Please respond to the initial post by Monday, midnight and then respond to at least one classmate by Wednesday, midnight.
For the blog, you will be graded on your ability to post on time, follow directions and interact respectfully with classmates. Should you disagree with a classmate's reaction to a blog, please provide evidence to support your counter-argument (the rule of thumb in evidence for a claim is 2 or more reliable sources, and you can just mention the websites/magazine/newspapers/books/etc. in which you found your evidence).
Initial post:
Watch the video:
Please respond in paragraph form.
Watch the video once or twice and create a summary to the video. Please write 200 words or less.
Pretend you are describing the video to someone who has never seen it, and write as though you want to let this person make up her mind about the video (i.e. leave out personal commentary or opinion and relay only your basic interpretation of the video; please also leave out any overtly opinionated language).
Response to a classmate:
Read a post by one of your classmates and comment on that classmate's ability to summarize the video. Offer one compliment for the way your classmate expressed him/herself, and offer a suggestion for how your classmate might improve his/her interpretation. Remain respectful.
If you have questions, please let me know.
Example:
ReplyDelete(From TED Talks summary):
Poet Rives does 8 minutes of lyrical origami, folding history into a series of coincidences surrounding that most surreal of hours, 4 o'clock in the morning.
The show TED talks is in front of a live audience. It starts out with showing a few slides and a song melody about a certain time "4 in the morning", and replying to the coincidence in a humorous form. He then remains to show more clips on the slide show revolving around the time "4 a.m" and talking about the coincidental para-dime surrounding the topic "noble prizes". A Simpsons clip is played and Burt was talking about a situation on Christmas at 4 a.m. By the end of the clip you notice all the incidents whether coincidental or hypothetical no good can come out of the time 4 a.m.
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DeleteRives is an entertaining speaker who manages to completely captivate his audience. He is capable of taking a seemingly unassuming subject and proceeds to attempt to make it meaningful. Weaving together articles of evidence he tries to convince the audience of the importance of his chosen subject. His audience begins following along and actually agreeing with his logic even though there truly is no actual connection between his evidence. Surprisingly, it is difficult not to get caught up in his reasoning during the speech. Infomercial hosts could take a lesson or two from him. Rives is a very talented persuasive speaker.
ReplyDeleteI really how you worded your blog post, it captures the flow and energy of the video. My one criticism would be that I get no context on what Rives actually spoke about.
DeleteTheresa, I agree with Alexis in that you captured the energy of the video. Maybe you are an up and coming persuasive speaker....
DeleteSo, you know how there are people out there that think that we never landed on the moon? Well this guy Rives does a masterful job of making those people feel like idiots while interpreting what must be the most inane collection of details ever. His focus is four in the morning, or 4 a.m. He starts with the assumption that all of the elements of his presentation are disparate and then begins to weave a clever collection of random people and dates that present the idea of coherence. He suggests the involvement of Nobel Prize winners, suicidal country music stars, and former president Bill Clinton in his plot, the point of which remains undefined throughout the speech. His point in the speech however is obvious that when one looks hard enough they can find structure in anything they like, which he presents in a fun and engaging tone.
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DeleteJohn, I like your summary! I like the line about the man on the moon. You have humorous style of writing! I would only make one change, which comes from a style of writing I learned from my dad (previously a writer and photojournalist) called the ABC's of journalism: Accuracy, Brevity, Clarity. On the Brevity note: I would take out extra or unnecessary words such as "Well this guy","4 a.m.", etc.
DeleteJohn, well said. Structure can be found if one looks hard enough or if one desires it so.
DeleteIt seems that my comment did not post earlier:
Delete@Bethany, you are correct,the 4 a.m. is referenced needlessly.
In California in March of 2007 Poet Rives talks about the importance of four in the morning. Using popular culture in the back drop he intends to make a factious conspiracy on how four in the morning is a code for something greater. Rives winds back the hands of time to 1932 and a piece of artwork done by a Alberto Giacometti; before finally playing the events of the coded message about four in the morning in order and ending with Bill Clinton's presidency. While Rives himself says he does not understand all the moving pieces it is clear that what is a placid and uneventful time of the day is ultimately something more.
ReplyDeleteI like how you stated the purpose of what Rive was trying to get across to the audience, "he intends to make a factious conspiracy on how four in the morning is a code for something greater." It helped me understand the video more than the first couple times i watched it.
DeleteRivas is an entertaining speaker when he addresses the audience regarding his theory that no good can come from or at four in the morning. Rivas uses cartoon, music, humor, literature and even former presidents to present his came. He does find a way to loosely connect random events in his attempt to persuade the audience of the caution regarding four in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. When I saw all the examples of 4 in the morning examples they all were not good thing, and I can see where you get that he was persuading people to be wary of "4 in the morning. He has a very, "listen to me", way of speaking.
DeleteIn Rives' TED Talk on the hour of 4AM, he engages the audience with his convincing, if not slightly skeptical, tone when describing his conspiracy surrounding 4AM. Rives starts out with examples of the reference to this time in popular culture, such as music, poetry, and art. He then weaves together coincidental events that link the artists and creators of these pieces in order to form a conspiracy theory surrounding the time of 4AM. Rives uses humorous and historical references to convince his audience that anything, even a frequently referenced time, can be an example of something that means more than it appears.
ReplyDeleteNice use of words: conspiracy, coincidental. You have summed up his speech well. I like the way you explained it 'something that means more than it appears'. Isn't it true that we could do the same thing with just about any subject?
DeleteIn his Ted Talk, Reeves subtly pokes fun at conspiracy theories. During the talk, Reeves builds his conspiracy case surrounding the time “four in the morning”. He makes a very persuasive case by linking various people and historical events by one common reference: four in the morning. Reeves calls his case “The Giacometti Code” and displays a book cover which looks nearly identical to that of the popular conspiracy theory novel The Da Vinci Code. Reeves demonstrates that one can build a conspiracy case, no matter how far fetched or vaguely related the evidence.
ReplyDeleteGood job Bethany, You nailed it
DeleteI'm not sure it was subtle, but I agree he was poking fun at conspiracy theories. I also think he was making a point that you could make a conspiracy theory around just about anything. I think you did a good job on your summary.
DeleteThanks Denise and Allison :)
DeleteAllison, to most it might not be subtle, but for me it was! It took me a good while to catch on that he wasn't serious about his theory!
Ooops! I have an edit to make to mine! I spelled his name wrong! How embarrassing :o *Rives
DeleteTed talks, a guy...motivational speaker, trying to sell this "4 in the morning" conspiracy theory. He goes from comic strips to emergency room situations to songs to articles to presidents. All stemmed from an artwork by Giocometti. He's good. He could make you believe there is something to it.
ReplyDeleteI think you could have put a little more detail in your essay. It doesn't make me want to watch the video.
DeleteI really like your summary. It is forward and straight to the point. Just add more detail about the actual conspiracy theory points that Ted brings up.
DeleteTed Rives, the speaker, starts out by showing a newspaper joke, magazine, and several songs. All of which have in common is the time, four in the morning. Rives goes on to show that the time, "four a.m. in the morning," is a coded conspiracy message. Rives uses the "The Giacometti Code," to connect together that message. Through this code he has linked together unrelated events of a country singer who has written a song about, " its four in the morning, an actress whose movie was titled, "four in the morning, and a poet writer whose poem was also titled, "four in the morning." Even shows a clip from the Simpsons television show of Homer wanting to eat on Christmas day at, "four in the morning." Rives is showing us that conspiracies can be easily put together.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your comment stating that Rives is showing that conspiracies can easily be put together.
DeleteI liked the way you listed out his points. It makes them sound so random when you just list them in print. Interesting how he can make them sound so interesting and suspicious when he uses his voice, inflection and emotion.
DeleteTed Rives it seems has come upon a potential conspiracy related to a specific time in the morning - 4 am. He ties together several noted people, starting from 1932, and states that there's some significance to that time of day. In googling he has come up with an abundance of web pages to support some significance to that time. It seems that he has cross referenced bits and pieces of information tying different people that are not remotely related to 4am which actually has provoked me to do the same. It seems that he is attempting to provoke a humored conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker, Ted Rivers is clearly and entertainment speaker. His topic this show is a conspiracy theory centering around four in the morning, a time which "gets a lot of bad press." The theory stems from Giacometti art piece The Palace at 4am and from there moves to songs, movies, poems all the way to Bill Clinton's presidency. His point seems to be that when using dates and numbers repeatedly almost everything can be made to look as though they have a connection.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained his point, I think that is exactly what he is trying to prove.
DeleteSo I watch this clip of this guy Ted Rives from 2007 about 4 in the morning, and the craziness behind this terrible hour. The guy talks about a Giacometti code which in detail made a lot of sense now that I have seen it three times. He jumps around talking about artwork, music, presidencies, and even emergency room visits. He makes points that actually make you go hmm? I actually had to look into it more to get a better understanding myself. Its very interesting the way he points out and makes things relevant to each other. If your one for conspiracy you should definitely watch the clip.
ReplyDeleteTed Rivers, is a entertainment speaker. His topic is, "4 in the morning," he shows how it gets a lot of bad press in a humorous way. He uses music, literature, humor, and famous people that capture the same time frame. Everything he puts together persuades his audience in a comical way of how this topic is so important.
ReplyDeleteYou captured what I was trying to say so much better, he is a very good entertainer plus had a lot of truth to what he was saying. He keeps his audiences attention.
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ReplyDeleteThe video "4 in the morning" showed how a simple phrase shows up in many places. After watching the video twice it came to me how a simple coincidence can relate to others in a suspicious way. By looking at "4 in the morning" it is easy to find other refrecences. His refrences form a country and wetern singer to bill Clinton really makes you think. With the speed of the internet it is easy to find other items or events that can support your thoughts. His comical way of putting it really gets the point across while letting you know it is just for fun. It does make you think how many other off the wall items or events can be linked that way. This type of linking really gets the conspiracy theorists really going.
ReplyDeleteI think you summarized the video very well. One suggestion I have for you is to clarify how those references "make you think."
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