Snapshots. Aim for 500 words (one and a half TO two pages). Informal
The purpose of these snapshots is to get you practicing how to use an abstract theoretical lens to bring
into focus something in the world you want to think about (this could be your life, someone else’s life, a
character from a movie, book or TV show – sky’s the limit). Your two major essays will build on the skills
you develop in these snapshots. These snapshots can also serve as fodder to help you find something to
write about in your major essays. Think of them as an experimental, low stakes place to try things out.
You must:

Describe in detail a specific example or “case.” That’s the snapshot! You are trying to capture an
experience. Your goal here is to turn into a painter: make the reader SEE it as you do! If it scares
you, I want to feel shivers down my spine! (Hint: the best way to get yourself started along this
line is to use ACTION verbs; no passives, no “is” etc).

Relate that specific example to something from the readings we have done since your wrote
your last snapshot.
One way to meet these requirements is to think about an experience (broadly defined as in the
parenthesis above) that has been coming up for you while reading and discussing. Snapshot it. As you
write out its details, each time you come to a detail that resonates somehow with the reading, make a
footnote. In each footnote, write out the quote that it made you think of and tell me why this
experience brought that quote to mind (that is, tell me how it relates).
Sometimes the best way to meet requirements is to work backward. Think of a quote or two in the
readings that really caught your attention. Write it out as a footnote. Tell me what you find interesting
about it. Then try to figure out an example that illustrates it. When you have one, snapshot it.
Hate footnotes? Find the above suggestions too choppy? Snapshot an experience – and as you write it
out in detail, when you come to a detail that resonates with something from the reading, switch to bold
and start discussing the reading right there, all mingled in, one crazy improvisational mush: your mind!