May 31 – July 5 (Finals on July 6) | Suggested Reading |
May 31 - June 5 Rhetoric and Democracy | Rhetoric in Democracy: A systematic Appreciation On Democracy—Robert A. Dahl (Novel) |
June 6 - June 12 Music | Cultural democratization and popular music The article examines ways in which the long-standing ambition to democratise culture in France can be applied to popular music, and to French pop particularly.Theoretically, pop should not need to be democratised at all since it is 'popular' by definition. But the rhetoric of 'popular culture' in France has traditionally been more to do with aspiration than reality. The analysis considers how French sociology and cultural policy have 'democratised' pop in one sense, by helping it find acceptance as a 'legitimate' practice, but have in the process constructed it as a social phenomenon, bypassing the much more complex issue of its aesthetic worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Anarchy, Pop and Violence: Punk Rock Subculture and the Rhetoric of Class, 1976-78. Discusses how the punk subculture and its music helped change the way people talked about social stratification in Great Britain in the late-1970s. Values that were reintroduced by punk to the British culture; Ways in which punk values were promoted; Reason for the failure of the subculture's efforts to protest the professionalization of the British society. |
June 13 – June 19 Satire (especially The Daily Show and the Colbert Report; possibly Satirical political parties) | Journalism, Satire, or Just Laughs? “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Examined. http://www.journalism.org/node/10953 When Americans last year were asked to name the journalist they most admired, a comedian showed up at No. 4 on the list. Jon Stewart … tied in the rankings with anchormen Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and cable host Anderson Cooper. Are Americans confused? What is Stewart doing … that might cause people to consider him a journalist? How is the show similar to, and different from, what people get from the mainstream press? Beyond that, who—and what—gets skewered by Stewart and company, and who does not? For answers, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism studied the content of The Daily Show for an entire year (2007), compared its news agenda with that of the more traditional news media, examined the lineup of guests and segments and tried to place the program into some kind of media context. Rhinoceros Party of Canada: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_Party_of_Canada_(1963%E2%80%931993) Operating within the Canadian tradition of political satire, the Rhinoceros Party's basic credo, their so-called primal promise, was "a promise to keep none of our promises.” They then promised outlandishly impossible schemes designed to amuse and entertain the voting public. Bryan Gold of the Rhinoceros Party described the party platform as two feet high and made of wood. |
June 20 – June 26 Fiction (…and by fiction I mean Harry Potter!!!) | Christ-like The article reports on Christian interpretations of the Harry Potter series of books and films. The series has been both repudiated by conservative Christians as occult or Satanic, and seen by others as a Christian allegory--especially the last installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," in which the boy wizard dies and then comes back to life to save the world. Sex and the Single Wizard The essay discusses the challenges of filming the Harry Potter book series. It notes that Harry grows from fresh-faced boy to gangly adolescent in the presence of girls, and the way this is treated by the different directors of the films. It notes as well the responses to the films of theologists, some of whom, like Catholic novelist Michael O'Brien, see anti-Christian tendencies in the work, and others like author John Granger who see it depicting a longing for Christianity. It sees both. Why We Love a World where Dragons are Real and Religion is the Fantasy “If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is easy: God…What does Harry have instead of God? Rowling's answer, at once glib and profound, is that Harry's power comes from love … In the new millennium, magic comes not from God or nature or anything grander or more mystical than a mere human emotion. In choosing Rowling as the reigning dreamer of our era, we have chosen a writer who dreams of a secular, bureaucratized, all-too-human sorcery, in which psychology and technology have superseded the sacred.” http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=25773792&site=ehost-live Is Harry Potter Evil? By Judy Blume. [File Attached] “According to certain adults, these stories teach witchcraft, sorcery and satanism … The protests against Harry Potter follow a tradition that has been growing since the early 1980's and often leaves school principals trembling with fear that is then passed down to teachers and librarians. What began with the religious right has spread to the politically correct.” There are also feminist and race-related articles available that I hope to look at |
June 27 – July 3 | |
July 4 – July 7 |
Other Readings:
The PG-related world of candidate Dole.
Opinion. Comments on the implications of Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole's campaign to clean up pop culture. Background information on Dole's legislative activities concerning the art and entertainment industry; Dole's rhetoric as exemplifying the contradictions inherent in American political and social philosophy.
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PURSUING THE ENEMIES OF FREEDOM: RELIGION IN THE PERSUASIVE RHETORIC OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
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The role of narrative in political campaigning: An analysis of speeches by Barack Obama.
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The Liberty Tree and the Whomping Willow: Political Justice, Magical Science, and Harry Potter.
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Minstrel Politics or "He Speaks Too Well:" Rhetoric, Race, and Resistance in the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
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Political Issues in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series.
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Harry's Girls: Harry Potter and the Discourse of Gender.
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Harry and the Other: Answering the Race Question in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter.
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The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Harry Potter.
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Predicting the Consumption of Political TV Satire: Affinity for Political Humor, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report.
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Humor and Politics.
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