Creative Writing Commons^™

Les Co-Productions Algériennes Avec L'Europe : Standardisation Ou Résistance ?, Salima Tenfiche

Regards

After more than twenty years of silence, Algerian cinema has resurfaced on the international scene for ten years, through co-productions with foreign countries and especially Europe. The use of foreign funding and the recognition of these films by the legitimating institutions of the North — reading committees and prestigious international festivals — raise the question of the subjugation of these filmmakers to European cultural hegemony.
However, if some Algerian filmmakers and producers appeal to foreign funds, it is above all to free themselves from the supervision of the State and from censorship in their own country. These filmmakers are far …

Plastic Goes Concrete: "Plasticnic" And "Plasticpoems", Two Animated Poetry Videos About Plastic Pollution, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Nhat Truong, Tisha Deb Pillai

The Goose

The author describes the creation of two short animated video poems about plastic pollution that originated in concrete/visual poems. "Plasticnic" is a humorous and colourful narrated video based on a shaped poem depicting how we enjoy nature while simultaneously harming it through plastic consumption. "Plasticpoems" is a text-based, unnarrated animated video poem about plastic pollution based on two shaped/visual/concrete poems.

Pathos, Fall 2020, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Interim Editor-in-Chief: Claire Miller

The Fast Fashion Fad, Megan Wu

Pop Culture Intersections

New companies with mission statements to use solely recycled materials have started to pop-up all over the world. Even well established brands such as Nike or Adidas have started to create lines of products made with recycled materials. However, despite these efforts, I sadly believe that fast fashion will continue to dominate the fashion industry in the years to come due to two factors. Most consumers remain uneducated about the negative impacts that fast fashion has on the environment and mindlessly partake in society’s consumerist culture. Therefore, they fall subject to marketing schemes fast fashion companies employ. While some may …

Secure Digital Contact Tracing Methods Are Necessary For Slowing Down Covid-19, Rania Ansari

Pop Culture Intersections

This article covers the fears of digital contact tracing during the current pandemic. Citizens do have the right to be understandably uncertain about trusting the government because of past instances such as security breaches ranging from NSA security leaks to personal voter data exposure. The information provided in this paper should, additionally, make it easier for those who are worried about contact tracing and their rights to understand what is implied by the phrases “digital contact tracing” and “data privacy.” The novel coronavirus pandemic calls for urgent, necessary, and effective safety methods, including data analytics, surveillance, and Artificial Intelligence that …

Behind Social Media: A World Of Manipulation And Control, Spencer J. Keenan

Pop Culture Intersections

This article will be arguing that big players, mainly governments and large corporations, use user data, targeted advertising, and selective speech to manipulate users of popular social media platforms. They do this in order to achieve their agendas goals at the expense of the users. These goals may range from selling a certain good or service to swaying a certain percentage of voters to cast their ballots one way or another. Regardless of the outcome, people are being taken advantage of, with most not even knowing it. Users must look past the media in front of them to see their …

Seeking Sales In New Channels: The Effectiveness Of Influencer Marketing, Alanna Morgan

Pop Culture Intersections

This article investigates the effectiveness of influencer marketing industry. It closely examines the various types of social media influencers and the impact they can have on target audiences. Through their authentic connection with their followers, influencers create a strong sense of community with their fanbase. As a result, marketers then target specific influencers to promote products to their preferred audiences. If executed strategically, marketers have a higher chance of selling their products through influencers than they would through conventional internet advertisements. This article includes examples of both strong influencer-brand partnerships and weak ones in order to discuss how influencer marketing …

Star Wars: From Fantasy Film To Statement Showcase, Erica Pang

Pop Culture Intersections

This paper will examine the success of the Star Wars franchise by comparing two of its films: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). During the nearly 40 year period in between each film’s release, there was significant socio-political change that had occurred. Therefore, in order to continue to appeal to its existing audience, as well as adopt new audiences, Star Wars had to deviate from the traditional characters and storylines of A New Hope and instead, focus on diversity and representation in The Force Awakens. Using socio-political and feminist approaches, I …

The Societal Influence Of The Nba, Kyle Kawashiri

Pop Culture Intersections

Based on recent events, there has been a lot of discussion about the racial issues in America. Many professional athletes have been vocal about these issues, but NBA players seem to be at the forefront of many of the conversations regarding social injustice in this country. This article will examine different factors that have influenced the popularity of the National Basketball Association, such as product distribution, online engagement, global outreach, and the choice to allow players to use their platforms. The article will then argue how these factors have allowed the NBA and its players to be leaders in the …

Why Playing Video Games Is In Your Best Interest, Adan Salazar

Pop Culture Intersections

This article explores the world of video games and their potential to benefit one's well being. For decades video games have persevered in pop culture and have provided entertainment for countless people. The overwhelming popularity of video games has also sparked debate on how they can affect an individual. From extended screen time hurting vision to violent content affecting actions many claims have been made against video games. The truth is there is far more evidence supporting video games as a benefit towards users. Enriching social practices, providing therapy and implementation into classrooms are just a few of the ways …

Defending K-Pop Idols Online: The Fanbase’S Underlying Issue Of Ignorance, Grace Gita Tantra

Pop Culture Intersections

This article covers how parasocial relationships and echo chambers promote ignorance within K-pop fandoms on social media platforms, specifically when it comes to cultural appropriation, racial stereotyping, and anti-Blackness. Despite the recent surge in education and accountability in other areas of pop culture, K-pop has created a unique space online when it comes to these dialogues. We will be exploring this through looking at the Korean wave, implications of parasocial relationships, and the divide in the common conversation online; these concepts will be applied to specific recent examples of K-pop controversies and the fans' responses.

A World Of Luxury, Tanvi Yeccaluri

Pop Culture Intersections

This article explores the history of luxury and the impacts of the growing consumerism in the United States. The change in consumption habits is touched on, with analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic stimulus check usage and trends. The debate of the importance of social status in the US and how our current society displays materialistic values in relation to the growing demand for luxury is a covered, and supported by numerous studies and research conducted over the past twenty years. There is an explanation of how society has become driven by the desire for luxury in order to increase social …

Posting About Blm Made It A Movement Pushing For Real Change, Nolan Michaels

Pop Culture Intersections

Although social media includes opposing views that have unified against BLM, it has been responsible for massive growth of the movement. In this paper, I will show how social media plays a pivotal role in BLM by scaling up the movement and encouraging more nuanced and diverse perspectives on BLM to develop. Although all social media platforms are used to promote BLM, my examination will focus mainly on Twitter because it is the primary platform analyzed by scholars that investigates the growth of BLM. What MLK was able to accomplish by tapping into the new medium of television is now …

Creatively Exploring Self: Applying Organic Inquiry, A Transpersonal And Intuitive Methodology, Larisa J. Bardsley Phd

The Qualitative Report

This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the …

Glitch Reading: [Re]Mediation And The Protocols Of Reading, Jacob Reber

Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2020

In this paper, I outline a methodology for reading poetic works that operate between media environments, noting the subtle shifts and failures that mark the material changes. The space between mediums and processes of remediation produce residue from the various material substrates and protocols of reading that adhere to works moving through networks. The attention to the residue can be understood as glitches, which proliferate the possibilities of reading and reveal the construction of imbricated reading environments. This is a practice I want to consider through the framework of glitch reading. Drawing on Rosa Menkman's theorization of glitches and Tan …

Twine And The Challenge To Reading, Stuart Moulthrop

Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2020

The article considers the Twine story-game platform in relation to important critiques of earlier forms of electronic literature (specifically hypertext) from which it descends. Arguments for the significance of Twine are made based on aesthetic approaches (the fusion of literature and game culture) and the refinement of writing itself.

Play this paper in Twine

“Decolonize” E-Literature? On Weeding The E-Lit Garden (A Riposte To Anna Nacher's "Gardening E-Literature"), Kathi Berens

Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2020

This essay, a RiPOSTe to Anna Nacher's forthcoming "Gardening E-Literature" in Electronic Book Review (5 July 2020), asks: Should the e-literature community include third-generation works in collections, syllabi, databases, prizes? A related question: do third-gen makers have a role in “decolonizing” e-literature? Who or what “colonizes” e-lit? E-literature began as a coterie and has become a scholarly field. Using the comparison of a field versus a walled garden, the essay examines critiques of e-literature and variations on field definitions. It ends with two ideas about how to "decolonize" e-literature; about how equity and inclusion work in tandem with decolonization; and …

I Love You, Go Away (A Novel), John Matthew Steinhafel

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

I Love You, Go Away, a novel set in Milwaukee, tells the story of a twenty-two year-old nobody, Gabriel Driscoll, who meets and befriends a middle-aged, drug addicted, recluse actor, Beau Brooks. But less than six months into their friendship Beau commits suicide. At the funeral Gabriel meets a twenty-nine-year-old corporate executive, Michelle, the daughter of Beau’s long-time girlfriend. Gabriel and Michelle bond over their mutual grief and quickly strike up a romance. At the same time, Gabriel’s semi-estranged mother, Sadie, a recovering heroin addict, reaches out to him in an effort to rebuild their relationship. What follows for Gabriel …

The Transformation Of R.A. Kosasih's Mahabharata Wayang Comics Design: Comparison Of The 1955 Version With The 1975 Version, Iwan Gunawan

International Review of Humanities Studies

Mahabharata was an epic Hindu story that has been adapted to comics for so many times, by many comic artists. R.A. Kosasih, was one that was known for his mastery in creatingWayang Comics, and Mahabharata was his best creation. He created two versions of Mahabharata comics. The first was in 1955, published by Melodi and the second in 1975, by Maranatha. The storylines were basically the same, but there were differences not only in formats or spelling system, but in the visual narratives. The pictures in Maranatha version were designed in a more up dated style in comics. In the …

"Strong Female Characters"? An Analysis Of Six Female Fantasy Characters From Novel To Film, Valari Westeren

Honors Projects

This project is twofold. The first section analyzes six female fantasy characters in their literary and filmic incarnations—Dorothy Gale (The Wizard of Oz), Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Arwen Evenstar (The Lord of the Rings), Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), and Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)—noting adaptational changes made to each and placing the twelve incarnations in conversation with each other. This conversation centers around the concept of the “strong female character,” …

Son Of Song, David Randall

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

When a cynical music biographer pins her career on telling the life story of a compulsive liar composer, she must decide if achieving her dream is worth destroying his.

Developing The Screenwriter’S Notebook And Its Implementation Of The Adapted Comic Book Origin Story Of Solstice, Mohansingh Udhwani Jr.

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

This thesis features three documents: The Screenwriter's Notebook Template, The Screenwriter's Notebook: Solstice, and a reflection paper. The Screenwriter's Notebook Template is a planning and pitch tool designed to help screenwriters tell better stories, faster. The template is designed so the user may start with one word (the thematic subject) and flush out their story through a series of guided diagrams inspired by the works of Robert McKee, Dara Marks, and John Vorhaus. The end result is the user developing a detailed scenic model outlining what is happening in each scene in conjunction with Marks' Transformational Arc, to use as …

Time Machine Research And Approach, Tarek Bouraque

Theses and Dissertations

Time Machine is a hybrid documentary that explores the logics of enslavement, colonialism, eurocentrism and their interconnectedness in our globalized world. Mustapha Azemmouri, born in 1502, undertakes a journey to the 21st century to recount his own story of enslavement and exploration, and reflects on a collective puzzle of 500 years of hidden history.

You Were There : An Exploration And Analysis Of The Filmmaking Process, Regan Emfinger

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the process of writing, shooting, and editing my short film You Were There. My process involved scriptwriting with several revisions, shooting with a cast and crew, and editing the raw footage. This paper will not only serve as a timeline leading up to the final product of the film but also will explain the function of each artistic choice. This paper will also outline the biggest lessons I learned about fictional narratives, and discuss the successes and failures of the film as a whole. I also plan on discussing how those lessons will further my academic and …

The Marduk Archives: A Take On Thresholds, Christopher Melton

Honors Theses

A fictional screenplay exploring the relationship between absurdity and convention as it pertains to the shifting cultural paradigms of our society. (Under the direction of Beth Spencer)

The Portrayal Of Roman Gladiators And Slavery In Film, Megan Gingerich

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis project will endeavor to examine how prominent historical films set in the Roman Empire deal with slavery and gladiators, said research to inform a corresponding creative project. In studying and analyzing Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960) and Gladiator (2000), the three most prominent films that deal with the topics of slavery and gladiators in ancient Rome, I hope to uncover how films treat the topic, how the films are influenced by more modern values, and how accurate the films are. I will also identify commonalities between all three films, and supplement my discoveries with observations from two less successful …

The Yellow Belly Anthology: Micro-Films About Humans At Their Least Impressive, Tommy Armstrong

English and Creative Writing Honors Papers

In the fall semester of 2019, I worked with my adviser Dr. Jon Volkmer on writing sixty sixty-second shorts on the theme of human insecurity, based off of real-life experiences and stories. I wrote a series of micro-scripts satirizing human self-consciousness and anxiety — moments that are rushed over or lost in longer-form mass media and film. The scripts show humans at their most indecisive, insecure, and vulnerable. Each of these scripts give glimpses into one or two people’s interior lives as they find themselves in a particular nerve-provoking situation. In all of the shorts, a person must overcome, submit …

Explorations Of Liminality And Intersectionality In Tabletop Games, Alyna Kim

Honors Thesis

In fantasy role-playing games (RPGs), especially tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), participants are required to collaborate to create not only fantasy personas in the shape of characters, but also the world and space that makes up the game itself. Participants therefore create a sense of both time and space that exist outside of basic reality. The created space and time––referred to as a world or a story––exists as a liminal space that participants and characters use as a tool to both exist and explore. While the participants exist physically in the real world, the game space allows them to go beyond …

Ebony Films’ Spying The Spy Is Asking The Questions, Ben "Shirley" Anderson

Toyon: Multilingual Literary Magazine

n/a full permission

Blend It Like Beckett: Samuel Beckett And Experimental Contemporary Creative Writing, Sam Nicole Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Samuel Beckett penned novels, short stories, poetry, stage plays, radio plays, and scripts—and he did each in a way that blended genre, challenged the norms of creative writing, and surprised audiences around the globe. His experimental approach to creative writing included the use of absurdism, genre-hybridization, and ergodicism, which led to Beckett fundamentally changing the approach to creative writing. His aesthetics have trickled down through the years and can be seen in contemporary works, including Aimee Bender’s short story collection The Girl in the Flammable Skirt and Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel House of Leaves[1]. By examining these works …