Term Paper:

The final paper is not a research paper. By that, I mean that the final paper should not be a pastiche of comments that other people had to say about the topic. The final paper is to be your in depth analysis of an example from popular culture. We write in order to learn and discover, so this is your opportunity to think through in greater depth an issue we covered only briefly in class or an issue that we did not have time to deal with at all. In the paper, you should apply some of the theories or ways of looking at culture that we have used in the class, but ultimately what field you choose to examine for this is up to you.

On a technical level, the papers should be 5 to 6 pages long. You should cite at least briefly from some of the readings from this class, but the bulk of the paper should be your own analysis. I expect that your paper will have a clear, cogent thesis and well structured paragraphs that support that point, written in prose that is readable as well as thoughtful and free from basic errors. If you know that writing is not one of your strongest abilities, start early and drop by my office hours with drafts and/or go to the Writer’s Resource Lab (phone # at the top of the syllabus).

The idea, by the way, is for the paper to be fun. After all, this is a class about popular culture, and as long as you are looking at women in some aspect of popular culture, the image or issue or event you’ve chosen will be on topic.

I’ll ask you to turn in a one-page prospectus on Tuesday 16 July. The prospectus is a write up of what you think your paper topic will be for the class. It can be as detailed as a thesis statement and outline or as vague as a series of questions you have and thoughts about where you might go. Between 22 July and 26 July, I’ll schedule extra office hours so that any of you who want can bring by rough drafts of your papers for comments. Even if you just want to drop by and talk about your paper topic, that’s cool too. We’ll talk as a class about due dates for the paper before I set a due date for the class.