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After
you've decided on a particular zine to analyze, spend some time working
through the following prompts by reading its content and studying the visuals,
interactive capabilities, advertising, and design of the zine. Begin to
think about the value system and underlying messages being promoted as
well as the identities being constructed. For example, some zines may be
created to attract those who may not know about a subject; others may create
community between like-minded persons, who share particular interests like
Buffy fans or Trekkies or cultural identities linked by sexuality or ethnicity.
Remember to be as specific as possible in pinpointing the rhetorical strategies
at work in the zine. Your writing goal for this assignment is to generate
3-5 pages of text that will lead you to draft your evaluation. Caveat:
Do not feel like you have to answer every question. Choose those most appropriate
to your zine and the issues that you want to address.
Theme/Content
What
themes, issues, and/or subject matter is the zine organized around? Why
is it of interest to you?
Describe
the content of the zine (articles, photos, ads, interviews, reviews) as
well as the layout (backgrounds, design, buttons, ads).
How does the visual content add to the overall meaning of the zine? Rhetorical
Situation
What
is the purpose of the zine?
Why do you think the author(s) produced it? For ex. does it provide an alternative representation/view of a particular group/subject than that constructed by dominant culture? Does it create community, or provide information about a particular topic? Or does it provide a 'safe haven' for a group to come together? Is the zine addressing issues that are relevant to a particular group? Does it exclude some readers by its subject matter or purpose? If so, who? Make a conjecture about the social/historical/cultural conditions that brought this zine into being. In other words, what is the zine's lineage? For ex. Riot Grrrls' websites have a particular connection to feminism; others may be connected to other social movements, to class or race concerns, or to popular culture. Audience
Write
a brief description of who you think this zine is created for. Think of
factors such as age, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and the interests/concerns
that are created by such factors.
Based
on its content, style, and purpose, what issues/values/subject positions
do the readers of this zine share? Who are the intended readers?Explain
how your interests and values dovetail with the zine's. Where do they differ? What opportunities does the zine allow for interaction with its readership? Are there chat rooms, rant columns, call for submissions, email addresses? Based on our discussion of subcultures and mainstream culture, would you define the readership as a subculture? Why? Why not? Ethos/Stance/Voice
How
would you describe the writing in terms of attitude towards the reader,
audience, dominant culture? How is it different from mainstream media?
How is it similar?
How do advertisements add or detract from the zine's position to mainstream culture? Describe the different positionalities situated in the zine by examining the articles, columns, visuals, advertisements. Is there a uniformity to them? Or, is there a variety of voices, styles, articles, advertisements that are in conflict with each other? How
else is ethos established in the zine?
Language,
Style, and Extra-Linguistic Features
What
key terms are being used in the zine? In other words, what terms/vocabulary
do you need to know in order to be part of the zine's audience?
Based
on the language and visuals used, do you feel included or excluded from
the zine's audience? Explain.
How do the advertisements in the zine enhance or detract from the content? What other commercial features of the zine are there? In other words, is the zine trying to sell you something along with its ideas? And, finally what kind of space does the zine create for its readers? Is it useful, practical, educational, fun, political, etc.? Does it merge public and private spheres? If so, how? What kind(s) of writing would you have to do to write for this zine? For ex. is it analytical, humorous, narrative-based? Come up with a sample idea for an article. |
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