Women and Media FA2011: November 2011

When doing research for this blog post I found an interesting article in the New York Times entitled In Bollywood, Female Directors Find New Respect. The article touched upon the career of four female Bollywood directors; Zoya Akhtar, Mira Nair, Kiran Rao, and Farah Khan. I found myself extremely interested in the career of Farah Khan. According to the article, in 2004 Ms. Khan debuted the second highest grossing film of that year. Ms. Khan has experienced great success with her career.

Initially I found this article and the directors involved to be interesting and quite successful especially Farah Khan. In America, we often critique the inequalities and the fences that divide us because of our gender. Although this is true, women in other countries often experience worse forms of discrimination. I appreciated the female presence within Bollywood.

Farah Khan rose to success as a choreographer. She studied sociology in St. Xavier’s College and inspired to be a choreographer after seeing Michael Jackson” Thriller. She received many awards for her choreography within Bollywood cinema. “The first contemporary female filmmaker to break the all-male stranglehold on the box office…”. Her film debut “Main Hoon Na” (I Am Here of You) became a hit and was followed by another hit in 2007, “Om Shanti Om,”

The NY Times article brought up a point that completely changed my view on Khan and the other featured female directors of Bollywood. “Interestingly, unlike earlier female filmmakers, this new generation isn’t making women centric cinema. Ms. Akhtar said that she never considered turning the friends in ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ into women because that ‘would have been a very different journey.’” When asked about her latest project she is working on now she considered her latest work to be Ocean’s Eleven meets The Full Monty. “It will take testosterone to another level.”

Khan is a female director that has no interest in telling stories for women or about women. I began to further believe her success would not be as great if her career choices had been any different. That is if her subject matters changed. “…the history of that cinema as the self expressive signatures of Hollywood directors rather than a collection of ideas to which these signatures were signed. A move towards the notion that a film’s structure produces the author’s viewpoint…” The means of camera technique, lighting and editing are all part of how the film is “written” not so much the subject matter of the film. “If their films don’t focus on women, these directors have nonetheless created female characters who tend to have more texture than the usual Bollywood heroine. The difference in Khan’s treatments is most obvious in Ms.Khan’s songs… Still, they wear their accomplishments and gender politics lightly.”

I began to ask a lot of questions as I looked into Khan’s career. As I looked through a series of interviews she had done most of the interviews were about her expecting triplets and what kind of mother she would be. I had yet to find an interview written in English about her presence as a female within Bollywood cinema. Is Khan expected to pave some type of way for female characters and female subject matters because of her commercial success? Would she have achieved the same level of success had she not made action films or films that cater to men? Upon reading “Author/Auteur: Feminist Literary Theory And Feminist Film” I began to wonder does your gender affect the means in which you will tell a story. After a discussion in class I learned that the answer is no. Within this article women such as Marleen Gorris who won an Oscar for her “gendered preoccupations and styles…A Question of Silence and Broken Mirror being elaborately women centered films about women’s experiences of sexual exploitation, violence, the everyday domestic ‘abuses’ of heterosexuality and sexual division…”. Similar to Kathryn Bigelow, are we content with simply seeing women becoming successful in cinema for making a “mans film”? Should women be expected to make film for women and about women simply because they are women?

Work Cited:

-http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/movies/zoya-akhtar-and-farah-khan-bollywood-directors.html

-Author/Auteur:Feminist Literary Theory and Feminist Film

Post 4

Independent website that produces by female is Black Heart Magazine. Laura Robert is the editor of this Texas based writing site and known for the Catch phrase “Reading, Writing, Rebellion.” She is also a poet and author literature books. The site provides Nonfiction and Fiction by female and male writers.

Post 5

Miranda July- Filmmaker, Director, Writer and Artist

Miranda July is an artist, filmmaker, and a writer that started her career by creating her own independent company called “Big Miss Moviola” in the mid-1990s, which was later change to Joanie4Jackie, and helped distribute female short films. Joanie4Jackie was created to help connected and network with other female filmmaker/artist and not feel isolated. The site began as an Video chain letter, where women would submit their films online and Miranda would recorded on a cassette tape and add on various work on several tapes. She encourage everyone to disturbed their work on the cassette and allow others to view clips/films to build a following of female filmmakers. The site since draw big impacts because it’s still use in universities, and female filmmakers are still submitting work. Miranda July has had her film project and artwork exhibit around the word, and also created a program about filmmaker for young teenage girls called Joanie4President in Portland, Oregon. She is also the director of “Me and You and Everyone We know” and “The Future”. She also co-wrote “The Center of the World” and a collection of short films. Miranda July is considered to be one the pioneer of Riot Grrl movement which practices the DIY (Do it yourself). “Me and You, and Everyone We know” won the Camera d’ Or at Cannes in 2005, and Roger Ebert describe her work orignial and qutoe “July fits no genre, fulfills no expectation, creates its own rules and seek only to share a strange lovable mind with us”(NY times, July 14, 2011,pp.4) July’s work never reference other films and doesn’t decribe herself as a cinephile and market herself as a brand by appearing in her own films.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/magazine/the-make-believer.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Girls Make Media ( New York: Routledge, 2006)Brought to You by Girl Power: Riot Grrrl's Network Media Economy By Mary Celeste Kearney

Le Post 5

Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, media is being thrown at you. You see advertisements that are most likely targeted for you on trains, buses, simply walking down the street on billboards, on papers on the floor, and this is all without bringing up the TV or internet mainstream media sources. These specifically altered ads or biased new sources are a part of everyday life. I'd like to propose the new media sources which seem to be getting more and more popular of late. Blogs/Forums.

Now, of course, you wouldn't want to get all your information from other people. However consider this: A man from China gets a visa to leave the country, and posts on a blog during his travels about specific hardships in China that the Chinese government might be censoring. Understandably this is a unique circumstance, but peers with knowledge and opinions are never a poor thing to at the very least consider. For example: My sister lately does not watch a film that she's on the fence over watching unless she's heard good things over it. Generally Facebook is one medium of which she adheres to this policy. Also, when she looks outward for an opinion, rather than going on what professional critics say via newspaper or something, she checks out sites such as rottentomatoes.com, which not only weighs in audiences opinion and the opinions of critics, but lets people write their comments of the film.

That's just one example, I could proceed and speak about the wealth of knowledge you see on this blog for example that you would not see on mainstream television. Of course you can Google "bell hooks" for example and see all her top drawer works, but a lot of people wouldn't know to search her (as I certainly didn't before I had been introduced into this course). Plus certain blog like that one guy who did the Chris Brown video that we've seen in the beginning of class (can't for the life of me remember the mans name) but that's just a video blog commenting on certain things that occur in our society.

What I'm trying to say is, look around when you'd like to learn about a topic and you can also learn from sources that aren't particularly the most scholarly. For example apparently this Skyrim is the best game existing at the moment, but had it not been for forums or blogs I wouldn't even know this game even exists. I also wouldn't know certain occupy wall street facts and all sorts of relevant real world subject matters. There is a wealth of information in the fingertips of our peers, if only we'd look!

Post 5- Nancy Meyers

Nancy Meyers

One of the top female directors in Hollywood is Nancy Meyers. Is she not only a director but she is also a producer and screen writer. Meyers has written more than ten motion pictures, was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing 1980's “Private Benjamin” which proved that when romantic comedies are done right they are certainly practicable blockbusters. In addition, Meyers directed 2000's “What Women Want”, which earned $183 million nationally to become the highest grossing, female directed film to date. Meyers has been a steady box-office presence since her 1998 directorial debut, a remake “The Parent Trap” starring a young Lindsay Lohan. In this film Meyers did a well job in integrating both romance and classic family entertainment in order to make it interesting to a broader audience rather than focusing solely on her usual audience, middle aged women.

As said in an article by Daphne Merkin in New York Time Magazine, “She is known for her obsessive, micro managerial attention to detail. This aspect of her directorial style is appreciated by some and mocked by others but never fails to be mentioned when her name comes up.” This is proven in her work in “The Parent Trap”. Although some critiques identify Meyer’s attention to detail as her weakness, it is clearly one of her greatest strengths. Due to the fact that the movie was a remake there was a lot of pressure for her success. However, by using a broad combination of romance, comedy, and slight villainous aspects into the movie Meyers triumphed over the pressure. The wittiness role that was played by young Lindsay Lohan helped to contribute true entertainment into the movie.

Another film that Meyers was very successful in was “What Women Want” which starred Mel Gibson and his attempt to trying to figure out the female mind. This film was by far the most successful film ever directed by a woman, which made a remarkable $370 million worldwide. This film was especially alluring to women due to the fact that it had such a unique way of showing exactly what women desired. As quoted by Meyers herself in the LA Times, “I'm quite diligent about the work process; I think a day's work is a real day's work. Three hours isn't real to me. My friends make fun of me, because I really think I have to sit there all day and get up for lunch and come right back. This is my job.” This shows that Meyers is indeed devoted to her work and it is not surprising that this is the reason for all her success as a woman in the media industry.

Although Meyers is a female in the media industry, she is not far from the male directors. Meyers has her own production company, Waverly Films. Under this she directed and produced three films which each grossed $12 million for each. She has been nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards because of what she focuses on, middle aged women. All her movies are targeted towards middle aged women; which is a great strategy since she’s grossing way above a billion dollars internationally. Her focus and determination is the reason which she’s one of the top female directors in the industry.

References

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/magazine/20Meyers-t.html?pagewanted=all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Meyers

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/26/entertainment/la-et-meyers26-2009dec26

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Post 4

CNN: Women's Issues

News is what’s happening right now, this very moment, around me and around you, about the people surrounding you. Women make up half the world’s population; do they not deserve their own news section? There are many different news stations and each has its own point of view. One of the many popular ones is CNN (Cable News Network), which is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States. CNN came out with its news website CNN.com on August 30, 1995. The site attracted growing interest over its first decade and is now one of the most popular news websites in the world. The online version is separated in topics; one of them is “Women’s Issues.”

“Women’s Issues” is successful because it focuses solely on women, globally. They discuss mostly women’s rights around the world. It empowers women on a global level. As Rebecca Richards Bullen shows us in “The Power and Impact of Gender-Specific Media Literacy” that images in the media are “powerful and pervasive.” If women and young girls are bombarded with images and news stories about accomplishments being made by females around the world to obtain more women’s rights, then maybe young girls would be encouraged to follow pursuit also.

Bullen also states that “Through girl-specific media literacy, an analysis of images and critical discussions, girls take the power from media to define them and put it into their own hands.” If there were more popular sites like CNN that had a whole section dedicated to women, and the world was informed of what was happening to women then women would have a more vital role in society. One country see’s another country giving rights to women, and then women in another country that don’t have those rights will fight to obtain them. It’s a chain reaction, but we need more media to focus on women’s rights. It needs to be put on the spotlight around the world. If young girls see this, they will feel empowered.

Post 4

With all the different media outlets available today, it's easy to get up to date news about events occuring anywhere in the entire world. What's tricky these days is finding a media source that stays true to what the news really should be, unbiased and informative. Documentaries like Micheal Moore's Bowling for Colombine show us that America's major news networks are delivering information to us in their own way, showing us what will get us watching, regardless of if it's actually what we need to see in whichever way we need to see it. Bias is rampant in most of television news, and as a result, it's hard to see things objectively for many Americans today.

The internet is a good resource for news, but it's a double edged sword. Anyone can post whatever they want, and often, what we read on the internet suffers as a result. Because of it's accessability people don't always take the necessary time to ensure that what comes out is appropriate. However, there are websites that have made it their mission to deliver the news in the right way, free of bias.
http://www.ithp.org/ is a good example.

Printed media is another hit or miss sort of media outlet. It's often riddled with bias, but sometimes it's the only way to really get both sides of a story. Magazines like Rolling Stone try their best to be objective, but they cater to their audience, and their articles are almost always very liberal. While the topic may be well researched, you already know what they want you to think before you start reading.

Stacey Anderson (Pictured Above), is a famous music writer known for her articles for NBC-New York and Spin. She's best known for her on-going three year position as Senior Associate Editor at the Village Voice. Her more famous pieces include a look into the reclusive Woody Allen's career, and even includes a rare interview. She also helms the recurring "This Week in Rock History" column for Rolling Stone. Her reviews for Spin magazine are insightful and well written. She's a good example of a contemporary magazine and periodical writer, accomplished and well-respected.
Bell Hooks writes about a type of man that the world needs. This type of man needs to be a variety of things, but his education must come from somewhere. Feminist thinkers and female friendly media outlets are what is needed in order to begin a foward shift in our society's thinking. These men are, in specific, "empathetic and strong, autonomous and connected, responsible to self, to family and to friends, and capable of understanding how those responsibilites are, ultimately, inseperable." A large part of an individual's education these days comes from the various media outlets which exist. These outlets need to be ripe with the right, objective and intelligent viewpoints that are expected from a news or opinion source. Bias, Sexism, and Patriarchy need to be absent from what we ingest so many times a day. In order to become this better man, and have our future generations understand what these values and ideals mean, we must continue to strive for gender equality in modern news media.

Behind the Scenes

Movies were created as a source of entertainment for people to partake in. According to bell hooks reading "making movie magic", movies "give the reimagined, reinvented version of the real. It may look like something familiar, but in actuality it is a different universe from the world of the real. That's what makes movies so compelling". When you think about it movies give you false hope in similar situations you may have as the character in the movie is going through. What we see we take with us, and believe that our lives should fall into place as it is showed to us through movies. Just like with gossip magazines as much as we say that they're "garbage" we still catch ourselves becoming curious about celebrity lifestyles. We live in this fantasy world that helps us escape from our own reality by vicariously living through the lifestyles of the rich and famous. This creates anger and other emotions when we are disappointed when things don't go the "right" way or in other words what the movies tell us should happen.

It isn't just the movies that are blurring our vision of reality, but the people who create them. I never knew how much trouble women had in creating movies, and even if they were given the opportunity to direct or screen write for a particular movie, they had to be involved with movies that are directly "male movies". There is a limited open space about which a female could choose from. It saddens me to see that female filmmakers aren't recognizable and aren't given enough credit as male directors get. For example Katherine Bigelow was the first female to win an Oscar for best director, and only four women have been nominated in that category throughout the 81 years of Oscar history. That is extremely disturbing considering women have been involved with some of the most profitable movies out there.

According to Forbes magazine Twilight directed by Catherine Hardwicke written by another female Stephanie Meyers was the seventh highest grossed film making $360 million dollars. Mamma Mia! directed by Phyllida Lloyd made $585 million. As you can see female directors could create fantastic movies, and make the movie industry a ton of money. However they receive no respect because they are females. I believed that women were equal as men, and throughout the years were proving that they are capable of doing anything a man could do. I thought that society was adjusting to that idea and giving female more opportunities in different roles then being housewives, and mothers but I was wrong.

Penelope Speeris lived with her family in many different trailor parks throughout southern California. She put herself through film school by waitressing. She worked as a film editor and cinematogopher before forming her own company in 1974. Her production company called Rock N' Reel was mainly associated with creating music videos especially in the 70's and 80's. She was nominated for a Grammy for "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video for the movie Wayne's World. Speeris first featured film was debut in 1979, called "The Decline of Western Civilization". In 1991 Speeris directed her first studio film "Waynes World" which is a comedy about two stoners. She directed and produced "The Beverly Hilbilies", "The Little Rascals", "Black Sheep", " Senseless", and "The Kid and I".

As you could see women are capable of writing or directing films about things other than romance, or shoes. However even though women are able to see in a man's point of view, this is the only topic they are given to go with. They aren't given much freedom to follow their passion and let their image carry through in a film without it being turned down because they are a woman.

Due 12/10 and 12/17

FINAL PROJECTS
Please be prepared to present your projects to the class in approximately 5-7 minute presentations. Visuals are a must. Feel free to bring physical props and handouts if appropriate.

**You must create a POST for your final project - a link to your project, a summary, images and or videos. You can present using/from your post - this will be much easier.

GOOD LUCK!!

DUE 12/3
Art and New Media

READINGS:
On Blackboard:
-A Cyberroom of One's Own - Sarah Stein

-Feminist Art Practice and the Mass Media - Pen Dalton

-Cyberspace: The New Feminist Frontier - Gillian Youngs

Veiled Threat by Arwa Aburawa Bitch Magazine
http://bitchmagazine.org/article/veiled-threat

The Feminist Evolution ArtNews December 2009
http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2800&current=True

Where the Great Women Artists are Now
Interview with Linda Nochlin Art News February 2007
http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2216

Interview with Cat Mazza
We-Make-Money-Not-Art
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/01/how-and-when-did-you.php

For Women Social Media is More Than Just Girl Talk
byJessica Faye Carter
http://mashable.com/2010/07/17/women-social-media/

BlogHer - The Community for Women Who Blog
http://www.blogher.com/

2 comments (minimum) on Post 4 OR Post 5

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*Midterm meeting appointments Wednesday 11/9 and Monday 11/14 in HN515 - be sure you have scheduled your appointment time. See schedule here.

Due 11/19
Draft Bibliography/Sources list for final project due - list of sources as well as a brief update on the project must be printed and handed in to me 11/19

Post 5 Due
Choose and research a female film director/screenwriter and a single work or several works. Describe their approach to film making and explain their role as auteur. Using references to the readings and references to your own research (be sure to cite) explain the work, especially as it relates to auteur theory. How does the filmmaker explain their work and their process? How are the works and filmmakers received? How are they critiqued? Every post must have a short bibliography/works sited. You must include at least 2 additional sources with your post. If possible include links to the readings or sources, if not list them properly in your works cited.

NO READINGS!! Work on your final projects!

**We will have a visitor on 11/19 Video artist and painter - Sharon De La Cruz.

Due 11/12
READINGS on Blackboard:
Introduction "Making Movie Magic" from Reel to Real by bell hooks
"Author/Autor: Feminist Literary Theory and Feminist Film" by Maggie Humm
"Debra Zimmerman and Women Make Movies" by Judith Redding and Victoria A. Brownworth

Please look at the Women Make Movies websitehttp://www.wmm.com/

*Draft Bibliography only due 11/19*

Bookmarks postponed until further notice - no bookmarks due

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Due 11/5
POST4
Using references to the readings due for class, convey an understanding of women (and minorities) in the news media industry. Research and discuss an alternative news organization or independent news source that is outside this norm, possibly by or for women specifically. The example can be local, national or international. Look to independent media in developing nations as well for interesting and inspiring examples. You can also choose to concentrate on a specific person. Be sure to explain the publication or online source in depth, explain it's origins and why it is successful or necessary as an alternative media source. What is the role of gender in this story?

READINGS:
On Black board: bell hooks - The Will to Change
Online:
Highlighting Girls in Youth Media
As practitioners in youth media, we have the opportunity to support the long-term development of girls.
http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2009/08/highlighting_girls_in_youth_me.html

The Power and Impact of Gender-Specific Media Literacy
It is up to the field as a whole to help students critique media, avoid stereotypes, and act out new identities.
http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2009/08/the_power_and_impact_of_gender.html

Media Savvy Arab Girls Respond to the Mainstream
How alternative youth media can and must respond to mainstream news.
http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2007/11/media_savvy_arab_girls_respond.html

Bookmarks postponed until further notice - no bookmarks due

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DUE 10/27
1 page Project Proposal for final projects printed and handed in. Explain/describe the content of your project and the medium you will use to create it. Use visuals if necessary: sketches, still images etc. Also include possible resources (a full bibliography will be required later.)

READINGS DUE:

FreePress Media Ownership Policy
http://freepress.net/policy/ownership

Media Ownership: Impact on Minority Ownership and Localism
http://womensmediacenter.com/blog/2007/02/media-ownership-impact-on-minority-ownership-and-localism/

Media Ownership Fact Sheet - NOW
http://www.now.org/issues/media/women_in_media_facts.html"

Diversity in Media Ownership & Employment
http://www.civilrights.org/media/ownership/

WATCH:
Reel Girls Media Consolidation
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=reelgrrls#play/uploads/27/VZ01mj0IdTQ

Bookmarks postponed until further notice - no bookmarks due

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Due 10/22
CHANGE IN SYLLABUS! I have decided to move the news up one week. Below are the readings for 10/22.
Alternative media will be pushed 2 weeks forward. I will update you on this.

The Rise of the Female Anchor
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/weekinreview/06stanley.html

Rachael Papers
http://issuu.com/bitchmagazine/docs/the_rachel_papers/3?mode=embed&documentId=090225195412-a61ca4d3a7b34c879210801d39c49c40&layout=white

Broadcast News: When Women Become Two out of Three
http://womensmediacenter.com/blog/2009/09/942/

Article on Blackboard:
Women in Broadcasting - Barbara Murray Eddings

2 COMMENTS on post 3

2 bookmarks postponed until further notice

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Due 10/15

Post 3 - DUE
Using all of your readings, class discussions and critiques of advertising images and the sexism, racism and power hierarchies found in so many of these, find or construct an alternative to these mainstream images and explain why it is different. Carefully draw out advertising strategies and goals and provide alternative paths for the industry or alternative anti-advertising messages.

5-6 paragraphs. Include citations of the readings in your post, at least one image and links to relevant resources.

Readings
1.Susan Bordo -- "Hunger as Ideology" from Unbearable Weight
2.Maggie Wykes/Barrie Gunter --"Conclusion" from The Media and Body Image
3.Naomi Wolf -- "Culture" from The Beauty Myth

4.online: Media's Effect On Girls: Body Image And Gender Identity http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_mediaeffect.shtml
from National Institute of Media and the Family

2 bookmarks on delicious

Final project topics - simple explanation of medium and topic for final projects filled out on a sheet in class.

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DUE 10/1
*NO POST DUE
READINGS DUE:
Advertising, Magazines and Women
4 short essays from Gender Race and Class in Media
-Sex Lies and Advertising - Steinem Ms. Magazine
-Beauty and the Beast of Advertising
-Reading Images Critically - Douglas Kellner
-Commodity Lesbianism - Danae Clark

Provocateur -Anthony Cortese - Constructed Bodies, Deconstructing Ads Sexism in Advertising

2 bookmarks on delicious (focus on advertising images specifically and possible connections to violence against women and girls - as in Kilbourne's assessment)

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DUE 9/17
POST 2 - On ways of seeing/viewing

Please answer the following questions based on your readings and class discussion. Use your own experiences and realizations to help illustrate your understanding of the material - cite from the readings.

What is the male gaze and why is it a pervasive form of vision in popular culture? Give illustrative examples in a variety of media. What is the oppositional gaze and why (as described by bell hooks) has it developed? Give examples. How have you come to understand these structures and in what ways has this understanding changed your views about various media examples and of your own identity and role in these structures?

5-6 paragraphs. Include citations of the readings in your post.

READINGS: on Blackboard

-Introduction to Where the Girls Are - Susan Douglas
-"The More You Subtract The More You Add: Cutting Girls Down to Size" by Jean Kilbourne

2 bookmarks on delicious.com

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Due 9/10
Post 1 on the class blog: Who do you think you are?
Please create a blog post answering this question. Be sure to include your role in media consumption, critique and/or media making. You must include at least one link and one image.

READINGS: available on the Blackboard Site in folder "Due 9/10" - let me know immediately if you have trouble accessing them.
John Berger - Ways of Seeing
Laura Mulvey - Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
bell hooks - The Oppositional Gaze

2 bookmarks on delicious.com
(see link below to our tag to get started)
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Link to syllabus

Women and Media Delicious page (MEDP384 tag)

Links to Screenings Online

Link to MIDTERM MEETING SCHEDULE Meeting are 11/7 and 11/9 in HN515

***Readings are on the class Blackboard site.***
Please be sure you have access to the Blackboard site and can see the course materials folder.

Discussion guidelines

The course material and discussions can often be provocative and challenging. We must therefore be careful to be respectful of each other and all of our viewpoints. No student shall ever be made to feel uncomfortable because of race, gender, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

We must come to class prepared and ready to discuss the readings!! Please keep discussions focused on the readings and class materials and keep examples relevant and appropriate. If you have not done the readings you are not to participate in the discussion.

Please see this great list of classroom discussion guidelines for more guidance. It is also helpful that everyone in the course reviews several key terms that are crucial to the course material. Please review this important list of terms.