Synthesis

      Today in class we came back to synthesis and redefined it in order to understand what we were going to do for our essay. Synthesis is using 2 different idea and combining them in order to come up with a new idea. Using the coin flip scenes from Threat Level Midnight from The Office and No Country for Old Men, we were required to create a topic sentence including both of the scenes. After creating these topic sentences, the groups talked about which one had the best quality, with specificity and clarity. Then coming back together as a class we shared by group which they thought had the best topic sentence. Once sharing, the groups also found evidence for their topic sentences for both No Country for Old Men and Threat Level Midnight. Usually using MES and aspects of film in order to prove their topic sentence and giving it more credibility. Instead of using dialogue as evidence the class was able to use visual things that we saw in order to provide evidence for the topic sentences that we had chosen. After discussing together and sharing evidence, we were shown a vague and broad structure as to how to analyze and structure our body paragraphs. Then we also discussed citations in the new MLA format. Here's the generic way to do it, Film title. First Name Last Name. Container, Distributor, Year of Release. Or Dir. First Name Last Name. Film title. Container, Distributor, Year of Release. Using this info we then created a citation for No Country for Old Men.
    Ex: No Country for Old Men. Dir. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Netflix, Paramount, 2007. This would be a great citation. Coming back to tone after the citations, Mr. Rivers made us watch Seinfeld, the scene were Kramer got a line in a movie, saying "These pretzels are making me thirsty". The other characters then create a bunch of different tones for that one line in order to see how it should be said. We then used the note cards we wrote tone words on to repeat that scene in that tone.
     Tone is used almost everywhere we go. How we say sentences and how they're portrayed based on the attitude of the messenger. Tone is also very important when it comes to acting. Actors use different tones in order to make certain scenes and lines feel authentic instead of metronome and boring. Also with learning mise-en-scene to help analyze movies and understanding what it takes to make certain scenes the way they are adds a greater appreciation for a great film when it's directed. We also learned about the new 8th edition MLA format, and citations which is going to be used for at least 4 more years for anyone aspiring to further their education which is going to be big help in the future when writing essays and applying to different areas.