i apologize for being the person who makes three posts on their new blog and then nothing for a while! right after i started this thing, I took a road trip home to the DC area over spring break with my roommate, and then after that there's really no good reason I haven't continued on.
here's the abstract i submitted this weekend for my very first conference, which is just between the three University of Illinois schools' comm departments and is, to my understanding, a less formal discussion/meeting for presentations that works great as future conference training wheels:
This paper explores the extremely effective rhetoric used by Stephenie Meyer in the young adult book series Twilight. Meyer is able to convince a large portion of her audience (particularly pre-teen girls) that the relationship(s) portrayed in the novels are desirable and healthy, when in fact the relationship which is the main focus of the series is disturbingly controlling and abusive, based on accepted guidelines for identifying both mental and physical abuse in a relationship. The language used by Meyer normalizes and perpetuates misogynistic behavior, making it appear romantic. While many romance and fantasy novels have been using similar language for centuries, the Twilight series is particularly worrisome due to its specific target audience of young women as well as its widespread contemporary success among that group. Additionally, Meyer’s religious background of Mormonism is of interest in exploring her tendency toward gender stereotyping, patriarchal role-playing, and sexual shaming of female characters, particularly the main character, Bella.
this, of course, is also the paper/presentation i'm working on for my rhetoric class that i mentioned before. this semester is over in just a couple short weeks, so i'm full speed ahead into this and the quantitative star trek project, which i haven't talked about in here yet, really. i will!
