This is not a research paper per se, but I would like you to bring in any sources that might help you develop your paper. Id like you to make a connection about a piece of literature (from this semester) to popular culture.
Try to focus on a piece of popular culture that is fairly specific: a single episode of a TV show, a TV commercial, a song, a print advertisement, a website, a single magazine, a billboard, a greeting card, etc. You might decide that it serves your argument better to bring in two items that are very closely related, like two episodes of the same TV show, or two greeting cards, or two print advertisements, but try to stay very focused. I would discourage you from focusing on an entire movie, for example, because that can be a little overwhelming.
Regardless of what type of popular culture you wish to focus on, you must be able to watch it over and over. If you choose an episode of a TV show, you must have it recorded or accessible online so that you can watch it repeatedly and develop specific evidence (like quotes).
The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want to make a clear, focused argument about how the essay from the book can be applied to the popular culture. The essay you choose might already talk about popular culture directly, it might talk about popular culture very indirectly, or it might not talk about popular culture at all. You have lots of options. The thing to keep in mind is that you need to be very clear about what youre arguing and why its significant.
Questions to consider as you decide on an argument:
What would your author say about your pop culture?
Do you think your pop culture proves or disproves your authors argument?
How does your author influence your understanding of the pop culture?
If you want to use one of the structures weve used before, feel free to do so. In that case, you could set up your author as Author A and your pop culture as Author B, or you could set up your pop culture as Author A and your author as Author B. You have lots of options. Again, the most important thing is that you have a clear and consistent argument. This assignment will not include a template for a thesis or an outline. That is something you need to get more comfortable doing on your own. However, feel free to email me to discuss possible templates in so that you can figure out how to create the best template to serve your argument.
Final Draft: The final draft should meet the following criteria: six (6) pages, double-spaced, word-processed, proofread, spell-checked, 1 inch margins, Times New Roman, font size 12, page numbers, in-text citation MLA style, with a Works Cited page (this page does not count toward the 6-page requirement)
Other reminders:
Your thesis should be an argument; do not state the obvious.
Your reader has not read the essay nor seen or examined your pop culture. (This is practice for the research essay in which you need to be able to explain everything for your reader.)
Create clear topic sentences and fluid transitions that will help your reader follow your logic. Your topic sentences should introduce your specific area of support and link it to your argument. If your topic sentence states a fact, then it is easy to fall into the trap of summarizing throughout the whole paragraph, rather than analyzing.
You may weave in personal experience if you feel that it would strengthen your argument. However, the focus of your essay should be on analyzing a relationship between the two texts.
Make sure you are bringing in specific examples from both the essay and the popular culture in order to prove your argument.
Feel free to use I.
Include proper in-text citation MLA style and a Works Cited page MLA style.
