Research Journal

Site Audience

While I would hope that everyone would be interested in reading about my project and research, there is likely a more narrow audience than “everyone.” Being that my project includes elements of theatre, storytelling, and speech, I would expect that most viewers have an interest in one or more of these topics. Furthermore, these topics are rather broad and I presume most viewers will be drawn a more particular aspect of one of these topics. For example, someone may be more interested in the playwriting process, while another might be looking to explore the history of documentary theatre and how it was utilized. Although both of these viewers are interested in the theatrical aspects of the project, their specific interests vary.

Additionally, some audience will likely be seeking information about the Deaf community and the research that took place involving American Sign Language (ASL) and its users. Because theatre and speech pathology are not direct correlated in an obvious way, I want to make sure that viewers can be differentiated based on their interests in certain aspects of the project. Ideally, viewers should be able to sift through the research journals based on topics/themes/tags to find posts that relate to either theatre or speech (deaf studies) or storytelling.

In addition to the researching aspect of the project, there is the play itself. Since the audience will vary in their interests about theatre, the website should offer various types of access to the piece. If a speech student is simply interested in reading one or two scenes about the deaf education system, he/she should be able to easily find that particular passage. If a playwriting student is looking to read about the characters/set/props/ etc., he or she should have access to the introduction and technical information about the play. And another viewer might be interested in reading the entire play. In order to include these different variations of access, I will upload scenes and technical pages separately and include short summaries with key words/tags. I will also upload the play in its entirety to be read on the page or downloaded.

To make the website interactive for viewers, the “Share Your Story” page needs to be prominent for users. Whether the viewer is looking for content about theatre or the Deaf community, the ultimate goal is to encourage them to share their story. To pull the viewers into this portion of the project, the video of Dee’s final monologue will be on the home page (maybe?) so viewers can feel invited to participate.

Although the topics seem unrelated in a general sense, I want viewers to see the relationship that exists between theatre and communication. The front page will include a brief description (and possibly a mind map) showing the connections between communication sciences and theatre and how storytelling can serve as the bridge between these topics.

Posted on by Christina Oros

Site Critique

Using the rubric from the Fall semester, I’ve decided to make several changes to my eportfolio.

Firstly, I’m using a new eportfolio to be home to the final project. This new website will also allow viewers to contribute their own stories, in various forms, to the project. This website will have scenes from the play; these will be organized in different ways to allow viewers to either read just a scene or download the complete text. In an effort to direct and orientate viewers, the homepage will provide a brief summary of the research and the play. Readers will have the option to expand this page to get a more detailed explanation of the process and the play.

To keep things visually appealing and to incorporate multimedia elements, video will be used to show the final monologue of the play. This will also serve as an “invitation” of sorts for viewers to add their stories. Additionally, the pictures from the storyboard will be retaken (hopefully not on my kitchen counter). These images will be arranged individually by scene and also grouped by act. Word clouds will be added to show the different topics and themes discussed on the website.

While this new site will hold the final project, the site that I have used for the past several months will also have some updates. Rather than having posts mixed between reflective and research-based, I have categorized the posts and created menu options for these topics. Now viewers will be able to look only at research or only at reflection aspects of the project.

Both websites will also have some housekeeping updates. Scenes will be embedded, so viewers can read the text of the play directly on the page. The menu titles will be more consistent with each other. Both eportfolios will also have a bibliography page to cite all of the sources used in the research and in the writing. The titles and navigation bar will have clear and directive headings to guide viewers to their points of interest.

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Updated Spring Schedule

By Friday 5/1:

  • Finish Act 1 (and possibly start Act 2)
  • Begin compiling bibliography and create page for bibliographic information on eportfolio.
  • Update eportfolio—retake storyboard pictures, embed scenes, write an “About” page, add video.
  • Invite more people to “Share Your Story” Page
  • Post my own story to the “Share Your Story” page
  • Posts about NCUR, audience, and site critique

By Friday 5/8:

  • Finish Acts 1 and 2, begin working on Act 3
  • Continue inviting people to “Share your Story” page
  • Highlight/showcase some of the shared stories as they are posted
  • Continue adding scenes and embedding pages of text
  • Update bibliography

By Friday 5/15:

  • Finalize play
  • Complete pages about scenic elements (cast list, characters, set list, prop list, scenic renderings?)
  • Upload complete text of play (to be downloaded as a complete PDF)
  • Finish bibliography
  • Continue to highlight shared stories

Other deadlines:

  • Wednesday 5/20: “Paper” due (to serve as the comprehensive About page)
  • Friday 5/22: Eportfolio complete

 

Posted on by Christina Oros

Storyboarding Adventures!

So I looked into several Storyboarding apps, but ultimately decided to create my own storyboard using index cards. It seemed to work best for my needs. I wanted to be able to include notes and text about each of the scenes. So below are the images from my storyboarding adventure in Brooklyn:

Act1Image Act1words Act2ImageAct2WordsAct3ImageAct3Words

Posted on by Christina Oros

Research Journal: Living Newspaper Plays

Living Newspaper plays presented factual information to their audiences using found text from newspapers, magazines, interviews, etc. As the director of the Federal Theatre Project, Hallie Flanagan began the encouraging the creation of Living Newspaper plays.

Links to some of the Living Newspaper Scripts can be found here: http://www.aladin0.wrlc.org/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?c=ftpp&a=d&cl=CL8.2

One of my favorites is “One Third of Nation” (http://dspace.wrlc.org/doc/bitstream/2041/60696/OneThirdNationdisplay.pdf).The title actually comes from Roosevelt’s Second Inaugural Address during which he says “I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” This play addresses the issues of overcrowded tenements and dangerous living conditions in New York in the late 1930s. Before the dialogue of the script appears, there are over 8 pages of bibliographic information citing newspapers, surveys, speeches, government documents.

The Living Newspaper and the Federal Theatre Project had a brief run in U.S., lasting only three years. The WPA suspended the project (because of suspicion from the House on UnAmerican Activity) days before the play “The Cradle Will Rock” was set to open. In order to avoid repercussions and restrictions from the government, composer Marc Blitzstein played his piano onstage while actors sang from their seats in the audience. The script for this play can be found here (https://cradlewillrock.wordpress.com/screenplay-original-blitztein-1936-version/)

Posted on by Christina Oros

Research Journal: Themes and Structure

There are several themes and ideas I hope to address in my play. Depending on the type of information used, these themes may overlap and/or blend together. Some the central ideas include:

  • Education of the Deaf: how do students, teachers, parents, and administrators perceive it? Does it need to be improved or reformed? How and why?
  • Self-Identity vs. Societal Perception in the Deaf Community: What influence does society have on the formation of self-identity in the Deaf Community?
  • Differences between the Deaf and Hearing “worlds”: What cultural differences exist? Are they really so different after all?
  • Motivation: What motivates hearing people to engage with the Deaf community and vice versa?

 

To help keep these themes at the forefront of the writing, I’m going to continue to reflect on the notions of “stories” and “identity,” as well as the interplay between these two things (Thanks, Eakin!). So to that, I hope my final piece answers the following questions:

  • What are stories? Who tells them? Why do they tell them? Does the way/manner (spoken, sung, danced, signed, written, painted, etc.) in which people tell these stories matter and how?
  • Does one’s concept of identity influence the stories they tell? Or does society’s concept of another’s identity influence the stories that one chooses to tell?

 

Structure

Ultimately, the final structure will depend on the information gathered from interviewees and other sources. Hopefully, it will follow the structure below:

 structure

Here we have the typical dramatic structure of a play complete with exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This will work best if the play follows one (perhaps, two) main character and creates an action depicting his journey. This could ultimately work with a Deaf adult character as the “lead” taking the audience through his/her journey in the education system and include scenes of identity conflict and resolution. This “lead” character would recall his/her story told with the various perspectives of his family, friends, audiologists, therapists, community, Deaf community, etc. So far, using this structure would lead to the following scene break down:

  • The audience is introduced to the main character as he/she recalls their story beginning with diagnosis. This section would include information from the young child’s perspective, parents’ response to diagnosis, reactions of family and friends. Additionally, it would include statistical information about Deafness and its culture.
  • Conflict: here the parents and child are faced with a choice—what educational route to the take for their child. ASL? Total communication? Oral only communication? This section will include different viewpoints of how to raise a child with a “disability” (is it considered disabling or different?). Are there more limits or restrictions placed on this child?
  • The education system: In this section, the main character will show the audience his/her journey through the education system. Dialogue and information will include teachers, administrators, parents, peers, and therapists from both the Deaf and hearing community. It will conclude with his/her graduation and pursuance of a career.
  • Self-realization: Here, the main character will begin to fully express his/her self-identity. At this point, the story will continue with more dialogue and monologues from the “lead,” showing his capturing and exposition of his own story.

 

 

Posted on by Christina Oros

Interview Questions

Questions about Deaf culture

  • Name, Age, Location, Education/Career
  • Do you use American Sign Language (ASL)? Would you consider yourself fluent? Is it your primary mode of communication? How many years have you been signing?
  • What is your involvement in the Deaf Community, if any?
  • How long have you been involved in the Deaf Community? And in what capacities?
  • How connected do you feel to the Deaf Community? Describe this connection and how it has changed/evolved.
  • Do you consider yourself part of the “hearing world” or “deaf world”? Both or neither? Why?

Questions about personhood (story)

  • Describe a typical day/week in your life.
  • What are your favorite hobbies? Activities? Sports?
  • Who is your role model and why?
  • What are 3 words friends would use to describe you? What are 3 words your family would use to describe you? What are 3 words you would use to describe yourself?
  • What something people underestimate about you? Why do you think that is the case?
  • If you were to write an autobiography, what would you title it? Why?

 

Note: Questions that include identifying information will be changed to protect identity. Depending on the interviews involvement in the Deaf community, the second set of questions may be altered to reflect their opinions of the Deaf community. For example, “what something people underestimate about you?” may be rephrased to a Deaf education teacher to say “What something people underestimate about your students? Do you think it is true? How to you and your students respond to that judgment?”

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Research Journal: Estimates of ASL Users

Finding accurate data on the number of American Sign Language (ASL) users in the United States has proven to be a difficult challenge. In my research, I stumbled upon a great paper that analyzes the different sources of estimates. Written by Ross Mitchell at Gallaudet University, the article “Why Estimates Need Updating?” also proposes solutions to improve the system of recording and recognizing ASL users in the United States. The current estimates on ASL users range from 100,000 to 15,000,000—that’s quite a difference. This article clearly lays out the various sources and their estimates in this chart:

Screen Shot 2014-12-04 at 10.04.40 AM

Firstly, some of these higher estimates are based on the number of deaf people living in the United States. This is likely because deafness is being conflated with ASL usage. Many people suffer from age-related hearing loss but that does not necessitated ASL usage. Additionally, associating deafness and ASL usage does not account for other users, such as Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs), interpreters, audiologists, and speech therapists. In order to accurately determine the number of ASL users, these factors need to be considered. Some of the estimates were taken based on need for a courtroom interpreter, only accounting for users who could not communicate in English neglecting bilingual users. When these estimates were compared to the language rankings in the United States, ASL was placed high on the list. However, based on research and estimates by Mitchell, “ASL-only users would have easily outnumbered many other non-English-language-only groups.” Meaning that the number of people only using ASL is likely great than those exclusively using another non-English language.

Another key reason for these inaccurate estimates is because the U.S. Census Bureau does not consider ASL as a non-English language. When collecting data on demographics, the Census poses the question: “are there non-English language SPOKEN at home?” Well, ASL is not a spoken language; it’s a manual, visual, gestural language. If an ASL user answers this questions with American Sign Language, the Census Bureau codes it as spoken English, despite the fact that ASL is not spoken. One simple suggestion made by Mitchell is for the Bureau to word the question as: “are any non-English languages USED in the home?” This would allow for ASL to be recognized as a language and to be coded separately from spoken English. Other suggestions include incorporating questions about ASL usage into the annual National Health Interview Survey or create an independent study to address the question. Considering these recommendations an effort should be made to collect accurate data on ASL users.

 

Mitchell, Ross E., Travas A. Young, Bellamie Bachleda, and Michael A. Karchmer.        “How Many People Use ASL in the United States? Why Estimates Need        Updating.” Sign Language Studies 6.3 (2005): 306-35. Print.

 

 

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Research Journal: Signing Isn’t Just About the Sign

Sign language is often spoken of as a “manual” language, meaning that the signers’ hands produce the language. But in fact there is a much more to the language then simply hand motion. Facial expressions, head and body movements, and posture all factor into the meaning of the signs. One study suggests that ASL should more appropriately be described as a “visual-gestural language—where gesture is a generic term referring to body movement.”

Facial expression and body movement help form the sign. They add intensity. They provide grammatical and prosodic information. They also act as adverbs or adjectives. A particular combination of movements determine whether a sentence is a question, an assertion, or a command. It can also indicate negation or structural information about the sentence.

The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) has been used to identify the universal movements of when people experience one of the six basic emotions (happiness, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise). But now it’s been used to code expressions in ASL. The results below show what behaviors occur with various types of questions when signed in ASL. These behaviors indicate eyebrow raise, eyelid movements, and altered eyebrow shape. Slight changes in facial position determine what type of question is being posed.
Screen Shot 2014-11-13 at 11.23.46 AM

 

Baker-Shenk, Charlotte. “The Facial Behavior of Deaf Signers: Evidence of a Complex Language.” American Annals of the Deaf 130.4 (1985): 297-304. Project MUSE. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Posted on by Christina Oros