Week 9: "Revisions for Final Portfolio"

For my final portfolio I was debating on what two essays to include. I am set on using the podcast as one but cannot decide on the second. I’m choosing the podcast because it was my favorite to write, and I enjoyed the process of creating it. For the other piece I believe I am leaning towards the history of music paper. It is the one I had the most time to work on and I still feel fascinated with the idea of why “American Idol” became so famous. I feel that including the two essays that I enjoyed writing the most will increase my chances of doing well. I put a lot of effort into both, especially my podcast. I had never heard or created a podcast. This was my first experience in recording my voice for educational purposes. I believe the process of writing the podcast was intense, but it made for a great end product. At first recording the podcast seemed difficult because I didn’t know how to use audacity and I couldn’t decide what to make my topic. After watching the film “A Better Life” on my weekend at home, I realized that the film was all I could talk about. I immediately started to think of ways to discuss the film and decided I could have my roommates watch the film and then interview them on what they thought. This was both entertaining and educational. I believe I can get a great grade on my final portfolio if I listen to all the advice and make the corrections that Chris Dean recommended. Lastly I will have a friend read over my work in order to catch any mistakes I skipped over.

Week 7: "History of Music paper"

For my History of music paper I began by writing about Christina Aguilera. I really liked her music and thought she had a diverse sense of genres that stretched through history. It wasn’t until after I began writing that I realized the paper was more about the changes in genres she made, than of any type of history. So then I decided to write about Kelly Clarkson and the influence American Idol had on her career. I also changed that plan when I realized it too had faults in it. After speaking to Chris about it I decided that my main focus should be on “American Idol” and how over the years it has gained fame.

 I was very interested in how it influenced many other shows just like it. After careful thought I realized that the reason it has so much fame is because of how the contest works and the way they appeal to their audience. They allow contestants to audition live and many tell the story about their past. Viewers get to connect to the contestants even before the competition begins. Through the research I did I discovered that at one point voting was restricted to phones only and because the viewers complained that it made it difficult for families to participate, the network expanded it to the internet. Now audiences are able to vote online, which allows for easier access. Audience members can go to a public library in vote. I grew up watching the first couple of seasons of “American Idol” and it still continues to go strong.