My first draft has not met the assignment, so I have to revise it Essay #3: Analysis of a Popular Culture ArtifactAssignment: Incorporating quotations,summaries, and paraphrases from at least two (semi-)academic sourcesfound through our library databases, write a 3-5 page essay analyzing aspecific popular culture artifact of your choice. (In other words, youwill need to have at least three sources for this paper—one primarysource and two or more secondary sources.) Note: Don’t be alarmed by theterm “artifact”; I’ve chosen the word simply for convenience. Dependingon your particular area of interest, acceptable “artifacts” mightinclude a specific television episode, a book chapter or character, thelyrics and music of a specific song, an important thread on yourfavorite discussion forum, a scene from a movie, a video game, sportingevent, magazine advertisement, or other relevant object or event.Approaching the Assignment: Be sure to lookover this week’s reading on literary analysis, which should give youplenty of guidance for how to approach this assignment. (Yes, I doindeed expect you to analyze your artifact—whether a written text ornot—just as you would a short story or novel.) I do NOT want you towrite a simple review or critique; instead, I want you to provide somesort of analytical interpretation. You might, for example,consider how an episode of your favorite television show deals withissues of race, class, or gender. Or you could investigate therhetorical appeals of a particular advertisement to discover how and/orwhy it is so (in)effective at selling its product. Focusing on aspecific character from a movie, you could look more closely atquestions of personal motivation or societal influence or simply try tofigure out what makes that particular character tick. (For example, if Iwere analyzing the character of Loki in the Avengers, mythesis statement might be something like “Although initially Loki maystrike the viewer as static and one-dimensional, careful analysisreveals that he is actually one of the most complex, emotionally nuancedcharacters in the film.” [Then I would show how he isn’t just ademented megalomaniac by examining not only what he says but also thefacial expression and body language that expose the tormented childhiding just beneath the surface.])Ultimately, your goal with this paper is not so much to agree ordisagree with your source, but—as I said above—to provide aninterpretation of some sort. In doing so, you will hopefully discoverhow the object affects us as viewers, consumers, and/or citizens; whatthe object reveals about society at large; and/or what other importantinsights it has to offer.Requirements checklist:____ 1. Both the rough and final draft must contain at least threefull, correctly formatted pages. Please follow MLA guidelines forformatting papers and documenting sources (see LSH, pp. 109-57).____ 2. Your secondary sources should include substantial,thoughtfully developed arguments related to whatever specific topicyou’ve decide to write about, but they don’t need to mention thespecific artifact.____ 3. Entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and/or otherreference materials do not count toward the minimum source requirement –although you should of course cite them if you actually quote them.____ 4. Be sure to frame all quotations and to use signal verbs (andin-text parenthetical citations, if needed) when you summarize orparaphrase.____ 5. Please attach your sources to the final draft of your essaywith a paper clip so that I can give you credit for your annotations andoffer feedback on your use of source material. ____ 6. Note that class attendance is mandatory for Monday, Feb. 6, when the librarian comes to visit.____ 7. I also urge you all to get extra feedback from one of theEnglish tutors here on campus. Visit the Student Success Center in room309 for more information.____ 8. Any work you submit in this class should be composed by you specifically for this class. In other words, do NOT recycle papers from previous classes or present someone else’s work as your own.____ 9. Finally, to do well on this assignment, you will need toorganize your paper around an original, clearly articulated, well-placedthesis statement; to demonstrate a good understanding of the structural(paragraphing, transitions, etc.) and grammatical conventions of formalwritten English; and to address all assignment components.
