The final paper for this class is expected to be a completed manuscript for an academic or mass media publication. I expect you to work diligently on this assignment throughout the semester. The final paper is a media analysis. In some ways, it will be like the reviews that are assigned for class, but will be much more comprehensive in its treatment of a media text. The media text can include any media text that can fill an entire paper. For example, if you want to analyze an advertisement, maybe choose a handful rather than one thirty second ad, so you will have more material about which to write. Similarly, instead of a song, use an album. Or if you want to write about a TV show, it may make sense to talk about the show in its entirety but include an in-depth analysis of an episode or two.
The expectation for this assignment is that you complete your final paper in its entirety, including what you submitted earlier in the semester. This should build upon your “midterm” which was an introduction and literature review. For reference, those instructions are below as the final paper may include a revision of what you wrote earlier:
Introduce the topic of your choosing. First, an introduction should give a brief overview of the significance of your study and why you are doing it in the first place (please don’t say for this class). This is normally just a few paragraphs. Then, the bulk of this assignment will be a literature review. A literature review is what it sounds like: a summary of scholarly work on the topic at hand. This review may include texts from class, but should also include other work as well. It may not include studies that pertain to your exact media text, but you should be able to find parallel or at least analogous studies to use as the theoretical framework of your media analysis. For example, if you are studying Star Wars, there is a lot of scholarship on the topic, but if you are analyzing an indie rock album by an esoteric band, you may need to rely on studies about indie rock, rock in general, or even just music more broadly. Please let me know if you need help at any point.
The end of your literature review should demonstrate a logical progression where the next necessary “step” in this train of thought would be your actual media analysis. This will help to tie your literature review together by summarizing the key points and also serve as a transition to your media analysis section (methods, findings, discussion).
From this point, the paper will include a methods section, a findings section, and a discussion. A methods section should outline exactly what you plan on doing. This section will outline the media analysis you are doing, what media text you will be analyzing, and will include for some people categorizations or coding that will be used to guide your analysis. For example, if you want to count the number of times Eminem says “Bitch” in an album, you are likely going to count other lyrics of interest as well. Be sure to outline all of that in this section.
A findings section will be the most straightforward part – what did you find? Did Star Wars include a diverse cast? Is your favorite album overproduced? Is a popular video game hiding misogynistic undertones? This section should demonstrate what the results of your analysis are. However, this should not include why these results matter. Just the results themselves. Why they matter will be in the discussion section.
The discussion section should tie everything together. Briefly introduce your topic, why it matters, why you did what you did, and what limitations were present that would make for a more comprehensive study. Then go over some of the most important findings and tell us why it matters. If you found that “The Office” is a modern life story, explain why other people should care. If your analysis shows that Drake is the most prolific artist for men’s rights, illustrate the consequences of this discovery. If “90 Day Fiance” is a gateway to cultural understanding, let me understand why I should care. Discussion sections typically say that the study that was done contributes to the academic literature in x, y, and z ways. This is a practice If geared more toward a mass media audience, you would want to include that, but also talk about evolving conversations in public discourse that would benefit from your findings. Then you should conclude however you see fit. Many writers take this time to suggest how these studies should look moving forward. The discussion section would also include key limitations of the study – in an ideal world with unlimited resources (i.e. money, time, network, etc.), how would the study have been undertaken? In essence, the limitations should tell me that while your study is worthwhile, it is imperfect – it is an exercise in humility while acknowledging your inability to answer every question.
This assignment represents 25% of your final grade. While a good deal of the grade will be contingent upon the methods, findings, and discussion sections of your paper that were added at this point, some points will be based on how well you incorporated my prior feedback. For many of you, this may be one of your first full research papers, so I imagine my feedback will be crucial in developing your academic voice. I hope to help everyone not just develop a literacy of popular culture, but also to cultivate writing skills that many educators take for granted. Writing has helped me get the jobs I’ve gotten, so I’m sure they will help you as you move forward in your professional careers.
The final paper should be between 8 and 10 pages long, not including references, for those who need some guidance. For example, your introduction may take 1 page, your literature review 3 pages, methods section 1 page, findings section 1 page, and discussion 2 pages, which would equal 8 pages. That can be a rough outline of what I expect here. Use some of the readings assigned in this class and others to inform your view of what an academic paper looks like – examine its structure, flow, and style. The paper should be double spaced in Times New Roman with a 12 point font.
Nonetheless, while this represents what an academic paper looks like, there is no length requirement since some of you will need more space than others, especially if your paper is destined for a mass media outlet. At the same time, if you hand me 2 pages of garbage, you better believe it will not receive full credit. A mass media outlet like Medium or Vice is what I’m looking at – these are long-form essays with real publication potential in serious, reputable outlets. So while I am hoping for academic papers, I also want you to be able to write something for mass media publication, as long as it clearly demonstrates a critical media literacy which we have established throughout this course.