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Text for the Development of the Theme |
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Mary Ann Owens |
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The Columbo Chronicle, Vol. 1, Nr. 2, August 1991 |
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In CC #1, I commented on the Development and Continuity of the Thematic Text for your Thematic. |
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This time I will explain another way that I try to make certain that judges are seeing that continuity and flow of the exhibit from chapter to chapter. |
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That is with the opening text for each new chapter. I work very hard to see that there is a variety of things opening each page, sometimes text but most of the time some item or another. The only time that I know there will be text before items is the first page of each chapter. This is where I set the tone for the chapter and bridge the thought from the last chapter to this one as much as possible. Just like the introductory paragraph set the tone for the exhibit, the first text of the chapter can do the same for the chapter. |
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There is nothing in any SREVs or Guidelines to tell you to do it. I learned it by analyzing the texts in my many books on Elephants. As it is easier to say than to do, I as going to give you those opening paragraphs as well as the Chapter headings which should give you some idea of what I mean. Some times the text will be split down the page and not the solid paragraph that you will be reading. This is to give you ideas on how I go about doing it. |
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1 THE ELEPHANT AND THE EARLY HUMANS |
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Elephant ancestors inhabited most areas of the Earth's surface long before man came. About 60,000,000 years ago the moeritherium appeared (Palaeocene Era). From him evolved the dinotherium, mastodon, archidiscodon, & others. |
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1.2 Elephants & their ancestors have been hunted since man first saw them. This is evidenced by the rock and cave paintings. |
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2 THE ELEPHANT AND THE EXPLORERS |
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The European nations were anxious to find best route to the Far East after Marco Polo returned from China. That meant ships around Africa. Portugal's Henry the Navigator was the inspiration and Vasco da Same the first man to reach India in the 15th century, an important step to the Far East trade. The elephants on the stamps represent India. And, the African elephant and his tusks financed the voyages until the Far East spice trade was assured. |
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3 THE ELEPHANT AND THE SETTLERS |
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Whereas explorers were only interested in the elephants' tusks, elephants soon learned that settlers who followed explorers were also interested in the elephants' home turf. Advanced civilization came to Africa & refinements to Asia. |
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4 THE ELEPHANT AND THE MASTERS |
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The economic value of the elephant is not just his tusks, hides, and meat. The fact that he can be trained has made him valuable in a number of ways. |
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5 THE ELEPHANT AND THE PROMOTORS |
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The elephant was not only tamed & trained to perform tasks in its homeland, but was also exported & promoted at zoos, game parks, & circuses. After the elephant dies, remains are studied in museums and results put on display for public. Promoting has gone full circle and tourists are being lured to see the elephant in the elephant's back yard. |
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6 THE ELEPHANT AND THE SCIENTISTS |
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Books do not state just when it was noticed that African & Asian elephants were not the sane animals. In reality, they are not as the African should properly be called a 'Loxodont' but isn't except on some stamps with the Latin 'Loxodonta'. Explorers had ivory, settlers saw one specie, but promoters brought them together in zoos and circuses where it was probably first noticed that there were sub-species. These differences & how elephants could survive away from natural habitat became the scientists' work. |
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7 THE ELEPHANT AND THE SYMBOL MAKERS |
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The elephant has been used as a symbol or a logo by people around the world. |
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8 THE ELEPHANT AND THE ARTISTS |
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Because of the closeness of man with elephants all his life, it was only natural that man should include elephants in the arts--paintings, literature, sculpture & crafts-both religious and secular. |
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CONCLUSION |
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While the elephants went through phases with the other people, the artists have captured the elephants forever in their media, giving everybody chances to have his or her own elephant for remembrance. |
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I used to have Chapters 7 and 8 reversed, but I felt that I could give a better thematic conclusion with the ARTISTS as the last chapter. As I just did it for London last year, I now need to work on the opening paragraph for Chapter 7 for Tokyo. Now you know, refinements are necessary no matter no how often an exhibit has been shown or what the previous medals have been. |
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I had the same problems working with THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE exhibit. I used to do just the scenic trip and the sub-chapter headings were the Danube countries - Germany, Austria, etc. I then decided that the country names had nothing to do with the Danube as rivers do not know political boundaries, only topographical barriers. I also added the history of the region as that was where the good philatelic material could be found. The sub-chapters also included the Danube but in the various national language names. |
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1 THE DANUBE RIVER |
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The Danube River is the longest in Central Europe with course of 1794 miles and the second longest in Europe after the Volga. The Danube flows through or borders on a present day political divisions. The 8 countries have their own languages including river names. |
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2 THE HISTORIC DANUBE RIVER |
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Although other people had lived in the Danube basin before them, the Romans were the first to leave their mark on the area. (plus more text). |
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3 THE ALPINE RIVER |
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The Danube begins near a Continental Divide in the Black Forest of southwest Germany where many small streamlets near each other are becoming part of the Danube or Rhine River systems ending up miles apart in the Black Sea or the North Sea. |
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4 THE CONTINENTAL RIVER |
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Below Vienna, Donau takes an different look; high hills are gone & river is wider and slower. No longer fed by the Alps, the northern streams come from the Carpathians and southern streams from Yugoslavian & Hungarian highlands. |
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5 THE MATURE DANUBE |
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Below the Iron Gate Dam, the Danube takes an its third look. It is now a mature, slow moving river, not anxious to reach the Black Sea. It is more like a system of channels, islands, lakes and marshes than a river. |
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6 THE DANUBE DELTA |
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Above Ismail, Dunai divides into several branches with Ismail on the northern one, BratuI Chilia. (plus more text) |
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CONCLUSION |
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Ahead lies the end of the journey - The Black Sea. Quiet and majestic it waits, ready to receive the waters of the Danube River Delta. (plus more text) |
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PERSONAL COMMENTS |
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Coming up with these texts took some time and I do not expect you to come up with comparable ones all at once. I am still changing the ones for the UMBRELLAS as I am still moving chapters around trying to get a better flow as I have been working on the exhibit since 1988 only. However, as you are working on your texts, try to keep in mind what the connection is from one chapter to the next -- the story line flow -- and build it into your opening chapter text whenever possible. |
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Everything starts one step at a time. |
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e-mail: mary ann owens |
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copyright © 2000-04 fran adams |
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