Unachievable Quest for Truth in Neo-Noir

Since I’m opting out of the article for this class, I’m going to be discussing what I’ve been currently working on for my Research Methods class. Here’s the “watered down” version of my topic: Interactive texts in neo-noir fiction, and how noir mirrors the manipulation of media in our lives.

            

My primary focus is on the fictional novel, Night Film by Marisha Pessl, and the interactive texts blended with the pages help narrate the surrounding mystery that our main protagonist, Scott McGrath, has to solve. Our mystery surrounds the elusive cultist horror director, Stanislas Cordova, whose grotesque films are known to push the envelope. So controversial that his films were removed from the public eye and sent underground, where his loyal followers can continuously celebrate the brilliancy of his work. However, surrounding this controversy is the speculation that something disturbing occurs behind the production of his films. To achieve complete rawness to his stories, Cordova has to push his actors to the extreme.

            Scott McGrath, investigative journalist, made it his job to know what exactly Cordova does in the making of his own films, but his attempts were cut short. Whatever piece of evidence that McGrath had found that could confirm Cordova’s corruption, was deemed unfit. The inside source that McGrath had was claimed to be “fictional,” which debunked his entire career. And years after this scandal, McGrath is encouraged to examine the director once more after it was announced that Stanislas Cordova’s prodigy daughter had committed suicide. Now McGrath is curious to know if Ashley Cordova really did commit suicide or if she actually murdered.

Noir has a tendency to play with the idea of truth. The main protagonist, whether he be a detective, loser, or ordinary citizen, is set to find the truth about him/herself or about a crisis that surrounds their life. Though the protagonist is set on this quest for the truth, they won’t ever obtain it.

            The interactive texts in Night Film that start to play a paradox. All sources of information but none of that information surrounds the protagonist and the reader with enough evidence to get the protagonist and the reader to the truth. American media and journalism has a tendency to do the same thing. Journalism generally shows the negative of a story, and depending on the case, they like to twist the words or the chain of events in order to increase the ratings. 

And for emphasis, I'll be exploring the manipulation of media through the film, Gone Girl. Wife, Amy Dunne, goes missing and husband, Nick Dunne, gets accused for her disappearance. As the case progresses, Nick gets picked apart through the media, constantly twisting any source of information that continuous point towards him for his own wife's murder. 

  

The question that gets posed to readers of neo-noir is why read a genre that has a tendency to keep the truth elusive? 

One Difficult Assignment

Prompt: Identify where you think students may fail in an assignment in your syllabus, and how you will use that as a teachable moment by design.

The assignment that comes to mind where I feel that some of my students might struggle is the story option of the film/skit project I have as my final assignment in my syllabus. Essentially, students will select three (or more) moments in a story that they’ve explored in the photo essay. Out of the ten images of the photo essay, what are the strongest scenes that carry the most weight in the story? Instead of capturing these moments in one single image, they present those moments as a scene, giving them more room to present the strong elements of the story. But I begin to see that this might be too tedious of an assignment, especially compared to the other option, where the students can create a product and come up with a commercial for that product. What might be difficult for the students is deciphering what parts of the storyline is the most significant and figuring out how to connect each scene. They also have to figure out how to cut their script in order to make it fit within 10-15 minute video or even formulated for a skit.

The main goal of the story option of the film/skit project to be able to identify the essential aspects, such as twists, clues, or revelations that help move the story forward and complete it. Romeo and Juliet wouldn’t have the conclusion it does without both of the lovers having their reasons for ending their lives. The teachable moment I can add to this assignment is having my students understand the significance of the revelations in stories, and what makes those stories plotlines complete. We can even introduce the idea of what seems to be missing from the plotline. The main idea is to understand what makes a good story, or simply, what makes a believable story, and usually the answer to that is behind the major points that hold the story together.  

Who Would Have Thought?

The main concern that I run across when defining these terms, is defining the terms that look to be simple, such as:

• Critical Thinking
• Discipline
• Empowerment
• Form
• Genre Thinking

A few of theses look to have a simple definition but I'm afraid they'll have a lot more buried underneath the surface.  

Assignments to Explore Creativity in Composition

An assignment that I find most interesting is the photo essay, and I would add this assignment to my syllabus because it combines the ideas of collaboration and technology for a FYW class. Students can group together to choose a story that interests them, decide what major elements should be addressed to their audience, and figure out how they’re going to present it. And they also need to consider their limitations because the assignment will call for them to use only ten photos to make up their story, just so it forces them to be stricter with their choices. I also would like to offer a challenge to the assignment by adding the disposable Kodak camera idea, where students have to really think about the shot they take, making them consider what the right angle should be and where they should position their characters. It gets students to consider the five canons of rhetoric as they compose their photo essay, and then they can learn to apply those choices to their own writing.

If not a photo essay, I’ve considered doing an assignment that uses the element of film, where students can compose a five to ten minute video over a commercial or story.

To choose the story option, I think they should attempt to compress a story within at least ten minutes (we can even extend this to fifteen, if needed) that include the beginning, middle, and end while also focusing on the major elements of the story they choose. They can present this like a skit or at a serious cinematic level. If a story option seems too intense then they may attempt to do a commercial, where their main focus is to create a product and try to sell it. They need to consider who their audience is and what the purpose of their product is. Students need to make sure to point out the most important elements of their product and need to decide what tone fits best to advertise their product—should it have a serious approach or a comedic approach?

Also, if film is hard to come by, students have the option to perform these pieces live. They can perform their commercial like a skit or they can pitch their product to the class as if they were in a professional meeting.

  

I think, whatever choice they pick with the film assignment, they should write a response about the choices they make and why they chose them. Then for the other students who watch these films or performances they can write a response on what they thought was working and if they were convinced to buy the product or convinced in the story.

Both the photo essay and the film/performance assignments can play with creativity and innovation when it comes to composition. It also approaches the five canons of rhetoric, audience and purpose, and those further decisions we make to aid in our art of persuasion.   

An Interactive Classroom

For this blog post, I want to review multimodality and the use of technology for the classroom of composition. 

Multimodality gives students room to express themselves with composition, and using this mode can make it relatable to anyone’s designated field. It can also elaborate further into topics that students want to explore. I think it should be introduced as part of the FYC as a small project, something that can let students get creative. They can use any medium or any collaboration of media to orchestrate a piece that they feel passionate about. Plus it introduces students to use composition in this modern way and a tool that can applicable to their possible fields. For my class, I would like to set up this small project with a five to ten minute presentation to show their fellow students how they fulfilled this assignment. I think the more we demonstrate different ideas to our peers the more knowledge we gain about the different topics and the different ways of expressing those topics. Plus we include the element of speech, which let’s the art of composition be fulfilled successfully.

The incorporation of technology can be very interactive inside and outside of the classroom. Inside the classroom, we can make computers useful, especially if the classroom is technologically geared to have multiple screens projected on the main screen. If students have any relatable information to share they have access to do so. It’s a very interesting idea but it can also be very risky—the whole concern of not knowing what’s going to appear on the screen at any given moment can a big one. But it does give students a certain amount of freedom and can make the environment of discussion a lot more open. Outside the classroom, keeping a line of communication is highly important to have. Forums and blog posts are fine ideas to have as assignments because it’s designed to keep the classroom discussion continuous. 

Which does lead to my next discussion is that I do wish we were able to communicate more with students during grading, especially since grading papers is done online. Video responses to particular problems with grammar or critical thinking would feel easier when able to communicate them orally. Tutoring through a system like Skype can give that one on one interaction. It might fit better in a student’s schedule and might take care of quick questions or even questions that need answering extensively.       

Extended Analysis Review--The George Washington University

For this week’s blog post, I’ve reviewed the extended analysis of Jessica Smith, and I love the approach she had towards The George Washington University’s First Year Writing Program.

           

The George Washington University has a topic-driven program that enables students to explore a specific topic for their own desires. It gives students this “focus” and “flexibility” that Jessica has mentioned, which also gives professors the opportunity to stretch their own abilities as well. An act of conversation (instead of instructing answers) seems to present this freeing atmosphere that both professor and student can obtain, and I really enjoy this concept. It definitely doesn’t separate creativity from critical thinking, giving knowledge the ability to grow and to develop.

With this high focus on topic-driven, students are free to explore through a wide range of sources. They’re given the opportunity to connect to topics they feel most passionate about and are able to explore through a huge multitude of research so they are able to communicate topics confidently. It allows creativity to stretch and participate in these endeavors when the students are allowed to pick topics that fit within their comfort zones.

Along with strengthening their research abilities, students should hone in on their grammar skills. To be able to persuade effectively, students must be able to communicate with absolute clarity. I think FYC should stress on basic grammar skills because all students come from different backgrounds and not all students learn the same. Some will suffer by not learning grammar or by learning grammar the wrong way. Here in composition students should return to the roots of writing and get the training they need to communicate their passions successfully.

Creative writing allows identity and exploration. It should be a tool used in composition because it allows freedom in the academic space. Writing can be a challenge and exploratory writing and creative writing can construct an outlet that lets students, well, create and experiment. These “experimental” writings propel emotion, innovation, and voice in the students’ chosen fields.

The George Washington University approaches First Year Writing in a way that I feel I would enjoy in the art of teaching. It sounds to have a relaxing approach to writing for both students and professors, and actually indicates how writing should be viewed—something that can be applied within any field. Writing here seems to have this “user-friendly” vibe that allows students to explore writing on their own terms.         

Andragogy, and How it Applies

I’ve never considered the term andragogy until this class, and it’s an important term to consider when teaching FYC.  Andragogy means the method of learning for adult learners, and the question is how do we approach teaching of first year composition with this term in mind. How do we get adult students to approach a subject such as composition? We can aim for motivating at a level that applies to them. In a class full of diverse students (a classroom full of different majors and ideas), teachers need to get creative when it comes to motivation. We have to think about making it relatable to our students, and we can attempt this by making the lessons simple and applicable to the students’ aspirations; sustaining a strong energy level as best as we can manage; keep the classroom open for discussion so students can voice their opinion and concerns; enforce professionalism to instill what it’s like in the real world as well as the rest of their college career; and not to be afraid to challenge them.

Adult learners can have a difficult time understanding why they need to take a composition class. And as teachers, I think we need to establish a constant reminder that composition applies to any field that the students are interested in. But also, reminding them that it can fun. We can create writing prompts with a specific writing style in mind. They can either aim to write in their directed field or they can experiment in a different direction. We can also have them write a speech, an email, a letter (with an interesting tone maybe) directed towards their choice of audience. Even have fun writing satires or persuasion pieces, with prompts like, “Pick a villain and convince your audience on why they should like or appreciate them.”

Participation in and outside of the classroom can be effective, and I think the use of technology can be very useful here, especially since we’re living in an age overrun by all sorts of technology. Outside of the classroom, we can create a discussion form to discuss topics of compositions, ask questions about the readings, and post questions that students have in general. We can always create a blog and have prompts for each given week that keeps the class discussion flowing. In the classroom, we can have participation in group activities, peer reviews and class discussions—and for class discussions, if students are shy or want to jump ahead with the discussion before class they can shoot an email to their professor with questions or thoughts in mind. Keeping a line of communication helps make the learning environment simplified, and keeps students engaged with the material.

Enforcing professionalism helps prepare them for the future, in both their desired career and their academic careers. Creating a balance of strictness and understanding, teaches adult students that they are expected to aim for excellence, but also, we should remind them that they are human, and providing that zone of understanding helps keep the pressure off their shoulders. Also make them see that you, as their professor, our human too.

Which reminds me that we should strive to carry the majority of the momentum in the classroom. To make students feel motivated, even remotely excited to come to their composition class, we need to come to class enthusiastically ourselves, to show that we care and that we are passionate. Even if life gets us down, we can show that we struggle, as teachers, too but still are able to keep the energy. I think if we attempt to strive for this in our classes it’ll make the learning environment more approachable.