x Headmistresses (maybe)

1 Foreign English Teacher (Austin)

What do we need?

for task 2: the criteria:

Identify topical concept - (maybe) In our essay we can justify why our topic is topical in a mini intro?, this could accompany our identification of the type we're writing (so either informative, or educational or else entertainment).

identify medium and method of presentation for news report

prepare digital media report for implementation showing evidence of process used

produce an authentic written news report showing evidence of authenticity

Checklist

◦ DOCUMENT: justifying why we chose the topic, the type, the idea-generation

◦ RESEARCH A NEWS STORY: something similar to the topic and following the same field

◦ WRITE THE NEWS STORY

◦ RESEARCH: websites used, references, interview subjects and the medium, transcript of the interview

◦ PLAN INTERVIEWS AND LOCATIONS

Final list of Questions

1. How is the school handling this ‘home schooling’ situation?

a. This is to get a general overview on how the school is enabling students to continue their studies and lecturers/teachers to remain in contact with their class/es

2. What possible benefits have you encountered from online classes? Whilst completely different from the norm, how can online learning change education for the better in these trying times? And what about the disadvantages?

a. When it comes to education, how has the teaching/learning process been affected? Has the quality gone down when it comes to lessons and lectures? Has being at home helped your studies/workload?

3. How are you as a teacher/student coping with this new stress? What are you doing to combat the cabin fever? How is the school helping teachers/students handle this newfound stress?

a. For example, how are teachers reaching out to students and being more accommodating when it comes to assignments and exams?

4. Apart from online lectures, how are you ensuring that your teaching/studying is still kept up to standard? Are you sending/receiving any supplementary material outside of these digital classes? What do you think about that?

N.B. When the same point has multiple questions, these wouldn’t be asked at the same time but instead would be used to either clarify the main question or to help the interviewee answer.

Final list of questions - students

1. How is the school handling this ‘home schooling’ situation?

2. Whilst completely different from the norm, how can online learning change education for the better in these trying times?

3. How are you as a student coping with this new stress? What are you doing to combat the cabin fever?

4. Apart from online lectures, how are you ensuring that your studying is still kept up to standard? Are you receiving any supplementary material outside of these digital classes?

Final list of questions - teachers

1. How is the school handling this ‘home schooling’ situation?

2. Whilst completely different from the norm, how can online learning change education for the better in these trying times?

3. How are you as a teacher coping with this new stress? What are you doing to combat the cabin fever?

4. Apart from online lectures, how are you ensuring that your teaching is still kept up to standard? Are you sending any supplementary material outside of these digital classes?

People Asked

· James Morrison (Form 4 student, going on form 5 in September; attends St. Michael)

· Alice Morrison (Year 6 student, going on form 1 in September; attends St.George Preca Paola Primary B)

o Alice is in year 6, therefore their syllabus was finished before the pandemic. Regardless of whether or not it happened, all they would have done in class would have been revision, therefore no online lessons are happening.

· Ruth Morrison (Secondary School teacher; teaches at St. Thomas More)

· Elisa Gatt (Bachelor of Commerce, 1st Year)

· Faye Darmanin (B. Psy., 1st Year)

· Lexi Manduca (B. A. in European Studies and International Relations, 1st Year)

· Carla Camilleri (B. Sci. in Applied Food and Nutritional Sciences, 1st Year)

· Alexandra Tihn (Form 2; attends Our Lady Immaculate)

· Hannah Gatt (B. Sci. in Communication Therapy, 1st Year)

· Gillian Darmanin (Primary School Teacher; teaches at Chiswick House School)

- Sean Bacica (B.A in Creative Media Production, 2nd Year)

Answers:

James Morrison’s answers (Form 4 student, going on form 5 in September)

1. I wake up at around 10 o’clock, later than normal, I have breakfast and then my mother makes me study or do homework, which I am reluctant to do as there is no motivation at all to study for exams which I have to sit for after this period. I am handling it badly, as this situation feels more like a holiday rather than school. Due to that, I just want to play on my phone or play video games all day as I would when on holiday.

2. I have only had a few online classes, as the majority of the focus for my year is on online homework. However, for the few times I did have online classes (at the beginning) made me realise that I prefer it. Online learning has the advantage of being more flexible, which for people my age is a benefit as we don’t like being told what to do. So, having the ability to pick the time and place of our work is a plus. I feel more comfortable using technology as it is more hands-on rather than just listening to the teacher, I can take notes at my own pace and I can pay attention better from the comfort of my own home.

3. Ultimately, I miss my friends and playing football with my club, as well as seeing my grandparents as I go and stay with them every weekend. At the moment, I am trying my best to adapt my activities of before the quarantine to online activities. For example, my catechism group are meeting online, and my family and I are getting takeout every Saturday so we can have a ‘’get together’’ and talk about how we’re handling the situation, it cheers me up a lot. Luckily, we have a garden and I can practice football and exercise outside which is super important to me as football keeps me sane.

4. I have been using the foreign language app Duolingo to keep practicing my German. At home, my mum sits with me and helps me study as next year I will be in form 5, so right now it is important that my grades do not slip. I am also receiving worksheets which we have to print, work out and send a picture for some lessons, others have no given us anything. Other teachers are putting videos up on youtube of lessons which we have to watch, and then fill out a form afterwards to make sure we understood the material.

Alice Morrison’s answers (Year 6 student, going on form 1 in September)

N.B Alice is in year 6, therefore their syllabus was finished before the pandemic. Regardless of whether or not it happened, all they would have done in class would have been revision, therefore no online lessons are happening.

1.I am handling it well, Home-schooling works for me because since I am at home, my mum walks me through my revision slowly and therefore I have more attention and help rather than everything being fast due to having to finish the syllabus in time. Also, I am happy about not having benchmarks because it removes the pressure I had before.

2. Online learning is more fun in my opinion because since it is all online, there is the possibility of sharing maths games for example or videos which personally keep me interested and help me learn better. A big one is that I feel less pressure working from home, in the classroom it is harder to keep up and I feel like online learning gives me more room to learn from my mistakes.

3. I am coping well, I feel great because I feel like I am introvert. This does not feel stressful to me, I feel much more relaxed when I am at home in comparison with when I was physically at school. I feel stressed and sad when I think of how I have not seen my grandparents in a long time, so I have been phoning them for often. Sometimes I feel a bit lonely, but I keep in contact with my friends from school by video-chatting them and also make new friends online.

4. I have had no online lessons as my syllabus has been long finished. My mum gives me revision exercises to do every day as extra work, as well as makes me read in English and Maltese to go hand in hand with the worksheets I receive from my teachers. The downside is that without being in class, I have to wait longer for my teachers to correct my homework which makes the learning process a bit slower. We also have quizzes on our school tablet which actually motivated me and kept me feeling like I want to learn because it was competitive.

Ruth Morrison’s answers (Secondary School teacher)

1. We were given to go ahead to do what we deem fit for the sake of our students; we can either do online lessons, send worksheets or find other methods depending on the subject. Some of my colleagues sent emails, used the state school platform ‘’My School’’ to post homework or video links, but we were given the email addresses of all the students in case we preferred to contact them directly individually. On the end of the school’s assistance, we were given webinars teaching us how to use Microsoft Teams so that all staff members are acquainted with the software needed. SMS’s were sent to the parents to encourage student participation and to make sure everyone is aware of the resources. However, not every student is participating. The student participation is actually really low, which is concerning for us teachers. The students who previously did not put much effort into working have diminished incredibly in regard to their effort now, but the students who showed interest are maintaining this.

2. It can be used as tool for the better for integration of internet resources such as videos which students seem to like and keeps the students who are visuals learners to pay attention and review for better understanding. It could be useful for revision for the most part, but then we have to be careful as online learning removes the barrier and leads to lack of routine or ‘’boundaries’’ as some students do not pay attention to school hours and expect responses instantly. I feel the majority of the benefits are for primary students as it allows the parent to be present for the learning experience, but for secondary school students the benefits lie only for note-taking (as some teachers speak quickly and students need to write everything down) or for reviewing purposes. Games, videos, learning websites with music and graphics are all great for the modern student as it is more engaging to many in comparison to reading from books. We show all these things in class, but with online learning everything is able to be reviewed again and again. Ultimately, I feel online learning should be used in conjunction with real-life learning rather than instead of, as everything is better when balanced.

3.  The webinar about how to use Microsoft teams and watching many youtube videos of how to use the software given to us did alleviate a lot of the stress I had, as well as teaming up with my colleagues, keeping in contact and sharing information regarding what we can do to move forward is a great help. I post notes, worksheets, video links, everything I can to provide the same experience, but the response from students is not massive, but since I send answer sheets as well that may be because they are marking their work themselves in adherence to the sheet I sent. Communicating with my colleagues and opening up to them helps me with the cabin fever situation, we help each other and offer support with technical problems or general issues. We send funny videos and ‘’memes’’ to cheer each other up as well. I am revising my German, as before I did not have time to brush up my skills and now I can; it keeps my mind engaged. I am basically doing everything I had no time to do before, such as decluttering.

Ironically, I am home schooling my children which feels great as I love teaching  and it comes second nature to me, but it is hard when they do not want to work due to  the demotivation effects of the quarantine.

4. I teach geography, and all us geography teachers created a specific ‘’team’’ for conversation with each other and keeping up the standard of the geography lesson, but I have not given any online lessons as it is not necessary for my situation. Since geography is not a main subject, I am aware of the fact that I may not have the same pressure as a maths or English teacher for example, as in school I would only see them once a week. I am therefore doing the best I can by sending extra videos, notes and anything interesting I feel would benefit them. I am also open for emails and respond to questions outside digital classes. I have found myself in the position of resending old notes as many students had left their notes in their lockers at the time of the school closure, as well as textbooks, therefore I simplified some notes as well due to them not having a textbook explanation.

Sean Bacica's answers (MCAST ICA 2nd Year student)

1. I am taking it day to day, planning out assignments as they come along and follow the instructions from my lecturers about how to proceed

2. Most of the lectures I am having during these times are 1 on 1, so the increase in personal attention helps with the progress of more challenging tasks

3. I feel I am coping quite fine with the stress, virtually meeting with lecturers and fellow peers often helps! When I feel trapped inside, I try to take a short drive or take my dog out for a short walk especially since the weather is so nice

4. Generally it is just online lectures that are keeping me and most of my peers in line with our goals and standards. External notes that wouldn't normally be supplied are being supplied which helps us to study when we aren't in said lectures

Elisa Gatt (Uni student):

1. Depends on the lecturer of the particular module rather than the school.

Out of 9 modules

- 2 do online lectures

- 1 does online lectures and also sends us the recording

- 4 send us recorded lectures

- 1 sends us a set of notes with corresponding voice recordings

- and another hasn’t sent us anything

I don’t mind the recorded lectures, however depends on the quality of teaching, some just send us a recording of them reading a power point which is quite useless.

However, I prefer recorded lectures over live lectures as one can pause to take notes, and listen to them in their own time.

The handout and voice recording lecture really fit the subject (statistics) well also.

Personally, I’m managing to cope with the lectures, however the main problem for me is exams. There is a deadline for the 17th for them to tell us what is happening with exams for the respective modules. However I feel like knowing if the exam will be assessment or assignment based will help to actually start studying.

2. It allows students to work in their own time. However this can also be a bad thing for students who aren’t very good with time management and organization.

3. Surprisingly doing well. I’ve been going up to my brothers office on weekday mornings to do work, so I can split my uni life and home life. And on weekends I don’t do anything school related.

This has really helped as I’m not spending 24/7 on my desk at home and I’m wasting less time.

4. Some send us power point presentations, while others recommend reading chapters of certain textbooks.

However one lecturer based his entire module on a textbook which isn’t being printed anymore, and can’t be found online. And doesn’t send us any power points, expecting us to take our notes from this book which can’t be found anywhere. Especially with the current situation.

For my statistics lecture we have a set of notes, and also a set of tutorial sheets to ensure we all understand.

Faye Darmanin (Uni Student, part time):

1. Quite well; I have online lectures for both of my units, and each of them upload the PowerPoints of the topic right after the online lecture ends.

The only issue I have is that the university is taking too long to tell us what the situation is for exams, not allowing us enough time to prepare.

2. This gives students more time with studying and note-taking.

3. I’m not doing anything to combat it, as since I only have 2 units the stress of school is quite low.

4. We are receiving the uploaded PowerPoints of each topic, but they are uploaded during normal face-to-face lectures as well, so nothing extra is being sent.

Lexi Manduca (Uni Student):

1. Quite well; I have online lectures for both of my units, and each of them upload the PowerPoints of the topic right after the online lecture ends.The only issue I have is that the university is taking too long to tell us what the situation is for exams, not allowing us enough time to prepare.2. This gives students more time with studying and note-taking.3. I’m not doing anything to combat it, as since I only have 2 units the stress of school is quite low.4. We are receiving the uploaded PowerPoints of each topic, but they are uploaded during normal face-to-face lectures as well, so nothing extra is being sent.

1. Most give us online live lectures on zoom. Some send us pre-recorded ones. Some lecturers just send us the power points and readings which is not at all an ideal way to learn.

2. It could encourage lecturers to record the lectures and upload them after the lecture so that students can go back and re-listen to anything they might not have understood during the lesson. This might encourage students to miss lectures so stricter attendance would need to be applied to combat this.

3. Recently I've found the best way to tackle being home all day is to spend as much time as I can out in the sun (in the balcony not actually out of the hosue).

4. We do receive the occasional podcast/ additional readings but mostly I'm keeping up with my studies through researching for and carrying out assignments

Carla Camilleri (Uni Student):

1. We’ve resorted to online lectures via Google Meet or Zoom. My faculty was pretty efficient with regards to continuing with lectures as normal however have barely given us any feedback with regards to what will be happening for exams.

2. Online learning can offer different ways of interaction between the lecturer and students as well as between the students themselves which wouldn’t normally be explored in a normal classroom such as through Groupwork on Google Docs or using videos on a more regular basis to initiate discussions. Online learning also makes learning more flexible and customizable. Lectures are generally recorded so can be accessed later on as a method of revision, if one needs clarification on a subject matter or can’t join the lecture in real time. The workspace can be altered by the student as desired to fit their mode of learning and comfort.

3. I’m making sure to attend all my lectures in real time as well as catching up on class notes to make sure i do not fall behind on work. I’m also making sure to communicate as much as possible with my lecturers to remain up to date on the exam and assignment situations for my units. Balancing learning with my hobbies also helps to combat stress, turning my focus away from continuous learning allows my brain to reset and relax.

4. Our lecturers have provided us with all the powerpoints of their lectures. They’ve also provided us with books for further reading and videos which help in providing a better understanding of the topics being covered. This all makes studying easier as we’re given multiple sources for making notes which are referred to when exam season begins.

Alexandra Tihn (Form 2)

1. My school is handling the home-schooling situation by sending me homework and assignments every day while I'm away from school, I dont have online classes but I still have papers and work. It's hard to keep up on everything that the school sends us since they send us a lot at once it gets really confusing for me, but it isn't that bad since I made a schedule.

2. I think it’s a good way to do work while I'm away from school, but I don't think it's the best thing we could do while we are away since they send us double the work and it's getting really hectic.

3. I’m coping with all the work but the stress comes along with it straight away, having to see where I can get things printed or seeing when the deadline is since it's all messy and wondering if what I'm doing is correct without an actual explanation from the teachers. I think I'm handling staying inside really well, especially since we have technology now which allows me to communicate with my friends so I don't feel totally alone, although it does make me feel very lonely at time when I just want someone to talk to or to hug etc.

4. Well given the fact that I don't have lectures the only way I can know if I'm keeping up with the standard of studying is by doing as much of the work I can as possible before they leave the school website because of deadlines. The teachers sometimes sends me and everyone as a whole class some papers with notes and some power points but it's hard to keep up since sometimes they send us work and then the next day send us the answers so I don't really have time to do the work sometimes.

Hannah Gatt (Uni Student):

1. Under these circumstances I think the school is doing all it can to aid its students in any way they can. This being said, some lecturers are clearly putting in more effort than others however overall, the university seems to be helping students adjust to home schooling very well. My only issue at this point in time is regarding the examination period and having no idea what is going to happen. Out of the 11 study units I have, I only know for certain how 3 of them are going to be assessed whilst the others are keeping us in the dark which is extremely unfair.

2. I think online learning has proven the importance and value of face to face interactions with teachers and lecturers that simply cannot be replaced. However it has also shown that regardless of the circumstances, there is always a method through which education can take place which is important for everyone to keep in mind.

3. To be completely honest I am growing slightly restless as I miss interacting and socialising with people. However, im trying not to get too overwhelmed with the situation since I know that everyone is in the same predicament. I’m personally trying to keep myself busy mainly by working on assignments but I also try to pass time by reading, playing playstation ect…

4. Some lecturers are being extremely helpful and giving us extra material in order for us to understand better yet at the same time some lecturers aren’t taking into account how stressful this situation is for us and won’t even answer our emails regarding queries on our work/assignments. Besides all this I feel it is up to us students to not get lazy and continue working by ourselves for online lectures are not enough to help us to get through our end of year assessments.

Gillian Darmanin (Primary school teacher)

1. The school I am currently employed with has primarily followed & complied all instructions issued by the government regarding the closure of the school. The school head and assistants have communicated with parents via email on how they were planning to assist their pupils. They in turn through consultation & collaboration with all level leaders and all teachers implemented an instruction strategy for the current situation.

2. In online learning the social interaction with the pupils is quite limited. However, having said that more and more sites have made their resources free for parents and teachers. Many have also included a section called ‘home learning’ providing videos with clear explanations as well as worksheets and answers in an attempt to provide clear instruction on the topic at hand.

3. I am communicating & collaborating regularly with other teachers through Microsoft teams and through phone calls. Trying to keep a regular routine every day and regular yoga!

4. Even though I teach in primary school, the senior leaders have taken the decision that for online teaching each teacher in a level will be subject teaching. Also, teachers have been paired up to work on lesson preparation as a team. Focusing on a particular subject helps to hone your skills in a particular area.

Supplementary material like worksheets & online libraries have been set up to encourage further consolidation of topics learnt. Also encouraging pupils to record themselves giving presentations and or reading so continuous assessment can be continued in this unprecedented situation.

N.B. Those without screenshots were asked verbally and then the answers were transcribed.

Video Format

Video Flow:

The video starts with the interviewer opening with a short monologue, describing the current situation and introducing the topic at hand (situation with students and teachers). This will lead into a series of audio clips from students from different institutes and levels of learning, each answering the same question but always adding something to the story (a new perspective).

Back to the interviewer explaining some of the students’ opinions on how the future will present itself. Then cut to more snippets of audio from the students about how they think the future will pan out (this would concern how they feel and how they think this will be resolved. We will not be writing the script for the interviewer’s sections until after the interviews themselves so we have all the information nat hand before committing ourselves.

The music should be on the mellow side while also having poppy undertones. This would be able to create a relaxing tone to the piece while also giving it a vibe appealing to a bit of a younger demographic.

The video (and article) will target a wide audience as it will not specifically be aimed at any particular demographic yet will be targeted to those who have an interest in education, the current situation, and schooling. It will also attract a general audience as it will inform the average reader on the happenings of students.

Video Locations/Footage:

· People’s homes via webcam.

· Footage found online (below are examples and resources)

· B-roll shot by Kathryn and Daniel (For example: students entertaining themselves, a lecturer teaching a lesson [without showing students], screen recording of online class)

Audio:

· https://www.epidemicsound.com/

o We have an account

Online Assets/Footage:

· https://www.youtube.com/embed/hIkCmbvAHQQ?rel=0&autoplay=1&cc_load_policy=1

·  https://www.pexels.com/search/videos/students/

·  https://www.pexels.com/search/videos/online%20work/

·  https://www.pexels.com/search/videos/at%20home/

·  https://pixabay.com/videos/search/students/

·  https://pixabay.com/videos/search/online/

·  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7euX2P-Mwk

·  https://www.videezy.com/people/37310-businesswoman-checking-product-on-stock-online

·  https://www.pexels.com/video/woman-having-a-video-call-4053047/

·  https://www.pexels.com/video/busy-woman-working-with-her-laptop-and-smartphone-3251808/

·  https://www.pexels.com/video/a-disappointed-woman-keeping-herself-busy-3709513/

TASK 2 ARTICLE (also in separate blog post)

Education in a pandemic: lack of a routine.

According to Prof. Charmaine Gauci, Malta is yet to reach it’s peak. This simple statement speaks volumes of what can be expected in not only our future as a country, but what world we will be living in through the coming months. Businesses may go bankrupt, unemployment will be on the rise, global health might take a hit as many are forced to stay indoors, and the dawn of a new recession is right around the corner. However, what about those who, in an age of technology and social media, live in the online space?

Although most students would love more free time to binge watch Netflix, the reality is that many are struggling with the new change. As lectures move to virtual platforms, life becomes a nightmare with assignments, and exams being shuffled around, with the due dates changing constantly. No one could have truly prepared for an event like this, but due to the rapid change many are beginning to feel left behind.

When confronted with the urgency of shutting down schools, actions had to be taken quickly. By prioritising the immediacy of the decisions over the consistency between them, many issues are going unsolved. When asked about how the University of Malta is handling online communication and teaching, 1st year student Elisa Gatt had this to say:

“[It] depends on the lecturer of the particular module rather than the school. Out of 9 modules: 2 do online lectures; 1 does online lectures and also sends us the recording; 4 send us recorded lectures, 1 sends us a set of notes with corresponding voice recordings; and another hasn’t sent us anything.”

Explaining the current situation in a simplified manner is confusing in itself, let alone basing one’s future education around the convolution. Many students are having to juggle this new system whilst also getting to grips with reality themselves. Even when it comes to the simple things such as video platforms, some lecturers prefer to use Zoom where others opt for Microsoft Teams or Google Meet. Having to jump from one to another between back to back lectures, all on different spaces is not only inefficient but is making it that much harder for students to find some breathing room.

It isn’t only University students struggling with the new system. Secondary school students are finding it difficult to keep up with the new workload while also finding ways to keep their sanity. A student who is currently in Form 2 was asked how they are handling this newfound stress, and simply replied that they are not. Due to a lack of online lessons, they spoke about the self-doubt that accompanies their work without proper guidance and the problems at having to organise everything and schedule their work.

The ‘blame’ cannot be pinned onto one party, as schools are trying their best to keep their students informed and on the right track. Meanwhile, teachers are trying their best to cope with the changes in tandem while also doing extra work for the sake of helping their students. With everyone struggling to regain normality, the only way forward is for all of us to support one another, to keep ourselves informed, and to focus on making it to the other side.

[barry127]

20 Top Quality Blogs That Every researcher and Ph.D. Students Will Love

In this post, I’d like to share 20 popular blogs by academics. Each listing gives you a brief idea of what you will find in the blog. Aside from being avid bloggers, these academics also have a prominent Twitter presence. For this reason, I’ve also included their twitter account URL. I hope you like this list and find an academic blog that you really enjoy reading!

1. Scientific Editing (@ScientificEdit1)

Scientific Editing was established with a goal to accelerate international scientific research communication. At Scientific Editing, we take great effort to understand our authors’ needs. We aim to help scientists and academic authors break through the language barriers, bridge the gap between authors and peer-reviewed journals, and accelerate the process of publishing high-quality articles.

Visit: https://www.scientific-editing.info

Armed with an in-house editing team, we provide high-quality services to academic, publishing, and pharmaceutical communities. All of our editors are native English-speakers with a Ph.D., or extensive editing and publishing experience in different fields, and have been carefully screened and selected.

2. Academics Write (@academicswrite):

As the name suggests, Academics Write is a blog about “academic writing in all disciplines.” Blog owner, Kim Mitchell, is from a nursing discipline and is an instructor at Red River College, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. Academics Writ hosts an interesting mix of blog posts that includes research-based information, experience-based stories and anecdotes, and opinion pieces. Kim writes for an audience of post-secondary instructors, academic writers and students, and blogs on topics such as the value of writing, self-efficacy, myths about academic writing, and deciding when it is right to give a student an extension.

Do you need Scientific Editing service? Visit: https://www.scientific-editing.info

3. Athene Donald’s Blog (@AtheneDonald):

Athene Donald is a Physics Professor at the University of Cambridge and has been a professor for over 20 years. Unlike some of the other blogs in this list that have adopted a coaching-oriented approach, Professor Donald’s blog seems to offer researchers’ opinions and perspectives. Her blog posts cover topics such as what to do and avoid doing at academic conferences, gender disparity in academia, etc. She also attempts to maintain a balance by sharing a few blog posts about her personal life and interests.

4. Beyond the Doctorate (@FionaEWhelan):

Beyond the Doctorate is a blog managed by Dr. Fiona Whelan, Academic Standards and Quality Officer at the Queen Mary University of London. Dr. Whelan’s blog goes beyond discussions about her academic career. She started this blog for the purpose of sharing her experiences with other doctoral students as she made “a transition away from pure research into a practical job in the real world.” advises students on dealing with different stages of academic life, exploring alternative academic careers, etc.

5. Dan Cohen (@dancohen):

Dr. Dan Cohen is a Vice Provost, Dean, and Professor at Northeastern University. He blogs about topics such as current trends in library and information science, digital libraries, ebooks, the influence of digital technology on various aspects of life today, web cultures, digital humanities, digital public libraries, science communication trends, and science publishing. In an interesting post, Dr. Cohen talks about a concept that he has called “essay.” According to him, the essay is “a manifestation of the convergence of journalism and scholarship in mid-length forms online.” He further explains that an essay avoids academic jargon as it is written for “both specialists and an intelligent general audience.”

6. Diary of Dr. Logic (@SaraLUckelman):

Diary of Dr. Logic is a blog managed by Sara L. Uckelman, Assistant Professor at Durham University. Diary of Dr. Logic offers blog posts on several topics related to scientific publishing and life as an academic. More specifically, Uckelman blogs about her approach to teaching logic and philosophy, maintaining a healthy work-life balance and tips for being productive and more.

7. DoctoralWritingSIG (@DocwritingSIG):

DoctoralWritingSIG is moderated by Dr. Claire Aitchison, Doctoral Writing Consultant; Dr. Cally Guerin, Research Training Scheme Officer, University of Adelaide; and Dr. Susan Carter, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland. DoctoralWritingSIG is an informative forum where those interested in doctoral writing can “share information, resources, ideas, and dreams,” irrespective of where they stand in their academic careers. With a view to build a base of knowledge and skills around research writing, the blog covers topics such as grant writing, tips on writing the different sections of a thesis or dissertation, grammar advice, and academic publishing guidance.

8. Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega, Ph.D. (@raulpacheco):

Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega is an Assistant Professor in the Public Administration Division of the Centre for Economic Research and Teaching. His blog is populated with insightful articles on various aspects of academic life, such as academic writing, reading strategies, and surviving and thriving in academia. He also has posted on his own research and public policy issues that interest him. Dr. Pacheco-Vegas blog posts that offer interesting text, mixed with relevant images and tweets, provide a very exciting reading experience.

9. Dr. Catherine Pope (@catherinepope):

Dr. Catherine Pope is a freelance research and writing skills, trainer. She blogs about academic writing; focusing on topics like overcoming delays, implementing planning techniques before writing, etc. Her blog also offers posts dedicated to helping readers learn about tools for researchers to improve their productivity. Dr. Pope maintains separate categories for blog posts that provide tips for using Evernote and Zotero. Both of these are digital tools designed to facilitate various aspects of conducting research and writing research articles.

10. Dr. Nadine Muller (@Nadine_Muller):

Dr. Nadine Muller is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature and Cultural History at Liverpool John Moores University. Her blog is about academia and her experiences in academia. She says, among other things, that her blog is about “redefining what it takes to be an academic and how academics are expected to present themselves, their lives and their work.” Muller aims to provide support, education and development resources to postgraduate and early-career researchers. She blogs on topics in preparation for an academic job interview, prioritization during doctoral studies, and academic mental health within academia.

Do you need research paper editing? Visit: https://www.scientific-editing.info

11. Ellie Mackin (@EllieMackin):

Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts is a Teaching Fellow in Ancient History at the University of Leicester and a Research Associate at the Institute of Classical Studies, London. She is also one of the moderators of the @ECRchat — Twitter feed for early career researchers. Her blog consists of a rich reserve of posts covering a wide range of topics relating to academic life. She blogs about academic writing, post-doctoral life, academic conferences, job applications, and many other interesting topics.

12. Explorations of Style (@explorstyle):

Explorations of Style is a blog that “offers an ongoing discussion of the challenges of academic writing.” The blog is managed by Rachael Cayley, associate professor in the Graduate Center for Academic Communication, University of Toronto. Professor Cayley aims to provide her readers with strategies to help them improve their skills in research writing. To this end, she blogs on topics such as. Managing writing anxiety, creating inverted contours, and writing process.

13. Feral Librarian (@mchris4duke):

Feral Librarian is a blog managed by Dr. Chris Bourg, Director of Libraries at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Bourg blogs about research libraries, higher education, and scientific publishing. Occasionally, her blog post also discusses some of her personal interests — issues of sports, music and social justice. Among the blog’s latest posts is a text version of Dr. Bourg’s exciting keynote address at the 2018 Creative Commons Global Summit — “Open as in Dangerous.”

14. From Ph.D. to Life (@FromPhDtoLife):

From Ph.D. to Life is a blog run by Dr. Jennifer Polk, History Ph.D. turned academic, life, and career coach for graduate students and PhDs. Summing it up herself, Dr. Polk says she helps “PhDs launch meaningful careers” by helping them delve deeper into their own interests, explore their opportunities and deal with academic pressure. The Ph.D. for Life offers a wide range of resources for PhDs, all aiming to help them maneuver their academic careers effortlessly and live a better life. Dr. Polk recommends his transition question and answers as a must-read section! This section shows inspiring stories about PhDs as they take us through their fulfilling post-doctoral journeys.

15. From The Lab Bench (@FromTheLabBench):

The Lab, Bench is a blog about “all things science.” It is administered by Dr. Paige Brown Jarreau, a science communication specialist for the College of Science, Louisiana State University. As she continued her doctorate, Dr. realized Jarreau that although she enjoyed time on the lab bench, she loved writing and communicating about her research even more! And that’s how “From the Lab Bench” was born. Dr. Jarreau blogs on topics such as science blogging, social media consulting and science journalism.

16. Get a Life, Ph.D. (@tanyaboza):

Get a Life, Ph.D. is a blog managed by Tanya Golash-Boza, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Merced. The main theme of her blog succeeds in academia, while also living a rich life outside academia. In this blog, she shares advice that will help readers “balance life and work and achieve a happier life on the fast track.” Get a Life, Ph.D. offers a number of informative blog posts on academic writing and publishing. Professor Golash-Boza blogs on topics such as writing a literature review, responding to revising and submitting a journal decision, and presenting at academic conferences. She also writes about academics’ work-life balance, how academics can find time to train, make the most of academic travel, and be an academic parent.

17. Green Tea and Velociraptors (@Protohedgehog):

Green Tea and Velociraptors is a blog managed by Dr. Jon Tennant, Founder, Open Science MOOC. The blog’s exciting name is being revived by its fascinating theme and imagery — it’s not every day you see a dinosaur wearing a top hat at a fancy tea party! Green tea and velociraptors offer you a wide variety of interesting topics to choose from. Dr. Tennant blogs about his learning as a Ph.D. student, his research interests, and other topics relevant to academic life, such as peer review and open science and science communication. The blog also has a section that includes all of his own research publications.

18. Helen Kara (@DrHelenKara):

Dr. Helen Kara is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at the UK’s National Centre for Research Methods. She has been an independent researcher since 1999 and instructs researchers and students in research methods. Dr. Kara blogs about research methods, academic writing, and publishing, research ethics, research collaboration, etc.

19. James Hayton, Ph.D. (@jameshaytonphd):

Former physicist Dr. James Hayton works with Ph.D. students to help them through the Ph.D. research and writing process. He aims to make the lives of Ph.D. students a little easier when embarking on their journey towards their Ph.D. students. His main focus is to help them develop the skills needed to do a Ph.D. In light of this, his blog offers a rich reserve of blog posts covering topics such as academic writing, doctoral survival, choosing a topic for your thesis, and dealing with Ph.D. mistakes.

20. Jo Van Every (@JoVanEvery ):

Dr. Jo Van Every is an academic career guide who loves “helping others love their academic work.” Her blog provides advice on academic writing; more specifically, it aims to help you develop effective writing skills. She also blogs about publishing to scientific and non-scientific audiences and making decisions throughout the academic journey, addressing procrastination, the need to maintain work-life balance and peer review among many others.

Are you looking for thesis proofreading? Visit: https://www.scientific-editing.info

[s0022374a2film-blog]

Post R: CI Planning- Collated Quotes

Collated Relevant Quotes

In preparation for my Essay, I reviewed the quotes that I had found in each of my secondary sources, and identified those that would be most relevant in answering each of my three subtopics, and in proving or disproving my hypothesis.

My Subtopics:

1-Does Anderson have a prominent style and to what extent does this coincide with the features of post-modernism, thus affecting his portrayal as an auteur?

2 -How effectively is the theme of relationships portrayed in Anderson’s work?

3 -Anderson works with collaborators in almost all processes of creating his films, does this affect his standing as an auteur?

Quotes for Subtopic 1:

‘Equally, the need to create an entire world from scratch, right down to the finest detail, was something that suited Anderson. “it requires that you manufacture anything you think of”’ … ’”Then you can say: ‘It can look exactly like this and it would be nice if printed across it  is that’”’ [Source1: s & s]

‘There’s usually some can or box of very bright scarves, and you tie them on. Well, everybody does it their own way.’…’the costume department had prepared these special tie things, and I was a little upset. ”You guys come in, you take the things out of the boxes- and put them on your heads your way. You do what you do.” And they each had some very strange way of doing it’…’and their personalities come through in that.’ [Source2: TWAC]

‘the way they [Suzy and Sam] cling to their books and records as if they’re driftwood in a stormy sea was also drawn from the director’s childhood. “I thought these two kids ought to have these talismans. When I was about that age I had objects which were crucial to me. I had this bag of Pilot Fineliner pens and a Zulu necklace from the New Orleans Mardi Gras and I carried them everywhere.” [Source3: Empire Magazine]

‘Anderson’s visual style is also often self-reflexive, drawing attention to the very act of looking. He is renowned for using perfectly centred shots and symmetrical compositions [Source4: The Conversation]- post modernism

We could perhaps counter claims that Anderson is worthy of auteur status. As a visual director, the characters he writes and the stories they occupy can be seen as rather one-dimensional and wooden – though ironically this is arguably one of his tropes.Anderson’s cinema could be said to be a triumph of style over substance, full of allusions that do not go anywhere deep or meaningful [Source4: the conversation]

‘This unbroken take encapsulates Anderson’s unbroken aesthetic: precise décor, costuming, and lighting, plus intricately choreographed camera work, capturing a moment that’s serious but not self-serious, and interrupted by a burst of cheerful, childlike anarchy’. [Source5: TWAC:TGBH]

All you have to do is look at his movie to know that his is the most meticulous style,’ … ’You’re agreeing to be part of his style, and his style is very visually precise, with shots that are very composed’ [Source5: TWAC:TGBH]

‘A mess of memories from his school days – appearing as an otter in a production of Noye’s Fludde, fantasising about running away with a girl in his class – would ferment for decades before providing material for Moonrise Kingdom. [Source7: The Guardian]

‘When you have a voice as unique as Anderson’s, Brooks said, “the voice must be served; all other exit doors, marked ‘expediency’ or ‘solid career move’, are sealed over [Source 7: The Guardian]

‘Every Wes Anderson film showcases a specific colour palette which establishes the text’s tonal quality.’ … ‘The Darjeeling Limited: bright yellow and pastel blues and browns; Moonrise Kingdom: blues, yellows and maroon and The Grand Budapest Hotel: pinks, beige and pastel blues.’ The use of clothing intertwines with this too, all significant costumes conforming to a simple primary colour palette and, in their simplicity, contributing to the individuality of the text. [Source9: Wordpress]

‘Wes Anderson’s irony is undirected, suffusive, and ambiguous, coming across less as a humorous practice and more as a contemporary condition or mood. As such, it is especially appropriate to the early 21st century. [Source10: MTV the new Auteur]

Much of Anderson’s films, in keeping with the auteur theory, is a self-reflection of his childhood (Mayshark, 2007, p. 115). His stylistic choices and thematic elements of his original screenplays are portrayed through his lens as if he were a character. [Source11: Color theory]

Quotes for Subtopic 2:

It’s heartening to see the difference between their disastrous first attempt at the feather ceremony, in which Francis expresses disappointment that no-one followed his script, and the second, in which all three brothers improvise and no one judges the others. [Source2: TWAC]

Anderson’s films are concerned with home and family ties: the old ones we do our best to escape from, and the new ones we build for ourselves in an attempt to fill the gap [Source8: The Telegraph]

‘Anderson’s films are all about family structure, its absence, its dissolution, its rebirth, and, above all, its eccentricity’ [Source11: La Camera Crayola]

The Darjeeling Limited, the three sons on the quest to find their mother find themselves at their father’s funeral, with whom they were not close. … After his death, his sons both covet and resent the car because of the void it represents in their lives and how they could never live up to the esteem of the vehicle itself. ‘ [Source12: Color Theory]

Social structure is one such large focus, as well as familial structures and intergenerational bonds and rivalries. Much of his work focuses on parents’ relationships with their children.’ [Source12: Color theory]

Quotes for Subtopic 3:

Anderson explored what you might call Method screenwriting. With collaborators Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, who co-scripted, he lived the film in advance, acting out scenes in promising locations. “We went on this voyage of our own, discovering and gathering all sorts of things that made their way into it.” [Source3: Empire Magazine]

On a production level, Anderson maintains a number of core collaborations, generally working with the same cast and crew.’…’Such collaborations work in favour of the auteur approach because they suggest that a great director is able to marshal the activities of a creative ensemble, and is able drive an artistic team to fulfil their own vision.’ [Source4: The Conversation]

‘On a Wes Anderson film, you come knowing what you’re in for; a lot of the actors knew exactly what to expect. All you have to do is look at his movie to know that his is the most meticulous style,’ … ’You’re agreeing to be part of his style, and his style is very visually precise, with shots that are very composed’ [Source5: TWAC:TGBH]

These films are no walk in the park to make. Yet you see how many people come back, time and again. [Bill Murray has appeared in all of Anderson’s films since Rushmore; there are many other regulars.] Wes has a theory that because making a film takes up such a chunk of your life, the process should be enjoyable.“’ – Jeremy Dawson [Source7: The Guardian]

Over the past 18 years Anderson has collected a surrogate family of collaborators: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Anjelica Huston are among them, and they mostly keep coming back for more.’… ‘Why? His consistency as a filmmaker may be a factor, which is another way of saying they pretty much know what to expect. Nothing in Anderson’s work looks as if it has been left to chance. [Source8: The Telegraph]

‘Anderson’s strategy to foreground the collective has, interestingly, buoyed his reputation as auteur’ [Source11: La camera crayola]

[titmasjack]

Visual Storytelling in Animation

The second half of our lecture with Lysney primarily covered the varying aspects of visual storytelling, in particularly relevant if I choose the visual analysis question. This weeks lecture covers the impact of using visual language a primary tool to explore story and discourse. With both live action and animation being visual mediums, a good rule of thumb in cinema is to try and present information visually first, introducing dialogue, sound and speech as secondary elements to enhance the audience's experience throughout the narrative. 

When we think of narrative intrigue, we can reflect on structuralist critic Roland Barthes, who, through identifying give narrative codes suggested how we used varying elements of the film to build up mystery and suspense. By posing questions which can only be answered through the narrative, leaving the audience to answer the plot themselves, leaves them more gratified to understanding the essential narrative throughout the film. 

'I felt that in any country you wouldnt need dialogue to understand the plot. All you needed was a cat and a mouse’ (Joseph Barbera, co-creator of Tom and Jerry)

Casual Connection

The brain's desire to connect random elements helps enable ‘visual storytelling’ within an audience. We can understand that visual storytelling works its best when the images have been juxtaposed in such a way to add in what we’re explicitly not being told. This is one of the most important and prominent techniques in screenwriting analysis’. This technique, ‘Elipsis’ is the single most important skill for screenwriters to master.

Elipsis - The deliberate omission of plot details or events that could be inferred through contextual clues and/or surrounding action. Interfering what happens through the passage of time.

This is evident even in Kirsten Lepore’s ‘Bottle’. Once we established the fact that the two elemental characters are passing a bottle across the sea, we can take out the visual passage and just show the items in the bottle itself. Audiences don't enjoy being patronised, taking away elements of the narrative we don't need to see brings a new pace and sense of development to the narrative. Establishing an incline in the development of the narrative, the audience is no longer dependant on seeing unnecessary shots to understand the exchange of the items via the bottle.

‘Explanation kills drama’ (Yorke, 2013)

Ellipsis’ also work on another of Roland Barthes Cultural Codes, meaning that we as audiences draw from our cultural contexts and our own past experiences to ‘fill in the gaps’ creating satisfactory meanings. When this happens, we the viewer becomes the screenwriter and we merely become the supplier of the stimuli. Cultural ellipsis’ work because of the shared cultural understanding of the audience. Which is why we may not pick up on different cultural ellipsis. This understanding of cultural ellipsis relies on the audiences common or cultural knowledge of the narrative and much like older texts, can be harder to read as we might not understand the cultural cues and clues the author could take granted when presented to a contemporary audience. 

The Kuleshov Effect

This concept was further established by Lev Kuleshov, a Russian director who filmed an actor staring into the camera. By compositing a series of secondary videos in reaction to his stare, audiences were stunned by the range of emotions one shot was able to portray. Amazed by his ability to evoke, hunger, grief and desire. The Kuleshov effect established how the assembly of a film can change the moral meaning to create a series of different ideas. Establishing how meaning is achieved through the assembly of shots, whole meanings and theme can be created by the way shots are spliced and showcased together. 

In case and point, the same footage of the actor was used for each scenario. Applying the same principles of ellipsis, if things are juxtaposed, audiences will automatically attempt to convey a story between the items themselves.

‘Narrative discourse consists of a connected sequence of narrative statements’ (Chatman, 1980, p.31).

We might think of narrative statements as spoken or written words, but there are other ways of relaying what happens in a scene. And the way in which we interpret a series of narrative statements using visual language along, this is done by reflecting on two styles of narrative statements;

Process Statements - Something is done or happens

Statis Statements - Something ‘simply exists’ or ‘is’

Chatman (1980) describes this deliberate decoding as reading out, rather than simply reading a text, making the point that reading is itself not natural but culturally dependent.

‘Good storytelling never gives you four, it gives you two plus two… Don't give the audience the answer; give the audience the pieces and compel them to conclude the answer.’ (Andrew Stanton: TED, 2012)

Decoding a narrative in pictures, using this process, Chatman discussed that by cultural influence on a very basic level we are able to depict narrative through visual language, processing and conjuring up the bits left out from visual language itself. This is prominent in Frank O’Neals ‘Short Ribs’ in which Chatman is able to explore the narrative in pictures due to the varying array of visual language used both in and outside of each panel.

Frame 0: ‘There is a king’ (stasis statement).

‘The king is excited’ (stasis statement - manifested by the curved lines over the eyes to suggest movement) The king looks through binoculars (process statement)

Frame 1: ‘The king is on the tower…’ (stasis statement). The Cultural Code: our ‘cultural’ knowledge about kings suggests to us that this is the king’s tower.

The king thinks to himself (process statement). We recognise the cartoon convention: the “thought” bubble. We locate the fun: there is a building below and to the right = the fun must be there?

Frame 2: The king runs quickly down the stairs (process statement). We must recognise the cartoon conventions: Both feet off the ground. Clouds of dust behind him and motion lines above his head.

Frame 3: The king runs (process statement). towards the building where the ‘fun’ is happening. No other building is visible = we infer that this is the building that looks like ‘fun’.

Frame 4: The king is eager to have fun (stasis statement) = smile on face.

Natural-language – the ‘legend’ on the sign = the king is about to enter the Royal Casino. 

Frame 5: We infer that the king entered the casino between frames. (Cultural code = common knowledge about what might happen in a casino.)

The motion of dice indicated through cartoon convention. Visual synecdoche: only the hand and cuff are shown – but we infer that the king is performing this action. (Synecdoche: the part stands for the whole.)

Frame 6: The king leaves (process statement). slowly (convention: both feet on the ground).

‘The king is dejected’ (stasis statement). (convention: mouth and arms drooping). We infer that the king has lost the money (we can infer a prior event from the ‘stasis statement of an existent’.

Frame 7: Legend in ‘natural language’ to identify the loan company.

The king notices the loan company (convention: the motion of head).

Frame 8:  The king has a thought  (angle of the head, hand to mouth).

The king looks crafty (convention: angle of eyebrows.)

Frame 9: The king leaves the loan company with a bag of money (symbolic device).

‘His crown is missing (stasis statement). Therefore we infer that the king has pawned it - Cultural code.

The king is on his way back to the casino (process statement) from which we infer he will gamble again.

Having gone over and established all of the suggested topics of research needed for our essay, this concludes our last lecture with Lynsey for this year. What I have to do now is ensure that I recap over all of the resources provided on the VLE, to see what I can use to support and use as a foundation for my 1500 word essay. Ensuring that I cover all the relevant points its important that I begin to break down my research and choose an essay question to respond to in the hopes of using what I’ve learnt to best effect. It's important that I include a range of research not only digital but incorporate both, print and analogue as well to show a range of sources. 

To summarise;

I identified how shots are assembled by establishing a cause and effect of emotions to their given audience.

Consider how animation as a medium impacts my chosen animation, is it crucial to the narrative?

Select a final essay question and begin compiling research on my ideas and response to my chosen film.

Complete the first draft of my 1500 word essay for my group tutorial next week.

Sources;

‘Alfred Hitchcock explains about Cutting, Assembly, Montage and Editing.’ Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHvcScioNts

‘Kuleshov Effect / Effetto Kuleshov’ Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gGl3LJ7vHc

[aroomooo]

16.07.17 A Room of One’s Own

One month ago, I finally finished reading Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”. (Free e-book available from goodreads)

Basically, the piece is an extended essay from a series of lectures by Woolf Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. She was speaking about women and fiction and  proposes that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." While some of the arguments might not be as relevant in contemporaries times I find the piece to be precious in how it called out many problematic practices in society.

Women’s education:

The inequality existing in women’s education is not a problem that our society has grown out of yet, sadly. Admittedly it is much better in Singapore the situation is pretty optimistic, but I will like to challenge you to recall the student leaders you had back in (co-ed) schools... Were the SLs mainly boys? I dare say they were. The preference for male leadership extends to schools and while girls and boys enjoy the same access to academic opportunities usually, girls still tend to be excluded from non-academic opportunities as such. 

While I am immensely thankful that most Singaporeans have grown beyond thinking that girls do not need to be literate or educated, certain gender expectations that have been entrenched do infringe on a girl’s character development and non-academic learning. 

Representation:

Woolf also talks about how females are represented by males in literature, and again this is touchy but also an urgent issue. Should marginal/ minority groups be represented by other voices? Is self-representation legitimate? How do we ensure that representation is effective, in bridging gaps of understandings, in sharing positive and effectual information rather than being misleading and self-glorifying?

This issue remains highly debatable and with rising social awareness about alternative demographic groups, how should we re-calibrate standards and expectations for representation? During the Europe trip, I did come across publications about queer or women voices, etc and also books that zoom-in on a niche and selected group in order to compensate for the canonical voice of mainstream media/ literature. But how effective is that when we consider the similarly niche readership of these works? 

Another issue Woolf brought up was the representation of women characters, she purposely evoked themes of lesbianism-- “Chloe liked Olivia...' Do not start. Do not blush. Let us admit in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes women do like women." Why? Because we can simply afford to have more works that explore the range and complexity of women roles and emotions. Must women only be wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, muses? Why are they not acknowledged as individuals who need not be identified in relation to another (usually male)?

Even without regarding the impacts on women, to deny this rich and unexplored collection of experiences greatly compromises on the subject matters that works of fiction can explore. So either ways there is no reason not to work on diversifying women representation. The same goes for the queer community, if queer characters are constantly used as a comical or socially-derivative character, the plethora of human experiences are left out and unheard. Beyond fiction, education again can also afford to help diversify knowledge to become less male-dominant. From my personal experience in school, the art and literature syllabus in secondary school and junior college were extremely male-centric and seldom feature works by females. The gender scale was so unbalanced that “Women Art(ist)” became a thematic label within the syllabus. The day that representation has truly been destablised from the male(and white) centric gaze will the day that labels like “women”, “queer” or euphemisms like “alternative” become irrelevant.

Experiences and opportunities:

In her work, Woolf also touch on how the difference in experiences limit what women can write about and whether they are even allowed to write. By now we see that the issues she raised are all linked and if something is done to improve the situation in one part, there will be a positive effect on other parts.

At this point I will just like to say that I feel eternally grateful and fortunate to be born and breed in Singapore despite the complaints I make about our country. There are considerable efforts to at least expose the masses to different things and various opportunities and I firmly believe that it is important. (Though whether the way Singaporeans are exposed in art will really inculcate visual/ cultural literacy, appreciation and habit of patronage is questionable.) 

Moving on, I believe this point further fuels the argument that space is indeed important when it comes to cultivating content creation. Only when there are platforms to facilitate content creation can there be quality and constant improvements.

In short, I find that it is heartening to see how progress has been made when I read texts like these but more can be done and we ought to reflect on why certain issues still remain relevant. 

[garp19-jessicaellison-blog]

Research Statement

Can video games be considered an art form?

Jess Ellison

Initially, after spending some time looking at five possible subject ideas, I had decided to research into and write an essay on Art Nouveau as I felt that this was a style that was very similar to my own portrait illustration style. However, I was also considering the topic ‘Can video games be considered an art form?’, as video games are something I have always enjoyed and there are many aspects of game creation that I feel I would enjoy being a part of. After looking at possible sources for both topics, I eventually decided to continue with ‘Can video games be considered an art form?’ as there were far more books and articles on all points of view for video games than there were for Art Nouveau, and I felt much more inspired for this subject than the previous one.

  The question of video games as art is one that has been asked before, and I am taking the most direct approach to answering this.

I will be focusing on the most obvious element of the visual graphics, and to a lesser extent, soundtracks and in-game audio, involved in the game. Concept artworks and character designs offer an inside view of a game’s development, while designer’s commentaries and Q&A sessions at events such as E3 can show the thought processes that went into making them.

By looking at the design and ideation processes of making games, it is possible to more accurately assess them under the kinds of criteria that more traditional, uncontested artwork is measured by.

Video Games are a $138 billion industry, and this is no longer based on initial game purchases (Ell, 2018). The introduction of microtransactions for in-game cosmetic items demonstrates a direct financial benefit to the developers for what is essentially a purely artistic contribution. This, coupled with merchandising and licensing of creative content from video games shows the clear monetary significance of this field.

Video games aren’t just of significance to those who are making them. Video games attract players from across the globe, and the growing popularity of e-sports stands as evidence of the reach that these games can have. Gaming networks such as PSN or Xbox Live connect these players together, and often these players share an appreciation for the aesthetics of a game as much as its actual gameplay.

I am looking at whether video games can be considered as works of art. In this essay I am going to look at the definitions of art, the definitions of a video game, and where there is overlap between the two, such as the desired emotional response that a game produces. I am also going to look at the effects of art on video games; the value of concept sketches and the role of the artist in game design as well as in- game cosmetic items and their impact on a game’s appeal.

My first point of research was to read through the commentary accompanying my collection of video game art books. Three titles stood out in particular; The Art of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Lewis, 2018), The Art of Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Davies, 2017), and Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book (Dubeau, 2018).

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book (Dubeau, 2018) gave a clear commentary on the intentions and thought processes of the design team in developing the environments, creatures, characters, and puzzles of the game. Davies and Dubeau talk in detail about the kinds of emotional responses they wanted different areas and challenges within the game to inspire in the player, and how their artistic and design decisions reflect this.

The Art of Assassins Creed: Origins (Davies, 2017) talks about the artistic challenges in creating a game world that is beautiful and interesting, but at the same time historically accurate and believable. Davies talks about the importance of blending the aesthetics of the game’s artwork with the mechanics of the gameplay to create something ‘spectacular’.

The Art of Assassins Creed: Odyssey (Lewis, 2018)  is different from the previous Assassin’s Creed book mentioned, as it is written by a different author and looks at the challenges of blending the different gameplay mechanics in a way that is visually seamless, and how the artistic design of the game is important to this. Additionally, this game had a much stronger focus on mythical creatures and folklore, and so the designers also had to create these creatures in scenarios that the players would find believable and impressive.

Moving away from specific concept art books, I looked at similar papers on the question of video games as an art form, and Aaron Smuts of Wisconsin University (2005) is one of the more oft-cited authors. In his essay he discusses the definitions of art and how video games could be considered art in the same way as animation. He cites the examples of Max Payne (2001), Halo (2001), and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (2002). His work is older, dating from 2005, so may be of less relevance today as games have advanced significantly.

One text that was particularly dated was Crawford’s The Art of Computer Game Design (1982). Published in 1982, this book is a guide on how to design a computer game, and it treats the subject in much the same way that ‘how to’ art books discuss composition, mood, and theme. Crawford discusses how games are distinct from stories, and how the aspiring game designer should consider theme and mood in order to create a truly great video game. Although it is over thirty years old, this book deals with fundamental principles of design that have not changed.

Why Game Studies Now differs from the other works in my research, in that Gee (2006) begins with the assertion that video games are an art form and argues that as a largely new and unknown art form they are deserving of a field of study so as to more objectively consider their artistic value. Rather interestingly, the essay looks at earlier games (namely Tetris) as an example of video games that are not artistic, and what makes them different from modern, story-driven games. This essay, like Smuts’, is also somewhat older, from 2006.

In A Short and Simple Definition of What a Videogame Is, Esposito (2005) defines a video game as ‘a game which we play thanks to an audiovisual apparatus and which can be based on a story.’ (Esposito, 2005).  He also states that Eric Zimmerman’s definition of a game is very close to accurate in defining a video game, but it falls short in that it does not consider games with no quantifiable conflict or resolute outcome (‘A game is a voluntary interactive activity, in which one or more players follow rules that constrain their behavior, enacting an artificial conflict that ends in a quantifiable outcome.’) (Esposito, 2005). Games without conflict or a quantifiable outcome include titles such as The Sims, and even simple puzzle games such as Tetris. Should these titles not be considered games because of these factors? Personally, I find Esposito’s definition to be more applicable to all modern games, including video games. However, I disagree with his idea that a video game needs to be based on a story, again using the example of Tetris.

In 2010 the case for video games being treated as artworks was taken to the US supreme court (BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA . v. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION, 2010), in the case of Brown Vs the Entertainment Merchants Association. The outcome of this case was the ruling that video games were sufficiently similar to other accepted works of art as to be awarded the same status and protections as film, music, and print media. While this doesn’t settle the debate entirely, it does provide a compelling case in favour.

Brenda Romero (Romero, 2016) gave a TED talk in which she explored whether video games could be considered an art form and looked in detail at the arguments for and against. Romero is an award-winning game designer as well as an artist, and is uniquely placed to comment on this debate. There were some factual errors in her talk however, such as incorrectly citing a game’s publisher, which damages her credibility slightly.

Tavinor’s (2009) The Art of Video Games looks at the human response to video games. It considers the narrative, emotion, and morality behind video games, before looking at if video games can be considered art. This book is a particularly comprehensive resource, covering a wide range of sub-topics around art and video games. The key concepts that inform this subject are video games, concept art, game design, the definition of art, video game cosmetics, skins and decals, character design, environmental design, lighting, ambiance, soundtrack, and emotion. Art is a difficult term to pin down. Each of my secondary sources cites the definition that they use when considering video games in an artistic sense. The definitions loosely agree that art is a creative endeavour and that its purpose is to evoke an emotional response, which makes collating these arguments simpler. There is a great deal of resources for concept artwork in video games and the creative processes behind them. In particular interviews and talks with various industry professionals at events such as E3 and developer’s conferences would be a valuable resource, and one I intend to look further into as my research continues. The subject of in-game purchased cosmetic upgrades (skins and mods) is a little more recent, and there is less available material on it. I will include questions on the opinion towards these in my primary research to get a better picture of the contribution that cosmetic items make towards a game.

The obvious question emerging from this research is “Are Video Games a form of Art?” and this will be the primary focus of my research. At present, the general consensus seems to be that; yes, video games are art, but it is too early for conclusions at this stage.

Over the summer I will be looking at Q&As with designers and developers to get a more comprehensive look at the thought processes that go into the making of games. I will also try to find any articles that argue against the point of video games being art, to ensure greater criticality in my final writing. Currently I don’t have any sources or knowledge on the importance or effect of soundtrack in video games, or on the culture of purchasable cosmetic in-game items, so this is something that I will also need to look into. I will also be looking at the following key texts: Image Studies: Theory and practice by Manghani S (2013), and Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design by Kress G and van Leeuwen T (2006).

  I still need to find some more contemporary sources regarding the artistic value of video games. While Smuts is a good example, it is over 10 years old. I will also look to gauge common opinion on whether or not video games can be considered art by carrying out a survey. Finally, I will conduct a review of specific video game reviews, and in particular comments surrounding the artistic appeal of the game, and if there is any correlation between positive reviews of a games visuals and soundtrack, and the specific score or rating that the game achieved in its review. I will only use reviews from industry professionals, rather than community or customer reviews, as these are often more fair and critical. As different publications will have different scoring systems I will standardise each score as a percentage of the maximum possible score, and refer to this percentage score throughout.

  The majority of the research for this project will be documentary analysis, although the popular opinion research will be done by surveying with a questionnaire. The questionnaire will ask the larger question of ‘Are video games art?’ but also secondary questions to determine the value of art in video games, such as how much the graphics of a game adds to its overall appeal, or if purely cosmetic in-game purchases are a factor in how much money a person is willing to spend on a game. The questionnaire will ask about preferred genre of games, and look at the impact of art between bigger budget titles and smaller independent games.

  Since I am gathering primary research, I will need to consider the ethical implications. My survey will be anonymous, and participation will be voluntary. The survey will be written to contain no distressing material, and responses will be collected online with minimum disturbance. The survey will not be biased toward any particular gaming genre, platform, or title, as these could potentially be divisive subjects amongst the gaming community. My objectives for the summer are:

To plan and carry out my primary research into the opinions of the general public.

To carry out primary research into game reviews and the impact of artistic content on the overall review score of the game.

To continue to expand my breadth of secondary sources to include developer interviews, Q&A sessions, and articles that oppose the argument of games as art.

List of references:

  BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA . v. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION (2010).

  Bungie. (2017) The Art of Destiny, Volume 2 [online]

Available at: http://theamazingdigitalart.tumblr.com/post/173383935163/the-amazing-concept-art-of-ryan-demita-for

[Accessed: 20/03/2019]

  Crawford, C. (1982) The Art of Computer Game Design [online].

Available at: http://www.stonetronix.com/gamedesign/art_of_computer_game_design.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1kHBSamT0AXjbDloHFG0JzLYXjvuvmfsjTuWFai3ZhZ9E_e6Pnfp4dCak [Accessed 31/03/2019].

  Crawford, C. (1997) The Art of Computer Game Design [online]

Available at: http://www.e-booksdirectory.com/details.php?ebook=1572

[Accessed: 31/03/2019]

  Davies, P.  [online]

Available at: https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/31/16575194/the-art-of-assassins-creed-origins

[Accessed: 31/03/2019]

  Davies, P. (2017) The art of Assassin’s Creed Origins. London: Titan Books.

  Dubeau, P.D.a.M.  [online]

Available at: https://garp19-jessicaellison.tumblr.com/post/183844411696/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-the-official-art-book

[Accessed: 31/03/2019]

  Dubeau, P.D.a.M. (2018) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book. London: Titan Books.

  Esposito, N. (2005) A Short and Simple Definition of What a Videogame Is. Digital Games Research Conference

  Gamespot. (2018)  [online]

Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/new-games-announced-at-e3-2018-gears-5-elder-scrol/2900-2051/

[Accessed: 01/04/2019]

  Gee, J.P. (2006) Why Game Studies Now? Video Games: A New Art Form. Games and Culture, 1 (1), 58-61.

  Hephner, L.  [online]

Available at: https://paysimple.com/blog/10-ted-talks-for-small-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/

[Accessed: 01/04/2019]

  Lewis, K.  [online]

Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Assassins-Creed-Odyssey/dp/1785659650/ref=asc_df_1785659650/?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid

[Accessed: 31/03/2019

]

  Lewis, K. (2018) The art of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. London: Titan Books.

  nyiro. (2017) The Witcher 3 concept art: Skellige [online]

Available at: http://nyiro.tumblr.com/post/144674276642/the-witcher-3-concept-art-skellige-the-rocky-and

[Accessed: 01/04/2019]

  ondinedecadier. (2014) What Is Art Nouveau [online]

Available at: https://ondinedecadierdeveauce.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/what-is-art-nouveau/

[Accessed: 01/04/2019]

  Romero, B. (2016) Are Games Art? TEDxGalway Irelandof Conference.

  Smuts, A. (2005) Are Video Games Art? Contemporary Aesthetics, 3.

  Tavinor, G. (2009) The Art of Videogames. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

  theamazingdigitalart. (2017)  [online]

Available at: http://theamazingdigitalart.tumblr.com/post/160667117043/the-amazing-concept-art-for-horizon-zero-dawn

[Accessed: 01/04/2019]

[rociopinero-blog]

Materials Development for English for Specific Purposes: A Task Sheet for a Reading-Only Course in Psychopedagogy

Students: Piñero, Rocío Belén

               Siccardi, Facundo

Teachers: Liruso, Susana

                  Lauría, Patricia

                  Barrea, Irina              

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to describe and reflect upon the process and product of the Materials Development Project. We were expected to design a task sheet for a reading-only course in the field of Psychopedagogy, i.e. materials for a hypothetical English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course.

The text is structured as follows. First, we will describe the needs analysis stage. After that, we will account for the process of text selection. Finally, we will give details regarding the actual process of developing the activities for the worksheet. In that section, we will explain and justify the choices we made as part of the process. Throughout this paper, we will present the theoretical framework that guided the process.

Needs Analysis

On the basis of the premise that “any course should be based on an analysis of learner need” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987: 53), we carried out the needs analysis (NA) in order to identify the different target and learning needs that the potential students may have. We consider that this analysis is essential for the development of the material even though in this case students are imaginary since it is a hypothetical situation. The needs analysis was carried out taking into account different sources and methods to collect and analyze the data. Except for one case, all of our sources were outsiders. The theoretical framework we have followed regarding needs analysis is Hutchinson & Waters’ ideas (1987).

First, we considered the guidelines we were given by the chair. In that task assignment, we knew that the aim was the development of a task sheet on reading comprehension aimed at second-year bachelor students of Psychopedagogy at Universidad Católica de Córdoba. We also got to know that their level of English is low intermediate, and that they are proficient L1 readers, which might be useful for compensating for their weaknesses regarding their reading abilities in English.

Taking into account the information provided in the task, we explored the university webpage for information about the curriculum, the profile of bachelors of Psychopedagogy, and the syllabi of the subjects. It was difficult for us to collect information about the course of studies because there was not much information on the web. Even though we could not find the full program of studies with the description of the subjects or with some syllabi, we could find the list of subjects per year. From the list of subjects belonging to their first academic year, we chose the subject “Non-Formal Education” as the theme for our prospect guide, so we did research on that topic for the selection of a suitable text, which is an issue that we will develop in the following section. We also looked for information in other universities to compare and thus have a better understanding of the prospective learners’ course of studies. We searched the websites of the Universidad Nacional de Villa María and Instituto de Educación Superior “Dr. Domingo Cabred” at Universidad Provincial de Córdoba because they have similar courses of studies. With respect to the former, we found scarce information regarding the different subjects. As regards the latter, we found out the detailed curriculum, which was valuable for us even though the program of studies has differences with the one at UCC.  

The main reason for the selection of the theme “non-formal education” was that we thought it could be a very interesting topic for students since learning about the theory and application of different methods that divert from the traditional ones may be appealing to them. Moreover, following Tomlinson’s principle (1998) “materials should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful”, we considered that focusing on a topic that explored a different perspective to learning and development could be profitable for them in potential research on alternative education and in the future career. Also, the topic may have a motivating effect on learners (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), who will have to take up a compulsory course even if they are not interested in it. However, it is true that all learners react differently to materials and courses, so the actual interest or motivation would not be seen until the implementation of the guide.

As an interesting but disappointing experience, we carried out an unstructured interview via Messenger with one ex-student of that course of studies. It was not successful since she did not remember much about her first years at college except for the fact that students were expected to read exhaustively in L1 and sometimes in English. Even though we did not get much information from that source, the fact that students are used to reading confirms what was pointed out in the guidelines for the task, which is that they are proficient L1 readers. This fact also coincides with what Jordan argues in relation to the development of skills in EAP: “Many students (...) already possess study skills to an advanced level in their own language. They may simply need to transfer their skills into English, and, possibly, to adjust them with other elements of EAP” (1997: 5).

Due to the similarities between the field of Psychopedagogy and our field of study—i.e. education—, we took advantage of our previous knowledge of pedagogy and psychology to design a task sheet that was appropriate for their knowledge of the field and of the language. Our knowledge of the field and the analysis and interpretation of the data we collected allowed us to identify that learners have the need of improving their reading skills in L2 in order to read texts in English throughout their higher education and afterwards, in their careers, or while doing research.

Text Selection and Adaptation

After the initial NA, we followed the ESP process with the text selection and the production of the materials (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). For the selection of the text, we followed the checklist given by the chair, the Text as a Vehicle of Information (TAVI) approach proposed by Johns & Davies (1983; in Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998), and the recommendations of Grabe & Stoller (2001). Grabe & Stoller point out that the material “should complement students’ intellectual levels and be at appropriate levels of difficulty” (2001: 4). They also state some major “sources of difficulties” (2001: 4) that arise when selecting reading materials, such as grammatical complexity, length of texts, unusual formatting and organization, which we tried to avoid or minimize when deciding for a text.

During the initial NA, we identified the topics students were familiar with. Choosing a text that deals with one of the topics they have studied guarantees, up to a certain degree, that students have some prior knowledge that could help them manage the carrier content. After the NA, we looked for texts within different subjects, genres, and sources to make a text bank so that we could compare and contrast the texts keeping in mind the objectives of our assignment and the TAVI approach. The result of the text selection process was the essay “The Montessori Method” by the university professor Chris Holfester (2008), which is an authentic text (Long, 2007; McGrath, 2002) that gives an overview of the Montessori Method. This text is part of a collection of summative articles written for undergraduate and graduate students beginning a career in research. The source, EBSCO, is a reliable source that belongs to the academic field. When choosing the text, we tried to meet the text selection criteria proposed by Dudley-Evans & St. Johns regarding carrier and real contents (1998: 99) and match them with the learning objectives.

We considered the text under different perspectives, namely, how readily we could devise activities that would help our students achieve the proposed teaching objectives, how engaging the text content would be, and how challenging the text itself would be. Regarding the challenge, the text presents a clear division into sections, has a clear structuring, and its grammatical complexity is appropriate for their level. However, the text was too long for a single task sheet, so we decided to choose a fragment taking into account that it remained as a coherent unit. We think that the text is suitable for learners since the topic is related to the students’ field, yet it presents aspects of education we considered new, and therefore engaging for the prospective students. The fragment we chose also lends itself to work with our teaching objectives: recognition of present perfect, identification of primary and secondary ideas using graphic organizers (GOs) and the recognition of connectors of exemplification.

The adaptation of the text for the task sheet required some rearrangements of paragraphs and the elaboration (Long, 2007) of one passage so as to enhance the comprehensibility of the ideas. The rearrangement of paragraphs and shortening of the text was done by keeping the original layout and visual features of the original text. As regards the adaptation of the text, we elaborated one sentence in paragraph #7 by adding the connector “for example” so as to specify that what follows are examples of what comes before. This elaboration also serves as an instance of a relation of exemplification, which is an part of the real content students are expected to learn while doing this task sheet. We only modified that only sentence so as to keep the text as authentic as possible (McGrath, 2002: 105). It is true that it was impossible for us to keep the real length of the text because of space and time. However, in the pre-reading stage, we included an activity that would make students aware of the fact that the text is incomplete, and we also included the table of contents that specifies the parts and contents of the complete text.

Design of Activities

Once the text was selected, we designed the task sheet. The aim of the design was to create engaging and meaningful activities that allow students to understand the text by working on it by means of pre-, during and post-reading framework (Grabe & Stoller, 2001).

Following the TAVI approach, we think that the task sheet fosters self-learning and the development of metacognitive abilities. Self-learning is encouraged by providing clarification and explanations within the task sheet so that students can complete the activities without the need of a teacher that explains everything in detail to them. Besides, the activities don’t have one correct answer, i.e. they have a teaching approach rather than a testing approach. Metacognitive development is fostered by specifying the objectives of the activities, so students are aware of them and are able to assess their own learning process.

As regards the pre-reading stage, in the first activity—previewing—, students have to look at the text, identify its genre and briefly discuss general features of it. This is so to activate their prior knowledge about the text type. It is expected that by doing this they will be better prepared to identify logical relationships and discourse organization within the text. Once the features of the particular genre are discussed, the students will read the keywords of the text. This activity will activate their knowledge about the topic and provide a first approach to terminology in the text that also belongs to their study field. By asking them to write the ideas they associate with the keywords, they will be predicting the ideas in the text. That prediction will be contrasted with the first reading of the text. By means of these pre-reading activities we expect students to be better prepared to understand the text. Identifying the genre and some of its characteristics is a fruitful start so as to have a general idea of what to expect from the text (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998).

Once a first approach to the text has been carried out, students’ attention will focus on strategic reading, which in this case will be the identification of main and secondary ideas in a text. In this while-reading section, students are asked to read only the first sentence of each paragraph and then summarize its information by means of a noun phrase, which will encompass the main idea of the paragraph. This activity is followed by a second complete reading of the text to fill in graphic organizers in which they will have to discriminate between main and secondary ideas. Through these activities, it is expected that students become more aware of the general text organization and get a better understanding of the content of this particular text. Once these activities are completed, students will move on to another scanning activity aimed at increasing their metatextual knowledge about academic texts by focusing on direct and indirect quotes, which are a distinctive feature of this type of text.

In the structure of the task sheet, the strategic reading activities were placed after the skimming section so as to follow a TAVI approach. As Hutchinson and Waters explain, “for ESP learners, extracting information accurately and quickly is more significant than language details; that understanding the macrostructure comes before language study; and that application of the information in the text is of paramount importance” (1987: 96). Thus, we thought that it was more fruitful to work with the content of the text first. The article we chose for this task sheet has a clear and well-organized structure that allows students to identify primary and secondary ideas without the need to fully understand Present Perfect or connectors of exemplification. Most probably students will have already learnt the simple past tense, which is the predominant one in the text. Therefore, they will possibly infer the past reference of the verb phrases from their prior knowledge and from the context too. The other language element—connectors of exemplification—does not present a hindrance to comprehension since the instances are transparent and self-explanatory in the text.

After having completed the proposed activities, students will be able to focus their attention on certain features of the language: the present perfect tense and connectors of exemplification. The first part deals with the recognition of the present perfect tense. To do this, students have to read a fragment of the text that contain an instance of a verb in present perfect. They are asked to identify the time it refers to, and then to reformulate the fragment in Spanish. Then, they have to recognize and reformulate the two other instances of present perfect in the text. Since students are not expected to understand subtle differences between simple past and present perfect, and they will have already discussed simple past before recognizing present perfect, we think that this type of activity will be enough for them to understand the meaning of the new verb tense and have a better understanding of the text. The inclusion of a section that focuses on linguistic features goes hand in hand with Tomlinson’s principle “The learners’ attention should be drawn to linguistic features of the input” (1998: 13-14).

As regards logical-semantic relations, the task sheet includes the teaching of exemplifying connectors. Since the connector “for example” is transparent enough for the students, we decided to present them a fragment with the connector “such as” as it may pose more difficulty. Thus, by presenting the connector in context, students will be able to recognize it by looking at the ideas that are connected. Next, they will have to recognize another connector in the text—”for example”—, and then complete a chart which will help them remember the different connectors. As Dudley-Evans & St. John (1998) argue, “logical connectors (...) are generally seen as a key to understanding the logical relationships in texts and therefore relevant to the teaching of reading, listening and writing in EAP” (1998: 78). Therefore, the awareness and recognition of different connectors—exemplification connectors in this case—allows students to distinguish the logical-semantic relationships between ideas in a text, and contribute to the understanding of the text. In the case of connectors of exemplification, they may help students realize that what comes after the connector are instances of details and secondary ideas, whose identification was also an objective of the task sheet.

The last activity before the closing task involves a vocabulary activity aimed at fostering learners’ reading comprehension by finding specific vocabulary items in the text, explaining their meaning in Spanish and providing a suitable equivalent. This activity is placed towards the end of the task sheet since we thought that it would be a good idea to continue exploring the text by paying attention to terminology related to the topic. As Dudley-Evans & St. John sustain, “deducing the meaning of vocabulary from the context and from the structure of the actual word is the most important method of learning new vocabulary” (1998: 83). Even though the chosen terms may seem transparent and from General English, they acquire a particular meaning in the education field. Searching for the terms in their context and explaining them in the learners’ own words can certainly contribute to a better understanding of these terms.

Finally, students will move on to the closing task, which was actually the first to be designed. As Hutchinson & Waters argue “knowing what students would really do, and why, with a text, is necessary for setting the task” (1998; 100). In this case, students are studying English for Academic Purposes mostly; therefore, in a real situation, they would probably need to read a text to keep learning later on in their degree course or as part of a postgraduate degree. These ideas also coincide with the notion of “authentic task” by Nunan (1988, in McGrath, 2002: 80). This activity focuses on the information contained in the text and makes student reflect on it, both to imitate a real need and also, as Grabe & Stoller suggest for post-reading activities, to ensure “that the major ideas and supporting information are well understood” (2001: 5). Asking students to reflect upon the content of the text—in this case whether they would apply the principles proposed by the Montessori Method—is a task that students are used to doing when they have to read text for a subject. In that sense, we think that reflecting upon the relevance and applicability of the content responds to the principle “what is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful” (Tomlinson, 1998: 10). After all the previous activities, students should be in a position to discuss the usefulness of the text. Designing this task at the very beginning is crucial since all the activities that precede it should guide the understanding of the text and the learning of the language structures in order that students can eventually complete that final task.

Though the present task sheet was the only one we have developed for this potential ESP/EAP course, it is possible to recognize a certain logic inside of it. As regards the structure of the worksheet, the activities are organized according to their complexity so that students can build on one activity in order to complete the following one. Its layout tries to keep a balance between the visual elements and the text. We included visual elements in all the activities so as to minimize the amount of text in the pages, following Dudley-Evans & St. John’s recommendation regarding variety in activity types (1998: 178). We included different elements such as boxes with theory or tips related to grammar and strategic reading. They can easily be identified since they are written with the same font, which is a bit more informal than the one in the rubrics. These elements contrast with the rubrics, which are numbered, and written in a formal voice and in bold type. In both cases, the size is big and clear enough. We left enough blank space for students to write the answers or take down notes. We have tried to design an “attractive presentation” and also select an “appealing content”, which are key ideas that follow Tomlinson’s principle that “materials should achieve impact” (1998: 7).

As regards variety in interaction (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998), most of the activities are expected to be done individually except for the pre-reading stage, in which activation of prior knowledge and engagement in the tasks are crucial for motivation and the achievement of the learning objectives. Therefore, the interaction and collaboration among partners at the beginning can foster positive feelings towards the learning process.

The use of labels for the different sections of the task sheet was done with a specific purpose in mind. We think that, by making students realize what the theme and objectives of the activities are, we foster a metacognitive approach to learning. Students know why the activity is there, what its goal is, and then they can put into use or practice specific reading skills or strategies needed for each activity.

Conclusions

In this paper, we have developed a thorough explanation of the process of designing a tasksheet for an EAP course. We have accounted for the needs analysis that was carried out at the beginning of the process, the decisions we made regarding text selection and adaptation as well as the actual process of designing the activities for the task sheet. The final product—the task sheet—is the result of readings, analysis, trial and error, creativity and the application of the appropriate theoretical framework we have learnt during this year. This worksheet may be useful for EAP Psychopedagogy learners because they can work with an authentic text dealing with a relevant topic that belongs to their field of study.

We think that this task sheet complies with what is expected from a reading comprehension guide for college students according to the TAVI approach and some of Tomlinson’s principles for materials development. The chosen text is authentic and clear, and contains relevant information. The task sheet has variety in activities, it is appealing and it deals with a topic that seems interesting. The distribution of activities follows the idea that reading comprehension is a process that encompasses pre-, while- and post-reading mini steps that contribute to having a general and/or specific understanding of the text and to have the possibility of exploiting it in different ways. The use of an inductive approach for language learning is also beneficial because students can learn by discovery. In the end, one of the main objectives of teaching reading-only EAP courses is that of “helping students become strategic readers by focusing on metacognitive awareness and strategy learning” (Grabe & Stoller, 2001: 2).

For us, being tasked with creating an EAP task sheet brought us closer to a field we may work with in our professional life. It proved to be challenging in every step. The process of carrying out a needs analysis, choosing a text and designing the activities resulted in a very enriching learning experience. However, it is true that with a pilot test and the implementation of the material in an actual teaching situation, we could identify flaws and mistakes, and then improve the task sheet.

Reference list

Dudley-Evans, T. & St. John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes. CUP.

Grabe, W. & F. L. Stoller. (2001). “Reading for Academic Purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/EFL teacher”. In Celce Murcia, M. Teaching English as a second or foreign language (Third Edition). Heinle & Heinle.

Holfester, C. (2008). The Montessori Method. In EBSCO Research Starters Education. EBSCO Publishing Inc. Retrieved from: http://www.williamsburgmontessori.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/08/The_Montessori_Method.pdf

Hutchinson, T. & A. Waters (1987). English for Specific Purposes. CUP.

Jordan, R. R. (1997) Part 1: English for Academic Purposes and study skills. In English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Long, M. (2007). Chapter 5: Texts, tasks, and the advanced learner. In Problems in SLA. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

McGrath, Ian. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd.

Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) (1998). Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[janvba2film-blog]

Post Q: Completed Reference List

Main Films:

The Last House on the Left, 1972. [Film] Wes Craven, USA: Hallmark Releasing.

A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984. [Film] Wes Craven, USA: New Line Cinema.

Scream, 1996. [Film] Wes Craven, USA: Dimension Films.

Secondary References:

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy. (2010). [DVD] Directed by D. Farrands. 1428 Films. - This was very useful to me as it provided me with a lot of insight into the behind-the-scenes of the film, which was particularly useful in regards to auteur theory, because I learned which aspects were contributed by who.

At the Movies. (1994). Siskel & Ebert - Wes Craven's "New Nightmare" (1994). [Online Video]. 14 October 1994. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMbvJYSTnm4&index=8&list=PLvR8ZsaFQNScK1XB4UMVrVEJJwRuE9PpJ. - I thought this might have been more useful at the time, but having narrowed my field of study more has led me to believe it is not very useful; there are other sources which deal with the points he brings up in more depth.

Sanders, J., 2009. The Film Genre Book. 1st ed. Columbia University Press: Auteur Publishing. - This source aided me in recognising tropes of horror, such as the Final Girl, but also directed my attention to the fact that his debut film was a soft remake of Bergman’s The Virgin Spring. Furthermore, it first brought my attention to how Wes may be an auteur in reference to narrative writing.

Scream: The Inside Story. (2011). [video] Directed by D. Farrands. - Much like my first source, this provided me with great information regarding the background of Scream, and provided me with great points to make in my argument as the production company and the writer of the film had seemingly more input in the film than Wes.

Towlson, J., 2014. Subversive Horror Cinema. McFarland. - This source gave me so much insight into the social commentary of my director’s debut film and so became incredibly useful when studying Wes as an auteur.

Hutchings, P., 2017. The Horror Film. Pearson Education. This source didn’t have a lot of information for me to gather from but made a very strong argument against post-modern horror, which works very well into a counter-argument against Mr. Craven as an auteur as, according to Hutchings, it means movies become trivial instead of doing their job: analysing social fears.

Wes Craven’s Influence in Making the Horror Genre Subversive | The Mary Sue. 2017. Wes Craven’s Influence in Making the Horror Genre Subversive | The Mary Sue. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.themarysue.com/wes-craven-influence/. - This was useful because it commented on Wes’ famously subversive style, which is one of the areas I need to focus on for my argument for him being an auteur.

Myerla’s Movie Reviews.: Origins of an auteur - Wes Craven. 2017.[ONLINE] Available at:http://myerlamoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/origins-of-auteur-wes-craven.html. + Cook, P., The Cinema Book 2nd Ed. British Film Institute. - Despite the title, this article brings into question his auteurship and also his filmmaking techniques - it’s all well and good using social commentary but to be defined as an auteur you must also be able to hone your craft of your medium. I could only find one relevant quote from the book, which made me wonder if NoES was simply following the trend of the time by bringing parent culture into question. I paired it with the above source because it also makes mention of the film possibly being a product of the time.

So The Theory Goes. 2017. Auteur: Wes Craven - So The Theory Goes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sothetheorygoes.com/auteur-wes-craven/. - This piece states him as more of a genre director when it comes to filmmaking but, much like other sources, uses his use of narrative as an argument for atueur status.

Cristobal Olguin. (2017). Scream - Manipulating Expectations | Film Analysis. [Online Video]. 20 January 2017. Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbxip5WIIw&feature=youtu.be. + Renegade Cut. 2017. YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm2lRt5uz6c. -  This video analyses the use of red herrings and foreshadowing used within Scream. This video is particularly useful to me because it outlines a technique that Wes implemented himself. And even if the screenwriter helped out with this technique it is still something Wes has used countless times in his movies (E.g. the replacement of protagonists in NoES). This could be a strong case for Wes as an auteur, as this is a reoccurring technique used in his films. I included the second source with the above one because it goes nicely with the other by touching upon the subversions of common horror tropes, and I believe this to be important as I will most definitely be touching upon this in my essay in regards to Scream. This essay references Carol J Clover’s: Men, Women, and Chainsaws - a book which helped to define the slasher genre in the popular consciousness. The author of the video argues that NoES meets and subverts the criteria of the book and goes through them to prove his point.

Keith, B., 2003. Film Genre Reader III. University of Texas Press. -  This was extremely useful for creating a counterargument against Wes being simply a genre director as Robin Wood is one of the leading theorists behind auteurship. However, the fact that it focused simply on two films instead of a broader aspect of cinema was quite unfortunate, though I still managed to gather relevant information from the text when he discussed his two focal films.

Trespassing Bergman, 2013. [DVD] Hynek Pallas, Jane Magnusson, Sweden: Syndicado. + The Guardian. 2017. Wes Craven: the mainstream horror maestro inspired by Ingmar Bergman | Film | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/aug/31/wes-craven-the-mainstream-horror-maestro-inspired-by-ingmar-bergman.  - There wasn’t much to write about here as Wes barely appears in the documentary, which was unfortunate considering his debut films was a soft remake of one of Bergman’s. Nevertheless I was able to gather some relevant quotes for when I discuss his influences. Since I was unable to gather much information from the above source, I paired it with one which touched upon the same topic. Together the sources bring into question how much Wes’ inspiration’s bled into his film, which is important to discuss when analysing auteurship.

Jane, B., 2014. New American Teenagers. Bloomsbury +

Academic.CRACKED.com. 2017. The ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ Series Is Deeper Than You Know. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-secret-message-hiding-in-elm-street-series/. -  I thought that these two sources worked well together as they’re the only sources I could find which discuss the themes of NoES, and they both point towards the central theme of the film being puberty, even if the ‘quirky comedic’ tone of the Cracked article isn’t quite what I wanted. This is hardly surprising since the director and cast have all admitted that there are sexual undertones between Nancy and Freddy especially.

[ba2bresearchproposal]

Details of the Project

This project tasks us with writing a research report proposal as part of BA2B. It is to summarise the main points of our body of work in BA3a, preparing us to write a 5000 or 10,000 word dissertation on a suitable topic of our choice. There are 5 types of research report that we could potentially write, and we are expected to conduct and appropriately cite extensive amounts of primary and secondary research.

We will submit a proposal of 1000 words, which COUNTS towards our final word count for the completed report in BA3a next year. The proposal must include:

A proposed report title

A plan or outline for the full report in the form of a contents table

An edited and proofread draft of chapter one (1000 words)

A bibliography of sources used (and those you plan to use at a later time)

A blog demonstrating our research and progress

This blog will document the sections highlighted in bold, demonstrating thorough research into a chosen topic or theme, suitable for a 5000-10,000 word text.

Chapter one is usually an overview chapter - containing essential background information that will help contextualise the rest of the report and define unfamiliar terms that you will use throughout the body of the text.

This project allows us to: 

Fully reflect on suitable topics

Prepare us for third year and get a head start compared to other courses

Choose the right type of report and understand our own writing styles

Make a start on our bibliography to have the right sources to start with

A research report reports on findings of research - and reflect on new findings via study, it’s about finding out new things and reporting on them

The five types of report are:

Extended Essay - a straightforward academic essay that takes a theoretical or historical topic and addresss an aspect of visual culture

Industry Report - entirely industry based report focusing on media practices related to your own area of practice

Technical Report - based on your own work, examining an experimental process and the techniques you use

Reflective Report - a critical reflection both on your own working practice and the work of others, analysing and evaluating influences and their incorporation into work

Editorial - consists of an article (suitable for publication) and an analysis of that article. This requires journalistic and academic writing skills targeted at a particular publication

We are expected to confirm in our proposal which format (type) we are using, and whether it will be 5000 or 10,000 words in length

We must choose something that we are genuinely interested in, and a realistic topic with a broad range of pathways in which it can go so we can fulfill the large word count. Will it also feed into your studio practice and is it appropriate for an in depth academic paper?

Sweeping statements and generalisations should always be avoided, as making bold remarks without justifying it with evidence is poor academic practice. If somebody has already reported on an idea you think you have come up with yourself, you need to credit them via the harvard referencing system (our standard for referencing) - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/administration-and-support-services/library/public/harvard.pdf

The Bibliography is where our research references and sources are compiled - it is an alphabetical and well organised list of all the places that you have gotten the content which you use to back up your statements in the report body - Harvard is not categorical, it is a single list with brackets detailing the type of media it is and the creators of it

Primary and Secondary Research:

Primary research is research you gather yourself through things like surveys and questionnaires, interviews and formal e mails, asking questions and gathering data from the results. These need to be backed up by the appropriate evidence, such as screenshots, photographs, recordings, transcriptions etc. 

Secondary research is research which you have collected from existing sources, such as books, websites, the radio, newspapers, music, television, film and other people’s reports and dissertations. It is usually less reliable information as it is easier to forge, but it is also much easier to gather, and a large number of essays base the main body of their findings on secondary research.

Ideas develop, just like you. This project expects a proposal to get you thinking about what is it you want to write about, and familiar with extensive research and critical thinking through evaluation of evidence. You can change your idea, but this project intends for us to get thinking about what we want to write about so we don’t rush into a choice. 

Out final report in BA3a must include:

For this project (BA2b) we must submit:

Most dissertations of 5000 words have 3 to 6 chapters, but usually vary dramatically in length and content. Each chapter needs a heading, allowing us to stay focused on relevant information and tie up findings into organised sequences. 

We must present a “thesis” (an argument), an “antithesis” (a counter argument or the opposite view), and then combine the two into “synthesis” - a conclusion, though a conclusion is not always neat and tidy, and some of the best ones usually aren’t because they understand the complexities over generalisations. 

The best reports are always: 

We will not need to submit an abstract or an introduction, as these are best completed at the end of a report

[azshewrites]

Women In Literature

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’ve decided to post essays/critiques on “that which is written with women at its base”. Whether this base be a female protagonist/antagonist, supporting character or subject, or author/poet, the essay will surround aspects or portrayals of the female component. Some of the essays were composed in previous years but the lens and content of each remains relevant.

First up, Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1977). A great read with a great theme, plot, story progression, and I love the inclusion of Native American narratives throughout. Silko is “noted as a major contributor to the Native American literary and artistic renaissance, which began in the late 1960s” (Poetry Foundation). From what I recently read on her biography, it is no reason Ceremony has a sense of breath, truth, to it. That said, I did a deconstructive view on the novel - I love to point out what is said that isn’t spoken...

                               Ceremony: A Deconstructive View

    In Ceremony[1], we follow a year in the life of a young man, Tayo, who is of Native America and Caucasian decent. In a year of his life, he endures trials and triumphs while trying to heal from his post-traumatic stress disorder after World War II and learning his Native American heritage. Written in 1977, in the midst of cultural identity discourse and the aftermath of the Vietnam war, Silko’s Ceremony presents a theme concurrent with the discourse of the time, both of novel’s setting and in which it was written: the search for, and finding of, cultural identity in a climate of political, familial, cultural, and economic turmoil is not easy but can be – and must be – attempted. Ideologies that Ceremony seems to promote in this theme are, but not limited to, the preservation of cultural heritage, history, and growth as opposed to that of cultural integration. In this paper, I will discuss how the actions and portrayal of the main character Tayo, and other characters, in Ceremony seem to challenge the idea of cultural preservation and deconstructs the assumed need to seek out and obtain a stable cultural identity, which, in turn, proves the instability and undecidability of the text.

    Ceremony presents these ideologies through the view of an underrepresented group: Native American. Inserted within the narration, helping to support the ideology of strength and understanding of one’s Native American culture and the finding and retention of cultural identity, Silko includes several traditional Indian story narratives passed down through generations. These stories are apt to present a solitary connection between those inherent of the culture, almost separating and inclusive of one race. However, soon after the first inclusion of traditional narrative, the character Tayo seems to rebut the inclusivity of one race by noting his first realization of indifference between races. “…the man’s skin was not much different from his own…even white men were darker after death…There was no difference” (Silko 7). This is the first noticeable instance of instability within the next. In starting the text in line with the discourse of the time and a presented theme of the text - the need to search for and obtain cultural identity - by identifying an aspect of that identity, the text then presents an idea that identity is universal, diverse yet connected between all races.  

    The text tells how the Whites cheat, steal, and exploit Native Americans; Betonie speaks of an area where “…this is where Gallup keeps Indians until Ceremonial time. Then they want to show us off to the tourists” (Silko 117). Tayo is told, and believes, that the medical treatment he received from the Veteran Hospital was not helping, “Those White doctors haven’t helped you at all. Maybe we had better send for someone else…That boy needs a medicine man” (Silko 33). Statements like these seem to support the ideology of needed cultural preservation over cultural assimilation by implying that White represents oppression and lack of help for the oppressed. In essence, this presents the notion that the ideology of cultural preservation versus cultural assimilation can be seen as Native American versus White. The instability of this ideology within the text lies on two aspects: Tayo’s embodiment of the binary oppositions (Native American and White) and the ceremonies Betonie performs.

    As the embodiment of the presented binary opposites of Native American and White, Tayo experiences conflict within himself caused by outside forces. He receives ill treatment because of his white heritage by his native community on the familial and peer level. He is told his mother brought “shame to the family and to the people” (Silko 128) by having a “half-breed child” (Silko 30) by a White man by his Auntie; and he was called “half-breed” by a childhood friend, Emo. His Auntie does not want a medicine man to care for Tayo because “Some will say [using a medicine man is] not right…He’s not full blood anyway” (Silko 33). Betonie even told him that the “witchery”, the evils, of the world was the work of White people (132), yet that their (Native American) ancestors created the White man. Even the ritual Tayo was to undergo, a traditional Native American healing ceremony believed to ward off the “witchery”, used elements from the White culture: “We must have power from everywhere. Even the power we can get from the whites” (Silko 150).

    Would this help support the necessity for cultural preservation or Tayo’s necessity to search for and obtain cultural identity; or does it place blame, and connection, between the two cultures warring within Tayo? Tayo’s confusion of his cultural identity ambiguity because of conflicting discourse presented to him is evident when he “speaks for both sides” as a “half-breed” (Silko 42). He condemns each, the “dumb Indians” and the judgmental, unkind “white people” (41-42).

    In Tayo trying to heal and find inner peace, he is constantly reminded that his health is crucial to that of the tribal community, even to the “fragile world” (Silko 35). Ku’oosh explained that he “was afraid of what will happen to all of [the Native Americans] if [Tayo] and the others don’t get well” (38). Robert told Tayo he should come home from the ranch because people from the family and tribe were wondering why he was away so long. These instances reflect a sense of community and the belief that one may affect the many in loss and gain. This supports the thought that “if race, ethnicity, and culture produce our individual identity, then we are constituted as members of a group and not purely as individual” (Tsosie). Cultural identity, therefore, is based on a group belonging and not individuality. At the same time, Robert explained that the Government might send people to take him back also because Emo told them he was crazy and living in caves. Betonie explains that change and growth is not only something “The people must do”, but something Tayo “must do” as an individual (Silko 125). At the end, Tayo admits his progress and success on an individual level in stating “he had come a long way with [his family]; but it was his own two feet that got him [home]” (255). In presenting the ideology of a group mentality as preferable, in concerning cultural identity, the group versus the individual binary opposition is also presented. Yet, if in the end Tayo asserts that he has arrived victorious of his on merit, his “own two feet”, this presents a conflict within the text.        

    By showing these inclusions and mergers of the two cultures, Native American and White, the promotion of the ideology of cultural preservation over cultural assimilation becomes weak within the text. The text actually seems to deconstruct this presented ideology by proving cultural identity is secondary to the acceptance and inclusion of other cultures. Titling the text Ceremony, then explaining that the said ceremony is a meshing, a merging of two cultures, aids in the deconstruction of the text ideologies: cultural preservation/cultural assimilation and Native American/White. Tayo’s strength and healing came not in embracing his Native American half, but in embracing his total self. This “self” was beyond his tribal family or his White heritage, but more of accepting the fact that he is an individual that encompasses a blended package. In presenting this fact, this healing of strength Tayo found by his “own two feet”, the group ideology embedded in the ideology of cultural identity of the text’s purpose is also presented as unstable and limited. The fact that Tayo felt the ceremonies did help, however – based in Native culture though containing ideas/items from the white world – and the idea that the individual identity is inseparably tied to its cultural identity (Narvaes 1999), it could be assumed the text believes it has answered the question of “does finding cultural identity help find peace of self?” Actually, the answering of this question becomes double sided: Yes, it can…but with the help of an outside “other” culture. In this, the undecidability of the text is shown. The fight for cultural belonging is evident within the text and the ideology is not a blind one. This deconstruction of this ideology within Ceremony is not to prove such a search for cultural identity and preservation is impossible, but that such an ideology with set cultural boundaries of inclusion or exclusion has limitations.

                                                  Works Cited

Narvaes, Darcia, Irene Getz, and et al. “Individual Moral Judgment and Cultural Ideologies”. American Psychological Association, 14 June 1999.

Poetry Foundation. poetryfoundation.org.

Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. New York: Penguin, 1986. 262. Print.

Tsosie, Rebecca. “The New Challenge to Native Identity: An Essay on “Indigeneity” and “Whiteness”. Journal of Law and Policy, 18 Oct 2005. 

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. New York: Routledge, 2006. 249-280. Print.

[1] Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony.

[titmasjack]

 Fairy Tales Origin in Animation

This week we’ll be discussing and reviewing the learning outcomes for the unit, comparing how as our objectives expand we should aim to respond and cover a wider range of topics and research demonstrating our attention to elements of reflection we could have possibly missed out on in BA1a. Not only this, but we’ll be covering the origin of Fairy Tales and their role in animation, as well as a Proppian analysis based on ‘The Morphology of the Folk Tale’. 

Catering to Question 2, ‘Make a Proppian analysis of an animated fairy tale, and explain animations particular suitability for telling fantastical tales’. This lecture focuses on exploring the conceptual limitations of narrative in Fairy Tales, responding to Vladimir Propps studies of Russian Folk Law in 1968. Discussing how our chosen narrative could follow or contrast against the ideas and concepts put forward throughout his studies into Fairy Tale narratives. 

Having responded to a total of 4 learning outcomes in BA1a, this unit expands upon these ideas by introducing 6 new learning outcomes that demonstrate the ability to respond to a chosen question through critical evaluation making reference to primary and secondary sources at an academic standard. These new learning objectives are the following;

LO5: ‘Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental techniques, materials and processes associated with my subject.’

A narrative analysis project, Lynsey would like to see key discussion on discussing not only what is told but how it is told. Consider both story and discourse and how they complement or contrast one another. Since we are analysing an animated narrative it is expected of us to devote some time to explore how the story is told through animation. To hit the higher grading criteria I could also consider the psychological and philosophical route of the story in my work.  

LO6: ‘Make judgements and present arguments through engagement with fundamental historical, cultural and ethical concepts and theories associated with my subject.’

If I decided to choose the question about moral and social change this question naturally lean towards covering this learning outcome. As well as understanding the theories and concepts, we should present a series of arguments and judgements that argue against the standard view/opinion, as long as we can do it well.

LO7: ‘Demonstrate a range of approaches to creative and experimental problem-solving.’

Strong evidence of this comes primarily through our practical work, to show how we arrived at the decisions we made, the blog demonstrates our ability to showcase what we have learnt over the course of the lectures in regards to our essay. On our blog, we should be considering all the questions we could explore against a range of different films. Showcasing the breadth of research and influence we’ve taken to get to a finalised outcome.

LO8: ‘Communicate the development of my ideas clearly using text, image or object.’

In a straightforward sense, well written. This learning objective showcases that I’ve clearly taken care of the structure of my essay and each sentence, using a balance of both image and text to compliment one another to create a sense of clarity throughout my essay.

LO9: ‘Demonstrate fundamental subject-specific and transferable skills relevant to my practice and future career.’

Formatting my work to an academic standard, this addresses the level of polish and professional approach to the task, following the needed submission guidelines to finish all outcomes.

LO10: ‘Evidence independent planning and time-management in the development of my work.’

Remember = When writing my essay it's important I remember the following key points, to present a formal and academic standard of writing for my final written submission for the term.

My essay must be based on research (not just personal opinion)

Must include a bibliography and citations.

Should be proofread carefully

Should be written in an appropriate tone (not too ‘chatty’, not too ‘journalistic’, not like a fan or promo’)

Choice of the topic should be clearly introduced: give relevant context (don't assume reader known my chosen film).

Include plot detail as relevant to my analysis, but don't simply retell plots.

Include captioned images to support visual analysis.

Maintain focus on the essay questions.

It's important that I remember that Narrative = Story + Discourse, although I continue to repeat it in my blog, its imperative that I understand the importance of discussing not only what is told but how it is told. Without the use of discourse, we would be drifting too far away from the medium of the content.

Tip - If I want to pick Question 1, I could base it around the ‘Kitshotenketsu plot style’ the plot without conflict we looked at last week. The hero’s journey question doesn't solely have to follow the hero's journey. A comparison and contrast. 

A Classic Tale Retold

Marchen - Popular folktales, oral in origin. These pre-date written records, so its difficult to be sure about their exact origins. Many are hundreds, possibly thousands, of years old.

Kunstmarchen - Literally (written) or artistic fairy tales. Mostly produced in the 19th century, such as ‘The Happy Prince’ (1888) by Oscar Wilde and ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1837) by Hans Christian Andersen.

‘One of the best-kept secrets in the study of the cinema concerns the neglect of the influential role that the fairy-tale narrative has played in informing most of the films ever made - and it continues to do so’ (Zipes, 2011)

Fairy tales have been present through the very first cinema, considered ready-made stories for the animators who chose them. As animations evolved from the gag-driven, humorous stories of ‘Felix the Cat’ they evolved towards the realistic Disney-esque style that reflected the stories Hollywood was producing at the time. 

Using a new medium, there was always a better chance of animation resonating with audiences if the narrative reflects something that the viewer knows/understands. This gave a degree of confidence to early animators as audiences would already be familiar with these stories (i.e they already worked). Seeing them brought to life would bring a sense of wonderment. 

‘The power of enchantment exerted by the [fairy] tale is also the power of an animator. That perfect fit between subject matter and form might go a long way to explaining why so many animators have made fairy tale films.’ (North, 2009)

Encyclopedia Britannica describes a fairy tale as: ‘a wonder tale involving marvellous elements and occurrences, though not necessarily about fairies’.

Classic representation of Fairy Tales have a common miscommunication of their endings. Stereotypically happy, happy suggests that justice has been served. Offering a sense of closure Fairy Tales and Folk Law commonly address a sense of moral justice through exemplifying the bad character and rewarding the good. This shocking contrast is typically left unseen from the Disneyfication and more contemporary example of Fairy Tales yet offer a definite conclusion to the characters actions committed throughout the narrative. For example in the Grimms’ Cinderella, the stepmother is forced to dance to her death in red-hot iron slippers fresh from the fire... This is deemed as a ‘happy’ ending as justice is suitable justice is served to the characters. 

A collaborative style of story-telling, having been told for hundreds to thousands of years there's a level of ambiguity to the rights of Fairy Tales. Spoken as common knowledge their constant evolution and change is updated every day with the contrast between contemporary and traditional narrative causing conflict to the ‘original sources‘ of the stories. Charles Perrault's take on Fairy Tales is the first widely accepted form of narratives that romanticises these common stories. A great influence to the Disney adaptations they cater towards a new contemporary audience targeting younger viewers than traditional versions of the narratives ever intended to reach. 

Never originally intended for children the novelist John Updike has described fairy tales, as the television and pornography of their day. With the arrival of literary fairy-tale emerging during the 19th century, with the establishment of books, this is believed to be the first instance in which we see this dynamic shift towards focusing fairy tales towards a younger and more eager audience. With access to books and stories, the children of the rich had these texts that spoke to their imagination, moving away from the religious and moral texts more commonly produced. Fairy Tales were seen as a risky and experiment target towards children causing controversy as they were tales devoid of god but full of magic. 

As well as the excitement they would have brought to the 19th-century child, Fairytales acted as a strong indication of moral justice throughout ritualistic meanings and serious messages. The lack of moral ambiguity and clear polarity between good and evil acted as a warning of what might happen if you strayed from the righteous path. Teaching younger audiences the cause and effect of misbehaving through vicious justice. 

Fairy tales cater to children as the brutal justice builds a sense of moral right and wrong. The idea of small people overcoming monsters brings fear out into the open. Giving them the opportunity to experience frightening things through the power of imagination in an unreal setting. Having an element of unreality to them, to not feel disturbed, upset or anxious. Fairy tales give children the opportunity to explore their themes in a safe environment. Learning from the character throughout the stories. 

Peculiar Morals of Fairy Tales

To challenge this idea, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, author of ‘The Little Engine that Could’ thought children should focus on stories about the here and now. Brining narrative into a contemporary setting she believes that old-fashioned fairy tales had specific meanings and messages that no longer relate to a 21st-century audience. Unlike Lucy Sprague Mitchell and others who thought that stories should focus upon contemporary social and cultures issues and contexts, Disney approved of fantasy. 

‘As we do it, as we tell the story, we should believe it ourselves. It’s a once upon a time story and we shouldn't be afraid of a thing like that (Walt Disney)

A strong concept of the Disney ethos, the happily ever after provided audiences with positivity that reality couldn't compare. Offering audiences a platform to escape, Disney's exploration of Fairy Tales into animation elaborated the spectacle of fantasy into a reality. 

Of course, this was not agreed with by everyone, the Fairy Takle scholar Jack Zipes argues that the Disneyfied version is so overwhelming that our ideas of happiness are now filtered through a Disney Lens, taking away from real life joy due to the overachieved happiness portrayed through animation. Losing the Fairy Tales original messages of earning your own happily ever after to dream enough for it and it will appear. 

The Innocence of Animation

Animation is often perceived an innocent medium. Many animated films do have to overt political messages, however, and other, perhaps more seemingly innocuous animations, are also underpinned by ideology. 

Struggled from his own patriarchial father, Disneys depiction of Fairy Tales uses aggressive nostalgia to reshape archetypes to fit the Disney house style. Disneyfied to appeal to new audiences the evolution in characters design and approach allowed the Fairy Tales to be commercialised to what they are today. The foundation of a thriving animated empire, these characters once owned by everyone are now popularised and identified through the Disneyfication process.

But can we blame them? The reason we have this discussion today is that of Disney's success with the characters. Giving a new platform for these traditional stories it offered an audience a new way to engage with a story that was purely imaginative. This creative platform allowed Disney to create these magical experiences that portray settings audiences hadn't seen before. Animation allowed the construction of a completely fabricated fantasy space.

Like Chinese whispers, the story is handed down over generations. With each person who tells the story adding their own material, their own interpretation and development. This is why this narrative function appeals to filmmakers, as the story has room for evolution. 

To summarise;

I must consider all 6 new learning objectives when writing and researching topics for my 1500 word essay. 

Fairy tales are repetitive in design, offering happy endings through the themes of justice.

They can be adapted and evolve to suit the needs of both adults and children. 

Animation has been a great platform to explore Fairy Tales as an opportunity to explore fantasy as a reality.

Sources;

‘Beauty and the Beat - Tale as Old as Time [HD]’ Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ0ODCMC6xs

‘Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” - Im Wishing’ Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54QeNL5ih6A

‘Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics BLUEBEARD (Part 1)’ Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVPg-daD8X4

‘Maleficent’s Curse Scene (Maleficent)’ Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVPg-daD8X4