Connor

Directors like David Lynch mislead audiences with dialogue. Going as far to create distorted backwards voices in Twin Peaks. Alfred Hitchcock once said a film only works if you can understand the story with no sound/dialogue. Explain the effect of dialogue and how it can be used to change the audience's perspective to intensify the visual elements of the storytelling process.

I think this is an incredibly interesting topic and wonder if it applies to non-English dialogue film? – Jmphi 7 years ago
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Reference the "Unreliable Narrator". How does the audience figure out what is real when they have reason to believe the voice that they hearing/the character whose viewpoint we are following might not be telling the truth? – Kidcanuck 7 years ago
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This could definitely be an interesting story if researched well. This could also tie into the themes of "actions speaking louder than words" and showing how a character can say one thing, and then turn around and do something else. The question is, when a character is deceiving other characters, can film give that character the ability to deceive the audience, too? – Sharkbait101 7 years ago
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Published

anime

End of Evangelion

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How the End of Evangelion is Anno's Way of Spiting Viewers

Hideaki Anno initially did not want to redo the ending but felt forced to by the fan base. In doing so, he included many subtle stabs at Eva fans and is able to metaphorically represent the complaining viewers.

Some ways Anno is able to do this includes: - Including the death threats he received in the film - Shinji being exceptionally resistant to piloting the Eva while being forced to by everyone around him (perhaps representing everyone wanting Anno to redo the ending?) - The more confusing and symbolic ending could be an attempt to give the viewers too much of what they wanted. - YouTubers DouchebagChocolat and ReVolutionofEVa both cover some of the themes and symbolism included by Anno that could represent his hostility to redo te ending – cbazil 9 years ago
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Another note is to include some details about how an audience can be powerful enough to persuade an author to redo a part of their work. For example, the death threats I mentioned before count as one of the ways viewers pushed Anno to redo the ending. – cbazil 9 years ago
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writing

Graduate Writing

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The Various Writing Styles and How They Are Utilized by Grads/Undergrads

This topic will cover the generally accepted writing formats for undergraduate/graduate level writing – MLA, APA and Chicago style specifically. Generally each are associated with a certain field of study and there is no generally accepted styles of writing. What are some of the benefits/drawbacks of each format of writing? Undergraduates normally only interact with one style (ex. I only use MLA but I know some liberal arts degrees require Chicago style proficiency). Explore the reasons certain styles are recommended when all of them have places in the same/similar fields. Also explore what, if any, is the most generally accepted writing style for graduate and undergraduate studies and how they are related.

It depends on the discourse. Education and psychology journals use APA. Journalists typically use Chicago. Liberal Arts and Humanities journals use MLA. These different editing styles have different emphases as dictated by the what is important in that field of discourse.Much of the same information is included, but in different ways or in different orders. – nsnow 9 years ago
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I'm not sure this is entirely true. I think it depends on the program. In music, I know that we use Chicago at my university in our undergrad program. – Laura Jones 9 years ago
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Maybe I'm wrong nsnow but my professors told me that Chicago is the writing style for most liberal arts degrees. Let me rephrase - explore why undergrads specialize in one format when there is a multitude that could be used when moving on to graduate school. Perhaps my university does things differently but all of the liberal arts courses use MLA and every other school (business, engineering, etc.) lists MLA as one of the applicable writing styles. – Connor 9 years ago
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@Venus Echos I tried to make it more flexible in the ways you described. I'm more concerned subjectively then because I know more academic papers in the English field are done in Chicago but all undergraduate classes ask for MLA specifically at my school. Still looking for feedback from my previous note by the way. – Connor 9 years ago
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I don't think most undergraduates only use MLA format, as you intimated. Yes, each style is usually linked to a particular field of study; however, the format that one uses is dictated by his/her major, also by the preference of the professor. All professors do not stick to the style that established guidelines say one should use for a particular major. I teach in higher education, and I know that some professors do not have a preference and will allow the students to use any of the formats regardless of their major. Without having the results of some type of survey, I think it is difficult to outline pros and cons of a particular format. I have heard students complain about a few of them. I think it depends upon the individual and what his/her needs/preferences are. – liztroi69 9 years ago
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Connor, I really like the title it draws me in. I believe you have structured the topic in a manner that flows well. Thanks Venus – Venus Echos 9 years ago
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@liztroi69 I guess I'm wrong in my understanding but at the university I study at they don't do it that way. I asked my professor and he said that you're right for most schools but mine just teaches it differently. So the question was more subjective than I thought. I apologize. I do think a topic covering the generalization of formatting and how one could be viable where another isn't is still a topic to consider. But yes, my original topic was not sufficient on an objective level. – Connor 9 years ago
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Actually, it is more accurate to think about what style publications in academic fields desire more than anything. This usually dictates what style a discipline uses. For instance, MLA is the Modern Language Association, and that is why it is the preferred style in English studies (and since most students learn to write papers in English classes first, they learn MLA). Chicago is used in lots of publications because of the way it cites sources (footnotes are a lot more readable than parenthetical documentation). APA is the American Psychological Association, and so the journals that publish under them (and related social sciences) follow their lead. @Connor-did you go to a liberal arts college? I did my undergrad at one and I think we pretty exclusively used MLA. But now I have taught at a city college and a state university and I have helped undergrads with Chicago, APA, and others. – Caitlin Ray 9 years ago
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@ Caitlin Ray Perhaps that is a good point. What academic fields require what format of writing? Unfortunately, my point is undergraduate school, at least for my liberal arts school, solely teaches MLA where there are communications and journalist majors being restricted in this way. Mine is more analysis/writing courses so maybe you could make an argument for those but Chicago seems like the style most suited for my desired style of writing and a couple of my teachers have implied that is the style I will use in graduate school. My school, UNH, is more specialized in business majors but has quite a successful liberal arts college. Like I tried to make clear in my edits, perhaps the question is why don't schools make more effort to teach the few most popular writing formats (APA, MLA, and Chicago)? Maybe this is a thing and, as I've stated in other comments, this is more a subjective question but I feel students should be more aware of other writing styles and be more capable moving forward with a multitude of writing styles under their belts. – Connor 9 years ago
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This is a pet peeve of mine, writing styles. There should be a - one - consistently agreed upon style, and I would put forth Turabian and, more importantly, footnotes as the thing to use. Obviously, that's my personal bias though. Aside from that, the problems with all styles in respect to citation, particularly a bibliography, is that they all differ and, as far as I can tell, for little good reason. APA seems to be largely misunderstood in one major way: that one should never use first-person voice in an APA style paper. This is false, and even when I have informed professors that it is false, and yes, pulled out my APA style manual and showed them, currently, section 3.09 (Sixth Addition) where it says "to avoid ambiguity, use a personal pronoun rather than the third-person when describing steps taken in your experiment," and then I usually get some version of This Is How We Do It Here, which would lead me to say that the only consistency I see with writing styles is they all are frequently modified at will, if not whim, by professors and publishers alike (the latter leading to the irritating reality of having to reformat, if not effectively rewrite in some cases, one's paper to satisfy the personal preference of the editor). I prefer Turabian because I know it and use it, so there is my bias, but I use footnotes and find them to make the most sense. True, in all papers they may not make most sense, but then again, if one is simply citing sources, it really does not matter much if it is at the bottom of the page, end of chapter, or end of work, at least not to me. Yet, if those footnotes actually contain information, are exegetic in nature, or otherwise add to that which I am *now* reading, then yes, on the page I am reading makes most sense, again, to me. I find in-text citation styles of MLA and APA both distracting. Superscript numerals used in Turabian are bad enough, but one has to do something, and again, I prefer Turabian's method. APA as a style is, in my humble opinion, the worst style because it effectively teaches the writer to use passive voice, particularly if he or she has been trained to consider first-person a sin. (I would argue that since one writes a paper, it only makes sense to refer to oneself.) I could go on and on (and on) about writing styles, if not academic "research," e.g., multiple authorship abuse, plagiarism, etc., but at least I did note a few common problems with the major three writing styles. Generally, there should be a movement to agree to at least a citation style, largely formatting (capitalize or not? italicize or not? oh, please....) issues, and be done with it. The rest is, well, style. As I was taught, be consistent. And if you are wise, use Turabian. Ha. – Rael64 9 years ago
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The standardization for writing styles is a natural course of action by those promoting the English language, even though I believe they are futile efforts. Much like the language itself, those sorts of developing tools inadvertently tend to divide it by how the users manipulate it, and leads to those unique changes in the format and rule. Regardless, this is an excellent tail to the overall discussion of writing styles, and how certain formats become adapted to various individuals vs. the organized brand. I anticipate some intriguing points related to this topic. – N.D. Storlid 9 years ago
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These days, more and more students are seeing the goal towards their writing being to tailor their writings towards their professor and thus lessen their own individual creativity in their writing. – Kmo 9 years ago
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Useful tips for students as well as for writers who are connected with academic field. – WilliamRiley 9 years ago
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arts

The Amity Affliction

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Water Symbolism in The Amity Affliction Lyrics

The Australian metalcore band has released several albums over the past decade, notably "Chasing Ghosts" and "Let the Ocean Take Me". In both of these albums, many of their lyrics directly reference rivers, oceans, drowning, storms and sandy beaches. The usage of these themes are reminiscent of the storms of Shakespeare's "King Lear" and "The Tempest". Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of water-related imagery in The Amity Affliction's lyrics. Maybe other bands also use this theme in their lyrics, compare and contrast other artists/bands with The Amity Affliction in that sense and analyze the different effects this imagery has on the listener.

literature

Architecture and Literature

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Architecture in Literature: How It Invokes Meaning

I'm currently writing a college essay specifically regarding Atwood's usage of architecture, but I'd like to see it on a more global level. Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale shows an area titled the Republic of Gilead that everyone lives in and the narrator provides vivid descriptions of the architecture in the area – a Late Victorian style with the simplicity of early Neoclassical beliefs in the United States. Atwood has said in interviews that it is also inspired by Cambridge, MA as far as the style and layout. Although I haven't read any other Atwood novel I have heard that she also describes architecture in great detail in those. Many other writers such as William Faulkner and Edgar Allen Poe have done similar things with their work where they take real architectural styling and use it to create a unique, sometimes metaphorical, space. How does the architecture change our perception of the story i regards to its surface value? Should architecture be described more in writing to create a surreal sense of space?

I think this is a wonderful topic. Another thing to think about would be the Gothic Era; this focused alot on architecture in literature, since the concept of space was very important at this time. Gothic architecture is also used to enhance gothic elements in novels; think of how the abbey works in The Romance of the Forest ? The castle in Dracula ? Just a thought to consider since you also mentioned Edgar Allen Poe ! :) – alishauppal 9 years ago
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An excellent topic - - literature cannot help but be the palimpset on which all the arts of that era leave their impringts. – SUNANDO DASGUPTA AND ASSOCIATES 6 years ago
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Read G. Perec and all these ideas will go away. (BTW, it's 'Allan'). – T. Palomino 2 years ago
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film

a clockwork orange

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A Clockwork Orange is a Parody of Dystopias

A dystopia is commonly an unpleasant or bad place commonly due to totalitarian governments. In the Anthony Burgess novel (or the Stanley Kubrick film), the protagonist and his friends terrorize innocent people, but this doesn't appear to support an actual dystopia. There is a government who isn't overbearing, there are prison systems, and it is stated that there is a sufficient educational system. It seems like an average future – portrayed through an unreliable narrator, the criminal Alex. The story gives the interpretation that criminals are too prevalent in the society but there are only two gangs and most other characters are living their lives. Compared to most dystopian literature, the concept is inverted along with the protagonist who is normally an underdog rebelling against their government. Alex doesn't mold a bildungsroman or feel like an underdog rebelling against the unruly. Analyze and interpret the dystopian elements and the contradictions within the book/movie and define if this can really be called dystopian or if it is actually a parody or something else entirely. Would this be a satire or parody? This is considered a black comedy so there is still humorous aspects to consider.

I like the idea. I'm not sure parody is quite the correct word--maybe satire or something similar--but the idea behind it is very interesting. – nsnow 9 years ago
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It's interesting that you say that, I originally brought this topic up to one of my professors as a satire and they said that it would be less of a satire and more of a parody. I agree with you, and would love to hear more opinions in regards to which would be a better term for A Clockwork Orange. – Connor 9 years ago
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Just looking at the definitions, parody's goal is comedy and humor through imitation and exaggeration. I wouldn't call Clockwork Orange a comedy or humorous book/movie. Satire uses humor and/or exaggeration to criticize a concept, which I think is closer to what you are getting at. Both words are closely related and I could see an argument for either one. – nsnow 9 years ago
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Agreed, although A Clockwork Orange is classified as a black comedy which I know isn't as common in American works but has been popular among Kubrick's other works (ex. Dr Strangelove). I look at it as more of an inverted version of dystopia showing that the common dystopian story can be flipped and more horrific (sounds more satirical to me in that sense), but I can see both sides. – Connor 9 years ago
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Latest Comments

Sep 22, 2016 Connor Thanks for the comment! Your interpretations do align with my article here and I’m glad you agree. In fact, from what I’ve read about the three kings, I know the least of Arthur but I’ve read several of the Round Table stories where he plays a key role, these portrayals accurately reflect their rules. That was what fascinated me enough to write about it!	Alexander the Great: The True King of Fate/Zero
Aug 28, 2016 Connor Also, could you attach the link to Gen Urobuchi on Saber? I misspoke, and the interview I read actually stated that he didn’t understand Stay Night’s interpretation of the character and had to manage as best he could to remain in the confines of the sequel’s layout.	Alexander the Great: The True King of Fate/Zero
Aug 28, 2016 Connor The personalities of these characters reflect the factual characters, that is the intent of this review. I don’t really understand some of your comments since Alexander’s statements have merit since he did create one of the largest Empires in history and was well versed in philosophy and war. Gilgamesh may sound like a bad character to someone who doesn’t know the Epic of GIlgamesh but the portrait of the character is consistent with the original source material. As for Arthur, I have read that she was not intentionally written the way I perceived it to be but it matches with the few stories I’ve read about the knight of the round table, specifically the way that he tried desperately to take on all of the evil for his kingdom’s sake which is a dream. Similar to what you said about the comparisons with Shirou, it is a futile dream that caused his people to become too dependent. The weakness of Arthur is that his dream had little to do with leading the people to be strong and resolute but to take on all of the problems so they could live happily ever after. Alexander’s comments against Arthur are actually impressive in comparing the ideals of their true selves, which is why I think this is important. Yes, Alexander may sound like a “delusional dictator” but that was because he was able to conquer and control so much in his lifetime that he is able to, effectively, attack Arthur’s ideals. The Fate series does warp most of these historical characters to fit into the context of the fantasy setting, but this review is to show the ideals that this specific episode provided were accurate portrayals of what real arguments between these characters would’ve looked like.	Alexander the Great: The True King of Fate/Zero
Nov 19, 2015 Connor Of course he wants to conquer the modern age as he stated in the episode referenced in this post. He doesn’t make too many comments I recall about the new age probably like how he respects the rule of other kings like Gilgamesh. At no point does Gilgamesh say something like “you’re wrong and I’m right” to Gilgamesh in regards to their perceived kingship (of course I can’t say the same for Saber). He does reference how his biggest enemy would be Bill Clinton but doesn’t make any comments criticizing him. He probably respects the changes to the world but that won’t stop him from conquering and implementing his authority over it!	Alexander the Great: The True King of Fate/Zero
Nov 18, 2015 Connor I don’t believed he appears in anything else of the TYPE-MOON universe. I do believe that I read somewhere that Taiga Fujimura ran into them during the time of Fate/Zero but I don’t recall where I saw it.	Alexander the Great: The True King of Fate/Zero
Nov 17, 2015 Connor Love the article! Although I don’t watch South Park much anymore, I still respect its satirical, and somewhat controversial, storytelling techniques and get a kick out of some of the dark humor.	South Park: Respect Their Commentarah
Oct 26, 2015 Connor I like the article, but I think you could’ve expanded a little bit. There is a lot of evidence to support that Madoka Magica was influenced by Goethe’s Faust. This could be a direct relation to the dark tone the story has in comparison to say, Sailor Moon. I would’ve liked to see you go into more detail about the psychology of characters and the art style transitions when inside a witch’s labyrinth since I think both of those are really important to discuss. Overall, this looks like a great introduction to someone who may just be getting into the show.	Madoka Magica: What Happened to the Happy World of Magical Girls?
Oct 26, 2015 Connor I only joined the Artifice recently, but I saw this a year or two ago and I must say it is a fantastic article. I loved Penguindrum for it’s symbolism and undertones and this clearly depicts some of the more important points to these. When I saw this pop up on the right while reading an article, I just had to comment saying I genuinely enjoyed reading this.	Exploring Mawaru Penguindrum (2011) from a Historical, Cultural and Literary Perspective

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