Intro

When revising my draft for this portfolio, I really tried to dig deeper in research and find

more credible authors and their articles to use in my project to back up my evidence. My main

weakness with my interview paper is that I didnt elaborate enough. I was very good at

articulating my thoughts that I had, however I needed more. In my revised draft I add two major

pieces of evidence from two different articles to articulate my ideas of why fine arts students get

more scholarships, and how the technology of theatre has advanced to a point where the ideas are

limitless. If I had a bit more time to revise this paper I would definitely try to include more

interview material with Mike Sheldon as he and I had an amazing conversation, however I could

not fit it all in. He offered a lot of insight from the field and a lot more personal stories that

wouldve definitely made the paper easier for the reader to connect and care about the topic at

hand and wouldve added a good level of pathos to my paper.

The audience for my paper was mainly for people like me, wanting to receive a teaching

degree. Generally however I also had to have the audience of people who have no interest in

teaching but are curious as to what it takes. Another audience to keep in mind was people who

generally dont know anything about theatre; however I did not spend a lot of time trying to

explain the basics of theatre as that is not the necessary point of the paper. The purpose of the

paper was to enlighten people on why theatre teachers are important. The way I accomplished

this was by giving the benefits students can get from joining theatre and what having a great

theatre teacher can do for the community.

Overall, I felt after my revision, my paper is a lot more credible and does a better job at

informing readers how important this art form can be for the community.
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Antonio Vettraino

WRT 1050 Mon/Wed 12 PM

Jason Torrente

December 3rd, 2017

Rhetorical Analysis on Group Project

The question our group had decided to propose for our final group project is How does

music affect our brains?. We listen to music every day, even if we do not realized it. Its always

in our background. The absence of music is also very effective on our mood if there is silence in

say a movie or a play. Vinney, Lauren, and I are very knowledgable in music theory and can read

sheet music easily as we did Band and Choir in high school. Akshay and Jacob dont have that

same knowledge, however we knew that music is something that is widely important to

everyone. Jacob also had an interest in movies which made the movie portion of our project was

more interesting as he gave tons of details on why music is or isnt apparent in a scene from a

movie. Everyone has their own different tastes of music whether it be Rap, Rock, Broadway,

Classical, or Hip Hop, this is essential for everyone, and thats why it was a great topic for us to

take on for this project.

The typical audience for this type of project isnt as much into the actual music theory

and cant typically read sheet music, however that doesnt mean they dont know a lot. They do

genuinely care about music as it is for some people something they use for their emotions. As

mentioned in our project, sometimes sad music is listened to when a relationship ends and they

need a coping mechanism. Sad songs can simulate a good friend whos willing to talk. On the
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other side of it, people will listen to upbeat music to get out of their phase of sadness and

motivate themselves to be happier. If people dont see this aspect of music and really dont care,

after they watch this presentation, they will start thinking about how different genres affects their

moods, like how country music generally is seen as sad while rock music is seen as happy. This

could also expand different genres that people listen to. After our presentation, I commented on a

few places you could go see musicals or listen to professional orchestras and someone might get

a better appreciation for different music.

Music doesnt just apply to the people around us either, it applies to everyone. Including

people in different cultures and their interpretations of music can be different from ours. My

African Music class I am taking right now really goes in depth with this idea. Something we

highlighted in our presentation is the healing power that music might have. In African culture

specifically, a lot of the music is very spiritually and is used for worship to their certain religions

and is something everyone there does. Along with worship songs, they also have songs for labor

and for certain events like weddings. funerals, etc. These differences from our form of music to

other cultures is something that we tend to look over. We just assume all music is the same, when

in reality, the world has many different sounds to their songs that sets it apart from each other.

Before going into this project, I had a very big interest in music. I listen constantly to

Band and Choir music, as well as tons of musical soundtracks. I also had an interest in a bit of

classic rock and punk music. In doing this project I did have to hear a lot of different genres

including rap, reggae, and blues. I did also learn a lot about the reasons directors use or dont use

music in certain scenes and what their purpose is. I can say a lot of it was very interesting to hear

and I might be starting to expand my horizons of music listening in the future.

 Paper 2 Revisions with Track Changes Vettraino 1

Regarding the challenges of teaching, Sheldon states Public Education is tough, their

underfunded and its really difficult for me to not just do things the way I want to do them.

With teaching anything in the fine arts department, it is tough to work around what the school

wants. They could be funding your program, but they could also cut it at any time. If you did a

show that was not appropriate as deemed by the school, you could have your program taken

away. For example, schooltheatre.org has an article discussing banned and challenged plays,

even though their message can be very important. For example, students at Portage High School

in Indiana were asked to cut any drug, alcohol, and sex refrences from their production of The

Bad Seed. However they told the board they couldnt as it would infringe with copyright issues.

Eventually the play was able to go on, but after a lot of fight. Other banned plays include The

Laramie Project when Ottumwa High School had their production cancelled by the principle

because it was too adult and doesnt spread a great message even though it is about the gay

man Matthew Shepard who was beaten to death and the show promotes hate crimes and how we

need to stop them. The students decided to take on this play off school grounds themselves.

As regarding the future of this field, there might be much more of a demand with the

upcoming generation of students coming out of college now. It has been recorded that music and

theatre students score higher on their SATs, have higher GPAs, and receive more academic

honors than their counterparts (Scholarships.com). These students also have an easier time

receiving scholarships as they are typically more motivated in their craft than other clubs that are

provided at schools. Schools are starting to realize the performing arts matter, its easier to get

college scholarships with theatre than it is Athletics, and you can rent out the space to people and

make money for your school They dont have people who are trained to teach performing arts

to high school students (Sheldon). However, with more and more people going into this field
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and more schools opening up these positions, there might now be much of a demand when

myself and other students around my age graduate. Youre going to have to find a way to

separate yourself from a large number of candidates (Sheldon).

A few key things people need to know before becoming a director is the knowledge of

tech, and the knowledge of acting, they cant just know one or the other. During college, it is

important to take classes outside of your main theatre major to gain this knowledge. When I

asked Sheldon about what certain courses would be beneficial for me to take, he stated Hands

on skill stuff is not being taught in our schools anymore, there is no wood-shop, there is no

metal-shop you will have to teach students how to use power tools, and read blue prints

Theres a wide variety of things you need to have an understanding of, and college is great for

that because all of those things are there (Sheldon).

Another really important aspect of getting a degree in theatre is gaining experience and

finding connections throughout the different jobs you do. Especially in the professional field,

knowing people is the true first step into getting your foot in the door because people will

recommend you for shows if they know you can do a good job. Once youve built up your

resume, start looking for what [teaching] job you want (Sheldon).

Regarding the technology of theatre, we are advancing immensely. For example, the

use of lights that have been advancing to LED lighting, which uses lower power consumption.

Unlike regular lights, LEDs can have multiple colors in one light because there is no use of gels

(colored sheets of paper you place in front of a light to change the color.) Other technological

changes that an article on BBC news shared included a lot more projections and 3D simulations

that including how people use modeling software that is able to be projected through the back of

the stage to make a more complicated set design. With these technological changes, the future of
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how theatre will look can become so extreme and the possibilities as to what we can do in the

future is endless.

Theatre teachers usually double as English teachers as well because of their extensive

knowledge. Because of that, their skills of writing is very extensive. Writing is a very key aspect

not just for theatre directors, but for teaching any subject in any grade. Teachers have to know

essential writing techniques and how to write things formally. For example, teachers have to

communicate with other staff members in their school, so they have to know how to write emails

and formal letters. Or even when students ask their favorite teachers to write letters of

recommendations for them to send to the colleges of their dreams, a teacher must know how to

formally write and make their writing articulate. One key item all teachers use in their job to help

structure their classroom is a lesson plan (see Appendix A). Lesson plans are important to the

teacher so they can plan out what to cover in a certain day of class. It keeps the teacher more

organized and able to have a plan for the day. If teachers didnt use this, their classes would have

no structure and they would have to improvise their way throughout the day, and in turn they

might miss some key information to give their students. In a way, a lesson plan uses logos very

well as it plans out everything logically and structurally.

A key item that is unique to theatre teachers is something every director will have to

have at least once throughout the school year the script (see Appendix B). A script for a show

someone is directing is very important. It needs to have all of the staging, sound and light cues,

scene changes, and anything else the director needs to know written inside of it. The director

usually spends a bit of time before rehearsals start to get a plan of how they will accomplish this

and analyze the script. This in a way is a huge example of how a theatre director uses a lot of
Peer Review from Jason Torrente