Integrating Literature, Film, and Theater

The necessity of integrating literature, film, and theater in an English classroom is paramount. All three formats of presentation have become linked in delivering stories, narratives, and novels. It seems like one cannot read a good book or see a play these days without later seeing another version on the big screen. In certain instances, it is even possible to find all three formats for one piece. The importance in studying these formats along with their adaptations, then, is that each adaptation presents its audience with a much different experience. In other words, the mode of delivery matters a great deal, and it is important to educate students on how best to interpret the differences that they encounter between pieces.

A great way of teaching students how to differentiate between their experiences with print, film, and theater is by taking a well known work and studying its various renditions along with the effect created by each rendition. In my own future classroom I would use Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as a method of illuminating the contrasts in adaptations. By having kids read the play and then view it on both the stage and the screen I would be able to highlight the pros and cons of using each type of format. Obviously, Shakespeare wrote this drama with the intention of having it delivered to the audience through an on stage performance, and this is how the play exists in its most natural form. Therefore, by reading the play shortly after having seen its original intended form, students would be able to identify those dramatic elements that the play loses through reading stage directions and dialogue instead of seeing and hearing these things. Once this has been achieved, I would show my students one of the various film adaptations of the play in order to illustrate the distance created between the audience and the work by the screen itelf. In other words, by watching the play or reading the script one has a certain amount of access to the work that is suddenly taken away when it is transcribed to the screen. These are just a couple of exercises that would work well in helping kids to pick out some important differences between certain forms of media, and starting off with a unit of this type would open the door for more in depth studies of other types of media.

Noting these differences and realizing what seperates each of these three formats from one another is important in helping students make heads or tails of their sensory experiences. In recognizing how each form of presentation influences the audiences interpretations and feelings towards a piece is an extremely powerful thing. It will allow students to develop the ability to critically analyze works of literature, film, and theater, and allow students to pinpoint any biases, preconceptions, or influential techniques contained within these peices. In all, studying the differences between adaptations will grant students the opportunity to analyze their sources of entertainment with a well-trained eye as well as an important amount of awareness.

"My Old Friend"

My old friend, I recall
The times we had hanging on my wall
I wouldn't trade them for gold
Cause they laugh and they cry me
Somehow sanctify me
They're woven in the stories I have told
And tell again

My old friend, I apologize
For the years that have passed
Since the last time you and I
Dusted off those memories
But the running and the races
The people and the places
There's always somewhere else I had to be
Time gets slim, my old friend

Don't know why, don't know why
Don't know why, don't know why

My old friend, this song's for you
Cause a few simple verses
Was the least that I could do
To tell the world that you were here
Cause the love and the laughter
Will live long after
All of the sadness and the tears
We'll meet again, my old friend

Goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye

My old friend, my old friend
Goodbye, goodbye

This country music song by Tim McGraw is pretty indicative of the type of music that I like to listen to. Yes, it's true I enjoy listening to music about trucks, divorces, dead dogs, and farming. Actually, I think Ray Charles said it best when he said that he liked country music because of the stories. I too enjoy this genre of music for that reason as I feel that artists like Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, the Dixie Chicks, Rascal Flatts, and Lonestar write some good stories and are able to put them to music. In fact, I am able to relate to many of these songs as they remind me of experiences or emotions that I have had in my own life time. For instance, "My Old Friend" has been one of my favorites for quite a while as it reminds me of the many friends I have from back home or other places that I don't get to see as often as I'd like since we've all moved away. When I hear this song I am reminded of all of the good times that we've had together and it causes me to look forward to the times yet to come when we will be able to "dust off those memories." Another main feature of country music that draws me in is that I am able to sing along with almost all of the songs. Contrastingly, many of the lyrics in the rap and r&b music played on stations like KDWB or B96 are difficult for me to understand and even more difficult for me to relate to. One possible explanation for my ease in connecting with songs like "My Old Friend" and others is that I grew up in a relatively small town where a great deal stories in the songs actually happened in real life. Actually, many of my fondest memories have come from being out in the middle of nowhere either hunting, fishing, camping, working, or just having a good time with friends. Therefore, country lyrics form a very strong connective tissue with the events of my own life, and many of these events have taken place while listening to country. As such, the music has created a rough soundtrack for my own life, and when I hear songs like "My Old Friend" I am immediately transported to old memories and experiences. Thus, I could not picture myself ceasing to listen to this particular brand of music.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald A Documentary

In my home town of Duluth, Minnesota the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of Lake Superior's ore boats, on November 10th, 1975 has long been a story of tragedy and debate. The Fitz's last voyage began on this day so many years ago from Superior, Wisconsin, and as such, local ties to the boat are innummerable. For instance, my own grandfather was offered a position among her crew only a matter of weeks before her last departure. However, being content with his position aboard one of her sister ships, he sailed from Duluth only a matter of hours before the Edmund Fitzgerald did on that November day. My grandfather was just one of many who spent their lives upon Lake Superior's waters and one who knew the perils of sailing on the largest freshwater lake all too well. As a result, he has many strong opinions as to how the Edmund Fitzgerad met its final demise, but his ideas only represent a small portion of the theories that have been developed which seek to find an answer as to why the boat actually sank in that November storm. My proposed documentary would pick apart the events leading up to the final departure of the Edmund Fitzgerald in an attempt to answer this elusive question.

The documentary itself would be driven by a desire to know the truth about how the ore boat reached its final resting place on the bed of Lake Superior. In doing so, the intent of the documentary would be purely educational. It would examine all of the conflicting theories about the shipwreck and attempt to single out the one theory that is most likely to be correct. In order to do this interviews would be conducted with those men who sailed on other ships during that fateful day, such as the crew of the Arthur M. Anderson, the boat which was in radio contact with the Fitz during most of its final trip. I would also interview family members of those men who were on the Fitzgerald, experts from the National Weather Service, members of the Coast Guard stationed on Lake Superior, members of the company who owned the ship, those in charge of building the ship, and other geological experts who know Lake Superior's underwater topography as well as general geographic information about the lake. Those who were directly connected to the events of November 10, 1975 would be asked questions attempting to recreate the events of that day as well as those events leading up to that day. They would also be asked character questions about the ship's crew. The experts would be asked if the November storm was solely responsible for the Fitz going down, if it is possible that the Fitz encountered other problems along the way. For instance, was she on course, how could the storm have taken the boat down, or was the Fitz doomed from the start?

Some of the activities and practices that would be included in this documentary would be sailing along the ship's final route, visiting the recovered bell from the ship now on display in the Lake Superior Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Bay, showing old footage of the boat and her crew, and touring other ships of similar make and model.

The difficulties that I would anticipate in creating that had an authentic and realistic portrayal of the events of November 10, 1975 would be that many of the people closest to that day are either no longer with us, or they would not wish to talk about the Fitz for personal reasons. Also, since many of the events of November 10 are almost unknowable a final explanation may be impossible to come across. Therefore, viewers would be forced to come to their own conclussions based upon presented material and in doing so they would be invited to pick apart the credibility of documentary's creator. I am sure that once I delved deeply into this subject I would begin to formulate my own opions about what actually happened and the great challenge would be to keep these bias opions out of my work. Lastly, people's memories would most certainly not be as sharp as they once were. Many of the more detailed interviews regarding the ship's last hours would be extremely vivid in the minds of those being interviewed, but during the commotion of November 10, what important information simply did not register for those involved. These are all trying issues that would need to be dealt with in order to make this documentary a success. Afterall, many still want to know the truth about the Edmund Fitzgerald, and in order to have a chance at bringing it to them they need to be exposed to the most authentic and realistic portrayal that film can afford.

KARE 11 News at 10:00

On Wednesday night the 8th of November I watched KARE 11's ten o'clock news broadcast and kept a viewing log in which I recorded the types of stories that were aired as well as the duration of those stories. In going back over my log after the broadcast was over, I was relatively surprised to find out just how the evening news was divided up. Despite starting off in a fairly promising fashion by jumping right into midterm election results from the day before, it didn't take too long for the content to dramatically drop off in quality. In fact, the only really substantial news that I recieved the whole night came within the first six minutes of the broadcast. The opening story, which lasted a grand total of two minutes, was about the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. Once this story was neatly wrapped up, the broadcast covered the concession of Mike Hatch to Governor Pawlenty for the governor's seat. This story only lasted one minute. From this story, the news anchors smoothly transitioned into a three minute piece on what type of relationship the reelected governor would have with the state's legislature. Would he be faced by an atmosphere of bickering or one of bipartisanship, and how would he manage the challenges of such a divided group? The news then moved into a 30 second piece on Walz's successful upset of his incumbant opponent, and then another 20 second piece on voter turnout. Unfortunately, this was all of the political coverage I saw in the entire program. KARE 11 then did a quick 25 second piece on a woman who lost her life in a household fire in Anoka, and it then moved into some advertising hooks about what I would see after the commercial break.

The very next story after the commercial break, and clearly the feature story of the night as presented by KARE 11, was a human interest story that lasted three minutes and twenty seconds. It was about a woman who was courageously losing weight with the help of her co-workers and community. In all, it was nothing too interesting or earthshattering. KARE 11 then proceeded to do a 30 second plug for its website and another 30 second plug for another human interest story to be aired on an upcoming night. They then wasted 30 seconds by showing the results of local pictures sent in of the evening sunset, and then gave three minutes of weather. Another commercial was then aired.

After the commercial they went straight to the sports desk where six stories were spit out in about five minutes, and then another commercial was shown. When they came back they showed the Daily 3 and the Powerball numbers for the day and did a 15 second spot on the opening of the Macy's holiday display in downtown Minneapolis.

My initial reaction after analyzing this program was that I felt cheated out of valuable information. I had just spent a half an hour being advertised too or being passified with fluff. There was very little valuable content to this broadcast, and the pressing issues of the election, which I wanted to know a great deal about, were gently brushed aside. Thus, the selection of material for the broadcast was seemingly based upon what would make people feel good about themselves as many of the controversial issues were disregarded. Even the interplay between the broadcasters themselves had a feeling of superficial comfort to it. By joking and teasing one another in a wholesome fashion, it felt like they were trying to act a television family that would include me as one of its members. In terms of beliefs and attitudes, not enough information was presented to allow me to change my previous beliefs and attitudes about the stories, and for that matter, not enough was presented to even allow me to agree wholeheartedly with what was being shown. In all, I got very little out of this program and I feel like in the future my time will be better spent researching periodicals that contain the information that I am seeking or by wathcing a more credible news source such as Jim Lehrer.

Xylofocor

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Subway's Jared Campaign

The advertisement that I have decided to analyze for this week's activity is the most recent Subway commercial featuring Jared Fogle. As many already know Jared became the spokesman for Subway after losing an immense amount of weight through his creation of a Subway diet and through plenty of exercise. Seeking to capitalize on Jared's health kick and the recent trend of many Americans to develop healthier eating habits, Subway's latest ad compares its low-fat sandwiches to the Whopper found at Burger King. In fact, in the ad Jared actually holds up a Whopper telling the audience the number of calories and grams of fat that it contains and then compares this to the extremely low number of calories and grams of fat found in some of Subway's sandwiches. In short, the message that Jared is sending is that if you want to be healthy, you should eat at Subway and not at Burger King. Therefore, the target audience of this advertisement is those people who are trying to improve their health or those people who are trying to maintain it. When Jared's message is coupled with Subway's slogan, "Eat Fresh" it is obvious that Subway is positioning itself away from other fast food chains and it is taking a subjective stance within the group of people who wish to be healthy.

In terms of semiotics, it is obvious that Jared has enhanced his physical appearance by going on his self-constructed Subway diet. In some of the very first ads that he did for Subway, Jared was shown in the classic weight loss pose with a before picture where he is obese, and an after picture, where he is holding up an old pair of jeans that no longer fit him because they are way too big. However, in watching these images and trying to process all of the underlying codes that they contain the viewer most often does not get a chance to read the fine print that is coincidingly flashed on the screen. In the newest ad, semiotics take center stage once again as Jared has a whole table of Subway sandwiches lined up to give the viewer a visual of how many subs he or she would have to eat in order to match the fat content of one Whopper. While this is happening and while Jared is giving his talk about how he used to love Whoppers until he decided to eat Subway and lose weight, there is small print text being shown at the bottom of the screen. In effect, the text says that Jared's results are not typical and that he did an excesive amount of exercising in combination with eating subway in order to lose all his weight. Also, within the text the viewer finds that Jared's sandwiches do not contain many of the extra indgredients that Subway has to offer. Lastly, and most importantly, Subway gives a disclaimer stating that it does not endorse the diet created by Jared and that individuals should consult their physician before starting any type of diet. In short, the semiotics become all powerful in this advertisement as the most important messages found in the small print are seen by very few if any audience members. In this way, the target audience consisting of those who are obese, as well as those wishing to maintain their relative health, are duped into thinking that they are getting a better deal than they really are. While it is true that Subway is a much healthier alternative to other fast food restaurants, the audience still is not getting to see the whole picture and that is that, on their own, Subway sandwiches do not have the power to change your level of fitness. In all, it is a great strategy to market subs, yet it also keeps many susceptible members of the target audience in the dark, and this is why the Jared ads are so effective.

Westerns

http://teachingmedialiteracy.pbwiki.com/f/Westerns%282%29.ppt

Here is a link to the PowerPoint presentation that was created by Jarrett Lundquist and myself illustrating the most prototypical features of the film genre known as the "Western." The presentation highlights common story themes, characters, plots, problems, and resolutions unique to the Western. Also, it is important to note that the Western has become a classic genre as well as becoming an extinct genre. Many of the Western-like productions found in theaters today are lacking the key components necessary to being a true Western. Dialogues have changed, plots have become more involved, and there are no longer iconic heros played by men like John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Henry Fonda. The solitary masculine hero embarking on missions of vigilante justice is no more, and the high noon shootout is all but dead. However, the old pictures of this genre still influence today's productions, and hopefully, this Powerpoint will stimulate you into thinking just how times have changed.