Before you start the essay I need Brainstorming Assignment for the essay
Note: the assignment assumes that you’ve already narrowed your ideas to one possible topic and are brainstorming from there
1. Detail your ideas about the topic (“thing”) you are analyzing and interpreting. Analysis: breaking up into different elements and showing connections; interpretation: what the analysis means, shows, reveals.
2. Describe how the “thing” relates to popular culture. How does it have meaning? That is, determine how it fits as a sign within a system (movie—other movies in the genre, for example). Broadly, we’ve also called this “context” this semester.
3. Tell me what your paper will be about in one sentence. Be specific but keep it to one sentence. “My paper will analyze and interpret x” is not specific enough.
4. List the sources (peer-reviewed articles, mostly) that you’ve found so far. Remember the essay requires at least five outside source + the “movie” etc.
5. Confirm that you’ve reviewed all of the articles we discussed in the class.
Here are the article we discussed in class:
1. “Why the West Loves Sci-Fi and Fantasy: A CulturalExplanation” by CHRISTINE FOLCH
2. “The Thematic Paradigm” by ROBERT B. RAY
3. “The Narrative Experiment That Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe” by Maya Phillips
4. “The Racial Politics of Black Panther’ by MIKHAIL LYUBANSKY
5. “One Paradigm to Rule Them All: Scientism in The Big Bang Theory” by MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI
6. “Your Brain on Music: Chills & Thrills” https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/your-brain-on-music/your-brain-on-music/your-brain-on-music-chills-and-thrills/
7. ” Why we love horror” On the Psychology of Horror Movies
Horror provides an imaginative context in which people can play with fear. by Mathias Clasen Ph.D. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-we-love-horror/202110/the-psychology-horror-movies)
8. “Psychology and neurobiology of horror movies” Lauri Nummenmaa, PhD, Professor Turku PET Centre, Department of Psychology and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Finland
Instruction for the essay
Topic and task: Analysis, interpretation, research—popular culture “thing”
Length: 1500-1800 words (excluding title, header, works cited page). List word count at the end of
your essay (right after the conclusion)
Title: your paper must have a specific title.
Audience: Semi-informed audience. The audience knows the basics of the “thing” (plot of the movie, for example) but not your argument about it. No you. No direct address to audience.
Tone: Formal–no contractions, slang, or anything that will hurt your ethos. No “I think that” or similar phrases.
No personal narrative; no descriptions of the writing process (such as “in this essay I will tell you….”). Assert something about the “thing” rather than describe what you are doing. If you are unsure about what I mean by this requirement, ASK ME.
Research: NOTE THIS IS A CHANGE. You must use and cite five (5) outside sources. Of the five (5), You must quote at least three (3) outside sources. Failure to include at least three direct quotes from three sources and cite FIVE outside sources will result in an F. Integrate/Introduce your quotes: provide context. Pay attention to how and where you use your sources. Limit use of long quotations and always discuss before moving on.
The primary “thing” such as a film does not count as a source but must be listed on the Works Cited page. Note: you can use sources we discussed in class only if you also find and use the other required sources.
Topic Discussion: The purpose of this paper is to research, analyze, and interpret some “thing” in popular culture. The best essays will connect cultural attitudes (etc.) to the “thing” in your interpretation. Your analysis and research will lead to an interpretation (assertion about what the analysis shows). Choice of topic and complexity of analysis will matter. Review tips from essay two as well as those from other documents.
Your paper will analyze the “thing” within a system of signs. Note: this is your primary task: be specific as possible.
You can think of this essay as like the gender essay but without gender as the lens or with some other concept replacing gender. Again, your goal is an analysis of the (specific) thing in popular culture as it is shaped by the cultural context or system: most of your paper will be the analysis of the “thing” in that system.
Possible “things” or approaches to things could include—but are not limited to–cartoons, clothing, celebrity, board games, toys, food, movies/tv shows. Note: this list includes general items; YOU MUST PICK SOMETHNG SPECIFIC (such as a specific movie—so you would write about Frozen—not Disney movies as a whole; we covered this in class with Essay Two).
Look at the introduction to the textbook, the pages on the various “contradictions,” and your early searches in The Journal of Popular Culture for ideas.
If you must write about gender again, your topic must be cleared by me and be significantly different. We will discuss topics, narrowing focus, and thesis statements again in class.
Writing Goals:
• A clear and specific focus and introduction
• Clear thesis that asserts something about the “thing” analyzed
• Detailed and specific analysis
• Clear and developed use of outside sources
• “Conversation” with sources
• Clear connections among ideas (culture, “thing”)
• No 3-part thesis/structure
• Paper and paragraphs have identifiable organization
• Sentences avoid vague and redundant phrasing (see above)
• Specific word choice
• Effective use of transitions and transitional phrases
• Varied sentence structure
• Clean and clear prose—free of errors and appropriate to audience and context
Format: MLA Grading Criteria: see handout
Follow Directions!! Papers that do not follow the standard format, do not follow standard conventions of English, do not meet the minimum word count (or any other minimum requirement) will fail.
