The article I chose to transform for WP3 is "Whose Film Is It Anyway? Canonicity and
Authority in Star Wars Fandom" written by John C. Lyden in the Journal of the American
Academy of Religion. This article discusses the fact that many dedicated fans of the Star Wars films have claimed to believe in the religion of "Jediism" and that their reactions to the
films have led to a new "religious experience" for them. The article begins by describing what
"Jediism" is and how fans have created a community with a strong online presence to back their
opinions and claims about the films. The article also explains how intense these fans can be in
their desire for the "canon" of the series to stay intact within the original trilogy. Lyden cites
specific examples for instances in which the fans have been at odds with the creator of the series,
George Lucas, for this very reason and how conspiracy theories have even arisen claiming that
he is trying to prevent fans from seeing the "true" films.
For my younger audience transformation, I chose to create an article from a website called Oh My Disney. This website is part of a series of official blogging sites created by the Walt Disney Company for fans of their films and products. The site is geared towards teenagers and young adults and often times includes articles titled “Things You Didn’t Know About...” which usually describe fun facts that fans might not already know about a well-known film or other Disney-related thing. Therefore, I wrote my article “8 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Wars” using the main facts presented in the original scholarly article and modeled it after similar articles found on the Oh My Disney website. The goal of these types of articles, as usually stated at the beginning of each one, is to provide a list of interesting facts and knowledge that fans can then surprise and impress their friends with.
For my younger audience transformation, I chose to create an article from a website called Oh My Disney. This website is part of a series of official blogging sites created by the Walt Disney Company for fans of their films and products. The site is geared towards teenagers and young adults and often times includes articles titled “Things You Didn’t Know About...” which usually describe fun facts that fans might not already know about a well-known film or other Disney-related thing. Therefore, I wrote my article “8 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Wars” using the main facts presented in the original scholarly article and modeled it after similar articles found on the Oh My Disney website. The goal of these types of articles, as usually stated at the beginning of each one, is to provide a list of interesting facts and knowledge that fans can then surprise and impress their friends with.
When young Disney fans visit the website, they expect the articles to be fun and
informative, but also to follow the same general pattern that is common in the articles posted
there. Thus, I decided to have my article follow the same structural format and make it look like
it came straight from the website so that my audiences can make use of visual literacy—the
ability “to read the different elements of a visual text” (Losh and Alexander). The articles begin
with a large image related to the topic of the article, followed by the title and author of the piece.
For this type of article that includes a list of fun facts about something, they are often written by
the staff at Oh My Disney collectively, rather than a single author. Thus, I included the typical
symbol and byline format of the editorial staff as a whole, along with the profile image related to
“Oh My Disney” as a contributor.
The main body of the article is written as a numbered list. One sentence about the fact is followed by an image relating to it. For example, for my first fact I wrote “The fandom associated with the Star Wars movies can be referred to as a ‘religion’” and inserted an image associated with Jediism directly underneath it. Below that, a short description of the fact is written to clarify and provide more information about it in case the readers want to know more. All of this text is written in an informal and friendly tone, so as to appeal to teenagers who are interested in reading something quick and interesting about a topic they probably already know of. These articles often use phrases such as “of course” and “in fact” in order to demonstrate the informality of their tone. This demonstrates the fact that “different social spaces affect how we communicate, what is said, what is not said, and how our messages are received, understood, and acted upon” (Losh and Alexander). The social space where the article is located influenced my decisions to write in a more informal tone and to only include quick fun facts about Star Wars rather than longer analyses of the films and fandom that were part of the original article.
The main body of the article is written as a numbered list. One sentence about the fact is followed by an image relating to it. For example, for my first fact I wrote “The fandom associated with the Star Wars movies can be referred to as a ‘religion’” and inserted an image associated with Jediism directly underneath it. Below that, a short description of the fact is written to clarify and provide more information about it in case the readers want to know more. All of this text is written in an informal and friendly tone, so as to appeal to teenagers who are interested in reading something quick and interesting about a topic they probably already know of. These articles often use phrases such as “of course” and “in fact” in order to demonstrate the informality of their tone. This demonstrates the fact that “different social spaces affect how we communicate, what is said, what is not said, and how our messages are received, understood, and acted upon” (Losh and Alexander). The social space where the article is located influenced my decisions to write in a more informal tone and to only include quick fun facts about Star Wars rather than longer analyses of the films and fandom that were part of the original article.
For my transformation geared towards an older audience, I chose to create a religious
brochure promoting “Jediism.” Often times my family has received pamphlets with information
about a certain religion and encouraging its readers to join and learn more about it. These
brochures are usually passed out on street corners or handed out when older members of the
religion go door-to-door in their attempts to get others to convert to their religion. Therefore, I
used the information the scholarly article provided about “Jediism” to create a religious brochure
I modeled after the ones my parents have received in the past. The goal of the pamphlet is to get
the readers to consider converting to “Jediism” by presenting them with information about the
religious teachings, people involved in the fandom, and where to go for even more details about
the Jedi Church. The purpose of the brochure was influenced by the fact that “writing means
always changing—changing to meet the needs of different audiences” (Losh and Alexander).
When this type of religious propaganda is passed out it is meant to demonstrate to its readers and
persuade them to convert to the religion in order to lead a better life and feel at peace with their
own spiritual beliefs.
I began my brochure with a simple front cover that includes the title of “Jediism,” an image related to the Jedi Church, and a short phrase (“Join others who have felt the pull of the Force”) meant to entice people to read further into the pamphlet. The next section, titled “What is Jediism?”, includes facts about the religion that were stated in the beginning of the original article by Lyden. For example, “a number of people around the world have identified their religion as Jediism...as calculated by the 2001 census” is meant to demonstrate to its readers how widespread the religion already is throughout the world and to build ethos—which “refers to the credibility of the rhetor” (Carroll)—for the religion by quoting an official source. The first section when the brochure is completely opened describes the official Jedi Church, its beliefs, and an invitation to join the Jedi religion—“All you have to do is quiet you mind and listen to the Force within you!” This is meant to persuade its readers to become members of Jediism so that they can be around others who have felt similar connections to the natural world.
I began my brochure with a simple front cover that includes the title of “Jediism,” an image related to the Jedi Church, and a short phrase (“Join others who have felt the pull of the Force”) meant to entice people to read further into the pamphlet. The next section, titled “What is Jediism?”, includes facts about the religion that were stated in the beginning of the original article by Lyden. For example, “a number of people around the world have identified their religion as Jediism...as calculated by the 2001 census” is meant to demonstrate to its readers how widespread the religion already is throughout the world and to build ethos—which “refers to the credibility of the rhetor” (Carroll)—for the religion by quoting an official source. The first section when the brochure is completely opened describes the official Jedi Church, its beliefs, and an invitation to join the Jedi religion—“All you have to do is quiet you mind and listen to the Force within you!” This is meant to persuade its readers to become members of Jediism so that they can be around others who have felt similar connections to the natural world.
The next two sections of the brochure describe important elements of the fandom that the
article spent a while discussing. “Star Wars Uncut” and “George Lucas” are meant to
demonstrate the good and the bad of the Jedi religion, respectively. I wrote that Casey Pugh and
his film Star Wars Uncut “has helped in the spreading of the ideals of Jediism to a larger and
more interactive audience” in an effort to get the readers to see what they can be capable of once
they too convert to Jediism. The segment on George Lucas educates the readers about the
founder of Jediism and the differences between the original and re-released films. By stating that
people who have not seen the original releases “have yet to be fully educated in the ways of the
Jedi religion,” the brochure is able to encourage the readers to look into more information about
Jediism and to even consider contacting the Jedi Church.
The pamphlet ends with a section encouraging its readers to visit other websites (those listed within the article as fan websites) for more information on the benefits and process of converting to "Jediism" and joining the ever-growing community. This is a common convention of religious brochures because if the readers decide they are interested in learning more about the religion or joining the church, they need to know how to do so. I also included images in every section of the brochure in order to avoid overwhelming the audience with too many words and to keep them interested in what I had to say. As McCloud states, the goal of word choice is to “clearly and persuasively communicate ideas...in seamless combination with images.” Adding the pictures to the pamphlet (and the blog article) allowed me to communicate better with my audiences and provide them with an interesting visual medium relating to what the content of the writing included.
The pamphlet ends with a section encouraging its readers to visit other websites (those listed within the article as fan websites) for more information on the benefits and process of converting to "Jediism" and joining the ever-growing community. This is a common convention of religious brochures because if the readers decide they are interested in learning more about the religion or joining the church, they need to know how to do so. I also included images in every section of the brochure in order to avoid overwhelming the audience with too many words and to keep them interested in what I had to say. As McCloud states, the goal of word choice is to “clearly and persuasively communicate ideas...in seamless combination with images.” Adding the pictures to the pamphlet (and the blog article) allowed me to communicate better with my audiences and provide them with an interesting visual medium relating to what the content of the writing included.
I transformed an article from the Journal of the American Academy of Religion titled
"Whose Film Is It Anyway? Canonicity and Authority in Star Wars Fandom" by John C. Lyden
into an article on the Oh My Disney website for younger audiences and a religious brochure for
older audiences. I made use of various moves and conventions of each of these genres in order to
ensure that my transformations accurately portrayed what the original scholarly article discussed
in a way that was tailored to each of my new audiences. This project was an interesting way to
practice writing in different genres and making moves in order to achieve the different purposes
of each individual genre.
Works Cited
Carroll, Laura Bolin. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. 2010. Print.Losh, Elizabeth, and Jonathan Alexander. "Spaces for Writing." Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
Losh, Elizabeth, and Jonathan Alexander. “Writing Identities." Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
Lyden, John C. "Whose Film Is It, Anyway? Canonicity and Authority in Star Wars Fandom." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80.3 (2012): 775-86. Print.
McCloud, Scott. "Writing with Pictures." Making Comics. New York: Harper, 2006. 8-57. Print.
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