Literature
Who is the author of the short story "Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead?"
Carmen Maria Machado.
Who is the comic "Your Big Day" about? Name one cool panel from it and why it stood out to us.
The Joker. The rest is up to interpretation!
What is the technical name for a camera angle that is slightly tilted to one side, to give off the impression something is wrong?
Dutch Angle
What is the best video game of all time? Explain yourself.
Extremely open to interpretation!
According to Kukk, what is the physiological difference between empathy and compassion?
Empathy activates the same neural pathways as pain -- whereas compassion activates the same ones as love.
What is "Death of the Author" and who wrote it?
Roland Barthes wrote "Death of the Author" to argue that we should not think about the artist when we experience any kind of art; the artist is metaphorically "dead" and only the reader's interpretation matters.
What is one way in which Japanese comics (manga) are different from American/European comics?
They are often read from right to left, or more flexible about using different art styles within the same comic.
How does a low angle shot (pointing the camera up at a certain character) frame our understanding of them? What about a high angle (pointing it down)?
A low angle makes the character look big and imposing. A high angle makes them look small and weak.
Name three locations or characters your classmates encountered in Los Suelos, and what makes them interesting.
Open to interpretation!
What is "inductive reasoning?" Name an example of it you use in everyday life.
When you use probability to make an educated guess (going from specific observations --> a general conclusion). Examples can vary!
(Language is a good one)
Tell us about one real-world issue that Joy Harjo's "Rabbit is Up to Tricks" might be about.
Open to interpretation! Make your best case: Environmentalism, AI, Religion, etc.
What is your favorite instance of color as a storytelling tool in something we've looked at for class? Why was it good?
Open to interpretation! Possible examples include "One Small Step," "The Big Snit," or Arrival.
What is one way that Cabin in the Woods critiques the way we stereotype or pigeonhole people? Is it successful at doing that -- and why / why not?
The characters all have full personalities outside of their archetypes, but are forced to conform by the "filmmakers." Success is open to interpretation!
How do free-to-play or gacha games (like Roblox or Candy Crush or Genshin Impact) make money -- and how do you feel about the ethics of this?
Typically through ads and microtransactions. This is ethically a grey area, since it can introduce gambling mechanics to young kids.
You are working on a group project and one of your groupmates struggles with English. They are about to commit an Academic Integrity violation and they don't realize it. Their mistake will not impact your grade. What do you do?
Best response wins.
Name FIVE patterns in nature that Jane Alison thinks we can use to model our stories after (other than the Wave).
(1) Meanders
(2) Spirals
(3) Radials / Explosions
(4) Networks and Cells
(5) Fractals
According to Scott McCloud, why might we relate more to a cartoon or a simplified drawing than one with more realistic detail?
"Amplification through Simplification" --> The more abstract and simplified a drawing (like a cartoon) is, the more people it can be said to stand for.
Human beings have too many specific features that might make realistic drawings harder to see ourselves reflected in.
What is one difference we talked about between Arrival and the book it's adapting? How does it change things?
Louise's daughter's death, the aliens actually visiting Earth, and the visions of the future being a plot twist.
What is the thesis of Jacob Geller's video "Schools, Games, and Worlds Designed for Violence?" Why does he use video games as a comparison?
That the way schools are currently being designed (with shootings in mind) might affect us subconsciously in ways we don't understand yet. He uses game design as a useful parallel with architectural design.
You're at Thanksgiving dinner and your cousin is bragging about how they got tickets to Kanye, insisting they love him and it's easy to separate the art from the artist. Talk, or let it go?
Good luck!
What are TWO ways in which Marwa Helal challenges the reader to read her poems in a way they're not used to? Why?
Her poem is read from right to left / it has a blank space in the center / her sentences flow into each other w/ no capitalization
Please have someone from your group come up to the whiteboard and draw, from memory, their best recollection of a moment from "The Big Snit."
The best drawing wins!
What is the Kuleshov effect? Explain with an example from a movie / show you've seen.
The Kuleshov effect states the interaction between two shots creates a new meaning that neither shot could communicate in isolation. Example: A character seeing an object that reminds them of something, and then having a flashback. Pick a good specific example for yourself!
What is a "Systemic Game" -- and what is...
(1) One example of a game system expressing a message well?
(2) One example of a game system NOT expressing something well?
"Systemic Games" refer to games where certain systems (weather, time of day, flora / fauna / environment) directly impact the gameplay in realistic ways.
Examples are open to interpretation.
Your parents keep playing with a sketchy AI app. You learn that the app is taking the photos people upload and potentially putting them into a facial recognition database. Why? Who knows? What do you do?
Open to interpretation.