Is how The Wonkette Quiz begins and, with it, an interesting approach to news quizzes."If you're a former ballet dancer with a hot temper and nine and a half fingers, you're probably glad to see that this Rahm Emanuel fellow came along. If he can make it, so can you! Emanuel also has two brothers, Zeke and Ari, with whom you might have more in common than you might think. Take Wonkette's Official Emanuel Brother Diagnostic Personality Test and find out!"
As a brief introduction, Wonkette is a blog focusing on political gossip, mostly focused on D.C. and national politics. The style is very snarky, with a mixture of political satire and internet humor used a veneer on politicala issues of the day. This style was honed when Wonkette used to be part of Gawker Media, whose blogs maintain a similar writing style.
The quiz itself is sort of a one-off, entitled "Take Intern Juli's Advanced Emanuel Brothers Personality Test From Hell". However, the quiz does several novel things that both make the quiz interesting and which should be noted:
First is the use of the identity quiz format. Both a form of the Cosmo Quiz as well as the many various "Which [book, film, TV show, or video game] character are you?" quizzes which are prevalent online. This format gives a ridiculous way to introduce readers to Rahm Emanuel, the new White House Chief of Staff, as well as use the interesting journalistic slant of being one of three brothers, who are well known in their own fields.
Secondly, each answer choice, while written off the cuff, is backed up with a source article. This is interesting because, unlike the pedagocical format of the New York Times's quiz, the source isn't a straightforward answer. Instead we get information into the life of each of the Emanuel brothers. To the reader, this is a nice bit of transparency, especially if one reads all of the source articles.
Similarly, because Wonkette's style is so over the top, it isn't as hampered with providing straightforward knowledge or a sense of objectivity. While Wonkette readers are going to the site for political news, they're also there for gossip and humor. Ther lack of expectation in terms of gravitas and forced objectivity gives pieces like the quiz breathing room to be both funny and informative in a way that a straightforward article just wouldn't be.
As with any character quiz, the best part is the description of the answers. Again, this being Wonkette, the informative and offensive are mixed. When I took the quiz, I got Mostly B's. The response:
image credit: http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/
The quiz itself is sort of a one-off, entitled "Take Intern Juli's Advanced Emanuel Brothers Personality Test From Hell". However, the quiz does several novel things that both make the quiz interesting and which should be noted:
First is the use of the identity quiz format. Both a form of the Cosmo Quiz as well as the many various "Which [book, film, TV show, or video game] character are you?" quizzes which are prevalent online. This format gives a ridiculous way to introduce readers to Rahm Emanuel, the new White House Chief of Staff, as well as use the interesting journalistic slant of being one of three brothers, who are well known in their own fields.
Secondly, each answer choice, while written off the cuff, is backed up with a source article. This is interesting because, unlike the pedagocical format of the New York Times's quiz, the source isn't a straightforward answer. Instead we get information into the life of each of the Emanuel brothers. To the reader, this is a nice bit of transparency, especially if one reads all of the source articles.
Similarly, because Wonkette's style is so over the top, it isn't as hampered with providing straightforward knowledge or a sense of objectivity. While Wonkette readers are going to the site for political news, they're also there for gossip and humor. Ther lack of expectation in terms of gravitas and forced objectivity gives pieces like the quiz breathing room to be both funny and informative in a way that a straightforward article just wouldn't be.
As with any character quiz, the best part is the description of the answers. Again, this being Wonkette, the informative and offensive are mixed. When I took the quiz, I got Mostly B's. The response:
Mostly Bs: You're Rahm. You're sassy and petulant and disrespectful--but are grounded by your commitment to Judaism -- and now you're working for the Obama White House. You're Aaron's Sorkin's wet dream. Congratulations?
image credit: http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/
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