This is the movie poster for Freaks, a 1932 pre-code horror film about circus performers directed by Tod Browning. The film was largely based on a 1923 short fiction story, “Spurs” by Tod Robbins. The director to an exceptional risk in casting real people with deformities and disabilities as the chilling sideshow “freaks,” rather than using costumes and makeup. As such, much of our English 289H class was centered on this movie. I did not enjoy our assigned essay about this movie and chose not to include it as one of my artifacts.
Each included artifact represents an analysis of a particular genre of rhetoric. The first artifact, "Assumptions about Audience in Advertising Films," is an analysis of a movie trailor for Lars von Trier’s film, Melancholia. The second artifact, "The Age of the Diva: Advertisements for Aspiring Opera Singers" analyzes ads found in an opera-centered monthly magazine, Opera News. The third artifact, "Winning in the Femininity Game" analyses three juxtaposed sources which each have their own rhetorical focus. The fourth artifact, "Geeks, Gleeks, and the Jocks: Defined in Rhetorical Techniques," is an examination of the rhetorical devices employed by the media to present music students in sitcoms, reality shows, and news. It provides insight into the myriad ways the American public perceives the arts.
Each included artifact represents an analysis of a particular genre of rhetoric. The first artifact, "Assumptions about Audience in Advertising Films," is an analysis of a movie trailor for Lars von Trier’s film, Melancholia. The second artifact, "The Age of the Diva: Advertisements for Aspiring Opera Singers" analyzes ads found in an opera-centered monthly magazine, Opera News. The third artifact, "Winning in the Femininity Game" analyses three juxtaposed sources which each have their own rhetorical focus. The fourth artifact, "Geeks, Gleeks, and the Jocks: Defined in Rhetorical Techniques," is an examination of the rhetorical devices employed by the media to present music students in sitcoms, reality shows, and news. It provides insight into the myriad ways the American public perceives the arts.