Report on My Interviews

In this blog post, I will report back on what I have learned from my interviews.

GotCredit, "Report." 3/16/15. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Genres

• Plays
• Academic Journals
• Workshops

Plays

Plays are written for the purpose of entertaining the audience or communicating a certain message or theme to the audience. It is how the members of the theatre translate information and their creativity to the general public. It features characters, a plot, conflict, and is in the format in order to tell a story. Each play can vary on their purpose or overall meaning depending on the play, however this is where theatre artists are able to express themselves creatively for the rest of the world to see, and has the broadest audience due to this.

Academic Journals

The entries within academic journals however are mostly where those in theatre can communicate their research and ideas professionally and with other theatre professionals. It is where they commit to researching and explaining a piece of information that they find the most interesting. They then peer review this information and take it into consideration and incorporate the ideas learned here into their own work moving forward. It lists out facts and statistics and data gathered over a period of time, and relays this information to other professionals, and is usually meant solely for those academically interested in theatre.

Workshops

Workshops are intended to translate information to a broader audience that can not simply be understood through reading but by doing. For example, Dr. McKean frequently goes through Shakespeare workshops, as the language used in his plays are far easier to understand and work through as a performance rather than cold reading. Workshops are physical activities that can translate the information given in academic journals, but is for a much broader audience and allows for them to learn physically rather than through their use of facts or statistics given in journals. 

Challenging

The most challenging parts of writing a play:

• Trying to find the correct audience
• Going through revisions
• Dealing with criticism after publication 
• Loss of creativity or writers block 

The most challenging parts of writing in an academic journal

• Completing the research 
• Maintaining interest in topic
• Back and forth fights with those editing 

The most challenging parts of writing/conducting a workshop

• Reorganizing information into a workshop
• Correctly emphasizing the most important aspects of the work
• Time management throughout the entire process

Rewarding

The most rewarding parts of writing a play:

• The recognition of a successful play in areas all over the state/country/world
• The joy from seeing the work performed on stage
• Steady cash flow from performers purchasing the rights to work

The most rewarding parts of writing in an academic journal

• The process of learning about the topic that interests you
• Recognition from those working professionally in the field
• Opinion respected and sought after by peers 

The most rewarding parts of writing/conducting a workshop

• Taking the joy from the research in the academic journal and completing it physically, especially ideas that need physicality
• Watching those in attendance learn more as the workshop goes on
• The amount of entertainment and joy that comes from learning is experienced fully in the workshop outside of the academic journal

Mass Media

Plays are the most popular forms of theatre, and can be found in almost any city in performance throughout the country. The most popular being shows, especially musicals, that perform in areas like Broadway in New York City, and are honored by awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, the Drama Desk Award, or the Tony Award. 

Plays and musicals tour all over the country, and are performed by local theatre companies after purchasing the rights. For example, the musical Rent will be performed by students in the BFA program at the U of A, and can be consumed by those in the Tucson community. Recently the media has also taken to broadcasting musicals on television for the world to see, with infrequent success. 

Workshops specifically are used in an education setting, and usually take place at a school whether it be at a high school, university, or at a local theatre offering classes to the surrounding community. Also frequently teachers are taught in workshops, and it gives them better ideas in which to teach their students the material being covered in the workshop.

Academic journals are not covered by the mass media, but can be found in theatre journals and articles that are published monthly or yearly such as Theatre Journal or Theatre Research International. These publications are mostly consumed by those in the professional community, and is how the professionals in the field share information with one another. 

From Academia to Social Media

In this blog post, I will analyze the social media presence of an author from Theatre Research International.

Sean MacEntee, "facebook business." 5/27/2010. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

I was able to find Laine Zisman Newman on:

• Twitter
• Wordpress
• LinkedIn

What I Have Learned

The social media websites that Newman is a part of are extremely thorough, and she is talking all about the field of acting in pop culture, such as live tweets regarding the Oscars and her opinions about what is occurring on the live broadcast. Also both her Wordpress and LinkedIn are extremely thorough and professional, highlighting the connections and networking that she has been able to achieve in her line of work.

I have learned that she consistently writes for the Canadian Theatre Review, and while she has not appeared on Facebook or YouTube, through the Canadian Theatre Review page she has appeared and been mentioned frequently. 

Compared to Original Journal

In the original journal, she wrote a book review for the journal and this definitely matches up with her personality. While she is very well educated and has great experience as seen from her LinkedIn profile, she is not researching within the field and is more educated enough to give intelligent and well-thought out opinions. 

This can also be reflected through her personality as shown in her tweets. She consistently gives her opinions regarding pop culture in theatre and acting, which is reflected as well within the academic journal. 

Academic Discourse & Genre

In this blog post, I will analyze what different genres are within my journal of choice.

Paolo Braiuca, "We are all different." 9/13/15. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Within this journal, there seem to be 3 major different genres published within it. The main genres that can be seen within the journal are scholarly articles, book reviews, and editorials.

Editorial

The journal started off with an editorial, and it was written within the first person and was a more personal experience as to how the journal writing process was for the editor. It was far more personable than either of the two genres, and was more of an autobiographical entry rather than a piece of an academic journal.

Scholarly Article

Scholarly articles were written with abstracts and the information was listed out in paragraphs, laced with facts and information regarding the topic of each article at hand. While the author is involved in the writing, and the amount of care can be seen by each author, it is not about them and is strictly about the information that they are trying to relay.

Book Review

Book reviews are more of a combination between the two above genres. They go about trying to give their logical progression for how the book was, and tries to keep their own personal tastes out of the equation and focus on the content of the book. They are free to give their opinions and are encouraged to be critical rather than simply relaying information to the audience. They are expected to give their opinion as in an editorial, but back it up with the facts found within a scholarly article.

• Editorial: The editor or writer going about describing the process of how the piece came to be.
• Scholarly Article: The author relaying detailed information to the audience, specifically an audience that is educated on the subject.
• Book Review: The author taking their subjective opinions on a piece of work and relaying the facts of why a piece of work made them think or feel the way that they do. 

Rhetorical Analysis of Academic Journal

In this blog post, I will rhetorically analyze my academic journal, Theatre Research International.

Tim Wils, 2/19/16, via my phone. 

Who Are They?

There are 15 authors that were printed in the most recent issue of Theatre Research International. The authors are Elaine Aston, Rivka Syd Eisner, Jennifer Goodlander, Miguel Escobar Varela, Adele Senior, Anselm Heinrich, Jonas Tinius, Daniela Sacco, William W. Lewis, C. Tova Markenson, Victoria Fortuna, Katherine Kavanagh, Laine Zisman Newman, and Jen Harvie.

These authors are all working professionally, and have published works relating to their topics for many years. Some also work for highly respected institutions or universities, where their opinion is also highly respected as well. All of them are given the length of a full scholarly article where they are able to talk about their research in a variety of different areas in the field of theatre, for example how theatre and feminism intertwine and relate from Elaine Aston.

Audience?

The intended audience is those that have an experience and education in theatre, and those that have opinions on what is currently going on within the theatre world. For example, how the article "Beginners On Stage: Arendt, Natality and the Appearance of Children in Contemporary Performance" focuses on the reactions to contemporary theatre and the difficulties that arise from these issues that are addressed on stage.

However this also links to a secondary audience, as the beginners of theatre. It also has a section for book reviews as well, which give resources and book ideas for those beginning in theatre and that are thirsty for knowledge regarding theatre.

Context

The context of this specific journal entry deals with the controversial topics that have occurred within society, and how the theatrical world is dealing with these problems. For example, the article regarding "Sbeik Thom at the Season of Cambodia Festival: Performing Memory after the Killing Fields in a Post-9/11 New York City"

It deals with the problems that are faced within theatre, especially when contextualized in the real world. The content of the journal tends to focus more on the controversial topics within theatre due to this such as feminism, nudity, and 9/11.

This fits into the main message and purpose of this journal entry, as it goes about trying to explain how these different events not only relate to theatre, but how theatre can help change the perception about each of these ideas. There are a variety of aspects of life that can be addressed through theatre, such as how to deal with tragedy such as events like 9/11 and this journal goes over ways in which theatre has gone about dealing with this and what this means for the society that has dealt with this theatre moving forward.

My Major

In this blog post, I will go over my major.

Boeke, Jonathan. "Theatre" 9/17/2006 via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License

1. What do students in your program learn how to do?

• I am currently pursuing a BA in Theatre Arts. The students in the BA program are exposed to a wide variety of theatre by the time of their graduation. Students learn about acting, stagecraft, costuming, stage management, directing, the history of theatre, dramaturgy, and a variety of other topics over the course of the curriculum. 
• The goal in the BA track, as opposed to those in the BFA, is to allow students to be exposed to a range of topics in theatre. Therefore when they enter the real world, they can be placed in any theatre situation and understand what is needed of them. 

2. What do people who get degrees in this field usually go on to do for work?

• Those who graduate with a BA in Theatre Arts are able to go into any general area of theatre that they so desire.
• The degree is able to give a general, universal knowledge over all of theatre and therefore most people who earn this degree usually go out and try to achieve in the field professionally. Other options are creating theatre in the community, or teaching theatre to future generations. 

3. What drew you to this field?

• Personally I have been interested in the field since I was 4 years old, and it has been a lifelong part of my life for as long as I can possibly remember.
• The amount of joy that goes into creating theatre and observing it as well also drew me to the field. It is by definition something I absolutely love to do, and therefore the amount of money that is earned is irrelevant at this current moment. 

4. Who are the leaders/most exciting people involved in your field right now? Why? 

• One of the most important organizations in theatre is organizations such as The Broadway League. The organization promotes the shows that are on Broadway, as well as honor those who excel in theatre through events such as the Tony Awards.
• Other important individuals of the theatre are those who bring attention and acclaim to theatre worldwide. For example people such as Neil Patrick Harris, Idina Menzel, Hugh Jackman, Kristin Chenoweth, and many others. These are performers of theatre who have brought attention to and notoriety to the theatre, and allow the business to grow.

5. What are the leading academic/scholarly journals in your field? Where are they published?

Some of the top theatre academic/scholarly journals are: 

• Theatre Journal, published by Johns Hopkins University
• Comparative Drama, published by Western Michigan University
• Theatre Research International, published by the International Federation for Theatre Research

My Interviewees on Social Media

In this blog post, I will analyze my interviewees on social media.

mkhmarketing, "Social Media Class." 3/8/2013. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

I was able to find Dr. Byrne on

• LinkedIn

I was able to find Dr. McKean on 

• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Both Dr. Byrne and Dr. McKean do not have a major social media presence. Dr. McKean however, where she is located is very thorough while Dr. Byrne may have a LinkedIn it is extremely limited and does not detail out much of his history or experience. I learned that social media is not a necessary presence for either of their lines of work, or if it is they do not believe it to be necessary for the work that they are doing. 

Dr. Byrne has an extremely knowledgeable persona in academic journals, as he writes to educate those about the history of theatre. Dr. McKean comes off as extremely helpful and wise in her approach to childhood education. There are no social media posts to compare their knowledge published in academic journals, as the Facebook posts seen do not offer much other than a change in profile picture and advertisement for a festival back in 2013. 

Both of them have an extremely limited presence on social media, and do not make comparison easy between social media and their presence in academic journals. 

My Interviewees as Professional Writers

In this blog post, I will analyze my interviewees as professional writers.

David Turnbull, "I am a writer." 9/2/2009. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

What They've Done

• Bobbi McKean has published a book on theatre education, and is currently in the writing process for a second book on Shakespeare and his work. She works at the University of Arizona where she teaches courses on Acting, Theatre Appreciation, Popular Entertainment, Improvisation and Collaborative Play Development. It is there where she also writes and educates others on the history of theatre and the creation of new theatre.
  
• Kevin Byrne has worked as a dramaturg on numerous productions, where he researches the history and time period of the play and communicates that information to the cast and the director. He also has extensively researched African American theatre, blackface and minstrel performance, and popular culture. He also has written publications and conference presentations on the amateur play publishing industry and Bert Williams. 

Dr. McKean

Dr. McKean has written A Teaching Artist at Work and has written an entry for the academic journal, Journal for Learning Through the Arts. In this instance, she has both published a book and written an article for an academic journal. These are both different in the audiences, as a book is meant to teach those who do not know but are interested while an academic journal is meant to transfer new knowledge to those already invested in the field. 

A Teaching Artist at Work

The book that she had published had come from her experiences as a theatre educator while working in the state of Washington. For example, she details out the way she collaborated with another educator to create a theatrical experience for the 5th grade students in the area, which had recently seen an influx of immigrating students from Asian countries. She tells the story of her experience, and gives other visual details to elaborate on what worked and does not work as a theatre educator.

The overall message and purpose of the piece was to educate the educators of theatre, specifically by highlighting their own experience in the theatre Not only does the title give away this piece of information, but also the summary that was written as well. It states, "A Teaching Artist at Work helps theatre teaching artists develop connections between their pedagogical and artistic selves." 

Journal for Learning Through the Arts

The article that was published in the journal by her and David Yarnelle were a compilation of facts and results from a variety of others. It listed out that theatre and other artistic projects can aid in the overall education of those in primary school. They list out how children completing poems and creating projects such as kites actually have their overall productivity increase.

The overall message and purpose of the piece is very similar to the previous work published by Dr. McKean. It's goal is to improve theatre education for those in an elementary setting, and benefit the public immensely. It can be seen in the last piece of information posted by McKean and Yarnelle, "Our hope is that these articles will serve as inspirations for more projects (and more articles) to come."

Dr. Byrne

Dr. Byrne has published articles in the Journal of American Drama and Theatre and Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. These genres do not differ from one another because his work has only been published so far within academic journals. 

Journal of American Drama and Theatre 

The one published in the American Drama and Theatre Journal deals with the history of African American theatre and Burt Williams, and details out the history of the theatre in this way as well as getting into specifics regarding the history of Under the Bamboo Tree and how the history of that play has been wrongly contextualized in history. 

The overall message and purpose of this section of the journal was to take all of the preconceived notions regarding African American theatre, specifically regarding Burt Williams and Under the Bamboo Tree and contextualizing it to fit reality. He states himself in the article, "This article traces the history of Under the Bamboo Tree and Williams’s part in it: from the script that existed before the star championed it, to the alterations created specifically for (and most likely by) him"

Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 

The one published in the Papers of the Bibliographical Society goes over the history of the amateur play publishing industry, and how the industry has changed, and basically devolved over time since the early times in history. 

The overall message and purpose of this article is to detail out what has occurred within this industry. The industry has devolved over time, especially since the early times where there was a popular industry for publishing amateur plays, and gaining income from it, and also details out how the industry while being so popular is not recognized being as such. He states in the article, "Yet this industry is largely absent from histories of US publishing or narratives of American theatre."

My Interview Subjects

In this blog post, I will go over the general basics of who the interviewers are and what shall generally be discussed.

Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung, "Interviews." 4/5/2014. via flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

Who Are They?

I am going to interview Dr. Kevin Byrne and Dr. Bobbi McKean. They both work for the University of Arizona. 

What Is Their Position?

Dr. Bryne is an Assistant Professor and Dr. McKean is an Associate Professor, both a part of the School of Theatre, Film, and Television. 

What Are Their Credentials?

• Dr. Byrne earned his Ph.D. from the City University of New York
• Dr. McKean earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. 
• Bobbi McKean has worked at the University since 1997, and prior to this worked as a professional actress in the field for over a decade in Seattle. 
• Dr. Byrne has had less experience, but prior to coming to the University in recent years, he worked professionally as a dramaturg for numerous professional productions.

Bobbi McKean

Kevin Byrne

I am interviewing Dr. McKean on February 29th at 10:30 in her office in the Drama Building, Room 239. I am interviewing Dr. Byrne on March 2nd at 10:00 in his office in the Marshall Building.

Dr. McKean Questions 

1. What kind of different genres do you find yourself writing in for the field?
2. What sort of conferences and meetings do you help run and organize?
3. You organize and run a lot of workshops, how do you go about effectively coming up with these workshops?
4. What would you say are the benefits and drawbacks to doing a workshop or working at conference as opposed to your writing?
5. According to your website, you are currently writing a book on Shakespeare, what is this book about?
6. What phase of the process are you in with the writing?
7. What is your favorite part of publishing your work?
8. What would you say is the most frustrating experience?

Dr. Byrne Questions

1. What kind of genres do you find yourself writing in for the field?
2. According to your website your publications and conference presentations include the amateur play publishing industry and Bert Williams. What about these things interest you?
3. As a dramaturg, you worked on numerous productions, what were these productions? 
4. What were your thoughts on these productions?
5. How much influence does a dramaturg have over the course of the production?
6. How do you start the process of dramaturgy?
7. What do you find to be the most rewarding experience of your work as a dramaturg?
8. Are there any aspects in particular that frustrate you?

Brutally Honest Self-Assessment

In this blog post, I shall brutally reflect upon the project I turned in.

Zsolt Vajda, "Brutal." 10/15/2007. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

I believe that it is the best work under all the circumstances, however I did not do the best that I could have done in the world. I believe that I have worked very hard on it, however there are many edits that the blog asked for that I was only able to breeze through. I had to rush through many of the final edits for the paper due to other constraining homework, and while there were edits made they were not as many as I would have liked.

I do believe however that the major edits that I made from the meeting at office hours to this point were many, and I was able to get down the project from 11 pages to 6 pages of pure content. I believe that I have taken out all of the fluff of the content, and matched up with the quick reference guides' conventions very well also. I believe for the most part my time was very well managed until the very last minute, while I did the best I could and I believe I turned in a project to the best of my ability, there were unforeseen circumstances that I had to adjust to in order to ensure that this project would turn out the way I wanted it to.

Local Revision: Variety

In this blog post, I will evaluate my sentence structure in my project.

Julie Falk, "Variety." 8/6/2007. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic.

I tend to write in more elaborate and complex sentences, and stay away from the simple sentences. While this is good in an essay format where the goal is to ensure the length is long, many of these sentences could be shortened into smaller sentences to keep the point understandable, especially in this genre where the goal is to allow the reader to breeze through it and gather information as quickly as possible. I believe that while there is nothing wrong with the sentences that I am using, there could be more variety in it. 

There are some transitions between paragraphs, however most of the paragraphs are not actual transitions and are more to ensure that the reader is able to go through the project easily and slide from one paragraph to the next. In this way, I believe that my paragraphs are set up in a very strong fashion for the genre, and for the audience as well. 

There is a bit of redundancy to my vocabulary, however it has come a long way in the period over this week and there has been quite a bit of a change in how everything is phrased. The goal is to ensure that repetition is not occurring all in the same paragraph, because then the reader feels that it is being redundant and pointless. This is a flaw that I still need to ensure is perfected by the time that my project is submitted, however it has come a long way within this week and I believe that the variety in my words will not present a problem that can not be fixed quickly and reasonably after heavy editing.

Local Revision: Pronoun Usage

In this blog post, I will analyze the pronouns from my project that I listed out in the previous blog post.

Schu, "Superhero Grammar." 3/19/2008. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

I believe that while there are a lot of pronouns throughout the project, I believe that everything is well introduced and it is easy to understood what the pronouns are all referring to. This shows that I am at least good at introducing a topic, and therefore allowing pronouns to be effective as opposed to confusing the audience.

There is no point in which I refer to the audience directly, I find that it detracts from the professionalism of the project and there is no place for it without taking away from the project rather than adding to it. They are not a character in the story, and their goal is to just take away from what occurred rather than relate themselves to it. If they relate themselves to it, that is because they relate rather than being told to relate.

My Pronouns

In this blog post, I will list out the pronouns in my project.

Vernon Barford School, "If You Were a Pronoun." 4/27/2015. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

It (UCSD)
It (San Diego)
Their (Asian American community)
Their (La Jolla Playhouse)
Their (La Jolla Playhouse)
He (Christopher Ashley)
Him (Christopher Ashley)
His (Christopher Ashley)
They (La Jolla Playhouse)
They (La Jolla Playhouse)
They (La Jolla Playhouse)
Their (La Jolla Playhouse)
Their (La Jolla Playhouse)
They (AAPAC)
They (AAPAC)
They (Asian American community)
They (Asian American community)
They (AAPAC)
Their (AAPAC)
She (Cindy Cheung)
Their (Cindy Cheung and Christine Toy Johnson)
They (Cindy Cheung and Christine Toy Johnson)
Their (La Jolla Playhouse)
Themselves (AAPAC)
They (AAPAC)
They (AAPAC)
Their (AAPAC)
They (AAPAC)
Their (Bloggers)
They (Pro Bloggers)
Their (Pro Bloggers)
Himself (Andy Lowe)
Their (Non-Pro Bloggers)
He (Angry Asian Man)
Their (Bloggers)
Their (Bloggers)
They (Bloggers)
Their (Bloggers)
They (Bloggers)
Their (Asian American community)
They (La Jolla Playhouse)
Their (La Jolla Playhouse)
Their (Asian American community)
They (La Jolla Playhouse)
Their (Asian American community)

Local Revision: Passive and Active Voice

In this blog post, I will analyze the active and passive voice within my project.

Qrodo Photos, "Sport action." 3/13/2006. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Active (Specific)

attacking
address
beat
fight
killed
shooting
creating
address
discussing
aimed
accusing
invalidating
attempting
confronted
weighing
underrepresented
receive
emphasize
share
claimed
charged
charged
voice
voice
interviewed
understand
share
excite
encourage
represent
represent
voice
apologized
attempted
responded
encouraging
exposed
voice

Active (General)

run
cast
began
playing
reacted
casting
casting
felt
beat
travel
creating
combining
casting
sees
states
cast
made
discussing
casting
aimed
said
casting
hear
believe
work
cast
receive
states
states
makes
miscasting
says
emphasize
cared
traveled
share
show
explain
casting
explain
experienced
working
understand
casting
made
working
created
worked
understand
react
casting
written
change
cast
share
excite
read
encourage
represent
represent
heard
stated
reacted
casting
responded
recast
heard
casting

Passive

None to be seen

While there are no major instances of passive voice to be found in my project, there is a drastic amount of general verbs as opposed to the amount of active verbs. I have thought that my project was almost too vivid, and have been having to cut down on the amount within my project. However, what I can note after this is there are a significant amount of general verbs that I can try and change to ensure that they are more vivid for the audience.

I am going to go through the verbs on this list and try and ensure that both my active and general verbs increase in their ability to paint a picture for the audience. While I do not plan on going through and trying to make sure every single verb is too vivid as that would become too distracting at certain points, and there are certain points where a general verb is acceptable, many of these verbs can change and increase their vividness so as to ensure the audience is fully engrossed in the project throughout.

Local Revision: Tense Usage

In this blog post, I will evaluate the tenses used throughout my project.

Banalities, "Tenses." 1/31/2009. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Past Tense

began
reacted
felt
beat
killed
cast
made
aimed
said
confronted
underrepresented
cast
cared
traveled
claimed
charged
charged
experienced
made
created
worked
interviewed
written
cast
heard
stated
reacted
apologized
attempted
responded
recast
heard
exposed

Present Tense

playing
casting
attacking
casting
shooting
creating
combining
casting
sees
states
discussing
casting
accusing
invalidating
casting
attempting
weighing
states
states
makes
miscasting
says
casting
working
casting
working
casting
casting
encouraging
casting

Future Tense

run
address
beat
travel
fight
address
hear
believe
work
receive
emphasize
share
show
explain
explain
understand
voice
voice
understand
react
change
share
excite
read
encourage
represent
represent
voice
voice

casting: 10
cast: 4
voice: 4
states: 3
reacted: 2
represent: 2
share: 2
understand: 2
address: 2
explain: 2
charged: 2
working: 2
made: 2
heard: 2

There is a sense of balance that my project has in terms of the tenses, as each of them are generally balanced. Though, there are a bit more in the past tense section. This gives the quality of a very fluid story, allowing the audience to read the project as a story that is occurring before them rather than as a report on what had occurred. It increases the entertainment value for the audience. The difference in tenses are not all the jarring as each section tends to use a different tense in order to describe the action, and if the tenses switch than there is an explanation that follows which allows the switch in tense to make sense. I am using present tense in my paper, as it allows the audience to follow along with the story in a much more understandable fashion in a sort of narrative perspective rather than simply looking back the entire time on what had occurred.

My Verbs

In this blog post, I will list out all the verbs in my project from the beginning to the end.

widdowquinn, "Verb." 5/18/2015. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

run
cast
began
playing
reacted
casting
attacking
address
casting
felt
beat
travel
fight
killed
shooting
creating
address
combining
casting
sees
states
cast
made
discussing
casting
aimed
accusing
said
invalidating
casting
attempting
confronted
hear
weighing
believe
underrepresented
work
cast
receive
states
states
makes
miscasting
says
emphasize
cared
traveled
share
show
explain
claimed
casting
charged
charged
explain
experienced
working
understand
voice
casting
made
working
voice
created
worked
interviewed
understand
react
casting
written
change
cast
share
excite
read
encourage
represent
represent
voice
heard
stated
reacted
casting
apologized
attempted
responded
encouraging
recast
heard
exposed
voice
casting

casting: 10
cast: 4
voice: 4
states: 3
reacted: 2
represent: 2
share: 2
understand: 2
address: 2
explain: 2
charged: 2
working: 2
made: 2
heard: 2

Local Revision: Wordiness

In this blog post, I will revise one of my wordiest paragraphs in my project to make it shorter and more concise.

ceoln, "words." 2/24/2004. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic.

Before

The University of California, San Diego, or UCSD, is one of the most treasured institutions among the University of California institutions. It is located in one of the most sought-after vacation spots in the world, where the sun's rays beat down upon the city giving the city a constant glow of gentle warmth. The city is also extremely populated with countless young people outside the students of the University, where thousands of young people flock to the beaches seeking to swim in the cool water, letting the water and sand surround them as the world's most natural blanket. The scent of sea foam spreads throughout the city, passing through with the cool air that breezes around every street corner from the Pacific Ocean. The water is unmistakably deep and vast, with no end in sight as college students gaze upon the horizon, seeing what feels like is nothing left by the ends of the Earth. However, the fun and life of San Diego is not all that the University has to offer the students there, as knowledge and community from UCSD spreads just as equally as the breeze through the trees. The academia offered within this university is incomparable to any other in the area, where students are able to fill their brains to the brim with knowledge on any field of their choice, without any limits placed on them. The area is a safe haven for anyone that is looking to escape from the emptiness of the rest of the country, and where students have the ability to learn and enjoy themselves among one of the most exciting and relaxing cities in the United States, let alone within the state of California.

After

The University of California, San Diego, or UCSD, is one of the most treasured institutions among the University of California institutions. It is located in one of the most sought-after vacation spots in the world, where the sun's rays beat down upon the city giving the city a constant glow of gentle warmth. The city is also extremely populated with countless young people, specifically countless members of the Asian American community not only within the confines of the school, but also outside of the University as well. 

Due to the city's location being right across the Pacific Ocean from the continent of Asia, many immigrants from Asia naturally travel towards the west coast, specifically in California. The community of San Diego is a thriving, cultural epicenter where specifically the Asian community is deeply rooted, with many of those in the community very active in the fight for the rights of the Asian American community, for example those that allowed their feelings to be known following the casting of The Nightingale.

1. How is the rewritten section different from the original, from the perspective of your audience? Is it better? In what way? Is it worse? In what way?

The rewritten section focuses more on how the setting relates to the controversy, rather than being a detailed out listing of a place in which the audience is already familiar with. It is far less redundant and takes a more informative standpoint. Therefore, this new paragraph is better because it does not waste it's time in getting to the point, and also allows for a little bit more travel of the eye as opposed to before with how it was a wall of text with information that did not help the audience in anyway understand the story in a new light.

Peer Review 2

In this blog post, I will discuss my second round of peer reviews.

GotCredit, "Learn." 3/16/15. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Here is the link to the draft for Coby and the rubric

Here is the link to the draft for Sofia and the rubric

I learned about the variety of different conventions that my QRG is currently struggling with, as it is a mix of both the essay conventions and the conventions of a quick reference guide. I saw how easy it is to involve the reader and how difficult it is as well, as there are a variety of different ways to do this. The top three problems with my project now is the lack of conventions, the awkward descriptions as an attempt to attract audience attention, and it's lack of organization. I plan on organizing over the weekend in order to ensure that my project is more concise and representative of what I want to do. However, also I believe my project has a plethora of material to work with, I believe that my project matches the content of what the project needs to accomplish, and that I believe it sticks to a very good explanation of everything. I will try to further elaborate on all of the context of my sources, and make sure my material is organized so it makes sense.

Peer Review 1

In this blog post, I will discuss what I have learned from peer reviewing the rough draft of Nicholas Hoover.

Anne Davis, "learning." 5/1/2013. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommerical 2.0 Generic

I peer reviewed the draft for Nicholas Hoover, with the draft located here and the rubric located here. 

I definitely believe that the form for my own draft needs to be revised to a much better extent that will match the genre conventions of a quick reference guide. I also believe that I should better apply the question of why everything matters to all aspects of my content in relation to the overall controversy. I do believe that I have a plethora of material to work with, it is just about organizing it and editing it to better fit into a final project. I believe that I want to avoid keeping things too general in terms of the conventions for the genre, adding in some different and creative twists, and be sure to include enthusiasm to get those reading engaged in my project, which were parts that I think Nicholas could improve on. However, I think I could try and emulate his ability to detail everything in such a meticulous manner, and also be able to fully relay the context for every single example that I use and not only how it relates to the current explanation, but also the overall project as a whole, which Nicholas was exceedingly good at. 

Draft of Project 1

In this blog post, I will post my rough draft of Project 1 and request feedback from my peers.

Philo Nordlund, "Finish." 4/26/2008. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

The draft for Project 1 can be seen here.

Many parts of my draft come directly from my blog itself, and therefore throughout this week, including the rest of Sunday, my draft will be going through severe revisions in order to ensure it adequately matches the conventions of a quick reference guide. However, most of the content written currently will stay and possibly only change formatting. I want to ensure that all of the information that I have posted fulfills the requirements of Project 1 as shown on the rubric. If it would be possible to give feedback on the content of what I have currently written, and to ensure that I am not drastically missing anything that is required for the assignment, that would be much appreciated and helpful. Thank you for the feedback.

The Time Period

In this blog post, I will describe the time period of July, 2012 at the same time that The Nightingale controversy was occurring.

Moyan Brenn, "Time." 2/22/2009. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Local

• Here
• Here

National

• Here
• Here

World

• Here
• Here

July of 2012 was a time period filled with fear, anger, and aggression from a variety of different sources as relayed through the media. The Aurora shooting had just taken place and was leading to immense distrust from the public in regards to their own safety, creating a sense of fear and panic. Also, specifically in San Diego the community was reeling after the recent Aurora shooting that had recently occurred and many were still afraid to even travel to the movie theatre to enjoy themselves, creating a further sense of fear as well. In the highlights as well was what was occurring with The Nightingale as the public forum occurred at UCSD. Also in the national news, there was a recent case of a woman being charged with abandoning her child leading to further police investigation that would eventually lead to police misconduct as the police officer unjustifiably assaulted a suspect. In the international news, there had been a recent massacre in Norway that the Norwegian government was swiftly trying to address, as the Obama administration considered stepping up the aggression against the Syrian government. This all painted a picture for the people at the time of fear and anger as the rest of the world, in terms of the news media, was coming to terms with all of this outward and inward aggression.

The Setting

In this blog post I will describe the setting of The Nightingale controversy, The University of California, San Diego.

Alejandro Mallea, "UCSD Panorama." 1/7/2010. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

The University of California, San Diego, or UCSD, is one of the most treasured institutions among the University of California institutions. It is located in one of the most sought-after vacation spots in the world, where the sun's rays beat down upon the city giving the city a constant glow of gentle warmth. The city is also extremely populated with countless young people outside the students of the University, where thousands of young people flock to the beaches seeking to swim in the cool water, letting the water and sand surround them as the world's most natural blanket. The scent of sea foam spreads throughout the city, passing through with the cool air that breezes around every street corner from the Pacific Ocean. The water is unmistakably deep and vast, with no end in sight as college students gaze upon the horizon, seeing what feels like is nothing left by the ends of the Earth. However, the fun and life of San Diego is not all that the University has to offer the students there, as knowledge and community from UCSD spreads just as equally as the breeze through the trees. The academia offered within this university is incomparable to any other in the area, where students are able to fill their brains to the brim with knowledge on any field of their choice, without any limits placed on them. The area is a safe haven for anyone that is looking to escape from the emptiness of the rest of the country, and where students have the ability to learn and enjoy themselves among one of the most exciting and relaxing cities in the United States, let alone within the state of California.

Stakeholder #3

In this blog post I will talk about the final stakeholder in this project, the surrounding community and more specifically the bloggers.

GotCredit, "Blog." 3/16/15. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic. 

The clinking and clanking of typing rang out in countless homes of Asian American theatre-enthusiasts around the country due to La Jolla Playhouse regarding The Nightingale controversy. There were many individuals in the surrounding community that were neither directly affiliated with La Jolla Playhouse and the Asian American Performers Action Coalition that were personally offended by what had happened. These individuals were not always given direct responses from La Jolla Playhouse, and therefore took to their blogs and other forms of social media to voice their highly emotional opinions. All of these opinions equally important in their own right, and make up the majority of the voice that makes up the reaction of this controversy. While they are not as organized as the previous stakeholders, their emotion runs high and their opinions are very much still heard through other forms of media.
The websites of these bloggers all depend on an individual basis, however they are made for a very specific audience with a very specific purpose. For example, the color and tone of the blog of Andy Lowe is as black and emotionless as a black hole, however the content of his blog could fill the galaxy, each of his posts a planet with their own unique story. These planets however all had one thing in common, their complete and utter outrage over the course of events that occurred at La Jolla Playhouse.

• One of the most publicized bloggers on the issue, Andy Lowe, stated that people are too desensitized to this trend. Andy states this at the public forum, which can be seen here when he states: "My first reaction was 'Oh, of course' and it took me a little while to just really think about what I had just said to myself. Like, 'Really, did I just say that to myself? I'm expecting it?'"
• Another Asian American actor that spoke out in public on the issue was Greg Watanabe, who stated that the people are biased against Asian Americans subconsciously. This can be seen here, where he states "Like I said, the story of casting sometimes tells a story, whether or not you intend it to or not."
• A more aggressive opinion comes from a blogger online where he claims that the sincerity offered by La Jolla Playhouse means absolutely nothing. This can be seen here, where it states: "Believe it or not, there were actual apologies offered by the creative team. That's great, but where the heck do they go from here?"

These claims, while they do not come from as organized a source as bloggers all represent their own opinions in an extremely biased way, does not mean that these feelings are not valid. While the facts that they try to represent can not automatically be trusted due to a lack of a reliable fact-check, the feelings and opinions of each blogger is legitimate and valid in regards to this issue. This controversy does not affect one individual or group in particular, but rather the entire community of Asian Americans have the right and ability to voice their opinions and complaints due to the casting of The Nightingale. While this does make these opinions more unorganized and more emotionally charged, the feelings of anger and frustration from every individual is a valid reaction and their opinion deserves a chance to be heard.

This stakeholder has the most in common with AAPAC, as they have the same general feeling of hurt and dismay from the casting at La Jolla Playhouse. The differences are that AAPAC is far more organized than general bloggers, and are able to get their voices heard much clearer as they are a collection of people that represent an ideal rather than individual voices sharing their opinions on the internet. Both are equally valid, however AAPAC has a different way of going about dealing with the problem and gains far more notoriety than any individual opinion. They have the least in common with La Jolla Playhouse, even less so than AAPAC has in common with the Playhouse because the opinions and feelings of bloggers tend to be more far more aggressive towards the originator of the controversy because their opinions tend to be more anonymous and therefore they feel safe releasing their complete frustrations. 

Stakeholder #2

In this blog post, I will discuss the second stakeholder that is a part of this controversy: The Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC).

SEDACMaps, "Asia: 100 km and 200 km Coastal Zones." 2/28/2011. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic. 

The second stakeholder for Project 1 is The Asian American Performers Action Coalition, or AAPAC. The voices crying out in anger and frustration after the casting of The Nightingale come from members of this collective group of individuals. The group's purpose is to ensure that Asian American performers have the chance to work and receive representation in theatre, specifically based within New York City. Their collective group is a small number, and is not by definition a professional organization, however they are a powerful vocal group within the theatre world as they help offer many different Asian Americans the chance to get ahead of the racism that they continually strive against.
After taking a look at their website, their lack of development as an organization can be clearly seen. However, the information they give out right from the home page tears away at the lighthearted tone that their separate stakeholder, La Jolla Playhouse, had worked so hard to create on their website. The Asian American Performers Action Coalition scream at the top of their lungs for the world to hear at the injustice that Asian Americans face while working professionally in theatre, and specifically travel across the country to University of California, San Diego to ensure that in the United States, Asian Americans are represented to the best of their ability.

• AAPAC states that La Jolla Playhouse specifically ignored the casting of Asians in the play of the Nightingale. This quote can be seen here, where Christine Toy Johnson states "To see this production which clearly to me, kudos to your design team, looks like it was set in China with so few Asian faces reminds me how invisible we still are."
• AAPAC makes the claim that La Jolla Playhouse is only using multiculturalism as a ruse, as the cast did not truly represent this ideal. Cindy Cheung states this in the link seen here, with the quote being: "When I see a world there is 5 white men, I am still a little on the fence about whether that is truly multi-ethnic."
• AAPAC also states that African Americans have received more visibility and better representation in American theatre than Asian Americans do. This statement can be seen here, with "If this play had taken place in mythical Africa, I don't think you would have cast a white person."

These claims are important due to their extreme significance in terms of emotional impact, as opposed to the reliance of pure intentions that La Jolla Playhouse relied on consistently throughout the claims that they made. These are people who consistently fight for the right to be equally and respectfully represented in the theatrical arts, and they are very much relying on the emotional appeal of being wronged by the actions of La Jolla Playhouse. While most of their claims are emotionally charged as opposed to factually charged, that does not make these claims invalid. They successfully explain why they are feeling the way they do after the casting decisions made by La Jolla Playhouse for The Nightingale. They are consistently working as much as they can professionally in theatre and fighting for the rights of Asian Americans, and their feelings are valuable with their opinions credible as they have experienced this livelihood of Asian Americans in theatre and feel that they deserve more than what they have. 

They have more similarities with those in the community blogging about the controversy rather than those at La Jolla Playhouse. While La Jolla Playhouse does understand the feelings that come from AAPAC, they do not have the same feelings in the same degrees as opposed to the bloggers. Those in the surrounding community that give their opinions on this issue are much more similar as it is a much more emotional response rather than the focus on intentions that La Jolla Playhouse emphasizes throughout their claims. Both those in the community and those that are a part of AAPAC understand the hurt that can be felt from this controversy, and are reacting however in different ways than one another.  

Stakeholder #1

In this blog post, I will discuss my projects 1st stakeholder: The La Jolla Playhouse.

Bill Badzo, "Cleveland Ohio ~ Ohio Theatre ~ Playhouse Square ~ Balcony ~ Historic." 10/2008. via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

The first stakeholder for Project 1 is La Jolla Playhouse. La Jolla Playhouse is a group that this controversy has filled to the brim with infamy due to allegations of racist casting in the production of The Nightingale. However, that is not how the group creates the image of their organization. La Jolla Playhouse is located on the campus of University of California, San Diego; which is one of the most highly respected institutions in the country, in one of the most popular cities where the sun kisses every part of the city for a great portion of the year.
At a glance of their website, La Jolla Playhouse creates an immediate mood of jovial fun, with the light blue hues of the website creating the tone of the holiday season, trying to encourage the viewer to feel as if sleigh bells ring of merriment the minute they step foot into La Jolla Playhouse. It is a place of consistent theatrical enjoyment for the public at large, as well as those in attendance at the university as well. They emphasize that La Jolla Playhouse place of learning, where those interested in the theatre can flock to and experiment and try different techniques with different shows while enjoying the company of others.

• The artistic director, Christopher Ashley, makes the claim that The Nightingale casting is not perfect. This quote can be seen here, when Ashley states: "We pick plays that are not finished in any way, shape or form, that are still discovering their story, discovering what the writing should be, what the design should be, and very much what the casting should be." 
• However, Ashley also made the statement that their attempt was purposeful in the casting as a combination of cultures. This quote can be seen here when he states that, "the La Jolla production is deliberately meant to be multicultural, combining elements of Eastern and Western cultures."
• When discussing the casting, the point was made also that casting white people in these roles was actually the La Jolla Playhouse's solution to lack of multicultural representation. This can be seen, and heard, here with the quote: "I think color-blind casting, nontraditional casting, multicultural casting, they're all related. They're really important tools for overcoming a theatre which is for, by, and about white men."

These claims are consistently what La Jolla Playhouse have said on the issue of the casting of The Nightingale. These claims are valid because these claims deal more with the intentions behind what La Jolla Playhouse was attempting to do with their casting, rather than dealing with the problems that others bring up when critiquing their casting decisions. Also, they consistently gave voice to the opinions of the audience and the community when confronted with differing opinions, and have been consistently willing to hear out the other side of the argument. These claims can therefore be seen as credible, as their intentions to cast with an emphasis on multiculturalism was a valid attempt, also considering their weighing the options that they may have made a misstep.

They have the most in common with the opposing party in fact, specifically AAPAC as they seem to understand the racist undertones in society regarding Asian Americans. While they have not gone about trying to fix the problem in the same way, they speak sensitively of the subject and understand where the opposing argument is coming from. They do not however have much in common with those in the surrounding environment that are merely a part of the theatre community. These people have a more aggressive nature not being involved in either professional organization, as they are merely left to form their own opinion based off the facts that they hear about.