English 101: Essay #4
The assignment for your fourth (and final) essay is as follows:
Choose one of the following chapters from the text as the basis for your essay:
- Chapter 6: American Paradox: Culture and Contradiction in the U.S.A.
- Chapter 7: American Makeover: Constructing Identity in the Age of Entertainment
Once you have selected one of the above chapters, complete the following:
- Read all of the essays contained in the selected chapter in order to determine how the topic is being dealt with
- Develop a list of the topics covered and the issues raised in the various essays
- Choose a genre of popular culture (film, music, television, advertising, etc.) for analysis
- Locate specific examples from the chosen genre
- Map out how these examples could be analyzed using the same criteria (race, gender, etc.) as the essays in the selected chapter
- Write an essay that could be included in the selected chapter
The requirements for the essay are as follows:
- Essay must be 4-5 pages in length
- Essay must be argumentative in nature
- Essay must adhere to MLA standards and guidelines (click here)
- Rough draft of essay must be exchanged with another class member (see below)
Regardless of which option you choose, here are a few things you should keep in mind as you are writing your essay:
- Your objective is to analyze the social significance of the topic (subject) you are discussing
- Your essay should contain a well-argued thesis statement
- The "body" of your essay should work to support your thesis statement
- Your essay should be free of grammatical and punctuation errors
EXCHANGING DRAFTS
For the first essay, you will be required to read and make comments on the rough drafts of your classmates' essays. To do so, you will need to access the discussion forum and post your comments in the conference folder entitled "Essay Four Drafts."
