Hernández Rosa 1

Adriana Hernández Rosa

Professor Thames

ENC 1102

30 September 2020

Stylus Study

Couch, Brittani. Interpreting Cinematic Elements: Psychological Explanations. 2015, pp. 18–25,

writingandrhetoric.cah.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/10/KWS3_Couch.pdf.

Accessed 30 Sept. 2020.

• How does this Stylus Article relate to your chosen topic/research questions?

This article relates to my research as it is focused on the cinematic industry. While it is

not focused on diversity, it goes in depth about how characters are constructed and how music

helps aid the emotional experience of a film. This in turn, may be useful for my own research as I

can refer back to this when conducting my own analysis of certain films. For example, if I

wanted to prove how a character is culturally inappropriate, I might refer to back to the steps the

production team may have taken ho create them. By this I mean that I can examine each

character through the lenses of “schema theory,” “identification theory,” and “fundamental

attribution error theory,” which will give my research a wider range of evidence through the field

of psychology (24).

• What methodologies did the author employ in their research? What would you like to do

similarly? What would you do differently for your research questions?

In her “Methodology” section, Ms. Couch explains the process she underwent when

researching her topic. She clearly states that she “utilized the JSTOR database and collected
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various scholarly articles about cinematic elements, audience representation, and psychological

perspectives and theories,” and conducted “textual analysis” (19). Through her research, she

narrowed her topic down to using “the most popular characters and best movie scores” as stated

by the American Film Institute, which were “Star Wars, Schindler’s List, and Thor,” as well as

the scope of her investigation to the psychological theories “about schemas, identification, and

the fundamental attribution error” (19). In my piece I hope to formulate my own data, much like

she did here as she “took notes of [her] reactions during specific scenes in the movies that related

to music that evoked emotion or showed development in character plots” (19). I could work on

analyzing different character traits and how I interpret them.

• Has the author followed a distinguishable progression of ideas in structuring their article?

In her article, Ms. Couch wanted to specifically focus on character and music schemes as

well as what made them effective. Thus, she split her body of work into subsections including

her introduction, “Methodology,” “Schemas and Characters,” “Schemas and Music,” and her

conclusion (19, 20, 21, 24). Though each of her middle sections she spoke about specific topics,

further breaking them down into smaller subsections. For example, she split her “Schemas and

Characters” category into “The Villain” and “The Hero,” through which she analyzed the three

movies in relation to that specific subject. This helped the reader understand and digest

everything in a very simple manner.

• What characteristics of this article do you think helped it be selected for publication?

I believe her use of niche vocabulary such as “interpretive framework” and the “theory

of gestalt” help the piece build its credibility and establish knowledgeability. It is also has a very
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easy-to-follow structure which allows it to become an easily digestible read. Further, the works

cited are all valid and her methodology is appropriate.

Gentry, Katy. Changing Scenes: The Rise and Success of Diversity on Broadway. 2017, pp. 15–

20, writingandrhetoric.cah.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/10/

stylus_8_2_Gentry.pdf. Accessed 30 Sept. 2020.

• How does this Stylus Article relate to your chosen topic/research questions?

While this article discusses the lack and rise in diversity through a Broadway lens, it

serves to prove that the issue at large is an entertainment-industry-wide phenomenon, not just

animation/cinema-industry-wide. Much like what I’ve read in my other sources, it seems like

there is an increase consciousness regarding diversity in and behind the scenes. However, this

rise doesn’t take away from the fact that there is still a lot of improvements that need to be made.

For example, in her article Ms. Gentry discusses how “minority actors have never accounted for

more than 25% of all working actors on Broadway” while “the U.S. Census [putts] minority

populations at over 50% of New York City’s population” (17). Further more, she explains the

topic of “pseudo-diversity” and how “productions boast warm and welcoming messages of

inclusion and tolerance, but fail to go to the level necessary to truly open up the stories and

productions to include a broader spectrum of people” (16).

• What methodologies did the author employ in their research? What would you like to do

similarly? What would you do differently for your research questions?

In her research Ms. Gentry utilizes statistics when comparing the New York minority

population (50%) to that of Broadway actors (< 25%) as well as the percentage of roles that were

casted non-traditionally (10.2%) (17, 19). She also breaks apart various plays to further explain
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and provide evidence for her claims in each section. In the “Pseudo-Diversity” section she

emphasizes Wicked and The Color Purple; in the “Minority Driven Productions” section, Fun

Home, In the Heights, and Hamilton; and in the “Non-Traditional Casting” section Les

Miserables, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Phantom of the Opera.

• Has the author followed a distinguishable progression of ideas in structuring their article?

This article provided me with great perspective for organization. Here, she divided her

topic using subtitles to distinguish the different topics that prove her thesis; fist, “Pseudo-

Diversity,” second, “Minority Driven Productions,” and lastly, “Non-Traditional Casting” (15,

17, 18). Through these different sections she transitions from the most ineffective and poorly

conducted, to the larger and most effective, and lastly to a subjective way of creating change.

This progression of ideas ultimately serves to prove her aim to “call attention to the ways that

they both succeed and fail in creating a more equal artistic space” in a very balanced way (15).

• What characteristics of this article do you think helped it be selected for publication?

Scholarly vocabulary like “embodies,” “glorious,” and “pigeonholed” are vital for giving

the audience/reader a sense of security and making the work sound intellectually credible.

Further, the use of statistics, such as “minority actors have never accounted for more than 25% of

all working actors on Broadway stages” appeals to logos, and the naming of popular musicals

and plays such as In the Heights and Wicked appeals to ethos (16, 17). Its great organization

provides an easy pathway for the flow of ideas and, thus, is easy to digest and understand.

Perez, Camila. “Spanglish” and Its Effects on L1 and L2. 2012, pp. 28–35,

writingandrhetoric.cah.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/10/KWS1_Perez.pdf.

Accessed 30 Sept. 2020.

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• How does this Stylus Article relate to your chosen topic/research questions?

While this article isn’t about the entertainment industry at all, it relates to my personal

life and the reason why I chose the topic I am and will be researching. As a Puerto Rican born

woman studying in the United States, the “Spanglish” phenomenon is extremely prevalent in my

life. It might even be the reason why I’m not as confident as I should be in my own writing.

Some of the notions that are attributed to being bilingual, such as how “educators and

professionals treat bilinguals’ first language as an obstacle” and how “speech-language

pathologists have viewed code-switching as a symptom of language deficiency or they consider

people who code-switch to be lazy and ignorant” affect the way I am seen by others and even the

way I see myself, which leads to double guessing many linguistic choices I make (29, 32). The

constant reminder that I may be lacking in Spanish vocabulary, hurts my cultural esteem, and the

fact that that is also what makes me lacking in English, scares me as it might limit my future.

This is why I am so fascinated in the diversification and increasing inclusivity within the film

and animation industries, as I wish to be a part of that world some day.

• What methodologies did the author employ in their research? What would you like to do

similarly? What would you do differently for your research questions?

For her research, Ms. Perez chose to focus on three people who are fluent in both English

and Spanish. They come from three different Spanish-speaking countries, Cuba, Bolivia, and

Mexico. Two of them moved to the U.S. when they were four years old (learnt English at age

nine) and the other when she was two years old (learnt Spanish and English at the same time).

They are all in the same age group and gave 4.0 GPAs. The research itself was extracted from

“three one-hour interviews, observations taken at the interviews, and a written question that was
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textually analyzed” (30). I like the way this research was conducted at it is more personal and

allows for a direct connection to you research and topic. I might be able to implement something

similar for my investigation, maybe by interviewing or surveying movie goers on how strongly

they feel represented on screen and their thoughts on the matter.

• Has the author followed a distinguishable progression of ideas in structuring their article?

Theres is a general progression of ideas being followed. The essay is structured by

sections and subsections, much like the previous sources. First, she begins with the introduction,

which provides general background and thesis. Second, she labels her “Method” section, which

she split into two subsections, “Participants”, and “Procedures”, where she explains how and

why the participants were elected and how their data was gathered. Third, she has her “Results

and Discussion” section which goes in depth about the findings in her work and the explanation

that accompanies them. And finally her conclusion, where she summarizes and restates her thesis

and her findings. Overall, there were various repetitive moments, but it was very well produced

and easy to understand.

• What characteristics of this article do you think helped it be selected for publication?

The procedures and methodology were so thoroughly thought out, and helped make for

an incredibly well-researched and credible piece. The fact that it is credible, and is also relatable

to a wide audience may have had an impact on its publication aspect, as it has the ability to

educate and help people learn about and understand themselves and others. Further, the different

perspective applied to the article, as “researchers have not studied the effects of “Spanglish” as a

third language,” helps broaden the scholarly conversation around the subject.