Final Project Workshop
For this workshop/peer
review please follow the same guidelines as prior workshops: focus on
one person at a time. Read through the proposal and then begin answering
the following questions in order to best help/support them. Please
answer the questions in complete sentences, with specific suggestions
for improvement.
Please note that there are two
different sets of questions, depending on whether the person is
rewriting a fairy tale, or creating a monster. Use the appropriate set
of questions and answers for your partner.
Fairy Tale Questions
1)
Is the cultural problem, social issue, or real life situation that the
fairy tale was inspired by a tangible, specific issue that can be traced
to an event or series of events in our world today? Is there any way
this problem or issue can be more specific/narrow? For example, if the
social issue is "social media," that is not specific enough. Instead it
could be something like "online trolling or bullying" or "body image
pressure for girls on sites like Instagram" or "the influence of Russian
hackers on Facebook on the election of Donald Trump."
2)
Does the writer have strong research into their cultural problem or
issue that inspired their fairy tale, and/or the fairy tale itself? What
are some other angles they might research? Give at least one
suggestion.
3) Does the fairy tale itself seem to mesh
well with the social issue and cultural values the writer wants to focus
on? Does the tale type seem to logically mesh with these issues?
4)
How can the cultural values themselves be more precise? What specific
culture or sub-culture do they reflect? (People, place) Ex. upper middle
class, Ivy League college students; Mexican immigrants facing
discrimination in the wake of Trumps' election
5) Is
the writer altering aspects of the fairy tale in interesting ways, in
order to reflect this current cultural moment? Look at the setting, the
character's job/life situation, etc. Suggest a few ideas for making the
story even more contemporary, in ways that align with the cultural
problem and focus of the narrative.
6) What is the role
of magic in the story? Will there be magic, or will the tale be totally
realist? If so, what aspects of our real world does the magic reflect?
Ex. the role of money; the need for a miracle to get out of poverty,
etc.
7) Does the writer have a clear sense of the tale type? Are they missing any key elements of it?
Monster Questions
1)
What cultural problem, social issue, or real life situation was the
monster inspired by? Is this a tangible, specific issue that can be
traced to an event or series of events in our world today? Is there any
way this problem or issue can be more specific/narrow? For example, if
the social issue is "social media," that is not specific enough. Instead
it could be something like "online trolling or bullying of children" or
"body image pressure for girls on sites like Instagram" or "the
influence of Russian hackers on Facebook on the election of Donald
Trump."
2) Does the writer have strong research into
their cultural problem or issue that inspired their monster? What are
some other angles they might research? Give at least one suggestion.
3)
What are the cultural fears/desires the monster embodies? How can these
be more precisely stated? How can they be better tied to the cultural
problem? For example, if the cultural desire is "fame," and the cultural
problem is "social media," then the cultural desire can be stated as
"desire for social media fame."
4) Are there more fears
or desires that connect to the ones stated, that the writer should
think about? And if they only stated a fear, what is the corresponding
desire? (And vice versa). For example, the desire for social media fame
directly connects to the fear of being alone and unloved. It also can
connect to a fear of fame as well, for example being cyberstalked and
judged and criticized.
5) How can the monster's body
more precisely reflect the cultural fears/desires? What about it's
skills and attributes? How can the writer be more creative in
considering how to "embody" these problems? For example, is this a
monster created out of revenge? Ex. Ocean coral that is angry at its
death due to acidification, who has grown sharp knife-like razors to cut
swimmers. Is it a monster created out of the results of a problem? Ex. a
monster that is the result of garbage in the coean, which is a giant
patchwork of various types of garbage.
6) How can the
monster's living situation/home better reflect the cultural problem it
represents? Remember "monsters exist at the margins of the world, both
conceptually/geographically" (Cohen).
7) Is the
creative component the best possible choice for reflecting this monster,
or would another option make more sense, given the cultural problem and
cultural fears/desires the monster embodies? What are some problems the
writer might run into with their choice of creative component, and how
can they overcome these? Ex. using video editing equipment may require
some youtube tutorials
