Below are more details about your assignments. This information will also be on Canvas when it’s closer to the due date. In case you’re wondering why I have 2 websites, I’ll tell you. This website is something the world can see, and you–being I don’t know where–should be able to access it anywhere in the world. Sometimes, Canvas doesn’t allow you in, and you have to search for alternative ways to get information about the class. At least with this website, you can see what’s coming up if Canvas isn’t cooperating.
Please don’t e-mail me assignments. Canvas will allow you to turn everything in. If you have trouble, e-mail me, and we’ll see if we can’t fix things
Canvas Reflection Posts
Twice a week, you will have a prompt on Canvas to reflect upon. I will have them dated Tuesdays and Thursdays, but you have until Friday at 11:00 pm to post. I highly recommend you type these reflections up on a word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) and then copy and paste the response into Canvas. You don’t want to type directly into Canvas and risk losing your work due to some glitch or timing out error. As you’ll learn from our texts*, machines have minds of their own! There’s no right or wrong answer, but I do expect you to be inspired by the course material.
*By “text,” I mean novels, short stories, articles, films, TV shows, or any media.
These post are to be at least 250 words. This assignment is worth 50% of your grade, so please don’t blow this step off.
Essay #1–American Culture (Draft Due 6/01; Final Due 6/08)
As you read and watch for class, consider the values that are important for a culture (but we’re thinking of American Culture or cultures mostly in this class). I want you to choose an important cultural phenomenon related to our readings. I give you lots of leeway on how you interpret our texts. All I ask is that you make an argument, and, briefly, describe how it is present or manifests itself in American culture. For example, below is a cultural phenomenon I’ve noticed:
Cell phones (or mobile communication devices) are nearly ubiquitous in American culture. People seem to be constantly “glued” to these devices. I see (yes, you may have a first-person perspective using ‘I’) people leave their cars with cell phones at their ears; they walk into the grocery store talking on them; they continue to talk as they browse the shelves; and they even poorly multitask by talking on their phones and navigating the self-checkout (or worse, they talk on the phone while someone checks their items out).
Below is my analysis of the above phenomenon related to one of our texts, The Matrix:
The Matrix reflects the contemporary phenomenon of ubiquitous cell phone usage in American culture because, metaphorically, being jacked into the matrix is similar to the ability to be constantly connected to others. With facetime, Skype, social media, users are virtually connected to each other or potentially can be all the time.
Of course, the above is a start, and you’ll need to use specific quotes, but I would like you to think about (and read about) one of our texts from a cultural perspective. You may also incorporate texts from outside our course assigned material (films, readings, TV shows), but please discuss (but don’t summarize) at least one of our texts.
Prevailing American culture is often seen as Western, Industrial, Democratic, etc. You shouldn’t think of this as “Your view of what the values of American culture should be.” Remember, values aren’t always valued. Racism and sexism are American/Western values. You must describe (make an argument for) why you feel a value is part of this culture. Point to an example outside of the course texts. Although we might all agree that a particular value (e.g., individualism) is an American value, you must offer support for such a claim—you can’t just state it.
I do not expect you to go into a tremendous amount of research for this, but you should relate this to one of our texts (readings, films, TV shows). The above is a guideline, but don’t feel you have to stick to it. I am requiring you to write about one of our texts, but, if you have a different theoretical lens with which you’d like to analyze our texts, please do so. The goal is to show me you’re thinking about the material and can make some kind of cogent argument. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT SUMMARIZE ANY OF OUR TEXTS. If you bring up an outside text, provide some context, BUT DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE PLOT. You are making an argument about how the text works; what is it saying between the lines; what is your interpretation?
After you identify and describe the values, you must describe how those values are embodied in the culture at large. For instance, if individualism is a value you discuss, identify where in the culture individualism is promoted. Think of commercials, political expression, educational norms, cultural behaviors, etc. You may use “I” and even bring in personal examples, but you have to defend your reasons for arguing the way you do. Below are the format logistics:
- Your draft must include an outline that’s at least a page:
I. XXXXXX
A. OOOOO
B. XXXXXX
C. OOOOO
II. XYXYXYXY
A. OPOPOPO
B. PXPXPXPX
….. - Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
- 1-inch margins all around
- Page numbers (anywhere)
- A title other than “Essay 1“
- At least four (4) pages–beyond the outline
- In-text citations: when you quote–and you will have to for this essay–you must cite where the information came from.
- Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)
- See Purdue University’s OWL for help with in-text citations and Works Cited/References pages
I will provide feedback on your Essay 1 draft before the final is due. If you need more help coming up with a topic, consider the following questions for the traditional cultural studies essay:
- Can you easily identify the American (or just cultural) value?
- Is the value appropriate for the culture?
- Is there a common example that you can refer to in order to help identify the value?
- Is there enough support to claim it’s an American value?
- Can you identify where you explain how the text embodies the value?
- Are the examples appropriate for the value?
- Are the arguments (proof) presented valid…do they make sense?
- Do you have appropriate quotations? Do you have any? You’re supposed to use in-text citations and quote from the class texts to show me you’re reading/watching.
Remember, include an outline. Even if you have to create it after you’ve written the essay, there’s value in the outline.
Essay #2–Social Science Fiction (Draft Due 6/15; Final Due 6/22)
Essay #2 will be at least 7 pages, and the Draft must have an outline.
I’m going to let you choose to do another (but longer) essay on American culture and science fiction as you did in Essay #1, but I’m also providing a second option. If you want to do an essay similar to Essay #1, choose texts later in the term (don’t do all the same texts you covered in Essay #1, but you may, of course, reference earlier texts) and follow the guidelines for Essay #1, but, remember, Essay #2 is at least 7 pages, and your draft (Due 6/15) must have an outline.
The second option for Essay #2 is more related to traditional English essay assignments. For this option, I want you to pick a literary device (irony, foreshadowing, metaphor, sarcasm, etc.) and explore that. Now, you can probably combine option 1–focus on American Culture–and this option where you focus on a literary device. That’s fine. Just don’t summarize the texts; instead, explore a theme or literary device.
Because you’ve watched several texts, you may also discuss film techniques, especially ones that increase the dramatic tension of a film or TV show. For instance, the camera angles and lighting used in The Twilight Zone episode “Eye of the Beholder” don’t reveal the faces of the doctors and nurses in the hospital. This makes the audience uncomfortable, heightening the tension of the show. Contemporary filming relies on CGI for special effects, but camera shots are still important. Notice the way Nolan’s filming of vehicles from the side (forward or behind) mimics the way car chases are filmed in movies such as Fast and Furious. Such a technique puts viewers in the drivers seat so to speak.
If you decide to focus on film techniques, you can’t just state that a technique does what you say; you need to argue, provide proof or sound reasoning that the technique does what you claim. Below are the format logistics:
- Your draft must be at least seven (7) pages
- In addition to those seven (7) pages, you must include an outline that’s at least a page:
I. XXXXXX
A. OOOOO
1. FGDGDG
2. GFGDGD
B. XXXXXX
1. FGDGDG
2. GFGDGD
C. OOOOO
1. FGDGDG
2. GFGDGD
II. XYXYXYXY
A. OPOPOPO
1. FGDGDG
2. GFGDGD
3. IOYPTOO
B. PXPXPXPX
1. FGDGDG
2. GFGDGD
3. IOYPTOO
….. - Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
- 1-inch margins all around
- Page numbers (anywhere)
- A title other than “Essay 2“
- At least seven (7) pages–beyond the outline
- In-text citations: when you quote–and you will have to for this essay–you must cite where the information came from.
- Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)
- See Purdue University’s OWL for help with in-text citations and Works Cited/References pages
I will provide feedback on your Essay 2 draft before the final is due. If you need more help coming up with a topic, consider the following questions for the traditional cultural studies essay:
- What factors of the film, TV Show, or short story support my interpretation?
- Am I interpreting the text in a surface, literal way, or am I reading between the lines and focusing on metaphor.
- Do you have appropriate quotations? Do you have any? You’re supposed to use in-text citations and quote from the class material to show me you’re reading/watching.
Remember, include an outline. Even if you have to create it after you’ve written the essay, there’s value in the outline.