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Tuesday, Feb. 21: Peer review for essay 1. Students may either bring a hard copy or upload copies of their publish to a link I will provide for peer review. (The link that appears with the instructions is for the finished version. It will allow you to consult Turnitin to check your originality report to make sure you aren’t forgetting quotation marks and documentation for matched passages.)
Your classmates will not be looking at this
version. Since we are in a computer classroom, you will be able to get help from me in figuring out how to provide notes in the margins of peers’ essays in Canvas, but I will also provide a form with questions for you to answer so that you’ll be able to help your partners if they are struggling with any of the items on the requirement checklist at the bottom of this page.
Thursday, Feb. 23: Paper 1 due on Turnitin.
Length: 4-5 pp. (minimum)
What you need to do:
Compose a research paper that focuses on the representation of a specific, youth-oriented, social issue in one work of popular culture (a music video, a video game, a film, a television show, a graphic novel, etc.). Your thesis should be supported by semiotic analysis, that is, by a close reading of signs (images, sounds, or other relevant components) in the chosen primary source (that is, the pop culture text you have chosen). The essay should include 3-5 sources.
One of these sources must be the pop culture text you are analyzing. Another must be an assigned reading from this unit so that you can demonstrate your ability to apply course readings to works that you may normally access for entertainment purposes.
Your other source(s) may help you to establish the need to argue about (or more closely examine) the way a particular social issue is represented in the chosen text. Your secondary sources may help to educate your reader about the social issue. These sources may provide characteristics of the chosen genre or character types.
Some clarifications and examples:
Please note that I am not asking students to provide general commentary on the subject of social issues. Nor am I asking for definitions of social issues or of popular culture. The general wording of the assignment title is merely intended to allow students more freedom to choose. I want to know why you care about the representation of the chosen issue in the chosen work so you will be allowed to incorporate a first-person perspective.
We will discuss various social issues during the classes leading up to the due date. Some essays will address conflicts or anxieties that affect youth. Some will touch on alienation or conflict between generations. The assigned readings and the class discussions (in person and in Canvas) will allow us to explore various angles that students could choose for their essays. Students who do not complete the reading in order to participate in in-class writing and discussion are likely to be very confused.
You should not attempt to construct a thesis before conducting research or performing your close reading/viewing/listening of the chosen pop culture work and consulting other writers’ views on that work, similar works, and/or the social issue represented in these texts.
Student samples will be posted on Canvas.
Sample Topics:
The Representation of Monsterous (or Scary) Children in Film (example texts: Carrie, The Exorcist, The Ring, The Orphan, etc.)
Empowered Young Females in Animated Features (example texts: Lisa Simpson of The Simpsons, Tiana of The Princess and the Frog, Elsa of Frozen, Merida of Brave, and the title characters for Moana and Mulan)
Survivalist Children (or Teens) in Post-Apocalyptic Films or Television Shows (example texts: The Walking Dead, Zombieland, or The Hunger Games)
Ethnic Stereotypes in Popular Culture for Children/Teens (example texts: Freedom Writers, Glee, or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian)
Controversial Toys/Games (Example texts: Totally Tattoo Barbie, Django Unchained action figures, Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft)
Although I list multiple examples above, I recommend that you choose one primary source ( but no more than two pop culture texts if you must write a comparison/contrast essay). Let the other sources help you to establish characteristics of your chosen primary text’s genre and/or establish the need to contribute to an argument (or different interpretations) of the chosen text.
Example: if you were writing about a film in the horror genre, you might find a source that helps you to characterize attributes of that genre. A story that features a monstrous child, a killer toy, or a supernatural killer of teenagers are likely to appeal to different anxieties. You would learn about those anxieties and characteristics of the sub-genre by conducting research. Don’t expect to know everything you are going to say before you read anything or perform your note-taking observation.
Requirement checklist
four to five pages (minimum)
at least three sources (including one pop culture text and one assigned essay), but no more than five sources overall. At least one source must be a work of popular culture. That would be your primary text. The secondary sources should enable you to support claims about the social issue, the genre, and/or the specific pop culture text. The sources should not seem random. That is, I shouldn’t get the impression that you just picked the first article that appeared when you surfed the internet or consulted a library database. These sources should contribute to your credibility.
documentation in APA format
a focused thesis (that is, an interpretive argument). You should be taking a position, that is, making a claim and supporting that claim with evidence from the text.
semiotic analysis (that is, close, textual and/or visual reading) of at least one primary text.
demonstration of an ability to compose a coherentargument that does not allow source materials to overwhelm original analysis and reflection
clear and polished prose.
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