3: Write a Research Essay Definition of Your Keyword (200 pts):** For this portion of the project you will write an 8 page (2000 word) research paper that draws on skills you’ve developed in and outside of class that will demonstrate what you’ve learned during the semester in this course centering your choice of keyword (see list above), and inspired by your reading of The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. The keyword should be one that is not included in the Keywords for American Cultural Studies text, but is a term that you think should be included in the text. Your research essay must convey depth of thought and reflection that draws clear connections to your chosen keyword; it should also include a bibliography of sources consulted while writing the paper. For this research essay definition project you should seek to answer the following questions: What are the definitions and usages of your keyword? Where and how have you encountered this keyword? How does your project reflect those encounters? What are the critical genealogies of the term, and how do these genealogies affect its use today? How can you reflect these historical usages? What kinds of critical projects does your keyword enable? What critical conversations can you connect to this keyword and how can your project attend to those conversations? Are there ways of thinking that are occluded or obstructed by the use of this term? How can you tie these into your project? What other keywords constellate around it? How can you make these connections clear? Why would we take time to study or discuss your chosen keyword in a course like ours? What conversations would your keyword add and why? How do your sources influence and help you define your chosen keyword? An 8 page Research Essay (2000 words) should include the following components: Critical Reflection: Answer the questions above related to your chosen keyword.
