Using ONE reading from the course, and ONE CULTURAL ARTIFACT, write a three page
analysis of the relationship between the cultural artifact you have chosen and gender.
The reading must be from one of the weeks we have already covered. Which means for the first
paper you may only use readings from weeks 1-6. You may not use the same reading twice.
We will spend time in class discussing in-depth the strategies you can use to help you choose an
artifact and a reading. Put simply:
– Try and narrow the boundaries of your artifact as much as possible. For ex. discuss
one scene in a film or television show, rather than the entire movie or TV series. Or
focus on the reception to an artwork, or just the artwork itself, rather than trying to
address both within the span of three pages. Talk about one song on an album, or
even just one verse of the song, etc.
– Some questions to help you choose a reading: Which reading do you find the most
compelling? The most challenging? Is there a reading that seems to contradict the
way gender is being used by/ appears in the cultural artifact?
The goal of this assignment is twofold:
– develop your ability to write in-depth on a topic
– practice using theory to discuss art/culture
Some questions to consider to help you begin:
– How does this particular artifact demonstrate, challenge, or complicate the
argument in the article you’ve chosen?
– What can the artifact and article teach us about gender? About media?
