AMST 3253W
Fall 2024
Paper 2: Analytical Essay Instructions
Description:
Like Paper 1, Paper 2 asks you to analyze a cultural object. However, unlike Paper 1, Paper 2 requires you to form. your own line of inquiry about your chosen cultural object. Instead of responding to a set of questions I crafted to guide your thinking, you will write those questions yourself. You will then use your essay to respond to those questions.
Please understand: This is not a research paper. You need to cite at least one course reading, but you should not bring in multiple outside sources. Instead, focus on making an argument about your object based on your own observations about the object.
The final version of your essay should advance a clear argument about the political message and/or implications of the cultural object you are analyzing. The essay will support that argument by describing and analyzing specific details within your chosen TV show, music video, film, etc. Finally, your analysis should draw on (and properly cite) at least one of the course readings.
Before getting to this final version of your essay, however, you will need to complete several steps. First, you will do some informal writing in class to generate questions and ideas about your chosen object. Then, you will turn in a prompt, made up of several questions about your object that you plan to explore in Paper 2. This prompt will be worth 5% of your final course grade.
You will then use this prompt to begin drafting Paper 2. The thesis of Paper 2 should respond to the question(s) you ask in your prompt.
Before the final due date for Paper 2, you will turn in a rough draft. You will workshop this draft in your discussion section, and you can solicit feedback from your TA or the instructor on it as well. That rough draft will be worth 5% of your final course grade.
Timeline (deadlines are highlighted in blue):
Tues., Oct. 15: Receive Paper 2 Instructions; Begin exploratory writing.
Oct. 15 – Oct. 28: Review Paper 1 Prompts; Freewrite about your chosen cultural object; Consult with your TA and/or instructor as needed; Begin writing your prompt.
Tues., Oct. 29: Prompt DUE to Canvas by midnight.
Oct. 30 – Nov. 9: Begin drafting Paper 2 in response to the prompt you wrote. Sun., Nov. 10: Partial Draft of Paper 2 DUE to Canvas by midnight.
Nov. 11 – Nov. 23: Give and get feedback on drafts in your discussion section; revise and edit your draft.
Sun., Nov. 24: Final Draft of Paper 2 DUE to Canvas by midnight.
Basic Requirements for Final Draft of Paper 2:
• The final draft of Paper 2 is due on Sunday, Nov. 24 to Canvas. It is worth 30% of your final course grade.
• The final draft should be approximately 1,200-1,500 words long, not including your Works Cited Page.
• The essay should incorporate (and cite!) at least one of the course readings.
• All sources must be properly cited using MLA format, and the paper must include a Works Cited Page. (See this site for further information on MLA format).
• In its first paragraph, the essay should state a clear, debatable thesis. This thesis should take a stance on how we ought to understand the meaning of the cultural object you are analyzing.
• The body of the essay should analyze specific details and/or elements of the object, explaining how those details/elements support the thesis.
• The essay should be well-organized. In other words, each sentence and paragraph should lead logically to the next.
• The essay should be carefully edited and proofread.
Cultural Objects to Choose from for Paper 2:
1. The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “My Brother’s Keeper”: In Week 7, you watched a 1973 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show titled “My Brother’s Keeper. ” In it, Mary
Richards’ landlady, Phyllis, has a visitor—her brother, Ben. Phyllis desperately wants Mary and Ben to have a romantic relationship, but things don’t work out as Phyllis hopes.
If you choose to write about this cultural object, rewatch the episode
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rAZO_rrpPU), take notes, and consider the
broader political issues that pertain to The Mary Tyler Moore Show and/or this episode in particular. These include the growing prevalence of “families of one,” feminism, changing gender relations, changing family structures, and the representation of LGBTQ+ characters on 1970s television. (You do not need to focus on all of these issues in your prompt or your paper, just be aware of them as you begin trying out questions for the prompt.)
2. Gran Fury’s Art: In Week 8, we discussed the AIDS crisis, ACT UP’s activism, and the work of the art collective known as Gran Fury. Gran Fury produced posters, t-shirts, billboards, and other forms of public art in an effort to provoke greater outrage and action about U.S. institutions’ failures to address the AIDS crisis.
If you choose to write about an art piece by Gran Fury, pick one of the art pieces featured in the list on Canvas in the “Week 8 ” module. Review the piece, take notes, and consider the broader political issues that pertain to this piece and the AIDS crisis as a whole. These include not only homophobia, but also racism, classism, colonialism, growing cultural fragmentation, and more. (You do not need to focus on all of these issues in your prompt or your paper, just be aware of them as you begin trying out questions for the prompt.)
3. Salt-N-Pepa’s music video, “Shake Your Thang”: In Week 9, we talked about the
emergence of hip hop. Although the reading for that week focused primarily on West Coast gangsta rap, we also discussed feminist rap and female rappers’ responses to misogyny within the genre. Salt-N-Pepa’s 1988 music video for their hit song, “Shake Your Thang, ” is one example of such a feminist response.
If you choose to write about this cultural object, watch the video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=NU4_bJbM2Kw&bpctr=1611165565), take notes, and consider the broader political issues that pertain to this music video and the rise of hip hop. These include deindustrialization, police repression, gender relations, race, and much more. (You do not need to focus on all of these issues in your prompt or your paper, just be aware of them as you begin trying out questions for the prompt.)
4. John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood: In Week 10, we are watching John Singleton’s 1991 film, Boyz N the Hood. The film is an example of “Black City Cinema,” a genre that emerged in the early 1990s as a wave of Black directors released feature-length films.
If you choose to write about this cultural object, watch the film (which can be found on Canvas), take notes, and consider the broader political issues that pertain to Boyz N the Hood. These include deindustrialization, the rise of hip hop, gender relations, the construction of Black masculinity, police violence, and more. (You do not need to focus on all of these issues in your prompt or your paper, just be aware of them as you begin trying out questions for the prompt.)
5. Choose Your Own Adventure: If you like, you may pick some other pop cultural object from the course to analyze for Paper 2. (You can pick a song, a poster, a music video, etc.) However, you must get my approval for your chosen object by October 29.
If you choose to write about some pop cultural object not listed above, be sure to consider the broader political issues that pertain to it as you begin drafting your prompt.