Cultural Studies and Popular Culture

First Assignment

The Cultural Snapshot

500-700 words + works cited

Choose a cultural object or practice from a specified time and place (e.g., playing soccer as an 8-year-old girl in Atlanta; when The Dark Knight came to theatres in North America in 2008; or reading X-Men comics as a teenager in southern California during the 1980s). Based on Raymond Williams’ concept of cultural analysis, which he defines as explaining the meanings and values that relate an object to society, explain how your specific cultural object operates—or operated—for the society you’ve chosen. You are encouraged to consider your own direct experience. But you may also wish to research an object or event with which you have no personal connection. Begin by describing the most important properties of your object and then establish an argument about what those explicit features reveal about the assumptions and understandings that surround that object. You can choose broad categories for time and place such as “contemporary North American cinema” or you can choose very specific properties such as “my grandparents’ apartment complex in Brooklyn during April 4, 1968.” Ultimately, your analysis will seek to interpret the relationship between the object or practice and its role in society, using specific examples and supporting evidence.

Second Assignment

The Fables Visual Analysis

500-700 words + works cited

Choose an image or series of images from Fables. Begin by describing the most important explicit properties of the image(s) and then establish an argument about the underlying meanings you see. You can choose to explore allusions, metaphors, motifs, or any other lens through which you can more deeply understand the text. Choose at least one reading from class to ground your interpretation in a theoretical framework (e.g., Marxism, Feminism, Psychoanalysis, Youth Culture, etc.). Ultimately, your analysis will seek to better understand what the image(s) reveal(s) in society, using specific examples and supporting evidence from the course and your own research.

Third Assignment

The Film Analysis

500-700 words + works cited

Choose a film or series of films from recent Hollywood or television offerings. Begin by describing the most important explicit properties and then establish an argument about the underlying meanings you see. You can choose to explore allusions, metaphors, mise-en-scènes, motifs, or any other lens through which you can more deeply understand the text. Choose at least one reading from class to ground your interpretation in a theoretical framework (e.g., Marxism, Feminism, Psychoanalysis, Ideology, Simulation, etc.). Ultimately, your analysis will seek to better understand what the series of sounds and images reveal in society, using specific examples and supporting evidence from the course and your own research.