How to Read and View by Ramzi Fawaz

💭 "How to Read and View" by Ramzi Fawaz Created by Created time Eesha Ray @August 26, 2024 9:53 AM class WRITING 160 done due date @August 28, 2024 8:30 AM type notes Main Points Critical thinking is refusing to see things at face value; it is questioning everything Close reading is the practice of developing multiple interpretations of a given text, object, or phenomenon, based on evidence collected from close observation and critical thinking We will often use the word “text” to refer to any object or material we are analyzing (films, comics, scholarship and digital media). This is because everything we look at can be “read” or interpreted like a written text “to do a reading of something” refers to the act of interpretation or making meaning out of a text. For instance, when I ask you to do a “reading” of a movie, I am encouraging you to use evidence from the film’s content to construct an original interpretation of it Primary source OG… secondary source comments on it How to Read "How to Read and View" by Ramzi Fawaz 1 Distinguish between different kinds of sources, mediums, and modes of address What kind of source, genre, and intended audience? What year was it written? Identify the argument “big idea” or purpose of the piece Many times, it entails claims about how to view the world Use critical thinking to pick this apart Instance— The Disney Pixar movie Finding Nemo, for instance, is text that argues in favor of the value of alternative or chosen family against the traditional image of the nuclear family. The movie makes this claim by depicting how a traditional father-son pair come to befriend and make family with a huge range of ocean creatures, from sea turtles to starfish to sharks and manatees. The variety of species the two clown fish encounter, as well as the family bond they develop with a forgetful blue fish Dori, could be seen as a metaphor for the utopian promise of developing bonds across real world differences like race, class, sexuality, and ability (in fact, disability is a key difference in the movie, since Nemo has an under--‐developed fin, which is a focus of the narrative). Follow the path of ideas It is not enough to understand an argument, you must also know how it came to be made Like how a set of ideas or concepts are linked together by a scholar to lead the reader to the main point You must always ask yourself: what is the logic by which this text makes its point? Identify how the text uses evidence In scholarship, evidence includes historical documentation, critical theory (or abstract models and concepts for understanding social and cultural phenomenon), statistical facts, human interaction and testimony, and textual interpretation Cultural texts will often invent evidence in the form of fictional stories, character types, or plot devices Who is the author in a conversation with "How to Read and View" by Ramzi Fawaz 2 Whenever you approach any text, you should look for clues (be a detective) that will let you know what kind of audience the writer, speaker, artist, or producer of a cultural object imagines they are speaking to In scholarships and in cultural texts, there will be citations or references to certain works in order to position themselves in a larger history of media forms. Instance— Often, the intended audience is not the actual audience that primarily engages a text or a set of ideas (the people who made the film musical The Wizard of Oz in 1939, for instance, probably couldn’t have fully anticipated just how many generations of US-Americans would be watching the movie decades after it was initially released). What is at stake? “So what?” What position is being taken in relation to bigger ideas or conflicts? Why are the ideas being presented important? Instance— As scholar Stephanie Ricker Schulte has shown, when the movie War Games was released in the late 1980s about an everyday amateur hacker who accidently taps into the US nuclear codes, Congress passed laws to ban hacking and strengthen government cyber security. Tricks Reword main ideas in your own way Annotate, and mark important parts of the text (including parts you’re confused on) for class discussions Be as concise as possible How should you view movies? Remember that movies are constructed pieces (several elements go into them) "How to Read and View" by Ramzi Fawaz 3 To make sense of the movie, we need to watch very carefully, slowing down our viewing experience, taking notes, and distancing our relationship to the cultural product in front of us (a“cold” relationship to the text, which comes from a critical perspective). Thought-provoking questions to ask Is the quality and substance of the speaking parts related to the gender, race, sexuality or general identity of different characters and actors? What appears in the frame of a scene and what is left out? What objects get highlighted and which are deemphasized? How does the set up of a scene affect how we view it? Which sounds are diegetic (within the narrative) or extra-diegetic (outside of the frame, like narration (Mateo) ) Is there a pattern of editing or a distinct style that can be seen over the course of the movie? How does the camera move around in particular scenes? Does the camera angle in certain scenes suggest or imply a specific way we should view what appears on screen? Does the camera appear to represent a certain POV? What is the quality of the images we see and does the camera switch between modes (home video, digital camera, footage, animation etc.)? How is color used in the scene and to what purpose? Now… what purpose do these elements of form and content serve? "How to Read and View" by Ramzi Fawaz 4