Annotated Bibliography
"4 STEPS TO CREATING A TRULY ACTIVE PROTAGONIST." Scripteach. Wordpress, n.d. Web.
There are four main questions here to really answer.The first one is who is the story about? Who is the main focus primarily thorough out the episodes of the show. The second major question is what do they want? What is this character's main goal in the show. Why this character is doing what he or she is doing. The third thing to wonder about is what stands in their way? What challenges does this character face? If any? The fourth and final question to the test is what are they going to do about it?
House of Cards. Netflix. N.d. Television.
There are many points to make as to the meaning behind House of Cards. This show in itself is full of rhetoric, and although it may be used mainly for entertainment it is not necessarily lacking in "quality."
Petersen, Anne Helen. "House of Cards Is Just Okay. And Thats Okay." The Los Angeles Review of Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
In the first part of this, Peterson is saying that T.V. shows are claimed to be "quality" for all of the wrong reasons. "...we’re still using the same rhetoric: if a show looks beautiful, has a complicated narrative, and offers a showrunner (and Hollywood stars to boot, if available!), then it’s quality." (Petersen) She believes that none of these things truly make a show "quality", although people seem to believe that this does. She explains that many shows that have great reputations are merely soap operas with larger budgets. She uses Game of Thrones as an example, saying that it is just a soap opera, with nice scenery and a large budget. People's reluctance to agree with this, trying to legitimize their show, exemplifies the problem according to Petersen. She argues that people become defensive when it comes to television, trying to validate the what they watch as something with real quality. She then turns to discuss House of Cards; describing that its captivating, yet simple, and not in a bad way.It does its job, captivating viewers and gets people to talk about it. However Petersen believes that calling it "quality" has no meaning. Petersen definitely makes a strong, valid argument about the show and television shows in general. She may be right, in fact, that these shows are simply created for enjoyment and designed to get people hooked. People live very busy lives, and if there were not a certain quality to shows like House of Cards, people would find better things to do with their time. Television is a large industry, and simply writing quality, complex, intellectual shows does not sell as well as something juicy and addictive such as House of Cards. A quality, intellectual television show, would have a much lower viewer count. Either people don't have the time, energy, or understanding to engage in it. It is the same reason why most people subscribe to Netflix rather than go to the library. However, can this apply to every show? How does one distinguish between a quality show and one made for simple entertainment? And is it possible to achieve both? Petersen makes no arguments invalidating House of Cards as a quality show. it could be possible that the show exemplifies more qualities, such as that of art or literature.
"What Is a Protagonist?" Thelatinoauthorcom. The Latino Author, n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2014.
The article starts off comparing different tactics of how to create a protagonist. You can view it as yourself, which can be beneficial because you can give much more vivid detail as if you are living through it. However it is difficult to be objective, and the reader may not understand it the way you do. Therefore it may be better to create the situation and then insert a character. "There are ways to make your protagonist successful. One of the ways is to set your protagonist on a mission. Give them a purpose and revolve your story around the pursuit of that goal. Make them interact with other characters about that purpose. Adding obstacles to that goal will bring your story together. Make your protagonist proactive in search of this goal. " (The Latino Author) This agrees with points made by Ezra and Scripteach and applies to Frank. It also says that the protagonist needs the capacity to change.
Wolfgang, Ezra. "What Makes a Quality T.V. Drama?" Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2014.
This interview is very useful to the research and the test as it points out a lot of good points. Being able to ask specific questions was useful because it gave answers that aligned with what needed to be figured out. These results proved very useful and crucial to the test.