Sample Artifact-Comparison Essay
Note to reader: This draft is re-printed here with the author's permission. These student drafts are provided for a couple of reasons: first, to give you a taste of the variety of topics and approaches students have taken, and second, to provide instructors with readings that might be used in class discussions and activities. These samples are not perfect and represent final grades from across the grade scale (A through F), so please be forgiving, understanding, and respectful if you find errors or problems.
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Chidi Okonkwo
Professor Peterson
English 2010
Artifact Comparison
June 9, 2015
WrestleMania: The Super bowl of Wrestling
Most sport have their grand events in which -thousands if not hundreds of thousands fans, attend or ensure to watch. For sports like NFL, it is the super bowl. In the WWE (world wrestling entertainment), this event is recognized as WrestleMania. Formerly known as WWF (world wrestling federation), the WWE which was founded in February 1980 began this event in 1985. At that time it was known as WrestleMania I. Since then, the trend of giving each wrestlemania’s numeral figures have prolonged, with the most recent of them being WrestleMania XXXI. Apart from the consistent numeral figures, quite a number of things have changed from that period of time till now. This essay aims at comparing two wrestlemania’s, the one from 1996 (WrestleMania XII) and the most current one (WrestleMania XXXI). The comparison will point toward those changes/improvements that have taken place during that period of time till now, how it has influenced our society and vice versa.
Attendance
I have to admit, I was shocked when I learned that the number of attendance take of wrestlemania xxxi compared to wrestlemania xii has witnessed a 75.5% increase. The calculations were clear to me when I performed it being that the attendance in 1996 wrestlemania was recorded at 18,852 and that of this year (2015) was 76,976. The reason these attendance values are so precise is because they are mentioned by the commentators during each wrestlemania’s to make each and every viewer aware of the yearly attendance. As to why the values are immensely far apart, there are reasons also.
One might say that the reason why there is a drastic increase in attendance is as a result of highly developed means of communication. Means of commutation like advertising, have simply gone off the charts in recent times. Advertising means like social media (Facebook etc.), broadcasting companies (Hulu Plus etc.) come into play these days and take part in huge roles in the society. Even at the different divisions (NXT etc.) of the WWE network, ads relating to the wrestlemania event are displayed at break times during each and every one of their shows. In fact, the amount of money WWE spends on advertising the wrestlemania alone is enough to make one wonder if that is the only event they hold every year. It is then fair to assume that this year’s wrestlemania had to have more attendance that the one held in 1996.
Another reason for the absolutely gaping attendance figures is the location it was held at. The 1996 wrestlemania was held at the Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA. Its concert stage which was allocated for the event had a capacity that could hold 18,900 people. It was the best attendance figure that stood in a five year run (1993-1997). Meanwhile, this year’s wrestlemania was held at Levi stadium, Santa Clara, CA which has a capacity that could hold 68,500 people. Although it had a set capacity, almost 75,000 people were recorded as the attendance of that event. Therefore, the size of the event location had a say in the attendance difference of the both years.
Again, one might argue that the ticket prices were different during each wrestlemania spells. According to the WWE network, ticket prices of the wrestlemania xxxi ranged from thirty-five to a thousand dollars regular, while VIP tickets cost close to two thousand dollars and all tickets sold out. It would be fair to say that the price of regular spectators was somewhat cheap. On the other end, at wrestlemania xii, tickets were not sold out. According to Stub hub-a website popularly known for ticket transaction, wrestlemania xii was the only wrestlemania event that the tickets weren’t sold out before the start of the event. Now, there can be different opinion as to why that happened but since I am referring to ticket cost in this paragraph, I might as well insinuate that the prices might have been a little bit above standard for fans. I’m guessing it’s clear enough to see how the ticket prices may have affected the attendance figures in both spells.
Another reason I believe, was a cause of the great increase of the attendance figures in both spells is the appearance of celebrities. In an article titled Narcissism and Celebrity, Young and Pinsky defined celebrities as individuals who have achieved a level of fame that makes them well known in society (464). Over the last two decades, the appearance of celebrities at certain events have spiked the numbers attendance wise. In an article written by Fraser and Brown, a celebrity’s status is dependent on the attention given to them by the public (184). To the extent of my research, there were no spectacular celebrities that attended the wrestlemania xii. But as of the wrestlemania xxxi, celebrities like Dwayne Johnson (also known as The Rock), Travis Barker, UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rouse, Skylar grey who performed the theme song “rise” at the event, TV presenter, wrestler and actor Maria Menounos and some others. On average, to see these celebrities perform at their specific areas of talent, you would have to pay a demanding sum to get tickets. Some of the fans of these celebrities took the opportunity to purchase the wrestlemania tickets in order to get to a close proximity and get to share it with others who missed out. In my greatest opinion, I think this might be the greatest reason between the two wrestlemania spells.
Overall, when we compare wrestlemania xii to wrestlemania xxxi we can see how some influences like advertising, location, ticket price and presence of celebrities have played a huge role in the attendance figures of both wrestlemanias. It is really amazing when one can identify some of these influential changes.
Works Cited
Fraser, Benson P., Brown, William J. “Media, Celebrities and Social Influence: Identification with Elvis Presley”. Mass Communication and Society.
Vol.5.2 (2002): 184, Web
Young, Mark S., Pinsky, Drew. “Narcissism and Celebrity”. Journal of Research in Personality. Vol. 40.5 (2006): 464. Web
World Wrestling Entertainment website. Wrestlemania History. http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/12
Stub Hub ticketing website. http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/12