Writing Project 3:
 An Academic Essay (Cultural Analysis)

At this point in the semester, we are going to shift gears and focus on analysis of cultural "texts."  The analytical process will be the same as the process you experienced in composing your stylistic analysis, but for this assignment, you will explain how the elements of the cultural text you select work to produce a particular effect.  Like any other academic essay assignment, this one requires you to develop a clearly defined thesis and to support your thesis with logical, specific, sufficient evidence. The principles of argument, organization, and evidence remain central to good academic writing whether that writing is an analysis of a Tennyson poem, a anthropological field study, an essay on quantum physics, or an analysis of a Nike ad campaign,

  This assignment requires you to write an essay of 6-7 pages in which you use the semiotic method to analyze a contemporary sign of popular culture.  Remember that anything can be a sign--an article of clothing, an automobile, a music video, a film, a TV show, an ad campaign, etc., but remember as well that any sign operates within larger sign systems and cultural contexts that determine its meaning. A successful paper will identify and critique the ideological values associated with the meanings of the sign.

  Since you are already an expert in popular culture, you will be able to draw on your own knowledge and experience for material, but you are required to use secondary sources as well. You should use at least six sources; these sources may be from scholarly journals or from substantive news and general interest periodical such as Harpers. National Review, Nation, and the like.  A week before your writing project folder is due, I will ask you to turn in an annotated bibliography of your sources.  See the attached example for the format you are required to use.

You should select as your audience readers of a substantive general interest magazine. You will be asked to analyze this audience as one step in your writing process.

 

Criteria for Grading:

• The introduction presents a clear, compelling and supported occasion for the thesis. The thesis is clearly defined and arguable.

• All statements are supported by relevant evidence that is properly attributed and qualified. Points are supported by multiple pieces of evidence and indicate an overall understanding of the issue. Quotations are woven into the argument rather than being "dropped" into the paragraph.

• All evidence is discussed in a compelling way in relation to the thesis.. The discussion indicates a "lively mind at work."

• The argument shows an understanding of subtleties, ambiguities or complexities of the subject. The paper moves well beyond the "top of the head" arguments.

• The style is lively, relying on appropriate verb choice, specific nouns and modifiers; the 
  sentences vary appropriately in length and rhythm. Word choice, transitions, and the arrangement of material makes for highly readable prose.

• The essay is free of distracting errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics.