Essential Questions Outline:
1. How do [documentaries] affect the rhetorical devices that individuals have at their disposal?
Claim: Directors can manipulate the feelings and opinions of viewers ways that are not possible
through written and orated pieces.
a. Musical selection can help to produce a certain tone that can better convey an individual's
message (ex. slow-paced, soft music contributed to the depressing ambiance of the film when the
doctor told Spurlock that he needed to stop this experiment in order to maintain his health)
b. Facial expressions and mannerisms of Actors/Actresses can help audiences to better understand
the tone of the piece and can provoke desirable emotional responses to the actors. Some things are
better understood visually than through lecturing.
(ex. Spurlock's facial expressions after eating the McDonald's food the 20th day of the experiment)
c. Documentaries are unique in that the images they show help to better illustrate the content being
discussed. Essentially, documentaries utilize both narration and visuals to reach audiences and
portray information. This strategy allows the documentary to be successful in teaching both oral
and spatial learners.
2. How have [documentaries] been perceived and received by the global community?
Claim: Documentaries have met with great success and some even become more successful in
prompting viewers into action than classic written works. But like all other methods of
communication, they have not been without criticism.
Successes
a. Super Size Me was an incredible success earning $30,000,000 in box office. Additionally it cost
only $1,000,000 to film and edit, making this an incredibly profitable endeavor.
b. Within 6 months of the documentaries debut, the "Super Size Me" option was removed in all
McDonald's restaurants. Though McDonald's refuses to acknowledge the documentary as a primary
factor in the removal, the documentary certainly generated and fueled public criticism of the option,
which undoubtedly helped make McDonald's decision easier for them.
c. Super Size Me has been integrated into health education courses across the country. At the
Wissahickon Middle School all 7th grade students are required to take health for a semester. Super
Size Me was used as a supplement to teach the nutrition unit.
Criticisms
a. Many believe that the entire film was staged. There are some theories that Spurlock was not as sick
as he led on.
b. Others dismiss the film's findings because of the lack of scientific research that went into the
documentary. In this manner, Spurlock failed to give him credibility in the scientific community.
c. BBC news states that the "high comedy factor and over-familiarity of the subject matter render it
less powerful than other recent documentaries." This comment demonstrates that documentaries often
have trouble reconciling an emphasis on content and entertainment value.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Super Size Me Part 1
Bibliography:
Super Size Me is a documentary directed by Morgan Spurlock and starring Morgan Spurlock in addition to his spouse, Alexandra Jamieson. In this film, Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald's from February 1 to March 2 of 2003. The soundtrack was done by Doug Ray, Steve Horowitz, and Michael Parrish. The editing for the film was done by Julie Lombardi. The film documents the devastating effect of this type of lifestyle on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being. The film was released in 2004, and ironically, McDonald's recalled the "Super Size Me" option on their menu only 6 months after the films debut.
Rhetoric Used:
The purpose of this documentary is to bring to light all of the harmful health effects associated with over-consuming fast food particularly that of McDonald's. At the time of the documentary's release, there were already a multitude of studies connecting fast-food to certain undesirable health conditions. Fast-food restaurants have been able to dismiss these studies as flawed and misguided and prompt the public to overlook them. Since most Americans were already knowledgeable about the studies connecting adverse health effects to fast-food, all Spurlock had to do was give credence to the studies. Therefore, most of the rhetorical strategies used in this film were designed to give credence to himself and the video's findings. In the beginning of the film, Spurlock depicts himself as an incredibly healthy person in order to make his change in condition after his experiment with McDonald's appear more dramatic to the audience. He purposely alludes to the fact that his wife is a vegetarian cook. Furthermore, he begins the experiment by going to the doctor's office for a checkup so that we, his audience, knows that he is great shape and none of the changes he undergoes is due to prior health conditions. If Spurlock is successful in doing so, the audience is forced to accept that the main factor in his deteriorating condition is the McDonald's food.
Like all other documentaries, Spurlock manipulates the tone and music of the documentary to move the audience. Quite often Spurlock talks in a groggy and unpleasant manor directly after consuming McDonald's. This change in tone attempts to connect his change in attitude with the food he ate. Additionally, there are several points throughout the film where Morgan Spurlock is seen vomiting directly after eating McDonald's food. Since he does so directly after eating, it reduces the chance that his ailment is due to anything other than the food he consumed. Furthermore, such a grotesque response to food is sure to steer audiences away from eating whatever he ate.
Lastly, if the audience should take all of these responses as simple theatrics, Spurlock goes to the doctor regularly so that he can reaffirm his deteriorating health. Such testimonies are less likely to be staged simply because the doctor's job would be at stake if he lied about a patient in that manner. This serves to give even more credibility to the film.
Super Size Me is a documentary directed by Morgan Spurlock and starring Morgan Spurlock in addition to his spouse, Alexandra Jamieson. In this film, Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald's from February 1 to March 2 of 2003. The soundtrack was done by Doug Ray, Steve Horowitz, and Michael Parrish. The editing for the film was done by Julie Lombardi. The film documents the devastating effect of this type of lifestyle on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being. The film was released in 2004, and ironically, McDonald's recalled the "Super Size Me" option on their menu only 6 months after the films debut.
Rhetoric Used:
The purpose of this documentary is to bring to light all of the harmful health effects associated with over-consuming fast food particularly that of McDonald's. At the time of the documentary's release, there were already a multitude of studies connecting fast-food to certain undesirable health conditions. Fast-food restaurants have been able to dismiss these studies as flawed and misguided and prompt the public to overlook them. Since most Americans were already knowledgeable about the studies connecting adverse health effects to fast-food, all Spurlock had to do was give credence to the studies. Therefore, most of the rhetorical strategies used in this film were designed to give credence to himself and the video's findings. In the beginning of the film, Spurlock depicts himself as an incredibly healthy person in order to make his change in condition after his experiment with McDonald's appear more dramatic to the audience. He purposely alludes to the fact that his wife is a vegetarian cook. Furthermore, he begins the experiment by going to the doctor's office for a checkup so that we, his audience, knows that he is great shape and none of the changes he undergoes is due to prior health conditions. If Spurlock is successful in doing so, the audience is forced to accept that the main factor in his deteriorating condition is the McDonald's food.
Like all other documentaries, Spurlock manipulates the tone and music of the documentary to move the audience. Quite often Spurlock talks in a groggy and unpleasant manor directly after consuming McDonald's. This change in tone attempts to connect his change in attitude with the food he ate. Additionally, there are several points throughout the film where Morgan Spurlock is seen vomiting directly after eating McDonald's food. Since he does so directly after eating, it reduces the chance that his ailment is due to anything other than the food he consumed. Furthermore, such a grotesque response to food is sure to steer audiences away from eating whatever he ate.
Lastly, if the audience should take all of these responses as simple theatrics, Spurlock goes to the doctor regularly so that he can reaffirm his deteriorating health. Such testimonies are less likely to be staged simply because the doctor's job would be at stake if he lied about a patient in that manner. This serves to give even more credibility to the film.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sergeant York
Summary
Alvin York is an ordinary backwoods Tennessee farmer. He is at first a dunk and violent person. He gets struck by lightning and becomes religious, vowing to live by the teachings of the Bible. He is then drafted by the army, and captures 132 Americans single handedly.
Context
The film was released in 1941 at the outset of WW2 and depicts the life of Alvin York.
Rhetoric/Content
At face value, this movie seems like an ordinary war movie about “"fightin' an' hell-raisin.'" However, as many have discovered, this movie goes well beyond the fighting and addresses several religious, philosophical, and societal dilemmas. Sergeant York is actually a “sensitive portrayal of [York’s] complete trust in God’s Word as he seeks answers from Scripture to the questions raised by war and is indeed a refreshing contrast to typical Hollywood fare” (Waggoner).
In this sense, Sergeant York is far from your stereotypical war movie. After reviewing the most emphasized portions of the movie, one gets the feel that this story was more about reconciling one’s internal and external struggles than action-packed explosions and battle scenes. It is for these reasons that this movie is so highly acclaimed. It touches upon issues that thousands of people face every day: a conflict of ideals. The movie raises and somewhat answers the questions ‘is it right to take the lives of others in order to defend one’s country and is there a limit to how much blood can be spilled’, at least from Sergeant York’s point of view. These questions plague even the most patriotic of people and arise whenever there is a war going on. Evidently, Sergeant York is a timeless movie that will always be relevant as long as there is war. However, the integrity of the film is somewhat lost due to its overt use propaganda. This film was released just as the United States became involved in the second war that engulfed over half the globe and definitely advocates “fightin fer yer country”. The story was filled with propaganda from beginning to end. Using York as the ideal American, the director implies that all Americans must rise to the occasion and fight against tyranny in order to be an outstanding citizen. Despite the lack of subtlety, the film was incredibly effective. In the weeks following the movie’s premiere, there was a spike in voluntary war recruits.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Poor literacy 'increases early death risk for elderly'
Summary:
This article talked about a study where people with poor health literacy who are 65 years and older are twice as likely to die within 5 years as those who have a high health literacy.
Source:
BBC news sponsored this article which is typically a reliable source. I could not ascertain the author's name however.
Exigence:
This article was written about a study that was recently conducted
Rhetoric:
The author went about conveying this in a systematic manner. First and foremost, the author had to establish what he/she meant by "poor literacy." It turns out that poor literacy means being incapable of reading and correctly answering questions about aspirin directions. So, "poor literacy" should actually be changed to poor health literacy. However, when you substitute that phrase in the title for the generic "poor literacy" phrasing, you get readers thinking duh, of course you are going to die earlier if you are poorly informed about health and incapable of understanding medical directions. In essence, by omitting the word 'health' in the title, the author draws in more readers and prevents this sort of reaction from occurring. Afterwards, the author included some startling information about the risk factors for poor literacy. Low health literacy is linked to "a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, physical limitations, chronic diseases, and asthma." While higher health literacy was linked to higher cognitive abilities. After discussing the risk factors for low health literacy, the author delves into the implications of the study. He/she uses testimonies from director general of Age UK and the chief administrator of Patients Association in order to describe the current push for better and more accessible medication directions specifically aimed at those in their late 60s and upwards. All throughout the article, the author maintains a biased tone of voice, actually I could not even detect a persona when I was reading, it was as if it were not even a person writing. This could be a result of all of the quotes and statistics the author used. Nearly 50% of the article was devoted to such devices which left little opportunity for the author to write in his own style.
This article talked about a study where people with poor health literacy who are 65 years and older are twice as likely to die within 5 years as those who have a high health literacy.
Source:
BBC news sponsored this article which is typically a reliable source. I could not ascertain the author's name however.
Exigence:
This article was written about a study that was recently conducted
Rhetoric:
The author went about conveying this in a systematic manner. First and foremost, the author had to establish what he/she meant by "poor literacy." It turns out that poor literacy means being incapable of reading and correctly answering questions about aspirin directions. So, "poor literacy" should actually be changed to poor health literacy. However, when you substitute that phrase in the title for the generic "poor literacy" phrasing, you get readers thinking duh, of course you are going to die earlier if you are poorly informed about health and incapable of understanding medical directions. In essence, by omitting the word 'health' in the title, the author draws in more readers and prevents this sort of reaction from occurring. Afterwards, the author included some startling information about the risk factors for poor literacy. Low health literacy is linked to "a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, physical limitations, chronic diseases, and asthma." While higher health literacy was linked to higher cognitive abilities. After discussing the risk factors for low health literacy, the author delves into the implications of the study. He/she uses testimonies from director general of Age UK and the chief administrator of Patients Association in order to describe the current push for better and more accessible medication directions specifically aimed at those in their late 60s and upwards. All throughout the article, the author maintains a biased tone of voice, actually I could not even detect a persona when I was reading, it was as if it were not even a person writing. This could be a result of all of the quotes and statistics the author used. Nearly 50% of the article was devoted to such devices which left little opportunity for the author to write in his own style.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Author:
I am unaware of the identity of the artist who created this picture, but I do know that he is a strong advocate for the conservation and preservation of nature. This picture clearly indicates his/her stance on the way in which humans should interact with the environment.
Rhetoric:
The "Save the nature" comment was necessary for explaining what the tree in the snow-globe symbolizes. The fact that the globe is positioned in the palm of a human suggests that it is up to "us" to save the planet. It suggests to the audience that not only do we have the ability to save nature, but also the responsibility. The contrast of green on a black background also helps to grab the audiences attention and would cause passer-bys to give this picture a second glance. Without this commentary many people would misinterpret or misunderstand what the artist is trying to say. The background is a plain greyish-black color. This accentuates the solemn/serious tone of the picture. In creating this type of tone, the audience gets the feeling that this is an important message, and not something to be merely forgotten.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Summary:
Enzo is Denny's dog, is barely clinging to life, and is the main character of the novel. As such, there isn't a lot of action in this first section of the book. The author spends most of the time reflecting on Enzo's past experiences. He begins with Enzo's days as a puppy, proceeds to his life with Denny before Denny got married, and ends with Enzo's life with Zoe and Eve around (Denny's daughter and wife).
Author:
Garth Stein was just recently established as a novelist. He has written three books, one play, and co-produced an Academy Award winning short film. He also owns a dog, which may have inspired this tale of friendship.
Purpose:
From reading this first section of the novel, I can determine that this book serves to highlight the relationship that people have with their dogs and how important a role they play in the family.
Rhetoric:
As previously mentioned, there was not a significant amount of action that took place in this first section. Instead, the author used flashbacks to provide context for existing relationships between characters and, perhaps, for future conflicts and events. This method was effective in introducing the characters that will play a major role in the story. Additionally, it gave the novel a sentimental tone to it. The set-up of this first portion was successful in appealing to the emotions of readers for the flashbacks explained the deep bonds between characters. From Enzo's opening comments about his readiness to die to Eve's request that Enzo promises to protect Zoe (which served to strengthen Enzo's bonds with the family), the audience is taken on a emotional ride. Perhaps the most unique aspect of this book, is the fact that it is written in first-person from a dog's perspective. Most would think that this point of view would only provide a limited perspective on the book since dogs aren't very thoughtful creatures. However, Stein does an incredible job of humanizing Enzo. By noting that Denny accepts death due to the fact that, according to a documentary he watched about Mongolia he will be reincarnated as a human, which is his ultimate wish, Stein gives Enzo a human-like feel. Additionally, Enzo's comments, emotions, concerns, and reactions are just as human and complex as an actual human. The only difference is that, unlike humans, Enzo cannot communicate through words, he must engage in charade-like activities to get his point across. This may in fact be the reason that this point of view is so effective. Enzo is capable of interpreting and understanding Denny's words and actions and such an ability is quite believable. However, Denny often misinterprets Enzo's signals which is just as believable. If it were written from Denny's perspective, the audience would lose the ability to accurately identify Enzo's moods. So, by writing the book from the dog's perspective, you get insight into both Enzo and Denny's mindset.
Enzo is Denny's dog, is barely clinging to life, and is the main character of the novel. As such, there isn't a lot of action in this first section of the book. The author spends most of the time reflecting on Enzo's past experiences. He begins with Enzo's days as a puppy, proceeds to his life with Denny before Denny got married, and ends with Enzo's life with Zoe and Eve around (Denny's daughter and wife).
Author:
Garth Stein was just recently established as a novelist. He has written three books, one play, and co-produced an Academy Award winning short film. He also owns a dog, which may have inspired this tale of friendship.
Purpose:
From reading this first section of the novel, I can determine that this book serves to highlight the relationship that people have with their dogs and how important a role they play in the family.
Rhetoric:
As previously mentioned, there was not a significant amount of action that took place in this first section. Instead, the author used flashbacks to provide context for existing relationships between characters and, perhaps, for future conflicts and events. This method was effective in introducing the characters that will play a major role in the story. Additionally, it gave the novel a sentimental tone to it. The set-up of this first portion was successful in appealing to the emotions of readers for the flashbacks explained the deep bonds between characters. From Enzo's opening comments about his readiness to die to Eve's request that Enzo promises to protect Zoe (which served to strengthen Enzo's bonds with the family), the audience is taken on a emotional ride. Perhaps the most unique aspect of this book, is the fact that it is written in first-person from a dog's perspective. Most would think that this point of view would only provide a limited perspective on the book since dogs aren't very thoughtful creatures. However, Stein does an incredible job of humanizing Enzo. By noting that Denny accepts death due to the fact that, according to a documentary he watched about Mongolia he will be reincarnated as a human, which is his ultimate wish, Stein gives Enzo a human-like feel. Additionally, Enzo's comments, emotions, concerns, and reactions are just as human and complex as an actual human. The only difference is that, unlike humans, Enzo cannot communicate through words, he must engage in charade-like activities to get his point across. This may in fact be the reason that this point of view is so effective. Enzo is capable of interpreting and understanding Denny's words and actions and such an ability is quite believable. However, Denny often misinterprets Enzo's signals which is just as believable. If it were written from Denny's perspective, the audience would lose the ability to accurately identify Enzo's moods. So, by writing the book from the dog's perspective, you get insight into both Enzo and Denny's mindset.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Linsanity
Summary:
This article talked about the cinderella-like success of Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American Knicks basketball player. Not only does it examine his athletic abilities and skills on the court, it mentions his incredible humility and forgiving personality.
Source:
Steve Busfield from the Guardian Sports News.
Audience:
People who are interested in sports
Context:
This article was inspired by the recent streak by the New York Knicks and their cinderella-story point guard.
Purpose/Rhetoric:
After reading the article, it seemed to me that the author was giving credence to the "linsanity" movement. All throughout the article, Busfield portrays Lin as an incredibly humble guy with a talent and desire to play basketball. And while he briefly mentions Lin's 9 turnovers in the New Orleans game, he immediately proceeded to offset that performance by highlighting the 28 points and 14 assists that he had today. So, this article might have been slightly biased, but the facts that it presents are definitely accurate. In addition to using facts to demonstrate how incredible this Harvard grad is, Busfield includes testimonies from both the Knicks and opposing teams, both of which talk about what an amazing athlete and person he is. In this regard, the author painted Lin in a very favorable light. Lastly, the author makes use of sports and basketball jargon to appeal to his audience. He uses words such as Linsanity and drive to both captivate readers and demonstrate his knowledge of the sport and current happenings.
This article talked about the cinderella-like success of Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American Knicks basketball player. Not only does it examine his athletic abilities and skills on the court, it mentions his incredible humility and forgiving personality.
Source:
Steve Busfield from the Guardian Sports News.
Audience:
People who are interested in sports
Context:
This article was inspired by the recent streak by the New York Knicks and their cinderella-story point guard.
Purpose/Rhetoric:
After reading the article, it seemed to me that the author was giving credence to the "linsanity" movement. All throughout the article, Busfield portrays Lin as an incredibly humble guy with a talent and desire to play basketball. And while he briefly mentions Lin's 9 turnovers in the New Orleans game, he immediately proceeded to offset that performance by highlighting the 28 points and 14 assists that he had today. So, this article might have been slightly biased, but the facts that it presents are definitely accurate. In addition to using facts to demonstrate how incredible this Harvard grad is, Busfield includes testimonies from both the Knicks and opposing teams, both of which talk about what an amazing athlete and person he is. In this regard, the author painted Lin in a very favorable light. Lastly, the author makes use of sports and basketball jargon to appeal to his audience. He uses words such as Linsanity and drive to both captivate readers and demonstrate his knowledge of the sport and current happenings.
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