|
|
 |
EXCEL: A certificate programme in
|
E19-Readers' Advisory Services
ASSIGNMENT 4 - ANALYZING APPEAL FACTORS
In this assignment, you will work on an analysis of appeal factors within a reader’s advisory transition. This assignment is adapted from Talking with Readers: A Workbook for Readers’ Advisory Service. There are several steps to this assignment, and you need to complete all of the steps. Submit your assignment by the required date.
Step 1 – Read the transcript of a reader talking about a book
they have read and enjoyed. The reader was asked “Tell me about a book
you read and enjoyed”.
Step 2 - Write down the pieces of information from the transcript
in Step 1 that apply to these six appeal factors: character, plot,
setting, language, genre and time frame.
Step 3 – Using the descriptions of the five books which were
suggested to the reader, relate these same six appeal factors to five
books.
Step 4 – Read the transcript of the reader reaction to the five
suggested titles.
Step 5 – Provide a short analysis of the reader reaction to the
suggestions.
Step 1 - Patron’s answer to “Tell me about a book you have read and enjoyed.”
OK. I’ve just read Louis L’Amour’s Hondo and I’m really a fan of Louis L’Amour westerns. When I read for entertainment, I like it to be a fantasy type of literature. I like a western where the setting is something like I’m not used to. So I like a really good description of the setting. The characters don’t have to be well developed, but I don’t like them to be bimbos. I like them to have, not complexity, but to have to think now and then.
But the thing I really like about the book I just read, Hondo, and other Louis L’Amour westerns is of course people settle things with gun fights and fights. And usually L’Amour’s characters have to use their wits a little bit, they will resort to shooting and fighting if they have to but it’s usually as a final resort. I like that his characters are sort of above all of that as far as possible. They can outwit the other people who are trying to kill them.
For example, in Hondo, he is leading, being a scout for a band of government agents who are trying to put down a Comanche uprising. His advantage is that he lived among the Comanches so while the agents are ready to shoot and kill and raid their village, Hondo is ready to go and talk and reason with them and to use his wits, use his knowledge of their culture.
Another thing I like about Louis L’Amour in particular, he seems to really be interested in some, just a touch, well he as an individual seems to be interested in the history. It’s obvious that he has read a lot of western history and then of course he throws in all of the other popular things, all the fights and the gun battles that are needed to keep it active and all that. But I do like the fact that he ties in history and he is a writer that can do that without intruding. He seems to be able to describe a little bit about where place names came from and other little colorful things. He seems to be interested in the colorful history of the West and that is something that attracts me is a kind of regional interest.
At the same time, I was born in the Southeast and I’ve read for school work a lot of “Great Books” about the Southeast and when I’m reading for entertainment, I want to read about settings and places that I’ve never been. That seem far away and that’s one of the reasons the West appeals to me.
Step 2 - Identify how the reader talks about each of the appeal factors and the importance of each factor to the reader.
To help you with this work, the appeal factor under “character” has already been done (at least this is our answer, and you can add more if you wish)
Character(s): The reader talks about a character that is not “too complex.” He wants a character that will use his wits and then resort to physical means to solve problems and conflicts if necessary. The reader doesn’t want a character that is shallow, a “Rambo.” Notice that this reader is more interested in what actions a character takes and what thoughts a character has instead of a character’s feelings. Character is a factor that this reader pays attention to, but it does not appear to be the reader’s primary focus.
Plot:
Setting:
Language:
Genre:
Time Frame:
Step 3 –Appeal factors in the five suggested titles
The reader was provided with the book descriptions that appear below. For each title, think about why the reader might enjoy reading this title. Your responses should be tied to the six appeal factors. To assist you, we have completed the first one – again, at least what we think might be the appeal factors (and you can add more if you wish)
Book 1 -Clancy, Tom. Clear and Present Danger.
A president decides that drug smuggling has become a “clear and present
danger” to national security. The response is a complex and covert
military campaign against the Colombian Cartel. Clancy presents the
technology of special operations and the details of light infantry
warfare with his usual facility. Superior even to his descriptions of
tools and techniques, however, is Clancy’s analysis of the legal and
moral problems of operating in a twilight zone, where the rules are
ambiguous and an open society make secrecy impossible. (from Fiction
Catalog).
Character: Jack Ryan (the main character) is a man who uses
his wits.
Plot: Clancy is an action-oriented writer. While this is not a
western, this book has a lot of action in it.
Setting: Reader indicated that he liked to go to places that were
far away. A significant portion of this book takes place in South
America.
Language: Clancy’s language is used to move the plot forward.
This should appeal to this reader.
Genre: This title is an action-adventure/thriller. It is not a
western. The action orientation might attract this reader to this title
that is not in his genre.
Time Frame: This novel is set in the present and the reader likes
novels that take place in the past. This could be an issue.
Book 2 - Cooley, Lee. Judgement at Red Creek.
This is a tale of justice set in 1870s New Mexico Territory, a place of
lawlessness, corruption and greed for land and water. Settlers on Red
Creek, dedicated to peace, are attacked by Jake Harmer, foreman of
Gavilan ranch. He and his men blow up their dam and shoot down 14 people
in cold blood. Clayton Adams, son of the settlement’s founder, swears to
his dying father to seek justice under the law, not revenge with his own
hands. His relentless pursuit of Harmer and Oakley, the ranch
superintendent who ordered the attack, creates almost unbearable
suspense that lasts right to the shattering climax. The author of this
engrossing story knows the territory and takes time to share its
beauties with the reader. (from Library Journal).
Character:
Plot:
Setting:
Language:
Genre:
Time Frame:
Book 3 - Jones, Douglas C. The Season of Yellow Leaf.
The tale of Morfanna Perry, a ten-year-old white girl abducted from her
Texas settlement in 1838 by the Comanches. Despite undergoing the
horrible trauma of a brutal kidnapping and raid in which her parents are
killed, she has the pluck and determination to survive, gradually
adjusting to an alien culture, finally becoming completely assimilated
as a blue-eyed Indian with the new name of “Chosen.” (Fiction Catalog)
Character:
Plot:
Setting:
Language:
Genre:
Time Frame:
Book 4 - L’Amour, Louis. Last of the Breed.
Once again demonstrating his versatility, the prolific L’Amour has
written a contemporary adventure novel set in the “Wild West” of
Siberia. U.S. Air Force Major Makatozi—“Joe Mack”—is shot down by the
Russians, who intend to wring secret information from him before
executing him. The catch in their plans is that Rambo-like Joe Mack is
part Sioux, part Cheyenne, and a nearly Olympic-caliber athlete. Still,
it takes all his native skills and endurance to survive and overcome
Soviet Colonel Arcady Zamatev and his Yakut henchman Alekhih as they
track the American across the Siberian Wilderness. (Library Journal)
Character:
Plot:
Setting:
Language:
Genre:
Time Frame:
Book 5 - Tasker, Peter. Silent Thunder.
Imperialist Japanese corporate warriors wielding awesome economic
weapons threaten the shaky stability of the new world order. Financial
strategist and Orient resident Tasker pits a seedy Tokyo PI and a couple
of disaffected employees against the rogue capitalists in this top-notch
first novel. Mari is the only name given for the PI hired by the parents
of an apparent suicide to look into the story behind their son’s
defenestration. The late Mr. Hara had every reason to live. A Tokyo
University diploma, superb financial skills, a respectable marriage, a
top position with the country’s largest and most powerful securities
firm. Suicide seems senseless. Mori, who was himself on the fast track
until he was derailed by political activism in the Sixties, quickly
discovers that Mr. Hara was at odds with his brother-in-law, Mr.
Yoshimura, a nasty fellow with apparent ties to the Yakuza, Japan’s
organized criminals. Mr. Yoshimura works for a hotshot electronics firm
headed by a brilliant and monstrously ambitious young fascist with ties
to the charismatic founder of Hara’s firm.
Meanwhile, Mori’s investigation is too effective for the comfort of the industrial and commercial moguls looking to use the balance of payments to tip America into the dustbin, and they send him some unmistakably threatening signals via their thugs. But Mori won’t be signaled, and even when the Yakuza snatch his songstress girlfriend, he won’t be stopped.
The brooding, flashing, hyperdense Tokyo of serialized manga comic books, soulless sex, and samurai economics shares top billings with the very attractive investigator—in this fresh and clever thriller. (Kirkus Reviews)
Character:
Plot:
Setting:
Language:
Genre:
Time Frame:
Step 4 - Reader reaction to the five suggested titles
The reader was provided with the same descriptions for the five books. The reader’s reaction to these titles appears below. Take a minute to read that description now.
My favorite books on the list were Judgement at Red Creek and Season of Yellow Leaf in particular. In Judgement at Red Creek, the landscape description first caught my eye. That’s one thing I’m particularly interested in is landscape description of the West and also the fact that Clayton Adams has made a death bed promise to his father to seek justice under the law. And yet in the situation described in this review, I can imagine him feeling a great deal of conflict and so I think there’s a chance for a little complexity.
Enough to keep the plot interesting with Clayton’s internal conflict.
Season of Yellow Leaf was particularly interesting because I think it may have some good descriptions of Native American culture and that’s something you don’t see a lot of in westerns. Usually, the Indian is a cold-blooded killer and anything more than that gets in the way of the plot. It would be real interesting to see how an author treated that creatively and tried to get some insight into what it may have been like for a white person living in a Native American culture. With Clear and Present Danger, the thing that turned me off right away were the phrases “drug smuggling” and “national security.” I would be afraid that it would be too much like the evening news.
The Louis L’Amour book really caught my interest. If you put that one in front of me, I would probably look through it, read the introduction, the preface, or the first chapter because I didn’t know he had written anything like this. The phrase “Rambo-like” turned me off right away because it sounds like a shallow character. But I still would want to look at it because I know Louis L’Amour’s talent and I know he can weave a plot. But still there’s too much emphasis on the cold war and the Russians as the bad guys, so I’d be a little wary. But I’d still be interested in what Louis L’Amour had to say about that.
The last one, Silent Thunder, you can take that one and put it back on the shelf. Corporate warriors, it sounds too much like my job. And I’m more interested in reading escapist literature or just for entertainment.
Step 5 – Analysis of Reader’s Reaction
After you have reviewed the reader’s reaction, think about what you have learned about this reader and if your impressions of his reading interests have changed. For example, from his reaction to the suggested titles, we learn that genre, plot, setting and time frame are very important to this reader. The two books that were accepted by the reader are both westerns that take place in the past. The reader even accepted the western that had a female child as a protagonist.
Briefly describe whether you thought that these books were good suggestions in terms of the appeal factors. Consider how providing the reader with several titles to react to can lead to a better understanding of the reader’s interests for the readers’ advisor.
*End*
2007 Edition