Length: 4-5
pages, 12-point type double spaced, standard margins
Minimal research
requirements:
·
Four sources from either printed or
online materials available through the MSU library;
·
Four sources from commercial or
organizational websites; Pop culture references (such as advertisements, music,
videos/films, blogs; or primary research, such as interviews, emailed
inquiries, blogs, social media.
·
Please remember these are minimal
requirements. Most of your grade will reflect the quality of your research and
analysis. Your supporting evidence
should reveal original inquiry, extensive investigation, and meaningful discoveries.
Documentation
requirements: MLA-style parenthetical citations and Works
Cited page.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION: You will begin by
choosing apractice that represents larger themes in your discipline’s
culture, or in another professional culture that you are considering.
Your
essay should reveal surprising insights about the cultural practice, which
should be on-going, current or in-development. It should also consider
implications for larger cultures—such as the American mass culture or a
transnational culture.
Although
your essay will include evidence from multiple sources, it will also require personal
thought, in terms of asking deep questions, reconsidering common assumptions,
making objective observations, and analyzing both primary and secondary
research. A major portion of your grade
will reflect your skills in critical and creative thinking,
You
will find that this assignment is unlike the old-style, academic, research essays
that you may have written in the past. Instead of beginning with a position and
supporting it with evidence from secondary sources, you will use your own
questions, observations and critical thinking to developdeeper insights.
Suitable Topics: Choose
an artifact or practice that is related to your discipline, or one of your academic
or professional interests. Please keep in mind that I often describe these
essays in my letters of recommendation.
Unacceptable Topics: Cultural
Artifacts/Practices from other countries (such as
chop sticks, tea ceremonies, abacus); Religious artifacts (such as the
Bible, menorahs, rosaries, or baptism); obvious patriotic symbols, such
as flags and military uniforms.Brand-name products, such as Disney,
Barbie Dolls; Coca-cola; Starbucks;; Overdone
topics such as makeup or fashion items (like leggings), social media,
such as Facebook and Twitter; and mainstream sports (such as baseball,
basketball or football).
STYLE&AUDIENCE:Your essay should follow magazine-feature
style with engaging language, anecdotes, illustrations, examples, and explanations;
emphatic arrangements; and dramatic pacing. It should be written for college-
educated readers of popular Science, Technology or American Culture
periodicals, such asNational Geographic,
Smithsonian, New Yorker, Atlantic,Nautilus,Wired, Scientific American,Psychology Today and lifestyle sections of
world-class newspapers, such as the New
York Times and Wall Street Journal.
PURPOSE:The purpose of your article is to
spark your reader’s curiosity and lead them to new insights and discoveries about
a cultural artifact, idea, or practice.
LEARNING GOALS:To practice active inquiry,
develop analytical thinking, explore a wide range of research methods, and
become more engaging writers.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURAL ARTIFACTS ASSIGNMENT AND REMIX
ASSIGNMENT:
You will cover the same
topic in a presentation and remix project for the class.
The presentation (15 percent) will include presentation software,
such as PowerPoint. However, I will not accept Prezi presentations. Presentations
should include audience interactions and possibly small demonstrations.
The remix project(5 percent)may involve a digital video, website,
online or print magazine layout or appropriate handout materials. Students are
welcome to ask me about other remix approaches. I will be flexible and open to
creative ideas; however, I expect the remix projects to be effective forms of
communication that are suitable for the subject matter. I understand that many
students will be working with new technologies for the first time. Remix grades
will represent intention, effort, and results.
To be efficient, you should do the research for both assignments at
the same time. In other words look for visual images and audile clips, as well
as primary sources and published sources.
To avoid repetition, students will
need to select their topics as soon as possible. If you change your topic, you
should notify me immediately. If one of your classmates has chosen the same
topic, you will have to choose another.
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