Popular Culture Within Media

Description: Your essay must take the shape of a formal and critical academic analysis. Your essay will unpack and examine the issues addressed in the topic that you see as most pertinent. Each of the topics you have to choose from address one or more of the primary research areas of our class. For example, gender, race, sexuality or class. In examining a film, for example, your essay will demonstrate an understanding of the sociology of popular culture, and draw on connections between the issues within the film and the sociological concepts we have addressed in class. You are to decide on what sociological issues you see as most applicable to the essay topic you choose. Bibliography: You are required to submit, along with your essay, a bibliography including a minimum of 3 academic sources. You are required to actively, regularly and consistently use your bibliography. Using each source once does not constitute using your bibliography on a regular basis. Academic sources are books or journal articles found in the library and/or via the library online. Your essay will be a far more smooth process if you take the time to go to the library. Examples of what do not constitute academic sources include Wikipedia, IMDB, dictionary.com, newspapers, magazines or film reviews. Do not use any of these. This is very strict. Your paper will be graded on theoretical incorporation, research, originality, critical analysis, clarity, and writing skills. Critical Analysis: Your essay is not a review of the topic you choose, it is a critical analysis. Part of your grade is based on your own independent thought. It is your job to decide what you want to examine, and it is expected that you will use outside sources in analyzing those concerns. For example, as we have discussed in class, while a romantic-comedy may provide us with humour, melancholia, and sentimentality, this genre also has a specific function: to reaffirm the idea of “happily-ever-after,” “true love” and more. The way in which these ideas are presented and made “normal” would be a starting point for an essay on a romantic-comedy. You will examine the issues from the same perspective, critically. Finally, I am not concerned with whether you “like” the topic you choose and do not be concerned with whether I “like” the topic either.