Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Rhetorical Analysis: Brainstorming
In this post, I want you to start by writing a quick summary of what you already know about your movie (can be anything). Then in two-three sentences explore why you picked it. Next generate a list of possible themes, threads, or issues that you found in the movie. Which one of these appeals to you to possibly explore? Next generate a list of 5-8 things you might want/need to find out about your movie. And finally think out loud about how you are going to do a rhetorical analysis of this movie, in other words, how might you make sure this project is an analysis and not another kind of writing (like simply a research essay)--think about how Lundsford and Ruszkiewicz define rhetorical analysis, and how you understand how to create one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
After I watch the movie, the Social Network, I very admire Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, because he is a wizard in computer science and finance. The Social Network includes the topics, friendship, loyalty, jealousness and betrayal. Shows both the positive and negative sides of human beings. In one hour, Zuckerberg created a website, facemash, to vote for the Harvard students’ profile pictures (Zuckerberg hacked into the Harvard server to steal them), in order to let people know which girl was hotter. The website is so cool that crash the Harvard server because of the huge traffic. However, the website was meaningless. However, Zuckerberg was very confident, and he created theFacebook, the original website of Facebook.com, because he have the faith to succeed and an extremely smart brain. There is another important role in the movie, Shayne Park, who made Mark Zuck firm his ambition and introduced some ventures company to Mark Zuck. If Facebook were not got investment, it would not grow into one of the biggest company in the world. I love the themes that Zuck and Eduardo are engaging in a lawsuit, because it is very interesting that Zuck’s best friend sue him.
ReplyDeleteHere are some things I want to explore. 1. What is the motivation of Zuck to create Facebook? 2. Why Zuckerberg’s best friend Eduardo sue him while he had five million. 3. Why Facebook is so attracted to people? 4. A person can easily has thousands of friends on Facebook. What is the definition of friend? 5. When the social life is developing into one-sided show, we are alone or not?
For my analysis I choose “The Help.” The Help is a movie set in the times where segregation was still an issue in the south. The movie is about a white journalist who is determined to help people see the truth behind the struggles these maids are going through. I picked this movie because I found a similar problem being addressed in films. Racism is inevitable and the majority of people are blind to its presence and the consequences that come with it. Similar to Crash, The Help try’s to reach another audience in order to help viewers understand racism happening in our everyday lives. This idea seemed to open up an even bigger idea for my analysis that I personally could relate to as well. Living in New York City I’ve experienced a lot of the same situations in “Crash” that relate to the idea that there are prejudice people everywhere and racism appears to be inevitable. A few things that I would like to find out about my movie and crash as well are why both directors decided to produce these movies. My goal is to reach the full analysis of these movies and identify the approach each director used in order to move and relate to a specific audience. In order to make my own analysis I want to take my own experiences with similar situations in these movies and many of them that occur everyday in order to identify the importance of this idea that racism is inevitable and why we care. Additionally, this idea that racism becomes is everywhere opens up even more ideas that need to be explored. For example, the role that drugs play into all of these events, violence and so many other aspects that become life changing for many people.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Gangster is a movie based loosely on the life of Frank Lucas, a famous gangster from North Carolina that used the troops in Vietnam to smuggle mass amounts of pure heroine into the United States. The plot revolves around Frank played by Denzel Washington, and the cop trying to shut down the drug trade, Richie, who is played by Russell Crowe. The story takes place in Harlem in the early 70’s, where corruption in the police force is a very prominent subject. In the end, Lucas turns in a substantial amount of corrupt cops, to shorten his jail sentence. I feel that corruption is the issue being spot-lighted in this movie.
ReplyDelete• Find out about the real Frank Lucas
• NYPD in the early 70’s
• Facts about Vietnam and the drug flow
• How deep the corruption of the police department went
• How many people were involved in taking bribe
I feel when doing a rhetorical analysis one is truly finding out if the argument the piece of work presents is legitimate. One must see if the argument is targeting the correct audience and how the author uses ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to that audience. Also see if the right genre is presented.
I have not seen any of the movies on the list since they were in theaters, so I am a bit rusty on what happens in them. I have chosen to do Easy A since I think it is one that I can relate to most have and have the most opinion about. The movie is about a girl in high school who is kind of an outcast, and to seem cooler she lies about losing her virginity to some college kid. Then a bunch of the less cool guys that are being bullied for some reason pay her off to say that they hooked up to. This ends up spiraling out of control and she ends up becoming known as a huge slut, and so she posts a blog, which is what narrates the movie, to tell everyone the truth and why she lied. I chose this movie because as someone who is straight out of high school, I can appreciate the social issues that the movie points out, and it is easy for me to identify with. Although I was never personally subject to similar rumors, I have heard plenty of them rotate around about other girls. Some of the themes that I think would be good to explore would be what kind of expectations are based upon high schoolers in modern society (ex. That you have to not be a virgin to be cool), and how girls act on this to try and get ahead on the social ladder. Maybe also how there is a disconnect about the image someone puts off and how they act, and the person they really are. In highschol especially people are judged based off of so many factors, and rarely any of them are accurate. I will make sure this is an analysis and not a summary because I will relate it to things like studies, my own experiences, and other movies (ex mean girls) to support my point.
ReplyDeleteThe movie that I have chosen to write about is Easy A. I had only seen the movie once before this project, but even so I found it to be full of underlying themes and ideas. In the movie, a girl Emma Stone decides to lie that she has lost her virginity. Formally seen as a good girl, her reputation among this school has now changed. One night she decides to help her best friend out by pretending to have sex with him in order to change his image as well. She soon realizes that people will be willing to pay her to say that they have had sex with her. Through this process, her social standing goes up. She takes on the role of Hester Prynne in the Scarlett Letter and wears provocative clothing with the red letter “A” on it. One of the main characters in the movie, played by Amanda Bynes, plays the role of the innocent girl. I have decided to write about this movie because, as someone who has just excited high school, I can relate. I feel as though there are many dimensions to the stereotypes that are given out to high school students. I will look at: 1) how people fulfill the roles that they are assigned? 2) the motivating source of being popular 3) how the media affects the sexualization of adolescents. 4) how this phenomenon starts at a younger age. 5) social issues among teenagers. For this project, I went back and forth on which movie I would want to analyze. Two of my favorite movies are The Help and Crazy, Stupid, Love, however, as a student taking sociology I felt as though I could better analyze a movie about the youth phenomenon. It is difficult to make an assignment an analysis rather than a summary, however, I feel as though Easy A gives so much material there will be plenty to talk about. I will include some plot summary in my essay, however, I will focus more on the issues that need to be addressed. Through using other examples of media, and sociological knowledge I will analyze the elements that make Easy A more than just a comedy. I will also address the parallels to the book The Scarlett Letter, and give examples of other movies that follow the same format. I will attempt to break apart the movie in my rhetorical analysis, and analyze it to see if it was indeed successful. I will try to follow the rules that Lundsford and Ruszkiewicz introduce, however, as Easy A is a fairly new movie, I will make it more relatable to a current audience.
ReplyDeleteI chose the movie The Help for this project. It is a movie about a girl that wants to become a writer. She starts with a column in the newspaper that is a cleaning column, so she stats talking to the help to help her write this column. As she is talking to the help, she starts thinking about writing a book about how white women treat the help. It is a very risky thing but it ends up to be a great thing in the end. I picked this movie because it is very well written and I could pick out many themes that tie into this assignment. In this movie, I know that it revolves around the issues racism and the roles of women and men. The white women were very degrading to the help and the white women made sure that the help new that. I would love to incorporate both of these themes into this assignment because they both really stand out in the movie.1. I need to find out more about racism and how it relates to the roles of men and women. 2. Find more information about the characters. 3. I need to find more background information on the movie. 4. Maybe what inspired the author to write this. 5. Do some research on racism and the roles of men and women in this time period. I am going to do this analysis by researching roles of men and women and how it relates to racism. I would make this assignment an analysis by not just summarizing but really going into depth about the movie. Instead of scratching the surface I would try to dig deep and really understand the true meaning.
ReplyDeleteMy movie, Black Swan, is about a young girl that gets put into a pressure filled role as lead dancer of her company and for the show Swan Lake. It goes through her struggle to strive perfection and how she eventually goes crazy in the end because of it. It’s a psychological thriller, and it really holds up to that name. I chose this movie because I think it’s quite fascinating. The psychological part is creepy, but the idea behind it seems to be spot on. I know a serious dancer back home and she was saying some girls do get insane like that, but not to stereotype all dancers to be that way. I think I want to explore the idea of perfection, and specifically in the dancing community. I want to look into the struggle to have a certain image on stage and what these girls must go through in order to obtain that image. I need to look at what the head director keeps asking for, why, and how she is reacting. I know the movie relatively well where I can see how she practices non stop at home, stops eating, and feels the need to be strong at all times, if someone sees her emotions, she immediately shuts off. I want to find out also how her mom relates to this entire image too. A few other things would be her relationship with the other dancers, her time spent alone, and where the constant fear is coming from in the movie that eventually guides her to go nutso. I want to dive into the general topics, but with each analysis I want to dig deeper and deeper into the core ideas of the film and how they are portrayed to the audience. Was the intention of giving the audience the idea all dancers are bulimic, perfectionists and cut throat? Or is the movie looking to show how the strive for perfection will ultimately lead to death? It’s a little unclear for me now, but I think by watching the film again with an analytical lens will help me see exactly what each scene contributes to the overall message or revelation.
ReplyDeleteI chose "Fight Club" for my film because it is one of those cult classics and one that I enjoy very much. Simply being about an insomniac who meets up with Tyler Durden. Our insomniac is the everyday Joe who has a job that he doesn't really like, a boss whom he likes less, a nice aprtment filled with things from IKEA that he thinks describe him best (a coffee table with a yin yang, a set of clear blue dishware, etc.), yet his life feels empty. Shortly after meeting Tyler Durden, a man who is everything our insomniac is not, his apartment explodes leaving him to stay with Tyler. Through a series of rather strange events, these two begin what they call a Fight Club. The trend grows throughout the US and our insomniac is able to sleep and feel complete once again. I chose this movie because I love it, the cast is great (especially Helena Bonham Carter ;), and I am able to focus on a theme other than insanity and social chaos. I wanted to focus my rhetorical analysis on societies love for material objects. Or perhaps material objects in general and how they can effect our lives. In the movie, the insomniac, from now on referred to as "Jack", has everything you could need to be happy: he has a job, a very nice apartment that's very well furnished, and a pseudo-love interest, yet he can't sleep and is depressed. In the beginning, he is constantly trying to "find and buy little objects that [he] feel[s] represent[s] him as a person." And it goes through a little montage of everything that he owns in his apartment, why he bought it, and the price. He was buying these things to try and feel "full." But they don't really work. It's only after his apartment blows up and everything in it was destroyed, and after he gets into a fight and stays with Tyler, that he begins to sleep and be happy. Tylers place is a run down house with leaks, electrical hazards, no heating, and rotted out mattresses. It is this that I want to focus on. We as a society, seem to direct ourselves to buying and obtaining material goods to find some sort of definition in them to then define ourselves. The movie explicitly uses the old phrase we've all heard before: "Sometimes, the things we own start owning us." A powerful, and true statement that is proven in this movie. So, that is the theme I would like to focus on. As far as texts and sources, I am thinking of using the book that this was based off of, and few Buddhist/ Zen texts as well to describe the importance and balance between material goods and spiritual goods. Other than that, I may do some research on happiness in general and use some studys and statistics from that research as well. But it is the importance, or ownership of material goods and where it holds us in our lives. I think that all makes sense...
ReplyDeleteFight club is about an average guy (the narrator) who can’t sleep. He turns to support groups in where he can cry and thus sleep again. After he is left homeless he ends up living with the protagonist of the story (Tyler Durden) and together they create Fight Club.
ReplyDeleteI picked this movie because it is one of my all time favorite movies. It has clear underlying themes that I can explore.
The biggest themes are the anti-materialistic and anti-capitalistic sentiment running through the movie. Another big theme is the state of repressed men in society. I’m probably going to try and focus more on the anti-capitalistic theme and I may touch on the repression theme.
I need to find out some good quotes, some specific instances where they are discussing the themes, and I’ll find some stuff out about the author of the book and his life and views.
I’m going to question everything about the movie essentially. Why did that character do that? What are they trying to accomplish by doing that? What is the meaning or motivation behind that?
I’m going to make sure it’s analysis by getting my own perspective on the movie and connecting it with the outside world. If I do that and then use evidence to support my claims then I’ll ensure that it is analysis and not something else.