Project 4

Project 4 Joseph Parker 872093323 Inventing a class How to Analyze and Interpret Artifacts Introduction; Morning Class; how are we? In today’s class we will learn how to Analyze and Interpret Artifacts. The key to analysis is; to break a whole into its components; its parts and examine their interaction, in order to understand how, why, and to what effects the whole works. Here are some definitions that will be useful to you. Definitions; 
Artifact; An artifact is something created by humans
Cultural Artifact; Cultural Artifact an artifact that means something that communicates
Rhetorical Artifact; Rhetorical Artifact is a cultural artifact that seeks to persuade
Exigence; the circumstance that demands something be done
Rhetorical Exigence; communication is required to solve the problem
Most artifacts; human creations, seek to communicate something be it explicitly or subtly; this is what is described by the term cultural artifact. A Rhetorical artifact; is an extension of this, it seeks to persuade, to encourage a particular train of thought rather than just convey a message. The exigence; put simply, is the problem that needs to be addressed, what encouraged the creation of the artifact To rhetorically analyze an artifact you must identifying the purpose of that artifact (what does it seek to persuade its audience to think or do in response to the exigence) and, the Rhetorical Audience. The various groups of people who can not only see and hear the artifact but can also act upon the exigence. Analyzing and interpreting a rhetorical artifact, then, consists, at minimum, of identifying and assessing the strategies whereby the artifact seeks to persuade its audience of its purpose. Here is an example that I created for you; Black Theatre Black Light Theatre or simply 'Black Theatre', is a theatrical performance style characterized by the use of black box theatre augmented by black light illusion The performance I witnessed was interspersed with mime. In conjunction the dance and mime put forth a powerful message. Street crime exists all around us. This was the exigence; the problem. The audience consisted of, (for the most part) of middle aged theatre goers who came ready to interpret, an audience far more apt at deconstructing more abstract and ambiguous images. (It is important to consider who is the rhetorical audience, who is the artifact aimed and how may this change its message?) The most striking scene in the performance was when the policeman; who’s plight to catch a set of bank robbers was consistently wrought with road blocks, finally corners one of the robbers. His attempts to arrest her are however halted when she spikes his drugs; the drugs have a profound impact upon the officer. He goes from a stalwart man of the law, to drunken clown trying to proposition rather than integrate the criminal. The dancing following the scene also becomes aggressive and chaotic. The message is clear; it was an example of processes that drive the criminal world. The effect they had upon the police officer was an example of their corrupting impact; an emphatic reminder that they are to be avoided. The ease with which the police officer was duped is also poignant. It is very easy to be conned into drug use to be manipulated, awareness that you may be susceptible is important. Protect yourself avoid nefarious characters be aware and be conscious lest your life become violent and chaotic. For your assignment I would like you to analyze Rodin’s piece the Thinker. It is currently set in the Museum Rodin in Paris, what problem was Rodin trying to address? What message was Rodin trying to communicate to his audience? How does changing the location of the statue and thus the audience change the message? Write 3 Paragraphs; 
The first describing the original exigence of the piece, (research Rodin if helpful) what was the targeted audience and how does Rodin communicate his message?
Secondly place the statue in a crowded city street, create a new exigence, how has the audience changed and what is being communicated now?
Third at a location of your choice place the statue, what is the exigence, who is the audience now and what message is being communicated? Have fun with this third paragraph, feel free to be humorous as long as points are justified; creativity will be rewarded.
Lesson 2 How to invent an argument by formulating and testing a hypothesis In today’s class we will examine a scientific approach of writing; How to invent an argument the formulation and testing of a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observable phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that it can be tested. It must also be consistent with existing knowledge. Simply put, it must be possible to disprove it. Take these 3 examples, The Dinosaurs went extinct after a large meteor struck earth. The Dinosaurs went extinct following a rise in temperature; it affected the reproductive organs of the cold blooded male dinosaurs that were left unable to reproduce. The Dinosaurs went extinct because of the emergence of a now long deceased species of plant; the plant was filled with many natural chemicals that had drug like effects upon the dinosaurs. Attracted to the taste of the plant the dinosaurs ate massive amounts and died of overdoses. Which of these is testable and thus a valid hypothesis? The first is the only valid hypothesis as the meteor impact is the only variable that is testable, scientists could search for a crater to prove its existence. They do not however have access to the reproductive organs of dinosaurs or deceased plant species. Therefore the last two hypotheses are not valid. For today’s class I have uploaded an article on the subject of professional sports. I would like you to read the articles and create a number of hypothesis; 3 to 5, based on one of the writing. I would then like you to list five ways in which you would try and disprove the hypothesis and decide upon which of them a valid testable hypothesis is. Which is most concentrate once you have tried to disprove them? Article 1; http://www.rfu.com/microsites/museum/page.aspx?section=111&sectionTitle=The+Amateur+Era The Amateur Era Definition of ‘amateur’ An amateur is someone who engages in an activity out of love. The word is derived from French and Latin amour (meaning ‘love’). ‘Amateurism’ is a belief that things done without self interest are simply better than those done for money (i.e., professionalism). Amateur sports require players to participate without payment. Amateurism (in sport generally) was a fanatically held ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but has been eroded and is now held by very few. The term ‘shamateurism’ refers to the hypocrisy which occurred when organisations gave financial rewards to ‘amateur’ players, in effect making a ‘sham’ of their amateur status. Origins of amateur sport For many centuries sport in the British Isles had been the sole preserve of the rich. They were the only people who had free time in which to play sport. The working classes worked six days a week (Monday – Saturday) and according to religious custom all sport was forbidden on Sundays. Traditional mass sports were therefore mostly played on public holidays e.g. Shrove Tuesday - when traditional 'mob football' was popular. The working classes and amateurism A series of ‘Factories Acts’ in the nineteenth century eventually gave certain working men half a day off on Saturdays. The opportunity to take part in sport on a Saturday afternoon was suddenly available to many workers. Payments for ‘success’ were well established in working class life – for example prize money for winning pub games. Payment had never been an issue for the rich because they had never had the problem of having to take time off work in order to play, train, practise, rest or recover from injury. The first signs of payment coming into sport led to the verbalisation of the concept of ‘amateurism’. Supporters of amateurism feared that rampant professionalism would destroy the 'Corinthian spirit' - the principle by which playing well and playing fair was far more important than winning. The supporters of amateurism Supporters of the amateur ideal despised the influence of money and the effect they perceived it to have on sports. Their view was that the professional only wanted to receive the highest amount of pay possible for their performance, not to perform to the highest possible standard if it did not bring additional benefit. The professional player would feel a higher level of responsibility to the club if it was paying them and they would therefore be more likely to try and ‘win at all costs’. If payment for performance was to become the central driving force of any sport then they felt it would inevitably lead to: •Cynicism •Cheating •Inflated wages •Rough and unfair play •Abuse of umpires and referees Also, where professionals were permitted, it was hard for amateurs to compete against them. The enemies of amateurism The ban on payments was felt by some to prevent all players obtaining the highest possible standards of performance. Unlike richer players, the working classes were not free to pursue their chosen sport fully. They needed to acquire income through working long hours and so total amateurism discriminated against them. Amateurism in rugby football (before the great split of 1895) Rugby’s roots were firmly set in the upper and middle class environments of the public school and university. This was very much the case when the RFU was formed in 1871. However, the game quickly grew in popularity around the country – especially amongst the working classes in the north of England. In 1879 came the first definite example of a rugby player being paid - Teddy Bartram by the Yorkshire club Wakefield Trinity. His payments (travel expenses, etc…) were an ‘open secret’ in the north of England but at that time the RFU had no laws relating to amateurism / professionalism, since the issue had never arisen. The Yorkshire Rugby Union moved quickly in 1879 and immediately copied the Marylebone Cricket Club’s laws relating to the definition of a (cricketing) amateur. These were the first ever laws relating to amateurism in any football code. The RFU did not provide national rules on the matter until 1886 – soon after which Teddy Bartram was banned for life. The RFU’s first amateurism laws It was impossible to exclude the working class masses from rugby, so the authorities decided to let them in on their terms. At the 1886 RFU Annual General Meeting strict laws relating to amateurism were introduced. The RFU said they wanted the game to be a pleasurable recreation. A relaxation for the body and mind, played for honour, not for gain. However, they also knew that gentlemen who played once a week as a pastime (i.e. themselves) would find themselves no match for men who gave up their whole time to it. They were concerned that an influx of professional players would dominate the game at the expense of the gentlemen amateur clubs. This was a lesson freshly learned in soccer where exactly that had happened in the mid 1880s. To argue their case they claimed that rugby (and pre-code folk football) had always been amateur. This is simply untrue. It was an ‘invented tradition’ to legitimise rugby’s response to working class involvement in the game. Amateurism in rugby football (the great split of 1895) The RFU’s move came too late. The great northern teams already had civic pride and importance attached to them. They wanted to beat the local/rival towns. That put them under pressure to find (and keep) the best players and to adopt successful playing methods. This meant that they needed large numbers of spectators paying at the turnstile. Therefore they needed a regular series of matches (ie a league system) to ensure regular income. ‘Payments in kind’ (a leg of mutton for each cup game won and seaside trips) were as popular as cash payments. Clubs would also find work at better wages to tempt a player to their town. Alternatively the player might work for members of the club’s committee. 'Boot money' (illegal payments placed in their boots whilst they were on the pitch) were paid to certain players to help them cope with expenses. The more the game veered towards professionalism, the harsher the amateur response. The main struggle focused on ‘broken time payments'. These were payments to recompense players for the time they had to take off work to play or train. The clash came to a head in 1895 when clubs from the north of England broke away to form the Northern Rugby Union (later known as the Rugby Football League). Rugby league stayed an amateur sport for 3 years with the exception of broken time payments. After this they allowed players to be paid for playing as long as they had a regular job. Full-time professionalism came into rugby league much later. Amateurism in rugby football (after the great split of 1895) Rugby Union was to remain officially an amateur sport for the next 100 years. The union authorities placed severe sanctions on associations with rugby league. Even playing an amateur rugby league game was sufficient to receive a ban from rugby union. Union players who went to play professional league were banned for life from even attending rugby union matches as supporters. Payment for expenses was often permitted, however. The ‘amateur’ 1908 Australian rugby union tourists to the British Isles received payment of 21 shillings a week. This was more than twice the amount that players on the following season's ‘professional’ Great Britain rugby league tour of Australia received as weekly wages! Technically speaking, rugby union players should have been holding down ‘9 to 5’ (or equivalent) jobs in order to support their amateur status. However, there were many stories of players being offered ‘jobs’ by club committee members that were little more than tokenistic. By the 1980s and 1990s there were mounting allegations that the top players were actually making a living from the game. A House of Commons Select Committee observed that: “The absorption of professionalism into Rugby Union in the Northern Hemisphere was dictated by the reality of shamateurism at the highest levels of the game, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, where the pretence of amateur status had become severely undermined and unsustainable.” “Although Rugby Union had been ostensibly amateur since its birth, the regulations prohibiting professionalism were not, in practice, enforced. Governing bodies “turned a blind eye” to breaches of the regulations.” The end of amateurism Following the advent of the Rugby World Cup tournament in 1987 rugby union became a big television ratings draw. Rumours circulated during the 1995 Rugby World Cup that media tycoon Rupert Murdoch was about to finance a breakaway professional league of rugby union players (as had already happened in Australian rugby league). This threat was genuine - he had already signed up some of the world’s best players. The game had to take the initiative and so immediately after the 1995 Rugby World Cup the International Rugby Football Board decided to open the sport to professionals.

Project 4

by JP092988

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Project 4

by JP092988

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