Thinking Critically About Pop Culture: Representations of Women and LGBT People
Quickwrite #4 Tell me what your narrowed topic is for Essay 1. Give me as much detail as you can about the question/issue you will be exploring. (You should go into all of our essays with a question you are researching/exploring, not a topic upon which you have already completely made up your mind.) What have you already found out about this topic? If you are ready to make a claim (a debatable statement you believe to be true) about this topic, what is it? If not, what do you still need to find out before you can make a claim?
Portrayals of Women and LGBT People in the Media What is the “larger conversation” that each of these authors is a part of? What are some of the assumptions that these authors respond to? What are some of the “big claims” that each of these authors makes? Identify one “big claim” and be ready to talk about it and your reaction to it. How do these authors support those claims? Was their support convincing? What were your reactions to these articles? Did you find places where you agreed? Disagreed? A little of both? Why?
Some Questions that Will Help You on Essay #1 As you analyze the pieces of media that you have chosen in order to support a claim you are making about pop culture and diversity, ask yourself: What are the main values that are being put forward as “correct” or “normal” by this piece of media? Are these values particular to any one group? Are there any groups whose values/ideas are poorly or unfairly represented?
Some Questions that Will Help You on Essay #1 Do you notice any patterns in the representation of diverse groups in the media you chose, or patterns in the representation of the one minority group you chose? If so, what do you think those patterns mean? Why are they important? Is there anything missing from the portrayals you are researching? Is there anything complicated that is made simple? Any subtle differences that are glossed over? What are the consequences of this over-simplification?
Using Sources and Giving Credit You’ve found your sources, read them, annotated them, and you’re ready to use your sources in your essay. So… which quotes should you use? Quotes that contain ideas you want to respond to. Quotes where the original source’s wording is especially good or important to your response. Quotes where the original source explains a complex idea clearly and succinctly. Quotes that contain ideas that would make most people want proof. Any quote you use should have an explanation/response that is TWICE AS LONG as the original quote. If a quote takes up two full lines of your paper, the explanation/response to that quote should take up FOUR.
They Say / I Say: Chapter 3 Quotations give your interaction with the ideas of your sources credibility. (p. 42) Choose quotes that support your claim, and be flexible. This may change as you write. Frame your quotes. (See how to make a “quote sandwich” on p. 46) A bad example of how to use a quotation is on p. 45, and the improved example on p. 47.
The “Quote Sandwich” This is a way to integrate quotes into your paper smoothly and avoid drop-in quotes. The first piece of “bread” Introduce quote, possibly mention author, connect quote to what you were saying before. The “Meat” Your quote, correctly cited with in-text citation. The second piece of “bread” Interpretation/explanation of quote (NOT simply rewording the quote), connect quote to what you will say next.
Online Examples of Quote Sandwiches https://sites.google.com/site/sasamtani/quote_sandwich003.jpg Notice that in this example, the quote is a part of a sentence the essay author wrote, and it consistently gives credit to the source’s author.
Quote Sandwich Practice If you brought a possible source for Essay #1 with you today, choose a quote that you would like to respond to. Then, write a paragraph that includes the quote you chose in a quote sandwich. Remember, you need to INTRODUCE the quote by putting in in context, USE the quote with a correct in-text citation, and RESPOND to the quote by adding something new to the discussion. If you did not bring a source, you must do this practice with one of the essays we have read as a class.