Analyzing a Fanfiction Site

http://www.lotrfanfiction.com/

One of the appeals of fanfiction writing that Jenkins talks about in his chapter is the appeal to be able to share ideas in a comfortable setting. When you first open the browser for www.lotrfanfiction.com, you immediately notice the dark color scheme. On the left hand side is a neat display of statistics of the site, such as member count, story count and an impressive word count. Just below gives you the option to change the display theme and below that is a friendly poll asking which Lord of the Rings movie was the best. All of these added features are welcoming to any new user who just has any general questions about what the site contains, an interactive activity to get the user engaged as well as options for aesthetic pleasure. It peaks interest to engage the viewer. For the returning user, on the right hand side is a box containing the most recent story posts for quick viewing.

The meat of the site is structured very nicely. When browsing through the actual fanfictions, one is able to choose whether one wants to look at the stories organized by author, title, category and so forth. Even before clicking on the story you may want to read, there is a display giving all the classifications of the story, down to what characters are involved.

The “Lord of the Rings Fanfiction” is a very tidy site. Finding what you are looking for within the genre of Lord of the Rings fanfiction is very easy. The site is a little lacking graphically but it more than makes up for it in its exact and sensible layout.

Henry Jenkins defines media literacy as not only being able to use media, but also being able to contribute to media. The Lord of the Rings fan fiction website is a perfect example of this participatory literacy. While many fans may go to the website only to read stories posted by others, many fans also post their own stories and provide feedback to others. For each story that is posted, there is a section for the readers to review it. Also in this section, the writer can respond to the comments left by different readers. In addition to this outlet for feedback, each member has a profile through which you can contact them directly. Information provided on the website’s homepage shows that while there are only 2,250 members, there are over 3,000 stories and over 13,000 reviews. This data shows that the members of the Lord of the Rings fan community exemplify Jenkins’s definition of participatory literacy.

On this fanfiction website devoted solely to Lord of The Rings based fanfiction, there are not many problems that some up within the realm of intellectual property rights. First of all, a vast majority of the site’s posts are stories about characters somewhat related to Lord of The Rings but in the main story line. For this reason, it is likely that the copyright owners of Lord of The Rings do not have a problem with people using the basic setting and theme as a basis for their own stories because they are not branching off of the main aspects that make Lord of The Rings so popular in our culture. The site does however have a statement saying “This site is in no way affiliated with the respective copyright owners associated with these works”. The purpose of this statement is to inform the users and visitors of the website that it is not affiliated with the owners of Lord of The Rings. The statement and the site’s content do however raise a few questions concerning intellectual property rights such as what action would be taken if the copyright owners of Lord of The Rings felt that the site had begun to infringe upon their rights?

One of the issue the site may raise for conservative groups is that children may be reading offensive material. The site takes preventative measures against this by giving itself a self-imposed rating system. www.lotrfanfiction.com helps to prevent children from accidentally stumbling upon unsuitable material by warning the user of its contents. Obviously, there is no way to check the age of the user before allowing them access, but the site gives an honest try.

Not all feedback given by readers on the website seems that it would be helpful in an individual’s development of his or her writing skills. Many reviews say as little as “great” or “nice.” It may even be hard for the writer to take some of these reviews seriously because the grammar of the reader may be poor.

"Towards a Theory of Visual Argument" Summary

In “Toward a Theory of Visual Argument,” David Birdsell and Leo Groarke want their readers to improve their understanding of visual argument. They feel that visual argument is as important as verbal argument and that it should be recognized and treated as such. To help the reader gain a better understanding of visual argument, Birdsell and Groarke present the reader with three main issues: the issue of clarity, the issue of context, and the issue of resemblance and representation.

For their first point, Birdsell and Groarke compare the clarity of visual argumentation to that of verbal argumentation. They argue that both can be vague, so the claim that visuals are not clear enough is invalid. Birdsell and Groarke take a similar approach for the issue of context. They use the example of context clues used in reading and say that this concept should also be applied when analyzing visuals. The last point offered by Birdsell and Groarke is that of resemblance and representation. The authors give clear examples of the difference between resemblance and representation by mentioning symbols that may represent certain things, but that don’t necessarily resemble them.

Birdsell and Groarke close by bringing up a minor point about the difference between persuasion and argument. They then reiterate their points regarding clarity, context, and resemblance and remind the reader that an understanding of visual argumentation is an important part of a comprehensive understanding of argument.

Rock Trust Advertisement

This advertisement sends a clear and powerful message with its simple illustration. At first glance, ones eyes are immediately drawn towards the brutal snapshot of a child being beaten in the form of a childhood trophy. The effect it simple, there are no distractions from the image the advertisers want us to see, the only other object in the advertisement is a nondescript cabinet. It’s the violence, the cruel stance of the older man, and the helpless position of the child that grabs the attention of the viewer.

The argument in the advertisement is that childhood violence is a problem that needs to be taken care of. By juxtaposing the image of brutality with the a small trophy that represents a memory of childhood, one that should be pure, the author gives the argument that too many children are being victimized by domestic violence. The small caption at the bottom with its request for a small donation, gives the argument that there is a way out. This image taps into a large audience, predominantly middle and upper class families. Mothers especially seem to be targeted, as emphasized by the emotional appeal.

Among the main tools that this advertisement implements in order to gain the attention of its audience is the use of pathos, the appeal to human emotion. The startling image immediately grabs the attention of the audience making them think of the brutality of child and domestic abuse. The advertisement also utilizes ethos in that it is conveying the fact that child abuse is unethical and that we should do something about it. However, the pathos appeal of it serves as the key attention grabbing aspect of the advertisement.

In this advertisement by Rock Trust, an organization devoted to the prevention of child abuse, the picture is the main focal point. However, the limited amount of text does work to enhance the effect on the advertisement’s audience. The phrase, “Some childhoods are more memorable than others” dominates the visible text and works with the picture to emotional stir its audience. The phrase alone does not necessarily convey anything about child abuse. However, in combination with the brutal picture, it works to define the emotional result the advertisement intends to invoke in its audience; a result that makes the reader aware of the atrocity of child abuse and sparks a desire to do something about it.