RI.8.3 - Connections and Distinctions

Before the battles between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray today, the video industry had a battle between home video tapes. VHS and Betamax were the main rivals in the home video market. Both offered similar video resolution and tape size. What separated VHS from Betamax was affordability. Betamax tapes and machines cost more, and Betamax tapes could only record and playback up to 60 minutes' worth of content. VHS tapes and VCRs were inexpensive, with VHS tapes containing 240 minutes of content. Just as George Westinghouse's cheaper and higher voltage alternating current power stations bested Thomas Edison's direct current, VHS' ability to meet consumer demands made it the top choice in home video formats.

How does the author’s use of descriptions to distinguish between VHS and Betamax convey the outcome of the format wars?

• It demonstrates that consumers are fickle and can't decide which to buy.

• It demonstrates how both products were very similar.

• It demonstrates that other formats were superior.

• It demonstrates how a superior product leads to wider use by consumers.

Before the battles between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray today, the video industry had a battle between home video tapes. VHS and Betamax were the main rivals in the home video market. Both offered similar video resolution and tape size. What separated VHS from Betamax was affordability. Betamax tapes and machines cost more, and Betamax tapes could only record and playback up to 60 minutes' worth of content. VHS tapes and VCRs were inexpensive, with VHS tapes containing 240 minutes of content. Just as George Westinghouse's cheaper and higher voltage alternating current power stations bested Thomas Edison's direct current, VHS' ability to meet consumer demands made it the top choice in home video formats.

How does the author's comparison between alternating and direct currents along with the the battle between home video formats convey how one format can emerge over many others?

• It demonstrates that the bigger something is, the more people desire it.

• It demonstrates that qualities such as affordability and more capacity are what consumers desire.

• It demonstrates how home video needs electricity in order to operate properly.

• It demonstrates that businesses dictate which products are widely adopted by consumers.

The End of Hollywood's Silent Era

All of the movies that were made until the late 1920s were "silent movies." The characters in these movies did not speak, and there was no music soundtrack either. The actors relied solely on facial expressions and body movements to express characters' emotions. Live music was played at the theater to accompany the action unfolding onscreen. Among the leading actors of the silent era in Hollywood were the comedic actors Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. The Hollywood icon Greta Garbo began her acting career with the silent movie Torrent, which hit the screens in 1926.

The silent era ended in 1927 with the release of The Jazz Singer from the Warner Brothers Studio. This was the first full-length Hollywood movie to feature dialogue and music. The movie was a huge success, and Warner Brothers made a lot of money. Other studios joined the Warner Brothers bandwagon and began to produce what people came to call "talking movies." Audiences lined up at the theaters that showed talking movies and snubbed silent movies. Soon, all movie theaters were equipped to show talking movies. Talking movies triumphed over silent movies in the contest to capture the audiences' interest.

Some silent era movie stars, including Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and Greta Garbo, made a successful switch to the talking era, and audiences flocked to see their new movies with soundtracks and dialogue. However, many stars of the silent era gradually faded from people's memories. By the end of the 1920s, the age of silent movies in Hollywood was over. Although silent movies were still being produced in other countries, the roaring success of the talking movies in Hollywood was evidence that this trend would soon catch on worldwide.

Why did silent movies lose out to the new talking movies? Advancements in the technical aspects of moviemaking led to this switch. Audiences were attracted to stories with dialogue and singing and music. It is similar to how consumers replaced typewriters with digital computers.

In what way does the author's observation about some silent movie actors' decisions to work in talking movies help the reader better understand the impact of talking movies?

• It shows that although silent movies were popular in the beginning, talking movies became so successful that they took over the entire movie industry.

• It shows that despite the popularity of silent movies, some silent movie actors switched to acting in talking movies because theaters only screened talking movies.

• It shows that although silent movies were popular in the beginning, talking movies appealed to the audience because they did not feature live music.

• It shows that despite the popularity of silent movies, talking movies were more successful because they did not rely on the performing skills of actors.

The Day Rock and Roll Overtook Folk

By J. Blue Spicer

By the early 1960s—amidst political turmoil and civil unrest eerily reflected in modern society—folk music was the preferred genre of music over rock and roll. Folk acted in the role the internet plays today, lending a voice to people's concerns about how government functioned. The music style was played with acoustic instruments, with political and social lyrics that spoke to the issues and concerns of the era. Rock and roll was still viewed as a teenaged sound. Songs contained electric instruments and percussion. Lyrics discussed youthful romance, cars, and dance crazes.

Folk gained its biggest following in New York City neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, where politically active musicians often gathered and performed. Folk focused on quiet introspection, but it was more popular than the purposely loud and fun-loving rock music. Folk icons such as Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, and Buffy Ste. Marie acted as a voice for those angered by a social and political system they felt was unjust.

Folk music's biggest event was the Newport Folk Festival. The genre's biggest acts and newest stars took center stage to showcase folk at its best. However, at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, rock music began to infringe on folk's territory. Bob Dylan, who was the champion of folk for many years, had just released an album featuring electric instrumentation. He was also moving away from politically-charged ideas in favor of more personalized lyrics. Dylan brought an electric backing band to the festival and was largely booed by the folk faithful. This was against the spirit of folk. But this served as the beginning of folk's public demise and rock's rise as the new voice for youth counterculture.

While many of folk's stalwarts remained loyal to the genre and its message, the appeal of rock music to add entertainment to social messages lured many away from the traditional genre. Many believed their message of peace and protest was better served with a louder approach. The difference between the genres was to yell at a massive crowd to get a point across rather than to whisper at an intimate audience. The discord of the 1960s would come to a head at the end of the decade, but it came with the combative sounds of rock rather than the reserved melodies of folk.

In what way does the author's comparison of folk music to the early forms of rock and roll help the reader better understand music fans?

• Folk was for music fans who loved to dance, whereas rock and roll was for music fans who preferred sitting down and listening.

• Folk was for politically involved music fans, whereas rock and roll was for fans who preferred music about fun and romance.

• Folk was for music fans who preferred music about fun and romance, whereas rock and roll was for politically involved music fans.

• Folk was for people who didn't see themselves as music fans, whereas rock and roll was for people who loved all kinds of music.

The Day Rock and Roll Overtook Folk

By J. Blue Spicer

By the early 1960s—amidst political turmoil and civil unrest eerily reflected in modern society—folk music was the preferred genre of music over rock and roll. Folk acted in the role the internet plays today, lending a voice to people's concerns about how government functioned. The music style was played with acoustic instruments, with political and social lyrics that spoke to the issues and concerns of the era. Rock and roll was still viewed as a teenaged sound. Songs contained electric instruments and percussion. Lyrics discussed youthful romance, cars, and dance crazes.

Folk gained its biggest following in New York City neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, where politically active musicians often gathered and performed. Folk focused on quiet introspection, but it was more popular than the purposely loud and fun-loving rock music. Folk icons such as Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, and Buffy Ste. Marie acted as a voice for those angered by a social and political system they felt was unjust.

Folk music's biggest event was the Newport Folk Festival. The genre's biggest acts and newest stars took center stage to showcase folk at its best. However, at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, rock music began to infringe on folk's territory. Bob Dylan, who was the champion of folk for many years, had just released an album featuring electric instrumentation. He was also moving away from politically-charged ideas in favor of more personalized lyrics. Dylan brought an electric backing band to the festival and was largely booed by the folk faithful. This was against the spirit of folk. But this served as the beginning of folk's public demise and rock's rise as the new voice for youth counterculture.

While many of folk's stalwarts remained loyal to the genre and its message, the appeal of rock music to add entertainment to social messages lured many away from the traditional genre. Many believed their message of peace and protest was better served with a louder approach. The difference between the genres was to yell at a massive crowd to get a point across rather than to whisper at an intimate audience. The discord of the 1960s would come to a head at the end of the decade, but it came with the combative sounds of rock rather than the reserved melodies of folk.

How does the author's comparison of Bob Dylan to other folk icons convey how folk musicians were changing?

• It shows that rock and roll was the more politically charged art form of the time.

• It shows that even folk's biggest names could be lured to other forms of music.

• It shows that even folk's biggest names could never be as great as rock musicians.

• It shows that rock and roll was never going to become bigger than folk.