MAJOR ASSIGNMENT #3: CULTURAL ANALYSIS WRIT 201: Science, Nature, and Public Life THE ASSIGNMENT IN BRIEF For this essay, you’ll write an analysis of a cultural subject. Your analysis will take up one...

Topic is about how music festivals from the past vs. music festivals now.


MAJOR ASSIGNMENT #3: CULTURAL ANALYSIS WRIT 201: Science, Nature, and Public Life THE ASSIGNMENT IN BRIEF For this essay, you’ll write an analysis of a cultural subject. Your analysis will take up one specific subject: a film, a documentary, a forum, a cultural phenomenon, a trend, a cultural event of significance, for example. The subject of your analysis must pertain in some way to our class theme, “Science, Nature, and Public Life.” As you should have gathered by now, this theme is broadly understood. Feel free to consult with me to confirm that what you plan will work to that end. INSTRUCTIONS To build your essay, proceed in three stages: Stage One. Begin by identifying the cultural subject for your paper. The simplest subjects that will work well for this assignment are films and documentaries, but I encourage you to branch out and explore other kinds of cultural subjects or artifacts (art collections, film, books, dance, theatre, music, social phenomena, new technology, online forums, a powerful website, a trend, etc.). Choose a subject that is large enough in scope to address in some detail in an 8-10 page paper. Stage Two. Develop an interpretation of your subject matter. What does your cultural subject tell us about the world or ourselves? Does your cultural subject point to a new pattern? A new way of seeing the world? A new set of rules? A new problem? Gather details relevant to your interpretation in order to build paragraphs that both describe and interpret your subject. In this stage, I recommend having a conversation with a friend about your subject matter in order to till the soil—the paper is designed to deepen your thinking, and conversation is a great way to do this. I also recommend that you start to gather sources and read other peoples’ interpretations of your subject. Stage Three. Form your analysis into a logically coherent analytical essay. Your paper may take any essay form—a critical review, a narrative essay, a commentary, a blog post, even a creative response, a report—as long as it presents a thesis and conforms to the basic requirements below. Aside from basic formatting requirements, the only other requirement is that you engage with five different sources of your choosing. These can be any kind of sources—academic, popular, multi-media, artistic, conversational, literary, etc.—but you must give your reader some context for the sources you choose so that they understand how you are engaging with them. Whatever form of essay you choose, the cultural analysis has four key elements: description, engagement with other thinkers, argument, and interpretation. Once you have a grasp of the interpretive line you will pursue, clarify the key argument of the paper and form a clear thesis that will appear in your introduction. SKILLS You’ll learn to analyze cultural artifacts You’ll deepen your understanding of how artists, thinkers, human communities explore our class theme: Science, Nature, and Public Life You’ll deepen your analytical and interpretive thinking You’ll practice the writing techniques that we have been learning You’ll learn how to converse with other artists and creators and thinkers in the form of an essay You’ll practice citing sources in MLA format You’ll have an opportunity to craft a creative interpretation REQUIREMENTS The subject of your analysis must pertain in some way to our class theme, “Science, Nature, and Public Life,” broadly understood. You must engage with five different sources and you must do so in a way that gives your reader a clear sense of how these sources are helpful for interpreting your topic. 8-10 pages, double spaced 12 point Times New Roman font 1-inch margins Staple pages Can be double or single sided (a separate title page is not necessary) Craft an interesting and informative title that will pique your reader’s interest Conform to MLA standards for citations as necessary (see sample paper on Moodle)
May 06, 2021
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