For this discussion, I read the essays by Demby and Curtis.

I found both of them to be quite interesting reads, as I was one of those kids who watched Jurassic Park at least three times a day. Graffiti, in the days of yore, had such intimate ties with hip, so I was very interested in reading about the so called changing perception of hip hop and its associated culture. Demby was fairly detailed in his essay, being sure to cover any and all parts he could of Jurassic Park fandom. Much like Clendinen, it helped Demby that he was part of the phenomenon that he was talking aboutit gave me a sense of familiarity that would be lost by a journalist that wasnt as interested in Jurassic Park, which drew me in as a reader and established him as a person of authority. This sense of authority was heighted by his knowledge of not only the movie, but also his knowledge of the book. He used his knowledge to educate me more as a reader, and his use of footnotes helped to clarify any gaps in knowledge that I had (especially that bit about the T-rex). Curtis essay functioned much the same as Dembysit tried to cover a large variety of information about a concept that is quite over-arching. Changing perception of hip hop and the changing American cultural landscape is (hopefully by now) not new news to report, but this essay did well to examine the changing landscape from the inside, though also at times noting the rebuttals to the changing tide of culture. Also like Dembys essay, simpler language is used to be more accessible, and footnotes are used to clarify any gaps in knowledge. One thing I noticed that both essays used that (in my opinion) almost exponentially increase the effectiveness of the essays, is the use of embedded content (both in the form of video and hyperlinks). It expands the discourse by allowing the reader to fully digest and understand what both authors are referring to, and in a sense, allows the reader to participate in the discourse by becoming educated in the subject matter. This is also a double edged sword. In Curtis essay, as an example of the idea of whites stealing the ideas and works of people of color, two version of the song Aint That A Shame is embeddedThe original by Fats Domino and the rerecording by Pat Boone. Well, the Fats Domino video cant be accessed, leaving only the Pat Boone version, which in itself is ironic considering the reason for the videos being embedded.