Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Rethorical Appeals summary
My topic focuses on how art can positively affect the clothing and healing process. All of my elements center around a play called “The Yellow Boat”, in which a little boy afflicted with AIDS is taught to express his fears into the wishes through his artistic ability. The image that I chose was a picture of a yellow boat sailing up the sun. Which was a personal interpretation of how the boy viewed his life on Earth and his subsequent death. It also showed how the boy used his gift for art to help him cope with his illness. the film that I chose was from the actual rehearsal process for the yellow boat, and showed how one director's vision interpreted a child's world.
The audience that I feel would most benefit from this would be children of middle school age or older but also anyone wanting to know more about the powerful healing aspects art can have on an individual and the community. This subject teaches compassion and empathy for individuals struggling with a physical or mental disability, or other type of illness. The project is emotionally appealing because everyone can relate to knowing someone who has struggled to overcome a challenge; or are someone who has been sick. If art helped one child to deal with his illness; then art has the power to help many children deal with situations that are traumatic in some way. These rhetorical appeals serve as an explanation for the benefits of art therapy. This presentation will help teach the audience the importance of art therapy because it tells the true story of how one young boys love for art helped him find peace and acceptance with his illness and also helped him except his death.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Kowlage Nugget
Monday, March 30, 2009
Vogler reading for March30
In the reading Vogler describes the next stage of the Hero's Journey, and that is the Approach to the Inmost Cave, in this section the author once again uses the well known movie The Wizard of Oz to illistrate the most important lessons of this stage in the journey. This is the part of the journey where the Hero encounters extreme danger. And it is also where final preperattions are made so that the hero is able to deal with the main problem of the journey. In this section the Hero must deal with more obstacles, and threshold guardians as in previous stages, but must also go through another special world , and find a way to appeal to the threshold gaurdians so that the journey can continue. Throughout each phase of this journey the hero will incounter complications which threaten his/her progress, and may end the journey altogether. As depicted in the author's use of the Wizard of Oz, durring this stage the hero may change from one character to another, and often times comedy may be used to in effort to ease the tension of the task at hand.
My reaction to the reading is that I feel that by using a well known movie, to reflect the stages of the journey does seem like a good idea, it makes the concepts more realistic and relatable. However, I don't really understand the purpose of always using the Wizard of Oz. At this point in the reading, I feel like that same example, although useful is becoming extremely overused and redundant. I dont know why the author does not use another well known movie for some of the illistrations of each stage of the journey.
I wish that Vogler would use other stories to depict the stages of the journey. It makes me wonder if this is the only movie that fits all of the stages, because it seems to be the primary method of explination of the stages.
1. Why is The Wizard of Oz the only movie he uses to depict the stages of the journey?
2. Why does he first say their can only be one Hero of a story, but in this section he clearly states that at this point in the story, the Hero may change, to reveal one of the more unsuspecting characters, like the cowardly lion?
3. What is the significance of using a character like Pefessor Marvel in several different situations.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Vogler Response 3/9/09
In the Vogler reading this week , he goes through two more of the Hero's Journey. The reading begins with Crossing the First Threshold in where the hero makes a commitment to the adventure. In this chapter Vogler once again goes over the typical cenereo when the hero reaches the threshold. He would encounter obstacles such as the threshold guardian, the crossing or “leap of faith” that is required in order for the adventure to get underway. Of course in most stories the hero also encounters a rough landing when they are thrown into the adventure.
The next chapter of the Vogler reading focused on Tests, Allies, and Enimies. In this chapter the author gave many examples of what might happen in this stage of Hero's Journey. Firstly , he suggjested that a team might be formed, where the “hero is backed up by several others , or in this phase the hero may also challenge his rivals.” Also during this phase of the journey the hero might, or encounter enimies , “
Vogler points out that enimes can appear at any point in a story , howev er, they are most common at this point. He also mentions that a enemy can be seen as a villian or antagonist, and can include the Trickster, Shadow, Threshold Guardian and at times even the Herald.” He goes on to explain other aspects of this section like Rules of the Special World , saying every Special world has specific rules. He gives the example of Belle in Beauty and the Beast not being allowed to enter through a specific door. He mentions that in stories these rules are almost always broken, or the story would not be able to move forward.
I personally was slightly bored with the reading. It seems as though Vogler has gone over and over these topics so much that I have just lost intrest. How many different ways can you say the same thing over and over again. I feel like once we've got it, that's all there is too it, he's not adding to much new information.
Although the writer is not adding much new information on the topic of the Hero's Journey. He did include one section about a sidekick that usually accompany's the hero and provides comedic releif. That was refreshing to me because even though it wasn't all that interesting, and something I already could see coming , it wasnt something that I had read before in this text, and therefore caught my attention. Apposed to the regular text which continues to repeat its self week after week
Monday, March 2, 2009
Vogler Reading for March 2nd
In this weeks reading Vogler describes two seperate stages of the journey, in the first Refusal to the Call he describes as a “important dramatic function because it signals the audience that the adventure is risky.” Vogler goes on to describe many ways in which the Hero can refuse the Call , including avoidince, make excuses or persistantly deny a call consiquently leading to a tragic end. However, he also mentions that not all refusals have to be negative, such as in the paragraph entitaled positive refusal , in which the hero resists temptation which could lead to a tragic end.
The second section described the archatype of the mentor, and his / her importance in a story.
A mentor is described as a wise , protective figure who guides, teaches, or trains the hero. His job is to “supply the hero with something needed on the journery. It is at this point in the Hero's Journey that the Hero will gain wisdom, courage, or supplies needed in order to see his adventure through to the end”
I found these sections to be interesting, but confusing, especially when we reached the section on mentors, I found a lot of the material to contradict its self from one page to the next. Vogler has stressed almost it seems from the very beginning of the book about the importance of the mentor yet in this section he seems to wavier back and forth on the issue. Saying one minute that the mentor helps to guide the hero and give advice, and the next that we could do without him all together. Or that the hero and mentor have a strong relationship one minute and before you know it one is killing the next. I just hadto ask myself “What's going on” quite often durring this reading
I hope to get some of my thoughts clarifyed from the class disscussion tommorow, because right now I am so confused about the purpose of the mentor.
1. In the mentor reading, there is a section entitled avoiding the cliches, and although I understand these types of mentors are used frequently in stories , they must be there for a reason, so dosen't that mean that they are working?
2. I feel like Vogler contradicts himself about the use of a mentor, throughout the whole book he stresses the importance of the mentor on the hero's journey , up until the last line of that section when he seems to put forth the notion that a mentor may not be needed at all? In which case weakens all previous statements about the mentor! Which is it? Do we need them , or not?
3. If the mentor hero relationship is so important why do they try to kill one another?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Vogler Reading Ordinary World
The reading focused on the Ordinary World, and the different aspects of it. Vogler expains that the Ordinary World is the common, everyday life that the character lives, he goes on to say that this section of the story is one of the most important because it “hooks the reader” into wanted to continue reading; and sets the tone of the story. He also lets the reader know that this part of the story is the most crucial because it is where the reader gets to see the first glimpses of the character, how they move, look , talk , their personality. It is the reader's first chance to get an impression from the story; so the writer must try to make a powerful ; good first impression. Vogler continues this chapter by breaking down all the important elements to include in the Ordinary world section of a story, like the importance of a good title, forshadowing; hinting at events to come in the story. The importance of raising a dramatic question and creating inner and outer contrast between the main character/ Hero. The crucial first entrance of the main character, and the importance of a wounded Hero; as a way to make them more identifiable with the audience.
I really enjoyed this reading, much more than many of the others, it was just the right length to hold my attention, without seeming as though it was trying to overload the reader with tons of information. I also enjoyed this section because it focused a lot on the elements of good story writing, and as I was reading I found my self wondering of in thought about the different ways I could apply Vogler's interpritation of good story- telling to my own writing for the class. The section about the wounded , held particular meaning to me, because I feel like my own personal writing is based upon wounds that I have had to deal with throughout my own personal life journey.
Upon reflection of the entire reading, I can only say that I hope the readings to follow will offer me as much insight as this one has, so that I will be able to apply the Vogler reading to my own personal stories. I feel like this reading will help to make me want to achive more in my personal writing , and give myself a goal to move towards.
1. Can the readings for the course continue to be shorter in length as this one was, I personally find it less stressful and more enjoyable when I dont have to worrry about finishing a specific , or large amount of pages in one sitting.
2. Does the Hero character always need to have all of these elements to make the story a good story?
3. Do you think the Ordinary World has to be dramatically different from the Special World, as Vogler sugjests
Revision plan
Sunday, February 15, 2009
In the reading, Vogler continues the Hero's Journey by describing the other archatypes. The threshold Gardian was the first archatype to be mentioned. In the Hero's Journey the Threshold Gardian is a “nutral figure who are simply a part of the background of the special world. They are not the main villan or antagonist.” (49) The threshold gardian is used to challenge or test the hero. The second archatypes mentioned was the Herold, they are the characters who “issue a challege and annonce the coming of a significant change.” The Herald usually is introduced in the beginning of the story, bec to helps the character begin his adventure” (57). They can be present in the journey as many forms, sometimes protraying an actual character; while at other times they are recognized as a poweful “force” in the journey. In the reading vogler points out that there is not just one specific type of character that can preform the role of the Herold. Rather he informs the reader that their can be several types of herolds; some are good, others bad, and still others that remain nutral characters throughout the story.
The next type of archatype Vogler mentions is the Shapeshifter, who“ is the most moldable character in any story, the shapeshifter is most often seen in relationships between characters of the opposite sex.
In many stories the Shapeshifter becomes the “love intrest” of the Hero.Many times the Shapeshifter turns out to be a the “love intrest of the Hero” Shapeshifter's are always changing their look , and their emotions. On some occasions the shapeshifter can turn out to be the same sex as the Hero, when this happens the shapeshifter takes on the role of an alley or friend.” The shapeshifter can function as a mask to be worn by any character, for example if in a romatic story the hero might become the shapeshifter/ friend.” (63) The shadow is another archatype who represents the dark side. A shadow can be all the negative aspects of ourselfs, and the secrets that we keep. The shadow is used as a way to challenge the Hero.
My reaction to the reading this week was that it was an overwhelming amount of material for me personally. I think I would have retained and understood more of the information if it was broken down into smaller sections. Similar to the way it was in the earlier chapters.
I thought the reading was informative but it did not hold my attention as well as some of the previous chapters. Maybe it was due to the length of the reading or maybe because the author used less examples, making it harder to invision each archatype. Either way I found it difficult to focus on the different readings this time around.
In the future can we have the readings broken down into smaller sections?
I did not really understand the section on Threshold Guardians, What types of characters in film would be considered a Threshold Guardian?
If the shadow is a dark force, how can they be humanized or vounerable?
Monday, February 9, 2009
In this weeks reading by Vogler, he begins his discussion about archatypes. The meaning of the term archatype as described by Carl Jung says that the word reffers to “ancient pattern s of personality , that are shared by the human race. Jung goes on to say that he believes that all archatypes share a collective unconcious , much like the human unconcious, thefore the stories of a culture are similar to the collective dreams of a society.” Vogler goes on to point out that the archatypes knows no bounderies , it transends the consept of time. Archatypes are present in stories throughout the world, and will continue to be a neccesary element of story telling for generations to come. The first archatype that Vogler adresses is the Hero , a character willing to sacrifice for the good of others , or the betterment of humanity. Throughout the chapter he devides the Hero into many different facets, including their physiological functions; transending the ego, toaudience identification, how the audience identifies with the hero. Growth , how the hero learns from his experiences. The action of the hero , how his actions motivate the story. The hero's ability to sacrifice, one of the major makers of a hero. He goes on to describe many other types and variations of hero's.
Vogler depicts several different types of hero's in this reading, we know that the Hero in the story is someone who sacrifices for the good of others, overcome's their ego , and is a charcter that experiences growth and learns from his experiences. Does a story have just one hero, or could their be several different hero's in a story? I bring up this question because Vogler describes so many different types of hero's within the reading, and I know that the Hero character can be a combination of these types , but can their ever be two hero's working together?
Throughout the reading I kept reflecting back on the statement found in the section about the Group oriented Hero I found it interesting that when it comes time for the Hero to choose to return to his ordinary life , or stay in his fantasy world , that the Hero's disison is often based on the cultural significance of the story. In Western Culture the Hero typically chooses to go back to his family or community. But in other cultures the outcome is not the same. In other cultures such as Asia and India the Hero typically chooses to stay in their fantasy world in lue of reterning to reality.
1. Vogler describes the hero as someone who is willing to sacrifice for the good of others, someone experiences personal growth, and learns from their experiences. I tend to think of a hero in this same manner. However, I also think that a Hero is someone who can break away from the mold, and go off to experience unfound territory, someone who breaks away from the constraits of society and has the courage to follow their dreams. In this way I don't think that all hero's necessarly have to fit into this mold of abandoning the ego , because it takes a lot of ego to go against the main stream culture or society.
2. Can their ever be more than one hero in a story?
3. In western culture the hero typically returns back to the ordinary world to live with his community or family. In other cultures however, the hero often chooses to stay in the Fantasy World.. Why? What does this say about the values of each culture?