Class Blog October 30th- Jack Cavanaugh

We started class today by further discussing what an allusion is and how they reward and define the audience. Allusion can help us make connections to previous films, songs, or events that apply to our prior knowledge. A way to reward the audience would be by the use of nostalgia, which gives us a 'good old days' feeling, and reinforces the overall theme. An example of allusion that we used in class today was Auto vs. HAL 9000.
       -Topics within that example- Technology, control, mutiny, artificial intelligence, chain of command.
       -We explore ideas about technology such as robots acting as humans through the use of artificial intelligence, laws of robotics, and emotional feelings. 

We then went on to talk to our group about how we can turn these topics into an overall theme. However, when creating a theme, we must create an argument in order to move from a topic to a theme. 
       -Our theme- An AI left unchecked will eventually take over. LAWS OF ROBOTICS.
       -Other groups' themes- Artificial intelligence can never be human, the development of technology can take control of our lives.
       - ALL THEMES have a negative tone, and that reinforces the theme.

Next, we talked about the reinforcement of theme. There were many allusions in WALL-E, and we saw one when they included "It Only Takes A Moment" From Hello Dolly, a film from 1969. Topics seen in this allusion include love, cherishing time, memories, companionship, reminiscing (POSITIVE TONE), and living life to the fullest. After that, Mr. Rivers asked us to be able to transform these topics into a theme. My group came up with the theme as follows: Cherishing time with loved ones allows you to live life to the fullest. We dissected the topics in such a way to combine many ideas to create one overarching theme. Other groups' themes included: Love is special and every moment should be cherished, and Nostalgia helps cope with a dreadful present. "special and cherished"- positive. "Nostalgia, helps, cope," (Positive tone) and "dreadful present" (Negative tone) juxtaposes a positive and a negative tone in order to compare past and present in order to create a successful theme and argument.
        -"And that's what love's about, And we'll recall when time runs out, That it only took a moment, To be loved a whole life long."

Allusions Found In Ready Player One
       -Page 15- "I've found several old flash drives in a box of his things, containing complete runs of The Amazing Spider Man, The X-Men, and Green Lantern."
      - This creates a positive tone, as it creates nostalgia, and appeals to the emotions of the audience.
      -It also defines the audience.


Coming up we have our second Be Reel Blog due at the end of the marking period.