REQUIREMENTS FOR FINAL ANALYSIS PAPER:

An 8-page analysis (number your pages and use APA/MLA citations) of a media phenomenon/artifact or issue with respect to issues of race, class, and gender/sexuality. You might examine a television show, a film, a video game, or consider recent representations related to an issue within a variety of shows. I think it is easier to address a specific show or film, but you are welcome to choose an issue of interest even though that might be more challenging in only 8 pages.

In analyzing your topic, you must draw upon some of the theoretical language and analytical concepts we have read and discussed this semester (intersectionality, colorblind racism, framing, ideology, interpellation, hegemony, representation, stereotyping, othering, symbolic annihilation, etc.).

While outside research is not mandatory to a successful analysis (beyond course readings), it can be very useful for historical context and in legitimating your own argument. For example, if you look at issues of class and sexuality on Modern Family, it would be advantageous to situate the show in relation to other significant sitcoms, especially those built around similar frames of diversity.

Be mindful to not examine your media topic within too narrow a vacuum. For example, if you are looking at a television show, consider other shows that the producers/showrunner have also done. For example, you cannot discuss Scandal without discussing it within the broader work of Shonda Rhimes. The same is true of Jenji Kohan and Orange is the New Black. Similar to the 5 Key Questions of Media Literacy by the Center for Media Literacy, recognize that your topic likely fits within a certain tradition. It is important to make those connections.

REMINDER: This is not a research paper, but an analysis. You should select a relatively narrow topic and analyze the topic by drawing upon the “toolkit” you have established through our course readings and discussion.