For your final assignment, you will write a 7-8 page paper that draws on course texts to analyze a Transmedia TV phenomenon of your choice. You are encouraged to revise and expand your work in the presentation/blog essay (or elaborate on themes from your video).
Your papers are due by midnight on June 4. You may either upload your document to the course website under Files or post it as a blog entry. Late work is subject to grade penalties.
TIPS
Some initial materials you should prepare toward developing your paper include:
o A plan for which blog post you’ll expand (or another topic).
o A specific artifact or related artifacts to analyze (if different from your blog post).
o Some idea of your overall argument.
o A list of two or three course texts that you could cite to support your argument.
o A rough outline of how you will organize your paper.
Critical reading is reading as thinking, not just to get a sense of what the author is saying, but how they are saying it, why they are saying it, to whom they are saying it. This can involve constantly questioning yourself as to three things: (1) What is the author really saying here? (2) Who else has said similar things; do the two agree or disagree? (3) What do you think of what the author is saying?
Academic writing makes an argument: it never simply summarizes or restates. A thesis is something with which someone could disagree. It makes a claim to something -- it offers a reading, an interpretation, a disagreement, a recasting. Ideally, your thesis says "what" you're going to say, and also "how" you're going to get there.
Find a balance between summarizing theorists, quoting from them, and analyzing them (i.e. examining them in relation to internal logic, larger debates, considering examples in relation to their model, and/or evaluating their claims). Use your own thoughts and readings to support your theoretical points.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. For more information on avoiding plagiarism and the rest of Stanford's Honor Code, seehttp:/
You can find further information and resources at Stanford's Hume Writing Center http:/
CONTENTS
1. An evaluation form detailing the criteria for assessment of this assignment.
2. A sample student paper (from television studies), with annotations. This is an example of A-level work.
3. A handout by Genie Brinkema that goes over general writing pitfalls and, more importantly, some guidelines for specific aspects of writing in media studies classes.
4. “Organization,” a handout from the UNC-CH Writing Center that details approaches to constructing and revising a strong essay.
