Extra Credit Opportunity
Rhetorically analyze (with some purpose other than attaining extra credit from Mr. Robin... i.e. create your own situation/occasion) the Taboo game. Pick a few authors and use the class as the audience OR explain how role reversal affected this whole scenario. Be sure to make rhetorical moves as you advance your ideas (your thesis ought to be your macroscopic claim).
To qualify for this opportunity,
you also need to post a final Sirens thought.
Both posts should meet the blogging requirements
on the main website:
http://www.shs.d211.org/english/faculty/dhr/319projects.htm
(see Blogging Guidelines)
All responses need to be received by 1/6/08.
posted by D. Robin @ 12/25/2007
4 comments
4 Comments:
Taboo was played to relieve the tension of time that has been looming over students the whole week before Winter Break.
The game choice was fitting in that the point is to win by guessing as many words correctly in one minute. The giver stands in front of the classroom so all attention is easily directed at him or her since the giver is crucial in determining wins. It is interesting to notice how sometimes they would wave their hands as if the answer could magically be transferred through telepathy. More logical ways of giving hints were sign language and words with similar meanings. Passing on a card also shows a strategetical move in maximizing the number of points earned.
Sometimes, to understand the author’s allusion, the class needs to be well versed in American culture. It was amusing how one team automatically wasted no time by diving into the song as soon Mr. Robin mentioned “Pepto Bismo.” The other team also could have won the winning point if they knew Garfield’s girlfriend.
The timer was constantly switched to ensure fairness. The tie in the end resulted in a friendly debate on a tiebreaker. By the voices in the room satisfied by the good food, it showed that time really does fly by when you’re having fun.
-Sanny Lin, Period 2
I’m a little confused by this assignment but here goes.
Taboo is all about making allusions. That is the key to the game because by making references to say, The Sirens of Titan, during the game as I believe at least two players did while it was their turn to portray a word. Because everyone in that audience, our class, had read Sirens of Titan, it became extraordinarily simple to guess the word because we all had a common understanding of the topic. In today’s society it is evident that games such as Taboo are more popular and more effective than simple charades. The biggest reason for this is because body-language has died out a bit. People communicate less with body-language because of telephones and aim and email. Another reason more specific to our class is that AP Language and Composition is all about words! We don’t study body-language in English! One example of the ineffectiveness of body language during the game was when Josh tried to portray the word “split”. Although the word was finally guessed by the audience, it took a longer amount of time than words would have because it was difficult to understand what he was doing. While Mr. Robin’s one word reference had the audience yelling back an answer in less than a second.
On a different note, I would just like to briefly talk about the effect of real competition upon the audience and the authors while playing the game. When starting out, the game was merely enjoyable and while a score was kept, no one really worried about it. That is until Mr. Robin announced the winning team would receive extra credit. This bit of information really turned the game around. It made players more competitive now that a concrete prize was in order. The competition ultimately turned the audience AND the authors into savages. When it came down to deserving a point, everyone started yelling at once. Understanding one voice would have been a vain task, and it never really became quiet again. What a drastic difference from the laid-back, fun-loving people that had existed not long before!
Taboo, though defined as something that is proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable, was loved by our 5th hour class. Any opportunity to do something other than class work was much appreciated by the honor students. It allowed us to use our creative sides to have fun. The game caused all of us to use our creative sides and wide vocabulary to describe the secret word to the team.
The interesting part of the game was that not only did each person play the role of the author, but also of the audience. As an author, it required quick thinking and creating liasons between you and your fellow team members. Some people thought too hard, trying to use technical terms. In a game of quick thinking, this would not help since you needed to use knowledge that majority of the class had. Authors that used simple phrasing or made allusions to the current or past culture were able to score more points since they connected with their team.
Everyone thought it was easy until they stepped out of the shoes of an audience member into the shoes of an author. People have to use logos to think about the easiest way to hint the answer to their team, ethos to use their previous knowledge to make their team say the word, and pathos, using tone and facial expressions for hints.
Besides the satisfaction of being on the winning team, I was able to understand how important vocabulary is when describing information to your team. Taboo is like a test of everything we've learned in English class, and I think my team passed with flying colors.
Sarah Kitlinski, period 5
Taboo, a game where one needs to think quickly and be able to respond as well, incorporates two contrasting sides. The contrasting sides are not just the teams opposing each other, but the rhetorical authors and audience. The person who is giving the clues acts as the author, while the players attempting to guess the word based on the author are the audience. Though, this entire process is based upon the use of common knowledge illustrated with allusions as well as slang and jargon.
The entire game is a way of relating to the audience in order to get them to say the word that you have. I am going to use myself as the author in this case because I was a captain, opposing Kevin Chen. When I chose my team, while I did consider intelligence I mainly considered people who knew me and people whom I spend time with. After spending time with people I know, it allows me to make connections with them, and I can use slang or jargon when trying to convey an idea. Since they are close to me, they understand if I use a slang term of “dawg” in order for them to say a rapper’s name. With jargon, I could use a word pertaining to a sport in order for them to say the name of the sport, or someone famous who plays that sport.
Among the words used in the taboo many are commonly used terms relating to the American culture. With identifying and relating the words to the American culture, typically allusions are applied. The use of allusions helps because it is usually common sense or an idea seen by many people. For example, one of my words was heartburn and immediately I told my teammates to sing the Pepto-Bismol jingle. Through watching television, almost everyone on my team started to sing the song, allowing us to gain a point. This incident happened many times throughout the game, like when word was Starbucks.
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