Thursday, August 31, 2023

Welcome to Class, Welcome to DCAD

This is our class blog. Please bookmark it on your browser's toolbar. Our "official" site for readings and assignments is our Populi page, but this blog will feature related information about art and writing.  


Whenever we write something, we are (almost) always writing for an audience that has certain expectations. For instance, a writer could accurately depict an event in two totally different ways, yet keep faithful to what happened in that event. Case in point: You go to a really fun party. You might send a text to your best friend. You might tweet about it. You might post an Insta. You might make a FaceBook post (no, only old people use FaceBook). You might write a Snap (that's probably old-fashioned too by now). You might write a standard email message. You might write a postcard. You might write a traditional, old-fashioned letter. All of these different formats bring with them their own "rules" or expectations. These are called genre conventions.


Academic writing has a shifting set of genre conventions. Literary writing also has a shifting set of genre conventions. 

Let's take a look at a short story, "The Last Leaf," written by the American author "O. Henry." It has been adapted in countless ways. Here are a few:

Here's an article about Genre Conventions to get us started. 


Links Below to 15 Versions of "The Last Leaf" 


First Appearance, 1906, page 198

Original Story

Film Version

Longer Film Version

Mormon Film Version

Children's Animation

Learning English

Audiobook

Japanese Anime Version

1963 Pop Song

Tom Waits & Keith Richards Version

Storyboard Comic Version

Quasi-Documentary Version

Reader's Digest Version


I did not include a link to the version by heavy-metal band, Monolord. Curious students can easily find it with a Google search, but it's too disturbing for general consumption. 

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