COMN 2700 Major Essay

COMN 2700, ‘Media, Culture and Society’
FW 2014-15

MAJOR ESSAY

Due: March 19 in lecture
Length: 6-8 pages (double-spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins). The length does not include the bibliography, images, or any other extra material you may include.
Worth: 20% of final grade
NOTE: do not submit essays to the course drop box unless approved by your TA

Essay Format The paper should be written in proper essay format, including complete sentences and paragraphs, a clear introduction laying out the thesis, a conclusion, and a carefully explained and organized argument. References should follow an accepted style, and be consistent. Essays should use proper grammar and should be carefully spell-checked. NOTE: it is permissible to draw on earlier essays for ideas, but not to cut and paste earlier writing into this essay. If you draw on earlier essays, please submit these with your final paper.
Late penalty: 2%/day (unless accompanied by appropriate documentation). Essays that are more than 2 weeks late will receive 0.
Make sure to keep a backup of all essays, rough work and notes after handing in the essays. Sources The essay must use at least 3 academic course readings, 4 outside academic sources, and 3 non-academic sources. Both the readings and ideas for specific essay topics can be drawn from either semester of the course. When selecting sources, draw on any relevant material that can help you support your argument. Make sure that you have sources that cover all aspects of your paper. Non-academic sources will vary depending on the topic you select, but can include things like newspaper articles, films, websites, TV shows, music, etc. Usually these will be the primary sources that you will analyze in your paper.

Topics
Choose one of the following topics. These provide a general framework for the essay. Your task will be to decide on a specific focus for your essay. In general, the more specific you make the topic the better. The goal will be to use the broader theories, concepts, and approaches from the course to carefully analyze a specific case study.

1. Throughout the course, we have looked at media and culture in global perspective. Key approaches to ‘globalization’ have included looking at Hollywood and global cinema, Indigenous cultures, the Black Atlantic, and the environment. Write an essay that looks at the global dimensions of media and culture through the examination of a specific case study related to one of these areas. This could include a particular media form, product, or performer, or a specific social or political issue relating to globalization. The essay should a) explain and apply theories, concepts, or approaches from the course readings; b) clearly address the global dimensions of culture; and c) consider the significance of often unequal global relations of power and access to culture.

2. Both the introduction of new media (from film to comics to the internet) and media content itself have frequently given rise to fears over their impact on audiences. Course authors have argued that this generates forms of ‘moral regulation’ that often reinforces dominant ideologies. Through the examination of a specific case study, develop an essay that shows how this moral regulation works in practice. The essay should a) address the specific responses to perceived dangers evident in your case study; b) critically analyze those responses, in particular on those people or practices targeted as ‘dangerous’; c) explore any alternative forms of media production or use by marginalized groups.

3. It is common in communication studies to characterize contemporary capitalist society as a ‘consumer society’ in which the media (especially but not exclusively through advertising) plays a central role. Using the concepts and approaches we have looked at in the course, develop an analysis of a specific case study that explores a) how consumer society works; b) how the logic of consumer society shapes the specific example you are researching; and c) what the implications are for our understanding of media and culture. This essay should involve both empirical study (i.e. research into a specific example) and theoretical approaches.

4. The media plays a much-debated role in the formation of identities and subjectivities. We are profoundly shaped through our interactions with mediated culture, but how those interactions take place and what the implications are is not always straightforward. Through the discussion of a specific case study relating to identity and subjectivity, develop an analysis of the role media plays in this respect. By drawing on course readings and concepts, pay careful attention to a) the concrete ways in which identities and subjectivities are shaped through dominant media images; b) how people negotiate or challenge these images; and c) how these media practices are related to broader social and political contexts.

5. Alternative topics can be considered. If you wish to write on a topic that is not covered here, write up a short proposal similar to topics 1-4 that outlines what you have in mind. Present this to your TA for approval. Any such topic MUST be approved by your TA, and must be submitted with adequate advance notice.