Among the ironies of the modern age is this: most of us have much less personal experience with death than did our grandparents, but most of us have seen more “deaths” than our grandparents.

TOPIC: Learning about death through television

Among the ironies of the modern age is this: most of us have much less personal experience with death than did our grandparents, but most of us have seen more “deaths” than our grandparents. How is this possible? Television! The regular fare of TV includes murders, suicides and stories of fatal illnesses. Some are fictionalized in TV drams, others are covered in the news, and yet others appear in animated shows. For most of us, television is where we learn about death, but what do we learn?

PREPARING TO WRITE:
Review this information, your Paper Grading Rubric and the syllabus information in BLACKBOARD.
Read Chapters 1, 2 and 3 in the class textbook.
Schedule yourself to watch and take notes on 2 types of American media.
One hour of news on television. This one hour MUST include a story about death. If the newscast you watch does not have any stories about death, you MUST watch more news until there is a story.
One hour of a fictional drama on television. Pick a drama that includes a death in it. If the episode you watch does not have any deaths, you MUST find a drama that does (e.g., NCIS).
Watch the video in Blackboard featuring Melissa Manchester from the SUNY Canton Writing Center and Kaitlyn Patenaude from the Southworth Library on how to cite and reference and how to find legitimate research resources.
Consider meeting with someone from the Writing Center and library to help you.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS #1 and #2 (50% of course grade)

DUE DATES:
Writing Assignment #1 (Rough Draft with citations and reference list) due by Saturday, June 15, 2019, 11:59 pm.
Begin writing your Rough Draft: 4 page maximum using the guidelines below. Do NOT go over 4 pages (not including reference list, title page, and any appendices) or the entire paper may be rejected. Write concisely and remember that quality is more important than quantity.

WRITE AN INTRODUCTION (1 page or less). Tell your reader what you learned. Include a brief summary of what you watched, answering “who, what, when, where, how and why.” For example, explain how the deaths occurred, how they were portrayed, the reactions of characters, etc. Do NOT waste time and space with a verbatim script of each show you watched.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE PORTRAYAL OF DEATH IN EACH FORMAT (1 page or less). Demonstrate to the reader how you came to learn what you learned. If you need space, shorten your introduction and/or your conclusion. Remember to cite any sources you use (including the class textbook) in the body of the paper.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST WHAT YOU’VE SEEN ON THE SHOWS WITH WHAT YOU ARE LEARNING ABOUT DEATH IN YOUR CLASS MATERIALS, WITH YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF DEATH AND INFORMATION FROM A SCHOLARLY SOURCE (See above). (1 page or less). Consider how the target audience(s) for the show, the show’s sponsors and whether because the show appears on cable television or on “regular” television might impact the depiction of death. Are there any other reasons you can think of that might impact how death is depicted in each format? You should be concentrating most on this part of the paper.

WRITE YOUR CONCLUSION (1 page or less). End your paper with a strong conclusion.

PROVIDE YOUR FINAL REFERENCE LIST IN CORRECT APA FORMAT (not counted in the page count). This is on a new page following the end of your paper.

Every citation you use in the body of your paper must have full referencing information here. If you read something but did not cite it in the body of your paper, it does NOT get referenced at the end of your paper. If you DID cite something in your paper, you MUST reference it here.
Writing Assignment #2 (Final Paper, final citations and final reference list) due by Wednesday, June 26, 2019, 11:59 pm. Writing Assignment #2 has the same requirements as Writing Assignment #1: Rough Draft, but you must have corrected the mistakes pointed out to you in the Rough Draft and taken the time to review the paper using Grammarly.com, consulting with the Writing Center, and doing a careful review. Do not simply re-submit your uncorrected rough draft. This will be considered a non-submission and you will receive a “0” for this assignment.