My name is Charles Steele and here is my first draft of my digital portfolio.

Rhetorical Analysis Final : Brooke Newman attempts to call for representation and diversity in media, especially in children’s entertainment. She wants to push back against the backlash of casting Halle Bailey as Ariel in Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” contending that such casting is relevant for today’s children in a perceived sense of self within a diverse society. All those who love Disney-ESPECIALLY those who have screamed blue murder since Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel-and anyone who is concerned with questions of representation, diversity, and cultural nostalgia, this speech is for. Newman addresses the critics most directly and invites them to reconsider their views concerning childhood memories versus the needs of contemporary children. Brooke Newman wrote this speech; while specific personal background information on her is not provided, one would think that, given the nature of her argument-and based on the points of diversity and representation-she has at least a personal or professional interest in social justice, cultural studies, or media representation. Her articulation of these issues indicates expertise or insight into the historical context of race in the media. But it’s more fundamentally an issue of how backlash against the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel reflects a desire to preserve white nostalgia in children’s media at the expense of diverse representation. According to Newman, representation does matter to children, and it is time to shift the concern away from preserving the past and onto serving the needs of today’s diverse youth. Newman presents a credible source by referring to psychological studies and historical cases, proving her knowledge on issues of representation and psychological effects it has on children. She gains authority by mentioning famous historical figures like Kenneth and Mamie Clark and referring to the big cultural shifts. Evidence to support this assertion would be: Newman has used ethos in this article. Newman creates her claim of race switching within this article. My main beef with race-switching, and what I don’t feel people realize, is that we are getting the short end of the stick. A very short end. A stub. Representation isn’t something done over and over by just seeing a black face in place of another on screen; it needs to be through diverse stories, characters, settings, as well as the casting.

Fairytale Literacy Narrative Final: The fairytale that affected me emotionally is Beauty.  In Giambattista Basile’s 1634 version, The Sun, the Moon, and Thalia (similarSleeping  to the popular versions by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm), Thalia (the “Sleeping Beauty” version) sleeps with deep sleep after a prophecy about a doubt. When Ketan found her, he didn’t wake up to kiss her and put her to sleep. Later, Talia gave birth to twins when she didn’t know it, one of the babies sucked the cotton from her finger and woke up. The satisfaction and motivation of power This is often seen as a reflection of some of the historical attitudes towards women and their independence, although it is rarely discussed today. It touches my heart because it shows that my wife has to make a choice about who she wants to have children with. I feel emotional because I don’t want my daughter or a relative to be rejected. I don’t want anyone I love or care about to be hurt. The victim becomes suicidal and is affected mentally and spiritually. I felt sorry for the queen..The princess also ended up having twins. She also ended up having to marry the prince. I feel sorrow because she had no choice but to marry the King. The king was the same man that raped her in her sleep. She should have a choice on who she wants to be with and who she wants to marry. My teacher shared this tale with me. It plays into its significance because I did not know that this was a version of the tale. A version of raping and the princess having kids in her sleep. Sleeping beauty shapes my worldview. It shapes my worldview because it shows me that anything can happen to someone while they are unconscious. I drew moral lessons from Sleeping Beauty. One moral lesson is the inescablity of fate. As the story shows, tragedy cannot be avoided no matter how hard we try. Despite his best efforts to protect Thalia from the Flax Seed Vision, he still fails at it. It shows that no amount of planning and foresight can change things in the near future. The moral lesson is that fate and destiny are beyond human control, and attempts to avoid them are futile. People have to accept and adapt to the situations that life creates. Another moral lesson is forgiveness and redemption in love. Despite the king’s brutal actions, Thalia forgives him and eventually falls in love with him. Although this aspect of the story is problematic in modern interpretations (as it encourages or condones sexual violence), the original story may have tried to teach a lesson about forgiveness. sin and reconciliation. The king is also depicted as finally coming to “save” Thalia from her jealous husband, challenging the idea that love can save the misguided or violent. The story, in its original form, says that forgiveness and acceptance lead to salvation and happiness, even when it is done badly – even if this is viewed today. My final moral lesson is that actions pay off. A misdemeanor, even if not immediately punished, can have unexpected consequences for the offender. These moral lessons influence my view of love. I think that just because you have kids with someone doesn’t mean you have to get married. I would want to marry someone that I love and that I know wants to be with me until we get old and die. I don’t want to marry someone just because I have to. Sleeping Beauty uses a variety of literary devices. One literacy device that was used is personification. In the tale, the princess gets a spell cast on her. The spell put her to sleep for 100 years. The human characteristic is sleeping. The spell represents the attribution of something that is unhuman that gives the human quality of sleeping. Another literacy device that is used is symbolism. The sleeping curse acts as a symbolic interruption in life, symbolizing a time of waiting and change. In numerous perspectives, the princess’s slumber represents a shift from being a child to becoming an adult, and her awakening represents her preparedness for the duties of adulthood, marriage, and love. A key symbol in Sleeping Beauty is the spindle that the princess uses to prick her finger. This spindle symbolizes fate and the unavoidable nature of destiny. Although the king and queen tried to stop the curse, the spindle serves as a reminder that destiny cannot be changed. A third literacy device that is used is allusion. Sleeping Beauty incorporates elements and ideas from previous fairy tales, myths, and religious narratives, including the concept of a hero overcoming villainy and reviving a princess. These references link the narrative to a wider literary and cultural heritage. Sleeping Beauty is a fairytale that has a significant impact on my life. It will always have a strong personal connection with me.  

Researched Critical Analysis Final: Racial passing or race switching is an act epitomizing the fluidity and complexity of racial identity; it brings to light stiffened social constructs while at the same time revealing deep-seated issues of privilege, discrimination, and cultural authenticity within historical and contemporary contexts. The first set of examples includes popular culture, where race-switching sometimes refers to identity performance—that is, when a person may adopt the outward markers of another race in a way that is usually superficial or commodified. This always touches on the question of cultural appropriation: the adoption of elements from a marginalized culture without a profound understanding of its meaning or history. Through the commodification of race, the lived experiences of the group in question may be diluted or distorted. Historically, there has been a lot of criticism leveled against Hollywood and other entertainment industries for racial non descriptiveness and casting white actors in roles originally written for people of color, or alternatively casting them in stereotypical roles, wherein white actors would play Asian or Indigenous characters. Said type of “race-switching” is also condemned for the erasure of racial and ethnic identities and further for perpetuating racial stereotypes.

The article “I Don’t Want a Black Ariel. Why We Shouldn’t Be Satisfied With Race Switching” discusses the practice in Hollywood to change the race of already established characters—more notably, Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Such an approach often rings hollow as a solution to deeper representation issues rather than meaningful progress, the author suggests. Many of the race-swapping critics have pointed out that instead of making changes to iconic characters’ races, Hollywood should focus on coming up with new stories and characters that would authentically represent those diverse communities and their unique experiences. “Changing The race of Ariel is nothing but cheap, second-hand representation that I’m not backing. Ariel’s story is one that has already been told through Hans Christensen Andersen’s fairy-tale and the 1989 Disney  adaption and she’s been a little white mermaid. I don’t see why it’s time she is now black and why this had us as a race so happy”“I Don’t Want a Black Ariel.” — Why We Shouldn’t Be Satisfied With Race Switching. Peekay, July 2019 . Halle Berry made a cultural change for acting for blacks in Disney movies.

The “Three Black Princesses” is one of the lesser-known fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. The story is rather mysterious and magical, containing themes typical for a fairy tale; it has, however, a rather dark and eerie tone, which is characteristic of many Grimm stories. They tell the boy that they can be freed only if he succeeds in remaining inside the castle for three nights without being overcome by fear. The boy bravely accepts, though each night, all that is terrifying within the castle becomes alive with supernatural events.Thus, lifting the curse, the three black princesses are set free from their enchanted condition. The story normally ends with some kind of reward or blessing for the boy but, like many fairy tales, it leaves a tinge of mystery about what happens to the boy and the princesses afterward. “Grimm, Jacob, The Three Black Princesses, November 25, 2020.

In Trading Races: Albescence Staining Xenoface and Other Race-Switching Practices in American Popular Culture” Baty explores how these race-switching behaviors reveal intricate social conflicts pertaining to privilege identity and power. Acts of racial impersonation according to the paper highlight ingrained racial stereotypes power dynamics and racialized cultural anxieties in the US. Even though these actions occasionally appear to investigate otherness or foster empathy they frequently serve to uphold rather than to question pre existing racial hierarchies. By thoroughly examining a number of instances including the use of blackface in the media and whitening or darkening cosmetic procedures Baty assesses how these practices commodify race and alter identity for purposes of aesthetics amusement or social advancement. In the end Trading Races makes the claim that race-switching is not a pointless activity but is instead closely related to concerns about privilege authenticity and social control. Instead of addressing the complex and real realities of race the work offers a critical lens on American cultures propensity to reduce it to a performative and consumable concept.