Communication Writing
The Influence of German Expressionism on Contemporary Filmmaker, Tim Burton
7 December 2017
“The Influence of German Expressionism on Contemporary Filmmaker, Tim Burton” is the term paper that I wrote for my film history class in the fall of 2017. The assignment was to write a 1500 – 2000 word research paper on any topic that was covered in the class. In addition, the topic had to be agreed upon with Prof. Jarrett. I thought that the German Expressionist movement that we discussed in class was interesting and that films during the period resembled a lot of Tim Burton movies, so I decided to write a paper on how I believed Tim Burton must have been influenced by German Expressionist films. The guidelines for the paper were that it had to have a controlling thesis, follow MLA format, have assertions of opinion be defended and assertions of fact be footnoted, and include at least one source that was not found on the web.
I began my paper with an introduction about what the German Expressionist movement was, how it eventually spread to an international audience, and how it has been influencing the work of filmmakers ever since (in particular, Tim Burton). My introduction ends with my thesis, “I argue that German Expressionist cinema had a huge influence on Tim Burton’s films, and I will support this argument by pointing to German Expressionist tendencies in three of his films: Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Then I went into the body of my paper, which was separated into three different sections that covered each of these three films. In each of these sections I basically pointed out German Expressionist tendencies that I found in each film such as dark makeup, horror plots, deep shadows, slanted and curvy lines, distorted shapes, high contrast, stylistic performances, and more. I supported my statements by providing evidence from actual German Expressionist films like The Student of Prague (1913), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Golem: How He Came into this World (1920). Lastly, I concluded my paper by reiterating how much Tim Burton was influenced by German Expressionist films as well as by pointing out two additional influences: Vincent Price and Johnny Depp.
This paper showcases my ability to construct an evidence-based argument. I made a clear argument in the thesis of my paper and provided evidence for it. Not only did I point to German Expressionist tendencies in three of Tim Burton’s films, but I also provided evidence to prove that these tendencies came from German Expressionist films by pointing to specific scenes in actual German Expressionist films. This paper also demonstrates my awareness as a writer of the need to hedge my claims. I did this in my conclusion with the statement, “it is important to note that Tim Burton was not influenced by German Expressionism alone; he was also inspired by two individuals, Vincent Price and Johnny Depp.” I then went on to describe who these individuals were and how they had a significant impact on Burton’s films. By hedging my argument this way, I showed my readers that I was aware of other influences on Burton’s films. I think constructing an evidence-based argument has definitely become a strength of mine as a writer, and this paper illustrates that strength.
Texting about Serious Issues: A Theme Analysis between Romantic Partners
6 December 2017
I wrote this theme analysis for a special topics communication classes that I had in the fall of 2017 called Great Teachers. The assignment was to interview and survey eight romantic partners on how they use texting in their romantic relationships. Then, we were instructed to look for and analyze themes that we found in the interviews and surveys. A helpful guideline that was offered was an interview script that listed each question that we were supposed to ask each participant. The interview script was very helpful because it told us what to ask if the participant said “yes,” “no,” or had trouble answering a question. In order to narrow the focus of my theme analysis, I decided to look particularly at how romantic couples texted about serious issues. Themes that I found include the texts being brief, expressing the desire to talk in-person/over the phone, showing less emotion, and providing immediacy/convenience. I argue that these four themes (as well as a few subthemes) can be observed when romantic partners text one another about a serious issue. It is important to note, however, that I did find some outliers in my data. For example, four of the participants that I interviewed did not text their romantic partner about serious issues at all, and a few of my participants said that they prefer to send long, detailed texts rather than brief texts when discussing a serious issue with their romantic partner.
This theme analysis contributes to the research on romantic communication by revealing some of the motivations for why individuals would want to use texting as a tool to relay information about serious issues to their partner rather than use face-to-face communication. I noticed in my research that most studies only relayed the patterns that they found in their studies instead of also including an explanation for why those patterns might exist. I wanted to make sure to do both in my theme analysis—tell the pattern, but also explain why it’s possibly there. I also noticed that most studies left out textual evidence from couples in their studies, so I wanted to make sure to provide specific textual evidence from interview transcriptions as well.
This theme analysis demonstrates my ability to conduct primary research. I had to recruit all eight romantic couples myself as well as record and transcribe the interviews and make sure that everyone filled-out the surveys. This theme analysis also showcases my ability to think analytically. I collected a lot of data from my sixteen individual interviews. I had to look at all of this data and organize them into themes that made sense. That took a lot of analytical ability to do, especially since I still ended up with a few outliers in my data. I think this theme analysis reflects a goal of mine that I have as a writer: to go out there and collect more of my own data. I haven’t had to do a lot of primary research in my writing projects at Wake Forest, but this is something that I definitely want to do more of in my future writing projects. In fact, I will be forced to do more of this type of research post-graduation since I will be working for a company that provides primary research services to its clients.
Why so many selfies?
24 April 2017
This literature review was written for a special topics communication class that I had in the spring of 2017 called Body Image & Communication. The assignment was to write a 5-8 page chapter for a class book on body image and communication. A helpful guideline that was provided was a detailed template that outlined the expected structure for the chapter. This outline included how many paragraphs should be provided in each section, what should be covered in each section, where key sentences should be, how many references should be provided, how many themes should be discussed, and more. Other helpful guidelines were the grading criteria (T-O-E: Thesis, Organization, Evidence) and tips that were provided during peer review groups.
The purpose of my paper is clearly stated by my thesis statement at the end of my second paragraph, “The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on SNS (Social Networking Sites) selfies/profile pictures and body image to demonstrate the motivations behind why users post certain photos of themselves on social media and to reveal the impact that those photos have on body image.” This literature review contributes to the body image & communication field by relaying three themes that I found in the literature: (1) the existence of conflicting viewpoints on how much SNS behaviors contribute to gender identity formulation, (2) the tendency for research studies pertaining to SNSs and the influence of selfie posting/profile pictures on body image to use only college-aged participants, and (3) the possibility that narcissism may play a factor into why SNS users post selfies and profile pictures of themselves online.
This literature review showcases my ability to identify themes from a wide array of sources that exist in a particular field. I took the information that I found in databases on SNS selfies/profile pictures and body image and sorted it into three distinct themes. I think this text showcases my strength of writing literature reviews. I generally enjoy diving deep into literature on a particular topic and seeing what themes I can find. I am very comfortable with describing the various studies I discover in the literature followed by lengthy parenthetical citations, and I think this paper shows my mastery at doing this.