Essay #1: Diversity and Representation in Pop Culture– Eng 101 Spring
Directions: Write an essay of 4-5 pages (1300 word minimum) that makes a claim about the prompt below.
(This means you must put forward a point of view your research and careful consideration have led you to
believe to be true and spend your whole paper supporting it.)
Prompt: Popular culture’s representation of diversity or of a historically marginalized group.
(Remember, “diversity” can be in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.)
Narrowing Your Topic: As an analyst of popular culture, you will be making a claim about how the issues of
representation and diversity we have discussed in class relate to the topic you choose. This is a big issue, and
entire books have been written about this subject. This means that you must narrow your topic. There are two
ways you might choose to do this.
Narrowing Option #1: Examine a very specific piece of pop culture that brings up many different issues with
representation.
 A specific genre of film or television (sitcoms, horror, romantic comedy, etc.)
 A specific genre of music
 A specific type of publication (sports magazines, teen fashion magazines, etc.)
 One specific show, film, song, etc.
Narrowing Option #2: Examine the representation of a specific group across different types of pop culture. We
will make a class list of groups that might be appropriate. If you aren’t sure your topic is appropriate, please
come and talk to me.
Narrowing Option #3: Examine the representation of a specific group in a specific part of pop culture.
Your essay should do these things:
 First, it should have a thesis statement that makes a claim about the topic.
 Second, it should show an awareness of the conversation that is already going on about the issues specific
to the narrowed topic.
 Third, it should build a clear, coherent argument in response to the prompt and your sources.
Friendly Advice: This is an issue that is being talked about and written about in many public forums, and the
specific debates about representation and popular culture are constantly evolving. For example, this year
(2015), there has recently been a significant amount of debate over the significance of the Oscar nominations,
which many believed to show a troubling lack of recognition for non-white actors, writers, and directors. Many
people are writing about what these nominations mean and why they matter, and so now would be a good time
to add your voice to the conversation. But this is just one of MANY debates going on RIGHT NOW about
representation and pop culture. Find a conversation that interests you, research it, decide what you think,
and write an essay defending your decision.
Sources: You must cite (quote or summarize/paraphrase) at least three different reputable sources in this
essay.
Length: 4-5 pages. This means that your essay must be at least to the bottom of the fourth page when it is
formatted correctly. (See your syllabus for my formatting requirements.) You must also include a works cited
page in MLA format for any sources you quote in the body of your paper, including your text book. (This
means that everyone will have a works cited page.)
Due Dates:
Rough Draft for peer review due Thursday, 3/5 at 11:59 PM (upload to turnitin)
Comments on peer drafts due on turnitin by Tuesday, 3/10 at the start of class
Optional Rough Draft for instructor comments on turnitin due at 11:59 PM Friday, 3/13
Final Draft due Friday, 3/20 at 11:59 PM (upload to turnitin)