Dr. Alex E. Blazer Course Site Syllabus
In Class Activities Informal Writing Peer Response
Paper 1  
Paper 2 Annotated Bibliography Paper 3

Assignments

Popular Culture

English 102-28: Intermediate College Writing

Spring 2006, MW: 2:00-3:15PM, Bingham Humanities Bldg 221 / 104

In Class Activities

1. Cult-Speak

Kelle Lasn and Richard Fox argue that our culture and our minds is pervaded, if not invaded by advertising. This in-class activity is designed to help us judge for ourselves, as well as to get to know fellow class members. Break into groups of two or three. Open a Microsoft Word document, type your group members names in it, and then save it to the desktop as your group members last names (for instance, Doe & Smith.doc). Spend 10 minutes brainstorming the following three lists, and then upload you saved response to Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 1 - Cult-Speak > File Exchange:

  1. List all the ads that you've seen or heard in the last week.
  2. List all of the media that you've read, watched, or listened to in the last week (tv, radio, film, internet, etc.)
  3. List all of the media that you've read, watched, or listened to in the last week that had absolutely no advertising involvement.

2. Reading Scholarly Articles

Until this point, we've been reading short essays designed for a general audience. As you research your second and third formal papers, you will come across and use scholarly articles, which are articles written by academic experts in diverse fields of study for those interested in that particular field. Sometimes these articles use specialized language and may be more "wordy" than you're used to reading. Don't be turned off by the language; use your ability to spot thesis statements and topic sentences to read these articles as you would any other. Today's activity is designed to acclimate you to such articles by cutting to the quick of the core issues of a special interest article. Even academics are interested in reality television, and Tom Bissell and Jan Jagodozinki offer two readings on the phenomenon, one literary and one psychoanalytical, respectively.

 

Divide into groups of three or four and submit a collective response to to the following questions to Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 2 - Reading Scholarly Articles > File Exchange.

 

If you are assigned Bissell's article, answer these questions:

  1. How does Bissell define reality?
  2. Why does Bissell like and dislike reality tv?
  3. What do Nazis have to do with the discussion of reality and reality tv?

If your are assigned Jagodozinki's article, answer these questions:

  1. How does Jagodozinki define reality and the Real?
  2. To what perverse desires does Jagodozinki believe reality tv appeals?
  3. What does totalitarianism and The Truman Show have to do with Jagodozinki’s discussion of reality and reality tv?

3. Library Research

In this in class activity, you will practice conducting research using the UofL Library system. You should have two windows open. First, open a new document in Microsoft Word and save it to the desktop. Second, open a web browser and browse to the Composition Research Methods handout. You're ready to begin the in class activity.

  1. Choose any article that we've read so far (but which you didn't write your first paper on) and write down its thesis or controlling idea.
  2. Compose a list of key terms and key words related to the article.
  3. Using the various library databases discussed in the Composition Research Methods handout, find one scholarly book or book chapter, one scholarly journal article, one magazine article, and one newspaper article on your practice research topic.
  4. As you find those sources, copy and paste all of their information in the Word document.
  5. When you're done, save your work to disk or Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 3 - Library Research > File Exchange. You will be using this file during our next class for an in-class activity on MLA citation format.

4. MLA Citation Style

During the last in class activity, you copied the information for four potential research sources for your second paper. Today, you will put that research data into correct MLA citation format.

  1. Divide into groups of two or three.
  2. Download and open all of your group's research files from Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 3 - Library Research > File Exchange.
  3. Copy all of your group's research into one new Word document and save it to the desktop.
  4. Download and open our MLA citation style handout.
  5. Use the MLA citation style handout to translate all of your group's raw data to MLA style. When you are finished, upload your file to Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 4 - MLA Citation Style > File Exchange.

5. Rap and Hip-Hop Debate

Today, we're going to debate the issue of rap music and hip-hop culture using August's "Hip-Hop Nation: There's More to Rap than Just Rhythms and Rhymes" and Jamilah's "The Miseducation of Hip-Hop" to help our conversation. The broad question that defines the debate is: "Do rap and hip-hop have positive or negative effects on their listeners, community, and the popular culture at large?"

  1. Divide into four groups: moderators, pro-rap, anti-rap, and judges.
  2. Each group will have 30-35 minutes to prepare for the debate.
    • Those in the moderator group should create a series of written questions based on the two articles (quote the articles where appropriate) and their own examples and understanding of the phenomena.
    • Those in the pro-rap group should create a written series of arguments that advocate the positive nature of rap by specifically finding, quoting, and using arguments in the two articles as well as their own examples.
    • Those in the anti-rap group should create a written series of arguments that criticize the negative nature of rap by specifically finding, quoting, and using arguments in the two articles as well as their own examples.
    • Judges should create their own written pro vs con list by mining the articles for positive and negative effects of rap.
  3. During the debate, each group will have one minute to make an opening statement, then moderators will pose a series of questions that each side will answer. Judges will determine a) how well each side articulated the positions held in the articles, b) how well the groups posed their own analyses, and c) which side won the debate.

6. Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl

Day One: Monday, April 10

 

This weekend, your read the first 95 pages of Alex Shakar's The Savage Girl and wrote an informal response on one of the main characters. Today, we'll begin our discussion of the novel after a 20 minute group activity designed to commence your thinking about other characters and possible meanings of the text. Divide into groups of no more than four, complete the following activity in Word, and upload your response to Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 6 - Savage Girl > File Exchange.

  1. Do a brief character sketch of the character your group is assigned: Ursula Van Urden, Ivy Van Urden, Javier or Delreal, or Chas Lacouture.
  2. Write down three quotes (and their page numbers) that your group found simply humorous or thematically significant.
  3. Some of the novel's subjects include trendspotting, children, advertising, art, individuality, consumerism, and savagery. Describe the issues and conflicts surrounding a couple of these topics.

Day Two: Wednesday, April 12

 

Now that you have read two-thirds of the novel, let's recap what's happened and focus on a major symbol and motif. Break into groups of no more than four, answer the following questions, and save your work to Blackboard > Groups > In Class Activity 6 - Savage Girl > File Exchange.

  1. What happens from page 96-193? Provide a brief three or four sentence summary of the major events.
  2. Postirony and paradessence become recurring ideas, or motifs, in the first two-thirds of the novel. Define either postirony or paradessence and explain some examples (be sure to provide page numbers).
  3. The savage girl is a symbol. Not only does she represents something else, i.e., the novel's thematic meaning, but she also psychologically stands for Ursula's unconscious feelings. Given the savage girl, what are some of Ursula's unconscious desires and fears and what is the growing theme of the novel?

Informal Writing

The goal of the informal writing assignments is to get you to think actively about the readings and write analytically about popular culture (become a critical consumer rather than a blind indulger.) These short assignments of 1-2 double-spaced, typed pages with 1" margins and 12-point fonts will also prepare you to write the longer, formal papers. Approximately once per week, you will be asked to respond to an essay or some element of popular culture.

 

In class responses will be written in Word and turned in on Blackboard. Out of class responses will be due by the start of class on the due date, either as a typed hard copy or a wordprocessing file such as Word, WordPerfect, Works, or OpenOffice in Blackboard > Assignments > Informal Writing #. To retrieve your graded paper, go to Blackboard > My Grades > Informal Writing #. Click the green check mark to open up your grade; your graded paper is the attached file in section 3 Feedback to Student. Click here for grading rationale and calculation of informal writing assignments.

  1. Cult-Speak
  2. Ads and Women
    • Respond to either Jennifer L. Pozner's interview with Jean Kilbourne or Gloria Steinem's article. First, summarize the author's argument, then discuss how you act if you were in the writer's shoes. What would you do, for yourself and your daughter, if you believed you lived in a "toxic cultural environment" as Kilbourne describes American advertising? What would you do if you were an editor being pressured by advertisers for good copy as Steinem was?
    • Due: Wednesday, January 25
  3. Reality TV
  4. As Bees in Honey Drown
  5. The Savage Girl
  6. Paper 3 Outline

Peer Response

You will be given the opportunity to revise your first two formal papers based upon not only my comments but your peer's comments as well. You will provide constructive criticism to three or four other members of the class as will they to you. Peer Response is broken down into two phases: written response and verbal response. The written response is due on the same day the peer response group meets to discuss their papers.

Paper 1

Groups

Written Responses

Use the following issues to help you to formulate your one page, double-spaced response to each peer's paper. Even if you find the paper good, you must still comment on these issues. You can always engage a conversation with the writer about how you're analyzing the issue differently, for that dialogue can also help the writer in the revision process.

Peer Response Discussion

 

In the peer response meeting, group members will share their responses in verbal form. Writers take turns listening to their group members review their work. Specifically, the group should go around the circle and state

  1. what they think the writer's thesis or controlling idea is
  2. whether or not the writer fairly and accurately presented the argument of the essay she summarized
  3. whether or not the writer presented a valid and adequate reaction, be it extension or critique, of the original essay
  4. any other comments for revision

Paper 2

Groups

 

All peer groups will meet Wednesday, March 22. (There will be no class on Monday, March 20 because I will be out of town.)

Written Peer Response

Use the following issues to help you to formulate your 250 word response to each peer's paper. Even if you find the paper good, you should still comment on these issues. Don't be vague; talk specifically about particular ideas and analyses. You can always engage a conversation with the writer about how you're analyzing the issue differently, for that dialogue can also help the writer in the revision process.

Peer Response Discussion

 

In the peer response meeting, group members will share their responses in verbal form. Writers take turns listening to their group members review their work. Specifically, the group should go around the circle and state

  1. what they think the writer's thesis or controlling idea is
  2. whether or not the writer provided a convincing analysis of the television program, musical artist, or television/music issue
  3. whether or not the writer successfully incorporated the two articles into her essay
  4. any other comments for revision

Paper 3 Outline

Your final peer response session will be oral only. Come to class on Wednesday, April 19 prepared to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your peers' outline for their third paper. In the roundtable review, be sure to address the following questions.

  1. Does the author have a focused, strong, and effective thesis?
  2. Does the author have sufficient body paragraphs that break down and address different aspects of the controlling idea?
  3. Does the proposed organization seem effective?
  4. Does the author have sufficient research and counterargument?

Paper 1

In the previous three informal writing assignments, you made initial summaries of authors' arguments about the American consumerist world view and did your own semiotic analysis of an advertisement selling such a good. The goal of the first paper is for you to fully enter into the debate on consumerism by rigorously summarizing one of the essays we've read in class. Choose an author whose argument you wish to either expand upon or refute. In either case, your paper should summarize, fairly and accurately, the author's argument. Evaluate that argument: analyze and criticize, affirm and interrogate, but always be fair to the author's argument. Finally, your paper should provide your own perspective, your own argument (analysis and ideas) by either agreeing with the essay but furthering its point with your own ideas, or disagreeing with the essay and offering counterargument of your own.

 

You will write two drafts of this paper: first, an ungraded draft that will be responded to by me and your peers (see peer response guidelines), and second, a final, graded draft that revises the first draft.

Paper 2

In the first paper, you summarized a writer's argument and then provided your own evaluation of the subject. In the second paper, you will provide your own analysis first and foremost, and use two authors' essays to support your argument. Analyze either a specific television program or musical artist or an issue in music or television. First and foremost, discuss the program, artist, or issue's prime theme or meaning. Interpret what statement the program, artist, or issue says about popular culture and/or culture in general. Determine the thematic and cultural meaning of the program, artist, or issue. Your essay must utilize two articles to help it prove its point, either one that we've read in our textbook and one that you yourself find using the library databases, or two that you find yourself. ***Note: if you analyzed reality television in your last paper, you cannot write about it in this paper.

 

The outside articles, which you can find using the information gained from our library research demonstration, should be from a scholarly book chapter, a scholarly journal (published four times per year and consisting of writers who are academics in the field), or a reputable magazine (choose a high quality, substantial, argumentative and feature length article; editorials, reviews, and short essays are not acceptable). Finally, note that the point of this essay is not to summarize and evaluate others' essays, as you did in the first paper, but rather to construct your own analysis of a television show or musical artist and use others' work to support that analysis. Breakdown the program or person's message using the critical and semiotic skills we've been exemplifying in class discussion and course readings.

 

For example, you could could analyze The Simpsons using either the Cantor or Frank article and one other article you find through your own research. Or you could analyze South Park using Frontline's "The Merchants of Cool" and an article you find on your own. You could look at the meaning of Britney Spears or Marilyn Manson in pop culture. You could analyze issues of celebrity in As Bees in Honey Drown or issues of music community in Napster. You could look at deadhead culture or marketing of youth culture. These are just a few of the limitless possibilities.

 

You will write two drafts of this paper: first, an ungraded draft that will be responded to by me and your peers (note that the peer response issues and groups are different for this paper: see peer response guidelines), and second, a final, graded draft that revises the first draft.

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of secondary sources that includes summaries of those materials. Before your final paper is due, you will compose an annotated bibliography of the research materials that you might use in Paper 3. Use this research handout to guide your search.

  1. Thesis in Progress: In a few sentences, state your tentative thesis in progress and the question that is guiding your research. You will be asked to share this with the class.
  2. Summary of Findings: In 200 words, summarize your findings. What are scholars and critics saying about your topic?
  3. 8 Secondary Sources
  4. Length: thesis in progress, summary of findings, and 8 annotated sources
  5. Format: Conform your annotated bibliography to MLA citation style and submit in a Word or WordPerfect file
  6. Due: Wednesday, April 12 via Blackboard > Assignments > Annotated Bibliography.

Paper 3

In the first paper, you summarized and evaluated a single article on pop culture consumerism, and in the second paper you used two articles to back up your own analysis of a television show or music artist. In the third paper, you will analyze and research a focused topic of your choosing in the arena of popular culture, but not one you previously wrote a formal paper on. You must rigorously analyze the meaning of the pop culture phenomenon, and you must use at least four research sources to help support your analysis of the issue. Our three units on the American dream of consumerism; televison; film, and literature have covered a broad range of issues in popular culture; and so you have many issues from which to choose within the course. You may also select a focused popular culture topic from outside the course such as, but not limited to, sports, videogames, the internet, the news. You should narrow your broad topic to a manageable and focused issue or phenomenon.

 

Here are possible general, unfocused topics I brainstormed: the comic book turned film, the daytime soap opera genre, the WB teen soap opera, the continued appeal of classic rock, the appeal of first-person shooter games, the social significance of MySpace or Facebook, the rise of cable punditry, the fall of the network nightly news. What in popular culture interests you, and what would you like to research? I suggest you clear your topic with me before beginning your annotated bibliography.