Students will create a blog post describing, analyzing, and evaluating a popular cultural text of their choosing
(note that the media discussed cannot be part of the cultural content assigned in this course). This can include
a song or album, tv show, movie, comic strip, book, an advertisement… be creative. As long as you can write
about it as a cultural text, using the concepts that you learned in the course material you should be fine. If you
aren’t sure whether your choice is appropriate, feel free to run it by your academic coach.
Students should include a basic description of the content they chose, to orient the reader and give any
necessary context. Additionally, analysis and evaluation of the content should consist of a coherent thesis
statement that is logically supported with evidence.
The questions below should help you think about the cultural elements in your cultural text, and will serve as a
guide for analysis and evaluation. An effective analysis should be structured around a thesis statement, but will
address these questions. In other words, your job is not to simply answer these questions one by one. Instead,
you must engage in writing as a process in which you develop a coherent and logical argument that deals with
these questions. This is where critical thinking and communication are crucial skills.
To achieve core area objectives, students are asked to pay special attention to the following questions (Note
that the labels in parentheses refer to the competency areas that are evaluated using the rubric that is
associated with this assignment):
How does what you have learned from class apply to the cultural object? (Critical Thinking)
In what way does the production of the cultural object affect the final product? (Critical Thinking)
How is the artist/author/musician/actor/director/etc. (artist for short) positioned in society (race, class, gender,
ethnicity, religion, sexuality, disability)? (Social Responsibility)
How does the artist’s position in society affect the production, consumption, interpretation and reception of the
object? (Social Responsibility)
How does the object represent an ethical position? If an ethical position appears to be missing, what could be
the reasons that it is missing? (Personal Responsibility)