1. Assignment: This is a critical close reading of an object (e.g. a technology – telephone, microphone, reproductive technologies (condom/the pill), cosmetic surgery tech, a weapon, a product or brand, etc.) or a piece of media (e.g. book, comic, podcast, movie, music video, tv show, youtube channel, tiktok channel, Twitch stream, reddit thread, tumblr blog, etc.), This is your opportunity to bring in your own interest and investigate how social constructions of gender (race, etc.) might be embedded in it. I encourage a journalistic blog style of writing along the lines of Bitch Media, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, or The Conversation with an extra dash of academic scholarship. Similar to your reading responses, use course material and additional sources to apply course concepts to your case study and develop your argument. Think of an audience beyond this course you’re speaking to and engage them in the case study you present.
2. Deliverables: 1250-1500 words, in addition to any visual graphic work and/or links to the technology or media you have written about;
3. Is an essay but use journalistica blog style in your writing approach
It should be a close reading of a piece of media or technology:
If you haven’t had to do this before, think of it as a multi-sensory version of close reading a poem. When close reading a poem, you may even give close attention to and critique single words to convey your larger argument about the piece. In close reading media – the particular words, visuals and sounds (from scripts to fashion and movement to lighting and music) can be critiqued with as much care as a word in a poem.
Regardless of whether you choose a video game, film, tv, web series, tiktok, youtube channel, podcast, reddit thread etc.: Focus on a particular scene/clip/segment or selection of scenes/clips/segments to analyze “closely”. These are likely scenes or moments related to why you chose this text to begin with. Include the broader story/context to get the reader familiar but the goal is to unpack and describe the words, images, music and sounds in the scene(s) as related to your argument. You are also welcome to discuss the behind the scenes as well (who is the director, the actors, the producers) in your close reading. If you’ve chosen a short or still text like a music video, a photograph/instagram post series or a short video/photo series of another sort, then you can analyze it in full. If you’ve chosen an object/technology, same rules apply – closely analyze and critique the construction/design, the user experience, how it operates, etc. Your close readings should connect to course concepts and can also connect to the history and larger context surrounding your chosen object/media.
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